trends
ROAD COMIC
By Elizabeth Owens-Schiele REENA CALM NEVER IMAGINED BEING A COMIC ON THE ROAD—IT JUST HAPPENED. BUT DOING WELL IN COMEDY IS WHAT WILL LEAD HER TO OWN PROPERTY SOMEWHERE THAT MAKES HER HAPPY.
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“I love going places where they don’t get a lot of people passing through. Am I a famous person yet? Not in Los Angeles, but in Bryan, Texas, I’m a pretty big deal, and West Virginia loves me.”
Her show Calm loves a good word play and relies on it often in her 45-minute sets. She describes her show as “an auto-biographical stroll through the mind of a traveler and a little bit inappropriate.” She said her goal is never to make people uncomfortable but admits she did get some pushback in the Bible Belt. “Part of what got me touring the most was going places that I especially felt like women weren’t talking enough about women’s sexuality,” Calm said. “Most comics have an opportunity to talk about sex, but it’s coming from a
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—REENA CALM man’s perspective. To be able to go to some of these places and speak from a woman’s perspective—I’ve gotten such incredible feedback from women who appreciate it so much more than someone who’s living in a big liberal city ever could.” Her backstory Born in Israel, Calm was raised in Sharon, Massachusetts. She jokes she was the souvenir after her parents spent one year abroad before returning to the East Coast. The oldest of four, Calm was raised Jewish and attended a Jewish Day School. Although she feels like she missed out on a lot of pop culture, her parents did allow the popular television comedy show Saturday Night Live every weekend. Her youngest brother, Moshe Calm, 31, who hosts his sister frequently in his home in Waukesha, Wisconsin, remembers those weekends well.
PHOTOGRAPH: ELIZABETH OWENS-SCHIELE
n 22 days, comedian Reena Calm drove 2,000 miles, headlined nine shows at seven venues in five states and squeezed in five open mics along the way. That’s life on the road for a comedian. Calm has been traveling as a comedian for the last seven years. She gave up her apartment three years ago to go full-time on the road, living first in her outfitted Toyota Prius. She averaged about 5,000 miles every month, doing five to 10 shows every week until COVID-19 hit the industry hard and Calm harder—she was unemployed, homeless, survived a car accident and needed to buy a new engine and transmission. In March 2021, she let her Prius go to hybrid heaven with 270,000 miles on the odometer. But life is looking a little brighter for Calm this year. She just bought a 2017 Toyota Sienna minivan and set it up as her green room on wheels, complete with an office, bed, wardrobe and storage. Although it doesn’t have a bathroom or kitchen, she has a cross-country network of friends providing showers and couch surfing. Along the way, Calm is getting booked at comedy clubs across the country. For a depressed kid who only wished to grow up to be happy, Calm is “living the dream,” albeit in her own way. Her wild journey has taken her to comedy clubs in 48 states. A woman of many goals, her first task is to perform in all 50 states—only Hawaii and Washington remain. Then, she’ll release her first album, #Calmedy, July 1. Her future may include a book of her travels, a dream to create a show with Jon Stewart exploring mental health, owning a home and eventually fostering a child. But for now, Calm is taking it one day at a time, juggling the logistics of living and working on the road—which include eating vegan—while trying to avoid decision fatigue. She jokes about her travels—and escapades—on stage and takes it all in stride.
Luckbox | July 2022
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6/17/22 10:03 AM
