Ep. 51 Everyone is Funny with Comedian Butch Bradley

Now does butcher our cheesy intro procedure.

Yes, he does. I am thrilled to have. This is one of my friends, one from back in the day, who started out. He actually used to open for me in the standup comedy world and now has catapulted and has his own show. He's not just a headliner in Vegas, but has his own show. His name is Butch Bradley. I just. This guy's heart is so big, he's killing it. And we're also gonna find out how Covid has helped his career. But first, let's take a little quick listen to Butch Bradley.

How we doing, people? Good to be here. It's good to be in the theater with the lights on. Right? You don't want to be the last one in the theater, right. When no one's here, when the boo come out. Right. See, I'm. This is like. If I was a ghost, this is where I would be. I'm not a big fan of. I don't even mind adult ghosts. It's like the kid ghosts, you know, watching a little kid walk by in the middle of the movie. The la la la la la. Did you see the little kid? Yeah, I did. Hun. I don't know. I don't know. Stop hanging all over me. I do love you, but I love you on the other side of the couch. No, I can't protect you against the supernatural. No, I'm not being a jerk. You wanna know what the truth is? I'm faster than you are. Something happens, I can get away. But if you're hanging on me, I'll probably trip. Ghost will get me and you'll get away. My buddy was like, hey, did you see the Grudge? Yeah, I saw the Grudge. Little Asian kid. He went, mmm. I went, movie off. I don't even know what, uh means. The ring. Oh, my lord. You see the ring? Little girl, long black hair, tried to come out of my TV movie off. Then I yanked the police. I turned the TV around, I put it against the wall. I figured if she returns, she'll hit her head, change directions.

All right.

Hey, Mark Brown. I'm thrilled to have a comedy, true comedy pro. But I've seen this guy, and he's one of the hardest working people I've ever seen on any stage. And that's why I thought he'd be great. To help people create unforgettable presentations.

Lets meet Butch Bradley.

All right.

Anyone can give a presentation. Few deliver unforgettable presentations. What's the difference? You're about to find Out. Welcome to the Unforgettable Presentations podcast with your hosts, world champion speakers and coaches, Mark Brown.

Mark Brown, your life tells a story, and there's someone out there who needs to hear it.

And Darren Lacroix. And Darren Lacroix.

Stage time. Stage time. Stage time.

Ready for some powerful presentation, Ahas? Let's dive right in.

You sound so stinking excited.

I am, man.

I can't wait to meet Butch and for audience to get to know him. What's going on, man?

Hey, Butch. How are you?

It's great to be here, guys. I love your intro, by the way. It's cool. Thanks. Good stuff. We need that every day. I want to wake up with the two of you telling me, butch, are you ready to start your day? Come on, get up. It's a beautiful world. And as I stand up, you're like, okay, get out there. Have confidence. Big hands, Big hands. No, it's exciting, man. It's crazy to be here with you. I was your opener in New Hampshire, and you're killing it. I love everything you're doing with Stagetime University. It's just cool, man.

Thanks, man. I remember back in the day, just all the people who. Billy Burr. All the people who made it.

Dane Cook.

Yes. And now, boom. It's like. That's one of the things I remember people saying. You know, Boston comics, New York comics, they just have something. Because we've had so much challenge just to be able to get the audience to laugh that it's almost like. It's like swinging two bats.

I remember greatest. It's probably like the, you know, the. The honing ground was incredible. And this is great for anyone who's, like, working on speaking. But we battled in Boston. We battled to be heard. You tried, you know, an F bomb. You tried to be polite. You tried smiling. You tried sipping from your. You had a beer. Beer didn't work. I'll try Coca Cola. What am I gonna do to get them to listen? It was an incredible place. And the cadence of speaking in comedy in Boston, as a Boston comedian, it's very much like drums. We would drum and speed up when we had them. We try. And once we had them up there, we would try and keep them up there because we didn't know how long they would stay with us. And the New York comic is a more like, you know, jazzy, like, they want to listen. Cause he's cool and hip. But in Boston, we would go slow and then crank it. That skill from Boston has paid off a ton because I'll get to gigs. And people will go, hey, this is a hard room. And I'd be like, nah. I started in a place called Daisy Buchanan's. Like, I think I'll be fine.

A lot of speakers think that they don't understand the hard rooms are the ones that you learn the most from, that you get trained from those B rooms. And for us, it was, you know, the bowling alley and going to Bangor, Maine, when there's a TV going on in the background. And for presenters, it's that Kiwanis Club, it's that Rotary Club. It's that, yeah, they kind of, oh, we're having a speaker, who cares? But I remember Butch going to Denver Comedy Works when I was still an open micr. And I was like, oh, my gosh, this crowd is easy. This is. And it reminded me of the challenge we went through, right?

Different parts of the country. And it's really a great point for this. Different parts of the country, different places in the world, how people listen, what they're offended by, what their living energy is, what their weather is. All these things determine the energy of a person in front of you. But at the end of the day, if they're in the audience and they're there to watch you, you're already way ahead and they're there to listen. So you have to just walk forward into that illusion and sort of create your own reality in that moment. You know, you start to realize that in the early days, I would say, can we turn the TV off? Right? And then I realized, hey, I have to just get up there and do my job and forget every outside element and bring them into my world. Hopefully entice them into my world enough where somebody gets up and goes to the bar and goes, can you turn that down? So it's a growth process, and standup is UFC for public speaking.

