10 Good Things: How long should you dwell on a kill/bomb?
Also: Why Bill Maher is quitting standup, clean comedy's comeback, and more.
💥 Good advice from Christopher Titus: “whether you kill or bomb, only allow yourself to bask in it for the length of time you were actually on stage then move on or you’re wasting time”
💥 Bill Maher is no longer doing stand-up comedy tours because “I could get shot by the left or the right.”
I’m also tired of being twice as funny as people who were selling twice as many tickets as me. Not that I didn’t sell a lot of tickets and do great theaters—but I didn’t sell arenas. And some people did, who, frankly, are not that great. But, you know, when the audience is 35 to 45, they don’t wanna see somebody 70.
OK, I was kinda “Amen”ing at the first sentence. But comedians can get old and maintain a young fan base. See: Rodney, Eddie Pepitone, or George Carlin. It’s on you to not do an act made for old folks though.
💥 Laughing at the Lowlifes: A Missing Piece in Explaining Online Radicalism. Ethan Strauss explains how the shock laughter component gets underrated by people whose focus tends to be on Big Ideas.
One can emotionally react to an evil man’s menace in the way they’d take in a cartoon’s colorful villain. This is the flip side of how the Internet can also make almost everything feel dangerously real. We are constantly absorbing stimuli from outside our immediate surroundings, so whether we’re terrified or tickled can often just be a matter of perspective.
💥 SLAM FRANK is good art according to David Zucker.
It’s also very edgy.
And not edgy in the way some stand-up comedians are described as edgy (coded language for “shocking”, or “racist”).
Edgy as in cutting-edge.
Edgy in that what they’re doing takes actual balls, as the performers are engaging in a genuinely risky career move by being involved in such a provocative show.
Edgy in that it’s one of the rare shows in New York not performing to an echo-chamber of people who already agree with its perceived, underlying political agenda.
Edgy in that you hear audible reactions from other audience members, not “clapter”.
💥 “I have found a lot of success with my own show by cultivating an email list, getting mentions in local listings/newsletters, booking solid lineups, and being consistent.” How I Move Tickets For My Monthly Stand-Up Show by Jonathan van Halem.
Behind the paywall
The single factor that’s most likely to determine artistic success, Jon Stewart on what’s wrong with the Silicon Valley ethos, wholeheartedness in improv, and clean comedy’s comeback.
