Today we’d like to introduce you to Camille Solari.
Hi Camille, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My father was Italian, and my mother French Canadian. We grew up in a town called Brookline, Massachusetts in The United States but spent our summers in Quebec, Canada where we have dozens of cousins having spawned from my grandmother who came from a family of 13 brothers and sisters.
I have United States and Canadian Citizenship as well as New Zealand Residency.
Brookline, Massachusetts is where I grew up. It was an ethnically diverse town, extremely academic, pretty conservative yet highly involved in the political world. John F Kennedy grew up in Brookline. Many politicians were bred out of that culture. As a child, I got on board with world politics but ultimately knew I would go into the arts. Growing up knowing that I wanted to go into the world of arts was tricky, you pretty much had to hide your true aspirations. It was expected that you would become a doctor or a lawyer, like my father, or a teacher like my mother who taught French at a private Catholic School. Wanting to take the artist’s path was not something you openly talked about without being mocked. I liked sports so that off-set the ‘black sheep-ness’ of my career path to my parents. I was a gymnast and did junior Olympic Volleyball. In high school, I was the captain of the La Crosse team. I can’t blame my parents for wanting me to go into a different field, they were worried it would not be stable financially, and to be honest, they weren’t incorrect. Making a living in Hollywood is a highly challenging gig. Even some of the most famous Hollywood folk end up penniless. But alas, I was set to follow my dreams and went to University in Boston, Emerson College, and majored in Shakespeare and Creative Writing and dabbled in directing where I directed my first short on 8 mm film. I do love that medium, although archaic, my film teacher and mentor in college, Pete Chvany, who recently passed away, taught me one lesson if I were to venture out to Hollywood. He encouraged us to sort of ‘break the rules’ (not the law, just the rules). If you followed the rules too closely in trying to get into the business you may or may not ever get in. You had to think outside the box. He said to me once, “If you see a big film crew shooting something, step over the line and start helping out, act like you belong, and do a damn good job, someone will take note and possibly higher you.” It seems crazy, and you probably could not do it now, but conceptually I got what he was saying. I sort of took note mentally and that was really how I created a few television series that have been on the air for the last seven years, on such networks as Roku, Amazon Prime Video, Fox TV’s Tubi and others. The show that has been on the longest is my kid’s TV show, ‘Charlie’ which stars my daughter Charlie who is now seven years old, and some appearances from other members of my family, like my youngest daughter Blade, my husband Hamish, our dog Rocky and I play the comedian mother on the show. I came up with the pilot idea when Charlie was just born after performing on The Arsenio Hall Show, and then season 1 one got onto Roku and the rest is history.
I feel like parents back in the 80’s had a different perspective on raising children than many parents these days. Mothers and fathers were not your friends, they were your parents, they were not people who would confide in you. It was them versus us, never the twain shall meet. Parents generally did their requirements which was feed you, clothe you (even if it meant crappy hand-me-downs from my big sister) and a couple of toys. My dad made me toys out of wood for my sister and I. If you ticked most of those boxes you were considered a good parent and there were no further requirements. Saying ‘I love you’ was out of the question, however, you knew they did, and they did. Being a child in the 80’s had its upside, safety was not a factor in parents’ decision-making, (usually) anything went. You could stick your kids in the trunk of your Oldsmobile to get from point A to point B (an hour of driving), and that was considered fun, and it was awesome when my father did that! Or drive through the forest with the lights off for 10 seconds. Now it’s extremely frowned upon, but it still didn’t negate how carefree you could be as a parent in the 80’s. There were no ‘playdates’ arranged, you’d say, ‘I’m going to Erica’s’ and then when it was supper time, you’d make it back home. We would play ‘kick the can’ with ‘the neighborhood kids.’ As a girl, you learned about puberty by reading Judy Blume books. I don’t know what boys did, probably just played with it until they figured what it did… Um… not much has changed. Maybe they learned something about being a teenager by watching John Hughes movies. I remember when I was seven, I had a stigmatism in my eye (meaning it crossed) and I was told I had to wear a patch on my left eye for one year to strengthen my eye muscle so it would not cross anymore. So my parents pulled a classic 1980’s parent move… Instead of getting the band aid disposable patch that camouflaged the situation, my parents opted for a more practical approach, a black pirate patch that you could throw in the laundry. That extra $25 they saved by not buying disposable patches was more important than the social-ramifications of a seven years old girl wearing a pirate patch to school for one year. To add insult to injury, I lost my two front teeth when my sister pushed me down and thus had no two front teeth for a good five years until my adult teeth came in. My general response to malicious children was, (Piratese) ‘Arrrgh.” I remember one time when a kid from high school came down to the elementary school, lined up all the girls to ‘rate their beauty.’ I remember when he got up to me, as I recall his name was ‘Turtle’ so of course he had authority over girls’ futures and whether or not they were pageant material. At any rate, most of the girls who got Turtle’s vote of confidence to one day be a supermodel (who later became teen moms) were relieved they passed the beauty test. As for me, I did not get Turtle’s astute vote of confidence as the others. Instead, he looked me up and down then snapped my pirate patch and lazily uttered, “Oh boy, nah, it’s not gonna happen kid, you’re never going to be pretty, don’t even try.” And in one fell swoop, in my mind the decision had been, ‘I better start being funny then.” And that was that. As despicable as a human being Turtle was for invalidating my appearance, (and wrong, as I later became the billboard model for Dickie Jeans) it shaped my view point in not the worst way. It made me realize that it’s better to rely on your mind than your looks because in the end, if you make it, everyone looks pretty much the same: a withered raison, and if all you had was looks, then the future will be grim.
