Comedy Saved Me with Bret Ernst-Behind the Laughter

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Comedy Saved Me with Bret Ernst-Behind the Laughter"

Podcast Information:

• Title: takin' a walk
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts
• Description: The "takin' a walk" MUSIC HISTORY ON FOOT podcast is a show hosted by Buzz Knight, a media executive and consultant, and a passionate music lover. In this podcast, Buzz takes listeners on a journey through music history, exploring the inside stories from guests, while sharing stories and insights about musicians, bands, and the music they create.
• Episode: Comedy Saved Me with Bret Ernst-Behind the Laughter
• Release Date: June 30, 2025

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Introduction

In the episode titled "Comedy Saved Me with Bret Ernst-Behind the Laughter," host Lynne Hoffman engages in an in-depth conversation with comedian Bret Ernst. The discussion delves into Bret's transition from a football background to the world of comedy, his career highlights, personal philosophies, and the therapeutic role of comedy.

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Early Life and Background

Bret Ernst begins by recounting his childhood, emphasizing the pivotal role football played in his life. He shares, “Football actually saved my life, man, because when I was a kid, I was all over the place” (04:28). This athletic pursuit provided him with focus and discipline, traits that would later prove invaluable in his comedy career.

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Transition from Football to Comedy

Lynne Hoffman probes into Bret's shift from sports to comedy, curious about his first experiences on stage. Bret narrates his initial foray into stand-up, highlighting the encouragement from his ex-teammate, Jose Cosme, who suggested, “you should do comedy” (06:12). This nudge led Bret to sign up for an open mic in Times Square, where his first performance was met with laughter and positive feedback, reinforcing his decision to pursue comedy despite initial setbacks, such as a rough start six months into his journey (07:15).

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Comedy Career Highlights

Bret reflects on his diverse roles in the entertainment industry, mentioning his time on "Young and the Restless" and memorable performances at the Comedy Store. He shares anecdotes about being recognized by fans during his waitressing days at the Cheesecake Factory, illustrating the often-blurred lines between his acting and comedic personas (09:13). One standout moment he recounts involves delivering pizzas while filming a TV appearance, blending his real-life jobs with his on-screen roles (10:37).

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Philosophy on Comedy and Life

A significant portion of the conversation centers on Bret's belief in the authenticity and honesty in comedy. He posits, “you can never be fully honest” in his routines but strives to base his material on truth, saying, “Everything's based in truth” (13:56). Bret emphasizes the importance of self-reliance and resilience, stating, “you really can't give a [f*ck], because you don't want everybody to like you” (16:17). This mindset fosters his ability to connect deeply with audiences and maintain integrity in his work.

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Comedy as Therapeutic

Bret discusses the therapeutic aspects of comedy, both for himself and his audience. He believes that comedy offers a unique perspective that aids in healing, remarking, “Perspective is what's healing” (22:51). Sharing personal experiences, Bret reveals how performing on stage helped him cope with the loss of his brother, illustrating the cathartic power of humor in the face of tragedy (50:47).

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Impact of Comedy on Audience

The dialogue explores how Bret's honest and relatable humor resonates with his audience. He notes that while some listeners might find his jokes offensive, the majority appreciate the authenticity, with about 95% responding positively when his material reflects genuine experiences (25:11). Bret’s approach ensures that his comedy fosters a shared understanding, making his performances impactful and meaningful.

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Balancing Comedy and Personal Life

Lynne inquires about Bret's ability to maintain a work-life balance amidst the demanding nature of a comedy career. Bret attributes his balance to continuous creative engagement, stating, “keep doing new material” and embracing the unpredictability of the comedic process (47:25). He emphasizes the importance of adaptability and persistence in sustaining both his personal well-being and professional success.

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Legacy and Future Aspirations

Towards the end of the episode, Bret reflects on his desired legacy in the comedy world. He expresses a wish for recognition of his hard work and integrity, hoping that his contributions encourage others to find humor amidst life's challenges. Bret concludes with a philosophical outlook on life and death, advocating for laughter as a means to navigate existence: “just laugh at it. You got no choice” (55:41).

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Notable Quotes

• Bret Ernst: “Football actually saved my life, man, because when I was a kid, I was all over the place” (04:28).
• Bret Ernst: “you really can't give a [f*ck], because you don't want everybody to like you” (16:17).
• Bret Ernst: “Perspective is what's healing” (22:51).
• Bret Ernst: “just laugh at it. You got no choice” (55:41).

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Conclusion

The episode "Comedy Saved Me with Bret Ernst-Behind the Laughter" offers a compelling glimpse into the life of a comedian who leverages humor to overcome personal struggles and connect with others. Bret Ernst's journey from the football field to the comedy stage underscores the transformative power of laughter and resilience. His candid discussions provide valuable insights for aspiring comedians and anyone seeking inspiration through the lens of humor.

Transcript

[Brett Ernst]

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[Brett Ernst]

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[Brett Ernst]

Comedy Saved Me, but my first under five was as a waiter. And then I. I'm not kidding you. I left that job to go really wait tables. So I would leave. I would play a waiter on TV and then go and wait tables in real life.

[Lynne Hoffman]

I'm Lynne Hoffman, and welcome to the Comedy Saved Me podcast. The podcast where we talk with comedians about their craft, their inspirations, the power of their comedy, and the way it helps all of us through challenging times. If you like this podcast, you might want to check out our music Saved Me podcast that I also host, and you can get that wherever you get your podcasts. Today, we're so excited to welcome everybody, comedian Brett Ernst, one of the great talents of our generation, and I mean that. Brett shares his journey from the football fields to the comedy stages, and I'm so psyched to have him here today. Brett, welcome to Comedy Save Me.

[Brett Ernst]

Oh, thanks. Thanks for having me.

[Lynne Hoffman]

It's great to have you. Now, I want to start off because, interestingly enough, there's so much in your background and family that I want to get into, but you were really into football. And I'm curious, how did your background in football influence that transition into comedy? And what was your first experience like performing standup? Do you remember?

