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The New York Times Sunday August 29th, 2004 (Abbreviated Version) By Marek Fuchs Ex-Beauty Queens Say The Darnedest Things Classically, the Miss America contest has not been a feeder system for stand-up comedy. But earlier this month, Dena Blizzard, a former Miss New Jersey who lives in Runnemede, beat out dozens of other women from the New York City region to win the amateur category in the Ladies of Laughter contest. The event is designed to discover and showcase those with two qualities: an X chromosome and the ability to tell a knee-slapper. Started more than five years ago by Peggy Boyce, a former comedian, this year's incarnation pitted about 100 contestants, split between professionals and amateurs, against each other to vie for thousands of dollars in prizes and bookings, and more important, the exposure that comes from the contest, which has gained steam in terms of industry and public recognition. Though the early rounds took place in the separate regions of New Jersey, New York City and Long Island, the finals were held Aug. 14 at the Improv in Manhattan. In the Ladies of Laughter finals, Ms. Blizzard did one routine about how her husband asked for help in understanding her moods, which led to the "moodcast." "Hi," she said. "This is your wife, live from the mood center. Today, we seem to have mostly bitchy conditions, with just some patchy niceness, mostly when you're not around. Going into the weekend, it doesn't look good." Beauty pageants and comedy cattle calls do have things in common, Ms Blizzard said, like the competitive nature of women backstage. But Ms. Blizzard, hoping to leverage her most recent victory into appearances at bigger clubs, said that beauty pageants engender a particularly pitched quality of "nuttiness" because of the sole focus on beauty. "In comedy, what you look like doesn't matter," she said. "it's just you and the microphone."
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The Record August 8, 2004 (Abbreviated Version) By John Petrick Last Women
Standing
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BACK STAGE
September 6, 2002 (Abbreviated Version) By Amelia David Laughing Matters Truth is Stranger and Funnier Than Fiction NYC's Comedy Garden at Madison Square Garden recently hosted a packed, cheering house and an impressive list of judges from ABC Entertainment, PSNBC, Comedy Central, Oxygen Network and Resorts Atlantic City Casino, all there to witness the finals of the third successful year of the "Ladies of Laughter" contest. This search for "New York's Funniest Female" also benefited Gilda's Club of Westchester and the Long Island Breast Cancer Action Coalition. LOL, which had semifinals throughout the summer, is produced by former comedienne Peggy Boyce, who I think always deserves kudos for her continuing search to provide opportunities for women in comedy. While many highly reputable annual contests still provide little more than bragging rights, LOL stands out because comediennes in both professional and amateur divisions compete for $5,000 in cash prizes. You'd have to book a lot of $25 and $50 headline weekend spots at top NYC comedy clubs before you'd match this contest's $2,500 prize. It's also a career jumpstart that has provided valuable contacts and TV and club bookings to dozens of talented comediennes. This year it even got the attention of The New York Times, which ran a large and well-deserved article on "professional" division winner comedienne Stephanie Blum, who is also a very funny suburban mom of a toddler and a former high school psychologist. She wowed and won the crowd with a fun, family-oriented, and refreshingly G-rated routine that included jokes on the trial and tribulations of motherhood, wifedom, in-laws, and coping with her unique and wacky family.
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The New York Times August 11, 2002 (Abbreviated Version) By Marek Fuchs Punch Lines From the Suburbs The Funniest Woman in Westchester Plays Madison Square Garden …Last month, Ms. Blum was anointed the funniest woman in Westchester when she won a local "Ladies of Laughter" comedy contest. The contest sought humor in the land of subdivision, privet hedges and Volvos. Peggy Boyce, the executive producer of Ladies of Laughter, said she had been looking for grass-roots participation in comedy. "The whole polished look is in, with everyone trying to get the sitcom," she said. "But there's something to be said for women who speak for everyone." She spends most of her waking hours at The Westchester mall, where she watches the "funny mommies." There is the "Screaming Mommy," whose favorite parenting technique is to yell, "Don't make me yell at you!" Then there's the Mommy That's Just Had It," "who has, like six kids and breast feeds two at a time, basically not even wearing a shirt anymore." And what type of funny mommy is Ms. Blum?" I'm the Teaching Mommy," she said. "No matter how bad it gets, there's always a lesson to be had. If Noah scrapes himself and there is blood gushing, I'm like, 'What color is that? That's right, it's red." In the Comedy Garden, 350 people sat at tables, which were positioned in a semi-circle around the stage. Admission was $32.50, plus a two-drink minimum. The crowd was in the mood to laugh, a warmed up by the master of ceremonies, Patty Rosborough, a winner of the 2000 Ladies of Laughter event. Stephanie Blum was soon introduced onstage. She does not speak with the group voice of young comedians: she does not use obscenity. When the subject is sex, she is not graphic. She spoke, for example, about her husband's recent proposal to spice up their sex life. He urged her to be very vocal about telling him what she wanted while they were making love. She agreed and this is a transcript from the next time they made love: "Get off my hair. Take out the garbage. Make more money, Make more money. Buy me a house in Scarsdale!" At the end of her big finish, a bit about her son going to speech therapy to a man with a thick Indian accent, Ms. Blum received the first standing ovation of the night. Freddie Roman, the president of the Friar's Club, one of the night's six judges, was taken: "I thought her material was brilliant and original," he said. "She'll make a wonderful living, she really identified with the audience-every group out there. She was spectacular."
