The Complexity of Toilet Paper

The Complexity of Comedy: Laughs, Pivots, & Vulnerability

• Complexity • Season 2 • Episode 21

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Ever wondered why one person’s poker face can haunt a killer set? We bring in comedian Danny Johnson to peel back the curtain on how laughter actually gets made: the micro‑decisions, the ruthless editing, and the risk of trying untested lines in front of strangers who haven’t decided to like you yet. Danny calls his style clean with an edge—personal, observational, and sharp enough to surprise without leaning on politics or shock value—and he shows exactly how that works in real rooms.

We explore the mechanics that casual fans never see: why opening with a grandmother bit warms up a 50‑plus crowd, how cadence and a single mispronounced syllable can reset attention, and when to abandon the low‑hanging punchline for a smarter angle. Danny shares honest stories of bombing in corporate ballrooms with open bars, the art of not fixating on the one frown in a sea of smiles, and the discipline it takes to keep writing when your first special bottled 15 years and the next one must deliver in 15 months. He also dives into the business reality most comics face now: followers first, talent second; why hubs like Nashville and Atlanta matter; and how to treat social metrics as doors, not definitions.

Threaded through it all is a set of practical mindsets that travel beyond comedy. Assume positive intent and watch conflict soften. Focus on authenticity over trend‑hopping and your material will travel further than any regional reference. Collect ideas where your brain loosens—walking, showering, even in the bathroom—and capture them before sleep steals them. And remember: resilience is the real craft. You’ll leave with a new respect for what it takes to read a room, prove you’re funny to people who don’t know your name, and come back stronger when a set falls flat.

If this conversation made you think, laugh, or breathe easier, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a spark, and leave a quick review to help more curious listeners find us.

About Danny

Danny Johnson’s hilarious, clean stand-up has entertained audiences in comedy clubs, corporate events, and churches nationwide for over 15 years. Danny's work as a stand-up comedian has been humbly compared to Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin James, and Jackie Gleason, blending his original material with his now renowned facial expressions. Danny’s show is relatable, entertaining, and always evolving. Danny has starred in numerous TV commercials, Comedy Central’s Laugh Riots, Florida’s Funniest Comedian Top 10 Finalist, Winner-Carnival Cruise line Comedy Challenge, Finalist in Search for the One Christian Comedy contest, has a wildly popular Dry Bar Comedy Special (now available on Apple TV, Amazon, & Peacock), and has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Chris Rock, Damon Wayans, Bob Saget, Billy Gardell, Richard Lewis, Rickey Smiley, Norm McDonald, Howie Mandel,  and a variety of others.

Danny had the privilege of filming NateLand Live at the famous Zanies Comedy Club in Nashville, TN.  NateLand Live is the brainchild of Nate Bargatze and features some of the best clean comedians touring today. 

His latest comedy special, "Everything Bothers Me," has taken YouTube by storm with over 100k views in its first month and still climbing!

Follow Danny

Website, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook



SPEAKER_00:

And I wish we could go back to a time when things were so complicated.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to the complexity of toilet paper, the podcast that dives into the everyday moments where we overthink, hesitate, or just get down. Through honest conversations, unexpected insights, and a whole lot of humor, your hosts Phyllis Martin, Mark Pollock, and Al Emmerich are here to help you roll with it and make your life a little less complicated. One conversation at a time. Right, dude. The beauty of this is the simplicity. Speaking of which, it's time to enter the stall. Put the lid down, or not, depending. Get comfortable and roll with it. Oh, worry not, dear friend. It's really quite simple. This is the complexity of toilet paper. Ladies and gentlemen, a disclaimer before we begin this podcast. All humor that is given, presented, shared, awarded, and rewarded in this podcast is real humor with real funny people. This is a episode that is meant to tickle your funny bone, to cause your liver to possibly have damage because you laughed so hard. We're raising the bar high because we want you to know that f being funny is complex. And thus the complexity of humor begins. Hey, why did the toilet paper always fail at gym?

SPEAKER_01:

I'll bite.

SPEAKER_02:

Because it couldn't do the tummy roll. Why was the toilet paper always tired? Because it's wiped out.

SPEAKER_00:

That's better.

SPEAKER_02:

Not much. Okay, last one. That's one. Why was the female toilet so pink in her complexion? Because she was flushed.

SPEAKER_00:

That's the best of the three. And yeah, go ahead, Mark.

SPEAKER_01:

Now that we've lost half of our listeners before the show even started.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, welcome to the complexity of toilet paper. If you haven't figured it out because you didn't read the description, um, and you just blindly pushed a button and ended up at this show. Uh this is the journey we are going to unpack with our guest today, Danny Johnson on the complexity of humor. And Danny Johnson, welcome to the stall.

SPEAKER_05:

Hey, thanks for having me. My favorite conversation, toilet paper, and the complexities of now.

SPEAKER_02:

Just another dis you know note that is actually the way Danny does talk. So that's not his humor persona. That is just Danny. So if he doesn't seem as enthusiastic and excited, uh now don't put that on him.

SPEAKER_00:

Do not put that on him.

SPEAKER_05:

Wow. Hey guys, it's great to be here.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, look at Danny. He's so much fun.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh I should have had like poppers and like lights and fireworks and um this uh uh hi, my name is Al Emmerich.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm Mark Pollock.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm Phyllis Martin.

SPEAKER_05:

And Danny, you are? I'm Danny Johnson, the comedian. There you Danny Johnson, the comedian. Comedian, act over, voiceover artist.

SPEAKER_02:

That's right. This is the complexity of toilet paper, and uh thanks for joining us. Danny, um, I know you've listened to a few of the shows. Nothing's rehearsed. I have. Which uh which means Phyllis and and Mark never know, and the guest never know what's coming out of the gate right away. So um that's good. I think Mark, we we did reach uh not too long ago over 2,000 downloads, but I just checked, and as a result of those jokes, we're back down to 1100. So they took back their jokes.

SPEAKER_01:

They did back, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Actually uploaded the show back because it sucked. They were so depressed, they're so sad.

SPEAKER_01:

They're like they're not even good dad jokes.

SPEAKER_02:

No, no, they're not.

