Tom Papa has seen the future, and it’s off to your left.

– Comedian Tom Papa’s appealingly matter-of-fact delivery belies the bizarre path his logic follows. He’ll start out with a familiar subject like newborn babies, then pursue that thread to its illogical conclusion, making part of the audience cringe and most of it howl.

– Papa, who plays Comedy Works through Sunday, is also the favorite opener of some dude named Jerry Seinfeld (apparently he had some crappy TV show) and a veteran of the stand-up trail and late-night talk show circuit. We caught up with him in advance of his Denver dates to talk about the short trip from comedian to voice actor, his upcoming project with Rob Zombie (WTF?) and the difference between celebrity comedians and actual comedians…

Is it weird for you to go from opening for Seinfeld at these big venues to playing more intimate clubs like Comedy Works?

It depends. If it’s a good club it’s great, because it doesn’t change what stand up is. It makes it better because it’s intimate. But if you go to a horrible club it’s like a Chuck E. Cheese for adults, with people celebrating their birthdays and throwing food and talking. That can be pretty miserable.

What’s the ratio of good clubs to bad clubs out there?

There are not that many (good clubs). I mean, that’s kind of an exaggeration, but I only play clubs where the people are really involved, the management is really involved in the place, and it creates that environment for good comedy.

What are some examples of good clubs?

The Tempe Improv, The Acme Comedy Club in Minneapolis… there are a few. The bigger chains of comedy clubs that just kind of crank it out and don’t care, I guess there’s more of those. But I’m at a point now anyway where I don’t want to go to Fort Lauderdale just because they’ll have me.

Having opened for Seinfeld, worked on “Bee Movie,” been on “The Tonight Show” as a correspondent — you don’t really need to do that anymore, do you?

Even when I was starting out and needed it, I didn’t do that. You either treat (comedy) as something that you love and that’s really important to you, which is what I think comedy is, or you’re just doing it for the paycheck. If that were the case it wouldn’t matter where I was doing it. It’s really important for me to have good audiences in good towns where people are trying to appreciate what you’re doing.

What are some good towns for comedy?

San Francisco, New York, Boston, Seattle. Places where it just seems… Actually, being in Denver you can probably, in a biased opinion, pick out cities that you probably think aren’t that hip. When you get there, you’re probably right. Any place you can think that might be cool to do comedy in probably is.

Tom Papa (right) and comedian Colin Quinn.

Have you ever played Comedy Works?

No, but a lot of my friends who I respect as comics love it. The last time I was in Denver was with Seinfeld, and there were great crowds. They allow you to be a little more subtle and they get more of what you’re trying to say.

How much time do you spend on stand-up, and how much working on writing or acting projects?

I’m doing six nights of stand-up a week, regardless of whether I’m on the road or at home (in L.A.) In town I usually rotate between the Laugh Factory, The Improv and the Comedy Magic Club. The writing and acting stuff kind of comes in and out.

Have you seen some of the comments your YouTube videos have gotten, like on the baby throwing joke?

No, what’d they say?

Well, the ones that stood out to me were people offering to perform sexual acts on you because they loved the joke so much.

Heh… It’s good to read all that stuff, I guess, but the Internet is just this crazy cesspool. If you were sitting in a football stadium and looked around, you wouldn’t want to hear what all those people had to say about you. And now the Internet gives everybody in that stadium a reason to scream out loud. I liked it better when there was a gatekeeper that allowed people to put their opinions out there. Myspace is a good tool and all that, but anytime I’m reading comments I’m like, “I should be writing jokes.”

Having been through the sitcom development and production process with your eponymous show a few years ago, were there things you learned that you wish you would’ve known before?

You definitely learn from going through it and doing it, but I think you just have to stick to your guns. It’s a weird balance between trying to please the people who can take your show and put it on or off the air, and doing exactly what you want to do. You know what I mean? It’s like everything in life — you have to completely believe in what you’re doing and live or die by your vision. I think the first time through I was living or dying by some other suggestions that, at the time, I didn’t know if they were good. I know they weren’t now.

Tom Papa at, presumably, one of the good comedy clubs in this country.

Would you ever try to develop another sitcom?

I’m doing one right now.

For which network?

I can’t say what network, only because the deal was closed right before the (writer’s) strike and we’re not supposed to be talking about it or working on it or anything.

Yeah, I see the strike has put a stop to one of your other regular gigs — being a correspondent for “The Tonight Show.”

If the strike ends this week, I’m on “The Tonight Show” next Wednesday.

How often are you on there?

Several times a year, really. I think it’s important now that there ‘s so much that people can choose from… you almost have to try and get on as many time as you can in order for people to know who you are. The whole reason I do any of the TV or film stuff is so more people will come and see my standup. You have to kind of fuel your stand-up career with some cull from other parts of the business.

Seems like some people get into stand-up to become general celebrity whores.

No way, I love stand up.

You hear about these comedians that are like, “I’m all famous, but now I’m getting back into my roots and stand-up! Look at how awesome I am!”

That usually means the other work has dried up… I always look at stand-up as, “That is the work.”

The upcoming Rob Zombie project, “The Haunted World of El Superbeasto,” for which Papa provided the voice and a writing credit.

A lot of comedians end up doing voice work and stretching slightly different creative muscles. Speaking of which, tell me about the El Superbeasto project with Rob Zombie. He’s more known for his splatter films and White Zombie, isn’t he?

Rob had met me through a mutual friend and saw my stand-up. We became friendly and he was going with this project and asked if I’d help him be the lead voice of El Superbeasto, and then write it with him.

What was working on Seinfeld’s “Bee Movieâ€? like? Wasn’t it in development for a long time?

It was four or five years in the making. I got brought in like a year into it. I did some writing on it and had an initial screenplay credit, and then didn’t see it for a long time. Then Jerry brought me and some of the writers back and we made another pass to make it funnier and tighter. We started cutting some of the voices, so I did a couple voices on it. It was a really cool process, and interesting to go through without it just being this, “Let’s just make a generic kind of animated film.â€? It was like, “Let’s take this Seinfeld kind of comedy and be true to it in this format.”

Do you actively try to get involved in certain projects?

There’s certain things you push for in the business and certain things just kind of happen. I was always just pushing to be the best stand-up I could be. Then these things pop up. I did some voicework for an animated series on Disney Channel, even. The voice thing is starting to take off with really no pushing on my end. I guess that’s why some people become game show hosts. People just call them up and are like, “Hey, here’s a gig.”

That, and comedians’ voices are so honed from being on stage. It would seem to lend itself to voiceover work for cartoons.

Also, comedians are very funny looking. They can only be used on screen in certain instances. Same reason some people become radio DJs.

What else are you working on right now?

I have a recurring role in “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (featuring “Seinfeld” alumnus Julia-Louis Dreyfus). There are two of those coming out at the end of year. I’m also working on shooting a CD/DVD special in New York in the spring, so that’ll be available in the summer, probably on Comedy Central or Showtime.

All right, thanks for your time, man.

You bet.