May 2, 2025 • 24 mins
Ever wondered what it's like to navigate the world without sight? Meet Jean Marckley, a 79-year-old blind comedian who's turning stereotypes upside down one punchline at a time.
"What's it like to be blind?" people often ask Jean. Her response? "Well, everybody close your eyes. Yep, that's it." With disarming wit and wisdom gained from nearly seven decades of blindness, Jean takes us on an enlightening journey through her experiences—from strangers yelling at her (because apparently blindness affects hearing?) to well-meaning friends who insist on opening car doors (inadvertently making it harder for her to navigate).
Through her production company "Three Comics and a Dog," Jean performs at venues across Florida, using humor to educate audiences about visual impairment while proving that blind people are just as capable, independent, and funny as anyone else. "I'm hoping when people walk away from my comedy shows, they'll start to see blind people in a different light," she explains. Beyond the comedy clubs, Jean is developing her speaking career for corporate events, where she can reach decision-makers and influence workplace inclusivity.
Perhaps most fascinating is Jean's insight into the healing power of laughter itself. As a certified laughter yoga leader, she explains how hearty laughter stimulates our lymphatic system, effectively boosting immunity and improving sleep quality. So next time you're feeling down, Jean's prescription is simple: find something that makes you laugh—it might be the best medicine you take all day.
Want to experience Jean's unique blend of humor and education? Reach out to her at jmarckleyhaha@gmail.com and discover how laughter can change perspectives about blindness while healing both body and spirit.
Want to be a guest on Living the Dream with Curveball? Send Curtis Jackson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1628631536976x919760049303001600
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with
Curveball, if you believe youcan achieve.
Welcome to the Living the Dreamwith Curveball Podcast, a show
where I interview guests thatteach, motivate and inspire.
(00:20):
Where I interview guests thatteach, motivate and inspire.
This person that I am joined bytoday is a truly amazing person
.
You know she's done a lot inher life.
She was a former yoga teacher.
Now she is a speaker and acomedian.
So we're going to be talking toher about everything that she's
(00:40):
up to and what she's going tobe up to in the future.
Ms Jean Markley, thank you somuch for joining me today.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Well, thank you for having me, Curtis.
It's a pleasure to be here andit's so nice to see that you're
doing this with your life nowwith the podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah, it's all about teaching, motivating and
inspiring.
So why don't you start off bytelling the listeners a little
bit about yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Well, as you said, my name is Jean Markley.
I'm originally from Long Island, new York, and I have done many
different things in my life.
I have created workshops tohelp deal with stress, build
self-esteem.
I owned a futon shop forseveral years.
(01:28):
I taught laughter yoga, whichis just plain laughter, and one
of the things that I always liketo do is make people laugh,
make people feel better aboutthemselves than they did before
they were talking to me.
(01:49):
And so when I was a little girlthere may be some people in
your audience that remember SidCaesar and he used to have
Imogene Coca on there and I usedto imitate her doing some of
her comedy and my father andmother would just be laughing
hysterically.
And I used to imitate her doingsome of her comedy and my
father and mother would just belaughing hysterically and I
(02:10):
loved it.
A few years ago I think it wasactually seven years ago my
youngest daughter and I took aclass at McCurdy's Comedy
Institute here in Sarasota,florida, and when I got up on
the stage to do the five minutesthey call it class comedy I was
(02:36):
hooked.
I loved being the center ofattention.
I loved making people laugh,center of attention.
(02:56):
I loved making people laugh andI just I just can't tell you
how fulfilling it was for me todo that and but also some
corporate talks that I can do atdifferent companies and
colleges and things like that,but to help people to understand
(03:17):
that blind people are reallynot any different than anybody
else.
We don't have to be treateddifferently.
We have a sense of humor, weunderstand what's going on in
the world at least as much as wewant to understand what's going
on in the world, and I'm hopingthat when people walk away from
(03:39):
one of my comedy shows thatthey will start to see blind
people and visually impairedpeople in a different light.
I have noticed in my lifetimeI've been blind since ten and a
half years old.
I'm now 79, and I've noticedthat the general population has
(04:10):
an idea of what it's like to beblind and that we're not smart,
we're not able to do many thingsthat sighted people can do to
take care of themselves.
I lived by myself for a whileand took care of my two-bedroom
(04:31):
apartment and my guide dog andthe cooking and the cleaning and
all that stuff.
I just used different tools tobe able to do that.
