MC Chris brings comic hip-hop from ‘Adult Swim’ to the stage

Between his trademark high- pitched voice acting and the dork- hop songs on Adult Swim cartoons, MC Chris has become an underground hero.

After working as an animator/ writer/voice actor on “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” “The Brak Show,” “Sealab 2021” and “Space Ghost Coast to Coast” – all heavyweights in Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim lineup – MC Chris quit more than a year ago to follow his dream to be a rock star.

Or, more accurately, to be a nerd-rap star.

The 29-year-old New York-based rapper has been raising the roof at shows on the college circuit across North America this year on the strength of songs about robot dogs and white kids who love hip-hop – like the “Star Wars”-geeked “Fett’s Vette.”

MC Chris brings his twisted intergalactic nerd rap on Monday at 8 p.m. to Fat Tuesday’s, 109 W. Pacific Ave. Tickets for the all-ages show are $7 in advance, $10 at the door, through TicketsWest, (800) 325-SEAT or www.ticketswest.com.

Backed by drum and bass wizard DJ John Fewell, MC Chris plays songs from his new album, “Eating Is Not Cheating,” as wells as his cult classic “Knowing is Half the Hassle” on his current tour.

While at Six Flags celebrating back-to-back sellout shows in San Francisco and Los Angeles, MC Chris took time out to share his thoughts about portraying multiple TV personalities, quitting a corporate job to go indie and counting down to “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.”

Perhaps best known for his appearances as the diaper-donning spider and cow on “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” and the youngest crew member on “Sealab 2021,” Hesh, MC Chris said his own personality is most like his “Aqua Teen” characters.

Consider MC Pee Pants’ first appearance on “Aqua Teen’s” first season:

MC Pee Pants: “People totally misunderstand me. I rap about life on the streets. I don’t advocate demons. Come on, drilling into hell? Where you get that shnizna?”

Frylock: “What? Look, I’m going to read your lyric sheet.”

MC Pee Pants: “Want me to spell it out? That’s what I advocate! Yes! OK! You are correct! Look at me! I’m a giant spider wearing a disposable diaper! I’m insane!”

MC Chris on MC Pee Pants: “Pee Pants is trying to trick people through rapping. He’s like an evil genius trying to hypnotize everyone. I’m like that when I rap. I’m trying to hypnotize everyone into enjoying my music.”

On Sir Loin (reincarnation of Pee Pants): “Sir Loin and Pee Pants are pretty much the same. The only difference is the body type (Sir Loin is a cow, also wearing a diaper). Sir Loin got milked a lot so he’s traumatized by that.”

On

Hesh: “Hesh is angry. He wears women’s clothing a lot more than I do. They used to keep him in the reactor room. All the white noise gave him migraines. I’m not that angry.”

On The Brains from “Sealab” who control the network: “They are like these 1920s newspaper guys. They do the fast talk and fast jokes, like the old school gangster dialogue. I do some of that when I rap.”

Alternately credited as Chris Ward as an animator and writer, MC Chris said he always has been more into performing than working behind the scenes.

“When I was 10, my mom had a weekly bridge club. Between games when they had sandwiches, I’d bring down the synthesizer and kick jams for the ladies,” MC Chris said.

After attending art and film school, MC Chris was working as an improvisational comic when Cartoon Network discovered him.

Over the past couple of years, MC Chris gradually has shifted his energy into music. After releasing material to a loyal fan base on the Internet, MC Chris has secured a touring contract with the DC Flag record label, owned by Benji and Joel Madden of Good Charlotte.

“Adult Swim was really cool about it. I can have my old job when I come back,” MC Chris said, though he doesn’t know when that might be. “I just wanted to make an album. Instead of waiting for a label or someone to save my life, I decided to save my own life.”

MC Chris uses his brand of hip-hop to flex braggadocios lyrics and sci-fi fantasy scenarios. Leading up to the release of the new “Star Wars” movie, his Web site’s homepage contained a contest for a chance to see it with him in Eugene, Ore.

Why Eugene?

“It could be on the back of a garage on 16 millimeter (film), and I’d still have a good time,” MC Chris said.