GABRIEL MILBY / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Heidi Greene Warren
Contributing Writer
From nursery and Hebrew school to college and medical school, Karen Jobalia has taken many academic courses, but none were funny.
It has always been a pipe dream to become a stand-up comedian, Jobalia said. As a Cincinnati radiologist, she spends most of her time alone or with a singular patient. Her last “gig” was her bat mitzvah. “Humor was definitely not encouraged,” she said with a chuckle.
The second-year Chautauquan decided it was time she understood more about the art of comedy. Since she can remember, Jobalia has always written humorous bits, but never had the courage to perform. So she signed up for Nancy Stanley’s special studies course about
the mechanics of being a stand-up comedian.
“This is really a short-duration, forced realization of a dream,” Jobalia said.
After four days of instruction, students have the opportunity to take the stage with a supportive audience, Stanley explained.
Halliday Meisburger of Buffalo also has always thought he might have comedy chops. With a warm presence and cheeky smile, one can easily know this guy is good natured. “‘Me-Is-Burger’ is how you spell my last name,” he said, with a wink.
He has spent more than 30 years as an architect working nationwide. However, the sheer terror of standing before people at an open mic night kept him away from center stage. Understanding the structure of a performance has given the building designer the necessary courage to don the mic.
“Now, I know the ‘secret sauce’ of how comedy is written and performed,” Meisburger said. “It’s been a wealth of information.”
Meisburger is in his fourth year as a Chautauquan, and the first as a property owner.
“I tend to think about things for a long time, then it just snaps into place,” he said.
The class, he said, has been a very positive and professional experience. Meisburger hopes, given preparation, that is exactly how his first formal foray into comedy goes.
Joining Jobalia and Meisburger is Stefan Pomrenke, a family physician from Sylvania, Ohio.
“I just wanted to tickle my funny bone,” he said. “Because it’s h-u-m-e-r-o-u-s, like humorous.” Doctor jokes and puns will certainly land with an on-grounds audience.
Pomrenke, 45, has been a Chautauquan for 15 years. He has had many learning experiences here from sailing to improv, including a financial class last year that enabled him to purchase a condo at The Pines. As a telehealth doctor, Pomrenke is engaging with a screen all day long.
“It feels like stand-up, but I’m sitting down,” he said. “It’s just me and the patient.”
The good news is Pomrenke can work from anywhere and therefore has more time on grounds during the season. His comedy aim is to help make a meaningful connection in a short amount of time with his patients. Maybe, he thought, skills like reading an audience could help.
Afterall, social activist Hunter “Patch” Adams, a doctor who famously used humor within his practice, graduated from the same medical school as Pomrenke: Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. Adams was portrayed by Robin Williams in the 1998 hit Patch Adams.
Humor and health go hand in hand, just like the Chautauqua ethos of mind, body and spirit. “The cosmic joke is that being a human is funny,” he said. “We all have foibles, and those experiences are what
make us people.”
As a former wrestler — a solo sport — Pomrenke understands the pressure of the whole act resting squarely on one’s shoulders. And, the vulnerability that accompanies that responsibility.
In other words, he is more worried about his small screen reception than on the stage with the microphone. But, Pomrenke explains, it all boils down to the same thing: connection.
“Comedy is a fundamentally different way to communicate with someone,” Meisburger said, in summary. “It’s more of a spark than a long-term connection.”
Heidi Greene Warren is a long-time Chautauquan, who in a former life was a writer for The Virginian-Pilot, based in Norfolk, Virginia.
