Thursday, September 24, 2009

One-on-One with Jessica Kirson


Comedian Jessica Kirson offers informational courses to stand-ups as well as pottery-making for lovers and curb-stepping for the elderly. I met with her last night to ask her questions about the business. I highly recommend you exchange money for her knowledge. If anything just to interact with a human, you recluse. On a related note, I am now coaching middle schoolers on how to draw anatomically correct graffiti. I've seen one too many triple W's.

After the session, I was very encouraged to keep on plugging away. Especially after the string of crummy shows I had experienced last week. "Those are good because after two or three of them, you stop caring," she remarked. That's when you really let loose on stage. Or at least, you don't get in your head. She was right; the very next show I had in a noisy bar where a patron punctuated each punchline by shouting, "SCIENCE!" didn't bother me. We talked about technical things like auditioning for clubs in the city and getting booked at colleges, but also about broad topics like striking a work-life balance. For further advice on performing for colleges, read this post on Sandpapersuit, Matt Ruby's comedy blog.

A piece of Jess's bio from nyhystericalsociety.com:
Once you have seen her amazing talent, it is easy to understand why she was selected to perform at the Hamptons, Toyota, Marshall's Women in Comedy, Comedy Central's South Beach, Montreal, and HBO's Las Vegas comedy festivals. She has been featured on various television shows, including, Comedy Central's "Premium Blend" and "Fresh Faces," ...NBC's "Last Comic Standing" Seasons 2 and 3, and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno"... She was recently awarded "Best Female Comic" by the MAC association in New York City.

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