I gotta ask a question real quickly. Forgive me, Darren, but you talked about Darren, the B room. And to the untrained ear, the B room sounds like an A list. And the B list. The B room is not the best.

Room to be in.

True TV going people are active and it brings to mind as presenters, sometimes we are faced with all kinds of distractions. I had to do a conference in a situation where we had to go through one room to get to the conference room. I don't know why it was designed that way, but the room we went through was a wedding blasting next door. You're doing a keynote. Try to motivate people to be their best and to write good presentations, and that's a real world scenario that not everyone has encountered yet. So when you say you got to bring them into your world, I really, really appreciate it because Darren says we do a program on virtual presentations and we talk about we want the perfect scenario. But in reality, there's so many distractions out there. So what is one technique you would offer to a presenter butcher to handle those distractions and is to bring them into your world. What can a presenter, a speaker, even be a pastor do to draw that audience in despite the distractions? Just one tip.

Well, first of all, the number one rule that I follow. And when I don't follow this rule, I fail. I tell the truth in the moment. So whether I was a preacher or, or a public, you know, a speaker like yourself about to go up, I would honestly memorize that whole experience of walking through that wedding because in my mind and in my training, I would know that that's my opening before my opening because that's my reality. And if I avoid that reality, I've already begun lying to them. And they already know there's a wedding next door. So they aren't gonna listen to me if I'm not being honest in the moment of my own reality. So be like, wow, not only did we just walk through a wedding, I glanced at that couple and I can tell you that is not gonna work out. That is not gonna work out. But I'm glad all of you are here. Let's try and finish this up before the 80s Music hits and we all can join the wedding to dance. I would use that. And you're talk preachers like. I was raised Catholic. I've been to all denominations. I go to Israel on a regular basis and do shows. I think the greatest speaker or preacher or rabbi for me. I love when they open up honest before they go into, into the book or they go into preaching, reading, where it's pure rhetoric. I want to hear Monsignor flattery. When I was a little kid, I was an altar boy. He was the coolest because he would talk and he would, he would. I remember him saying, I love Wendy's. I love the Wendy's hamburger. And we're like, what wanna see in your flattery eats Wendy's. So. And then he, he slips into mass. But I think the truth up front, Mark, is the most. If you trip, if you, you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, if you were caught in traffic, whatever it is, you share that. And you have to trust your instincts. Of course that's going to become a seasoned Skill over experience. But I always. Even on television, I'll open raw if something unique happens, because it frees me up to my natural gifts. And then I slide into the memorized piece that I might need.

What's cool there? Also, Butch, because if in that moment, you can acknowledge something, that is a shared experience, like I said, we all had to go through the wedding to.

Get to that room, right?

We all had bad traffic that day. We all had an airport thing happen. If we can tap into a shared experience, then they'll be with you even before you begin your opening line. That's pretty good advice, Darren.

And I know, Butch, you've done USO tours around the world, so you're dealing with different audiences from different cultures. What'd you learn from that?

Every tour I've ever done, first time I go in and absorb, and I've done. Let's say I would perform it like a C. I've grown to know that that's cool, that I'm going in to learn the culture, to find out what the do's and the don'ts are. Basic language. When I went to the Middle East, I went in. So performing out of theater and performing in theater are different. I've performed all over the country, to bases where we're home and we're safe. In theater, in war zones, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, it's a different dialogue. I don't bring my own political rhetoric. I literally wore blue jeans and a T shirt so everybody could see home and think about home. Even though I was told I needed my Kevlar on and my protection gear, I really wouldn't wear it. So they would see home, and I would try and take them home, but I wouldn't. In that speaking scenario, I didn't discuss politics. Why are we in the Middle East? I just went out and I went, wow. Wouldn't it be cool if we started invading countries like Hawaii or beautiful places like. I go, God, this is wonderful. Why wouldn't we go to war? We have to pick a place with the temperatures. 128 degrees. We know we're not staying. We're Americans. We aren't gonna be here. We need to leave. I try and find out what works in that environment. And the one commonality that we have beyond religion, culture. I mean, I. The first comedy club in Malaysia. My audience was completely Muslim. I was the first guest in Malaysia on all Muslim television. The key elements are we all have mom, dad, brother, sister, family. So if I guard those elements with respect in my speaking, I'm safe If I remember that foundation, and for me, instead of being this funny, maybe I'll be a little less funny. But make sure that this audience feels comfortable with me and I can take them for the ride. So learn the elements of your audience. And in some cases with professional speakers, you're in competition. You have people in your audience that are also in the competition. You can feel their energy, that they're staring at you instead of listening and enjoying you. Even with those elements, you sort of have to drift off. Like, you have to let go of that world and free yourself of it. If you're feeling nerves, like in the Middle East. My first trip there, I was an American. I thought it was exciting. But then when I realized the severity of war, et cetera, et cetera, and being there and not watching it on cnn, my comedy and my speaking changed. It became completely honest and truthful without offending. And that's a lot to take in if you're a new speaker. But it's key. I mean, I'm not gonna be in an all musl and go, why is everybody covered up? I don't understand. It's hot out. You just learn about the people you're going to speak to. If you're in a new area, you can pick up a newspaper, read through those. Even if you have a particular speech or business, you know, you're at a business conference and you have to speak technology, it does not hurt to pick up a local newspaper, drive around, learn about the town a little bit, because everyone coming there experienced all those little things. All you need to do is hit one of those. Did anyone see the girl checking us in? Oh, my God. Did she ever get a day off? What's that? That might be a little more comedy oriented, but the reality of the things we're experiencing, you bring to the table. But the Middle East, I was bigger, more stage oriented. I moved a lot slower. I moved a lot slower because I speak, I wanted to hit them. I want to bring them in. There's so many crazy elements happening in the Middle East. I've literally been on stage and when there was explosions, this is kind of funny in a crazy way, but the whole audience looked to the left, and my escort leaned over and said, if we get signaled to leave, I want you to follow me. I turned back to the 1500 troops and said, my escort said I should follow him. If anything goes wrong, I'll tell you what, I think I'm going to follow the 1500 of you. You know, if any of that helps anybody. But knowing Your audience speaking. Each environment's different. I will also go to a new stage before anyone's in it, if I feel a little uneasy and I'll walk it and get used to it and look at all of my sight lines. I'll look to the left. Brad Garrett's comedy club in Vegas, comedians always speak forward and they're like, hey, Butch, you seem like you're getting a little more. I go, you know what? You're ignoring the 125 people to the deep left wing. And they're like, what do you mean? I'm right there? I go, no, this room is skewed real strange. There's a wing out there. And then when they look, they're in awe that they've been on that stage a dozen times and never saw that. There's 80 to 130 people over there in a 400 seat room. So you're feeling this gap of energy. Go out, look at your room, take your stage, touch your mic. Is the mic wired? Is it wireless? Is it gonna be a lav? Are you speaking off of a lav if you're not? If you're on a lav, you kind of want to use your hands and you want to walk and you want to get comfortable with that before you're forced to speak on a lav. First time in front of an audience. Those are just a ton of elements I threw out real quick.

