Laughs Per Minute
Arm chair comedy critics can't shut-up. Come and listen!
Laughs Per Minute
Drew Lynch - "Live at Zanies" with Nick and Bryan
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Nick and Bryan departed from their normal format with a guest to talk about a live comedy show they went to in Nashville. Drew Lynch!!
This is last for a minute, where we interrupt hot takes on comedy legends and rising stars. Every episode, except for this one, serves a different guest gaining to be on co-predicted us, Brian and Nick. Strap in as we put your callbacks to our comedy heroes. Who are we ripping today, Brian?
SPEAKER_02Nice, nice improv there in the uh in the intro. That was great. Uh yeah. We are well, we had an event. We had like actually technically a double date, really. Yeah, a laughs per minute field trip. Laughs per minute field trip. We went out in the field. That's why we don't have a guest as we normally do. We plan to have a guest in every episode, but in this case, as Nick said, we don't have a guest here. Uh that's because it would be really difficult for a guest to talk about it unless they went to the actual show. And neither of our significant others wanted to come on this dumb podcast. So um so basically, so basically you and I are going to talk about it. Um so we went to Zaney's in Nashville and saw Drew Lynch. And for those of you out there who don't know who that is, he started in, well, at least he he became, I don't know if he started there, but he got his initial notoriety in America's Got Talent. Um he went and tried out there, and I think he I should have probably researched it, but he I think he came in second in the season that he was in. And that was about seven or eight years ago, something like that. And he uh you know, he's he's basically been touring, I think, and work a working comedian since then. Uh his his quirk or his catch or his I guess it's not real. I mean, it's a it's like technically it's it's not like he's doing it on purpose, right? But uh he has a stutter, and it's because he had an injury at one point in his life that um that caused him to have a stutter, and it's a lot better than it was seven or eight years ago. I think he's had a lot of speech therapy and other stuff to try to, you know, uh, you know, try to minimize that, but um, but he does have sometimes a strange like speech pattern and things like that when he's uh when he's doing his comedy. So um, you know, but really, really funny guy. If you look up his his um you know YouTube things and things on Instagram and other things like that, uh the shorts that you're gonna see, most of them are gonna be crowd work, and uh because he does quite a bit of that, but which we'll get into. Um but he also does just write pretty much written written comedy. Um I guess right off the bat I'll say he I would love to know if he's doing what he did in Nashville in every single city, it seems like he might, which is basically specific jokes that are for that city or for that state. And uh, you know, he's so I guess he has potentially he's been traveling enough that he has enough material or he's writing it as he comes into town, like, uh, what can I talk about with Nashville? You know, and like so he had a he had some some very specific references and things like that that were that were pretty funny at the beginning. Um and and talking about uh you know, talking about football teams and talking about universities in the state of Tennessee and things like that. So um that was pretty cool. That's it's always cool when the comedian is um you know, is is trying to make it like basically read the room and like know their audience and say, Oh, okay, I'm talking to people in Nashville. I should probably try to uh you know get on their good side, I guess, you know.
SPEAKER_01Or bad side.
SPEAKER_02Or make some make make something familiar, you know, make something like say talk about something that's familiar to them. Um I would think that's probably a trick of the trade, if I had to guess. Uh I don't do I don't do comedy, as you can clearly hear, but um but it's but I would think that would be, you know, uh wow, we're four minutes in and I was gonna mention Toastmasters already. Um it's like liking Toastmasters when they when they say uh you know when they say you need to know your audience, and it sound seems to me like I'd love to see him doing this show in Chicago and see what he you know what local references he talks about there and um does things like that. So anyway, what do you what are your initial thoughts?
