The Tim Ferriss Show - #602: Legendary Comedian Bill Burr — Fear{less} with Tim Ferriss

Episode Date: June 23, 2022

Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out the routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own life.You’ll get plenty of that in this special episode, which features my interview with Bill Burr from my 2017 TV Show Fear{less}. The “less” is in parentheses because the objective is to teach you to fear less, not to be fearless.Fear{less} features in-depth, long-form conversations with top performers, focusing on how they’ve overcome fears and made hard decisions, embracing discomfort and thinking big.It was produced by Wild West Productions, and I worked with them to make both the video and audio available to you for free, my dear listeners. You can find the video of this episode on YouTube.com/TimFerriss, and eventually you’ll be able to see all episodes for free at YouTube.com/TimFerriss.Spearheaded by actor/producer and past podcast guest Vince Vaughn, Wild West Productions has produced a string of hit movies including The Internship, Couples Retreat, Four Christmases, and The Break-Up.In 2020, Wild West produced the comedy The Opening Act, starring Jimmy O. Yang and Cedric The Entertainer. In addition to Fear{less}, their television credits include Undeniable with Joe Buck, ESPN’s 30 for 30 episode about the ’85 Bears, and the Netflix animated show F is for Family.Please enjoy!*This episode is brought to you by “5-Bullet Friday,” my very own email newsletter that every Friday features five bullet points highlighting cool things I’ve found that week, including apps, books, documentaries, gadgets, albums, articles, TV shows, new hacks or tricks, and—of course—all sorts of weird stuff I’ve dug up from around the world.It’s free, it’s always going to be free, and you can subscribe now at tim.blog/friday.*[05:39] 12 magic minutes in Philadelphia[11:39] Bill grew up in Massachusetts, but he lived a Wild West lifestyle.[13:04] How comedy entered the picture and who Bill admired most[15:24] As a kid, what did Bill think he’d be when he grew up?[21:43] Bill’s first time getting on stage[24:49] As a comedian, you never forget the first time you bomb[28:23] Clean Bill Burr vs. Post-Clean Bill Burr[33:39] The comedian’s comedian[35:44] Are Bill’s podcast ads reads — or roasts?[40:10] How Netflix’s F Is for Family came about[47:03] Bill’s idea generation process[50:14] Spotting when young comic talent has “it”[51:37] Dealing with the humorless or otherwise unbearable[54:14] Madison Square Garden[57:33] Bill’s board and parting thoughts*For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsors.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferrissPast guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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So easy peasy. Again, that's tim.blog forward slash Friday. And thanks for checking it out. If the spirit moves you. Optimal minimum. At this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking. Can I ask you a question? and thanks for checking it out. If the spirit moves you. Ferris Show. special episode, which features an interview from my 2017 TV show, Fearless. The less is in parentheses because the objective is to teach you to fear less, not to be fearless. Fearless features in-depth, long-form conversations with top performers focusing on how they've overcome

fears and made hard decisions, embracing discomfort and thinking big along the way. It was produced by Wild West Productions, and I worked with them to make both the video and audio available to you for free, my dear listeners. So thank you, Wild West. You can find the video of this episode, which is gorgeous. I think they did an incredible job on youtube.com slash Tim Ferriss. Remember, two R's, two S's, youtube.com slash Tim Ferriss. And eventually you'll be able to see all of the episodes for free at youtube.com slash Tim Ferriss. eventually you'll be able to see all of the episodes for free at youtube.com slash tim ferris so you can swing over there and see what is currently up before we get started just a little bit more on wild west spearheaded by actor producer and past podcast guest vince vaughn wild west has produced a string of hit movies including the internship

couples retreat for christmases and the breakup in 2020 wild west produced the comedy the opening act starring Jimmy O. Yang and Cedric the entertainer in addition to fearless their television credits include undeniable with Joe Buck ESPN's 30 for 30 episode about the 85 bears and the Netflix animated show F is for family wild west has also produced the documentaries Give Us This Day, Game Changers, subtitle Dreams of BlizzCon, and Wild West Comedy Show. And now, without further ado, please enjoy this wide-ranging conversation from Fearless. I'm Tim Ferriss, author, entrepreneur, angel investor, and now TV host. I've spent my entire adult life asking questions, then scouring the globe to find the answers.

On this show, I'll share the secrets of pioneers who have faced their own fears. We'll dig into the hard times, big mistakes, tough decisions, and how they got through it all. The goal isn't to be fearless. The goal is to learn to fear less. Welcome to Fearless. I'm your host, Tim Ferriss. And on this stage, we'll be deconstructing world-class performers

to uncover the specific tactics that they've used to overcome doubt, tackle hard decisions, and ultimately succeed. So imagine yourself all alone on stage in front of 14,000 people staring directly at you. For many of us, probably most of us, that'd be a complete nightmare. But for my guest tonight, it's just another day at the office. The man you're about to meet is one of the most prolific

and respected comedians in the world. He's done five hour long comedy specials, hosts one of the most popular podcasts of all time, and is the co-creator and star of the animated series F is for Family. Please welcome to the stage, Bill Burr. Hey, how are you? What's going on, Tim? How you doing, buddy?

Good, I'm good. This looks like a TED Talk. Like we're going to be out here talking about artificial intelligence or something. We might. This is really creeping me out. Oh, yeah. This is very sterile. All right. I've wanted to sit down and chat with you for so long.

Yeah, we've been texting trying to get it going. Well, here we go. And here we are. Welcome to my home. Yeah. And I thought a fun place to start might be with Philadelphia. So we have a video to show. And I thought a fun place to start might be with Philadelphia. So we have a video to show.

And as context, and feel free to correct me, and we can add more afterwards, but at least some or all of the comedians have been booed offstage up to that point? No, that's the urban myth. The first guy got booed. Okay. And the lineup was killer, and we were just playing these outdoor, like, amphitheaters.

So it was, like, you know, kind of made for music. And we got down to Philly. And I don't know. They were all wearing, like, eagle jerseys and tailgating and throwing the football. It just seemed like they were ready for a playoff game. And it was still light out. And there's something about jokes. They don't work when there's lights on.

Like, it has to be seedy and that. So not only was it was like daylight, it was sunlight. And half the people were still out in the parking lot. And it was just like maybe like 2,000 people just milling around, walking around. So he basically got thrown to the dogs. But what happened is they booed him offstage. And it kind of set the tone. But then, you know, everybody was kind of doing their thing.

