Quote by Bette Midler

This autobiographical work offers an account of Phyllis Diller's journey from her origins as a housewife in Ohio to becoming one of the first prominent female stand-up comedians in American television and film. The book covers her unconventional entry into comedy at age thirty-seven, her development of a distinctive stage persona featuring self-deprecating humor and exaggerated costuming, and her experiences performing in nightclubs and on television during the 1960s and 1970s. Diller discusses her marriage, her role as a mother to six children, and the challenges she faced as a woman in a male-dominated field. The title plays on the double meaning of "broad" as both a slang term for a woman and a reference to her perspective as a performer who traveled extensively. The memoir reflects the changing landscape of American comedy and the gradual opening of entertainment industries to female performers during the mid-twentieth century. more