New Year. Same Shit
January 3, 2008 · Print This Article
It’s the forst show of 2008, and after a week with his family, Brian is taking some time to stretch out on the therapist’s couch and get some of the pain out.
Other topics include comedy on new year’s eve, backhanded compliments, a “legendary” box set, and the first in a series spothlighting the comedians of Behind the Bricks. Now lets Jazzercize!
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com and give us a call on 206-203-4692
hey tony, I don’t know if you are in the middle of putting the show up or what, but right now, the popup player isn’t working.
Okay nvm its up. Thanks.
What’s the “forst” show? Is that a combination of “worst” and “first”?
Let me know before I listen to the show. If it’s the worst first show you’ve ever done, I don’t know if I need to waste the time.
Happy New Year, Brian.
GN - Way to live up to your name
MNR - I still do hell gig stories with all of the comics I interview. I laid off with the 2 open micers I interviewed because I just assumed that the best/worst show is the only one you’ve done. But the last interview we had with Ricardo definitely included a great hell gig story.
Hey Brian,
Thanks for playing my set and I look forward to hearing everyone else who sent it in!! If anyone has any tips or advice let me know as well.
I’m sure a lot of us are saying our resolution for this year is to perform more and work stand up so I was wondering if you can spend some time talking about rehearsal techniques and tips that can help with the performance away from the stage in one of the upcoming shows!
Thanks
Ryan
BTB is a fraternity now? Beta Tau Beta, perhaps?
Easy pledge: 24 hour marathon of Carrot Top.
Happy New Year, B-Mo.
Hey guys still listenin to the podcast but i thought id tell a story about the diffrence between stand up and other performance arts. a few months ago a freind ago i was discussing this topic with a freind of mine, i want to be a comic she wants to be a boadway actress. anyway we got into a small arguement about whats harder: Sand Up Or Acting. She believed that acting is harder becuase theres more pressure onstage to do well. Bullshit, i told her that acting isnt in the same ballpark as stand up in terms of difficulty. when your acting on stage your protected by the fourth wall, plus ive never heard of an actres being heckled while doing a stage version of Death of a Salesman. Plus: A stand up is expected to be consistently funny which takes a ton of effort and writing to acheive. and actors dont have to deal with people coming up to you after a show and telling you how bad you were. so all in all an interesting conversation.
I’m with ya on the resolutions, Ryan. My chief stand-up related New Year’s resolution is to get on-stage at least 100 times this year.
Stand up is the hardest performance art, period. Anyone who says differently is a fucking asshole. Sorry, I’ve been drinking.
If you want to relate it, I guess that stand-up comedy is like the Marines of the performing art world.
Not to say the others shouldn’t be respected and admired–it does take a lot of courage. But, the comics are the out on the front lines taking the most beatings.
Ask an actor how many Broadway theaters have a two drink minimum–they won’t like it.
~Charles–who hasn’t been drinking, but has been up past his bedtime.
Actually, to sound like less of a whiny bitch…stand up is harder because:
1) Fourth wall is down: opens the door for hecklers.
2) Performance space: maybe if you’re big you perform in a good venue, but bars and comedy clubs are not the same as Broadway theaters–or even community center theaters.
3) Lack of formalized curriculum: all other performing arts are college majors with acclaimed teachers and professors. Comedy classes are a joke for the most part (no pun intended). If you have a good mentor–hold on to them for dear life.
Anyway, I apologize for the length, and my late night disgruntledness.
~Charles again.
As an actor and a comic, I will say this…comedy is MUCH MUCH harder than acting. For this reason mainly:
If you suck in comedy, it’s because YOU SUCK. You can’t really justify why they didn’t laugh other than blaming the audience (which we’re all guilty of sometimes) but you wrote and performed the material. As an actor, you are a whore to the material. You do your best to make it good but if it sucks, you don’t go home and kill yourself with booze and drugs. You just talk shit on the script and move on. Sometimes you suck but its easy to find scapegoats in acting (ie the directing, the editing, the stress of the day etc) you have far more pressure on you in stand up. You need to always write new shit, you need to polish the shit you’ve got, you need to be on all the time (even when you get off stage) and you have to be your own debt collector/manager.
