Taylor Tomlinson! | Are You Garbage Comedy Podcast w/ Kevin Ryan & H. Foley
Overview
Kippy and Foley welcome Taylor Tomlinson to the backyard for a first-time Are You Garbage sit-down. After a cold-open plug for the American Garbage special and Army of Garbage tour dates, Foley’s warm intro misfires on her early-career timeline (she was still in high school in 2013), then they dig into Central California roots people keep misreading as Midwestern, a hyper-religious childhood, church-circuit standup at 16, her mom’s death and a stepmom who modeled career work ethic, Disneyland-as-family-vacation (including hospice tickets right after the funeral), Harry Potter banned as “satanic,” dad’s grades-and-treadmill house rules, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo vs needing a real comedy scene, and the long Christian-comedy money runway before she started swearing onstage. Ad reads: Brunt Workwear, GLD, BetterHelp, Warby Parker. Late board goes full garbage audit — Lesser Evil tote-bag movie snacks, Diet Coke mini-cans, Hu chocolate, AMC Stubs, Delta Diamond / first-class, hard-boiled airport eggs, shoes-on / seat-up plane manners, booking her own flights and openers — before Kippy grades her “Temecula trash / classy trash.” Close: Actually Nevermind essays plug and February tour.
Timestamp directory
- 0:00 Cold open — American Garbage special is live; numbers cooking; share it.
- 0:09 Army of Garbage tour shout — Appleton, San Jose, San Diego, Tacoma, Atlanta, Philly, Springfield, Fort Wayne, Connecticut, Phoenix, Timonium, Milwaukee, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus; tickets at areyougarbage.com.
- 0:35 Show open — Are You Garbage; Kippy & Foley; Toddy’s new addition / limearitas bit; Patreon plug.
- 1:42 Taylor intro — first-time guest; Foley overshoots the 2013 “you were already a company” timeline; she corrects (HS class of 2011; full-time at 21).
- 4:15 Origin ask — Central California, not Midwest; round friendly face / “cornfield” misreads; Midwestern-accent myth.
- 5:08 Standup at 16 — church comedy class with dad + Karen; Christian-circuit opens; performing in churches until ~18.
- 6:06 Very religious / sheltered upbringing; mom dies when she’s a kid; dad music teacher → real estate; stepmom as work-ethic model.
- 10:36 Sibling inventory — Taylor oldest of four; hosts flip the table (Irish twins / half-brothers).
- 11:42 Money growing up — pretty poor early (teacher dad, mom in hospital); later stepmom / dad real-estate team; Dustin Nickerson as grounded married comic foil.
- 17:06 First car — white Oldsmobile bench seat; “I’d rather be quilting” plate frame; freeway terror.
- 18:50 Ad read: Brunt Workwear — code GARBAGE.
- 20:40 Ad read: GLD jewelry — code GARBAGE.
- 22:00 First jobs — pizza cashier; Soup Plantation / Sweet Tomatoes; waxing-salon cashier; Foley’s late start at 32 (Philly actor crash-out → open mic).
- 24:40 Local celebrity void — Olivia Rodrigo / Temecula name-drop; Modesto / George Lucas foil; Temecula as freeway island between SD and LA.
- 26:31 Family vacation = day-trip Disneyland; overnight Disneyland Hotel via hospice free tickets right after mom died.
- 27:48 Passport / Nutella as adult firsts — “trash markers” board.
- 28:30 Bedroom posters — inspirational quote cards (near live-laugh-love); Harry Potter until dad calls it satanic (~9–12).
- 30:00 Kitchen culture — babysitters / assemble-not-cook dinners; no family signature dish; grace every time; colored → white Christmas lights class climb; adult double-tree (white display + colorful bedroom).
- 34:30 First concert as adult — The Killers in Vegas; band-kid social life; grounded all summer without straight A’s; books put in storage; TV only on the treadmill.
- 39:00 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo — planned teacher / YA novelist; no standup scene in the beach town; realized she needed clubs.
