"I wasn't sure how this book would be when I started to read it, but I finished it in 2 sittings, mainly because it was SO comical! If you've been through any type of doctor's visits requiring followups and tests, you will relate to much of the book!"
read more:
http://blesstheirheartsmom.blogspot.com/2011/10/book-review-and-giveaway-how-can-you.html
"Before I even begin to tell you why I loved this book, I want to take a minute to thank Carla Ulbrich for writing it!!!! My mom is staying with me while she recovers, and we spent a lot of time this last week sitting together reading Carla’s book. This book is about the only thing that made her really smile or laugh all week. For that I am more grateful than you can imagine!!!!
So, first I must say that no matter what kind of illness or injury you or a loved one has, Carla’s book is bound to have something you can relate to. Aside from entertaining, this book also provides TONS of useful information on navigating the medical system, diet, nutrition, and alternative therapies.
I can not recommend this book enough!!! This book should be REQUIRED to be in the waiting room of every hospital and doctors office waiting room in America!! If anyone you love or care about is fighting medical issues, this book would make the perfect gift!!!!"
read more: http://tinyurl.com/7a2xrfj
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.
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.
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!
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.
"Back in the 1960s, author Norman Cousins first twined the provinces of humor and healing. Consider this release an update, the musical, funnier version for the 2000s."
Click below to read a review of Sick Humor.
"The success of the humor of this independent release funny song CD lies in the continuity." Click below for the full review.
"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." (Click Below for full review).
Sick Humor is heartfelt and, of course, very funny.
New Jersey's Carla Ulbrich had embarked on a career as a satirical singer-songwriter (or, as she puts it, a "professional smart aleck"), when illness struck. And struck, and struck again. It took years to even get a correct diagnosis before she could start proper treatments. It all resulted in endless hours in hospitals. Not very funny? Actually, it resulted in so much material that she got a whole album out it.
Click link to read the rest...
"...her humor displays an edge that makes the listener laugh at first but then ruminate afterwards."
Click below to read the full review.
"A warm and engaging album which does a pretty good job of living up to its name."
Click below to read full review
"Are you ready to hear one of the most amusing CDs you have heard in a long while? Carla Ulbrich (pronounced "ole brick") has released a thoroughly enjoyable CD, appropriately titled Her Fabulous Debut. It is hysterical."
Carla Ulbrich's gift for turning a phrase is second to none. Her songs make you think, and they bring a smile to your face at the same time; and this South Carolinian doesn't just strum a guitar, she actually plays it. Very well.
While most songsmiths these days can't even define many of the words they make rhyme, Ulbrich seems fully in touch with the emotions that plague most ordinary Americans. She takes heartbreak and turns it on its head in numbers like "What If Your Girlfriend Was Gone," "Love Connection," and "It Reminds Me of You," which is one of the more deft, crafty, and heart-tugging songs written in the past few years -- not just on the Southeastern independent scene but anywhere, period. She even frets about how unoriginal she is in "Nothing To Say" and turns the song into an understated classic of originality. Think Nanci Griffith meets Ani Difranco -- but with an even keener sense of humor.
With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Ulbrich calls this debut CD "Her Fabulous Debut" -- and it doesn't disappoint. Picking favorite song on this disc would be akin to picking a favorite child; these tunes stay with you to an almost to an annoying degree; they are extremely hummable, and you might find yourself banging your head against the shower wall trying to get them out of your brain.
Consider yourself warned ... that is, if you're lucky enough to get your hands on a copy of this disc.
Al Grierson's Folk_DJ on Her Fabulous Debut
Some satire comes on flashy, like a Kung Fu cowboy, full of fancy-ass high kicking and swoosh! swoosh! sound effects punctuated with an exaggerated crunch of flesh and bone meeting flesh and bone. It leaves you rolling on the floor, holding your sides with laughter and screaming for it to stop. But there's also satire of another sort that comes on like a tiny wizened prune of a Tai Chi master, with moves so slow they almost seem to be going backwards, and sound effects recollective of an eyelash falling on a Persian carpet. It barely raises more than a smile and, because it doesn't break your funny bone, you barely notice it until you find it's rearranged your entire sense of humor. I love the first kind for its craft and cleverness and the wonderful catharsis it provokes (there are few things more satisfying than a damn good guffaw), but I treasure the second for a sort of reverse catharsis that seems to put something in my soul that wasn't there before.
Carla Kay Ulbrich is not a Kung Fu cowboy.
Nor is she "the new Christine Lavin." (Hell, there's nothing wrong with the old one that I can see.) She is a drop-dead gorgeous blonde with killer guitar chops, and, in some ways, that's a pity, given the tendency of the prevailing ethos not to notice anything beyond the obvious. Have thrown that dog it's obligatory bone, I shall now move on to what else she is and what a masterful CD she's come out with.
