Jon Daly's one-man show "I Hear Jon Daly's Pretty Great" debuted at UCB-LA on May 13. It returns again tomorrow night (May 27) at 8:00, and is not to be missed. I caught up with Jon for a quick email interview in advance of the second show.

Is this the first time you have performed "I Hear Jon Daly's Pretty Great"? Tell us a little about the origin of the show.

“I Hear Jon Daly’s Pretty Great” is the next evolution of a show I did in New York called “Balls Out," or “Jon Daly is Balls Out.” The new show has some similar themes and characters, but I think it’s leaner and (hopefully) funnier. The original show started with me coming out as Bono, having just quit U2, playing U2 songs on a “One Man Jam," which was this fake plastic guitar toy I was obsessed with back then. I could plug it into the sound system at places and sing or rap over these cheesy hip-hop beats it would play. Anyway, I’d come out as Bono, and the Edge (played by amazing NYC comedian Andy Rocco) would make fun of me, and we’d keep coming back throughout the show between my characters. It all climaxed in a music battle where I sang U2 songs and he played riffs, and eventually we realized we needed each other… and… the show was way more complicated. I decided to strip that down so the show is just me, and add a video element that wasn’t present in that first show. I think it’s way more streamlined and simple. I do miss playing Bono though. That guy is such an asshole (who does great stuff for the world too).

More after the jump...

What inspired you to pursue the one-man show format?

Stewart’s “A Christmas Carol," Holbrook’s “Mark Twain," Leguizamo’s “Spic-O-Rama." To stand on the shoulders of one man show giants! JK! I guess I just liked the idea of having a format to do all the characters and bits I’ve been performing over the years in one place, and string them together in an unexpected way. A lot of my characters live in their own crazy-balls world and have very little to do with one another, so it’s fun to find ways for them to relate to each other in a show way.

What can we expect to see in the show?

Well, there’s Sappity Tappity, the Drunk English Pine Tree, who will be heavily intoxicated and spinning old Hollywood yarns. Bill Cosby, who was in the original NYC show, will be there. In NYC, I was doing Cosby’s response to 9-11, which was OK, but eventually bummed me out. I’d much rather see the Cos’ having quit comedy, pitching a remote control fart machine to America. Barry R., the smooth jazz legend will be prominently featured, and also stars in a video directed by the amazing Neil Mahoney. I also do a staged movie preview about a serial killer priest named Fr. Christian, where I get to both murder Dave Matthews and pretend to kiss a girl (with tongue) on stage.

How did you decide what to put in the show?

Me and (director) Eric Appel wanted to find a balance between my bits that are more goofball (drunk trees) and ones that are a little darker (murdering) while still keeping the feeling of an real old fashioned good timey fun fest. Also, I wanted to sing the intensely melodramatic, super-retarded Live song “Lightning Crashes” onstage, which I do.

Hey, how about Garfunkel and Oates? I just saw them for the first time at CDR last week. Have you seen them? I think they're great.

Garfunkel and Oates rock the house! I’d seen them on a couple variety shows before too and loved their stuff, but their whole, just-them show is even amazinger. Their song “I Would Never Have Sex With You," though, makes 14-year-old Jon Daly cry little tears of frustration all over his severe acne.

Reservations are still available for "I Hear Jon Daly's Pretty Great" along with Garfunkel & Oates tomorrow night at UCB-LA. 8:00. $5.