SPEAKER_05:

Um, and and I was I was honored to be asked because it when you know it really got me thinking when you were when uh you talk about the complexity of things, and uh, and I as soon as we talked about being on, I was like, Well, what's so complex about comedy? And then I started writing about it and kind of I do daily like um stream of conscious writing or whatever, and I was like, Wow, there's a lot, there's a lot here, maybe not material for stage, but going through my mind, like, yeah, not everyone can do it. I I mean I know people funnier than me that couldn't take it to the stage, you know? Um, so I was like, Yeah, I'm definitely coming on. This this is gonna be fun to talk about. So thanks.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, no, thank thank you, man. I mean, uh, just to give some background here to everybody, um, Danny and I go way, way back. Um, and I'll I'll let him you know share his own bio. But I met Danny when I had a production company and uh and I hired him as an actor. We immediately hit it off, became friends. And since since the day I met this guy, uh I literally told him, I said, You are gonna be incredible. You are one of the funniest people I've ever met. But then, you know, you of course you think about the complexity of comedy, the complexity, it's not so much the complexity of comedy, it's the complexity of humor. What does one person find humorous, which is its own bailiwick? But be that as it may, um, I've wanted to have Danny on the show for a long time. This just seemed to be the right time. Um, and and so it's it's a joy. But let me just tell you what the show is not gonna be. And this is one of the things that Mark and Phyllis and I have have been committed to. If you've listened to the show for any extended period of time, this isn't like, hey, tell us about you know why you got into comedy, or you know, that's important. Your why is important. I'm not knocking that, but but I mean, this is about literally, Danny, what you just you know kind of stepped into, which was wow, there is some complexity here. And and so we we want you to join us for the show. Uh, guaranteed, there's gonna be laughs, of course, but this is really a chance to climb inside the mind of a comedian to find out what's complex about telling jokes because it ain't easy. It ain't easy at all.

SPEAKER_05:

And we met, but I don't know if you hired me as an actor before well, no, how to be we met before that. You were in an improv group.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, that's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_05:

Improv Jacksonville, yeah. I started at the comedy zone and I was doing a workshop, and they had those Monday night shows where none of us were paid, but it was like a like a you graduated from the class, so to speak. And then I remember whenever I would go up, the you guys would come back in the room, the improv troupe, just to watch my set, and I was like flattered, of course. And then we kind of hit it off. And I I don't know if I mentioned to you I wanted to get into acting, or you asked me, and and then you introduced me to Andrea.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

She's a local agent in Jacksonville, Florida. Yeah. Yeah, my acting agent here in town. And um, and then we just hit yeah, I mean, you literally brought me into her office, and we're like, you need to sign him. And there was no audition process. There was no like and she's like, okay, and she signed me, and I've been working with her ever since for the legal stuff. That's cool.

SPEAKER_02:

That's right, man. I totally forgot about that.

SPEAKER_05:

So I don't know if I should have told you that because I don't want I'm not giving you any commissions or anything.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I've already had a lawyer sign a letter of intent to garnish wages from you. That's why I'm on. I'm being served. I couldn't find where you were. We could there'll be a knock at the door recently. So and and actually, here's a here's another little inside that's kind of cool. So if you've ever heard of the company Fanatics, okay. Fanatics is the world's largest um supplier, seller, retailer for sporting good attire, and so on and so forth. Well, fanatics began in Jacksonville, Florida with a company called Football Fanatics that used to have two stores and then they built an online business. Well, I used to do all the production for them, and Danny was in a number of those commercials and helped break that brand out and uh introduce the new brand. So, anyway, now that I have filled our psychological and pride coffer, and Phyllis and Mark are going, what the hell are we here for? Um, I'm gonna ask you, Mark. Mark, um, what excited you about bringing Danny into the stall to talk about comedy?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh I met Danny a uh many years ago. Uh obviously he remembers and it's a dear memory to him, you know, when we connected on MySpace and we got to talk about that before the show. It was great. We were connected through this guy named Tom, it was fantastic. Um But I I think it comes back to what we were discussing. We all love comedy, we love to laugh, life is stressful, and we look for those outlets. But um, based on our show and and what we try to uncover, uh it's it's the the best comedians out there are thoughty and um and and put a lot of work and effort into creating something that is going to amuse a lot of people, and that's a very difficult and complex uh task. And so I was excited to, as you even said at the beginning of the show, kind of dive into the mind of a comedian. We don't get to unpack that very often to understand what is the process, what what what it does it take to not only stand up and expose yourself in a in a in a very vulnerable way, um and you want to try that. And with with your with your pants on, with your pants on. Um but exposure I'm gonna say it again by mistake. Um but but to get up there and be vulnerable and um and and take the hits and and and and what do you do with that? Um so yeah, I'm I'm thrilled that you're here, Danny. Excited to have this conversation. And I I got to watch some of your stuff on YouTube before the show. And um uh you're you're hilarious. So I'm appreciated. I'm looking forward to looking forward to the conversation.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, Danny, I'm probably more excited for Phyllis uh than Phyllis might be excited for Phyllis because the journey of Phyllis, so first of all, Phyllis and I have known each other for well over a decade plus. Um, and we we were we've been great friends and colleagues and just souls brother and sister. But literally, I never knew how funny she was until this podcast. Um like she is a to me and many of the listeners uh and followers, she's a funny person. And but she also has the best laugh ever. Okay. And she can literally laugh on command, like Phyllis, laugh.

SPEAKER_05:

That's pretty genuine.

SPEAKER_02:

No, that is her laugh.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, that's so that's not what I thought you were gonna say.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, that's really good. That's a genuine fake laugh. I like it.

SPEAKER_00:

It's it's like also my real laugh, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_02:

Unfortunately. No, it's a great laugh. She doesn't have like an AI laugh. That's that's like the real laugh. Right. Anyway, so so of course, uh knowing this, um, what what's the take that that you're looking forward to with Danny here, Phil?

SPEAKER_00:

So I I'm really curious and excited because and and Danny, you already touched on it. There's one thing to be funny, it's another thing to be performative and to be able to take a gift that you have and make it accessible and available to an audience. So I'm super curious about the complexity of that. And then as a serial overthinker, I can't help but wonder over the decades that you have been doing comedy. Like I'm just like this, thinking like you people can't see it. I'm rolling my shoulders and doing something. Um, the um the maybe filters or not filters or decision-making processes you have to go through to navigate the world that we're living in now and have like there's always changes, right? So how you I feel like that would be a very complicated part as it pertains to your brand, as it pertains to your gift, as it pertains to your income, um, as it pertains to all of that. So I'm really curious about that um as well.

SPEAKER_02:

So let's just start, let's kind of start in the bucket of of what Phil just threw out, but let's let's we'll we'll zoom into it quickly. But let's go back with the whole first statement that we all agreed to, Danny, which which is first of all, um humor itself is complex because every single person thinks something is different is funny. Right. So how do you how do you deal with that?

SPEAKER_05:

It's funny because uh in a crowd of let's say 300 at a show, if one person is not enjoying themselves, I remember that one face. Where overall the night was a success. And I'm just like, and in my head, I'm just screaming at myself in my head like nothing, not one thing in the hour plus I did on stage touched you a little. You know, and I then I'm then I'm hoping he doesn't speak English or something. Like give me something to hang on to. And uh, but yeah, you're not gonna please everybody. And um, you know, my humor is pretty broad stroke, you know. I'm not political, I don't do a lot of sexual stuff, it's clean comedy, it's observational, it's about my family, my weight, my mental health. So I just focus on me and an exaggerated version of me. And it is it is complex in a way that it's funny. Seinfeld said this we're the experts on stage, we're the experts and funny. However, the audience tells us if we're correct or not.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh is that bizarre? Is that wild?

