I’m incredibly passionate about voting in political elections. I feel a huge sense of excitement, hope and like I am taking part in a great and historic tradition.

This does not mean that I am blind to the problems we face as a nation and to the shortcomings in our system.

However it does mean that I recognize how incredibly fortunate I am to have been born in a country where, amongst the myriad of things I am grateful for, I can make my living as a stand up comic; I have the amazing opportunity to voice my opinions (and dick jokes) loudly and pursue a career in the arts. (I feel like I’m getting to live the lyrics to “Wherever I May Roam” by Metallica: I’m free to speak my mind anywhere/And I’ll redefine anywhere!)

There are many many things I am truly thankful for and love about this country. And it is because of this passion and appreciation that I want so much for us to recognize our full potential, right past wrongs and be as great as I know we can be. I may sound like Faith Hill on Football Sunday but I happen to love that lady and think she is a national treasure so get off my proverbial sac o’ enthusiasm! (That was perhaps a tad defensive, I do tend to get all riled up, which I am not apologizing for because I’m working with my therapist on not apologizing for things when I am just being honest.)

The event at Roosevelt (for National Voter Registration Day) was not affiliated with any political party so I refrained from evangelizing people with my personal beliefs. (Even though obviously – and humbly – mine are the RIGHT and JUST political opinions to have and I will definitely be finding other times and places to do so – ONLY CHILD – did I just trip over my SOAP BOX?!)

Oddly, I would rather someone vote against the person/persons I am voting for rather than not vote at all. This, in the grand scheme of election results, doesn’t really make any sense but I think it comes from a huge hope that we will all care what happens to us. I know it is not for me to decide what people care about but what did I get into comedy for anyway – to let people know what I think they should care about by talking about what I care about (and then I ever so subtly try to spoon full of sugar it down with a teabagging reference – the nuts – not the wingnuts).

I have a huge hope that amongst the name calling and political spinning people want what is fair and will take the time to research and read about the issues; even if their opinions on what is fair are different than mine. That is after all one of the things I love most about this country. I think Voltaire said it best, ”I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” I would hope though that some fact checking was involved (there is that fracking soap box again) in constructing opinions about what is fair.

It’s frustrating when people complain about the system but then when given the opportunity to voice their opinions do nothing about it. “Leah, elections are rigged, the two party system is complete bullshit. Who cares. BTW did you see the Kardashians last night?! Oh and my fantasy football team is rocking.” Vote or waive your right to complain about the govt!

I believe reading up on the issues and seeing who is doing what about those issues, writing letters, signing petitions, making videos, writing jokes, hosting events, etc. does make a difference. Even when it feels like the political machine just grinds on without us, we still need to show up and cast our votes. People died for this right and a lot of people in the world don’t have it. (I hate to sound pedantic but I’m just on such a preachy roll at this point why stop now?!)

I was incredibly excited about volunteering with the Balls&Chain because it felt like a hot date. I don’t know when my idea of romance switched so drastically from images aroused by Journey songs to getting hot about participating in life errands together. (This would include the time when we had to make an emergency trip to the vet with our guinea pig Tupac – so I assume this new found feeling about the essence of romance has everything to do with a shared experience of ‘responsibilities’  - although I would have vehemently told you I was against that notion a few years ago and certainly never would have guessed it was an aphrodisiac – do people still even use that word?!) But when the BallsAndChain and I got a coffee and walked to vote in the primaries together last week I felt like I was being taken to the fanciest ball in town.

Register to vote, volunteer to help other people sign up and get to the polls on election day. It is an incredibly arousing experience.

Below is the condensed event information, more details can be found here.

That’s What She Said: Conversations with Women Writers/Comics

Wednesday September 19th, 2012

7:00 PM

21+

Public Assembly
70 North 6th Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

See you there!

GLOC Talk Ep7

Comedians Carmen Lynch and Kara Klenk tell all about their experience performing together for the troops in Kuwait. Recently laid off from her day job, Kara discusses the transition into being a full-time comediand and actress and how she’s hustling to stay out of day job hell for good. Carmen talks about performing for colleges, her new stand-up CD and we all talk goals, dreams and baby bangs. Girl, do you!

What are the three words your best friend would use to describe you?

