“Getting Personal with the Stars” Column-Casino Player Magazine/by Michele LaFong
August edition, Paula Poundstone
“Getting Personal with the Stars” Paula Poundstone-online Version: http://t.co/8f04e5zbZ5
Paula Poundstone has been a recurring favorite guest on my radio show, Las Vegas Backstage Talk for over two years. I always attend her show at The Orleans whenever she is in town, as her show never seems to get repetitive, as she uses the audience in her hilarious, spontaneous banter, to weave her material very masterfully throughout.
This unique comedian, an adoptive mother of three, is never at a loss for new material which includes her sixteen “shelter cats,” and two large rescued German Shepard Mixes.)
One thing that always struck me is that Paula always makes her entrance on stage with very wet hair. I had to ask if this was reflective of some kind of ritual or superstition.
No, Paula responded. ”I shower before going on-stage because I want to give the crowd “The Deluxe…” It is this kind rapid- fire, sarcastic, one liner responses, coupled with the fact that Poundstone’s comedy is mostly autobiographical, that make me think “sitcom” every time I see, or interview her. Might you consider doing a sitcom if presented with one? “No…Here’s the thing…My youngest is only 14, and I want to finish ruining his life before moving onto other projects. I want to finish making bad parenting choices before I take that on…I’m hoping that before he gets into college, there might be some elderly role that I can play, that Betty White isn’t available for…and I would have to step in. The schedule on those shows can be pretty grueling, and I kind of like the idea of making sure that someday my son will be gainfully employed so…
Q You became a stand-up early on in life-you just got on a Greyhound bus, and you just started going to clubs. How long was it before you really felt that you “might have something” once you were in the clubs?
A-I don’t know but when I get to that point I will give you a call…when I really think I may have something going on… I really don’t know…I did take the Greyhound bus all over to open mike nights, and seeing what clubs were like in different cities, and I started out in Boston, and ended up a couple of years later in San Fransisco, which had a GREAT comedy scene at that time, and then I moved to Santa Monica, I don’t like to brag, but I live right near a Jack in the Box.
Q-Do you still go out and do guest sets and try out new material?
A-No I don’t have that opportunity to go and do open mikes anymore…I wish I did cause it’s such a great tool…but I have kids. I have to be home every night so that my son can lie to me about doing his Spanish homework.
Q- Do your kids have any interest in being comics or anything in Show Business, and if so how would you feel about that?
A_ if they were interested, I’d have no problem with it. I’d think that would be fun if that’s what they wanted to do. Let me think…well, my oldest daughter would like to sit in a chair…and…you might think… maybe work at a computer, or work at phone banking or something …but no…she just wants to sit in a chair, and it’s been very hard to convince her that there are no jobs that you just sit in a chair and get paid for that. But I’m her mom and she doesn’t believe me…so… she’s still looking.
Q-At least when you have kids, you can learn how to work technology by asking your kids. Do you find that is helpful?
A-Um…No…I don’t, I really don’t!
Q- You started comedy in 1979, and haven’t had a slow season since then have you?
A-“I’ve been very lucky to work a lot over the years, which is great. I’m on the road a lot, a lot a lot! I have many frequent flyer miles, and many, many small shampoos. The truth is that very early on I tried going out for a month straight before I had children…and I was miserable. It was just a horrible experience. I would never do that again. What I do now is I go out on the weekends. Sometimes it’s Thursday thru Saturday. Now I have a system. It works out okay. Occasionally there are weeks where I don’t go out at all…and my children seem to wish that I would. I think we’ve found the right balance somewhere…the best that we could do anyway.
Q-So your kids bring a lot of material to your show…?
A-I don’t even have to write!…I really just have to take notes. My oldest daughter…If only she were kidding. If only there was any irony in the things that she said.
Q How old is she?
A- Twenty one. We’ve actually been getting up earlier in the morning now so that we can fight longer! Otherwise…we’re tired by ten…and I’d like to still get in another good solid hour of yelling and screaming.
Q- Does she get your sense of humor?
A-No…not really. I don’t think so. She believes that everything that I say is the polar opposite of what she must do. I mean honestly, I could actually kill her by telling her to breathe! I tell her all the time “if you don’t get your act together, we’re gonna live together for the rest of our lives…like Laverne & Shirley.
I love my job…just the way it is now. I don’t have to submit what I’m going to do to anybody, and have the “suits” go over it, and decide if they think it’s funny or not. I get to go on stage and say whatever I like. In television, it’s terrible! Oh my God they are a pain! And it’s the people by the way that don’t even go on stage that want to tell you what’s funny, and what’s not. They’re all phonies though. But I do The Craig Ferguson Show regularly, and they are great there, they pretty much give me free reign…But there are a lot of settings…certainly in sitcoms where there’s a script, and there are SO many people that are not performers that are involved in the decision making process…and I hate that.
