Q&A: Comedian Kathleen Madigan at Grand
It's Wednesday afternoon and veteran stand-up comedian Kathleen Madigan is back home in Missouri visiting family, taking advantage of a couple of days off during her national "Bothering Jesus" tour.
Her Irish Catholic family –- she's one of nine –- is a constant source of material for the funnywoman, who is touring behind a Netflix special of the same name, which was released in November.
In the concert film, she recalls visiting the homes of her friends growing up –- friends whose families were a lot smaller and a lot more loving than hers.
"I heard them say I love you a lot: 'I love you. I love you, too. I love you more than yesterday,'" she says on "Bothering Jesus," adding that her family didn't tell each other that they loved them.
"There are nine people in my house," deadpans the comedian, 51, who appeared on Jerry Seinfeld's "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" last year. "Saying 'I love you' would be a sign of weakness."
While her stand-up shows touch on politics, they are not overtly political.
On "Bothering Jesus," she targeted politicians who say things like, "America is a place where your dreams can come true. I'm here to make your dreams come true. Wouldn't you want your dreams to come true?"
Her response? "No, I don't. And the fact that you said that makes me certain you have never drank a box of wine and took an Ambien."
Ahead of Madigan's Saturday night show at The Grand (818 N. Market St., Wilmington), she spoke to The News Journal from her hometown to chat about everything from her jump to Netflix and using Twitter to how her comedian friend Lewis Black is handling the Trump presidency.
Tickets, $30-$38, are still available.
Q: Since we're about a week from St. Patrick's Day and you're from a big Irish Catholic family, was that day a big deal at all growing up for you?
A: There was a big parade down in South St. Louis, so we were always doing something. It was a thing – better than Easter, but not as good as Christmas.
Q: Have you ever had a gig on that day as a young comedian or more recently?
A: Oh yeah. And I have to this year in Riverside, California. I don't know what I was thinking. But it's fine. I'd rather be in a city that's a little more fun – Irish fun – than Riverside, but I can drink any day. I'm my own boss. There are very lax rules in this corporation.
Q: I was watching your latest special and you talk a bit about the cultural divide in America, especially as it relates to different parts of the country like the coasts, the South and the Midwest. And that special came out just after Election Day, right?
A: Yeah. And the night I taped it, I did like 10 minutes of political stuff, but I pulled it from the special and put it on YouTube. I didn't want to date the special. I follow politics a lot, but, you know, I don't want Marco Rubio jokes everywhere.
Q: It was interesting watching it now, several months later, because a lot of what you spoke about was laid bare by the election. Your Twitter account is more political than your act. Why?
A: This is the difference to me. People on Twitter are paying attention to news, sports, current events. When I'm doing a show for the general public, a lot of these people have jobs, kids, husbands, wives and lives. And they're not as involved. So my act can't be as specific as my Twitter feed and I try to make my show less complicated, I would say. My Twitter feed is almost like you're the host of a nightly show and you're doing a monologue, but those things come and go so quickly that they are not worth saving.
Q: You don't seem to be a huge fan of President Trump from your Twitter posts. I'm wondering what stage of grief you're in? Denial? Anger? Bargaining? Depression? Acceptance?
A: I knew there was a really good chance of this happening because I travel so much. A week before the election, I drove from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Madison, Wisconsin, and back. And then from Green Bay to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and back. When I drove the one route, it was all Hillary Clinton signs and the other route was all Donald Trump. And I mean barns painted with Trump. So as someone who travels and being from "the middle," I wasn't like some of my coastal friends who thought that there must have been some kind of mistake. It wasn't. Talk to Mark who has the kids who mow my grass. He's a Trump guy and I've talked to him ad nauseum about why and he wanted to take a chance at blowing the system up. OK, well, they get a turn, too, because they had enough people. So now here we go. Here's the movie you all wanted. We're like a family fighting about what movie we want to go see. The movies are two totally different genres, but they have more family members and votes so we have to watch their movie. I hope it's a good movie. I want it to be good because I'm here, too. But I don't know if they thought this through.
Q: I know you're buddies with comedian Lewis Black, who introduced you in your special. How is he doing?
A: I am seriously surprised that he hasn't stroked out. I keep waiting for the call because he says to me, "I don't know how you're talking about this on stage?" And I tell him, "It's because I don't care about it as much as you, Lew. That's the theme of our lives: I don't care as much as you." He just couldn't figure it out and just a couple of weeks ago, he goes, "I got it. I figured out how to talk about it without really losing my mind, but still saying what I want to say." He is incredulous. That would be a good word.
Q: How did your special end up on Netflix? The whole system is changing. HBO used to be the big place to have a comedy special and now Netflix has stolen that title away with big specials coming up with Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock and others.
A: They came after me, so you can officially call me a trendsetter. [Laughs] This has been my frustration for years. I would have a special on Showtime, HBO or Comedy Central and then I'd ask, "Beside the premiere, when else are you going to show it?" They would say, "I don't know." I'd ask, "How many times will you show it?" "I don't know." Then I'd ask, "When you find out, will you tell me?" They'd say, "No." And I'd think, "OK. This a great relationship." So I decided to do Netflix because it's always on, old people understand it and young people still like it. They haven't written it off like Facebook.
Q: You perform almost exclusively at theaters like The Grand these days. What do you miss about playing the clubs?
A: Here's what I miss the most – I loved that as comics in clubs, we'd be there Tuesday through Sunday. I know everything about every city in this country. I had time to do all of it. "Yes, I'm going to go to the Omaha Zoo. I'm going to judge it. Yeah, I am. I'm doing my own little ranking system here." "Absolutely, I'm going to go to the Barbed Wire Museum. Why wouldn't you go in there?" It gave us time and the one thing I don't have on the road now is time. It's probably 50 percent of the reason I wanted to be a comedian. I just wanted to travel. I tried to be a flight attendant and I was too short. I got cut off, literally, at the knees.
Q: One last question: are there any young comedians that you've bumped into or enjoyed that your fans should know about?
A: No one has heard of him yet, but his name is Raanan Hershberg. His jokes are so smart, so silly and so self-deprecating – my favorites. He's my young guy and he'll actually be with me in Trenton and Wilmington. He amuses me to no end. My worry is that he'll get hired as a writer and then no one will get to see his stand-up. He's outstanding. Here's a joke he tells and he has this lazy Millennial lisp: "I'm from Kentucky and I'm Jewish and I don't know if you know this, but they built this giant Arc in Kentucky. I saw it and I went and they were like, 'It costs $38.' And I was like, 'Really? Is it any less if you're going through ironically?'" The problem with young people is that they sometimes just don't have the heart to stay in the game and I hope he does. I truly do. I'm betting all my money on a horse that, as the saying goes, runs well in the slop.
Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).
IF YOU GO
What: Kathleen Madigan with Raanan Hershberg
When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
Where: The Grand, 818 N. Market St., Wilmington
Cost: $30-$38
Information and tickets: thegrandwilmington.org