Steve Byrne

0:03Do you remember the first time you bombed? I remember the last time I bombed it was just a few days ago. I've seen no way a few days ago really bombing happens to every comic I mean, you don't bomb the whole time But I mean especially when you're developing new material you're gonna bomb I mean it's it's part of writing a new hour a new new set, you know, you're it's just it's inevitable Well, does it does it discourage you at all? It must it must kind of be discouraging I mean, I'm sure you get used to it over the years, but but at the beginning at the beginning yet heartbreaking But you know the the times that you get the laughs overpower The the bombing so that's what you're you're yearning for to get back to it doing well. So yeah, it's it's tough I remember the night I saw you in LA There was a guy who I think it was either that night

0:50We went twice that week and it was either your night or the night after and he got up usually a little later And I don't know if they save the the greener comics for it for later in the night But he just he didn't have a like you were the only guy that night that had an act like you had something prepared Everyone else just kind of got up there and talked and the one guy later didn't say anything He was like well, what do you want me to do? He kept saying the audience. What do you want from me and I kept going? But isn't that what you do isn't that what you're supposed to be doing? Yeah, that's that's a problem Especially at the comedy store because a lot of the guys that work there will only work there and They wonder why they're not touring why they're not on TV And it's just like you've you've had all day to prepare That 15 minutes and you're still gonna go up and just say what do you guys want to talk about? It's like You've had all day to think about what you want to talk about you're supposed to entertain them

1:39So have you ever been in that situation? It's a weird thing. It was a weird thing to sit and watch well I I mean I hate to say this but I have a low tolerance for for amateurs I work so damn hard at the job that when I see somebody fluffing off or or not taking it as serious As I think that they should I just kind of want to walk out of the room and I don't want to be around it That makes sense. Oh, and you stood out. I remember that you Ahmed Ahmed and Whitney Cummings were the three that we were like those three will make it Those three will be huge for sure. That's nice I just talked to Whitney earlier today. We're we're good friends and when she first came to LA I got her into a few different clubs And then I started taking her out on the road with me and there was one night I remember we were in San Jose and I just go with in about a year You're gonna be headlining on your own and maybe five years. I'll be opening for you

2:27She's just she's got it off. He's great. Have you ever thought she does a lot of the roasts or she recently she's doing the Rose said have you ever been approached to do that or would you think about doing that? You're more of a clean comic. I think than a roaster Yeah, and and I you know I've been asked to do Chelsea lately I've been asked to do the roasts about two years ago, but I I don't like trashing people I don't like being negative I don't you know, it's just not my thing I'd rather if the jokes on anybody it's gonna be on me Yeah, I don't like and I think especially those shows you're you're trashing people that you don't really know and they've actually earned the right to To be a celebrity and here's a bunch of comedians that nobody knows that's kind of trashing them It's kind of like it's weird to me. It is a little strange you mentioned that But but then again, I don't want to see you trash on it because you don't trash on it You touch on it like a lot of a lot of comics do and it's more of you know poking fun

3:16It's a society and things but I mean you talk about music and that and that brings people into to culture and black culture versus Asian culture Versus your heritage and and magicians being being a little gay and things like that So it's not trashing on them, but it's it's putting a spin on them. Yeah, I mean those those comic central roasts though They get pretty brutal though. Oh, I know You know the panel shows on Chelsea lately You know, it's just whatever celebrity seems to be going through a hardship or could be embarrassed by it's a new story for that week And you got a bunch of people that are pouncing on it just kind of making fun of it I I don't know. It's not my thing I mean it certainly does well and it's it's for certain people, but it's just not me and you keep your act fairly clean for the most part too I mean you touch on race your things at times, but but I would say you're more it's not felt in that way where it's a cleaner act

4:02Yeah, I think you know, it's tough when I'm starting off You know, I swear a bit more than than I should but but my jokes are never on the strength of swearing or cursing It's just something that's habitual and for shock value You say it and it kind of garners laughter for some reason I still don't know why I can't explain it But but as I get closer to filming a special I weed out all the F bombs and everything else and try to keep it as clean as possible How different see and I wonder what that to the special converted live show I mean a musician can do a concert on TV Aret and then go play those same songs live now a comic there must be I don't know if it's a difficult thing Or if you try and avoid it is your act similar to the special or do you try and change it up? For people to say I mean what you see is kind of what you get I spent you know a year and a half on the last one that just air at the burn identity just just really

