After class (Tomiaki) Daiku wearily tells me about the long road ahead for his pupils. If this class is typical, he says, only 3 percent of them will have a successful job in comedy five years from now. Those odds don’t dissuade people from shelling out 400,000 yen (roughly $5,000) for a course at the New Star Creation school in Tokyo or its sister campus in Osaka, where up to 1,500 students enroll each year. They’re hoping to earn a spot in Yoshimoto’s talent stable, work their way through the company’s theaters, and eventually hit the airwaves as owarai geinin—television comedians—like the stars of Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!, who were members of NSC’s first graduating class in 1982.
Yoshimoto trains comedians, places them on the stage, casts them on shows, and takes a percentage of their earnings. “It’s like the old studio system,” says Yorihiro, of Yoshimoto Entertainment USA. “We take care of people throughout their careers and throughout their lives.” Top comedians are on several shows at once, sometimes recording more than one show a day. Yorihiro claims that a comedy superstar in Japan can earn as much as a top Hollywood actor.
It’s a given that part of what these stars will be called upon to do is perform in batsu games. Yoshimoto Kogyo prepares them to be entertaining regardless of the indignities they suffer. You can see this in another class at New Star Creation, about acting out emotions. The decorum of the stand-up class is gone; students now perform with ferocious abandon. One gyrates uncontrollably on an imaginary stripper pole. Two others slap each other in the groin while shouting, “Let’s get it on!” Another duo simulates oral sex with such intensity that their instructor suggests they get a room. There’s a hint of desperation to their antics, but it’s easy to see how aspiring comedians would endure strange punishments and humiliation to stand out. Eat a tube of wasabi? Sure. Nipple-clamp tug-of-war? A small price to pay for stardom.
Japanese Comedy: So Funny, It Hurts / By Joel Warner / 11.19.12 / wired.com
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Monday, December 3, 2012
The A.V. Club Interview: Nick Kroll
Steve Heisler: When did you first start to get that in-flux feeling with all your projects?
NK: Well, the only date I can tell you is that I came out to L.A. July 24, 2007 to start work onCavemen, the Oscar-winning television show. And I had done a little bit of a pilot season the year before. There’s just a feeling, when you’re just an actor—I have great admiration for people who are just actors. I don’t understand it, the idea of waiting to get cast, being at the whim of others. I find it incredibly powerless and frightening, so that’s why I’ve been constantly trying to create my own content. We’re in a really amazing time where we have the ability to go off on our own and make things that look just as good as stuff on TV, put it up in the Internet, and within a couple of days, have hundreds of thousands of people seeing it, without having to wait for a studio to approve something. Without having to make sure that, “You can’t say certain words,” or “You can’t use that brand.” That’s the beauty of the web.
SH: Was there a moment when you realized you wanted to adopt this DIY philosophy?
NK: It’s tough to say. I came to New York and started doing stand-up and improv, and started auditioning for commercials and voiceovers and stuff. My first job was on a pilot of that prank show called Boiling Points on MTV. It was spring break in South Beach, and they flew me down there to do it, and it was amazing. I was in South Beach, I was doing this thing for MTV, and I remember… [Laughs.] Two months later, when the show was coming out, I was driving back down to Georgetown to do some improv festival; I was going to go back down to college and be like, “Look at me, I’m on this show! I’m doing it!” I sent out a big e-mail saying, “Watch out, everyone!” [Laughs.] I sent that on a Friday, I’m driving down to D.C., and that afternoon, I got a call from the producers being like, “Your segments are not going to be on the show; you’ve been basically cut out.” Two lessons were learned, which were, one, you’re at the whim of other people, and two, until something is on the air, and you see yourself on the screen, then it’s not real.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Eddie Murphy: The Rolling Stone Interview
Brian Hiatt: What ever happened to your signature laugh, by the way?
Eddie Murphy: I don't laugh like that anymore, somehow it doesn't come out. It's weird to change something that's as natural as that. But it started out as a real laugh, then it turned into people laughing because they thought my laugh was funny, and then there were a couple of times where I laughed because I knew it would make people laugh. Then it got weird. People came up to me and said, "Do that laugh," or if you laugh, someone turns around and goes, "Eddie?" I just stopped doing it.
BH: Woody Allen has that line "Rather than live on in the hearts and minds of my fellow man, I'd prefer to live on in my apartment." Is it any consolation that some of your work will live on after you die?
EM: [Laughs] I love Woody Allen. Is it any consolation? This whole period of documenting an artist's work, movies, records, all this shit, it's 100 years old, if it's that. It's brand-new. Beethoven and those fuckers couldn't even listen to their shit, do you know how hard it was to find a motherfucker with a violin that worked back then? And his stuff went through the ages. Technology has it to where they gonna play this stuff forever. But the reality is, all this shit turns into dust, everything is temporary. No matter what you do, if you're around here long enough, you'll wind up dribbling and shitting on yourself, and you won't even remember the shit you did. I saw this documentary on Ronald Reagan, and it was like, "Whoa." They say he came into the house, and he had the toy White House that he had taken out of a fish tank, and he goes, "I don't know what I'm doing with this, but I know it has something to do with me." He had even forgotten he was the president. No matter what you do, that shit is all getting turned into gobbledygook. In 200 years, it's all dust, and in 300 years, it ain't nothing, and in 1,000 years, it's like you wasn't even fucking here. But if you're really, really lucky, if you really did something special, you could hang around a little longer.
Eddie Murphy: The Rolling Stone Interview / by: Brian Hiatt / November 9, 2011
Eddie Murphy: I don't laugh like that anymore, somehow it doesn't come out. It's weird to change something that's as natural as that. But it started out as a real laugh, then it turned into people laughing because they thought my laugh was funny, and then there were a couple of times where I laughed because I knew it would make people laugh. Then it got weird. People came up to me and said, "Do that laugh," or if you laugh, someone turns around and goes, "Eddie?" I just stopped doing it.
BH: Woody Allen has that line "Rather than live on in the hearts and minds of my fellow man, I'd prefer to live on in my apartment." Is it any consolation that some of your work will live on after you die?
EM: [Laughs] I love Woody Allen. Is it any consolation? This whole period of documenting an artist's work, movies, records, all this shit, it's 100 years old, if it's that. It's brand-new. Beethoven and those fuckers couldn't even listen to their shit, do you know how hard it was to find a motherfucker with a violin that worked back then? And his stuff went through the ages. Technology has it to where they gonna play this stuff forever. But the reality is, all this shit turns into dust, everything is temporary. No matter what you do, if you're around here long enough, you'll wind up dribbling and shitting on yourself, and you won't even remember the shit you did. I saw this documentary on Ronald Reagan, and it was like, "Whoa." They say he came into the house, and he had the toy White House that he had taken out of a fish tank, and he goes, "I don't know what I'm doing with this, but I know it has something to do with me." He had even forgotten he was the president. No matter what you do, that shit is all getting turned into gobbledygook. In 200 years, it's all dust, and in 300 years, it ain't nothing, and in 1,000 years, it's like you wasn't even fucking here. But if you're really, really lucky, if you really did something special, you could hang around a little longer.
