‘My Mom is quite weirded
oat abOUt the Show,
Steve Cramer talks to WENDY SPERO, the hottest act in New York, about her peculiar early home life. And gets a bit of a cuddle.
nterviewing someone you don‘t know and have never
seen while in a foreign city is rather like arranging a
blind date. A meeting is arranged in some hotel lobby or bar. in this case in New York. and a description must be provided. ‘I'm the balding bloke. running to fat. oft I. looking about his 4] years.‘ I emailed Wendy Spero. Back came: ‘I have red dyed hair and am incredibly short.‘ In the end. Spero was late and as l was about to give up on her. the elevator door in my first floor lobby opened. and a minuscule figure bounded quite literally into my arms. with: ‘Oh my God. I thought you'd be gone!’ I had no time to verify whether this was actually Spero. but contemplating the top of a red-haired head under my chin. this was not simply a random eccentric.
The likeable. bouncingly enthusiastic Spero has quite a story to tell. Presenting a biographical sketch full of gentle. though — she assures me — ‘not subtle' humour. her act sounds comparable to that of her friend Demetri Martin. In it. she details a life story of astonishing singularity. Brought up by her mother. a sex therapist whom Spero compares to Dr Ruth. Spero lost her father. who died unexpectedly when she was only ten months old. Her story weaves around the relationship with her mother. and the quest to find out more about her father. who her remaining parent is reluctant to discuss.
The contradictions of this relationship with her mum are set out as we contemplate each other over a light meal in a deli on Lexington Avenue. 'It‘s a paradox in that she‘s overprotective in one way and very unprotective in the boyfriend arena. She was really uncomfortable about my going out at all. but wanted me to have a very active sex life.’
So how did Spero find boyfriends in this half-liberated. half-repressive youth? ‘She‘d try to encourage them to come back to the house. It was a one-bedroom apartment. and she‘d leave so we could be alone. It was like having a college roommate. She would actually insist on going off to the library for a couple of hours so we could make out. She was actually terribly supportive. and there‘s a lot in the act about that. too.‘
Didn‘t this make the boyfriends uncomfortable? ‘Yes. it did intimidate the boys because they knew that she'd grill me about whether they were being giving enough. and were they communicative enough? She‘d use all those stupid phrases all the time.‘ Yet the affection in which she holds her mother is evident. ‘She‘s weirded out that I‘m a performer. and quite weirded out about the show. but she likes it.’
Spero also has video footage of such things as her grandmother. at age 28. doing a striptease for her grandfather. and the same lady fainting at her bar mitzvah. Curious? Be assured it‘s also funny. and her Fringe debut comes against a background of interest in a TV show in LA. Things are happening so fast for Wendy Spero. she might not need a second Fringe.
As 4 POOFS AND A PIANO prepare to unleash an extravaganza of song, smut and general sensations, Jonathan Ross’ war-torn sidekicks deliver the 4 Poofs’ five-point philosophy.
Age !8 only a state of mind and yoo're always as young as the Surgery you can afford.
You haven’t drunk enough if you can lie on the floor without holding on.
I am what I am. I am my own special creation.
Live life to the full because you’re a long time dead.
I could never be heterosexual. I can't even think straight. I P/msance Con/tyard, 556 6550. 8—30 Aug (not 16/. 4. 10pm, ESQ—£770 (£7.50—C860). Previews :3—7 Aug, f5.
Assembly Rooms, 226 248, 6-30 Aug (not 10, 17), 5.15pm, £10421 1 (£94210).
26 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 53—12 Aug 2004