That's what the problem would be. And the cough will be coming up like, well, well, well, aren't we in a hurry to get to the cross burning this evening, huh? Who the hell do you think you are, buddy?

Okay, that's Bill Burr from his new comedy special. He's also one of the stars of the new Broadway revival of the David Mamet play, Glengarry Glen Ross. The revival has an incredible cast. Burr, Kieran Culkin, Bob Odenkirk, and Michael McKean. Burr co-starred in the film King of Staten Island, which was loosely based on the life of the film's star, Pete Davidson. Burr co-created, co-wrote, and starred in the animated series F is for Family. Although he's known for comedy that's often contrarian and angry, the new comedy special, Drop Dead Years, opens like this. It's

kind of a weird thing to be over 50, really starting to realize how you are. Like, I thought I did stand-up because I loved comedy. And then what I really figured out was like, no, that's not why I did it. I did stand-up because that was the easiest way to walk into a room full of a bunch of people that I didn't know and make everybody like me. this. Ladies

and gentlemen, Bill Burr. The

way I've moved through the world has always been like, where's the place I have the least chance of being heard? Bill

Burr, welcome to Fresh Air. It's a pleasure to have you on the show.

What's going on? How are you? I'm good.

It seems unusual for you to start on a note of vulnerability like you do in this new special. Does this mark a change in your public or private self?

It's something I've kind of been going towards. But also, I don't think, you know, like most people that get on a stage, they just sort of watch what you do and then think that this little sliver of you is what you are or whatever. Like that Rolling Stone thing saying that I was the king of rage comedy, you know, and it's in Rolling Stone. So everybody listens to it. So then they just think I'm walking around just furious all the time. It's two dimensional. So and then there's also part of me that really hates the fact that I have been so angry and had this temper and stuff. It was something I never wanted to be. It's something I grew up with. And, you know, you think to yourself, like, I'm not I'm not doing that. I'm not going to be like this person because they're making me feel bad as a kid. And then you grow up and you end up. It's the weird thing in order to not be it. I think a lot of times you have to be it for a while. And it's weird. It takes somebody else in your life to let you know that that's how you're being. Because a lot of times you just dialed it down a little bit. And to you, that means you've leveled off. Like where your normal is is not where normal people's normal is. So you're like, what? You know, I didn't throw a chair across the room. I'm an easygoing, I let stuff roll off my back. So who

was the person who told you? Was it your wife, your therapist? God,

everybody in my life. Everybody. People reviewing my act, my wife. You know, there's only like you can only argue your point, you know, for so long. I mean, when like 100 people in the row are going like, you know, you're pretty angry. You know, you got to be like, all right, I guess I got to look at this. But it's been like a great thing. But like, I don't know. I listen to people. I try to anyway. So when they come at me with something, you know, if it makes sense. OK, if it makes sense and I'm in an emotional state that I can actually hear somebody else, which sometimes that might take a day for me to think about something. I am the king of a day later being like, hey, you know, you know, that thing I was arguing last night. Yeah, you were right. I'm sorry. I just I don't know why. And you know, it's the torture right now is I find myself in the moment now knowing I'm wrong or knowing I should just stop this argument and it's not worth it. And I I've gotten to the point that that voice is getting louder in my head, but I haven't been able to act on it in the moment. And that's what I'm working towards. I would love to be in the middle of some stupid argument with my wife or whoever, and just be able to stop in the middle of it and just be like, what are we doing? Life is flying by. This isn't worth anything. You know, this isn't worth it. Who cares? You know, something like that.

At the start of your new special, you said that you started doing stand-up because it was the easiest way of walking into a room and making people like you.

They would like me so they wouldn't hurt me.

So what kind of hurt? Are you talking about insults or being ignored, bullied, mocked?

Every way that you can be abused is what I'm talking about. Have you

been abused in all those ways?

Oh, yeah. I got the trifecta. I have the background needed to become a comedian. So, yeah, it just was it's just how it was. And it's just the time I grew up in. And it was just the way it was. And there was a lot of it. There was a lot of it. I did not have a unique experience growing up. I kind of feel like I had the standard, especially from, you know, talking to people. Or maybe I just hang out with too many comedians. I don't know what, but we all kind of had a similar background. And, you know, when you go through stuff like that, you come out the other side, it kind of seems one of two ways. You either come out being like, I'm not doing that. And then what's funny is you overcorrect. You become super empathetic to the point you could end up in the trunk of somebody's car like, oh, I'll help you out, stranger, you know. Or you go the other way is like you become an abuser. So fortunately, I didn't do that. But I have been guilty of being abusive, not realizing, you know, the effect that my behavior and my anger was having on the people around me. Because in my world, I wasn't as angry as what I saw growing up. So in my world, I wasn't angry. It wasn't a big deal. What I've actually found is, you know, that whole myth that you can't be happy and still be funny is a myth. And what it actually does is it breathes new life into your act because you can now go back and revisit topics you've been to before and have a 360 perspective instead of like, like I always view like my standup, like the first 75% of my career is me standing on stage pointing at the crowd figuratively, literally, or at whatever subject. And I was always the guy that knew everything and da, da, da, da, da, you know, the the last like you know six seven year whatever I don't know I've more been looking at my participation in whatever event is happening so then all that does is it it it gives me way more twice as many options for the punchline now. I don't know. I feel lighter on stage lately. I don't feel, you know, there was times I would even have good stats and I would get off stage and just feel like, God, what was that? What was that? That did not feel good. Even though the response was good, but it just kind of felt like it just it didn't feel good because

it was mean um

it was gross it was just dark ugly um just pain and hurt just coming out the wrong the wrong way where uh which is so funny because some of the comedians that I love the most, the way that they process their pain was a very empathetic sort of way, which I would say Richard Pryor was the king of that, where you could just really had this ability of talking about his. that he made in a way that you could see that it bothered him, that he did some of these things. And it also made you root for him.