Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Jones and Jessica Bilgrad.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It all started with a tipsy text. In June 2015, I (Julia) got to perform at the Del Close Marathon in NYC – a huge improv festival where teams from all over the country perform. I saw for the first time in my improv career a two-woman set, Elephants Gerald – which completely transformed me. It is still one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.
Nothing like this was being done in Atlanta at the time (at least to my knowledge), and I knew that my improv crush, Jessica Bilgrad, and I could create something like this. High from watching amazing improv all day, and a little buzzed from a Guinness at an Irish Pub, I nervously texted Bilgrad to ask if she wanted to create a two-woman set in Atlanta. The rest is history (we know we know – that ‘s a horrible cliche).
We started rehearsing with Josh Warren, an amazing improviser & coach, who helped us find our comedic voice and sense of play. Our improv home, The Village Theatre, graciously gave us a once a month show slot – and we just took off from there. The more we performed, the more our friendship grew – to a point that we’re now inseparable and our names are exchangeable.
We’ve performed all over Atlanta, some of our favorite guest experiences being at Relapse Theatre, Highwire Comedy Co., and the Resurgens Fest. We’ve been given a weekly run by our new Artistic Director, Ryan Archibald, on Saturdays at the Village Theatre and could not be more thrilled. We feel extremely lucky that we get to share our art every week.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Honestly, the more we perform together – the deeper our friendship gets. There’s always gonna be silly politics in comedy, but the two of us have always been determined to hit back and try harder.
We just wanna keep creating and make a permanent thing out of this. So yeah, it’s been a pretty smooth road up until this point.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We do two-woman long-form improv comedy, which basically means we create a 30 minute set of scenes from a one-word suggestion. Since its improv, its completely made up on the spot with just the two of us. Our main focus is to explore comedic environments through bold character work and honest acting. I think what we’re best known for is our unabashed love for one another.
We’re proud that our ride-or-die friendship reads to audience members – we feel that is something genuine and special about our team. One of the best compliments we’ve received came from our friend Jim Hodgson on his podcast The Outliners – “these guys when you see them perform live, they’re absolutely hilarious – part of that is because they’re just great friends… they’ve got this sort of locked in the style of humor.
They’re two people you just wanna be around because they like each other so much and are just having fun.”
What were you like growing up?
Jessica Bilgrad: As my mother would say, “She’s was a wonderful singer, she didn’t even need a microphone to be heard.” I was a headstrong, precocious child actor who has no siblings, learned to entertain people at an early age.
Growing up in Cherokee County, GA as a Jewish, ethnically ambiguous girl also really primed me for a career in comedy. I had a huge imagination & sense of play. I performed any chance I got – singing on the stoop at the Florist Shop, writing and performing plays with my cousins, performing rollerblade routines to Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen in my parent’s kitchen. I was usually deemed “the entertainment” at family functions (not to brag).
Julia: I was a horrifically shy child that was too damn romantic for my own good. I loved to draw, write, and play pretend. I kept a journal all throughout elementary school because I wanted to be Harriet the Spy, with my first entry being a plagiarized copy of Michelle Trachtenberg’s opening monologue from the movie (replaced with names from my actual school).
Even though I would never dare perform for an audience, I would make up skits to perform in the garage for my Dad – doing mock tap dances to Singing in the Rain, peppering in extra comedy with a broken umbrella bit. I would do impressions for my mom whenever she was sick (she was in and out of the hospital a lot) – my favorite being the Carlton dance. I created “Julia’s Talk Show” on my grandmother’s recorder – a radio show for my sister and favorite cousin Megan. I think I was destined to be a forever weirdo in comedy.
Contact Info:
- Email: bilgrones@gmail.com
- Instagram: @bilgrones
- Facebook: @bilgronescomedy
Image Credit:
Dan Almasy
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
