Q&A with Charlene Kaye on Diversity Shredder Ahead of the Edinburgh Fringe

Does humour allow people to engage with difficult conversations about identity in a more open way?

Absolutely. Humor is such an effective connector of people because you laugh spontaneously, you don’t decide to laugh. And then when people are feeling really open, that’s when you’re able to hit them with a dose of vulnerability. 

What’s more nerve-racking for you: a difficult comedy audience or a difficult music crowd?

Ooh, they are both SO PAINFUL!!! 

When I’m doing stand-up and totally bombing, it’s super embarrassing because my job was to make people laugh and I didn’t do that – instead, I’m sweating in excruciating awkwardness. But every comic I know bombs regularly, it’s part of trying jokes out. And people’s senses of humor are so subjective depending on where you’re performing. So I’ve learned not to dwell on a comedy bomb too much.

When I’m playing my own songs and people are talking at the bar or not paying attention, it’s super existentially lonely, because I’M POURING OUT MY SOUL and it feels much more like indifference to my pain. Does that make sense? I think it’s way harder to be a musician. I take it so much more personally when people don’t like my music than when they don’t like my comedy. I’m much more protective and precious about my songs than my jokes.

You were previously the lead singer of San Fermin. What did leaving that world and building something independently teach you?

I love San Fermin with all my heart and I have nothing but gratitude for those years. Interestingly, right after I left in 2019, the pandemic hit. So I had to take a step back and decide what was next. I took an acting class that led me to my director, Jennifer Monaco, who ended up directing Tiger Daughter and Diversity Shredder. So I think leaving that world taught me to slow down, plant the tiny seeds of my different artistic curiosities and see what would bloom. Turns out that everything is blooming in a big way now, 6 years later! 

Your “Every Taylor Swift Song” parody became hugely viral. Were you surprised by how strongly audiences responded to that kind of musical Comedy?

Yes!! I thought I was going to get mauled by Swifties. Instead, Swifties loved it because they felt so seen. I don’t have very many musical comedy icons except for like, Tenacious D, Flight of the Conchords, Fred Armisen, and Bo Burnham. So I’m kind of paving my own way of what I find funny, educational and interesting. This is the kind of thing I think about all the time anyway, so I was delighted to find out that there are a lot of other people in the world who think the way I do.

What inspired Diversity Shredder?

Diversity Shredder is about the years I spent feeling like the DEI hire in the music industry, where I would shred behind various white pop stars for a living. I was very in-demand because everybody wanted a hot Asian woman guitar player who looked like Cassandra from Wayne’s World. This show is about me trying to find my artistic voice and fighting for my individuality, while also trying to get that bag and become famous by association. Ultimately, it’s a big roast of the music industry, but it’s also a love letter to music. I’m so proud of it and I can’t wait to share it at Fringe.  

Charlene Kaye: Diversity Shredder performs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 5^th – 30^th (not 11^th, 18^th & 25^th). For more information visit: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/charlene-kaye-diversity-shredder