Meet Rivers Langley | Stand-Up Comedian & Podcaster

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rivers Langley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rivers, why did you pursue a creative career?
I really do think the 2007-2008 financial crisis did a number on folks my age. Creative people who may have been corralled into more traditional career paths no longer had that option. It’s Hunter S. Thompson’s old axiom: “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro”. I graduated college with a liberal arts degree in 2009. There was never going to be a conventional career path for me. I worked at my college radio station for all four years at Auburn University. That’s where I got a deep love and appreciation for broadcasting. Then, when I started doing stand-up, I wasn’t funny yet but at least I knew mic control.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m a stand-up comedian and a podcaster. I’m proud to say that I produce one of the longest-running independent comedy podcasts in Los Angeles, :The Goods from the Woods”. We started the show back in 2013 as part of the Westside Comedy Theater’s now-defunct podcast network. Within months, the new slate of podcasts being produced by the network had almost all fizzled out because podcasting is kinda hard to keep up with and can be unrewarding at first. Stand-up comedians thrive on that instant reaction they get from the audience so, if your new podcast isn’t immediately a huge hit, it can feel discouraging. I would say it took about three years for us to truly get a steady audience. We’d get little pops here and there from episodes with big guests, but it took a little while to cultivate a dedicated following. That said, I never really focused on that aspect of things. I genuinely love making funny stuff and this is the medium I’m most qualified to do that in. I don’t see a time where I’ll stop wanting to do the show. If a million people want to come along for the ride, that’s great. If it’s just a few hundred, that’s also great. I’m doing this regardless because I love it.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
So, my day job here in Los Angeles is as a private tour guide. It’s not like the big red buses you see around town. I drive an unmarked minivan and take one group at a time, usually families, to all the tourist sites and wherever else they want to go. I don’t know if there is another city in the world that’s less obvious than Los Angeles, California. This place is huge and overwhelming and, if you’ve never been here before and don’t have a local showing you all the cool stuff, you might go back home disappointed. I don’t just say that because it’s my job. Every Angeleno reading this knows it’s true. So, with that in mind, we start in Koreatown. If you want to just throw your friend headfirst into a completely different dining experience, head over to Dan Sung Sa. It’s got dark wooden walls and is a little cramped but the atmosphere is absolutely incredible. You feel like you’ve left the country entirely. The food is delicious. It’s almost like a Korean tapas bar. Everything is meant to be passed around the table.

After that, you’ve set the tone that I think is necessary for any host showing first-timers around L.A. and that is defying expectations. This place is not what you think it is. Most of my friends are broke as a joke so I’m probably going to skip out on any trendy Beverly Hills or West Hollywood restaurants and really focus on all the incredible taco trucks, roadside donut stands, noodle shops, all night diners, and the other culinary delights that populate L.A.’s numerous unassuming strip malls and parking lots.

Personally, I love taking people out to Point Dume in Malibu. I also love the Gardena Bowl. It’s a bowling alley with a Hawaiian resturant attached to it. As far as bars go, I’m not much of a drinker but if there’s rum and fruit and a fun ceramic mug involved, I’m there. Los Angeles invented the tiki bar so find a good one and take your friend there. I recommend the Bamboo Club in Long Beach, Tiki Ti in Silver Lake, or Tonga Hut in the Valley.

As far as sightseeing goes, people who live here might not like it but you kinda have to show people the touristy stuff. Don’t act like you’re above it. My advice is to hit Hollywood Boulevard first thing in the morning to avoid the crowds. Parking is free at Griffith Observatory in the morning. Drive them down Rodeo and you’re done before noon. Once you’ve checked all those places off the list, your friend is happy and now you can move on to more fun local stuff.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to shout out WEGL 91.1 FM in Auburn, Alabama. When I started at Auburn University, the radio station was just barely coasting along. There were maybe ten live D.J.s that came in during the week. My friend Chandler and I started our radio show in the fall of 2005 and, by the time we graduated, my friend group had essentially taken over the station. My first experience writing jokes was working on the WEGL News show every day. We’d cover the headlines and then immediately go into funny and weird stories. Then we’d open up the phones and talk to our listeners on air. It’s not too dissimilar from the podcast I do now. WEGL put on live events and concerts so I learned about production and promotion. I learned how to run a show. I had the feeling that I’d found my tribe there. The WEGL kids were all a little bit different but we supported each other. It was a weird clique but it was ours. It’s the same kind of support system that I’d find later on entering the world of stand-up comedy, just on a much larger scale.

Website: https://linktr.ee/TheGoodsPod

Instagram: @RiversLangley

Linkedin: Never

Twitter: @RiversLangley

Youtube: https://youtube.com/TheGoodsPod

Image Credits
Sam Harter, Christy Salinas, Blake Griffin, High 5 Productions, Darrell Nance