Sandra Bernhard

Big fan. Whiney Jew, but she often has her finger on the pulse of douchebags.

I love her crazy ass, too!

No one speaks of pavilions any more, and that saddens me.

I wonder if she’s worried about not being the Fran Lebowitz of her generation? Is she still friends with Marty, or was Fran who he replaced her with?

I can’t remember, was she one of the deaths in the last season on Pose? Will she be back for the final one?

She said on Letterman that if you touch those Calvin Klein brief ads you'll get AIDS.

Late arriving friend to gay men only after she saw they were her audience.

Loved her back when, went to her one-woman shows, saw her around NYC (once with Madonna). She seemed to mellow out and get nice with motherhood and the Kabbala (sp). That was it for me. I'm not interested in nice Sandy.

I have seen her in person (concerts) 3-4 times, but the last couple of times she seemed to make zero effort with her show and just read newspapers clips aloud. I was very disappointed.

She’s older now. She’s lost her edge because that’s how it goes when you get old.

Fug beyond belief.

She was in a later season of 2 Broke Girls. She played a lesbian restaurant owner.

She can't get a gig as a straight singer so she has to add comedy and she HATES that. She wants to be Ella Fitzgerald, not Emo Philips yet here we are.

She's still funny. I love her most recent interviews.

Emo Phillips!

She hasn’t done anything witty or intelligent in 20 years. But when she was “on” there was nobody who could touch her.

I was a HUGE fan of Sandra’s in the 80s and 90s. I bought her comedy albums and books based off of her appearances on Letterman. She was one of the best things about his NBC show (he sucked at CBS sadly). Here’s her July 1988 appearance where she brings out Madonna. Sandra is loopier than usual. 😀

Didn't Letterman ban her from his show after that ^^ appearance?

She should not try to sing, ever. Her odd, observational comedy is irritating and overrated. She had a chip on her shoulder for a long, long time. She is ok, but not so interesting. She has had some very good fortune professionally and is more personality than talent. She makes lots of odd pronouncements, like a bossy teenager with progeria. Maybe she’s a sweet lady in real life but hides it masterfully in interviews.

She's not a great singer. She may want to sing, but so I do--yet i realize I'm not a great singer, so I save it for the shower.

She would be good singing as part of a group maybe.

I agree she shouldn’t sing. I saw J. Lo sing at the inauguration and it was clear 20 odd years later that she’d learned a few things, taken a few lessons maybe, but STILL. She sounds like Eddie Murphy and a goose strangled in water.

I thought she would have a bigger acting career than, well, Linda Hunt, but it really didn't pan out. She needed an American Almodovar to showcase her talents in her prime.

She appears on Wendy Williams often. Each time she's on the show Wendy always brings up Madonna.

My favorite thing she ever did was her HBO special. I’d never seen anything like it and haven’t since. Tom Jones, Tom Arnold, Roseanne Arnold, Lip-Synca, and many other guests. It was the first time I heard of a dental dam, too. I was probably 11 or 12.

I don’t remember the name of the special but I remember the ending credits saying it was “Videotaped at Smashbox”.

She's slowly turning in to Krusty w/a vag. And I say that as a long time fan.

There must be some dust on her shtick.

I saw her on the corner of East 81st and Third Avenue, some years ago. I thought maybe she was seeing a doctor up here but then I realized she must have been visiting Madonna.

When it came out, my BFF and I saw “Without You I’m Nothing” in the theater. We were so baked and didn’t know what was going to happen. After the movie ended, we sat there like a train had just run us over. It was only recently that I rewatched and truly appreciated the genius of it.

"I'll have a side order, ma'am."

She’s 65?!!

I finally turned against her about 16 years ago when she said she hoped George W. Bush's daughters, Jenna and Barbara, would be raped because she disagreed with his policies on abortion.

She's provocative and outspoken but as dumb as a post.

And her Sirius radio show is a bore.

R29, yes, her Sirius show is a name dropping bore.

I feel that she's similar to Margaret Cho and Kathy Griffin for me.

