Comedienne Madigan loves her career

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Kathleen Madigan brings her brand of humor to The Egg tonight.

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Kathleen Madigan has won comedy awards.

She has performed internationally in Ireland, England and Australia, among other places.

The Missouri-born comedienne also has a currently streaming Netflix special, “Bothering Jesus.” The album from the special dropped in early February and made the Billboard 200 album chart. It also took the top spot on the Billboard comedy chart.

“I keep waiting for somebody to knock on the door and say, ‘It’s time for you to get a real job,'” Madigan said this week. “At the end of the day, we’re still just going somewhere at night telling jokes.”

The “real job” won’t come tonight. Madigan will bring her “Boxed Wine and Bigfoot” comedy tour to The Egg for an 8 p.m. show.

The name of the tour reflects culinary and cultural favorites. Madigan loves grape from the box and and tall, reclusive monsters in video clips.

“I think boxed wine, to propel their advertising, they should remind people that boxed wine makes no noise in the trash,” Madigan said in a phone interview from Oswego, where she was visiting friends on her way to Albany. “That’s a big plus if you want to hide how much you’re drinking.”

Funny stuff, but Madigan also believes she has received the gifts of luck and timing. “Bothering Jesus” is her fifth hour-long special and third special available on Netflix.

“Netflix comes along and that’s great. Sirius radio, great,” Madigan said. “But you don’t want to be in the tail end of that stuff. You kind of want to get there when the store opens. So I’ve had a lot of luck with timing.”

Madigan has also employed a simple formula over her 30 years in the comedy business. She tells her jokes, her bits and hope they find her audience.

“Let’s go backwards,” Madigan said. “If you had an HBO hour, it kind of stood out from the pack. But now there are so many different ways to increase things. You could do it on Hulu, you can do it on Showtime, Comedy Central is still doing them. The young comics are saying, ‘Well, how do I get people to find me?’

“That I don’t know,” Madigan added. “I already have people and I tell them where to go and then they go there.”

Madigan has received bunches of awards and accolades during travels in comedy. Facts – and family – have kept her grounded. With six brothers and sisters, she’s never going to be able to pull off any big shot moves. And she believes most comedians are a humble group anyway.

“None of us have a nickel or any amount of visibility until you’re probably 35 or 40,” Madigan said. “There’s never enough time to become this crazy person. I think if you were instantly famous when you’re 20, your whole world perception is going to be different – maybe good, maybe bad.”

While Madigan is famous on stage, she is not looking for any exposure on movie screens or in situation comedies. She doesn’t have the patience.

“I don’t like the process,” Madigan said. “I like the immediacy of a bar or theater, whatever I’m in that night. It’s just immediate.

“One time, Lew (pal and fellow comedian Lewis Black) did a thing on ‘Big Bang Theory’ and we were there for seven hours,” she added. “You’re just hanging out, I don’t have the patience for it. I said, ‘How much are you making for this, man? Let’s get out of here.'”

Madigan would hate to invest four months in a project such as “Braveheart,” Mel Gibson’s 1995 epic about Scottish hero William Wallace. She would prefer to do things that make her happy.

“I like traveling and I like meeting people, going on stage and being done that night,” Madigan said.

She also likes to golf. Her ideal foursome would include comedians Black and Ron White and golf analyst and instructor Peter Kostis. Eventually, she’ll have more time for putts and drives. At 52, she’s thinking about days off the road and away from the stage.

“I have a five-year plan,” Madigan said. “I don’t want to be like Cher and say ‘I’m quitting’ when I’m not quitting, that this is my last tour. To me, comedy is either you’re doing it or you’re not doing it. It’s like going to the gym. You’re in shape or you’re just kind of not.

“As long as i’m doing it, I’ll do it hard and crush it out, but I think by the time I’m 60, I’m good.”

Reach Gazette reporter Jeff Wilkin at 518-395-3124 or [email protected]