Latest / The Starfish Storytellers / Season 2, Episode 9: Telling Humorous Stories Through Stand-Up Comedy w/ Scott MacNeil

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Season 2, Episode 9: Telling Humorous Stories Through Stand-Up Comedy w/ Scott MacNeil · The Starfish Storytellers

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Welcome to the Starfish Storytellers, the podcast that makes a difference one story
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at a time by bringing storytelling to life.
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I think it was in my early 20s when I was living with my parents in southern Florida
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down near Naples and on the late night TV I would see Stephen Wright or Emo Phillips
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and I just love those cerebral kind of twists and I never really gave much thought as to
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where these people were or where they were from and I grew up myself in Lexington, Mass
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and that wasn't until some years later I moved back up here that I learned that Stephen
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Wright grew up in Burlington, one town over from me of all places so I've kind of admired
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his humor from afar but I never really studied you know people's backgrounds or I just plain
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like the material.
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So I've been a bit too much of a hermit in my life and a lot of comedians are known for
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being kind of somewhat recluses and it was, I actually remember the date, December 15th
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2008 Stephen Wright was receiving an award, it was some sort of comedy hall of fame which
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I guess physically doesn't exist but he was a patriot place at Foxborough and a lot of
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the New England comedy legends were there and it was being hosted by Tony V but the
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other such people as Steve Sweeney and Lenny Clark and Jimmy Tangle and I don't even remember
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the whole but there were a lot of people that were there and this was relatively small venue
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like 140 people and I'm like you know what I never get out of the house I don't stray
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that far from home and I just went by myself and I really enjoyed it, they all took turns
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performing and when it concluded it kind of ties in with my semi-fascination with human
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behavior including my own where it's almost like a bit of an exaggeration really a cattle
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stampede of people leaving and I don't know if I had known of the term Comic Con but I'm
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like there are people who would pay just to be here and meet these people and I'm like
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I'm not leaving there's nobody waiting at home and I'm not in a rush so I said hello
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to Stephen Wright, I think I'd met him once before and some other comedians and I went
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over to Tony V who had hosted and I didn't know that it was kind of taboo to go especially
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a professional comedian going like I've got some jokes to tell you or here are some jokes
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you might want to use well they're in the profession jokes are what they do all day
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long they probably are not looking for any and if they didn't write it and especially
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if you don't own it and you can't sell it to them they really don't want to hear it
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so he's very polite and I told him a few jokes and he said those are really good I wish I
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could remember what they were I just remember there were three of them and he said those
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are really good jokes he said but I haven't heard them where did you get them from I
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said I didn't get them from anywhere I wrote them he said you wrote those and I've never
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been a person really built on self-esteem and I'm like I didn't think that much of
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it and he said I'd like you to call my friend at Giggles Dan and Saga some route one and
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tell him I want you on the open mic show and I was almost speechless because I would love
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to do that it's almost like saying hey I would like you to be a rock star but have no real
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official training or know what to do on stage and I contacted them and I think the thing
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that was coming up was two months away and everybody was going to be doing five minutes
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which felt like forever I don't know didn't know anything about putting together a comedy
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set or any of it and I was just like I think a lot of people would picture I was just a
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nervous wreck for like a month and I went to an office of Pleistone I got these big white
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boards to write on and I just put together a set which I asked him it was like 19 jokes
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and I had a friend designated to sit up front and hold them up even though and no one else
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was doing that and it was what they call a bringer and I had to have at least four friends
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and I've learned a lot of things like we were using the expression a moment ago learning
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things the hard way don't tell other don't tell your friends you're all set you've got
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a lot of people because they won't go so I don't remember the number but I had a comfortable
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number of people showing up to be much more than four and I'm sitting there with three
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friends and some of the time you can't go on until you have at least the fourth one
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elderly gentleman I know showed up wearing a cowboy hat kind of a silly goofy guy and
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easily hey guys what's up I'm like what's up as you just saved the day and I didn't do
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very well on stage it felt more like a surgery than anything enjoyable and the next day I
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got an email from them they said you you already write on a professional level we know someone
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who would like to buy your material and I guess I went from low self-esteem to have
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a bit of an ego and I'm like I'd rather keep it for myself and that was really getting
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my feet wet I really didn't shop around to do comedy elsewhere I was thinking like a
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lot of employers they don't want to catch you working for the competition and when I
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turn on the TV I want to hear new jokes I might enjoy some old ones but I like to hear
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something new so after performing at giggles maybe a few times in a year because they didn't
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have the open mic very often it doesn't exist there anymore I mean they have comedy but
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no more open mic and I didn't know it was a very prestigious place it's difficult to
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get a spot to perform at and people like you started at giggles and I'm like why and they're
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like it's crazy that no one starts there so the gentleman who runs the shows is Mike Clark
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and he took me aside one day and he said what are you doing I said what do you mean he said
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you you're here every couple of months or so and we're hearing all new material and
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it's really not polished and then you come back again and it's more new material again
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and he said you don't understand we basically want you working for the competition so you
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get better and get out there and get more well known and polish what you have and that's
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what beginning comics usually do is they go for they call it tight five five minutes and
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you keep working on polishing it so I didn't know I'd be kind of popular because I'm a
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lot of people refer to me as clean and clever I don't swear on stage I love to play with
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words and I really try not to offend people and it's mostly been a fun experience but
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there's a lot to it.