All had exciting things to say, all did observational comedy well, but eventually just lost their catalysts and/or things to say.

Geez, who doesn’t have a Sirius show?

I like her singing. Her "Excuses for Bad Behaviour" album from 1994 is one of my favourite albums. Funny enough, along with Madonna's Erotica, it was a pivotal album for me as a teenager in the '90s coming out.

R26, in one of her last shows, she mentioned her cardiologist is on the UES. Interestingly enough, she mentioned his name is Eddie Fisher. I just looked him up. He's on 85th so she very well may have.

I've always enjoyed her shows sans the singing. She has some interesting tidbits about celebrities. She mentioned Donald Trump hit on her while she was pregnant. He also hates when people double dip their shrimp in cocktail sauce. Have to agree with him on that.

Here’s a clip from Sandra After Dark, the HBO special I mentioned upthread. I wish there were a high quality stream or download of it. It looks like a lot of it is available on YouTube in chunks like this one.

[quote] I like her singing.

Alas, no one else does other than a very few gay men and lesbians.

Her singing fit into the live acts very well but I wouldn't listen to her recordings for pleasure.

[quote] I thought she would have a bigger acting career than, well, Linda Hunt, but it really didn't pan out.

Now I'm picturing Sandra in Mark Harmon's role on NCIS, and I would totally watch that.

She's good friends with Andy Cohen. Nuff said. Cancelled.

Hateful. Never liked her. Loud mouthed, angry, defensive, and attitudinal-trash. And the reason why she possesses these qualities is because her act sucks, and deep down, she knows it.

What movies would have been better, if Sandra had been the lead? Miss Congeniality?

[quote] What movies would have been better, if Sandra had been the lead?

[italic]The Queen.[/italic]

Seabiscuit

The bride of Frankenstein.

What if she had played Leo DiCaprio's role in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

The Elephant Man

Jackie

Cast her in the part of the boisterous, angry, and irrelevant old Jew.

I don't know what's up with all the bitching about SB's singing - her vocal skills are fucking fantastic.

R35 Trump hit on Sandra when she was pregnant? Yeah, that happened. Just his type.

Whose?

Whose tunnel were you in?

For years during Christmas week to New Year she put on a show at Joe's Pub in The Public Theater in NY. My friends are big fans so we went last year. This year of course was cancelled. The situation was everything I dread. People packed into tiny tables, loud room until showtime but I have to admit, I had a grand time. She was laugh out loud funny and as she might not be a great singer, she certainly knows how to put over a song. Lots of singers aren't classically great, but are terrific entertainers and Sandra is in that club. She opened with "Across 100th Street" and I got to meet her after the show and I told her anyone who opens a show with a Yaphett Kotto movie theme song has a fan for life. I also told her she stole the last season of "Pose", and said I wanted to know that nurse. She thanked me and called me Baby. I would definitely see her

He wouldn't even fuck Melania when she was knocked up.

She did a parody song of models called "On The Runway" that was pretty funny.

I enjoy Sandra’s interpretations of songs. “Manic Superstar” is one of my favorites. However let’s be real, her instrument is on a par with the talented star of your average high school musical.

Her bit about going to Liza's house with Michelle Lee was very funny.

She shouldn’t sing more than one song a night. She completely loses the audience.

Her Sirius radio show consists of endless recitations of what she ate that day

I remember going to the premiere of the movie "Without You . . ."

We were all very disappointed. We thought she was going to be funny, but she sang all the time in a very ordinary voice.

The next time I saw her, it was live at a benefit. She seemed bored and thought she could just make up a routine on the spot and it would be funny if every other word was "honey." She totally lost the audience. And got angry about that.

I was on the front row of “Without You I’m Nothing” in the Summer of ‘88 in NYC. I remember being nervous that she’d pick on us front row seaters . A tiny theatre in the Village, can’t remember its name. I also have the vinyl LP recording of this show.

Don’t write her off. Just when you think she’s done, she’ll blow you away. I think many artists are like this, especially ones like Sandra, whose work responds to the changing world around her.

