Dressed in a trim black pantsuit and stiletto heels, Gab Cody describes herself as the professor you wish you had: smart and bespectacled, a little naughty, a scientist of comedy, and a smidge silly. Cody, a standup comedian, is a newcomer to Pittsburgh and she's pretty darn funny: Her Bush-sniping humor is quick-witted, clever and irreverent. ("Calling global warming 'climate change' is like calling genital herpes 'south-country strawberries.'")
For 10 years, Cody was a fixture on the New York standup circuit. What brought her to Pittsburgh?
"I was impregnated," she says. What? "You know, my husband-boyfriend impregnated me and we decided this is the only place where you didn't have to commit murder to get into preschool."
Cody has kept pretty busy since moving to Lawrenceville last year, which, according to her, looks just like Brooklyn. The short film "Mombies," her contribution to the Pittsburgh: Neighborhood Narratives anthology, was selected for the 2008 New York City Horror Film Festival. She is a regular guest comic (on Wednesdays) on WDVE 102.5's Jim and Randy Morning Show, and a student in the graduate acting program at Point Park University.
Her next live comedy gig, the Ya!Di!Loh! show (Cody is fond of word play), will feature local performers singing original holiday songs and doing sketches, standup and improv.
The line-up includes comedians Tim Dimond and Jeff Konkle; Sam McUmber on keyboard; actors Sam Turich (impregnator of Cody), Will Guffey and Robyne Parrish. Cody promises her show will "punish unrelentingly," destroy the holidays, and relieve the tension of holiday shopping, family gatherings and the insistence that Santa Claus exists.
"You get to watch Santa cry and Captain Dreidl save the universe," says Cody. "Then again, Captain Dreidl might cry and invisible Mohammed might save the universe."
Cody goes for spontaneity and audience input in her variety shows. At the prior two comedy gigs Cody hosted (called "GabBag ... It's a Palindrome") at Downtown's Bricolage theater space, audience members drew their own ticket prices (ranging from $0-15) from a sack. Spectators also provide dialogue lines and improv ideas.
Ya!Di!Loh! follows the same theme, pricing scheme and show structure, with an added holiday and political twist. "I was thinking, this is the end of the year and the last holiday show of the Bush administration," Cody says. "It's our job to give them a good kick out of the doors, kick 'em right in their oily little silver bells."
Gab Cody's The Ya!Di!Loh! show 8 p.m. Wed., Dec. 17. Bricolage Theatre, 937 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $0-15 (students can pay $5). 412-381-6999 or www.webbricolage.org
