Cobb's Pub "Dedication"

Jeannene Hansen, Pat Daniels, Terry Sand, Linda Hill perform Dedication at Cobb's Pub.

Cobb's Pub

Xmas Card

Femprov Holiday Tree
Carol Roberts
Susan Healy • Jeannene Hansen
Pat Daniels • Terry Sand

We took plenty of photographs for special shows or when the line-up of gals changed. We understood the power of publicity as a way to communicate with our mailing list of press contacts and clubs we had played or hoped to book soon. This particular postcard was sent during the holidays.

1980… back of the postcard

Happy Holidays from Femprov
This Thursday 12.04 - 9:30 "Femprov Night at The Other"
Sunday, 12.07 - 9 - The Old Spaghetti Factory
Sunday, 12.14 - 9 - One Year Anniversary Show w/ Special Guests - TOSFactory
Hope to See You This Thursday

Likely this was mailed the weekend before.

2nd Anniversary

Susan Healy, Carol Roberts, Terry Sand, Pat Daniels, and Jeannene Hansen
Celebrate Femprov's 2nd Anniversary

1981 • In 2 years, Femprov had already performed at the first (and subsequent) Women's Night at the Holy City Zoo, kicked off The Punchline's new Improv Night, established a beach head at The Old Spaghetti Factory for their Sunday night performances, showcased themselves at LA's Improv, performed at the very 1st Comedy Celebration in GG Park, along with most of the other available comedy venues of the era (Other Cafe) and in general kicked funny comedy butt and taken names.

"Femprov simply performs good comedy."

They'll be a Ha time in the old town … 

Lively Arts • July 1981 • by R. L. Paer

It may surprise you, but it is an indisputable fact that San Francisco and it's surrounding areas have the best combination of amateur, semi-professional and professional comedy in the country. There are dozens of cafés to which literally hundreds of young, imaginative comedians from all the United States gravitate to entertain and be discovered. Why San Francisco and not New York or Los Angeles? Mike Pritchard, a well-known face on the San Francisco comedy circuit who has appeared on "Taxi" and "The Tonight Show" explains it this way,  "In San Francisco you can experiment. Anybody can get on stage and test out their material. By the time you reach Los Angeles you have to have a reputation. Somebody has to say 'Oh I heard he's funny." So, San Francisco is great for people just starting out."

The open door policy of the Bay Area comedy circuit all allows for a wide variety of comedy styles and material. Solo acts, teams of two, and entire groups numbering as many as six people perform everything from Chaplinesque slapstick to satires of Shakespeare. Recently, I had the pleasure of tagging along with several comedians. What I encountered were dedicated, hard-working, talented, underpaid individuals presenting some of the finest comedy an audience would ever hope to witness.

[ The longer article featured Barry Sobel—solo act and Fran and Jan—teams of two ]

Improvisation is a very popular form of comedy in the Bay Area. Many groups exist whose members are extremely talented. One of the hottest groups is Femprov.  Femprov is different from other improvisational teams in that it is made up entirely of women. And unlike most female comedians, Femprov's five members, Pat Daniels, Jeannene Hansen, Susan Healy, Carol Roberts and Terry Sand, do not get bogged down with strictly female humor, which inhibits the universality of many comediennes. Femprov simply performs good comedy.

Unlike typical standup comedy, improvisation relies on audience participation. The members of the improvisational group will ask the audience to call out different situations. For example, the audience may be asked to name a place and an occupation, and then the group has to ad lib an entire, hopefully funny, skit based on those suggestions. Yes, Virginia there are easier ways of making a living.

Since improvisation depends so heavily on interaction with the audience it works best in a small, cozy setting. There are a number of clubs in the Bay Area where improvisation goes over well and the Holy City Zoo is one of them. The Zoo offers top-notch comedy, and Femprov appears there often.

Femprov opens with one of the few rehearsed pieces in there act, a song sung to the tune of "Can't Hurry Love," which welcomes you to the show. Upon finishing the song they catapult into the audience for ideas. It boggles the mind as to how these five people can, on the spur of the moment, produce one funny skit after another.

The truly interesting aspect of improvisation is that because it is based on audience suggestion the show can never be the same twice. But there is something that never changes — Femprov is consistently excellent.

