Comedienne takes motherhood to the stage
What’s the one question all new Moms ask the minute their babies are born into the world?
According to Diane Flacks, author and comedienne, it’s “Did I poo?”
This line, which is perfectly delivered in her 85 minute one-woman-show now playing at the Berkeley Street Theatre, was one of many which had the appreciative audience in stitches of the non-episiotomy type. Based on her book of the same name, “Bear With Me”, she takes us on a journey of the surprising and painful world of the first-time pregnant Mom.
Peppered with spot-on imitations of “other” Moms, yoga instructors, and the eternally misguided pre-pregnant Mom with her declarations of “I won’t be one of those kind of mother” statements, Flacks leaps between anecdotes and hard truths with ease.
Armed only with a Pilates ball, her recreation of labour and delivery was the highlight for the mostly female crowd. The JMG (technical term “Jewish Mother Gene”) proved to be a VFG (“Very Funny Gene”) as well.
Flacks’ children are still young, and her content reflects this. She remarked at one point that the whole goal was to “make sure they weren’t on drugs when they’re teenagers.” As she might discover, it’s a whole bunch more than that when they get to those years (trust me), but the good news is, she’ll have a ton of new material to share with us by then.
The show runs from January 7-24, and there are some special days such as “Babes In Arms” (bring your baby age 2 and under to the theatre for free, matinees Jan 15 and 22), as well as “Mum & Me”, where you can bring your own mother for only $5.00 There’s even an on-site babysitting day (Jan 17th).
If you can’t get to the play, make sure to pick up her book, available at all major booksellers. Flacks also writes a bi-weekly column for the Toronto Star, and has written for “Kids in the Hall”, and has appeared with “The Royal Canadian Air Farce” and in the hit play “The Vagina Monologues”.
• Kathy Buckworth’s new book ''The BlackBerry Diaries: Adventures in Modern Motherhood” will be in bookstores everywhere, March, 2009. Visit www.kathybuckworth.com
