When Michael Showalter was first booked for the Just for Laughs fest, he planned to come with longtime collaborator Michael Ian Black in tow, before Black had to back out. The two seem inseparable: Back in the ’90s they starred in the cult sketch show The State, then they went on to form the comedy trio Stella with State alum David Wain. In 2007, they both recorded their comedy albums at the Lakeshore Theatre on a double bill, and on July 15, their new Comedy Central show, Michael and Michael Have Issues debuts (on the same day the long-awaited State DVDs arrive in stores). But on his own, his stand-up (as evinced on his album Sandwiches and Cats) toes the line between his own laid-back charm and the absurdist energy of his sketch work. We caught up with Showalter for a few minutes, while on break from shooting a Michael and Michael episode, and chatted about his various projects, his Twitter fascinations, and his enduring love of cats. For more of our conversation, about Michael and Michael, check back in July.

Jonathan Messinger: When I was looking at your Twitter stream, I saw that you only have a few people that you are following and most of them seem like they’re friends of yours and maybe, I don’t know if these guys are your friends but, Ryan Seacrest and Rob Thomas?

Michael Showalter: Yeah, you caught that. I don’t know why, there is no logic to who I’m following. None whatsoever.

JM: I didn’t know if that was a little window into…

MS: A joke? No. I think I just saw Rob Thomas on someone else’s and he Twitters nonstop. He is one of those guys that Twitters all day long.

JM: And it is probably just the most boring stuff right? Like, “Leaving Denny’s…”

MS: Yeah, that’s what it is actually. It is just narrating his every movement. Yeah, the people who I follow who Twitter the most are Rob Thomas and Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He Twitters literally every 5 minutes all day long. I don’t know how he does his job. I Twitter very rarely. I post usually one photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge a day, and that’s pretty much my contribution to Twitter.

JM: You have longer writing projects ahead of you. I saw that you have a memoir coming out?

MS: I am working on an attempt at a memoir. It’s sort of like writing more about not actually being able to write one. It’s kind of the memoir about writing a memoir. So it is like 30 pages of me talking about how I don’t feel worthy about writing a memoir, that kind of thing.

JM: So the winter 2009 date is sort of a long shot.

MS: No it’s actually going to be—because the show got picked up, and I had to stop writing the book—now the book will probably be out fall of 2010.

JM: Oh, okay. I saw in the synopsis of the book that it delves into your obsessions. Please correct me, but one of your obsessions is cats?

MS: Oh yes.

JM: Cats are even in the title of your comedy album. Where does that come from?

MS: I just love cats. I just prefer them to human beings. I find them endlessly entertaining and endlessly fascinating. I just think they are wonderful little creatures and I can’t quite explain my affection for them, I just think they’re great. I have three.

JM: I found that on your blog, people comment on your cats.

MS: Yeah, I have three cats, and I just kind of sit around at my house all day long and stare at them and talk to them. Because they are wild animals, but they are also domesticated. They are like domestic, but they are also so aloof and kind of on their own planet. So it is kind of like endless, they just do their own thing. Their behavior I just find very engaging.

JM: So you’ve mentioned the book, and the show, and you have Stella and your stand-up, and do you still do the Showalter Showalter?

MS: Yeah, I haven’t in a while but I am sure that I will do it some more.

JM: It seems like you’ve got a lot on your plate.

MS: Yes, plus I teach at NYU.

JM: Oh yeah, what do you teach there?

MS: I teach screenwriting at NYU film grad school. I am on the faculty.

JM: Is it difficult to sort of keep all those all in the air?

MS: No I’m actually better the busier I am, and the more productive and organized I am. I like to have a lot to do, otherwise I sort of…when I’m idle I watch TV and do nothing, that sort of thing. I mean the bottom falls out.

JM: Speaking of screenwriting, I was a big fan of The Baxter. Do you have any other screenplays in the works?

MS: I want to make another movie, and I am hoping to write it this summer or fall. I have a story that I want to do and some actors in mind, but I haven’t written it yet.

JM: Can you say what it is at all?

MS: It is, what can I say without giving away too much? It is about back pain. I will just leave it at that. It’s a love story involving back pain.

JM: That seems like just enough. The DVDs for The State are coming out next month; it must feel so good, even to just not have to answer that question anymore.

MS: That is probably the main reason why, just to not have to answer that question anymore. Because I have had no better idea about it, in the last ten years, than anybody else has. But it seems like it is a good thing that it is coming out, and actually they are airing episodes of it on MTV2. So look out for that.

Showalter performs Sunday 21 at 7pm at the Lakeshore Theater.