4:53Cultivating it and so when I filmed it, you know, I didn't need bullet points. I didn't need cue cards I didn't need a timer. I had it down precise everything. I knew exactly what the timing would be And I guess you know preparation breeds confidence, so I was very confident with everything so Now I'm just kind of writing with a third hour special now. Oh really? Yeah already planning So sorry are you road testing some of the material tonight? Oh, yeah, definitely yeah Yeah, I wrote tested some last night and there's some jokes that will not be making it to tonight Do you find it a better time to I'm always curious about this Do you find a better time to write in the morning afternoon like is there is there a comedy time? Where for you at least where the writing material just gets better for some reason? You know it can happen at any time because I'll be I fly always first thing in the morning

5:40So I write on the plane sometimes but all my off days my weekends are Mondays and Tuesdays So I used to live by the Los Angeles public library and when I was writing the last one I was there every Monday and Tuesday for about two or three hours And I just forced myself to sit there and write everything that I try out that week For example like the introduction to the special that that burn identity. I worked on that for Maybe like a month and a half too much straight of trying to figure out how to introduce my thesis Throughout the whole process. So that was that was pretty tough But this one I think this third one I think I'm gonna kind of have a meld of the second one where it's a little more headier And then the first one where it was kind of silly and observational So I think I'm gonna give a hybrid on the third one well that's that's just growing up right? That's just maturing too. Yeah

6:26Yeah, it's maturing and it's it's it's knowing what I'm capable of and what I'm you know I've learned how to write myself for myself. Basically is how I'd I'd break it down. Do you write for other people? Would you want to? No, I can never write for other people and I wouldn't want anybody else's jokes. I tried that once a while ago where I Said, you know, I'm under the gun to write write this special and I submitted a bunch of jokes to a writer And I got it back and I basically I might as well just taken the money I spent done and flushed it down the toilet because I didn't use one joke that I gave me It was heartbreaking and I just said the only person's gonna do this for me as me the only person's gonna understand my voice best Is me so it might as well come from me. I heard you were just working at a stand-up club in New York Just just like sweeping floors and stuff didn't even want to become a stand-up and then it just it fell into place

7:13Yeah, well I finished college at Kent State University in Ohio And I moved to New York City and I went up and down Broadway I probably went into 30 40 restaurants that day and I walked into Caroline's comedy club Somebody just gotten fired and the manager happened to be standing there. He goes. Yeah, you come in tomorrow. You got a job I thought great. Okay, so I started seeing all the great comics everybody that was on SNL at the time You know Dave Chappelle would come in all the time market show I mean you named the headline that they came there because it's the big club in New York Right, so I just saw everybody and just thought man that looks like a lot of fun And so four months later I kind of worked up the courage to do it and Thank God the first time went went over pretty well in the second time I went up but there was a booking manager in the audience and he gave me his card and I started kind of working right away. So I really lucked out. Do you remember that what was the first joke?

8:03You said the first time you got up. I don't remember the first joke My first time it was like it was almost like the first time I had sex. It was quick I cried afterwards and I said I can't wait to do that again. There you go. Yeah, that's awesome So you mentioned to tell show I know you've done Chappelle show you've been in a lot of movies you even You had to cancel Wednesday night cuz you're out filming a new movie Yeah, I did a scene with Vince want to Kevin James It's it's for a movie called the dilemma and We got to film in the United Center where the Blackhawks want pretty cool And it was it takes place during a Blackhawks game. So it's a pretty cool Pretty cool scene and we got to I got the skate on the United Center eyes I got to meet a lot of the Hawks and I ended up The night before I came here. I got a little too hammered with Dave Boland

