September 12, 2025 • 38 mins
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.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro Music (00:01):
Intro music
Dr. Shay (00:19):
Welcome back to The Resolution Room, where we turn
tension into transformationthrough clarity, connection, and
consistency.
I'm your host, Dr.
Nashay Lowe, and this is aspace where we explore what's
really underneath the momentsthat challenge us and how they
can lead to something morehonest, more human, and more
whole.
So let's get into it.
We often think of comedy asjust entertainment, but what if
(00:43):
it's something much deeper?
In this episode, we explore thepower of humor as a tool for
truth-telling, connection, andresilience.
Through the lens of stand-upand storytelling, our guest
Renard Hirsch helps us unpackhow humor can diffuse tension,
challenge norms, and help ussurvive the hardest parts of
being human.
(01:03):
Whether it's processingpersonal pain or poking fun at
collective absurdities, thisconversation reminds us that
sometimes laughter is thelifeline.
All right, Renard, can youintroduce yourself to the
people?
Renard Hirsch (01:17):
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 (01:37):
Of course, of course.
And as you can see, we're goingto have a fun time today.
So let's start off by havingyou tell me a little bit about
what drew you to comedy in thefirst place?
Renard Hirsch (01:47):
What drew me into comedy?
Well, I guess growing up, Ijust loved to laugh.
I thought laughing was just thegreatest feeling ever.
Anytime I saw something on TV,I thought it was hilarious.
I just loved laughter.
I guess after a while, youwatch enough of it, you kind of
start cracking your own jokesand stuff.
(02:07):
I was like, okay, I'm a littlebit funny.
I Yeah, that's really, yeah.
I never in a million yearsthought I'd be doing stand-up.
So that was, I never thoughtI'd be an entertainer.
Dr. Shay (02:23):
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 (02:29):
Well, that, yeah, so that came from, I guess,
growing up, you know, I go tochurch growing up.
And so I was headed, I ended upbeing the head of the youth
department.
And they would, the youth, theywould let the youth participate
and do everything the adultsdid on like Fourth Sunday.
So that kind of helped me, youknow, get used to kind of
(02:51):
speaking in front of crowds ofpeople And so then I got to
college.
And I guess, well, okay, highschool.
I think when high school,that's kind of when I kind of
started kind of coming to myown.
I was kind of like, oh, okay,I'm kind of funny.
You know, my friends were allfunny.
Dr. Shay (03:07):
Were you the class clown?
Huh?
Were you the class clown?
Renard Hirsch (03:11):
Not really.
I was, yeah, I was like, I was,I mean, like, I was a person.
I'll walk up on you and tellyou something stupid about what
you had on or whatever.
I didn't need a crowd.
I was like, long as you got thejoke.
That was cool.
So, yeah, not really.
I pretty much behaved for themost part in class.
(03:31):
But, yeah, so then I got to–oh, yeah, so my senior year I
took– we took this electiveclass, and it was me and like
five of my friends in there.
And so we did– he had us dothis duo scene where we acted
with each other.
And the class just– the classreally liked it after we did it.
And he was like, hey, man,y'all could compete.
(03:52):
We're like, what?
He's like, yeah, y'all can comeon the forensics team, and
y'all can do this scene forthem, and y'all got a good
chance of winning.
So we're like, okay.
So we're like, well, we'll tryit.
So we did it, and ended upwinning the competition.
But it was the end of the year,so I was like, okay, now what?
But then I got to college, tookan acting class, and didn't
(04:13):
really do that great, and itdidn't put as much effort into
it as I should have.
But I passed the class, andthen that summer, I was sitting
in the office trying to figureout what to do with my life.
I was a business major at thatpoint.
And that teacher came and waslike, hey, we got some roles,
possible roles open for thissummer.
We're doing a play.
And I'm like, all right, I'mnot doing nothing else with my
(04:36):
life.
Let me see what the play lifeis about.
So I did that.
It was just an amazingexperience.
Getting to see how the actorspulled 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 atleast five to six hours a day.
(05:00):
We had a professional theatercompany in residency at the
college.
They treated us like we weregetting paid.
We would be up until oneo'clock in the morning trying to
hear these scenes.
It was really dope because wehad all the we had a
(05:24):
professional set, you know,everything was professional.
And so it was like, so after Igot that, I was like, okay, I
can see myself doing somethingin entertainment for life, you
know?
So, yeah.
So that, that was, that was theintro.
Dr. Shay (05:37):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, I mean, I think you haveone of the coolest jobs in the
world.
