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Paula Poundstone: You Get a Lot of Jokes Out of Cats

Sioux Falls Argus-Leader

Paula Poundstone loves Iowa--she must, she's performing here again!  On this segment of Talk of Iowa, Charity speaks to the venerated comedian, who is returning to Iowa City for a show at the Englert Theatre on June 10. 

Public radio listeners are especially in love with Poundstone, because of her weekly appearance as a panelist on Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me.  She has been doing stand-up comedy since 1979 and became nationally known for her HBO specials in the 1980s.   Her first job, she told us, was bussing tables at an IHOP, a job she says she became the best at in the world because of her OCD symptoms.   During the interview, Charity asks her about about her decision to become a stand-up comedian (it was all because of her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Bump), how she is mining jokes this year about Donald Trump and why her many cats are such a treasure of material for her shows (she was spraying one of her cats, Harrison, with a water-bottle during the interview because he wouldn't shut up).  She was also "foraging" for cat pee on the floor.   It's seventeen minutes of good listening!

Charity Nebbe is the host of IPR's Talk of Iowa