Paul F. Tompkins plays the Oriental Theater on March 21.

Like buckets of other comedians, Paul F. Tompkins is most recognizable from a razor-thin TV show (in this case, VH1’s “Best Week Ever”) that only barely scratches the surface of his considerable talents. But hey, at least people recognize him.

Comedy nerds will also recognize Tompkins from the brilliant, relatively short-lived HBO sketch series “Mr. Show,” which helped launch co-stars Bob Odenkirk, David Cross and Brian Posehn, bit players like Sarah Silverman, Jack Black and others into the larger showbiz pool. We spoke with the Tompkins shortly after he returned from the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas earlier this week in advance of his stand-up appearance March 21 at the Oriental Theater…

Your current tour schedule is like: Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood, Denver, Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood, Hollywood. What’s with the Denver stop?

I’ve never been there before and there’ s a lot of places that I want to hit. Last year I traveled quite a bit and this year not as much, at least so far. I just haven’t performed in Denver before. I’ve done Boulder, I’ve done Aspen.

You’re playing the Oriental Theater when you come here. Do you like playing theaters or music venues over comedy clubs, like some of your compatriots?

My goal for this year, and this is sort of starting with Denver at the Oriental, is to do theaters and move away from comedy clubs. I’ve done comedy clubs enough. I’m not a fan of that experience. There’s just too much competition in comedy clubs. I’m up there trying to to my show and the comedy club is trying to sell things.

Like potato skins and booze?

Right. The thing I like about real, proper theaters is that the selling of things stops once the show starts. I understand at the Oriental they have waitress service throughout the show, but the good thing about this experience, what I’m counting on, is that the people buying tickets know who I am. They’re coming to see me. They’re not getting free tickets, which is what happens at comedy clubs.

“Papering the room,” as they call it.

As far as the rock clubs go, I know that some of my colleagues have gone that route. I’ve tried it and it’s not my favorite thing. I did a club called the Triple Rock in Minneapolis, which is a great place, and the show was good, but there’s an opening act, a band, then me… and breaks between each act. People are standing that whole time. On the edges there’s some tables but not many. It’s a lot to ask of an audience.

Paul F. Tompkins: One dapper mofo.

So it’s something that’s not really suited to your act?

Considering what I do, my type of comedy is better suited to that theater setup. My comedy is… there’s not a lot of opportunities for you to go “whooo!!” It’s much more about laughing than cheering.

What did you think of South by Southwest? I saw you at Esther’s Follies down there last week, and I know you also performed at the Mess with Texas party…

It was my first time at South by Southwest but I’d performed in Austin before. It was all right. I myself am not a big fan of five-hour comedy shows. I think the problem with these festivals, especially if it’s Bumbershoot or SXSW, that they tend to treat the comedy like the rock and they’re not the same thing, as much as people would like to equate them. I prefer the comedy shows to be shorter. The reaction you’re trying to get out of people is much tougher to get at Hour Four than it is at Hour One. It can be a drag sometimes to go on so late in the show, but I’ve got to keep my energy up too. At least people were sitting down (at Esther’s).

David Cross has described you as a sort of old school guy, an anachronism in your suit and tie, but a welcome one.

My comedy’s always tended toward that anyway. My setups would always be longer than anybody else’s setups. That’s just kind of grown over time. It’s more about the journey than it is the destination. It’s like yeah, it WILL be funny at the end, but I’d rather take my time with it and have little tangents and ideas and whatever.

I’ve interviewed several other VH1’s “Best Week Ever” vets (Michael Ian Black, Christian Finnegan) and was wondering what you thought of the experience overall, doing those talking head things, riffing on celebrity news.

They have their angles with the packages but within that you can say whatever you like. They’re not trying to make you say something in particular. They have stuff that’s written and that’s just there as a guideline. You can use it if you want to, but absolutely you don’t have to and I pretty much never do, because it’s not the way I would say it.

Do more people know you from that, “Mr. Show,” or stand-up appearances at the Largo and UCB Theatre in L.A.? You also do a lot of stuff with Aimee Mann and have been on various TV shows as a sort of commentator (MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann”).

When I get recognized I never know what it’s going to be from. The two main things are “Best Week Ever” and, still, “Mr. Show.”

As someone that’s been doing comedy for 22 years, do you think it’s possible to overstate the value of YouTube, MySpace and SuperDeluxe in breaking new comedians?

I think it is possible to overstate it. It’s absolutely valuable and it’s great that anyone can do it, but the problem is people lose context for things like that. Just because you’re getting out there and reaching all of these people, I think it can create a false sense of experience. You still have to work on things. You have to perfect your craft. The drawback of being able to reach so many people immediately is you’re maybe not learning as much as you could having to jump through a few more hoops. Of course that’s coming from a guy who has had to jump through some hoops.

Heh… indeed.

The last thing I want to be though is a guy that said, “I did it, so you have to do it!” I did not grow up with the Internet the way a lot of people have. It may be very well that my way of thinking is old-fashioned and quaint. But really, if anybody can get this sh*t on the internet, that means ANYBODY get this sh*t on the Internet.