MUSIC

Poundstone And Dumbo’s Feather Land At State

By Bryan VanCampen

I’ve talked to Paula Poundstone enough times at this point that I no longer worry about preparing questions. I just call her up and we start chatting, and pretty soon a er that, we’re laughing. And if you’re lucky, she’ll throw in a reference to Walt Disney’s “Dumbo”.

Ithaca Times: I feel like every time I talk to you, I have to get a pet update.

Paula Poundstone: Oh! Well, I’m standing out on the back porch now, throwing the tennis ball for my tennis ball-addicted dog.

IT: [laughs] What’s the dog’s name?

PP: Moe.

IT: Is that like the ree Stooges’ Moe?

PP: It is like the ree Stooges’ Moe. Even though it’s a girl. She doesn’t care.

IT: ey don’t, do they?

PP: No, they don’t. ey’re not sensitive. Is this one of the dates that’s been moved a couple of times?

IT: I wouldn’t be surprised.

PP: Yeah, a lot of them have, of course.

IT: I know I reached out to you during the pandemic and you took time out to talk for about 20 minutes about what you were watching during lockdown. We talked about Monty Python’s “Life of Brian”.

PP: Oh, I vaguely remember. Yeah, it was a challenging time. I mean, I don’t know that…You know, Biden may be right, I don’t know, because I don’t know what the de nition of “pandemic” is, but de nitely the virus isn’t over. And we don’t know whether the new variants will be worse, or easier, or – we have no idea! So I’m always a little on edge, wondering… [laughs] If someone had told me years ago, “You’re gonna have 15 months,” well, I would have put together…you know, I would have worked on my novel, I would have done some sort of “project” in isolation. But the thing was, not knowing how long it was gonna be, you know. I’m sure you were in the same situation. I didn’t know if theater work would ever come back again. It was very possible we’d have to say, “Well, no, that’s not safe.”

IT: I’m amazed that I haven’t gotten sick yet.

PP: Oh yeah, I haven’t either! I think part of it’s because I’m careful, but…I don’t know. But maybe I did a long ago, and I never knew it, and it was just mild. I don’t know. I’m gettin’ my booster tomorrow. is summer, I was in Hyannis, Cape Cod, just for a night, tellin’ my little jokes and it dawned on me: If I got sick, if I showed symptoms while I was there, I only have that hotel room for one night. And they’re booked the other nights. [laughs] ey can’t go, “Well, that’s okay, you stay here.” Like, I’m gonna be thrown out the next day. And if I was feeling sick, and if you weren’t supposed to y, I don’t know where I would go! [coughs] Just thinkin’ about it makes me cough.

IT: It’s very stressful.

PP: It is stressful. I’ve had four shots and I’m getting my h and I wear a mask and all that, but I think I also use Dumbo’s feather.

IT: [laughs] at took me a second.

PP: One’s never far from a Dumbo reference with me.

IT: We haven’t really talked about the show at the State.

PP: I’ve been back on the road since a year ago last June. And then at Christmas time, I thought I was coming home just for a planned couple of weeks, and then Omicron hit, and so things shut down again brie y. And then I started up again in February. Sounds like a season now.

IT: [laughs]

PP: [In the show] I talk about getting through this period of our lives. I still tell stories about my kids here and there, but not a lot, because they’re adults now. ey’re not fun anymore.

Poundstone has taken all the COVID precautions and has used Dumbo’s magic feather. (Photo: Provided)

Paula Poundstone will perform at the State eater, 107 W. State Street, (607) 277-8283, https://stateo thaca.org, on Saturday, October 15 at 8 p.m.

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