SPEAKER_01Um I really enjoyed it. Uh I think he he has a unique style that's going to be hard to describe. For me anyway, maybe maybe you've got him pegged.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, I think his his stutter story is is interesting and he's found ways to make it not be prominent. Really it's even tolerable. Like I think um that's the wrong way to phrase that. Like it's it's hard to even notice. I think there's only a few times where if somebody didn't know that he had that impediment, they might have thought to themselves, I wonder if he had a stutter or has a stutter.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I've heard people who so supposedly speak normally and they stutter about that much. I've heard you and I stutter two or three times already with our repeated words.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01Um apparently like it was a softball accident.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01He was playing shortstop, which which is funny if you know how tall he is. And and he was short and he stopped the ball, but he stopped it with his throat and it knocked him back, and he landed on the back of his head. So I think just between that one-two combo, yeah, it damaged, you know, physically, psychologically, and emotionally all at the same time. But yeah, he's he's overcome a lot, and it's it's good to see him. It feels good to see him succeed.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, it was it's interesting if you look at his if you watch his initial uh like appearances on America's Got Talent, his stutter was very much more prominent. And but the interesting thing is he used it in his jokes. He like he had jokes written that integrated in the stutter into the joke. So even if you were even if he stuttered, it was still gonna that was actually gonna play in his favor, you know, which is which is sort of a cool thing to that everyone should learn is like figure out what your thing is and make sure that you're using using that to your advantage. And uh, you know, that's that's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_01I think one famous well, at least in my opinion, it's famous clip of his. It wasn't it's Any's, you know, but one that thing I think made him famous, able to make him famous, was he had a bit where he talked about how his there was one moment or one day where his stutter and his wife's ADHD came together into a perfect storm of emotional damage. Um because he had a rough day and he came home and you know she'd asked him how his day was and he tried to talk about it. And he was trying to say the word stressed and he felt distressed, but he kept getting stuck on the first part of the word stressed or the first sound, and so he's going to and and while he's in his moment of having an episode while already stressed and not able to express it, she starts dancing. It's like that's a sick beat, babe. It goes I can't I can't replicate it because he's he rehearsed it. And yeah, that one gets Dory laughing every time she sees it, like laughing out loud.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um he has a lot of material about his uh you know, about his spouse, uh about their relationship. Um, I guess is I mean like we could probably start getting into like the comedic style and the subject matter of his uh his stuff. So yeah, I I had for comedic style storytelling. I mean, he there were a lot of stories in there that were long stories that he just sort of continued down. He has, I feel like he does a lot of observational comedy, um, some improv. Uh the funny thing is, he's the kind of person that, in my opinion, will have things that he's trying to play off as being improv, or he's trying to give the audience the impression that he just came up with it. But I think it's a written joke, or I think it's something that he already knew about. And I think sometimes in the crowd work he does improv. Like obviously, you don't know what the crowd's gonna say or do, so he's you know, he did a number of things like that, but I think sometimes he does uh he has stuff that's already written in there, he's just setting a joke up for himself, but which is cool. Um and then he did a little bit of physical comedy, like he, you know, he did pantomime and pair and like act out some things and you know um things like that. So um what did you have? Did you have anything else?
SPEAKER_01I didn't have physical comedy, but I did write another like reenact impersonate impressions. Yeah, there were definitely things where he he used body language and vocal variety to such effect that I guess maybe it does qualify as physical comedy. And I I also saw the crowd work, and I'm thinking specifically of the ladies that sneeze, and he just kind of commented that it sounded like a uh a prayer, like sneeze prayers. Sneeze prayers. Yeah. Um and then he he turned those into callbacks, like there'd be different moments where he'd bring that up at just the right time. Uh so it's I think that takes a level of comfort on the stage.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01Well, you don't get to everything else, you know.
SPEAKER_02You don't get to that level until you're at a place where you can actually observe the audience. Like you're you're the one on stage and you're the one that's supposed to be nervous and everything else, but when you get such a level of comfort that you can observe the audience and start like looking for looking for jokes, basically, or looking for things, you know. Um and I mean actually, interestingly enough, you you got called out on uh one of his openers. He was he was having fun with you. One of his one of his guy's name was uh what was it? Isaac. And um he uh yeah, he he he called he called on Nick a few times, you know.
SPEAKER_01Um I made his joke better.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you were you were you were sort of the the butt for the audience, you know what I mean? Like you were Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Then I became that guy that he used to pick on for anytime we have needed to stand in for which is always fun.
SPEAKER_02I love that. I like I go to fun. I mean I go to comedy store, I go to comedy uh shows for that.
SPEAKER_01Like I want to get I want to get picked on, like you know, yeah, like it literally was it was fun.
SPEAKER_02And well and on that note too, just I mean getting I know we were here to talk about Drew, but like his openers were were pretty good. Um they had you know the weird thing is they were they were both I seemingly from Los Angeles, and which I think is which I think huh?
SPEAKER_01I think isn't he also?
SPEAKER_02I think so, yeah. And I think that's where I think that's why we got that. But it's just it's interesting to me. Uh uh the comment that my wife and I had was uh interesting being somebody from Los Angeles that moved here to Nashville because um we go see things like that, and they say that some of the jokes listen, oh oh yeah, that's right. I'm talking to people from Tennessee. I they you guys wouldn't understand. And you know, there's a little bit of that feeling to it, you know. And it's like, um, do you realize how many people from California are here? Like, probably in this, you know, in this audience, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but that yeah, that joke didn't serve them very well. I think maybe once or twice it would have been fine, like, but yeah, it felt like each of them used it two or three times.
SPEAKER_02Yep. And yeah, it just got over pretty quick. They they leaned on it sort of, you know, like and almost if you're not careful, it can come off as like, yeah, I'm cooler than you because I'm from LA, you know, kind of thing. Um, which I don't think it really did for them, but I just it's you know, when you hit that a few times, it can come off that way.
SPEAKER_01Well, of course, there's plenty of plenty of comics who make their living by being the villain, like being the guy that everyone loves to hate. But that's not what they were doing. Like it was out of place because yeah, you know, yeah, they weren't trying to be like a shock truck or upset us or whatever. Right. Um I do want to since you mentioned, I do want to chime in on like what the guy had said and how yeah, how I felt I helped.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um and maybe maybe he was getting there and I beat him to the punchline. I don't know. But he was talking about Nashville and more particular Nashville hot chicken.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01What's the deal with Nashville hot chicken? Like, why does everyone love it? Is it um is it the flavor? Is it the something like is it just really cheap? Yeah, it's like the really good the really big breasts.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's right, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I think yeah, because I think he was even leading into it. I was like, is it is it the legs or the wings?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I said, That's really big breasts.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Or really hot. I think he said it's really hot breasts.
