Loading summary
Transcript257 lines
- [00:01]
Jesse David Fox
Support for this show comes from pure leaf iced tea. When you find yourself in the afternoon.
- [00:06]
Bill Burr
Slump, you need the right thing to make you bounce back.
- [00:09]
Jesse David Fox
You need pure leaf iced tea. It's real brewed tea made in a variety of bold flavors with just the right amount of naturally occurring caffeine. You're left feeling refreshed and revitalized so you can be ready to take on what's next. The next time you need to hit.
- [00:24]
Bill Burr
The reset button, grab a pure leaf iced tea.
- [00:27]
Jesse David Fox
Time for a tea break. Time for a pure leaf.
- [00:32]
Bill Burr
You've done it again. Finance teams. You closed the books and it went fine. Sure, some expenses were missing receipts, but that's fine. Stayed late to process invoices by hand. It's all fine. But don't you deserve better than fine? With ramp, expenses are submitted with a text, invoices are coded automatically, and everything is connected to your accounting system so you can close the books without all the busy work. Switch your business to ramp.com and love finance again. I was like, wow, this, like, cured me. And then after 10 days, an anger that was even more than what I had before came back because all of that stuff still had happened to me.
- [01:20]
Jesse David Fox
This is good one. I'm Jesse J. Fox, senior writer at Vulture and author of ComedyBook. My guest this episode is Bill Burr. We talk about his newest special, drop Dead Years, his run on Broadway in Glengarry Glen Ross, and mostly how through becoming a father, losing friends, and doing mushrooms, he has fundamentally grown as a person. And his comedy reflects that. We laugh, we cry. Bill talks about his favorite drummers for, like, five minutes. So here is Bill Burr. I'm here with Bill Burr. Thank you for joining me.
- [01:48]
Bill Burr
How's it going?
- [01:49]
Jesse David Fox
That's fine. All right. How are you?
- [01:50]
Bill Burr
I'm good.
- [01:51]
Jesse David Fox
Good.
- [01:52]
Bill Burr
I'm good. Good. It feels weird to say that I am.
- [01:55]
Jesse David Fox
That's great. So what is the funniest thing that happened to you this week or you noticed this week, or you thought about this week?
- [02:05]
Bill Burr
Probably sitting outside drinking a cup of coffee and this guy was shooting heroin into the outside of his calf. And. And then this other guy came out and he was, like, screaming into his cell phone. And like, right before all this happened, I was just enjoying, like, you know, this is a great morning. I'm coming to the end of this wonderful run on this play. I'm going to be back with my lovely wife and my kids, and I can't wait. And I was feeling so serene, and this guy was screaming on his cell phone, and I usually don't say anything, but I just went like, buddy, buddy, buddy. And he just goes, oh, okay. Sorry. He just took two steps over and started screaming again. And I just appreciated that. That he actually acknowledged that he was being loud. But I also understood that whatever he was yelling about was super important. He was yelling in a different language. So I could tell that it was.
- [03:01]
Jesse David Fox
It really mattered to him.
- [03:02]
Bill Burr
It was. There was something time sensitive was happening, but he was still courteous enough to know it was. He switched out of his language. It was. I think it was Karin who was going to do it like that. I said, buddy, buddy, buddy. And he goes, oh. He goes, oh, perfect English. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. And then he just stepped two feet over. He goes, but. But I'm also. I am fascinated with people that can do that. Like, I'm trying to learn French, and I'm getting to the point where I can really understand when people speak. I can read it really well compared to where I was. And my speaking is off because I have a tutor in la, but I just, you know, you need to be doing it, and I haven't been. So I'm just amazed at, like, you know, like, when I first came here, I was living on 97th and Lex, which was, you know, going into Spanish Harlem. So people's ability. Puerto Ricans, like, their ability to just fucking just boom, boom, boom, boom. It's so amazing. And then it's. It's like. It's weird. Like, when I hear my people, whitey people, like, you know, folking, speak English or whatever, and it's just like, dude, this person. It's like, multi.
- [04:15]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [04:16]
Bill Burr
They can speak more than one language. And you. You're still buying into this. I'm smarter and I'm superior because my skin burns in the sun. Yeah.
- [04:27]
Jesse David Fox
Do you want water in your cup?
- [04:29]
Bill Burr
Yeah. You know what? I'll. I got some. Right.
- [04:31]
Jesse David Fox
All right. I just. Might as well do this now.
- [04:36]
Bill Burr
You actually saw a part of my psychological makeup.
- [04:40]
Jesse David Fox
What?
- [04:40]
Bill Burr
Because I looked. I saw there was nothing there, and I just accepted it.
- [04:43]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. And I. Well. And I, as a host, would not.
- [04:45]
Bill Burr
I'm just like. I guess. I guess that's just how it's gonna be.
- [04:49]
Jesse David Fox
So I'll make this brief because I know you don't love receiving compliments, but I want to start this off with a compliment, which is. I'm really excited to talk to you right now because I.
- [04:57]
Bill Burr
Okay.
- [04:57]
Jesse David Fox
I loved your most recent special, and as a person who's been following your career for over 20 years, it feels like this culmination of a lot of things you've been working on, a lot of topics you've been talking about, a lot of issues you've been trying to get through. There are jokes where it feels like it's things you've talked about, but the perspective has completely switched. And it's really satisfying. As a person who's followed this whole journey, how was it something intentional? Were you realizing that, like, oh, this can be almost like a mirror image of a lot of things that I was doing?
- [05:30]
Bill Burr
No, it wasn't. It's just how I've been working on myself. And the result of that is why. So it's something I've been telling comedians, whether there's this. This thing where, like, you know, don't go getting happy. You get happy, you're not going to be funny anymore. And it's like, no, it's actually. It's better because it opens up this whole new worldview, you know, so you're not just like doing the same thing the entire time. You have to keep, like, I feel incrementally changing each year, so there's some sort of forward momentum to what you're doing. And then what happens is, is people notice the change. Like you, you have a positive reaction to it. I have people that I left behind who are still angry and, you know, misogynistic and blah, blah. I'm not saying I still don't have lot of issues with women. I do, but even then it's not them. It has to do with other stuff. I just keep going back and figuring out what it is. So anyway, so like, I get like, you know, I. I definitely have like this fall off of the stay angry bro guys that I had, you know, and it's like, they not fans and. And like, I just. And I just think, like, well, hey, man, I. I hope. I hope you're not angry your whole life, because I was on my way to doing that and I don't want to be that guy. So, you know, the old me would, you know, if somebody would have said that, I would have been like, well, you know, fuck you. I'm doing what I want. But I can still, even as the person saying, you're not as funny as you used to be, I can still have empathy going like, I know what he's saying.
- [07:06]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [07:07]
Bill Burr
It's like, you know, don't go to the light because I'm not ready yet. Stay here in the bar with me thinking all of this, like, negative stuff. And it's like, I You know, I don't. I don't want to be the Pied Piper of that. I did. I. I did it. And, yeah, I don't want to be. You know, my tombstone here lies Bill Burr. He was angry. Like, my one fucking life that I had, I did that. So. And I'm also realizing that everybody, you know, it's kind of what it is. You have your shit, you have to work out. That's your life sentence, whatever thing that you're doing.
- [07:44]
Jesse David Fox
There's a few jokes where you can see that, but one that I thought was really interesting is the first joke in the special, which is about being more agreeable with your wife. And I notice it is you talk about how it's a breakthrough. And I was listening to you on Conan's podcast in 2018, and you go, this week, I had a breakthrough, which is I realized I'm just gonna say yes to whatever my wife said. So that was seven years or so before the special.
- [08:07]
Bill Burr
And that was coming from a place of anger. Yeah. And that was passive aggressive being, like. So evidently, what I have to say means fucking not so. Because I didn't know how to, like, talk like that stuff out. I. I will say the joke that's really resonating with men and hopefully with women is talking about how many sad men there are out there. Like, I don't. And. And, like, the amount of men that relate to that, the amount of men that are married and are lonely and they're sad and don't feel appreciated. And like, the whole, like, vibe of all that is, you know, the thing is, like, you're. It's all. It's usually based on the woman's hat, you know, happy wife, happy life kind of thing. So you just sort of, like, you know, it's a mixer, and you're just sort of down here, and their stuff is up like that. And, like, you know, I just feel like, as an adult, if you're asking me to be responsible for what I'm doing, that's making your day less enjoyable. You can't just be free to do whatever. Whatever you want. Like, I talk to a lot of married guys, and I go, what's funny about most married men is you exist on about three or four compliments a year. You know what I mean?
- [09:26]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [09:27]
Bill Burr
And it's. There's not, like, a given. I don't know what that is. But, like, there's this funny thing on. On Instagram I saw where this woman was going around randomly complimenting men, and first, like, look of Shock on their face, because women don't approach guys like that. But there's also this funny thing of, like, wait, I remember what this. This. Oh, that's a compliment. You know what I mean? And it's like, I. I feel like there's gonna be, like, wherever I am mentally, where I'm, like, open to kind of seeing, like, all right, what I'm bringing to the party and how I'm messing up. I don't think that's a big ask to ask the other person. And that's kind of where I am with my wife right now, which is this really cool yet difficult place, because you have to, like, revisit the stuff that you were doing, because it's weird. This is stuff that you knew you were doing, and then this is stuff that you didn't even know you were doing. And then it's, like, really embarrassing. You're like, oh, my God, I was doing that. And that made you feel that way. And, like, you know, I am, like, absolutely crazy about my wife. And I'm 21 years in, and I'm, you know, I can't ever imagine her not being in my life. And, like, she's, like, beyond my wife. She's like my buddy. Like, there's no one out there that I vibe with like her. So that's been. What's been really been hard about this play is it's really been difficult on our vibe because she's holding down the fort. I'm out here lonely. She needs the support because she's doing everything out there. I'm lonely, and I'm looking for something. So, you know, it causes like, you know, but what about what I'm going through? Then we gotta be like, all right, what are we doing here? What are we doing doing here? So we kind of came up with this running joke of, like, when we started discussing things. If it gets heated, we just go like, we're not fighting. We're not. We fighting. And it's. It's so silly, which I think is one of the magic components of my relationship with my wife is that we are both ridiculously silly people. And that helps us reset a lot, but it also helps us to avoid a lot of big issues by, like. And now here's the joke. Hey, okay, let's keep it up. Let's keep it up here.
