Dan Soder talks with Screen Rant about his new HBO comedy special Son of a Gary, and how he goes about creating enough material for an hour-long set. For most, Soder is likely best known as the wrestling-obsessed trader Mafee on Showtime’s Billions. But when he’s not caught up in Bobby ‘Axe’ Axelrod’s latest billion-dollar endeavor/scheme, he’s touring the country, performing his stand-up and giving audiences something dark but very funny to laugh at.
His latest special is his first hour-long special at HBO, putting him in league with recent specials by Michelle Wolf, Ramy Youssef, Gary Gulman, and more. It’s a followup to his Comedy Central special Not Special, his appearance on Netflix’s The Standups, and his film roles in movies like It Had to Be You and Trainwreck. In other words, Soder is a comedian on the rise, as Son of a Gary demonstrates.
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Soder spoke with Screen Rant about his career, his process of crafting jokes, and his general comedy philosophy. Son of a Gary marks a terrific step forward for he comedian, with its blend of personal anecdotes and observational humor. Check out the complete interview with Dan Soder below:
Can you talk about how the special came about? Who were you working with, and why you felt like HBO was the right place for it?
As a comedian, how do you gauge whether or not the material you have is ready for an hour long special? I imagine that’s an incredibly daunting task to undertake. When do you, personally, when do you know, okay, this is it, this is my hour, it’s ready to go?
Yeah, I think … I did a half hour at Netflix for part of the series called The Standups. And it was the first time, it was the feeling that when I finished recording a special, I was like, that wasn’t the best that I could do. And I felt really kind of weird about it. I think in comedy, especially in standup, there’s a lot of pressure to grab gigs as they’re offered, because a lot of standup comedy is not working, it’s waiting to get the better shows, it’s waiting to get the better weekends, it’s waiting to get an audience.
And so coming up, you’re kind of always taught to never turn down a set. Don’t ever turn down a set of comedy, get on stage as much as possible, work as much as possible, which is right, and something that I still adhere to. But after I did the Netflix Standups, I was kind of like, well there’s maybe three good jokes in there.
And so part of me thought, well the next thing I put out, I want to completely throw myself into, and dedicate, and make it the best that I can. And I was on the road consistently, working a lot. And I kind of had built up, by the end of 2018, I had built up a good 60 minutes of stuff that I was like, I feel good about this.
And my agent was on a call with HBO, and my name got brought up, and my agent was like, “You need to see Dan Soder, he’s got a new hour.” And so we had a show at The Comedy Cellar, where I was headlining. And Nina came and saw me from HBO, and then we worked out a deal. And it was one of those things where, immediately from the jump, I knew it was different working for HBO, because a lot of times, when you film a special, the company or network has a specific, well we are going to do this at this time.
And you have to kind of go along with it, because you’re just like, yeah, okay, well we’ll tape here, we’re going to tape this. You know, you get controlled. But HBO was the first place I’ve ever worked where, I told Nina and Erin, “Hey, I kind of want to do the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, I want to work the hour out, and then I want to tape in the fall.” And this is December of 2018. And they were like, “Absolutely. Absolutely.”
And then, it kind of gave me a great 10 and a half month window to just really apply pressure to that hour, and try to write as much as I could while also refining as much as I could. And then going and doing the Fringe Festival was the greatest thing because it was an hour every night, and you just got to the point where it was, you know, I think we got a lot of the air out of it.
And then I went back on the road when I got back to the States, and taped it. And it really was a special was, when I taped it, I was like, well that was it. [inaudible 00:04:11], and I hope I got it all. And so that’s the fun part for me, this part is nerve wracking, because I’m just hoping people dig it. You don’t really know, but I just hope people like it.
What’s your process like? How do you personally generate material? Do you have a method that works best for you, or do you just kind of, when inspiration strikes you write stuff down? Or are you a dedicated, sit at the desk, write stuff?
I’ve heard older comics describe bits, and I always agree with it, where they say there’s … Each joke kind of has its own life cycle, where it’s new and fresh, and you love it. And then it gets to it’s peak, and you’re just like, oh, this thing is the best, this joke is the most … And then it stops working as well, and then you’re kind of like, what the hell?
But what I’ve found is that you can actually put those on the shelf, and then come back to it when you tape. But I think with myself, and there’s a lot of comics out there, I won’t take … You need to give me a day to stop working. You need to give me a time to be
like, all right, pencils down. And then you’re like, all right. And then it’s time to tape it.
Because there’s stuff I’m thinking about with jokes on the special, I’m like, ah, I could have done that better, I got a new tag for that. Even just doing one of those jokes a week after, and you’re like, ah, dammit, I have a new callback. And you’re like, that would have been great in the special.
You’ve been doing this for quite some time. Do you know what your style of comedy is? I mean, how would you describe it to people? Do you compartmentalize it like that?
[The] sit at the desk thing for me is like jogging, like running, you’re just like, ah, God. There’s people that thrive at it, I am not one of them. I think it’s sometimes the hardest thing. But I work as like, if something comes to me, or I say something to a friend in conversation and it works, and then I’ll sit down and write it, and look at it, and then try it on stage.
And sometimes you try it on stage, and it just kind of falls into something. Last night, I did a show at The Stand, and I just said something I’ve never said on stage before, but I’ve thought. And then by the end of it, I was like, oh my God, I think I can kind of map out how this could be a joke. But then watch, you could call me in a week and be like, “Hey, are you doing that afraid to pee at a urinal bit?” And I’ll be like, “Ah, it sucks. That was stupid.”
