For Jennifer Stein, director of economic development for the City of Avondale, storytelling has been part of her DNA from a young age. Her knack for building relationships and promoting events prompted her to pursue an education in public relations, which led her to working at Good Morning Arizona for more than five years producing live shots and in-studio segments. From there, an opportunity to work for the City of Glendale in its communications department presented itself, which she pursued. 

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“I pitched Glendale during when [State Farm Stadium] was opening and all this growth was happening,” Stein explains. “I was able to work closely with the economic development department to help position the City of Glendale, since the entertainment district was the place to be.” 

Over the last decade, Stein worked for Peoria before making the recent move to Avondale, where she tells the city’s story to businesses and decision makers on why they should locate in the bustling Southwest Valley. But once the day’s work is done, Stein pursues another kind of storytelling — stand-up comedy.  

AZRE magazine sat down with Stein to learn how she got into stand-up, how she’s crafted her life experiences into comedic material, and how the skills needed to be a comedian and an economic developer overlap.  

The following responses have been edited for length and clarity.

AZRE: How did you get involved in stand-up comedy?  

Jennifer Stein: It’s a wild story, but my husband actually got me into it. About 15 years ago, I wrote a sitcom pilot that didn’t go very far, but it was considered by one of the networks before it was gently rejected. There were a bunch of funny stories from my life in the script, and he always thought I should adapt them for stand-up comedy.  

One night, we were leaving [the bowling alley] Let It Roll, which had converted its center bar into Lenora’s Comedy Club, in honor of the owner’s mom who sadly passed away from cancer but loved comedy. Someone was handing out flyers, and my husband asked, “Do you ever have open mic nights?” The person said no, but my husband insisted that I was funny.  

They tried to give him another flyer for an improv class, but my husband said, “She’s really funny, you should let her try an open mic.” The comedy bar owner came back with a microphone and said, “You have two minutes for your wife to prove that you’re right,” and he handed me a mic.

AZRE: Did you have any material prepared?  

Jennifer Stein: No! I didn’t have a set, so I didn’t know what I was going to say. But I did a two-minute set anyways, and people were laughing at my jokes. The owner came to me and compared me to a clean version of Mrs. Maisel and said that my husband was right and asked for my phone number. I hardly remembered what I even said because it was so nerve wracking to go in front of an audience unprepared because you don’t know how people will react.  

He ended up calling me two days later and offered me a chance to do my own show, and I performed a 45-minute set. But in the beginning, I was doing more storytelling than comedy, and my comedy friends gave me feedback saying that I don’t need to tell funny stories but tell stories in a funny way. So, I began paying attention to the art of comedy, how to set up and deliver jokes and started to take a couple of classes. It became this interesting hobby, but more importantly than that, it became a place where I was able to connect all of my friends and family who support me.

AZRE: Is there any overlap in the skills needed to be a good economic developer and a comedian?   

Jennifer Stein: It goes back to storytelling, and how you frame a narrative, which is important in both arenas. There’s also a lot of memorizing involved — it feels like I have scripts here at work and in my comedy too.  

You also have to read your audience, which is huge for both comedy and economic development. On stage, I’ve had to end early or restructure some of my material to make sure the audience finds it funny. In economic development, you have to identify the needs of a business and help remove barriers. Ultimately, both require connecting with people.

AZRE: Have you ever used a story from your day job on stage? 

Jennifer Stein: I try to keep those things separate, but one time I did tell a story of how I got a speeding ticket while a prospect was in the car because I was trying to prove how close Peoria was to something.

See her perform

Want to see Jennifer Stein perform? She’s headlining a show at Lenora’s Comedy Club at 7 p.m. on Nov. 15. 

Where: Inside Let It Roll, 8925 N. 12th St., Phoenix