By Caitlin M. Foyt
The Dykes of Hazard Comedy Tour with Jen House Doors, 7 p.m. Show, 8 p.m. Sept. 23 Upstairs at The Park Bar 2040 Park Ave., Detroit. Tickets: $10 www.dykesofhazardcomedy. com.
There's apparently no sexuality guessing games when you dine with Jen House. Whether the Detroit comedian suits it up with a tie or dresses on the girlier side, her customers at Union Street, a local restaurant where she waitresses, always immediately seem to recognize that she is, in fact, a lesbian.
"When you get a table full of women, there's something that happens there where they're looking around and think, 'Something is funny, I feel funny,' she says, "and then they think, 'She reminds me of k.d. lang or Ellen,' when what they really want to say is, 'You look gay.'"
Waiting tables has inspired a lot of her lighter comedy, though she does like to get a little dirty every once in awhile, too. Later this month, House will hit the road alongside two other comedians on the Dykes of Hazard Comedy Tour, which will head to Texas, California, New Mexico, Las Vegas and New Orleans. The first leg of the month-long tour kicks off Sept. 23 at the Park Bar in downtown Detroit.
House has always known there was no show business like show business and it's what she's always wanted to do. The first time she ever hammed it up for a crowd, she was in the fifth grade and performed stand-up alongside her dad on a cruise ship. But it didn't take long for her to realize that she didn't really like the comedy club scene.
"I did everything in Michigan and Detroit to not do the comedy clubs. So I opened up for bands and did charity events and did my open-mic show down by Wayne State." It was a friend she acted alongside in a play a few years back who helped her score a spot in The Dykes of Hazard Comedy Tour, after he saw the tour's creator, Kristen Becker, perform at a comedy club in Buffalo, N.Y.
"(My friend) would always say he would do everything he could to promote me," House says. "He sent me something on MySpace and before I could even answer, she (Becker) sends me something (that said) 'Hey, can we talk?' I got ahold of her and gave her my long resume. She said, 'It sounds great, how would you like to jump on tour?'"
House has headed across the country with Dykes of Hazard several times in the last year, but the tour later this month will be the longest consecutive amount of time on the road: five weeks in a 1986 Ford Econoline Conversion van, otherwise known as "Uncle Jessie."
"Two weeks and I'm all excited. And you go a month and it's like, 'Oh my God, me and a couple of comedians stuck in a van.' It could go from being a great thing to a bad thing. But it'll be great, no one's temperamental or anything. With three chicks in a van, there's going to be at least one time (when) there's going to be a period. That can be a little bit tricky."
The Dykes of Hazard Comedy Tour with Jen House
Doors, 7 p.m. Show, 8 p.m. Sept. 23
Upstairs at The Park Bar
2040 Park Ave., Detroit.
Tickets: $10
dykesofhazardcomedy.com.
