Comedian, campaigns converge in Kentucky "Primary Focus"

By Rich Copley rcopley@herald-leader.com

Months ago, when Paula Poundstone was booked to perform May 16 at The Kentucky Center in Louisville, no one thought the Bluegrass State's presidential primary four days later would mean anything.

Things have changed.

”I don't know why,“ Poundstone says, ­pondering the length of the Democratic primary, which has stretched beyond anyone's expectations. ”There must be a better way of doing this.

”I've been following this for years, and it's the first time it's come out this way.“

But the circumstances in which we find ourselves makes Poundstone's performance particularly timely.

She started following politics publicly when she covered the 1992 nominating conventions for The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. She is now associated with ­political humor and has a regular spot on the National Public Radio news quiz show Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.

She says she did not come to political humor as an expert.

”Part of the ­reason these things were ­effective is I came at it as a blank slate,“ she says. ”I think because of that ­inexperienced approach, I was bringing out some things that a lot of the news guys knew about and ­assumed everyone knew.“

Take the signs and banners at political conventions.

Poundstone, and presumably a lot of us, had always figured the hand-painted signs — something that would read, ”Kentuckians Krazy for Kerry“ — were made by the people holding them or by someone they knew.

”No, there was someone in the back, mass-­producing these,“ she says. ”It was very sad to see. But guys like (veteran political journalists) Mark Shields and Paul Gigot were never fooled.“

Most of Poundstone's early political humor was done on the fly.

”Jay had just gotten The Tonight Show,“ she says. ”They didn't have the focus to tell me what to do.“

Maybe that's why she was surprised one day when she was getting ready for Wait, Wait, and someone ­mentioned the script over her headphones.

”I said, "You mean this is written?'“ Poundstone recalls. ”I think I may have hurt someone's feelings.“

She says just some of host Peter Sagal's material is scripted, but she and other panelists and guests are as spontaneous as they sound.

Now, Wait, Wait is part of a constellation of political ­humor shows, led by The Daily Show With John ­Stewart and The Colbert ­Report, that did not exist when Poundstone made her first forays into the genre.

”I love the guy on ­MSNBC,“ she says of Keith Olbermann, whose show Countdown is one of the network's staples. It isn't necessarily a comedy show, although Olbermann certainly goes for yuks in his left-leaning commentary.

”He's willing to call a spade a spade,“ Poundstone says. ”He'll call people out on stuff.“

She recalls a time she wanted to stand on ­principle. During ­President George H.W. Bush's ­administration, she was invited to be the comedian at the White House ­Correspondents' Dinner, a gig performed by ­topical ­comedians. Poundstone agreed but said she would not meet with the president, with whom she disagreed strongly on several issues.

She flew to Washington with that conviction. She hadn't been in her hotel 15 minutes when she got a call from the president's office.

”I couldn't suck up to the White House fast enough,“ Poundstone says. ”Every shred of morality melted away.“

Later, she remarked to a congressman friend how charming Bush was. She says he replied, ”Paula, we're all charming. Otherwise, we wouldn't get elected.“

As for this year's ­primary, Poundstone says she ­under­stands why Democrats are having such a hard time deciding.

She voted in the California primary on Feb. 5.

”It was the least-pleasant voting experience I have ever had,“ she says. She voted for Obama. ”It was like picking a kitten: I didn't want to leave the other. The second I cast my vote, I hoped the other one would win.“

Friday night at The ­Kentucky Center, she might be talking to a lot of people in the same predicament.