BONUS: From Classical Acting to Stand-Up with Jefferson McDonald

In this BONUS episode, Jefferson McDonald shares his journey from classical acting training to stand-up comedy, his experiences touring and performing in various venues, and his personal life including his engagement and his childhood growing up on a farm in rural New York. Tune in for a mix of humor, life stories, and a behind-the-scenes look at this multi-talented performer's life.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey everybody, and welcome, welcome, welcome back to this week's episode of Nighttime Benders Powered by the Thor. We have something special for you guys. We have been sitting down with so many amazing comedians that we're gonna start dropping these bonus interviews in between our weekly episodes so you can get to know some of these comedians a little bit more. This week we have Jefferson McDonald, which, if you don't know who he is, go look up his stuff right now. He is not only a talented actor, musician, of course, stand-up comedian, but he also was a very good hang. I hope you guys enjoy getting to know Jefferson as much as I did. Well, welcome to the podcast. I'm excited to have you here today. If you could introduce yourself for people that might not be familiar with you and your work.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Hello, I'm Jefferson McDonald. I'm a comedian, actor, writer, and musician. I live in Los Angeles, originally from Romulus, New York.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Romulus, New York. So you're originally an East Coast person and you're now living in the West Coast.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

What do you think the difference between the two coasts are?

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Winters are easier here. Um a lot of fires over here. Um well, you know, Los Angeles, there's no comparing here to where I grew up. Romulus, New York, it's just a very small town. It's an agricultural community. There's not a lot going on. We used to have an arcade that burnt down. We used to have a gas station, and then they just stopped pumping gas. So very small, just Amish neighbors, Mennonites. So, you know, you're really out there in the sticks in Romulus, New York. So I was always grateful. If I was in a town that had a gas station, I got excited. So Los Angeles is pretty crazy. But before I came here, I lived in New York City for about 10 years. I love that city. Um But uh yeah, I'm pretty happy here in Los Angeles. It's it's nice, it's warm, and uh, I'm applying the sunscreen, but uh yeah, there is a difference, but I I don't know. New York, Los Angeles, they're pretty they're pretty international cities.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Yeah, I don't know if you felt that so I've lived in both as well, and I felt that I the sharper edges of my personality came out on the East Coast. Like I was definitely a more angry version of myself on the East Coast, and in LA I was like more chill, more chill about everything.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Well, I drove in New York City and drive here, so I'm just angry and screaming all the time. I don't know if there's a chill version of myself. I guess that would be out somewhere where there's no people and there's a lake, and people couldn't hear me screaming. But um, I so you have some anger issues as well. So is that what you're saying?

SPEAKER_01 2:42

Well, yes, yes. I I try to pretend like I'm nice. It's you know part of being a girl in America and staying safe, but I I'm secretly I have I have anger issues, yeah. Just like everybody else.

unknown 2:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Nothing wrong with that. So I was digging around on your social media as I do when I'm gonna be talking with people, and you are an incredibly trained actor. You went to some of the top acting programs in the world. You went to the Oslo Conservatory and the Moscow Art Theater. How do you think that classical training supports the work that you do as a stand-up? Unless it doesn't.

SPEAKER_02 3:21

I I think it certainly does. I I think having any kind of stage experience and working in a lot of I mean, there definitely uh is a line between comedic and dramatic actors, um, but then there's some that can do both. I always kind of went into that comedic category. Um, but I wanted to beefen up uh my ability to do drama, so I uh I thought I was already classically trained in music, so I thought, where can I get some of the most intense Shakespeare and check-off training uh in the world? So I went to those places and explored that for some time. And I would have to think that at least informs my presence on stage and and and some other things. Um but it's it's hard to say because stand-up is so very different from acting because you you're you're creating something in a different way than you do when you're uh when you're just doing a play. Um but those yeah, I had a lot of fun, spent a lot of money on a bunch of different schools. So yeah, that was great.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

Well, it definitely shows in your work that you have a lot of presence. Can I ask what your comedy origin story is? When did you first get up and start doing stand-up at the mic?

