Brassy Broads Comedy Show, a troupe of women “of a certain age,” has discovered that “nicely naughty” humor might be the best retirement plan of all
Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, March 22, 2026
by Barbara Bry
The “Brassy Broads,” is a comedy troupe, shown here performing at the Coronado Historical Association in February, who describe their humor as “nicely naughty.” They tackle topics like dating in your 60s and the absurdities of aging. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Six women in motorcycle jackets saunter onto the stage at the Coronado Historical Association, dancing to a goofy opening number. The youngest is 62. The oldest, Ashley Gardner, proudly announces she’s 80 1/2.
“Age is only a number,” she deadpans. “My number is unlisted, as one of my comedy mates, Carolyn Ayres, says.”
Welcome to the Brassy Broads Comedy Show, a troupe of women “of a certain age” who’ve discovered that “nicely naughty” humor might be the best retirement plan of all.
Ashley Gardner, one of the founders of the Brassy Broads, had a diverse career that included radio and television, owning a video production company and serving as executive director of the Women’s Museum of California, which is now part of the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park. Then in 2022, at age 78, she took a six-week comedy class at ActLiveNow in Point Loma with her friend Carolyn Ayres.
“We had so much fun, we took it again,” Gardner recalls from her home in the South Bay, where she lives with her husband of 33 years, Peter Meisen. “We met other women in different classes and thought, ‘This is really joyful, getting up on stage and making people laugh.’ We were coming out of COVID. It felt like exactly what we needed.”
By 2023, the Brassy Broads were born. The troupe now has 10 members, with five or six performing in any given show. They’ve entertained audiences at the Emerald Gallery in Coronado, New Village Arts in Carlsbad, and private parties. Proceeds benefit the James Shirey Foundation, established by founding member Sue Shirey in memory of her son who died at age 14 due to complications from congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
The first rule that Gardner learned in comedy class was “don’t try to be funny. Find the funny.”
“It’s about telling your own authentic story,” Gardner explains. “Stand-up comedy is looking at your life and finding the humor. My husband never hangs up the dish towel. That could really annoy me, but I can make it funny, and then I get over it.”
She also learned about the rule of three, a classic comedy writing tenet in which the first two items establish a pattern or expectation and the third breaks the pattern with something unexpected or absurd.
Gardner’s signature act is her impersonation of Sophie Tucker, “the last of the red hot mamas,” a vaudeville star from the 1920s and ’30s. She wears a blonde wig, flapper clothing and yellow gloves to deliver Tucker’s raunchy jokes. Her husband Peter provides cowbell accompaniment and serves as “the butt of many of the jokes,” she says.
She discovered Tucker through Bette Midler, who performed one of Tucker’s routines in concert. “I love that humor,” Gardner says. “I looked up Sophie Tucker and discovered all these jokes. They’re just priceless.” The fact that Tucker — told she was “too fat and too ugly” for vaudeville — persevered to become a star resonates with Gardner’s philosophy about aging: bring it on.
Gardner also performs her own material, mining her life. She talks about being married to an engineer (“how humorous that can be”), falling off her bike and breaking both wrists and all the things that her husband then had to do to help her with her daily life, and her fascination with men’s balls, which turns out to be about sports. “Keep your mind out of the gutter,” she tells the audience. “That’s all I know about sports.”
The Brassy Broads tackle topics like dating in your 60s (“the inventory is low and so is the testosterone”), physical changes and the absurdities of aging. They describe their humor as “nicely naughty.”
“If something annoys you and you can turn it around and make it funny, it just takes care of it,” Gardner says. “It’s really an interesting way to approach your life.”
“Writing comedy, memorizing it and performing it has to be good for the aging brain,” Gardner says. “Keeping those synapses working on new things. I think that’s one of the reasons I like it.”
Outside of comedy, Gardner has served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate with Voices for Children since 2017, tends her vegetable garden, travels with her husband and spends time with her daughter and two grandsons. She is the author of four children’s books, using AI to create the illustrations.
I ask Gardner what she’d tell other seniors considering something new and potentially scary like stand-up comedy. Her answer is pure Sophie Tucker: “Life begins at 60, and I’m living it all over again.”
The Brassy Broads are available for bookings at private parties and events. More information can be found on their website.