Like you literally get to makepeople laugh for a living, but I
imagine for a lot of otherpeople looking in from the
outside, there's a lot ofmisconceptions about what the
job really entails as a standupcomic.
and the pressure you might feelbecause, you know, everyone
thinks they're funny, right?
(05:57):
Like everyone just thinksthey're funny.
So the assumption is this can'tbe too hard.
So walk us through a little bitof a day in the life of a
standup comedian andspecifically, how do you prepare
for your shows?
How do you decide what and whatand what not to talk about?
And how do you preparedifferently for different
audiences?
Renard Hirsch (06:18):
All right.
So yeah, like lots of stuffthat people don't know goes on
behind the scenes, you know,every day, you know, they just
see you show up and you do 20minutes, you do 30 minutes or do
an hour.
And they're like, okay, youget, you know, like, Oh, you got
a whole day's pay in 30minutes, whatever.
But there's a whole lot of prepwork 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 andnew original material.
(06:41):
You want to have somethingthat, that, that'll make you
stand out from other comics.
You know, you don't want tojust, you know, yeah.
The worst thing to do is be aforgettable comic, you know?
So it's like, if, if you cameand you performed, you're like,
Oh, he was funny, but we, Hewas, I don't know, he just
talked about the same thingeverybody else did, you know.
So, yeah, you constantly, solike whenever I see something I
think may be funny or like thelittle nugget of a joke, I'll
(07:03):
write it in my phone.
And then when I finally get achance, I'll open up my
notebook.
I'm old school, so I still usethe notepad.
I write pen and paper.
So then I'll try to, I try tobrainstorm about the subject and
just try to think of anything Ican think of.
Just let my mind just emptyout, you know, anything about,
you know, like if I go to themovies and And I have experience
(07:23):
there.
I'm like, okay, let me thinkeverything 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 emptyingmy brain to see what else I can
add to see that I can make thisjoke funny.
Um, and so then, yeah, thenI'll try to write the joke out
how I think I should say it onstage.
(07:44):
And, um, so, so you, so youhave an idea about what you're
going to say when you go onstage.
So then later on that night,you'll go to an open mic, um,
And, um, and you'll try to jokeout 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'relike, okay, it's got potential.
It just, it's not ready yet.
(08:04):
I got to go back and polish itback up.
And so, um, yeah, so you, soyou're doing that.
Uh, also during the day, ofcourse, you're, uh, constantly
contacting, uh, club owners,comedy club owners and bookers
who, um, you know, who have, youknow, who have shows.
And so you can go get some workand, uh, work in other cities.
and stuff like that.
You're constantly in contactwith them, other comics.
(08:27):
I tell most comics, you got tonetwork with the comics.
Probably half of my work comesfrom recommendations from other
comics.
You got to get in there andnetwork and rub elbows with
these folks so they know who youare.
It's one of those things out ofsight, out of mind.
(08:49):
You can be the funniest person.
I picked up work being a comicclubs where somebody's like, oh,
hey, you know what?
I got a great show that you'llbe good on.
But if I wasn't there, youmight not get that.
At least until the next part, alot of it is hanging out and
networking.
Even though you've been at theshow for two hours or whatever,
but now you got to hang out withthe comics.
(09:14):
When it comes to road trips andstuff like that, comics are
going to book comics thatthey're cool with and they feel
comfortable with and that theycan hang with.
Dr. Shay (09:23):
You're traveling together for a long period of
time usually, right?
Renard Hirsch (09:27):
Yeah, it could be.
Sometimes it could be an hour.
Sometimes it could be fivehours.
You just never know.
It depends on the show orwhatever.
But yeah, so that's...
Yeah, so then at the end of thenight, you may get up the next
day and say, all right, let'ssee.
Okay, this joke worked.
This joke didn't.
All right, what else can I doto make...
So it's like it's a constantprocess of polishing up new
(09:49):
material.
And then, of course, currentevents are happening so you know
so you're like okay now I thinkthat's funny so then like you
know it's always great when youhave a new topical joke you know
but the only thing about thosejokes is they die fast so you
know if it's in the news todayit might not be in the news next
week so you don't want to spendtoo much joke on topicals I
(10:12):
mean too much time on topicaljokes but you know because they
die so fast but if you get agood one and you can use it for
a couple of months that's youknow 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 topeople kind of let go of it a
little bit.
But I mean, if you got a greatone and it's topical and, you
know, and you can get a goodresponse from it, you know, I
say, I say go for it, you know?
