And there is something very hypnotizing and seductive about that — there’s something addictive to being onstage, because when it goes well, you wanna get that fix. It’s extra addictive when you go into a room where no one knows who you are — they do not care who you are — and you make them laugh. That’s really a rare art. It’s not one that I’m particularly adept at; I don’t claim to be. But there are many stand-up comics who claim that if you can’t hold your own in a room full of drunks who hate you, you’re doing it wrong. I respect what they do, and I think that most of them actually do respect what other people do, but the “you’re doing it wrong” pose, which is now so totally prevalent on the Internet, makes it so there’s nothing you can say or do without someone saying, “you mispronounced this” or, “actually you’re wrong about this”… that’s just a death spiral to hell.

 

RS: I just listened to the most recent “Judge John Hodgman” podcast at work this morning about proper word pronunciation. It was very good. There are just so many different versions of what’s right.

 

JH: Right. And people do not like that I said that “foh” was probably the more common pronunciation of the Vietnamese noodle soup “feuhhhh,” even though “foh” is wrong; I was pretty clear that I’m not endorsing this, I just think it’s probably more common.