Interview with Cherry Girl!!

From Class Clown to NYC’s Comedy Clubs, Jackie Monahan is Laughing Her Way to the Top

August 10, 2009 · Print This Article

Jackie Primrose Monahan is an out and proud lesbian comedian who is currently sharing her talents with audiences at legendary NYC comedy venues like Gotham Comedy Club and Caroline’s on Broadway. She has also taken her show on the road, headlining at clubs and colleges all over the country, and to the airwaves, doing spots on Maxim’s Sirius radio, VH1 and Logo shows, and co-hosting with Anne Neczypor on their Girls on Girls podcast. Here, the adorable and hilarious rising comedic star talks to Cherry Grrl about her career so far, her coming out process, and more.

Cherry Grrl (CG): How long have you been performing as a stand up comedian?
Jackie Monahan (JM): In October it will be five fun-filled years. Or five years of hell and torture, depending on how you look at it. I choose the former!

CG: When did you know that comedy is what you wanted to do and how did you first get started?
JM: I had been making people laugh, by people I mainly mean myself, since I was three. I really thought I annoyed people more than made them laugh, but when I was voted “Funniest Girl” and “Class” Clown in high school I was pleasantly surprised that people other than my friends found me funny as well. My friends always said I should be a comedian but for some reason growing up in Rhode Island it did not seem like a realistic career path. It was not until my friend Julie asked me to join a comedy troupe called The Pork Chop Lounge in Providence that I realized there was an outlet for my silliness. We did sketch and improv. I fell in love with performing, but it still did not cross my mind to pursue it as a career. It was a few years later that my girlfriend said I am never more alive then when on stage making people laugh. This convinced me to start concentrating more seriously on it. I moved to Philadelphia where I performed more improv and then I eventually headed to NYC. It was tough having to rely on others and that’s when I was yet again convinced by my girlfriend to get up on stage solo! Boy was that scary. It is a whole different animal, but the freedom was addicting.

CG: Were you open about your sexuality right from the beginning of your career? Was it ever something you considered not revealing?
JM: I was not out on stage for the first year, but all my new stand-up friends were straight men for the most part and I was out to all of them. It was not that I was in the closet, I just did not write relationship jokes. I never considered withholding it, it just wasn’t in my repertoire. I gotta be me! It wasn’t until I was asked to do a coming out show produced by a great friend and fellow comic, Shawn Hollenbach, that I did “gay” material. Well, I loved the material I wrote so I put it in my “regular” set. I have received so much angst over my being out in my comedy. Managers and other industry people have been telling me all along not to be out, that I do not need to be and I am pigeonholing myself and I could make much more money if I was not out. I have gone back and forth listening to different people but I finally decided that I have not been able to be my true self for much of my life and this is who I am and I want to be out and open. I feel I would be doing a disservice to myself and to the LGBT community, whom I adore, not to be who I am on stage. The decision was very empowering.

CG: Are audiences surprised when you reference the fact that you’re a lesbian because you don’t have a stereotypical “lesbian” look?
JM: Mainstream audiences are surprised when I come out. I don’t do so, however, until the middle of my set – so they already think I am not a stereotypical girl. They are surprised by so many other things that it isn’t such a big deal.

CG: What was your coming out process like?
JM: Coming out was a bit strange for me because a lot of people didn’t believe me. I was a wild child so I think most people thought it was a phase. They thought I was the girl who cried lesbian. My ex boyfriends on the other hand were like, oh, this makes sense. My mom was hit the hardest. She did not take it well. She went straight into therapy and had I known that was going to be her reaction, I would have come out when I was three. Over the years she has gotten better and better. After about a year she finally put a picture of my girlfriend and I up in her condo, but the frame had shutters on it so when people come over she could close them. She complains that I am her only child, a comedian, and a lesbian. I say it is your fault I am an only child and a comedian and I got lucky being a lesbian! It has been a decade now and she officially favors my girlfriend over me. And she recently came to a show and became smitten with an older butch lesbian she “got” to talking to.

CG: What is you favorite part about performing on stage?
JM: All the free Crudites and bottled water a girl can want! No, the free drinks! Actually, my favorite part of performing is having someone tell me they where having a horrible day and I made them laugh and forget all their troubles. That is very rewarding, especially if they buy me a drink too!

CG: What kinds of topics do you tend to discuss the most on stage?
JM: That’s a tough question because what I talk about is so random, and that’s what keeps it fresh for me – setting me apart from other comics. I can go from the high rate of suicide in dentists to being compared to Jackie O to the size of my aureoles. If I am in front of a mostly gay audience I do tend to talk a bit more about being a lesbian than with a mainstream audience, where I just touch on the subject.

CG: Who are some of your favorite comedians and influences?
JM: My favorite comedians are Steve Martin, Ellen, Phyllis Diller, Lucille Ball, Mitch Hedgberg, Steven Wright, Emo Phillips, Maria Bamford, and Wanda Sykes. Not necessarily in that order, except for Steve Martin!

CG: Your Girls on Girls show is a big hit. What can you tell us about being a part of that?
JM: I learned a great deal from doing the show. After working on my own, co-hosting took a great deal of getting used to, but it was wonderful. Anne and I were really just thrown in there with barely any direction. We had some bumpy roads but it ended up being an experience I would not trade. My girlfriend’s name is Anne also so for the show I referred to my GF by her middle name, which is Bennett.

CG: What have been some of your favorite moments and/or guests from Girls on Girls?
JM: My favorite moments were when Anne and I would make each other laugh so hard there would be a bit of silence, and of course the dating questions! I loved the dating questions! My favorite guests were Suzanne Westenhoefer, Lori Michaels, and of course Erin Foley. Erin, I believe, is episode 6. We all just had a ball making each other laugh. She is just as funny on stage as she is off and we discovered on that episode that we both have a mutual love for Pat Benetar’s “Hell is For Children” song.

CG: What can you tell our readers about your personal life / relationship status?
JM: I am in a 9-year relationship! My poor girlfriend! I tell her everyday to break up with me but she won’t. She is a saint. We were civil-unioned in Vermont 8 and a half years ago. We U-hauled it after 2 weeks then got hitched 6 months later. Anne looks exactly like Ellen DeGeneres, only 15 years younger. We now have an open relationship and I cannot wait for her to find out when she reads this article!

CG: That’s hysterical! So what’s up next for you? What upcoming projects or events can you tell us about?
JM: I have tons of shows coming up. To get the whole listing please visit jackiemonahan.com. I have a few projects that I am very proud of in the works but it is too soon to share. In the immediate future you can see me at the Randolph Country Club in MA on August 15th for the Fusion Woman’s Weekend. I will also be performing with Amy Schumer August 9th at the Brokerage in Long Island and August 28th at Towson University. Also please follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/jackiemonahan.

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