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Written by Gregg Shapiro
Aug 25, 2011
Paula Poundstone – Photo: Courtesy
Paula Poundstone – Photo: Courtesy
Known for her deadpan delivery and distinctive style of dress – men’s suits and neckties – out comedian Paula Poundstone has been a continual presence on the stand-up circuit for nearly 30 years. She’s best-known today as one of the panelists on the popular NPR radio show “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.” A loving mother of three children and a devoted human to a menagerie of pets, Poundstone spoke with WiG late last year.
Gregg Shapiro: Paula, I'd like to begin by asking about the neckties. When and how did this fashion statement begin?
Paula Poundstone: In the most mundane way. I was in a store that had a tie that I saw and I liked. I thought, “Hey, why do men complain about this? They’re so pretty.” I just started wearing it. It was a lovely green polka dot tie. It … must’ve been about 16 years ago. It happed that at the time I started wearing ties there were some really great fabrics out. (Designer) Nicole Miller – she’s the one who does the theme fabrics – like my favorite one is the (one with) junk food. Then there’s a crossword puzzle one that I have and one with movie and theater tickets.
You probably have to go to vintage stores to get the good stuff.
Yeah! But I’ve got good stuff in my closet. A lot of my ties have been given to me. I was working in Manitowoc recently and the airlines lost my luggage, so I had no clothes. I Twitter and made some joke about the airlines losing my luggage, and I’m in the hotel and this couple comes up to me with ties. They had gone to a Salvation Army to bring me a selection of ties. And the ties have been tied by many a famous person. Carl Kassel has tied my ties for me. Garrison (Keillor) has tied my ties. …Usually, I have the bellman or some guy in the front row tie it for me, if it’s even untied. Because I often leave them tied for years.
Is being on “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” as much fun as it sounds?
I’m glad it sounds like fun, because, you know what, it is a blast! I’m sure it only captures a fraction … because sometimes they edit us out because we’re laughing so hard, we’re annoying. I think Adam Felber and I have to be separated now because we just plain get silly. Here’s a little known factoid – I’m actually trying to win!
Are you a competitive person?
Oh, yeah. I try really hard to win. I had no success at all for years. Then I finally broke through the glass ceiling, as it were, I finally managed one time. Then another couple years went by. People come up to me all the time and say, “We were listening the day you won.”
What has it been like to be a guest expert on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”?
It was really fun. I felt so bad for anybody who got me as their expert. That’s a stroke of bad luck right there. I knew nothing! The only thing that I could do that was helpful to the people was to confess right away that I knew nothing and not to listen to me. …
It’s kind of hard to believe, but you just released your first comedy CD (in late 2010). Why did you choose to do so at that point in time?
Somebody hammered me into it, really. And I’m not even sure who it was. My manager and I had talked about it for years. But the truth is the technology has changed so much that it was so easy. All I had to do was tell jokes. There was no big tricky thing to it and it was pretty much inexpensive to do. No fuss, no muss.
You were named the 2009 national spokesperson for the Association of Library Trustees Advocates, Friends and Foundations, which is fitting for someone who has published a book. In addition to being a writer, are you a voracious reader?
I don’t think “voracious” is the right word. I love to read and I’m absolutely in knots any time I’m in a library or bookstore because I’m like, “Oh, my God, I’m so far behind.” (I read) two pages and I’m out like a light. That is the problem that I have. I’m always reading something, but I do read awfully slowly. I’m not a good newspaper reader, because by the time I get through it, generally speaking, the incident is long past. Global warming will have been solved by the time I read all the articles on the subject.
When can readers expect your next book?
Not today or tomorrow. I’m a little slow. It took me nine years to write the first book. I’m hoping to bring this one in under that. I’m not sure exactly when, but I’m working on it. It has to take a backseat to that which I do for a living. And so I have to fit it in in the cracks of my life. I’m a working mom with three kids, 13 cats, a German shepherd mix, a bearded dragon lizard and a giant, lop-eared bunny that seems to just keep growing, so there’s not a lot of cracks in my life. One of my favorite things to say to my children, when they tell me I somehow did something wrong or didn’t do enough or why didn’t I do this or how come we don’t have that is, “Do you see me sitting in a chair with my feet up?” “Was Mom eating bon-bons today?”
Are you shying away from the subject of politics in your current work or are you finding a way to work it in to your material?
I do work it in. My work is largely autobiographical. I go from big picture to little picture, about a hundred times a day, by the way. (In my act) there are periods of time where I’m talking about my kids, I’m talking about the people in the crowd, talking about raising a house full of animals. Then there are other times where I’m more focused on the world, politics, the bigger picture. Never as an expert by the way, but only as a voter, just barely hanging on.
