OFM_PEOPLE_Jeanne_Robertson_0320_DEPT 2 / 20 / 20 3 : 55 PM Page 1 LE planner , who could lose his or her job for bringing P By Brittany Ann Morrisey in the wrong speaker , and they say to that meeting EOMiss planner , “ Did you know she was going to get polit - P ical ? Did you know she was going to get controver - sial ? ” … So at a [ convention ] you could not do that . Congeniality So I just went with clean humor that would appeal to everybody . … The humorist weaves a longer story and you want to be very , very clever with your words and how you tell the story , but you like every - Jeanne body happy at the end . Robertson’s When did you first realize that storytelling family - friendly and humor were a skill set that you had ? humor makes I got a real break . I was a rising junior at Auburn University in Alabama . I lived in North Carolina . it way to … And one weekend I came home and entered the Orlando next first and only beauty pageant series that I entered . I went to my little hometown and I entered the Miss month . Graham pageant — Graham , North Carolina ; 3,000 people at that time . … I won it . That put me in the Miss North Carolina pageant and it also started me making speeches . At the Miss North Carolina [ pageant ] there were 84 contestants and I won . That put me in the Miss America pageant . … When I went to that I did not win ; I was Miss Congeniality . … Pageants take a lot of criticism . Some of it is jus - tified but much of it is not . I was 19 years old and I turned 20 that year . When the dust settled , I had made more than 500 little speeches and it took me about a week to figure out early on that if I said some - thing funny , they laughed and they seemed to enjoy it and I did too . So you can’t buy that kind of experi - ence . I crowned the next Miss North Carolina a year later and the following week spoke at three conven - approaching her about taking her material on the ressed in a red blazer , black pencil skirt tions in North Carolina . I just never looked back . road in a national tour . and stiletto heels , Jeanne Robertson Now 76 years old , Robertson is still telling her walks across the stage , microphone in You do a lot of stories that involve your hus - D funny stories and winning over crowds with the ami - hand . She’s telling an uproarious story band and your family members and friends . able manner one would expect from a Miss Conge - in her trademark Southern drawl about her hus - How do they feel about being the subjects of niality titleholder . Robertson , for herself , says she’s just band and an ill - fated trip he made to the super - some of your stories ? enjoying the ride . market in a video titled “ Don’t Send a Man to the Oh , they love it . … Now , I call them my cast of char - “ I’m having a good time , ” she says . “ I hope you Grocery Store . ” The comedy clip is just one of acters and of course I stumbled onto that . … Onstage can tell — just having a ball . ” many that , when it was posted online , garnered the one day I said , “ My husband , Jerry , ” and then I We spoke with Robertson ahead of her The professional speaker not just a whole new audience , stopped and said , “ You know , really I call him Jerry Rocking Humor Tour , which will bring her to The but a second career as a touring humorist who’s sometimes because it’s his name , but really I also call Plaza Live on April 18 for a two - day engagement , and selling out theaters all over the United States . him L.B . for Left Brain . ” And the reaction was so she told us all about being funny , casting friends and But before her comedy stories went viral , great in the crowd . I said , “ Because he is left brained . family in her stories , and why everyone should look Robertson was a pageant winner ( she won the title Let me tell you the difference . ” And people were for humor in their own lives . of Miss Congeniality in the Miss America competi - pointing at their husbands or their wives because it’s tion in 1964 ) turned convention speaker who was not a male bashing thing . It’s there are left - brained known to meeting planners for her ability to tell Why do you call yourself a humorist and not people and there are right - brained people who are lighthearted stories that could drive home a message . consider yourself a comedian ? both genders , of course . … So he developed into a It wasn’t until she was in her 60s that she began to The comedian’s main sole purpose is to get most of character . … Then before long I’m telling stories receive attention from the general public and subse - the audience really laughing . They can do so at about my best friend . … It’s gotten to the point if I quently the media . anyone’s expense and if you go to a comedy show and don’t tell a story in a speech about one of [ my cast of “ A syndicated show out in Los Angeles did an you sit in the front , you can expect to be picked on . characters ] , people come up and say , “ Hey , has some - interview and I was on - site out there and they … [ Comedians ] can also use any language , any thing happened to Tony ? Has something happened to dubbed me ‘ Grandma Gone Viral , ’ ” she says over the innuendos , go after race , religion , anything that hits Norma Rose ? ” They just look for it . I have friends who phone from North Carolina where she lives . “ And them at the time if the majority of the group laughs . say to me , “ You can tell a story about me , Jeanne , ” they even said to me , ‘ Does that hurt your feelings ? ’ In the convention world and the professional and I say , “ Well alright , let’s hang around together I said , ‘ Not in the least . ’ ” speaking world that I was in for so long — and I and maybe I’ll find one . ” And they’ll say , “ Well , if you It all snowballed from there with her humorous guess it’s ingrained in me now — if you offended have one that somebody doesn’t want told you can just stories being broadcast on Sirius XM Radio’s family most of the people in the audience … first thing they use my name . ” My sister told me that , she said , “ You comedy channel and then a Nashville agency do when the speech is over is go right to the meeting could just use my name . I want to be in a story . ” 10 ORLANDO FAMILY march 2020 ORLANDOFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM