Meet Jen O’Donnell of The Ladies Room Comedy Show in West LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen O’Donnell.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m a stand up comedian and a TV producer. I grew up on Grand Island, NY, which is an island between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. When most people hear “New York” they think of New York City, and when they hear “Island” they think of a tropical paradise. I promise you it is absolutely neither of those two things. But it’s a unique small town with a lot of good people and the kind of place where you can’t ever skip a day of high school because your mom is the lunch lady and somebody will tell on you immediately (take it from me).

I came to LA to get a Masters Degree in screenwriting ten years ago and started working in development for television production companies who make unscripted, documentary and reality TV. I immediately loved unscripted TV development because it’s a job where you sit at a desk and come up with ideas for shows and head out to interview extraordinary people and in so many ways was the perfect fit for me. Especially when coming up with puns for show titles. I’m truly punstoppable.

About five years ago I started doing stand up comedy around Los Angeles, with thanks to a former boss who gave me some tough love and said I wasn’t allowed to come back into her office until I tried it. As soon as I got my first laugh onstage I remember thinking, “Dammit.” Because I was really hoping to hate it. Now, I do bit of a hybrid between stand up comedy and my own projects while also still working in TV development.

In 2016, I co-created a comedy show called The Ladies Room which is a stand up comedy show that has now booked over 200 funny women. It’s the third Saturday of every month at the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica and features emerging comedians in LA as well as headliners seen on Conan, Netflix, Comedy Central, etc. I also interview each comic onstage after their set because I love interviewing people and I think the audience always wants to know a little more about performers. It’s fun and I do giveaways at the end of  the show because I read a book recently about The View and I was inspired by Rosie O’Donnell. (And Oprah of course.)

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There are so many funny and ridiculously talented women out there and I’m really proud of the community of women that the Ladies Room is building. I think stand up comedy felt like it was at a saturation point because we were just hearing from a lot of men with really similar perspectives for so long. For the first time ever, a movement of hardworking funny women are getting to mine material from their own experience and share it and it’s so novel and entertaining. But since it’s never been done before on this scale, we’re having to really “machete” our own paths and figure out how bring in audiences who aren’t used to hearing from us and find gatekeepers who are willing to give us a shot. I think the Ladies Room is proving that we deserve a shot.

The Ladies Room Comedy Show – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from others?
I watched a PBS documentary about the traveling circus recently (just go with me here for a second) and I learned that the Circus was unifying because it “stitched together disconnected communities” throughout America. I hope the Ladies Room is a place like that – where groups of women from all different experiences, backgrounds and walks of life come together to be entertained and hear from women like them. I think a lot of power can come from that unity. In order to make this happen, I always make sure to have a diversity of women on the lineup who each have something different to say, that way the show really has something for everybody.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
An easy criteria for success for me is if I’m making something that I want my nieces to watch and I take this pretty seriously. Whether I’m working on a new TV project, coming up with a new show concept, or writing a new joke, I think – what world does this potentially build for them, and am I proud of that world?

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sites.google.com/view/jenodonnellcomedy/home
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/ladies_room_la/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ladiesroomLA/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ladiesroomla
• Other: https://www.westsidecomedy.com/events/event/the-ladies-room/

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