Un-Hip Humor, and Proud of It

As an average “32-year-old white woman,” comic Kathleen Madigan says she would rather perform in front of a 60-year-old retiree than a cooler-than-thou college undergraduate.

“I’m not like ultra-grunge hip,” she said with a laugh.

The St. Louis native, who headlines at the Irvine Improv tonight through Sunday, is known for her unpretentious, somewhat sarcastic middle-American humor. Madigan uses this niche to corral a broad, post-college audience. It helps, she says, that most Americans share her background.

“As a kid I thought [middle America] was just the Midwest and the South,” Madigan said. “But most people are living like people I grew up around. I haven’t come to a conclusion whether that’s good or bad!”

Her populist act may not impress urban hipsters, but it was good enough for HBO to grant her one of the six half-hour TV specials it doles out each year to comedians; it airs Feb. 20. And Madigan was voted best female stand-up comedian in 1996 at the American Comedy Awards.

Her clean material with no mention of relationship woes sets her apart from many of her contemporaries.

“No matter what you want to say about your boyfriend or husband, odds are that it’s probably been said before,” she explained. “I’m not saying that I don’t hear something occasionally where I say, ‘That was extremely clever and new.’ But it’s like doing a research paper on Hitler. Like who hasn’t? It just kind of bores me.”

Instead, Madigan’s comedy can be divided into five general categories: family, sports, travel, “weirdos” (strange or idiotic people in the news) and religion.

“In [Roman Catholic] grade school they used to make me scoot over at my desk to make room for my guardian angel to sit down,” she recalled. “Apparently my guardian angel was lazy and unable to hover. ‘He’s an angel. He’s got wings according to you people. Why can’t he just hang out up there? Why does he have to sit down? Is he a union angel?’ ”

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Being snowbound during winters with four older brothers pretty much guaranteed that Madigan would grow up sports-smart. When her hometown rejoiced over the arrival of the Rams from Anaheim several years ago, she knew that St. Louis had paid an exorbitant price for a sorry football team.

“When everybody was so excited back home--’Hey, we’re getting a football team!’--I kept saying, ‘Hey, it’s the Rams! We’re not getting the 49ers. We’re not getting the Cowboys. We’re getting the Rams!’ ”

When Madigan began her stand-up career 10 years ago, she was among a small group of women in the profession. She says that hasn’t changed much.

“Out here in L.A. I see [more women stand-ups] at places like the Laugh Factory,” she said. “But that doesn’t really count. They’re not doing the road. If you’re not doing the road at all it’s not the same. . . . But the lifestyle isn’t that appealing to women, understandably. It’s completely nuts.”

Madigan, who now lives in Hermosa Beach, enjoys life on the road. Still, given the opportunity, would she consider a steady gig in Las Vegas?

“It’s like nothing’s real there,” she said. “It’s like fantasy. That’s cool for a couple of days. But after a while it’s like, ‘Where’s the real world?’ ”

* Kathleen Madigan appears at the Irvine Improv, 4255 Campus Drive, Suite 138. Wednesday-Thursday, 8:30 p.m. $10; Friday, 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. $12; Saturday, 8 and 10:30 p.m. $12; and Sunday, 8 p.m., $10. (714) 854-5455.