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Bill Burr likes to make word hard for himself.
Listen to the episode and read an excerpt from the transcript of the discussion below.
Tune in toGood Oneevery Monday onApple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I would never just rant and rave and have people listen to that!
Like, when Im done doing my act, I want quiet.
That guy onstage is me putting on a show.
But there are times where I am doing a character and people dont understand.
You know, the word police.
Like, that bit I did, What are you, a fag?
I remember I was in Seattle, making fun of homophobia, making fun of morons.
The next thing you know, Im not gay!
And youre outside with no jacket on in 40-degree weather!
So its making fun of it.
But the second I did the character they were like, You fucking homophobe!
and they stormed out.
I remember three days later I got this over-the-top email.
Where did the joke about body issues start?I was doing a gig in Mumbai, India.
It was this amazing trip, but the level of poverty I saw was devastating.
I will never forget that!
I just wanted to help, but didnt know what to do.
Then I came back here and the big thing was Hollywood body shaming.
I was like, Really?
You have to lose ten pounds to star in a fucking movie?
It was hilarious to me.
They dont see how theyre the Fox News of the left.
I thought I was liberal till I moved out to Hollywood.
You come back from India, you see this contrast.
I just went with the thing that I thought was funny.
It just sounded like I was going off on fat people.
People went,What the fuck is this bald guy doing making fun of fat people?
These are things that get people to put their drink down and go, Whats going on up here?
You keep pulling the football away and they go flying, but they start paying attention!
Then they get into your rhythm and it’s possible for you to actually do your act.
I heard you used to be letter perfect to the jokes, and now you write onstage.
He would switch up the order of his jokes and the jokes themselves.
It starts here, goes here, ends here.
Then you’ve got the option to improv within the joke expand, contract, etc.
It keeps it fresh.
There are nights where I dont feel like Im on and I have all these games.
Its funny, I had all these improv teachers who are like, A stand-up cannot improvise.
The joke ends with you talking about sixes and how you consider yourself a hard five.
And it can be argued that that part makes it all okay because then youre punching up.
Do you care about that or not?No, I hate that term Punch up.
Like youre this hero if you go after the same old fucking things.
Theres only so long you’ve got the option to make fun of the one percent!
And its fun to go after, like, shit that youre not supposed to go after.
I just dont see the sport in going after the thing everyones mad at.
Its like watching the Womens March.
It was so anticlimactic because everyone was in agreement.
She made a fashion statement.
Thats the shit that I love.
Thats also why my wife loves and hates to watch TV with me.
I just sit there talking and shes like, You cant just shut up and watch this?
I wanted to talk a bit about political correctness and people who get offended easily.
Its a bit of a paradox.
Some comics say audiences are easily offended, but if people werent offended, youd would be pushing boundaries.
Youd be preaching to the choir.I dont think theyre easily offended.
You dont need that many people flipping out and theyll turn it into a story.
People, generally speaking, are intelligent.
They know theyre watching a comedian, and they understand that its a joke.
If you were president and 1,499 out of 1,500 approved of you, youd be like a king!
I dont go up there to offend people.
I go up there to make you laugh.
You go up there and you just have to go into original areas.
Im never going up there to be like, Oh, who am I going to offend tonight?
I dont look at it that way.
