Laughing to Live: The Role of Humor in Human Survival

Summary

In this engaging conversation, comedian Renard Hirsch shares his journey into comedy, detailing how his love for laughter evolved into a career. He discusses the behind-the-scenes work that goes into stand-up comedy, including material preparation and audience engagement. Renard reflects on the challenges of navigating sensitive topics in humor, the importance of resilience after setbacks, and the insights gained from observing human behavior on stage. He emphasizes the healing power of laughter, especially in difficult times, and shares his upcoming shows and plans for the future.

Key Takeaways

• Renard Hirsch's journey into comedy began with a love for laughter.
• Stand-up comedy involves extensive preparation and material development.
• Comedians must gauge audience sensitivity and adjust their material accordingly.
• Overcoming setbacks, such as being booed, is part of a comedian's growth.
• Human behavior is a key focus for comedians, influencing their material.
• Laughter can serve as a healing mechanism during difficult times.
• Comedians often connect with audiences through shared experiences.
• Networking with other comedians is crucial for career advancement.
• Performing in different cities exposes comedians to diverse audiences and challenges.
• Renard emphasizes the importance of positive energy in comedy.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Comedy Journey
• 2:51 The Life of a Stand-Up Comedian
• 6:00 Crafting and Polishing Material
• 8:52 Navigating Sensitive Topics in Comedy
• 11:53 Reading the Audience
• 14:40 Overcoming Setbacks in Comedy
• 19:05 The Journey of a Comedian
• 20:44 Embracing Challenges and Growth
• 23:38 Understanding Human Behavior on Stage
• 26:22 The Power of Laughter in Connection
• 29:48 Using Humor to Heal
• 34:06 Upcoming Shows and Future Plans

Transcript

Intro Music: 0:01

Intro music

Dr. Shay: 0:19

Welcome back to The Resolution Room, where we turn tension into transformation through clarity, connection, and consistency. I'm your host, Dr. Nashay Lowe, and this is a space where we explore what's really underneath the moments that challenge us and how they can lead to something more honest, more human, and more whole. So let's get into it. We often think of comedy as just entertainment, but what if it's something much deeper? In this episode, we explore the power of humor as a tool for truth-telling, connection, and resilience. Through the lens of stand-up and storytelling, our guest Renard Hirsch helps us unpack how humor can diffuse tension, challenge norms, and help us survive the hardest parts of being human. Whether it's processing personal pain or poking fun at collective absurdities, this conversation reminds us that sometimes laughter is the lifeline. All right, Renard, can you introduce yourself to the people?

Renard Hirsch: 1:17

Hey, everybody. My name is Renard Hirsch, a.k.a. L. Renard, a.k.a. Renard the Barge, a.k.a. the light-skinned James Worthy, 40 points last Thursday. Ren Lawton, a.k.a. O.J. the Hirschman. Hey, what's up, y'all? Good to be here, everybody. Thank you for having me.

Dr. Shay: 1:37

Of course, of course. And as you can see, we're going to have a fun time today. So let's start off by having you tell me a little bit about what drew you to comedy in the first place?

Renard Hirsch: 1:47

What drew me into comedy? Well, I guess growing up, I just loved to laugh. I thought laughing was just the greatest feeling ever. Anytime I saw something on TV, I thought it was hilarious. I just loved laughter. I guess after a while, you watch enough of it, you kind of start cracking your own jokes and stuff. I was like, okay, I'm a little bit funny. I Yeah, that's really, yeah. I never in a million years thought I'd be doing stand-up. So that was, I never thought I'd be an entertainer.

Dr. Shay: 2:23

To go from the decision of I like to laugh to this is going to be a career. How did you get to that?

Renard Hirsch: 2:29

Well, that, yeah, so that came from, I guess, growing up, you know, I go to church growing up. And so I was headed, I ended up being the head of the youth department. And they would, the youth, they would let the youth participate and do everything the adults did on like Fourth Sunday. So that kind of helped me, you know, get used to kind of speaking in front of crowds of people And so then I got to college. And I guess, well, okay, high school. I think when high school, that's kind of when I kind of started kind of coming to my own. I was kind of like, oh, okay, I'm kind of funny. You know, my friends were all funny.

