STAGE TIME Magazine, Tammy Pescatelli, Comedian

DVDs
Chondra Pierce - A
Piece of My Mind

Live Comedy from the
Laff House: Make
Room for Comedy

Redneck Comedy
Roundup 2 - Bill
Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy
and Ron Shock.

Southern Gents of
Comedy - Ron White,
Vic Henley, Steve
McGrew and Otis Lee
Crenshaw

Laffapalooza #6 -
Jamie Foxx, JB
Smoove, Gerald Kelly
and Wil Sylvince

Laffapalooza #7 - Rob
Stapleton, Loni Love,
Jo Koy and James
Hannah

Laffapalooza #8 -
Rodney Perry, Tony
Roberts, Earthquake

Paul Mooney -
Analyzing White
America

Russell Peters - Two
Concerts...On Ticket

Dave Attell - Insomiac
Tour Uncensored -
Dave Attell, Dane
Cook, Greg Giraldo and
Sean Rouse

Mike Epps -
Inappropriate Behavior

Jeff Cesario - You Can
Get a Hooker
Tomorrow Night

Kims of Comedy -
Steve Byrne, Bobby
Lee, Kevin Shea and
Dr. Ken

Alonzo Bodden - Tall,
Dark & Funny

Jim Gaffigan - Beyond
the Pale

CDs
Don Rickles - Speaks

Jackie Mason - The
World According to Me

Jake Johannsen - Jake
This Dot Com

Brad Montague -
Double Live

Eric Schwartz - Wimp
Pimp

Kathleen Madigan - In
Other Words

Drew Hastings - I'm
Just Like You

Jesse Joyce - Joyce to
the World

Marc Maron - Not Sold
Out

Mike Birbiglia - Two
Drink Mike

Tom Rhodes - Hot
Sweet Ass

Jimmy Shubert -
Pandemonium

Ron White - You Can't
Fix Stupid

Books
Oliver Double - Getting
the Joke: The Inner
Workings of Stand-Up
Comedy

Ed Driscoll - Spilled
Gravy: Advice on Love,
Life, and Acceptance
from a Man Uniquely
Unqualified to Give It

Brad Stine - Live From
Middle America: Rants
from a Red-State
Comedian

Sandi C. Shore - Sandi
Shore's Secrets to
Stand-Up Success: A
Complete Step-by-Step
Workbook

Judy Brown - The
Comedy Thesaurus

You started out in Cleveland in the early 90s. What was the comedy scene like at that
time and who are some of the comedians that you worked with at the Cleveland
Improv?

When I started in Cleveland, all of the guys like Drew Carey, John Henton, Steve
Harvey and Arsenio were out in a LA. But there was a group of people who were all
coming up when I started: Larry the Cable Guy, Ron White, Rodney Carrington, Mark
Gross, Kathleen Madigan, and a ton of others. They aren't from Cleveland. It is just
that we all saw each other over and over on the road. There are only so many
comedians who work these clubs.

There were quite a few people in the open mike group, so that was tough. Eventually I
became one of the house MC's and that gave a little more time-at least when it was
your week.

What advice do you have for comics who work at a club as waiters/bartenders in
exchange for stage time and are struggling to get owners to recognize them as
seasoned comics?

As soon as you have 15 minutes and get booked a little - quit. Move to a different city.
That city will see you as a comic. The other will always see you as a bartender.

What is your writing process?

I am constantly writing. It doesn't mean it is good, or will make it to the stage. But it's
a way you look at life - your voice. Eventually, you recognize the funny in events. Some
people sit down every morning, with coffee and write for an hour-that's not my way. I
write with a "muse"-as I am so inspired. A lot of things come from stage, when you
relax, feel the moment and aren't afraid to throw something out there. Then again, a
lot of silence happens that way as well.

You won the Bud Light Ladies of Laughter in 2000. What was your experience
participating in the contest and what are you thoughts in general about comedy
contests?

…I really believe that all contests have projected winners. Anything that’s sponsored by
corporate America, they know where they want to put their money; if you don’t fit their
image…I don’t know how that happened for me. What happened is that I got to meet a
really cool people and see so many talented people. I got to go on this nationally
syndicated radio show called The Bob and Tom Show and they really helped my career
because they have five million listeners. That year winning, I was supposed to get -
one of the prizes was to be on Premium Blend. I’ve have not gotten ‘til this day Premium
Blend.

How did winning the contest help your career?

Going on The Bob and Tom Show to afterwards just being the winner – I was barely a
headliner at that point, and it really started my fan base. Clubs were willing to headline
me based on Bud Light.

What did Last Comic Standing do for your career?

First of all, what it did for my confidence level because my cast members are some of
the funniest comics I’ve ever seen. It was amazing because you could go and do a
show in the city and sell out 250 seats a night for five shows and you’re still only hitting
1200 people, but when you do a show like Last Comic, 17 million people are
watching…lots of fans and craziness – stalkers and criticism.

Based on what we saw on the show, how much of it was really you and how much of it
was editing?

Lots of it was editing and it was really difficult for me. I am Italian and I am proud of
it; however, the way they edited it on the show, it was like I was walking around going,
“Hey, you want a meatball with that?” I was so much more than that. The stereotypes
for women on television is very basic…They are either whores, bitches are behind the
scenes. They don’t let women be well rounded at all. I am just as much of a bitch as I
am a generous person. I am all the things that I was supposed do and go to church on
Sunday…

They took jokes - situations that would be five of us girls talking and they would only
show two of us talking in the room, so it looks like there’s all this plotting going on and
it wasn’t that at all.

