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This was an interesting interview. Like a lot of great comedians, Odenkirk has a very grounded and bleak view of the world. I suppose a lot of art, comedy included, is a way of coping with their perspective, for themselves and for the audience.
> Like a lot of great comedians, Odenkirk has a very grounded and bleak view of the world. I suppose a lot of art, comedy included, is a way of coping with their perspective, for themselves and for the audience.

IIRC, I've heard it said that comedians are not happy people and usually had pretty difficult childhoods where "being funny" was a coping mechanism.

Some of the famous ones like Carlin seemed like they had some mental patterns that favored the line of work. Famously if he wasn’t performing he was thinking of new material virtually every waking minute. Pathological dedication to the craft.
I think it's less about comedy being the outlet to "cope" with what you see, and more about seeing the comedy because you are able to see the world for what it really is.

Most of timeless comedy simply describes the mundane reality of the audience in a way that they realize the absurdity of it.

A lot of comedians, ie standup ones but not only, have had hard lives, suffer from depression, anxieties and so on. The better the ones the more (ie Robin Williams). Making people laugh is their coping, validation and approval mechanism for the world and life.

Such people have different perspectives on life, success and happiness, for better or worse.

I think it has more to do with Comedians having to work their way up the chain.
I liked the shoutout to On Cinema at the Cinema. Truly one of the most hilarious and fascinating pieces of comedy in the last couple of decades.
It's my favorite comedy of all time. It's been going for over 10 years with a lot of little spin offs along the way. For those that want to take the plunge you can watch the first first ten seasons, Oscar specials, Decker, etc. for free on YouTube. Use this playlist to watch everything in chronological order.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qFHLfmoLchI&list=PLRT5PdjVF-ip...

Same. I have found it impossible to explain to the uninitiated so I delight in finding others who’ve found it!
Can't believe that Heidecker keeps getting away with murder.
Oh boy, another one of these jackoffs. Rosetti the Rat couldn't get him convicted because HE DID NOTHING WRONG. You people need to let it go.
> This interview has been edited and condensed from two conversations.

Interesting, I wonder how common this is and how the interviewees feel about it.

> Bob Odenkirk Would Like to Remind You That Life Is a Meaningless Farce

yea yea we get it

mr. show was an amazing bit of media
[stub for offtopicness]

[article authors don't write these headlines, you guys - let alone interview subjects]

When the zeitgeist is overwhelmingly nihilist, dare to be an absurdist.
Auberon Quinn, is that you?
I came here to say this.

Once you realize that life has no meaning, except that which we arbitrarily assign, you can only go a few ways with it. Of all the 'ism's you could choose in that moment, absudism is perhaps the least worst.

"Credo quia absurdum est."

Absurdism (of the Camus variety) is boomer nihilism.
> The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly colored and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question: "Is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say: "Hey, don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride."

Bill Hicks

Fixed name

The title reminded me of this too, but it was Bill Hicks, not Richard Hicks.
> The world is like a ride in an amusement park

only difference is, in real world there may be consequences that you may not be able to undo so you may have to be little careful while riding.

So basically, Buddhism?
Return to Monkey Island.
You can really tell from the comments those who didn't read the article and who are taking the headline extremely literally.

He quoted Shakespeare's MacBeth, "It is a tale, Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing." when talking about he thinks sketch comedy is the greatest form of self expression, even moreso than poetry from people like Shakespeare.

It's not that deep.

It was forced by the interviewer for a clickbait flair. The headline ought to be "NYT would like to remind you that life is a meaningless farce":

Interviewer: There’s a holistic observation I want to make about our conversation. You talked about how the best times in your life were when your kids were little. Those times are over. You said the art form you love the most, sketch comedy, is a young man’s game. That’s over for you. Life? It’s a farce.

Odenkirk: Yeah.

The thing is, if you never question anything, just lifing is worth it in itself.

If you do think too much about everything, and you survive this, you will land somewhere and this somewhere will be content.

I'm thinking about happiness and what I want for so long, that I now have crossed my half life point.

You also need to have a certain amount of freedom to even have this problem which makes it weird for others not having this. Oh you are not happy? But you have money?! I would be happy with money, i'm struggling.

Its weird if you sometimes think it would be interesting to struggle.

Genesis 25:32

Esau replied, "Behold, I am going to die; so why do I need this birthright?"

When you're successful and rich (enough, at least), this is a nice whimsical thing to say. When you're suffering in the trenches, this isn't very helpful.
This is a very new york times headline.
“It is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”
life sucks and then we die
Booo, nihilism is dumb.
Easy to be philosopher when you are millionaire.
American or British farce?
Bob Odenkirk's publicist would like the gullible public to think that his client is some sort of deeply thoughtful intellectual because he's trying to line up his next gig and having his name in the public zeitgeist will land him a fatter paycheck.
This is the kind of thought that only rich and successful people can have.

If you're working every day in a coal mine so you can feed your children otherwise they will go hungry, then you don't have these kind of thoughts.

Similarly, if you're fighting in a war so your family isn't raped or murdered then you don't have these kind of thoughts either.

Basically, you're lucky if you live in a situation that gives you the leisure and time to sit around and think about life being a farce. Probably he should be sitting around thinking, "boy, i'm so lucky I get to sit in this nice coffeeshop with no reason to work, no threat to my life, just chilling, so I can ponder on what a farce life is"

Edit: Because some people start criticising my comment, here's an addition:

How many people who were living in the 1700s do you think sat around thinking life is a farce?

Ponder on that question. Out of everyone living in the world today, how many people do you think sit around thinking life is a farce, who are those people? Why do you think they are thinking this?

I think it's an important question to ask and think about. It's saying something about our society, way of life, way of seeing the world.

In my opinion, life is for living, being with people, engaging in the world, taking action, connecting with people, and giving back. When you stop living, engaging with the world, and spend too much time alone, you start thinking this way.

I think if Bob Odenkirk lived on a community farm where everyone had to work together to survive he would be far happier and think life is far more meaningful.