Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
“I’ve been a super huge comedy nerd since high school, and I had a notebook of jokes since senior year of high school,” said Ingalls, a Beavercreek High School graduate. “But I was way too shy to ever get on stage and say them in front of people.”
When her brother moved to Austin, Texas, Ingalls knew it was her chance to make it big.
“I just knew it was a huge scene there,” she said. “(If) I do open mic (in Austin) and it bombs, nobody knows me. I go back to Ohio and no harm done. So, I read from my notebook at my first open mic in Austin and it actually (wasn’t) as bad as I thought it would be.”
Ingalls’ second event was the aforementioned “Kill Tony” show. She performed in front of over 200 people and her set was also viewed online by thousands.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
“For the whole month of November, a year and a month ago, I was in Austin doing open mics every night,” she said. “And then I was like this is the funniest thing I’ve ever done. Let me go back to Ohio and get in the comedy scene there.”
Known for witty one-liners, Ingalls acknowledged the culture shock between the Austin and Dayton comedy scene.
“In Austin, you typically get three to four minutes of open mic,” she explained. “In Ohio you’ll get five minutes and then if the mic is kind of dead and there’s not a lot of comics there, they’ll just let you keep going.”
She made her grand return to “Kill Tony” in November and was able to show her comedic growth over the past year. She recalled being more confident with her jokes the second time around in spite of the audience growing even larger since her last appearance. She attributes this to “Kill Tony” moving into Joe Rogan’s comedy club in November as well.
Throughout the past year, she says she had an occasional bout of writer’s block. However, whenever she feels stumped, she recalls the words of comedian Roseanne Barr.
“I always remember what Roseanne Barr says: speak to your own experience,” Ingalls said. “I try to write about how awkward I am and my experience being a woman that maybe people haven’t heard before.”
She also finds inspiration in the legacy of late comedian Norm McDonald.
“He just had this super kind of innocent old man demeanor,” Ingalls said. “He seemed innocent, but then he would have anywhere from like the (cleanest) dad jokes to very outrageous and dark jokes.”
Her inspirations include Mark Normand, Bobby Lee and Cincinnati comic Ran Barnaclo.
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
Despite her influences being older and more established comedians, Ingalls isn’t one to keep behind the times. She describes herself as a “social media grandma” but enjoys her growing Instagram following and has recently created a YouTube series in which she acts various scenarios. For example, she describes her first video as “What if a pioneer woman did stand up?” She plans on releasing more sketches weekly. She also uses her Instagram to make various announcements about her career.
Her upcoming appearances include Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024 at Bricky’s Comedy Club inside Star City Brewing Company in Miamisburg.
For more information, Ingalls can be found on Instagram at leylaingallz_ and on YouTube at leylaingalls8335.
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