Paula Poundstone is known for her smart, observational humor and a spontaneous wit that has become the stuff of legend. Time magazine, in the March 2020 “Best of” issue, listed Paula’s HBO special, Cats, Cops and Stuff as one of The 5 Funniest Stand-Up Specials Ever. Paula can be heard weekly as the host of the comedy podcast, Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone and as a regular panelist on NPR’s comedy news quiz, Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!
Also an author, Paula’s second book, The Totally Unscientific Study Of The Search For Human Happiness (Algonquin) was one of eight semi-finalists for The Thurber Prize for American Humor, the highest recognition of the art of humor writing in the United States. The audio book was one of five finalists for the Audio Book of the Year AUDIE award.
Paula tours regularly, appearing on stage with a stool, a microphone and a can of Diet Pepsi. In a review for the Boston Globe of Paula’s performance, Nick Zaino III wrote: “Poundstone has one of comedy’s most nimble and disarming comic imaginations. She improvises with the crowd like a jazz musician, swinging in unexpected directions without a plan, without a net –there’s a disarming ease in her craft, an immediate sense that she’s so quick on her feet you need never worry about the possibility of something going wrong.”