Agesim: Meet Comedian Carole Montgomergy, Cocreator of Showtime’s ‘Funny Women of a Certain Age’
Episode 79
Today we’re talking about Ageism.
The experience of Ageism starts as early as you’re old enough to understand you are getting zero respect from everyone else on Earth, by the time you’re a teen you’re lying about your age to buy beer or get in the club or be accepted by a hot older crush. Finally you’re 21 and you’re legal to do almost everything, but now you’re in the workforce where people question your judgement because they don’t think you know shit, so you put on a bunch of make-up or grow a beard or to make yourself look older, then you finally hit your 30’s where you get a modicum of respect in the business world but then there’s this idea that you’re heading “over the hill” whatever the fuck that means and it just goes on from there.
As we can attest here on Clit Talk, there’s nowhere worse in the universe for Ageism than LA, where you start with fake ids and end with botox, fillers, and facelifts. What a comedy of errors, huh? Well today, we have a badass woman who has broken the mold-she has taken Hollywood Ageism by the balls, squeezed, and said ENOUGH! In this episode of Clit Talk we had the pleasure of interviewing Carole Montgomery. She’s graced the stage as a comedienne for forty years(!) and made countless television appearances from MTV to Oprah. She’s a writer, director, mother, and cocreator of the new comedy special on Showtime ‘Funny Women of a Certain Age.’
“In comedy, women were not supposed to talk about sex.” - Carole Montgomery
But this is Clit Talk, so Carole gave us an exception…
Although, Carole has been telling sex jokes her whole career and nothing has stopped her. Not even if it meant not getting invited back to a comedy bar…
“I wasn’t asked to be invited back to a comedy bar because I was talking about sex when I was pregnant. I said how the fuck do you think I got pregnant in the first place.” - Carole Montgomery
Questions from the Interview:
Carole, first we have to say a huge CONGRATULATIONS—you officially made history by having six women over 50 on one television show! Please tell our listeners about Funny Women of A Certain Age.
What did it take for you to get beyond the Great Wall of Hollywood Ageism to get this special greenlit? Any crazy obstacles?
In comedy you find the funny in the pain. Your mission is clearly to put a fresh spin on what it is to be over 50 and still recognized as a hot sexual being. Was there a time in your life where you found Age stopped you in your entertainment career?
You’ve been married for over 30 years, you have a 27 year old son who you were ever present for as Vice-President of the PTA while coaching his little league team. As a new mom who works in entertainment, I’m just starting to pitch the shows that I’ve written and I know what it looks like to be on set 16 hours per day. I’m really curious--how did you navigate being a Supermom and a successful entertainer?
When you were starting out in comedy, a lot of people told you DON’T talk about sex in your standup act, but you did it anyway. It was such a different time--can you paint the picture for our listeners---who was telling you not to talk about sex and what the hell was their justification for it?
One of the most famous comediennes of all time the great Lucille Ball, famously said “The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.” And we’ve seen the strategy of many successful women over 50 in entertainment these days is to do whatever they must to look decades younger than they actually are and never ever talk about their age. You’re not playing that game AT ALL. As silly as it may sound to people who live lives off screen, it takes a certain internal strength at your age to just be your natural self. It’s almost goddamn heroic in this town. So what does it take personally for you to be able to say “fuck it” and be your real you?