Hell of a Nice Guy

Yesterday, John Pinette died at the early age of 50.  He joined a long line of larger comedian/actors who passed away too soon.  John Belushi. John Candy. Chris Farley. James Gandolfini, who was not a comedian, but was large actor, died way too early, and it happened recently.  Plus, it's my blog.  If you don't like me mentioning Tony Soprano, go pound sand.

Now, I never worked with John Pinette.  I never met him, never saw him perform live.  I've only seen bits and pieces of him on specials or YouTube, and I did see him on the Seinfeld finale.

Yet, when I was younger, my friends and I would always look to throw in his Chinese Buffet routine quotes anytime we could.  "You go NOW!  You been here four hour!  Why you eat no vegetable?  It all you can eat, but not forever!"

What compelled me to write about John was what happened after he died.  There weren't just RIP posts, or "he was so funny," "he was too young" posts.  There were tons of posts from people who met him or worked with him...all specifically pointing out how incredibly nice and generous John was; how great a person he was.

I've heard the same thing about Jim Norton, as much as it goes against his comedic persona.  Norton has a reputation of being extremely nice to people and fellow comics.

And then I go to a club and see a non-famous comic be an asshole to his/her fellow comics.

I know, the argument could be made that I mentioned rich and famous comics and compared them to someone who isn't either, and could, therefore, be frustrated.

True, but you don't just become nice when you hit the big time.  If you start out as an asshole, you don't go through the ringer, busting your hump, bombing, getting rejected, trying to break into clubs, finally getting the big break and then suddenly turn into a nice person.  Yes, people can change, but, at that point, who would?  If you were a jerk in the beginning, or became a jerk along the way, what benefit would it be to you to suddenly become nice AFTER you made it to the top?

It can definitely go the other way.  You can start off nice, get beat up for years and years, become jaded, and scratch and claw your way to the top, ending up mean because you feel you're owed something, or you feel people screwed you over along the way, etc.

And really, who could blame you?  This business is not for the thin-skinned.  It's humbling, at best, from the start.  When you finally graduate from the "intern" program (see: open mics, free gigs, guest spots), you get paid a very low wage until you pay your dues, a debt most comics never really seem to fully pay.

Along the way, you may run into some bookers who seem to think it's their mission in life to make you eat a lot of shit, either by not responding to your emails, ever, not letting you work the club, or keeping you at a low pay, low level for as long as they can (which is as long as you'll put up with it, but you're scared to ask to move up because you think they'll just stop booking you all together).

Also, some comics steal bits.  Some will be jealous of any success you've had.  Others will use your name (without you knowing) either to try to get in with a booker, or negatively compare you to them.  Example:  "You won't book me, but you booked John Smith?  I have more credits than him, I'm a better draw than him, I play better rooms than him, etc."  And some comics are just not nice people.

And, you know what?  So what?  This is the business you've chosen; shit happens.  And, it is a business.  Many times it's a poorly run business, but it is a business.  If you don't know that going in, and don't treat it as such, you likely won't be around very long.

If you're thinking you didn't sign up for that, then you should probably just keep doing your town's local open mic, get on any local fundraisers you can and be happy.  Otherwise, you have to buck up little camper.

Okay, Scott, so...John Pinette was nice, and you just listed a bunch of reasons why comics would be pissed off sons of bitches.  What's your point?

Good question, thank you for asking!  My point is that we all know going in what this business is likely going to do to us.  So why do it to each other?  We should all be as nice as we can to each other, and help each other.

Motivational speaker and business trainer Zig Ziglar said, "You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want."

Personally, I love when I'm able to get a comic booked, whether it's for a show I'm on or just at a club, in general.  Obviously, it would be nice if they return the favor when they have the chance, but it's really not about that for me.

Maybe I'm naive, maybe I'm high, but I truly enjoy most of the comics I've worked with, and have found them to be good people.  This is odd because I generally think people, as a whole, are inconsiderate, self-absorbed, ignorant pains in the ass.  To paraphrase Agent K in Men In Black, a person can be nice, people are assholes. 

Really, what does one accomplish by being shitty to other comics?  There are so few comics who really make it, does stepping on other comics assure you of greatness?  Does stealing a headliner's bit automatically give you a bump up at the local club, or a spot on TV?

What it comes down to for me is how do you want to be remembered?  I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that 99.99% of the four people reading this post are nowhere near as famous as John Pinette, and an almost equally large percentage of that number will never be as famous as him. So, if you died tomorrow, likely thousands of people wouldn't be quoting some of your bits.

But, of the people who would be mourning you, would they be reciting stories of how great a person you were?