Dr. Shay: 3:07

Were you the class clown? Huh? Were you the class clown?

Renard Hirsch: 3:11

Not really. I was, yeah, I was like, I was, I mean, like, I was a person. I'll walk up on you and tell you something stupid about what you had on or whatever. I didn't need a crowd. I was like, long as you got the joke. That was cool. So, yeah, not really. I pretty much behaved for the most part in class. But, yeah, so then I got to– oh, yeah, so my senior year I took– we took this elective class, and it was me and like five of my friends in there. And so we did– he had us do this duo scene where we acted with each other. And the class just– the class really liked it after we did it. And he was like, hey, man, y'all could compete. We're like, what? He's like, yeah, y'all can come on the forensics team, and y'all can do this scene for them, and y'all got a good chance of winning. So we're like, okay. So we're like, well, we'll try it. So we did it, and ended up winning the competition. But it was the end of the year, so I was like, okay, now what? But then I got to college, took an acting class, and didn't really do that great, and it didn't put as much effort into it as I should have. But I passed the class, and then that summer, I was sitting in the office trying to figure out what to do with my life. I was a business major at that point. And that teacher came and was like, hey, we got some roles, possible roles open for this summer. We're doing a play. And I'm like, all right, I'm not doing nothing else with my life. Let me see what the play life is about. So I did that. It was just an amazing experience. Getting to see how the actors pulled this stuff off the page and made it into a reality. And it was just a... We were... It was like a family. We were together probably at least five to six hours a day. We had a professional theater company in residency at the college. They treated us like we were getting paid. We would be up until one o'clock in the morning trying to hear these scenes. It was really dope because we had all the we had a professional set, you know, everything was professional. And so it was like, so after I got that, I was like, okay, I can see myself doing something in entertainment for life, you know? So, yeah. So that, that was, that was the intro.

Dr. Shay: 5:37

Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, I think you have one of the coolest jobs in the world. Like you literally get to make people laugh for a living, but I imagine for a lot of other people looking in from the outside, there's a lot of misconceptions about what the job really entails as a standup comic. and the pressure you might feel because, you know, everyone thinks they're funny, right? Like everyone just thinks they're funny. So the assumption is this can't be too hard. So walk us through a little bit of a day in the life of a standup comedian and specifically, how do you prepare for your shows? How do you decide what and what and what not to talk about? And how do you prepare differently for different audiences?

Renard Hirsch: 6:18

All right. So yeah, like lots of stuff that people don't know goes on behind the scenes, you know, every day, you know, they just see you show up and you do 20 minutes, you do 30 minutes or do an hour. And they're like, okay, you get, you know, like, Oh, you got a whole day's pay in 30 minutes, whatever. But there's a whole lot of prep work that goes into that, that they don't see. So it's like, you know, you're, of course you're constantly on the hunt for new material and new original material. You want to have something that, that, that'll make you stand out from other comics. You know, you don't want to just, you know, yeah. The worst thing to do is be a forgettable comic, you know? So it's like, if, if you came and you performed, you're like, Oh, he was funny, but we, He was, I don't know, he just talked about the same thing everybody else did, you know. So, yeah, you constantly, so like whenever I see something I think may be funny or like the little nugget of a joke, I'll write it in my phone. And then when I finally get a chance, I'll open up my notebook. I'm old school, so I still use the notepad. I write pen and paper. So then I'll try to, I try to brainstorm about the subject and just try to think of anything I can think of. Just let my mind just empty out, you know, anything about, you know, like if I go to the movies and And I have experience there. I'm like, okay, let me think everything that I can think of. Go to the movies, popcorn, uh, screen, uh, advertisements, you know, parking lot, you know, uh, um, uh, ticket attendant, you know, all that stuff. So I'm like, I'm just emptying my brain to see what else I can add to see that I can make this joke funny. Um, and so then, yeah, then I'll try to write the joke out how I think I should say it on stage. And, um, so, so you, so you have an idea about what you're going to say when you go on stage. So then later on that night, you'll go to an open mic, um, And, um, and you'll try to joke out and see if it works. Um, yeah, sometimes you try it, you work on it and it doesn't work. And then, or sometimes you're like, okay, it's got potential. It just, it's not ready yet. I got to go back and polish it back up. And so, um, yeah, so you, so you're doing that. Uh, also during the day, of course, you're, uh, constantly contacting, uh, club owners, comedy club owners and bookers who, um, you know, who have, you know, who have shows. And so you can go get some work and, uh, work in other cities. and stuff like that. You're constantly in contact with them, other comics. I tell most comics, you got to network with the comics. Probably half of my work comes from recommendations from other comics. You got to get in there and network and rub elbows with these folks so they know who you are. It's one of those things out of sight, out of mind. You can be the funniest person. I picked up work being a comic clubs where somebody's like, oh, hey, you know what? I got a great show that you'll be good on. But if I wasn't there, you might not get that. At least until the next part, a lot of it is hanging out and networking. Even though you've been at the show for two hours or whatever, but now you got to hang out with the comics. When it comes to road trips and stuff like that, comics are going to book comics that they're cool with and they feel comfortable with and that they can hang with.

