*Quick note -- you can click on the pictures for a bigger version*

Hi, fellow Vicki Lawrence fans! I've known about Vicki for a long time (I used to watch "Win, Lose or Draw" when she was the host from 1988 until 1990, and I caught the other things she was on in the 90's) and been an avid "Mama's Family" watcher since Mama made her way into the 7-8AM CST slot on TBS here. She is, unfortunately, now in the 5-6AM slot and I am not willing to get up that early just to watch her, so I tape it beforehand. It wasn't until 2001 that I officially became one of her fans. In April 2003, I found out via a newspaper advertisement that Vicki Lawrence herself was going to be coming to MY town as part of her "Two Woman Show" tour in May, and I was ECASTIC! I HAD to get tickets to go see her, so I did just that and I was able to get two VIP seats. Vicki was in my town on May 9th and 10th, and I went to see her on May 9th. I would have gone to see her on the 10th too, but because other things came up, I couldn't. So, scroll on down to read about a night come true for me, the night I got to go see Vicki Lawrence herself...And what happened after her show is something I will NEVER forget.

It all began on Friday, May 9, 2003, when my interpreter (I am deaf) picked me up at my place. I gave away my 2nd VIP ticket to my class advisor from school, whom I am very close buddies with. She is also a HUGE Vicki fan, so she jumped at the chance to come with me. The three of us drove out to the Spirit Lake Casino to have dinner and then to get our seats before the show started. We did just that, and we were already in our seats 1/2 hour before Vicki's show started. I was soooo excited, I thought I was going to pee my pants for real! That was finally it...I was going to see a real, live celebrity and it would be my first time ever!

Here is the Vicki Lawrence "A Two Woman Show" advertisement that ran in my town's newspaper.

Here is my ticket as it appeared BEFORE I went to see her! ;D (The right side is now gone and it's just a ticket stub)

I was SOOOOOO excited when Vicki came out, all I could do was gawk at her. I had the best seats in the house, so I got a REALLY good look at her the whole time she was up on stage. I am REALLY lucky I remembered to bring my camera and that they allowed pictures to be taken, so I snapped away. In this picture, Vicki is just starting to talk about how she broke in the show business (with the Miss Fireball contest and meeting Carol Burnett). Occasionally, she would shield her eyes to look out at the audience and take a really good look, and then she would go back to talking. She looked absolutely stunning in her blue outfit - She had on a sequined top but her pants weren't.

My class advisor (let's call her Ms. S) that came along with me for the show, brought her digital camera, so that she could also take some pictures. Sorry about Vicki's face being blurry - she was moving when Ms. S took the picture. This was taken when Vicki was still talking about breaking into the show biz.

Still talking about how she broke into the show biz, but almost done. She would move on to talk about her two kids, Courtney and Garrett. And if you're wondering about the big white screen and the numbers on the wall behind her, the white screen was part of the show -- when she disappeared backstage to become Mama, they showed funny blooper clips from "Mama's Family". The numbers on the wall, however, were not part of the show - the room we were in doubled as a bingo hall when it wasn't being used for performances.

She just HAD to talk about her two kids -- when Courtney and Garrett were both little kids, Courtney was extremely curious about boys' penises and Garrett would tease her with his penis (Thanks for sharing, Vicki!). Courtney had a long nickname for penises that I cannot remember - all I can remember is that it started with "Weenie". LOL!

One of her random musings...She said, "You know what I think? I think sneezing is like having an orgasm. You make funny faces, close your eyes, sneeze, someone says 'God bless you!' and you feel a whole lot better afterwards, just like during sex."

I love this picture...Doesn't Vicki look so cute? =) That was after her random musing about sneezing... What did she talk about next? The trip to the gyno of all things! She covered everything from the paper gowns to having your feet in the stirrups ("How can ANYBODY get their feet into those weird things?") to how awkward it is trying to make conversation when you have someone staring and prodding at your crotch.

Moving on...Talking about her first marriage to Bobby Russell ("It lasted all of 10 minutes!") and how she deeply regretted marrying him but was glad they never had any kids together.

Talking about what she had to do to record her #1 hit song, "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia". She had a dog named Duffy, and when she was talking about him, she was saying how she was driving home one day from work and her song came on the radio, and as she got home, she rushed in and turned on the radio so she could continue listening to her song. When she went into the bathroom, she discovered her dog Duffy had taken a dump on the bathroom rug and she actually got on her knees (not pictured) and was making sweeping motions as to clean a lovely mound of dog poo. She said "Nothing like cleaning up dog poo to bring yourself back to reality!" and I totally agree. LOL!

What else? Singing "The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia". :) It was so beautiful, the lights were changed to pink and purple, and she had a piano player come out and accompany her as she sang her song. Before she started singing, she had a conversation with her piano player about the music sheets. The piano player already had them and Vicki was just about to give him her sheets. The following ensued:

Vicki: Where did you get the music sheets?
PP: Off eBay.
Vicki: Off eBay?!
PP: Yeah, I only got it for 50 cents.
Vicki: 50 cents...You're kidding me. Didn't anybody else bid?
PP: Only one other. I was the highest bidder, so I only got your Georgia music sheets off eBay for 50 cents!

At this point, Vicki doesn't know what else to say because the piano player surprised her so much. That then makes the audience break out into laughter and Vicki says, "Okay, now here we go...My song!" and then she sang it.

(Wow, I actually have a clear picture of Vicki for the first time on my roll of film!) After Vicki finished singing her Georgia song, she talked about how her Mama character originated and how "Mama's Family" got started. She went on to talk about how SHE had been the one that came up with the theme song and thought up the title, "Bless My Happy Home", but they took away any crediting she had of the song. She said, "I'm going to sing the theme song to 'Mama's Family' and if you all love it, applaud!" (No pictures of her singing the theme song, sorry!) After she finished singing it, she got a BIG round of applause (Phooey to you, Peter Matz!). =D

This is perhaps one of my favorite Vicki pictures of all time. This was her last observation as herself, before she left and came back out as Mama. She was discussing her BIGGEST pet peeve EVER -- which would be the ladies' room. "There's always a HUGE line to get into the ladies' room and never a line for the mens' room! They just go in and come out, and us ladies have to wait forever. Once you finally get in, you have to run into the first available stall you see, carrying all your things. Once you get in and manage to latch the door, you must now hang your things up on the hook on the door. Your purse goes up first. Next, your jacket. Next, your belt. Now, (Vicki gets into squatting position shown above) you must push down your pants and hold up your shirt and then sit down on the toilet...OOPS!!!! I just wet my pants!!! Stupid toilet! Uh-oh...I'm all out of toilet paper. After getting over the shock of having no toilet paper, you have to call to your toilet neighbor next door by sticking a hand underneath the wall and ask her, 'Do you have any more toilet paper? I'm all out of toilet paper here.' Now, after you're done, you must pull your pants up, put your belt back on, adjust your top, flush the toilet, then put on your jacket and purse. Now you must unlatch the door, walk out, wash your hands and let the next lady go into the stall you were in."

	- to continue on to the next section, featuring Thelma "Mama" Harper.
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