From Shyness to Stand-Up: A Comedian's Journey

This chapter explores the childhood experiences of a shy child navigating schoolyard challenges and finding solace in humor. It chronicles their evolution from hesitant performer to stand-up comedian, highlighting pivotal moments like their first on-stage performance and the inevitable setbacks of bombing in front of an audience. The narrative underscores the balance between personal authenticity and societal expectations within the comedic landscape, while addressing the importance of maintaining artistic integrity.

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Welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out the routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own life.

You’ll get plenty of that in this special episode, which features my interview with Bill Burr from my 2017 TV Show Fear{less}. The “less” is in parentheses because the objective is to teach you to fear less, not to be fearless.

Fear{less} features in-depth, long-form conversations with top performers, focusing on how they’ve overcome fears and made hard decisions, embracing discomfort and thinking big.

It was produced by Wild West Productions, and I worked with them to make both the video and audio available to you for free, my dear listeners. You can find the video of this episode on YouTube.com/TimFerriss, and eventually you’ll be able to see all episodes for free at YouTube.com/TimFerriss.

Spearheaded by actor/producer and past podcast guest Vince Vaughn, Wild West Productions has produced a string of hit movies including The Internship, Couples Retreat, Four Christmases, and The Break-Up.

In 2020, Wild West produced the comedy The Opening Act, starring Jimmy O. Yang and Cedric The Entertainer. In addition to Fear{less}, their television credits include Undeniable with Joe Buck, ESPN’s 30 for 30 episode about the ’85 Bears, and the Netflix animated show F is for Family.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by “5-Bullet Friday,” my very own email newsletter that every Friday features five bullet points highlighting cool things I’ve found that week, including apps, books, documentaries, gadgets, albums, articles, TV shows, new hacks or tricks, and—of course—all sorts of weird stuff I’ve dug up from around the world.

It’s free, it’s always going to be free, and you can subscribe now at tim.blog/friday.

[05:39] 12 magic minutes in Philadelphia

[11:39] Bill grew up in Massachusetts, but he lived a Wild West lifestyle.

[13:04] How comedy entered the picture and who Bill admired most

[15:24] As a kid, what did Bill think he’d be when he grew up?

[21:43] Bill’s first time getting on stage

[24:49] As a comedian, you never forget the first time you bomb

[28:23] Clean Bill Burr vs. Post-Clean Bill Burr

[33:39] The comedian’s comedian

[35:44] Are Bill’s podcast ads reads — or roasts?

[40:10] How Netflix’s F Is for Family came about

[47:03] Bill’s idea generation process