The surprising rhythm of Bill Murray

Splitsider's The Collected Wisdom of Bill Murray is a fun read. One of the excerpts is from GQ's Bill Murray Is Ready To See You Now.

But you asked how you get the comic pitch. Well, obviously a lot of it is rhythm. And as often as not, it's the surprising rhythm. In life and in movies, you can usually guess what someone is going to say—you can actually hear it—before they say it. But if you undercut that just a little, it can make you fall off your chair. It's small and simple like that. You're always trying to get your distractions out of the way and be as calm as you can be [breathes in and out slowly], and emotion will just drive the machine. It will go through the machine without being interrupted, and it comes out in a rhythm that's naturally funny. And that funny rhythm is either humorous or touching. It can be either one. But it's always a surprise. I really don't know what's going to come out of my mouth.

I'm fascinated by how/when jokes stop working. I think this surprising rhythm thing has a lot to do with it. When you first tell a joke, you're not sure where the laughs are, what to emphasize, etc. And that can create some real magic. Words pop into your head and you're surpised so the audience is surprised. But once you hone it into a polished bit, you often smooth over those rough edges. And that can take away the surprise. And that can kill the laughs. And then you gotta figure out a way to make it seem like the first time all over again.

Comedy that takes down the powerful

Interesting piece by Kyle Smith: "Where’s their nerve? Today’s comics mock poop, not the powerful."

’70s comedy ruled from an anti-throne of contempt for authority in all shapes. College deans, student body presidents, Army sergeants and officers, country-club swells, snooty professors and the EPA: Anyone who made it his life’s work to lord it over others got taken down with wit.

When the smoke bombs cleared and the anarchy died, comedy turned inward and became domesticated. It also became smaller.

“The Cosby Show” and Jerry Seinfeld didn’t seek to ridicule those in power. Instead they gave us comfy couch comedy — riffs on family and etiquette and people’s odd little habits.

Now, in the Judd Apatow era, comedy is increasingly marked by two worrying trends: One is a knee-jerk belief, held even by many of the most brilliant comedy writers, that coming up with the biggest, most outlandish gross-out gags is their highest calling.

...

Today’s comics have abdicated their responsibility to take down the powerful. They tiptoe around President Obama, but comedy has to be fearless.

These days they’re more at ease mocking their social inferiors than going after the high and mighty. Comfortably ensconced inside the castle that Richard Pryor and George Carlin tried to burn down, they drop water balloons on the unspeakable middle-America drones of “Parks and Recreation” and “The Office.”

...

Even comics who present themselves as the loyal opposition to the political leadership, like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, expend most of their effort simply repackaging Democratic Party talking points as jokes. The ’70s hang-’em-all anarchist spirit lives on only in the margins, in a few brave outposts like “South Park.”

Interesting points though I think one could argue that dramatic movies and TV shows have devolved in a similar way too. I think you need to consider the context of the times too. The 70s were responding to the 60s and Watergate which was a very different vibe than the Reagan era stew that Cosby and Seinfeld emerged from. That said, it'd be cool to see more "stick it to the man" comedy.

Stephen Tobolowsky on Groundhog Day, Harold Ramis, and why you should expect the horrible

Stephen Tobolowsky — Groundhog Day’s Ned Ryerson — on What He Learned From Harold Ramis:

When the scene called for Bill to punch me out on the corner, I went to Harold and asked if there was anything he wanted me to do. He leaned in and whispered with that half-smile, “Do whatever you want. I’m setting the camera up wide. No close-ups. Comedy only happens when there is a relationship. We’ll see both you and Bill at the same time. Comedy lives in the two shot.”

Tobolowsky talks more about Groundhog Day in The Tobolowsky Files podcast episode 29.

And he's got a blog too. The post "Why Acting Is So Horrible" talks about crisis management as a key skill for performers: "You never have the right circumstances to do your job. The horrible isn’t the exception. It is the rule...Don’t look at calamities as a wall between you and your work. Think of them as little surprises life is giving you to keep it fresh."

I’m sick of finance guys

I’m sick of finance guys. They call others “takers,” yet they make nothing. They deride "welfare queens" yet demand bailouts. They slander politicians for being “socialist” yet line up to suckle on the government teat. They preach “personal accountability” and then claim to be too big to fail. They break the law yet never face prosecution. They destroy the economy and reward themselves with massive bonuses. They bribe our government and then complain about any hint of regulation. They praise economists while paying academics hush money that corrupts the study of economics itself. They make dumb bets yet never lose a thing. They rig the game yet act like they genuinely earned their spoils. They’re self-described “risk takers” who take no actual risks. And we let them get away with it. How it works in this country: If you steal $5,000, you go to jail. But if you steal $50 billion, you get to shake the President’s hand.

Vooza on Branding

More at Vooza.com.

Why Harold Ramis "stopped being the zany"

Animal House. Stripes. Meatballs. Ghostbusters. Caddyshack. Vacation. Groundhog Day. Helluva run. This Harold Ramis obit talks about a realization he had after a performance at Second City in 1972.

“The moment I knew I wouldn't be any huge comedy star was when I got on stage with John Belushi for the first time," he said in a 1999 Tribune interview. "When I saw how far he was willing to go to get a laugh or to make a point on stage, the language he would use, how physical he was, throwing himself literally off the stage, taking big falls, strangling other actors, I thought: I'm never going to be this big. How could I ever get enough attention on a stage with guys like this?

"I stopped being the zany. I let John be the zany. I learned that my thing was lobbing in great lines here and there, which would score big and keep me there on the stage."

Related: The spiritual lessons of Groundhog Day

How mean and vulnerable need each other

Funny = Money is a look at comedy manager Peter Principato. He says, “You have to get yourself out there. You have to make your little YouTube videos. You have to write things yourself instead of waiting for a real Hollywood writer to come along and write you a vehicle.”

One interesting bit from it is the talk about All in the Family. According to Principato, what made Archie Bunker work was his vulnerability/humanity. That's why he could "go there" on race and other stuff the way no one else on TV had up to that point.

In the show, [Rob] Riggle aims to play a Bill O’Reilly-like newscaster, a conservative blowhard with a tremendous ego in the vein of Ted Baxter, from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Principato said the network was concerned about the central character’s likability. He didn’t seem vulnerable enough. Riggle was ready to adapt, but worried about overcompromising. “I think we need to defend a little,” he said. “You know, you could always count on Sam Malone, Woody and Norm from ‘Cheers’ to be themselves. You could always count on Coach to be Coach. You could always count on those characters. Frank Burns was always going to be Frank Burns. . . . ”

Principato interrupted. “But Frank Burns wasn’t the lead in the show.” He cited Archie Bunker, from “All in the Family.” Bunker was a chauvinistic, racist, irascible bully, but his comeuppances were so severe and so frequent, you were always reminded of his frailties.

Riggle’s eyes got a bit misty. “Remember when he got locked in the basement with Meathead and he told the ‘Shoe-Booty’ story?”

Principato laughed. The story was about how poor Bunker had been as a kid — he had to wear one shoe and one boot to school, and the other kids teased him: Shoe-Booty.

Riggle continued. “I cried — I was a kid then, but — that was good stuff.”

Principato pressed his point. “Yeah. So . . . it had the humanity. I think that’s what it was. And I don’t think Hardaway — we didn’t show enough of his humanity. You know what I mean?”

If you want to be dark/mean/edgy/etc, ya better also get it back in some way that makes you seem vulnerable too.

How the Beatles used jokes to go viral

How the Beatles Went Viral talks about how the group went from unknowns to the biggest pop stars in the USA in just six weeks. Their humor was a key part of it. For example, an early gig in front of the Royal Family...

Famously, Lennon introduced the band's finale that evening, "Twist and Shout," with the quip, "Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry." It was a display of cheekiness that heretofore one simply didn't exhibit before the Royal Family.. And yet, by narrowing the distance between the monarchy and the working-class foursome onstage, Lennon brought down the house-and in the process managed to make the band all the more beloved in an England where notions of one's proper place were evolving rapidly. Even the Queen Mother came away a fan, calling the Beatles "so young, fresh and vital"...

At 1:20 p.m. on Feb. 7, the Beatles arrived stateside on Pan Am flight 101, greeted by the high-pitched squeals of approximately 4,000 teenagers, plus more than 200 reporters and photographers and 100 police officers. The crowd was larger and louder than that which Sullivan had chanced upon three months earlier at London Airport. At the famous press conference conducted inside the airport, defying the low expectations journalists had of rock'n'rollers in that era, the Beatles' charisma and wit wowed the skeptical crowd. If anything, it was the reporters who appeared to be the dullards, asking banal questions-"What do you think of Beethoven?"-which the Beatles fielded with their patented cheekiness-"Great," Ringo Starr replied. "Especially his poems."

