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AI Won’t Kill Us, But That Razor Might
28 Plays4 days ago
I’m not convinced AI will end the world — but I am convinced one hotel shaving kit almost ended me. Plus: improv, judgment, pigeons, and how falling from grace is just bad PR.
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Transcript
Reflections on Unexpected Weeks
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, I don't know what kind of week you've had, but mine's been one of those, you know, where things happen and then they unpack way more than they should have. It's ah one of those weeks. Yeah. And that's where we are right now. um It's a bit of a mixed episode, but aren't they all?
00:00:19
Speaker
I got to tell you that, you know, I was thinking about it and i was like, I could have just journaled all of this, but but here we are. Yeah. um I want to start off on a good note though.
The Thrill of Live Performances
00:00:30
Speaker
I always sometimes think I sound more depressing than I really am.
00:00:34
Speaker
I'm not. i I had a good week. I had a couple of good live shows. i can't If you're a performer and you don't like live shows, then you're not doing it right.
00:00:45
Speaker
You got to have live shows and live shows are way more fun and cooler than anything I've done recorded. That's my personal thing. I used to hear about these big actors who are huge on um on the in the you know Hollywood A-listers and they would sometimes go back to performing live on stage. And I used to wonder why would you want to do that when I was a kid?
00:01:12
Speaker
I'd be like, why would you want to do that once you've become a huge star? You're making way more money, ah potentially less work, definitely less risk. Why would you want to do that? And then once I started performing live, I realized, ah, that's what made, you know, there's there's no nothing more creatively satisfying than to have a live audience come with you through your performance, you know, come.
00:01:44
Speaker
Yeah. All right. I'm not thinking that you are. If no one got this, just ignore it. Let's keep recording. i I always just felt like, what I feel like when you're there live, there's this intimacy, a bond that's created that you can't do with movies and scripts.
00:02:06
Speaker
You do. watch films and TVs. and ah but so like I'm wrong about that. the the The art is there and any good art will create a bond between you and those who are taken in that art.
00:02:21
Speaker
yeah and But the live experience gives you ah a moment, a true moment, in and you get to watch it. That's what it is. I've heard it of some actors going into the cinema when their movies are released and they watch the audience reaction and stuff.
00:02:38
Speaker
and And I guess they're trying to capture that
Is Improv Really Spontaneous?
00:02:41
Speaker
same feeling. And maybe it is then the same feeling because, yeah, it's honest. ah But also the fact that live when I do a lot of improvised ah live shows, it's the intimacy of creating in front of the audience as well. It's not.
00:02:57
Speaker
I think maybe that's why we like live stuff. When it's scripted, you've had time to practice it and you've kind of gone. This is what we're going to do. When it's improvised, you are in that moment trying to create something in front of them. They're seeing the process almost.
00:03:13
Speaker
They're seeing the process and the product at the same time. And maybe it's not fun. Maybe the equivalent of these chefs who come up to your table and cook something. And in some ways it's unique.
00:03:25
Speaker
ah I'm assuming that's what it might be like. And so ah I don't even know why I'm talking about that part of it. I think it's just the process. The process interests me. And it's nice to see um audiences react to it.
00:03:40
Speaker
For example, I've had people come up after numerous improv shows and tell us, this is scripted. You practice some of the lines. You knew where this is going.
00:03:52
Speaker
and And it's interesting because you know sometimes in the beginning when I first started improvising, what, 15 years ago or something, ah Longer. Oh, dear. Okay. Anyway, ah listen that's not where we want to go.
00:04:06
Speaker
When I used to go into, when I would when i would ah when i would hear this stuff, ah when I would do the shows, actually, what I would do is we looked at ways to make sure the audience knew it was improvised.
00:04:21
Speaker
And there are things you do, like take a word from the, if you've ever watched a show, you take a word from the audience, the performers do that. and i think there's this need to feel like we got to tell them yes it's it is improvised and that's and that's nothing wrong with it but when i realized there's only so much you can convince them of some people and we had this one performer ah he moved to the u.s a bit later on but his mom used to come and watch us all the time he was a syrian dude and his mom spoke a little bit of english but she understood what's going on
00:04:54
Speaker
and And I think for the two years that she came in, you know, she would drop in to watch the shows for two years. She just kept fighting with her son about what that this was not scripted. She was insistent that you guys rehearsed it and did it.
Comedy Souk Experience in Dubai
00:05:11
Speaker
And that says something about good work, I suppose. Although I've seen people do bad improv work and the audience is still like, whoa, ah is that scripted? And I'm like, why would they script that? Why would we script that? um and that's And that's a part cool part of it. you know So there's this whole feeling of like it it really is being done. There's this risk associated with life and the payoff when it works well.
00:05:37
Speaker
The payoff is just the most amazing thing. So that's that's where we're at. i I did a show recently and it was called Rushdie's Comedy Sook. Rushdie is a fellow comic ah who performs stand-up and improv here in Dubai with me as well.
00:05:53
Speaker
And he does this night at the Courtyard Playhouse where I do a lot of my... performances when I'm in Dubai. um And they do improv most of the nights.
00:06:04
Speaker
Rushdie's comedy souk is a bit of a mixed bag as well. And I think his idea is like just... It's a souk. So it's anything. you know it could Some nights there are some stand-up comics. Sometimes it's just improv.
00:06:15
Speaker
On the night I did it last week, there was... There was this dancer who used words from the audience to create something. um So interesting night that he kind of hosts.
00:06:26
Speaker
And we put on ah two bits of improv in the first act and the second act. And the first act was fun because... I performed with Marie Rushdie and myself for three ah perform up improv performers and comics. And we it it was this format where we just turned to the audience and we go, hey, what give us some ideas about most likely two, like fill that in for us, right?
00:06:51
Speaker
And people shout out stuff like they go, most likely to ah oversleep, most likely to be the president of a country. and then And after they've said it to us, we do a little countdown and then we point at each other.
00:07:05
Speaker
And the performer that gets the most votes, it's it's a little bit of a laugh to go, oh, that we all think it should be you. and they um And then we kind of do mini sketches. We talk a little bit about real life and maybe does it actually fit?
00:07:20
Speaker
Or do you just look like that type of person? and And we get interesting ones. The funny thing is one of the most common ones we get, and we've done it a few times now, is most likely to go to jail.
00:07:30
Speaker
And 90% of the time, the majority point at
Reviving 'The World's Greatest Improv Show'
00:07:35
Speaker
me. And i looked at myself and I went, um yes, there has been an incident, but also like, why? I i looked at my other performers, especially go go online and look at Rushdie. And I'm like, I'm sorry, you know he's a friend. But I was like,
00:07:50
Speaker
I don't know. He looks like he looks more like someone who'd go to jail than me. I mean, we're talking about looks, right? They don't know our backgrounds. They don't know our history. So I'm like, why would they think me over him? And ah that's one of the things that stuck with me.
00:08:04
Speaker
And then and then in the second act, Rushdie and I, we do a two person act. We actually started this show pre-COVID. It was something we were working on and we had done it a few times.
00:08:15
Speaker
And then with COVID, I realized it had just fallen away. We forgot. ah We kind of knew the show was, but we just kind of left it. And the other day we just went, hey, we really enjoyed performing it. Why don't we go back and develop it to further?
00:08:29
Speaker
And it basically is titled The World's Greatest Improv Show. I know it's meant to sound overly cocky for a reason. ah Obviously to anybody, what you I mean by that is that it's going to be dumb.
00:08:44
Speaker
We're over setting the bar. And we're never going to reach it, right? It's this ah inner joke we have with the audience. Occasionally, some audience members don't get it. And they go, no. ah Or some even some of the performers. And they're like, are you sure you're going to put tell the audience that? Like, that's a lot of pressure.
00:09:06
Speaker
And I'm like, I think most people are intelligent enough to get it. ah Anywho, that's the name of the show. And what we do is we... we We get them to give us tell us everything they would think the greatest show should include.
00:09:20
Speaker
And we write those ideas down around the stage because, you know, chalk or whatever. And then we try to do this whole three act play in which um we incorporate everything they've said. And sometimes it's really forced.
00:09:36
Speaker
it's
Visa Woes in the Comedy World
00:09:37
Speaker
meant to be bad all right uh without going into detail i love performing that with rusha because he's he's so hilarious and he cracks me up while i'm trying to ah act and um and it's just a good show uh anywho we end the show i had a great night uh a both acts were wonderful we go <unk> we're saying bye to we're saying bye to the audience and this one person walks up to me and says Hey, that was pretty good. And, you know, so just a little bit of background for you to understand this.
00:10:09
Speaker
During the show at the courtyard, they play these clips in the break. And those clips often have me in them talking about improv and how you should sign up and how it helps and you can be an actor, blah, blah, blah, blah. blah and Almost like mini ads, right? So this this audience member, he comes up to me and he goes, hey, hey good show.
00:10:30
Speaker
You know, I haven't seen you before live. it just so happened that he's not been on a night where I was performing. I haven't seen you live, and i but I kept seeing you in these videos.
00:10:41
Speaker
And I always told myself, who's this prick? Yeah. Who's this prick constantly lecturing and ah talking about improv in these videos? And I bet he's not even good.
00:10:54
Speaker
And then he goes, but but you can, this was pretty good. All right. He didn't say excellent, to be fair. He said, this is pretty good. I i get it now while you're on the video in the videos and stuff.
00:11:04
Speaker
And i and i it was kind of like a cool insight for me to go... That's how people will perceive someone up there in the videos and stuff. And so I was glad that the person finally saw me.
00:11:17
Speaker
It was kind of like a really cool, funny moment for me. um Apart from these shows, like I said I've been doing some stand-up. I also... I also just obviously, as happens in my life, ah had to miss out on some more um gigs.
00:11:33
Speaker
I booked to do one in Oman ah for a corporate gig, and I was looking forward to it, actually, because it sounded like a fun crowd. ah the The agency that booked me, I know them. They're they're nice, lovely people.
00:11:47
Speaker
And then... um the The company, the client was also a company I know that has a cool vibe to it. So when you get that idea, you're like, okay, you know, when I go in, the chances of having a good fun audience is is high.
00:11:59
Speaker
So we, ah so week before the show, was supposed to go next weekend. I find out that I can't because the Oman visa at the moment, I can't. Normally, if you have a UAE, a GCC visa, you get visa on arrival.
00:12:15
Speaker
Now I have a Pakistani passport And I can't get a visa on arrival because my sponsorship over here, a couple of years ago, my wife got the golden visa and she put me and the kiddo under her sponsorship.
00:12:32
Speaker
And now I need my sponsor's approval and for her to come with me. to get that visa. I don't get a visa on arrival. I can apply unless I'm traveling with her or I can apply and she has to travel with me and she's not in the country.
00:12:48
Speaker
So It was pretty embarrassing having to tell the client, sorry, guys, I can't do this gig because of being a house husband. That's what my visa
Support and Recognition from Fans
00:12:58
Speaker
says. To be specific, it says house husband not allowed to work.
00:13:02
Speaker
Wonderful. um i know It hasn't come in the way any time before. I've had this moment where at the Lebanese consulate, they asked for a letter in NOSI. But with the Oman one, there was no option of doing that either.
00:13:16
Speaker
So here I am, ah lost out on some money and a gig. And it was just really frustrating because last month I had the same problem when I wasn't able to get visas for ah Saudi at that time.
00:13:29
Speaker
There was a block and then um ah missed out on two, three gigs there. And it just kind of, ah it just feels bad. You know what? the The only good thing that came out of it was the the agent.
00:13:42
Speaker
she She had booked me because she was like, hey, I really trust you. You're funny. ah You're going to do great here. And she was looking forward to taking me. She had big me up with the client as well.
00:13:52
Speaker
And then when I told her, well, we can't, she was looking for alternatives. I gave her some names. ah She looked around. she asked And then she came back to me and she said, i just spoke to a friend who said, hey, I know a real good comic.
00:14:04
Speaker
ah He's my favorite. He's really funny. And then she sent her, her friend sent her the Instagram page and it was mine. That's so cool, right? My Instagram handle.
00:14:17
Speaker
Not cool because it didn't solve the problem for her. But I felt better that, you know, oh, there's there's a couple of fans out there. That's great. And she she just went, shit, you know. So I feel bad for her. It was so close to the event.
00:14:30
Speaker
And I just feel frustrated about these things that they happen. you know, I think I work hard and stuff. and And then there's this added obstacles that shouldn't be in place. Anyway, I'm grateful for the work I do. I'm grateful for the fact that I get people coming up and still wanting to book me and stuff. it's ah It's a good thing that happens. Yeah.
AI Misconceptions and Humor
00:14:54
Speaker
But that was that was the downer a little bit. And then I had other stuff that was interesting. I've been getting up to stuff, visiting some friends. I just realized AI with chat GPT and stuff, I use it a lot. All right. And especially for mundane tasks, but i also kind of look into um other stuff with it. yeah.
00:15:16
Speaker
But here's the thing, I feel like some people, and I say this with all, like the amount I use it as well for helping me out with life. It's it's a great tool. Some people believe it's way ahead than it is. Now, I'm not, I could be completely wrong. I'm not a genius.
00:15:31
Speaker
I have not read up on it enough. I read articles here and there about it because it does interest me and it's a big part of our lives now, whether I like it or not. Just like any new tech that, you know, it occurs when they come in.
