Brian Eno: Scene + Genius = Scenius
Lone geniuses are rare so try to be part of an ecology of talent.
“Scenius stands for the intelligence and the intuition of a whole cultural scene. It is the communal form of the concept of the genius.”
–Brian Eno
Comedy tends to attract lone wolves and egomaniacs. But like everything else in life, a lot of it is about who you know. So start knowing people.
Newer comics are often trying to befriend/learn from pros and masters when they’d be better off spending time with their peers. Find the other decent person at the mics you go to and start a show together or do joint writing sessions.
Added benefit: You often can learn more from a person who is one year ahead of you than someone who is decades ahead of you. After all, they just learned what you want to know.
So thrive on the scenius of it all. Music wizard Brian Eno came up with that term.
As I looked at art more and more, I discovered that that wasn’t really a true picture. What really happened was that there were sometimes very fertile scenes involving lots and lots of people – some of them artists, some of them collectors, some of them curators, thinkers, theorists, people who were fashionable and knew what the hip things were – all sorts of people who created a kind of ecology of talent. And out of that ecology arose some wonderful work.
So I came up with this word ‘scenius’ – the intelligence of a whole operation or group of people. I think that’s a more useful way to think about culture. Let’s forget the idea of ‘genius’ for a little while, let’s think about the whole ecology of ideas that give rise to good new thoughts and good new work.
Austin Kleon describes it like this:
There’s a healthier way of thinking about creativity that the musician Brian Eno refers to as “scenius.” Under this model, great ideas are often birthed by a group of creative individuals—artists, curators, thinkers, theorists, and other tastemakers—who make up an “ecology of talent.” If you look back closely at history, many of the people who we think of as lone geniuses were actually part of “a whole scene of people who were supporting each other, looking at each other’s work, copying from each other, stealing ideas, and contributing ideas.” Scenius doesn’t take away from the achievements of those great individuals: it just acknowledges that good work isn’t created in a vacuum, and that creativity is always, in some sense, a collaboration, the result of a mind connected to other minds.
And here’s Kevin Kelly on how scenius is nurtured:
Individuals immersed in a productive scenius will blossom and produce their best work. When buoyed by scenius, you act like genius. Your like-minded peers, and the entire environment inspire you.
The geography of scenius is nurtured by several factors:
• Mutual appreciation — Risky moves are applauded by the group, subtlety is appreciated, and friendly competition goads the shy. Scenius can be thought of as the best of peer pressure.
• Rapid exchange of tools and techniques — As soon as something is invented, it is flaunted and then shared. Ideas flow quickly because they are flowing inside a common language and sensibility.
• Network effects of success — When a record is broken, a hit happens, or breakthrough erupts, the success is claimed by the entire scene. This empowers the scene to further success.
• Local tolerance for the novelties — The local “outside” does not push back too hard against the transgressions of the scene. The renegades and mavericks are protected by this buffer zone.
Scenius can erupt almost anywhere, and at different scales: in a corner of a company, in a neighborhood, or in an entire region.
United we kill, divided we bomb.
Related: When Stand Up Stood Out (documentary) covers the Boston comedy scenius of the late 1970s and early 1980s.