We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Eddie Brill a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Eddie, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Being funny is not teachable. You either have it or you don’t. The best way to get better at stand-up comedy is accumulating stage time. Stage time. Stage time. Stage time. The foundation for great comedy is the truth. Stand-up comedy is about telling one’s truth, therefore it would be nearly impossible to learn about it in a book. A book most likely would turn out similar cookie-cutter comics. One of the many beauties of the craft is that there are no hard and fast rules. Authenticity and vulnerability seem to be the backbone for most celebrated comics, yet there are others who play characters and are equally successful. The most recent discoveries for me as I get more and more experience, is to own my power and not to stray from my truth in order to please the audience. It is much more alluring to see a performer who loves what they do and is not afraid of stepping over “the line” to share their truth.  If that pleases the audience, that’s a bonus.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

I have been a fan of stand-up comedy since I was a child. I never thought I’d do it for a living. I also never thought I’d book stand-up comedians for television. I was in a very talented comedy sketch group in college and the hard work and the dedication made us wildly successful. Because friends tried stand-up, it inspired me to gave it a try. It was great the first time because I wasn’t in my head about it. Then I had a lot of mixed experiences. Good and bad. I quit for awhile and wrote for an advertising agency. I found lying for a living (advertising) wasn’t as satisfying as telling the truth for a living (stand-up). I got back into the biz by running a club in NYC. It became very popular and we designed a very creative environment for people to experiment and play. I hosted the shows most every week and the difficult and essential job of hosting made me a better comic. I got involved in television and eventually became the comedy booker at The Late Show with David Letterman. Along with traveling the world doing stand up, doing the “job” I loved, I was also helping others. I’ve had some of my heroes become mentors and friends. Which helped me to grow and build my confidence. I also know I can always learn something new and at the same time, pay it forward.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Yet, I learn a lot about comedy by reading autobiographies of other comics. Steve Martin’s books are especially inspiring. My “Bible” is a book called “The Four Agreements.” It helps me to be a better person and I can relate all of these agreements in what I do for work. As a result I am impeccable with my word, I don’t make assumptions, I don’t take things personally and I do the best I possibly can.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative in your experience?

Comedians don’t do what we do for applause. We do it for laughter. It is easy to elicit applause. It can be formulaic. It is quite a talent to make strangers laugh. I never forgot my first laugh. It is an addictive drug. And I have chased that “drug” my whole life. It is powerful and satisfying.

Contact Info:

• Website: eddiebrill.com
• Instagram: @eddiecomic
• Facebook: Eddie Brill
• Twitter: @Eddie_Brill

Image Credits
Dan Dion took that pic of me