June 16, 2026 – Bestselling author, actress, producer, and talk show host, Vicki Abelson, thrice appeared on Saturday Night Live, co-starred in a pilot for Comedy Central, and went mano a mano with Michael Imperioli in Henry Jaglom’s The M Word. Her celebrity talk show, Game Changers with Vicki Abelson, can be seen Wednesdays, Live @5 PM PT on Facebook & YouTube, as can Shooting The Shit With Vicki, Live @5ish on Mondays.
A. New York. There’s no place like it. I love Paris, London, Rome, and Florence, but there’s no place like home!
Q. Who is your favorite performer, living or dead?
A. Bruno Mars. Will be seeing him live for the 4th time in just a few years. I’ve never seen anyone give more every time he hits the stage. And, currently, Cole Escola, who makes me laugh harder than anyone. We saw him in Oh, Mary! on Broadway, and just got tickets to see him at the Ahmanson.
Q. What is your favorite App?
A. I’m a Facebook junkie.
Q. What book would you most like to see turned into a movie or TV show that hasn’t already been adapted?
A. Don’t Jump: Sex, Drugs, Rock And Roll… And My Fucking Mother. My #1 Amazon Bestseller.
Q. Who is your favorite film director?
A. Lina Wertmuller held the title when I was younger. Spielberg always amazes me, Hitchcock, and Scorsese. Woody Allen for comedy, until his personal life overshadowed his work.
Q. What sound or sounds do you most remember from your childhood?
A. Pop music, in early childhood, rock a little later. Music was a huge part of my childhood. My father was a nightclub singer, so all of the standards were a big part of my childhood, but he also loved pop music. I always had music playing, and when we were in the car, the radio was always on.
Q. Which film have you watched the most?
A. The Wizard of Oz. We watched it every year growing up, and I’ve seen it many times in adulthood. I recently got to see it at The Sphere – incredible! For someone who loves psychedelics, it always spoke to me.
Q. What book(s) have you read more than once?
A. My program books! Siddhartha and The Bell Jar come to mind.
Q. Who is your favorite celebrity in recovery?
A. I love Anthony Hopkins’ passion for sobriety. I’ve never met him, but I see his videos and read his posts.
Q. Which part of your treatment and recovery do you feel was the most interesting or unexpected?
A. Working the Steps with a sponsor changed my life profoundly and continues to do so, including when I guide sponsees through them. I always learn from the experience, and I trust, grow.
Q. What do you love most about living sober?
A. I love the peace sobriety brings to my life. The tools that enable me to work through life’s challenges. There are still plenty of them, but I know where to go, who to call, and what to do. Thanks to the 10th Step, I go to bed with a clear mind, which is such a gift to my busy brain. I love the community of alcoholics and addicts who have become family, and the fact that my kids only know me as a sober woman who goes to meetings, has sponsors, sponsees, says “I was wrong,” and “I’m sorry,” and means it.
Q. What major event or realization shaped who you are?
A. My parents’ divorce forced me to grow up quickly and become self-sufficient.
Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. President Obama is certainly right up there. He always exhibits grace, compassion, empathy, kindness, strength, intelligence, and open-mindedness, and dedication to making the world a better place.
Q. Who made you feel seen growing up?
A. My father. Even though my parents divorced when I was very young, he made seeing me every weekend and calling me daily a priority in his life. He celebrated my accomplishments and encouraged me.
Q. Who has been the biggest influence throughout your life?
A. My father. He taught me how to love, show up, passionately pursue my creativity, and be dynamic in all that I do.
Q. If you had an extra million dollars, which charity would you donate it to?
A. I’d split it between Parkinsons, Alzheimer’s and Cancer research. They’ve all struck close to home.
Q. How do you measure success?
A. Doing what I love, having it be of service to others, and doing it to the best of my ability.
Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s) of choice and when is your sobriety date?
A. My sober date is April 7, 2002. Pot was my drug of choice; I gave that up on November 25, 2000, but I abused many drugs and alcohol.
Q. Is there anything special in your sobriety toolkit that helps keep you sober?
A. I have a village. It takes two sponsors, two therapists, a God squad, and a lot of “fellows” to keep me as sane as possible and sober.
God letters have been an invaluable tool, and the Serenity Prayer has been the most consistent help to me from Day 1 through today.
Q. Are you binge watching any TV series?
A. Always! Just finished “The Following” with Kevin Bacon. Late to the party, loved it. We binged “From,” and are suffering through the slow one-at-a-time drop. Same with “Dutton Ranch” and “Cape Fear.”
Q. What is something you’ve learned about yourself in the last six months?
A. I’m not as vulnerable as I thought I was. Working on that.
Q. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?
A. To live in the moment, leaving the past behind without worry of the future.
Q. Which living person do you most despise?
A. The idiot at the top of our political structure.
Q. What is your favorite compliment to receive, and why?
A. Laughter. I was a short-lived comedian, but the seed was planted. Whether during WWW’s opening snarks, my live shows, my book, columns, or even my posts on Facebook, when something I say or write moves someone to laugh out loud, shed a tear, or commiserate a feeling, that’s the greatest validation for me.
Q. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
A. Being a mother. My kids are amazing humans. Thanks to sobriety and recovery, I’ve been my best self with them. Career-wise, Women Who Write, which was a literary salon in my living room for a dozen years which brought insanely talented musicians, writers, and actors to an intimate setting where a large group of mainly women met monthly, broke bread, shared laughter, tears, and built relationships personally and professionally. Until the pandemic, the last Tuesday of the month was our church and our joy.
Q. What do you value most in a friendship?
A. Loyalty, trust, and effort.
Q. What are five things you always carry with you (not including cell phone, keys, wallet, or lipstick)?
A. Zomig – in case I get a migraine, my beau’s meds, a pen, cough drops, my glasses.
Q. What is your favorite cuisine?
A. I could eat pizza every day of my life.
Q. What is the best concert/performance/play you’ve ever attended?
A. The final preview of The Producers on Broadway was one of the most thrilling theatrical experiences I’ve experienced. Seeing The Who for the first time with a full orchestra under the stars at the Hollywood Bowl. The first time I saw Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway in the 60s. Oliver, which was the first Broadway show I attended and sparked me to want to do that. And the aforementioned, Oh, Mary! Funniest play I’ve ever seen since The Producers.
Q. How important are your pets to you?
A. Extremely! I had my first dog when I was 11. I had no idea how to take care of him. While I was at school a couple of weeks later, my mother took him away. It was beyond traumatizing. I adopted a just-born kitten in high school, which my mother shockingly let me keep, and had another cat through my 20s. Because we were bi-coastal for many years, we didn’t have a pet when my kids were growing up. My beau came with Rufus, our red golden, who has been the light of my life, the dog beyond my dreams.
Q. When did you realize you were a grown-up?
A. When I smoked my first cigarette. Kidding, but that’s partially true.
Q. Where are you from and where do you reside now?
A. I’m from New York and got sober there. I was then bi-coastal for some years, attending meetings on both coasts. LA has been my home for 20 years.
Q. What is your Astrological sign?
A. Scorpio
Q. What is one word you would use to describe yourself?
