Paula Poundstone

Paula Poundstone (born December 29, 1959) is an American stand-up comedian, author, actress, interviewer, and commentator. Beginning in the late 1980s, she performed a series of one-hour HBO comedy specials. She provided backstage commentary during the 1992 presidential election on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She is the host of National Public Radio program Live from the Poundstone Institute, a frequent panelist on NPR's weekly news quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me, and was a recurring guest on the network's A Prairie Home Companion variety program during Garrison Keillor's years as host. 2Early life Poundstone was born in Huntsville, Alabama, the daughter of Vera, a housewife, and Jack Poundstone, an engineer. Her family moved to Sudbury, Massachusetts, about a month after her birth. Poundstone attended Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School but dropped out before obtaining her diploma. Her jobs have included busing tables at an IHOP and working as a bicycle messenger. 2Career Poundstone started doing stand-up comedy at open-mic nights in Boston, in 197