- [11:44]
Jesse David Fox
But it's interesting because it's, like, it makes one as a person, you know, I rewatch all your specials, and a lot of the early specials were when you're still first just dating before you got married. And it was a lot about these fights that you would have or your perspective on it, or, you know, there's jokes about. You describe you don't want to get married because you don't want, like, this sort of psycho robot who's just like, has plans for the day or the jokes about.
- [12:08]
Bill Burr
Yeah. And that was all about women. But it had nothing to do with it.
- [12:11]
Jesse David Fox
That's why I was wondering.
- [12:11]
Bill Burr
It's like that it was, what it was, was I. I always wanted to be married. I always thought I was gonna be married at 26 and have, like five or six kids. Like, if I wasn't up, that's what would have happened. But instead I was up. So I became a comedian. And then when I, I, I did was. I then met a bunch of other comedians and we were all like, you know, messed up kids with all of this trauma, but it was relatable. So you got sucked into this world. That made sense. Yeah, but it was, I mean, it was like, when I go back and I just think of the things that we talked about. We were kids, like, as much as you're an adult in your 20s. We were kids in our worldview and our views of relationships and women and all of that stuff, you know, and it was also like this different time where it was just like, there was really a, you know, there was this pressure to be that guy that, you know, you know, didn't care and, like, a woman couldn't hurt you and all of that stupid bravado stuff. And, yeah, it was like the nuts running the nuthouse. So none of us could help each other. In fact, in a lot of ways, I think we made each other, you know, worse before we all got out of it. But what I am proud to say is those of us who got out of it, one of those, like, one of the biggest success stories is this comedian Robert Kelly, who I really think, in a lot of ways, sets the bar for being a father. Like, how involved he is in his son's life versus the way he was brought up and all. Like, he's one of those guys, you know, you talk about me changing. Like, Robert Kelly has probably been like six or seven different people since I've met him, and each one was a better version of himself. And, you know, we, we lived together when we were both at our probably most toxic, and we almost killed each other a couple of times, but none of that. And we laugh about it now, but, like, I look up to him a lot as, like, when I think about Being a father. He's an amazing, amazing, amazing father.
- [14:25]
Jesse David Fox
Do you. You know, I. Do you regret any of those jokes I think about?
- [14:30]
Bill Burr
No. No.
- [14:31]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [14:31]
Bill Burr
How do you like, I don't, because I have. What I. Cause it was honest. It was what. Where I was. I've never gone on stage and wasn't joking around something. Unless I'm just being like. There's also being absurd or whatever. You're just saying something ridiculous over the top. But, like, you know, I don't regret those because that's where I was. And if. If I didn't do that, then what you're seeing me do now wouldn't have, like, this nice arc to it. And it's like, I feel like somebody who came up like I did can watch the whole thing and see a way out, hopefully. Because, you know, the things that happen to you when you're a kid can really, you know, adversely affect the one life you have to live. And then the. The worst part is, you know, you think, well, I'm not as bad as what happened to me. But you don't understand. Like. And your idea of where the middle is, I would say, like, that's going on with politics right now, where it got so fucking crazy. Left. What's going on now on the right feels like the middle. And it's like, no, these. This is. It's just boiling water on the other side. We need to have. And the depressing thing about traveling is, is you just meet everybody and everybody's sort of chill and cool, and then you watch CNN and Fox News, and it's like. Like this. It's like, this is. This is not an accurate depiction. And it's like, are you doing this on purpose to destroy the country? Or is it because there's so many channels, cable is dying, that you need to just show people running around with their heads on fire to get somebody to stop and watch it and get clicks so you can get advertising so you can keep your fucking pool.
- [16:21]
Jesse David Fox
Sorry. That. That. That. That tangent took me on. I'm trying to remember what I was gonna say.
- [16:26]
Bill Burr
I do that a lot. Don't blame yourself.
- [16:27]
Jesse David Fox
It's okay.
- [16:29]
Bill Burr
You were talking about when I went. When I go back and I look at my stuff.
- [16:33]
Jesse David Fox
Oh, you do regret.
- [16:34]
Bill Burr
Do I regret the things that I've said? Listen, you're always gonna regret things that you said, but you can't. Like, you, obviously. I know now. I mean, I regret betting the. You know, whatever. Yeah. The super bowl this year. You would regret betting the Chiefs because, you know, the eagles were going to fucking kill them. Right. So there, there, there is that. But it's just like you can't, you can't beat yourself up for being human.
- [16:55]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, I think the question.
- [16:56]
Bill Burr
That was the dumb thing when they would do those witch hunts. I went back three years in, In. In your fucking Twitter account and found out that you said something for, oh, did I make a mistake? Yeah, was I in a bad mood that day? And you went back through three years. That's a pretty good run.
- [17:11]
Jesse David Fox
Well, I think about, like, ultimately what you're saying is it's about empathy and specifically of empathy for, you know, like, you have the joke about. There's a. I think it's in an early special. Say something like, where are the wise. You can just dump your day out on. Right? Or the. You have the joke about.
- [17:27]
Bill Burr
They say, you can see that's still funny because it's so absurd and also absurd. But like, I was also being absurd back then. And then I was also, I was learning to be a comedian. I was still. And I'm still learning. So I was also learning like the skill of pushing people past what they wanted to hear, getting them to still listen and then landing it somewhere that that wasn't. Oh my God, this is gonna just be the most ignorant thing ever and landing it somewhere else. So I was learning how to do like, you know, specials aren't just specials. Some of them are transitions, transitional. So someone will be like, oh, you know, I really liked, you know, Paper Tiger and then Red Rocks, but blah, blah, kind of gorilla shot that thing, to be honest with you. But like someone like, I wasn't quite as good. That was more of a transitional thing, like to, to get. Cause I was in the middle of undoing a lot of stuff about myself. So I was. Or whatever. Someone like Red rocks better than the paper. I'm not saying, you know, whatever. Everybody always has like their opinions, but there's. There's specials that are. You're catching somebody, you know, sort of mid stride. Like they haven't planted that foot or where they're going to be. So like, I'm excited about my new hour that I'm writing because this one is, you know, it's more of my self examination, but like my, my worldview is like, it's apolitical and it's trying to bring people together. I'm trying to do the opposite of what's going on out there because it's really disturbing to me that like, states don't. Like states. Like, this is feeling like, we're gonna have a civil war if we're not careful here. And like, when I was growing up, everybody hated the Russians. Now people hate California or Florida or New York or Texas. And it's like, guys, same team. You're on the same team. People can have different opinions. You know what I mean? And I don't know. I think what this country needs right now is a leader. And are you the leader? No, no, no, no, no. I don't mean that. I mean, I'm talking about politics.
- [19:39]
Jesse David Fox
Got it.
- [19:40]
Bill Burr
And this whole leading by dividing that has been going on for a few decades now. Is. Is like, is. Is going to pull this country apart if they're not careful. You have to lead by, like, you know, you have to lead everyone. It's got to be a positive thing. You got to get back to. I don't. I don't know. But. But the level of corruption in. With all of these politicians and how much money they're making from these people who've poisoned our food supply. I mean, they hook up with the pharmaceutical people like your. Your job is to go out here and eat poison, get sick, buy the drugs, stay alive long enough, make your claim, have it denied after you paid insurance, and then die and then have all of that debt passed on to the people like this is. And I can tell you right now, the people who are doing that are not illegal aliens. Yeah.
- [20:38]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. So I. I want to ask you about talking about politics because it's been an interesting few months for you in this arena. And I want to just summarize. For people who have been watching your career so closely, in this last few months, you've had a few things happen, which is Ben Shapiro talked about going to one of your shows and complaining about you becoming woke, which sort of then created this.
- [20:58]
Bill Burr
He doesn't even know what that word means.
- [21:00]
Jesse David Fox
Let me stop.
- [21:01]
Bill Burr
His definition of woke is. Is white liberals definition of woke. And they didn't even know what it was. They just took the word from black people. That's the worst thing about our people is not only do we take from other cultures, we don't even take the time to understand the definition. He went there to be annoyed so he can then have something to talk about, and then he can make money off of dividing his own country. Those people, it's treasonous what they do.
- [21:27]
Jesse David Fox
Yes, but to be fair or not to be fair to the fact is that it worked for what his goal is, which is then it became a thing online where then a certain portion of the right Complain about how you're woke. Racists and more racist.
- [21:40]
Bill Burr
They're racist. Yeah, they send pictures of monkeys to me and my wife. They're fucking horrible people and they're cowards and they never say it to your face. Yeah, they never do that. And no, they're. They're like, look, dude, there's an ugliness that's out there right now where, you know, there's certain podcasts out there that if you're a racist, if you're an anti Semite, if you're a psycho nationalist and you want a softball interview, there's podcast out there where you can. And they will laugh at your fucking bad jokes and just give you this, this pass. And it's like, you know, there's. There's a really ugly thing that's going on out there. And, you know, it's the kind of things. We've already seen this and we've seen what it does to a nation. And it's. It's not, it's not the way to go. It's not the way to go.
- [22:27]
Jesse David Fox
So. And then at the same time, you know, you're talking about billionaires, you're talking about stuff like this, and people on the left have been really embracing you and they're sharing your.
- [22:35]
Bill Burr
No, that's not true, dude. Certain parts of true. That's not true.
- [22:38]
Jesse David Fox
Certain portions of the left true.
- [22:40]
Bill Burr
And certain portions of the right, sure, there's common sense on both sides, but we keep doing this shit where it's like, oh, the right's all fucking racist. And through the left is some of the most fucking. Most of the left feels like if they have a black friend, they don't have issues. Okay, I'm out of that.
- [22:59]
Jesse David Fox
Yes.
- [23:00]
Bill Burr
I'm out of that. And I, I don't want to hear left in right crap. They're all fucking nuts. That fucking shit post MeToo where it went from people shouldn't sexually assault people. Absolutely. To I don't like what you're talking about in your act was fucking nuts. It was McCarthyism on the left. And now you've gone to the other side on the right. And the left was so fucked up the right, you know, the psycho right thinks that they're in the middle and they're not. They're out of their fucking minds. And I travel, dude, and I'm telling you, people who lean right and lean left are chill. And we're just sitting in the middle. Like, when is everybody going to fucking calm the fuck down? When is this going to go back to, you know, like, live and let live.
- [23:43]
Jesse David Fox
Sure.
- [23:44]
Bill Burr
So. And there's way more of that. And I have people from construction workers to fucking, you know, hairy leg chicks with nose rings going, hey, I like what you're saying out there about these billionaires. Cuz that is the fucking problem.
- [23:58]
Jesse David Fox
Yes.
- [23:58]
Bill Burr
And the other problem is that people make it like it's political. Like if you vote for this color tie, these billionaires are somehow gonna grow a heart and it's just not the case. It isn't.
- [24:08]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. And ultimately my question is, ultimately, what do you, when you think of talking about politics at all in your act, what is, what do you want to do? Right.
- [24:18]
Bill Burr
If I do it, I trash them both.
- [24:20]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. With what?
- [24:21]
Bill Burr
Because that is my job. That is my job. I can't fix the political system and I don't watch a lot of it. But you know, I, you know, when I do stand up, you know, if I start trashing like Trump, I would hear the left in the crowd like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'd be like, the fuck you. You voted for a guy that, you know is staring off into space. Like your guy literally should be in a fucking home. What are you patting yourself on the back for? X, Y and Z, blah, blah. Your fucking party has not let you vote for, has not let you choose your candidate since Obama's second term. Yeah, you're liberal. That's fucking insane. We want Bernie Sanders. Fuck you, Hillary. We want Bernie Sanders. Fuck you. Fucking Mr. Magoo. Mr. Magoo again. Fucking two weeks before. Oh yeah, his vice president. Yeah, that's what they're doing. So like I get. So then after I've trashed Trump, I then do that because my thing is, is like I'm not, like, I'm not flying either one of their flags and it's the people that pay them that is the problem. And they're always distracting us with other stuff. So like CNN and Fox News are a fucking disease.
- [25:38]
Jesse David Fox
So is your goal to clear out? Your hope is if I make fun of it, I will clear out the distraction and focus on the.
- [25:44]
Bill Burr
No, I was doing what doing then was. I was just trashing both sides.
- [25:48]
Jesse David Fox
Just, just to do it.
- [25:50]
Bill Burr
Yeah. Not to do it, but also to just show that, that it's fucked up. But now I've moved on from that.
- [25:56]
Jesse David Fox
Got it.
- [25:58]
Bill Burr
To, you know, the puppeteers.
- [26:00]
Jesse David Fox
Got it.
- [26:01]
Bill Burr
So that, that's what I'm going to make fun of. So my, my new perspective is there's nothing wrong with being a billionaire, but if somebody is working 40 hours a week, 160 hours a month, and they can't make their rent. You're not paying them enough money. Maybe you should just be worth 900 million.
- [26:18]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, yeah.
- [26:19]
Bill Burr
Like, how does a CEO take a fucking eight figure bonus? And none of your employees have dental insurance. They can't even go out and get a filling.
- [26:28]
Jesse David Fox
What do you do then when you're put in position? Like SNL asks you to host the week after the election. Right? That's like. They're. It's for a comedian, hypothetically, to talk about politics, to unite the nation. How did you feel when you're put in that position?
- [26:44]
Bill Burr
No, it's an honor to be asked to do that. You know, and I made fun of Kamala, and I made fun of Trump, and then I did a couple of silly jokes. I kept it light. You know, you just. What you do, what you do. I definitely, you know, I don't. I don't put that level of importance on. Excuse me. I don't put that level of importance on my actual. I am. What I'm. What I'm finding is that people keep trying to categorize what it is that you're doing. Like that idiot Ben Shapiro. No, he's. He's woke now. He's like, I don't. That fucking guy. Someone came to me and goes, hey, man, you should. He was trying to bring me into his fold at one point. The guy liked me.
- [27:31]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. Yeah.
- [27:32]
Bill Burr
You know, and then when I didn't, then all of a sudden, I'm a fucking asshole. I mean, I'm supposed to look at that guy like he's an adult.
- [27:39]
Jesse David Fox
Do you feel misunderstood if people take you words one way or the other?
- [27:43]
Bill Burr
No, I'm not mis. I'm deliberately misunderstood.
- [27:45]
Jesse David Fox
Got it.
- [27:45]
Bill Burr
So people are like. It's like a catcher trying to make a ball a strike. So they try to. And everyone does it. It's not just people with radio shows and podcasts, it's like, fans do it. Like, one of the funniest things ever is so many of my bits are online, which is great promotion to sell tickets. But the names of the jokes, they name them.
- [28:03]
Jesse David Fox
I was going to ask, and I'm.
- [28:04]
Bill Burr
Like, that's not the name of the joke. That's not the perspective of the joke. I've seen people that teach comedy classes saying, you see what he's doing here? And what is it? Bothered me at first, and then I'm just like, you know, what do I care? It's just like this fucking songs that I listened to for 40 years and I thought they were about something. And I hear the artists go like, no, it wasn't like, do you know somebody? I just saw something. I don't know if it's true, but that Buffalo Springfield song, what is that? Stop Children. Everybody thought it was about Vietnam. And then they're like, no, no. They shut down the whiskey that night and there was cops down there. And it was just sort of about this little rock club in la. And it's just like, oh, I thought your song was about what I cared about. It's about what you cared about.
- [28:50]
Jesse David Fox
All the directors of every movie that used that to over to overscore shots of kids protesting.
- [28:57]
Bill Burr
Have you seen that guy on Instagram where he says every movie becomes better if it ends with Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run in the credits? Oh my God, it's amazing. It's like the end of the Shawshank Redemption. It's so funny. You know, Tim Robbins is on the beach and Morgan Freeman's coming up and these two friends. And it's just this really like, wow, what a journey. We just watched. And there's Max Weinberg and it always works. And there's something about that song that makes me feel like I just watched one of those great coming of age movies in the 80s that I, that I, I watched with all of, all of those actors, you know, from my generation.
- [29:39]
Jesse David Fox
So, you know, you're talking about the billionaires and politician stuff. What do you feel? And podcasters, what do you feel about politicians? Billionaires who've appeared on podcasts of your peers to try to leverage comedy for their own goals?
- [29:55]
Bill Burr
Oh, that. Yeah, that. Dude. It was before that. I remember the first time I saw a president go on the Tonight Show. I thought it was cheapening the office. It's like they never did that when they used to run for office. They would have the debates and they wouldn't even go on Meet the Press. So. But I just feel like now that everybody has a camera and blah, blah, blah, it's just so all over the place. I just think the landscape of it has changed. All I can say is, personally, I would never do it. I would never have somebody come on that's running for fucking president with my intellect. I'm not going to sit there and be like, so, like, what is your, what's your foreign policy like? I would, it would just, I would be like within three minutes, do what was your favorite Super Bowl? And then people be like watching it going, I like that super bowl too. I'm going to vote for this Guy. It's just like. It's just so far beyond my. My. My wheelhouse. Like, I am just way. That's just way, way, way beyond. Like this. There's a difference between the people that read and the people that are the subject of what you're reading. You know what I mean? There's people that, like, discover shit and figure shit out, and then there's the people that read it. Like, they're the only people that can explain the theory of relativity. That's probably not a lot of people, but they can do it. But then there. There's this ego thing that. Because now I can explain it, like I'm somehow Einstein adjacent, it's like, no, you're not. You just read some smart shit. Yeah, that was a bit I used to do in my act where it's just like, there's nothing worse than when a dumb person reads because now they think they're smart. It's just like, no, you're just a dumb guy that knows a lot of shit.
- [31:49]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [31:49]
Bill Burr
Like, intellect to me is how you process information. It's not just reading a bunch of smart shit, putting in your head and then puking it out at people and be like, you know, in 1492, that's not smart. You're torturing people.
- [32:08]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [32:08]
Bill Burr
So I would. It's more like how you put stuff together. And like, somebody said me one time ago, bill, you know, you're a really smart guy. And I go, yeah, in a sports bar. You put me in a sports bar and you want me to talk about 70s and 80s sports. I am. I am wildly. I am scoring very high.
- [32:30]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [32:30]
Bill Burr
All right. You put me in like. Like that form to have to interview somebody that is going to run for president and then all. And as the sports bar guy, you're gonna see, like, yeah, this guy did go to summer school a lot, so. Or whatever. It's like, you're a smart guy. Yeah. Yeah. Compared to what? Yeah, it's all like, sort of relative. Like, I'm like, I'm still out. The jury's still out with me. With Neil Degrasse Tyson, it's like, is he a good scientist? Because every time I see him, he's talking to somebody like me, and I'm like, is that how the tides work? I had no idea. It's like, he didn't figure that out. Yeah, he learned it. I want to see him sitting down next to another scientist and have the guy be like, wow, Neil, I never looked at it that, like, I want to see somebody on Your level.
- [33:20]
Jesse David Fox
Interesting. He does spend a lot of time talking about movies.
- [33:23]
Bill Burr
He doesn't do science a lot. He definitely sits around a lot talking about. It's sort of like a Dr. Phil.
- [33:29]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [33:29]
Bill Burr
Kind of thing. So he's always looked like a crooked cop to me. He just looks like he would plant a pistol, do one of those and take like a piss. Taped up pistol.
- [33:38]
Jesse David Fox
I think we've probably more. Right than we've realized. So you talked a little bit earlier and I want to talk about the, the growth that you had offstage. It then transitioned on stage and the certain things that happened in your life that led to it. And first was as you were talking about Robert, the having kids was a major change. And in your earlier specials you talk about wanting kids and not knowing if you'd be able to have kids. You just said there, there's a ball of hate in my chest and I don't know if I can have kids. You'd say, I said that?
- [34:05]
Bill Burr
Yeah, that was true.
- [34:08]
Jesse David Fox
But you now have kids. So before you had kids, what did you expect? And then what did you learn now that you have them?
- [34:13]
Bill Burr
And you know what? It wasn't a ball of hate. It was hurt that turned into that. So what is it like now that I have kids?
- [34:23]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. What did you expect and what, what have you realized?
- [34:27]
Bill Burr
I realized that I'm a really good dad and I'm good at it. I'm like, I, I am in a lot of ways like a big kid and a lot of raising kids under the age of 10. It's a ground game. Like, so there's a, we have all of these games of chasing them around the house, wrestling, going swimming, playing drums. Music's a big thing with me. Like, I expose them to a lot of that stuff and. But like what I love is, is like my kids, like I was, you know, driving in la, which is really frustrating for me. And like I'd gone into my neighborhood like three times that day and every time it's this random little street, the person in front of me was also going on in that street. And after a while, the la, you just don't want anybody in front of you. You just want, can I just go from this light to that light, have my arm out there? Like, I'm so jealous of like people that live in rural areas that you can buy a classic car or have a motorcycle and go down the street and not have to be fucking like that the whole time. You suffer with your worldview. That's the problem. But like the, the the car, motorcycle aspect of it. So anyways, it's like the third time my daughter's in the car and I'm just going like, what are the odds? What are the friggin. And she just. She's eight. And she goes, dad, what does it matter? And I go, it does matter. She goes, no, you're being ridiculous. And I. And I literally even like, went past my street to go around the block to just not have any. And she goes. She goes. Said to me, I forget what she said. She goes, dad. She goes, you're being ridiculous. I go, all right, I am being ridiculous, but I'm also right. And she goes, no, you're not. And we just both started laughing. And it made me feel really good because my dad's anger was terrifying.
