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With singing, storytelling, occasional off-the-cuff humor and more, Sandra Bernhard stages a unique kind of one-woman variety show – something that could almost describe her multifaceted career overall as well.
Local audiences will get a chance to see her latest stage show, “Shapes and Forms,” at Stanford Live on Oct. 4.
Bernhard has been in the spotlight since the late 1970s, when she made her name in standup comedy, but she soon also became known for her acting chops.
She had a breakout role in Martin Scorsese’s 1982 film “The King of Comedy” alongside Robert De Niro. Her movie and television career in the decades since has been wide-ranging, including the films “Track 29,” “Hudson Hawk, “In Bed With Madonna” and the live performance film “Without You I’m Nothing,” according to her bio. Among her TV projects are “American Horror Story,” “POSE,” “Broad City,” “2 Broke Girls,” “Brooklyn 99,” “You’re the Worst,” “The Sopranos,” and “Roseanne.”
Bernhard was recently seen as a judge on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” in season two of Apple TV’s surrealist drama “Severance,” Netflix’s “Survival of the Thickest” and “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” This holiday season, she’ll be seen in the film “Marty Supreme” with Timothée Chalamet.
Bernhard has hosted a weekly radio show, “Sandyland,” for roughly the last decade and has written three books.
We spoke with Bernhard ahead of her show at Stanford Live. The performance is part of Stanford Live’s opening weekend for the 2025-26 season.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Embarcadero Media: What inspired your show, “Shapes and Forms”?
Sandra Bernhard: Well, it’s the same thing as far as all my shows. A lot of it is personal stories that I rely on from my childhood through my adulthood, and then fictional pieces that I write, and then just kind of funny observational moments about culture and society and everything around me. I curate all that around songs that I love to cover, and I think, have a poignancy and an impact as an adjunct to the material.
Embarcadero Media: Where does the show’s title come from?
Bernhard: It was the name of my mother’s art studio. She was a very interesting and very talented abstract artist and when we drove through the Southwest on our way from Michigan to Arizona, when we moved in the ’60s, she was overwhelmed by the mountains and the colors of New Mexico, and she said, “Oh my God, all those shapes and forms.” And then she called her studio that, and that just became sort of a funny, sort of idea about my mom and summed her up in a certain way.
Embarcadero Media: You’ll be talking about your mom in the show?
Bernhard: Not really — I’m not talking about her. There’s a piece that sort of involves her, but I never really talk about people, and that’s like, my mom. It’s not the kind of comedy I do.
Embarcadero Media: In a few recent interviews, you’ve mentioned (your shows) offering “an escape hatch” for audiences with all that is going on. How do you balance staying topical with also offering audiences that escape?
Bernhard: Sometimes I’m inspired to talk about what’s happening verbatim, and then I do sort of my spin on it, but mainly I write and craft actual pieces that you would see in a play or a show. I’m not interested in doing political humor, per se, because as much as we are inundated and overwhelmed by it all, I don’t think there’s a lot I bring to it that matters. People know where I stand. You know, I’m a liberal, I’m a lefty, I’m a feminist — the list goes on and on and on, so I don’t feel the need to have to break it down. But some nights, I’m inspired to state the obvious in the way that I do.
Embarcadero Media: How do you choose songs for the show?
Bernhard: They come in all kinds of different ways: Something new on the radio; a lot of them are songs that have been in my repertoire for my entire life that I think I can bring something groovy and new to them. I just like to mix it up and try to put my own stamp on a song.
Embarcadero Media: Do you have any favorite genre or type of music to sing?
Bernhard: I lean towards rock ’n’ roll and sort of that genre more than anything. Show tunes and things like that don’t really grab me, but occasionally I will do something like that, but mainly it’s from the rock ‘n’ roll repertoire.
Embarcadero Media: You’ve worked with your musical director, Mitchell Kaplan, for over 40 years. What does that relationship bring to your shows?
Bernhard: We have a shorthand with each other. You know, he knows when I’m going to improv and go off book, and he also knows when to jump in, and he’s just on top of all the cues. And we’re kind of in lockstep in that way. And that’s kind of a luxury that takes many years to develop.
Embarcadero Media: You also have a wide-ranging acting résumé. What do you look for in film and TV projects?
Bernhard: You’re lucky to get offered jobs, so you gotta be, you know, a little bit more open than I used to be able to be. But basically, I just want something intelligent and if it’s gonna be funny, you better really be funny and smart and sophisticated and a cut above. And then sometimes I want to do something kind of a throwaway and a fun thing and that could be cool as well, but I don’t want to do things that are just cheap and obvious.
Embarcadero Media: You’ve done drama and sort of surreal (projects) as well, like “Severance.” So it’s not strictly comedy at all.
Bernhard: As an actress, I mean, you always want to stretch your craft and spread your wings and do things that are challenging. And I love drama, because a lot of times there’s a lot more room to breathe in the spaces between conversations. With comedy they tend to push it and try to do something rapid-fire that doesn’t always speak to me or make sense, because it’s just not real — it’s not life, it’s not real life. And I think the funny stuff comes out in subtle moments, and that is much more appealing to me.
Embarcadero Media: Tell me about your role in “Marty Supreme,” which is coming up for release in December.
Bernhard: It’s just a small role, but it’s very funny. I play his mom’s best friend — Fran Drescher plays his mom, and I kind of intimidate him into coming back home to see his mom. She feels abandoned, and so I’m sort of poking at him, and it’s just, it’s a funny little scene.
Embarcadero Media: What projects are next for you?
Bernhard: I’m waiting to see what comes along. And the meantime, I’m performing, going on the road, and going to Australia in the spring to do shows, and stuff just sort of reveals itself along the way.
Sandra Bernhard performs Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m., at Bing Concert Hall, Stanford; $41.04-$102.60; live.stanford.edu.
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