WEBVTT 00:00:00.478 --> 00:00:04.145 (upbeat instrumental music) 00:00:05.980 --> 00:00:07.560 - [Shannon] Self-improvement-style advice 00:00:07.560 --> 00:00:11.190 is often a bunch of useless platitudes and nonsense 00:00:11.190 --> 00:00:13.470 peddled by people who just want money. 00:00:13.470 --> 00:00:16.450 And it's even worse online with clickbait listicles 00:00:16.450 --> 00:00:19.830 and the YouTube video version of clickbait listicles. 00:00:19.830 --> 00:00:22.410 Or at least that was certainly my experience when Googling, 00:00:22.410 --> 00:00:25.270 how to be funny or how to get funnier. 00:00:25.270 --> 00:00:29.000 Either you get weird sociopathic woo-woo pickup artist. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:29.880 - What's up? 00:00:29.880 --> 00:00:31.866 This is Will Powers from Evolution of Man. 00:00:31.866 --> 00:00:33.680 And what I want to talk to you about today 00:00:33.680 --> 00:00:35.660 is high-status humor 00:00:35.660 --> 00:00:38.240 or what I like to call, prize frame humor. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:39.810 - [Shannon] Trick people into liking you 00:00:39.810 --> 00:00:41.700 or trick women into thinking you're funny 00:00:41.700 --> 00:00:43.240 so they'll sleep with you stuff. 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:44.270 - Hiya fellow Pinnacle Person. 00:00:44.270 --> 00:00:46.120 So in this video you're gonna learn exactly 00:00:46.120 --> 00:00:48.668 a couple ways how to make a girl roll over with laughter 00:00:48.668 --> 00:00:51.470 and basically make her laugh all the way to your bed. 00:00:51.470 --> 00:00:54.010 - [Shannon] Or really, really basic structural advice 00:00:54.010 --> 00:00:58.470 on comedy, yes and, rule of threes, or, y'know, 00:00:58.470 --> 00:01:03.050 put down your phone, be yourself, which isn't helpful. 00:01:03.050 --> 00:01:05.490 There's a lot I want to talk about in this video 00:01:05.490 --> 00:01:07.730 but in the interest of differentiating myself 00:01:07.730 --> 00:01:10.150 from clickbait or stringing viewers along 00:01:10.150 --> 00:01:13.010 before I get to my central thesis, 00:01:13.010 --> 00:01:15.840 the central theory I've concocted on the fastest way 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:20.810 to be funny, the fastest and most direct way to get funnier, 00:01:20.810 --> 00:01:22.870 I'm just going to say it outright right now. 00:01:22.870 --> 00:01:25.040 The fastest way to get funnier 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:28.080 is to put yourself in a position where being funny 00:01:28.080 --> 00:01:31.710 is rewarded and not being funny is punished. 00:01:31.710 --> 00:01:33.610 A lot of resources for being funnier, 00:01:33.610 --> 00:01:36.710 especially specific resources for improv or telling jokes 00:01:36.710 --> 00:01:39.260 in conversation or for stand-up comedy, 00:01:39.260 --> 00:01:41.440 look at comedy like a math problem 00:01:41.440 --> 00:01:43.750 where you take an established rule or format 00:01:43.750 --> 00:01:45.440 and slot your own experiences 00:01:45.440 --> 00:01:48.070 or observations into that formula. 00:01:48.070 --> 00:01:50.180 Of course, if you're trying to be funny 00:01:50.180 --> 00:01:53.130 it helps to learn the established mechanics of comedy. 00:01:53.130 --> 00:01:56.166 Especially with specific comedic art forms or formats, 00:01:56.166 --> 00:01:58.350 you should bare minimum have an understanding 00:01:58.350 --> 00:02:00.110 of what people before you figured out 00:02:00.110 --> 00:02:02.680 the same way any narrative filmmaker should at least know 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:05.760 what shot reverse shot and a 180 degree rule are 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:08.020 even if they choose not to adhere to them. 00:02:08.020 --> 00:02:10.590 This approach is certainly helpful as a foundation. 00:02:10.590 --> 00:02:13.405 But in my experience you should look at comedy 00:02:13.405 --> 00:02:15.210 the same way you would look at learning 00:02:15.210 --> 00:02:19.340 a complicated language or a series of different 00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:21.600 though interconnected complicated languages 00:02:21.600 --> 00:02:24.650 whose communicability and success are very subjective 00:02:24.650 --> 00:02:27.570 and dependent on audience rather than as a checklist 00:02:27.570 --> 00:02:30.940 or a chart or a math problem or as some objective puzzle 00:02:30.940 --> 00:02:34.120 you solve and then become the crowned king of subversion. 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:35.390 I don't speak French and, yeah, 00:02:35.390 --> 00:02:38.110 I'd learn some French through Duolingo or French classes 00:02:38.110 --> 00:02:41.250 at a college or online, but if I wanted to be fluent, 00:02:41.250 --> 00:02:43.340 the quickest shortcut is to go to a country 00:02:43.340 --> 00:02:45.820 where people speak French and force myself 00:02:45.820 --> 00:02:48.930 to speak to people and to learn the language to get around 00:02:48.930 --> 00:02:51.760 and function and try to interact with a society 00:02:51.760 --> 00:02:53.630 that is fluent in this language. 