It’s a much tougher gig.
Sina.
I guess it wasn’t as big a topic as I thought it would be, but I will be taping my interview with Jay tomorrow at 12:30 EST, so if you have any questions about the college circuit, please have them in by then.
Good show Brian.
I agree that standup is tougher than acting. The open fourth wall and the support/scapegoat group that comes with acting make it easier. But in either camp you get tons of insecure people- so cant we all just get along?
Joel- I think i am going to copy your new year resolution with 100 times on stage, that way I can continue smoking.
Ryan- that was a badass set, and than when Brian mentioned it was your second time, I give you major kudos my friend.
Brian, you should ask jay what kind of (if any) restrictions he has been told to omit from performing at certain colleges.
Andy
I have a question for jay, who do you talk to to book a show at a college.
BTW - Did anyone see that Dane Cook broke Dave Chapelle’s stand up record with a 7 hour set? What a joy that must have been. I wonder how much of that was just screaming into a microphone or kicking the air. Maybe I’m nuts, but is length really the best way to measure comedy? I’ve never come off stage and bragged, “Damn, that was the longest set of my life!”
my feeling about this “record” is that it’s more of a publicity thing for the laugh factory (and possibly also dane cook) more than anything else.
there’s a certain degree of a dick-wagging at work whenever someone talks about how long they did. i could be wrong because i’ve never met the guy, but i get the feeling that dane might be the kind of guy that’s into wagging his own dick
(did you guys hear about dane cook’s adventures in canada — i think it was at the toronto yuk-yuks, but i’m not sure — where he took the stage to do a guest spot and had to have the lights turned out on him 40 minutes later so the headliner could actually get up and perform? this kind of thing seems to be his MO.)
patrick –
each school has an “events board” that handles everything for the school. usually the board is split into three sections — music, variety, and comedy. the comedy chair is in charge of picking the acts that come to the school. 90% of the choices come from NACA auditions (which brian and i discuss at length in the podcast) or through agent recommendations (meaning reputable agents saying, “hey, if you liked my one guy, you’ll love my other guy”.)
there are a small number of comics that get booked by going directly to the events board. they just hand the tape directly to them and hope for the best.
since i’ve never gotten booked in the latter way, i’m not sure how difficult it is to do that. i will say this, however, whenever i go to a school and the students say, “man, the guy we had _last_ week was _awful_” it’s almost always some local comic that went to the events board directly.
that’s not to say that comics who aren’t repped by a comedy agent or who can’t get into NACA aren’t any good; just that i think a lot of guys underestimate just how hard it is to fill 60 minutes in front of a fairly difficult crowd. i think younger comics say to themselves, “hell, i’m 25, i’ll just do my club act plus improv and we’ll be fine,” and they’re, uh, you know, NOT fine
For those into road stories. You should check out a podcast called Road Stories, its hosted by Murray Valeriano. I heard about it from Stand up Orlando, but its fairly entertaining.
If Dane Cook wants to break a record, he should see how many pedigree’s he can handle on a steal chair. haha. I am a huge fan. I’m a Comedian from Canada. I really enjoy your program, and think its a breath of fresh air. What do you think about Canadians moving to USA to start up their career’s in stand up comedy. Just wondering. Thanks.
AMC
I hear the is the goal of every Canadian comic, I need to get to USA, need to get to Hollywood. just your thoughts, on Canadian comedians.
Hi all, happy new year from across the pond!
I’m a little peeved….it looks like my two favourite comics, DAvid Cross and Patton Oswalt, are having a little fight.
http://www.bobanddavid.com/2007/12/allllllviiiiin.html#more
http://www.avclub.com/content/blog/patton_oswalt_responds?utm_source=avclub_rss_daily
Now I really hope this doesn’t esculate becuase I think they’ll both end up looking like arsesoles….they are two of the most talented comidiens in the world (I wish they could get over here more easily) but this is something that can really sour the average comedy fan like the people on this board.
