7 tips from Bill Burr on doing "push-pull" comedy
Trash people who agree with you too much. Do shows with younger comics. Bomb gracefully. And more...
Bill Burr gives great advice.
And now he’s back with more in this piece: Bill Burr on Adapting His ‘A–hole Vibe,’ Wanting a ‘Hostile Crowd’ for New Hulu Special and How a Rabbi Changed His Perspective on Censorship [Variety].
Cherry picked some excerpts about his comedy philosophy below:
Seek a good amount of pushback from the crowd. “I need that push-pull thing to happen. I don’t want to be in an echo chamber. I would rather have it more hostile than agreeable.”
Adjust your assh*le vibe to the crowd. “If I’m in a conservative place, I’ll go more liberal. And if I’m in a liberal place, I’ll go more conservative. It’s like trying to make an over-medium egg, you know? There’s an art to it.”
Trash people who agree with you too much (and yourself too). “Everything is sides now. So I always have to make sure, if one side gets too excited that I’m agreeing with them, that I trash them — or maybe I trash myself.”
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Bomb gracefully. “I’m like an old fighter that knows how to take a punch, so I still lose the fight, but I don’t get knocked out. Composure. You have to maintain control even when you’re bombing, and you have to make fun of yourself.”
Do shows with younger comics. “I also like a lot of the satellite rooms that the younger comics are running. Young comics keep you young. You’re still old, but you know how to act your age comedically around them, if that makes sense. If you perform to your generation only, you grow old with them. The comics that I loved growing up never stopped going to the gym, which is going down to the comedy club and getting in front of 20-somethings despite the fact you’re in your 50s like me, and learning how to get your 50-something-year-old ideas over to them.”
Point the finger at yourself too. “As you get older, hopefully you realize that you’re bringing some of the problems to the table, and maybe the way you handle things isn’t the best way to do it. Being married and having kids, and realizing that your behavior can affect these people you’re living with in a positive way or a negative way, really makes you confront your flaws.”
Make fun of both sides. “My job is not to pick a side. You come to see me because you want to forget about your problems. Even if I do make fun of a politician, I always make sure I get ‘em both. If I’m gonna make fun of CNN, I’ve gotta make fun of Fox. I make fun of the whole thing because I don’t feel that politicians work for us. They work for the super rich, and they’re grossly underpaid so they’re open to bribery. It gives regular people something to get mad at.”
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dear matt,
great stuff here!
i like Bill Burr's "Do shows with younger comics" point a lot:
“I also like a lot of the satellite rooms that the younger comics are running. Young comics keep you young. You’re still old, but you know how to act your age comedically around them, if that makes sense. If you perform to your generation only, you grow old with them. The comics that I loved growing up never stopped going to the gym, which is going down to the comedy club and getting in front of 20-somethings despite the fact you’re in your 50s like me, and learning how to get your 50-something-year-old ideas over to them.”
and his "Point the finger at yourself too" thought:
“As you get older, hopefully you realize that you’re bringing some of the problems to the table, and maybe the way you handle things isn’t the best way to do it."
thanks for sharing!
love
myq