Sleep depraved: An interview with Insomniac's Dave Attell

Comedian Dave Attell is the host of Comedy Central's late-night drunkfest Insomniac. Select, uncensored episodes from the show's first two seasons were released on DVD, Best of Insomniac-Uncensored Vol. 1, on Feb. 4. Also on that date, his live CD, Skanks for the Memories, was released. Attell visited Vegas to film an episode for the show's upcoming fourth season and performed a crude yet smart 20-minute guest set at Harrah's Improv on Jan. 9. The next day, CityLife had the good fortune to talk with him about many topics, including magicians, the film Pootie Tang and, of course, drinking and smoking.

CityLife: Why did it take so long for Insomniac to get to Vegas?

Dave Attell: Vegas is such a given, [that for] the first episodes we wanted to show towns where people didn't think there was any type of night life. We wanted to come to Vegas for a long time. This is one of the few towns in America where you can drink until you run out of money, or you run out of hope. And you can still smoke pretty much anywhere.

CL: Except in the Improv at Harrah's.

DA: Yes, you can't do that, because we know comedy and cigarette smoke don't mix. It's a real treat, especially since I have a lot of chain-smokers on my shoot. Well, me. I'm the only one.

CL: How did the idea for the show develop?

DA: Girls Gone Wild. I watch that show, of course, with one hand busy, and I'd be like, "That's not like my life. I'm not a hot model, traveling the world, going to fancy clubs and restaurants. I'm a functional alcoholic going to bars and bus stations. Where's that show?" Comedy Central said, "Cool." They had no shows like that: a reality show. I told them I wanted it to be not just partying, but also late-night jobs.

CL: You've been to a garbage-collection station, a steel mill and a sausage factory, places that most people would never get to peek inside of.

DA: There's a million jobs going on all night long that nobody knows about. We have great people busting their asses day and night trying to get access to hospitals, prisons, that kind of stuff.

CL: Stand-up is pretty hip in other markets. Is Vegas behind the curve?

DA: Vegas is hard for stand-up. I'm not a Vegas act. I don't do any magic or hypnotism. I don't have a little dragon friend that I walk around with. Vegas audiences seem to like weird things. Magic is king. Anywhere else in the country, you see a magician and he lives in his car. Here, they're billionaires, like Vegas royalty. I think there's a lot of people in Vegas who want to see a blue, dirty, old-school stand-up show.

CL: You've appeared in some films.

DA: I'm not really an actor. If you've seen Pootie Tang, you know. It's getting a super-huge following, I don't know what's happening, but people are getting into that movie. The whole time I'm on pharmaceutical drugs 'cause I had a hernia operation right before the shoot.

CL: Do you know you're a cult hero?

DA: I definitely like that people like the show, and it's the right kind of people. People come up and ask me questions, but it's usually when I'm filming, so it's kind of a weird life-imitating-art thing, people talking to me about the show as we're shooting the show.

PI: Can you recommend a hangover cure?

DA: The cure is to keep drinking, but when I have to put the speed brakes on, that usually means a cheeseburger or some kind of greasy food that soaks up some of the excess alcohol. If you think you're drunk, then you're already drunk.

Poizen Ivy is a local freelance writer. The full version of her interview with Dave Attell can be read at www.sincitysounds.com.