New comedy from Vanessa Hollingshead

My friend Vanessa Hollingshead has a new comedy DVD called Because I'm a Lady. Here's a preview:


Here's an old post about Vanessa. We were roommates in Queens.

Stand-up books

Stand-up comics make good authors. I think it's because most of them write their own material. They also like to jot down their observations throughout the day. My friend Vanessa the Comedian is kind of like Harriet the Spy in that she never leaves her apartment without a notebook in tow.

I like these comics' books:

Martin, Steve. Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life. New York: Scribner, 2007.

"The writing is evocative, unflinching and cool. When Martin takes a scalpel to his life, what you feel is the precision of the surgeon more than the primal scream of the unanaesthetized patient...Born Standing Up is neither fanfare nor confession. It gives off a vibe of rigorous honesty. With lots of laughs." --Richard Corliss, Time Magazine

"Even for readers already familiar with Mr. Martin's solemn side, Born Standing Up is a surprising book: smart, serious, heartfelt and confessional without being maudlin." Janet Maslin, The New York Times

Handler, Chelsea. My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands. New York: Bloomsbury Pub, 2005.

"Offbeat and laugh-out-loud-funny essays... smart, funny, and quick read."
--Library Journal

"[Chelsea] just might be funnier than David Sedaris." --Dallas Observer

Rudner, Rita. Tickled Pink: A Comic Novel. New York: Pocket Books, 2001.

"A witty, droll foray into fiction for Rudner"
--Kirkus Reviews

DeGeneres, Ellen. My Point-- and I Do Have One. New York: Bantam Books, 1995.

TV comic DeGeneres's book spent 24 weeks on Publisher Weekly's bestseller list.

Newhart, Bob. I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!: And Other Things That Strike Me As Funny. New York: Hyperion, 2006.

"More of a routine than a memoir, but full of the wry, understated self-deprecation that Newhart has perfected"
--Kirkus Reviews

Girls' Night Out

If you are in the New York area, don't miss this exciting evening of comedy on June 19th. In addition to being one of my dearest friends, Vanessa is really, really, really funny.

One time Colette and I were in the studio audience for one of Vanessa's appearances on the stand-up comedy show, Girls' Night Out. The TV camera kept zooming in on us because (as always) we were laughing hysterically.

A few weeks later, the three of us were at our apartment watching a different episode of Girls' Night Out, when all of a sudden we saw our faces appear on the screen! Apparently, the comedian being taped wasn't getting enough of an audience reaction, so they edited in our laughing faces.

Funny friends

Need a laugh? Check out my two favorite comedians, Vanessa Hollingshead
and John Fugelsang.

I was in a crabby mood today until I watched this clip of John getting a lesson on how to be a good sidekick:


For more funny stuff from John, visit www.myspace.com/johnfugelsang.

Vanessa Hollingshead is one of my dearest friends. Here is a clip from her first TV special. (Warning to Grandma and my nieces and nephews: If this show were a full-length movie, it would be rated PG-13.)
Comedy Central Special Clip


Need something good to watch this weekend? Visit VanessaHollingshead.com and buy her hilarious DVD, An American Anglomaniac. You will like it.