Adorable, Acerbic, Ardent (My best friend is smart and likes alliteration)

What was the last thing that made you laugh so hard you cried?

I am blessed with a truely hilarious office mate. One of our favorite activites to maintain sanity is making fun of our job and other co-workers in pop song format…. I think the last song we made up had me gasping for air.

What’s the craziest idea you’ve ever had that came to fruition?

A lot of my crazy ideas that come to fruition are executed by stoned hungry people….I’m pretty sure the last one involved hummus, bacon and chicken nuggets.

What are you working on right now?

Getting ready to bring my solo show, “Hopeless Romantic Comedy” back to the PIT in October. Going to shoot some fun promos and might need some help from fellow GLOC’s!

What song do you play when you want to pump yourself up?

Depends on what the occasion is: for a workout, its “Born To Run” by Bruce Springsteen. Before a show: anything by Beyonce or Hall and Oates “You Make My Dreams Come True”

And getting pumped for life generally “Sounds of the City” by Lucero, they’re a great Memphis band!

Credit: Barron’s

If you’ve ever experienced the belly of the beast that is temp work, or just had a job that you loathed, let me first say, “I feel your pain.” To all of us out there who have had to toil away hours for “the man”, I dedicate this slightly-fictionalized-yet-based-on-true-events snapshot of temp life to you. Cheers!

9:03AM Arrive slightly hungover, but confident that this will not impede your ability to do a “bang up” job. After all, you’re not like other temps.

9:05 Coffee

9:10 Realize you were mistaken and the hangover will absolutely impede productivity. Deeply sigh and realize that no college degree could have ever prepared you for coming face to face with your own shortcomings as a human being and undeniable mortality. You should not have watched “The Hours” last night. It is not helping.

9:12 Wonder if it’s too early to start thinking about happy hour.

9:20 Access your favorite website featuring kittens playing in a box. Your favorite kitten, which you’ve affectionately named “Snowball” is not there. You conclude life is filled with inevitable disappointments.

9:25 Three different people have called you “Lindsey.” This is not your name.

9:40 Feel crestfallen after you realize that what you thought was Thursday is really Wednesday. Tony in accounts receivable has already made a “hump day” joke. In an email. With an attachment. Of a kitten. Oh Snowball, where could you be?!

9:42 Draw a picture of a penis on a sticky note.

10:00 Data entry of data that does not seem relevant or necessary to be entered anywhere ever. You question the validity of this busy work, but marvel at your above-average typing speed. Your fingers fly across the keys. You are lightening! You are the wind! You dub yourself “the sonic torpedo” and determine this would also make a great cocktail name. Things are looking up.

10:35 You do not enjoy using public restrooms, but the office coffee does not care. You put paper on the seat. You are not a barbarian, after all.

10:50 Someone has taken your sticky note with the drawn penis on it. You will feign ignorance.

11:15 Visit the bathroom again and wonder if people are thinking these frequent trips are due to a bladder infection.

11:16 Wonder if you have a bladder infection.

11:17 Decide to order cranberry juice for lunch.

11:35 Someone announces that there are donuts in the break room. When you arrive, only the coconut munchkins are left. You are getting used to disappointment.

12:00PM You enjoy 30 minutes of freedom as you pay $13 for a salad and cranberry juice. You just ate one hour’s worth of work. It was mediocre.

12:47 You overhear Sean, a bookish-looking fellow, tell Carolyn that he really likes her gladiator sandals. This confirms your assumption of Sean.

1:46 Despite this morning’s hangover, you are ready to try your new signature cocktail, “the sonic torpedo.” You wonder if the regular staff will invite you to happy hour. You clear your schedule just to be safe.

3:00 Still have yet to be asked to happy hour. You admire how they play it close to the vest here.

3:14 Learn that apparently, you should have been filing invoices for the past hour. You blame this oversight on the fact that you do not have a direct supervisor. A woman named Marjory, whom you suspect has been drinking, gave you this new task. You execute it with aplomb. You’re a professional, after all.

4:17 Still no happy hour invite. You don’t need these people.

4:22 Find the crumpled penis drawing on the floor next to the recycle bin. Pearls before swine.

