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arol Leifer is an Emmy-nominated comedy writer and producer whose credits include The Larry Sanders Show and Seinfeld, for which she also served as the inspiration for the character of Elaine Benes. She’s been charming audiences as a stand-up since the late 1970s, and has starred in several Showtime specials. She brings her smart, poignant comedy to her one-woman show When You Lie About Your Age, the Terrorists Win, also the title of her forthcoming Random House book.

Here’s what Leifer says about both: “The show is readings from my new book, and it runs the gamut, from pieces about aging and plastic surgery, to adopting a baby at 50, to losing my father. I wrote a piece about the first Father’s Day after my dad passed away and about my mom selling the house that I grew up in, so it’s really a million different things. It’s a good title because I believe women should embrace their age and embrace who they are. If you don’t buy the negative hype, aging can be a really wonderful and great experience. I have a very positive outlook on aging and I’m much happier at 50 than I was at 40.

“There is absolutely a connection between losing my father and suddenly wanting to be a mother. I never really thought about having children, but losing him really sparked something in me. I appreciate my life more as I get older because I do see the finish line at the end-especially with all these big life events happening and hitting that milestone of 50. But I do think that my comedy has changed in that I can go to these more poignant places, these spiritual and thoughtful places that I couldn’t really go to with my stand-up. Stand-up is pretty much setup, punch line, setup, punch line, and not to demean it at all, that’s just the form. Whereas with these essays, I feel like I could really explore territory that I couldn’t before. What’s really great about it is that it’s really hitting a nerve with people, like stand-up, but a different chord.”