Comedian Jane Joan chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about her latest endeavors.
How did it feel to be the winner of the Dan Romano comedy contest?
It feels amazing. It was a very interesting experience because Paradise Studios is a small venue so we didn’t have a large audience. This was my first Pay Per View event which was very cool. I had friends watching from PPV and they didn’t have to be in the audience.
Knowing that all the time I spent preparing, rehearsing, and then performing paid off. It makes me feel very good. Dan is so encouraging and fun to be around, he makes you feel special. Dan Romano really wants to help comics by having shows, contests and having them on his radio show. I feel very blessed to have met him. First, I met Heather Lehrman who invited our group on Facebook to participate in the contest. She is so kind, beautiful and funny. She was a great host.
There were four preliminary contests and then the winners competed in the final contest, which I won. There were 11 comics in the final contest. They were very good. I really didn’t think I won, every comic brought their best stuff to the contest. I just tried to stay calm and not forget my jokes, but even if I do I’m prepared with a set about my age. I turned 60 this past year so there is a lot of material about getting older. I am so happy and grateful that I won. It is so great that Dan Romano has a sponsor like Dino Luzzi energy drinks, to support the contest.
What inspires your comedy routine?
My inspiration comes from my life, especially my children, ex-husbands (a lot of material here), growing up in Brooklyn & NYC. Anything that makes me laugh is an inspiration to me, an example is asking my son who is a computer engineer, web developer for computer assistance and he tells me to “Google It.” I didn’t pay $200,000 for him to get a computer engineering degree for “Google It.” I paid that for an IT assistant whenever I may need help.
My daughters and son are my biggest supporters and also my biggest critics. If I ask their advice and they don’t think something is funny it probably isn’t and I don’t waste my time.
I can find inspiration in almost anything that interests me. Dating when you get older, cooking, and providing food for my family. I even found inspiration at Mass and God also inspires me divinely and with the material. My mother’s mental decline even gives me inspiration because if we don’t laugh at things that could make us cry we would be depressed all the time.
Can you tell us about the upcoming December event on Long Islalnd? What can people expect?
The upcoming event is on December 12th at the Library Cafe in Farmingdale, NY. Terry McNeely is the headliner and I will be featuring. I am working on performing my best material and some new material. People can expect a hilarious night of fun and laughter.
Honestly, people come to these events to enjoy themselves so I want to provide a diversion from their normal and take them into my crazy. I don’t know if that makes sense but that is what my comedy is about, it’s about the crazy in my life. It is great for me to be performing in Long Island. Most of the time I am in Manhattan and my Long Island friends and family find it difficult to come to my shows so this gives them an opportunity to see me perform closer to home.
What do your plans for the future include?
My plans for the future include working my way through the standup comedian path. Performing, hosting, continually writing new material, and more performing. I can’t wait to have a comedy special, I would love an opportunity to do a DryBar special.
My biggest dream or goal is to create a sitcom and go on a national tour. I study a lot of personal development and love to visualize and manifest my future. I believe our thoughts create the energy needed to create the future we desire. I actually visualize myself receiving an Emmy for my sitcom, I’m reading my speech, thanking people and I feel the feeling I would have when I win.
Who were your biggest influences growing up?
My biggest influences were my Italian family, especially my dad. He had a great sense of humor and always wanted to make people laugh. He had a way of making anyone he was speaking to feel special. The comedians who had the biggest impact on me are Joan Rivers, Phyllis Diller, Don Rickles, Dom DeLuise and Rodney Dangerfield.
As I got older George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Paul Reiser, Ray Romano and of course my all-time favorite Robin Williams. Robin William’s skit on golf has to be the funniest thing ever.
What does the word success mean to you? (my favorite question)
Overall, success to me is waking up and going to sleep being happy and satisfied. Now, that being said, I am not always satisfied with everything I do but that gives me the desire to be better. As a comic, I feel successful every time I perform and hear the audience laugh. I love when I can see the audience laughing. Success at the Dan Romano Contest was winning but even if I wouldn’t have won I met a lot of other comics who I may work with in the future that made me laugh.
I think about success in different areas of my life. As a mom, I am successful because I have three children, a daughter in law and two grandsons that I adore and who are very supportive of my comedy career. I feel I am a success because we are all very close and I feel their love and support. My brothers and their families also are very supportive of my career.
I know the difference between being successful from not being successful. I am a pharmacist by education and hated practicing pharmacy. I say I’m a pharmacist in remission. I was never happy as a pharmacist and so I never felt successful.
I also feel that sometimes to be successful you must persevere to reach your goals. So many people quit three feet from their goal. I didn’t start studying stand-up comedy until I was 58 and I spent more than a year like everyone else limited to public appearances. Now is my time to shine and I’m enjoying the journey. SUCCESS is after every laugh.
To learn more about Jane Joan, check out her YouTube channel and follow her on Instagram.
