I don’t think there’s a single thing that motivates everyone, rather an amalgamation of things that you collect over time.
The main things that motivate me:
1) My mom – a single mom for much of my life, she is the dictionary definition of sacrifice and determination. Also, she’s hilarious and definitely the main source of my humor. Everyone who meets her agrees – she’s the best.
2) My brother – one of the most unique people in my life, which in itself motivates me to just be secure being my own person. He was thrust into the ‘man of the house’ role as a young kid and, while it took some time, he’s flourished and is now about to get married soon. The guy had a college reading level in the 6th grade. He works so hard at his job it’s ridiculous. He started a group at his giant company just for sneakerheads. He’s also so well dressed that he’s basically become my stylist already and will be for the rest of my life. He’s constantly motivated me for as long as I can remember.
3) My friends – Probably the second reason why I’m a comedian is the fact that I grew up with a ton of really smart and really talented friends…and I was neither of those things. So basically the way I saw it the only way I could fit into conversations was by being the funny one. They’re all so good at what they do it inspires me to be better at what I do.
I used to think that in my position as an entertainer, I have to keep an eye on whatever is trending and what’s out there in the real world and make stuff that can be digested by the population at large. But 8 years in, I’ve realized that I am most content creating things that the three categories above enjoy. I read this story in the book “Cut to the Monkey” by Roger Nygard which talks about David Mandel, the writer/producer/showrunner extraordinaire who’s worked on Seinfeld, Curb, and VEEP. The story talks about ‘test screenings’ – screening your creation for audiences to see what works and what doesn’t. Mandel doesn’t do test screenings, because he says ‘I am the test…if I like a joke, I like a joke.’ But later on, he talks about having 5 friends from high school that he feels he’s writing for. People from his past that he’s close to that he checks in with after every episode. That’s how I feel. There’s an ever-rotating cast of about 20 or so people that I make stuff for. If they’re happy with it, I’m happy with it. Public be damned. I have been lucky enough to do shows that have hundreds of people in attendance before. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to make auditoriums full of people laugh. But I’ve also been lucky enough to make my friends, some of the smartest and funniest people I’ve ever met, laugh so hard they’ve cried. Nothing will ever beat that. Ever.
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