Jessica Kirson

Kirson was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, and is of Austrian and Polish-Jewish descent.[2] Her mother is a therapist who treated clients in Kirson's childhood home, which she has said has had a profound impact on her and her comedy.[3][4]

Kirson graduated from Columbia High School in 1987. She described herself as a 'major class clown' who loved to make people laugh.[5] Kirson is the stepsister of both actor Zach Braff and writer Joshua Braff, whose father her mother married when she was an adolescent.[6] With the intention of becoming a therapist, Kirson graduated from the University of Maryland in family studies and from New York University with a Masters of Social Work.[7] She describes her studies as 'very helpful' to her crowd work and the business 'because a lot of those people are crazy'.

After her university studies, Kirson turned to comedy, creating material and testing it out weekly in a class setting. She participated in open mics in New York in different venues. Over this time she worked as a bartender at a Houlihan's in Times Square and at an Upper West Side restaurant.

Kirson made her career debut in the film School Dance. Her one-hour special Talking to Myself debuted on Comedy Central and was executive produced by Bill Burr.[8] Other projects include her series The Call Girls with longtime friend and comedian Rachel Feinstein.[9] In 2016, Kirson acted in and served as a consultant, producer, and writer on the Robert De Niro film The Comedian.[10] Kirson was an executive producer of and main organizer behind the documentary Hysterical which follows a group of ground-breaking female comedians in their lives, on and off stage.[11] Kirson also appeared in the film as herself.[12] Kirson's style is self-deprecating, less 'punch type' and very character based.[13]

Kirson has performed on The Tonight Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The View, and Kevin Can Wait. Kirson also hosts her own podcast, Disgusting Hawk.[14] Kirson is also a contributor on The Howard Stern Show, where she produces and stars in prank calls for the program.

In her comedy, Kirson often narrates personal experiences of sobriety,[15] her Jewish upbringing, and her identity as a lesbian, utilizing "gallows humor" and "biting, often crass asides."[16] She sometimes performs humorous inner monologues during her sets while facing away from the audience: "A lot of the jokes, when I turn around, I've said before, but I only do it at certain times, when a joke doesn't work or I get uncomfortable or something happens in the audience...  That's my way of saving it in the moment."[17] Commenting on her approach to comedy, Kirson said:

I don’t like being labeled as a type of comedian. I do all kinds of comedy. I’m just trying to be very real and honest and truthful. I try to entertain people as best as I can, because I feel like right now most people don’t like to think a lot. So, I go on and try to have it so that they don’t analyze and think a lot. I love doing characters, and I love putting out a message of tolerance that teaches people not to be mean, and to be more kind.[18]

She has cited Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett among her comedic influences.[18]

Kirson has four children.[19] She has been open about her struggle with food addiction[6] as well as substance abuse throughout her life.[20]

• Jessica Kirson at IMDb