Jewish girls have a reputation for being funny, but can it translate into an actual career? The hilarious comedian Michelle Slonim is not only doing it, but doing it exceptionally well! Her standup shows are always in demand and she has created her own business, Drawing Room Entertainment. Michelle was kind enough to share her story in the following guest post.
It all started with a visit to my therapist, when I had the thought: “Oh my god, I’m going to die alone.” While I was reminded not to get sucked into strictly black or white thinking, the idea persisted.
Like most Jewish girls, I wanted to meet a nice Jewish lawyer, so I did the most logical thing: I hosted Jewish singles parties in NYC. It was called “Date My Jewish Friend” and the idea was to bring a friend of the opposite gender and put them out there. (Sure, I was too busy running around these parties to actually meet anyone, but being pragmatic is overrated…)
I hosted them at dive bars, synagogues, comedy clubs, even at Webster Hall. Guess what: I didn’t land one date from these parties. The best story was a guy and a girl who met, dated, and moved in together. Sounds like a fairy tale, right? Too bad they eventually broke up when he came out of the closet!
Because my background has always been in entertainment, I would infuse something theatrical at the events—whether they were interactive actors sprinkled into the party atmosphere or me just getting up there and MCing to kick things off. My MCing skills, however, left much to be desired. What I learned was to be successful as an MC, you also need to be a comedian, which led to taking standup comedy classes.
My producing of “Date My Jewish Friend” eventually morphed into “Meet Drink Laugh,” which maintained some of the meeting portion, but was focused on standup comedy. Eventually, I stopped “Meet Drink Laugh” because I wanted to focus solely on standup comedy. I practiced as often as I could and took more classes, until I felt ready to branch out again with another venture, Drawing Room Entertainment (DRE).
Drawing Room is a 16th century term for the room you would withdraw to after dinner for entertainment, cigars or political conversations. It’s a little pretentious and not so transparent to understand, but I was vacillating between DRE and Comedy Salon. (I decided to go with the former in case it gets big; then, I could branch out into providing catering or live music.)
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; as of now it’s just comedy in a living room. I am hosting one with the Wandering Jews of Astoria on Friday, 7/14/17. It’s a potluck Shabbat so if you’re willing to shlep to Astoria, Queens with a kugel in hand, you’re invited! signup here via One Table
About the Author:
Michelle Slonim is a talented comedian who has appeared on web shows for Comedy Central and HBO and on Sirius XM Radio. She has performed at the Comic Strip and Broadway Comedy Club, and produced various shows at Caroline’s on Broadway and numerous indie bars throughout the New York City. Her latest venture, Drawing Room Entertainment, brings the laughs right into your own living room. Find out more about Michelle on her website.