I mean, it was crazy. It was like Patrice O'Neill Tracy Morgan Ralphie May Bob Saget I mean Bobby Kelly Jim Norton Dom Irera I mean it was just murderer's row so but you could just feel like there was something people were surviving and I saw a few people who always went long went short that night I'm not gonna say who but one who always burned the light. And it wasn't Patrice. It was somebody else. I remember he was literally mid-joke and just stopped and said,

it was you guys were great. Good night. God bless. And walked up. And that's when I started thinking like, uh-oh. I was like, if that dude who always goes long just pulled up. He was supposed to do 20 minutes. I don't think he did 14.

And at that point, I didn't want to do the show. And I wasn't nervous at all. I just kept thinking, like, I could have just been in a funny bone in front of 40 people who gave a shit and wanted to come to the show. And so then I wasn't nervous at all. And then I knew I was probably looking back. I probably knew I was in trouble because I wasn't nervous. And I went out there and I was like, oh, shit. And I did my first joke, which I didn't realize they were playing

in the advertising on the radio. So everyone already heard it and nobody, nobody laughed. And I was like, literally, I was like already neck deep. And it was so long ago. And then I just remember I went to another joke and I just bailed halfway through.

I was like, you guys aren't going to laugh at that. And then they booed and let's, maybe we should roll the tape. I don't want to see this. i think you guys want to see it fucking rocky is your hero home pride of your city's built around a fucking guy who doesn't even exist the fucking joe frazier is from there but he's black so you can't fucking deal with him 11 minutes left. 11 minutes. I hope somebody takes a fucking beer stein

and just slaps you on the back of your zit-infested fucking shoulder and your awful man-tint tank top. 7 minutes left. 7 motherfucking minutes left. And I'll do it all fucking 7. I'll be fucking standing backstage for three hours to get booed by this GD fucking stupid ass piece of shit. Six minutes left and I will be selling my CD after this shit, you motherfuckers.

One minute left in the period. Yeah. One minute left in the period. Alright, listen. This doesn't change anything, this set. I still fucking hate you people. You guys all gonna go see Rocky 19? Oh, good! I think it can win! Alright, listen. I'm out of time. You guys... You guys were here, man. Thank you very much.

I love you both. I love you all so much. And I love Aspen. Thank you guys for being here, man. Thank you very much. Thank you for coming on the show. Thank you for coming on the show. Thank you for coming on the show. Wow. I've never seen that. Are you serious? I've never seen that, no. Really?

No. So, did you decide to do the countdown before you went out? I mean, is that something you didn't know? No, no, no. What happened was, luckily, I had been booed before, so it wasn't a new thing. So the first time you get booed is a, you know, it's a hell of an experience, because you have what you want, but it's the exact opposite emotion. You have the entire crowd's focus, except there's no love.

It's just hate. So the first time that happens, it's really, I didn't know what to do. But I also, I remember just afterwards thinking about it, going like, why didn't I let that fat guy boo me? I let that chick with the weird glasses, like, why didn't I say something? I just remember thinking I was just mad at myself. Going like, all right, you got booed, you know, they didn't think you were funny. But you sat there, you know, it was a variety show. They had like a contortionist and somebody with a snake and And there's somebody saying, like, pour some sugar on me. And these leather pants.

And then they'd bring a comedian out. It was just, it was a complete shit show. So I just remember afterwards, I just remember being like upset at myself that I, I was like, dude, you could at least throw one punch. You should have done that. But then I didn't think of it again. I didn't think of it again because, you know, you don't plan on something like that happening. So I don't know why I did that. I just started doing it, and they had the clock was there,

and I was just looking at it, and I just, I don't know. I think in that moment I decided I wasn't gonna leave. So I think the countdown was kind of for me like you're doing cardio, you know that? And you're like, I'm not gonna look for one song, you know, and then look, all right, another three minutes went off. So here's the funny thing. So we still had one more date on that tour something

was telling me don't do the last one and then i went to cleveland and it was like as i walked out on stage everybody booed because they wanted me to trash their city so then it became this thing was like i can't do this again or then this is my act this is like gallagher smashing the watermelons i got to come out and read about all your sports teams and shit. So that was the one I freaked out about because I thought it was like, I thought my career was over. I was like, everywhere I go, I'm going to get booed and blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm glad that people enjoyed it because I was definitely, I was embarrassed that the whole thing happened. You grew up in Mass, right?

What was your childhood like growing up in Massachusetts? I was sort of like, you know, this shy kid. I had like orange hair. I mean, I was just like, I was a mark. The second I walked in the room, everyone was on me. Like every one time, I think it was my birthday. My mother got me this, my parents got me like this little cowboy outfit. I was like four years old.

You had like the hat. It was a little vest. And then I had like the belt with the guns. And it's supposed to be like the mother of pearl handles, but it was like plastic. So she sends me all. I even had like the little bandana. She tied it around and she just sent me outside. And I don't even think I made it to the end of my driveway.

And like these big kids came by and they just took the guns out of my holster and just smashed them on the ground. And I sat there looking. I just was like crying. They left and just walked away. And then i picked them up and i walked home i walked back into the house my mother's like who did that who did that i was like big kids and she's like i can't remember she just like made me a sandwich and that was kind of it but it wasn't like a big deal back then i remember you would just do in the neighborhoods and parents just watched. They just figured out what you did.

I remember we threw rocks in this kid's pool. And before I even got home, my mother already knew what happened. And there was a lot of that stuff. They were building new homes and you'd go down there and you would steal shit to make a tree for it or you'd just vandalize them for no reason.

When did comedy enter the picture for you? I always made, I always got kids to laugh, and I moved around a little bit when I was a kid, and just making kids laugh was a way to get people to stop beating the shit out of me. Or bigger kids, you know, wailing on you or whatever, so that's how I would make friends. I would just make people laugh, and I remember making people laugh in the classroom. That made you feel good. Made the pretty girls care about who you were, hopefully.

It was just an attention thing, I guess. Which people influenced you when you were a kid? Were there particular comedians that you gravitated towards or memorized or anything like that? I watched all the stuff my dad used to watch. All the things that they now sell on TV, all the, uh...all those Dean Martin roasts, Foster Brooks I loved. Uh...I remember Bob Hope.

