Black Friday Comedy Adventures: Part 1
When the part timer comedian who never imagined herself on stage then turned into a real life dramedy - more than once! Here's the early years of an unexpected comedian making her way in the world
This will be the third year in a row I’m working the Black Friday Comedy Show at McGarvey’s bar - coming up on Friday, November 28th, 2025 - which gets me in a bit of a nostalgic mood! It’s a fun, unexpected and surprising turn my life has taken moonlighting as a comedian with people who are arguably, much funnier than me.
After going on three years of trying my hand at comedy, and being on these comedy shows, I’m sitting back and wondering: “What batty crazy stuff is going to happen this time?” Here’s why…
What am I even doing here?
First off, I’m shocked I’m even on stage doing comedy. It was never on the bucket or interest list for me - my original career aspirations included a bunch of random things that had nothing to do with using my sense of humor.
It was too late to be a quarter life crisis and too early to be a midlife crisis, so it was more so a coping mechanism to process my poor decision making skills. Am I book smart? Yes. Common sense? Well, not so much. If that part of my brain were run by a spinning hamster, sometimes, that hamster is dead on the wheel.
So, I sort of stumbled my way into comedy by way of my poor taste in men and lack of common sense, making my friends laugh in the process, and learning how to live with that sort of part time stupidity on display to help make others laugh.
I definitely absorbed a huge portion of my humor from my family environment. You can’t grow up hearing this stuff without being a jokester:
My grandpa mistaking my brace free teeth as dentures, then calling me ‘horse teeth’
My dad’s loving nickname for me being “prairie dog” growing up
Along with saying I looked like a frog when I was born
Needless to say, father-daughter dances were not our bonding activity - mutual roasting sessions were, and still are
My sister drawing attention to the fact that my eyebrows, at the age of 12, resembled the wooly caterpillars that the Amish use to predict the weather
Through that coping mechanism and familial trait humor, here I am, on my third year, cracking jokes and somehow, other people also finding them amusing. I’ll spare you the comedy origin story for now, but I first want you to know, cracking jokes on stage was just a silly little coping mechanism that I’ve lost complete control of, and I am now inflicting on others while on stage.
Pleather and Velociraptors: Stumble Comedy Beginnings
One of my first “big girl comedy shows” was opening for Jason Imler and Danny D’Aprile - I somehow did a rousing impression of Jurassic Park in pleather, and subjected my Temple family to said pleather and fire engine red lipstick mistakenly named “Wine with Everything” before running to the show after being included spontaneously.
I really, did not, quite, know, what I was getting into. Before this show, I didn’t know that when the host is flashing their light at you from their phone, it’s the signal that it’s time to close out your set. I think that set ran three minutes long. Whoops. Thanks for being gracious with that, Jason.
I don’t remember what my velociraptor set was about - it was most likely built from my coping mechanism of dealing with my poor taste in men. I could fill this entire blog post with the dating blunders I have had, and that show most likely highlighted that fact as well - it really took until early 2025 for me to turn that ship around, I had a bit of a come to Moses moment about my choice in men in 2024.
More on that in Part 2!
Black Friday Show 2023: Comedians Knocking ‘Em Dead
This show was to die for ( yes, that’s a foreshadowing) - we had a fun diverse cast in terms of our voice and what we shared comedically, an enthusiastic audience, and Amy, Jake and Michael are well established comedians in their own rite. This time, I caught the lighting cue - progress!
Things went a little crazy by the end of the show, however - I think it was actually during a rousing impression of a senator that he bore a striking resemblance to; Michael and I were shooting the breeze, and before we know it, tables and chairs are being cleared, we hear some shows of “give him space, give him space!”
Michael and I looked at each other flabbergasted, then back to the commotion - it turned out a man had collapsed in the audience and was no longer breathing. My friend, Jen, had medical training and cleared out the audience - and the man in the audience was clearly in distress.
Talk.
About.
Emotional.
Whiplash.
A total one hundred eighty degree turn from laughter and joy to fear, anxiety and coming to together to make sure this audience member made it. It was oddly inspiring in somewhat of the worst way.
Our audience member did make it, thankfully - by help of Jen and local 911 responders.
But, no one was in the mood for jokes after that.
Effectively, Jake Vevera “knocked ‘em dead,” as we say in showbiz.
Black Friday Crazy Vibes: A Holiday Tradition?
Little did I know, it seems to be a tradition that something just a little bit crazy and hazy in the air after overdosing on turkey and mashed potatoes. I thought this would be my craziest thanksgiving vibes, and one of those “ha! remember that?” stories - little did I know what 2024 would bring…
Come back for Part 2 of the Black Friday Comedy Adventures later this week to find out how 2024 topped 2023, and you definitely want to make sure you’re part of the magic this year in 2025 if you’re in central PA… Purchase your tickets here!
