“That’s what I miss the most about these times,” she says, musing about events since Donald Trump took office. “I keep trying to look into people’s faces and asking myself, ‘Did you do this to us? Was it you …’ I don’t want to be that way. I want to like people.”
Jen Kober, stand-up comedian and actor, comes to Peoria's ICC Tuesday evening.
And that’s what she hopes her show Tuesday night will provide: a chance to laugh and enjoy others having a good time. Kober says her stand-up show, starting at 7:30 p.m. at Illinois Central College Performing Arts Center in East Peoria, is “live escapism.”
“I think that people now more than ever, myself included, just want an escape,” Kober said during a phone interview last week. “ ‘Can I just have an hour or two where I don’t have to think about the inevitable demise of the world… something that has nothing to do with tariffs, or the world, or politics, or the Department of Education? Where can I just laugh … at the silliness of a lizard?’ It’s stand-up comedy, one of the last true forms of live escapism we can get through.”
Kober is a comedian on the upswing
Expect a show filled with Kober’s thoughts on topics like “hometown hicks, unforgiving fruit flies, and California candy cartels” (Deadline) and “ripe bananas, responsible drug use, and fun-sized candy bars.” (Rebellious Magazine). All delivered with Kober’s deep, booming voice and native Louisiana accent.
Also a former Chicago resident and student who is now based in Los Angeles, Kober comes to East Peoria at a time when her career is growing on-stage, on-screen, and more.
“I like to tell people I’m in one episode of all the shows you’re not watching,” she told Rebellious. Those shows include Hacks, The Bookie, The Righteous Gemstones, American Horror Story, Diary of a Future President, and Mandalorian, her favorite, where she played a lab tech sliced by a rogue laser.
Being part of the series helped Kober connect with one of her idols, director Bryce Dallas Howard (daughter of Ron Howard) and director Jon Favreau. Kober also earned a spot on the NetFlix ix a Joke festival last year, released a half-hour comedy special in collaboration with Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond).
Kober also won Best Comedic Performance on NPR’s storytelling show, Snap Judgement, she’s the headlining comedian for Cirque Du Soleil’s hit Las Vegas show Mad Apple. She now spends about 30 to 40 weeks a year performing on the road, still getting back to St. Charles, La., to visit her family and partner Brooke, a baker.
Teachers, mom helped channel Kober’s childhood chattiness
The challenge of stand-up comedy is what Kober loves the most. It’s a world where she has to “figure it out on her own” and be ready for anything.
Her love for a challenge started in childhood, she says, when “I always finished my work first. I was that kid. My inclination naturally was to then distract the other children who were trying to finish their work.”
She credits her parents and elementary school teachers with “making her mess her message,” and steering her early on toward public speaking and performance. The oldest of three siblings, Kober went on to stand out in high school and college speech competitions, sneak off to bars at age 16 to begin performing, study at DePaul University, and win comedy competitions.
Her mother probably shaped her the most, Kober says, by taking her to see all kinds of shows and also reading to her constantly. “I’m sure it was just because she wanted me to stop talking for some amount of time, but she always just gave me books with colors …. I would make up the stories if I couldn’t read the words.
“Because she did that, and I had such a love for reading and books, I just naturally developed a creative imagination process.”
Kober’s comedy helps demonstrate ICC’s diversity
Travis Olson, director of ICC’s performing arts program, says Kober’s “raw” style is one reason he decided to book Kober. “She is funny as … heck,” he said. “With her background and her being an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, it’s actually what we’re wanting, to help promote the diversity of our campus.”
The show was booked before Illinois Central College’s spring break was scheduled, Olson said, so he’s putting out an extra call for attendance. Kober, meanwhile, says she’s thrilled to return to Peoria, having briefly attended Bradley University while staying at the former Jumers Castle Lodge. She also performed at the JukeBox Comedy Club years ago.
Kober says she understands how much the world, and especially LGBTQ+ people, need what she’s offering right now.
“I get it: the world is literally trying to erase the existence of so many groups of people right now, and the LGBTQ+ community being seemingly at the top of this list … it’s a hard time,” she said. “Check on your gay friends, and check on your trans friends, and your nonbinary friends. Go find the they/thems and give them a hug. There’s just so much going on.
“I think it’s all going to come to a head, and I’m going to work like crazy forever, because people need to laugh. They just do. I’m very glad I can contribute to that part of it.”
The ICC Performing Arts Center is located at 1 College Dr., East Peoria. Tickets for Kober are $12. Get yours here.
(Photos courtesy Jen Kober)
