Michael Ian Black

Many comedians go from standup to acting, but Michael Ian Black has taken the opposite course. "I really just started doing standup a couple of years ago," he explains. "I've always been performing comedy, and standup is the latest forum for that. In many ways I'm just kind of a writer who performs." Black is probably best known for his role in the TV series Ed, where he played Phil Stubbs, as well as his work with comedy troupe Stella. He also contributed to VH1's various I Love... series. "I think they were basically just running through every single person that was on every single television show in the industry," he says of the VH1 program. "And they just came to my name. I think they were going alphabetically and asked me if I wanted to do it, and I said, 'Sure.'" That show turned out to be a good forum for Black's humor. "My attitude about it was, 'Just let me go in and give my honest opinion about whatever they throw at me,' and a lot of times you don't know you have an opinion until you start talking about it. I didn't know that I thought He-Man was gay until I started talking about it."
Fri., Nov. 16, 8 p.m., 2007