When Irresistible spoke to Jess Fuchs she was busy preparing for her next hit. She’s filming her special Thick & Thin this month, and anyone can join the fun August 17th at The Vanguard. Months of preparation have gone into the show and it’s yet another milestone she’s hitting on her burgeoning comedy career path. She’s also recently signed with More Banter agency, and later in the year you can catch her and a whole troupe of her friends in another Sydney edition of their consistently sell- out show One for the Girls and the Gays
Fuch’s thinks part of her appeal is that her content is playful and digestible. She’s savvy on social media too, racking up thousands of followers and views of clips that can run into the millions. Her online connections both with her audience and the wider industry are a cornerstone of her life, and has helped her land significant digital campaigns with Netflix, M&Ms, Boost Juice and Pedestrian TV amongst others.
Then there’s the YouTube hit series thRIFFting, which started, like all the best ideas, with something random; just an idea to film some content in a different space. The show has blossomed and Fuchs has gone on to part- interview part- riff with a host of her friends and other comedians as they peruse the racks of clothes in second- hand shops. As she told Irresistible, “it’s some of the most fun I’ve ever had.” Some of those collaborations are significant and she shouts out Will Gibb and Nick White as people that she comes back to work with over and over again. There’s some independence in there. These mid-career performers are making their own way and creating their own shows, rather than the traditional model of hanging by the phone waiting for a booking agent to call.
So, in summary things are looking good. As Fuchs told Irresistible, “I’m making my kind of comedy. It’s exciting, it’s truthful, and I’m enjoying the ride.”
Fuchs has been back in Sydney doing stand-up since the pandemic, following a hasty and unplanned exit from New York as the borders started to close. She’d lived in the Big Apple since 2015, and was already on the circuit there, having performed continuously alongside her day job in TV Production. So when the clubs opened up again Down Under, she was able to hit the ground running. She was brought up in Sydney and studied Communication and Film at UTS, so it didn’t take her long to plug back into the Aussie scene. She now feels like she’s bringing the different strands of her life together. “I think I’m blending the US and Australian way of doing things,” she told us. “I did a lot of open mic and improv back in New York, I was gigging 2 or 3 times a week.”
She’s now a regular across Sydney, has performed at the international comedy festivals in Melbourne and Sydney, and has just completed a tour which, as well going to those two cities, took in Newcastle, and Auckland and Christchurch in New Zealand. She’s also a frequent emcee, both at Comedy shows and venues like the Comedy Store, as well as being a provocative and sparkling host at corporate events. “Now I’m often gigging every night,” she said. “I’m proud of the fact that I never do the same show twice. I’m pretty sure the improv and theatre in my background help, but I get such a buzz bouncing off an audience. I’m in love with just finding out where it’s going to go.”
From her viewpoint she believes she can feel some subtle shifts in what people want. Comedians can operate at the vanguard of society and it’s a interesting metric to consider as an analysis tool. A lot of time and money is spent by all sorts of organisations to discover what is going on in the minds of their consumers. Maybe asking a comedian which TikTok clips are doing well can provide just as valuable answers. Fuchs has noticed, “People want honest and relatable. There’s a vigorous pursuit of acceptance being sought out.” She likes the phrase, “radical honesty,” and, she believes she provides it. “I don’t hold back. I want to be out there and totally upfront with people.” She hopes that by keeping it real she’ll continue to find her audience, carving her own path and creating her own message. She’s grown in confidence, feeling very comfortable with all cultures and demographics and getting a laugh out of all of them. As she told Irresistible, “I love being able to talk to, perform for, and relate to all different kinds of people.”
