Don’t take Burr’s word for it
Self- deprecating comic a hit doing standup or on Breaking Bad
You can’t always tell much about a performer from a bio. Most tend to be puffed up. Not that of comedian Bill Burr.
The Boston- born wit has no use for self- aggrandizing promo. His bio reads like his act: honest and hilariously selfdeprecating.
Burr categorizes his comedic style as “uninformed logic.”
He may be a tad harsh on himself, for his uninformed logic has made him a regular on Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon, and catapulted him to the top of the comedy heap.
His standup career is on fire. His comedy specials have been hits, particularly his third and most recent, You People Are All the Same ( available on Netflix). He is also in demand on the big screen: He basked in The Heat alongside Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, and will soon be seen in Walk of Shame with Elizabeth Banks, and Black and White with Kevin Costner. Plus, he distinguished himself as a hood in Breaking Bad.
“It was so exciting to see how the ( Breaking Bad) story ended,” he says. “But just to know that there’s not another season coming out is the sad part. I don’t think I’ll ever be seeing a show like that again.”
It’s hard to disagree with his assessment of what many consider to be among the most cuttingedge TV series ever. But for Burr’s legion of fans that frees him up for more standup and festival gigs now that the hit drama has run its course.
From a Vancouver vantage point, Burr’s only flaw may be that he is a diehard Bruins fan, and not so much a lover of the Canucks.
But despite his hockey
I’ve been happy for a while, in fact. People watch my specials and they think I’m up there ranting and raving and being miserable.
BILL BURR
COMEDIAN AND ACTOR
allegiances, Burr is still one of the most popular comics among Vancouver audiences. It’s no accident that his first Vogue Theatre show sold out so quickly that second and third shows had to be added.
One of the keys to his standup success is that his act — like that of Louis C. K. — is constantly evolving. An hour- long Burr set changes from night to night.
“On a good night, depending on my mood, it can change up to 60 per cent,” he says. “I wouldn’t know how to do the exact same act, night after night. I would go absolutely insane.”
A serial comic at Montreal’s Just for Laughs, Burr brings plenty of cynical bite to his act.
His take on pedophiles, for example: “It’s so much easier for them now with the Internet.
“In the old days, a pedophile would have to go to the trouble of renting an ice- cream truck. Today, all he has to do is to Google www. eight year old whose parents have fallen asleep. com.”
Or his views on brunch: “Why would you want to sleep in on a Sunday when you could spend $ 18 on eggs?”
Yet despite the fact that he oozes angst in his standup routine, Burr has a confession: “I’m beyond happy these days.”
What? Could this be the same man once described by a British pundit as “only one minor irritation away from a killing spree?”
Apart from his professional success, his happiness may be derived from the fact that he was recently married.
“She’s just a saint,” he says. “She puts up with me.
“I’ve been happy for a while, in fact,” he confesses. “People watch my specials and they think I’m up there ranting and raving and being miserable. It’s really just heightened emotion that I am going through.”
Regardless, Burr has been generally cast as the heavy on the small and big screens. He doesn’t see himself playing the lovable romantic lead any time soon.
“I would bet 90 per cent of my money on that not happening,” he says, quickly adding: “Although stranger things have happened.”
Like bliss on the home front.