Summer + Kate Clinton + Ptown = 30 years of laughs

It's summertime and while it's easy to find comedian Kate Clinton in one usual place - Provincetown - she also seems to be popping up on our computers and our televisions. The outspoken comic who regularly writes witty blogs and posts hilarious video of her world observations on , was one of the pundits seen recently in the PBS documentary "Out In America."

She also appears in the pilot episode of the highly anticipated NBC midseason drama, "Smash," starring "Will & Grace" alum Debra Messing and "American Idol" alum Katherine McPhee.

EDGE's Jim Halterman called Clinton at her home in Ptown to talk about her busy schedule, the gay marriage issue, what she thinks of Sarah Palin touring the country and how utilizing the internet has loosened her up.

All ’Smashed’-up

EDGE: I didn't know you had done the pilot for the midseason series "Smash" on NBC until I turned it on and there you were! I must've missed a tweet!

Kate Clinton: It was so exciting! It was amazing to be around those young singers and then to do another take and they were just blasting out. It was awesome!

EDGE: Any chance you could be a part of the show once it gets started midseason?

Kate Clinton: I don't know! The pilot was picked up for 13 episodes and I certainly reminded them that I'd love to and I'm available. If they go back to that audition room then I'm there.

On coming out & gay marriage

EDGE: "Out In America" was such a great documentary. We never get tired of hearing our coming out stories, do we?

Kate Clinton: I know that with my young friends whenever we start talking about our coming out stories they all do that eye rolling thing and say 'Here we go again.' It's really important, though, because some people think they're out but they're not fully out. You gotta say it! A lot of our coming out stories are saying, 'I am a lesbian.' 'I play softball' doesn't cut it!

And it's a part of our history and it's an important part. I believe that it's still one of the building blocks of our movement. It's stunning to me to talk to people who have non-discrimination clauses in their workplace but in fact they're not out and they don't feel comfortable being out. You look at surveys and it's great we have a lot of information there in the LGBT communities but you find that in places like Michigan only 40% of people are out. It's amazing so I think that telling those stories is good modeling behavior.

EDGE: Looking back to the young people of today, how can they not be out? Gay people are everywhere, it's all over the television, movies and the media but there's still that stigma where people don't feel safe to come out. Has the world not changed as much as we like to think?

Kate Clinton: I think there's the long arm of religion and the people who participate in churches that they love and yet they tell them they're an abomination and they take it in. It comes from that safe tradition where openly closeted is acceptable and that's what they do. Again, the importance of naming it. I do think it's still really, really hard and when the day comes that the last gay teen comes out and doesn't think of suicide next...I think, well, my job here is done but we have a long way to go.

EDGE: Are we getting closer to the gay marriage issue no longer being an issue? [Note: This interview took place just before New York's ruling on gay marriage]

Kate Clinton: You know, the good thing about the gay marriage is that it is such a point of conversation. It's something that people talk about, they have to talk about gay people and that's a good thing. It is astounding to me how, hello, 2011, get a grip?! We couldn't ruin marriage more than you have! In fact, fewer of them are actually getting married. Now that they're done with it we'll take it. People are very optimistic of the chances of marriage equality in New York. We'll see. We have three Democratic Senators to move and we need to pull off a couple of Republicans. There's really big money behind it and they're actively behind it. The time is now. Come on!

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Watch this clip of Kate Clinton from the film 'We're Funny This Way":

Talking about Sarah

EDGE: Obviously there must be so much for you to talk about in your show. I'm sure you have more than a few things to say about Sarah Palin.

Kate Clinton: She's working harder than Lady Gaga! It's amazing! They're both on a promo tour. We don't know what Sarah Palin is promoting but it's sort of like "Where's Waldo?" Where is she today? Oh man, it's just amazing. On the one hand, I love it because to be a woman and really do it her own way is really exciting. The form of it is great but the content is horrible. It's like 'Damn, be careful what you wish for!'

EDGE: I wish she was only promoting her Alaska TV show, but I have a feeling it's more political.

Kate Clinton: I think she likes to make money. She's making giant money in speaking engagements and she won't go anywhere for $5,000!

EDGE: Outside of Palin, who else are you talking about?

Kate Clinton: Well, I always have the Pope and he does not disappoint. He spoke to the Astronauts and I really believe that's the highest he's ever going to get to heaven. I mean, how ironic and outrageous that the Vatican had a conference on AIDS? The importance of condoms and the spread of AIDS! He also wants to make the former Pope on the fast track to Sainthood. You have to believe in miracles to be sated and I say Pope John's miracle was that he made the pedophilia scandal disappear.

EDGE: Let's talk PTown! I'm so overdue for a trip back!

Kate Clinton: Honey! It is wonderful! We have begun the theme weeks. We had the Baby Dyke weekend and it's just packed with girls who just graduated from college who come here for their last lap. It is a riot! They travel in packs and they scream a lot! They love it! It's a little bit like teen sports and a bit of "Jersey Shore"! It's wild! Oh, they have so much fun and everybody was grumpy. They're yelling all night long. Oh please! They just graduated, they're thousands of dollars in debt and there are no jobs, wouldn't you scream??

The Ptown mix

EDGE: One thing I love about PTown is the mix of people and not just the gay people but the straight couple with the little kid watching Miss Richfield go by.

Kate Clinton: And wanting to get a picture with them! Like let's take a picture with... what is that? I agree. It's a really lovely mix and it's a mix that goes right through to the school board, the zoning board, the town selectmen. It's a mixture of straight people and gay people working together. It's a great creative place, too, and there is, of course, a rich tradition of artists and authors and when I come here I love to have a project that I'm working on. I've finished books here. This summer, it's my 30th Anniversary and I've done nine CDs and we're going to do a 'Best Of' compilation. At first my idea was that I would take the best lines and put it together and record it and then I listened to the nine CDs from 1982 on and you really have to hear my flat upstate New York 'A.' I couldn't believe it! Who is that? It was like 'Plaaaaan' and 'Gooooood.' So we might do clips and then I can talk over them.

EDGE: You interact a lot on Twitter and Facebook so I wondered how has that kind of connection to your fans influenced or affected your work?

Kate Clinton: It's funny. It has loosened me up. I really enjoy doing the video blogs. When I do my shows, it's 30 pages and I'm a former high school English teacher so I always have a lesson plan. But the video blogs are free words and it's very free form so that has been really fun. The problem with giving it away on Twitter is I've had people after shows say 'Someone is using that line!' and I say 'I think it's me!' You want people to get interested enough to come to a show, to actually get out there and put down their handheld devices and actually come to a live show. The Internet also has an incredible reach. You put a Tweet out and certainly someone else picks it up and it's so amazing how many people you can reach. I have a huge following in Germany and I've never been. I'm huge in Belgium and I've never been! I think it's a very exciting shift but I still tell people that nothing beats getting together with friends for dinner. I tried to bring back potlucks or do a movie club!

Kate Clinton appears at the Crown and Anchor, 247 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA. For times and reservations, visit Watch this interview with Kate Clinton from Provincetown: