SPEAKER_03 0:00

I saw your music video.

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Oh, genetic rodeo. Yeah. Oh, because the grandma.

SPEAKER_03 0:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Uh that was my first question. Is that who played the grandma?

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Oh my gosh. I am so glad you asked. It was my grandma. No, um, it was my amazing friend Jackie Smook. Um, she is incredible. Oh my gosh, you would love her. Um, but she she was like, but what if? What if I did a full mask? And I'm like, Jacob, what do you think? I mean, I think this is gonna be great or horrible. And then, you know, Jacob and I were just like, you know what? We're gonna lean in. It's already like absurd. So like, let's just go for it. And I order this mask. It is so terrifying. And she has to put it on and it's like peeling off of her face. And like, I gave her my makeup brush. We were not prepared for how much work goes into putting on a grandma mask. And you can see in the video how crumbly and disgust she couldn't talk.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

She was she was like, That like ending moment where the grandma's peeking under the table. I'm like, grandma, please join her and let's keep it going for another three or four minutes. I know. Let's just go.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

There could have been so much. Jackie was like, um, so I have this idea. And I'm like, great, like this is collaborative. And she's like, so I'm thinking I do like a cartwheel across the room and like get on the table. I'm like, if we had room, yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:43

I think we need like a separate movie just for this grandma character because she's when someone can make you laugh, hit a note, and clock exactly why your content isn't performing. That's a dangerous combo. Like triple threat, but also secretly running the group chat. Welcome back to Ilse Will Say, the place where people told me to pick a niche, and I said, sure, I pick actors who can also sing, do celebrity impressions, and probably fix your Instagram engagement while they're at it. Welcome back to my brain. I'm Ilse, your host, your wait, is this a bit or are you actually that talented friend? And your go-to for conversations that live somewhere between performance and real life. And today's guest. She's one of those people who doesn't just uh perform, she connects, whether it's through sharp, spot-on impressions, music that uh actually hits you in the chest, or content that knows how to find its audience. She figures out how to blend artistry with intention. She's a multi-hyphenate in the truest sense of comedy, music, acting, and behind the scenes, she's also shaping the digital presence of top comedians and musicians, which means she knows the game from both sides. Basically, funny, talented, and knows why your last post flopped. Please welcome the very funny, very versatile, and quietly strategic, Paige Galdieri.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Oh my gosh. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

That was I wish. Can can you record? Well, we have that recorded actually now. I'm gonna play that at the beginning of all of my meetings with all of my clients so they remember. How amazing you are. Hello. Yeah, you should post that.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

I love it. Yeah, I'm like um the WWE like announcer. Yeah!

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Yeah! Oh my gosh. I love it. We that just sparked a memory. In college, I was in this sketch group, and we for some reason one of the the members was like a big fan of WWE. And what's the big thing that they have? Um their big event.

SPEAKER_03 4:10

Smackdown?

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Like WrestleMania? Yes, WrestleMania. You know, they're their big show. Um their performance? They're they're big performance. Yeah, yeah. We had a whole event. It was like an immersive WrestleMania sketch show. Stop it. Did somebody do like The Undertaker? He's my favorite character. We made up our own characters, and but the saddest part is we had this whole day, we could only do it this one day, like whatever. And my aunts from New Jersey drove in. I went to school in Philly, and they drove in and I hadn't seen them. We were all excited, and there was a fire alarm that went off and wouldn't stop, and the show got canceled halfway through. So we never got to see WrestleMania through.

SPEAKER_03 5:04

And you couldn't put it on again because, like No, it's lost media. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

It's lost media, but that just brought back that memory, and I feel like that I don't know. I guess it spoke to me in a way that it needs to come back.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

I think so. I think so. Was it sketch or improv? It was sketch. Oh my god, so how did it actually end? Please ruin it for me. Do you remember? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

It got swept away in the you got a lot of things going on. Yeah. Listen, I remember there were wigs. I was I was like there was like two moms fighting, and I was one of the moms. Yeah. Nice.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

So for for when it comes up again, um, the Undertaker is this wrestler who um his signature move is he like flips you uh upside down with your head to the floor like a plank, and then he just like picks you up and smashes your head to the ground, and oh my god, it's fucking crazy. And that's like his finishing move, and that's why he but we want a bunch of stuff. Wow. So I'm just saying, if you need a closing act ever, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

I think that would that yeah, that would match my personality really well, just like given like my height and my stature, like just lifting people up, and like I can do that, definitely.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

I once had to like uh take this like six, how how tall is he? Like six three, six four guy in a show, in a theater show, and the the fire choreographer was awesome because he's like, We you need to take him down, and so I actually somehow had to grab onto his hands, put my legs onto his neck, and then somehow like weave around and so that he had to fall. Um, it was wild, it was awesome though. So I'm just saying you could be the undertaker if you really needed to. You're right.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

All of it's fake anyway. They like there's no way.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Yeah, no, there's no way that that's that that that's not legal. You'd do you'd be dead. No, you yeah, yeah, there's there's laws. I love that we went down this rabbit hole.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

I know, I'm sorry, I just went right in for that, but I love it, I love it.

