Round 2
Scared Skinny
AFO FEST
SCARED SKINNY
Written and Performed by Mary Dimino
Directed by Christine Renee Miller
October 2011
As a chubby Italian-American child growing up in Queens, Mary Dimino was warned by her mother that playing in a sandbox could
lead to venereal disease, and cautioned by her “perverted” knife-wielding grandmother to stay away from all boys and dogs. Eating sausage and pepper sandwiches for lunch (with a cannoli for dessert), she suffered acute humiliation from her peers. Still an obese virgin at 26, Mary had an epiphany when she overheard two “guidos” from Brooklyn making merciless fun of her. Angry and determined, she faced her fears and after a number of false starts. One hundred and fifteen pounds later, Mary Dimino tells the amazing and hilarious story behind her remarkable achievement.
Press
“She shares her story of weight loss and maturation with riotously funny delivery…a natural comedic performer.”
Wall Street Journal
“[Mary Dimino] has 2 qualities that are essential to a solo-performing artist: exuberance and heart.”
Curtain Up
“Sensationally riveting…an evening so indisputably magical. Yes, it is just THAT fantastic.”
Nite Life Exchange
“Throw in Dimino’s charisma, knack for engaging facial expressions and chipper can-so attitude, and Skinny
becomes a winsome show with an audience who roots for her through and through.”
Show Business Weekly
Overall Excellence Award for Outstanding Solo Show
2010 New York International Fringe Festival
Trailer
MARY DIMINO (performer) winner of the 2010 MAC Award for Outstanding Female Comedian, is a familiar face on television and a favorite with comedy club audiences. Scared Skinny: a one (hundred pound lighter) woman show, written and performed by Mary, won the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival Overall Excellence Award for Outstanding Solo Show. You may have seen her luminous smile on Comedy Central, VH-1, HBO’s Chris Rock Show, NBC’s Today Show, sketches on Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, as interstitial host for American Movie Classics Network, as the series studio warm-up act for The Graham Norton Effect, and in dozens of national commercials. She performs in clubs nation wide and was featured in The New York Underground Comedy Festival, Toyota Comedy Festival, The Italian Chicks Comedy Tour and Ladies of Laughter. Mary is a winner of the 2008 Gracie Allen Award presented by American Women in Radio and Television. The Gracie honors exemplary contributions of individuals who have encouraged the realistic and faceted portrayals of women in entertainment, commercials and featured programming. In theaters, Mary plays Connie the Maid of Honor in Tony and Tina’s Wedding, Polly on New York Undercover and appears in various other television and film roles. Mary is a contributing writer for various shows, including the award-winning PBS documentary Fat, in which she also had a starring role.
After achieving and maintaining a weight loss of 115 pounds, Mary “exemplifies the hard work people do to lose pounds and stay healthy.” Weight is the defining battle of Mary’s life and the “hysterical heart of her comedy.”