8:52from the Hawks and he He's a true Canadian. I guess he can handle as liquor. I am a true American. I cannot so well I was gonna say so you're a hockey fan being an American. That's that's an interesting thing I know there are a few of you down there, but for the most part we don't expect that yeah No, I grew up in Pittsburgh. I played all my life. I played since I was six years old my father Played ice hockey, which is even more rare. I believe coming out of New York City So it was a big Rangers fan growing up. We moved to Pittsburgh. I became a huge penguin fan And I was rooting for the pens even during the tough times in the early 90s when it was bleak early 90s You want two cups in the early 90s? Well in the early 90s, but then you got to remember in the in the in the 90s after Lemieux kind of left oh I see a dark period where like, you know It was just it was it was brutal was like Casperitis was our big

9:39Teamers like it was it was really bad. Well then Lemieux bought the team you got Crosby and now you guys are a powerhouse once again Yeah, it's it's been tremendous and then I actually moved to Chicago about a year ago And so it was great to see everything happen with Chicago So maybe I'll move to Edmonton and I'll bring you guys some luck. Yeah, we got a bunch of new young players Yeah, you got the first pick so congrats. Well, thank you How come Chicago is such a comedy hotbed did you ever try second city? Have you tried improv? No, that's a different kind of Different kind of thing and I think with the improv with the sketch. It's it's more formulaic. There's there's a You know a structure to it all and that's something that I don't like being part of a team necessarily with in regards to that I like stand up where it's just me if I bomb it's on me

10:26I'm not waiting on anybody else if I have a good night I have a good night if I have a bad night I have been I don't want to be dependent on Three or four other people to hope to get some laughs So I was just kind of like being alone gunsling our guests on stage all by my lonesome That makes sense, but yet touring touring with I guess touring with a bunch of comedians is a different story altogether Touring is great. Yeah, because I mean I've been touring pretty much two years straight by myself so it's been pretty pretty brutal and I've I've had one week off in the last two years so when you do get the Tour friends it is a blast because you know now you get the lunch with somebody get to hang out right? Yeah, it must be very lonely existence being on the road It must be like a like a folk singer almost who's just them in their guitar. Yeah It basically you come to the conclusion that you will die alone. Oh come on what happens? So be so bleak on me

11:13You'll be fine. You've been working hard two years So you're saving up the coin to settle down with a nice family one day. Yeah, absolutely And found a great city in Chicago and what a huge hockey town too. So really excited to be there We were mentioning Vince Vaughn before we're talking about the road and you're going on the road with them for a month something like that first two weeks in November because We when we were there filming when I was there filming my scene with those guys originally the first time We did a one-off show at the park West Theatre in Chicago and sold out and it was great It was a lot of fun and Vincent Kevin hosted it and it was me and some other comedians and Kevin just had a blast and Vince had a blast They said let's do that again Let's do a tour to promote the movie and bring the other guys back So that's kind of what we're doing We're all gonna get in some buses and just go across the states for two weeks and

11:59Spend the first two weeks in November doing some comedy. So it'll be fun. Yeah, it's awesome. Yeah and less lonely for you as well less lonely and It's pretty darn cool getting a form with Baby starts. Yeah getting to go to these major fears and everything so it's gonna be it's gonna be blast I really look forward to it How do they buy a stand-up so because that's not that's not their trade Well Kevin James actually started off as a stand-up So he's fine But I think that Vince and Kevin are hosting it and in between each comic they're just gonna do a sketch Okay fun with the audience, but they won't be doing the stand-up. That's where you come in Yeah, I'll be doing the heavy lifting and I'll put their name on the marquee and bring everybody out Hey, it works if it works it works. Yeah, what what was your partner? Billam? What are you what are you in the movie? I play a gentleman next to Vince during the hockey game

12:45And I heckle Kevin James because Kevin is shooting the puck Xenerites to try to win a prize or whatever it is Oh, really? So I have an exchange with Kevin then I have an exchange with Vince and you know even though on screen it might last Maybe two minutes You know those Filmmenov movie is a long laborious process, right people always think it's glamorous and exciting and you see a movie set And you go there and it's like it's awesome the first two minutes and then the next 18 hours You just want to kill yourself just sitting around doing nothing. Yeah, exactly. It's pretty darn boring We do this thing on the show five questions five questions one more answers. Okay carlin or prior Prior Leonard McCartney Lennon which culture is better jokes Korean or Irish? Irish bit your most proud of types of music and one word Steve Byrne

13:40Just the noise