Funny Ladies

I love being made to laugh.  You don't necessarily have to tell me jokes, although that's good too.  I like a slightly puzzled look at the world, some bemusement in my amusement.  I guess it all just boils down to seeing the funny side of things.  I just finished reading Tina Fey's new (well, only) book, Bossypants. I chuckled a lot and occasionally laughed out loud, like when she talks about puberty and being given the requisite pamphlet "with the vaguely threatening title, 'Growing Up and Liking It.'"  There are a lot of theater camp memories, and family musings, including this one: "How can I give [my daughter] what [my father] gave me?  The gift of anxiety.  The fear of getting in trouble.  The knowledge that while you are loved, you are not above the law.  The Worldwide Parental Anxiety System is failing if this many of us have made sex tapes."

There are bad haircuts and a disastrous honeymoon cruise.  She talks about photo shoots, which really are as glamorous as they seem, and are,  as she says, the FUNNEST.  "Some photographers are compulsively effusive.  'Beautiful.  Amazing.  Gorgeous!  Ugh, so gorgeous!' they yell at shutter speed.  If you are anything less than insane, you will realize this is not sincere.  It's hard to take because it's more positive feedback than you've received in your entire life thrown at you in fifteen seconds.  It would be like going jogging while someone rode next to you in a slow-moving car, yelling, 'Yes!  You are Carl Lewis!  You're breaking a world record right now.  Amazing!  You're going very fast, yes!'"  And then, with the usual foot in reality, it all comes crashing down:  "With the wind blowing on your long extensions, you feel like Beyonce.  The moment the wind machine stops, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and wonder,'Why is the mother from Coal Miner's Daughter here?'"

There's lots more, all of it interesting and lots of it funny.  She talks about her co-stars through the years, the struggles of women in television and in business in general, she talks about parenting and about the future.  Highly enjoyable.  And she dedicates it to her mother, noting that "I made this for you out of macaroni."

The next funny lady that I love is Ann Hodgman.  Her books are for children, and while sweet and mildly amusing, they don't make me guffaw.  What does tickle me, though, are her recipes.  I have two of her cookbooks, Beat This and Beat That.  The directions for chicken gravy (which, by the way, is do-ahead [woo-hoo!], very good, and also works for turkey) include the following:  "When the stock has reduced enough, pour it through a strainer lined with a clean dishtowel into another saucepan. (If I were you I'd wait til no one was looking and just throw away the dishtowel when I was done with it.)  Check the seasoning.  If there's still lots of time before your chicken or turkey is done, let the stock cool.  If it's time to take the damn thing out of the oven, keep the stock warm.  Transfer the bird to another plate, cover it with foil, and keep it warm. Call out nervously to your guests that everything is fine."  That paragraph alone makes Beat This one of my favorite cookbooks.

Roz Chast's cartoons make me laugh a lot.  The Bad Mom trading cards are my favorite.    Sadly, I have committed several of the sins enumerated herein.

I have books I turn to like I turn to comfort food, and two of my favorite authors are Jean Kerr and Betty MacDonald.  They are exasperated by their families (but there is also no doubt how much they love them) and their annoyance is our gain.  Both are funny ladies.  You may have trouble finding these books--they're old, maybe out of print, but the library should have them. Try and giggle about something today.