Lewis Black brings angry act to Charlotte

Infamously angry comedian Lewis Black brings “The Emperor’s New Clothes: The Naked Truth Tour” to Belk Theater Saturday. The University of North Carolina alumni, who retains a residence in Chapel Hill, will appear in ABC’s “Madoff” miniseries next month. He spoke to the Observer Tuesday about politics, playing Anger in this week’s Golden Globe winner “Inside Out,” and ageism in comedy.

Q. Do you make it back to North Carolina very often?

A. I’d like to go there more. I’m hard pressed to remember the last time I was there. Maybe nine months ago. I wasn’t in New York that much, either. I got to miss a lot of the North Carolina politics. Now they’re trying to figure out how to undermine an educational system that was world-class.

Q. Last time we talked, it was the voting precincts. Where do you see things heading?

A. It’s a pendulum. It all starts from the bottom up and communities will get organized and they’ll go, ‘Enough is enough.’ It can’t get worse. It will, maybe, but it can’t. It shouldn’t.

Q. Were you excited for “Inside Out’s” win? How did you end up playing Anger?

A. I was very excited about that. They called and sent me pictures of the character and a bunch of things Pixar had done. This letter said, “You may not know who Pixar is.” Did they think I’m a shut-in? It was really amazing. As soon as Pixar asked, it could have been anything and I’d do it.

Q. Anger is my son’s favorite. That’s what he wanted for his birthday.

A. (Laughs) Well, I don’t get any money for that. That’s the only disappointment. The whole thing has been remarkable. The only reason I’d like the money is to give it away. I’ll do something better with it.

Q. I read a little about your thoughts on socialism and a financial cap on income. There have been a lot of folks talking about sharing the lottery jackpot if they win, even companies. It seems like no one needs that much money.

A. I don’t talk about it a lot in my act. It’s like talking about guns or something. There’s a disconnect between what a CEO makes now and what the person that works for him makes now. It’s not that the CEO got better at his job. There’s no reason for the disparity. Nobody’s talking about brainwashing them to think certain ways. In order for the economy to work, more people have to have money to buy crap that they don’t want.

Q. Why do you think seemingly logical answers are so controversial?

A. It’s difficult in an era of complete noise to simplify the discussion. When the president cries, everybody has a reaction. Somebody who feels necessary to comment on that, ask that person “What did you do today about Social Security, immigration, simplifying the tax codes?” and 50 other questions. He (President Obama) is standing in front of a room where most of the people lost somebody from gun violence. What do you want him to do?

Q. You graduated from college in 1970 and didn’t have your first comedy special until 1998. Today people seem to worry that if they haven’t made it by 35 their career is over. Is comedy any more forgiving of age?

A. Comedy Central suffers from that problem. Outside of certain things, a lot of comedy is targeted toward kids. There’s ageism in everything. The lucky thing about comedy is if they’re not going to hire you for a TV show you can perform in clubs or theaters. Go find the audience and develop the audience. My friend John Bowman, who opens for me, was working for MTV about 30 years ago. He was trying to get me on the show and a couple other people. We were in our late 30s or early 40s. MTV said, “You’re too old.” John said, “What do you mean? My comic hero was Groucho Marx and he was dead.”

This story was originally published January 14, 2016 at 9:10 AM with the headline "Lewis Black brings angry act to Charlotte."