So two things. When you were talking about that girl at the registration desk, for people who are doing live conventions and conferences, should we ever get back there again in the next year or two. One of the registration desk principle is. One of my comedy principle is go to the registration desk at the convention or conference because it's that shared experience. So what you're saying, though, is observe what's happening and those staff people, because they just interacted with them. I. Butch, one of the comedy principles that I brought from stand up over to how to be funnier speaking is I say, hey, bring those people aside when no one's around and say, what's everybody complaining about?

Boom.

You know, common bond that the room's too cold, the food sucks, the, you know, da, da, da.

I'm feeling that. Go. Go for it. I haven't discovered that.

Go for it. That's where the tension is, yo.

You know, it's funny. Darren and I tell this story every time I talk to you. I'm in China. I was. I'm the first American comic to go live and work in China. Blah, blah, blah. I'm feeling Pretty special. I got a show there. Chinese youth are so hip and cool. They all speak English. So you're like, did I grow up with you? You know, I mean, the English is incredible. So stand up. Comedy, freedom of speech. I'm killing. Doing great. Life is interesting. I'm in Shanghai, and this woman asked me to come speak for all these world famous toastmasters. I'm in there. It's not really going well. You and I had been dialoguing. Hey, my good buddy Darren Lacroix is the toastmaster. This awkward, weird situation where I'm like, with these wealthy people in China, and I'm dressed, like, in a T shirt, jeans, with a hip light coat that says, I love China. All of a sudden, I mention your name and I'm a hero. They're like, she knows Darren Lacroix. He knows Darren Lacroix. Dude, I'll never forget that. You turned that event around for me. I was like, yeah, I talk to Darren, like 10 times a day. I'm godfather. I don't know if he has kids. Did you know I'm the godfather? All his children. It was ridiculous. Dude, you're like a hero in that country. You saved me.

You're very kind. You're very kind. I learned it from Mark Brown. Yeah, right.

Coach Mark.

Without him.

I've been there too. I was also there in 2015, so we have a pretty good following there. Go ahead.

Another quick principle I just don't want to let go of because we were just on that topic when you said you looked over to the left and you acknowledge those people. I don't know if you even know this, butch, but in my championship speech, I have a moment that connects me with the people way in the back that I learned from Don Gavin. Gavin, a Boston comedy legend. He looked at my early version of the speech, and he told me that he was in the comedy festival in Montreal. And he said he was like a first timer. And nobody their first time out in the comedy festival does really well. But he did. And he said that one thing he did differently than everybody else is he acknowledged the people in the balcony.

He said, that's it.

I spoke to the people in the balcony who felt left out. So thanks to Gav, one of the things that I did in my speech and it turned into a comedy line when I was laying down, and I said, and the people way in the back because it's 2,000 seats, so they're feeling way away from everything, even though they're looking at the imac screens. So when I Acknowledged them. It was like I brought them right to the front row. I'm not saying I did anything great. I just applied what I learned from comedy legend Don Gavin.

Right. All those facets. And I think I always think about the back of the room. And in our case, we're usually booked four to seven days. So each room I go in and learn. And then as you tour, you know the room, and then those elements travel with you as a speaker. But the back of the room, to the left, to the right, walking to those wings, you have a mic stand, lean. All of this I learned from great Boston comics. You know, like Gavin and Sweeney and Kevin Knox and all those guys. I would watch them, I'm like, why does he kill? And I would see him take and lean out. Like, leaning out is a big thing. And also stepping back. I have a big energy and a big voice. Sometimes I need to quiet down. Sometimes I need to pull back to bring them in and then, you know, to not overrun my energy. So, yeah, incredible notes that you need. Hopefully building up for your pinnacle moment. Whether you're a preacher or a business exec or you're at a PTA meeting, wherever it is, or politics or just speaking to your family about something important. During COVID if you want people to react to you, those lessons all collect and hopefully show up at the right moment.

