Friday 5ive- November 11, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly post featuring five things that caught my attention this week.

1) The weather has been so crazy once again. On Monday, the temperature was 72 degrees and it was strange to see ice skaters at Rockefeller Center skating when it was so warm out. I'm sure there were people wearing shorts and t-shirts out there.

2) Times Square always has something interesting to look at (besides the Naked Cowboy), and now they have three huge globe displays, featuring the Broadway shows Aladdin, The Lion King, and Wicked.

3) I saw Six, the Broadway musical about the six wives of Henry VIII. It was so cleverly done, each of the six wives sang a song about their lives and why they had it the toughest out of the six, set in a rock concert setting. (It's hard to beat Anne Boelyn and Katherine Howard, the two wives who were beheaded.) Each actress had an amazing singing voice, it was hard to choose who was the best. The small female band consisted of a keyboard player, guitarist, bassist, and drummer in keeping with the Girl Power theme of the show. The songs were fantastic too, and you can bet that people will be searching for more information on these ladies when they get home. I did enjoy the two page spread in the Playbill titled A Little Bit of Her-Story that gave us a brief sketch of each of the wives. Go see this one for fun, music, and a little bit of history that you can throw out at your next party to impress your friends.

4) I binged all ten episodes of Bad Sisters on Apple TV+ this week. The Irish series follows the Garvey sisters who, in a desperate move to save their sister Grace from her horrific husband John Paul, attempt to kill him. The series moves back and forth in time, starting with JP's funeral, and we see why each of the sisters had their own reason to want him dead. (John Paul may be the most despicable character on all of TV.) Throw in two brothers (the owners of the insurance agency where JP had a life insurance policy) who suspect foul play and have their own reasons for wanting to find out exactly how JP died. Sharon Horgan, who created and starred in Amazon Prime's series Catastrophe (which I loved), plays the oldest sister Eva who raised her sisters after their parents died in an accident, and she is fabulous as always.  All of the performances are excellent. I actually had my hands over my mouth in the last episode when we find out how JP died. I did guess one twist, but the end shocked me. This one lives up to the hype. 

5) I read Laurie Notaro's humorous memoir Excuse Me While I Disappear- Tales of Midlife Mayhem. Notaro never fails to make me laugh, and this book hits particularly close to home for anyone in the 50s and 60s. Her tales of trying to figure out how to cast her favorite show (Escape to the Chateau) from her phone to her TV without flying in her nephew from Phoenix to do it, keeping track of all of the pills she takes for "sore eyes, dry eyes, dry mouth, rubber-band knees, achy toes, low blood pressure, high blood pressure", and all of the post-menopausal women who can't sleep and are on Facebook at 3am exchanging recipes, painting their toenails, and posting pictures of puppies that are not theirs, had me laughing out loud, sometimes in recognition. The schemes she comes up to stop life's annoyances are worthy of I Love Lucy. If you are "of a certain age" as they say and like to laugh, this one is for you. 

Have a safe, healthy week. Get your flu shot if you haven't already.

Three Books by Funny Ladies

I really enjoy a funny book, and recently I read three books by funny ladies that made me laugh out loud. And with the election madness that seems to be pervading the news, now is the time to laugh.

Laurie Notaro is new to me, and she writes both fiction and non-fiction. Her latest non-fiction book is Housebroken, and after reading this gut-busting book, I immediately went to find any of her fiction at the used book shop where I volunteer.  (I scored with there's a (slight chance I may be going to hell.) 

Notaro recounts her many failings in the housekeeping and parenting department, and I loved her way with words in describing the feelings most of us have about being less-than in the days when we are bombarded with HGTV shows about uber-couples who remodel other people's homes and the perfect recipes people are creating in Facebook videos.

Notaro was unfriended by her father on Facebook, had no shelves in her refrigerator when her boyfriend (now husband) came to visit and brought beer (she told him to pile it on top of everything else), and her take on the famous book about tidying up your life by getting rid of all the things that don't bring you joy had me in stitches. If you are not a Martha Stewart acolyte, Housebroken is for you. Fans of Jen Lancaster will enjoy this one.

Jill Kargman's situation comedy Odd Mom Out on Bravo is one of my new guilty pleasures. She plays a version of herself- wife, mother, trying to build a career as a photographer on the Upper East Side in New York City, an off-kilter brunette in a world of cookie-cutter blonde perfect mommies- that is hilarious. If you have not watched the show, do yourself a favor and find it on demand.

Kargman's new book is Sprinkle Glitter On My Grave, a funny collection of essays that builds on her TV show. Since I live in her neighborhood, I related to many of her observations. She writes about a man who was panhandling outside a local popular restaurant. She usually gave him a few dollars, but this time offered to buy him lunch at the diner. He agreed and gave her a very particular, well-thought out order for a smoked, not roasted, turkey sandwich with Russian dressing on the side and a complete listing of additional fixings.

Kargman makes lists of things that bug her, like dog strollers (a big thing in NYC), fur vests, and going over the Visa bill with her husband. You don't have to live in NYC to enjoy Kargman's biting humor, but if you do you will enjoy Sprinkle Glitter On My Grave on another level. I almost fell off the treadmill laughing at some of her stuff, so be careful when reading.

Jen Kirkman is a standup comedian, best known to TV viewers from her many appearances on Chelsea Handler's Comedy Central talk show. Her latest book I Know What I'm Doing- And Other Lies I Tell Myself is a memoir about getting married, getting divorced a year later, turning forty, and life as a comedian.

I expected the book to be funny, which it is, but is also very moving. Kirkman writes very honestly about divorcing her husband after a brief marriage, and how hard it was to admit that she had made a mistake.

She writes about dating and life on the road as a comedian, but my favorite part of the book is where she decides to travel abroad by herself. She describes getting up the courage to eat alone in a restaurant and a horrible Twitter debacle she had while overseas that could have ended her career.

Kirkman is a terrific writer, and her tribute to the late Joan Rivers and how Joan inspired her is wonderful. She recalled passing Joan Rivers on the street when she was struggling to make it and then years later getting to have lunch together and what that meant to her.

I Know What I'm Doing- And Other Things I Tell Myself reminded me of comedian Todd Glass's memoir The Todd Glass Situation, in that both books are honestly written and very moving accounts of their lives as comedians and human beings on this planet.

All three books contain lots of profanity, so if that is not your thing, you have been warned.