HARK!
I hear…a stereotype exploding…
“Comedy is not pretty,” it has been said.
While it has been said before and since, nobody did it better than Steve Martin, back in his wild and crazy guy days of 1979:
Click here to listen to him goofing from the album about how a girlfriend complained “I don’t think you respect me…I kind of soothed her, what are you talking about? You’re the best hog I’ve ever had.”
After groans and boos, Martin responds:
“Wait a second, hey: Comedy is not pretty.”
But, Shale Brenner argues, 43 years later: Comedy can be beautiful.
She’s a budding stand-up comic…and a certified beauty queen (pictured, above).
Brenner is sponsoring a comedy show starting at 5 p.m. Sunday, June 5th at JP’s Comedy Club (860 E Warner Rd, Gilbert, AZ 85286).
As she puts it, this is “a charity comedy show I am putting on as Miss East Valley 2022 to support both the Miss America Scholarship Fund and to fund a billboard for Create ACTS of Kindness, my social impact initiative.”
A pageant contestant since the age of 8, for years her “talent” was singing; then, she took a stand-up comedy class and shifted to slinging jokes. “Comedy became my new talent in both the pageant world and as a general hobby,” she told HARK Valley.
“My social impact initiative through the Miss Arizona Organization is called Create ACTS of Kindness. It focuses on shifting the perspective of society from one of pessimism to one of positivity. My comedy is a huge part of that. I work hard to never ‘punch down’ in my jokes and to use humor that can be funny to everyone,” she said.
“While pageantry and comedy may not typically go together, for me, they go hand in hand.”
For tickets to the Brenner-produced “Punchlines With Purpose” comedy show this Sunday, click here
Admission includes a raffle ticket (“$1,000 in raffle prizes”), with a hearty lineup of five comics.
Mary Upchurch– The headliner of the show is originally from San Diego, and most recently placed 1st in House of Comedy’s annual Funniest Person contest.
She is likable and hilarious, a potential star in the making.
On this clip, she describes how a cop asks her why he pulled over. “Because we were supposed to be together!”
Here, during a Stir Crazy Comedy Club set she talks about working from home during the pandemic. “I finally know what it’s like to be the prettiest girl in the office…I’m also the smartest…and the office bitch.”
Jim Perry–“The Cop Comic” is a former police officer who decided to quit putting people in handcuffs and instead arrest them with punchlines. He’s also a Persian Gulf war veteran and often performs at benefits to support disabled veterans, fallen police officers’ families and various local not-for-profit organizations every time he does a public or private performance.
Check out his show here.
Perry likes to joke about how, for him, it wasn’t donuts–it was Kentucky Fried Chicken. One time, he swears, he forgot his gun–so he pointed a drumstick at a suspect.
Zac Allen–A Montana native who performs regularly all over the Valley and has been featured in the Cactus Comedy Classic and Big Sky Comedy Festival.
Zac Allen
Jeffrey Morel–An Alaskan who left the snow for the sun three years ago. Another multi-dimensional performer, he also does art and photography.
He does sketches like this on his YouTube channel.
Jeffrey Morel
Shale Brenner–The aforementioned beauty queen/comic is a Chicago native who first tried stand-up around two years ago. She’s a regular at JP’s Comedy Club and open mic nights. Shale was voted Miss East Valley 2022. You can also find her on the YouTube show Fake News Faux Reel.
Shale Brenner at the mic