[...] Cera once did an entire stand-up routine during which he read an earnest poem about his ex-girlfriend, while on the verge of tears. There were no jokes, save for the meta-joke of squirming in the presence of someone so vulnerable. “But that’s the only way I can feel comfortable addressing an audience”, he says. “Having that security blanket of being in character. I’ve never done straight stand-up, where you just are yourself. That’s too terrifying to me.”
Cera also plays in a band THE LONG GOODBYE with his friend Clark Duke, another former child-actor he met in L.A.
Rivers Cuomo, Weezer's Wizard.
"ALONE: THE HOME RECORDINGS OF RIVERS CUOMO" Cera’s a huge fan of Weezer, the grunge-pop band, whose resident genius, Rivers Cuomo, endured a mental meltdown and wound up living in an apartment with the windows covered and the walls painted black. I ask Cera whether he ever wonders, in his own life, if personal demons are prerequisites for great art. He considers this, then says, “I’m not really trying to make great art.” Source: Nymag.com/movies
Michael Cera and Kat Dennings
in "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist" (2008).
"Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist is a comedy about two people thrust together for one hilarious, sleepless night of adventure in a world of mix tapes, late-night living, and, live, loud music. Nick (Michael Cera) frequents New York's indie rock scene nursing a broken heart and a vague ability to play the bass. Norah (Kat Dennings) is questioning pretty much all of her assumptions about the world. Though they have nothing in common except for their taste in music, their chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band's secret show and ends up becoming the first date in a romance that could change both their lives".