WILL DURST, COMEDIAN
INTERVIEWED BY MATT ROBESCH
THE FREE PRESS
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"On a dollar per vote basis, I am the Mayor of San Francisco." |
Durst has produced three comedy albums, the latest of which, You Can't Make Stuff Up Like This, is due out Fall of '97. He has two TV shows lined up for future PBS runs: Livelyhood (late November '97), a series about people who work and changes in the work place; and The Durst Amendment, airing in most cities after Mark Russell, to which Durst laments: "I'm the alternative to the old guy with the piano."
Will Durst performs at Seattle's Comedy Underground October 23-26th.
Never did socks in the dryer, but I kinda did some generic stuff and a lot of political and topical stuff, only because my Dad read five newspapers a day and I thought everybody did, that's the way I grew up. I just took what I knew to the stage. I couldn't do relationship humor since I didn't date [chuckle] so I was kinda stuck with what I knew. My first political joke was after Nixon had just abdicated. "When the going gets tough the tough get phlebitis." That was a long time ago [assumes voice of your grandpa] back in the 1970s when comedy was still in black & white.
Do you tone down the politics in your act depending on where you are performing?
I tone down just about everything in my act depending on where I'm performing. The politics, the language; my job isn't to proselytize. My job is to make people laugh out loud on purpose. That's all I try to do, I try to make them laugh. AND if I can make a statement within that then that's great. That's what I try to do.
Do you get the feeling that American audiences have become more, or less, political since you started out?
Both, in an odd sort of way. They know more because there are 24 hour news channels and national newspapers. There's all sorts of reasons why they should know more. I think they know more about big topical stories like the Cunanan manhunt, but they don't pay attention to the little stuff. That's one of the things that I can't do. I can't know too much more than them. I kinda have to be a translator. I'm a third generation factory worker, I'm not a poli-sci major. I just try to translate for the ordinary person what's going on. I try to pick up the rock and uncover the hypocrisy.
You recently ran for Mayor of San Francisco, how did you do?
I spent $1200, received 2% of the vote, coming in fourth out of eleven candidates. The three guys who beat me outspent me by a million dollars a piece. So on a dollar-per-vote basis I am the Mayor of San Francisco. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.
What are your favorite cities to perform in?
I love Seattle. I love Denver, Boston. People read in Seattle. You see, my comedy isn't that restrictive, it's comedy for people who read or know someone who does. That's why Seattle is a great town. The Comedy Underground used to be one of the best clubs in the country for a number of reasons. One because the make up and demographics of the city and another just because the physical shape of the room. It's downstairs, kind of in a basement, it's all brick so the sound just reverberates and the laughs just kick through that room.
Where would you rather NOT have to do a show?
I kinda have this deal with the South. If you draw an invisible line from St. Louis to Atlanta, I don't work south of there and they don't hire me. They don't like their comedy ironic or sarcastic. They want their humor up front and good natured. No hidden agendas, if you please.
Do you do shows outside of the U.S.? How are you received?
I've worked in Scotland, Ireland, England and Australia. Well, it's kind of embarrassing. They like my stuff there more than they do here in the States. Part of it is because I bash America. And they love that. What I try to explain to them is "Hey man, you're laughing at the wrong parts." And then I start defending. I get defensive. It's like you can make fun of people in your family, but nobody from the outside can say "your sister's got a big nose," y'know what I mean?
You're doing "Daily Dose of Durst" for Working Assets On-line, and you are a regular commentator on PRI's Marketplace. How did you get involved in these projects?
They both called me. I'm eminently approachable. I even do weekly commentaries for the Progressive Networks on the internet. The billionaire who owns that company makes me pay for my own phone calls to Seattle. A guy who made a billion dollars in one day two weeks ago, he runs Progressive Networks and I have to pay for my own phone costs to call in the column. And I get no money. I'm very confused.
Describe your personal experiences with censorship.
They were unusual. I was on Letterman one time and I got censored twice. I'm the only comic ever to be bleeped twice in one Letterman. One joke was: "Reagan said 'we're gonna bomb Moscow' ha ha ha. We tell jokes too Ron, we're gonna give Hinckley another gun." And they bleeped 'Hinckley.'
What did you think of Clinton's "Monsters of NATO" tour through Europe this summer?
[laughs] "NATO-Palooza". It's all such bullshit. It's just posturing. The Republicans are doing the same thing. How convenient for Bill to be out of town when the campaign finance hearings started. I love the Republicans. "We need an investigation!" they say. All right, then we'll investigate everybody. "No, we don't need a full scale investigation." Pay no attention to the 535 white men behind the Congressional curtain. Y'know all these guys talk about campaign finance reform, but if push came to shove I think they'd rather be photographed naked under a goat at a Junkie Biker Hooker's for Satan convention.
As a smoker, what do you make of all this tobacco industry hulabaloo?
Don't you think the Attorney General is going to feel like a really bad negotiator? "All right, we want $368 billion!" And the tobacco industry goes, "uh okay." Wait we could've gotten $500 billion easy! A $368 billion settlement and the next day the stocks go UP. How much money do they have?
And now they're just going to turn Joe Camel into a collector's item. There'll be Joe Camel conventions and all that stuff...
Hey I don't care. I've become so California-ized. I only smoke outside. I never smoke in a restaurant even when I can. I just feel so guilty. As long as I get to smoke, I don't care where they make me do it. I'm gonna be a leper. They're gonna make us wear bells pretty soon so they can hear us approach.
Who's next on the 'blame somebody' short list, do you think it's the auto industry?
No, I think choco-holics are next. Second-hand chocolate.
What advice do you have for struggling comedians or artists in general?
Get out of the fucking business. I don't need the competition. That's why I'm so glad every time I hear a comedian has gotten a sitcom. Good! I'm glad. Get off my fucking stage! I really like doing stand up. It's so much fun making people laugh out loud, on purpose, against their will. It really is.
Raptorial 'Zine has posted the full-length version of this interview in it's Fall '97 issue. Here Durst discusses music, Belize, Mars, Bill Maher, Jello Biafra and the late Bill Hicks.
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