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah, yeah, I remember the first time I got up. But, you know, football actually saved my life, man, because when I was a kid, you know, I was all over the place, and, I mean, I still got in trouble, but I wanted to play ball. And that. That kept me kind of focused. You know, that was the one thing that I didn't want to lose as far as taking that comedy experience into football experience into comedy. Yeah, it helped a lot because, you know, when you come from an athletic background, you're okay with getting your ass kicked, you're okay with losing. I mean, you don't like it, but you've. You've dealt with it. That's the best way I could say it. And the most important thing is you know how to be a man. You. You. You know how to compete with your friends, and you Know, in comedy, a lot of people in entertainment feel that they are competing with other people, which you're not, right? It's. You're bringing whatever you bring to the table. I. I always compare comedy more to golf, where you're just competing against yourself, you know, trying to outdo your last game. And, you know, when. When in sports, you're friends with guys that are starting with you, starting in front of you or behind you, or guys across the line from you that are trying to kick your ass every practice, and you know what I'm saying? And you just. You. You build that camaraderie. And, I don't know, it really helped me into the entertainment business when I went into that.

[Lynne Hoffman]

How did you end up on stage at a comedy show?

[Brett Ernst]

Open mic. I just. It's an odd story, and it's kind of long, so I won't bore you with it, but the first time I met a guy that said he was a comic, and I was like, well, how do you go about it? And he said, you have to sign up for an open mic. And I always thought about it, you know, and I was always told I should get into it by my friends. And then I came home, and my mother said, hey, you got a letter from the Bronx. And I was like. And opened the letter, and it was an ex teammate of mine, this kid Jose Cosme. I used to cut my hair, and he's like, yo, I was walking by. I was in Times Square, and it had an open mic, and you should do comedy. And that kind of looked at that as a sign. And then I went down there and signed up for the open mic, and I went on. I did really well. I didn't bomb until like, six months in.

[Lynne Hoffman]

And how was that first night for you?

[Brett Ernst]

I just was laughing. My. My buddy filmed it.

[Lynne Hoffman]

How did you handle that O.J.

[Brett Ernst]

Simpson joke? That's how far back it was. And. But all you see is, I'm like, yo. I go to my friend, just cut the camera off, and you just see him do this, and then the thumb go up. Like, you know, like, he's not cutting it off. It was great.

[Lynne Hoffman]

And it didn't deter you, Obviously, you continued on and.

[Brett Ernst]

No, didn't deter me. I wanted to get right back up. I didn't like the loss. I didn't. I didn't like the L that I took.

[Lynne Hoffman]

You know, that's pretty. You've got thick skin. You must have gotten it somewhere. Obviously, sports had a lot to do with that. But you've also had a Pretty remarkable career. I mean, Vince Vaughn's Wild west comedy show, Cobra Kai. What have been some of your favorite projects since those early days?

[Brett Ernst]

Well, those are the two biggest and my two favorites for different reasons. You know, I enjoyed working. I worked on Young and the Restless when I first got to LA for like two years.

[Lynne Hoffman]

That's hard work doing those shows.

[Brett Ernst]

Soap operas. Yeah. You know, but it's steady, it's steady work. And the first under five, which, you know, under five lines that I got was as a waiter in a. They. They. I was like, I think I was 29 at the time, but I was in the high school scenes, you know, where there was like a coffee shop where all the high school kids hung out. And I always worked there, but I was more like a glorified extra, you know.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Oh, that's awesome.

[Brett Ernst]

But my first under five was as a waiter. And then, I'm not kidding you, I left that job to go really wait tables. So I would leave, I would play a waiter on TV and then go and wait tables in real life.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Did people recognize you and say, wait.

[Brett Ernst]

A minute, no, not from Young and Restless. They would have, they recognized me from the Comedy Store when I would perform there because like, sometimes I used to work at the Cheesecake Factory in Marina Del Rey and it was pretty, pretty popular. Like, you know, it had a lot of, a lot of traffic, A lot of people ate there. It was near the airport on the water. And there's was a bunch of times, you know, I remember one time I heard, I'm walking towards the table and they came in because there was a show called Dublin's. It was every Tuesday in LA on the Sunset Strip. It was one of the biggest shows that ran for like four years. And everybody would go, go to this stand up show. And I had a really good set the, the night before. So that was a Tuesday, this is a Wednesday lunch. I'm working and I heard these people coming in talking about the show and then specifically talking about my bit. And then when they sat down, I had them and then it was kind of like, then you go up to the table and they were like, we just saw you. I'm dressed in the cheesecake white. And then you're like, yeah, yeah. Then you're like, so, you know, we have a passion fruit iced tea. If you guys are.

[Lynne Hoffman]

It's got to be like at that moment maybe soul crushing, but. But to them, they're thinking, is he stalking us or is he really, you know, is it part of the act?

[Brett Ernst]

I was delivering Pizzas, man. And I was on. I was doing a set on. On a late show, and I couldn't get off of work because the Lakers were winning everything then, and I wanted to watch it. And my. My little brother was going to record it, and TiVo had just came out, so my girl at the time was going to record it, but I wanted to watch it live at the pizzeria, but I couldn't because we were slammed. So I had this 97 Ford Escort that couldn't make lefts, man. It would stall out. So I'm rushing to try and get back in time, and I'm. I'm delivering the pizzas, and I'm like, I'm just not gonna make it. I'm like, God, I wanted to see it live, you know? Well, I mean, we tape it in the day and they air it at night. And I'm not kidding you. As. As soon as I. As the kid opened the door that I was delivering to, I was walking out on tv and I was standing there with the pizzas and then. But the look on his face was like, wow, this is cool. And how depressing, like, at the same time.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Oh, my God. But it just shows that you really do have to work your ass off to get to where you want to go. I mean, you can't just expect it's going to come to you like, oh, I did this one thing. Everyone's going to knock on my door.

