She played a promiscuous recent college graduate who earned dough folding shirts at the Gap in Reality Bites; she was the co-host of Air America’s talk show The Majority Report with Sam Seder; she’s performed stand-up routines on everything from women’s rights to chronic back pain; her reputation as a outspoken prickly liberal precedes her everywhere. Actress/comic/activist Janeane Garofalo is currently on tour with Patton Oswalt, comedian and actor whose voice stars, along with Garafolo’s, in Pixar’s new animation Ratatouille. Recently Garafolo talked with the Valley Advocate about her current show, Saturday Night Live, how fundamentalist Christians have sex, Scientology, how people hurt her feelings and George W. Bush. And, yes, the rumors are true; she is one prickly bitch.
Valley Advocate: First up, what the hell are ass babies? ( Nicholas Von Hoffman on www.thenation.com quoted Garofalo from The Majority Report: “Ass babies are infants conceived by buttfucking young women who will do anything of a sexual nature except have their hymens broken by a marauding penis before marriage to, presumably, a person of another gender.)”
Garofalo: Hmm, ass baby; maybe I used it for a bad idea someone shit out. Or maybe that’s the anal [sex] that a lot of the fundamentalist Christians have before marriage.
Well, okay, then. You’re well known for your movies, your standup and your role on Air America. What is the work you’re most proud of?
Air America. I’m proudest of being affiliated with it. I was proud to be part of the Laramie Project, The Larry Sanders Show, the movie I did about Abbie Hoffman. And I just saw the movie Rattatouille—it’s very good. I would say that even if I wasn’t in it.
I’ve heard you described as—
Oh God, why does everyone always feel the need to tell me all the bad things people say about me? When it comes to politics, I have an anger management problem. I get very, very angry about that. And when I’m cynical, it’s a healthy cynicism with a proper target.
What is your current show about?
It’s going to be about a lot of things, current events, news. & Right now I have two herniated discs, so I talk about that.
I’m sorry to hear that.
That’s okay, it’s not your fault& as far as I know. But if you’ve ever had chronic back pain, you know it’s consuming. Hey, I’m not saying these things are riveting.
You have the word “liberal” tattooed on your shoulder. What does that word mean to you?
This country was founded on enlightened liberal politics. It’s about politics, civil rights, gender equality and intellectualism. It’s something to be proud of, not to shy away from.
Why did you leave Saturday Night Live and Air America?
I wasn’t contributing anything [on Saturday Night Live] and the environment sucked. So I left. I didn’t have the fortune to be there when Tina Fey was there. I had nothing to offer and the comedy going on was not my cup of tea. Sam [Seder of Air America] was a far better broadcaster and we fought constantly. So as opposed to wasting the listeners’ time and because I thought Sam was better at it than me, I left. Also, to immerse yourself in politics when Bush is in charge, if you don’t have a thick skin, it’s depressing.
You took heavy blog fire for promoting New York’s 9/11 detox center linked to Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology on The Majority Report. What’s up with you and Scientology?
Why would you ask that? I’m not going to deny people access to healthcare because of religion& I myself have no religion. Each religion is as fantastical to me as the next.
Well, I think you have to admit—
I don’t have to admit anything!
—that the public associates the center with Scientology because Tom Cruise is throwing galas, raising millions of dollars for it.
So is Paul McCartney and I don’t know what his God is& What if it were a Mormon associated with the center?
You sound very annoyed at these questions.
Yes, I’m fed up. [In] all these interviews I do, people just love to tell me the bad things other people say about me. I am certainly not immune to feeling sad when people don’t like me. What if I said to you, ‘This person doesn’t like you, Kendra’?
I think I’d stop giving interviews. I have one last question. Should President Bush be impeached?
I feel like he has never been an effective leader, nor an effective communicator or an effective diplomat. He has not succeeded in any area, except maybe helping his cronies get into Iraq. [He is a] resounding failure in every area, propped up by the media. I’ve never seen so many people stand up for failure. If I could figure out what makes rightwingers tick& I have no idea. That’s one for a psychoanalyst.”
Garofalo and Oswalt perform June 16, 8 p.m. at the Calvin Theatre, 19 King St., Northampton, (413) 586-8686. Tickets are $35-40.