Are you a healthy comedian?
Louis C.K.
Taco Bell with the occasional frozen buffalo wings heated up in the
condo microwave, and that your exercize regimen... doesn't exist.
Personally, one of the reasons I chose standup as a life is because it
allowed me to lie on a floor for several hours eating lard and crying,
only having to pull myself together for an hour a day or so.
But if you want to have any longevity as a comedian, or if you want
your brain and body to provide you with any consistent creative flow,
you have to eat somewhat right and do some excercize of some kind.
I started running years ago and though I often fuck up and stop for a
long time, it keeps me alive. Especially when I'm on the road, I like
to run every day and explore the towns i'm working in. I try to eat
shitloads of fruit too. Recently I started jumping rope which feels gay
and wonderful at the same time.
Does anyone else work out/excercize/take care of themselves? Or are
you all hoping to die a quick, american junkfood non-movement death?
just curious.
LCK
dougst...@gmail.com
Viagra can really get the ticker running at high speed especially if
you are trying to come while youre extraordinarily drunk. Cialis to a
lesser extent but for a longer duration.
Often times on the road I will take very long walks when I wake up and
don't know where I am and need to get back to my hotel.
Terror can at times be a great replacement for a sauna to help you
sweat out the toxins.
Sushi is very healthy I've heard and will help clean out your system
the longer you leave it sitting around before consumption. Dry heaves
help keep the abs tight.
Carrying a lot of merchandise to a gig is a good workout and doing
terribly on stage will insure you have to carry them all back home as
well.
I also sometimes play darts in between shows.
Vilmos
training for a marathon right now and like to be in a town I don't know
well for the long (12+ mile) runs
You are right, It is a nice way to see the things that I would normally
miss.
I can remember finding the best ice cream parlor in Oklahoma City
because I ran by it evey day while I was there. I had the best sundae
ever!
I suppose you could say that hanging out at an ice cream parlor defeats
the purpose of the running but for me it's the other way around. I run
to eat.
I'm also a vegetarian but that doesn't mean you can eat bad foods!
I'd write more but I have a pizza in the oven.....
Vilmos
darryl-...@excite.com
avoid the sugar that pounds drop off. I haven't been succesful with
avoiding the sugar but I know people who have.
I use to do martial arts and enjoyed it but working on the road makes
it impossible to maintain that regiment. I also ran for years, about
ten miles a day, which I found out does wonders for your knees. So,
after knee surgery I started back but am really not consistent with it.
If I'm not running, I at least walk several miles a day.
I know that what you're saying is true, when I eat horribly my mind
doesn't work as fast.
I try to eat Indian and Thai food mostly on the road but when I'm in a
condo I take avantage of cooking my own food.
Darryl Rhoades
www.music-comedy.com
Henry Coleman
I sleep in my car when I have drank to much or this weeks chick I am
free loading off of is tired of my shit. Which keeps me alert. Jumping
up scared every thirty minutes when someone walks by the car. Depending
on how drunk I am. Early in the morning when the sun rises and it hits
my face, it gets really hot, I am lazy so I lay there. The heat makes
me sweat all of the toxins out of my body. Great.
I do extra work. And when I am not sleeping in the corner, hiding,
trying not to be in the scene and stay away from the principles I am
jealous of. I am eating alot of food, and constantly snacking on Kraft
Service but I do have a salad with lunch and dinner.
Got fired from the valet job which was great exercise and extra
drink/weed money, but I am running from the child support people,
dodging my baby moma's phone calls which totally makes up for it. I am
in great shape.
Thank You
Henry Coleman
Vilmos
Darryl makes some great collard greens. I just not sure about the way
he cooks his veggie hot dogs.
Vilmos
Betharini
corner of this pizza parlor with a mic stand. There was no stage or
lights or announcer, nothing fancy. People were just eating pizza and
he was talking into the mic. Then he packed it up before they found him
and he said to me, "this is how you do it.Just show up and do your
act."
I think that's food related.
I still take partner adagio ballet classes. I have found that I am
still learning how to do new things. I can leap up into the dance
teachers arms, he's 6foot 2" and my hands are propped up on his
shoulders and I have to do the side splits, and he whirls me around
like a helicopter around and around really fast so I think I'm going to
fly off into the ceiling.It's pretty scary but you get pretty strong if
you don't break anything.
Beth
Louis C.K.
Tim Shell
surgeon to put partial pressure on my ankle when I use crutches. My
left arm can almost straighten out completely now. I've had to lie
around for a few months, but I am back up on my feet (foot) again. I
still take my blood pressure medicine and antidepressants.
