Happy Reaper: Michael Ian Black

MICHAEL IAN BLACK is a beloved member of cult sketch shows "The State" and "Stella," the saronged gay wedding participant in the flick "Wet Hot American Summer" and that guy on VH1's "I Love the '80s" who isn't Mo Rocca.

Black performs at Baltimore's Ottobar on Sunday, Dec. 16, in support of "I Am a Wonderful Man," his debut stand-up disc. He took a break from playing a gay demon to talk with Express about film, literature and chicken butts.

» EXPRESS: You mentioned you were on set. What are you filming right now?
» BLACK: I'm doing a few episodes of the TV show "Reaper." It's on the CW, which us why you've never heard of it. I play a gay demon. Whenever a gay demon role pops up, my name is always on the list.

» EXPRESS: You've recently been involved in a few film projects, including writing a movie called "Run, Fat Boy, Run."
» BLACK: That's coming out in March. It stars Simon Pegg, and it's directed by David Schwimmer. It's about a fat guy who runs a marathon in a misguided attempt to win back the woman he left at the altar five years before.

» EXPRESS: You also wrote a column for McSweeney's, "Michael Ian Black Is a Very Famous Celebrity."
» BLACK: I've liked the McSweeney's site for a long time, and I started writing periodically for them. I also wrote a blog for a while, and between them I started developing a writing style and collecting things for a book. I'm in the middle of writing that right now, and it should come out sometime next year.

» EXPRESS: You also have two kids' books coming out. One is called "Chicken Cheeks." Chickens have cheeks?
MIB: It's a chicken's butt. I have two kids, ages six and four, and they think butts are funny, so I wrote a book about butts.

» EXPRESS: You're on your first stand-up tour. Why did you choose to do this now?
» BLACK: It seemed like a scary thing to do. And I'm attracted to scary things, like lions. Or going into outer space would be scary. But stand-up was more available to me, so I decided to try it. Performing alone is a lot different from what I've done before. You succeed or fail totally on your own.

» EXPRESS: Your CD gatefold features a very artful nude photo of you.
» BLACK: It was inspired by the Burt Reynolds Playgirl centerfold. There's been nobody I'm aware of quite as awesome as Burt Reynolds. From the top of his "Smokey and the Bandit" cowboy hat to the tip of his "Smokey and the Bandit" cowboy boots.
» EXPRESS: Have all of the "I Love the..." Vh1 shows been a blessing or a curse?
» BLACK: I wrote about that in one of my McSweeney's pieces. The IRS asked what my occupation was, and I wrote "fundit" and almost killed myself. But I'm a proud fundit. A pundit who makes fun: A fundit.

» EXPRESS: Sounds like a candy bar.
» BLACK: If I could make people as happy as a candy bar, that would be a life well lived. I only hope I would not give people the dental problems a candy bar can give.

» Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard St., Baltimore; with Michael Showalter, Sun., 8 p.m., $17; 410-662-0069.

Written by Express contributor Shauna Miller