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Ace Jackson is bringing his comedy career back to familiar ground with an A&A Comedy Night at Clare & Don’s in Falls Church.

The show is scheduled for Feb. 2 from 6 to 8 p.m. at 130 N. Washington St. Richmond comedian Patrice DeVeaux, who recently toured in the Netherlands, will headline. The lineup also includes Jackson, A&A co-founder Alec Quinn, Fredericksburg comedian Chris Porter and D.C. comedian Erik Barbalace.

For Jackson, the event is part of a larger effort to build a stronger stand-up scene in the community where he spent part of his childhood.

During the day, Jackson runs a commercial division for JK Moving Services, working with clients that include Northrop Grumman and the World Bank. At night, he performs stand-up, hosts open mics and produces comedy shows.

From stage fright to stand-up

Jackson attended Timber Lane Elementary and Luther Jackson Middle School before his family moved to Centreville. Because the family moved frequently around Northern Virginia, he learned early that humor could help him make friends.

His path toward stand-up began with comedy videos on Vine. A girlfriend noticed that he was attracting followers and encouraged him to try performing live—something he had long wanted to do despite his fear of facing an audience.

Jackson adapted his written sketches into stand-up material and entered an open mic at Jolly’s, a hookah bar in Alexandria. Organizers unexpectedly turned the event into a competition, raising the pressure on his first performance.

He placed third among roughly 20 participants, including experienced comedians. More important, hearing an audience laugh at his first joke convinced him to keep going.

As Jackson appeared at more open mics and performed for different audiences, he found that his material continued to connect. That experience shaped his goal of developing comedy with broad appeal instead of limiting himself to a single category.

His influences include Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor for their storytelling, George Carlin for finding humor in difficult subjects, and more recent performers such as Kevin Hart and Andrew Schulz.

After more than eight years of performing and hosting, Jackson has developed material for different settings. He can deliver a 10-minute clean set or use more adult material when appropriate. He also performs crowd work and says his experience has taught him how to deal with hecklers and other surprises.

Jackson describes his stage presence as animated and energetic. He moves around, makes eye contact and works to keep the entire room engaged without relying on props. Much of his material centers on relationships and other shared experiences rather than the subjects an audience might expect from him as a Black comedian.

“We’re all relatable and we’re going to find common ground,” he said.

Building A&A Comedy

A&A is one of three comedy production ventures involving Jackson. He also works with Beer Room, which has helped him perform in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas, and Black & White Comedy, through which he produces an open mic.

Jackson said A&A allows him to apply what he learned from those companies to a project of his own. He launched it with Quinn, a close friend and fellow comedian who had been performing for more than a year.

The pair approached Clare & Don’s about staging local comedy nights. The venue’s owner was initially skeptical because an earlier attempt at presenting comedy had not succeeded. Jackson believed A&A’s following could produce a different result.

The company’s first show there took place on the first Sunday in January, amid snow and cold weather. Despite concerns that customers might stay home, the event sold tickets and turned a profit.

Clare & Don’s placed the show in an intimate room reserved for comedy and offered food and drink specials. That separation kept the performance from competing with televised games or unrelated activity elsewhere in the restaurant.

Jackson draws on his local knowledge when performing in Falls Church, finding material in coffee shops, Seven Corners, Bailey’s Crossroads, the Mosaic District and other familiar places. He remembers the Mosaic area from before its redevelopment, when it was centered on a more basic multiplex.

He hopes audiences will embrace comedy close to home rather than feeling they must travel into D.C. He also sees the potential for venues such as Clare & Don’s and the State Theatre to help establish a larger Falls Church comedy scene.

“You know how you leave your home to get a name for yourself and then you come back?” Jackson said. “Well, that’s what I’m doing.”

Reading the room

Jackson said one of the most important skills in stand-up is learning to read an audience. When he hosts, he uses his opening time to determine what kind of humor will work, whether the crowd prefers cleaner or more adult material and which subjects may not connect.

His preparation extends beyond the stage. He attends open mics to test ideas, meets other performers and evaluates comedians for future showcases. Because customers pay to attend those shows, he wants each lineup to feature performers he has confidence in.

Jackson typically arrives about an hour before a show and stays for roughly 90 minutes afterward to speak with audience members. Those conversations have helped him build a following and reinforce that his onstage personality is not a gimmick.

For aspiring comedians, Jackson emphasizes originality, a distinct identity and steady practice. He warns performers against repeating another comic’s topics or taking material, noting that audiences and comedians pay attention.

He also encourages performers to develop their voices, maintain eye contact and become conscious of their stage mannerisms. Most importantly, he said, comedians should not blame an audience when a set fails.

“You’ve got to learn to work through it,” Jackson said.

Writing remains central to his process. Jackson keeps one journal for raw ideas and another for more developed routines. He sometimes slips a possible joke into a workplace conversation to see whether colleagues laugh before expanding it and testing it at an open mic.

Political material requires particular care, he said. Jackson generally avoids politics, religion and sports unless he is confident he understands the room and can regain the audience after approaching a divisive subject. When he does address politics, his goal is to acknowledge different perspectives and locate something people share.

That same principle guides the Feb. 2 show. Jackson said the lineup was assembled to offer a mix of comedians with distinct stories and styles, giving the audience variety throughout the evening.

“You’re getting a melting pot of all these different types of comedians,” he said.