WEBVTT - "Comedy Saved Me with Jimmy Tingle-Finding Humor for Humanity" 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:05.440 Comedy Saved Me, and so when you watch a great 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:08.520 comic on stage, you might be seeing them in this 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:13.240 video and Netflix or whatever that bit that they're doing 0:00:13.280 --> 0:00:17.400 and has taken usually a year plus to develop. 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:21.120 Welcome to another episode of the Comedy Saved Me Podcast. 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:23.840 I'm your host, Lynn Hoffman and Lucky Me. Today we 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:28.720 are thrilled to welcome renowned comedian, political satirist, is it 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:30.400 satirist or satirist? 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:31.160 Not sure? 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:36.120 And social commentator Jimmy Tingle. Now With a career spanning 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:40.120 stand up, television, radio, and film, Jimmy is known for 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:44.720 his sharp wit, insightful humor, and heartfelt storytelling. From his 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:48.680 appearances on everything from Oh Sixty Minutes to The Tonight 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:54.160 Show to his acclaimed one man shows and activism, Jimmy's 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:59.280 unique comedic voice has inspired and uplifted audiences nationwide, and 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:01.960 in this episode, so we'll explore how comedy has shaped 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:06.440 his life, provided resilience through challenges, and become a tool 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:11.440 for social change. Jimmy Tingle, the man, the myth, the legend, 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:14.720 is here with us today on Comedy Save Me. 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:16.960 Welcome to the show. It's so great to have you here. 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:19.920 So great to be here, Lynn, Thanks so much for having. 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:21.720 Me, Well, thank you for being had. 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:24.880 I know I don't have a lot of time with you, 0:01:24.920 --> 0:01:28.160 so I want to start off with what first drew 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:31.600 you to comedy? Was it a television show? Was it 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:32.880 an album you listened to? 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:33.560 What was it? 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:38.080 Oh? Boy, probably the funniest stuff that we heard as 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:40.959 kids where we watched The Honeymooners with the whole family, 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.080 you know, back with Jackie Gleason and Ott Connie and 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:48.360 the June Taylor Dances. That was a great show on 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:53.960 Sunday nights. You know that. You know, as I get older, 0:01:54.480 --> 0:02:00.240 more things like oh, the movie Lenny Lenny Bruce. But 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:05.680 Dustin Hoffman was really influential set it in that live 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:08.480 when it first came on the air, you know in 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:12.680 the early seventies, and you know, watching the Tonight Show 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:15.200 with Johnny and the people that he would have on. 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.760 Especially in college, we had sit around the dorms and 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:21.440 we'd watch like a Saturday Live and then of course 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:24.120 the Tonight Show with Johnny and all those guests that 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:26.680 they would have on. We just had a blast watching it. 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:30.880 It was you know, it was inspiring and yeah, so 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:33.840 what really got me into it though, is when the 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:39.000 a comedy club opened up in my hometown, to my 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.960 neighborhood in Cambridge. It was called the ding Ho. It 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:45.560 was a Chinese restaurant slash comedy club and it opened 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:48.200 up in Cambridge and it was like two blocks from 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:51.520 my house and they were having an open mic night. 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:53.880 And one of my friends from high school, Lenny Clark, 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:58.280 also a comedian. He was hosting an open mic night 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:02.320 on Wednesday nights. And I was interested in performing, but 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:04.680 I didn't have I didn't play an instrument. Really, I 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:08.560 didn't you know, sing, But comedy was something that you 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:12.079 could do just by basically talking and telling stories and 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:14.959 jokes and stuff. So that's that was really my first 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:18.680 intro into it, the open mic nights back in like 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:22.840 seventy nine, eighty eighty one. Yeah, that's when I first started. 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:24.839 Wow. And it didn't take you long too. 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:27.239 I mean, what eighty eight was You end up on 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:30.840 the Carson Show, which is the pinnacle at that time. 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:33.760 But I need to know before that happened, when did 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:36.760 you realize it was more than just making people laugh? 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:40.040 Did you know that there was healing things involved there 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:40.520 going on? 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:44.360 Well? I knew that, you know, there were people like 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:47.480 George Colin and people like Richard Pryor. Of course, there 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:51.800 were big influences on everybody. And like I said, Lenny 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:56.480 Bruce and you know, Moresaul, those folks were using comedy laughing. 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:01.080 In the sixties and seventies, there was more true commentary 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:07.080 along with just the stand up component, you know. So 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:12.600 and my friend Barry Kremin's worked at the dingh as well. 