Funny Women of a Certain Age
Showtime’s comedy special Funny Women of a Certain Age opens with the still gorgeous Fran Drescher, her trademark nasally tone mellowed slightly like a fine draft beer, doing some funny women-over-50 shtick.
““So I did turn 60… I’m not doing the birthdays anymore. When you consider a 50-year-old a younger man…what’s to celebrate?” ”
But then Drescher takes us through her life’s trials as only a funny woman of a certain age can. A husband who came out as gay after 21 years of marriage. Cancer. Hysterectomy. Depression. A touching life-saving moment with her Cousin Susan that “saved my life because that was the moment I started to feel like my old self again. Fast forward, I’m a survivor, I founded cancerschmancer.org, I’m middle-aged, and I’m ready to date again.” Then come the estrogen patch jokes, and we can’t decide if we are in tears from laughter or pain.
Creator and comedian Carole Montgomery, 60, describes the special as "a show straight from the unfettered mouths and uninhibited minds of the funniest, most daring, most experienced people in comedy: the women that have seen it all. Trust us, we have a lot to say."
It is the first time six female comedians over 50 have performed on a television stand-up special together, knocking down the walls of ageism and sexism one joke at a time.
In a Forbes interview Montgomery explains the show’s genesis, “Bookers don’t like to place two women on a show because they say ‘they all talk about the same things, like their period,’ says Montgomery. “I call that male logic.”
In addition to Drescher and Montgomery, the lineup includes a diverse range of voices from Luenell, Lynne Koplitz, Kerri Louise and Vanessa Hollingshead.
“People think when you have reached a certain age, you are done with being creative,” Montgomery shares. “I’m proud to prove that at sixty-years-old I still have something to say along with my fabulous co-stars.”
Turning her idea into a comedy special for Showtime which gave her her first big break when she was young, is a “dream come true.”
““Every failure makes me stronger. So I guess you could say if I was a comic book character, failure is my superpower.””
Warning: The show is unfiltered. But what woman over 50 isn’t?
Funny Women of a Certain Age is coming to the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, April 10! Buy your tickets here.
