Mary Lynn Rajskub's comedy pedigree is impressive: early in her career she was cast on David Cross and Bob Odenkirk's HBO critically acclaimed sketch comedy series, “Mr. Show with Bob and David.” Quickly thereafter, she switched to the network's “The Larry Sanders Show.” Her film roster includes “Firewall,” opposite Harrison Ford, “Legally Blonde II: Red, White, and Blonde,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” and “Punch Drunk Love.” She also inspires a lot of techno nerd lust playing Chloe on "24," for which she and her fellow cast members won a 2006 Emmy win for Best Drama. Mary Lynn will be performing stand-up at the Lakeshore Theater in Chicago November 24. Our Dyan Flores, who is a big fan, conducted with this interview with Mary Lynn, and then the two of them saved Jack Bauer from terrorists and debugged the American military's computer network.

You said in an interview once that an unintentionally humorous performance art piece was sort of your segue into the world of comedy. Is that something that you're still active in?

My comedy has taken the place of my performance art. There was always a 'performer/audience' element to my performance art pieces. One particular piece I did was me as a public speaker, but my speech was torn up into bits of paper I couldn't fit back together, my podium was made of cardboard that kept falling over when I leaned on it and I had a pointer made of a bent hanger wire. I didn't really put it together that this was comedy! So I'm not still active in true performance art.

Your career started out with more comedic shows such as "Mr. Show" and "The Larry Sanders Show", and as your career progressed you started taking on more dramatic roles in projects like "Punch Drunk Love" and "24"; when you first got into the entertainment industry did you have mainly comedic aspirations or did you also hope to pursue more dramatic parts?

The approach to both is the same. I have never been a joke teller, I have always been more of an actress who happens to have a strong interest in stand up comedy. My aspirations have been to do the things that interest me, acting interests me and so does performing on stage by myself with material I have written. So I have pursued both.

When did you start performing stand up? What sort of topics do you like to cover and how do you come up with your material?

I started performing stand up around 10 years ago. I was very uncomfortable and would barely be able to say my name. This would elicit laughter from the audience which would prompt me to say things like "What are you looking at?" and "What do you want from me." This was my defensiveness coming out. I was defensive because I was scared and then I got laughs so I started to use it to my advantage. Sometimes it was funny, sometimes it was uncomfortable. For a while, I would always trip on the way up to the stage, which I thought was hilarious but people would end up just feeling sorry for me. Nowadays I still have elements of that but it is more about my personal life and observations. It is also about the way my mind works which doesn't really travel in a straight line. So it's about capturing thoughts, inner monologues, insecurities then following them and exploring what happens.

Does your popularity as Chloe (on "24") draw a different fan base to your stand up shows? If so, are they ever surprised or disappointed to see a performance that is so different from what you do on "24"?

People have walked out. People have also been pleasantly surprised. I guess it depends on the people!

I have to ask, what's really on the computer screens at CTU?

There are real fake things on the computer screens. There's a whole team of people whose job is to design them, sometimes real "schematics" and sometimes fake stuff.

You have performed in film, television, and also continue to do stand-up. Is there anything that you haven't done which you would like to do? What branches of entertainment will you never delve into?

I would like to continue to do live shows and get into independent film-making.

And finally, what can we expect from you onstage at the Lakeshore Theatre the 24th?

You can expect a good time.

-Dyan Flores