Tennessee Tramp at McCurdy's

Thursday, January 8th, 2009


The BIG Florida State game was on tonight, and Les McCurdy looked through his roladex looking for a comic that wouldn't care if he/she missed the game or not. Traci Kanaan doesn't watch football...bingo! So I got to host the show Thursday night for Queen of the Trailer Park, Janet Wiliams aka The Tennessee Tramp. I heard all good things about Janet over the years, but our comedy paths had not yet crossed.

Thursday is open mic at McCurdy's, and there were 4 open mic-ers scheduled to perform. 3 female, 1 male. Thankfully, the male open mic-er didn't show...not because he's male...but because he's just a shitty open mic-er. He's filthy, and has to drop his pants to get a laugh. The 3 women open mic-ers are relatively new to the business, and working through some material. The audience was tight. The usual McCurdy's intro of upcoming comedians and the short movie "humor appetizer" was gone, due to a problem with the projector. So it was a quick music intro and a "please give it up for your host and emcee Traci Kanaan." I did my best I could before turning it over to the open mic portion, but the audience was not willing to give up laughs for free. First up: Cindy, the recovering middle school teacher, did all right. It'll get better Cindy. Keep working at it!

Second up: Long Island Mary is serious about this business, and started her own open mic at Linger Lodge in Bradenton for additional practice. She did well, and you will see more from Mary in the future.


Third up: Amy, who goosed me. Amy...well...had a little too much to drink, forgot her notes, forgot her routine - yet managed to stretch "drink when I say POT" to 6.5 minutes. Fortunately, Amy is cute and got away with it. Amy is naturally funny - and I hope to see her do material next time.

As for me - I did my usual show with 2 new parodies: Oh What a Dyke, and Bologna. Oh What a Dyke went well. Bologna needs work. My closer did the job - and prepared the audience for The World Famous Tennessee Tramp.

I loved Janet. What an inspiration! Janet does a good show. She's extremely sharp and professional, works the business, and does it right. With my background promotional products, I could tell by the quality of what she sold that she has given this some thought. She encouraged all of us women comics to follow our heart, and be prepared for the comedy industry to treat us women like shit. I had to laugh when she sold her Pussy Power bumper stickers to one of the guys at the show and said "You're never going to get this much pussy for 2 bucks." The Princess of Parodies, humbled by The Queen of the Trailer Parks. Hope to work with you again, Janet! And I hope to see Cindy, Mary and Amy really soon.