Not That Jewish

Monica began her career as a high school English teacher. While finding it rewarding, she realized her passion was making people laugh. She studied improv with Second City in Chicago and performed with Sons of the Sunset and Papaya Juice in San Francisco. Monica then went solo as a standup and soon became one of Showtime Network’s Comedy All Stars. It wasn’t long before she landed her own Ace Award-winning Showtime Special, “No, Monica… Just You,” and was nominated for an American Comedy Award as one of the top five female comedians in the country.

Monica was recruited by Ms.Barr herself to write on Roseanne. Thus began her career as a sit-com writer. She went on to write for Mad About You and Veronica’s Closet.

Now a mother, she found that sit-com hours meant too much time away from her son, so Monica turned to animation. After writing for the adult cult favorite, Duckman, she became the head writer of the #1 children’s animated series, Rugrats, for which she won an Emmy. She went on to develop and write series for Nickelodeon, Disney, and Cartoon Network.

Monica has returned to her first love, performing. As a standup, she’s the headlining entertainer for organizations around the country, appearing at fundraising dinners for the City of Hope, the Jewish Federation, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Premiere Oncology Foundation, as well as Jewish groups nationwide.

An artist-in-residence with Jewish Women’s Theatre, Monica performs original pieces for their acclaimed At-Homes Salon Theatre Series and is eternally grateful to JWT and a special patron for commissioning her one-woman show, Not That Jewish, for which the LA Drama Critics Circle nominated her for Best Solo Performance of 2015. Not That Jewish is slated to open Off-Broadway in fall 2016.

Monica lives in Santa Monica with her son, Jake, whom she loves and adores almost every day.

BARBARA KOLETSKY (Stage Manager/Assistant Producer) has most recently worked on the production side of Jewish Women’s Theatre. Prior to that, for three seasons she was responsible for catering. Now Barbara is thrilled to be moving into stage management for JWT at The Braid. Barbara is also the owner of RSVP Party Planning, where as an experienced party planner she has produced many events, specializing in charitable organizations but with many corporate and private clients as well. Barbara was born in New York and moved to California for a career in marketing and promotions for Polygram Records and Warner Elektra Atlantic Corp. She regularly volunteers at the Grossman Burn Center with her service dog, Rodney.