42 May 9 • 2019
jn

R

oseanne Barr is a lot of things: a 
comic, the driving force, creator 
and actor from one of the top 20 
TV shows for nine consecutive seasons, 
Roseanne, a mother, a grandmother, a 
Golden Globe and Emmy award winner 
— and always controversial. Last year, 
she was removed from her show for 
a tweet she made that was considered 
racist.
The original “domestic goddess” 
brings her live standup tour, “
Alive and 
Kicking,
” to Detroit Sunday, May 19, at 
the Fox Theatre, and says she is ready to 
make America laugh again.
This reporter had a pre-Passover 
phone interview with Barr from her 
macadamia farm on the Big Island of 
Hawaii. 
RB: Hi, it’
s Roseanne. She could be 
picking up her dry cleaning. It is nasally. It 
is unimpressed, and it is legendary. 
JN: Hello, Ms. Barr, how are you? 
RB: I’
m good. 
JN: Are you getting ready for Pesach? 
I just made my matzah “crack,
” so I am 
ready to go. 
RB: Is that the one with the choco-
late toffee? Of course, I have heard of 

it, are you kidding me? It’
s so good. 
JN: It is so good. I don’
t know if it 
is going to make it to the seder table 
tomorrow night. 
RB: It’
s the pre-seder seder. 
I think God would approve of that. I 
will go with it. Laughing.
RB: I’
m looking forward to coming 
to Detroit. 
JN: We are looking forward to having 
you. Tell me a little bit about your show 
and why we need to see it.
RB: Well, because it’
s hilarious. It’
s 
really got some good writing and good 
jokes that I want people to hear. I still 
feel like I have stuff to say and so I keep 
on saying, and it’
s fun. I love standup. 
That is really what I am. It’
s cool to 
be able to still to do it. It is a great art 
form. 
JN: When is the last time you per-
formed standup? 
RB: I was doing a Canadian tour as I 
was doing the Roseanne promotion, it’
s 
been a little over a year. 
JN: Do you test out your material in 
smaller venues before you go on tour? 
RB: No. I’
ve got a great 90-minute 
concert. I’
ve been working it for a 

number of years off and on, and it’
s 
finally really great. I love it. 
JN: Do you prefer that kind of con-
nection with your audience vs. TV? 
RB: Oh yeah, it’
s right off the top of 
your head. There is always the element 
of surprise, and it’
s fun to see people 
laughing. 
JN: What do you find funny late-
ly? Who are your inspirations in the 
comedy world? Did you always know 
you could make people laugh?
RB: There is nothing I don’
t find 
funny. These are hilarious times we are 
living. It’
s a laugh a minute. 
Here comes her famous belly laugh, 
rolling out what we all heard in the open-
ing credits every night from 1988 to 1997. 
It is contagious. 
RB: It’
s upside down and backwards 
in every which way. We need to laugh. 
A lot. This political climate has fired 
up a lot of comics to come out and 
start doing their thing; and you know 
that is what is great about having a 
Republican president — I just think 
they are funnier. There is more materi-
al. When we have a Democrat, nobody 
laughs at anything. It’
s good to laugh. 

That’
s why I voted for Trump.
JN: It’
s like President Obama. He is a 
gentleman, cares about people and the 
planet and loves his wife a lot. I can see 
that. There is not a lot of material there. 
RB: The truth is hilarious. Just to 
see the look on people’
s faces when it 
dawns on them they have been tricked 
is so funny. Laughing helps you swal-
low a lot of shame. 
JN: Yes, my Baba (Yiddish for grand-
mother) always said, “If we don’
t laugh, 
we will cry.
” 
RB: Right. There is so much to 
laugh at, and Obama is hilarious right 
now. I have a great Obama joke. It is a 
show-stopper. 
JN: Do you want to share it with us? 
RB: Oh, hell no! 
JN: OK, we will let that be a cliffhang-
er. 
RB: Let that be the trailer. I have 
been touring with my act and, at first, 
people were mad and would not laugh, 
and then I kept on doin’
 it and then 
they would laugh and then would 
really laugh and then they would roar 
at things they thought they were not 
supposed to laugh at — and that’
s the 

comedy
arts&life

‘We Need 
to Laugh’

Roseanne brings her “Alive and 
Kicking” standup show to the Fox.

SARA EAKER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Roseanne in action 

during one of her 

standup concerts

FMHT STUDIOS

