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 Victoria JacksonStanding in her dressing room with her two kids before a show, Jackson doesn't seem like a comedian about to perform for a full room. While Kelly Moran is out on stage warming up the crowd, Jackson is making plans for her kids' stage debut at the Comix Café in Buffalo, straightening out the schedule and taking care of last minute details, ever the worried mom. As her two kids look on, protective of their mother, I ask Jackson about everything from her early days in TV to the recent tragic loss of Phil Hartman, a friend and fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus. She flutters about at times, getting ready or plucking at her ukulele. Despite a long week interviewing with "People" magazine and traveling to Buffalo, Jackson answers every question in a down-to-earth and friendly manner. She talks about her new album, "Use Me," available on her website at http://www.victoriajackson.com. Eventually the interview becomes more of a conversation. Smartass: How are you enjoying Buffalo? Jackson: The people are so nice here. So nice. We're supposed to be the city of good neighbors. Is that what it's called? That's one thing. I didn't know that. Found something you might be interested in. I did some research on the Internet, and I came up with a make-up lady named Victoria Jackson. I know her I figured the true mark of fame is when you're more famous than the other person with your name. Well, I'm kind of mad at her because she started making this after my name was famous. So you've seen that before? No, but I met her, and she did my make-up once. She said, "Oh I'm starting a make-up company and I'll send you some in the mail. She sent me one little thing of dark, dark, dark brown. I'm like, what am I supposed to do with this? She was really grumpy when she did my make-up. I ran into her two times after that. It's really rude of her to use my name and not even ask permission. People send me letters and say, "Your make-up stinks." I'm like, it's not mine. [Laughs] Is her name actually Victoria Jackson or is she just using the name? Okay, well, I've done a little research and I found out that her second or third husband's last name was Jackson. So her first name is Victoria, but she has another husband now. She stuck with my name. She's not using her maiden name, and she's not using her present married name. She's using one of her ex-husband's last names. Her name popped up when I did a search on the Internet. And she also can't get sued because she's not in the Screen Actors' Guild. I'm already in there so she can't be an actor with that name, but she can be a make-up person. There's also a porn star named that or a stripper or something. I didn't find that. [Pause] So, you're about midway through the tour now? I've done about forty or more cities, and there's still more. I don't know when it will end. Maybe I'll just do this until I die. [Into the recorder] Hope it isn't soon! How do you balance your family and your work? Um, well... [Looks at her daughters] I bring `em with me. I heard they were dancing around earlier... They're going to perform tonight for the first time after my show. I saw the album on your website, with the title, "Use Me." Where did that come from? It's a song I wrote in 1982, and I sang it on Johnny Carson in '83, and it's one of my best songs that I ever wrote, according to my mother, so I thought it would be a good title. Is it all music? It's all comedy songs that I sung on TV or Johnny Carson or Saturday Night Live. I just finished making it and I'm very excited about it and I sell it at my show. I don't have a record company so it's all on the web page. I haven't really tried to get a record company. I made one phone call and they said no so I gave up. [Laughs] There's a little talking but it's mostly funny songs. Did you feel any pressure to do a more traditional stand-up album? I just started doing stand-up again a year ago. I used to do it in '83 to get on Carson, but I only had about ten minutes. So now I'm doing 45 for the first time and it's sort of evolving. It's still a work in progress. Maybe when I get more of the topical stuff, maybe I'll put that on. I noticed on your web site it's listed under Victoria Jackson Records. Is that a one shot deal or do you plan on - I want to make a lot more. Under Victoria Jackson Records? Uh-huh. Like Ani DiFranco has Righteous Babe Records you'll have Victoria Jackson. Yeah. I figured I wouldn't be able to remember whatever clever title I made up so I just named it after myself so I won't forget the name. How did you come to do the "Ukulele Lady" albums? That is because I was pregnant with Audrey, and I wasn't working very much. And someone said, "Would you like to do a children's album?" And I said, "Sure." They said, "You have such a perfect voice to do kid's kinds of things." So I said, "Sure." So I did it and I thought it came out really good, but I just sang. I just picked songs from my childhood and had a good time. This woman, Charlotte, the producer, she did all the work. She got the musicians, she did all the stuff. You know. I just had a fun time. But I think it came out good. There's another one coming out soon... Uh-huh. "Ukulele Ditties for Itty-Bitty Kiddies." It's almost done. And then I'm going to throw that on the web page. I like it a lot, too. So "Use Me" is just available on the web? Yeah. I'm hoping that I'll stir up a little interest by performing live and maybe a record company will get interested. See this is all new to me. I've never been in the music industry, only acting. So I know how the acting thing works, I don't know how the record industry works. "Ukulele Lady," the kids' album, had a distributor, I had a little bit of PR, I went on a couple of TV shows, and it was in all the Tower Records stores and no one knew about it. So they took them all back. I didn't know that happened. I thought they stayed in the record stores until someone buys one. Lack of publicity can drown a good album. I mean look at Madonna, there's a poster of her all over the world when she has a new album and I don't think they're any good. But there's a lot of PR. She doesn't necessarily put all those posters up herself. No. [Laughs] You also do a lot of voice over work. That seems a really popular thing now. Robin Williams has done it, and Jason Alexander, Bobcat Goldthwait. What's the major appeal of voiceover work? It's really quick, easy money. And you don't have to put make-up on. Good answer? [Laughs] That's a good answer. You went to Fuhrman on a gymnastics scholarship? Mm-hmm. If you weren't doing comedy, do you think that's what you might be doing? No... Well... I could teach gymnastics. That's what my dad does. And he's 70. He's in Syracuse right now at a camp, in the wilderness, practically. Girls' camp, teaching gymnastics. So I know how to do that. It's the only thing I grew up knowing how to do. I could teach gymnastics if I didn't have any other profession. I never thought about it