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah, no, no. Stand up is the biggest of that. I mean, you can't really slip through the cracks. You could. You could maybe go viral on something and then get people to buy tickets to your show once. But to be good at the art of stand up, you got to put that time in, man.

[Lynne Hoffman]

It's so true.

[Brett Ernst]

There's no cutting corners, because you can't fake it. You can't fake it once you get out in front of, you know, biggest crowds. I've done 15,000 on Bert on Chrysler's thing at the T Mobile, and I've been in front of two people at the. Or like, one in the morning on a Tuesday at the Comedy Store, you're you. Whatever your situation is, you just you as. You can't fake that. You just can't fake it. They'll know. Even if you try to do other people's jokes, they'll know.

[Lynne Hoffman]

No, it's true. And your comedy is known for being very honest and truthful and, dare I say, edgy. How do you balance being relatable with being original in your material? Because that changes probably yearly.

[Brett Ernst]

Well, everybody's original if you're talking about yourself and your own journey, you know, and then if that journey might have similarities. But, you know, that's what people kind of relate to. Truth is as far as, like, you know, you just. You just try and be as honest as possible. You can never be fully honest. And I don't mean with myself. I meant with some of the stories I tell. Because there's other people involved, right? Oh, yes.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Family, anonymity and stuff.

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't want to go full on.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Sure.

[Brett Ernst]

But, you know, there's. Everything's based in truth. So.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Is there, Is there? When you say it's based in truth, is it first. Is it important? Do you think it's important to be able to laugh at yourself even if you're not a comedian?

[Brett Ernst]

Absolutely. I mean, it's the ultimate not. I don't know if. Not caring. You know, we can't curse, can we?

[Lynne Hoffman]

Sure.

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah. Okay. There's a book called the Art of Not Giving a Fuck, which I never read. I just love the title. And you really can't care, man. You don't. Because here's why the. And I, you know, I'm just referring it to just people you meet every day or the audience, they're full of shit. You're. You're. I'm not. Right. So, you know when. When somebody is like, oh, yeah, really, you don't have fucked up thoughts.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Right.

[Brett Ernst]

You know, the Japanese say that every. Everybody has three faces. You know, again, I'm the. I'm the worst at paraphrasing or re quoting. I just get the gist of it. So, yeah, it may not even have been the Japanese. It could.

[Lynne Hoffman]

That's okay for, for this podcast right now. It was. We're gonna give them the credit. What the hell?

[Brett Ernst]

No, the Japanese say that everybody has three faces, right? They have the one that they show society, the one that the ones closest to them see. And then there's the one that they know, the one that they look in the mirror, that weird one that when you do weird shit when nobody's around and all those messed up thoughts you have, right? That's the face the comic is trying to show the general public. Now the problem with the general public, their. Their perception of how they want to be perceived. That's why everyone's a. Everyone's a hypocrite if they're not honest with themselves. There may be one thing that bothers them, but then there's something they do that could bother someone else. That they don't want anybody to. Does that make sense?

[Lynne Hoffman]

Makes total sense.

[Brett Ernst]

So the, the point is, you really can't give a. Because you don't want. I don't want everyone to like me. You don't want everybody. You want. You want the right ones to like you. And then, and Mitzi Shore used to teach us that at the Comedy Store, you know.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Yeah.

[Brett Ernst]

That you build your own, your audience will find you. Just be honest with yourself.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Yeah, being honest, I think, and authentic is the most important thing. I started in radio and I worked with all guys, so I grew very thick skinned. I was like the sister they all picked on. But I was taught that same thing. You know, half the people aren't gonna like what you have to say, and the other half are gonna love what you have to say. And you can't let that stop you from what you're doing because that's just the way it is.

[Brett Ernst]

Well, the, the, the thing too is, you know, back then you. Somebody wrote one letter and the, the place freaked out.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Yeah.

[Brett Ernst]

Right. Oh, my God.

[Lynne Hoffman]

But we could hide things more then, like get us the tape. Oh, the tape machine broke. Sorry.

[Brett Ernst]

Now, you know, it's all for you to see, right? So you put something out and you just can't care, you know, it's another favorite quote of mine, and it's something I'll find. Like I, I'll, I'll develop something through the process and then read something that aligns with stuff that I always thought. And one of them. It's none of my business what you think of me.

[Lynne Hoffman]

That's huge.

[Brett Ernst]

It's none of my business. If I'm performing, I create, like, let's just say I create a joke or I put out a special once I put that out there in the world. That was my gift to you. My gift to you is my dysfunction. Now you do what you want with that and it's none of my business. It's. I can buy you a shirt. It's none of my business if you don't wear it, if you hate it, if you love it, either way, it's yours. Now my integrity, I don't like being questioned when I'll put a joke out and then somebody's like, oh, he stole that from so and so. When it's like, no, dude, I've been in this game to almost 20. It'll be 28 years. That's my original material that I put on TV in 2002. You know what I mean? Like, that type of stuff that'll IRK me. And when I respond, I'll respond in a general, which I've been accused of stealing from myself that I like.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Yeah, how's that possible?

[Brett Ernst]

They're like, I, I thought I saw a guy do this.

[Lynne Hoffman]

You know, you're like, it was me, it was me.

[Brett Ernst]

You jerk off. That's the only time that I'll clear something up. But if somebody goes, this guy sucks. That makes me laugh.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Well, yeah, that's interesting. When I worked the first job in television, it was right in the beginning when Internet was, God, I'm aging us, aren't I? And it was like, I got out unscathed because the one thing that, the most nasty thing that anyone ever said to me and I was in, I was like 29, 30 years old, and the comment was, lynn Hoffman looks like a, she's holding on to her youth like a fat kid to an ice cream cone. And that made my mom so mad, I laughed so hard. I thought that was hilarious. But isn't that a compliment? I thought so, but it made everyone.

[Brett Ernst]

Else, you look good, right?

