Rosalee Mayeux is an L.A. mom, a former model and a comedian whose new comedy special is all about finding the humor in raising kids and the things you only realize and laugh about years later after surviving the chaos. Her comedy special, “Rosalee Mayeux: Model Mom” (from Comedy Dynamics) is out now on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, Vimeo and more.
Before comedy, Rosalee’s path was anything but conventional. Born in an adoption home in Shreveport, Louisiana and raised on a rice farm, she went on to become a high-fashion Ford model in New York and Paris, appearing in more than 300 commercials. After facing a life-altering cancer diagnosis, she ultimately channeled the experience into stand-up, where her personal storytelling explores parenting, survival and the recurring misadventures of modern romance.
We recently chatted with Rosalee about parenting in L.A. and the importance of humor.
Tell us a little about raising your boys in L.A. as a single mom? The challenges and the joys.
The best part was living in a city that supports the arts. The boys were natural musicians since they were 3 and 5, and got to start boy bands, and play the Whiskey, the Roxy, Amoeba, and Prince’s downtown venue as teens. And I became their roadie lol. The hardest part was admitting to myself that you cannot be a boy’s father and his mother. They need a dad, so they can say “My dad can beat up your dad.” That never goes away.
Were you always the “funny one” growing up?
Yes! My big brother was All-State football, All-State basketball, All-State track, invited to the Olympics, and was 8 points above Genius Level according to Army testing. What else was left?! I became the clown.
How did you get into comedy?
Cancer is SO funny! After they told me I was dying, and then I surprised everyone by living, I knew I couldn’t go back into how I had lived all my life up to that point. Selling everything from Chevrolets to Sara Lee in commercials, acting in cult classic movies like “The Lawnmower Man,” was all super fun but… now I looked like a scary bald lady. And I knew it was time. I needed to speak my own words, write my own scripts.
Why focus your comedy on motherhood?
I write lots of things, on a lot of topics, but I wanted to focus my first comedy special on my kids. They make me the maddest LOL. The relationship with my kids taught me how to love. I would never be the woman, the soul, I am today without the grit of raising my two boys.
Now that your kids are adults, what advice would you give yourself as a new mom?
I have lots of comedy friends having babies right now because they have hope, LOL, and it’s adorable. I was, and they are, so in love with their babies. Even though they miss comedy, they are in it, building so many stories. You think the hard days will never end. My best neighborhood friend used to call them the “hell years.”
But what you don’t realize is that this is real living– the the good part– so congratulate yourself! This is the part that is teaching you to be courageous, a fierce bear and a tender, safe haven. There’s nothing more important in the world, and this is definitely how we change the planet for good.
And what advice would you give yourself as a mom of tweens?
Buckle up! And … yeah, they’ll all end up on the therapy couch in the end, so don’t try to be perfect. Keep your chin up and read a book called “F*** Yes” from the 70’s, which I definitely benefited from reading while raising my teens in the 90’s. It taught me about honesty … and how to keep them safe, even from themselves, through a good parenting plan for when they are acting out. God’s joke is giving you losing your parents, while raising teenagers, and also going through menopause… all at the same time. Hilarious.
As a mom and comedian, tell us how a sense of humor helps when navigating life and being a parent?
I saw a video of a mom laughing when a baby cow pushed over her 2-year-old. Then she laughed when the girl fell, leading a pony. And on. By the end, you got it – if you can laugh, the kids can laugh. Permission to be a goof. Permission to fail, try new stuff, be brave, as often as they succeed.
Laugh. We must.
Watch a trailer of Rosalee’s Comedy Special HERE.
