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"I was studying
drama in New York after I graduated from university. But each time
I did a scene, my acting teachers would laugh," she says in a phone
interview from Singapore.
Not because she was bad but because she was so darn hilarious, no
matter how dramatic the scene was supposed to be.
"They (her teachers)
pushed me to do the comedy thing and I guess I kind of just fell
into it after that."
Asked if she ever knew that she had a knack for comedy, Loftus says:
"My family is funny. We would sit around the table and start telling
one another funny stories. I was just one of the many, many people
in the family." For the record, Loftus has a twin brother, an older
brother, and an older sister.
While the twin is a happy family man with "the white picket fence",
36-year-old Loftus has recently been leading a jet-setting life
as a stand-up comic. Ever since her overseas debut in London a couple
of years ago, Loftus has been doing some travelling to countries
in the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
Her experience from the travels is the source for her upcoming one-woman
show The American Woman in Kuala Lumpur this Thursday and Friday,
presented by Instant Café Theatre.
"The title came from the label I worked as a comedienne internationally.
The media always called me either the 'American woman', or funny
slogans like 'funny bunny', 'comedy's Pam(ela) Anderson'.
"When I went back to (the United) States, I started telling stories
about the different countries I visited and the show just evolved.
"I'd never really felt like an American until I left the country
and this (show) is about how the rest of the world see me and how
I see them."
What has she discovered most about the world? "That everyone is
very stereotypical. The first thing that people do when they see
a stranger is stereotype. I actually opened the shows by breaking
my own stereotypes. I kind of make fun of all of us making fun of
one another."
Describing her journey as "wacky and fun", Loftus says that The
American Woman would be an energetic show that is scripted but with
a lot of room to play with. "I prefer my audience to be all riled
up and yelling at me. They are giving me something to work off then."
Her travels have also opened up her inner world. "The more I learn
about the different cultures and people, the more I appreciate the
diverse cultures in my own country as well as in other countries.
It makes me more intrigued and open to the other cultures, wherever
I may be."
Her travels began at a time when Loftus was getting a little bored
with the Los Angeles and New York club scene where she was a firm
favourite, she says. She went on holiday in England where she had
also sent a tape to a booker. The booker liked what was on the tape
and she was booked for a tour even before she left American shores.
Loftus was the only American female stand-up comic at the Edinburgh
Fringe Festival last year and she literally brought the house down.
A media darling with the British press, her shows received rave
reviews and they caught the attention of a Singaporean who recommended
her to perform at the Singapore Comedy Festival.
She has been called "a sex bomb sure-fire hit" and "a feisty chick
keeping the flag flying in comedy macho land", and hailed for her
razor sharp observations, crazy characters and infectious, high-pitched
giggles.
What is it about the stage that interests her most?
"You never know how it's going to go each time. But once you start,
it's like a riot and it's like you're on fire. I love being in that
moment."
Stand-up comedy is a male-dominated space, a fact not lost on Loftus.
"There are a lot of men and women in LA and New York doing stand-up
comedy, but for a stand-up woman comic working on the road and touring,
well, there are more men doing it. So I definitely feel very lucky
that a lot of people supported me. My mantra is to be so funny that
you can't go unnoticed. I just have to keep working and get out
there."
Still, she gets a lot of flak not just for being a woman but a blonde
woman. The comparison with V.I.P.'s Anderson is something she has
to deal with constantly.
"I don't resent it but I definitely do not think we look alike despite
the blonde hair and blue eyes," she says before adding with a laugh:
"I definitely do not have her physique!"
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