Jessica Kirson along with other New York City standup comedians Kyle Grooms, Lenny Marcus, and Jodie Wasserman, brought laughter to South Orange when they performed at SOPAC last Saturday.
Jessica Kirson is an example to South Orange residents, as she grew up in the town and has made it into the big leagues. In fact, when asked about appearing on Comedy Central and NBC, she was extremely down-to-earth.
"I was incredibly nervous and it was incredibly exciting," Kirson said.
As with most success stories, there always seems to be a turning point or inspiration that contributed to that achievement. When asked how she first got involved with comedy, Kirson explained that her grandmother encouraged her to take a standup comedy class because she was always the class clown.
Kirson definitely showed her ability to be a class clown at her SOPAC show as she interacted with the audience and had no inhibitions.
"I have done three shows at SOPAC [in the past]," she said. "The first show I did was with other celebrities from S.O and Maplewood."
For this particular show, though, Kirson chose to work with city comedians.
"There are usually other comedians on the shows I do," Kirson explained. "It's great to have variety. I usually host the shows...they are my friends and they are incredibly talented."
The humor each comedian brought to the stage was uncanny and incredibly entertaining.
As for future plans, Kirson said that she has "a movie coming out in 2013 called 'School Dance' which was written and directed by Nick Cannon."
Between starring in an upcoming movie and performing at countless comedy shows, there was one experience that stood out to Kirson in particular.
"I did a show in NYC at The Comedy Cellar," she said. "Robin Williams was in the crowd. He was yelling out to me the whole time telling me how talented he thought I was. It was amazing for me because I have always been such a fan of his. He came up to me afterwards and told me I would be a star."
Based on her performance on Saturday and her personable persona, there is no doubt that Williams' words will become Kirson's reality in the near future.
Catherine Chidiac can be reached at Catherine.chidiac@student.shu.edu.
