Brian Posehn on His Degenerate Uncle Role In Anti-Holiday Film ‘Uncle Nick’

Sandra Miska

In the anti-Christmas dark comedy “Uncle Nick,” actor/writer/standup comic Brian Posehn stars as a 40ish bachelor with a drinking problem who is lured to a family holiday gathering with the hopes of hooking up with his 20-year-old step-niece.

Posehn got his first big break in 1995 as a performer and writer on the HBO sketch comedy program “Mr. Show with Bob and Dave.” He went on to have recurring roles on “Just Shoot Me” and “The Sarah Silverman Program,” as well as appearing on series such as “Friends” and “The Big Bang Theory,” and recording three comedy albums. Since 2013, he has been co-writing the Marvel comic “Deadpool” with Gerry Duggan.

Posehn spoke from New York with Entertainment Voice about “Uncle Nick,” his longtime industry friendships, his career as a comic, and how being a father has changed him.

How did you come to be involved with this project?

The guys, [director] Chris Kasick and Mike [Demski], they wrote it with. . . Mike wrote it, but always with me in mind, which was super flattering, and they went through a buddy of mine. They didn’t go the traditional route of involving agents or managers. They had my writing partner from “Deadpool” who they knew from working on “Attack of the Show” on G4. They had him just approach me, and he gave me the script and once I finally read it, I loved it and called my buddy back. . . and told him, “Yeah, man, tell those guys I want to meet them.” And then it just all came together, you know, once I came on as producer and as an actor. I helped them get some of the cast going. A lot of those phone calls were easy to make. Those were my friends. Paget Brewster, I’ve known for years. Scott Adsit and Missi Pyle, I helped out in getting that all together. It was a lot of fun, man.

Scott and Missi and Paget, you’ve worked with them all before?

Yeah, well, I’ve known Scott since. . . God, I met him when he did “Mr. Show” 20 years ago. He did a couple small parts. He was a Chicago guy and he knew Bob Odenkirk and Jerry Minor, another buddy of mine from that whole world, and I think Dino, too; Dino Stamatopoulos, one of our producers. They all were friends. He was obvious, and then, Paget, I’ve known forever. I hadn’t gotten to work with her, but she’s been a friend for a long time. She went out with my buddy a long time ago, and then when Halo was really popular, Paget had a nice house and she would let all these nerds come over and play Halo at her house. A bunch of smelly dudes playing on multiple TVs, we would have four TVs going with four guys on each TV. She put up with a lot. And then Missi, we just met through the comedy world. I think I’ve known her for about ten years now, too. She did some stuff on “Sarah Silverman.” The comedy world is a pretty small clique.

Did you identify with Nick at all?

Well, only that I can be a curmudgeon sometimes. I’m not the guy who comes to a party and makes a drunken mess of himself. I haven’t done that since my early twenties. I definitely get feeling like a black sheep. I don’t have any siblings, but I still was the black sheep of my family, if that makes any sense. It was just me and my mom, but I was still a disappointment at times. Obviously, not in a long, long time because I’ve made a career and I turned out to be, I hope, a pretty decent person, but I was definitely, when I was younger, the kind of guy that Nick is.

It looked like it was a really fun set to be on. Did you guys improv at all, or was it all by the script?

Well, a lot of the more serious moments were by the script, but, yeah, some of the comedy was definitely improvised. The scenes where there are multiple people in the room, where there’s me and Missi, we messed around. There was a lot of stuff that they didn’t use. She and I. . . it was hard to get us to shut up once we’d get going. I feel like our chemistry is pretty strong together. I’m so happy that she did the film. I couldn’t see anyone else playing my sister now that she did it.

Do you think you guys will do another film together?

I’d love to. I mean, I love all those people. Scott Adsit, dude could not be a nicer guy. I hope that doesn’t ruin his reputation, but he’s one of the coolest people I’ve met in comedy, so sweet, so cool and so talented. That guy needs his own show. He needs an “Uncle Nick” where he gets to shine because the dude is awesome.