SPEAKER_02Hot breasts, yeah, something like that.
SPEAKER_01And he was like, What's your name?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. He's like, and then he's like, Nick, it's gonna be a long eight minutes for you, Nick.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that was it was good though. Um yeah, I think they're I mean, he had some good material. The the other female, Felicia, the other female comedian um had some good material.
SPEAKER_01I felt like that was not Felicia. It was like Felicia.
SPEAKER_02Oh, Felicia, that's right. She did go through a whole thing. That's right. She was like, You've never met someone with my name, because you're gonna say Felicia, and it is, it was like Felicia, Felisha, Felicia, I forgot. It was I can't even remember who Felicia. Felesha.
SPEAKER_00Flesha.
SPEAKER_02Flesha, yeah, no, it wasn't that. Um, but yeah, it was uh that's right. Her name was I've been sure it's Felicia. Yeah. Not Felicia, Felicia, yeah, exactly. Um anyway, okay. So openers were pretty good. Uh we had, you know, we had had dinner, we were having some drinks, so that we also were doing good too. Um and then um yeah, I so the I and then in terms of subject matter, I had um I had him there was some social commentary, um, a lot about his personal life. Uh I put pop culture as well because he talked about the love languages, which is you know, there's they're sort of a common thread, like sort of everyone knows about the five love languages and all that stuff. So sort of like a pop culture in the zeitgeist kind of thing that he could, you know, build some jokes around.
SPEAKER_01And and he went into those um well, like in that even if he didn't know what the love languages were, you could find it wrong.
SPEAKER_02Right, exactly. Yeah. Did you have anything else there?
SPEAKER_01Um I really liked all of his Nashville commentary.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh and his vocal variety, you know, like he was doing his and I can't think of the guy's name. What what was it in Gilligan's Island? The the um the rich guy.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, the rich guy voice. Yeah, it was uh the the uh the um I don't know what it is.
SPEAKER_01Thurston Howell.
SPEAKER_02Thurston Howell the third. Yeah, that's right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh but yeah, he like he did a really good impression of him. Or channeling him, I should say.
SPEAKER_02Channel, yeah, it was it was like an homage, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and and impersonating some random dad at a hotel who's so proud of his son going to Vanderbilt, or yeah, or visiting Vanderbilt, right, to see if it is a good school.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00So it's like, oh yeah, as far as we're here for Vanderbilt. Yes. Or my sons might be going to Vanderbilt.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh, you got quite the excellent. Where are you from, buddy?
SPEAKER_02And he's like Chattanooga.
SPEAKER_00Chattanooga.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Chattanooga.
SPEAKER_00Chattanooga, yes.
SPEAKER_01But then like going right into comparing Titans to the Vols, or contrasting the Titans to the Vols.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that was a whole good bit. And also this the cool thing about that is this part of the show is actually on YouTube, so you can actually go watch this if you want to see what we're talking about. But yeah, he does the Titans versus the volunteers, and he does this. We're Titans! We're Titans! We're we're leaders of men, we're all the stuff, and he's like, and also you have the volunteers, people that will do things out of obligation, you know.
SPEAKER_00Like hey guys, you you want to come play football?
SPEAKER_02There's a sign-up sheet going around if you guys want to play football. Just uh sign up on the clipboard, okay?
SPEAKER_00You know, like and then switches right back to Titans, you know, towers of strength and intellect.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. He's like, volunteers, we we run, we run a nonprofit, you know, like her. Yeah. Yeah, that was a good bit. That was a good bit.
SPEAKER_01And like that was some good bachelorette. Yes.
SPEAKER_02That too, yes. And then he's well, and then the cool thing was he sort of talked about the, I guess, I mean, being a traveling comedian, you know, comedian that does touring, I guess, pretty often. That's how he makes his living. Um, him showing like showing that he's been to Nashville before, because he's like, Yeah, it used to be that the buses would come by and they would go down the road, and then he'd like pantomime the like this the song going like then it was down the road, it was someone else's problem. You didn't care. The annoying is gone. And then he's like, now there's too much traffic. It's it's that's it's right in front of you, it's gonna be there, and it's you're stuck watching it. Yeah, exactly. Which is which is really right up the alley for locals because I think most locals that go downtown are just like rolling their eyes every time the party bus and all the bachelorette parties are around and all the stuff. You're just like, oh god, you know. So um so yeah, I had that. I had that also. Um I really liked, you know what I really liked is his even before he got here, because he almost took us through, I didn't even realize this, he almost took us through like a little bit of a timeline of him getting to Nashville because he first he talked about changing the reservation on his rental car for one day sooner, you know, and he's like, you know, talking to AI and he's like, yeah, I need to extend my reservation. And they're like, Oh, I think I know what you're talking about. And he's like, I don't think you do. It's I'm extending it one day before, not after, one day before. That's different than extending it one day after. And it's like, you know, it goes through that whole thing and the automated phone noises and all that stuff.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he totally nailed the the voicemail system thinking, you know, the yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. It's some something somewhere between mouth noises and typing, you know? Right.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. Yeah. Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01Like he totally nailed it. Um and and he moved on from that joke like like he thought he didn't do a good job because we weren't laughing, but it was just so relatable. Like I was totally like, go on, give me more, but he's not because we weren't we weren't laughing.
