CELLibacy
Now Amy is again exploring her love-hate relationship with the phone as she takes a vow of CELLibacy. She’s giving up her cell phone for 60 days, a feat that’s calling out to audiences both locally and long distance, with media coverage from the New York Daily News to international outlets including the BBC, and Amy is slated to share highlights from her CELLibacy video diary this March on Good Morning America.
Amy's wild ride from life as a typical single woman in New York City to becoming dubbed, "the comedian who's making a career out of listening to her mother" began when she started saving the tapes from her old dual-microcassette answering machine. As each tape filled up, she would toss it in a drawer, never imagining that someday the messages from her overprotective mom would lead to a series of “Amy’s Answering Machine” comedy CDs (and iTunes downloads) as well as the “AmysMom” iPhone app.
Amy got her first clue that the messages which drove her crazy could be entertaining to others in her early days on New York's stand-up comedy circuit. After gathering some of her mother's most extreme messages, she played them on stage at Manhattan's top comedy clubs, and audiences consistently howled.
The daughter who Mom nicknamed “Amila” (AY-muh-luh) stepped into the national spotlight when she appeared on the “Today” show with Matt Lauer and on National Public Radio's “Morning Edition” to introduce the first volume of her “Amy's Answering Machine: Messages from Mom” comedy CDs. She earned press coverage from Life magazine to a full-page profile in People, and the following year embarked on a 12-city tour for the Amy’s Answering Machine book. Amy has performed at the prestigious “Just for Laughs” Montreal Comedy Festival, and she entertains audiences at events and fundraisers across the country with her mom-based comedy act.
Amy also made headlines around the world as the single woman who tried to raise $3 million to buy her own Super Bowl commercial to advertise for a husband -- a quest that would have thrilled Mom, who desperately wanted to see Amila married. Amy again appeared on the “Today” show, as well as on “Extra,” “Tyra Banks,” “Fox & Friends,” “Headline News” and others. (Though her mother has passed away, Amy takes comfort in knowing Mom will live forever on her CDs.)
Prior to launching her comedy endeavors, Amy was Executive Vice President and Creative Group Head at a major Manhattan advertising agency, where she won dozens of awards including five Clios, three Cannes Festival lions, and an Emmy. Amy's creative sensibilities continue to serve her well as she performs and speaks at corporate and community engagements and develops new comedy projects.