On this episode of Stage & Screen, we're visiting with alum and comedian Jay Jurden. He graduated from our program in 2012 with a BFA in acting, and is now living and working in New York. In addition to doing stand-up comedy, which he has performed for Comedy Central, on the "Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon," and on his album “Jay Jurden, Y’all,” which debuted at #1 on iTunes, Jay is also an actor, most recently on the HBO show "High Maintenance," and a writer whose work has appeared in "The New Yorker," "McSweeney's Internet Tendency," and "Teen Vogue."
On this episode of Stage & Screen, we're visiting with alum and comedian Jay Jurden. He graduated from our program in 2012 with a BFA in acting, and is now living and working in New York. In addition to doing stand-up comedy, which he has performed for Comedy Central, on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and on his album Jay Jurden, Y’all, which debuted at #1 on iTunes, Jay is also an actor, most recently on the HBO show High Maintenance, and a writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and Teen Vogue.
This is a two-part episode in which Jay will take us through his background, his experience at Ole Miss, and the early part of his career. Stay tuned for part two, in which Jay will go more into depth about his career highlights and his thoughts on acting and comedy.
A few links where you can find Jay's work:
https://www.jayjurden.com/
His album: https://music.apple.com/us/album/jay-jurden-yall/1499128222
On The Tonight Show:
As ever: The Department of Theatre & Film is grateful for its patrons and corporate sponsors. As a department we are committed to the high quality instruction that our students receive. Investing in the students’ education and these quality productions helps us move toward our common goal of graduating successful, creative adults who are lifelong learners. If you are interested in contributing to these efforts, please visit https://umfoundation.givingfuel.com/theatreandfilm.
From the Department of Theatre & Film at the University of Mississippi. This is Stage & Screen.
00:00:16 Katherine Stewart
Hello everyone and welcome back to Stage & Screen. I'm your host, Katherine Stewart and my guest. Today is comedian Jay Jurdan.
00:00:25 Katherine Stewart
He graduated from our program in 2012 with a BFA in acting and he's now living and working in New York.
00:00:32 Katherine Stewart
In addition to doing standup comedy which he has performed for Comedy Central on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and on his album J Jordan Yall. Which, by the way debuted at number one on iTunes, Jay is also an actor who's appeared on the HBO show High Maintenance and writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Mcsweeney's Internet Tendency and Teen Vogue.
00:00:55 Katherine Stewart
Before we dive into this interview, a couple quick notes.
00:00:58 Katherine Stewart
First of all, this was recorded in July of 2020 in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, and that's where the conversation starts. Just to put things in context.
00:01:08 Katherine Stewart
Also, Jane, I had such a good time chatting kind of got carried away. This ended up being a long conversation so it's going to be spread across two episodes of the podcast. In the first episode, will hear about Jay's background and how we got to where he is in his career, and in Part 2 will go into more specific details and questions about his work and comedy in general.
00:01:28 Katherine Stewart
With that said, we’ll let Jay take it away.
00:01:33 Katherine Stewart
Well, how are you? I just, I don't know. Just start and just like tell us a little bit about yourself. Kinda.
00:01:40 Katherine Stewart
Alright, where you're from, what you're up to.
00:01:43 Jay Jurden
OK, so currently I am so so I started to be a bit more honest emotionally around April because the inclination is to say I'm good just in passing or if you work in industry or just like even as a as a person as a Southerner.
00:02:06 Jay Jurden
How are you? I'm good keep it moving.
00:02:08 Jay Jurden
But I've become a bit more aware of like that being a baby lie all the time and then you have to like keep it up. So I've just said I'm OK I'm alright. Oh I'm doing like better than a few days ago better than a few weeks ago. So just try to be more. I'm trying to be more honest with the way I've described my feelings.
00:02:29 Jay Jurden
Even like if it's like a super casual, so that's like how I'm doing. Where am I? I'm in New York City. I'm in Harlem in my apartment.