Also, it’s not as if its Rogan vs Mencia where one side is heavily weighed….I would consider Cross and Oswalt to be equal in stature.
Comments anyone!
Nick
Well haven.t posted in a while…….between work and Xmas……plus discovered Facebook…….and became a facebook friend whore……lol
Anyhoo Ryan, great set, was utterly shocked to hear it was only your second time………..wow!!!
I read about Dane Cook’s 7 hour set, i laughed out loud just thinking about how Pissed Chris Rock will be……….
So been meaning to ask this but can someone explain the concept of a ‘ Roast ‘ ( in terms of comedy that is ). Heard Brian mention it a few times but its an unknown in the UK i believe.
cjack — a roast is when you get a bunch of people together to mock them as a way to show love. it used to be that everyone on the panel would do the mocking out of a genuine affection for the person (like how comics are when they’re just hanging out by themselves), but in recent years the idea has been co-opted by comedy central as a star-studded affair where the roasters have very little (or sometimes no) personal connection to the person being roasted.
i enjoy the new roasts (especially any roast involving greg giraldo or jeffrey ross), but i kind of miss the idea that the jokes were being made out of love rather than how it is now (the jokes being made because, well, it’s a roast and you have to make jokes).
Welcome AMC. I’m a huge fan of many Canadian comics, so I’m glad you’re hear and I’m sure I’ll be a fan of yours in no time.
Yeah, I heard about Mr. Cook holding the stage hostage for seven hours. From what I “hear” (in qoutations because I’m definately not a Hollywood insider. Cbus, OH not exactly the epicenter of the entertainment world) Chappelle is going to try to retake the title. I wonder, do the house staff have to sit around and wait for these guys to get done? Why would you even want to be onstage for seven hours? Just to say you did? And who would you tell and not feel embarrassed about it? ” Oh, man, I had the best set the other night. They had to kick me offstage. Literally!” And anyone that was still laughing after six hours was probably either a friend of Cook, someone who financially depends on Cook doing well, or someone who was still laughing because they felt like they should be because it’s Dane Cook.
Oh yeah: Great show, Brian. Can’t wait for the next one.
CJack- the roasts gained alot of popularity amongst the general public with the Dean Martin Roasts of the 1960’s. Dino would get up there, more pickled than a Claussen’s, with some of his ratpack cronies and poke fun at the likes of Lucille Ball, Jimmy Stewart and others, usually great actors that were a little past their prime. Don Rickles was always at these roasts and one of my favorites to watch.
Acting and Stand-Up are two different things with similar traits. I think both have their difficulties and both have their advantages. Its probably true that there are more “good” actors than “good” comedians. Probably only because Comedy is only one segment of the entertainment business, therefore only a select few will be good (or become famous) at/for it. I think if you write all your own jokes and perform all your own material that is very impressive and much harder than acting. However if you are feeded lines or recycling material than that isn’t much tougher than acting.
Ryan I enjoyed your set, there were some funny jokes for sure. The one about the forklift moving your fat ass, and the illigitamate son jokes I liked a lot. I’m just a fan and know nothing about how to setup and transition jokes, but I think just working on your speed, sounds like you rushed it a little in the beginning, and settled in later on in the set (as expected) I forget the comdians name that Brian had on that said don’t be worried about a little silence, thats probably a really good tip for people starting up. I would just work on your tempo and trying to get the joke out exactly how you want it to sound. I can’t speak for standup, but I used to play golf in high school and college and took it really seriously…anyway one thing I would do was try to get my self nervous and jittery when I practiced, so when i felt that way on the course I had been their before. Thinking about my piling bills or annoying girlfriend usually did the trick and it helps to be nervous and practice. It would be cool to hear your set again, maybe taped perfect (as if you were cutting a CD or something) and compare it to your original “live” set. Anyway I’m going on and on, I better run, Loved the show, see yall later.