Um, but I mean, cause ascomedians, we, we're looking day
one at whatever's going on inthe news and thinking, what's
(10:50):
the joke here.
So, you know even no matter howbad or horrendous it is or you
know so it's like and it dependson how it touches you you know
too so um you know if it'ssomething that touches you
personally it may be it may betoo fresh for you to you to talk
about you know um but you knowbut yeah you just you just you
you i mean you you make thatdecision at the comic you know
(11:10):
and you know you know where yourcomic level is you know if
you're funny enough or you'reconfident enough in yourself
that you can do this joke andnot 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 andhonesty?
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 andhave a good time and laugh and
leave.
Be like, man, that was a greatshow.
I may have a few littlecontroversial jokes or whatever,
but But for the most part, andsometimes you have to gauge that
as a comic.
I've been doing it like 24years.
(11:58):
So it's like, I can, when Icome into a room, I take
inventory of everything in thereand I can, I can look at the
crowd for maybe about two tothree 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 whatI'm gonna give them.
You know, I like, this is,Yeah.
So like, yeah, you can use it.
(12:18):
You just have to, it's part oflike learning how to read
crowds, you know?
So it's like, you know, causesometimes your crowd is rowdier,
you know, sometimes they'remore quiet.
Sometimes they're moreconservative.
Sometimes, you know what I'msaying?
So you gotta, you know, youcan, you know, I, you can, I
mean, it takes, it takes alittle bit of time, but it's
like, I think after a whiledoing it so long, you can kind
of read crowds and see, okay,this is, this is all grandmas in
(12:40):
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 knowwhat they want.
Or it's a bachelorette party inhere.
I know they want to party.
You have to kind of adjust yourset to whatever you're going to
do.
Dr. Shay (12:56):
Yeah, yeah.
Do you think that comedy givespeople permission to say things
that they otherwise couldn't orwouldn't say?
I
Renard Hirsch (13:09):
don't think it gives them permission.
I mean, you can say whateveryou're big and bad enough to
say.
But, but you better be able toback that up in the parking lot.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, if you, you know, like ifthis is something that you
believe and say, you know, when,when people approach you about
it after the show, you know, yougotta be ready for that too.
So, you know, you can be, youcan be offensive as you want,
(13:30):
but, but you, you, you know, youknow, 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 ifyou're on the other side of
town, you may flick somebodyoff.
off but if you're like ifyou're in your neighborhood you
like wait a minute I mean thismay be somebody I know you know
(13:52):
I'm saying or also don't donothing outside of your
character you know like ifyou're not if you're not down to
get out this car and fight youshouldn't be flipping people off
you know I'm saying so you knowso I was like I think yeah I
don't yeah I mean like yeah Imean it's saying offensive
things I think it has its ownconsequences so you know so you
have to you know you have todeal with that you know so it's
(14:14):
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 nevergotten, I've never gotten, uh,
I've never gotten approachedabout anything.
I mean, I don't, I'm not that,I'm not that comic, you know?
I'm not, I just want to tellyou some of my stories and laugh
and joke and, you know, so it'slike, 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'msaying?
(14:47):
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 addresscertain stuff in the crowd, you
know, cause it'll, they'll messyour show up.
If you don't say nothing aboutit, if somebody's talking too
loud or, or somebody's, youknow, doing something or
whatever.
So it's like, sometimes youhave to, you may have to come
out of your jokes routine andthen come in and address a
situation and then, you know, goback 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 keepgoing if you don't say anything
so it's like something you knowsometimes you have to address it
but you have to address it in away that that'll be funny and
because sometimes the audiencecan turn on you if you go in too
hard on this person they'relike oh wow you didn't have to
do that you know so sometimes soif you if you do that you know
(15:39):
you so then now you got tofigure out now the audience will
kind of turn on you and they'relike oh this guy's an asshole
so we're like we're not we'renot Now we don't want to laugh.
You had to keep that in mindtoo.
You gave me a three-partquestion, didn't you?
Was there one more thing youwanted 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 leavehome the day of the show.
I just wanted to relax all theway up until the day of the
show.
But of course we live in a realworld, so that doesn't always
happen.
But so it's like, yeah.
So, but yeah.
So like if I can, you know, Iwant to relax and do whatever
(16:28):
else I need to do.
And, you know, kind of lookover, usually, usually I try to
look over my jokes.
I keep, I keep my jokes in myphone, uh, like a list of, I
have a list of all the jokesthat I know work.
And then I have another list ofnew jokes that I'm working on.
