photograph courtesy of A Tale of James Brown Productions
By Clinton H. Wallace 2:27 p.m. January 03, 2015 @clintonhwallace (DGC)
We picked comedian, writer, actress Camille Solari as our top comedian pick to look out for in 2016. After watching her headline live at The Laugh Factory on literally the coolest most cutting edge live show I’ve seen in a while in Hollywood – called Comedy & Burlesque at The Laugh Factory on Mondays at 8:00 pm. What came to mind when I saw her on stage was – damn she’s the next Tina Fey if she hasn’t been fully discovered yet she definitely will in 2016. Her comedic style is explosive and intelligent with elaborate act outs that are reminiscent of Lucille Ball but with a modern dark comedy twist with her witty antidotes of life as a modern mother in a world of insanity.
So we decided to sit down and chat with this comedy genius and see what she has in store for 2016.
Q: What was the pivotal moment in your comedy career that set you up for future success?
Getting pregnant with Charlie. I had been starring in a TV pilot called “Funny Girls” about upcoming comedians trying to make it in Hollywood, and by the time the show was ready to get launched on Oxygen Network I got pregnant and that’s when the casting director Claudia Cagan saw me perform at The Laugh Factory and booked me on The Arsenio Hall Show in 2014 and The Huffington Post named my act Camille Solari and Her Future Child and apparently I was the first very pregnant comedian to stand up on late night television.
Q: Tell us a little about this new TV series you created called “Charlie.”
After Charlie was born, I started creating a TV series (half hour episodes) which I got financing to do an entire season. I named the show Charlie, (my now 18 month old daughter born June 11, 2014) and her Boston Terrier dog Rocky.
Q: Is this a reality show or a narrative sitcom?
This is based on reality like how Lucille Ball was married to Desi Arnaz on The I Love Lucy Show. But this is totally a scripted single camera sitcom and the first baby sitcom ever created.
Q: What is Charlie the TV show about?
It’s about a baby and her dog who solve neighborhood problems with the help of their animal friends. I am also starring in the show, doing the voice of Charlie and Rocky, and I also make appearances as Charlie’s on camera mother. We started shooting when Charlie was 9 months old. Other cast members are Lisa Joffrey who does the voice over of the grumpy mother of a dog from New Jersey whose kind of a know it all, and she too has on camera appearances as the grumpy dog’s owner. Lisa and I do most of the voice overs for all the animals. In season one, no adults speak, just animals, and babies. It’s geared toward mothers, and their toddlers, and kids.
Q: You mentioned you also write and act for a new Comedy TV Network created by Stephanie Laing; director, producer for HBO’s VEEP.
Yes, it’s called PYPO which stands for (Put Your Pretty On) which launches January 4th. Not sure when this article comes out but you can just google PYPO and you will find it! I am a staff writer and I also have my own spoof talk show called MILF & COOKIES. Just so you have the full scope of this new women’s comedy network – it’s totally cutting edge, and in my opinion all about the modern feminist which is one who gets to do it all and still have a soft side! This is what I am all about. So many people stopped returning my calls as soon as they found out I was pregnant, somehow in Hollywood people get the idea that you become less valuable once you have a baby, or you have to choose between your career and being a mother. I decided I would out-create this notion and whole heartedly do both. In 2015 I headlined all over Asia, Australia, the U.S. and the UK with Hamish Dean my boyfriend who plays for The U.S. Touch Rugby Team and has a tech start company called Shapeshifter and our daughter Charlie. Charlie has already been to twelve countries before the age of two. What a wonderful way to get started in life. Not every successful woman has to be a “bitch on wheels” you can still actually be feminine, be smart, be sassy and most of all be funny! I love the concept of PYPO and I am grateful I get to be a part of this network and movement in the comedy world!
Stephanie Laing directs and produces HBO’s Veep (for which she won the 2015 outstanding comedy series Emmy after nominations three years running), is the mother of three and was just nominated for a Golden Globe, according to Mashable. Her co-creator is Susan Paley (former Beats by Dre CEO), and her editor-in-chief will be Elizabeth Thorp of Capitol File magazine. Georgia Pritchett and Tony Roche (who both write for Veep), Lea Goldman (Marie Claire executive editor), Paula Froelich (New York Times best-selling author and Yahoo Travel editor), Laurie Cole (one of SoulCycle’s original instructors) and Jessica Richards (Cool Hunting stylist and Shen Beauty founder) amongst many other incredible writers and cast. Clearly this new women’s comedy network is going to be the thing that everyone it talking about! If you haven’t heard about it yet, you will be now!
Look out comedy world, Camille Solari is certainly one to look out for in 2016!
This modern mother seems to juggle it all. Wow! I look forward to watching her new show Charlie with my great-grandkids!