Q+A: LEWIS BLACK

Thursday, July 5, 2007 | 7:31 a.m.

ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS MORRIS

Who: Lewis Black

When: 9 p.m. today to July 11

Where: MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre

Tickets: $70; 891-1111

Lewis Black follows in the footsteps of some of this country's angriest comedians - Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, George Carlin - comics who see the perplexing ironies of life and turn what could be perceived as tragedy into laughing matters. The 58-year-old native of Maryland seems to be everywhere these days.

He's a regular on "The Daily Show" with John Stewart, taking jabs, hooks and uppercuts at politicians in a segment titled "Back in Black." He appeared in three films last year - "Man of the Year" with Robin Williams, "Accepted" and "Unaccompanied Minors." His first book, "Nothing's Sacred," came out in 2005.

Black is working on another book, this one covering religion.

"That should pretty much finish what's left of my career," Black says. "Basically, I'm trying to write a book that says I think religion is great. Whatever you believe in is great, but just shut up. Just shut up. You're not helping. Have whatever kind of faith you want, I'm ecstatic for you. But stop trying to convert.

"If it's working for you, you don't have to tell anybody else. Since you're telling me, something's got to be wrong."

Black also is working on a pilot for HBO , " a dark comedy that takes place in New York."

And another for Comedy Central. Black would judge two comedians who debate an issue.

"We try to figure out who's more evil, Paris Hilton or Dick Cheney," Black says.

Black will be at the MGM Grand for a week starting Thursday.

He recently talked with the Sun by phone from a highway in the Pacific Northwest.

Q: Where are you?

I'm driving along the Columbia River, which is quite stunning, heading out of Oregon toward Washington. I have a gig in Spokane and then Seattle and then somewhere else. I'm lucky enough to have a tour bus I lease or rent or whatever.

You and John Madden.

Yeah, but his is probably nicer.

Then you'll be on your way to Las Vegas? You seem to play here quite often.

It's like three weeks a year, now.

How does your humor play here?

So far so good.

But Vegas is basically a very conservative place. There may be more churches per capita than anywhere else in the country.

Well you've got to because you're sitting on the edge of Sodom and Gomorrah. What else are you going to do? You guys are hedging your bet. It's so funny a town like that could possibly end up conservative. It's just stunning. But the reason my comedy works is that basically I bash both sides. Conservatives can't get that upset with me.

Does your live act differ from what we see on television?

If you watch "The Daily Show," my anger hits about seven. Onstage, I get to go to 10 or 12. And the humor goes further out than on "The Daily Show." I'm a little more insane in my act.

Is your anger genuine, or is it just for comedic effect?

I'm genuinely angry about a lot of this stuff. A) I'm genuinely frustrated by what I see and B) the frustration comes from two places - ineptitude and authority. I can't abide ineptitude. I can't abide authority. But if I lived as angry as I act onstage, I'd be dead.

Are you going to be sad to see the Bush administration go? It seems to provide a rich lode of comedy for you.

I won't miss it. Not really. Enough is enough. I would have been thrilled if this had been done after four years. This is beyond anything anybody can imagine. Bush is hovering over the lowest approval rating possible. It's the most secretive administration ever - and the Democrats have essentially stood by and watched. Both sides take equal blame. But we've got to move on.

Whom would you vote for among the current list of candidates?

Someone asked me that and I said I'm not even listening to these people. I don't need to know what you're going to do in two years, I need to know what you're going to do now, you idiot.

Any thoughts on who would make the best president?

Santa Claus. We need somebody who's going to bring America together and I think Santa is the man for the job. Everybody loves Santa. Even Jews - even we Jews, even I, a Jew - have always loved him. I don't see how Santa just saying as an answer to everything, "Ho, ho, ho," would be any more incoherent than everything I've been listening to for the past six years.

In your estimation, what are the most important issues?

Health care. The war. The lousy services that are being provided for the guys coming back from the war. Disabled vets aren't getting their checks on time. The Walter Reed military hospital is a scandal . I also think the idea of privatizing everything is debatable, at best. Maybe if you find a company that doesn't have its finger on the greed button. New Orleans is still a mess. The infrastructure of the country is in terrible shape. It's an endless list. Immigration. I try to follow the immigration debate and I can't. No one has clarified for me what it is that they think we should do. You're telling me you're going to secure our borders and you can't secure an airport? You can't secure a confined space like an airport but you're going to secure the border?

Do you see life in this country as total chaos?

Generally people just want to get on with their lives. But there is a level of chaos that we are living. I feel like I'm sitting on the Titanic and nobody seems to get it. You've got people taking off their shoes for airport security. What are you doing? Where is your focus?

What about gasoline prices?

Today everyone kind of goes, "OK. You know, that's just the way it is." And the oil companies, they show you the outrageous profits and then they go, "Well, that's not really a profit." What?

So people are too accepting?

They go, "Well it's not as bad as a stick in the eye." What is the matter with you? Not as bad as a stick in the eye ?

When this administration goes, who are you going to have to kick around?

Somebody comes along. There's always something to talk about. If it's not one thing, it's another. I'll stumble onto something else. It may not be political. We're going to have the same issues. I'm going to come up with jokes about frozen embryos or something. The amazing thing about life is, "What? We're having this discussion again?"

Have you always been angry?

Always. I had it as a kid. I always kind of felt that something, some information , was being withheld. Just tell me what's going on. I've written a book talking about my childhood. The school would show us all these movies of A-bombs and hydrogen bombs blowing things up and then we would have air raid drills and they would say to us "Get under your desk." Get under the desk, like that would stop a nuclear bomb. So that's how far back it goes. I knew the adults in the community were insane. This is the best they could come up with? I'm sitting under kindling.

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