[Lynne Hoffman]

Can't let that bother you. But it's good advice. The quotes that you gave, whether you gave the right person who quoted it doesn't really matter as long as the sentiments taken. I think it can really help people. And speaking of which, I'm not into.

[Brett Ernst]

This empowerment shit either, man. Like, you know, people need to be empowered. If you need to be empowered, I don't think you're meant to do it. You know, if you need to be told you're awesome and encouraged, you're not going to make it. You need to just understand that, you know, you, I mean, how do I say that?

[Lynne Hoffman]

How do I say, well, why do you do it? Why do you do comedy?

[Brett Ernst]

I don't know. I couldn't tell you. I love it.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Is it, do you think it may have anything to do with something that's therapeutic, that happens between you and maybe like the audience?

[Brett Ernst]

I don't know. I, I really don't. And I don't know. Well, I mean, you know, there was so many things in my life that didn't make sense, but then made sense when I stepped on stage, you know, like, like I went to like 15 different schools. And then, you know, being the new kid, it's almost, it's weird though. It's like I, I didn't mind the awkward and nervousness. I, I, I, I knew what would happen. I'm gonna show up, they'll put me in front of the class. Some of these weren't the nicest of schools. So now I'm gonna end up throwing hands at either at recession or, you know, you know, then. And then after about two weeks of fighting every other kid, you'll end up making friends. Yeah, through. Through sports, you know, that's how guys bond, you know, Teams. Yeah, we. If you're good at sports as a kid, then, you know, if you're good, you're good with your hands. And because guys like to. We're like, let's say you have a friend that's really fast, right? Or that can fight. We build them up, right? Like. Like if I'm hanging out with a guy that. And this kid, I'm like, yo, I bet you can't beat my friend. You know what I mean? Like, we like to associate ourselves with that. We're women. You guys are a little opposite. You guys tear each other kind of. Yeah.

[Lynne Hoffman]

No, but you're talking about lifting people up. Because when you get in a team and everybody works together, that everybody sort of lifts everybody up.

[Brett Ernst]

No, you, you, you lift you. Only there's a great. You pat yourself on the back when you fail, and then you kick yourself in the ass when you succeed. But what I meant more is if you have to be constantly told that you're, you know, you. You're awesome, you can do it. That. That's just. No, you're not. You're not meant to. You just go do it. Go fail. Be okay with failing.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Move.

[Brett Ernst]

Move the fuck on. You know what? I mean that to me. In my head, that's how I talk to myself. Just go get it done. Because most of the people that are trying to encourage you, as soon as you leave, they're not being honest with you. But you, you're the only one that can really, you know, you're the, you.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Know, honest with yourself.

[Brett Ernst]

But I'm saying, you know what you can do. Nobody knows what you could do. And when you keep asking other people, can I can? I know then you're not meant to do it. Just go get it done. You know?

[Lynne Hoffman]

How do you. How do you feel about the role of. Of comedy with respect to healing others?

[Brett Ernst]

I think perspective. Perspective is what's healing. I mean, I know that there's studies done on laughter, how it releases endorphins or whatever, but perspective is. Is really what I think comedy gives because it goes. It goes in line with the, oh, my God, what's woe is me. I. You know, I don't. I'm insecure. This, this, this. So is everybody. We're all insecure. And one thing I always tell my audience at the end when I talk to them, I always say, everybody in this room is hurting. We're all hurting. We all love the same, we hurt the same. Nobody's different from the other. And you're all dead in 100 years. And this goes in line, is why I suck at dinner parties.

[Lynne Hoffman]

But do you sit in the middle of the table?

[Brett Ernst]

I just. You know, comics, when we get together, it's. It's very interesting and fun conversations. And then when you're out with regular people that they, it's not as fun. And they think that we're all like, you know, so the other day, it's far from that. We're all mentally ill and depressed and. But at the same time, like, I'm, I'm optimistic guy. I just, I'm just an honest person. And people hate honesty. They hate it. They hate it with themselves. Right? Like, getting older. Who cares?

[Lynne Hoffman]

Right? Right.

[Brett Ernst]

What do you think you're going to be 22 forever? You know what I'm saying? Or just worrying all the time? To me, it's just. Do you think you're the only person in the. In the timeline of human existence? I mean, do you understand how selfish and narcissistic that is? And then to think that you're always going to look the same and that everything's always going to work out for you? You're fucking delusional. You're a delusional person that don't accept the way the world works. And that's not on me. That's on the. That's on you. So, you know, comics will give you that perspective that this is great. Own it. Who cares? Laugh, move on, you're dead soon.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Or shut up. Have you ever experienced or witnessed moments where comedy helps someone cope with a difficult emotion or a situation?

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah, you'll get emails from people, but it's only people that have experienced it in a way that get it. And then, you know, every once in a while, it's, I'll say this 95 of the time. If someone experienced it and they know you're being honest about it, they'll hit you up and laugh. 95% of the people that don't like it think it should be offensive. Like, I can't believe you say something like that. You're not considerate. And then you'll get like a 5% of people that went through it just said, look, dude, I didn't think that was fun.

[Lynne Hoffman]

And.

[Brett Ernst]

But for most, I would say night again. I'm just throwing out a number if, if I'm doing a joke that you could tell is I've experienced, because that's my rule of thumb. I only make fun of my own tragedies. You know what I mean?

[Lynne Hoffman]

Yeah.

[Brett Ernst]

I'm not making fun of someone else's because that's where the authenticity comes in. Because I'm not a setup punch guy. I try to be honest and taking my experiences and, you know, making light of them.

[Lynne Hoffman]

It's pretty amazing. I would say comedy's right up there with, with being a therapist. Almost a lot more fun, I'm guessing, than.

[Brett Ernst]

Well, no, there's truth to that too. I mean, you know, I don't know. I've. If, you know, when you, when you're taking something that, that affected you and making light of it, it's very therapeutic, I guess. I don't know. That's the only thing I know. So I don't know how it would be any other way.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Well, it's so helpful when you go into a show and you hear somebody. I was watching one of your specials recently where you got into your dad, and it's like, if there's anyone in the audience thinking to themselves, you know, my goodness, he went through that growing up with his dad, and how can I complain about my life or my problems? You know, and then you're up there making fun of and, and finding comedy in that, that's pretty amazing.

