Fango recently caught up with comedian Brian Posehn, whom genre fans will know better as an occasional actor on Rob Zombie projects like THE DEVIL’S REJECTS and THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO. Posehn took some time off from his current tour to talk about his new epic heavy metal/comedy album FART AND WIENER JOKES (out now on Relapse Records) and some potential horror projects.

FANGORIA: How has the tour been going, with the album coming out?

BRIAN POSEHN: Oh, it’s been great, but I’m always kind of perpetually on tour, whenever I’m not shooting the show [THE SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM]; it’s not really a tour just for the record. But I am in the middle of some other stuff; I’ve gotta go do JIMMY FALLON as soon as I’m done with Indianapolis here, so yeah, it’s been a busy week for me.

FANG: Let’s talk about the cover artwork. It’s like 3 Inches of Blood meets Clark Griswold in the poster for NATIONAL LAMPOON’s VACATION…

POSEHN: [Laughs] Right!

FANG: All these decapitated comedians on the cover, any bad blood with them in real life?

POSEHN: No, no. I don’t have bad blood with anybody. It’s all just a joke. I don’t hate any of those people. They’re all kind of easy targets. Just using the most famous comedians you would know was kind of the key, ’cause we couldn’t really pick anybody you wouldn’t recognize easily. When I came up with the concept, the idea was to pick the people who are sort of larger than life, that everyone would know right away. The obvious ones, like your Dane Cook, your Jeff Dunham and Carlos Mencia and guys like that… It was just me being silly.

I came up with the title FART AND WIENER JOKES first, ’cause that’s a thing I say in my act. I decided it was going to be the name of the album, and once I decided that, you know, the idea sort of came to me. I was talking with the record label, and it was like, ‘Well, it’s gotta be funny, and it’s also gotta be metal ’cause I’m on a metal label, and we want people to know it’s a comedy record right away,’ and that was what I came up with, It was like, “Oh, Manowar!”—you know, with a giant sword and a flag that says FART AND WIENER JOKES and then a pile of dead comedians!

FANG: On the cover, you have enscribed on your sword “DTFC,” which many know by now as “Death to False Comedy.” Is that another “stab” at all the dead comedians as well?

POSEHN: It can be seen as that, but I don’t think any of those guys are doing false comedy. Everybody does what they do; I don’t think I’m better than them or anything. Again, it’s just me being silly.

FANG: I was really hoping for a zombie Sam Kinison.

POSEHN: Well, Sam Kinison I love, so I wouldn’t do that. I didn’t throw in anyone I really liked. Margaret Cho and I haven’t been friends for a long, long time. Or Kathy Griffin, so I had no problem throwing them under the bus.

FANG: You’ve done shows with Mastodon and share a band with Anthrax’s Scott Ian; any plans on a full-length album?

POSEHN: Yeah—it’s not on the calendar, but I definitely have thought about it. But you know, the thing is, I don’t really see myself as a singer; if you’ve heard my songs, you know I can’t really sing. It’s more of a joke, and I’m gonna see what happens with “More Metal Than You” [from the FART album] and if it seems like a lot of people are really into it, then I might do something down the road. As far as going on tour, I don’t like that too much anyway. It might be a fun thing to do once with a band, but I don’t really see myself as that guy…but I’m not ruling it out. I love writing music with Scott and I love writing funny lyrics, so…

FANG: How do you like the video for “More Metal Than You” (seen below)?

POSEHN: I just saw the final version and it’s really great. We pretty much just hit every joke in the song. I’m really happy with it.

FANG: You played Jimmy the roadie in DEVIL’S REJECTS and also lent your voice to EL SUPERBEASTO. Any genre acting parts coming up in the near future?

POSEHN: I wish. I don’t have anything in the pipeline. I sure would like for horror directors to think of me, though, when they’re thinking of killers. Because I have the body type to play one of those guys. I’m a little heavy, but I could hit a gym if someone told me I was gonna play Jason, you know? That’s always been kind of a dream. Especially when I meet Kane Hodder and I’m two inches taller than him. It’s like, “Hey, I could be menacing!”

FANG: Do you still sleep naked with a baby mask on and a samurai sword taped to your hand?

POSEHN: Every night. You never know who’s coming in. So…I’m ready!

FANG: In a lot of films, you play the go-to side character, such as Clerk, Maintenance Guy and Fan. Any lead hero roles in the near future?

