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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/31192/full/31192/talk-about-neurotic-kung-pao-performer-takes-the-cake/ <br /><br /> <b>Talk about neurotic — Kung Pao performer takes the cake</b> <br /> Friday, December 15, 2006 | by dan pine <br /><br /><p>Stephanie Blum admits she's tried absolutely everything she can think of to lose weight. "I even tried bulimia," she deadpans. "But I'm a procrastinator. I would say, 'Ehh, I'll throw up tomorrow.'"<br /><br /> That and plenty of other rimshot-worthy zingers figure into Blum's standup comedy. The mother of two will bring it on when she co-headlines the 14th Annual Kung Pao Kosher Comedy on Dec. 22-25 at New Asia Restaurant in San Francisco.<br /><br /> Blum says her comedy is family-oriented, but that doesn't mean it's of the Disney variety. She's talking about her own families -- both the one she grew up in back in Brooklyn and the one currently driving her crazy in Los Angeles, with husband Greg Federbush and two kids, a 7-year-old and an 11-month-old.<br /><br /> Though this is her first appearance at Kung Pao, which is geared toward Jews looking for chow and fun during Christmas week, she's happy to be back in front of a Jewish audience.<br /><br /> "You feel completely understood in whatever you say," she says, "which I love. They know about the neurotic overprotective grandparents telling me why my kid is so skinny, my mother-in-law telling me to take him to the doctor because 'He's not blinking enough.'"<br /><br /> Growing up in Brooklyn would seem to offer plenty of options for living a Jewish life, but not so in Blum's case. Her mother grew up in an observant household, but decided to opt out when she had kids. <br /><br /> Her father, Blum says, was a hypochondriac. "His favorite game is called 'Does This Look Malignant?'" <br /><br /> And her brother suffered from bouts of mental illness, something that had a deep impact on Blum then and now.<br /><br /> "I became a school psychologist because I couldn't fix my brother," says Blum, who worked in New York public schools with high-schoolers ages 13 to 21. "I was 24 [working] with kids that had beards. I used to say it was nice to be in a state where kids could drop out, have a family, go to prison and then graduate."<br /><br /> Blum took a chance in 1994 and started doing standup at night, while working in the schools by day. In time she made it to CBS' "Star Search," and finally to a full-time comedy career. She and the family moved to Los Angeles three years ago to pursue the dream. <br /><br /> They joined a synagogue in the heart of Sherman Oaks and enrolled their son in Sunday school.<br /><br /> And, unlike many New Yorkers living in exile in Hollywood, Blum likes Los Angeles, though she has a hard time understanding the entrenched flakiness on the part of some locals.<br /><br /> "I don't understand why people make plans, then decide not to show up," she says. "I made a play date [for her son] with a friend, and she calls and says 'Are we still getting together?' Unless I'm in the hospital, then we're still getting together."<br /><br /> In addition to her standup work, Blum has done a comedy radio show with her husband, and recently premiered an autobiographical one-woman theatrical piece called "When I Cough, I Wet Myself." <br /><br /> "It's about my family and my brother's mental illness," she says, "and how I really want things to be different in my life. It's funny but poignant."<br /><br /> And as for those stubborn pounds that just won't come off after bearing two children, Blum still has some hope, but it's fading. Especially after her experience with a nationally famous weight loss program.<br /><br /> "You just can't give a fat adult their snacks all at once for the week," she says. "By the time I got to the parking lot they were gone. I had to get an advance on my snacks."<br /><br /> <br><b><br /><br /> Stephanie Blum</b> joins Kung Pao Kosher Comedy at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22 to Sunday, Dec. 24; and 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 25, at New Asia Restaurant, 772 Pacific Ave., S.F. Information: (925) 275-9005 or <a href="http://www.koshercomedy.com">www.koshercomedy.com</a></p>

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