{"id":51283,"date":"2020-05-08T11:58:01","date_gmt":"2020-05-08T18:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/?p=51283"},"modified":"2020-05-08T11:58:01","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T18:58:01","slug":"stand-up-comedian-turned-podcaster-inspiring-pivot-stories-in-the-age-of-c19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/stand-up-comedian-turned-podcaster-inspiring-pivot-stories-in-the-age-of-c19\/","title":{"rendered":"Stand-Up Comedian turned Podcaster \u2014 Inspiring Pivot Stories in the Age of C19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meet Greg Berman<\/a> \u2014 a Los Angeles based stand-up comic (and writer \u2026 and actor \u2026 and data analyst) who performs multiple times a week to packed crowds at top comedy clubs. But when COVID-19 struck, the world of live comedy came to a screeching halt \u2014 and Greg was left doing stand-up to an audience of none. Read on to see how he is recalibrating his craft to bring laughter to quarantined audiences.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What do you do?<\/h3>\n

Prior to the pathogen, I did many things: screenwriting, working for the Bernie Sanders campaign (writing jokes for them on a volunteer basis), voice-over work. I\u2019m an actor\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I was\u00a0on\u00a0Chicago P.D.<\/a>\u00a0as a bad guy for a few episodes. I go where the story takes me. But what I am most of all is a\u00a0stand-up comedian. All my friends are comics. People need laughter, and that’s what we do. But as much as we love making people laugh,\u00a0we love having the crowd react. COVID-19 has taken away our medium, the live interaction with a crowd. But humans adapt. And a part of me is so curious\u00a0\u2014\u00a0what are we going to\u00a0do? How\u00a0are we going to change? How can I deliver comedy without replicating something that people are missing?<\/p>\n

What happened to comedy as a result of\u00a0the coronavirus?<\/h3>\n

Technology and comedy have never been mixed. I think now, the question is being asked: what does comedy look like in the digital age?\u00a0People are starting to ask: how do we adjust as performers to the tech as opposed to making the tech mimic reality?<\/p>\n

Everyone\u00a0is\u00a0nervous, because\u00a0comedy, as we know it,\u00a0may not exist after we are done with this whole thing. If we can\u2019t do large gatherings in comedy clubs, many comedians will not be able to maintain their lifestyle, and the ones that remain\u00a0will likely be\u00a0the ones who are already famous or making money\u00a0some other\u00a0way.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your take on how the comedy world has tried to adapt to C19?<\/h3>\n

When comedy shows went away, all the comedians rushed to try it online, via Zoom or Instagram Live.\u00a0What they were trying to do is replicate a comedy club experience on\u00a0the internet, which I think is the wrong way to go about this. Comedy clubs are not meant to be viewed from the comfort of your home. Being around other people who are laughing makes you laugh more. In a\u00a0Zoom\u00a0show,\u00a0no one\u00a0laughing is weird,\u00a0and people laughing who are muted is also strange.\u00a0It\u2019s not a real semblance of a crowd. Comedians went that route because it was the most obvious. They thought: if\u00a0we make it feel just like a comedy club, we\u00a0can\u00a0keep performing.\u00a0But it’s a different beast, and people realized that not everyone could adapt to those mediums, so there’s been some attrition. Now, some comics have started to work\u00a0with\u00a0the differences in\u00a0the\u00a0medium;\u00a0Zoom is not a comedy club, but it\u00a0is\u00a0interactive\u00a0\u2026\u00a0so what if it\u2019s more like a trivia show? Or some folks are doing murder mysteries via Zoom, for example.<\/p>\n

What has been your take on how to adapt your craft to these coronavirus times?<\/h3>\n

When everything shut down, the content creators felt they needed to continue making content but didn\u2019t stop to ask\u00a0what\u00a0they should be making. They\u2019re reviewing hot sauces and interviewing their friends. But I\u00a0want\u00a0to ask: \u201cwhat does the world need right\u00a0now?\u00a0And\u00a0can I provide that service?\u201d\u00a0I think the content has to support the medium and vice versa. Shouldn’t we come up with something better that makes people laugh? I’m a creator of levity\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I’m still supposed to produce content. The question became:\u00a0what should I create?\u00a0I kept thinking about how I could deliver comedy without replicating something that people are already missing.\u00a0What flag can I put in the ground?\u00a0I think that’s the most essential part of what led me to my pivot.<\/p>\n

How have you adapted to the realities of C19?<\/h3>\n

My pivot happened February 27th, at a show I produced at a yoga studio. I decided to\u00a0use\u00a0the place as inspiration and wrote a joke bit about guided meditation\u00a0to connect to the show being at a yoga studio.\u00a0I wrote the piece\u00a0quickly,\u00a0it took me maybe 30 minutes. And it was a\u00a0big\u00a0hit! So\u00a0\u2026\u00a0I went and recorded ten and started a\u00a0podcast\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Greg\u2019s Guided Meditations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I describe the podcast as a super totally serious collection of guided meditations to get you focused, centered, and amused.\u00a0This\u00a0expression of my comedy is a departure. But what\u00a0does\u00a0feel similar to me is the connection.\u00a0While\u00a0I don’t get to hear the audience laugh, I\u00a0do feel that I\u00a0can connect with people in that way\u00a0via the podcast. I definitely still miss the crowd\u00a0\u2014\u00a0that’s what I love the most about comedy\u00a0\u2014\u00a0but to watch the download numbers climb\u00a0is\u00a0one version of that kind of connection.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What has been the result of your adapted mode of work?<\/h3>\n

I have had my podcast out for four weeks, and people from 23 different countries have downloaded it \u2014 from all over the United States, Canada, Poland, Vietnam, Indonesia \u2026 It has motivated me to continue creating more podcasts.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s this nostalgia of wishing to do comedy live, but there is an opportunity to really entrench these created experiences for their own value. It\u2019s fun to watch artists get new tools, and right in front of us, learn how to use them.<\/p>\n

Check out Greg\u2019s work!<\/strong>
\nGreg\u2019s Guided Meditations
\nInstagram: @bermancomedy
\nInstagram: @gregsguidedmeditation
\nGreg’s Website<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

About the author.\u202f<\/strong>
\nAn award-winning creator and digital health, wellness, and lifestyle content strategist \u2014 Karina writes, edits, and produces engaging content across multiple platforms \u2014 including articles, video, interactive tools, and documentary film. Her work has been featured on MSN Lifestyle, Apartment Therapy, Goop, Psycom, Pregnancy & Newborn, Eat This Not That, thirdAGE, and Remedy Health Media digital properties. You can see more of her work at\u202fkarinamargit.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet Greg Berman \u2014 a Los Angeles based stand-up comic (and writer \u2026 and actor \u2026 and data analyst) who performs multiple times a week to packed crowds at top comedy clubs. But when COVID-19 struck, the world of live comedy came to a screeching halt \u2014 and Greg was left doing stand-up to an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":51291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-perspectives"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStand-Up Comedian turned Podcaster \u2014 Inspiring Pivot Stories in the Age of C19 | Creative Circle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In an attempt to make work in a world where fewer jobs are available, many individuals are discovering new ways to utilize their skillset.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stand-Up 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