00:02:40 Jay Jurden
Yeah, it's been that way since March 12. The last OK, so the the Friday I think the Friday that everything started to get like crazy up here I had. It was like this kind of maelstrom of events. I got a call.
00:03:00 Jay Jurden
From my agency.
00:03:02 Jay Jurden
From one of my agents in California about a thing that I needed to do in New York, The Colbert Show so late night with Stephen Colbert wanted me to be in like the colder open sketch for.
00:03:20 Jay Jurden
Uh, March madness. It was right when they announced that they wouldn't be doing a March Madness tournament and like they wouldn't be doing like the any of the games.
00:03:30 Jay Jurden
And so I was in that.
00:03:32 Jay Jurden
An I was there when they made the announcement that they weren't gonna have an audience for that show and so it's just like Oh well, it doesn't affect the cold open. This is sketch that's kind of this film, but it was like everything just kept ramping up, ramping up. And that was the thing like March 12.
00:03:52 Jay Jurden
March 11th, March 12 and so I was like wow and that was like my last.
00:04:00 Jay Jurden
Thing that I did.
00:04:02 Jay Jurden
Like in person that like.
00:04:05 Jay Jurden
I like, I think it was like another like crazy. It is just weird 'cause it was about the pandemic, but it was like really about the pandemic. Both like specifically and like just like metaphorically, I was like well, OK.
00:04:21 Jay Jurden
And then I have been home, but I like had that was also like around the week. That was six weeks out of my album release. So I also like had to like basically make a decision that week whether or not I was going to hire A publicist or like a team to like help me like promote the album and not said well didn't make any sense. 'cause I'm not seeing any money come in.
00:04:42 Jay Jurden
Before that, so then I had to decide to do a pretty guerrilla tactics. Grassroots. Yeah, not. I mean it's I still have like how many dynamics? Who was the production company behind it? And they pumped a lot of energy behind it, but I had to very much be like please bye bye my hour you guys by the way, but my album do you wanna buy my album? Have a message haven't?
00:05:03 Jay Jurden
I won't, so that was just like.
00:05:05 Jay Jurden
I don't know, so that was like Mark.
00:05:09 Jay Jurden
Uh, so that's where I am. That's where I'm from in. Like as far as like quarantine where I'm from originally is Canton, Ms. 20 minutes like 90 miles outside of Jackson. Born and raised in central Mississippi, went to public school in Mississippi my entire life.
00:05:28 Jay Jurden
Went to span elementary, then I went to Chastain when I was at Chastain. I went to span the power of a pack.
00:05:36 Jay Jurden
Power Pack is. It was academics for me. 4th and 5th grade and then six grade. I audition for theater, kind of on a whim, but also because I had taken like theater enrichment classes which were like baby steps to see if you wanted to be like a theater major or dance major or an art major, or a music major.
00:05:56 Jay Jurden
Yeah, and see like at that age when you're not.
00:06:00 Jay Jurden
Nine and 10. I think the ability to just kind of be charismatic. Remember text and like present it is like such a high bar that they're like. Listen, just. Can you say these words in front of strangers and not cry? And when you can do that?
00:06:19 Jay Jurden
Then people are like OK. Well, maybe you like acting and I loved it.
00:06:23 Jay Jurden
So.
00:06:24 Jay Jurden
I was an actor, a child actor from 12 all the way through 18 and did it in high school too. In high school I wrote some like sketches my final year. It's like when I like really kind of like was able to articulate why I like comedy a lot more and kind of like.
00:06:47 Jay Jurden
Aware of big things, but like my background, probably as you know.
00:06:51 Jay Jurden
Is super rooted in theater like it's all like all my training is theater theater. It's like that's what it is. So then I I went to Miss Ann. I think a few people do this. I wasn't going to do theater in college. I just was like no, it's not really. I'm not gonna do it and so the first 2 years I wasn't a theater major. I was.
00:07:12 Jay Jurden
Uh, I was.
