Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Jereb.
Hi Leah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up as a musical theatre kid—first, just a little sprout going to theatre camp in the summer and then full-on Drama Club President in high school (not to brag.) I did a LOT with performing arts. I was in every choir, play, and musical (including doing costuming), on the dance team accompanying the marching band, and I am an only child, which is definitely a performance art. Alongside of that, I always loved writing and once wrote a parody song of Fergie’s “Fergalicious” but about Bubblicious Gum in 7th grade. One of my family members said, “What on EARTH are you going to do with that?”
Well, my ad agency creative director mom copyrighted the lyrics (you can fact-check me) in case we could sell it to Big Gum to pay for college. (Spoiler alert: that did not work out).
What this all leads up to now is: I am a character performer and writer with a proclivity towards musical bits and commercial parodies. And oh yeah, I’m a copywriter.
There’s also a whole detour in this story where I decide to shuck all performing arts aspirations, go to college in DC for international relations, change my major to communications after one semester, get a job at a legacy media brand, realize I’m not doing what I love, start taking improv to reconnect with my ~true self~, and then end up moving to LA to pursue comedy.
I’ve gotten tired of explaining this part of the story in length because it’s in the past now. But if you really care, I’ll fill the details in over coffee. (In LA, that means we will never get together.)
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not exactly. As I mentioned above, there was a whole detour. And sure, detours can show you something new and give you perspective, but sometimes it’s frustrating when you can’t slingshot to your desired destination. I think I was led astray going into college from what I’d “heard” was a “sensible career path,” and that affected my decisions. The things I would say to 18-year-old Leah! However, my gut eventually led me back to pursuing what I love, so it feels really good knowing it’s something that I feel in my little bones that I need to do.
There has been a feeling of needing to “catch up” to people who spent their early 20s in New York or LA doing comedy, but it’s required a lot of self-reflection and confidence to know that I’m on my own path.
Plus, I’m grateful for all the skills I acquired from my more corporate jobs because they do come in handy when you’re navigating and producing creative projects. After all, entertainment is a business, baby!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What I love doing most is character performing. My characters are all pretty physical, and they try really hard at life.
I’d say at this point, my most recognizable character is this little boy named Jackson Trout who is a speed stacker. If you don’t know what speed stacking is, it’s competitive cup stacking. He is really timid but also really big at the same time. My other favorite character to perform is a jingle artist named Carol Crawley. She’s sort of a once-Mad-Men-era jingle writer who’s still out there doing her thing, but she’s pretty saucy, and her jingles are absolutely inappropriate. But honey, she can pitch! On pitch. (That is definitely something Carol would say).
I am currently working on a one-woman show that pulls together a group of characters under an umbrella theme. I know that’s vague, but I haven’t fully announced it yet, so I’m gonna keep it that way for now. But there will be big characters, music, and fun. So WATCH THIS SPACE.
I’m also on a house sketch team at The Pack (shoutout to DINGER!), and we put together some pretty fun shows on the 3rd Wednesday of every month.
Aside from my performing work, I write a weekly humor newsletter called OH, THAT’S GOOD that focuses on wellness, food, culture, and sometimes advertising. You can read it at ljsayshey.substack.com.
And as mentioned, I’m a copywriter! I work with a variety of brands, but this past year, I got to work with De Beers Jewelers and DELL, which is pretty cool. I also co-run a jingle studio (if you’re paying attention, art is imitating life is imitating art for me right now), and that is where I collaborated with DELL on a little music project.
I’d say overall, I’m like a character/music/writing girl who can also tell you all about nutritional supplements and is also good at rhyming. And I know the art of good timing.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
Oooh, I love this question because I am a self-help [expletive]. Here’s a list:
– The Artist’s Way (book): Has everyone in LA done this book? It really got me unstuck when I was living in DC and coming to terms with the fact that I was a creative person who needed to be doing creative things.
– The Mel Robbins Podcast: I’ve started listening to this more recently, but there is a ton of great advice to be heard on this podcast—everything from how to start your day to how to confront difficult situations to how to actually reach your goals.
– The CosmicRx (website & podcast): I am a woo woo girlie, and I love astrology. (Have since a child—wild of me). The CosmicRx is one of my favorite resources because Madi (the astrologer!) breaks down complicated astrological concepts and makes them make sense in terms of impacting your daily life and society. I have learned a lot about astrology through Madi and also kind of understand it more as a guide for patterns we might see in ourselves or society (not a prescription like a lot of people think astrology is). I also recommend checking out Human Design as a system that helps us understand ourselves better!
– Notion (app): I heard all the cool kids are using Notion now for project management, note keeping, etc etc, so I just started using it—in particular for producing my solo show. I know I’m not using it to the full extent of its abilities yet, so I’m fully open to any Notion Heads out there referring helpful resources for using it.
Contact Info:
- Website: leahjereb.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/ljsayshey
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6VESeEN7c3aWPjbR1d_NyQ
- Other: ljsayshey.substack.com
Image Credits
Greg Feiner, Ian Zandi, Pamela Patton, and Caitlin Fisher