Thank God for all this computerstuff now, because this has
definitely made my life easierand I'm sure for many other
(04:57):
people too, when I was incollege and had to write papers
with a typewriter and thensomebody would proofread it for
me.
Well, by the time you get donewith the proofreading, you can't
put the paper back in thetypewriter and fix any of the
typos.
So it took a lot more time toget things done back then.
(05:19):
Now you just find the errors onyour computer and just fix it
before it even gets printed out.
So the idea that we need to betalked to louder, I'm sure
that's happened to many people.
(05:39):
Curtis, I'm sure it's happenedto you too.
It just happened to me theother day, as a matter of fact.
The woman started yelling at me, because I'm sure it's happened
to you too.
It just happened to me theother day.
As a matter of fact.
The woman started yelling at mebecause I'm blind and I said
you don't have to raise yourvoice, I can hear you, and I
don't say it in a mean way, Isay it so that she understands
(05:59):
that she doesn't have to do that, and it's more of an education
thing.
She doesn't have to do that andit's more of an education thing
.
So as part of my humor, I saythings about being blind.
Some of the questions I get arewhat's it like to be blind?
(06:20):
And my answer to that is well,let me just think now.
Oh, I know, I know Everybody.
I know, I know Everybody.
Close your eyes, yep, that's it.
And somebody had to tell youthat.
And how long have you beenblind?
And do blind people's othersenses?
Are they more acute thansighted people's other senses?
(06:43):
And how did you lose youreyesight?
And all kinds of questions thatwhen you get right down to it,
it's really none of anybody'sbusiness, especially when you've
just when you haven't even metthe person.
I um.
I also talk about howfrustrating it can be to to uh
(07:04):
and my frustration level isusually right around an eight,
so it doesn't take too much toget me up to a 10 and put me
over the edge.
And one of the examples I giveabout that is when I go
someplace, like to the clubhouse, where people know me and I
know them, and I walk in theclubhouse and they say, oh hi,
(07:27):
jean, how are you?
And I say, oh hi, who is that?
And they say, don't yourecognize my voice?
And I say no, I don't recognizeyour voice.
If I did, I wouldn't say who isthat?
Did?
(07:48):
I wouldn't say who is thatright?
And then I find myselfstrangling some little old lady
because she put me over the edgewith my frustration level, and
I also talk about having a dogand some of the things that the
dog does for me.
But it's all done with a greatdeal of humor.
And since I am 79 years old, Ialso talk about some of the
(08:15):
aging things.
Like, my children tell me thatas I've gotten older, I have
become more.
I've gotten more mellow.
As I've gotten older, I'vegotten more mellow.
And I say mellow, no, I justdon't give a darn.
(08:41):
And so I'm hoping that I willbe well known enough that I can
reach more people and get theword out there that blind people
are fun.
I'll give you an example ofsomething that happened to me
(09:02):
when I got my first guide dog.
I had a little bit more visionwell, actually a lot more
eyesight then than I do now andwe were working at a mall, and
so when the trainer is workingwith another individual, they
just have us sit and wait forthem to get back and then
(09:23):
they'll work with us.
So I was sitting and my dog wasjust laying at my feet just
like he's supposed to, and thiscouple came by and said oh how
beautiful.
And so I just reached my handup and patted my hair and said
oh well, thank you.
(09:43):
Well, they just didn't knowwhat to do with that.
They didn't laugh.
I don't know what they thought,like a blind person has a sense
of humor.
This is weird, and I knew theywere talking about my dog.
I knew they weren't talkingabout me.
I was just making a joke.
So, as I said, I am hoping thatI can help to make people more
(10:11):
comfortable around blind peopleand get them to understand that
we are just like anybody else.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Absolutely, and it's great that you are doing that
and it's great that you havethat kind of sense of humor to
where you can joke with peopleand try to educate them on these
type of things.
You're also a speaker, so youknow kind of let the listeners
know what made you want tobecome a speaker and what you
actually speak about.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
I am grooming.
I am being groomed right now tobe a speaker.
I haven't had any speaking jobsyet, but I will shortly.
And the difference between thecomedy and the speaking is that
it's very obvious that I have amessage group.
(11:06):
I am a blind person tellingthem what it's like to be blind
and that's what they are therefor.
And I just add the humor to itfor the purpose of getting
(11:34):
people to understand that we arepeople also and we don't
require any different treatmentthan anybody else.
