[5] She attended Erasmus Hall High School,[4] and earned a degree in art from Brooklyn College.

[6] When Tolsch herself first started in comedy, she kept her day job as a commercial graphic artist while performing at night.

[1] During this time, the women comics in New York would often congregate on Sundays at Tolsch's West Side apartment.

One critic described her stand-up as "bold and brassy" indicating her role as a confident and outspoken woman in comedy was threatening and ahead of the times.

She eventually became a success in the New York City comedy club circuit, and became the first woman emcee at Catch a Rising Star.

[17] She also considered comedian Richard Belzer to be her mentor, as he had helped her get her start at Catch a Rising Star.

My mother let me hang my earrings from her fern.As a young adult, Tolsch left college and married her first husband and had a son named David Kerzner.

[17] On December 29, 1980, Tolsch met her future husband, comedian and writer Bill Scheft, when he (at first unsuccessfully) auditioned for her at Catch a Rising Star.

[4][18] She rejected Scheft and it wasn't until his sixth audition for her at the club that he secured a regular gig there as an emcee.

[22] The two shared a passion for comedy and worked on numerous projects together including a YouTube channel called The Tolscheft and the documentary film Take My Nose...

She opened up about audience members refusing to laugh during her shows and calling her “not funny.” She reports criticism and men trying to break her spirit as a female comedian.

[17] She disclosed an experience performing at a comedy club in Savannah, Georgia and none of the audience members laughed during her set.

[17] Despite feeling immense push back in a male-dominated industry, she was determined to continue performing stand up as a woman and was highly successful.

Women were not very present or represented in the comedy scene during the 1970s and 80s and had to work harder than men to be successful and have the same opportunities.

She did not enjoy self-deprecating humor and chose not to perform this style of comedy because she found it boring and not funny.

[28] She also received awards for her one-woman cabaret shows Trucks, Guns and Mayonnaise (2004) (which was about her life on the road as a comic}[29] and None of Your Damn Business (2006).

[17] She opened for comic stars Jay Leno, The Pointer Sisters, Bobby Vinton, Pat Cooper, Chita Rivera, Clint Holmes, and Billy Crystal.