SPEAKER_02Right. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um subject matter. Yeah. Um I think I had a lot of the same ones attacked to the same jokes or the same boxes you did. Social commentary, personal life, pop culture. Oh also I put in short jokes.
SPEAKER_02Oh. Oh, short, you mean like short, like I thought you meant like short, like one-liners, but like short meaning like Mary Dunn short?
SPEAKER_00Hey, that's a that's a podcast called.
SPEAKER_02That's a good that's a good reference, man. You guys are if you haven't already heard her, you will. She'll be on this podcast.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, she's she's a guest and she's in the can. Uh it was easy to put her in there because she's so small.
SPEAKER_03Dude.
SPEAKER_01But I don't I honestly don't remember if I meant short in duration or content. On height.
SPEAKER_02Short people. I mean, he does do a lot of like high the height difference because his wife is way taller than him, I guess.
SPEAKER_01He talked about how he's taller on his stool than he than not than just standing.
SPEAKER_03Right, right.
SPEAKER_01I guess that's the subject matter. Short jokes belong in terms of duration, belong in the one-liner category of if you want to get into the scoring. Yeah, let's do it. So laughs per minute. How frequently did the comedian generate laughs? I I gave him a five out of ten. It feels harsh because I had a great time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, but I I could also tell like he was trying out material, which is expected. That's what they're supposed to do. So like there were definitely moments where I could see him on stage thinking, okay, I need to move on. This isn't landing. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um what about you?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I had um I gave him a little bit better score, um, a seven, but that's I think that's because I had a couple more drinks than you.
SPEAKER_01Um and so steady laughs throughout.
SPEAKER_02Um yeah, it was pretty good. I mean, it was it I I it's hard because like the I try I try to like, even though I created this uh evaluation form, some of the language in there is like four to six isn't like inconsistent delivery. Like I didn't think there was inconsistent delivery, but also the language isn't like the end all be all, so I have to like take myself out of it. So um no, I think he I think he did a a good job. I think the laughs that he did get were heavy hitting. Like I think that he had the whole so like sort of there was a couple, I will say, there was it's very interesting to be at a live comedy show because you can see other people reacting. And the lady, like I don't know if uh Jen told you this, my wife, you know, if she told you like the people behind you, it was like a couple of girls, women, and they didn't, they were they looked like they were angry to be there. Like they were like, like most of the time they were looking like, what are you what are you talking about? They had this look on their face like they had smelt just smelled something bad, you know? But most of the time. And I'm like, what are you did? You come here voluntarily? Did you get kidnapped? And you're like, you're gonna go to this comedy show with me tonight, you know, like like geez. Yeah, but they did they did laugh if they did laugh a few times. I guess if you go more often, you probably I don't know. I guess I'm uh it's strange to me that you go to a comedy show and you're just like I'm trying not to laugh almost. Like, um anyway.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the you talking about the lady and not being happy, I guess that it reminded me of I guess I'll call her a heckler.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But when he was in the middle telling a story about the laundry machine, I don't remember any of the context. Maybe his wife was involved, as she would have to have been.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Because he he said something like, and then, and he paused for effect, somebody blurts out and they just say, ADHD.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00They just and and that totally derailed his whole set. Right.
SPEAKER_01Like, because he was partly like picking on her a little bit for like bringing that up, and yeah, he had no intention of highlighting the fact that his wife has ADHD, and he didn't say that, but you I you could tell by the way he sort of pivoted.
SPEAKER_02Um the best part about that was that he did go off on a tangent after that, and then after a certain amount of time, someone else in the audience was like, What happened to the laundry? You didn't you gotta go back to the laundry? Like they like they like pulled him back to his uh he's like, Oh, yeah, that's right, the laundry. Yeah, you guys want to know what happened to the laundry. All right, I get you know, like it was good, it was really good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and and that just yeah, it made it just like you said, good.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um so anyway, I gave him a seven. I gave him a seven on that. Um on the content quality, I gave him uh I I thought he was pretty creative. Uh I gave him a seven as on that as well, uh seven out of ten. So um Yeah, I gave him an eight. Okay, I think he's I think he is uh the what makes it more impressive to me is what I was talking about before, which is he's he's got multiple stops on his tour, and my impression is that he's got material for many of the cities that he's going to, mainly probably because he's been to those cities before. He's probably worked in those clubs before and he knows exactly where he's going, and he has probably developed that over the course of years, you know. Um, and then he probably throws in some new stuff to see if it'll see if it'll work or whatever, you know. But um, but yeah, I liked it. And you gave him an eight. That's cool. Um and then performance and delivery, how effective was the comedian's stage presence, presence and delivery. I think he's he as we were talking about before, he's super comfortable on stage. Um, seems like he's just he's been doing this a long time. He's a seasoned professional, and uh, and I as I said, he's comfortable enough that he can observe the audience and begin to uh develop some you know some crowd work and some other things that he might want to point out, you know. So what'd you uh what'd you have on that?
