I first met Brody Stevens back when I worked on the Ridiculousness TV show. He was doing crowd warmup before the show was taped to get everyone all hyped up when Rob Dyrdek, Sterling Brim, and Chanel West Coast would walk onstage. At first I was like, "This guy looks familiar," but I couldn’t put it together and it took me a while to introduce myself because I was intimidated and didn’t want to bother him. Then I learned he’s actually been on a lot of different TV shows and movies, and he’s also a paid regular at the Comedy Store (you can see him there just about every weekend closing out the main room). Since then, Brody has become one of my favorite comedians. We’ve also become friends since working together on set, so I thought it would cool to sit down and talk to him about what’s been going on and where he’s going. —Rick Kosick
Rick: When did you get into standup?
Brody: Officially, February of 1994, Seattle, Washington. Brody the comedian. That’s where it began, but I did take a workshop here in Los Angeles at UCLA extension in 1993, and Pauly Shore’s sister, Sandi C. Shore, was the instructor. We had our graduating class at The Comedy Store in the middle of ’93, and then I did one open mic out in the valley, in Chatsworth. And that’s all I did. I did one and I stopped. But when I chose the track, to go for it, quitting Macy’s and moving up to Seattle, that was February of ’94.
So why did you want to be a comedian?
Well, I played baseball. That’s what I wanted to do. I had a good arm, I hit the ball pretty well, and my last year or two at Reseda High School, I started getting a couple recruiting letters from colleges. I wasn’t like a heavily recruited guy, but Arizona State showed interest in me, and I wanted to get out of the San Fernando Valley. So I went to Arizona State and pursued baseball. Now along the way, people always thought I was funny, but I never took an acting class. I never auditioned. I was strictly baseball. Not that I wasn’t funny with my teammates, I was, and I liked the attention when I could do it.
Then I hurt my arm in baseball the last semester there in 1992. So I took an acting class and it was fun. It was supportive. Because baseball’s ragging… you’re putting the guy down, you know. It’s like Jew joke, gay joke, all that stuff, but then you take an acting class and it’s all about support. It’s all about being there for the other person. So when I took this acting class, it was like, “Wow, it’s 1 o'clock in the afternoon, and I’m so used to being on the baseball field in 115-degree weather with these crazy guys, and now I’m in an acting class—it’s air conditioning, cute girls, supportive. I like this.” I was trying to be a serious actor, do a scene, maybe do a monologue, and they would laugh. So I go, “You know, maybe I am funny.” I didn’t even really know what standup comedy was. I didn’t study it. But I got laughs, and that put it in my head to not fight being funny. By doing that class, it showed that I have something and I should utilize it.
For someone that has never seen you perform standup, how would you describe your style of comedy?
Unique. In the moment. Crowd work. Energy. Jokes. Confidence, sometimes, but definitely a personality. But it also depends on when I’m performing, because when you’re doing standup, so many of your sets are in the middle of the night, or you’re hosting, or you’re going up in front of a drunk crowd. So I have to handle it different ways. I’m not gonna sit up there and let a crowd treat me like a surfer on a big wave, getting thrown around. You gotta be like, “Hey, I know what I’m doing. I know what works best for me.” You can’t win every set, but they want to laugh. It’s not like they’re in there to not laugh. You just gotta get them on your side. But a lot of that depends on where you’re at, when you’re on, how you feel. So many variables.
How do you handle hecklers?
I don’t get them necessarily. I get people who are drunk once in a while. You make them part of the show, or you ignore them. I don’t really get that guy like, “You suck,” or, “Get out of here.” I don’t even want to give those people power, because they don’t get it.
Are there any perks that come along with being a comedian?
If you’re a standup comedian, that’s technically freedom of speech, I suppose, and you’re that guy. I wouldn’t say it’s a perk, but I would say that you do hold a lot of responsibility. It’s a power. If you’re good at it, people look up to you. I like being able to do comedy, making people feel good, giving people laughs. I’m lucky. It’s a voice I have. Yeah, it’s a perk that I was born this way.
What makes a successful comic?
It’s experience. It’s quality stage time. It’s the reps. It’s the 10,000 hours. There’s really not a secret, but then there’s a business aspect of it, so you gotta be smart. You gotta be smart on social media. You gotta have the right people involved with you, the right agent or manager. My thing is, I come from baseball, a blue collar ethic. You do it. You be the best comedian you can be, and these things will come to you—you would hope. But it is called show business. It’s a business. It’s not a fantasy. I’ve been able to survive putting out positive energy for 15 years. But it’s a give and take. You have to sacrifice some creativity for business.
