Charlene Kaye

Apr 2, 2026

Charlene Kaye, a New York musician-comic who toured with big rock acts and made a viral Taylor Swift pastiche. She talks about turning family stories into stage shows, mixing music and stand-up, building Diversity Shredder, writing catchy hooks for social platforms, and performing for mixed fanbases. Short, funny, and full of stagecraft tales.

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ANECDOTE

How A Notebook About Mom Became A Show

Charlene Kaye started doing comedy by turning a notebook of stories about her immigrant mother into a casual works-in-progress show.
She presented Tiger Daughter as a family-style PowerPoint in a Zoom-class WIP and people laughed, revealing material for a one-woman show.

INSIGHT

Music Structure Shapes Her Comedy Pacing

Charlene treats comedy like music: build, tension, payoff and audience trust matter more than punchline density.
Her music sense informs joke pacing and flips in songs where a punchline becomes a cathartic resolution.

ANECDOTE

New Joke Feeling Matches Shredding High

Charlene says the thrill of landing a new joke mirrors the rush of shredding guitar for thousands of people.
Even after years as a musician, she feels the same 'golden god' adrenaline when an unfamiliar joke or bit lands.

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Charlene Kaye is a musician and comedian based in New York who has toured the world, opening for bands like the Arctic Monkeys and Metallica. You may have seen her "Every Taylor Swift Song" skit which now sits at out 100 million views - or in her two cover bands, Guns N’ Hoses (all-girl GNR) and Labiahead (all girl Radiohead).

She's now back with her new show Diversity Shredder, including dates at London's Underbelly. In this episode we discuss:

why Tenacious D and Flight of the Conchords works so well
is the feeling of being a rockstar and a comedian the same thing?
does being successful in one creative field help starting in stand-up
building her first stand-up show from a notebook about her mum
performing to incompatible fan bases
hacking algorithms through retention loops and hook writing
how a Taylor Swift parody changed everything
and we find out if Charlene is happy...

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how ego shows up differently in music vs comedy
when your safety net becomes part of the act
and turning real-life tension into art

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Catch Up with Charlene: Charlene Kaye: Diversity Shredder is at at London's Underbelly next week on Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th April. You find out more live dates at kayeofficial.com. You can also follow her on Instagram, @charlenekaye.

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Everything I'm up to: Come and see me LIVE including dates in Bristol, London, Manchester, Stoke, Marlborough, LA and Mach! Find out all the info and more at stuartgoldsmith.com/comedy. Discover my comedy about the climate crisis, for everyone from activists to CEOs, at stuartgoldsmith.com/climate.

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