This may be the season to be jolly, but the truth is that many people dread the holidays. They’re depressed when family gatherings don’t live up to expectations, disappointed by the gifts they get or the gifts they don’t get. That’s why comedian Paula Poundstone is stepping up with advice for beating the holiday blues. Sandy Hausman spoke with her and filed this report.
Paula Poundstone has come to enjoy the holidays by ignoring cultural traditions and expectations. At Thanksgiving, she and her kids went to the movies and opted to skip the stress of roasting a turkey. For one thing, Poundstone had recently been to a farm sanctuary, where she actually petted a bird.
"Turkeys are the most fantastic petting experience!" she says. "They’re just as sweet as they can be."
And for another, her kids weren’t demanding a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
"My middle daughter goes to college in Portland, Oregon, and once your kid goes to Portland, Oregon, they become a vegan," she explains. "That's just what happens. It's a right of passage. I can make dinner for me and my son, but she just sucks on a wicker chair."
Actually, Poundstone says, they feasted on waffles. Now, she’s preparing for Christmas – buying Toys for Tots to avoid disappointing her own kids.
"I can buy whatever I want and have this fantasy that somewhere it's appreciated, whereas if I buy something for my children, somehow I did it wrong -- the wrong color, the wrong size, turns out they don't really like that thing anymore, but they used to. I don't know. It’s too much pressure, and I hate opening presents," she adds. " The fact that they thought of me was already the joyous part for me, and then after that it just requires more acting skills than I have really."
Once again, her family will turn its back on popular cultures by taking in a movie, feasting on waffles and joining the annual Poundstone Ping Pong Party – a tradition started by her parents.
"We put the table out. We have an electronic scoreboard that you might have found in a high school gym years ago. We compete for not only a trophy and a little bit of cash but the mantle of the best doubles team at the Poundstone Ping Pong Party."
Come New Year’s Eve, Paula will be performing, and if you’re not looking forward to a typical party or a trip to Times’ Square, she suggests going to a comedy club.
"You don't have to know all the people in the room to get caught up in waves of their laughter. It absolutely works. I think were it not for those kinds of things, I would be a raging nut case. I'm not telling you that I'm many steps away from that, but I think I would be a non-functional raging nut case."
If you’d like to jump start the holiday spirit, Poundstone says she’ll be performing at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville on December 4th and at the Ramshead in Anapolis on the 5th.