About this episodeJeremiah Watkins discusses his career as a 'gun for hire' comedian, detailing the unique challenges of bombing…AI summary
Jeremiah Watkins discusses his career as a 'gun for hire' comedian, detailing the unique challenges of bombing in collaborative environments like improv and Roast Battle compared to solo standup. He shares insights on developing his long-running show 'Stand Up on the Spot,' emphasizing the importance of format refinement, warm-up strategies, and audience engagement. The conversation highlights his philosophy of total commitment to characters and performances, arguing that strong reactions (love or hate) are preferable to indifference.
Key takeaways 6
Bombing is psychologically harder in collaborative settings (improv, Roast Battle, guest spots) because it feels like letting down friends or the host, whereas solo standup bombing is purely self-blame.
Improv bombing is described as 'brutal' to watch because it involves a group failing together, creating a shared negative experience unlike the solitary nature of standup.
Jeremiah's 'Stand Up on the Spot' evolved over 16 years; a key improvement was adding a warm-up comic and announcements before the cold open to help the audience digest the concept, which drastically improved his set success rate.
Total commitment to a character or bit creates a polarized audience reaction; Jeremiah prefers being loved or hated over being perceived as 'okay' or indifferent.
The 'Wave' in Roast Battle succeeded by combining chaotic improv energy with pre-planned props and hand signals, allowing them to react instantly to jokes with relevant visual gags.
Jeremiah's early career involved rigorous material building at the Comedy Store open mic, where he changed his set every week to avoid being remembered for a single forgettable performance.
Notable quotes 5AI-generated: wording and quote attribution may be wrong. Use the play link to verify.
“I think the bomb hurts more when it's not your show. Because I feel you feel like you're letting someone else down where it's like we own it if as standups. Like if we bomb, it's like there's nobody to blame but yourself.”
▶ 3:21Jeremiah explains why bombing in collaborative projects like Roast Battle or Kill Tony is more painful than solo standup.
“Indifference is my least favorite feedback at in anything in life. ... I'd rather be like I'd rather you be like, I hate Jeremiah Watkins or he's great. But dude, this like like Yeah, I've seen him. Yeah, he's he's okay. That to me is like the worst review you can have.”
▶ 23:43Jeremiah discusses his performance philosophy, valuing strong emotional reactions over mediocrity.
“Improv is so much harder to watch because it's a group of people failing together. ... when you see a big group of people all just running into just bombing together, he's like, it's so much harder to watch.”
▶ 5:03Jeremiah quotes his friend Chris Edwards on the unique difficulty of watching improv bombs.
“I'm going to dig this even you're coming down. We're going we're going bombing.”
▶ 24:48Jeremiah describes his tendency to lean into a bad crowd by committing even harder to his material.
“The one that stuck... were the hit characters of the show where I still like I ended up like years later like working on them and I like they ended up on Dr. Phil Live... The character lived in you. It wasn't about Kill Tony. It lived it was just on Kill Tony.”
Jeremiah reflects on how characters developed on Kill Tony evolved into successful standalone bits for other shows.
Chapters & Sections (32)▼
0:00Bombing in Standup vs Improv Comedychapter2
2:47Impact of Bombing on Others
4:07Groundlings Training and Improv Bombing
5:36Improv Training and Standup Comedy Beginningschapter1
9:05Improv Training and Groundlings Politics
11:11Stand Up on the Spot History and Challengeschapter1
13:26Stand Up on the Spot Development
15:29Comedy Show Format Evolution and Filmingchapter1
17:56Viral Episode Backlash and Online Ridicule
20:40Comedy Commitment and Audience Reactionchapter2
22:53Love-Hate Audience Reactions
24:31Collaborative Filmmaking Background
25:56Comedy Show History and Open Mic Journeychapter2
28:00Tony Henchcliffe Merch and Open Mic Support
31:16Early Comedy Show Formats and Challenges
32:53Kill Tony Character Improv and Bombingchapter2
34:46Character Improv Risks and Show Balance
36:16Ventriloquist Puppet Chaos on Kill Tony
38:51Character Development and Ireland Food Poisoningchapter1
40:54Severe Food Poisoning in Ireland
43:48Origin and Evolution of The Wave Comedy Showchapter2
45:44The Wave Comedy Show Origins
47:17Improv Comedy and Prop Strategy
49:05Comedy Central battles and milk bitchapter
53:37Kill Tony Pandemic Episodes and Comedy Central Successchapter3
55:40Comedy Central Announcements and Show Success
57:00Pandemic Dr. Phil Podcast Success
58:56Collaborative Sketches and Dr. Phil Live Evolution
1:00:59Johnny Knoxville Kick Injury and Comedy Kindnesschapter3
1h 4m⏭ 1
1h 28m⏭ 2
1h 19m⏭ 5
1h 18m
1h 51m⏭ 3
1h 23m
1h 55m⏭ 1
2h 2m⏭ 5
54m
1h 26m⏭ 1
1h 21m⏭ 4
1h 54m⏭ 2
11h 23m⏭ 1
1h 0m⏭ 1
33m
46m
3h 54m⏭ 7
3h 59m⏭ 5
48m⏭ 2
56m
1h 13m
38m
40m
54m⏭ 2