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Hello my name is Leanna Henry and welcome to the Starfish Storytellers.
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I'm the CEO of the Black Dog Group, a Markham and project management firm headquartered on
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the east coast of the US and quaint colonial Bedford, Massachusetts.
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I'm your host and passionate about storytelling.
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I'm actually on a mission to raise up the next generation of storytellers.
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We've named ourselves Starfish Storytellers after the Starfish story.
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The moral of the Starfish story is based on the power of one.
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No matter how big the challenge, each action we take makes a difference and has an impact.
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One step, one starfish or one story at a time.
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Every episode we welcome a new storyteller who will share their story meant to inspire
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and connect with you.
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Then we'll break it down and offer tips for any listeners who are ready to tell their
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own stories.
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So thanks for tuning in now let's get started.
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Today's episode is about delivering humor stories through stand-up comedy and with me
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today is my friend Scott McNeil.
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He's a stand-up comedian and self-proclaimed one-liner.
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He started his comedy career in his 40s and he's performed with such comedians as Emil
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Phillips and Kevin Farley and is open for a number of other well-known comedians like
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Gilbert Godfrey, Lenny Clark, Tony V, Kenny Rodgerson and Frank Santarelli among others.
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He's one replaced in several comedy contests across New England and has even starred in
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an online commercial.
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We met when I was the publisher of the Bill Rooker Green News magazine and we featured
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you and your extensive fan collection of the classic fan The Doors but I've been following
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your comedy career on social media for some time.
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So it's great to see you again and catch up.
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Likewise so so exciting and fun to be here.
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Thanks for being here.
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So your story did tell us a lot about your beginnings but I didn't know if you wanted
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to add anything for our listeners about introducing yourself.
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Oh absolutely there's always more to add to a story.
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One of the things that I've learned is what they call editing and that can mean all sorts
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of things in different businesses but ideally a comic will go to an open mic night or a
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kind of a more informal place and video themselves because when someone's on stage even if they've
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been doing it for a while they might have habits they're not aware of looking the wrong
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way or doing something with their hands and distracting people.
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But also too it's listening for the audience reaction because that's really what it comes
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down to and one of the many rules of thumbs they have in comedy is even if you love a
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joke that you wrote if it's not hitting it with the audience it's out and even if you're
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been telling a joke for 15 years and you're tired of it if the audience still loves it
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it stays in.
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And another part of it too is they say of course you want to close with your best joke
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and they say to open with your second best.
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But sometimes someone was pointing out to me that not only to end with my best but I could
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take some of my better jokes and have like a rapid fire of three or four of them at the
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end so it goes better or good, better, best, fantastic and then it leaves that impression
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that you want.
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And then you're off.
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I really appreciated your story of how you got started.
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I'm familiar with giggles and I think that's wonderful that you got to get a start there.
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We've talked about storytellers and comedians.
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Comedians are the funniest storytellers of all.
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But like you're going to talk about today and like you've already shared so far becoming
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a great stand-up comic is not easy.