- [36:17]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [36:18]
Bill Burr
And I would never do anything. But she just, you know, she got me to quit smoking cigars. I don't know if I'm done for good, but, like, you know, I was smoking a cigar and she came out like, little girls, do they just look through you? She came out, she sat like. I was sitting down. She sat right in my lap, got like an inch from my face. And she goes, dad, stop smoking cigars. It's bad for you. And I was literally like, okay, all right. And I put him down. She goes, you have to go 100 days. And I was like, all right, this is when she was 7. So I went 100 days. He goes, then you can have 5, and then do you have to do another 100 days? So I didn't do 5. I went 5 weeks, and I went off the rails, and I was smoking like a chimney. And then she goes, that's it. So I stopped smoking cigars, but then I had a pipe. And she goes, no, that counts too. So I went 100 days from middle of January to the end of April. And I was just like, I don't know. It was the second time I went, and I was thinking about it and I was like, do I want to start this back up again? I have to do this play. People are paying a small fortune to go see this play. And I'm going to be out there, you know, with a smoky voice and stuff, and maybe I won't sleep as well. And I just was like, you know, do I really want to go through having to quit this again? So I haven't quit for good, but I want to be that guy where it's an occasion where I'm thinking, like, well, maybe the last night of the play, I'll smoke one, but Then I'm like, no, I, I don't, I don't, I don't need to do that. I, I'll. Because if everyone was doing it, I would do it. But if it's just you, it's very antisocial. Yeah, I can see it sitting there like a city bus. Hey, come on over. You know, there's a lot of, you know, a cigar is, is obnoxious, which I'm guilty of.
- [38:08]
Jesse David Fox
But, yeah, I mean, it's, it's. What's interesting is, in studies have shown this that, like, you have an idea of what a father child relationship is from being a child, and then you have a child and by creating a different relationship, it rewires your brain and.
- [38:21]
Bill Burr
Be like, it's the, it's the best way. If you've done the work on yourself, it's the only way to fix what happened to you is. Because you can't fix that, but what you can do is change it. So it causes you to move forward. It causes you to understand. It made me and my wife get along better, I hope, you know, because I, I, I think it's easier with an adult to not understand that your behavior is affecting them negatively. But with a kid, the innocent, how small they are and how they're just unfiltered. And they'll just like, say, you know, dad, I don't like when you yell like that. And it just go, it goes right into your heart. You're like, oh, my God. And then, you know, you fucking be a baby about it. You beat yourself up and, oh, bubba. It's like, stop doing that. All right? Man the fuck up and go talk to somebody. Do what you gotta do and get better at this, because you know what that feels like. And just the fact that she or my son or my daughter has the ability to tell me that they don't like that, that's not enough. Yeah, I have to stop this. So that's what I love. You know, I snuck back after a show because I've never missed my wife's birthday and my son's birthday was the same week. So I had to make sure I went back there, participated in making a cake. I frosted it. I fucked it up. But you know that going back, one of my favorite things that happened when I came back, other than seeing my family, was that ride with my daughter and her. Like, I was upset, and then she had me laughing, but I just loved. I was like going, like, look at how cool our relationship is. And, like, I knew she was right, but I was being an idiot, going, like, I was also kind of right, too. And she's going like, no, you're not. Why would you get upset about that? Like, and then I just felt this feeling of euphoria of, like, oh, my God, she doesn't have what I have. Like, this isn't gonna bug her. She's free of that. So I always view it like the Exorcist, like, when the devil got in the priest, and then he jumps out the window and kills himself. Like, it dies with me, which is also stupid because the devil could just go. Go into somebody else. He just sort of killed himself.
- [40:43]
Jesse David Fox
Is that why, for the most part, like, you had kids and you didn't do any material of, like, oh, raising kids is so hard. This thing's annoying. You know, like, there's a expectation that some might have of, like, oh, Bill Burr has kids. Get ready for him to complain about all the things comedians have been complaining about about having kids. Is it. Is it a thing that you actively either don't see or, like, actively avoid it?
- [41:06]
Bill Burr
No, I. I love. I love having kids. And I like. Like when I hear some new music or I hear a song and I go like, oh, man, I bet my daughter would like this song. I bet my son would like this song. And, like, my wife has, like, completely. We have, like, overlap, but she has completely different music musical tastes. So, like, my kids know. I mean, I. I can't pick, like, a really deep artist that she like. What is some of that stuff she listened to in college? Like, there's so much stuff that I discover. And she goes, oh, yeah, I was listening to that in college. I'm, like, decades behind. But she'll just play, like, really, like, you know, like, she. She grew up on, like, you know, the hip hop, R B from the early 90s, like, her teen years. And so she has all of that. She has all that cool college music. She has all of that stuff that, you know by then, you know, I was in my 20s and I was, like, a comedian, you know, So I missed out on all of that. And so she has all of that. And then I have all, like, the 70s and 80s, you know, rock music right through, like, you know, Queens of the Stone Age. And then, like, you know, Russian circles and some of the other stuff that I list. So they're hearing all of that, and I like that. Like, that's the cool thing as like, a parent. And then you just, you know, you don't guide them. You just sort of vibe with them and see what they like and what they, you know, or like, you know, I pitch to them and stuff and I deliberately have them go on both sides of the plate right and left handed, you know, and they're like, I don't like going to the left hand. This feels, you know, I started them all both off left handed so be their stronger side because they were right handed and just having that and that's good I think for brain development and just little tricks like that. Okay, let's, let's do you know what's wrong with that right hand? Let's do 10 with the left and you turn it into like a game. But I don't know if this is like true or not, but I feel like you're giving them more access to using this thing. And you know, and I, you know, and I, I, I just, I have a real sort of like honest thing with them where, you know, stuff happens at school, you know, I'm not going to get into it but like, hey, you know, if that happens again, you know, do X, Y and Z. Well, I'll get in trouble. And I go, well not with me you won't. I'll actually be proud of you. You got to stick up for yourself, you know, so like things like that and then also telling them like, listen, if you ever have a. I've made every mistake you could make. So if you ever have a problem, just come to me with it and we will figure it. I'm not going to get mad. Okay. And if you have a problem and you don't come to me, it's actually going to make me sad that you didn't feel that you could. So I'm doing that early because you know, there's a lot that young people have to deal with that I didn't have to deal with. There's a lot with this, everyone being connected in this really rude, mean, anonymous way that you can be just bully people and you know, all of these punks out there with the anonymous accounts sending out all this racist stuff while calling people snowflakes and they're like hiding behind the enmity of it, you know, it's really. I also, you know, there's a, I don't understand the Internet, like why, like I can't drop the F bomb on SNL, but you can upload a beheading video that an 8 year old, if he knows how to get to it, can go see it.
- [44:44]
Jesse David Fox
It's so weird at this point.
- [44:46]
Bill Burr
It's control.
- [44:47]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [44:47]
Bill Burr
Because they want to see what you're looking at. They want to build a whole file on you so that you're. You're giving them all this information and I was just joking with somebody. Like that whole incognito mode. I pressed the button. No one knows. It says, how dumb are you? How dumb are you? Do you think that you. You're gonna go on. That you just press incognito or. I opted out. No cookies. I opted out. Oh, did you. Where's the checks and balances on that? They made you feel good? You. You pushed a button. Oh, no. I turned all of that off on my phone. Okay, what does that mean?
- [45:24]
Jesse David Fox
Before I go to the next question. Is he still on this camera? He moved. Anyone?
- [45:29]
Bill Burr
Yeah, yeah, I'm still Cool. Oh, sorry.
- [45:30]
Jesse David Fox
It's all good. It's all good. I just didn't know he moved this way and.
- [45:34]
Bill Burr
Oh, okay.
- [45:35]
Jesse David Fox
We're new to using camera, so.
- [45:36]
Bill Burr
Okay. All right.
- [45:39]
Jesse David Fox
All right, great. The other breakthrough which you talked about in your last special, Live at the Red Rocks, is you took mushrooms and you had a really transformative experience.
- [45:49]
Bill Burr
Yes.
- [45:49]
Jesse David Fox
Can you talk about both the, you know, for people who haven't seen that special, the, the overview of the story and sort of what information you took from it, how it changed how you approached so many different things, your life from your stand up to how you see.
- [46:04]
Bill Burr
Oh, the first time. Yeah, I took it. Yeah, no, it started off the goofy, silly. Oh, wow, man, this is wild. You know, and I just took it. I don't even know why I took it. I just was. Got to the age, I was like, am I never going to know what it likes, what it's like to be tripping?
- [46:21]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [46:22]
Bill Burr
And I was really conservative when I was growing up and I, I stayed away from. In a good way. I stayed away from a lot of the pitfalls. But I also was, you know, I missed out on a lot of stuff too, by being, you know, all walled off. So I just thought, okay, this is an lsd, this is mushrooms. This is more like a natural thing. Let me, let me try this. And I won't do a lot, you know, I'll do enough to sort of dip my toe into it is what I thought was going to happen. And so, yeah, so at first, you know, the fucking TV screens kind of like coming towards me and stuff was goofy and I was feeling weird. And then all of a sudden, like, this darkness. It was when I said my special was this like profound sense of loneliness. So I, I didn't know what it was, so I, I had to leave the room And I went into the bedroom, I was laying in the dark, and I was just like, what the, what the. You know, doing that, you know, and, and I didn't know how to ride out a bat. Like, I know how to do that now. Like, I, I. One of the last times I did it, I was outside and I was looking at the clouds, and they turned into, like, these things with, like, teeth. And. And I just waved at him like, yeah, that's my demons. I know you're there. I got it. And then this other cloud came by with, like, a sword and just sort of went through them. And it just sort of. And it's like, I'm working on it. I got. Was funny because my wife afterwards, she goes, I saw you waving at the clouds. What was that? I said, ah, you know, they kind of turned into these demons that will. Hey. Yeah, I know. So anyway, I didn't know how to get out of it. So I started going like, oh, my God, is this some stuff with me and my wife? I was checking in and I'm like, no, everything's cool. There I go. I know this isn't my kids. Like, what is this? And, you know, it's this weird thing where you trip. If you kind of ask, you get the answer. It's wild. It's like someone else is talking to you. But I don't know if it's your brain. I don't know what it is. But I said, you know, what is this? And the answers was, this is how you felt growing up. And I was like. And that was just this watershed moment because how I dealt with my upbringing was I convinced myself I didn't care. Like, that was my. If it was an old school sitcom and there was a catchphrase my character would have, it would be, I don't care. I don't give a fuck, I hate myself. Like, those things. For me, it would always, like, I think in the shower, all, like, things that happened to me would come out in the shower. And I think it was because I was standing still where I wasn't moving around and everything. And then, you know, and I would just think about stuff, and then I would just be like, I don't give a fuck, I don't give a. Or whatever. And it turned out I did. So then it was this weird thing. For, like, 10 days, I was who I would have been. It was so weird. I was like, chill. I was happy. Nothing bothered me. And I was like, I was like, wow, this, like, cured me. And then after 10 days, like an Anger that was even more than what I had before came back because.
