Comedian to open for Conchords

Eugene Mirman could be labeled an actor, author and videographer, but he prefers to be known as a comedian.

“If I made a funny chair, I would still see myself as a comedian,” he said. “I would just think ‘Wow, I learned how to use carpentry as a mode of comedy.’”

Mirman opens for Flight of the Conchords at 8 p.m. April 25 at the IU Auditorium. The sold-out show is part of the duo’s 2009 North American tour.

Though Mirman has a recurring role on the television show “Flight of the Conchords,” he said he will be performing standup comedy as himself that night.

“Will I bring an elevator and act weird for half an hour? No,” he said, referring to his character Yvgeny, the band’s landlord, who is always shown riding an elevator.

Mirman also appears on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim in the new live-action series “Delocated” and recently completed “Will to Whatevs,” a humorous self-help guidebook to life. He said the book offers a few helpful suggestions, but also blends in outlandish ideas.

“Half of it is great, half of it is dangerous to do,” he said.

The Brooklyn-based comedian immigrated from Russia to Lexington, Mass., shortly after he was born. He is starting to work on a documentary about going back to Russia for the first time.

Longtime friend and musician Alina Simone met Mirman when they were both in the first grade.

“It was 1980 – not such a fun time to be Russian in America,” she said. “With his Russian accent, Eugene was picked on pretty mercilessly. Even at five years old, he was a really weird kid.”

Mirman said that as a child, he wanted to be either a computer programmer, a pirate or a comedian. He attended Hampshire College, created his own major – comedy – and performed a one-hour standup as his thesis.

Today, he regularly travels the country doing standup routines. He encourages those who want to pursue a career in comedy to be persistent.

“Do comedy for 10 years and do it as much as you can, and then you’ll probably get a job,” he said.

Simone added that Mirman possesses a unique sense of humor that he’s developed over the years.

“To me, the most striking thing about Eugene’s comedy is that he is so brave,” she said. “There is nothing about his comedy that is cookie-cutter.”

With all his experience, Mirman says his favorite part about working in comedy is communicating his humor to others through standup, an album, video or TV show.

“I like that I do a lot of stuff. I like to have a variety,” he said. “I see myself as a comedian who does all these different things.”