Strange Fruit #141: Comedian Paula Poundstone on Comedy, Raising a Black Son, and her LGBT Fans

Comedian Paula Poundstone will be in Louisville on October 17th, bringing her stand-up comedy to the Kentucky Center for the Arts. We spoke with her this week about, among other things, her enduring popularity with gay and lesbian audiences. She said in the 80s, comedians were making a lot of jokes with gay people as the punchline, but she never did. ""I think I just didn't alienate people as much," she explained. But it might also be something about her, personally, that resonates. "My sexual orientation has always been very much in question," she said. "And by the way, with me too!" Paula's son and her oldest daughter are black, and she says it was Trayvon Martin's death that made her realize she'd have to have The Talk with her own son. During our conversation she reflected on how she'll never really be able to share his experience of being black in America. "All I can do is listen to his lies about homework," she chuckles, "and keep feeding him." We also talked about what colon cancer awareness has in common with talking about race, and why you should always, always listen when someone tells you they have a bear in their bed. In our Juicy Fruit segment we cover the return of Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood's addition of a gay couple to the cast. Are they shooting them differently than the other couples? Why do we see so little of Milan interacting with the rest of the cast? This week's show also features some important etiquette information to keep you from acting a fool at the drag show.