Eddie Murphy: The Rolling Stone Interview / by: Brian Hiatt / November 9, 2011
Monday, November 26, 2012
The A.V. Club Interview: Nick Kroll
Nick Kroll: Yeah. My New Year’s resolution in 2002 was to do an open mic. I started doing stand-up for a bit, and then I focused more on the characters and then came back, but every time from 2002 on, getting onstage, holding a mic, and talking to an audience. Then going back and forth trying to do stand-up and then trying to do characters, then figuring out where the two sort of met together. But I think that’s fair. I hope to think that I’m on schedule with Patton Oswalt. [Hardwick later said he might have been quoting Brian Posehn, but we didn’t learn about that until after this interview was conducted, so Oswalt gets the credit throughout this interview. —ed.] But I do think it takes a while, and I still think we’re all hopefully always getting better.
Kyle Ryan: What were you doing at the time, when you had the New Year’s resolution to do an open-mic?
NK: I had graduated from school, and I was doing improv. I had taken workshops at Upright Citizens Brigade, taking classes and loving it, but also just jonesing to get onstage, because when you’re starting with improv, you’re practicing alone in your groups in weird Chinese sweatshops in the Garment District, but not getting a ton of time onstage. That’s what sort of propelled me to try and do an open mic.
The A.V. Club Interview: Nick Kroll / by Kyle Ryan / January 28, 2011
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
The A.V. Club Blog: Patton Oswalt Responds
As far as I'm concerned, I sold out when I took that free plate of buffalo wings at Rumors Nightclub near Dulles Airport in the summer of 1989, at my first paid stand-up gig ($50 – I got the buffalo wings for hosting a belching contest afterwards). Ever since then, the only criteria for my career path is, "How entertaining will this be for me, and how much money can I get?" Getting to work with Brad Bird at Pixar met both those criteria perfectly. But spending a month and a half in Vancouver, watching Wesley Snipes have a slow-motion meltdown inBlade: Trinity, was equally valuable and enriching. Reputation, posterity and cool are traps. Shaky Kane said that, I think.
(*One night, at a dive bar after the day's shooting, the director, me, and Ron Perlman convinced a group of bikers – "convinced" = "bought them a lot of alcohol" – to show up with the director for the next day's filming after Wesley tried to strangle said director the day before).
Thus, my desire to work with Paul Greengrass, Martin Scorsese and Ang Lee is equal to my desire to work with Nicholas Cage, Tom Cruise and Carlos Mencia. I want the money, and the anecdotes.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
The A.V. Club Interview: Nick Kroll
Kyle Ryan: When The A.V. Club spoke with you in 2009, you said it was easier for you to do character-based comedy instead of more straightforward stand-up, because you had a hard time knowing yourself for it.
Nick Kroll: Yeah, it was easier to know a character’s point of view than it was to figure out what your point of view was.
AVC: Has that lessened at all?
NK: I think so. Again, the Patton reference is a good one. In those seven years, what Patton is saying is that you get to know what your voice is. It’s almost easier to look at someone on a train and be like, “Oh, that guy, I bet, thinks this about Obama.” But then when you’re like, “Well, what do I think about Obama?” You’re like, “It’s complicated.” [Laughs.] I don’t have any jokes about Obama, but I realized that I have very strong opinions about dogs and cats. But I think that it takes a long time to figure out what your point of view is, and the character stuff, at least in my case, I found it easier to have a sense of what they would think about a specific topic. In the case of the special, making Bobby the security guard gave him a purpose for being onstage, and Fabrice, having such a clear point of view that he’s the star and that he deserves to be onstage, gave him a purpose. But I think that being on the road and doing more and more stand-up has allowed me to figure out… like, I don’t think I’ll ever be Bill Hicks, but I think I’m figuring out what my opinion is on things.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Joe Rogan Experience #193: Jim Gaffigan
Joe Rogan: Some people get tired of the stress. I mean Jim and I were talking about how much we love stand-up and we would never quit doing it. But everybody's got a different psychological make-up. And for some people, the anxiety of performance is really intense.
Jim Gaffigan: Its also, I think some of it is luck. I mean it is a real cruel business.
JR: Yes.
JG: So, I mean, I was definitely an angry guy. A lot of people were successful before me and I was angry for a couple years.
JR: You were bitter?
JG: Yeah.
JR: Really? How did you get yourself out of that?
JG: Therapy.
JR: Really?
JR: Yeah. You know. And just also I came to the conclusion that I was not doing stand-up... you know I wanted to be... I was happy for my friends' success but I felt like I was a failure. But like I had to come to the conclusion: What is success? And what success is, is like doing what you love and actually getting paid for it. And so then I adopted that attitude. And then things started going my way.
Joe Rogan Experience #193: Jim Gaffigan / aprox 50:56
Jim Gaffigan: Its also, I think some of it is luck. I mean it is a real cruel business.
JR: Yes.
JG: So, I mean, I was definitely an angry guy. A lot of people were successful before me and I was angry for a couple years.
JR: You were bitter?
JG: Yeah.
JR: Really? How did you get yourself out of that?
JG: Therapy.
JR: Really?
JR: Yeah. You know. And just also I came to the conclusion that I was not doing stand-up... you know I wanted to be... I was happy for my friends' success but I felt like I was a failure. But like I had to come to the conclusion: What is success? And what success is, is like doing what you love and actually getting paid for it. And so then I adopted that attitude. And then things started going my way.
Joe Rogan Experience #193: Jim Gaffigan / aprox 50:56
Thursday, November 15, 2012
My Take: What all those Jesus jokes tell us
How is it that a figure sacred to so many Americans has become the punch line of so many jokes? And why is it acceptable to poke fun at Jesus when other sacred figures are deemed off limits or there is hell to pay for mocking them?
The explanations are as numerous as the laughs.
Immigration shifts from the 1960s changed the ethnic and religious faces of the country so no tradition dominates today. The Christian right made such a moral spectacle of itself that it practically begged to be mocked. The emergence of “spiritual, but not religious” sensibilities left many Americans willing to denounce or laugh about traditional faith. The public rise of agnosticism, atheism, and secularism led to aggressive mockery as a form of persuasion.
If we pause to consider why we’re laughing, we find that the comic bits delve into some of our thorniest and unresolved problems. The jokes reveal much more about us than they do Jesus. They speak to how our society has changed, how it hasn’t, and what we’re obsessed with.
My Take: What all those Jesus jokes tell us / by Edward J. Blum / November 10th, 2012 / cnn.com
The explanations are as numerous as the laughs.
Immigration shifts from the 1960s changed the ethnic and religious faces of the country so no tradition dominates today. The Christian right made such a moral spectacle of itself that it practically begged to be mocked. The emergence of “spiritual, but not religious” sensibilities left many Americans willing to denounce or laugh about traditional faith. The public rise of agnosticism, atheism, and secularism led to aggressive mockery as a form of persuasion.
If we pause to consider why we’re laughing, we find that the comic bits delve into some of our thorniest and unresolved problems. The jokes reveal much more about us than they do Jesus. They speak to how our society has changed, how it hasn’t, and what we’re obsessed with.
