Our Tragic Talk series is starting to take shape. With Nick Di Paolo and Doug Stanhope I brought you nationally recognizable headline acts, with D.C. I gave you an open micer on his way up, and with Patrick Milligan we talked about the behind the scenes side of things from the internet front. To complete the circle I am proud to present Phil Mazo -- another up and coming comedian (strong touring feature act), who just released his debut album "Pervert" which this particular reviewer enjoyed immensely.

One thing that is immediately recognizable with Phil is that he is incredibly honest which makes this one of my favorite Tragic Talks to date. This entire interview ranges from Phil talking about watching a Dana Carvey special that used to air all the time on Comedy Central (I believe he was talking about the HBO Special from San Francisco and if he was - I used to watch the same thing. Comedy Central really didn't have anything to air back then), to how he named his album, to why he goes through a certain progression with his set. I want to thank Phil for taking the time to be honest and funny, and if you haven't yet check out his cd, visit him on myspace and get out there and see him when he's in your area. 

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TL: I have a few hack questions I need to ask to get out of the way. First of all, how would you describe Phil Mazo to someone who has never heard you before?

Phil: Seemingly pure. Purely unseemly.

TL: How long have you been doing stand up comedy?

Phil: I’ve been telling people (read: bookers) five years for the last year. It’ll be five years in August.

TL: Who were some of your favorite comedians when you were younger, or starting out in this business? Who influenced you to become the Phil Mazo that we all know and love?

Phil: I don’t ever recall watching a particular standup and thinking, “I want to be him.” If anything, it was more, “I want to do that.” So I’m not sure who my influences were, but I guess I was into Jim Carrey when I was in middle school. I also used to watch this Dana Carvey standup special every time Comedy Central aired it, which was often. I haven’t seen it since high school, but I remember thinking it was the funniest thing ever.

I really like anyone who’s just downright funny. It sounds like an obvious answer, but I find that some people want comedy to be more than what it is, or to be a means to an end. Call me crazy, but I just want comedy to be funny. So I guess here’s a random, abbreviated list of comedians that make me laugh: Brian Regan, Tommy Davidson, Arj Barker, Jim Gaffigan, Dave Chappelle, Nick DiPaolo, Nick Swardson, Andy Kindler, Louis CK, Patrice O’Neal, Todd Barry, etc.

I also like tongue in cheek cocky assholes, like Andy Kaufman (and his Tony Clifton character), Andrew “Dice” Clay, Judah Friedlander, etc. I don’t know what it is, but I find the idea of an asshole to be funny, whether he thinks he’s better than other people (and acts like it) or just does what he wants with no regard for consequence.

TL: One more before I talk about the album a little bit - you've got a movie coming out directed by Yuri Alves called "High Hopes". The trailer is up on your myspace and it looks hilarious - care to give the hard sell for the movie? What's it about? Who do you play? And when can people check it out?

Phil: I just found out it got into the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. It’s a short film about a guy who brings some amazing weed back from Jamaica and invites his friends to come over and smoke it – but the pot goes missing. The story is about their desperate search for more weed. I play two different characters: an exercise fanatic called Crazy Legs who lives in the kid’s basement, and a badass drug dealer. We’re going to hold a premiere sometime soon, after which I’ll be doing a short standup set. Check out http://www.myspace.com/highhopesmovie to watch the trailer and keep updated on the screening.

TL: Now the important thing - on April 1st you released an album "Pervert" and I can only imagine that the first question anyone asks you is - why call the album "Pervert"?

Phil: I was kicking around a bunch of ideas for the title, and “Pervert” (along with the whole cover idea) came to me, and it just felt right. I think it’s funny and kind of describes my comedy in one word. Some friends thought it would be a bad idea in that the title alone would immediately turn some people off; but I liked that it would automatically filter the potential audience, so that those who were getting the album had an idea of what they were getting into. I know I’m not for everyone; I just want to find the audience that I AM for, and for them to find me.

TL: This is your debut album, it's been out for a week, it's already in the Top 40 Comedy Albums on iTunes and out of 23 reviews its average rating is 5 Stars - did you expect the album to get this type of reception?

Phil: Not really. It’s been wavering here and there in the comedy chart, so who knows where it’ll be by the time anyone reads this, but as of this writing the highest I’ve seen it was #38. I honestly don’t even know if this iTunes thing is a big deal. But since no one knows who I am, it is for me.

TL: I know when some comics do an album in a club they do a few shows and take the best bits from each show to create the album. Did you do something similar for this, or was it a one night shot with the crowd (who were great)?

Phil: For the most part, it’s from one show. But I added some bits from other shows from that same weekend that I didn’t do on that particular show for whatever reason (either didn’t have enough time to fit them in because I was only featuring or I just forgot to do them).

And, of course, both the intro and bonus tracks are their own things.

TL: The intro really stands out - what is that all about?

Phil: The liner notes in the hardcopy album explain that it’s an excerpt (which I might have done some creative editing to) from a 1993 New Jersey public access show. The video (which, in retrospect, may be needed to give the full effect) can be found on my MySpace page – it’s called “Why I Became a Comedian.”