Certainly, credit must go to the redoubtable Jack Williams, who produced the disc and to "A Man Called Wrycraft" from Toronto, who did the art direction, design and layout, but ultimately, it's Carla Ulbrich who bears the responsibility for the whole project, as the expression of her personal vision.
I'm going to eschew the usual approach of commenting on the various tracks and describing the cover and the booklet and try to speak to the vision itself. Like even the greatest records, some tracks are "stronger" or "better" than others. Suffice to say the musicianship on this disc is exceptional and Jack Williams's production is a model of how to make this music shine -- nobody overplays, not even once, a tribute to the artistry of both Williams and Ulbrich who, between them, have heavy enough chops to play all the notes.
Ulbrich is a songwriter of uncommon subtlety, a mistress of verbal nuance with an all too rare gift for melody, a wizened little Tai Chi master in a masquerade so effective many, if not most, will miss the point, but that's okay -- this record works well on a superficial level too, another mark of mastery.
As to the cover and the booklet, it's one of the most quietly brilliant and funny pieces of record packaging I've ever seen. From it's title and the name of Ulbrich's record company, to the color scheme, to the chord she's playing in the photo on the back tray card and the graphic on the disc itself, it's definitely more than the sum of its parts and keeps revealing new delights with repeated lookings.
Is she clever? (Does the Pope bowl?) Is she funny? (Are the shoes of the Fisherman made by Brunswick?) Carla Ulbrich's wit, as demonstrated here, is a gestalt manifesting on many levels at once in an artistic vision that stays precisely within a set of small boundaries; "Her Fabulous Debut"--a single, tightly compact and exquisite bud rose, rather than a boastful, eye-grabbing, big-ass bold bouquet, the work of Tai Chi master, rather than a Kung Fu cowboy.
I hestitate to say things like "This CD changed my life," but harkening back to what I said in the first paragraph about the two different sorts of satire and reverse catharsis, to say anything less would be dishonest. The change was not on the order of a major religious conversion or falling in love for the first time). It didn't have to be. A marvelous little record, about as close to being perfectly true to itself as anything I've ever run on to, "Her Fabulous Debut" has added something precious to my life that wasn't there before, the way a really splendid sunrise or your first spring in the Texas Hill Country does. Bring it into yours and it might just have the same effect.
For the roses,
Al Grierson, Folk_DJ
It takes cleverness and courage for a singer/songwriter to come up with a descriptive, self-depricating song that gently pokes fun at the whole bare-your-soul/group-therapy/open-mic scene that supports the propagation of contemporary folk music. Such is the case with the wonderfully funny, melodically catchy song, "Nothing to Say", written by Clemson-based performer Carla Ulbrich, and included on Carla's recently released, acoustically-based CD, "Her Fabulous Debut". "I sat and listened to each story/ Deep, profound, evocatory/ Courageous men who risked their lives/ Love songs written for their wives/ And then it was my turn/ I took my lyric sheet outside to burn/ 'Cause I had nothing to say/ Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing to say"
Fortunately, Ulbrich does have something to say, particularly on her excellent, insightful song, "Not Your Jesus." This is one of those infectous tunes that could (--folk purists, close your eyes--) crossover into the realm of popular music. It's one of those songs you can listen to again and again, and enjoy again and again. Vocally, Ulbrich sounds like Jewel's Southern cousin, and the song itself has a sincere spiritual message, asking an over-the-top fan to find enlightenment and fulfillment elsewhere: "You think I'm some kind of hero/ You think I have all the answers/ But if you knew the mistakes that I had paid for/ You'd see that I'm not your Jesus/ I'm not your savior."
If you're looking for outright comedy, it'd be had to beat "What If Your Girlfriend Was Gone", a hypothetical exploration of desired romantic opportunities that might present themselves if a certain other woman were made to disappear by means fair or foul: "If she disappeared without a trace and everyone looked all over the place/ Why do you have that look on you face? It's not like I have any plans/ But if I were around and I could appease ya and she was suddenly struck with amnesia/ And never again would be able to please ya, would you still wanna be her man?" The only thing that might be funnier on this disc is an outtake of this song performed live, with Ulbrich singing a Freudian lyrical slip that must be heard to be appreciated.
Ulbrich displays the sensuous, jazzy side of her musical talents with a cover of "Learn to Love", but she's also not above performing a comic but corny country novelty song, "Toasted Chicken Sandwich." Instrumentally, Ulbrich's playing on acoustic guitar is impressive throughout, particularly on her rendition of "Zippedydodah". In a few of her original songs, Ulbrich adds her perspective to the topic of love with "Please Do Something Stupid," "It Reminds Me of You" and "Love Connection." Another song, "Boy Wonder" expresses a preference for childhood innocence and the experience of growing, rather than forced pre-mature maturity. This new disc, "Her Fabulous Debut" comes highly recommended and is well worth checking out.
