Funny Lady

Funny Lady is an American comedian, dancer and prize dog breeder.  In the continuing docu-series of her life, Mike Dad, the lead investigator into the disappearance of her husband, called her ‘the most fleshed out, well rounded character I’ve ever encountered’.

Raised in the Amazon jungle by her missionary father, she was worshipped as a god (or demi-god) by a cannibal tribe until her father, in the late stages of syphilis, was killed and eaten.  Funny Lady then joined her mother in New York CIty where she held her first job as the face of tire manufacturer ‘Bitch Tires’ (‘I enjoy Bitch Tires. That’s prime tires: you can roll around in ‘em’.)

According to the docu-series ‘Who Is Funny Lady?’, after America joined the Second World War, Funny Lady danced for U.S. troops using the skills that she picked up from her mother's dog-breeding. (It is unclear if the dogs were part of the act).  After fellow performer Slippery Beaver was shot, Funny Lady tried her hand at telling jokes, and found instant notoriety as a comedian.  Described as a 'roaring success’ she continued to refine her one-liners during her time in Normandy after the D-Day landings.

Although described as ‘instantly’ getting a job upon her return from war - as a writer for Hogan’s Heroes - the show actually went into production in 1965 meaning the immediate post-war was a mysterious time for Funny Lady.  What is clear is that Funny Lady bonded well with Hogan’s Heroes star Bob Crane when they did meet. According to her she accompanied him ‘on some of his many fucked up sex parties’ until the time of his death ‘from being a pervert’.

After Hogan’s Heroes was cancelled, Funny Lady was ‘discovered’ by television executive Michael Burbank (later Brother Goodboy) at one of her famous yacht parties and given her own show, ‘Funny Lady Tonight!’.  Funny Lady thereby became one of the first women on television, although only on the proviso that she remain intentionally unfunny, famously riffing on stifling topics such as the film and novel ‘Sophie’s Choice’ (remarkably, years before it was written).

Upon the poor reception of her sombre Funny Lady routines she then found success by going back to her comic roots, this time with the blessing of Burbank who ripped up the old contract that demanded she remain unfunny.  During her time on 'Funny Lady Tonight!' she became the first woman to show her knees and then, later, her elbows on television.  She also famously performed with a urinary tract infection. This series of controversies forced major sponsor ‘Chooms’ (described variously as ‘video snack and picnic favourite’ and ‘family favourite gift bites’) to pull out of their financial arrangement with the show.

Fortunately, Funny Lady almost immediately was able to find the means to finance the show independently thanks to her romantic pairing with her soon-to-be-husband, venture capitalist, and backer Serious Husband.  Funny Lady describes their meeting: ‘I was throwing one of my famous yacht parties, I told a joke to a group of people and he was the only one not to laugh. And he was holding his chequebook.’ Serious Husband historian Cum Scrumptious called the time immediately after the marriage 'the happiest time of both their lives’.

Unfortunately, Funny Lady later found tragedy when Serious Husband died in mysterious circumstances (see Serious Husband's Disappearance).

In her first interview Funny Lady alludes to having had at least two more marriages, saying she collects husbands ‘like wallets’ although it is unclear as to whether this is ‘a bit’.  In that first Episode 4 interview she describes her third husband as ‘Irish' and 'a terrible man but a heck of a drinker'. She also claims he had 'the reddest cheeks I ever saw, and I ain’t talking about his face’ and that he died from ‘too much sun’.

In Episode 16 comedian Luke McGregor called Funny Lady 'one of my favourite bits' to which Funny Lady returned the compliment saying 'you're one of my favourite bits too', also calling McGregor 'divine'. Funny Lady also features in Episode 23, a call in episode featuring Geraldine Hickey.

Funny Lady was named 'Grub of the Week' in Episode 4 thanks to her first appearance on the show.

Funny Lady makes an appearance at the first live episode, Episode 100, to rapturous applause where she also claimed to be ‘the first person to rouge their knees on television’.