4:47 There is a chocolate cupcake in the fridge. You feel you are owed for the coconut munchkin incident. You plunge your finger into the cupcake’s gooey center sending the message that you are not to be trifled with. They must learn. And you are just the temp to teach them the lesson.

5:02 Marjory has invited you to happy hour. It is apparently her birthday, hence the daytime drinking…and the cupcake. You desperately want to share “the sonic torpedo,” but out of principle, decline. The chocolate residue under your fingernail reminds you there’s no turning back. This isn’t a game; this is temp work.

Image: bleacherreporter.net

You don’t need to be tennis obsessed or even a sports fan to know that Serena Williams is the hottest thing that tennis has ever seen.

After losing in the first round at the French Open in May, Serena has gone on to win Wimbledon, a gold medal at the London Olympics in women’s singles, and now she’s taken the top prize at the U.S. Open. Her wins come right as the New York Times Magazine did a stunning profile on her and her sister in which the writer confessed that he was preparing to cover the beginning of the end of their careers, but instead found himself chronicling their unexpected rise.

For lack of a better term, Serena Williams is balling out of control right now.

As a long-time tennis fan I can’t help but be majorly inspired by Serena’s unexpected re-conquering of the sports world. I’ve been obsessed with the Williams Sisters since I was in junior high, and jumped on the bandwagon of little black girls everywhere that wanted to be the next Venus or Serena. But after sweating and chafing in high school and more sweating and chafing in college, I decided I could love tennis just as much while sitting in the shade.  Now as a female in an overwhelmingly male industry, I’m learning a ton from watching a black woman dominate the overwhelmingly white sport. Like Serena, us lady comics are often overlooked and underestimated, the underdogs, the ones farthest out on the ledge with the most to lose, but also the ones with the potential to blow everyone’s socks off.

Here are four things Serena’s taught me about succeeding when everyone’s counting you out:

1) Losing Can Be the Beginning of Something Great

I know it’s cliché, but clearly there’s something to it. Serena lost in the first round of the French Open in May (her only first round exit in 49 major tournaments throughout her career), then she won WIMBLEDON and the OLYMPICS. Like a boss. Doing terribly at an audition, or a show, or getting a pitch rejected is horrible and traumatizing but can serve as a much needed wake-up call to step it up. It’s not like there aren’t enough amazingly smart and hilarious hard-working people in comedy to remind us how important it is to get out there, but there’s nothing like failing gloriously to motivate you enough to surpass even your own expectations.

2) You Can’t Just Be Sometimey With It

Serena has been playing tennis consistently since she was seven years old. Most of us comics weren’t nearly fed up enough with the world at seven years old to start making fun of it, but it’s a good reminder of how much and how long it takes to get really good, if not extraordinary at something. In the Times profile, Serena’s sister Isha describes their early life as “get up, 6 o’clock in the morning, go to the tennis court, before school. After school, go to tennis. But it was consistency. I hate to put it [like this], but it’s like training an animal. You can’t just be sometimey with it.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Comedy is an animal and the only way to get on it’s good side is to be around it every day.

3) You Need a Cheerleader

Richard Williams, Serena’s dad, is famously her and her sister’s most eccentric fan. “He billed the two as celebrities before they were even famous” according to the Times profile. I don’t think many of us will find fans like that (especially while we’re still trudging away in the open mic circuit), but it would’ve been impossible for Serena to come so far if it wasn’t for the support system within her family. Who are your cheerleaders? Friends? Family? The five people that have liked your Facebook fan page? Great! We all need the support.

4) Swag, Swag and More Swag

Cojones. Confidence. Swag. This is probably the most important lesson. In the Times profile, The Williams sisters are known to have been instilled with the confidence of winners before ever having won anything; “You decided what you were. First you had the belief, and then you had the training.” Without that confidence in the bigger picture, that instinctive knowing that you’ll eventually have a piece of the comedy pie, it’ll be impossible to get past those bad shows or bad breaks. Even harder will be standing out in a profession that requires confidence almost to the point of cockiness. Serena certainly seems to have decided that she’s a champion. She oozes swag out of every pore. And so should you.

