Comedy isn’t the first thing you think of when it comes to suicide. And vice versa. It’s also a topic that’s just not easily discussed. Well, comedian Jeannette Rizzi is out to change all of that with her incredible journey she’s compiled into her one-woman show Blindsided. She’s bringing her talents and the show to the Hollywood Improv on Thursday, October 20th at 7:30pm in association with our sister-site Laughspin for one night only and will be donating all the proceeds from the show to Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services.
As raw as it is funny, Blindsided is a personal journey about an all-American teen growing up in rural Florida who is, without any warning, hit with the devastating reality that her best friend Katie had taken her own life at the age of 15. The daughter of a former monk and former nun, Rizzi – only 17 at the time of Katie’s death – was charged with delivering her best friend’s eulogy in front of hundreds of mourners and, worse, living the rest of her life with her own debilitating suicidal thoughts. Ultimately hopeful and uplifting, Blindsided finds Rizzi fully capable of laughing at herself and constantly finding the hilarious side of her situation.
We caught up with her to discuss her journey so far, how she finds the funny, her big upcoming event, and finding the balance between joking and delivering her message. Oh, and of course that unique upbringing. Here’s our interview with Jeannette Rizzi.
You were born to a Nun and a Monk. What are some of the funny differences you’ve realized compared to how others have grown up? And what are some things that we wouldn’t think are common?
Most people think I was raised in a very strict household as if I was getting my hands smacked by rulers or things like that. But I actually grew up in a household that was very normal. My parents let me make my own decisions. They never put any pressures on me really except for going to Church of course. That was the only pressure I really ever had. The funny thing was that I was raised in this really country redneck town because my Dad wanted to be like St. Francis and surround himself with these farm animals. But he wasn’t any good at it. He didn’t have the hand for it. The cows were always jumping the fences and getting in the neighbors farm and we’d have to go running after them.
My Dad loved pigeons. He was from New York. So one day he let them out to fly and the cowboys next door shot them all down. It wasn’t quite the St. Francis experience. And then in traditional Franciscan Monk fashion, my dad would go pick out livestock and get the sick cow in hopes to nurse it back to life, but never could. He’d buy huskies and chickens and then the huskies would just eat the chickens. It didn’t go over well. That was a really funny part of my life growing up.
So when you saw the movie Rocky and you saw him chasing after pigeons did you think about how easy that was?
Haha, yeah exactly! My dad taught me all of that stuff. I always joke about this special talent that I have. A boyfriend I had growing up taught me how to make a chicken take a nap. When you pick them up and they put their head under their wing you literally swing them side to side 3 times and the chicken will sleep. And when I go to New York to visit my very Brooklyn family I always tell them this story and they’re like, “Oh my god, she’s a redneck.”
So what was your best excuse to get out of going to Church?
My Mom and Dad made me so terrified of God that every Saturday night, even when I could drive, I still brought myself there and I’d go on Saturday night because I wanted to go out and not have to wake up on Sunday morning. I was so worried that God was going to punish me that I behaved. It was the only thing my Dad would ever get mad about. Even my friends were so scared of my Dad finding out that they didn’t go that they were so disciplined as well. It was hilarious. Now mind you, I would go to Church on Saturday night, however, right afterwards I would go out and do bad things likes have sex or whatever. But I went to Church so I was “ok.”
How did you discover comedy? This has become a power tool for you. Were you introduced to comedy through your wild nights or through necessity?
My siblings are quite older than me and when I grew up, we had no money. My Dad saved and saved and took us on this really nice trip to San Francisco. Part of the reason he took us on that trip was because I loved Whoopi Goldberg from Ghost and of course Sister Act, which was shown at Church. So we go, and I had just turned 16. Now, where we grew up there was no cable, you had to have one of the big jumbo satellite dishes. So when we were in San Fran, my older siblings who were 21 went down to the bar at the hotel and my parents went with them. So I was still in my room and that’s when I discovered HBO. And I can still tell you the very first joke that I heard Rosie O’Donnell do. She did a joke about Sharon Stone about how they were filming “down there” and how they had to shoot it again because her lips were uneven. And that was the first time I was like, “I want to do that.” She was so funny. Then my parents came back into the hotel room and said, “Mom! Dad! Listen to this joke!” And they were like, “What are you watching!!” It was great.
