3 Blonde Moms Milk Laughs from Motherhood

School projects and soccer games don’t exactly go hand in hand with midnight shows in beer-soaked comedy clubs, but Joanie Fagan, a self-described multi-tasking Perky Mom and creator of the comedy show 3 Blonde Moms, has found a way to combine her two big roles in life: mother and comedienne.

As a hard-working actor and comic with roots in Los Angeles, Fagan paid her dues with 15 years on the road, doing stand-up in casinos, clubs and colleges, and warming up live studio audiences for popular network sitcoms like Frasier and Just Shoot Me. But when she returned to the stage after having her daughter 10 years ago, she realized she had a whole new subject to tap into: motherhood.

“At the time,” she says, “no other female comics were really talking about being a mom on stage.” She began to share stories of motherhood in her act, and quickly realized that there was a comedy niche just waiting to be filled.

So she created 3 Blonde Moms, a semi-scripted, comedy-theatre hybrid about three unlikely mom friends. Fagan, who performed with The Groundlings for two years and has appeared on The Drew Carey Show, is “Perky Mom.” She's joined in her fictional on-stage cul-de-sac by Donna “Hot Mom” Cherry and Kat “Feisty Mom” Simmons. 

The trio comes to the Saturday night.

The show combines audio-visual elements with the three comics sharing war stories from the trenches of parenthood. And despite a playful nod to The Stepford Wives and Desperate Housewives in their styling and presentation, 3 Blonde Moms is not entirely tongue-in-cheek.

“Basically, we’re sharing our life stories with the audience,” Fagan admits, adding in an e-mail that “the show provides three distinct viewpoints, and we’re not all soccer moms.”

3 Blonde Moms premiered in 2005, and has sold out shows at high-profile comedy festivals like Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival and at clubs and theaters around the country. Fagan calls the audience “incredibly diverse… We have all kinds of people that come to the show, and that hang around after the show to talk to us. It’s great.”

The show has become a successful enough business that it keeps Fagan busy year-round, while also giving her the time and flexibility to fulfill her role as mom.

In fact, she says life on the road with this show is as family-friendly as it gets, describing a stint in Washington, DC, when the moms performed each evening and toured the sights with all their kids each day. “During the shows at night, one of us would be out on stage and the other two would be backstage with all the kids… I’ve gotten to go to some really cool places with my daughter,” Fagan says.

As a mom, Fagan works hard to make sure that giving back is a value she passes onto her daughter. 3 Blonde Moms donate their talents to deserving nonprofits in the areas where they perform, helping them raise money and build support. They often work with smaller food banks in communities where the need is greatest, like Harvest For Hunger in Ohio and Food Share in Ventura County.

Fagan says her daughter has taken up the philanthropic call herself recently, and so a portion of the proceeds from Saturday night’s show will benefit Kids4Japan, the youth organization that her daughter is spearheading.

In true Perky Mom fashion, Fagan continues to beat the drum for 3 Blonde Moms and push the show in new directions. She’s currently meeting with networks about a reality or sitcom version of the show, as well as putting together a comedy special for television.

The 411: 3 Blonde Moms – See How They Run! At , Saturday, April 16, 8 p.m. Bay Area author Don Elium (Raising a Son, Raising a Daughter) will join the moms at a Meet & Greet after their show to sign and sell his books. Click here to buy tickets or for more information.