I went to see Bill Burr live, last Tuesday. Writing about it would make me the proverbial blogger in his opening bit and that's exactly what I'm going to do. The show was going along well when Burr JUST HAD to cross the line and...I'm kidding, it was a fantastic evening. Bill Burr and Louis C.K are the two best comedians working right now and I'm happy I've seen one of them perform live before one of us three shuffles off his mortal coil. There's too much space, too many responsibilities and too little time in this world. Comedy is the last form of oral storytelling we have left and Bill Burr is a fifth degree black belt at it. Last Tuesday, I laughed until I was gasping for air, but I also learned a little.
- Comedy, as a verbal art, works better around serious, universal subjects. Bill Burr has an atrocious fear of death that makes him hilariously paranoid. I'm a little similar, having been raised on cop shows. His best bits of the night all spoke about death in one way or another (Nia nagging him to buy insurance, shady hotel security, plane turbulences, etc). Humour is a terrific weapon to face our deepest fears.
- The reason why humour works to well on serious matter is simple One of the basic rules of storytelling is -> create conflict. The sense of absurdity that makes you laugh in stand-up comedy comes from attacking unlikely, difficult subjects. Making happy events pathetic and making sad events hilarious. Comedy is a heir to dialectics.
- Timing is such an important part of storytelling and it's often overlooked. If you bring up your variables properly, you don't necessarily need a smart and eloquent ending. My favourite bit of Bill Burr's show was about a helicopter trip. He patiently builds up a complex array of variables, but his ending is guttural and fun and got the most insane, drool-on-my-stool laughs out of me.
- Bill Burr is a sports nerd, like me. He tried to bring up the Habs Vs Bruins hockey game, but got booed into silence three times in a row. He claimed we weren't being adults about it and he was right. I didn't boo Bill because I like him and I understand the Bruins are a superior team, but I do boo and cheer watching games. It's the last emotional experience of modern men. Oh and he was right, Bruins beat the Habs 4-1. Sports nerds don't boo another sports nerd when they know he's right. It's not rational.
- Feature comedy shows last under two hours, including the opening act. It's important to understand your purpose and your format. It's such a loaded medium, dishing information about so many subjects, it's important not to outstay your welcome. Bill Burr's act lasted about 75 minutes and by the end, my brain had been bombarded with so much data, I had difficulty focusing. Comedy is not only about timing, it's also about making proper usage of time.
Bill Burr is an absolute killer on stage and his opening act Paul Virzi is not too shabby either. I identify more to Burr than Louis C.K because I don't have kids, but both guys are sitting on top of comedy kingdom right now.