SPEAKER_01I I gave him an eight.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01I think just yeah, just the way he sat on stools or or stood or you know, looked out into the audience or um Yeah, it's just every every moment is like, okay, what what's he gonna say next?
SPEAKER_02Or yeah, just what I like, uh you know what I one of the things I like about him, he didn't do it too much when we saw him, but like if you watch clips of him, I like comedians that uh like he'll make himself giggle every once in a while on stage. Like he'll just be like, you know, he'll it's like almost like he's coming up with an idea and he just gets like he like he thinks it's funny, so he's laughing. And uh uh which I guess you know some comedians are like, you don't laugh at your own jokes, but you know, he the way he does it is pretty endearing. Um and uh, you know, it's cool. Like he he does that sometimes where he'll you can see that he's like he's he's in it with the audience, you know. Uh which leads to audience engagement. Our next one. Did the comedian connect well with the audience? Um I give him a three out of five on that. Strong engagement. The audience was invested, even if it wasn't constant laughter. I think uh I think when you get to a level like he is, uh people are there to see you. So they're you know, and I think that's why people yell out things like ADHD, because they've been watching the clips, and a lot of his clips are about ADHD, so they're trying to like say, basically say, hey, tell me the jokes I want to hear. It's just I guess same thing as like at a at a concert where you like yell out the song that you want to hear.
SPEAKER_01You know, yeah, exactly. Yeah. I give him a two. Okay. And and I think it had to do with the moments that we've already mentioned, you know, you talk to just people given kind of the stink stare or the death stare a little bit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um also the it's pretty crowded. I don't I don't know what it's normally like at a comedy venue. I've really only been to the the one in Nashville.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um that's pretty standard for for um for zanies here. As they they try to pack in as many as they can, especially for someone like him. He's doing multiple shows and they're trying to pack as many people in as they can, you know.
SPEAKER_01So that's not necessarily audience engagement, but I sure but uh yeah, it's just a two out of five instead of a three out of five. One it's a one-point difference between us.
SPEAKER_02Right, right, right. And then diversity of material. Did the comedian cover a range of topics? I I said yeah. I mean, geez. He covered so many topics. Um, I give him a four out of five on that. And uh same. And so just like all over the I mean he talks about couples therapy, country music, party buses, uh, puns and puns with town names. I love Veganesville, you know. He's like, you know, he's like, Las Vegas isn't trying to change their name. You guys do Nas Vegas, Nash Vegas. Yeah, you don't hear Vegas going, hey, we're Veganesville, you know, we're gonna we're Veganesville, you know. Right.
SPEAKER_01And and I I like that because there is like a Gainesville in the south.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01But then I almost felt like it was a missed opportunity because it said vegansville.
SPEAKER_02Like you don't see, right?
SPEAKER_01You know, yeah. Which is the same thing, just pr slightly pronounced pronounced slightly differently.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01So that I felt a bit like a missed opportunity. Um or maybe that's where he was going, and I'm just as clever of as everyone else, and I just didn't didn't get it like I thought I got it. Um yeah, I I put wide range, kept fresh, number four.
SPEAKER_02Yep, that's where I was.
SPEAKER_01And then even joked about laundry.
SPEAKER_02Right, exactly. And beach volleyball, and yeah. Um his volleyball thing was that I love when comedians do a bit for so long, and then in the middle of the bit, they're like, they almost do that. Jim McGaffkin does this too, where he's like, he'll basically say in the audience's voice, Are you still talking about volleyball? Like, what the hell? Like, you know, like and then they and then they just continue on for another like five to ten minutes after they've already said, like, I acknowledge that you're like, I can't believe this guy's still talking about volleyball, you know? And and then they just keep going, you know.
SPEAKER_01Um Yeah, I think that that's understanding their audience. Yeah, and it's also like an example of how I think it's the job of the comedian isn't necessarily to be funny, it's it's it's sort of it's it's to relieve tension without touching, right? Like and and to feel seen, you know, and and understood in that moment like that, that's uh a tension release, you know?
SPEAKER_02Right, right.
SPEAKER_01It's not laughter, but it's it's part of it. And he buy himself some time to do more jokes by like doing something like, hey, um I get it. We're all we're all dealing with some tiredness of the volleyball jokes.
SPEAKER_02But I think also the interesting thing is it's it is a release of tension, but also on some level you create the tension and then you release it. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly. Like, when's he gonna be done? Oh, okay, he's talking about finishing. Oh, but there's more yeah, uh-huh.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And sometimes it's even better when you do a long story and then because the laundry thing felt long, but that's because there was a major tangent in the middle of it. So it was a split story. So it was like he told the beginning of the story, did a bunch of crowd work, and then went back and finished the end of the story, right? And so it felt longer than it was, and but it also played into the whole, you know, the whole evening and the way that, you know, um the set ran. So um, all right, impact and memorability. Yeah, one to ten. Was this performance was this a performance that sticks with you? Yes. Uh I yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um I have a go ahead.
