Exclusive | What has Joe List been up to? The comedian filled us in on his new projects

Around 35 minutes into his new special, Joe List pitches a brilliant loophole for how you can get a complex drink made just how you like at Starbucks.The wily comedian’s suggestion is simple: glance at your phone, act frazzled and tell the barista the beverage you’re ordering is for your boss.“I don’t have a boss but this way they can be annoyed by the person I made up,” he quips.This clever idea doesn’t get the biggest laughs of List’s hour, which he’s dubbed “Small Ball.” In fact, far from it.However, the bit is a perfect encapsulation of the Boston native’s singular brand of neurotic comedy.

He obsesses over minute details and finds the funny in oft-overlooked situations like the origin of Mountain Dew, Ben Affleck tipping a waitress at a poker table and proper stroller etiquette.And, while putting out a punchline-heavy special and touring the country might be more than enough for most comics, List double dipped this past year and just completed his feature film directorial debut “Tom Dustin: Portrait of a Comedian.”The self-reflexive documentary follows his funny yet flawed comic friend, the titular Tom Dustin, who settled in Key West, FL, but can’t help but wonder what would have happened had he taken a chance on New York.Rather than acting as a fly on the wall, List inserts himself in the narrative and avoids cliché by painting a nuanced warts-and-all picture of an entertainer and friend deserving of more recognition.That’s not to mention, it’s also very funny.So, like List, we wanted go deeper.

Our team took a magnifying glass to the oft-overlooked parts of the accomplished comic’s oeuvre — his “Last Comic Standing” past, marriage to fellow comedian Sarah Tollemache, parenting a one-year-old, narrative film works — and found out more about the man.Here’s our conversation with comedian, writer, director, actor, podcaster and sometimes difficult Starbucks customer Joe List.Joe, we loved “Small Ball.” What mak...