Jackie Kashian (born July 20, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian.

Early life and career

Kashian, who is of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

and

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descent, was born in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised by her father, Elliot, and her stepmother, Nancy, along with her four older brothers and one older sister. She graduated from South Milwaukee High School in 1983.Jackie, Meet Murphy
''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' 30 April 1998 Kashian discovered her love of stand-up comedy while attending The University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was soon given stage time at a club operated by Bill Kinison, the brother of

Sam Kinison Samuel Burl Kinison ( ; December 8, 1953 – April 10, 1992) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. A former Pentecostal preacher, he performed stand-up routines that were characterized by intense sudden tirades, punctuated with his distinc ...

, five nights a week. She has also acted, appearing in the TV series '' Murphy Brown'' (1988) and in films such as '' Bam Bam and Celeste'' (2005) and '' Looking Forward: 2016'' (2018). Kashian has had a half-hour special on

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and has appeared on

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, and the nationally syndicated Radio/TV show ''

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''. She tours internationally, spending approximately 25 weeks a year on the road, and has entertained US troops stationed in Africa and the Middle East several times. Her album ''It is Never Going to be Bread'' was named as one of the top comedy albums of 2010 by Amazon.com.The Best Comedy of 2010
/ref> After living in Minneapolis, Kashian moved to Los Angeles and resides in Van Nuys with her husband, Andy Ashcraft. She has a strong personal and professional relationship with

Maria Bamford Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Her work has drawn critical acclaim and controversy because her humor often uses self-deprecating and dark topics, including her dysfunctional family, depressio ...

and they often perform together, both in Los Angeles and on the road.

Podcast

In August 2006, Kashian began hosting a podcast, ''Dork Forest Radio'', later ''The Dork Forest'', with new episodes being released once or twice a week. Initially on the

BlogTalkRadio BlogTalkRadio is a web-based platform that allows podcasters and radio sites and talk show hosts to create live and on-demand talk format content for distribution on the web and podcast distribution channels. Its claim to fame is a web-based 'st ...

network and co-hosted by comedian Joe Wilson, it was for several years transmitted live from her house in Van Nuys and, after leaving BlogTalkRadio, pre-recorded in her living room for transmission. The show features "dork on dork dialog" between Kashian and her guests about their favorite obsessions—commonly referred to by Kashian as 'dorkdoms'. Guests have included Paul F. Tompkins, Jen Kirkman,

James Urbaniak James Christian Urbaniak (born September 17, 1963) is an American character actor. He is best known for his roles as Simon Grim in three Hal Hartley films: '' Henry Fool'' (1997), '' Fay Grim'' (2006) and '' Ned Rifle'' (2014), Robert Crumb in ...

Jimmy Pardo James Ronald Pardo, Jr. (born July 28, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and host of the long-running comedy podcast '' Never Not Funny''. From the show's inception until mid-2015, he performed as the Conan O'Brien program ''Conan ...

Aisha Tyler Aisha Nilaja Tyler (born September 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, director, and talk show host. She is known for playing Andrea Marino in the first season of ''Ghost Whisperer'', Dr. Tara Lewis in ''Criminal Minds'', Mother Nature ...

, and Mary-Lynn Rajskub. Fans of the show refer to themselves as "Rangers Of The Dork Forest". In 2010, the podcast changed from a live format to pre-recorded, with superior audio quality and a new theme song, "Welcome to The Dork Forest", written by Mike Ruekberg. In 2011, Kashian recorded her first ''Dork Forest'' with a club or theater audience attending, with subsequent "live" episodes including those posted on August 12, 2016 and September 7, 2016. In early 2016, Kashian and fellow comic Laurie Kilmartin began a new podcast produced by

Nerdist Industries Nerdist Industries, LLC is part of the digital division of Legendary Entertainment. Nerdist Industries was founded as a sole podcast ( The Nerdist Podcast) created by Chris Hardwick but later spread to include a network of podcasts, a premium cont ...

called "The Jackie and Laurie Show". The podcast later became independent and moved to the

Maximum Fun Maximum Fun is an independent podcast and radio show production organization founded and run by Jesse Thorn. The organization originated with Thorn's college radio show '' The Sound of Young America'' which continued in an adapted format and wit ...

network. The two primarily discuss stand-up comedy in LA and on the road, occasionally covering harassment and the unequal treatment of female comics, Kilmartin's job as a staff writer on the late-night circuit, and Kilmartin's multi-generational family living situation.

Discography

*''Cake Is Not My Downfall'' (2004) *''Circus People'' (2007) *''It Is Never Going to be Bread'' (2010) *''This Will Make an Excellent Horcrux'' (2014) *''I Am Not the Hero of This Story'' (2017) *''Stay-Kashian'' (2021)

References

External links

*
Official WebsiteDork Forest podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashian, Jackie 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American stand-up comedians People from South Milwaukee, Wisconsin Living people American women comedians University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni American podcasters People from Greater Los Angeles American people of Armenian descent Actresses from California Actresses from Wisconsin 1965 births Comedians from California Comedians from Wisconsin American women podcasters Stand Up! Records artists