Elon trustee Jeanne Robertson, a nationally renowned speaker with a reputation for her family-friendly and engaging humor, has signed an agreement with Comedy String Entertainment and Outback Concerts in Nashville for a 20-city tour in 2011. While the veteran speaker has a long history of success in speaking to groups and organizations, this will be her first solo comedy tour, as she performs in theaters across the country.
With her career nearly half a century in the making, humorous speaker Jeanne Robertson will add to her collection of milestones with her upcoming solo tour “Comedy with Class.” This 67-year-old former Miss North Carolina stands tall at 6’2″ and has a personality, heart and sense of humor just as soaring. For years, the Elon Trustee’s witty speeches have been mostly limited to conventions and meetings that were closed to the general public, but with six nationally released DVDs (three of which were produced by Elon Television), three books, hundreds of hours on satellite radio and over 9 million YouTube views, the demand for Jeanne’s family friendly and engaging brand of comedy has grown exponentially.
Entertaining thousands each year, this Graham, N.C., native and Alamance County resident is heard daily on Sirius XM Radio on the Laugh USA Family Friendly Comedy and Blue Collar Comedy channels. Meanwhile, the buzz around her laugh-out-loud comedy videos on YouTube has “gone viral” and now spans over 9 million views, including more than 3.5 million for her “Don’t Send a Man to the Grocery Store” story alone.
Two “test shows” in theaters have shown great success – an upcoming show in Dallas is sold out and her home state performance at the Carolina Theater in Durham on Sept. 18 offers only a few remaining seats. The successful ticket sales of these performances sealed the deal with Comedy String Entertainment and Outback Concerts in Nashville for a 20-city tour in 2011. Outback Concerts is the promotion company responsible for several of the top touring comedy acts including Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy and the Blue Collar Comedy Tour.
Robertson’s real life stories are relatable and memorable, making her humor stand out amongst typical comedic entertainers. Through her message-driven comedy, listeners can easily see that Jeanne reaches for the positive in people and consistently brings it to the surface while leaving them holding their sides and wiping tears from their cheeks in laughter. After decades as a public speaker and humorist, this former Miss Congeniality winner makes sure to keep her content revolving and new.
“I tire of telling the same set of stories. The thrill is in creating new material. It keeps me fresh,” says Jeanne.
Robertson is no stranger to recognition either; she recently became the first woman to receive her area’s Boy Scout “Man of the Year” award and has earned every top honor and award in her profession. She garnered the Certified Speaking Professional designation in 1980 and was inducted to the National Speakers Association’s (NSA) Hall of Fame the following year. She shares the recognition with only 183 others, including Zig Ziglar, Ronald Reagan and Norman Vincent Peale, and was the first woman to receive NSA’s most cherished honor, the Cavett Award. Standing tall in the man’s world of professional speaking, she is one of the few women ever given the Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters International, joining the likes of Earl Nightingale, Art Linkletter and Walter Cronkite.
The North Carolina Press Association named her as its 2001 North Carolinian of the Year for her “popularity on the speaking circuit, her award-winning ways and her representation of North Carolina.” Past recipients include notable public figures such as Elizabeth Dole, Rev. Billy Graham and Dean Smith.
Robertson is a graduate of Auburn University and a current trustee at Elon University. She and her husband Jerry are long-time supporters of Elon Athletics and have made generous gifts in honor of their close friends, former athletics director Dr. Alan White and his wife Norma. Through those gifts, Elon’s Belk Track Complex includes Dr. Alan and Norma White Field and the North Athletics Complex includes Alan J. White Bell Tower. A major gift by the Robertsons is providing lead funding for the current renovation project of Alumni Gym in Koury Center. In recognition of this gift, the basketball floor in the gym will be named Robertson Court. These Phoenix Club members have also sponsored several athletic scholarships. The Robertsons’ son, Bailey “Beaver” Bowline, is a 1989 Elon graduate who played basketball during his college years.
This refined humorist brings delightful southern charm and loads of laughter to each performance. Jeanne Robertson’s comedy is sharp and witty and always conveys a message beyond the surface. She will be appearing near many Elon fans and friends on this national “Comedy with Class” tour. For more information about Jeanne and her upcoming appearances as the dates are released, please visit www.JeanneRobertson.com.