Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ Presents
THE 8th ANNUAL FUNNY GIRLZ: A SMORGASBORD OF WOMEN’S HUMOR
Ph: (415) 431-7363 • lisag@igc.org • www.koshercomedy.com
For Immediate Release Contact: Lisa Geduldig: (415) 431-7363
March 15, 2006 Please do not publish this phone number.
E-mail: lisag@igc.org
Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ Presents…
THE 8TH ANNUAL FUNNY GIRLZ: A SMORGASBORD OF WOMEN’S HUMOR
SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2006 @ 8PM
HERBST THEATRE, 401 VAN NESS AVE., SAN FRANCISCO
TIX: City Box Office: www.cityboxoffice.com
INFO: www.koshercomedy.com • HI RES PHOTOS: www.koshercomedy.com/press
Partial proceeds benefit the creation of a comedy class for inner city girls.
San Francisco… The producer of Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ brings you THE 8TH
ANNUAL FUNNY GIRLZ: A SMORGASBORD OF WOMEN’S HUMOR. As always,
this annual celebration of women comedians promises to be hysterical and features a
diverse line-up of internationally, nationally and locally known funny female
comedians… Muslim, Jewish, African American, lesbian, straight, short (3‟6”), tall…
Funny Girlz was born in 1999 when stand-up comic/comedy producer, Lisa Geduldig,
started taking inventory of stage time being given to women at mainstream comedy
clubs. Even in San Francisco in 2006 it is still minimal, though there is certainly no
shortage of funny female comics on the circuit. One need only check the weekly listings
for San Francisco comedy clubs, and what you‟ll find is that 50 weeks out of the year the
line up consists of 3 male comics at each club. There are 2-3 women who get booked at
the clubs each year during those remaining two weeks. And thus, Funny Girlz, an
annual celebration of funny and talented female stand up comics, was created.
This year‟s show features:
•Carol Leifer — Former head writer for Seinfeld; David Letterman Show regular
•Shazia Mirza — British Pakistani Muslim comic from London; 60 Minutes
•Luenell —BET‟s Comic View; opener for Sinbad, Dave Attel, and Jamie Foxx
•Tanyalee Davis — 3‟6” comic; Maury Povich Show; Melbourne Comedy Festival
•Lisa Geduldig — Your hostess and purveyor of fine comedy
Comedians’ Bios:
CAROL LEIFER (pronounced lee-fer) is an acclaimed stand up comedian, writer, and
producer who has paved a variety of paths in a field where not many female comedians
have ventured. The Long Island native began her stand up career in the late 1970's,
performing at such well-known New York comedy clubs as The Comic Strip, Catch a
Rising Star, and The Improv. Her “big break” came when David Letterman unexpectedly
showed up at the Comic Strip and caught one of her performances. His visit led to
twenty-five appearances on NBC‟s Late Night with David Letterman. In addition,
Letterman also produced Carol‟s 1988 Cinemax special Carol Doesn’t Leifer Anymore.
~ Continued on next page~
Carol spent three years as a writer for Seinfeld and eventually served as the show‟s
producer. The most notable episodes she wrote include “The Rye” and “The Lip Reader”
starring Marlee Matlin. Her outstanding work on the show led to both Writer‟s Guild
and Emmy Award nominations. Following that, Carol served as a writer and
supervising producer on HBO‟s critically acclaimed, The Larry Sanders Show. Recently,
she penned pilots under deals with both Brad Grey Television and Big Ticket TV. In
2003, Carol returned to her stand-up roots and starred in her own Comedy Central
special. She also served as the Executive Producer of Ellen DeGeneres‟ show Ellen Again
and as Co-Executive Producer of the Dreamworks/ABC series It’s Like, You Know.
Previously, Carol starred in and executive produced the WB sitcom, Alright Already.
Carol has written, produced and starred in three specials for Showtime: Carol Leifer
Comedy Cruise (1989), Really Big Shoo (1990), Gaudy, and Bawdy And Blue (1992), which
was nominated for three cable ACE Awards. She also appeared in HBO‟s Young
Comedian Special and The Rodney Dangerfield Special. One of Carol‟s greatest career
dreams came true when she appeared with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, two
months prior to his retirement. She went on to be a frequent guest star on the show and
has also appeared on numerous other shows including Dr. Katz, Politically Incorrect with
Bill Maher, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Her hosting duties have included four
seasons of A&E’s Caroline’s Comedy Hour and guest stints on Talk Soup and Later.
Carol has remained a fixture on the stand up circuit. “I‟ve played every two-bit laugh
shack across this great country of ours,” she quips. One highlight of her road work
includes opening for Frank Sinatra in Las Vegas. He was quoted after the show as
saying, “I wish my mother had been that funny -- I wouldn‟t have had to work so hard.”
