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Performers

PHRANC has described herself as “the All-American Jewish Lesbian Folksinger” for more than 25 years. She has recorded five collections of music, including Folksinger (1985, Rhino Records), I Enjoy Being a Girl (1989, Island Records), Positively Phranc (1991, Island Records), Goofyfoot (1995, Kill Rock Stars), Milkman (2000, Phancy Records). As a visual artist, she has adopted the moniker “The Cardboard Cobbler.” As a teenager she attended The Feminist Studio Workshop at The Women’s Building in LA, where she focused on songwriting and silk-screening. In the late 1970’s she was a member of Nervous Gender and Catholic Discipline in the LA punk rock scene. She has toured internationally with many acclaimed and notorious artists such as The Knitters, The Smiths, The Pogues, and Morrissey. Both her music and visual work employ humor to raise consciousness, trigger response, stimulate memories and provoke discussion. As the recipient of the 2007 C.O.L.A. Fellowship, she is currently writing songs about LA that will debut this Spring. She works in Santa Monica where she resides with her partner and two children.

Phranc sings “M-A-R-T-I-N-A”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFPlOQy4p9w

PHRANC web site

DIANE AMOS is a San Francisco-based actress and comedian who had a unique upbringing: she was raised in a household with lesbian mothers, one African-American and one Jewish. For the past 14 years, Diane has been The Pine Sol Lady in their national commercials. She has appeared in numerous films including Nine Months, Copycat, Angels in the Outfield, EDTV, and Twisted with Samuel Jackson and Ashley Judd. Diane was a semi-finalist in Star Search; has been on A& E’s Evening at The Improv, Lifetime’s Girls’ Night Out and Comedy Central’s Women Aloud. In addition, Diane has been a winner on the game shows: Wheel of Fortune, $25,000 Pyramid, and Super Password. Diane is in her second year of a national speaking tour on sisterhood and is the mother of two.

GINA YASHERE hails from London (born to parents from Nigeria) and shoots from the hip. She broke onto the US comedy scene with her recent appearance on Last Comic Standing, in which she was one of the 10 finalists. Gina comes to the US on the heels of sold-out performances in the UK. Her bombastic delivery, infectious personality, and “cheeky” observations have wowed audiences in the UK, the US, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Montreal, South Africa, and all over Europe. Her unique take on being both a cultural insider and outsider never fails to raise the roof. Following an early career as an elevator mechanic, Gina made her comedy debut at The Edinburgh Festival in 1995. Her shows sold out almost immediately and overnight both audiences and critics alike were smitten. She has made numerous appearances on TV and radio. Her TV appearances have also included Def Comedy Jam in the US, and Celebrity Fame Academy in the UK. Gina has appeared on the West End stage in The Vagina Monologues and has written several plays for BBC Radio 4 and sketches for Richard Blackwood’s Channel 4 series in the UK. She is a 3-time winner of the Best Female Comic Award at the Black Comedy Awards in the UK. The Guardian (London) called her “One of the best comics in the world.”

GINA YASHERE web site

SAMANTHA CHANSE is a writer and comic who has performed at SF venues including The Punchline, Cobbs, The Purple Onion, and many dimly-lit bars and brightly-lit cafes, and at non-Bay Area venues including the Laugh Factory in both New York and Hollywood. She recently completed the premiere of her solo show, Lydia’s Funeral Video, at the Dark Room in SF. The project was supported by an individual artist commission from The San Francisco Arts Commission. A community-based artist, playwright, and curator, she has also worked with various Bay Area groups including Intersection for the Arts, Writers With Drinks, Playwrights Foundation, Asian American Theater Company, Bindlestiff Studio, and San Francisco Women Against Rape. A native New Yorker, she was the Artistic Director of the arts non profit Kearny Street Workshop for three years and Co-Director of another arts non profit Locus Arts for five years, and engages in music with an elusive band named Bantercut.

SAMANTHA CHANSE web site

MATTHEW “PEGGY LEE” MARTIN is a native San Franciscan and musical theater performer who has been conjuring up Hollywood legends such as Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Ann Miller, Peggy Lee, and many other late great stars of the Silver Screen in various productions in San Francisco, New York, LA, and London since s/he was in the womb. The actor, singer, dancer, writer, director, choreographer, and (wo) man of many faces and voices, channels the icons of Hollywood and celebrates their inspiration. With the wave of contemporary “stars” that quickly come and go, Martin reminds audiences what makes a star a star and why fans remember and love them: they’re unforgettable, irreplaceable and incomparable.

Watch a clip of Matthew “Jane Russell” Martin & J “Marilyn Monroe” L’more:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NLdMhsV-7g

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— Funny Girlz; Kung Pao Kosher Comedy: Jewish Comedy on Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant (now in its 16th year); and The George Bush Going Away Party: An Evening of Political Comedy. In 2005, she produced the sold out “Charo and Her Las Vegas Show” at The Herbst Theatre, and she will be bringing Charo back to The Herbst for a gay pride concert on June 29.

Past Performers

2007

• Luenell
• Marga Gomez
• Sherry Glaser
• Amy Boyd
• Juanita MORE

2006

• Carol Leifer
• Shazia Mirza
• Tanyalee Davis
• Aundré The Wonderwoman

2005

• Cathy Ladman
• Shann Carr
• Carla Clayy
• Gretchen Rootes
• Alana Devich

2004

• Kathleen Madigan
• Karen Williams
• Page Hurwitz
• Yayne Abeba
• Coco Lopez

2003

• Shazia Mirza
• Diane Amos
• Amy Boyd
• Maria Elena Fernandez
• Esther Weintraub

2002

• Luenell
• Vijai Nathan
• Juanita MORE
• Karen Ripley
• Maria Elena Gaitan
• Lydia Celis (WritersCorps poet)

2001

• Elvira Kurt
• Rene Hicks
• Bridget Schwartz
• Page Hurwitz
• Latina Theatre Lab
• Yayne Abeba

2000

• Sara Felder
• Beth Lisick
• Luenell
• Arturo “Patsy Cline” Galster
• Janis Lipton

1999

• Elvira Kurt
• Diane Amos
• Luenell
• Bridget Schwartz
• Page Hurwitz
• Tessie Chua

More Funny Girlz info: (415) 522-3737
City Box Office: (415) 392-4400