In the crowded field of comedy podcasting, Bobby Lee has carved out a singular space as the straight-shooting, boundary-pushing host of Tigerbelly alongside his former partner Khalyla Kuhn. With a dedicated fanbase and a reputation for raw, uncensored humor, Lee has become an influential figure in the LA comedy scene. But beneath the laughs, Bobby and Khalyla have faced daunting challenges, including Khalyla‘s ongoing battle with a life-threatening heart condition. Their journey together – both as entertainers and as real people facing mortality – showcases the unique power of comedy to forge light out of darkness and connection out of pain.
From Reckless Kid to MADtv Standout
Bobby Lee‘s path to comedy notoriety was a rocky one. Born in 1971 to Korean immigrant parents in San Diego, Lee had a chaotic upbringing marked by conflict, substance abuse issues, and brushes with the law. As a young adult, he drifted between dead-end jobs and dangerous crowds, struggling to find direction. But when a friend dared him to try stand-up at an open mic night, something clicked.
Lee began honing his comedy chops at The Comedy Store in San Diego, quickly catching the attention of club manager Pauly Shore. Shore took Lee under his wing, bringing him on the road as an opening act and introducing him to other notable comedians like Carlos Mencia and David Cross. In 2001, Lee landed the opportunity of a lifetime when he was cast on the popular sketch show MADtv.
Over the course of eight seasons on MADtv, Lee became known for his high-energy, physically fearless performances and his roster of unforgettable characters. From his squawking, militant version of Connie Chung to his petulant take on a mini Kim Jong Il, Lee was the definition of a scene-stealer. He pushed the boundaries of taste, but always with an underlying humanity and vulnerability that made even his most outrageous bits somehow relatable.
After MADtv ended in 2009, Lee continued to build his comedy career, appearing in films like The Pineapple Express and Couples Retreat, as well as on hit series like Chelsea Lately, Animal Practice, and Splitting Up Together. But it was diving into the world of podcasting that would introduce Lee to his widest audience yet – and to a true turning point in his personal life.
Podcast Chemistry and Personal Revelations
In 2015, Lee teamed up with then-girlfriend Khalyla Kuhn to launch Tigerbelly, a freewheeling podcast that quickly attracted comedy fans with its blend of biting wit, zany characters, and disarmingly honest conversations. Khalyla, a biochemistry major who was working as a tutor when she met Bobby on Tinder, proved to be a quick study in the art of comedy and the perfect foil for Lee‘s manic energy.
The couple‘s sizzling chemistry and no-holds-barred approach to discussing their lives made Tigerbelly feel thrillingly intimate, even as the show racked up millions of downloads. Fans eagerly tuned in each week to hear Bobby and Khalyla‘s latest adventures, from silly relationship spats to struggles with mental health and substance abuse. They interviewed everyone from comedian friends to adult film stars to Khalyla‘s own Lola (grandma) in her native Tagalog language.
But in between the laughs and shocking stories, a real-life drama was unfolding. About a year into doing the podcast, Khalyla began experiencing terrifying symptoms, including chest pains, heart palpitations, and fainting spells. After a battery of tests, doctors discovered a hole in Khalyla‘s heart that had gone undiagnosed since birth. The congenital defect was causing a host of complications that left Khalyla weak and struggling to breathe. At just 31 years old, she faced the possibility of dying far too young.
Love and Laughs in the Face of Mortality
For Bobby and Khalyla, the grim prognosis was a devastating blow, both personally and professionally. As they grappled with the fear and logistical challenges of managing Khalyla‘s condition, they made the decision to share their journey with Tigerbelly listeners. In between their signature banter and boisterous character bits, the pair opened up about Khalyla‘s appointments, surgeries, and the painful process of confronting mortality as a young couple.
Their candor struck a deep chord with fans, many of whom reached out to share their own stories of illness, caretaking, and resilience. For the legion of listeners who had come to feel a one-sided intimacy with Bobby and Khalyla through hearing about their lives each week, the crisis hit home in an unexpectedly personal way. The parasocial concern and well-wishes were touching, but also occasionally uncomfortable, as some fans speculated invasively about Khalyla‘s diagnosis or felt entitled to even more details about her most private moments.
Bobby and Khalyla did their best to walk the line between honesty and self-protection, using gallows humor to defuse the heaviness where they could. In one memorable Tigerbelly episode, the sleep-deprived pair giggled their way through describing an ER visit where Khalyla had fainted in the hospital bathroom and bloodied her face on the toilet. "I‘m so glad I locked the door so you couldn‘t get to me," Khalyla wheezed in between laughs. "You would‘ve made it so much worse."
Behind the scenes, Bobby stepped up as a devoted caretaker and partner, driving Khalyla to appointments, administering her medications, and holding her hand through painful and frightening procedures. The gravity of the situation forced them both to reevaluate their priorities and lean on each other in profound new ways. Though still committed to keeping things light where they could, the couple started delving into heavier material on Tigerbelly too, speaking about the way trauma had shaped them and the ongoing work of healing.
