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  1. Accomplishments:     


     I carefully burned some mustache hairs.  They aren’t gone, but they are short and less tempting to play with while making a first impression.

    ·        I survived a show where comics outnumbered audience members.

    ·       After having a screw-up with unemployment, things are now straightened out and I am no longer under threat of no gas, electric, cell phone, internet, cable, and home phone.

    ·        Did long overdue laundry.

    ·        Am with medical coverage again.

    ·        Eating more salad and hummus than usual.

    ·        Submitted a poem for publication (which I haven’t done in too long).





    Still needs work:
    ·       


    My weight has not gone down.  I don’t like being overweight.  It’s hard enough to stand tall and breathe.  Plus I’m not of the stature to carry so much weight.  A belly dance teacher, Zoe, once looked me over and said, “You’re not supposed to be fat.”  She didn’t say that to some bigger than me.  She looked at my bone structure.  She was right. 

           The apartment.  The paper clutter.  It doesn’t end.


    Cigarette smoking problem.

        Should be writing more regularly.

    ·        Reuniting with certain special people, and one very precious to me.







    Blessings:


     One of my favorite people surprised me with a card, words inside that soothe my heart, and fifty bucks.

    ·        I was asked to be in a comedy showcase on March 10th in Woodside, Queens.



    ·        I was able to approach an area of my apartment where I’d been   emotionally blocked from, and the decluttering began. Two bags of garbage so far from that area.

    ·        Waking each day.

    ·        My son is managing.

    ·        My best friend (my real life partner) is alive and well. We still help each other through life’s many challenges and still make each other crack up.

    ·        The editor who received my poem said he loved it and asked for more!

    ·        Excited about New York’s Got Talent on March 6th.





  2. TFW By Rhonda Hansome

    Saturday, February 9, 2019


    I love Show Biz!

    Catch me on SiriusXM Insight Ch 121 Noon - 2 PM Mondays on
    John Fugelsang's Tell Me Everything #HansomeMonday

    I'm honored to be in the Black Women In Comedy Festival
    8 PM Thu. 2-28 Cosmic Comedy / 7:30 Fri. 3-1 Icons of Comedy
    9:30 Fri. 3-1 Black Don't Crack / 7 PM Sat. 3-2 Griot StoryTelling
    9 PM Sat. 3-2 Solo Showcase
    Get Tickets Now!

    Click My Calendar For Additional Show Dates 
    Shameless Self-Promotion

    I Get Paid In Social Media Clicks. Hep A Sistah Out:
    Like & Follow On FaceBook - Twitter - Instagram



  3. This Sunday, Feb. 3rd at 8:30pm, I’ll be performing in a FREE comedy show at the Jazz on the Park Hostel.  You can BYOB.  36 West 106 Street near Central Park West.  Some people have told me, “Love you but it’s the Super Bowl.” 


    I’m not part of that tradition.  So if you, like me, would prefer to laugh 
    than to scream at the screen, get yourself a bottle of wine or whatever you like and come on over.  We’ll be having a heat wave to celebrate.


    On Wed., March 6th at 7pm, I’ll be in round one of

    New York’s Got Talent 

    The Green Room 42 inside Yotel 
    42nd Street and 10th Avenue 

    Here’s the link to get your ticket:






    If something doesn’t change for me soon in the financial realm, I may have to hold some kind of a fundraiser for my existence.  I’ve gotten further into debt.  This sucks so bad.  Don’t be surprised to get an invite to a rent party (remember those?).


    A former student told me yesterday that I had been the first teacher to 
    make him feel at home.  I was so moved.  He’s not a mushy kind of man, so it really surprised me to hear that.  When I told him, he said, “You never know what someone is thinking.”  Many are still upset that the new director (described as a “force of destruction” by an excellent worker who was let go) got rid of the ones she chose to get rid of (the ones the students loved) when the funding cut occurred.  He plans to let them know how he feels.  I told him, “Just don’t curse.”


    Another student, who is still attending the program and had been one of 
    my favorites, communicates with me on Facebook private messages.  He just needs five more points to get his diploma, so he’s trying to hang in there.  He is very blunt, which is a quality I appreciate.  We reminisced and laughed about some great moments we had in class.  Then he told me what a bitch his current math teacher is and how he respected me so much for standing up for students.  I told him that was probably why I’m not there and the bitches are.  


    (A few good ones are still there too, thank goodness.) 


    I miss the realness of the relationships I had with my adult students.  One basic thing that is so wrong with many educational programs is the teachers see the students as “them.”  Students need people they can connect with, feel accepted by, and can see themselves in.  They don’t need to have their flaws emphasized.  Psych 101 – positive reinforcement brings better results than negative reinforcement.  The main thing is to know oneself.  If a teacher knows her/his self, there is less projecting their bullshit on others.  But so many would rather just discuss curriculum.  And because it is all about the teacher and her/his curriculum, they feel the right to start a student’s day with, “You’re LATE!”  School can really destroy one’s natural desire to learn.  Too many of my Bronx peeps feel like school isn’t for them. 