Paula Poundstone’s latest interview plugging her appearance at The Orleans Showroom, July 5 & 6 at 8pm, can be heard on Las Vegas Backstage Talk Radio Show from 6pm-7pm PST, July 4 & 6 on 1230am in Las Vegas and steaming live on this site. She is also featured in my Monthly Syndicated Column, “Las Vegas Backstage Talk,” in Casino Player Magazine.
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July edition- by Michele LaFong
Casino Player – July 2013 “Las Vegas Backstage Talk” column by Michele LaFong
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Casino Player – July 2013 by Michele LaFong
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“Getting Personal with the Stars” Paula Poundstone
Casino Player Magazine,and LV Backstage Talk Radio Show has Joined Forces
By Michele LaFong
Bill Cosby Cover/Feature
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Bill Cosby Cover/Feature
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June edition: Las Vegas Backstage Talk-Casino Player Magazine-
Casino Player Magazine, and Las Vegas Backstage Talk Radio Show with Comedian Michele LaFong, has joined forces.
Casino Player Magazine, is a monthly Gaming/Lifestyle Magazine for over 25 years, with over 88,000 paid subscribers nationally. (Not including the casinos that they are in.)
Every month, LaFong will do a Feature/Interview, (many w/Covers,) with a celebrity that has aired on her Syndicated Radio Show, and Las Vegas Backstage Talk Radio Show, will also have its own Monthly Column in Casino Player Magazine.
In addition, LVBST will post Backstage Interviews on casinocenter.com monthly.
(This month Las Vegas Backstage Talk Radio Show has a 3 ½ min. video up about Bill Cosby on casinocenter.com)
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“Gaming Today” Column/Adam Carolla and Rita Rudner by Michele LaFong
by Michele LaFong
Adam Carolla and Rita Rudner are featured in this month’s edition of “Getting Personal with the Stars” Column in Gaming Today. Radio Personality / Comedian, Adam was promoting his Reunion Tour with Dr. Drew on March 29, at “House of Blues,” at Mandalay Bay. Carolla, was first most known for “The Man Show,” on Comedy Central, and “Loveline,” with Dr. Drew Pinsky. He now hosts The Adam Carolla Show, which set the record as the “most downloaded podcast” as judged be Guinness World Records, and after interviewing him…I can see why.
We covered everything from his humble beginnings.. working as a carpenter, carpet cleaner, and construction worker, to bombing in comedy clubs.
Many questions were answered like how he got to be on the Board for “The Marijuana Policy Project,” when it turned out he doesn’t even smoke marijuana!
Adam Carolla was honest, funny, unpredictable, and did not disappoint. His persona was exactly the same off camera, as on. I’m really looking forward to seeing his show on Friday.
Next up was Comedian Rita Rudner. She too was very similar to her persona on television. Rita was promoting her upcoming show at The Venetian on April 2, where she performs dates intermittently, throughout the year.
She has written four books, Her play “Tickled Pink,” based on her novel that will be debuting sometime in 2013. It is based on her own experiences as a female comedian coming of age in the 80’s. There are three jokes a minute.
“The 80’s were a very important time for comedy. Johnny Carson was my favorite host. He was always very friendly to me and would come into the make-up room and say “hi.” He was always a very sweet guy. Jay Leno, and Letterman are really terrific at what they do, but they are more of a comedian first, and an interviewer second.
These days, working for herself is very important to Rita. “Creative Freedom is the most important thing when you are a creative person. I love doing stand-up and writing because no one tells you what to wear, or what to say, what order to do things…no one is telling me what to do. That’s what I love so much about this profession.
When asked if she has trouble remembering lines she responded: “Not only do I remember the jokes, but I remember where I was when I thought of the joke…as I’m telling it…but even if I make everyone laugh for the hour and a half, and everyone has a good time, I try to at least try 2-3 new avenues of material at each show, or I’ll have felt that I let myself down.
I always do questions and answers at the end of my show. I answer the questions honestly, but I also bring in the jokes because I want to be entertaining. I sometimes bring out my joke notebook, and ask the audience if I can try these new jokes out on them. They like it and it helps me because they feel like they are in on something, and they are in on something.”
Do you think women in comedy, have it harder? “Of course!” She responded.
Women have to be twice as good at everything, because the positions of power are usually in the hands of men, and being a stand-up comedian..is certainly a position of power.
I love female comics because they all so unique, and there are so many male comics, that sometimes you can get them confused, but I think every female comic has a very individual voice. However, I don”t watch any comics really because I’m so busy with my daughter’s piano, tennis, and guitar, etc. and I work. I do watch sports because it gets me away from things… and I love to watch other people exercise! I’m hoping it will get on me.
I love living in Vegas because my audience has jet-lag…and I’m fully awake. I really like doing my own show at The Venetian. It’s relaxing. I don’t really like when you’re on television, and you’re under a microscope, and you have to rush it in five minutes and be as funny as you’ve ever been.
