Lewis Black - Comedian

By: Dominick A. Miserandino

Lewis Black is known not only for his guest spots on the Daily Show but his Comedy Central Specials, and now recent CD.

How did Lewis Black become Lewis Black and what makes him tick? Was he angry as a child or just a rather angry fellow overall? And finally was his inspiration for anger really his mother?

DM) Your act involves you ranting and screaming about things that piss you off. How much of these things actually piss you off and how much is just part of the act?

LB) I don’t think I get as pissed as the act… I’d be dead. Certainly at times I get that way, but it’s all stuff that genuinely bothers me.

DM) Were you always this angry?

LB) Oh yeah.

DM) Even as a kid?

LB) Yeah.

DM) What pissed you off as a kid?

LB) I was lucky, I had a pretty good upbringing. I don’t know if I was really pissed, maybe angry was the word. Somebody once said to me in the ninth grade, “You know what it will say on your headstone… I Disagree.” So I always had it in me. You know, you go to high school as a kid… no matter how integrated you get into high school, it’s still a fake society that arises there. It’s just these little things in life that seem to irritate me.

DM) Now you mentioned you had a good upbringing. Was your father the angry one in the house?

LB) No, it was my mother.

DM) What would piss of your mother?

LB) Everything! My mother was pissed because she was dealing with society, and society bugged the shit out of her. Politics was alive in my family; it was big. She would yell at the TV when Walter Cronkite came on.

DM) Was your dad the calm one in that sense?

LB) Yeah, pretty much.

DM) Did you basically learn your act from copying your mom?

LB) Well I got the sarcasm from her.

DM) What does she say about the act now?

LB) She likes the act, she likes the perks.

DM) Does she realize, that in a sense, it’s a tribute to her?

LB) Oh I think… yeah actually, for sure. We’ve never talked about it directly; we just talked about it publicly around the dinner table. Everybody knows though. For example, we’re taking the elevator up to Carnegie Hall and my manager says, “Carnegie Hall, it doesn’t get any better than this.” And my mom says after a pause, “You think so?” It’s hard not to notice where it came from.

DM) Are you the type who watches the TV and screams at it like your mom was?

LB) No, but when I do get it it’s Sunday morning when I watch the news wraps like “Meet the Press.” I get really angry when they don’t ask the right questions or they let these people off the hook. They allow them to say things that are just beyond belief. Every now and then Russert is on and they’ll deny saying something and he’ll say, “here’s the footage,” but they don’t put the screws to them too often.

DM) Why do you think they aren’t harder on them?

LB) Well, partially it’s that thing that you’re sitting with the person. The people who do these things usually have a bit of intelligence and etiquette (laughs).

DM) Considering sensationalism sells TV, it would seem to make sense to get some sensational TV by putting the screws to them.

LB) I know, they started to push it again. They used to push it; they did it to Nixon. I don’t know when they stopped, probably because the conservatives were whining so much. Both sides whine though. The thing that these assholes don’t get is that their job isn’t to torture each other; it’s the job of the press to torture them. It’s their job to figure out how to work together.

DM) Do you think your audience learns about politics to some degree from your act?

LB) Jesus, I hope not! (laughs) I think there’s a certain portion of my audience that reads all the stuff. It’s overwhelming for me to keep, and I think with a family and kids it’s even tougher. I think, in part, they come to just laugh about it. I can’t keep up with it, how can they?

DM) Why are people able to laugh at the things in your act and not be outraged? Why aren’t they walking out angry about the issues as opposed to laughing about them?

LB) Most of the people who come to my act are people who are skeptical or get it. In the long run, people do catch on. It’s tough for people to give up and catch on sometimes.

DM) Do you feel we’re at the point that the public is “catching on”?

LB) Yes, the public has caught on. When you’re from 56 percent to 34 percent the ballgame is over. Even the conservatives have gotten a bit tired of him.

DM) So what would guess is next?

LB) We’re moving to another idiot. Now we’re going to find another moron to get us out of this. The only thing I hope that happens is we find somebody who gets elected to put government back in order. You have to like government in order to do it. They talked about making it smaller and they made it bigger. The idea is to find people who are dedicated and you reestablish the fact that this is something to aspire to be. If I was a ghetto kid and had to choose between drugs or teaching, well there’s nothing being presented on the teaching side. The same for nurses… the country has stopped selling idealism. You have to say when you’re done, you’re going to have a pension and all will be good. Teaching used to be a good middle class job.

DM) In terms of politicians who did you look up to?

LB) There’s been flashes. Chuch Hagel from Nebraska…and I like what Biden says and what McCain says. I don’t care what side they’re on, but I care about the thought process that’s going on and there’s a clear light at the end of the tunnel. I just care if they thought it out.

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