VICKI LAWRENCE TO TOUR
 "VICKI LAWRENCE AND MAMA: A TWO-WOMAN SHOW"

Emmy Award- winning comedienne Vicki Lawrence is one of the most beloved television personalities of her generation. Plucked out of total obscurity as a high school senior, Vicki went on to become part of the now-legendary cast of the "Carol Burnett Show." "I went to the Harvard School of Comedy in front of America," says Ms. Lawrence of her Burnett Show training.

In the seventh season, and hundreds of hilarious sketches later, at the ripe, old age of 24, Vicki created her most endearing character to date, Thelma Harper, or "Mama" as she is better known to her fans. After the Burnett Show, Vicki went on to star in "Mama's Family," which consistently topped the ratings for its entire six-year run of original shows. "Mama" has attained almost a cult status among her legions of loyal television viewers, who still enjoy her in reruns twice daily throughout most of the country.

For several years now, "Carol Burnett Show" alumni, Harvey Korman and Tim Conway have been touring as a comedy act in casinos and performing arts centers and doing skits from the Burnett show to tremendous response. In addition, Vicki and Tim were recently coupled as parents on CBS-TV's "Yes Dear," where their popularity garnered that sitcom its highest ratings to date. Further, the unprecedented ratings for the "Carol Burnett Showstopper Special," which recently delighted more than 50 million viewers, convinced Ms. Lawrence that the time is right to take Mama out of the closet, dust off her sensible shoes and hit the road with her new touring production, Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two-Woman Show.

Ms. Lawrence will take the stage first. "My new show will not be a retrospective," she explains. "We are designing a show that is a mixture of stand-up comedy, music and my observations about real life." The multi-talented entertainer is mostly known for her acting and comedic talents, but she also earned a gold record for the 1973 hit, "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia."

Ms. Lawrence also became one of the few successful female game show hosts when she took on the daytime version of "'Win, Lose or Draw." She further perfected her hosting skills on her own daytime talk show, "Vicki!," from 1992-1994, becoming the only talk show host since Oprah to be nominated for an Emmy in her freshman year.

On stage, Ms. Lawrence has appeared in numerous productions, including Send Me No Flowers, No, No Nanette, My Fat Friend, Chapter Two, Twigs, Hello Dolly, Special Occasions, I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On The Road, Annie Get Your Gun, and, live from the Grand Ole Opry, Nunsense 3: The Jamboree, which aired on TNN. Most recently she appeared in The Vagina Monologues. Her autobiography, Vicki! The True Life Adventures of Miss Fireball, was published in 1995 by Simon and Schuster.

The entertainer also travels all over the country speaking to charity groups about her life and career, women's health and being a woman in a man's world. Her efforts to protect women's rights were recognized in 1988 when she was the first woman to be honored as "Person of the Year" by the Coalition of Labor Union Women. Her speaking engagements have given her the opportunity to fine-tune much of her comedy.

"I think people will get a kick out of the things Mama has an opinion about. We're creating new material with a more modern and cutting edge. Where Mama is concerned, expect the unexpected. There's really nothing she can't do," she says. "I hope people will be pleasantly surprised by a side of Vicki they may never have seen…I know they will be looking forward to Mama, and for her part, that crazy old gal will be up to the challenge." 

        VICKI LAWRENCE BRINGS BAWDY LAUGHS TO LYRIC

                                          Byline: Brian Bixler - Stuart News

    If you're one of those husbands who questions why women spend a long time in the ladies room, Vicki Lawrence will show you why. Squatting center stage, legs apart, trying to keep an imaginary strap tucked under her chin and her expensive slacks from touching the dirty floor, the television star gave a hilarious, graphic description of what women go through in a restroom stall during "Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two Woman Show" at the Lyric Theatre in Stuart.

    Beginning with clips from the " Carol Burnett Show," which gave Lawrence her start in show business, the stage act was part stand-up comedy, part storytelling, with a few songs thrown in for good measure. The 54 year-old actress spent two-thirds of the 80-minute show addressing the audience as herself before turning the stage over to Thelma Harper, better known as Mama, her best known television character. Along the way there were bawdy jokes about fake orgasms and feminine hygiene spray, lesbianism and trips to the gynecologist.

    "Sex is a kind of fun subject, don't you think?" she asked the audience before launching into a story about an article she read in a women's magazine. It said that a sneeze is the closest thing to an orgasm. " And I personally have been known to say 'God bless you' after both of them", she offered. The comedienne showed versatility with dead-on impressions of fellow funny-woman Roseanne, as well as cartoon character Marge Simpson and even "Weakest Link" game show host Anne Robinson.