One of the things that I find,curtis and I don't know if you
find this also, even with someof my best friends when they
pick me up to go somewhere andthey'll open the car door for me
(11:57):
and I'll say you don't have todo that, I can open a car door,
and they say, oh, no, no, no, Idon't mind, I don't mind.
And then I tell them you know,when you open up the car door, I
no longer know where the dooris.
I can find the car, I can findthe door handle, but if you open
(12:18):
it for me, I don't know wherethe door is and I could walk
right into the corner of thedoor and then they start to get
it.
I will be honest with you.
The reason that I want to dothe public speaking is because
corporate speaking is where themoney is.
(12:40):
They pay me to speak, they paymy expenses to get there and get
back.
If I need to stay overnight,they pay those expenses.
Comedy clubs pay practicallynothing.
Comedy clubs pay practicallynothing.
I've done 10 minutes of comedyfor $25, and I've done 10
minutes of comedy for $100, soit just depends on where I am,
(13:02):
but it's not so much the moneyas the expense of getting there,
because I have to have somebodydrive me, obviously, and so I'm
paying for their gas or theirtime or buying them dinner or
whatever.
So it would be nice to at leastbreak even.
(13:24):
And I think that when speakingat an event, a corporate event,
when speaking at an event, acorporate event, the audience is
more receptive to what I amtelling them.
And they're not eating anddrinking at the same time,
(13:45):
especially the drinking.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
That makes an audience not as receptive laugh
at a joke but they're not goingto get the underlying message
(14:06):
that I am trying to put outthere, Absolutely.
And you just kind of answeredmy next question.
I was going to ask where you doyour comedy and stuff like that
.
So you actually go to comedyclubs and do your comedy.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yes, and I did start a production company of my own.
It's called Three Comics and aDog, because I have a guide dog.
Well, up until today, I justretired her today.
Today, and there's here inFlorida you know, this is God's
waiting room, right and there'slots of RV parks and mobile home
parks here where people comefor the winter and they have
(14:46):
club houses and they want tohave shows, and sometimes it's
music, sometimes it's dancingand sometimes it's comedy.
So I have booked us at severalvenues Locally.
I've also been booked at theVillages, which is a pretty
famous place down here inFlorida for senior living, and
(15:13):
when I was still out in ArizonaI did some comedy at the VFW and
the American Legion and Ihaven't done that here because
they just don't do that here.
Okay, well, let the listenersknow about any upcoming projects
that you and Three Comics and adog are up to right now we
(15:39):
don't have anything bookedbecause this is the end of the
season and most of the venuesare booking things for high
season, which is january throughmarch, and I'm working on next
year I will be at the Encore RVResort in Bradenton, florida.
(16:00):
I don't have the exact date yet.
It'll be in January and I willbe at another resort, but that's
closed.
So a lot of the things that Ido are closed to the general
public.
I did do a show the other nightat my church.
Two or three times a year wehave a show it's called Clean
(16:27):
Comedy for a Cause and it's toraise money for a specific
purpose.
This past Sunday we wereraising money for Celebrate
Recovery and I was not theheadliner.
I did 10 minutes of comedy andthere were three other comics
(16:49):
and then the headliner, who wasDale Jones, who was phenomenal,
and that is, of course, open tothe general public, but most of
the shows that I do are not,because it's just for the
residents of the resort.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Got any plans of taking your act around the
country or the world, or youjust want to kind of stay?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
local.
I would do the act other places, but I don't want to be a
traveling entertainer becausethe travel is just so daunting
to me anymore.
It might be my age, it might bebeing blind, it might be all of
(17:35):
the above, but getting to anairport and getting to the hotel
and so on and so forth, andthen finding my way around the
room in the hotel and I thinkI'm just getting old and cranky.
Curtis, if I'm going to be inConnecticut, for example, I have
(17:59):
a daughter that lives inWestbrook, connecticut I would
look for something to do there.
And if I'm going to be out inArizona area, near Phoenix, well
then I could look for somethingto do there.
But it's not my desire to betraveling all over the place.
(18:19):
If they pay me enough, then Ican have an assistant with me.
It's like I said.
It's not that I want to make alot of money, I just want to
make enough to cover expenses,and some of those and part of
those expenses is thetransportation.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Most definitely, and so listeners can keep up with
everything that you're up to orgoing to be up to in the future.
Throw out your contact info.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I no longer have a website.
I found it so daunting to keepthe website up to date.
