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Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Comedy There's A Pot More To Doug Benson

Posted by Amy Atkins on Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 1:48 PM

Super High Me. The Marijuanalogues. Pot comic/activist. When people hear the name Doug Benson, there's a good chance that one of the above phrases comes to mind. But there's more to Benson than bong hits. When I spoke to him yesterday, he talked about his new DVD/CD, Hypocritical Oaf, which plops (his word) on Tuesday, Aug. 31, his upcoming show in Boise at the Knitting Factory on Saturday, Aug. 21, how surprised he was that anybody saw Super High Me (Benson smoked weed every day for 30 days) and how more people are wearing nametags to his shows. He even used the word "preponderance."

For his podcast, Doug Loves Movies, Benson talks to his guests in front of a live audience at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles (it's there that the whole audience-wearing-nametags-things started). Benson's guests are usually comedians and actors who express their inner film fools when they play movie trivia games with Benson—like the Leonard Maltin Game, in which Benson reads the cast of an unknown movie from lowest billed to highest to see if anyone can guess the title.

So, I asked Benson to play a little game with me. I named a dozen comedians and asked him to describe them in a couple of words. Here's what he said:

1. Sarah Silverman: "Wow, this is tough. The thing about a girl, a female comic—I shouldn't say girl, but I'll bet she still likes being called a girl. Let's do that: My favorite girl."
2. Larry David: "Same as on TV."
3. Jerry Seinfeld: "Businessman. I bet he'd hate that, but he doesn't even know who I am."
4. Greg Fitzsimmons: "[Laughs.] Brutally honest."
5. Adam Carolla: "Won't shut up. People give me such a hard time when I do his podcast. They say, 'You didn't talk enough." When am I supposed to talk? It's his show and he won't shut up." (It's true. Once, on his podcast, he ranted for 20 minutes about fruit-flavored iced tea.)
6. Brian Posehn: "Giant friend. He is a giant."
7. Dane Cook: "Not so bad. [Laughs his ass off.]"
8. Joe Rogan: "Intense stoner. He likes fighting and weed. Those are his passions."
9. Patton Oswalt: "Little friend. Did I say giant friend about Brian? Little friend."
10. Paul F. Tompkins: "Fancy."
11. Zach Galifianakis: "Weird." (This, by the way, was the quickest answer Benson gave.)
12. Jim Gaffigan: "Bacon." (This was the second fastest.)

Look for more from my interview with Benson in the coming days.