Film At 11: Eugene Mirman

Comedian Eugene Mirman is a veteran of Courtney-Cox-in-the-Bruce-Springsteen-video appearances, his heavy-lidded, cartoonish mug having popped up in Flight Of The Conchords episodes and one or two VH1 specials. He has primed the crowd for acts such as Modest Mouse and Yo La Tengo and was recently a MAGNET guest editor. His guerilla promotional tactics are panning out, and with good reason. Mirman employs a Jon Stewart-esque dry wit, the kind that causes you to ponder his point too much to collapse into primal hyena cackles—at least at first. Mirman’s “coverage” of the big-deal environmental summit in Copenhagen for Grist focuses more on the sludge and plastic wrappers in the city waterways and the Hot-Wheels-sized vehicles that residents pass for cars than the actual political activity. (Mirman to a “Buddy” car owner: “Is that thing big enough to hook up in?”) The dude who sported a fairy costume at the end of a Demitri Martin half-hour special four years ago is now a comic in his own right. We've got proof: His old high school invited him to speak for its 2009 commencement. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLH_pcZ91zo[/youtube]