It’s a matter of easing into it and sacrificing the idea of “this is what I need to know by the end of this”. I’m doing interviews in an audio format - all the things you’re going to feel listening to that interview might not be about information per se, they’re about engagement. If people are caught up with what they want to ask and what they want to know, they can get detached from what’s happening in the present, because they want to get at something else. But if you let things unfold, and talk about nothing, that often leads to the bigger thing, and I’m like “Well, I didn’t need to talk about that, it just happened”. We just have a conversation. And the thing is, I’m not a journalist. I’...[Read more]

I decided to do it because it seemed easy enough to start. But it's kind of a grind booking guests. I do enjoy the conversations, though.

I liked how he said "Being late" when I asked him what he does that drives Michelle crazy.

It's a tough question. What we're talking about here is comics who are way too undeveloped on stage to be where they're at in their careers. The same thing happened with some of the roasts. It elevated features into headliners. That doesn't hurt standup, that just exposes audiences to standup who are less developed than they'd normally be exposed to. On one hand, though, people leave those shows thinking the whole art form isn't that great. So that does hurt the perception of standup. On the other hand, those people bring in new audiences to shows. People who would normally never have seen anything. And they'll then be fans of the craft and many will see other shows. So that's really grea...[Read more]

The one that aired was great. Very rarely does my brain come through for me at just the right time. In that case, it did. Marc is very smart, but sometimes he can use his intelligence to be reductive and disrespectful. That's what I felt he did on the WTF episode that I asked him not to air. One of the things about my career is, I used to work the door at a comedy club in the early 90's. Some of the guys from that era (Marc, Attell, Jeff Ross) had to adjust to me becoming a comedian/writer. They still see me as a doorman at times.

It’s draining, but it does become a skill. You get good at it, and you start to polish your stories, then you figure out your voice or whatever the hell it is. It’s an art, and it pays well.

At the end of the day when Duncan and I sit down and have these podcasts it's just two comics trying to make sense of shit and bouncing ideas of each other and out to you folks. I try to emphasise things that I've found to be true in my own life, and things that have resonated with me, and Duncan does the same, but we're really just two stoned comedians shooting the shit. All of us, you folks included, everyone that is really pondering the mysteries of life - we're all doing the same shit. We're thinking, pondering, dissecting - and hopefully extracting something out of these conversations that we can hold onto, like some sort of a psychic shield protecting you from worthless thoughts. Dunca...[Read more]

I think the first year of the podcast still holds up. I think everyone hates their first 10 episodes, and a lot of people actually take them down and don’t put them back up—mine are up there. But I don’t know, I think the thing the podcast taught me that I wish I knew 10 years before the podcast was how to be a little bit more in the moment of my comedy career. When I first started, I think I was, like, [viewing] myself as more of a craftsman or a writer, and a lot of my performances were very intricately written and not in the moment. I think what the podcast taught me was truly to just be in the moment and not plan anything and know that comedy is essentially meant to be stupid and silly a...[Read more]

The first few episodes, I would have my host prepare their end of it and I would prepare a character, but I found it was more cohesive when they planned both. They don't tell me what they're gonna do until we start recording. I love that built-in element of surprise.

I think there’s something wonderful about capturing somebody as talented and as insightful and even ultimately struggling as Harris. That’s one of the human things that makes technology not just Candy Crush while you’re waiting for your coffee. It’s different than reading an interview because you’re not feeling the pauses. People listen to podcasts in their bed or their car or at work - it’s very intimate to have earbuds in and have this voice running through your head. There’s something that can be human and even soulful about it - we start to get a very intimate and complete picture of a person. Memory can’t really be trusted and autobiographies have glaring omissions. It’s nice to be like...[Read more]

I get up early and write before i have a chance to remember that writing is hard.