Dr. Shay: 9:23

You're traveling together for a long period of time usually, right?

Renard Hirsch: 9:27

Yeah, it could be. Sometimes it could be an hour. Sometimes it could be five hours. You just never know. It depends on the show or whatever. But yeah, so that's... Yeah, so then at the end of the night, you may get up the next day and say, all right, let's see. Okay, this joke worked. This joke didn't. All right, what else can I do to make... So it's like it's a constant process of polishing up new material. And then, of course, current events are happening so you know so you're like okay now I think that's funny so then like you know it's always great when you have a new topical joke you know but the only thing about those jokes is they die fast so you know if it's in the news today it might not be in the news next week so you don't want to spend too much joke on topicals I mean too much time on topical jokes but you know because they die so fast but if you get a good one and you can use it for a couple of months that's you know it's always great

Dr. Shay: 10:20

wow and the timing of doing topical jokes Do you ever feel like it's too soon? Um,

Renard Hirsch: 10:28

yeah, I mean, yeah, it can. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes it can. Yeah. Sometimes it just take time to people kind of let go of it a little bit. But I mean, if you got a great one and it's topical and, you know, and you can get a good response from it, you know, I say, I say go for it, you know? Um, but I mean, cause as comedians, we, we're looking day one at whatever's going on in the news and thinking, what's the joke here. So, you know even no matter how bad or horrendous it is or you know so it's like and it depends on how it touches you you know too so um you know if it's something that touches you personally it may be it may be too fresh for you to you to talk about you know um but you know but yeah you just you just you you i mean you you make that decision at the comic you know and you know you know where your comic level is you know if you're funny enough or you're confident enough in yourself that you can do this joke and not back down from it then you know then you you should be good

Dr. Shay: 11:23

and When you're doing your sets, how do you walk that line between offensive and honesty? Between sensitive and honest? Offense and honesty.

Renard Hirsch: 11:37

I never want people to be offended at the shows. That's just me. I just want people to come and have a good time and laugh and leave. Be like, man, that was a great show. I may have a few little controversial jokes or whatever, but But for the most part, and sometimes you have to gauge that as a comic. I've been doing it like 24 years. So it's like, I can, when I come into a room, I take inventory of everything in there and I can, I can look at the crowd for maybe about two to three minutes and I can just kind of, I can be like, okay, I'll go through everything, all the jokes in my head. I'll be like, okay, I know what I'm gonna give them. You know, I like, this is, Yeah. So like, yeah, you can use it. You just have to, it's part of like learning how to read crowds, you know? So it's like, you know, cause sometimes your crowd is rowdier, you know, sometimes they're more quiet. Sometimes they're more conservative. Sometimes, you know what I'm saying? So you gotta, you know, you can, you know, I, you can, I mean, it takes, it takes a little bit of time, but it's like, I think after a while doing it so long, you can kind of read crowds and see, okay, this is, this is all grandmas in the crowd. I think I know what they want, you know, or this is, it's all construction workers out here. I think I got, I think I know what they want. Or it's a bachelorette party in here. I know they want to party. You have to kind of adjust your set to whatever you're going to do.

