Leigh Anne Jasheway

 

Leigh Anne Jasheway's humor columns are regularly carried in Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications, The Comic News and InspiredatHome.com. Until they ceased publication, Leigh Anne was the regular humor columnist for Readers' Digest New Choices magazine. Her work has also appeared in numerous other magazines and newspapers including Best Friends, Funny Times, Coffeerooms e-zine, Coping, Didsbury Review, DogFancy, First, GoodDog, Good Housekeeping, Health Promotion Practitioner, Hysteria, The Los Angeles Times, and Reader's Digest.

Each year, Leigh Anne presents and keynotes approximately fifty conferences, from the American Association of University Women to the MoonDance Film Festival to the Willamette Writers Conference. She has also taught humor writing and stand-up for Lane Community College for eight years, and given numerous workshops on comedy writing, stand-up, and creativity.

Leigh Anne is the author of Serious Side Effects: "The Best of Leigh Anne Jasheway from The Comic News, Volume 1 (Comedy Workout Publishing, 2001). ¨ I'm Not Getting Older (I'm Getting Better at Denial) : 101 Humorous Tips for Feeling Good About Being a Midlife Woman (Comedy Workout Publishing, 1999) ¨ Driving for Idiots (Andrews and McMeel, 1997) ¨ Bedtime Stories for Cats (Andrews and McMeel, 1997) ¨ The Rules for Cats: The Secret to Getting Free Catnip for Life (Andrews and McMeel, 1997) ¨ The Rules for Dogs, The Secret to Getting Free Treats for Life (Andrews and McMeel, 1997) ¨ Bedtime Stories For Dogs (Andrews and McMeel, 1996) ¨ Give Me A Break: For Women Who Have Too Much To Do (Andrews and McMeel, 1996) ¨ Don't Get Mad, Get Funny: A Light-hearted approach to stress management (Whole Person Associates/Pfeifer-Hamilton, 1996). Visit Leigh Anne Jasheway online at www.accidentalcomic.com

 

 

Pageonelit.com: Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?

Leigh Anne Jasheway: I beg to differ with the assumption that I grew up. I'm growing down (and slightly sideways) and enjoying it much more that way. I spent my early years as an Air Force brat being dragged kicking and screaming to bases throughout the U.S. and Europe. This would explain the fact that I tend to vacation within a 7.3 mile radius of my home.

I have always been a reader and writer. I used to sneak out to libraries when I was young. I told my parents I was dating. Once I slammed two books on my neck to make it look like I had a hickey.

My earliest writing influences were Sylvia Plath and Edgar Allan Poe. Just what you'd expect for a comedy writer, right? But somehow, between the poems about suicide and the dark disturbed visions of the misdeeds of the human heart, a little Dorothy Parker sneaked in. I was taken no so much by her humor (unfortunately I didn't discover mine until I was in my mid-30's), but by her brilliance and ability to say so much by saying so little.

 

Pageonelit.com: Why do you write?

Leigh Anne Jasheway: Because it's there. And if I don't put it on paper, either my head will explode or I'll have to spend every day down at the bus station telling stories to people until one day they get a restraining order.

 

Pageonelit.com: You are a humor writer, humorous speaker, stress management expert, comedy teacher and standup comic with an undergraduate degree in political science -- How did you emerge from an education in political science to "The Accidental Comic"? Where does your comic talent come from? Who are your comedy influences? Print and stand up.

Leigh Anne Jasheway: Whoa, that's a lot of questions. Okie dokie. First, let's just say almost nothing is funnier than politics. In fact I should have stayed with my original career choice of becoming Secretary of the Interior just to generate more material. Unfortunately, I found out the position did not allow you to pick out drapes and carpet for the White House.

Following my degree in political science, I got a masters degree in public health. Armed with that degree (which I pinned to my shirt to prove I had it), I became the director of health promotion programming for The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (motto: We don't have room for a motto, our name is too long). Part of my job was to teach stress management. Unfortunately, however, I found that asking employees to visualize something peaceful on their lunch hour meant that many of them were visualizing walking on their bosses' graves. So I began a search for alternative methods of stress management to teach at work.

At the same time, I was getting a divorce from my first husband, The Evil One (who is represented by the head of a Ken doll I carry in my fanny pack) and was looking for a way to manage my own stress. During therapy (yes, it's cliche, but in this case it's true), I said at one point, "I've never had any fun!" To which the therapist, drawing upon years of training, said, "You should go out and have some fun!" I ended up randomly choosing a class from an adult learning catalog -- that class was Comedy Writing. I've always wondered what would have happened if my finger had landed on Nude Clog Dancing or Learning to Seduce Women.

