From chuckles to full-fledged belly laughs, ‘Women of a Certain Age’ delivers

There was non-stop hilarity at the sold-out comedic show, “Women of a Certain Age” at the Milford Theater on January 27. The three comedians, Carole Montgomery, Marla Shultz, and Vanessa Hollingshead are not only all of a “certain age,” but they are well-known comedians in their own right. Laughter begets laughter. And with perfect comedic timing, they each had the audience in side-splitting laughter– first with one joke, then immediately building upon that with another, and another, and as the momentum built, the laughter got stronger and louder. It was like a series of ocean waves increasing its rhythm and intensity as it approaches the shore.

Montgomery produced the show. She had always wanted to do a show about older women, but there was a time, not long ago, when there was a lot of pushback about this. The common attitude among many was that “nobody would want to see a show about older women.” But, if you know anything about Montgomery, you know she doesn’t take “no” for an answer. She pushed onward and now has three different shows on Showtime. The network’s own review called “Funny Women of a Certain Age” a show “straight from the unfettered mouths and uninhibited minds of the funniest, most daring, most experienced people in comedy.” Montgomery says the titles of the shows are, “Funny Women of a Certain Age,” “More Funny Woman of a Certain Age” and “Even More Funny Women of a Certain Age.” Montgomery explained, “I wanted to do a show about women of a certain age, and I wanted to do with my friends. Girlfriends are the best!”

The group will be doing live shows all around the country this year.

During the show, Montgomery interacts with the audience. She said, “This show is not just for women. How many men are in the audience?” Three men raise their hands. She then proceeded to ask for a show of hands and asked, where are the women in their 30s...in their 40s...in their 50s...their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90 [one 90-year-old responded]. She then asked how many people were in their 20s and five young women held up their hands. Montgomery retorted, “The rest of us are all older than them. I say we kill them and drink their blood.”

Speaking of audiences, all three women fell in love with the Milford audience. Vanessa Hollingshead said, “The audience is so open and receptive — so nice. New York audiences are more judgmental and stand-offish. But we can deal because we’re New Yorkers.”

Some women commented before the show that this type of comedy might be denigrating to older women. But that was hardly the case. Indeed, the show was a celebration of older women and their strengths

Some of their jokes are borderline scatological, but that didn’t seem to be a problem with the audience. “It’s age appropriate for mature women who can really relate to it,” Rachel Freemyer exclaimed. Another audience member chimed in with, “I haven’t laughed like that in quite a long time. It’s hysterically irreverent.”

Many of the non-scatological jokes resonated with these women of a certain age because they can relate to them. For example:

“I hate kids, but you’ve gotta be nice to them or they’ll change your password.”

“Actually, I’m in the process of adopting a seven-year-old — so I could figure out how to work my cell phone.”

“You used to be fat. How did you lose the weight? Trauma, alcoholism, shame and cocaine.”

These comedians are old and bold and not apologetic for anything they say. Of course, they know how to put a joke over, and most of all, they are very funny. Montgomery closed the show by saying, “It doesn’t matter what race or age you are, if someone tells you you can’t do something, **** ‘em.” The audience burst into a standing ovation.