Sandra Bernhard joined CHANNEL Q's Corey Crockett for a wide-ranging interview
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Channel Q, joined by a true icon, we are so excited to spend some time with Sandra Bernhardt, who you are everywhere right now on some of the hottest and most anticipated shows and movies.
00:13I don't think there has been a show on more people's mouths this year than Severance.
00:19I mean, a cultural phenomenon.
00:21What did you think when you were signing on for that show for season two?
00:27Well, I mean, it's obvious.
00:29It's just like one of those shows that just is a huge, you know, cut above everything else.
00:35It's just I mean, it's just not it's not the norm to be able to create that sort of originality, especially now when there's so much cramming the airwaves.
00:48How was your experience working with that team?
00:50Oh, it was terrific.
00:51It was terrific.
00:52You know, you walk in and you just get to work.
00:56I mean, it's not nobody's like coddling you and, you know, everybody and everybody's coming and going because different scenes are being shot at different stages and different times and people are finishing and they're coming into the makeup trailer and getting their makeup off or coming in.
01:12And so you're just sort of like quiet and watching it all unfold because when you're not a part of a show on a regular basis, there's a lot of like just, you know, observation and really like respect for those who are there day in and day out.
01:29And then you just get to work and do what you came to do.
01:34Season one was big.
01:35Season two was bigger.
01:37Did you have that feeling while you were working on the show?
01:41Um, you don't have any feeling when you're working on a show, to be honest with you, especially a show like that, because it's just so specific.
01:49And nobody like talks about anything other than the work that's in front of them, so you don't really think about it.
01:58And I shot it over a year ago and they, you know, of course, asked me never to say a word about it, which I didn't.
02:05And I couldn't even talk about it until after my, um, my episodes aired, which I love.
02:10I mean, it was like, who wants to talk about it and beat it to death?
02:13You want, let the work speak for itself and let people get excited and have it unfold.
02:19And that's how it all came out.
02:21So I'm just really, I'm honored to be a part of it.
02:25And, um, I think that I brought a lot to it.
02:29So I think it's on both levels.
02:30It was a very successful experience.
02:35You were a guest judge on this season of drag race.
02:38You shot your episode, I have to assume far before the November election.
02:43Did you know in that moment, how important it was for you to be on that show and share
02:49the messages that you did without, without knowing where our country would be, you know,
02:53six, eight, 10 months later.
02:55I mean, I've been on the tip of the forefront and the tip of the LGBTQ plus scene since the
03:03seventies.
03:04I mean, this is nothing new for me.
03:05I've been a trailblazer, a trendsetter, unapologetic way before anybody else.
03:12So for me, it's not like I want to go.
03:14No, it was like, I wanted to go on because I wanted to be funny and entertain people.
03:20And I think it's an important show because, you know, it's accepted by everybody.
03:26Everybody likes drag queens.
03:28Everybody watches the show.
03:30So that stopped playing this, you know, game in America, you know, and, and, and,
03:35and it's just, it's just, it's, it's, it's bizarre.
03:40It's absurd.
03:42Everybody has somebody who's gay in their family.
03:46Everybody knows a drag queen.
03:48Everybody knows a trans person.
03:50So that's just like cut the bullshit.
03:53Absolutely.
03:54Enough.
03:55Yes.
03:55Yes.
03:56Period.
03:57Oh, you know, it was a reunion of sorts too, for you with Rue.
04:01One of my favorite moments from the OG Rue Paul show is, is your iconic Hanukkah episode.
04:07Was there any sort of nostalgia working with, with Rue again, after all these years?
04:13It's like laser focused.
04:15You don't have a lot of conversation with Rue.
04:17A drag race.
04:20It's not cozy.
04:21Okay.
04:22And I don't mean that in a critical way.
04:23I can, I can imagine being in that position and not having the bandwidth or the energy
04:29to like, welcome every single guest and person who comes in there.
04:32It's too much.
04:33There's too much going on.
04:34And, and the emotions of, you know, the, the, the performers and the people, you know,
04:39the drag artists, everybody's freaking out.
04:42Everybody's ready to get, you know, axed.
04:45So, so like, I'm just there.
04:47I'm in my thing doing, I'm a pro.
04:50It's like, I don't need any, my handheld.
04:52So no, we didn't talk too much, but I talked to Michelle, um, massage a lot.
04:57Michelle was, I didn't even talk to her a lot.
04:59She was just like easier, but it was great.
05:03It was a great experience.
05:04I was on Instagram the other day, scrolling.
05:08I swear it was like, not, not knowing that I was going to be speaking with you soon in
05:12my feed was an old clip from you and one of your many Letterman appearances back on that.
05:20What do you remember most about, about those days on the show?
05:23Well, first of all, I mean, my person is sort of curates everything from Sandra Bernhard
05:28fan is constantly like finding those, you know, little moments.
05:33And there were so many moments in every time I went on that show.
05:36So, and I freaking, of course you forget some of the things you say and that makes me laugh.
05:41And I was so like, you know, I was really young and I was like just starting out.
05:46And I mean, I was just starting out in terms of success.
