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ROBIN VAN SWANK
* ever met sa Y s comedian/
$I actor/writer Brian Posehn, "I don't
know if I'd even be able to talk to them."
Such is the fan's curse: to pore over an art
ist or group's canon, obsess over the minutiae
of their catalog of work, only to find that
their presence brings a sort of snap laryngitis.
If you've ever had this experience, Posehn
feels for you. "I know Weird Al now, but I can
barely talk to him because I'm such a Weird
Al fan," he laughs. "The last time I ran into
him I was too high to talk to him and I just
dorked out."
Posehn has been on both sides of the
celebrity-fan equation. In the 2005 docu
mentary The Comedians of Comedy, Posehn
chuckles awkwardly when spotted by a cadre
of teenagers who've recognized him from his
reoccurring role on the sitcom "Just Shoot
Me." But since then, Posehn has come into his
own as a headlining comedian, working in dif
ferent facets of Hollywood along the way.
Along with a group of comedian friends
including longtime Athens favorite Patton
Oswalt, Posehn moved from San Francisco to
Los Angeles in 1994 with plans for getting
into writing. "I never intended on being an
actor," he says. He'd done stand-up while liv
ing in the Bay Area, but had found that the
scene was drying up. "A lot of clubs were clos
ing down. We lost the Improv in San Francisco
in '93 or '94, and that was one of our favorite
clubs. Then the club around the corner from
my house, the Holy City Zoo. closed, and all
of us were going, 'Oh, wow, we'd better figure
something else out co make a living.'"
Upon moving to Los Angeles, Posehn found
himself once again working in a different vein:
rather than writing, he'd joined the stand-up
touring circuit. But after touring for a few
years, Posehn burnt out on comedy and began
doing more acting work, most notably with
David Cross and Bob Odenkirk on "Mr. Show."
"I'd sort of... not given it up, but I just
wasn't performing much or writing new mate
rial. But then I got sort of fired up about it
again."
Spurred on by friends who coalesced
around the Comedy Death Ray club, Posehn
returned to the stage. "It wasn't that it had
changed; I'd just started having fun again,"
he says. "It was all about me, it was about not
having fun for a while and then quitting and
then missing it and seeing my friends doing
it and getting up. It wasn't that stand-up had
changed; my attitude towards it changed.
Once I was able to do stuff like Comedians of
iomedy, it just made it more fun again. The
thing that I didn't like was the grind of going
to these cities and doing four or five nights at
a comedy club and, back then, nobody know
ing who you were. It just wasn't that fun for
me, but now it is again."
Soon after his return to the stand-up cir
cuit, Posehn noticed that Cross and Oswalt
had both signed with indie label Sub Pop.
A longtime fan of heavy metal, he followed
their lead with his own twist and soon sigi. j
to Rp’.apse Records, prestigious metal label
and home to a who's-who of heavy, including
Baroness, Exhumed and Red Fang. Relapse
subsequently released Posehn's Nerd Rage -
album in 2006 and last year's aptly titled Fart
and Wiener Jokes. In addition to 50 minutes
of live stand-up, the latter also features two
songs "sung" by the warble-voiced Posehn and
music by a cast of metal ringers, including
Anthrax's Scott Ian and Metalocalypse master
mind Brendan Small.
Between his zeal for metal purity (check
out the video for the screamo-lambasting
"Metal by Numbers") and comic books (which
he also writes for, releasing the graphic
novella "Last christmas" with Image Comics),
Posehn is admittedly a textbook nerd. He
does, however, have his limits. His upcom
ing film, Lloyd the Conquerer, is about what
he terms "the dorkiest hobby you can have,
in my opinion: live action role playing," or
LARPing. "That makes D&D players look like
pusshounds. It just makes you look incredibly
cool in comparison." When asked if he'd ever
encountered LARPers in their natural element
(Comic-Con, etc.), he says, "I've met every
kind of nerd at this point, yeah. I've talked to
furries, even. They're like the lowest or high
est level of nerd, I'm not sure."
Jeff Tobias
WHO: Brian Posehn,
Joe Pettis, Chris Patton
WHERE: New Earth Music Halt
WHEN: Saturday, Feb> 12,8 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $17
v !
AMPLE PARKING AVAILABLE
WWW.AMERICANCLASSICTATTOO.NET
1 035a Baxter St.
% 706-543-7628 J
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Tattoo or
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offering:
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Florida Key Lime Pic
Charleston Shrimp & Grits
Monday, February 14
Valentine 'i fbinnen.
Make your Reservations now!
Serving our regular menu
and some Delicious Specials
Tuesday, February 22
Wi+te, jbuuieti with Slutia^
Call for Reservations
Saturday & Sunday* nam-3pm
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^2 Mimosas • *3 Bloody Man s
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Sundays - All Day
mwcsuNTRy imi
Open at 4pm Mon-Fri
Open at 11am Sat & Sun
- By the Loop -
2095 S. Milledge Ave.
706-548-3359
lim Swing
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1 kery deli
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Available in Chocolate Chip,
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• Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
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• Biscuits with Sausage Gravy
Every Friday & Saturday
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A 1 lb. doughnut any way you want it!
Glazed with vanilla icing
and fruity pebbles?
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You tell us what YOU want!
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Taking
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FEBRUARY 9,2011 FLAGPOLE.COM 11