Even when I’m traveling…the lights are different, the sound is different. The Venetian is like my living room. I know what to expect. And that’s my favorite when I’m in my room in LV, and the audience has come to see me.”
Rita does a Meet & Greet before and after with her VIP audience. “I love to meet the people that I’m going to make laugh in a few minutes, and it makes me less nervous to talk to the people before the show. It makes it a better experience. Las Vegas is a Special Place, and I want to give the audience a Special Time.”
Adam Carolla, and Rita Rudner’s full interviews will be aired on Las Vegas Backstage Talk Radio Show on March 28, from 6pm-7:00pm PST on 1230AM in Las Vegas, and The Web. lasvegasbackstagetalk.com.
Both Adam and Rita will be featured in Michele LaFong’s Monthly Syndicated Column, “Las Vegas Backstage Talk,” in Casino Player Magazine. (CP Magazine.)
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Bobby Rydell with Special Guest, Comedian Michele LaFong-The Suncoast
by Michele LaFong
Today, I interviewed “Original Teenage Idol” Bobby Rydell. He was my guest on Las Vegas Backstage Talk Radio Show on 1230 am KLAV, in Las Vegas, and The Web. He was on the show to promote his up-coming dates at The Suncoast Showroom, Jan. 11-13 at 7:30pm I will also be opening for him, and performing “A Tribute to Senor Wences” with The “Original Johnny” lipstick hand-puppet that Wences “handed-off” to me, documented in LIFE Magazine.
This will be Bobby’s first time performing a full hour+ show in a year since surviving double surgery, a liver, and kidney transplant.
“I was really sick for a year. I said to my wife: it’s over! Get the will ready because I’m gone honey! The very next day, I got a call from Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia telling me to get in right away. That afternoon, I was in the OR for 20+ hours having both a liver and a kidney transplant. I was in July 9. I was home July 19. After 10 days in the hospital, that was it. I had no pain, no nothing. So God Bless Jefferson Hospital, and their whole surgical team!”
“If it weren’t for my wife, I wouldn’t be here. She happens to be a nurse. She saved my life.”
Rydell, is no stranger to playing Las Vegas. His first appearance here was back in ’60 or ’61, at The Sahara Hotel. “I did two weeks with George Burns. I used to stand in the wings after I was done performing, and just watch him. How he delivered a line, his timing.” There wasn’t a short-list of the Icons that Rydell hadn’t worked with over the years. He had great stories. “Jack Benny, I did his TV show, I worked with him, we did “Theater in the Round” together, Perry Como, and Tody Fields. “The one guy who was really been behind me, he was “My Superstar” …Red Skeleton.”
I did 12 shows with Red. The Red Skelton Hour, years ago on CBS, Television City, and then Red took me under his wing because he lost his son Richard at 15 years old via leukemia. When I did his show, I was just like 18, or 19 years old, and the producer of the show, Cecil Barker, said to me at rehearsal “I understand that you do an impersonation of Red.” I said “yeah, I do Clem Kadiddlehopper”, he said “can I hear it?” (So I did it.) “And Red was rehearsing with David Rose, he overheard me doing this, and he started talking back to me as Clem Kadiddlehopper . Then we did that show, and we did a couple of shows like that, and then on the third or fourth show, they wrote in a character, Zeek Kadiddlehopper, that was me. I played (Red’s) Clem Kadiddlehopper’s cousin. Cecil Parker said to me “you are the first person who ever imitated one of Red’s characters on Red’s TV show, and he flew me to his house in Palm Springs, and I met his wife, his daughter… he had 3 poodles, a Mack howl on his shoulder that bit me… Those were great times! Then, a few years back before he passed away, I went to see him with my children. He was at the Caesars in Atlantic City. He introduced me, and I went backstage, then you know how he does of the silent things where he does the old man? You know …. “Walking in the Parade,” all of those “Bits,” and I started crying,” you know, (He said while choking up.) because he meant so much to me. “So I went backstage, and I said to Red, I said “you did it again. You made me cry.” He said… “was I that bad?!” (lol…”Sorry, I got a little “teary eyed” there…) It happens to me a lot when I’m telling old show-biz stories from the past… I cry a lot more now!
Bobby Rydell’s full interview will be aired this Thursday, from 6-7pm PST. Stream live lasvegasbackstagetalk.com. It will be archived on the website. He will also be featured in Michele LaFong’s Monthly Syndicated Column, “Las Vegas Backstage Talk,” in Casino Player Magazine. (CP Magazine.)
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Article in GAMING TODAY with Engvall “Getting Personal with the Stars” by Michele LaFong
Bill will also be featured in Michele LaFong’s Monthly Syndicated Column, “Las Vegas Backstage Talk,” in Casino Player Magazine, as well as his Backstage video taped interview from The TI, posted on Lasvegasbackstagetalk.com Website, and on Casinocenter.com.
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