Up Next
by Diane Lander
January 1998
Watching Kathleen Madigan perform must be what it was like watching Joe DiMaggio play baseball. The 1996 winner of the American Comedy Awards' Best Female Stand-Up is a natural. All five-foot-one of her oozes confidence as she glides past a cheering crowd to take the stage at the Improv in Los Angeles. Launching into her act -- a blend of cunning Jeff Foxworthy and Roseanne with heart -- Madigan waves her hands, points, brushes and slaps signals like a third-base coach. She begins by poking fun at "Star Search": "I would go on as a country singer, 'cause they always win." Twitters from the audience. "I even wrote my own country song: 'He Used to Hit Me but Now I Miss Him.'" The crowd laughs heartily. "Thank you for getting that," she says sincerely, "In Alabama, they're, like, 'Well, sang it!'" The place erupts.
This petite headliner recently hit success after a quartet of "Tonight Show" appearances and a star turn on the "Late Show with David Letterman." Though she's booked 35 weeks a year on the international comedy circuit, Madigan managed to squeeze in a set on the "HBO Comedy Half Hour," a special slated to run sometime this year. And last fall she released her first CD, titled "Live." A serious sports nut, Madigan also works as an on-air reporter for ESPN2. (She once covered a rattlesnake roundup in Texas.)
The rise of this spunky 32-year-old St. Louis native, middle child of seven Irish-Catholic kids, has been markedly steady. Shortly after graduating from Southern Illinois University in 1987 with a degree in journalism, Madigan took a stab at stand-up. "I was working as a waitress, when I went to this comedy place on open-mike night and thought, 'Hey, I can do that,'" she says. "So on a dare, I did." She landed a day job as editor of the Missouri Athletic Club's Cherry Diamond newsletter, but continued performing comedy at night. "For 50 bucks and a T-bone, I opened at Hooters," she recalled.
The owners of St. Louis' Funny Bone Comedy Club saw her perform, offered her a gig, then sent her on an eight-week tour around the country. "It was a big deal to walk away from an assigned parking spot and health insurance," Madigan says. Her risk paid off, though: In 1991, following in the footsteps of Paula Poundstone and Ellen Degeneres, Madigan appeared on HBO's "Women of the Night III," a career-making showcase for female comics.
In the future, Madigan hopes to work in film and series television, then settle down in Ireland -- as a sheep farmer. "Here's all you gotta do," she explains. "Get a bunch of sheep. Spray paint them on each side. Wait on the porch all winter with your sheepdog, Guinness. In the spring, send the dog up to get the sheep. Your job? Feed the dog."
To book Kathleen Madigan for your event, contact: Richard De La Font Agency, Inc.
Professional booking inquiries only. Thank you.
Back to Index of Articles | Home page | Back to Agency Listing | Back to the Roster of Comedians
Richard De La Font Agency, Inc., acts as an entertainment consultant or broker/producer and does not claim or represent itself as the exclusive agent, representative or management of this artist.