Jimmy Pardo: (talking about ignoring requests from headliners when you're a feature not to do crowd work) I ignored one guy.
Jimmy Dore: I thought it was in general that you were like, "Hey, this is my act. This is what I do."
JP: No, because nobody ever said anything to me because nobody ever really had trouble following me. Even though I did crowd work for 30 minutes. Only one time did somebody say 'hey, I'm having trouble following you..." Two times. One guy I did say, "That's my act." And then that guy and I... it was tense the rest of the week.
This other guy... I wish I would have understood what he was getting at. He was not, he should not have been headlining and I should not have been featuring. And because I should not have been featuring...
JD: You should have been headlining?
JP: Oh yeah, over this guy, yes. I shouldn't have been opening. I should have been open miking! So I went out and didn't have an act so I worked the crowd for 30 minutes. And by the way, 25 is plenty. 30 minutes in the middle... that extra 5 means a lot.
JD: I know! People don't realize that. People don't...
JP: So this guy, Mike, I don't even think he's a comic anymore. After the first night he said, "I really need to ask... don't do that crowd work. I'm treading water myself." But I'm insecure and I have that mindset, "You can't follow me! You can't follow me!" I go, "That's my act. Do what you gotta do."
It wasn't until maybe a year later that I was like, "Oh no. He needed me to not work the crowd because he didn't... he shouldn't... he couldn't fill the time either." He needed to work the crowd to fill the time. Like we both were in the wrong spot. And I didn't set him up well on a show. I didn't do him any good by going up and working the crowd in front of him. And if I ever see him, I'll tell him that. And I will! Because there are like five things in my life and that's honestly one of them that are like, "When I see that man, I will apologize for being so self involved that I have to do well at Lassen's Comedy Club in the basement of a bar in Homewood, Illinois that I sandbagged this other performer."
Comedy and Everything Else Episode #137: Jimmy Pardo / aprox 1:04:00
Jimmy Pardo: Well then on Sunday I was hosting a Comedy Showcase for Conan (O'Brien) at The Comedy Store. I was hosting it. And I walked out and instantly realized nobody is there to see me. And so I got dry mouth, I, I, I became timid. Like every… like I wish I could see a video of it to see me walk out with the swagger, go, “Hey everybody,” and realize ‘oh, I’m the first guy…”. And by what you already said – the MC has been undervalued. So here’s a roomful of people that don’t know, and please pardon this, that the great Jimmy Pardo is… that they’re lucky I’m hosting. And I was, “Hey, everybody… (oh, nobody is here to see me)… we got a great show.” And all of a sudden nerves hit like I’ve never experienced, like I haven’t experienced that in years. And that’s a month and half ago. The answer is yes.
Jimmy Dore: That is so funny that you say that. I had a similar experience almost a month and a half ago. I’m not kidding. I was on stage, I don’t want to say where, I don’t know what the hell happened but I got dry mouth, I was in my head, I was like, “What if they don’t laugh at this next thing?” And I literally panicked. I’ve never panicked on stage. But I didn’t panic and run, I just kind of like (breathes deeply)… I didn’t know why this was happening and so I was just like I’m going to do one more joke, I don’t care how it goes, and I’m getting off stage. And I did one more joke, and I realized I can’t get off right now, so I did one more and then I said something and I got off. And nobody said anything. I wasn’t a great performance but I got through it and nobody said anything like, “Hey, what’s your problem?” I went home and I told Stef, “I don’t know what the hell happened tonight.” And I started asking my friends if they ever got nervous, and it turns out, yeah, people still do get nervous.
Comedy and Everything Else Episode 137: Jimmy Pardo / aprox 1:28:00
(thanks Mark)
Paul F. Tompkins: How do you separate that feeling of rejection as an artist from you as a person? Its like, “Well no, they don’t like me or what I do.”
Aisha Tyler: Yes, both. Did you have a point where… Cause I remember vividly having a couple of points where I was like, “Why do I do this?”
PFT: Oh, very recently. I just came out of it where I was at a really bad point, and even some good things were happening and I couldn’t see it.
AT: You can’t even feel that.
