PORT ANGELES — A pair of comediennes, one “low key” and the other “more of a party-starter,” are teaming up tonight for the first comedy night at the New Peking, 2416 E. U.S. Highway 101.
Nancy Reed, formerly of the Velveeta Room comedy club in Austin, Texas, and Susan Jones, a 15-year veteran of the Seattle-Tacoma comedy circuit, will take the stage with local comic Don Kaye at 8:30 p.m.; the cover charge for the 21-and-over show is $5.
“I’m a mom and a grandma, so I’ve got a lot of real life to talk about,” said Reed, 53. “All my stuff is true except one joke; I’ll let the audience figure out which one that is.”
The New Peking restaurant and nightclub just east of Port Angeles is local promoter Steve Strout’s latest showcase, and part of his plan to create a stand-up comedy scene on the North Olympic Peninsula.
He saw Reed and Jones together at Seattle’s Comedy Underground a few weeks back, and got busy booking them both.
And Strout, who produces comedy nights at the Upstage in Port Townsend and other venues, said it’s not as difficult as one might think to get performers to come out to the Peninsula.
“They’re all looking to work,” he said, adding that if tonight’s show draws a decent turnout, he’ll continue booking comedy nights at the New Peking.
Both Jones and Reed live in Seattle now, and travel around the country to gigs in nightclubs and casinos. People often come up after a show, Jones said, to marvel that “both of you are funny! We can’t believe it.” But “we’re different funny,” she added.
Reed is more laid back, while Jones, the self-described party-starter, said she relishes a lot of audience interaction.
“I’m a really big gal,” added Jones, 44. “I’m really confident,” and some audiences are surprised by the juxtaposition.
Jones noted that she was voted the funniest person in Washington state by listeners of Jack FM, a rock radio station in Seattle.
“I am more mellow,” said Reed, “and I’m pretty Southern,” having moved to Texas when she was in the sixth grade.
Reed is about to make her television debut, after 23 years of stand-up: In January she’ll tape a segment on “Ron White and the Texas Hill Country Comics” for Showtime.
Jones mixes into her routine generous amounts of humor about her teenage son, while Reed is also the “motherly” type, but with two grown daughters.
“They’re pierced and tattooed,” Reed reported, adding that she stayed in Texas until both had turned 30. “You’re not done till then,” she said.
Strout, for his part, pronounced the women “awesome.”
“They’re both really talented; they stand out.
“Miss this show, for $5? That would be crazy.”
________
Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
