By Layla Kalinen
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
BELLOWS FALLS, Vt., — Five women comedians will storm the stage in Bellows Falls for a fundraiser benefit on November 10th, 2022.
Vermont Comedy Divas, a diverse group of women from all different backgrounds, will be hosted at the Bellows Falls Opera House for a night of sharp, poignant and hilarious story telling.
In an interview with the Eagle Times, the founder of Vermont Comedy Divas, Josie Leavitt, talked about each of the divas having their own special style of comedy.
She said to describe them would be a challenge because, while they share the human struggle, they come from different places with different comedy styles.
Leavitt, who is running for a seat in the Vermont State House, will not be performing, but she did say there will be a guest comic to take her place.
“I just think they’re all really funny, it’s not often that you have a group like this, and we have a guest comic too, to take my place, Kathleen Canz,” Leavitt said. “Basically, people who come to this show are going to see five very different kinds of female comics who talk about their lives in incredibly smart, very creative ways.”
“We have three now who are moms, a couple of lesbians. There’s going to be a fair amount of comedic storytelling,” Leavitt said. “That’s definitely how Hilary Orsini and Sue Schmidt roll.”
Leavitt was passionate about her connection with the five comics.
“Their stories are hilarious, and they have a lot of heart and this is just going to be a great show,” Leavitt said, ‘This is part of ‘Divas Do Good’ which is the not-for-profit arm of Vermont Comedy Divas where we created a program where we could help not-for profits raise money in a really easy way.”
She described her charity as a fundraiser in a box, a 35% donation to the charity of any area fundraiser’s choice.
“You provide the theater; we provide the show. The organization does the promotion,” she said. “It’s an easy, fun thing.”
Leavitt said the added value to the ‘Divas Do Good’ program is it brings standup comedy to rural areas that don’t have regular exposure to comedy clubs or comedy shows.
“It also makes it possible for us to go to towns where there is no comedy club,” Leavitt said. “Places where not everyone has access to good live comedy. So, this is a great introduction for some people and a great reminder that, ‘Oh my God. Live Comedy is really fun.”
Leavitt recalled the Burlington based comedy group’s past experience in Bellows Falls and lamented over her absence due to her 12-hour days on the campaign trail.
“We have been to Bellows Falls before and we have enjoyed it immensely. Great crowd- very enthusiastic and supportive. I’m just bummed I won’t be there. My schedule completely changed shortly after we booked the gig.”
Leavitt did say she was pleased with the lineup and the opportunity for comics seasoned and newer on the scene to showcase their storytelling and for the guest comic, Kathleen Canz, to perform.
“It’s gonna be a great chance for a ton of comics because we haven’t had a chance to perform as much since Covid,” Leavitt said. “Everyone is just getting back into performing regularly. Everyone is very excited about having a benefit.”
“Kathleen Canz is very different from everyone. I love her style. She has very dry humor. Something about her delivery just delights me,” Leavitt said. “Sue Schmidt’s stories sometimes have me choking up and sometimes just laughing. Hillary Orsini is a fairly new mom. They’re very funny about how they talk about their children.”
“Autumn Engroff Spencer also talks about her kids, but this is the first year her daughter started college,” Leavitt said. “So, I’d be very curious how she talks about this, she still has a son at home, but her daughter has moved out. That has been really hard for her.”
“Tracy Spencer is divorced and that’s been really hard for her, and she just keeps putting herself out there. She just dates, she’s trying to find the right guy out there. She talks about the struggles she’s been facing,” Leavitt said.
Sean Roberts, a local artist and Bellows Falls Opera House Event Coordinator, said working with Vermont Comedy Divas has been a really easy laid-back experience.
“Coming in we have a bunch of local comics from the Vermont area, which is very exciting,” Roberts said. “This has actually been very easy because the show is a line up where after one performs their show another one is ready.”
“So, the work on our end has been pretty easy, we’re trying to promote it as best we can. Something I’m really excited about is creating traditional yearly events that keep returning annually. We’re hoping this will be one of them,” Roberts said.
This show is being presented by and will benefit the Great Falls Regional Chamber of Commerce, celebrating their 65th year in community service. For questions, please contact GFRCC at 802-463-4280 or [email protected].
Tickets, $30.00, $20.00 $13.00 (plus $2/ticket service charge at WWW.BELLOWSFALLSOPERAHOUSE.COM
Doors open at 6:30pm Showtime 7:00pm
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