I think a lot of people want to be funny and the hustle is admirable, but I wonder if professional comedy is an inherent talent not something you can just read a book about.
Still you don't know if you don't try.
The people who seem "effortlessly funny" often work the hardest - although often that practice is developed in childhood.
It was almost more fascinating watching the same person go up week after week, with slight tweaks to their act.
It convinced me that the "talent" for comedy is probably just "attention to detail."
And that the actions required to be successful in comedy were "practice", "perseverance", and ability to use constructive criticism.
Some people learned faster than others.
But nobody was born elegant, and dancing smoothly and elegantly required endless hours of practice, and relentless attention to detail. You'll find even ballroom champions still spending hours going over how to take a step forward, again and again.
BTW, it isn't about making it look easy. It is easy when you've practiced it enough.
From the open mic's I went to there was a very minscule percentage of them and most had been trying for ages.
Not sure it boils down 'just work hard'.
I found it interesting because I hadn’t thought about comedy being about making connections in a funny way but that’s what a lot of it is, and some people are probably predisposed to make those connections with less effort.
This new Podcast generation of comics is interesting because some stand-ups can go on a show and just riff really well. Others are not that great once they get outside their comfort areas.
Soothsayer!
On top of that, "Daily Show" viewers know more about election issues than people who regularly read newspapers or watch television news, according to the National Annenberg Election Survey.
I guess to some degree this is what clickhole already is.
This was written a few years after Conan had his bad experience with the Tonight Show. If you saw his live show around 2010, you'll know how he grew jaded, at least with the business end of things.
