Judy Gold Is Still in Love with Stand-Up Comedy After 44 Years, but There's One Thing She Still Wants to Do (Exclusive)
Judy Gold Is Still in Love with Stand-Up Comedy After 44 Years, but There's One Thing She Still Wants to Do (Exclusive)
Julia MooreFri, June 19, 2026 at 7:10 PM UTC
0
Judy Gold in 'Not Suitable for Work'Credit: Gwen Capistran/Disney -
Judy Gold has been doing stand-up comedy since she was 19, and she tells PEOPLE why it's still "the thing that makes me happy"
Gold stars in the new Mindy Kaling comedy series, Not Suitable for Work
She's also in Larry David's HBO comedy series, Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness
Judy Gold still absolutely loves what she does.
Reflecting 44 years after her first stand-up gig, she tells PEOPLE, "I just keep thinking: there's so much more. There's more I want to do."
Luckily, she's getting her wish. The comedian is busier than ever right now. She's currently doing a stand-up tour (dates are on her website) and has roles in TV's buzziest shows, including Larry David's HBO comedy series, Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, the new BET series, The Varnell Hill Show, plus, Not Suitable For Work, Mindy Kaling's Hulu comedy series.
"When I was 19 years old, did I think, at 63 years old, I'd still be getting on the subway with a notebook, thrilled to go down to the Comedy Cellar to try out new material? No," she says. "I've been humiliated so many times. I've been rejected so many times. There's nothing, at this point, I haven't seen or heard, and it's just made me a stronger person. I still love it."
She credits her ability to balance roles and her professional and personal life with her longevity. "I think the most important part of being in this industry is balance," she tells PEOPLE. "I think if I wasn't a mother, if I didn't take risks and do things that weren't standup comedy — I have done theater, I've done Shakespeare in the Park, I've produced, I've written. Look, it hasn't been easy, but each rejection, each hardship or hurdle, you're a different person afterwards. You know more. And so I think I have a good toolbox and you get to this point where at a certain age you're just like, 'Whatever.'"
Greg Germann, Judy Gold and Victor Garber in 'Not Suitable for Work'Credit: Gwen Capistran/Disney
She says at this point in life, she can "relate" to her Not Suitable for Work character, Paula, a longtime assistant of beloved news anchor Wes Dryden (Victor Garber).
"I've worked with so many women like her," Gold says. "That idea [that] the world isn't ready for you ... I mean, I totally relate to being gay in the '80s and the '90s and having to hide that or do whatever you had to do to get ahead in your work, knowing that hopefully, eventually the world would catch up to you."
Paula is "emblematic of so many women who, against all odds, did what they had to do to get where they needed to be."
Looking back on her early days, Gold says, "I think about all the people who have given me jobs, and they've pretty much been [all] women: Margaret Cho, Pamela Adlon, Rosie O'Donnell, Bette Midler."
"It's a sisterhood," she says. "Because, when I started, and I don't think people realize this, especially in standup, if there was a woman on the show, if there was a woman on the show, it was one. And when we went on the road, we never got to work together. For a successful woman to take care of other women, I mean, when they got the opportunity — that's what it's about, the sisterhood."
Advertisement
Kaling, 46, hiring Gold was yet another example of that sisterhood at work. She had never met the prolific TV writer before, but was a "huge fan," and her first interaction far surpassed what she could've expected.
"Before we started [the first table read], she goes, 'Judy, oh, my God, it's so nice to see you. I'm such a big fan. You're such an icon. I watched you when I was younger.'"
Judy GoldCredit: Michael Kushner
The Mindy Project star wasn't the only person Gold was fangirling over on set. "I get to work with Victor Garber," Gold gushes. "I mean, never in my mind did I think I would ever work with such an accomplished actor, performer. I mean, he's iconic. It was just a feather in the cap. I mean, you're so happy to get a job and then to find out that's who you're working with, it's like a dream come true."
Her most frequent scene partner, Garber, 77, was "humble and self-effacing and just makes you feel so comfortable," Gold says. "We just clicked."
While Not Suitable for Work continues rolling out (the final two episodes drop June 23), Gold is counting down the days until her son, Ben, 24, returns to New York City for the summer — he's a professional basketball player in Israel — and is struggling to comprehend that her oldest, Henry, turns 30 in September.
"I can't believe I brought up two amazing people," she says. "Those two, that's my greatest accomplishment. I feel so lucky."
Admittedly, a comedy special is the one big ticket item still on her bucket list, but for now, she's focusing on doing "the thing that makes me happy, which is getting on stage and making people laugh and knowing that I'm great at this craft and I love doing it."
"There's so many tangible things that I haven't attained yet, but I have two great kids, I'm in a relationship," she continues. "What more could you ask for in life?"
The final two episodes of Not Suitable for Work premiere Tuesday, June 23 on Hulu.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
