Bill Burr: “I’ve Made Every Mistake You Can Make”
Bill Burr: “I’ve Made Every Mistake You Can Make”
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Figure 1 People think, like, I’m just walking around fuming, or they’ll watch my act and take it literally,” says Bill Burr of the way he is often misperceived. Rick Diamond/Getty Images
Bill Burr: “I’ve Made Every Mistake You Can Make”
Burr has become one of the world's most successful stand-ups by leaning into his anger. In this candid interview, the actor-comedian shows there's a lot more to him – but he still gets plenty fired up too.
“I’m worried I came off like an asshole,” Bill Burr says. “I hope I didn’t.”
Burr is standing in his trailer on the set of his feature directorial debut, the semi-autobiographical Old Dads, and looks worried. The actor-comedian is wrapping up our wide-ranging interview in which he talked about such topics as the early days of his career, cancel culture, the firing of his Mandalorian co-star Gina Carano and his controversial SNL hosting gig. It all culminated with one of Burr’s trademark impassioned monologues (don’t call it a “rant” — he has a whole not-a-rant about the hyperbolic use of that word).
In fact, even a compliment can potentially rub Burr the wrong way. “When I was younger, I would really feel uncomfortable around healthy people,” he says. “If someone was really nice, I would just be like, ‘Get away from me.’ If someone was an asshole, it’s like, ‘Oh, that seems familiar.’ For whatever reason, I don’t like being complimented.” Then Burr reverses himself for a more candid confession: “I mean, I wouldn’t be doing what I do if I didn’t want to get complimented. I have a crushing need to be liked, and what my peers think is huge to me.”
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These days, if he would accept it, Burr could bask in adulation from his fans and colleagues. At 53, he is one of the few comics who can sell out arenas like Madison Square Garden and London’s Royal Albert Hall. This fall, he’ll become the first comic ever to play Fenway Park. His upcoming Netflix special, Live at Red Rocks, will mark his fifth for the streamer. Meanwhile, he continues adding to his acting credits, which include playing Pete Davidson’s would-be father figure in 2020’s The King of Staten Island. Old Dads will mark his first role as a leading man.
On the eve of the Netflix Is a Joke comedy festival, where Burr is one of the headliners, the comic sat down to chat. He looks skeptical and, every so often, is a tad combative. I made it my private goal to relax Burr enough to uncross his arms, and occasionally he would — then he’d cross them right back again. Burr has reasons to be mistrustful. The media have been making assumptions about him based on his stand-up for decades.
“You can’t take one incident or one quote and say, ‘That’s who you are,'” he says. “It took me 50 years to figure out who I am, and I’ve been with me for 50 fucking years. How are you going to figure out who I am in a joke?”
While there’s no shortage of irate white dudes doing counter-outrage humor, Burr has never been only that. His set will typically span an array of topics ranging from his childhood to sex robots to how much he loves his dog. When he does touch on a cringeworthy subject, he’s crafty enough to anticipate and toy with the crowd’s reaction. Burr will stand there, casually leaning one arm on the mike stand, a mischievous grin on his face, acting like the loud guy at a bar who knows he might be full of shit. “You know what’s hilarious about sexual assault?” he gleefully asks in his 2019 special, Paper Tiger, and you wonder: Oh God, how’s he going to get out of this one?
Burr’s mastery of the medium is the result of decades of grinding — the opposite of overnight success. And as our conversation began, he traced it all back to one day in Boston, 1992.
Figure 2 Bill Burr during Laffapalooza on October 29, 2005, at Earthlink in Atlanta. Frank Mullen/FilmMagic
Burr has said he’s had nightmares about this moment: He’s a student majoring in radio at Emerson College and watching stand-up comedy on TV with a friend. His friend says that their own jokes are funnier, and suggests they attempt stand-up sometime. Burr’s nightmare is that he makes a different choice. What if he had never even tried?