Bring on the Sandemonium!
Bring on the Sandemonium!
Sandra Bernhard’s rise to stardom began with her successful one-woman stand-up routines in the 1970s and 1980s. Her clever criticism of the entertainment and political world allowed her voice to stand out, especially in noteworthy clubs like The Comedy Store. She says she was always theatrical, even as a kid. “Since I was five years old, I knew I was going to be a performer. I did a lot of performing in my room and singing along with other people and writing little sketches, but I always did it by myself until I moved to LA,” she said.
Her first big break, playing Masha in The King of Comedy (1983), was directed by Martin Scorsese and earned her the Best Supporting Actress Award from the National Society of Film Critics. In 1991, Bernhard starred in her most notable television role as Nancy Bartlett Thomas on Roseanne, a role she recently reprised for the show’s reboot.
Nowadays, she hosts her own SiriusXM radio show, Sandyland. Guests such as Jane Fonda, Bette Midler, and Blondie share their thoughts on current topics following Bernhard’s opening monologues. “Because the show is very open and because I haven’t boxed myself into a corner regarding what the show is about, I think people feel very relaxed about talking about whatever is going on in their lives,” Bernhard said.
As one of Comedy Central’s top 100 standups of all time, Bernhard mixes comedy and musicality to perform in various tours including “Sandra Monica Blvd” and “Everything Bad and Beautiful”. According to Broadway World, “While Bernhard has a wonderfully husky voice, she's unparalleled with a quip, providing an unending stream of delightfully offbeat moments mutated from the most mundane aspects of life.” Her concurrent comedy albums, released throughout the last three decades, are the compilation of diverse musical genres and taboo topics.