because I hated it. He made me do it my whole childhood and I couldn't wait to escape. It was like five hours a day of sit-ups and swimming and push-ups and pull-ups. You know, and I'm like, "I don't want to do this!" It really feels good to be in great physical shape, it really does. But it takes a lot of work, and if you're not passionately wanting to do it, it's really hard. But when you're a child you just do what's expected. And I used it to help me get my foot in the door in Hollywood because the handstand was my gimmick that no one else had. And you were part of Johnny Crawford's nightclub act. What did you do in the act? I was in Summerstock for a while and Johnny met me there and he sent me a one-way ticket [to where he was performing.] He sang 30 songs. I was the comic relief, and I would just walk on the stage every couple songs. I was playing the part of - he wrote this - of a fan who was obsessed with him. So he would get his bouncers to carry me offstage and I would come back in another costume. So first I was like a sweet, little young girl, so then I got bounced so I came back as a vamp to get his attention. I'd do gymnastics and handstands in front of him while he sang "Temptation." Then I got carried off so I came back as a man, dressed as a boy, and I said, [affects a butch voice] "Hi, John. I hear you need someone to help you get dressed for those Hollywood parties." So then he sang, "I'm putting on my top hat... da da da da da." And then I dressed him, and he said, "I think this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship." How did you make the leap from that to Johnny Carson? I think... I started doing a handstand on the bar after his [Crawford's] show to get attention, and everyone liked it, so I said, "Hey, I should do my own little act." He did an act, I can do an act and not be a sidekick, and so I started doing that. I got discovered. What was the first night on Johnny Carson like? So exciting. I went out of my body, kind of. I felt like I was watching myself. And everyone knows if he likes you, then your whole career will happen. It worked out really well. A lot of adrenaline. You did a lot of TV work early on. The first thing on your credits is "General Hospital," and then the "Half Hour Comedy Hour," and "Bizarre." What did that teach you, that you may have used in the rest of your career? Well, you learn something from every show, and from everything in life... I don't know what I learned. I learned everything, just from jumping right in and trying it. I really didn't know what I was doing. A lot of people who left Saturday Night Live seemed to have left disgruntled or unhappy with their situation in the show. What was your experience? I didn't leave disgruntled. I thought it was really hard and very competitive, but I learned a lot. It was the best job I ever had. I just left because my whole team was leaving and the new guys were coming. You have a special for Premium Blend [on Comedy Central] coming out... No, I just did one little tiny three-minute thing on it. Oh, I thought you had a special... No. They might have made it sound like that, but it was just this one little performance. They actually asked me to be on Viva Variety, but I couldn't because it was this week. I got a small part in a pilot. I was in a pilot for a sitcom coming out this fall called "Conrad Bloom." So that's my next job. I was at the Montreal Comedy Festival. There's a topic I was hesitant to bring up... You mean Phil Hartman? Yeah. I didn't think there was a good way to bring up the topic. I heard you were asked to be on Larry King the night he died. Well, I was asked by 27 different TV shows the first day, the second day even more. Mostly they wanted just gossip. "What was Brinn like? Did you know her? Did you see this coming?" And you know, I didn't know anything. I was just as shocked as everyone else. But the Miami Herald said they wanted me to write a letter about my feelings, and I thought, wow, that would be... You know, I had so many feelings, I was very emotional. I was supposed to be doing comedy in Dayton, Ohio, and I thought, maybe I should cancel. How do you try to make people laugh today? So I poured it all out in a letter. I wrote it from two AM to six AM and I wrote "Dear Phil, 27 TV shows called me on the day you died..." [starts to cry] I'm sorry... No, it's okay. I thought, you know, I've never been so popular. This is a tragedy. I had a lot of mixed feelings. So I wrote it and crumpled it up, wrote it and crumpled it up. So finally I came up with a thing that felt really pure, and I'm Christian, so when I hear about death I have a lot of hope because I believe in Jesus and life after death, and John 3:16. And it's sort of in my act a little bit. And so it reminded me of a song I have in my act where I'm trying to do a Christian testimony in the comedy club world, even though they don't come here to be preached to. It's very, very, very subtle. You'll probably miss it. I like what I came up with and the Miami Herald tried to cut out the Bible references, but I fought for it and they left it in there. I think people are thinking about that but no one ever talks about it. All they talk about is, [assumes a stern voice] "He was very talented." Yeah, but, is he standing in front of God right now? I mean, yeah, we know he was talented, so? That was my way of responding to all of the questions. But I didn't want to do it on TV because too many people exploit other people's tragedies to get airtime. Especially actors are really guilty of that a lot; of using anything they can to be looked at for their career. People who were really his friends were weeping and crying. They weren't making a big show. He was a really nice guy. Very professional. Just the way he was on TV, he was the same way. You've done just about everything there is to do in TV, and you've done films. Is there anything that you still want to do that maybe you haven't done yet? I always wanted to be on a sitcom. That's the only thing I'm perfect for. I wasn't really qualified to be on Saturday Night Live - I'm not like an impressionist or anything. Movies are nice, but there are very few roles for women and most of them are sluts or something. Sitcoms are relatively clean. There's not much nudity. [Laughs] I always wanted to be on a sitcom. Because it's a good job to have kids. You can see them in the morning, see them at night. You were the homecoming queen, from a typical American household, you have a successful career and you married your high school sweetheart - it seems kind of like the American dream. Can you imagine yourself anywhere else? Other than Buffalo, I mean. First of all, it's not exactly the American dream. I went through a divorce, I lost all my money, I don't live in the city I want to live in. I have a lot of not perfect things, but... Although, yeah. [Laughs] It is pretty much the American dream. No, I don't see anything being different. I love the life that God gave me. -Nick |
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