Dr. Shay: 12:56

Yeah, yeah. Do you think that comedy gives people permission to say things that they otherwise couldn't or wouldn't say? I

Renard Hirsch: 13:09

don't think it gives them permission. I mean, you can say whatever you're big and bad enough to say. But, but you better be able to back that up in the parking lot. You know what I'm saying? Like, if you, you know, like if this is something that you believe and say, you know, when, when people approach you about it after the show, you know, you gotta be ready for that too. So, you know, you can be, you can be offensive as you want, but, but you, you, you know, you know, don't, you know, it's like, it's like, it's like, uh, my thing is like, you know, it's like, um, you, you treat every, treat everybody like they live in your neighborhood, you know? So it's like, you know, like if you're on the other side of town, you may flick somebody off. off but if you're like if you're in your neighborhood you like wait a minute I mean this may be somebody I know you know I'm saying or also don't do nothing outside of your character you know like if you're not if you're not down to get out this car and fight you shouldn't be flipping people off you know I'm saying so you know so I was like I think yeah I don't yeah I mean like yeah I mean it's saying offensive things I think it has its own consequences so you know so you have to you know you have to deal with that you know so it's like you know so yes I I, I, I, I would, I don't say nothing that I wouldn't say, you know, maybe offstage or something, you know what I'm saying? Or to your face, you know?

Dr. Shay: 14:24

Has anyone ever approached you in the parking

Renard Hirsch: 14:27

lot after a show? Uh, let's see. No, I've never, I've never gotten, I've never gotten, uh, I've never gotten approached about anything. I mean, I don't, I'm not that, I'm not that comic, you know? I'm not, I just want to tell you some of my stories and laugh and joke and, you know, so it's like, I'm, yeah, I'm like, I'm not, I'm not here to, you know, roast somebody's mama. I'm not, you know what I'm saying? I'm like, you know, I'm not, that's not what I want to do. You know, like I, you know, sometimes the show comes off stage and you have to address certain stuff in the crowd, you know, cause it'll, they'll mess your show up. If you don't say nothing about it, if somebody's talking too loud or, or somebody's, you know, doing something or whatever. So it's like, sometimes you have to, you may have to come out of your jokes routine and then come in and address a situation and then, you know, go back into it, you know.

Dr. Shay: 15:12

Look at you and your conflict resolution skills in the moment.

Renard Hirsch: 15:15

yeah yeah i mean like you have to you know because people will just keep going if you don't say anything so it's like something you know sometimes you have to address it but you have to address it in a way that that'll be funny and because sometimes the audience can turn on you if you go in too hard on this person they're like oh wow you didn't have to do that you know so sometimes so if you if you do that you know you so then now you got to figure out now the audience will kind of turn on you and they're like oh this guy's an asshole so we're like we're not we're not Now we don't want to laugh. You had to keep that in mind too. You gave me a three-part question, didn't you? Was there one more thing you wanted to ask me about? I

Dr. Shay: 15:59

asked, how do you prepare for different audiences differently? But you kind of

Renard Hirsch: 16:04

touched on that. Yeah. Okay. Like, like, okay. Like on the, on the show day, if it was up to me, I would not leave the, I would not leave home the day of the show. I just wanted to relax all the way up until the day of the show. But of course we live in a real world, so that doesn't always happen. But so it's like, yeah. So, but yeah. So like if I can, you know, I want to relax and do whatever else I need to do. And, you know, kind of look over, usually, usually I try to look over my jokes. I keep, I keep my jokes in my phone, uh, like a list of, I have a list of all the jokes that I know work. And then I have another list of new jokes that I'm working on. So, um, so, you know, so I'll usually before the show, I'll kind of, I'll, I'll take a look at the old jokes and then I'll, I'll look at the new stuff that I want to and figure out where I want to plug it into the routine. And, uh, So, yeah, so I'll do that. And, yeah, basically the preparation for most of it, basically it's just doing as many shows as possible, you know, getting on stage, you know, every night, you know, working on your, you know, doing, you know, you're doing open mics, you're doing showcases, you know, also, you know, figuring out time to write, you know, to expand on your jokes and figure out how you can make these jokes better. Also, I exercise, so I'm like, I'm one of those people that I feel like when I feel better, I perform better, you know, like I think it's just a, you know, it's a whole confidence mindset, you know, and it's like when I'm, when I'm, when I'm feeling good and I'm like, I feel good, I feel healthy, I feel strong. It's like, I think that translates to your stage performance. So, so I like to get my, get my workout and get my jog in, you know, try to, so I'm, I'm, you know, so I feel good on stage physically and mentally. Right, right. And if somebody attacks the stage, I got a fighting chance.

