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  1. Come on Out for Some Entertainment

    Wednesday, February 28, 2018









    Hi everyone.  A couple of announcements and then I have to sleep.

              Thursday, March 1st and Friday, March 2nd, I am in one of these one-act plays written by Lehman College students.  I was cast in Passing where I play a high school principal, a new experience for me.  Admission is free.  Located on the beautiful Lehman College campus.  So if this sounds intriguing to you, come on over.  The D train or the 4 train to Bedford Park Blvd in the Bronx leaves you a few blocks from the college.




                
               Then on Friday, March 9th at 7pm at Broadway Comedy Club, I'll be doing stand-up in the Funny Underground Comedy Krew show.  On-line tickets are $15; $20 at the door.




    Come out for some entertainment!  I'll be happy to see you!   With much appreciation, Mindy



  2. A Trilogy of Assholery

    Tuesday, February 20, 2018







    When someone tells me three times within 15 minutes that he can be a “real asshole,” I have certainly learned in my life to believe the person.  If this were a personal interaction, I would’ve simply said, “I believe you,” and walked away.  But this is someone I have to work with if I’m going to be part of a particular creative project.  So I could’ve said something to the effect of, “This isn’t going to work for me; I’ve done more than my time with an asshole.”  But I liked the project, and it will be over in a few weeks, so, with an end in sight, I agreed to do it.  Now I am wondering if I made the right choice.  No money is involved, so it isn’t
    going to help me pay a bill or even buy a metrocard.  I guess I am still learning how to create the life I feel good living.
     
    I am not enjoying what I thought I would enjoy, but I hope in the end that I will feel proud of my part in the project.

    …..


    I traveled three buses in Saturday night’s crazy snowstorm to City Island to do a comedy set on the musician’s break at a Days of Wild music show at the Starving Artist’s Café.  I love that place.  I also always enjoy Days of Wild. 

    Guitarist and singer Artie Dillon came up with a theme song for me.  I was delighted at the introduction.


    This time, however, I had a heckler in the audience.  That is rare for me, 
    so it didn’t register right away that he indeed was a heckler.  I thought he just wanted to ask me something – it’s a more casual atmosphere and not a comedy club, so it can be conversational at times.  I answered his nonsense.  I’d never seen him before.  I didn’t know what he was all about yet.  Well my sincere and intelligent answers didn’t do it for him.  So he continued to interrupt.  I asked him if he would like the mic.  That seemed to shut him up for a bit.  I continued doing my stuff, and he was leaving.  The stage is next to the door.  I saw him and said, “You’re leaving? Thanks for heckling me.”  He said, “You’re welcome.”  And he left.


    As the door shut behind him, one of my favorite people there yelled out to me, “The IQ level in the room just went up.”


    The support is so wonderful. 


    I continued my material, and there was laughter, which did feel good.  It’s 
    not an easy room for a comic.  Most of the people are intelligent and enjoy some of my stuff that other audiences tend to not get.  I really like that this audience knows what an amoeba is and that a “hoe” is a garden tool.  It allows them to get my jokes.  However, some are rather conservative and don’t appreciate my loose language and sexual references while others love it.  At the extremes, some have asked me to be dirtier, and others have not even smiled during my set.  I decided to accept I won’t please everybody.  That led to me remembering some song lyrics which led to a comedy bit which made most folks laugh. 


    When the musicians went back on stage, another one of my favorite people there shared a story from the stage about the heckler.  Seems he arrived as an asshole.  Several years ago, he had a new open mic comic in tears.  She ran out and never returned.  It was an open mic where people are working on their stuff.  No one is expected to be a pro at an open mic.  The person sharing this story went on to say, “This time, you got him to leave.”


    Of course, as a comic, it’s not my goal to make people leave, but it’s better than not being able to do my set.  As a person, when narcissists or any kind of rude person leaves, I take it as a diploma -- proof that I’ve learned and grown and now give off a very different vibe. 



    At the end of the night, I received a wonderful, long, genuine hug from the man that booked me.  He said something like, "You are a good woman."  


    It is so wonderful to be appreciated.  





    …..



    On Sunday night, I returned from the store and three male teenagers 
    entered my building with me.  I did not recognize them as people from the building.  They did not say thank you when they entered though I unlocked the lobby door.  They went to the elevator which made my decision to take the stairs.  They spoke in Spanish.  As I was heading toward the steps, one kept saying, “Senora.”  I turned around and asked, “You’re talking to me? I don’t speak Spanish.”  He asked if the elevator was working.  I said, “Sometimes.”  Then he had the balls to ask what floor I live on.  “Not your concern,” I answered.