My Take: What all those Jesus jokes tell us / by Edward J. Blum / November 10th, 2012 / cnn.com
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
WTF with Marc Maron / Episode #255: Big Jay Oakerson
Big Jay Oakerson: Its interesting you said being influenced by (Dave) Attell... especially when you start off, when you're one of the new guys, there's always people like if you're doing well at all, or you're getting better, all of these people come out of the woodwork that hate you and they tell you why you're doing so good. And Keith Robinson gave me advice in the beginning. He goes, "Look, you don't have to worry about like writing your manifesto yet of what you're going to do." He goes, "Get your 15 minutes that works and work it. Like work it hard. And then when you're in everywhere and there's a confidence in you, you can do whatever you want."
I barely do material at comedy sets in the city. I just talk to the crowd and see where it goes. But um, and Kurt would tell me, "Jay's getting into the comic strip now in Stanton, NY." And they'd be like, "Yeah, doing the same 15 minutes." And he's like, "Yeah, but he's getting in. He's getting the work now."
And all that kind of hatred comes your way... That was the big dig on me, "He's just doing Attell. He only sounds like Attell." And maybe one of the reasons why I was able to kind of develop my own voice from it was my first instinct on that when they said that was to attack the problem. I went right to Dave Attell and I said, "I keep getting told that I sound exactly like you and I'm just doing what you do. Like, can you watch me and if you have any thing, please, I love to hear it."
And he watched me at the (Comedy) Cellar and he was like, you know, in his own way, giggling, 'cause you could still smoke inside of there. I remember watching him intently because I admired him so much. He's like 'mnh, mnh, mnh' cause he's so nonchalant. And I went out into the hallway and I go, "Whadya think?" And maybe because he thought I did sound like him, and maybe because he thought I didn't, but he goes, "What are you doing two weekends from now? You wanna open for me at The Stress Factory?" And I went, "Yeah". And from that point I became like one of his staple guys that would go on the road with him.
WTF with Marc Maron / Episode #255: Big Jay Oakerson / aprox 00:17:00
I barely do material at comedy sets in the city. I just talk to the crowd and see where it goes. But um, and Kurt would tell me, "Jay's getting into the comic strip now in Stanton, NY." And they'd be like, "Yeah, doing the same 15 minutes." And he's like, "Yeah, but he's getting in. He's getting the work now."
And all that kind of hatred comes your way... That was the big dig on me, "He's just doing Attell. He only sounds like Attell." And maybe one of the reasons why I was able to kind of develop my own voice from it was my first instinct on that when they said that was to attack the problem. I went right to Dave Attell and I said, "I keep getting told that I sound exactly like you and I'm just doing what you do. Like, can you watch me and if you have any thing, please, I love to hear it."
And he watched me at the (Comedy) Cellar and he was like, you know, in his own way, giggling, 'cause you could still smoke inside of there. I remember watching him intently because I admired him so much. He's like 'mnh, mnh, mnh' cause he's so nonchalant. And I went out into the hallway and I go, "Whadya think?" And maybe because he thought I did sound like him, and maybe because he thought I didn't, but he goes, "What are you doing two weekends from now? You wanna open for me at The Stress Factory?" And I went, "Yeah". And from that point I became like one of his staple guys that would go on the road with him.
WTF with Marc Maron / Episode #255: Big Jay Oakerson / aprox 00:17:00
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank #32: Hollywood Director
Neal Brennan: Its hard not to be defensive... I find it hard not to be defensive. I feel like I'm very predisposed to being written off. Meaning, I'm sensitive to it. Because I started in comedy as a doorman.
Ari Shaffir: Yeah, me too.
NB: Literally as a doorman at the Boston Comedy Club 20 years ago or 19 years ago. So there's a legion of guys... Maron, Jeff Ross, Greg Fitzsimmons...
AS: (Joey) Diaz told me that. Any city you start in... you will never be respected in that city.
NB: Yeah.
AS: They'll always see you as an open miker.
NB: So I'm still a door guy. I've heard Jeff say when I was on stage, "How did he do this?" I was killing one night and he said, "How did he do this?" Like how did this happen? They mistake being quiet with being unfunny. Its like, no, I'm just quiet. So I'm predisposed that when people are like, "Yeah, I didn't know you did movies." I want to take their fuckin'... I want to bring them to set. And show them what the job is. Oh yeah, I can do fuckin' movies. I'm in charge of a hundred people. And they're all looking to me to figure out what to... but that's my own defenses. It's the Joe Pesci 'Go get your shine box' thing.
AS: I feel like that when I do comedy sometimes. Let's say its my parent's friends. Like, "Oh, you do comedy? Here something you should do." I'm like, hey listen, this is actually something I've done for over a decade.
Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank #32: Hollywood Director / aprox 00:23:00
Ari Shaffir: Yeah, me too.
NB: Literally as a doorman at the Boston Comedy Club 20 years ago or 19 years ago. So there's a legion of guys... Maron, Jeff Ross, Greg Fitzsimmons...
AS: (Joey) Diaz told me that. Any city you start in... you will never be respected in that city.
NB: Yeah.
AS: They'll always see you as an open miker.
NB: So I'm still a door guy. I've heard Jeff say when I was on stage, "How did he do this?" I was killing one night and he said, "How did he do this?" Like how did this happen? They mistake being quiet with being unfunny. Its like, no, I'm just quiet. So I'm predisposed that when people are like, "Yeah, I didn't know you did movies." I want to take their fuckin'... I want to bring them to set. And show them what the job is. Oh yeah, I can do fuckin' movies. I'm in charge of a hundred people. And they're all looking to me to figure out what to... but that's my own defenses. It's the Joe Pesci 'Go get your shine box' thing.
AS: I feel like that when I do comedy sometimes. Let's say its my parent's friends. Like, "Oh, you do comedy? Here something you should do." I'm like, hey listen, this is actually something I've done for over a decade.
Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank #32: Hollywood Director / aprox 00:23:00
Monday, November 12, 2012
Joe Rogan Experience #193: Jim Gaffigan
Jim Gaffigan: I had more time so I was working out more consistently and not eating horribly at three in the morning. And it entered my mind, its like, am I going to be too in-shape for some of these jokes? But that's just me being neurotic.
JR: (laughing) Am I going to be too in shape for some of these jokes! That's hilarious. What a great escape clause: My act is so important I can't do sit-ups.
JG: I can't, you know, I work out but it might mess up that third chunk in the hour.
JR: This is so stupid but I really believe this. I was getting into meditation and I was getting into yoga and a bunch of things when I was young. And when I first started getting into comedy, I thought about it and I said, you know what? Maybe I shouldn't do this 'cause maybe becoming more enlightened is probably bad for my act. 'Cause then I wouldn't be making fun of so many things or picking as many victims...
JG: Now that's a comedian thinking there, right?
JR: Especially Boston-style comedy is so mean, so attack-style. And I was thinking, man, if I become enlightened and I was all like peace and love, this would be terrible for my act. And I'm not going to stop being a comedian.
JG: I wouldn't want to eat healthy, you know? I think I got another hour in me being fat.
