Talking Funny had a simple premise. Take four highly successful comics, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Louis C.K., and Ricky Gervais, and have them talk amongst themselves about their work. I found it fascinating. They talked about things like: How long should you perform material before you need to discard it? What makes a joke funny? How do you judge what material is worthy of inclusion and what isn't? Do you swear onstage? Why?
It was evident that they all loved their work, that they thought about jokes all the time. Seinfeld seemed like the historian of the bunch. He could remember specific bits from specific years. He could quote other people's material (and while quoting, put his own particular spin on it.)
In the program, Gervais seemed to be a bit of an outsider. It turned out that the other three had worked together before. It turned out that he was late to stand-up. He had created and starred in The Office before he did this type of work. It seemed he was in some ways, despite all of his wealth and success, still paying some dues. It was a really interesting show.
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