Paula Poundstone interview 2/9/2023

Paula Poundstone, a well-known comedian, will be performing in Northwest Jersey on February 18th at the Mayo Performing Arts Center. She discusses the importance of laughter and the unique experience of performing in front of a live audience. Paula emphasizes the value of community and the joy of sharing laughter with others. She also talks about her approach to comedy and the importance of being mindful of not offending anyone. Paula expresses her admiration for New Jersey and her fantasy of retiring on a farm there. She encourages people to attend her show and enjoy a night of laughter. It's Northwest Jersey's own R.N.J. Good morning, it's Bert. It is the R.N.J. Morning Program. We'll get ready for a night of big-time laughs coming to Northwest Jersey on Saturday, February 18th at 8 p.m. at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown. Taking the stage that night will be really one of the most iconic comedians of our generation. She's conquered the world of books and movies and stand-up comedy and television and has really just done everything and is now out doing a national tour, getting people to laugh again, which is a good thing. So great this morning to spend a couple moments with Paula Poundstone here at the R.N.J. Morning Program. Paula, it's Bert Barron. Thanks so much for the time today. Really appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. Oh, thank you. One thing I learned a long time ago, do not out-funny the funny person. So any laughs from our conversation will come from you. I'm going to stay in my lane this whole time. Oh, oh no. You know, it's better if we all join in. Okay. You can take them where you can get them these days. People don't have to come see me, although I wish they would, but they do have to find a place, you know, whether it's gathering with friends, watching, you know, you gotta, it's really important to structure. You gotta take your laughter seriously. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, you have to. And Paula, I know it's great to be in front of people. We've been stuck inside for three years. I'm not going to ask you what it's like to be back in front of a live audience, but there's really nothing like that. Just to have a full theater and everybody having a great time, there's no way to replace that. It really is great. It really is great. And you know, that's the other thing. I think the idea of a community of people around you that you don't necessarily know, because, you know, even if you go to a show in your town, you don't know everybody in the room. But that, the value of that group experience, I think I took for granted. You know, I don't think it occurred to me how important it was, but it really is. Sometimes too, you know, I'm a big Three Stooges fan, and a couple times I took my kids to Three Stooges film festivals, and we, I mean, I've seen all those shorts literally hundreds of times, but when I was watching with a group who are fans of the Three Stooges, first of all, we were caught in literally waves of laughter. Whereas when I watch at home, I don't laugh out loud, I just acknowledge in my head that I think it's funny. But when you watch with a group, you know, you get caught up in that reaction. And the other thing is, sometimes I would see and hear things that even though I've seen it a hundred times, I never saw or heard before when, you know, when I heard what other people were reacting to. You know, which also tells you that I'm a lemming. But I'm a lemming in a good way. I'm a Stooges lemming. Oh, come on. You're one of the most unique people I've ever seen in entertainment. Are you kidding? You're no lemming. You know, my favorite part of any show is talking to the audience. I do the time-honored, where are you from, what do you do for living, and in this way, little biographies of audience members emerge, and I use that from which to set my sales. So what makes each show unique is that I never quite know where I'm going. I, you know, to some degree, it's dictated by, you know, by who's in front of me and who I'm talking to. Very much like if you're at a party. You know, you go through the door and the first thing you do is complain about the parking and how lost you got. And then somebody says, oh, tell that story you told before, and you tell that, you know. And then you talk about current events, and then somebody on the other side of the room spills a drink, and you mock them. And it's all, you know, it's all sort of dictated by who you're with. Oh, that's true. Yeah, very true. That's why it's what makes, there's no two shows from you that are ever the same, because your interaction with the audience and just the fact that it's, you don't stick to the script. That's what I think makes you so unique and so special for all these years. You know, I've been trying to stick to the script, or I did used to try really hard. I have no memory. So it really became this thing that I did because I just had no choice. I couldn't remember what I had planned to say. And so I was like, well, I'll just say this. And the truth is, you know, everything you say was new once. That's