Dan Soder is pumped for his first hour-long Comedy Central special — an upgrade from his 30-minute show a couple of years ago.
“A full hour! I’m very very very excited about it,” Soder says of the special, which he’ll be taping live over two back-to-back performances at the Trocadero in Philly on Dec. 3. His career is expanding in other ways, too: Soder is on the upcoming “Billions” on Showtime, with Damien Lewis and Paul Giamatti. The show, a drama about the high stakes world of high finance premiering Jan. 17, 2016, is a far cry from standup. RELATED: Bob Saget: ‘I’m not even that raunchy’ The “Billions” trailer is so intense. Are you playing a serious role?
It’s such a cool show. I have a small but regular role on it. … I play a loud a—hole.
Did you feel like you were you typecast?
[Laughs] I think me being a comedian helps me being able to turn up the obnoxiousness.
Are you feeling nervous at all about the Comedy Central special?
I just want it to be good, so I get nervous. It’s two shows at a great venue so you just want to do the very best you can. I’m a little bit of a perfectionist so I want it to be two really, really great shows. Do you have someone you practice in front of?
My roommate is a very funny comedian named Mike Vecchinone — he actually used to live in Philly. He can tell me if he’s heard anyone else do a joke. It’s a great way to have a litmus test of what’s original, what’s been done. Do you ever try something and he says, “No, absolutely not”?
Oh yeah. Yeah, all the time. Though I don’t know if it’s that coarse. [Laughs] But he’ll be like, “Ah, I don’t know.”
What can people coming out to the Troc expect to hear you talking about?
My act is kind of about where I’m at in my life. Being an older pothead, while all my friends are having kids. Looking back on my childhood and acknowledging that I was maybe not the easiest kid to raise. People always ask what kind of style of comedy I do, and I never really have a good answer for that. I just wind up saying it’s personal — one of the great things about comedy is you can take all this personal stuff that happened to you and make it super funny. RELATED: Bill Burr: ‘Fear is great for comedy’ The details:
Dan Soder:Comedy Central Special taping
Thursday, Dec. 3, 7:30 and9:30 p.m.
The Trocadero
1003 Arch St.
Free
Dan Soder is taping a Comedy Central special at the Trocadero and it’s free
provided
