Award-winning comedian and actor Paula Poundstone is bringing her always-unique comedy set to the area this summer, with a performance this month at the Levoy Theatre in Millville, N.J.
The comedy veteran is known for her wry wit and spontaneous interactions with her audience. In fact, it has been said that Poundstone has never done the same show twice.
“I talk about raising a houseful of kids and animals,” she said of the topics on her mind these days. “My favorite part of the night is just talking to the audience. What happens is these little biographies of audience members emerge. The truth is everything that gets said reminds me of a little story or something that I might add. So that is the launching place oftentimes for what direction I go in. There are nights where I don’t do that as much but every night is different.”
In addition to her standup shows, Poundstone is also known for commentary on NPR and shows like “CBS Sunday Morning.” While she says she does like to get political with her humor, people should not look to her as an expert or authority on politics.
“I am not a political analyst nor a historian,” she said. “I don’t even always consider myself correct. There are huge gaps in my body of knowledge about lots and lots of things, including politics and policy. But it’s impossible to resist, for me anyways, talking about [Donald] Trump. It started out really funny and somewhere along the way it jettisoned into something else. We all thought it was so funny in the beginning and we didn’t realize how high the wire was getting. You don’t even have to be a strong student of history to recognize the similarities of pitting one group against another and really dark parts of history around the world. You don’t have to be a genius to see that it is not a good idea. What’s shocking is to find out how many people do think that is a good idea. Trump just happens to be the guy carrying the message this time. I try to keep my eye on what’s happening in the world. I think it makes you a better voter and a better citizen.
“I don’t think he should be president but I think he should get himself a better TV show when it’s all over,” Poundstone added about Trump, “because clearly he’s a ratings bonanza and if people like that, then they should have it. He just shouldn’t be president.”
Poundstone also stay busy with voice-acting work, with her most recent and high-profile gig as a small part in the smash animated film “Inside Out.”
“Pixar, I have no idea why they called me,” Poundstone said about the film. “But it was so exciting because that is unquestionably the gold standard of animated movies. They’ve done such remarkable work and I was so excited to be even in a teeny part of that film. Me, and the guy who played opposite me, if you blinked you missed us in the film, but we went to the premiere and afterwards we high-fived each other because we knew we were the luckiest two people in that room.”
Besides live performances, Poundstone said she is also working on a memoir, expected out next year.
“I’m in the final throws of finishing a book,” she said. “The grueling writing part of it is over. I’m still recovering from the experience of writing that book. Oh, my God. I don’t know how anybody writes for a living. It’s called ‘The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search of Human Happiness,’ and it is a book where I did what I or other people thought would make me happy. It’s not just the experience itself or whether or not that thing was uplifting or fun to do, it’s how well does that emotion store when you return to your regular life. It took me far longer than I ever thought it would to write. It crossed quite a swath of my life and my children’s lives and so it ends up being an account of raising my family.”
Paula Poundstone performs 8 p.m. June 17 at The Levoy Theatre, 126 N. High St., Millville, N.J. For more information or tickets, call 856-327-6400 or visit www.paulapoundstone.com.