Joe Rogan Experience #193: Jim Gaffigan / aprox 50:56
JR: (laughing) Am I going to be too in shape for some of these jokes! That's hilarious. What a great escape clause: My act is so important I can't do sit-ups.
JG: I can't, you know, I work out but it might mess up that third chunk in the hour.
JR: This is so stupid but I really believe this. I was getting into meditation and I was getting into yoga and a bunch of things when I was young. And when I first started getting into comedy, I thought about it and I said, you know what? Maybe I shouldn't do this 'cause maybe becoming more enlightened is probably bad for my act. 'Cause then I wouldn't be making fun of so many things or picking as many victims...
JG: Now that's a comedian thinking there, right?
JR: Especially Boston-style comedy is so mean, so attack-style. And I was thinking, man, if I become enlightened and I was all like peace and love, this would be terrible for my act. And I'm not going to stop being a comedian.
JG: I wouldn't want to eat healthy, you know? I think I got another hour in me being fat.
Joe Rogan Experience #193: Jim Gaffigan / aprox 50:56
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Clever, How They Earn That Laugh
Most comics, when starting out, make so little working in New York that they are, in a sense, paying to perform. Some move up to well-known theaters and showcases, but they still might not draw much more than graduate students. Television offers a big payday, but it’s not the fortune that some imagine. Comedy Central routinely offers $15,000 for a half-hour special that can take a year or more to develop. Even as well-known comics get modest fees, relative unknowns can do very well — in the right field. Buzz Sutherland may not be a household name, but he pulled down $350,000 last year, with his largest source of income coming from the lucrative college circuit.
Earning a livable salary through comedy is not easy, but these working comics reveal the diversity of ways to make money. (Some salaries are approximate.) Of course money is not the only form of reward. Comedians perform because they love what they do. Or the prestige of a respected gig. Or simply to get better. As with any freelance job, their work requires resourcefulness, determination and creativity. Being funny is essential, but a few accounting skills don’t hurt.
Earning a livable salary through comedy is not easy, but these working comics reveal the diversity of ways to make money. (Some salaries are approximate.) Of course money is not the only form of reward. Comedians perform because they love what they do. Or the prestige of a respected gig. Or simply to get better. As with any freelance job, their work requires resourcefulness, determination and creativity. Being funny is essential, but a few accounting skills don’t hurt.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
WTF with Marc Maron / Episode #255: Big Jay Oakerson
Big Jay Oakerson: You know, I always say that as a comedian your innocence is so lost... that's the shittiest part about being a comedian is that your innocence in comedy is lost. It's hard to just sit back and laugh at a...
Marc Maron: Oh yeah, I talked about that last night on stage. Where its like you're so jaded the only time you can enjoy a show is when someone is struggling.
BJO: Yeah, you wanna go see someone have a rough time so that they can dig out of it in some way. You really have no interest in going in there and like uh... as much as I like (Dave) Attell I don't go in the room for Attell every time anymore because I just know he's going to do good. But when they go, "This guy turned on Attell and he's down there doing it." Now I want to see what he does. 'Cause that's when I think the magic kicks in.
WTF with Marc Maron / Episode #255: Big Jay Oakerson / aprox 00:17:00
Marc Maron: Oh yeah, I talked about that last night on stage. Where its like you're so jaded the only time you can enjoy a show is when someone is struggling.
BJO: Yeah, you wanna go see someone have a rough time so that they can dig out of it in some way. You really have no interest in going in there and like uh... as much as I like (Dave) Attell I don't go in the room for Attell every time anymore because I just know he's going to do good. But when they go, "This guy turned on Attell and he's down there doing it." Now I want to see what he does. 'Cause that's when I think the magic kicks in.
WTF with Marc Maron / Episode #255: Big Jay Oakerson / aprox 00:17:00
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Ari Shaffir's Skeptic Tank #32: Hollywood Director
Neal Brennan: I don't know if I've ever explained the entire process of a movie. So I did... I created the Chappelle Show with Dave (Chappelle) and basically its like being a good high school basketball player. You just get recruited by...
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Neal Brennan: So when you do a good thing on TV or you make a short you get on these approved lists.
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Neal Brennan: So when you do a good thing on TV or you make a short you get on these approved lists.
Ari Shaffir: If you as a screenwriter…
NB: Generally its as a director. There’s a whole ‘nother
screenwriting list. That’s a whole ‘nother list.
AS: Did you write ‘The Goods’?
NB: No. I was on the list during ‘Half Baked’ and subsequent
years. I’m probably still on some list. I’m just so far down. ‘Cause you have
to renew it every year. You have to write a good script every year and a half
and I just haven’t written…
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NB: So they send me… They’ve sent me every comedy script for
the last 7 years. Every ‘You, Me & Dupree’, the ice skating movie (Blades
of Glory), ‘The Brothers Solomon’, fuckin’ ‘Horrible Bosses’. Literally, "Would
you be interested in directing this?"
AS: Superbad…
NB: Superbad they sent me. I just never read it.
AS: Who directed the ice skating movie?
NB: They guys who directed the Geico commercials with the
caveman.
AS: Wow.
NB: They were hot from that. So then they got… the ice
skating movie I was up for. They really wanted me for that.
AS: So they just gauge your interest and then ‘we’ll talk’?
NB: Yeah, but when we talk… I’m pitching.
AS: You’re pitching yourself?
NB: Yeah. As how I would… what I would make the movie look
like.
AS: Who do you talk to?
NB: You talk to the studio head and the producer.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Joe Rogan Experience #193
Jim Gaffigan: I think in New York it was important to appear
tough when I was starting out.
Joe Rogan: Really?
JG: Not having emotion attached. You see that in Louis…
Louis has it. And Attell has it. And Kevin Brennan has it. And uh, Maron, I
mean even though Maron is such an open book he has a little bit… Like being
unphased by… at least on stage. Does that make sense?
JR: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
JG: You have it too.
JR: You have to really be into what you’re thinking about.
And if you’re into what you’re thinking about then you’re not going to be
really phased if people are into it or not.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Jim Carrey: Bare Facts and Shocking Revelations
(Jim) Carrey has publicly complained that we would come home from walking "on the moon" as Ace and be unable to handle the old domesticity. Melissa (Womer) recalls saying: "'You must come home and put your feet back on the ground and take your garbage out like everyone else, or I can't be married to you.' And basically, he called my bluff."
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If those weeks on the first Ace set were terrifying, Jim Carrey is past brooding over it. "I don't think there can be a creative person on earth who doesn't have extreme highs and lows," he says, "Otherwise, you're just boring. Some of the best work I've done has come out of those lows. There will be times in my life again, I'm sure, when I get in a dark spot. That's just the way I am."
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Casa de Haha Podcast: John Wynn
John Wynn: You can’t copyright ideas. You know what I mean? So a lot of… you have to create it. You have to create the idea. You can’t just have the idea. And its like comedy too, man. You can have the premise but until you really come up with a great punchline for it… the idea can’t be copyrighted.
Daniel Reskin: Its open…
JW: Yeah, its open.
DR: You haven’t breathed life into it.
