C’mon, take a ride in this ‘Van’
Speaking with veteran comedian Michael Ian Black is a lot like reading the essays in his brand new book, “My Custom Van: And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays that Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face,” (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, $23.95). Publishing a book of his own is one of the final frontiers of funny for Black. He is a founding member of MTV’s “The State,” Comedy Central’s “Stella” and he co-wrote the script for this year’s “Run, Fat Boy, Run.” So why a book now? “I think a lot of what we’re told is humor writing is generally sort of clever writing and not stuff that makes me laugh,” he says.
You began your professional comedy career right out of college. Did you ever think that you would be doing this more than a decade later?
I certainly didn’t know before “The State” that comedy was something that I could envision myself doing as a career. … but then it seemed to be that we were spending almost all of our time working on sketch comedy, and it just evolved into a career before I knew it. As it happens, I’m hilarious. I didn’t know that.
What was the first story you laughed at while writing?
I never laugh when I’m writing.
Not even the chapter, “What I Would Be Thinking If I Were Billy Joel Driving to a Holiday Party Where I Knew There Was Going to Be a Piano”?
I don’t think I’ve ever laughed out loud writing something. Well, I have a terrible sense of humor.
You also have a chapter titled “Hey, David Sedaris — Why Don’t You Just Go Ahead and Suck It?” And a lot of people are making a big to-do about that. What was your intention?
Increased sales. I make no bones about that. Just trying to draw attention to myself by comparing myself favorably to him.
What if the feud keeps escalating?
Well, David Sedaris is actually probably one of the few people on Earth that I could beat up. I’m not saying it’d be easy for me, but I think I stand a decent chance, if for no other reason that he’s 50, and a smoker, or at least used to be.
What kind of advice would you give to an aspiring comedy writer?
Just do what you think is funny. Don’t write something thinking that other people are going to find it funny. Write something that you think is funny and other like-minded people will find it. The only way to succeed in comedy is to find your own voice.
When did you know you had found your voice?
I would say only in the past couple years have I really started to feel like I know who I am comedically, and I would describe that as I’m a combination of a total arrogant prick and a totally insecure 13-year-old-girl. That combination.