San Francisco Comedy Blog

by Chad Lehrman

Bill Burr’s constant touring, TV and radio appearances, CD and DVD releases, and weekly podcasting have all helped make him one of the top comedians working today. On Monday, he comes to San Francisco for one night only at the Punchline Comedy Club.

July 13th @ The Punchline
7pm, 9:30pm
444 Battery Street, San Francisco

NOTE: This interview is from back in March 2009, when Bill also performed in San Francisco for one night only on a Monday.

So how come you’re only here for one night and on a Monday? Is that the kind of tour you’re doing right now?

Bill Burr: No, actually I just had some family coming out here to visit me in Los Angeles, so I had to cancel a weekend up there. Also, I have some big gigs coming up, and Molly at the Punchline told me that if I ever want to come out for just one night to work on some stuff, stay sharp, that I could come out. So I finally took her up on it. I’m pretty excited… I’m actually gonna be trying out a chunk of material. I’ll be doing the A material too, but I’m gonna be messing around a lot. I’ve gotta give people something for coming out on a Monday night.

It seems like you’ve gotten a lot bigger the last couple of years, so I didn’t know if you were doing just one night in every town…

BB: No, but the last special, “Why do I do this?” really helped me out with ticket sales.

You noticed a big difference after that?

BB: Well the DVD helped, and also I have a lot of stuff on the internet, plus the Opie & Anthony show. With all the different places where people can see you now, it takes like a blitzkrieg of videos and appearances… you’ve gotta like carpet bomb people. I just keep trying to come up with a funny hour and with each one, I get more and more people.

How has that changed your attitude on stage as you’ve gotten bigger? Do you feel more pressure to deliver?

BB: I felt more pressure to deliver right after my HBO special. The first time I sold out a club it was like, “these people aren’t just coming to the club cause this is what they do on a Friday night. They’re actually coming here to see me.” That was the first time I had to deal with the fact that people actually have expectations. That probably lasted for about 6 weeks, and once no major disaster happened, it was like, “Ok, I can handle this.” Now I just find it really flattering. I’m amazed… with all the great guys out there, it’s flattering that they want to come out and see me. It’s a cool thing.

What’s it like to tour the country right now in terms of the economy and people’s moods?

BB: In my experience, people really want to come out and laugh. Any joke where you make fun of bankers definitely gets a big laugh. People can only stay cooped up so long, they have to get out. During the Great Depression, I think movies did fine. There’s only so long you can sit in your house going, “Oh my God, what’re we gonna do?” At some point you gotta go out and have a drink, laugh, and get some of the stress out.

Check out Bill’s podcast, “The Monday Morning Podcast,” available every Monday at BillBurr.com.

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