Bobcat Goldthwait is best remembered for his role as the crazy copper with the high-pitched voice in the Police Academy series. But this seasoned stand up comic made his debut as a writer/director (and star) with the truly bizarre 1992 comedy Shakes The Clown. 6 Degrees Film caught up with this bastion of bad taste at last year�s London Film Festival.

Where did you get the idea for Sleeping Dogs?

The idea of lying about something and the idea that the lies that we tell about ourselves makes us better people appealed to me. When you tell a story about your own life you leave out all the bad stuff to make yourself look good. You edit your own life! And if we all lived up to the edited version we�d all be so nice and charming. We�d all be British! You guys are all so goddamned polite!

What�s the reaction to your film been like at the festivals?

Disappointing. No, it�s been great. I�m just surprised there weren�t more walkouts!

Your film asserts that we prize honesty too highly. Were the repercussions of this something you wanted to explore with Sleeping Dogs?

When I did stand up I�d often say something obnoxious then spend the rest of my act digging myself out of a hole. This movie echoed that. The experiment was to see if you could still care for a character despite the crazy stuff they�ve done.

You once set a chair on fire live on Jay Leno�s TV show. Has that kind of madcap spontaneity helped you as a filmmaker?

It wasn�t that spontaneous because I actually stopped on the way to the TV studio and bought some lighter fuel! And then I got convicted for premeditated arson and was on probation for four years!

What was the reaction from the studios when you pitched the concept of this movie?

I remember one executive who read the script saying: �Does she have to blow the dog? Could she just jerk it off?� Now that�s an executive decision of the highest order.

From gross-out comedy to art house drama the film is hard to pigeon hole yet manages to entertain on many levels. Was that hard to achieve?

I wanted to play with an audience�s expectations of how the story would pan out. It�s not an anti-date movie but while Sleeping Dogs is no 50 First Dates it�s actually quite romantic. In the past I�ve found it safer to inhabit a world of outrageous surrealism. The challenge was to start with an absurdist premise and yet, despite the sarcasm of my comedy style, reach a point where the audience would buy into this as an adult movie and empathize with the central character.

Do you prefer the level of control that a low budget project like Sleeping Dogs affords you as a writer/director?

That�s the bottom line for me. It�s my edit. Half the crew got involved through Craisgslist and Robin Williams even gets an executive producer credit. I told him, �Remember that Fender Stratocaster you gave me? I sold it!� Sometimes trying to get the money for your movie is like talking to a bunch of used car salesman. In making a movie independently I�ve been really lucky. My biggest goal is to go make another movie this size. Or smaller!

People know you best in Britain for your turn in the Police Academy series but you were also a successful stand up comedian. Are you still gigging?

It�s been a thread throughout my life and I only stopped a few years back when I got more involved in directing TV shows for Dave Chappelle and Jimmy Kimmel. Stand up was good to me though. It was a steady job for years. Directing a live TV show is like landing a plane - there�s load of monitors and people yelling at you. It�s a weird skill.

Would you rather be remembered as a filmmaker or a cult stand up?

You know what? I think when I die there�ll be a picture of me in a goddamn police uniform! That�ll be my obituary photo. But hey it�s not such a bad thing!