Studio City's Kira Soltanovich Is A Very Funny Lady

, of Studio City, is fast becoming a household name with a huge fan base blazing a path around the world. 

Her parents emigrated from the former Soviet Union when she was two years old and settled in the magical city by the Bay—San Francisco.  It's quite obvious that she misses her hometown. 

"Sometimes my friends and I would be at a bus stop early in the morning and shivering from the cold, damp weather and one of them would hand me a warm Chinese dumpling freshly made from a kitchen in Chinatown where her Dad was a chef,"  she reminisces. "Do you remember those posters advertising the Colors of Bennetton - you know, there was a Chinese kid holding hands with a black kid, then an Indian? That's what growing up in San Francisco is like. You have different neighborhoods, diverse cultures—Russian, Italian, Chinese - each with different customs, languages and food.  I miss that, I miss the choices. There's no other city exactly like San Francisco I love it and I miss it a lot."

Kira is having a rough day.  Her husband, Michael Finnegan, a production manager has stayed home to babysit their 10-month-old son so that Kira can pick up her Mom who has come to visit from San Francisco at Burbank Airport.  During the pickup her Mom has managed to lock her car keys inside the car.  Kira must call Michael to come quickly with an extra set of keys and the police are ready to ticket Kira's car or tow it because she's stopped on a red curb in front of a No Parking sign. 

When she finally shows up for our interview she's frazzled and battle weary. She explains, "I'm a Virgo and I'm SO well organized. This is the worst day of my life!"

The multi-faceted entertainer is a comedy writer, actress and comedienne. She can be seen on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in her popular, iconic routine as the voice of the Universal Studios Free Photo Booth which she improvises to the delight of her fans. 

She is also writing for Joan Rivers and appears in the Disney Channel's Prank Stars with another celebrity local resident, . Kira has traveled the world bringing her special brand of comedy to Japan, Australia, Europe and South Africa. 

She boasts, "I've even entertained the terrorists in Guantanamo, Cuba— REALLY!" 

She's played comedy clubs and college campuses all around the country as well.  "What I find so hard to believe is that there are many Americans who've never been out of their own neighborhoods. I don't know why - maybe they're not curious about how other people live." 

She added, "When my Dad brought us to Disneyland as kids we would tease him saying that he probably missed Russia and waiting in long lines, knowing there would be food, eventually."

Kira continues, "When he came to visit me in college we'd have leftover pizza boxes and soda cans scattered around the floor of our dorm room.  He'd look at the mess and remark, 'I moved us to America to get away from this.'"  

Kira laughs as she recalls memories of her parents. "When I did something wrong the belt would come out. I'd say or do something funny to distract my parents, they would usually laugh and I'd get away with it. They were probably my first audience". 

They got divorced when Kira was 22 but she is especially proud of her Jewish/Russian heritage and believes it keeps her grounded.

Was there ever a time in her life when she needed to cope with adversity or sadness? Her eyes well up slightly as she talks about her brother Boris. 

"He was eight years older than I and had just turned 38," she recalls. "He had gone to visit friends in Lake Tahoe and called home to tell us that he had just seen the most spectacular Fourth of July Fireworks.  Later that night he died of a massive heart attack.  After that I always wanted to honor him and finally found a way.  It's a Russian tradition to use the first letter of the person's name you want to honor. Our child's name is Brayden and the 'B' is for Boris."

Kira Soltanovich is a very funny lady with a big career ahead of her. After her bowl of soup at our lunch interview she was off to a table reading for a game show. 

She would love a shot at a comedy series like Seinfeld or Arrested Development but she may just burst onto the big screen one day.

There's a property she's interested in adapting for a feature film and one of the main characters is an American who was born in the former Soviet Union. Is that considered type-casting?  Nah, just a funny form of nepotism.