What I would like is six-pack abs like John Basedow, who is a noted
fitness personality, but that would likely involve doing sit-ups or
"crunches," and everybody knows they are painful.
The dancing idea is good. When I have use of both of my legs, I
consider myself to be a pretty good dancer. When I heal enough to
dance, I intend to do more of it. Dancing, drinking, eating, screwing
desperate middle-aged women, you know, that sort of thing.
I plan on being the healthiest man in the cemetary.
Hags
Like Vilmos, who runs to eat, I have to exercise my fat arse off. I
found in the past year the only thing that works is dedicating early
morning time to the gym, even after a really late night and I have to
force myself to go. I average three 'Spin' classes a week - (also
called R.P.M), where the instructor bitch on the head racing bike
hoicks her venom in my panting direction to climb "just one more steep
hill" - plus treadmill, light weights circuit and/or a Body Pump class
& the good ol' Crosstrainer. I like to keep my heartrate at 143
minimum for 40 minutes x 4 times a week. A metabolically skinny person
might be tissue thin with this treatment but it really only keeps me
feeling fit... enough to despise her.
Do I have time off? Oh yeah. I've actually had three weeks off gym
because of going on a holiday but I tried to compensate. Two weeks ago
I was walking HARD around the streets of Shenzhen (China), Hong Kong
and Singapore in disgusting heat - DISGUSTING - after coming from the
mid of an Oz winter. Sometimes I like the hard work, most times I hate
it. But I love Thai food more so I gotta pay the price. And that's
without the late nights, smokey venues and all that delicious booze.
-- LH
tommy drake
is easy on the road whether it be walking or running (which is actually
entertaining if you don't know the terrain, I defy you to walk around a
new town for and hour and not have a bit inspired by it by showtime)
swimming, or weight training. Even crappy little hotels usually have a
deal with a gym near by if their own is no good. I have taken to
working out in my room, stretches, pushups, crunches, one-legged
squats. I did some sessions with a personal trainer earlier in the
year. I recommend it. Just to improve the efficiency of your workout.
He taught me how to safely work my ass off on a floor with no weights
to the point where I am exhausted at about ten minutes.
Eating right is very difficult on the road. Lots of fruit is a great
tip, Louis. I've found that whether I want it or not, eating a whole
bag of baby carrots and going through a six pack of bottled water in a
day with pretty much balance out the free cheese sticks at the club.
One thing that is killer on us is the drinking. It is very hard to have
a flat stomach and be a regular beer drinker. You have to work so hard
even to balance out a Light. If you like liquor, which I recommend,
drink it straight, on the rocks or mixed with water. Don't mix with
Coke, you will drink too much too fast and you are taking in calories
when you are just looking to get drunk.
I've found I don't have to drink if I can smoke pot. If you can keep
yourself to healthy munchies (most gas stations have granola and yogurt
bars that are just as tasty as a snickers when you are stoned) like dry
cereal instead of chips or carrots or celery, you will actually see the
health benefits.
It is also good to stretch throughout the day, especially if you spend
a lot of time writing in a notebook or typing on a computer. Breathing
and stretching (like trying to touch your toes every day until you can)
takes very little time and for a writer, it is as effective as
restarting your computer as far as making your brain click.
I think this is an important discussion considering how frequently
young comics are dying.
-tommy drake
32 years old, 6'2'', 180lbs, %14 bodyfat
PI Comic
out on the road weeks at a time anymore with the club to run and all,
maybe 15-20 weeks a year now, so I keep my class regimen pretty tight.
I hate treadmills, too...too easy to just say fuck it and step off. If
I run 2 miles, I've gotta run two miles more to get back when I hit the
street.
Big key is the water, gotta drink a gallon or so a day if you're
serious about the weight loss.
You can eat fast food, even pizza, you just can't eat two quarter
pounders, fries and a shake, or the whole damn pizza. Just keep it
smaller.
Also, now that I'm old and ancient, it's a lot harder to take it off
than it used to be, so I have to be extra careful.
Chris
dougst...@gmail.com
How old are you? Please don't die.
LCK "
I am 38. I feel okay. Father Luke and I climb the hill maybe twice a
month. I'm quitting smoking on Nov 25th. I feel okay. Thanks for the
concern.
lap...@aol.com
>I am 38.
That's the weirdest coincidence...