    Along with the jokes, there were true stories from her career, including a now-legendary tale of how the red-haired Lawrence landed a role on the "Carol Burnett Show" after writing the star a letter saying they looked alike. Burnett accepted an invitation to see the teenage Lawrence in a Miss Fireball Contest at the Hollywood Park racetrack, and before long, she was hired to be part of the "Burnett" cast. "Lord, if I hear that story one more time, I'm going to upchuck my Happy Meal, " Mama said after Lawrence changed out of a navy sequined pantsuit into a blue wig, fake pearls, orthopedic shoes and floral dress.

An Interlude of funny bloopers from the television show "Mama's Family" gave her time to make the transition into character.

    Mama gave her take on the popular culture and current events. She summed up her case against human cloning with two words: Richard Simmons. She tipped the audience off that the Spice Channel has nothing to do with Oregano: and she got her biggest response by talking about Michael Jackson. "You know why he named it the Neverland Ranch, don't you?" she asked . "Because Kinko's was already taken."

    By the end of the show, Lawrence was back onstage in a dressing gown and slippers, alone in the spotlight to sing a farewell ballad. It was reminiscent of the way Burnett ended her television show, alone onstage as a chairwoman with a mop.

                                               Excerpts from review by Kelly Kazek

                                                          The News Courier

     Vicki Lawrence doesn't see the world in shades of black and white. For her, life is experienced in red and gray. Lawrence is what many expect of redheads- spunky and fun. She's outspoken, but only to a point.

     When she becomes her most famous gray-haired character, "Mama", Lawrence has no such restrictions- she can let it all hang out. " Mama can say all the things I'd like to say and get away with it because she's an old lady," Lawrence said by telephone from Long Beach, Calif. She had interrupted an appointment with her hairdresser where she was becoming "a natural redhead" to talk about her upcoming show in Huntsville. " I really wanted to just make people laugh for 90 minutes," said Lawrence, who became a regular member of the cast of "The Carol Burnett Show" in 1968 when she was just 18 years old. She added to her credits in 1973 when she had a gold record with "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia", and continued her career acting in plays and starring in the television series, "Mama's Family"., based on the character created with Carol Burnett.

     Lawrence created "A Two Woman Show" about 2 years ago and has been touring the country. Her husband, Al Schultz, often comes along, and her son, Garrett, 28, is her stage manager. Her long time writing partner, Monty Aidem helps write her material and the man who started as her cue-card holder on The Carol Burnett Show is the show's director. "It's really a family affair," she said.

     She enjoys the freedom of the show, she said, because she is able to relate to a live audience and change material when she thinks of something new. "The first half is largely autobiographical," she said. "I talk about family and being a natural redhead. I try to talk about real life and do a little bit of singing. Then I turn the stage over to Mama."

     As always, Mama has attitude. She discusses the erratic behavior of Tom Cruise and Michael Jackson and takes on women's issues. " I try to keep Mama a little bit edgy," Lawrence said. "I think of it as Mama, unplugged." While some material is not for children, Lawrence said it is fairly tame. "It's a PG show," she said. Lawrence will sing "the Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia", and Mama will sing as well.

     Her audience includes people young and old, she said. "It's neat to see how she (Mama) spand the generations, really", Lawrence said.

     Lawrence visited more than 80 cities last year with her Two Woman Show, bringing Mama and laughs to thousands. "We've been all over the joint," she said. Lawrence said the show offers flexibility.

     "It's fun for me," she said. " I can change the material when I want. There's nobody from a network saying,'you can't say this, you can't do this'". Her work with her writing partner, Aidem, with whom she's worked since her talk show, is collaborative.

     "Mama's southern and he's a Jew from the Valley," she said. "He'll write a joke and fax it to me and I'll translate it into Mama's language. It goes back and forth". Lawrence's daughter, Courtney, 30, has seen the show. "She said, 'This is like your favorite aunt or mom telling stories,'" Lawrence said.

     Lawrence and crew will arrive today for a performance near St. Charles, La., which is near New Orleans. She said she has not been to Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina, but she hopes for a quick recovery for the towns affected, including New Orleans, one of her favorite destinations. "I just love that town. Love it, love it." she said. From Louisiana, the show comes to Huntsville. Performing for her fans still gives Lawrence a thrill. "There's nothing like a live audience." she said.