- [49:55]
Jesse David Fox
All.
- [49:55]
Bill Burr
Of that stuff still had happened to me. And then experiencing who I maybe could have been versus who I became and how many people I hurt, how much I hurt myself, the way I lived and all of that. So then it was this bigger anger. And then I just went into therapy and I just worked my way through it and to where I am now.
- [50:21]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. What's amazing is you tell that story in the special at Red Rocks. You told that story at Fenway. I believe, like, you're doing. You're getting more personal at a time where you're playing the largest possible venues in, like, the history of standup. How is that. Is there part of you that can. You know, like, there's.
- [50:38]
Bill Burr
That's because of musicians that you can do it? No musicians, their need to get better and better sound. Because I remember seeing, like, the Rolling Stones at, like, Sullivan Stadium, where the Patriots played, and the sound wasn't good. And, you know, they were like this big. You couldn't see them. But now they have it so dialed in that as much as you're doing these giant places, it's. You can. Your. Your pacing is still the same as doing, like, a comedy club. So it's way more impressive to watch it than to actually do it. It's not. Cause I remember when I did this. This tour for this radio show, the Opie and Anthony show, and I remember doing the Worcester Centrum, and I was so excited, like, oh, my God. It was either the first or second. I think it was the first concert I ever went to. I saw Judas Priest with Doc and opening up, and I think I saw Dice Clay there. And so to be there on that stage was like, I can't believe if you ever told young Billy Burr, he would be there. And I remember, and this was mid 2000s, and that was when comics. When you played a place that big, it's like, dude, you gotta slow down. And the sound would go out, it would slap off the wall, and then it would come back and you'd hear what you just said. And it was like. You ever get, like, one of those bad cell phone calls where it does that? It was like that while doing standup. So that has all gone away. Like, they. They figured all of that out. And like, when I did Royal Albert hall, if you ever go to Royal Albert hall, it was this prestigious thing to do. But I guess musicians used to complain because the sound would be bouncing all over everything. But now when you go in there, you look up. It looks like they have mushrooms hanging. And they figured it out. The forum is unbelievable. Madison Square Gardens, unbelievable. Like, the sound. What they've done with technology and video screens and everything is you can turn them into these, like, intimate settings so you can actually take them on a ride. Where before when you played those big places, you had to be big. It had to be like. It was. You know, you had to be like Hulk Hogan, like, playing to the last row of the Pontiac Silver Dome, you know, in this little fucking ring and in these big things, you know, to try to play to the back row. You don't have to do that anymore. So. So getting back to your question, it's like, that's how you can bring people on this. Those rides in those bigger places. And also, there's. What I'm talking about is not alien to people. It's. A lot of people have gone through a lot of things that I've gone through, and even if you haven't, it's interesting to listen to.
- [53:24]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, there's. As I was thinking back, there's a video from 2003. You did the moth. And you're talking about bringing a girlfriend home to see your father.
- [53:32]
Bill Burr
Yeah, I don't want to talk about that. Because you know what the thing about that thing was? Anyone?
- [53:36]
Jesse David Fox
That's actually not even. I'm not even. I'm not gonna ask about that. What I'm gonna ask about is, in the last few years, there have been more specials that are of a tone where it's just someone sitting and telling a story, and there are jokes, but.
- [53:46]
Bill Burr
Right.
- [53:47]
Jesse David Fox
And I'm curious if you'd ever do a thing like that. As a person who's done a lot of different types of specials, I'm not gonna ask you the questions about.
- [53:53]
Bill Burr
Oh, do like.
- [53:55]
Jesse David Fox
Like a rail or something like that, where it's you sitting and it's quieter.
- [54:01]
Bill Burr
Oh, that. I mean, I guess I could do something like that. I don't really feel. I'm not really feeling that coming out of me right now. So, like, how I navigate this business is all I. I don't go at it from a. What is that pay. I more look at it, like. Because, like, stand up is. Is how I make my money. You know what I mean? And as long as I got enough, like, I'm not, like, you know, going out getting, you know, a fucking Jesus piece with my face on it and stuff. I'm not like, one of those flashy guys. So, like. Which is good, because I can kind of choose what I want to do. So I just look at it more like if I think it's gonna be fun for me and something that someone's gonna want to see, like, you know, doing Glengarry. Right. It's really the perfect play if you. If you're a guy and you've never gone to Broadway and like. And you were like me when you thought Broadway was Cats. Like, that's what I thought it was until my girlfriend at the time took me to go see this True west that had Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly, a Sam Shepard play. And I remember I saw that and I was like, whoa. Like, I didn't know it could be like this. This is powerful. This is amazing. This is the perfect play to go see because it's fast. It's only like an hour and 45 minutes. 40 minutes. And it's. There's no music, there's no nothing. It's a bunch of guys yelling at each other. It's a very relatable story now because I feel like back in the day, you would just sort of. It was a voice voyeuristic look into sales, where now, I mean, I. If you work at Walmart or for Starbucks, you relate to this. It's like. I relate to this, yeah. It's like being underpaid, being asked to do way more. It's an impossible. This impossible squeeze that. That these guys are doing. But, you know, we're going to get these illegals out of the country and that's going to stop. They're going to ease up and everyone's going to have benefits again, and it's going to be fantastic.
- [56:12]
Jesse David Fox
I'll say this. I went to a matinee, and again, we're talking late in the run. I went to a matinee recently, which is Wednesday. Matinee is not everyone's favorite show to do. And at the end of the show, you come out and you look so happy. You look so genuinely happy.
- [56:24]
Bill Burr
Because you probably did something. I'm curious. On the matinees, we do stuff. Well, first of all, like, I always joke. I always go, you know, Glengarry strongest matinees on Broadway. Because you got to do something. Cause you have to respect it. Like somebody, you know, maybe their flight, they have to see the matinee. Or maybe they wanted to go a night and they couldn't. You can't, like, do the Catholic priest thing where I'm gonna yell at you. Cause only 10 people showed up. You gotta yell at the 10 people. No, you gotta go out there and kill Em, but like, we've been doing it long enough and one of the things that we do is there's little games that we're playing with each other. There's a word you have to say, you know, like I've, you know, I played my character as closeted in the second act one time just to make it. But I did it upstage. It was mannerisms and I did it upstage so the crowd couldn't see it. Try to make the other actors laugh as I was doing this really, you know, alpha male dialogue. And then maybe just kind of have my hand like that or doing one of these or whatever where I used to do it like that. So Kieran's hard to get. You can't. He's very hard to make laugh. What makes him laugh is if you do. If you're actually doing it, you're not trying to be funny. And there's a choice. I did as something that I was doing and he just thought it was hilarious because he could see how. Because his character's really winding me up. And there was a, you know, like when somebody, you. You piss somebody off and they get calm and you're like, oh, shit. I think I did that one show. I don't exactly remember what it was, but he said, you haven't been noticing. He goes, I've been laughing for like the last three days when you've been doing that. And I was like, no, I didn't. Because he's, you know, I don't know how he can kind of keep it in here when he's laughing. But like, anytime I've tried to make him laugh, I haven't had the ability to do it there.
- [58:11]
Jesse David Fox
I remember Chris Rock always said that every stand up should do a run on Broadway or do plays. Did you have you learn anything that would be applied to your stand up from doing the same material every day, but then also being able to change it, getting laughs. A different type of laugh from the audience, a different experience with the audience.
- [58:25]
Bill Burr
No, I. More taking things that I. All the stuff that I learned as a comedian and crowds I've applied to. The acting thing, which I never got to do in front of a crowd. I was always like a TV show or a bit part in a movie or something, or it was just the crew. And that's the tough adjustment for a comedian is like, silence is good. The take ends. The director doesn't come up to you. That's good. That means it was a good take. And, you know, as a comedian, you used to like, Feedback. So in the beginning when I was green, I always go, is that all right? Yeah, yeah, it's fine. And then, like, you start to, like, annoy the guy. And then I realized, like, all right, I need to, like, sort of chill out. How I do movies is I just, like, in between takes, like, I shoot the. With the crew. I just. I just keep. Like, I have to keep a vibe going. I can't be like, you know, and that's what killed my father. And cut. And then just go over and just stand back at 1. I can't do that. I have to keep. I gotta be like, keep talking.
- [59:36]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [59:37]
Bill Burr
You know what I mean? And because I feel like it all just tightens back up again. Like, everybody has, like, a different thing that I do. I'm definitely one of those. Shooting the. Shooting the. Shooting the. And action.
- [59:46]
Jesse David Fox
And then, yeah, in one other thing that it feels like, influenced this special and a change of perspective is you've lost people close to you. Obviously, the name Drop Dead Years is a direct relationship to the idea that people in your life or yourself can die at any moment. And specifically, I wanted to ask you about Bob Saget, since seemingly you were close and his death was something that hit you quite hard. And I was wondering if you had a story that captures what he meant to you and what losing him meant to you.