You mentioned about even during COVID and so many of us as presenters, even pastors, have had to shift our model, so to speak. And I'm sure there are those who are wondering, how does humor work in a virtual environment? Your physical comedy is always so great. You know, as a comedian, you can do so much with your stage. We as presenters are doing conferences, webinars, and workshops in this virtual environment online. And the question becomes, how does comedy even work in an online environment? And do you handle it? And what advice do you have for people who want to be more humorous in a virtual world?

Well, my lessons have been. And thank God I was like, at this level of years of experience, being around people like yourselves and just comics and brilliant speakers, you tear up what you think you knew. Truth and honesty. And I literally opened up a couple times with pure honesty. I'm like, I live with the girl I love, and I'll tell you what, I trust her with everything. Until three weeks into Covid, we're playing Monopoly from my hometown, Atlantic City, and she's trying to sell me Boardwalk back. And I'm thinking, I can't trust this person. How can I live forever with the person who's trying to sell me my neighborhood back. And that's when I discovered the guest room. Have you really ever sat in your guest room? She was looking for me for 20 minutes, and she opens the door, she goes, what are you doing? I go, whoa, whoa, whoa. You didn't knock. I'm in the guest room. I go, you gotta knock. She goes, you're not a guest. I go, I'm in the guest room. I need some time. And you know what? I like my eggs over easy. And I just go to close the door. We sort of discuss your environment and closeness. And of course, we share the bathroom all the time. I'm in the guest bathroom now. I go in there. She's like, where are you? I go, I'm over here in the guest side. I'm in the guest. Just share your own personal experience as you run into your dialogue. Because if you're speaking about ABCDE to a corporate event, it could get stale. They could fall asleep. It's hard to bring them in. But if you're constantly throwing seasoning in between about COVID and real life and mask and no mask, and you have to share it. We have to tear up what we knew, and we have to relearn this environment. You have to.

Now, what about presenting?

That's true.

And you, as a comedian, you are aware of what's happening, and you know how to use what's happening in a way that's not offensive or crazy. And I know some listening here. Maybe Toastmasters have heard so many Covid references, you know, almost saying and as they must shy away from it. But then we're now confined to being a face in a box on somebody's screen. And the kind of energy you would normally have on a platform is difficult to parlay into what happens on a screen for an hour. How do you overcome that challenge when you have to present in a virtual screen from your laptop or your phone?

We have to be better. You have to use words. You have to be more. Your words have to be as if you're reading Moby Dick. You know, you have to really be better in the language of what you're sharing. And when you asked me about being virtual, when I go virtual, like right now, I'm at home with the guy in his pajamas and, you know, the woman who's having coffee in her. I'm everywhere that all these people are, and I'm thinking about what their experiences are while they're listening to us right now. You know, they can see Freddie Mercury above my right shoulder. I want to be in all of those elements. It's different because I'm a comedian. And you mentioned Covid being like a taboo. You know, you could lose somebody politically. That world is the beginning of great speech. Wherever you feel nervous, great speech. And to reach people in a great way is being honest. And I've used it in places all over the world. I'm an American performing in an all Muslim country many, many, many, many times. Places where you would think the rhetoric would be anti American. It's not anti Butch Bradley, because I come from a good place because I don't want anyone to have Covid. But doesn't it suck wearing a mask sometimes? And sometimes I peek my nose out and I try and lean this way. Cause I don't want anyone to know I'm cheating. You know what I mean? Right. So even though I don't want you to get sick and you don't want to see that, I've already had it. I sneeze and I'm in Ross. And I'm thinking, they're going to hit the alarm and everyone's going to clear Ross. Right now. I have to share that energy, even if it's not about COVID You could say, you know what, we're all going through the experience, but I think that we have to be brilliant on our words, really honest, passionate, and expose yourself. I think you have to expose yourself. You can't be afraid to offend anyone. And if you come from a good place, you're not going to offend anyone. I mean, we're always going to offend someone. And in comedy, the great comics have told me, if you're not upsetting someone, you're doing something wrong.

But you also mentioned something that I think is brilliant and I want to make sure everyone hears it. When you were an emerging comedian in Boston back in the day, we know a lot of people who made it. We also know a lot of people that don't make it. What do you think is one of the differences of Butch Bradley as an emerging comedian? So maybe a presenter who wants to be unforgettable. What's that mindset? And here's what you said. You said you were studying the people who were killing and you said, why does he or she kill? Why does. So your curiosity was at a deeper level than not. Why was that funny? Why is this person killing and what are they doing? And then how can I adapt that? What are some of your mindsets early on?