SPEAKER_02I think so. I I gave him I actually initially had a seven, but I bumped it down to a six. So so that like I said, that seems harsh, but like like you said, but um but there's a lot of stuff like going over it in my head that I remember, and then also going back, and I had the benefit of there's like about a 10-minute clip of it in on YouTube, so we I was able to go back and watch at least that portion of the show. Um, and um, I'm pretty sure the interesting thing is I don't know if it was our actual show that's on there or not, because it could be it could not be because it's very universal material that's in that clip.
SPEAKER_01So um uh well there's there's a clip, I think he shared it with me and Dory where he he does his Nashville stuff.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he does his Nashville stuff, but I'm saying I'm wondering if he does that at the beginning of all the shows in Nashville, like where he talked because he talked talking about the volunteers and the Titans, and that's pretty universal. Like he could do that in front of any audience at Zany's in Nashville. Um and that might just be his way of opening the show, you know. So I just because I'm I was looking for the back of your head, but I couldn't find it. So, you know. In the clip, in the clip in the clip, you just gave me the biggest look. You're like, why were you looking for the back of my head? What are you talking about?
SPEAKER_01Like, now what yeah? Um, yeah, for for me it was impactful and memorable because since we went, I've relived those moments. Like I've told friends, I've I've tried to replicate, or you know, I've I've heard in my head, you know, Smashville, Smashville!
SPEAKER_00Smash with the lines of consent.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, that that was really good. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01In driving around Nashville this past week, you know, that stuff came up again, and I was telling friends about it. Um people made comments about you know stolen valor a little bit with the cowboy hats and the boots. Yes, yeah, kind of like, oh man, this comedian, you know, he was here now in town. I'll show you the clip. Yeah, it's hilarious. He talks about that.
SPEAKER_02Um use of callbacks. I mean, we already talked up a little bit about this. Um, I actually think I might bump this score up one point. I gave him a three, some effective callbacks, but I think his call facts callbacks were well well executed. I think he's number five, I think he's a four out of five on that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't excuse me. I don't have any specifics, but yeah, I gave him a four out of five as well. I know the the sneezing lady, but that that wasn't like a planned callback.
SPEAKER_02Um so he did call back to some of the jokes that the openers told. So he talked about I so here's where my notes got crazy, man. I I'm gonna go into this right now. Because this is like we're taking people people out there listening. We took our clip, I took a clipboard with a full-size piece of paper, you know, in that has our scorecard on it, and both Nick and I were doing this during the show. Also, it's a two-drink minimum. Also, we'd already had dinner and drinks at a different restaurant. So that's what my notes are. So one of my one of my notes in here just says plaid condoms. It just says plaid condoms, and I have no idea. I can't remember the joke. I don't know what it is. It was funny to me at the time. It was funny enough for me to write it down, but I can't remember what it was. Um I know the opener had some oh the the flesh f Felesha. Falesia. She had some joke about condoms. Oh, she found out her boyfriend was cheating on her because the condoms were going missing, but I don't know how plaid condoms. I think I think he did a callback to her joke and said something about plaid condoms or something like that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the the other opener made some early callbacks to her jokes. Right. And even insinuated that he was borrowing her boyfriend's condoms. Right, yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, I forgot to I forgot to tell Felicia that that I was using those using the condoms. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And it was great because uh her whole story was like, yeah, how she knew he was cheating or whatnot. Yeah. Um yeah, I don't I don't remember the specifics about plaid condoms. I know that that was real. You you didn't like write things down.
SPEAKER_02I didn't dream it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um if you were dreaming about that while you were slightly buzzed, I don't know as much about you as I thought.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. One thing we didn't say is the uh I thought it was clever. He did finish the joke, but like going back to the football jokes is he said, you know, that some one of his people in the audience said, you know, after the show, told him, like, we don't call them the volunteers, they're called the vols, they're called the vols. We don't call them the volunteers. And then he's like, Well, if you're gonna shorten one, you should shorten the other. And then he just paused. And everyone knew exactly what he was talking about. Right. And then he he actually said the punchline and finished the joke, but but basically, like bef everyone was laughing before he even said it, you know? Yes, so it was good. That was a good one.
SPEAKER_01And I like how he handled that too, because a lot of times comedians will say, Now stay with me, you know. Right, don't get ahead of the joke.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01No, he's he went ahead and he went the other way. And he's like, Go on now.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, go on now. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's right. He did a little southern accent and like, go on now. That's right, yeah. Like, like, yeah, like he he waited for the audience to catch up. It was pretty cool, you know. Or to get ahead of them, or to or to like, or or for everybody to be on board before he delivered the punchline, the actual punchline, you know, so that no one was gonna be left behind, you know. That was that was pretty cool. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01The peacemaker in you uh just loves that.
SPEAKER_02I do. That is awesome.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02All right, so you should call back.
SPEAKER_00I wrote down plaid condoms too.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, see, that's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00It's just there is like nothing near it, it's just not there.
SPEAKER_02No, it's just I have a I have an asterisk and then plaid condoms. That's all I have. So and then I also have take I also have take sand from. So like he when he was talking about the volleyball, something about taking sand from the other side so that he would be taller. Like he's like, Oh yeah, you people don't tell you when you play Sam volleyball, you kick the sand out and you get shorter, and he's like, I'm already short, like I can't, you know. So that might have been your that might have been your short jokes uh note that you had. So anyway, this is as fun to try to solve the mystery as it is to actually review this.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. How effective was the comedian's style?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So I gave him they did an awesome job.