What was your favorite scene to film?

To film, it would be two. I loved that I got to do the one where I tell the story of my ex because that was such a stretch for me to go from telling a kind of horrifying story to breaking down, which I don’t get to do in most of my comedy work. The other one was where I got to do something that I’m more comfortable with, which was the white elephant scene where I got to go and play kind of a jerk. It was fun being that boisterous and being that “in your face.” I did a lot that they didn’t even use of . . . me screaming, loving that I’m winning that game, and kind of not being a gracious winner about it at all. That stuff was fun.

What are some of your favorite films to watch around the holidays?

Some not-so-typical Christmas fare. It’s a tradition for me every year when I’m wrapping presents for my wife and my son or whoever, I watch “Die Hard” one and two, in a row. I do that every single year, and then I watch “Gremlins” and “Lethal Weapon,” anything Shane Black. Anything Shane Black does he sets at Christmas. You can watch “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” and any of that and it takes place at Christmas, and I think counts as a Christmas film.

Which do you enjoy doing more, standup or acting?

I would hate to have to make that choice. I love where my career is, that I get to do both, and not even just both but where I get to do comic book writing and do all the other things I do. I would hate to have to make a choice. Standup’s where I started, so I’m always going to have some loyalty to that but getting to work on “W/ Bob and David” this year, sketch writing is something that I’m really proud of. That might be my favorite thing. So the answer is neither.

How does one become a great comedy writer? By just watching comedy, or would you recommend someone to take a class?

No, I don’t recommend classes. To me, it’s like just watch it, and then learn from that, and then also, for me, Bob Odenkirk is my favorite person I’ve ever worked for. He’s the best boss in the world. He’s super supportive; He’s harsh when he needs to be, and critical when he needs to be but also that guy really lets ideas become their own. He wants you to flesh them out, and he wants to help you.

How did you meet him and David Cross?

I knew David first. I was a San Francisco comic and David was coming up to San Francisco a lot in the early 90s. Around then was when Ben Stiller’s show came on, and I was such a fan of that.  I always loved sketch, going back to “Saturday Night Live,” “Monty Python” and “SCTV.” Those were some of my favorite shows of all time. So when “Stiller” came on I was a fan instantly. And then I moved to L.A., and was still friends with David and met Bob at the old Virgin Records that used to be on Sunset. We just met looking at music, and we’ve been friends ever since. Those guys gave me a chance. They only wanted to hire their friends. They didn’t really cast out a wide net to come up with the writers on the first season of “Mr. Show.” It was all people that they knew. We all had to jump through hoops; we all had to write some ideas out and present them to them… That’s how I got the job, ultimately.

What can we look forward to from you in 2016?

Immediately, things that are already in the pipe. I got a special in the summer at Comic Con that’s coming out. That’ll be first on Amazon, and it’s called “Criminally Posehn” and it’s a new hour-long special/[album]. That’s first in the pipe, and then I got hopefully more Marvel stuff. I did a new issue of “Deadpool” that’s coming out soon. I’m trying to write a book, and I’m just trying to stay busy. But I’ll be out on the road in January.

What kind of book is it? A memoir?

Yeah, I want to do that. Funny stories, mostly essays that kind of all link together about my life; true stories and things that happened to me as a kid, and things that have happened recently, but all kind of have a through line of just about being a happy nerd. I’m finally happy. I was kind of a nerdy curmudgeon for most of life, but I’m now a dad and I have a six-year-old little nerd at home and I’m very happy with my place in life right now, you know?

Do you think becoming a dad really changed your comedy and your material?

It’s changed me. It’s changed me, really. Without getting too corny, I have more of a capacity. . . I don’t know, he’s my favorite person in the whole world and he just gave me another thing to live for, and another thing to work for. Everything I do, I do for him and my wife now. Sounds corny, but it’s true.

“Uncle Nick” opens nationwide Dec. 4.