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:15.360 He was the booker and the founder of the Dingho, 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:19.440 and he was doing political humor and I was just 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:21.599 talking about what was going on in the news. So 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:26.560 I knew that it could be it could be effective. Yeah, 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:28.840 there was. There was a track record of people who 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:32.680 admitted had used it effectively, from Will Rogers to Mark 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:36.599 Twain to like I said, Prior and Colin and Lenny 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:39.680 Bruce and Mortsol and all those folks, and of course 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:41.920 the Skitz and Saturday and that Live. You know, all 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:44.160 of those were talking about really what was going on, 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:47.159 uh in the in the society at the time, and 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:49.400 it was just it was funny and it was fun 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:53.919 to When I went to college, I studied sociology, political science, history, 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:58.560 you know, so it was fun to approach the comedy 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:01.240 with that kind of a background and that kind of 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:05.160 an insight because that because that's what I was studying 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:07.320 in school, and that's what I'm supposed to be learning about, 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:10.640 which I was very interested in, and it kind of 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:15.800 just translated into not always, but eventually it just evolved 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:19.920 into more social commentary and along with the laughs. 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:22.400 Yeah, you know, it's funny you say that about college 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:27.320 because I studied, you know, journalism and broadcasting, but for 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:29.200 some reason, I felt like I need to know how 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:32.040 to talk to people, so I took my secondary was 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:37.360 abnormal psychology, and I like got no idea how well 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:39.279 that would help me in my life moving forward. 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:40.320 You're in the right field. 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:46.279 Can you share or remember a moment when comedy helped 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:48.359 you through a difficult time in your life? 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:50.240 Does anyone time stand out to you? 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:55.360 Yeah? I mean, well, we worked in bars, and you know, 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:59.800 I was a heavy drinker, and a friend of mine said, 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:01.719 if you have a quit drinking, you know, you could 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:04.760 do really well. You could do well in comedy. And 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:07.840 you know, that was very attractive to me, the idea 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:13.440 of actually being successful in this field. But as you know, 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:16.839 and there's you know, it's it's very difficult to fulfill 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:20.480 your potential as a carmak or an actor or any field. 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:23.680 If you're a really heavy drinker at a young age, 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:26.120 it just is, it just is in the way. And 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:27.680 so it was in the way for me. It was 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:29.839 screwing up a lot of things in my life. So 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:32.560 that was the biggest thing. But when when he put 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:36.560 he connected this guy connected my comedy career to quitn't drinking, 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:41.120 that was like, that was like the magic bullet that 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:44.400 really got my attention and helped me to It helped 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:48.080 motivate me to really try very hard to quit drinking, 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:50.960 which I was able to do. So that was really 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:52.920 really good, with the help of a lot of other 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:55.919 people and you know, the higher power and everything else, 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:59.479 not just me. But so that was the comedy was 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:03.360 a real game changer like that because respect. 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:06.400 That's like an epiphany moment when someone says that to you. 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:08.600 What were you? How did you react initially? 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:08.919 Were you? 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:09.920 Were you offended? 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:13.440 It was so encouraged. No, I was encouraged. I was 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:18.000 encouraged because it's a very depressing substance. You know, if 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.840 you drink every day for an extended period of time, 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:24.400 you can't help. But being hungover all the time for 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:27.040 the end, hungover, I guess there's a form of depression. 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:30.800 So it was just it was kind of a darker time. 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:33.720 Even though I loved performing and being in the clubs 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:36.440 and the camaraderie and all the people that were around 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:39.560 and the audiences. That was a blast, but the hangovers 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:44.080 were a killer, you know. And and yeah, and so 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:48.080 it was like this reason, it was a really strong reason, 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:53.000 a strong motivation to try to make a real solid 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:55.960 effort to get sober. And so that's the path I 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:59.040 went down, and it's worked for the last thirty five years. 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:02.640 So so it was. But without the comedy, I don't 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:06.160 know if I would have got that incentive, you know 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:08.040 what I mean, I don't know if something else would 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:11.960 have caught my attention, maybe, but maybe not, you know. 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:14.600 So it was definitely a game changing. 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:17.640 Sounds like a great combination between a mentor someone who's 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:19.920 going to just say it straight shooter like it is 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:23.440 and what you love to do was like that perfect 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:24.480 storm that that. 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:27.760 Well he was a comic also, he was a comic, 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:29.560 and he said, you know, I'm in the business, and 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:32.040 you know, you're you're you're you're good you could be 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:34.960 really good, you know, if you so that was that 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:35.760 was a big thing. 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:39.080 In what ways do you think humor can help people 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.559 cope with with adversity or trauma? 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:43.040 I mean, we're in the middle of a. 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:46.160 Horrible mental health crisis of epic proportions today. 