JW: Yeah. But its when you have the punchline… that’s your take on it, I think. That’s the way I look at comedy a little bit. The premise is everything. The premise, the topic of whatever you’re talking about, is everything that people experience. But its your point of view that makes it funny. Its your perspective… and that’s the punchline. So I get very frustrated when I see a lot of new comics essentially doing someone else’s punchline because its someone else’s perspective… its someone else’s point of view.
Casa de Haha Podcast: John Wynn / Aprox. 00:31:30
Daniel Reskin: Its open…
JW: Yeah, its open.
DR: You haven’t breathed life into it.
JW: Yeah. But its when you have the punchline… that’s your take on it, I think. That’s the way I look at comedy a little bit. The premise is everything. The premise, the topic of whatever you’re talking about, is everything that people experience. But its your point of view that makes it funny. Its your perspective… and that’s the punchline. So I get very frustrated when I see a lot of new comics essentially doing someone else’s punchline because its someone else’s perspective… its someone else’s point of view.
Casa de Haha Podcast: John Wynn / Aprox. 00:31:30
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Turn to the Comedian: An Interview with Kyle Kinane
"What is the role of the stand-up comedian in today's world?" I asked Kinane as he sat down in my living room. He took a deep breath before answering, "I'm split halfway between 'This is a necessary element' and 'You just fucking make fart jokes and expect to be a part of the world.'"
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"The way you look at the world is the way you look at the world. It usually takes a pretty monumental experience to change that." But he believes the comedian can in fact alter one's perspective. Mimicking an audience member, he says: "Oh, look at the way [the comedian] looks at things. I'm gonna do that. It might make me a little more open-minded by looking at things differently."
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As Kinane puts it: "It's people laughing, thinking 'I've thought that, but I could never tell my friends that.'" The comedian, however, can say whatever he wants because it's all framed with comedy. If the joke is set up correctly, the comedian can be offensive without fearing a backlash. Some comedians don't frame their jokes properly, and this is where they get into trouble. But, if done correctly, offensive thoughts can be not just a source of great comedy, but great democratic benefit, as well.
"If it sits in you, then you feel guilty," Kinane says. "Comedy's great because you say it and people laugh and it's as if it absolves you. Them laughing means it's okay because they thought it, too, and I hear them laugh, which means it's okay that I thought it." He adds: "It keeps balance in the world."
Turn to the Comedian: An Interview with Kyle Kinane / by Daniel Berkowitz / 10/28/2012 / slantmagazine.com
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"The way you look at the world is the way you look at the world. It usually takes a pretty monumental experience to change that." But he believes the comedian can in fact alter one's perspective. Mimicking an audience member, he says: "Oh, look at the way [the comedian] looks at things. I'm gonna do that. It might make me a little more open-minded by looking at things differently."
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As Kinane puts it: "It's people laughing, thinking 'I've thought that, but I could never tell my friends that.'" The comedian, however, can say whatever he wants because it's all framed with comedy. If the joke is set up correctly, the comedian can be offensive without fearing a backlash. Some comedians don't frame their jokes properly, and this is where they get into trouble. But, if done correctly, offensive thoughts can be not just a source of great comedy, but great democratic benefit, as well.
"If it sits in you, then you feel guilty," Kinane says. "Comedy's great because you say it and people laugh and it's as if it absolves you. Them laughing means it's okay because they thought it, too, and I hear them laugh, which means it's okay that I thought it." He adds: "It keeps balance in the world."
Turn to the Comedian: An Interview with Kyle Kinane / by Daniel Berkowitz / 10/28/2012 / slantmagazine.com
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Scientifically Speaking, Who’s Funnier: Democrats or Republicans?
Democrats, for example, tended to rely on the kind of humor and laughter that was inclusive and convivial. “The Democratic Party is a highly egalitarian party,” says Stewart. “Anyone can get in or drop out. So you really have to be charismatic like Clinton or Obama to draw people in.” Obama was particularly good at this in the 2008 season: Stewart found that in the debates, he often flashed smiles of genuine amusement and engaged in loose-jawed laughter, the sort of visual signals that suggest, “Join me, I’m here to play.”
Republicans, on the other hand, tended to rely on what’s called “encrypted humor,” says Stewart, the sort of “wink, wink” in-jokes that separate insiders from outsiders. Take Republican candidate Mike Huckabee’s 2008 quip that “We’ve had a Congress that has spent money like [John] Edwards at a beauty shop.” By using the term “beauty shop,” as opposed to, say, “barbershop,” Huckabee’s joke was “not just an attack on congress, but also an attack on Edwards’ masculinity,” says Stewart.
Scientifically Speaking, Who’s Funnier: Democrats or Republicans? / by Joel Warner and Peter McGraw / 0.23.12 / wired.com
Republicans, on the other hand, tended to rely on what’s called “encrypted humor,” says Stewart, the sort of “wink, wink” in-jokes that separate insiders from outsiders. Take Republican candidate Mike Huckabee’s 2008 quip that “We’ve had a Congress that has spent money like [John] Edwards at a beauty shop.” By using the term “beauty shop,” as opposed to, say, “barbershop,” Huckabee’s joke was “not just an attack on congress, but also an attack on Edwards’ masculinity,” says Stewart.
Scientifically Speaking, Who’s Funnier: Democrats or Republicans? / by Joel Warner and Peter McGraw / 0.23.12 / wired.com
Monday, October 29, 2012
The Last Word: Bill Maher
Sean Woods: What advice would you give to the younger you?
Bill Maher: To have a better attitude. I was too sensitive. I used to get insulted if the crowd didn't get the jokes. The correct thing to do is just keep smiling, keep plugging, and if they still don't laugh by the end of the show, say thank you, good night, and get them next time. It's not smart to start telling the audience how stupid they are. And that happened. Many times.
SW: What's the best advice you ever received?
BM: In 1979, at Catch A Rising Star, or one of those New York comedy clubs, Larry David told me to take my wallet onstage, because it would get stolen if I left it in the dressing room.
The Last Word: Bill Maher / Men's Journal / October 2012 / Page 138
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Vacation!
Au Revoir!
Thursday, September 27, 2012
The A.V. Club Interview: Rob Delaney
Kyle Ryan: You tweeted a few months ago about a bad gig you had, that some comics you respected saw. You said it was still terrifying to you, even after time had passed. Some people don’t realize you can do this for a long time and still feel gutted after a bad show.
Rob Delaney: Yes. I did this show where the comics were asked to wear suits and ties, and one reason—it’s a smaller reason, but it’s a benefit I really enjoy—I do comedy is so I don’t have to wear a suit and tie. I hate wearing suits and ties. I viscerally hate dressing up, and I know some people who do that. I know some people prefer to do their comedy that way, and that is absolutely fine and fantastic. I enjoy comedians who do do that, but for me, I won’t wear that stuff.
I resented that I was asked to wear a suit and tie, so I started my set kind of pouty and feeling sorry for myself, and I’m only admitting that because it could probably be of use to another comedian—that was very wrong of me. I should relish any opportunity to perform and respect the fact that I was asked to do the show, that there were people who came to see it. So I started off my set from a sense of self-pity. If there’s a commandment for comedy, that has got to be at the top: “Don’t you dare.” As such, I got into a hole I had difficulty pulling myself out of. I don’t think the set was the nightmare I felt that it was afterward, but my mindset was unhealthy and not conducive to enjoying myself onstage, which you must if you’re going to deliver a show people like. My main yardstick for if the show went well is, “Did I enjoy myself?” As a steward of this audience, of any audience, you are showing the people what to do, and it should be having a good time.
