Sandra Bernhard, the outspoken comedienne, actress, singer and author, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of her breakout one-woman show, Without You I’m Nothing, by restaging it across the country this fall and winter. (Check out SandraBernhard.com for details.) She’s also stopping in Chicago on October 27th at the Steppenwolf Theater with her band The Rebellious Jezebels for some Halloween hi-jinks. I spoke to her over the phone about the show, politics, her recent appearance on Project Runway, and her former best friend, Madonna.
What can we expect from your upcoming show at the Steppenwolf, A Sandra Bernhard Halloween?
The show that I’m doing in Chicago is much more improvisational [than Without You I’m Nothing]. It’ll be very topical, very personal [and] musical. I kind of look at my work as blogging live because I’m always on top of what’s going on in my life and culturally. It’s always fun when the younger audiences are like, "Wow, this is what a consummate performer does." Not a lot of people do what I do.
So you said it’s improvised. Do you go into it with at least an outline of what you want to talk about or do you just wing it?
There might be some familiar things in my head that I touch on, but I really like in any situation to do things that take me and the audience by surprise. I like to leave a lot of psychic space.
Do you perform covers or do you write your own songs?
Both. There are some originals and some covers.
Will there be Halloween songs?
I don’t think there will be any Halloween songs but I’m sure everything will scare you.
Are you going to be in costume?
Well I guess I always am when I’m on stage one way or another, you know? I probably hide behind a mask whenever I perform.
But no literal mask?
I don’t think so but I urge the audience to dress up however they feel comfortable.
So what currently in our culture are you aiming at right now?
Obviously, politically, things are highly charged so there’s plenty to talk about. But I’m always fascinated by weirdness, like I’m obsessed with Cindy McCain and her wooden, odd behavior and her broken arm. I never like to hit people over the head with how much I don’t like somebody. It’s obvious nobody’s happy with the direction things have been going for the past eight years so I like to do a different little twist about it.
How did you become a guest judge on Project Runway?
They called and asked me to come on. I’ve kind of been dealing a little bit with the Weinstein Co. that produces it, and Bravo just to do something with them, so I think they just wanted me on there; they’re interested in working with me. It was really fun. I never watched the show before so I went in with a very open state of mind and it really paid off because I wasn’t nervous about how I was going to be. I just was in the moment.
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