Paco Erhard, "I Love America, I Want to Help America". Pt. 2

Paco Erhard | Comedian | Pt. 2

Who are some of the comedians who have influenced you?

My favorite comedians are the kind of comedians that talk about shit that matters and do so in a rough, no holds barred kind of way with total candor and honesty. But I do like a bit of a moral compass in that too. So this would be my favorite comedian Doug Stanhope who’s a genius even though most people don’t know him. He’s extremely successful in his own way with the audience he’s built. Bill Burr who is a great admirer of Doug Stanhope, for example. Also Louie CK - not a fan of his masturbation so much but his brutal honesty and ability to talk about absolutely horrible things in a way - it’s just hilarious. Richard Pryor, Patrice O’Neal. 



But also sometimes comedians who are just very different from me and thereby make me laugh a lot more because we don’t have the same mind so I don’t know what’s coming - people like Josh Ladgrove or his character Dr. Professor Neal Portenza in Australia. I’m a big fan and will go to all his shows - it’s just a wild unhinged children's party for adults. It’s madness and I love it. Or Miranda Hart who I mainly know from her sitcom Miranda. Conan O’Brien for sure especially on his podcast where he can really let go and let it all out and swear and talk about the nastiest things. It’s so hilarious and he seems like such a good guy. The list goes on but there are a lot of Boston comedians among my favorites. There just seems to be something about the Irish element maybe or the roughness of it that says no topic is off limits and as long as it’s funny we can talk about anything. Jokes shouldn’t say something totally horrible but it is an attitude that is not extremely sensitive and where all sides kind of appreciate that we’re playing rough. That’s what I also love about Australians. Nothing is off-limits. If you just do it right, they’re up for anything.

And finally, what advice would you give to anyone aspiring to a career in comedy or performing? For that matter, what advice would you give to anyone aspiring to be German?

Advice for anyone wanting to do stand-up comedy? If you want to have a career in stand-up comedy, firstly don’t start in L.A.. I don’t know the point of paying money to do two minutes at an open mic, exclusively to other comedians who are jaded and hateful and don’t listen to you at all, is - how are you going to learn to make actual people laugh? If you have the possibility, start in London or L.A. or Toronto or...I don’t know where the best places in the USA are. In Berlin, an open mic means doing seven minutes in front of a packed house of non-comedians, of normal people who are there to laugh. Though you may not get paid for it, YOU definitely don’t have to pay. As a second step, though, I know many English-speaking comedians who then stay in Berlin because life is good, but you will never have a career in English-speaking comedy in Germany. So eventually move elsewhere. Move to New York, probably. Move to where the actual English-speaking comedy industry is and hit them hard with the good material that you’ve built elsewhere.

As for actually getting better at stand-up these next two things on the surface sound like opposites, but I don’t think they are. Firstly, do the comedy you love. Do what you genuinely find funny. Don’t do what you think the audience will find funny. I did this early on in Spain in holiday vacation areas to very uneducated British people trying to make them laugh with their own hack German bashing stuff that I hated but I thought it was going to make them laugh. Needless to say, I bombed most of the time. If you do what you love and what you believe in, it doesn’t matter how terribly you bomb, you can always say "fuck ‘em, I said what I wanted to say". And that will give you a lot of dignity and pride. The feeling that you know what you’re doing. Don’t try to please. Do the thing you want to do.

And here’s the other advice: constantly question yourself. That means questioning how you do your comedy. I have seen many people who try to get good at comedy who have heard that if you haven’t done 300 gigs then you don’t know how to do comedy. 

After 300 you will have the level of whatever the number is. It’s bullshit when these people then went and did exactly the same five minutes that didn’t work the first time and did them again and again thinking that if they do the same unfunny shit 300 times it will eventually magically be good. Of course, it won’t. Constantly question why did people not laugh. Be honest about yourself. I have seen comedians say "I killed it" and I think you got four laughs in seven minutes. You did not kill it. Your idea of killing is ridiculous. Constantly try to get better. If they don’t laugh try to figure out why didn’t they laugh. How was it my fault that they didn’t laugh? Because even if it is a terrible audience there’s probably something you could’ve done to be just a bit better.

Even if your jokes land, have a look at the laughs that the headliners get which invariably be much bigger than yours. Think, what can I do to make my jokes better? What can I do in rhythm, timing, and wording? It is such a precision art form. Sometimes a small change can have a huge difference. It’s all about information. How much information do I have to put in this setup so they understand what I’m talking about, but what is too much because they will guess the punchline already? Can I change this word to something more specific? There are myriad ways to improve your comedy. What did I look like? How did I go on stage? Did I use the loud microphone even though I was performing to seven people instead of ditching the microphone and being honest that this isn’t Madison Square Garden? There are so many things you can learn and do better. so follow your heart. Do the stuff you want to do what you want to say but find a way to make others get it. Find a way to make others find your comedy as funny as you find it. There will be a myriad of changes that you can make to get closer and closer to where you want to be. And sometimes that involves throwing out your old material because maybe it was OK to start with and now you made the best of it but you may now be at the level where you can make better jokes based on better premises.

In summary, do the comedy you find hilarious and spend all your time finding a way to communicate that to people so they find it as funny as you do. it’s one thing to make your friends laugh because they already know you and where you're coming from. They know you’re a good person who may make a dark joke, but they know it’s a joke. All this - making the audience get to know you, and understand what you’re saying and what is funny without having to think about it…that will ultimately gather those people around you that find you hilarious and are willing to pay high ticket prices to see you. And it will connect you to the people you w ant to be connected to.



Connect with Paco Erhard 
Instagram: @pacoerhard