PFT: I was able to turn it into a negative, “Yeah, but its not… this, you know?” And ‘this’ hasn’t happened yet. And you know all that kind of thing.
Eric Eisenberg: With all the films that you’ve directed, produced, written and starred in, and all the nominations and awards you’ve received, is there one film that’s the most memorable for you?
Woody Allen: When you make the film, it’s like a chef who works on the meal. After you’re working all day in the kitchen, dicing and cutting and putting the sauces on, you don’t want to eat it. That’s how I always feel about the films. I work on it for a year. I’ve written it, I’ve worked with the actors, I’ve edited it and put the music in, and I just never want to see it again. When I begin a film, I always think that I’m going to make The Bicycle Thief or Grand Illusion or Citizen Kane, and I’m convinced that it’s going to be the greatest thing to ever hit celluloid. And then, when I see what I’ve done afterward, I pray that it’s not an embarrassment to me. I’ve never been satisfied or even pleased with a film that I’ve done. I make them, but I’ve never looked at one after.
I made my first film in 1968, and I’ve never seen it since. I just cringe when I see them. I don’t like them ‘cause there’s a big gap between what you conceive in your mind when you’re writing and having to meet the test of reality. You write and it’s funny and beautiful and romantic and dramatic, and then you have to show up on a cold morning, and the actors are there and you’re there, and you don’t have enough of this and this goes wrong and you make the wrong choice on something and you screw up here. When you see what you get the next day, you can’t go back. There’s such a difference between the idealized film in your mind and what you wind up with that you’re never happy and you’re never satisfied. For me, I’ve never liked any of my films. I’m always thankful that the audience has liked some of them, in spite of my disappointment.
Woody Allen Explains Why Annie Hall And Hannah And Her Sisters Were Disappointments / by Eric Eisenberg / cinemablend.com / June 22, 2012
Dave Davies: Elaine Benes (Seinfeld) and Christine from New Adventures (of Old Christine) are both working women and really kind of insecure. Is there comedy in the insecurity?
Julia Louis-Dreyfus: Absolutely. There’s no comedy in security. And I don’t think there’s any comedy in things working out well. Conflict is where what’s interesting. And I love playing that undercurrent of a lack of confidence. I think I can tap into it very easily. And um, but yeah, insecurity is great fun.
DD: I have to ask, are you really insecure as an actress? Most people will never have a hit like Seinfeld.
JLD: Um, yes, there is, I do have, I am insecure. Of course I am. Who isn’t? Who isn’t insecure? Can I just say that? Who isn’t? And also, in showbiz particularly, you know, you sort of… it’s kind of an unforgiving business, um, in case you hadn’t noticed. So it’s like whatever your last job is, is sort of like ‘are you in, are you out’… it’s very fickle and it can be very nasty and you know, so that plays into the security thing. For sure, you know? I fight it. I try not to give it any credence or anything like that but you know, easy come easy go.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus: From 'Seinfeld' To 'Veep' / NPR Fresh Air Weekend / Interview by Dave Davies / May 5, 2012
(Gene) Wilder says, "She (Gilda Radner) was a pest, a brat, narcissistic, insecure; she wanted everyone on earth to love her.
"After concluding that I loved her and couldn't live with her, when we said goodbye I breathed a sigh of relief. I got to my home I said, 'Isn't this nice, that little pest isn't dragging me down any more.'
"I stood like a zombie for a minute and I dropped to my knees and I started pounding the carpet on the floor... because I had to have her back. I needed a fix and the fix was her."
Wilder reveals the toughest thing about living with his ex was accepting her drinking problems and bulimia, which cost her her teeth.
He recalls, "Shortly after eating she would go in and get rid of it. She said, 'All I ask is that you don't monitor me.'
"When you throw up continuously, the acid starts to wear your teeth down.
"She also had a little flask. I said, 'What's in this? What are you drinking?' She said it's Tab and vodka. I said, 'But it's a quarter to eight in the morning.' (She said) 'It's to calm my nerves my little bit.'"
Wilder Reveals The Truth About Gilda In New Tell-All / contactmusic.com
KISS ME LIKE A STRANGER by Gene Wilder