Nothing like a good zinger to get folks on your side.

Jealousy, bitterness, and life after the Half Hour

Two recent thoughtful pieces by comics reflecting on standup:

What Jealousy And Bitterness Can Do For Your Comedy Career by Andy Sandford.

There is very little value in everyone knowing what level you deserve to be on as soon as you have reached that level. You shouldn’t want to get seen by industry people just because you “can” hold your own with the big dogs…it is much better to get as good as you possibly can under the radar so that when you do get seen, you blow everyone’s mind and are more than ready for whatever big break that might come your way. No one owes you anything for your hard work. The only benefit of your hard work is how good it has made you. This is why “years” in stand up almost means nothing. People progress at different rates, and sometimes someone has a breakthrough many years in; or maybe it just took a while for people to be able to appreciate their style. If you have the time to make a note of every thing that some undeserving peer got, then you have the time to put a little more effort into your act, which is the only thing that speaks for you, or should speak for you.

And Ben Kronberg wrote this Facebook post about the year he's had following his Comedy Central Half Hour.

I did a Half Hour last year and am agent-less and manager-less. I booked less colleges this year than I ever have. The guy at the St. Louis funny bone won't return my emails along with a slew of other bookers and gatekeepers who seem to only want to deal with agents or at least not me. I feel the disparity between the singular success and the longevity it should be contributing to. It's like getting married, having a great wedding with lots of love and hugs and gifts, but you get home and you still have all your flaws and insecurities, and the constant nag of that thing that should make it all right, but doesn't...But it's really just the thoughts that sting. The reality is beautiful. I got to perform in Korea and am recording my first album and my mom got to watch me perform the other night. I've used Facebook to correspond and get gigs I never would have known about or thought possible. I'm a comedian. I'm a fucking comedian. I am a lucky fuck to even be able to do this ridiculous thing. WE are lucky fucks. Wake up everyday and look at yourself and say: "I am a lucky fuck." Cuz you are.

Both are solid pieces worth a read.

Bill De Blasio vs. tall Al in Naked Gun

Post by Matt Ruby.

An analysis of "breaking"

An analysis of "breaking" character in comedy, from SNL to this Dean Martin/Bob Newhart sketch:



"More Cowbell" is the one that always comes to mind for me. According to the piece, the conventional wisdom on breaking: You might get a laugh, but it's a cheap one. However: “You’re allowed to break if the audience would never expect you to break.” Also interesting: It's known as corpsing in Britain.

HOT SOUP tonight (Tue) with Soder, Glaser, and more

Fun lineup at HOT SOUP tonight:

Dan Soder (MTV's Guy Code)
Nikki Glaser (MTV, Conan)
Louis Katz (Comedy Central)
Greg Warren (Comedy Central)
Mike Drucker (Fallon)
Kevin Barnett (Comedy Central)
Matt Ruby (MTV)
Gary Vider (AXS TV)

Full event info here. We can't always reveal entire lineup but surprise guests in recent weeks included Aziz Ansari, Nick Kroll, Wyatt Cenac, and Judah Friedlander.

Candor as bond between artist and audience

Lena Dunham profile in Vogue. Get past the pics hubbub and it's an interesting piece for Girls fans.

She came to regard candor as a powerful inventive tool: one that offered the energetic release of an uncorked bottle but also created a bond between artist and audience...

She thinks about an observation Antonoff made one day when she was feeling low.. “He’s like, ‘You know what’s hard? People want the person who wants to share it all.. But they want the person who wants to share it all minus foibles and mistakes and fuckups.. They want cute mistakes.. They don’t want real mistakes.’ If I placed that many censors on myself, I wouldn’t be able to continue to make the kinds of things that I make.. And so I just sort of know there are going to be moments where I take it one step too far.”

The candor-as-bond thing reminds me of Howard Stern's approach ("the secret to my show is honesty") and how he's gotten his legions of admirers.

Bill Burr on Jerry Seinfeld

Bill Burr goes onstage at a charity event right before Seinfeld. Burr apologizes for cursing so much to Jerry. Jerry couldn't care less...



Burr on Seinfeld's act: "There's not a line of fat." [Thx MN]

This just in: Comedians are kinda crazy

In a study in the British Journal of Psychiatry, researchers analyzed comedians and found they score higher than normal people on traits like being impulsive, anti-social behavior, and a tendency to avoid intimacy.

"The creative elements needed to produce humor are strikingly similar to those characterizing the cognitive style of people with psychosis - both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder," said Gordon Claridge of the University of Oxford's department of experimental psychology, who led the study...

"Although schizophrenic psychosis itself can be detrimental to humor, in its lesser form it can increase people's ability to associate odd or unusual things or to think 'outside the box'," he said.

"Equally, manic thinking - which is common in people with bipolar disorder - may help people combine ideas to form new, original and humorous connections."

So basically: If you want to be funny, it's good to be schizophrenic but not TOO schizophrenic.

Vooza: Power Pose and The 5 Whys

A couple of recent Vooza videos:





And we were featured on the front page of Metafilter recently too.

George Burns on Johnny Carson: “When it comes to saving a bad line, he is the master”

Fifteen Years of the Salto Mortale is a fascinating 1978 profile of Johnny Carson. In it, director Billy Wilder gives this eloquent explanation of why Carson was so good.

“By the simple law of survival, Carson is the best,” he said.. “He enchants the invalids and the insomniacs as well as the people who have to get up at dawn. He is the Valium and the Nembutal of a nation.. No matter what kind of dead-asses are on the show, he has to make them funny and exciting. He has to be their nurse and their surgeon.. He has no conceit.. He does his work and he comes prepared. If he’s talking to an author, he has read the book.. Even his rehearsed routines sound improvised.. He’s the cream of middle-class elegance, yet he’s not a mannequin. He has captivated the American bourgeoisie without ever offending the highbrows, and he has never said anything that wasn’t liberal or progressive. Every night, in front of millions of people, he has to do the salto mortale”—circus parlance for an aerial somersault performed on the tightrope. “What’s more”—and here Wilder leaned forward, tapping my knee for emphasis—”he does it without a net. No rewrites. No retakes. The jokes must work tonight.”

The author also talks about Carson's great way with savers. He could dig himself out of any hole.

The unexpected impromptus with which he rescues himself from gags that bomb, thereby plucking triumph from disaster, are also part of the expected pleasure. “When it comes to saving a bad line, he is the master”—to quote a tribute paid in my presence by George Burns. Carson registers a gag’s impact with instant, seismographical finesse. If the laugh is five per cent less than he counted on, he notes the failure and reacts to it (“Did they clear the hall? Did they have a drill?”) before any critic could, usually garnering a double-strength guffaw as reward. Whatever spoils a line—ambiguous phrasing, botched timing, faulty enunciation—he is the first to expose it. Nobody spots flaws in his own work more swiftly than Carson, or capitalizes on them more effectively.

Seinfeld, the Heckle Therapist

How does Seinfeld handle hecklers? He turns into the Heckle Therapist:

Very early on in my career, I hit upon this idea of being the Heckle Therapist.. So that when people would say something nasty, I would immediately become very sympathetic to them and try to help them with their problem and try to work out what was upsetting them, and try to be very understanding with their anger.. It opened up this whole fun avenue for me as a comedian, and no one had ever seen that before.. Some of my comedian friends used to call me - what did they say? - that I would counsel the heckler instead of fighting them.. Instead of fighting them, I would say "You seem so upset, and I know that's not what you wanted to have happen tonight.. Let's talk about your problem" and the audience would find it funny and it would really discombobulate the heckler too, because I wouldn't go against them, I would take their side.

Reminds me of Paul F. Tompkins' advice on dealing with hecklers: "It's worth talking to hecklers to see if they are just goons who are trying to ruin your set or if they are just enthusiastic folks who want to get in on the fun."

Seinfeld's quote is from his recent AMA at Reddit. Another interesting bit is how he claims the show Seinfeld wasn't actually about nothing.

Yeah, I'm always annoyed by people who describe Seinfeld as a show about nothing.. Even in the later years when you guys strayed from the "how a comedian gets his material" formula, it was still about social faux pas and ridiculous social customs.

Seinfeld: FINALLY I have met someone that understands the show.. Thank you for your rare and perceptive analysis.
permalinkparent

Here's a good summary of other interesting bits from it.

Big guests tonight (Tue) at HOT SOUP

TWO huge guests tonight (Tue) at HOT SOUP. These guys normally sell out theaters so we can't name names but there are hints here.