SPEAKER_05:

It is yeah, it's like and it's like I will beat a joke to death convinced that it's funny, and eventually have to drop it after a hundred tries or so, you know, like it's just not resonating or resonating with people. I don't, I just but I do try it a zillion times, so I can't I don't navigate who's gonna get offended because the littlest thing, I did a joke, not even a joke, I referenced I talk on my hands a lot on stage, maybe in real life, I don't know. Um, and I said on stage I improv, like I don't even know why I'm talking with my hands a lot, I'm not even Italian. And like a table of six, we're like, whoa. I was like, that was offensive, that I mean, come on, that so I just kind of blew by it and um and and proceeded with my show, but I never know what's going to offend people. I have, I think the closest I came to was picking on uh this woman I was sitting next to in a restaurant who ordered chicken Marsala and then asked the sh the waiter to ask the chef if it was can you make sure it was cage free chicken that it roamed. Like it roamed free, it had friends, it played peanut on Thursday, it had a good help, it went to counseling, it gave it gave out waters to hot workers on a side, you know. And then I ordered the same thing, you know, as an exaggeration of the situation, and I stopped where to go. I wanted you to make sure my chicken was caged. I want a bullied, neglected caged chicken. Yeah, probably had a limp. Okay, just like a limp and it no friends. If that chicken had a friend, I don't want it on this plate. And you know, so and then people get mad at that. Um but I I don't that that's not something that's that's hard for me because I'm it's pretty broad stroke um comedy, I would say. Uh so not too much to navigate there. Uh, but it is odd that the the littlest thing will trigger people, and I think if you kind of just blow past it and just you put on an overall good show, they'll get over it. You know, I don't touch upon politics or stuff that's really where someone gets offended and then they stay offended, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

Is is timing something that is part of your complexity equation as far as when when in your set you're gonna start landing some of these jokes to get more of the audience involved?

SPEAKER_05:

Great question, great point. So at this point in my career, I have a good chunk of material, a couple of hours worth of stuff that I can play around with, along with the new stuff I'm writing daily. And I was doing a show in Hilton Head this past Saturday, and I noticed that the crowd was mostly 50 plus older crowd. So I moved my opening joke to the middle right before I went on stage. They're literally announcing my name. I peek out at the crowd, I see it's older, and I I move my my jokes about my grandmother and and uh 95 years old past you know, all that stuff up front. It kills. They relate to it. Now I can kind of go, I can push a little bit. They're already with me. If I have them for 10 minutes, they'll go anywhere with me for the most part. Um, and that's why just take not even just clean comedian, take any comedian, and you you the end of his set will be his stuff about sex, so it's always uh building up to the dirtiest part, so to speak, for the most part. Um, but that nap that um difficulty is it took me a long time to recognize that because it in the beginning you only have if I have 30 minutes of material and I'm I'm hired to do 30 minutes, you that's that's all you're getting, whether it works or not. I don't have any anywhere to go. And now it's like minority. You ever see that movie Minority Report? Yeah, with Tom Cruise, and he's he's looking at this and he's moving this. So that's my material. It's like, okay, I got my stuff about church or and then alcohol, I'm gonna switch that around. And so constantly during my set, I'm moving it um based on the audience.

SPEAKER_02:

So you're in complete flux, like you're you're walking in literally. What you what I heard you just say is A, you don't know what people think is funny, B, you don't know what's going to offend them and not offend them. Right. And so literally every show is a risk.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, it's part of the high, right? It's um you're chasing that uh that uh that high all the time. And for the most part, I have a structure of what jokes I want to do when, but I'm flexible now that I can move them or leave them out and bring something new in. The best crowds, I think, are the ones that truly want to see comedy and they'll let you play a little bit. And I I even might say, let me play around with this a little bit, this idea, and I'll just kind of talk through it and they'll enjoy it. And then I'll know when they're done. The audience will tell me it's time to move on without telling me. And um, but you have to pick up on that. That's a learned skill. You have to pick up, okay, this is this lull is a little bit too lully, as they say. You know, I need to move on.

SPEAKER_01:

So so Danny, though, when what what you're describing is fascinating to me. So when you first start and you get a 30-minute set and you've written 30 minutes material, you're kind of stuck. So do you feel that even that you're a seasoned comedian now and you have this repertoire of jokes, has comedy become more complex to you or less complex?

SPEAKER_05:

Um that's great. I don't know that the complexity's changed. I'm trying to I'm trying to segment the career business part of it and the performance part of it. You know, the the complexity for me mostly now is is off stage. Um, but on stage I feel very playful and I have that flexibility. I think the complexity would come in with constantly trying to create new content that is as good as or better than what I previously uh did. Because as you know, my first comedy special was in 2019, Dry Bar Comedy Special, and it literally was the greatest hits of 15 years of writing jokes. My show next week, I have eight new minutes. It's the greatest hits of the last three weeks. You know what I mean? So that's why most I keep saying most. That's why a lot of comedians' first comedy special is their best, and you watch the other ones pass that, and typically they're good, but you always go back to the first one. It's because it took them 20 years to get famous, and that's the material you're getting. And then they sign a two-year Netflix deal and they have to do two one-hour specials a year on Netflix, or one one hour each year, and they have to create that from scratch, you know. So that's the complexity for me. I'll I'll and that also keeps me driven to get back on stage. I'll I'll do a new piece. Um, I improved a couple months ago this one line, it's turned into a little bit of a joke now. It's like a minute or so long, and and I was excited when I found it. I was just cleaning the house or something, and it the second part hit me, and I was like, ah, what am I up next? What am I going on next? I can't wait to add that on to the improv line I did, you know, at That at that gig. So that's the biggest complexity for me. And then you have the downside of that when you do think of those ideas and you get on stage and the audience is like, I don't. Nah, that's not for me. And then I'll try it over and over again. Re- I'll reword it, I'll change the cadence. I'll intentionally pronounce a word slightly wrong. And that seems to like subconsciously. Um, like I don't know, I can't think of an example, but if I was gonna say Christmas, I might say Christmas or something like it'll it just gets their attention. Like, what did he say? What was it? It's psychologically, it makes them attached to it. And from time to time, people will just repeat that one word to me after the show. Like huh. Um, but yeah, so when it stuff doesn't land, I get angry. Even on stage, when my say my special, I don't know which one you watched, so the YouTube special is the newest. It's it's uh a couple months old, and this pretty prominent talent manager from Nashville called uh emailed me and said, Call me. I was like, Great, he wants to manage me. And he goes, I just wanted to tell you your special was fantastic, and I wanted to reach out and let you know. It was great to see uh high quality production, uh clean comedian with an edge. He goes, Nate Barghetzi, who's the highest grossing comedian the past two years, tour-wise, is clean and wholesome. He goes, I would say you're clean with an edge. He goes, I feel like you can flip out at any moment on stage. Oh, wow. And uh he goes, Nate's great, and we all know Nate Bargetsi's great. He goes, but it's nice to see somebody kind of have that little mmm, that that whatever it is. And I said, Great, do you want to were you calling to see if you know maybe taking me on as a client? He's like, No, I already have three middle-aged bald white guys.