There's an article in this month's Stuff Magazine - which features
girls in bikinis who are hot, but not hot enough to masturbate to -
this article called "Strange Bedfellows" where individuals talk about
the strange sex experiences they've had, and one of the stories is
about a comic, a 38 year old comedian named Doug, who slept with a
little person woman...a female little people...man that's an awkward PC
phrase....
Anyway, since you're about the same age, I figured maybe you might
know who it was...any clue?
steve gelder
jsl...@sunpub.com
Yuk's date 'cause I'd had a heart attack that Friday. He emails back
saying "Okay, that explains Friday. Why'd you miss Saturday?"
As it happens, I'm still running five miles a day, four or five days a
week - 35 pounds lighter and a lot healthier. I've also got a lot of
cute 'Participant' medals from 10K races. However, I did get a setback
last year when I got a stress fracture in my tibia (I was up over 30
miles a week at the time). If you run, pay attention to your footware
and run on grass or paths as much as possible.
Jim
s...@lexregia.com
the courthouse and taking my case to a higher court.
Works for me.
Stu
Louis C.K.
sharper and mostly increases my endurance.
let me put it to you all this way: Trying to be a standup comedian for
a living, or beyond that, trying to pursue a life in comedy that has
longevity and bredth, is crazily hard.
Lots of folks say it takes 15, maybe 20 years to make a great comic.
Lots of people start out with a lot of talent but by the time they hit
that many years they've given up, become bitter and crusty or have died
from ill health and depression.
Outside of all that, it seems to me that if you're trying to do
something extrordinary, which succeeding as a comedian is, if only by
virtue of the fact that almost no one pulls it off, then you should get
yourself into the best possible shape. I don't mean looks, I don't
mean weight. I maintain a pretty good belly. I just mean getting
yourself ready, steeling yourself, improving your abilities and
stregths as a person..
Given the odds of making it as a comedian, I am amazed at how little
effort so many comedians make, while complaining bitterly about their
lack of breaks. I mean, you should be thinking like an olympic athlete
but you think like dorito-eating high school brats, doing nothign and
expecting everything. Of course I'm not talking about YOU, whoever is
reading this. I'm talking about YOU, over there. Yeah.
Every time I run, I reach about fifty points in my run where I want to
quit. I reach about 100 points where I am SURE I'm going to quit. But
I keep going and when I finish, I've just proven to myself that I can
survive self doubt and exhaustioin. This is an invaluable tool for me
as a comedian, writer and producer. Everything I do is helped by
exercize. Even if I can't spell it right.
One other thing, I NEVER listen to music when I run. This is my
reason: When I get to those points, going up a horrible hill, running
staright into a cold wind, I have to reach somewhere inside myself to
get through it. If I have an ipod suplying me with "Eye of the Tiger"
or some wonderful Cher song, then that gets me through. That's no good
to me because next time I'm on a stage getting tired, or next time I'm
shooting number 9 of 20 shows or next time I just want to fucking eat a
bag of poison because I get sick of my life, I'd rather have whatever
tool I built inside myself on that hill, then have to listen to cher
every time.
Does that make any sense?
Now, I'm sure a lot of you young folks are thinking, "Fuck you, CK ,
Doug Stanhope does drugs and he is cool." Well, you'e right. you
should do drugs. But this works for me.
thanks
LCK
Louis C.K.
None of my business. But at 38, if I were you, I'd look back at all
those years of self-abuse and think 'Wow, I got away with all that!"
and then stop before it's too late. Look at it this way, you've
certainly pumped that lifestyle for plenty of creatve energy and
material, think of how much new inspiration might come out of changing
gears and starting to not shit on your body and brain constantly.
You're smart. It's worth it. The shit's goign to get old fast and
suddenly. And you could also die or worse, just get dull, listless and
boring.
Of course, you're an adult. But I'm an adult too and I'm better than
you.
Love,
LCK
Louis C.K.
before but it makes you feel insanely better.
I smoked steadily from 9 years old till about 27. Then i quit but in
stressful times I still have one. These days, while working on this
series, I'm smoking almost one a day which has to stop.
I know I sound like Jim Fix here, but the fact is I have backslides
that would make (metaphore) look like (metaphore).
mother's cunt,
LCK
Brad
I came out of the womb with a sandwich in my hand and didn't stop
eating for 22 years, ballooning up to a mirthy 320 lbs. Then I moved
to California and everything changed. In a two year period, thanks to
a neighbor who educated me on healthy eating, I lost a ton of weight...
well, not a ton but I now weigh 155 lbs...I'm half the man I used to
be. In addition to the weight loss, I quit smoking and started running
daily. This went on for a few years and then one day I went to the
doctor and found out I have Type 1 diabetes (insulin dependent). Had
nothing to do with the weight loss or exercise, but something that is
genetic. Losing all the weight not only postponed it, but the good
eating habits and exercise has made dealing with the disease much
easier. Putting together a diabetes project, so if you know of any
diabetic comedians, please send them my way.
