Stellar Stage Shows
“Shirley, at her best, is simply a world-class act”
- The Edmonton Sun
And the reviews are just as overwhelmingly positive when Canada’s top guru of middle-aged angst, Dr. Shirley Best, takes to the stage. Yes, professional keynote speaker and motivational humorist Zandra Bell is a sought-after presenter on the conference/convention circuit, normally focusing on corporate comedy presentations with content customized to the business area. But her alter ego, celebrity humorist Shirley Best, the hilarious stress management consultant and certified credit card utilization trainer, has also been known to strut her stuff as a stage entertainer as well, much to the delight of the general public, particularly the women in the audience who often claim incontinence is a key hazard when enjoying such uproariously funny comedy.
Zandra Bell as “Shirley Best” in Confessions of a Baby Boomer Bombshell
Do you like stretch marks, long walks through golf courses during lightning storms, mixing tequila with your Metamucil?
Then don’t miss the foremost Guru of Middle Aged Angst, Shirley Best, expounding on the inanities of modern society in this refreshingly outspoken one woman comedy show.
Intelligently crafted hilarity, funny not foul, humour that goes to the edge but pulls back in time before Aunt Edna has a stroke.
Finally a stand up comedy show that’s safe to see. Hilarious entertainment that goes to the edge but then pulls back before you fall off in shock.
The Edmonton Journal
It’s downright giddy and witty stuff… irreverent at times, and acutely observant….First there’s the business of writing one funny line after another. That’s the difficult part. Then you have to deliver all those lines in a way that’s seamless and seeming without effort. That’s the deceptively simple part. Bell manages on all counts here, and provides a show where if you don’t like one joke, another is following right behind. Often literally you won’t be able to catch your breath.
Marc Horton - The Edmonton Journal
My “girlfriends” and I have been long time supporters of “Shirley” both at the Fringe, and Women’s Night in Comedy at the Citadel each July. You are an inspiration to us. Every year it seems there is something new to laugh about. Maybe we are evolving with you! Thank you Zandra for keeping the joy in our hearts, and the smiles on our falling (skin- gravity thing) faces!
Your fan, Carol
Pure Unadulterated Hot Steamin’ Shirley
The Best Is Back Again! This time…. it’s all Shirley. Only Shirley! aka Queen LuvaLush of the Red Hat Hot Galloping Geriatric Glamour Pussy Party Girls!
Yes our priestess of polyester sallies forth again in true charismatic comedy style. She had so much fun at the Red Hat Ruckus in Kelowna that she can’t wait to party with the Red Hatter’s again!)
Spunkiest old bag in town is simply hilarious…. Shirley Best (Zandra Bell) ….. fires off jokes like automatic weapons fire. She puts them out, strokes them, lays on another level or two, and then drives home what’s left. Shirley, at her best, is simply a world-class act.
The Edmonton Sun
Estrogen extravaganza has unisex appeal. Shirley Best…. she’s a truly liberated gal bent on helping members of her gender find the same sort of worldview…..know that if this show had been rated by just about any woman there, it would have won five stars.
The Edmonton Journal
Shirley You Jest
“SHIRLEY, YOU JEST!” is the name of this “show within a show,” and we invite you to join Shirley and company for hilarious cabaret entertainment. Don’t miss Shirley’s exasperated antics as she tries to break into the big time with a side-splitting assortment of pithy monologues and satirical songs, featuring her glam girl group of “has been” high school cronies, now seizing the opportunity to make a TV comeback as “Shirley Best and the Support Hose.”
Think Laugh-In meets Dame Edna. Anything can happen on Surreality TV.
“SHIRLEY, YOU JEST!” LOOKS AT THE WORLD FROM Shirley’s own inimitable, down-to-earth point of view and offers irreverent commentary on everything from nipple piercing – “What does this mean to the future of breast feeding? Great nutrition and a teething ring, all in one convenient location?” – to the folly of fashion magazines – “Just look. 317 sexy spring looks!!! Does spring really last that long?” – to internal medicine – “I’ve always wanted to see a medical cross-section of myself, you know, just to see exactly how much is fat, and how much is just really large internal organs.”
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I saw “Shirley You Jest” on Friday night and laughed so hard that I cried. I was with some friends of mine that sat in the first row and I didn’t want the show to end. I watched Global news the other day and enjoyed Lorraine Mansbridge’s broadcast from your condo – you have a beautiful home!!
I just wanted to express my appreciation for your comedy and touching reality in a humorous way. What is life without humour – I cannot imagine it. Thank you Zandra – keep glowing with the ray of sunshine you shine on everyone.
Marilyn Keeler
Your show is one we would not miss….You were so delightful, you talked to everyone in the audience, and the time just flew by, I wished it could have gone on longer. Your back up singers were super. Thanks for an outstanding show!
Susan Connelly
Dear Zandra, I really enjoyed your show…. we laughed from beginning to end and we were sober too! I thought the support hose were a riot and I wish you every success in the world as I think you are brilliant!
Jackie Heitzman
Don’t Take No For An Answer Unless It’s On a Pregnancy Test
She’s back! But without the polyester? Yes, it’s true, the Edmonton writer, comedienne, jewelry obsessive shopaholic, AND creator of the wacky, and wonderful character, “Shirley Best”, is making her stage debut performing as “herself” in this touching yet wickedly funny, twisted tale of two psyches. Come, laugh yourself silly at Zandra Bell…. exposed!
