Have you ever wanted to ask a stranger what the dumbest part of their job is? Well, we have and can and did. This week, we asked stand-up comedian Selena Coppock to tell us about the dumbest parts of her job. And thankfully, she had plenty to tell us.
DAAB: What’s the dumbest thing
a stand-up comedian can do before a show?
SC: Think about what each,
individual member of the audience will think of each joke of yours. It’s a really bad idea to overthink the
audience like that. Plus, I’m always surprised—one audience member might be
dressed conservatively, but they like more "blue" stuff and another audience member
might seem like a free-wheeling party machine, but they are easily
offended. You just never know. It’s important to just go out there, share
your thoughts, and have fun.
DAAB: What’s the worst joke
you ever told on stage?
SC: It’s hard to pick one
“winner” as far as my worst joke, but I’ll go with this one. I used to have a
joke that was ALL about that 1980s TV show Small Wonder. Just about how absurd it was that that
parents had one kid (the pudgy son), then for some reason they were unable to
conceive a second child, so rather than adopting, the rocket scientist father opts
to BUILD a robot daughter. There are
kids out there who need homes! Who are
begging to be adopted. The joke goes on
to make fun of the robot daughter Vicky’s weird voice and laser eyes. It’s a long joke, 6-7 minutes or so. I did a show once and started out by asking
the crowd if they remembered the TV show Small Wonder. NONE of them did, and
yet I plowed forward with my Small Wonder material nonetheless. Idiot move on my part, but I was too new and
dumb to have a ton of material up my sleeve.
DAAB: What’s the dumbest thing
a heckler ever said to you on stage?
SC: I once got badly heckled
by a woman at a show called “Dykes on Mics.”
It was co-produced by lesbians and took place at a gay bar, but the
comedians were a mix of straight and gay, male and female. I started in on a joke about an ex-boyfriend
(because I’m a hetero… sorry, ladies) and an irate, older lesbian started yelling
at me and walking up to the stage. She
was like, “You’re not GAY!?!?! What are you doing on this show?” I was like, “You’re right—I’m not gay. Perhaps you should be a bit more
open-minded.” It was ridiculous.
Find out more about Selena Coppock here!
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