Outlaw Ron Shock Goes Behind The Bricks
August 2, 2007 · Print This Article
I know Brian throws the term around loosely, but a bonafide legend drops by today as Ron Shock, one of the founding members of the Outlaws of Comedy sits down for an interview. Ron drops some knowledge on all of the young wiper snappers out there with advice on being funny, stories of his outlaw days, and what happens when heckling goes to the next level.
Brian tries to regain control of the show by answering your questions, including, how to know if your any good, butchering your own last name, and why splitting your pants at Auto Zone may be a cry for help. Blowjob!
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com and give us a call on 206-203-4692
Oh my God…
Ron’s Hell Gig story is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. I had to close my office door to keep from disturbing the rest of the office.
That’s just freakin’ awesome…
Couldn’t agree more jsaund. I love hearing hell gig stories from comics but this one took the cake. My face hurt and I had a headache from laughing so hard. Of course it also helps that few people can tell a story better than Ron.
Tour de force appearance by Mr. shock this week. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, even before I knew about all of the outlaws of comedy stuff. I wonder if any of those old shows are floaitng around somewhere? It be great to be able to hear them. I remember he did a story about oral roberts that absolutely slayed me.
Fantastic story about the biker bar btw. I was losing it laughing so hard when i was driving around today.
haha, i haven’t posted in a while. A long while actually, but I’ve been lurking on the boards. But I gotta say, I loved that hell gig story, it totally made my morning. Then again, I’m living in Hawaii, so my mornings are pretty good anyways.
Excellent interview Brian. He seems to have a great ‘natural’ sense of humor with a hearty ‘Ha Ha Ha’ type laugh. Perhaps he goes somewhat against the gain of the ‘most comics have a strong bitter streak’ profile.
Thanks for including my question. I look forward to the Not Iowa portion as well.
As a side note, It is interesting how people have such different sounding laughs. I wonder how much of laughing is ‘learned’ sounds vs. natural sounds. A question for those more intelligent than I.
Thanks Slash. I had never met him personally and was surprised that he didn’t have that bitterness that, shall we say, other outlaws have. Great question by the way. it was cool that you had an insight into those early years that very few people had the honor of witnessing.
You can find some of the old outlaw footage on YouTube/Google Video but I’ve only been able to find Bill Hicks. The only video of Ron I could find was from some redneck comedy showcase from (what seemed like) the early 90’s.
As for the Oral Roberts story, it’s included in one of his cd’s. Oral Roberts and 900 Ft Jesus. It seems that in the last 5 years or so, he’s been recording all of these decades worth of material onto comedy cds that you can now buy. The material is wonderfully polished and that hell gig story gets me every time. Check out his website. I own all his albums and love every last minute of them. My favorite bit so far is the one he did about his heart attack and that sex is a good thing. Great fucking stories but too long to email to someone in mp3 format since they’re like 20 minutes long.
His bits are so long that his cds generally only have 4 or 5 tracks…it’s really quite brilliant.
Great interview by the way Brian, and thank you again for the plugs. I need all the press I can get (plus I love hearing my own name over the computer because I’m narcissistic.
One thing Ron didn’t mention in his Hell gig story was that this was his very FIRST gig on the road. And he was opening for Hicks while Hicks was challenging the crowd and calling them on and attacking everything they held dear. They were almost killed. The next night, they both took acid before going on stage and once Hicks took the stage, Ron went and got the money from the booker and signaled Hicks to get the fuck off stage since they got the money. Hicks ended his set with a big “Fuck You!” and walked through the crowd. They were chased out by an angry mob with guns to find they’d locked their keys in the car. They broke Ron’s window and jumped into the car and left town.
Fucking crazy man. I can’t wait to meet him. I’m trying to talk him into eating some mushrooms with me. That should be a good time.
Sina.
Hey Sina - if it helps, I say your name a lot… though not so much over the interweb.
*listening to the show*
Damn, first Tommy on TAI, now Sina here. I can’t even be the best looking guy on my own podcasts!
I still call out your name while listening to your podcast…if that makes you feel any better.
You’re my favorite person to listen to since Adam Corolla when he was on Loveline. That’s saying a lot.
Sina.
Ron Shock was awesome. I think, though, that hell gig is in the book “I KIlled,” which I read and loved. Unfortunately, I borrowed it instead of buying it, so I can be all nerdy and look it up.
For next week, my take on dealing with the nerves is that there really is no way to deal with it. If you want to go on stage bad enough, you’ll go on stage. You HAVE TO put yourself though bombing and just completely eating shit on stage. It’s almost like desensitizing yourself to it. And when you do your set to complete silence and you get off stage and you’re still saying “wow, I gotta get on stage again!” All your nerves are fine.
