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

Jolie, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Must Love Dogs and Comedy has been the most meaningful project I have worked on as a Creative.

A little over three years ago, when quarantine was ending in NYC, many people wanted to go out and reconnect with friends they had not seen in person since the start of the pandemic, but they felt guilty leaving their pups at home. As a stand-up comedian, I wanted to start going to in-person open mics and shows, but unfortunately, none of the comedy spaces in NYC were dog-friendly. I was searching for a space to practice and hone my craft, but I felt guilty leaving my fur-baby, Knope (like Leslie Knope from “Parks and Rec”), at home.

Pet ownership was at an all-time high, with many people adopting during their stay-at-home orders, which meant most of these pets didn’t know a life without their human constantly being home with them. We heard stories of our friends dealing with their dog’s separation anxiety which was so bad tey literally could not leave the apartment without their pup tagging along.

So we saw a need and decided to fill it with a dog-friendly comedy show!

But even before all of this, my pup Knope has played a huge role in my life. When I was at the absolute lowest point of my life and dealing with severe mental health challenges, my therapist at the time recommended that I get a dog and register them as an Emotional Support Animal. Enter Knope, stage left. Having Knope in my life saved my life. It helped bring me back from a very dark place, and since then, Knope has been an integral part of my mental health recovery and the catalyst for starting Must Love Dogs and Comedy in the first place.

We wanted this project to help save the lives of other animals, just like animals save so many of ours.

Jolie, 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?

Must Love Dogs and Comedy is a 501(c)(3) organization which produces comedy shows people can bring their dogs to that raise money for animal rescue, support diversity in comedy, and help adoptable pups find their furever homes.

So far, we have raised over $25,000 for animal rescues and shelters, booked over 450+ diverse comedians nationwide, and have a featured episode on the Emmy Award-Winning PBS docuseries Shelter Me.

Each show lineup is diverse in a couple of important ways. First, shows consist primarily of Women, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and POC performers. It’s 2024 and we are still in an industry that regularly promotes club shows with flyers filled only with cis straight white males. One of the main pillars of our mission is to create safe, supportive spaces for performers on shows that are professionally run, pay comics, and provide them with professional photos & videos to help advance their own personal comedy careers outside of our show. Beyond identity-based diversity, our show also creates space for more non-traditional comedy acts to perform. Each show lineup is open to and consists of character, storyteller, sketch, and musical comedians alongside more traditional, stand-up acts. Throughout the pandemic, many spaces for alternative, non-stand-up comedy in NYC unfortunately closed, so it was important to make our shows and spaces inclusive of all comedic talent.

An additional pillar of the “Must Love Dogs and Comedy” mission is to support animal rescue and wellness. We do this a couple different ways. First, a portion of all ticket sales are donated to animal rescue centers or animal wellness organizations. So far, we have donated more than $25,000 to these important causes! Next, we raise awareness of the importance of adopting pets rather than shopping for them by partnering with rescue organizations to sometimes bring puppies and dogs in need of adoption/fostering to the venue to make it easier and more accessible for individuals to sign up for these processes. I mean, how many other comedy shows can you leave with a new member of your family??

Lastly, “Must Love Dogs and Comedy” fosters a community of support and inclusivity through our shows by making them more equitable and accessible for both audience members and comedians. Tickets for the majority of our shows are pay-what-you-can, to make quality comedy more accessible to audience members in case they are not able to afford a ticket to a traditional comedy club and also so the do not have to suffer through the absolute worst dirty shirley they have ever had in their life just to make the million drink minimum. We also have an open submission form for all interested comics to submit to perform on our show, and we select performers on a rolling basis.

When coming up with the idea for the show, we knew how important creating space for underrepresented performers was, but it also needed to be connected to supporting local animal shelters to raise awareness for adopting and fostering animals. We also want to finally be able to answer the question, “who let the dogs out?”

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative, specifically as it relates to the dog show, is being able to create a unique, memorable, and “pawsitive” experience for people and their pups. When we see repeat attendees, that’s when we know we’re doing something right and creating something special to share.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Our long-term goal for “Must Love Dogs and Comedy” is to bring our in-person dog-friendly comedy shows to more cities and states across the country and to create an unscripted television series around it. Think “Puppybowl” but with comedy instead of sports. Ultimutt-ly, (do you see what we did there?) we want as many people as possible to see our diverse lineups of underrepresented performers and also to support animal rights and local shelters across the country.

Must Love Dogs and Comedy sits in the middle of the comedy and pet industry Venn diagram at a unique time when these are coming together with great momentum. The US pet industry is worth $150 billion a year (and growing), and 65 million households have a dog, and major streamers like Netflix & Hulu are increasing their stand-up comedy programming (both live and pre-taped). An example of this intersection in action is when Jon Stewart shared his tearful goodbye to his beloved shelter pup Dipper earlier this year. A week after that segment aired, the animal shelter received more than $60,000 in donations.

Must Love Dogs and Comedy showcases the transformative power of laughter and love, proving that the best punchlines come with wagging tails.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mustlovedogsandcomedy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mustlovedogsandcomedy/
• Other: email: [email protected]

Image Credits

David Kirchner