00:07:14 Jay Jurden
Bio I took a bio track.
00:07:18 Jay Jurden
And then I really enjoyed biology and then sophomore year I hated chemistry and I was like I don't wanna do this but I've taken like 2 extra English classes and I love the English.
00:07:27 Jay Jurden
And I was like, oh, I can do English and then go. I don't know. I'll figure out my minor later. And then I took theater.
00:07:35 Jay Jurden
At 201 is what it was when I took it with Valerie Wilson, who was an adjunct professor with the Department is now with Simsbury. She she was my theater 201 teacher and I think like it it was. The class is going well. I really enjoyed it. It had to be in the.
00:07:55 Jay Jurden
Wow.
00:07:57 Jay Jurden
And I was like kind of doing the thing that some lactinex students do was like like if you take something you already know you like, don't tell anyone but you guys. I know some of this and I was like I would. I was doing a very good job where my first covert acting jobs I was just gonna act like I didn't know anything about theater but like mayonnaise on everything.
00:08:20 Jay Jurden
And then she said something and she is not. She made a mistake. She said something about realism and I was like Oh yeah, like ipson and she was like, what did you say? And I was like I can't play Nora Torvald.
00:08:34 Jay Jurden
Adult like it's the realism like yeah, and she was like are you Jay? You've acted before and I was like you've acted before Valve you know my face with that I'm not trying to hear that why she's like you need all dish and I was like I guess I should audition for stuff and so there was a fringe production going on.
00:08:56 Jay Jurden
Of I think it was like a version of Alice in Wonderland. It was it. I think it might be someone's junior or senior year and they wanted to like, do outside work for the directing class. Something along those lines. But I was. I've been the March Hare in a production of Alice in Wonderland in high school.
00:09:17 Jay Jurden
And my friend was a mad Hatter, an new kind of like from a archetype standpoint, like the difference between the two and what I would do. And so I was just like Oh no, the text pretty well. And then I got.
00:09:31 Jay Jurden
The Mad Hatter. And then I was like, oh, this is like this is cool and then I audition for Lafco, which was like an improv troupe that was based out of Oxford. And then I was like, oh, I'm not here stuff.
00:09:43 Jay Jurden
Maybe I should.
00:09:45 Jay Jurden
Like maybe like maybe I should audition for the program or like just start to do the track into the program and so.
00:09:55 Jay Jurden
This is sophomore year, but.
00:09:59 Jay Jurden
I realize if I wanna be a fet it's gonna be 4 years and like I had to make a decision on whether or not it was cool being at Ole Miss for six years.
00:10:06 Jay Jurden
And I did it.
00:10:09 Jay Jurden
I did it, wasn't it? I mean it's for the best. Now that's all. I mean, it worked out. So for Masters too, right? Yeah, my Masters though.
00:10:20 Jay Jurden
Was at the University of Alabama, so I that's like me and Rory's connection, so my.
00:10:29 Jay Jurden
Freshman is it freshman year, yeah, freshman year I Lori Ledbetter came in my freshman acting. You're not my freshman like academic year at all. Miss my freshman studio year and so like I started when he started and he and Joe Turner Cantu where my.
00:10:51 Jay Jurden
Acting instructors my first year and it was lovely. I loved it. I mean, I had been had done theater since I was 12, so it was just furthering enriching what I was aware of.
00:11:05 Jay Jurden
It was also a bit of a. It was a bit of a blessing that I was kind of two years removed from some of my peers. I didn't know really. I became really close with my BFA classmates, but I also didn't come in like with some of the freshmen, not baggage, but just kind of like.
00:11:27 Jay Jurden
Inability to focus because I wasn't having to worry about like Rush didn't have to worry about like freshman like studies. I don't have to worry about like a bunch of other things. So in that regard I was pretty lucky.
