WTF interview with Carolla almost inspires me

Just listened to the Marc Maron podcast with Adam Carolla. All the podcasts I listen to are thanks to Adam Carolla. I guess because he's the biggest, that's just where you start. It was a year and a half ago when I got a new iphone, a month before Christmas. I was messing around with the itunes and I saw Adam Carolla. I used to listen to Love Line when I drove a cab during the night shift in San Fransisco. I loved Adam, why not give it a listen. I also have been a huge Howard Stern fan my whole life but when I went broke and lost my car with sirius I was without words coming into my car stereo.

So I give Adam a try on my iphone and instantly I'm hooked. The cool thing about podcasts is that you can go back and listen to the old episodes to get caught up and this became my mission. The funny thing is when I first got my iphone I saw the podcast WTF on the top ten in comedy and I tried it out. I listened to about 13 seconds and immediately said I don't like this guys voice and dismissed it.

Fast forward through a bunch of the Ace man shows and I stumble across the first interview he did with Marc Maron. Adam brings up that Maron used to be friends with Sam Kenison and goes through his history in comedy. I decide that this Marc Maron guy isn't that bad. I give WTF another try and instantly I'm addicted. I love the podcast and I love Marc (In a totally straight way, and in a big brother or father I never had way too).

Adam also turned me on to Greg Fitzsimmons who in turn introduced me to Bill Burr whom I also love and look up to. I think it was also Carolla who introduced me to Joe Rogan who makes me wish I could do mushrooms again. Through Marc Maron I was turned on to Dave Hill and This American life. These are all my favorites. I also dabble into the nerdist with Chris Hardwick when I need something new.

The thing I always loved about Howard Stern is that it always seemed real. He wasn't afraid of confrontation and I loved that. Maron seems like he has had many confrontations in his life and in that way is similar to Stern.

Carolla on the other hand is extremely non confrontational when he is interviewing guests or when he is speaking with his sidekicks. He's really bought into the whole groundlings improv thing. The first thing they teach you in improv is a tool called "yes and". Whatever the person you are improving with says you have to agree with it and then build on top of it. The point is so you can work together to build a picture or a scene. I can't stand some improv people. I believe many of them act like a cult. They learn one tool and then they like to tell everyone else how they are doing it wrong.

This is the thing everyone hates about religion right? No one really gives a fuck what you believe it's just when you start telling other people that they are doing it wrong. I acknowledge the "Yes and" tool. I know it works and I understand why they teach it. The bottom line is I don't like improv. It's not real. It doesn't feel authentic to me and it just seems like a bunch of arrogant "know it alls" who want to show off their talent for working with others in front of other "know it alls".

There's tricks in stand up comedy. I've seen the guy that I don't think is funny getting the laughs from tricks. From the rhythm or the facial expression or the delivery. This is all fine but when you rely solely on the trick there is no soul. No heart.

This is the problem I have with Adam. For one, he's a genius. There is no doubt in my mind that he is hands down probably the best off the cuff personality in show business. The problem is I believe he relies too heavily on the "yes and" tool that many times real moments are passed up. He misses the confrontation. I think he's a people pleaser. He's the master at skating around the argument with the "yes and" tool. Sure he'll argue with an imaginary person whose not present during one of his rants but never do we see face to face combat.

That being said, Marc tried to engage Adam on some issues and Carolla schooled him. It seemed like Maron was getting ready to do battle and Adam somehow neutered Maron in a way that made Marc almost eat his words and say, in so many words, "I guess you have a point and could be right." In Maron's defense he did sarcastically mention how ridiculous Carolla's plan would look in reality. Something about sending teams coaches to give pep talks to the unfortunate people everywhere. The problem was that was just an after thought at the end of the interview. Too little too late.

Anyways I didn't really want to talk about any of that. The funny thing is, I agree with Adam on some level when it is directed towards me personally. What interested me was when Adam was talking about how people who take their work seriously are never out of work. He said a good carpenter is always working. Then, and this is the part that I really cared about, he said a comedian who busts his ass off and basically puts the work into his craft and is always performing will get work. Maybe he won't be Dane Cook he said but he will find work.

This is the part I want to test. If I really want to be a comedian, assuming I have at least some natural ability, and I put everything into it, could I do it? I'm not talking about anyone, I'm talking about myself, Duke Fightmaster. Carolla spoke about how he started digging ditches. Then he got a truck and then some tools and eventually was a carpenter. I guess one thing I have to keep in mind is that it's a process. It's not going to happen over night. I have to start by digging the ditches.

What's the equivalent of digging ditches for me? Writing and performing. I have to get up and perform as much as I can but as equally important I need to write. And I need to write smart. I need to perform smart.

I'm almost inspired to do something. Will I? Let's see.