Anyway, I remember T.J. Miller and Hannibal Buress were in the audience, guys I love, and I remember getting offstage and immediately realizing this was my fault, I sabotaged myself, because I had a little fit, because I didn’t wanna wear this little suitie-pie, and I’m actually glad it happened. I’m very glad it happened, because it made me re-evaluate how the audience is at least 51 percent of the equation. They are more important than, you, the performer, and they must be respected and loved. They don’t give a donkey shit if you’re wearing a suit and tie or if you’re fucking wearing Saran Wrap—make them laugh, you fucking idiot. So that was good for me. I’m glad I had a little ego flare-up, and that I was swiftly and effectively punished, and that I learned my lesson. That will become one of my more instructive stand-up experiences, actually.
The A.V. Club Interview: Rob Delaney / By Kyle Ryan / June 1, 2012
Rob Delaney: Yes. I did this show where the comics were asked to wear suits and ties, and one reason—it’s a smaller reason, but it’s a benefit I really enjoy—I do comedy is so I don’t have to wear a suit and tie. I hate wearing suits and ties. I viscerally hate dressing up, and I know some people who do that. I know some people prefer to do their comedy that way, and that is absolutely fine and fantastic. I enjoy comedians who do do that, but for me, I won’t wear that stuff.
I resented that I was asked to wear a suit and tie, so I started my set kind of pouty and feeling sorry for myself, and I’m only admitting that because it could probably be of use to another comedian—that was very wrong of me. I should relish any opportunity to perform and respect the fact that I was asked to do the show, that there were people who came to see it. So I started off my set from a sense of self-pity. If there’s a commandment for comedy, that has got to be at the top: “Don’t you dare.” As such, I got into a hole I had difficulty pulling myself out of. I don’t think the set was the nightmare I felt that it was afterward, but my mindset was unhealthy and not conducive to enjoying myself onstage, which you must if you’re going to deliver a show people like. My main yardstick for if the show went well is, “Did I enjoy myself?” As a steward of this audience, of any audience, you are showing the people what to do, and it should be having a good time.
Anyway, I remember T.J. Miller and Hannibal Buress were in the audience, guys I love, and I remember getting offstage and immediately realizing this was my fault, I sabotaged myself, because I had a little fit, because I didn’t wanna wear this little suitie-pie, and I’m actually glad it happened. I’m very glad it happened, because it made me re-evaluate how the audience is at least 51 percent of the equation. They are more important than, you, the performer, and they must be respected and loved. They don’t give a donkey shit if you’re wearing a suit and tie or if you’re fucking wearing Saran Wrap—make them laugh, you fucking idiot. So that was good for me. I’m glad I had a little ego flare-up, and that I was swiftly and effectively punished, and that I learned my lesson. That will become one of my more instructive stand-up experiences, actually.
The A.V. Club Interview: Rob Delaney / By Kyle Ryan / June 1, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Nikki Glaser Pre-Interview
Proudly Presents: What’s the appeal to the audience of stand ups talking on a Podcast Over Going To A Club?
Nikki Glaser: People want to be entertained. We are funny people when we talk.
It let’s them in. It’s more real. Your act. It’s not based around punch lines. I’m much more honest and I get to tell stories on the one liner jokes.
PP: How has podcasting changed your act?
NG: It’s made me more confident stepping out of that joke style on stage. We record the podcast with a small audience. I get to hear what stories work in the room. I take more chances in the living room when we record the podcast. The audience is generally our friends. When I started getting laughs from these stories (not just jokes) It made me more comfortable to tell them on stage.
Nikki Glaser Pre-Interview / Posted on: July 18th, 2012 / proudlypresents.com
Nikki Glaser: People want to be entertained. We are funny people when we talk.
It let’s them in. It’s more real. Your act. It’s not based around punch lines. I’m much more honest and I get to tell stories on the one liner jokes.
PP: How has podcasting changed your act?
NG: It’s made me more confident stepping out of that joke style on stage. We record the podcast with a small audience. I get to hear what stories work in the room. I take more chances in the living room when we record the podcast. The audience is generally our friends. When I started getting laughs from these stories (not just jokes) It made me more comfortable to tell them on stage.
Nikki Glaser Pre-Interview / Posted on: July 18th, 2012 / proudlypresents.com
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Judd Apatow and Lena Dunham Talk Sex, the City and 'Girls'
Alison Willmore: How was the experience of working with other writers?
Lena Dunham: When we did our first table read, people laughed, but I said to Judd "Is that how a table read's supposed to go?" He said "Yeah, it's good... People could have laughed a little bit more." We all went into a room and talked for three days.
I'd thought my script was done, but what we came out with was something that was infinitely funnier and more alive. My favorite moments in the pilot come from those three days. I finally understood the benefits of doing something in a collaborative way — that really taught me how to use the writers room.
Judd Apatow: Also, a staff is a good resource for crazy life experiences. At some point, you run out of dumb things you've done.
LD: Especially when you're making a TV show -- you don't have much time to do dumb things.
JA: So it's eight people with an enormous amount of stories. When we hired the staff, we talked a lot about hiring people who've lived and who have a lot of tales to tell, because we felt that's what the show was about.
Lena Dunham: When we did our first table read, people laughed, but I said to Judd "Is that how a table read's supposed to go?" He said "Yeah, it's good... People could have laughed a little bit more." We all went into a room and talked for three days.
I'd thought my script was done, but what we came out with was something that was infinitely funnier and more alive. My favorite moments in the pilot come from those three days. I finally understood the benefits of doing something in a collaborative way — that really taught me how to use the writers room.
Judd Apatow: Also, a staff is a good resource for crazy life experiences. At some point, you run out of dumb things you've done.
LD: Especially when you're making a TV show -- you don't have much time to do dumb things.
JA: So it's eight people with an enormous amount of stories. When we hired the staff, we talked a lot about hiring people who've lived and who have a lot of tales to tell, because we felt that's what the show was about.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Interview: Judd Apatow and Director Nicholas Stoller on 'The Five-Year Engagement'
Laura Aguirre: In the Apatow universe, what are the hallmarks of a successful comedy?
Judd Apatow: We like comedies that are truthful and when people reveal something personal.
Nicholas Stoller: Like Jason’s (Segel) penis.
JA: In any type of art or music or movies, I always connect when someone is telling me something that I know means a lot to them. Whether it’s a song, like when you say, “I don’t think that person’s kidding around, Kurt Cobain means that.” I think it’s the same for comedy. You can tell when people are passionate about something. There’s just a quality to it when someone’s just funny and knows what they are doing. Why things work is hard to define, but originality also.
LA: Are you good at identifying real moments?
