Kathleen Madigan Bringing No Apologies To Hartford

Life would have been very different if Kathleen Madigan had accepted a reporter’s gig at ESPN 2.

In the summer of 1993, Madigan was offered a job at the then-fledgling sports network spinoff, which made its debut in October of ’93.

“I remember going to Bristol and thinking that it would be like Disney World,” Madigan says during a call from Los Angeles. “It obviously wasn’t like that at all, but it was an eye-opening experience.”

The job would have been no walk in the theme park for Madigan, 50, who turned down the opportunity, which, according to Madigan, was eventually given to Suzy Kolber.

“I love sports but not all sports,” Madigan says. “I just didn’t know how I would cover NASCAR or college football. I have no interest in that and can’t fake it. But every time I see Suzy Kolber, I think, ‘I could have done that.'”

While toiling as a print journalist during the late ’80s in her native St. Louis, Madigan started doing open mike nights at local comedy clubs. “I found my calling,” Madigan says. “That’s what I was meant to do. So I missed out on a career in which I would have been based in Connecticut, but I still get to visit.”

Madigan, who will perform Thursday, Jan. 7, at the Bushnell’s Belding Theater, is a sharp, unsparing comic who can get political, cultural or observational.

“I’m fascinated like everyone else at the presidential race,” Madigan says. “Apparently, Donald Trump can say whatever he wants and still get a bump at the polls. After he said that we should not allow Muslims in the country, he somehow gets a bump. Incredible. I can’t wait to see what happens at the Iowa caucus. If Trump loses, will he say, ‘Everyone in Iowa is a loser?” It’ll be interesting to see what happens if he drops in the polls because he’s not so good about being in second place.”

Madigan’s ex-boyfriend and good friend, comic Lewis Black, supports Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, which provides personal fodder for her. “I tell Lew that the only reason he likes Bernie is because he’s the only person more disheveled than him. Look at Sanders, he looks like he just got out of a car accident every time we see him on television. And then there is Hillary Clinton, who dresses like she’s Chairman Mao. It’s fun just poking at what these candidates do, say and wear.”

It’s obvious that there is nothing Madigan enjoys more than work. She recently went on a cruise with Black.

“It was awful,” Madigan says. “Why does anyone go on a cruise? You’re stuck at sea. You circle an island. I would rather fly to that island and be on it as opposed to circling it. Going on a cruise was the worst experience ever.”

Madigan isn’t one of those humorists who is using comedy as a stepping stone to a sitcom vehicle. In fact, Madigan was asked to write the pilot for “Downwardly Mobile,” a Roseanne Barr-John Goodman sitcom that NBC rejected.

“They asked me about coming aboard,” Madigan says. “I told them I can write from my garage, but I’m not writing in an office. I don’t want that. It’s like when my agent asks me if I want to be part of a sitcom and I really don’t. I never dreamed of being an actor. I wanted to be a stand-up. I’ve been given so much freedom, so it’s hard to go back. This is all I ever wanted. I’ve turned down other opportunities to be able to go up and say whatever I wanted. It’s the greatest job in the world. I can talk about whatever I want. I’m not sure how a sitcom, where you work everyday for a ridiculous amount of hours, could be any better than what I do.”

Part of what makes Madigan such a good stand-up is that she doesn’t care what her fans, the media or anyone thinks.

“I’ll never pander,” Madigan says. “I couldn’t live with myself if I wasn’t honest onstage. You know for sure that I’ll always be true to myself and I’ll never take another cruise.”

KATHLEEN MADIGAN appears Thursday, Jan. 7, at the Bushnell’s Belding Theater, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Tickets are $34.50 and $49.50. Show time is 7:30 p.m. For more information, 860-987-5900, bushnell.org.