Funny and pretty mix for Jenny Jones

By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
December 4, 1987

There’s nothing funny about comedian Jenny Jones’s looks. Shapely, blond and pretty, Jones still has the aura of the model she once was.

“Looking good is considered an asset in every aspect of show business except comedy,” Jones said, laughing. “But this is me, and I’m not about to gain weight and stop taking care of myself for the sake of my career.”

She doesn’t need to. Her career has been on an upswing ever since she won the $100,000 grand prize last year on “Star Search.” Currently touring with crooner Engelbert Humperdinck, Jones will perform at 8 p.m. tomorrow and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Chicago Theatre. Tickets are $14 to $24 (853-3636).

Jones, who has worked with Sammy Davis Jr., the Pointer Sisters and Kool and the Gang, got the coveted opening gig through a friend of hers who is a buddy of Humperdinck’s drummer. When Humperdinck’s support act canceled at the last minute, he called and asked if she’d like to open for him in Atlantic City, Jones said. After their third show together, he asked her to tour with him through the end of the year.

“He still listens to me every single night over the monitor,” she said. “His people get annoyed with him about that sometimes ’cause they’re trying to sort out last-minute details, and he’s listening to me.”

Jones, who admires Jay Leno and Steve Martin, relies on everyday experiences for her routines. Because she doesn’t play characters onstage, she said, she has to work hard to make sure what she says will have enough irony and wit to tickle funny bones.

“I don’t have the type of face that draws laughs right away, like Buddy Hackett,” she said. “I don’t play goofy roles with a lot of physical comedy.

“I once got reviewed where the writer said I was so bad because I just chatted with the audience for half an hour. I don’t think she realized what a compliment she was paying me, because it’s very hard to make it look like you’re just chatting. What you see and hear onstage is just an extension of me.”

Jones said one of the advantages of touring with a sex symbol such as Humperdinck is he attracts a large audience of women.

“I think women enjoy women comics ’cause they relate to our point of view,” she said. Laughing, she added, “A lot of his fans follow him to several cities, and they like to see what gown I’ll wear next.”

Living out of a suitcase is something most performers put up with, and while Jones doesn’t really like it, she makes the most of it. Besides her carry-on bag and suitcase, Jones packs her own hot-air popcorn popper, popcorn, toaster, flourless bread, teapot, tea bags, cereal, honey and fruit.

“The maids must wonder about me,” Jones said. “But those things really make a difference on the road. It makes it like being at home. It’s a little trouble, but it’s worth it. Besides, I hate restaurant food.”

Insisting that her line-free face is the result of good eating habits, and not face-lifts, Jones said she looks and feels better than she did 10 years ago.

“When I was 11, I looked 16,” she said. “At 41, I look 31. I’m strange.”

That’s what her parents thought when she told them she wanted to be a drummer in a rock ‘n’ roll band. Raised by conservative, Polish-Catholic parents in London, Ontario, Jones was kicked out of the house when she insisted on touring with three boys in a rock band.

“My dad was so unhappy,” Jones said. “In my family, any girls that were models, singers or actresses were considered tramps.

At 19, she ended up in Los Angeles without a job. Even though she was underage, she found work as an ID checker at the Pink Pussycat, a strip joint.

“That went over really well with the folks,” she said.

Jones worked as an office manager for a year and quit when she found she could earn sizable amounts of money on game shows. She won almost $6,000 on “The Match Game” and $8,000 on “Press Your Luck.”

“That’s how bad my social life was,” she said, laughing. “No, even if I’d had a boyfriend, I think I still would’ve taken my parents.”

About five years ago, she seriously began concentrating on her comedy career. With her prize money in the bank, she played in small clubs for $150 a week. But while her looks were an asset during her stints as a model and musician, some club owners were wary of booking her.

“When I was first starting out, I had one club owner who told me I’d never be a headliner because I was too pretty,” she said. “He called me a couple months ago, and now he can’t even afford me.”

When she’s not touring, Jones goes to as many acting auditions as she can. She started taking lessons two years ago and is eager to get a part on television.

She was heartbroken, she said, when she didn’t get cast as Ann Jillian’s replacement on “It’s a Living.”

“I was disappointed, but I know I’ll have to pay my dues before I can become a working actress,” Jones said. “Comedy is a serious business and it took me years to get to where I am now. I can wait for acting roles.”