At least that’s what I think.
~Charles (haha! first time posting in a while!)
The old adage is that “safety is in knowing your lines.” I think I get most nervous when I haven’t thought out my material as well as i’d like (I never write my stuff out word for word…I just have plot points I try to hit). When I’m sure of what I want to talk about and it’s fresh in my mind then I can clearly communicate my points.
Bill Hicks used to say that the act is what you fall back on when you have nothing else to say…and I think this goes back to the days of writing sets just before shows with the Outlaws. I try to come up with as much of a new set as possible every time I go onstage to keep it fresh for me and to try to put myself out of my comfort zone.
Also, in regards to what Ron Shock said, be comfortable with that silence. When you do a couple of open mics where you don’t expect them to laugh…you just go on stage and talk about your day. It helps you be more confident.
I once heard this great story about Dave Chappelle where a comic walked into the club and there was Dave on stage talking but no one was laughing. He leans over to the comic next to him and poked fun about how this guy was bombing but the comic shushed him and told him to listen…he realized while no one was laughing, everyone was paying close attention to what he was saying. He did a 15 minute set with no laughs but the whole audience was in the palm of his hand. He came off stage to a huge round of applause.
It’s important to have that confidence to know that you are funny. One of the funniest people in that room. If you don’t honestly believe you are that funny then why do you want a microphone and a stage? We all think we’re funny…now understand that you ARE funny.
Listen to Ron Shock…he never alludes to the fact that he’s funny…he knows it. He just says it. It’s not arrogance, it’s honesty.
My 2 cents,
Sina.
1) I agree with Sina,
just becuase your not getting a laugh every 15 secs doesn’t mean you’re bombing.
Someone on the moive The Aristocrats laments that today’s comedy is alot about set-up-punchline, set-up-punchline and not many people are trying to tell a story or really be what I would call truly entertaining. It’s all catered for sitcoms or other television.
Someone might make you laugh a lot in a set with his tales of airport sercurity but you haven’t formed a relationship with him. He’s just a joke jukebox; he’s a one night stand that you forget the name of!
It’s the people who create a relationship with the audience and their fans who are truly great comics.
For example, David Cross’ story that you played a while ago when he’s in the fancy restuarant and gets a real sheet of gold to eat. It’s probably one of my favourite bits.
How many times do I laugh OUT LOUD during it when I listen to it these days? Probably only about twice. DO I find it hilarious, funny and entertaining and interesting? OF course I do. I listen to that bit at least once a fortnight. David Cross is a master of these long bits that make him into David Cross.
He’s not just coming out and going ‘Hey, my wife is so stupid…….my cat is different from my dog…….’ and that’s fucking brilliant.
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2) Just a query to the comics on the bord and a short typed rant. I really fucking hate when you watch interviews with comedians and all they do is spit out their jokes from their act. Where the interviewer asks them leading questions, the comic says ‘funny you should mention that, I was actually in Tiajauna recently, blah, blah, blah, blah’.
NO! NO! NO! I’m going to pay money to watch you say that, I want you to answer interesting questions, I want to learn something about your life and your beliefs and your hooker stories.
So to the comics here; who decides to do shitty interviews like that. The comics themselves? Their management? The studio or interviewer? And why? 8 million people watching a tv show will now find their act boring. Don’t get me wrong I love witty, funny interviews but only when the comics are obviously just hanging and you actually find something out. Again, somethings that’s interesting and entertaining.
You’ve eluded to this before on BTB, Brian. This is kinda why I love ‘behind the bricks’ so much cause you’re not just feeding comics straight lines and we’re actually learning something!
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3) Shock was brilliant BTW. What a guy! He’s like a cool grandfather that gave you your first shot of whisky.
Peace,
Nick
x
Ron Shock is one of (if not the best) standup working today. I’ve had the honor of seeing him a handful of times in many venues around the country. The way he commands a stage and takes people with him when he tells his stories is beautiful. He’s not talking at you, he’s talking to you. Do yourself a favor at get all his Five CDs and 2 DVDs. And they don’t even represent all his material, just what he’s bothered to record so far. He closes his show often by giving the audience a choice of stories. It is amazing to watch.
He says he’s the only comic to take requests. I think that’s awesome.
As for Nick, I agree with you to a tee! I HATE watching those interviews where they are obviously doing material. I can only imagine the only reason they do that is that they feel they need to come off as “funny” since comics can’t have other dimensions to them…so the show feeds them lead-ins to their own material so they can come off as being quick and funny. It’s lame. I’m willing to bet that when these comics come on the show, the director tells them that is what they are going to do…I doubt it’s the comic’s idea.