My dad would always laugh, and I never got the jokes. There was always some obscure references. And then, as I started to get older, uh, Cheech and Chong, and I remember, um, buying Richard Pryor's album album not even know who he was i just knew he looked funny i'm not gonna say the name of the album but it's the one when he's like that it's got the n-word in it um george carlin yeah i just started buying him i remember buying the eddie murphy record when he had the rose in his ear i bought that just because he was a black

guy and i knew that richard pryor was funny and i was just a little white kid going like well this black guy was black guys are funny and i just like white kid going, like, well, this black guy was... Black guys are funny. And I just, like, I just bought it, and I had no idea who he was. Did you memorize any of their bits, or how did you... Yeah, this is how out of touch I was with what I wanted to do. I used to do my paper route,

and I would be doing the bits. I remember doing Eddie Murphy's got hit by a car bit. I would be doing that out loud to myself as I was riding through the snow, pretending I was in front of the school doing it. And everyone was laughing, thinking I was great. But it still didn't dawn on me at that moment that maybe I wanted to be a comedian. I don't know why.

It just seems, I think for kids today, that's hard to understand because they can just shoot something, Instagram it or whatever the hell they do. YouTube it on the internet, whatever the hell it is. But back then, it was a zillion miles away. It was a zillion miles away. Even thinking about becoming a comedian, I thought you had to move to Hollywood to do it. I had no idea.

Man, it was like three channels. You had no idea. In high school, what did you think you were going to be when you grew up? Do you have any idea? No. I was failing miserably. But like, I did great in school. I did great in school right until it counted.

I did great right up to eighth grade. And when I, in my freshman year, I was going in, I was like, I'm going to go to Notre Dame and I'm going to become a lawyer. And by like sophomore year, it was like, I'm going to be to Notre Dame, and I'm going to become a lawyer. And by, like, sophomore years, it's like, I'm going to be a construction worker and go to Wentworth. I'll drive a truck. Um...

Yeah, I just... I don't know. I think somewhere along the line, I just wanted to have a fun job. I wanted to have a fun job. I-I did know that because, uh, you know, I-I hated everything else. I didn't like carpeted areas. I didn't like wearing suits.

Like, I liked working in warehousing. I liked... I job where I could walk away from an area. I always just remember seeing people who had to sit in cubicles. They just had to be there. And if you're not there, immediately they know that you're screwing around. Where is he? He's supposed to be right here. He's not getting what he's supposed to be done. So if you work in warehousing, you could be on a forklift or unloading a truck or cutting up boxes or just doing something. As long as you were in this giant area, they were all right with it. And like warehousing is great. It's all class clowns, musicians, like addicts, alcoholics and shit.

I remember this dude. Yeah, I remember this dude coming into work. He came in like three hours late It was like 90 degrees out and his hair was soaking wet from a shower like dripping down He's like, oh yeah, the traffic the traffic was brutal. It's just like dude. Yeah, it's still wet from the shower and I remember yeah, he had a major coke problem and Yeah, he'd be why I remember my boss had a coke problem

I remember getting that job and the first day I saw him, he was... This guy was, like, probably 6'4 and couldn't have weighed more than a buck 60. He was just... just wired. And they had this pallet jack that was, like, electronic. And they were like, yeah, let me take you over to meet the boss. And he saw me, and he was just so, like, just geeked out.

He was just, like, driving it towards the dock, back and forth, going, I'm gonna drive it off the dock! And just coming back, like, lippingipping his licking his lips and shit and i was just like all right this is gonna be my boss and i and i i worked the third shift and it was all people like me working our way through college like if you know if you didn't get student loans or whatever i got laid off from that shit because there was this fat fuck used to come out from the, he was fat and he was a fuck.

So, he would come walking out, he'd come walking, I remember he used to wear short-sleeved dress shirts, and he was one of those guys so fat he had to really swing the arms to get out. He'd just come walking out, and he'd look around, and all these badass dudes all of a sudden would be grabbing boxes and pretending to work. And I just had that thing. Maybe it's a stand-up comic thing where that thing, you just like,

I was like, you know what, fuck this guy. Fuck this guy. And I just look at him like, hey, what's going on? Like, I'm not doing this little fuck. I'm working out here. I don't want to fucking extra work when you come out here. Fuck you. Why don't you pick this up, you tub of shit? little fuck. I'm working out here. I don't want to fucking extra work when you come out here. Fuck you. Why don't you pick this up, you tub of shit?

That's what I was thinking. So then I ended up right after that moment like an idiot. I then asked the coked up guy for a raise. And then I think the fatty was just like, to hell with this guy. So then I got laid off from that and um then i was collecting unemployment which i had never done and i felt i felt like a piece of shit doing it because my parents worked so hard and it was a bad economic time and i couldn't get a job and i just decided that i wanted to be a comedian because working in the warehouse i was

working with this guy who was hilarious and he wanted to be a comedian because working in the warehouse, I was working with this guy who was hilarious, and he wanted to be a comedian. And he was the first guy that said it. He said, you know, one of these nights I'm going to take a shot of Jack Daniels and just go on stage. And all of a sudden it wasn't on TV. Once again, you know, we didn't have YouTube, so it was sitting next to me.

I was thinking, well, if he can do it, I can do it. So I knew that I was a baby step kind of guy. So I had to, rather than just doing it, I transferred to Emerson, which was more of a performance school, so... And then I just went there, and I just, every class I could get up in front of the class, I would do it, no matter how nervous I was.

And I was a really shy, withdrawn, really withdrawn kid. And, um, I just forced myself to do that. And every time I did it, even if it didn't go well, I felt good that I did it. And then I started to like it. And I started doing radio because radio was a good baby step

between performing and being funny to like a live crowd because it was like I was on a microphone. There was an audience, but I couldn't see them. I couldn't hear them. And I remember I did this shift 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. on 640 a.m. WECB. And all it did was broadcast to the dorms. Nobody was out. Nobody was listening. If they were, they were listening to a better radio station. And I just remember and I'd always be I'd always be on like the thing going like, you know, whatever the some that was Dinosaur Junior.

If you have any requests, give me a call. No one would ever call. And finally I just said, Jesus. I go, somebody just call in. Tell me you hate me. I don't care. And then the phone lit up. And I picked it up. And this guy goes, I hate you.

And then hung up. And I just remember just being like in a total panic. I was mortified. And then he called back and he apologized. Said, hey, he goes, my girlfriend's working the next shift. I just happened to be listening. She told me to call back and apologize. But like, I felt like such a nerd and which I was, I was a nerd. I commuted to school. I didn't know anybody. I just walked in with my stupid book bag and I would do the things, whatever. And then I would just go home and I would go to work like I kind of had a job.

