The Daily recently had the chance to speak with comedy do-it-all Greg Fitzsimmons, who will be performing a show at the WilburTheatre tomorrow. Fitzsimmons has had a successful career as a stand-up comedian andradio and podcast host (Fitzdog Radio) and is an Emmy award-winning writer and producer for his work on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." He recently added a memoir to his roster of achievements, titled "Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons."
LorrayneShen: What was the most influential thing that got you started as a comic?
Greg Fitzsimmons: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
LS: Uh ... do you want to expand?
GF: Well, I think when you come from an Irish family, it starts in the uterus. I think it's in your DNA. I think it's in the fact that everything is okay as long as you can make your family laugh, so I think you learn to get out of trouble with a sense of humor.
LS: What, as college students, can we learn from a memoir such as "Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons"?
GF: Don't take any of your grades too seriously. Don't sweat about your major. Just don't lose yourself along the way. The whole world is a giant cookie cutter and the best part of the cookie is using the part on the inside. Be the batter.
LS: Be the batter, not the cookie?
GF: Be the batter, not the cookie.
LS: So, are you excited for your show at the Wilbur this Saturday? Have you ever performed there before?
GF: Unbelievably excited. I don't usually get as geared up for one particular show because I'm on the road so much, but having started in Boston, and having found respect for the comedy scene in Boston [and] the great comics I learned from, it's been a long time since I performed here. I used to do college campuses basically, and it means a lot to me to be in Boston again. I know I'm not going to want it to end once I'm on stage. I really hope to sell it out because I really want to come back. These are my people.
LS: You've had a long and successful career as a comedian. ... Do you have a weirdest experience as a comic?
GF: A weirdest experience? Probably I'd have to say hosting the porn awards two years ago. The AVN [Adult Video News] Awards -- I hosted their 25th anniversary. It was telecasted on Showtime and there were 7,000 porn stars in the audience. I had to open up the show with about 15 minutes of stand-up and it was, uh … the most interesting thing I had ever experienced.
LS: Were they a good audience?
GF: They actually were! I didn't think they wouldn't be, but I didn't think they would be, either. I prepared for what would be a tough show. I worked really hard on material that I thought would be specific to them, that I thought would be honoring them for their work. I didn't want to seem judgmental. And it ended up being a really great night and now I understand a lot about that world now.
LS: How did you fall into that job?
GF: Well I did the Howard Stern show a lot and, you know, there's a connection there with the pornography. And they came out asking if I had enough material, and I had plenty of porn material. As a comedian, you're always looking for new experiences because you end up developing new material. You end up challenging yourself off- [and] on stage, so it's something I'm glad I did.
LS: And was that in 2008, with Sasha Grey as the Best New Starlet?
GF: That was in… well I did it twice, but the last time I did it, [it] was the big deal because it was the 25th anniversary. I don't remember the specific winners, but they're all winners, right?
LS: What has been the proudest moment in your career?
GF: I would say my book coming out because it took a lot to power though. It was something. I mean, I went to college as an English major, so my dream was to write a book. I was lucky enough to get enough notoriety to sell an idea for a book. But the reality is that you have to sit down and write this thing! You have to button down and think about these things in your life that sometimes you don't want to think about, some of the painful stuff. So it was a tough year in a way, but I stuck with it, and I'm proud of that. I'm proud of putting myself out there and really promoting it. Half the book is writing it, and the other half is making sure people know about it.
LS: So I was Googling you and came across your Twitter. Is that really you on Twitter?
GF: I just tweeted about 15 minutes ago.
LS: Are you following any other comedians or celebrities? Who are you following on Twitter?
GF: Well I do follow Sasha Grey. I like Sasha Grey
LS: Me too! She's hilarious.
GF: Who else… uh… Conan [O'Brien]. I don't' follow Jon Stewart and those guys because it feels like someone else is doing theirs, you know?
LS: You know, you should totally call them out on it and start a Twitter war.
GF: No, you know, because at some point I hope I'm famous enough that I don't have to write my own Twitter. I actually like doing it because I'll have like a random thought because I have ADD and, like, I'll tweet it because I think it's funny. Like the other day, just out of curiosity, I was wondering how many of the Ten Commandments I had broken that day. So I tallied it up and wrote it. It's stuff like that. I'm proud of the book because I don't have this long attention span and what Twitter allows me to do is indulge that short attention span. Sometimes, I'll look at my tweets and notice there is a lot of good material for my stand-up.
LS: That's inspiration for us college kids that have ADD.
GF: Yeah, I'm the poster boy for how to use your ADD for your advantage. I have a radio show, a podcast, I'm writing a sketch show and I have my own show in development with Fox for a sitcom. I'm on the road for the next three weekends and I tweet and I have a wife and kids and I exercise every day, and ADD lets you do a lot of things at once as long as you're happy with doing them all in a mediocre way.
LS: Any final advice for aspiring comics?
GF: You have to understand that in comedy, there is no trajectory to it, and there is no security. The more security you get, the less funny you are. You kind of go into it because you have no other choice. If you are debating whether to go into stand-up comedy or to get your law degree, get your law degree. There should be no Plan B when you're a comedian because there can't be. I would tell everyone to go do something else. It's a tough life, it's competitive, and you have to be very vulnerable. I'm not saying you have to stay in pain, but there's a certain amount of not fitting in that you need to be a comedian. It's not cool. Cool comedians are never funny comedians. Unless you're really feeling like, "this is the road I have to go on," then you go on that road. If you're not feeling that, have fun with it, but don't go making your life strategy around being a clown.
With a new memoir on his résumé, comedian Greg Fitzsimmons hits the road for a stand-up tour