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Um really strictly strict stand-up, I didn't start doing until about three years ago um with my fiance on the road with her. Um my fiance is Steph Tolev, and she's uh obviously a uh an insanely talented uh stand-up comedian. So uh prior to that, I had been doing a rock and roll show and I was doing monologues in between and like weaving things together. But if anything bombed, I could always just go back and do a song, you know, so the stakes weren't as high as I always had something to fall back on because when you're doing when you're doing stand-up and you don't have a little gimmick that you can do between, uh you better you better be confident in your material. And uh I I didn't have that confidence until I started putting in a lot of time doing stand-up. You just have to do it and do it and write it and get very comfortable. I mean, the first time I went up on stage, it was comedy at Carlson, and I couldn't find a light. I must have blown the time by five minutes. And uh I don't know, the she Steph was not so happy. And I just remember being on stage being like, I surely I must be done, and just I kept being like, oh, anyways, you know, it's okay. I got some stories, but I was like the anyways set. It was uh it was pretty brutal. But you know, you definitely have to uh you definitely have to die up there a few times before things are gonna start clicking.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

Yeah, there's no shortcut to live entertainment, unfortunately, and becoming good at it. Um I did look at some of the clips of your music show. That seems really fun. Can you tell people a little bit? Is it called Great Balls? Is that what it's called?

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Or it's something Great Balls of Fire. Yeah. Well, you can you can just shorten it to Great Balls, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:14

Great Balls, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

Well, I did a show called Million Dollar Quartet about 14 times I played Jerry Lee Lewis, and so people really loved that production and they wanted more of the music. So during the pandemic, I came out with an album and we started performing all over the place when there wasn't much to do. And that sort of turned into a breadwinning opportunity for me and the band. So we went out and I just thought the name I I had a bunch of different names. My agents like that one, Jefferson McDonald's Great Balls of Fire. So we do a lot of 50s music and we just try to get people going crazy, and they do. It's pretty wild. And a lot of our audiences are older because they grew up during that time and they love Elvis, they love Johnny Cash. And you'll see these 60, 70 year olds out there doing splits. It's wild. It's wild. Yeah, I'm I can't believe uh the effect that this music has on people. It's almost too much. I tell some of them to sit down sometimes. We'll get people standing, they haven't danced in 30 years.

SPEAKER_03 7:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

And they get this new power and it it comes over them. And uh it's concerning because I I don't want anyone to get hurt, but well, you know what?

SPEAKER_01 7:22

If that's the way you go out, that's a good way to go. We all gotta go somehow.

SPEAKER_02 7:28

We do, we do. Let's talk about death.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

You know, yeah, right? That's always a funny topic. Um, so you do a lot of different kinds of performing. What do you think's the weirdest job you've ever had as a performer?

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Oh, as a performer. Okay, that's a good question. The weirdest job. I've had some I've had some lousy ones, but let me think of some weird ones. Um let's see, I did a little did a little burlesque back in the day that uh that that didn't hold up. Um weird performed in some weird places. Uh we weirdest uh performing job.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

I mean, I guess if you have a weird regular job, I would take that.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

Oh, like growing up gutting chickens on the farm? That was pretty I was pretty yeah, I f I f I feel like uh yeah, we grew up on a really large farm and I really didn't like farming, but I was in charge of 12,000 chickens and I was in charge of marketing them, gutting them. I was probably 14 years old and it was just miserable because I was kind of Howard Hughes, I hated germs. So I there I was with my hand inside these chickens, eviscerating them, and I was so miserable, I thought I have to find some something else to do. So I I've really tried to avoid the weird jobs, I guess, now that I think. It's um you know, when you are an artist though, you're performing in all sorts of strange places. Uh I'd be in Shakespeare for uh high schoolers and children, and you find yourself in some odd venues, I'm sure something awful will come to me. I think I must have blacked it out.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

That's okay. It's good to black out trauma. It's your brain's protective mechanism. We don't need to dig it up, it's fine. Uh but you mentioned that you recently got engaged. Congratulations. That is incredibly exciting. How are you doing? Do you do you like being are you becoming a groomzilla or are you just the chill, engaged person?

SPEAKER_02 9:30

I would say I'm pretty pretty chill. I'm not really sure what a groomzilla is, so hopefully that's not me. Um is that one who takes over the planning for the wedding? Like what what is it?

SPEAKER_01 9:41

Yeah, yeah. I mean, like some people some men, it's all about them. It's that is a thing. It becomes a thing, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

No, once uh once I gave her the ring, I said, you're in charge now. I'm done.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Fantastic. Oh, good man.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

I although I did help, I did help this whole thing kind of started when I showed her a wedding venue that I liked and the whole thing they worked at. So I just thought, you know, if we get a nice venue and if you want to get married, we could do that. And uh so I I I have some input. I think I'll have some input with the music since I have some buddies who play. So so there's a couple things I'll chime in here on the but otherwise uh what really do I have to do? I just have to show up, uh, get my family there. I mean, it's pretty simple stuff, right? I'll get a tux, and um that that's it.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

I don't know if I'm missing something.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Yeah, just like polish up and be pretty. That's a very important part of the day.

