#121: BJ Novak of The Office on Creative Process, Handling Rejection, and Good Comedy
The Tim Ferriss Show
Is There a Rigorous Approach to Comedy Writing?
The approach really was do something funny. And there wasn't a lot of structure. There is definitely advantages and disadvantages to coming from a place like that. It's an incredibly subjective practice, but are the most talented at comedy writing? You have to write a number of pieces in order to get on the staff. The other advantage is that they believe they can do it.
This tactical episode covers principles and tactics for creating amazing careers, comedy, writing, and much more. Hilarious stories weave it all together. My guest is B.J. Novak (@bjnovak), best known for his work on NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy series "The Office" as an actor, writer, director, and executive producer. He has appeared in films such as Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds and Disney's Saving Mr. Banks. He is also the author of the acclaimed short story collection "One More Thing" and the #1 New York Times Best Seller "The Book With No Pictures" (great Christmas gift), which has more than one million copies in print. Last but not least, he is co-founder of The List App. In other words, he does a lot and does it well. What are the habits, tools, and routines that help him to do this? That's what we explore in this conversation. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.fourhourworkweek.com/podcast. This podcast is brought to you by Vimeo Pro, which is ideal for entrepreneurs. In fact, a bunch of my start-ups are already using Vimeo Pro. WealthFront uses it to explain how it develops personalized investment portfolios. TaskRabbit uses it to tell the company’s story. Twitter uses it to showcase Periscope. Why are they using it instead of other options out there? Vimeo Pro provides enterprise level video hosting that typically costs thousands of dollars for a tiny fraction of the cost. Features include: Gorgeous high-quality playback with no ads Up to 20 GB of video storage every week Unlimited plays and views A fully customizable video player, which can include your company logo, custom outro, and more You get all this for just $199 per year (that’s only $17 per/mo.) There are no complicated bandwidth calculations or hidden fees. Just go to Vimeo.com/business to check it out. If you like it, you can use the promo code “Tim” to get 25% off. This is the deepest discount you will find anywhere for Vimeo Pro. This podcast is also brought to you by Wealthfront. Wealthfront is a massively disruptive (in a good way) set-it-and-forget-it investing service, led by technologists from places like Apple and world-famous investors. It has exploded in popularity in the last 2 years and now has more than $2.5B under management. In fact, some of my good investor friends in Silicon Valley have millions of their own money in Wealthfront. Why? Because you can get services previously limited to the ultra-wealthy and only pay pennies on the dollar for them, and it’s all through smarter software instead of retail locations and bloated sales teams. Check out wealthfront.com/tim, take their risk assessment quiz, which only takes 2-5 minutes, and they’ll show you—for free–exactly the portfolio they’d put you in. If you want to just take their advice and do it yourself, you can. Or, as I would, you can set it and forget it. Well worth a few minutes: wealthfront.com/tim. Mandatory disclaimer: Wealthfront Inc. is an SEC registered Investment Advisor. Investing in securities involves risks, and there is the possibility of losing money. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Please visit Wealthfront dot com to read their full disclosure.
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