Stand Up Bootcamp Day 2
Day 2 of Stand Up Bootcamp was nuts. The morning started out with Harland Williams showing up. You probably know Harland from such movies as Dumb and Dumber, Something About Mary and Half Baked.
It was evident right away that Harland is a comedic genius. His ability to improvise and adapt to funny things around him are absolutely incredible. In fact, he tends to just wing most of his material instead of writing a structured set when performing stand up. It was very interesting to dig into the mind of Harland and see how he works. What he does is very raw and organic.
Of course what he does is just absurd too. His jokes are absolutely ridiculous at times and I think that is part of why we loved him so much. He was just being himself and not trying to do anything more. I think I resonated more with Harland than anybody so far because I’m such a free spirit as well. Plus we both tend to act like 8 year old kids more often then adults. I could tell Kyle was really inspired by Harland as well and was very appreciative to have him stop by and chat with us.
One memorable thing Harland said while there was… “Don’t bring the show to the people, bring the people to your show”. What he meant by that was you have to truly own what you are doing and believe in your bit. You run the mic, the stage and the crowd. Well, hopefully you run the crowd, if you bring the people to your show. Or who knows, maybe he meant something totally different and I just put those words into his mouth.
Next up was Allan Havey. Allan is a grizzled vet in the world of stand up, rocking the mic for about 30 years. One key thing that he said that made a lot of sense to me was that if you are auditioning for a part, you are auditioning for everyone in the room, not just the casting directors. You never know what is going to happen in 2 to 10 years from now and it’s just possible that the receptionist, a errand boy or even a competing actor may remember your audition at some point later. People move up and down the ladder to success all the time and you never know who the next casting director may be.
I also dug the advice Allan gave about having other shit going on in your life that people can’t take away from you. It’s not healthy to get so involved in comedy or acting that it becomes the only thing in your life that fulfills you. We need more. I totally got this advice big time as I can’t imagine someone trying to take surfing away from me. I need it way too much.
Allan also recommended a few books and movies which aren’t necessarily about comedy but were very helpful in advancing his career. They were… The Road Less Traveled, The Artist’s Way, True and False, Overnight and Every Little Step.
After hearing so much advice from men, it was refreshing to have Carol Leifer take the stage. Carol is a well respected comedian and writer. Her biggest gig is probably being a writer on Seinfeld.
Carol spent some time encouraging the bootcampers to really dig into writing personal stuff about their lives as people are much more engaged. Also you can write with so much more passion and authenticity when you are digging deep within yourself.
I love the title of Carol’s book… “When You Lie About Your Age The Terrorists Win”, mostly because it’s true. So don’t lie about your age. Especially if you are 17 and trying to sleep your way up the ladder.
The day didn’t stop here though. Louie and Kyle have this bootcamp stocked with folks who’ve been at this for a long time.
Tom Wilson joined along as well and told some amazing stories about the legends that frequented the Comedy Store. He worked at the Comedy Store back in the day as a door man. He also said he worked as a “Back Door Man”. I was like… “Tom, your lobbing me softballs with that one man”.
Tom told us a crazy story about being with John Belushi the night he died. He watched John depart from the Comedy Store only to never be seen again. It was pretty intense. RIP Belushi.
Most people will recognize Tom as the guy who played Biff in Back To The Future but he’s got an extensive background in Stand Up as well. His advice was invaluable.
Along with Tom was a gentleman named Jim Hope. It was interesting to hear Jim speak because he spent more time behind the scenes as a writer. I really dug hearing his perspective and how he managed his time in the crazy world of Hollywood television. I have to admit, all his hard work almost made me tired thinking about it. The guy is definitely dedicated to his craft and has put in a ton of time.
I liked it when Jim said to not hold onto ideas and pitches that don’t work. Sometimes you just have to let things go and move on. Also, he gave some great advice about not being too eager to have the big talent scouts see you too early as you may give them a chance to judge you before you are really ready. And once someone doesn’t like you, it’s really hard to turn that around.
I have so much more that I want to say about each comic and the value that they brought to the bootcamp, but I need to get my ass out of bed and back down to the Comedy Store for the next day. Plus I still need to write an act to perform on Sunday.
Speaking of Sunday, if you want to come down to the Comedy Store and see me and a slew of other talented comedians perform let me know. I’ll get you some free tickets to the show.
Peace
