Love her or hate her, there’s no arguing with the subversive power of Roseanne Barr. With her eponymous 1988–1997 sitcom, she turned a genre primarily known for mindless escapism to a ground-breaking platform for addressing hot-button issues from domestic violence to gay rights. On Oct. 7, Barr brings her one-woman show to Skokie’s North Shore Center for the Performing Arts. She spoke to use by phone from the family macadamia nut farm she has on the Big Island in Hawaii, for a conversation about comedy, her pending Halloween party and that time she ran for President.
Q: What kind of show do you have planned in Skokie?
A: A funny, fast-paced show about family, aging, TV, pop culture, doctors, religion, politics, sex and some dark subjects too — there’s something for everyone.
Q: With “Roseanne” you were a pioneer on at least five major fronts as a then plus-size woman comedian anchoring a sitcom about cutting-edge social issues. Was changing television fundamentally part of the plan?
A: Yes. I wanted to confront the sexism, classism, sizeism, and falsity I saw on television. It was hard, but it was also fun and exciting.
Q: The Green Party endorsed you when you ran for president in 2012. Why did you run?
A: I always wanted to run for president. I actually wrote about it in third grade — my mom kept it — and it was like, ‘Roseanne Barr was the first woman president. She became president after she cured cancer and brought world peace.’ So I’m living the dream, kind of. I made a documentary about the entire experience which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Q: Your campaign slogan was “I’ll Fix This Sh**t.” What’s your take on what the current crop of nominees has to say?
A: I like Bernie (Sanders) and I like Trump too for some reason — I don’t want another Clinton/Bush spectacle.
Q: You’ve succeeded at sitcoms, talk shows, reality TV (including as a judge on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing”), movies, farming — surely you’ve earned a long vacation. What drives you to keep creating?
A: I love to perform. I like being creative. I have a family-run production studio where we produce all kinds of original content. (www.youtube.com/roseanneworld and www.domesticgoddess.tv) .
Q: How do you do funny for children versus for adults?
A: I just pretend that I’m still 5, which is fun for me and more like the real me.
Q: There’s forever been chatter about how women aren’t inherently funny, at least not compared to men. Where does that sentiment comes from?
A: Mostly unfunny male comics.
Q: What’s your favorite thing to when you’re not working?
A: I like to hang with my boyfriend Johnny (Argent) and my kids and grandkids on my farm in Hawaii. I have some very nice friends there, too. Farmers are a blast. We’re getting ready for my annual Halloween event. I host a huge party on the Big Island and people from all over show up in costumes, ready to dance and party.
Roseanne Barr in performance
7:30 p.m. Oct. 7
North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 N. Skokie Blvd., Skokie
$48.50-$72.50
847-673-6300; Northshorecenter.org