SHAZIA MIRZA is a British-born Pakistani Muslim comedian. The London-based
comic is the UK‟s foremost female Muslim stand up, a job that many in her culture
would frown upon. (She even has death threats to prove it.) Shazia is in huge
international demand and performs sold out shows all over Europe including Kosovo
and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she has performed “The Last Temptation of
Mirza.” She received a degree in Biochemistry and worked as a science teacher before
starting a career in stand-up comedy in 2000. In a very short space of time, Shazia
worked her way up the comedy ladder. The following year, she won The Hackney Empire
Best New Act Competition at the London Comedy Festival and the next year won The
People’s Choice Best Comic Award. The Oxygen Channel did a profile on her, as have
Danish, French, German and Swedish Networks. She presented 10 Things You Always
Wanted To Know About Islam (But Were Afraid To Ask) on the BBC and was featured in a
BBC documentary Asian in the UK. She has appeared on numerous British talk shows,
and the BBC‟s First Sight made a documentary about her called Funny Girl. In 2003, The
Sunday New York Times Magazine did a feature story on her, and in 2004 she was
featured on 60 Minutes. She has appeared on Comedy Central and at the Vagina
Monologues‟ V Day event at The Royal Albert Hall. Eve Ensler asked her to write her
own monologue for the show. Shazia‟s first US appearance was at Funny Girlz 2003,
after producer, Lisa Geduldig read an article about her in the British edition of Elle
magazine. Since then Shazia has become a regular in New York and has performed
elsewhere on the East Coast and in Canada. www.shaziamirza.org
~ See next page for additional bios~
LUENELL, formerly Oakland‟s bad girl of comedy and now LA's, is returning "b(l)ack
by popular demand" to Funny Girlz for the 4th time! She has opened for Sinbad, Dave
Attel, and Jamie Foxx, and her TV appearances include Nash Bridges, Ricki Lake Show, and
Love Connection. She has been in the films The Rock, and So I Married An Ax Murderer and
starred in Never Die Alone with rapper DMX and David Arquette. Luenell just completed
a feature film coming out this year with Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Ali G.). She is a former
cast member of Beach Blanket Babylon (as characters including Tina Turner and Diana
Ross). When she lived in the Bay Area, she was the host of Soul Beat TV's Morning Show.
Luenell runs two weekly comedy shows in LA. She has kicked ass at Laugh-a-palooza, a
comedy industry festival in Atlanta, has done a segment on ET Magazine as well as has
been featured on Comic View on Black Entertainment Television (BET). Her outrageous
comedy style leaves audiences rolling in the aisles. www.heyluenell.com
TANYALEE DAVIS, measuring 3'6", is the Ferrari of comedy - low to the ground and
kind of racy. She started doing stand-up-on-a-chair in 1990 after a brief but
disappointing NBA career. Today she has brought comedy to new heights headlining
throughout the world. Tanyalee was the winner of the 2003 Norman G. Brooks Stand Up
Comedy Scholarship Competition held at the Melrose Improv. The event was judged by
many Hollywood celebrities. In the summer of 2005, Tanyalee was part of Abnormally
Funny People, an ensemble show performing at the world‟s largest festival in Edinburgh,
Scotland. The show was sponsored and filmed by SkyTV in which a documentary was
also made. In 2001, Tanyalee headlined her own show at the prestigious Melbourne
Comedy Festival and received great reviews. In 1999 Tanyalee placed 2nd in the Seattle
Comedy Competition. She was the first woman in 10 years to make it into the finals.
Tanyalee was spotlighted on the premiere episode of Last Comic Standing 2 and is most
recognized for her multiple appearances on The Maury Povich Show where they focused
on her climbing career. Working on Austin Powers 3: Goldmember movie teaser was a
highlight of Tanyalee‟s career, along with featuring in a movie called, For the Love of
Money.” Tanyalee was seen on MTV‟s BASH and Dave Attel’s Insomniac Show: Live at the
House of Blues. Her perception of people and how they perceive her exaggerates the
humor of life's "little" tasks and routines. She has made a small yet significant dent in the
entertainment scene thus far, headlining throughout the US, her native Canada and the
UK. What she lacks in height she makes up in tenacity. Known as "the little lady with a
lot of BIG laughs," Tanyalee„s fresh perspective, from the ground up, inspires, enlightens
and entertains her audiences. www.tanyaleedavis.com
LISA GEDULDIG is a local stand-up comic and comedy producer. She is the creator,
producer, and MC of a variety of annual comedy shows—Kung Pao Kosher Comedy
(which just celebrated its bar/bat mitzvah); Funny Girlz; and The George Bush Going
Away Party: An Evening of Political Humor. Last summer she branched out and
produced the sold out Charo and Her Las Vegas Show at The Herbst Theatre in San
Francisco. Lisa, along fellow honoree, Daniel Handler, was recently given The Bay Area
Jewish Healing Center‟s 2006 “Healing and Humor” Award.
~See next page for Calendar Listing~
For Calendar Editors:
WHAT: Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ Presents…
The 8th Annual Funny Girlz:
A Smorgasbord of Women‟s Humor
with Carol Leifer, Shazia Mirza, Luenell, Tanyalee Davis, and
Lisa Geduldig
WHEN: Saturday, May 20, 2006 @ 8pm
WHERE: Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave. @ McAllister • San Francisco
TICKETS: $22.50, $25, & $27.50
City Box Office: (415) 392-4400
www.cityboxoffice.com
MORE INFO: (415) 522-3737
www.koshercomedy.com
PARTIAL PROCEEDS
BENEFIT: The creation of a comedy class for inner city girls.
PRESS: Contact Lisa Geduldig at (415) 431-7363 or lisag@igc.org
Hi res photos of all performers are available at
www.koshercomedy.com/press