Cats, Cops and Stuff
HBO · 1990 · 56 min
A definitive hour of conversational crowd work and feline psychology.
Armed with nothing but a microphone, a stool, and a can of Diet Pepsi, Paula Poundstone uses her 1990 HBO hour to turn casual conversation into an art form. The set thrives on spontaneous audience interaction, blending organic crowd work with crafted bits about the absurdity of everyday life. She evaluates the logic of a 1982 Snickers commercial script, analyzes the structural flaws of her Pop-Tart diet, and gives voice to the demanding inner monologues of her cats. It is a loose, conversational hour that feels entirely off-the-cuff even when she hits her rehearsed material.
Directed by Bruce Gowers, “Cats, Cops and Stuff” captured Poundstone just as she was becoming a major force in comedy. Her ability to riff on the spot—sparked by moments like a front-row fan handing her a box of pastries—earned the hour wide acclaim. The set took home a CableACE Award for Best Stand-Up Comedy Special, making her the first woman to win the category. Decades later, Tig Notaro cited it in Time Magazine as one of the five best stand-up specials ever made.
The set list
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Toasting instructions and absurd warnings on Pop-Tarts packaging.
Spontaneously triggered when a front-row audience member handed her a box of Pop-Tarts, Poundstone broke down the bizarrely cautious legal wording on the packaging.
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Interrogating audience members about their professions and opinions on lawyers.
After an audience member revealed he was an attorney, another woman reacted negatively and blurted out that her mother had ripped her face off on a lube rack, turning a gruesome personal story into a revered comedic exchange.
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Refusing to store canned goods in preparation for an earthquake.
Observing that if trapped under a beam for three days she would rather lose weight than be rescued only for searchers to remark that she looks huge because she had access to beans.
How it plays
- Tone
- Conversational, witty, spontaneous, and off-center.
- On stage
- Curious, ever-perplexed, and conversational, performing in a menswear-inspired button-down shirt with a tie, suspenders, or suit vest while shifting between sitting, leaning, and flopping on a stool.
- Pace
- Laid-back delivery, spontaneous, and thinking on the fly with seamless audience improvisation.
- About
- cats, cops, cars, Pop-Tarts and snack food, earthquakes, lawyers
What the critics said
Universally praised as a masterful masterclass in audience improvisation and observational standup comedy, considered one of the all-time great standup specials.
In the room: Extremely responsive and participatory, shouting unscripted answers, handing snacks to the stage, and creating unexpected comedic chemistry.
Backstory
HBO initially instructed Poundstone not to talk to the audience due to sound recording challenges; she insisted on it, prompting the production to hang microphones across the ceiling and deploy boom mic operators to sprint around the venue to capture audience banter.
Details
- Released
- Taped
- Bimbo's 365 Club, San Francisco
- Runtime
- 56 min
- Where
- HBO
- Director
- Bruce Gowers
- Honors
- CableACE Award for Standup Comedy Special (first female winner)Named one of The 5 Funniest Stand-Up Specials Ever by TIME Magazine (selected by Tig Notaro)Pop-Tarts routine featured on Vulture's '100 Jokes that Defined Modern Comedy'
- Topics
- After
- Goes to Harvard (1992)
More from Paula Poundstone
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Goes to Harvard
HBO
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