MAKE YOUR OWN KIND OF COMEDY [13.06.07] CHILD STAR AMY LAME'S VERY PUBLIC THERAPY Billed as a "cheery celebration of 'fuller figured' women everywhere", 'Amy Lamé's Mama Cass Family Singers' is the story (part fiction, part memoir) of how Amy and her siblings experienced their formative years as overweight stars of a covers band. Attempting to describe the show, Lamé says "it's dramatic, but it's not a play. It's funny, but it's not a comedy. It's bittersweet, but it's not a tragedy. The show is a quirky mis-remembered memoir. So, some of the show is true, some of it may be false, but I leave that up to the audience to decide! But the show is also part eulogy for the 1960s folk singer 'Mama' Cass Elliot. "As kids, Mom played Mamas and Papas records incessantly; she was a huge Cass fan," says Lamé. "My brother and sisters and I teased each other about our chubbiness, saying that we'd all die choking on a ham sandwich like Cass did."* As the show is partly an autobiographical account of her childhood years, it is only fair that the rest of the family should be represented on stage, and so they are. Lamé has brought her entire family, even the dog, into the show -- but, she says that fortunately for her, they're on the screen, not live. Has writing and performing autobiographical material caused her family any grief? "My story is MY story. And there's no family history that's off limits for me; it's just about getting the 'shameful' bits talked about in the first place that's difficult. My mom wasn't entirely happy with this show -- there are a few revelations she thought I shouldn't be putting on stage. But I've kept them in. That's her shame, not mine. Can you tell this show is like therapy?" Originally from New Jersey, Lamé has lived in the UK for the past 14 years, where she has established herself as a radio and TV personality, writer and performer. As an American comic, what does she think of the British sense of humour? "The film director John Waters once said 'America's Irony Curtain lifts in New Jersey'. I think the self-deprecating style of humour in the UK and the sassy, wisecracking New Jersey humour have some similarities. "I'm not a stand up comedian; I find that style of performance too constraining and scary for me. I like to mix it up and shake it up. Anyway, humour, and what we find funny, is a very personal thing; I love puns and slapstick, which many people find cheesy and unbearable. I roll around on the floor laughing at old Laurel and Hardy films." And she's right; Amy Lamé is not your typical comedian. For although she has done typically whacky things only a comic would do, like competing in two Alternative Miss World contests (she didn't win), she is also putting out a cookbook. "I have a small, handmade cookbook, with recipes of dishes that I talk about in the show that's on sale afterwards. So if you get really hungry for Disco Fries or a Big Kid's Belly Buster, then you can make it all at home!" *For the record, Amy would like it known that she is fully aware that Mama Cass didn't really die choking on a ham sandwich. She had a heart attack. Tony O'Donoghue 'Amy Lamé's Mama Cass Family Singers' plays at the Brisbane Powerhouse from June 13 - 17. back to top ^

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