Pemberton. He played the very young American official assigned to receive a crass and impatient British government spin doctor (played by Peter Capaldi) during the run-up to an Iraq War-style conflict. Pemberton followed that brief but memorable performance with another gig that’s right up our readers’ alley. As host of the new MTV show Megadrive, Pemberton hilariously test-drives, and often demolishes, a wide variety of heavy vehicles, including some of the latest military hardware. Danger Room caught up with Pemberton via email.

Danger Room: Why Megadrive? What is it about big freakin’ machines that interests you?

Johnny Pemberton: It’s something so different and apart from any everyday experience. You have these massive or fast or totally bizarre vehicles that most people will never get to see or touch, let alone drive. They’re just absolutely captivating. Loud as all Hell, amazingly powerful and able to very easily kill you and/or anyone near you by accident. I get bored very easily and often have trouble paying attention, but not around a tank. It forces you to pay really good attention.

DR: What kind of military hardware have you gotten to drive?

JP: M-1 SEP battle tank, JCB HMEE [a military-grade, armored backhoe -- ed.], and an Armored Personnel Carrier from Manuel Noriega’s army that’s now used by the sheriff’s special operations unit in a little town in Georgia.

DR: What’s your impression of the military gear? User-friendly? Ergonomic? Fun? Or not so much?

JP: Not so user-friendly at first, especially with the tank. It’s amazing that three fully kitted-out soldiers have to fit in that thing, and for long periods of time. The loader has to pull these extremely heavy rounds out of the magazine and get them into the breach all in this tiny space, and in less than three seconds. The inside of the tank starts to feel ergonomic after you get used to it, but initially it seems like anything but.

DR: How did military types (contractors included) react to the tone and content of your show?

JP: To the extent of my involvement, they reacted great. But that’s only because we had a whole team of people casting these vehicles, taking care of all that work beforehand — so when we went in to shoot, things went smoothly. The 81st Armor Regiment in Fort Knox was amazing, very welcoming and interested in showing me all the amazing things that tank was capable of, which meant driving over a Daewoo with its windows removed and shooting armor piercing mortars [sic] at an old school bus downrange.

DR: You seem like you’ve got something of an interest in military stuff. Where’d that come from?

JP: It’s hard to say exactly where that came from. One half of my family has always been involved in the military, so there is definitely some history. My grandfather was an aircraft mechanic, mainly for A-10s, at England Air Force Base in Louisiana. When I would visit my grandparents as a kid … you could hear that low hum coming from the Gatling cannon on the nose of the A-10, as they were doing target practice.

I think another big part of my interest in the military comes from that fact that I could never be in the military. I’ve had ulcerative colitis since I was very young, and have since had my entire colon removed. All that makes me ineligible for military service, not to mention I’m a total pussy. That being said, I have a massive amount of respect for all the men and women serving in the military, because it’s one of the few things I know I couldn’t hack.

DR: And how does that jibe with your career as a comic? What’s funny about war technology?

JP: Being a comedian is sometimes like war. You have to go up on stage against a hostile or completely disinterested crowd. It’s the civilian version of “war of hearts and minds.” They could probably use more comedians in warzones.

As far as the technology aspect, there’s plenty to make fun of. Everything is mind-numbingly expensive, but it looks cheap and/or works in some counter-intuitive way. In the JCB HMEE, all the controls made sense and were easy to use except the weird radio and light add-ons that make it okay for military use. From my perspective, it seemed like bureaucratic restrictions going before design. That to me is always funny, like the Pentagon’s $800 screwdriver.

DR: What’s next for you?

JP: Next, well, definitely nothing nearly as exciting as Megadrive. We shot 12 episodes over about four months, which were without a doubt the scariest, most stressful and exciting four months of my life. Once we wrapped, I went through some sort of mini version of PTSD. Really made me have a much better understanding and appreciation for the horrors that soldiers have to go through once they return to civilian life. It took me the better part of six weeks to cool out.

Since then, I’ve just been doing comedy shows as much as possible. Recently, I appeared on two episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which I shot earlier this past summer. Right now, I’m shooting a Web series called Aim High, where I play the best buddy to a teenager who secretly works as a hitman for the U.S. government. It’s pretty silly and fun, but we’re doing a lot of real effects. I had to run from live fire from an MP-5 the other day — exciting! If it all goes well, maybe there will be a second season of Megadrive, which I’m sure will have us doing more crazy shit with the armed forces. They definitely have the best toys.

Authors: David Axe

to know more click here