What the Hell?
I'm a woman of a certain age and I started doing comedy a little bit later than all my comedy friends. I also don't look my age. The problem with not looking your age is that confusion can set in. When I look in the mirror and see a vibrant young thing looking back at me, I can't begin to tell you how much it offends me that occasionally when I sneeze, I pee a little. Which has introduced Poise pads into my life. They also piss me off. So what has caused my ire with Poise Pads? I am within spitting distance of menopause. That's probably information I shouldn't share but that's the beauty of getting older, you give less of a shit than you used to. I see these pads as the sanitary napkin industry's way of mocking me. It's like saying, "hey I know you won't have a period for much longer but you can still wear a pad and pretend."
Hey kid, do I amuse you?
That little notion brings me to another dilemma, who is my target audience? Depending on who you ask, I look anywhere from 25 to 50. Hey, I am not making that up and no it was not a younger man trying to talk me into sex who said it. I am woman straddling two check boxes. There is the box that my mirror tells me I am and then there's the box that my achy joints and random pains tell me I am. Part of me wants to appeal to the young and hip, to tap into the present day cultural zeitgeist. The other part of me is like screw them they've got Kanye and Lad GaGa, their comedy cup is already full. Truth is, I'm no spring chicken but I'm not a tough old bird yet. I must tread lightly. As a black person any talk of chicken is like a mine field filled with golden fried bouncing betties . Don't want to lose a foot.
The Myth of mass appeal.
The truth is that no matter who you are, no matter how funny or sweet or smart you are, not everyone is going to like you. You could have a million dollars in one hand and the cure for cancer -- all the cancer in all the world -- in the other hand and there'd be someone thinking, "This bitch make me sick. I wish she'd sit her ass down somewhere." The most you can hope for is that people respect what you do.