- [60:15]
Bill Burr
Oh, God. Well, first of all, like, I don't know that I've even accepted it yet still. See. Yeah, I mean, that's just always going to be sad. So try to talk about it. What I did like about it was is he would. Like when he was texting with you and you would be making jokes. Yeah, that's probably what I missed because he would just. He would do it for hours, and he just couldn't get enough of it, and he rooted for younger comics. Yeah, that was a up day. Somebody told me one time, he said, you know, the first 40 years of your life, this is really up. He said, you're. You're gathering people, and the last 40 is losing. And that's, like, one of the truest things ever. So. But how you beat that, I feel like, is your purpose as an older person. Oh, man. Yeah. It's to help out younger people. Or else you. You don't really have a purpose and you're just lonely.
- [62:39]
Jesse David Fox
Did you feel so.
- [62:40]
Bill Burr
Yeah, that's the Bob Saget.
- [62:41]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. Did he feel like he helped out you when you're a younger comedian?
- [62:46]
Bill Burr
Yeah, his. His, like, one of the most, like, effortless, like, complimenting You? Yeah, the last night I worked with him, I remember I was doing this fucking gig and just one of those gigs, they just didn't protect you and there wasn't any barrier between you and all of these crazy drunk fans. And I was just accepting it and doing all this stuff. And I was going through some and I wanted to be alone. And I talked to him about the next day and see one of the few times I ever heard anger in his voice where he was like. He was like, no, that. That you tell them if you need something, you say you don't have to do that. And I felt like the way he was saying it with the passion was something that he had gone through.
- [63:49]
Jesse David Fox
So, yeah, thank you for sharing.
- [63:51]
Bill Burr
Yeah, he looked out for you.
- [63:53]
Jesse David Fox
I appreciate you telling me that story.
- [63:55]
Bill Burr
All right, now, what do you want to talk about?
- [63:57]
Jesse David Fox
So you appeared at the Conan o' Brien Mark Twain Prize.
- [64:00]
Bill Burr
Yes, I did.
- [64:02]
Jesse David Fox
What was that experience like?
- [64:05]
Bill Burr
Terrifying.
- [64:06]
Jesse David Fox
In what way?
- [64:09]
Bill Burr
I've shied away from doing those things because I think I find that, like a lot of the ball busting I do is staying in a protective place. So then if I actually have to go and say something nice about somebody, I get uncomfortable or I get emotional or something and. But I knew that it was something that I was going to be continued to ask. To be asked to do. I had to do it yesterday. And I jumped at the opportunity when they asked me because, you know, I. I need to get better at it. So it was. It was funny. I was. I was sitting on the. I have like this little walk up building that I'm in, and they got this rooftop thing, and I just sat up there and I wrote all of this stuff that I felt about Conan, and it was making me emotional. I'm like, how the fuck am I gonna get through this? No. Cause I love the guy. Yeah.
- [65:13]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [65:15]
Bill Burr
And what I realized is that you can say a couple of nice things and then throw a joke in there and then that keeps it at bay. So that's kind of what I learned doing that. And I will tell you, though, had I known John Mulaney was gonna open and kill that hard, I would have turned down the gig. Cause I'm. Cause he is unbelievable in general, but how good he is at those things. Yeah, I remember I was sitting next to Sarah Silverman and she had to go on too. I'm like, what the fuck? They didn't fucking need us. I didn't need to be here. You know, I started, like, freaking out. I was like, I can't follow this fucking shit. And then Will Ferrell went on like, it was just like the 27 Yankees of comedy. And I'm like. And I'm that guy you don't remember from the team. I'm like going like, what the. What the fuck am I? What am I doing here? And, you know, I was coming out with sort of a new joke. The joke I was walking around Georgetown. That joke I did where it feels like slavery. It's like weed. It's like slavery is still legal at, like, a state level, but not a federal level. And I don't know if that joke made it, but I was like, I don't know how that's going to go over because D.C. is notoriously a conservative. Like, when I would do the DC improv, it would take so long to break them open because I think everybody in there was in the business and a lot of people had gotten in trouble for talking too loud at a lunch. So it was sort of like the feeling that I have. Feel like young people have, having grown up with cameras and shit in their face and people getting canceled, that in a lot of ways, they act like 40 years older than they are a lot of times. And so they had that vibe. So I wasn't sure how that was gonna go. And it's one of my favorite things that I ever did because I was so afraid to do it. And it went well. And interestingly enough, he came out to the show Glengarry, and I always make sure I don't know who's gonna be. Cause I don't wanna be thinking about them. I wanna be locked in with Michael McKeon, who is, like, one of the greatest actors I've ever worked. He's the greatest listener I've ever worked with. He's unbelievable. Like, his listening skills and how generous he is and how much he elevates what. That's all he does is elevate what you're doing. Like, he gets it. Like, I've been in scenes where somebody tries to out act you, and it's like, dude, you're like some. It's like we're trying to save each other from drowning by pushing each other down. If you do that and this whole, we're both gonna look like assholes, he gets it that it's the other way. So anyway, Conan came out last night, and fortunately, we all had a great show. And he was. Him and his wife were the best. And they had a great time and all complimentary. And he mentioned. He goes, I gotta. I gotta pay you back, you know, for doing the Mark Twain thing. And I was, you know, and I immediately just went into my job. Oh, no, I'm gonna hang that over your head, buddy. I'm never gonna let you forget that. But, like, yeah, Conan's like, you know, like Bob or like Patrice or any of these people that I've met in my life where, like, my favorite thing is somebody that's super smart and is also really silly. Like, Conan is one of the silliest people you're ever gonna meet and one of the smartest people. And it's like there's just something, just silliness is so fun and disarming.
- [69:03]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [69:04]
Bill Burr
And it's something that, you know, I don't know, I try to do to balance out my demons is just being.
- [69:15]
Jesse David Fox
An idiot, you know, when Conan said that or even at the show, was there a moment where you thought you could win the Mark Twain prize at some point? Is it something. Now that I bring it up now, what do you think about the idea that sometime at some point you're getting it?
- [69:28]
Bill Burr
I, I, I, you know, I'm not one of those guys.
- [69:33]
Jesse David Fox
Which guys?
- [69:34]
Bill Burr
A list guy.
- [69:35]
Jesse David Fox
I don't know.
- [69:36]
Bill Burr
I don't, I don't. Yeah, I'm not that. I.
- [69:41]
Jesse David Fox
Look, you know, I, I know what you mean, but I, I, I don't, I'll. You're not as far away from those lists as I think.
- [69:49]
Bill Burr
Just, just don't do this because I don't want any of that stuff. Well, I really don't. Do you know what I really want?
- [69:56]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [69:56]
Bill Burr
Is when I walk down the street, I want, I, when people from all different walks of life go, hey, man, I appreciate what you're doing. Oh, I liked your special. Blah, blah. I like, you know, I like sitting in the crowd. Like when I go to a sporting event, which was. I fucking hate about these screens, is there was always a class clown in every section, making everybody laugh. And these fucking screens and these, you know, DJs, you know, first down and all, it's taken the crowd out of the game. And I've always preferred. I want to get good seats, but I don't want to be, you know, you, the closer you sit, the quieter it gets. It's the most fucked up thing. The less fun it is. Unless it's like an NBA game where before they had a DJ play the whole time. I remember I saw the Lakers play, the Knicks and Comedy Central had courtside seats. And I sat there and you could hear the, that they were talking to each Other. That was fucking amazing. But everything else, the closer you get, the, the, the more money people have, the more less fun it gets. So I was always like a mezzanine level. Like I don't want to be like up there with binoculars and like super fucking shit faced people. But like I felt like the alcohol intake, the view, everything was like mid. Yeah, I like the mid. Whatever the second color row seats are. That's what I like. And I can't imagine sitting some fucking place and listening to 10 of your friends making them fly across the country to say nice shit about me. Are you really a friend at that point? Why would I do that to you?
- [71:40]
Jesse David Fox
I don't know. Maybe that's the next, the next thing you have to grow to is accept the mark Twain. If you win the mark Twain press I fucking.
- [71:47]
Bill Burr
I'm playing the Beacon and a bunch of people are showing out. That's, that's, that's good.
- [71:52]
Jesse David Fox
That's.
- [71:52]
Bill Burr
That's good. No, I'm still inherently a shy person, believe it or not. I like, you know, I like to get on a mic, say what I have to say. But then when the show's over, I'm cool to just be a wallflower and you know, slide back into the fucking. The Homer Simpson back into the shrubs and observe. With the Venmo debit card, you can Venmo everything. Your favorite band's merch.
- [72:14]
Jesse David Fox
You can Venmo this or their next show. You can Venmo that.
- [72:17]
Bill Burr
Visit Venmo Me Debit to learn more. The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp bank and a pursuant to license by MasterCard International Inc. Card may be used everywhere. MasterCard is accepted. Venmo purchase restrictions apply.
- [72:25]
Jesse David Fox
Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.
- [72:27]
Bill Burr
With the price of just about everything going up, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a.
- [72:35]
Jesse David Fox
Thing Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium wireless everybody get 30, 30 better get 30, better get 20, 2020 better get 20, 20 better get 15, 15, 15, 15 just 15 bucks a month.
- [72:44]
Bill Burr
So give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to 15 per month required new.
- [72:51]
Jesse David Fox
Customer offer for first three months only.
- [72:52]
Bill Burr
Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of network's busy taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com Summer's here and Nordstrom has everything you need for your best dress season ever. From beach days and weddings to weekend getaways in your everyday wardrobe, discover stylish options under $100 from tons of your favorite favorite brands like Mango Skims, Princess Polly, and Maidwell. It's easy, too, with free shipping and free returns in store order, pickup and more. Shop today in stores online@nordstrom.com or download the Nordstrom app.
- [73:26]
Jesse David Fox
So now it's time for the final segment of the show. It's called the Laughing Round. It's like a lightning round, but because this is a comedy podcast, I call it the Laughing Round. These are shorter, easier questions. Do you have a favorite joke? Joke, like a street joke?
- [73:40]
Bill Burr
The most recent one that I saw was. I loved it. I just talked about it on this podcast before this, doing a press tour here. But, like, I just loved. I loved the simplicity, the efficiency of it, and the fact that they didn't even say the name. And, like, so many T shirts aren't funny. This guy was walking down the street, he had a T shirt on. It just said, is he dead yet? And I just burst it out laughing. I burst it out laughing. The fact that they didn't even say who he was talking about. I knew he was talking about the hopelessness. Like, the hopelessness of like. And it took me back to being a kid and you were all under, like, the rule of whatever crazy adult and whatever they had drank or smoked that day, and you're just in this station wagon of, like, is it over yet? Can I, Can I. Can I go to my Legos now? Can I just go outside and go climb a tree and fucking sit there and stare off into space and weird out a couple of squirrels? Like, what the. Like, like, it was just so. It was the perfect expression of hopelessness with humor. I just thought it was so for whether you agree with it or not, it's funny. It's. It's fucking funny. And these last two guys, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, is just endless hopelessness. It. The. The two of them. Yeah, it's just so hopeless. And you just thinking, like, how did we end up here? How were those the two choices? Back to back? That's all we got to back. Well, no, Hillary was the other one.
