Interview: Doug Benson at Cap City Comedy Club [Tuesday - Thursday]

In 2008 your workload included 40-plus weekends on the road. Is that still true?

Yeah, it's still true. This year I've got gigs coming up in Ft. Worth, Atlanta, Raleigh, Dallas, Houston, Boston, Grand Rapids, and those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my drug-addled skull. I'm not complaining. I have fun on the road. I'm like George Clooney in Up In The Air, but instead of firing people I make them laugh. Or I get fired. By George Clooney. It's a vicious circle.

You made it pretty far in Last Comic Standing a few years back. What was that like?

I loved it because I didn't take it too seriously. I wanted to win, but I also wanted to be funny on network television. Even though I only came in sixth, the exposure I got from that show helped tremendously. I believe it helped me to get Super High Me made.

How much of your stage material relates to pot?

I like to say it isn't all about pot, but most of it is pot fueled.

Your last CD was recorded on April 20th and you're planning to record your next album on April 20th this year. What happens if something goes wrong—do you have to wait another year?

No, I'd try again the next day, or a week later, or whatever. It's always 4/20 somewhere, right? No, it isn't.

Between I Love Movies and Best Week Ever you must have an encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture. Have you always been drawn to pop culture?

I've always been a TV and movie junkie. The only reading I do is books about TV and movies. So I have a lot of useless knowledge in my head to share with everyone whether they like it or not.

You're appearing on The Sarah Silverman Program next month. Can you tell us a little about the character you play?

In the first season I showed up briefly as a mailman. This time I show up slightly less briefly as... a mailman.

What else are you working on?

I'll be doing more live shows that are less traditional, like 4:20 matinees in towns like Chicago and Milwaukee, The Benson Interruption at Largo in Los Angeles once a month—that's a show where I host and sit onstage while the other comics do their acts and I interrupt them—and live tapings of my podcast in cities like Austin and Irvine, CA.

Yeah, Irvine, an hour away from where I live. I work hard for the money.

You're the creator of The Marijuana-Logues and starred in Super High Me. You're referred to as a "Stoner Comedian" and "Pot Comic." How comfortable are you with that?

By participating in so many pot projects, I pretty much have to be comfortable with it. What's the expression? I made my bed, so I should pass out on it.