Keep the website up to date,and so I have my email address,
(19:14):
which is jmarkleyhaha atgmailcom.
I can spell that out it isj-m-a-r-c-l-e-y-h-a-H-A at
gmailcom and I will answeranybody's inquiries into about
my comedy, whether it'scorporate or doing a comedy show
(19:37):
.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
I'll close this out with some final thoughts.
Maybe if that was something Iforgot to talk about, that you
would like to touch on, or anyfinal thoughts you have for the
listeners.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Well, yes, actually Laughter is so beneficial and I
don't think people reallyunderstand how that works.
When I was certified as alaughter yoga leader, I learned
that the process of laughingmoves muscles in your belly,
(20:13):
that helps to move around thefluid in your lymphatic system
and that's your immune system.
And so when doctors say, orwhen you hear the expression,
laughter is the best medicine,they are not kidding.
It is excellent medicine.
If you laugh heartily for 30,40, 50 minutes an hour, you will
(20:40):
sleep better and you'reboosting your immune system.
And so, people who are feelingkind of down maybe you have low
energy just go on YouTube orsomeplace like that they have so
so many comedians and juststart listening many comedians
(21:08):
and just start listening,watching them and just laugh
Right.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Ladies and gentlemen, one final question.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Have you ever thought about doing a live stream with
your comedy stuff?
I'm not sure that I would knowexactly how to do that.
Curtis, that's kind of techiefor me.
How would I do that?
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Well, do you have social media, Facebook, YouTube,
anything like?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
that.
Yeah, I do have Facebook.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Well, there's a go live button on there whenever
you want to do a post.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
You could go live and just do little shows there.
Oh well, that's interesting.
I don't know if I would be ableto do that because I, like, I
need the feedback from theaudience.
You know I need to hear thelaughter, but I guess I could
probably do.
You know, two or three minutesof things maybe.
Yeah, I will let you, maybe Iwill let you know.
I will let you know if I dothat.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Yeah, it doesn't have to be nothing too crazy, just a
little thing and you couldincrease your reach and people
get to know more about you.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
That's true.
That's true.
Well, thank you for thatsuggestion.
I appreciate it.
I am taking a workshop rightnow, a comedy workshop, and that
is one of the things that theywill be touching on.
It's all on Zoom, which is sonice.
Absolutely yes.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Well, ladies and gentlemen, check out Jean
Markley and everything thatshe's up to.
If you're in her location youknow down in Florida please go
check her out.
Jump on your favorite podcastapp, follow the show.
Share this episode to as manypeople as possible.
For more information on theLiving the Dream with Curveball
podcast, visitwwwcurveball337.com.
(22:54):
Thank you for listening andsupporting the show, jean.
Thank you for all that you'redoing to make us all laugh and
make the world a better place.
Thank you for joining me theshow, jean.
Thank you for all that you'redoing to make us all laugh and
make the world a better place,and thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Thank you so much, Curtis.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
For more information on the Living the Dream with
Curveball podcast, visitwwwcurveball337.com.
Until next time, keep livingthe dream.
Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with
Curveball, if you believe youcan achieve.
Welcome to the Living the Dreamwith Curveball Podcast, a show
where I interview guests thatteach, motivate and inspire.
(00:20):
Where I interview guests thatteach, motivate and inspire.
This person that I am joined bytoday is a truly amazing person
.
You know she's done a lot inher life.
She was a former yoga teacher.
Now she is a speaker and acomedian.
So we're going to be talking toher about everything that she's
(00:40):
up to and what she's going tobe up to in the future.
Ms Jean Markley, thank you somuch for joining me today.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Well, thank you for having me, Curtis.
It's a pleasure to be here andit's so nice to see that you're
doing this with your life nowwith the podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah, it's all about teaching, motivating and
inspiring.
So why don't you start off bytelling the listeners a little
bit about yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Well, as you said, my name is Jean Markley.
I'm originally from Long Island, new York, and I have done many
different things in my life.
I have created workshops tohelp deal with stress, build
self-esteem.
I owned a futon shop forseveral years.
(01:28):
I taught laughter yoga, whichis just plain laughter, and one
of the things that I always liketo do is make people laugh,
make people feel better aboutthemselves than they did before
they were talking to me.
(01:49):
And so when I was a little girlthere may be some people in
your audience that remember SidCaesar and he used to have
Imogene Coca on there and I usedto imitate her doing some of
her comedy and my father andmother would just be laughing
hysterically.