A fresh tongue-in-cheek delivery that Garrison Keillor should know about... A lot of fun, and a refreshing change from the norm.
Ulbrich has her own spunky style and sings beautifully. 'What If Your Girlfriend Was Gone' is a masterpiece.
03/28/2010
Artist: Carla Ulbrich
Album: Live From Outer Space
Label: Romantic Devil Records
Website: http://www.carlau.com
Genre: parody, comedy
Technical Grade: 10/10
Production/Musicianship Grade: 10/10
Overall Talent Level: 10/10
Songwriting Skills: 10/10
Performance Skill: 10/10
Best Songs: Duet With A Klingon, One Good Song, If I Had The Copyright
CD Review:
Self described, “professional smart aleck”, Carla Ulbrich has released a CD, Live From Outer Space, that perfectly showcases her comic wit and beautifully understated guitar work. Recorded before an audience at the Sirius XM Radio Performance Theater, Live From Outer Space demonstrates Ulbrich’s comic ease and timing with between song patter and snippets of partial parodies.
I smiled from the very beginning. Ulbrich’s southern accent and insightful wit are very engaging. Her song parodies range from silly to raunchy and stuck in my head long after the music stopped. It’s hard to settle on a favorite song. Duet With A Klingon was an early favorite but after repeated listening, I found myself leaning toward What If Your Butt Was Gone. And lately I’ve been singing If I Had The Copyright On The Word #%@&.
Throughout the CD, other than her duet with a Klingon, it’s Ulbrich alone on stage with her guitar and she fills the space very well. Her guitar work is versatile and artfully understated. Her vocals are clear with just the right amount of wise-guy insouciance. Her between song monologues include stories about coffee enemas and hilarious bad song ideas.
I love Live From Outer Space. I’ve listened to it repeatedly and played it for friends and family. How can you go wrong with a girl who is not afraid to sing the phrase, “hiding the salami”? And it doesn’t hurt that her go-go booted cartoon image on the CD cover has an “I Dream Of Jeanie” hotness. Live From Outer Space is a lot of fun. If you like song parodies that will make you laugh out loud, check out Live From Outer Space.
There's always, always, always room for more humorous music, especially when it comes from a woman with a mouth that will sometimes put the shine of envy in a stevedore's eye. Carla Ulbrich is just such a comediette…er, comedienne...um, comedienette. This CD of 31 short cuts was broadcast on the Sirius XM Radio Performance Theater to an audience of Ulbrich fans hellbent on quirky rib-tickling…which they got in spades. Not Robert Schimmel nasty, not Bill Hicks intense, just really cool take-offs on famous songs (including REO Speedwagon's Take It on the Run"and John Lennon's Watching the Wheels), ditties Bill Cosby would never pen. Ya know, like about maxi pads and old condoms, among matters less visceral.
The disc is indeed, save for one cut (Duet with a Klingon, which is exactly what it says it is), live, accompanied by between-song banter from this self-described "professional smart aleck". Ulrich has a tart chirpy voice and accompanies herself on guitar, save for one song with dueted vocals—the Klingon tune of course—and one with a full band, the studio version of the Trekophile song. She was quite well liked by the mega-cool Dr. Demento, who included two Ulbrich numbers on his Best Ofs, a tribute she of course locates sardonic material in, being the delightfully eternal grump and negativist she is…though the cool cover cartoon by Debbie Ohi makes her appear an innocent troubadoric naif (don't be deceived!).
Then there's the persistent contrarianism, including the slab's title, as Ulrich is earthy and ribald, an alien only by dint of being too honest in her own society, as all comics are. Don't play this while the kids are romping around either. All the h-mpings, b-tts -sses and other semantic paraphernalia will stun them like deer in headlights just before setting 'em to giggling as though naughty imps and goblins. That'll bring Child Protective Services knocking down the door shortly thereafter, so forestall such shenanigans and spin the slab after tucking little Lancelot and tiny Guinevere in for the night.
However, even at a sensible 41:27, Live from Outer Space is over way too soon. A triple-disc set would've been righteous. Thus, Ms. Ulbrich is warned she should see to it next time around, even if she has to h-mp her artsy fartsy -ss off to produce the f-cking thing, lest we punters get p-ssed and tear sh-t up in mad Klingon fury.
It could happen!
Favorite Albums of 2009:
Carla Ulbrich may be the funniest singer/songwriter working right now. This album made me laugh really hard, even on the second and third listens. Often bawdy, always hilarious. The highlight for me was “Duet With a Klingon.”
Best of 2009: Carla Ulbrich "Live From Outer Space"