STAGE

MADIGAN AND PERA IN BACK TO BACK STAND-UP SHOWS AT STATE

Kathleen Madigan hates to admit it, but she had a lovely time during COVID. (Photo: Luzena Adams)

By Bryan VanCampen

There’s a back-to-back comedy weekend coming up at the State. Kathleen Madigan brings her “Do You Have Any Ranch Tour” to Ithaca on Friday, October 7. And IC’s own Joe Pera brings his “Spring in the Midwest and Rustbelt Tour Pt. III: Fall Everywhere Else” to his old college town on Saturday, October 8.

It’s always a good time when Kathleen Madigan comes to town. She’s hilarious in the way your smart-ass friend from work is funny, and no matter what the topic is at hand, she’s sure to have something amusing to say about it. She spoke to the Ithaca Times about her pandemic experience and the story behind the title of her new tour.

IT: How was your COVID time?

KM: Well, I hate to say it because I have relatives that are nurses and teachers, and they had a terrible time…but I had a lovely time. [laughs] But you feel like an asshole sayin’ that, but I’d never been home that long since I was 22 years old, I guess. And being forced to, I was kinda like, “Okay. Well.” I went and did outdoor activities, I went shin’ and gol n’ and, like, drove around to places I would never go, met my brother and sister at places, like outdoor stu . Golf mostly. I…I didn’t mind being o work. Ron White came out for a little while, he was like, [imitating White] “Isn’t it amazing how seamlessly we slipped into retirement?” All those people that say, “Oh, you’re gonna get bored”, I’m like, “Not yet.”

IT: I love it when people have titles on their tours, like “Do You Have Any Ranch?” Where did that come from?

KM: Oh, that was a long story about my sister droppin’ these teenagers o at my house. ey’re not her teenagers [but] a friend of hers. I kinda know ‘em, but not really. And no matter what subjects I brought up to try to talk to them, all they would say is [a ected teen voice] “Do you have any Ranch?” I don’t know what was going on with the Ranch, but I’m like, “Uh, no. I don’t have any Ranch. Because I don’t have any salad.” ey just use it like we would use ketchup or mustard or something. And they’re skinny kids. I’m like, “How can they eat this much Ranch?” ey eat, like, a bottle a day. I’m like, “If I see it on cereal, you gotta leave.”

IT: [laughs]

KM: “If I see it on breakfast food, I’m out.” I get it, it’s good. But it just made me laugh. And then once you get into the Ranches…I said, “Oh, I’ll get you some.” I guess I never paid attention in a regular grocery store. ere’s like a million Ranches. ere’s not just a couple. Like, it’s an industry. [laughs] I’m like, why didn’t I buy stock in Ranch when I was 20? Nobody told me it was gonna be the next big thing since mayonnaise. It’s just silly and stupid, but to torture my sister, because she dropped them o here for two days, no matter what she says to me, I don’t care how serious it is, Dad had a stroke, I’m just like, “Do you have any Ranch?”

When he was a student at IC Pera never dreamed he’d get to play the State Theater. (Photo: Provided)

I wish I could go back in time to when Joe Pera rst did stand-up as a lm student at Ithaca College. Luckily, Pera kept getting onstage and telling jokes, and his comedic work in New York City landed him his own TV series “Joe Pera Talks With You,” which ran for three seasons from 2018 to 2022. If you want a sense of his particular brand of deadpan humor, he has a marvelous bit on “Late Night with Seth Myers,” where he announces that he is the next James Bond and shows clips from the next movie. (It’s on YouTube.) Joe Pera spoke to the Ithaca Times about his origin story and why he should be James Bond.

IT: To be honest, I didn’t know who you were when your show got added to the State’s schedule. How did you get here?

JP: Well, I started doing stand-up when I was at Ithaca College, and I kept doing it. I moved to New York a er I graduated and kept doin’ it, which led to a show on Adult Swim. It got canceled, so now I’ve got the opportunity to get back to stand-up and do some touring.

IT: It must be nice to be on this theater circuit.

JP: It’s very cool. I never thought I’d get to do the State eater. I’m very excited.

IT: When you were getting started, who made you laugh?

JP: I think at that moment I was starting, I mean, I always was a big comedy fan, growing up. But I think at that time, it was Christopher Guest lms I was watching a lot around that time, and then Zach Gali anakis, particularly his Comedy Central half-hour. at really inspired me. It made me realize that stand-up, you can really take it wherever you want it to go, as long as it’s funny.

IT: I watched your bit about being the new James Bond on “Late Night with Seth Myers”, and I gotta tell you, a er “No Time to Die,” frankly, I’d be up for that.

JP: ey tried to make him like a real person, and [laughs] it worked for a minute, but then they continued it too far. I don’t know. It’s hard to humanize a murderer. You can only go so far. And it doesn’t have to be three hours. When he had a kid, I was like, “I don’t care.” [laughs] I wanna see him run fast, and I wanna see some boats get blown up, and some good intro song, and that’s it. Arts & Entertainment