And I used to imitate her doingsome of her comedy and my
father and mother would just belaughing hysterically and I
(02:10):
loved it.
A few years ago I think it wasactually seven years ago my
youngest daughter and I took aclass at McCurdy's Comedy
Institute here in Sarasota,florida, and when I got up on
the stage to do the five minutesthey call it class comedy I was
(02:36):
hooked.
I loved being the center ofattention.
I loved making people laugh,center of attention.
(02:56):
I loved making people laugh andI just I just can't tell you
how fulfilling it was for me todo that and but also some
corporate talks that I can do atdifferent companies and
colleges and things like that,but to help people to understand
(03:17):
that blind people are reallynot any different than anybody
else.
We don't have to be treateddifferently.
We have a sense of humor, weunderstand what's going on in
the world at least as much as wewant to understand what's going
on in the world, and I'm hopingthat when people walk away from
(03:39):
one of my comedy shows thatthey will start to see blind
people and visually impairedpeople in a different light.
I have noticed in my lifetimeI've been blind since ten and a
half years old.
I'm now 79, and I've noticedthat the general population has
(04:10):
an idea of what it's like to beblind and that we're not smart,
we're not able to do many thingsthat sighted people can do to
take care of themselves.
I lived by myself for a whileand took care of my two-bedroom
(04:31):
apartment and my guide dog andthe cooking and the cleaning and
all that stuff.
I just used different tools tobe able to do that.
Thank God for all this computerstuff now, because this has
definitely made my life easierand I'm sure for many other
(04:57):
people too, when I was incollege and had to write papers
with a typewriter and thensomebody would proofread it for
me.
Well, by the time you get donewith the proofreading, you can't
put the paper back in thetypewriter and fix any of the
typos.
So it took a lot more time toget things done back then.
(05:19):
Now you just find the errors onyour computer and just fix it
before it even gets printed out.
So the idea that we need to betalked to louder, I'm sure
that's happened to many people.
(05:39):
Curtis, I'm sure it's happenedto you too.
It just happened to me theother day, as a matter of fact.
The woman started yelling at me, because I'm sure it's happened
to you too.
It just happened to me theother day.
As a matter of fact.
The woman started yelling at mebecause I'm blind and I said
you don't have to raise yourvoice, I can hear you, and I
don't say it in a mean way, Isay it so that she understands
(05:59):
that she doesn't have to do that, and it's more of an education
thing.
She doesn't have to do that andit's more of an education thing
.
So as part of my humor, I saythings about being blind.
Some of the questions I get arewhat's it like to be blind?
(06:20):
And my answer to that is well,let me just think now.
Oh, I know, I know Everybody.
I know, I know Everybody.
Close your eyes, yep, that's it.
And somebody had to tell youthat.
And how long have you beenblind?
And do blind people's othersenses?
Are they more acute thansighted people's other senses?
(06:43):
And how did you lose youreyesight?
And all kinds of questions thatwhen you get right down to it,
it's really none of anybody'sbusiness, especially when you've
just when you haven't even metthe person.
I um.
I also talk about howfrustrating it can be to to uh
(07:04):
and my frustration level isusually right around an eight,
so it doesn't take too much toget me up to a 10 and put me
over the edge.
And one of the examples I giveabout that is when I go
someplace, like to the clubhouse, where people know me and I
know them, and I walk in theclubhouse and they say, oh hi,
(07:27):
jean, how are you?
And I say, oh hi, who is that?
And they say, don't yourecognize my voice?
And I say no, I don't recognizeyour voice.
If I did, I wouldn't say who isthat?
Did?
(07:48):
I wouldn't say who is thatright?
And then I find myselfstrangling some little old lady
because she put me over the edgewith my frustration level, and
I also talk about having a dogand some of the things that the
dog does for me.
But it's all done with a greatdeal of humor.
And since I am 79 years old, Ialso talk about some of the
(08:15):
aging things.
Like, my children tell me thatas I've gotten older, I have
become more.
I've gotten more mellow.
As I've gotten older, I'vegotten more mellow.
And I say mellow, no, I justdon't give a darn.
(08:41):
And so I'm hoping that I willbe well known enough that I can
reach more people and get theword out there that blind people
are fun.
I'll give you an example ofsomething that happened to me
(09:02):
when I got my first guide dog.
I had a little bit more visionwell, actually a lot more
eyesight then than I do now andwe were working at a mall, and
so when the trainer is workingwith another individual, they
just have us sit and wait forthem to get back and then
(09:23):
they'll work with us.
