Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Mason.
Hi Jennifer , can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
When I turned 50, I dared myself to do stand up comedy. It was an unusual choice because I was afraid of microphones and of speaking in public. But I wanted to be braver so I could talk about my acupuncture business and have the courage to actually charge people for my services.
The classes were held in a comedy club and they asked if I was in the right place. I learned how to mine my life for embarrassing stories and made them into jokes. Surprisingly, I found that making jokes about past trauma made me feel better. Plus, it made me feel more powerful. I was making pain my bitch, because now instead of terrorizing me, it worked for me by getting me laughs.
For much of my life, I was talked over, but in stand up, I had a spotlight, a microphone, and someone saying, “It’s your turn now.” Once I started talking, I found out I had a lot to say.
Plus, because stand up is terrifying, it made everything else that used to be scary feel easier. Talking about acupuncture appointments felt so much simpler than making my ex-husband’s trips to Burning Man funny.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Stand up is terrifying. It’s widely known that public speaking is one of the biggest fears, often bigger than death itself.
But what saved me was the connections with other comedians who helped me with perseverance, perspective, and punchlines. Once you know other comics, it begins to be hanging out with funny friends instead of obsessing about not bombing.
Now I love performing or competing in festivals with comics who are more experienced than me because it reminds me to look at how I can be better.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
When I’m not performing or doing my day job, I teach beginners stand up as JenX Comedy. Because I have a strong background in teaching, I am able to structure a class so students can build their set step by step while training their comic ears to hear what works. There are other stand up classes in San Diego (and I recommend them) but with my small class sizes and emphasis on comedy buddies, I believe my class has a high degree of warmth and friendliness.
I also particularly enjoy teaching people who are underrepresented in comedy–that is, anyone who isn’t a white man in his 30’s. I believe everyone has a good 5 minutes of material in their lives. Plus, comedy needs more voices so the audience has choices and a better chance of feeling their experience reflected back in comedy. Finding the unique voice of each student makes every set better and is a wonderful discovery for me every single time. I really do meet strangers and then walk away wondering what their 5-minute set would be about.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I am GenX, so we were the generation that ran or biked around the neighborhood in packs, drinking from hoses, until the streetlights came on. For family memories, I remember looking forward to watching our favorite shows together like the Muppet Show.
Pricing:
- Most shows $10/ticket
- 7-week Classes at Finest City Improv $295
- Individual Comedy Coaching $50/hr
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jenxcomedy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenxcomedysd/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenXComedy/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-mason-73973325/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/Jenxcomedy
Image Credits
Carina Fleckner
