[HN Gopher] Tim Minchin on Quitting Comedy
___________________________________________________________________
Tim Minchin on Quitting Comedy
Author : cmsefton
Score : 225 points
Date : 2021-10-18 10:57 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.theguardian.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.theguardian.com)
| foobarbecue wrote:
| Minchin is a genius. Here's a good starter song for anyone who is
| new to his work https://youtu.be/bTf3SqL81aE
| zuminator wrote:
| He said he quit because fame makes you a wanker. I'm not even
| famous and I'm pretty sure I'm ten times the wanker he ever was
| ska wrote:
| He didn't say fame was the only way to become a wanker.
| ashtonkem wrote:
| Fame is a fascinating thing. Tons of people desperately want it,
| those who get it are often destroyed by it.
|
| Tangentially it's also fascinating watching those in my age
| cohort slowly realizing that they'll never be famous, not even
| "instagram famous". Some of them settle into a more relaxed
| pattern, and others rage quit their social media of choice.
| BurningFrog wrote:
| I think fame is on average a truly great thing, though it can
| of course also destroy you, in rare cases.
|
| This is speculation, as I am not famous.
| aidenn0 wrote:
| I live near a town where everybody is rich, but only some of
| them are famous. I've spoken with several people and they
| pretty much all agree with the Bill Murray quote that being
| rich without fame is, on average, nicer than being rich and
| famous.
|
| On the other hand, it's also a place people move (at least
| partly) to get away from some of the negative side-effects of
| fame, so there may be some selection bias there.
| shantnutiwari wrote:
| I read sometime ago that this is why voice actors enjoy their
| career-- they get the fame/money, but they can go into a bar and
| not be recognised.
| smt88 wrote:
| I don't think they get much money though...
| hihihihi1234 wrote:
| Some of them do - look up how much the voice actors on the
| Simpsons are paid.
| unicornfinder wrote:
| Oh of course, but they're very much in the minority. Most
| voice actors earn very little - it's really just a side-gig
| for most.
| gremIin wrote:
| Most voice actors are not working on shows anywhere near as
| successful as The Simpsons.
| NotAnOtter wrote:
| Most actors aren't either.
|
| But the top 5% take home millions
| OldHand2018 wrote:
| The woman that does the voice of Bart Simpson is
| frequently asked if she has ever met the guy that does
| the voice of Bart Simpson. How's that for not being
| famous?
| tartoran wrote:
| But its also hecause they don't get too much of it that makes
| their life more balanced.
| randycupertino wrote:
| Have you seen the movie In a World? It's pretty funny and about
| a bunch of voice actors.
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuxApRnekWc
| lapetitejort wrote:
| See also the drummer of Coldplay [0]
|
| [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXU2tsOWi6o&t=34s
| aidenn0 wrote:
| Stepping a bit away from the spotlight seems to only happen when
| people get famous for something other than what they wanted to
| get famous for. While Minchin definitely wrote songs for his
| acts, he was not famous for being a composer.
|
| He stepped away from comedy to write music professionally (likely
| leveraging his comedy fame), which was what he wanted to do all
| along.
| tartoran wrote:
| Reminds me of Mark Hollis from a band called Talk Talk. He was
| riding a surging wave in the 80s and he simply stepped off, he
| did it for a normal, simple common life. He succeeded in it quite
| well.
|
| [.] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cFH5JgyZK1I&t=24s
| [deleted]
| scrozier wrote:
| Mr Minchin is spot on. I was fortunate enough to realize the same
| thing at age 2. From then on, I steadfastly refused to become
| famous. It wasn't always easy, but when--as a toddler--you
| clearly see the devastation that fame can bring, it clears the
| mind and makes the required discipline bearable. It's
| bittersweet, but in the long run, I'm glad I have had a
| relatively normal life.
| keb_ wrote:
| Likewise, except for me, it was at the age of 6 months. My
| father was a very successful and famous entertainer (I won't
| name him to protect my identity). He was also an alcoholic, and
| it destroyed his life. I remember, clear as day, I had an
| epiphany about him and what his status had done to our family.
| As he reached for his bottle of gin, I grabbed it from him, and
| uttered "No". He looked at me for a long minute, and then began
| to sob.
