bergenPAC presents Paula Poundstone 9/23

32 years ago Paula Poundstone climbed on a Greyhound bus and traveled across the country -- stopping in at open mic nights at Comedy Clubs as she went. She went on to become one of our country's foremost humorists. You can hear her through your laughter as a regular panelist on NPR's #1 show, a rascal of a weekly news quiz show, Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me. This year she was part of the talented cast in Pixar's critically acclaimed movie, Inside Out, and she tours regularly, performing standup comedy across the country, causing Bob Zany with the Boston Globe to write: "Poundstone can regale an audience for several hours with her distinctive brand of wry, intelligent and witty comedy." Audience members may put it a little less elegantly: "I peed my pants."

Poundstone's ability to be spontaneous with a crowd is the stuff of legend. Poundstone says, "No two shows I do are the same. It's not that I don't repeat material. I do. My shows, when they're good, and I like to think they often are, are like a cocktail party. When you first get there, you talk about how badly you got lost and how hard it was to find parking. Then you tell a story about your kids or what you just saw on the news. You meet some new people and ask them about themselves. Then, someone says, "Tell that story you used to tell," and then someone on the other side of the room spills a drink, and you mock them. No one ever applauds me when I leave a party, though. I think they high five." Paula's interchanges with the audience are never mean or done at a person's expense. She even manages to handle politics without provoking the pall of disapproval less artful comics receive.

It has been said of Poundstone that she not only shot through the glass ceiling, she never acknowledged it was there. She was never one to stereotype herself as a 'female comedian' or limit herself to comedy from a 'female' point of view. Over the span of her career, she has amassed a list of awards and accolades that include: The first woman to win the cable ACE Award for Best Standup Comedy Special (1992); The first woman to perform standup at the White House Correspondents dinner (1993); Starred in her own comedy specials on HBO and BRAVO. In fact, Paula Poundstone Goes to Harvard on HBO was the only time the elite university has allowed their name to be used in the title of a television show. Paula is recognized as one of Comedy Central's 100 greatest stand-ups of all time. She won an American Comedy Award for Best Female Standup Comic, and in 2010 she was one of a select group voted into the Comedy Hall of Fame.

Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me is now the most popular show on NPR, having reached #1 status in 2014.

About bergenPAC

Founded in 2003, the 1,367-seat Bergen Performing Arts Center, or bergenPAC, is the area's cultural mecca. Housed in a historic Art Deco-style theater boasting one of the finest acoustic halls in the United States, bergenPAC attracts a stellar roster of world-class entertainment. The jewel in our crown is The Performing Arts School at bergenPAC - the innovative, educational performing arts initiative that, through programs, classes, outreach, school shows, and main theater presented shows, reach more than 30,000 students and community youth annually. The Performing Arts School provides community youth, age 2 months to 21 years, with unique, "hands-on" training in music, dance and theater by industry professionals. It is through the ongoing generosity of sponsors, donors, members, and patrons that the not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation bergenPAC and The Performing Arts School are able to thrive and enrich our community.

To post a comment, you must register and login.