VENTURA : Comedy Show Looks for Humor at Mall

In a voice remarkably similar to that of TV comedian Roseanne Arnold, Mary Beaudoin recited twisted nursery rhymes for her audition to become one of “America’s Funniest People” on Friday at the Buenaventura Mall.

But Beaudoin, 39, of Ventura, did not appear nervous about performing in front of the video camera under the mall’s glass atrium.

After all, she has performed these routines before.

“I do stuff like this on the bus just to cheer people up,” she said, laughing.

In the nationwide search for ordinary but imaginative people, ABC producer Stephanie Keane said that Ventura County was faring well.

By about 3:30, Keane had seen 40 acts, including an impressive costumed duo who played the ukulele, and a girl who bent her body like a pretzel on the mall floor, arching her back until her toes touched her head. Keane expected to see another 35 acts before auditions were over at 6 p.m.

“There are funny people here,” she said. “It has been a good day.”

Today, the crew will visit La Cumbre Plaza in Santa Barbara, and will move to the state beach in Carpinteria on Sunday.

Candice Hagen, 13, of Oxnard and her 9-year-old neighbor, Jennifer Willis, threw together a routine Thursday night with the hope of winning the $10,000 grand prize awarded each week on the show.

Candice sat Jennifer on her knee, and pretended to be a ventriloquist. Jennifer, she said, was her talking dummy.

“You’re ugly,” Candice said to Jennifer.

Jennifer replied: “Does your face hurt? It’s killing me.”

Candice, who said she wants to be an actress when she grows up, watches the show every week. It airs locally every Sunday on channels 3 and 7 at 8:30 p.m.

Mike Anderson, 11, of Ventura aims to be a professional baseball player. If that doesn’t work out, he hopes to be a comedian. The audition gave him some good practice.

He looked straight into the camera without any expression as he told his joke in a monotonous voice: “What’s the best thing to do if you get swallowed by a whale? Run around until you get pooped out.”