Truly unique…..a cross between Oprah, Anthony Robbins and Roseanne.
The Edmonton Journal
Dear Zandra,
I enjoyed myself immensely….It’s so clear you inspire all women to reach beyond the “usual” boring, stifling boundaries, and, more importantly, you make them laugh! Thank you and keep it coming,
Kate
Shirley Best’s Tele-Personal Confessions – I Was a Middle Aged Dating Machine
While dustbusting the pillowcases Shirley discovers irrefutable evidence of the sordid underbelly of her husband Cecil’s secret obsession….and is shocked out of menopause!!! “Two can play at this game”, she resolves, and, goes undercover to blow the lid off the seamy steamy singles scene. Now the Best is back to reveal her findings.
So stop playing mind games, pack up your emotional baggage and come join telepersonals guru, Shirley Best, on her hilarious guided tour through the land mines of landing a lover, when you’re on the gravity challenged side of thirty. Definitely an exception to “The Rules”.
I was a Middle Aged Dating Machine is a wildly funny and fresh look at how one woman girded her loins and rejoined the battle of the sexes. It’s downright giddy and witty stuff.
It’s possible that Bell, a local writer/comedian, has the best stand-up routine at this year’s Fringe festival.
The Edmonton Journal
I just want to say that your show was absolutely marvellous. I am new to Edmonton and this is just my second Fringe experience. Two years ago, I was at your show too and I remembered how funny you were then too. I was in tears at your last show (from laughter,…….. don’t worry). I just want to tell you to keep up the good work… Shirley just touches a core within so many women out there. Please keep me updated if you have new shows going on.
Thanks!
Shirley Best Unplugged
According to the program, I actually wandered into a Make Room For Housewives Seminar by mistake with Zoltan Blashko’s Polka Opera as the entertainment, but when the lights went down, it was explained Zoltan and the boys had a bus mishap and moments later…
…Shirley Best showed up in a bizarre gold lame and naugahyde jumpsuit to pick up the torch. The local audience fave was up to her usual fun, tackling sex tips, marriage insights, religion and social comment… oh and for summertime, a comparison of camping and cottaging that concluded, “you can’t trust nature. It’s way too real.”
The Edmonton Journal
I just want to say that your show was absolutely marvellous. I am new to Edmonton and this is just my second Fringe experience. Two years ago, I was at your show too and I remembered how funny you were then too. I was in tears at your last show (from laughter,…….. don’t worry). I just want to tell you to keep up the good work… Shirley just touches a core within so many women out there. Please keep me updated if you have new shows going on.
Thanks!
Shirley Best Possessed – The Graceland Before Menopause Tour
Hot flash! This just in! from the Graceland Before Menopause Bus Tour! Shirley Best’s body has been taken over by a blast from the past. A spirit from yesteryear. “There’s two of us in here!?! Finally, an explanation for my stretch marks.”
Could it be Elvis returned? No it’s Tallulah, a sexy southern belle prima donna princess, intent on reveling in all those instantly gratifying pleasures of our modern corporeal world. Tallulah can now take over Shirley’s body at will, and shamelessly does, waxing it’s bits, and waking up it’s wardrobe. “If YOU’ve been dead hundreds of years the first thing YOU’d want to do is change clothes.” Meanwhile Shirley’s left puzzling about those unexplained blackouts of lost time. Could this be menopause? Hormonal nuclear meltdown?
Will Shirley surrender without a fight, or will magnolia petals fly? Is it just a case of possession obsession or is it really a resurrection insurrection? Don’t miss this hilarious battle over body control. Who will win out? Revival of the fittest or Survival of the wittiest.
Bell deserves kudos for another never-miss-a-beat, fast moving solo act. The number of clothing changes could have changed this into a dull waiting game, but her rapid fire jokes and ability to keep the crowd entertained prevented any loss of momentum. And she demonstrated a real talent for being able to slip seamlessly between two contrasting characters, for Tallulah comes with a drawl and languishing menially.
Shelly Decker - The Edmonton Sun
Shirley Best Stands Up
In these trying times of text messaging, body piercing and people eating bugs for money on reality TV……. A world in turmoil called out for a hero.
She was Shirley!…..a warrior housewife forged in the heat of battle ….of the bulge.
It’s one of those deep philosophical unanswerable questions in life meditated on by Buddhist monks, like “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” and “Why Can’t They Make A Pair Of Pantyhose With the Crotch That Stays Where Yours Is?”
Guaranteed to make your mascara run! Truly the best from Shirley Best. Discover the truth. One size does not fit all.
Comedienne Zandra Bell knows how to bring out the best in an audience. In the latest recreation of her alter-ego, “warrior housewife” Shirley Best, Bell once again arouses audiences to laugh with her at some of our most cherished taboos and open domestic secrets. Bell combines outspoken humour with keen observation of the absurdities of the everyday. The new show, “Shirley Best stands Up” is a seminar on dealing with angst and stress that accompanies our fast paced modern lifestyle….
See Magazine – Edmonton
“I just wanted to express my appreciation for your comedy and touching reality in a humorous way. What is life without humour – I cannot imagine it. Thank you Zandra – keep glowing with the ray of sunshine you shine on everyone. “