The Chris Voss Show - The Chris Voss Show Podcast – Unlocking Laughter: The Art and Science of Comedy with Clay McMath

Episode Date: February 13, 2025

Unlocking Laughter: The Art and Science of Comedy with Clay McMath Claymcmathcomedy.com About the Guest(s): Clay McMath is a rising star in the comedy scene, recognized for his sharp observational humor and unique storytelling abilities. Hailing from Adelaide, South Australia, Clay began his comedic journey after retiring from a baseball career, quickly making a name for himself at Adelaide's Rhino Room. Known for his quick wit and willingness to push boundaries, Clay captivates audiences with his insights into human nature, all while maintaining a humble, self-deprecating approach. He has shared the stage with renowned comedians like Stephen K Amos and Daniel McConnell, and frequently performs at comedy clubs and festivals across Australia. Clay also hosts the film review podcast, "Welcome to the Potty," where he pairs movies with personal anecdotes and snacks. Episode Summary: Join Chris Voss as he welcomes Australian comedian Clay McMath to the show for an entertaining and insightful discussion. Clay shares his journey from an aspiring baseball player to a burgeoning comedian, describing how his quick wit and sharp observations have helped him carve a niche in the comedy world. The episode delves into the intricacies of comedic storytelling, discussing the role of observational humor and the importance of self-deprecation in building rapport with audiences. Clay opens up about the challenges comedians face, from finding the perfect joke to navigating sensitive topics in the current cultural climate. Throughout the conversation, Clay and Chris explore the therapeutic power of laughter, considering how comedy can provide much-needed respite from life's challenges. They touch on comedic influences, including legends like Dave Chappelle and George Carlin, and examine the evolving landscape of comedy post-#MeToo. Clay shares intriguing stories from his past performances, and discusses his upcoming gigs, including a solo show at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and a split bill performance. Tune in for a candid and humorous look into the world of comedy, enriched by Clay's personal anecdotes and thoughtful reflections. Key Takeaways: Comedy as Catharsis: Clay McMath talks about how comedy offers an escape from the harsh realities of life, providing both comedians and audiences a chance to share a moment of levity. Self-Deprecation: Emphasized as a tool to connect with audiences, self-deprecating humor helps break down barriers, making the comedian relatable and approachable. Crafting the Perfect Joke: A deep dive into the meticulous process of joke writing, including the importance of wordsmithing and timing to achieve the perfect punchline. Navigating Sensitive Topics: The discussion underscores the delicate balance comedians must maintain when addressing contentious topics, ensuring the humor resonates without offending. Influence of Comedic Legends: Insights into how icons like Dave Chappelle and George Carlin shape the comedic scene, particularly in pushing the boundaries of what’s socially acceptable to joke about. Notable Quotes: "Comedy is an art form, a work of art that helps people feel vulnerable yet comfortable enough to laugh." "Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story." "Self-deprecating humor is important to let the audience know we're just like them, keeping us grounded and relatable." "If we ever reach a point where we can't laugh at ourselves, this world’s over." "Maybe you'll get clapped at for being brave, but it's probably not going to be funny if it's too deeply personal."

You wanted the best. You've got the best podcast, the hottest podcast in the world. The Chris Voss Show, the preeminent podcast with guests so smart you may experience serious brain bleed. The CEOs, authors, thought leaders, visionaries, and motivators. Get ready, get ready, strap yourself in. Keep your hands, arms, and legs inside the vehicle at all times because you're about to go on a monster education roller coaster with your brain. Now, here's your host, Chris Voss. Hi, folks. This is Voss here from the chrisvossshow.com. Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, that makes it official. Welcome to the Chris Voss Show. For over 2,300 episodes and 16 years, we've been bringing you the Chris Voss Show.

The billionaires, the CEOs, the White House presidential advisors, Pulitzer Prize winners, the great journalists, people who go through all their journeys in life, share with you their stories, their learnings, their overcoming of cathartic moments, and make sure that you realize that, hey, I'm not alone. I was at the gym the other day, and someone came up to and going, oh, my God, it's Chris Voss. It's a Chris Voss show and all that stuff that they do. And they go, hey, we really love your podcast. And I was like, that's great.

Awesome. I really appreciate that. And they go, you know what I like about your podcast? And I go, what? And they go, it makes me feel really stupid. And I was like, what? And they go, no, it's not just that. It just makes me understand that there's a lot I don't know.