I saw that show too. I forget the name of the theater but it was on 2nd Ave., a few blocks down from where I used to live. I wonder if it’s still there.

Just a few winters ago my dear friend Arielle Dombasle invited me to a party at Ines de la Fressange's chalet and who was there, but Sandy and she was sweet as pie.

"Without you..." was the Orphium theater, where the Stomp is/was playing forever. I have been a fan of her's since she was on a game show, as a regular, in the '70's called "Make Me Laugh". She also won "The $1.98 Beauty Show" in the day. A freind of mine let her stay with him when she first came out to LA. He thinks when she talked about " gay men have photos of Judy garland and Bette Davis on the wall" was about him. I have to ask how she came to stay with him next time. I have most of her cd's/albums and with the right sweetening, her voice is pretty good. I love "On the Runway", but my favorite is "Life is so Complicated." I ran into her somewhere and told her that I was a big fan and she was very standoffish, and I can understand that. But, when I met her at a book signing she couldn't be more personable. So, there you go.

I remember seeing her in the lobby of some Broadway show at intermission. Maybe it was Speed the Plow. Anyway she was thin as a whippet, had big hair, and was striking poses.

[quote]I ran into her somewhere and told her that I was a big fan and she was very standoffish, and I can understand that. But, when I met her at a book signing she couldn't be more personable. So, there you go.

At the latter encounter, she was working and you were buying what she was selling.

I like her voice in her lower register, the soprano gets a little wobbly.

[quote]"Without you..." was the Orphium theater, where the Stomp is/was playing forever.

The Orpheum had Stomp for over twenty years and the original production of "Little Shop Of Horrors" forever too.

"Oh God, Chip, I wish you weren't my brother so I could fuck you!"

One of the standard features on her radio show is when she reads a list of celebrity birthdays for the date.

And that's a highlight.

In August 2001, Sandra had a week-long "experimental" talk show called "The Sandra Bernhard Experience" (hosted by "the pillow-lipped actress/comedienne," said the NY Post). I watched every episode and hoped for more, which there wasn't.

But she had Wild Colonials as a guest, and I was and am grateful for that. I love them to this day.

Sandra’s singing reminds me of Carol Burnett’s. Both are “okay” singers, but certainly nothing special. I say that as a fan. Both clearly love to sing which is why the do.

I’ve always admired how Sandra has owned her offbeat looks. Confident lady.

I enjoy her standup. The topics are a nice break from the dating and PMS shit that's been done to death by other comedians. You can tell she's bitter she's not on the A list though.

Sandra has an ok voice, but it's a little too much church lady soprano for me. It makes me wonder if she could truly belt something out. Carol Burnett was pretty much the opposite. Big, loud Merman-esque voice without a hint of head voice to be found. For certain musical theatre roles, it's great, but you don't really want to listen to a full album of their work. Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, etc. are the same way - electrifying when you see them in person and they're selling the song, but it's not always the most pleasant thing to play in the car.

Wasn't there a rumor going around that Jule Styne wanted Sandra to do a Funny Girl revival in the 80s?

Did Carol Burnet kind of “ruin” her voice singing on Broadway in the period just before microphones and needing to be the big Mermanesque voice to reach the last row?

I wonder how Sandra and Kathy Griffin feel about each other.

I imagine Sandra is bitter that Kathy has been more of a household name and has raked in way more money than Sandra ever has. Yeah, Sandra was on Roseanne but the show was notorious for paying cheaply to its guest and recurring stars. That's why you never saw Roseanne's father again after season 2. John Randolph wasn't putting up with that shit.

R59 She looks good in this clip, nicely styled, I think her voice has two sweet spots, but she struggles to produce a uniformly pleasing sound over the course of a song. In her King of Comedy clip (which many people praise and enjoy), she has the same unevenness, and the flat tone of her speaking voice diminishes the quality of her singing. I wonder if a really good coach her help her. Most of her admirers will feel that she’s great as she is, I know. She is ok overall, but her irreverent comedy is, well, neither.

