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A(p)(p)©@i?tai April
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Last
February I had
the good fortune to see
Linda Moakes in
concert at Winter
Womyn's Music Festival in Charlotte, N.C. I had been
hesitant about taking the trip; I had recently fallen in
love and, though 1 hate to admit it, dreaded the thought
of being" so far away for so long." (Yes, the concert
was just a few hours away and I was only gone for two
days.)
To add to my misery, I was working the stage for the
festival. Not a glamorous job, despite getting to meet
the entertainers. I dragged through the first day and
night but on Saturday evening Linda Moakes took the
stage, and my self-pity and love-induced fog
immediately lifted
Moakes is not a comedian. She is, however, a very,
very funny teacher who reveals and dissects all our
pimply imperfections. And she is a "healer", a self-
description that
sounds too
"California" for me but, damned if
it isn't hue! Her act on that Saturday
night in Chariotle healed me, at least
temporarily.
1 spoke with Moakes a few days ago. When I
told her how she had turned my weekend around in
Charlotte, she was delighted; it was proof that her
theory of humor as a healer holds hue.
"Physiologically, humor has a very positive effect",
Moakes staled. "It's an aerobic work-out of sorts.
Endorphins get kicked up and you feel more
relaxed. It's very healthy."
She continued, "I recently attended a conference
on "the Power of Laughter and Play." Sid Caeser
and Steve Allen were there and talked about how
stressful their careers were in the early years. They
were not having any fun. Both reminded us that we
need to maintain our child-like traits. They're vital to
our growth as a species. We need to keep our
'beginner's mind' in order to have fun and heal
ourselves, our relationships and the planet."
Heavy, clean stuff. Not very funny either, I
thought. I kept thinking a joke or at least an
anecdote would follow; she was non-stop with them
on stage in Charlotte. But, no jokes.
"It's a very spiritual process (tire act) for me, too.
When I'm on stage I'm working with my higher self."
Moakes must have sensed 1 had difficulty with "New
Age" language and slopped short. "It’s esoteric, it
sounds silly. But, who cares?"
Yea who cares? Despite the trendy words and
phrases, Moakes' sincerity comes through. She
believes what she's saying, and she believes in the
power of self-determination as well as the power of
laughter, play and" the universe putting you where you
need to be."
"How to create the results you want in your life- my
work is about that too," she said. "1 made up this career
and it's important for people to do that If you don't
know what to do, then make something up! The rest
will follow."
She also cares for her audience, giving off an almost
maternal warmth. Perhaps that's left over from her
teaching days. She taught speech and debate to
teenagers for five years and left only because the
system would not listen to her or the kids. 'The system
said kids lcam from reading Julius Caesar, Moakes
remembered. "But the kids and I wanted to learn in
other ways. 1 was furious because 1 couldn't change
anything. Now 1 know it's not my job to fix things.'
"I lost my identity when I quit teaching", she told
me. "When I began doing comedy, I reclaimed it. 1 am
comfortable on stage in front of a crowd. As an art
form, comedy fits me very well."
I was curious about her feelings about her comedy
as a "politcal" act, if she felt that at all. Her material is
well-balanced between lesbian/gay themes and
"everybody" themes. She had said nothing in our
conversation about being a lesbian. When I asked her
about if she turned the focus from herself to Tom
Ammiano, with whom she has worked on many
occasions.
'Tom is so gay oriented and I'm not", she
stated. "I’m not as focused on that subject He's
politcally motivated and brilliant on many levels.
I have a whole different way of being. I think we
make a great combination."
Despite Moakes' reticence to talk about the
subject, she does perform some pointed and
insightful pieces on lesbians and gay men. The
Lesbian Handbook, an "absurd and neurotic"
book written in 1976 that she stumbled upon,
provides Moakes with tons of ammunition. And
she uses it to make her point, once again, that
laughter heals us and brings us together. 'We arc
all the same," she staled. "No matter who we are,
we all have these goofy ways of living and
looking at things. And when we get together we
celebrate our diversencss and our wholeness."
That's probably the most political statement well
get from Moakes, which is fine with me. I'd
much rather be tickled and healed. Any time.
-Christina Cash
Linda Moakes. Photo by Irene Young
All Proceeds From This Presentation of Different Will Go To Benefit The Names Project/ Atlanta and SAME, The
the Southeastern Arts, Media and Education Project; Inc.
T
8 PM, Thursday And Friday Evening, April 28-29
Peachtree Playhouse. Tickets $15. Reservations: 872-9678