SPEAKER_03 7:41

Okay, so um where so you're from Jersey and you went to school in Philly? Yeah. How did you end up in Chicago?

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Yeah, I've been all over the East Coast, born in Jersey. Then actually, I moved to Florida right before high school, and then I went to college in Philadelphia, and then for our I went to school for musical theater, so we did like a senior showcase, and an agency here in Chicago had seen it and was like, hey, we'd love to work with you. So I submitted stuff for them, and they signed me on. But I never really pictured myself coming to Chicago. I feel like at that point in my life, I had started meeting people out in LA, and I kind of thought that was like the direction I wanted to go. But I remember talking to my friend, and she was like, LA's always gonna be here. If you have an opportunity in Chicago, you have to take it. And I was like, You're so right. Like, why would I say no to these people that want to give me a chance and help me get my foot in the door in a great city that you know has a lot of comedy, which was something that I was interested in as well. So that brought me here, and now I don't want to leave. So you can't make me.

SPEAKER_03 8:57

How long ago was that? That was four years ago. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Four that's not too too long. No, no, but it's flown by. I remember like when I first moved here, and for so long, like meeting people, I'm like, yeah, I've only been here for like a couple months, like I've been here for four years. And I'm like, I can't imagine. Am I gonna make it four years here? But I can I can make it a lifetime, I think. So yeah, time flies, but how do you deal with the winters? They're they're brutal, but I mean, yeah. And it's like the best city ever. Right. And I know everyone says that, and outsiders roll their eyes, but it is so true. Like there is incredible nothing, and it is that um that Joe song, when I'm back in Chicago, I feel it. That like sums up like when when the sun is out and you're on that concrete beach, you're like, This is what life is all about. So that's how I get through it.

SPEAKER_03 10:06

Just like thinking of the other side. You're like, yeah, I'm just we're gonna get to the other side. No, I feel that uh deeply. Um, and then did you start comedy in Chicago or were you doing it elsewhere? And then are you doing second city, IO, anything like that?

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Yeah, I started in college, in improv and sketch comedy, and then that was the extent of it, really. Like I was really involved in college, and then moving here, I was excited that I was gonna be close to second city, so I took all the um the improv classes, improv for actors, and that was fun. And I wanted to audition for conservatory, and you can only miss like one class and you have to commit for so long, and it was never lining up. And but I think I'm gonna audition soon because I finally feel like I can go. And I know people probably have like mixed emotions and feelings about it, but I I think it'd be nice to put myself in a setting that like is mandatory and like make myself go to these things, and I do love it.

SPEAKER_03 11:16

I like I love how improv, um not just Second City, but like comedy uh schools or even acting schools in Chicago are like you need to take this seriously. You need to have you need to be here every single class, and you're like, um sorry, like me telling that joke is not gonna pay the bills.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Like I gotta Yeah, and it's like I'm paying you. If I'm paying you, let me do what I want. If I don't wanna go, I'm not gonna go.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

But I wanna go just to like classes at 9 a.m. I'm like, who's on a Tuesday? I'm like, who the who are you appealing to? Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Right, yeah, I get it, high demand, but it's it's hard to lock down, and then you know, if you have uh, you know, being an actor, you don't know when the next thing is gonna be. So like if something comes up, like like how can you really commit to that? So um But in bed so much fun.

SPEAKER_03 12:13

I know, like you're gonna meet so many goofballs, and you're gonna be like in the green room being like, you know, I I do miss that. I do miss being with like a bunch of creatives all the time.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Yes, I really like it is so lame to say this, but improv is one of my like therapies because I can just like be stupid and silly and not think about it. It feels so good, and I want that more in my life and less in like a well, conservatory will be like a classroom setting, of course, but I don't want to just like keep taking classes, I just want to like play and just have fun. So I'm I'm kind of on this new venture of just seeking out the joy again in performing and trying out some things. I think fear often gets in my way, whether it's just like fear of going to a drop-in class and not knowing what everyone else's skill level is like, and if I'm gonna match that, or just getting out of my comfort zone and leaving my house and going and doing this class and stepping outside.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

It gets cold. It's cold, man. It's hard to leave the house.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

It does, yeah. So yeah, I'm trying to find the joy again, and I think that's that's the never-ending um search for a creative person.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

I yeah, I definitely feel that. What do you think? Um, I love the stepping out of fear. I think fear holds a lot of folks back. I know for me it's perfectionism, like the fear of not being perfect. Sometimes um that that'll be there. But what in did like little page do? Like, what did like little page like how did she know that she wanted to be like this version of you?

unknown 14:12

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

I was one of those people that was performing since like I came out the womb with jazz hands and tap shoes. Like Liza Manelli helped birth me.

SPEAKER_03 14:28

So I I have seen those, I have seen those videos. They're so great.

SPEAKER_01 14:34

I, you know, she's my spirit animal, and she's the most it was so random. I don't know why I posted her one day, but like my grandma and like my girlfriend's aunts are like that Liza Manelli video is so good. Like she's a fan favorite. Oh my gosh. Um, but what was I saying? Oh, the reason I am, or what was what was I doing? Um yeah, I mean, my family will tell me stories like when I was little, my my aunt would be watching me and I'd like boss her around to like I'd make her play Dorothy while I was the wicked witch, and if she did something wrong, I was like, no, again, and like just like it had to be right. Right. Yeah, and if we were if my dad's in the wrong place in this show that I made him do with me, like God forbid, no, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:30

Let's go again and five.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Let's go again, eight. Oh my gosh, yeah. So I was always, always just performing, and then my mom signed me up for um theater classes or like a community theater um program for kids, and that was it. That that was the it, that was it. Yeah, the first role I ever had was Woodstock and Charlie Brown. I like flew across the stage and said one thing, and I was like, I am made for this. This is how I want to feel every day. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 16:10

Did they put you on little ropes and then like drag you across the no?

SPEAKER_01 16:14

I had to use my legs. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:24

Chicago's best kept secret. It's not deep-dish. It's Joel MySonette photography. He's legitimately the best, and it's about time that everybody knew. Actors, execs, LinkedIn Lurkers, book at mycinetphotography.com and thank me later. Alrighty, now we're going into hot cakes. All right, we're gonna drive it.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

See, I didn't even it's just my favorite quote is these aren't jazz hands.

unknown 17:08

These are jazz hands.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

I don't remember who I don't remember what movie, but it's single.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Oh my gosh. I hate that I did that.

SPEAKER_03 17:18

Cut it, cut it. Okay, okay. 60 seconds, 60 seconds. Okay. If you were a WWE entrance song, what would it be? Uh hot to go. Overwhelmed or overstimulated? Overstimulated. Who's your actor crush?

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Uh Kate Mening. From the O word. I don't want to say that. Best snack. Oh my gosh. It's uh white cheddar popcorn.

SPEAKER_03 17:47

The smartphone impression or original voice.

unknown 17:52

I don't know my original voice.

SPEAKER_03 17:54

Um impression. One word for your creative voice. Go. Loud. More powerful being funny or being sexy. Funny. Favorite movie. Dickie Roberts. You're funnier when you're tired or over caffeinated? Over caffeinated. If your career had a genre, what is it?

SPEAKER_00 18:22

A mockumentary?

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Maybe a mockumentary, I don't know. With lies of the Like, yeah. Yeah. Oh.

SPEAKER_03 18:37

That's great. That was great. Wait, what was your favorite movie?

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Um, Dickie Roberts. I don't know if that's true, though. I lied to you. Um it's with uh David Spade. I will say. I love David Spade. I love David Spade. It's his movie. He plays a child star that has grown up and is trying to have a comeback, and he decides to pay a family to let him live with them and like experience child a real childhood so he can play this role in a Rob Reiner movie. That's really funny. It's listen, it's like my family movie that we love and can quote. Like we have a group chat that has a name related to the movie, and like I've tried the the like green flag test with bringing people like boyfriends or girlfriends into the family is like sitting them down and watching it. And if they like chuckle even once or are not like hating the movie, we're like, all right, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 19:41

I just picture your entire family just like staring that extra portion down and being like, Can you sit with us?

