Reformed Whores Spread their Country-Fried Comedy
When Marie Cecile Anderson and Katy Frame first met over the buffet at a mutual friend’s birthday party, it was kismet. Who would’ve thought, just a mere three years later, they’d have a viral video mocking Rush Limbaugh’s stupidity and be touring the country, opening for rock stars?
The girls, better known as the hilarious, twangy, and down-right adorable musical-comedy duo Reformed Whores, return to Theatre 99 this upcoming weekend to take part in the 13th annual Piccolo Fringe festival. If you’re a fan of vintage country music and prefer your comedy clever and a tad bawdy, this is right up your alley.
Marie and Katy were kind enough to touch base with Metronome Charleston and fill us in on the Whores’ history and what has been going on in their lives since they last visited the Lowcountry.
The not-so-whorish Katy Frame and Marie Cecile Anderson (provided)
Metronome Charleston: I know you both currently live in Brooklyn, but where did you each grow up?
Marie: I grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and I love country music!
Katy: I’m from Maryland, which is officially the northern most southern state. I, too, love country music, but as a Marylander, I’m also required to love crabs.
Metronome Charleston: When you started playing music together, how soon did you start gigging out?
Katy: Too soon! Marie found a show for us and I thought I was going to kill her because I didn’t think we were ready yet, but it turned out to be the best thing we could have done.
Marie: It was kind of crazy. I booked us our first gig about a month into meeting. I was talking us up one night to a friend when, all of a sudden, she asked if we’d perform at her improv show. We were so not ready for this, but I said yes, anyway. On the night of our first show, we were very nervous. We joked backstage that we might even drop our instruments because our hands were shaking so much, but the crowd loved it! We knew right then and there that we had something special on our hands.
Katy: And in our hands, ‘cause we did not drop our instruments, thank you very much!
Metronome Charleston: How did you guys come around to the Reformed Whores concept? Was it initially one of your ideas and the other jumped on, or did it organically grown when y’all got together?
Marie: When Katy and I met, we both were going through some major relationship issues. Our songs naturally were about sex, love, and relationships. Since then, it’s organically grown into songs about penises.
Katy: Hmm… Organically grown penises… There might be a song in that.
Metronome Charleston: So, since your “I’m a Slut” video, you guys have been getting a lot of attention. Did you receive any negative feedback from people who didn’t get the joke?
Katy: The only negative feedback we’ve gotten is from the YouTube trolls and, I’m super glad they come and watch the video ‘cause it gives us more views. At our live shows, we’ve never gotten any negative feedback about our songs. If anything, we get the opposite: people telling us how much they appreciate what we’re doing.
Marie: I personally had to stop reading the YouTube comments because some people are just idiots and really don’t understand the issue at hand. But my favorite comment was, “You girls are too ugly to be whores.” That one just made my day.
Metronome Charleston: We last saw you during the 2013 Charleston Comedy Festival. What have you been up to since then?
Katy: We just went on an eight-show tour opening for Primus frontman Les Claypool and his Duo de Twang. That was pretty mind-blowing.
Marie: My favorite show was playing in the desert near Joshua Tree in California for 800 people, right there under the stars.
The Reformed Whores at the Charleston Comedy Fest (photo by Ballard Lesemann)
Metronome Charleston: Wow! How did you get hooked up with Les Claypool?
Marie: After hustling for the past three years we finally got an agent! Let’s just say, we were at the right place at the right time. Apparently, Les was looking for opening bands, and our agent submitted a video of ours. Les said he watched a couple different bands and liked us the best — so we got the job.
Katy: And the answer is yes — it was the “Girls Poop Too” video.
Metronome Charleston: So, what was the most surreal night on the tour, be it odd or fun?
Marie: Hands-down, when we were on stage in New York City at the Gramercy Theatre singing “Pipeline” with Les Claypool, [guitarist] Bryan Kehoe, Matt Stone, and Dean Ween!
Katy: Yeah, that one wins, but a close second was playing at the Troubadour in L.A. and having Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains ask me if he could warm up on my guitar.
Metronome Charleston: How many times have you been to Charleston so far? What keeps you coming back?
Marie: This is our fourth time back, and it’s because Brandy Sullivan and Greg Tavares over at Theatre 99 have something really special to offer their performers. Theatre 99 is one of our all-time favorite places to perform because the Charleston audience is priceless. They are kind, supportive, and smart. What more could you ask for?
Katy: Nothing. Nothing is better. We love that place, and we love Charleston!
Metronome Charleston: What can newcomers expect at your shows during Piccolo Fringe 2013?
Katy: They can definitely expect an evening chock-full of good old-fashioned debaucherous fun! And we’ve got a bunch of new songs and jokes for those who have seen us before.
Marie: This year’s show also has a bit of a message. We have some new songs that will stay in your brain and make you think.
Metronome Charleston: So after Piccolo Fringe, what’s next?
Katy: We’ll be traveling around the next couple of months. Next up we’ll be touring with comedian Jared Logan from VH1’s Best Week Ever. We love him, so that should be fun.
Marie: We want to do Conan. It’s not on the table yet, as far as we know, but we think if we keep saying it enough, it’ll happen. We are going to do Conan.
Katy: Marie is very good at calling things into existence, so keep sayin’ it, girl!
The Reformed Whores perform as part of Piccolo Fringe on Fri. May 24 at 8 p.m., Sat. May 25 at 6:30 p.m., Sun. May 26 at 6 p.m., and Mon. May 27 and Tues. May 28 at 7 p.m. at Theatre 99, located at 280 Meeting St. (above the Bicycle Shoppe). Admission is $16. For more information and tickets, visit theatre99.com and reformedwhores.com.
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About the Author
Jessica Mickey has considered Charleston home since she first moved here in 2001. She regularly performs improv at Theatre 99 and dabbles in stand-up comedy in various venues around the Lowcountry. Jessica has also cohosted morning radio shows on 96Wave and 98X, as well as wrote the weekly column "The Chase is On" for the Charleston City Paper. She can barely play the ukulele Ballard bought her for Christmas last year, but after a couple of drinks, she can sing the shit out of some karaoke.
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