This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 1, 2012 - Imo’s Pizza, Madigan family and old friends from McCluer North High School, get ready. Class of ’83 comedian Kathleen Madigan is returning to St. Louis Oct. 13 for a performance at The Peabody.
Her hometown touchdown is a perfect landing, comedically speaking, because it coincides with that wellspring of material known as the presidential election.
Politics, family (she’s the middle of seven children) and her Midwestern, Catholic upbringing have long been sources of inspiration for Madigan, recently named as one of the “9 Funniest Women on the Planet” by the Detroit Free Press and PopMatters.com, along with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
On politics: “Jimmy Carter's accent is so smooth I never know what he's talking about, but I'm pretty sure he could talk me into killing my best friend.”
On her parents’ first few months with a computer: “I bet I got over 500 emails from them that said, ‘Is this working?’ So I would email back and say, ‘No.’”
On kids: “I’d like to have kids. I get those maternal feelings. Like when I’m laying on the couch and I can’t reach the remote control. It’s like, ‘Boy a kid would be nice right now.’”
Madigan talked with the Beacon while babysitting for her sister’s 2-year-old. In between comments like, “Butt first, going down the stairs,” she demonstrated that she shields no political party or candidate from her sharp wit.
The Beacon: So did you watch the Republican and Democratic conventions?
Kathleen Madigan: I watched them both. Looking at Clint Eastwood [address an empty chair representing Obama] at the Republican convention, I thought, “This is why I don’t do improv. You never know what’s going to happen.”
It’s much harder than it looks. Maybe it sounded like a good idea backstage, and then he goes out, and it got weird.
If you’re going to invite someone that famous and that successful as Clint Eastwood, it’s kind of awkward to say, “Hey buddy, can you send us, in type, what you’re gong to do?” You know they won’t do it, and the next thing you know, uh-oh, cuckoo town.
What about he Democratic convention?
Madigan: You know -- maybe Jimmy Carter’s too old to travel -- but when ex-presidents just send in a tape, it reminds me of comedians, when they’re going to do a roast for somebody.
Let’s say they were going to do a roast for Lewis Black -- well I would show up. But, say the roast was for Bob Saget, I’d say, “Hmmm ... can I just send a tape?” because I don’t know Bob all that well.
Did anything else stand out?
Madigan: I liked the nun; I liked Sister Simone. The nuns on the bus are like my new favorite people.
We’re Catholic and all that, and there are so many things about the Catholic church that have gone sideways and off the rails. And these nuns are just trying to help poor people and now the Vatican’s yelling at them? I’m like, really? You’re going to yell at the last five people that really like you?
And I love that these nuns just said, “Yes, we got the memo, yes we heard your complaints, but guess what? We don’t care, and we’re doing what we’re doing.” I guess the Vatican’s mad because they’re not speaking up on all these other issues, but they’re like, “That's not our gig, that’s not what we signed up for.”
What about Obama and Romney?
Madigan: People alway say Obama’s a great speaker and I’m like, “Well he’s eloquent, but I get bored sometimes.” I feel like, “OK, dude this is round two now; you had round one of dreams and hopes and blah blah blah. And at this point we need to know exactly what’s going on. We need details."
Obama’s speech was a good speech but it was the wrong time. We already had that speech. To me, we needed a speech that was specific, and like, “Hey guys, I’m totally not kidding this time, for real.”
A lot of my jokes about Obama are about how much he thinks the American public is so involved when we’re really kind of not. Like with health care, he was on TV saying, “I need all of you, if you agree with me, to email your congressmen or representatives.”
And I’m like, “Then I’m going to need you to email me who they are, and, if you could include a click box and a link, sir, you will greatly improve your chances of me helping you out in this matter.”
And Mitt Romney, he said he’s going to create 12 million jobs. Will somebody just tell me, how you’re even going to create one? You don’t even need to explain all 12 million.
And you know, Romney was like, “America’s the place where your children should be better off than you.” And I thought, “Well how could his children be better off than him, unless they did away with him and took his stuff?”
Who are comedians hoping will become president in order to maximize their material?
Madigan: I think for comedians, Romney will probably make more gaffes but his personality is about as exciting as John Kerry’s. I never thought it was possible in the history of politics to find somebody more boring and wealthier than John Kerry.
Although, I don’t know if Kerry was pumped up on ‘roids during the convention but he gave a great speech. I’m like, “Where was that guy? Where’s he been hiding?”
