If you haven’t seen Jennifer Coolidge in a film or television show, you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade or so. As Coolidge gleefully gushes about climbing the ladder to a B-list movie career during her stand-up comedy show at the Arlington Cinema ‘N’ Drafthouse, you realize that she’s been responsible for sending you into fits of uncontrollable laughter since you snuck a peek at “American Pie” in elementary school.
She was the weird manicurist in “Legally Blonde,” the airhead gold digger in “Best in Show” and, of course, Stifler’s mom. She built an amazingly successful career by going for the roles that most girls in the Hollywood wouldn’t be caught dead doing; the weird best friend, the ditzy waitress, the kooky mom. And recently, she rocked the Drafthouse in a campy but irreverent comedy act that detailed her ridiculous ride to the Hollywood B-list.
“Ever since ‘American Pie,’ every horny 16- to 18-year-old guy thinks I will sleep with them ... which is great, because I totally will. Any young, single guys out there?” Coolidge spiritedly shrieked, as crickets could be heard from the audience. “Oh, come on!” she lamented endearingly, as the audience tried to hold back laughter.
There is something about Coolidge that is magnetic and very rare for this time; she comes from an era of vulgar, rubenesque film actresses who astound audiences with graceful profanity and dirty, ditzy wit — think Marilyn Monroe mixed with Kathleen Turner. She plays stupid only to point out the flaws in our logic and the stupidity in American life.
“You know, playing Stifler’s mom will get you one-night stands, but what it won’t get you is the kind of guy you want to marry,” Coolidge said. “When a girl says ‘I love you,’ guys hear ‘I have explosive diarrhea,’ and by girls, I mean me.”
If you haven’t been to the Drafthouse, imagine a huge hall filled with armchairs and tiny tables with waitresses edging through roughly congregated groups of friends to deliver a pitcher of beer or plate of wings. Since the seating is more informal and unassigned, most people end up squeezing in at a table with perfect strangers. A beer and a few jokes later, you have a table of new best friends. This is the perfect atmosphere to see Coolidge, who becomes everyone’s weird best friend during the show.
She’s a trainwreck, but a lovely, trash-talking trainwreck that lives a life you can’t understand and can’t help laughing at. Coolidge’s comic persona is cartoonish, and she acts too dumb to be real, but something about her high, Midwestern housewife tone, how she awkwardly stalks around in high heels and tight dresses and her miles of blonde hair make it work — and to hysterical effect.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
