Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 3/1/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Comedian Mary Mack performed in the pub on Feb. 20. She played her clarinet for some of her jokes.

The audience in the Lakeland pub was greeted by a nine-year-old girl performing comedy. Actually, she wasn't nine but her voice was that of a young girl.

She began the joke with, "I bet you all are thinking, 'Is she going to use that voice all night?'... uh, yep." That is when I knew this was going to be a great performance.

Mary Mack is a comedian from Hayward, Wisconsin. She performs mainly at comedy clubs and colleges. She won the California Funniest Female Contest in 2005 and, last year, was invited to the Vancouver Comedy Festival.

Mack had many different jobs throughout her career such as a band teacher, pizza delivery person, substitute teacher, teach music lessons, and performing in a polka band.

She didn't know that she was going to be a comedian. "I didn't know it was a real job," said Mack.

While playing with her polka band for four years in Nashville, Tennessee, Mack would talk to the audience in between songs. People started to like her talking better than the band, so Mack decided to perform comedy instead of polka.

During her performance at Lakeland, there were some great jokes about band teachers as well as teachers in general. Mack said that all teachers drink as soon as classes let out and that they were probably all passed out at Harriet's Diner. I liked that she added a local spin to the joke.

Mack's comedic style is a little off the wall and at times, a little jumpy. It seems like her mind is faster than her mouth; therefore, she would stop in mid-phrase and then say the next thing on her mind. It didn't take away from the jokes because her punchlines were always the clearest thoughts coming out of her mouth.

The audience wasn't receptive at first, but they came around when Mack started talking about the nightie that she received on Christmas.

"When you receive a nightie on Christmas from your mother, a piece of your innocence dies." She went on to explain that it was more like a long john nightie, probably made for attracting lumberjacks.

That broke the silence with big laughs from all around the pub. "Silence is the worst way to heckle a comedian," Mack said as she then tried to ward it off an a humorously outlandish way.

The most interesting thing about Mack's comedy is that she comments on her act while she is performing. If a joke didn't work, then she would comment on how it failed. Sometimes her comments were so funny that you wonder if it was set up that way.

Not only did Mack just stand up on the pub stage and talk, but she also showed off her musical talent by playing the mandolin and the clarinet.

With the mandolin, Mack played some great tunes from artists like AC/DC, the Rolling Stones, and Ludicris. She even created some of her own hilarious songs with lyrics that were a bit out there, but were funny nonetheless.

The clarinet provided some great jokes like how she helps little kids when they fall into a well by playing the song that makes snakes rise in cartoons.

Mack is on the road for 49 weeks out of the year, which is a bit stressful at times. "My next project is to do TV shows because then I wouldn't have to be on the road as much."

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