Profile: Bridget Jones BRAIN TRUST A continuing series profiling one member of the Best Brains organization. BRIDGET JONES The Queen of Clubs For somebody as pretty and demure and charming as BBI staff writer and occasional performer Bridget Jones, it's surprising how much of her life has been affected by events related to bars and night clubs. That began when Jones was a youngster growing up in Sauk Rapids, MN, because her father was the owner of a bar and liquor store called The Commodore Club. "It had the biggest dance floor in central Minnesota!" she declared proudly in a recent phone interview, though she admits that she and her sister were not allowed in the place--except on Saturday mornings when Dad had enlisted his kids to help clean the place up after wild Friday nights. Bridget's dad also did stand up comedy at the club, which may explain how she ended up on the road doing stand up comedy herself years later. Another noteworthy fact about her dad was that he was, for a while, the mayor of Sauk Rapids. Some may recall that Bridget's BBI writing staff colleague Mary Jo Pehl has revealed that her father was, at one time, the mayor of Circle Pines, MN. This means that both Best Brains' female writers are the daughters of mayors. That has to mean something, but we're not sure what it is, and neither is Bridget. Battling against the influence of show business was Bridget's education: "I was completely schooled by Catholic education," she says cheerfully. "Yep, it was Catholic repression all the way." That included her college years, which were spent at the College of St. Thomas (now a university) in St. Paul. Eventually show business won, but it took a little while. Class of 1983 After college, Bridget "floated into retail jobs," she recalls. "Eventually I was a buyer, but I was miserable." Seeking something different, Bridget began showing up for "open stage" nights at local comedy clubs. "I was terrible," she admits, but nonetheless she found that there was some interest in including her act, for one big reason: "I had a car." At that time a circuit of comedy clubs in the upper Midwest had developed, and groups of comedians would travel together from bar to bar performing. "It was unpleasant," Bridget acknowledges, "but I could be the opening act if I agreed to drive the headliner around for a week. I'd be the opening act, another comedian would be the middle act and some older, drunker, comedian would be the headliner." It was on these tours from club to club that Jones honed her comedic style and learned to hold her own in the predominantly male comedy club world--talents that would serve her well at BBI. Bridget also traveled as a magician's assistant to The Amazing Phil. She was the levitating lady, "And I'll never divulge The Amazing Phil's secrets!" she laughs. It was also on these tours that she first met Frank Conniff, and became aware of his prodigious talent. "I remember sitting at a table in a restaurant many a night with Frank and Mike and several other comedians, and we were all trying to outdo each other with spit takes. Frank was the best," she adds with a laugh. Looking back, Bridget sees that she was, in a small way, part of a real revolution comedy. "Before the big comedy club boom of the 80s, there was a real division between 'men's humor' and 'women's humor," she observes. "The result was that more women got the chance to perform and men got an appreciation of women's humor, and more opportunities opened up for women in comedy." It was also at one of those "open stage" nights that she encountered another struggling young comedian by the name of Mike Nelson. "We were both doing a Wednesday night open stage and he was just so funny," she recalls of the day he first caught her eye. Likewise, her act impressed him. "During my set, I once used the word 'pontificate' without explaining what it meant. With his love of words, he was thrilled and I guess we were destined to be together." The year 1989 was a big year for Nelson--about the time he was planning to get married to Jones, he was approached by the producers of a fledgling TV show. "We got married and right after we got back from our honeymoon, Mike had a job," she recalls. Not long after, Jones got involved too--as something called a "home writer." "They'd give me a tape of the movie, and I'd sit at home and write comments with the time codes. I tried to come up with a lot, about three a minute," she remembers. "It was interesting doing it that way. When you're looking at it all by yourself, sometimes you're able to see things you wouldn't see if you were with a group in the writing room, while the movie is slowly choking the life out of you." Bridget's first on-camera role was in episode 316- GAMERA VS. ZIGRA, when she appeared with Mike in the Hexfield Viewscreen as little Helen riding on Gamera's back and requesting a Coke. Fans wouldn't see her again until episode 502- HERCULES, when she and Mary Jo teamed up as a pair of Amazon moms. But her fan club grew exponentially after her appearance as the loopy yet provocative Nuveena. Fans also enjoyed her impression of chanteuse Lisa Loeb in episode 616- RACKET GIRLS and as Mr. B Natural in the 1995 Turkey Day segments. (A note to readers of The Amazing Colossal Episode Guide: Despite what the Guide says, that was not Bridget in episode 303- POD PEOPLE. Bridget states that it was, in fact, fellow staffer Faye Berkholder.) Since the show moved to the Sci-Fi Channel, Bridget's appeared briefly as Adrienne Barbeau in episode 805- THE THING THAT WOULDN'T DIE, as an incompetent witch in episode 806- THE UNDEAD, and as Darlene the "space child" in episodes 811- PARTS: THE CLONUS HORROR and episode 812- THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES, etc. She may be best known by those who've come to the show recently as the catty Flavia, the suspicious and tart-tongued hostess who reluctantly opened her home to "Apearlo" and "BrainGuyus" during the "Roman Times" story arc in episodes 816 through 820. While she made no appearances in season nine of the show, Bridget was still very much involved in the writing. She was also, and still is, very involved with her home life. The Nelsons prefer to keep their private lives private, but with the holidays just past, we couldn't help but wonder: What's a Nelson family Christmas like? "Mike cooks and cooks; he's a wonderful cook," she enthuses. "There's lots of cooking and eating and we sit around and play the piano. Mike juggles." Bridget says that the children are starting to become aware that Daddy is on TV, but admits that she doesn't let them watch MST3K too much: Ever the protective mother, she doesn't think the kids are quite ready for the pain Mom and Dad experience for a living. "A lot of times the theme of the movie is kind of creepy, and I'm not sure I want to expose them to that stuff," she says. Still, they're growing up fast. She accompanied Mike in November when he attended a sci-fi convention in New Orleans, and the two spent much of the time exploring the city, which they'd never visited before. "It's a beautiful city and we really had a great time." As for the convention itself, Bridget admits that the some of the more bizarrely costumed attendees where a bit disturbing. "One thing I can say about Exoticon," she declares with a laugh, "thank God for the MSTies! I was never happier to see anybody in my life! At one point a guy approached me wearing a really scary leather mask over his head and I got a little worried--until he nicely explained that he was a MSTie dressed as El Santo. I was so relieved!" Bridget has also had a chance to do some work at BBI again. "I've been doing some writing," she reveals, but, sorry, Bridget fans, the first eight or so episodes of season 10 won't feature Bridget in any on-camera appearances. "I haven't been in any episodes so far, but I still might be," she says. "It's not really a conscious decision by anybody. It pretty much depends on what comes out of the writing organically." We're sure there are lots of MSTies who hope that happens soon! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archived from http://www.mst3kinfo.com/satnews/feature1.html on 4/13/01