Collegiate Times

It took a long time for Michael Ian Black to figure out that he was funny, which is strange considering his part in founding one of the more recognizable sketch comedy groups in recent memory, "The State."

Though he originally anticipated a career as a traditional theater actor, he was moved far beyond the stage once MTV gave the group its own series. Twenty years after The State's inception, Black has been part of a myriad of projects from movies like cult favorite, "Wet Hot American Summer," to his and fellow "State"-alumnus, Michael Showalter's, new Comedy Central show, "Michael & Michael Have Issues." You may also know him from his long running gig as a talking head on the "I Love the ... " series on VH1. Still, when he gets the chance, Black returns to the stage to do standup and find a fix he can't quite get onscreen.

"Touring is the most fun thing because it's immediate," Black said over the phone while driving just outside of New York City. "You're there and a certain audience is there so you get that immediate feedback which you can't get when you're performing in front of a television."

Scheduled to appear at Laugh Riot on Oct. 6 alongside Greg Giraldo, Black spoke to the Collegiate Times two weeks prior to his Burruss Hall appearance about standup and his most recent television venture.

COLLEGIATE TIMES: How often do you get to do standup?

MICHAEL IAN BLACK: Well, not as often as I would like because I'm often busy with you know, making TV shows or doing whatever. It's a lot more fun to do standup than it is to do a lot more other things so its a nice break whenever you get to do it.

CT: What makes good standup to you?

BLACK: A microphone, a bottle of water and a sparkling wit.  

CT: You didn't quite expect to end up as a comedian. When did you realize that things were getting serious as a comedian?

BLACK: I didn't really. It took a long time before I really thought of myself as a comedian in any way, probably only in the last couple of years. Maybe in the last five years and I've been doing this a long time so it's sort of evolved and sort of snuck up on me. I wasn't expecting it.

CT: So when you were doing improv, did you consider yourself more of an actor than a comedian?  

BLACK: I just thought, "I do comedy, but that's not what I am. That's not how I think of myself." And I don't know if I was in denial or what.

CT: Do you think of yourself as a funny person?

BLACK: Not particularly, no. I think I know how to be funny, but I don't think I'm necessarily funny all the time.

CT: Was it hard developing a stage presence then?

BLACK: I would phrase it differently. I would say that stage presence is kind of an elusive thing. I don't know if it's something you can learn. I'm not even sure it exists. I think that the trickiest part of learning to do standup is learning how to be comfortable on a stage with a microphone in front of people. It's a very unnatural environment, and you have to learn how to deal with that, however you deal with it. Some people become very kind of manic or exuberant and some people sort of stand rooted in one spot. And there's no right way to deal with it. You deal with it as you deal with it and the trickiest part is learning how to deal with it best for you.

CT: Is there something that you haven't done with comedy yet that you would like to do?

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