Jessica Watkins is a standup comedian, actor, filmmaker, and adventure enthusiast. Jessica grew up in East Nashville, TN. At 18 Watkins moved to Los Angeles to attend The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she found her love of making people laugh. Following graduation Jessica began performing sketch, improv, and after only a few times on stage and six years in California, Watkins moved to New York City to pursue standup comedy.

After five years honing her craft in NYC, in an attempt to jump start her career, Watkins quit her day job waiting tables to walk across The US performing standup comedy. In 2014 Jessica spent 8 months walking solo from Delaware to California, performing standup comedy, living off the kindness of strangers, and filming the trek for her first comedy special, Jessica Watkins: SPECIALish. Mixed with footage from the road and stand up upon her return, Jessica shot, wrote, directed, and produced the award winning feature length docu-comedy.

Jessica Watkins: SPECIALish was released through Random Media and 1091 Pictures May 11th, 2021, is named “exceptional” by The New York Times, “11th best comedy special of 2021” by Paste Magazine, and is available NOW on all streaming and On Demand platforms.

Unclear if the “jump start” worked, Jessica lives in Astoria, Queens and can be found performing standup regularly in New York City, and on adventures around the globe.