- 39:44 Ad read: BetterHelp — betterhelp.com/garbage.
- 40:46 Ad read: Warby Parker — warbyparker.com/garbage.
- 42:36 Christian comedy circuit money at 16; responsible-with-money vs “I can’t teach investing”; downtime = read / hike / AMC Stubs / coffee-shop writing with no deadline.
- 47:00 Writing craft — punchlines on paper vs “writing on stage”; recording / listening to sets; John Madden tape quote foil.
- 50:00 Movie-date theology — AMC Stubs (up to four/week); sneak Lesser Evil popcorn in a Ziploc + Diet Coke can + Hu dark chocolate sea salt; theater Diet Coke with ice when buying.
- 55:00 Acid reflux / caffeine / SmartSweets cloud candy digression.
- 58:00 Delta Diamond / first-class since ~2022; avoid United bump theater; Chick-fil-A grilled nuggets smell sin; hard-boiled airport eggs “for health.”
- 59:00 Plane manners showdown — eggs vs shoes-off vs seat-back; she keeps shoes on / seat up; books own flights and openers mid-air.
- 1:04:00 Plane TV — Tulsa King / Yellowstone-adjacent dad shows; dads with teen daughters as her unexpected fan lane.
- 1:05:53 Verdict beat — “Midwest classy broad” flipped to Temecula / California trash; she self-labels classy trash; catch vs red-flag dating frame.
- 1:08:57 Close — Actually Nevermind book congrats; Army of Garbage tour; Taylor February tour via taylortomlinsoncomedy.com / @TaylorTomlinson.
Stories
The 2013 intro that aged her up
1:42 Foley tries to crown her as already “a company” when the boys were slogging the Village in 2013. Taylor won’t take the free myth — high school class of 2011, full-time at 21, barely in New York yet. She jokes the miss actually proves he wasn’t creepy about teens. The board keeps circling calendar math the rest of the hour.
Church-class origin
5:08 A woman from church (Karen) drags dad into a Christian comic’s class; Taylor, dad, and Karen take it together. She opens for that comic, works churches into 18, and only later flips the “tortured CBGB’s kid” story she wishes she’d had. Sheltered, serious Christian house — Catholic-guilt cousins on the host side for contrast.
Hospice tickets to Disneyland
26:31 Family “vacation” was mostly day-trip Disneyland because it was an hour away. The one overnight at the Disneyland Hotel came right after mom died — hospice handed free tickets someone had donated. She was eight; younger siblings even younger. Whiplash memory she still leads with when asked where they traveled.
Harry Potter vs the devil
28:30 Inspirational postcard quotes on the walls. Harry Potter gets her through the years after mom dies (~9–12), then dad decides magic is satanic and it’s out of the house. Later she notes the books also predate the modern Rowling discourse — another layer of “can’t enjoy it now.”
Grounded from books / TV on the treadmill
34:30 No straight A’s → grounded all summer, friends and phone gone. One summer dad puts her books in storage. TV only if the whole family is watching — or if she’s on the treadmill. A friend’s parent tells ~11-year-old Taylor she’s going to “go crazy in college.” She didn’t; the system “didn’t not work,” which she flags as its own problem.
Movie tote: classy dirtbag
50:00 AMC Stubs member who will see four films in an Oscar week. Sneaks Lesser Evil (coconut-oil) popcorn in a Ziploc, a cold Diet Coke can, and Hu sea-salt dark chocolate in a tote. Buys the big iced Diet Coke when she buys anything. Hosts audit Ziploc juice climate vs theater butter chemicals; she owns the clear-bag pattern on planes too.
Hard-boiled eggs at altitude
59:00 Delta Diamond / first class since the early COVID years. Won’t take shoes off or put the seat back. Will eat airport hard-boiled eggs “for health” because the sealed ones supposedly don’t smell — while roasting cabin shrimp / clam chowder. Hosts take the eggs shot; she fires back shoes-off hypocrisy. She also books her own flights and openers when the team is three minutes slow.
