In this episode, I welcome my longtime friend and comedian, Janet McNamara. Janet is a comic who performs regularly in the New England area and beyond. You may also recognize her from her failed but very hilarious televised audition in front of Simon Cowell, Victoria Beckham, Randy Jackson, and Kara DioGuardi (NOT Paula Abdul!) on American Idol back in 2010. We talk about her experiences growing up in Massachusetts and how she went from being a very shy child to making people laugh hysterically with her awkwardly uncomfortable comedy routines. We also reminisce on our adventurous and memorable friendship, which dates back to 20 years ago and started all from our love of the band Hanson.
Janet doesn’t hold back when she goes on to tell me just how she ended up on the American Idol stage, how it felt to be famous over night and become a trending topic on Twitter, and what exactly happened behind the scenes of the hit FOX singing competition show. We conclude the episode by gushing over her experiences as a professional comic, reveal what advice she’d give to aspiring comics, and look forward to what she hopes is in store for her comedy future.
“Comedians are people who embarrass themselves in style.” - Adrienne Posey
Check out Janet’s comedy videos on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/user/Jmcnamara123
See Janet’s American Idol audition and find out where and when she’s performing on her website here: https://www.janetmcnamara.com/
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!