So now you know comedy and you use it to turn anything into a positive including the horrible story about your friend growing up as a child who committed suicide. Did comedy come to the forefront of your brain and let you know it’s something that can help make this ok?
Well, I’d have to say maybe unconsciously. The day after my friend died, my sister bought me a dog. And I was in shock. I had already had a friend a year earlier commit suicide. And I was in so much shock that I wasn’t speaking, but I started to use the dog to talk, which sounds insane, but it was comedy at its finest because the dog was hysterical. And even in my show, the dog is the star. Everyone wants to know what Flash has to say. And at that point, did I know I was doing stant-up? No, but it was so funny that I kept talking through the dog because that was the only way I could feel or laugh.
I would take these Sonny and Cher songs and I would do Cher’s part while the dog did Sonny’s and I would put it on my voicemail. And then people would start calling just to hear my voicemail. And then I took the dog to Kit-Kat. They were having a competition that if you sang the “Give me a Break” theme you could maybe be on the commercial. So I took the dog and I did it and the dog won. And so, that was comedy. Did I know I was doing comedy? No, I was just trying to speak. So looking back, that was the first thing I did was find comedy unconsciously.
Just a little different than the Son of Sam situation.
Haha, yeah, the dog definitely wasn’t talking “to” me.
So with the show Blindsided, you are able to talk about your friend, suicide, and something that unfortunately too many people can relate to. Is it tough to balance the funny with the serious message you are trying to convey?
I guess I was just blessed with how I came across how to do this because I was struggling with my own life. And it’s hard to tell people that you don’t want to live because when you’re funny and you have great parents people just brush it to the side. I didn’t know what to do but I knew I had to do something to save myself. I was extremely inspired by John Leguizamo’s solo show Sexaholic. So I studied him back and forth on the art of using the show as a rollercoaster. Because if I just did this funny show about suicide no one would really hear me about the sad part. So I designed the show like a roller-coaster so I can transition the audience from the funny to the really sad moments. And as a comic it’s very weird because the audience goes completely silent. And it took me years to understand that they are listening they’re not bored. And if you can take them to this very serious place and come out of left field with a joke it’s 10x more powerful. You just guide them through laughing and crying until you hit them with your message at the end, which is the point. Especially with suicide, because it’s something that nobody wants to touch. And maybe this show will save lives. That’s been the goal the whole time. And I also didn’t want to come out as a victim. I want people to see that I’m battling and if I can battle then they can too. It’s a fine line and comes down to writing.
You mentioned John Leguizamo earlier, who else are you digging these days?
Well Bill Burr, I swear, he is just comedy genius. From the minute he starts his shows to the end I’m am just crying hysterically laughing. I mean, he is just unstoppable. I absolutely adore all of his humor. I am always sharing his YouTube clips. Martin Lawrence is somebody I’ve always followed in comedy. Amy Schumer is great of course. I love watching her comedy. And I have friends in L.A. and are they huge stars, no, but they are killing it. My friend Vargos Mason is just awesome. I adore him. I learn so much from him.
Now Jeannette, before we go, I’ve got to say that you’re pretty selfish with the consonants and vowels in your first name. You couldn’t just dial that back to JNet?
Destroyed my self-esteem as a kid. It’s been a sh*t storm on the spelling my whole life. I was set up for failure.
You can pick up tickets to Jeannette Rizzi’s Blindsided at the Hollywood Improv in association with Laughspin on Thursday, October 20th right here. And remember, all proceeds go to Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services.