Ugh that’s meant to cite r50

Kathy Griffin basically stole Sandra's act. I'd be pretty bitter if that happened to me.

It seems like most of her fans have always been gay men. Do lesbians not like her for dating men in the past?

I didn’t realize Kathy sang?

R82, lesbians don't dislike her. And she's not known for dating men. Even way back in the 80s, she dated Amanda Bearse.

I don't appreciate her comedy style. To me, when I listen to her comedy, I hear whining instead of jokes. She doesn't make me laugh. But somehow she knows how to charm gay men. Even her acting was annoying when she was on Roseanne (and that was a low bar anyway).

She's not thrilled about being gay. She mentions it in the deleted scenes on the I'm Still Here Damn It DVD when David E Kelly wanted her character to be gay on Ally McBeal.

I loved her character's (Nancy) coming out on Roseanne.

Jackie: Wait a minute. You and I used to go out looking for guys all the time. We went to all those singles dances together.

Nancy: Singles dances? I thought we were dating.

She's unlike any other entertainer. I don't think i've liked any of her books -- because they are never her great memoir. But every other medium, she knocks it outta the park.

I felt like ... Winona Ryder. A woman more powerful than me?

She's.... discovered a lump. Chaos by Donna Karan. Bonus for you!

She was a lot better than you expect in Playboy.

That was a great cover R90.

Janeane Garofalo was her bitch.

I've loved her since a child of the 80s/90s. She's definitely not what you'd call a classic beauty, but when she was young I thought she was very sexy.

R16's link shows such a human Madonna.

Sandra said over a decade ago that she wanted to make a ton of money quickly so she wouldn't grow to be a bitter old hag like Joan Rivers, coveting every dollar.

Just rewatched King of Comedy. That scene where he has Jerry try on a red sweater she's made (the arms haven't been sewn onto it yet) and she talks about how pleased she is with it and how red is such a good color for him, why didn't Scorsese cut that out? It doesn't add anything to the film. The bit where Rupert finds some sweets in Jerry's pocket and asks him if he can have one, then asks if Masha wants one (she declines because her hands are full with holding the gun), then if Jerry wants one, then he just keeps the sweet for later, that bit's quite funny but the sweater bit isn't funny at all.

I would have swapped that boring sweater scene for some backstory to Masha (Sandra Bernhard's character). She's a weirdo stalker but she's wealthy (has a big fancy apartment and drives a Mercedes S-Class with a personalised plate). Presumably she has rich parents but where are they? Did they just give her that big apartment? (which would be worth an absolute fortune now) Or are they out of town? Are they dead? That character raises a lot of questions which aren't answered.

In June, while promoting her show "Everything Bad & Beautiful," which stops at the Majestic Theatre on Friday, Bernhard appeared on "The View" Remember, this was daytime talk show's old guard, but Meredith Viera had already jumped ship. Barbara Walters brought up Laura Bush. And Bernhard described the first lady's apathetic- seeming demeanor as being "heavily medicated." And that's when co-panelist Elisabeth Hasselbeck flew into a neoconservative tizzy. The clip should be immortalized on YouTube. "I walked into the perfect storm. Star Jones knew she was getting fired, so she had her bone to pick. Elisabeth Hasselbeck was ramping up to become the right-wing spokesperson on the show: She thought it was the perfect opportunity for her to flex her political muscle. And without Meredith Viera, who was the only voice of reason, it was like — these chicks have gone fucking postal. But you know, it was perfect. I just laid back and watched the whole thing unfold without getting too involved." Bernhard did try to defend herself — by mentioning that Laura Bush says nothing when her husband slashes education budgets. But no one could hear the guest because Hasselbeck and Jones just talked right over Bernhard. "Well, that's the problem. These chicks don't shut up. They're the worst possible example of why women shouldn't be in power positions — because nobody listens. They're like these harpy bitches, which has become second nature to that show."

The acerbic New York is a character we all know at least one of. A necessary part of the landscape.