An up-and-coming comic likes football and bourbon. But not honking when “puffy people” jog.

by Beth Ellen . photo by Roy Cox

The strangest things can inspire people to be stand-up comics. Thirty-three-year-old comedian Erin Jackson has always loved Bill Cosby and Ellen DeGeneres. But what really convinces her that she can tell jokes for a living are odd little moments in everyday life. Like standing in line at CVS waiting for the cashier to figure out how to give her 15 cents change. (The woman ran out of dimes.) Or that time when she was on a flight to Los Angeles and her plane caught on fire. (No joke.)

Jackson, who was born in New Jersey but moved to D.C. in 1996, says what got her on the road was a boyfriend who signed her up for a one-day class that claimed to teach, “everything you need to know about being a comedian in a couple of hours,” she says. “[It] was ridiculous of course, but it was a first step, and I’ve never looked back.”

She performs two shows at the Altamont Theatre in downtown Asheville this month and vows to introduce audiences here to two of her favorite subjects: football and bourbon. She is quite the enthusiast, she says, which she thinks sounds better than saying: “I like to drink whiskey.” This is her first visit to Asheville, and she said, in a recent email, that when she’s not on stage, she intends to sneak her video camera onto the Biltmore Estate to shoot her own pretend episode of Cribs. Also on the menu in Asheville: “Expect a little juggling, maybe some gymnastics,” Jackson says. Joking, of course. Her high-energy opening act on October 21 and 22 is Jason Weems.

Tickets $15 at www.myaltamont.com. For info: www.erinjackson.net and check out her videos on YouTube.