Kung Pao Kosher Comedy creator Lisa Geduldig is hosting the 33rd annual event, with Jewish comics doing standup on Christmas in a Chinese restaurant, on Dec. 24-26 at Imperial Palace in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Headliner Elayne Boosler, along with Orion Levine and Amanda Marks, appear in dinner and cocktail shows, which also will stream. Geduldig kindly arranged an email interview with Boosler. Here it is:
Local News Matters: Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions. Also, this isn’t a question, but I wanted to let you know that I particularly enjoyed “your” episode of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”
Elayne: Thanks so much. What a great show to do, and what a great show that was.
LNM: This is your third time headlining Kung Pao Kosher Comedy, correct? What are your reminiscences of previous KPKC performances?
Elayne: The egg rolls.
LNM: Do you/will you tailor your act for the Kung Pao audience, and, if so, can you offer a bit of a detail of how?
Elayne: Mostly I tailor my show to the kind of food being served. So most of my show will be in Mandarin, with a little Hunan and Szechuan thrown in. If a joke has a little picture of a pepper next to it, it means it’s extra spicy.
LNM: On a non-KPKC year, what would you be doing on Christmas? Or, do you have any specific Hanukkah traditions?
Elayne: I’ve pretty much worked every holiday you can think of since I started doing comedy. Holidays are for civilians. People who work onstage usually just go to work! My only Chanukah (pick your own spelling folks) tradition was to make sure my family was always told I was lost at sea or something like that in December, unless Chanukah came in May that year. Then I’d be lost in a pollen explosion.
LNM: Might you name comedians you admire today?
Elayne: There are so many great comedians working today. Christopher Titus. Emo Philips. Maria Bamford. Iliza Shlesinger. Tig Notaro. Chelsea Handler. There are fantastic funny women working but not doing standup. Check out specials from many, many, many great female comedians from Britain and Australia. They are sooooo far beyond the U.S. choices.
LNM: Were there any comics you looked up to when you were starting out, and, if so, who?
Elayne: Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin, Dick Gregory, for comedy. Phyllis Diller, Rusty Warren, Totie Fields for their friendship and support.
LNM: Do you get to San Francisco very often? Are there places you like to visit when you come?
Elayne: I get everywhere all the time. After 50 years on the road it all starts to blend. It’s all just a nice big Jackson Pollock painting now. But I’ve always loved San Francisco since the first time I came here in the early ‘70s and discovered Cost Plus. Wow! I still have stuff from then. And a huge thank you to you all for throwing ICE the hell out of your city.
LNM: I love your straight hair! Do you have a stylist? Or do you style it yourself? Do you have hair tips for curly Jewish heads?
Elayne: If you want to buy a vacation home, or travel the world, don’t spend the money it takes to straighten your hair. Just go enjoy your life. I am not your role model.. sigh. If I hadn’t spent all I have spent to straighten my hair I could have added a huge ballroom to my house too.
LNM: What are you looking forward to?
Elayne: Someone dropping dead but I guess I’d better not say who. But you all know who.
LNM: Anything I haven’t asked about that you’d like to mention for readers of Local News Matters and its sister organization Bay City News?
Elayne: My Tails of Joy rescue organization (www.tailsofjoy.net) is celebrating 25 years of saving animals’ lives. All animals—dogs, cats, bunnies, wildlife, sea life, elephants, primates, small exotics, big cats. We save them or financially help support the organizations that do. I love comedy but using its benefits for good is what gives life meaning. And we’re all volunteer, so every donation and purchase is used 100% to save lives. Check us out. Thanks.
Kung Pao Kosher Comedy is at 5 and 8:30 p.m. Dec. 24-26 at Imperial Palace, 818 Washington St., San Francisco, with live streams at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Tickets are $35-$101 at CityBoxOffice.com/KungPao. For more information, visit www.KosherComedy.com.
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