Lineup:
TWO "HE'S SO BIG WE CAN'T ANNOUNCE IT" SPECIAL GUESTS FROM MOVIES/TV
Wyatt Cenac (Daily Show)
Michael Che (SNL)
Christian Finnegan (Conan)
Nikki Glaser (MTV)
Will Miles (Chicago)
Mark Normand (Conan)
Matt Ruby (MTV)
...and more!

Facebook event has more info.

Why Seinfeld works clean

Jerry Seinfeld on how to be funny without sex and swearing:

Keeping his act sex- and swear-free, the way he sees it, is part of this athletic challenge, since it denies him the easiest laughs: "A person who can defend themselves with a gun is just not very interesting.. But a person who defends themselves through aikido or tai chi? Very interesting." Likewise his focus on minutiae.. "It's so much easier when you're talking about something that really is important.. You've already got a better foundation than someone who's bringing up something that does not need to be discussed." Such as? "I do a lot of material about the chair.. I find the chair very funny.. That excites me.. No one's really interested in that – but I'm going to get you interested! That, to me, is just a fun game to play.. And it's the entire basis of my career."

Interesting perspective. Not sure I agree with the idea that it's easier to talk about important things. So it's easier for Carlin or Stanhope than it is for Seinfeld? Important stuff gets people tense and stiff. Observational stuff doesn't do that. And no one walks out on your set because they disagree with your opinion on chairs.

SF shows this weekend

I'll be out in SF doing shows this weekend in case you/someone ya know wants to come out:

Sat, December 21 - 8:00pm - Cynic Cave @ Lost Weekend Video
Sat, December 21 - 9:30pm - San Francisco Punchline (with Ali Wong) - Tickets
Sun, December 22 - 8:00pm - San Francisco Punchline

Merlin Mann: “People like you because of this, but you’re mad because it’s not this other thing.”

Merlin Mann (speaker, podcaster, tech guy) interview. Interesting thought on what to focus on...

It can be very frustrating to keep sucking at something without realizing that it’s not the thing you should be trying to get better at. It’s like when our parents used to tell us as kids, “There is something that you don’t even realize you’re good at,” or, “People like you because of this, but you’re mad because it’s not this other thing.” Part of successfully growing up is letting go of unrealistic ideas that stop us from recognizing something else we’re good at and might enjoy more than what we’re doing now. There could be something 10 times greater than what you’re doing, but you don’t realize it because you’re fixated on the thing you feel like you should be doing.

Fixation is good. Until it blocks out your vision of the bigger picture and alternate paths.

Last HOT SOUP show of the year

Last HOT SOUP show of the year is Tuesday (Dec 17). We're off for the holidays and then return on Jan 7. The lineup:

Reese Waters (Letterman)
Dan St Germain (Comedy Central)
Nate Fridson (Rooftop)
Chris Laker (JFL)
Taylor Ketchum (Rooftop)
Matt Ruby (MTV)
...and more!

Details.

The intersection of art/commerce/PR and making money off what ya do

Smart piece, by the founder of a denim label, on the intersection of art/commerce/PR and making money off what ya do: Ten Lessons from a Maker [via JF].

I) No one knows you exist.

You make a great product. But the world isn’t holding its breath waiting for you. It doesn’t know who you are. It doesn’t know you even exist. Currently, in the pecking order, you are at the bottom. It’s nothing personal. Everyone starts here.

You will have to make your reputation. You have will have to gain peoples attention. You will have to be as good at selling your product as you are making it. It is your job to get people to know you are on the planet.

II) You are not an artist.

You make things. You make things in order to sell them. The difference between you and an artist is you can’t wait years to be discovered.

You have to make what people want to buy. This is commerce. This is not art.

Selling is good. Employing people is good. Having apprentices is good.

Makers are here to make. Makers are here to sell - Van Gogh had to wait till he died before he sold his first painting. You can’t.

Sales after you die don’t count.

III) Make something that people want to buy.

Time is your most valuable resource. Spending your time making something that no one wants is one of the best ways I know to waste your life, and also to kill your business. So before you start, work out what people want. Work out why they will buy your product over your rivals. Work out what sets you apart.

One good way to make sure people want what you have to make is to do it better than anybody else. Another good way is to design it more beautifully than your rival. But the best way, is to do something that no else is doing. And do it so well, they don’t even try to copy you.

I know, I know...you're an artist and you shouldn't have to deal with this stuff. But maybe this is just part of being an artist now?

And speaking of makers, this is a beautiful short about a master woodworker in Eureka, CA. It goes deep. [via JK]

Wings or a gourmet meal?

Mike Birbiglia interview. He's asked, "How does it feel different to you, performing in that more personal style and with a purpose with more at stake?"

I wanted to pick my favorite things about one-person shows and my favorite things about standup comedy and merge them into a thing that is personal and, hopefully, knock on wood, as funny as a regular comedy album, but then also leads up to a point and has like an emotional weight to it in that, in some ways, I’m kind of giving something to the audience...

I always think of it as I like serving a full meal for the audience, as opposed to, like, chicken wings. That’s what I think of jokes — they’re chicken wings or pizza or ice cream or something. I love those things; I’d be the first to line up for all of those foods, but if a chef can deliver you a full meal, that to me is sort of euphoric. And that’s how I want people to feel about it. I want people to feel satiated from it. And I want it to kind of simmer in them. For them to be thinking about it the next day, like, “Oh, remember when we watched that thing?” [Laughs.] That’s really the hope.

I like the wings vs. a full meal analogy. Do you want to give 'em something fast and greasy? Or do you want to give 'em a gourmet meal they'll remember down the road? Both have their pros and cons. Also, it'd be weird if chefs had to prove they could cook wings first before they're allowed to do a gourmet meal. 'Cuz that's what it feels like with standup.

Johnny Cash and how people admire vulnerability

Interesting bit from this review of new book about Johnny Cash's life. It talks about Cash's late career comeback.

“Part of [Rick] Rubin’s genius,” Mr. Hilburn says, “was that he didn’t simply portray Cash as a rebel. He wanted to break through the public image of Cash as a superhero by capturing his human side — the struggle and the pain and the grit. Says Rubin, ‘When I asked artists what they admired about him, that’s what they often mentioned — that vulnerable, hurt aspect, the man who wouldn’t give up.’ ”

Cash persevered through heart surgery, neurological problems, a damaged jaw and failing eyesight and even continued to record music after the death of his beloved June in May 2003. He died four months later; by then, according to one estimate, doctors had him on some 30 medications.

His son, John Carter, later said: “I believe the thing about Dad that people find so easy to relate to is that he was willing to expose his most cumbersome burdens, his most consuming darknesses. He wasn’t afraid to go through the fire and say: ‘I fell down. I’ve made mistakes. I’m weak. I hurt.’ But in doing so, he gained some sort of defining strength. Every moment of darkness enabled him to better see the light.”

Interesting way to look at it: Admitting weakness is displaying strength. People admire that level of honesty – and your ability to overcome struggles.

Slut-shaming, gender essentialism, misandry, normative, gaslighting, etc.

I've figured out what slut-shaming means. But I'm still rather cloudy on a lot of the other terms used at "men are bad" posts I see online. Terms like gender essentialism, misandry, normative, gaslighting, etc.

Part of the goal here is to reach men and change their behavior, right? Because relying so heavily on terms that can only be understood if you took a Women's Studies class at a liberal arts college can't be the most effective way to do that. When a regular dude sees language like this, it's easy for him to think, "I've never even seen that word. This ain't for me. I'm outta here."

Femijargon builds a wall. It creates a we-agree-with-each-other cocoon for women. But it significantly reduces the chance of a teachable moment for men.

The real challenge is to explain gender issues while using simple, clear language that everyone can understand. Do that and guys might actually pay attention and examine their own behavior. And that'd be a healthy thing.

(AND THAT IS HOW I DEFINE MANSPLAINING!)

Lockdown

Post by Matt Ruby.

Writing makes you feel better and more alive

Nice summary of some of Anne Lamott’s advice on writing – much of it applies to standup too.

I still encourage anyone who feels at all compelled to write to do so. I just try to warn people who hope to get published that publication is not all that it is cracked up to be. But writing is. Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. That thing you had to force yourself to do – the actual act of writing – turns out to be the best part. It’s like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward.

[…]

I tell my students that the odds of their getting published and of it bringing them financial security, peace of mind, and even joy are probably not that great. Ruin, hysteria, bad skin, unsightly tics, ugly financial problems, maybe; but probably not peace of mind. I tell them that I think they ought to write anyway.