    Recently, I ran into a teacher who works there part time.  We hugged.  I always liked her.  She told me the program is not the same program it once was.  I know that’s true.  I sometimes wonder how the former directors feel about what happened to the program.  They had put so much work into making it a relatively good place to be.  I was at lunch with another former co-worker last week.  He also wondered how the past administrators felt.  I said, “After all the years of work they did to build, they must now feel like Obama.”










  4. Hey You! By Rhonda Hansome

    Friday, January 25, 2019

    Hey You,
    Yes, I'm talking to YOU!

    This Is America 2019, dysfunction on steroids. I am living in a cartoon yet terrifying alternate universe. 

    United States of intolerance, elitism and white supremacy to rival our volatile 1960's.


    An America for the rich









    with blatant disregard for Everyman. The TrumpShutDown has left 800,000 Americans without pay. Furloughed Federal workers are stretched to the limit. Did I mention the multitude of support businesses suffering from lack of customers? Government tasks for our safety and well being are now left undone because of Trump's wall stand off.

    "The wall came about as a “mnemonic device” thought up by political consultants to remind Donald Trump to talk about illegal immigration."... Forbes 1/4/2019

    All while daily the chaos and lies escalate. Is this for real?

    Steve Bannon's mantra is the mission of the Trump administration: 

    Disrupt * Deconstruct & Destroy America

    White people are going to homeless shelters for food and Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross doesn't know why.

    45Potus to paycheckless families:
    Work something out for your groceries and mortgage.

    White folks get a cold, Black folks'll have pneumonia.

    Must we 99% just die for the 1% to revel in luxury? 
    Will we reclaim the U.S. before total destruction?
    Seriously, will we? 

    You can reply in person AND support live performance. Plan ahead and bring friends to my shows:

    8 PM Sat. Feb. 2nd - 
    Bayport Fire House Comedy Night
    251 Snedecor Ave. Bayport NY

    3 PM Sun. Feb. 17th - Free!
    10 Penny Comedy @ Coney Island Baby Bar
    169 Ave. A @ 10 & 11th St. NYC 10009

    6:30 Fri. Feb. 22nd -
    The Griot Show @ Caveat NYC
    21 A Clinton St. NYC NY

    6 PM Sat. Feb. 23rd -
    Sistah Celebration @ Wow Cafe Theater
    59 E. 4th St. NYC 10003

    4 PM Sun. Feb. 24th - $10 Cover * 2 Drink Min.
    Groovin on A Sunday @ 53 Above Broadway
    318 W. 53rd St. NYC 10019 


    BTW
    My BWIC Festival Dates:

    8 PM Thur. Feb. 28th - 
    Cosmic Comedy @ Tilly's
    1223 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn NY 11216

    7:30 Fri. Mar. 1st -
    Icons of Comedy @ Brooklyn House of Comedy
    1165 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn NY 11216

    9:30 Fri. Mar. 1st -
    Black Don't Crack @ Joloff Restaurant
    1617/1618 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn NY 11216

    7 PM Sat. Mar. 2nd -
    Griot Story Telling @ Joloff Restaurant
    1617/1618 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn NY 11216

    9 PM Sat. Mar. 2nd -
    Solo Showcase @ Joloff Restaurant
    1617/1618 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn NY 11216



    I get paid in Follows & Likes. Hit me up on Face Book, Twitter & Instagram! 


  5. Another Good News Item

    Thursday, January 17, 2019














    Since my last blog, another opportunity presented itself to me.  Loisaida’s Got Talent offered me a slot in their show.  Preference was given to the residents of the Lower East Side, and I still was accepted.  The Bronx and the Lower East Side are not so different.  Feels like part of the family.  My grandparents grew up down there.  My grandmother shared a public shower with a woman named Sally.  Sally introduced her brother Charles to my grandmother.  He and my grandmother eventually got married.  Then many years later, they raised me in the Bronx.  I heard some of their stories that became part of me.  So the Lower East Side feels like part of the Bronx to me.


    Getting the news was definitely a boost.  Woo woo!


    There’s a chance that the anticipated storm might lead to the event being 
    rescheduled, but as of now, it is for this Sunday!  5pm.  My L.E.S. peeps, consider coming on over.  107 Suffolk Street.





    I’m not sure if I’m the only comic in the show.  Come to the show and 
    cheer me on.  There will be several winners.  The celebrity judges will deliberate after the show.  Of course it is nerve-wrecking, but it is also exciting!


    In the rest of my life, many challenges.  Many!  But like I did as a parent 
    and as an instructor, I want to focus on what’s going right.  So being accepted into both Loisaida’s Got Talent and New York’s Got Talent is a very welcoming start to 2019 in terms of my comedy.


    (love you CGM)


    Mindy Matijasevic


  6. Something Positive for the New Year

    Saturday, January 12, 2019




    Sometimes I forget the seeds I planted, then suddenly something is 
    happening, and, for a second, I am puzzled.  Then I remember I had initiated the thing.  It feels good.  I feel grateful to my more hopeful self for not giving up.  Then when I get a result during a more gloomy time, it’s such a needed pick-me-up.









    Just when I was not feeling too optimistic, I received an e-mail from New 
    York’s Got Talent.  According to what they said, out of a few hundred stand-up comedy submissions, 32 were selected for Season 6, and I was one of them. 


