SPENCER CIHAK: Happy to be joined today via video call with comedian and motivational speaker Tanyalee Davis. Tanyalee, thank you so much for taking the time.
TANYALEE DAVIS: Oh, absolutely appreciate it. Thank you.
SPENCER CIHAK: It's a very busy week ahead, with shows starting Thursday in Belleville and stops in San Antonio and Austin before heading to McAllen on Sunday at the Cine El Rey. And Monday, you'll be at the Performing Arts Center at Texas A&M- Corpus Christi. What can people expect?
TANYALEE DAVIS: Well, first of all, I got to tell everybody, it's hard to tell on film, I am three-foot-three-inches tall, so I am in the Guinness Book of World Records for the shortest comedian in the world. And so not everything is bigger in Texas, everybody. So I've been doing stand up comedy for nearly 36 years all over the world, and but in the last five years, my act has turned more like a TED Talk, more sort of inspirational, motivational, being a little person and traveling around the world for 36 years, people have sort of underestimated me, but my have a tattoo on my forearm that says unstoppable me, and that's my mantra. It's not letting my size, height, weight, color, gender, religion, politics, disability define who a person is. We are all capable of amazing things. And then my fellow comedian, Michael Glatzmaier, we joined forces, and he's got his own unique story, and the two of us have decided to come together and do some shows, but also film a comedy travel show along this incredible journey that we are about to take on. So the calm the show is, Michael does guitar stuff and is like a musical comedian, and then I'm a storyteller, so you're gonna get a whole gamut across the board with our show.
SPENCER CIHAK: Sounds so fun. What was that process like getting the Guinness World Record?
TANYALEE DAVIS: Well, I mean, I'm shrinking, so I'll probably hold on to that title for God knows how long. Yeah, no, they just, they called me up. A friend of mine actually has been holding the record. His name is Imaan. He's an Australian comedian, Iranian born, and he's like, three foot seven or something. He's been holding on to the title. And at my tallest, I was three foot eight, but I've been shrinking. So I've lost five inches so far. And, yeah, pretty soon I'll just be a head on a platter, but I'm in it till I'm not, baby.
SPENCER CIHAK: What's it been like filming the travel show through Texas?
TANYALEE DAVIS: Well, we started off only two days. This is like day number three, essentially. And so just November 30, I was up at the bright hour of 4:30 in the morning to get to my seven o'clock flight, which then got delayed 90 minutes, which then continued to get delays. I was supposed to arrive at 10:30 into New Orleans in the morning and then drive to South Padre Island. 10 hours. I didn't arrive to New Orleans till four. No bags, scooter was kind of jacked up. Met up with the boys finally, and then we didn't make it all the way to South Padre Island. We made it to Victoria, Texas, but 22 hours of traveling made for a very interesting first day and quite a bit of stress, but we made it here yesterday, and now we're just kind of getting the logistics. We had a wonderful dinner last night with some friends. Got to feed a baby kangaroo. So I mean, if that's day number one and you get to feed a baby kangaroo in a restaurant in South Padre Island, things are going to get even better.
SPENCER CIHAK: I know it was a long first day. Just what were your thoughts of Victoria? We have a lot of listeners over there.
TANYALEE DAVIS: Oh, well, hello, Victoria. Your Super 8 is phenomenal. Oh, yes, yes. Oh, budget. We spare no expense here. Yeah, and I mean, we got in at whatever two o'clock in the morning, woke up and it was slashing down with rain and cold. We got back in the car and just headed off. So Victoria, yep, we didn't get to experience much of you, but thank you for the hospitality.
SPENCER CIHAK: Now the 'Unstoppable Me' tour is of a very powerful message just the process of crafting the show. What was that like for you?
TANYALEE DAVIS: Well, for me, I don't really craft a show these days, because what I've realized — and this is the difference for a comedian that's been doing it over three decades — is I've evolved, which is great as a human being in any regard, and my act is really evolved in it. It's because of social media. When the lockdown happened and I couldn't perform, I took to TikTok and stuff. So I usually talk an hour to two hours a day on social media. And, you know, just engaging with people, people are asking me questions. So I talk about my life, and my husband was like, 'You need to do what you do online on stage.' But it takes a different level of confidence to be a storyteller, because you're not getting, you know, stand up here like Joke, joke, joke, and you're hammering people, but it's a storyteller. You're taking people on a journey and being, you know, three-foot-three-inches tall, traveling around the world with a dynamic personality. I'm a good storyteller, and I realize that now. So I've got a new level of confidence. And so, you know, I've got, I just turned 55 and I've got 55 years of life experience to talk about. So my show is always different, and I love that aspect. And obviously, with us doing some fun things, and throughout this next three weeks, got a lot more stories to tell. So the show is always changing. And so that's exciting.