[…]

My writer friends, and they are legion, do not go around beaming with quiet feelings of contentment. Most of them go around with haunted, abused, surprised looks on their faces, like lab dogs on whom very personal deodorant sprays have been tested.

But I also tell [my students] that sometimes when my writer friends are working, they feel better and more alive than they do at any other time. And sometimes when they are writing well, they feel that they are living up to something. It is as if the right words, the true words, are already inside them, and they just want to help them get out. Writing this way is a little like milking a cow: the milk is so rich and delicious, and the cow is so glad you did it.

[…]

If you give freely, there will always be more. … It is one of the greatest feelings known to humans, the feeling of being the host, of hosting people, of being the person to whom they come for food and drink and company. This is what the writer has to offer.

[…]

Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It’s like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can’t stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.

Beautifully said.

Metrics vs. chemistry

A piece on Amazon Video’s new original show: ‘Alpha House.’ Apparently, Amazon's first original web production "was born from a mountain of site data, user input, and focus grouping." Entertainment Weekly review of it says, “I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t coming together. In the end, what kept it from being the next Veep came down to comedic timing and cast chemistry." Oh, you mean building a show based on data, crowdsourcing, and focus groups didn't lead to a lot of chemistry? Shocking that.

The audience can sense if you really care

Screenwriter Brian Koppelman suggestion: Write what fascinates you.

When the story is important to you. When it fascinates you. That passion is tangible. The reader senses it. And, without even knowing why, gives you the benefit of the doubt. You still have to tell the story well, of course, and that still takes an enormous amount of effort and concentration. But: The huge collateral benefit of telling stories that genuinely fascinate you is this: forcing yourself to sit down and actually do the work is much, much easier than when you are merely writing something because you think it is marketable, can sell, is in a genre that’s currently in demand.

I like that read on an audience's ability to, conciously or not, suss out whether or not you really care about something. If they sense you're genuinely fascinated by something, they're gonna want to know why.

I'm hosting HOT SOUP tonight with Shaffir/List/more

I'm hosting HOT SOUP tonight at Irish Exit at 8pm.

THIS WEEK'S LINEUP
Ari Shaffir
Joe List
Alex Koll
Ali Wong
Billy Wayne Davis
Mark Normand
...and more!

Full show details at Facebook invite.
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Bloomberg and Citibikes

Saw a Citibike rider almost get hit today. Bloomberg's love for that program cracks me up. His attitude: "Let's put a bunch of clueless tourists, who can't even handle being pedestrians without blocking the entire sidewalk, and put 'em on bikes – even though they never ride – and make 'em navigate one of the most dangerous, chaotic, trafficked urban areas in the entire world and no, they won't have helmets or know where the hell they're going but it'll be good for the city!"

"What if they want to drink a 32 oz. soda after the ride?"

"No way, that'd be DANGEROUS!"

John Mulaney's advice for handling a big crowd: "Louder and faster"

John Mulaney interview:

Time Out New York: You were one of Dave Chappelle’s openers at the massive Oddball festival this summer. How does your delivery change for that large a crowd?

John Mulaney: As a rule, with 18,000 people, I’d say: louder and faster. I remembered [Mike] Birbiglia gave me a piece of advice when I was first emceeing that he had been given when he was first emceeing. He did his set, walked off, and the headliner just went, “Louder and faster.”

Related: Birbigs on how to take something personal and make it relatable

A guy with a memory problem walks into a restaurant...

A '77 short written by and starring Steve Martin as "The Absent-Minded Waiter." (via MF)



Reminds me of Mr. Short-Term Memory: "The Blind Date" from SNL (written by Conan O'Brien in '88) except one has a waiter with no memory and the other is a restaurant diner with no memory.

HOT SOUP: From Aziz Ansari (last week) to Ted Alexandro (11/5)

HOT SOUP is steaming lately. Packed houses and we've had some great comics drop in the past few weeks: Aziz Ansari (photo), Judah Friedlander, Todd Barry, Nick Griffin, Gary Gulman, etc.

Great lineup again on Tuesday (11/5). It's at Irish Exit at 8pm.

LINEUP:
Ted Alexandro (Letterman, Comedy Central)
Sean Patton (Comedy Central)
Louis Katz (Comedy Central)
Anthony P. DeVito (JFL)
Randy Liedtke (Bone Zone)
...also: Matt Ruby, Gary Vider, and more!

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Wes Anderson on why reviews don't matter

Director Wes Anderson on why he doesn't put any time into studying how people respond to his movies (from 24 Things I Learned While Writing My Book About Wes Anderson by Matt Zoller Seitz).

4. He doesn't find reviews terribly useful, whether they're positive or negative.
"There's one thing you can absolutely, 100 percent rely on," he told me, when we discussed reviews, "which is that if you show five different people the same thing, they're all going to have a different complaint or compliment. Each is going to have a different response, and you'd better know what you're gonna do, otherwise you're going to get confused... [H]ow much good can come from putting any time into studying how people are responding to your movies? The best case scenario is that it makes you feel flattered for a certain period of time, which doesn't really buy you much, in life: and inevitably, it's not going to just be the best-case scenario, so learn to spare yourself that experience, I'd say."

You better know what you're gonna do or else you'll get confused. Interesting to think about that in terms of standup since our "reviews" come instantly, in the form of audience response. What if you did sets where you just ignored people's responses and did only what you want to do? Or maybe that's just a luxury filmmakers get that comedians don't.

Mel Brooks, standup philosopher

Mindy Tucker's Schtick photos are up

Mindy Tucker always takes amazing photographs at Schtick or Treat, the Halloween show where comedians perform in character as their comedy heroes in various degrees of homemade costume. Here's the gallery of this year's photos. And this shot of Mark and me was HuffPo Comedy's "Stolen Moment of the Week."

Patrice O’Neal on people-pleasing and life philosophy

The Comedian Comedians Were Afraid Of is a great profile of Patrice O’Neal. Interesting bits on people-pleasing along the way.

Dane Cook remembers one discussion they had about people-pleasing. Patrice wondered if the desire to be liked onstage might be coming from the need to protect a belief in oneself as a nice guy offstage. What if you weren’t that guy at all?...He had plenty to say about comedians who cared more about being liked than committing to their particular point of view: “Do you have a life philosophy? Do you have anything that says goddamn ethic? Any ethic, you piece of shit? If you don’t, don’t talk to me.”

It's a really well-written piece.

Jesus, heroin, and rock 'n roll

I always dug how Lou Reed used the words Jesus, heroin, and rock 'n roll interchangeably. As if they were the same thing. The thing that can heal the pain. The thing that makes everything alright.

There's a little girl who is bored. Suffocated by her parents and the suburbs. Who wants something more. And then she turns on a New York rock 'n roll station and she can't believe what she hears. She starts dancing. Her life is saved. Her life is saved by rock 'n roll. And after that, it was alright. It was alright. It's alright now.

Cuz if you listen hard enough, rock 'n roll can be your salvation. It can come through speakers and transport you to a different time and place. It can take you away. It can help your find your proper place.

"Heroin":

I wish that I was born a thousand years ago
I wish that I'd sail the darkened seas
On a great big clipper ship
Going from this land here to that
In a sailor's suit and cap
Away from the big city
Where a man can not be free
Of all of the evils of this town
And of himself, and those around
Oh, and I guess that I just don't know

"Pale Blue Eyes":

Thought of you as my mountain top,
Thought of you as my peak.
Thought of you as everything,
I've had but couldn't keep.

Lou Reed’s favorite 100 singles. Picked by Lou for the Curated Juke Box at the Helsinki Music Club in 2005. Classic Albums: Lou Reed: Transformer is a great look at how Reed and Bowie made that album. And I always loved this slowed down version of I'm Waiting for the Man live in '72.



Ride into the sun, Lou.

Steve Martin interviews Richard Pryor in 1978

[thx SS]

The six categories of comedians

Interesting chat with a comic last night who's reading book associated with "MAKE ’EM LAUGH: The Funny Business of America" that ran on PBS. The book/series breaks down comics into six categories. This comic was saying that it forced him to think about which category he belonged to and that realizing that helped him sort out what his voice should be and what he should talk about onstage. FYI, the categories and some reps for each one (from this Make 'Em Laugh page)...