Well, well, in speaking about my career in particular, I think a real comedian doesn't have a choice. I really didn't have a choice. I thought about going. I'm a pretty smart guy. I thought about law school. I thought about being an exec. I thought about this, I thought about that. I'm like, you know, I'm in a lot of trouble. I have to be on stage and upset some people and make some others laugh. So early on, it was drive. I really have a sense of faith. I pray, I meditate, whatever you want to call it. I'm spiritually aware. I was driven to do something that made me feel good, to give back a little. And selfishly, I feel great when people laugh. I'm like, woo. All right, that's pretty good. I even talked to my like, babe, did you see that? You didn't see that coming? Hard work. Look, I have to go to the gym. I don't want to go to the gym. I go to the gym to just make sure I feel good, to get my nonsense out. I have to monitor myself. I have to read. I have to look at five, six different news agencies. I have to understand politically where people are. I do the extra work. And when I go to stage, if I don't do poorly, I don't ever blame an audience. If I have a poor speaking engagement, it's me. It's always me. That's how I believe it. Audience is there to see you. I can't bring anger to stage. I've been caught being angry and. And I realized, wow, you know, I let them down. I critique myself very in a hard way. I let go. I have fun, but I think it's on us. I work hard and I go to stage. You gotta go to stage. I used to tell guys who couldn't get stage time. I said, go do karaoke. He goes, what do you mean? I go? Get used to using the mic while I can't sing. Even better. Get up there. Get up there and eat it in front of some drunk bar and learn from the experience. You gotta go. I go stage, stage, stage. I go to the gym, I play with my dogs, because that's healthy. Healthy. I bring my girl coffee because I love doing that. I do these little things to feel good, to keep my head clear. I write my notes. I absorb as much information as I can from society watching us snap on each other. And then I put it into whatever I'm working on and try and sort of translate that into comedy in my case.

Yeah. And I know early on you're one of my favorite comics. Not just because I know you and Love you. But you're so.

I love you. I love you.

You're so animated. So for those of you listening that opening clip, if you were listening to the podcast, you missed part of it because you don't see Butch's visual and his classic hand on his cheek position. So there's something missing when you're just hearing it. But Butch is so animated. Were you always animated, or is it something, a skill that you just came out naturally? The more stage time you got.

It's so funny you bring this up because Carla, my fiance, just asked me recently about faces. She goes, you make some really funny faces. And she's like, how did you learn how to do that? And I remember being in fourth grade and hearing one of my friends tell me, your faces are really funny. And being young, I was sort of offended. But then I thought to myself, he didn't mean it to be mean. He meant, I can make a funny face. So I do work on faces. And Lucian hold used to own the Comic Strip in New York. I went through auditions. When he critiqued my audition for Comic Strip in New York, he explained to me that my facials. My facial movements have to be different for each premise and bit. So I do work on them. I do. It's natural. But if I see video of myself and I see a repeat action, once I'm aware of it, it won't happen again.

That's interesting. That's fascinating. I just love when you were doing that opening clip and you just, like, click. No, like, click off, and then you turn the TV around to face the wall. That's flipping brilliant.

Well, you know, and this is a great thing for learning a speech. What I do is I improv through a topic and then I write. I pay attention to where there's reaction, and I make notes. A lot of guys write it out really in detail, but I like to hear where the audience reacts, and it gives me a more natural reaction. Also, if I have a speech format, I'll memorize my bits and pieces in one word, but I will try not. I'll try to be different every single time so that the experience is different every single time. I don't want to memorize word for word, and I understand in your world, that's part of the art, but to be you, to be the kill, to be special, to be the person that they remember, I'd say, don't do it the same way every time. Be you. Be different. Because every day's different, every moment's different, every stage you're on Is different. Be true to the moment with what you're there to say now.

Something you said just now. When I look at the video and I see the same thing twice, I decided I gotta change it. What you have said is, when I look now, Darren and I have been preaching for a long time.

It's a two step process.

One, record yourself. Yeah, we can all do that. Number two, watch yourself. Not everybody is willing to watch themselves. Oh, it's too painful. But there's so much you can learn by actually watching yourself 100% making decisions. I can change this, I can change that. How was that process of just that little action of watching, noting, adjusting, how has that transformed your performance going over time?

Well, it's tremendous. I'll tell you. I'm going to use another comedian as an example who I idolize, Chris Rock. I watched Chris Rock prepare his new special for about seven weeks some years ago between the Laugh Factory, the Improv and the Comedy Store. And I thought it was terrible. I was like, this isn't funny. He was recording and writing and recording and writing and recording and writing. I show up like, I don't know, nine weeks later, and they're like, chris is up. And I'm like, I didn't think it was funny. And they're like, are you insane? You gotta see this. He made all of the adjustments and changes with his notes and videotaping himself with 80% of the same material and killed. And I was just sitting there like the student who thought he knew. And I always watch myself. And another note, if you have a friend or a family member that you're comfortable with, their critique of you, you know, they come from a loving place. If I have that one or two comedians, I'll say, hey, bud, you see anything, go to the back, take notes. If I do this too much, if I do that too much. If you see a place where you can add a tagline or a callback, or if you thought, whatever you see, watch me. So film. Have a trusted person watch you. Someone that you click with who is. And you know, look, people are competitive, they're jealous. You gotta find someone you're cool with that can watch you and not be like, that was terrible. Get a day job.

And would you agree I think this is what you're saying. Let me reframe the word words a little bit. But would you agree that I think a lot of speakers and comedians give up too soon on a joke, Just like you're saying.

That'S why I'm not Chris Rock.

