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BACK ISSUES INTERVIEWS Stand-Up Comedians Jim Norton Robert Kelly Donnell Rawlings Brad Stine Tammy Pescatelli Leighann Lord George Sarris Nick DiPaolo Russ Meneve Shang and more By Tasha Harris, NYC Comedy Journalist STAGE TIME The Magazine That Stands Up For Comedy |
By Tasha Harris, Editor-in-Chief
| Leighann Lord is just as graceful, passionate and piercingly funny offstage as she is onstage. As one of the most sought-after female comedians who have appeared on shows such as The View, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and Premium Blend, Lord has attracted thousands of fans with her distinctive brand of thought-provoking, observational humor. She is most recognized as the clean comedian, who dropped knowledge on the ground-breaking series, Def Comedy Jam in the early 90s. Lord performs internationally and is a regular on the NYC comedy scene. She is also a headlining member and first lady of the weekly show, Souled Out Comedy. |
THE FIRST LADY
LEIGHANN LORD
Reflects on Def Comedy Jam, George Lucas,
Balancing Stand Up and Marriage and Why
Comics Shouldn't Date Each Other
LEIGHANN LORD
Reflects on Def Comedy Jam, George Lucas,
Balancing Stand Up and Marriage and Why
Comics Shouldn't Date Each Other
STM caught up with Lord on a warm, summery evening. She talked about challenging the Def Jam stereotype, working with George Lucas, learning to embrace her femininity onstage and balancing stand up and marriage.
How long have you been doing stand-up? How did you get started?
13 years. I did theater in college and that’s how I got into the love of being onstage, even though the
two things are completely different. Stand up and theater are very different things. I did theater and
I really loved it; but unfortunately when I graduated, I didn’t do theater. I got a real job.
What did you do?
I worked for Chemical Bank in the Corporate Communications Department. That’s what I did with my
Journalism/English degree and I really hated it. And I said, “I need to really figure out what I can do
that makes me happy.” I really stepped back and said, “What am I good at?”
I’m good writer. I enjoy being onstage and I make my friends laugh all the time. Wait, that kind of
sounds like stand up. It’s weird but that’s how my mind works. I’m very anal. I don’t just jump into
things so I looked around and I found a comedy class because I wanted to – no one can teach you to
be funny. They can teach you about business. They can teach you about the rules and how it works,
how to figure out what is funny about you and how to get those things out onstage so that’s what I did.
The end point of the culmination process [was] getting onstage at The Comic Strip for five minutes.
That five minutes seemed like four. I can still remember, I got onstage and it felt like I was taller…
I remember I did it; the audience laughed and I forgot everything else. It was wonderful and I’ve
never looked back from that moment.
Who are some of the comics you came up with?
Oh God, you mean who are still doing it? A lot of people wanted to do stand up. Every time I turned
around there were new comics who I didn’t know. It’s like people come into this in droves but they
don’t stick with it. They find out how much work it is and they go “Oh, it’s just like a regular job.”
And then they move on to something else.
When I started, it was the end of the boom. My mentor, Rob Weinstein, a wonderful comic - I took
classes with him – he said that "comics starting now" - that was in ‘91, ‘92, ’93 - "that it was awful."
There was no work. It was very difficult to find work. He said that “the comics who last through this
will be strong comics.”
Which rooms did you work?
Here in the city, I started at The Comic Strip. I love The Comic Strip. I have a soft spot for that
club…The New York Comedy Club is also my home room.
How long have you been doing stand-up? How did you get started?
13 years. I did theater in college and that’s how I got into the love of being onstage, even though the
two things are completely different. Stand up and theater are very different things. I did theater and
I really loved it; but unfortunately when I graduated, I didn’t do theater. I got a real job.
What did you do?
I worked for Chemical Bank in the Corporate Communications Department. That’s what I did with my
Journalism/English degree and I really hated it. And I said, “I need to really figure out what I can do
that makes me happy.” I really stepped back and said, “What am I good at?”
I’m good writer. I enjoy being onstage and I make my friends laugh all the time. Wait, that kind of
sounds like stand up. It’s weird but that’s how my mind works. I’m very anal. I don’t just jump into
things so I looked around and I found a comedy class because I wanted to – no one can teach you to
be funny. They can teach you about business. They can teach you about the rules and how it works,
how to figure out what is funny about you and how to get those things out onstage so that’s what I did.
The end point of the culmination process [was] getting onstage at The Comic Strip for five minutes.
That five minutes seemed like four. I can still remember, I got onstage and it felt like I was taller…
I remember I did it; the audience laughed and I forgot everything else. It was wonderful and I’ve
never looked back from that moment.
Who are some of the comics you came up with?
Oh God, you mean who are still doing it? A lot of people wanted to do stand up. Every time I turned
around there were new comics who I didn’t know. It’s like people come into this in droves but they
don’t stick with it. They find out how much work it is and they go “Oh, it’s just like a regular job.”
And then they move on to something else.
When I started, it was the end of the boom. My mentor, Rob Weinstein, a wonderful comic - I took
classes with him – he said that "comics starting now" - that was in ‘91, ‘92, ’93 - "that it was awful."
There was no work. It was very difficult to find work. He said that “the comics who last through this
will be strong comics.”
Which rooms did you work?
Here in the city, I started at The Comic Strip. I love The Comic Strip. I have a soft spot for that
club…The New York Comedy Club is also my home room.
