Paula Poundstone was born December 29, 1959 in Sudbury, Massachusetts. Paula's insightful musings about the world around her have been catching on like a house afire. She tells the truth and makes it funny - about her life as she lives it, about our public figures and about the little things in life we may have noticed ourselves but never stopped to reflect on.
As one of the most popular stand-up comedians in the country today, Paula Poundstone's humor know no bounds. She continually goes where no comedian has gone before: providing backstage commentary to the '93 Emmy Awards telecast, adding humor to the pre- and post-shows for the '94 Oscar Awards, serving as "official correspondent" for The Tonight Show during the '92 Presidential race.
As a performer, Paula Poundstone enjoys a uniquely intimate rapport with her audience. Her relaxed, comfortably humorous wanderings from topic to topic turn each show into a brilliant stream-of-consciousness experience.
Her off-kilter view of the world and her complete honesty strike a receptive chord and have led to an impressive list of achievements, including: Two Cable ACE Awards, Best Female Stand-Up - American Comedy Awards, and an Emmy Award - as producer/star of a local PBS piece titled Life & Times. Other credits include: her own comedy series on HBO and ABC and numerous special appearances, including headlining the prestigious White House Correspondent Dinner in '92.
Members
Magazine & Other Articles
Paula has written articles for the Los Angeles Times' Sunday Calendar, Entertainment Weekly, Mother Jones Magazine, Glamour Magazine and Buzz Magazine and others.
TV Shows
Watch for her Bravo special "Funny Girls: Paula Poundstone" Check your guide for times.
She has made numerous appearances on both “The Tonight Show,” “Late Night with David Letterman” and “Late Night with Craig Ferguson.” Paula served as a celebrity regular on the syndicated game show “To Tell The Truth” in 2000 – 2001. She voiced the character of Judge Stone on the acclaimed ABC-TV Saturday morning animated series “Science Court” (a.k.a. “Squigglevision”) for three years. She also guest starred on the CBS series “Cybill,” which led to a recurring role during the show’s final season. Paula has also appeared on PBS favorites such as “Sesame Street,” “Storytime,” and won a local Emmy Award for her field pieces on the renowned series “Life & Times” for PBS station KCET. In May, Paula taped her new one hour special for the BRAVO Network entitled “Look What the Cat Dragged In.” It will air in the fall of 2006.
Watch for Paula on the NPR Series "Wait, Don't Tell Me". Click on logo above for more information.
Personal Appearances
David Snyder
William Morris Agency
One William Morris Place, Beverly Hills, California 90212
dsasst@wma.com
Publicity:
Tammy Richards-LeSure
Richards Public Relations
817-453-6166
richardspr@charter.net
Paula Poundstone's Interests
General
Paula has recorded her book, There's Nothing In This Book That I Meant To Say. It can be downloaded from Audible.com or purchased at book and webstores everywhere. It’s hysterical to hear Paula read her words in her own inimitable voice.
Click here to order Paula's book on audio rated 5 stars!!! $20.97 or just $14.68 for members!
Paula's book is also available on itunes for only 18.95.
Many of you have written to ask how to obtain copies of Paula’s two HBO specials, and her recent BRAVO special. Here are the facts:
Paula’s BRAVO special – which some of you have told us you actually “did a spit take” or “peed in your pants” while you were watching, is available. You can buy it on itunes for $1.99. You don't need an ipod to play it. Go to the itunes store at http://www.itunes.com. Select 'tv shows' from the first box on the left-hand side. Scroll down to ‘networks' and select BRAVO. Special is in the "Funny Girls" series.
Paula Poundstone: Look What The Cat Dragged In.
(Haven't set up itunes yet? Click Here to download itunes software for free, then follow steps above.)
$1.99 cheap at twice the price!
HBO has kindly agreed
to let us make available Paula’s two specials: "Cats, Cops and Stuff" and “Paula Poundstone Goes To Harvard.” The paperwork, however, is still being finalized and we will send out an eblast when the shows are ready for purchase. It’s going to take a few months.
We’ve heard there are pirated copies of the two HBO shows available from time to time on ebay. These are from unauthorized sellers and we don’t know for sure what you will get.
August 31, 2007 -- Paula and I after a GREAT show - Paula is by far the best improv comedian I have ever had the pleasure to see perform.
Paula On Bill Maher Show
This is the official Paula Poundstone myspace site - created and managed by Tricking Spaces.
Paula will eventually read most, if not all of your comments and messages; however, due to time constraints (touring, three children, nine cats, a big cat-eating dog, a bearded dragon lizard, an elderly bunny, and one doggedly determined ant left from her ant farm), it is not likely she will be able to reply to all. You may also visit Paula's website at www.paulapoundstone.com. Paula thanks you for your support and for taking time to stop by and say hello.
