Finding your signature move

Advice from comedy guru Bill Grundfest: If other comedians can do it, you're replaceable. "There is no gold at the end of somebody else’s rainbow.”

Stew Fortier interviewed Bill Grundfest, who discovered and advised Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, and Ray Romano back when they were starting out.

Grundfest’s advice to Maher after he got fired from a TV gig: “You got fired because tons of other comedians can do that job. You were replaceable.” Maher then pivoted to Politically Incorrect.

The piece gives other examples of Grundfest encouraging comedians to find their signature move, the thing only you can do.

Like Jon Stewart, Ray [Romano] was super likable – but in a different way. He was a blue-collar family man, a loyal husband, a good father. Bill met with Ray and told him: “Get rid of any material that doesn’t support the idea that you are a standup husband and dad.”

Ray and his manager took the advice. Ray doubled down on the family man image and played into it every chance he got. The result is TV sitcom history... CBS noticed and picked him up for what became Everybody Loves Raymond, a show centered on him as the supreme family man.

One theme in all of Bill’s advice was to deeply and consciously know and trust what makes you different.

Bill signed off our call with this line:

“You have to find your own rainbow to follow. There is no gold at the end of somebody else’s rainbow.”