00:02:53.630 --> 00:02:55.560 And deal with my own failures in learning it 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:58.540 as they exist as a barrier in interaction, 00:02:58.540 --> 00:03:00.520 which is perhaps a more intense motivator 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:03.420 than a bad grade or a green cartoon owl. 00:03:03.420 --> 00:03:04.253 To me that's the difference 00:03:04.253 --> 00:03:07.570 between having an encyclopedic knowledge of joke formats 00:03:07.570 --> 00:03:11.040 and memorizing every Carlin or whoever bit, 00:03:11.040 --> 00:03:12.570 and writing all your jokes in a vacuum 00:03:12.570 --> 00:03:14.390 with just you yourself or you 00:03:14.390 --> 00:03:15.980 and all the people who already like you 00:03:15.980 --> 00:03:18.150 and will only ever laugh and support you, 00:03:18.150 --> 00:03:20.740 versus actually going out and performing stand-up 00:03:20.740 --> 00:03:23.540 night after night to a bar full of apathetic drunks 00:03:23.540 --> 00:03:26.550 and feeling intensely which jokes work and which jokes bomb 00:03:26.550 --> 00:03:29.060 and then obsessively tweaking them night after night 00:03:29.060 --> 00:03:31.250 and hanging around other stand-up comics 00:03:31.250 --> 00:03:33.190 who are sometimes vicious and bitter people 00:03:33.190 --> 00:03:35.890 who are very withholding of laughter and validation 00:03:35.890 --> 00:03:37.750 and trying to get along with them and fit in. 00:03:37.750 --> 00:03:40.020 Try being unfunny in that environment 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:41.850 and see how it makes you feel. 00:03:41.850 --> 00:03:44.680 I think my answer to the question of how to be funny 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:47.350 is a very ugly and unpleasant answer. 00:03:47.350 --> 00:03:49.470 It might not be good for you as a human being. 00:03:49.470 --> 00:03:52.070 It might not develop healthy interpersonal traits 00:03:52.070 --> 00:03:53.940 and in fact it can do the opposite. 00:03:53.940 --> 00:03:55.840 Like with a lot of other art and performance, 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:58.400 you might sacrifice other aspects of yourself for it. 00:03:58.400 --> 00:04:00.510 It's not healthy to invest your self-worth 00:04:00.510 --> 00:04:03.320 in the approval of an audience or of your peers, 00:04:03.320 --> 00:04:06.220 especially approval based on laughter response, 00:04:06.220 --> 00:04:07.230 but that's the shortcut. 00:04:07.230 --> 00:04:10.520 And as far as I can tell, every funny person I've ever known 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:12.520 has experienced some form of it. 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:15.720 I made fun of the self-help and creepy pickup artist aspects 00:04:15.720 --> 00:04:18.500 of being funny, but there's a lot of truth to the concept 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:20.550 of learning to be funny out of desperation 00:04:20.550 --> 00:04:23.210 and lack of an alternative, as a way to be liked, 00:04:23.210 --> 00:04:24.630 whether by people you're attracted to 00:04:24.630 --> 00:04:27.310 or by people generally, and as a way to get attention 00:04:27.310 --> 00:04:29.320 and validation you don't get elsewhere, 00:04:29.320 --> 00:04:31.090 and as a way to avoid violence. 00:04:31.090 --> 00:04:33.180 Making fun of yourself before someone else can 00:04:33.180 --> 00:04:36.240 as a defense mechanism or using humor defensively 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:39.910 in an aggressive way or to disarm a threat, break tension, 00:04:39.910 --> 00:04:42.070 or de-escalate an intense situation. 00:04:42.070 --> 00:04:44.320 You also don't have to be funny to be liked. 00:04:44.320 --> 00:04:46.110 There are so many other things that are more valuable 00:04:46.110 --> 00:04:48.050 in a person than being funny. 00:04:48.050 --> 00:04:50.880 Kindness and empathy and openness and flexibility 00:04:50.880 --> 00:04:53.660 and vulnerability, that can sometimes be lacking 00:04:53.660 --> 00:04:55.070 in super funny people. 00:04:55.070 --> 00:04:58.220 Humor can be a shortcut to being liked and accepted, 00:04:58.220 --> 00:04:59.850 and I've known people who are really funny 00:04:59.850 --> 00:05:02.030 and fun to be around and riff with 00:05:02.030 --> 00:05:03.450 but who aren't the best people. 00:05:03.450 --> 00:05:06.080 Improv is collaborative, filmmaking is collaborative, 00:05:06.080 --> 00:05:08.770 any kind of collaborative art is maybe going to be harder 00:05:08.770 --> 00:05:11.760 to be successful at if you're a total antisocial jerk 00:05:11.760 --> 00:05:14.430 to people, but stand-up is a very solitary art, 00:05:14.430 --> 00:05:17.060 and there's so little incentive for someone who is funny 00:05:17.060 --> 00:05:20.480 and who is good at it to also be a nice, empathetic person. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:22.310 I'm not saying someone is a good or better person 00:05:22.310 --> 00:05:25.220 because they do improv versus stand-up, that's absurd. 00:05:25.220 --> 00:05:28.130 And I have so many friends I love and respect who I met 00:05:28.130 --> 00:05:30.820 when they were doing stand-up and some of them still do it, 00:05:30.820 --> 00:05:32.620 and while I have a tremendous amount of respect 00:05:32.620 --> 00:05:34.400 for accomplished improv comedians, 00:05:34.400 --> 00:05:35.920 I actually prefer to watch stand-up 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:38.780 and prefer it as an art form, in part because bad stand-up 00:05:38.780 --> 00:05:42.070 as a singular five minutes at a time at an open mic art form 00:05:42.070 --> 00:05:44.860 is tolerable, but bad failed improv 00:05:44.860 --> 00:05:47.370 because of the more vulnerable and sincere 00:05:47.370 --> 00:05:50.270 and supportive collaborative nature of it, is so bad, 00:05:50.270 --> 00:05:52.800 it's like the worst thing in the world to watch. 