Every Friday night, you can catch John Mulaney snarking on all things pop culture as a regular contributor on VH1's "Best Week Ever." This week, however, you can see him in person, as he co-headlines at the Punch Line Comedy Club in San Francisco.

Daily Californian: How is stand-up comedy different from the comedy you do on "Best Week Ever," and which do you prefer?

John Mulaney: "Best Week" is purposely fast and furious-it's like, bam, bam, bam. You watch an episode from three weeks ago, it's not meant to hold up. ... I have tried in stand-up to write about things that I think will just have a longer shelf life, and a lot of it's much more personal, so it's not all entertainment-related.

DC: When you're doing "Best Week Ever," do you ever find that you have nothing witty to say about a current pop culture event?

JM: The real problem is when it's like, the situation is so ridiculous, that I'm really left with a feeling of, "Well, we can't say anything funny, because it's already as funny as it can be." ... Sometimes you look at these stories and you're like, "They're doing this on purpose to be hilarious."

DC: What was your favorite entertainment story of 2007?

JM: I really liked when the FBI investigated briefly whether or not Britney Spears had hired a hitman to kill Kevin Federline. It was really funny that you would need a hitman to kill Kevin Federline. I think what I said is that I would just do a trail of cupcakes off the side of a building. And then he would roll up and be like, "Oh, look, another cupcake. These are like muffins with frosting." And then he would eat them and fall off.

OJ arrested again was great. That had a nice full-circle feeling. The first time it happened I was in eighth grade. That was a fun moment to see again.

Another one of my favorite moments of 2007 was the Trump and Rosie O'Donnell showdown. Trump is an amazing man to watch. When he makes a decision, he must think to himself, "What would a cartoon rich person do?"

DC: Who are some of your comedic influences?

JM: The period from like age 11 to 13, I feel like every major comedy influence came in right then: I first watched "Monty Python," I first saw movies like "Stripes" and "The Jerk," I first saw Woody Allen, like "Bananas" and "Take the Money and Run" and "Annie Hall," and "The Simpsons" was in its absolute heyday then. I feel like that was the sort of definitive age.

DC: What do you like about performing in the Bay Area?

JM: I got to do Berkeley two years ago, spring of '06, on Comedy Central's College Tour with Mike Birbiglia, and I just loved it. It was my favorite show of the tour: It was a great live show, and then going out around Berkeley afterwards was really fun. ... The audiences (here) are great and are real comedy fans. And that doesn't mean to say that people who just come to a comedy club for whatever can't be a good audience-they can. But real comedy fans, it's really fun to perform for them. They're very smart, and they're there to see the show. Smaller things are picked up on that are lost in between New York and San Francisco.

DC: Why should people come see your show?

JM: People should come out to our shows because Amy and I are very funny and nice-looking, and we will take mobile phone pictures afterwards. Also, when else can you see me talk about my childhood drinking in front of a colorful mural of San Francisco?

Tags: COMEDY