Pure Unadulterated Hot Steamin' Shirley

The Best Is Back Again! This time.... it's all Shirley. Only Shirley! aka Queen LuvaLush of the Red Hat Hot Galloping Geriatric Glamour Pussy Party Girls!

Yes our priestess of polyester sallies forth again in true charismatic comedy style. She had so much fun at the Red Hat Ruckus in Kelowna that she can't wait to party with the Red Hatter's again!

"Pure Unadulterated Hot Steamin' Shirley" debuted at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival August 2006

She fires off jokes like automatic weapons fire. She puts them out, strokes them, lays on another level or two, and then drives hone what's left. Shirley, at her best, is simply a world-class act".

The Edmonton Sun

"Estrogen extravaganza has unisex appeal. Shirley Best.... she's loud and proud completely irreverent and beyond caring; a truly liberated gal bent on helping members of her gender find the same sort of worldview.....know that if this show had been rated by just about any woman there, it would have won five stars."

The Edmonton Journal

WHY CAN'T THEY MAKE A PAIR OF PANTYHOSE WITH THE CROTCH THAT STAYS WHERE YOURS IS?

"Finally a stand up comedy show that's safe to see. Something you can bring Aunt Edna to.... without fear of her having a stroke. Hilarious entertainment that goes to the edge but then pulls back before you fall off in shock."

"It's downright giddy and witty stuff... irreverent at times, occasionally just a little risqué and acutely observant...."

"First there's the business of writing one funny line after another. That's the difficult part. Then you have to deliver all those lines in a way that's seamless and seeming without effort. That's the deceptively simple part. Bell manages on all counts here, and provides a show where if you don't like one joke, another is following right behind. Often literally you won't be able to catch your breath."

Marc Horton, Edmonton Journal

Yes Canada's best kept comedy secret is coming your way. Zandra Bell, one of the most brilliantly funny humorists on the North American conference circuit is taking a break from the corporate action and going on the road!

For years Zandra has been well known on the business scene for creating original, intelligent hilarity - especially in the persona of the charmingly outrageous, hit sensation, Shirley Best, a campy yet charismatic fifty something housewife embarking on a search for self fulfillment.

Everyone has a "Shirley" in their life. She is your mother... times ten, the person behind you in the Wal-Mart checkout lineup, the eccentric aunt that fuels the other relatives' gossip.

One delighted reviewer described her as, "a cross between Oprah, Anthony Robbins and Roseanne".

Now ...Shirley's embarking on her international World Domination Before Menopause Tour, ready to share with you her own inimitable, down to earth point of view on everything from pantyhose to "plumber's butt", to navigating the land mines of landing a lover when you're on the gravity challenged side of thirty.

"Bell's combination of clever comic writing and a killer delivery makes them (her shows)a laugh fest with some serious overtones.....more than just basic female standup. With her wild hats, 60's glasses, ample figure and tight leopard skin polyester pants her alter ego probed relationships - and between keen observation , and lay-you-in-the-aisles jokes and one-liners, her shows were very entertaining".

Colin MacLean, Edmonton Sun

Do you like stretch marks, long walks through golf courses during lightning storms? Is mixing tequila with your Metamucil the highlight of the weekend? Well then adjust your shoulder pads, relinquish that remote control and tune in for some wacky wisdom unleashed.

WHY CAN'T THEY MAKE A PAIR OF PANTYHOSE WITH THE CROTCH THAT STAYS WHERE YOURS IS?

Guaranteed to make your mascara run! Truly the best from Shirley Best. Discover the truth. One size does not fit all.

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Past Stage Performances

Shirley Best Stands Up

"Comedienne Zandra Bell knows how to bring out the best in an audience. In the latest recreation of her alter-ego, "warrior housewife" Shirley Best, Bell once again arouses audiences to laugh with her at some of our most cherished taboos and open domestic secrets. Bell combines bawdy humour with keen observation of the absurdities of the everyday. The new show, "Shirley Best stands Up" is a seminar on dealing with angst and stress that accompanies our fast paced modern lifestyle...."

