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Michael Ian Black

ARIYNBF Michael Ian Black 1

I’ve been a fan of actor, writer and comedian Michael Ian Black for years so it was a real treat to have him stop by my podcast during one of his trips to Los Angeles. We talked about his podcast How to Be Amazing and his approach to interviewing before delving into some of the meatier topics explored in his most recent book—which I loved and highly recommend—Navel Gazing: True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine (but also my mom’s which I know sounds weird). We chatted about growing up in a home filled with rage, growing up without much male influence, his gay-but-not-aware-of-it-yet mother being subjected to shock treatment by her parents and his theories about what led to this, his choice to live in Connecticut and thoughts about Los Angeles, whether people expect him to be more snarky  than he is and his desire to be a good person. Plus we took your questions over Twitter and did a round of Just Me Or Everyone.

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3 Responses to Michael Ian Black

  1. AndrewviaMR February 8, 2016 at 7:16 am #

    Ah, now it is all clear to me. At first I thought the person who sent the “is this a thing” e-mail of the double blind copy but no contact info provided variety was Matt Mira. Now I think I know who it was and I’m slapping my head like I should have had a V-8!

  2. badabingo February 21, 2016 at 2:16 pm #

    I love it when Michael Ian Black is deliciously cranky and prickly. It’s like he is a male version of me, and that delights me.

  3. Leeann Ward February 21, 2016 at 7:01 pm #

    Weird that I would fail to comment on this, since I was one of the people rootig for Alison to interview MIB ! I immediately listened to the interview as soon as it was released!
    It was a great interview that did not disappoint! Since MIB said that he only kidded/was “cranky” with people that he liked, I guess Alison is somebody that he took to right away. It was fun how he gave her a hard time throughout the show, but made sure that she knew that he liked her.

    I can’t say enough great things aout his podcast! It’s so good! He is a natural interviewer and the show is very well produced. I think if he could make himself listen to it, even he’d be impressed. Whoever inserts the clips does a great job and it enhances the podcast for sure. I accidentaly stumbled upon his podcast when I was looking for Amy Schumer interviews. That interview was great and funny, which made me try his interviews with Megan Mullally and Chris Hardwick. By that time, I knew he was a good interviewer and that his guests interacted well with him, so I let the Ingrid Michaelson interview play while I did other things. I didn’t know much about her, since her music isn’t generally in my wheelhouse, but it turned out to be a super hilarious interview with emotional moments interspersed. She could be a comedian in her own right and they meshed incredibly well together and did a wonderful job of riffing off of each other. The interview even made me buy some of her songs and MIB’s podcast has made me buy his memoirs. You’re Doing It All Wrong was very good and I’m currently enjoying Naval Gazing.
    Thanks to Alison for having so many good guests and listening too our requests when she can! She’s already interviewed 3 people from my 2016 ARIYNBF Guest wishlist and it’s only February!

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