SPEAKER_01:

I was like, okay, so it's not the talent that you're yeah, it's looking for you've met quota on bald guys. All right, got it.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, yeah. And you'll hear that a lot in entertainment is um Billy Gardell was a mentor of mine in in early in my career. He was the star of Mike and Molly and Bob Hart's Abishola on CBS. And um he said two pieces of advice he gave me that really stuck, many uh technical pieces on uh advice for on stage, but off stage he goes, when you get a lot of success in this business, when you reach into your pocket, I want you to be prepared to shake three hands that are already there. You know, agent, manager, publicist. Um, and that's where your money's going. And then the the second thing was he I think he was auditioning for uh Last Comic Standing, and they said uh we already have a big fat white guy. Oh yeah, so it's not about putting on the best talent, it's about creating a show. Um, and I've heard similar stories um just recently, just like um a buddy of mine auditioned for Star Search, which is coming back uh to Netflix. Uh they're gonna do it live, Star Search. Star Search.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my god. Yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_05:

And they're interviewing him, they approached him. Yeah, they approached him and he they're like, we really like you. You're funny, we want you to come on and be one of the contestants. And and and they were probing him like you so your father wasn't like an alcoholic or anything, or nothing, or did he yell a lot, or did you have uh any hardships? He's like, No, I don't have any. I don't, I'm just it was a normal family. They're like, ah, okay. And they ended up not taking them.

SPEAKER_00:

But that makes so much sense to me.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, dude. The the the one of the reasons I didn't I didn't audition for America's Got Talent. So in it was in Jacksonville many, many, many years ago. It was a two-day cattle call at some at the arena. And uh you might uh Al, you uh you might know uh Wes Johnson. He's uh a comic who's paralyzed from the chest down, very funny comic. He has jokes about him getting paralyzed in a car accident. He auditioned Friday, I was gonna go Saturday. He didn't get passed. So I didn't go Saturday. I was like, if his good jokes and story about being paralyzed, right? What is Danny gonna do with his dumb public jokes? You know, what do I have to offer? I don't I'm gonna have to rip an eyeball out or something. I lost an eye in line.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So in the in the sea of comedians that are out there, Danny, you're talking about different avenues to fame. Yeah. Like I kind of went off on a tangent, sorry. No, that's all right. Hey, we we can just edit that. I was kidding. Um, what like well, first of all, I want to circle back to Phyllis's question. Uh, and Phyllis, don't let me forget to circle back because it was the I know you asked about the complexity of the the decision about where to go, right? Danny made it, but I and I know that you wanted to explore that. But Danny, you're talking about fame, you're talking about um the the the whole process of how somebody becomes famous, it's kind of a blessing and a curse, which is complex in its own right. Now you have way more sources and resources to get discovered, but because those resources have taken on the persona the persona they do, um your humor factor isn't as as much of a factor. Right. And and so how have you decided the path you want to take?

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I it's um you put it you put it perfectly. The humor side is the is probably the fourth or fifth question I get asked when I'm talking to talent managers and agents. The first question is how many followers do you have? Not how long I've been doing comedy, not can I see a clip, not who I've worked with, TV shows, anything like that. It's how many followers do you have? Second is where are you located? And as soon as I say Florida, they're like okay. Why can you get to it's uh the hubs seem to be obviously New York, LA, and uh Atlanta, Nashville, Austin. Uh a lot of stuff's filmed in Atlanta, especially for Netflix. Uh Nashville's a hub for clean comedy, with Nate building out his own podcast and his own room attached to Zany's Comedy Club called The Lab, which I did once. And uh the Nashville Comedy Festival is there now, and um Jimmy Fallon Showcase is there now during the comedy festival. So industry goes to those five cities typically. Uh no industry is coming to Jacksonville, so I have to get those followers to get those opportunities. Um so that I made the decision just to look at it like it's a blessing in disguise. So should it ever happen for me where I become don't get me wrong, I'm making a good uh amount of money from uh you know comedy and you know uh voiceover and acting. Um but I just made the decision, and it's a blessing in disguise because if it ever does happen where I blow up with followers and I become more of a name, I'm ready. I have the jokes, I have the content, I have more than enough content. Whereas if I'd hit 15 years ago and they go, Great, you're gonna be headlining 50 the best comedy clubs across or theaters across the country, and you're gonna do an hour. I'm like, I have 25 minutes. I'm not coming back. I might do well the first time around, but the second time around, I'm not. And that's what what I see happening with some of these influencers that turn comics, is they'll sell out first show the first time around, but second go around or third, they might not, and they just slowly kind of dwindle back into the you know, influencer space.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm not being funny on this, but like Phil, uh Mark, that's that's part of the conversation, Danny, that the three of us have with this podcast. You know, we we know we're committed to this podcast. We know that we've got a show that resonates with people, um, and and we're learning about that more and more. But at the end of the day, um, if we're gonna go out and get any type of major exposure, any sponsorship, anything like that, the first question we're gonna ask is how many downloads, how many followers, what are the other streams? So we can make this show as beautiful as can be, and it might live in a very small, isolated chamber that never gets exposure.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, and and I'm hoping that, and then and hopefully you guys have the same perspective. I'm hoping that people, you know, whatever opportunities come my way, they just see how fun, how much fun I'm having on stage, and how much I love making people laugh, and how much how passionate I am about writing a good joke. And um, you know, should any opportunity arise, I'm ready for it, and uh they would welcome me into the scene or whatever. But um until then, I'm just gonna focus, you know, outward. I think we talked about this a little bit before, maybe off uh personally, but just focusing on the audience at hand. And, you know, if three people follow me online after the show, great. If if a hundred, even better. But um I'm just committed to putting out the best product and and hope the two things intersect, right? What is that old saying? Uh, luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Is that that yeah, yeah, that old adage or whatever?

SPEAKER_00:

You know, Danny, so much of what you're saying um sounds like um, and I mean this in the best possible way, because I think there's something there, there, but sounds like what we've heard from so many guests on a variety of topics, which is the complexity in and of itself. There's the complexity of the business itself. So it's not just comedy. There's the complexity of the business, there's the complexity of the location, there's the complexity of the navigation of the world now in which we live and all forms of social media and followers and language and and all of those, all of those things. And I think for our listeners, I hope, like in an odd way, that there's some comfort there, that the challenges and the things that we've heard from our listeners and from other guests cut across industry and people and and issue. But I really want to um go back to something you said um, because I think it will really resonate with our listeners when we first started. And it's how you feel when the one person, the one face in a room of 300 people can unsee, and this is my language, not yours, can undo what you know in your heart of hearts was a really great show. And I I think Alan Mark will agree with me. Everybody we've talked to, and so much of the feedback that we get is just that. And I'm curious if you have tips for our listeners about how you maybe move that aside or overcome, overcome that, or just let it be, whatever, however, it is that you deal with that.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, because it goes the same for comments when when my on social media, so when my first special came out with through dry bar, they have a they have five million followers on Facebook. So they posted it on Facebook. I'm reading and replying to a hundred, three hundred, five hundred comments throughout the week when it first got launched. And I'll get through 400 comments, and then the 401 is this is supposed to be funny. And I'm like, what was wrong with that clip? You know, I'm totally out of my game. I just read 400 great comments, and so it is fun. I was chuckling as you were saying because I picture myself leaving the stage, and I remember hundreds of times, not maybe not hundreds, of leaving the showroom, like, what was up with that one guy? Like I say to the other comic or like, what was up with the guy in the front? And they go, Yeah, the one with the blue jacket. Um I had I had you just have to get past it. Um, because you can easily he I've made this mistake. Uh I'll harp in on the guy in my early years and start talking to him, and then the whole show becomes terrible.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, so you like literally focus your on the person in the audience.