JA: I’m a fan of television and movies and I’ve seen a lot. When we are kicking around ideas, there’s always a moment when we’ll say, “Oh I saw that in that Salma Hayek movie. Let’s not do that, let’s see if we can think of something different.” Even if we liked it in the Salma Hayek movie. The question is, what’s a new way to do this.
Judd Apatow: We like comedies that are truthful and when people reveal something personal.
Nicholas Stoller: Like Jason’s (Segel) penis.
JA: In any type of art or music or movies, I always connect when someone is telling me something that I know means a lot to them. Whether it’s a song, like when you say, “I don’t think that person’s kidding around, Kurt Cobain means that.” I think it’s the same for comedy. You can tell when people are passionate about something. There’s just a quality to it when someone’s just funny and knows what they are doing. Why things work is hard to define, but originality also.
LA: Are you good at identifying real moments?
JA: I’m a fan of television and movies and I’ve seen a lot. When we are kicking around ideas, there’s always a moment when we’ll say, “Oh I saw that in that Salma Hayek movie. Let’s not do that, let’s see if we can think of something different.” Even if we liked it in the Salma Hayek movie. The question is, what’s a new way to do this.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Eddie Murphy: The Rolling Stone Interview
Brian Hiatt: You also had some problems with Saturday Night Live.
Eddie Murphy: Yeah, because they were shitty to me on Saturday Night Live a couple of times after I'd left the show. They said some shitty things. There was that David Spade sketch [when Spade showed a picture of Murphy around the time of Vampire in Brooklyn and said, "Look, children, a falling star"]. I made a stink about it, it became part of the folklore. What really irritated me about it at the time was that it was a career shot. It was like, "Hey, come on, man, it's one thing for you guys to do a joke about some movie of mine, but my career? I'm one of you guys. How many people have come off this show whose careers really are fucked up, and you guys are shitting on me?" And you know every joke has to go through all the producers, and ultimately, you know Lorne or whoever says, [Lorne Michaels voice] "OK, it's OK to make this career crack..."
I felt shitty about that for years, but now, I don't have none of that. I wouldn't go to retrospectives, but I don't let it linger. I saw David Spade four years ago. Chris Rock was like, "Do you guys still hate each other?" and I was like, "I don't hate David Spade, I'm cool with him."
BH: You're still the biggest star who came from the show.
EM: That's only because John Belushi's dead. Belushi's like Spanky of the Little Rascals series. I guess that makes me Stymie, but that's cool. I'll be Stymie. Think of all the people who came off that show. I bet you could figure out the combined grosses of people who came off Saturday Night Live in the movies – me, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Mike Myers, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd. I bet it's $15 billion. It's no coincidence – that show's like Harvard for a comic actor. When you come off the show and get into the movie business, it's like you're moving in slow motion for a couple of years. You've been working like a crazy person in a pressure cooker, then you're in the movies, just sitting in your trailer.
Eddie Murphy: The Rolling Stone Interview / by: Brian Hiatt / November 9, 2011
Eddie Murphy: Yeah, because they were shitty to me on Saturday Night Live a couple of times after I'd left the show. They said some shitty things. There was that David Spade sketch [when Spade showed a picture of Murphy around the time of Vampire in Brooklyn and said, "Look, children, a falling star"]. I made a stink about it, it became part of the folklore. What really irritated me about it at the time was that it was a career shot. It was like, "Hey, come on, man, it's one thing for you guys to do a joke about some movie of mine, but my career? I'm one of you guys. How many people have come off this show whose careers really are fucked up, and you guys are shitting on me?" And you know every joke has to go through all the producers, and ultimately, you know Lorne or whoever says, [Lorne Michaels voice] "OK, it's OK to make this career crack..."
I felt shitty about that for years, but now, I don't have none of that. I wouldn't go to retrospectives, but I don't let it linger. I saw David Spade four years ago. Chris Rock was like, "Do you guys still hate each other?" and I was like, "I don't hate David Spade, I'm cool with him."
BH: You're still the biggest star who came from the show.
EM: That's only because John Belushi's dead. Belushi's like Spanky of the Little Rascals series. I guess that makes me Stymie, but that's cool. I'll be Stymie. Think of all the people who came off that show. I bet you could figure out the combined grosses of people who came off Saturday Night Live in the movies – me, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Mike Myers, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd. I bet it's $15 billion. It's no coincidence – that show's like Harvard for a comic actor. When you come off the show and get into the movie business, it's like you're moving in slow motion for a couple of years. You've been working like a crazy person in a pressure cooker, then you're in the movies, just sitting in your trailer.
Eddie Murphy: The Rolling Stone Interview / by: Brian Hiatt / November 9, 2011
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Sex, Drugs, and Seminary
Mike Moody: What is it about standup?
Ari Shaffir: I don’t know, I just like it. I don’t know. I could try to be a poetic person, but it’s just the feeling. It’s a good feeling I get when I do it. It just makes me happy. Whatever gives you fulfillment, this is my thing that gives me fulfillment. For some people it’s building race cars or whatever it is. I just like doing it. So I’m always sort of surprised that I get paid at the end of week. Well, not surprised, but it’s like, “Hey, that’s nice,” because I would do it for free.
MM: Your comedy is pretty dark and personal. Tell me about the moment or the time when you found your voice on stage and you could just be yourself.
AS: I don’t know. It’s like you get closer and closer to it as you go. It’s like you get it in moments, and then you get it in more moments, and then you sort of become yourself and just not give a fuck about what anybody else thinks. It’s like you almost completely stop pandering to everyone and you are completely yourself. Probably in the last couple of years I feel I’ve just sort of been saying the things I want to say the way I want to say them. They talk about “finding your voice,” and it’s like I never really understood what that meant. I think it just means talking the way you would to your friends. Once you start getting like that on stage and making jokes, it’s more rewarding.
Sex, Drugs, and Seminary: An Interview with Amazing Racist and Comedian Ari Shaffir / Mike Moody / April 23, 2012
Ari Shaffir: I don’t know, I just like it. I don’t know. I could try to be a poetic person, but it’s just the feeling. It’s a good feeling I get when I do it. It just makes me happy. Whatever gives you fulfillment, this is my thing that gives me fulfillment. For some people it’s building race cars or whatever it is. I just like doing it. So I’m always sort of surprised that I get paid at the end of week. Well, not surprised, but it’s like, “Hey, that’s nice,” because I would do it for free.
MM: Your comedy is pretty dark and personal. Tell me about the moment or the time when you found your voice on stage and you could just be yourself.
AS: I don’t know. It’s like you get closer and closer to it as you go. It’s like you get it in moments, and then you get it in more moments, and then you sort of become yourself and just not give a fuck about what anybody else thinks. It’s like you almost completely stop pandering to everyone and you are completely yourself. Probably in the last couple of years I feel I’ve just sort of been saying the things I want to say the way I want to say them. They talk about “finding your voice,” and it’s like I never really understood what that meant. I think it just means talking the way you would to your friends. Once you start getting like that on stage and making jokes, it’s more rewarding.
Sex, Drugs, and Seminary: An Interview with Amazing Racist and Comedian Ari Shaffir / Mike Moody / April 23, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
The A.V. Club Interview: Chris D'Elia
Marah Eakin: Your stand-up is pretty animated, and you do a lot of crowd work. Are you like that off the stage? Do you talk to strangers?
