The seniors backstage, poring over their material and getting ready for the show.
Laughing through the pandemic:
Seniors do comedy in Greenwich Village
BY TEQUILA MINSKY
Jokes, laughs and heckles emanate from little squares
on a computer screen. With her husband glued to
the computer, Bill Burke’s wife recalls 45 minutes
of laughter coming from the other room, every Monday
starting at 10 a.m.
A nascent Greenwich House Senior Center comedy
class, only three weeks old, barely missed a laugh when
during lockdown the class segued onto Zoom. That was
late March 2020.
With most folks forced to spend time at home, more
joined the class.
Prompts, riffs and jokes—with optional homework —
are all part of the merry Monday routine. Is it standup?
Hey, it’s Zoom, they’re sitting down.
As soon as the class logs on, the laughs begin thanks
to teacher extraordinaire Jo Firestone. No sloth in her
own right (with plenty of TV comedy credits), the
competitive comedy scene was getting to her when she
decided to volunteer with folks who just wanted to be
funny and make people laugh.
Prompts kick off the silliness and sometimes extemporaneous
responses erupt on a tangent. Warm heckling is
accepted. No one is grading the homework assignments.
One fellow’s repeating theme is “his banana”, another
class participant turns a two-line assignment into one
page (is she used to a captive audience with her student
classes?)
PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY
One woman sometimes runs chores during class,
another, on camera, fell asleep. One changed her clothes
(your camera is on!), one man works at a reception job
(bosses don’t have a clue). One with a plethora of jokes
posts in the chat and won’t turn on her camera; another
took the class once from the Apple store.
Teresa Hommel comments, “Everyone comes up
with ideas that seem random, out-of-nowhere, and
unexpected…very funny and entertaining.”
Helaine Witt who is a comedienne (and sold Joan
Rivers a joke used three times) quips, “Jo is theeeee
most patient human being on the planet…nothing is ever
‘wrong’, everything is always ‘funny’, and she’s always
shocked (in a great way) by the people in the class.”
Al Di Rafaele reveals, “I never knew I’d be an x-rated
comedian.
Is anyone not funny? It’s how you spin it. Deadpan,
funny. A sincere straight response? By the time Jo
bounces off that, it’s funny. Seems that Jo can make
anything and anyone funny.
From a previous week’s challenge, one morning one
fellow showed up dying his beard blue, while another fellow
wore a blue wig, both responding to their classmate
with blue hair.
The class, part of a varied schedule of classes, is
offered through Greenwich House Senior Centers,
was originally held in person at 20 Washington Square
North. Director Laura Marceca reports that the comedy
class was the very fi rst brought online on Zoom at the
beginning of the pandemic. Now there are 25.
After a year as a volunteer, teaching class every
Monday without fail since March 2020, Jo is now a
“consultant” and getting paid.
SAG member Alix Elias jumped at the opportunity to
take the class and signed up with her husband Richard,
“ I thought it was about learning to write comedy, but
Jo was just so delightful we stayed and stayed.”
Tom Padovano, 66, who is quite versed in comedy,
selling jokes, song parodies and performing since the
80s, sees the class as “a wonderful way to interact with
others wanting to express their sense of humor through
the great prompts given to us by Jo Firestone.”
Bibi Elvers, 88, says that people type her as tentative
or serious. About the class, “I think I’ve blown my cover.
I almost can’t imagine my life without it!”
During the beginning of the pandemic there was no
more work teaching corporate employees for Teresa
Hommel, 76, and her outlook changed. Her pandemic
epiphany, “I was ready to laugh. I think people should
laugh more.”
Director Marceca beams, “This class proves age has
no limits.” Adding, “Particularly in the dark days of those
fi rst pandemic months, it was a joy to have Jo bring this
small community together.”
The class gets gigs.
Around Valentines Day, the class was prompted to
write about a piece of their body they love for the holiday.
Invited to perform on Zoom, an audience bought tickets
and surprisingly, this became a paying gig, all arranged
by Jo.
A new opportunity arose this spring—a gig, three
days in June, ending in a three-minute standup set for
a show to be broadcast on NBC’s streaming channel,
Peacock. Blind trust or love of comedy propelled 16
from the class of 24 to participate; half never did comedy
before.
So began the adventure that became Good Timing
with Jo Firestone, the culmination of a three-day shoot
at Abrons Art Center. The show premiered on Friday,
October 15, on Peacock.
Nicki Cochrane prepares for time.
Schneps Mediia October 21, 2021 17