PAINT THE TOWN PINK: Women in Comedy, right here, right now
The ladies take the silly stage Friday to benefit women undergoing breast cancer treatment
By Emily Wilcox GateHouse News Service Posted Oct 28, 2009 @ 06:00 AM
PLYMOUTH — .Christine Hurley couldn’t stand on a scale without cringing in disbelief. Suffering from a deep, dark case of the blues and weighing in at about 250 pounds, Hurley felt motherhood smothering her. A fun, loving husband and five beautiful kids couldn’t pull her out of this black hole.
“At one point I had four in diapers,” she said. “I had post-partum. Out of complete severe depression, I just started to laugh at things instead of crying. ”
If someone had told Hurley 10 years ago she’d be sharing a stage with comedienne Patti Ross entertaining thousands with her self-deprecating, hilarious humor, she wouldn’t have believed it. But, little by little, Hurley climbed out of the hole, lost the weight and started making people laugh – really laugh.
Four years ago, her husband, Jimmy Hurley, got wind of a Nick at Night contest for the Funniest Mom in America and entered Christine in the competition. He drove her to the audition at the Laugh Factory Club in Times Square. Christine hit the stage and her humor knocked the judges over. She placed first runner up out of 5,000 contestants.
“Everyone is flawed,” she said. “If you can look at it in a humorous way, that’s what makes everybody feel better. My bottom line is, don’t sweat the petty stuff and don’t pet the sweaty stuff. You have to just look at things differently in a positive way – to look at what you do have and laugh at it.”
Headliner comedienne Patti Ross, of Rosanne and Comedy Central fame, will perform along with Hurley and several other national and local comediennes in Women in Comedy at 8 p.m., this Friday, Oct. 30, at Memorial Hall. Tickets cost $20 to $40, depending on seating. For an additional donation of $30, you can attend the Champagne Pre-Party with the Stars at 7 p.m. in the Blue Room upstairs. All proceeds from this pre-party event will be donated to The Ellie Fund, which provides support services for women undergoing breast cancer treatment.
Tickets are available by calling 508-747-1340 or by visiting www.llppresents.com. Tickets are also available at the door.
For Hurley, humor is the most powerful weapon against life’s slings and arrows. So if the economy has you down, or you’re not living up to your own expectations, she strongly recommends attending this show.
“I am very flawed,” she added. “I don’t bring much to the table in the old domestic department. I’m not a good cook. I’m disorganized. I worry too much about what people think. I never return phone calls. You have to be able to laugh at yourself and appreciate your flaws.”
