- 1 year ago
Bill Burr takes Variety behind the scenes of his Emmy-nominated stand-up special, "Drop Dead Years." He details the process of coming up with the "Sad Men" bit and how it represents a shift to a more introspective approach to his comedy. He opens up about dealing with depression, why he decided to film this special in Seattle and why he doesn't write down his jokes.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00I didn't feel the sad men thing was like a central part of my special.
00:03I just knew that it was worthy of being in a special.
00:05I felt, anyway.
00:06Men aren't allowed to be sad.
00:08We're allowed to be one of two things.
00:09We're allowed to be mad or fine.
00:11Here comes the negative comments.
00:17How you doing, Bill?
00:18I'm fine.
00:20You sure?
00:21Yeah, I'm sure.
00:22I said I was fine.
00:23The crowd is the ultimate test for a joke.
00:25If I do a joke and it doesn't work,
00:27then it just all comes down to how much I believe in it.
00:30But if I keep getting the same feedback,
00:32I'm not going to die on the hill.
00:33At the end of the day,
00:34I know that you paid money to be entertained,
00:36not to watch me stare at my shoes and try to say something deep.
00:41What happens is a lot of times I'll just say something.
00:45My wife laughs or a buddy of mine will laugh.
00:47And then I almost apologize.
00:48I think I'm going to have to take that to stage.
00:50And if I remember, I remember.
00:52If I don't, I don't.
00:53I'm not that guy in the middle of a conversation.
00:54Oh, can you hang on a second?
00:55And, you know, I got to write it down.
00:57I don't do that.
00:57I used to do that.
00:59I don't do that anymore.
01:00I respect people that do it that way.
01:02But for me, what that does, it gets me locked in here.
01:07People think I'm like how I am on stage all the time,
01:09just walking around going,
01:10Oh, look at this.
01:12I'm doing that all the time.
01:13So for me to say I have like depression issues,
01:16like I just think that struck them as funny
01:19because it was just something new as opposed to being like,
01:22you know, if I say I have anger issues and they laugh,
01:25I get that they're laughing because that's what I'm showing.
01:27But like if I'm going like, hey, here's what's behind that.
01:31I have like depression issues.
01:34I couldn't believe it.
01:35I always hate it when people are fucking depressed.
01:36Shut up, you fucking pussy.
01:38Just get up and plow through it.
01:40Sad men bit came about from being a sad man.
01:44I thought I was regular, normal, whatever that is.
01:46And then I took mushrooms a couple of times and I learned some things like,
01:49Oh, wow, man.
01:50I'm like stuff that I didn't think affected me, affected me.
01:55Mushrooms was the thing that I was like, Oh,
01:58I didn't realize this.
02:02That first mushroom trip was insane.
02:04Now I'm like, I've worked out a lot of stuff.
02:07When I was on mushrooms and I was feeling all of that sadness and all of this stuff,
02:12I know I wasn't writing anything down or anything.
02:16That sad man bit probably came like three or four trips later with mushrooms.
02:22And I really respect mushrooms.
02:23I don't just do them to do them to be goofy.
02:26Like I did one time when I went to a Billy Joel concert, it did not turn out well.
02:29I do it to learn and I only do it like once a year, once every year and a half.
02:34The first time I did it is when it was the most learning.
02:39It was like a three month thing after.
02:43Somebody said to me one time said, you know, anger is just pain.
02:47It's just hurt.
02:48And I started thinking about that.
02:50Keep it in the hurt, not in the anger.
02:53It's just the next logical question.
02:54Well, why am I hurt?
02:55And then it became that.
02:56Comics, we have really deep talks a lot of times.
03:00And I noticed a lot of my married friends were in a similar situation,
03:05that they loved the person that they were with.
03:06But to be married and come home and be lonely is something that needs to be addressed.
03:12And I don't know that a lot of guys know how to do that.
03:15And if you don't know how to do it, it's not the woman's fault that she doesn't know that you like that.
03:18It evolved through all of this stuff.
03:21A lot of fucked up shit happened to me.
03:23I never dealt with it.
03:24I just kind of kept putting it over here.
03:25You know, it just sort of floats over here.
03:28And I just made this rule in my head that I didn't care.
03:31I was just like, I don't give a fuck.
03:33I don't care.
03:33I would just say that in my head.
03:35I thought it meant I was tough.
