Tip the Artist

Artist Bio

Mary Jo Pehl is a writer/performer/producer with Cinematic Titanic, the live version of the Peabody Award-winning TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000, for which she was a writer and on-air actor in the recurring role of “Pearl Forrester.” For these two projects, she has bravely withstood hundreds of the worst movies ever made. The experience hasn’t killed her, only made her stronger.
Mary Jo has worn out packs of pencils for Austin Monthly, Austin Chronicle, Minnesota Monthly, Minneapolis StarTribune, Catholic Digest, Salon.com, PBS and more. Her work is featured in several anthologies, including Life’s A Stitch: The Best of Contemporary Women’s Humor and Travelers’ Tales: The Thong Also Rises. Her commentaries have aired on NPR’s All Things Considered and Weekend America, and The Savvy Traveler on Public Radio International.
As a standup comedian, Mary Jo has appeared on Comedy Central and A&E, and in stage productions in New York and Los Angeles. She has also contributed to RiffTrax.
She is a member of the former First Family of Circle Pines, Minnesota, but that’s another story, which you can read in her new book. That book, Employee of The Month and Other Big Deals, is available through Amazon.com.
A native of Minnesota, Mary Jo lives in Austin, Texas with Total Husband Ron and Total Dog Seymour.