LA Weekly spotlights Sarah Soda’s live TikTok persona Sue Dillon

LA Weekly published a feature on Tennessee performer Sarah Soda, who plays Sue Dillon in unscripted live TikTok prank calls four nights a week for more than 1.3 million followers. The profile examines her improvisational process, audience dynamic, and how the character has become both a business and a community.

Why it matters: - Sarah Soda has built a live TikTok act around improvisation, audience participation, and a recurring character who reaches more than 1.3 million followers. - The LA Weekly feature highlights how live-stream performance can function as both entertainment and a direct revenue engine. - The profile also adds to the broader conversation about parasocial relationships, audience control, and the line between performance and personal disclosure.

What happened: - LA Weekly published a feature on Tennessee-based performer Sarah Soda and her character Sue Dillon. - Soda performs Sue Dillon live four nights a week in unscripted prank calls. - The calls are built in real time from targets submitted by viewers in the chat. - Soda performs independently and has no agent or manager. - Soda holds a doctorate in psychiatric-mental health nursing.

The details: - The feature says Soda sometimes watches clips later and does not recognize herself in them. - Soda describes the performance as a kind of “persona magic,” where she quiets conscious thought and lets the character flow. - Soda says she often works from her subconscious while awake and relies on the facts of a call rather than a script. - Soda says she is sometimes shocked by what she says on stream and sometimes feels like she is dissociating. - LA Weekly compares the live performance state to the focus an improviser or jazz musician can reach on a good night. - Soda has been building the act for four years and still cannot fully explain the process to herself. - She originally made the calls with the camera off, which was faster and more efficient. - Going live added audience management, but it also became the advertising, the reach, and the paycheck. - The livestream also gave the character a home and allowed the lore to grow. - Soda says working alone from home can be isolating, and the audience gives her a sense of community. - Soda says she may not have lasted four years without the energy the crowd feeds back to her. - Some viewers have followed the show for years and know the running jokes, energy, and rhythm of the chat. - Soda says people in the chat tend to pick up the room’s mood, and a positive atmosphere feeds the show. - She says the audience and the people building up the show are the same. - LA Weekly describes the stream as closer to a small theater company than a broadcast. - The regulars function like an uncredited ensemble that helps carry the show in real time. - Soda keeps a sharp boundary between what she shares publicly and what she keeps private. - She says she only shares things she is comfortable having “in the middle” of the audience, and very little comes from her personal life. - LA Weekly says the live-stream gift economy is a major part of the platform, but one that celebrity-scale conversations often overlook. - Soda says some viewers use gifts to create an expectation of control or reciprocity. - Soda says she makes the rules clear on stream, treats gifts as optional, and ends the conversation when a viewer tries to control her behavior. - She says she is not desperate for money or views enough to allow an unhealthy dynamic with a fan. - Soda says the act splits the audience, with some viewers finding the calls funny and others finding them cruel. - She says she has pure intentions and would never want to hurt anyone. - Soda says the work has strengthened her confidence and made her rely more on her own opinion of herself than on other people’s opinions.

Between the lines: - The feature frames Soda’s success as an example of how live-stream culture can reward skill, repetition, and community-building, not just personality. - LA Weekly suggests the most useful answer to the parasocial question may come from creators who set firm boundaries while still letting regular viewers feel included. - The article also implies that the audience is not passive in this format; the chat helps shape the mood, pacing, and identity of the show.

What's next: - Soda’s audience-driven format appears set to continue as long as she maintains the live schedule and the community remains active. - The profile directs readers to the full feature, bookings and call requests, and her TikTok account.

The bottom line: - LA Weekly portrays Sarah Soda as a creator who turned an unscripted live character into a sustainable show by blending improvisation, audience energy, and firm personal boundaries.