Jackson Free Press

Beneath her professional exterior, Sarah Asmus, 38, is an avid lover of art who enjoys things such as gardening and cooking. Her life motto is short, sweet and to the point: You get what you look for.

A native of Meridian, Asmus graduated from the Mississippi University for Women in 2000 with her bachelor's degree in English education. She currently works as a content writer and editor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Since moving to Jackson, Asmus says she has enjoyed her time in the capital city.

Asmus likes that so many young people are here. "It makes it easy to know what's going on and to know that someone you know or want to know is going to be there," she says.

"It's a small-town city. Everybody is at home here," she adds.

She likes to visit local art shows and music events in the community and eat out at local restaurants, with Steve's Downtown Deli as her go-to place for lunch during the week.

At UMMC, Asmus uses her love of writing to connect people with information they need in a way they can understand it.

"I work on the website," she says. "My focus is on the health-care side of things. I work with doctors who need some information updated or added to the website. I take the information they give me, which is sometimes very technical and medical heavy, and work to boil it down into information that people need."

In her spare time, Asmus does stand-up comedy at several venues in the Jackson area. She hosts open-mic nights, alongside several other local comedic groups such as Jackson Comedy at Offbeat and One Block East.

"Jackson needs a comedy scene," she says. "We've got a good comedy scene already, and it's starting to grow. We're just trying to go a little further and go through different parts of town with different people."

Asmus uses comedy as a way to express of her creativity. Her passion for doing stand-up is also inspired from her love of English.

"Comedy is just fun. It's a form of writing," she says. "My comedy jokes are mostly about me. I just make up nonsense." Her recommendation for the best form of comedy is inspired from a 2005 documentary on comedy called "The Aristocrats."

"It's a good study of how different people can tell the same joke," Asmus says. "It's good with styles and writing, too."

Asmus performs open-mic shows in Jackson regularly at Offbeat on every last Tuesday of each month at 9 p.m. and at One Block East every second Thursday of each month at 8 p.m. "We've got a pretty good group that comes in regularly, but it's always nice to see new folks," Asmus says about open-mic nights. "The comics are real dedicated in what they do. It's hit-or-miss with any open mic, but it's always fun. It's a real supportive environment, just like Jackson."