Funny Poundstone sure to cover pets, kids, book
Comedian, author and National Public Radio celebrity Paula Poundstone can add one more credit to her list of accomplishments: host of an online Cat Cam show.
Cat Cam?
“We’re calling it the Poundstone Diner Cam and it’s a 24-hour camera that’s on my cat dishes,” said Poundstone, by phone from her Los Angeles home.
The camera streams video of Poundstone’s cats, snacking on crunchy cat food. And every day, Poundstone makes a brief appearance on the Diner Cam (www.paulapoundstone.com), doing some of her quirky observational humor.
“I have to slide my head in sideways,” she said. “I don’t think we’re going to have a lot of guests on the show. What are the odds of getting Lady Gaga?”
Slim, since it does require a high tolerance for the smell of tuna-flavored treats. Poundstone apparently qualifies, since she has 16 cats – plus a dog and a lop-eared bunny.
They’re all part of what she calls “a fairly dramatic home.” Not only does she have the pets, but she also has three children, ages 19, 16 and 12.
“I was telling somebody the other day, we make the Kardashians look like ‘The Brady Bunch,’ ” said Poundstone.
As anybody who has seen her live show already knows – she played Spokane in 2008 – her act includes plenty of material about her pets and her kids.
Who knows what she’ll talk about on Saturday at the Bing Crosby Theater? But chances are she’ll talk about the grief her kids are putting her through.
“The other day, my kids agreed to cremate me before I die,” said Poundstone. “I just felt happy that they agreed on something. That’s all I cared about.”
She might also talk about her 12-year-old son’s mania for using the computer.
“There are cello minutes and there are computer minutes,” she said. “It’s not the same clock. If you ask him to play the cello for 20 minutes, it’s agonizingly long. Almost beyond the possibility of a human being.
“But if you say to him that he can have an hour on the computer, it’s ‘You can’t even log in in an hour!’ It’s remarkably brief.”
Poundstone may also talk about a new book project she’s working on, which she says is loosely titled “The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Perfect Happiness.”
In it, she tries various methods that people say can bring perfect happiness.
“I once asked Lily Tomlin what would make her happy,” said Poundstone. “And she said, ‘Lying in a hammock all day.’ So I’m going to try that as an experience. I have a feeling that it will cause nausea and stiffening.”
She’ll also do something that often creates the best moments in her live show: walking around the audience and asking, “Where are you from and what do you do for a living?”
Poundstone is especially quick-witted when it comes to banter, a talent which has also served her well in her job as a panelist on the NPR quiz show, “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me.”
Last Saturday, she could be heard extolling, at hilarious length, the culinary virtues of Pop-Tarts. She does the show approximately once a month.
She still works about 80 stand-up dates a year and will probably continue to do so – unless the Poundstone Diner Cam really takes off.