New Yorker of the Week

JanMon 2010 Filed in: New Yorker of the Week

Maryann “Boom Boom” Maisano

Craft: Songwriter/musician and comedian
Lives: Fort Lee/East Village
Why we think she’s cool: She’s the leader of the Italian Chicks
Where to find her: The Italian Chicks
Interview by: José

Jose: I have to ask right away, did you watch the Kennedy Honors last night? They honored The Boss.
Maryann: I did. What John Stewart said was brilliant: “I believe that Bob Dylan and James Brown had a baby, and they abandoned this child on the side of the road between the exit interchanges of 8A and 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike...” [laughs] I loved it!

J:  I did, too. You know, this morning I purchased your CD Painted from Memory from iTunes. It’s great - a different feel from The Italian Chicks.
M: Thank you. I put that out in ’06. There’s one track on there, City of Light - that’s the song that Danny Aiello recorded. A different version, but it was a great opportunity for me as a songwriter.

J:  I imagine as the headliner and producer of the show, it's a little different.
M: It is.  As the headliner of the show I follow from start to finish on all ends. And at the start of each show, I go out there for ten minutes and and do improv which is where my comfort level is. I end with song parodies that I have written. Isn't that strange?

J: Well not really. One of the things I love about you is your Facebook updates. They're always spontaneous - always off the wall and people never know where you're coming from. It feels very improv.
I appreciate that. I try to keep people engaged. Facebook has been one of the most amazing tools for getting the word out there for the show and what we do. People have written some really wonderful emails saying "thank you for making me laugh. I came home from work, I went to your status and I had a shitty day I feel better." And that's what it's all about. Making an impact.

J:  I read somewhere that you were a banker.
M:  Well I started out as a performer, but then my very Italian father challenged me and said "Maryann - you betta geta real job with a real benifits, you know" [laughs]. In hindsight, what he was trying to say is that he wanted to make sure that I was going to be OK. I started out as a teller and by accident, I became successful in banking. All of a sudden I was the VP of this bank making a ridiculous amount of money at such a young age.

J:  Then what?
M:  I noticed I was no longer writing music because I was exhausted. I didn't have the spontaneity and I missed it. I was driving home one day after conducting a motivational seminar about following your passions when I thought "why are you not doing this?" That's when I walked away from a six figure job and decided I was going to focus on my music and form a group.
That must've felt good?
M:  José as soon as I left the job, I wrote about six songs in less than a month. It was coming out of me. I would write a song in a half hour. It was amazing!

J: You’ve said The Italian Chicks is “part meatball, part cannoli, that will make you laugh harder than if you were drunk at an Italian opera?” Explain.
M: I say that because I wanted to show diversity with these women. This is something I’ve been dreaming of for years. part of my strategy was to put together an all-woman show, because it’s difficult with women in comedy. There’s the assumption from men that our show is going to be a men-bashing, menopause type of show, but it’s not like that. Which is why it’s a meatball/cannoli thing. We’re edgy, we’re assertive and we really talk about our lives growing up being Italian. We come from a passionate, dysfunctional family. Whether you’re Italian, Spanish or Jewish, there are a lot of people who can relate to what we’re talking about.

J: How did you find the other women, Mary, Carolann & Gina?
M: Mary is brilliant. We actually started out in comedy together. We did our first open mike a million years ago. Carolann and I started corresponding after a friend of a friend told me I should check her out. She sent me her clip and I fell in love with it. She was exactly what I was looking for. She’s very animated and does a lot of characters when she does comedy, which I like, because it wasn’t your typical “Boom Boom Bam”. Gina is a retired New York City police sergeant I found through MySpace. She was reinventing herself and had a look that I loved. When I asked about her, people said she new to comedy, which was perfect. What better way to get somebody to develop a comfort level than partnering with other people? When I asked her if she could do a show that Saturday, she had balls and didn’t hesitate and said, “Absolutely!”

J: Wow. You threw her right into the fire.
M: Right in! It was a sold-out show in Staten Island, and the three of us were standing in the back and watching. She fuckin’ owned it.

J: Sounds like you have some great company.
M: I know this is gonna sound hokey, but we really do genuinely love each other and support each other not only collectively as a group, but individually in our own separate endeavors. The audience can feel that, which is a big reason why I think the show works.

J: You mentioned your dad earlier, what about the rest of your family?
M: My dad passed away seven years ago, but my mom is still my biggest fan. I’m the youngest of four. It’s a typical Italian family - Joey, Angie, Roe and Me.

J: I also read somewhere that your dad was from Reggio Calabria and your mom’s family is from Naples. How old school was that growing up?
M: Very. I’m writing a one-woman show called The Agita Monologues about my entire experience growing up in this cultural family that was really dissected. My mom being American born but still heavily drenched in tradition and my father having all of this rigid tradition and trying to get him to move closer to the middle.

J: Tell me the difference between New Jersey Italians and the New York Italians.
L: The difference is the money and the toll.
J: [laughs] Do you have a favorite Italian Restaurant in NY?
M: It’ll probably be Patsy’s. They have a lot of traditional-tasting foods.

J: What about Little italy?
M: Unfortunately, it’s so commercialized now. Sometimes it’s difficult to find something authentic.

J: How do you feel about the reality TV show, The Jersey Shore?
M: You know, I’ve been struggling with this Jersey Shore thing. First off, I’m not a big fan of reality shows, but what bothers me is these Italian American organizations that still have a stick up their ass and were born with a silver spoon. Why don’t they support rather than attack? I think they need to lighten up a little bit. I was writing about The Jersey Shore in The Agita Monologues and how I thought the acting was terrible with typical drama. I mean really, who are you going to emulate? Pagliacci? Pavarotti? Da Vinci?

J: Good point.
M: As Italian people, we have brought amazing things to the world, but you also have to look at satire and realize when satire is satire. I ended up getting an email from NIAF (National Italian American Foundation) that said We Are Being Attacked [laughs] - I though they meant terrorists! The email was talking about The Jersey Shore and how they’re putting together groups to boycott the show and going to the sponsors to make them pull out. They were acting like the very people that they hate by acting like the mob and making threats.

J: What’s next?
M: The Italian Chicks have a show Friday, January 22 at DoSi Caffe in Staten Island. We have a lot going on in 2010. And I‘m still in the process of writing my one-woman show called The Agita Monologue.

J: I might get in trouble for this, but after going to Rome and the Amalfi Coast, I have to say that nobody does it better than the Italians--from the food to the architecture and the fashion.
M: That’s wonderful to hear. I met a young, talented Italian man who wrote an article about me in a magazine in Calabria. With him, we’re in the process of putting together a tour starting in Rome, going down the Amalfi Coast, and ending in Calabria with The Italian Chicks. This will be a dream come true.

J: Maryann- it was really great talking with you. I can't wait to see you guys on stage.
M: Thanks hon - I hope to see you soon.

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How did Maryann answer our Outsider questions?

1. List five things in your fridge.
M: Eggs, milk, Asti Spumante, yogurt and brown sugar.
2. What’s your New Year’s resolution?
M: I’m gonna try to get through EZPass without having to pay.
3. What freaks you out about New York?
L: Guys on bicycles. They think they’re cars!
4. What's your favorite NY icon? Person, place or thing.
L: The steps of the Post Office on 34th St.
5. What’s your ideal New York date?
L: Going to the theatre, having a late dinner, some dessert and mad passionate love till 7:30 AM!

Tags: Jose, Interview