PHOENIX — What's funny about Jodi Arias?
She's a convicted murderer – famously vain – and still denies killing her boyfriend Travis Alexander. Her appeal is ongoing.
Heck, the trial was so rough, defense attorney Kirk Nurmi believes it probably gave him cancer.
"Cancer's easier to shake because nobody associates me with cancer," he said.
PREVIOUSLY: Arias' defense attorney battling cancer
As it turns out, the pain of that trial can be funny...in a weird sort of way.
"There's just a lot of funny anecdotes that I tell on the way about – you know, I remember in my office some of the calls I get about the blood atonement and porn that I was sent because they thought Jodi was in it and all sorts of weird stuff," he said.
Nurmi is performing a one-man show in April at the Stir Crazy Comedy Club in Glendale.
The title: "Overcoming Jodi Arias."
"You know that Jodi fans the Jodi supporters are quite an interesting group, so there are some funny stories to tell along the way," Nurmi said.
The trial was broadcast live. Networks built full sets, impaneled fake juries and even reenacted the murder.
And in the middle of it, Kirk Nurmi was cast as a villain defending a murderer.
After it was over, Nurmi realized he didn't want to be a lawyer anymore.
He wrote a book about defending Arias, one that the state bar said violated attorney-client privilege.
Instead of giving up his license for four years, Nurmi decided he was done with the whole thing.
But now he knows he'll never really be done with Jodi.
"I've come to the point now in my life where I realize I'm not going to be able to escape it," he said. "I could cure cancer and a reporter like you would come on the air and he wouldn't say, 'Kirk Nurmi killed cancer.' He would say 'Jodi Arias's former lawyer cured cancer.'"
The Arias case was followed worldwide. Even today, Arias tweets from jail and sells artwork online.
Which is why it's amazing that Nurmi's show is hosted by a guy who's never heard of her, or him.
"I wasn't really aware of it," said Jim Perry, a former cop turned comedian. "I've learned a lot about it in the last few days."
A cop and a defense attorney – not exactly a perfect pair.
"Me, of course, being a former police officer and Kirk being a former defense attorney, and if we can have any kind of comedic show about those two forces coming together, then we know there's hope in our world," Perry said.
And Nurmi says that's what the show is about – dealing with the things that go wrong in life, laughing at the pain.
"I've seen a lot of trauma in my life and he's obviously had a lot of stress in his life, and some of us, if we agree or not, we deal with that through humor," Perry said.
"But laughter also removes pain, even if it's just for a minute. And when we're laughing at the tough circumstances we're under, that gives us a moment of hope," Nurmi said.
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