SPEAKER_05:

Oh, I'm thinking to myself, this is gonna be funny that I pick on the one guy not laughing. Maybe his cat died that morning. I I don't know.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_05:

Like, I don't know what he's going through. So I had I kind of um just put myself in his in his or her shoes, like this person's having a miserable day. At the very least, they're out. And um sometimes they'll even say, Hey, great show. And I want to say, you know, that old, you know, tell your face about it. Uh right. And uh, but I I I think that's in any so if I think back to day jobs that I've had too, you know, um it it you the opinion of one is not the opinion of everyone, and and I know that's often hard because it seems isolated at times, you know, uh and paralyzing too, especially if you deem that person important. And and for me, the audience is very important. Um, so whether it's a peer or a boss, um I'm my I don't know if it's advice, but I've had to just get past it, and I just assume in my head that they're having a really bad day, but at the very least they're out watching the show, um, and hopefully they got something out of it.

SPEAKER_02:

It's the ultimate risk of performance, not just performers, right, Phil? Mark, I mean, we show up um and you want approval. You know, Phyllis, you're doing singing. You know, you are singing now. And God forbid somebody makes a face.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, right now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

But I mean, seriously, right? I mean, Mark, you you get up and speak, I get it, whatever. You're like, there's there's it's ubiquitous uh across it it is it is interesting though, Danny.

SPEAKER_01:

You you bring up an interesting point when people after the show say, well, it was a great show, but they didn't laugh through it. Um you you really don't know what people are thinking at any given time. I've given presentations at work, and you know, the person who's the most important in the room at the time w had no emotion whatsoever. And, you know, they were the ones who pulled me aside, and they're like, yeah, that was that was exactly what we needed. And you're like, well, holy crap. I mean, a smile, a nod, a something would have been beneficial because I've been freaking out for the last hour that I'm about to, you know, get my walk-in papers here. So you know, it it's gotta be tough though, because you're in the moment, other people are active, and and you you were talking about one person, but I am sure you've been in situations where half the room wasn't reacting. How how do you structure that in your mind from hey, this this hits, uh, this is a regional thing, this is a national thing? Because uh, you know, maybe down here in Florida, Publix jokes are fantastic. In Utah, no one knows what Publix is. So how do you deal with the complexity of regionality in your in your role? Because if you're performing in the South and everybody knows what Publix is, but you're performing in Utah and it's I don't remember the supermarkets out there, but it's it's different. Like you you've got to be pretty nimble to understand where you are and that regionality too.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I try to avoid regionality as much as possible, even though in my first special I did change publics to the word grocery store and they still kind of got it, but um I avoid uh yeah, anything that's regional. So it's mostly personal to me. And if it's something in I don't want to be one of those comedians that comes into town or and it's like, okay, what's the what's the hillbilly town that I can reference? And what's the I'm like, I don't I don't like that. You know, yeah, can I go back to something that you said? You know, you mentioned doing a presentation at work, and you said the most important person in the room. Um it's interesting that we designate someone as the most important, even if they're the the decision maker, right? That person that's not laughing at me, one of 300, to me, all of a sudden is the most important because it's occupying the most amount of my time. So, what makes them the most important person in the room? Because if you had a great presentation for the 50 others that were there and that one quote unquote important person didn't like it, they eventually will follow the 50 others, I would think, with your that influence or whatever. But um, yeah, I try to avoid regionality as much as possible because I don't want to have to like some clients will do a pre-call before a show and they'll go, here's some topics you can, you know. Betty at the front desk, she likes to sell raffle tickets. And I'm like, I said I can, you know, I put try to politely say, like, you know, I can just do the show that you guys hired me to do. I can just do that. That's good, I think. That's what you hired me to do.

SPEAKER_02:

Maybe how often do people try to hysterical tell you what's funny, Danny? Like, how often do you get influence, especially for your corporate gigs?

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, so corporate when I'm hired, they pretty much know and they'll just do a quick touch base before uh you you know, uh no sex, religion, politics. I'm like, yeah, yeah, that's why you hired me. That's why I'm here. Um but people try to give me jokes a lot, audience members. I just smile and nod. They'll typically go, hey, I read this on the internet, you can use it in your act. Okay, I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02:

Do you think people are generally funny?

SPEAKER_05:

Like people, oh no, good God no. It's terrible out there walking around you common folk.

SPEAKER_00:

Al, how dare you! That's right.

SPEAKER_05:

I think they're accidentally funny. I think they the more genuine someone is, yeah. You know, if I can crack a make someone laugh at the grocery store just at the stupid fruit joke or whatever in passing, and they are like loose or and they they kind of joke back, that's funny. That's but if they freeze up and tense and you know, they don't no, the general public is not funny.

SPEAKER_02:

Hey, we just two things just happen in this last hour or 40 minutes. First of all, we lost uh 20% of our downloads, and Danny just lost half of his audience, basically.

SPEAKER_05:

That's why they're at a comedy show because they're not funny. Why would you go to a comedy show?

SPEAKER_01:

Why do people but you know when they are funny? When they take your your your material and they go back to the office on Monday and they pawn it off as their own. Yeah, and and and then they're funny, but then they don't have the timing and it's terrible.

SPEAKER_05:

And then they yeah, they make my three-minute joke into a nine minute because they don't have the the editing skills that we have.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Um what what is your what is your take after all these years of stages, you know, smoke-filled rooms, all kinds of smoke-filled rooms. Yeah. Because you've done, if I remember, uh comedy in a burning building once. So, like, what why are people going to comedy shows? Is it is it always the same, you think, or has it changed over time? And I I'm kind of bleeding back into I want to take us back so we don't miss what Phil brought up early on, which is this this really tenuous dance between, you know, being uh funny, being humorous, but also politically correct. And I don't want to spend too much time there, but it was Phyllis's question. So Phil, I want to make sure we honor that because I think it's a great topic.

SPEAKER_00:

I feel like he did though. I mean, because he's a he's not political. Like for him, he's not political. So I feel like that I feel like I feel like we could move on from that, but thank you. Or he could answer or he could talk about it.