Comedians will come into their office (located in the Flatiron district) for 10 minutes and pre-tape 3-4 jokes they have in their cannon that they believe ‘define them’ (30 secs of less per joke) and then–march madness bracket style–they will compete against one another based on Facebook users votes. The contest will start with 16 comedians and each round will be a week long, so after 4 weeks, we’ll have two comedians going head to head. The winner will receive a $600 cash prize or, if they’d prefer, a Canon Rebel t3i DSLR camera.

DETAILS:

• Shoots Monday 9/10 and Tuesday 9/11 at Sound Lounge in NYC
• Bring in 4 original jokes.
• Each joke must be under 30-seconds. *At the end of each joke we may have you say the phrase, “but that’s just me” so it might make more sense for the jokes to be observational, but that may not be mandatory, just something to keep in mind.
• Each joke must be original content.
• For legal purposes you cannot use: Names of anyone, famous or otherwise; no swearing; no use of copyrighted or brand names (ie Spiderman, Verizon, Budweiser, etc); no controversial or political mentions
• These jokes will appear on Youtube as well as the Facebook page for the contest. Dot Me will not own your material and it will not be broadcast anywhere other than online. They are just sponsoring the contest.
• If you have any questions please let me know. This will be a lot of fun, so you should definitely do it. Please feel free to pass this along to your comedy friends who might be interested in participating. Ultimately we will only end up with 16 comedians competing on Facebook.

If interested, contact Harrison Nalevansky at harrison@radioface.com.

Photo: urbansocialites.com

Tonight at 10pm Logo TV will air the first of two on-air specials about the 2012 election called NewNowNext Vote with Wanda Sykes.

I know this because I’ve written the above information about a hundred times in the past two weeks. I work for Logo as a Social Media Writer hired to promote the brands and content of Logo’s online blogs: NewNowNext, After Elton, and After Elton. I’ve been part of these election specials for a few months, but it wasn’t until the taping on Friday that I realized our entire message is driven by female comedians.

Wanda Sykes hosts the on-air special, but we’re working with Sandra Bernhard on an online discussion on NewNowNext.com to follow at 11PM on NewNowNext.com. Because of this special, I had a chance to work with Sandra on taping her promos. As I stood in the studio I watched as this comedian I’ve looked up to for years speak in an eloquent, intelligent, and at times humorous manner about really important issues.

When I then went to the taping with Wanda, I was pleasantly surprised to see the warm-up comedian was local favorite, Emily Heller. Emily did a great job adjusting her material appropriately for the crowd and the event. Even her fisting joke, which wasn’t necessarily political, was a hit with Wanda. “Emily here’s the line,” said Wanda as she pointed to the edge of her desk, “and here’s you,” and then she tossed the paper off the desk, laughing heartily.There are many male comedians with shows that talk about politics, but to see a female-driven discussion is something I’m proud to promote. As a comedian myself, this past week has been like an intensive lesson in stand-up where the teachers have no idea they’re teaching me. Neither Wanda nor Sandra were told I’m a comedian (you don’t really have time in-between takes to talk about your hopes and dreams for your career.) From watching them, it gave me hope that female comics can tell jokes that are thoughtful and intelligent–leaving out talk about sex, drinking, and crazy relationships–and still be laugh-out-loud hilarious.

Sandra showed me how much of her comedy is just truly herself. When she showed up for taping there were no airs or demands. She came to talk about the issues and she was ready whenever we were. It came off effortlessly and I have to believe it’s because she’s really just that plugged in and on top of her shit. She never mocked anyone personally, but rather brought up facts and observations about the issues facing the nation today in a humorous manner.

As far as Wanda Sykes goes… well, it’s tough to beat that delivery. I saw her script before we went on air, and it did no justice to the final product. Her witticism and sharpness are refreshing, and again, never cruel. While she defended women’s issues, she didn’t go after easy jokes about the looks or religion– she defended women as women.

I hope you flip on the #NNNVote special tonight and participate in our discussion. It would not only support my tireless efforts over the past few weeks, but more importantly the idea that female comedians can play in the same political arena as the men.

Every Friday we post some of our favorite tweets from the week-TGIF! Follow us on twitter for s’more tweets everyday!

It was another boring Thursday but fortune smiled on me & I spilled coffee on my desk & now I am working on yellowed 18th century documents.