All these moments were filed for comedy fodder later in life when I became a comedian and writer.
When I was seven, I remember my African American friend wanted me to go to summer camp with her. Little did my parents realize it was a full-on black Baptist camp. Not that they would have disapproved of it if they actually realized it, but I didn’t mention it on the off-chance that they would not want me to go because of that. My parents were pretty open-minded for their generation and upbringing. Anyway, I think I was the only white girl at camp, maybe there was one other, but she was like Vanilla Ice and new rap songs better than anyone. The main focus of the camp was sports and singing hymns. I loved it. I came back as a top athlete and was singing Baptist religious songs with a Blues flair and best of all, I learned all the hit songs from the hit Broadway play ‘Porgy and Bess.’ What I appreciated most about that camp was, unlike school, the kids at camp didn’t judge my missing teeth, my bushy tangled mop hair, and my pirate patch.
I was accepted and that was all that mattered to me. I never forgot that.
I felt grateful growing up in an ethnically diverse environment, that was where I was comfortable.
All these childhood memories were filed and used later in life as an international headliner comedian. I have headlined in the USA, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Shanghai, The Philippines, England, Whales, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. I was the first woman comedienne in the world to headline in Jordan and the first woman comedienne to headline in Sri Lanka.
Traveling to dozens of countries doing stand up comedy and always bringing my family is what sparked my new podcast, “Around The World in 80 Diapers” recorded at The World Famous Laugh Factory in Hollywood and available on youtube, iTunes and The Laugh Factory Channel. This is a video podcast where I interview international comics as well as celebrity comedians who are also parents and what life as a comedian parent is like. I am excited about this podcast, it is my first podcast and I feel like it is really important to hear a comedian’s perspective on parenting.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I feel like no matter how famous or whatever big show or big agent you have behind you, Hollywood is fickle. You can fall off the fame just as quickly as you can rise. One deal, one idea, one seed can turn into an empire and that’s probably what keeps people in the game. Some people sit on their ideas hoping someone else will like it and make it for them. That is the best when that happens. However, I have always been impatient in the short term but very patient in the long term. In other words, I won’t let a good idea (or if I think it’s a good idea) just sit. I’ll shoot it, get it edited, get it sold or set up. I don’t always like to produce, I prefer to shoot, but since I am not patient it’s faster to produce, it takes a certain skill putting it all together. People who can’t do that don’t really understand how much gumption it takes to produce something. I have produced many feature films before I started doing television. Sometimes there is money, sometimes there isn’t, but I think it’s important to complete things if you can.
I shot a television series before Covid called “Lost in Regina.” It was about a comedian (I played the lead, wrote it and directed it) who was eight months pregnant and had to return to her home country of Canada to do one last comedy tour to pay for birth costs.
It has a lot of well-known comedians in it like, New Zealand’s favorite comedian, Leigh Hart, Emmy nominated actor Mark Irvingston, Jeremiah Watkins, Avery Pierce, Mary-Lynn Rajskub, Brad Williams, Aidan Park, Billy McCartney, Kara with K from America’s Got Talent, Jon Dore, Elivs Winterbottom, Rosalee Mayeux, Jimmy Shin to name a few. It comes out in 2022 and it was an incredible show to shoot. I loved working with my Canadian partners at Prairie Boy Productions in Winnipeg. We had been trying to get it off the ground for a while and then we got independent funding and we pulled the trigger. I am really excited to see it finally released next year.
