We are in a place and time where a little bit of humor – a smile, a laugh – can go a long way.
My pal Marisa Foster thinks so, too.
The current Southside resident was born on Chicago’s Northside in Sauganash. She met her husband, Kevin, on a retreat in high school, and they’ve been together almost 40 years. Their son Jake is 18, and ready to graduate from St. Rita High School this spring.
She is sweet, and kind, and funny as hell.
Marisa found her footing in comedy and sales with her dad, Bob Kosla.
“My dad was in sales, but not like a high pressure, so he kind of used comedy and levity to get his foot in the door,” she said. “He used to do the funniest shit, cracking everyone up.”
Foster attended Regina Dominican High School, an all-girls Catholic school, where she got in trouble for talking too much and cracking jokes. She was voted “Most Sarcastic” in her senior year, which Foster admits, “was not a crown jewel at home, definitely not a good thing.”
Foster took the stage last Wednesday at Melinda’s Pub in Worth, owned by her long-time friends Melinda and Scott. It was a full house of support: family, friends and shockingly, even a few people Marisa didn’t know, because, well, she really does know everyone.
If you’re counting back, it was Ash Wednesday. Foster opened in her familiar self-deprecating style, and noted that “Who else is performing on Ash Wednesday… besides a few priests. I need Jesus!”
Her set lasted a too-short 15 minutes to an appreciative crowd and laughter filled the room, reminding me that I hadn’t felt the ability to just laugh and forget about the world for a few minutes, in a very, very long time.
Foster’s talent, like her dad, also extends to sales. She works at Paul Davis Restoration, in Mokena; a company that assists people in some of the worst circumstances. She often finds that humor can help, even in disaster.
“Cleaning up turd since 66, that’s what I say,” Foster cracks. “We are experts in fire, water and mold. So, any terrible situations you might have at your home or business, we can fix them, get them back to normal, handhold the whole way, put everything back to normal.”
“You see people at their worst, and you see people in catastrophic situations. So, after that initial shock, and after that connection of, ‘we're going to fix this.’ I don't come in there like a vaudeville act.
“But later on, when that connection is already made, I can help them look back and laugh and think it really wasn't that bad. And now it's fixed. I use humor to defuse a situation and just give people a breath of fresh air.”
I first met Foster through a local networking group, where she shined with her sense of humor and a pure desire to help people, a skill she also acquired early on.
“Getting back to school, and checkmarks on my report card for talking and not staying in my seat,” Foster explains, “I think I was networking back then. Yep. So, I've always not been afraid to go up to someone, and not afraid to approach anybody.
“But my kid goes crazy. When we used to go to like the post office or whatever, He's says, “You're always on. It's just how I am, I find humor in every day shit.”
Melinda’s Pub has asked Foster to come back for open-mic nights on a regular basis, and she said she is seriously considering the offer.
Last Wednesday, Foster’s set ended when a random customer invited himself to the stage, which Foster found to be the very best part of the show.
“For all the practicing that I did - in the mirror and everything, my favorite part was the impromptu guy that came walking by,” Foster said. “He mumbled to me, and going with that - not making fun of him, but having fun with him? Even he got a chuckle.”
And that is really the point of humor, right?
“Well, first of all, (humor and laughing) is universal. Right?” Foster said. “It doesn’t matter – if we’re in the Ukraine, even - we might not speak the same language, but humor and music, are all tied in together.
“It just it melts my heart to see someone formerly in a bad situation or a bad mood laugh. I take it to heart, and I just think it's so important.
“We're in dark times. Right? Coming out of that. I couldn't think of a better stage for humor.”
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