Interview with Judy Gold – By: Janel Spiegel | The Valley Ledger

Interview By: Janel Spiegel

The Valley Ledger’s Janel Spiegel caught up with Judy Gold who will be performing tonight at Fowler Blast Furnace Room at 7:00PM.

First off, tell us how you got started?

Judy- Oh my god! (laughter) I’ve been doing this for thirty-five years. I started doing stand-up on a dare in college. It was a secret Santa and my secret Santa told me to do five minutes of stand up and that was the first time I ever did it. I was hooked!
For the tour, what are you the most excited about?

Judy- Well I love doing stand-up but I’ll tell you I don’t like the traveling. I love being there, being on-stage and it is all worth it once you hit the stage.

Did you have anyone that inspired you professionally growing up?

Judy- Oh absolutely! I loved Joan Rivers from god knows what age. There weren’t these funny women like Totie Fields, Joan Rivers, and of course my favorite TV people like Mary Tyler Moore. It was the brash women, the Phyllis Diller’s, Lucille Ball that really captured my attention. Totie and Joan were big for me.

You are so genuinely funny! The kind of funny where you are laughing till you cry, your sides hurt and you forget about the nonsense in life for a little bit! What does comedy mean to you and how do you come up with some of your stuff?

Judy- Ohhh thanks! I hope you have tissues.

I do (laugher)

Judy- Comedy, for me. I feel like we are the truth tellers of the world and it is so important. If you are going to do stand-up you have to have a point-of-view and humor is so disarming. With humor you have so much power. You can really open up people’s eyes or change people’s minds. Even people with different socioeconomic back-grounds or political affiliation. When you laugh together, it’s sort of a bonding experience. It is a way of getting really subversive ideas into people’s heads. A great comic will make you think and laugh at the same time. I think that for me, I’m fearless. I’ve lived in this world for fifty-five years, I don’t care and I have nothing to lose. This is how I see the world. I think joke, I think funny and I try to find the humor but I am also vulnerable because you can tell I am totally being honest. I’m not making any crap up and I don’t have any preconceived notions of how great I am.

I was reading about the coaching you do. How did you become involved with that?

Judy- I do a little bit of coaching for mostly women and some guys. Teaching executives how to engage people when you are on-stage. When you have a story to tell, a pitch to make. It is about being relatable in a room or on a stage. I am talking about boring business things. There are ways of making them relatable to people so that they actually listen. It is fun to see people glow as speakers or presenters.

You have done so many different things. What do you think you have learned the most from?

Judy- I think being a stand-up comic and traveling this country and other countries. Also look my work place is not your typical work place. I’ve learned a lot from being on stage. I’ve met so many different people, I’ve worked in so many different places. I spent a lot of time by myself because it’s not like you’re in a band and you can hang out with your band mates. It can be lonely but it’s your attitude and you’ve got to look at it like alright here I am, what am I going to do? Am I going to experience this place or am I going to sit in my hotel room…. Which I do a lot of times.

You are performing in Bethlehem, PA at the Fowler Blast Furnace Room on November 19^th at 7:00 PM. What do you want to say to the fans and the audience that will be there?

Judy- I just want to make everyone laugh! I want everyone to forget all the $#*! and lets just laugh! It is like every day I cannot take another tragedy. I think we all need to just laugh. Everyone takes themselves so seriously.

That is true!

Judy- You’ve got to laugh at yourself.

What advice would you offer to someone who may be hesitant to follow a dream and go into the entertainment industry?

Judy- If this is what you are meant to do then you’ve got to do it! You got to do the work and you’ve got to be prepared. I do what I love and I have a family. You’ve got to balance your life out. Your self-esteem can’t come from just one thing in your life because nothing stays at the top all the time. You got to do the work.

What is next for you after the tour?

Judy- I do audition and I am going to continue to write. I would like to do another one person show. I am working on stuff and you know just being informed and I am really lucky because I can go out four or five times a week and do my job and get better and better at it. You have to stay tuned because who knows what is coming up next?

Thank you so much Judy! It was an honor to talk to you and The Valley Ledger thanks you!

Judy- Oh, thank you!

GET TICKETS for tonight’s show – http://tickets.artsquest.org/shows/judy%20gold/events