Project Eyeball

Comic has many faces
by Lim Hui Ling

She's blonde, buxomy and the sole female to perform at the Singapore Comedy Festival 2001.

Karen Loftus will tickle the funny bone with a zany and at times bawdy routine called American Woman at Zouk.

It's not like she's been telling jokes all her life. Loftus, nicknamed Barbie, is an avid yoga practitioner and a writer. She's also an actress and a teacher in a class for the physically abused.

What have been some of your more interesting jobs?
I was a clown, a cube dancer, a security personnel… I have a lot of experience to draw from.

Where do you usually get material for your gigs?
American Woman is really about all the countries I have travelled to; about how the people see me and how I see them.

Why do you call it American Woman? How American are you?
It came about as I travelled. I always thought that I was Irish, because I was raised in an Irish Catholic family. But when I left the country, it was the first time I felt American. People just perceived me to be this blonde, blue-eyed Californian girl, which is totally not true.

So did you get your funny bone from your family?
I have three other siblings, and we are direct opposites of one another. Night and day. Black and white. We are not the same.

How did you start off in comedy?
I was always performing as a kid, and the class clown in school. Then when I started teaching aerobics, the owner of my club from Broadway rold me that I had to get into acting. Once I started, I haven't stopped.

You've been labelled a sex object. Does it bother you?
I did this show in Scotland and they called me the Pamela Anderson of Comedy, and the journalist setting up a photo shoot asked me to wear a red bathing suit. I think that got too far.

Who are the Gods of comedy to you?
Richard Pryor is a big story-telling, physical comedian. He is like a mentor to me. Eddie Izzard is another one. He is English and balances the smart and silly very well. Margaret Cho is Korean-American and is one of my favourite stand-up comediennes.

You have a lot of gender-base shows, like It's a Man's, Man's, Man's, Man's World. Why?
I have a twin brother. So I use this male counterpart to study gender differences. Wherever you go, there is a curiosity for these differences.

What brand of femenism do you advocate?
I have a strong woman's point of view. Not to the extent of bra-burning, but equality of the sexes.

Being the only comedienne in the festival, is more expected of you?
People look at any show the same way. But sometimes, as a female, one has to work harder ro win them over. People look at your appearance, then they listen to what you have to say.