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:55.540 I'd cringe so hard and feel so bad for people 00:05:55.540 --> 00:05:57.750 and don't enjoy it whereas with like open mic stand-up 00:05:57.750 --> 00:05:58.850 it's like, okay, in three minutes 00:05:58.850 --> 00:06:01.090 this will turn over to the next person. 00:06:01.090 --> 00:06:02.554 A lot of current edgier comedians 00:06:02.554 --> 00:06:05.790 and older "you can't joke about anything anymore" 00:06:05.790 --> 00:06:08.760 dinosaur comedians put too much value on being funny 00:06:08.760 --> 00:06:13.070 as the pinnacle of human cultural achievement or something 00:06:13.070 --> 00:06:15.730 in a really egomaniacal way to shield themselves 00:06:15.730 --> 00:06:18.460 from criticism or introspection or evolution, 00:06:18.460 --> 00:06:20.435 as if being funny is both static 00:06:20.435 --> 00:06:23.490 and important above all else. 00:06:23.490 --> 00:06:25.510 Such a noble and subversive cause 00:06:25.510 --> 00:06:27.850 to tell hack rape jokes at an open mic. 00:06:27.850 --> 00:06:30.552 You know, the content of the joke, the impact of the joke, 00:06:30.552 --> 00:06:33.070 what telling the joke is doing to the comic, 00:06:33.070 --> 00:06:35.840 whatever you are sacrificing in yourself or in others 00:06:35.840 --> 00:06:38.419 to get there, not just in offensive jokes, 00:06:38.419 --> 00:06:42.687 but the strain of really personal or self-deprecating jokes. 00:06:42.687 --> 00:06:45.330 Not that they're all straining, but the potential strain. 00:06:45.330 --> 00:06:47.040 That doesn't matter, all that matters 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:49.410 to these people is being funny. 00:06:49.410 --> 00:06:52.711 And they have their way to be funny, this, masculine, mean, 00:06:52.711 --> 00:06:55.900 unempathetic, aggressive style focused on domination 00:06:55.900 --> 00:06:58.080 and resistant to shifting cultural mores, 00:06:58.080 --> 00:06:59.600 and that's what's funny. 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:02.560 For one, if you're really the funniest person in the world, 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:04.130 pretending humor is some kind 00:07:04.130 --> 00:07:06.310 of measurable objective quotient. 00:07:06.310 --> 00:07:07.570 It's not an audience's fault 00:07:07.570 --> 00:07:09.040 if they don't think you're funny, 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:10.990 especially if your material panders to people 00:07:10.990 --> 00:07:13.440 of your own belief set and alienates everyone else. 00:07:13.440 --> 00:07:17.246 If you think a cliched, hacky, shallow pro-feminism joke 00:07:17.246 --> 00:07:21.351 or Cheeto in chief anti-Trump joke is virtue signaling 00:07:21.351 --> 00:07:24.490 and bad comedy and the death of comedy 00:07:24.490 --> 00:07:25.897 but you get on stage and tell a, 00:07:25.897 --> 00:07:28.950 "there's too many genders now" joke and think that's brave 00:07:28.950 --> 00:07:30.340 and funny for no other reason 00:07:30.340 --> 00:07:31.970 than because it reaffirms your beliefs 00:07:31.970 --> 00:07:33.830 and upsets people you disagree with, 00:07:33.830 --> 00:07:36.440 and when it bombs you lean into it and say people 00:07:36.440 --> 00:07:39.147 who criticize you are too sensitive then you're deluded 00:07:39.147 --> 00:07:42.270 on top of being unfunny and having bad opinions. 00:07:42.270 --> 00:07:46.150 And two, there being a time and a place for everything 00:07:46.150 --> 00:07:49.660 and always trying to have room for context and for empathy 00:07:49.660 --> 00:07:52.810 is such a foundational, basic social etiquette. 00:07:52.810 --> 00:07:54.540 One time several years ago, I was hanging out with 00:07:54.540 --> 00:07:57.140 some people who had just lost a relative in a car accident. 00:07:57.140 --> 00:07:59.620 We were at a party playing Apples to Apples. 00:07:59.620 --> 00:08:03.150 And one of the cards I got dealt was, a car crash. 00:08:03.150 --> 00:08:05.930 I'm 100% a morbid sicko who finds jokes about grief 00:08:05.930 --> 00:08:07.960 and death funny and in another game 00:08:07.960 --> 00:08:10.330 I'm sure I could have found a good use for that card. 00:08:10.330 --> 00:08:13.168 But in that moment I felt dread about the possibility 00:08:13.168 --> 00:08:15.527 of even accidentally playing it. 00:08:15.527 --> 00:08:17.240 Not only were the people I was playing with 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:20.080 not sickos like me, they took the game very literally 00:08:20.080 --> 00:08:22.670 and probably wouldn't have found that card funny anyway, 00:08:22.670 --> 00:08:25.470 but even if the card combination would have made me laugh 00:08:25.470 --> 00:08:27.490 or made other people around laugh, 00:08:27.490 --> 00:08:29.070 whatever I woulda gotten out of that 00:08:29.070 --> 00:08:31.300 would not have been worth upsetting people 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:32.600 who just lost someone 00:08:32.600 --> 00:08:35.330 But by the rule of like, putting being funny first, 00:08:35.330 --> 00:08:36.780 I should have shown those cucks 00:08:36.780 --> 00:08:39.210 and made my car accident joke and called them babies 00:08:39.210 --> 00:08:41.270 who don't appreciate the nuanced fine art of comedy 00:08:41.270 --> 00:08:42.810 if they looked put off or upset 00:08:42.810 --> 00:08:45.500 by me being massively disrespectful. 