New Comedy-Meets-Cooking Web Series Features Former Seattleite

Comedy and cooking are meant for each other—and I don’t just mean in the way that it’s laughable how bad I am in the kitchen. 

Comedian Jen Saunderson knows a thing or two about combining food and laughs successfully. The former Seattleite (and former Seattle mag sales rep) used to run a popular live cooking show with comedian guest stars at the Pocket Theater. Now living in LA, Saunderson and her friend, fellow comedian Jenny Zigrino, have a recently debuted digital cooking/comedy series called The Filling is Mutual on IFC. 

Each 5-minute show features the same format: “The Jens” bring a comedian friend into the kitchen to make a recipe based on one of the performer’s jokes. (Look for guests like Ty Barnett, Mehran Khaghani, Langston Kerman, Matteo Lane and Giulia Rozzi.) It’s funny in an off-the-cuff kind of way that ranges from adorably whimsical to downright raunchy, and the recipes are sometimes laughably bad (see the mint chocolate/kale smoothie with Janelle James). It’s kind of like an all-female Wayne’s World—and I obviously mean that in the best way—with a focus on food instead of music.

Saunderson’s history in stand-up comedy goes back almost a decade, the first seven of those here in Seattle, where she performed all over town and hosted over-the-top dinner parties for local comedians “that would always end with me on the floor, complaining about my back, and them saying, ‘maybe we should clean for her?’” she says. She met Zigrino in a New York comedy club and the two became fast friends. You may recognize Saunderson from America’s Got Talent; Zigrino has had roles in Bad Santa 2 and Fifty Shades of Black.

Luckily for us, Saunderson still has family in the area, and she says she tries to book a stand-up show or two when she’s up to visit. Keep an eye on her webpage here for updated show info, and stream the full six episodes of The Filling is Mutual now.