Savvy Secrets of Successful Mistresses
Ellen Mandel and I had a terrific time developing the funny, musical, parody, self-help lecture 7 1/2 Habits of Highly Effective Mistresses. After a sold-out run at the Washington D.C. Capital Fringe Festival, I was sued for trademark infringement by the Franklin Covey Corporation, owner of the trademark for 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, of which it was a parody. Although all my lawyers said I could win the case based on the First Amendment, it would be expensive to try so I settled for a permanent injunction against me in Utah, where they are based. I reworked the show to Savvy Secrets of Successful Mistresses and on we went to a great run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!
Praise for the show:
“A wildly funny play…Phillips mixes absurdism and social satire to hilarious results as guru extraordinaire Dr. Faith…The play retains a delightful burlesque quality from start to finish…and Mandel provides virtuoso accompaniment… Onstage (Phillips) is a force of nature and bubbly wit, confident in both body and brains.” The Huffington Post
Special Guest Appearance
Marvelous singer Mariah Bonner debuts new show at Pangea, NYC September 16th!
Thank you for joining us - it was a great night! Gifted chanteuse Mariah Bonner debuted her first show Yours in Song to the East Village alt-cabaret supper club Pangea on Friday, September 16th, 2022, at 7:00.
I was delighted to join Mariah as a special guest for some duets!
Raised in France, her repertoire ranges from American standards and haunting French ballads to witty original material performed in a voice “reminiscent of Bette Midler’s impressive vocal range.” (Baltimore Jazz Alliance)
Mariah was accompanied by the dapper pianist, singer and composer Marcus Dagan on keys.
Praise for Mariah Bonner:
“The audience cheered with delight—another testament to how connected her fans are to her and to her skills in creating those connections… Her comfort level on stage and her ease in engaging with the audience, throughout song and dialogue, all attest to the truth that she was born to be a performer.” - Baltimore Jazz Alliance, May 2022
Special Guest Appearance
Jazz and the City: News from Ladybug's New York
I was delighted to be a special guest for the lovely Verena McBee! Thank you all who joined us on September 2nd for an exciting jazz tour through NYC with singer Verena McBee and her an incredible jazz band and her very special guest singers, Joanne Weaver, Gitesha Hernandez and Laura Campisi - and me - "the outrageously funny Lisa Faith Phillips with her NYC-artist-life arrest story"!
Friday, Sept 2nd, 2022 at 7PM
PANGEA East Village alt-cabaret supper club, 178 2nd Ave (between 11th and 12th St), NYC PangeaNYC.com
Make America Laugh and Sing Again was back by popular demand on July 19, 2022!
After our terrific show in May 2022, we were asked back for another evening of hilarity and song on July 19 at 7:00 at Pangea, the marvelous alt-cabaret club in the East Village!
We were thrilled to have the charming chanteuse Mariah Bonner with songwriter/pianist Marcus Dagan, the uber-talented composer, songwriter and pianist Ellen Mandel with amazing French mezzo soprano Emma Lavandier, and haunting singer/songwriter T. Spoon Phillips. I wove a funny new monologue “Lessons I Learned from Jobs Not on my Resume” through the show as I emceed.
Thank you all who came and made it such a fun night!
Past shows
Make America Laugh and Sing Again was back by popular demand on May 17, 2022!
With COVID finally lifting, a full house showed up for 2nd evening of Make America Laugh and Sing Again, and enjoyed a night of hilarity and song on May 17th at Pangea, the marvelous alt-cabaret club in the East Village!
We were delighted to have the marvelous chanteuse Mariah Bonner with songwriter/pianist Marcus Dagan, the uber-talented composer, songwriter and pianist Ellen Mandel, the haunting singer/songwriter T. Spoon Phillips, and storyteller and songwriter Robin Hirsch.
I wove through a funny new monologue “Lessons I Learned from Jobs Not on my Resume” as I emceed.
The postcard for the show by Pinpoint Design
Make America Laugh and Sing Again
On February 27, 2020, performers and friends came together for Make America Laugh and Sing Again, a sold-out "wildly entertaining" evening of hilarity and song to benefit CommonCause.org at Pangea, the East Village Alt-Cabaret Supper Club.
A big thank you to the performers who donated their time and talent to make it such a great show -- the hilarious Stan Baker, the charming chanteuse Mariah Bonner, legendary musician/songwriter/writer Michael Lydon, uber-talented composer and pianist Ellen Mandel. Natalie Smith was held up taping C.S.I! It was great fun producing, performing and emceeing.
The final night of performances at Cornelia Street Cafe Underground
I was honored to be invited to perform at the final night of the legendary Cornelia Street Cafe Underground on January 1, 2019.
Let's get a tent and put on show
From doing summer stock and writing and performing on a local cable show in my home town Findlay, Ohio, I always found my way back to live theater. I was a founding member of the Drama Society at the London School of Economics as well as the English Theater company in Barcelona, Spain.
When I moved to the East Village, I was delighted to find a number of musician and acting friends were already here. The downtown performance scene was hopping and every night was an adventure.
I did the stand-up for a few years but grew tired of the #MeToo moments. I was thrilled when my audition at The Comic Strip went well until the man who passed the talent kept me in a booth holding forth about how women weren't funny but he liked my material and I should come back and fine-tune my act there. He kept me there until everyone had left and it was time to close then he announced his wife didn't understand him and he was suffering from blue balls! I was stunned but pretended I hadn't heard him and said I had to get up early for work and hurried out the door into the pouring rain. I didn't feel comfortable going back.
As a Participating Artist at The Cherry Lane Theater and a member of Manhattan Punch Line’s Comedy Corp, I wrote and produced original plays. Then turned to creating one and two-person shows as they were easier to put on and have taken shows to the DC Capital Fringe Festival, Dublin, Ireland, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Lisa Faith Phillips sings with Ellen Mandel on piano, Cornelia Street Cafe, NYC