This week on The Optimist: Unplugged, hosts Jasmine and Eloise speak to Jeanie Vowels – a woman, who after facing various trials and tribulations, finally found herself in standup comedy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite describing herself as \u2018quite odd\u2019 as a child, Jeanie was very academically gifted and everyone around her, including herself, saw her pursuing a very studious lifestyle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She says: \u201cI was a weird girl. I was probably the only ventriloquist in the year 5 talent show, but people would keep me around because they thought I was funny.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However – everything changed for her after her best friend died. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy best friend died and it rocked my world,\u201d Jeanie shares, \u201cI just started drinking a lot and I didn\u2019t really care about anything. I didn\u2019t even realise that I hadn\u2019t applied for uni.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, Jeanie was working in a kitchen – but a self-described \u2018chronic job hopper\u2019, she couldn\u2019t keep still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From there she went into teaching, but decided she didn\u2019t fit in there either and would often \u2018distract the kids more than the kids would distract each other.\u2019 It\u2019s something Jeanie attributes to her ADHD, which has often guided many of her choices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whilst shifting her focus to new careers, Jeanie became aware of the Edinburgh fringe festival and was immediately invested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was the most amazing transformative experience of my life,\u201d Jeanie says, \u201cHalf the comedians I saw I just thought \u2018wow you\u2019re amazing\u2019. The other half, I thought \u2018you\u2019re not that funny.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what gave me to push to think \u2018you can do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeanie would go on to get in contact with someone involved at an open mic and that was the start of it – she spent the next three weeks writing her first stand-up set. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added: \u201cNothing prepares you for writing your first ever stand-up set. You\u2019re showing yourself off to the world and you\u2019re showing everyone what you think is funny and what\u2019s in your brain. Where do I start? Do I talk about me? Do I talk about Sainsbury\u2019s? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As time went on, Jeanie kept performing and refining her craft. She\u2019s played \u2018absolutely awful\u2019 shows, she\u2019s played \u2018absolutely wicked\u2019 ones \u2013 but she\u2019ll never forget her first ever gig:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI froze. I have never had anxiety like that,\u201d Jeanie shares, \u201cI was under my duvet cover – I thought \u2018I can\u2019t do this.\u2019 My friends basically said no and marched me to the gig.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy best friend in the world, George, had come to see me but hadn\u2019t told me, and he is the funniest person I know – he made me who I am. I am on stage and I look at the back of the room and see my best friend who is about to watch me potentially bomb on stage talking about North Korean Disney adults for ten minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But how has Jeanie fared in the industry since? And how proud is she of her own journey? Find out more about her and her story by tuning into the newest episode of The Optimist Unplugged!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can watch the episode below, or listen to it on Spotify here!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n