Comedy and life advice from the great Bill Burr
Bill:
Stand-up, it was always stand-up. I had a day job, I was living at
home with my parents. I paid off all of my credit cards. I had an old
truck, and I debated getting a new one, and I decided instead I just
had to rip the power train out and put a new engine and transmission
in. I remember this woman at work, she was all excited I was going to
buy a new car and I told her that I just had the engine replaced, and
she just made this face and goes like, “that was stupid.” I was
embarrassed when she said it because she was beautiful, and if you
are a true man and a beautiful woman says what you just did was
stupid, you immediately want to undo it. I realized very quickly that
what I did was not stupid. If you have a dream, one of the things
other than the drive and the passion and the mental strength as life
keeps slapping you down on the ground to not only get up but to get
up and go even harder, one of the major things is you have to keep
your expenses low. If an opportunity comes you can just get up and
leave. I continued to work my day job for a year in Boston, and at
that point I was making money as a comedian. And I was making more
money than I had ever made, and I didn’t have a car payment. I paid
off my student loans, I paid everything off. I just banked money
because I knew I was moving to New York. I saved up 10 grand, I had
never had more than 300$ in the bank. I was making 17, 18 grand a
year and I was able to save about 10 grand of that.
Bill:I would just sit down, I would write five minutes of stuff that I think is funny, and I would sign up for an open mic, and when they call your name, go up on stage and see what happens. And then, don’t judge yourself, your first 15-20 shows it’s not about how it’s going, but it’s about do you have the nerve to go up there when they call your name. After you’ve done it 15-20 times, you can start to gauge things like “am I the person who just keeps the mic in the mic stand or do I take it out and walk around?” Just start the journey, and then once you become a comedian, be a positive force in the world of stand-up. Encourage other people, don’t steal jokes, don’t be an asshole … being a good person is a major part of it."
This
2016 interview with Bill Burr, here.
Still packs a punch.