Chris D'Elia: It’s funny that you say that, actually, because I’ve always said that crowd work is flirting. There are a lot of videos online of me doing crowd work, because when the Laugh Factory films the set, I always tell them, “Don’t put the material I’m working on for TV.” So I said, “If you have any good crowd work moments, you can put those up.” They put those up, and now I think a lot of people think I’m the guy who does a lot of crowd work, which I am, and I love doing it, I really do, because it’s fun for me.
Chris D'Elia: It’s funny that you say that, actually, because I’ve always said that crowd work is flirting. There are a lot of videos online of me doing crowd work, because when the Laugh Factory films the set, I always tell them, “Don’t put the material I’m working on for TV.” So I said, “If you have any good crowd work moments, you can put those up.” They put those up, and now I think a lot of people think I’m the guy who does a lot of crowd work, which I am, and I love doing it, I really do, because it’s fun for me.
But I feel like crowd work—to me—I feel the same if I’m on a date with a girl and if I can get into that mode where I’m just fun and flirty and there’s a connection at the date, that’s how I feel when I’m onstage with a crowd. I feel like I’m trying to seduce them and make them laugh. And I feel like if somebody throws me something, then I can just throw it back. I’ve been doing it so long, and I’ve played so many weird clubs, like bars and coffee shops, it’s like... Eminem is so good at freestyling, but it’s not that he’s making stuff up; he knows what rhymes already. He’s got a database, and he knows what words rhyme with what words. It’s not like he’s just figuring it out now; he’s worked and trained in the trenches, and I think that’s what a lot of comics do with their crowd work. It’s like, they’ve been in the situation; if something pops up, they can remember another time when this kind of a thing happened.
The A.V. Club Interview: Chris D'Elia / by Marah Eakin / June 12, 2012
The A.V. Club Interview: Chris D'Elia / by Marah Eakin / June 12, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
On the Beach With Dave Chappelle
The problems, he says, started with his inner circle."If you don't have the right people around you and you're moving at a million miles an hour you can lose yourself," he says. "Everyone around me says, 'You're a genius!'; 'You're great!'; 'That's your voice!' But I'm not sure that they're right." And he stresses that Comedy Central was not part of the problem and put no more than normal television restrictions on what he could do.
"You got to be careful of the company you keep," Chappelle says. "It's hard to know how much to say. One of the things that happens when people make the leap from a certain amount of money to tens of millions of dollars is that the people around you dramatically change.
"During my ascent, I've seen other people go through that wall to become really big. They always said that fame didn't change them but that it changes the people around them. You always hear that but you never really understand it. But now that I'm there that makes a lot of sense and I'm learning what that means. You have to have people around you that you can trust and aren't just out for a meal ticket."
On the Beach With Dave Chappelle / by PETER VAN AGTMAEL / Sunday, May 15, 2005
"You got to be careful of the company you keep," Chappelle says. "It's hard to know how much to say. One of the things that happens when people make the leap from a certain amount of money to tens of millions of dollars is that the people around you dramatically change.
"During my ascent, I've seen other people go through that wall to become really big. They always said that fame didn't change them but that it changes the people around them. You always hear that but you never really understand it. But now that I'm there that makes a lot of sense and I'm learning what that means. You have to have people around you that you can trust and aren't just out for a meal ticket."
On the Beach With Dave Chappelle / by PETER VAN AGTMAEL / Sunday, May 15, 2005
Friday, September 14, 2012
The A.V. Club Interview: Paul Mooney
Nathan Rabin: You have an archetypal story, in that you ran away from home as a teenager to join the circus.
Paul Mooney: Oh yeah. I go down in black history, I was the first black ringmaster. This is way before the Black Circus and all this stuff, back in the day. It was called the Charles Gody Circus. We had all the animals from television: Gentle Ben, the cross-eyed lion, all that stuff. You're probably too young. Daktari was a hit then. The black man that starred in that, I forget his name, 'cause I'm getting old. I don't have Alzheimer's, I have "sometimer's": Sometimes I remember, sometimes I don't. They used to think I was hep, and they called me "Hollywood."
NR: How did you make the transition from being a ringmaster to doing comedy?
PM: I was a ringmaster, and I was funny. I was doing comedy before. I just did that to make some money. I was a shoe salesman, I worked at Joseph Magnin's, an expensive store in Century City, and it was good money. Let me tell you something about Hollywood you may not know. Back in the day, we did everything we could to pay the rent. We didn't give a damn. There was a lot of us that did The Dating Game, we were married or we were with somebody, we still did it because it was scale, and we had to pay our phone bill and our rent. I also worked for Playboy for five years. I did Playboy After Dark.
NR: You learned how to harness your gift?
PM: Yeah. Then I held onto who I was. When you know who you are, you know who you are. That's the real dangerous thing in Hollywood, because they all want to create you and mold you. They have Frankenstein syndrome here. But as in the Frankenstein story, the monster always hates the doctor.
Did you ever see the black-and-white original Frankenstein? Okay, the doctor has all the dialogue, you know: "You think I'm crazy? I'll show you crazy. I created it with my own hands!" He talks throughout the whole movie, am I right or wrong? Frankenstein said one thing—less is more. "Aaaah!" And all you remember is the monster.
The A.V. Club Interview: Paul Mooney / by Nathan Rabin / March 15, 2007
Paul Mooney: Oh yeah. I go down in black history, I was the first black ringmaster. This is way before the Black Circus and all this stuff, back in the day. It was called the Charles Gody Circus. We had all the animals from television: Gentle Ben, the cross-eyed lion, all that stuff. You're probably too young. Daktari was a hit then. The black man that starred in that, I forget his name, 'cause I'm getting old. I don't have Alzheimer's, I have "sometimer's": Sometimes I remember, sometimes I don't. They used to think I was hep, and they called me "Hollywood."
NR: How did you make the transition from being a ringmaster to doing comedy?
PM: I was a ringmaster, and I was funny. I was doing comedy before. I just did that to make some money. I was a shoe salesman, I worked at Joseph Magnin's, an expensive store in Century City, and it was good money. Let me tell you something about Hollywood you may not know. Back in the day, we did everything we could to pay the rent. We didn't give a damn. There was a lot of us that did The Dating Game, we were married or we were with somebody, we still did it because it was scale, and we had to pay our phone bill and our rent. I also worked for Playboy for five years. I did Playboy After Dark.
NR: You learned how to harness your gift?
PM: Yeah. Then I held onto who I was. When you know who you are, you know who you are. That's the real dangerous thing in Hollywood, because they all want to create you and mold you. They have Frankenstein syndrome here. But as in the Frankenstein story, the monster always hates the doctor.
Did you ever see the black-and-white original Frankenstein? Okay, the doctor has all the dialogue, you know: "You think I'm crazy? I'll show you crazy. I created it with my own hands!" He talks throughout the whole movie, am I right or wrong? Frankenstein said one thing—less is more. "Aaaah!" And all you remember is the monster.
The A.V. Club Interview: Paul Mooney / by Nathan Rabin / March 15, 2007
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