Jessica Kirson is an American stand-up comedian and producer. Kirson performs regularly at some of the most renowned comedy venues in New York City — some of which include:
Gotham Comedy Club,
Laugh Factory,
Caroline's
Carolines on Broadway is a venue for stand-up comedy situated at 750 Seventh Avenue, on Broadway between 49th and 50th Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City.
History
Caroline Hirsch opened Carolines as a cabaret i ...
, and
the Improv.
Early Life
Kirson is a native of
South Orange, New Jersey
South Orange, officially the Township of South Orange Village, is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village's population was 16,198, reflecting a decline of 766 (4.5%) fro ...
. Kirson attended
Columbia High School. She described herself as a 'major class clown' who loved to make people laugh. Kirson is the stepsister of both actor
Zach Braff, and writer
Joshua Braff
Joshua Braff (born October 11, 1967) is an American writer.
Biography
Braff's first novel, ''The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green'', described as a Jewish coming of age tale, was published in 2004 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. ''The Un ...
. With the intention of becoming a therapist, Kirson graduated from the
University of Maryland in family studies and from
New York University with a Masters of Social Work. She describes her studies as 'very helpful' to her crowd work and the business 'because a lot of those people are crazy'. After her university studies, Kirson turned to comedy, creating material and testing it out weekly in a class setting. She participated in open mics in New York in different venues. Over this time she worked as a bartender at
Houlihan's at Times Square and at an Upper West Side restaurant.
Career
Kirson made her career debut in the film,
''School Dance''. Her one-hour special ''Talking to Myself'' debuted on Comedy Central was executive produced by Bill Burr. Other projects include her series ''The Call Girls'' with longtime friend and comedian
Rachel Feinstein. Kirson has performed on
The Tonight Show,
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,
The View, and
Kevin Can Wait. Kirson acted in and served as a consultant, producer, and writer on the Robert De Niro film
The Comedian. Kirson also hosts her own podcast, ''Disgusting Hawk''. Jessica is also a contributor on ''
The Howard Stern Show'', where she produces and stars in prank calls for the program. Kirson was an executive producer of and main organizer behind the documentary ''
Hysterican'' which follows a group of ground-breaking female comedians in their lives, on and off stage. Kirson also appeared in the film as herself. Kirson's style is self-deprecating, less 'punch type' and very character based.
She often talks about her experience as a lesbian and as a Jew.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
{{IMDb name, 1720056
21st-century LGBT people
Gay comedians
Living people