There is a pivotal scene in Blayne Weaver’s new romantic comedy, Weather Girl, in which the younger brother of the title character yells that it’s time for her to grow up and get a “real” job. The character—a thirty-something who just lost her boyfriend, her apartment, and her job– stands in shock for a moment, almost dumbfounded that anyone would suggest such a thing. The actress behind her, Tricia O’Kelley, knows that it is such a struggle that makes the success so much more worthwhile when it finally comes.

“Did I sometimes question if I was doing the right thing? Sure,” she admits. “But I really believe you have to follow your gut. I always said that if one day I woke up, and I thought it was no longer worth it, then I’d move on. Thankfully, I never got to that [place].”

When the Weather Girl script landed on her desk, O’Kelley was already co-starring on CBS’ The New Adventures of Old Christine with her real life BFF Alex Kapp Horner. She loved Weaver’s writing so much, though, she knew she wanted to help him get the project made at any cost—literally. Though there can be quite a bit of debt associated with independent film, O’Kelley never wavered and never had a second thought about pulling double-duty and stepping into a producer role for the first time.

O’Kelley, who graduated with a degree in Film and Television Production from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, has always wanted to just tell great stories, and she never let anything stand in her way or tell her she couldn’t. ‘It’s most rewarding when [you get a group of people together] who really want to do the project,” she explains. “That’s true independent filmmaking: it isn’t about “Oh, the money’s good, so yeah, I guess I’ll take [the role].” You have to really believe in the project and all of the people involved.”

It just seemed a natural progression, then, for her to take on the added behind-the-scenes responsibility if she wanted to see this project get its proper due. And O’Kelley managed to pull it together– though admittedly learning as she went along and by bringing her friends (like Kapp Horner) and past co-stars along with her.

“Honestly, that was one of the most refreshing things,” O’Kelley says so warmly she can’t be anything but smiling. “To go out to these people and have them love the script and believe in it as much as I did.” Though the dressing rooms were pretty much closets; there was often no heat; and top-billed actors like Blair Underwood, Enrico Colantoni, and Mark Harmon were working for a mere fraction of what they normally did, one by one they all signed onto O’Kelley’s “little film that could.” It is a true testament to the importance and influence of O’Kelley herself that so many would do whatever they could because they believed in her.

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“I hate waiting for the phone to ring,” Lisa Sundstedt divulges. “I create all of my own opportunities, and it’s what I encourage all of my students to do, too. That’s what stand-up is [after all].”

Sundstedt, a former actor and dancer, half-jokes that she started the stand-up comedy showcase Pretty Funny Women back in the mid-nineties after a guy told her she was “too pretty to be funny.” “I wanted to be a star; I wanted to be famous!” She laughs casually—but in all seriousness, it was Sundstedt’s fearless ambition and deep determination to make things happen for herself that allowed her to create such a forum.

Soon she found herself working much more behind the scenes as a writer and producer than a performer. “To be a comedian you need a really strong point of view,” Sundstedt explains. “Your audience needs to be able to sum you up in a few words…I found it was much harder to write for myself because I’m kind of a chameleon.”

Sundstedt knows that in order to achieve something you have to first believe you can do it. However, the most important thing might be to have a role model. “Somebody you’ve seen do it…to know you, too, can achieve it,” Sundstedt explains. She credits the women who really “[did] it all and put on a show” who came before her (like Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, and Bette Midler) as her own inspirations. To many trying to come up in comedy today, though, Sundstedt has become that inspiration.

Traditionally, comedy has been a field heavily dominated by machismo and often misogyny. Just a few weeks ago, Norm Macdonald publicly commented to an interviewer that he didn’t think “chicks” could draw the big laughs. Such a thing should be discouraging in 2009, but Sundstedt doesn’t let it stop her. In fact, to counter such attitude, she encourages her girls to dress up and do their hair and make-up like they’re going out on the town. She doesn’t want them to downplay their gender in order to fit in with the guys. “I don’t want you to ever be someone you’re not,” Sundstedt stresses. Instead of conforming, she wants them to carve out their own spaces.

