INTERVIEW WITH FRAN CAPO FROM TheCelebrityCafe.com ARCHIVES
DM) How did you get started in the entertainment world?
FC) When I was at Queens College studying to be a lawyer, and doubling as an accounting and philosophy major someone approached me and asked if I ever thought of becoming a stand-up comic. At that time, Joan Rivers and maybe Phyllis Diller were the only two female comics really making it on the circuit, as far as stand-ups go. I'm not talking about comedic actress.
DM) Having switched industries, did you not enjoy law at all, or just enjoyed entertainment too much?
FC) I was in Queens college thinking of being an attorney. There is no pre-law prerequisite just good grades. After I graduated QC, I started doing stand-up, then began working at WBLS-FM radio, and just kept going in entertainment from there. I have fought law cases Pro-se and won, which is kind of cool though.
DM) Did you ever pursue comedy before?
FC) No, At that point I had never gone to a comedy club. I wasn't really even sure how you went about it. But the thought intrigued me. Then I prayed to God and said "If I should do stand-up comedy, give me a sign." Over the next few weeks a couple of strange things happened. First, I got my handwriting analyzed. It read, You have a good sense of humor, use it to make money." I thought it was just a coincidence. Then, I was on line at a movie theater and someone overheard me talking tapped me on the shoulder and said, "I don't mean to intrude but I overheard your conversation, you are funnier than some comics at the comedy club." I was stunned, but again didn't take that as a sign. Call me dense I guess. Then I asked God if I am meant to do this make it really convenient for me to know.
The next day I went to go to class. The normal entrance that I went through was blocked by construction. I had to go in through the other entrance, which was near the theater. There on the wall was a large sign "STAND UP COMEDY AUDITIONS TODAY." The winner get to perform at Creightons & Grays ... a bar two blocks from my house. This was my sign. I auditioned and won. I performed got a standing ovation the first night, and bombed the second. Got both ends of the business in one weekend but I was hooked.
DM) Are you a religious person?
FC) I consider myself spiritual, not really religious. I believe in God, I pray every morning, but I don't go to church a lot.
DM) So back to the sitcom, how will it work?
FC) First the cybersitcom is called The Estrogen Files: Money, Men & Motherhood. It's about two single women trying to figure it all out. It will go up on Sept. 30 via shesgotittogether.com (the hot new woman's site that covers all areas for career women.. sports, finances, humor etc.
Myself and a fellow comedienne Anna Collins will play two characters: Anna Litical and Fran Tastica who are under government surveillance for the past 24 months. The government is trying to figure out what makes woman tick. The women communicate through email that is confiscated without their knowledge and then analyzed by men in the government.
Characters will be brought in as the sitcom progresses. The Estrogen files went up on the 30th at Shesgotmale.com. A new site was created for it. Newsday did a full-page story on it, since it is the first cybersitcom. A cast of characters is listed and a reader can click on to see who they are.
Also, we have started an Estrogen greeting card line that readers click on to order. Two cards are available per episode.
DM) How did you first get into the "World's fastest talking" role?
FC) I'm a stand-up comic by profession. A couple of years ago, I was working at a radio station WBLS-FM in New York, doing the weather and traffic as this character June East (Mae West's long-lost sister). One day, Dinah Prince from the Daily News called and said she wanted to do an article on me. When
she had finished interviewing me for the article, she asked, "What are you planning to do next?'
Next? Well at the time there was nothing I was planning on doing next, so I asked her what she meant, stalling for time. She said she really wanted to follow my career. Here was a woman from The Daily News telling me she was interested in me! So I thought I'd better tell her something. What came out was, "I'm thinking about breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for the Fastest Talking Female." The newspaper article came out the next day, and she included my parting remarks about trying to break the world's Fastest-Talking Female record. At about 5:00 P.M. that afternoon, I got a call from CNN asking me to go on the Larry King Live Show. They wanted me to try to break the record. They told me they would send a limo to pick me up at 8:00. That was only 3 hours. They insisted because they wanted me to do it
that same night! Talk about pressure.
Now, I had never heard of Larry King Live, and when I heard the woman say she was from the Manhattan Channel, I thought, "Hmmm that's a porn channel, right?" She patiently assured me that it was a respectable national television show and that this was a one-time offer and opportunity - it was either that night or not at all.
I stared at the phone. I had a gig that night in New Jersey, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which of the two engagements I should do. I told her I had to find a replacement for my 7:00 show. I
started calling every comic I knew. By the grace of God, I finally found one who would fill in for me. With five minutes before the deadline, I told the producer of the Larry King Live Show I could make it.
Then I sat down to figure out what on earth I was going to do on the show. I called Guinness to find out what the rules were to break a fast-talking record. They told me I would have to recite something from
either Shakespeare or the Bible.
Suddenly I started saying the ninety-first Psalm, a prayer for protection that my mom had taught me. Shakespeare and I had never really gotten along, so I figured the Bible was my only hope. I began practicing and practicing, over and over again. Timing myself with a stop watch to see how fast I could do it. I was both nervous and excited at the same time.
At 8:00, the limousine picked me up. I practiced the whole way there, and by the time I reached the New York studio I felt as if my tongue was going to fall off. I asked the producer, "What if I don't break the record?'
"Larry doesn't care if you break it or not," she said, "He just cares that you try it on his show first." So I asked myself, "What's the worst thing that can happen.? I'll look like a fool on national television! A
minor thing, I told myself, thinking I could live through that. Then I asked, "And what if I break the record?" Now that would be great.
So I decided just to give it my best shot, and I did. I broke the record, becoming the World's Fastest Talking Female by speaking 585 words in one minute in front of a national television audience. (I broke it again two years later, with 603 words per minute.) My career took off.
People often ask me how I did that. Or how I've managed to do many of the things I've done, like lecturing for the first time, or going on stage or bungee jumping. I tell them I live my life by this simple philosophy: I always say yes first, then I ask, Now, what do I have to do to accomplish that?
Then I ask myself, "What is the worst thing that can happen if I don't succeed? The answer is simply, I don't succeed! And what's the best thing that can happen? I succeed.
DM) Of all your careers (comedy, writing, acting), which do you enjoy the most?
FC) Actually I love them all, and I like the fact that I have the variety in my life to change. Keeps life interesting.
DM) You've done a lot of voice over work too. What is some of the voice over work our readers might recognize you in?
FC) My first voice over job was for a cartoon called "Candy Claus", the illegitimate child of Santa, just kidding. It was a little girl who lived with Santa Claus and helped him deliver the toys around the world. Mainly I do character and kids voices for various cartoons and commercials. Other voice over work I've done: 1-800-flowers, Conair Hair Products, Matching voices for a Care Bear Commercial, MCI, Nissan, EZ-Mop, Motorola and a few others.
DM) What is a "corporate imposter"?
FC) Ahhh, well its when a corporation hires me to pretend I am a high tech representative in their company. I'll come in during a Christmas party to make an announcement, or at a week long training session and pretend I am giving them the latest update on one of their products or sales techniques. But its all a spoof complete with charts, slides, and lots of fast talking and ridiculous exercises. It's a way for the company to pull a fast one on their employees and break the tension of long training seminars.