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New York Post
July 16th, 2002 (Abbreviated Version) By Tripp Whetsell Funny fems' fest If you love jokes bout Martha Stewart and hormone replacement, get ready for the Ladies of Laughter comedy festival. Tonight through Aug. 2, more than 100 women will be doing battle for the title of New York's funniest female. The third annual X-chromosome-only contest, cosponsored by Bud Light and The Post, is designed to showcase professional stand-up comics and wannabes. The top prize is $5,000 in cash prizes and the chance to appear on national television. Kicking off tonight, the two-week yuk-fest includes two shows at Dangerfield's hosted by local comedians Sue Costello, Karen Bergreen and Jessica Kirson. On Thursday, the contest heads to Westchester and Long Island for two semifinal events leading up to the championship at The Comedy Garden at Madison Square Garden on Aug. 2.
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The Star-Ledger
July 14, 2000 (Abbreviated Version) By Anthony Venutolo Contest opens doors for funny women Who says comedy ain't pretty? Starting Thursday, women across the tri-state area can compete in the foremost festival of funny females-The Bud Light Ladies of Laughter. For the third year in a row, the event (formerly known as The Funniest Female in New Jersey Contest) allows comediennes to compete for $5,000 in cash prizes over a series of six weeks at various comedy clubs in the area. But the money isn't really what it's about, says Peggy Boyce, the contest's creator and a former comic herself. It's really about exposure and allowing these women to perform in real clubs," says the Englewood resident. "Some of last year's contestants went on to become working comics. People will return their calls now." The contestant, who must be at least 21 years old to compete, will have the opportunity to perform in one of two categories: Professional, for those in the business for two or more years; and Novice, for those new to the open mike. The pros will have five minutes, and the amateurs will take to the stage for three. Originally a grass-roots operation, last year the contest fell under the aegis of Anheuser-Busch Inc., and Boyce says her goal is to establish a nationwide network of Ladies of Laughter contests (she also produces a similar event in Indiana). Las year more than 50 local women performed. Former East Brunswick resident Dana Eagle, one of the winners, has one on to appear on Comedy Central as well as Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen network. A comedy festival for women conceived by a woman - what does Boyce think of Jerry Lewis and his disparaging statement regarding female comic? She pauses and deadpans, "I always did think Dean was the funny one."
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Indianapolis Star June 4, 2000 (Abbreviated Version) By Lynn Ford Women struggle to get laughs Mary Armstrong wants to make you laugh. "I like kids, especially 2 to 3-year olds. Playing their job-they don't get all tense about their jobs, like grown-ups do. "They never come home from day care saying: That lace is going to be the death of me! If I see another Lego, I'm gonna throw up! Get me a Juicy-Juice-straight up! Mommy, if I win the lottery tonight, I'm gonna go in there in the morning and tell them to kiss my diapered butt!" Are you laughing? If so, you've put a smile on Armstrong's face, too. She's an Indianapolis stand-up comedian, one of several who will compete this month in a women-only talent search, yukking it up for $5000 in prizes and career opportunities. Bud Light Ladies of Laughter will begin at 8 p.m Monday in Crackers Broad Ripple Comedy Club. It will be the first of three preliminary rounds for amateurs and professionals, leading to the finals on June 29. Pros and amateurs from Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and other states not only will be vying to see who can make audiences laugh hardest. They'll also be joking about the things people say and do-how we mess up, how silly we look sometimes, stuff we see and hear every day but don't thing about much. Esteem can be an issue for female comedians. The stand-up industry isn't always female-friendly, says Peggy Boyce, the New Jersey comedian who created Ladies of Laughter.
