Michelle Kaplan

Kathleen Madigan - Irreverent Style in a Small Package

If Kathleen Madigan ever had to go into the witness protection program she could hide in South Florida, no problem. She would blend right in because she drives a Cadillac and you can’t see her head over the steering wheel.

Madigan 40, native of St. Louis and a comedian who gained face recognition on NBC’s reality show, Last Comic Standing, is thinking aloud about her blog that appears on her website — where she writes down exactly what’s on her mind.

For instance, in her blog for November, she’s in Vegas and comments on fellow comedian, Howie
Mandel.

Mandel was headlining at the MGM – why????
Who is paying for this???? He’s nice but dear Lord.

“I don’t know that I like the blog… my dad is a lawyer and judge… I don’t know if you should write shit down. What if I get involved in some sort of caper and Howie Mandel was murdered. They would see what I said about him on my web site…I don’t know if it’s the best idea…but it’s fun and people do like reading it.”

That’s how Madigan thinks. She describes her comedy as cynical and sarcastic, but not angry. As
she puts it while laughing, it’s “E Z to understand.”

This day, Madigan is working out the details of her costume that she’ll wear for the cover of her new DVD, In Other Words. The DVD will hit the stores after it airs on Comedy Central on March 25th at 8 PM. A CD version that bares the same name will be released at the same time.

Madigan is being dressed as a Leprechaun, a word she uses to describe herself. Could it be her Irish heritage, her red hair, her stature? At five foot one she could convincingly play the part, but no.

“Well I’m Leprechaun-like…if you encounter the Leprechaun in a forest, they look approachable and adorable…but there’s always something a little sinister going on.”

Madigan picks up on a lot of sinister stuff going on around her. Her list of things that she thinks suck are: airports, her hair not being curly enough, over caffeinated, hyped-up morning DJs, her short attention span, the killer bunion on her left foot, Tom Cruise’s acting ability or lack there of, and a certain pervasive culture she’s noticed by living in Los Angeles.

“Lying…especially out here in L.A., the lying… I prefer the East Coast or Midwest…just tell me what you think…people just lie their asses off, it’s almost exhausting…I don’t trust anything anyone says out here…even if it sounds like it’s not a lie, it’s exhausting.”

In Hollywood Madigan said, even reality TV isn’t really real.

“Reality TV… most of it’s not even real anymore…like half the stuff on Last Comic
Standing… other things happened and it’s presented in a way that’s fake.”

Madigan seems to gravitate toward the real. Her own taste in comedians represent those on the fringe of the, oh, so politically correct Hollywood.

“Roseanne’s (Barr) really fumy…I like that she said what she felt…she didn’t play the Hollywood game…she’s still to me, someone I can watch for an hour.”

Madigan appreciates comedians that she said, “still hold their ground,” such as: Kevin Nealon, Wanda Sykes, Wendy Leibman and Ray Romano, although she wasn’t too sure why she likes Romano, but said that he always makes her laugh.

On the topic of Hollywood, Madigan rang in on her opinion of War of the Worlds, which she only saw recently.

“The reason Dakota Fanning screams the entire movie…it’s not the aliens. It’s knowing Tom Cruise is going to keep acting.”

She is also not a big fan of homeland security. Since her job has her crisscrossing the country, she fully has to endure the post 9-11 security checks.

“I hate going to the airport… it’s a nightmare ever since 9-11, and you know it’s nonsense. They inconvenience people for two hours of their life…taking my tweezers isn’t going to stop the terrorists.”

Terrorism is just not one of her main concerns. Getting to her early morning radio guest appearances is, and again, it’s not really one of her most favorite things to do.

“Morning radio can be a drag. I have to vomit twice to go…most are cool, and nice people but once a week there’s always that crazy DJ guy with a name like Madman…there with Underdog in the morning… and Cindy…she’s the one that reads the news.”

Making these guest appearances is standard operating procedure for comedians. The actual job itself can be daunting.

“I’m only five one. I’m a speck on this giant stage…and you have to go out there with no set and
no Broadway production and hold these people attention for an hour and a half.”

It was something she never even thought of doing.

“Growing up in the Midwest…you were a business major or a math person… They don’t tell you what’s available.”

Looking back on her high school days, she describes herself as one of the kids that hung out in
the smoking section.

“I had a job… I didn’t care about high school. I would have rather been making money…I was more interested in being an adult than being in high school.”

At home she lived with her parents; two people that she thinks are very funny.

“Both of them don’t know they’re funny. My dad thinks he’s funny… my mom is funny but she has no earthly idea that she’s funny.”

Growing up, one thing wasn’t funny to Madigan; her parents had another daughter ten years later and named her Katherine. Kathleen and Katherine according to Madigan are basically the same name.
“It’s ridiculous…was I not living up to expectations. My dad swears they are different names in
Gaelic…maybe that’s working for you in your mind, but the rest of the world doesn’t agree with that …I get this question 500 times day.”

Her sister, Kate, is Kathleen’s full time publicist, the greatest in the world, she says.

After high school, Madigan attended Southern Illinois University, where she earned a degree in Journalism. That’s when she stumbled upon what would be her future profession.

“There happened to be a club by my house…I saw open-mic night…I asked how much money can you make…you could make fifty dollars as the opening act…that’d be nice extra money.”

Making a little extra money may have been the motivation at the time. But since then, Madigan has amassed an impressive list of projects to add to her resume including being voted Best Female Stand-Up at the American Comedy Awards, as well as being a regular guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Dennis Miller Live and Politically Incorrect.

She also has appeared on CMT, Fox Sports Net’s The Best Damn Sports Show, VH-1’s, 50 Greatest Celebrity Feuds, Hollywood Squares and Style TV’s, Style Court. She has done specials for Comedy Central as well as HBO and Madigan also writes for US Weekly’s Fashion Police.

But she still says her claim to fame - her proudest moment, was an achievement she made back in 1978. She won the basketball title, Missouri Hoop Shot Champion.

Not bad, for a Leprechaun.

-FEBRUARY, 2006

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