I spoke with Dan Telfer, comedy nerd and nerd comic, before his terrific performance at Punch Line during SF Sketchfest.
Dan talks about the podcast he's working to develop, the podcasts he loves, and bees!
WHAT KIND OF PODCAST WOULD YOU LIKE TO CREATE?
I would love to have a really easy-to-produce podcast where it’s like 3 comedians sitting around talking, but there’s so many of them that I would rather it be special. Like, the whole reason I got into standup is because I wanted to do what I wanted. I came into it with a lot of expectations of like: "Standup is going to be all for me, not for the audience. Me, me, me!" and even though that’s super limiting, I think I would do the same thing with a podcast.What I want to do ideally is like a scripted, like people doing readings of science fiction, but like comedy science fiction. Maybe I would riff a little in the intro or the ending, but it would be much more like a comedy science fiction like This American Life or something like that.
If I ever get mine off the ground -- and I haven’t, because I had a producer who got a really great job and didn’t have time to do the podcast anymore -- it would just be that. I have stuff written already, I have friends who want to do it who have written pieces, so I would love do something like that. Something a little different than what’s out there right now. There’s tons of science fiction podcasts, tons of comedy ones, but this would be like audio skits.
DAN TELFER AT JUST FOR LAUGHS
Podcasts are really hard to produce. People who are good at producing will tell you, as they’ve told me, "It’s super easy. You can figure it out!" But the problem with nerds is they always think things are easy because they understand it. Like, they don’t understand their brain works differently. So, even though I’m pretty nerdy, I’m never good at remembering things, so I can’t juggle all the data necessary in my brain.
WHAT PODCASTS DO YOU LISTEN TO?
What’s really exciting about Paul and Greg is that they are really doing something unique. [Paul] has a music guy [Eban Schletter], and I love that non-lazy energy he puts into it. I think it’s called work.
And Greg Proops...he’s basically releasing an hour of material, a free comedy album every month. I hope he keeps that momentum and he doesn’t get sick of it. There’s nothing wrong with having 3 people sitting around talking, but if you want to go into it, comedians can own it. It can be theirs.
It’s a lot like when Conan got his new show. You could debate whether or not he’s doing this yet, but everyone was like, “He’s going to do whatever he wants now! He owns it!” And that’s what you should do with podcasts. You’ve been given unlimited freedom. Give yourself some structure, reign it in so that you can thrive within that structure.
BEES! LET'S TALK ABOUT THEM.
BEES! LET'S TALK ABOUT THEM.
A lot of times, creativity can be really chaotic. It’s like… you know, give fucking honeybees a jar or a structure, and they will build their honeycomb in it. I feel like creativity is the same way. It’s organized, but it doesn’t have inherent structure. So, by giving it structure, you can add this layer to it.
Every time I listen to Greg’s thing, just as a fan of comedy, I’m like: "How lucky and I to get to listen to this? How rare." And I think that is the kind of thing that builds a fan base.
Every time I listen to Greg’s thing, just as a fan of comedy, I’m like: "How lucky and I to get to listen to this? How rare." And I think that is the kind of thing that builds a fan base.
The big question now is: Can all of these comedians find ways to help this help them make a living? A lot of podcasts are finding ways to do it, but like WTF…[Maron] just said in the New York Times interview that he’s breaking even. He deserves to be wealthy. Anyone who puts that much into it deserves to be rich.
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