Dr. Shay: 17:54

Oh my God. gosh. So I'm thinking, you know, throughout everyone's careers, there's moments of failures or setbacks. So how do you overcome a night that you might have bombed? How did you

Renard Hirsch: 18:07

work through that? I'll go worse than that. I've got booed before. So, you know, getting booed is that's really like the worst thing that can happen to you on stage. So it's like once that happens, you're like, okay, I'm I survived it, you know? So you're like, okay, now, now what do you do? You know? So it was like, so I guess, I guess, cause I got, I've been booed like twice. So when I first started, so first time was at, I believe it was, I was in college and, but it was like a, it was a AKA Apollo night. So, you know, Apollo night, people walk up ready to boo anyway. So, and it's college kids too. So they're like, oh yeah, we can't wait to boo everybody. But like the next day, I didn't want to get out of bed. The whole school was there. You feel embarrassed. I was like, man. One thing though, when I went back on campus, there were a few people who stopped me and were like, hey man, you good. Keep doing your thing. Don't let the haters deter you. It kind of wasn't my fault. I used to do this impersonation of The Rock. When I came out to do it, they introduced me. They gave me the microphone I pulled the microphone up to do the thing and as soon as I pulled the microphone out the cord fell out the microphone so then everybody immediately just started booing oh my god hey let me do the thing so uh yeah so it's like so yeah that that happens and uh and one time when I first went to Atlanta I I did I um I was I was not ready you know I was like only like a year in or something like that that and uh so I'm thinking every time I've been to Atlanta before that was for the TSU Classic and stuff. I always felt like Atlanta was nice. It was upscale. I go down there. I'm all dressed up. But then it's like TI Grand Hustle night. It's like a super hood night. I'm way overdressed for the show. I go up and then they bring me up and I do the first joke. Before I go up, a guy yells out something when I walk to the stage. And so the whole right side of the room fell out laughing. But I'm like, what? What'd you say? And I could never get a response. So I was like, well, I'm just going to go ahead and go over my joke. So I did the joke. And the other side of the room started laughing. But the other side never calmed down. So they started booing. And then it just went around the room. And everybody, they booed me off. And so then I get off stage. And I'm like, okay, cool. I'm done. And then, but it was a guy in the front row. He was like, no, he was funny, man. Bring him back. And I'm standing on side of the stage like uh no don't bring me back up and so but then the host was like he's like hey man we know this guy's people he came a long way we're gonna show him some love we're gonna bring him back to the stage so he brought me back out then i got booed twice in the same night so i was like so but so yeah i felt kind of bad at first but then i noticed everybody else that got up they booed them too except for the two guys that they had seen on tv so uh so i was like okay so it wasn't really me. It was just, you know, I just, I, I ain't have enough TV credits at the time. So, uh, yeah, so it was, um, yeah. So, but after that, it's like either, I think either it, it motivates you to, to go harder. Um, or I mean, yeah, I mean, cause that's, that's what I felt. I was like, okay, that was the worst that could happen. Now let me, let me just go and work hard, you know? So, um, so that, um, and also too, I, I, I think every comedian should move out of their comfort zone at some point in their career so if you can um I was fortunate enough where I was able to move to Chicago and uh work in Chicago and it was like they had a whole different work ethic of doing shows that I didn't know existed like they had a whole different circuit you know I was I was in Nashville doing two or three shows a month I get to Chicago and they're like you ain't no comedian they're like we're gonna show you what comics do so I had some kind of take me under their wing and they were like they were doing three and four shows a night and I was like oh my I was like that's why so many y'all on Def Jam and Comic View and Comedy Central because y'all get way more practice than people in smaller markets who maybe don't have a decent comedy scene so yeah so so being able to work with them I get they gave me that work ethic where it's like okay you know I was like okay I need to be on stage like every night you know So, um, um, yeah, so that, that was, that was, that was one good, that was like my comedy bootcamp going to Chicago, you know? So I was like, cause the thing about being in Chicago is like Chicago, you know, it's a, it's a, it's a great city. Uh, it's a tough city. Um, you know, the weather, you know, weather is bad, you know, lots of gang violence and stuff. Um, so, and they, they, they had a really high bar for comedy in Chicago because they've seen so many legends come through there. They've seen Bernie Mac. They've seen D-Ray. They've seen Lil Rel. Adele Givens. All these great people that have come through Chicago. When the crowds, they're like, don't waste our time. You better be funny. I watched Bernie Mac for three years. That really prepared me to tough crowds. As a comic, they always say, if you can do Atlanta, you can do St. Louis, you can do Detroit, you can do Chicago, you can do New York, everything else is pretty easy. I pretty much found that to be pretty true. Working in those crowds, it toughened you up so much. I felt like when I moved to LA, I'm ready for whatever. Throw it all at me. I'm good. That's a big part, I would say, of the preparation just to be able to be around to be also to be in a community of people who live comedy you know like that was the first time I was around people who were like yeah this is I don't have another job I just do comedy you know so I was like oh okay cool I was like okay this is even you know so I'm learning you know so that's like a big part of the preparation

