{"id":9834,"date":"2016-01-26T13:00:39","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T18:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/?p=9834"},"modified":"2016-01-26T13:24:11","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T18:24:11","slug":"steve-byrne-talks-comedy-life-on-the-road-and-more-in-pcs-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/2016\/01\/26\/steve-byrne-talks-comedy-life-on-the-road-and-more-in-pcs-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Byrne Talks Comedy, Life on the Road, and More in PCS Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"stevebyrne\"<\/a>

Image courtesy of the “GPS – Steve Byrne – The Byrne Identity” video posted on YouTube.<\/p><\/div>\n

Pop Culture Spin chased down the hustling comedian Steve Byrne, who has logged more than 2 million miles on the road, before he headed to Canada for gigs this weekend.<\/p>\n

We thought he\u2019d be a good person to talk to about our love of stand-up comedy.<\/p>\n

Byrne, who has been working steady for 18 years, has performed everywhere. He had a successful sitcom on TBS and he\u2019s done several specials on Comedy Central (and set to film his next one in a few weeks).<\/p>\n

\u201cStand up is a marathon \u2026 \u00a0You’ve got to keep churning out material, stay relevant and with that comes \u2018your voice\u2019,\u201d said Byrne, who was born in New Jersey and now lives in Los Angeles. \u201cA comic\u2019s voice is ultimately why people pay to see that particular comic, so it’s not a matter of keeping fresh, it’s a matter of that comic continuing to put pen to paper, challenging themselves and keeping their audience entertained.\u201d<\/p>\n

PCS stopped Byrne long enough to ask him a handful of questions:<\/p>\n

How different is it to be a comedian today than years ago?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not the party is was every weekend.\u00a0 I’ve got kids now.\u00a0 I’ve got a wife.\u00a0 Before, it was show, girls, booze, fun, bad food, hook up, repeat,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, it’s more focused on the show.\u00a0 How can I be the best comic I can be.\u00a0 I take it so much more seriously than I did 10 years ago.\u00a0 I write a hell of a lot more.\u00a0 I appreciate the opportunity I have so much more each night to entertain people.\u00a0 I love my job, always have but nowadays, I want to craft the best hour I can every 2-3 years instead of saying what I need to in front of 300 people hoping to get laid.\u00a0 I’ve grown up a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is your routine now then?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it starts with the first flight out of LAX.\u00a0 Usually around 6-7 am.\u00a0 I fly out early in case there’s delays or weather, I have 3-4 more chances of making it to the city I am heading to.\u00a0 Then at the gate, it’s just praying I get an upgrade to first class.\u00a0 Then I land and it’s nap, show, sleep, morning radio, nap, bad road food, show, slumber for 12 hours, bad road food (Arby’s, Pizza, local greasy spoon, etc.) show, whiskey, more whiskey, Denny’s\/Waffle House, wake up hungover, get to airport (barely), wonder if TSA or American Airlines won’t let me board because I smell like Jameson Whiskey and Moons Over my Hammy, pass out in exit row, wake up in LA and explain to my wife and kids why Daddy looks like Nick Nolte’s mugshot.\u00a0 Hang out at home Sun-Wed and repeat the process on Thursday at LAX.<\/p>\n

How much new material do you provide and are you always writing?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, since I’ve been at this and I got my first break, I’ve pumped out specials since 2006 with my Comedy Central 1\/2 hour Presents, in 2008 my first hour, \u2018Happy Hour\u2019, 2010 was \u2018Byrne Identity\u2019, 2013 was \u2018Champion\u2019 for Netflix and I’m filming my fourth hour in early February in Chicago.\u00a0 I’ve been pretty steady in trying to stay relevant and challenge myself as a comedian. If you don’t keep writing as a comedian, you’re going get really depressed.\u00a0 I’ve seen it happen.\u00a0 It’s like being a factory worker at a conveyer belt.\u00a0 The first few years, it’s tolerable and as the years go on, doing the same job over and over again, it gets depressing, so you can go that route, or you can challenge yourself to change it up every now and then. \u00a0 That’s the route I’ve taken.\u00a0 Whether you like a special I’ve done or not, at the end of the day, I’ll have a body or work to look back on and know I gave it my all.\u00a0 In each hour, there’s at least 3 jokes, I’m incredibly proud of.\u00a0 Much like a band will have a few hit singles per every record.\u00a0 I want a killer greatest hits when I’m in a rocking chair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amy Schumer got some heat last week for allegedly stealing some jokes. How hard is it to keep fresh while not trying to be like someone else?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, first off, these days, everyone hears a comic do a joke and then there’s a similar premise or take on a premise and that fan will think, “he\/she stole it!!!”.\u00a0 There isn’t a database of jokes comedians can look to and know every single joke.\u00a0 It’s ridiculous.\u00a0 I know Amy, I know Kathleen Madigan, I know Wendy Liebman and I know Tammy Pescatelli.\u00a0 They’re all incredibly talented comedians and you don’t get to headlining the country by being a fluke.\u00a0 They’re all killers.\u00a0 I personally don’t think you can work professionally as a comic all these years, stealing and not have it catch up to you.\u00a0 You’d never make it past the clubs if it were the case, so in my opinion, I’ve never known or heard of Amy stealing.\u00a0 I think there’s an enormous amount of attention directed at her with her successful run she’s had and with that comes scrutiny and someone is in the wings looking to take the homecoming queen down a peg or two.\u00a0 She’ll overcome it and I believe that the other ladies will be just fine as well. \u00a0 Love ’em all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who are some of your favorite comedians you\u2019ve toured with?<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve toured with a lot of great comics but I’d have to say the guys from \u2018Sullivan & Son\u2019.\u00a0 It was a band of brothers.\u00a0 Roy Wood Jr., Owen Benjamin, Ahmed and I were on a summer show on TBS and nobody gave us any attention, no late night talk shows, no press outlets, nobody.\u00a0 Nobody.\u00a0 But we were 3 comics on a TV show and we wanted to do all we could to keep that going.\u00a0 So on no budget, we toured, shared hotel rooms, rented cars and it was awful but it was the greatest. \u00a0 We had a blast. \u00a0 We were on TV and we got to tour together.\u00a0 We had a traveling party for three summers in a row and I loved every second of it.\u00a0 It was us against the world, we were determined to do all we could to let folks know about us.\u00a0 I will always love those boys for that.\u00a0 Always.\u201d<\/p>\n