So, um, so, you know, so I'llusually before the show, I'll
kind of, I'll, I'll take a lookat the old jokes and then I'll,
(16:48):
I'll look at the new stuff thatI want to and figure out where I
want to plug it into theroutine.
And, uh, So, yeah, so I'll dothat.
And, yeah, basically thepreparation for most of it,
basically it's just doing asmany shows as possible, you
know, getting on stage, youknow, every night, you know,
working on your, you know,doing, you know, you're doing
open mics, you're doingshowcases, you know, also, you
(17:09):
know, figuring out time towrite, you know, to expand on
your jokes and figure out howyou 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, Iperform better, you know, like I
think it's just a, you know,it's a whole confidence mindset,
you know, and it's like whenI'm, when I'm, when I'm feeling
(17:30):
good and I'm like, I feel good,I feel healthy, I feel strong.
It's like, I think thattranslates to your stage
performance.
So, so I like to get my, get myworkout and get my jog in, you
know, try to, so I'm, I'm, youknow, so I feel good on stage
physically and mentally.
Right, right.
And if somebody attacks thestage, 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 orsetbacks.
So how do you overcome a nightthat 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 isthat's really like the worst
thing that can happen to you onstage.
So it's like once that happens,you're like, okay, I'm I
survived it, you know?
So you're like, okay, now, nowwhat do you do?
(18:28):
You know?
So it was like, so I guess, Iguess, cause I got, I've been
booed like twice.
So when I first started, sofirst time was at, I believe it
was, I was in college and, butit 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.
(18:50):
So they're like, oh yeah, wecan't wait to boo everybody.
But like the next day, I didn'twant to get out of bed.
The whole school was there.
You feel embarrassed.
I was like, man.
One thing though, when I wentback on campus, there were a few
people who stopped me and werelike, hey man, you good.
(19:10):
Keep doing your thing.
Don't let the haters deter you.
It kind of wasn't my fault.
I used to do this impersonationof The Rock.
When I came out to do it, theyintroduced me.
They gave me the microphone Ipulled the microphone up to do
the thing and as soon as Ipulled the microphone out the
cord fell out the microphone sothen everybody immediately just
(19:34):
started booing oh my god hey letme do the thing so uh yeah so
it's like so yeah that thathappens and uh and one time when
I first went to Atlanta I I didI um I was I was not ready you
know I was like only like a yearin or something like that that
and uh so I'm thinking everytime I've been to Atlanta before
(19:55):
that was for the TSU Classicand stuff.
I always felt like Atlanta wasnice.
It was upscale.
I go down there.
I'm all dressed up.
But then it's like TI GrandHustle night.
It's like a super hood night.
I'm way overdressed for theshow.
I go up and then they bring meup and I do the first joke.
(20:21):
Before I go up, a guy yells outsomething when I walk to the
stage.
And so the whole right side ofthe room fell out laughing.
But I'm like, what?
What'd you say?
And I could never get aresponse.
So I was like, well, I'm justgoing to go ahead and go over my
joke.
So I did the joke.
And the other side of the roomstarted laughing.
But the other side never calmeddown.
(20:42):
So they started booing.
And then it just went aroundthe room.
And everybody, they booed meoff.
And so then I get off stage.
And I'm like, okay, cool.
I'm done.
And then, but it was a guy inthe front row.
He was like, no, he was funny,man.
Bring him back.
And I'm standing on side of thestage like uh no don't bring me
back up and so but then thehost was like he's like hey man
we know this guy's people hecame a long way we're gonna show
(21:03):
him some love we're gonna bringhim back to the stage so he
brought me back out then i gotbooed twice in the same night so
i was like so but so yeah ifelt kind of bad at first but
then i noticed everybody elsethat got up they booed them too
except for the two guys thatthey had seen on tv so uh so i
(21:24):
was like okay so it wasn'treally 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 likeeither, 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 theworst that could happen.
(21:46):
Now let me, let me just go andwork hard, you know?
So, um, so that, um, and alsotoo, I, I, I think every
comedian should move out oftheir comfort zone at some point
in their career so if you canum I was fortunate enough where
I was able to move to Chicagoand uh work in Chicago and it
(22:09):
was like they had a wholedifferent work ethic of doing
shows that I didn't know existedlike they had a whole different
circuit you know I was I was inNashville doing two or three
shows a month I get to Chicagoand they're like you ain't no
comedian they're like we'regonna show you what comics do so
I had some kind of take meunder their wing and they were
like they were doing three andfour shows a night and I was
(22:31):
like oh my I was like that's whyso many y'all on Def Jam and
Comic View and Comedy Centralbecause y'all get way more
practice than people in smallermarkets who maybe don't have a
decent comedy scene so yeah soso being able to work with them
I get they gave me that workethic where it's like okay you
(22:51):
know I was like okay I need tobe on stage like every night you
know So, um, um, yeah, so that,that was, that was, that was
one good, that was like mycomedy bootcamp going to
Chicago, you know?