That class changed my life and my outlook. Within two years I had quit my job and decided to try to help people learn to laugh and alter their perspective. And to start contributing more laughter to the world through my own writing.

You ask where my comedic talent comes from... I believe it's aisle 7 between the feminine hygiene products and the fabric softener. Although there is a genetic component. Both my parents have opposable thumbs.

My comedy influences are Merrill Markhoe, Dave Barry, Paul Reiser, Brett Butler, Lewis Grizzard, Stephen Wright, Kate Clinton, Dorothy Parker, Ogden Nash, Dr. Seuss, Syvia Plath, and Edgar Allan Poe.

 

 

Pageonelit.com: You have two books THE BEDTIME STORIES FOR CATS and THE BEDTIME STORIES FOR DOGS --- How did these books/stories come about? Tell us about them.

Leigh Anne Jasheway: My dogs are in control of my life. They only let me leave the house or even temporarily distract my attention from them if it will benefit them in the long run. One evening after expressing their dissatisfaction for the umpteenth time (which is 7 x umpteen in dog years) with typical fairy tales I had been reading them at bedtime ("They're too violent!" "They're confusing!" "Why aren't there any dogs in them?"), I decided it would be best for all of us if I wrote some fairy tales of my own. And even though they don't laugh when I read them, I laugh enough for all of us. My fairy tales are funny, positive, and fun to roll in.

Bedtime Stories for Cats was written out of self defense to keep all my cat-loving friends from clawing me out of their wills.

 

Pageonelit.com: I found your book SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS an amusing and wonderful book to be read again, again and again --- Did these columns appear somewhere first or were they written for the book? Do you perform any of this material in live stand up?

Leigh Anne Jasheway: I've been the regional humor columnist for The Comic News for six years. I write a column a week (or seven columns a week in dog columns.) Serious Side Effects is a collection of what I considered to be my best work from The Comic News from 1999-2001. Many of my readers disagree and one even held me down at a booksigning while another gave me a pink belly.

I occasionally use some of the jokes as stand-up material. As a stand-up who doesn't travel (the 7.3 mile rule applies to work as well as vacations), I and the comedy troupe I run (The Comedy Workout), perform new material every month so our audiences don't grow tired of us and ask us for divorce. So I do sometimes recycle material. Because it's the environmentally responsible thing to do.

 

Pageonelit.com: There's a section in SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS titled , "Take Two Chads and Call me in the Morning" covering political subjects with columns like "Who wants to be Leader of the Free World", "Get out and Vote" and "Roll over and play President." -- Are we seeing some of that political science degree paying it's dues here? Do you have any aspirations to be a politician? Why is something as dull as politics can be so darn funny?

Leigh Anne Jasheway: It's easier to make dull funny than it is to make funny stuff funnier (with the exception of anything ever uttered by G.W. Bush). Additonally, because so many people actually followed the last presidential election (thanks to those handy scorecards that had been translated into Braille and the African clicking language), I had the element of universality on my side. If I were to write about political topics no one cares about, such as Alan Greenspan's sex life or what ever happened to all those pie charts of Ross Perot's, I'd have a tougher time making people laugh.

I have considered running for mayor of Eugene. But only if I can race walk instead.

 

Pageonelit.com: Tell us about The Comedy Workout?

Leigh Anne Jasheway: The Comedy Workout may be the only troupe of stand-up comedians in the country that has the following goals: (1) supporting each other insted of pretending to be comedy divas, (2) working together to assure we remain in utter anonymity, and (3) giving people who typically have been underrepresented in stand-up comedy -- middle-aged women, gays and lesbians, young kids, disabled people, people over sixty and wiener dogs -- a chance to express themselves comedically. I grew very tired of the idea that all comedy was about one body part I don't own (well, I may have one in a drawer somewhere...), traveling, and staying in cheap hotels. So we don't travel, we don't aspire to become professional comedians, and we express a diversity of opinions on a diversity of subjects -- from book clubs to child-rearing to menopause to the first day of junior high to what Martha Stewart would have done differently at The Last Supper.

 

Pageonelit.com: DON'T GET MAD, GET FUNNY! , a book for stress management -- Is laughter the best medicine? In a world where we need to smile and laugh the most do you feel comedians are a part of the answer for some of our everyday problems and stress? The movie PATCH ADAMS comes to mind -- Would things be better if our mailman, news reporters, bankers and dentists had a better sense of humor?