| mattowen_uk wrote:
| [OT] I 100% agree with your 'woke' post btw.
| herodotus wrote:
| Wonderful comment. Thanks. Reminds of my brother-in-law who
| would often tell me that he had a great "break-even-quick
| scheme" to talk about.
| randycupertino wrote:
| I'm going to steal your brother-in-law's joke and tell it to
| my brother in law, who we are having over for bratwurst and
| beer for Octoberfest tonight. Please give him my regards. :)
| ngc248 wrote:
| At age 2 pah .... I realized it while inside and refused to
| come out at the end of term, they had to cut me out.
| polishdude20 wrote:
| Pshh, inside? I realized when I was just a twinkle in my
| dad's eye.
| donquichotte wrote:
| You may have narrowly avoided becoming famous, but you
| certainly haven't quit comedy.
| rory wrote:
| I had a similar realization at a similar time. Unfortunately,
| by that age, my novel "Little Winky" had already afforded me
| some acclaim.
| dr-detroit wrote:
| Its not a novel the Jedi would read you before bed...
| skoodge wrote:
| Wow, I did not expect a reference to 'Synecdoche, New York'
| to crop up here on HN, even less in such a fitting context.
| For anyone else wondering what this is about, here is the
| scene from the film (the whole film is worth watching if you
| are into the sort of postmodern-surrealist stuff):
|
| Caden Cotard : I wanted to ask you, how old are kids when
| they start to write?
|
| Madeleine Gravis : Listen, there's an absolutely brilliant
| novel written by a four year old.
|
| Caden Cotard : Really?
|
| Madeleine Gravis : 'Little Winky" by Horace Azpiazu.
|
| Caden Cotard : That's cute.
|
| Madeleine Gravis : Hardly, Litty Winky is a virulent anti-
| Semite. The story follows his initiation into the klan, his
| immersion in the pornographic snuff industry, and his
| ultimate degradation at the hands of a black ex-convict named
| Eric Washington Jackson Jones Johnson...
|
| Caden Cotard : -Written by a four year old?
|
| Madeleine Gravis : -Jefferson.
|
| Caden Cotard : Wow, written by a four year old.
|
| Madeleine Gravis : Well Azpiazu killed himself when he was
| five.
| VonGuard wrote:
| Fantastic movie everyone here should watch. Supremely
| philosophical and funny.
| gota wrote:
| Nice to see so many self-made normallaires. My family has
| been non-famous for generations. One of my great-grandfathers
| or another was "Man In Hat" in a local theater, but managed
| to marry into stronger mediocrity.
| scrozier wrote:
| I did dabble in writing. In junior high, my book, "Marvin,
| the Shy Elf," threatened to bring me fame not only amongst my
| classmates, but in the wider town of 1200 where I lived. At
| the last moment, I cleverly sabotaged the work by including
| many childish illustrations.
| hedberg10 wrote:
| Novel? Ho, ho, how quaint. If you'd made a dent in the hard
| sciences by then, I'd be impressed.
| whatshisface wrote:
| They say that scientists rarely get any real work done
| after they win a Nobel prize, because the prestige warps
| their self-expectations in a way that guides them away from
| things they could actually make progress on and towards
| heights that are too difficult to climb. Avoiding this has
| guided career my up until now and I can safely say I have
| been totally successful at eliminating even the slightest
| risk.
| q1w2 wrote:
| What's spot on about this comment is that it correctly
| characterizes the comedy PC critics on Twitter, Reddit, and
| other social media, as children.
|
| ...which they probably are in the literal sense as well. I
| think people forget how many teenagers are on these platforms.
| mcintyre1994 wrote:
| That was a great read, thanks for sharing it! I saw his Back tour
| in 2019 and it was amazing, would definitely recommend his live
| shows to anyone. He also wrote and starred in a 2019 TV show
| called Upright which I'd definitely also recommend. One of my
| favourite TV shows for sure.
| vmilner wrote:
| "Our musical, Groundhog Day, despite awards and five-star
| reviews, took a bit of a battering on Broadway (I promise it will
| be back!)."
|
| Definitely worth seeking out the soundtrack to this.
