SPOILER ALERT… if you have not heard FIONA MCCANN’S amazing and profound story of an Irish girl teaching English in Japan, you may want to hold off on reading  the postscript below until after you’ve watched the video!

As a postscript to my tale of mouthfuls and an empty stomach, I’d like to add that I have fully recovered from the eating disorder I described in this story.  I hit rock bottom with an almighty crash in Japan, but thanks to the energies of some wonderful people – my irrepressibly chirpy landlady Mrs Sekiguchi made it her mission to feed me and would not be deterred by what she called my Karen Carpentry – and to some survival instinct that kicked in when I was almost licked, I made it. I returned to Ireland after that year a little closer to a normal weight, and once I was back in a country where I could at least follow a conversation, I went to meetings and tried some therapy. But mostly I read. I read whatever I could find about eating disorders, got my feminism on, chose angry over hungry and found the fight to beat the thing once and for all. Oh, and I learned to spell anorexia. You know, in case it ever came up in a crossword.

AMBER JO told a riveting and hilarious STORY during THE NOVEMBER 17th, ‘That’s a Mouthful’ show. Where it all began: At the age of 10, I worked very hard to earn $50 spending money for my class’s field trip to Kings Island amusement park. I entered the gates and was immediately obsessed with the idea of winning a gigantic, stuffed, Scooby Doo doll. Determined, I stood and tossed rings at 50 cents a pop until my entire $50 was spent. Having no money for food or drink, I had to tell my teacher, Mr. Maynard who was quick to shame  me. I didn’t win the doll, but I did manage to escape from my teacher and make-out with a 12 year old in the dark, haunted boat ride. SCORE! The gambler in me remained dormant for 19 years until that fateful day my co-worker asked me to join that damn charity poker tournament. 

The last show’s theme was ‘That’s a Mouthful’ and so it seemed only fitting to have two people, with feisty and different points of view, telling the same story. And why not have those people be two sisters who are charming, hilarious,  say gross things, and are easy on the eyes?