Once I had my paper in third grade, I had a job ever since I've been working so did you have any particular at that time I don't have to remember but when you were shy how did you was there any particular milestone point that you remember when that changed when you became more comfortable um no it just slowly got better but I don't, in certain situations, I am sort of, it's weird because of what I do, but I am also a very, like, I'm one of those guys, like, the second the show is over, if nobody knew who I was, that would be, that is the ultimate. That would be perfect. Like, before the show, I need you to know who I am so you buy tickets, you know,

or else I would be screwed. But the second it's over, like, I don't need it to keep going. Do you remember your first open mic gig getting on stage? Yeah. What was it? Can you walk us through that? I signed up for a talent contest at Emerson because I had made a New Year's resolution in 1992. This is how scared and shy I was about doing this.

I was like, I made a New Year's resolution that at some point in the calendar year of 1992 i was going to go on stage i gave myself a year to do it and i was going to do it and and then that was it my baby stepped way into it because i knew if i said i'm doing it next week i'd go into a panic and i might not ever do it so i said that january 1st and literally three weeks later the emersonian newspaper they said uh nick's comedy stop was having a talent contest, Find Boston's Funniest College Student, which was just this total scam to pack it with college kids watching their drunk friend go up there and bomb. And then they make all this money. I remember it was a contest and I didn't on any level try to win it.

My whole goal was just having the balls of when they called my name to walk up there and start talking that's all it was i remember sitting down trying to write material and it's just like and i'd been funny my whole life but then all of a sudden to sit down and like sort of artificially create the moment where it's like if you and i are hanging out socially and you say something it's like you don't even think and then you just sort of and then i say that and blah blah blah but now it's like with the stand-up i have to create that moment bring the crowd in to the world create that moment and then say it and i had no idea how to do it so i remember i can't even what i wrote i basically i had some sort of ideas and i went up there and i remember taking the mic and it was

the only time i've ever felt having an out-of-body experience where i thought i was watching myself it was probably this panic thing where you know the, the emotional me just left me. Like, we don't want to be, I don't want to go on this ride. Let's see what happens. So I remember taking the mic out of the, I still remember what the mic looked like. And this guy, Billy Martin was hosting. It was now like this big shot on a Bill Maher show. I just went, I completely forgot what I was going to do. And I just started talking and I went into the middle of what I was going to do. Then I went to the beginning and then to the end. It was like a Tarantino movie, you know, like with Travolta walking by in the background

in the diner scene. It was kind of like that, but I sort of was able to do all right. And I think I only did like three minutes. I was supposed to do five and I got off stage and I didn't, I didn't care about anything. And I remember that was it. I was like, this five and I got off stage and I didn't I didn't care about anything and I remember That was it. I was like, this is what I'm doing and I tried construction. I was in warehousing. I tried sales. I Remember I got a health insurance license. I even passed the test. I get certified to take x-rays I was working in a dental office

I did all of this shit and none of it like none of it like I Didn't care about any of it and this is the thing. I just did it. I it, like none of it, like I didn't care about any of it. And this was the thing. I just did it. I was just like, that's it. This is what I'm doing the rest of my life. But that night after I did it, even though somebody else won, I didn't care. I just remember driving home in my truck, listening to Motley Crue kickstart my heart. Oh, great song. Yep. And just literally screaming. I was so psyched that I did it. And I was only like, I was middle of the pack. I was nowhere near even remotely the funniest person. What was it about that experience that made it click for you?

One of those things in life that you don't have to think about. It just, it was what it was. It was awesome. And I was just like, why wouldn't I want to do this? Like, my first thought was like, I'm doing that for the rest of my life. Then I did, my next show was at this comedy club, Stitches. And that one went okay. And then my third show, that was my first what's called a hell room.

Hell room? Yeah. It's not a. It doesn't sound good. Yeah, it's not a comedy club. It was a bar. The people there were eating. They had no idea there was going to be a show.

They turned off the Bruins game, and then they bring you up. And that was my first time experiencing a crowd watching a show that didn't want to see a show. And I just remember I did. I remember doing my first joke, my first joke that really just got nothing, and feeling that punch in the chest of something bombing, and then having to regroup. And I had nothing to regroup with. And I remember I bombed so bad I got halfway through my

time. And this guy, Jack Lynch, was the host. And I said on the microphone, I said, Jack, I'm bailing. I'm bailing. And I got off and I was so embarrassed embarrassed I didn't want to walk past the crowd or the comedians and I sat down in the first empty chair and I just sat there like this scolded child for like two hours waiting for the show to go and and I wanted to leave but I was so embarrassed I just sat there it was horrible and I just remember and then what sucked back then was there was so much time between your shows oh yeah you know there was like weeks between shows so if you had a good show you could ride the high of that but if you bombed that was one of those things like i got this thing like when i when i embarrass myself for some reason it comes out to me like when i'm in the shower and i have to like shout the memory

out you know like i'll be in the shower and i just think about it i just be like ah i'll just like make these noises just these noises of, like, humiliation, like, ah, God, I did that, or I said that. I still do that in my car. Like, I'll think of shit that I just did or something I did 10 years ago, and it's this thing that's just, like, because I don't want to think it.

And, you know, there's this self-loathing about it that, you know, that I never, I kind of never got past those teenage years of, like, oh, God, I'm such an idiot. Like, I never, I kind of never got past those teenage years that oh god I'm such an idiot like I never I kind of never got past that I mean I knew I was gonna bomb it's inevitable it's like if you fight if you fight long enough somebody's gonna come along a little faster than you're gonna get caught and it's like it's talent telling jokes it's it's it's inevitable it's gonna happen and then it's just something you have to get good at.

You have to get good at bombing. Yeah. And I had enough experience of doing it, you know, that eventually you get good at it. And then it doesn't hurt you anymore. And is it just exposure? Is it like getting a flu shot every season? It's just about the number of repetitions. You kind of just sensitize yourself to it?

Yeah, you just keep doing it. And, you know, bombing, there's something hilarious about it. petitions you kind of just sensitize yourself to it yeah you just keep doing it and and um you know bombing is there's something hilarious about it there's something like if you but what the turning point for me with bombing was was seeing how funny it was being able i remember one time just being on stage and i was bombing and i just pictured all my friends watching me laughing at me in in the in the back and then that got me to laugh at myself. And then I just started thinking, how much can I get these people to hate me? And I just left my act, and I just started trying to annoy them.

And I didn't get them back. They still hated me, but I had such a good time. I was like, wow, what was that? That was this new area of stand-up that I didn't know existed. The clean and not so clean kind of before and after bill burr i find really fascinating so we actually have a video that this shows the contrast a little bit i love my dad man he's hilarious he's such an emotional guy you know

i know my dad was his funniest song was whenever you like broke something because my dad my dad would totally flip out right but the words he you would have actually thought it was a good thing. You know what I mean? Like, you'd break a window, he'd be like, nice! Real nice! Oh, that's beautiful!

