Kayla Eisenberg & Marguerite Stern are a NY-based comedy duo bringing their musical character comedy, The Sound Within with Eisenberg & Stern to Edinburgh from 17-29 August, their Fringe Festival debut! Long-time friends and fans of each others’ work, they began collaborating in fall 2024, developing their unique brand of musical character comedy, which they’re excited to share with audiences this summer and beyond!
How did you get into comedy/writing/producing etc?
Stern grew up outside New York City and trained as a singer-songwriter and actor. In recent years, she has focused on her own music, including an upcoming album. Eisenberg trained in acting and comedy – studying Shakespeare and drama in London and improv and sketch in New York – then moved into writing and had an off-Broadway play produced in 2025.
We first met through an acting class that Marguerite was taking with Kayla’s now-husband, and were immediately obsessed with each other. After years of pining after each other creatively, Kayla asked Marguerite to make something random in 2024, which eventually became “The Sound Within”. Now, it’s difficult for us to recall a time we weren’t working together. It was written in the stars!
Tell us about your comedy style.
We make sharp, character-driven musical comedy that blends heartfelt song writing with absurdity. Christopher Guest-meets-SNL, our work is both fuelled by the broad silliness of sketch comedy and grounded in the biting satirisation of the human ego. Our comedy style celebrates the joy of not fitting neatly into one box. We prioritize playfulness in the development of our characters and music, incorporating dress-up, improvisation, and childlike discovery into our process. We hope to evoke that playful spirit in our audiences.
What’s your show about and where can we see it?
A send up of TED-talk pretension that pokes fun at ‘gurus’ who take themselves too seriously, The Sound Within with Eisenberg & Stern is, behind the satire, a lively, feel-good musical journey built on community, creativity, and seriously memorable tunes.
You can see our show at theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall 17-22 August at 10.45pm and 24-29 August at 12.45pm. Until then, we’ll be previewing it at UCB NY on June 4 and in other venues throughout the city before heading overseas.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
We take inspiration from the outside in and inside out! We are obsessed with costumes, wigs, and identifying and mimicking the nuances of human behaviour, all of which inform our work. We are also inspired by different musical genres and eras, often drawing from the songs and artists that raised us. The collaborations of other comedy teams – Portlandia, The Lonely Island, Christopher Guest films, and Tenacious D, to name a few – have influenced our blended comedy style.
Who are your favourite Funny Women?
Kathryn Hahn, Elaine May, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lisa Kudrow, the Broad City girls, the PEN15 girls, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Maya Rudolph, Meg Stalter, Kate Berlant, Jenny Slate, Maria Bamford, Aidy Bryant, Patti Harrison, Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, Lily Tomlin, Molly Shannon, Catherine Cohen, Jane Fonda, Tina, Amy, and the list goes on!
Tickets and more information can be found here!