Dr. Shay: 24:47

yeah and so you mentioned you've gotten pretty good over the years of reading the crowd so what have you learned about human behavior from being on stage?

Renard Hirsch: 24:59

I've learned that people will do any and everything that you let them do. Uh, yeah, I think, I mean, cause I mean, sometimes you may, you'll be surprised sometimes at the stuff people will say or, or do, you know, like I, I remember one time I, I'd given away, uh, a free ticket to a girl online. So she comes to the show and, and like halfway through the show, she's sets up her phone, uh, and, and just answers the phone, just has a, just decides to have a conversation like out loud. And they're like, they're like, There weren't a lot of people in this show. There was maybe 20 people at the show. Of course, everybody in the room can hear her. I'm like, what would make you think this is okay for you to come and talk in the middle of a comedy show? I don't claim to understand humans. They'll just do whatever they think they can do or they can get away with. One thing I think about humans, I just try to put out as much positive energy you know into the world and you know and nine times out of ten it comes back to you but yeah yeah so you put that out there and it's like you know and you yeah like I don't I haven't had I can count on the probably on one hand the amount of no there are lots of people come after the show and have crazy stuff to say you know not not not aggressive but you're just like you know we'll you know we'll be after the show we'll be standing around and somebody walks up to the con and they'll tell us some crazy stuff and they'll walk off and we'll look at each other and be like, okay, that was weird. But as a comic, though, you welcome all those situations because you never know who's going to say something that's going to spark another joke that you could tell for years after this. So definitely as a comic, you have to study human behavior anyway, too.

Intro Music: 27:04

Yeah.

Renard Hirsch: 27:04

I love people watching. If you're just sitting at a park and watching people walk by and just seeing people be themselves when they don't think a camera's rolling somewhere. I think it's always interesting to just sit and watch people be human.

Dr. Shay: 27:23

That's one of my favorite things to do as well. How do you think comedy creates connection between strangers or break down those walls?

