PLAY TIME — When May Lee Davis was looking for a pizzazzy name toreflect her ascending career as a standupcomedian, she was suddenly inspiredby a large neon sign that identified the Santa Monica Pier. She added a well-placed P, and just likethat, May Lee Davis became Monica Piper.
Piper is still going strong. Her latest performance was commissioned by the Jewish Women'sTheaterand tells the story of her life in hilarious detail. The one-woman show is called "Not ThatJewish"and can be seen at theJWT in its new venue at The Braid in Santa Monica.
She talks about her father, a vaudevillian who encouragedher by passing on his particularly Jewishshticks, and her mother, whospecialized in making chopped liver. "Sowhen a Jewish person asks‘What am I, chopped liver?' The answer is ‘Yes,'"Piper says.
She tells of her marriage to a blond, blue-eyed Gentile godand her mother-in-law's weddinginvitation which announced her handsomeHarvard-educated lawyer son's marriage to "a shortJewish girl who smokes."
At that point, Piper says, she didn't know which was worse,"being Jewish or being short."
So, after she and the god divorced, she became an Englishteacher, but, she says, she "couldn'thandle the money or the prestige."
Moving on, she studied improv with Second City in Chicagoand then, going solo, she became oneof Showtime Network's Comedy All-Stars andlanded her own Ace Award-winning ShowtimeSpecial, "No Monica…Just You."
After being nominated for an American Comedy Award as one ofthe top five female comedians inthe country, she went on to write for RoseanneBarr on the hit sit-com"Roseanne."
She also wrote for "MadAbout You", "Veronica's Closet", and"Duckman", won an Emmy for the #1children's animated series,"Rugrats",and developed and wrote series for Nickelodeon, Disney, andCartoon Network.
Then, with her usual "Jew ne sais quoi", she married again,to another blond, blue-eyed Gentile. "Itcould have worked out," she explains, "if he'd been an entirely differentperson."
She talks about her neighbor, whose dog was named Get offthe f-ing couch. "And isn't that acoincidence," she says. "Her husband wasnamed that, too."
She talks about having a yard sale and finding that "ablouse I had spent $100 on no one would buyfor a quarter."
And then, with her biological clock ticking, she decided, at41, to adopt. Her son Jake, now a youngman, provides additional spice to her story, as she tells of the challenges ofbeing his mother andbringing him up alone.
She also tells, with great poignancy, of the death of herfather, her mother's struggle withAlzheimer's, and her own battle with cancer. "So what do Jews do in times of crisis?" she asks. "They complain!"
But there is little complaint from Monica Piper. Turning adversity into comedy and idiocy intoirony,she presents her life with no holds barred, and, despite the vexations,she appears to have enjoyedevery minute of it.
And so will you.
Monica Piper in "NotThat Jewish"will continue at The Braid, 2912 Colorado Ave., #102. In SantaMonica on Thursdays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 and 7:30 p.m. through Dec. 21. Call(310) 315-1400 orvisitwww.jewishwomenstheatre.org,for tickets.
