Kathleen Madigan Talks Comedy, Beer and Ms. Pac Man

×

Expand

Photo Credit Luzena Adams

The term “hardest working person in the business” might just be the biggest cliché known to the world. The term has been used so many times that it has lost just about all of its meaning. That’s a real shame, because it perfectly describes Kathleen Madigan, who has been performing around 300 nights a year for the majority of her 25-year career.

Madigan, who was recently featured on Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” and is a regular panelist on Larry Wilmore’s “Nightly Show”, will be filming her fourth one-hour standup special at the Pabst Theater on Saturday, March 5.

Why did you decide to film your next special at the Pabst Theatre?

Milwaukee really is one of my favorite cities. Mainly because of the beer selection and the bratwurst. Aside from that, the people at the Pabst Theatre are so friendly, and the theater itself is so beautiful. Also they are truly excited to have us. If you try to do something like this in New York they just act like you’re a pain in their ass and they can’t be bothered. You want to go where people are excited to see you.

I’m really good friends with Lewis Black and we’ve both worked that theater a bunch of times. We’ve always said we’ve wanted to tape there so I just decided to do it. Also the green room at the Pabst has a Ms. Pac Man machine. That’s the only video game I’ve ever played in my life, and I’m really, really good at it.

Being from St. Louis, which is another one of the nation’s historical beer cities, can you admit that Milwaukee is the better beer city?

I would say that Milwaukee has more choices. If I can only have one beer and I’m trapped on a desert island I would still choose a Bud Light. I know people will make fun of me for that choice and say it’s just gross water. My second choice would be Miller Lite, then maybe Spotted Cow. After that maybe Fat Tire from Colorado.

I could really care less about wine or hard liquor. I just really like beer.

What should we expect from you as far as the material is concerned when you come to the Pabst?

I have a secret opening act that is going to be impressive, so you definitely shouldn’t be late. We’re filming both shows. So we will pull mainly from one and use the other for edits in case I mess up, which I probably will (laughs).

I haven’t been to the Pabst in probably two years so it will be about 90% new material.

You talk a lot about gambling in your comedy. Can we expect to see you at Potawatomi after the show?

I actually hit a royal flush at the Potawatomi. The Potawatomi is one of my favorite tribes because I remember winning there. I don’t know if I’ll have time to get there this particular trip because of the taping, but I’m coming in early just so that I can hang out in Milwaukee and be off. I might be running around with some of the crew people just drinking.

That sounds like a blast. Do you have any favorite bars in Milwaukee?

I don’t remember the names of them. They’re all down by the Intercontinental. I think Water Street is where most of them are. I just go down there and drink different draft beers.

How did you get involved with doing shows overseas for the military?

I got involved through Lewis Black. Someone asked him and then the next year he asked me. Then we just did them together. When you’re in that situation you want to have someone with you who’s not just another comedian, but someone you know.

It’s very weird traveling and you’re in a lot of bunk bed situations and shared bathrooms, so you want the other person to be your friend. And I guess if you’re going to die you’re going to want to die with one of your friends. If something horrible happens at least we can die together. 

How has the experience been over there?

It’s been fun. I know you wouldn’t expect someone to say, “ Oh, I had a lot of fun in Afghanistan” or, “Oh my God, we had such a great show in Kabul”, but it is true. The troops are so excited that we showed up, and they wait outside in the freezing cold. It’s the most memorable experience of my entire career. It even beats being on TV or meeting famous people or any of that stuff. This is something that probably no one will ever do again, at least not in those places. I’m so glad we went.

It’s also great to see people back home after seeing them overseas. I was working at the Mirage and these soldiers came up. It was a man and a woman, and they were married. They both saw me in Afghanistan, and it’s great to see them back in one piece.

You’ve said that you got into comedy by accident. What was the moment that you realized it would be your career?

I was very lucky that St. Louis was the headquarters for the Funny Bone Comedy Club chain. So when I felt like I had a solid 15 minutes I asked them if I could go to all the Funny Bones in the country and be an opening act. They agreed and I went on to do their 20 clubs twice, which was 40 weeks of the year booked. That was your ticket out. I then filled the rest of the weeks with one-nighters, college gigs and whatever else I could find. Once I knew I could do that I knew I had a ticket to try.

You currently spend about 300 nights a year on the road. How do you deal with never being home?

I don’t mind. A lot of people seem to think that it’s crazy, but when you’ve been doing it for so long it just becomes your normal life. I don’t know what I would do if I was in the same place for a whole month. I would probably get restless.

How long do you plan on keeping up with this schedule?

Well I don’t plan on doing this forever. There are so many other things I’d like to do. I really like standup and it’s been a very fun job, but I don’t want to do it forever. I watched Joan Rivers’ documentary, and I like Joan Rivers, but at age 80 she would look at her calendar and have something filled every minute. If she didn’t have something going on it would be her nightmare. That’s my goal. I don’t need to do 300 shows until I’m 80 years old. I’m not a workaholic. I don’t mind being off. 

Kathleen Madigan will perform at the Pabst Theater on March 5.