Home for 32 Hours and Nap Drama Ensues!

The last couple weeks have been so interesting and exciting and exhausting and... well, enough ands. I can't say too much at this point, but I just shot a pilot for a new talk show. In the best of all possible worlds, the show will get picked up and I'll have a regular national tv gig. Don't jinx me though. I'm just going to sit back, relax and enjoy the waiting process. HA!

I interviewed for the pilot job less than two weeks ago. Booked it the day after the interview. Shot some segments here in L.A. two days after that. Flew to NYC on Friday, shot the in-studio pilot show on Sat (I was in NYC approximately 22 hours), flew home Sat night and now I'm home spending the day with my daughter before I have to leave again for a gig in Ohio. I'll have to leave for LAX at 4:30am tomorrow morning. AHHHHH!!!

After the Ohio overnight, I'll have the rest of this coming week at home with my little family and after that a little vacation before going back to work. I have a gig on Oct 3 in San Antonio with the Hot Tamales Live and Eva Longoria! It should be a good one.

Anyhoo, Aubrey was really excited to see me today, as was I, her. We did some painting, watched a Baby Einstein video with a snack and got snuggled in for nap time. She hasn't fought a nap time for me in weeks. Maybe even a couple months now, but today was the day. I think she was just so excited to be back at my house with our dog, Bob Barker and me, that she decided to go a little kee-ray-zee.

This is a normal part of being a two year old. Tantrums come and go and she really doesn't have all that many. I have to admit, I have a hard time not laughing at the things she says when she goes nuts. She fancies herself a real master manipulator and will say clever little things in an attempt to get me to cave in and forgo the nap. Today, when she was crying her little face off, trying to get me to come in her room and rescue her from the big bad nap time, here are some of the doozies she yelled out:

- I hungry! (she hasn't quite gotten down "I am" or "I'm" yet)

- I need to paint!

- I see Daddy!

- I see Lee! (my boyfriend)

- I see Bob Barker! (our dog)

- I need go swimming!

- I take a bath!

- It's ok it's ok it's ok!

- I see out the window!

- Read another book!

- I need Curious George!

- I want Time Out Chair! (that's REALLY desperate)

I love that she thinks I'll really fall for one of these. As if suddenly, I'll think, "Oh my God! Aubrey DOES need a bath! I had better get her out of bed!" HILARIOUS!

My favorite of all time was the other night before she went to bed she exclaimed, "I need nuts!" She's really into cashews right now.

I hope you're all having a fun weekend!

Red Eyes, Pizzas and Gigs

Post Show at U Mass-Amherst!

I took a red eye to Boston and drove to Amherst, MA on Friday night. Had pizza with a Westminster Choir College (my alma mater)alum who is teaching at an interim position there and then did a show. Ate more pizza. Slept 3.5 hours and headed back to the Boston airport.

As for the show, I had the pleasure of performing at U Mass-Amherst and when I got there I met this young guy named Bo Burnham. I forgot that I was sharing the bill with another comic and apparently, it was him. He was introduced to me and I asked if he was a student. "No, he's the headliner"!! Hahaha! Wow, that made me feel old. Then I was told he just turned 19 and is one of these YouTube phenoms.

I had never heard of him before. He sings silly little songs with titles like "My Whole Family Thinks I'm Gay". I believe this is his biggest hit. He posted 2 songs on YouTube.com 2 years ago and now he's filling theaters and clubs with 18-22 year olds all over the country and is the youngest person to be given a Comedy Central Presents special. Wow.

I don't find him to be particularly funny (I think it's easier to enjoy his stuff if you're not an adult) good on him for capitalizing on his viral fame and it's nice that he has super supportive parents who act as roadies and sell merchandise for him after shows. I met them and they are charming people. We are in a closer age bracket than I am with Bo. They are younger than my boyfriend. Man, life just FLYS by, huh? Anyway, it will be interesting to see what happens to this guy. Will he become the next Chocolate Rain guy? Or will he sustain a career? This is a nutty business and I wish him all the best. He has 20 months of experience and I have 12 years. Seriously, all of those approximately 1600 college kids didn't turn out to see me. They came to see Bo and it was a humbling experience.

Anyway, why did I even mention all of this... just random thoughts as I kill time in Logan International Airport, waiting for a flight to Vegas.

I'm at the Pearl Theater in The Palms Hotel and Casino TONIGHT, performing with the Hot Tamales Live show. I hope to see you there! Better pack up the Macbook and get ready to board.

Oh POOP!

As if I haven't embarrassed myself enough already, here is a true tale from the trenches of motherhood...

So I have a tendency to post things that many people would never admit to (pinching my child, having to leave a restaurant because my kid wouldn't stop screaming, crapping my pants on Obama's inauguration day) so why stop now?

My girl is 27 months old tomorrow. She has been going pee in the toilet for several weeks now and I couldn't be prouder. She's still wearing diapers and pull-ups but she recently starting telling me when she has to go! This is a GIANT leap for toddlerkind, yes?! I was excited when this started happening. So after a week or so of her announcing, "I have to potty!" and making it to the toilet successfully, I thought it would be a good time to start a little more poop talk as she was still happy to wallow in her own #2 for hours on end if I'd let her. My nanny told me that she was starting to talk more about pooping in her diaper though, so I decided to continue on.

