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Journalists and comedians are both storytellers 鈥� an award-winning former reporter who quit drinking, came out as trans, and began a career as a nightclub comedian is giving thanks “for the selflessness and love of so many people who have seen the best in me.”
Jamie Mack came to the D.C. area two decades ago, and started working on the metro desk at the Washington Times.
“I remember seeing you and other reporters including Mark Segraves (of NBC 4) chasing (former Council Chair) Linda Cropp and (Mayor) Tony Wilson all around the Wilson Building,” Jamie recalled this week.
Back then, I knew Jamie as Jim — one of the best investigative reporters in the area.
“I got into journalism to do some good and to shake up the world,” said Jamie. “It seemed like the metrics for success changed — there was so much emphasis on driving web traffic and finding stories that would get a lot of clicks, and I was a part of that.”
At the time, Jamie was struggling with drinking and started to see a gender therapist.
“I was living one life in the closet, and then I was living one life in public,” Jamie said. “It’s hard enough to live one life. To live two is impossible.”
Dissatisfied with journalism, Jamie began working as a private investigator, for a mid-sized firm in D.C. “I did everything from employment law to capital murder cases to traffic accidents.”
Inspired by a seriously ill friend who was determined to live his life to the fullest, Jamie realized some changes needed to be made.
“It’s funny talking to you today, because today is my sobriety date,” Jamie confided. “It was five years ago today that I quit drinking.”
‘There was nothing wrong me; The problem was theirs’
After quitting drinking, Jamie came out as transgender.
“I decided to get a job at a grocery store, and for the first time in my life put Jamie and ‘they/them’ on my name tag,” they said. “People would come up to my register and they would see my pronouns there and get it wrong a little too loud, and a little too often, for me to think it was a mistake.”
Jamie’s coworkers accepted him.聽“I met so many people who were just so incredibly kind to me, and connected with me, and I found so much support, especially among young people.”
The acceptance empowered them.
“I learned to hold my name tag up, and I would say, ‘You can just call me Jamie,'” they said. “It was such an instructive experience for me because it taught me there was nothing wrong with me, the problem was theirs.”
Life as an out nightclub comedian: ‘I’m proud of who I am’
Jamie’s nightclub act includes observations of all of their personal transformations.
“I was so worried when I first came out that other trans and queer people and member of the LGBT community would look at me and say, ‘what took you so long,’ Jamie admits. “The only thing anybody has ever said to me is ‘Welcome, we’re glad you’re here.'”
From their vantage point on stage, “My experience in comedy, playing everything from queer rooms to more conservative rooms in rural areas has taught me that we are not nearly as screwed up as a country, and divided as the people in power and the people in the media would have us believe.”
“I’m proud of who I am, and I’m proud of the selflessness and love of so many people who have seen the best in me.”
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