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Can you sit with us? And it's like such a dumb movie, and like pro has not aged that well. So, like no, I mean, but you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:04

Um, what would also be incredible is to hear about any um paranormal stuff that might be um going on with you. I don't know, we get a little weird here. Um, so if you have any like fun, weird like wiki holes you're going down, or um any paranormal or any like I believe in Bigfoot kind of statements, I really appreciate those.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Um oh my gosh. Okay, I love this. So I have a couple stories. Let's go. Okay. Um, okay, this is kind of weird, but my college dorm was haunted by a I'm not gonna tell you by what just yet. Um I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you I'll reveal that. Yes, I'm good at that. Um so I'm actually terrible at telling stories because I like get somewhere and then I'm like, wait. Okay. All right. So all right, we're in my dorm room, right? Yeah, we're there. We're in my dorm room. And my roommates keep waking up with scratches on their stomachs or like on their arms, and we're like, this is kind of weird, don't you think? Or like I remember doing homework and having like a burning sensation, and I looked down and there was a scratch. So we're all like, this place is haunted. Somehow we find out that um there was a girl that lived in our dorm and she had a cat. And the cat it's not funny, but it's but the cat like jumped off the balcony and died. Wait, what? I thought the cat was gonna do the scratches. Well, in in In his afterlife is doing the scratches. Yeah. So that's that was our conclusion. With that, it must have been the cat.

unknown 22:12

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Yeah. That was a different end than I was expecting.

SPEAKER_03 22:17

I'm here for it. I'm here for it.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know much about it, but someone had a cat and our dorm, because our um campus was, it wasn't really a real campus. We were in the city in Philadelphia. So they were old apartments. And we had um, is it like a Romeo and Juliet like balcony situation? But they had screwed it shut, probably because cats are throwing themselves off there. I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. I shouldn't laugh. I'm so sorry, little kitty. I'm sorry, but um yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:54

But that was just shut.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

So the doors are shut now. But that was the only like real interaction, I guess I've had paranormal-wise. I went to um I'll have to send you these pictures after, but I went to St. Augustine in Florida, which is like the oldest city in America or town, um, which is crazy. Um, and I went on a ghost tour, and I remember taking pictures of like um like the lighthouse, there was an old jail, and I think an old graveyard. And after the tour, I was looking at my phone and or on my camera, and the screen was covered in orbs. I have never seen that many orbs. And like phone on my I had a camera. Oh. And you would think, uh, maybe it's dust. But if you look at the other photos, like the one in the jail cell, there's like a clump of orbs together, and like one over here, and like outside, the entire screen is like filled with orbs. And there's another one where there's only like two or three. I have them, I'll send them to you. They are please do. I still reference them. They're they're so insane. That's crazy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:18

Okay, I have heard that some orbs like okay. Now it's like me being like, oh, no, but I know. Please. No. Um, so there's this other podcast that I listened to, and apparently, like, orbs should not cross your body, because depending on the color or what they do, they could do like some damage. Inside wait, they shouldn't they shouldn't like you shouldn't cross like an orb or anything, because sometimes like that it doesn't have very good effects, apparently. I have never been near an orb, though I did take my aura picture. Have you ever done this? Yes, it was free, and I was like, I'll do it. And they they saw like little orbs around, and uh they were like, It's probably your loved ones, and that made me feel good, whether it's real or not.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Yeah, yeah, it's just comforting. I got that done, and mine was like uh an aura like a color reading, and she said that um my cat was looking over me because I had a cat that in high school uh we lived in Florida and there's lots of scary wildlife. And the cat would go outside a lot, and one time never came back, and we thought either like an alligator or like a bobcat. Um and she was like, Yes, it looks like uh something. Um I don't know what voice she had no. She was like how old is she? She was like not old, but um did you have an animal that died under strange circumstances? And I said, I think so.

SPEAKER_03 26:05

And yeah, I guess my cat was it the ghost cat?

SPEAKER_01 26:12

Well, I hadn't met that cat, I don't think. So I well, I haven't met the dead yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:21

I'm just saying there's a lot of ghost cats going around in this episode.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

Yeah, maybe I attract them.

SPEAKER_03 26:28

Yeah, maybe, maybe, but those are fun. That that was that was a good little game. Paranormal drive-thru. I love that stuff, so I I like it. Like I don't necessarily believe in all the things, but um, they're fun to think about.

unknown 26:46

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:48

What colors were your aura?

SPEAKER_01 26:50

I had I don't know in what order, but I had like an orange and a green, and I think maybe a yellow. I don't remember where.

