ROCKLAND — For someone who has been in the comedy business for 47 years and regularly plays shows across the country, Paula Poundstone is looking forward to returning to The Strand Theatre August 21 to see what she can stir up.

"I love Maine; what's not to love about Maine," she said. "And I love the Strand. It's a great, venerable theatre and I'm happy to come back." 

Poundstone lives in  California and has been on stage in Rockland and Boothbay Harbor on numerous occasions since 2014.

When it comes to Maine versus other venues, she said: "We're not as different as we think we are. Whether it's Italy or Rockland, Maine, we have a good deal of similarities between us." 

Known for her quick wit on shows, such as National Public Radio's Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me and her own weekly comedy podcast, Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone, she said the audience often steers the direction of a show.

"I try to go on with some sort of scaffolding of material in my head, but there are times at shows where I almost touch nothing of that scaffolding," she said, in a July 29 telephone interview. "Somebody will say something to me that reminds me of a piece of material, and sometimes my reaction is unique to that night. The reason I had to do it that way was doing stand-up back in the old days, you got five minutes at the open mic. I'd type up my material, memorize it, then get up on stage, get nervous, and completely forget it.  So, I learned to adapt to the crowd."

Her approach to comedy has had to evolve over the years due to the divided political views of Americans, Poundstone said. 

"Over the years, I've made my politics really clear and I have a very unmixed crowd," she said. "In the old days, I had some Republicans in my crowd, because they came up with smiles on their faces and told me they really enjoyed the show because it was OK to disagree on one or two things. We had much more in common than we had as differences. There was a period of time when I really wrestled with what to do, almost apologize on stage for sharing my point of view. And then I got to the point where I said, 'You know what, it's time for courage.' I can't pretend that this other approach is OK."

Continuing on that theme, she said, "I remember reading an article about Wanda Sykes, who I think is great, and it was right around the time I was trying to address Trumpers in my crowd. And Wanda apparently had a similar problem, where a big group of people would storm out in this showy, dramatic way. So, that's when I started to ask myself, 'Why am I apologizing?' I want to be a pebble in the pond and spread courage, hopefully in an entertaining way."

She said The Strand Theatre audience loves to hear about their own town.

"I turn to the audience and ask them about rivalries or issues in the town and... stories come out!"

"I have 47 years of material," she said. "I started allowing myself to let the audience play on it on any given night. It's no more improvised than having a regular conversation with someone. And that works pretty well."

With HBO specials, two books, five albums, a current podcast, and even a voice actor in feature films, Poundstone is nothing short of diverse. The crowd in Rockland better be ready for her. 

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com