Nice and I know a lot of presenters. Every presenter wishes they were funnier. Even if they're funny, they still wish they were funnier. What does Butch Bradley look for when you're kind of looking for the seeds of what you're going to work on?

I like the unique elements of society that we see so much. We don't recognize it. We don't see it. If someone was working to be a little funnier. Everyone's funny. The funny, the humor is in you just telling your story. Tell your story, tell the truth, and the audience will tell you where it's funny. So when you get up in the beginning and you're sharing your morning coffee experience, you literally just get up and go, how does the hotel room think, I'm only gonna have one cup of coffee? Well, I'm in the hallway in my underwear with the first cup going, I need another cup. I haven't even finished this. What human starts their day with one cup of coffee? I need three. I need three cups of coffee. Just to feel respectful to other people in the world. Like, just share. You share. You tell your story and you'll find your own funny, but really start to watch and listen. I really. People watch. It becomes something that you'll be better at. It's a muscle. Pay attention. Pay attention. You'll become much better at catching something really unique and funny if you can do it. I don't like to watch other comics, but if I'm doing a television spot and Darren's up and Mark's up and so and so's up, I have to watch. Because if they do something that is similar to what I was gonna do, I have to make the adjustment on the fly. So be open to watching and don't be afraid to make adjustments on the fly. Don't be afraid to cut a piece that you don't think works and to bring in your day in between speaking moment. But to be funny, just tell your story and go slow. Just tell your story. Share what bothers you.

I think taking notes, too, and looking for that reaction, even if it's like over coffee, you kind of tell your story, and that's stage time. Even though it's coffee time over a table, and even if you have a little audio recorder, even if people go, huh, that's an indication it's got potential. Work harder.

Catch yourself being jealous and catch yourself like, Darren, you killed in your toastmaster speech. Because after they talked to me about you, I went and watched and you killed. I learned from watching. Great. I don't want to Be on a show with a handful of new people. I want to be up like I was in Hollywood. I want Bob Marley on the stage, Ralphie May. I want Seinfeld to pop in first spot. I want. I followed Rodney Dangerfield. I'll tell you what, my first time following Rodney, I don't remember a thing. It was like a blackout. But after a while, I got comfortable following killers. And it was a gift. Watch great people, Watch them, learn what they do. Be you. Be true to yourself, but don't be afraid to celebrate someone in an art form that you're in that is killing it. I watch preachers. I watch political speakers that have a tone that caused me to listen. I think of especially times like this. Martin Luther King, Gandhi, great leaders were great speakers. They reached everyone. That's a big part of what society's lacking right now. And that happens to be the world we're in and we're trying to learn from. But don't be afraid to love somebody better than you at that moment.

I love your attitude, man. You've got such a great intention behind everything. Mark. I think we could even call this episode Everyone Is Funny. Because I think we gotta find it, we gotta hone it. So, Butch, give us a quick synopsis of that opening bit that we played on the ghosts. Just like, what was the idea? You know, where did it come from? Where did it strike you? And then how did you test it? And how did it tweak over time?

Okay, so in television, you have maybe 4 minutes and 30 seconds with laughs. You guys are amazing at time. Cutter.

Whoo.

That is like, a skill in your world. Here's the piece. The piece is really fat. Oh, I wanna talk about scary stories. And then I thought, with me, my little east coast energy, I can show them I'm frightened pretty quickly, and I don't need to get into all of that dialogue. So I chopped. I kept getting a hit. When I was, like, turning the TV off, you know, as opposed to saying, I think I'm gonna turn the TV off. That piece, I decided to work right directly off of my true fear of seeing something supernatural. I don't even like saying that on this podcast because I'm afraid tonight something will show up. So I want to show that real time fear and energy. As Butch Bradley, I discover my own voice. Share it, and then you recognize my own ability to share my story in my use of the language and my physical language and to express fear and fear.

Mark, I just love the brilliance of that. When you taught me to how do we say it better in fewer words? And he just gave us a great example of that, you know, Then I shut off the tv. Cut the fat. Cut the fat. I think that's a great note too, by the way. Mark takes notes, and we go over. We recap at the end, all of the brilliance, all of the butch brilliance. And so instead of shut off the tv, it becomes. Yeah, and. And you also did it with the. You know, with the classic hand on your cheek thing, which it just. It's funny, but you show the real reaction. And some people aren't willing to talk about their fear, but you do, which kind of gives us permission, and we just can't help but connect with you.

I discuss a lot about dying and fears of dying, which is a taboo thing, you would think. But in the Middle East, I talked about it. They loved it because we're human. And anybody in preachers or reverends or priests or. They deal with it every day. And the more we dialogue about these things, and in my case, I get to promote laughter from my own fear of dying or how I die. It's healthy. It's healthy. My family is crazy. It's all women that are brilliantly hilarious. Thank God they're not. Stand up. My Aunt Rosie was like, if I start to talk to myself, take me to the ocean and push me out. And guess what? She was serious. She was serious. Hey, butchie, remember, you promised. Right into the ocean. I love the ocean.

You know, it's interesting, though. You know, we laugh at these comedy routines, but for you to be honest and say, listen, I do have that fear, and I'm gonna use that fear in my material to bring latter to my audience. That does take the courage. It takes authenticity. It takes vulnerability. And I have a mantra which I say, authenticity plus vulnerability equals credibility. And I've taught that for quite a while. When you break it down, it's true. We're authentic. We're credible. People gonna believe us. You know, if we're vulnerable, they're gonna believe us, and they're gonna tune into us. And one would not normally think in a routine about, you know, the ring and some little kids going, rad rom.

