Vicki Lawrence likes to say that Tim Conway taught her how to be rotten. He was the usual culprit behind unexpected twists on “The Carol Burnett Show,” which caused cast members to break into laughter during skits.
In 1971, Lawrence one-upped him in a classic “Mama’s Family” sketch that has been dubbed “The Elephant Story.” Before taping, Burnett seriously urged the cast of Conway, Lawrence and Dick Van Dyke to stay focused and not interrupt the audience’s wall of illusion with their own chuckles.
Conway did the opposite and reworked “The Elephant Story” into a hilarious tale where the actors, especially Burnett, could barely contain themselves. In character as Eunice with tears in her eyes, a helpless Burnett turned to Lawrence, aka Mama, for relief from her giggles. Mama cussed and threw in her own line that made each of the other three actors fall on their sides in laughter.
“That was the first night that I went off script and got everybody,” Lawrence said. She was a regular cast member during the variety show’s run from 1967 to 1978.
The actress appears in “Vicky Lawrence and Mama: A Two Woman Show” Saturday at the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre in Marietta. The show is part autobiographical with insight into Lawrence’s career, which has swung from the 1970s hit song “The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia” to a recurring role on the Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana.” Mama emerges in the second half of the show with her take on today’s culture.
Q: What is Mama like these days?
A: Everybody loves her. I would love her to be modern and topical. She can bring up things that I might like to talk about but would be politically incorrect for me to discuss. She is kind of my opportunity to be Chris Rock.
Q: What are some of the important things you learned on “The Carol Burnett Show”?
A: I learned from Carol how the business of show business should run. It was fun and laughter; there was no room for egos or back-fighting.
From Harvey [Korman, who died in 2008], I learned most everything I know about comedy. He would take me aside and explain who I was in the movie takeoffs and how to do dialects and work with props. He took me under his wing and trained me.
And Tim was the one who would always be rewriting his jokes or back in the corner building something with the prop man. He lived to break people up [on set].
Q: What has it been like to watch Miley Cyrus grow up and become a huge star?
A: She is kind of an old soul and relates well to the older people on the set. She’s got a great family. I tell her, “You do realize that you are Elvis?” She’s got a long ways to go, and, boy, it’s not easy out there. And she’s got to do it under a microscope. Everything is so highly scrutinized. I did stupid things when I was young, but they were my stupid things and not plastered all over the place. I often think that if I had to do it all over again, I might not do it now.
Event preview
“Vicky Lawrence and Mama: A Two Woman Show”
8 p.m. Saturday, April 10. $40. Jennie T. Anderson Theatre, 548 S. Marietta Parkway S.E., Marietta. 770-528-8490, www.vickilawrence.com .
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