00:11:45 Jay Jurden
Then
00:11:47 Jay Jurden
Uh, how I mean? Like I can go through the whole thing that is sophomore Studio loved it, audition how fun it was like freshmen and sophomores together, maybe like oh I'm good at comedy. But because he's my first two years, they're gonna try to like make me work and stretch and they were right. I mean they that was that was their job. And then yeah.
00:12:08 Jay Jurden
Around three years are like OK, Now this is what you're good at. This is what you should leave within the real world.
00:12:14 Jay Jurden
Um, we have like a we had a stand up unit with Rory that I thought was really fun and really helpful and he could tell. I think he could still have natural inclination to go towards funny and to like self start and create my own text like it wasn't.
00:12:32 Jay Jurden
Incredibly difficult for me, so he definitely.
00:12:37 Jay Jurden
He didn't curb that. He saw that and he cultivated it. He didn't stop on it and try to stop it. There's some of the times I did get. There were a few times I got no strings like Jay. Don't make everything funny and I was like what is the funeral and they'd be like, yeah it is so don't.
00:12:56 Jay Jurden
So maybe don't try to make a joke right now is like. But then people laugh if you are, I mean.
00:13:04 Jay Jurden
And so, like I did, the standup unit, which was really it, was a fun way to be able to articulate and categorize and sort of like look at comedy, not from a scientific standpoint, but from like an actionable.
00:13:24 Jay Jurden
Like action based standpoint, have descriptions like the minute you have words for things and you realize oh this is what I'm attempting to do. This is who I'm attempting to mirror.
00:13:35 Jay Jurden
Why is this funny? What am I playing with from a language and speech standpoint? Voice, voice and speech standpoint, one of my playing with from a movement standpoint, so all these things like still inform my comedy. They just.
00:13:49 Jay Jurden
They just like were started back then and then.
00:13:52 Jay Jurden
I think I graduated, had good time I I wasn't a lot of stuff. I loved it. I wasn't like I was.
00:14:00 Jay Jurden
I like a fun seeing year like a lead in like a Neil debut play the Rory directed some girls. I was in a lot of stuff.
00:14:10 Jay Jurden
Renee was always nice to me and fun and cast me even though like I was a good singer an I was OK Mover. But some people like oh OK, Jennifer Mazingo is going to dispute this would be like Jay was a good answer. He just like he he had to focus and part of it is true. But it's also just like.
00:14:30 Jay Jurden
There are times.
00:14:32 Jay Jurden
Where be like choreography on top of all of this, and that's how you get like when you do nothing but straight acting. 'cause like I was a straight I was the person who's in the straight acting program. I wasn't empty but there if they like ask me do some will be like yeah I can do it but every now and then that be like now I need to do that. Yeah sales I'm not.
00:14:52 Jay Jurden
I need to go home early.
00:14:57 Jay Jurden
So it's fine. It was like fun as some I find some of funniest people in the world. There's times it's still like think about all miss and laugh at some very silly things that occurred. Mtma partner there. My final year did know we're gonna be together 'cause I was going to grad school so then I went to.
00:15:18 Jay Jurden
I got like a job at Busch Gardens which is like a fun little serviceable theater gig work. The theme park and then.
00:15:28 Jay Jurden
At the same SCTC where I got the theme park job, I auditioned for grad school. Kind of on a whim. So it's like, oh, let's see if I can and the University of Alabama University of Arkansas and University of West Virginia Ann Wayne State in Detroit all really like me. So I remember thinking I was like, oh, this is really cool. But then.
00:15:49 Jay Jurden
From a I started become pretty practical 'cause I was just like OK so like these three big state schools are definitely willing to pay for everything now in the private school might isn't gonna cover as much stuff. Oh, maybe they're not. Probably the money, wasn't there?
00:16:09 Jay Jurden
As my Wednesday and then was like down but it was between I think Arkansas and Alabama and I finally made it.
00:16:19 Jay Jurden
I visited Alabama and I was like Oh no like this is gonna be it. And like Seth was very adamant and Rory had worked there so he was able to actually tell me about it. So there was like a bit of a connection so.