Another difficult thing is ‘the haters.’ There will always be ‘haters’ and my father always said to me ‘Don’t let the bastards get you down.’ But it’s hard not to sometimes. Artists tend to be more vulnerable, that’s what makes them artists. I love including everyone, that is what my mother taught me. I remember one time on a school trip my mother came on the bus and there was this one kid Scott Brown. No one wanted to sit with him, so my mother sat with him the whole bus ride and talked to him, and it was the first time I ever saw him smile. It taught me a lesson that just because someone is different, or everyone else doesn’t think they are ‘cool,’ doesn’t mean a damn thing. See for yourself, give that person a try.
Whether it’s a party we throw for my daughters that looks like a scene from a Tim Burton movie, or when I helped my daughter with the school talent show and put as much effort into costumes and production as I would on my own production, which made my daughter so proud – but in turn the end result was my daughter was bullied by an older student because of their jealousy and a mother literally saying to me, “You shouldn’t be allowed to help, the acts are not supposed to be this good.” Wow, okay. People who think it’s bad to strive for greatness can seriously go f*** themselves.
Sometimes you reach greatness, and sometimes you don’t, but it’s only the brave ones who try and in the end they live with no regrets and the haters will eventually end up just hating themselves.
When you are trying to do cool things in the world of arts or television and put yourself out there, there will always be people who sit back and criticize. As an artist you put yourself out there, and are deeply affected by these awful people. When it does happen, if there is a way to recycle and turn it back into art to teach a lesson or make a joke, that is the best thing to do! I had a comedy special that I was putting together that got greenlit, but there was a sour-puss who did everything he could to tear it apart by making up lies about me, going to the press to try and defame me and the show (which was entirely a benefit show to help those in the front line of Covid – what a dick!) and the special was canceled. But alas, I turned it around, I came up with a different idea and then there I was off to the races again with a new series.
The TV show that got picked up is called “Kiwis Coming Home.” After all the hardship the world was going through, my family and I moved ourselves to New Zealand, where in the first year and a half of Covid, people could live normally without Covid. So many celebrity Kiwis returned home to New Zealand with their families, and I would travel around New Zealand to meet them and also experience some wonderful parts of New Zealand as an American comedian. It was delightful. The show is currently on air in New Zealand on Three Now and it is also on Amazon Prime Video.
Another example of turning a ‘hater’ into art is when my daughter had experienced some bullying at school and she wanted to sing a song about it. As part of a Charlie episode, we created an incredible song and music video for my daughter Charlie called “Don’t Pop My Bubble.” We premiered the music video in Los Angeles and the episode will be released on Amazon Prime Video, but the music video itself, “Don’t Pop My Bubble” original song by Charlie Dean, Camille Solari and Dee Dee O’malley will be released in early 2022.
Directing, “Don’t Pop My Bubble,” was a big production for us. I have a passion for art direction, and in most cases in television and film, you would hire someone to handle this, but I just had such a vision for it, I couldn’t resist doing all the production design. A music video that should have taken a few days took us from prep to finish three months. I hand-picked every element of the art direction (which also added a lot of time wearing this hat) from costume design, colors, props, locations, couches, wallpaper, linens, beds, colorful ceilings, props, the whole nine yards. There are so many amazing locations in Los Angeles. Everything was shot entirely in downtown Los Angeles. I couldn’t have done it without my producing partner Durey Shevar and my director of photography Marley Maitland. I am very proud of my seven years old daughter, she is such a professional. Having acted since she was one year old, it just comes so natural I would be reluctant to ever put her in an acting class, as she is such a natural. I also played the part of the “Bully Teacher” and the mother on the show. My youngest daughter, Blade, who is 4, played the part of the rocker girl (which she threatens to be when she grows up). Charlie Season 7 Episode 4 “Don’t Pop My Bubble” is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a comedian-writer-director. About 15 years ago, I was called “A Hyphenate” which was looked down upon, at that time. People thought if you did more than one thing, you were a jack of all trades and a master of none. But now, and even most recently, because of Covid, people are filming their own things so they have to do it all, etc. After having my first daughter Charlie, I did have to choose my projects, I did not have enough time to devote to doing it all, so I chose stand-up comedy and television. I love my two little girls so much, if I was going to continue with a career as a comedian-writer-director, I had to figure out a way to include my girls so that I would work and still be with them. So, after my big break in comedy, where I was the first pregnant comedienne (and showing) to do stand up comedy on late night television, on The Arsenio Hall Show, I started headlining around the world with my little baby and husband. After that, I came up with a television series called Charlie. The premise of the show is: a little girl and her dog who solve neighborhood problems with help of her animal friends while her comedian mother experiences the perils and pitfalls of being a new mother. That took off and every season represents Charlie’s age. Season 1 she is 1, season 2 she is 2, season 3 she is 3, etc. And now Charlie is seven and the show is still on the air. Sometimes my youngest daughter Blade is also on the show, and I also make my husband Hamish appear on the show as well, and Elizabeth Dean, my mother-in-law plays “Granny” on the show, she is quite a talented lady.
