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Meet Doug Benson: 'Unbalanced' Comedian
Doug Benson is one stoner/comic who happens to get a lot done.
Crowned High Times Magazine's Stoner Of The Year in 2006, you'll know Benson from his popular podcast "I Love Movies" (which he records on the regular before Comedy Death Ray at the Upright Citizen's Brigade theater in Hollywood,) Last Comic Standing (sixth place) and VH1's Best Week Ever.
And, for the second time in as many years, he's got a new stand-up album out, Unbalanced Load.
Of course, it was recorded on 4/20.
LAist had a chance to attack Benson with the hardest-hitting questions known to humankind. (No one was injured.)
LAist: How hard was it to do a second comedy CD when your last disc wasn't recorded all that long ago?
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Doug Benson: Not very hard. It was only my second CD in a two-decade career, so I had lots of stuff to pull from. Next year's album is gonna be tougher. I plan to make a new record every year on 4/20 until I die or no one wants me to make records.
Your podcast I Love Movies, is as fun as it is hilarious. How did it come about?
You're right, it's fu-larious! I was first approached about doing a podcast by a site called www.handheldcomedy.com. I knew I could record it in front of an audience at the Upright Citizens Brigade, and I knew that me and my comedian friends liked talking about movies, so I just started doing it. Then Handheld folded, so I decided to keep making 'em and just get my friends from www.aspecialthing.com to put the episodes on iTunes.
How do you rate your Last Comic Standing experience?
On a scale of one to ten I give it a fish.
Tell us about your recent stand-up tour.
13 states in 13 days, and they're all places where the people voted to make medical marijuana legal.
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You allegedly like to smoke the pharmaceutical reefer. Do you have a favorite LA dispensary?
I like 'em all, but there's one dispensary that I frequent but don't talk about because it's so chill. Yeah, I just called a place "chill." Don't feel too good about myself right now.
Would you buy pot from this KFC?
Pot and a mashed potato chicken gravy bowl -- one stop shopping!
Who really, really needs a bongrip?
Rush Limbong.
Your show The Benson Interruption goes off at Largo. When is the next one?
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Oct. 19 at 9:00.
Having previously done the show at UCB, how is Largo working out?
It's been great. There are two rooms at Largo. If there's a big turnout, we use the 300 seat theater. If there's a smaller crowd, we do it in the intimate "Little Room." Both rooms have been a lot of fun.
What's your favorite television show you interrupt when alone?
I'm very polite when I'm alone.
What could Kanye West learn about interrupting?
Start a show called THE KANYE INTERRUPTION and then you can interrupt all you want. It's the title of the show!
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What was your Best Week Ever?
That would be one of the two times I went to the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam.
Favorite non-stoner stoner movie?
Showgirls.
Who is a shithead?
Betty White.
Photo by Bruce Smith / used with permission
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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