10 Good Things: Seinfeld, Burr, Triumph on trauma, and more

Also: Acting tips for comedians, advice for show descriptions, Dan Savage on comedy vs. p0rn, etc.

⛑️ Good acting tips that can inspire standup performances too: “10 simple yet powerful psychological tricks that can transform your performance and help you nail any scene.” The first few seconds of a scene define the tone, stillness draws the audience in, etc.

knk_actinginstitute

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Caroline Clifford

: Don't say things on-stage you wouldn't say off-stage

The version of you that’s doing stand up is still you. It should still hold the same values. If you wouldn’t usually engage in bigotry or overly sexual talk etc then why would you do it if you’re holding a microphone? Because you assume that to be a comedian you have to go there. But that is just some comedians that you have observed, and this type of material sticks in your mind. A truly great comedian is 100% themselves…I often observe comedians writing material for the zeitgeist, rather than just writing for themselves. When the brain detects inauthenticity you feel disconnected to the person.

⛑️ Triumph on trauma comedy. 😂

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David Zucker

: "Which of the following two shows are you more likely to see, if they’re on at roughly the same time?"

Show A: a solo show with a blurb that includes, “Sharing her point of view of the world, she writes comedy that is poignant and incisive. Her audiences often laugh hard, think hard, and feel hard as her comedy is cathartic and confrontational… she aims to challenge the norms of today and the discomfort or taboo-quality around controversial topics like race, gender, sexuality, and family dynamics through her comedy. From the moment she takes the stage, the audience is engaged whether in laughter or in thought.’

Show B: a solo show with a description that solely reads, “Ali Kolbert is a post-therapy Howard Stern in the body of a 5’2″ 30-year-old lesbian.”

I know which one I’m picking.

⛑️

Will Hines

: Is There A Way To Be Rebellious?

I do miss the recklessness though. The feeling of going too far. Not the way we did it: I don’t miss the slurs or the cruelty. But crossing lines felt funny.

Maybe the key is knowing where your impulse comes from. When you cross a line to discuss a forbidden topic, is it meanness? Or is it curiosity?…

I don’t want to go back. I don’t want the meanness. I just don’t want to fully get rid of the danger either.

Up ahead: Seinfeld changes his mind, Bill Burr rants on modern comedy, Dan Savage on comedy vs. p0rn, why you should turn off captions on standup specials, and more.