This show is all in the delivery.
A doula is throwing a pregnancy-themed variety show at the Bell House in Gowanus on June 3, which she says will tackle popular fallacies about pregnancy, childbirth, and abortion with irreverent humor, pointing a critical eye at the way these issues have been portrayed in movies and television shows like “Knocked Up” and “Melrose Place.”
“This is a great opportunity to correct some misconceptions or deconstruct them,” said Mary Mahoney, organizer of “Pregnant Pause,” and founder of the Doula Project, an organization that assists pregnant women through childbirth and abortion. “People are really influenced by pop culture, but pop culture rarely gets pregnancy right.”
One movie Mahoney says does get it right is the 2014 indie romantic comedy “Obvious Child,” which is about a Williamsburg comedian who struggles with whether to tell her one-night stand that he is the father of the fetus she plans to abort. The flick’s writer and director Gillian Robespierre will be at the show to answer questions and show clips from the film, which Mahoney said offers a view of the procedure that we rarely see on screen.
“It is not about abortion being a super hard decision,” she said. “It is about what happens after the decision is made.”
Other baby bump-themed acts in the show, which will raise money for the Doula Project, include a reading from poet Stella Padnos-Shea, stand-up from comedian Sriya Sarkar, and a dance performance by artist Terry Hempfling. Eleanor Kagan and Kseniya Yarosh, who host a film podcast called “Bonnie & Maude,” will emcee the night.
The show will also feature silent auctions for sex toys, massages, and concert-tickets, plus pregnancy-themed drinks with names including Rosemary’s Baby and Jane the Virgin.
“Pregnant Pause: A Variety Show about Pop Culture and Pregnancy” at the Bell House [149 Seventh St. between Second and Third streets in Gowanus, (718) 643–6510, www.thebe
