Comedian and actress Sandra Bernhard says her one appearance on the “Roseanne” reboot was cut to shreds and that she hasn’t heard from the embattled star since she shot the episode last year.
Bernhard made a brilliant appearance last night at East Hampton’s Guild Hall where, for 75 minutes, she let loose on everyone including people in the audience and Hamptonites in general. Some of the show was scripted with set pieces but much was ad libbed, and hilarious. Bernhard is never mean, but she can go in for kill and come out of it bloodless.
It wasn’t far into the set when Roseanne’s came up. Bernhard said that she’d had a great scene with Estelle Parsons, who plays Barr’s mother on the show. “But they cut the whole thing out, and I was like okayyyy,” she said. She said that basically Barr was crazy, that years ago she’d visited her in rehab, that the comic “lived badly” in Hawaii, and that she was currently staying with her parents in Utah. “Do you remember when she accused them of sexually molesting her?” she asked the audience. “I wonder how they feel about that now.”
The set pieces included witty takes on QVC presenters. She also began the set with a gentle jab at Melania Trump. Bernard also gave a few zetses to the Hamptons crowd, chiding the audience over their “resistance.”
I hadn’t seen a Sandra Bernhard show in about 25 years. I was so impressed, and the audience loved her. She’s retained a lot of her edge, and is as current as possible. She’s also a terrific rock singer, and comes with a three piece band. (Her pianist and music guy has been with her since 1985.) I was thinking I’d say Sandra Bernhard is the Patti Smith of comedians. But she beat me to it by closing the show rocking out a blistering performance Patti’s “People Got the Power.” Other songs included “Downtown Train,” Neil Diamond’s “Hot August Nights,” and “Manic Depression.”
There’s no question that after more than three decades, Bernhard is a gifted performer. It’s time, I think, for some higher career retrospective love. (Netflix?) This girl is on fire.