Temecula trash / classy trash
1:05:53 Kippy thought Midwest classy broad; tape says Central California / Temecula. She offers “classy trash,” then the dating frame — huge catch or huge red flag on the same résumé. Eggs in first class + sneaked Diet Coke become the exhibit stickers. Nobody changes their snack behavior.
People
Kevin Ryan (Kippy)
Co-host. Tour reads, Brunt/GLD/BetterHelp/Warby blocks, Temecula-trash verdict. 0:35
H. Foley
Co-host. 2013 intro misfire; Philly actor → comedy at 32; shoes-off plane defense. 0:35
Taylor Tomlinson
Guest. Stand-up; essays collection Actually Nevermind; February tour. Central California / Temecula years; church-circuit start at 16. 1:42
Olivia Rodrigo
Named as another Temecula-adjacent famous person she didn’t overlap with. 24:40
George Lucas
Modesto name-drop while talking fringe California cities. 24:40
The Killers
Her first concert — Vegas, as an adult, with friend Victoria. 34:30
Dustin Nickerson
Road friend / married comic with kids she cites as grounded foil. Unlinked.
Taylor’s dad
Music teacher turned real estate; church class partner; strict grades / Harry Potter ban / books-in-storage summer. Family — unlinked.
Taylor’s mom
Died when Taylor was a kid; hospital years; stay-at-home contrast to stepmom. Family — unlinked.
Taylor’s stepmom
Career real-estate partner; work-ethic model for “career woman” path. Family — unlinked.
Taylor’s siblings
Three younger siblings; oldest-daughter frame. Family — unlinked.
Places
Central California — Hometown region; people keep hearing Midwest. 4:15
Temecula, California — ~10–18 years; “freeway island” between San Diego and LA; verdict joke. 24:40
Disneyland / Disneyland Hotel — Day-trip vacation default; hospice overnight after mom’s death. 26:31
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo — College; great for engineers, dead for standup clubs. 39:00
Las Vegas — First concert (The Killers). 34:30
New York / the Village — Hosts’ early slog vs her later arrival. 1:42
Philadelphia — Foley’s restart city / open-mic origin. 22:00
Modesto / Bakersfield / Fresno — Fringe-city name-checks in the Temecula talk. 24:40
Products
Actually Nevermind — Taylor Tomlinson Amazon — New essays collection plugged at open and close. 1:08:57
Lesser Evil popcorn — Coconut-oil / “butter” style she sneaks into theaters in a Ziploc. 50:00
Hu dark chocolate (sea salt) — Tote-bag movie flex. 50:00
AMC Stubs — Monthly plan; up to four movies a week. 50:00
SmartSweets cloud candy — Low-sugar candy digression. 55:00
taylortomlinsoncomedy.com — February tour tickets. 1:08:57
Army of Garbage tour — Hosts’ live dates. 0:09
Diet Coke (mini cans) — Movie / reflux talk; sneaked can vs big iced fountain. Unlinked grocery. 50:00
Nexium — Acid-reflux mention in the Diet Coke lane. OTC/clinical — no Amazon. 55:00
Ads
- Brunt Workwear (18:50) — bruntworkwear.com · code GARBAGE ($10 off as read).
- GLD (20:40) — gld.com · code GARBAGE (40% off new customers as read).
- BetterHelp (39:44) — betterhelp.com/garbage · code GARBAGE (10% off as read).
- Warby Parker (40:46) — warbyparker.com/garbage · buy one pair, 20% off additional pairs as read.
Passing, unlinked:
Karen (church comedy classmate), friend Victoria (Killers concert), babysitters, New Guy Luke (candy bit), host family / kids / wives, Taylor’s younger cousins (Harry Potter era), Soup Plantation / Sweet Tomatoes coworkers, Christian-circuit comics, Foley’s theater-school circle, unnamed friend’s parent who predicted a college spiral, airport bump couple (Cancun $800), opener comics whose flights she books.
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