And it helps me understand that the more I need to know, the better off I am. So now I listen to Chris Voss' show, so I'm not stupid anymore. So I really appreciate that. It was kind of a funny conversation. I was like, what? But we're not here to make you stupid, folks. We're definitely here to improve your life and improve your brains go to goodreads.com for it says chris fuss linkedin.com

for it says chris fuss youtube.com for it says chris fuss and chris fuss won the tiktokity although i i have been accused of making people stupid so that's easy by our enemies anyway we have an amazing young man on the show today we're talking to him about his journey his life and what he does and how he does it we have comedian clay mcmath on the show he is a rising star in the world of comedy known for his quick wit sharp observations and irreverent sense of humor he was born raised in adelaide south australia and he developed a love for making people laugh at an early age entertaining his friends and family with his antics and impressions. After retiring from a baseball career, he began honing his craft at Adelaide's famous

Rhino Room. He quickly gained reputation as a fearless performer willing to take risks and push boundaries in his pursuit of the perfect joke. With his unique blend of observational humor self-depreciation wit and storytelling he's won over audiences in comedian and comedy clubs and festivals around australia he's performed along such acts as stephen k amos uh daniel mcconnell mickey d chris or i'm sorry mickey d and then chris the bloke franklin there's a lot of commas here etc so welcome to the show clay how are you good good thanks for having me oh my old eyes

aren't picking up commas evidently that's a that's part of being 57 I think you're the the only person that's been accused of making people dumber either by the way I think that's something we might we might have in common some politicians to that are have fit that role. Yeah, I believe it. I believe it. It might be some billionaires that are running around that own platforms. Anyway, give us your dot coms, Clay.

My dot coms are claymcmathcomedy.com. So C-L-A-Y-M-C-M-A-T-H comedy.com. With all my merch, tour dates, all that is on there and then at clay mcmath comedy on instagram uh claiming math comedy on facebook uh claiming math comedy on uh twitter or x there you go uh and so you have a podcast too do we have all that encompassed in the links oh yeah welcome to the party on instagram welcome to the party on uh x twitter welcome to the party on facebook and welcome to the party on everything that you listen to podcasts on youtube apple spotify and and the rest so it's a um film

review podcast where i pair every movie i watch with a snack and a personal story um oftentimes embarrassing myself in the process i mean what is the snack that i have to know what this is is is there like a crackers like you tim tams or uh is there a different snack for each movie and how do you pair them what is the it'll be based on on what my idea of the movie is before I watch it. I watched John Wick or something like that. A snack like a chocolate bullet, like licorice covered with chocolate. Chocolate bullets, there's a lot of bullets flying around John Wick, so I'll just smash it up like that.

It can be pretty abstract, but I'll try and draw a line somewhere. Is there a limit to how much you consume? Because I could see this becoming a diabetic insulin seizure situation. Oh, yeah. You got a two-hour movie. Yeah. I'm going to have to probably hire a medical staff at some point to join me on the podcast, do my bloods and all of that, because it is, it's a lot of sugar,

a lot of salt, but it's, it's enjoyable. Yeah. I've had those insulin overloads when I drink, you know, a 50 pound Coke and we're in America here and five gallon, five gallon drama popcorn. And I'm like, why do I want to puke? And then usually it's a bag of red vines too. I'm like, why do I want to puke and then usually it's a bag of red vines too i'm like why do i want to puke it's like you've stirred up a stew of of garbage and shit and you're really and you're trying to watch the godfather and now you just want to puke every

time you see i don't know marlon brando on screen oh yeah every time i watch a movie i'll turn into joey that's not yeah i i do that when uh i'm gonna have to get that joke reference pulled up first um so give us a 30 000 overview what you do there uh how you do it what your comedy is like etc etc uh my comedy is is mostly storytelling so the the people i i looked up to when i was growing up were like bill burr d Dave Chappelle, Eddie Murphy, Louis CK, that type of stuff. But the comics I watched the most of are the opposite. So the one-liner type of guys, Mitch Hedberg, Anthony Jesselny, Mark Norman. I love the way they write their jokes i think that yeah they're amazing joke writers steve wright um just i i yeah i i don't write like that so i try to um consume as much of what they do as possible to

