Mimi Fariña at the Committee

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She moved to San Francisco after Richard's death and started "hanging around with other musicians, then, eventually, with members of The Committee, the groundbreaking San Francisco satirical comedy collective of the 1960s. She once called them her "grief group."

"I must have gone at least once a week for a year to see them, and I'm sure now it was my healing because I could go there and laugh and laugh," she says. She started dating one of the members and one day was offered a job. "I thought it was as a waitress, of course, and I was terrified because, with my learning problems, I didn't think I'd be able to count change." When she realized they wanted her to perform she was both flattered and terrified. "I sort of bit my lip and threw myself into it, but I never felt at ease. It was like going out every night to be battered. But Dick loved The Committee and I think I was testing being him, as if I had gained some of his energy when he died. I just thought, 'This is what I'm supposed to be doing now.' "

Mimi Fariña, was a member of The Committee, a group of talented comedians and improvisers. Unknown year

We’re grateful to Jeremy Paz, John Brent’s son, who lent us a number of audiotapes that feature interviews with several Committee members, many of whom are no longer with us. We thought this one might be a nice tease. The labels are a little hard to read, but the tapes read, from top to bottom, “Garry”, “Mimi Farina Interview”, and “Committee Weekend”. There are several more. Thanks, Jeremy, for entrusting these valuables with us. They are being stored under armed guard in a climate-controlled former salt mine near Area 51.

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The photo that Joan Baez used to paint Mimi's portrait

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The December 4th, 1967 issue of The Key marks Mimi Farina’s Committee debut: “The all new revue opening December 6 at THE COMMITTEE–cabaret theater at 622 Broadway–is anticipated to far outstrip their heretofore highly successful venture into the realm of ingeniously clever barbed wit and satirical lampooning of sacred cows, fetishes, political issues and timely topics. The closely knit and highly talented cast, comprised of Mimi Farina, Peter Bonerz, Barbara Bosson, Carl Gottlieb, Garry Goodrow, and Morgan Upton (backed by musicians Ellsworth Millburn and Mathieu), merrily skitters from treacherous innocence to side-splitting blockbuster with a wry humour, bright, brittle and boisterous.”

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