I also agree with building a relationship with your crowd. And bombing is all in your mind. If you are on stage and talking and people are listening then you are entertaining which is what people paid to see. If you bring us all down to our roots, we are funny storytellers. If you live up to that, you’ll be just fine.
Fuck doing one liners. (no offense to anyone that enjoys that). We all have an idea of what a comedian should or shouldn’t be…that is just mine.
Hugs,
Sina.
It’s interesting that you guys equate nerves with fear of bombing. That’s part of it, but the #1 fear of most people is public speaking, and they’re not all doing stand up. There is something inherently terrifying in standing in front of a group of people, no matter what the reason.
Great question concerning interviews. In the various radio interviews I’ve done, I’ve seen it from both sides. I’ve seen djs try to plan out the interview so they can be in control and know exactly what’s going to happen, and I’ve seen comics who just aren’t great at improv and prefer that jocks lob them softballs they can knock out. Either way it’s lame. I consider myself lucky to be in a medium where there is no time constraints or censorship. I can ask a question and let the subject roll. It may be boring or it may be brilliant. Either way it’s genuine.
Brian Regan also takes requests. Sometimes onstage he says he feels like a jukebox; but he always lets the audience know how flattering it is to have people that appreciate his material enough to want to hear it even though they know what’s coming.
I was wondering what you know about selling jokes. From reading books like Great Comedians Talk About Comedy, I was under the impression that buying jokes was common practice back in the day but these days it doesn’t really happen anymore. That was until I got an offer from a more experience comedian that wanted to buy a joke from me. I was flattered but mostly shocked, since then I have been told that a lot of comedians buy material, which is a huge surprise to me. Personally I dont know why you’d want to do it because it seems fake and I dont understand how you could take much pride in telling it.
I don’t have much experience with purchasing jokes but I would like to let you know that the more time you spend in this business you find out how fake everything is. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, just enjoy the shiny distractions.
Sina.
awesome show as always brian. in refrence to next week on working through your nerves. for me its been a mix of being totally fine and total terror. what i do nowadays is imagine that your just talking to your freinds. but you also have to imagine that a couple of assholes from school are going to be there trying to take the attention away from you ( A’ la Heckler). my advice just tackle through it but make sure you say what you want ot say how you want to say it. if not you just went on stage for nothing.
Cheers
also if anyones interested in hearing more from my mouth please visit my myspace page which i have just provided the link for.
Good question about buying jokes. I have been approached as well from someone who’s wanted to buy a joke from me, and when I politely declined, he just stole it. I see what you guys are saying about it being fake, but I actually don’t have a problem with it. People have different skills in comedy. Some people are great writers and weak performers while others are the opposite. I think it’s great when a performer realizes his/her weakness and fixes it in a ethical way. Those are my thoughts on the matter.
I suppose if the rush you get from standup comes from how the audience reacts to your performance than there is no reason why it would bug you, just as if the rush was from the reaction to your words may cause bought jokes to bug you. I dont think there is anything wrong with it, because it isnt stealing. I just wonder if a lot of well established/known comedians buy material. I’ve read of comedians having writers generations ago but I thought that practice had died as standup overtook vaudeville.
Also a tip to any of you who are thinking of starting a room like I have recently. A press release can be valuable in getting the word out. We put one out and now one of our citys entertainment tv shows and website is coming out to cover our show. Gotta love free advertising!
Chris Rock is notorious for having great writers like Mario Joyner and Wanda Sykes helping him develop material for his stand up specials. It makes sense when you reach a certain level I suppose. How much shit can happen to one person?
I dunno how comics feel but if you’re constantly working and coming up with new stuff…….would you not just want to sell the joke and move on? Unless of course, it’s your hook or something as equally vital to your set.
If you have a high turnover of material and you are probably gonna ditch the joke in a short time anyway and you might as well make some cash…………………….
i hold a certain belief that if you can write funny than you can perform funny. thats just my personal opinion though.
Eventually thats the case…but there are people capable of writing funny early in their careers. It takes time to perform funny. Good performance is more acquired than good writing.
I consider it the same as music. There are guys like John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, that can write the music, write the lyrics and perform the shit out of them. Then there are guys like Elvis who own a stage and perform like rock stars. I have no problem with it as long as everyone gets credit in the end. And believe me, I know some brilliant writers who are so crippled by stage fright, they never perform their material in front of people. Doesn’t make them any less talented, it’s just a different talent.
Hey Brian.
Got any Bobby Slayton you can play? I keep hearing him on Defcon radio and he’s amazing. I love his quick, angry rant style comedy. He sounds like he’s gonna pass out at any point.
Nick