HBO
This isn't your first time being followed around by cameras - you did NBC's "Last Comic Standing" two years ago. How was the "Tourgasm" experience different for you?

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GARY
I was much more relaxed and open for this. On the NBC show I was very guarded. Once I realized people were going to see everything, it was in my best interest to come off as an angel. So I was much more careful. But I think I'm a fairly nice guy to begin with.

HBO
Did you give any advice to the others, having been through the 'docu-comedy' experience before?

GARY
Not really. My attitude on NBC was: be careful of everything you say or do, because your family will be watching you. For this one I wasn't concerned. We didn't really know this was going to be seen by more than Dane fans and us, so we weren't trying to create a character or anything like that. I wasn't really thinking people were gonna watch this on Sunday night...which is probably the best way to go about it.

HBO
Are there any cringe-worthy moments from the tour that you're worrying about?

GARY
I got drunk in one episode and went on stage drunk. I'm not really a big drinker, and I didn't know how I'd react. It was an interesting byproduct of how relaxed I was.

HBO
What prompted the drinking?

GARY
It was something I always wanted to experiment with. A number of comedians have a few drinks to loosen them up, but I really hadn't tried it. It was pretty fun. You know how you think you're so entertaining when you're drunk? Sometimes that's good and sometimes that's bad.

HBO
So have you taken it up since then - as a way to relax before going on stage?

GARY
A couple of times, but I haven't imbibed as much as that night. Usually someone's relying on me to headline a show, and I don't want to chance it by coming off as obnoxious. With Tourgasm, as bad as I could do, the fans had Dane to look forward to.

HBO
Dane has talked about how you all have a different approach to stand up. How is your style of comedy different from the others?

GARY
I don't consider myself as naturally funny as some of these other guys, like Bobby and Dane, not as naturally fall down funny. I have to make up for it by trying to be more prepared than the other ones. I admire the guys that don't have to do that - it comes off as much more loose. But I'm sort of out of the Jerry Seinfeld school of writing and rewriting and getting the right words and delivery. Without being too ostentatious, I think of a joke as a poem. Not as in Longfellow, but as in finding certain words that fit better and getting down the timing. But I don't consider myself a poet [LAUGHS] or anything crazy like that.

HBO
Traveling around with three other comics, did you ever worry that your material would start to overlap, that you'd have to sort out what you were going to do before hand?

GARY
Well, the other guys talk about more human things, their relationships, and I tend to take something from every day life. I don't talk about my personal life that much, though I'd like to do it more. So there wasn't much chance of stepping on somebody's toes in terms of material. I think Dane was thoughtful about that in assembling this group.

HBO
So how did you end up getting into comedy to begin with?

GARY
I was a really good student, but I couldn't find a job I liked utilizing any of my scholastic skills. I went to Boston College and got an accounting degree, and I was an accountant for two and a half years. But I was completely incompetent and really unmotivated...thank god. Those were some of the worst days of my life.

HBO
Do you remember the first time you actually performed in front of an audience?

GARY
I didn't actually go to a comedy club with the idea to do it until my first year out of college. There was a contest in Boston for amateur comedians, and there were probably 19 or 20 of them. Dane was the only guy who stood out. I remember thinking, if this guy doesn't make it big, there is no justice. To see what he's done is satisfying. I think everyone around him knew right off the bat what everyone is finding out now.

HBO
What struck you about him back then - was he doing more of the physical stuff than the other comedians or was it more the material?

GARY
It wasn't even the physical stuff. The first thing that always strikes me with comedians I like is their subjects and their writing. He would pick things you wouldn't imagine were funny - he had this joke about the Speak-n-Spell game, where he would speak like the devil. Everyone knew what he was talking about. I remember thinking, I wish I'd thought of that, which is the ultimate compliment to give a comedian. I'd never seen anything like it.

HBO
The three of you - Dane, Robert and yourself - are all from Boston, but you come from fairly different backgrounds, it seems. Do you think there was something about your upbringing that made you a comedian?

GARY
I think there are a whole bunch of different backgrounds for comedians. For me, I knew there was a certain currency in humor, at least with my brothers and my mom. My father was pretty strict with language; he found a lot of the comedy we liked too vulgar. But my mom, when a comedian was on, she called us in. They were like super heroes, the way they noticed these things that I'd experienced. I'd think, 'This guy is like a psychic...how did he know I had crusty toothpaste on the toothpaste tube?'

Eventually, it would lead to some romantic thing. As it turns out, the idea that women like a funny guy is largely false. And girls in high school would rather have the biggest asshole on the football team. Later these guys would spend time in jail.

HBO
Uh, you seem to have a pretty big female fan base - I'd venture to say you even have a few stalkers there on MySpace.

GARY
Adult women do appreciate a funny guy. Personality is more important to them - they do outgrow the jock mentality. But at a time when you really need some affection, the jokes just aren't doing the trick. It's better to be in a gang, to be a real outright criminal.

HBO
What was the highlight of the tour for you?

GARY
My mood was directly related to how my last show went. Some of the audiences were really enthusiastic about the shows, and they seemed really magical. Without leaving any out, Syracuse and Northwestern and BU -- I felt really great about those stops. And Penn State was huge -- 9,000 people who were really excited.

We all got along for the most part. Dane and I had some grievances, but for the most part it was remarkably harmonious. On Metallica's bus tours, they wanted to kill each other. Although there were many times I wanted to fly home...and I can't sleep on a bus anymore.

HBO
What's next for you - where can people see or hear more of you?

GARY
I have a CD out called "Conversations with Inanimate Objects." And I live in New York and do a lot of shows here, including Caroline's, Stand UP NY, The Comic Strip, and the Laugh Factory.

For more about Gary and his upcoming shows, go to www.GaryGulman.com.