A Three-minute interview with comedian Barry Sobel

• Photo courtesy the Barry Sobel Girls

Comedian Barry Sobel blazed a path in the ’80s, merging the worlds of rap and stand up comedy. Now, between recording sessions with his 3 Minute Talk Show, Sobel pays a surprise visit to Atlanta, and he’s brought some friends.

$10. 8 p.m. The Punchline, 280 Hilderbrand Dr. 404-252-LAFF (5233).

Chad Radford: So what are you doing in Atlanta?

Barry Sobel: I’m just out doing some comedy gigs. … I’m doing a surprise show on Wednesday at the Punchline.

If it’s a surprise, is it cool to talk about it?

Yes, please announce it! We’re going to surprise you with comedians Skyping in from all over the country, my friend Brandon Wardell, the youngest and coolest comedian out there doing it, he’s from Washington DC, Eddie Brill, and we’re going to do a sketch with him that I wrote. Jarrod Harris is going to Skype in with one of his hilarious characters, another friend of mine, Michael Priest, from Austin, and my pal, the one and only Drop Dead Diva, Margaret Cho is going to stop by.

And then I’m also in pre-production with the 3 Minute Talk Show. It’s everything you would see in an hour-long talk show, but in just three minutes.

I've seen them all. I think the Jon Cryer episode is my favorite ...

Thanks! I created it based on a talk show that I did back in ’96 for Comedy Central called the Barry Sobel Show. We rolled out the first episode by saying it was going to be an hour-long show, and in the middle of my monologue Kevin Meaney comes out as the president of the network and says, "I’ve got some good news, and some bad news. The good news is that you have a great hour of TV. The bad news it that we’ve had some scheduling problems, we’ve had to make a couple cuts and your show is only three minutes!” Then he goes to a meeting. Fred Willard was sitting by me, and I say, "Hey, I know you as Fred Willard." He says, "Thanks, you exaggerate."