to be able to to learn from them and mix up my style a bit but yeah i'm mostly a storyteller observational comic um and yeah lots of personal stories with yeah a little bit of mustard on top you know not everything that happens is the funniest thing that's ever happened but just gotta don't let the truth get in the way of a good story yeah you ever get a george carlin yeah i like i liked early carlin i think you've got to be angry towards the end he did he did be kind of coming angry old man i think that's actually one of his bits about how he's become an angry old man. Yeah, I think the last special he did, he was pretty chomping at the bitter. I was like, I think we moved from comedy just to get off my lawn, man.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. But I'm 57, so I'm feeling that. So I get it now. So what do you love about comedy? What is it that drew you to it? You said kind of an early age. You kind of had an influence on it, liking to entertain, I think, et cetera, et cetera.

Tell us about that. Just the earliest memory of comedy I have is actually watching Bill Burr's, it was a 30-minute Comedy Central special. And my dad and I were just sitting on the couch, just laughing so hard. And I was just like, that would just be amazing to be able to do that to people.

And once I got older and got into comedy and realized how hard it is to make people laugh like that and how vulnerable a position it actually is to laugh especially at like a dirty joke or something race-based um putting someone in a vulnerable position like that uh and and having them feel comfortable enough they trust you enough to laugh at what you're saying is uh it's definitely a work of art. Yeah, and I just love it. Yeah, there's a wordsmithing to it and a crafting. You know, there was a way that Johnny Carson used to teach a lot of comedians to write jokes and where to put the punchline and how to land it out. And we mentioned in your bio, I think I read off, you said you're always in search of the perfect joke.

And I think that's what a lot of comedians are always searching for, that perfect joke or that perfectly written jokes that delivers the kills, right? Yeah. Yeah. It's hard to know when a joke's finished. You always sort of feel like it's it's got room to improve you know you've got a joke kills um but maybe you know maybe there's one beat in there that you're just like i could i could i could add something in there and even more you're just sort of always working even on your oldest jokes and it's just um it's like a never-ending craft which i love about it

and i love how wordsmithing and storytelling is used in comedy especially when you want to build to great sort of punch line and in comedy is such a great reflection i think on human nature because it really puts a mirror up to us in a way that kind of gets by our ego and or some people's ego there's some people that are still gonna trip shit trip balls when you you know you talk about that they're that they know that they do or subconsciously but for the most part you know people come to a comedy show to to relax and laugh and have a good time at least most people are unless they're caring in the back or some but but, uh, or some drunk idiot. Um, but it's, it's usually, you know, the thing I love about comedy is it brings levity

to a human experience in human nature. You know, you realize that, Hey, it's okay. Nobody knows what goes on after you die. Um, death and taxes are the two things you can count on in this life. And it's, it can, life can be a little bleak sometimes. You know, I remember when I used to get really depressed and suffer from depression, I would sit and watch the show Cops for an hour or two.

Yeah. And I would get done after two hours laughing at, you know, the guy in the wife beater, you know, who takes his shirt off and he's in the mobile home. You know, he's going to jail that night after he decides he wants to fight the cops and you know you enjoy watching him get taste and i would sit and watch it for two hours and be like you know my life is freaking amazing i don't have people kicking in my door and i'm not getting pulled over for drugs and i'm doing pretty goddamn good i don't know why i'm depressed so comedy can be a really great um uh feedback loop

and you mentioned the black comedian earlier he was just he just did snl uh the opening of snl uh i forget his name but he dave chapelle yeah and dave is just amazing at being able to take a story and weaving it and then kind of shoving everything in your face this is what you idiots do and then hitting it with that punch line that he builds up into that just brings it all home and you're just like wow okay that was masterful i think it was being silly under serious circumstances uh talking talking about something that that is a contentious topic gonna bother people uh and he always reaches for those topics as well which is and then being able to just be really silly um in that moment and break the tension in the room

which is um i mean that's that's comedy isn't it but he's a he's a master at it yeah and i mean there's some some of the things he's done i've actually listened and gone you know he puts a different paradigm spin and i think that's really what a good comedian does they put a paradigm spin to where you know you can look at it and go yeah we do some stupid ass shit as human beings and yeah that makes that doesn't make a lot of sense and being able to walk that fine line between you know getting getting yourself blasted and put on you know uh put out of the tribe as it were on uh you know canceled uh or not is really a fine line lewisK was really great at that too. In fact, one of the interesting things about Louis CK from my understanding is he,

he would, he would, he would just do a different set every time and just constantly write new stuff. Yeah. Well, that's one hell of a, that's one hell of a,

well, it's one hell of a burn rate of probably good comedy, but also it's, I mean, that's one hell of a muscle to develop. Yeah. But he, um, as far as I know, uh I know, I think he can develop his premises quite quickly. So if you see him doing something the first time, he's an absolute legend in the game.

