Sandra Bernhard
by Daniel Robert Epstein for SuicideGirls (http://suicidegirls.com/)
I’ve had a crush on Sandra Bernhard ever since her spread in Playboy years ago. But even before that I loved her comedy and her work in films like Hudson Hawk (Ball! Ball!) and her great role on Roseanne. But Bernhard is best known for her acerbic comedy showcased in the many CDs she has released. Her latest is Everything Bad and Beautiful and it is her best yet.
Buy Everything Bad and Beautiful
Daniel Robert Epstein: How long did you work on the material that went into Everything Bad and Beautiful?
Sandra Bernhard: It took me a few months to put it together but my shows are always in flux. I guess it took me like six months to put it together.
DRE: You had a lot of good producers for the songs, like Cynthia Daniels and Eve Nelson.
SB: These are people I’ve worked with before. They produced my other live album, I’m Still Here Damn It. They took things into the studio and did them on their own.
DRE: I talk to a lot of comedians and some of them say it’s no big deal to do stuff overseas but obviously you’re pretty popular overseas. But do you have to change your show up a little bit?
SB: Not usually. If you’re playing in Great Britain or Australia, people want to hear what’s going on culturally in America. I don’t know if they want to hear so much political stuff. But I think culturally they always like to hear what’s going on.
I put this show together in LA at the Silent Movie Theatre and in Australia. I’ve always put my shows together in LA then brought them to New York. People always think that I start in New York but I always start in LA.
DRE: For the comedy, are you someone that records your show?
SB: Yeah I do, so I can listen back to stuff that I’ve been improvising.
DRE: Is that something that you learned from other comedians?
SB: Well, I’ve been performing for years so to me it is a no-brainer. You’ve got to remember how you did something and when you’re improvising, you’re in the moment. So you really need to hear it back.
DRE: You usually release your albums yourself, what made you go with a label?
SB: It isn’t a big, huge label; it’s an indie label. They’re also friends of mine, so it’s a collaborative effort. I still sell my other CDs on my website and at shows.
DRE: How do you pick which songs that you sing?
SB: I pick songs that I really love and I think, “Oh my God, I really want to do this now” and then I’ll interject it into a piece or I build a piece around it.
DRE: Are you constantly looking for ways to expand your audience or do you feel like you’ve carved out this great and popular niche for yourself that you’ll stick with?
SB: Of course you always want to keep bring new people into your realm. The more people that you expose to interesting ideas and concepts, the better.
DRE: You just shot a pilot so you’re always doing TV. You don’t seem to have a lot of trouble maneuvering in and out of Hollywood.
SB: Well, why would I? Its part of what I do. I’m an actor and I love being involved in other people’s projects as well. It always keeps things interesting.
DRE: Have you heard of SuicideGirls before?
SB: I have, yes.
DRE: Do you have any tattoos or piercings?
SB: No, I’m a Jewish girl. We don’t do those kinds of things.
DRE: I know, I’m a Jew too. We can’t be buried in the right places.
SB: Yeah and it’s not my thing. It doesn’t resonate for me. It’s cute on other people but not on me.
DRE: When you guys did The King of Comedy many years ago, it was so far ahead of it’s time. Now it seems like it’s caught up with itself.
SB: Yeah, almost [laugh].
DRE: I’m just waiting for a kidnapper to eventually get his own talk show.
SB: It probably has happened.
DRE: Did you ever think about what your character did after she ran off?
SB: She just kept running, probably still running somewhere.
DRE: I would be called to task if I didn’t ask about Hudson Hawk. I know that the making of that movie was a little nutty but what was your experience on it?
SB: It was like a long, long time being in Europe when we filmed. I got very close to Richard E. Grant who plays my husband. That was the best part of that whole experience.
DRE: You’ve always been pretty open about your sexuality. Do you think that’s ever slowed you down in any of the avenues you ever wanted to work in?
SB: I don’t think so. I feel like I transcend that. It’s not like I’m trying to make some big statement. My sexuality is fluid and I’ve always been very comfortable so I don’t think it’s been a problem.
DRE: I’m sure you have lots of young fans who either consider themselves gay or bisexual. But do you feel like those terms are thrown around a little bit too easily by younger people now?
SB: Yeah, I think until people get really comfortable with themselves, it’s a good copout. It sounds chic.
DRE: I know you did this pilot for Logo. Are you trying to take hold of all these great gay things that are going on in our culture right now?
SB: No, not particularly. I like to think that my work transcends that. I don’t really want to limit it to like just gay outlets. Gay people have always been like a part of interesting alternative and mainstream entertainment outlets. But I think it’s exploitative and I don’t really like it. But nobody exploits Sandra Bernhard.
DRE: [laughs] You exploit them, is that what it is?
SB: I don’t exploit either. I just try to be respectful and do good things for smart, talented people.
DRE: Do you write screenplays or TV shows?
SB: Yeah, I do but that doesn’t mean they get done. You want to have vehicles for yourself and there are a lot of other people I’d love to work with or who I think are really talented.
DRE: What else are you working on?
SB: I’ve got a new show so I’m just out doing it, having fun. We’ll get to the exploitation of myself later [laughs]. Also I’ve been creating this post-modern variety show that I’m going around pitching at different places and hopefully somebody has enough money and balls to pick it up.
DRE: So it is a bit deconstructionist?
SB: Yeah, but definitely old school, real entertainment. There are going to be vignettes, I wouldn’t call them sketches.
DRE: People don’t do variety shows anymore. I know Jessica Simpson did one but that was more of a goof on variety specials.
SB: This wouldn’t be a goof. This is just really great, finely crafted, really good new take on it. So we’ll see if somebody picks it up.
DRE: Is singing something that you’ve always done?
SB: I’ve always done comedy and singing simultaneously. I just ended up getting a little more attention for the talking aspect of my work. I’ve probably been more influenced by music and the whole business of music than comedy per say.
DRE: You’ve always played more rock clubs than comedy clubs.
SB: Right exactly.
DRE: Growing up, did your parents have a lot of music in the house?
SB: Yeah, my parents listened to a lot of music and I have three older brothers and one of my brothers was very into jazz and my other brother would listen to Bob Dylan. So I was exposed to a lot of music. My dad listened to more old school stuff like Broadway and Big Band and my mother played classical piano herself. So I was exposed to everything.
DRE: How old is your daughter?
SB: She’s almost nine.
DRE: Does she get the whole Sandra Bernhard aesthetic just yet?
SB: Yeah and she has her own aesthetic and it’s definitely influenced by my own. But she’s got her own spin on it.
DRE: Some of the stuff you’ve done is pretty dirty. How soon would you let her hear that stuff?
SB: When she’s like a little bit older. Some of the stuff is not age appropriate. She just needs to know her mother. She doesn’t need to see all of her material.
DRE: [laughs] She probably won’t even think that it’s that funny by the time she gets to a certain age. Is that what it is?
SB: Yeah, exactly. It doesn’t matter, as long as we love each other and are here for each other.
DRE: Do you plan on having more kids?
SB: No, I think I’m just going to do one kid really, really well.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
web address: http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Sandra+Bernhard/