Flickin' The Dolphin
Like most comedians, Jess Wood isnt afraid to talk dirty to her audience. I love a good finger bang, dont get me wrong, states Wood in a joke about when the Russian girl giving her a bikini wax slipped her an unexpected surprise. But somehow, Woods explicit routine doesnt come across as vulgar or crass. Instead, it has the tone of a good friend breaking down taboo subjects like masturbation and abortion. And making you laugh your ass off in the process.
Raised by naked vegans on welfare in Hollywood, CA, Wood moved to New York in 1993. In 1994, when she was a junkie waitress, Rick Shapiro found her and put her in his sketch comedy show, where she found she had a natural ability as a character actor. She honed her impersonation skills and, in 1995, entered the Best Amateur African-American Comedy Contest at the New York Comedy Club. Unsurprisingly, she was the only white person on stage. Surprisingly, she wonfour times. The producers of Def Comedy Jam discovered her there and took her to a California taping, where she bombed.
Eleven years later, Wood is filling comedy clubs around the city. This month she is doing a residence on the Lower East Side at Laugh Lounge. Her hour-long autobiographical show is a trip through, among other things, her teenage years smoking angel dust in the barrio, her career as a phone sex dominatrix, and the scary deluge of seasonal menstruation. Since the experience with the Russians finger, Wood quit waxing her privates and now shaves. She says shes noticed that a lot of guys are now shaving their pubes too. Go see her on Wednesdays this month to find out why.
June 13, 20, 27, Laugh Lounge, 151 Essex St. (betw. Houston & Stanton), 212-614-2500; 7, $7 ( 2 drink min.)