But you can go out and see him trying something out for the first time and it bombs. And then you go out the next month and it's damn near perfected, whereas a lot of comics take a lot longer. I know I do. It takes a lot longer to get to that point with a new idea that I've had. Yeah, just being fearless as well and not letting a bomb make you think that the idea is not right maybe you just haven't you just haven't cracked the code yet so you have to just keep getting up

and trying it out yeah sometimes it's the form of the joke too you know like we said it's wordsmithing where you're like put the though over there and the and over here and it's a little more complicated than but you know what i mean yeah Yeah. And so you do this. Let's talk about what sort of, you know, let me ask you this, because a lot of comedians have trauma from childhood. A lot of us are running from demons. And so, you know, there's a lot of, there's a high suicide rate, a high drug overdose rate in comedy. And part of it, you know, I've been through that thing where when people laugh, when I entertain people, people it's that crack it's like a crack that goes to our brain yeah and and then it just makes things worse because we just want to be funnier um and uh which works if you can be funny but if you're not then

you just you just end up looking like an idiot like i do uh um was there anything that you you found kind of drove you to it or was just the ability to entertain was there any sort of darkness you find you're running from in your childhood trauma any sort of that sort of thing i don't think i don't think i use it as a therapeutic outlet so much i think i think that can get pretty pretty dicey because you know at an open mic night or something you'll see people that are for sure doing that uh and it's not that enjoyable for everybody else in the room um no i mean there's you know we've all been through stuff uh uh so like you know being being bullied you know parents separating um you know i'm'm mixed race, so I've experienced racism as well. So there are things

that I certainly draw from, but I'm not looking to get therapy out of it. A lot of my jokes are quite silly. I'm in the middle of balding at the moment. So that's some stuff that I'm working on in terms of my set. But, yeah, it's just silly. It's trying to have a good time and trying to be relatable as well, which is something that if you go up there and you've had a very specific type of trauma and you go up there and just talk about that it's uh you know maybe you'll get clapped out for being brave at at best but it's probably not gonna be that funny yeah there's i

mean there's a lot of you you see a lot of that you know the robin williams um uh there's a lot of guys i think a lot of people that overdose you know there there's always kind of depression i mean i remember there was a time in my life where I would make people laugh because I was trying, because there was so much, um, there's the issues that I was running from and, and making people laugh was the only way I could deal with it. I remember, I remember calling my father and he was in the hospital and he was near the end. He was, he was, you know, always in and out of the hospital. And I could hear the fear in his voice.

And I never really heard fear in my father's voice. He was a bit of a narcissist. But this time I heard real fear. And he seemed scared. And he didn't want to die. And he said something to that effect. And I'm not good at dealing with the empathy part. It'll be okay. And yada, yada, yada. And so I just started telling him, joke. You've at dealing with the empathy part. It'll be okay and yada, yada, yada.

And so I just started telling him, joke, you've been hitting on the nurse there. What's going on with the, you know. And at first he was a little resistant. So then I started having him laugh. And I could hear the fear dissipate in his voice. You know, I called him. And pretty soon I had him laughing. And that was how I dealt with that situation other people might be better you know I wasn't there in person you know you're trying to say something empathetic

that you know oh you know I you know I'm just not that guy I'm not that good at that but making people laugh and you know realize the the gravity of their situation maybe isn't as big as it is, that's kind of been a healing trait of mine. And it works for me, too, when I'm in situations. I've been in surgery and going under, and I've got everyone laughing at some stupid jokes I'm just making up in the room. And it's helping me. Maybe more than it's helping me yeah but it's probably something there that's the point you hit earlier as well isn't it like that it's uh it's a distraction from everything going on uh in the world or in your life uh and it's i think it's