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The New York Times August 1, 1999 (Abbreviated Version) Karen DeMasters Hearing the Laughter In Women's Lives "It is fitting that this is held in New Jersey because both New Jersey and women have been the butt of jokes for so long," said M. Boyce, who is from Englewood and teaches comedy classes as well as doing stand-up comedy. "The stat is known for gangsters and the Turnpike, but I think it is America's best-kept secret." Preliminary winners are selected by audience applause meters, but the final competition is to be judged by a television comedy producer and a casting director, a casino entertainment director and a producer from the cable network Comedy Central. Winners will receive gift certificates and cash prizes of up to $2,500 but "it's the exposure that is worth the most," Ms. Boyce said. "Even if they don't win, there will be agents and managers there, and the women will have been seen by industry professionals." Ms. Kramer, from River Edge, who won a preliminary competition for newcomers, said, "Just the fact that I am going to the finals makes me a winner." With a master's degree in acting from Ohio University, "I'm a trained actor," she added. "That's why I'm a bartender." The comedians disagree on whether it is substantially harder for women to make a living doing comedy than it is for men, but all agree that the genre is male dominated. "Even in clubs that say there are women-friendly, it is tough to see more than one woman in the lineup for a night," Ms. Boyce said. That's one of the reasons she likes to encourage female comedians. Ms. Croonquist, who would like to use her comedy to propel her into movies and television, said, "The pubic is afraid of hearing the same old man-bashing jokes." Ms. Langan pointed out: "There is no female in late-night television, as a co-host or sidekick or anything. That's where I would like this competition to lead for me." Speaking as an actress, Ms. Kramer said: "Comedy is hard for anyone because if you fail, you are doing it all on your own. If you are in a play and it fails, there are a lot of other people involved. "But what we have to overcome is that when you have a women with an opinion about something, people become intimidated. We have to train society to get over that."
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Atlantic City Press August 4th, 1999 By Michael Pritchard Funny Ladies out for laughs Friday at comedy contest Every comic performing in a backwoods bar before a crowd that isn't remotely interested in laughing has the same dream: hitting the big time...headlining at a major casino..getting a sitcom. Former comic Peggy Boyce had the dream, but she also had a second version of the dream. What if she produced a show-a competition really-where young comics could get some exposure and valuable stage experience to help them achieve the dream? Boyce mad that dream a reality last year, putting on a small local competition for female comics in the Bergen County area. This year, her dream hit the big time. Last year's local shows have become a regional competition with a national sponsor, Anheuser-Busch's Bud Light brand. "Getting them as a sponsor has definitely brought this up a notch," Boyce said. "The response has been amazing." The Bud Light Ladies of Laughter contest is made up of four semifinals around the state leading up to the finals on Friday in the Circus Maximus Theater at Caesars Atlantic City. Comics who made the finals will experience part of the dream by getting there and playing a major casino theater. It's a long way in a short time for the contest, which hatched from an idea Boyce had to promote women comics. "When I was touring and playing the comedy clubs, I noticed that they rarely had more than one female comedian on the bill," Boyce said. "There are a lot of female comics who just have a hard time getting any stage time. The idea of this is to get them some time and maybe help jumpstart their careers." Boyce's first idea was to create her own award, the Mary Jo Comedy Awards, named after Mary Jo Wobker, a friend and comic who died of cancer. The awards were judged through videotapes. The awards evolved into a show last year called New Jersey's Funniest Female Comedy Series. "That was sort of a test for the idea," Boyce said. The test worked and Bud Light agreed to sponsor the event. Now the stakes are very high. Contestants competed in four preliminary events under a nationally known label for the chance to perform at a nationally known venue. "It was strange," Boyce said. "We actually had to turn down a lot of people, we got so many applicants. Some of the contestants are fairly experienced. Others are just starting out." About 80 comics will be whittled down to 10 when the competition hits Atlantic City. And while winning and a $5,000 prize will certainly be nice, exposure is the key. All the contestants hope for the type of break that took Rosie O'Donnell and Brett Butler from comedy clubs to television. "There is still a great opportunity for comics," Boyce said. "Television networks know that if they can find a strong comic, they can build a whole show around them." Just by coincidence, one of the judges is in casting for ABC television. The big time is calling.
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