Let’s just get one thing straight: Vicki Van Tassel is not a stripper. Sure, who hasn’t taken their clothes off for money at one point in their lives, but she surely hasn’t made a career out of it. You can only be rejected from Hooters so many times.

Ms. Van Tassel (oh yes, we’re getting formal now) is, however, a comedian. Having toured the world making people laugh, both intentionally and not, Vicki’s unique style of humor has entertained audiences of all cultures and backgrounds.

When you’re the youngest of seven children, you have to find a way to standout. Some kids act out and rebel and some wear black and write bad poetry; while others become famous athletes with a sex addiction. Vicki Van Tassel found her voice in comedy. Maybe it was at Camp IDRAHAJE (an anagram for "I’d Rather Have Jesus") where, instead of proclaiming she was saved, she chose to entertain with stories of her dysfunctional family. Needless to say, she wasn’t asked back to camp. But she did find something she was good at — making people laugh.

She did what any normal-kid-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-with-a-hankering-for-performing does: enrolled in dance class. However, being prone to foot cramps and quickly learning that the bar in ballet class wasn’t the same as the one on Cheers, Vicki’s ballerina career was short lived. But it was in dance class that she discovered the stage as an outlet for her creative energy.

Everyone knows the Mecca of the theater world is in New York City. So, Vicki’s family packed up their belongings in Denver and moved to… Washington State. Not quite Broadway, although there was a street named Broadway. But it was in Washington where she cut her teeth on acting, playing such famous comic characters as Frenchy in Grease and Val in A Chorus Line. Who needs The Great White Way when you have The Peanut Gallery Theater Company?

Vicki’s first professional gig was in a really bad club performance in Tokyo. The show was called The New Penthouse — performed in a basement. Vicki impersonated Marilyn Monroe while singing "I Want to be Loved by You" in Japanese, followed by her spectacular rendition of a dancing Kabuki Lyon.  Realizing that her Marilyn impression wasn’t as good as her brother’s and that Americans should never do Kabuki, Vicki finally headed for New York.Vicki soon learned that you can actually get PAID to make people laugh and began working on her material. She played some of New York’s finest comedy spaces, from the platform of the 57th Street subway station to the lobby of Ruby Foos where patrons waited for their tables.  She quickly was becoming a regular and solidified her reputation as one of the funniest female comedians on that illustrious circuit. Or, at least one of the tallest. Her career was slowly but surely on the right track.

And then ABBA called…Yes, that ABBA. Spandex. Disco. Bad feathered hair. The international sensation MAMMA MIA! offered Ms. Van Tassel the starring role of Tanya in Las Vegas. While her patrons at Ruby Foos were growing quite fond of her, Vicki made the not-so-difficult decision to move to Vegas and get paid to sing ABBA songs. What was supposed to be a six-month booking turned out to be almost three years. Three years of performing to sold-out crowds, dancing with shirtless chorus boys, and performing for drunken brides still in their wedding gowns. They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but Vicki has taken every memory with her and turned it into comedy gold.

Aside from MAMMA MIA!, Vicki has toured Europe, Asia, and the United States with such shows as A Chorus Line, 42nd Street, and The Will Roger's Follies. She originated roles in American premieres of A Prayer for Owen Meaney and The Next Marilyn. She has also played dramatic roles in Born Yesterday, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and The Smell of the Kill. Vicki currently appears in the top comedy clubs across the country including Caroline’s and Comix in New York City and is working with her team of writers and producers on her one-woman show. She can be seen practicing her new material in the lobby of your nearest Ruby Foos.

CONTACT:
Theatrical and TV:
Peter Strain and Associates
Bill Timms
321 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036-5448
(212) 391-0380

Commercial:
Paradigm
Doug Keston
360 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10010-1710
(212) 213-6467