So I was like, cause the thingabout being in Chicago is like
Chicago, you know, it's a, it'sa, it's a great city.
Uh, it's a tough city.
(23:11):
Um, you know, the weather, youknow, weather is bad, you know,
lots of gang violence and stuff.
Um, so, and they, they, theyhad a really high bar for comedy
in Chicago because they've seenso many legends come through
there.
They've seen Bernie Mac.
They've seen D-Ray.
They've seen Lil Rel.
Adele Givens.
(23:33):
All these great people thathave come through Chicago.
When the crowds, they're like,don't waste our time.
You better be funny.
I watched Bernie Mac for threeyears.
That really prepared me totough crowds.
(23:55):
As a comic, they always say, ifyou can do Atlanta, you can do
St.
Louis, you can do Detroit, youcan do Chicago, you can do New
York, everything else is prettyeasy.
I pretty much found that to bepretty true.
Working in those crowds, ittoughened you up so much.
I felt like when I moved to LA,I'm ready for whatever.
(24:17):
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 tobe in a community of people who
live comedy you know like thatwas the first time I was around
people who were like yeah thisis I don't have another job I
(24:38):
just do comedy you know so I waslike oh okay cool I was like
okay this is even you know soI'm learning you know so that's
like a big part of thepreparation
Dr. Shay (24:47):
yeah and so you mentioned you've gotten pretty
good over the years of readingthe crowd so what have you
learned about human behaviorfrom 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 sometimesat the stuff people will say or,
or do, you know, like I, Iremember one time I, I'd given
away, uh, a free ticket to agirl online.
(25:20):
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 decidesto 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 atthe show.
(25:40):
Of course, everybody in theroom can hear her.
I'm like, what would make youthink this is okay for you to
come and talk in the middle of acomedy show?
I don't claim to understandhumans.
They'll just do whatever theythink they can do or they can
get away with.
One thing I think about humans,I just try to put out as much
(26:06):
positive energy you know intothe world and you know and nine
times out of ten it comes backto you but yeah yeah so you put
that out there and it's like youknow and you yeah like I don't
I haven't had I can count on theprobably on one hand the amount
of no there are lots of peoplecome after the show and have
(26:29):
crazy stuff to say you know notnot not aggressive but you're
just like you know we'll youknow we'll be after the show
we'll be standing around andsomebody walks up to the con and
they'll tell us some crazystuff and they'll walk off and
we'll look at each other and belike, okay, that was weird.
But as a comic, though, youwelcome all those situations
because you never know who'sgoing to say something that's
(26:51):
going to spark another joke thatyou could tell for years after
this.
So definitely as a comic, youhave 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 apark and watching people walk by
and just seeing people bethemselves when they don't think
a camera's rolling somewhere.
I think it's always interestingto 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 createsconnection between strangers or
break down those walls?
Renard Hirsch (27:36):
When we come together and laugh at the same
thing, I think that bringspeople together.
If I tell a joke about takingthe laundry out and then this
guy in in the audience herelates to it and this lady she
relates to the joke the same wayand it's like we look around
the room and we're like oh weall got this in common you know
(27:57):
and this is something funny thatwe all deal with so I think
that's really how it impactslike when we can all come
together and laugh in the sameroom I think there's a
connection there you know it'slike you can you know when you
laugh and you see this otherperson laughing and y'all y'all
high five each other you're likeyeah hell yeah that happened to
me yesterday haha You know, so,like, that's always cool to see
(28:21):
crowds come together.
And, you know, like, and it canbe different.
Like, the big crowds anddifferent crowds, like, they,
it's, you know, I enjoy a moreintimate crowd.
You know, like, put me in aroom 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 comedyclub.
I mean, like I've done theatersand I've done some basketball
arenas and stuff like that.
But it's like, I mean, there'sa certain level of adjustment
that goes to those two.
You know, like when you'redoing a bigger venue, sometimes
the sound travels slower.
So if you're not used to it, itkind of throws your timing off
(29:07):
a little bit.