00:16:32 Jay Jurden
I mean, what can we say when sometimes SEC recruitment isn't always it always? I mean we keep a little but just enough we don't pay the athletes, we just let him know that if they do go here, they will eventually get paid.
00:16:48 Jay Jurden
When they are professional.
00:16:50 Jay Jurden
So I went to Alabama and I worked harder than I had ever worked before. I was a teacher which also like worked a weird crowd work stand up muscle for me where I was I. I mean I taught Alabama I had. There were times where I was teaching.
00:17:10 Jay Jurden
On Friday.
00:17:11 Jay Jurden
When kids didn't wanna be there, 'cause it was a big game. Fall semester.
00:17:17 Jay Jurden
They wanted to already be drinking and part of me was like it's 10:00 o'clock. Yeah, another part of me was like it's 10:00 o'clock. Yeah, and another part of me was like I don't wanna be here either. But let's see if we can make you guys enjoy part of this theatrical process so for them.
00:17:37 Jay Jurden
Theater 201 is called theater 114, and it's introduction to theater. For non majors, a bit of the same. The class is it as big the way they split up my third and my second and third year, so it's not taught like in a big group setting like you have your own class an.
00:17:54 Jay Jurden
I had experience as a TA for Michael Barnett, in theory to award my final two years at the University of Alabama, so I was.
00:18:02 Jay Jurden
I was knowledgeable when it came to kind of not making theater easier, but saying this entire process like me teaching you as part of theatrical process. But we're also going to analyze text and look at performances and maybe look at some theatrical conventions and we can look at the history of theater. We can look at different applications.
00:18:25 Jay Jurden
Here we can have a musical week. I was also looking up that we got to do like.
00:18:29 Jay Jurden
A whole section on comedy, so I got to show them like Wanda Sykes. I'm gonna be me. I gotta show them drag Queen stuff which was like wonderful 'cause I was like. I actually missed this episode of RuPaul's Drag Race. So I'm just catching up with you guys. I don't even think of no work today.
00:18:45 Jay Jurden
So there were a number of moments that made me go. This is fun.
00:18:49 Jay Jurden
One of my I guess like advisors.
00:18:53 Jay Jurden
It's not just a faculty member they like they one time. Poke their head in. After I was done teaching there, like Jay, you are very good and I was like thank you. That means alot.
00:19:03 Jay Jurden
I think a big part of that was that I just wanted the information to be disseminated properly, but also be fun and talk to them like they're actually rational. 18 year olds and not like kindergartners, even though some of them like a lot of kindergartners.
00:19:25 Jay Jurden
I mean, you know, hey.
00:19:28 Katherine Stewart
So yeah, yeah.
00:19:30 Jay Jurden
I remember one time I was like listen I do y'all do this to make me into a mean old man? Is this what ages you is having students that act like this? 'cause I don't wanna do?
00:19:45 Jay Jurden
Do you think I wanna take an extra 2 minutes out of my teaching schedule as a 23 year old to be like I can't believe you. 18 year olds are like this girl. I don't care.
00:19:59 Jay Jurden
Um and so.
00:20:02 Jay Jurden
There is a stand up. There are two standard sections, I think at University of Alabama. I remember one specifically with Seth Panish where we have to like, watch and kind of like breakdown us. A comic gave us a list I chose prior.
00:20:21 Jay Jurden
I chose a Richard Pryor bit about him describing the animals in Africa and they had to do the bit.
00:20:28 Jay Jurden
But he wanted he didn't wanna necessarily just to be about impressions. He wanted you to understand the comedic conventions that they were using as well. But you also like had text, so you have to like transcribe.
00:20:44 Jay Jurden
And then like scan that text for like tone and intonation, which was like a very kind of like scientifique way.
00:20:54 Jay Jurden
To look at comedy 'cause a lot of people that are funny is funny. But then there is something a bit deeper about like OK, well why does this work and how do you make it repeatedly funny? It can't just be lightning in a bottle. There has to be some sort of like cyantific method to it. So that was that was like really eye opening for Maine.
