Wendy Leibman performs at the Hu Ke Lau Feb. 18

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

Wendy Leibman thinks her appearance in the film The Aristocrats and a recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno "solidifies everything together" in her comedy career.

Leibman will be appearing at the Comedy Connection at the Hu Ke Lau on Feb. 18.

The woman who has the stealth delivery her punch lines come in under the radar said that she has know Penn Gillette, half of Penn and Teller, for years, and was among the first comics filmed for The Aristocrats four years ago.

The movie became an art house hit last year. The premise is having a lengthy list of comics recite their version of what has been dubbed in comedy circles as the world's dirtiest joke. The participants also discuss the nature of dirty jokes and free speech issues.

"I was honored to be part of comedy history," Leibman told Reminder Publications. "I made myself laugh when I saw it."

Leibman said she is looking forward to a return to the Hu Ke Lau "I have a fan in Chicopee" and this is her 11th year appearing in Massachusetts near Valentine's Day.

"I better start loving myself," she quipped. "That's one of my goals for 2006 loving myself and going shopping."

Leibman also hopes to record a comedy album shortly.

Although she had appeared on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, Leibman said that the appearance in January "made me feel bona fide. Jay could not have been nicer. It was really great."

She admitted to being a little nervous as she was on the same show as the American Idol judges, but she said they were all "sweet," and the infamous Simon Cowell was the nicest.

Although she said "that ship has sailed" when asked about starring in her own television series, Leibman and her husband, Jeffrey Sherman, have written and directed a short film which they hope to sell as a series. Sherman wrote the television movies Au Pair and Au Pair II and was a writer on the sitcom Boy Meets World.

The film stars Larisa Oleynik, a busy young actress perhaps best known for her Nickelodeon series The Secret World of Alex Mack.

If the film sells, Leibman will be wearing a new show business hat producer. In the meantime, though, she's looking forward to returning to the stage in Chicopee.