Review: JULIA SWEENEY'S OLDER & WIDER, The SNL Alum Bares Her Comedy Chops and Shows They Are as Sharp as Ever

In Julia Sweeney's OLDER & WIDER, The SNL alum bares her comedy chops and shows they are as sharp as ever

Heigh-Ho Friends & "Family"! Bobby Patrick your RAINBOW Reviewer here. Putting the silent T in CABARET to bring you all the T.

"THIS ISN'T ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT MOTHER!" screeches Julia Sweeney in a mock, shock imitation of her teenage daughter's voice late in her 90-minute act at Joe's Pub Sunday night. This in response to discussions around her daughter's dropping her TRUMP VOTING boyfriend, Justin, whom the family re-dubbed Rolf after the hot 17 going on 18 Nazi from The Sound Of Music. Don't get Bobby wrong dear hearts, they were all for the break-up, especially after the little scamp explained his reasons for his "Vote Against Hillary."

So, as all my reading rainbow readers know, into Bobby's world of festive musical cabaret must come a little comedy now and then (see Bobby's review of Jackie Hoffman Themeless: HERE). Well, little could not in any way describe the big, fat laugh-o-bonanza that is Julia Sweeney's OLDER & WIDER. The still lovely La Sweeney, with her shining blue-green eyes and youthful face under a gorgeous shock of gray-white hair, took over the stage and delivered to her audience the full impact of her storytelling powers. The creator of so many SNL characters is also many things in life - mother, wife, actress, comedienne (I love that word and I won't stop using it), writer, monologist, improv artiste, but it all boils down to her biggest gift to all of us; standing on stage and talking about her life. All alone, with no sets, props or PatFat suit, Sweeney was very fetching in all black, underneath that shock of white hair, and lighting that emphasized her smooth cheekbones and wide, endearing smile. As with all things for the Irish Catholic cum Athiest Sweeney, self-deprecation without self-annihilation is her chief comedy mode. Beginning with a story about being back in New York and going to see a Broadway show, she tells of how she was descending the grand stairs to the ladies lounge (more carefully now than in years past) and how, upon spying another gray-haired lady carefully coming down the staircase opposite, they shared a moment of understanding and laughter as they did the "Step to my left, Step to my right" dance, in order to avoid one another, before realizing that she was, in fact, looking in a mirror at herself... And that's the last spoiler you'll get from me here... mostly.

Celebrating her years and talking about how women of a certain age (and hair color) are invisible in the world, she tells of deftly using that invisibility as her superpower to eavesdrop on the world. She loves it, in fact, anywhere but on stage or when trying to get service from wait-staff. Her audience Sunday night did not disappoint Julia in this, as we sat, enrapt by her stories and unwrapped by the laughter pouring out of us like liquor on a Saturday night. In the parlances of "the biz," She Slew, She Killed, She Put It Over. Her life is a wealth of funny for Sweeney, from talking about adopting her daughter from China as a single mom to dealing with all the know-nothings of the world asking if Mulan was indeed named for the Disney character (finally she just started saying yes). Sweeney speaks of the day 7th grader Mulan was old enough to realize that mommy was "a little bit famous" and the biggest reason why was the impossible-to-determine gender character Pat. Sitting her daughter down to show her 1994's It's Pat: The movie (a film Sweeney today openly acknowledges as horrible) she is left to wonder from Mulan's reaction if she was, perhaps, the Al Jolson of androgyny. Her rich family life is the well she drinks from most often and why not? With a daughter from China, an Ashkenazi Jewish husband, and her role as lapsed Irish Catholic who found atheism and then joined a Unitarian Church mom & wife, lots goes on in the Sweeney/Blum manse. It is all filtered through the lens of Sweeney's enlightened observations that find paradox, humor, and change around every corner.

In the end, it was all good that her daughter dropped ROLF and is now off to college, leaving her mother to find more purpose and more comedy in this world as she looks for things to fill her "Mom Time." We are certain this next chapter will yield even more hilarity for our generations' Erma Bombeck and we can't wait.

Sweeney has added another show at Joe's Pub next Sunday, November 10 (see link below) And you should definitely put on your pumps and take the ride downtown my dearlings because Bobby gives Julia Sweeney a most solid 4 out of 5 Rainbows.

Sweeney, like many celebs and other smart people, has announced she is deleting her Ye Olde Facebooke Page in response to Zuckernerd's outrageous lack of grown-up responsibility. So, Keep up as follows:

Her Webby is: HERE
Her Twitter is: HERE
Her YouTubes are: HERE
Pick up tickets to Julia Sweeney's OLDER & WIDER November 10: HERE