Nerds, Jerks, & Oddballs
"the outsider has been a source of constant amusement"
Harold Lloyd
Bob Hope
Phyllis Diller
Jonathan Winters
Andy Kaufman
Robin Williams
Cheech & Chong
Woody Allen
Steve Martin

Breadwinners and Homemakers
"reflect the ongoing changes at home and in the workplace"
Burns and Allen
The Honeymooners
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Cosby Show
Roseanne
The Simpsons

Knockabouts
"physical comedy and slapstick"
Charlie Chaplin
Buster Keaton
Laurel and Hardy
The Three Stooges
Martin and Lewis
The Marx Brothers
Lucille Ball

The Groundbreakers
"invoked freedom of speech to bring the biggest and most dangerous laughs to the American public"
Mae West
Moms Mabley
Lenny Bruce
Richard Pryor
George Carlin

The Wiseguys
"the wiseguy who defies convention by speaking the truth no matter the consequences"
W.C. Fields
Larry David
Groucho Marx
Phil Silvers
Jack Benny
Paul Lynde
Joan Rivers
Redd Foxx
Eddie Murphy
Chris Rock

Satire and Parody
"make fun of the world around them using the slings and arrows of parody and satire"
Will Rogers
Johnny Carson
Jon Stewart
Stephen Colbert
Sid Caesar
Mel Brooks
SNL

The 6th Annual SCHTICK OR TREAT is Sunday night (10/27)

Get your tickets for the 6th Annual SCHTICK OR TREAT coming up on Sunday night (Oct 27).

Dozens of NYC comedians perform in character as their favorite comedy legends. It's always one of the funnest shows of the year. Hosted by Mark Normand and me.

Showtime: 8:00PM (Doors: 7:30PM)
Littlefield
622 Degraw St (between 3rd and 4th Ave) in Park Slope
Tickets: $8 advance/$10 at door
Facebook event

Featuring FAKE sets from:
Ellen Degeneres
Robin Williams
Gilbert Gottfried
Carrot Top
Maria Bamford
Joan Rivers
Denis Leary
Dave Attell
…and more!

Film school, New Wave, and directing/editing techniques

This tweet...

If you're considering film school, save yourself the $100k and watch this on netflix instead. http://t.co/ukuxEYOBoo

— Neal Brennan (@nealbrennan) September 24, 2013

...led to me watching The Story of Film: An Odyssey. Great look at the history of film. Check out the European New Wave episode for a taste.

Guided by film historian Mark Cousins, this bold 15-part love letter to the movies begins with the invention of motion pictures at the end of the 19th century and concludes with the multi-billion dollar globalized digital industry of the 21st.

And speaking of that New Wave style, How Louis CK's Directing Style Helps Him Translate His Standup to the Screen in 'Louie' talks about how CK's been influenced by those filmmakers.

It is ostensibly observational comedy, but filtered through a wholly specific worldview translated to the screen only when he has full control of how the viewer experiences his world. His humor is in the unexplained and the surreal, not typical of TV comedy, where humor is in the reveal. By using a “gritty” filmmaking style inspired by the realism of the films of the '60s and '70s mixed with the dramatic liberties afforded by Surrealism, Louis C.K. is able to successfully translate his standup act rooted in commenting on the deep strangeness he sees in humanity to a uniquely singular visualization of just that on television.

One more film bit that's interesting: The five editing techniques of Vsevolod Pudovkin. Evan Richards uses clips from films like 2001, Lawrence of Arabia, and The Godfather to illustrate Pudovkin's editing techniques.

Nate Bargatze, Nick Turner, and Kevin Barnett open up on We're All Friends Here podcast

New We're All Friends Here podcast comes out every Friday. Listen on iTunes. Kevin Barnett is in the hot seat on latest one. Nate Bargatze and Nick Turner were the eps before that. Turn it on and all the way up.

.@Fatboybarnett of @MTV2GuyCode on @MTV2 talks to @marknorm & @mattruby on #WereAllFriendsHere! (@MTV @MTVComedy) http://t.co/641FwPsy4u

— Cave Comedy Radio (@CaveComedyRadio) October 18, 2013

Next live edition is Sunday, Nov 10 at The Creek at 10pm as part of NY Comedy Festival.

How prison turns you into a Jewish skinhead

Which gang do you affiliate with if you're a Jew who winds up in prison? Sounds like the premise of a standup bit. But it's David Arenberg's real life. (Answer: You team up with skinheads. Best option amongst bad options.) In this piece, he reflects on being a Jew in state prison.

This makes it difficult for me, of course, to fit into the chow hall. Jews, as we all know, are not white but imposters who don white skin and hide inside it for the purpose of polluting and taking over the white race. The skinheads simply can’t allow me to eat with them: that would make them traitors of the worst kind — race traitors! But my milky skin and pasty complexion, characteristic of the Eastern European Ashkenazi, make it impossible for me to eat with other races who don’t understand the subtleties of my treachery and take me for just another wood. So the compromise is that I may sit at certain white tables after all the whites have finished eating. In exchange, I must do free legal work as directed by the heads (Jewish lawyers, even jailhouse lawyers, are hard to come by in prison) and remit to them a portion of the legal fees I collect from everyone else I do legal work for on the yard.

Bold emphasis is mine. Love the sarcasm here. Nothing more Jewish than that!

BestTechie interview about Vooza

Jeff Weisbein interviewed me and wrote up a piece called "Vooza Wants to Steal Your Data and Entertain You At the Same Time" over at BestTechie. We talk about the inspiration for Vooza episodes, how we write/shoot 'em, and some video tips. Here's one of our recent eps, featuring me and Steve O'Brien.

Steve Albini and rock 'n roll philosophy

Steve Albini’s Four-Page In Utero Proposal made the rounds recently. It is a great read. Embodies the DIY attitude and rock 'n roll as a philosophy and not just a kind of music. And it's fun when he writes, "I want to be paid like a plumber."

If ya dig it, check out a couple of Albini things I posted a while ago, especially his piece "The Problem With Music." It's a bit dated since it's about the major label vs. indie war from over a decade ago. But it's also about more than that. It's about commerce vs. art. The business vs. the thing you make. And why you need to understand the business side of things in order to protect yourself from making decisions you'll regret ("Some of your friends are probably already this fucked.").

Gary Gulman at HOT SOUP Tuesday (10/15) night

I'll be hosting this Tue (10/15) lineup at HOT SOUP:

Gary Gulman (Comedy Central)
Baron Vaughn (Comedy Central)
Josh Gondelman (Laughing Skull)
Nimesh Patel (Caroline's)
Amber Nelson (JFL)
Mark Normand (Conan)
Matt Ruby (MTV)

Full show details.
RSVP here.
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Gary Gulman, Bill Gates, and income inequality in America

This bit is funny. Also, I think it's the best explanation of the issue of income inequality in America that I've ever heard.

CC:Stand-Up
Get More: Jokes,Jokes of the Day,Funny Jokes

I think this is hilarious. I also think the wealth gap in America is one of the most important issues our society faces right now...

"The 400 richest people in the United States have more wealth than the bottom 150 million put together," said Berkeley Professor and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich...

"Our middle class is too weak to support the consumer spending that has historically driven our economic growth," Nobel Prize-winning Economist and Columbia Professor Joseph Stiglitz wrote in an editorial earlier this year.

"With inequality at its highest level since before the Depression, a robust recovery will be difficult in the short term, and the American dream — a good life in exchange for hard work — is slowly dying."

...so I like the bit on multiple levels. It's communicating something that's important for people to think about.

Now I've got no idea what Gary's goal here was other than to get laughs. But I think this is a great example of how to do political comedy. You don't hit people over the head with your point of view. You don't call the people on the other side fat or cunts or stupid or some other personal attack. You don't go for applause instead of laughs. You make a joke that's really fucking funny. And then you also make a point. And then people go home and think about it. Maybe. And if they don't, that's fine too. If it's a funny joke, it stands on its own as a funny joke. But there's enough of a seed there that maybe someone stops to think about it a few days later and soaks it in on a deeper level.

Screenwriting wisdom via six-second snippets

Brian Koppelman is a writer, director, and funny guy who I'm lucky to know as a friend (we began doing standup together at the same time). He wrote/co-wrote the movies Rounders, Solitary Man, Ocean's 13, and lots of other stuff. And now he's giving screenwriting advice via Vine. Everyday he puts out a new clip of screenwriting how-to that's six seconds or less. Easy to digest and lots of good advice for any creative endeavor in there too. Some of the clips at that link and you can watch the rest by finding him on Vine (username is Brian Koppelman).

What comedians and NFL players have in common: They're madmen who have lost the ability to empathize

Football player Nate Jackson wrote a book about his time in the NFL. Here's an excerpt from "Slow Getting Up."

