Look out, Ann Arbor. Stand-up comedian Suzanne Westenhoefer is coming back to town — and this time the joke may be on us.

“The audience and I participate in the creation of each night’s show,” she explained, “and every show on the tour will feature new material inspired by my experiences in that day’s city.” Her “Totally Inappropriate” tour hits The Ark on Sunday night.

The show’s title is based on a joke between her and longtime partner Jennifer Houston about inappropriate boundaries when it comes to the things Westenhoefer will say or ask. She’s quick to point out, however, that as far as she’s concerned, she considers nothing in the show inappropriate. “Each show on the tour will have its own version of inappropriateness, so you’ll need to come to a show and find out for yourself,” she said. Listen to Suzanne Westenhoefer's "Living the American Dream" (MP3).

Westenhoefer got her start in 1991 when TV’s “Sally Jessy Raphael Show” featured her in an episode devoted to “Lesbians Who Don't Look Like Lesbians.” She went on to become the first openly gay comic to host her own HBO Comedy Special in 1994, which earned her a Cable Ace Award nomination. Other television appearances included “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and a remake of the game show “I’ve Got a Secret” as well as HBO, Bravo and LOGO TV specials on cable.

Even her own foibles are fodder for comedy. Although Westenhoefer has performed in town so many times she’s lost count, she admits she still has trouble with one teensy, yet important, detail. She has a hard time remembering which university makes its home in Ann Arbor.

“I think I have it down now,” she said during a recent phone interview. “Ann Arbor is the University of Michigan, East Lansing is Michigan State University. … Did I just get it wrong again? I bet I have gotten that wrong every time, and I practice backstage. I should write it on my hand like Sarah Palin, but I want to try and be a little cooler than that.”

Besides a busy schedule of live performances, Westenhoefer can currently be seen as a costar on season two of the web series “We Have To Stop Now,” which revolves around the lives of lesbian power couple Kit and Dyna, two therapists whose relationship is on the rocks despite having recently published a book called “How to Succeed in Marriage Without Even Trying.” Westenhoefer said she is having a blast with the series.

“I was an actor in high school and college; that’s what I thought I was going to do, but my road diverged … it went off the comedy cliff,” she said. “I’m a comic at heart, I’ve seen both seasons of the show a couple of times and I am proud of what they are doing. And the two lead girls, Jill (Bennett) and Cathy (Debuono), are brilliant, and (she trills the word) gorgeous! And real lesbians playing lesbians — what a concept. Even the straight men are happy about that.”

Westenhoefer said she has no regrets over her career path.

“Sure, I would love to use the craft I studied forever and maybe someday I will, but I wouldn’t trade doing live standup for anything. That’s heroin. You can’t get any higher than doing a great show on stage, having 300-400 people or more focusing on you, laughing at everything you say. You could levitate, that’s how exciting it is. It’s an addiction.”

So what does Westenhoefer find funny these days?

“Everything, from the weather to extraordinary political things going on to whether or not your partner left the cap off the toothpaste and it got dry and crunchy and you got angry,” she said. “I have not yet seen anyone say anything funny about the oil spill; we’ve been saying mean things about the oil spill. I am not a straight-up political comic, but I have a lot of that in my act too.”

Pop culture is also a fertile ground for her comedy.

Although she’s from eastern Pennsylvania, Westenhoefer, who has lived in the Garden State long enough that by now she considers herself a Jersey girl, decries the stereotypical depictions of the state’s residents shown on the TV show “Jersey Shore.”

“The show kind of horrifies me. Who are those people!” she exclaimed, adding that, unlike the show’s buff Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, she has yet to name her abdominal muscles. “As soon as I get some … I’ll get back to you,” she promised.

Westenhoefer also had one request before hanging up the phone: “Remind the gay boys that they can come. I think sometimes they think it’s a lesbian event. … It’s not even a gay event. It’s beyond gay. We are going to talk about gay stuff but (gay or straight) I promise you, you’re going to get it,” she said. “It’s not like some code.”


Roger LeLievre is a freelance writer who covers entertainment for AnnArbor.com.

Suzanne Westenhoefer interviewing for The Bilerico Project earlier this year: