Comedian Bill Burr: I’m always ‘examining why I’m such an idiot’
also, I don’t take the responsibility of that lightly. You can’t be doing shows and just be on cruise control. You really gotta make sure everybody gets their money’s worth. So that’s my big thing every night.
Which is funny because people say, ‘Make sure you’re taking it in.’ This is stand-up comedy, you can’t take it in. If I start sitting back looking at the joke I just told, my timing is off and I immediately start bombing. I can reflect on it afterwards, does that count?
Q: What topics or themes can people expect from this tour? Will this be material for a future special?
A: I’m definitely always examining why I’m such an idiot. My recipe has always been sort of topical things, making fun of myself, talking about my family life, and then also kind of looking where I can get the areas of my life where I could use some improvement. (Laughs)
Which I always think people enjoy and connect to in the crowd because no one’s out there like ‘what I’m gonna do today, I’m gonna be a bad person.’ Nobody’s thinking that, but you end up doing things and saying things that you regret or whatever you are, you just keep making the same mistake. And that human experience I find, like just trying to improve yourself, change results or just get out of a rut is very relatable. I think people connect with it and it, makes me feel good hearing them connect with it. So I don’t feel alone.
Q: You’re definitely an equal-opportunity finger pointer whether you’re making fun of yourself or conspiracy theorists, or someone else. For you, everyone’s fair game.
A: Or racist morons, yeah. I’ve been having a fun time examining, you know, things like why people have a real problem with affirmative action but had no problem with segregation? (Laughs) And if it wasn’t so painful ... it’s hilarious though, the juxtaposition of those two things. I always compare it to like boarding on Delta Airlines where everyone’s trying to protect their status, as if it’s racial, rather than what row you’re sitting in.
Q: Your big project in 2023 was the Netflix comedy film “Old Dads.” How was that and do you have any other movies or projects fans should be looking forward to?
A: “Old Dads” was such a thrill because that came out during the (Writers Guild of America) strike and I was just sitting there. Like, I couldn’t promote it at all. I was so proud of it and I couldn’t promote it ... it was still number one globally on Netflix for two weeks straight and it streamed over 50 million. For the first one out of the gate, I wrote it with my writing partner Ben Tishler and we had an amazing group of actors that helped me along. So I’m very proud of that one.