I am very proud of some of the work we have done in the last year. We shot an incredible episode about Covid in New Zealand called “A Very Strange Day” and we also shot an episode called “Mother Nature,” “The Tooth Fairy”, a French episode called “Mon Ami Edie” about Charlie’s pet bird who died. Most episodes are based on things that have happened in Charlie’s life.
The most recent episode which was shot in LA was a music video that I am very proud of. I spoke about it earlier in the article, and that is called “Don’t Pop My Bubble.
I am very excited to be shooting my comedy special, tentatively called “My Life in Pink”. We plan to shoot it in New Zealand. We shot some of the behind the scenes clips in Los Angeles. Some amazing locations again, I love LA for that. Some of the beginning scenes that are in the comedy special take place in an entirely pink room with pink faux-fur ceilings, pink cupcakes, pink walls, pink curtains, pink clothes, pink food, and my dog wore a pink sweater. Hence the title, “My Life in Pink.”
Once again, I love including my family in what I do. My husband Hamish, who is from New Zealand has his own company in the clothing tech world called “Shapeshifter” which is a cloud based software which he created which was his Math PhD thesis project. But he is great to bounce ideas off of. One of my best friends, Durey, who also produced the music video with me, said to me long ago in her British South-East-Asian-accent, “Camille, you must find a nerd to Marry.” She was right. I have had so many people in the industry tell me, ‘you gotta keep your options open,’ (meaning don’t date anyone) or, ‘you gotta marry a guy in the industry.” Blah blah blah. If it works, that’s great! For me, most of the guys in the industry I dated were ‘players’ of the worst kind. I mean, the worst kind. It was excellent fodder for the beginning of my comedy career, and I still have priceless jokes about it, but I much rather have a happy home life, like I do now, than be with an ego-centric-narcissist who really has no interest in helping you anyway. Some friends of mine became big movie stars and sacrificed having a family to do it, which is totally okay, however I have noticed that some of them live sort of in sadness. It’s fun to make it big, but even more fun to share it with someone. It’s a challenge continuing a career with kids, and you have to be pretty clever to pull it off, it’s a constant creation to make it work.
I am also proud of my new video podcast recorded at The World Famous Laugh Factory in Hollywood, “Around The World in 80 Diapers.” As an international headlining comedian where I have performed in over 13 countries around the world, I am excited to interview like-minded stories from international comedians as well as comedians who have decided to have children. It’s a big deal for a comedian to choose a life with a family, especially if they are on the road a lot. It takes a very supportive partner to choose to live that life with them, and it takes a very creative loving comedian to make it work. It is easy to make it not work. I love hearing stories about that world. I love hearing stories about doing comedy in remote parts of the world, like when I was the first female comedian to headline in Sri Lanka and in Jordan. It was wonderful to see people laugh and be inspired and amazed at comedy. I remember when a guy came up to me in Sri Lanka and said, “Please stay here, life is so serious and we need comedy like this to laugh at it all.” Or when I performed in Cebu, in The Philippines. I remember a feral dog ran across the room when I performed and I was like, “I love how everyone’s invited to the show here.” I’m excited that my home club, The Laugh Factory in Hollywood has asked me to do this podcast and the episodes will be available in 2022.