Leigh Anne Jasheway: My goal is to make everyone I interact with every day laugh at some point during the conversation. Which explains my latest haircut.

There is a view in this country that people who laugh a lot obviously don't understand what a troubling and depressing world we live in. Thus, easy laughers are stupid. I remember seeing a bumper sticker that said "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." My view is the opposite. We should each work to change what we can and we should change our perspective about the things that we cannot. Expending negative energy in anger and violence only makes the world more troubled and depressing.

Last year on September 15th (four days after 9/11), I was all set to emcee the Eugene Celebration parade. Eugene Celebration may be the oddest municipal event in the country -- instead of choosing a "Queen," we choose a "Slug Queen" who wins by bribing the judges. I had planned extremely comedic parade commentary, with me and my co-emcee dressed in costumes from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Because of the 9/11, the parade became more somber, as did we. However, we did, when appropriate, use our senses of humor and as we could feel the audience along the route truly needing the comedice release, we continued to get funnier as the parade went on. Afterward, hundreds of people came up to us and thanked us for helping them laugh for the first time in four days. The next day, I emceed and performed at the five-hour comedy stage as part of the Celebration. The room was standing room only all day, filled with parents and their children. Again, the feeling was, we need this, we need to release our emotions and find something funny about the world again.

I am convinced now more than ever that laughter is not only the best medicine, it may be the best way to resolve conflict. Perhaps instead of Secretary of the Interior, I should run for Court Jester.

 

Pageonelit.com: You are an experienced published author of nine published books - What advice can you offer for those writers who are working on their first book?

Leigh Anne Jasheway: Be persistent, love what you do, and above all, maintain your sense of humor. Oh, and write those ideas down on pieces of paper. We all hear voices in our heads, but you can't convince a publisher to take a chance on you until you've committed those voices to paper. And if you don't get at least forty rejection letters on your first book, you've given up too soon.

 

Pageonelit.com: What has been your feedback from readers? What do they say to you about their interpretations of your books?

Leigh Anne Jasheway: 98.3% of my readers think I am the funniest person on earth. .7% think I'm just stupid. .6% think I'm with stupid, and .4% say I'm sexy and smell nice.

What has surprised me most about my readers is how my humor seems to appeal to kids and teens. I guess this whole growing down instead of growing up thing is working. At this point, I guess I am about twelve. On the other hand, I have lots of readers (and two stalkers) who are over eighty.

The only really bad feedback I have gotten is that cats refuse to listen to Bedtime Stories for Cats. I find they listen just fine while napping, however.

 

Pageonelit.com: Who are your favorite writers and why?

Leigh Anne Jasheway: That's like saying "What is your favorite color M&M and why?" I could not live without reading and there are so many writers who keep me alive. From Ellen Goodman to Carl Hiaasen (who I believe is the funniest writer now working) to Tom Robbins (my perennial favorite) to David Sedaris (who doesn't write nearly enough to suit me). Others that I find myself rereading as the years go on -- Robert Pirsig, Lisa Alther, Kurt Vonnegut, Merrill Markhoe. Not to mention the funny pages and the coupon inserts which make me laugh and laugh.

 

Pageonelit.com: What's next?

Leigh Anne Jasheway: I've got four manuscripts being read by agents and publishers, including Carbon Dating: Relating and Mating When You're Over Forty, and Sharpei Image: The Catalog for Really Spoiled Dogs. I've also got a new screenplay in the works (it's number five; the other four make good homes for spiders), and a grocery list I'm putting the finishing touches on.

 

Pageonelit.com: What was the last book you read?

Leigh Anne Jasheway: I like to multi-task, so usually read two or three books at once. Perhaps I have Attention Deficit Disorder. I am currently reading Are You a Real Doctor? by Mark DePaulis, A Big New Free Happy Unusual Life by Nina Wise, and Learning to Fall by Philip Simmons.

 

Pageonelit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing

Leigh Anne Jasheway: My hobbies include gardening (which always throws my back out, thereby leaving me more time to sit and write), macro photography (which requires me to bend down low to get up close and personal to my subjects, which throws my back out, thereby leaving me more time to sit and write,) and wiener dogs (who refuse to let me leave the house, thereby leaving more time to sit and write.)

I used to also wrap myself in aluminum foil, put a metal colander on my head and eat peanut butter from a jar, but I'm on medication for that.