Katherine Blanford is coming home for the holidays.
Blanford, a Louisville native, has traveled the country performing stand-up comedy. She will be headlining at the Louisville Comedy Club Dec. 21-23 and performing stories about Louisville on Saturday.
She has been rising fast, performing on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and on Bert Kreischer’s Fully Loaded Tour as well at festivals and comedy clubs across the country.
She will be joined at LCC by her "Cheaties" podcast co-host, Lace Larrabee.
Blanford took the time to answer some questions ahead of her upcoming shows.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
LEO Weekly: As someone who tours all over the country, what’s different about performing in Louisville?
Katherine Blanford: The dope thing about bringing this tour to Louisville is that it’s very Louisville-influenced. I yo-yo back and forth between where I’m at now and my childhood. There are very specific stories about Louisville that hit hard in every other part of the country, but it hits deeper with the people that lived in it with you.
Wait until you hear the port-a-potty racing in the Infield at the Derby stories. There are people from Connecticut to California who may come to the Derby next year just to see that.
You grew up in Louisville, went to college in South Carolina, worked in Orlando, started standup in Atlanta, and have since moved to Los Angeles. Do you think moving around the country and experiencing these different cities has helped you relate to a larger audience?
Fo sho. You learn real quick that there are bubbles everywhere and not to assume what bubble you’re in. There are surprise bubbles within bigger bubbles. Like Huntsville, Alabama, where there is a NASA space center in the middle of Alabama. It’s like oil sitting on top of water.
I’ve learned what works in the Pacific Northwest and in Tulsa and New York City and in Santa Monica and in Ohio. The best is when one thing that kills somewhere else doesn’t hit as hard in a new market, but someone will come up to you after a show and almost whisper to you like they’re about to get exposed. They’ll tell you how much that bit meant to them and how it made them feel seen. That makes me feel like a superhero.
You released your debut album Salt Daddy, which reached number one on iTunes in 2022. Since the album release, have you changed as a comedian?
Since that album released, I hit the road as a professional touring comedian for the first time ever. That album was curated on material developed doing 8-10-minute-ish sets in Atlanta and the surrounding markets. This new hour was developed touring the entire country while I was on stage for an hour-plus.
I’ve learned how to paint a picture, bring people on a journey, weave in and out of high and low energy, and how an hour set is a dance.
It wasn’t easy at first. I had many a panic attack on the road learning how to perform at the next level in the moment. But I knew the pain was necessary and I’m proud of the product that was birthed from it.
Do I sound like Beyoncé? I just want to be like Beyoncé.
You worked as an event manager for the London Olympics. If you could compete in any Olympic sport, which would it be?
Golf. Those dudes make so much money playing well into their old age and maybe drunk.
You host the hilarious podcast "Cheaties" with Lace Larrabee, which has consistently been ranked in Podcast Magazine’s Hot 50. In one episode, you mention you listen to “CDs from 1997 and alien theory podcasts” while on tour. Do you think there are any alien species out there that do some form of standup comedy?
Whoa, throwback! I’d like to think there are alien versions of me and Taylor Swift out there, but in their reality, she is a stand-up comedian and I am a pop star. It fits because we’re both bad at dancing and it shows in our art.
Is there anything else you’d like to add ahead of your upcoming shows?
“Really, I just want to say thank you to the city for supporting me. The shows will be a blast so bring the whole family out. Instead of drunk fighting about politics, bring Uncle Dave to my show so he has to shut up and watch me try to twerk.”
Ticket Link:
https://www.louisvillecomedy.com/events/78889
Social Links:
https://www.facebook.com/KatherineBlanfordComedy/
https://www.instagram.com/itskatherineblanford/?hl=en
https://www.tiktok.com/@itskatherineblanford?lang=en
