Love those laughing liberals!

Before I get to the joy that was the Laughing Liberally show last night, let me thank my friends Hilary and Amy for being with Linda and me during the ride to Somerville. Because during the drive we were stalked for a creepily long time by a lone man in a big blue family van (it was an odd make, like an Oldsmobile or something). He stayed in the blindspot to the left rear of my car for a while, then sped up and pulled in the lane in front of me, then gestured--thumbs down, then something a little more on the obscene side--then sped up, then he took the same exit as us and "waited" for us.

But I wasn't going to speed up to be harassed by a guy that looked like "Red" on "That '70s Show" and whose politics apparently did not include the First Amendment right to put whatever the hell one wants on one's bumper. No ma'am, I'm not toopid.

Instead, I'm grateful I had Linda and Hilary and Amy in the car, urging me to hang back and let the looney go on ahead. And when he did finally turn off the highway, we agreed to all give him the peace sign.

I was busy driving, so I didn't see if everyone (I mean my lovely New Yorker Linda) did that, but I'm hopeful.

Am still wondering what on my bumper so offended the man: "Bush's Legacy: Leave no child a dime," "I'm for the separation of church and hate," "Noho," "Peace Corps," and last but not least, a rainbow sticker in the shape of a German Shepherd.

Such an inflammatory mix--I should be grateful I don't deal with crazed men in vans every day of my life, eh?

Or maybe it was just the vision of four women having fun in a car, dancing to the bad disco that was on the XM at the moment? Maybe he was an American Taliban, trying to squash fun wherever he roams? Who can tell?

Happily, that little brush with insanity did not spell doom for the rest of the evening: What a show! It went well, very well--it was SOLD OUT, for starters. Goody for Laughing Liberally and Jimmy Tingle!

The one fly in the ointment? The abortion joke (which sounds like an oxymoron anyway, this I am finally beginning to accept). That joke had its last airing last night, and while I thought there was hope for it, I was wrong. Dead air wrong.

If the liberals don't like it, it must go. Bye, bye abortion joke!

Anyway, the rest of my material worked wonders. Though fairly new, the "no cigar" joke continues to earn its place on my "must do" list, and while I flubbed the Adam & Steve joke a little, it still worked. Erectile dysfunction is a no-lose topic (for a lesbian, anyway), and who can't help but enjoy a little homophobe-centered humor? The folks in Somerville were happy to hear it all, Saints be praised.

While we're on the topic of the show, it was great to work for Jimmy Tingle again--what a wonderful guy and host. I was a little nervous when I found out I was the first comic up, but that was before I heard Jimmy opening the show and getting the crowd going--he had them roaring, so I knew the audience had it in them, and they kept it going for me and all the rest of the gang.

And who was the rest of the gang? Myq Kaplan, Scott Blakeman, Lee Camp, and Julie Goldman. With Baratunde Thurston there just to see the show. (Nice bit o' business, that.)

It's probably no surprise that I was particularly happy to work with the phenomenal Julie Goldman, whose enormous reputation is deserved and then some. Am also glad that I met her and talked to her before I saw her perform--I would have probably been more than a little starstruck had that happened. Okay, I would have been a lot starstruck. Awe would have rendered me mute, or only capable of saying something inane and/or stupid--which, of course, I still might have done, only she can say.

All I can say is this: If you haven't seen Julie perform, find a way to do so. During her set, she was swinging between scary/angry intensity and absolute goofiness, she had the people wild with laughter. And as I am a wuss extraordinnaire, I would not have had the nerve to talk to someone who was so obviously on top of her game. Little ol' me? (Yes, I'm a 47 year-old woman, but I still feel a child when it comes to The Comedy.)

Bottom line: What a great group of comics--it was a thrill to be able to perform with them, and to be part of the Laughing Liberally enterprise. Long may it rave!

And what a great way to spend a painful (aren't they all?) birthday. I may be 47, but I can still carry on for a fabulous cause. Woo!