[Brett Ernst]

And then everything's relative. Right. So, like, you know, there's people that are worse off than me, there are people that are better off than me. But the, when you learn the technique to deal with everything, whatever comes your way. Right. So as an artist, if, if you, you need constant validation, you're. You're not going to succeed. Because most, a lot of people just won't be honest with you. And you're, you know, they, they say the, the only person you can trust is yourself in the process, and the only person you can blame is yourself. Right. Like when you assess, because we, we know, we know ourselves better than anybody. It's that third phase that we know. Right. But we also know where our failures are and what we need to work harder on. That's why I think as an artist, self assessment, because it's especially standups, always a work in progress. And sometimes you'll run a joke or a premise by somebody and then they'll be like, that, that sounds awful. But then when you execute it, then they're like, oh, okay, I get it. Because, you know, where you Want to go. So, you know, I always take criticism and compliments the same way, if that makes sense.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Yeah, totally. Did you have. Well, you know, if you can take criticism, what. You're way ahead of the game in this industry.

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah. Account, accountability, criticism, critical thinking, honesty. Those things are the only things that you can really go. And sometimes, you know, look. Because people mistake bad habits for who they are, if that makes sense. You know, like, I'm a. I'm the king of procrastinating.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Who isn't?

[Brett Ernst]

It's awful. Like, I still have to get my taxes going. And, you know, I keep filing extensions which cost me more money because it's like, oh, I don't want to have to go. You know, that type of stuff bothers me. And then. But, you know, you have to buckle down and get it done. But, you know, you, you, you know your strengths and weaknesses.

[Lynne Hoffman]

So it's the curse of being creative, I think.

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah, man, it's. I mean, you get two types in stand up. You have the OCDs and the ADHD. You have the people that have anxiety versus the people that have depression. You know, it's just.

[Lynne Hoffman]

I'm laughing, and I shouldn't be laughing, but I totally understand what you're talking about. Did you have a mentor or mentors?

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah. And it was the Comedy Store in general, just being there, really, at that time period when I was there, being around comics that, you know, I grew up watching, and then guys that were ahead of me, guys below me. So you. You actually learn by osmosis and that. Or the original room. Because the Comedy Store, I have to explain, it has three rooms as the main room, the original room, and the belly room. And the original room is my favorite room in the country. Main room pays more. But the. Or you've. We learned all the comics that I came up with. Like, you know, some of my best friends, we. We. You learn different things by being forced into it, like how to reset a room, how to follow. Like, I, I, you know, you follow everybody from Chris Rock to Chappelle to Rogan to Burr to Dice, you know, you, you, you. And there's no mc, so they bring you up. So then you got to learn, just through repetition and failure, how to get the room after they just saw somebody that they were fans of versus somebody they had no idea who they are. You know what I mean? And totally that type of stuff you, you, you learn at the. Com. So the Comedy Store itself was probably my biggest mentor.

[Lynne Hoffman]

That's cool. I think. I think your failures are like you said, some of your biggest successes, you just don't know it at the time, right?

[Brett Ernst]

And you know if you can make it through. And what's funny is like you when you were in it, and then when you're past it, you're always going back to that time period because that's the most fun, even though it was the most difficult. We'll be right back with more of the Comedy Save Me podcast. The best AI assistant isn't one that knows the whole world. It's one that knows your world. A custom assistant built on WatsonX with IBM's granite models can leverage your trusted data, be easily trained on your workflows, and integrate with your apps. It can be tuned to do just what you need, because the more AI knows about your world, the more it can help you do. Learn [e-mail] productivity IBM let's create Ryan.

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[Lynne Hoffman]

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[Brett Ernst]

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[Brett Ernst]

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[Lynne Hoffman]

It's so. It is. It's. It's very hard if you want to pursue a career in general in front of the camera or on the stage to have that sense of okay, I can do this. It. It. It's horrifying if you don't have some type of maybe somebody came into your life at one point and said, hey, what you just did was funny and that's all you needed to hear one time to know that you were on the right track.

[Brett Ernst]

Well, it goes back to that validation thing, right? So I can't tell you how many times I've been in conversations with other comics. Like at the Comedy Store, we hang out in the hallway to where till we go up and nobody even saw the guy set. And then somebody will get off stage like, yo, great set. They didn't even watch it. Oh yeah, you know what I mean? That's when you learn that nobody really, you know people somehow create this narrative in their head that everybody's talking about them, everybody cares about. Nobody cares, nobody's that invested in you. That's why the self reliance thing is really important. And for younger artists to know that whatever art form they're in, it's all puberty, it's all this, we all go through the same thing. You know, you're not unique and you're failing and you're not unique in your successes. Everything will come and go. It's the ebbs and flow of it. When you're in it long enough, you're going to be up your highs, your, your lows way, way more than your highs. But it, it'll eventually go away, then come back, go away. That's why if you just focus on what you love to do and just keep doing it, if you can still make a career at it, then you know, you're lucky.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Those are wise words. That was my next question is what do you, what do you tell young up and coming artists? And that? Pretty much, yeah, it's all part for the course.

[Brett Ernst]

And what makes Stand up such a unique art form, I mean there's a few exceptions is we've been at every level. When you're a headliner and there's a kid emceeing or a person guest setting or middling and they're, we've all been there. We, we have, none of us have skipped any steps. We've all done open mics, we've all done the lotteries, we've all done the bringer shows, everything. So when, when we're at, at where we're at and, and the person that's new is where they're at, what are you going to complain? You can't complain. We've, we've all done it, we've all, we've all been there. But I'm one of those, those types too where I'm, I'm more into like breaking just because something bad might have happened to me, I don't want to project that on someone else.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Right, right. You feel you want to, but it's, it's hard.

