Andy Kindler Looks Back After Two Decades of Tipping Over Sacred Comedy Cows
Montreal Just for Laughs is the godfather of comedy festivals and there is no annual event at Just for Laughs or any other festival that is more highly anticipated than Andy Kindler’s State of the Industry address. Comics and members of the comedy industry cram into every corner of the biggest conference room at the Hyatt to find out- who is going to be on the receiving end of Kindler’s comedy spear each year. They come for the laughs, the gossip, the insults and to hear someone say out loud some of the things they aren’t willing to say in public.
Since 1996, Kindler has been the unofficial headliner of the festival, delivering his highly anticipated State of the Industry address, skewering comedy every summer. Beyond the roast idea- Kindler goes on a crusade tipping over sacred cows, taking shots at the powers that be, and pointing out both the obvious and the subtle hypocrisies in the biz, all with a wink, and smile or at least a good laugh. It’s one of the most highly attended events of the festival, and without a doubt the most written about event of the year.
It’s been 20 years since Kindler gave his first address, and to celebrate, Comedy Dynamics just released an album of his very first one, given in 1996. Kindler’s release is absolutely on our ‘must have’ list for 2017. It’s a fascinating listen to see how much has changed in comedy in the past 20 years, and also how much has stayed the same.
I talked to Kindler about the hour that launched comedy’s most renowned annual tradition, how it all started, and got some thoughts from Andy to tide us over till 2017’s State of the Industry address at Just for Laughs.
The tradition started in 1996, but back in 1995, something happened that laid the groundwork. Andy had brought his popular “Hack Comic Handbook” to life at the festival. The Handbook had been published in National Lampoon, and Kindler did a demonstration of it with Patton Oswalt and some other comics that was a big hit. Then in ’96, Bruce Hills, who was heading up the festival, approached Kindler about doing some kind of address to the industry. It was Andy’s manager, Bruce Smith who came up with the name State of the Industry.
The first year went well with Andy taking on HBO, Jay Leno, and Whoopi Goldberg among others, and a tradition was born. Over the past few decades, there were mostly good years, and a few bad ones. “In subsequent years, I think the next two years were amazing and then I think I had one year that was awful, where I was almost like in tears after it,” he admitted. “And then there’s just ups and downs and all kinds of things and the businesses change. The last few years, I used to go to the trades and do jokes at the trades. I stopped doing that about two years ago. Just a waste of time. Nobody knows the names of these business people. So I have to change the speech over the years and that one – everybody was into it.”
When Kindler was approached about releasing the inaugural address, he said he had mixed feelings. “I was hesitant about going back to the 90’s ’cause I’ve had so many feuds and I didn’t want every single negative thing I said about everybody to be out there.” But when he listened back, he changed his mind. “I was really happy. I actually thought it was an interesting look into me and maybe that even the best part of me, in a way, because I was having feuds then! I was having feuds with HBO and it was like…. you could tell that I’ve got too many issues going on there. But to me, that was fascinating. And the speeches always reflect my own issues too.”
Although some of the issues raised in that first hour are water under the bridge now, some of the old kvetching still applies today. And other issues, well let’s just say Andy’s just fine re-airing them. Like his comments on the old Comic Relief benefits. “That used to crack me up. You know, one year I got so angry. I don’t know if I said anything in the speech about it but Whoopi Goldberg was yelling at David Letterman like, ‘Get down here David Letterman and do Comic Relief! Get down here! Why aren’t you here?’ And meanwhile, David Letterman is like an old school kind of charitable guy. He gave so much money to people, but never advertised it. So Whoopi Goldberg is like, ‘Yo, David Letterman! Why isn’t he …’ David Letterman doesn’t wanna go down and self promote. I don’t know why, okay. You know?”
One of Kindler’s most remembered lines was delivered in 1996 about Whoopi Goldberg (he offered a million dollars to anyone who has footage of Whoopi being funny), but his favorite bit over the two decades he’s been giving his address was the year he talked about Louis C.K. A lot of people were upset with him that year, but he’s okay with that. “I kind of liked that run because I love when I can sincerely implicate myself in what the problem is. So I really felt like it was a perfect mix of my own issues and what I was saying about Louis C.K.. So that felt good. ”
This year’s speech is already in the works, in a way; Kindler keeps some notes throughout the year. “From the day after I do the speech, anything that I come up with that is show business oriented, I’ll put in the speech. ‘Cause some of those things don’t play nine months later so in a sense, I start right after.” But he’s also a procrastinator, so despite the notes, he knows he’ll be up late the night before he delivers the 2017 speech, writing and writing. “My wife will yell at me, “You have to get an hour of sleep!” I have to finish the speech. Sometimes it’s like four o’clock …”
But you don’t have to wait till summer to hear what Andy has to say about the industry. Although his speech won’t be written for another few months, I collected some of his thoughts on comedy right now to hold us all over.