Breaking Up and Moving Forward
Then, in a raw and tearful Tigerbelly episode in May 2022, Bobby and Khalyla shared the shocking news that they were separating after nearly a decade as romantic partners. In halting words, Bobby described how Khalyla‘s worsening health struggles had strained their relationship and shifted their dynamic into one of patient and caretaker rather than equal partners. With obvious pain, they expressed their continued love and commitment to each other, even as they began to disentangle their lives and reimagine their future as friends and creative collaborators.
The news sent shockwaves through the Tigerbelly fandom, sparking an outpouring of support as well as rampant rumors, cruel speculation, and even unfounded accusations that Khalyla had overstated her illness for attention. The intense parasocial investment of some listeners, who felt a false closeness borne of hearing about Bobby and Khalyla‘s struggles for years, bubbled over into vicious gossip and unhinged demands for more sordid details.
But in all the noise, there were also glimmers of real beauty – messages from other young people facing chronic illness, other couples who saw themselves in Bobby and Khalyla‘s journey, other comedy fans grappling with darkness who found solace in their story. Those moments of authentic connection reinforced a powerful truth about the role of comedians like Bobby Lee in fans‘ lives.
Comedy as a Light in the Darkness
At its best, comedy – and the peculiar intimacy of podcasting – creates space for taboo, painful, even ugly truths to come to light. By mining their own tragedies and traumas for laughs, Bobby and Khalyla gave listeners permission to find twisted humor in their own struggles. By sharing even the unflattering and uncomfortable parts of their journey, they modeled that survival is possible, as are love, joy and absurdity in the face of hardship.
It‘s a truth that Bobby Lee embodies in every facet of his boundary-breaking comedy, from his raunchy stand-up riffs to his uncomfortably close-to-home confessional podcast segments. With his signature blend of high-octane physicality, biting wit, and gleeful provocation, Lee has never shied away from the darkest, weirdest, most vulnerable parts of human experience. Instead, he charges headlong into them with open eyes and arms, wringing laughter from places most people are afraid to acknowledge.
That fearless yet openhearted comedy is on full display in Tigerbelly and Bad Friends, Lee‘s other hit podcast with comedian Andrew Santino, where a character who‘s a cockroach living in Bobby‘s decaying body serves as a gross-out metaphor for his lifelong grapples with his demons. It‘s there in his scene-stealing turns in films like The Dictator and series like Splitting Up Together, where he manages to make prickly and absurd characters feel painfully real.
Even as he mines his own life for searing comedy, Lee has also demonstrated real courage and compassion in holding space for others to share their own unvarnished stories, from famous friends and colleagues who open up about crippling depression and scary accidents to callers who disclose their deepest insecurities about sex, identity, and fitting in. In both formal interviews and organic conversation, Bobby models that there is no shame in being an open book.
Forging a New Future
Now, as Bobby and Khalyla continue to navigate their new normal post-breakup and learn how to be in each other‘s lives in a different form, that openness and honesty remain guideposts. After taking a short hiatus to grieve and regroup, they made the mutual decision to keep recording Tigerbelly together as friends and co-hosts who still care deeply for one another.
Across the entertainment landscape, their story reflects changing cultural views around relationships, interdependence, and setting boundaries to protect one‘s health and sense of self. As an interracial Asian-American and Filipino couple who fell in love later in life, Bobby and Khalyla have also spoken candidly to challenges they‘ve faced around cultural differences, discrimination, and letting go of internalized shame to love each other out loud. Though their romantic relationship has changed, their trust in each other as creative partners remains a powerful constant.
As Khalyla continues to manage her heart condition and focus on her own healing, and Bobby throws himself into other projects like Bad Friends and his upcoming film roles, Tigerbelly remains a grounding passion project for them both. The podcast has grown far beyond its original conception as a fun shared hobby, becoming instead a living chronicle of their journey as individuals and partners, through shining successes, poignant milestones, and brutal ordeals alike.
When asked by fellow comedian Tom Segura what keeps him going through dark times, Bobby grew uncharacteristically serious for a moment. "It‘s always changing and surprising me, this life," he said. "The most painful things crack me open and let more light in, every single time. And being cracked open with another person, and letting people witness that and feel less alone, through comedy? That feels like a real purpose."
That hard-won faith in getting back up, letting oneself be seen, and finding twisted laughter and joy in life‘s darkest corners remains Bobby Lee‘s true north star, as a comedian, a friend, a partner, and a person. As he and Khalyla continue to individually and collectively face down tremendous obstacles, they demonstrate to fans what is possible when you commit to bringing levity to the most leaden parts of the human experience.
Through both their triumphs and their missteps, their silliness and their suffering, Bobby and Khalyla let audiences witness the terrible, terrifying, absurd glory of being alive. And in that, they leave an indelible mark – reminding us all that even in the darkest moments, we are never truly alone. There is always laughter, and light, to be found and shared.
