MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown Brewing Company will be treated to the comedy stylings of Reena Calm this Saturday, July 24.
Calm, 38, who got her start in comedy in Chicago, characterizes herself as something of a wordsmith — with a book of puns, “Once A Pun a Time: Legend of a Sighs Queen” to prove it.
She is technically based out of Milwaukee these days, although it would be more accurate to say she’s based out of her Prius. Calm even has a video tour of her car, in the format of early-aughts celebrity lifestyle show “MTV Cribs,” on her YouTube page.
“Right now I am the only woman in America who is on the road full time doing stand up comedy professionally,” she said.
Calm spoke with The Dominion Post this week from Cincinnati, before driving to Columbus for one night and then on to Pittsburgh for two nights of shows.
Unlike most touring comedians, Calm is no stranger to Morgantown.
“Morgantown has been awesome because I just feel that it’s underrated. Not enough people are putting it on their list of places to stop,” she said.
“As far as the audience, I’ve always had an amazing experience. Everybody that’s come to a show, every crowd I’ve had (in Morgantown) has been so fun and that’s the most you could possibly ask for.”
Being her primary form of income, Calm never completely stopped doing comedy during the pandemic, but has only returned to touring full time in the past two weeks. With COVID still being a concern across the country, Calm says she’s motivated by more than just her finances.
“The whole reason for doing this is definitely almost a spiritual motivation for me, of wanting to connect with people and make them feel better,” she said.
Calm believes the ultimate goal of her comedy is to help audience members think of something they’ve never thought of before and learn something, a goal that became all the more relevant after the 2016 election.
“That was what motivated me to get on the road trying to do all 50 states, setting that goal for myself. There’s something healing about the idea of even if people in the same room might disagree, if they can laugh at the same jokes, that’s just a tiny step but it’s something that can help.”
Calm is now just five states shy of her 50 state goal, and If you’re feeling some wanderlust you can follow along @ReenaCalm on Instagram and Twitter.
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