What makes a great guest for me, is someone willing to completely be child like and bare their silly soul. And it's a bonus if they don't mind opening the show talking about some social issues.
When Moshe Kasher (my co-host) and I set out to do the podcast, we needed a hook, and I figured that only black guests was one we could deliver on. I know way more black dudes than Marc Maron, Chris Hardwick, and if you can believe it, Pete Holmes. Now, having said all that, our most downloaded episode it with Aziz Ansari, so our hook clearly doesn't work.
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...
I think one of the best things that's ever happened to my stand up is the podcast because now I no longer have any motivation to send a "message" in a joke form. I just want my shit to be funny. If I can make points and be funny at the same time, awesome. I'm all for it, but most importantly it has to be interesting and funny to me. I can explore ideas until the end of time on the podcast and never need it to be funny, but for me as a fan at least, the comedy that I truly enjoy is the comedy that makes me laugh the most. In the past comics didn't have something like a podcast where they could go into great depth about a fuck load of different subjects, so to get their ideas across and expres...
It's something I seriously enjoy. In a way, "it's almost better than hanging out with my friends in real life," because you're being silly and having a good time... but you turn your cell phone off and are 100% committed to bits; without any outside interruptions.
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.
Q: Would you agree that this is the best time to be a nerd as the nerds are rising up while the jocks and bullies are pumping our gas?
A: i think nerds are on their way to greatness. im SUCH a nerd myself. #hollywoodhandbookref
he always teaches me so much. i worry I'm a boring guest because I'm always just trying to soak in his knowledge and process it all. i made the mistake this last time of smoking weed before the show so i blacked out and don't remember anything. he's the best
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.
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.
i usually just think of one funny grain of the character's identity and let it build from there. with hoho, for instance, i just wanted to be an elf who delivers toys to naughty kids.
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...
The podcast as it is now without a guest is much easier for me to generate stories and material for because I am not trying to impress someone I'm intimidated by or trying to make someone who I feel might be bored or annoyed feel comfortable. It's just about me and Sara and now we have Andrew to supply us with topics. Like "Syria".
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...
Well, be interesting.
Immerse yourself in the space. And talk about what YOU think is interesting. Talk to people who are more interesting than you are. And good luck!
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’...
Todd Glass