Rad rom would freak you out.

But you use your vulnerability and create humor out of that. And I guess a lesson for me and for those listening is that our vulnerability is really gives us a window to the heart of the audience where we can connect with them in a genuine place. When we're authentic and vulnerable, we become credible to them. They'll listen to us. They'll respond to us. So I really appreciate you showing us your honesty and your vulnerability and the way you use that to your advantage to connect with your audience.

Oh, thank you. Yeah. It's important to find in comedy, as Darren knows. Like, your standup career is based on you being you, and everything belongs to you. And that is why you have to discover your own world quickly in order to have credibility to among the other comedians and to be booked and to develop a career. So you're constantly diving in to discuss things you really don't want to discuss.

Mark, sounds like a recent episode when we said, find your goals. Go to that place you don't want to go, because that's where the gold is.100%.

The gold is there. Get down there and you know who's waiting. Wow.

I can't believe time is flying by this quickly. Butch, if you were to give one bit of advice to not just a humorist comedian starting out, but someone who wants to grow as a speaker based upon all your years of experience, is there one bit of advice you would give to someone who says, you know what? I want to get to my next level? What would that be?

Well, I'll tell you. The scariest thing I ever did was getting up on stage, and it was my first and most incredible spiritual experience. I would say if you're nervous and you're afraid, you're on the right path to push through that. And when you push through that, it all becomes your strength and your power. And you stand up in front of five people or 5,000, you find a really sacred place where you're comfortable with yourself speaking, and it's beautiful. I would say that whatever it is you want to do in your life. I had a day job. I was working 70 hours a week. I thought I always wanted to be a standup comic, and I thought I should try that because I can easily get a job I don't like. I should go and chase my dream to do what I want to do. And to chase that dream, I had to do what I was most terrified of, which was to get up and speak in front of people and share what only I knew I was thinking about. And the payoff is blissful. So I would say don't be afraid to move forward through anything you're afraid of, because you're really going to find a wonderful surprise on the other side.

And, Butch, just. I'm such a great fan of yours. We were talking before the podcast, before we started recording, and you said something that I don't Think I've ever heard anyone say in all this craziness. But you, you tell us a little bit about how Covid has helped your career as a comedian. With all the comedy clubs closed, it's funny.

My. I had shot my special. I was Blessed with Sean McNamara, director from Soul Surfer. He was doing the Doyle Bronson documentary in Vegas. This is really good for this, for what we're talking about a Wednesday night, absolutely dead in the club. And I was in the back, 25 people, and my ego was telling me, this is gonna be awful. I calmed myself down, I said, do your job. Go have fun. Be a pro. I went out, I got loose. I was killing. I came up with some new material. And as I'm coming off, I realize there are six people from Hollywood for no reason at all in my audience. And the next morning at 9:00am at Aria, I was signed to be filmed by Sean McNamara for four hours to cut a one hour special, which during COVID got passed around because there was no live footage of any standups. I ended up on the president of Netflix desk. I ended up in Comedy Dynamics, and I ended up signing July 17th with Comedy Dynamics. They have Sebastian Maniscalco, Gaffigan, Tiffany Haddish, and it's been unbelievable. I had to do a photo shoot. I have two more projects that are on the go, another special they're gonna film in a theater setting. And Darren, you and I were speaking. The crazy part about my special is I'm improving and interacting through the audience like I do, like I learned in Boston. And it almost seems taboo with the world as it is right now. So they love it. That'll be out probably in the next two months. But Covid, my manager called me. She's like, you're the only comedian in Covid whose career is taking off. How is this happening? Like, humbly, I say to you, and I'll tell you, Covid has exhausted us. It's changed us. But even when you think everything's kind of crazy, you just don't know what surprises are coming for you. So it's been a great turnaround and it's made me realize I will never take stage for granted again. Oh, God, I miss all of you. I love you.

And you, you revealed to me that you and your fiance actually had Covid back in December, before you knew what Covid was.

We were so lucky we didn't know because with the media on top of it being frightening, we probably would have ran into the wall, knocked ourselves out. We would have. But we both had It. I'm an artist. She's an artist. She's a longtime singer. We did what any unhealthy artist does. I took Dayquil. I took Nyquil. I took Dayquil. I took Nyquil. I couldn't breathe. I had 103 fever. I laid in the shower till stage time. She banged on the door. I was at the Laugh Factory in Reno all week. I performed every night. I went back to the shower. I took nyquil. I took nyquil. We were very lucky. We both have the antibodies. We're donating blood and plasma now, and what can we do? We all just got to get through this period of time, you know?

One last question. In the unforgettable presentation genre, who do you think is unforgettable? Or what was the time when you were sitting in the audience, whether it was a comedian or a speaker, when you were like, that's amazing. And what do you think made it amazing? Amazing.

