In this episode, Cody talks with stand-up comedian Jessica Singleton. She’s always been funny, even as a kid. That’s something her mom recently reinforced—that she’s always had comedic timing and that she could always find the humor in everything, regardless of how traumatic it got. When her family moved from Mississippi to Alaska, she was in 6th grade. She was forced to leave her friends behind for a place she knew nothing about. She also hated the cold, and her parents continued to struggle with addiction. She says that she lived in a state of fear most of her life. She was abused, neglected and abandoned. There was a lot going on that was hard to process. So, she used humor to shield and heal herself. Her self-deprecating, stream-of-consciousness humor comes from those experiences. So does her empathy. It’s what continues to draw her to comedy—her set is successful if she can, even for a moment, take someone away from their troubles.
It’s taken her a while to get to where she is now—being a regular at the Comedy Store, performing on sold out tours, working on her next comedy album and she just released a country song. It took a lot of self-reflection and recognition of self-worth. She says it’s about shifting your perspective and setting goals. That it’s about being present. And comedy is where she feels most present. On a stage in front of a bunch of strangers, making them feel like they’re not so alone. This is her calling, and she believes that when you find the thing that you’re meant to be, it’ll happen. That when you direct energy and perseverance in a certain direction, the doors will continue to open.
EP 152 Exonerating Alaskans with Jory Knott
EP 151 Things can get better with Heidi Huppert
EP 150 Furniture, basketball and family with Buddy Bailey
EP 149 Human trafficking in Alaska and decolonizing data with Josie Heyano
Chatter Marks EP 83 Moving home, revitalizing a language and the magic of radio with Shyanne Beatty
Chatter Marks EP 82 A chip on my shoulder with Mario Chalmers
EP 148 Skating Anchorage in the ‘90s with Anthony Black and Jerry Smyth
EP 147 For the glory and the story with IG
Chatter Marks EP 81 Life lessons from fish camp with Angela Gonzalez
EP 146 Searching for understanding and forgiveness with Robert Stark
EP 145 There is no excuse with Andrew Kurka
EP 144 Deconstructing the myth of The Last Frontier with Kaitlin Armstrong
EP 143 A Christmas they’ll never forget
EP 142 The history of slime with Christopher Michlig
EP 141 What we’ve been through is not who we are now with Travante Williams
EP 140 From middle school teacher to pro wrestler with Freya the Slaya
EP 139 Embracing the variance of poker with Adam Hendrix
Museums in a Climate of Change: Chatter Marks EP 73 Futures thinking, perseverance and climate change with Kristin Alford of the Museum of Discovery at the University of South Australia
EP 138 What happens to Alaska when oil is no longer economically viable for the economy of the state?
Museums in a Climate of Change: Chatter Marks EP 72 Creating sustainable exhibitions with Lizzy Bakker of NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam
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