Out comedian, writer and actor Jessica Kirson is coming to Philly Pride this year on a mission: to make people laugh their faces off.
And she’s well-equipped to do it, as she’s spent the better part of the last two decades performing in clubs and theaters, on cruise ships and TV shows and at any other venue with a microphone. Still, an outdoor show in the bright sunshine isn’t the most conducive environment for standup comedy, which thrives in dark, enclosed spaces usually at night. But Kirson isn’t worried.
“It’s always a little weird because not everyone is sitting and paying attention. People are walking around and talking but I’ve done it so many times that I’m used to it. It’s a very different kind of thing,” Kirson said about outdoor shows. “A lot of people that would do a gig like this that have big names might do their thing whether or not people pay attention and just do their act, whereas I engage the audience and really do every single thing I can to keep people engaged and make them laugh. So I may put a little more effort into that. I’m excited to do it. I love doing Prides because I can be with my people and it’s always such a great crowd. A lot of times, I do just a regular crowd in comedy clubs or cruises and this is always more fun.”
Kirson’s go-anywhere and perform-for-anybody spirit isn’t always a walk in the park. She said sometimes it’s the most refined and affluent crowds that are the most difficult to perform for.
“A lot of times very, very wealthy people are tough crowds because they are entitled,” she said. “Sometimes people with the most money and the best setups are just horrible. ‘Make me laugh, I’ve seen it all!’ Sometimes you’re treated like the help.”
And even though Kirson doesn’t get very preachy or issue-oriented with her comedy, she still finds it somewhat difficult to entertain an audience that she’s philosophically at odds with.
“I don’t get political a lot because it’s so disturbing and I don’t find anything funny about it,” she said. “I also don’t want to set myself up for splitting the audience. I feel like my job is to just give to people and just get them out of their heads and laugh. But it’s very hard when it’s a lot of conservatives and I know that it’s my job to make them laugh, knowing what they feel and what they support.”
If you’d like to see what it’s like for Kirson on the road, you can watch the comedy shorts she posts on her website and on YouTube. She said that while she does seem a bit world-weary in the comedic travel misadventures she films, she still (for the most part) enjoys the constant motion of being a standup comic.
“I don’t mind traveling,” she said. “It’s the not having balance that is very hard. It’s a different schedule every day, every week, so it’s hard to have a routine and have balance in my life, but the actual traveling I don’t mind … most of the time. I’m so used to it for doing it for 17 years. It doesn’t faze me anymore.”
Kirson will be seen on the big screen next year when she appears in “The Comedian” with Robert De Niro.
“I’m in it and I’m also an associate producer,” she said. “I wrote for the film and worked with [De Niro] side by side. I taught him to be a comic. It was an incredible experience.”
Jessica Kirson performs at Philly Pride June 12. For more information, visit www.phillypride.org or www.jessicakirson.com.