Paul Mecurio: Interview and Ticket Giveaway
May 12th, 2008 | Interviews, San Francisco Comedyby Chad Lehrman
Paul Mecurio won an Emmy award for his writing on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and his TV appearances include Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Comedy Central Presents, and Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. He is headlining The Punchine in San Francisco this week.
Paul Mecurio @ The Punchline
444 Battery St, SF
May 13th-17th
Win two tickets to Paul’s Thursday, May 15 performance at 8:00 p.m. To enter, send us an email at contact@SFstandup.com with the subject “Paul Mecurio.” Two winners will be chosen randomly. *Contestants must be 18 or over.*
How did the Daily Show change when it switched from Craig Kilborn to Jon Stewart?
PM: We smoke a lot more weed with Jon Stewart. Before it was pretty much ecstasy the whole time, so that was the big adjustment. No, with Jon I think the show at its core is still the same, but Jon really made the focus what it is. It used to focus on politics but also on pop culture and music and stuff like that. It sort of had a broader hit, the areas of our culture that we would focus on. He narrowed it to really focus on politics and government and world leaders- how they behave around the world, that kind of thing. He made the show so much stronger because of that.
Who are your major influences in stand-up?
PM: Just me, I’m the best. No, I like probably all the ones you’ve heard from everybody else. Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Robert Klein- his Child from the 50s album, Richard Pryor, Jonathan Winters for his lightning fast mind, and Robin Williams in that same sense, that ability to move so quickly. Some of what Robin Williams does is made to look like improv, but he’ll repeat it. It’s a technique that comics have, but it’s still really amazing what he does. George Carlin, and Jon (Stewart) of course. I really admire how Jon and Chris Rock both have the ability to really get to the nub of an issue, in a way that you didn’t see it was there, and then you go, “Ahhh, Ok.”
How did you stay motivated when you went from your successful career on Wall Street to starting out at the very bottom of the New York comedy scene? What kept you going?
PM: That’s a good question. It was hard because I was making good money and I had a lot of responsibility. I was in charge of people and suddenly I’m this peon dealing with some moronic club manager who in my other job we wouldn’t have trusted to go get a sandwich for lunch. Now that guy’s controlling my life. That was a big adjustment. In the first couple months it was sexy and exciting, and then it hit me- “what the fuck have I done? I’ve given up all this security.”
It took awhile to get adjusted to the decision I made, because I think you have the perception like “well, I’m going to pursue my dream and my dream is gonna come true.” Then you realize, woah, you gotta really work at your dream. And it gets a little scary when you’re lying in bed at night and there’s a lot of doubts like “Am I doing the right thing? Is this working? Is this right? What’s the goal here?”
I would focus on the fact that I really liked writing and performing more than I liked practicing law and investment banking. Not that I hated those things but I really liked the creative side of things. It helped if I stayed focused on that. Cause it could be rough, you know, drunk hecklers, guys throwing stuff at you on stage, not getting paid by comedy club owners.
