Paul Farmer (AKA Freez Luv)

Paul Farmer: I’ll say two things in this business. #1: Never judge where you are by other people. Because everyone’s different…you’re on your journey for yourself. You can’t compare where you are in this game to where someone else is. It’s a waste of time. We’re all going to be at different levels and doing different things. Just worry about yourself. Don’t worry about the next guy.

#2: don’t ever take anything personal…this is a business where you get told NO a lot and you cannot take it personally. You can’t let someone tell you NO today and say OKAY, but then harbor some dislike…that’s a future relationship. You never know who’s going to be your ally in this business. So just don’t take anything personal, and don’t judge yourself according to anyone else, and follow your dream. Do your thing, Man.

NY vs. LA

LA is for LAter

LA is great when you have a name…a place you go when people know you. That’s when you’ll get the best benefit of LA. If you’re a stand-up and you’re new in the game, and you go to LA, it’s going to be rough on you. You’re not going to get a lot of stage time. When you do get stage time, you’re around a lot of stars…they’ll take your stuff and do it on Jay Leno. They’re in the position to steal your stuff and make it count. When you’re doing a set at the Comedy Store and someone steals your set, you don’t know until you’re watching Kimmel Show…now you can’t do that set anywhere in the nation. They own it. It happens. That’s part of the business. It’s happened to me several times. We’re talking about writers…guess what? Your joke is now an episode on whatever show. They have million dollar lawyers that don’t care about you. It’s just material that’s gone.

How do you preserve material?

You can’t. It’s impossible to preserve material. The only thing you can do is have more material. You can’t get hung up on a joke…keep it in your locker, but don’t depend on it. You always have to have new material. Always. Always. Always get new material. When you’re here wherever you are that’s not like the “big leagues,” what you should be doing is taking risks. Say something [even if] you don’t know if it’s going to be funny. Do the work. The underground spectrum is for work. You have to take risks. You have to develop. You have to find out what’s funny…what’s not funny. What is funny--you keep it, put it in your locker so that when someone says your joke, that’s all right.

NY:

If you’re a new comedian, I would suggest New York. There’s just more opportunities to do stand-up. They’re going to give you a real opinion. If they laugh, you know it’s a real laugh in New York. New York is the breeding grounds for comedians. It’s a comic’s town. It’s where comics are bred. It’s where you cut your teeth, Man. We’re not talking about mainstream rooms like Caroline’s, the Comic Strip, the Improv, or the Laugh Factory… But NY also has rooms like Joe’s Deli…that’s a vital part of the NY comedy scene, especially for young comedians. Just for urban [comedy], there’s about 35 rooms in NY that go on throughout a week [from which] you can pull $100. Each one of those rooms are real, everyday, working people [who are] going to let you know if you’re funny or not. Each one of those rooms is culturally diverse, which is going to build you as a comedian as well. You have to be able to adjust. You can’t say, “Okay, I’m a comedian that only does ‘this type’ of comedy.” I don’t care if it’s in a synagogue or it’s in a chapel…I want to go there so I can get my rent money. You will develop a whole other muscle in comedy you didn’t even know you had, because you’re in a position where you have to make people laugh. You need that position in life.

How important is bombing in adapting your set?

Bombing is one of the best medicines for a stand-up. It’s nasty…it tastes horrible…you grit your teeth and suck it up. Bombing is necessary for comedians because you learn a lot of things. One thing you’ll learn from bombing is what I call “Laugh Ear.” You go out and you kill every week and every time you say a joke…you wait for that laughter. Joke—punchline—laughter. One day you’re going to throw the punchline—and there’s not going to be the laughter. It’s not necessarily that you weren’t funny. You have them in the palm of your hand, but because they didn’t laugh—now you’re worried about the next thing you say. It’s a spiral downward. Don’t develop a “Laugh Ear.” You start to panic. Forget the audience. The audience changes every set. There’s never two audiences alike—never. You can’t say everyone’s going to laugh at that joke—regardless of how funny it is. Don’t take it personal.

How do you know when to keep or discard a joke?

If it’s not exciting…if it’s not fun anymore…I’ve got to change up my set or something. It should be exciting to you.

There’s not one way to do this. As many different comedians as there are, that’s as many different ways as it could be done. For me, personally, I don’t like to have the exact same set every single [time]. It tends to get boring for me. When it’s boring for me, then my delivery is boring. If my delivery is boring, then the audience is going to be bored. I change it up a bit…I change the order…I change a lot of stuff. I try to keep some staple things because those are like markers.

How do you know when an audience is feeling you?

All comedy is is a direct exchange of energy. As a comedian, we kick out some energy. The audience likes it, they throw it back. It’s just back and forth…we control it. The audience doesn’t control it. It’s not their fault at anytime. Ever. Ever.

[Sometimes] audiences do suck, but who’s in control of that? Who always has the upperhand is the comedian. You got the microphone. You’re the loudest person in the room and everyone’s watching you. You have the opportunity to make it not suck. Keep that in mind: I’m running this show. Jolt ‘em. Shock ‘em. Make ‘em listen. You will change the energy. You will win them over.

Is there ever a dead set?

Yes. There’s always everything. Understand that. You gotta get out of your head that I’m going to do ABC.—and that’s going to make DEF happen. Sometimes you gotta do ALQZ. None of them have a mic. Only you. You got the power.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received from another comedian?

Honesty, Comfort, and Confidence

[It was] from Eddie Griffin, Kansas City comedian. He saw me the very first time I ever did stand-up. He said, “You got it. Right now in the game, you got it. I’m gonna let you know what you have so you can hang onto it.”

You have to have Confidence, Comfort, and Honesty.

If you handle those three things onstage, you’re going to do all right.

Honesty—when you’re honest you allow people to be able to relate to you. The quickest route to finding what people can relate to is to be honest. Be vulnerable. Be laughed at. You’re the comedian. I’m not saying be a clown, but talk about the REAL stuff that’s really funny to you. At least you were honest and put it out there.

Comfort—you have to be comfortable, because if you’re not, then the audience [isn’t] going to be comfortable.

Confidence—Confidence and being honest…they all work together.

Will you always be nervous about bombing?

I’m still nervous before every set. Butterflies? Absolutely. Every show. Every show. Every show, Man. I have butterflies on the first show…second show…I haven’t done it before to that audience…anything can happen, Man. When you bomb, that feeling lasts forever. Bombing is like your training wheels…you rarely bomb when you’re not funny. You bomb when you’re nervous. You bomb when you panic and you feel like you’ve lost control of the mic. [The audience] will still ride with you…if you’re confident and comfortable, they’re not even going to notice that you’re bombing.

Who’s in control of the bombing—the audience or the comic?

I don’t know. It’s energy. Something to disrupt that energy, the potential is right there. Always. Like the Grim Reaper, sitting on the edge of the stage, ready to take the mic out [of] your hand. But you can’t be fearful, because that’s going to show. You’ve got to be confident…if you’re confident and people see that you’re always going to win.

Sympathy pangs at every level

Eddie Murphy came to the show. Eddie said, “You know how it is if you’ve ever bombed. You know how your ears get warm?” Just the fact that Eddie Murphy can talk about something and ask me can I relate to it…I shared that with him…that’s a great feeling…that sums it up…the tiptop of comedy say something that someone who’s been doing it the first day can relate to. You feel it. That’s how important bombing is. You can’t beat yourself up.

There’s a comedian named Honest John. I saw this dude bomb time and time and time again. I’m talking YEARS. One night, I saw him do the same material…and it worked! It worked! I don’t know what happened. It might have been his confidence. He got to the point with his material where he really didn’t care whether or not you liked it. He said it with a full heart…and full confidence…and full honesty…and it clicked. That was the turning point. This guy’s a headliner now.

Does size matter?

If you can make 6 people in the room laugh, you can make 60,000 laugh. Because humor is contagious. Try to focus on 3 or 4 people. I’m not saying pick them out of the audience. You just have to have 3 imaginary people in that audience that you’re making laugh…focus on those 3.

What advice do you have for up and coming comics?

Be Grateful

Be thankful for every comedian that looks out for you. You have to understand, the majority of your work is going to from other comedians. It’s not going to come from clubs…it’s not going to come from agencies…it will come from that, but the MAJORITY of your work is going to come from another comedian. You’re doing a set when you’re not even in the room, because other comedians know you. If you’re not cool with other comedians, they can really make it hard on you. There’s no reason not to be. This is your family.

Be Friendly

Be open-minded. Be cool. Make friends. Do your thing. Don’t stab anybody in the back. If someone stabs you in the back don’t take it personally. Just take the knife out [of] your back, smile, and keep moving.

Be Gracious

Everybody has a turn. There’s no reason to be jealous of anybody. You’re wasting time. You need that time to be creating funny stuff, not to be sitting up brooding about someone else’s success. That’s their success and they earned it. If they didn’t earn it, it would not be happening. Remember that. God puts us where we’re at. Let it be. Worry about when you’re going to a spot, and when you do get the spot—what you’re going to do with it. Make it count for you. Spin it forward. Parlay!

Sidebar—“Comic Love”

No one’s going to look out for comedians like comedians. When we’re good to each other, we’re very good to each other. When we’re bad to each other, it’s terrible. There’s enough jokes for everyone.

Anyone who pursues this craft that I pursue, I truly, honestly have a special concern and care for them. I know what this is. It’s not something that you do overnight.