[Brett Ernst]

Personally, no, I, I, I honestly don't, I, I, because you look at it two ways. It's like, you know, I remember watching people leaving a, a store one time and I noticed that when people didn't hold the door for the next person, the one person that started holding the door, then the next person would hold the door. And that's kind of what you want to do. You want to break cycles in that type of sense, because some of it's unnecessary. Like, I've, I've met comics without mentioning names that were like, hey, I went through it, so now I'm going to do it to someone else.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Yes.

[Brett Ernst]

Whereas, like, I don't, I don't see the purpose in that because some of those, some of it is just isn't. Isn't cool.

[Lynne Hoffman]

You mean like hazing the new comic, like bump.

[Brett Ernst]

Like, there's been times where, like, you know, especially like in Hollywood, in New York, where you're, you have industry come down to see you for like a showcase type set. So you set it up at the club, then all of a sudden a major celebrity comes in and we use a term called bumping. Right. Where you get bumped. Okay, so let's say I have a 10:15 spot and I brought some executives down that wanted to see my set that might be considering me for either late, late night appearance, which doesn't really happen that much anymore, or people that are developing shows, or even people that might be like, hey, we might want you to be on our show, like as an actor. And they're there and it's called a showcase set. Right. And then that person, famous person comes in and says, I want to go up now. And now they're gonna do however long they're gonna do. And the, the comic that had set it up, you may not even get up till midnight. And then that's bad. The industry sometimes doesn't want to be there that long. So I don't bump anyone. Even if I can, I won't do it. Especially if they're like, if I show up at a show and they're like, hey, can you come down? I'll wait till the end. You know, that type of stuff I don't like to do because I've been there and I didn't like how that worked out.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Well, you're also a groundbreaker. Besides being a nice guy, your principal's office special was groundbreaking. I say because it was the first self distributed, am I saying that correctly? Online special on YouTube.

[Brett Ernst]

There were guys that like went viral with their specials, but I was the first to do a YouTube special for free.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Fully produced.

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lynne Hoffman]

What would inspired the approach and how did it do you feel it impacted your career?

[Brett Ernst]

Yes.

[Lynne Hoffman]

And.

[Brett Ernst]

But, you know, because you're the first doesn't mean you did it right. Like, you know, take this again. Our community is pretty supportive. Is supportive in a way where like, guys were like, when I told like Bill, Bill Burr and Ari Shafir, what I was thinking of doing. And then they're like, yeah, yeah, you should do that. You know what I mean? And then when I did it, I had other guys say, how did that work out for you, other comics? And then I'd be like, look, it worked out great this way, but I would. I messed up this way. And then if I were to do it again, this is what I would do different. So when they did it for the first time, I was given telling them what I did wrong for them to, you know, not do wrong. Does that make sense?

[Lynne Hoffman]

And then, yeah, yeah.

[Brett Ernst]

But it became a thing because I had put about 20,000 on my own money. And, you know, I had some friends lend me some money, too, to invest in it. And in the process of shooting Principal's Office, I was hoping Netflix would. Well, prior to that, I did a Comedy Central present. So everybody wanted to get their hour on Comedy Central. Let me take you back a little, right? And I had a top five that Comedy Central would do this thing where they would air all the half hours and hours that they produce for the year, and people would vote on it, right? They would call in. This is like 2010, 2011. And. And they would call in and say, this was our favorite. So there was like a hundred specials that year, and I was in the top five, but it was only my half hour, so I wanted to get the hour. And every year after that, I was on the one yard line, but I would lose it to check because they would check boxes like, we need. We have enough white dudes. We're gonna do more females or we're gonna do this. And they started just checking boxes. And I was getting frustrated with it, so I was like, screw it. I'll shoot one myself and have. Netflix was licensing at the time, but in the process of shooting it and editing it, Netflix changed the policy and said, we're not going to license anymore. We're going to own it. So now I was stuck with this $20,000 special because you get. For me, I got to the point to where, like, I don't need permission to exist. Right?

[Lynne Hoffman]

Right.

[Brett Ernst]

If I'm putting this work in and these people are like, no, he doesn't fit this criteria or that criteria. Then I'm like, then I'm just gonna do it myself. And I love that. And. And it just. The way it worked out was, you know, I. I thought outside the box. I built out a website that you could watch it, and then I ebbed in a YouTube player. So whatever views I got, you can monetize it on YouTube. Then I set it up where if you wanted to buy it for $5, you could, if you wanted to get a t shirt for 20, you get the special with it. Or just give me your email. You didn't have to do anything. And I would tell them that, I'd say, you just enjoy it. But if you wanted to stay in touch, I'll take your email. Because I, I, it was one of those things where I was in the nightclub business where like, if I, if I, if I don't get you at the door, I'm gonna get you at the bar. So you wanted to get a bunch of, you know, as much fans as possible event like it, they'll go buy a ticket. But truth be told, after about 300,000 views, I, my average was like $20 and I ended up making a ton of money from it.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Wow, that's awesome.

[Brett Ernst]

But I used my, the comedy community, I, you, I went on Bill Burr, I went on all the podcasts that were my friends and we promoted it because comics have always been on the forefront of everything from early Hollywood to radio to silent films to sitcoms. Dane Cook blew it up with MySpace, you know, Rogan, Marc Maron, Tom Green, Adam Carolla with the podcasting. And then, you know, now that's why you're doing a podcast is comics started podcasting. We were the first.

[Lynne Hoffman]

It's pretty awesome.

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah, we've always been ahead of. Because we just love to create and we can create funny and.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Well, I know, I actually know why, believe it or not. Why? Because it's something I say with every time I talk to a comedian and I don't try to repeat myself just to be heard. But it's true. You really are the foundation of entertainment and the hardest working people in entertainment. That's why you're so interchangeable. You can act, you can do drama, you can do comedy, you can write, you can perform on stage to a live audience or a camera. But you all work so hard on your own and you support each other. Whereas, like, that's comedy. That's so different than acting or music where you sort of on your own, you don't have all these other people trying to lift you up and help you in the same industry. Or at least it doesn't seem that way as much anymore.

