James Jensen is a bartender at Comedy Works with a passion for photography. He has been working at Comedy Works since 2016, when he entered as a door staff. Shortly after being promoted to bartender, the pandemic hit and the club was temporarily closed. Luckily, James’ impact on the team was clear and he was asked back  when the club re-opened. Anders joins Sean for the episode, in hopes that together they can peel back the layers of the onion that is James Jensen. 

We discuss changes in Colorado, mainly the influx from other states, and if these “newbies” have tainted the state’s ideals. Anders shares his experience of people moving to the “Big” city of Milwaukee and we wonder how to recognize when you are in a “bubble.” James tells us the story of how his family became Chicago Cubs fans, seeing his first stand-up show, and how a high school elective photography class lit a creative flame within him. Inspiration can come from anywhere, even old, mangled athletic tape on a basketball court. There’s a lesson there. 

Much of our episode we talked about perspective, meaning, and self-confidence. At what age should we “know” ourselves? Do we expect “the self” to change as we continue through life? We might not find all the answers, but damn if we don’t ask the questions. Of course our guests reviewed Top Shelf’s smoked wings, before an after-hours segment where we talked about our experiences with online dating, how to consume news, and Anders stumbled on a revolutionary idea for fixing the problems of a single-member-district-plurality system of voting. 

Cheers to all the laughter shared with these gentlemen. I hope this won’t be James’ last appearance at Top Shelf — now that his pod-cherry is popped, he can pop back in anytime. 

FO & BW