With smart, observational humor and a legendary spontaneous interaction with the crowd, Paula Poundstone is one of our country’s pre-eminent comedians. Writes Nick Zaino with the Boston Globe, “You know that she is a great comic, the way you know any fine performer when you see one—there’s a disarming ease in her craft, an immediate sense that she’s so quick on her feet you need never worry about the possibility of something going wrong.”
Poundstone’s razor sharp wit and impeccable timing makes for the perfect fit as a regular panelist on NPR’s #1 show, the weekly comedy news quiz, Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! When asked about Paula, Wait, Wait host Peter Sagal replied, “Paula Poundstone is the funniest human being I have ever known. Everything she does, thinks, or says is hilarious. If you cut her into bits, each piece would be funny. (But don’t!). Air becomes funny having been breathed by her.”
Poundstone is also an Author. Her second book, The Totally Unscientific Study Of The Search For Human Happiness (Algonquin Books) landed at #1 on amazon best sellers lists in Humor in Hardcover, Audible and CD within its first two weeks of release.
Poundstone voiced the character “Forgetter Paula” in Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out, winner of the 2017 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Poundstone’s commentaries have been seen on CBS Sunday Morning and heard on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Recent guest appearances include Late Night with Stephen Colbert, Last Call with Carson Daly, Star Talk with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Nerdist with Chris Hardwick.
A star of several HBO specials, Poundstone also starred in her own series on HBO and ABC, The Paula Poundstone Show. Her memorable coverage of the 1992 Presidential election as a special correspondent for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, followed by behind-the-scenes coverage at the 45th Annual Prime Time Emmy Awards in 1993 set the standard for those who followed..
Poundstone was the first woman, in its then 73rd year, to share the dais with the President and perform standup comedy at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. She won an American Comedy Award for Best Female Standup Comic and is recognized in innumerable lists, documentaries and literary compendiums noting influential standup comedians of our time. www.paulapoundstone.com • twitter.com/paulapoundstone •facebook.com/paulapoundstone