Comedian Paula Poundstone is uncharacteristically brief in her role in Pixar’s “Inside Out” movies. Playing “Forgetter Paula,” a worker in Riley’s brain responsible for wiping up memories, Poundstone’s blobby character only gets a few words.
She has a lot more to say — on her podcast ”Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone,” her regular appearances as a panelist on National Public Radio’s “Wait, Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me!“ and her stand-up comedy shows, where for two hours she talks to her audiences like old friends.
Taking a break from yard work at her home in Santa Monica, Poundstone talked about “Inside Out 2,” her relationship with her audience, and why she feels a kinship with Buddy the Elf:
You seem really busy these days. I saw a video online of you recording a promo for your Madison show while you were onstage in the middle of another show.
In the old days, you didn’t have to do all your own self promotion. Now you sure do, and it’s really my least favorite part of my job. But I found that it’s kind of fun to ask an audience if they’ll help me out. It’s not like I make a lot of jokes in the promotions, but I think just hearing that great audience sound should give people FOMO.
They’re always very enthusiastic to do it. The audience that you’re with loves representing — well, not representing me. But when you say I’m in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Carolina Theater, people go wild. They’re not going wild over me. They’re going wild over the mention of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Have your audiences changed over time?
They’re great. One of the things that I’m noticing that’s kind of fun is that — as the years go by, I’m not getting any younger — I ask the crowd who’s the youngest person there. It’s not that it matters, but it’s nice to have a broader sample. I wish my crowd was more diverse racially, but they are not. At least they’re not all exactly my age.
I have a really great audience. I do about two hours, I’m the only person on stage. Sometimes, a local act will write me and say, “I’m a local comic, and I was wondering if I could open for you.” I don’t really consider myself a really selfish person, but when it comes to my audience, I am the most selfish comic he’ll ever talk to. I do two hours, and I can’t stand the idea of giving up even five minutes to someone else, because I love talking to my audience.
I interviewed you a long time ago, and you called the stage your “brain space” where the joy of it is just talking off the cuff with your audience.
Absolutely. That hasn’t changed. I do the time-honored thing where I’ll ask somebody what they do for a living, and they’ll say their job, and I’ll engage in a conversation with them that’s unique to just that night. I used to be able to keep it all straight and remember which conversations I had with which audiences. I still remember one or two. I remember in Fort Lee, New Jersey about 20 years ago, I had a great conversation with somebody who worked at the Big Lots.
I can see why that would be burned into your brain.
Some people I’ve actually had to throw out. One time there was a couple that wouldn’t stop making out. They were right near me, and it was unbelievably distracting. I came to refer to them as the “love criminals.” That was 30 years ago.
Do you have that good relationship with your crowd because of your personality, or because you’ve been doing stand-up for so long?
Probably both. I’m a little bit like “Elf.” I talk to everyone whether they want me to or not. I was going to “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me” and Adam Felber and I were on the same flight. We’re dragging our luggage, and we go into a Dunkin Donuts and I took much longer than Adam thought it should to get something from a Dunkin Donuts, and it was because I was talking to them.
I said, “You know, I’m kind of like Elf.” And he goes, “Oh my God, you are.” I don’t think he felt it was a positive.
I would think that podcasting is a perfect medium for you.
It depends on the kind of podcast you’re looking for, but like a comedy podcast, it’s true. It’s a Winter Wonderland of asides. That’s the fun part. We pride ourselves on our podcast, “Nobody Listens to Paul Poundstone,” in having people sharing real information. Hopefully people come away with some stuff they didn’t know before that’s helpful to them. But getting there is the fun part.
I went to see “Inside Out 2,” and I remember telling myself to listen for your part. But then I forgot. Which is fitting, since you reprise your role as “Forgetter Paula.”
It’s perfect for me. My kids were so amused. Originally it was “Female Forgetter” and they did me the kindness of naming it after me. But I do actually have a terrible short term memory.
What an honor to be in such terrific movies, even just for a few seconds. They’re really good movies, and it’s interesting the idea that in the second one, they introduced the character of anxiety. Many of us are really suffering from anxiety for all sorts of good reasons at this point, and it was really fun to laugh at that character. It’s fun to have that idea sort of introduced in a way that kids can kind of wrap their head around a little bit.
Those Pixar movies, I don’t think they would have come into being the way they are, were it not for the lessons of “Sesame Street,” which did this brilliant job of introducing basic concepts to little kids with really funny stuff that an adult could enjoy as well.
I sort of wonder if they should do a new “Inside Out” movie every few years, like the “Up” documentaries, as the character becomes an adult. But I don’t know if that would be too dark or bleak.
If the main character Riley was a little boy instead of a little girl, the brain would be in the same place year after year after year. I told (Pixar CEO) Pete Docter that maybe there should be a sequel where Riley gets amnesia, because that would really rely heavily on Forgetter Paula.