SPEAKER_03 27:00

So that the warmer colors. Yeah. I had all cool tone. Oh wow. Yeah. All right. Well, is there anything that uh we should talk about? Oh, um, your new single coming out in uh few days. Do you want to give us a sneak peek? Um, Maestro, please. So April 15th.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

Yes. Um, the song is called Trigger Happy. It was inspired by the idea of I came out later in life and looking back at some of my friendships that I've had, um, just kind of giggling at like, oh, I think I had a little crush on so and so, just based on the way that I was like feeling. So, like looking back, it's kind of cute and funny to think about. So it's written from that perspective of like having a crush on your friend or like having a crush on your straight friend, because there's a line um in the chorus, dream of you kissing me while you're out with some guy from the bar. Um, so yeah, it's a fun little, fun little pop diddy. A fun little pop ditty. What do we need?

SPEAKER_00 28:21

Hot dogs.

unknown 28:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:25

Hot diggity dog. Hot diggity dog. Appreciate you so much. Um, and then uh where can people find you on the socials?

SPEAKER_01 28:35

Um, all of them. It's my name, Paige Galdiri, G-A-L-D-I-E-R-I. And I do have a separate singing account. Um, Paige Galdiri Sings or Paige Sings, something like that. Um but it's not hard.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

It's like riffing in the bathroom, like Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:58

Um oh you were being no, no, it's like wait. I thought it was a bit, I thought we were doing a bit. I mean, yeah, sure, yeah.

unknown 29:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:10

I mean, actually, no, you're so right. I am like sitting on the bathroom floor singing in some of them. So like you're you're right.

SPEAKER_03 29:17

Yeah, see, it's because of the acoustics. That's I don't part yeah. I'm a little jealous that uh I'm with a singer today. I'm not gonna lie. My best friend is an opera singer, and I'm just I gravitate towards singers because I just I wish I could. I wish I could, but I kind of sound like a dying walrus. Um I know, I know. It's a condition. Yes, it's a condition that I have to deal with. Uh you can be healed. I know. I'm I'm I'm like debating going and getting singing classes just for fun. Yes, because I do. I'm like, uh that expression of just like you know, I have to, you know, that the same thing with like the dancing. Yeah, when it's done well, it's done very well. Yeah. Okay, one last because I have to ask. What's like the favorite your favorite musical that you've either seen or performed in?

SPEAKER_01 30:19

I'm gonna get like shit on because I am like that is so hard.

SPEAKER_03 30:28

I know. You got options.

SPEAKER_01 30:29

Okay, I'll just give um my overall favorite. Um I love is that the one that I love? Yes. I had to check. Um, Phantom of the Opera. It was what got me. Yeah, it's what got me into musicals.

SPEAKER_03 30:51

Oh my gosh, you have to. I know that there's the candelabra, and I know there's a little mask. You'd think I'd be into it.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

Um yeah, it's it's great. I highly it's I love it, highly recommend it. But it's yeah, one that it was the first musical I ever like discovered. I remember being in kindergarten and someone's mom came in, and I don't know why. This is so random why a mother would come in and do a presentation on Phantom of the Opera for kindergartners. But like, no, I'm wondering was that reality? Yes, yes, oh my gosh. So, yeah, I I was. I was like, listen, lady, tell me where I can get more of that because I want it. I want more of that.

SPEAKER_03 31:40

So yeah. Well, thank you so much for being on. You have been an absolute delight. Thank you so much for having me. This was so fun. Oh, that was so fun. That was so, so fun. Paige! What a what a great person! What a great personality. Um, very savvy, very fun. I hope they do the WWE improv show or the sketch show again. Um, and I hope that she comes out as um doing the Rock Johnson and or The Undertaker, because it's very fun. I mean, look, John Cena is also a contender, but I'm not gonna take too much of your time. Um, thank you so much for listening. And if you enjoyed this, please like, subscribe, or DM me your favorite WWE wrestler. Alrighty, thank you so much. You have a great day. Bye! Ilse Will Say is an Entrepida Entertainment podcast produced and edited by Jacob Cagle, music by Eric Bacas, and photography by Joel Mysenet, and I am your host, Ilse Sachary Rivera. The views and opinions expressed on Ilse Will Say are entirely those of the host and guests and do not reflect the views of any employers, sponsors, or innocent bystanders. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Nothing said here should be taken as professional advice, expert opinion, legal guidance, or a reason to DMSU conspiracy theories. We're here for the laps, y'all. Carry on.