Comedienne Judy Gold is bringing her act to Center on Halsted this month. An Emmy Award winner and lesbian mother of two, Judy has a show that really packs a punch.
Windy City Times: Heyyyy, Judy.
Judy Gold: Heyyyy! How about only gay people can talk to each other like that.
WCT: I know.
Judy Gold: Straight people are just so boring. They would be like, "She's soooo weird."
WCT: I am thrilled that you are coming to the Center because it will be a different crowd than Zanies where I saw you last. You had those straight girls right in the front.
Judy Gold: I have to tell you that it is so hard working in comedy clubs. It is how I started and how I grew up but a whole different world. They will do anything to get people in the clubs including giving away free tickets. Once people don't pay for something then they are the worst audience. Comedy is the only job where they try to fuck you up while you are doing your job.
WCT: I was talking to Jamie Kennedy last night about hecklers.
Judy Gold: You don't do that when you go to your accountant. You don't yell numbers to throw him off, "5 5 5 3 2 6 !" It's like, "Shut the fuck up!"
WCT: Your life is a sitcom. How is that show going?
Judy Gold: My one woman show My Life as a Sitcom is coming to New York. We did it in Williamstown and Washington DC and got great reviews. I am very excited. I prefer the theatre [ English accent ] to the straight girls in the front row!
WCT: I bet, but your life really is like a sitcom. I watched The Judy Show on YouTube.
Judy Gold: Oh, you watched it? I am so glad. I was going to send it over to you.
WCT: Would you want to do a reality show?
Judy Gold: I am not in love with reality shows. If I was going to do one, taking the term lightly because mine would be a hybrid, put a gay family on television and have people forget that their gay and just like them, I think I would be doing a great service to our community. That is my goal for getting it on the air.
WCT: Your sons seemed very comfortable being themselves on that clip.
Judy Gold: And beating each other up. Can you believe that? Over a goddamn pair of sweatpants!
WCT: It looked stressful.
Judy Gold: I can't even tell you. I don't know if you have any brothers…
WCT: I do.
Judy Gold: The beating the shit out of each other 24 hours a day. The little one says, "Can you wrestle with me?" He is going to be crying in fifteen minutes so why start?
WCT: How does your partner, Elysa, feel about you being in the biz?
Judy Gold: It is a big challenge for her. She's a therapist and the whole life is not normal. She's great about it but I would have been out of here in a week! She sticks around and loves the kids. It is ridiculous the whole showbiz shit. After she realized that I don't care about that kind of stuff then it was okay, that the friends on Facebook are not really my friends. They come up to me after the show and say they are friends with me on that website. "Well, come on backstage then!"
WCT: [ Laughs ] You must get tired of going on the road.
Judy Gold: I hate it. The anxiety starts about two weeks before when I have to pack. When I was younger it was fun but I am too old. I am a homebody now. People ask me to go out. I spent twenty five years in clubs. I don't want to go out! I want to sit on my couch and watch a movie or read a book. The traveling is really exhausting and my kids hate it.
WCT: You are still in the show Love, Loss and What I Wore.
Judy Gold: Can you believe that? It is still going on. This is my second time doing it.
WCT: There have been over 500 shows.
Judy Gold: It's great and I like the current group. Anita Gillette, who is from the Match Game and played Tina Fey's mother on 30 Rock, is so talented. Pauletta Washington was talking backstage the other day and how she had to leave the house the other day and screamed, "I have a show!" She was talking about Denzel and so funny.
WCT: Did you receive a favorite Hanukkah present this past year?
Judy Gold: My boss at TruTV for the World's Dumbest show I do got me an iPad.
WCT: Oh, that's a good one.
Judy Gold: Yeah, and I changed the signature to "sent from my i maxi pad." I can't wait for the parents of the kids at school to see that one…
WCT: I haven't seen that show yet.
Judy Gold: It's because you are from Chicago. If I go to Ohio people faint, "You are on that show, oh my gawd!"
WCT: Hatched by Two Chicks is something you working on, too.
Judy Gold: Right, we did four radio shows for Sirius. It has my acerbic wit but we always have a theme and it's about gay families. We discussed sperm donors and step parenting. People loved it so we are hopefully coming back. I would like to get a sponsor for the show. It is a female host that talks about families. There are so many gays with kids!
WCT: It is always a treat to talk to you and Center on Halsted is a great space to see you at.
Judy Gold: Pray for no snow because I am flying in that morning!
Judy will be at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted, Sunday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. Visit www.centeronhalsted.org for ticket information. Go for the Gold at www.judygold.com .