SPEAKER_05:

If I feel if I feel it on stage that it'll get the crowd, you know, if it'll pick the crowd up or if I can make it funny, I will take an opposite view of what I think um the audience wants to hear, regardless of what I believe. And the way I get away with it is I make it so ridiculous that um it's obviously a joke. You know, so it's not I'm taking a stance and here it's funny. It's so it's not so much, you know, maybe political, which rarely, but it's more just taking the ridiculous stance of, and then most of the time, if they've had too much to drink, they believe me that I really believe this, so it makes it funnier for the whole crowd. Um, can I make one more point? Um, and this probably goes to anybody on or off stage, too. Um when when okay, so when I have shows where people are specifically buying tickets to see me, uh I do not experience this, but for the most part, they don't know who I am. You know, um, they may have watched some clips or at least checked out the website when they bought tickets or whatever. Um so as a result, almost 90% of the time I'm on stage, I have to prove that I'm funny. Uh although they're coming to see a comedian. Wow. Whereas if you're paying$100 to see Kevin Hart, you're going to go tonight. We're going out for laughs. And when they're going to see when they're going to the comedy zone, they don't know who the guy is, or girl, or woman, or whatever you want to be today. I it like they just I hope he, you know, so it's almost like, okay, who's next? Go. Tell me.

SPEAKER_01:

Unpack that. That's that's fascinating. You have to prove that you're funny. Yeah, I agree. Uh there. There's so much there. Yeah. Uh what's that mean?

SPEAKER_05:

It's you get uh no grace. They don't know who you are. So it's uh especially if they're in a group with coworkers and there's one, you know, the one leader who uh d never had never didn't have attention on them. Uh I love to humiliate them. But um there's this there's this weird tension of and you can tell by the silence in between, uh, you know, when they when the the one of my opening acts is done and the MC comes back out, and like and and it just gets quiet. And like, oh, you ready for your headliner? Yeah. Dandy Johnson, and then you just see and they're just waiting. It's not like a oh, you know, they go in the C whoever it is, TJ Miller or somebody of note, and they're like, Oh, he's it, and they they come out and they'll say the silliest thing, my shoes on top. Oh, Jerry sign found that's hilarious. Um, although I think celebrities get maybe 10 minutes of grace, and then they better bring some jokes. But there's none of that. There's none, and they're if you're not super good, um, they'll quickly abandon if you're great for 18 minutes and then you have five minutes of struggle, they're they're gone. They're talking to their neighbor, they're they only spent$15 to see you or 25 or whatever it is, or free. Free ticket gigs are the worst.

SPEAKER_01:

So do you also have to rely on the your openers to get them primed, or is it are you on an island by yourself? So everybody is their own prove it to me.

SPEAKER_05:

No, I everyone's their own, prove it to me. The MC's got the hardest job. He's going up cold. People are finding their seats, getting their first drink. They, you know, they're half listening. That's part of the tension of backstage, is like these people. I hope they continue to listen the way they're listening, or you know, you have to prove they're not on the edge of their seat waiting for me.

SPEAKER_02:

God, what a vulnerability. Just every single like it's one thing we have to show up at work, it's one thing we have to, you know, uh prove ourselves in in in with clients and things, but you're s you are you have selected the pri primo version of bless me or boo me.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah. I I um and uh sometimes at this so at this point in my career when I do open for bigger names, I do take a little bit more risk because I have 1900 people in front of me or a thousand or more, you know. There's more of a uh margin of error or less margin. I don't know. It it I have a better shot at winning. And uh I did the Pontavidra concert hall not too long ago, and it had this new line that I wanted to try, and I'm like, I'll stick it in the middle of my 15 minutes set opening. And I decided to open with it, and I I did, and it got a smattering of laughs, but some lady in the front row goes, Oh, I like them already. Oh, I like them already. And I was like, that was the green light.

SPEAKER_01:

I just yeah, it's all on now. Danny, um one of the things, and we could have a whole nother show just uh with you on this, is is the the complexity of failure because you you you being in this vulnerable spot, having to try new material, yeah, uh, having to to deal with the complexity of an audience and and where you are and what you're wearing and what you start out with. Yes, I would imagine that you have experienced shows where you walk out and you're like, well, that freaking sucked. Um and and and how you have to overcome that because you've got to show up again the next day. Yes, and you gotta show up again the next day, and the because this is your career. So uh there's there's gotta be a lot to unpack from just understanding and dealing with overthinking failure, yes, and what that means.

SPEAKER_05:

So, yeah, the flop sweat shows I call them is when you leave the stage and you've just did I just deliver a Hitler speech to these people? Like they're sworn these were jokes coming out of my mouth. And and that I've done shows where I don't even think they knew I was there speaking. There was so much talking and so much I did a Christmas party in the huge ballroom, and they were just lying, the four open bars in each corner of the ballroom, one table of six who listened to me. Everybody else was standing, talking, or on the line at the bar. So I literally I did 18 of my 30, handed the microphone back to the DJ, which by the way, that's how it was introduced. I stood on the dance floor. This DJ hands a microphone to me over my head and goes, and he before he does that, he goes, All right, the comedy's here. And he just hands me the microphone. The comedy's here. Hey, everybody up the comedy. Oh this is gonna be successful. So I go, I did my I did 18 of 30 minutes, and I leave and I go out into the hallway where the silent auction was. I probably would have done better out there. And the lady goes, How was it? I go, I think it was pretty good. And she hands me my check and I bolted. But that that early in my career that would linger so long with me, because I would I would feel it. I would feel the sweat to just this trickle of sweat down the down my back, and I just and then I I start to talk like that, like a little stutter, like I I don't know what's happening, I don't know what you have like joke cryptonite. And I'm like, am I saying it wrong? Am I saying words wrong? Are those words? Does this mean everything is going on in my head? And then I switch gears to like more simpler jokes, mid mid-set. Like, I'm like, this has gotta land, and it doesn't. And um, I've gone just right back to the hotel sometimes, and like, what am I even doing? This was for$45 and a bar tab. This was why am I, you know, the people don't look at you. You have to leave the venue, and people are avoiding eye contact. Um, by the way, Norm McDonald was famous for when he did really well, he would go right back to his room. When he bombed, he would go out in the lobby and shake everybody's.

SPEAKER_02:

I love that. Well, that's like, yeah, you know, just jump right in, going, All right, I'm gonna get some feel some love.

SPEAKER_05:

I just I think that's where a big part of me getting over that was the community of comedians. Um, uh, whether it's remote or in person, is like you kind of go out to eat afterwards or you make a phone call. I'm like, this is what just happened, and they've had the same shared experience. And I kind of got to the point where I was like, I can't wait for tomorrow night show. I hope none of the people last night show up tonight, but um, you know, you just move forward and and then you get was it not redemption, or you kind of you do the same set and it works. You're like, okay, it could have been, you know, did I deliver it wrong? Did I um, you know, did I just not present it the way? Was I not you know I've come to find out too the uh the longer I hold on to a joke, the less passionate and genuine I am with it, and the less it less it does well. It's just as funny on paper, but it's not hitting anymore. Like it used to.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. Well, it's that self-judge, it's all of this points back, Mark and Phil, to this re reoccurring theme of self-judgment, fear of risk, fear of acceptance. Um there's this in uh and there's a whole other concept that we we explored many, many moons ago, it called decision regret, right? Like, you know, it's all the choices of I could do this when you're like watching Netflix and you don't ever make a choice. And so I wanted to just before we step into the the uh the roll-up here, Danny, like when you're rifling through your your your humor and your list of jokes, you and I were talking pre-show and you made a comment that sometimes it's the simplest route that creates the funniest response, and that you can overthink your joke and and you're trying to play all those what-if scenarios. Um, how do you decide, yeah, this is the joke I'm gonna take to market?