- [75:24]
Jesse David Fox
Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, choices.
- [75:25]
Bill Burr
Yeah. Like, how. How is. This is all we got? Like, remember Obama, McCain? Those were serious. Like a war hero, POW survivor, you know, they could. They could give, like, a speech. They were educated. They had their faculties. Whether you liked who won or whatever, they were. They were like, smart.
- [75:55]
Jesse David Fox
Is there a joke you wish you could steal a joke from another comedian that you wish you could have told?
- [75:59]
Bill Burr
That's endless. That's Everything David Tell has even thought of. I'm nervous to quote the jokes because I don't know if somebody has documented them yet and I don't want to burn their material, but, like, oh, my God. Oh, my God, I would. Yeah. I mean, David Tell isn't like, I, you know, it's funny because I'm a storyteller. I really. What I love is the joke writers. David Tell, Todd Berry, Mark Norman, and then like, younger, because this is kid Robert Powell iii. I'm trying to put together this thing to do a special with him. He's just. He did the Patrice benefit. Not this year, the year before. Just an incredible, incredible comedian. And then there's other people that are like, performers. Like, the first time I saw Fortune Feimster, I saw her at the OR at the Comedy Store, and she just, like, blew me away when she was talking about this childhood friend that she had a crush on. And she didn't realize, you know, that maybe it was more than a crush. And just the way she did the joke and it was. And like, the punchline when she screamed because she's my best friend, it was like, Chris Farley level power. And I was just like. Because I'm still a huge, huge fan of stand up. And as an old guy now, I get so excited when I see somebody young and I know they're going to be great. And you're like, it's gonna be all right. Like, these, this generation still likes jokes. Like, it's so funny. Like, because I feel like now that the economy is bad and like, you know, ticket sales are. It's hard. You know, people are hurting out there. And I feel like the industry will be like, people don't like stand up comedy anymore. Like, that's how they look because they're so, like, reptilian.
- [77:56]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [77:57]
Bill Burr
And it's just like, you know, people don't like to laugh anymore.
- [78:00]
Jesse David Fox
They're gonna take a break from laughing.
- [78:01]
Bill Burr
Yeah. Like, you don't think it might be inflation.
- [78:03]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [78:04]
Bill Burr
And that there's these fucking nerd billionaires out there saying, I want my employees to come to work terrified, go to bed terrified, wake up terrified. I mean, you don't think it's that, you know, then they're terrified to go out and spend any fucking money. But let's, let's, let's blame the clowns.
- [78:21]
Jesse David Fox
Do you have a short story of an interaction with a legendary comedian, living or dead, you're willing to share? Oh.
- [78:33]
Bill Burr
All right. I got a Bill Cosby. So this is right before all this Shit hit the fan. So I was doing the Garden of Dreams at the. The theater at Madison Square Garden, which is a legendary place. Eddie Murphy did the Raw special there. The whole East Coast, west coast, that crazy shit happened there with Snoop, you know, east coast don't got no love. Death Row, that happened there. So you're going out on that stage. So anyway, he was like closing and I was waiting to go on, and somebody there said, hey, he wants to meet you. And I was like, oh, my God, I cannot believe this. This is Bill Cosby, right? So I go in the back to meet him and his vibe is crazy, he's silly and everything. And I'm sitting down and he's talking to me and he's making me laugh and I'm like floating like he's. It's like. I mean, when he started, you're going back to like. I mean, he saw like Lenny Bruce. I mean, this is just like, I am like, it would be like a musician hanging out with like, you know, someone from Led Zeppelin or. Or what. Whatever band they're into, right? So he starts telling me how he just taped his latest standup special. And in his standup special, he's learned the secret to having it look good and having a great standup special. And he goes, any night I learned the secret. I can't do impression of him. And then he's saying to his handler going, like, should I tell him? I can't believe I'm gonna do. I'm gonna tell you this. Should I do this? Well, who. I just met this man. Am I going to tell him? He's doing. He's giving me the show.
- [80:18]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [80:19]
Bill Burr
And right as he's about ready to do it, this guy opens the door, said, Mr. Cosby, it's your time. And he goes, oh, yes, sir. And he got up and walked out. And to this day I'm going like, did they plan that? Was he trolling me the whole time? Was he fucking with me? Because the timing of it was, Was perfect.
- [80:36]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [80:37]
Bill Burr
And, yeah, that's. That's what I built your story. He was, yeah, he was this close to telling me how to do a perfect stand up special. And then he was interrupted and he walked out. And I was like, this should have been a camera on my face of like, like, like the disappointment with the combined euphoria that I met him and he knew who I was before all that other stuff came out.
- [81:01]
Jesse David Fox
So we're going to do a Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore. So four Mount Rushmores. So, Ford, if you're open to.
- [81:08]
Bill Burr
Okay, so I'm not good at this, but go.
- [81:10]
Jesse David Fox
We'll see how it goes. If we can punt this, we'll just cut out this bullseye. Do you have a Mount Rushmore of comedians.
- [81:18]
Bill Burr
If it's only four? No, but I can. It's definitely Prior, it's definitely Carlin, and. And then after that, because. And Joan Rivers, all of them, because of their unbelievable body of work, and they never dipped. I saw Joan rivers in the 2000s, and my jaw was on the ground. What she was saying, that was back then, when just. I was like, I couldn't believe it. And then I would say, for whatever. There's. There's a part of Sam Kinison's career, there's these, these, this clip of him when he's just sort of wearing a Members Only jacket and he has, like, fingerless gloves, and he's just up there, and all he's doing is screaming and it's grading. And I remember my wife was in the room going, oh, my God, who the is that? Blah, blah, blah. I go, no, no, I'm listening. She goes, how can you listen to that? I go, because he hasn't harnessed his power yet. All he knows is how to unleash it. And when you go from that to the special that he did at the Roxy where he learned how to bring it down and slow it down before he. And the power that it added, there was something about that learning curve of it and the way, like, his mind worked and everything that I got, like, a lot out of that. But to put him on, I mean, it's so, I mean, four. I mean, there's like. I heard Lenny Bruce. If you listen to him at Carnegie hall, like, the first 10 minutes is a little dated, and then he just starts talking about people and. And it sounds like this would work today. Woody Allen, comedians. Another one that, that one I love. Cheech and Chong. The silliness of that Steve Martin.
- [83:17]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [83:18]
Bill Burr
Eddie Murphy dice. I mean, I, I. I love Lily Tallman. Had this one person play that she did, and sometimes she was doing this thing, shoot and pool, and they were making the sound effects and. And I just thought she was hysterical. All those Comedy Store comics, like Sandra Bernhardt, Paul Mooney. There's just all of them. All of them. And then all the way through to, like, the guys that came out of the 80s and, like, into, like, you know, Dave Attell, Dave Chappelle, all the Daves, Brian Regan. It's like, I can't do it.
- [84:02]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah, so three and then one. Constantly rotating. Third.
- [84:05]
Bill Burr
Yeah, no, it's just all of those. And then the guys that I came up, Patrice, I mean. Oh, God. I mean that one. Oh. Like, I still to this day think about. God, what would he be saying about this? What would he be saying about that? And, like, the fact that he would be, like, 15 years better than he already was, and he was already, like, so advanced and he felt old.
- [84:31]
Jesse David Fox
He. He was, like, around 40 when he died, I feel like if.
- [84:34]
Bill Burr
That seems almost 42, I believe. Yeah.
- [84:37]
Jesse David Fox
So it's like he'd seem like he'd already looked like he was just.
- [84:40]
Bill Burr
Just. Just shy of being 42. December 7th was his birthday, and he died on, I think, the 30th or something like that. It was really close.
- [84:49]
Jesse David Fox
Sucks Mount Rushmore of drummers.
- [84:56]
Bill Burr
Okay. Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, John Bonham. And then everything else is open. Everyone from Steve Jordan, Vinnie Kaliuda, all the James Brown drummers, Clyde Stubblefield, and. And then, like, Alex Van Halen, Vinnie Paul, Dave Grohl. Dave Grohl. You want to hear something amazing? Dave Grohl, he did on a Killing Joke, Death and Resurrection show is one of the sickest drum grooves I've ever heard in my life. And I got to talk to him about it one time. I was at something and he was at it, and, you know, he just. Oh, yeah, yeah. He just. He's fucking cool as shit. And just. I know I'm forgetting other people. John Theodore. John Theodore. All of his work from Mars Volta, One Day as a Lion. The stuff that he's. He's done, he's doing now with Queens. I think they're coming to the show tonight. Like, what I love about his drumming is he has all the influences, but he has his own voice. And it's not like this. I know who you listen to. What was that? What's that fucking song? I was listening to it yesterday. It was something that he played with Mars Volta and, like, just completely disintegrated. The whole snare on two and four. What was that? So I. I did the songs. Half of them are in Spanish, so I don't know how to say them, but the guitar was just like. Yeah, something like that. And he. Instead of him just playing like a double bass, something like that, he played. He played just like single kick. It was just like boom, boom, boom, boom. That. That. Boom, boom, tap dap. That. This insane with all of these ghost notes and intricate with the high. And I just remember I hearing that, and it's just One of those things, like, you're like a dog. Your head just doesn't. What the. What is that? And then these fucking kids on, like, you know, Instagram now. All those. Those young black drummers that started in the church, like, they're the perfect melding of everything. They like, usually there's the chops guy and the groove guy. They're all of it.
- [87:36]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah. Kids who have access to all they.
- [87:38]
Bill Burr
Can play for the fucking song. Or if you want them to go, Keith Moon. Further outer space than Keith Moon. Like, oh, fuck. There's another guy I was just thinking of. I forget his name. Getting old. I forget the names. You know, the guy who sings Dreamweaver, he just passed away. Listen to that album. Listen to the. Adam Nussbaum or somebody played the drums. Like, I love the 70s sounds. Drums, they're really dry. And I hate the 80s sound. So funny because I came up in the 80s and that whatever the. They did compress, which I heard was an accident in a studio. I think Peter Gabriel accidentally stumbled. Some mic was on. My drum teacher Davey lynch was telling me about this. Said there was a mic on or something was an accident. And they're like, oh, my God, that sounds amazing.
