Audition Insights

Sunday November 11th, 2007 - Chicago, IL

Tonight was my big audition for the comedy booker of the David Letterman show. His name is Eddie Brill and he’s also a comedian. Most people in those jobs are not comedians themselves and have no idea how difficult it is or what they are looking for so it was very refreshing to have someone looking for talent who has actually done standup. I liked him.

There were ten showcasers on tonight’s show and he talked to us all in the green room a few minutes before the show. He was very easygoing and informative and I have had many audition situations where it was constant tension the whole time. This was not that. He is a nice man and he said since he’s a comic too he would take time to review everyone’s set. I thought that was very generous and he said he thought that’s what everyone would want.

He’s right. We do want to know how we did in the eyes of the one who picks the talent. I’ve seen people not get many laughs from the audience but then get picked by the person in charge of choosing and it works the other way too. People have killed for the audience only to be poo pooed by the great and powerful ‘one’. Who that ‘one’ is really matters.

Eddie told us the numbers of what it takes to get on the show. He said he auditioned for the show himself four times. One he thought he did poorly and one he thought he did great and one he thought he did just ok and one he didn’t know at all. That covers the choices in a nutshell and he was very encouraging to us all. He said if we had a rough set not to even give it a second thought. He would see us again and help us build a set that Dave will like.

That’s another important part of the equation too apparently. It’s Eddie’s job to find the comedians that will make David Letterman laugh. His taste is what Eddie has to satisfy but who’s to say what that is? It’s all very intangible and inexact but that’s how this all works. The last thing to do would be to over think it and that’s exactly what I did. I didn’t like my set at all for many reasons but it sure was a great lesson for the next time I get to audition.

Luck of the draw is always something that seems to find a way to defecate on my shoes and tonight was no different. I drew lucky number one and had to go up first after a green host who didn’t take control of the show very well. There’s nothing I could do about it so I went up and started my set. I did a few audibles and tried to include too much material in too short of a time and the audience was pretty stiff on top of that. I did my time and had a few laughs but no big pops like I’m used to getting. I had to edit my material as I did it to make sure there were no brand names or other disqualifiers. I wasn’t thrilled with it.

Nobody else was thrilled with their sets either. It was a tight audience on a Sunday night and all we could do was our best. After the show Eddie met with me and had some notes. He ripped my set a little but it was all constructive. He wasn’t mean spirited and what was said about this particular set was absolutely correct. I shook his hand and thanked him for his time and meant it. He told me I now need to go make him a nice 5-7 minute DVD with his critiques in mind and keep working it until a set can be created that Letterman enjoys. I will add that to my to do list. He said I was a ‘very skilled comedian’. That’s encouraging.