The Boston Globe says ..she..s never been funnier... Appearing on stage with a stool, a microphone, and a can of Diet Pepsi, Paula Poundstone is delighting crowds around the country on her hilarious national tour. There..s a wonderful synergy to each one-of-a-kind two-hour show. Paula..s ability to create humor on the spot is legendary and with her casual air, impeccable timing and razor-sharp wit, she improvises with a crowd like a jazz musician. She..ll find an audience member who sells grass seed to golf courses in part of the state of Maryland and wonder aloud if, in such a small territory, the grass seed were any good at all, the salesman could possibly be working to his full potential, then swing in another unexpected direction without a plan, without a net. Poundstone is so quick and unassuming that audience members leave complaining that their cheeks hurt from laughter and debating whether the random people she talked to were ..plants...
In addition to touring the country, Paula can be heard regularly on NPR..s oddly informative weekly news quiz show, ..Wait Wait Don..t Tell Me... She recently appeared on, ..Late Night with David Letterman, ..Garrison Keillor..s NPR program ..A Prairie Home Companion,.. including his annual ..Joke Show.. and ..Late Late with Craig Ferguson.. Her website, www.paulapoundstone.com features diary entries with pictures from Paula..s personal life, and a special column,
..Ask Paula to ask Hep Cat... Paula..s cat, Hep can speak (but only to Paula) with authority on a surprisingly wide array of topics and what Hep doesn..t know she..s only too glad to try and find out. Paula, for example, asked Hep recently if she should use a ..no stick.. spray on a ..no stick.. pan and Hep replied, ..no...
Click on the book for more information.
Paula..s publisher says: ..If you like Paula Poundstone's ironic and blindingly intelligent humor, you'll love this book...
Booklist says: "She sparks this. . .ultimately triumphal story by uproariously comparing and contrasting herself and famous people.." With the forward written by actress Mary Tyler Moore, this book is part memoir, part monologue, with a pinch of self-deprecation and a dash of startling honesty. This surprisingly unique laugh-out-loud book features biographies of legendary historical figures from which Poundstone can..t help digressing to tell her own. Mining gold from the lives of Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller, Charles Dickens, Joan of Arc, Sitting Bull and Beethoven, among others, the eccentric and utterly inimitable mind of Paula Poundstone dissects, observes, and comments on the successes and failures of her own life with spot-on comedic timing. If you like Paula Poundstone's ironic and blindingly intelligent humor, you'll love this book.
To request a FREE autographed book plate, Click Here
Book Reviews from Amazon.com
I hope Paula records this book on CD, February 25, 2007 Reviewer: The Bookie Don't put the book down when you hit the lull in the middle chapters. It get's better and you'll be glad that you read it all the way though. I hope that Paula reads her own book when this does to CD because the book really needs her 'voice' and 'intonation' and 'comic pauses' to be as gripping and funny as it can be.
This is a Fantastic Read!!!, February 19, 2007 Reviewer: C. Welcomb "rabid reader" (Rockford, MI United States) To be a fan of Paula Poundstone's for so very long, I'm thrilled that she's finally written a book. The fact that she's taken a historical look at life...then added her own personal life stories to them, will make all the readers laugh out loud. What each person will get is a very hysterical view of everything!! I'm so happy to have read this book. I recommend it to everyone!!
A funny, absorbing comedy, February 3, 2007
Reviewer: Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
Paula Poundstone's THERE'S NOTHING IN THIS BOOK THAT I MEANT TO SAY comes from a renowned humorist and provides a blend of memoir and comedy as it discusses biographies of legendary historical figures woven with her own tale. A funny, absorbing comedy is created.
My Name is really Bonnie, January 23, 2007
Reviewer: A. Farrahi "Constant Reader" (San Diego Ca) - See all my reviews
An awesomely funny book. I laughed until my stomach hurt! Paula talks to me and about me. We might be twins separated at birth. Reading this book will help you see life for what it is...a very funny joke that requires laughter to survive. Thanks Paula, for helping me to survive.
Fascinating, hilarious, and touching, January 19, 2007
Reviewer: Marion G. Seltzer "sleepykittybookshop" (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews
After years of hearing others speculate about Paula's life, I jumped at the chance to read Paula's own version. She's an interesting, complicated, compassionate, modest person. Comedians don't think the way the rest of us do, so each page was an interesting journey. Although the book is organized by chapter, the narrative goes off on all kinds of side roads, as Paula's comedy routines so often do. That's when they're best!
At least a dozen times, I had to stop reading because I was laughing too hard to hold the book. While I was first waiting for my copy to arrive, I went to Paula's website and asked for a signed bookplate, which I got speedily. I'm honored to have Paula's signature in my copy of this fine book.
Paula fans, Buy This Book!, January 19, 2007
Reviewer: P. French "Grammy of Kayven" (Stillwater, MN) - See all my reviews
I've always loved Paula's humor. Flipping around the tv channels and coming across Paula meant we stopped until the show was over. I was browsing and trying to decide between 3 books and when I came across Paula's book, I immediately put all the others back and went directly to the check-out counter. I read it in one sitting and will probably pick it up again soon to re-read everything all over again. She is so witty and real and candid. Everyone makes mistakes and Paula is not afraid to inject some self-deprecating stories in her re-entry into the mainstream. I give her all my respect and complete praise for this book. I even sent for a bookplate from her website and received a personalized autographed note which is displayed in my living room book case. Run, don't walk, to BUY THIS BOOK!
