Erin Donovan takes her hilarious blog to the stage this weekend

Five things to know about 'I'm Gonna Kill Him'

Wed, 01/23/2013 - 11:00am

    You may have heard of Midcoast award-winning blogger and comedian Erin Donovan through her I'm Gonna Kill Him blog, video series and comedy show. This Saturday, Jan. 26, at 7:30 p.m., she's transforming her blog stories to a live performance at the Camden Opera House.

    The "I'm Gonna Kill Him" comedy show is an hour-and-a-half, multimedia production featuring the funniest of Donovan's work. Culling material from her days in New York City, her Match.com marriage, and her abrupt and shocking transplant to Maine, Donovan finds humor in just about every aspect of middle-aged life.

    Donovan is regularly featured on Bangor Daily News, Errant Parent, Aiming Low, Scary Mommy, The Mouthy Housewives and BaristaNet, as well as The New York Times. Her blog was nominated by Nickelodeon for Best New Blog in 2010. Most recently, Donovan was named by BlogHer as a 2012 Voice of the Year and won its People's Choice award in Humor. In addition, the editors from She Knows named her blog a 2012 funniest blog. Donovan currently is working on a pilot for Nickelodeon.

    Once you read her answers to the following "5 Things to know about 'I'm Gonna Kill Him," you will not want to miss her show!

    Q: Your blog material tends to "go there" as in "Don't go there" but you "go there." That is, you are not shy about discussing awkward marital sex, ("Cosmo's 30 Day Sex Challenge"), body image ("The Hair Down There") while skewering the modern notion of Suzy Cream Cheese Homemaker ("Co-What?). What's the overall reaction from women on your no-bulls*** sense of humor?

    A: Anyone who has ever been privy to a girl's night out can attest — women have a tremendous capacity for bold and bawdy discussions. Very little remains off the table between friends. Because of that innate appetite for the real stuff of life, I've attracted a bunch of loyal female readers along the way. I've offended more than a few men with the title of the blog - I'm Gonna Kill Him - as though I am actually in the business of killing husbands. And that is just silly; I would obviously outsource that.

    Q: Does your husband (nicknamed "G" in your column) ever turn to you while you're having a conversation, fight, or particularly intimate moment and say, "Don't even think of putting that in your column?" Follow up question: do you do it anyway?

    A: Absolutely! But I have also learned my boundaries, allowing him to relax his grip. I do not discuss my in-laws nor do I delve into his professional matters. Basically, I try to steer clear of the people who feed me Thanksgiving dinner and those who enable us to eat dinner at all. If I sense it's a touchy subject, I'l write it in exchange for his first right of refusal after reading it. There was once a piece I wrote about my first trip to Maine, after we became engaged, that ruffled his feathers. We were living in NYC at that point, and we had decided to head north for a first Thanksgiving with my future in-laws. I was suffering a urinary tract infection and had lost all sense of humor and ability to listen to him talk in the car. He took advantage of my weakened position and played a cruel joke on me. He told me that his mother would be serving an artisinal cheese known as Fromunda cheese. I continually asked the people I am supposed to be impressing to serve me Fromunda cheese, which, as it turns out, is a disgusting word invented by men to describe the sweaty matter that collects beneath the undercarriage. From unda a man's... you get it. He didn't love the idea of me telling that story at first, but after he read it, he realized that - as I mostly do - I was poking fun at myself, not at him.

    Q: Moving to Maine from New York City is like running full sprint to catch a plane on one of those people movers in airports and stumbling to a screeching halt once your sneakers leave the rubber mat. Yeah, it is kind of like that at first. How did you adjust to the different pace of life up here?

    A: The first year was rough. I am a city girl. I like hustle and bustle and noise. The idea of kayaking and canoeing would send me running for the hills. Which then turns to hiking, which I also hate. But I've found myself in a really special community here in Camden. A medley of writers and innovators, and maybe more importantly for me at this stage of my life, mothers. I've made irreplaceable friendships, which warm me through the bitter winters. And I just have to look at my children thriving in this softer, slower existence to know that it was the right move for us. I often remember this one little story about the city whenever I'm feeling a longing for it: I was dining with my husband and our first-born at a restaurant downtown when a family was seated beside us. I looked over at the little girl, who was probably four years old, and asked her what she wanted to eat. She glanced at me and said, "Ehh, I had the falafel last time and it was lousy." My mind exploded at the realization that their childhood is so fleeting there. To even know what falafel is at that age, and more so to know what constitutes good and bad falafel? I still don't know.

    Q: As a writer talk about the decision you made to get out of your sweatpants behind your keyboard (I'm a writer, too, c'mon I'm wearing them now) and put yourself up on stage for all the world to see you as a live performer. Was it an easy transition to make? Did you need Xanax?

    A: Are you offering me Xanax?

    It was a big leap for me as I wasn't one of these kids who did a lot of theater or choir. I did a lot of reading V.C. Andrews by flashlight as a kid.   When my piece, Dead Vagina Walking, won a Voice of the Year in Humor award last year, I had to read it before a crowded room of bloggers and editors and literary agents in Los Angeles. The response was so great that it lit a little flame inside me and I knew I had to evolve my work. The shows are really fun, especially here in Maine, because comedy is in short supply but particularly comedy as done by a female.

    Q: Can you talk about your Nickelodeon pilot? If you are obligated to stay mum, can you at least give us a hint as to whether your column material might end up being a character on national TV?

    A: I can't say much about the show other than that we filmed part of it here in Camden recently. As it's presently slated, it's a reality show about me and a few other female bloggers/humorists. I'm really hopeful...because I'm 33 years old and I'm still waiting to be discovered in the mall.

    To buy tickets, visit the Camden Opera House online event page or call 207-236-7963

    Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com