That is just beautiful! Hey, why don't you break them all? Dude, there is an epidemic of gold-digging whores in this country. And every night I put on the news and i'm waiting for someone to address it every night never see it you know and every night i bring up gold digging and the whole crowd pulls back like i'm up here talking about bigfoot right like i'm saying the moon's made out of cheese or something. Talking about whores, people. They're everywhere. How many?

How many more great men are going to get chopped in half before we do something? Why is it so quiet in here? God damn, I don't get it. Thank you. God damn, I don't get it. So when did you go to opening up to more of, I'm not going to say profanity, just being yourself maybe? Failing by, yeah, just failing.

Just trying to do what I thought they wanted, whatever they were responding to. And then that just morphed into, well, if I'm going to fail, I'll fail doing what I want to do in this business. And then that led to me starting to succeed. And once I started to succeed doing what I wanted to do, my view of the business changed. Where I then looked at it, rather than like it's this thing I'm running towards, it was like, no, I'm in it. So I just look at the business like it's a giant mall,

and I have a little store, right? Probably like those ones that are in the middle that you walk by. Kiosk. Yeah, a little kiosk. And I just, I have what I do. This is what I do. You come in, right? This is what I do. Okay?

If you want to buy something, great. If you don't, you know, you keep going. But this is what I do. And rather than I used to view it like, oh, they're selling shirts. I should sell shirts. And I got to sell candles. And I got to, you know, do nails and have like this one-stop Walmart thing. And it's just like that just didn't work for me.

I just, I do a podcast. I tell jokes. I act when they let me, you know, because I have to audition to base, you know. But then I also just found with, you know, the people I grew up didn't talk like that. The stories I had to tell, people weren't like that. Very volatile.

And they use colorful language, as they say. And there is this thing with comedy purists where they're act like okay if you work clean You know then that's pure comedy that's that's real comedy because you didn't say any bad words But you know which I do understand because you can definitely use curse words to You know sort of steroid up your stuff, but I've also found, you know, when people say they want somebody to work clean, it doesn't just mean don't say any bad words. It also means don't have any opinions that will make people uncomfortable

because I could easily work totally clean, and there's groups of people that you could completely piss off and wouldn't want to pay you just by your opinions on things. So I just felt like it was a limited thing. And I've always liked the rawness of with everything, with music, with film, with comedy of just going off more the realness of that rather than this totally polished thing, which I completely have an appreciation for but the amount of times i've heard comedians go like say something so funny in

the green room and be like yeah but that's i'll be like dude you gotta do it on stage you gotta do it on stage like no man that's not me that's not me it's like it is you you just fucking said it whatever you're doing up there that's not you that's you on stage and that's what happens with comedy is like there's this big like mystery thing about you got to find your voice. And, ooh, is this who I am? Is that who I am? And I have this theory that you walk in with it as an open mic-er. And then you go on stage.

And the weirdness of looking at people and talking, you become, this is me on stage. Oh, I'm holding a microphone. It just becomes weird. It becomes weird. And then you spend, I don't know, eight, 10, 12, 15 years trying to get back to who you were when you walked in, who was this guy who was making people laugh in the bars. Cause like you just walked into a bar and something happened and then you just riffing on it, but you were, you were comfortable. then you go on stage and it's just like oh shit everybody's looking at me and i have to handle all of this uh what am i doing with my hand how do i get this out of the stand and it just becomes this whole you know just looking at yourself and

then then that who you are goes right out the fucking window a lot of folks consider you the comedian's comedian right i mean a lot of comedians look up to you and they're like oh bill burke can not not only talk about anything he's willing to talk about anything but he'll this is self-employed you can't get you can't get too into this business yeah if you get too into this business then you're fucked and then you become that guy you mean just having contracts and relationships with people no you get in business with people but that's not your only thing like i'll never stop doing stand-up and i have my podcast so i can and i don't live a lifestyle beyond those i live way behind those so no matter whatever happens whatever fucking slap on the wrist i'm ever going to get from the the social media i'm still going

to be fine it's when you um you know it's when you just go into this business. If you're just an actor on a show or you just host something or whatever it is that like all of a sudden, like if you just did this, you didn't have your podcast or any other way to make money. If all of a sudden, you know, there's some bullshit rumblings. If the people above you go, you have to go out there and apologize. You're in a situation of like, or else I can become homeless. So then you have to go out there and even if you're not sorry, you have to say you're sorry. And I think that that's, that doesn't look like a fun thing. Cause I've seen people going out there squirming, trying to like, how do I apologize without apologizing to the 40 drunk soccer moms who all tweeted at the exact same moment. So this became

a thing for eight seconds yesterday that I now have to address. So I haven't said that. If I'm an asshole, I will say sorry. But I'll say it to the person. You know? Like, I don't get this whole thing where somebody secretly videotapes you at a comedy club. And then they upload it on the internet. And then you have to now apologize to people who weren't at the show yeah it's like you weren't at the show and you

decided to what so why don't you get mad at the kid who fucking filmed it like that's it i am guilty of being a comedian in a comedy club that tried out a joke that didn't work right yeah i don't know it makes sense to me in my head head, everything makes sense. So the podcast, so your podcast was a very early influence for me. I love your podcast. I see you've gone past me. That's a cute little idea you got there, Freckles. Now look at you. Well, I think there's one thing that arguably you do better than anybody else, and I'm sure it's one of many, but i want to listen to some of your ad spots so we're going to pull up some audio

of a couple of your sponsor reads and i think uh i think we'll pull up sherry's berries first this might be my favorite name of anything i've ever advertised here uh other than one white charlie's uh sherry's berries for my listeners double the berries for just ten dollars more here's the only way to get this special 1999 sherry's berries offer call 866 fruit i'm sorry. What the fuck am I selling? Did I approve this? This is fucking ridiculous.

Who the fuck is going to buy this shit? This is the funniest shit I've ever seen in my fucking life. Call 866-FRUIT, everybody. Oh, punch truck. Oh, please spell out the words. Oh, by all means. Berries. B-E-R-R-I-E-S.

Berries. Click on the microphone in the top right corner and type in Ber. Hey, you cunts better buy some Sherry's Berries because I'm going to get in trouble with that fucking read. And I'm not changing it because that was hilarious. When did you do that from the very beginning with the host reads? Did you start kind of taking the piss out of sponsors from the very get-go with the podcast? Because you were really, I mean, early, early pioneer. This is 2007 or so?

