 |
Sid Bridge doing his act
c. sid bridge |
First of all, I saw you had a big evening
at the Funnybone the other night.
How was it?
in a series of
geek-themed comedy shows put together by me and two of my best friends in
comedy, Tim Loulies (AKA the Big 44) and Derek Williams. We caught ourselves
discussing geeky topics and joke premises after a show one evening. The next
morning, I messaged the both of them on Facebook proposing we put a geek-themed
show together and it snowballed from there.
The first two shows were successful
thanks to Tim’s tireless marketing efforts, me using my PR skills to help get the
word out and all of the wonderful talent who joined us on stage. Episode III was
the best yet. It was one of those shows that just seemed to fly by – we
definitely left everyone wanting more. What made it so special was the audience. Often,
comedy audiences can be hostile or uninterested. The audience at the Geek show
was definitely full of appreciative geeks. The deeper the geek reference, the
more they laughed. The energy in the room was high, and the comedians put on
excellent performances with lots of new material they wrote specifically for
the show.
We also
continued our wonderful relationship with our area’s chapter of the 501st Legion, a group
of Star Wars enthusiasts who wear movie-quality costumes to raise money for
charity. They were outside the Funny Bone before the show taking pictures
with people in exchange for donations to the Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation and we raffled off prizes to support the cause as well.
The venue was
(and will continue to be) the Virginia Beach Funny Bone, the largest comedy
club in the area, and they have been incredibly supportive of our efforts – our
show is a lot different than the comedians you typically see there.
In short, it was
awesome. One of the comedians continues to tell us he wishes he could perform
for an audience of geeks exclusively. They were appreciative, friendly, and
laughed/clapped at all the right times.
Most comedians find that they have to be raunchy or at the very least, use foul language. Is that necessary?
I try to
avoid foul language and suggestive
material. It does limit your ability to connect with certain
audience,
especially at bars or smaller clubs, but it also broadens your appeal to most
comedy venues and other types of events where they don’t want their
audience offended. I also personally believe that it’s not necessary. A
talented comedian shouldn’t need the F-bomb to be funny and if that crutch
is all you have to rely on, you need to reconsider wanting to be a comic. I
have an added consideration – as an orthodox Jew who wears a yarmulke
on stage (casually, not as a joke), anything I say will be
construed as
representative of other Jews. I try to keep that in mind. Most of my material
is just amplification and exaggeration of things I encounter in my personal
life, and I’m a pretty normal guy, so I don’t get filthy.
You do have a "grown-up job." You are a writer by day, and a comedian by night. Talk some about how the two play off of each other. Do the two converge?
During the day,
I’m the Manager of Corporate Communications for a real estate investment
company with a $3.4 billion portfolio of investment properties. I love my job – it
ranges from setting high-level PR strategy, all the way down to designing and
printing presentations. I’m good at what I do and I take pride in my work. That being
said, real estate is a pretty conservative industry. A wild sense of creativity
really needs to be somewhat restrained in the workplace (don’t get me wrong – it
requires creativity, but I wouldn’t suggest including Star Wars references in an
investor memorandum). I came back to this position after a 5 year hiatus
where I worked in more creative and varied industries. During those 5 years, I learned
how much I really belonged in a corporate setting and that those stifled feelings
of creativity could be released elsewhere – like on stage at a comedy club.
Comedy is a wonderful release and it keeps my creative side sharp as a tack.
How do you handle nerves?
I have never had
any issues with stage fright. Since I was a
kid, I’ve always wanted to be in the spotlight, but was just never popular to get
there in school, or emotive enough to become an actor. In the rare occasions that I
do feel a bit nervous, I’ve tried two ways of dealing with it
1) Be nervous. The
energy actually speeds up your delivery which can be a good thing in a comedy club
if you stay articulate. It helps you squeeze in more punchlines.
2) Have a beer.
Disclaimer: Don’t be an alcoholic and NEVER step on stage drunk (Ever
notice Ron White doesn’t drink much of that scotch?) One beer can help take the
edge off of nerves, but if you’re not careful, the alcohol can also throw off your
rhythm and make you a little too relaxed. The crowd feeds off your energy and if you
have none, they will tune out.
I’ve heard it said that comedians
wouldn’t be comedians if they weren’t “messed up.” Could you talk some about
the catharsis effect?