[Brett Ernst]

Well, we definitely are the blue collar of the entertainment business. And you're, you're right in that fact that like to even get to a point to where you're even considering doing something right, you have six, seven, sometimes 10 years of shitty bar gigs, you know, living in a smaller area, moving to a bigger one, keeping your nights open, waiting in line. Like we used to wait in line at the Laugh factory to do three minutes and we would get up at 5am and you'd have a friend that would sit there until about 5pm until they came out. And then we would do it in shifts just to do three minutes to try and get a paid spot at a club. And we're doing that until. For so many years. So, yeah, you're right. We're always, always moving.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Always. And don't ever call one in the morning early or unless you catch us.

[Brett Ernst]

Before we go to bed.

[Lynne Hoffman]

That's true. Because then you're in the morning. How do you maintain that work life balance? It's so funny as a woman, that's always the question. How are you a mom and work full time and all that? But this is different. I mean, like we said, you're hardworking, but there's your whole life outside of comedy and there's a lot of demands with touring and acting and performing. What's your secret?

[Brett Ernst]

I don't know. Like. Well, I don't act as much. I mean, I was very fortunate to get on the show. I just always focus on the traveling and the stand up. But, you know, I guess stay, keep work, like, keep doing new material. Like, keep taking, you know, coming up with stuff. And so each time you come into a city, it's a different routine or try to be, you know, and take like new risks. Yeah, creatively, you know, and it's usually, you know, it's goddess. I was. Who the heck was I talking to about this? Where I. You deconstruct what, where you're at to figure out the way you got there. But while you're getting there, you have no idea how you're getting there.

[Lynne Hoffman]

I think that's called hindsight.

[Brett Ernst]

Is that what it is?

[Lynne Hoffman]

Look, I just simpled it up for you really easy.

[Brett Ernst]

Well, it's like you reverse engineer the process. And like when I was talking about, like you learn lessons with. All right, I'll give you. When you're at the Comedy Store, say, and you like. Dice taught me something one night. I don't even know if he was teaching me. He wanted me to do this bit, but then do a monologue leading up to the bit, and I was like, I had never done.

[Lynne Hoffman]

You want you to memorize it too?

[Brett Ernst]

No, just make it up.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Oh, make it up.

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah. So I was in the main room and I used to do this roller skating bit about this guy named Tony that was like 30 when we were 10. I don't know if you ever remember there was that old dude at the roller rink, but he. He was like, you gotta tell everybody, who's Tony? Where is he from? And because Dice was one of my idols growing up, I. I did it and I went up and just started talking about this guy. I'd never done it before. And this was in the main room. And I didn't realize it at the time because I would watch Dice at. In the. Or he. He commits, but he was teaching me commitment by putting me in that situation, which I would have never have been in. And you just. I just committed to it because I had no choice. And. And in the uncomfortability came the laughter. And I. And I kind of. I didn't realize it till like eight months later that that's what he does sometimes. Like, he'll go on stage and just commit to things. He never waivers and commit. And I learned commitment from that. And then you learn how to get a room back. One night, one of the more famous comics just said good night. And he was supposed to bring me up. So he ran off stage forgetting to bring me up.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Oh, what did.

[Brett Ernst]

So then I had to run up while the room was leaving. And then now you're like, hey, and you have to get everybody back. You just, You. You learn these different scenarios and. But you don't know. You're learning it at the time. So it's like 20 something years later, you go back and say, this is how I learned to commit. This is how I learned how to reset. And, you know, but in the process, you don't know what's happening.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Can you share, Brett, a time that comedy helped you through a tough situation?

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah, the night. The day my brother died, I went on stage that night and, you know, I didn't. I just. I don't even think I talked about it. I just went into doing material and I just kept getting up because, you know, it's. It's one of those things where, like, you just. I just forced myself to. To get up that day. And, you know, that helped. That helped a lot. It's like, you know, you don't feel like going to the gym and you're like, I gotta go. You know, I just gotta go. Because that's what you learn from sports. But, you know, working out makes me feel better. I feel like I accomplished something. Like, I center my day around a gym and then I center my mental Health around my standup, I guess, because I do have that outlet. And I can see where it could be difficult for somebody who's going through something that doesn't have an outlet to be creative with it, if that makes sense.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Totally. And do you see when you've done that for others when you're on stage?

[Brett Ernst]

No, because you. You can't get the same feeling. I mean, you know, it's the difference between preparing a meal and somebody eating it. You know, there's the. The chefs that are like, hey, I just discovered this new spice or whatever. This new combination. The satisfaction is watching people eat it and being, wow, this is the best. This was really good. You know, but it would be more of trying to give a. One of the best meals possible, or you're the best meal you can give to someone who hasn't eaten in a while. And then I like, yeah, so not only are you feeding them that, but it's something really good for them.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Because did you know that was going to be a byproduct of your work?

[Brett Ernst]

I mean, you don't. You don't know. You still don't know. You just know that, you know, some people will leave you a private message saying, hey, I went through this. And it's funny, too, when you're online and people leave comments about things they don't understand. And then. And then there's the ones that do get it, and then they hit you up and they're like, yo, this was my story. And then. Then you, you know, you kind of have a. A shared experience with them. And those you try to tie, you know, try and hit him back and say, yo, I'm glad that that worked for you. I mean, you know, but that's not the. I know it's. Everything sounds contradictory, but that's not the goal, man. It's still like, there's just. There's something pleasing in taking a thought and then constructing an idea. And then here's the crazy part. I don't even care if they laugh. I just want. I just want the right people to laugh. And they will. Right?

[Lynne Hoffman]

That's. That's an interesting take. I don't think I've ever heard anyone.

[Brett Ernst]

Well, no, there's a lot that are okay with silence.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Yeah, I. I am horrible with that. By the way, my husband tells me that for someone who gets paid to talk, I give a lot of words away for free.

