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Have you met Looney Lucy?

Moving quickly through the lanes, the slight form wrapped in tattered clothing always seems on a mission of some importance. On her way to offer her services as a fashion consultant to a courtier or for a quick tryst with her latest conquest, she comes to a quick stop at a wave or word from a passer-by. As she turns toward you, the quick grin and cloverleaf affixed to her nose erase any doubt that you might have found the wrong bag lady. Let me introduce you to Looney Lucy.

Background

Lynda is a warm funny lady, one of four members of the Celtic band Empty Hats and a character actress at Renaissance and Medieval Faires, who plays the wonderful zany bag lady Looney Lucy. Though Lucy is the only character she portrays these days, Lynda’s gift for accents allowed her to create Kavy’s Kast of Krazy Karakters. From a 50’s teenybopper named Peggy Sue to Bubby, an ethnic grandmother, her characters are as varied as her talent, each bringing a unique prospective to her humor.

It was only by fluke that we are graced with her talent. A mathematics major until her junior year in college, she took an acting class and the light bulb went off. She transferred to an acting college and moved to Manhattan as soon as she graduated. Performing in Off-Off Broadway venues like the Provincetown Theatre Company and the 13th Street Theatre, she continued to learn her craft in such shows as Israel Horovitz’s “Line” while working here and there to make ends meet.

In the mid 80’s, she and a friend went to Atlantic City where she interviewed for a new program being put together to entertain customers arriving by bus at the Tropicana Casino. Though she didn’t have an act ready to go, she came across funny and they hired her to start the next week. She scrambled to move, pull together a number of characters, and get ready over the weekend. Digging through her closet, she matched outfits to the accents she was accustomed to doing and five new characters were born.

Faire History

By the time she met Carl Asch, she was doing a morning radio show and performing at the Trump Castle. As they got to know each other, he found that she had natural rhythm and challenged her to do something with it. Carl was already performing on the Faire circuit and for several years encouraged Lynda to join him. She’d never sung, always dancing and making people laugh, so she struggled with a character that would fit in. She’d been playing in Dickens’ “Christmas Carol” and, when Carl finally convinced her, was able to take the character from Victorian to Renaissance with only took a few modifications. Lucy Dilber, Scrooge’s maid, already had the missing teeth, so Lynda switched to bloomers, skirts, chemise, and schmata (rag) and, picking up the bodhrán and tipper, was ready to give it a shot. She added the cloverleaf, a quick cover-up to avoid sunburn, as she came to terms with working outside, something she’d never needed in the theatres.

The character continued to develop even as her costume did—the jewels, hearts, bags—each gifted to her. When it became too much to wear, the cart was added. Always a bit “blue,” her humor centered below the belt, the trait grew when she received the big red “X” at Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. Someone was giving away the letters of the alphabet and Lynda asked for that letter, thinking of it as “10,” confirming Lucy’s uber-model status. She chuckled when she told me how it had come to represent X-rated when she and Jennifer “Ploppy Ann” Esbenshade (formerly Sullivan) began doing the “Looney Lucy and Ploppy X-Rated Show.” She says she really loves working with Jennifer on the blue show, which is a perfect fit for the two. Nevertheless, sometimes she catches herself thinking, “I can’t believe I just did that.” She says she wouldn’t want her parents, who are her biggest fans, to see her “blue” show, though she also says she wouldn’t be who she is without them.

These Days:

The Looney Lucy we know today has evolved through the years. However, the warmth she shows and the hugs she shares, those expressions of love have always been there for they are inherent in Lynda. Her tenderness and sensitivity come through clearly in her voice as she talks about her fans and the compliments they give her. “I’m very serious about my comedy and my work. Knowing that people enjoy it means the world to me. I hope I can live up to the beautiful things people say to me.”

The joy in Lynda’s voice as she talked about Carl Asch showed clearly how much she enjoys working with him. A delight to watch on stage, the members of Empty Hats tease each other as the show goes on no matter what. When rain threatens their performance, they simply moved under an awning at the pub next door. When her favorite tipper has disappeared in to the depths of the cart, the others cover for her as she searches. Empty Hats are currently performing at the Bay Area Renaissance Festival with bookings already made for the Tennessee Renaissance Festival and the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire.

Final Thoughts:

Like that of most performers, her creed is “The show must go on. It doesn’t matter what’s happening, we’re here to entertain and that’s what we do.” Lynda clearly loves what she does and she does it so well. We should all be as lucky.

Websites of Lynda Kavy & Looney Lucy:

Lynda Kavy
Looney Lucy

Provincetown Theatre Company
13th Street Theatre

March 12th, 2008 Posted by Escarlata | Have You Met? | 3 comments