In improv, the whole thing is that it is a relationship between the two people, as a back and forth. In standup, you don't really want to be listening to what somebody is saying; you want to project your jokes into their face.
I guess there's enough information out there to support that I'm a crazy, wild dude and rock and roll and this, that and the other. And there's enough information to support that, you know, I'm a single father, that, you know, has been a pretty standup guy in his community and pretty private about that stuff.
I am a standup comedian who has performed comedy in the Middle East in front of thousands of Muslims. And believe it or not, they laughed at plenty, especially when we poked fun at local culture. The Lebanese loved it when you would make fun of their driving and how, in Lebanon, a red light is just a suggestion to stop.
I started doing standup when I was in college, and I would incorporate a lot of characters into my act.
I always imitated other people and thought, 'Well, maybe I'll do standup,' but I was too afraid for that.
My mom ending up passing away, and I got really depressed and didn't have money for therapy, and so I started doing standup to cope with my mom's death.
It's weird because standup can be like therapy. Comedians can't be satisfied with just having fun with our friends. We've got to figure out a way to do it on stage.
I wouldn't call myself a standup in the presence of Jerry Seinfeld or Chris Rock, but I do my share of it and it has been and remains part of my activity and I like it.
Trying my hand at standup was exciting to me.
People always come up to me and say, 'you should do standup.' It's nice to discover things about yourself. That keeps everything lively and fun.
I was a standup comic, which doesn't necessarily mean you interact with people all that much. In fact when I did shows, I wouldn't talk to the audience very much. Then my friend offered me a radio show, and I thought, you know, I'll try talking to people and see what kind of interviewer I was.
I really love standup because it's something that I've been literally doing for 40 years, which means I'm a thousand years old.
The thing is when I started doing standup, you had to have a clean act because that's how you got on television. There weren't all these cable shows. Also, I didn't want to have that kind of act in case my family came to see me or my kid one day.
I think that standup has always been an acquired taste and there was always only a handful of performers that were really inspired.
If you like standup and decide that it's overtaking your life and want to hate it, watch 1,000 standup comedians who are trying to get on a TV show.
Unlike 'Deal or No Deal,' which is for the entire family, my standup is not for the entire family.
Standup is just dirtier, a far more risque kind of thing.
For me, standup will always be some part of my life, and other things will move around and find their place.
I did all this standup comedy in college, and from that point on, I tried to develop myself and get my name back out there.