When you’re onstage as a comedian, you got that audience, and you gotta try to connect with them and find a common ground. And be funny. Get laughs. But you gotta have bad sets and remember that a bad set will help you grow. When I have a bad set, the first thing I do is I go home and I look at my notes. What joke did I forget? Why was I stressing out there? So you go back and make your changes. A bad set is actually good for you. You come to a certain point where you don’t need to beat yourself up. You gotta have your health. And comedy is stressful. I can easily see why people say, “Wow, how do you do it?” I don’t know how I do it.
A lot of comedians aren’t necessarily funny. They’re great joke tellers. They figured it out. It’s a craft. Some of the funniest guys aren’t standup comedians. It’s more than just being funny. It’s something else. It’s having the balls to do it, or being just driven enough to do it, or delusional enough to do it. I think it’s hard to develop when you’ve grown up in the digital world. You’ve grown up on the internet, you can watch YouTube videos, and you can totally become somebody. You just study the videos. But there’s nothing like putting the 10,000 hours in. Luckily I wasn’t born in the internet world. I had to pass out flyers, word of mouth. It wasn’t like, “Oh, this guy got a million views, he's got followers, he’s on the show.”
Are we in a popular time with comedy? Is standup big again?
Yeah, but popular doesn’t necessarily mean funny. You know, comedy is not about being popular. It’s about being the little guy making fun of the big guy. That’s what comedy is. But now that it’s so popular, the comedy is the big guy. What’s funny about the big guy poking at somebody? Yeah, comedy is popular, but I feel that it’s jumped the shark a little bit, like maybe the bubble is about to burst—the internet comedy bubble. Saying this person is funny because they put it out on the internet world is like… I feel like maybe coming to an end. The negative troll comedy, internet comedy, bullies. You got people on Twitter trying to be funny, people who’ve never stepped on stage in a comedy club telling comedians how to be funny or they’re not funny or whatever. It’s pushing out good guys. Who wants to be around haters, arms crossed, negative. I don’t want to be around you. I’d rather play to people who like me. And who likes me? Usually people who are good people.
I don’t want to give off like some God complex, like "I’m the guy," but I like to think that I did put good energy into comedy and if I’m not around to protect it, you got people who are not good making comedic decisions. So I feel like comedy can be saved. I’m not saying it’s over, but I do feel like comedy got too big. And if comedy is so popular, so big, where are the new national headliners? It’s always Bill Burr and Louis C.K., because how can you possibly grow as a comedian with the world of negativity and what you’re consuming, probably, ’cause most comedians are liberal, you’re consuming negative information.
I think the same thing is happening in the rock 'n' roll world that you’re saying is happening in the comedy world. There’s no one new headlining. It’s still the same bands.
What do these kids have to be angry about? Nothing. They’re not angry, because they get whatever they want. So why would you rock out? What are you up against? You’re smoking pot. You play your video games. You’re having sex. You watch violence. Again, not their fault—I’m blaming the people who allow it to happen. It’s like a kid's world. How could you be angry? What are you really angry about? Now you can say you’re angry about police stuff… there should be good rap songs coming out, I’m sure.
Do you have a favorite spot you like to do at The Comedy Store?
I like doing the last spot in the main room on the weekends when I’m in town, Friday or Saturday. I get to spread my wings in a low pressure situation. I can really relax, come up with stuff, and play around. Because you’re there, you have 20 people. They’ve seen comedy for two hours, so my goal is to keep them engaged, because they’ve seen every joke. They’ve seen all different styles of comedy. You can’t just get up there and tell a joke. Most of the time, they don’t want that. You have to kinda embrace the situation. And because I’m the last guy, I can walk around. You can really play with the room. I’m thankful that The Comedy Store gives me the space, the time to do that. I also like doing the 15 minute spots. Those are good workout spots.
What's it like doing warmup compared to standup?
You gotta have energy. And the reason I say that is because I’ve seen the results of energy by doing 3000 television shows, having to have energy everyday. You check your ego at the door. I’m getting paid to get this crowd laughing and engaged, but I’m also there to keep the crew guys fired up, the camera guys energized, the talent going—talent knowing they got an audience. We’re gonna have fun. That’s what you do when you do audience warmup. You make it fun. Sometimes you gotta watch it, like okay, am I the warmup guy or now am I a standup guy? That’s a problem when you do so much standup, it becomes who you are. And then, you’re up there and go, “God, I’m doing like a warmup routine as opposed to standup.” And also, psychologically, when you’re doing warmup, they’re not there to see you. They’re there to see the show. They’re there to see somebody on the show. So there’s no pressure on you. Whatever you give them is just bonus. So for me, I was able to shine in audience warmup and show them, “Hey, not only am I going to do a good job, get the energy going, but I’m funny too. I can be funny.” My pressure was on myself to make sure it was the best show it could be. Same thing with my Periscope. I’m just being me. It’s just me and my camera. And you have trolls and all, but I don’t see them. It’s all net gain, Periscope.