| ourmandave wrote:
| _Tim Minchin's Back tours the UK 16 October to 28 November._
|
| He's been all over Australia and NZ. Now going to the UK.
|
| Maybe there's a streaming option for the US?
| Jedd wrote:
| In 1993, a(nother) famous Australian, Clive James, provided us
| with Fame in the Twentieth Century [0]. Seemingly it's hard to
| find now, but my memory is one of poignancy, regret, squandered
| opportunities ... plus some brutal observations about the stark
| differences between US versus EU attitudes towards fame.
|
| I have no doubt at all that it would be insanely difficult to
| cautiously back away from the promised lifestyle teasingly
| dangled in front of you, and so the utmost respect to Tim for
| doing so.
|
| [0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128875/reference
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| I really enjoyed that. He's a great writer. Says a lot, without
| getting prolix (unlike Yours Truly).
|
| I sincerely wish him luck. He sounds like a really decent chap.
|
| Unfortunately, today's culture doesn't reward "decent chaps." It
| never really has, but it seems much worse, today, than at any
| other time in my (admittedly, sketchy) memory.
|
| I am not aware of his work, but that is something that I can
| change.
| Consultant32452 wrote:
| Tim wrote my favorite Christmas song.
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCNvZqpa-7Q
| mdoms wrote:
| My favourite Minchin song is Prejudice
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw
| ziggus wrote:
| I saw one of Tim Minchin's performances once. I think he quit
| comedy quite a while ago.
| [deleted]
| paulpauper wrote:
| "'There is a reason why famous people are often screwed up'"
|
| If famous people seem screwed up wait until you see 'regular'
| people. The opioid addiction epidemic in America is not just
| limited to the wealthy, that is much is true
| hihihihi1234 wrote:
| The book _Everyone Loves You When You 're Dead_ has some
| interesting thoughts about this. It's a collection of
| interviews with rockstars and other celebrities that the author
| did throughout his career at Rolling Stone. One of the common
| themes he points out is that fame and money seem to act as
| multipliers. People who were happy and well-adjusted before
| they got rich found that money made them happier. People who
| were miserable to start with found that money and fame only
| compounded their miseries.
| mckirk wrote:
| I absolutely adore Tim Minchin. Every now and then I'll go down a
| YouTube rabbit hole rewatching everything I can find of him. And
| despite clearly being a genius, he's not taking himself (or
| anything for that matter) all too seriously, and I very much
| appreciate that.
|
| Here's a perfect example of that, also of his critical look on
| fame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdtCuC5mLeQ
| xixixao wrote:
| I wonder how many engineers (and others) are "pigeon-holed" in
| their careers. Change is scary and exciting, rewarding and risky.
| Tim can be an inspiration, or an outlier we can enviously watch
| from our seats. The latter will at least be hella amusing.
| therealdrag0 wrote:
| There was an interesting episode or series on Freakanomics
| years ago about the virtues of "quitting". Very thought
| provoking.
| mcintyre1994 wrote:
| It's a word I've used a lot when trying to explain to
| recruiters the sorts of jobs I'm looking for - trying not to
| pigeon hole myself into a particular technology/stack. I guess
| any single programming job is still a lot narrower than what
| Tim Minchin is referring to when he uses the term, but he's a
| genius.
| mym1990 wrote:
| I always wonder what its like to be the Messis and LeBrons and
| Ronaldos of the world. For a relatively short amount of time they
| get to be the best in the world at what they do but for the rest
| of their life they can't walk down a sidewalk in peace(obvious
| perks excluded).
| ByThyGrace wrote:
| Quoting for remarkable insight:
|
| > "Fame" takes that internal camera we call the "self" and puts
| it on a massive selfie stick, so when you are in public a
| percentage of your brain is always occupied by observing yourself
| in the third person. And eventually you don't know how to reel
| that camera back in, even when you're at home with your partner
| and kids. You start to believe that you are an entity. You learn
| to like yourself as much as you are liked, which means, when the
| trolls come trolling, you tend to hate yourself as much as you
| are hated.
