Stand-up gal

Farmington resident Elaine Thompson is gaining a reputation as a stand-up comedian

Farmington Independent - March 31, 2005

Elaine Thompson is performing Saturday night at the Rosemount VFW.

      Over the past three years Elaine Thompson has created a successful career as a stand-up comedian, but it very nearly never even began.Thompson, an Empire Township resident, is a long-time fan of stand-up, but she did not get her formal introduction to the craft until she signed up for a class at a Twin Cities comedy school. She attended the first day and then almost didn’t go back.

      “I thought, ‘This is really stupid. I shouldn’t do this,’” Thompson said. “I’m kind of an introvert, kind of shy. I think it was fear…. It was really scary, but when you get a good laugh, you’re hooked.”

      Thompson stuck out the class, though, and she took the three minutes of stage time each graduate was given. She got some laughs, and that was it. She has been doing it ever since.

      Thompson started out performing at open mic nights at local comedy clubs, but it wasn’t until she won a competition at Acme Comedy Club in Minneapolis that she really felt like a comedian.

      “I think a lot of stand-up comedians have a lot of self doubt,” Thompson said. “That (winning) was something that made me think I should keep doing it.”

      Thompson’s career still consists largely of open mic nights. She gets the occasional opening slot at local clubs—usually about once a month. She has performed with comedians such as Lewis Black, Emo Philips and Dave Mordal, a Minnesota comedian who gained fame as a contestant on the NBC series Last Comic Standing. She has performed at comedy festivals in Boston, Las Vegas and Houston, but her out-of-town shows are typically planned around her travel schedule, not the other way around.

      Thompson, who gave up a career defending insurance companies against claims when she moved back to Minnesota, still has a full-time day job. And while she would like to do comedy full time, that would mean finding a way to make enough money to cover the lost wages and benefits of an office job.

      Meeting Thompson in person is a very different experience than seeing her on stage. In the real world, she is quiet, and while she can be funny she has never been a class clown or the center of attention.

      “I came from a small town, so I guess we always had to make our own entertainment,” Thompson said. “My dad was kind of the funny guy. Both of my parents have a good sense of humor.”

      Thompson on stage is an entirely different experience. Most of her jokes are unfit to reprint in this newspaper. Thompson said it can be a shock for people who know her from her private life to see her perform. The stage persona is always there, she said. She just can’t always let it out.

      “You can’t go around being like that in public or as an attorney,” she said. “I have a very juvenile sense of humor, but I try to be a grown-up.

      “I think a lot of people think of me as their mom, and the (stage persona) is kind of shocking.”

      That shock, the reaction the unexpected gets, is one of the things Thompson likes best about stand up comedy, and it should be on display this weekend when Thompson performs at the Rosemount VFW. Thompson will take the stage with Bob Larson and host Wild Bill Bauer. The show starts at 8 p.m.

      “(The audience) will have a good time,” Thompson said. “It’ll be fun.”

      For more information about the show, call 651-894-3471.

- By Nathan Hansen, Editor