Live, love and laugh

There are silver linings to the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic lock down Meredith Masony hoped to hone her skills as a stand-up comedian. That was particularly so after suffering a cancer scare a decade ago.

"It was a very frightening experience," Masony said. "I was told point blank that I had a tumor and I had to get my affairs in order. It was frightening, but I was fortunate. After I was told that I would be OK I knew I wanted to work on something that I was passionate about. I had this wake-up call and I had to do something about it. I had to pursue what I loved to do, which is entertainment."

Comedy was at the top of the list for Masony, who grew up loving "Saturday Night Live" and television journalist Barbara Walters, but her husband didn't believe she could swing it due to her job and maternity."

"He wasn't super supportive," Masony said while calling from her Jacksonville, Fla., home. "My husband said that I couldn't be out until 2 a.m. telling jokes in a club. I was a teacher and he was an administrator at the time. He just didn't get it."

Masony, 41, occasionally did stand-up but her primary focus was writing a blog and producing amusing videos for Facebook. All of a sudden she had a huge following on social media. One thing led to another and she connected with fellow comics/mothers Dena Blizzard, 49, and Tiffany Jenkins, 36. The trio discovered that each had three kids from different age groups. The humorists used their downtime during the pandemic wisely and formed the group My Name is Not Mom.

The tour, which is slated for Friday at the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids, features each comic waxing about their situation. "Tiffany has the littles," Masony said. "Her kids are 9, 7 and 5. I have children that are 15, 12 and 11 and Dena's kids are 21, 19 and 17. We cover all of the bases."

The trio of comics joke about their children, their husbands and their work.

"We're mothers but we're still people," Masony said. "It's relatable. If you are going through what I'm going through or went through it, you understand. I'm drowning in puberty and teenage angst. I call my oldest the smartest dumb kid. He's so brilliant at school, but he has no common sense. It's going very well for us."

It's going so well that Masony's husband quit his job and is part of the My Name is Not Mom team.

"As Tiffany says, "How the turns have tabled," Masony said while chuckling. "He said, ‘I see that you built a community.’ He runs the podcast and works on other things. Everything has worked out in part due to technology. I didn't have to work on comedy in clubs. I made videos and posted them. I wrote jokes for the videos so I proved that I can write a joke and I'm out there onstage delivering jokes."

But if the pandemic never happened, Masony might be doing something very different.

"When COVID stopped us from doing what we normally do, we scripted the entire show," Masony said. "We were never in the same room during the process. We plotted out everything on Zoom. We met in New Jersey and did a couple of open mic nights. I remember playing a show in a brewery in front of all of these dudes and we made them laugh. We realized if we could make a bunch of guys laugh, we were on our way."

My Name is Not Mom has sold out a number of theaters throughout the country, including three in Masony's hometown.

"I love being on stage," Masony said. "It's great. I'm a mom and I get to joke about it."