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:48.120 Yeah, how do you think that. 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:51.520 Well, I don't know if comedy alone can you know, 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:56.880 I don't know if comedy alone can you know, help people. 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.320 I'm sure puts you in a better mood, that's for sure. 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:04.600 I think if people were doing you know, comedy around 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:13.280 mental health issues in maybe facilities or hospitals or two 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:17.520 people who were you know, had those issues, then they 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:21.080 maybe somebody who had their own mental health issues, you know, 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:24.079 is doing comedy around those issues. That can definitely help. 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:27.880 I mean, there's a common friend of mine, Gary Gullman, 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:32.520 who you know, had severe depression and talks about it 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:34.760 on stage and did a one person show about it 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.760 called The Great Depression. It's a great special, but he 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:42.560 addresses depression on stage, and I know that thousands of 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:45.960 people have reached out to him about that issue and 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:50.640 their personal challenges with that. So in that sense, it 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:54.360 can help. It can because you're communicating with people. The comedy, 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:58.959 you're communicating with people, but the laughter itself is it's 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:00.720 going to be more than laugh. It's got to be 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:05.360 the follow up and the work that is involved, whether 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:08.840 it's getting sober or whatever it is. You know, mental 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:11.640 health issues are getting help, you know, but it can 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:14.240 be a motivated because it's fun. It's fun to listen to, 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:16.720 it's fun to laugh at, and it's fun to know 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:17.720 that you're not alone. 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:21.160 Right there, right right there, It's fun to know you're 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:21.680 not alone. 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:23.240 I mean that, that's huge. 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:29.280 Yeah, And because it's obviously a communication medium, you're telling people, 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:32.600 and he was doing that part of his story. I 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:35.839 do some of that in my in my shows and 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:40.240 people respond because, like you said, it is a it's 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:43.120 a national epidemic, the mental health issue, and so is 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:46.880 the addiction and the you know, whether it's alcohol or 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:48.160 drugs or whatever it is. 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:52.800 You know, you'll be right back with more of the 0:10:52.880 --> 0:11:01.640 Comedy Save Me Podcast. Come back to the Comedy Saved 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:02.439 Me Podcast. 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:04.760 I want to talk to you a bit about your 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:08.559 craft and your process. I want to say a few 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:10.600 years back, maybe in the two thousands, what do they 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:13.199 call them, the aughts now, or something. Yeah, the early 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:16.040 two thousand, I was fortunate enough to know someone who 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:20.960 took me to Joan Rivers at the cutting room where 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:23.160 I found out when I got there was this little 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:26.040 room in the back where she would test out all 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:28.960 her material and she would just put these big like 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:30.960 she'd write her jokes and throw them on the floor 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:32.800 so she could see them on the stage floor. 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:33.320 What you want? 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:35.360 I had no idea, That's what I was going to see. 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:40.400 What is your process about writing new material and testing 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:43.120 it out on your audiences, especially if you're dealing with 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:45.640 things you know of a serious or political topics where 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:47.920 you really have to be extra creative. 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:51.600 Well, I wish I was as organized as Joan Rivers, 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:53.560 and I have a little place to go with big 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:57.439 It's it's really trial and error. You know. You get 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:01.040 an idea, you write it down sometimes just in your head, 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:04.120 and you present it to people. And my process is 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:09.760 basically I'm much more of an oral I don't you know. 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.120 Some folks write it down in every word and it's 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:17.120 perfectly and they memorize it. And again, I'm just I've 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:21.800 never been that disciplined in that organized to write it 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:25.000 down to that extent. Although I'm a big fan of 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:27.640 people who do, and it's good to hear that that 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:30.600 Jo Homa was doing that. But I write a set list, 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:33.360 and I have ideas and I present them to a 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:36.880 live audience. And the thing is, you don't know really 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.439 if something's going to work until you do it. It's 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:42.920 the only way to tell. It sounds great on paper, right, 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:47.360 it sounds good on paper, but it depends on you know, 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:51.520 how the audience reacts, and also having a safe place 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.960 to do it, having places that you can do it, 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:57.760 because you have to fail. You have to fail, and 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:00.840 that's part of the process in terms of just presenting 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:04.000 new material. And that's that no one likes to fail. 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:05.680 Nobody likes to be in front of a bunch of 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:08.839 people with a great idea go and they do it 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:13.960 and nothing. It's like, it's embarrassing, happened, But it's part 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:14.679 of the process. 