AVC: Here's a refresher on one thing: You worked on commercials with Carrot Top. What was that like?
RC: I don't remember. No, it was lucrative. [Laughs.] And you know what? I was there to get a message out: Dial down the fucking center. How hard is that? Let the guy rest. He was actually a very nice guy, as most people say who have interviewed him. He's a really nice guy who just happens to follow in the footsteps of the Evil One, i.e. Gallagher.
AVC: We've interviewed Carrot Top, and he did come off as a very nice guy. And it seems like he knows who his audience is, and he knows what he can do.
RC: Yeah. He knows his audience, and he's also one of the highest-paid comedians in the world. He tours 300 days out of the year. I'm sure he's comfortable with what he does. I hope he is. He's also cut to shreds. He's ripped!
AVC: He's found his own niche, which is narrow but lucrative. Is it safe to assume you don't want a similarly narrow comedy or acting niche?
RC: Yeah, you're right. Although I would love to be a prop satirist…
AVC: How would that work?
RC: Exactly. I don't know. If people see me in some sort of niche, then that's fine. As long as it's not, like, "The Naked Guy." I don't care.
AVC: You were nude in your first film role, in Old School, though.
RC: Was I? Oh, somewhat. I had a jewel bag around my junk. My ass actually made it to the final cut. I had to sign a nudity clause that said they could use my naked image "in any part of the universe, in any form, even that which is not devised." Which is like, holograms, you know? On Mars or something. Which I'll do. I'll do that. As long as the money's there. If it's a good idea, I'll do it. No, I just want to do cool stuff. I actually don't think that will happen if I just really do what I want to do and have fun doing it.
AVC: Do you think the Off-Off-Broadway guy of your youth would approve of what you're doing now?
RC: The college kid of my youth would not, because I remember saying in college, probably hiking to the top of a mountain and yelling, that I would never do commercials. The only thing I would ever advertise is Mountain Dew or Apple Computers. [Laughs.] Products I really believe in. But once I found out how much an Off-Off-Broadway actor makes, I was whoring myself out the next day.
AVC: How was the process of taking Blackballed to festivals?
RC: It was really great. I've never been through that process. It was a lot of fun just traveling to the festivals. I love getting drunk and seeing movies. We won a lot of peripheral prizes. A lot of audience awards. So we have a lot of leaves for our DVD cover. So I figured we were just collecting leaves for the DVD. And this limited theatrical release was a nice little bonus that I never expected.
AVC: Your brother Nate has been appearing on The Daily Show. Do you enjoy working with him?
RC: I do, yeah. I really do. And we'd never really had a chance to. So that was a lot of fun, and we just love sticking each other in our field pieces whenever we can. We're really gonna wear that one out. People are going to be sick of seeing us together.
AVC: Is he a regular now?
RC: He is, although he was just cast in Aaron Sorkin's new show [Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, about a fictional Saturday Night Live-like sketch-comedy program], which I believe has been picked up. He's very modest about it, and it's not like he's borrowing money from the Mafia or anything. But if I were him, I'd be pretty confident that that he's got at least three or four seasons on that one. So he'll be moving to L.A. and doing that.
AVC: Did you remember the story that you felt at odds with?
RC: I remember interviewing someone who I actually felt bad for or agreed with, and therefore didn't want to take sort of an ironic stance against him. It actually turned out to be a really funny piece. And this is actually very anticlimactic, but we were doing a piece on the ethanol industry. And it was really just making fun of their sidekick, Corncob Bob. We were ironically taking the side of the ethanol industry as being a good alternative fuel. But upon doing only 10 minutes of research, I realized that ethanol is, in its pure form, just as much of a sham as oil. It's really not a viable source of fuel, at least I believe. That was just more a pain in the ass than anything. It was nothing I was really morally opposed to. But the piece was really about making fun of this mascot, Corncob Bob.
AVC: He can take it.
RC: Sorry to disappoint you—it's not really a great story.
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