SPEAKER_02: If you're prescribed NERTEK® ODT,
or MedJapan® 75 mg for migraine attacks, does the fear of running out of medication stop you from treating every migraine attack? If so, ask about two eight-packs per month. That's 16 tablets, and most insurance plans cover it.
SPEAKER_01: NERTEK® ODT is approved for the acute treatment of migraine attacks and preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. Don't take if allergic to NERTEK® ODT or any of its ingredients. Allergic reactions can occur even days after using and include trouble breathing, rash, and swelling of the face, mouth, tongue, or throat. Most common side effects were nausea and indigestion stomach pain. A maximum dose of 75 mg can be taken daily to treat migraine attacks or every other day to prevent them. The safety of using more than 18 doses of NERTEK® ODT in a 30-day period has not been established. For full prescribing information, call 1-833-4-NERTEK® or visit nertek.com.
SPEAKER_02: Double the packs to treat more migraine attacks. Ask your doctor if two eight-packs of NERTEK® ODT is right for you.
SPEAKER_00: Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica.
This month we're talking about comediennees, women throughout history who've made us laugh.
They transgressed societal norms through comedy and often spoke out against injustice using their sharp wit.
Today we're talking about a comic director and writer who revolutionized the way we tell jokes.
In the 1950s and 60s, she introduced her biting, sardonic female characters into the counterculture.
Please welcome Elaine May.
Elaine was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 21, 1932.
Her father, Jack Berlin, was a Yiddish stage actor and director.
Elaine grew up in the theater, touring in her dad's plays and throwing her voice onto the radio.
Jack died when Elaine was just 11, so she and her mom moved out to Los Angeles.
Elaine went to school for a few more years, then quit, married an inventor from Hermosa Beach and had a baby, got a divorce but kept his last name, and hitchhiked her way to Chicago.
Or so the story goes.
Elaine may have introduced some inconsistencies into her autobiography over the years and her communications with the press.
The knowledge that circulates about her early life may not be entirely accurate.
But what is for sure is that in the early 1950s, Elaine May was in Chicago, and comedy would never be the same again.
Elaine fell in with students at the University of Chicago, though she never formally enrolled and with Chicago's Compass Theater, the forerunner to Second City.
There, she met Mike Nichols. An act was formed.
Mike and Elaine bounced off one another. They began performing improv comedy to resounding success.
In a world of one-liners and spoofs, Nichols and May dealt in long-form improv conversations, reflecting the less elegant moments of chats between co-workers and spouses, strangers and families back at their audience.
Someday, honey, you'll get married.
SPEAKER_02: Mom.
SPEAKER_00:
And you'll have children of your own. Mom, please.
SPEAKER_00: And honey, when you do, I only pray that they make you suffer the way you're making me.
SPEAKER_02: Elaine and Mike performed across New York's cabaret scene,
SPEAKER_00:
SPEAKER_00:
on TV and radio, and even made it to Broadway in 1960.
But going on without a script eventually took a toll on Mike's nerves.
Elaine, on the other hand, wanted to keep forging ahead off-book.
It wasn't an amicable split.
By the summer of 1961, May and Nichols were no more.
Mike's career immediately blossomed, winning multiple Tony Awards and later an Oscar for directing The Graduate.
Elaine's rise was less meteoric.
She acted in a few movies.
In 1969, she wrote and directed a one-act comedy play called Adaption, which won her a Drama Desk Award.
In 1971, she wrote, directed, and starred in a modern-day screwball comedy, The New Leaf.
She played a clumsy botanist targeted by a gold-digging suitor who intends to murder her for her money.
Elaine had translated her humor, dark and uneasy, brought to life by less-than-perfect characters, to the big screen.
With The New Leaf, Elaine became the first woman since 1966 to direct a studio film.
She brought her improv skills as a director, encouraging actors to loosen up and try new things with each take.
For Elaine, working in big-budget productions had its drawbacks.
The studio trimmed her movie down from three hours to a lean hour forty.
In doing so, they cut two of the darker scenes.
Elaine sued the studio, tried to remove her name from the project, and publicly disowned the film, even though it ended up being a success.
Elaine went on to direct a few films with a similar approach, similar acclaim, and similar difficulties.
While shooting Mikey and Nicky in 1976, Elaine shot 1.4 million feet of film,
three times the length of Gone with the Wind, and more than doubled the film's $1.8 million budget.
When the studio came for her cut of the film, she held two reels hostage until they agreed to release her version.
In 1987, Elaine directed her last movie, Ishtar.
It starred Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman as two nightclub singers who mistakenly get caught up in a revolution in the Middle East.
It was panned.
Later, Elaine would remark,
If all of the people who hate Ishtar had seen it,
I would be a rich woman today.
With Ishtar, Elaine's career as a director came to an end, but she remained active as a scriptwriter and editor.
Her mark is on 1982's Tootsie,
and after reconciling with Mike Nichols, they collaborated on 1996's The Birdcage and 1998's Primary Colors.
She's probably written, uncredited, on many more films.
In recent years, Elaine and her work have undergone a resurgence in movie circuits.
Her films were screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and in New York's Film Forum.
The Criterion Collection restored Mikey and Nicky.
In 2016, the Writers Guild of America granted her a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Two years later, she returned to Broadway to act in the Waverly Gallery, earning a Tony Award for her performance.
Even Ishtar has recently been reclaimed as a misunderstood masterpiece, a commentary on American policy in the Middle East.
Elaine's long career continues, and her legacy remains. Not only as a revolutionary comedienne, but as someone fiercely protective of her creative vision.
As she once said of her early days directing, I wasn't a nice girl, and when they found this out, they hated me all the more.
And in the end, when it comes down to it, you're just as rotten as any guy. You'll fight just as hard to get your way.
All month, we're talking about comedienne's. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram, at Wamanica Podcast. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow.
SPEAKER_02: ...every migraine attack? If so, ask about two eight-packs per month. That's 16 tablets, and most insurance plans cover it.
SPEAKER_01: NURTEC ODT is approved for the acute treatment of migraine attacks and preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. Don't take if allergic to NURTEC ODT or any of its ingredients. Allergic reactions can occur even days after using and include trouble breathing, rash and swelling of the face, mouth, tongue or throat. Most common side effects were nausea and indigestion stomach pain. A maximum dose of 75 milligrams can be taken daily to treat migraine attacks or every other day to prevent them. The safety of using more than 18 doses of NURTEC ODT in a 30-day period has not been established. For full prescribing information, call 1-833-4-NURTEC or visit nurtec.com.
SPEAKER_02:
Double the packs to treat more migraine attacks. Ask your doctor if two eight-packs of NURTEC ODT is right for you.
