Ben Folds fears no comedy. The former frontman of Ben Folds Five isn't afraid to release a fake album, brandish a synthesizer, or cover Dr. Dre's "Bitches Ain't Shit" while rocking Buddy Holly-esque black glasses. But it's sometimes hard to distinguish his merry pranks from his more sincere work; a collaboration with the notoriously un-musical William Shatner turned out to be a critical darling. So his latest album — a collection of Folds covers sung by college a capella groups and, on two tracks, Folds himself — may raise eyebrows. But Folds insists the album is no joke: "I consider this my new record… If this were Ben World, this would be my greatest-hits album." Forgoing Auto-Tune and modern mixing marvels, Folds mic'd up college dorm lounges, lecture halls, studios and a synagogue. His focus on unfiltered spontaneity paid off — Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella! is the best of Folds, in more ways than one. Folds spoke with Nerve about his new album, the perfect song of seduction, and the mighty scent of Bill Shatner. — Nicole Ankowski

At my college, if you were in the right a cappella group you could get laid on any given night. For nonbelievers, can you explain why a cappella isn't the dorkiest thing in the universe?
I don't really know that it is or isn't the dorkiest thing in the universe. I think the main appeal is that people like singing. And I think it's really cool that — well, whether it's cool or not — I think it's great that college kids will get together without class credit and discipline themselves to sing in a group. It's a pretty big undertaking. I mean, there are lots of ways to get laid. That's one of the more honorable ones.

What's the best way to pick up a Ben Folds fan?
There was a famous, improv-comedy performance-art guy named Charlie Todd in New York, [creator of] Improv Everywhere. They've done a lot of pretty legendary stunts; one was done in Grand Central Station, which was huge. He started his career by imitating me in a bar, and actually managed to pick up girls. I found that amazing. But, you know, it seemed to work for him.