If you find it difficult to let go of something, don't worry. You're not alone.
In a new interview with Graham Bensinger, Jerry Seinfeld revealed that he still remembers the time he was heckled at a stand-up show in 1993. Yes, that was almost 30 years ago. Seinfeld was playing a show in Boston, following Adam Sandler as the opening act.
“I had a great part about the wedding,” he recalled. “It was great. It was so long. It covered everything. And I worked on it and worked on it and worked on it. It takes forever for me.”
Seinfeld explained how comedians sometimes spend years honing a joke, experimenting with material, and refining something until they feel they've perfected it. “As I started speaking, someone yelled, 'I hear you,'” he continued. “It was a big deal. I still remember that. It was mean. It was real.”
The comedian speculated that such a reaction may not occur as much today, as audiences are perhaps more aware of the work required to construct a comedy set. “I think the audience is a little more sophisticated now,” he says. “These are pieces that we work on for months and months and months. You don't do it once and it works. For every scene you see in the movie, they did it 18 times. One of them. The same goes for comedy. I finally understood it after watching it 100 times.
Seinfeld had a wide-ranging conversation with Bensinger, digging into everything from his writing process to why he loves stand-up so much. “Things happen on stage that don't happen anywhere else in life,” he reflected. “You're in hyperspace. You're in a fight-or-flight state, which makes your brain spin faster, which makes it more addictive. It's a huge adrenaline rush.”
The full interview will be premiered in national syndication this weekend. More about Graham Bensinger. Also available on Bensinger's YouTube channel.
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