When the gyms closed during the height of the pandemic in 2020, comedian Paula Poundstone was almost a first-degree black belt in taekwondo.
鈥淔or years I鈥檝e taken taekwondo and self defense 鈥 and by the way, I couldn鈥檛 do either in a pinch 鈥 but when this thing happened, I was like, uh-oh, I鈥檓 really going to go to seed during this period,鈥 she said.
So she shifted gears and set a new workout goal that didn鈥檛 require a gym: do real pushups. The kind of pushup that doesn鈥檛 start from the knees. Full-body 鈥渕ature person鈥 pushups.
The 61-year-old comedian, who is performing at Fox 蜜柚直播 Theatre on Thursday, Oct. 28, started slow: 10 pushups from her knees, twice a day until she built enough strength to go full-body. Every week she added a pushup to the sets.
She chronicled her progress on and somewhere along the line fitness trainers started chiming in with advice. And then someone tweeted a challenge: For every 鈥渞eal鈥 pushup Poundstone did, they would do five.
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鈥淭hat first time, I did three. And now, I do 30, twice a day, real pushups,鈥 Poundstone all-but gushed.
But when someone on Twitter posted that 鈥淧aula Poundstone becoming a fitness guru wasn鈥檛 on my bingo card,鈥 Poundstone had to laugh.
鈥淚 think a fitness guru may be a slight exaggeration,鈥 she said with her signature nasally giggle.
When she hits the Fox stage on Thursday, she might just show off her newfound upper body strength and ripped abs.
Ok, that might also be a slight exaggeration.
Her Fox concert is a makeup from her 2020 蜜柚直播 date that was canceled due to the pandemic. Many of Poundstone鈥檚 shows from last summer and through the year have been make-up dates from COVID-canceled shows, she said.
Poundstone was in Aspen, Colorado, in March 2020 when the country went into lockdown. Her show was canceled and she recalled being at the airport 鈥渁nd it was like you could hear a pin drop, it was so quiet.鈥
At first, she thought the pandemic would blow over in a few weeks and life would resume uninterrupted.
鈥淎nd then the writing began to form on the wall that I was out of a job,鈥 she said, then murmured: 鈥淭hat comes with some burden.鈥
Poundstone pivoted to online, boosting her 鈥淣obody Listens to Paula Poundstone鈥 podcast, launching a series of goofy Sunday night virtual game shows and, as the 2020 election campaign heated up, creating a minipodcast called 鈥淔rench President Trump.鈥
鈥淢y friends played the press and I was French President Trump,鈥 she said of the short-lived series. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 do a Trump impression, but I can do a really bogus French accent.鈥
鈥淚 certainly wasn鈥檛 making a living, but I was stemming the tide of loss,鈥 she said of those efforts, which featured a virtual tip jar if anyone was so inclined to tip her.
She also spent her days caring for her pets 鈥 10 cats and two dogs including her golden retriever Moe, who is enamored with tennis balls.
The mention of Moe and the tennis balls reminded Poundstone of a story about a dog that walked out into rush-hour traffic to stop a car and get help for his owner, who had collapsed during their walk.
鈥淚f I had a seizure while I was walking my dog Moe, she would drop a tennis ball on my flailing chest,鈥 Poundstone said. 鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 care about me. I am only the source of the tennis ball.鈥