 |
|||||||||
|
|
A Night Out With Jill Soloway by
Monica Corcoran Ms. Soloway, who was an executive producer and an Emmy-nominated writer on the HBO series ''Six Feet Under,'' was reading from her new memoir, ''Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants'' (Free Press), at the Comedy Central Stage in the Hudson Theater here. It was a Thursday night showcase known as ''Sit 'n Spin,'' where writers and actors read or perform personal monologues. The place was packed. As Ms. Soloway, 39, went on to disdain dog odor -- ''They smell like ham, for one'' -- a few sympathizers in the crowd hooted. ''That was dangerous,'' she said after the show. ''I was really worried about the dog people.'' But Ms. Soloway, who will read in New York on Sept. 12 with Lauren Ambrose of ''Six Feet Under'' and Amy Poehler of ''Saturday Night Live,'' was not home free. She still had to cross a dark lot to reach her car. Girlfriends awaited at a nearby lounge. Would livid Labradoodle owners accost her before she got there? ''Actually, people came up and whispered to me that they secretly hate dogs too,'' she said later. ''The more horrible the truth that you admit, the better you connect. You have to tell the truth.'' Ms. Soloway is certainly no Pinocchio. In her book of humorous essays, she details the loss of her virginity at 17 to a very tan older man who carried a leather pouch of suntan lotions. He was forever known as ''lotion bag.'' Ms. Soloway, a Chicago native, also reveals a passion for watching beauty pageants, which conflicts with her dismay over what she sees as the fall of feminism and the need to label women. ''According to our society, you're either Jen or Angelina, Hillary or Monica,'' she said. ''It's not that simple. I have been both.'' On this evening fans besieged her as soon as she entered the Bungalow Club on Melrose Avenue. Most were alumni of ''Sit 'n Spin,'' which Ms. Soloway and her friend Maggie Rowe, a writer, founded in 2001. ''We all used to go to Pinot Hollywood afterward, but some actors got caught smoking pot in a bathroom, and we were banned from there,'' she said with a laugh. Ms. Soloway ordered a vodka and cranberry juice and joined her friends Sarah and Becky Thyre, sisters and both actresses, and Ms. Rowe. ''My mom is fine with the book,'' Ms. Soloway said. ''She's the type of mother who says to a waiter: 'Meet my daughters. She's a single mom and she's a lesbian.''' Ms. Soloway is the single mother, raising her 8-year-old son, Isaac. As the women began reminisced, Ms. Soloway's eyewear was a source of uproarious laughter. Becky Thyre was describing the rectangular specs that Ms. Soloway wore in the early 90's when Sarah Thyre asked: ''You mean like German architect glasses? Daniel Libeskind glasses?'' ''What was I thinking?'' Ms. Soloway asked. ''Someone recently said to me, 'I remember you in the years that you were wearing that pince-nez.''' Then, there were the dreadlocks. ''I had to shave my head to get rid of those,'' she said. The talk eventually turned to messy breakups, mean-spirited boyfriends and literary exhibitionism. ''I feel like I told everyone everything about myself,'' Ms. Soloway said. Any regrets? ''No. But I'm embarrassed that people will know that I can't ride a bicycle. For years I have been feigning bad ankles and saying I wasn't in the mood for a bike ride.'' |
