A comic wife and her former Seahawk husband return to the Spokane Comedy Club
Taylor Swift isn’t the first entertainer to support her NFL player boyfriend by attending his games in the club suite. Back when Swift became a pop superstar supporting her fifth album, “1989,” Sarah Colonna began regularly attending Seahawk games during fall 2014, cheering on her future husband, then-Seahawks punter Jon Ryan.
“I always loved going to the Seahawks games,” Colonna said. “I also love Washington. It’s an amazing state.”
Colonna returned to Seattle in September for a 2013 reunion of the Super Bowl winning Seahawks.
“Everybody was there,” Colonna said. “It was great to see the guys again and witness them being honored once more. There’s nothing like the Seahawks.”
There’s also nothing like retirement. Colonna, who will perform Saturday and Sunday at the Spokane Comedy Club, has a new batch of material since her husband quit the CFL.
“It’s weird that Jon is here full-time now,” Colonna said, while calling from her Los Angeles home. “I’ve never been through that before, so I’ll be talking about that when I come back to Spokane.”
Colonna, 49, will also riff about her favorite F-words: friendship, family and football.
“It’s all pretty relatable,” Colonna said. “People get where I’m coming from who are married and I was single until I was 40. I cover those bases. And then there’s football. Jon was with the Seahawks for so many years. It’s cool since the Seahawks are the team for Spokane.”
Colonna became a huge Seahawks fan after the former Seahawks captain asked a mutual friend, comic Ross Mathews, if he would set them up for a date in 2013.
“After seeing me on ‘Chelsea Lately,’ Jon and I started talking and texting just before the Seahawks won the Super Bowl (in 2014),” Colonna said. “When the Seahawks won, he was sending me pictures from the field. I thought that it was insane. Here’s a guy who doesn’t even really know me and he’s sharing this huge event that’s once-in-a-lifetime for most football players and we hadn’t even met yet.”
Colonna, who grew up in Arkansas, married Ryan in 2016 and became a die-hard Seahawks aficionado and a fan of the Evergreen state.
“Thanks to Jon, I got to know Washington,” Colonna said. “People are so cool throughout the entire state.”
Ryan, 42, who played for the Seahawks for a decade, will accompany Colonna.
“He’ll be at the club,” Colonna said. “He has fun watching me perform and hanging out with the audience. He’s looking forward to being in Washington. Jon loves comedy and sports.”
Colonna has been a football and baseball fan her entire life, thanks to her father, Jim Colonna, who was the sports editor of the Los Angeles Times.
“I became a massive (Los Angeles) Angels fan, thanks to my dad. I lost him unexpectedly recently and I’ve turned that into humor. I got some funny stories out of my dad. I have to say, ‘Thanks, Dad. You left me with some jokes.’ That’s all a comic can ask for.”
Just like her father and husband, Colonna has a strong work ethic. When the earthy humorist isn’t cracking wise from a stage, she’s acting or writing books. Colonna has appeared on such television shows as “Monk,” “The United States of Tara” and “Battle Creek.”
Colonna has penned a pair of books: 2012’s “Life As I Blow It: Tales of Love, Life & Sex … Not Necessarily in That Order” and 2015’s “Has Anyone Seen My Pants?”
Fans know how provocative, surprising and funny Colonna can be when it comes to relationships.
“It really is fascinating when people get together,” Colonna said. “There’s the good, the bad and the unpredictable.”
Unlike some comics, who aren’t very good writers, Colonna is a capable author.
“I enjoy the books,” Colonna said. “It’s another way of expressing myself. I love stand-up, but I like to do other things as well.”
Colonna, who broke thanks to “Chelsea Lately,” is appreciative of her pal Chelsea Handler.
“I love Chelsea, who is so direct, smart and funny,” Colonna said. “The cool thing is that she is the same girl I knew when I met her when I was 23. Chelsea has a heart of gold.”
The former “Chelsea Lately” panelist has a new special on the horizon.
“I’m working on material and I hope it gets out by early fall,” Colonna said. “Things are good, and they’ll be even better when I get back to Spokane, since I just love performing there since people are so nice and responsive.”