00:21:14 Jay Jurden
When I was at all miss for a lot like the senior, the APL senior roast I like wrote a lot of the roast jokes. I really like a lot of the.
00:21:25 Jay Jurden
Parody songs like whenever it is Joe Stoppers never do like a musical review. We usually try to write parody songs with the same melodies.
00:21:36 Jay Jurden
As some of the songs which was like fun but tough but fun. 'cause there was like it was. It was fun, but it was also like we had. We worked harder to know sometimes.
00:21:50 Jay Jurden
And we should have we. We could have been like you guys. I mean I have a final but let's get this together.
00:21:59 Jay Jurden
Then I had a final project for my for Allison Hetzel.
00:22:06 Jay Jurden
And at the University of Alabama and she.
00:22:11 Jay Jurden
Was like, oh Jay, where's it gonna? Which you find which like your project for this 'cause it was like basically a class. It was rooted in like your transition out of academia into the real world. Even if you aren't gonna come back to academia and you know that. But like, what is your plan like?
00:22:30 Jay Jurden
March, April, may your third year.
00:22:33 Jay Jurden
And so I started working on a one man show because I was just like, oh, I really like crafting my own text. I worked with Rory and been like his assistant on his one man show at the Orlando Fringe Festival. The dopamine show. Yeah, so.
00:22:50 Jay Jurden
I was aware of that world, but then it was also like in the back of my head. I was like it's mine's gonna be like half comedy half drama and so I present it 15 minutes of it in my pledge to her will become 15 minutes and 30 minutes in an hour and then we'll continue to work on it and so when I presented my like.
00:23:11 Jay Jurden
15 minutes, which is like a long we got like a bunch of grad students presenting their stuff like you weren't. They weren't gonna get me to do 30 minutes of it, but like 15, it was like it was like close to like 12 minutes.
00:23:23 Jay Jurden
She was like that's really good, but one of the notes I got was it just it was very comedic and I was like, oh, if this is just a set, this this might just be a stand up set. Oh well. Look at that whoops. I don't know what you want me to do, what what that is. I'm yeah. I'm graduating in May sorry Boo Boo.
00:23:43
So.
00:23:45 Jay Jurden
Then I auditioned, I had as a grad showcase in New York through the University of Alabama. I chose to do 2 comedic scenes.
00:23:55 Jay Jurden
They were very kind and generous with letting me do that because the idea for a lot of people showcase materials is contrasting. They want to show range. I want to show range but in a different way. I wanted to show one was a romantic comedy between me is a scene from.
00:24:16 Jay Jurden
Grey's Anatomy episode and another one was a scene from a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode between me and so one was buddy Comedy One was romantic comedy and I really liked it. I like both options. I like both characters. It was two sides of me that are connected but definitely exists like on a spectrum on a continuum.
00:24:37 Jay Jurden
So it went really well. I got a lot of fun offers and questions. I sound with the theatrical agency that I'm no longer with, but.
00:24:48 Jay Jurden
The reason I says 'cause then I was like oh I gotta move New York NY was like.
00:24:53 Jay Jurden
New York was so low for me. I was like Atlanta, Los Angeles.
00:25:00 Jay Jurden
Any place else then New York and and not in just in a way where I was like and this kind of just shows you don't necessarily know what what's going to be useful. In my head I was like no you as a straight actor. I need more regional theater work. I don't need to be thinking about New York.
00:25:20 Jay Jurden
Unless, like a project gets picked up.
00:25:22 Jay Jurden
That's awkward way and they really want to like workshop it there and then it goes to like a smaller regional theater. You know what I mean? Like there are tons of projects that like have readings in New York, but then they go someplace else. And so I just I, just because I wasn't musical theater what New York was not on my radar.
00:25:39 Jay Jurden
And because I want to do more TV and film, just the number of options is a number of reasons. So this story, like the next steps like. So I'm in New York and I know.