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There's a lot that goes into it.
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I've read that comedians have to become like the masters of word play and they have to
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have razor sharp wit and they have to have expert timing and sets have to be relatable
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because you want to get the biggest laughs out of people.
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Speaking to this sort of what does a comedian need to be able to be successful?
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What other things can you think of that are needed?
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One of the ingredients that I was not aware of is that like I was saying, you take a five
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minute set and start to polish it.
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How you tell it where to pause and sometimes to like be one key word that you withhold
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which will be the punchline that might give it like a 180 type of spin.
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But those are so some acting in it too where the illusion of spontaneity.
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Can you talk about that because you know we had a phone call, you brought that up and
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I thought that was a really interesting concept and I don't know if people really know that
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that's what goes on.
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It's almost like giving away a magic trick I think anyway but it's kind of pretending
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that while you're on stage you tell a joke maybe and then snap your fingers.
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Oh it reminds me of this other thing but not remind you of anything.
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This is the next joke you were going to tell anyways and you've been telling it for five
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or ten years.
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So a lot of people, one person I'd kind of like to meet that I have is Jeff Foxworthy
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and I think he's great at just pretending he's just coming up with everything off the
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cuff.
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I never really followed Robin Williams but I would think he would be one of the few exemptions
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that he probably was off the cuff where his mind was just racing and he probably couldn't
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even talk fast enough to say all the stuff that was going on in his head and that's very
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unusual.
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Most everything is very carefully rehearsed and practiced and by the time you see someone
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who's a professional especially a brand name person they've examined the material, they've
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looked at the joke as to how to edit it.
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Could it say is or and at this point or that type of thing.
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It's almost like a surgeon putting together a sentence and facial expressions trying to,
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I love to mislead people.
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I like to take linear thinking that usually goes in this direction and play around with
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it.
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And then not signal when turning.
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Right.
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Just turn and.
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We're like whoop whoop.
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I had a funny moment I think it was 2011.
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I was in North Andover.
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I don't know if I'd shared it but I kind of give a version of it.
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But it's a true story.
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I used to have an opening joke and I'm not a brand name comic.
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So people, when they introduced me people just clapped and I put my hand over my heart.
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I genuinely mean it.
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But also to, I told the audience I said thank you.
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And they said every time I do stand up I'm excited and nervous.
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And I said on top of this I'm excited and nervous too because I'm about to become a father
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for the first time.
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So they all clapped.
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And I told them thank you of course.
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I'm very excited about the baby but I'm extra nervous because I haven't told my wife yet.
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And of course it's fake.
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Myself I've never married.
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I have no children.
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And usually a professional show is an opener like myself 15 minutes and a feature act for
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a half hour.
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And then a headliner for usually at least 45 minutes.
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So the show ended and people were leaving and this lady came over.
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Let's see I was probably early 50s and I think she was a few years older than me.
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She came over to me with a big smile and she said we had a great time.
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We hadn't been out to comedy before we really enjoyed it.
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You were funny and the other comics were funny too.
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I want to take a moment and say congratulations.
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And they said thanks but for what?
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And she pointed to the stage she said you know the baby.
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I'm like thanks but there's no baby.
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And she's like no you were the one.
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I remember you were the one that said you're about to become a father for the first time.
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And she didn't get it.
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And I said that's true.
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I did say it as a comedian and a tiny people but and her eyes went wide like a child and
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she said are you telling me you guys just make stuff up?
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Oh she didn't know.
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I was like I told her there's no Easter Bunny.
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Actually there is an Easter Bunny but it would be as if I didn't tell her there wasn't one.
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And she just looked leveled.
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Oh no.
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I wasn't about to become a father and there was no wife at home.
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One said I should have just let it go and say ask her her name and say well actually
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we're expecting a girl so we'll name her after you.
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But you know that's a hindsight thing that didn't.
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But I'm friendly now with Stephen right.
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I get to he lets me come backstage every few years and hang out for 10 or 15 minutes and
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I told him that story.
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He was almost in tears.
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I was surprised he said I've never ever heard of anyone thinking anything we said on stage
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is real.
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And sometimes it is.
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But it's a weird game.
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For sure.
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For sure.
