By Jesse M. Gonzalez | [email protected]

 

“Are you Mormon?” said Andy Gold as he stared into the audience, beginning his joke for the night, claiming that is what he gets asked whenever he leaves Utah. “I met a man at the airport who saw that I was from Utah and before he said anything, I stopped him. ‘No to everything you’re about to say—no, no, no a thousand times!’ He looks at me and says: ‘I just wanted to know if you ski.’”

The crowd erupted in laughter inside of Salt Fire Brewing, the venue for the night’s Locals Only Comedy, which took place July 28. Gold, who described his appearance as that of a Garbage Pail Kid, was the last of three performers of the night. The two others, Jasmine Faye and Aresh Tadjiki, had also put on performances for South Salt Lake. Comedy, of the various other art forms of the Salt Lake City area, seems to be growing exponentially as many more shows continue to pop up.

            “I do like the local scene. It has a lot of good local comedy, unlike Las Vegas,” said Faye, a Las Vegas native who now resides in South Salt Lake. Faye has been doing comedy for the last five years, starting a career in stand-up after becoming inspired after seeing a local comedy show in Cedar City. “My friend looked at me and said, ‘You could do this.’”

            And that was the beginning of Faye’s career in stand-up comedy. She now plays a string of shows in the Salt Lake City area, committing nightly to her passion in visual performance.  Before Faye had given stand-up a chance, she performed improv with friends from her theatre troupe, Crowdsourced Comedy. “I’m an improvisor at heart, but a year after doing that I finally got up the courage to do stand-up because stand-up is kind of scary, right? Because you kind of just stand there by yourself, looking at the audience, telling jokes and hoping they laugh.”

            Faye was the first performer of the night, coming on after the host and Salt Lake City resident Brian Higgins, gave an introduction to the audience sitting in the main room and bar of Salt Fire Brewing. Higgins also hosts a multiplicity of comedy and visual art shows in the region.  Higgins had been impressed with Faye’s past performances and invited her to present in South Salt Lake.

           

            When Faye is not making people laugh in the evening, sometimes performing five shows a week, she works in college admissions as well as a substitute teacher. However, her true passion is stand-up comedy and her devotion to the scene is solid and continuous.

            “I really consider myself a storyteller, and I really like the audience to feel like we’re friends; that’s always my main goal. Before I’m a comedian, I’m a performer. I want to make people feel lighter,” Faye said.

            Unlike some other comedians, Faye tends to stray away from intense and controversial topics like politics. “I’m here to not make you think about that. Keep it fun, keep it kind of light.  I never get too dark,” she said. “I think comedy should just be about people having fun. We’re all friends.”

            South Salt Lake residents have seemed to be itching for some comedic fun, and Salt Fire Brewing chose just the right event to have for the area. Close to 80 people were in attendance, and Faye is sure that number will grow.

“There are so many more comics on the mic, so many more shows. Local people are given more shows and more opportunity,” she said. “It’s really getting big. People love to keep it local.”