Comedic Entertainment Meets Family Friendliness in Jason Collings

Based on truths he discovers in his own life experiences, comedian Jason Collings has a lot of material. He explained it’s the kind of stuff audiences all over the world can relate to, and his brand of family-friendly entertainment has helped catapult his career from a childhood dream to a reality in less than a decade. He has made a name for himself selling the kind of clean entertainment that makes audiences bring their families and friends along to see him, and when he performed at the Pechanga Resort and Casino on March 29, his take on the experiences of marriage and being a young parent with grown children was something many in his audience not only could find humor in, but could also relate to. Collings, who previous to his career as a comedian was the owner and instructor of a martial arts school in Long Beach (he’s since sold the school to a former student), was a product of an entertainer. His father was a member of the band ‘Feather,’ whose hit single “Friends” made the radio waves in the ‘70s. Growing up with a father who was constantly on the road, Collings, who said comedy was something he wanted to do “ever since I was a kid,” made the decision to hold off on his comedic career until his own children were grown. “I wanted to be in their life as much as possible so I didn’t want to do anything that took me out on the road until they were old enough to be okay with it,” Collings said. Eight years ago, when his children were 11 and 16, Collings got his start—and all he had to do was act like he’d been doing it professionally for years. Collings recalled his first stint in stand-up during an Open Mic night at a Hollywood club. “I pretty much kind of conned my way into stand up,” he said, chuckling. “I went up to the owner of the club and I said, ‘My name’s Jason Collings and I’m a comedian.’ …Never performed before in my life.” His confidence worked, and the owner invited him to perform the next night. “From that day forward, I was doing stand up almost every night. The first time I did stand up, I got off stage and one of the other comics came up to me and he goes, ‘Hey man, how long have you been doing this?’ and I said, ‘Well, how long was I onstage?’” His 15 minute start has now evolved to a 45 minute show, and the comedian has headlined at clubs throughout the country, toured with household names like Carlos Mencia, and performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. What’s working for him, Collings explained, is being candid about his life. “The best comedy is honest comedy. It’s my therapy. It’s not easy raising kids, and one of the things that I’m so lucky about is I get to go up every night and talk about it. That’s why I feel like my comedy is as successful as it’s getting, because…I’m telling the truth. I’m talking about my wife, I’m talking about me, I’m talking about our kids.” His wife, Elaine, has been a rock of support for him, Collings explained. “He’s doing something that he’s always wanted to do,” Elaine said. “It makes him happy and he enjoys it.” But, she insisted, Collings’s rise in the comedic world hasn’t changed who they are. “We have normal lives.” As a lifelong dream, Collings explained he’s in the business of perfection. “It’s just one of those things where I wanted to be undeniable. I said, ‘This (comedy) is what I’m going to do, and I’m not going to quit. There were times when I wanted to,” Collings said, but he kept being persistent. His words of advice for budding comics? “The key to a good comedy is to talk about what you think is funny. If you think it’s funny, and you really believe in what you’re saying, the audience has no choice but to get onboard. You want them to get to know you. I feel my audiences are happy when they leave a show and they go, ‘I feel like I know this guy.’”