Many people wouldn’t see a connection between Pokemon Go, Chardonnay and being a mother – unless you’re One Funny Mother Dena Blizzard.
Blizzard found the humor and went viral with her “Chardonnay Go” video this summer, but she didn’t stop there. This week, the South Jersey local competed as a top five finalist for a shot to co-host with another funny mom with SJ roots, Kelly Ripa.
On Monday, October 17, Blizzard appeared on LIVE! With Kelly to introduce herself as a finalist. She started off making a good impression: Telling everyone she had showered.
Although Blizzard didn’t make it to the final four, she told her fans how wonderful the experience was in a Facebook live video. “I am fourth runner up! Not too shabby. And we’ll see what’s next on our horizon.”
After posting “Chardonnay Go,” where Blizzard scoured her neighborhood for glasses of wine in place of Pokemon, we sat down with the funny mother to talk being a mom, a woman and a comedian. “You realize there are certain things about motherhood, womanhood and loving wine that’s universal,” she says.
Stand-up comedy was at the top of Blizzard’s bucket list, but she didn’t give it a try until she turned 30. After a comedy class – a gift from her husband – she was hooked. Now, she has audiences rolling in the aisles twice a week for her one-woman-show, One Funny Mother, at New World Stages in New York City.
Her comedic material hits close to home, because that’s where it comes from. Blizzard’s routines tackle the life of a mother.
“Especially today, there’s so much pressure for women to be perfect and think a certain way,” she says. “All of my humor comes from poking fun at these things that are daily struggles and finding the humor in them.”
Much of her material comes from her kids Dean, 16, Jacqueline, 14, and Brooke, 12. She even calls them her writers.
“My mom came over and told my kids she wanted to be cremated,” Blizzard says. “As soon as she left, my kids were like, ‘Why would Grandma want to be cremated? Why would she want to be made into ashes?’ I just had this moment and said, ‘That’s so you can put her in your Etch-A-Sketch and you can just play with Grandma forever.’”
Blizzard keeps people laughing around the world, often as a remedy for real tragedy. She received a Facebook message from Nice, France, about a week after the Bastille Day tragedy. “It said, ‘There are horrible things happening here and you made me laugh, thank you so much,’” Blizzard says. “I thought, ‘Gosh, some lady in South Jersey makes a little video, and it makes its way around the world. If it brings a smile to somebody’s face it’s kind of nice.’”
Want more mommy comedy? Watch our five favorite videos from One Funny Mother.
