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Jerry Seinfeld's 200-Round Practice Routine · The Daily Writer

• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Writer, where we share a lesson each day to help you cultivate the habits for creative success.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Years before he was known as the star of the beloved sitcom Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld was a successful stand-up comedian.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: For comedians of his era in the 1970s and 1980s, the golden key to success was appearing on The Tonight Show, which was then hosted by Johnny Carson.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Johnny Carson ruled the late night airwaves for 30 years.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: He was the most important kingmaker in American culture.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And if you were invited to do a five-minute comedy set on The Tonight Show, and Johnny Carson liked you and invited you over to the couch after your set, then your career was basically made.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: In 1981, Seinfeld was scheduled for his very first appearance on The Tonight Show.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: A few years later, he reflected on the experience when he sat down for an interview with Larry Wilde, who is a comedian and author.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And Larry asked him this, Jerry, how did you prepare for that?
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: And Seinfeld deadpanned rigorously.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Then he continued, every comedian knows that his appearance on the Tonight Show is his Olympics, his World Series, and his Super Bowl all rolled into one.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is his chance to become an A player, the A team.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Then Seinfeld went on to explain that as soon as he constructed his five-minute set of material, he practiced it relentlessly.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: In the weeks before his Tonight Show appearance, he would go from comedy club to comedy club, performing it and perfecting it.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And he would do it up to five or six times a night.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: And Seinfeld said that he probably rehearsed that single five-minute set 200 times during that period to make sure that it was absolutely perfect.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it was an opportunity that he was absolutely not going to blow.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, he made the most of that appearance because Seinfeld became one of the most famous comedians in America even before the huge success of the Seinfeld TV show.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: All because he saw an opportunity that he was not going to waste.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: He put in the reps, he did the work, and it paid off in spades.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Here's your daily question.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: When you consider the success that you want to achieve and the opportunities you want to have as a writer, how many reps are you willing to do in order to be the best?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now, before I sign off on this episode, just a quick note if you would like to listen to Larry Wilde's full interview with Jerry Seinfeld, you can do that by listening to the album called Jerry Seinfeld on Comedy.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: You can find that on Spotify and other places as well.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at dailywriterlife.com.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.