See Magazine - Edmonton

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Shirley Best Unplugged

According to the program, I actually wandered into a Make Room For Housewives Seminar by mistake with Zoltan Blashko's Polka Opera as the entertainment, but when the lights went down, it was explained Zoltan and the boys had a bus mishap and moments later...

...Shirley Best showed up in a bizarre gold lame and naugahyde jumpsuit to pick up the torch. The local audience fave was up to her usual fun, tackling sex tips, marriage insights, religion and social comment... oh and for summertime, a comparison of camping and cottaging that concluded, "you can't trust nature. It's way too real."

Edmonton Journal

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Shirley Best Possessed - The Graceland Before Menopause Tour

Hot flash! This just in from the Graceland Before Menopause Bus Tour! Shirley Best's body has been taken over by a blast from the past. A spirit from yesteryear. "There's two of us in here!?! Finally, an explanation for my stretch marks."

Could it be Elvis returned? No it's Tallulah, a sexy southern belle prima donna princess, intent on revelling in all those instantly gratifying pleasures of our modern corporeal world. Tallulah can now take over Shirley's body at will, and shamelessly does, waxing it's bits, and waking up it's wardrobe. "If YOU've been dead hundreds of years the first thing YOU'd want to do is change clothes." Meanwhile Shirley's left puzzling about those unexplained blackouts of lost time. Could this be menopause? Hormonal nuclear meltdown?

Will Shirley surrender without a fight, or will magnolia petals fly? Is it just a case of possession obsession or is it really a resurrection insurrection? Don't miss this hilarious battle over body control. Who will win out? Revival of the fittest or Survival of the wittiest.

"Bell deserves kudos for another never-miss-a-beat, fast moving solo act. The number of clothing changes could have changed this into a dull waiting game, but her rapid fire jokes and ability to keep the crowd entertained prevented any loss of momentum. And she demonstrated a real talent for being able to slip seamlessly between two contrasting characters, for Tallulah comes with a drawl and languishing menially".

-Shelly Decker Edmonton Sun

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Shirley Best's Tele-Personal Confessions - I Was a Middle Aged Dating Machine

While dustbusting the pillowcases Shirley discovers irrefutable evidence of the sordid underbelly of her husband Cecil's secret obsession....and is shocked out of menopause!!!

"Two can play at this game", she resolves, and, goes undercover to blow the lid off the seamy steamy singles scene. Now the Best is back to reveal her findings.

Looking for love? Companionship? The nearest beer tent? This is the show for you!

So stop playing mind games, pack up your emotional baggage and come join telepersonals guru, Shirley Best, on her hilarious guided tour through the land mines of landing a lover, when you're on the gravity challenged side of thirty. Definitely an exception to "The Rules".

No strings attached, although who knows, if there's chemistry it could lead to more.

"Shirley Best, aka Zandra Bell, is a lady of a certain age and a definite heft, who makes a shocking discovery regarding hubby Cecil: he has a secret penchant for porcine pornography.
The damning evidence, found hidden under the water bed, includes a variety of pictures in various poses.
Less spunky souls than Best would be defeated by this marital deceit. She, however, leaps directly back into the dating swim and becomes a very active participant in the tele-personal dating network.
I was a Middle Aged Dating Machine is a wildly funny and fresh look at how one woman girded her loins and rejoined the battle of the sexes. It's downright giddy and witty stuff.
It's possible that Bell, a local writer/comedian, has the best stand-up routine at this year's Fringe festival. It's irreverent at times, occasinally just a little risque, and acutely observant.
More importantly, Bell knows that the success of these things is both deceptively simple and dauntingly difficult.
First, there's the business of writing one funny line after another after another.
That's the difficult part.
Then you have to deliver all those lines in a way that's seamless and seeming without effort.
That's the deceptively simple part.
Bell manages on all counts here, and provides a show where if you don't like one joke, another is following right behind.
Often, literally, you won't be able to catch your breath."

Marc Horton, Edmonton Journal.

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Don't Take No For An Answer Unless It's On a Pregnancy Test

She's back! But without the polyester? Yes, it's true, the Edmonton writer, comedienne, jewelry obsessive shopaholic, AND creator of the wacky, and wonderful character, "Shirley Best", is making her stage debut performing as "herself" in this touching yet wickedly funny, twisted tale of two psyches. Come, laugh yourself silly at Zandra Bell.... exposed!

