Today's Out Spotlight is a writer and comedian from South London. Today's Out Spotlight is Jen Brister.
Jen (Jennifer) Brister,was born in February 1975, in South London.
Brister studied theatre at Middlesex University, where she took a course in stand-up comedy in the mid 90s, which was the only course of its kind at the time in the UK. Other famous graduates include chats show host Alan Carr, Renton Skinner and Clare Warde. Brister's first gig was a showcase for course and held at the Kings Head in Crouch End.
Since then, she has performed in London venues that include Comedy Camp, Banana Cabaret Comedy Store, The Kings Head and ED Comedy as well as hosting her own nights that include Hysterics at Shaun & Joe and CatFlap Comedy at the Player Bar, Soho.
Also a comedy writer, she has and performed alongside Doug Faulkner & Clare Warde, as part of the comedy sketch group, The Loose Connection. They appeared regularly at the Hen & Chickens Theatre, Etcetera Theatre, Sketch Club and The Enterprise in the mid-2000s.
Despite people in the business advising her not to come out publicly for what might happen to her burgeoning career when she started out, she knew that she had to because that is who she is, and her life is the source of her comedy.
"My comedy is almost entirely autobiographical so it didn't make sense to
lie about or evade the subject of my sexuality. I have rarely
encountered any real homophobia whilst on stage, I'm not saying it has
never happened but it's so rare that it's never worried me. Comedy is as
meritocratic as it gets. If you're funny the audience will laugh, if
you're not they won't. No one cares if you're gay or straight, just be
funny."
In 2006 Brister appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with her show "Me, My Mother and I." She told Time Out in March of that year that the show was about "'It's really an exploration of my relationship with my mum. It's an analysis, as well, of where I am at this point in my life. I'm 31. I'm single. I don't own a house. Or a car. I don't have kids. Or any solid financial security. At 31, my mother had three children and a fourth on the way. She was married and she had a mortgage."
From 2007 to 2008, she worked for BBC 6 Music as a stand in presenter
and in 2008 took a show to Edinburgh Scotland called Reception with her comedy partner at the time Clare Warde.
In 2009 she returned to the Edinburgh Fringe again doing a stand up show as well as appearing in a play called "The One and The Many" by Trevor Lock.
In 2011 she performed her new stand up show, ‘Jen Brister is British(ish)’ at the Adelaide & Melbourne Comedy Festivals before taking it to the Edinburgh Festival to a raft of great reviews.
Back to the festival circuit she brought another new show called ‘Now & Then’ to the Adelaide Fringe Festival and then back to Edinburgh Festival in 2012.
"The fact is I'm happy to be gay. If there was a pill that could make me straight, I wouldn't take it."
Thanks to Prairie Girl for suggestion of Jen Brister for the Out Spotlight.
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