Brad Slaight
www.bradslaight.com
Tim Shell
his cowboy boots off and out would tumble a couple of crusty little
shrimp. After a while, his piggies could go to the market and stay
home, and that was about it.
Prinny
boot. I too have lost a wee bit o weight (a decimal point compared to
you) and its largely due to a reduced carb diet and sweet, visceral
anger at the lack of carbs in my diet. I try to go to the gym 3x week
but no matter how many times I go there is never any cake, or booze OR
stuff that doesn't make me sweat. Like I said, I TRY to get there 3x a
week (4 if I forget I went the day before) but mainly I sit around
complaining about how I have to go more often until it's night time and
I can go out drinking with Copscotch.
It's a full life.
Prinn xxxx
P.S . Hi Bitches! x
O Ho Mo
that would make (metaphore) look like (metaphore).
mother's cunt,
LCK
====================
Louis,
I get all fucking teary eyed when you get all nostalgic like that.
Chandler, mother's cunt {{{{{sob}}}}}
Brad
Prinny,
You have done an amazing job and I have no doubts you are capable of
doing anything you set your mind to. I bet you could even outdrink
Copscotch if you put your mind to it...alright, maybe you're amazing
but not THAT amazing.
Nice to see you here, even your typing looks thinner.
Brad Slaight
www.bradslaight.com
dougst...@gmail.com
Louis,
I concur that poor health leads to sloth and effects your creativity.
Repeating any behavior continually will effect your writing as it gives
you nothing new to say.
I do drugs, yes I do but I only do them socially. Its the fact that I
talk openly about it that gives the impression that there is a
frequency. I've probably done mushrooms 6 times this year, acid once
(poor quality), coke maybe 5 or 6 times, and about three xanax a week
to sleep. I dont smoke pot.
So smokes and drink are about my only habits and the cigarettes
certainly need to go.
I started drinking and smoking the night before Thanksgiving in 1980.
So this year on my 25th anniversary I plan on doing a 30 full rehab of
nicotine, alocohol, caffiene as well as good food and exercise. Just
for the fun of not having fun. I hope to keep the smokes out completely
afterward.
I'm tired of always being tired.
Thanks for your words.
stanhope
HopalongHowie
decided to answer the question "are you a healthy comedian?"
I can summate my respose in 3 words; no fuggin way.
I started smoking at the age of 15 I'm now 46. Though I do it mostly
now because its PI and I have this thing about snubbing my nose at
being PC. Not to mention all the ganja I smoke mon.
My idea of running is to trot to the door when the pizza arrives.
Weight training I hear is a good thing so I now order larger bourbon
and cokes.
Health food to me comes in the form a nice healthy 1 inch rib eye steak
with a baked potato loaded down with butter and sour cream. Incidently
my last colesterol test was 180.
I did the weight training, running and health thing in the 80's and
became a slave to my body. When I suffered a broken femur bone in 84
and wasn't able to work out for 6 months guess what happend.
To be quite honest I think Americans have become far to obsessed with
being healthy and are really missing the boat on the finer things in
life...like a burrito supreme at Taco Bell and deep fried foods at
county fairs.
I will admit however that I am overwiegt enough that I have been
considering the stomach surgery. But then I think "right now somewhere
a cow is grazing to be my dinner"
Regards
Howie
Jane phone home - 1-800-HANOI
Jeff Hawkins
Tim Shell
take, mostly to control the high blood pressure. He gave me a new one
called "Novasc" or something like that. He also boosted my
antidepressants up to the proper level.
My biggest concern is that these medications will keep me alive longer
than I want. If I don't die suddenly of a heart attack or stroke, then
the cancer will probably get me. Taking a lot of medications just to
stay alive for the cancer doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
No sense wearing out your welcome in this world.
verge
Lots of booze and a really bad man.
2 hyper kids and a nasty ex-husband or 3.
10 Bookers mad at me for booking my own rooms.
My boss, the same guy we used to "pants" on the playground.
14 relatives flying in next weekend for my wedding, (I know, shut up)
Staying is shape is all about the sweating...all about the
sweating....the sweating.