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When we were talking about you coming on the show we were comparing storytellers and comedians
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and you said I'm more of a one liner.
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And you know a one liner joke is deliberate.
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It's concise.
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It's meaningful.
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But you know I'd still argue that jokes have a narrative structure because I've seen your
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sets so you know you see in your set up you have this and then you go into sort of this
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dialogue sometimes between you and somebody else and then the punchline which is literally
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the humorous ending of your short story.
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But when you call yourself a one liner and not much of a storyteller what does that mean
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to you like in comedy what's the difference.
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Well to me a storyteller and I agree with it they're both kind of different versions
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of storytelling but the other type of comedy is I can't think of a real example but like
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I say a comedian does a bit about I need to go to the supermarket to pick up a half gallon
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of milk which should be a simple thing.
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Supermarkets nearby not a very exciting story but they make it interesting.
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I couldn't find my keys.
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I asked my wife she took my keys to work by accident and it's like a series of jokes
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within a story and I also think it's an easier type of style of comedy to memorize because
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you are telling a longer story that take little detours of problems and complications that
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can be funny whereas each joke I tell is a joke within itself.
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It's a standalone.
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But standalone and the next joke I tell you probably has no connection or relation to
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the other one I just told you.
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And in fact when I came back from because I took a break like a lot of people when the
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pandemic hit and I was reorganizing my set because I would have it I try to group like
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two or three jokes together like these are relationships.
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These are jokes about codependences jokes about work exercise.
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So my set was just kind of thrown together without organizing it that way.
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And I get the impression the audience seem to like it more like we have no idea what
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kind of crazy bizarre thing this guy is going to say next.
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So I'm like so far I've been kind of successful with that.
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Yeah I've been kind of going more in that direction but it's for me I have lots and
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lots of material I told I've been told I'm very prolific in some other comic struggle
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to come up with jokes where I almost have too many I might have a few thousands.
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And the first time I opened for Gilbert Godfrey I worked with him twice.
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And I didn't even have a count on how many jokes it took me five months to memorize that
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set so I could do 26 minutes.
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And it was 64 jokes and 64 jokes have nothing to do with each other.
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But for me it's like memorizing the alphabet.
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It's like ABCDFG but why are they in that order?
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I have no idea why ABCD is in that order but it just is.
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And that's how it should stay.
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So if you asked me to tell my set out of order.
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It wasn't going to work.
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No.
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No.
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I mean I don't know if they're just floating in the air there.
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They're well rehearsed.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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You know when I think about the storytelling on stage I remember this one comedian.
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I couldn't tell you the joke but he had this whole storyline around this air conditioner.
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I think we saw him down at like what's the theater next to the Wang?
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That's not the Emerson.
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I can't remember.
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I don't know that area.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Down in that area.
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It's like right next door to it.
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The Wilbur.
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Oh, okay.
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It was at the Wilbur.
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And he had this whole storyline around this air conditioner and he looped the whole story
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back around to the air conditioner but it like what you were just saying it started with
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like dragging it out and then his wife and then his daughter came in the room and then
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there was something going on in the household and then he left the house and then but he
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pointed out to somebody about the air conditioner and it was like it was sort of this like satisfying
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end like when he got to the end you're like, aha, you know, I caught on to that.
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So like what you were talking about sort of the how order is really important to sets.
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Well, there's another part that might interest you is when I'm dating myself I can't think
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of the current shows but like with Letterman and Leno and Jimmy Kimmel are failing.
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The primary thing for getting on those shows is actually not being funny.
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It's knowing your time, being funny is secondary.
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So you have to know probably without looking at your watch exactly how much time you've
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done and these people probably done their sets so many times they pretty much know exactly
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like Tony V.
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He doesn't need a watch.
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If you interrupted him on stage which he wouldn't want, you could say, you know, how long you've
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been up there?
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He's like, I've been up here 18 and a half minutes and if your time is pretty, pretty
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down close to right on that.
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So when you're on a TV show like that, there's lots of competition to get that spot but if
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you have no idea the difference between four and a half minutes, five minutes, six or seven,
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you never get, if you have people falling down on the floor rolling around, you will
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not be on that show unless you know your time somehow.
