Thanks to Carolina Productions, USC students had the opportunity to laugh continuously for over an hour at T.J. Miller’s hilarious antics when he performed Thursday night in the Koger Center.
After the act, The Daily Gamecock gained some insight on Miller’s love for “Brave Little Toaster,” his juggling comedic routine and how his philosophical beliefs affect his jokes.
The Daily Gamecock: Do you think of yourself as more of an actor or a comedian?
T.J. Miller: I’m more of a comedian than an actor. I think acting is just a medium of comedy.
DG: Did you aspire to be an actor in movies and TV shows?
TM: I did not aspire to be an actor. I aspire to be a great comedian. I’m still a good one … not a very good one.
DG: Which of your characters do you relate to the most?
TM: Oh, I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me that before. Probably Erlich, unfortunately, because it’s a magnification of me because I sort of was responsible for the way Erlich is as a character now.
DG: If you could be the voice-over artist for a character in any animated show, who would it be?
TM: I’d like to be the Joker in an animated “Batman” film or the lamp from “Brave Little Toaster” (laughs).
DG: In "Silicon Valley," do you ever ad lib and add your own content on set, or is it mostly scripted?
TM: Yes, we ad lib over 25 percent and they keep anything I say that’s hilarious, but often the script is the funniest thing, so I just leave it there. I mean it is Mike Judge.
DG: Will you ever implement juggling or stilt walking into your comedy?
TM: Yeah, I do this juggling thing where every time I drop something I would reveal a more and more vulnerable thing about myself until it gets really real and it’s about my father’s love (laughs).
DG: Is there a comedian you look up to or would like to work with?
TM: I mean Steve Martin or Woody Allen ... but Will Ferrell because I think we have similar work ethics.
DG: Do your philosophical beliefs as an absurdist and nihilist affect your comedy?
TM: No, ‘cause I didn’t give a s--- how I did because I know at the end of the night I will go home and the bed will be made of fish.
DG: Do you have topics you like joking about more than others?
TM: I like joking about serious stuff lately. Really, really serious stuff.
DG: (Laughs) Like suicide? (Reference to his performance)
TM: Yes like suicide, but that’s more for me proselytizing about what you show — "this is an important idea you should pay attention to it" and just stuff that people take seriously like weddings or traffic or their jobs or meaning.
DG: What’s an item on your bucket list?
TM: Lucket list? I think if it was a lucket list I’d be like — I’d like it to be like winning $2,000 in crabs at like a Vietnamese Casino ‘cause then I’d be like “luck it let’s have f--- it."