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Comedy empowers veterans careers: see how ASAP’s novel stand-up comedy training program helps the people who served enjoy meaningful lives and work.
The Armed Services Arts Partnership or ASAP is a nonprofit organization that uses stand-up comedy training to empower people to connect with beautiful dreams and meaningful work.
ASAP cultivates community and growth among veterans, service members, military families, and caregivers through the arts. But their real impact is in liberating people from fear, pain, and loss, to get them to a place of joy and empowerment. People who have benefitted from ASAP training and programming use their newfound creativity to confidently express themselves and their purpose, and find greater success and happiness in life and work. ASAP programming is available in the Washington DC metropolitan area as well as in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
To understand how comedy empowers veterans’ careers, we met with ASAP’s executive director Brian Jenkins. We also sat down with Monica Daly who performed her five-minute stand-up comedy set before a live audience at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia.
During this episode, recorded in the Fall of 2019, you will discover:
- What the Armed Services Arts Partnership is about. Starts at 2:28
- Comedian Monica Daly’s take on ASAP and the benefits that it provides her. Starts at 7:07
- A sampling of Monica’s stand-up set. Starts at 13:54
- What participants may expect during their stand-up comedy training program. Starts at 15:02
As comedy empowers veterans careers, we hope it can extend to the millions of front-line workers who are fighting the Coronavirus pandemic.
About our guests:
Brian Jenkins received a Bachelor of Arts degree in religious studies from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. His life path, which aligned with community building and social responsibility, prepared him well to be the Executive Director of the Armed Services Arts Partnership. Brian lives in Northern Virginia.
Monica Daly grew up in the Washington, DC suburbs of Northern Virginia and is a US Army veteran. A member of the federal government workforce, she is settling into a new assignment based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Before agreeing to relocate to Indianapolis, Monica made sure that there were plenty of comedy clubs for her to play.
EPISODE DATE: December 25, 2020
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