    I marched up the stairs, carefully listening to their voices and 
    movements.  I believe my attitude said, “Don’t fuck with me.  I’m tired of assholes and just might end you.”










  3. Tuesday "She" on a Saturday

    Saturday, February 10, 2018










    I’ve been cast as a high school principal in a play!  
    It is part of a one-act play festival by new playwrights.  Though no money is involved, I am happy to be in a play.  A young woman wrote it, and I like it.  I deeply appreciate her message.  I hope the director and I manage to work well together.  I will do my part.


    I am performing stand-up the next two Saturdays at the same place. 
    anticipate a lot of the same audience.  So I feel the need to write some new stuff.  I hope I manage to do that.


    I was asked to be part of a special Valentine’s Day event in Brooklyn by my poetry friend Evie Ivy.  I’m not much of a Valentine-y poet, so I told her I might be able to write a prose piece and asked if that would be okay.  She was very welcoming.  Now I still have to write it.  I think it might end up being an anti-Valentine’s Day piece.  Or maybe it will be a collage of Valentine’s Days.  I tend to do okay writing collages.  That is how I put together my pieces for the What Were the Sixties Really Like? shows I was honored to be in.


    Rehearsals for the play begin this Monday.  I am excited.  I’ve never 
    played a high school principal before.  I enjoy new acting challenges.  I’ve played a socialist gardener, a Latina nanny, a corporate mole, a psychic and somewhat crazy woman, a homeless woman, a neglectful mom, a prostitute, a prostitute mother of a prostitute, a good mom, a mom catching her young adult son with a one-night-stand, a prisoner, a substitute teacher, a soldier, a Bible-toter, a nurse, a crack addict, an ex-wife, one of the women in Vagina Monologues, but never a high school principal. 


    After I read the script, I felt encouraged by future female playwrights.  
    This one is Leslie Huynh.


    Upcoming appearances:

    • ·        Saturday, 2/10/2018  Comedy at the Days of Wild music happening at Starving Artist Café on City Island  8pm


    • ·        Wednesday, 2/14/2018  Reader at a special Valentine’s Day event at the Green Pavilion in Brooklyn  7pm


    • ·        Saturday, 2/17/2018  Comedy at the Days of Wild music happening at Starving Artist Café on City Island  8pm


    • ·        Thursday, 3/1/2018  Acting in “Passing” at the New Playwrights One-Act Play Festival at the Lovinger Theatre on the campus of Lehman College  7pm


    • ·        Friday, 3/2/2018  Acting in “Passing” at the New Playwrights One-Act Play Festival at the Lovinger Theatre on the campus of Lehman College  7pm


    • ·        Friday, 3/9/2018  Comedy in Funny Underground Comedy Krew show at Broadway Comedy Club  7pm






  4. I hate the bitter cold.  I am so glad I didn’t let it stop me from getting to “Laffin’ Matterz” TV taping at MNN on Friday.  I enjoyed the show so much.  The line-up, producers, director, DJ, host, and audience made it a really nice evening.  I spent so much of the time laughing.  I was in a good head while doing my set.  I felt connected to the audience during my performance and supported by the other comics when I stepped off stage.  The natural high stayed with me, a nice and needed buzz.


    Several people who were in the show are not in these post-show photos.











    I needed to keep my hat on.  My tolerance for the cold has become less 
    and less.  The “Laffin’ Matterz” experience, however, was very warming.

    I saw Pudge Fernandez after a long time, I met several comics who I only had known by name -- Peaches Rodriguez being one -- and I received warm hugs.  That is a human contact that I treasure.  That chest to chest, heartbeat to heartbeat contact.  

    The next night, I dreamt of my son and I when he was about 4.  It was a 
    very affectionate scene and we were playing what we called “Mama Rough” which was a mellower version of playing rough with Papa.  “Mama Rough” had more kissing, tickling, and laughing involved.




    The next two Saturday nights, February 10th and February 17th, I will be 
    adding comedy to a wonderful live music show, “Days of Wild,” at the Starving Artist Café on City Island in the Bronx where people feel free to dance in the aisles.  No cover charge!  Enjoy menu items (and you are free to bring your own alcohol).







     Enjoy a sample!






      It's where you are free to be who you be.