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On Netflix, Ricky Gervais, and Adam Sandler….
Can somebody give me a price on Netflix without Derek? How much is it per month without the Adam Sandler movies? Can I just get a price on that?
On Making a Deal With Streaming Services….
One year, I said “Everybody’s gonna do Amazon and Hulu and I just signed a deal with UPS Ground. I added then the shipping element to my comedy.” And next week, I have a meeting with FedEx Saturday Delivery for my new show “Do Not Ship Blood”.
On Billy Crystal…
I can’t believe that there was a time when I just thought Billy Crystal was the funniest thing in the world. Like I loved “When Harry Met Sally”, I loved him on “Saturday Night Live”, and now it’s like very hard to watch him.
On Technology Jokes…
I’ve been doing this line … I think Anthony Jeselnik told me to do it. Someone told me to do it, but I can’t locate it, but I’ve been saying “HDMI, right ladies?”
On Jay Leno…
Last night, I was at the Improv, they have like this little room called The Lab and I’m on stage and I could see dimly lit on the opposite wall, it’s like Jay Leno standing on a motorcycle. I mean doesn’t even look like he’s from this lifetime. I can’t imagine. Like can you imagine Jay Leno even looking as a whole physical, athletic person? You can’t imagine … I think of him as subdivided into upper torso …would not be surprised if he unscrews at night and stores his parts…
On Whether Jimmy Fallon is Heading Down the Leno Path…
Oh there’s no question. I try not to brag and stuff, but then I end up bragging. But I was way ahead of the curve on Fallon. I was doing that joke years ago with like him interviewing Stalin. “Stalin. So great! So great! You choked 30 million people and that’s crazy! You wanna play charades?” And of course, you cut to him tussling Trump’s hair and I really think … I’m not saying he’s not gonna continue to be popular, but that had to make people see that this is not gonna wear well, this like total superficial “everything’s great”. That’s what he inherited from Leno.
See, with Letterman’s live show, transition to Conan would’ve been smooth. But I’m not surprised Conan had trouble. Of course, they wouldn’t give Conan a chance, but I’m not surprised because Leno dumbed down the show and Fallon’s a perfect successor to that.
On Trump Winning the Election…
It’s so terrible. I did this show after Thanksgiving– it was like the day after Thanksgiving in New York in Union Hall and it was just like, I just couldn’t even summon the energy to do … I was so sure the Trump material would no longer be valid. It really was a wake, not a wake up call, but I will never again get overconfident about something.
When I was a kid, we made fun of Nixon. Nixon is like an introspective, caring human compared to this Trump.
On the Women on Saturday Night Live…
Well, I don’t know how you felt, but that Melissa McCarthy…that was like the greatest thing I’d ever seen.I can’t believe she doesn’t have a strong political view because there’s so much passion behind it. It was so … The idea of attacking someone with a podium? You’ll never find a person against physical comedy ’cause when it’s done right, it’s just so great.
The way it is right now, those women are so hilarious. I’ve never seen more hilarious people. To me, Kate McKinnon– I’ve never seen someone enjoy being funny more than her. You know she has the craziest time! You can’t even believe. I can’t believe that she has never been in the comedy scene because she has such an iconic force. And she did Justin Bieber last week and the way that cracks me up. She does the thing and she just keeps going even if she’s going back to her position at the podium, you know?
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Despite being known as the comedian who points out everything that’s wrong in comedy, Kindler is surprisingly optimistic about the industry. “I still feel there’s something amazing about stand up comedy in that there’s no gatekeepers. Like if you were a painter or photographer, there’s so many gatekeepers. It’s so hard to even get your stuff seen. Whereas stand-up comedy– I still think that there’s a system where anybody can get into it, you know? If you want to do it, you can do it That’s why I think it is for right now, an amazing art form. It’s just the cream does kinda rise to the top. And there’s always terrible things, so that’s good.
Now you can hear the original address. Andy Kindler’s State of the Industry 1996 is available now on iTunes, and everywhere albums are sold!
Andy Kindler currently recurs on Fox’s hit animation series Bob’s Burgers and Comedy Central’s Tosh.O. He is also the host of Season 4 and 5 of Hulu’s stand up series Coming to the Stage. Andy was a series judge on the seventh season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, the star of two half-hour Comedy Central Presents specials and was a frequent guest and correspondent on The Late Show with David Letterman with over 40 appearances. He recurred on Everybody Loves Raymond, Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place, and IFC’s Maron. Other noteworthy credits include the HBO Young Comedians Special, Conan, The Daily Show, Dr. Katz Professional Therapist, Home Movies and The Larry Sanders Show. Every year, Andy delivers his infamous State of the Industry Address at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal.
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