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Girls Night Out For Women Only! packs the house at Off The Hook Comedy Club
By Phyllis Bator- Dec. 29-JAN. 2. 2006
With house lights dimmed and the stage ablaze with flashing lights, a booming voice over the loudspeaker yelled, "Are you ready to have the best time of your life?"
The audience energetically applauded and screamed back, "Yes!" From the back of Off The Hook Comedy Club, Comedienne Diana Jordan suddenly appeared singing. The audience went wild.
Jordan recently starred in a stellar performance strictly for women at a Monday evening Girls Night Out show to a packed house.
The crowd ranged in age from 21 years and up. An 88-year-old woman in the audience that night was in a fit of laughter, as were other senior women one might not expect to enjoy Jordan's humor.
To say she was sensational is an understatement. Jordan was more than a laugh a minute. She was an absolute riot for her full 90-minute set. Frankly, the audience didn't want to let her go.
Truly, her show was outstanding.
This lady is a gem. The audience hardly stopped laughing and applauding. I was rolling in my seat.
Following her performance, Jordan greeted the people who came to see her. So many women came and hugged and thanked her for the wonderful show.
"When people come up to you with tears in their eyes and say they so needed to laugh, that's what keeps me going," she said. "Otherwise, I would quit standup comedy. It's hard work and grueling. But when I see that some people have had a tough time and I was able to give them something to laugh at, it makes my job worth it."
Jordan has quite an extensive background. She's been in show business for 30 years. Originally from Oklahoma, she moved to Las Vegas, then to Los Angeles, and currently resides in Ft. Lauderdale.
What turned her on to comedy was studying at an Improv Comedy Class in Los Angeles. "Robin Williams, the late John Ritter and Penny Marshall were in that class. It was a Master's class and very hard to get into," Jordan recalled. "I also learned a lot from Robin. He always told me to 'trust yourself, trust yourself'. You have to stand behind what you say as a comedian."
She also studied with Lucille Ball and told a funny story about how she acquired the boa she wears on stage at an auction for Lucille Ball memorabilia. Her facial expressions, tone, and mannerisms in her description of the auction were hilarious.
Her past performances include the Improv Comedy Clubs, Funny Bones, all the major comedy clubs in the country, opening acts for the Righteous Brothers, Engelbert Humperdink, Paul Anka and the Pointer Sisters as well as Radio City Music Hall, the Kennedy Center, "Roseanne," HBO's "Women of the Night," Showtime”, Comedy Central, and the "Oprah Winfrey Show" several times.
In fact, Oprah calls her the funniest woman on the planet. "That just shows you how incredibly intelligent she is," Jordan said with a smirk. She also did a comedy tour for the U.S. troops stationed in Asia.
"I was under contract with CBS for my own series, 'Female, Fertile and Frustrated,' but at the eleventh hour, it just didn't go. It was extremely disappointing," she said. "But it ain't over 'til it's over."
Jordan appeared in the movie, "Jerry Maguire," starring Tom Cruise. She was one of the women in the divorce support group. Jokingly, she said that she sat on the only couch Cruise didn't jump on.
©Marco Island Sun Times 2006
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