Palin Look-Alikes in San Francisco? You Betcha!

Ruth Robertson Chats with Lisa Geduldig

Lisa: How do you go up to someone and say, "Uh, I think you look like Sarah Palin, will you consider entering into the Sarah Palin Look-Alike Contest?" Well, you just do!

Ruth: Why a Palin Look-Alike Contest?

Lisa: For one thing, she's easy to impersonate, because she's a caricature of herself! Sarah Palin delivers the fodder right to your doorstep so that impersonators and comics have a relatively easy time making it farcical. It already is. One of our contestants appeared dressed as Palin at an anti-Palin protest in Burlingame a couple of weekends ago.

Sarah Palin does, says, and stands for the most ridiculous things. From her gaffes, to her lack of knowledge, to her hunting, to the names she has bestowed upon her kids, to the pregnant teenage daughter... You can't write this kind of stuff.

Ruth: Tell me about some of the contestants.

Lisa: You know, I thought a lot of drag queens would be clamoring to take part in the contest (I had hordes of them participate in a Charo Look-alike
Contest), but surprisingly of the contestants who have signed up for The Sarah Palin Look-alike Contest, so far there's only one man. I guess women are coming out and doing drag for this one. I was hoping for an ethnic mix of Palin Look-alikes, but as of now, I believe they're all caucasian, at least from the jpegs they sent me.

One of our contestants says everyone has spent the past 5 years telling her she looks like Tina Fey, and now Sarah Palin.

Ruth: Sounds like it might be hard to choose a winner...

Lisa: Yeah...it's gonna be a tough competition but the Palinistas will be judged on the basis of appearance and knowledge of foreign policy...

Ruth: Palin, she's a newcomer on the scene, for impersonators. How did you come up with the idea for the contest?

Lisa: Right, and I had already printed the 10,000 postcards for The 5th (& Final) George Bush Going Away Party before McCain announced McPalin as his running mate.
Then...as I was handing out postcards, I realized that people now seemed more concerned about that dynamic duo than about Bush. Even though the Bush show is a political comedy night with 4 comics talking about a lot more than only Bush, it was apparent that I should add an element to the show that was Palin-related...McCain rather than Palin as she was easier to make fun of, and even more absurd that she was a candidate for Veep...so I added a Sarah Palin Look-alike Contest to the San Francisco show.

Ruth: Tell me about Kung Pao Kosher Comedy, an institution in San Francisco going
back some 15 years....

Lisa: Well, Kung Pao Kosher Comedy answers the age-old question, "What are Jews supposed to do on Christmas?"

I created *Kung Pao Kosher Comedy: Jewish Comedy* on Christmas in a Chinese restaurant all those years ago and have been producing it in San Francisco's Chinatown ever since.

Kung Pao started with one show in 1993 and kept selling out and growing. In 1997, theshow grew to 8 shows over the course of 4 days, and Henny Youngman headlined. The show has continued at 8 shows during Christmas week since then. This year David Brenner headlines. There's always a mix of straight and queer Jewish comics, and like with all of my comedy productions partial proceeds benefit different organizations.

Ruth: Thanks for talking to me today, Lisa. I'll be posting this interview on indybay. Do you have any thoughts to share with indybay readers about the comedy, or anything or anyone before we sign off?

Lisa: The Sarah Palin Look-Alike Contest is only on the first night of the 4 night run. The George Bush Going Away Party all is 4 nights in 4 cities, San Francisco, San Rafael, Berkeley, and Santa Cruz.

Ruth: ...and it's, like, historical, as it's the last chance to say goodbye to Bush with political comedy. You could tell your grandkids...

Lisa: Oh yeah, and visit the website for more details of location, times, tickets, all that stuff. The shows benefit counter-recruitment in the schools.

Ruth: Anything else?

Lisa: It's insane that this woman Sarah Palin could be VP or President.

Ruth: Indybay readers will concur.