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The kind of joke a stand-up might tell demands a lot more perspective, performance, and personality.
Sam Morril is such a comedian.
Read some excerpts from the interview below or listen to the full episode ofGood Onewherever you get your podcasts.
Youre getting the momentum in your favor.
Its almost like a hesi move in basketball.
He would just say, I dont know why you guys are laughing.
Thats the proper pronunciation.
Storytellers guys likeTom SeguraorJim Jefferies, people who write these long stories they have to find those little laughs.
But joke writers need that, too.
Why good comics bomb.
And its going to make you very humble.
I get why certain comics just play the hits.
Maybe theyre trying to just float and stay alive, but its a very competitive and tough business.
Youre not getting those road gigs because you have a fan base but because youre reliable.
But its very hard to grow out of that.
Yeah, youre going to bomb, but its part of the process.
Im just honing for the next few months, and youre creating.
Its so much more fun to write than to edit.
And I was like, Yeah, it really is.
Then I said, But you get to kill.
And he said, Thats true.
But hes a real comic, so hewantsto write.
Why his most recent hour-long special was only 45 minutes.
I cut a lot of stuff, so its kind of like I can self-release that stuff.
Its like bonus crowd work.
I can start the new hour with some that cut material.
Ive also put out three specials in the last three years.
Do you care about the sanctity of an hour as an idea?I think its a backwards idea.
They have all this data showing that people zone out after, like, minute 15.
So why am I given a full hour?
I think it wasAri Shaffirwho told me that Comedy Central demanded he give them over an hour.
So he gave them like an hour and nine minutes, and the special aired at like 42 minutes.
Hes thinking,Did I just waste 27 minutes?
You mentioned using the extra material, especially the crowd work, other places.
You are one of the comedians who has found success putting clips up on social media.
I assume youve noticed two trends since you started doing so.
Its reached a critical mass of both comedians posting these clips and comedians complaining about other comedians doing so.
That just happened because we did seven shows, and we just had fun moments.
Occasionally well get a wild card, but its bound to happen.
And I dont know what the critique is.
I got critiqued a lot for posting captioned clips, but now everyones doing that.
If you have a problem with it, thats cool.
Im trying to sell tickets.
I dont know who these purists are who are like, How dare you post crowd work?
I have talked to comics who say, I wont do it.
Im like, Okay, thats your choice.
How to be bulletproof.
And I want to know what that means to you practically.
When you go into rooms, are you thinking about it deliberately?
Like,Okay, I have this joke.
Like, I was doing anti-gun jokes in Kentucky.
I have to address it.
First off, I know where I am.
Im aware of what Im doing.
You have to be very conscious of staying funny.
The comedy becomes more of a service they are providing.
This is a rare form of entertainment where its collaborative.Martin Scorsese maybe does some sort of focus test.
Comedians are focus-testing our next special the entire time.