So it’s really like, the best description is, you throw it against a wall, you see if it sticks. But what I’ve learned in 15 years is that, first off, I’ve learned that I don’t know anything. But I’ve also learned that making myself laugh is very important. If I find it funny, and I have the belief, like, nah, I think this is really funny, then that joke will be way better than if someone else was like, “Oh, that’s funny.” And I’m like, “Eh, I don’t really know if it’s that funny.” Because then you’re kind of doing it for someone else.
Do you have a comedy philosophy? For instance, do you believe that in order to be a good comedian, you have to bomb, and experience that, or anything like that?
No, I don’t. I think I don’t compartmentalize it just because I’m always … Living in New York City, I’m always blown away by seeing … You see so much comedy, so you see stuff that you’re like, oh my God, that’s funny. And it maybe inspires you to change up a little, and maybe be a little sillier, or be more performative, or be more structured. You can walk into a club in New York City, or a show, and just see someone that you’re like, man, that’s so funny. And I love that, I love that about living here.
So I don’t think I try to put myself as like, I’m a joke teller, or I’m a personal story teller, because I would like to have just joke jokes, and I would like to have personal stories, and I would like to have an opinion, but not be opinionated, you know. I think, if I were to describe my style, it would be very much after my father’s style of humor, which is bartender. I would call my shit bartender. If you sat down and had a drink, you and I could have had that conversation while I worked in a bar.
Your material is funny but also relatable. Is that something that you hear a lot from people that you meet? Do you find yourself connecting with your audience in a way where they’re like,“Oh, I know exactly what you’re talking about?”
I think in my younger years I did. I think in my younger years I had a whole real, you got to embrace the darkness. I was thinking it was like being Batman. And now I’ve kind of seen the errors of my ways with being like, you have to live in the darkness. And it’s like, no, you can be happy.
But I think, number one in comedy, you’re going to bomb regardless. You’re going to bomb if you’re taking shots. It’s like telling a basketball player, oh, you can’t miss any shots. It’s like, well that’s impossible. I might have a very high percentage of making my shots, but you’re still going to try to take a shot sometimes that doesn’t work, and it’s going bounce right off the back of the backboard, and you’re going to feel like a fucking idiot.
So I think you should always try, which will inevitably lead to a bomb. But that’s how you push yourself. But I also don’t think you need to be like, oh, you guys can’t handle that? You’re like, shut up, shut up. I hate seeing that, when a comic bombs because the joke sucks, and they’re like, “Oh, what, was that too much for you?”
I’ve done that, because you can actually feel sometimes when crowds are too tight, you’re like, guys, relax, it’s okay. But then there’s comics sometimes that will use that and turn it more into like, oh, my joke sucked, instead of admitting my joke sucked, I have to scold the audience.
What do you think is different about Son of a Gary from your other specials? How does it represent where you are as a comedian?
Not over the whole act. For some of it, I’ve always liked, especially building this hour, it was just like, after shows, when people would come up to me like, “Yo, man, I’ve got a dead parent, and you fucking nailed it. You nailed it. That’s just how I feel, and that’s great.” And just because I think back to teenage me, and I would have really have liked to have had that.
And I think, actually I did have that with comics like Dave Chappell, and other people, where I wasn’t necessarily relating, but I felt like, ah, man, he’s on my side. It just kind of feels like [inaudible 00:11:27], and I think that’s a relatability that can be important, is being like, I’m a fan of yours, you’re my guy. And you’re like, yeah, all right, let’s do it.
What’s the different between performing standup, and acting on a show like Billions? How do you manage those two aspects of your career?
Yeah. Yeah, I would say that The Standups taught me a lesson, it taught me a lot of lessons on what to do, and what specifically not to do. But I definitely think that if you were to watch my comedy special, Not Special, and then watch Son of a Gary, I think you would hopefully even be able to see kind of where … Even in the material.
In my Comedy Central hour, I’m talking about my grandmother not being afraid of death, and then that evolves into Son of a Gary, me talking about that I love my grandmother, and she’s getting so old that now I think about killing her myself. That’s something that I hope you’d be able to maybe even put back to that, and be like, oh, this works even as a long joke, long form joke.
But I think it’s something where it is, I think it’s the best I’ve done. And I hope people agree. But I think this is … I tried to explain it to someone the other day who I said, “This is a special that kind of introduces people to me, but also at the same time gives jokes for people who know me.”
So I think it’s like, if you like this special, then you can go find a lot more stuff from me, you can go find another hour. I have another two hours of specials out, or you can go listen to my radio show. And there’s just a lot of stuff of like, if you like this, then cool, come on board, we’ve got a lot of stuff for you.
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Man, being on Billions is such a luck opportunity for me, and such a fun experience to be around those people. And to be around not only an insanely talented cast, but an insanely talented writing group. Brian Koppelman, and David Levien do such a great job writing that show. And they have such an amazing team of writers.
And then also, the crew that we work with is so fucking good. And watching them just kind of like … You know, and I’ve heard it from some of the bigger stars on the show that they’re like, “Don’t expect other shows to be like this. This is a very well ran machine.” And I just shut my mouth and try to learn.
And I think as far as standup goes, standup is always what I’m going to do. Standup is going to be the thing that, knock on wood, if I’m lucky, I’ll be doing it in 40 years, or I’ll be around it in 40 years. Just, I love comics, and I love being around standup that I take it too seriously sometimes, but then sometimes it’s also, it’s nice to go and do a thing like Billions, where it makes me miss standup.
Dan Soder: Son of a Gary premieres Saturday, December 7 on HBO.
