Photo: jetskijohnson.com
Jessie “Jetski” Johnson was one of Kill Tony’s first regulars, in that room before the arena dates. Phoenix open mics, a Comedy Store regular card, then the road. This week the road is Florida, and Sunday she headlines Off the Hook in Naples.
If you only know her from the bucket, the trumpet, or Bad Friends, here is the rest: she is a headliner with dates on the calendar. Those dates move, so jetskijohnson.com is the live list. Below is who she is, and where she goes after Sunday.
Phoenix, a hockey rink, then Los Angeles
Johnson grew up in the Valley playing classical trumpet. She told KJZZ she had a full-ride scholarship at Northern Arizona University, dropped out, later had another trumpet scholarship at Mesa Community College, and quit that too. The thing that stuck was a Scottsdale sketch group, then stand-up.
First mic: Ice House Tavern in Phoenix, a dive attached to a hockey rink behind a Walmart, glass wall to the ice, maybe 40 seats. Pucks hitting the glass during jokes. She has said her first joke was a camel-meal pun. The first real laugh came when she stopped trying to look like a comedian and started playing the room’s first impression of her.
She is now based in Los Angeles. The Comedy Store lists her as a paid regular, class of 2024. She works the Comedy Mothership in Austin. She still brings the trumpet. In the KJZZ studio she ran it through pedals and talked about using it to create tension before a line. The stand-up still has a musician’s leftover in it.
Kill Tony, Bad Friends, then her own hour
Club press bios call her a “cast member” on Kill Tony and Bad Friends. On Kill Tony she was earlier than that: one of the first regulars, not a guest who showed up after the show was already a machine. People who have watched for years treat her as part of the furniture.
She has also been on Bad Friends with Andrew Santino and Bobby Lee, toured that world, featured for Anthony Jeselnik, and cut a Belly Room set at the Comedy Store. She has her own show, Jet Fuel.
A Phoenix open-mic comic headlining a dinner club in Naples on a Sunday in August is the job those shows bought her.
The Florida run, then the rest of the map
This week is a corridor down the state, then a jump. St. Augustine was Wednesday at Cafe Eleven. Sanford was on her site for August 13. Friday and Saturday she is on Joke WRLD in St. Pete, the first year of that festival at Coastal Creative. Her site has promo code JETSKI for 10 percent off. Sunday is Naples.
Off the Hook is at 2500 Vanderbilt Beach Road. The club’s listing for August 16 is 6:00 p.m., dinner service, VIP and general admission. Tickets only through offthehookcomedy.com, not a reseller.
After Florida, from her site and the club calendars, the published dates are:
- August 22 — Grand Rapids / Wyoming, MI, Lucky Strike, 8 p.m., presented by No Quarter Comedy Lounge. Eventbrite
- September 25–26 — Houston, TX. Linked from her site
- October 13 — Las Vegas, Wiseguys Town Square, 7:30 p.m. Wiseguys
- October 14 — Denver, Comedy Works Downtown, 7:30 p.m. Comedy Works
- October 15 — Salt Lake City, Wiseguys The Cabaret, 7 p.m. Wiseguys SLC
- December 2 — Nashville, listed as coming soon. Join the list on her site if you want that one.
When a date above has passed, use her official page. Club flyers go stale.
If you are going in Naples
Off the Hook is a sit-down room: two-item minimum, host seating, ID at the door, no table requests. Expect Kill Tony timing, Phoenix dryness, and maybe the horn. She is still building the hour in rooms like this, so do not walk in looking for a Netflix special.
More dates, merch, and the email list: jetskijohnson.com. Instagram: @jetskijohnson.
Leave a Reply