Al Franken comes to Vermont, where he finds many people are 'left of Bernie'

Comedian and former Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken is coming to town — for real, this time.

That was supposed to be the case March 5, when Franken was scheduled to deliver a performance at the Flynn Center in Burlington. The Burlington Free Press interviewed him shortly before that date, but the show was postponed until Friday, Sept. 16, before the Free Press was able to publish an article based on that conversation.

Now that the show is (seemingly) about to happen, the Free Press decided to go back to that interview and pull out a few topics Franken touched upon, from his thoughts about Vermont to the sudden end of his political career and whether that career could be reborn.

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What is the show like?

“It includes telling stories, especially about the Senate, but I really admire stand-ups. I love the art of it. I started doing a version of this tour before the pandemic but it was more a half-speech-comedy thing with a podium and I had notes,” Franken said. “So then I decided… that after the pandemic was over I was going to tour again, but I was going to do it as stand-up.”

You’ve said you regret resigning from the Senate and you deny the allegations of sexual impropriety that forced you out. Is that still the case?

Yes, he said, citing a 2019 article by The New Yorker that called into question some of the details cited by the first woman to accuse Franken of improper behavior. “I have said I didn’t deliberately try to make someone feel discomfort,” he said. “If anybody felt some kind of discomfort, I apologize for that.”

The topic will likely be addressed at the Burlington performance. “There is a piece of the show — and I don’t want to spoil the show — where I do deal with it,” Franken said.

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Will you run for office again?

“I don’t know yet,” Franken said. “Right now I’m enjoying this (live performance), having a good time.”

In a February interview with The Washington Post, Franken acknowledged “it would be tempting” to run for office again. In May, he told David Axelrod of CNN on Axelrod’s podcast that he’s “keeping it open” but would weigh what running for office would mean for his family.

What do you remember about previous Vermont visits?

Franken recalls a couple of events in Vermont to support Bernie Sanders when he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and as the former Burlington mayor ran for U.S. Senate. “I went to an event with Bernie and I was amazed at how progressive the crowd was. Many of them were left of Bernie,” Franken said, laughing.

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What are your impressions of Vermont?

“I really like Vermont,” Franken said. “I obviously like the politics of it; to the extent that it’s crunchy, I like that. I like that Phish is from there and I like that Ben & Jerry’s is from there.”

Vermont, Franken said, reminds him of his home state. “They’re not unlike Minnesotans,” he said of Vermonters. “There’s kind of an outdoor quality to it. I just like the feel of Vermont.”

If you go

WHAT: A performance by Al Franken

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16

WHERE: The Flynn, Burlington

INFORMATION: $48.50-$69.50. www.flynnvt.org

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Al Franken comes to Vermont to perform at the Flynn