‘Pine Sol Lady’ Brings Stories of Lesbian Moms to May 10 Comedy Showcase
Nearly 15 years as “The Pine Sol Lady” have made Diane Amos’ face almost instantly recognizable. Of course, there’s more to the affable San Francisco resident than how many bottles of the leading brand it takes to measure up to the cleaning power in her favorite!
The local housewife, mother and actress is also a seasoned stand-up comedian. No stranger to local comedy fans, Amos recalls testing her stories of growing up with two lesbian moms first at area gay clubs before taking those same stories to straight audiences. May 10, Amos is a featured performer at the tenth-annual Funny Girlz, “a smorgasbord of women comedians” at the Herbst Theatre.
Kung Pao Kosher Comedy presents this (Day Before) Mother’s Day show featuring Phranc the All-American Jewish Lesbian Folksinger, local stage legend and drag personality Matthew “Peggy Lee” Martin, organizer Lisa Geduldig, Amos and more to benefit the Bay Area Women’s and Children’s Center. Tickets are $25-$45.
(Bay Times) How did having a lesbian mother impact you growing up?
(Amos) It was pretty wonderful. It teaches you to be tolerant and accepting at a very early age. I think I was about seven when she came out. In the gay community, you make your own community. There were so many places where my mother had to be in the closet. She was a teacher, so you have to balance teaching your children honesty and integrity yet live a life that is somewhat secret, even though you’re out in the household and all that. I learned to make my own community pretty well and draw off of friends and extended family in ways I think people didn’t used to do.
At what point did you decide to go into comedy?
I always took straight drama classes, because I really enjoyed serious acting. I accidentally took an improv class at Washington High School - that’s my alma mater. I grew up in The Avenues on 33rd Avenue. So I accidentally took this improv class and found out I had this incredible knack. I could think on my feet faster than almost anybody who was doing it at the time and was having a wonderful time doing it. It changed my career. I started doing improv here in the city. I’ve been a professional since I was 15.
Describe your stand-up.
You know, it’s hard. I’m not a “joke” joke comic at all. One of the things I’ve always been very careful about, being in a field that’s pretty much white, male dominated, I watch a lot of comics copy each other. I never wanted that to really happen, so I tailored my act so you can’t really do my act. I tell a lot of stories. I’d say 95-percent of the things I say on stage are totally true or mostly true and then embellished. I have so much to pull from. Now if you’re out telling the story that you’re raised by two lesbian moms in San Francisco, that’s not really your story. You can’t really copy that, you know?
I imagine your upbringing did bring with it some humor. Does that make it into your act?
Oh, of course! It took me a while. For years, I never really thought to talk about it onstage because it was always an unspoken subject. Once gay pride, which we always went to, started to really be out there, and my mother was still living, I asked her. I started to see how funny some of the stuff we went through was. My other mother was Jewish, so we had this black and Jewish household that was like amazing. So I asked, “Do you care if I talk about this onstage?” She said, “No. Anything that I’ve done in my life that helps you personally or in your career is OK with me.” So I started doing it in basically just gay clubs. I wasn’t really quite sure how to take it to a straight audience just yet. Gay audiences love it because there’s so much funny stuff. Then I found a way to take it to straight audiences just by really telling the truth and telling some of the stuff around our household they’d never experienced. It’s just funny.
This isn’t your first time doing Funny Girlz. What makes this kind of show special?
First of all, the Herbst is a fabulous stage! (Laughing.) I just love that stage! It’s special because there’s something for everyone. If you walk in there not knowing what you’re walking into, there’s going to be something that really rings your bell and makes you happy when you leave. It’s so indicative of San Francisco and California, just the kind of people we are if you’re in the neighborhoods with us in our day-to-day lives. I like that. I like being on bills with people who are not just like me or that I see all the time. I think that’s great!
For more information, visit: http://www.KosherComedy.com