POSEHN: Yeah, but I think I’m more apt to play a killer down the road. And you know, any aspiring director reading this, please think of me. Originally, that’s what I was gonna be in DEVIL’S REJECTS. Rob had written a [different] part for me. You know when they go to get the ice cream in DEVIL’S REJECTS, and they get the tutti-f**kin’-frutti? There was originally a scene where Sheri Moon Zombie goes to buy it, and this ice cream man turns out to be a serial murderer and lures her into his ice cream truck and tries to kill her, and the guys have to come and save her. Rob said, “Hey, I’m gonna have you be a killer, you’re stalking Sheri and lure her into the van with ice cream, you’re just about to kill her and the guys come in and kill you,” and I was like, “Awesome!” But then he called me later and said, “Nah, I’m not gonna do that, I cut that scene. But will you play a roadie who gets shot in the face?” I went, “Great! Whatever you want me to do!”

FANG: What’s your favorite genre film, and how do you feel about the remake of it?

POSEHN: DAWN OF THE DEAD. I actually like the remake. And HALLOWEEN, I like what Rob did, but it took me longer to get into that because I had a problem originally with knowing Michael’s history, or screwing with it, because what I loved about the first HALLOWEEN was that there was no reason for this guy to be this ultimate killer. That’s what I loved about the [John Carpenter] movie, that there’s really no backstory; you see him as a little kid, no reason given. But he’s just unstoppable. But I also get why Rob did what he did, and now I like that movie a lot more. I enjoy the kills, and how dark it is. I can look at it and not be connected to the original like I was. And with DAWN, I was against the idea, but as soon as I saw it I was like, “Well, that’s out the window—that was a great movie, definitely!”

FANG: Any other stuff going on?

POSEHN: I’ve got a few new projects going, and I’m working on a pilot for Comedy Central. We just shot it, and as soon as I’m home I’ll be editing that, or helping out with it at least. And then I co-produced a pilot for this band called Steel Panther for Comedy Central, and I’m working on a new comic book and a new horror idea.

FANG: What can you tell us about that?

POSEHN: I just kind of want to do my thing, and I’m hoping that the fact that I’m directing a couple of other things… I’m just working on a reel so in the next couple of years, somebody will give me a chance to shoot my own horror movie, and I’m gonna be ready when they say I can do that, you know what I mean? When I find someone who can give me the financing, I’m gonna do it.

I like slasher movies where the characters are a little more defined, and I feel like that’s something no one cares about anymore. Especially with some of these remakes, aside from the ones I mentioned I liked. Everybody’s just so disposable, and that’s like a thing in modern horror. I’d love to bring back a couple of people you care about, and you’re surprised and mad when they’re killed. I just feel with the new genre films you’re not invested, and that’s what I’m going for: to have some characters you care about and you don’t want to die.

FANG: Any possible titles for this venture?

POSEHN: Yeah, BODY COUNT was one I had for a while. While I do want to have people you care about, I was also gonna have a bunch of scenes where a bunch of disposable people just get wasted, so the body count is super-high. I don’t know if I’m gonna stick to that or not, I’m still at the early stages…

FANG: You have mentioned Quentin Tarantino as a big influence for his unique combinations of genres. With your interests in horror, metal and comedy, what is the ideal Brian Posehn feature?

POSEHN: That’s a good question. That’s kind of what I did with THE LAST CHRISTMAS, the comic book I co-wrote, taking humor, Clint Eastwood movies, THE ROAD WARRIOR, zombie films… It would definitely be a hybrid if I ever got to do what I really want to do.

FANG: Any film adaptation of LAST CHRISTMAS in the near future?

POSEHN: If the readers demand it! It’s something we tried to get going; we had a producer, and a guy from 300, but he saw something else shiny and ran off. The guy I wrote it with [Gerry Duggan], we feel like it will have a life at some point. You read about these great projects and a lot of them have been around for a long time, but I’m not worried about it, ’cause a couple of years down the road, someone might come along and say, “Hey, look at this! Why hasn’t anyone ever done this? Santa Claus fighting zombies?”

FANG: Getting back to your album, exactly why are you more metal than me?

POSEHN: [Laughs] I’m not. It’s totally a joke; that whole song is about people making it a competition. I’ve run into that over the years. A lot of times when you meet other metalheads, you bond instantly over the same style of music. But every once in a while, you meet a dick who has to make it a contest. And it’s more about them. I don’t think I’m more metal than you, but I think I’m more metal than some of these jerks who make it a competition.

FANG: Thanks, Brian. Looking forward to your upcoming projects. Any last words?

POSEHN: Thanks, man. And I love the magazine; when I was a kid, I had FANGORIA clippings on my wall. It scared the shit out of my grandma when she had to sleep in my room.

FANG: As it should.

 

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