00:08:45.500 --> 00:08:48.357 I was never, like, an online bigot or harasser. 00:08:48.357 --> 00:08:50.420 I never told anyone to kill themselves 00:08:50.420 --> 00:08:51.777 or anything horrible like that, 00:08:51.777 --> 00:08:53.530 and I talked about this a lot already 00:08:53.530 --> 00:08:55.510 in my political correctness video if you want to see 00:08:55.510 --> 00:08:58.270 how I feel more specifically about edgy comedy. 00:08:58.270 --> 00:08:59.860 This video isn't really, I talk about edgy comedy 00:08:59.860 --> 00:09:01.307 in this video, but that's not really what it's about. 00:09:01.307 --> 00:09:03.110 But that video is definitely about that 00:09:03.110 --> 00:09:04.430 so link in the description. 00:09:04.430 --> 00:09:06.610 This is kind of a companion video to that one. 00:09:06.610 --> 00:09:08.610 But I spent my late teens and early twenties 00:09:08.610 --> 00:09:12.280 glued to a computer posting on 4chan and edgy forums 00:09:12.280 --> 00:09:13.850 and then spent my mid-twenties hanging out 00:09:13.850 --> 00:09:15.540 with stand-up comics around Atlanta. 00:09:15.540 --> 00:09:17.930 And I definitely did get funnier and a lot better 00:09:17.930 --> 00:09:21.800 at a specific brand of very cutting, very mean humor. 00:09:21.800 --> 00:09:24.870 And that helped my acceptance in those communities, 00:09:24.870 --> 00:09:26.550 especially the online ones. 00:09:26.550 --> 00:09:28.000 More so the online ones. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.890 If you're unfunny in an environment 00:09:30.890 --> 00:09:33.530 where all people really care about is who is funny 00:09:33.530 --> 00:09:36.520 and dominating each other or dominating outsiders 00:09:36.520 --> 00:09:38.930 in that very, especially mid-to late-2000s 00:09:38.930 --> 00:09:42.350 masculine online humor way, I mean, then you're worthless 00:09:42.350 --> 00:09:44.280 to that environment's value system, 00:09:44.280 --> 00:09:46.540 and nobody wants to feel worthless. 00:09:46.540 --> 00:09:49.030 Then I got older and I realized that being funny 00:09:49.030 --> 00:09:51.910 at the expense of other people who don't deserve it 00:09:51.910 --> 00:09:55.167 or, even separate from edgy or politically correct humor, 00:09:55.167 --> 00:09:57.730 seeing being funny as a competition, 00:09:57.730 --> 00:10:01.040 as if laughs and approval are a limited resource 00:10:01.040 --> 00:10:03.210 and you have to immediately humiliate 00:10:03.210 --> 00:10:05.880 and just gut someone if they vie for that resource 00:10:05.880 --> 00:10:07.440 or having friendships where you get that high 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:09.870 from riffing with someone where you make each other laugh 00:10:09.870 --> 00:10:12.690 and you can kind of indulge in being a little meaner 00:10:12.690 --> 00:10:14.740 until you realize what you were indulging in 00:10:14.740 --> 00:10:17.320 sometimes went too far and was not healthy. 00:10:17.320 --> 00:10:19.410 I had learned a lot about how to be funny 00:10:19.410 --> 00:10:20.850 that I kind of had to forget, 00:10:20.850 --> 00:10:23.210 and I let go of unhealthy relationships where humor 00:10:23.210 --> 00:10:24.760 was the only real foundation. 00:10:24.760 --> 00:10:26.990 Like, I had to learn that lesson multiple times 00:10:26.990 --> 00:10:29.170 over years of my life. 00:10:29.170 --> 00:10:30.640 And at this point while I find that style 00:10:30.640 --> 00:10:33.430 of dominance-oriented humor too mean 00:10:33.430 --> 00:10:34.930 for me to use all the time, 00:10:34.930 --> 00:10:37.360 while I'm occasionally tempted to indulge in it 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:39.340 or do laugh at it when other people use it, 00:10:39.340 --> 00:10:41.400 I certainly still appreciate irreverent humor 00:10:41.400 --> 00:10:43.900 when it's not targeted at marginalized people. 00:10:43.900 --> 00:10:46.610 It's inflexible and it is not appropriate 00:10:46.610 --> 00:10:49.480 for every situation that calls for humor in the first place. 00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:52.130 It's certainly not useful for general interactions 00:10:52.130 --> 00:10:54.660 with other human beings who aren't stand-up comics 00:10:54.660 --> 00:10:56.701 or irony poisoned internet freaks. 00:10:56.701 --> 00:10:57.840 I didn't write this 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:00.100 because I think I'm the funniest person ever 00:11:00.100 --> 00:11:02.680 or an expert on being personally funny 00:11:02.680 --> 00:11:05.330 I wrote it because I want to be funnier and I have struggled 00:11:05.330 --> 00:11:07.900 with being self-conscious about whether I'm as funny 00:11:07.900 --> 00:11:10.780 as other people I work with on podcasts or live shows 00:11:10.780 --> 00:11:13.770 at conventions, and I spent a period of time 00:11:13.770 --> 00:11:15.730 neurotically obsessing over it. 00:11:15.730 --> 00:11:17.910 I've been doing way more comedy-focused work 00:11:17.910 --> 00:11:19.330 or work where I need to be funny 00:11:19.330 --> 00:11:20.750 to keep up with everyone else. 00:11:20.750 --> 00:11:23.580 And at some point suddenly, in those situations, 00:11:23.580 --> 00:11:27.230 after five years of being Shannon Strucci, video essayist, 00:11:27.230 --> 00:11:28.920 it didn't matter at all if I could write 00:11:28.920 --> 00:11:30.940 and edit a compelling video essay 00:11:30.940 --> 00:11:32.830 because now I'm trying to establish myself 00:11:32.830 --> 00:11:34.490 in a very different field. 