Mothers and PMS. Oversharing and self-absorption. These are the clichéd ingredients of one-woman shows, which Marco Timpano and co-writers Dan and Steven Shehori (Swiss Family Guy Robinson) mocked so successfully during this summer's Fringe in the aptly titled One-Woman Show.
 
"We had no idea if it'd be lauded or if people would be chasing us out of town with torches," says Steven Shehori of the stunt-casted critical darling that put Timpano on stage for an hour as Eileen, grande dame of little theater, as she prepares to mount her latest her de force.

"We didn't want to do something sexist. We really wanted the show to have a point of view, and not be cheap parody," says Shehori. The three of them wrote it at a cottage, putting on Lily Tomlin's The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe whenever they needed inspiration.

"It's by three guys, but we wanted to write in a woman's voice," says Timpano. "So a woman could pick up the script and say, 'This is great, I'd love to do this."

The show is back on for four days at the Diesel, but first Timpano and Shehori put their womanly chops to the test.

What is the girliest thing you've ever done?
MT: In the early '80s I got a perm. That, and a pedicure and manicure I got for the show.
SS: I don't know if it's girly or lazy, but sometimes if I wake up four in the morning and have to pee, I just sit down and do it.

What is the difference between a mule and a pump?
MT: You ride a mule and a pump gets you off.
SS: I'm going to assume a pump is sexier.

As a woman, what kind of chromosomes do you have?
MT: Sexy, strong and sleek — so sharp if you get too close they'll cut you.

Complete this lyric. "I am woman, hear me roar..."
SS: In numbers too big to ignore!

Correct! Hockey mom versus soccer mom — who wins and why?
SS: Hockey mom. They're built a little tougher and turn into vice presidential candidates.
MT: Oh, you're really pulling at heart string because I'm half Italian. But I have to say hockey mom because there's more violence on the ice than on the field. Soccer moms fake it.

Name three Oprah products.
MT: Oprah's Favorite Things, O Magazine and I think it's called O Channel? 
SS: And the Oprah 'Big  O' brand suppositories.

Who is the greatest host, past or present, on The View?
MT: I love Barbara Walters because everyday she looks more and more like a lizard.
SS: It's a tie between the token young Asian one and the token young blonde one.

People in the shows you're satirizing are pretty self-absorbed. But how self-absorbed are you? And be honest.
MT: I would say "somewhat." I think anyone who Googles themselves is guilty as charged.
SS: Hugely. I've Googled myself in different languages. But I have an excuse because, clinically, I have ADD and it's one of the symptoms. It's not my fault, whereas every other person who is self-absorbed has full culpability.

Best bets
Live improvised cartoons (yes, that's right) are back on the screen at Comedy Bar this weekend courtesy of Flash animator Rene Dellefont, up from Georgia, and the voices of local improv-ers 10,000 to Flight. Sep 11-13, 8pm. $5-$8. 945b Bloor St. W.

Two-man sketch and stand-up team Adam Wilson and Stefan Fylak are together again as Bacterial Culture, and play the Rivoli — with Todd Van Allen, Dave Martin of Corktown Radio and Derek Forgie. Sep 17, 8:30pm. 334 Queen St. W.