important uh sometimes sometimes it can be uh comedy but that's i think that's why entertainment's important that's why people care so much about sports and movies and stuff like that. It's just a distraction, an escape from the horror that you see. If you're just someone that watches the news every day, how can you possibly walk around with a smile on your face knowing just everything that's going on? I make a point not to watch the news every day i'll keep up to date as much as i feel like is necessary but it's it's not the good news show it's the bad news yeah if it bleeds it leads yeah i don't need i don't need that like consistently um you know put in my face so that's that's what um entertainment's all about so i

think that's yeah that's the point you made earlier and and if that's that's how people deal with their own trauma or or um helping people out with theirs then then that's a positive thing i think yeah and i think that's why people come to comedy is they need a release they need a break you know they see the news they they have their experiences in life. You know, life isn't always roses. We all seem to kind of go through some dark times and some things that help us grow. You know, that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

I hate that expression. But yeah. If you, you know, even if it's just like you've had some, you know, not so savoury thoughts that you're not able to express because you know what the ramifications might be, it's pretty likely that comedians had something similar go through their brain and they being able to say something that seems unspeakable, but people completely understand it and you get that pop in the room. And that in itself is funny. Sometimes I find myself laughing on stage, not at my own joke, but at the fact that people are laughing at the joke. Yeah, if I ever do stand-up,

I'm just going to come up with the disclaimer that this is helping me more than it's helping you. This is my therapy. You know, we changed the format of the show in 2020 with COVID when a friend of mine posted, there's two things you do right now you be a lifter or you find a lifter and you know it was a crisis film with covid everything you know no one knew anything what was going to go on or what would happen all we knew was

you know bodies were piling up and uh and it was a scary time you realize that you realize that you know having the latest car and the most money and the biggest house probably didn't fucking matter anymore. Your family, the loved ones, the people around you that you enjoyed, they could be gone in an instant. And it just kind of brought a reality home that was hard to deal with. My friend, he posted, he goes, here's what you do right now. Either be a lifter or you find a lifter. And I'm not a good find a lifter follower sort of person. I'm a leader.

And I'm like, okay, what are my assets? What do we have? And I go, we got this show we've had for, at that time, probably 10, nine years. And I said, we're going to open up the scope. Instead of interviewing just CEOs in Silicon Valley and talking about technology, we're going to talk about everything. And we're gonna open up the scope instead of interviewing just ceos and silicon valley and talk about technology we're gonna talk about everything and we're gonna lift and it was a little hard at first to be a lifter in that moment because i was losing a lot of money um but uh we did it and you know i think that's what comedians do comedians are lifters and we you know we take the reality of

life we spin it we make you have a laugh at it it's kind of it's kind of the experience they used to have when i would go to the i would just be overwhelmed and i go down the beach in california and sit on the beach and you kind of look at the waves and look at the eternal nature of of the sunset and and that ocean and realize that your fucking little pile of what you thought were the biggest problems in the world were just pretty much nothing yeah completely it can also be a harmful thought to have too that's true I already feel like I'm nothing and now I can see how big everything is yeah well it it did help me. I could backfire on you, huh? But it would help put things in perspective for me.

It was kind of like watching cops. Like when I'd watch cops or I'd watch the show Cheaters. Yeah. You get done and you're just like, my life's really not that bad. Come on, man. I mean, I'm not getting shot by police yet. I mean, there's still time today. But there's that.

So what topics do you like to focus on? You said you don't listen to the news much. Do you like to focus on personal stuff or people's nature or maybe other topics? I think, yeah, just different types of people so far um my new my new hour has for some reason there's a there's a fair bit of japanese stuff in there um in australia yeah yeah just the the types of joke like that we had like a um not a school shooter situation but we had someone a student at my high school uh who wanted to get revenge on on his bullies and he came he actually ended up coming to school with a samurai sword and so i tell i tell that story wow and um i just i just think it's funny that um

like a getting revenge at school situation is sort of like a white response to bullying. Most of the time, it's a white kid doing it. This kid was an Arab. And it was also post 9-11 and no one took him serious when he said he was going to do it. But then he rocks up with a Japanese weapon. I just thought it was hilarious