05:49I'd already been at it for a long time.
05:51Um, and it was just so much fun.
05:54And I always had a crush on David and it was cute and fun.
05:57And, and it was like, um, appointment, you know, viewing, because, you know, if you didn't
06:03watch shows like Letterman live, you weren't going to see them again.
06:07Yeah.
06:07They didn't repeat David Letterman.
06:10So, you know, you know, the people got together in college campuses and dorm rooms or wherever
06:17and watch that show.
06:18And it had meaning and it was like, that was when you were on the cutting edge in a more
06:25to me, genuine way than now.
06:27And I, I, I miss those days.
06:29That's exactly what I was going to say is that, you know, now stars, even, even comics
06:34are so manicured and their, their image has to be so tightly, you know, curated for social
06:41media, watching this clip, you were so free and so comfortable and so fun and genuine.
06:46I mean, did that help get you to where you are now?
06:49And, and do you miss some of that, that freedom that seems like it's kind of missing from the
06:54current way that, that people are in Hollywood?
06:58You know what?
06:59I just keep doing what I do.
07:00I put on my blinders.
07:02I am who I am.
07:04Um, I don't think social media is the place to like be nuanced or like really say anything
07:11of great value because if you can't, if there's not an interaction, if you're not watching
07:17it in real time, it's just sort of like ephemeral, it kind of just like, it's like cotton candy.
07:23It just like you put a little water on it and just like evaporates.
07:26So I, that's where my live performing comes in.
07:29That's when people come to see me at the venues and they, you know, sit in the audience and
07:34I have that exchange with them and that connection and that continuity.
07:39That's where I save, um, my spontaneity because I know we're all in it together, but it's, it'll
07:47never be the way it was when I was starting out.
07:50Well, it's, it's a good thing.
07:51You're saving that for, uh, for the live show because you've got a stage show, uh, really
07:56excited.
07:57Tell us about what you're going to be doing on stage in shapes and forms.
08:01You know, it's, it draws a lot from, um, people I've known sometimes famous people, people
08:11I wish I'd known, you know, these ideas of like, who, who's sexy, who, you know, romance
08:19fun.
08:21And then it's all woven in with, you know, my favorite, some of my favorite songs, which
08:25is like what I love doing.
08:27I love curating music for my show.
08:29Um, and, um, here in New York, I'm, I'm also performing at Cafe Carlisle, but that's a
08:34different show.
08:35That'll be something that's very, you know, specific for that venue, more musical.
08:41Um, you know, it's, it's such a tiny, intimate little room.
08:45So, um, I'm, I'll be spinning two plates at once.
08:49I'll be out on the road with shapes and forms, which I put together at Joe's pub in December.
08:55I haven't done it since, um, it's all crazy.
08:58And then just kind of like touching on what's going on politically and, and, you know, what,
09:04how everybody's just sort of like spinning out of control and how I always feel like I'm
09:10one of the kind of people who like can, you know, anchor people.
09:15That's what, that's what I kind of do as a, as a artist and as a person.
09:20So I look forward to that as well.
09:23That's such a hard thing to do.
09:25I feel like to, to provide that anchor at a time where on a daily basis, maybe hourly
09:31basis, we're thrown with some new thing that could, you know, send you into a tailspin
09:35as an artist.
09:37Does that feel like an opportunity and obligation and excitement?
09:41Like where, where does that fit for you?
09:43I kind of all of the above.
09:46And sometimes it feels like I won't touch on it too much because people will come to
09:52a show.
09:53They've been inundated with news and information, some true, some not.
09:58I know they'll look to me to like, you know, take the veneer off of it and the crap.
10:04And I do that, but then I want to jump into other things that are more, you know, emotional,
10:11visceral, personal, and really take people on a journey so that they don't have to sit
10:18there for an hour and a half and absorb more, you know, punches and blows.
10:24Yeah.
10:24Shapes and forms on the road later this month.
10:28So excited for that.
10:29Severance on Apple TV plus you're in survival of the thickest on Netflix.
10:33There's so, I mean, it, we, I can't keep track of your schedule.
10:37I don't know how you do.
10:40We're so excited for all of it.
10:41We're all doing okay, but I'm excited too.
10:44I really am.
10:45I'm excited to get back out on the road.
10:47It's spring.
10:49It's time to like shake it up.
10:51Well, I was, you mentioned spring because the other day I'm in New York and it was like
10:56the first nice day in New York in months.
10:58And I looked out the window and I was like, oh my gosh, that seasonal depression thing
11:02is real.
11:04Like, you know.
11:05It can be.
11:06Yeah.
11:06And this year was, this, this winter was so cold.
11:10I mean, it was like, wow.
11:12Disgusting.
11:13Nice that, you know, it's all sort of like lightening up and it's a good feeling.
11:19Well, we are lucky to be treated by not just the blooms and the sun, but also all the
11:23projects you're working on and the show making its way across the country very soon.
11:28Sandra, thank you so much for the time.
11:30It's been so lovely to speak.
11:31Thank you, Corey.
11:32See you soon, honey.