00:11:34.490 --> 00:11:35.800 Like, who cares? 00:11:35.800 --> 00:11:38.150 And I'm working regularly with people who have done stand-up 00:11:38.150 --> 00:11:41.040 for a decade or who have written professionally for TV 00:11:41.040 --> 00:11:43.670 or whatever and who I know they're funny. 00:11:43.670 --> 00:11:45.898 It's not a question to me if we're talking about them, 00:11:45.898 --> 00:11:48.240 and I was forced to get outside of my comfort zone 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:49.600 and work through some insecurities 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:50.910 that I would never have to have dealt with 00:11:50.910 --> 00:11:53.730 if I had stayed just a video essayist. 00:11:53.730 --> 00:11:56.820 Comedy helps in making video essays and making them engaging 00:11:56.820 --> 00:11:59.010 and I've tried to incorporate it into my work, 00:11:59.010 --> 00:12:01.180 and I am proud of some of the visual gags 00:12:01.180 --> 00:12:02.970 and editing gags I've come up with, 00:12:02.970 --> 00:12:05.490 but being okay at editing gags 00:12:05.490 --> 00:12:07.860 doesn't suddenly make me a comedian. 00:12:07.860 --> 00:12:09.800 We've had a lot of really cool and really funny guests 00:12:09.800 --> 00:12:12.130 on "Critical Bits," the podcast I'm on, 00:12:12.130 --> 00:12:14.250 but by far the time I was the most intimidated 00:12:14.250 --> 00:12:15.790 and felt the most pushed to be better 00:12:15.790 --> 00:12:17.410 was when we had Mark Meer on. 00:12:17.410 --> 00:12:19.470 Meer is probably best known for his voice work, 00:12:19.470 --> 00:12:22.310 but he's an incredible stage performer and improviser 00:12:22.310 --> 00:12:25.540 and tabletop role player and he was just so funny in a way 00:12:25.540 --> 00:12:27.890 that was so quick and weird and creative. 00:12:27.890 --> 00:12:29.150 - [Mark] You did more? 00:12:29.150 --> 00:12:30.030 Don't hog it all, you swine! 00:12:30.030 --> 00:12:31.730 - [Shannon] And he just threw himself into voices 00:12:31.730 --> 00:12:34.280 and bits that I either would have been too self-conscious 00:12:34.280 --> 00:12:37.300 and hesitant to do or not able to do in the first place. 00:12:37.300 --> 00:12:40.521 - [Mark] I am adult human like you. 00:12:40.521 --> 00:12:43.000 (group laughing) 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:43.833 - [Man] That explains-- 00:12:43.833 --> 00:12:45.923 - [Man] When he says that his skin ripples. 00:12:47.472 --> 00:12:51.160 - [Man] Why yes, normal Earth human, of course. 00:12:51.160 --> 00:12:54.600 - [Mark] Yes, the best kind, normal Earth human. 00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:56.700 - [Shannon] Either limited in my voice acting ability 00:12:56.700 --> 00:12:58.400 or in, not at this point, 00:12:58.400 --> 00:13:00.292 being capable of thinking that quickly. 00:13:00.292 --> 00:13:02.815 - [Mark] Okay, well, so long kids, best of luck. 00:13:02.815 --> 00:13:03.887 - [Shannon] Oh, can we like get 00:13:03.887 --> 00:13:05.523 your cell phone number or something? 00:13:05.523 --> 00:13:08.281 - [Mark] Oh, it's threep, okay, see you. 00:13:08.281 --> 00:13:10.590 (group laughing) 00:13:10.590 --> 00:13:12.450 - [Shannon] And we recorded that episode in person, too 00:13:12.450 --> 00:13:13.960 so here's this super funny man 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:16.310 with years of improv experience 00:13:16.310 --> 00:13:18.640 who's been doing voice acting for like 20 years 00:13:18.640 --> 00:13:21.070 just killing it sitting right in front of me. 00:13:21.070 --> 00:13:23.997 And I'm trying to play off of that and trying to keep up. 00:13:23.997 --> 00:13:26.090 And I didn't bomb, I think I did well. 00:13:26.090 --> 00:13:28.997 - [Mark] As we we're walking, I'm also talking. 00:13:28.997 --> 00:13:32.575 So, you look like you've been having some fun. 00:13:32.575 --> 00:13:34.810 Tell me, what have you been up to, hm? 00:13:34.810 --> 00:13:36.810 - [Shannon] Oh, I'm sorry, I have no idea who you are. 00:13:36.810 --> 00:13:38.140 And I just start running away. 00:13:38.140 --> 00:13:40.450 - [Mark] Oh yes, well, I've seen better days 00:13:40.450 --> 00:13:42.166 as you can probably tell. 00:13:42.166 --> 00:13:44.890 Sheriff Raoul Duke, you don't remember? 00:13:44.890 --> 00:13:47.294 - [Shannon] Nope, and I, how far am I? 00:13:47.294 --> 00:13:48.600 (group laughing) 00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:51.300 But it still energized me to want to be better. 00:13:51.300 --> 00:13:52.770 On top of always wanting to be better 00:13:52.770 --> 00:13:54.360 when my co-hosts are so funny. 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:56.260 When you work with people who are good at what they do 00:13:56.260 --> 00:13:59.080 you want to honor that and at least keep up with them. 00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:01.520 So I'm a lot better about it now and more comfortable 00:14:01.520 --> 00:14:04.700 but especially in 2019, I got very in my own head 00:14:04.700 --> 00:14:06.490 about trying to be funnier and be funny 00:14:06.490 --> 00:14:09.310 without indulging in being mean, and at the same time 00:14:09.310 --> 00:14:11.660 I got a couple of very flattering CuriousCats 00:14:11.660 --> 00:14:14.170 asking about being funnier, like this one 00:14:14.170 --> 00:14:15.530 referencing "Critical Bits" 00:14:15.530 --> 00:14:17.290 I'll link the full answer in the description. 