Even on the eve of her 47th birthday, Sandra Bernhard has made no peace with Madonna, men, fame, sexuality, the Bush family or her ongoing financial need to tour and thus “exhaust” herself in venues where people blow smoke in her face.
“You don’t love me, you hate me,” Bernhard rasped Wednesday night during a rare one-night appearance at the Park West as a hapless fan declared undying devotion for this comedian-actress-singer with the impossibly wide mouth.
In her 105-minute show, backed by a five-piece band, Bernhard complained about smoke nearly a dozen times. But that didn’t stop anyone from lighting up.
The night began with Bernhard’s driving cover of “I’m Holding Out for a Hero.” Sadly, it’s virtually impossible to ever imagine this woman ever actually finding one. Madonna proved to be on a mere lesbian dalliance; Ann Heche was a letdown; and as for Britney Spears, well, “there was a time when people had to work their way into the entertainment business,” snarled Aunt Sandy.
And for those who fondly recall the bizarre and gangly creature kvetching on David Letterman’s couch, or snarling into a microphone during her first solo show “Without You I’m Nothing” will see some changes in their icon, who said from that stage that she has not performed in Chicago in nearly a decade.
Sure, Bernhard still is willing to go after such sacred cows as New York firefighters and model Lauren Bush with fresh, funny material. And few performers are as skilled at the angry, whiny riff, wherein spontaneous thoughts are carefully layered so they build to a withering climax.
But hearing the once-dangerous Bernhard wax nostalgic about her childhood, or talking about wanting the world to be all right for her kid, or writing songs about the good old days gives one’s aging bones a tremor or two.
At least she’s still miserable.
