The 'Mom Squad' is Coming to Lilydale

Motherhood can definitely be a laughing matter. Just ask the four members of "The Mom Squad"—Amy Anderson, Judy Gold, Wendy Liebman and Jennifer Rawlings—all nationally known comedians who will be bringing their new comedy tour to the in Lilydale this weekend.

Individual members of "The Mom Squad" have been featured on "Late Night with David Letterman," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," HBO, Comedy Central and have won two Emmy awards.  All together, the women have ten children, ranging from preschoolers to college students.

Amy Anderson, who was born and raised in Excelsior, MN and now lives in Los Angeles, said each comedian will perform her own stand-up routine and following that, all will take to the stage to answer audience questions and offer their personal takes on motherhood.

"All of us are different kinds of moms," said Anderson, a single mom to an almost four-year old daughter. "Wendy has raised two step-sons who are now 16 and 20,  Jennifer has five children and Judy is a lesbian and single mom co-parenting two boys with her former partner."

The "Mom Squad" show offers something for everyone since the jokes aren't all mom-centric. While Anderson said the performers often see girls'-night-out groups in the audience, the show has also attracted a lot of men who attend with their spouses.

"I think men enjoy it as much as women do," she said. "We're really starting to build momentum with our audiences."

Having the opportunity to be part of this particular  comedy show—the brainchild of Liebman and Rawlings—featuring all women headliners is rare, said Anderson.

"It's not only a great opportunity for us to put 'the mom voice' out there, but we can also use our voices as women," she said. "Most comedy today is predominantly done by males—there are people who still don't want to see women being funny."

The members of the "Mom Squad" all typically tour  by themselves when they are doing solo gigs, so Liebman said being part of this group has become something of a selfish pleasure for her.

"I love hanging out with these women," said Liebman, who like Anderson and Rawlings, also lives in Los Angeles. "After our shows, we like to get together to do karaoke, which is really fun. We walk around together, we shop for deals."

Being on the road as a comedian when you are also a mother can be "a logistical nightmare," according to Anderson.

"I think it's probably easier when your kids are older," she said, adding that she and her daughter's father have nannies who pitch in to help with the little girl's care. "This has been a busy travel period for me, so Skype has been great, but I know she misses me."

Since Liebman's sons are older and her husband, a comedy writer, works from a home office, the caretaking tasks are not as much of a concern.  Liebman  joked that before meeting her husband, she was worried she would end up "an old maid", but said "now, I'm just a maid."

The Joke Joint shows will be the first time the four members of the "Mom Squad" will be performing together—Gold, who lives in New York City, has had other commitments prior to this point.

Anderson is hopeful for a bright future for "The Mom Squad" and would love to have the chance to pick up tour sponsors (she believes a mini-van sponsorship would make a lot of sense) and thinks a television special would also be a perfect fit for the "Squad".

"We're just excited to get out there and build our fan base," she said. "Coming back to Minnesota is going to be especially fun for me—I'm really looking forward to seeing a lot of my family and friends."

"The Mom Squad" will perform at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 7. On Friday and Saturday, there will be shows at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.  Tickets are $20 at the door or available online at www.jokejointcomedyclub.com   Call 651-330-9078 for more information.