Sandra Bernhard is a comedian, actor, singer and radio host. In her new one-woman show “Spring Affair,” she’s also a guide for audiences during turbulent current events.
“Hopefully I can help people navigate through it in a funny, uplifting, upbeat way,” Bernhard said on Boston Public Radio on Thursday. The show reflects Bernhard’s nearly 50 years of performance by blending comedy, rock ’n’ roll, satire and social commentary. It will run at City Winery Boston on June 2.
Bernhard weaves serious topics like abortion through her set. “It’s not easy to keep it comedic at this time,” she said. “But I manage to do it.”
Bernhard began performing in 1975, but her career took off after starring in Martin Scorsese’s 1982 film “King of Comedy,” in which she played the stalker of comedian Jerry Lewis. Bernhard went on to have several one-woman shows, including the satire “Without You I’m Nothing,” which was turned into an HBO film in 1990.
More recently she starred in “American Horror Story,” and played a nurse caring for AIDs patients in the FX drama “Pose,” which showcases the ballroom scene in 1980s New York City. Bernhard lived through that time and lost many friends to AIDs.
“It was a very interesting, full-circle experience,” she said. Now, trans people and drag shows are at the crux of current culture wars. “It’s embarrassing,” Bernhard said. “It puts us behind lightyears where we had already come to.”
Bernhard says her career, from her role in “Pose” to her latest show, all build on her past work. “It’s been a layer upon layer of things I’ve been proud of,” she said.
