By most accounts, Todd Barry is a normal guy.

He lives in a small New York City apartment.

He jokes around about searching for wallets at Old Navy.

When asked what he had been up to the day of the interview, he answered simply, “Just catching up on laundry.”

His persona isn’t that of a comedian, but of an everyday person.

The not-so-everyday part is that Barry is one of the biggest names in alternative comedy today, even if he doesn’t always act like it.

“I run around and do a lot of sets,” Barry said. “Last night, I just went out and performed for about 12 people.

“If you focus, you can try new things and see how things come out of your mouth when you say them,” he added. “You can work it out.”

Getting to be a big name in comedy requires a lot of time, effort and working for free. For Barry, it was no different. The 46-year-old comedian’s first big break was a “Comedy Central Presents” special that aired in 1999. He parlayed that into guest appearances on numerous television programs, including “Chappelle’s Show,” “Flight of the Conchords” and “Louie,” along with three full-length, critically acclaimed comedy albums.

Even with all of these projects under his belt, Barry is still figuring out how to be a better comedian.

“It’s just something that you have to have a little innate talent to do, but you keep learning as you go,” Barry said. “It’s just diving in really. You kind of do it and see what works.”

Barry has experimented with a number of different methods while growing as a comedian. He’s acted in movies like “The Wrestler” and the upcoming “Vamps,” appeared on the Food Network with Bobby Flay and directed short films.

Maybe the most peculiar tactic was his early acceptance of collaborating with musicians.

Barry has worked in jokes on Fugazi and band t-shirts on children to his repertoire, but he’s also performed his comedy in musical settings, including festivals and on the road with bands like Mates of State.

“It’s not always easy to mix music and comedy,” Barry said. “But there’s a long history there. You’re not always sure how it’s going to work.”

“There’s challenges, but it’s fun to do festivals,” he added. “It is definitely less lonely than comedy clubs. I just like to perform in a variety of circumstances.”

Those circumstances are increasingly leaning towards festivals, like an upcoming appearance at All Tomorrow’s Parties, and non-traditional comedy markets like Birmingham and tonight’s performance in Oklahoma City, where two OU graduates and former Student Media employees, James Nghiem and Cameron Buchholtz, will open for Barry.

“[Barry’s] sarcastic delivery is top notch, and his writing is very sharp,” Nghiem said.

Perfoming in a place like Oklahoma City isn’t all that different from performing in places like Los Angeles or New York, Barry said.

“There [are] really cool people everywhere, and awful people everywhere as well,” he said. “There [are] those elitist types who [sarcastically] say ‘Oh yeah, they are going to love you there.’ But I have no worries about people in Oklahoma … it’s not like I’m playing for the whole state.”

And just like the normal folks in Oklahoma, the similarly normal Barry — a Florida graduate — wonders a little bit about Tim Tebow’s habits.

“The Bible-quotes-under-his-eyes guy?” Barry asked. “I’m sure he’s a good guy, certainly never done anything to me. It is a little curious to have Bible verses below your eyes though.”