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And I heard the story of Jeff Foxworthy, I don't know why I mention him so much, I do
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like him, but he was on one of those shows and one of the jokes got a bigger reaction
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than he had hoped for and it ate up more of his time.
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So while he's talking on stage, his brain is editing out things not to say so that he
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still falls at exactly seven minutes or whatever they hired him for.
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And Jay Leno, there's a story about him, I don't know if you mind me throwing him,
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Jay Leno, apparently later in years, I don't know what year, but after he was well known
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performing in a famous casino in Las Vegas and I think they hired him for an hour and
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he did an hour and two minutes and they were furious with him.
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And even though he was famous, they took him aside and they said, we have everything set
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up here to make money, the temperature, the room, the humidity, whatever music or sound
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effects are, you know, they have everything figured out there and they said, we estimate
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it was something like I'm kind of making it up and it was something like we make about
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$50,000 a minute.
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You went over by two minutes, you cost us $100,000, you're lucky we don't take that money
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from you.
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Don't do it again.
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So it's that, I think that's one of those things that people watching comedy would not
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guess.
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You wouldn't know that that's an issue.
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And in general, if you're doing a professional show, whatever time you're giving, don't fall
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too short because they're counting on you to do whatever it is and don't go over.
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Wow.
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It's really important.
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You know, I do a public speaking class and one of the parts of that, I tell people, you
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know, when you're invited to be a keynote or you're invited to be a speaker, you need
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to respect your hosts and understand what is the time slot you're given and speak only
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for that time slot because you're a guest.
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You know, and I would think it's the same thing.
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It's like, this is our club, you know, you're here, you know, this is the time you're given,
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stick to your time.
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And when I started every once in a while a friend would want to come along with me.
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And I just, hypothetically, if it's an eight o'clock show, I'm like, all right, I want
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to be there about seven.
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And then while I say, well, we could stop for supper on the way, we could get there
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at 10, you know, five minutes of eight.
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And I'm like, no, no, no, no.
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They want to check me off that I'm there.
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They just want to know I'm on the property.
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I didn't get a flat tire.
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There's no excuses.
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And I need to rub elbows with them.
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You know, I can't, I'm not, we're not going, you're going to watch the show.
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I'm in the show.
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It's very different.
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It's a job.
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Yeah.
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And like, and then they're surprised, well, this is kind of boring.
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It's a job.
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It's not, you know, we have to hang out here, even though there's nothing going on or sometimes
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the booker is like, you know, they need to focus in on something else.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, it's a job.
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It's a job like any other job.
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You know, we were talking about sort of preparing before you get on stage.
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Now, you're talking about time right now, but, you know, I'm thinking about routine
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and travel and, I mean, there's a lot of things that go into being able to, before
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you even set foot on that stage to perform that you have to consider.
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So when we talk about routine, what is your process for developing one?
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Like how do you come?
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I know that we talked about sort of 64 jokes that don't tie in at all.
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Like how do you come up with those?
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Are those pretty much just life?
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And then what other things are you factoring in and planning for?
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Like you just said just now, I'm going to get there at seven for an eight o'clock show
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because I, it's my job and I need to be, you know, clocking in, you know, in a sense.
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So what are the things are you, you know, doing for your routines and then what other
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things are you factoring in and planning for?
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Well, part of it too depends on how far away the gig is because I might not want to drive
28:42
an hour and a half wearing my show clothes.
28:44
It might be summer, I might want to wear shorts and I don't want to wrinkle up my good clothes.
28:49
And basically these places don't have a room to change.
28:53
They just have the regular restroom that everybody's using and they can't tie it up.
28:59
So that's one factor.
29:02
But I think as someone moves along, you want to get up, the more time you can do, the better.
29:10
So if you're only there to do 10 minutes, if you can do 15, that's even once in a while
29:17
just show up and the book is like, someone forgot to come, they're supposed to do five
29:23
minutes, can you do another five?
29:27
And if you waited till that moment, unless you can have lib, which most people cannot,
29:33
you're out of luck, you blew it.
29:35
So it's like being prepared well before, months before that show or any show, just to be able
29:41
to do as much time as possible and do it well.