norcal — it’s funny that you should mention golf; that’s the analogy i _always_ give regarding stand-up. a lot of my friends get annoyed when someone else moves ahead of them in “the game” (like when someone we know isn’t all that good gets a TV spot). i’ve always tried to think of stand-up like golf, where you can only worry about your own game. if cheers go up from another hole, you’re better of not even thinking about it and just concentrating on your own shot.
in stand-up, like golf, there is no defense. though, from the way a lot of the other comics play the game, you’d think there was…
NorCal - you thought about your annoying girlfriend while practicing golf??? Hitting the range is an escape from the missus for me. But i guess you had a plan which worked.
hmm, as far as the cross / oswalt thing goes im not to concerned. from what ive heard its not about joke stealing but there choices of parts in stupid movies, ala cross in *shudder* Alvin and the Chipmunks and oswalt in ratatouie. i dont think this going to get out of hand, at least i hope.
the cross/oswalt thing is kind of a non-thing. essentially, oswalt said, “i read ten pages of [alvin and the chipmunks] and through it across the room. i guess david cross caught it.”
cross, as thin-skinned comic types are wont to do, wrote a 4000 word blog post about it:
http://www.bobanddavid.com/2007/12/allllllviiiiin.html
oswalt responded with a “hey, everyone, calm down, it was a joke” blog response. reposted on crosses blog here:
http://www.bobanddavid.com/2008/01/an_open_letter_to_david_cross.html
the final word (hopefully) on the subjected was posted by cross here:
http://www.bobanddavid.com/2008/01/an_open_letter_to_me_from_the.html#more
the moral of this story? it doesn’t matter how big a star you are, when the other comics in the back of the room call you a hack, you get all defensive. as ray romano once said (admittedly, under much different circumstances), when problems like that arise, it’s best to just “go cry in a sack of money.”
Ooh dueling blogs. I guess it’s the 2008 version of “meet me in the parking lot motherfucker!”
Hey hey everybody. I’ve been a listener for a month or two. I dig the podcast.
I’ve been doing stand-up for a year as of this month. I went up to an open mic this past Thursday, got a few laughs but basically bombed. I had some jokes about my folks and grandparents and their hometown so I invited them along. The backhanded compliments and advice for my act have been abundant to say the least.
Anyway, good first comic to send in material I thought it was good.
Keep up the good cast Brian, I enjoy it. I’ll be calling in a joke tomorrow.
Yeah, aint my generation pathetic. oh well at least were going to be the ones to finally get to the apocalypse, so thats a plus.
Did you guys see the comedian who lives in Ikea?
Or rather, is living in Ikea, while his apartment is being deroached.
Hey, I recently got into your show and have listened to a bunch of back-shows. Quality stuff you’re putting out. I’ve heard a ton of shitty ego-fodder in the form of podcasts, but you’re giving people a worthwhile product for free (not even any annoying and irrelevant ads!) and I appreciate that.
Anywho, I do actually have a question. I have a blog at http://dashofpanache.wordpress.com/ where I write some jokes for the world to critique at their leisure. I’m in the process of building a stand-up routine from this material. How effective are “paper” jokes when translated into “talking” jokes? Should stand-up jokes work on paper to be considered solid?
A sort of related question: what about the length of a particular joke? I’m from the concise school of thought and totally believe in mark twains comment (paraphrased) “I’m sorry for the length of this letter- if I had the time, I would’ve made it shorter.” I also get really ADHD when I try to read someone’s long-ass blog post. Yet some comedians (including the infamous Dane Cook) find a ton of success by using the elaboration as the joke itself. Usually, the punchline seems almost anti-climatic in relation to the process of building it up. On the other hand, Mitch Hedberg and Demetri Martin found a lot of success with the one-liners and short bits.
P.S.- when I get further along in the routine-building process and the open-mic scouting adventure, I’d love to do a before and after interview.
Thanks everyone for the words and suggestions! And NorCal, you are exactly right about the speed thing. Once I can slow it down, it will make it so much easier and will get away the jitters!