Joe Pera Talks Comedy, Growing Up, and Breakfast

If you were only to listen to the voice of Joe Pera, you might think he was 77-years-old. He’s patient, measured. He says “I don’t know” a lot. He talks about how eggs should be cooked, his comfortable shoes, the falling snow. He’s not a carnival barker or used car salesman in his orientation to his audience. Rather, he’s like a trusted neighbor.

In a world with new Spider-Man movies seemingly every year that include buildings exploding, magic tricks, portals to new galaxies, and inventions almost impossible to conceptualize, Pera is a breath of fresh air. Rather than lasers and space crafts, his eye tends to investigate a group of elderly men having coffee in a diner. Or what one might want to hear as they fall asleep.

We caught up with the 33-year-old Pera, whose show, Joe Pera Talks With You, is now in its third season on Adult Swim and HBO. We talked with the comedian, who is also the author of this bathroom book, about what it was like growing up in Upstate New York, how he found joke telling, and what he loves most about what he does today.