You don’t easily forget a persona like Brian Posehn’s, a nerdy, balding, unabashed metal lover who occasionally sports the beard of a reclusive woodsman and lovingly accepts the “creepy janitor” roles in films. Putting the face to a name, however, was another story. Despite twenty-two years of doing stand-up and a lengthy movie career, it’s only been recently that Posehn has emerged from anonymity. “For a long time it was ‘Hey, that guy is that guy,’” he says.

Not anymore. Now, only half of the gawkers vaguely recognize him. Posehn’s starting to get some name recognition, and for good reason—the guy works his ass off. His roles as the mail clerk on “Just Shoot Me” and as the homosexual-in-name-only Brian on “The Sarah Silverman Program” are just the beginning. Posehn’s resume includes a just-finished stint with the popular “Comedians of Comedy” tour; a 2006 stand-up record, “Live In: Nerd Rage,” featuring the satirical metal anthem, “Metal By Numbers,” and an upcoming just-recorded stand-up album (that could include a metal version of Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler”); a post-apocalyptic comic book, “The Last Christmas”; a music video director credit for glam-metal parody band Steel Panther; and an upcoming, uh, unique role in Rob Zombie’s animated feature, “The Haunted World of El Superbeasto.”

“I’ve known Rob for a couple of years now,” he explains. “I did ‘Devil’s Rejects,’ one of his live-action movies, and he just mentioned, ‘Hey, I’m doing an animated thing. Do you want to play a horny robot?’ Uh, pretty sure I was born to play a horny robot.”

“Horny robot” may be his role of a lifetime, but stand-up is still his most comfortable act, and—aside from his early Sam Kinison-inspired comedic style (which was “a lot of fake energy… yelling my punchlines and yelling my setups”)—Posehn has mostly made a career just by analyzing the loves of his life: metal, marijuana, horror movies and his wife.

“It’s changing and it’s going to change even more,” he says. “My wife just got pregnant, so already the act is transforming, I’m becoming one of those guys. I always said I wouldn’t. But I’ll try to still be funny when I become that guy.” (Andy Seifert)

January 29 at Zanies, 548 N. Wells, (312)337-4027.