Don't let him fool you

"I went to a Renaissance faire when I was just a child. I remember there was a woman there dressed as a wench" -- right there he enunciates like a wrestling announcer channeling Olivier -- "and she's on top of a wooden platform. And there's a tightrope, and if you can walk the tightrope you can make out with the wench. I was too young to even be trying to make out with a wench, but I thought that was something."

Here comes the sad part: "Everyone was in costume, wizards and the like. I was dressed wrong. I was dressed like a clown. I was like a Bozo-clown, not a jester-clown. I was a modern clown in Elizabethan times. I stuck out like a sore thumb. It was my sister's fault. She dressed me. I was like 9, and I felt like an outcast."

And there you have it, a worthy secret origin for Black, who took the shame of that youthful clown trauma and turned it into a truly warped and wonderful screen career. The chubby, Puckish actor who grabbed the moviegoing audience by the lapels in "High Fidelity" and perfected his comedy stage-dive with "School of Rock" has two new films, one a surprise and the other a project that pretty much defines his core sensibility.

"The Holiday," a romantic comedy that premieres Friday, has Black making a pivot toward the mainstream that would have Billy Crystal nodding in approval, and "Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny" serves up the go-for-baroque adventures of his spoofy heavy metal band, coming off sort of like "Bill & Ted's Excellent Spinal Tap." The first film reaches out with a wink to women, but the second gets rope burns trying to make out with wenches.

Black is a busy man these days. He is a newlywed and first-time father with a 5-month-old son, and "The Holiday," which also stars Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet and Jude Law, has pulled him through the junket wringer in recent weeks.

"The Pick of Destiny," meanwhile, took more than two years to finish with its assorted reshoots, and its status as Black's personal passion (he wrote and directed it) put him in fast and furious mode to promote it. He toured with the band (which is fronted by him and his longtime straight-man pal, Kyle Gass) and the shows, including two sold-out nights at Gibson Amphitheater, are no joke, despite the screwy and lewd material: They bring elaborate sets and strong backup talent, and draw crowds that bang their heads as if Black Sabbath or Motorhead were onstage.