Behind the Scenes on WCRN Radio

Behind the Scenes with Dena Blizzard

Dena Blizzard spoke with us about her one-woman, Off-Broadway show, One Funny Mother, coming to our stage on Saturday, May 11. Read highlights from the interview or listen to the full interview below, and be sure to tune into WCRN 830AM Saturdays at 1 pm for more great behind-the-scenes interviews.

Dena Blizzard: This is so exciting. I haven’t been able to say the name of the town right. I’ve been calling it War-chest-er.  I’ve been practicing.

Lisa Condit: Here is Massachusetts, we just say it quickly and skip over the R’s.

One Funny Mother was recently named the best one-woman show at the 2015 Solo Festival in New York City. You’re a sensation!

Dena: Only you and my mom think that! I think I’m just a tired mom who wants to get out of my house and away from my kids. Somehow we’re able to turn that into an Off-Broadway show that people want to see.

Lisa: Every mother wants to get away from their crazy kids once in a while!  

Dena: If only I had a dime for every woman that said to me, “you are my spirit animal. You’re literally saying everything that I’ve always wanted to say.”  I started out as a comedian and, in between raising my kids, I would go and do standup on the weekend. You’d see every woman in the audience nudging their husband and laughing along. 

Lisa: How did you go from being a former Miss New Jersey (there’s got to be a lot of material in that experience) to One Funny Mother?

Dena: I was Miss New Jersey when I was 22. I played classical piano, but have always wondered how it would have changed if I was a comedian then. It was during that year that I found out I was funny, but I was only 22. I think it took a couple of kids, some low life depressions, to say, “Hey, it can’t get any worse than this. Let me on stage to start talking about it.”

I came up through the ranks in Philly with male comics who said, “This is so difficult.” I said, “Have you ever tried to change the diaper of a two year old while a four year old runs around and hits you on the head, and your dog escapes out the door and your husband’s asking where dinner is? That’s hard! This is not that difficult. When you lose children, people get mad at that!

Lisa: Things have changed since our mothers had children versus when we had children. My mother used to lose me in the mall all the time. I was the youngest of four. Maybe she just got tired. When my parents were moving across the country with four horses, a couple dogs and three kids, they left my youngest brother at a gas station, by accident.

Dena: My son kept eating things. One week he ate glass, then he ate a book. Poison Control knew me by first name! It was ridiculous. I don’t think I’m the funniest person in the world. I think I’m just honest about what was happening in my life.

Dena: When you put your crazy into the universe, you find out that crazy is kind of normal, but nobody talks about it. You feel much better when you put it into the open. But everyone’s healthy and happy so… I wish I had this show when I was raising kids. I felt very alone and I loved being a stay-at-home mom, and I hated being a stay-at-home mom. It was really difficult.

This show is about finding your mom tribe, those women in your life that are going to support you. It’s trying to find the funny in things that aren’t funny sometimes. It’s 2019 and we’re just now hearing these great stories about motherhood and how important it is to band together.

Lisa: This show would be perfect for a group, for our mom tribe to go and have a great time.

Dena: We say if you are a mom, have mom or you’re married to a mom, you need to see this show.

BUY TICKETS FOR ONE FUNNY MOTHER