Paula Poundstone Opens Up About the Highs—and Lows—of Her Comedy Career

Paula Poundstone may have essentially invented “crowd work”—as the process of turning conversations with members of an audience into comedy is known today—but she still hates the term. “If I’m walking down the street and I say ‘Hi’ to somebody, is that street work?” she asks.

In this episode of The Last Laugh podcast, Poundstone opens up about her unlikely path to becoming a comedy icon in the 1980s and ’90s and how it all nearly came crashing down after her arrest in 2001. She also reflects on her frosty relationship with Johnny Carson, reveals how her own early brush with “cancel culture” made her think about second chances, and a lot more.

About five years ago, Poundstone decided it was finally time to do what every other comedian was doing and start a podcast. She called it Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone, and she’s still not sure how many people are actually tuning in.

Read more at The Daily Beast.