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, I if I find it funny, I'm taking it to market. But if I think you can guess the punchline, I I I didn't write it good enough. You might be able to tell where I'm going, but I'm hoping it to hit you with a slider on the outside corner of the plate, you know. Yeah, um, I don't want you to be able to, you know, there's so much low-hanging fruit. So I immediately leave low-hanging fruit. I'll either use it as a setup, casually mention it, and then I'll go for the the joke that I that I want to tell. So um that's it's not I don't say it's hard, but the complexity that I referred to when we were talking before was more was like everyone think, or at least I thought I was gonna be the next or in my early days, I'm the next Bill Hicks, Carlin. I'm gonna write prolifically, and you you almost you almost ignore the punchlines that you should be saying because you're trying to make a being someone you're not. And I once I realized I was an observational guy talking about me and my family, it brought me back to maybe not the obvious punchline, but something I just overlooked because I thought it wasn't original enough. If it was original to me, then I should be able to write it and express it on stage. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it's gotta be real, it's something you can relate to. You can't the day of being like we find humor as people in things we can relate to. Why wouldn't the rule be the same way for you're the comedian? And I would imagine the funny, if I think about the funniest people I have seen, um, you among the the tops of them, but but the the stars, the Robin Williams of the world, you know, and stuff. These these are folks who they're so into their stories that you you know that those are things that they love either love talking about or it it's real to them.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's it's authenticity, right? I mean, I think that's the other theme that shows up in every show is the the people who overcome overthinking, they get back to being authentic and who they are. And that kind of saves the day.

SPEAKER_05:

I love listening to people talk about something they're passionate about, regardless of if I'm interested or not. So if you love butterflies and you're I could see it in your eyes and you light up and you want to talk to me about that for a half hour, I love seeing someone pass. So I think an audience wants to see that I love what I'm doing up there. And I'm not jumping around like a clown and you know, but I'm into it. I'm talking, I'm facial expressions and body movements, and it and I think if I can if I can bring that authenticity across, whether I have the flu uh or not, um, they'll enjoy themselves. But I think in real, in in life offstage, I keep saying real life, uh I want to hear that from people. I like, I think people in general love the fact that you're passionate about whatever it is you're passionate about.

SPEAKER_02:

Speaking about being passionate about something, it is time to roll up the passion and to step into the stall for the roll-up. That's right, Danny. This is where we get intimate in the stall with brain-defying, comedy-busting, belly-bursting questions that that require thought beyond the normal cranial expansion of life. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is ready. I think I'm ready. This is good. Okay. So, um Phil, do you want to start?

SPEAKER_00:

I knew you were gonna say that.

SPEAKER_02:

I know.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, the question is based on an assumption, which you'll know as soon as I ask the question. Um uh No, I'm second guessing the question, but what the hell? We're all here. What? What you're second guessing? Me? Second guessing? So have you. Um talk to us about if you have ever written a joke or great material in the bathroom.

SPEAKER_05:

Yes. And uh, I should say this before we uh entered the stall, but if there if I was to be stuck in a stall with three other people, it would be you three people.

SPEAKER_03:

Thanks. Aww, Danny.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks. Sounds very sweet.

SPEAKER_05:

I love that question because it took me a long time to realize this. The some of the best ideas I think, or successful ideas that I've had that I've brought to stage come in moments of non-thought.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly.

SPEAKER_05:

So it's exercising, it's walking the dog, it's showering, it's going in the stall, where you're it's almost like the stream of conscious writing I do in the morning. I'll get nuggets out of that too. Um, where you just kind of write, you don't know what you're writing about. You just write, you force yourself to write for 15 to 30 minutes, set a timer. And um, but it's the most bizarre thing because I'll sometimes I'll have an idea and I'll just jot it down and then I'll focus. Okay, let's focus. Like, I'm right now I'm working on this thing about the monocle, you know, why the monocle was invented, and like why was that ever a thing? Like, I don't understand. My eyesight's bad. Okay, we're gonna get you a pin. No, no, one. I just want to we're gonna put a hook on it. No, no, no. I want it to be, I want to pinch, I want to pinch it. I want it to be as inconvenient as possible. So it's some weird thing that I discovered, and I guess self-aware eventually self-aware enough to go, oh, I just need to occupy, I just need to move and and do stuff and zone out, and that's when these ideas and then capturing them right before I go to bed is probably the best, and that's the worst because I'll go, I'll remember that. And the next morning I will not. So I record it, I'd quickly hit the voice memo on my phone, and you know, sometimes it's ridiculous babble, but um that's good. Yeah, that's a great that's a great question. It's it's I think it's more um it's definitely more productive for um what do they call it? Uh clickbait headlines for me to work with to kind of pick apart, you know. And then I'll be like, Oh, that's fun, something's there. Work on that later. So and I just kind of jot those ideas down.

SPEAKER_01:

Mark, what's the funniest heckle you've ever gotten that made you laugh?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, that's a good one.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know.

SPEAKER_05:

Um, I don't know that I've had a funny heckle. I don't these people are not funny. But hence the heckling. Yeah. Um I've had I've had that's not funny before. Um who's next early.

SPEAKER_00:

That's horrible.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, yeah. And usually I get a laugh because I'll go, you go gosh, you sound like my agent. And uh that gets a laugh. But I uh that's been years since I've been heckled, and uh mostly they're they're talking out loud where they're kind of agreeing or talking the last line of my last joke or whatever. Um, so there's been no funny heckles. Um But I like I like shutting them down. I like shutting down hecklers. So you want hecklers, you're looking for no you want I mean, we'll come to your show and heckle. I mean, it's my peer, some of my comedic peers are tickled pink with my absolute disdain and frustration when someone talks or heckles at my show. It's on my face, but I don't necessarily express it in full. They go, We can see how much this really ticks you off. Like how frustr. I'm like, I know I'm working on stuff up here. I can't work with you, jibba jabber and eat your nachos and shut your cake hole. Like I'm trying to work. I'm not up here making stuff up, you know.

SPEAKER_02:

I can't work on the bit. Danny, what is the uh what to you is the funniest thing about the bathroom?

SPEAKER_05:

Oh, funniest thing about the bathroom.

SPEAKER_02:

Just in general, yeah.

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, here's what I love about the bathroom. And I it gets me every time I do it, and I'm typically alone in the bathroom unless you know there's a homeless guy in there or something. But um I love bathrooms that you go into and the lights automatically turn on because for a half a second I pretend it's a surprise party for you. So I you know, I open the door, it's like I'm like, oh yeah. Hey, all right, I think I'll wash my hands the extra time or two.