SPEAKER_02He had eight? Okay.
SPEAKER_01For for his style and style being storytelling, yeah, the observation observational, and improv slash cloud work, crowd work. And um just like him, whatever style it is where he reenacts different things and embodies the person. I'm guessing that's that's storytelling.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I had uh disagree.
SPEAKER_01It's okay.
SPEAKER_02I initially had a six, but because of what you just said, I bumped it up to a seven. I because I agree. He's he he knows who he is and he knows what his style is and he sticks with it, you know. Um he's delivering what the audience wants to hear, like he's he's giving them what they want, what they paid for, you know.
SPEAKER_01So while also giving giving and getting variety of having fun, it's not routine, so to speak. Timing and pacing. Was the pacing effective for the humor delivery?
SPEAKER_02Yes, it was. I give him a four out of five. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I give him four out of five.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I'm like, yes. Yeah. Yeah, I think um, I mean, I think the probably the more you get into stand up, the more that you can control and know that because you're sometimes I think you're waiting for the audience to catch up, and sometimes you're trying to catch up to the audience, and like for lack of a better term. And um, and so all that is pacing and timing. Like timing is obviously certain you know, time the joke timing and things like that, but pacing, like the pacing of your set, it's like how many how many hits do you want to have, like, where your punchline's gonna land. Like, if if all goes to plan and every single punchline gets laughed at, how quickly do you want those bombs to drop on the audience? You know what I mean? Um and uh and I think he does it well, but I also think he's comfortable on stage um working on material, as you said, you know?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's that's why like he got a four out of five for me to the same reason he got an eight out of ten for performative delivery, just he was trying different material, he was he there was moments where he was trying to think of the next part of his set, you know, where he wanted to go next.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But everything else just it was masterful timing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So physical comedy, how well did they use physical elements in their comedy? I give him a three out of five. I thought that the the definition of three fit perfectly. So some physical elements well used, which I think it was exactly him is like when he needed to use something, like a like when he's talking about the sand volleyball and he's kicking the sand, like he's dragging his foot on the stage like he's dragging sand from the other side, or you know, things like that. He's oh, when he hopped off the stool, like remember when he said he was he was as tall as the guy on the stool and then he hopped off. He he like pantomimed hopping off a stool, you know?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Or I think he may have been sitting on the stool and then hopped off or something like that, but he used the physical element there.
SPEAKER_01Um I gave him a four to five for those reasons.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Except him chasing after the cowboy hat as inept cowboy um was the thing that tipped it over to four out of five instead of just that was that was a really good thing because that that incorporated so much.
SPEAKER_02It was the physical pantomiming, it was the sound effects, it was the it was all the you know, all of it. Uh the an accent, he did an accent in there too, like sort of, um, I think, if I'm remembering correctly. So um, that's a good, yeah, that's good. I'm gonna leave it at a three, but I I did like that that pantomime.
SPEAKER_01So it's okay, you can be wrong. I don't need you right.
SPEAKER_02So relatability. Um, did the material resonate with a broad audience? So I gave him a six on this, and I I actually lean a little bit, maybe even lower than that. And part of the reason why is because he's you know, he he he talks about specific subjects, he talks about things that are you know, he has he has a fan base, of course, but you know, um having a fan base, you know, the question is is his fan base wide enough that he could have uh, you know, uh like everybody he's he's everybody's cup of tea, you know what I mean? And I don't think so, which is there's nothing wrong with that, uh, per se. It's just you know, he's some people would like his comedy and other people wouldn't. But I guess that's why we do this podcast, you know.
SPEAKER_01So and I I might so one I agree, like even to the score, I gave him a six out of ten. Um and for me, it was because it was leaning on the word broad in the question, broad audience. Yeah, it was somewhat relatable because uh of the locale specificness of the audience. Like I think it we might think about changing the question to be did the material resonate with a its intended audience or its targeted audience, right? Um like you said, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but to those he's reaching out to in that moment, he or she, right? Just generally speaking. Yeah. Um if it was an intended audience, then I I would have bumped it up to two points, right? Instead of strong relatability.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And maybe even nine. Um just because like all of his Nashville jokes were on point. Like I I would have wondered if he was a resident. You know, if he was local to Nashville or his family in Nashville, like because yeah, he was getting some some some deep lore, deep observations, conversations I've had with people. Yes, he was spouting off like he was familiar with the area in terms of weeks and months, not not days and hours, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So he's got some good research on on the location he goes to.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Um all right, innovative techniques. Did the comedian bring something new and unique? Um I ended up at a five out of ten, some fresh ideas.
