Paula Poundstone Performs Tonight at Playhouse Square's Ohio Theatre

Whether Paula Poundstone is on stage, in an HBO special or a panelist on the popular National Public Radio quiz show Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me, Paula's quick comebacks and razor-sharp wit have elevated her to comedy hall of fame status. Tonight, November 12 Paula will make a return visit to Playhouse Square's Ohio Theatre for one 8 pm show. (Tickets are $35 & $10 on sale beginning Fri. June 5 at 11 am at playhousesquare.org; the Ticket Office or 216-241-6000.)

Eschewing the easy-laugh, anger/gender-based humor of many of her comedy peers, Paula's interchanges with the audience are never mean or at a person's expense. She even manages to handle politics without provoking the pall of disapproval other less-artful comedians have received.

Her off-kilter life views lead her to such observations as: "Why do we have watch dogs and not watch cats? Because cats have the same expression on their faces...whether they see a moth or an ax-murderer!"

Paula will be heard as the voice of "Forgetter Paula" when the Pixar Disney movie Inside Out opens nationwide June 19. Other voice cast members include Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Rashida Jones and Mindy Kaling.

Paula tours regularly, performing standup comedy across the country, and while there is no doubt that Poundstone is funny, what probably separates her from the pack of comics working today--and that has made her a legend among comics and audiences alike--is her ability to be spontaneous with a crowd.

She 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, but I think they high five."