00:14:17.290 --> 00:14:19.300 There's more comedy advice there from me and my friends 00:14:19.300 --> 00:14:21.190 that I don't go into in this video, 00:14:21.190 --> 00:14:23.280 which maybe I'll talk about in a future video. 00:14:23.280 --> 00:14:25.410 I don't know, more sort of structural advice 00:14:25.410 --> 00:14:26.467 and advice for stuff to check out. 00:14:26.467 --> 00:14:29.270 But the question was, how does one improve 00:14:29.270 --> 00:14:32.230 at the improvised banter you and the crew have on the bits? 00:14:32.230 --> 00:14:35.620 Would improv classes be worth it, if you've ever taken them? 00:14:35.620 --> 00:14:36.730 And here's part of my answer 00:14:36.730 --> 00:14:39.000 that I basically based this essay on. 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:41.550 The most direct answer that I could come up with, 00:14:41.550 --> 00:14:44.360 and it sounds kind of harsh or like sociopathic 00:14:44.360 --> 00:14:47.070 or something, is that if you spend time in an environment 00:14:47.070 --> 00:14:48.680 that rewards you for being funny 00:14:48.680 --> 00:14:50.680 and punishes you for not being funny, 00:14:50.680 --> 00:14:52.560 you get way funnier way faster. 00:14:52.560 --> 00:14:55.530 That isn't necessarily a good thing and those environments 00:14:55.530 --> 00:14:58.410 aren't always creatively or emotionally supportive 00:14:58.410 --> 00:15:01.790 or nurturing, but that's kind of the shortcut, 00:15:01.790 --> 00:15:04.300 like going to another country when studying a language 00:15:04.300 --> 00:15:06.600 to force yourself to learn to speak it. 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:08.707 When we were all talking about this Joel said, 00:15:08.707 --> 00:15:10.830 "Tell them to just get funny friends. 00:15:10.830 --> 00:15:12.660 Then you'll all want to out-riff each other 00:15:12.660 --> 00:15:15.040 and will never have a real conversation again." 00:15:15.040 --> 00:15:16.470 And that is honestly what it's like 00:15:16.470 --> 00:15:18.560 when you hang out with comics, or in my case, 00:15:18.560 --> 00:15:21.470 comics or edgy internet forums circa 2008. 00:15:21.470 --> 00:15:24.390 And that is kind of the language everyone speaks in. 00:15:24.390 --> 00:15:25.500 And if you can't keep up 00:15:25.500 --> 00:15:27.560 you get left behind in the conversation. 00:15:27.560 --> 00:15:30.200 Again, this kind of environment can be very unhealthy. 00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:31.230 I have quit being friends 00:15:31.230 --> 00:15:32.830 with a lot of the funniest people I know 00:15:32.830 --> 00:15:35.440 because they were also mean/selfish people 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:37.330 who used laughter as validation. 00:15:37.330 --> 00:15:41.080 And "be around funny people" isn't really viable advice. 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:43.350 But you could try going to stand-up or improv shows 00:15:43.350 --> 00:15:46.200 and try doing stand-up even if you don't take classes. 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:48.620 I think my answer for myself is, 00:15:48.620 --> 00:15:51.410 especially since the idea of just doing straight improv 00:15:51.410 --> 00:15:53.810 or taking improv classes or doing stand-up, 00:15:53.810 --> 00:15:57.040 are all not anything I am remotely interested in 00:15:57.040 --> 00:15:58.770 just because of my own disposition, 00:15:58.770 --> 00:16:00.790 I'm just going to have to endure that vulnerability 00:16:00.790 --> 00:16:03.214 of learning how to be funnier without relying on bad habits 00:16:03.214 --> 00:16:08.040 as I go and as I get better on mic on the internet, 00:16:08.040 --> 00:16:10.800 recorded forever, working to keep up with people 00:16:10.800 --> 00:16:13.030 with years more experience than me, 00:16:13.030 --> 00:16:15.350 and always reading and watching and listening to 00:16:15.350 --> 00:16:17.970 and playing funny media as inspiration. 00:16:17.970 --> 00:16:19.710 - [Man] Hello, baby! 00:16:19.710 --> 00:16:21.157 - [Shannon] But I'm glad I'm at least pushing myself 00:16:21.157 --> 00:16:22.250 and learning more. 00:16:22.250 --> 00:16:25.290 And it's not that I'm unfunny, or that I think I'm unfunny. 00:16:25.290 --> 00:16:27.080 Fans do think I'm funny on the show 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:29.370 and I know in conversation or on panels 00:16:29.370 --> 00:16:30.890 I can make people laugh. 00:16:30.890 --> 00:16:32.490 It's not that I suck at comedy. 00:16:32.490 --> 00:16:34.750 It's more that it's been a while since I challenged myself 00:16:34.750 --> 00:16:36.580 with anything creative in this way. 00:16:36.580 --> 00:16:37.980 I learned how to draw as a child, 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:39.700 I learned how to edit as a teenager, 00:16:39.700 --> 00:16:41.310 I've enjoyed writing all my life. 00:16:41.310 --> 00:16:43.840 I've gotten paid to do all three a bunch of times. 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:45.940 I'm not saying I'm the best at them, I just mean 00:16:45.940 --> 00:16:48.000 I'm not self-conscious about them at all. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:49.840 Like, I know that I can edit. 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:51.443 I've been editing for fifteen years, 00:16:51.443 --> 00:16:53.900 I've been drawing for like 25 years, 00:16:53.900 --> 00:16:55.310 since I was a small child. 00:16:55.310 --> 00:16:58.640 I haven't been podcasting for 25 years! 