Interview · moment 4 of 45
The Disastrous San Jose Singer-Songwriter Opener
from The Joe Rogan Experience | The Tim Dillon Show #422 · #422
3 min
Guest
Joe tells a long story about a singer-songwriter friend who opened with acoustic folk songs before a comedy show in San Jose, killing the crowd's energy and creating an awkward rift between the comics and the singer afterward.
- Tim brought a singer-songwriter to open a show in San Jose without realizing it would tank the comedy.
- People warned him not to have comedy follow music because the audience stays in the wrong mindset.
- Most opening acts aren't strong enough to shock the crowd out of the music headspace before the main comedian goes on.
- The singer felt bad after the show; Tim and his opener were silently angry at him in the green room.
- Tim invited the singer-songwriter on a road trip to San Jose, staying in Palo Alta near Stanford.
- The opener sang socio-political acoustic commentary, which Tim thought might work but ended up falling flat.
- Tim describes going on stage after the singer as running with weights on, like quicksand.
- The next morning at breakfast, the singer agreed the energy had been killed and apologized.
- The singer compares the mismatch to mixing peanut butter and steak—both great separately, but terrible together.
- Tim ended up resenting the singer for making the weekend difficult, even though he liked him as a person.