I'm really lucky in this world because I get to see so many people I dreamt of meeting. But I was a little boy. My mom, Resorts International opened up in Atlantic City. First casino minus Las VEGAS in the U.S. she went from a waitress to working at Resorts, being New Jersey. She got tickets to shows. She brought me to see Rodney Dangerfield when I was, like, 11 years old. I'll tell you. I'll tell you, right? So I remember this moment, and I don't know what he was saying, but the audience and watching the room full of adults almost just up and down in this energy as a little kid. And then later on in life, seeing it live with comics. Comics like Chappelle, who I love. Carlin, Freddy Soto, a comic that passed away. Mitch Mulaney. I've seen these moments. I think it's in all of us, but I've been blessed to see a lot of them. Seeing Rodney younger when I was a kid, and then when he was, like, in his 80s doing a set. And I'll tell this really quickly. He's on stage. He's 82 years old. He's got his shorts. He's in shorts. He comes in, the room erupts. I don't remember who else was at the Laugh Factory. He goes up. He's killing. Hey. Then he goes, I'm gonna try some new stuff. He pulls out. He goes, you tell me when it sucks. Pulls out his glasses, puts him on, pulls out a piece of paper, unfolds it like eight folds. He starts reading. People are laughing. He tells a joke that doesn't go. And this guy in the back goes, that one sucked. Rodney folds up the piece of paper, puts it in, takes his glasses off, puts him away, grabs the mic, and goes, F you.

Oh, man, Butch, I hope that wasn't too much. No, no, that's perfect. Really appreciate your time, Mark, if you want to gather your thoughts for the recap. But, Butch, if somebody wants to follow you on social media, I know you have your own show at the Strat here in Vegas whenever we open up again, and I was thrilled to be in the room when you were recording your special. That was so cool.

Thanks for being there, brother.

Yeah, absolutely. So how can people follow you right now?

You can. Follow me on Instagram is the best way. All my social media is about to open up, and thanks To Sensei Darren Lacroix, my YouTube page will begin. It'll be beautiful and amazing. This episode is gonna be my first Butch crowd, the YouTube thing, but I was really waiting for everything to take off. But with the special, my page will go up. I sort of held out for a little while. I was unsure about how social media worked. I didn't want to burn material. Find me on Instagram. Find me on Facebook. I also host a show called Land of Giants here in Vegas, which I would love both of you to be a guest on. Yeah, Instagram's the best way for now, but keep an eye out for my special. And thanks so much, Mark and Darren, for having me on an incredible show. I love what you guys are doing.

Thanks. And what's the special? Got a name yet or a launch date or. Not yet.

It's called Stand Up University. Sponsored by. You know what? I don't really have a working title right now. It's right now. It's Live from Las Vegas with Butch Bradley. So we'll see after you sign away your life, people, they can call it whatever they want.

Nice. Well, congratulations on your success, Butch. And you really laid the groundwork. That's one thing. Yeah, it's happening for you, but it's because of what you've done your whole career and how hard you've worked. So, Mark Brown, what do we got for highlights?

Man, I gotta breathe in for this one. Early on, he told us, with an audience experiment, use what works to get the response. Could be a beer, it could be a Coke. Could be a glass of water. You learn the most from the B rooms. You grow from the smaller audiences, the less glamorous. It's a great way to learn. Never take the platform for granted or stage for granted. Be attuned to your Audience and their energy. He said, learn the elements of your audience and be sensitive to their environment and their culture. I love that, I love that, I love that. Get this. Bring them into your world. Watch people and celebrate those who are doing well. Be honest and address what's in the room and you do that before you open. That way the audience knows you and they have a common bond. I love, love, love that. Check this out. See the audience, especially in your virtual environment. See the audience wherever they might be, the guy in his pajamas, lady with the baby and stuff. If you can see the audience where they might be in your virtual world, you'll connect more deeply with them. Love that. Be willing to do the extra work and acknowledge, if I have a poor engagement, it's on me. Whoa, that one got me right here.

Butch, two more.

Record yourself, enlist an ally and find out where you need to make the changes. I love this one. Push through the nerves because that becomes the power you have for success. And the last thought I had to laugh at this. I can easily get a job. I don't like my dreams.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Darren.

I also get tell the truth in the moment. Different words, but just a reminder. Telling the truth in the moment, at the beginning to create that connection. I love the attitude that you had. Why does he kill? So meeting in the comedy world, when somebody he's killing it, they're all laughing hysterically, but having the curiosity and asking the question, what are they doing? Why are they so funny? What's just having that constant curiosity? So for you listening to this, who are your unforgettable presenter heroes that you can study and go over it again and again and again to discover that why are they killing? I come from a good place. It covers a lot of sins. When we come from a good place, we cover a lot of sins. And people are gonna like you. Pay attention to the reaction when you're working out material. When you're looking at your recordings, the cool thing about the recording is you're not caught up in the emotional moment of I just delivered that. Ooh, everybody loves me. Oh, and then you can sit back and say, ooh, they laughed at that. Ooh, how did I say it? Or what did I say? Let's see. Oh. So if you're interested, listen to episode number 49 Where We Talk about discovering your gold. And then my favorite, everyone is funny. Everyone is funny. You just gotta work on it, tweak it, find out how you're funny. But everyone is funny. So, Butch Bradley, look forward to having your special come out. I look forward to having you get your YouTube channel out there, man. Just big fan. And thanks for spending this time with Mark and me. Mark, take us home.

Hey friends, one thing. As Butch says, remember everyone is funny. And if you can be funny, I guarantee you, and I guarantee you, you can be unforgettable. We'll see you next week.

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