But usually when the times justhappen to me, I'm like, you
know, you tell the joke and youdon'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 adeep breath and say, okay, slow
down.
Throw the joke out.
Give them a few seconds.
(29:27):
Get the laugh.
Then go to the next joke.
So, yeah.
But it's like what I'm sayingabout the different crowds.
It's like you can have a crowdof 400 and they not really want
to laugh.
And then sometimes you can havea crowd of 45.
But if that 45 really came tolaugh and have a good time, that
(29:47):
show may be better than theshow the 4000 you know so um but
but yeah but like yeah but onething too is like i always
listen to the crowd noise beforethe show because sometimes
they're they're bubbling they'rebuzzing you know and you're
like okay yeah it's like becausewe as comics we we feed off the
energy of the crowd so yeahlike the more energy we get from
(30:11):
the crowd the more it pushes usto go even more overboard and
more over the top with our jokesand our expressions and and and
know and the taglines and allthis other stuff um right so um
yeah yeah so but sometimes youcome in and you got the energy
of a library and you're like ohman i hope they perk up a little
(30:32):
bit when we come out out onstage but but but yeah so yes
you know you you look for youlook 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 soas much as you're willing to
share can you think of a momentwhen humor helped you survive
something difficult you wentthrough
Renard Hirsch (30:58):
humor is I think maybe it was a survival
mechanism for me just growing upyou know like I was so I was
like I was about average size ormaybe bigger than some of the
kids like up until fourth gradethen about fourth fifth grade I
just kind of really stoppedgrowing so I was smaller than
everybody But I knew I could tapin to make people laugh.
(31:22):
So I was like, hey, people arelaughing.
Nobody wants to fight.
And so, yeah, so I think, ofcourse, that, you know, so I
think it's a, you know, I thinkI knew that kind of growing up
through life.
I was like, I'm like, I'drather, like, I love the feeling
of laughter.
I like to make other peoplelaugh.
So I'm like, so I've done,comedy at some funerals, you
(31:50):
know, and, uh, that was, thatwas, 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, Ireally wanted to give them a
happy send off, you know, and I,and I don't know how much, how
(32:11):
well I can do it for people.
I don't know well, but like,like with those people, you
know, they were, these werepeople that I talk to like every
other day, you know, or everyday.
So it was like, I knew I hadenough life material where I
knew I can come out and throwsome funny stuff out too.
And also everybody in the, atthe funeral knew this person
too.
So they, they connect in onthat aspect too.
(32:34):
Cause when I, when I saysomething about what he did,
they're like, oh yeah, he didused to do that, you know?
So, but yeah, but I was, I waslike, I was, I was grateful that
at those moments I was able togive people some laughter and,
and, and, you know, know, in amoment of pain, you know?
Um, so that, that, thatprobably, that's probably like
the biggest, I was like, I waslooking back on it.
(32:55):
I'm like, you know, I was like,I, I didn't see how I did it,
but, um, but you know, I thinkthat's, that's one of those
things you like, you just, I'mone of those people.
I'm like, but you, Hey,whatever, whatever comes your
way, you gotta, you gotta strapup and then do it, you know?
And, uh, and do the, do the, dothe 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 incomedy at that funeral?
Renard Hirsch (33:18):
No, well, no, it was, uh, uh, I wasn't hired.
I was, I was, uh, like, liketwo, two of them were family
members.
So I had a cousin and one was aaunt and, uh, and the other one
was my best friend.
And so, you know how they, theylet people speak, but I was
like, you know, I know that'sthe unique gift that God gave
(33:39):
me.
So I was like, so anytime I canuse it to, to, to heal people,
um, you know, I try to, um, youknow, like it's all like,
Sometimes we don't even know thehealing that's going on from
the stage until you, after theshow, you talk to people and
they're like, man, this is thefirst time I laughed since my
sister passed and it's been ayear.
(33:59):
And so when you get those kindof responses after shows, you're
like, okay, this is biggerthan, this is more important
than just these goofy littlelaughs that I'm thinking about.
It's, you know, it's alsohealing for a lot of people that
need that.
So it's like, and even now, youknow, there's so much stuff
going on in the news, you know,a lot of people losing jobs lot
of uncertainty.
(34:19):
You know, so like people arejust 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 toforget about what's, what's
going on or what might be comingdown, you know, in two weeks or
whatever.
So, so yeah.
So, so, so it was like, yeah.
So I, you, you take that andsay, okay, well it is what,
(34:40):
what, what you're doing is, is,is important.
And I think as comics, you needto know that too.
