Versatile comedian Caroline Rhea brings her act to Tampa this weekend.
By ROBERT HICKS
Published May 27, 2004
Caroline Rhea, a standup comic and regular on Hollywood Squares who is fondly remembered by millions as wacky Aunt Hilda on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, as well as for her now defunct Caroline Rhea Show, has an unexpected way of describing herself.
"I would say that I'm a little bawdy and irreverent," she said. "Like a Shakespearean maid. Sort of Lucetta from Two Gentlemen of Verona doing standup - that would be me."
Rhea, 40, is cherubic, funny, smart - and versatile. She's currently filming The Perfect Man, about a teen (Hilary Duff) seeking the ideal guy for her mom (Heather Locklear). Rhea plays the mom's girlfriend.
Rhea's self-deprecating humor, tales about her mother and politically friendly wit have made her a mainstay on the comedy circuit for 15 years.
She brings her new routine to the Tampa Improv this weekend.
"I think my show is about 75 percent prepared and then 25 percent improv to the audience, which to me is the most fun. I'd say I'm fairly topical, but pretty relationship heavy," said the Montreal native.
She loves to chat with her audience and build on that rapport.
"Standup is one of the few things left in the world where it's a live, interactive - to some degree - art form," she said. "I want it to be therapeutic, relevant and fun for the audience."
Rhea, the youngest of three girls, remains close to her family and credits the gene pool, especially her mother, for her career.
"I have just a hilarious mother, so I talk about my mother a lot," she said. "My mother doesn't say someone is homosexual. She says, "His name is Gary and I think the r is silent.' "
The title of Rhea's forthcoming debut comedy CD says it all: Pick Up, It's Your Mother.
Her parents divorced when she was 15, a split that resonated recently for Rhea in her breakup with fiance Bob Kelty, a Los Angeles-based fundraiser for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
"I have a new relationship now," she said. "Every time I have a new relationship, I have a lot of new material. Bob and I never got married. I have a lot of material about that, too."
PREVIEW: Caroline Rhea performs at 8 and 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. and 7 p.m. Sun. at the Improv, 1600 E Eighth Ave., Tampa. $18-$22. (813) 864-4000.
