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SPEAKER_01: From WonderMedia Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanaka. This month we're talking about comediennees—women throughout history who've made us laugh. They transgressed societal norms through comedy and often spoke out against injustice using their sharp wit. I once wore a peek-a-boo blouse. People would peek, and then they'd boom. I took the lightbulb out of my refrigerator. Leftovers looked much better in the dark. When Fang and I got married, he said, In a couple of years we will hear the pitter-patter of little footsteps. So I set traps. Equal rights for the sexes will be reached only when totally unqualified women occupy high positions of power. These are some of today's Womanakans' one-liners. She delivered smart quips and wore ridiculous get-ups to embody an oddball housewife. She was one of America's funniest women. Please welcome Phyllis Diller. Eventually Phyllis would make a living parading around stages in foot-tall wigs and enormous phosphorescent dresses. Half clown, half housewife. The first three decades of her life were pretty plain. Phyllis was born on July 17, 1917, in Lima, Ohio. She was the daughter of an insurance executive. She played classical piano and thought of becoming a music teacher. In her senior year of college, she met Sherwood Anderson Diller, a sort of jack-of-all-trades. They were married in 1939. Both of the Dillers held odd jobs. Sherwood is an inspector at a Navy air station, Phyllis is a columnist and copywriter. The couple struggled financially, especially as a gaggle of kids entered the picture. But Phyllis had a knack for comedy. She loved making people laugh, and she was good at it, too. It came naturally to her in her writing jobs. And when she was doing her washing at the laundromat, her funny stories made the neighborhood women smile. She was always the one giving presentations at parties and PTA meetings, making dull suburban life just a bit more fun. A few years shy of her 40th birthday, Phyllis doubled down on her hobby. Inspired by a self-help book she'd read, she started writing her own comedy routines, giving paid and at times unpaid performances around town. In 1955, she made her debut on stage at a San Francisco nightclub. The more she performed, the more she developed her on-stage character, a parody of a housewife. Her own domestic life was a source of inspiration. Her children's whims at the dinner table, her husband's woes after a day of work. She'd take those jokes and then ramp them up a bit. Soon, Phyllis the character had a husband named Fang, a mother-in-law she referred to as Moby Dick, a sister-in-law whom she titled Captain Bly. The on-stage version of Phyllis fed her children garbage soup. She burned her ironing. She wore ridiculous dresses laden with sequins and furs and donned bejeweled heels. When Phyllis trotted on stage, she carried an iconic bright yellow glittering cigarette holder. At the end was a wooden cigarette. Phyllis didn't smoke. Everything Phyllis built up for her character was an act, and it was a damn funny one. Phyllis made her big TV debut on Jack Paar's Tonight Show in 1958. From then on, her stand-up was a staple of late-night TV. She made a name for herself through her unforgettable on-stage persona and her quick one-liners. Phyllis wasn't the first female comic, but she was one of the first to pursue such an abrasive form of comedy. Her jokes were unforgiving and unflattering, especially to herself. She was aggressive and unconventional.
SPEAKER_03: All I know is if I was put together by Mother Nature, God is a litterbug.
SPEAKER_01: Much of Phyllis' routine came down to precision and timing. She had what she called a gag file. A four-foot-tall metal cabinet stuffed with more than 50,000 index cards. Each one was a joke. And each drawer was carefully labeled. In semi-alphabetical order, they ranged in categories from shopping to men to food gripes, to psychology, dieting, royal family, and, of course, my marriage to Fang. One of Phyllis' main comedy fonts was her own weight and looks. But in her personal life, she did care about her appearance. According to some stories, when she posed nude for Playboy, the magazine pulled her spread. She looked too attractive to play it for laughs. Phyllis was one of the first celebrities to publicize the fact that she got plastic surgery done. She made that a joke, too. Coding around a plastic surgery resume for anyone who asked about her looks. Phyllis never made it big on TV or in movies. Her sitcom was short-lived, and she had some recurring roles doing voiceover for cartoons. They come, they eat, they leave.
SPEAKER_03: That's our lot in life. It's not a lot, but it's our life.
SPEAKER_01: But she did have a successful stand-up in theater career. She also put her classical piano skills to work in the 1970s, when she appeared as a piano soloist with orchestras around the country. Her piano performances had some laughs here and there, but by and large, she took the opportunity to show off her impressive musical chops. Phyllis also wrote books. A handful of comedy how-to guides, like Phyllis Diller's Housekeeping Hints and Phyllis Diller's Marriage Manual, and an autobiography titled Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse. Phyllis continued performing for most of her life. In a 2002 show in Las Vegas, she announced it would be her final stand-up performance. She was true to her word. Phyllis Diller died on August 20, 2012, at her home in Los Angeles. She was 95 years old. All month, we're talking about comedienne's. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram, at Womanica Podcast. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow.
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