Standup comedy while being very entertaining for the onlooker is equally tough
for the presenter. But some like veteran
Maryellen Hooper make it look like a piece of cake. An ace standup comedian, Maryellen Hooper, has performed everywhere
from clubs, to colleges to theaters to television. In 1998 she broke all records
when American Comedy Awards recognized her outstanding contribution to stand up
comedy and presented her the 'Female Comedian of the Year Award'. Having
appeared on several shows like ' The Dennis Miller Show', 'The Tonight Show'
with Jay Leno, 'The Martin Short Show' and she had her own special half hour
show on Comedy Central, known as 'Lounge Lizards'.
A storyteller of par excellence, she very smoothly weaves her life's stories
into her act without ever making it sound crude or offensive. Her act is draws
from her own life and is greatly influenced by her journey as a woman, wife and
mother. She often claims that this way is certainly cheaper than therapy! Having
adopted not one but two kids, Nate and Zeke, a lot of her stories revolve around
her family and kids and her journey with them. She often says that she does not
have to write, but just has to report instead. Every time she wants to come up
with a new story all she has to do is watch her kids for ten minutes and they
are sure to do something extremely hilarious.
Maryellen Hooper's act of adopting kids did not come as a surprise to many. She has been someone who has always been in favor of adoption. In one of her very famous quotes she says that if you really wanted to see some angry mothers you could take your six week old to the park in a jogging stroller, wearing a size six miniskirt. She has always stood in favor of adoption more than conceiving. She says that she had seen the video of giving birth and you have to be holding a grudge and she wouldn't even want to conceive with no drugs! Both her children Nate and Zeke, though born of different mothers, were born in Las Vegas, while she had been working as a comic there. Each time, she got to know about a child who was about to be born, from friends and acquaintances, she would put up an application for adoption.
Though she always favored adoption, she never tried to severe the children's
ties with their birth mothers. Infact, both the times, she adopted a child, she
was present in the delivery room, when the child was delivered. Now she happily
lives with her husband mark, and her two sons, in Celebration, Florida, and
weaves most of her stories around them. Even her famous blog called 'Stinky flowers ' is a euphemism for Motherhood. Many a times, in her stand up act she
includes a small anecdote about why perfectly fertile couples would choose to
adopt, rather than bear children of their own.
With Maryellen Hooper, having adopted her two sons, and very proudly so, many
others have followed suit. At best she is not only a standup comedian who loves
her job of entertaining people but is also an ideal mother to her two sons who
draws inspiration for her job from them.
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