The podcasting duo talk about the deep, the uncomfortable, and everything in between at the Women in Comedy Festival.
This isn’t the first rodeo at the Women In Comedy Festival for Kenice Mobley and Rohan Padhye — but it’s still just as exciting for them to come and be a part of the festivities.
Bringing their Love About Town podcast to the festival this Saturday (May 4), both Mobley and Padhye are excited to dive into the deep discussions that have attracted so many listeners to the show. Originally stemming from the duo’s Person About Town, the show is based off of the deep and exciting conversations Mobley and Padhye shared over g-chat, and as Mobley would like to point out, that while the show is categorized as a comedy podcast, and they’ll be bringing it to life at a comedy festival, it’s not your ordinary roundtable of dudes just riffing and trying to be funny the whole time.
“At the beginning of the podcast, we tell everyone that this conversation is going to go where it’s gonna go, and that they shouldn’t feel pressure to be funny all the time,” Mobley tells Vanyaland. “That actually makes it more meaningful, because people are being more vulnerable, and they’re getting at deeper truths about who they are and past experiences that they’ve had.”
Padhye enjoys the deep dives, as well, but it’s the interactive element of the live setting that the duo will be walking into, joined by guest Liza Treyger, that has the co-host most excited about this weekend’s festivities.
“I love the podcast in a live setting because when there’s more T.M.I discussion, you can hear the crowd reacting to it,” says Padhye. “People come up to us afterwards and share their experiences with us, and I just really love that element of it.”
Mobley and Padhye are looking forward to so much surrounding their weekend spot, each with their own selection of exciting elements that they’re especially thrilled about, but something that the duo is mutually amped about is the ability to bring the live pod to their old stomping grounds at The Comedy Studio — and the fact that the venue has found a new space since their days coming up through the scene in Boston doesn’t really matter to either Mobley or Padhye, in terms of nostalgia and having that homecoming feeling still attached to the room.
“Even though it’s in a new space, it’s almost like a return home to do this version of the podcast,” says Mobley.
As someone who is from Boston, Mobley feels a swell of pride for the fact that she’s able to make her way from New York to represent the festival for the fourth time. And as far as representing women through her comedy, and her spot on the festival’s itinerary, Mobley is honored to be a part of such a diverse group of comics.
“I love the festival because it shows that there’s not just one way to be a female comedian,” says Mobley. “If we were talking 20 years ago, you’re thinking about maybe two people, and if you weren’t like them, then it wasn’t seen as ‘this is what being a woman in comedy means,’ but the festival does a great job of showing a huge variety of people. There are going to be so many people that are going to be one-hundred percent clean comedians, and on the opposite end of that, I’ll be there as well.”
Being a part of the festival means a lot to Padhye, as well, and even though he’s never thrown his hat in the ring to perform his own stand-up set as an ally during the festivities, he’s excited to see the vast diversity the festival brings to Boston, year after year.
“I’ve never applied to do the festival, but I always love going, and doing the podcast, of course,” says Padhye. “But it’s great to see all of these different types of comedians from all over the country, and with women on most comedy shows not being as well represented, it’s very nice to go back to my home comedy town, and see a bunch of different comics, and a bunch of voices that I would never hear.”
LOVE ABOUT TOWN WITH KENICE MOBLEY AND ROHAN PADHYE :: Saturday, May 4 at The Comedy Studio, 1 Bow Market Way in Somerville, MA :: 2:30 p.m., free with reservation :: Women In Comedy event page