When I started potty training, I asked for any and all advice and I read tons of websites and parenting boards. Many people and experts suggested letting a child of the same gender as you watch you sit on the toilet and go. I was raised in a super conservative family and like many fine Evangelical Christians, we were fairly ashamed of our bodies. This type of potty training wouldn't have happened in our house. I'm no hippie, but I do want my daughter to feel comfortable and confident about her body and part of that is showing her my confidence and comfort with my body, teaching her the proper names for body parts and at this point in life, making potty training fun and no big whoop!

The "let your child watch you go to the potty" technique had worked like a charm for peeing. Aubrey loves to come into the bathroom with me and watch me pee. She even squats down in front of me and takes a good look at everything going on: "It's Mommy's gina! It's go pee-pee! I see it!" I'm not trying to brag, but yesterday she even announced, "It's CLEAN!" So there.

Anyway, this morning I thought she might like to watch the poo-poo in action too. She had pooped in her diaper a little earlier and I thought it would be a good opportunity to show her how Mommy does it and what big girls do with their poo-poo. You know, while it was still fresh in her mind. Well, I guess I was wrong.

Aubrey got into her regular front row seat to watch the action. She made her regular exclamation of, "It's Mommy's gina!" and when she saw the kids dropping into the pool...

well, the reaction was not positive. First she made a horrible face. I thought, well, she doesn't like the smell - who can blame her? But then she ran out of the room and said something like, "I don't want it! I get out." I had successfully managed to terrify my child with my poop. Great.

This all happened this morning, about 6 hours ago from now. Since then, she has peed in her diaper throughout the day, not going on the potty once. When I ask her if she'd like to sit on the potty and try for a sticker (the photo is actually her with her sticker "chart" - we let it turn into more of a freestyle expression of sticker placement rather than a chart) she says, "No thanks".

So a giant leap forward and, hopefully, just a small step back. I know with this, like everything else in motherhood, I need to have patience and just give it some time. Pushing (sorry, no pun intended) is not going to help anything and finding that fine line between pushing and encouraging will always be a delicate balancing act. Oh well. At least I have a clean vagina.

Funny In Seattle

I am up in Seattle getting ready for my stand up debut at The Comedy Underground! I'm really excited to finally have a Seattle performance under my belt. I haven't been here since I was a kid and I have to say, it's a really awesome city. HOWEVER, I am here during some of the nicest weather of the year. It's dry, warm but not hot, and DRY! No rain! It kind of tricked me into thinking I could live here... but then I remembered, it rains here a looooooootttttt. No thanks. I'd actually rather be snowed on than rained on. But more than anything, I'd rather not have anything falling on me. Thus... Los Angeles.

It is a really cool city though and I enjoyed the Underground tour, the funky glass library, the first Starbucks, the Pike Place Market and a really sweet peach/strawberry smoothie.

If YOU are here in Seattle, I sure hope you can make it to my show tomorrow night and if you're not here, please tell your Seattle friends! Here is the info:

Wed, Aug 26 @ 8:30pm

Amy Anderson Headlines

The Comedy Underground

109 S Washington St

Seattle WA 98104

*Click HERE to Buy Tickets!

Come out and support me in my Seattle comedy debut with Andrew Rivers (emcee) and local Seattle favorite, Sean Ottey.

ALSO, I'll be on the Bob Rivers show on 102.5 fm KZOK - tomorrow, Wed, Aug 26 at 9am! Bob's son is Andrew and he will be emceeing the Underground show! It's gonna be a great night!

Later Lovers! Thanks for all your support! xo

I'm in Washington this week!!

Hey Everyone!

I'm on the road up in Washington state and don't hate, but the National Lentil Festival is going on, right here in Pullman, WA which is where I am right this very moment. Well, I'm in my hotel room, so I'm missing the lentil filled action, but I think I can imagine it. My Persian friend, Nadine Rajabi, said that Iranians have a superstition about lentils: that if a woman eats them while she's pregnant, her baby will be smart. Poor Aubrey... she's doomed.

I'm performing at Washington State University tonight at 10:30pm and then on Wed, Aug 26, I'm headlining The Comedy Underground in downtown Seattle. I'm REALLY excited for this show and I hope you can come if you're in the area. If you're not in the area, please tell your friends. I will make them laugh or I will come and do your laundry. I promise.

I'm also looking forward to visiting friends and family during this trip and I'll openly admit to being a little relieved to get the heck out of Dodge for a few days too. Life has been beyond crazy these last several weeks (see last post) and while I'm the type of person who can't totally relax with unfinished business at home, it's still nice to take a little break before going back into the trenches.

Local SoCal shows, Las Vegas, MA, OH and GA are coming up this fall and many more TBA! I hope to see you at a show soon!

LIFE IS CRAZY!!!!!