that the multicultural nature of his revenge was um it's quite funny so there is a um a japanese through line through through the uh the the the hour as well i've got a i used to have a japanese barber so he gets a mention too and um did he use the blade to yeah yeah then there's yeah um's, you know, just the trans community stuff is in there. The difference between the rich and poor and all of that. It gets addressed somewhat in the news, but yeah, I'm not up there talking about Ukraine or Gaza or anything like that. Yeah, there's some things that you know it's interesting to me how certain things you can't talk about in comedy at least you're not

supposed to for a long time there you weren't supposed to talk about you know the shuttle exploding or 9-11 yeah i think some people have kind of learned to i think it's been enough distance too but people have learned to thread that needle but it's it's interesting how comedians will take those risks and thread that needle how do it's interesting how comedians will take those risks and thread that needle. How do you feel about taking those sort of risks? Do you kind of fall back from it? I think everything's up for grabs,

but it has to be a good joke. Yeah. So, like, one that's a bit dicey is, like, sexual assault. You see a lot of comedians, male comedians, that likely haven't experienced it will try and make a joke about it. And sometimes just saying the R word is enough to trigger people. So what you have to do is make sure that the joke's funny. And if it's not funny enough, then leave it alone.

Yeah. It's not just something that you can poke fun at. The joke has to be funny. And I think it more has to be about our nature, maybe, more a reflection of who we are. I think Dave Chappelle wandered into that Me Too thing, throwing shit at Me too and calling it out i think he did a good job of that um but yeah you could tell you could just watch the line that he was walking and i think it's the comedians were more tuned into it like the writing of the joke

you know when i listen to comedian i'm more like going you're on the razor's edge there buddy let's see how this ends. Maybe it's like cops. I'm there to see them fail. That's important. That's important to walk that line. And I think during Me Too or probably, yeah, Me Too the most, when people were just out there like losing jobs and losing gigs and stuff

without evidence, it was sort of just, hey, this guy said something. the most when when people were just out there like losing jobs and losing gigs and stuff without uh without evidence it was it was sort of just hey this guy said something um let's cancel him i think comedians got a bit nervous and you could feel that a bit and yeah and i think um that's not when the best comedy was coming out and then when it when it starts to shift a little bit and people feel braver and feel safer to say what, what they think, then, then that's when you start, uh, seeing comedians, especially the great ones, really pushing those, those boundaries and approaching that line and seeing, seeing how close they can get to it or how far they can go over it,

which is, um, that's, yeah, that's where the best comedy comes from. Yeah. I, and I, and for a while there, it got really dark after me too and the and this you know it's like you comedians you know bill mart has talked about this a lot you know comedians couldn't even can't can't go to uh colleges anymore because you know the colleges are like oh you know you're hurting our feelings and you know they just can't take a joke anymore yeah really college used to be these bastions of open-mindedness um and to me that was really frustrating seeing comedy almost start to die and a lot of comedians really worried about you know am i gonna get canceled because i make a joke um you know just for a while that got really stupid really stupid and i think you know thank

god pioneers like dave chappelle and other people that can write well and make it intricate i think they kind of changed the tonality of a lot of it and i still think there's work that needs to be done but the fact i mean if we ever reach a point we can't laugh at ourselves, this world's over as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, and obviously there's people like that. Like you said, the college audience. I don't know how much that has evolved since that time, but I know that was pretty hard at the time. But you can get to a point where you believe you're so open-minded

that you've actually narrowed your mind and that your, your point of view is the only point of view that matters. And then anyone that is against that is, uh, uh, is negative or is, is in the wrong. So that's,

that's actually where we got to at that time was these, these people thought they were so open-minded that they, they only had one perspective and they, they had actually become closed-minded which was um yeah a bit of a uh dichotomy there yeah it really is interesting it's the the i think i don't know without fall under the the dunning kruger sort of effect the people that think they're the smartest uh usually have the most low information are actually the dumbest they're just not self-aware enough to realize how stupid they really are which is what people write into me and tell me i am in the

show uh self-effacing jokes uh i just did one if people didn't notice pointing that the fuck out but you know we mentioned that your bio why do you think self-effacing jokes are really important in comedy and for comedians to utilize? In Australia, there's something called, uh, tall poppy syndrome. Do you know, have you heard of that?

No. So it's, it's where the, the tallest, the tallest poppies or flowers, uh, the, the public want to cut them down.

