Chicago based comedian, writer, actor, and filmmaker Miguel Lepe Jr joins Ilse for a conversation that starts with a defunct pandemic podcast and somehow ends up covering pick-me culture, immigrant parent one liners, a haunted house, and the correct way to sleep in a marriage.

Miguel opens up about learning improv at Second City almost by accident, building his sketch duo Supremo with Rich Alfonso, and starting his own production company, Leafcutter Productions, named after a bee species (despite popular belief, it has nothing to do with lawn care). He gets into his real, lifelong fear of bees and the time Jon Seda saved him from one on the set of Chicago PD, his wife's uncanny ability to pause and resume her dreams, and his family's immigration story, the subject of his new documentary American Dreams.

Catch American Dreams screening around Chicago:

Saturday, August 15 in Pilsen at Indigo Mercado. Friday, August 21 in Humboldt Park at the Kimball Arts Center. Friday, August 28 in Aurora at the Aurora Prisco Community Center. All screenings at 7:30 PM. Follow @lepetv for details.

In this episode:

• [01:03] Intro
• [03:18] Pick-me culture and the pressure of immigrant kid overachieving
• [06:31] Visiting his dad's hometown deep in the mountains of Mexico
• [07:45] Finding Second City by accident and falling in love with improv
• [09:00] Where his sense of humor really comes from
• [10:44] Building his sketch duo, Supremo
• [11:14] Where he gets his ideas, doom scrolling included
• [12:44] Hot Cakes
• [14:31] His haunted house and his wife's wild recurring dreams
• [18:26] Starting Leafcutter Productions and why it's named after a bee
• [20:49] His documentary, American Dreams, and his family's story
• [23:19] Kankakee, immigrant journeys, and the world's best conspiracy theory about aliens

Hosted by Ilse Zacharias Rivera. Say hi / follow along here: @ilsezacharias