Comedian Debbie Wooten had a lot going against her. In a time when blacks were judged by the color of their skin, Wooten had more than just her race to overcome, including polio, family alcoholism, abuse and suicide. Wooten said she would eventually be able to look at those challenges and see the humorous aspects in them. She later channeled them into a new career as a comedian. Wooten will bring her comedy act to Witherspoon Cinema at 9 p.m. tonight. TECHNICIAN: How did you first become involved in comedy?
WOOTEN: One night I joined Toastmasters International in the mid 80s. After that, I entered a comedy speech contest — my speech was called ” Super Mom.” I made it to to the national level of that competition. My co-workers then encouraged me to enter a comedy contest in Seattle, which was judged by Sinbad. I did the competition, and I won first place. After that, Sinbad helped me out a lot with agents and getting my career started. Since then, I’ve just been working hard over the years with my act. I’ve tried to take the comedy and use the talent that I have to tell the story of my life in a comedic way. That has helped me to take it to another level: to be inspirational as well as comedic. Also, I’ve applied that humorous approach to parenting. I have five children and that can be very stressful sometimes. So I have to try and keep a humorous outlook about that.
TECHNICIAN: How did your life growing up affect your comedy today?
WOOTEN: My comedy has a lot to do with me being judged when I was growing up. I was being discriminated against on all levels — my race, my economic condition, my disability, because I was a girl and because of the problems I had with obesity. Everyone tried to use these things as reasons why I wasn’t good enough. I had to overcome everyone’s judgments. Everybody likes to laugh and feel good. If I can come to you in a way that’s nonthreatening, then you can see me, and see that I’m a person just like you, and see the person that I really am.
TECHNICIAN: What type of things do you talk about in your show?
WOOTEN: I talk about discrimination and segregation a lot, because I’m a child of the 50s. I had a dysfunctional family life early on, but now I see those things and find the humorous things in it. I try to take a depressing story and tell it in a way that makes it an upbeat story. When I was young, I didn’t have much concept of race — I didn’t know I was black until I was 7. I wasn’t allowed to go to school with noncrippled children. I went to a school for children with polio, and polio represents all races. So I want to take everyone on a journey, so they can walk in my braces for an hour. I want to provide a humorous solution to serious problems.
TECHNICIAN: How do you feel that your comedy can be motivational?
WOOTEN: My comedy is motivational because I was born in a world of can’ts — I was told I couldn’t walk and I couldn’t play with other kids, because their parents thought polio was a virus and their children would get it if they played with me. I was isolated when I was younger, so I learned to drop that “apostrophe s” and turn those can’ts into cans. I think that if you don’t know you can’t do something, you can do a lot in this world. I gave my worth to the world — I believed that I had a lot of worth, and I pointed out that worth to the world. I like to look at myself like a lump of coal- – coal is very common, but it has the potential to be a diamond. It just takes a lot of pressure, being in a dark place, and a lot of heat. I was once a lump of coal, but I’ve been pressured, and I’ve been in that dark place, and I’ve felt that heat. I’m that diamond now, and I can cut through anything.
TECHNICIAN: What would you say is the most important thing you would want your audience to take away from your show?
WOOTEN: That you can do anything that you put your mind to — don’t judge yourself or other people by their physical appearance. Like Dr. King once said, I think that everyone should be judged by the content of their character. That’s what I want people to do.
