'Mama' Bernhard lays down the laughs

By GINA VIVINETTO

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 9, 2001

TAMPA -- The last time Sandra Bernhard visited the Tampa Bay area, she wasn't a mother. But daughter Cicely, 3, hasn't softened "Mama." The acerbic commentator on pop culture frequently calls herself that during her set, and the rants have taken on a particularly maternal scorn.

Bernhard, 46, had several hundred fans in stitches Saturday with a slice of The Love Machine, a new performance piece featuring her usual nutty monologues and musical pieces, although this show was largely improvisational -- how else to explain the non-stop lambasting of Tampa?

Bernhard's performance was part of the area's annual gay and lesbian PrideFest, but early in her set the entertainer could only offer tough love to her rainbow flag-waving children.

"Be happy you're unique," Bernhard said. "Stop looking for straight America to embrace you. We're all freaks." Bernhard invited an array of minorities to join the freak party: "Come on in, Mama loves you."

The crowd roared. The tittering continued as Bernhard rallied against the worst of mainstream culture: pop tart Britney Spears, Survivor, the Lifetime network, actor Angelina Jolie, infomercials by psychic Miss Cleo, even poor Tammy Faye Baker Messner, a guest at PrideFest.

"Mama's on a carb-free diet," Bernhard said, explaining why she was so boisterous, why she was "getting all Tomb Raider on your a--." Bernhard then stopped pacing the stage to do a few action-movie leg kicks.

The more Bernhard poked fun at Tampa, or "Desperado city," as she called it -- complaining of its sulfuric smell and predicting Armageddon would erupt there -- the louder the laughter. Bernhard fans know that to be teased by her is to be loved by her.

Bernhard said she's been studying Jewish cabala for six years and has given up on materialism and the fashion world. She sharply detailed the angst of preparing for a recent L.A. celebrity awards ceremony, and the trials of selecting a gown with Sean Hayes, star of Will & Grace, one of several programs on which she has made recent appearances.

She's critical of the Internet and is relishing the "crash and burn" of its start-up businesses.

"That's the most beautiful comeuppance in the entire world," Bernhard said. "All those snotty little dot-commers are back at home living with their parents."

Bernhard closed the show with AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night, then her signature version of Prince's Little Red Corvette. She returned with an uplifting -- albeit tongue-in-cheek -- tune reminding fans to be good to each other and to live good lives. That number, and the amount of time Bernhard spent after the show chatting with fans and posing for pictures, hinted that Mama's meanness is probably just part of her act.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright