In articles about Henry Rollins, the phrase Renaissance man is often used. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, a Renaissance man is “a person who has wide interests and is expert in several areas.”
Well, Rollins is the former lead screamer for punk icons Black Flag and current leader of his own Rollins Band. He’s an actor who has appeared in everything from small indie films (“Desperate But Not Serious”) to Hollywood behemoths (“Bad Boys II”) to cartoons (“Batman Beyond”). He hosted the short-lived “Night Visions” anthology series and was on “The Drew Carey Show.” He owns 2.13.61, which publishes his books (oh, yeah, he’s an author too), CDs, DVDs and other paraphernalia.
Yeah, that’s a lot of stuff for one man to do, but the term “Type A workaholic” might be more apt. He’s been touring for 24 years and performing for 25 and refuses to slow down.
Of all of his endeavors, Rollins has been receiving most of his recent accolades for his seemingly non-stop spoken word tours. His current tour is titled “Shock and Awe My Ass!” “It’s a reference to the working of the war,” Rollins said. “The way it was pumped in the press like we’re giving the Iraqis a light show the likes of which they’ve never seen; like it’s a sports package on DirecTV. I took exception to the wording and thought, ‘Wait a minute, the world is watching you speak. Can’t we have a little bit more decorum and gravity in this moment?’ “
The uninitiated might surmise that seeing Rollins speak is like spending three hours being yelled at by a thick-necked, heavily tattooed, angry drill sergeant who knows the lyrics to a lot of Black Sabbath tunes. But, as evidenced by his latest DVD, “Live At Luna Park,” Rollins’ lengthy shows are chock full of self-deprecating, observant, self-aware and, yes, angry humor.
Each of Rollins’ long, rambling, highly animated tales comes with equally humorous tangents and eventually a denouement that often includes a point. As funny as Rollins can be, he doesn’t think he could put together a tight 15 minutes for the folks at the neighborhood Giggle Plex. “That would scare me, that idea,” he said of doing regular stand-up comedy.
“I respect those that can do it. I like comedians, but I would be terrified at the prospect of ready, set, make ’em laugh.”
Show stop
Henry Rollins performs Friday at Congress Theater.
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Edited by Curt Wagner (cwwagner@tribune.com) and Victoria Rodriguez (vrodriguez@tribune.com)