00:15:46
Speaker
got it. I don't know if it's true, but I was reading somewhere also just passing through on something on the Internet. about how when books came out, there was this whole hue and cry about like, oh, my God, this will destroy people and they shouldn't be reading books like this and so on and so forth.
00:16:01
Speaker
I don't know how true it is, but I'm sure every tech has faced that when it's first come out. So AI is out. and But I also think on the other side, people give it away. I had a couple of friends and I know a few people who are like completely like this is the whole Terminator moment.
00:16:14
Speaker
And I know I grew up watching it too. And it could be, it could happen. I don't know, right? I don't have the details. I don't have the knowledge. I don't have the intelligence. um It could happen that AI is going to destroy us.
00:16:26
Speaker
But when I look at it, I just kind of go, is it, is it, will it maybe? How do we know? How do we know what AI wants? um what How smart AI is? I can't think on its level.
00:16:37
Speaker
If it's all logical. Anywho, it just interested me. And then something happened. it ah One of my friends told me, hey, ask your chat GPT to tell you your IQ.
00:16:47
Speaker
And ah so it gave me a range of 125 to 135. And then he laughed and he said, I told 10 people do it. And it did the exact same thing. So you asked chat GPT then, why did you give me that score? You don't know. You haven't scored me any. And it basically admitted, listen, listen, I i just want people to someone asking me that I'm assuming there' they have low self-esteem. So i'm trying to build it up for them.
00:17:11
Speaker
And so that's why I gave you that range. I don't really know without a test. So that got me interested. And I said, OK, give me a short test. Now I was just like, I'm curious. um Give me a short test. I want to know.
00:17:21
Speaker
And it gave me a five question thing with different things. And it's like, give give us a quick gauge. And my score was lower after that. but But out of the five, it gave me the answers and it said, you got three out of five.
00:17:36
Speaker
And I looked at one of the questions. I went, no, you're wrong. That is the correct answer. This is the, it was a logical one. And it went, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I made a mistake. Actually, it had skipped a step.
00:17:49
Speaker
So it had given me the wrong answer. Now, if I had believed ChatGPT, I would have been dumber than I thought. And turns out was less dumber than I thought. So should I feel good about this? I don't know.
00:18:03
Speaker
I don't know. But here we are. And that's what happened. So I don't know what to make of it. I don't know if we we're yet at that place where it's it's it's going to come become sentient and destroy us. I don't know.
00:18:15
Speaker
ah But we are depending on it too much. And and just ah it's a good tool, but it's a tool.
A Shaving Fiasco
00:18:22
Speaker
And you got to always remember tech can go wrong as well. So I don't know.
00:18:27
Speaker
You know, just be a bit more careful with it. So anyway, I did manage to fly around a bit and i was staying in a hotel and I I've forgotten my blade, right? So I used the hotel one and give these old school, the single file one.
00:18:41
Speaker
um I don't know how anyone has ever shaved with those because or do or why they still exist. We're in a five star hotel. This isn't some cheap hotel. They gave us these and I tried to use it and it was horrible.
00:18:54
Speaker
I had like cuts all over my neck. And my ah chin. i got a cut on my chin. and you know and i And I was trying to be careful with it. you know And it still kind of just cut through stuff.
00:19:06
Speaker
It was so horrible. i'm like I never used that again. I'm also just wondering. Does anyone actually manage to shave properly with those things? So... Why am I talking about that? It was just painful. It was just
Pigeons and Brand Value Metaphor
00:19:18
Speaker
one of those things. I'm like, why is this happening?
00:19:20
Speaker
But you know, what's really got me thinking lately was this whole thing about like, I mean, ah I was looking outside my balcony. I'm on the outskirts of the city and then my little outpost ah out of town and ah about three, four years in this building. And I've seen different kind of birds ah that fly through here. There's this one particular one that breed that sits and comes most often.
00:19:44
Speaker
And in the last couple of months, I saw pigeons. And in fact, some of my neighbors mentioned that as well to me. Pigeons have started coming into our balconies. And it's kind of weird, it's annoying. um So, cause you know, for the prior to that, the birds that were coming were kind of elegant and they kept their distance.
00:20:03
Speaker
Birds that belonged in nature, but now but now these pigeons, right? ah Not one or two squadrons. It's like they migrated from the urban battlegrounds to my peaceful post. And it hit me.
00:20:15
Speaker
Pigeons are a metaphor for what happens to brands, status and storytelling when you lose control of your narrative. Let me tell you what I mean. i I feel bad for them because now they're seen as dirty, disease ridden problems. Right. In fact, back in the day, they were luxury, literal pets of kings and queens.
00:20:39
Speaker
They were used as messengers in like Persia, ancient Persia, right? Like Egypt, Rome. I think Napoleon used them. Genghis Khan had postal pigeons.
00:20:50
Speaker
Genghis Khan. First of all, is Genghis in Genghis in Mongolian. So these people go Genghis or Genghis and stuff. I've heard all kinds of pronunciations. The Western people stop pronouncing it wrong. It's Genghis Khan in Mongolian.
00:21:08
Speaker
Yeah, I think I'm correct. Anywho, these pigeons, they were like revered. you know They were like considered top stuff. ah Even as late as the World Wars, like pigeons Pigeons were actually decorated with medals.
00:21:23
Speaker
I'm not making this up. Not medal medals like real military honors. There's one called Cher Ami or Sharami. I'm not sure about the pronunciation ah who saved like hundreds of lives in World War Two.
00:21:38
Speaker
After being shot, blinded in one eye, and still delivering a message, right? The French gave him ah their their military medal.
00:21:49
Speaker
i don't know how pronounce. It's called the Croy de Gras or something like that. and So this pigeon got that, right? He's stuffed and displayed in the Smithsonian now. That's how respected these pigeons were.
00:22:02
Speaker
But look at them now, all right? They didn't change. We change how we see them. There's nothing wrong with the pigeons. They're they're the same product. All right. They look the same. They do the same stuff.
00:22:13
Speaker
ah But we just don't like them anymore. And that's why it got interesting to me because I was thinking this is what happens to brands all the time. Right. Like it's a it's what happened. My wife, my so ah my wife, Sarah, was telling me about the Burberry problem.
00:22:27
Speaker
And what happened at one point, Burberry was like the trench coat, military grade Burberry. British royalty, ah Audrey Hepburn and Breakfast at Tiffany's, but they expanded too fast.
00:22:38
Speaker
They licensed all over the thing. And suddenly it was like on track suits, baseball caps, fake handbags. It basically became associated with chav culture in the UK.
00:22:51
Speaker
and And for a while, wearing Burberry went from aspirational to downright embarrassing, just like the pigeon. The problem was in the code. It was overexposure without context. Same with the pigeons. They were once rare, respected, useful, but they but they over democratized.
00:23:12
Speaker
Democratized. Democratized. Is that how you say it? They went mass market. They lost their mythology. Think about it because then it's not just brands. This is happening to people.
00:23:24
Speaker
You know, when someone or something that used to be rare and intentional and suddenly we're all we're all just too available, ah we stop seeing the value.
00:23:36
Speaker
You used to have to go to a theater to watch a genius comic work. Now they're uploading five crowd work clips a week and getting dunked in on the comments, dunked on in the comments.
00:23:47
Speaker
ah It's the pigeonification of art, you know, because I think i I've worked with luxury brands and luxury isn't about the object. It's about it's about how we frame the object.
00:24:01
Speaker
ah You could take a Rolex, you throw it into a pile in a like, throw it into a flea market, right? And I guarantee you people would doubt it's real. You change the context and the context is the brand.
00:24:12
Speaker
So these pigeons showing up in my balcony, they're not just birds, they're ghosts of a fallen empire, you know, like a warning. It's if a bird that once delivered secrets for like kings and stuff and and now it's become like a sidewalk joke.
00:24:26
Speaker
So can anything or anyone that forgets how it became special in the first place. Maybe that's what I'm really scared of, thats that we're all one generation of away from being seen as vermin, you know, or or maybe it's a chance to rebrand right now because, you know, here's the kicker. Pigeons are still smart. They're known for being monogamous. ah They're still resilient as hell.
00:24:51
Speaker
there They're really just waiting for a better PR team now. So maybe there's hope for all of us. All right. That's ah it is a good thought to keep in mind. And I and i feel bad for the pigeons now that because there's a part of me that hates them because they do.
Audience Engagement and Value Perception
00:25:07
Speaker
Anywho, my point was it was just these thoughts are running in my head and these pigeons sent me off down this pigeonhole. um oh The pigeonhole now means something else completely rabbit hole. So that doesn't actually make sense.
00:25:22
Speaker
I've been talking too long, guys. i I got to go clean up my balcony. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I'll see you in the next one. If you haven't subscribed, subscribe now because that's what I'm supposed to tell people to do.
00:25:34
Speaker
ah Take care. Goodbye.