Renard Hirsch: 27:36

When we come together and laugh at the same thing, I think that brings people together. If I tell a joke about taking the laundry out and then this guy in in the audience he relates to it and this lady she relates to the joke the same way and it's like we look around the room and we're like oh we all got this in common you know and this is something funny that we all deal with so I think that's really how it impacts like when we can all come together and laugh in the same room I think there's a connection there you know it's like you can you know when you laugh and you see this other person laughing and y'all y'all high five each other you're like yeah hell yeah that happened to me yesterday haha You know, so, like, that's always cool to see crowds come together. And, you know, like, and it can be different. Like, the big crowds and different crowds, like, they, it's, you know, I enjoy a more intimate crowd. You know, like, put me in a room of 300 people, and, you know, that's, like, my

Dr. Shay: 28:37

favorite. At the 300th intimate?

Renard Hirsch: 28:41

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, for a comedy club. I'm like, that's my favorite. I'm like, put me in a comedy club. I mean, like I've done theaters and I've done some basketball arenas and stuff like that. But it's like, I mean, there's a certain level of adjustment that goes to those two. You know, like when you're doing a bigger venue, sometimes the sound travels slower. So if you're not used to it, it kind of throws your timing off a little bit. But usually when the times just happen to me, I'm like, you know, you tell the joke and you don't get a laugh. And you're like, oh, okay. So you go to the next joke. Then the laugh comes in. And so I'm like, oh, okay. So then you have to just take a deep breath and say, okay, slow down. Throw the joke out. Give them a few seconds. Get the laugh. Then go to the next joke. So, yeah. But it's like what I'm saying about the different crowds. It's like you can have a crowd of 400 and they not really want to laugh. And then sometimes you can have a crowd of 45. But if that 45 really came to laugh and have a good time, that show may be better than the show the 4000 you know so um but but yeah but like yeah but one thing too is like i always listen to the crowd noise before the show because sometimes they're they're bubbling they're buzzing you know and you're like okay yeah it's like because we as comics we we feed off the energy of the crowd so yeah like the more energy we get from the crowd the more it pushes us to go even more overboard and more over the top with our jokes and our expressions and and and know and the taglines and all this other stuff um right so um yeah yeah so but sometimes you come in and you got the energy of a library and you're like oh man i hope they perk up a little bit when we come out out on stage but but but yeah so yes you know you you look for you look to connect in with that energy

Dr. Shay: 30:41

um

Renard Hirsch: 30:42

yeah yeah

Dr. Shay: 30:43

that makes sense so as much as we love to laugh um there's also a time serious so as much as you're willing to share can you think of a moment when humor helped you survive something difficult you went through

Renard Hirsch: 30:58

humor is I think maybe it was a survival mechanism for me just growing up you know like I was so I was like I was about average size or maybe bigger than some of the kids like up until fourth grade then about fourth fifth grade I just kind of really stopped growing so I was smaller than everybody But I knew I could tap in to make people laugh. So I was like, hey, people are laughing. Nobody wants to fight. And so, yeah, so I think, of course, that, you know, so I think it's a, you know, I think I knew that kind of growing up through life. I was like, I'm like, I'd rather, like, I love the feeling of laughter. I like to make other people laugh. So I'm like, so I've done, comedy at some funerals, you know, and, uh, that was, that was, I mean, it was, uh, it was, uh, it was, it was really, really hard to do because of who the people were in my life. Um, um, but it was like, I really wanted to give them a happy send off, you know, and I, and I don't know how much, how well I can do it for people. I don't know well, but like, like with those people, you know, they were, these were people that I talk to like every other day, you know, or every day. So it was like, I knew I had enough life material where I knew I can come out and throw some funny stuff out too. And also everybody in the, at the funeral knew this person too. So they, they connect in on that aspect too. Cause when I, when I say something about what he did, they're like, oh yeah, he did used to do that, you know? So, but yeah, but I was, I was like, I was, I was grateful that at those moments I was able to give people some laughter and, and, and, you know, know, in a moment of pain, you know? Um, so that, that, that probably, that's probably like the biggest, I was like, I was looking back on it. I'm like, you know, I was like, I, I didn't see how I did it, but, um, but you know, I think that's, that's one of those things you like, you just, I'm one of those people. I'm like, but you, Hey, whatever, whatever comes your way, you gotta, you gotta strap up and then do it, you know? And, uh, and do the, do the, do the best job you can, you know? So.

Dr. Shay: 33:13

Wait, I gotta ask, are you hired to do that? Or are you just volunteers in comedy at that funeral?

