Suzanne Westenhoefer

* The comedian, whose HBO comedy special was nominated for an ACE Award in 1995, performs at the Coach House May 10.

Regular Folk: I like the Normandie Room on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. It’s just a little bar where they make a really great martini with a shaker. It has a non-pretentious gay crowd--like regular gay people--and there’s a pool table. But it’s not like a scary pool bar. There’s no great big dance floor and you’re really just walking in to hang out and talk. Even if it’s crowded, it’s not a nightmare.

Retail Hike: One of my favorite things in the world to do is to go to the Beverly Center when it opens around 10 a.m. on weekends. There’s nobody there yet and I just work my way through the floors and shop. It’s like going back to nature, it’s so relaxing for me. If you grow up on the East Coast, it’s exactly what you thought a Hollywood mall was going to be like. I love it there, though they’ve stopped carrying anything over a size 10.

Stealing Home(wares): On Sunday mornings, my girlfriend and I get crepes at the Farmers Market and then we go to the flea market on Melrose and Fairfax. I found a leather footstool and I think I paid $15 for it, but it looks like something the Pottery Barn would sell for $600. My girlfriends have gotten used Levi’s there for $5.

Two Girls: I’m sort of associated with the Improv, but I also really like the Comedy Store. There are so many different rooms like the Belly Room, which is amateurs. I think gay comics have way more to say right now. It’s a little sexier and a little more vulgar. I think listening to some woman talk about how she can’t get a guy to commit or a guy talking about his wife not wanting to have sex with him, I mean, we’ve heard that a lot. With two girls together, you can just have so much more fun. Do you think I have ever had to say to my girlfriend, “Oh, I’m PMSed” and have her not understand? She sees me being PMSed before I am PMSed.

Behind the Bus: When friends come from the East Coast and they want to do the tour of the Hollywood homes, we get a map and we stay like three car lengths behind the actual Hollywood star tour. You can hear them sometimes too, if you put your window down. And you’re in your own car, rather than that stupid bus. We’ve done that like three or four times. It’s very fun and silly, though I don’t think they like it.