by Debbie Tuma
In honor of Mother’s Day, women comics stirred up laughter at the Sticks and Stones Comedy Club, newly located at the Southampton Cultural Center. About 100 people turned out to enjoy this elegant and intimate new theater venue at the center on May 11.
The lineup of comedians included Joy Behar, long-time comedian and host of “The View,” who lives in the Hamptons. She said she is not doing so much stand-up comedy now, but focusing on her writing. She read some humorous monologues she wrote about her former days as a high school teacher in Long Island. Another well-known comedian, Angela LaGreca, an award-winning producer and writer, having worked at the TODAY show and The Meredith Vieira Show, joked that she was “born hyper” and made a great auctioneer. She joked about Botox in the Hamptons, “everyone has so much work done out here…they want to laugh but they can’t.” She did imitations of Cher, Julie Andrews and Barbra Streisand, and shared her own amazing voice, singing “Ave Maria.” “My family got me to sing at all our events,” she added.
Joe Winchell, the one male comedian, was the host. He has appeared at comedy clubs all over Long Island and New York City. He has a podcast on YouTube named “Millennial Stoner.” He introduced several other Long Island comics including Rosanne Sorrentino, of West Islip, and her daughter, Bridget Kavanagh. Sorrentino joked about the woes of being under 5 feet tall, the ups and downs of being a middle school assistant principal, and the hard job of motherhood. Kavanagh joked about her mother, saying, “She got mad when I spent $2.99 on a TV movie, when she spent $80 on face cream.”
Proceeds from this Mother’s Day show helped to support The Ellen Hermanson Foundation, which has long been providing services to breast cancer patients in the Hamptons, through Stonybrook Southampton Hospital as well. Julie Ratner, the foundation’s creator, was also at the comedy night. She and Abby Russell, founder of Sticks and Stones Comedy Club, plan to do other programs on healing and wellness in the future.
“It has been shown that laughter is healing,” said Russell. “So I wanted to bring more laughter and comics out to Southampton, and I started Sticks and Stones Comedy Club a year ago. We also have plays, music and films here.”
Russell, who is a filmmaker and TV producer, has planned a full agenda for this year-round comedy club, bringing in national headliners. On June 15 will be a Father’s Day Weekend Comedy Show, starring Eddie Brill and his son, Dan Madonia. Eddie Brill is a world renowned comedian who was David Letterman’s comedy producer for 17 years. He will be leading a comedy master class during that weekend.
One of the funniest women in the world, Vanessa Hollingshead, will appear on July 26 and 27, and Chris Rock’s brother, Jordan Rock, will appear on August 17. The Hamptons Comedy Film Festival will take place August 22-25, with feature films, short films, and TV pilots.
I’m trying to bring more comedy out here,” said Russell. “We will continue to bring these venues to Southampton all year long.”
For more information, visit www.sticksandstonescomedyclub.com
