Snow Makes Sailors Come Ashore

Carrie Snow

At Catch a Rising Star

Through February 20

DESPITE the warm weather, Cambridge was hit by snow yesterday.

Hit by Carrie Snow, that is, a comedienne who appears this week at the Catch a Rising Star.

The San Francisco-born comic who uses the motto "700 sailors can't be wrong," has performed in 33 states and five Canadian provinces to date. Recently Snow accepted a position as one of the "comic commentators" for the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Snow, whose act centers around eating, sex, and her own obesity, has a unique way of taking ordinary events and turning them into cause for uproarious laughter. Snow jokes about everyday events, such as how she lies on her driver's license. "My weight on my license is my weight on the moon," she jokes.

Often Snow's act borders on the offensive. In order to squelch some annoying comments from a heckler, Snow did a series of jokes on pre-menstrual Syndrome. "My period is due in 4 minutes and I could kill you and not go to jail," Snow retorted.

"I know I don't appeal to 100% of the people. If you do, you end up diluting yourself so much that you're not funny anymore," Snow said in an interview.

Snow says she began her career like many other comedians on an open mike night. She says that every comedienne has to pay her dues. "There are no short cuts in comedy. If you take a short cut you'll pay for it later," she says.

In her act, Snow frequently discusses the problems that a woman of the 1980's faces. She describes how difficult it is to get a date. "I haven't been dating a lot. Is it me, my personality or the threat of nuclear war?" Snow says. Snow's delivery of this joke in a smooth, sexy voice just adds to the already clearly hilarious material.

SNOW'S ability to laugh at herself urges the rest of the audience to chuckle as well. If she messes up a punch line, or no one appears to like the joke she just told, she is able to continue with the grace and style of a first-class comedienne.

"Everything I talk about is true," Snow said in the interview. She admits that some her best material comes from talking with her friend Ann, who is a dental hygenist and a housewife.

Snow, the San Francisco Council on Entertainment's Comedienne of the Year, says that she writes the majority of her own material because most of it is too personal to be written by someone else. A lot of her jokes are derived from her own experiences and those of her friends, Snow says.

The comedienne currently tours the country for at least two weeks out of each month. Snow says the best thing about traveling with her stand-up is "seeing fresh faces in a place where I've never worked before."

Snow quips that in the future she will "hopefully be napping." On a more serious note, she says she wants to become an actress. "I take acting classes now. It's a natural progression for me."

Snow denies that money is her primary interest in becoming an actress. "I'm not in it to be rich immediately, but it would be nice if it happens."

Unlike her idol Garry Shandling, Snow does not want to do a television series full time. "I love my stand-up. I'm not saying that I'm Gandhi but I do have something to say."