Very true. Most
comedians had some kind of
difficult childhood or some level of awkwardness. The sharp wit and sense of humor
often develop as a defense mechanism for those of us who spent our
formative years
being bullied or picked on (or worse). Combine that with a lack of stage fright or
a willingness to overcome stage fright, and you have the recipe for a great comic. The
underdog is always the hero and the bullied kid is one of the most relatable
figures in the world. Most of my comedian friends have some insecurity or foible that they
have overcome (or are in the process of overcoming). A great mainstream
example of this is Christopher Titus. Google him and see how screwed up his family
is. His material rings true and his ability to make such a horrible family situation funny
is magical. People want to relate to the comedian as a folk hero – the guy who did
something creative to deal with a problem that everyone has to deal with. Often our
punchlines serve as a catharsis for a big issue. I have great respect for any comedian
who can take a person tragedy, bear it to the world on stage, and make it
funny. I have a friend on the local comedy scene (here in southeastern
Virginia) who is
a breast cancer survivor. Her comedy career grew out of surviving that ordeal and
she can joke about it with the best of ‘em. This type of comedy has the power to
help audience members deal with their own personal tragedies, even if that wasn’t the
comedian’s intent.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Most of my
material comes from my everyday life, just
amplified and exaggerated. I have five kids – four girls and a boy, so funny material
presents itself daily. I also am a bit of a geek, so I do have fun telling
jokes that mock my
obsession with Star Wars, Transformers, Voltron or any of the other
geeky things I
grew up with in the 80’s. I’ve been a bass guitar player since I was 17, and
since I started doing standup I haven’t had time to join a band. Last summer, I started
integrating my bass playing into my act, and I now have a few songs and bass-related
jokes that I work in, too. This is pretty helpful whenever I’m called upon to perform
in a bar – even though I don’t drop F-bombs, the music gives people a reason to pay
attention and laugh.
You wear a yarmulke during your shows, do
you ever poke fun at religion?
Not much. I will
admit that I wear a more noticeable yarmulke when I’m on stage (off-stage, I
have my black knit “stealth” yarmulke), but on stage I don’t want to hide who I am. I enjoy
wearing it because it reminds people that I’m different and actually helps connect me
to the audience – everybody’s different in some shape or form. It’s also a neat
way to throw people off a bit. I wear it, but I don’t talk much about being Jewish. It
kind of messes up their preconceived ideas about orthodox Jews. Occasionally, I
have done short sets about that very topic, but I don’t tend to do that often. On the
flip side, I will say that the yarmulke is a bullseye for other comedians. They often take
the easy way out and pepper my with Jew jokes to get that cheap laugh. I go into
shows expecting that and do my best to laugh and let the world know that we can take
as many jokes as we dish out.
What sorts of stressors do you encounter
as a comedian?
There are lots –
none of it kills my love of the stage, but I’ll try to name the top few:
a. Inattentive/Uninterested
audience: Sometimes they just don’t want to hear your jokes
and no matter what you do, they aren’t going to laugh. It happens and when it
does, you learn from it, but that doesn’t make it less stressful. Sometimes you
just need to understand that even your best stuff doesn’t make
everyone laugh –
humor is very subjective. Finish the set, sit down, watch the other comics on the
show and see who does get laughs, then figure out why.
b. Approval from
the important comics: Every town has that clatch of comedians and/or
bookers who decide who gets to be on what show and how much time they get.
Some of these guys are lifelong comics who have lost their wives, families and
just about everything else to comedy as they sacrifice everything to travel from city
to city and earn $100-$300 for a feature or headline spot at a small
club. It’s not
an easy life, so a guy like me with a good day job can’t really act the least bit
arrogant around someone like that. You have to play the politics – show respect, do what
they expect you to do and ask for their guidance.
c. Competition:
The first time I performed in the VB Funny Bone’s Clash of the Comics
amateur competition, I tied for first and ended up second after a run-off. The
second time, I placed third. I haven’t placed since, and it’s quite a frustration.
Competitions are often judged subjectively and depend sometimes on a crowd who
loves you.
After your
honeymoon phases (first 1-2 months), your friends stop coming to your shows
since they’ve seen your material so much. With your own personal
audience gone, winning competitions is difficult. It takes the ability to be
technically perfect and to appeal to people who don’t know you. It’s a huge
source of
frustration for me, but also a huge motivator.
What do you do when a
joke falls flat?
Finish and move on. It happens, you recover and hopefully
learn from it.
Sounds like a great lesson for people in all trades. Thank you SO much, Sid. This has been awesome!!
You can hear some of Sid's comedy by looking up sidbridgecomedy on Youtube.
c.2012
