In the very funny “Diary Of A MILF (Mom I’d Love to Follow),” Meshelle is a mother and wife who wants to maintain the carefree lifestyle of her teenage years. On the one hand, she has domestic obligations to volunteer at her daughter’s kindergarten class and cook Thanksgiving dinner. On the other hand, she wants to dress in tight‑fitting clothes and be a stand‑up comedian who speaks her mind. “You know when you sit across from your relatives at a holiday dinner and think to yourself, ‘There is no way I’m related to you. There is no way we have the same DNA,’” Meshelle says with a straight face in one of her many absurd yet true‑to‑life observations. About motherhood, she says, “I look at myself and I think, ‘I did everything I could to have good children. I had natural childbirth with all three: two home births and one at the birth center. I breastfed for a year. I made their baby food. I never gave them soda or genetically modified organisms or sugar. I figured everything would be all right, but the truth of the matter is that they’re still a mixed bag of nuts.’” The crowd roared. A parent may think they have all the boxes checked, but somehow something wacky and perplexing happens anyway. “Do the best you can, but if it all goes wrong, blame the father!” One of Meshelle’s satirical targets is the mother of her child’s classmate, a ditzy woman with ignorant ideas about parenting and race. After Pepper, the woman’s spoiled child, is sent home with a disciplinary note, she says, “Mommy, I wasn’t bad today. The teacher was bad. She’s bad because she makes bad choices. She chooses to eat all the food. She’s so fat.” Simply by changing her posture, Meshelle hilariously embodies the rude child. Meshelle, like the best stand‑up comedians, serves up truth and then zips her lip, giving the audience a moment to react. Will they laugh or gasp? Will they take the comment as a joke, or will it strike too much of a nerve? Keep performing, Meshelle, and keep rocking your way. You are a mother I’d love to follow. “Diary Of A MILF (Mom I’d Love to Follow)” Performed by MESHELLE Sept. 22 at 6pm Director: Rain Pryor Production Assistant: Shawn M. Mason Art Director: Darius Wilmore Original Music: Michael Ellison Photo: courtesy of the production United Solo 2018 Theatre Row 410 West 42nd Street New York City
AUSTIN KAISER is a writer with an expertise in art and the creative process. His writing is about improving your imagination and exercising your empathy muscle. Kaiser is currently writing a book called, “100 Questions Every Artist Should Have The Answers To.” His other book, “How To Go Viral & Put Wings On Ideas: A Book For Content Creators & Young Artists,” explains how ideas travel and which ideas travel best. More at www.medium.com/@KaiserMane.