00:25:50 Jay Jurden
So I'm back home. I'm back home. I am a certified personal trainer. I have the like.
00:25:58 Jay Jurden
I have that weird thing that happens where all your stuff is packed up and you don't wanna unpack it at home. 'cause that means you're at home like your home, so the stuff is like packed up and it's not like I still have a car, but like I'm not trying to like live at my mom's house an.
00:26:18 Jay Jurden
My agency called me and they're like are you in New York right now? I was like, yeah, this traffic is terrible, what's up? And they were like, we wanna start seeing you out on stuff as soon as your schedule.
00:26:32 Jay Jurden
For like the next two weeks and I was like, oh, I'm visiting my mom back home. Her birthday is July 8th. I'll be back in the city July 9 I.
00:26:46 Jay Jurden
Had out that was not a plan, I just said it and so then I had to be like. Well looks like I'm going back and it was very much like OK this is what I say I wanna do. I have a certification I can definitely find work. Yeah I could have like a the tiniest bit of like help. I found a sublet on Facebook.
00:27:06 Jay Jurden
Interacted with the person. Seemed nice, they were nice. Got that handled.
00:27:13 Jay Jurden
Celebrated.
00:27:16 Jay Jurden
You know made sure I have all the stuff I needed. Suburban moms birthday then flew to New York the next day.
00:27:25 Jay Jurden
Which was.
00:27:27 Jay Jurden
LM is me. Who is? It? Was one of those things where I was like, OK, cool like this is this is like there's no Waffle Ling because like if I don't do this, I'm just gonna I'll go back home like it's not like a so I went I found a job within the first week.
00:27:48 Jay Jurden
Add a place an.
00:27:50 Jay Jurden
The reason standup happened is because within my first.
00:27:57 Jay Jurden
Year ish, I was doing a lot of personal training and like personal training was paying like all my bills.
00:28:05 Jay Jurden
But I wasn't acting at all.
00:28:09 Jay Jurden
And I was like.
00:28:12 Jay Jurden
Oh, I was around some people who were acting. I was aware that options existed. I had a theatrical agent. I had representation, but the reason my representation liked me and the reason I like them is because in our first meeting I was like.
00:28:32 Jay Jurden
I want to do.
00:28:35 Jay Jurden
Comedy on TV and film and stage whatever is available. Please get me that and they're like OK an then they sometimes with simian calls. It just didn't have not the chops for but one time they were like J on a scale of 1 to 10. Where would you rate yourself?
00:28:56 Jay Jurden
As a Tapper and I was like, is there a scale with negative numbers? Because?
00:29:03 Jay Jurden
Your boy is like no one time.
00:29:07 Jay Jurden
My friend 'cause I know how hard this gig is. My friend was the Lola understudying Kiki boots and they're like Jay. Do you feel comfortable going to a little audition King and boost? I was like no and they're like well why I was like because I'm a homophobic. Why you think no? 'cause I don't sing and dance with you. I've never. I've never I don't have heels.
00:29:27 Jay Jurden
You guys, you should told me this years ago.
00:29:32 Jay Jurden
Yeah.
00:29:33 Jay Jurden
So like those kind of interactions and something without being rude, like we kind of just like parted ways and So what happened? This is like.
00:29:42 Jay Jurden
I was like just being silly. I'm always very silly and one of my friends was like, oh Ju.
00:29:51 Jay Jurden
You, um?
00:29:53 Jay Jurden
You should write.
00:29:55 Jay Jurden
This you should submit this thing to Mcsweeney's Internet tendency, which is like a satirical website. And so my friend win powers. He was like Jay, don't make another like funny Facebook post. Don't make don't like tweeting on the funny tweet like actually like sit down.
00:30:15 Jay Jurden
Write something on funny and just submit it, and if they say no, say no but they take some issues all the time and I submitted it and they liked it when they printed it or they put they put it up so that was my first little silly credit and then one of my friends was like oh I need he was doing.