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:17.160 Has that happened to you? And if it has, Oh, 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:19.840 how how do you handle that with an audience? 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:23.240 You just keep going, You just keep going. Yeah, yeah, 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:27.920 you keep going. These days, I record most of my 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:29.959 sets and I can listen to them and see what 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:33.839 worked and what didn't, and you know, it's got I've 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:37.280 gotten much better and much more disciplined as if you know, 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.800 evolved as a comic. But in the early days, you know, 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:46.160 the nobody was video video and everything, and nobody had 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:49.560 not everybody had, you know, a phone with a you know, 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:52.120 you couldn't just record yourself and your phone, so it 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:55.680 was much more memory. That's how it basically was for me, notebook, 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:59.800 trying to memorize it and remembering, well, how the audience reacted. 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:03.080 That's really how it was in the early days for 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:05.560 me anyway. But I would record some of my sets, 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:09.720 not all of them, but you know, enough to enough 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:13.760 to remember how they worked and if they didn't work. 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:16.679 Yeah, And did you ever have an issue with an 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:18.760 audience member or anyone that you had to kind of 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.880 handle live in the room. I'm just curious how you 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:23.160 would deal with that. 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:27.080 Oh yeah, I mean some people are better than others. 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:30.480 Some people talk to the audience and you know, want 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:34.520 to solicit back and forth, and that was never my style. 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:36.160 I just go up there and go this is what 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:38.960 I've been thinking about, boom, and just do it. And 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:43.680 occasionally people get upset or talk back or whatever. I 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:46.680 tend to ignore them more than engage with them. Honestly, 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:50.320 you know it's not it's my style. I don't want to. 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:54.040 I'm not. Nobody's there to hear that person hit what 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:57.840 I got to say and my comedy, and so that's 0:14:57.880 --> 0:14:59.640 what I stick to pretty much. 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:00.600 That's incredible. 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:02.600 First of all, the fact that you don't write them 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:05.280 down and that it's from memory is amazing to me. 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:09.920 Well, you know, I write a set list like, this 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:11.320 is what I'm going to do here, This is what 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:14.400 I'm going to do here. This will bullet points, Yeah, 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:19.680 bullet points exactly exactly, and and then and do the bits. 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:21.280 And a lot of them are tried and true, and 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:23.320 you know they're going to work because you've spente them 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:26.000 a hundred times. Other ones are new and the only 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:28.040 way to work it is to just keep saying it 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:30.760 and doing it. And I mean then you listen to 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:33.520 the tape and change the word here. Change is set 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:36.400 up there. So much of it is how you say it, 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:39.320 when you say it in the show. You know what 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:42.720 you open with, what you close with, which lines are 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:45.040 the funniest, How it builds. I mean, there's a lot 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:47.320 that goes into it. And so when you watch a 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:50.560 great comic on stage. You might be seeing them in 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:55.120 this video and Netflix or whatever that bit that they're 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:58.480 doing and has taken, you know, usually a year plus 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:01.560 to develop, and the only way to do it is 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:02.920 over and over and over again. 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:06.000 Yeah, is there anything you're working on right now that 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:07.240 you want to test out on me? 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:08.880 I don't know why. 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:11.760 I just wanted to ask you that I want to 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:13.479 be the first to hear something. 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.560 Not really, No, I don't have anything right now. 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:19.480 I just three on this. 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:20.440 Thank you for asking. 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:23.800 I've been told that I'm a good audience, so when 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:27.040 the urged strikes, call me anytime, I'm a good audience. 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:31.080 In what ways do you see comedy as a force 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.560 for social good and activism? Because I do know that 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:37.160 I saw and I'm pretty sure I saw this that 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:41.880 you literally ran for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, which I 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:44.600 think is amazing in and of itself. 