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To read the original article, please go to: tahoe.com.

Truckee resident and hairstylist extraordinaire Diana Alouise has cavorted with Mel Gibson, styled for Steve McQueen and dated MacGyver.

Momma always said “Don’t laugh with your mouth full.” You won’t be able to keep it shut at Truckee’s fourth comedy show of the same name.

“Don’t Laugh With Your Mouth Full” is a triple-header sure to tickle your funny bone April 4 at Truckee’s Community Center. A benefit for Camp Radical scholarships, it boasts top-notch comedians and fantastic food by Full Belly Deli.

“You won’t find this quality of show in the area, not even Reno or South Lake,” said Susan Duffey Smith, Teen and Senior Coordinator with the Truckee Donner Recreation & Park District.

Host Adam Stone is a fast-rising star in the world of comedy and originally hails from Hawaii. Stone is currently MC at the Funny Bone Comedy Club and brings his musical talent to add to an incredible mix of comedic talent. Headliner Brad Bonar, a top comedian and entertainer on the national circuit has been headlining comedy clubs, cruise ships and corporate events for the last 10 years.

Closing headliner Jimmy Shubert is a sure side-splitter. His credits include “Jimmy” on “King of Queens” for five years, multiple “Comedy Central” half-hour specials, solo comedy albums and movies: “Coyote Ugly,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” and “The Italian Job.”

Diana Alouise, who is hysterically, rather, historically a Beverly Hills hair stylist and stand-up comedienne, is the local contact for the national acts.

“I got into comedy to meet guys,” said Alouise, owner of Shampoo Hair & Makeup Studio on Truckee’s East River Street. “Who would have known such funny guys are such unhappy, dysfunctional people?”

Her one-woman show about mullets and hairdressing will cut things up on-stage during “Don’t Laugh…”

How did the Alouise and Duffey Smith cook up a local comedy show? Alouise arrived in Truckee five years ago after a 26-year stint with the stars to be with family and she wanted to get involved in the community. She offered a children’s comedy class at the Community Center. There she met Duffey Smith, and they conjured up “Don’t Laugh With Your Mouth Full” as a community benefit.

They chose the outdoor summer camps as the beneficiary for pre-teens and teens to help families in the tight economy. Last year’s show raised funds for 15 scholarships, giving local children the chance to go whitewater rafting, kayaking, caving or take an overnight excursion to Six Flags/Marine World.

“It’s going to be hilarious,” said Duffey Smith. “Who doesn’t need a good laugh right now?”

Tahoe World: Why did you want to be a comedian?
Diana:I thought they said Canadian, and don’t they have free health care?

TW: So, out of all the Hollywood men that you’ve dated, who’s your favorite and why?
Diana:MacGyver. Because as we all know he’s really good with gadgets. He could take a paper clip and a feather duster…and I really shouldn’t go there.

TW: How do the men of Hollywood and the men of Tahoe compare in your opinion?
Diana:Well, in Tahoe all the guys seem to be a contractor, but in Hollywood you sleep with men for movie contracts and hope that’s the only kind of contracted agreement you get.

TW: What are you most looking forward to with this show?
Diana: A chance to raise money for the kids in such a tough economy and most importantly to meet a guy here after the show with health insurance, preferably a Canadian.

To read the entire article, please go to: latimes.com.

By Patrick J. Kiger
March 03, 2002

Bad Hair Decade
Mullets, Mousse and Rat-Tails

In recent years the mullet (a.k.a. “hockey hair” or “business in the front, party in the back”) has been lampooned as the classic tacky ’80s male hairstyle, though, in fact, the “bi-level” cut, as it is known in barbering parlance, seems to have originated back in the ’70s with English rock stars such as Slade and Rod Stewart. (The term “mullet” didn’t come into usage until 1994, by way of the Beastie Boys’ song “Mullet Head.”) More distinctly ’80s is a close-cropped back that’s long on top, perhaps lacquered into a New Romantic pompadour or teased into a spiky bristle and bleached, a la Billy Idol. But the mullet’s identification with the 1980s seems unshakable. Los Angeles comedian Diana Alouise, who cuts the hair of volunteers onstage and thus has incorporated the mullet into her stage act, sees her efforts as a way to “get America back to where it was . . . it’s an ’80s thing.”

To read the original article, please go to: latimes.com.

December 16, 2001

It’s an ordinary Thursday night at a Japanese restaurant in Hollywood, and a comedian is giving mullet haircuts onstage. Diana Alouise produces the weekly comedy lineup at Amagi’s on Sunset Boulevard, usually “L.A.’s Premier Karaoke Spot.” Alouise is on a one-coiffeuse quest to reintroduce the mullet into the culture. Swathing her volunteer in a black haircutting cape, the comedian chews gum while cutting and weaving with scissors and commentary. She must be kidding, right?

Why a mullet, why onstage–and why today?

I’m from Nebraska, where everyone still has mullets, and my goal is to get America back to where it was and where Nebraska is now. It’s an ’80s thing. Plus, Jimmy Brogan (comedian and former head writer for “The Tonight Show”) said he’s been doing stand-up 30 years and never seen this before.

Help me remember the ’80s.

A mullet is a 1980s white-trash haircut. A beaver paddle, swong, wheat sack, Camaro hair, hockey hair, the Achey-Brakey-Big-Mistakey. But I call it the duo do: all-business in front, all-party in the back!

No front porch and a whole lotta awning in back.

Exactly. After 4 1/2 years on the road as a stand-up, I placed ads in the L.A. Weekly and the Recycler: “Need extra cash? Hair models wanted for stage production.” I got 20 calls in a week. I also want to do full-on make-overs–dress ‘em up, put ‘em in Brownie outfits. You also cut hair professionally, correct?

A 75-buck mullet in L.A. is 25 in Nebraska. In Nebraska, it’s in your roots; there are lots of home-owned salons. You do it down in the basement. Here I started working in a salon thinking I could meet a lot of men. Which I did. Gay men. They never want to date me, they just want to borrow my shoes.

This is at Nick Chavez’s in Beverly Hills?

Yes. Only in Beverly Hills do people have potbellied pigs as pets and bring them into salons. One of them had makeup and painted pink French tip hooves, a diamond purse. You think that’s ridiculous, you should have seen its head shots. But no matter where I work, women always bring in pictures of women they want to look like. I end up saying, “These are scissors, not a magic wand. I need a ‘Jurassic Park’ animatronic team to work you over.”

What about men’s hair?

There’s a procedure now instead of hair plugs, where a doctor will make an incision down the middle of a man’s bald spot, then pull the two sides up together so they meet. Scalp reduction. Maybe it’s me, I’m kind of quirky, but I prefer the guys that I date to have their ears on the side of their head.

How can I personally avoid all this?

Never let your ex cut your hair.