Right. I mean, it was early. This is way back in the day. So you were one of the first kind of long-form guys. Did you have standard sponsored reads for a while and then? Well, I did it for years without doing sponsorship. So when I started doing reads, it felt weird to be this guy, just saying whatever I was thinking and being funny and all that to all of a sudden be like, you know, the Chrysler

Cordova, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It just felt weird. And I was just like, and people are going to have the ability to just fast forward through this and skip it. So I didn't feel like the comedy should stop. And so I always, you know, I'll just throw in a Boston accent. I'll just do something to get them to listen. And with the Sherry's Berries thing that I did, I hadn't read the copy. And it was so, like, homophobic yet homoerotic, the whole thing. It just was so ridiculous to me.

Like, I couldn't believe it was true. So I legitimately started laughing. And I remember they were calling us saying, take it down, take it down. And I was just like, yeah, tell him he didn't get to me. Like I'm, I'm not taking it down. That's hilarious. And I don't give a shit because I got all this other stuff. You know, then once again, one of those moments I'm self-employed. So, you know, I don't need some chocolate covered strawberry people to pay my rent. I didn't put myself chocolate-covered strawberry people to pay my rent. I didn't put myself in that position, which I very easily could have. I didn't.

So I said, I'm not taking it down. But what they learned, because they're a cool company, what ended up happening was people ordered this stuff because I said I was going to get in trouble. And then it turned out evidently they were delicious, and they sold a bunch more. So what ended up happening was companies that were younger and kind of understood, it's like, oh, this guy, he's making fun of us and he's singing songs and he's cursing and all this type of stuff, but people are listening and they're buying this stuff. So it kind of became one of those.

But there's been others that haven't had this sense of humor. Like I remember Nature Box came out and I, for some reason, was reading it as Nature's Box. And I was, you know, and I was like joking around I'm like hey you're gonna go down on mother nature right just just fucking around but I also think it was just there's this weird sort of stupid thing where they were gonna like bring you a banana at like three in the afternoon it's like like I can't fucking do this by myself like I need you to like if they are really stupid, I will say it. And, um, cause I just look at the pockets, whatever money I make off it is just gravy.

Anyways, like I can live off my standup money. You know what I mean? Like I said, I lived well within my means because I I've been in debt and I didn't like the way it felt. I just would be waking up at night going, I owe these people this fucking money. How am I going to get out of this? My car's breaking down. That's going to be more.

And so I've avoided that stuff. I know a lot of comedians have trouble going to TV, developing TV shows. How did you find your way to efforts for family? I don't know. All my live action stuff that I wanted to do, and all live action means is just this, regular people.

Everything that I wanted to do, that I really means is just this regular people everything that I wanted to do that I really wanted to do they would just be like oh that's like you know that's sexist that's homophobic this is what's this gonna say to kids this is mean to dogs and they just would de-ball the whole thing and then it would suck oh yeah I did I did a pilot they shot it down and then like two weeks later, they're like, hey, you want to do another show with us? And I said yes, and it was with another comedian, and then we did it,

and we all got together, and we were just like, hey, let's just give them exactly what they want. Let's just do exactly what they want, and we did that, and they still shot it down, and then that was it. That was it.

I just went off the reservation. I was just like, fuck trying to develop a TV show. I'm not doing it, all right? I'm just going to be a comedian that sells tickets, hopefully. And if that's all I am, who gives a shit? I'm telling jokes for a living. I'm killing it. That was it.

I didn't have any ideas. And then one day, I opened for this comic, Steve Byrne. And he knew Vince Vaughn and the guys at Wild West. And Vince was in the crowd. He liked what I did. So I took a general meeting with them. And they were like, so you got any ideas for TV shows? I was like, no. He liked what I did. So I took a general meeting with them, and they were like, so, you got any ideas for TV shows? I was like, no.

No, I got none. I'm all out of them. They never fucking work. Nobody ever picks them up. I'm just sick of it. There's always, like, I'm always pitching to a woman. They always say women don't run the business.

I haven't got to that fucking level. And I'm always going in, just pitching. And there's always some woman there going like, I don't think that that's going to fucking bother us follow us hey what if the guy's a complete fucking moron and doesn't know how to dress himself but his wife does oh that i like that's a good one yeah so just because you have a vagina doesn't mean you can't be you know in the wrong sometimes so anyway so then i just i was on my way out of the meeting they were just like you know what else what are you can't be, you know, in the wrong sometimes. So anyway, so then I just, I was on my way out of the meeting. They were just like, you know, what else? What are you don't have any ideas? I was like, look, I know you guys are doing movies with Vince. I'll play some, a waiter in the background. I'd love to do something with you, but no, I got nothing.

So, and as I was walking out, I remember Peter Billings, who was sort of walking me out. I was like, well, you know, I do kind of have this idea, this cartoon idea or whatever. And he's like, oh, we want to do an animated show. Let's sit down. And it basically stemmed from my childhood stories that I told on stage as a young comic. And everybody got it. But as I became the older comic and this new generation came up that had play dates and helicopter parents and they wore helmets when they rode bicycles like they were in a fucking race or something. They didn't laugh at the jokes.

It started because everything was labeled like, oh, that's bullying. bicycles like they were in a fucking race or something. They didn't laugh at the jokes. It started because everything was labeled like, oh, that's bullying. That's, you know, that's mental abuse, physical abuse. And I would literally be standing on stage going, guys, this is funny. This happened to me. My mother was right. I was telling these stories. So anyways, I just stopped telling the stories on stage. And then one day I was walking my dog. I thought, what if I just made animated shorts on my website? I could do that. That would be cool. And I could ramp it up and it'd be animated kids and no one would give a shit. And, uh, but of course I never did it. But then when I ran into them and they're just this force of nature, then they ended up hooking me up with, uh, the great Mike Price from the Simpsons who's done like 300 plus episodes over there. So, and, um, we came up,

we've just fleshed out those little i was just going to do little stories like you know we go to get a christmas tree or somebody buys a new bike they they turned it into this whole world we helped develop this whole thing and then we pitched the cartoon and i think they were just like this is a weird choice for a comic in 2010 but they just saw that's vince vaughn all right we'll give you six bill's a little pussy christ he falls apart if you just look at him, all right? He's got no spine. You gotta rub his back during war movies.

He's scared of everything. Gee, I wonder where he got that from, Susan. What do you mean? He gets it from me? Ah, you coddle him too much and you know it. You know it! I work hard to keep this family happy! I keep everyone, everyone from killing each other! Well, today, I would actually welcome it!

Oh. Do that again. I hate you. Oh. Oh, baby. Oh, Susan. Yeah? Yeah, let's do this.

