Queen of Outrageous Comedy Is Heading to Ventura : Sandra Bernhard’s routines include the erotic and neurotic, and she often winds up on stage in her underwear.

Sandra Bernhard, at 5-foot-10, looks like a slimmed-down Barbie with a mouth like an Edsel grill. It’s a mouth that never stops as Bernhard tells erotic and neurotic jokes, discusses sexuality, banters with the crowd and sings a bunch of eclectic songs, including a positively surreal version of “Sympathy for the Devil.”

And at some point, she usually ends up standing around in her underwear.

Operating beyond where “outrageous” leaves off, Bernhard will be prowling the big stage at the venerable Ventura Theatre on Friday night.

Once a nice Jewish girl from Michigan, Bernhard, 39, moved to Los Angeles in 1974 and made the comedy club rounds, developing a style that is much more glib and profane than nice. Her big break came in 1983 when she got to terrorize Jerry Lewis in “The King of Comedy.” Since then, Bernhard has made more movies and albums (including last year’s “Excuse for Bad Behavior”) and appeared on countless talk shows, not to mention having a recurring part as a lesbian waitress on “Roseanne.”

She even talks on the phone.

So how did “Excuse for Bad Behavior” do? Are you a rich rock star?

I’m certainly not a rich rock star, but that should not be a big surprise.

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When’s the next album?

Not for a while. That last one turned out to be a one-album deal with Epic for the usual reasons. Their loss.

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Do you go on the road as long as those old blues guys, and when you do, how do you survive?

When my album came out, I did a 20-city tour, but I’m always performing. I just perform when I want to--it’s my life. I don’t go out on the road for months on end or anything like that. I usually spend my time between L.A. and New York.

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You’ve lived in Michigan, Arizona and now California and New York. When baseball season rolls around, whose side are you on?

Is it back? I’m not really a big baseball fan. I’m more of a basketball fan. I’m usually for the underdog.

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How ‘bout those Bruins?

Bruins? I don’t follow college basketball.

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You moved to L.A. in 1974--was it like you thought it would be?

It was a different world in 1974. It was a very exciting time. I was a teen-ager and I had a lot of fun.

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A comedian I know, Doug Ferrari, once said, “If you can’t laugh at it, it’s not worth taking seriously.” Do you agree?

I wouldn’t use that motto for myself. I enjoy humor. There’s humor in tragedy and tragedy in humor.

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What did you learn on the comedy club circuit?

I wasn’t really on a circuit--just back and forth between New York and L.A. I learned to get up and perform and get good at what I do.

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You’ve been called a provocateur, a singer who acts, an actor who sings, a comic who doesn’t tell jokes. What exactly are you doing up there?

I guess I’m an entertainer above all. I take different forms and put them together. I enjoy performing.

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What have you learned being an opening act?

I’ve hardly ever been an opening act, so I don’t know much about that situation. I know what I do wouldn’t work very well as an opening act. I try to adapt my shows to the proper size venue.

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Who has the best backstage food, Larry King or David Letterman?

Is this some sort of a fetish? Neither of them has any food.

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Not even beer?

No beer.

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Who goes to your show?

It’s a very eclectic group. I get teen-agers to people in their 40s and 50s who understand my point of view.

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Do you have a problem with groupies; you know, people following you around wanting to marry you and stuff?

That’s not a problem. I do have my share of people who follow me around, but none of them are a problem.

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Why do you always seem to end up in your underwear on stage?

It started with “The King of Comedy” and sort of just took off from that.

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That was a great movie. If you had it to do over again, would you let Jerry Lewis go?

I don’t think I’d have a choice.

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Do you think people like Oprah are jealous of you because you stay thin with very little effort?

Jealous of me? I don’t know Oprah, but I don’t think any women are jealous of me.

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What’s the most misunderstood thing about you?

I think some people think I’m confrontational on a superficial level and misinterpret. But these are people who don’t really know what I’m doing.

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Is Al Bundy’s right about women? Are there no good ones?

I wouldn’t know about that.

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Is it great to be tall?

I never really thought of myself as being tall. I’m comfortable.

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What’s next?

In my life or career?

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Either. Both. Whatever.

I just want to continue to be creative and write good stuff. You know, at this Ventura show, I won’t be doing the album, but I’ll be trying out new material. I like to throw everything out and just start again. I could do a different show every night. I’m very improvisational. I look at what’s happening around me and reinterpret it. I’m enjoying myself and I enjoy what I do.

Details

* WHO: Sandra Bernhard, Lexie Shine.

* WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday.

* WHERE: Ventura Theatre, 26 Chestnut St., Ventura.

* HOW MUCH: $21.50.

* CALL: 648-1888.