I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy Carrie Fisher‘s one-woman show Wishful Drinking when I dvr’d it. I’d seen trailers for it. I always liked her work. She was of my age group. Her life happened through the same years as mine – her adolescence, her young womanhood and her maturing to a woman of a certain age. Granted, she grew up in Hollywood in the company of stars (and some escapades she describes in her show) and I grew up in a factory-town Ontario…worlds apart.  I was curious.

I sat down this evening and watched the show.

I was entertained from beginning to end. Carrie Fisher has used her humor and bite to unload both the pleasant and unpleasant aspects of her life and memories. She makes us laugh, shed a tear or two and nod in agreement. 

She wanders the stage, strides the carpet and kicks back in an easy chair. She teaches us about the Hollywood of the Boomer memory, of being famous for the wrong things and how to deal with personal tragedy. Wearing tights and bare feet, oversized shirt and gorgeous red hair, she’s looking happy and content with her life. 

Carrie is a survivor, although she and I agree that it isn’t our favourite word. But as she says, “who over the age of 40 isn’t?”

Carrie Fisher gets 5 Stars from me for “Wishful Drinking”