Cause you know, sometimes youcan, you can feel like you just,
spinning your wheels in the mudwith what you're doing.
But when you see that youactually make a difference in
people's lives, I think that'san amazing feeling just to know
that the laughter is doing that.
Dr. Shay (35:03):
Right.
That's awesome.
Well, I had the pleasure ofseeing you perform recently in
Nashville, but where are yougoing next?
Renard Hirsch (35:10):
Next, we got Tulsa, Oklahoma, and we'll be
back in Zany, so we have like aonce 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 isit's kind of different like we
have um it's the guys on thetour the funny lane tour um so
we're we're on on the show andthen because we usually we tour
it and so on on when we're onthe road all of us we just go
out we do our 30 minutes orwhatever and um but when we do
(35:43):
it at home it's it's uh we weinclude some of the local comics
and uh uh, some of, some of ourother 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 withus and, and, and knocked it
out.
So, um, so yeah, so we got, wegot Chattanooga coming up, uh,
(36:08):
on the tour and, uh, I got Verobeach coming up.
Uh, so yeah, so that's, that's,uh, all the stuff, all the
stuff y'all can find on mywebsite, www.renardcomedy.com,
uh, Put all the dates andeverything on there.
Any of my social media.
I post all my flyers and showsand everything on there.
So y'all follow me at RenardComedy on there.
(36:29):
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 forchatting with me today.
It was such a pleasure.
Oh,
Renard Hirsch (36:43):
yeah, definitely.
Anytime.
I enjoy it.
I always love doing thepodcast.
I can sit and talk to Comedyall day.
Humor
Dr. Shay (36:52):
isn't just about punchlines.
It's about perspective.
Today's conversation remindedus that laughter can make space
for grief, connection, truth,and healing.
Comedy helps us process whatsometimes feels too heavy to
carry all at once.
Whether you're on the stage orin the audience, don't
underestimate the survival skillthat is laughter.
(37:12):
It's not a distraction from thehuman experience.
It's a deeper way of being init.
As always, thank you forjoining 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 wearablewisdom collection in our mind
(37:33):
shop, where each piece isdesigned to spark reflection and
dialogue.
You can also join our growingcommunity for behind-the-scenes
conversations, resources, andsupport of your own journey
through tension andtransformation.
And if We just want to saythank you in a simple way.
You can always buy me a coffee.
Every gesture helps keep thespace going.
(37:55):
All the links are in the shownotes.
And until next time, keepbuilding in the quiet because
that's what will carry youforward.
Intro music
Dr. Shay (00:19):
Welcome back to The Resolution Room, where we turn
tension into transformationthrough clarity, connection, and
consistency.
I'm your host, Dr.
Nashay Lowe, and this is aspace where we explore what's
really underneath the momentsthat challenge us and how they
can lead to something morehonest, more human, and more
whole.
So let's get into it.
We often think of comedy asjust entertainment, but what if
(00:43):
it's something much deeper?
In this episode, we explore thepower of humor as a tool for
truth-telling, connection, andresilience.
Through the lens of stand-upand storytelling, our guest
Renard Hirsch helps us unpackhow humor can diffuse tension,
challenge norms, and help ussurvive the hardest parts of
being human.
(01:03):
Whether it's processingpersonal pain or poking fun at
collective absurdities, thisconversation reminds us that
sometimes laughter is thelifeline.
All right, Renard, can youintroduce yourself to the
people?
Renard Hirsch (01:17):
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 (01:37):
Of course, of course.
And as you can see, we're goingto have a fun time today.
So let's start off by havingyou tell me a little bit about
what drew you to comedy in thefirst place?
Renard Hirsch (01:47):
What drew me into comedy?
Well, I guess growing up, Ijust loved to laugh.
I thought laughing was just thegreatest feeling ever.
Anytime I saw something on TV,I thought it was hilarious.
I just loved laughter.
I guess after a while, youwatch enough of it, you kind of
start cracking your own jokesand stuff.
(02:07):
I was like, okay, I'm a littlebit funny.
I Yeah, that's really, yeah.
I never in a million yearsthought I'd be doing stand-up.
So that was, I never thoughtI'd be an entertainer.
Dr. Shay (02:23):
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 (02:29):
Well, that, yeah, so that came from, I guess,
growing up, you know, I go tochurch growing up.
And so I was headed, I ended upbeing the head of the youth
department.
And they would, the youth, theywould let the youth participate
and do everything the adultsdid on like Fourth Sunday.