So when you, when you become like famous or good at something you have to say that you're not in this country or else people are going to be like oh you think you're better than me and they're going to cut you down for you is that a brilliant thing it is it is uh typically australian wow wow um so i think in in comedy as well like you you also you want to relate to the audience so you don't want to be up there saying I'm better than you or whatever. So I think a self-deprecating joke to start off with or just a self-deprecating tone throughout helps you relate

to the audience more or helps the audience understand that just because you're on stage with the mic, you're not above them as much as you may be physically because they're sitting down beneath you. You're actually not above them. Self-deprecating humour is important in that respect. But in this country, I think I almost start every gig, every set with something negative about myself

to get the trust of the crowd um especially you know i'm a i'm a big man i'm six foot seven um uh i am you know a bit of a confronting body on stage so just letting them know that i don't i don't think anything more of myself than than what they are yeah i mean that's the thing you're you're telling the joke sometimes expensive probably at least one person in the audience absolutely, and You know letting them know that yeah, the finger goes both ways the you know We we understand our you know, our fallacies as human beings are are the same and

You know, I think I think in how you deliver the joke is really important to, um, the, the insult comic from the fifties and sixties. Uh, I always forget his name, even though he's one of my favorite comedians. Uh, let me see if I can pull him up here. Um, there's his face. Uh, but Don Rickles, I don't know why i can't remember don rickles yeah don rickles is so good at it and and he said you know the one thing is people can hear in your voice whether you're sincere or not or whether you care about them or not or whether you're really being mean and so he could get away with doing racist sort of what some people would see as racist sort of jokes um and racist profiling uh but he could get away with it because people could tell that he he meant it as good humor he

meant it as fun humor he meant as let's look at our human nature and behaviors and stuff i'm not sure anybody can redo what don rickles in today's But, I mean, he had a warmth to him. They used to call him Mr. Warm when he'd come on the Carson show. But, you know, he had a warmth to him. And he would, of course, do comedy back on himself, self-effacing comedy. And he'd throw himself on the pyre. And, yeah, but, man, there was a few people who could thread that needle like him, but you could always tell in the way he did it, that it was never mean that it was never designed to insult. Yeah.

It was just designed to be funny, make people laugh. We all, we all, you know, he took turns on everybody. He would, you know, work the Italians and the Jews and, you know, he, he worked everybody. And so, you know, you could see that he wasn't just up there being as and you know he'd work everybody and so you know you could see that he wasn't just up there being a nazi you know yeah i'm having a brain fade right now of the uh the comedian uh she she used to work the red carpet she's passed away now oh yeah yeah the great comedian uh uh she had those surgeries yeah yeah she she was the same she she was very good at being sharp and um and yeah just being able to to make fun of people she would do it to their faces on the red carpet obviously she had a

she had a uh reputation as well so that always helps but um she had to do something to get to that point as well didn't she so she she had a style which allowed her to do that. The great Jeff Ross, the Rosemaster General, he obviously could do that as well. Joan Rivers. Joan Rivers, yes, thank you. Joan Rivers. And what a time to come up in comedy. I remember seeing her on the Ed Sullivan show,

Black and White, early TV, and there she is doing what a lot of females probably weren't you know it was unpopular to do you know now now there's female comedians uh going out the uh the uh whatever but uh yeah just seeing her do it and her evolve over the years she was a she was amazing comedian but yeah just people know that it's it's kind of an art form and knowing that when you deliver the jokes you do you know people still essentially you care you're just not bashing the fuck out of people and being an asshole yeah exactly although i think some comedians you know i've been accused of being an asshole with jokes because you're just because there's always those people who don't get a joke

they're never going to get any so yeah but some people some people will sit at the back of the room and get upset when a joke uh is about them right so if you're if you're if i make a joke about uh fat people and you get upset about it but you were just laughing at the joke about asians what's that say yeah what does it say i mean it speaks like we said to the the nature of stuff so tell us about your future upcoming gigs what do you have plans for what can many people go attend etc etc so i've got uh the the adelaide fringe so the fringe festival is an arts festival that sort of travels around the world the the largest one is in edinburgh in scotland um and the second largest one is in my hometown adelaide australia so that's's coming up in the next couple of weeks.

