Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Friday, December 6, 2002
'Mama' casts her comic spell on audiences with her cabaret
By Michael Machosky

People come to Pittsburgh for many reasons - work, family, even the scenery. Coming to a completely new city, where nobody knows you, and the local culture is foreign to say the least - pierogies? Steelers? What are those? - can be a daunting experience. Of course, it does give you a chance to reinvent yourself as just about anything you want.
Like, say, a singing, dancing, piano-playing comedy cabaret star.

Sharon "Mama" Spell says she always wanted to have her own comedy show. So when she moved to Pittsburgh, it seemed like a good time to try it.

"I'd always been funny inside a small group of friends, but around strangers, tended to clam up," Spell says. "It helped to be a stranger in a strange land, so to speak, when I moved here from Mississippi. I thought, well, I may stay in this city, I may not. If I make a fool out of myself, I'll have a good story and can hightail it out of here."

In the past few years, Spell has become one of Pittsburgh's funniest and most engaging storytellers. Her act includes singing and witty observational comedy in equal measure, held together with a little Southern charm, a cool, clear singing voice and the comic contributions of a few bizarre stuffed animals.
The highlights of Spell's performances usually are her songs, with the comic bits filling in between, or leading up to, a song. Spell accompanies herself on piano. This isn't the easiest way to do stand-up, but in her case, it works.

This usually involves reworking a familiar tune - such as the Lieber/Stoller standard "Is That All There Is?" - with lyrics to suit her own ends. More often, it's just funny hearing a familiar tune taken way, way, way out of context. For instance, there's "Mama's Anarchy Taxi," which quotes the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K." and treats the rabble-rousing punk anthem like it's a corny lounge ballad.

"I usually pick out a song and craft a story around it," Spell says. "Sometimes, I'll hear a song that is kind of outrageous, that I can't believe it got written." Like, for instance, Limp Bizkit's hit "Nookie." "I thought that was such a great song, and I thought I'd style it for my own needs." Spell will release her new live comedy album, "Stories with No Morals," Saturday night at The Quiet Storm. It features a rare sighting of the semi-mythic Chupa Cabra, a Puerto Rican vampire (the name means "goat sucker" in Spanish), who takes the form of an innocent-looking, scruffy stuffed animal.

"Chupie is a real legend in her own time. I'm sure you've seen her on 'Unsolved Mysteries,'" Spell says. "She's just got a bad rap. Kind of like how (director) John Waters employs (ex-porn star) Traci Lords - I'm trying to get Chupie into legitimate show business."

With the Elastiq Quartet
8 p.m. Saturday
$5
The Quiet Storm, Friendship
(412) 661-9355

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