After morning practice we have a few hours to ourselves. I don’t like to fall asleep between practices. Instead I sit in the locker room and shoot the s— with Domonique Foxworth and Hamza Abdullah and Brandon Marshall. I’m learning to play acoustic guitar. I sit on the floor and strum the only three chords I know. If someone walks through the locker room we make up a song about him. It’s meant to humiliate and cut deeply, in the hopes of unearthing a crippling insecurity. The more distraught our victim, the more aggressively we laugh at him. The longer he stays, the worse it gets, until he finally realizes he is dealing with madmen who have lost the ability to empathize, and he scurries off. I’m not concerned about another man’s feelings. I don’t even have time for my own. This follows me off the field and out into the world, where people’s concerns seem weak and pointless. Pain is a choice.

I don’t realize it at the time, but the ability to relax and be an a—— between practices is a product of becoming a seasoned pro. My early years in the league were fraught with nervous tension. I was in no mood to joke around. How could I? I was on my deathbed. But as the years have gone by, conquering the daily struggle has become ingrained in my psyche.

Silly to compare the "pain" of comedians and football players but I thought it was interesting how much Jackson's description of an NFL locker room sounds like the stories of comedians sitting around the table at The Cellar. Or a roast. That search for the one thing that someone actually feels sensitive about so you can then mock 'em ceaselessly. The probe for weakness. And the ability to both give/take it as a sign of professionalism.

Vaguely related: Sarah Silverman Was Bummed About the Ageism at James Franco's Roast. Wait, people said offensive things at a roast!? "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!"

Justin Timberlake, Bob Dylan, and lying to be more real

The Enduring, Multigenerational Appeal of Justin Timberlake talks about JT and Bob Dylan and constructing a performance character.

Which brings us back to his role in “Inside Llewyn Davis” and the Village folk era. Timberlake reveres Dylan, but he also understands Dylan as largely a construction, an artistic projection. “I always bring up Robert Zimmerman. ‘Do you know who Robert Zimmerman is?’ They say, ‘Who’s that?’ Look it up.” Van Ronk, in his memoir, describes the Dylan persona as a kind of freestyle riff on who he thought Woody Guthrie really was. Van Ronk’s memoir describes Dylan as so cosmically full of it that he himself probably had no idea what was true and what wasn’t.

Timberlake takes a different moral from the story of Van Ronk and Dylan. He sees the Dylan persona as “methodical,” and that constructedness, he says, is the very essence of how an artist connects with his audience. It’s called performing, and performing is a noble calling, a kind of greater realness. The authenticity is in the ability to make the connection. “I try to talk to people about how much acting goes into music,” he says. “How much of a character goes into what you put on stage. You ever sit down with Jay? He’s not the guy he is on stage. I’m not the guy I am on stage. I am a performer. It’s an elevated idea.”

Interesting angle: Over-the-top performing is ultra-authentic because it is a kind of "greater realness." Constructing a fake character is the most real thing you can do because it lets people get through to you in a way they wouldn't if you were just yourself onstage. Making the connection is the authentic part, even if you have to lie to get there. Not sure what this means about Dick in a Box, but, well, you know.

The evil of wanting to be liked

The least likeable thing to do is try really hard to be likeable. Yet if your audience doesn't like you somewhat, they're not gonna be with you enough to take 'em anywhere. It can be a wrestling match for comics who want to touch on edgy topics or go places that might turn off large chunks of the crowd.

That's what makes Stanhope and Patrice so amazing. They seem to WANT to walk 20% of the crowd. Because they know that's the way to get others in the room to LOVE them. If no one hates you then no one loves you perhaps? Hmm.

Anyway, Andrew Sullivan's Readers Should Be Ruffled talks about a similar battle that writers face. He quotes novelist and art critic Katie Kitamura:

The desire to be liked is acceptable in real life but very problematic in fiction. Pleasantness is the enemy of good fiction. I try to write on the premise that no one is going to read my work. Because there’s this terrible impulse to grovel before the reader, to make them like you, to write with the reader in mind in that way. It’s a terrible, damaging impulse. I feel it in myself. It prevents you doing work that is ugly or upsetting or difficult. The temptation is to not be true to what you want to write and to be considerate or amusing instead. I’m always trying to fight against the impulse to make my readers like me.

Sullivan adds his own .02: "You don’t want to piss readers off unnecessarily or gratuitously, but you also don’t want to be subtly seduced by the idea of popularity, and fall into the trap of pandering to readers in any way."

Maybe the ideal is to walk that line. The joke that draws both groans and belly laughs. Or the one the room hates at first but slowly comes around on. There's something awful satisfying when you can feel people laughing in spite of themselves.

Comedians on Instagram and some pics from the road (PDX-SEA-BC)

Some comedians on Instagram who are darn good photographers:

Don Stahl
Joe List
Jason Burke
Scott Moran

Anyone else ya recommend? Here are some of my shots from recent road trip out to Pacific NW (and a couple of Vine vids too)...

Videos highlight process tips from Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Burr, Ricky Gervais, Judd Apatow, Dave Attell, Judah Friedlander, W. Kamau Bell, Kumail Nanjiani, etc.

Inside Joke is a new series from Grantland that takes ya inside the process of Dave Attell, Judah Friedlander, W. Kamau Bell, and Kumail Nanjiani.

Over the coming weeks, we will be featuring new episodes of Inside Joke, a series that pulls back the curtain and takes you into a stand-up comedian's process. In each episode, we'll follow a different comedian as he prepares and performs his set, develops new material, and reflects on his work.

And IFC posted How to Be Funny: 7 Comedians Give Awesome Advice, featuring clips from Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Burr, Ricky Gervais, Judd Apatow, and more.

Being a comedian is hard. Being an aspiring comedian is even harder. To help jump start your career in comedy, we’ve compiled a list of established comics giving advice on how to write, perform, and make it in the funny business. Most of this advice applies to any occupation, so read on and get inspired.

Gervais' story about the teacher who encouraged him to write what you know is a nice one.

Meisner Technique with JoAnna Beckson

Ray Romano. Dave Chappelle. Jim Gaffigan. Dave Attell. Matt Ruby. We've all taken acting classes with JoAnna Beckson. Now you can too.

The Meisner Technique

Acting Foundation Classes With Acclaimed Acting Coach

JoAnna Beckson*
Fall 2013

DATES: October 8 - November 5, 2013
WHEN : Tuesdays and Thursdays
TIME: 6:30pm - 9:30 pm
LOCATION: J. Beckson Studio - Paul Michael's The Network:
located at 242 West 36th Street (between 7th/8th Avenues) on the 3rd floor
COST: $495

I spent the past 8 months or so taking a few Meisner classes with JoAnna and they were fascinating on many levels. Highly recommend her if you're looking to learn some acting basics. Can really help with your standup too. She's a no bullshit teacher who will push you and "gets" comedians. And she doesn't offer classes for newbies very often so...

Billy Crystal looks back on his career

Billy Crystal killed it on The Daily Show the other night:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Fun to watch Jon Stewart get out of the way and just let him roll with it. Some good, heartfelt talk about his early days doing standup, the importance of "leaving a tip" onstage, and how silence is when you know you've REALLY got a crowd.

And here's From Presentation Skills to Masterful Performance: 12 Tips from Billy Crystal by Victoria Labalme.

Variety of Tone - notice the variety in his speaking tone, which ranges from warmth to humor to respect for nominees. In other words, he is not speaking in "one color"...Use the full spectrum of what you have. The audience craves variety. Important note: Keep in mind that tonal shifts must always come from the "inside out." If you force the shift, you will sound inauthentic.

I officiated a wedding and here's what I said to the bride and groom

One year ago, I officiated a friend's wedding. She's muslim, he's not. So they wanted someone who was not religious and also comfortable speaking in front of a crowd and, voila, I landed the gig. They had me say some stuff they had written and then I added my own bit. Not comedy but, well, you know. And I guess I did use the old comedy technique of commenting on the room (or, in this case, the hotel where we were all staying). Here it is:

So I was waiting for the elevator at our hotel yesterday and thinking what advice I could give to the two of you, two of the smartest people I know. And the elevator got me thinking.

For those of you not staying at our hotel, the elevators there don't have buttons. They have sensors. If you just push the button like you normally would, the elevator never comes. The sensor needs to feel your skin pressed against it.

And it occurred to me that maybe that's a lesson for the two of you as you move forward in life. See, smart people tend to rely on logic. In your life, when you face problems with each other, it's going to be tempting to try to solve them with logic. To look for a solution. To press the button.

But sometimes the best answer is to just let the other person feel your touch. To press your cheek against theirs and whisper in their ear, "I love you. No matter what, I love you." And when you do that, the elevator shows up. The doors open wide. And it can take you places that logic never could.

The poet Rumi once wrote:

Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy,
absentminded. Someone sober
will worry about things going badly.
Let the lover be.

