“I’ve lived in six different countries. The show is about how you’re always a little bit Wisconsin and the links we’ll go to to watch a Packers game at 3 a.m. I even talk about Ellsworth Cheese Curds in there.””

Jeanette Wheatley

“You can take the girl out of Wisconsin, but … well, the cheese hat isn’t going anywhere.”

That sentence sums up Prescott native Jeanette (Brickner) Wheatley’s comedy show, which she’s been perfecting overseas at the Edinburgh Fringe for the past few weeks.

How does a Packer fan with a love for cheese, all things ‘Sconnie and fish fries end up in Scotland performing comedy?

Wheatley grew up in the Cedar St. Croix neighborhood of Prescott. Her dad now lives in Maiden Rock, while Wheatley resides in Wakefield, England. While a student at Prescott High School, she received a Congress-Bundestag Scholarship to study in Germany at Paul Gerhard Gymnasium in Lübben.

She attended UW-Milwaukee where she earned bachelor’s degrees in German and English and a master’s in Foreign Language, Literature and Translation (German). She also completed coursework in Central European History at European University Frankfurt Oder.

Her work in German to English translation has taken her to many different countries, including Germany Romania, the Czech Republic, Poland and the United Kingdom. She met her husband, Nigel, who was British, was working in Romania.

She and Nigel, after living in Prague for 1.5 years, moved back to his native England. Unfortunately, he died of a heart attack and liver failure in November 2021. Wheatley was left alone without many friends in a foreign country. She needed a way to connect with people and get out of the house.

“I always enjoyed comedy, but my late husband had a close friend in our town in England who runs a comedy night in Wakefield,” Wheatley said. “I started going to that to get out of the house. The other comics said I was funny and told me to try it. I wanted to have something to laugh at and wanted to make some friends.”

Wheatley’s day job is still in translation, but she’s found a happy place in comedy.

“It’s just something new every day and something out of the ordinary,” Wheatley said. “Most comediennes have day jobs until they get pretty good.”

She’s performed her routine at the Brighton Fringe, an open access arts festival in Brighton, England, where her show was more about her late husband. It’s since evolved into more of a tribute to her cheesy homeland. She talks about her years as a “fish-out-of-water” around the globe and how she’s still ‘Sconnie, or an imported Cheesehead, at heart.

“This is the real show doing what I had originally conceived of it being,” Wheatley said. “I’ve lived in six different countries. The show is about how you’re always a little bit Wisconsin and the links we’ll go to to watch a Packers game at 3 a.m. I even talk about Ellsworth Cheese Curds in there.”

She took it on the road to the Edinburgh Fringe, which is the world’s largest performance arts festival. It was established in 1947 and features theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, circus, cabaret, children’s shows, musicals, opera, music, spoken work, exhibitions and more. Comedy is the largest portion of the show, accounting for about one-third of the program.

“A friend of mine about a month ago asked if I wanted to be a part of it,” Wheatley said. “He had bought a comedy company and wanted to try some experimental comedy.”

Wheatley said performing in Edinburgh has been interesting. While the audiences have been small, they’ve been enthusiastic.

“I have had people coming in full Packers gear, Scottish people in full Packers gear,” she laughed. “We’re known as such a friendly state, so it does actually draw people in.”

She’s thinking of pairing her show up with an early Packers game at a local pub, so people can see the show then watch a Packers game with her. She’s becoming more comfortable onstage each show.

“I used to give talks on translation anyway at conference, so I already had stage experience,” Wheatley said. “Everybody gets better at their own pace. Some are at it for 10 years and some two weeks and they’re just naturals.”

To follow Wheatley’s comedy journey, follow her on Facebook.