A Mom's Winning Riff On The Parodies Of Parenthood

The New York Times

May 10, 2006

By FELICIA R. LEE

Rubi Nicholas's mouthful of a life became her comedy routine. She's a Pakistani Muslim with a Greek Orthodox, stay-at-home husband who converted to Islam. They live in a Denver suburb with their daughters. They fit in just fine. "Except," she says in her stand-up routine, "every time my daughter leaves her Barbie Jeep in someone else's driveway they call the bomb squad."

Ms. Nicholas's comic cocktail of culture clashes and motherhood has earned her the title of "Funniest Mom in America."

The 36-year-old mother of two was chosen last night during the broadcast of the finale of a five-part reality series on Nickelodeon's Nick at Nite programming block, called "Nick at Nite's Search for the Funniest Mom in America 2."

As part of their victories, both Ms. Nicholas and last year's winner, Darlene Westgor, are $50,000 richer and talking with network executives about their own shows.

"The modern mother, more than anyone, needs to keep a sense of humor," Ms. Nicholas said in a telephone interview, referring to all the books and television shows that take on the push-pull of career versus domesticity, or the desire of families to swap mothers. "There are things I had to let go of — clothes that match, anything white, combed hair," Ms. Nicholas said. "So my kids are white, and they have dreadlocks."

Right now, Ms. Nicholas's jokes are shoehorned into her life as an executive for a health care insurance carrier. If things work out with Nick at Nite, though, she envisions her own television show as "hugely autobiographical," a kind of "I Love Lucy" in which she and her family supply the exotic element that Ricky Ricardo provided for his daffy, red-headed wife.

Because anti-Muslim sentiment reigns in some quarters, Ms. Nicholas hopes her family's example generates some good will. She recalls her parents changing their telephone number because of threats they received during the Iran hostage crisis. ("People don't understand there's a difference between Pakistanis and Iranians.") But being an outsider, she said, has also always been a source of humor.

"We look for that next domestic goddess — who's the next Roseanne?" said Sal Maniaci, the senior vice president of development and original production at Nick at Nite. Last year's "Funniest Moms" show drew about 1.38 million viewers during the hourlong special, and the network decided to expand the franchise. The call for contestants drew hundreds of responses.

After months of tryouts, 10 finalists competed at the Laugh Factory in New York in a series of challenges that included a sitcom screen test and performing sketches for an audience of children. For two weeks, they lived together in a New York City penthouse and received help with their routines from real comedians.

The show's host was Katey Sagal (from "Married ... With Children"), and the trio of advice-giving judges included the actor Alfonso Ribeiro and the comedians Carol Leifer and Mario Cantone.

Mr. Maniaci said that Ms. Nicholas stands out because she "gives us a fresh look at cultural similarities and differences."

The runner-up to Ms. Nicholas, Lisa Alvarado honed her skills in comedy clubs in both Chicago and Los Angeles, mostly talking about being Peruvian and single. "It was a great learning experience," Ms. Alvarado, a 34-year-old hairdresser who lives in Los Angeles with her 14-year-old son, said of the competition.

"And I'm not even the typical Latina," she says in her routine. "I'm not, because I got pregnant in my late teens. There was so much pressure in my house, you guys. My Mom's always like, 'Hurry up, your little brother's already a grandfather.' "

Like Ms. Alvarado, who jokes about people searching for Peruvia on the map, Ms. Nicholas cheerfully says that no one ever understood her culture. When she was a child she enjoyed calling her school and pretending to be her mother with excuses for absences, she says in her routine. She grew up in Pottsville, Pa., a coal region in the central part of the state.

"Calling to let you know that Rubi will not be in school today. For today we celebrate the holy festival of the blind goat," Ms. Nicholas says in a heavy Pakistani accent.

And did somebody mention airports? "So a little bit about me," Ms. Nicholas said in the final show. "I married a white guy to improve my airport cred. Yeah, and he had to become a Muslim to marry me, and he had to marry me because you know what they say. Once you go Pak ... that's right, you'll never eat pork again."

Ms. Nicholas entered the contest at the suggestion of her 6-year-old daughter, who heard about it on Nick at Nite last October and said to her, "Mom, you're really funny." Her other daughter is 3 years old.

With the family's support, Ms. Nicholas began working the microphone at comedy clubs in Denver. She learned about timing, establishing a rapport with the audience, body language. "The first time I was onstage I had my hands in my pockets and my face buried in the microphone," she recalled.

A "Funniest Mom" judge this year and last, Ms. Leifer (whose writing credits include "Seinfeld," "The Larry Sanders Show") is now the writer and producer for a sitcom pilot for Ms. Westgor, last year's winner. Tentatively titled "Darlene," it will be based on Ms. Westgor's life as a 45-year-old single mother rearing two teenage sons in the Minneapolis area.

Unlike Ms. Nicholas, Ms. Westgor had a few years of stand-up experience when she won the title. Like Ms. Nicholas, she's working with elements in her real life for the show, like an ex-husband who lives down the street, calls all the time, and takes her and their sons out to Sunday dinner.

As for Ms. Nicholas, she says it's a boon to mothers that Nick at Nite is nodding to the idea that motherhood is rather inherently funny. "I'm hardly perfect — that's what makes it funny," Ms. Nicholas said.