Comedian Paula Poundstone visits Wilmington

Maddie Driggers | Staff Writer

The first step to coming together as a nation in these divisive times is to find common ground among us said stand-up comedian Paula Poundstone.

Poundstone, a best selling author and frequent panelist on the NPR program “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me,”entertained Wilson Theater at Cape Fear Community College on February 10, 2017 with her jokes on everything from politics to her family life to technology addiction.

“You don’t have to agree on everything to find common ground,” she said. “All the Democrats don’t think the same thing. All the Republicans don’t think the same thing. And all the Independents don’t really know what to think.”

While she spoke of bipartisanship, Poundstone did insert her own political views into her act, which were mainly liberal and anti-Trump. During one of her bits, she sarcastically recalled a simpler time in American politics.

“We learned ‘follow the money’ from Watergate,” she said. “Remember that? A more innocent time. Don’t you look back to Nixon now and think, ‘Well, he was a pretty good guy!’”

Poundstone, who has three adopted children, also spent some of her act talking about her family life. Her two daughters are in their twenties and currently live in various parts of the country. She spent some time commenting on the state of her 26-year-old’s life.

“I like to say that ship has sailed,” she said. “But, really, it’s stuck in a sandbar just offshore. I try not to look when I go down the beach.”

Her other daughter is 22-years-old and goes to college in Portland, Oregon. Poundstone talked about what going to school in Oregon did to her daughter’s diet. 

“She’s become a vegan,” Poundstone said. “She won’t even eat something that would annoy an animal…But, I’m very proud of her. I can’t feed her, but I am very proud of her.”

While she did joke about her daughters, the relationship she focused the most on was the rocky, teenage angst fueled one with her teenage son.

“I also have an 18-year-old son,” she said. “Which, as it turns out, is one of the worst things that can happen to a person…That kid can argue. There are nights where he goes to bed and I go into my room and complete my sentences.”

Poundstone also used her act to talk about the problems our world today has with technology addiction. It is an issue that she speaks passionately about while also adding in some light-hearted humor.

“Talk about things we all have in common,” she said. “Electronics addiction cuts through all political beliefs.”

Through all her personal politics and rallies back and forth with audience members, Poundstone’s message was one of hope, comradery and understanding.

“We all have far more in common than we have differences,” she said. “And the sooner we figure that out, the better we’ll be.”

Poundstone’s newest book The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness will be available on Amazon, iTunes and at Barnes & Noble on May 9th, 2017.