SPEAKER_01I I said seven. Okay. And I think that had to do with the fact I had a hard time placing him in any one category at the start with terms of style and subject matter. Um if you're if it's hard to categorize you, that to me means that you're doing something different.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. I could see that. Um I there's not many people doing exactly what he's doing, but there's a lot of people doing somewhat what he's doing, if that makes sense. So which I guess means that he's somewhat innovative, but you know, I think I don't think he's I don't think he's a one-of-a-kind, but I think he's an effective comedian. Like I think he's somebody who you could go and have a good time and listen to him and and get some laughs. And also I think the the thing I like about comedians like him is I get the feeling that if you went to mold, like if we went and saw him again next time he was in town, we'd get a different show. You know, we wouldn't, it wouldn't be uh, you know, um, and I think most comedians obviously work on material, but you know, some of them the material is so closely related to their previous material that it's almost like, okay, you're just regurgitating or you know, reworking your previous premises, you know.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, and his is be I mean, sport and storytelling comedians are usually like that, just because they're coming up with their material based on things that are happening to them, or what's happening to me in my current life, or what's how's my relationship between my wife and I, or hey, I went to California and I was playing beach volleyball or whatever that is, and then you know, they retire that story because a better one comes along and they can make it funny, you know? Um so yeah. Okay. And then the last last category, really, we can't do anything. I put a question mark for it. Uh I also put uh how so how well was the performance filmed and edited? Well, obviously, I mean, I mean, I guess the YouTube clip, YouTube clip is pretty, pretty good. It wasn't really edited, it was just a 10-minute long clip, like no editing there really. Um I did put an asterisk next to this and say it say and it said I was drunk, and then I crossed out drunk and said impaired. So I can't really I can't really I can't really uh go you know like but the environment in in Zanies is good. Um I'd love to go to the other one. There's another club right next to that called the lab that I guess is for more up and coming comedians or you know, people that aren't as like sort of headliner comedians are in zanies, and then they have another one next door that's like the lab. So maybe sometime you know I'll I'll head up a show there. I've never been there before. So uh all right, before we get to our final scores, what was your favorite joker bit of the night?
SPEAKER_01I I'd say the look I don't I don't know how big a bit is, but I'd say just the overall um Nashville commentary.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01The locale specific material. Um maybe that's bigger than a bit.
SPEAKER_02No, it can be I mean that can be that whole thing is the Nashville-oriented um the one that I was gonna talk about was uh the and this is almost like an individual like joke encapsulated within a bit, which is when he was talking about have you ever seen when the music ends on the Bachelorette party bus? And they're like it's so sad. They're like looking around, they're like uh he does like a pantomime, like putting the putting the hair behind the ear, and he goes, and they're just like looking around, and then the girl's like, Where's where's my purse? I don't know, look for something. I don't know. It's like you know, like do something because they're just stuck there and you're staring at them and there's no music. And I thought that that really like the second time I watched that on the on the YouTube clip and everything, I'd like that I just think it's hilarious. Like maybe a little bit of like the embarrassment uncomfortableness factor of like putting on both positions, like if you're the person on the bus and you're the person there, both people are like, uh, okay, what I can't look at you directly right now, you know, that kind of thing. So I thought that was funny. Um and then okay, so let's get to our so what did you most retellable joke? Yeah, which most retellable joke, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I'd I'd say the the titans and the bowls stuff.
SPEAKER_02I thought, yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's the one I I like to try to re-embody and retell myself. It kind of flashes back in my mind.
SPEAKER_02I I was talking about the uh the odd automated phone noises. Like I, you know, because you can you can use that out of out of context. You can just, you know, you can be telling a story and you can be like, oh yeah, and then I was on the phone, it was like, you know, like that, like whatever. Um, and everyone will know what you're talking about, you know? Like you don't even have to say it. So I thought that was cool. Um, so my final score calculation was a 65. Uh, but as you know, I do this. I don't know if you do it, because you're much more strict than I with the scoring, but I I added 10 points for the and I said for the feeling you get at a live performance, because I just love I love live comedy. I love being at the club, being in an audience, and like knowing that you're getting that experience without audience, and that it's done. Like nobody else is gonna get that exact experience ever again. And so to me, that's sort of like Zen, you know. So 75.
SPEAKER_01Got it. I got him to, you know, if you're doing the math at home, um 69 out of 100. Okay, uh-huh. And that felt too low. So I gave, and since it's my prerogative, right? It's part of our process, yes, I gave uh an extra four points. Just nice because I I like Drew Lynch, and like you said, I had a really good time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh I wouldn't change anything other than like what I mentioned, the veganesville versus Vegansville.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, I just he I felt like he deserved more than that, so I gave him a lot of things.
SPEAKER_02That's crazy. We ended up like one point off from each other. That's awesome. It's like we share a brain. Awesome. You got two thirds, I got one third.
SPEAKER_01No, I got two thirds, and you've got two thirds.
SPEAKER_02On that note, let's end this thing. All right. No, so actually what I will say uh in closing, I think we need to do that again. We want to try as as I said before, you know, as we said at the beginning of this, we always are gonna have guests on here, but every once in a while, if the opportunity arises, we should go see a live show and do something like this. Just just you know, uh break it up a little bit, and also support live comedians, you know, like I mean live uh and dead comedians too. I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I'm like, hey, support comedians that are alive, like you know, anyway. All right, thanks for listening. All right.
People on this episode
Podcasts we love
Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.
Doughboys
Headgum / Doughboys Media
Monday Morning Podcast
All Things Comedy