Renard Hirsch: 33:18

No, well, no, it was, uh, uh, I wasn't hired. I was, I was, uh, like, like two, two of them were family members. So I had a cousin and one was a aunt and, uh, and the other one was my best friend. And so, you know how they, they let people speak, but I was like, you know, I know that's the unique gift that God gave me. So I was like, so anytime I can use it to, to, to heal people, um, you know, I try to, um, you know, like it's all like, Sometimes we don't even know the healing that's going on from the stage until you, after the show, you talk to people and they're like, man, this is the first time I laughed since my sister passed and it's been a year. And so when you get those kind of responses after shows, you're like, okay, this is bigger than, this is more important than just these goofy little laughs that I'm thinking about. It's, you know, it's also healing for a lot of people that need that. So it's like, and even now, you know, there's so much stuff going on in the news, you know, a lot of people losing jobs lot of uncertainty. You know, so like people are just like, I can, you know, you feel that people are just like, we just really need a break. We just really need to laugh, you know? So I could just, I want to forget about what's, what's going on or what might be coming down, you know, in two weeks or whatever. So, so yeah. So, so, so it was like, yeah. So I, you, you take that and say, okay, well it is what, what, what you're doing is, is, is important. And I think as comics, you need to know that too. Cause you know, sometimes you can, you can feel like you just, spinning your wheels in the mud with what you're doing. But when you see that you actually make a difference in people's lives, I think that's an amazing feeling just to know that the laughter is doing that.

Dr. Shay: 35:03

Right. That's awesome. Well, I had the pleasure of seeing you perform recently in Nashville, but where are you going next?

Renard Hirsch: 35:10

Next, we got Tulsa, Oklahoma, and we'll be back in Zany, so we have like a once a month residency uh at zany's

Dr. Shay: 35:20

so we'll be back to see you again then oh

Renard Hirsch: 35:22

yeah yeah yeah i gotta come back the next show like because every show is is it's kind of different like we have um it's the guys on the tour the funny lane tour um so we're we're on on the show and then because we usually we tour it and so on on when we're on the road all of us we just go out we do our 30 minutes or whatever and um but when we do it at home it's it's uh we we include some of the local comics and uh uh, some of, some of our other comedy buddies that may be passing through town or, um, so, uh, you know, like, like we had Tony tone last time. So he was, you know, he, he, uh, he came and showed us some love and then did that show with us and, and, and knocked it out. So, um, so yeah, so we got, we got Chattanooga coming up, uh, on the tour and, uh, I got Vero beach coming up. Uh, so yeah, so that's, that's, uh, all the stuff, all the stuff y'all can find on my website, www.renardcomedy.com, uh, Put all the dates and everything on there. Any of my social media. I post all my flyers and shows and everything on there. So y'all follow me at Renard Comedy on there. Renard Comedy is your handle? Yeah, my handle. All my sites.

Dr. Shay: 36:35

Make it easy. Yeah, that does make it easy. I want to thank you so much for chatting with me today. It was such a pleasure. Oh,

Renard Hirsch: 36:43

yeah, definitely. Anytime. I enjoy it. I always love doing the podcast. I can sit and talk to Comedy all day. Humor

Dr. Shay: 36:52

isn't just about punchlines. It's about perspective. Today's conversation reminded us that laughter can make space for grief, connection, truth, and healing. Comedy helps us process what sometimes feels too heavy to carry all at once. Whether you're on the stage or in the audience, don't underestimate the survival skill that is laughter. It's not a distraction from the human experience. It's a deeper way of being in it. As always, thank you for joining me in the resolution room. If this conversation moved you, challenged you, or gave you something to carry forward, consider supporting the show. You can explore our wearable wisdom collection in our mind shop, where each piece is designed to spark reflection and dialogue. You can also join our growing community for behind-the-scenes conversations, resources, and support of your own journey through tension and transformation. And if We just want to say thank you in a simple way. You can always buy me a coffee. Every gesture helps keep the space going. All the links are in the show notes. And until next time, keep building in the quiet because that's what will carry you forward.