You touched on \u201cSullivan & Son\u201d on TBS, one of the few shows ever led by an Asian American. What did you think of that experience?<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved it but it was a mixed blessing.\u00a0 To this day, “Sullivan & Son” was the most fun I have ever had professionally.\u00a0 I loved the writers, the cast, the crew and working with my best friends Peter Billingsley and Vince Vaughn.\u00a0 Everyday I went into work, it was so damn fun.\u00a0 It truly was a family.\u00a0 We still all text and call each other.\u00a0 Being in the writers rooms made me a better comic and appreciate television on the whole. \u00a0 I will always cherish the experience.\u00a0 The downside is that I had this perception that I may garner more attention in my career and that truly never happened. Over the course of those 3 years I was on a television show, that I created, wrote and starred in I got one late night talk show appearance, in 3 years, and no press.\u00a0 I was a on show as an Asian American lead and no one gave us any love.\u00a0 None. All this talk about diversity and here we are the most ethnically diverse cast on television and nothing. \u00a0 It had been 15 or so years since Margaret Cho’s \u2018All American Girl\u2019 and we got a show on the air with three Asian Americans on an ensemble show and nothing.\u00a0 Nothing.\u00a0 That really, really hurt.\u00a0 But all \u00a0that negativity gave way to challenging myself to get better.\u00a0 I never wanted to point fingers at anyone, I just thought I need to get better and get to the point where my work truly is undeniable.\u00a0 So I never resented anyone else for the lack of chances, I just decided, it’s up to me. \u00a0 Let’s start all over again, and just kill it. \u00a0 That’s why with the clouds parting, the love of my family, wife, kids, I brushed myself off and said, \u2018Let’s get to work\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve said Asians are the forgotten minority. What does that mean?<\/p>\n

\u201cListen to politicians speak, they always mention reaching out for the Christian (white) vote, the black vote, the latino vote and I have never heard “the all important Asian vote”.\u00a0 When I hear talk about diversity in Hollywood, it’s always black or latino, never Asian.\u00a0 Have you ever heard, it’s time for an Asian James Bond?\u00a0 Uproar over not one black female on SNL but have you ever seen one, ONE, Asian cast member on SNL?\u00a0 Rob Schneider?\u00a0 Does he count?\u00a0 I don’t know. \u00a0Asians don’t really have a footing but look at the end of the day, it comes down to $$$ and numbers.\u00a0 If the Asian population in this country gets behind a movie, or a show, or a band or a movement, they can slowly put themselves into a national conversation but Asians for the most part do keep to themselves. \u00a0 My mother is from \u2018The Hermit Kingdom.\u2019 \u00a0I do believe it’s getting better though.\u00a0 Margaret Cho is the Asian Richard Pryor, she’s the first to break through.\u00a0 Then you see the run Bobby Lee has had all these years, Ken Jeong has been killing it the last few years and Randall Park is not too far behind him and the K Town Cowboys have been on a tear lately too by creating and funding their own indie film. \u00a0 I think as long as Asians take the initiative to create opportunities for themselves as opposed to waiting for someone else to give it to them, they can start to become more and more part of the national fabric.\u00a0 Simply put, it’s up to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is on your bucket list?<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goals are all in my heart and head.\u00a0 They’re very personal and I know what I want.\u00a0 If I were to share one though, I want “Fuck you $$$”.\u00a0 I’m a TV show away from it, and I’ll get there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pop Culture Spin chased down the hustling comedian Steve Byrne, who has logged more than 2 million miles on the road, before he headed to Canada for gigs this weekend. We thought he\u2019d be a good person to talk to about our love of stand-up comedy. Byrne, who has been working steady for 18 years,<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":9837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,3180,276],"tags":[1446,3188,2829,2771,3229],"class_list":{"0":"post-9834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"category-comedy","9":"category-interviews","10":"tag-celebrities","11":"tag-comedians","12":"tag-interviews","13":"tag-stand-up-comedy","14":"tag-steve-byrne"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hardwoodandhollywood.com\/pop-culture-spin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}