So, the next time you're sitting at home complaining that you've done it all, pick yourself up and check out one of the Bay Area comedy houses. Treat yourself to an evening of hilarity that exists in your own backyard.

• • •  • • •  • • •

Note: Imagine our excitement when we were told we were to grace the cover of Lively Arts magazine! The photographer, Bob Oshetsky, took the group photo immediately after an evening's performance at The Other Cafe. High on another successful night, we did not factor in our 'glistening' and adrenaline-pumped look after our 2 hour show. A month or so later when the magazine was published and numerous copies were forwarded to us, our excitement dissolved into horror. The color cast was oddly pink and green, and except for Pat, we all looked as if we had been through the wringer, sweaty, flushed, wild-eyed, and over-mugging for the camera. Absolute.Horror.Show! The apt cover caption: Femprov— One of the hottest improvisational groups in the Bay Area. We were hot alright, Decathlon in Death Valley hot. We decided then and there, we would not include this image in future Press Kits, much less speak of it again. The show was great, as the writer attests, but the cover photo was an anomaly in the catalog of Femprov imagery. After all these years, we still remember it as "That Cover", and shudder a little. It is re-imagined here only to serve as historical proof of our first and only 'cover girl' experience. 

First Comedy Day

Susan Healy, Carol Roberts, Terry Sand,  Pat Daniels are attentive
to the fast-paced jump cuts of Story Story directed by Jeannene Hansen

The Band Shell in GG Park was the venue for Comedy Celebration Day. There were very few women on the roster for that first sunny day in 1981. Hell, there were very few women performing comedy in San Francisco. Susan Healy doubled up, also performing stand-up along with Jane Dornacker, May Lee Davis and, of course Femprov, a young eager group of gals supplying their own brand of funny to the proceedings.
Two years later, we had to make our case for being included in the line-up of 40 comedians, by formally reminding the Committee of our contributions to the SF comedy scene, beyond our gender being represented on the Bandshell stage.
Origin story of Comedy Day… and the countless unsung women essential and instrumental in enabling its birth.

A likely bunch of coconuts

Femprov: A High-Class Act 

by E. J. McLaughlin 

Question: What do you get when you put a dance instructor, a gerontologist, a city planner, a photographer, and a cytologist together on stage?
Answer: A dynamic evening of improvisational comedy by the popular Bay Area group known as Femprov.

Femprov began in December 1979 when Susan Healy, Terry Sand, and Teresa Roberts decided to form an all-woman improvisational comedy troupe. Based wholly on audience suggestion, improvisational theater has a long history in San Francisco, with such groups as the Committee, Spaghetti Jam, and Papaya Juice.

Femprov, becoming well-known in San Francisco because of the publicity given to their unique "all woman " status, prefers not to capitalize on that fact. They deliver a high level of comedy and creativity, attributable to the diverse backgrounds of its members.

All of Femprov’s material is extremely creative. From there take off on “Beat Poets" in the North Beach scene, to interviewing off-the-wall applicants in an unemployment office, to their cable TV shows of “The Creative Cook" and “The Gay Dating Game" not to forget the ingenious "Alien Fashion Show". They also do a scene called “Dedication" in which they very adeptly satirize Frank Sinatra. With overcoats slung casually on their shoulders, they take turns singing seductive goodbyes to an unfortunate(?) male audience member.

Femprov agrees that comedy is on the verge of becoming the rock and roll of the 80s adding “It is also a very good time for women starting out since existing comediennes are being taken out of live performing and placed into more marketable fields such as film television and directing." They offer this advice to aspiring comediennes “…be yourself, don't do self-deprecation material, you'll get laughs but it won't help any of us… the hard way is better."

Femprov has a promising future in the Bay Area and the West Coast. They perform Sunday nights at the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Francisco, with other engagements announced weekly. So for an evening of stimulating musical/comedy improv is truly a high class act.

"Most women tend to be shy and more uneasy about standup comedy"

In search of Laughter Holy City Zoo

Air Oregon Skies West publication

Excerpt

In acknowledgment of ERA, women's night is every Wednesday. According to Tony DePaul most women tend to be shy and more uneasy about standup comedy. It requires a great deal of performing confidence. He also feels it is harder for an audience to laugh at a woman. It is a different style of comedy and the club offers its own all-female improvisational group called Femprov.