Don't Tell My Mother!

Don't Tell My Mother!
Genre	Comedy, Storytelling
Date of premiere	October, 2011
Location	Los Angeles
Creative team
Executive Producer & Host	Nikki Levy
Producer	Jake Webb
{{{creatortitle3}}}	Hamish
Official website

Don’t Tell My Mother! is a monthly live-storytelling event where writers and performers from film and television share true stories they’d never want their mothers to know. The show was co-created by the show's host, Nikki Levy, and executive producer Lizzie Czerner. The show is performed in Los Angeles, but has also been staged in New York and Chicago. The first show was in Los Angeles in October 2011. Past performers include Traci Lords, Laraine Newman, Justin Halpern, and Mary Lynn Rajskub.

About the show

Don’t Tell My Mother! was created in 2011 by film producer Nikki Levy and Lizzie Czerner, the artistic director of the Bang Comedy Theatre. In October 2011, they launched the first show in the lobby of the Bang Comedy Theatre, with a cast of unknown performers. The show gained in popularity, and in 2012 it was covered by The Huffington Post^[1]^[2] and the Los Angeles Times.^[3]

Nikki works with comics, actors and award-winning screenwriters to share honest, funny, and poignant true stories that they wouldn’t want their own mothers to know. This process, dubbed “creative therapy” by film producer Lynda Obst, allows each performer to craft their story into a 10-12 minute piece to be read on stage. Nikki’s mother, Judi Levy, makes frequent appearance in person or via Skype.

Don’t Tell My Mother! has a podcast featuring past performers; the podcast is produced by Joe Slepski.

Crew

Executive Proucers: Hamish Tildesley, Jake Webb

Bandleader: Abby Posner

Production team: David Bornstein, Valarie Phillips, Mary Colleran, Bryce Fishman, Bart Gold, Lauren Gural, Emily Kirk, Julie Neumark, Jared Noble, Alexandra Zelle Rettman, Patrick Skelly, Andy Wagner

Photographers: Megan Hiles, Lowell Hiles

Shows

There is a different cast of storytellers for each show—sometimes with returning guests.

2011

October 13: Wendy Hammers (The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm); Evan Susser (What's Going On? with Mike Mitchell; Stirling Gardner (You're Thinking of Someone Else); Cornell Womack (Night of the Living Dead: Darkest Dawn, The Newsroom); Claire Titelman; Nikki Levy
November 10: Lauren Weedman; Aaron Mendelsohn (Air Bud, Secret Diary of an American Cheerleader); Josh Weiner (Code Monkeys, Manswers); Susan McMartin (Two and a Half Men); Debbie Jhoon (The Inbetweeners); Adam Shapiro; Nikki Levy

2012

January 12: Erin Foley (Chelsea Lately, Curb Your Enthusiasm); Claire Titelman; Suzanne Whang; Greg Levine (Arrested Development); Leah Hanes (Modern Love Essays); Nikki Levy
February 9: Jill Benjamin (Community, My Name Is Earl); Melinda Hill, Reno 911!, Sarah Silverman Program; Jen Kober (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Anger Management); Carlos Kotkin (Please God Let It Be Herpes); Nelson Ascencio; Mark Miller (The Huffington Post); Nikki Levy
March 15: Drew Droege; Jessica Golden (The Adam Carolla Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!); John Grady; Patrick Hamilton (The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo); Margot Leitman; Debbie Jhoon (The Inbetweeners); Nikki Levy
May 10 (Mother's Day Show): Mary Birdsong; Shelagh Ratner; Mara Shapshay (The Huffington Post, Junk American Princess); Jen Kober (Curb Your Enthusiasm); Nikki Levy
June 7 (Performed at Comedy Central Stage): Cornell Womack (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, State of Play); Claire Titelman; Jen Kober (American Reunion); Nikki Levy
June 28 (Father's Day Show): Ryan Knighton; Amanda Marks (The Hangover, WALL-E); Tom Lenk; Ari Shaffir; Nikki Levy
July 19: Gary & Larry Lane (Jack & Jill, Hollywood to Dollywood); Jack Plotnick; Frangela; David Dean Bottrell; Jen Kober (The Mindy Project); Nikki Levy
September 13: Laraine Newman; Tracee Ellis Ross; Dave Ross; Jackie Kashian; Margot Leitman, Moth GrandSLAM Championship (Stevie TV, Late Night with Conan O'Brien); Tom O’Connor (Doctors); Nikki Levy
October 11: Jason Stuart; Cindy Chupack; Betty Goldstein (The Moth); Jen Kober (Happy Endings; Nikki Levy
November 29: Lizz Winstead; Kate McKinnon; Chris Gethard; Jen Kober (Treme); Nikki Levy

2013

January 24: Diane Neal; Baron Vaughn; Annabelle Gurwitch; Hasan Minhaj; Claire Titelman; Nikki Levy
February 28: Mary Lynn Rajskub; Barry Rothbart; Alison Becker; Teddy Margas (Blind Dinner Party); Hasan Minhaj (Failosophy); Nikki Levy
April 11: Ron Morehouse (The Amazing Spider-Man, She's Living for This); Arden Myrin (Orange Is the New Black, Psych); Adam Shapiro (1600 Penn); Jackie Kashian (Conan); Jen Kirkman (Chelsea Lately); Nikki Levy
May 9: Nancy Lee Grahn; Davy Rothbart (Found Magazine); Tom Lenk (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Argo); Diane Neal (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit); Jen Kober (The Mindy Project); Nikki Levy
June 20: Traci Lords; Steve Agee; Grant Cotter (Rated R for Radical); Lynda Obst (Hot in Cleveland); James Adomian; Nikki Levy

References

↑ Bartolone, Tony (7 June 2012). "Everybody's Talking About Don't Tell My Mother". Huffington Post.
↑ Steely, Jon (17 June 2013). "There Are Things Traci Lords Doesn't Want Her Mother to Know". Huffington Post.
↑ Wetherbe, Jamie (19 July 2012). "'Don't Tell My Mother,' but ...". Los Angeles Times.

External links

Official website