So I was sitting and my dog wasjust laying at my feet just
like he's supposed to, and thiscouple came by and said oh how
beautiful.
And so I just reached my handup and patted my hair and said
oh well, thank you.
(09:43):
Well, they just didn't knowwhat to do with that.
They didn't laugh.
I don't know what they thought,like a blind person has a sense
of humor.
This is weird, and I knew theywere talking about my dog.
I knew they weren't talkingabout me.
I was just making a joke.
So, as I said, I am hoping thatI can help to make people more
(10:11):
comfortable around blind peopleand get them to understand that
we are just like anybody else.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Absolutely, and it's great that you are doing that
and it's great that you havethat kind of sense of humor to
where you can joke with peopleand try to educate them on these
type of things.
You're also a speaker, so youknow kind of let the listeners
know what made you want tobecome a speaker and what you
actually speak about.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
I am grooming.
I am being groomed right now tobe a speaker.
I haven't had any speaking jobsyet, but I will shortly.
And the difference between thecomedy and the speaking is that
it's very obvious that I have amessage group.
(11:06):
I am a blind person tellingthem what it's like to be blind
and that's what they are therefor.
And I just add the humor to itfor the purpose of getting
(11:34):
people to understand that we arepeople also and we don't
require any different treatmentthan anybody else.
One of the things that I find,curtis and I don't know if you
find this also, even with someof my best friends when they
pick me up to go somewhere andthey'll open the car door for me
(11:57):
and I'll say you don't have todo that, I can open a car door,
and they say, oh, no, no, no, Idon't mind, I don't mind.
And then I tell them you know,when you open up the car door, I
no longer know where the dooris.
I can find the car, I can findthe door handle, but if you open
(12:18):
it for me, I don't know wherethe door is and I could walk
right into the corner of thedoor and then they start to get
it.
I will be honest with you.
The reason that I want to dothe public speaking is because
corporate speaking is where themoney is.
(12:40):
They pay me to speak, they paymy expenses to get there and get
back.
If I need to stay overnight,they pay those expenses.
Comedy clubs pay practicallynothing.
Comedy clubs pay practicallynothing.
I've done 10 minutes of comedyfor $25, and I've done 10
minutes of comedy for $100, soit just depends on where I am,
(13:02):
but it's not so much the moneyas the expense of getting there,
because I have to have somebodydrive me, obviously, and so I'm
paying for their gas or theirtime or buying them dinner or
whatever.
So it would be nice to at leastbreak even.
(13:24):
And I think that when speakingat an event, a corporate event,
when speaking at an event, acorporate event, the audience is
more receptive to what I amtelling them.
And they're not eating anddrinking at the same time,
(13:45):
especially the drinking.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
That makes an audience not as receptive laugh
at a joke but they're not goingto get the underlying message
(14:06):
that I am trying to put outthere, Absolutely.
And you just kind of answeredmy next question.
I was going to ask where you doyour comedy and stuff like that
.
So you actually go to comedyclubs and do your comedy.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yes, and I did start a production company of my own.
It's called Three Comics and aDog, because I have a guide dog.
Well, up until today, I justretired her today.
Today, and there's here inFlorida you know, this is God's
waiting room, right and there'slots of RV parks and mobile home
parks here where people comefor the winter and they have
(14:46):
club houses and they want tohave shows, and sometimes it's
music, sometimes it's dancingand sometimes it's comedy.
So I have booked us at severalvenues Locally.
I've also been booked at theVillages, which is a pretty
famous place down here inFlorida for senior living, and
(15:13):
when I was still out in ArizonaI did some comedy at the VFW and
the American Legion and Ihaven't done that here because
they just don't do that here.
Okay, well, let the listenersknow about any upcoming projects
that you and Three Comics and adog are up to right now we
(15:39):
don't have anything bookedbecause this is the end of the
season and most of the venuesare booking things for high
season, which is january throughmarch, and I'm working on next
year I will be at the Encore RVResort in Bradenton, florida.
(16:00):
I don't have the exact date yet.
It'll be in January and I willbe at another resort, but that's
closed.
So a lot of the things that Ido are closed to the general
public.
I did do a show the other nightat my church.
Two or three times a year wehave a show it's called Clean
(16:27):
Comedy for a Cause and it's toraise money for a specific
purpose.
This past Sunday we wereraising money for Celebrate
Recovery and I was not theheadliner.