true, yeah. Sometimes people are like, well, I don't know how you thought of that. Well, it's the same way I thought of anything else that I've said. You know, stuff just, again, in the conversation, you lay in place the conditions that make your brain fertile. That's always my hope. Yeah, that's what it's about, right? Paula Poundstone is my guest this morning. Our NJ Morning Program, Mayo Performing Arts Center, Morristown. Terrific night of comedy if you're there on Saturday, February 18th. 8 p.m. show. Get your tickets at mayoarts.org. Get some friends. Have some fun. My god, it's been so long since we've been able to laugh out loud. So get there and really have a great, great time at the show there. Paula, nowadays, do you worry about sensitivity of audiences or offending people? I know that's a challenge that comedians maybe didn't have to face some years ago, but now everybody's so hyper-tuned on every little word you say. Do you consider that at all during your show? You know, it's never been my goal to offend anybody. You know, I mean, I have... I remember years ago when I first arrived in San Francisco where I worked and lived for a couple of years really early on in my career. I was struck by, you know, a city that has a reputation for a lot of gay people living there, and indeed, a lot of gay people live there. And the audiences often were, you know, peppered with gay audience members. And I was always struck by how often people would make really derogatory gay jokes. And I think for the most part, the gay community had a pretty good sense of humor about it, you know what I mean? But there had to have been a part where they kind of felt like, you know, just used. They were just used to people doing that. It wasn't because anybody should have been doing that. And watching that really got me thinking that I wanted to be a place where people could come and not worry. I mean, part of it's because it's what's in my heart, you know. On the other hand, have I ever said something that was probably insensitive to one group or another? Absolutely. Because, you know, you can't walk a mile in everybody's shoes, you know, never intentionally, but absolutely I've been guilty of, you know, saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Socially too, by the way. But anyways, so yeah, do I have a little voice in the back of my head saying, you know, be careful? Yeah, there is. And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I think it's a good thing. I don't feel like horribly restricted by it. By the way, I mean, people make fun of me all the time. And sometimes I think it's funny, and sometimes it strikes the wrong chord. You know, I try not to be thin-skinned in life, but every now and then you do just want everybody on your side. Here's something I changed in the last few years. I used to make an effort, wasn't lifelong, it was just a little period, where I, you know, I made an effort to almost apologize for Trump jokes. And I don't do that anymore. He's transgressed against our country, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with saying so. There's a time where I was like, well, if there's any people you've interviewed, and then I just went, you know what, never mind. I used to do meet and greets after my show, which I stopped because of COVID. But I can't tell you how many times people came up to me and, you know, we chit-chatted for a little while. And then they would hug me and whisper in my ear, um, I'm a Republican. And it would always make me, it would, it warmed my heart. It would make me laugh, and I'd be like, well, thank you for being here. Thank you for telling me. What it means is that there are, you know, we always think there's no, you know, there's no real Republicans out there anymore, and that's not true. They're just, they're not shouting it. Paula Poundstone's my guest this morning at the RNJ Morning Program. Coming out to the East Coast, New Jersey, Saturday, February 18th at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, 8 p.m. Tickets on sale now, mayoarts.org. Get your tickets. It's a Saturday night, going to be a real lot of laughs, and it's going to be just a great, great night of comedy with Paula Poundstone. You like Jersey, Paula. New Jersey, we're a good breed of human being, don't you think? I do. I love New Jersey. I've long had a fantasy of retiring to a farm in New Jersey. When I tell that to people, they look at me like I have two heads. And like, because a lot of people don't know there's all this country in New Jersey. They all just think of the old, what exit joke. But my daughter pointed out to me that because I have two cats and two big dogs, she's like, how would you get all those animals out there? And I'm like, yeah, you're right. Wonderful. Well, Paula, thank you again so much for the time today. Again, February 18th, Mayo Center in Morristown. Website, anything you want to mention when we're wrapping up here? Yeah, PaulaPoundstone.com. Paula Poundstone, a great, great pleasure to speak with you today. Safe trip to the East Coast and we'll see you in a couple weeks. Thanks again. I appreciate it. Take care. Thank you.