Published: September 01. 2010 2:00AM

By Stephanie Trotter
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

It’s hard to place labels on comedian Lewis Black. It’s not that he’s grumpy, bitter or a cranky curmudgeon. But the edgy performer is as far from a cuddly teddy bear as you can get. Imagine Andy Rooney if he’d grown up rocking with the Beatles and Stones, rather than Lawrence Welk. Perhaps that’s why Black takes to cable with his gritty-voiced commentary, rather than the Big Three with a toned-down delivery. Watch him scream about America’s absurdities just once and it will reinforce “The Daily Show” regular’s tag as comedy’s “King of the Angry Rant.”

The Grammy-award winner admits irritation was instilled early on, growing up around Washington, D.C. You’d think time spent studying at the University of North Carolina would have softened his soul some. But no, the New York-based playwright, actor and author simply returns to his alma mater to host the annual Carolina Comedy Festival, filled with the cathartic release of disillusionment as he sums up society’s ills. In Black’s eyes, we’re a sick, sick nation, yet his call-it-like-it-is delivery makes your sides hurt as we laugh at ourselves.

Talk Greenville caught up with the actor at his home in Manhattan. Only one topic was off-limits, but he was still happy to chat about that as well as his upcoming show at the Peace Center.

Talk Greenville: So you still feel the tug to come back to the Carolinas and you’ve bought a home in Chapel Hill?

Lewis Black: I always promised myself I would go back. I’ve been able to work on my books there. And I spend a lot of time playing golf in Myrtle Beach. (laughing) Too much probably, to no avail.

TG: What’s your favorite course?

LB: The Heritage course makes me weep. I really like it a lot. When I went down there the first time I didn’t have a lot of money, and you could actually go somewhere and play golf and it was affordable. It was incredible.

TG: You’re returning to Greenville on tour. Do you have a specific set you do each night?

LB: I have a set and it continues to change and evolve until I do a (TV) special. Probably 10-15 percent is different each night.

TG: Your style is to rant and rave about everything until you’re about to pass out. Is any topic off limits?

LB : Abortion. Not worth it. I talk about the word more than I talk about it … how difficult it is to come up with a joke, because it’s impossible.

TG: You started out as a playwright, penning some 40 pieces. Yet your career has taken off as a stand-up comedian. What’s your passion?

LB: I set out to be a playwright, but nobody seemed to be that interested. (laughs) I was a playwright until I was 40, then realized crack whores were making more money than I was. I realized if I didn’t want to be broke for the rest of my life I would have to go into stand-up. My passion is probably stand-up, because it combines writing and performing.

TG: Who have you worked with whom you admire?

LB: In movies, I really enjoyed working with Laura Linney, Robin Williams, Christopher Walken. “Man of the Year,” that was a pretty incredible experience. Comic-wise, I like Kathleen Madigan. She’s one of the funniest women there is. I like a lot of comics.

TG: You’ve written best sellers, won a Grammy, taped multiple Comedy Central specials and sell out some 200 shows a year. What accomplishment are you most proud of?

LB: The fact I can raise money for charities. It’s unbelievable to me. I’ve worked with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for a long time. They do a heck of a job, and really 93 percent (of donations) or higher goes to research.

TG: You do a lot of patriotic and political satire. Do we take ourselves too seriously?

LB: Yes! We’re fighting over stuff we don’t have the time to fight over. What we need to do is solve the problems. We don’t have the time to fight over who’s right anymore. Nobody’s right. That’s the thing that’s amazing to me. Neither side is correct. Both need to figure out how to work together and let’s move along.

TG: Your act paints a pretty dire picture.

LB: I have not seen us in this kind of trauma outside of the late ’60s. But even then we were financially way ahead of where we are now. And we were still able to pay for our kids to be educated. The fact that school systems are falling apart and teachers are being laid off and libraries are being closed and kids have to buy their own football uniforms, if you can’t get behind how to fix that, then you’ve lost sight of what you’re here for. That’s a little too serious.

TG: How important is comedy at this point in time?

LB: It seems a lot more important. It’s important only in the sense of being able to step back from the problems, so you can find the energy to deal with it. It hopefully makes it seem less overwhelming and that we will survive.

TG: You get so worked up on stage. Are you different off?

LB: If I was like the person I am on stage all the time, I’d be dead. You can’t be that mad all of the time.

TG: Where do you want to be in 20 years?

LB: Sipping a piña colada somewhere. (laughs) I’d like to write a couple more books and be able to write some more plays and I’d like to be able to do a couple more movies, but we’ll see. Worse comes to worse, going around the country yelling and screaming, you can’t beat that.

TG: Well, give us a scream when you get here.

For more on Black’s Sept. 11 appearance at the Peace Center, go to LewisBlack.com.