Sunday Diva / Three From The Hip: Rusty Warren

Sunday Diva / Three From The Hip: 

Rusty Warren

In my own personal big gay church, there is a wing dedicated to the Ladies Of Comedy. Theses are the gals who made us laugh and, on occasion, brought a tear to our eyes. They are visionaries, capturing aspects of the human condition while holding up a mirror to the world. Their characters, style, and phrases have helped form our daily vernacular in ways we are not even always aware of - but that is the power of comedy and the magic these ladies all possess. Breaking ground while breaking all the rules?

One such firecracker?

Rusty Warren.

Knockers up!

The 'Mother of the Sexual Revolution'.

The woman was inescapable.

Dressed in the latest style, seated behind her spinet piano, this diva helped define naughty cocktail humor.

And boy howdy, did she have some impact!

The lady was a huge hit; both live, on the nightclub scene and in the living rooms of sexually adventurous adults - thanks to the sale of her brilliant, progressive L.P.s.

She was there - on the forefront - liberating women one bra at a time. 

Many albums later and after years of touring, she retired in Hawaii.

But... this diva had done her tour of duty - freeing up both boob and booty - for the betterment of the world.

The gospel according to her?

Well, here are three from the hip, dropping from her lips.

The topic? Her Sex Evolution

"I started out as a music teacher. Worked a few dinner houses in my college years then, as the years went on, I got to talk more than play the piano."

"I never started out as a comedienne. I was playing piano in small lounges and clubs when one of my bosses asked me if I knew any parodies? I didn't know what he meant, and when I found out I started to buy them from places in New York that used to sell them by the page. He also said that he would give me more money if I would sing them along with my regular songs of the day. I did, he did, and that's how it all started."

"It was the time when cities were spreading out to the suburbs, and the lifestyles were changing to barbeques and backyard parties. They would play my records and just have an evening of their own entertainment. It was reasonable and they could stay at home (as the kids were young then and you can't always go out when you have youngsters). I guess I was doing my thing at the right time and the right place, in the years of the sexual revolution of the '60s."

"Before I ever made albums I played my act every where I could get work. Many of the rooms weren't geared for my type of 'sex talk,' so I would get some walk-outs. Actually, most of the audience enjoyed what I was doing and it proved to be a great 'material experience' - what to use and what to throw out, because it just doesn't work. What a learning venue! In fact, the Knockers Up march was started in Dayton, Ohio, in a club called Mike Longo's. I was telling the gals to 'get your knockers up and let's show the guys we have something to give in this world today.' My boss, Mike, started to go through the room trying to get the gals to throw out their chests, and, as he was going through the room, I started playing a march rhythm on the piano and adlibbing words to what was going down. So that's how it happened and the rest became 'Rusty Warren History.' The Knockers Up march was born!"

"My manager, Stan Zucker, used to tell me that when he was putting together the Midwest tour dates, every club I worked couldn't wait for me to come in with my new show. The club owners made money every time I worked there and it spread by word of mouth to 'buy that Rusty Warren gal - she's naughty but you'll make money.'"

"There were only a few of us doing so-called risqué comedy. I was the 'tame one' of all of us, as I didn't use any four-letter word, as did Belle Barth or Pearl Williams."

"Every town I played in the Midwest had their own group of women who would show up with their husbands and neighbors, sometimes driving many miles to get to the local club I was appearing at. God, those gals were something else! But they were the driving force of the Rusty Warren movement in the '60s."

"You have to realize that we spoke differently in the '60's. We veiled a lot of what we were saying and how we were saying it. But it was sex just the same. Ours was more innuendo than the realistic way it's talked about on stage today. And the female comediennes today are coming right out and saying what they want to say and don't have to worry about being censored."

Knockers! Up - Rusty Warren

Bounce Your Boobies - Rusty Warren

Am I Growing Older - Rusty Warren

"My mentor was Sophie Tucker who, in her day, was considered 'naughty" for her times. She caught me, or her writer saw my show and told her I did her Life Begins At Forty song at my piano bar, and she asked me to have lunch at her hotel. She asked me why would I ever do that song when I was 24 years-old? She also told me 'to be honest with my audiences as they will know if your lying, because audiences are smarter than you think they are and they'll catch you on it every time.' They are...and they'll catch you on it every time.