So I'm doing my show for 31 days straight. So 31 hours and 31 days. That's called Claiming Math In Over My Head. And I'm also doing a split bill with two other comedians that I tour with regularly, Justin Saw and Jay Michael. So that show is called Two and a Saw and Jay Michael. That show is called Two and a Half Straight White Men. That's a late show,

lots of fun, pretty dirty, so people should be finished with dinner, a few drinks deep, and come along to that one. That'll be real fun. Once I'm finished with Adelaide Fringe, I'm actually going over to Melbourne International Comedy Festival and doing my show for 10 nights over there as well you go and and how long you're

set usually uh an hour wow an hour comedy that's yeah that's a challenge to build out so good props to you man yeah thank you awesome sauce yeah i mean it's i i know that just trying to do five minutes of comedy like people be like oh five minutes doesn't seem like all that long. It does when you're on stage. Five minutes can be tough because especially if you're unknown and you don't have the trust of the audience, you've got to try and build trust to say the crazy shit that you're about to say.

Yeah, five minutes can be a hard one as well. No, I think it's all pipes, Jerry. Anything more we need to plug out before we go uh just the podcast yeah give it a listen if you're not in australia and not able to come to my upcoming shows um just have a listen to the podcast it's called welcome to the potty and like i said it's a comedy slash tv and film review podcast um a lot of fun a lot of stories about myself and and uh different things i've witnessed that relate to the the movies that i watch every week i like the movie i like the movie tie-in and stuff because there's a lot you can play in uh and make fun of i mean i've do you ever watch uh who's the movies uh i'm a whore i'm a horrible name person my great. If I see a face, I remember it.

But I'm horrible at names. But who's the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola who's in all the bad movies? And it seems like he doesn't say no to any movie. Oh, is that Nicolas Cage? Nicolas Cage. You probably have a lot of fun watching his bad movies, some of his bad movies. Yeah, he's got some bad ones, but he's also got some bangers too oh yeah i mean leaving las vegas i mean uh yeah he's got a he's got a great thing of hits in fact i just saw the other day

yeah con air yeah what a great movie that was yeah i used to have that dvd um that's how old i am i had dvds i've got a wall of dvds on the other side of the camera jen's ears like right now going what the is he talking about dvd or something yeah but uh yeah i mean you can have a lot of fun so do you do you tear up the movies or do you just do do you do commentaries you watch the movies or no no i just watched the movie and then i uh i talked about it um yeah review yeah i i um i plan on getting more into the commentary stuff and streaming once i launch my patreon uh i just haven't uh i haven't got around to that yet been preparing for these festivals the festivals as it were it's been fun to have you on the show and bring some

comedy to us we really appreciate it clay oh thanks so much for having me i really appreciate the time and give us uh and see if you can uh do something about that uh their vegemite there in uh australia i mean we have like real food and jam and stuff you guys can use you don't you don't have to eat that anymore yeah i think i think they said something about rfk was saying that all your food over there is like 10 000 ingredients though so it is yeah it is my vegemite might be a little bit better for us than uh than your jams here's a joke for you i think that's how i think that's how i think vegemite being used as a lube is how all those koalas got chlamydia how's that for writing a joke right off the top uh i think that's i think that's how because i i love poking my australian friends about the uh chlamydia chlamydia koalas and

i mean they're just such cute little things and then you're like you find out they have chlamydia it's like it's like the last time i was in thailand or something yeah and you should hear the sounds they make too they look very cute but they um yeah they don't sound it now is that when they're sharing clemency with each other or is that just their normal sounds i think i mean i think it gets pretty aggressive when they're sharing it sounds are out there you're like walking around you're hearing some shit in the trees you're like what's is there a porn being filmed by me what's going on? It's a bunch of angry little elfish. What were those things in the Star Wars things?

The little... Oh, Wookiees. The little Wookiees. Yeah. So give us your dot coms as we go out so people have them. Okay. So claymcmathcomedy.com. You'll see my podcast up there and all my merch and tour dates on there.

Clay McMath Comedy on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and Welcome to the Potty on everything. Welcome to the Potty! That's it. Do you need me to do your intro for you? I think we've got a good one. Do you? I'll have to go listen to it. Welcome to the jungle!

So Clay, thank you very much for coming on the show and enlightening us and bringing us up with the comedy. Thanks for tuning in go to goodreads.com for chest christmas linkedin.com for chest christmas christmas one on the tick tockety that was a crazy place to be good to each other stay safe or else we'll see you next time