Peppers serving a side of comedy at Piazza Bar

Peppers Pizzeria & The Piazza Bar in west Houma has partnered with Comedy West/Odyssey Management to bring laughter to Houma this fall.

An all-female standup show Aug. 7 will open with Texas native comedienne Carolyn Agne, whose standup routine centers on her status as a single mother raising children in today’s society.

The show’s headliner is Maurice, La., native Caroline Picard, or, as she likes to call herself, “The Cajun Queen.” This will be Picard’s first appearance at Peppers and her second in Houma.

Critics say that once Picard takes the stage, it’s crystal clear the audience is in the house of “The Queen,” and will play by her rules. This is evident in her “what you see is what you get” standup routine.

“The audience has a few seconds to get on her wavelength because when she hits the stage with her signature red boots, she let’s you know right away that you’re about to experience something really refreshing – a real person that is comfortable with her beliefs and has no problem making you laugh at them,” said a representative from Hysterical Management, Picard’s current booking label.

At 55, Picard is still as cutthroat as she was when she began her comedic journey 15 years ago. “I tell it like it is,” she said. “If you have a soft heart, then maybe coming to my show is not such a good idea.”

Picard’s not a joke-teller. Rather, she tells stories about things she has witnessed over the years. ” I give my honest opinion about the things I observe from day-to-day, whether it’s political or social,” she said.

And – good news for the male gender – Picard is not a “man basher.” “Men are perfectly safe at my show,” she said. “When I do comedy, I talk about everyone.”

Comedy is usually considered a man’s thing, but for this female comic, “It’s nothing to sweat over.” She said, “Being in the boys club is nothing because I’m better than most of them anyway.”

In 2002-03, Picard took home Hysterical Management’s Comic of the Year Award, beating out nearly 800 other comics – male and female.

The business of making people laugh is filled with hard knocks, Picard said. People expect you to be funny, and when you’re not, then you’re not successful. And as a Louisiana native, she has to accommodate her audience.

“I can’t say the same things that I would say in Louisiana in other places because they don’t understand what I’m talking about if they are not familiar with the Cajun culture,” she said.

She said the comedy industry is especially hard on women because females have that natural feeling of being mothers and wives.

“Until you establish yourself as a comic, you can’t have the family life because we travel too much,” she said. “That’s why so many female comics choose not to focus on their natural talents, because they want that family life.”

Despite the challenges, Picard has found her niche. She’s opened several times for Ron White of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. Her biggest audiences max out at 3,000 guests.

Peppers owner Grady Verret said, “Comedy has been extremely successful in the past decade in our area, but the venues that have hosted the events haven’t had staying power.”

Verret has set out to make the midweek showcase an event the area’s comedy fans can count on for a long time to come. He calls the weekly comedy special “The Comic Stop” because Houma is one of many stops on the National Comedians Tour.

“It’s healthy to laugh. It’s not a good idea for anyone to take themselves too seriously,” the restaurant owner said. “Having a good laugh is important these days, especially in the feverish new economy of the Tri-parish area. We need some ‘stress relief’ and we’re hoping to provide that.”

Tickets are $7. The event begins at 7 p.m. every other Tuesday night at Peppers, 541 Corporate Drive in Houma.

For more information, contact Verret at (985) 446.0075 or via e-mail at gradyv@pepperspizzeria.com

Comedienne Caroline Picard, “The Cajun Queen” of Maurice, La., will headline an all-female standup comedy show Aug. 7.