03:36I'm not some whiny little bitch or whatever.
03:39But the reality was, yeah, it did hurt me.
03:41So that was the beginning of me walling off my feelings.
03:44So mushrooms kind of brought that out.
03:46Then I just started talking about it on stage,
03:49talking to other buddies of mine who are like married and stuff.
03:52The spotlight is really on the wife a lot of times and what we need to be doing and what we need to not be doing.
04:01And as a guy, you're standing down at the bottom.
04:03And, you know, a lot of women don't want to hear that.
04:06But it's true.
04:06Like they it's it's it's the them show a lot of times.
04:10So you have to learn kind of how to, like, communicate to them that you also have feelings and you have to do it in a non guy way,
04:18which is basically talking about your feelings, which I find weirds women out because they're not used to men talking like that.
04:25She goes, what's the matter?
04:26And I go, I'm sad.
04:28I go, I'm sad.
04:58I get the first night and still talk about this, which is hard because you already did it.
05:02She just went, oh.
05:05And then as I was sort of playing with it on stage, the reactions that I was getting from the guys, the way that they were laughing,
05:14let me know that I was on to something that was beyond myself.
05:17It's sort of one of the really fun things about doing stand up is when you think that you're doing this little personal thing and you're thinking like,
05:25is anybody going to get this is anybody relate to this?
05:27And then all of a sudden you hear this bigger laugh and it's like, oh, that went beyond we're laughing because we think what you're saying is strange.
05:35It's like we're relating to this.
05:36But all this in here is just called gay, right?
05:46It's just a giant bag of gay.
05:49All this in the middle is just a giant bag of gay.
05:51I came up with that probably like a week before doing the special and I was, you know, just riffing on it.
05:56I learned from guys like Dave Attell that a joke's never done.
05:58And it's also a way to not get tired of your act.
06:00When I was growing up, if you expressed anything, you either could laugh or be mad.
06:06You were either fine or you were upset.
06:08And those were the two emotions you were allowed to have as a guy.
06:12Anything else that you did in there, you were suspect.
06:16It could lead to like, you know, getting your ass kicked, being called gay or everything like that.
06:21So you just learn early on like, OK, just stay away from all of these like feelings and stuff.
06:27Men can cry.
06:28It's a valid emotion, but we act like it isn't like it's this anomaly, like you need to go to the doctor and get rid of it.
06:35And it's this really healing thing, but we are not allowed to do it.
06:38And this is the thing, too.
06:39Women, most women do not want to see their guy cry.
06:43They just don't want to see that because because it's still about them.
06:46And then she just walked out of the room.
06:50So it's like I thought I was with the tough guy.
06:52And if somebody came through the door, that makes them feel in a weird way.
06:55I think less safe.
06:56I don't know what it is, a guy in a relationship.
06:59You're like at the supermarket.
07:00And as far as emotions, you have to be in the eight items or less.
07:04And women can come up with like two, you know, carts full of stuff.
07:09Can I get a price check on daddy issues or whatever?
07:13You know, they're they're allowed to bring it all.
07:15As long as you're happy, I'm happy.
07:18Don't mind me.
07:19Hey, look at me.
07:20I'm over here.
07:20I'm learning how to make a crepe.
07:22Yeah, I'm learning how to make a crepe.
07:24Me using the reference of a crepe was true.
07:28And I actually did buy a crepe thing, whatever you call it, with the little knife and everything.
07:35I've yet to even use it.
07:36But I did it because learning new things fascinates me.
07:41Slash it's a way to not deal with my bullshit.
07:44Oh, look, I'm going to try this.
07:47So that was the bit.
07:48Wow, Bill, you have so many interests.
07:50That was the part of the joke where I felt like it really took off when it's just like,
07:55Oh, wow, Bill, you have so many interests.
07:57No, just sad.
07:58No, just sad.
08:00And I felt like not only were people relating to it, they also were kind of discovering like,
08:06I didn't know I did all these different things because I was sad.
08:10I was just like, wow, I like a lot of different things.
08:15It's like, no, if I sat still, the demons started coming up in my head.
08:19So then it was just like, oh, you know, I'm going to go drive up the Pacific Coast Highway.
08:23I mean, I got to go do something.
08:25If I'm moving, it doesn't catch up with me.
08:28So I will give you the number one place to see sad men.
08:32Guitar Center.