So on this day I'd like to wish you a lifetime of being drunk, crazy, mischievous, and losing your mind. Remember, those are essential ingredients to any great love story.

How tension and curiosity can help you become a better storyteller

This answer to How does one become a better storyteller? at Quora talks about the importance of tension and curiosity.

What happens next?

The number-one ingredient for a story is the tension of an unsolved mystery. Stories set up a questions and delay answering them. The simplest example is a question in the first sentence with the answer delayed until the second sentence:

"You know who Bob's favorite singer is? Meatloaf!"

That's not a very interesting story, I know, but compare it to this:

"Bob's favorite singer is Meatloaf."

The first version evokes (just a little) tension. The second doesn't.

Now imagine telling the first version but walking out of the room after the first sentence:

"You know who Bob's favorite singer is? ----- "

That agony is what you should strive for. Because the most basic human urge that makes us want to listen to stories is the need to know what happens next.

Interesting how much that relates to the concept of punchlines. "Always end with the funny part" is one of those simple/obvious rules that I wind up needing to constantly re-remind myself of when writing new bits.

There's also a bit on curiosity:

Curiosity is the juggernaut that drives storytelling.

If you immediately tell us what happens next -- or if there is no next ("Bob's favorite singer is Meatloaf") -- then there's no hook.

Practice this simple question-delay-answer structure over and over, in all your communications. I mean in emails, text-messages, Quora posts, and so on. You're not going to become a good storyteller by learning how to go into storytelling mode. Instead, turn yourself into someone who tells stories all the time. Make stories a natural part of the way you communicate.

I don't mean you should start emails with "Once upon a time..." I mean you should always be aware of posing a question, pausing, and then answering.

"You bet I'll come to your party tonight, and I'm going to bring something tasty! My grandma's snickerdoodles!"

"Practice this in all your communications" is good advice. Whatever you want to do onstage, you should do it a little bit all the time. That way, you're not trying to go from zero to 60 the second you hit the stage.

There's more good info at the rest of that piece. Also related to this stuff: Patton Oswalt on pointing fingers and building tension.

Garry Shandling on ego, comedy, and heart

Garry Shandling talks about his journey and ego on The Green Room with Paul Provenza. An excerpt: "We need something in our society that says there's some importance to heart and authenticity and not just money, power, and how are we gonna control the world."



Along these lines, Shandling's WTF appearance is really fascinating too. Also, given the company, it's a ballsy opening salvo by Bo Burnham at 3min in.

I've got PDX-SEA-BC dates coming up

I'll be Pac NW-ing over the next week:

Friday, September 6
9:30pm
Fly Ass @ Brody Theater (Portland, OR)

Saturday, September 7
10:00pm
Mixology @ Curious Comedy Theater (Portland, OR)

Sunday, September 8
7:30pm
Weird and Awesome @ Annex Theater (Seattle)

Monday, September 9
8:00pm
Bogarts Comedy Showcase (Seattle)

Tuesday, September 10
8:00pm
The Grotto - in the basement of the Rendezvous (Seattle)

Thursday, September 12
7:30pm
Level Up! @ The Capitol Club (Seattle)

Friday, September 13
8:00pm
Heckler's (Victoria, BC)

Saturday, September 14
8:00pm
Heckler's (Victoria, BC)

All shows listed here.

Portlandia director on why he wants a guerilla operation

Interview: ‘Portlandia’ writer/director Jonathan Krisel. He talks about the advantages to doing a (relatively) low budget show.

It definitely is a guerilla operation. That’s the way I wanted it; I would not want it any other way. You can change gears easier, since the show is totally improvised. I mean, there are scripts (later described as a loose outline), you can meander and it’s nice to have the ability to go, “Something came up in that last take, let’s maneuver to change the story a little bit”. That’s nice, to have sort of a nimble crew and options available, that we can sort of be inspired in the moment and be able to actually do something about it, as opposed to, “Oh, that would have been great, but we can’t actually do that.”The Portland crew is really essential to that; I felt like the people up there are more interested in making artistic things. There’s a real value in it. There’s not as much value in, “Is this going to come in exactly on budget?” or, “We got the day done!”, it’s like “Well whats the creative… what do you guys really need, what do you want?” and there’s a real satisfaction from everyone when we go, “That was really funny and we got it."

It's part of why I like the run and gun style we use when shooting Vooza. Flexibility gives you more room to be funny. The bigger the budget = the more people want you to stick to exact script and production schedule = it gets tougher to capture those funny moments that just pop up. Guerilla style means you can wing it instead of feeling ball and chained.

Frank Zappa defends freedom of speech

They're just words.



(via SvN)

Wired UK profiles Vooza: "'Spinal Tap for startups' Vooza uses satire to smuggle advertising"

Wired UK wrote a big piece on Vooza: 'Spinal Tap for startups' Vooza uses satire to smuggle advertising. (Does "smuggle" mean something different in the UK!?)

Ruby admits that Vooza's real journey was not dissimilar to the journey of the very startups it mocks. "Although we make fun of startups, there are a lot of principles we embody: we make something, put it out in the world, see if the audience is there, see if we get traction and then pivot a little," he says, adding, "I can't use these words with a straight face any more."

Here'a a recent episode:

I'm learning about feminism from Jezebel

Learning about feminism from @Jezebel! "What Miley is doing amounts to minstrelsy, as BigTittieComittee points out…" pic.twitter.com/6kzO41Ol13

— Matt Ruby (@mattruby) August 27, 2013

HOT SOUP tonight (8/27) with Hanley, Branum, and more

HOT SOUP is at Irish Exit again tonight (8/27) and every Tuesday at 8pm. The lineup:

Phil Hanley
John Flynn
Jon Rineman
Guy Branum
Tommy Pope
Gary Vider
Matt Ruby

Full event details at Facebook.

What Jackson Browne taught Glenn Frey about songwriting

Bill Simmons wrote a crazy long piece about The History of the Eagles documentary.

In the doc, Glenn Frey explains how living above Jackson Browne taught him about the hard work required to write a song.

Around nine in the morning. I’d hear Jackson Browne’s teapot going off with this whistle in the distance, and then I’d hear him playing piano. I didn’t really know how to write songs. I knew I wanted to write songs, but I didn’t know exactly, did you just wait around for inspiration, you know, what was the deal? I learned through Jackson’s ceiling and my floor exactly how to write songs, ‘cause Jackson would get up, and he’d play the first verse and first course, and he’d play it 20 times, until he had it just the way he wanted it. And then there’d be silence, and then I’d hear the teapot going off again, and it would be quiet for 20 minutes, and then I’d hear him start to play again … and I’m up there going, so that’s how you do it? Elbow grease. Time. Thought. Persistence.

Sounds like what it takes to put together a great comedy set. Or anything else really. Elbow grease. Time. Thought. Persistence. If it was easy, everyone would do it.

Another part of the doc I loved was Frey yelling at the Eagles' bass player for not wanting to sing "Take It to the Limit" in concert.

I confronted him. I said, ‘Randy, there’s thousands of people waiting for you to sing that song. You just can’t say “Fuck ‘em, I don’t feel like it.” Do you think I like singing “Take It Easy” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling” every night? I’m tired of those songs. But there’s people in the audience who’ve been waiting YEARS to see us do those songs.’ We just got fed up with that. ‘OK, don’t sing it. Why don’t you just quit?’”

I just love the idea of a coked up Frey BITCHING about having to sing songs with laid-back titles like “Take It Easy” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling” and then yelling at his bass player to quit. Talk about unintentional comedy. "You think I like singing Peaceful Easy Fucking Feeling every night!? No, But I goddamn do it! I hope you quit! OK, now I'm gonna sing 'Take It Easy'..." So great.

Nate Fernald's "Crush City Setlist"

Nate knows how to kill it. I like the last item on the initial list too.

HOT SOUP comedy with Finnegan/Lawrence/Donnelly/more

Every TUESDAY night at IRISH EXIT, get your fix of HOT SOUP comedy. The show is FREE and there's a great drink special: an OPTIONAL open bar from 8-10pm during the show for only $15.

:: THIS WEEK'S LINEUP
Michael Lawrence
Ahmed Bharoocha
Sean Donnelly
Christian Finnegan
Jennie Sutton
Mark Normand

Hosted by Matt Ruby

RSVP to confirm your spot:
http://www.irishexitnyc.com/forms/comedy-show-rsvp

:: TIME
Seating: 8pm
Show: 8:30pm

:: PLACE
Irish Exit @ 978 2nd Ave (at corner of 52nd St)

:: PRODUCERS
Produced by Mark Normand, Matt Ruby, & Gary Vider

:: STAY IN TOUCH
Sign up for Hot Soup email list: http://eepurl.com/sX5j5
"Like" Hot Soup on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hotsoupcomedy

Tips for finding your voice

Comedy folks are always talking about "finding your voice" but it's a fuzzy topic. Connected Comedy offers some interesting advice in this “How do I find my voice?” piece. One of the tips: "Your Voice Needs To Be Consistent."

