"Carla is AWESOME! She was the highlight of our corporate event, and had our entire staff laughing with tears rolling down our cheeks. She performed for a group of medical professionals, and with her extensive background as a "professional" patient, her hysterical songs and stories fit us perfectly. She's bubbly, outgoing and witty! With an emphatic YES, we would recommend Carla Ulbrich for any occassion."
She's one of Dr. Demento's favorites, and now we know why. How many women can sing in Klingon, after all? Carla Ulbrich, the Queen of Parody, can make surgical procedures a laughing matter, as she ably demonstrated Friday at the Minstrel in Morris Township, where she crooned about losing one's derriere, stealing boyfriends and experiencing hospital life in all its invasive glory.
If you want to start your Monday on an upbeat note, check out Carla's song about copyrighting everyone's favorite four-letter word. Our only quibble with the Minstrel show was its sparse attendance. The good news, however, is that this endearingly silly South Carolinian now makes her home in Somerset, NJ. So your odds of catching this funny bone infection again should be pretty good.
Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed you, your music and your stage presence at the AATH conference. What a delight and such a powerful message about laughing through the tough times - from someone who's been there and done the patient scene. Thanks for sharing your wisdom and whimsy.
"Carla led a near-perfect example of the ideal program for our Fellowship. It was all first class."
• What a Treat!
• Loved it!!!!
• Useful. Creative and Entertaining
• Great! Authentic!
• perfect!
• This, Carla, was just wonderful-so witty, funny, intelligent, thought provoking, heart warming, clever, funny. Extraordinarily incredible timing in her comedy. Just GREAT! I loved this. Carla, you are a poet and a philosopher and a comedienne.
• What a wonderfully talented woman. She made me laff and cry. A gift to us all.
• She's a WOW!!! From a "prednisone" colleague, she nailed it!!
• great, enjoyed her
• Wonderful, I loved Carla's wit and music!
• Fantastic Recovery! Great voice!
• great Ending!
Carla was fantastic. The entire process from booking to event completion was very easy. Carla was prompt, prepared and very entertaining. She managed to work into her act, specific information about us that made the performance much more personal. I would recommend Carla to anybody in need of professional, quality entertainment.
"We loved having Carla perform at the conference and my boss received very positive feedback. I also think she's found her calling. Her ability to involve the audience and to incorporate unique aspects of our business amazed the audience and had them laughing more than they thought possible at a healthcare conference. Carla made our reception the talk of the conference."
"a terrific meeting... very clever and most amusing songs... kept us all with BIG smiles and laughing out loud. I had very positive feedback from all who were there."
Carla Ulbrich visited the Tower for the very first time April 07, and for a firstup did brilliant box office. On the night she delivered a stonkingly good performance full of verve, wit and extraordinarily excellent guitar playing. Ulbrich, a name to book even if you can't pronounce it.
Carla Ulbrich has a new CD of creative song parodies about encounters with the medical profession, punnily titled Sick Humor. Parodies included are of Willie Nelson, Tommy Tutone, the Pretenders, Huey Lewis and the News, and herself. Very funny, with occasional bathroom humor (and I literally mean bathroom humor). I used to tape Doctor Demento shows when I was in junior high, so this is right up my alley.
"I dropped Carla on her head when she was a baby."
"{Sick Humor is} heartfelt and, of course, very funny."
-Dr Demento
"The Sweet Sound of Sick"
I must admit that when Carla Ulbrich's latest CD entitled "Sick Humor" found its way to our desks, there was mucho laughing as the ditties streamed by. But when track four called "Prednisone" started playing, our smirks fell right off our faces. It is here that we learned that at an ungodly young age, ulbrich suffered two strokes and kidney failure. Already established as a musician, she found herself having to relearn the guitar from scratch. Under her belt, she ahd teacher credit (teaching at several colleges), had written music instruction books, toured all over the country and garnered the 1998 Merlefet's Chris Austin Song Contest, Country Category, Second Place, while snagging the 1998 Gamble Rogers Folk Fest Fingerpicking contest, second place. But once she was struck down with illness all that changed. Well, not entirely. As Ulbrich found herself spending countless hours in doctors' waiting rooms, she started penning funny parodies about her experiences as a patient as well as zeroing in on the absurdity of the health care system. Her third release, Sick Humor, offer hilarious parodies of popular songs as well as including parodies of her own songs. And with titles like "What If Your Butt Was Gone," "Little Brown Jug," and "I Got tremors," no wonder Ulbrich is an audience favorite as well as being included on Dr. Demento's 2005 Basement Tapes compilation. An award-winning songwriter and "Professional Smart Aleck" (her words), Ulbrich has been proudly compared to the likes of Weird Al, Chet Atkins, and a bologna sandwich while her reciews read "She must have been a difficult child..." Ulbrich is currently touring.
