Now Hear This! Comedian Paul F. Tompkins

Paul F. Tompkins

What movers and shakers are watching, reading and listening to:

Widely hailed as one of the finest stand-ups working today, Philadelphia-bred, Los Angeles-based comic Paul F. Tompkins will be familiar to viewers of the groundbreaking ‘90s HBO series “Mr. Show” as well as to fans of “Best Week Ever,” the VH1 comedy-news program he hosted until its recent cancellation.

Paul F. Tompkins

Following on the heels of his debut comedy CD Impersonal -- a kind of greatest bits collection -- Tompkins’ second stand-up disc, the recently released Freak Wharf, finds the funnyman stretching out, mixing carefully crafted observational pieces with brilliants bursts of stream-of-consciousness thought and flights of improvisational fancy.

On Saturday night, Tompkins returns to Memphis for the first time since 2007 for a pair of shows at Minglewood Hall’s 1884 Lounge. The sets will find him working out material for his next record, a quasi-concept album about his various jobs in and out of show business.

Tompkins took time out to talk about what’s been keeping him entertained lately.

What are you listening to?

I listen to lot of radio shows and podcasts. In addition to “The Best Show on WFMU” with Tom Scharpling, which is really my favorite, I also like “Comedy Death Ray Radio,” hosted by Scott Aukerman, which I’ve guested on a fair number of times. I think he does a great job with that show. There’s a program based in Vancouver called “Stop Podcasting Yourself,” hosted by Graham Clark and Dave Shumka, which I find very charming. “Comedy and Everything Else” hosted by Jimmy Dore and Stefane Zamorano is also one of my favorites.

What are you reading?

I just read “Caught Stealing” by Charlie Houston. A friend of mine has been recommending him to me for a while. ... It’s about a guy who’s not a detective but just a guy who gets caught up in somebody else’s trouble and has to get himself out of it. And I just started “Game Change” about the 2008 presidential election.

What are you watching?

I just started watching (HBO World War II miniseries) "The Pacific" last night. I loved "Band of Brothers" and I’ve been really excited for this. So far, so good. My dad was in the Navy in World War II, and the Pacific was his theatre of war so I’ve always been kind of fascinated by that. I never really knew that much about it because my dad was from that generation that was pretty tight-lipped about their experiences. Hearing more about the war in the Pacific as a ramp up to the premiere of this show, it seems like there were some insanely horrible things that went on that we weren’t taught about in school.

As far as films go, I haven’t enjoyed a whole lot of movies lately. I do have a screener of "Precious" that I got but it’s been sitting in my house. I kinda realized I’m never gonna be in the mood to watch that movie. Everybody’s said how great it is and the performances are amazing, but knowing even the little bit I know about it, when would I be in the mood to sit down with a bowl of popcorn and throw on "Precious"? (laughs). It’s not exactly light entertainment.

Paul F. Tompkins will play two sets on Saturday at Minglewood Hall’s 1884 Lounge, located at 1555 Madison Ave., at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $25. They’re available at bigfunnyproductions.com. For more information, call 722-9114.

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