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Lotus
Weinstock She died in 1997. Raising a child in Los Angeles is very difficult ever since they lowered the official age of puberty to six. When my daughter was three and a half I caught her giving birth to her doll. I said, "What are you doing?" She said, "Quit the questions and cut the cord!" Kids are such divine creatures when they arrive. Lili was a fabulous child. I named her Lillith after the first feminist and tried to be an enlightened mother. Motherhood is the ultimate responsibility. Being a mother is like its own religion. You must pay full and utter attention. My own mother was a piece of work, she was just one of a kind, very Jewish and knew every prayer. She would sneak into the Talmud studies. My mother conveyed Jewish values by teaching me to question, to do constant battle, to challenge, to get at the marrow of the issue. I learned comedy by osmosis. As a kid at camp I used to perform and impersonate my friends, movie stars. After college I worked in New York. I was a hostess at the Bitter End, which was a very hip coffee house. Everyone was there. Woodie Allen, Bob Dylan. I used to sing people to their seats. I created my own act and opened for folk singers Phil Ochs, Tim Harden and Richie Havens. I moved to Los Angeles for work and met Lenny Bruce. I was taken to see him by a mutual friend who thought Lenny would love my work. Lenny helped me become more honest in my work; he introduced me to the "Hounds of Heaven and the Truth Bug" and they never let you go. Lenny helped me realize that the truth is funny enough. What my mother said about our engagement is not one for the family scrapbook but in time she got to know him and thought he was adorable. When he died it was horrible for her. Can you imagine your every newspaper displaying your daughter's fiancee dead, naked on the bathroom floor? I could cry right now just thinking about him but I am grateful for knowing him. He influenced my work tremendously. On stage I used to wear big overalls and say that women in the future will be more concerned with developing their sense of humor than their breasts. It makes more sense. Your humor doesn't sag after childbirth. I started to perform with my daughter when she was young as a matter of pragmatism. They didn't let her in the club unless she was on stage. Our act just evolved and soon she had a little violin in her hand. You know I can go to eternal kvellsville whenever I hear my daughter play her violin. I know that my approach to discipline was quite different from my mother's. It had to be with the children of the Woodstock generation. How can you hit a kid who says, "Hey Mom, it's your karma that you will come back as my daughter." You know that would be great karma, anyway you cut it. |
