Comedian Lewis Black elaborates on politics, college life

Stand-up comic and "The Daily Show" contributor Lewis Black is nothing short of deferential in his views about the upcoming election.

Asked about the president's decision to go to war in Iraq, Black is careful to articulate a respectful, balanced view of Bush's thought process: "To believe that you're going to go into this country, and that they're just going to go and embrace us and you have no plan — I mean I knew it was stupid and all I do is watch CNN and touch myself," he said.

Well, that's not all he does. Black also finds time to deliver political and pop culture critiques in his weekly "Back in Black" segment on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

He'll be visiting the University this Sunday for a stand-up show at 8:30 p.m. in Jadwin Gymnasium.

And if you think Black's harsh on Bush, wait until you hear him on Paris Hilton.

"Why would you even want to yell about Paris Hilton?" he asked, "It's so self-evident you don't even have to comment — you just have to point to the fact that's she's making a living and that says tons about us as a people."

So does that mean Black won't be taping FOX's "The Simple Life" this week? "If you don't have anything to better to do with that half hour," he said. "It's time to just jump in the tub with your hairdryer on."

But Black is a bit more forgiving in describing the loyal fans of "The Daily Show." In fact, he doesn't even criticize college students who make the half-hour satire their primary news source.

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"Do you want to make FOX News your primary news source?" he asked. "The only thing that makes us different is that we don't run those goddamn scrolls underneath the screen that make it impossible to see."

But the conspicuous absence of scrolls and Bill O'Reilly are not the only things that distinguish "The Daily Show" from FOX News.

While FOX News is criticized by some for its conservative slant, others criticize "The Daily Show" as being too liberal. Yet Black denies all such accusations.

"We have a tendency when someone is in charge to lean towards banging the person in charge," he explained. "I think that this show has banged both sides equally over a nine year period and we continue to bang both sides."

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He certainly seemed impartial in his attacks. When discussing the presidential prospects, he remarked, "I have a theory that we'd be better off with no one in charge at this point than anything that's out there on the horizon. To go in the voting booth and look at those two names is enough to make you want to kill yourself."

Black strongly advises Americans to choose voting over anything else. "You got to go vote — that's it," he said. "No ifs, ands or buts about it. Don't tell me you don't know who to vote for — I don't know who to vote for, so you got to vote against."

While Black believes it is imperative for students to vote, he also objects to those who argue that young adults should become more politically informed.

"When ever was it a requirement for college students to watch the news?" he said. "What's so . . . asinine about these pricks is that [in college] none of [them] . . . raced back from class at 5:30 and said, 'God, I have to go watch the news.'"

So fear not, University students who haven't touched a New York Times in weeks — Black is on your side. "You don't have to do it — it isn't about you participating in the world yet — that's not what being in college is about."

Black, who attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, reflected on college. "That's four years that's your own," he said. "You have an opportunity without a serious amount of [jerks] around you to really focus for a time, and you're never going to have another opportunity like that.

"The real world's just like high school, only there's more places to eat," he said.

But Black claimed he'd sacrifice the restaurant choices to be back in college any day. "I loved college. There's a reason people say this is as good as it gets — it is," he said, before adding, "Unless there's something coming up at the old age home that I don't know about."

Black certainly seemed to have preferred life as an undergraduate to his time at Yale Drama School. However, Black maintained that Yale was better in those days.

"New Haven at that point was just kind of a semi-hellhole," he recalled. "There's nothing weirder than living in what is essentially a feudal barony in the middle of what is truly a depressed area — it's great for the people, it's great for you."

But somehow Black managed to escape New Haven unscathed. Although he initially put his Yale Drama education to use writing plays — he's written over 40 — Black made the transition to stand-up comedy about 15 years ago.

He credits Conan O'Brien as the man who "kind of broke me on TV nationally as a comic," and he landed his current job on "The Daily Show" when it began in 1996.

"When it started, I was there — the first week . . . I just sat behind the desk screaming about stuff," he explained. And the rest was history.

Black maintained he would never want to trade his screaming for a less-voice-straining job. According to him, "The Daily Show" is a lot like college.

"There's a kind of an energy [at college] of curiosity and creativity that you don't find in any office anyplace . . . [but] 'The Daily Show' has that kind of spirit," Black said.

So what does Black think of the show's spirited frontman Stewart? "He's a prick, he's a short little prick of a man," Black said.

As usual, Black is mostly kidding. "Actually, I happen to like Jon a lot. I really respect what he's done with the show and the amount of work and effort and intelligence he brings to it."

Nevertheless, Black was stunned to learn that the University asked Stewart to deliver the Commencement address last year. But he wasn't intimidated about following Stewart's act. "As usual," he said, "in the end, I'll be funnier."