- [88:31]
Jesse David Fox
And changed literally how drums sounded for forever.
- [88:34]
Bill Burr
Yeah. Oh, dude. ZZ Top, Frank Beard, Chris Layton, all those Texas guys. I love all of those guys. There's too many. There's too.
- [88:42]
Jesse David Fox
I know. I thought, these will be shorter.
- [88:44]
Bill Burr
Oh, my God, Stephen Adler. Oh, my God, how did I forget him? Stephen Adler was huge for me. Huge educational drummer. Because everybody had these giant fucking kits. You would go to see a band and they're playing like, AC DC 4 4. And the guy would have a double bass drum kit, you know, three or four up, two, down a fucking, you know, gong back there. It was like, you know, big hair, big drum kids. Dude. There was some guys they only had the second pedal for when they took a solo. And they would just be playing quads, going around, you know, and we didn't know anything. It's like that guy's playing the same lick. He's just voicing it all around the kit. And we think he's going fucking nuts. And it was really just like. Like three different. You know, I don't know, but I would say, like, my, my. I think that the greatest of all time is Tony Williams.
- [89:35]
Jesse David Fox
Yeah.
- [89:35]
Bill Burr
Because he has, like. He just had it all. He had the power, you know, he had all. I mean. Oh, my God. You want to hear a Tony Williams four and More taped at Lincoln Center and he is playing like he was doing shit. They had to. Like, they didn't have names for what he was doing yet. I think they called. Turned it metric modulation and like. And he's got the most beautiful sounding dry ride a million miles an hour. How the stick didn't catch on fire is unbelievable. And the story I heard, which I don't know if it's true or not, was right before they went out on stage. Miles told them, by the way, this is a benefit, so none of you guys are getting paid. So they were upset. I don't know if that's true or not, but it's one of the most. You know, people talk about speed metal and shit like that. Tomas Hockey from fucking Meshuggah's another guy. People talk about that fucking music. It's like, you want to hear fucking speed metal before speed metal? Listen to Tony Williams on four and more. And. But, you know, but nowadays it's like, there's so much information out there on how to do that. He figured out how to do it and, like. And everybody, like, hurt their wrists and everything. And, like.
- [90:57]
Jesse David Fox
I have one other drum question. Okay, I think. But I realized I want to be respectful of your time and do you have to. I don't know what.
- [91:02]
Bill Burr
I have something at three, Right. What time is it? I. I should get out of here, though. I. I should get out of here.
- [91:07]
Jesse David Fox
I won't ask this drum follow quick. I'm sure your public is like, no, no, no. I thought, these are fast. All right. Do you have a Mount Rushmore of actors?
- [91:15]
Bill Burr
Oh, Mount Rushmore of actors. I wish I was prepared for these because I don't want to do, like, the ones that everybody. Okay. The ones everybody knows.
- [91:27]
Jesse David Fox
It could be just people. I mean, like.
- [91:29]
Bill Burr
Okay, I forget the guy's name. His name's Richard something. He's in this movie with Al Pacino and Gene Hackman that most people don't watch. It's called Scarecrow. He's also in this movie called Seven up, where he plays the bad guy and the choices he makes. He kind of. He kind of was like Richard Pryor as far as. Like, he had a drug problem. He lit himself on fire. If you look at his face, it looks sort of, like, shiny, and it's like the skin grafts. And he does something in this movie called the 7 Ups, which, like, I get into people that do, like, these little character choices. So there's two things that he does. Yes. Richard Lynch, Okay. Just to give somebody some love that doesn't get it. Passed away, unfortunately. So in that movie, the 7 ups, the guy who does the car chase scene is also the guy who did the famous one in Bullet. So if you watch bullet, Steve McQueen is chasing these guys, and the two guys in the car are told like, the bad guys are stoic. And they sort of play like they don't care whether they live or die, which was cool at the time. So now they're recreating that. He's sort of doing this again, the same stunt guy. So Richard lynch is in the passenger seat. He's the bad guy. He plays scared. And it adds so much to the scene because rather than just sitting there as they're cruising, flying like that, he's like, I gotta do it to you. So he's kind of like going like he's got his hand on the dash. He's kind of looking at the guy like, dude, what the fuck? You know? And it adds to the danger of it that these guys actually care about their own mortality. And then the powerless position that he's in because the other guy's scared. He doesn't want to go to jail, but at least he's at the controls. Sitting there in the fucking passenger seat and not putting your fucking foot up as you're driving through a bunch of kids playing in the street is not even human. He played the human side of it. There's another choice that he makes when he's running from Roy Scheider. He's going through the train yard and there's this giant puddle and he goes right through it. Now, as an actor, I'm thinking like, oh, my God, he did that every take. His fucking feet are all wet. That must have sucked. But if you're running for your freedom, that's what you would do. And then Scheider comes in after him. He goes around the puddle, which is what a cop would do. Like, I'm gonna get this guy and giving him jail. I'm not getting my fucking feet wet unless I can see him. But this guy, it's just like he's trying. He's running for his freedom. He doesn't give a fuck what's in the way. And just little things like that. Oh, my God, John Turturro into Live and Die in la. He has this scene where he. When he figures out he's been ratted out. And I remember, like, I was watching, watching it, and I, like, went back on the couch. I forget what the line is. He's figuring out. He goes, you know, I. I bet that's the Motherfucker. And he was so intense. That movie is unbelievable. And it's really hard to find, but, you know, I think recently they just re released it or whatever, but, like, I just remember seeing that. Or like, I love Sean Penn in. In Caro's way with the. The balding perm and like, just where that character went. And I just love that line, Pacino, lawyer. You ain't a lawyer, Kleinfeld, you a gangster. When the cop comes in, he tells him he knows everything that he's doing, but he's a lawyer, he knows he doesn't have anything. And he just sort of sits there and he just goes, Telly Savalas in. In the Dirty Dozen, his crazy guy laughs. When they're going, like, Franco goes in where the others have been, and then they're doing like Lee Marvin's point to all the things that they're gonna do, and it all rhymes. And in the end it goes. And then we all. We all come out like it's Halloween. And he goes, and we all come out like it's Halloween. He does this high pitched crazy laugh, foreshadowing that he's gonna fuck up this whole job when they get in there.
- [95:37]
Jesse David Fox
That's four.
- [95:39]
Bill Burr
Sorry. Yeah, sorry. Long winded. Long winded.
- [95:41]
Jesse David Fox
Boston athletes.
- [95:45]
Bill Burr
And then we're Boston athletes. I'll go through it quick. Jay Miller, Stan Jonathan, rick Middleton, Terry O'Reilly. No, no. Cam Neely.
- [95:55]
Jesse David Fox
All right, this will be the last one I will see. What's the best time you ever bombed?
- [96:03]
Bill Burr
How awful or fun?
- [96:05]
Jesse David Fox
Best, whatever. It could be best because it was so awful. It could be fun because it was the best.
- [96:13]
Bill Burr
I. I was doing a nooner at a college, and they had no idea there was going to be a show. And I went up and I was being so aggressive because I was like, I'm gonna get you before you get me. It was broad daylight, and I sounded like I was coked up at 3 in the morning. And these four kids were just trying, looking up, trying to eat their grilled cheese sandwiches. I'm like, that, all right? And I just remember, I was like, I don't even think. I was 12 minutes into the set, and this woman came up sheepishly, and she handed me a note and she goes, can you wrap it up in five? I was supposed to do an hour. And I looked at her and I was going, am I still going to get paid because I'm contracting? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So then I felt bad, and then I just sort of wrapped it up and then I sheepishly Got off stage and I go. She goes. I was like, sorry, was that like. She goes, yeah, no, no, it's all right. Like, I don't think that it just wasn't, like, the right thing. Sorry. And she was apologizing. And then I felt horrible because I went up there going, these fucking people, they didn't promote the fucking goddamn show and blah, blah. And I just fucking went up there and I was just chopping heads off of all of these innocent people. And they thought I was gonna get.
- [97:30]
Jesse David Fox
Up there and be like, oh, well, back to school.
- [97:32]
Bill Burr
That's crazy. This wagon. And I thought I left there and I felt so bad about. I felt so bad because they didn't yell at me because I've been pulled off stage at so many fucking colleges. And I remember one time I did this one, and it was some Catholic school, and they said, don't curse. And I was so fucked up that I thought, goddamn it, Jesus Christ. Wasn't cursing. I thought curse was saying the F word and all of that. So I was like, yeah, this guy comes in the goddamn thing, for Christ's sake, whatever. And this woman was talking the whole time. The one who booked me is talking the whole time. So I get off stage and she's just all like, man, they say to work clean. You know, you go to a Catholic school and you say GD and jc. And I went right back at her. I go, really? I go, you book a comedian, you talk the entire time he's on stage. And we got in this big back and forth. That's when I was like, you know, a young, angry man. And, dude, I. I can't remember most of those. I cannot remember most of those shows. I remember one time I was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and rather than flying into, like, Milwaukee, I flew into Detroit. And I didn't realize I had to go up and all the way over Wisconsin. So it was an eight hour drive and I drove like a lunatic. And I remember I got on stage and I was doing this impression of Deion Sanders. And it was one of the hardest I've ever killed, and I've never been able to do it again. It was something that was that period where I was like, I want to come back. See, I got that dog still in me and I can't remember. Yeah, it was. I think I saw every varmint this country has on my way up there. Just things ran in front of my car. I didn't even know what they were. Actually. Pulled over and tried to get retroactive insurance in Nationals. Like, what did you hit out there? I'm like, nothing. But I've seen every fur trapper thing that's run out front of my car. I'm afraid they're going to hit the car. So there you go. That's what I got.
- [99:30]
Jesse David Fox
Thank you so much.
- [99:31]
Bill Burr
All right. Thank you for having me. I hope you can do something with this.
- [99:34]
Jesse David Fox
That's it for another episode of good one. Good one is produced by myself, Zachary Mack, Neal Janowitz and Ann Victoria Clark. Music composed by Brandon McFarland. Write a review and rate the show on Apple Podcasts. Five stars, please. I am Jesse David Fox and you can follow me esseidavidfox. Buy my book, comedy book, wherever books are sold. Thanks for listening to Good one from New York magazine. You can subscribe to the magazine@nymag.com pod we'll be back with a new episode next week. Have a good one.