We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jason Hedden a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jason , appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I’ve learned stand up comedy through trial and error. Having been on stage as an actor for many years, I thought it would be easier. Some of the skills did transfer, but live comedy is uniquely challenging and keeps you humble.

Initially, I was invited to an opec mic by a former student. I was surprised to learn that some of the comics drove two hours one way just for stage time. I was immediately attracted to a craft that required this kind of dedication and commitment.

I didn’t get into comedy until my early 40s. I often wish I had started sooner, but most of my material comes from life experiences that I had not yet had.

In comedy, a willingness to fail is essential. The willingness to work on the same material for years is often required. I suggest recording each performance for review and committing to a daily writing practice.

The producing came easier based on my years of experience as a director and theatre professor. I knew the logistics and process of producing a professional event.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

After many years primarily working as an actor, director and theatre professor my focus has shifted to include performing and producing live stand up comedy. I also currently work as a corporate emcee and keynote speaker.

As the owner and producer of Panama City Comedy, I work with venue partners to produce professional comedy events all over the panhandle of Florida featuring regional and national touring comedians. We typically produce a monthly recurring show with each of our regular venue partners in addition to quarterly and one time special events.

We pride ourselves on a presenting a diverse lineup of comedians from all over the country on our recurring shows and finding the perfect lineup for our corporate events.

I am proud that we have a long list of venues and comedians wanting to work with us. We pride ourselves on bringing high quality entertainment to a smaller market and being of value to other business owners in the community and region.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

At one point, after months of sold out shows, we hit an unexplained dip in ticket sales. The most difficult part was not being able to identify the cause of the drop in sales.

Fortunately, we keep our overhead low and had financial reserves, but the stress and emotional toll was difficult to navigate. We had to ask ourselves “Is this the new normal?” We offered heavily discounted tickets to attract audiences, but knew that model was not sustainable.

At the height of the slump we exhausted financial reserves and had to lower costs by rescheduling more expensive talent to later dates. We were also faced with the common Catch-22 of not having much money to spend on marketing, but needing to spend money on marketing to attract new customers.

In the end, we tightened budgets and varied our marketing approaches without spending more money and were able to weather the storm. The lesson was that we need to be prepared for those unexpected changes and continue to keep overhead low.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

For many creatives there is not just a desire to create, but an overwhelming need. I experienced this most profoundly in 2018, when my community was ravaged by category 5, Hurricane Michael.

After the winds died down, I was still being bombarded with strong emotions and experiences that needed an outlet. I took to writing poetry for the first time. When everything was in chaos, the only thing I could control were the words on the page. Those daily poems were a kind of personal art therapy, but when I shared them online I found they were of value to others as well. This experience was humbling and inspiring. To realize that I was creating something that helped other people process our collective loss motivated me to write more.

In a similar way, I think comedy brings people together. The best comedy makes us think and feel.

For me, comedy is the vehicle, but community is the goal.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jasonhedden.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/panamacitycomedy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jason.hedden.89
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CCgMfgpPyk&t=9s
• Other: panamacitycomedy.com
  emeraldcoasttheatre.org

Image Credits

Louis Columbus
Nikki Hedrick
Michael Booini
Lola Scott