“Nothing offends me,” claims Alex Borstein, who voices the role of Lois on Family Guy and will appear at Carnegie Hall on Nov. 24 and 25 with the show’s full cast—Seth Green, Mike Henry, Mila Kunis and show creator Seth MacFarlane—for a concert reading of two episodes, backed by a 40-piece orchestra.
“I mean, I think rape and Holocaust jokes are hilarious.” But the question was if Borstein thought, as some women do, that Family Guy has a high quotient of misogynistic jokes. “Oh,” she replies, her voice down to a double-bass. “Well, I’m a bad focus group for that. When a show goes so far over the top, I think it would be obvious that it’s hit the ridiculous, no?”
Borstein’s career began at an ad agency, working on Barbie doll campaigns. She met her husband and writing partner, Jackson Douglas, taking improv classes at L.A.’s ACME Comedy Theatre. Together, they worked on the cartoon Pinky and the Brain before Borstein landed a role on MADtv, where Miss Swan was her signature character until MacFarlane’s nutty, Emmy-winning cartoon about the Griffins of Quohog shot to cultural preeminence.
On Sept. 8, Borstein gave birth to a son. Presumably he’s less evil than Stewie, Lois’ youngest child on Family Guy, but she’s not sure. “At times I do feel this child is trying to kill me—biting my nipples, crying for an hour straight, screaming. I just want to curl up in a corner like a woman in a Lifetime movie. It’s like you’re in an abusive relationship.”
The actors won’t know until the day before the concert which episodes they’ll read. They’ll also sing songs from the episode, with the orchestra conducted by Family Guy composer Walter Murphy. “It’ll also be filthy,” Borstein promises. “It always turns filthy.”