— Mariya Alexander (@MariyaAlexander) September 6, 2012

NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS??? THEN HOW WILL I KNOW IF MY CAT WILL LIKE THIS LIPSTICK???

— christina casa (@christinacasa) September 1, 2012

This isn’t a spoiler. This season of #BreakingBad was sooo good but I just wish it had ended w/ a fart, I don’t think that’s too much to ask

— Liz Galvao (@lizgalvao) September 4, 2012

My new email signature is “Sent While Listening to the Crocodile Dundee Soundtrack”

— Kathy Salerno (@Kpartyawesome) September 5, 2012

If I were a stripper, my signature song would be the theme from “Sanford & Son.”

— Sarah Thyre (@SarahThyre) September 6, 2012

Walking through a Hasidic neighborhood in a low-cut dress is a great way to make EVERYONE feel awkward! #ThingIJustLearned

— Whitney Meers (@whitneymeers) September 2, 2012

You just haven’t lived until you’ve seen a pigeon dig in the sand at the beach and get a desiccated Cheerio stuck on its beak.

— Meredith Modzelewski (@meredithmo) September 2, 2012

1st day of school Tip 2: if you shit your pants, the nurse will give you free pants!

— Shannon O’Neill (@spotastic) September 4, 2012

“gurl, instagram my life, and make it better” – new lyric to a really great song i’m writing

— Olivia Whelan (@o_whelan) September 4, 2012

Mollie Deckman is a Television Comedy student and intern for TheGLOC.net. You can check out her jokes/pictures of her cat @mollalalalie or on her blog.

Come, let’s take a stroll down Smoldering Lane together shall we?

10. Chris D’elia

Chris D’elia

If for nothing else, ladies and gays should try watching the much-discussed and contested Whitney on NBC for one Mr. Chris D’elia, who plays Whitney’s boyfriend Alex. D’elia spends most of his screen time making adorable faces, pouting and raising his eyebrows behind his head of long, lustrous, your-high-school-boyfriend-in-the-90s hair. He’s hot like a hot guy, and also cute like a puppy who may have just peed on your rug, with a sort of “Did I do that?” mash up of mischievous and innocent that’s always, always irresistible. [Gaby Dunn]

9. Neal Brennan

Neal Brennan

You are already probably familiar with Neal Brennan‘s body…of work, but may not recognize his face. He made a name for himself behind the scenes as the co-creator and co-writer for Chappelle’s Show, but he also has a commanding stage presence. If, as he observes in part of his act, you only get better looking by doing good deeds, this man must be a saint! [Sharon Spell]

8. Nick Thune

Nick Thune

Nick Thune may not be overtly athletic, but he’s running a marathon through my heart. With his guitar and metrosexual-meets-modern-Joy-of-Sex-guy good looks, I find myself hanging on his every word. He’s been on Letterman and made several cameo appearances in big motion pictures. I’d love for him to make a cameo appearance my my personal production of Knocked Up. Nick: send me your resume and headshot! [Spell]

7. Rob Riggle

Rob Riggle

Who doesn’t love a built Marine? If Rob Riggle wasn’t a comedian he’d be right at home telling recruits to drop and give him 20. (I’d give him more than that. Heyoooo.) That’s because this chiseled, muscled gent used to be an Army man — and not just in the Buster Bluth sense. His square jaw gives him the look of a 1960s newsman (perhaps why he made so much sense onThe Daily Show), and he’s also just straight up handsome like a cartoon character. A real life Johnny Bravo. [Dunn]

6. Colin Jost

Colin Jost

As the most dashing thing to come out of Staten Island since the ferry, Colin Jost has written for SNL since he was 22-years-old. With his preppy-kid good looks, he’s kind of guy you can take home to meet the parents then fall into the utility closet and spend 7 minutes in heaven. In 2009 he was selected as a “New Face” at the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival, which sounds like a phony, made-up award that they created just for him, to be able to touch him. He may have broken his hand once playing a video game, but he’s breaking hearts at every turn. [Spell]