08:34The thing that amazed me the most, surprised me the most was the Guitar Center thing.
08:40A bunch of men in loveless marriages or divorce just walking around looking at the guitars.
08:47Is that a custom color?
08:48Is it?
08:49I wasn't the only one who felt this sad vibe in a Guitar Center.
08:55I thought that that was going to be a super inside joke.
08:58I thought that there was going to be some musicians in the crowd,
09:01maybe a couple of dead guitar player drummers or something.
09:05I thought that that was going to be like one of those jokes that's just sort of for me.
09:08And that was another one.
09:09I did that and it got this huge laugh.
09:13When people laugh, it's something that's really personal to you.
09:16It makes you feel like less of a freak.
09:19That punchline was always Guitar Center because from the first night, it was a huge laugh.
09:24Then I still didn't believe the laugh.
09:26I was like, oh, it's because I'm in L.A.
09:28There's a bunch of artists out here.
09:30Let me see when I go out on the road.
09:32And just every city I went to, it killed.
09:35The only place it laid flat was I was doing Chappelle's Comedy Club.
09:42And it didn't get anything.
09:43I was like, wow, that's weird.
09:44And then I searched and there's no Guitar Center in that area.
09:51Nice to be here in Seattle, man.
09:55I went to the Moore Theater in Seattle because Seattle's a great comedy town.
10:00I know, it always rains on you guys.
10:02You guys are all fucking depressed, right?
10:04Under the bridge doing whatever the fuck you're doing up here.
10:07They're a fun group of people to sort of wind up.
10:11They're almost tragically liberal.
10:13They're not as bad as Portland.
10:14Portland, Oregon is just like, it's almost performative.
10:16It's like, really?
10:17Do you really go that far?
10:19Is this an outfit or a costume?
10:21But Seattle has a really good mix of like super, super liberal and then like super, super right wing, you know?
10:29So I kind of trash both sides.
10:32And I've always wanted everybody to be there, you know, racially, politically and all of that.
10:38I don't like talking about something when the representative of it isn't there because then it takes on something different.
10:45I hate cheering.
10:48I like laughter.
10:50I don't want cheering.
10:51Like, yes, yes.
10:53Oh, my God.
10:55Thank you for saying that.
10:56That was so bad.
10:58Right.
10:59And then the right wing version of like, you know, I like you.
11:02You tell it like it is.
11:03And it's just like, oh, God, I tell it like it is.
11:05That's that's code for racist.
11:08Is this too sad for even Seattle?
11:11A joke is done when I'm sick of telling it, which is usually, you know, right about when I'm ready to, you know, tape a special.
11:22Actually, my favorite time in stand up is right after I taped a special.
11:26Oh, my God, it's like you just walking away from like enough, enough with that.
11:32And then also thinking like, I don't have to worry about doing this again for another two to three years.
11:37And I can just, you know, just sort of have fun.
11:42Although I will say with this special, I had fun right through the tapings.
11:45I had a great I don't care in a good way.
11:48Like, I miss that tag.
11:49Who gives a shit, you know, and I'm here.
11:51I'm having a good time.
11:52And, you know, however it comes out, it comes out.
11:56Every special that I do, I try to do a little bit of like topical stuff slash what's going on in the world.
12:04I make fun of things.
12:05I make fun of myself.
12:06And then I talk about my family a little bit.
12:08My earlier work was a lot of this.
12:10And I feel like this is more interesting.
12:12And it's funny because I have fans that that have been fans of mine since I was angry.
12:17And now it's funny, like I sold out, you know, like like I made a pop record.
12:21But it doesn't bother me.
12:23I actually feel bad.
12:24Now, I have like empathy for them.
12:25Like, I get it.
12:26You're still angry.
12:27I hope you find your way out, dude.
12:28But I don't want to be, I don't want to be, you know, you know, the leader of angry people.
12:35I've always found my anger embarrassing.
12:37I've always found my anger.
12:39I love your anger.
12:40You know, I hope you find your anger here.
12:42I'm afraid, you know, the leader of anger.
12:45I hope you find your anger.
12:46I want to be, you know, leaving.
12:48You know, there is a lot of fear.
12:50At love world ال�ane.
12:52I love you, too.
12:53I love you, I love you.
12:53I love you.
12:54I love you.
12:56I love you.
12:56I love you.
12:56I love you, too.
12:58I love you.
12:58I love you, too.
Comments