Jen Kober isn’t just a hilarious stand-up comedian, she also has a famous face that you’ve probably seen in some of the best shows streaming today.
“I like to tell people I’m in one episode of all the shows you’re not watching,” Kober joked by phone earlier this month.
The Righteous Gemstones, The Mandalorian, American Horror Story, and Hacks are just a few of the shows in which Kober has appeared. She will also be in an upcoming episode of Bookie with Sebastian Maniscalco. Those aren’t the only places where fans can see Kober as her incredibly funny, instantly watchable, and unity building new stand-up special, No Flies On Me, is set to be released by 800 Pound Gorilla Media on June 25.
“Its just funny. I want your face to hurt at the end and I want you to just laugh for 30 minutes and have a good time and remember that that’s possible,” said Kober of the 30-minute show.
Kober begins the special with a disclaimer explaining that she gets all her news from Facebook, setting the stage for the ridiculous hilarity that unfolds in an epic adventure involving ripe bananas, responsible drug use, and fun-sized candy bars.
“I wanted to say at the top, this is my reality and my filter and how I see things. And these are things I believe, even if they are not true,” she said chuckling. “Just laugh. I’m not trying to change the world here. I’m just trying to help you forget about the world for a half hour.”
Kober specializes in long-form storytelling, the type of twisty-turny tale that is peppered with a joke a minute until it reaches its gut-busting conclusion.
“I’ve always loved when you tell me the beginning in the end. I’ve always loved that as a device to use in stand-up. What gives it that ‘wow effect’ is that I said that an hour ago and now it’s coming back around to that. It’s harder to do when you’re doing a short set,” Kober explained. “But there are people who can do it. Louie Anderson, I think, was a great master of doing that. Mike Birbiglia today is brilliant at it. I always want to emulate the things that I love so that was a device that I’ve always been a big proponent of. I like when you tell me what’s going to happen and I can go, ‘Remember when she told us that was going to happen.’”
No Flies on Me has an intimate, in-person feel to it even when you are watching it at home, thanks in part to the cool vibes at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas where the special was filmed.
“It’s such a pretty club,” said Kober. “The special is shot kind of dark. It’s got a different feel then other specials, and the kid who directed it, Michael Malone, I think wanted it to feel like you were in the room.”
Kober is based in Los Angeles and also spends quite a bit of time with her lady in Louisiana, which is also where Kober was raised.
“I call myself bicoastal if you consider the Mississippi River a coast,” she joked before explaining that she will be returning to Vegas to perform in the Cirque Du Soleil show, Mad Apple, this fall.
“The premise of the show is it’s a sort of variety show on the streets of New York. So it’s not really like other Cirque shows. There’s not one continuous story. It’s a variety show and there’s a juggler, a magician, a comedian, there’s dancers, and there’s a basketball act sort of like the Harlem Globetrotters. I follow a girl who hangs and spins from the ceiling by her hair,” she explained noting that along with performing stand-up, she also gets to interact with the crowd during what she calls the “rodeo clown” portion of the show. “When you’re messing with an audience member they know that you didn’t prepare that. They know that you’re doing that off the cuff. Even if the sort of thing that you do with the audience member is the same every time, you don’t ever know what they are going to do, so that surprise factor is exhilarating for me as a performer. But I think it’s also super fun for the audience because they can tell I don’t know what’s gonna come out of my mouth. I don’t know what’s gonna come out of their mouth so we are all sort of on this rollercoaster ride together with our hands up in the air.”
Kober also loves acting. One of her favorite roles to date was playing Lauryn on “The Captain’s Wife” episode of Hacks. The episode follows veteran comedian Deborah Vance, played by Jean Smart, as she books a weekend performing aboard a lesbian cruise.
“Let me tell you. Jean Smart might be – She is a national treasure. We need to wrap that woman in bubblewrap and make sure nothing happens to her. She is amazing,” said Kober. “When you work on a show like that with a big star, they do all the big star’s close-ups first. That’s just the way they film it. They get all the coverage of the star and then the star can leave. When they turn the cameras around, you usually end up doing the scene with a stand-in. That’s just the way it works. I don’t mean to tell you how the sausage gets made or pull the curtain back too far, but that’s what happens.”
She continued, “This woman [Smart] stayed for the turn around. She stayed there and did that whole scene with me. It was inspirational. It was incredible. It made all the difference in the world and she knew it would and that’s why she did it. She’s just an ultimate professional, incredible at what she does.”
Kober always comes back to the idea that the power of laughter can make life easier. She loves bringing people together for a good time and even has a new hour-long special ready to go.
There’s no denying that these are troubled times, and comedy won’t end wars or overt climate disaster, but laughter is a healing balm that can help brighten your day. And that’s worth something.
Kober said, “The world is so complicated and adulting is very time consuming and hard. To be able to forget about all that and just laugh is so important. I hope people will take the time to do that. Whether it’s my special or someone else’s, whatever makes you laugh, I hope you will pursue that every day.”
Jen Kober: No Flies on Me will be released on June 25. Click here to pick-up a copy and head over to Jenkober.com for more information.