00:16:58.640 --> 00:17:00.680 And I've never done stand-up or improv 00:17:00.680 --> 00:17:02.370 or any serious comedy writing, 00:17:02.370 --> 00:17:06.200 so what hubris to just like assume I'd be as good at comedy, 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:08.730 at being funny, as people with years of experience 00:17:08.730 --> 00:17:11.321 in those when I've been spending years making video essays 00:17:11.321 --> 00:17:15.500 about auteur theory and reviewing Korean webcomics? 00:17:15.500 --> 00:17:18.610 Doc Hammer, one of the showrunners of "The Venture Brothers" 00:17:18.610 --> 00:17:20.640 and an accomplished oil painter, 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:22.477 said this once about his paintings. 00:17:22.477 --> 00:17:25.860 "Painting is showing up and dealing with sucking. 00:17:25.860 --> 00:17:28.250 People will get on me and tell me that I need to relax 00:17:28.250 --> 00:17:30.730 and take it easy, that I'm not really that bad. 00:17:30.730 --> 00:17:33.410 What they are missing is the arrogance of what I am saying, 00:17:33.410 --> 00:17:35.600 the fact that I know I suck proves that I know 00:17:35.600 --> 00:17:38.460 I am better than this, which is a very arrogant thing to do, 00:17:38.460 --> 00:17:40.880 so people should not be concerned with my self-esteem. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:42.810 When I say I suck, it actually means 00:17:42.810 --> 00:17:45.320 that this is not a representation of my ability. 00:17:45.320 --> 00:17:47.040 I know that inside me is better. 00:17:47.040 --> 00:17:50.370 Dealing with my sucking and proudly saying this sucks 00:17:50.370 --> 00:17:52.030 is how I get up and do it again. 00:17:52.030 --> 00:17:53.590 I can't let that thing get out there. 00:17:53.590 --> 00:17:56.237 I have to apologize for it with my next piece." 00:17:56.237 --> 00:18:00.010 And that's me with, like, failed jokes that I make. 00:18:00.010 --> 00:18:03.040 Anyone trying to get funnier in other mediums 00:18:03.040 --> 00:18:06.850 has to keep risking sucking and being vulnerable in that way 00:18:06.850 --> 00:18:09.240 to hopefully get better and get funnier 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:12.330 the same way stand-up comics and improvisers do onstage. 00:18:12.330 --> 00:18:14.250 But I also want to do it without being cruel 00:18:14.250 --> 00:18:16.820 and without relying too much on laughs for validation 00:18:16.820 --> 00:18:18.820 or my own self-image which are both traps 00:18:18.820 --> 00:18:21.280 that are easy to fall into and excused 00:18:21.280 --> 00:18:23.900 and encouraged in a lot of comedy environments. 00:18:23.900 --> 00:18:26.630 I also should say, again, since I make fun of it so much 00:18:26.630 --> 00:18:29.155 in this essay that I don't hate stand-up. 00:18:29.155 --> 00:18:33.350 I love stand-up, it's not for me personally to perform it, 00:18:33.350 --> 00:18:36.520 but I have so much respect for people who work so hard at it 00:18:36.520 --> 00:18:38.950 and are good at it and who transform the medium 00:18:38.950 --> 00:18:40.623 in such cool ways in ways 00:18:40.623 --> 00:18:42.410 that I never would have considered. 00:18:42.410 --> 00:18:44.240 And I didn't want this essay to be like, 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:47.200 Shannon Strucci's Manifesto Against Stand-Up Comedy 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:48.930 or to be perceived as some kind of reaction 00:18:48.930 --> 00:18:51.576 against bad personal experiences that I had. 00:18:51.576 --> 00:18:53.790 On my top films of the decade video 00:18:53.790 --> 00:18:56.630 a couple of people suggested "Nanette" to me. 00:18:56.630 --> 00:18:58.973 I've seen "Nanette" and I did not like it. 00:18:58.973 --> 00:19:01.090 I actually had a line about not liking "Nanette" 00:19:01.090 --> 00:19:02.520 in that video that I cut. 00:19:02.520 --> 00:19:04.400 The more I linger on it, the more I think 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.430 I kind of hated "Nanette". 00:19:06.430 --> 00:19:09.270 I have sympathy for Gadsby and respect for her, 00:19:09.270 --> 00:19:11.880 but I did not agree with her underlying message at all, 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:13.696 and as openly critical of the defensive 00:19:13.696 --> 00:19:16.900 and often unhealthy culture around stand-up as I am, 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:19.760 I could not follow her to the conclusions that she reached, 00:19:19.760 --> 00:19:22.020 especially knowing so many Atlanta queer comics 00:19:22.020 --> 00:19:24.160 and black comics and comics with mental illness 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:26.370 and female comics and other comics of color 00:19:26.370 --> 00:19:28.380 or comics from other marginalized groups 00:19:28.380 --> 00:19:29.790 or people who are a part of multiple 00:19:29.790 --> 00:19:32.390 or many marginalized communities who use comedy 00:19:32.390 --> 00:19:34.570 to talk about really difficult subjects, 00:19:34.570 --> 00:19:39.010 rape, racism, disability and ableism, self-harm, poverty, 00:19:39.010 --> 00:19:42.070 suicide attempts, in a way that is very meaningful 00:19:42.070 --> 00:19:43.230 and very funny. 