5. Donald Glover

Donald Glover

Donald Glover is so hip he’s like a funny and talented version of every dude in Williamsburg who thinks he can make music. Only Glover actually can. Though he raps a lot about his many hook ups, he spends much of his stand up lamenting being a black nerd. The two balance each other out into a unique charm that’s all Glover’s. Plus, have you seen the way this man dresses? He can work a hoodie as well, or better than, he rocks an expensive suit. Talented, indeed. [Dunn]

4. Anthony Jeselnik

Anthony Jeselnik

Anthony Jeselnik is just straight up handsome. There’s no joke here. If you saw him on the street, you’d turn your head. Does it help that he’s a joke writing machine? Of course. He crushes those Comedy Central Roasts and his Twitter is amazing. Does his dark, relentless stage presence and sense of humor push him into Patrick Bateman territory? Maybe. Is that kind of hot in a terrible way? Definitely. [Dunn]

3. Wyatt Cenac

Wyatt Cenac

Talk about a brain crush. Wyatt Cenac is cute as heck, but his dry wit on The Daily Show makes him even hotter. He’s whip smart, crushing the unsuspecting marks in his TDS pieces with unrelenting logic and knowledge. Who doesn’t like a smart dude? Idiots, that’s who. [Spell]

2. John Mulaney

John Mulaney

Baby-faced John Mulaney is like one of the boyfriends from that girly childhood game Dream Phone. Or at least, he makes me want to talk about him like one — What a cute smile! What Jimmy Neutron hair! What a 1940s radio announcer voice! Sooo dreamy! Mulaney’s undeniably handsome and looks about as threatening as a Pekinese in a sweater. (I imagine most of the women lusting after him are on the young-ish side.) His comedy is as fresh-faced and adorably hilarious as he is and though he jokes he should have been born gay because he comes off slightly effeminate, he’s still traditionally tall, dark and handsome. John Mulaney, do you want to hold hands sometime? [Dunn]

1. Rob Delaney

Rob Delaney

Rob Delaney is that rare, special mix of filthy and sweet that really takes a master to perfect. He’s sexual without being creepy and sexy while still being unmistakably a MAN. (All caps. Burps, farts, jizz and all.) He’s a great example of what I like to call “handsome-face/crazy-brain,” meaning his chiseled good looks make him seem like a Boston broseph but his warped sense of humor and friendly smile bring him back down to Earth (or where ever people who think like Delaney come from). You like ‘em twisted, tall, hairy and beefy? Maybe in a tight Speedo with a great butt? Climb this man like a sexy, sexy tree. [Dunn]

What do you think? Did they nail it? Let us know in the comments!

Dunn

Gaby Dunn is a writer, journalist and comedian in New York City. She is an editor at Thought Catalog and a columnist for the New York Times Magazine. Her writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Huffington Post, Jezebel, GOOD Magazine, Salon and ROOKIE. Her web project, 100interviews.com, was named the Best Blog on Tumblr by the Village Voice in 2010. Tweet her @gabydunn. If you are Jesse Eisenberg, feel free to call.

Spell

Ever since Sharon Spell was a little girl growing up in Hattiesburg, MS, it was her dream to one day move to New York City and host a big variety show in the East Village. It’s happening now as a monthly show called The Big Shrink at UCBeast, and you can come see it! Her portrait-based artwork as appeared in group and solo shows, plus she collaborated with friends from The Onion on a cartoon that ran in Paper Mag. More at SharonSpell.Tumblr.com or @sharonspell

I’m Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-up Comedy’s Golden Era by William Knoedelseder gives an insider’s view to the world of stand-up comedy from its primitive state in the late 1960’s.

By: Allison Haskins

Although this book is written by a man, and most of the comics written about in the book are also men, the whole stand-up scene exploded thanks to one strong woman: Mitzi Shore.

In 1973, Mitzi’s husband Sammy left her in charge of his comedy club in L.A. while he was out of town and came home to a club so booming that people were flocking from all over the country to try to get on its stage.

The Comedy Store (which Mitzi picked the name of when her husband first opened the club– go girl!) was where it all started.

Mitzi quickly gave the club structure that it had not had prior to her strong leadership. She started holding weekly Monday auditions to gather the best comics for the weeks shows, setting up strict time slots and rules, and even re-decorating the inside of the club to give it a better appeal. She also opened a separate room called “The Belly Room” for her female comics (yay!). These details were the things that took the club from a small time local club to a nationwide phenomenon practically overnight.