More Paula! Please hurry and write some more. I'll wait right here., March 6, 2007 Reviewer: Loob (Australia) I have the book read aloud on cd by Paula. I LOVED it! I have listened to the whole thing several times now, and I just want her to hurry up and release another. And while she's at it, I would like to request a new stand-up special. :) Paula is hilarious and brave and moving. And unexpectedly educational, in that she talks about fascinating historical figures and events as well. Thanks Paula! Love ya!
Paula produced the award-winning children..s audio book project titled Completely Yours, and gave voice to a character alongside Mary Tyler Moore, Bea Arthur, Kathy Najimy, Ed Asner, and Lily Tomlin. Released in 1997, the project featured a story about adoption entitled, A Mother for Choco and is available through the Children..s Book of the Month Club and selects bookstores.
While she has amassed an impressive list of accolades on stage and in print, Ms. Poundstone is a single parent with children ages l4, 11, and 8, nine cats, a big cat-eating dog, a bearded dragon lizard, an elderly bunny, and one doggedly determined ant left from her ant farm. So the majority of her life is spent in Santa Monica, California wielding a damp cloth, lint lifting, denying junky snacks, watching steadily improving cartwheels, trying desperately to remember the parts of speech, correcting long division, listening to Nancy Drew read aloud, over cooking noodles, and explaining that life isn..t always fair, but that right now its Thomas E..s turn to use the pogo stick. She says things couldn..t be better.
Who I'd like to meet:
Paula's New Books!! The Sticky Problem of Parallelogram ...
Click here to buy Paula's new book from Amazon.com
Are you looking for a fun way to engage students in improving and retaining their mathematical skills? Whether your students need a curricular supplement, a summer review package, or an opportunity to do math at home with parents, humor them with Math with a Laugh.
Math with a Laugh brings together math practice and comedy-some would say for the first time-offering students and teachers funny and functional skills-development experiences. Longtime math teacher Faye Nisonoff Ruopp provides problems carefully crafted to help children strengthen their mathematical thinking. Faye's former student, star comedian Paula Poundstone, sets the problems within funny stories so entertaining to read and solve that students will become immersed in the mathematics.
In The Sticky Problem of Parallelogram Pancakes fourth and fifth graders solve a variety of developmentally appropriate problems involving number sense, geometry, measurement, algebra, data, and probability. Each problem links directly to state and national standards and increases students' capabilities with foundational and computational principles. The Math with a Laugh series reinforces basic skills and improves retention in class, over the summer, or at home. Ruopp's teaching notes provide answers and help you reinforce the concepts behind the problems, then extend them into other mathematical learning.
Math with a Laugh will enliven any math environment. It's an effective way to help kids build and retain mathematical knowledge and a humorous opportunity to turn rote skill drills into enjoyable learning.
Are you looking for a fun way to engage students in improving and retaining their mathematical skills? Whether your students need a curricular supplement, a summer review package, or an opportunity to do math at home with parents, humor them with Math with a Laugh.
Math with a Laugh brings together math practice and comedy-some would say for the first time-offering students and teachers funny and functional skills-development experiences. Longtime math teacher Faye Nisonoff Ruopp provides problems carefully crafted to help children strengthen their mathematical thinking. Faye's former student, star comedian Paula Poundstone, sets the problems within funny stories so entertaining to read and solve that students will become immersed in the mathematics.
In Venn Can We Be Friends? sixth and seventh graders solve a variety of developmentally appropriate problems involving operations with fractions and decimals, applying order of operations, solving linear equations, graphing Cartesian coordinates, determining surface area and volume, and graphing statistical data. Each problem links directly to state and national standards and increases students' capabilities with foundational and computational principles. The Math with a Laugh Series reinforces basic skills and improves retention in class, over the summer, or at home. Ruopp's teaching notes provide answers and help you reinforce the concepts behind the problems, then extend them into other mathematical learning.
Math with a Laugh will enliven any math environment. It's an effective way to help kids build and retain mathematical knowledge and a humorous opportunity to turn rote skill drills into enjoyable learning
A FEW CLIPS FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE
Paula Poundstone on Letterman
Spencer Chrisitian
On Bravo Special
Bravo has removed their clip.
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Paula, we all know your the funniest woman in America! This is a bit crazy but Can I be so bold as to ask for your help and vote for me. Can you please help this fish stick out kitten!!! your help is greatly appreciated. I just found out I am in curve magazine for a contest the funniest lesbian in America and obviously there are some big names but don't get distracted remember it's me that needs your help. Plus they are all ready famous. I am on my way with a few clicks of a mouse you and your friends can change my status and help me break though that fourth wall. So help a friend out. So excited!!!Please vote for me @http://www. curvemag. com/ for the funniest Lesbian comic! I am winning so far last i checked so please vote and tell your friends to vote for me as i am so freaking out this is a huge deal! purr and thank you! ox Chantal
OK, here's what everyone at the Atlanta show tonight was wondering about: yes, there really is a FIGI International. It stands for Fortress International Group Inc. She's amazing when she works off cold info from the audience. It was a really great show. Xanna Don't, Atlanta GA
