(Every week, comedian Susie Felber interviews a different star of the comedy world for the CC Insider. You can read more of Susie on her blog, Felber's Frolics. After an introduction, this week Susie interviews comic and comedy writer Chris Deluca.)

In my continuing quest to profile stand-up comedians who have figured out how to ply their funny somewhere other than a stage, I give you Chris Deluca – a comedian who has written for “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn”, “Best Week Ever” and the 2005 & 2006 Video Game Awards.  He took a break from tending his most excellent blog, What Sucks, to answer my probing questions.  Read on to find out how he got his start in TV, how he makes executive decisions regarding  “What Sucks” and where you can catch him performing these days.

(After the jump: Chris Deluca on meeting James Brown, being the SNL NBC page, and why Jared Leto sucks...)

Where are you from?

I was born in beautiful Staten Island, NY forever immortalized by “MTV Real Life: Staten Island Girls”, which sadly, is very much a documentary.  Everything is okay though because now I live in Hoboken, the Prague of New Jersey. 

When did you start performing comedy?

I think I was a freshman or sophomore in college.  It was a bringer show at the Village Gate Theater- which was this cool place on Bleecker street in Manhattan where I think Belushi and Chevy Chase did “Lemmings”.  Now, much like so much of New York, it’s a Duane Reade. 

Anyone else in your family funny?  Are they supportive of your career choice?

They all think they’re funny- does that count?  Let’s see them try and make a living at this though.  Good f**king luck, mom. 

Yes they are pretty cool and supportive, I have brothers I bounce a lot of sh*t off of, and they come out and see me when I perform, and of course have constructive criticism that they offer.

What was your first comedy job for pay?  How did you land it?

I was working as an NBC page and had the 8H desk job at SNL.  The guys there were cool enough to let me submit jokes for Weekend Update so technically the first thing I ever got paid for was selling a couple of jokes to Update for Norm MacDonald.  I was able to then sell a couple of jokes to Colin Quinn and then get on a fax list at Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.  So I had a bunch of jokes on those shows and used that to get me my first real job, the job that let me quit my crappy day job a be a writer “full time” (13 weeks). 

The show was for the old “TNN” and was called “Pop Across America”, a talk show done off the back of a flat bed truck, which traveled all over the country.  We brought the show to the people.  It was a lot of fun and I got to see the country the way it’s meant to be seen – by bus.  We went from DC to Pittsburgh to Memphis to Austin and New Orleans.  It aired about 4 times.  James Brown, RIP, was our first musical guest and I had to meet with him to do a segment – my first job out of the gate. 

I met him in his trailer, he had curlers in his hair and one of his wives with him. I tried to explain the segment we were doing but he didn’t care at all, not in a snooty way, but being James Brown, it just didn’t register with him why I was in front of him, speaking.  The segment was for the interview section of the show and involved putting a pretend “polygraph” on him and then asking him a number of questions and buzzing when we thought he was lying.  He politely ushered me out of the trailer, shook my hand and said something I couldn’t decipher, but when it came time to do the bit, he was great.  He also had no idea what show he was on, and in the song he sang- I sh*t you not called- “Killing’s Out, School’s In”- his take on the recent school shootings taking place across the country- he ad-libbed a lyric that rhymed with the word “Nickelodeon”.  He thought he was doing a show for kids, on Nickelodeon.  In some ways, he was. 

You ran a comedy show in NYC for a long time.  Where was it, how did you start it and what was the best thing about it?  Oh and exactly how long did it run?

With my friend, the very funny Julius Sharpe, we did “Indigo” which was on the upper west side on Monday nights.  The show was overall a lot of fun and history has been kind to it.  It was a fun show.  I hosted it.  It had sketches, some short films, a cool bartender named Billy Roberts who’d let me drink each Monday until I was hammered and tons of stand up.  I think the thing that made the show different was that I was constantly mic’d, so many times a comic’s set would turn into a dialogue, we kind of brought that whole Statler and Waldorf Muppet thing to life, especially the more I drank.  It was like the show had a built in heckler, but it was much funnier than I think I’m explaining it.  Some comics did really well with it, some got mad.  Eddie Pepitone was both.  I think we did Indigo for a while- every Monday for something like 3 years.  Can that be right?  Jesus. 

What's the hardest thing about running your own show?

Getting people there.  It was on a Monday, all the way uptown. I used to book a lot of comics mostly so the room looked filled a lot.  That’s not true, I actually had a problem saying no.  Our shows were marathons, but what did I care?   I was hammered! 

Any war stories from running your show? 

