Name: Jess Hickey
Year: Senior 17’
Major: Theatre
Hometown: Winthrop, MA
Relationship status: In a relationship
Involvement on campus: Suffolk University Theatre Department, Who’s Askin’? sketch comedy troupe
Astrology sign: Gemini
Instagram: jesshickey_
Twitter: mynameisjessh
If you could live in one place right now, where would it be?
Los Angeles! I’m moving there in the fall, but I wish I was there right now so I could avoid the cold.
What are some of your hobbies/ interests outside of Suffolk?
I’ve been involved in theatre for years now. I really enjoy performing in shows, but I also enjoy writing for shows. I mostly write sketch comedy nowadays, but I have written a few full-length plays since I was in high school.
What’s something people might not know about you?
I was originally going to go to school to be an ER nurse, but my drama teacher in high school changed my mind. I really enjoyed writing comedy and would have loved to do it as a career, but I always kind of thought people got “discovered” for theatre-related things, rather than actually working for them.
Tell us a typical day in the life of you.
My days have been pretty busy lately! I have classes almost every day, and sketch rehearsals twice a week, which are usually the high-light of my day. Most days after I’m done with class I have to sprint to work at Escape the Room Boston, which is this cool little place where we lock people in a room for an hour and they have to figured out how to escape…it sounds creepy but I promise it’s not! Lately, on days that I don’t have work, I have to have rehearsal for a play I’m directing in Spring Showcase, which can be anywhere from two to four hours.
What has been your biggest / favorite accomplishment so far?
This is going to sound really dumb and not like much of an accomplishment, but getting over my irrational fear of trains. My biggest issue about going to college in Boston was the fact that I had to commute via train, so I stressed out for months beforehand about it. I guess you could say that the fact that I’m graduating from college in less than four months is also a pretty big accomplishment too!
We hear you are directing a play for the Spring Showcase. Tell us about it!
Spring Showcase is a collection of several student-written plays where students are also directing the plays. I’m directing “Something Went Wrong with the Mystery Machine” written by Ariana Messana, and the show involves Scooby Doo-esque characters. I don’t want to reveal much more about the show because I don’t want to ruin the mystery! If you want to find out more about what happens, you can see the show February 9th-12th!
You are a part of Suffolk’s sketch comedy group “Who’s Askin?” Tell us more about this group!
I’ve been part of this group (formerly known as “Sketchual Misconduct”) since my first semester freshman year. I’ve always loved to make people laugh, and one of my friends told me I should audition for the group! We write and perform our own sketches, and have even performed at Improv Boston a couple of times, which was very exciting! We have an end of semester show every semester where we try to show off how funny we all are by showcasing our best sketches.
What is your favorite sketch to date?
Probably one we did called “Letters from the Store”. Basically it was as if men were at war and writing letters to their wives overseas, except instead of them being in a war, they were at a grocery store. My favorite lines from it were “Sue, though I do not fully understand why it’s so important for you to have Ben and Jerry’s at this very late hour of the night, I have made it to the store. The store is a very cold place, Sue”
What are you going to miss the most about Suffolk when you graduate this spring?
It sounds cliche, but I’ll miss all of my friends that I met through the theatre department. Everyone is so supportive of each other, and I’ve never really had connections like that with people outside of the department. It was always nice to know that if you wanted to try something that you’ve never done before, such as directing or writing a show, everyone would jump on board with you and support you along the way.