Flula Borg on His New Ink, ‘The Suicide Squad’ and Collabing with Conan

Over the last few years, Flula Borg has delighted audiences worldwide with his spectacular and sassy brand of comedy. He’s traveled the globe, interviewed athletes at the Olympics, acted in blockbuster films and made countless appearances on “Conan.” Now, his latest venture has him collaborating with the elixir of his homeland, Jägermeister, and he’s got the “tattoo” to prove it.

How did you team up with Jägermeister?

I’m a funky musician, comedian man and Jägermeister makes delicious beverages from my homeland. So it felt like a very nice combination. It’s like Jordan and Pippen, maybe I’m Pippen in this scenario.

Do you have any funny stories involving Jägermeister?

I have many adventures that have begun with Jägermeister. In America, Jägermeister is more for the party times. In Germany, my mother will be like “We just had a delicious meal, let’s settle down and chill with a Jägermeister.” Here, it is the opposite. It’s “Hey, let’s have a nice, sassy night of adventures for 42 hours straight and begin with some Jägermeister.” For me, it’s a nice switch and I’ve had many pumping parties with Jägermeister.

Tell us about this new tattoo you’re rocking for Jägermeister.

Full disclosure, I don’t want to curse any of the Hindenburg pilots, but it’s not permanent. I don’t have any tattoos and all of my friends with tattoos have told me it’s like a waterfall. It’s like TLC, once you chase it, it’s over and you go from zero to 60 in four months. So I’ve been afraid to begin. It’s like cookies, I’m afraid to eat one because I can’t stop.

If you got a QR tattoo for real, what would it link to?

It would link to itself. It would be a looping QR code and people just wouldn’t understand it. It would basically be a rude prank that would slowly kill your iPhone battery and encourage you to take your phone, throw it in the sky and play with a hula hoop instead.

If you were to get your first non-QR code tattoo, what would you get?

I love this basketball team called the Tar Heels and the logo has some tar on a heel. [This team] has many German players that only super idiots would know, like Henrik Rödl and Adenola Okulaja. That’s why I loved this college team very much. So I was like, “Hey guys, my first tattoo would be a circle on the bottom of my foot.” They said, “You’re a very large idiot. That’s extremely painful, no one would see it and it will go away in two weeks.”

As you know, many people get tattoos in foreign languages. What’s a German word that you think would be a fun tattoo?

I would say arschgeige, which means anus violin and it’s something you say to someone if they’re being a silly goose or a clueless human. I would put it on my forearm to remind myself to have a fun time, have a snack and just relax. Life is short.

In addition to working with Jägermeister, we heard you’re a part of “The Suicide Squad.” Tell us about how you were brought on to this film?

I was asked to audition and I believed it was a joke. Usually, when people ask me to do anything in life, I believe it’s all a prank. I’m just ready for someone to dump a large bucket of banana pudding on my face at any moment. But this didn’t occur and instead they offered me a role to play in this very wonderful film. I was both surprised and excited, I still cannot believe it. Can you confirm that I’m in this film? I still am not certain, I have no idea. Someone needs to pinch me.

In the movie, you play a former Olympian turned supervillain. Do you think that interviewing Michael Phelps at the Rio Olympics helped to manifest this role?

In my defense, I’ve purchased 22 ravens and every five days I put a little note on one that says, “Hey Mike, you are great at swimming.” And then I throw it into the sky and none have returned. So I assumed they have all arrived at Michael’s house or someone has turned them into a delicious lunch. No one knows.

If your character Javelin had any tattoos, what do you think he would get?

It would be a tattoo of his face over his own face. Javelin thinks he’s very sexy and hot, so he needs confirmation of this and he would receive it just by looking at his own pectorals.

For this part, did you do any training to be able to throw a javelin?

I tried all of the things with javelins. For two weeks, I adopted two javelinas, which are these small kind of skunk pigs. I did this because they didn’t give me a lot of information, they were very secretive and so I had to write my own story, like the film “Crossroads.” That’s what I began to do. I started listening to a band called Javelin, rubbed myself in an oil called Havoline because it rhymes and yes, I did toss some sticks.

As you know, “The Suicide Squad” is directed by James Gunn, who has directed the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films. However, many might not know that he made his directorial debut with cult horror’s “Slither.” Have you seen it?

I loved that movie very much. I am, as you say, a scaredy kitten. Anything like this makes me run away, hide, do the cat thing and try to find a litter box. But I watched it, because I know that he’s so great and this film is wonderful. He’s always combining all of the fun things—it’s funny, then all of a sudden scary, but also great and suspenseful. I love all of these things, it’s like the perfect Lego castle.

If you starred in a horror movie, what would it be about?

I think there would be lots of eating. I love to eat, so I would probably be eating everyone or maybe people would be eating me. Perhaps it would take place during a Thanksgiving dinner and everybody dies. But it’s very important that calories are involved.

How did it feel wearing a mask as a supervillain for this film and then putting one on again for the pandemic?

We shot this film right before the pandemic started. I started with my supervillain mask on the eyes and then I just pushed it down over my mouth. It’s like how everything sinks down, like tectonic plates except a villain mask.

What are your plans for re-entering the world post-pandemic

Jägermeister has a great campaign called Save Our Stages, which is to bring people back to enjoy and experience live music. I’ll be going to small, independent venues because the big boys can usually handle things and weather in the storms. But these small venues are so important and I very much love that they have made me a part of this campaign so you can all come.

Will you be going on tour with Conan O’Brien any time soon?

It’s a dream always. Every day, I wake up and I’m like “I had five Fig Newtons, purchased an elephant and also went on tour with Conan.” Then sometimes it becomes true. We shall see, I very much hope so.

Would you consider getting a matching tattoo with Conan?

Absolutely. He could say whatever it is and I would do it. It could be a map of a fantasy land like Narnia and he would be the “Nar” and I would be the “Nia.” Then every time we came together, we would look for the lion, the witch and the closet.

If you could pick out a tattoo for Conan, what would it be?

I would give him a tattoo of my phone number, social security number, face and favorite foods. So that he would know how to find me and what we should enjoy together when we see each other.

Aside from “The Suicide Squad” and your collaboration with Jägermeister, what else do you have going on?

I’ve made a list of 32 potential tattoos and I’m very afraid that once I begin I won’t stop. It’s just going to be too late. I will be a totally new person with tattoos in every place. So that is happening. I’ve made a children’s album to entertain all of the kiddies. I’m releasing some dance tracks and doing a lot of imaginary yoga, which is just thinking about yoga.