Sundstedt teaches three workshops a week and encourages her students to “stay together; write together; and support each other.” She gushes when she discusses her classes and students and admits it is the one thing she can see herself doing forever. And though those who enroll in her classes are women who want to become comediennes, her words reach across all professions. “Helping other women…is so fulfilling,” Sundstedt glows. “Nothing is [greater] than having someone come up to me at graduation and say, ‘You made one of my dreams come true.’”

Pretty Funny Women can currently be seen at five venues around the country. For information on upcoming shows, please visit: www.prettyfunnywomen.com

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Traditionally comedy has been a male dominated industry. Sure, there’s never been a shortage of funny women, but their numbers in the biz were minimal. Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett showcased their talents through sitcoms and variety shows, and talk show hosts such as Ellen DeGeneres and Whoopi Goldberg have made their mark. But today, a new generation of funny, smart, and successful American women is taking over. This crop of talent is responsible for acting, performing stand-up, writing and directing—telling jokes with a side of sexy. They are the new female comic titans.

In the past, it wasn’t uncommon for women to be penalized for expressing themselves through sharp wit and sarcasm. The comedians of today are using their sex appeal to attract attention, and then hit it home with hilarity. Tina Fey, the former head writer of Saturday Night Live, writer of the film Mean Girls, and creator of the sitcom 30 Rock, is one of the most important figures in this new generation of comediennes. Fey has utilized her sexy librarian persona in all of her comedy sketches, which served to her advantage when she recently spoofed vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Take a look at Chelsea Handler, stand-up comedian, humorist, author, actress, and television host of Chelsea Lately. Every episode Handler walks out wearing stilettos, hiked up skirts, tight-fitting tops, and blown out blonde hair. Yes, sex sells—even in comedy.

It is significantly easier for women to make it on television than in movies. Most popular television series target women since female viewers outnumber men by approximately 30 percent during primetime. For that reason, television is a woman’s world. That’s part of the reason why there has been an explosion of female comedians on the small screen. Sarah Silverman, Tracy Ullman and Amy Sedaris are three of the top funny gals, each having their own comedy shows. Silverman stars and produces The Sarah Silverman Program, which has been a ratings success for Comedy Central. Ullman’s State of the Union on Showtime has garnered positive response and has been green lighted for a second season for 2009. Sedaris will be creating, writing and starring in her own sitcom for Fox TV. The ratings and rave reviews that their witty humor garners prove that being smart and funny is both profitable and marketable to the masses.

One of the biggest changes in the 21st century is that women are not just standing in front of the camera. More and more women are working as writers, directors, and producers. Tina Fey and the other comedians of the moment are breaking down barriers for other females and insisting that women be able to write their own jokes too. Who says women can’t be funny?

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Shawn Pelofsky, a vivacious Leo who craves the limelight and shares a profile with Barbara Streisand, has recently declared she is going “balls to the wall.”  Since graduating USC with a theater degree, she has dedicated the last eleven years to comedy and is finally quitting her day job. Since comedy (especially stand-up) can be a difficult niche for a woman to carve out, Pelofsky learned to develop a thick skin.

When you think of successful comedians, she points out, names that immediately come to mind are those of men: Dane Cook, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld.  There’s a stereotype that women comics only talk about their periods or how they hate men.  Pelofsky admitted, “Sometimes I get to the stage after a set of men all night…and people role their eyes, like ‘Who let her in? What’s a woman doing in here?’ and you feel it. You feel it from the audience and you feel it from the other comics.”

Rather than letting these feelings discourage her, she uses them as challenges to make her a better performer.  At certain clubs she is frequently billed in what she calls “the vagina spot,” because it’s usually the only slot to feature a woman.  This is the opening act, and the most difficult, because she’s warming up the crowd.  “I’m not scared,” she says, “You can put me in any venue and people aren’t going to get to me because I’m a pro.  I have to work through an audience. They’ve had no drinks, they just sat down, they battled traffic, you might as well hit them over the head with a mallet…So you’ve got to calm the people down.”

Sometimes they laugh and sometimes they don’t, but she keeps her attitude positive.  “You can always work more, you can always be better, you can always be funnier, you can always be stronger,” Pelofsky says.

