re: Covington (late 80's - early 90's) - Tell me about Theo Von

quote:

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This may not be the case with him, but most comedians and comedic actors aren’t very funny at all in real life, except when they’re putting on. It’s a weird “people pleaser” condition grounded in depression.

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This seems to be mostly true, though i dont know about the depression part.. i love standup, i have devoured countless documentaries and podcasts over the years.. while i like to think i have a good sense of humor, the idea of going up onto a stage with only your material and a microphone and trying to make strangers laugh seems to me like the most terrifying thing in the world.. Like, i would rather try to land a plane with no training, that seems less scary to me .. and i actually enjoy public speaking, but the comedy thing to me is a whole different deal .

From what i can gather, as you said, most comedians weren’t class clowns (most) or even particularly the ‘funny one’ in their group of friends .. i think more than anything the popular/famous comedians are great craftsman & artists who excel at writing material, observing things and finding the funny elements.. if you listen to some guys like Seinfeld talk about it, writing a joke is almost like a math equation, figuring out exactly how to say something and the precise word that makes it funny.. .. my favorite comedy doc of all time is ‘Comedian’ with Jerry Seinfeld, it’s over 20 yrs old but worth a watch if you haven’t seen it .