Comedian Eugene Mirman has a list of grievances, and they are, well, mild at best. 

That being said, the comedian, actor, and writer is currently touring those grievances, and he’ll be stopping in Milwaukee at Vivarium on Thursday night to air them out. Prior to the show, we caught up with Mirman, who many may know as the voice of Gene from “Bob’s Burgers,” to talk about touring, the multiple avenues in comedy that he gets to explore, and of course, East Side parking regulations: 

“An Evening of Whimsy and Mild Grievances” is coming to Vivarium on November 7th. I know that you've done stand up for years, but how frequently do you get to make it to this part of the country?

I've been to Milwaukee many times, but I haven't been in a while, which is one of the reasons I wanted to go out there, because I really enjoy Milwaukee and I love the Midwest. I've done shows at many of the venues over years with various friends, and I'm excited to come back.

I’m sure many fans will know you as the voice of Gene from “Bob's Burgers.” Do you get a lot of that from crowds? People asking for specific "Bob's Burgers" things?

People don’t really call out for it as much as you’d think. I mean, my voice is the voice I do on the show. Afterwards, sometimes, people will tell me that they like the show or talk about it, but, I do find that, like, a lot of people who love "Bob's" come out and are often sort of like, “oh, this is like if Gene was a 50 year old.” 

Does your personality come out in the character at all? Are you at home tinkering away with beats and sampling things?

I wish I could play music. I still consider it. Like, last year, I took some piano lessons, but I cannot play music. But I do enjoy it, and I do love tinkering with gadgets. So Gene is probably much more musical than I am. But the spirit of gadgets and tinkering exists in both of us.

Let’s talk “Mild Grievances.” Without giving away too much, what are the sorts of things that we should expect to hear you grieving about on stage at Vivarium?

I've had dumb things happen before. I once got a parking ticket for being parked in the wrong direction, in New Hampshire. Then I took out a full page ad in their summer guide, criticizing them because there was no sign to let people know that you can't park in a garage facing out. That's an example of what I would describe as a mild grievance. Something that is both wrong, and there would be also no way to know that it was wrong.

Well, parking is a little tight on the east side of Milwaukee. Just an FYI, I’d be cautious of the signs, I guess.

My ad was both fair and polite. I won’t take out an ad on OnMilwaukee, assuming that Milwaukee's rules are clear and fair.

This is, of course, on your rider to make sure all parking regulations are correct, right?

Yes. Soda water, gum… umm, an avocado? And make sure the street signs in your city are clear and easily readable.

Okay, we can do that for you. Are you working on this hour of stand up with the intention of possibly working on a new special, or is this strictly for the tour?

Both. You know, in general, I love touring, but, yes, the hope is that I'm working on new material and will eventually record it as a new special and album, maybe for sometime in the next year or so?

Is doing standup kind of an escape from the production of acting or doing “Bob’s”? Does it feel like you’re allowed to be yourself more?

I don’t know. I think one of the things that's so fun about comedy is that you get to work in so many different things. So I like doing standup or acting because with “Bob’s,” we record at the same time and we record together, and we get to collaborate and improvise, and that's really fun. But then there's also traveling and going to different cities and getting to sort of do standup, which is how I started. So I think it's not that anything's really an escape from anything else. It's more that I really love the variety.

Well we can’t wait to see you when you come to Milwaukee. Is there anything particularly Wisconsin that they should have ready for you when you visit?

Umm… do cheese curds count?

Absolutely.

Oh, then yeah. I would say probably some sort of local smoked fish and cheese curds. And make sure your parking signs are up to date.

Eugene Mirman plays Vivarium on Thursday night. Tickets are currently available via the Pabst Theater Group website.