(Continued...)

So it wasn't weird to go from hanging out with a bunch of laid back, creative-types to hanging out with Marines?

No. It really wasn't. People, in their minds, I think because they haven't experienced either, tend to think that those worlds are totally exclusive of one another. But the truth is, when I'm a Marine, I put on my Marine hat and I conduct myself as a Marine officer should. I know what my roles and my responsibilities are, and I know what I need to do. But it doesn't take away from who I am as a person. I'm still very reasonable, I listen, I don't have to yell; you don't have to do things like that.

Obviously there are huge differences. But as far as a liberal- or conservative-type thing, it's not as prevalent as you would think. And I'd think where people would be really shocked is, if they really did get to know their Marine or other military officers, I think they would find that they're very open-minded.

Really?
Oh, absolutely. You have to be. The military is just a microcosm of the United States' population. It's not some weird entity from another planet. They're your neighbors, they're your brother-in-laws, they're family members, friends, people you went to school with. They have the same background, the same interests, they watch the same shows, the same movies, they know the same stories. They're not that different, and if they see bad policy, they're going to say, "This sucks." You know, Clinton sent me to Kosovo and Bush sent me to Afghanistan. But to me it doesn't matter. It's not the role of the military to decide where we go; that's the administration's job. Our job is to do the best job we can when we get there.

Jon Stewart's the most sincere guy I've ever met. He's always been a hero of mine. He's a mentor to me and he doesn't even know itOpen-minded or not, a lot of people still associate the Marines with R. Lee Ermey's character in Full Metal Jacket.
Well, of course, because that's the only exposure they have to Marines. And the truth is, yeah, there is that aspect of the Marine Corps, and it has its place. You know, your Marines are not going out there to sell Girl Scout cookies. They're going out there to win the nation's battles. That means fighting, and you have to train for that. So there's a certain amount of mental toughness that goes along with it.

When you came back to New York to do comedy, how curious were your colleagues about your time in the military?
Obviously, it is a novelty that I'm in the Marines and I do comedy. But, yeah, for the most part, they're very curious and they're very respectful, you know? I think they're all smart enough to know that it's not the military out there making the decisions. They'll criticize the administration, and that's fine with me. I don't have a problem with that.