| l30n4da5 wrote:
| Tim Minchin seems like a very grounded individual, and very
| genuine. I really enjoyed his keynote speaker address to UWA:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoEezZD71sc
| xorfish wrote:
| There is also this nearly 5 minute music video that is one
| single shot, it is also a very beautiful song:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48bfKs5p4Ik
| arprocter wrote:
| Not Perfect is quite something
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg3PberzvXo
| nomilk wrote:
| Another great one is 'Storm':
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGuXCuDb1U
| endymi0n wrote:
| With all due respect, I like him best the times he's the least
| grounded :)
|
| I've rarely heard a piano solo as badass this one, much less
| from a comedian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xQmJ_vxHB4
| hanche wrote:
| You might enjoy Hiromi Uehara playing I've got rhythm.
| Granted, she's not a comedian, but boy can she play:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY5dTBhRxOA
| tcbawo wrote:
| The point he makes about eschewing fame to stay grounded could
| probably be applied to modern society and social media in
| general. I have only a passing familiarity with Tim Minchin from
| the past, but he seems like a thoughtful and introspective guy
| with a timely message.
| TheOtherHobbes wrote:
| He's also talented and very funny.
|
| I respect his reasons, but I'll miss his comedy.
| mmusson wrote:
| For mean one of the most appealing parts of his comedy is
| that he is very clear that it is one thing to be insightful
| and quite another to actually make the better choices. He
| plays with that dichotomy a lot.
|
| Even here. An essay on the corrupting and addicting influence
| of fame that basically announces a return to seeking fame.
| villasv wrote:
| But he's Back
| sltkr wrote:
| He has not quitting. He's making a comeback. The title refers
| to the ten-year break he took. This is clear if you don't
| comment on just the headline but take the time to read
| literally the first sentence below it.
| [deleted]
| [deleted]
| busyant wrote:
| A long time ago, I heard Bill Murray say something to the
| effect of, "If you want to be rich and famous, try 'rich'
| first. You will probably be happier."
| hn_throwaway_99 wrote:
| Meh, I know plenty of miserable rich people.
| jrochkind1 wrote:
| But also being famous could still make them even MORE
| miserable!
| delecti wrote:
| Maybe it's easy to be miserable _despite_ being rich, but
| it 's even easier to be miserable _because of_ being poor.
| DominikPeters wrote:
| Tim Ferris has a blog post underscoring this point quite
| forcefully: https://tim.blog/2020/02/02/reasons-to-not-
| become-famous/
| hihihihi1234 wrote:
| This post is great. It made me realise that not only do I
| not want to be famous, but that I want to live as privately
| as possible. I'm now much more wary about (say) using my
| real name online or making it easy for strangers to find
| out where I live and work. What's the point? In the
| internet age, it's never been easier for a sociopath with a
| vendetta to destroy my reputation and career (or worse), no
| matter how little I did to deserve it.
| tcbawo wrote:
| That reminds me of another Bill Murray quote: "When you
| become famous, you've got like a year or two where you act
| like a real a**. You can't help yourself. It happens to
| everybody. You've got like two years to pull it together --
| or it's permanent."
| snarf21 wrote:
| If I remember correctly, this was in the context of Chevy
| Chase with the point being that Chevy never figured it out
| and has been an a$$ ever since.
| mbg721 wrote:
| Bill Murray has something of a reputation for drawing a
| clear line when he's becoming too much of a center of
| attention in public life (an instance I'm thinking of is
| him asking to be left alone while watching White Sox
| games from the stands), and that's probably helped his
| career, if not also his state of mind.
| OldHand2018 wrote:
| Bill Murray at White Sox games? Surely you mean the Cubs.
| mbg721 wrote:
| I could be wrong, but I remember it being Comiskey. I
| don't think anybody expects to keep score quietly at
| Wrigley.
| beauzero wrote:
| I have seen Bill Murray wrestle with his brother in a sumo
| suit at a minor league baseball game in Butte, MT. All that
| being said, he had an affinity for owning minor league teams
| and would show up and be himself. Butte, America is a hard
| town to be loved in and he is/was.
| agumonkey wrote:
| The thing is, I assume that fame is somehow a need. Or a
| distorted bias on a real need. We all kinda want to be joy to
| others and receive their welcome too. A strong and warm
| connection to a lot of people is probably wired in our brains.
| There, fame would just be a pathologically high kind of bond
| both in count and intensity.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2021-10-19 23:01 UTC)