Day: November 28, 2008

How many comedians also are military veterans? Rob Riggle served in the Marine Corps before becoming an SNL featured player and Daily Show correspondent. And then there's Benari Poulten, make that Sgt. First Class Benari Poulten of the Army Reserves. When living in New York City, Poulten is part of the Shoot the Messenger production, writing and performing crew, helping to skewer the morning TV news machine, and also spending a few days here and there serving our nation. Until Poulten got called for active duty. After a farewell party in late September, Poulten shipped off for training in Alabama, and is expected to spend 2009 in Baghdad helping serve the Army's communications functions out of Iraq. As Poulten and I joked then, Shoot the Messenger's mocking misinformation probably already would be good training for military disinformation. Don't worry, U.S. Army, those were my joking words, not his. Poulten says his friends and comedians should still be able to follow him through his military service through Facebook. Ah, the modern war. When Veterans Day rolled around, I thought of Poulten and reached out to him online. Turns out he got to spend Thanksgiving weekend home with his family, and you'll also be able to see and hear him live tonight in Boston, at Mottley's Comedy Club, opening for Jon Fisch. Here is what else Poulten had to tell me...