I thought it was a funny clip on its own that also made for an interesting juxtaposition to the rest of the album – in terms of presenting me as this cute, innocent little kid versus everything that ensues as a result of that. If there’s any overall structure to my act that I can think of, it’s that I generally try to go from most accessible and mainstream material to most dark and fucked up material (what I really want to talk about). Because at this point in my career, no one is coming to see me, Phil Mazo. People are just going to see a comedy show at a club (or, if he’s well-known, the headliner), and I happen to be one of the comedians performing there. So if I just go right into the dark shit, that might come out of left field and turn an audience off (and, more importantly, not get me booked again). So I try to reel them in and lull them with a series of completely harmless, inoffensive jokes that get progressively darker, so that after I’ve already proven to them that I’m funny and already warmed them up and gotten them going, maybe now they’ll come along and hear the real shit I want to talk about. And it usually works.

TL: My favorite joke on the album (I bought it - and am in the process of doing a review) is about those EPT tests. I won't ruin the joke, but the crowd goes from steady laughter to almost revulsion by the end of the joke - do you love that reaction? is that what you're going for? Because I couldn't get enough of just the horror in their voice when you finish that joke.

Phil: I don’t particularly love that reaction. Unless the audience is laughing and wincing at the same time – that could be fun. But given a choice, I want to make the audience laugh. I actually think the audience from the album was overall a pretty sensitive crowd.

Maybe I have a really high tolerance for getting offended (I do), but I generally find it a little annoying when an audience is “aww-ing” at shit that I don’t think is that offensive. I mean, there’s way worse shit I could do. I could go up there and go, “Nigger nigger nigger!” (Granted, that would get me a standing ovation in some parts of the country.) But the things I talk about I do so because they make me laugh, not because I want to shock people.

That said, I do occasionally enjoy making an audience feel awkward for a moment. But I feel like any halfway intelligent person would realize I don’t condone most of the things I talk about (and that there’s a difference between talking about something and doing it). I feel like thinking that way about me is akin to thinking Stephen Colbert the person is an ultra-conservative Republican.

TL: Have you pitched Hedonist Island yet? and if not could I? Because I think FOX Reality picks that show up in a second.

Phil: It wouldn’t entirely surprise me to one day see that on television.

TL: You close the album out with a song. It's the only song that you have on the album - is playing an instrument something you do in your act? Or is that one song a special occassion?

Phil: Special occasion. I recorded the song at a few open mics in NYC because I just wanted to get it down on tape, and one of the few things I love about open mics is you really can just do or talk about anything, because no one’s paying to see the show so there are no expectations, and most of the audience is other comedians who’ve heard it all (and probably aren’t even listening anyway). So whatever response you hear in that track is all from other comedians, which is kind of gratifying considering how empty of laughter most open mics are.

TL: So the album is out, it's getting amazing reviews, does it make you nervous that now you'll have to write 40 new minutes of material since everyone will know all of this stuff by heart by the time you get to your Funny Farm (Roswell, GA) gigs at the beginning of next month?

Phil: I appreciate the compliment, but of course that’s something I don’t have to worry about – partly because I’ll be featuring, which requires only 30 minutes. But I’ve found that since I put the album out, I’ve been writing so much new material, some of which may be my best yet. I don’t know if this is a common phenomenon, but I think knowing that I now have all that other material down for posterity frees me from the feeling that I have to keep showcasing it at every performance. Now it’s out there, and people have the ability of hearing it without me having to perform it again, and I can move on. I also think the album has given me more insight into what my comedic voice might be, which I think has helped the material flow out more. And the fact that it’s being so well received is encouraging me to continue pushing my ideas further.

TL: You're about to become a huge star, that's how funny the album is - what are you looking forward to more, being offered the chance to play the dejected and beaten down husband on an ABC pilot? or the inevitable Dane Cook like backlash where all the people who said how great you are (myself included) are forced to write obligatory bash columns about how you sold out and never had good material to begin with?

Phil: Are those my only two choices? If so, I’d like the Dane Cook-like backlash, assuming it comes with all the Dane Cook-like success. In terms of my ultimate career goals, I’d like to find an audience and continue doing standup as a draw – while also writing, directing, and acting in movies or television. I’ve also found that I really love doing radio, especially as a side guy who just chimes in whenever he feels like it – sort of like Artie Lange’s role on Stern. A regular gig like that would be pretty cool.

TL: I promise I'll let you go in a second - how important has the internet been for your career? Do you think that the availability of comedy on the internet is a good thing or a bad thing for the future of the business?

Phil: I don’t really think about these things nor do I give a fuck one way or the other.

TL: Fair enough. Last one - how do you get to heaven?

Phil: Kind of like how you get to Carnegie Hall: rape, rape, rape!

TL: I can't thank Phil Mazo enough for taking the time to sit through my horrible questions. If you want to check out Phil you can do so on his official website, myspace or facebook pages. Also as per usual I will keep what I hope will be an up to date calender of Phil Mazo dates all over TL for you to check out, and if you do check out a Phil Mazo show tell him that Tragic Laughter sent you.