Aisha Tyler is set to entertain the masses when she headlines Philly Pride June 12 at Penn’s Landing.
The comedian, writer and actress is best known for hosting E! Network’s Emmy-winning “Talk Soup” and for her stints on TV shows “Friends,” “The Ghost Whisperer,” “CSI,” “Nip/Tuck” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Tyler has also made a splash on the big screen, appearing in films “Bedtime Stories,” “Death Sentence,” “Balls of Fury” and “The Santa Clause” 2 and 3. In addition, she performs voice work on animated shows “Archer” and “The Boondocks.”
Tyler is also a successful author, having written 2004’s “Swerve: Reckless Observations of a Postmodern Girl” and contributing articles to Glamour, Jane and O: The Oprah Magazine.
On top of all that, Tyler is politically active, an avid video-gamer and brews beer in her spare time.
Frankly, we’re surprised she had the spare time to talk to us about her busy career and what will be her first Pride performance.
PGN: Do you perform at Pride festivals often? AT: I’m from San Francisco so I’ve done quite a few gay events. But I’ve never performed at a Pride festival. So I’m really excited about it.
PGN: Do you worry more about the gigs where you performing outside in the daylight? AT: Of course. There’s a million problems performing outside in the daylight. People haven’t been drinking. Acoustics are always a big concern. You’re kind of yelling and the sound is dissipating. You’re more susceptible to conversations and distractions. But there’s also the festival feel of it. My act is very high-energy and intense. I don’t kind of stand behind the mic. So I’m not worried about captivating the audience.
PGN: You do movies, television, magazines, talk shows, live performances, etc. Is there any one of those areas of performance that you prefer over the others? AT: Not really. No. I started out as a standup comedian. That’s how I got my beginning in the business. It’s my first love. I have a really deep and abiding affection for standup. It’s the freest and most personal form of all the things I do. It’s just you and your ideas and the expression of ideas. I love doing standup but I like it all. I like the challenge. They’re all my babies, quite honestly.
PGN: You’re into video games, poker and you brew your own beer. You do realize that, on paper, you appear to be a straight man, right? AT: Yes, a straight man or some kind of very confused bitch tranny, I know. I was raised by a single dad so I am definitely a guy’s girl. I also think being a comedian — where you’re almost always the only woman on the lineup or, when you’re touring, it’s you and three other guys — it probably served me. I was a guy’s girl and it was easy for me to meld into the comedy world. I like being around guys. I was the best man at my best friend’s wedding and I arranged his bachelor party. And my show is very guy-friendly. It’s not a wimpy chicky act. It’s butch. It’s definitely dude-friendly. PGN: Being really into video games, what are some of your favorite games or systems? AT: I have an Xbox and a PS3. I also have Kinnect. But I mainly only play shooters. I don’t drive tiny cars, play with little bears or dance. I save the Earth from alien invasions. That’s my job. My favorite franchise is the “Halo” franchise. That was my gateway drug back into console gaming after years of being an arcade gamer. I actually did a voice in the last Halo game. So one of my tiny nerd dreams came true. I also like “Gears of War,” “Fallout,” “Bullet Storm” and “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” all the assassination-driven games.
PGN: I fell out of video gaming a long time ago after the Nintendo Entertainment System. Recently I tried to get into “Halo” and, after an hour of getting my head blown off every second, I gave up. Is it me or do I have to invest the time? AT: The best thing to do is not to jump straight into any game on multiplayer. It’s like trying to run a sprint in the Olympics when you just got over a knee injury. It’s not going to happen for you. The best way is to get the console yourself and play the game on campaign alone and kind of learn it. Even me, I love “Halo” and I have tournaments with my friends. And every time I go online and play multiplayer, a 9-year-old in Houston just stands there and shoots me in the face repeatedly until I cry. You have to walk before you can run.
PGN: Having guest-starred on “CSI: Miami,” is David Carruso aware of how unintentionally silly his character looks on that show? AT: I can’t speak to that under penalty of assassination or ostracism at social events. But I didn’t get to do anything with David Caruso so I can’t speak to his work. But, yes, a lot of sunglass acting.
PGN: When it comes to acting, do you prefer comedies or dramas? AT: Comedy is second nature to me. It’s more innate. It becomes an instinctual thing for me. Drama is a lot easier. It’s a lot more straightforward. I’m not saying all comedians are great dramatic actors because that is not true. But some of the premiere dramatic actors of our time got their start in comedy. Tom Hanks is a perfect example of the Oscar-winning actor loaded with gravitas, but his first job was playing a very unattractive tranny in a really broad comedy, like the worst drag queen ever. I think because comedians are so good at digging deep and being exposed on stage and exposing our pain and personal angst for other people’s enjoyment, drama becomes very easy to understand. Comedy is the harder of the two, but for me, it’s more enjoyable.