One of the productions I am most proud of on so many levels as I mentioned earlier in the article is my music video, “Don’t Pop My Bubble.” My daughter Charlie stars in it and sings the song “Don’t Pop My Bubble” (she also co-wrote the song along with country music star Dee Dee O’Malley, Grant Nicholas and myself. We spent three months writing, recording and shooting the music video in downtown Los Angeles after having been in New Zealand in the country for about a year and half. It was one of the most positive productions I have ever done. I loved doing the art design, working with such talented kids and taking pride in creating the most stunning sets. I went all out on the art direction on this one and look forward to the release of this music video. The music video is part of an episode of Charlie Season 7 Episode 4 “Don’t Pop My Bubble.” but it will also be separately released as a music video in 2022. I wrote, directed and played ‘the bully teacher’ which was a lot. I love directing children, it is a whole art form and tech! You have to shoot quickly and know when you are about to lose your actor (meaning, they are done). When a child is done, they are done, so you have work with that. Lots of breaks and lots of “inspiration’ as my daughter calls it! Toys, yummy food, etc. The thing my daughter likes the most is good company. If she has another nice kid on set to hang out with and chat and do stuff, she is happy as a clam. It gets more difficult when she has to do solo acting, but she is a champ. My other daughter Blade who is four also likes to do scenes with people. I know I only have a small window of time to shoot with Blade before she is done for the day. Then there is our dog Rocky. He is amazing. Our Boston Terrier dog is named after Rocky Balboa. He is difficult in real life to follow directions, but the moment we say, “Action!” He’s in! I love my family so much and appreciate them so much. People say, “They grow up so fast, make sure you spend time with them.” Well, I dedicated my career to spending time with them so that I can never regret the past and they have the fullest lives I can offer to them. The thing that is hard is getting to do stand up comedy. Most comedians go up 4 5 6 times a week. I can only go up a couple of times a week at the most. My youngest daughter looks at me with sad eyes and says, “Mama do you have a show tonight?” And I say, “yes.” And when she says, “Please don’t leave me,” It breaks my heart. So I have had to cut back on doing many shows because of this. Because when I get back from my show Charlie always asks me the same question, “Mama, did you crush?”
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I would love to see more female directors. It still is mainly men and it would be nice to have more in the industry including myself. I do plan to direct a feature in the coming years and more television as my kids get older. I also love seeing more and more female comedians, there was a stereotype that girls are not funny, and some of the most finest comedians in history who have inspired me were women, like Lucille Ball, Gilda Radner and Carol Burnett.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0812714/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camillesolari/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Camille-Solari-134411009902582/?notif_id=1639247515065728¬if_t=page_user_activity&ref=notif
- Twitter: @camillesolari
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Solarigirl
Image Credits:
Photo #1 Left top caption Camille Solari on the set of ‘My Life in Pink’ Comedy Special photo by Barbara Velasco Photo #2 Top right caption: Comedian Camille Solari on the set of ‘My life in Pink’ Comedy Special photo by Camille Solari Productions Photo #3 left second row caption: Camille Solari ‘Around The World in 80 Diapers’ video podcast The Laugh Factory channel Photo #4 second row right side Camille Solari directing the music video “Don’t Pop My Bubble” with daughter Charlie Dean for Amazon Prime Video Photo #5 3rd row left side Camille Solari on set of her kids television series ‘Charlie’ on Amazon Prime Video with youngest daughter Blade Dean Photo #6 3rd row right side Camille Solari, husband Hamish Dean, daughters Blade Dean & Hamish Dean and Rocky behind the scenes of her comedy special, ‘My Life in Pink.” photo by Camille Solari Productions Photo #7 4th row left side Camille Solari, with daughters Charlie Dean and Blade Dean at the premier of the music video ‘Don’t Pop My Bubble” for Charlie on Amazon Prime Video. Photo #8 4th row right side Camille Solari creator/comedian/director with daughter Charlie Dean on the set of Charlie for Fox TV – Tubi. Photo #9 5th row left side Press Photo for Camille Solari comedy tour, “The Secret Lives of Comedians” New Zealand Photo #10 5th row right side Camille Solari and Daughter on set of Roku kids television series Charlie Photo #11 6th row left side Camille Solari director/creator/comedian of Charlie Season 7 Amazon Prime Photo #12 6th row right side Camille Solari comedian/host/director of Kiwis Coming Home on Amazon Prime Video and Three Now Photo #13 7th row left side Camille Solari and daughters Charlie Dean and Blade Dean on the set of music video “Pop My Bubble” Photo #14 7th row right side Camille Solari on set with the cast of the music video “Don’t Pop My Bubble” Photo #15 8th left side Camille Solari comedian photo by Alexis Dickey Photo #16 8th row right side Camille Solari directing the music video “Don’t Pop My Bubble” Photo #17 9th Row left side Camille Solari comedian/lead/director of the television series “Lost in Regina” with actor Leigh Hart Photo #18 10th row right side Jeremiah Watkins, Camille Solari, Avery Pearson, Mark Irvingsen on the set of Lost in Regina TV series
