Comedian David Cross is a boundary hopper

Comedian and actor David Cross' hands will be sore Monday night during his stand-up act because it will immediately follow two hours of book-signing at a local bookstore.

"I'll put them in soup," Cross said about his remedy for cramped fingers.

Cross, 45, is best known for his roles in two TV series that were loved by critics but ignored by viewers. The first was the short-lived Fox series "Arrested Development," where Cross played Tobias Fünke, a licensed "analrapist" (cross between analyst and therapist) who wants to join the Blue Man Group. The second was the HBO series "Mr. Show," a sketch-comedy show that ran from 1995 to 1998.

But Cross has found the most success as a stand-up comic who blends observational humor with left-wing politics. That is what led him to write a book, although he admitted he never reads books.

"I got a phone call from a man I had never met," Cross said about who initiated the book idea. The man, Cross said, identified himself as Cross' literary agent. "I didn't know I had a literary agent," Cross said.

The result is I Drink for a Reason, a collection of essays, satirical fiction, advice and lists that displays Cross' wicked wit, full of media and celebrity mockery with potentially offensive anti-religion commentary.

Cross said much of his new stand-up material is encapsulated in the book, such as a story about how conservatives once said Mitt Romney would have a hard time being elected president because he flip-flopped on gay marriage. Cross, a strident atheist, said the real reason was because Romney was the follower of a religion founded by a "convicted con man."

That type of blunt commentary is why Cross is loved by some and hated by others. He hasn't toured the United States in five years, he said, and "I have a lot to say."