I did 10 minutes of comedy andthere were three other comics
(16:49):
and then the headliner, who wasDale Jones, who was phenomenal,
and that is, of course, open tothe general public, but most of
the shows that I do are not,because it's just for the
residents of the resort.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
Got any plans of taking your act around the
country or the world, or youjust want to kind of stay?
Speaker 2 (17:13):
local.
I would do the act other places, but I don't want to be a
traveling entertainer becausethe travel is just so daunting
to me anymore.
It might be my age, it might bebeing blind, it might be all of
(17:35):
the above, but getting to anairport and getting to the hotel
and so on and so forth, andthen finding my way around the
room in the hotel and I thinkI'm just getting old and cranky.
Curtis, if I'm going to be inConnecticut, for example, I have
(17:59):
a daughter that lives inWestbrook, connecticut I would
look for something to do there.
And if I'm going to be out inArizona area, near Phoenix, well
then I could look for somethingto do there.
But it's not my desire to betraveling all over the place.
(18:19):
If they pay me enough, then Ican have an assistant with me.
It's like I said.
It's not that I want to make alot of money, I just want to
make enough to cover expenses,and some of those and part of
those expenses is thetransportation.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Most definitely, and so listeners can keep up with
everything that you're up to orgoing to be up to in the future.
Throw out your contact info.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I no longer have a website.
I found it so daunting to keepthe website up to date.
Keep the website up to date,and so I have my email address,
(19:14):
which is jmarkleyhaha atgmailcom.
I can spell that out it isj-m-a-r-c-l-e-y-h-a-H-A at
gmailcom and I will answeranybody's inquiries into about
my comedy, whether it'scorporate or doing a comedy show
(19:37):
.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
I'll close this out with some final thoughts.
Maybe if that was something Iforgot to talk about, that you
would like to touch on, or anyfinal thoughts you have for the
listeners.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Well, yes, actually Laughter is so beneficial and I
don't think people reallyunderstand how that works.
When I was certified as alaughter yoga leader, I learned
that the process of laughingmoves muscles in your belly,
(20:13):
that helps to move around thefluid in your lymphatic system
and that's your immune system.
And so when doctors say, orwhen you hear the expression,
laughter is the best medicine,they are not kidding.
It is excellent medicine.
If you laugh heartily for 30,40, 50 minutes an hour, you will
(20:40):
sleep better and you'reboosting your immune system.
And so, people who are feelingkind of down maybe you have low
energy just go on YouTube orsomeplace like that they have so
so many comedians and juststart listening many comedians
(21:08):
and just start listening,watching them and just laugh
Right.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Ladies and gentlemen, one final question.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Have you ever thought about doing a live stream with
your comedy stuff?
I'm not sure that I would knowexactly how to do that.
Curtis, that's kind of techiefor me.
How would I do that?
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Well, do you have social media, Facebook, YouTube,
anything like?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
that.
Yeah, I do have Facebook.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Well, there's a go live button on there whenever
you want to do a post.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
You could go live and just do little shows there.
Oh well, that's interesting.
I don't know if I would be ableto do that because I, like, I
need the feedback from theaudience.
You know I need to hear thelaughter, but I guess I could
probably do.
You know, two or three minutesof things maybe.
Yeah, I will let you, maybe Iwill let you know.
I will let you know if I dothat.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Yeah, it doesn't have to be nothing too crazy, just a
little thing and you couldincrease your reach and people
get to know more about you.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
That's true.
That's true.
Well, thank you for thatsuggestion.
I appreciate it.
I am taking a workshop rightnow, a comedy workshop, and that
is one of the things that theywill be touching on.
It's all on Zoom, which is sonice.
Absolutely yes.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Well, ladies and gentlemen, check out Jean
Markley and everything thatshe's up to.
If you're in her location youknow down in Florida please go
check her out.
Jump on your favorite podcastapp, follow the show.
Share this episode to as manypeople as possible.
For more information on theLiving the Dream with Curveball
podcast, visitwwwcurveball337.com.
(22:54):
Thank you for listening andsupporting the show, jean.
Thank you for all that you'redoing to make us all laugh and
make the world a better place.
Thank you for joining me theshow, jean.
Thank you for all that you'redoing to make us all laugh and
make the world a better place,and thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Thank you so much, Curtis.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
For more information on the Living the Dream with
Curveball podcast, visitwwwcurveball337.com.
Until next time, keep livingthe dream.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.