Transcript
Speaker: It's another Dirty Brief.
Speaker: It's another Dirty Brief.
Speaker: And the reason I'm singing it like this is because it's my birthday.
Speaker: Yeah!
Speaker: After almost dying last year, somehow I've made it to 38.
Speaker: I feel simultaneously older and younger at the same time, but that's not what this episode is about.
Speaker: I don't want this to be all about me, because I'm here for a very specific purpose.
Speaker: I tweeted a couple weeks ago, create it, release it, stop giving a fuck.
Speaker: And a lot of people have told me that really resonated with them because so many of us are afraid that
Speaker: We spend our entire lives just like holding ourselves back, worrying if things aren't good enough.
Speaker: Why?
Speaker: Why do we do such things?
Speaker: I myself am a victim of this.
Speaker: So I wanted to get out of this habit.
Speaker: I went into my Dropbox where I have tons of stand-up comedy and I just started uploading.
Speaker: I put sets on YouTube.
Speaker: I started putting more clips up and a lot of people...
Speaker: What I thought was going to happen is people would say, Alex, this is old.
Speaker: Why are you releasing all this old shit?
Speaker: We've seen this before.
Speaker: No one cares.
Speaker: I'm at a point in my career where anyone notices if I put up the same joke.
Speaker: And if it's a good joke, they're happy to watch it again.
Speaker: I had my own holdups thinking like, oh, well, it's already on my first album.
Speaker: I don't want to do that anymore.
Speaker: the loudest voices are getting the most attention.
Speaker: And often what you think is not good enough, that's what speaks to people.
Speaker: So often we just make things and we hold on to them.
Speaker: We think it's not good enough, but finished is better than perfect every single time.
Speaker: And often it's just
Speaker: You got to put it out there.
Speaker: Those loud voices, those people that are winning the internet and therefore commanding our attention.
Speaker: Are they the best at what they do?
Speaker: Usually?
Speaker: No, there seemed to be annoying as fuck.
Speaker: And that's what I was worried about.
Speaker: I was worried about the people, the fact that people would think I was super annoying, but that's not the way it is.
Speaker: They'll, if honestly, someone doesn't like what you're doing, they'll stop paying attention.
Speaker: Or they'll wait for the next thing.
Speaker: All these people on the internet are screaming as loud as they can at the top of their lungs.
Speaker: I'm watching comedians that have been doing it less than two years headline major clubs that I myself cannot get into over a decade into comedy.
Speaker: Now,
Speaker: It doesn't mean they're better than me, but it does mean they have figured something out.
Speaker: And a lot of that is not having a hang up about just putting it out there.
Speaker: They have no resolve whatsoever about just throwing something on the Internet.
Speaker: Maybe it works.
Speaker: Maybe it doesn't.
Speaker: You can always take it down or you can try again in a different way.
Speaker: But it's just.
Speaker: You don't know until you do it.
Speaker: You don't.
Speaker: No, we can't make art to please others.
Speaker: We have to make it for ourselves and hope that it resonates.
Speaker: We're our own worst enemies in this.
Speaker: We will always, there's that little voice inside of us that goes, no, people are going to hate this.
Speaker: People are going to ridicule you.
Speaker: They're going to run away forever.
Speaker: No, they're not.
Speaker: At least not the people that truly care.
Speaker: That's what I have found is most true.
Speaker: See, I myself, I don't go for the fast grab of getting a fan.
Speaker: I look for a relationship.
Speaker: I want connection.
Speaker: I want the people that go to my comedy shows to feel like they are there because we align with the same things.
Speaker: And I've seen this too many times.
Speaker: I have watched brilliant artists sit on something because they're worried about what other people might think.
Speaker: They don't want to put it out yet.
Speaker: They say, no, it could be better.
Speaker: It's not finished yet.
Speaker: Again, finished is better than perfect.
Speaker: You have to put it out there at some point.
Speaker: Otherwise, you're denying people the opportunity to experience it.
Speaker: We do make art for ourselves.
Speaker: I think that's important to say again.
Speaker: We make art for ourselves.
Speaker: But we have to hope that other people are going to hear it, see it, hold it, whatever it is.
Speaker: We need it.
Speaker: We want people to hear, to see it.
Speaker: We do.
Speaker: And if you don't, that's okay.
Speaker: You can make art just privately in your own home and keep it to yourselves.
Speaker: But if you're going to put it out there, just do it.
Speaker: Just throw it up there because whatever the thing is that you think is not going to hit, oftentimes that's the one that does.
Speaker: And then they will say, well, what else has this person done?
Speaker: Let me see other things.
Speaker: How many times have you seen a really cool piece of art, heard a great song and immediately gone to the artist page or their Spotify, however you listen to music and said, yes.
Speaker: Oh my gosh, I enjoy this.
Speaker: A lot of times you realize, I actually don't like these other songs that much.
Speaker: But at least you gave it an opportunity because you heard one thing that you liked and now you have that one thing that you can hold on to that's music to your ears.
Speaker: Literally.
Speaker: I'm sure you are sitting on an idea that has not come to fruition or a project that is halfway finished and you're afraid.
Speaker: to finish it.
Speaker: Will you know what anyone thinks of it if you never put it out there?
Speaker: It's so important.
Speaker: And if you want to win in this game of followers and everything else, I wish it didn't matter.
Speaker: I wish it was all talent-based, but that's not the world we're living in.
Speaker: People are building their followings before they even build their talent.
Speaker: And yeah, maybe some of them will fizzle out because that's not a way that I think is proper.
Speaker: Because people are going to come to your shows and be like, what was that?
Speaker: I thought this guy was great because I watched him for 40 seconds on the internet.
Speaker: But...
Speaker: That's the way it goes.
Speaker: I've spent over a decade building my talent, trying to become the greatest comedian that I can be discovering who I am.
Speaker: And I was afraid to release anything because I wanted to build giant projects.
Speaker: I wanted full albums.
Speaker: I wanted to create experiences.
Speaker: But if I don't dish them out in little tiny appetizers, how's anyone supposed to pay for a full meal?
Speaker: So that's why I'm releasing all this shit.
Speaker: And nobody cares.
Speaker: Nobody goes, Alex, you put that out six years ago, that album.
Speaker: Okay, well now I uploaded a video to YouTube because I figure most people haven't heard it.
Speaker: So maybe they want to watch it.
Speaker: Maybe you're not downloading this podcast.
Speaker: Maybe you're watching it on YouTube, which I didn't want to do initially, but I don't watch podcasts.
Speaker: podcasts on YouTube.
Speaker: I would never do that.
Speaker: But about 40% of people that are intaking podcasts are watching it instead of just listening to it.
Speaker: Now, do I think personally my podcast is better just to listen to?
Speaker: Of course I do.
Speaker: But I'm not going to deny the YouTubers the opportunity to find me.
Speaker: And I think that's important.
Speaker: I really do.
Speaker: So repeat it with me, everyone.
Speaker: Create it.
Speaker: Release it.
Speaker: Stop giving a fuck.
Speaker: Because no one else out there gives a fuck.
Speaker: Nobody.
Speaker: And if somebody sheds you immediately and stops being a fan of who you are because you put out one thing that they didn't enjoy, that's not a real fan.
Speaker: You have to give artists the opportunity, the chance to grow and to fail.
Speaker: That's what real artists do.
Speaker: They fail sometimes.
Speaker: They do something that is so outside the box that
Speaker: that it doesn't hit with their audience.
Speaker: But if your audience doesn't give you the chance to do that, they're not your real audience.
Speaker: Those are not the people that matter.
Speaker: And I think the people that watch me, that listen to me, that come to my shows, they understand that I'm doing something that is much bigger than 30 seconds.
Speaker: I'm creating a
Speaker: An experience.
Speaker: I want the human connection.
Speaker: I want my shows to feel like an hour long whip it.
Speaker: I want you to be transformed, transcended for that hour to forget all of your problems.
Speaker: And then when it's over, you wake up and you're like, whoa, where have I been?
Speaker: That's what a true comedy experience should be.
Speaker: So create it, release it, and stop giving a fuck.
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Speaker: Create it.
Speaker: Release it.
Speaker: Stop giving a fuck.
Speaker: Happy 38th birthday.