In the last couple of weeks I:

- did shows in Meridian, ID

- did a show in San Jose, CA

- had stressful disagreement with commercial agent

- fired commercial agent

- hired new commercial agent

- fired a nanny

- sort of hired a new one

- new nanny was arrested by CHP and I had to sort of un-hire her and kick her out of my house

- boyfriend's car was stolen in Malibu

- boyfriend's car was recovered 2 days later - thousand's of $s of valuables gone including Garmin Zumo 550 GPS, SCUBA gear, wallet, driver's license, credit cards, cash, prescription glasses, jacket, sunglasses...

- still need to figure out nanny situation and get my commercial agent to send me the money she owes me

I'm leaving for Washington (WSU in Pullman and The Comedy Underground in Seattle) tomorrow and it will be nice to escape and pretend my life isn't total chaos at home. At least my two year old is peeing in the potty! There's some good news!

SO... who's coming to my shows in Washington?!

My Wild Weekend

I just want to say that it REALLY irritates me that these blog interfaces make your text go crazy when you paste into them... this isn't supposed to be quadruple spaced, but... I'm too lazy and tired to fix it. Read on...

Most people know what a party animal I am... YEAH RIGHT! I recently had some child-free time to myself and you won't believe what kind of madcap adventures ensued...

I was in complete disbelief, looking at my calendar last week. Was it true? Could it be?! I was going to have a full three days of an empty house to myself?!! GET OUT OF HERE! My boyfriend went to the Midwest for some work and it was my daughter's and nanny's turn to go over to my ex's house. For the first time in I-don't-know-when, I was going to be alone in my own house! Just the dog and me. Immediately, I started making plans:

• Change the tv channel to something other than Noggin and PBS

• Watch a DVD that is not "Free To Be You And Me" or "Elmo's Potty Time"

• Sleep in the middle of the bed with all of the covers to myself

• Spend quality time with the dog before she kills me in my sleep

• Work out

• Read an entire magazine on the toilet with the bathroom door open. Wide open.

• Take long showers (eco system be damned)

• Catch up on writing

• Party with my childless, single friends at night

• Sleep in late in the mornings.

I had a LOT of plans for the weekend! Wednesday night, the man headed down to LAX and Thursday afternoon, the baby and nanny rolled out to daddy's house. Let the craziness begin! My motto was, "What happens in Sherman Oaks, stays in Sherman Oaks!" WOO-HOO!

Except nothing really happened. Well, some of it happened, but not nearly with the gusto I had fantasized about. While I did manage to get out for a few meals with friends and drinks a couple times, I amazed myself at how absolutely lame I was all by myself:

• Friday Morning: My first opportunity to sleep in was squelched by my boyfriend's alarm which didn't get turned off from the morning before. It went off at 6am and there I was... awake.

• Friday Night: performed stand up set at Hollywood Improv and ended up going to a karaoke bar with a comedian friend and his neighbors. I had one beer, didn't sing a song and was yawning the whole time. Was home by midnight. Checked emails and went to bed.

• Saturday Morning: Remembered to turn off alarm, but woke up at 7am, on the dot, out of habit. This is when my 2 yr old gets up. DAMN! I was up!

• Saturday Day: Paid bills, went to post office, did two loads of laundry

• Saturday Night: Had a friend over for a beer and dip in the pool then off to meet more friends for overpriced drinks. This was the big night!

• Sunday Morning: Slept all the way until 8:30am!! This is big people! Then felt nostalgic for the days when 8:30 used to be early and I could sleep until 10 or 11 with no problem. Sigh.

• Sunday Day: Folded and put away laundry, dusted, vacuumed, did paper/busy work

I don't really think I need to detail any more of this exciting weekend. You get the idea - I was lame!! Had I forgotten how to have fun? Do I not know how to party anymore? Apparently, I just live to do laundry and pay bills and the funny thing is, I'm ok with that.

I'm very lucky that I have a career that is my life's passion. I'm a comedian and I get to hang out in clubs and colleges and bars all over the country and get paid to make people laugh. I'm surrounded by interesting and talented people and I get to express myself freely, on a regular basis. It's pretty sweet. At the end of the day though, I don't mind being a homebody and I think it's what keeps me sane in this totally insane industry.

Becoming a mom in this industry has been beyond challenging. Comedy is heavily male dominated and a life on the road doesn't really lend itself easily to breast feeding and bath times. As a female comedian, I have been asked these two questions, repeatedly, since having my daughter:

1) So you're not really doing comedy anymore then, are you?

2) Oh you are? So, I guess you just take the baby on the road with you then, huh?

I guarantee you, no male comedian who has fathered a child has been asked these questions. Especially #2. I won't lie. Being a traveling comedian, single-mom of a pre-school aged child is a crazy juggling act I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's my calling but it's also my job and like any single mom (or dad) or any parent who works, it is what I do for my child and myself. Furthermore, I'm so grateful to have work in this economy.

So I embrace my lame-o homebody status when I'm at home. Even when it's just me. I don't mind coming home from a club and folding little tiny clothes and washing sippy cups. Somehow, it's all getting done and while I can't say I like the night life and I like to boogie, I can say that I DO like my life.