Paula Poundstone is everywhere. She can be heard as a panelist on National Public Radio’s popular news quiz show, “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me,” released a CD in 2009 called “I Heart Jokes: Paula Tells Them In Maine,” and regularly appears as a guest on “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.” If there’s a medium for comedy out there, Paula Poundstone has found a way to bend her comedic stylings around it.
And now, those stylings can be found in Milwaukee.
On Friday, Sept. 16, Poundstone will bring her unique brand of hilarious standup to the Pabst Theater at 7 p.m. The comedienne plans to riff on topics ranging all the way from Abraham Lincoln to the Hardy Boys, while also taking on popular news stories “in order to be a decent voter.” A large chunk of her routine is also autobiographical and features stories about her family, which includes three children, sixteen cats, a dog, a lizard, a bunny and an ant farm.
“I’m a very unproductive farmer,” Poundstone joked. “Not one animal in my house does anything useful.”
Poundstone’s most famous standup element, however, is her ability to interact with the audience. As the night goes on, the performer hears small stories from the crowd and then interweaves those biographies into her routine. These improvised and unplanned crowd conversations are a large part of why the comedienne was named one of the 100 greatest comics of all time by Comedy Central and interviewed for The Comedy Hall of Fame.
Even without the awards, though, Poundstone enjoys the unpredictable interactions on their own merit.
“That’s really the joy of the night,” Poundstone said. “I have material, and I think its good material, but what dictates where I go and what I do is the crowd in front of me.”
Poundstone’s reliance on the crowd during her standup shows was an important reason why the comic did not release her first CD until 2009. While many comedians released CDs long before her debut album, Poundstone wanted to wait for the microphone technology to improve so they would not feel intrusive to the audience.
“During the first HBO special I did, it was a great issue whether or not I would be allowed to talk to the audience,” Poundstone said. “It ended up working very well, but it was a big ball of contention. I kept saying ‘Then why did you hire me?’ It’d be like hiring Houdini but saying no tricks.”
The comedienne’s emphasis on unplanned content extends into much of her other comedic work. For instance, on NPR’s “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me,” Poundstone has unscripted conversations with her other panelists about the various questions and answers given on the show. According to the comic, the panelists were once asked about moving towards more scripted responses, but they all rejected the notion.
“Sometimes that means that there will be a swing and miss,” Poundstone said. “But the audience enjoys knowing that we don’t know what is next and that it is all spontaneous.”
This comedic freedom is also what draws Poundstone to appear on “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” instead of other talk shows.
“Sometimes you’ll have producers come in and tell you what you can or cannot say,” Poundstone said. “They don’t really do that on ‘Craig Ferguson.’”
Whatever medium she works in, whether it is TV, radio or live performance, Paula Poundstone’s unscripted comedic style is the star. Friday’s routine at the Pabst Theater should be no different. In fact, the only predictable thing about the evening is that it will be unpredictable.
Paula Poundstone will be at the Pabst Theater on Friday, Sept. 16. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $24.50 to $42.50. For more info, visit pabsttheater.org.