29:47
I guess one of the things I'm thinking as you ask the question, like when you see a
29:53
sign out in front of a place that says open mic night, it's kind of a misnomer because
29:59
a lot of them are booked way ahead of time.
30:02
It makes it sound like you walk in that night, hey, I'm John Smith, Jane Smith, where do
30:08
I sign up?
30:09
And like, well, the person might not even be there to connect with, but it could be weeks
30:15
or a couple of months away to get onto that stage.
30:19
So it's kind of a misnomer that way.
30:21
Yeah.
30:22
Where do your jokes come from?
30:26
I think a lot of comics ask me, when do I write?
30:29
And I'm like, I have a mind that just doesn't shut off.
30:34
I find as I listen to people, I like to think I'm a good listener.
30:37
I've done prove wrong sometimes, but it's like my mind is working at listening to you.
30:43
There's another part of my mind, like how could I misunderstand what she's saying?
30:47
Because there's a lot of humor in that.
30:53
And a lot of times too, I'll hear something that, in my mind, I'm like, this would be
30:58
a funny punchline, and I'll build the joke backwards and then tell it forwards.
31:04
And I think a lot of people try to write forwards and tell them forwards, and they're like,
31:09
can't do it.
31:10
And I'm like, I don't know if I can write forwards so well, but, or like a lot of homonyms, words
31:15
that sound similar.
31:16
It's like these two topics have nothing to do with them, but it's like an art to try
31:20
to weave them together into some sort of misunderstanding.
31:24
Yeah.
31:25
Interesting.
31:26
Interesting.
31:28
Interesting.
31:32
We also talked about the written word versus the spoken word and how sometimes the written
31:39
word isn't going to translate very well out of mic.
31:46
When you write as a writer, you can tend to write in a very formal fashion where once
31:53
you're on a mic, and I learned this from being on the moth stage, it needs to be more conversational.
32:01
It needs to feel more conversational.
32:04
So you must maybe write down, write your jokes out, or plan them out.
32:08
But what do you have to do to tweak them to turn them into that finished product so that
32:13
it's going to work at the mic?
32:17
I think I'm kind of lucky because usually when I write them, the first draft is the
32:22
final draft.
32:24
I usually don't rewrite them.
32:26
But sometimes I'll think, oh, this could be a little twist.
32:28
I try not to have too big of an ego that I'm like, yeah, I suppose it could be a little
32:31
better this way or that way.
32:35
But you're right, it is kind of like a conversation.
32:40
And I think too, sometimes when a comic talks to someone in the audience, usually they're
32:46
looking for a yes or a no.
32:54
If the comic goes too far and becomes crowd work, and crowd work is usually not.
32:59
What is crowd work?
33:00
Crowd work is where you start a conversation with somebody in the audience.
33:05
And it's usually frowned upon because if you're not the headliner, the people in the audience
33:11
are like, oh, this comic is talking with us, all the comics after them, we can talk with
33:16
them too.
33:18
So they feel like it's an open door, and it can really sabotage the following comedians
33:23
behind you.
33:24
And also the booker will probably say, don't do that here again.
33:29
Like they don't allow it, basically, at giggles, no crowd work.
33:33
It rule of thumb.
33:34
So question for you.
33:35
I'm going to interrupt for a second.
33:36
So you're talking about crowd work.
33:37
You're talking about somebody who's talking with the audience.
33:41
You were talking earlier about watching your time.
33:45
Is that something that people factor into their routine and is like, OK, I'm going to
33:52
start a conversation with a couple of people in the front row, and I need to spend three
33:59
minutes doing that before I go on to it.
34:01
Is that the illusion of spontaneity, or is it actually they're just not good at it with
34:09
their time?
34:11
I think once someone works at it, you pretty much know how much time it would take.
34:16
And once in a while, you get hired to do a 20-minute set.
34:22
But it's also factoring in pauses.
34:24
Like I was saying, hopefully they all start to laugh, and there's a curve where it goes
34:28
up, and then as it drops off, they go into the next joke.
34:32
But sometimes I've said some very stoic audiences who just silent.
34:39
And they're appreciating it, but they're not laughing.
34:41
And I just run through my material, and the next thing I know, I'm at 16 minutes and I'm
34:46
out of material because there's no laughter pauses.
