Brian Posehn farts. He goes from sitting to standing and lets one rip with no
warning.
Now, normally, I'm not a fan of fart jokes. Maybe it's because I'm a girl. Maybe it's because I've been Dutch-ovened by my boyfriend one too many times. Or maybe it's because that shit is gross.
But hearing Posehn tell the audience about one flatulence-based humiliation after the other made me laugh so hard that I cried.
It wasn't all fart comedy, but I almost wish it had been.
Brian
Posehn is the self-proclaimed "that guy." He realizes that no one knows his
name (only his photo) and that most of his fame is from his Just Shoot Me and Sarah Silverman Program days. But it's that kind of self-deprecation that makes him so likeable.
"I treat my body like I think I'm getting a new one," he says. Most
of his stand-up is about the often-disgusting changes his body is going through as he's
getting older. But it doesn't matter how gross it gets, you just want to be his friend and tell him how great he really is. Increasingly large balls and all.
Posehn wasn't the only funny one that night. The Palm Beach Improv really delivered
with Forrest Shaw opening and Lisa Corrao as host. Shaw is very much the
deadpan-humor comedian, and while that might seem like a played-out approach,
he keeps it fresh and hysterical. Let's just say I now own an "Eat Babies" t-shirt thanks to him.
Meanwhile, Corrao is a mix of Juno and Sarah Silverman. Her
delivery may not have been the most unique, but that doesn't mean it wasn't funny as hell. She
was the perfect ice-breaker for the night, good enough to make me want to see
her in a full set.
The
star of the night, though, was clearly the headliner. Brian
Posehn is the kind, giant, Muppet-looking boy next-door whose ass produces as
much vulgar hilarity as his mouth. If you ever get a chance to see
his stand-up, do it.
Before his show, I got the chance to speak with Brian about being funny in Florida, parasites, sushi, Sarah Silverman, and heavy metal.
County Grind: Have you ever
performed in Florida before?
Brian Posehn: All the time, I was just at the Fort Lauderdale improve three months ago and Orlando before then. The last time I was here I had a parasite and I was
deathly sick, but the shows went well. I should just never have $1.50 sushi
before I come here.
$1.50? That's like the gas-station hotdog version of sushi.
Pretty much. [Laughs]
When I was looking you up I saw that you were six-foot, six-inches tall. So between that and your formidable man-beard, would you say you broke into stand-up on based on sheer intimidation?
Nah, I think just doing it a lot and a bunch of lucky breaks is what got me in. And then I think Just Shoot Me helped get my name out. At least so I became "that guy," where people would see my picture and they'd say, "Oh, that guy." As far as intimidating goes, I never felt that way. Like anybody, you're still whoever you were in high school almost, and I was far
from intimidating. Even though I'm huge, I never really used my size for anything.
I'm a big Sarah Silverman fan and watched you on her show. So I gotta ask, what is your favorite Spin Doctors song? Do you always recommend dancing up and down the
street when listening to them on you iPod?
I am so really the metal guy that I can't even name a Spin Doctors song. But
that was a lot of fun and people still ask if I have Spin Doctors on my iPod. And if you come to the show, I will show you that I indeed do not. I knew how funny it would be for the episode, so I had no problem doing it. But that's definitely not my personality.
Lastly, what should people going to the Palm Beach Improv expect from your stand-up?
I'm silly, I'm weird, dry, absurd, I'm gross. But it's all
done in a smart and real way. When I was younger, I wrote jokes just to write
jokes, and now I tell stories and I hope they're all relatable. Right now, my
whole act is basically about a guy who's 45 and can't believe he is. It's a
whole lot of self-deprecating humor, but I also think it's relatable.
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