18. How To Be A Person According to a Stand-up Comedian

"What I Learned ..." is one of three different streams of podcasts you’ll find under the hospices of The Bold Acting Podcast. The other two are the Bold Interview (upcoming talks include Eric Peterson) and this newsletter. Find all the episodes wherever the podcasts are for you. Friday, May 3rd, 2024Advice from a stand-up doesn’t seem so wrong. British comic Jimmy Carr had a boring life, he didn’t want it anymore so he stopped working for Shell Oil and started doing stand-up instead.Now he has an interesting life.What is your path? If you want to be a doctor the path is clear. But what if you wanted to be a comic or an actor? The path is less clear. It might take longer. There might be crashes along the way. There might be detours. Some people take the scenic route and then get lost altogether.What road are you on now? Bumpy or boring? Heading in the right direction or have you thrown the map out the window. Who is in the car with you? Are they helpful? Are they good navigators? Or are they complainey backseat drivers?Jimmy Carr loves a good crisis. Crisis has a bad name. Crisis needs some crisis management. Crisis is just change. We should look forward to it because change is the only guarantee.True education is not what to think but how to think. What nobody teaches you at university is how to be a person (my words). Why do you do, Jimmy asks? Not what but why do you do the thing you do? Do you know?Ever wondered why trust-fund kids are such fuck-ups? They don’t have any purpose. That and nobody likes a white person with dreadlocks.Find your purpose and then pursue it. That’s how you do it according to Jimmy Carr. But Jimmy is a millionaire with a career and possible name recognition. I don’t think he’s saying do as Jimmy does and you’ll be happy. He’s saying he changed everything and he’s just an average bloke. It’s not easy but it’s not rocket science either.I’m saying, me, JB, I’m saying make art. Big, small, doesn’t matter. Make the art. Remember why you wanted to perform in the first place. Go back to that feeling. Don’t wait, don’t ask for permission, start small and for God’s sake don’t think about it too much. Just paint. Or Tell jokes. Or act. Do it with others. And I guess I’m saying this, all of this, every time, because I want to hear it. I just get scared or complacent or tired or overwhelmed.Why am I so adamant the world needs more artists? Because if a million people begin bucking the trend  towards the bottom-line within a capitalist society we might think about consumption less. I think we’ll fill those holes in our souls with creativity and community instead of stuff and likes. I think others will see us doing it and they’ll want in. What if we stopped doing so much? What if we made stuff without expectation?I’m just talking about art. Whatever that means to you. For me it’s performance. I was wired up for it. And when I’m not doing it, it’s a much more boring life.That’s how I talk into cell phones. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit boldacting.substack.com/subscribe