34:51
And I wish I'd written it down, but I had an audience of like, I think it was like 35
34:56
people, it was quite a few years ago, and they just sat there blank, expressionless with
35:02
their arms folded.
35:03
And it felt brutal because a lot of like, am I not telling them right?
35:10
Did someone just die before I got here and I didn't know about this tragic news?
35:14
Or what's going on?
35:16
And then when the show ended, I came in like three or five different people came over and
35:22
they're like, I had a great time, you are hilarious.
35:25
And I'm like, what the heck is that?
35:26
That's so, they're so contained.
35:30
And it's like each audience is, I've had it where I've done the same material at different
35:34
clubs and one place they go crazy and the next place is like, ah, you're all right.
35:38
It's like, it really, it's a combination, I think, of being an art and a science and
35:44
still being baffling.
35:45
Do you think that there's just certain crowds that frequent certain venues?
35:52
And I asked that question for two experiences that I had.
35:57
Then I went to a comedy show New Year's Eve and the audience were pretty much around my
36:02
age.
36:03
It seemed like that it wasn't a bunch of 20-somethings, it was a bunch of people in, you know, 40s
36:08
and 50s.
36:09
And the comedians were awesome.
36:12
There was three of them and they nailed it and they were, their sets were so relevant
36:18
to the crowd.
36:19
Like the crowd could relate and the things that they said, they were just awesome.
36:23
They was dying and it was an out loud, very loud laughter.
36:28
Then I think about, and it was up in the Phoenician in Haverhill, Mass.
36:35
Then I think about this place that I went one time, it wasn't for a comedy show, but
36:38
it was some place near Salisbury, Hampton or whatever, it was a smaller venue.
36:45
It wasn't like the big club that bands go to on Hampton Beach, but it was like some
36:49
other smaller club.
36:51
Maybe the Winner's Circle.
36:52
It was something small, it might have been like Salisbury or Amesbury and it was Survivor.
36:59
And I went in, we went in and it was all tables and chairs, like tables.
37:05
And they were on a kind of a small stage which seemed like Survivor on a small stage, like
37:10
is this what we've been reduced to?
37:12
For our age group?
37:14
And nobody got up and clapped and nobody was dancing in the aisles, everybody sat in their
37:19
chairs.
37:20
They were clapped, but it was a really subdued crowd.
37:25
And I felt so bad for the performers because I felt like, I mean, you must be used to working
37:30
in arenas where people are on their feet and cheering.
37:35
So do you think that a venue, like do they prep you at all?
37:43
What to expect with the crowd ever?
37:46
And or do you think like certain venues are just going to have certain types of crowds
37:51
coming in?
37:52
I think the only thing in that case would be is if I'm getting booked for a show a couple
37:58
months ahead, it's going to be this type of crowd.
38:00
They'll tell you that?
38:02
It's like, well, these are going to be older people, they're going to be kind of this type
38:05
of thing.
38:06
But usually there's not a lot of instruction.
38:10
It's like I usually get booked based on who I am or what I've, nobody's usually said,
38:15
I want you to tell these jokes and not those jokes.
38:20
But like I've done quite a few things that are benefits, but a lot of times I've been
38:26
selfish.
38:27
I'm like, I want to perform, I want to get out there.
38:29
But I'm like, well, someone is going, usually for a benefit, somebody's going through something
38:33
pretty bad.
38:36
And I've been learning recently, I'm like, well, who are they?
38:42
What is their story?
38:43
What are they going through?
38:46
And sometimes I'll go over the other comics and I'm like, well, this person's seriously
38:51
battling cancer.
38:52
So let's be aware of that.
38:57
And once in a while, some of those people aren't there because they're too ill to make it,
39:01
but it's still a benefit for them.
39:02
But especially if they're present, I want to respect whatever they're going through.
39:07
Right, right.
39:08
And I might edit it.
39:10
But I don't have anything that really attacks anybody.
39:13
People ask me about being heckled.
39:15
And I'm like, I've only been heckled like once.
39:17
I was by someone who's very drunk and didn't know what was going on.
39:21
How do comedians handle that when somebody's heckling them?
