Self-described 'domestic goddess' and former brash, blue-collar TV mom Roseanne Barr is swooping in to the Chicago suburbs to stir things up with a brand new stand-up show.
It seems fitting that the Sept. 29 stop of Barr's tour will be in the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, where there is a current ongoing battle in that city over the opening of a Planned Parenthood clinic. After all, Barr is becoming more vocal about politics and current issues than ever before. Her 13-year blog at www.roseanneworld.com is updated every day about topics from the recent birth of another grandchild to the goings-on in Jena, La. Her main focus right now, no matter which platform she uses, is to convince people to think.
Her show will be no different. 'Expect to laugh and think and have a good time,' Barr told Windy City Times.
Windy City Times: What brought you back to your stand-up roots?
Roseanne Barr: I just had something to say, and the desire to get out there and do it.
WCT: Did it have a bit to do with the political climate?
RB: It did. 9/11 was when I went, 'Aw hell, I'm back. I'm back.' I really wanted to get out and say something.
WCT: And now is a good time because people really need to laugh.
RB: I think that's true. They need to think. I think you need to think before you laugh. That's why stand-up is so powerful.
WCT: I know you're definitely not a fan of Bush or Cheney.
RB: I'm not a fan of [ Hillary ] Clinton or any of them, either. I don't like any of them. They are all a bunch of bums, and not one of them, on either side, is saying anything that makes me want to vote for one of them. They are all crooks.
WCT: In that case, if you could handpick anybody to run this country, who do you think would do a really great job?
RB: I think [ Al ] Gore. I think we should elect him again. He's the only president in how many years that's actually been elected by popular vote of the people. He should serve. I think he should come back and run again. People need him.
WCT: Would you ever consider running for a political office?
RB: See, everybody is talking to me about that. You know what? I should do it. Maybe I will some day.
WCT: What could you see yourself doing? Are we talking president here?
RB: Yeah! I should run for president. Or just to be able to influence what is talked about. It's really important in this next election. The things they talk about and the platform they run on it [ are ] so important. It's so important that it isn't stolen from people, and just be about a bunch of rich, corporate guys, while all the people's wages get lower and they lose their houses. Seriously, that's kind of why I want to stay out there and talk.
WCT: Do you think the media is doing a really poor job of informing people?
RB: There is no real media. They are just a bunch of fan sites for the Republican Party. On the Internet, there is journalism. There are people who are saying things.
The change is coming. Everyone who supported these Republicans better watch out, because they will be gone. [ Laughs. ] … I think people will throw all the bums out sooner or later. They have to!
WCT: Speaking of the Internet, you blog a lot!
RB: Yeah, I blog every day. I was like the first person to blog. I've been blogging for 13 years, back when I could only get six people to pick it up.
…I like to keep thoughts out there. I think what I have to say is representative of people who are being hurt. I kind of do it as service to them.
WCT: On Roseanne—years ago—you chose to place issues important to the gay and lesbian community in the forefront. I was wondering, given today's political climate, what do you think the reaction would be?
RB: Well, I think the whole thing of gays on TV is all over the place now. There's nothing political in television anymore, though. It's kind of a wash. It really doesn't say anything. I think people who have nothing to say, whether they are gay or straight, shouldn't be allowed to get on television now.
WCT: In April, you made some comments on your radio show that, eventually, many people in the gay and lesbian community agreed with, but caused a lot of controversy.
RB: Once this was settled, some people were like, 'Wait a minute.' When it came out, it was all out of context and everything. They are coming around to agree with me. My point was, 'Where are the gay and lesbian voices?' They are a huge and powerful demographic. I want them to say, 'Stop the war.' In addition to all the gay issues they talk about all the time, I want them to also say, 'Stop the war in the name of the gay and lesbian people who are fighting it.' They are a large part of the army. I want them to say that. It's needed. That is what I was trying to get out there, but it came out wrong. Well, like I like to say, I've cut down the drinking. [ Laughs. ] But I just went nuts because I wasn't hearing anything about the war from the gay and lesbian community. …For one thing, a large part of our army is gay and lesbian. And they aren't saying it!
WCT: They are getting kicked out all the time, too.
RB: And they are getting killed. C'mon. We have to pull together—gay, straight, women, men, working people—the only hope we have is to get out of these little demographic boxes they've put us into and reach across our separation to join together and fight the power. That's what I was trying to say, that's what I've always said and that's what I'm trying to say now.
WCT: Do you think part of the problem is that people aren't concerned with what is happening right now?
RB: It's advertising. It keeps people silent and passive and separated from other people. They keep you in the house so you can keep watching their shit, so you can buy more shit. They keep you inside, so you don't go outside and join the real world.
I love to talk to people about these things.
WCT: That's what people need to do.
RB: We definitely need to start talking to each other again.
The show takes place Sept. 29, 8 p.m., at Aurora's Paramount Theatre. See www.paramountarts.com for more information.
