"Making a Joke of the Obvious"

I was hanging out with my friend Greg Frisbee...real name I promise, look him up, he's a very funny performer.

We were talking about jokes and comebacks and my process.

He needed jokes about sweating. So do I. I sweat a lot on stage, I can't help it, it's my fight or flight response, I sweat out of the forehead. I know a lot of performers do this.

So, ignore it? Or acknowledge it?

There was a great one man comedy piano show I saw a few years ago. It was funny, the guy could play piano like nobody's business plus he told jokes, would lay on the piano, it was great (I can't remember his name for the life of me though sorry). But the guy was sweating puddles.

I was 10 or more rows back and it was obvious, I think it made people a bit uncomfortable that he was working so hard for us.

If I could talk to him, I would say, start the show with a joke about sweating. for him, rain drops are falling on my head, change it to rain drops are falling from my head. And use that as a call back joke every so often when he stops and wipes his face off with a towel. It would get roars of laughter. I think we love to see each other being human.

This is the fun of being a clown. I'm balding and I have weird hair. I enter almost every show making some joke about my frizzy hair and lack on top. It's just what people are seeing, get it out there, it's funny and it keeps people in the show.

Coming up with a joke for sweating is also a good technical point. If I make a joke "I'm shvitzing" (a Yiddish word for sweat), it gets a mild laugh and there is a small break to wipe my forehead and keep people going.

In a show, you have to remember too, audiences need small breaks. A big mistake is to build build build and never let the audience have a release. It makes them tired. Even the great Robin Williams would slow things down, you have to.

Imagine you broke your arm, it was in a sling. You can pretend no one notices or you can make a joke...this is what happens when you climb trees and your way way in your 40s...

People think clowns hide. I believe in the complete opposite, I am completely laid bare, all my inner secrets all my hang ups are there for all to see.