He attended Reseda High School, excelling on the baseball team as a right-handed pitcher. His highs included striking out 10 batters on multiple occasions. Stevens went on to earn a scholarship to play Division I College Baseball for the Arizona Stat...
Death
Brody died by suicide in 2019. He had been suffering from bipolar disorder and depression at the time of his death.
Enjoy It!
In 2011, he starred in a documentary comedy series for HBO called Brody Stevens: Enjoy It! which was produced by Zach Galiafanakis. The show would be picked up by Comedy Central for further episodes.
Like I said, yes, it feels good [to be getting more popular]. I didn’t strive to have a TV show. I come from a sports background. I come from a work ethic background — a grinder, if you will. My goal was never to be on TV. My goal was not to have my own TV show. My goal was to be the best standup comedian I can be. Because I knew being a standup is the foundation to go into radio. I mean, back in the day, it was radio, go into hosting, go into being an actor. So I really focused on that. Of course you’d be on TV. I wouldn’t say no. If you’re a comedian and someone comes up to you, whether you’re doing comedy for a month or 10 years, most likely, for the most part, you would say yes. But that...
It's fking tough. It's not easy. I'm a stand-up comedian. I'm a live energy guy, so I don't personally get off making an audience feel uncomfortable. I'm okay with people sitting back with their arms crossed not knowing what I'm doing, but I want all the fans to like me. So I don't like making people uncomfortable, but I know that sometimes it's good. You'll hear about a film at Cannes, "It was uncomfortable to watch, but it was beautiful. There was great acting." So if I have those elements where the audience feels on edge, I'll take that. It's compelling TV. I don't want it to be that for thirty straight minutes, but just some real, awkward, not-so-glossy moments? I'm into that.
I was slightly observational at first, going back to my early, early open mics. I was just writing any joke, because I wanted to be a real comedian. But my personality was always there and some of my material naturally became about me — about looking Jewish or hairy or whatever — and people liked that. Your voice and your persona will come out of that, the more you're comfortable with it. So when I tried to fit myself into a Seinfeld mold and I didn't get the laughs, that brought me out. And then comedians said, "Keep doing that." And then it was all about honing it and writing jokes for it. But if you ask me, honestly, I wish I could just go up and do jokes. Boom boom boom bing bing and I'm...
Well there will people who think I'm funny, but there will be people who say, "I was on meds and you helped me," or "I understand what you're going through with your sister." We broke that wall down so we could explore the process. So I love e-mails from people who have the same problems I've had, from having a manic episode to having family and friends come down on them. All that stuff. That makes me feel good and makes me feel like the show is worthwhile. And I want it to be funny.
Brody Stevens