00:19:43.230 --> 00:19:45.389 I should note, too, there's so much variance in comedy, 00:19:45.389 --> 00:19:47.427 even specifically in stand-up. 00:19:47.427 --> 00:19:51.397 I'm not saying all cutting comedy is toxic automatically 00:19:51.397 --> 00:19:56.210 or any more kind of intense, competitive comedic environment 00:19:56.210 --> 00:19:58.130 is inherently problematic or anything like that. 00:19:58.130 --> 00:20:01.137 I'm not like, sitting here saying, 00:20:01.137 --> 00:20:03.780 "Showtime at the Apollo" is inherently problematic 00:20:03.780 --> 00:20:07.720 and an example of toxic masculinity, or anything like that. 00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:11.220 And I'm not admonishing the concept of roasting people 00:20:11.220 --> 00:20:12.900 or of roasts generally. 00:20:12.900 --> 00:20:17.050 It's more what interpersonal issues that I experienced 00:20:17.050 --> 00:20:20.050 in the Atlanta comedy scene were kind of excused 00:20:20.050 --> 00:20:22.950 or exacerbated by the comedy culture. 00:20:22.950 --> 00:20:25.110 Not saying all comedy has to be nice, 00:20:25.110 --> 00:20:27.110 although that was sort of my point with the video, too, 00:20:27.110 --> 00:20:29.769 that sometimes nice and being funny are very at odds. 00:20:29.769 --> 00:20:31.530 And it's been quite an adjustment, I think, 00:20:31.530 --> 00:20:34.770 for stand-up comics to be doing shows over Zoom calls, 00:20:34.770 --> 00:20:36.320 and that's been very interesting. 00:20:36.320 --> 00:20:38.120 I didn't really want to talk about the pandemic earlier on 00:20:38.120 --> 00:20:40.104 in this essay, I didn't want to date it that much 00:20:40.104 --> 00:20:44.079 because I want this video to be up in the future. 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:46.310 And I do think if you want to get good at stand-up 00:20:46.310 --> 00:20:48.103 then you just have to go to open mics. 00:20:48.103 --> 00:20:50.380 You just have to do it and fail and do it and fail 00:20:50.380 --> 00:20:52.130 and do it and fail and slowly get better. 00:20:52.130 --> 00:20:54.460 It's my perception anyway. 00:20:54.460 --> 00:20:55.570 Anyway, thank you for watching. 00:20:55.570 --> 00:20:58.040 If you haven't seen my political correctness video that's, 00:20:58.040 --> 00:21:00.840 like I said, a good companion piece to this video, 00:21:00.840 --> 00:21:02.280 and you should definitely check that out. 00:21:02.280 --> 00:21:04.560 I'll link the Mark Meer "Critical Bits" episode 00:21:04.560 --> 00:21:07.210 in the description, but I think the funniest episode 00:21:07.210 --> 00:21:09.250 that we've done is probably Hoagie Allin 00:21:09.250 --> 00:21:11.880 which is the episode Branson Reese guested on. 00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:13.440 - [Branson] Today is the day that Hoagie Allin 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:15.500 is gonna take a man's life from him! 00:21:15.500 --> 00:21:18.400 An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:19.860 which is only fair! 00:21:19.860 --> 00:21:22.150 - [Shannon] Branson is a fantastic comic artist 00:21:22.150 --> 00:21:23.430 and improv comedian. 00:21:23.430 --> 00:21:24.410 - I'm Jimmy Buffett! 00:21:24.410 --> 00:21:25.897 - [Shannon] And actor and he has his own podcast, 00:21:25.897 --> 00:21:28.010 "Rude Tales of Magic" that's really, really good. 00:21:28.010 --> 00:21:31.850 It's really funny, and he played the very mean, 00:21:31.850 --> 00:21:36.340 petty character who wanted to kill one of the main cast 00:21:36.340 --> 00:21:37.463 named Hoagie Allin. 00:21:38.570 --> 00:21:40.640 And I think that's a good intro episode of the show as well 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:41.473 if you've never listened. 00:21:41.473 --> 00:21:43.050 I mean, there's spoilers, it's a little bit later on, 00:21:43.050 --> 00:21:44.320 but I think it's the best 00:21:44.320 --> 00:21:46.360 out-of-context episode for our show. 00:21:46.360 --> 00:21:47.475 - [Woman] Maybe you should be bad at like, 00:21:47.475 --> 00:21:48.593 the witch instead-- 00:21:48.593 --> 00:21:49.510 - [Branson] I'm not mad at the witch. 00:21:49.510 --> 00:21:50.690 She gave me a superpower! 00:21:50.690 --> 00:21:51.523 - [Woman] Oh. 00:21:51.523 --> 00:21:52.360 - [Branson] She said, "You're gonna have bad luck 00:21:52.360 --> 00:21:54.650 for the rest of your life unless you learn your lesson 00:21:54.650 --> 00:21:55.820 about how to treat other people 00:21:55.820 --> 00:21:57.243 and how to forgive them for stuff. 00:21:57.243 --> 00:21:59.415 That's it, that's a superpower! 00:21:59.415 --> 00:22:01.117 All I have to do is never learn my lesson 00:22:01.117 --> 00:22:03.770 and I have a power for the rest of my life, watch this! 00:22:03.770 --> 00:22:05.090 I'm gonna step out into the street 00:22:05.090 --> 00:22:07.759 right in front of a car. - Oh no, no! 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:10.770 - [Man] So the semi truck starts to, like, honk 00:22:10.770 --> 00:22:13.170 at Hoagie Allin and he does not move and then-- 00:22:13.170 --> 00:22:15.420 - [Branson] I do the, like Triple X like, suck it! 00:22:15.420 --> 00:22:16.950 - [Shannon] That's my favorite episode to link people. 00:22:16.950 --> 00:22:18.460 If you'd like to support me doing more of this, 00:22:18.460 --> 00:22:21.250 I have a Patreon and a Ko-fi, and we have merchandise 00:22:21.250 --> 00:22:24.057 both for "Critical Bits" and I had StrucciMovies merchandise 00:22:24.057 --> 00:22:26.450 but nobody bought it, but message me if you want to buy, 00:22:26.450 --> 00:22:30.560 like, a StrucciMovies sticker or postcard, I have 'em. 00:22:30.560 --> 00:22:32.270 But on the free Big Cartel 00:22:32.270 --> 00:22:33.800 you can only have five products at a time 00:22:33.800 --> 00:22:36.100 so now it's all "Critical Bits" stuff, thanks.