Comedian Paula Poundstone returns to Long Island for a night of unscripted hilarity at The Landmark on Main Street in Port Washington on June 27. Known for her spontaneous audience interactions, razor-sharp wit and observational humor, Poundstone promises a show that’s as much about connecting with the audience as it is about delivering punchlines.
“I have 46 years of material rattling around in my head somewhere,” Poundstone said. “My favorite part of the night is just talking to the audience. I do the time-honored, ‘Where are you from? What do you do for a living?’ kind of thing. This way, little biographies of audience members emerge. But that’s, you know, it’s like Willy Wonka’s chocolate waterfall churning his chocolate.”
Poundstone’s comedy is deeply rooted in her everyday life and the world around her—whether it’s politics, parenting or her many pets. But don’t expect a rigid set or recycled bits. Every performance is unique, shaped by the people in the room and the moment itself.
“No two shows are the same,” she said. “A lot of it just plain has to do with my memory. I’m not a good memorizer, so I don’t have, like, a set set.”
Despite—or perhaps because of—her freewheeling style, Poundstone’s shows resonate with fans across generations. That’s partly because her audiences have often followed her for decades.
“The people that are coming to see me are either fans that I’ve had for a long time or friends of fans,” she said. “There’s a connective tissue there.”
Comedy, for Poundstone, is more than a job—it’s a means of survival and connection. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she like many performers was sidelined from live audiences. She quickly learned that stand-up simply doesn’t work without that collective energy.
“You cannot do stand-up comedy without an audience,” she said. “Stand-up is a unique kind of performing…your relationship with the audience, that’s the whole thing.”
She recalls how even well-meaning virtual comedy attempts fell flat.
“They would say, ‘Well, just do it—we’ll laugh,’” she chuckled. “And I would say to them, you can’t really do stand-up in your living room.”
Though she doesn’t consider herself a political comic, Poundstone doesn’t shy away from current events. “I wouldn’t call myself a political comic overall, but I have a brain and ears and eyes,” she said. “Currently a lot of what I’m doing is watching our democracy slide off the edge.”
She’s also not afraid to speak out about the importance of comedy as resistance and reflection, especially in troubled times.
“Even in the worst of times…the prisoners in the concentration camps told jokes,” she said, referencing something she learned from Garrison Keillor. “I don’t see how you survive without that.”
That same empathy is at the core of how she approaches the art form. While she acknowledges her own past missteps on stage, she stresses the importance of being conscious of the audience’s humanity.
Having started her stand-up career at age 19 in Boston, Poundstone has seen the industry evolve over the decades. Early on, she was one of the very few women in a male-dominated scene often steeped in misogyny and racism. Rather than adapt to fit in, she struck out for San Francisco and forged her path.
Today, she’s not just a survivor of that era but an enduring force in comedy. She credits much of her staying power to staying focused on her own growth.
To aspiring comics, Poundstone’s advice is simple: do the work and be excellent where you are. “Be the very best MC that’s out there,” she said. “You’ll get more work and more stage time. This idea that you want to be a bad middle act—why?”
And at 64, after four decades on stage, Poundstone still finds joy in every performance.
“I think I thought I would do this forever,” she admitted. “I have no marketable skills. But also I love what I do.”
Paula Poundstone performs at The Landmark on Main Street in Port Washington on June 27 at 8 p.m. Visit landmarkonmainstreet.org for tickets and details.