SPEAKER_02 10:38

That'll be a challenge. So yeah, we'll get but we'll get someone to do something. We'll we'll we'll get yeah. I actually Photoshop. They could just make the pictures look good. That's all that you really need is some decent pictures, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:51

Yes, exactly. That makes the day feel magical when you look back on it. Exactly, exactly. Um so you travel with your partner, right? When you tour, how is that being able to travel, tour, and work all with the person that you do everything else with?

SPEAKER_02 11:11

It it can be very nice, it can also be challenging because you're working with somebody you love and then you know uh but it's you know, a lot of times most of the challenges are just if we're stuck at an airport and we're grumpy and you know start wanting to strangle each other. But otherwise, it's really cool because we you that's when we get to see each other. So I really try to make it a priority to, you know, she can't I'm trying to teach her drums. I got her a drum set, so she can't really tour on my show yet. We're getting her there if she could just learn a couple of a couple of things, a couple of rockabilly rips. But uh um I love it. Her her tour is awesome, her crowds are awesome, so it's a lot of fun to perform on her shows, open the shows and and uh sell some merch afterwards. And we have a lot of fun, and I'm I'm pretty good at running the camera now.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

There you go. You got it, I know. That's great. I bring my husband when I tour as well. Not he's not a performer, he just has a remote job, but I joke that he's the best cameraman in the world, you know. Um and he also doesn't get distracted by any of the jokes because he's heard him a thousand times.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

Um there you go.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

Yeah. So you are coming to bend, and normally I warn city people about the country, but it sounds like you're very aware of what the middle of nowhere is like. Have you ever been to central Oregon before?

SPEAKER_02 12:36

Well, I've been to Eugene. There's a club out Eugene.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

Yeah. But that's very different. We're different. We are different. So we are technically a high desert. Um we have mountains, we have rivers, we have high altitude lakes. It's an outdoor person's paradise, but we are not a very large community. There's less than I think 150,000 people in the whole central Oregon area.

unknown 13:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 13:08

Yeah, yeah. Running into your neighbors up there.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

Yeah, so you'll be a big deal when you come here, is what I'm saying. You know, the smaller the town, the bigger the deal you are.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Oh, I doubt that, but uh yeah, that that would be nice. Um what's the bug situation? People getting bit up there?

SPEAKER_01 13:25

No, well, it depends where you are. So uh my house doesn't have water by it. We're by a cute little town called Sisters. But if you're near lakes, yeah, we got mosquitoes just like everybody else. Um but the rivers are nice. If you like to do you like, are you do you know how to swim? I should ask that first. Do you know how to swim?

SPEAKER_02 13:43

I do know how to swim. Yeah, yeah, that's one thing I can.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

But do you not like to swim? I feel like that answer was like, but I don't like to swim.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

I don't know. I I just look in and depends on how murky the water is, I guess. Okay. If other people are swimming, I I don't wake up every day like I can't wait to swim today. I'm more of a you know, I usually take a glance and I'm like, there's some water over there. You know, people are taking leaks in the water. Uh, I don't know what's going on in there. So uh but I'll I'll I'll get into a body of water on occasion. I do like to ski, and I like to ski straight off the dock, and then I try to get back on the dock so I don't actually enter the water. Have you ever heard of that technique?

SPEAKER_01 14:24

No, that is that is that's how much you're like, actually, I'd rather not.

SPEAKER_02 14:29

Yeah, I don't know. It's just I don't need to get wet all the time. I don't know what's I get it. Yeah, we've got some algae in our water in upstate New York, and you know that can I can give you some allergies. So Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Okay, so maybe I won't recommend floating for you. What do you like to do when you travel? What's your favorite kind of tourist thing to do?

SPEAKER_02 14:48

Uh eat and drink. I'm usually the guy drinking and yelling at people in the water. Um, but I am trying to uh drink less, so so I should pick up another hobby while in Bend. But you have that nice Pinot Noir. When I was in Eugene, I drank so much Pinot Noir, I think. Part of me died.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Um Yeah, we're really more of a beer town here in Bend. We have some great breweries, so and and you know some nice low alcohol, two, three, four percent beers. We can keep it going all night here.

SPEAKER_02 15:23

What are we in Australia? Watching 40 match now. No, no, no, no, no. Come on. Um, okay, that sounds good. I can drink a beer or two. Um there we go.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

Perfect. You'll come to town, you'll tell comedy, you'll drink beer, you'll have a good time.

SPEAKER_02 15:39

That sounds good. And then we're so we're close to this body of water. People are floating. Floating, I don't mind.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Yes, floating's fine. The theater is only like two blocks from the river. Honestly, the theater you're performing at, the Tower Theater, is a gorgeous vintage theater. Um, you're gonna be so blown away. It's like an old vaudeville theater.

