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There are few stand-ups as universally respected by stand-ups as Brian Regan.
you’re free to read some excerpts from the transcript or listen to the full episode below.
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Thats always the most difficult part of a routine for me.
I was fortunate enough to do a number of Lettermans [shows], and I do Fallons.
Its the first 30 seconds that you agonize over.
As far as the viewer is concerned, they know nothing about you.
Ladies and gentlemen, here is something.
Here is someone you know nothing about.
That might as well be the intro.
A lot of people can be funny and knock down the pins.
Its the setting up the pins that werent there to begin with.
So when you come out through a curtain, you have to set up pins quickly.
You have to go,Okay, I have to establish something.
Man, Im blanking on the guys name.
But I was agonizing before the taping about how to get into my first joke.
And this other guy said, Whats your first joke?
And I told him and he said, Why dont you just do the joke?
And Im like, What do you mean?
Like, just come right out and do it?
He goes, Yeah, why not?
And Im like, You have to come out and go, Hey, how is everybody doing?
He said, They know youre a comedian.
They know why theyre all sitting there.
Just come out and do the joke.
And I did, and it worked.
it’s possible for you to just come out and go, Here it is.
Audiences are willing to ride the ride.
Its says comedy out on the marquee.
Theyre not all out there scratching their head, going,Why is this guy telling us a joke?
I was worried everyone was just going to get up and leave right after that bit:Thats it.
We dont like you anymore.
I wasnt petrified about doing the bit.
I thought there were plenty of funny things about the subject, at least about my version of it.
But I was okay with that.
It made me feel good to give it a go.
Im very meticulous with how I put sets together and jokes together and words together.
I have a very mild version of it.
But, for comedy it has helped me in terms of keeping track of bits.
On the Impact of Social Anxiety to His Comedy
I was a huge fan of Johnny Carson.
Hows thats even possible?But I relate.
I put it this way: Im not the guy at the party with the lampshade on his head.
Its that way in comedy.
When Im onstage, its not a conversation; I can control everything.
I control what Im saying, what Im saying and how Im saying it, I control the timing.
But when you get me into a social situation, that can be so frustrating.
Youre at a party, youre telling a story, and somebody just comes in, Hey, Julie.
I like the observer part of comedy.
Its like Im observing things and Im noticing them and Im realizing what they do in my head.
Sometimes they make me feel dumb.
Sometimes they make me feel angry.
Sometimes they make me feel this way or that way, and thats where the comedy comes from.
Can you put me in a corner so I can observe?
Youre kind of expected to mingle.
This is what I want to say and this is how I want to say it.
I dont want to hit certain words that I think disproportionately get reactions.
As long as its organic to who you are, go for it.
But its not organic to me, at least as a comedian.
Its like, well,Im getting real.Well, Im real.
Theyre both pictures of something but seen in a different way.
Was one more real and one less real?
Then you could say that the photograph that was in color well, theres no sound.
So thats not real, you know what I mean?
Its just done differently, you know?
