We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jackie Loeb. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jackie below.

Hi Jackie, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?

Ha Ha…this question makes me laugh. I spent two years as a comic before I earned a brass razoo! I would do open mics and afterwards think “When am I going to be offered a paid gig!” I began to think I was being exploited when in actual fact…I just hadn’t done enough open mics to truly hone my craft. In hindsight I wasn’t up to the standard of booking paid work. Of course I could never admit that at the time.

I was booked to perform at a comedy gig in Katoomba which is about two hours out of Sydney. I earned a whopping $50 and I couldn’t have been happier or more grateful.

Jackie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Back in Australia when there was no option to fast forward the commercials, I would sit and change the lyrics to television jingles as I eagerly awaited my favourite American 80’s sit-com to resume. The next day I would arrive at school singing the ‘new and improved’ lyrics and would have my entire fourth-grade class in stitches. It was then I learnt the power of musical comedy and that breaking out in song mid-lesson would result in detention. Well worth it if you ask me!

When I eventually ventured into the world of stand-up comedy, music was what differentiated me from the rest of the comics I worked with. I was twenty with long Janis Joplin like hair and an electric guitar that I totally rocked out on. Musical comedy wasn’t a new thing, but I was singing and playing music professionally before I became a comic, so I wasn’t just strumming an out-of- tune D chord while singing silly little ditties, I was performing well crafted original comedy songs.

As I became more established as a comic, music played a big part in my success. Comedy gave me the ideal platform to showcase my talents as a songwriter in front of an audience hungry for comedy presented in a different and original way. I recorded three full comedy albums, but unlike my fellow comics, they weren’t spoken-word but fully produced and orchestrated comedy songs. With songs titles such as I’ve Got Limited Social Skills, How Do I Get Shiny Hair, Hug in the Nude and There’s Not Enough Songs About Potato Salad, to name but a few.

I went on to study advertising while continuing to do the rounds at comedy clubs. At the time I had written five cabaret shows that toured around Australia and later The Edinburgh and Hollywood Fringe Festival. I loved the artistry of writing jingles as much as I did writing jokes. Comedy and jingle writing are both about being concise, succinct and getting to the point before the audience has time to even fathom losing interest. I began to freelance as a copywriter and jingle writer. I also composed music for sketch comedy, short films, personalised songs and music for my own projects.

It was then ‘Tune Boutique’ was born with the emphasis of music being created from scratch. I first launched my music composition on Valentine’s Day. I promoted it on Facebook and had an order for over thirty 2-3 minute personalised songs. I absolutely loved doing this. Not only would I write and compose the song, I would record it at my home studio and attach a video that I would create using photos and videos my clients would send to me. Each song was original. So there was no template that I would just use over and over again. I would literally create a piece of music from scratch and play all the instruments myself for each recording. It was extremely time consuming and I worked out that I was probably earning about $1.75 an hour but since then I have learnt to work more time efficiently.

I love making my clients happy. For any project I’m working on, I always ask clients to send me as much information as possible. Even if the information seems irrelevant. There are always gems to mine from the more obscure. What is most satisfying for me is condensing ten pages of notes into a twenty second jingle.

I feel very grateful that I have been able to continue touring the world ( Ok maybe 40% of it) as a comic while continuing to have a successful career as a jingle writer. My skills as a comic have enabled me to write punchy, memorable, funny and melodic jingles to suit all budgets. Social media has been fantastic as it’s forced me to be even more concise with my writing. Often clients only want ten seconds with a graphic of their business logo attached. This is a very powerful way to advertise. It’s short and sweet and I can make it affordable for the client. Everyone deserves to have a good solid jingle to carry the name of their business.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A friend once relayed a famous quote to me….”Comparison is the thief of joy.” I am a one-woman music machine. I work from my home studio to keep overheads low and thus make my services affordable to all. I have equipment that serves what I do. I have the basics and a few bells and whistles. I have learnt to master what I do have and the resources available to me. I have had to stop feeling intimidated when watching youtube videos that feature state of the art recording studios. When I first started I would be like “Why am I bothering, I can’t compete with that. They have $458734598734587 microphones in their purpose built studios not inside their home”. I had to remind myself that the fact my clients are always happy means that I have been able to nuance what I do have and testament to my skills as both a composer and I guess…a sound engineer!

Stop comparing yourself to others and just believe in your work and your abilities as an artist and entrepreneur.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

This is a very simplistic answer. Pay them! Don’t haggle or try and minimise what they do. You wouldn’t do that to a surgeon! “Doctor, the procedure only takes an hour. Why are you charging so much!”

When I give a quote to do a comedy gig I have to factor in the 32 years experience that goes into it. The way in which I personalise my material to suit the client. That I will sit for weeks and weeks preparing for the show. Making sure each joke is perfect. It’s never just getting up on stage for an hour, my heart and soul goes into everything I do be it a live performance or recording a jingle.

It can take an artist a lifetime to know their true worth. And when someone wants to pay you nothing it can potentially undo all that hard work we do as creatives. Whatever the artform is, comedy, music, dance or theatre, the arts bring enormous joy, escapism and enlightenment. Creatives are both muses and educators.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jackieloeb.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackieloeb/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jackieloebchannel
• Other: tik tok @jackieloebcomedianwoman instagram music account @tuneboutique