SPEAKER_02:

Last last question for the stall, the roll-up. Um, if you were stuck in the john, um the the powers uh not on, all you got is your phone um and eternal battery life, and you could listen to one comedian while you're stuck in the in the john, who would that comedian be? Jerry Seinfeld.

SPEAKER_05:

I love his attention to detail and the way he picks apart a joke. There's no angle left unturned or no rock left unturned with when he tackles a topic and everything is precisely picked, selected, the cadence, the way he says it. It's all you know, you watch his bit about Halloween, it turned into a book. It's it's eight minutes long, and about you know, it's just fascinating to me. I I probably wouldn't have said Seinfeld at first because I've heard all of his stuff so far. Um some of the newer guys I like listening to, um, I I might have picked. But Seinfeld for sure is my go-to stall guy with him for sure. He's my stall guy.

SPEAKER_02:

You know what? That's that's what Phyllis, Mark, and I are gonna work on. We are gonna work on getting you and and Jerry Seinfeld writing together in the crapper.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. You know, because we have that sort of information. Well, hey, let's not forget.

SPEAKER_02:

Remember, I I I'm kind of responsible for his career.

SPEAKER_00:

That's right. See, Mark, it always comes back to this.

SPEAKER_05:

Just the acting, just the yeah, just the acting piece now, Al. Just the acting. What's the deal with this crapper?

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, come on. That's um, okay, so I have a question. This is totally selfish. I have to ask you this question, and then we'll get to just kind of the closing tips. Danny's so much of your comedy has been rooted in the chusky guy. Uh and uh if you if you haven't seen Danny's, we're gonna give all of that information and we're gonna put it in the show notes. And Danny's gonna tell you in a moment. But you have lost weight. You are you have you look you're in great shape, man. You're working out. So uh, well, I don't know if you're working out. Maybe you're just taking or whatever the hell it's called and sticking your skin. It's probably that's probably the Gargantic.

SPEAKER_05:

Sponsored by Gargantic. Right. Having trouble gaining weight? Take Gargantic.

SPEAKER_00:

Moving on.

SPEAKER_02:

Make skininess. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Hey, we're getting close since bedtime. That's what it is now.

SPEAKER_00:

You are. I'm hungry.

SPEAKER_02:

Anyway, so you're losing. So seriously, Chusky's been so much a part and and a joke about your weight. You said it in the beginning of the show, and now you're slimming down. How do you how do you deal with that dance? Because that's got to be complicated as well.

SPEAKER_05:

I uh yes, and uh it's sort of uh first of all, it helps me get rid of a lot of material, right? So a lot of stuff is about me being a bigger guy, or it was. Um, and I'm still, you know, I still am a man of generous proportion, but uh not as much, right? And uh but yeah, I like the fact that it pushes a lot of stuff out, right? I also what I like the most is that I feel more confident on stage than I ever because part of the complexity of comedy for me is if I don't feel I look like the way that I look, I will not perform well. I have to feel good about even if it's a plain black t-shirt. Matter of fact, that's probably the best. If I feel a t-shirt fits good, it's not wrinkly, it looks well in the light, it's and I'm comfortable. If I'm uncomfortable, I'll that's all I'll be thinking about in the back of my head is I can't, these shoes are terrible. This is my foot hurts. And so it's helped me on stage feel more confident, and um, it's installed a little bit more discipline. So it's like, well, I I exercised today, why didn't I write today? Why is that not a non-negotiable? Even if it's five minutes and I go through an old an old idea and just tinker around with it for five or ten minutes, like I I you know, I exercised for 20 or whatever it was, why didn't I do that?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, we're gonna bring ourselves home by uh talking about a little advice, and Mark uh is always the the purveyor of the mic drop. And so, Mark, if you would bring us home with the uh closing advice and tips from Danny.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Well, first, Danny, thank you for being here. I think it was a a brilliant insight into um something that we all take advantage of when our worlds get stressful. We come see you or colleagues of yours to to relieve that stress. But none of us probably think of the complexity that um goes into your world in order to alleviate the overthinking in ours. And so I I think what I heard. From you today and glean from this conversation is that regardless of the role that you have as a job in life, there is a level of complexity that comes with it. And so don't feel alone in your own world. Even even the funniest people in the world have to think about so many different elements in order to make someone laugh, to feel good about themselves. And I I think, you know, the the tips that I I heard from you to today, Danny, are um in some ways go back to what you know and what's authentic to you. You you referenced uh going back to old jokes, um, you referenced um talking about yourself, being authentic, uh having the fear of failure uh uh front and center and being vulnerable with it and being okay with it, identifying people who are your detractors, um, but pushing through that and then and and then being able to provide that level of confidence, whether it's in your look, the way that you dress, the way that you've structured a joke, um, and and give it your all. And and I think that's that's a really a beautiful um uh testament to what we can all take away in our full time in our full-time world. So thank you for that. Uh that that's what resonated with me today.

SPEAKER_05:

Can I add one thing to that if that we didn't touch upon if you don't mind? Yeah, and this just struck me uh because I try to implement it in real life, and it's just so frustrating dealing with you people uh in public. But I get it. The power of assuming uh good intent and do assuming positive intentions from anybody. So for me, it's a heckler. Maybe they're just yelling out because they love the show and they're just trying to join in, you know, um, in the workplace. If I think back to or interactions with a neighbor who's coming in hot because I left my trash cans out for three days, and they say something snarky. The ability to come back and and not take it so seriously and and come back with a little joke, you'd be uh amazed at how uh disarming that is to the person who meant to probably hurt you, but you're assuming they're positive intent, you know. Uh you don't cut your grass for six weeks, or you didn't turn in that report, it's late, and you're like, Yeah, you're reading my diary or something. Jeez, uh you know, just something silly or stupid to so disarming, and you'd be surprised the turn from an audience member, a co-worker, or a family member, anybody. So don't take stuff so seriously, assume positive intent.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

That's the best tip ever. It really is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

I think that's the microphone that is the, yeah, Phil.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean there's nothing else I can say, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_02:

All right. So, Danny, where can people find you? And uh are there any you know really, really great shows coming up in in the months of uh mid to late March, April, or so?

SPEAKER_05:

Yeah, so dannyjohnson.com is is where all my links you can find uh uh everything to my social media and my uh 2019 drybar comedy special, and then my latest special called it's titled Everything Bothers Me. It's on YouTube. It's uh almost three months old, 185,000 views, which I'm very happy about. Um, and then it was funny because I uh Jim Gaffigan posted a uh YouTube special and he he made a social media post thanking his fans for a million views in a day. I was like, maybe I should take mine down. Uh all my social media handles are Danny uh Danny Johnson comedy on uh Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. But uh I think if you watch the special, yeah, if your folks watch the special, they'll enjoy it. They can watch it with their family, share it, and thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, man, you got it, buddy. This is the complexity of toilet paper.

SPEAKER_01:

Did you say toilet paper?

SPEAKER_05:

Um,

Head Shot

Al Emerick

Host
Head Shot

Mark Pollack

Host
Head Shot

Phyllis Martin

Host
Head Shot

Danny Johnson

Guest