NPR’s suspender-wearing, in-house comedian Paula Poundstone has a message to anyone who plans to catch her stand-up act Saturday at the Meyer Theatre in Green Bay.
"I’m looking forward to coming to Wisconsin," she said. "And I want to tell people, so you don’t rush out to get me a gift, I already have a cheese cloth."
Poundstone’s quick-witted style of comedy is probably most recognized from her regular appearances as a panelist on NPR’s weekend game show "Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me!" Those who plan to attend Poundstone’s set Saturday can expect a non-scripted routine that deviates from many traditional comics who memorize a sequence of jokes verbatim.
Poundstone said she likes to improvise by riffing off the crowd and building punchlines off the quick biographies from audience members. She added that her poor short-term memory leaves her no other choice.
"I’ve been doing this job for 36 years, and many, many years ago it dawned on me that oftentimes the really fun part of the night was the part when I forgot what I was going to say. So I sort of started allowing myself to do that," Poundstone said.
Over the years, Poundstone has broken down a lot of walls for women in comedy. She’s written for Glamour, The Los Angeles Times and Mother Jones, among other publications. In 1989, she won the American Comedy Award for "Best Female Stand-Up Comic," and added more accolades the next year when she became the first female to win the CableACE award for best standup comedy special.
But Poundstone said that stand-up comedian is a genderless job — funny is funny. She added that not only is it fun to go out and laugh for an hour, it’s good for your health.
"It’s this really cool thing that nature, for whatever reason, has given us," she said. "It’s healing, it reduces pain, and that thing of not being at home watching stuff on YouTube or television, but being out with a group and being caught up with that wave of laughter, is like no other experience."
Unlike her appearances on NPR, Poundstone said those who come to her standup show shouldn’t expect for her to answer questions about the latest news of the week. She joked that although she loves the "Morning Edition" voices of Renée Montagne and Steve Inskeep, she’s looking forward to a week off of vigilant listening.