D'yan Forest is one of comedy’s fastest rising new faces, a wise cracking, ukulele playing sensation.

Whether she’s ranting about her age, musing about her sexual preferences, of which there are many, or giving another clueless celebrity the beating they deserve, D’yan has the rare ability to connect with any audience of any size. 

From comedy clubs to fringe festivals, D'yan is winning audiences over.

In this interview, D'yan answered my call to reveal:

• What made her want to get into comedy
• What she hopes audiences come away with after seeing I Married A Nun
• Breaking Barriers
• The best advice she ever received
• So much more

Connect with D'yan: Website

D'yan is bringing her newest one-woman show I Married A Nun to the NYC Fringe Festival from August 11-21, 2012.

I Married A Nun is about a 78-year-old, ukulele-playing, world traveler's hilarious and heartbreaking search for love, sex and happiness--Share an evening of wild adventures; a nun, a dildo, a camel and Paris' underground. D'yan does what Betty White only talks about.

I Married A Nun will play at the Gene Frankel Theatre in NYC:

• Saturday, August 11, 2012 at 9pm
• Tuesday, August 14, 2012 at 7:30pm
• Thursday, August 16, 2012 at 5:45pm
• Sunday, August 19, 2012 at 12pm
• Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 3:45pm

D'yan Forest in I Married A Nun

1. Who or what inspired you to become a performer? When I was 7 years old, many decades ago, my parents took me to the opening of the musical "Oklahoma" in Boston, MA. I left that show mesmerized and when I got home, I sang and danced in front of the mirror all day. That's when I knew that the theatre was for me.

2. Who haven't you worked with that you would like to? Joan Rivers.

3. What made you want to go into comedy? I had a wonderful career as a pianist vocalist around the world and then as an International French Chanteuse in NYC Hotels, Country Clubs, and private parties in the NYC, area. After 9/11 the music business quieted down and after a couple of years, I just wanted to perform again and comedy was the rage. I play golf with Caroline from Caroline's Comedy Club and she suggested a coach for me and within a few months I was doing comedy at Carolines and other clubs around the city. I brought the singing into the comedy by bringing my 50-year-old ukulele on stage and adding parodies to my schtick. It worked. I had a new career.

4. Now 8 years later, at 78 years young, what has this experience been like for you? This new career and my one-woman show have given me a new lease on life. I am busier than I have ever been career-wise and socially. It has widened my horizons, I feel younger than ever, and have made so many young friends in all aspects of show business. I am very hip compared to my friends my age. I only wish I had started this new career many decades earlier. I don't have the same amount of time as all these young kids who are aspiring to do the same thing.

D'yan Forest in I Married a Nun

5. This August, you will be bringing your one-woman show I Married A Nun to the NYC Fringe Festival. What made you want to write I Married A Nun? I wanted to write I Married a Nun because I thought it was time to share many of my life shaking experiences and make a difference in the attitudes of people to the subjects of love and sex.

I had always kept my adventures close to my vest and just played the game of not really telling what was going on in my life with people who I knew in NYC, the Golf Club, and around the world.

I finally decided that I would come out honestly with my interesting life and adventures with no holds barred and perhaps educate a few people. 

6. What excites you about being part of the NYC Fringe Festival? I love being part of NYC Fringe Festival as I feel it has the best audiences in the world who will appreciate my show. They are savvy and ready to appreciate something different.

7. What do you hope audiences come away with after seeing I Married A Nun? I hope that audiences will learn that one must accept diversity in people and that l'amour n'a pas d'age. "Love has no age."

D'yan Forest

8. You grew up a conservative Jew in Boston. What was the reaction from your family when you married a woman, who used to be a nun? Where do you think the strength came from to just follow your heart? My family had no reaction when I married a woman, etc. because they never knew!! It was not strength that made me follow my heart, it just happened!! I just wanted to settle down and have a relationship for always.

9. As a woman who has had relations with men and women and as the oldest comedian on the comedy circuit, do you feel like you have broken barriers that others have not? If so, what barriers do you feel you've broken? I feel that I have broken many barriers, as people cannot believe that a woman my age is still having a wild time. Also, bisexuality has not been addressed much on the comedy stage, especially by a woman my age. I think I am the first who has dared to talk about this subject. I think the world is finally ready for it.

In my comedy, I deal with it in a fun way and in my play, I go much deeper into the experience and try to make people more understanding of human relationships and sexuality. It was very hard to expose myself when I wrote this play a year ago, but at my age, I felt I had nothing to lose and that it was about time to be honest with the world.

10. What have you learned about yourself from being a performer? I have learned by being a performer that truth is the most important thing and to share it with people.

11. What's the best advice you've ever received? The best advice that I have ever received was from my Rabbi who read my play and said, "Go for it girl, what you have to say is very important and it's time to say it. It will not only help the people who see your show, but it will also help you to come to terms with all the ideas that are in the play."

12. If you could dream about anyone while you sleep, who would it be? I would dream about a new lover and a relationship that would last the rest of my life.

BONUS QUESTIONS:

13. Favorite way to spend your day off? My favorite way to spend my day off is to play golf in the Hamptons.

14. Favorite skin care product? My favorite skin care product is Botox.

15. If you could have any super power, which one would you choose? If I could have any super power, I would become a star!!!

D'yan Forest

More on D'yan Forest:

At the age of 4, D'yan got into show business when she started playing recitals in her parents living room in Boston. Next, she picked up the ukulele, started singing and got into a dance band, which led to the trumpet, drums and naturally – the glockenspiel.

While attending the Cite Universitaire de Paris, she began appearing in cafes, cabarets and nightclubs throughout the City of Lights. Paris appearances led to performing in other European countries. D'yan developed an international act with songs in nine languages.

After returning to the states, she settled in New York City and was soon playing and singing in upscale rooms at the Waldorf, the Plaza and the Park Lane as well as saloons and piano bars, which led to working in the theatre.

New York stage credits include Gigi, Guys And Dolls, Shaw’s The Music Cure, Ladies In Retirement, and Helen in Grandmother Sylvia's Funeral at The Soho Playhouse.

Her film & TV work includes the principal role of The Mother in Soldier's Heart, which has been screened in film festivals throughout the world. Other independent films include Sweet Flame with Anne Meara and Mira Sorvino and Coney Island Baby directed by Parker Ellerman. D'yan's appeared on Saturday Night Live, Comedy Central as well as national and international commercials and print campaigns. This past year, she was on the TV show France has Incredible Talent.

Over the past few years, D'yan has regularly performed in cabaret and comedy venues in New York and Paris. New York cabaret appearances include The Metropolitan Room, The Duplex, The Ukulele Cabaret and The Cutting Room. She can also be seen working on her distinctive stand-up act (complete with ukulele) at Gotham Comedy Club, The Broadway Comedy Club, Le Poisson Rouge, Under St. Marks, and Dixon Place in Manhattan. Paris clubs include Paname, Jamel, Gymnase, and La Nouvelle Seine.