39:24
Well, I've taken some workshops and they say to kind of mentally have like three insults
39:31
in your back pocket.
39:32
And if someone is like deliberately, they're not just like, hey, I love your humor or some
39:40
little like a one or two word thing, you know, punctuating, I like that joke.
39:46
Yeah, that's what to me, that's not heckling.
39:49
But when someone's like some if you're riding a bicycle and someone sticks it, puts a stick
39:52
in your spokes, you go over the handlebars.
39:55
If it's that kind of interruption, that's heckling.
39:58
So what they say to do is to target them.
40:01
And also to it's a big audience.
40:04
If they send an insult to you, say it back into the microphone because the most of the
40:09
audience didn't hear the insult.
40:12
And it would look like a bad person is just targeting some random person and the audience
40:15
enjoying him.
40:16
So you repeat, you let the audience know this is what they just said to me, maybe with some
40:21
expletives in it or whatever, that if that's what they used and then give them your response
40:28
to them, letting them know, this is my territory.
40:31
This is my time.
40:33
Behave yourself or this is.
40:35
And then the next insult, if they continue on is a more hurtful one.
40:42
And then the third one is like, decimate, you go for the throat.
40:47
And I had heard a rumor about George Carlin that I wish I knew what.
40:53
Can you imagine ever heckling him?
40:56
That would be suicide.
40:57
Well, there are some stupid people in the world.
40:59
Clearly.
41:00
But you don't want to look bad on stage and it's best to defer to the management to handle
41:06
a problem person.
41:08
So if he did a little interacting with somebody that wouldn't shut up and let him do his show,
41:14
I'm just going to make this up like bananas.
41:17
Like that was the key word.
41:18
It would be like, Mr., you're driving me bananas or whatever his key word was.
41:24
That was the signal for security to pretend that they had decided to remove the person.
41:29
But it was George telling them to get this person the hell out of here.
41:32
So I was like, well, it's pretty clever because it doesn't make him look so bad.
41:36
But what can I do?
41:37
Management decided they didn't want this person in here.
41:40
Yep.
41:41
And we're moving on with the show.
41:43
Because all those other people paid to be there.
41:45
And they came to see you.
41:46
And so, yeah.
41:48
Exactly.
41:49
Yeah.
41:50
Yeah.
41:51
That's very interesting.
41:53
When you write out your jokes or you rehearse them or you memorize them, do you find that
41:58
– are you at a stage now where you're delivering the same jokes the same way every
42:04
time or is there a – like is it varied?
42:06
Very little difference.
42:07
I think it's pretty much the same.
42:10
Pretty much word for word, which is – and I like to think I'm kind of like a word surgeon
42:14
where this is the way it should be.
42:20
I had a joke I did about perpetual care of cemeteries.
42:28
And that I was against it.
42:33
And there were some college students in the room.
42:37
And I said that I was against this perpetual care of cemeteries.
42:41
And I said, if I – I'm going to fight this till my last breath.
42:47
And if they want to cut that grass, they'll have to do it over my dead body.
42:53
And these college students came up to me and they're like, that joke is perfect.
42:57
They said it's exactly the right length.
43:00
It's got the right words that there's no words you should take out or add in.
43:02
They said it's just the way it should be.
43:04
And it's kind of funny because I would have never guessed that they would love that particular
43:09
joke.
43:10
Yeah.
43:11
There's value in that, for sure.
43:14
Well that's all the time we have for today.
43:18
I just want to thank you for being here and just sharing all the behind the scenes, literally,
43:26
of what it takes to be a comic.
43:28
And you know, just – you know, just all the stories that you shared of like all the
43:34
people that you've met and all the experiences that you've had, I think it's just – it's
43:38
going to be great for our listeners.
43:39
So thank you.
43:40
Thank you.
43:41
The time flew by.
43:42
It was a lot of fun.
43:43
Great to see you too.
43:44
Thank you.
43:45
And to our listeners, whether you hear us locally from the BTV studios in Bedford, Massachusetts
43:49
or across the globe on such podcast channels as Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Amazon Prime,
43:55
thanks for listening.
43:57
We hope you enjoyed this episode and we'll see you next time.
44:00
Happy storytelling.
44:01
Music
44:02
.