Paula Poundstone

Comedian Paula Poundstone will perform at the Gesa Power House Theatre on Thursday, January 28 at 7:00 p.m.

Currently best known as a frequent panelist on NPR's #1 show "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me", Poundstone got her start in the 1980's as a touring stand-up comedian. Highlights of her career include comedy specials on HBO and BRAVO, providing the backstage commentary during the 1992 presidential election on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, field pieces for The Rosie O'Donnell Show in 1996, and various film and television credits including a voice in Pixar's recent animation "Inside Out". 

Paula Poundstone was the first woman to win the American Comedy Award for Best Standup Comic, and was the first woman to perform stand-up at the prestigious White House Correspondents dinner, and was voted into the Comedy Hall of Fame.

Poundstone’s ability to be spontaneous with a crowd is the stuff of legend. “No two shows I do are the same," says Poundstone. "It's not that I don't repeat material. I do. 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.” 

Reserved seating tickets ($45) go on sale Friday, November 27.