Adrianne Tolsch

The documentary Take My Nose...Please she co-produced with her husband Bill Scheft, won the audience awards at the Miami Film Festival and the Berkshire International Film Festival. The documentary film also won the 2017 Knight Documentary Achievement Award at the Miami International Film Festival.

She later died of esophageal cancer on December 7, 2016. Aside from Scheft, she was survived by her son, David Kerzner, and a grandson Jonas from her first marriage.

She also received awards for her one-woman cabaret shows Trucks, Guns and Mayonnaise (2004) (which was about her life on the road as a comic} and None of Your Damn Business (2006). In 2004, she received the Cabaret Hotline Award for her performance Trucks, Guns and Mayonnaise and the same award again in 2006 for her show None of Your Damn Business.

Tolsch appeared on Broadway in the comedy review 3 From Brooklyn in 1992 at the Helen Hayes Theatre. She also co-hosted a weekly syndicated radio show called The Better Sex.

Tolsch won Outstanding Female Stand-Up Comic at New York City's MAC Awards in 1990, 1991 and 1994.

She eventually became a success in the New York City comedy club circuit, and became the first woman emcee at Catch a Rising Star. She also managed the club for years, and served as a mentor for young comics. She started out by working in the club and checking coats for people. She spent seven nights a week in the club trying to get a chance to perform. She also considered comedian Richard Belzer to be her mentor, as he had helped her get her start at Catch a Rising Star. In 1981 she was the only woman emcee in any of the New York clubs, in part because she was adept at dealing with hecklers.

As a young adult, Tolsch left college and married her first husband and had a son named David Kerzner. The two split and she later remarried and divorced her second husband. On December 29, 1980, Tolsch met her future husband, comedian and writer Bill Scheft, when he (at first unsuccessfully) auditioned for her at Catch a Rising Star. She rejected Scheft and it wasn't until his sixth audition for her at the club that he secured a regular gig there as an emcee. The two started dating shortly after. Sheft was a writer for comic star David Letterman, who hosted The Tonight Show and other late night comedy shows. Tolsch and Sheft moved in together in 1984 and married in June 1990. She was an avid crossworder along with Scheft. The two shared a passion for comedy and worked on numerous projects together including a YouTube channel called The Tolscheft and the documentary film Take My Nose... Please!, about women in comedy and the unrealistic expectations of women's appearances. They also toured and performed together at multiple locations across the United States.

Tolsch began her comedy career at age 30. In 1976, she began performing improv with The Original Cast troupe before starting in stand-up comedy. Performing had an allure for her. Tolsch stated, "The first time I ever got a standing ovation, you could have taken me right to comic heaven. It was such an affirmation. It's attention, love, it's everything but food and rent."

As a woman in comedy, Tolsch faced backlash from people inside and outside of the comedy industry. She opened up about audience members refusing to laugh during her shows and calling her “not funny.” She reports criticism and men trying to break her spirit as a female comedian. She disclosed an experience performing at a comedy club in Savannah, Georgia and none of the audience members laughed during her set. She stated, "it was a moment where I realized it wasn't my content, or my outfit, or my makeup, it was a mindset of the audience. Despite feeling immense push back in a male-dominated industry, she was determined to continue performing stand up as a woman and was highly successful. Women were not very present or represented in the comedy scene during the 1970s and 80s and had to work harder than men to be successful and have the same opportunities.

Adrianne Tolsch (October 31, 1938 – December 7, 2016) was an American comedian. Tolsch's comedy style is bold, conversational, and covers broad topics. She made jokes about life as a middle-age woman, her sex life, her Jewish identity and Jewish family, and life experiences. She was long associated with the Catch a Rising Star comedy club in New York City, as a performer, club manager, and the club's first woman emcee. She was a headliner at many major comedy clubs in the United States and toured domestically and internationally. She also performed on Broadway and in cabaret shows and was a graphic artist. She was married to fellow comedian and writer Bill Scheft. The two toured together in the United States and co-produced the documentary film Take My Nose... Please!