Why are you so into your Periscope?
Makes me a better standup. So I’m doing standup at The Comedy Store at, say, you know one o'clock in the morning, there’s 15 people in the crowd. You Periscope it, it’s a thousand people. Now I got a thousand people, who watch, click in, see what’s going on. Then knowing that people are watching at home, it kinda ups the stakes for me. I can’t have a meltdown set, necessarily—not that I would or that I even think about that, so it gives that extra layer of walking on a tightrope. I also do it for warming myself up. Let’s say I have a set coming up. Just to get some exercise in, I walk and talk. I get it out. Talk, talk, talk, talk. So by the time I get up onstage, I’ve already engaged. I already got my brain working. So that’s why I do it. Having it be broadcast or having it be on my, like if i decide to put it on my Twitter feed, that’s all bonus. For me, it’s just a tool to get better as a performer. Also, indirectly, people are seeing it and could lead to a job.
How many movies and TV shows have you done to date?
Movies, only maybe like six or seven: Hangover, Hangover 2, Due Date, Sarah Silverman’s Jesus is Magic, Road to Park City, cut out of Funny People. I haven’t really done sitcoms or commercials… I’ve had good auditions for a couple commercials, but I’ve done standup on TV. I did the Craig Kilborn show on CBS late night three times. I did Conan once. I did Last Comic Standing. I did Premium Blend on Comedy Central. I did The Burn with Jeff Ross. I got to do Kroll a couple times… these are just the things I picked up through the years.
What would be the one life lesson you learned playing baseball?
You know, I was a pitcher. You’re doing standup, you’re pitching. Throw a fastball. Okay, they took it. Strike 1. Alright, we’ll read them. We’ll throw a curveball here. Curveball, yeah, fouled it away. Should’ve threw him a fastball, he’s on that curve. Alright, look at the lights. Good crowd here tonight. Alright, you know, I’m gonna give them this to set up that. Now, I’m gonna throw a fastball up. I’m gonna scare them a little bit, watch this. Yes, fastball up. Whoa. Now, I’m gonna throw a curveball, a little joke with a little wrinkle, little twinkle in my eye. Give them a smile. Curveball, smile. Boom, strike 3, laugh. You know, you’re performing. You’re in the moment.
It’s like John Wooden with UCLA basketball. Winning’s a result of the preparation. Getting the laughs. Being dedicated. Putting in the time. Having the jokes. Having the experience. Listening. Maybe I have to adjust my thinking if I wanna get the house or if I wanna go to that next level, whatever that is, but I feel like I’ve applied John Wooden lessons. The little things do matter. It’s a balance. I have a lot of fun performing. I would just like to continue. I don’t need to have a huge house. I just wanna continue what I’m doing. I get satisfaction knowing that I inspire other people on Twitter. That makes me feel good. So if I can do that and have an outlet for my art, make a couple bucks and not be stressed too much, I’d take that.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
It’s hard to say in five years. Hell, I don’t even know what it’s gonna be like in three months. Maybe a little more defined, a little more streamlined. I gotta be more independent. You know, people are talking about that, starting my own business, my own network, my own TV show. So it could be something like an Adam Carolla type, where I have my own Brody. But again, I’ll act. I don’t mind being on something I like to do. And I enjoy baseball. I would like to someday be able to combine baseball and comedy.
Any closing comments?
I think the way things are going right now—how people are tense and frustrated—I feel that it makes comedy even more important. It’s a very important time. So people are fighting for mic time, fighting to get their opinions, fighting to get what they think is funny out there. So I think, yes, right now it’s an exciting time for comedy, but it’s competitive and you’re gonna have to think, “How do I outsmart the other guy? How do I do that?” Because right now, yeah, it’s about being nice, but this is Hollywood. And I’ll put a snake in your car. That’s how aggressive I will get. I’ll pull you in with a smile and smack you with a frown.
(All photos by Rick Kosick; 2016)
Fantastic interview, great questions! His background story and entry into comedy is really interesting. How often do you see a serious athlete transition into a career in comedy? SBS cares for his craft and always appreciates his fans. Refreshing article. Keep pushing that positive energy Brody! :)
Posted by: Monica | 10/21/2016 at 04:02 PM