Spending about a year taking my wife to hospital for surgery, chemo, radio, blood work etcetera provided a good grounding for listening to the musical comedy CD called Sick Humor by Carla Ulbrich. You don't have to have experienced illness close hand to get the humor - it is there for anyone who listens and has a funny bone.
This comedy CD is a collection of songs which outlines experiences patients go through at various points in their treatment. Ulbrich herself has suffered through a stroke, kidney failure and the associated treatments which can either make you bitter or make you laugh. It is clear from this comedy CD that Carla Ulrich has chosen the latter. There is nothing on this CD that would offend anyone - except perhaps some physicians - but there is plenty to entertain including the gifted voice and talented guitar work of Ulbrich herself.
The success of the humor of this independent release funny song CD lies in the continuity - the believable thread of having to laugh because it is better than crying. There are few belly laughs, but lots of smiles. This is definitely a worthwhile investment for anyone who enjoys musical comedy or who has had to spend (or will have to spend) a lot of time sitting in waiting rooms and getting treatments and drugs they cannot pronounce.
Curiously the original songs which lend music and appeal to the parodies are not given anywhere on the CD nor in the CD insert. It may have been an oversight, but a little of giving credit where credit is due seems to be in line. Here is the CD line up with a nod to the original songs.
Tracks.
1. Sittin' In The Waiting Room (To the tune of Lloyd Price's "Personality")
2. On The Commode Again (To the tune of Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again")
3. Patient 2946065 (To the tune of Tommy Tutone's "Jenny (867-5309)")
4. Prednisone - (To the tune of Kenneth J. Alfords "Colonel Bogey March" which some may remember was whistled and made famous in the movie Bridge Over The River Kwai)
5. Little Brown Jug (Obviously to the tune of Joseph Winner's "Little Brown Jug")
6. (I'm A) Specialist (To the tune of The Pretenders' :Brass in Pocket")
7. The Colon (To the tune of the theme of "The Love Boat)
8. What If Your Butt Was Gone (A parody of one of her own songs with a bit of "Turkey In The Straw" thrown in)
9. (Happy To Be) Stuck By You (To the tune of Huey Lewis' "Happy To Be Stuck With You")
10. I Got Tremors (To the tune of Louis Armstrong's "I Got Rhythm")
Denis Bernicky
The package arrived in the mailbox with a hot pink Band-Aid®, just under the return address, marked with "Sick Humor." As you know, first impressions are very important and, with this one, I knew instantly that I was in for a something different. Sick Humor is a collection of darkly funny songs (they are about illness, after all) sung with tongue firmly in cheek and an optimistic viewpoint that is truly "contagious."
During a long illness, where she spent lots of time in hospital beds and "Sittin' in the Waiting Room" but was unable to play her guitar and write her own songs, Carla Ulbrich ("ole-brick") did what a lot of creative folks have done over the years: she put new words to already-popular songs. Sick Humor contains ten parodies, and one of them is even of her own song "What if Your Girlfriend Was Gone" (from Her Fabulous Debut).
Every period of music is covered here, from the Gershwin Brothers' ("I Got Tremors") to Willie Nelson ("On the Commode Again"). Her duplications of the Pretenders' "Brass in Pocket" ("Specialist") and Tommy Tutone's ode to a phone number ("Patient 294-6065") are remarkable. Even the Love Boat theme and the beloved and much-vulgarized "Colonel Bogey's March" from Bridge on the River Kwai don't escape Ulbrich's particular brand of satire -- she calls herself a Professional Smart Aleck -- with "The Colon" and "Prednisone," respectively, skewering them. (Stay tuned after the end of the CD for the harmony tracks from "The Colon.")
Though it's a little heavy on the scatology for my taste, with at least four songs featuring bathroom practices, Sick Humor is a terrific showcase for Ulbrich's quirky sense of humor and her eclectic taste in music. That she seems eminently approachable, just someone you know singing about familiar experiences, helps a lot. Not only is it a view of "The Lighter Side of Illness," it also makes me want to check out the other recordings she has made. And, of course, wish her the best of health.