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Sinbad is a legend, in more than one sense of the word.
Yes, he is one of the greats, but its beyond that.
Sinbad is a sort of folk hero, with stories about him passed between comedians like myths.
Hes being present onstage incarnate.
Theres no one like Sinbad.
Listen to the episode and read a short excerpt of the discussion below.
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Im the kind of guy that no matter what job I would have had, I wouldve got fired.
I just got mental issues.
And somehow, that translated over to stand-up.
It was like everything got quiet.
I didnt know you were supposed to write jokes.
I didnt know how people did that.
For me, someone says, Hey man, talk about riding your bike.
Thats how my routine comes.
Ill go onstage and I start talking about riding my bike and it becomes a routine.
I dont have any set formula, other than, Heres five subjects I might talk about.
Or I might ask the audience, What do you want to talk about tonight?
Are you always taking in things to talk about?
People always say Robin Williams was sort of a sponge.They said he stole.
He did not steal.
He made your unfunny stuff funny.
He made your stuff better.
It would be different if he stole your joke and it was the same.
He took your sad little joke and he made it funnier.
I have to be careful.
Your style doesnt really work for late night, where they expect something tight and planned.
Did you ever do late-night spots like that?Yeah man, I did em all.
I did all the late-night spots.
I dont even know why.
I said, Dude, you know what?
One day, youll have no choice.
Its not about you.
The magics gonna happen.
I said, I dont know.
They said, Well, Letterman likes to know.
They said, Even Robin Williams does it.
I said, Thats a lie.
He might tell you one thing and then do another.
He said, Well, I dont know if were gonna do it.
I put my coat on, I said, I cant miss what I never had.
I had my family with me.
So I said, Im walking out.
They go, What?
And my brother, who was manager at the time, just gave them a bunch of jokes.
I got mad at my brother.
I said, Man, dont ever do that again.
He knows Im crazy.
He goes, yo, yo, for me, yo.
So I did the show.
He asked me one of the things my brother gave him and I just went different directions.
I guess sometimes they dont trust that it can be funny.
We had so much fun, he said, Man, we gotta do this again.
And then I just came back a few more times.
Though youre improvising, how do you think about a set as a whole?
Are you full speed ahead the entire time?Full speed ahead.
You dont …Full speed ahead, man.
I remember one time I was onstage performing and a woman said, You have to stop.
I have to get air.
I said, Okay, go ahead and get your air.
And I just spoke to her, You okay?
And I started up again.
But those are moments that I love.
I love the moments that are real like that.
Even just seeing me on a stand-up special is not watching me live.
Watching me live, I do two-and-half hours, three hours.
Watching me live is like watching a band.
Thats what I want.
When you see me live, you got something you didnt get from watching my special.
Are you worried about phones and audiences being in the moment?
Theres companies now that can lock up peoples phones.Oh yeah.
Dude, they did that to me.
Dave Chappelle had just been in a comedy club I was at and they passed this little bag around.
I said, Look man, yo dont lock those bags.
I said, I dont care if you tape this.
Ill write some new stuff.
Do you feel like your comedy is a conversation, then?
Do you feel like youre talking with the audience?Its a conversation, but its more than that.
If youre playing basketball and there are no fans there, you gonna really play hard?
There was that one special where they were bragging about how there was nobody in the audience.
Im just going to put myself out there.
Theres this new thing about comics.
Either youre funny or not.
If youre not funny, stop.
Half the fun is the audience, man.
Yeah, I want my audiences there.
Its not to prove theyre laughing.
Its like watching Woodstock.
I want to see Jimi [Hendrix] play and I want to see people jumping in the mud.
I want to see both.
Cause now when I watching it, I get excited.
You want to capture that this evening happened, beyond the material happened.Why the hell are you doing comedy?
Why are you on the stage?
What, youre just better than other people?
Youre just,Oh, Im so deep.
No one gets me.
Then why dont you go sit on a park bench by yourself and talk to some pigeons, man?
Do you get hecklers?
Do you care about hecklers?I love hecklers.
Why?I dont think Ive ever had a heckler thrown out.
To me, thats a conversation.
Thats not a heckle.
If its a good one, theyve been waiting all night to get you.
This guy might have been waiting all year.
Heres his one joke.
The crowd loves it.
Let em get you.
Like, All right man, that was good one.
He goes home with his victory and you proved that you dont have thin skin.
Theres nothing sadder than watching a comic get mad at a good heckle.
Youve said youve never bombed.
But, like any comedian, youve had shows where things clicked or didnt.
What for you is a bad show?
What is a good show?Ive had shows where the audience gives you the most they have.
Back in the beginning, you have certain jokes you end with.
But I learned to trust.
I had one of those nights and they were just sitting there and they were tittering.
I walked offstage and this person said, Thats the best comedy Ive ever seen.
I said, What?
And I finally went, Thats all they had.
I almost said to them, You know what, Ill just leave.
I almost walked away.
And I said, Okay, all right.
If Im onstage, Ill never stop.
Ill just keep moving like youre having a great time.
Now, there are nights where I leave euphoric.
We had a good night in L.A. at the Saban Theater.
It was a two-and-a-half hour show.
There is one show that stands out in my mind.
Tierra Verde, Florida.
I just got started, 84.
The show was just going.
And I went too far.
I went too far.
I was talking to a couple.
I said, Why are you really with him?
She goes, I dont know.
He goes, Really?
And the audience started hating him and he got up and left.
It went so far that the guy walked out from his girl.
And when he left, I said, Well, are you better off?
She goes, I think I am.
She goes, Okay, lets try.
I said, Well get you a ride home.
I said, Okay, lets restart the show.
It was an hour and a half in.
I said, Lets restart the show without him and lets act like he was never with us.
And I walked offstage and came back onstage.
I said, Is there a man that finds her attractive that would hit on her a club?
He ends up sitting with her.
I said, I need yall to be a couple for the show.
And I asked them questions about how long theyd been dating.
And they were like, We just started.
And I went for another hour and a half.
Ten, 15 years after that, they were married.
They came to one of my shows.
I married that guy, she said.
He said he wouldnt date me because I was dating this other guy.
And I said, Jesus, man.
That was a night.
How do you know when a shows over?When I see them worn out.
Ive seen people fall asleep.
I see them in the front row.
I said, Are you done?
Sinbad, I just gotta go home.
Im having fun, but Im just really so tired.