Here, come on, get that off. You gonna take my socks off? I'll leave you one on. I think we need one on. Yeah? Yeah, I like that. Oh, Frank. Oh, yeah, touch it. You like that?

Yeah. You like that? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, here we go, baby. Frank! Yeah? Frank!

Yeah! Oh, Frank! Oh, man! Oh! Oh! Oh, Sue! Oh! Oh, Sue! Oh, Sue! Yeah! Oh!

Oh! Oh! That was some family, ladies and gentlemen. Very family-oriented show. And I got a feeling you're gonna ask me what everybody asks me, which is, did that ever happen? You know, I was just gonna leave it open and just say any comments.

No, no, that's like... That show is, like, loosely based on all of our childhoods, so it's an amalgam. It's an amalgam. Hey, he showed it. I didn't make it. It's an amalgam of, like, all our dads. Like, I wanted, like, my family to be able to watch this and not be, like, mortified.

Like, I have a big respect for the fact that I decided to put myself out there. And especially it gets weirder every year with technology and everything. So, like, I didn't want them to watch it like this Elements of the show right that my dad would be like alright I'd like I'll put you through that fucking wall he used that was his catchphrase Would you do that fucking wall he used to say that right he never did it He just you know it's just an empty threat. You know but But they don't know this stuff is like writer room stuff like that was just like okay

What if what if you know they start to having sex and writer room stuff. Like, that was just like, okay, what if, you know, they start having sex? It just seemed like they had this big, huge fight, and he says this mean stuff about his son, and he doesn't know he's there. And it's just like, well, how do we get out of this comedically? How do we diffuse this? What if they have sex? So that aspect of it was like a writer's room thing. Who drew the balls?

They're very photorealistic. I actually met the woman who drew it. I was doing a gig in Ottawa, Canada. Big Jump is the animator up there. And it just happened when I had the gig to come over and meet them. I just happened to be in town, and they were animating that scene. And she literally had, like, sketched three different ball bags. They looked like little speed bags that she was going to make.

And just so you guys know, you know, you were mentioning bombing and then just turning it into an opportunity to vent, being like, well, I'm not sure what that was, but that was fun. I enjoyed that. So I was talking to the team about whether to use this video or not, and I was like, at least I can say I had a pair of animated balls that I forced an audience to watch.

There you go. Swingin' around. So, you're welcome. There you go. So I thought we could, we have a lot of questions from the audience. Okay, cool. So I thought we would, we would throw it over the audience. Let's get to watch. Swinging around. So you're welcome. There you go. So I thought we could, we have a lot of questions from the audience. So I thought we would throw it over to the audience. Let's get to those.

And we have some in studio. We also have some from the internet who have been kind enough to chime in as well. So the first one's from Facebook. This is Joseph Swam. So effectively, how do you generate ideas? And what is your process? Do you still write stuff down? What are the sort of key components of where you start

when you're developing? Well, I used to write it all out and then I don't write it now. I just treat it like how I used to treat, like if something funny had happened at work, if I was gonna go tell my friends, I wouldn't write it all out, memorize it, rehearse it in front of a mirror.

I would just go up and I would just tell them the story and I would act out all the characters and all that the way i did but what happens is when you go on stage is like you know you know it just is you know you can bomb you can have a bad show there's all that self-conscious stuff so um i guess the process was trying to become as comfortable as i was in a bar shooting the shit shit with my friends, being that comfortable on stage. And that took a while, a long time. What are the sort of key components of where you start when you're developing?

When you're starting? Meaning where you start with, say, if you were starting right now to do a special. Well, usually it's just I'm walking around and I see something or I hear something. That'll get me going. But if I'm in a writer's block, which is a big thing for a comic, how to get out of it, I find is I try something

new or I'll just, I'll be at an airport and I'll just, I'll grab a magazine that I would never read. I'll grab like Cosmo. I'm just going to get a different point of view because your brain can get bored. And when it gets bored, it goes into autopilot and then you just stop seeing shit and um yeah i'll just do stuff like that and i also when i'm building a new hour i take all rules of hack like this is hacky material i'll do an oj joke i don't give a shit i just going on stage just anything just to be saying something new something different and that'll eventually lead into something um that's worthy of of of keeping but i i definitely write on stage but if something happens like i'll just usually just make a mental note but sometimes i'll just write down like a word i'll just write down like ipad you know or

or you know whatever boots or something i just but i know what that means like if something i know that means something like you know somebody stepped on my foot that day and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's the cue. Yeah. And so, and then I just sort of write on stage. Writing on stage, meaning you are taking notes as you go through your performance. Yeah, people say write on stage. What it really means is you just go up and just wing it.

You just, the same way you would, like I said earlier, you'd come home. If something funny, if you saw a car accident, you'd come home and just tell the person you're with. You wouldn't have to write it all down. So I've done standup long enough where I'm comfortable enough to do it. And all the great people that I see, all the great men and women that I see doing standup today, most of them do it that way.

But some people wanna do a little bit of that, a little bit of writing. But I would say for that person, you gotta find what works for you. Just kind of be open to all of it. And then as you, through trial and error, just sort of streamline it into your so-called process. So if you met, let's say, a 25-year-old, 20-year-old, you can pick the age, who you seem to think had some promise as a comic, and they wanted to be a stand-up comic, and they had the same commitment that you did at one point which was at some point in the next year

i'm going to get up there on stage and do a set i guess there are two two questions how would you assess if someone could stand a chance and then how would you train that person i mean or or have them practice um i don't know. You know what's weird? I can watch somebody young, and every once, like, you'll just see somebody be like, that person, if they do everything they need to do, could be great at this. And it's like a, it's a uniqueness. It's just something they'll say or something they do or something, the way they handle

a situation. You just see, it's like being, you know, like an NFL scout. You just see them, you know, make a throw or something like, that's an NFL arm right there. We'll see if, uh, if, if he or she develops it or whatever. But, um, I, I don't tell, I would never tell somebody what to do because like, uh, how my brain works, everybody's unique. So what I would do though, is go out of my way to encourage that person. Like if I saw somebody young and they I would do, though, is go out of my way to encourage that person. Like if I saw somebody young and they were funny, I would go out of my way to make sure that I said that because they need that. I realize, you know, you got to do that.

