“A little ticked off” doesn’t even begin to describe Lewis Black’s comedy. A graduate of the Yale Drama School and author of over 40 plays, Black has built his reputation on the stage–the comedy stage, that is.

A regular on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Black has built a loyal following of fans who share his views on just how messed up the world really is. His frustrated delivery and visible anger would make you think that he was about to strike out at any moment, but it’s part of the show.

Black’s humor occasionally pushes the limits of acceptability, but it’s too funny and too real to not laugh at it. In one bit, Black mentions that he was putting together a comedy CD right before the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and that after the tragedy, one of his first thoughts was, “there goes the fuckin’ CD.”

He then told the crowd that, “Everybody in this country, as soon as [9/11] happened, everybody had that little moment where they went, ‘Well, that really fucks up my plans.'”

Currently, Black is continuing his Wednesday appearances on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” while taking his stand-up act on the road through late November. Tonight, he will air his grievances with the general stupidity of the world in a performance at the Orpheum Theater.

While in New York preparing for a taping of “The Daily Show,” Black phoned in to the Badger Herald to talk about his influences, the road and what makes Wisconsin such a great target for his comedy.

Badger Herald: Who influenced your humor when you were growing up?

Lewis Black: My mother was very funny, and my father was funny too. My mother was a substitute teacher at my school, and she was really vicious. If she wasn’t really funny, I’d probably be in a hospital right now.

My grandfather was angry too–he had real solid anger. He wasn’t kidding around. He was constantly livid about something. This was a man who arrived in the country and never paid taxes. He got here in 1918 or so, and they tried to draft him and he said, ‘That’s why I left Russia, you’re not going to draft me.’

BH: Did it take you a while to hone your style?

LB: It took me a while. It’s based a lot on me, but it’s pushed to the extreme. It’s just taking things and blowing them up 20 times.

If I was like that, I’d probably be dead. I couldn’t do that. Once I learned to let the anger rip, then it was a matter of just refining it.

BH: What has your experience on “The Daily Show” been like?

LB: It’s been great. It’s been nice to have a program that showcases you once a week. Plus, I think that it helped people get into the kind of humor that I have. That’s the kind of show that I’ve been trying to get onto the air in one form or another for years, so it really helped me find an audience.

BH: Do you see yourself getting your own show soon?

LB: I do, but nobody else does. I see it on an imaginary network. Sometimes I see it, and its not even there.

BH: How difficult is it to be on the road with comedy?

LB: I’ve gotten to the point where I have an audience. It really is fun now. Even if I’m tired, if there’s 800 to1,000 people there to see you, that kind of really keeps you going.

BH: How do you shrug off a bad show?

LB: You just get used to it. You just deal with it. It’s part of this thing. When you’re doing it as much as I do, you’ve got a lot of reinforcement.

If it’s negative you sit down and go, ‘Is it me, or is it them?’ Then if you think, ‘I was too this or too that,’ then sometimes you go, ‘Wow, I don’t want to ever see this city again.’

BH: What makes Wisconsin such a great target for your comedy?

LB: A, because you’ve got a sense of humor, and B, because it’s a state that’s really smart and really stupid at the same time, really lovable. I’ve never met people that bright and that dumb. It’s fabulous.

You’ve also got laws that no other state does. You can give a kid drinks at the table until they are 18, but then they can’t drink till they turn 21. No one else has that law; you put that on the map. The way you drink, I really think that you should have an exchange program with Ireland.

BH: Who would win a drinking battle between the two?

LB: It would be an interesting toss-up. Ireland would be good at drinking a single drink, but you people are professionals.

Lewis Black performs tonight at the Orpheum Theater, 216 State St.