Interviewed By Evan Sung

The stage was set at Bowery Ballroom for the official release party for downtown comic Eugene Mirman’s first full-length comedy album, “The Absurd Nightclub Comedy of Eugene Mirman” (Suicide Squeeze records). Some of New York’s smartest and most successful comics were on hand to fete the launch and give the crowd a taste of their peculiar brand of stand-up. For those who don’t know him yet, Eugene is one of the most gifted of a very talented crowd of comics and writers who are doing their damnedest to eliminate bad memories of painfully cheeseball 80’s-style stand-up comedy, set against a drab brick-wall, in a places called the HaHa Hole or the Chortle Chateau. On hand were writers for Conan O’Brien and SNL, members of the “experimental” comedy troupe Tinkle and regulars of the comedy showcase “invite them up!” at Cinema Classics/Rififi co-hosted by Bobby Tisdale and Eugene Mirman himself.

It would be unfair to lump all these performers together, because well, its already been done so often before. But they do all avoid the flat-out joke, preferring instead a kind of free-associative, absurdist, and some might say postmodernist (to toss out a completely bankrupt term of no real descriptive value) take on the familiar and everyday. How to explain Todd Barry and Jon Benjamin coming on stage to throbbing techno as “The Wine Boys,” milking the bizarre sight of these two men toasting the living shit out of their wine glasses for much, much longer than anyone would ever think necessary? There is no explanation. But the effect is to start funny, become strange, then annoying, then right through annoying, out the other side to funny again. Demetri Martin brought out his guitar and performed his stoner-musings to a loop of his own chord strumming. Hosted by the comedy duo Slovin and Allen, whose version of “Crossfire” involves debating whether George W. Bush is a “fucking asshole” or a “total fucking asshole”, they kept things lively and rolling along. Even NPR’s Sarah Vowell dropped by to get into the act.

In honor of Eugene’s hilarious concert album, I sat down with Eugene for an interview. Well, actually, I sat down, and wrote some questions, and Eugene wrote back with some very insightful, and yes, funny, answers. I can not, in good faith vouch for whether or not Eugene was actually sitting when he responded. He may well have been kneeling. But, I can say with confidence that you should run out and pick up your copy of “The Absurd Nightclub Comedy of Eugene Mirman.” And while you’re at it, check out www.eugenemirman.com, to hear haunting renditions of your favorite classic rock hits by a baby Eugene! On to the questions…

Eugene Mirman

NYC: So Eugene, after all the clamoring of fans, how did you know you were ready to release your own comedy CD? And what pressures were there in having it be your first?

EM: It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and a record label approached me about putting one out. I felt a huge amount of pressure, but I imagine that anything that is permanent and public would create that feeling (which is why I don’t think I would have sex on television for cash, people would judge me on it forever).

NYC: Now, you are a pretty major figure in an influential circle of NY-based comics that includes Jon Benjamin, the Stella and Tinkle folks, and the regulars at "Invite Them Up". How would you describe this comedy movement, so that I don't have to expend brain energy coming up for a neat little label to categorize and pigeonhole you with? Kindly pigeonhole yourself.

EM: First, Jon Benjamin is one of the Tinkle folks and that means you’ve counted him twice. It’s fair though, because I do a lot of stuff with him. Anyway, pigeonhole? Okay, I’ll try. A lot of the people you’re talking about are pretty different, though we have a similar comedic chi. (By “chi” I mean we all drank some sort of liquid homosexual, Chinese spirit that gives us exceptional comedic power). For myself, I think comedy needs to be Absurd, Passionate and Sincere. I think there is a certain sincerity, ridiculousness and joy in much of things we all find funny. Midnight Pajamajam is a good example (hosted by Jon Benjamin with sidekicks Scott Fellers and Lumpy, two puppets voiced by John Glaser). You don’t know what will happen on the show. It’s genuinely surprising, which is something I think a lot of comedy lacks. It’s a great show. It’s hard to label the whole scene though. I’ve always disliked the notion that “alternative comedy” (a sort of stupid term, let’s just call it Modern Rock instead) has no punchlines. Much of it does. Does everything need a label? Do people go to see bands and go “This is great, but what do you call it?” Yes. All the time, actually. Most notably in the movie Back To The Future (it was called Rock and Roll). So to try and help out, here are some names for the downtown comedy scene: Sincere Self-Hating Assholes (S.A.S.H. — wrong order, I know, but we don’t have any rules!), The Surprisies!, The Racist Yeah Yeah Yeahs (not to be confused with the similar titled, but un-racist band), SDS (Students for a Democratic So-highety), Downtown Comedy Explosion (or S.A.S.H. — still no rules!), Shonali Bhomik, Indie Rockmics (if anyone ever uses this term you are a duechbag).

NYC: Seriously, you seem to be performing everywhere, every night around town, Pianos, PSNBC, Invite Them Up, do you feel like this kind of comedy has really found its audience? Does it seem to have a momentum that it didn't before? What could you attribute that to?

EM: You just named three venues within 10 blocks of each other. So, yes, I think the people in the east village really, really like it. But there is a momentum of sorts. There are a handful of things that contribute to this. There’s the television aspect: Conan, The Daily Show, Mr. Show, UCB, The State, Wet Hot American Summer, Dr. Katz have helped make both various comedians and styles of comedy popular. Also specific people. In terms of standup, I think David Cross has personally helped make it something that is more respected and exciting again. I think the UCB theater has helped enormously. Stella has done a lot to showcase a certain sensibility and countless comics. There’s also a merger of filmmakers, writers, musicians and comedians that has helped expand the scene. That’s one thing that’s great about playing with a band on the road. I get a lot of people telling me they haven’t seen live comedy before. And what they see is antithetical to the stereotype of the eighties comic. They’re often genuinely surprised they enjoyed it.

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