Indigo had a lot of rough nights but every once in a while we’d pull of an amazing show.  We’d produce the hell out of it- I remember our anniversary shows, or our Christmas shows were really good- we’d have sketches, really good stand up, a couple of short films that would go over really well…and then the next week we’d have Terry Tocantins.  I’m kidding, Terry is a very funny guy.  I hope he’s reading this. 

You wrote for that show with the Scottish guy in LA.  Afterwards, you moved back to NY.  Ever miss LA?

Actually I went out to LA when I was hired on to write for Craig Kilborn, who was a cool guy to work for.  Sadly, shortly after I moved out there, and bought a new car, he quit.  Showbiz.

New York does kick its ass though and now with global warming, LA will soon lose its weather advantage. 

And you just got done writing for the video game awards... didn't you do that before?

Yes, I was the head writer of the Video Game Awards- that is a serious credit, dude.  There have only been 3 people in the history of the world who have been able to claim that, say as opposed to other award shows like “The Emmy’s” where there are literally, what?  70 dudes who can say they’ve been the head writer?  Are there even head writers on that show?  These questions are exhausting me.  You’re relentless.

We just finished up the show in December.  And yes it was the second time that I had that gig.  I would have liked to do it only once, but at the end of the show last year I realized, there was still so much story left to be told!  In all seriousness though is a very cool gig.

Were there any women writing on the video game awards? 

HA!  Good one.  Well, if women want to write for the video game awards, my friend, they must first play video games.  And I’m not talking about those pervs out there playing World of Warcraft, as female avatars. 

Writing for Samuel L. Jackson must've been cool...

We got very lucky that Samuel L. Jackson was the host.  He was super-cool and just awesome to be around.  He’s very, very cool.  It’s a little intimidating though being in a room with him, he really is like Jules from Pulp Fiction. 

And you did interstitials for them...

Yes, we were able to throw a couple of short films/ internet virals together for the show which were very fun and hopefully funny. 

Did you get to play with or expense actual video games for research?

F**king ‘A yes.  It was awesome.  We got a sh*tload of games- it was very sweet.  We played the Wii before anyone else, let me tell you- all the moving you do with that thing- hey Wii, if I wanted to exercise, I wouldn’t be playing video games! (That joke didn’t make it to the show.)

The VGA’s are a lot of work but it’s a great gig.  The EPs are very supportive of comedy and the guys they let me hire to write the show are really funny, hard working dudes as well.  This year we did a lot of comedy- we had a cold open, a monologue, a short film, 3-4 big bits, a bunch of presenter stuff and some of it was not totally hated by our audience watching at home.  I’m only half-kidding, one of the most challenging things about the show is that a large section of our audience, the really hard core gamers out there, are very tough to please.  Overall though, its fun, we’re playing the best new video games on the coolest new consoles and we’re making jokes about Dig Dug and Leroy Jenkins. 

Are you performing these days?  If so, where can we see you?

I’m starting a show in Hoboken called the “Hoboken Comedy Experiment” at the Gold Hawk bar, 936 Park Ave at 10th Street.  It’s the 3rd Monday of every month and the next one is January, 22nd @ 8:30 PM.  It’s free. 

You make really great ziti.  That's not a question, just a shout out to your ziti.  But are you one to you cook, or are you just a ziti savant?

I’m Italian, we make sauce.  I can make about 3 things, but now I spilled some grated cheese on my floor and didn’t clean it up well enough, so I think we have a mouse in our apartment- but I can’t tell my wife that because she’ll freak, so now its like I’m keeping something from her, acting all strange because I don’t want her to know we have a mouse.  I feel like I’m having an affair.  I’m setting traps, but keeping them out of sight, it’s like a secret war I have with this mouse in my apartment- I’d like to invest more energy, but I’m afraid the mouse will go public.  If I don’t kill that f**ker, she’s going to see it any day now and be like “how long has thing been going on?” 

So who died and made you king of What Sucks?

I’m not alone in this.  It’s this sea of mediocrity we’re forced to wade in.  I don’t know if its because I’m getting older and we’re at the beginning part where the commercial world is beginning to phase us out- like they’re no longer kissing our asses about everything- they’re kissing the asses of younger people.  So yeah, I reserve the right to say Jared Leto and 30 Seconds To Mars sucks.  Robert Plant would never wear mascara like that.  And I also say Zack Braff sucks.  He’s not my movie star. And you know what? Jellyfish, Elisabeth Hasselback and the Lockhorns suck too- why don’t they just get a divorce?

What's this about you and Garfield?  Do you worship him or merely adore him?

I have no idea what you’re talking about. 

(Next week: Susie interviews Colbert Report writer Eric Drysdale.)