SPEAKER_02 15:57

Oh, that sounds nice.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

Yeah, it makes you feel fancy. Yeah, I love our music haul. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And downtown Bend is beautiful. If you have a couple days on either side of the festival to enjoy yourself, I encourage you to. We're a resort town for a reason. Um, it's fantastic here. It's beautiful. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

Get up there a little early because I think the weekend before I am in Eugene with Steph. So I might just stay up there. And uh, I don't know. Maybe I will maybe I'll be camping there before and this all starts. I don't know. Maybe I'll be sleeping in the back of this music hall. I'm not really sure. Are you a camper?

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Do you like to camping?

SPEAKER_02 16:40

I don't like camping either. No, no, I don't like I gotta tell you, you know, I when I I grew up on this farm and my windows were broken, so there was snow inside my room as a child. It wasn't like it was kind of like camping anyway when I was a kid. And when would we we'd go camping? We'd always rough it. So we would take out like a cot, put it on the ground, and it we would just get destroyed by mosquitoes, and we would try to forage. We wouldn't bring food, so we would try to hunt and forage for our own food, and we never caught anything, so we were always hungry. It was really miserable, so that kind of cured me of the camping bug. I just but you know what? I could be what are we camping? Is that what's happening? Are we sleeping in tents for this?

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Nobody's told me that, but I'm also not involved in the planning of the festival. So if if you find out you're in a tent, let me know. I have an RV, we can throw you in. It RVs are lovely. I don't know. I think you're doing camping wrong. You need to get in an RV.

SPEAKER_03 17:41

Um yeah, this is different.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

Yeah, like with wood paneling and a bathroom and a shower and a cup. We have two TVs. It's really nice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:51

Well, that's different. That's that's nice. That's acceptable. That's acceptable.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

That you can handle. Perfect. Well, if people want to catch up with you before your show here in Bend, where's a good place to find you online?

SPEAKER_02 18:07

I would say my Instagram or Facebook are good. You can find my Instagram. It's uh my handle's Jefferson McDonald for the what is that, a number? The number for real. Jefferson McDonald for real. Or my Facebook. I'm just always posting dates and where I'm gonna be and where I'm either doing music or if I'm doing some comedy with Steph, or if I'm on a cruise because I'm still doing cruises uh all over the place. So, you know, if people want to get really loaded on a ship, I I love the water. See, I'm on the water all the time.

unknown 18:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:40

Yeah, see, you do love the water. That's a water.

SPEAKER_02 18:44

You love the water. I'm a seafaring man. Uh so that's where they can find me. And uh they can come out and on a ship or come out to a theater. Uh I don't know. There's all sorts of things we're doing. So, yeah, we're doing Christmas shows this winter in the south and southeast. So I don't know. There's a little of this, little of that. If they want some advice on how to raise uh poultry, just DM me. I will let you know.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

You know what? I I don't, you know, that's information that I'm like, that's for you to know. I'm glad I don't know it, right?

SPEAKER_02 19:19

Well, you know, sustainable agriculture is really growing in this country. These are good things to know. If you raise your own food, then that's the really the only way you know what's going in its mouth and if it's healthy. So you know.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

Oh gosh, I can't I can't follow my.

SPEAKER_02 19:37

Oh they're simple when they're babies.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Yeah, but then but then you they grow and then you have to kill them, and that's the part of farming I can't do. Like that's the it's the four, it's the part of 4H I could have never completed.

SPEAKER_02 19:49

But no, you get someone else to do the killing. You don't need to do that.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

That's too much. Yeah, I'm not really of the killing class.

SPEAKER_02 19:55

Um this is how we make people into vegans.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

Yeah, exactly. Um, is there anything else you'd like to share with the listeners that we haven't touched space on?

SPEAKER_02 20:05

I don't know. Just come to the shows. Come get your tickets now, folks, and we'll talk about it in bend in the water, on a floaty.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

On a floaty. All right, we'll see you there.

unknown 20:18

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

That was Jefferson McDonald's. I hope you enjoyed his interview. I truly enjoyed my time talking with him, and I know his show that's coming to bend is going to be hilarious. So be sure to check out his social media for where you can catch him when he is in town. I just want to say thank you guys again for listening to this week's episode of Nighttime Bendors. We will be coming back with more of Central Oregon's favorite funny faces. In the meantime, please follow us where you follow us, listen where you listen, like where you like. All those little buttons you press really do help us. We are a new podcast, and growing, sharing, telling your friends about it really, really does help. So, thank you everybody that has made this first set of shows so amazing, and we can't wait to keep bringing you more of our favorite people in central Oregon. Till next time,