So this is from Anna Clara Otoni. Her question begins with some people just don't have a sense of humor. And how do you relate to or deal with these types of people and i'll just leave it general like that so whether it's you get trapped with them at a cocktail party or in general crowd whatever it might be oh cocktail party i would just walk away yeah um if i'm doing stand-up yeah oh man i shouldn't this is another one that i probably should this is some inside shit all right this is what i would do when there would be somebody like you're killing everybody and there was just that one person that's just sitting there and they're not laughing and they're not laughing and they used to always bug night like that bugs a comic you're just like they couldn't fucking get that one person or ruin their night

like you'd let them i started realizing how stupid that was i was like if i was a president and this was my approval rating i would be fucking killing it so i finally decided i'm gonna have fun with this person. So what I would do is, like, you can't see the people who are doing it in the back, but it was the people who were up front. So they would be, like, right there, and they're just like, you could feel their energy. So what I would start to do, I would overcommit to my jokes, act even sillier, and I would send all of them right out over their head.

And the best thing would be if they were close in the front row, I would be standing right up on them, and my favorite thing to do would be make some sweeping gesture, like, over their head and the best thing would be if they were close in the front row i would be standing right up on them and my favorite thing to do would be make some sweeping gesture like over their head like i would literally be like and my dad says to me and i'm just totally just living my dream like right in their face right over them and it would just drive them up the fucking wall and then i would keep throwing in like god you guys are great i am having such a great time up here and it was all that was the show within the show for that one fucking asshole. And like, I learned all of these, these, those types of things through years of doing it through basically, am I going to take this as a negative or a positive and realizing I have the power to decide, like, I can let this guy ruin my night. I'll let

this woman ruin my night. Or I can, I can have fun with this. Um, it's the same thing. Like if you ever do like the late show and only like eight people showed up, I made the mistake of coming out with eight people energy. And it sucked. And then one night I was just like, you know what? Fuck this. I'm going to go out and just try to kill these eight people enough that they bring eight more. And then I went out with this positive thing. And then that so got ingrained into my work ethic like

the other day i had a buddy of mine who's on his way up going like he was gonna do it he goes you know the old club just told me that we only got 34 people on the late show tonight i literally felt like this jolt going through me like just be like i'll fucking destroy them fucking destroy them and make them bring 34 more because if you're not not the guy, which I wasn't, I was never the, whatever the fuck they were looking for, that's the only way to do it. You just gotta hack your way through. So we saw you battling Philly

in the beginning, and you ended up at one point at Madison Square Garden. And I mean, there are only a handful of modern comics who can play that venue or have played that venue. What was that like? Can you walk us through what that experience was like? It was unbelievable.

It was awesome. And what I ended up doing, look at that. That was, and I had, I enjoyed every single second of it. Every, every single second I, I made sure on that one. And I, um, cause you got to rent that thing out. Okay. Which is not cheap. So most of the money you make that night goes right out the window. So I was like, well, I rented it for the day, right? They're like, yeah. So I'm a big Led Zeppelin fan and you know, they shot song remains the same there. and that's also where Robert Plant said does anybody remember Laughter which was the name of the show so I rented a drum

kit and some amps and all that had made a bunch of my friends came down and in an empty Madison Square Garden we just jammed and played all this cock rock from the 80s and some you know uh yeah all that all that shit that we used to listen to, all the hair metal stuff, some Black Sabbath, Guns N' Roses, Motley Crue. We just had the best time, and it kind of, and like, what was cool was the union guys setting up the chairs. I was like, is this going to bug them? And they're like, no, they're used to bands rehearsing and stuff, and they kind of, I

could say, had an appreciation that we had an appreciation for what it was, and they ended up putting us up on the screen. They did the lights in the end and uh no i had everything my agent played guitar and i got him up there and uh all these comments came down uh josh adam Myers Ben Bailey and all these guys we just had the greatest time but what was cool was it took away the scariness of doing that place and it we just kind of came in there and got our stink on it for a little bit. And then I remember I went home, went to the apartment and my wife was there and I was waiting for her to get ready. And I was drinking a beer. She's going, you're drinking a beer? You never drink a beer. You never drink a beer. I said, don't worry about this one. Don't worry about it. I just knew it was awesome. It was awesome. What did you think when you were on stage, when you were finally up

on stage? Well, the best thing was Joe DeRosa. Paul Verzi and Joe DeRosa opened for me. And Joe wore, like, this old lady-looking knitted sweater. And sometimes one of your friends just dresses in such a certain way, you're, like, willing the crowd to heckle him, which you usually don't. You're usually rooting for the comic, and nobody heckled him. So it, like, annoyed me. So when I went on stage, I was like,

yeah, keep it going for Versi, and how about Joe DeRosa in his fucking Golden Girls sweatshirt? And everybody started laughing, and I just stood there shitting on them for, like, 10 minutes, and then I just felt like I was in a comedy club. And, um, no, I just knew.

I knew, and I was like, I had 90 minutes, and I did 90. I did the whole, I was like, I'm doing the whole thing. I'm totally taking this in. I recorded and I'm only going to put it out on vinyl because there's too much overlap between that material and my next special. do and uh it was like yeah it was awesome i never talked shit about you know i killed but i i fucking killed that night i definitely that was that was a good one yep if you could have any billboard you wanted non-advertisement but just a message you want to get out to the world what would you put on it the first thing the fan did was go fuck yourself. Go fuck yourself. I'm kidding.

I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Maybe I would. I just have no, it isn't. No, it isn't. No, it isn't. I like it. No, so much people don't know what the fuck they're talking about.

And they're just so, so much time getting you into this fucking panic. And then this is going to happen. And just read that. No, it isn't. You've got to be fine. And even if you're not going to be fine, isn't it better to just exist thinking you're going to be fine until it's not fine and then when it's not fine then you can just fucking handle it then but there's no sense to ruin right now right

ladies and gentlemen thank you hey guys this is tim again just one more thing before you take off, and that is Five Bullet Friday. Would you enjoy getting a short email from me every Friday that provides a little fun before the weekend? Between one and a half and two million people subscribe to my free newsletter, my super short newsletter called Five Bullet Friday. Easy to sign up, easy to cancel. It is basically a half page that I send out every Friday to share the coolest things I've found or discovered or have started exploring over that week. It's kind of like my diary of cool things. It often includes articles I'm reading, books I'm reading, albums perhaps, gadgets, gizmos, all sorts of tech tricks and so on that get sent to me by my friends, including a lot of podcast guests. And these strange esoteric things end up in my field,

and then I test them, and then I share them with you. So if that sounds fun, again, it's very short, a little tiny bite of goodness before you head off for the weekend, something to think about. If you'd like to try it out, just go to tim.blog slash Friday, type that into your browser, tim.blog slash Friday, drop in your email, and you'll get the very next one.

Thanks for listening.