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah, of course.

[Lynne Hoffman]

But looking back on your career, what do you hope that your legacy in comedy will be?

[Brett Ernst]

I, you know, I don't know.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Is that a hard question?

[Brett Ernst]

Yeah, because you don't know. I don't know. You just. The only thing I would want people to say about me is how hard I work and how much integrity I have in what I do. Like, you know, I don't want to just sit there and go, I want to have world peace, you know, you don't know. There's so many. I want people to realize that everything will be okay, you know, I mean, when you leave, everything's gonna be fine. You, you have two choice, just laugh at it. And from me, you know, I'm Catholic, I believe in God, I believe Jesus was who he was. But I, I give, I, I always compliment atheists. I, I, now I'm like, I don't know how you guys do it without God. You know what I mean? Like, I give you your props, but at the end of the day, we're all gone. I mean, every, every this, I mean, it just, everything goes like that. And you know that because I was 25 two weeks ago, right? And I gotta assume I'll be 75 in a month. And it, what are you gonna do? You. Everybody goes through things, so just laugh at it. Because that takes the power away from. Yeah, I don't want to say the devil or evil or negative. Does that make sense?

[Lynne Hoffman]

No. 100% you can. It's true. It keeps it all at bay.

[Brett Ernst]

Evil knows it can't win. It doesn't want to win. It just wants to cause chaos and cause sorrow. And when you get caught up in that and you start to make decisions based on desperation, everything will, everything always works out. And even if it doesn't, something else will. Because, you know, God gives by taking away, it takes something away, something else comes in. And when, when, when you're sad about things or think your, your tragedies are unique, then they're not. Everybody goes through something. Some are way more awful than others. Some are way more harder to laugh at. But just know all of us will be dead one day. And, and I'm willing to bet when you're a hundred years old in bed, your last thoughts aren't going to be God. I wish that person didn't make fun of me. You know, you're going to be focusing on ice cream and past family members, and I wish I had more time. I miss my mother making Sunday gravy. You know, whatever those thoughts are, those are the ones that you're really going to think about. And that's why all this stuff in between, just, just laugh at It. You got no choice.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Laugh and look for silver linings. That's. That's my.

[Brett Ernst]

Just like I said, if you know you're gonna be dead one day, why are you letting everything stress you out? I mean, there's gonna be major events in your life that you have no control over. But everything else, you know, that's the beauty of comedy, is we're laughing at life. Right? And I remember at the end of my special, I said that, you know, when you. Because I was. I got divorced. But I. That when I did the not principle, the one after Principles of Domesticated Animal, it was my least favorite special because I was lying the whole time because I had wrote it as a married man and I had, I had made jokes about our marriage as kind of like. Not a. No homage or whatever the word is, but in honor of that. That.

[Lynne Hoffman]

And then I think the H is silent.

[Brett Ernst]

You know, whatever that thing's called.

[Lynne Hoffman]

I've never heard anyone say that. I'm sorry.

[Brett Ernst]

So, yeah, I'm not that bright.

[Lynne Hoffman]

You're not even trying to be funny.

[Brett Ernst]

And I'm stupid sometimes.

[Lynne Hoffman]

I'm sorry.

[Brett Ernst]

So I, I said at the end that, you know, whenever we see romantic movies, it's either when we first met or when we're getting a divorce. You know, that's usually, but. But it's all the in between is where comics come in. And that's the stuff you need to laugh at.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Yes, sir. Brett Ernst, thank you so much for your time.

[Brett Ernst]

I know it was very wordy, but this is very early for me right now.

[Lynne Hoffman]

That's okay. I love wordy.

[Brett Ernst]

Are you still quoting 30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. And every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to Discover. Learn [e-mail] credit card based on the February 2024 Nielsen report.

[Lynne Hoffman]

With a detailed agent directory you won't find anywhere else, homes.com is the only place to find the in depth info. Home shoppers want very in depth info. Looking for a listing agent's contact info. We've got it. The agent with the most sales in your price range. Easy specialized agents with all the up to date info on your dream neighborhood. We'll know them. A Pisces who enjoys long walks on the beach. You've got other sites for that homes.com We've done your homework.

[Jana Kramer]

This is Jana Kramer from Wind down with Jana Kramer. When we were deciding on our appliances for the house, Samsung was at the top of our list. And I love my Samsung appliances, especially because they're so reliable. And with my busy schedule, having reliable appliances has been a game changer. It's no wonder Samsung is the number one brand for customer satisfaction. That's why I'm excited to tell you all about Samsung's new line of smart appliances. Featuring their brand new Bespoke AI laundry combo. This incredible magic machine washes and dries in one machine, one load. No transfers, no timers, no rewashing needed. New Bespoke AI appliances. This is home living made simple. For more information visit samsung.com bespoke 68.

[Brett Ernst]

Minute cycle based on 27 inch combos based on using a super speed cycle only with a 10 pound doe load cotton 50% plus polyester 50%. Individual results may vary based on actual load content.

[Lynne Hoffman]

Does Friendly have a taste? If it does, it's probably like hello's Peppermint flavored anti plaque and Whitening toothpaste. Brush away plaque, show tartar who's boss and remove surface stains to naturally whiten. Hello's thoughtful and flavor forward products make brushing your teeth feel like a confetti filled bathroom dance party. So say hello to hello with the always cruelty free never tested on animals toothpaste that's made to spread smiles. Visit helloproducts.com and let hello add some everyday yay into your life.

[Jana Kramer]

Get this Adults with financial literacy skills have 82% more wealth than those who don't. From swimming lessons to piano classes, us parents invest in so many things to enrich our kids lives, but are we investing in their future financial success? With Greenlight you can teach your kids financial literacy skills like earning, saving and investing.

[Brett Ernst]

And this investment costs less than that.

[Jana Kramer]

After school treat start prioritizing their financial education and future today with a risk free [e-mail] iheart greenlight.com iheart this is an iheart podcast.