Jennifer Childs on what's so funny
If Jennifer Childs, 43, traveled back in time, her destination would be vaudeville. The actress, playwright, director, and cofounder of 1812 Productions is a history-of-comedy "nerd" whose holiday shows are Philadelphia classics. Her troupe is named for 1812 Pine St., where Childs lived in 1998 when it began. This holiday's show is a fresh spin on 1812's staple, This Is the Week That Is.
If Jennifer Childs, 43, traveled back in time, her destination would be vaudeville. The actress, playwright, director, and cofounder of 1812 Productions is a history-of-comedy "nerd" whose holiday shows are Philadelphia classics. Her troupe is named for 1812 Pine St., where Childs lived in 1998 when it began. This holiday's show is a fresh spin on 1812's staple, This Is the Week That Is.
Pint-sized in every way but talent - "Trust me, I know more short jokes than you do" - Childs is a Lutheran pastor's daughter. Raised in Ohio, she adopted Philadelphia as a University of the Arts freshman in 1986. In this edited interview with staff writer Michael Matza, she spoke of the joys and pressure of being funny for a living.
Question: What is funny?
Jennifer Childs: The simple answer is everything is funny. . . . Everyday comedy, for me, is the most complex. I ran into a woman at the gym . . . 80 years old [with] a cane. She said: "Oh, you have to do a physical comedy piece about my hip replacement. It is so hilarious. Look how I have to put on my underwear." And she does this little thing with her cane of picking up her underwear. She could have chosen to see that hip replacement as a documentary on aging . . . but she was like, "No, this is slapstick physical comedy."
Q: Who is funnier, men or women?
Childs: Whoooaaa! Dangerous question! It depends. . . . Some things speak to [a man's or woman's] specific experience. Some are universally funny. . . . Poking people in the eyes [Three Stooges-style] - always funny. This [her elbow slips from the table] - always funny.
In physical comedy, I think often men are funnier because we are more willing to see men like, ass-over-teakettle, butt-in-the-air. When women do it there is always a little bit of, "Oh, is she going to get hurt? That's a little indelicate." When you look at slapstick, Lucille Ball was amazing; people laughed heartily. But heavy-duty physical comedy has in general been the tromping ground of men.
Q: Comedians who connect with audiences say, "I killed." Is comedy aggressive?
Childs: Yes it is. It's an aggressive act. I mean, come on, standing up and saying, "I am going to make you laugh." . . . That is why so few women were involved. It was unladylike. It goes against every rule. You know: "Keep your legs together" - not in comedy. "Keep your voice down" - not in comedy. "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" - not in comedy.
Q: The national mood is grim. What works comedically?
Childs: Bipartisan bashing is good, [we have to be] equal-opportunity offenders. . . . People are tired of . . . people saying [divisively] hateful things.
Q: How did you create the new holiday show?
Childs: I write the evergreen pieces before we start rehearsals. I'll say: "OK, I know we are going to do the Republicans as a Dr. Seuss book. . . . And I think I want Newt Gingrich to be the Gingrinch." . . . For me it's about trying to capture the mood of the country.
Q: What develops?
Childs: We start out with the ensemble saying everything is so bad they want to [escape into] a Broadway musical, Oklahoma! But it is about the bankers and the Occupy movement. I do the curtain speech as my favorite character in the world, Patsy.
Q: Tell us about Patsy, your South Philly alter ego.
Childs: Jilline [Ringle], my friend who passed away at 40 [from breast cancer] could do that South Philly accent, and I could not. She taught me. I spent a whole summer learning. . . . We would just riff as [characters] Peg and Patsy, smoking unfiltered Pall Malls and drinking Rock and Rye. . . . I live in South Philly. . . . I am fascinated by [the role of] the wise fool. You could be the most intelligent person in the world, and that Philadelphia accent makes you sound less intelligent. . . . But they are very smart. They've got this great Old World wisdom.
Q: Any fallout from your neighbors?
Childs: Patsy is beloved. . . . She comes from a place of love. It is not mocking or a place of hatred. It comes from a place of deep respect.
Q: Is comedy harder than drama?
Childs: Much harder. . . . Anybody can make you cry. The whole world is trying to make you cry.
Q: Is it more interactive?
Childs: For me, the final character in any comedy is the audience. . . . It's the old adage: If a joke is spoken in the forest, and there's nobody there to hear it, is it funny? You need that person's response, whether silence or laughter.
Q: How are you able to be funny even at times of personal crisis?
Childs: At the end of the day, I am a minister's daughter. My dad says, "Everybody ministers in their own way." For me, comedy is about the audience. . . . I don't have to get a laugh. I have to give people something, and hopefully it will provoke a laugh. . . . The true art, for me, is not making it about myself.