PGN: Having done a stint on Ebert and Roper as a film critic, does that make you more choosy about the film roles to take on? AT: I’ll let you in on a little secret. Unless you’re Tom Cruise or Will Smith, none of us are choosy. People go, “How do you pick your role?” I’m like, well, they offered me the job. There have been things I turned down. I prefer to try to be a little bit of a genre buster in the sense if I have an opportunity to take a role that feels different for me or is a challenge, I take it. Also, I try not to take any roles that are ethnically stereotypical. I’m not saying that people don’t do those roles well and they aren’t funny, but it’s a personal goal of mine to broaden people’s attitudes and opinions about people of color and women of color, specifically. So if I have the opportunity to take a role that is smarter or a little bit more outside the box, those are the roles I pursue a little bit more aggressively. I’ve always been a little bit of an outsider and a weird kid and I want to honor that. When I can, I try to take roles that are against the grain.
PGN: Even with your high profile, when you take a stance like that, does it feel like you’re swimming upstream against Hollywood? AT: Absolutely. Always. There are always limited opportunities if you’re a little bit outside the mainstream and you’re trying to do something. That’s the deal you make with yourself as an artist with your choices. I’d rather wake up in the morning and be proud of what I do rather than feel like, “I’ve got to go in here and make doughnuts and I hate doughnuts and I hate oil and I hate people who eat food.” I love what I do and I’m motivated creatively by it. That keeps me focused on doing the best work that I can. I would rather be different. I was a weird kid from the time I was little. The great thing about adulthood is that you go from hating your weirdness to embracing it. That weirdness ends up making you who you are.
PGN: As someone who is politically active, are you looking forward to the 2012 presidential race? AT: I am. I campaigned quite a bit during the last campaign. I went all over the Midwest in a van and spoke at colleges and other events. I had lobbied quite a bit in D.C. and I’m on the board of the Planned Parenthood Federation. I’m looking forward to it. I was feeling a lot of despair and anguish over the last couple of years because of the really disappointing political climate. But now I’m feeling much more optimistic because the Republican field is so poor and our president is a badass right now. I’ve regained my optimism.
PGN: I saw you on YouTube debating the issue of the Tea Party on CNN with, and while sitting next to, Ann Coulter. At any point did you want to haul off and punch her in the neck? AT: That’s the overwhelming emotional state while you’re there. How do I not reach over and clutch my fingers around her tiny windpipe and squeeze? We all have those fantasies about what we would say to Ann Coulter if we met her on the street or what we’d say to [conservative columnist] Michelle Malkin if we saw her in the supermarket. But graciousness always wins. I talked myself down out of my rage tree and said I’m going to be the better of the two people here. I’m going to be calm and I’m not going to let myself be baited or goaded. If you let someone bait you they win. And then she was disarmingly nice: “I just love your work. It’s so great.” It was total actor kryptonite. Someone says they’re a fan and you’re like, “Oh I’m melting! Damn you, Coulter!” It’s a state of total confusion where you are sitting next to your arch-nemesis and you don’t know whether to kick them and run away or pee in their coffee.
PGN: Do you still have your own talk show in the works? Because someone has got to fill that void Oprah left. AT: I’m very lucky that I’ve been very busy the last couple of years. I have my series, “Archer,” which is on FX, and I have another action series, which I wrapped in Toronto. People are always talking to me about new projects, and it would be great to get into that world. But I don’t know if I want to do it if I can’t fully be myself and be as edgy and as interesting as I want to be. Oprah is awesome and irreplaceable. But I’m probably a little bit more PG-13 than she is.
PGN: What would be your dream show to be on or person you’d like to work with? AT: It would be great to work with the guys that are part of this angry triumvirate that’s making the “Hangover” movies and “Knocked Up.” That would be killer to be in that world. They always have one black character that comes in for three minutes and delivers comedic relief. But it would be really great to have a big role in one of those movies and bring some interesting stuff that’s not being done in that world. J.J. Abrams is also amazing. That would be pretty rad. Him and Michael Mann.
Aisha Tyler headlines Philly Pride June 12. For more information, visit www.aishatyler.com or www.phillypride.org.