Words of (standup) wisdom from Jon Stewart
Stewart: "If the glass breaks and you don’t say anything, you’re done."
As a comic, you’re always trying to read the room — the thing you learn is, if the glass breaks and you don’t say anything, you’re done. So, a lot of that is a self-conscious attempt to read the room and maybe take some of the steam out of it.
When a glass breaks, say something. If someone falls down, comment on it. If there’s an ambulance parked outside, crack a joke about it.
Everyone in the room is a human being. We all know whatever just happened. If something goes down and everyone is thinking about it and you fail to address it, you seem out of touch. And if you can puncture that tension and bring everyone together, you become the hero. Some of the biggest laughs come after things going wrong.
Stewart on what he learned doing the final set at 2am at The Cellar every night:
I learned the difference between impersonating a comedian and being a comedian. And that was my break, learning how to be authentic. Not to the audience, but to myself. I developed a baseline of not only confidence, but insecurity. I knew how bad I was and I knew how good I was.
More Stewart wisdom below…
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