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Shirley You Jest

"SHIRLEY, YOU JEST!" is the name of this "show within a show," and we invite you to join Shirley and company for hilarious cabaret entertainment. This show first premiered at the 2002 Edmonton Fringe Festival and is now available for bookings.

Don't miss Shirley's exasperated antics as she tries to break into the big time with a side-splitting assortment of pithy monologues and satirical songs, featuring her glam girl group of "has been" high school cronies, now seizing the opportunity to make a TV comeback as "Shirley Best and the Support Hose."

Think Laugh-In meets Dame Edna. Anything can happen on Surreality TV.

"SHIRLEY, YOU JEST!" LOOKS AT THE WORLD FROM Shirley's own inimitable, down-to-earth point of view and offers irreverent commentary on everything from nipple piercing - "What does this mean to the future of breast feeding? Great nutrition and a teething ring, all in one convenient location?" - to the folly of fashion magazines - "Just look. 317 sexy spring looks!!! Does spring really last that long?" - to internal medicine - "I've always wanted to see a medical cross-section of myself, you know, just to see exactly how much is fat, and how much is just really large internal organs."

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I saw "Shirley You Jest" on Friday night and laughed so hard that I cried. I was with some friends of mine that sat in the first row and I didn't want the show to end. I am a menopausal woman, (who recently came out of denial about being peri-menopausal) and really related to everything you talked about. I was also at a women's conference that you entertained at recently and again, I laughed so hard I cried. I watched Global news the other day and enjoyed Lorraine Mansbridge's broadcast from your condo - you have a beautiful home!!

I just wanted to express my appreciation for your comedy and touching reality in a humorous way. What is life without humour - I cannot imagine it. Thank you Zandra - keep glowing with the ray of sunshine you shine on everyone.
Sincerely,
Marilyn Keeler

Dear Zandra,
I enjoyed myself immensely....It's so clear you inspire all women to reach beyond the "usual" boring, stifling boundaries, and, more importantly, you make them laugh! Thank you and keep it coming,
- Kate

Zandra - we loved the show. I haven't seen Wally laugh like that in awhile! Congrats on a great job...
- Darka

I just want to say that your show was absolutely marvellous. I am new to Edmonton and this is just my second Fringe experience. Two years ago, I was at your show too and I remembered how funny you were then too. I was in tears at your last show (from laughter,........ don't worry). I just want to tell you to keep up the good work and that its stuff that you do that keeps giving Edmonton such a good reputation for a strong arts centre. Shirley just touches a core within so many women out there. Please keep me updated if you have new shows going on.
Thanks

Dear Zandra, I really enjoyed your show and I could not believe the reviewers comments in the paper. I suggest that person does not know their proverbial butt from a hole in the ground. There were 4 of us and we laughed from beginning to end and we were sober too! I thought the support hose were a riot and I wish you every success in the world as I think you are brilliant!
Regards,
Jackie Heitzman

Zandra, do keep going !! And thank you for the message you convey in your show so effective and wonderfully. As a women never happy with her appearance and pining for those thin thighs and waistline of the past, I appreciated the power of your songs. All the best to you in your endeavours and may you enjoy much success. In health and happiness
- Charlene de Athe

Hi Zandra
My "girlfriends" and I have been long time supporters of "Shirley" both at the Fringe, and Women's Night in Comedy at the Citadel each July. You are an inspiration to us. Every year it seems there is something new to laugh about. Maybe we are evolving with you! As three close female friends we have all gone through some personal hardships over the last few years, but still have our wacky (almost need to wear 'depends") humor! Thank you Zandra for keeping the joy in our hearts, and the smiles on our falling (skin- gravity thing) faces!
Your fan,
Carol

Hi Zandra
Your show is one that started us going to the fringe. One we would not miss, we always try to see your first preformance, this time was no exception, we enjoyed ourselves greatly.You were so delightful, you talked to everyone in the audience, and the time just flew by, I wished it could have gone on longer. Your back up singers were super. Thanks for an outstanding show!
Sincerely,
Susan Connelly

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