Stand-Up Todd Barry on Hoarding, Eating Oysters and Punching Louie C.K.
Categories: Jesters
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| Photo by Francine Daveta |
| Todd Barry looking "playfully fed-up." |
Daily RFT: So you recently moved out of your apartment of some 20 years? Why, and how did it go?
Todd Barry: I did move. I should've done it 15 years ago. The apartment was shitty, small, and had mice, but it's just so much easier to just sign a lease than look for an apartment in New York. The move was a bit of a nightmare because I'm kind of a pack rat/low level hoarder. No dead animals or anything, just lots of accumulated paper (mainly posters of myself).
In "The Wrestler," you were very convincing as a petty-tyrant middle manager who used his authority over Mickey Rourke to make him feel small. Any real-life inspirations?
I think we've all had mean, bully bosses, so it wasn't too hard to imagine what that guy would be like. Also, I'm like that in real life.
Side question: Did you hang out with Mickey Rourke?
We hung out constantly and became fast friends. He's looking over my shoulder as I write this. But seriously, there wasn't really much time to hang out. He's also a pretty shy guy, and so am I, so we didn't chat much. But he was nice when we did.
I heard you recently played a vampire in a film (I think with Sigourney Weaver). What was that like?
It's a movie called "Vamps" that was directed by Amy Heckerling, who directed "Clueless" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" among others. It's sort of a modern day Vampire comedy. That's probably not the best description. But I got to some pretty heavy makeup for some of it, which I've never dealt with before. And yes, I did a scene with Sigourney Weaver, which was sort of surreal.
Your pal Louis C.K. is physically bigger than you. Have you ever gotten into a fight?
Louis and I usually get in about 20-30 fistfights a year. I win the majority of them.
What TV show do you wish you could be in (or wish you could've been in)?
This sounds like a "joke answer" but I'd love to be a defendant of plaintiff on "Judge Judy." Just to see how mean she'd be, and how I'd react.
Have you ever eaten anything scary?
I tried raw oysters many years ago. I know lots of people find them the "opposite of scary" but not me.
Do you like children?
Not to the extent that I want to have any, but if I see a cute one on the street or something, it will make me smile. And I will make a stupid face to try to make it laugh. I never should've admitted that, because it probably makes me look less "edgy," but it's too late to delete.
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