Eugene Mirman
Did you realise the Flight of the Conchords star was a proper comedian in his own right? Now you do.
By Jonathon Valenzuela
When did you first hear the call of comedy? I think that it was at the end of high school when I realised that anything can be a job - it doesn't have to be software engineering - and I started doing comedy. Also, at university, it didn't seem like it mattered whether I majored in history or English or comedy. Lots of people did broad liberal arts majors, so I thought I would do something I enjoyed, and though people made fun of me I was clearly right.
Why did people make fun of you? Because I majored in comedy, and that's stupid. But it turned out to be a really practical thing to do, which I think is funny. What at first sounded like a fun, easy, hippie-ish thing actually turned out to be a very long, gruelling process. But I did well, I guess. I graduated and have a degree from an accredited school.
Who were your comedic influences? I loved Emo Phillips, Steven Wright, Bob Goldthwait, Steve Martin, Bill Cosby, Coyle and Sharpe, who I really liked in college and still do. Those are some, are those good? Or would you like me to say the Velvet Underground?
Well, Nico's voice was a bit of a joke. Exactly. And their lyrics are stark and honest, like my comedy.
Your new album is titled God is a Twelve-Year-Old Boy With Asperger's. What's the story behind that? It's based on a thing that happened during a book tour, where a 12-year-old boy with Asperger's yelled "why won't you accept me as your God?"
What goes into putting together a comedy album? A lot of it is recording several sets and editing them together, as well as the writing of the material. I sort of grew up on comedy albums, so for me it marks being done with the material and wanting to document it. Some people do specials or other different things. I've always loved the idea of comedy records.
How do you dealing with the negative side of comedy? The heckling and bad reviews? Heckling certainly happens, but I try to avoid situations where the crowd is particularly unruly. It's one thing if people are interacting or you're talking to them, but it's very different if they're just drunk or yelling stuff. With negative reviews you can either try to avoid seeing them, or read them and feel a little bad about yourself. It's weird, I had one review for my second record where the reviewer made fun of me going to college and majoring in comedy, but it was all about my parents and how I tricked them and how they were dumb in a way, and that I found annoying. Because I will say that whether you like my comedy or not, the one thing that definitely makes sense is that I majored in comedy and now I do comedy. So my choice of college wasn't a bad idea, nor did I trick my immigrant parents. But other than that, bad reviews are just what they are. Who doesn't like to be called fat in the media?
How did you end up on Flight of the Conchords? I met them in New York at some of the shows that I do and also in Edinburgh, and they wrote me into the script as Eugene. I think they put in a lot of the Americans they knew from either touring or being there.
Did you ever hassle them for being from New Zealand? No, I couldn't care less. Your petty rivalries don't affect us. It's like if I said 'Oh, you met someone from Boston, did you make fun of them for not being from New York?' You'd be like 'That never occurred to me'. So yeah, the whole New Zealand/Australia thing is beneath me.
You realise you just angered most of Australia by saying that? I know. That's why I said it!
God is a Twelve-Year-Old Boy With Asperger's is out now through Sub Pop/Stomp.
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