SPENCER CIHAK: Where in the world has been your favorite place to travel to?
TANYALEE DAVIS: Okay, so I counted the other day. I've been to 29 countries. I have performed in 15 countries. My favorite country to perform is Scotland. Best audiences in the world. They don't have a, you know, the pole up their backsides. They are very like, 'We like to wee lass with a nice a—.' And, you know, they just, they're up for a great time, great audiences. My favorite place to travel that I've been to so far is the island of Malta in the Mediterranean, south of Sicily. I've been there twice on on vacation, and absolutely love it. Yeah, lots of history, easy to get around English speaking. It's just got so many benefits. Yeah, lovely,
SPENCER CIHAK: What is your your favorite thing about Texas?
TANYALEE DAVIS: Well, like I said, not everything's bigger in Texas. No, I mean good people. You know, great food, good for good time, hard working people I find, you know, Texas is, is, I don't know, I find more 'blue collar-y,' you know, hard labor people, and those are the people that are the best audiences. I mean, you know, I used to live in Los Angeles, and comedians that live in Los Angeles, that only do shows in Los Angeles can't relate to other people in the world. But when you travel to different places, you realize that the hard working people are the salt-of-the-earth people, and when they're going to spend their money on a comedy show, you know, they're up for a good time. They're not, they're not, like, 'Prove to me that you're funny' or, you know, because people that are New York LA, they get so jaded, right? The big city people. So I'm all about performing in the middle of nowhere, places, you know, where, just where people are up for a good time and, and just, you know, because comedy is so needed right now, with the way the worlds are, right? Everything's so divisive, and we need to laugh at ourselves and the people around us, because that actually brings people together. So that's, you know, that's what I love about my show, and that's what I love about performing, and that's why I love coming to Texas, baby.
SPENCER CIHAK: What is the importance of being able to kind of find humor in oneself? And it's something that you've definitely become a master at, and have a lot of jokes about, that everyone really enjoys.
TANYALEE DAVIS: Absolutely well being a dwarf, you know, my entire life, when I started school, of course, started getting bullied and all that sort of thing. But using humor to diffuse those types of situations was sort of my, my fallback. And from a young age, I knew I wanted to be a performer. And then, like I said, evolving, I've realized, you know, over the last, say, 10, most of my career that, you know, the minute I get up on stage, people are uncomfortable. 'What's gonna happen? Oh, look, she's struggling,' 'It's so difficult for her to get up on stage,' or 'She's being carried on stage,' nowadays. And so people get this, and then I get up there, and I go, bam!! And I just, it's like, you could feel a weight being lifted off the audience. They're like, 'Oh. She's cool, we got this.' And because my show is educational, inspirational, motivational and funny, it's different layers. And I love that aspect of my show, because people come away going, 'You know what? I had no idea about that. I learned so much in your show, and my sides hurt from laughing.' So I really love that aspect of my show. It's got, it's it's got substance to it, and and comedy, like, I'm a firm believer that being offended is a choice, right? People get so caught up and they're like, 'Oh, my mental health is poor.' And I'm like, Yeah, but you're offended by everything. So guess what? You're the problem. Lighten up. You know, if you're internalizing everything that comes at you, you know you're going to be a hot mess. If I let every time some dumb a— say something ruin my day, I'd never leave the house. But at the end of the day, you don't let strangers dictate your emotional well being. You got to be strong minded. You've got to be resilient. You got to roll with the punches, because life's going to kick you in the biscuits, and you got to keep going forward being unstoppable.
SPENCER CIHAK: A fantastic message. Tanyalee, is there anything people should know before coming to the show on either Monday or Sunday for our South Texas listeners and McAllen?
TANYALEE DAVIS: Well, you guys get your tickets in advance. Please spread the word. We are a grassroots operation. We are doing this on our own, with the help of our lovely venues and their support. But you know, we need to get the word out there and what you know, this is just the beginning, so you guys get on board in the beginning and help us ride this, this train, because I really believe we have something special to offer, and it's gonna be a great time!
SPENCER CIHAK: Tanyalee, thank you so much for the time
TANYALEE DAVIS: My pleasure.