    With my jaw still hanging, I searched through my ‘sent’ mail to see when I 
    applied.  Apparently I applied in late December on my ex-husband’s birthday.  That is kind of funny since so much of my comedy is about being gratefully divorced. 




    My stomach and heart were getting almost as fluttery as when I made my 
    comedy debut.  I had to remind myself to exhale.  Season 6 will not be on live TV.  It will be before a live audience in Manhattan.  My preliminary performance is on Wednesday, March 6th at 7pm.  If you want to get tickets, they are on sale here:



    If by some chance I get moved along to the semi-finals, that will be the 
    following Wednesday.


    I was glad I had a relatively current video to send when I applied.  It was 
    from one of the times I was in Aaron Smith’s F.U.C. Show at Broadway Comedy Club.  A friend, Lia, from a former job many years back, came to the show with her now grown daughter.  Lia taped my set on her phone.  With the help of her daughter, she got the video to me.  We both needed assistance from the younger generation to manage this feat.  Watching myself, of course, I see how overweight I’ve become and the chin stuff and all that.  I had to watch it many times and pretend I didn’t know me, so I can see it more objectively.  I was fucking funny.  The audience was laughing a lot.  When I watch it, I still laugh.


    And the NYGT team apparently didn’t require me to look like a swimsuit 
    model.  I am feeling excited about this development.  Nervous, but I’ll survive.


    If you want to be in the audience during this competition, get your tickets 







  7. Laughter Is Rebellion

    Friday, December 14, 2018












    A couple of months ago, one of my favorite people (who was the director at my job for four hopeful years) told me she was offered a comp ticket for the Ms. Foundation fundraiser: Laughter Is Rebellion at Caroline’s on Broadway.  She wanted to give it to me.  I felt it was offered to her, and she should go.  She insisted I’d enjoy it more. 


    I checked it out on line, and the tickets ranged from $250 to $10,000! 
    don’t know people who can afford that.  I assumed the comp ticket was a $250 one.


    I’d never been to such a pricey event before.  I didn’t have anything right 
    to wear that still fit my expanding body.  I would be going alone.  I knew the other attendees and I had one thing in common – we wanted a level playing field.  Maybe we all also enjoyed comedy.  That’s two things in common.  As much as some may have money, I didn’t think anyone would have voted for the Orange one.  That would be three things.  I guess I needed to think of what connected us even though finances separated us.


    I was greeted like people with money are greeted.  My name was on the 
    list.  I was told what table I’d be at.  I assumed I arrived in time for cocktail hour, and I did, but it was really an hour or more.  I usually have been at places where doors open 15 to 30 minutes before the event.





    There were servers walking around with trays of food.  Though others may have considered it hors d’oeuvres, I saw it as free dinner.  The drinks at the bar were also free.  I at first acted like they weren’t free and ordered a wine.  Then I saw how many people ordered drinks of all kinds and walked off with the drinks.  It clicked.  What am I doing?  It’s free.  I decided to order my favorite drink – a Long Island Ice Tea. 


    The place was noisy, so when I asked the bartender, “Do you do Long 
    Island Ice Teas?” he misunderstood and thought I asked for two Long Island Ice Teas.  So I got two free ones, and they were large and very well made.  👌


    There were baskets of buttons on tables and counters.  Some were 
    promoting the Ms. Foundation, some expressed support for the gay community, and some were anti-Trump.  I took one and pinned it on my coat.  Then I saw these rich people taking many of the buttons, like five or six of different kinds.  The contrasts between us were so blatant to me.  So though I felt shy to do this, I then took six so I can give some to the beautiful woman who gave me her ticket.







    I sat at the table I was assigned.  It was a table for two.  Though it wasn’t up front, it wasn’t in the back either.  I started to think it may have been a $500 or $1000 ticket. 


    I was enjoying my first Long Island.  Being alone in a crowd is not foreign 
    to me.  It would have been nicer to be with a friend, but who could afford this?  My friends are not brain surgeons.  Suddenly a woman who had a seat up front came over to me and asked if I would trade with her because she wanted to sit with her friend.  She needed a table for two.  Yes!


    My new seat was probably a $5,000 or $10,000 seat.  I couldn’t believe 
    how this was going.  I was sitting with a woman who couldn’t stay for the whole event because she had to be at another event.  It’s a very different lifestyle than I am accustomed to.  Finances aside, I don’t like to be double booked because then I can’t truly be somewhere and enjoy it.  


    Then I saw Gloria Steinem.  I wanted to tell her how significant she was in my early life.  I wanted to run over and hug her and tell her many things.  I controlled myself.  However, somewhere after the first Long Island, I wrote her a note.


    The comics on the line-up were Lea DeLaria, Judy Gold, Michelle Wolf, 
    Sasheer Zamata, and Maysoon Zayid.  Fantastic!


         
                         



    I had a very good time and was sorry when it was over.  I was very pleased with my drinks.  They did their job.  I barely remember my train ride home.  The next morning, I found my note to Gloria Steinem because, of course, I got too drunk to remember to give it to her.  L


    TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT