[00:00] In the last 7 to 8 years, I began to
[00:02] develop a different comic voice and a
[00:05] and a different perspective. Um, you
[00:08] know, comedy stand-up comedy is a low
[00:09] art. It's it's a vulgar art. It's an art
[00:11] of the people. It's not fine. But it is
[00:14] an art. It's it it has to do with
[00:15] interpreting the world as you see it and
[00:17] then writing something and then
[00:19] delivering it verbally.
[00:21] Uh and I found a very liberating
[00:23] position for myself as an artist. And
[00:26] that was I sort of gave up on the human
[00:29] race and gave up on the American dream
[00:32] and culture and nation and decided that
[00:34] I didn't care about the outcome. And
[00:36] that gave me a lot of freedom from a
[00:38] kind of distant platform to be sort of
[00:40] amused a kind of to watch the whole
[00:43] thing with a combination of wonder and
[00:45] pity. I try to put that into words.
[00:47] Not caring about the outcome, what do
[00:48] you mean by that? Not having an
[00:50] emotional stake in whether this
[00:51] experiment with human beings works. I
[00:53] really don't care.
[00:55] Uh I love people as I meet them one by
[00:56] one. People of the are just wonderful as
[00:58] individuals. You see the whole universe
[01:00] in their eyes if you look carefully. But
[01:02] as soon as they begin to group, as soon
[01:03] as they begin to clot, when there are
[01:05] five of them or 10 or even groups as
[01:07] small as two, they begin to change. They
[01:09] sacrifice the beauty of the individual
[01:11] for the sake of the group. I decided it
[01:13] was all under the control of groups now,
[01:16] whether it's business, religion,
[01:18] political people or what, and I would
[01:20] distance myself from wishing for a good
[01:22] outcome. Let it do what it's going to do
[01:25] and I'll enjoy it as an entertainer.
[01:27] on what it is on its own.
[01:28] And I'll enjoy it for the entertainment.
[01:30] There's a little bit of a sick part in
[01:31] this, too. I root for the big comet. I
[01:34] root for the big asteroid to come and
[01:36] make things right. That's the way I put
[01:37] it. Stir things up. Yes, to get us back
[01:40] where we were before the first one came
[01:41] and knocked out these dinosaurs and let
[01:43] the ferrets go.
[01:44] about comets on this show tonight.
[01:45] I know it.
[01:46] Uh and I'm I'm rooting for that big one
[01:48] to come right through that hole in the
[01:49] ozone layer because I want to see it on
[01:50] CNN. See, I'm here for the
[01:51] entertainment, Charlie. I am. People
[01:53] These philosophers say, "Why are we
[01:54] here?" I know I am here. For the
[01:56] entertainment.
[01:56] The show.
[01:57] Bring it on. I want to see the circus.
[01:59] So
[01:59] But how does this affect your
[02:00] performance and what you bring to
[02:02] stand-up?
[02:03] I've seen a lot of comedian We've all
[02:05] seen a lot of comedians who seem to have
[02:06] a political bent in their work.
[02:09] And always implicit in the work is is
[02:11] some positive outcome. That this is all
[02:13] going to work. If only we do this. If
[02:14] only we pass that bill. If only elect
[02:16] him. If only we do that. It's not true.
[02:19] It's it's circling the drain time for
[02:21] the for humans. I believe this. I
[02:22] honestly believe this. Not just as a
[02:24] comedian he thinks that. He likes to say
[02:25] that. I believe it. And when you say to
[02:28] yourself, "I don't care what happens."
[02:31] It just gives you a broader perspective
[02:33] for the art for the words to to emerge.
[02:35] To not care. That's what happened in
[02:37] that '92 show. That's why I could say
[02:39] the planet is fine. The people are
[02:42] Cuz the planet will outlast us. It will
[02:44] be here and it will be fine.
[02:46] Has the subject matter changed? Well, I
[02:48] I you know, you're still stuck with
[02:50] what's going on. But I I don't like
[02:52] topical. I don't like political humor. I
[02:54] I don't mention politicians. In fact, I
[02:56] defend them in this particular show.
[02:59] Everyone is on their case. Everyone is
[03:00] always making things
[03:01] Politicians are bad. I I defend them and
[03:03] blame it on the people. This is where it
[03:04] belongs.
[03:05] You get what you deserve? Yes, you get
[03:06] what you deserve and you deserve what
[03:07] you get. And I have a slogan, "The
[03:09] public sucks." And it works nicely and
[03:11] people accept it. Not not not very
[03:13] enthusiastically, but they understand
[03:16] that it says, "We the people" in that
[03:17] preamble. Doesn't say them that this is
[03:19] and those that that's us. It says, "Hey,
[03:21] We got on this boat.
[03:22] And people who hate government are
[03:23] involved in a in a form of suicide
[03:25] because government is self-government.
[03:27] And if you hate the government, you hate
[03:29] yourself.
[03:29] It's the same with the war against
[03:31] nature that that mankind goes through.
[03:33] So, I just said to myself, "It's not
[03:35] going to get better, not in my lifetime.
[03:37] Let me enjoy this and get a little
[03:39] perverse about my my commentary on it."
[03:41] I I I open
[03:42] perverse mean, though? Well, to to look
[03:44] for where the people think the line is.
[03:46] The people have values that these things
[03:48] these these amorphous things they call
[03:50] values that they bring to to the to the
[03:52] seat in the theater when they sit down.
[03:54] And I like to find out where their line
[03:57] may be and deliberately cross it.
[03:59] Disturb them a little, make them
[04:01] uncomfortable and then
[04:03] make them and then bring them with me
[04:04] across the line and make them glad they
[04:06] came. That's what I do. I'm an
[04:08] entertainer. I'm not a doomsayer. I'm
[04:10] not here to preach. I don't do political
[04:12] tracts. But I do entertain. I do a lot
[04:14] of jokes, but I want you to feel a
[04:16] little in danger along the way.