Christina Jobe’s Fringe debut as a stand-up comedian delivers an understated 60 minutes of dealing with “fish out of water” situations stories.  The young film maker, a Southern California film school graduate, recounts her adventures trying to break into the biz. 

 

Her trials begin with the telling of her biggest break, creating a national commercial for an un-named subway sandwich firm.  The simplicity of the 30 second ad to be broadcast during the NBA Finals belies the complicated world of ad agency reps and clients out of step with each other, ending up with hundreds of sandwiches failing their audition for being too mushy or too toasted. 

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Her show focuses on misunderstandings and people working at cross purposes.  From trying control her gag reflex as she films a documentary about transexual pornography to dodging a terrorist uprising while helping lens a music video in Nigeria, it’s an eye-opening, real-world education for the young 7th Day Adventist and self-avowed lesbian.

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Her best moments come when she goes off script, giggling along with her audience as she riffs about relationships with parents, asking them how far they might go to save someone’s life.  Jobe’s ad libs and improved responses ring true and heartfelt, eliciting honestly earned laughter from the room.

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At times, though, she seems a little unsure of her material, tiptoeing her way through her routine and searching for a zinger of a punch line.  Stand-up is hard.  Finding your voice so you can “make connections and build community” takes time and, in truth, experience is the best teacher.  But simply having the courage to willingly put yourself out there is step one to learning how to push an audiences buttons and make them laugh in spite of themselves.

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But I do believe that, as Jobe promised in her show, just spending time in the room with her has extended my life expectancy, and for that I will be forever grateful.