by bill biss“Miss Vicki” is how Lawrence describes her stage persona while her alter ego Thelma Harper affectionately known as “Mama” takes center stage during her current touring show Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two Woman Show.
The comedian is no stranger to the spotlight as Lawrence endeared herself to the public on television as one of the stellar performers on the long-running The Carol Burnett Show.
Her countless antics opposite Carol and the cast truly created a cornucopia of laughter and memories in the annals of television history.
Lawrence then went on to add more merriment for her star turn in the television comedy Mama’s Family. Her natural humor, down-to-earth philosophy and true talent continue to shine bright.
The Rage Monthly had the great pleasure to talk with Vicki Lawrence and share a few laughs and memories.
The Rage Monthly: You’ve said that your show Vicki Lawrence and Mama: A Two Woman Show is not a retrospective for you. Will you elaborate on that?
Vicki Lawrence: When we put the show together, Harvey [Korman] and Tim [Conway] were on the road. They were doing really well with their show and their show was sketches…we used old sketches from the Burnett Show basically.
So, when I decided to put a show together, I decided I don’t want to go backward. I knew I had to bring Mama out of the closet because everybody loves her so much. But I really wanted to bring her into the new century and make her modern.
I sort of considered her my opportunity to be Chris Rock. Mind you, I don’t go quite as nuts as Chris does but kind of my opportunity to push the envelope and talk about things that wouldn’t otherwise be politically correct for Miss Vicki to talk about. So, [Mama] gets all the good jokes and all the good material.
My half of the show is retrospective only in that it’s pretty autobiographical. I think I answer every question that anybody would ask me if we were to do questions and answers like Carol used to. You’ll probably know more about me by the end of my half of the show than you really ever wanted to know (laughter).
Rage: There’s a down home earthiness to Thelma Harper [Mama]. In this age of cynical humor and tabloid headlines, why do you feel Mama’s take on life right now is so important?
VL: I think for the same reason that everybody’s always loved her. She just tells it like it is. She’s sort of like your crazy old aunt or grandma who sits at the Thanksgiving table and says everything you wanted to say but would never.
Then you’re in the powder room after dinner going “Oh my God” to your friend… “Can you believe she said that?” I kind of think of Mama the same way that I always thought of Archie Bunker. Everybody knows Archie Bunker.
Everybody has an Archie Bunker in his or her family. Nobody ever fesses up to being him so nobody is ever offended by him. Nobody ever comes up to me and says, “Oh my God. I’m Mama.” They always come up to me and say, “Oh my God, you’re my aunt” or “Oh my God, you’re my grandma.”
Consequently she gets away with murder because she’s a crazy old lady. She can say whatever the hell she wants.
Rage: Your career is so phenomenal. Bouncing from The Carol Burnett Show to Mama’s Family,your own talk show and all the hilarious game shows you were a part of. I discovered you also do speaking engagements across the country. What is that experience like?
VL: Actually the first half of my show is largely based on what I learned at my speaking engagements—that everyone wants to hear the stories of my life.
It’s pretty hysterical that I should be found by Carol by writing a fan letter and how I met my husband…over the years; the speaking engagement has expanded to include whatever is going on in my life.
Whether it’s kids or menopause, because every woman is going through that crap. It’s whatever I need to talk about depending who the group is.
Rage: How do you think television comedy has changed over the years?
VL: We were sort of left to our own devices back then doing a live show. Now, you’d have eight gazillion suits down there telling us what to do. Telling you what you can and can’t say…everything is so politically correct now.
I think comedy has gotten cynical and dark. Sexual. It’s hard to find for the kids those great old shows that you can sit and watch together. Where you can laugh at totally mindless shit like I did when I was young…like Green Acres or Lucy. Those shows are sort of timeless.
Rage: What are some of the shows you watch now?
VL: I’m crazy about Modern Family. I love that show. I think it’s hysterical. I still watch Saturday Night Live. Although it’s not that often that it totally tickles me to death. I will say Betty White tickled the crap out of me.
The Office and 30 Rock are funny but I don’t watch them all the time.
Rage: My husband watches all those NCIS, CSI shows.
VL: Mama’s got a beef with NCIS…how many of those shows are there on the air? Good lord! (laughter) All over a dead body for God’s sake.
Rage: One of the most enjoyable things about The Carol Burnett Show was the unscripted dialogue, which would put the cast in uncontrollable laughter and in front of a live audience.VL: Carol grew up on live television so that’s the way we shot that show. We literally did two shows and you could set your clock by the schedule. It would take us an hour and a half to tape an hour show. There’s no way that would happen nowadays.
We stopped only for major costume changes or major set changes. You know, we used to tackle some pretty spectacular huge pieces. We’d get through those tapings and we rarely did pick-ups. For Carol, it was all about that audience.
Keeping that audience happy, that 250-person audience that was in our studio. I think that’s why everybody still watches that show and loves it so much because it was like being there live.
It was really incredibly well-done. You look back at the staff, the costumes and the writing…it was just an incredible team.
Rage: You have had the opportunity to meet so many amazing entertainers over the span of your career.
VL: It’s incredible when you think back. I think I was too young and stupid even to appreciate where I was. But, oh my God, the people who came through there, like Jimmy Stewart.
I remember the night that Joanne Woodward was on the show and everybody said, “Paul Newman’s in the booth and he’s having Coors.”
The prop man was taking him Coors. I kept looking up at that booth and thinking, “Oh my God, if I could only see through it.” They use to joke that it was bullet-proof.
It was only a one-way glass. You could not see back into the booth with the director. I was dying and I never did get to meet Paul Newman.
Also, I was just blown away all week by how incredibly beautiful Joanne Woodward was and how amazing her eyes were. Everybody talked about Paul Newman’s eyes and that piercing blue. But…her eyes are this mint green.
Oh my God…just drop dead gorgeous! Yes. Geez. John Wayne was in the building one time. I ran into him for God’s sake.
Rage: It’s amazing really.
VL: My husband was the make-up man on the show. At the height of the Burnett Show, we were on Stage 33 and Sonny and Cher were on Stage 31. Literally, if you went through the toilet, you were on Sonny and Cher’s stage.
That’s how we would run back and forth. So, if Cher was doing a number I wanted to see or if I wanted to see what she was wearing, I would just run through the lady’s room onto the stage and I could see what was going on.
My husband used to run back and forth because he did Cher and he also did Carol’s make-up. He used to run through the men’s room all the time. One day, I was with the girl dancers and we’re standing backstage.
We were waiting to go out and do a number. Al goes bee-lining into the men’s room and he comes backing out of the door. We all look at him. He’s looking like he’s seen a ghost. He looks at all of us and says, “The Duke’s in there taking a pee.” (laughter) He couldn’t deal. He just couldn’t deal.
Rage: How would you describe the power of laughter?
VL: I think it’s the only thing that has gotten me through. When my talk show was cancelled, I went through a horrible crisis.
Not so much cancelled, as really fired by this company that I used to work for because we didn’t get along.
They just didn’t agree with me that show business should be fun. They thought it should be very stressful. It was a very verbally and ultimately physical relationship. When I said, “I can’t go on unless you fix this.” I was fired. I went into a tailspin.
I went into a depression that lasted probably three years or more. I totally lost my sense of humor. It was a really difficult period for me. With Al, I ultimately worked my way through it.
When I finally got my sense of humor back, which was really shortly before I put this show together…I realized that I wanted to make people laugh again.
My motto on the talk show had always been “Life is much too serious to be taken seriously.” I learned, really the hard way. Laughter is a gift and you have to laugh. If you don’t laugh, you’ll slit your wrists…you know? You have to keep laughing.
