Paula Poundstone Plays Lesbian Mecca of Northampton

On Saturday, February 20, The Academy of Music in Northampton, MA welcomes comedian Paula Poundstone. Thirty-two years ago, Poundstone climbed on a Greyhound bus and�traveled across the country -- stopping in at open mic nights at comedy clubs as she went. She went on to become one of our country's foremost humorists. You can hear her through your laughter as a regular panelist on NPR's popular�rascal of a weekly news quiz show,�"Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me."

Watch for Poundstone as she lends her distinctive voice to the character "Forgetter Paula" in the new Disney Pixar film "Inside Out" about a young girl Riley who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job. The movie chronicles and the emotional roller coaster that change can bring.�Riley's emotions include; Joy (Amy�Poehler,) Fear (Bill Hader,) Anger�(Lewis Black,) Disgust�(Mindy Kaling,) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith.)

Poundstone tours regularly, performing standup comedy across the country, causing Bob Zany with the�Boston Globe�to write: "Poundstone can regale an audience for several hours with her distinctive brand of wry, intelligent and witty comedy."�Audience members may put it a little less elegantly:�"I peed my pants."

While there is no doubt that Poundstone is funny,�the thing that 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.��

"No two shows I do are the same. It's not that I don't repeat material. I do," said Poundstone. "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, though. I think they high five."

Poundstone's interchanges with the audience are never mean or done at a person's expense.�She even manages to handle politics�without provoking the pall of disapproval less artful comics have received.

Her most recent comedy CD, "I HEART JOKES: Paula Tells Them in Boston" was recorded during a performance at the Wilbur Theatre in the heart of the city and was released on April Fool's Day 2013. This was a follow up to her successful first CD "I HEART JOKES: Paula Tells Them in Maine" that was released in 2009.

Over the span of her career, Poundstone has amassed a list of awards and accolades that stretch the length of a great big tall guy's arm. She not only shot through the glass ceiling, but also never even acknowledged that it was there. Never one to stereotype herself as a 'female comedian' or limit herself to comedy from a 'female' point of view,�in the early '90s she was the first woman�to win the cable ACE for Best Standup Comedy Special and the first woman to perform standup at the prestigious White House Correspondents Dinner where she joined the current President as part of the evening's entertainment.��

In�November, 2012 in Washington DC, Poundstone was honored, along with Nina Totenberg, NPR correspondent;�David Brooks,�New York Times�columnist;�and Bob Mankoff,�New Yorker�Cartoon Editor,�with the 2012 Moment�Magazine�Creativity Award at their 35th anniversary symposium and dinner, followed by a one-hour panel on�the intersection of humor and politics.

Just weeks later Poundstone was hand-picked�to interview Calvin Trillin for the Los Angeles-series-darling, Writers Bloc, a series that presents�conversations between the featured author and another interesting thinker.�

Poundstone has�starred in�comedy specials on HBO and BRAVO,�won an Emmy Award, served as "official correspondent" for�"The Tonight Show"�during the 1992 Presidential race, pioneered the art of backstage commentary during an Emmy telecast, steps up to the plate for causes she believes in, and�is almost always included in any compendium -- be it film, television or print, noting comedic influences of the 20th/21st century, most recently,�"We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy" (October 2012, Sarah Crichton Books).

Poundstone also appears on "Late Night w/Craig Ferguson" about three times a year and she'll do an occasional editorial for NPR's "All Things Considered."�

Paula Poundstone will play at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 20 at The Academy of Music, 274 Main St., Northampton, MA 01060. Tickets $27.50-37.50. For tickets call 413-584-9032 or visit http://www.aomtheatre.com