Kathleen Madigan loves this time of year, when all the political candidates are out glad-handing for our votes.
It's in her blood, the 46-year-old comedian says.
"I always get excited about politics because my dad made us watch when we were kids," she said during a phone interview from her Los Angeles home early this month. "I'm sure I was the only 7-year-old watching Watergate. I thought it was a big gate with water behind it. I kept thinking, 'Why don't you just open the gate and I can watch my cartoons?' "
Politics make up a bulk of her comedy. She also chats up sports - in high school she won the Mid-Missouri Hoops Shoot Championship, not an easy feat when you stand just 5 feet 1 inch tall. And she draws her family into the mix, including her lawyer father and seven siblings.
Madigan, a former newspaper reporter in her home state of Missouri, has been performing stand-up for 23 years. She is a regular on late-night shows (Craig Ferguson, David Letterman, Bill Maher, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien among them), has filmed two concert DVDs and three CDs, and appeared on the second season of NBC's talent show "Last Comic Standing"; she lost in the second to last round. That show and her regular appearances on satellite radio - including on the high-rated comedy network Blue Collar Comedy - put her on the comedy radar in a big way in recent years. Comedian Lewis Black, whom she dated "100 years ago," she said, calls her the funniest woman in America.
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On Friday, Madigan will make her public Tucson debut at the Rialto Theatre. She's performed here before, she said, but only at private parties or corporate gigs.
When we caught up with her, Madigan was on a roll about the GOP presidential race. Here's how she sees the political landscape.
Who she hoped would be on the GOP ticket: "Jon Huntsman, because he spoke fluent Chinese. ... That's the guy we need so when the Chinese start calling for their money, he can answer the phone. We can sit in the background and go, 'Tell him the check's in the mail.' 'Tell them they called the wrong country. This is Canada; we didn't borrow anything.'
"Mitt Romney, I just can't ... That man ... swears - and you know he's telling the truth - that he's never had a drink of alcohol, drugs or a cigarette in his life. As an Irish Catholic, that sentence can't even go into my head. ... The only people that I know that can say that honestly are babies. ... If Mitt Romney hung out with me for a week, he would hate me."
Newt Gingrich would get my vote if his name was still Leroy: "Newt's real name is Leroy McPherson. If he had stayed with his real name, I would have voted for him. How do you not vote for Leroy McPherson? He sounds like a blast."
Obama, I can't help you: "Every time I turn on the TV, Obama says, 'America, I'm gonna need your help on this.' Sir, I am busy. My fall fantasy football league is falling apart at the seams. The ticket didn't say 'Obama-Madigan.' It said 'Obama-Biden.' So if you need help, you go get that drunk Irishman you like so much out of the bar and tell him to chop-chop."
If you go
• What: Kathleen Madigan in concert.
• When: 8 p.m. Friday.
• Where: Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St.
• Tickets: $21 to $31 through www.rialtotheatre.com