00:30:34 Jay Jurden
A comedy night at a gay bar again bar that was new called Boccacci Vodka, soda bottoms up and he needed a comedian and had done like roast before I've done like what I considered. Comedy. I've done improv I had done parody songs. I had hosted events I've.
00:30:55 Jay Jurden
It's been an actor since I was 12, so he like asked me he's like you do comedy right? And I was like yeah I just said I was like yeah well yeah he's like oh can you do a set? I'm like yeah sure and then my first set.
00:31:08 Jay Jurden
May 6th are like something it was close to my birthday 2017 and so then I was like oh this is perfect and so then my friend.
00:31:21 Jay Jurden
Looks like you got it. You should go to free mikes. I always tell people it done. I don't think it is not worth looking in right now 'cause there's nothing to do. The free mikes and you can see all the open mikes around New York City 'cause you're in New York City and you have like the most. It's the most available place to do comedy.
00:31:43 Jay Jurden
And so I started going to mikes and just started working on jokes. Some of the jokes were from the the show that like the one man show that I was working on in 2015 with Allison. So these are two years old. But I still had to think I saw the Google Doc on my computer and I had a notebook full of like.
00:32:03 Jay Jurden
Other things I thought were just funny, little like musings.
00:32:07 Jay Jurden
And I was aware of the construction of jokes. I was aware of, like what made a joke a joke, and so that was like really kind of.
00:32:15 Jay Jurden
Something I had from the beginning as far as awareness of text. But then because I've done theater for so long like.
00:32:23 Jay Jurden
Be on stage and interact with people. It wasn't the hardest thing in the world like it's it's not a. It's not a cheat code. I'm just aware of it and in fact it's like actually the one thing you kind of want as an actor.
00:32:39 Jay Jurden
Yeah we do a show 7 times when you're in college. I think like usually the run of the show is like a week and like there's one like Doubleday, there's one day where is a matinee and so.
00:32:53 Jay Jurden
Making it repeatedly good an making it kind of an like excelling.
00:33:00 Jay Jurden
In a way that is both expected, but also genuine as far as like performance quality is something that has like enriched my standup so much because I never think oh I can have asked this set because.
00:33:20 Jay Jurden
It's still an acting job.
00:33:24 Jay Jurden
It's it's text I have to deliver an all misses big on this, but so was University of Alabama. When you're a performer technically, you're part of the service industry in the sense that consumers rate you on your performance, like their Yelp review.
00:33:44 Jay Jurden
Is instantaneous, though. It's either claps, laughs like they're taken aback, they're paying attention on the edge of their seat. Like you. Your performance review is happening in real time, so do well and not just do well, because like you won't praise do well because that's the only way that.
00:34:02 Jay Jurden
You can continue to do this and that other people get to do this, so that was always kind of at the heart of why I wanted to do well at stand up. It's something I kind of still like strive to do, like write really good jokes, right? Really tight jokes and execute very well. Because if you don't do both, it's it's so hard it's you. You can't even really.
00:34:25 Jay Jurden
Overcompensate you can't like being amazing joke rider and be a terrible form because people won't even hear the jokes, and you can't be like an amazing performer, but terrible joke writer, because people are just gonna, they're gonna want you to stop.
00:34:40 Jay Jurden
And like be yourself is those auditions when someone's like wait wait OK, just put OK put the side down how was your day? I'm like oh you're so engaging you're so dynamic what bring that to the character so?
00:34:55 Jay Jurden
I was like.
00:34:56 Katherine Stewart
Is he hilarious or what? So we're stopping here at a bit of a cliffhanger. Because Jay's career is about to blow up an he is just about to talk about how he got onto The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. And what that experience was like.
00:35:10 Katherine Stewart
So stay tuned for the next episode of the podcast. An part two of our conversation with Jay Jordan.
00:35:16 Katherine Stewart
Until then, this is Stage & Screen.