10 Good Things: Mike Birbiglia, Colin Quinn, Taylor Tomlinson, and more

A collection of good comedy links, quotes, and ideas.

💥 “My friend invited me to their improv class graduation show.”
“Some friend."

💥 How to find your voice: Did you think it and then write/say it? Then it’s your voice.

💥 Mike Birbiglia on the audience:

“You have to outthink your audience, and then make it seem like you’re not outthinking your audience, and then you deliver as if it’s this thing you just thought of.”

💥 For over a year now, Josh Johnson has been writing and recording bespoke 12- to 45-minute sets inspired by topical events.

Johnson has posted ten videos since the beginning of July, totaling over four hours of new material — each with over 440,000 views on YouTube. (His newest video, released just last night, already has over 225,000 views.) More impressive than the sheer volume, though, is the consistency. Considering how quickly Johnson turns these sets around, they are rarely underbaked. His joke and storytelling beats are fleshed out enough that he doesn’t need to flounder in search of punch lines, and he’s frequently able to draw connections to bigger thematic ideas.

💥 These guys probably also think standup comedians make it all up on the spot.

💥 Maybe a reason that roasts are so successful is that people like being introduced to a bunch of comedians in one place via shorter, digestible sets. Perhaps a streamer should make a show like that happen without it needing to be focused 100% on insulting some celebrity.