I never imagined I would be a funny lady. I went to drama school and did dramas. I studied serious theatre. Now say theatre with a stuffy English accent. I thought that drama was my path. Nope! There is something totally freeing about being funny. After my trip to Boston that past April, I discovered I totally fit in to this wonderful community of funny women at this year’s Women in Comedy Festival.
I made one (and only) episode of this web series called Resuscitation! A Love Story, that after …um, “creative differences” with the writer, I shelved on You Tube. Well, I decided to submit it as a comedy short to WICF’s first ever Film Night that the Brattle Theater was hosting. To me surprise, it was accepted as an official selection for the one night competition. Yahoo! Here she is for your enjoyment:
I really didn’t care if I won. I was excited to go to Boston for the first time and see this festival which was in its 7th year. I even convinced my first writing partner now photographer, Phoebe Parker, to join me for the trip. Now here is what we did:
Day 1 Film Night
We both got in just a few hours before the screening at the art house Brattle Theater in Cambridge. A long day of travel had us at that hangry moment, so we spotted this pizza place Otto’s. OMG! For reals OMG! It was no run of the mill sliceria, but gourmet yummy goodness on the go! But this is not a piece about food.
Unlike the high profile festivals, WICF keeps it simple. No step and repeats, no crazy press or pressured networking events. It was super causal, which made it a friendly competition for their new addition of actives. Paul Fieg even made a video introducing the night, with a battle cry for ladies to make more funny films.
I didn’t win, but I did gain a slot to performing in the Friday night late night cabaret. That was two days way, so Phoebe and I tagged along to the afterhours meet up to smooze and booze. Let’s just say I had a flirting relationship with a Harpoon IPA.
Day 2 Laugh Boston
Since the festival primarily takes place at night, we had most of our day to visit the sites of Boston and since Boston itself is a small town in which most places took us 10 to 20 minutes to get to, we could hit a lot during our stay. After a full day of tea sipping at Abigail’s Tea Room (GO!!!!), modern art watching at ICA and crab eating at Joe’s Crab Shack, we headed to Laugh Boston for a bit of comedy.
Mary Mack was the headliner of the night who was delightfully funny with her thick Minnesota accent & charming personality, but there were a ton of great local talent burning up the stage. Kelly MacFarland was the host for the evening, which was just great and really kept the energy moving, but the stand out of the night was Sam Jay. Sam Jay is new to the comedy scene from what I hear but as soon as she got up the mic, she delivered every inappropriate joke like a seasoned pro. I say she is a must watch if she continues on this path.
Day 3 Jane Lynch & The Kerfuffle
Ah hehm…after getting a late start and deciding to go back to Abigail’s Tea room for a cup of strong tea and scones to go, Phoebe and I ventured on the Freedom Trail. If you have no idea what that is, I say get on your preferred search engine of choice and get a quickie history lesson about what our forefathers did in the city of Boston. We got a lot of walking in to stave off a hangover and our next event of the fest was Jane Lynch’s Musical Comedy Revue featuring Kate Flannery from The Office.
Jane’s Show was at the Wilbur and as far as I can tell, the main stage for all the celebrity headliners of this festival. It’s the equivalent to one of the Broadway theaters with a high arching ceiling and two floors of mezzanine seating, so this NYC gal felt at home during her show.
I love Jane Lynch. She delivered this classic cabaret style musical revue with old standards and it was fun. It was also not what I expected that night, given that majority of what I have seen her do was on the screen, so to hear her go from soprano numbers to flat out belts with ease was really a treat. I also had no idea how adorable Kate Flannery is! Goes to show you, theater is a better litmus test for multitalented performers.
Check out these great shots we got from the show!
Then it was my turn to get on stage. I will be honest; I had no idea what I was going to do. The show was called The Kerfuffle. I kept calling it KerFuc…OK; can we print naughty words here? OK, it was an anything goes kind of cabaret with a theme: “Cats and Dogs Living Together”. Well, I did not pick up on the Ghostbusters’s quote so my act was quite literal: My burlesque clown known as Cha Cha Margarita would dress as a cat and to the tune of The Cure’s Love Cats; I pick a guy in the audience and make perverted dog balloons. I have a back ground in spontaneous performance art and live burlesque, so I knew whatever I came up with based on my idea would either be hilarious or just suck.
Whatever I did, it must have been funny because I heard laughter. But what I did will always stay in Boston. Phoebe, you can delete your camera roll now!
Day 4 Our Final Day
Needless to say, it was very hard to make the early breakfast talk with Kate Flannery I had scheduled to go to because comedians do late nights very well and I don’t. But I did manage to make it to the one of the workshops called Pitching to Networks with Abbey MacDonald. I am so happy the Hip Hop Improv Workshop was canceled because I loved being in the room with this women. She was a concentrated, high octane, cool, stylish business woman ready to give all she knew of the business from her experience. It was a round table of about 12 people and she was doling out specifics of how to pitch, when to do it and know your stuff inside and out during negotiations. She is L.A. based so if she does one of these workshops there, GO!
Our final show on our list was Cristela Alonzo, who I have been following for the last few years as she rose to mainstream and finally got her title show Cristela on ABC. Now I will say I saw her live during this festival before they canceled her TV show and I think it’s a damn shame. We need more voices like hers in lead roles that bend the stereo types in both comedy and how we view the world. I relate to her and there is a best friend quality in her stage performance. Cristela, I invite you over to my house for beer and to improvised lost episodes of your show.
The Women in Comedy Festival was a great choice for me as an artist. From the artistic staff to the late night revelry, I felt welcomed and encouraged every moment. Sure, I wish that some more events happened during the weekdays, but I never would have discovered the deliciousness of Lapsang Souchong or learn those early colonial homes were so freaking tiny. I hope to go again and that the continued success of this festival brings in a ton of ladies creating kick ass comedy.
*Photo credit for pictures in this article: Phoebe Parker Photography
*Paul Fieg video is courtesy of Women in Comedy Festival
*Special Thanks to Hannah, Jackie, Josh & Casey of The Kerfuffle, Associate Producer Christine Cannavo, Director of PR Heather Huzovic, all the producers of this festival & Phoebe Parker