Comedian Victoria Jackson

Comedian Victoria Jackson is an outgoing, gregarious, intelligent young woman whose high-pitched voice and comedy appearances with Johnny Carson and on "Saturday Night Live" have convinced many people she is something of a ditzy blonde. The fact is, she is married, raising two daughters, Scarlet, age 13, and Aubrey, age 5, attended Furman University and Auburn University in pursuit of a career as a dramatic actress, and spent a year studying at Florida Bible College.

Born in Miami, Florida on August 2, 1959, daughter of James and Marlene Jackson, she and her brother James Jr., now an architect in Los Angeles, were raised in an atmosphere of gymnastics and 1930's music (their father is a gymnastics coach, ex-vaudevillian and pianist), uncluttered by the pervasive influence of television. There was no TV set, by parental edict, in the Jackson home.

Victoria became a high school cheerleader and homecoming queen, an extrovert who enjoyed being funny and getting attention. The cause was helped considerably by her "baby" voice, which had always seemed normal both to her and her family until a doctor pointed out that it was a result of a congenital defect of the palate and could conceivably cause problems for her out in the real world. Several doctors, in fact, urged her to undergo a surgical correction of the defect. "The family sat around a table and we all voted no," she says. "So I didn't have it done. I was afraid they might make a mistake and I could never talk again. And I love to talk."

Given her voice and a youthfully exuberant face that simply does not lend itself to serious drama, the drama departments at both Furman and Auburn didn't know quite what to do with her. Eventually the combination of schoolgirl innocence, gymnastics, and rollicking sense of humor led her away from Portia and Ophelia and into the world of comedy.

Not that it was all that easy. With stints at three colleges behind her, she supported herself as a typist, a waitress in a retirement home, and a nightclub cigarette girl, did "Summerstock" and finally wound up in Los Angeles doing a stand-up comedy routine that consisted largely of standing upside down while reciting poetry. "That's about all I knew how to do," she shrugs today. But the act led to her first booking with Carson (she's made 22 Tonight Show appearances since), 6 seasons of Saturday Night Live, roles in films such as "Baby Boom" with Diane Keaton, "Family Business" with Dustin Hoffman, "I Love You to Death" with Kevin Kline, "The Pick-up Artist," "Couch Trip," and "UHF" with Weird Al Yankovic, a co-starring role in "Casual Sex" with Lea Thompson, and guest roles on numerous TV shows including "In the Heat of the Night" with Carroll 0' Conner, "The Jeffersons," "General Hospital," "The Smothers Brothers," "Half Nelson" with Joe Pesci," "Diagnosis Murder," the FOX movie of the week, "Based on an Untrue Story," "Perry Mason," "Touched by an Angel," "The X-Files," and much more, proving that her talent and expansive range defy skeptics' type-casting limitations.

Victoria is currently performing stand-up on the comedy club circuit across the country. She still does her trademark "handstand poetry," discusses her career and marriage, and plays her original ukulele songs. She has completed three CD's (available at stores or on her website). "Use Me", produced by VJ and Blackmarket Productions is for adults; and her award-winning "Ukulele Lady" and "Ukulele Ditties for Itty Bitty Kitties," were produced by Choo Choo Records.

Victoria met her husband, Metro Dade Police Helicopter pilot, Paul Wessel, in seventh grade at Dade Christian School. They were engaged in 1976 but didn't marry until 1992 after a 12 year separation, during which both married and divorced. "His strict father said we were too young to get married, so he finished the college I couldn't afford and I went off to Hollywood," Victoria explains. Victoria splits her time between her home in the Hollywood Hills of California and her home in Miami where she spends her time between acting jobs, raising her daughters, working on her poetry book, writing songs with her ukulele, and enjoying her high school sweetheart, Paul.

Comedian Victoria Jackson is available for appearances at your next corporate event or conference. Contact us today to get started.

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