In order for your voice to really connect with people you need for it to be consistent. You can’t have an anti-establishment outlook on the world in one bit and then suddenly be pro-establishment in the next or else your voice will seem disjointed and nobody will be quite sure what to think of you. For example, if your comedic voice is that of a “nerd,” then it’s unlikely that bits about how you were a cool kid in high school are really going to fit your voice. This is another reason why it’s important when considering what your comedic voice is to choose carefully because it will ultimately impact your material and every other decision you make about your career.

I've learned a similar lesson when doing characters onstage. Play a certain role and it becomes much easier for the audience to know exactly who you are, where you're coming from, and the "filter" that all your jokes go through. The bad part: Being a fully, fleshed out human being with nuanced views doesn't fit this mode that well.

You may be tempted to give an audience all your different sides, but a caricature is easier for 'em to figure out. Especially in a short set.

Gary Vider, Joe List, Thomas Dale, and Andy Sandford on We're All Friends Here podcast

We're All Friends Here podcast has been going strong! (Btw, next live one is Aug 30 at The Creek.) Recent episodes:

Episode: 24
Gary Vider
Comedian Gary Vider is one of Mark and Matt's favorite people--and his father was a con man! Gary lays down all the nutty stories of helping his old man, and what it takes to be a businessman in comedy.

Episode: 23
Joe List
Comedian Joe List is straight from the heart of Boston--so he obviously has an STD or two. Mark and Matt get the backstory from one of America's funniest guys!

Episode: 22
Thomas Dale
Comedian Thomas Dale is having a great year. A writer and featured performer on CHELSEA LATELY, he also crushed it on THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON back in November. Thomas talks to Mark and Matt about the darker, more difficult aspects of growing up gay in a straight society, and how he dealt with his own coming out in a tough, New York family.

Episode: 21
Andy Sandford
Comedian Andy Sandford hails from Atlanta, where apparently you can get held up at a backroom poker game and can live to tell the tale. Andy shares the crazy stories from the dirty south on this week's episode!

Download here via iTunes or stream it at Cave Comedy Radio.

Why I'm ok with more Americans dying from terrorism

Wanted: A petition that says, "I'm ok with the possibility of more deaths from terrorism if it means we stop restricting our lives and liberties." I'd sign it.

I'll take more us dying if it means 1) America stops spying on its own citizens, 2) we don't have secret courts, 3) we never torture people, and 4) we get to hold onto all the other things that make (made?) America better than the people who hate us.

It's such a bummer to see Obama doing the ol' 4pm-on-a-Friday-in-August press conference – the best way to bury news you don't actually want people to talk about – explaining what's up with our internal spying. "Because the safety of the country depends on it...blah blah blah...America’s war on terrorism MAY one day end...blah blah blah."

C'mon. This is a war that will NEVER end because the enemy is a FEELING. We can not defeat terror just as we can not defeat fear as we can not defeat jealousy. Terror will be with us forever. This is a forever war and those are wars you are guaranteed to lose.

Our politicians think they must do anything possible to prevent another attack. And no one ever disagrees. That's on us. We need to stand up and say we're ok with more deaths. Of course people dying sucks. But a country that sacrifices all the liberties that made it great in the first place sucks even more.

And us New Yorkers especially need to stand up on this. Why are people in Utah and Nebraska deciding what we should do about terrorism anyway? Al Qaeda ain't going after 'em. Here's how voting on terrorism issues should go:

Work at embassy abroad = 3 votes
Live in NYC = 2 votes
Live in other major US city = 1 vote
Other = stay out of it

And I loved this headline: "President Obama orders intelligence chief accused of lying to Congress to lead NSA review." Sweet. After that, let's appoint the CEO of Goldman Sachs to lead a review on what's wrong with Wall Street. And after that, we can have a husband appoint his mistress to find out whether or not he's having an affair.

As a nation, we're losing our minds. We're acting like a bunch of hysterical, whiny babies that are scared of everything. When did we become such pussies? This formula is actually being sold to us...

Problem: Terrorists hate us for our freedoms.
Solution: Take away our own freedoms.

…and we're buying it. It'd be hilarious if it wasn't so sad.

For the past 12 years, we've watched what America stands for slowly erode. And all this is EXACTLY what Osama Bin Laden dreamed would happen after 9/11. His plan has worked perfectly. We've invaded a country under false pretenses, gotten American troops mired endlessly in Afghanistan and Iraq (cost: 4,500 American soldiers dead, 32,000, over a trillion dollars), restricted our own liberties, and are now irrationally living lives based on fear. We shouldn't be worried about what happens IF the terrorists win. We should start realizing they've already won.

Woody Allen on the power of the unconscious mind

Woody Allen Interview in Esquire. [via YP] Woody talks about how a good writer surprises himself along the way...

What people who don't write don't understand is that they think you make up the line consciously — but you don't. It proceeds from your unconscious. So it's the same surprise to you when it emerges as it is to the audience when the comic says it. I don't think of the joke and then say it. I say it and then realize what I've said. And I laugh at it, because I'm hearing it for the first time myself.

...and then he says, "The best you can do to get through life is distraction."

It's just an accident that we happen to be on earth, enjoying our silly little moments, distracting ourselves as often as possible so we don't have to really face up to the fact that, you know, we're just temporary people with a very short time in a universe that will eventually be completely gone. And everything that you value, whether it's Shakespeare, Beethoven, da Vinci, or whatever, will be gone. The earth will be gone. The sun will be gone. There'll be nothing. The best you can do to get through life is distraction. Love works as a distraction. And work works as a distraction. You can distract yourself a billion different ways. But the key is to distract yourself.

FYI, Blue Jasmine is great. Blanchett is something else in it.

"I didn't even get an audition"/thinking about jealousy

Andy Sandford wrote a nice piece on What Jealousy And Bitterness Can Do For Your Comedy Career.

There is very little value in everyone knowing what level you deserve to be on as soon as you have reached that level. You shouldn’t want to get seen by industry people just because you “can” hold your own with the big dogs…it is much better to get as good as you possibly can under the radar so that when you do get seen, you blow everyone’s mind and are more than ready for whatever big break that might come your way. No one owes you anything for your hard work. The only benefit of your hard work is how good it has made you. This is why “years” in stand up almost means nothing. People progress at different rates, and sometimes someone has a breakthrough many years in; or maybe it just took a while for people to be able to appreciate their style. If you have the time to make a note of every thing that some undeserving peer got, then you have the time to put a little more effort into your act, which is the only thing that speaks for you, or should speak for you.

Well said. I think jealousy is a normal feeling. It's what you do with it that matters. You can bitch about stuff and let it bring you down and turn it into negative energy. Or you can use it as motivational fuel to fight harder. Once you're undeniably good, it'll all work out.

HOT SOUP on 8/6 with Soder/Gethard/Skinner/St. Germaine

Standing room only at HOT SOUP last week! We're back at Irish Exit again on Tuesday (8/6) and every Tuesday. The lineup:

Dan Soder (Comedy Central)
Dan St. Germaine (Conan)
Eliza Skinner (Fashion Police with Joan Rivers)
Chris Gethard (Comedy Central)

I'm hosting. Full event details at Facebook.

Comedian bios always suck but this one doesn't

I enjoyed Joe Zimmerman's bio at the Comedy Central site.

Joe Zimmerman is a comedian who has worked with the likes of every other comedian, including the ones who passed away before he was born. You may have seen Joe on every television show, with the painful exception of Alf, and you may recognize his voice as the stand-in voice-over for Morgan Freeman on National Geographic's March of the Penguins and Sigourney Weaver on the BBC’s Planet Earth.

"Electrifying!" - The Rolling Stone (in reference to a 1994 U2 concert)

"Hilarious!" -Joe Zimmerman, talking about the movie Kung Fu Panda

"Hands down the best live show I've ever seen." -Joe again, on Kung Fu Panda

"Well I don't care if it wasn't live, it FELT live!" -Joe (still talking about Kung Fu Panda)

Well done, Joe.

Oscar Wilde on fashion, etc.

Oscar Wilde quotes. Like this: "And, after all, what is a fashion? From the artistic point of view, it is usually a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months." Or: "Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast." I like people who did standup before standup was a thing.

Related: Thinking like a comic: Fran Lebowitz, Steve Albini, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, etc.