Being a female stand-up comic isn’t easy. But with a last name recalling one of the English language’s most blatant puns—”What’s long and hard and full of seamen?”—you’re pretty much born into the profession. Comedian Jen Seaman has embraced the calling, quipping “I can’t even wear a pearl necklace.” On being a female comic in Seattle’s male-dominated scene, she admits, “You kind of stand out here,” but the funnywoman is quick to mention the many male comics who’ve supported her along the way. “Derek Sheen, Emmett Montgomery, Paul Warmenhoven—he’s like a trim Santa in his prime.” Since appearing on America’s Got Talent and performing in clubs from New York to Seattle, Seaman continues to stand out on the national stage. Being a female comic has also sharpened her powers of observation, which render the question of gender equality into a joke. “I don’t understand men that hate women,” she says, “because if I tried to fuck what I hate, I’d be dead, because I hate sharks.”