Thu 6/11 @ 7:30PM
Cleveland — book your sitters! Denver’s wildly popular, long-running Parentally Incorrect Comedy Show is heading to the downtown Cleveland – because all CLE parents deserve a night out!
After two years of sell-out shows, and in the middle of a national tour, Denver’s cult hit comedy show, the Pump and Dump, will hit Cleveland for a one–night-only special engagement at Hilarities 4th Street Theatre at Pickwick & Frolic.
Hosted by comedian/musician Shayna Ferm and her sidekick MC Doula (aka Tracey Tee), the Pump and Dump is a raucous, interactive evening full of irreverent comedy, original music (songs like “Eat Your F-ing Food” and “When I Die I Wanna Come Back as a Dad”), audience participation (games include “Stump the Breeder” and “Pumpo: Bingo for Breeders”), awesome prizes (WINE!) and parental commiseration, created to give moms one of the best nights out they’ve had since before they had children.
This year the Pump and Dump has performed in front of sold-out audiences in the country’s hottest venues: Largo in Los Angeles, the Tempe Improv, Kansas City Improv and Mayne Stage in Chicago, while continuing to sell out twice-monthly shows in their hometown, Denver.
“This is one night when we can all go out, let our hair down, have a cocktail and some much needed laughs.” says Tracey Tee. “The goal of this show is to provide the best night possible for hardworking, over-extended moms and their friends.”
In addition to their national 2015 tour, Ferm and Tee are also twice monthly contributors to TheBump.com, and were recently featured in April’s issue of Parents Magazine. The duo’s writings and hilarious music videos have also been featured in HuffPost Parents, PopSugar Moms and Scary Mommy.
“We use the Pump and Dump show as a vehicle to finally say what moms are afraid to admit: Parenting is HARD,” says Shayna Ferm. “Our mission is to spread generosity and humor, mom to mom, because we’re all just doing the best we can. And so much of it is completely ridiculous. So we laugh about all the really messed up stuff and help moms realize that none of us are alone.”
CoolCleveland writer Annie Jones caught up with Tracey Tee and asked her how she was feeling about coming to Cleveland, among other things.
CC: Have you performed in Cleveland before? TT: NO! And we’re so excited! We both have friends in Cleveland, and we both went to school in the Midwest, so we’re thrilled to be coming to Hilarities.
CC: Tell me the history or birth, if you will, of Pump and Dump.
TT: The show was “birthed” while Shay was taking a long overdue shower about 6 weeks after her son was born. She’d been reading her local mommy list serve and watching mother after mother struggle with the stress of raising a newborn…with each post a little more manic than the next. While in the shower, Shay thought to herself, “you know what we all really need is just a night out and a drink.” Since she was pumping at the time, she thought “The Pump and Dump” had a funny double meaning for a comedy show, and the rest is birth story history.
(CC: Pump and dump refers to mothers pumping their breast milk when they have had a good time out and don’t want to share those, um, substances with their newborns.)
CC: How do you two know one another?
TT: We’ve known each other since the 8th grade. We may or may not have been in a production of Bye Bye Birdie together.
CC: Do you two have a theater/ singing background?
TT: Yes, we have both. Shayna has been a comedian in New York for over 15 years, performing her signature blend of musical comedy. Tracey studied with the Groundlings in LA and has been a freelance writer for many years. And we both studied theatre in college. Both of us have also owned our own businesses for many years. We feel like our lifetime of pursuits has lead us to have the combined know-how to run the Pump and Dump not only as a comedy show but as a full-time business for both of us.
CC: How long has your show been running?
TT: Our first Pump and Dump was in a bar in north Denver in October of 2012. 70 women showed up and we’ve been growing ever since.
CC: From everything I have read, it looks very well received. Tell me about that.
TT: From that very first show, we sort of knew we had touched a nerve with moms. As hard as we work on the content of the show, and as fun and funny as it is, it’s also just a great excuse for moms to gather together and get out of the house. The combination seems to resonate with every type of mom there is, and our show has become a place where all kinds of parents can gather for a couple hours and talk, have some drinks and LAUGH about how f—ed up parenting can be. If it’s well received it’s because it’s a sort of pressure gauge that’s not really happening anywhere else.
CC: Do men respond as well or differently than women?
TT: Men LOVE our show! We definitely don’t man-bash (or kid-bash.) If you’re a parent — or even just know a lot of kids or work with kids — you get it completely. While it’s certainly geared toward moms, dads think it’s hysterical and we’ve been told a lot that they get a different look inside what it must feel like to be a mom.
CC: Anything else that you would like to add?
TT: After two kids and nine years of marriage, Shay finally bought a king-sized bed. We’re both pretty happy about it.
You can do your own pumping and dumping and come out to see the show. Door are at 6:30, show at 7:30. Tickets are available at the Pickwick & Frolic website.
[Written by Annie Jones]