Roy Wood Jr. on the wrong lesson to take from Dave Chappelle
How going counterculture can be a trap. Also: How to handle "aww"s.
Roy Wood Jr.: “I think the journey for me is inward. It’s about my own feelings and fears.” [Vulture]
I hope comedians don’t get locked into public reactions to their material. I’m going to be honest, man. Like, I hope all this Chappelle shit doesn’t create a bunch of comics who are just counterculture for the sake of pissing people off instead of actually talking about the shit that’s important to them. There’s a little bit of that in stand-up now. It’s cute, but it’s not sustainable. That’s not a sustainable creative process: to just be contrarian for the sake of outrage because, “Oh, you’re a bunch of crybabies, so watch me fucking attack every one of your norms just for the sake of, Oh, no, he didn’t.” But at what purpose? What are we trying to accomplish in the long run?
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Another good Roy bit from Vulture: The Moses Storm Joke That Roy Wood Jr. Demanded He Didn’t Give Up On.
Moses: I did this story that kind of didn’t go that well. It’s about eating from the trash and then breaking into a country club, and — this completely spoils it — we throw up everywhere, and we get kicked out of the country club. And I was talking to you about, “I don’t like the aws that I hear from the audience. It’s worse than ‘Fuck you idiot!’ or complete silence is when you hear ‘Awww!’ from the audience. That means I fundamentally have not done my job as a comedian.
Roy: Because they feel sorry for you.
Moses: Yes! To fulfill the job as a comedian, you go to this room and you have chicken wings, so you can make people feel this feeling of Ha-ha hee-hee ha-ha, I forgot about my life. And as I was investing in my own life and sharing things, I noticed that some of the facts [I shared], it’d get an “Awww” from people or people coming up to you after like “Thank you so much for sharing that.” So I talked to you backstage right before your show of wanting to cut that and not feel that feeling of, Could I just talk about poverty, or talk about dating apps? And as someone whose opinion is … You could tell me to do anything and I would do it. You said, “Do not cut that. That is you. If you’re uncomfortable with it, that’s exactly what you should be leaning into. There’s enough jokes in there. Just, you buy it, and you stop selling yourself short and trying to bail on it and try to take care of that. Just say that this is you.” Because initially I had a bunch of stuff in there that was kind of bailing on it: “I know it sucks, but you know, whatever, what are you gonna do?!” So you’re the reason that that’s in that special. That’s why I chose it for this.
Roy: Wow. Well, I’m honored. I’ll say that, as a comedian, I’ve always felt a bit of respectful envy of you. I wish I was that courageous that early. I’ll be 44 this year, and I’m just now starting to unpack, Oh, I should be talking about the weird relationship with my father and how it informs my relationship with my son. And you had already had that, and I’m watching from the side like, “Yes, the pain! Give them more pain!”
Moses: Which doesn’t always go well, and it really goes against what we want to do, you and I, at the end of the day, which is what makes people laugh. Right?
Roy: But you want them to feel. That’s the differentiation between the comedians that we remember in our lives. It’s the feeling that also comes along with the joke, especially if you’re talking about stuff that’s introspective.
Oh man, “aww”s are the worst. “I’m up onstage telling jokes. Don’t feel bad for me. That’s like the opposite of what I’m going for here!” But this really reframes that. You want them to feel. Always love listening to Roy talk shop.
“If you’re uncomfortable with it, that’s exactly what you should be leaning into. There’s enough jokes in there. Just, you buy it, and you stop selling yourself short and trying to bail on it and try to take care of that. Just say that this is you.”
Related:
A Matt Ruby bit:
dear matt,
thanks for sharing!
roy is wise: "I hope all this Chappelle shit doesn’t create a bunch of comics who are just counterculture for the sake of pissing people off instead of actually talking about the shit that’s important to them."
love it, thank you!
love
myq