Interview · moment 6 of 20
Getting Sober and Getting Back Into Comedy
from Alien School (with Jessa Reed) · #89
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
6 minGuest
Jessa recounts overdosing near-fatally, quitting stand-up after her marriage ended, developing social anxiety sober, then accidentally restarting comedy through recovery conventions and Mikey DiStefano.
- 24:10She never planned to return to comedy after quitting meth, thinking it was impossible.
- 24:23Tim notes she didn't think she could be a comedian, despite memorizing Bill Cosby routines as a kid.
- 24:36She lied to coworkers at a dinner, claiming to be a comedian, forcing her to actually perform at an open mic.
- 25:04On her third time on stage, she won a comedy competition—wasted and unprepared—landing immediate paid work.
- 26:06Her husband left her after she won that competition, refusing to be married to a comedian.
- 26:18When she got clean, she developed crippling social anxiety and swore never to perform sober.
- 26:41Tim celebrates that she was doing comedy pre-social media, living as a renegade without Instagram or Facebook.
- 28:16In recovery at a convention, someone asks if she's a comedian and offers her an opener slot she immediately regrets taking.
- 28:42She approaches Mikey D at a show asking to be his feature, and he agrees on the condition she doesn't sell his merch.
- 29:17Tim praises Mikey DiStefano as having unmatched insight into addiction and the best at communicating it through comedy.