Dedicating herself again and again to this philosophy she has performed as much as possible, even while balancing a day job.  “I was getting up at six in the morning, working till 5:30…I would then go straight to a gig, maybe drive to Santa Barbara that night, perform, come back, sleep three hours or so, get up, do it again, and on the weekends I was going away and performing as well.” That’s not even mentioning the challenges of maintaining relationships and friendships as well.

Most impressive is that even with her busy schedule, Pelofsky still wants to “give back.” She has gone on multiple tours to entertain our troops in Japan, Korea, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo.  Agreeing on a whim, she jokes, “It’s so hard to meet someone in Los Angeles.” But on a serious note says it turned out to be “the most rewarding experience I have ever faced.”

Now that Pelofsky is doing comedy full-time she has several projects in the works.  She has a packed schedule of live performances and is developing a screenplay entitled, “Think Pink,” which documents the trials and tribulations of Mary Kay sales reps. She also dreams of one day having her own talk show.  Her path is not an easy one, but through perseverance she has made it her own.  “I hope I can inspire other women to pursue a career in comedy because we need more of them.”

Want to know more about Shawn Pelofsky?

Check her out at: www.hahachick.com and www.myspace.com/hahachick

Up-Coming Performances:
The Comedy Store: Most Saturday nights
Pretty Funny Women at the Hollywood Improv: October 15th

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The Sundance Film Festival hit, Hamlet 2, arriveth in theaters nationwide this week.  An irreverent comedy from the co-writers of Team America: World Police and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, the film stars Steve Coogan (Night at the Museum) as eccentric high school drama teacher, Dana Marchz.  Marchz is a failed actor and what he lacks in the talent department, he makes up for with passion for his art and the desire to inspire his students.

When his stage adaptation of “Erin Brockovich” flops and receives harsh reviews from the ninth grade drama critic, the principal of Tucson’s West Mesa High School threatens to shut down the drama department.  Marchz rallies his ragtag group of students and hopes to save the program with a sequel to the Shakespearean classic “Hamlet,” which he ingeniously coins “Hamlet 2.”  Like the film itself, the inappropriately hysterical play which explores what would happen if “Hamlet” didn’t end with the death of the entire cast, is a huge hit with the community.  Despite opposition at almost every turn, with the help of Elisabeth Shue (playing herself) and an ACLU representative (Amy Poehler), freedom of speech and artistic expression prevail.

In a summer of raunchy comedies, this film stands out for its true originality.  While often outright offensive and tip-toeing the line between stupidity and insanity, the film proves to be hilarious and oddly genuine at heart.  In an impressive feat, Coogan somehow makes this loser lovable and the audience roots for him from start to finish.  Elisabeth Shue provides the film’s more subtle humor and shines playing herself, but in the form of a character who left the superficial world of acting to become a nurse.  The film’s highlight is the climatic performance of “Hamlet 2,” which brings down the house with musical numbers like “Rock Me Sexy Jesus.”  The story drags a little on its way to this impressive finale, but once you accept the preposterous and profane world that director Andrew Fleming (Nancy Drew) has created, you can appreciate Hamlet 2 for being inappropriately endearing.  As Shakespeare wrote in the original “Hamlet,” “though this be madness, yet there is method in’t” and the same is true for this wacky, but funny film.

That Girl says: Like it!  While Hamlet 2 may not be for everyone, fans of Napoleon Dynamite and Christopher Guest-like comedy will enjoy this off-beat laugher.  As for the rest of us, like the patrons of the play in the film’s finale, we’ll just be ‘simultaneously horrified and fascinated.’

Release Date:  August 27th, 2008 (Wide)
Running Time:  92 minutes
Rated:  R
Company:  Focus Features
Cast:  Steve Coogan – Dana Marschz
Catherine Keener – Brie Marschz
David Arquette – Gary
Amy Poehler – Cricket Feldstein
Elisabeth Shue – Herself
Director:  Andrew Fleming
Official Site: http://filminfocus.com/focus-movies/hamlet-2/movie-splash.php

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