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The Shark Deck. I’m Jenny Manic with your Daily Comedy News. Esquire asked Ronnie Ching, is there a difference between how you approach actor Ronnie Ching and comedian Ronny Chieng. That’s a good question, Ronnie said. Stand up comedy is a very direct form of self expression.
It’s very me focused. I know what to say and how to say it because it’s coming from me. I’m a little bit more fearless with it because it’s a live medium. The nature of live mediums as you say something in the moment in the room, everyone gets it and you move on. It’s not recorded and play it out of context forever and ever.
You know what I mean. When you’re acting, you’re doing someone else’s project. It’s more of a team sport. So I defer more to the creators and the directors.
And also, I’m very much out of my comfort zone.
I’m not a trained actor, so there’s fear with it in terms of what I’m like, Am I holding my own with these other trained actors. When you’re doing a scene with someone else, you have to do with them. You can’t just talk to them. You have to listen to them. You have to care about them.
All things that you don’t have to do in stand up comedy. You literally don’t have to listen to anyone, to care about anyone when you’re doing stand up quick anecdote for me in my podcasting career, I was doing some voice acting and use that term extremely loosely for a documentary and I really struggled with it. I’m not a trained actor, I’m not a performer, but the words because they weren’t mine, the sentences weren’t structured the way I speak. So I was reading the dialogue and I couldn’t nail it.
And then I asked the guy who was producing the session, I’m like, can I do it…
And took the gist but phrased it the way I would say. I was playing a cop, and that just felt more natural to me. I don’t even think they used any of my takes. I’m not offended. It was not a good session by me.
Ronny Chieng, Hey, what’s your favorite Chinatown? He said, I don’t have to go with the country of Malaysia, It’s probably my favorite Chinatown. I feel the most at home there, the food is the best there, my family is there. Esquire was like, that’s a cop out answer, and Ronnie said, oh, you want American Chinatown, I’ll have to go with Sorry, everybody, New York City, come with me, guys, New York City Chinatown and the best Chinatown. I agree in New York City Chinatown is pretty good.
Neil Brennan spoke to the Washington Posts and they had some good questions, good questions. Press Hey, Neil. In your twenty seventeen special Three Mics, you use those three microphones to deliver three different styles of comedy. In Blocks, you used toy like figures to represent facets of your personality. What do you like about structuring your stand up in such unconventional ways?
Great question, Neil said, it’s a way to stand out. It’s a way to express more than just a monologue. We’re certainly a monologue of glib self confidence. Now, having said that, the show I’m doing in DC as no structure, I mean as a structure. But it’s not like that.
It’s not three mics, it’s not blocks, it doesn’t have a different dramatic ethos. There’s two big sections to the material I’m doing. One sort of living online. The second half is the world I inhabit now is where almost every time you pick up my phone, there’s an alert of like, hey, your friend is in trouble. Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Joe Rogan, Kevin Hart.
Comedy is such a focal point in culture now. It’s an on situation of being comedy. There’s always something yes, hence this podcast. I personally love it, and because it’s an interview with the comedian Neils asked about say it with me, cancel culture. Neil’s take same as everybody else, the thing that comedians are under attack, I just reject.
I don’t believe Chapelle’s under attack. Most of the people I know that are quote under attack or doing arenas. I think it’s just a matter of all these other quadrants of society of fail. I’ll go with clergy and politicians. They’ve proved to be sort of corrupt, so somebody like Chappelle or Chris Rock or somebody like Joe becomes reliable.
I don’t think it’s because comedians are morally superior. I think it’s because we don’t ever pretend we are. Because we never pretend we are, people go, wow, there’s an honest broker. Bert Kreischer told a story about how we bet ten thousand dollars to prove he could take down San Francisco forty nine ers running back Christian McCaffrey. Bert told Rich Eisen I cornered Christian McCaffrey, and I was struck, and I said, hey, I think I can catch you, and he goes, what ten thousand dollars if I can catch you.
McCaffrey has confirmed the bet was put forward, but no actual tackle attempt was made. McCaffrey said, it’s a true story. He asked for ten thousand dollars in this I don’t know twenty by twenty five foot square foot room to paint the picture. He’s in a full swet about nine to ten beers deep, and he has a shirt off, of course, and he’s asking me this question. For a moment, I was like, you know what, maybe with the conference level you’re at right now, you might be able to do it.
I think it’d take ten steps to be out of breath, so there’s no shot it’d even make it to three hours to take a nap for an hour and a half to hour number two. I’d tell him Bert, there’s guys train all year and get paid a lot of money to try and do that, and they still can’t do it. So I don’t know if you’ve got a chance. Man. Jay Leno has no plans to retire, he told Page six.
You retire when you have a stroke. Then you slow down. That’s when you retire when you have your stroke. You may recall Jay had a few incidents earlier this year, and he said, I’m fine. Look when you’re in my position, when you’re any kind of celebrity, you’re luckier than most people.
So when something bad happens to you can’t wine explain about it because bad things happened to people every day. Either they get burned or they get cut, and they don’t have the financial wearwithal I did, so I just make jokes. Plus, it’s Hollywood. As long as you look okay, you’re okay, nobody really cares how you feel. Jay has learned to live in the moment because show business is fleeting.
You enjoy it while you can, and it’s fun. Some days you’re popular, some days you’re not. Is his wife Mavis worried about his hobbies, you know, like riding a motorcycle where somebody could get hurt, or fixing an old car where somebody can’t get hurt, and Jay Leno says, as long as they’re not cocaine and girlfriends, she’s fine. Believe me. Brody Fast will come back in August for a third year.
It’s the annual benefit Comedy Gives Back. It is named after Brody Stevens, who passed away in twenty nineteen. Part of Brody’s trademark was eight one eight, So the benefit is held every year on August eighteenth. This year Friday August eighteenth at the Comedy Store. Then on Sunday there will be a walk followed by a star studded softball game.
No names yet. Joining the walk acost you fifty dollars, but you get a special Brody gift bag with Brodie swag and all the postwalk festivities including music, comedy speakers. I think that means people speaking. You’re not walking away with things that you listen to music on, and a ticket to watch the star studied comedians softball game. David Mitchell, you know him from Mitchell and Webb and also from Peep Show.
He’s got a new BBC genre bending detective comedy. It’s called Ludwig. David Mitchell plays a man who takes on the identity of his brother DCI James Taylor. DCI James Taylor has disappeared off the face of the earth. Mitchell’s Ludwig lives in quiet solitude, designing puzzles for a living under his number plume, and he struggles to adapt to being a twin who happens to be a successful DCI leading Cambridge’s busy inner city Major Crimes Team.
It’s a comedy, but it’s also a cop show. The concept the hero is a fake coup and this article points out I didn’t realize this peep show, which I love, was created and written by Jesse Armstrong. Now you’re like, I know that name, Jesse Armstrong. Who’s that again? Jesse Armstrong, the creator and show owner of Succession, also did peep Show.
Dude, that’s one heck of her resume.
Meanwhile, BBC Comedy Boss John Petrie is spending the year identifying a pac…
As the chief corporate clown and television comedy I feel a huge sense of responsibility to help try and protect our incredible genre. That’s your comedy news for today. Follow the show for free on Apple, podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your shows. See tomorrow