Only a few months after she took over the club, Sammy and Mitzi got divorced. Mitzi got the club in a settlement, opened a second Store in West Hollywood a few years later, and the rest is comedy history.

This book describes how many people could say (and did say) that Mitzi was a bitch. The number one gripe would be that she started off not paying comics who played at her club. She thought they didn’t deserve it because the time they got on stage was a sort of training for when and if they ever hit it big. Other clubs didn’t pay either, but Mitzi not paying was a bigger deal since her club was the top dog. This issue turned into a long and drawn out strike and drew the up and coming talent boom to a screeching halt for a long time. It also caused tons of hostility, fear, and anger in the formerly giggly comic world.

I think that Mitzi did have a point in that she was giving these people a chance to practice in a nice environment, never saying they couldn’t find day jobs while they waited for comic success. However, during all this, she was rolling in the dough herself with the money she was making from ticket sales. I can see how that could be contrived as bitchy.

On the other hand, Mitzi gave some of the funniest people of our time the things they needed to get where they are today. She offered some of the new talent food when they couldn’t afford it (ironically), a roof when they had no where to stay, and lots of time on stage if she thought they deserved it. Most anyone would tell you that they would love to have a mentor like that while they are trying to succeed in their craft.

During and after the pay strike, some of the comics who had been very close to Mitzi turned on her and sided with fairness and potential money. Others (mainly a small group of her “favorites”) stuck by her side throughout because to them, her support trumped any act of equality.

After the strike was finally settled and comics finally got some cash, some never felt the same toward Mitzi. Others even had their own strike with The Comedy Store and vowed never to perform there again for any amount of money.

I feel that Mitzi started off with everything being the way it was because she truly loved the comics and wanted them to succeed. I also feel that once that happened in a greater scale that she ever would have dreamed, she may have gotten a little selfish.

The end of this book I found to be pretty depressing, yet also inspirational. Throughout reading it I had mixed feelings about the work Mitzi Shore did. She more or less ended up alone in the end which made me think about how things can so easily become jaded. I took away that being a strong, determined, and kind woman is the best anyone can ask of you. The problem is that is can be really difficult to hold onto all of those things at once. For me, Mitzi showed that you can build your own empire if you really want it, but it’s staying true to yourself that is the key.

This week the movie to see is Bachelorette, written and directed by Leslye Headland. The cast is chock full of some of our favorite hilarious ladies. Regan (Kirsten Dunst), Katie (Isla Fisher), and Gena (Lizzy Caplan) reunite their high school clique for Becky’s (Rebel Wilson) wedding. When the night of the bachelorette party doesn’t go as planned the trio finds themselves in a mess of trouble. Don’t miss the opportunity to see such a fantastic cast on the big screen. For goodness sake, this movie reunites Party Down’s Caplan and Adam Scott (as if you needed any more of a reason to flock to theaters), and our pals Megan Neuringer and Leslie Meisel make a hilarious appearance as well! Watch the trailer here then go treat yourself to a mid-week flick!

So gather your pals, pack those snacks and make a difference for women in comedy the easiest way possible: at the movies!

Hey Lady Pals!

The Swap-O-Rama-Rama is upon is – an amazing 2 day swap where you can literally get a new wardrobe in a matter of moments. They are looking for volunteer sorters which is the best gig because you get first dibs on clothing, and they’re also seeking people who do any DIY workshop type things, such as silkscreening, etc, and they have a small budget to pay for that service. 

So if you’re into free clothes, come, participate or just watch the madness unfurl. It’s so much fun and a sight to behold. I’ll be there emceeing as I do every year, so don’t forget to say hi.

xx
J

Comedians Brooke Van Poppelen and Molly Knefel join us in the Sound Lounge booth to talk everything from politics, being the only lady in a writers room full of dudes, and, once again, these ladies stress why it’s so important to write, write, write. So write, right?

Got a minute? Rate and subscribe to us on iTunes! We sure do appreciate the love.

ABC Nabs June Diane Raphael/Casey Wilson Female Comedy Produced By Will Gluck [Deadline]