Paula Poundstone!

Date night at the Music Hall in Portsmouth to see Paula Poundstone! I've never seen her in person before, but I am a huge fan. I love her on NPR's "Wait, Wait - Don't Tell Me" . She is sooooo funny, what with that voice, the deadpan delivery, the ability to take some inane comment and weave it into a hilarious routine, and the get-up ! I can't remember when I laughed so hard and for so long.

Some highlights - a routine about her 13 cats hacking up rubber bands - complete with the noise known to every cat owner, ditto the hunched shoulder pose, and the observation, "do the cats stop eating rubber bands? No, they just think they got a bad batch"! Health care reform - " Why doesn't it go into effect for several YEARS? Apparently the insurance companies need time to understand that they will have to Pay. Money. When. People. Get Sick". On cooking - "I don't cook. I thaw, I heat, but the whole cooking thing escapes me". California - "we're first in line for the "hand basket to Hell".

I got to talk to her after the show and gush like a nit-wit about how much I love her- oh, well! I told her that the "Lake Wilmerdink" episode of WWDTM was my very favorite - when the woman on the show said she was from "Lake Wilmerdink", Paula was silent, then said, "Oh my, how unfortunate"! "How unfortunate" is now our go-to phrase for lots of things! Anyway, PP said the good people of LW sent her a sweatshirt with "Lake Wilmerdink" emblazoned on the front and occasionally people come up to her to say that they are from Lake Wilmerdink - her comment, "Now why would they admit that"?

Brash, funny, self-deprecating, immensely entertaining - don't ever pass up a chance to see her live. Warning - to paraphrase President Obama's assessment of Rahm Emmanel's communication style, if Ms Poundstone had to stop using the F-bomb, she'd be rendered essentially mute! Also, if you sit up front, be prepared to become part of the routine - and your every answer to her questions will have the audience howling with laughter (of, course, they'll be laughing with you, not at you (right!).