The interview with comedian Greg Giraldo is not going as smoothly as anticipated.

He's supposed to call at 4 p.m., but his meeting with Comedy Central runs until a quarter after 5. The streets of New York City are windy enough to ensure that for every funny remark he makes, another one is lost to background noise. He has to pause to catch a cab, and then again to pay the driver. And just when Giraldo ducks into a store to get some quiet, reception cuts out.

"Hey man, I'm sorry," Giraldo said as he called back. "This is now officially the most annoying interview in the history of college journalism."

But rather than letting the interference of television executives, weather, traffic and cell phone receivers hinder the interview, Giraldo, who will be performing at Eisenhower Auditorium Thursday night, cracked jokes about all the potential distractions.

For instance, the first phone call was unanswered because Giraldo was confused by my Idaho area code, expecting an interview with a Penn State student. Giraldo said he was wary upon receiving a mysterious phone call from a state he'd only been to once, nearly a decade ago.

"I can't imagine the ghosts coming back to haunt me from that night," Giraldo said. "Great, I've got a 9-year-old child in Idaho."

Giraldo is headlining Comedy Central's Indecision 2008 tour, including the 7:30 p.m. show Thursday. Free tickets are available at all university box offices and are limited to one ticket per student ID. The Indecision title is used by Comedy Central for all of its election-time programming, included The Daily Show's coverage. This tour is related in name alone, although attendees can expect some political content.

"Some of it's topical political stuff, the other half is just the sort of usual stand-up, whatever you wanna call it, socially satirical," Giraldo said. "And the rest of it is about cotton candy ... about the flavors, the different textures..."

James Adomian, an L.A.-based comedian who Giraldo said does "a great Bush impression," will also be performing.

"That's political, see? So there's not so much pressure on me," Giraldo said.

Not that Giraldo is a stranger to political comedy. The Harvard Law grad was a regular panelist on Comedy Central's Tough Crowd, which featured comedians discussing current events, although Giraldo downplayed that experience.

"Being one of the more informed on the Tough Crowd panel wasn't that tricky. It wasn't a huge challenge, and I say that with love," Giraldo said.

This will not be Giraldo's first visit to campus. He visited Penn State in 2001 for a Bryce Jordan Center show with Lewis Black. Giraldo responded to questions about a 2004 interview in which he said that college crowds now are often more restrained and concerned with political correctness than in the past.

"I like college crowds a lot," Giraldo said. "What I was getting at is they're not what they used to be. You think of rowdiness and craziness. A lot of kids get to college now and they're so sheltered, and it's these intensive 'don't-laugh-at-anything type seminars.' College kids are not necessarily the wildest people in society anymore."

In addition to his stand-up, Giraldo is also one of the panelists on Comedy Central's new show, Lewis Black's Root of All Evil. In the show, two comedians pose as lawyers debating which of their clients is more evil in a courtroom presided over by the judge, Black.

Giraldo is featured in five of the episodes of the first season, the comedian said. Of the two that have been aired so far, Giraldo has lost both. Black ruled Oprah the root of all evil over Giraldo's client, the Catholic Church, and Donald Trump more evil than Viagra. Asked about his perfect losing streak, Giraldo hinted that his next three cases might be similarly difficult.

"I probably shouldn't divulge that information," Giraldo said. "But as you might imagine there seems to be some comedic fodder to be had by someone losing over and over again." Giraldo added that the show originally included post-trial interviews, and the producers "didn't know if I could play elated, so they just had me lose and lose."

He will also be playing a record executive in a new series on the Independent Film Channel. The show follows a real heavy metal band, but is improvised in the style of This is Spinal Tap or Curb Your Enthusiasm, Giraldo said.

As for other long-term plans, Giraldo is uncertain. A new comedy album is in the works, but with no specific plans for release. According to an interview from last February in the University Daily Kansan, Giraldo said he was looking forward to working in film, specifically mentioning Woody Allen and Steve Martin as influences. Just one small snag: Giraldo doesn't remember that interview.

"Did I say that? I really have to start drinking less," Giraldo said. "Either I'm a giant alcoholic or you're the worst researcher ever."