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:49.440 Yeah, well, thank you, and I did. And the reason 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:54.680 is is because going back to entertainment, entertainment like what 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:59.880 John stewartt did with the with the firefighters and getting 0:16:59.880 --> 0:17:02.880 the treatment and the healthcare that they deserved the people 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:06.600 who were injured because of the chemicals, right, and getting 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:10.119 that and bringing that before Congress, and all the hard 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:13.439 work that went into that was the result of the 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:17.440 hard work behind the scenes. It wasn't the result of 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:22.240 the jokes necessarily, but his career as a comic and 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:26.520 the platform that he has allows him to draw attention 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:31.000 to these issues. But the real change is the people 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:35.280 in Congress writing you, writing the bills and enacting them 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:40.080 and motivating people and getting people on board to actually 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:43.199 change the law. So it's a combination of both. The 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:45.719 reason I ran for Lieutenant governor, one of the biggest 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:50.119 reasons was around the substance abuse issue in Massachusetts, and 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:57.480 I know that that comedy can do a certain amount. Again, 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:01.040 give you the platform, tell the jokes, reach the two 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:03.720 hundred people in front of you or how many people 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:07.760 are watching on television, But the real work is in 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.520 the legislature and in the public. You know, the public 0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:14.800 awareness and the pressure on the legislature and the pressure 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:17.679 on the politicians, and that's where the real change comes. 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:22.000 Where whatever the issue is, you can have cultural awareness 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:27.200 through comedy and cultural awareness through entertainment. But entertainment by 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:30.320 itself is just a means to a lodger end. If 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:33.120 you're trying to use it for those ends. For example, 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:37.960 I started an organization of social enterprise called Humor for Humanity, 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:42.160 and our mission statement is Humor for Humanity more than entertainment, 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:47.160 raising spirits, funds and awareness for nonprofits, charities and social causes. 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:51.199 Our mission is your mission Humor for Humanity, humor and 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:55.640 helping humor in healing, humor and hope. Ha ha ha. 0:18:56.000 --> 0:19:00.160 And because of this organization, what I do is I 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:04.120 I love comedy. I try to use not every night, 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:06.560 but a lot of the time I'm using. I'm doing 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:10.359 fundraisers basically for non profits, and I EMC and I 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:14.040 perform and I can do the auctions and help raise money. 0:19:14.080 --> 0:19:16.000 And we've raised a lot of money over the last 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:20.400 ten fifteen years for organizations. So it's not the comedy. 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:23.719 The comedy is one component of the fundraiser, but the 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:27.360 fundraiser and the nonprofit that's doing the work, whether it's 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:33.000 around you know, child development or subst abuse, or rehabs 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:36.520 or treatment centers are any of that type of thing. 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:40.000 It's the people on the ground doing the work in 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:43.000 the trenches that are really changing things. But the comedy 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:45.800 is a great gift and a great entree into that 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:50.399 In terms of an entertaining component to do our attention 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:55.160 to that particular issue in that particular nonprofit. So that's 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:56.439 been a lot of fun doing that. 0:19:56.640 --> 0:19:59.280 What better way? Did you enjoy the process at all? 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:00.199 Or was it? 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:02.440 Was it more grueling than you thought it would be 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:04.920 even though you bring such money purpose? 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:05.440 Yeah? 0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:10.320 Yeah, oh the process is pretty grueling. Did I enjoy it? 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:13.000 I loved meeting the people. I loved, you know, being 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:16.840 on the stump. I don't know if I enjoyed it 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:21.639 as much as I enjoyed doing the Humor for Humanity, 0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:25.200 Because the Humor for Humanity, I just have more freedom. 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:30.040 There's direct there's the direct effect with the with the nonprofits. 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:34.040 And if they raise you know, one hundred thousand dollars, 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:37.120 it's a big deal. You know, it's especially the smaller 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:39.840 one to some of the events we've done. I've raised 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:42.399 a lot of money for large hospitals. They've raised you know, 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:45.919 a million where I was the MC and the auctioneer. 0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:49.399 But most of them are on the smaller end of 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:52.720 you know, moderate nonprofits, and they have they don't they 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:56.879 have budgets aren't huge. So fifty thousand dollars here and 0:20:56.880 --> 0:20:59.879 one hundred thousand dollars there or twenty thousand dollars here. 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:02.840 That's a big deal and it helps them so and 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:04.160 that's what I like to do. 0:21:04.800 --> 0:21:05.000 Well. 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:06.720 I think it's amazing, and I also think it's so 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:12.159 selfless of you to have had the cajones to do it. 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:13.080 To begin with. 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:17.240 Like, you know, I really I really applaud your efforts 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:19.840 on that, and I think it's amazing because basically, at 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:22.600 the core, you just want to help others, and I 0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:23.960 think that's such an amazing thing. 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:28.560 Yeah, but running for office is like that's that's a job. 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:32.200 And in the human humidity is a job too. I mean, 0:21:32.480 --> 0:21:34.800 you know, it's part of my business, is what I do. 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:39.000 But it serves the most purposes like a public servants. 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:43.160 You know, people get paid for running for well, if 0:21:43.200 --> 0:21:46.399 you get elected, you get a salary. And same thing 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:49.080 with humor for humanity. But it's the it's way, your 0:21:49.119 --> 0:21:52.000 passion is. That's how people come up with material. Usually 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:54.160 what are they passionate about? And that's what you see 0:21:54.200 --> 0:21:57.280 them talking about on stage or on TV. You know, 0:21:57.320 --> 0:22:01.200 what are they passion what? What motivates you to write 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:03.840