Today we’d like to introduce you to Jodi Miller.
Jodi, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When I was 24 I was a young actress in New York who ONLY wanted to be an actress. I flew out to Los Angeles to do a week-long intensive where you read monologues to producers, yes it was that long ago. I was doing a comedic monologue and the one producer I was reading for asked me if I ever did comedy and I was like, “I’m 24 I can do anything.” He was like, no like stand-up comedy, you should do it you have really good timing. I asked “what’s timing?” without missing a beat. He said that’s timing… you should take a class.
So since I was a girl who did what she was told, some of the time, I went back to New York and I took a stand-up comedy class. At the end of the 3 weeks I had to perform 5 minutes at a club in New York city.
I had been performing on stage for years but doing stand-up was completely different. I had NEVER been that nervous.
A glass of wine later I found myself on stage telling jokes that I had memorized… I think the comedy God’s bless anyone who gets on stage for the first time because it was a hit and they liked me. I got off stage very relieved and ready to get drunk like the rest of the comics and a woman came up to me told me I was funny and asked me if she could book me for a show the following week. I replied with “oh no I only had to do this once for some guy in La I’m not a comedian.” she laughed and said great I’ll see you Thursday.
The next 3 years I continued doing stand-up in New York City and when I moved out to LA I thought okay that part of my life is done and now I can really concentrate on acting. Because in my mind I was only doing comedy to further my acting career. I was only in LA for a month when I went to go see a comedy show with my friend and the producer of that show remembered me from New York. He had moved out to LA a year earlier and started producing small live shows and asked me if I wanted to get up and do a set. I told him no I don’t do comedy anymore and he saidone of his comics had dropped out and if I wanted to do 5 minutes…pleaseeee.
So I did and once again someone else came up to me after the show and wanted to book me. I was actually annoyed cause I I really wanted to concentrate on my acting, but I did it and after a couple years of reluctantly doing shows doing something finally clicked….why am I resisting the one thing that’s flowing ? A lesson that I would be taught over and over again throughout my life. I finally decided to give comedy a real go and I went from an actor who does comedy to a comedian that can act.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’m in the entertainment industry so of course there were/are struggles along the way. I think you have to really love what you do to stay with it. Sometimes knowing what you want to do can be a blessing and a curse there are many times that I saw people that I started out with give up and do other things as a career and they were happy because they had no regrets. That was probably the biggest struggle for me is that I knew I had to keep with it. I also had to learn how to get out of my own way, meaning that, when I was young I was way more stubborn and not willing to take my eyes off of the door that was closed to notice the window that was open behind me.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
When I originally started out I only wanted to be an actor… it wasn’t until I accepted comedy are a part of my life that all doors started opening up. I’ve done a one woman show and worked as a writer on a Cinemax series. I’m the head writer/EP on the comedy game show Funny You Should Ask and I’m the co-author of The WTF/OMG book series. Also, because of comedy I was able to perform on America’s Got Talent. If I had stayed stubborn and not let myself explore stand-up comedy none of that might have happened. I’ve also been teaching stand-up comedy for over 20 years, which brings me the most amount of joy. To watch other people experience the same rush of excitment I did the first time I got on stage. I think what might set me apart from others is be my willingness to adapt. If you’re not open to new opportunities you might be missing out on the BEST opportunities.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Think about saying yes before saying no. Try and be open, you never know where you could end up. Also, it’s never too late to reach your goals. I think nowadays with social media we’re so caught up in comparing and despairing and we feel like we’ve aged out of our lives and out of our careers. It’s just not true there’s still plenty of time. So what are you waiting for?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jodimillercomedy.com
- Instagram: @jodimillercomic
- Facebook: JodiMiller
- Twitter: @jodimillercomic
- Youtube: @jodimilercomic
- Other: Youtube @JodiMillercomic
Image Credits
Jen Rosenstein, Troy Corona, Matt Missico, Dylan King, Van Corcona
