Comedian Paula Poundstone is unusually terse in her role in Pixar’s Inside Out films. As “Forgetful Paula,” a worker in Riley’s brain who is responsible for erasing memories, Poundstone’s blubbering character utters very few words.

She has a lot more to say – on her podcast, “Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone,” in her regular appearances as a panelist on National Public Radio’s “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” and in her stand-up comedy shows, where she talks to her audience for two hours as if they were an old friend.

During a break from gardening at her Santa Monica home, Poundstone talked about Inside Out 2, her relationship with her audience and why she feels a soul mate with Buddy the Elf:

You seem to be really busy lately. I saw a video online of you recording a promo video for your Madison show while you’re on stage in the middle of another show.

In the past, you didn’t have to do the advertising yourself. Now you definitely do, and it’s really my least favorite part of my job. But I’ve found that it’s kind of fun to ask an audience member if they want to help me. It’s not that I make a lot of jokes when I do the advertising, but I think just the great sound of the audience should give people FOMO.

You’re always very enthusiastic. The audience you’re with loves to represent – well, not represent me. But if you say I’m in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Carolina Theater, people go crazy. They don’t go crazy about me. They go crazy at the mention of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Has your audience changed over time?

They’re great. One of the things I notice and find kind of funny is that – I’m not getting any younger as the years go by – I ask the audience who the youngest person there is. It’s not that important, but it’s nice to have a broader sample. I wish my audience was more ethnically diverse, but it’s not. At least they’re not all exactly my age.

I have a really great audience. I’m the only person on stage for about two hours. Sometimes a local performer will write to me and say, “I’m a local comedian and I was wondering if I could open for you.” I don’t consider myself a really selfish person, but when it comes to my audience, I’m the most selfish comedian they’ll ever talk to. I’m on for two hours and I can’t bear the thought of giving up even five minutes to anyone else because I love talking to my audience.

I interviewed you a long time ago and you described the stage as your “brain room,” where the most fun is talking spontaneously with your audience.

Absolutely. That hasn’t changed. I do it the same way I always do: I ask someone what they do for a living and they tell me what they do and I have a conversation with them that only happens that night. I used to be able to memorize everything and remember what conversations I had with what audience. I still remember one or two. I remember having a great conversation with someone who worked at Big Lots about 20 years ago in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

I can understand why this is burned into your brain.

I actually had to kick some people out. There was one couple who wouldn’t stop making out. They were right next to me and it was incredibly distracting. I called them the “love criminals.” That was 30 years ago.

Do you have such a good relationship with your audience because of your personality or because you have been working as a stand-up comedian for so long?

Probably both. I’m a little like “Elf.” I talk to anybody whether they want to or not. I was going to do “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me” and Adam Felber and I were on the same flight. We lugged our luggage and went to a Dunkin Donuts and it took me a lot longer than Adam thought it would to get anything from a Dunkin Donuts and that was because I was talking to them.

I said, “You know, I’m like eleven.” And he said, “Oh my God, that’s you.” I don’t think he felt positive about it.

I think podcasting is the perfect medium for you.

It depends on the type of podcast you’re looking for, but it’s true, like a comedy podcast, it’s a winter wonderland full of asides. That’s the fun part. We pride ourselves on our podcast, Nobody Listens to Paul Poundstone, where people share real information. Hopefully people learn a few things they didn’t know before that help them. But the journey there is the fun part.

I watched Inside Out 2 and I remember making a mental note to listen to your part, but then I forgot. Which is fitting, since you’re reprising your role as Forgotten Paula.

For me it’s perfect. My kids had a blast with it. It was originally called ‘Female Forgetter’ and they were kind enough to name it after me. But I actually have a terrible short-term memory.

What an honor to be in such great films, even if just for a few seconds. They’re really good films, and it’s interesting that they introduced the character of Fear in the second film. A lot of us really suffer from anxiety right now for all sorts of good reasons, and it was really fun to laugh at that character. It’s fun to introduce that idea in a way that kids can understand a little bit.

I don’t think Pixar films would have been as successful as they are if it weren’t for the lessons of Sesame Street, which did a brilliant job of teaching young children basic concepts through really funny stuff that adults can enjoy too.

I wonder if they should make a new Inside Out movie every few years, like the Up documentaries, as the character grows up. But I don’t know if that would be too dark or bleak.

If the main character Riley was a little boy instead of a little girl, the brain would be in the same place year after year. I said to (Pixar CEO) Pete Docter that maybe there should be a sequel where Riley gets amnesia, because that would really depend a lot on Forgetter Paula.