Sick Humor

Girls Gone Funny will bring their brand of comedy and song to Grounds For Sculpture.

By: Susan Van Dongen

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Girls Gone Funny will bring their brand of humor and song to Grounds for Sculpture.


   Ever notice that few people, if any at all, have written an ode to Swiss chard, celebrating its wonderful taste, texture and history of belovedness?
   It’s not like chocolate, which has been feted by poets and songwriters, including Arizona native Jamie Anderson.
   "They played my new song, ‘A Little Chocolate,’ on the public radio program ‘The Peoples Pharmacy,’ because they were doing a segment on the health benefits of chocolate," says Ms. Anderson, speaking from Chicago, a stop along her concert tour. "But I wrote the song because chocolate just tastes good. You eat a bar of chocolate and the world looks a whole lot better."
   Ms. Anderson also writes rapturously about potato chips, while her singer-songwriter friend Carla Ulbrich praises waffles. Another buddy, Philadelphia-based vocalist Deidre Flint, sums the fetish up with "Food," her homage to all things appetizing.
   "This is a song for you, food/you’re hot, you’re cold/you’re always in the mood…"
   "Even before we met, we were on the same wavelength," Ms. Anderson says. "Eating is a big thing with us."
   Ms. Anderson, Ms. Ulbrich and Ms. Flint — collectively known as Girls Gone Funny — will bring their musical observations about food and things to Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton April 30. The pun-filled program features the ladies’ hilarious originals, song parodies and whimsical stage banter.
   The performance lands in the middle of a lengthy tour for Ms. Anderson and is partially a celebration of her new CD, Promise of Light (Tsunami Recordings), 12 original songs that touch upon a little of everything, from deranged moms to speeding tickets.
   "You can only write so many love and protest songs," Ms. Anderson says. "Although the food songs are love songs, in a way."
   A seasoned solo performer who has been touring the nation since the early 1980s, Ms. Anderson’s comic sensibilities have always made her stand out among the legions of folkies.
   Girls Gone Funny was partially a by-product of Ms. Anderson’s humor. The women came together a couple of years ago, when Ms. Anderson was invited to play at a festival of "funny females," and ended up sharing the stage with Ms. Flint and Ms. Ulbrich. It worked so well, she called Ms. Flint’s agent — who knew Ms. Ulbrich’s agent — and suggested they do some more gigs together.
   "We had fun, so we booked some more," she says. "We’ve always maintained solo careers, but ‘Girls Gone Funny’ has always been a blast. It’s fun to play off each other, since we all have that sense of humor in common."
   The show features the ladies together as well as doing a few solo songs — things like Ms. Flint’s "The Boob Fairy," Ms. Anderson’s "I Miss the Dog (More Than I Miss You)" and Ms. Ulbrich’s "Won’t You Please Do Something Stupid?"
   For Ms. Anderson, who now lives in Durham, N.C., automobile travel is a hot topic. She’s had a couple of her vehicular songs played on NPR’s Car Talk, whose listeners appreciate wit.
   Ms. Anderson drives pretty much everywhere, so she needs to get places in a hurry — an attribute that got her in a mess of trouble in Minnesota, and reverberated all the way back to the Tar Heel State. She writes about the experience in the song "Felon."
   "It’s about getting a speeding ticket," says Ms. Anderson, who was stopped in Garrison Keillor-country doing 17 miles over the speed limit. What she didn’t know what that her home state will suspend the license of anyone caught going more than 15 miles an hour over the speed limit anywhere in the U.S.
   "I’m a touring musician, so a suspended license would be a real hardship," she says. "I can’t exactly get a ride to work. I had to plead for mercy, in fact, I gave an Academy Award-winning performance. I was on probation for a year, which meant I had to do the speed limit wherever I went. Which could be life-threatening in a state like New York or Connecticut."
   With a country musician for a father, there were always guitars lying around the house. Ms. Anderson taught herself to play along with Carole King, Carly Simon and James Taylor as a teenager. When she’s not touring, recording or writing, Ms. Anderson teaches music studies around Durham, including classes at Duke University. A writer whose articles and CD reviews have appeared in Acoustic Guitar, SingOut! and other publications, Ms. Anderson has a chapter in Songwriting and the Guitar (StringLetter Publishing).
   A favorite on the long-running Dr. Demento radio show, Ms. Ulbrich recently released Sick Humor (CarlaU), a collection of observations about the woes of managed health care and dumb doctors. Ms. Flint is known in the Philadelphia area as a member of The Four Bitchin’ Babes, and earned the capital to pay for her first CD by teaching English in Korea. She has a master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania and is a former elementary school teacher.
   Unfortunately, the concert at Grounds For Sculpture will mark the end of Girls Gone Funny.
   "We’ll all keep doing our solo careers, but this is the last show," Ms. Anderson says. "It’s kind of a shame because we all enjoy it. We thought about continuing, but I don’t think we’ll be able to swing it. We’re too busy. So this is an historic occasion."
Girls Gone Funny, featuring Jamie Anderson, Deidre Flint and Carla Ulbrich, will perform at Grounds For Sculpture, 18 Fairgrounds Road, Hamilton, April 30, 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $18. For information, call (609) 586-0616. On the Web: www.groundsforsculpture.org. Jamie Anderson on the Web: www.jamieanderson.com. Carla Ulbrich on the Web: www.carlau.com. Deidre Flint on the Web: www.deirdreflint.com