Judd Apatow Discusses His Return to Stand-up After 25 Years
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Judd Apatow did stand-up. Before he became one of the most successful directors in Hollywood, before he started producing every other comedy released in theaters, before he co-created Freaks and Geeks, before he wrote for The Critic and The Larry Sanders Show, before he teamed up with Ben Stiller to create The Ben Stiller Show for Fox all the way back in 1992, Judd Apatow did stand-up. And then he stopped. For a very long time.
Today Netflix releases Apatow’s first hour-long stand-up special, Judd Apatow: The Return. It’s the result of a slow-rolling return to stand-up that started three years ago, as one of the biggest names in comedy returned to a form that most people never knew he did. Paste recently talked to Apatow about his return (and The Return), as well as the shamelessness of the Republican party and the current wave of sexual misconduct revelations crashing down on almost industry, including comedy. Today we talk about comedy and his return to stand-up; tomorrow we’ll share his thoughts on Louis C.K., Dave Becky, Donald Trump and the GOP tax bill.
Paste: Why was this the right time to get back into stand-up?
Apatow: I don’t think there ever is a right time. I just thought now is as good a time as any. I was working on Trainwreck with Amy [Schumer] and she was doing stand-up all the time and I started thinking about how much I love stand-up and how much I miss doing it and miss being part of the stand-up community. So when we shot Trainwreck I’d go to the Comedy Cellar every night and do stand-up at the end of the day. I felt like being forced to be that in the moment and to write jokes every day made me funnier and sharper when I was directing Trainwreck. It just felt like a healthy thing to do for me. And I really loved doing it. So when I was done shooting I said ‘I’m gonna keep working on this.’
Paste: Trainwreck was the first movie you directed that you didn’t write, correct?
Apatow: That’s true.
Paste: Do you think you needed a creative outlet for your writing while you were making this movie you didn’t write yourself?
Apatow: It’s possible. In a lot of ways my stand-up is an extension of This is 40 or Knocked Up. It’s just another way for me to express certain ideas and observations about life. Stand-up is just a monologue form, I don’t try to turn it into a scene or some big story. I also like talking to people. You get really stale if you’re just sitting in your house all day long, and having a conversation with actual crowds and seeing what makes them laugh and seeing what concerns them makes you better at everything else you’re doing.
Paste: The special is out on Netflix. They’ve put out a new stand-up special every week this year. Do you think that there’s too much stand-up out in the world right now?
Apatow: I don’t know. I’m happy that great work is being done. I can see why it’s a little overwhelming, but I must say, every day when I turn on my TV and I’m looking for something to stream, I usually can’t find anything I want to watch. So overall I don’t think we’re at Peak TV because I couldn’t find a program the other night, and I just watched an old episode of Dateline.
Paste: Other than streaming and Netflix providing far more outlets for work, and there being more working comics than ever before, how has the stand-up world changed since you last did it regularly?