There was a specific situation where ANT was sitting across my from me, Alonzo
[Bodden] was on the balcony smoking, Jay [London] and John [Heffron] were sitting on
Kathleen [Madigan’s] bench when the tape was on, but all you could see was one
camera angle…

Are you referring to when you and ANT were strategizing to eliminate – was everyone
in the room?

Not everyone. Bonnie was already gone and Todd and Gary [Gulman] weren’t there. For
the most part, we talked about who we were going to vote for and what were our ideas
because we were all friends. That’s hard.

There was a time when they showed me mad and swearing and they played it like I was
pissed off at Bonnie. She had nothing to do with it. She hadn’t even been in the house
for three days.

I was mad because we had been locked up for 22 days and there’s no television,
there’s no radio, cell phone or Internet. We have no communication to the outside and
we were out of food.

So it’s me Kathleen and all the boys, it’s two o’clock in the afternoon and I have low
blood sugar. I’m hypoglycemic and I said to the production assistant that I need to get
something to eat. And she said, “When I get back from lunch, I’ll get you something.”
And I’m like, what?

I went upstairs to the changing room. You know you get into fights with people all the
time. People say things to piss you off, but what do you do? You go to the break room
or bathroom and you let it out and go back. That had nothing to do with Bonnie. If you
go back and look at it, it’s gradient camera footage. It’s not in color and it’s a one shot
perspective. We had supposedly signed up for a game show, which a little creepy. It
was great ultimately.

What do you want comedy fans to know about you that they didn’t see on the show?

I had a great time with the other comics. They didn’t show the camaraderie. I think
they tried to do it Season 3 but not enough people were watching it.

What’s your response to critics who say you’re act is limited to your being Italian?

They have to see my act. All they’ve seen is Last Comic – I don’t even do a joke about
that anymore, not one joke. ANT, they only showed that he was gay. The only person I
was shocked they didn’t [stereotype] was Alonzo. They allowed him to be more [well
rounded] but Corey [Holcomb], they gave everything he had to say, from the
misogynist point of view being a black man in a white world. That’s what TV does.
Anybody who comes and pays money to see my show or sees my special will see that
it’s more than that.

What went through your mind when you beat Todd in the “Head to Head” because it’s
rare to see a female beat a male in a comedy contest? What kind of feedback did you
get?

While we were doing the competition, we couldn’t watch each other. I have the utmost
respect for Todd. Todd had been a headliner when I first started out. I was scared to
go against Todd but I also know that it’s anybody’s game, so it’s fun for me. I figure if
I’m going to go out, I’m going to do my show and that’s what happened. It was an
audience who got me…If you put me in that situation, we’re all going to relate.

How difficult is it for women in comedy and what are some of the obstacles you’ve
faced to prove that you’re just as funny as the guys?

I think right there is one of the things you said. If you look at people being critics,
saying I only talk about being Sicilian. Let’s just say, I never wrote another joke that
comes from that perspective, there’s hundreds of women who came before me that
only talked about being a woman. So wouldn’t that be even refreshing, a woman
talking about not being a woman? You’re judged more harshly. I’m doing television.
You got to lose weight. You gotta do this and gotta do that. And I’m like, wait a
second, “I’m not a supermodel. I’m a comic!”

Why are comics expected to be beautiful and lose weight to get work in television?

If I had thought I was beautiful, you would have seen me in a beauty contest. I
wouldn’t have been writing jokes for 11 years, struggling driving city to city. My job is to
tell jokes. I believe in the club, in front of a real audience, funny is funny. For whatever
reason, all the stereotypes come back on television.

What advice do you have for female comics? What are we right and what do we need
to improve?

It bothers me when I first started, there were so many women who were not nice to me.
When they showed how Bonnie and I weren’t getting along, they failed to show how
Kathleen and I are like sisters on the show…

There are so many more women who are willing to get onstage and try. I think that’s
great and I welcome that because the more women start getting onstage, the less of a
novelty act it will be.

I have been so lucky lately because some of the women that I used to watch and really
liked: Brett Butler, Elayne Boosler, Carol Liefer have been really nice to me and went
out of their way.

How do you deal with people’s expectations when they come to see your show?

I’m very well aware of it because I’ve worked so long in the clubs. I understand that
most nice clubs charge $20 bucks a ticket. Most people make don’t make $20 an hour.
By the time they come and bring someone with them, they’ve paid to park, paid for a
babysitter, paid a two drink minimum and they have to get something to eat. Literally,
they’re working the whole day for free to come see me. I appreciate that and I try to
give them something different…I don’t want keep giving them what they’ve been
hearing on TV for free.

What’s the craziest thing a fan has ever said to you?

There was a full message blog on whether my breasts are real. First of all, they’re real
because seriously it’s a joke but I had my nose fixed first…But it’s what does that have
to do with my jokes? Then they say, if you don’t like it, then don’t dress that way. Why
do I have to change who I really am? Why does a female comedian have to be a
certain way in your mind?

That’s an interesting point. Does it help or hinder female comics to dress sexy or show
their femininity onstage?

When I first started, I definitely had a way better body, was a lot younger but I covered
up because I didn’t have the material. Before Last Comic as I got the material, I was
more able to dress like me.

I have a degree in Fashion Design. I love clothes. Half the reason that I’m a comic is
because that helps me get to shop across the country. You have to be sensitive to
whether it’s distracting or adding. The biggest compliments I can get after a show is
someone will come up and say, “You’re funny” and then they’ll go, “I love this…Where
did you get your shoes?” Tell me I’m funny first, though. I’m not trying to be a
conspiracy theorist but that’s somebody else’s projected image that you can only wear
a vest, a T-shirt and a jacket and jeans. That’s not me...