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