So that kind of helped me, youknow, get used to kind of
(02:51):
speaking in front of crowds ofpeople And so then I got to
college.
And I guess, well, okay, highschool.
I think when high school,that's kind of when I kind of
started kind of coming to myown.
I was kind of like, oh, okay,I'm kind of funny.
You know, my friends were allfunny.
Dr. Shay (03:07):
Were you the class clown?
Huh?
Were you the class clown?
Renard Hirsch (03:11):
Not really.
I was, yeah, I was like, I was,I mean, like, I was a person.
I'll walk up on you and tellyou something stupid about what
you had on or whatever.
I didn't need a crowd.
I was like, long as you got thejoke.
That was cool.
So, yeah, not really.
I pretty much behaved for themost part in class.
(03:31):
But, yeah, so then I got to–oh, yeah, so my senior year I
took– we took this electiveclass, and it was me and like
five of my friends in there.
And so we did– he had us dothis duo scene where we acted
with each other.
And the class just– the classreally liked it after we did it.
And he was like, hey, man,y'all could compete.
(03:52):
We're like, what?
He's like, yeah, y'all can comeon the forensics team, and
y'all can do this scene forthem, and y'all got a good
chance of winning.
So we're like, okay.
So we're like, well, we'll tryit.
So we did it, and ended upwinning the competition.
But it was the end of the year,so I was like, okay, now what?
But then I got to college, tookan acting class, and didn't
(04:13):
really do that great, and itdidn't put as much effort into
it as I should have.
But I passed the class, andthen that summer, I was sitting
in the office trying to figureout what to do with my life.
I was a business major at thatpoint.
And that teacher came and waslike, hey, we got some roles,
possible roles open for thissummer.
We're doing a play.
And I'm like, all right, I'mnot doing nothing else with my
(04:36):
life.
Let me see what the play lifeis about.
So I did that.
It was just an amazingexperience.
Getting to see how the actorspulled 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 atleast five to six hours a day.
(05:00):
We had a professional theatercompany in residency at the
college.
They treated us like we weregetting paid.
We would be up until oneo'clock in the morning trying to
hear these scenes.
It was really dope because wehad all the we had a
(05:24):
professional set, you know,everything was professional.
And so it was like, so after Igot that, I was like, okay, I
can see myself doing somethingin entertainment for life, you
know?
So, yeah.
So that, that was, that was theintro.
Dr. Shay (05:37):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, I mean, I think you haveone of the coolest jobs in the
world.
Like you literally get to makepeople laugh for a living, but I
imagine for a lot of otherpeople looking in from the
outside, there's a lot ofmisconceptions about what the
job really entails as a standupcomic.
and the pressure you might feelbecause, you know, everyone
thinks they're funny, right?
(05:57):
Like everyone just thinksthey're funny.
So the assumption is this can'tbe too hard.
So walk us through a little bitof a day in the life of a
standup comedian andspecifically, how do you prepare
for your shows?
How do you decide what and whatand what not to talk about?
And how do you preparedifferently for different
audiences?
Renard Hirsch (06:18):
All right.
So yeah, like lots of stuffthat people don't know goes on
behind the scenes, you know,every day, you know, they just
see you show up and you do 20minutes, you do 30 minutes or do
an hour.
And they're like, okay, youget, you know, like, Oh, you got
a whole day's pay in 30minutes, whatever.
But there's a whole lot of prepwork 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 andnew original material.
(06:41):
You want to have somethingthat, that, that'll make you
stand out from other comics.
You know, you don't want tojust, you know, yeah.
The worst thing to do is be aforgettable comic, you know?
So it's like, if, if you cameand you performed, you're like,
Oh, he was funny, but we, Hewas, I don't know, he just
talked about the same thingeverybody else did, you know.
So, yeah, you constantly, solike whenever I see something I
think may be funny or like thelittle nugget of a joke, I'll
(07:03):
write it in my phone.
And then when I finally get achance, I'll open up my
notebook.
I'm old school, so I still usethe notepad.
I write pen and paper.
So then I'll try to, I try tobrainstorm about the subject and
just try to think of anything Ican think of.
Just let my mind just emptyout, you know, anything about,
you know, like if I go to themovies and And I have experience
(07:23):
there.
I'm like, okay, let me thinkeverything 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 emptyingmy brain to see what else I can
add to see that I can make thisjoke funny.
Um, and so then, yeah, thenI'll try to write the joke out
how I think I should say it onstage.
(07:44):
And, um, so, so you, so youhave an idea about what you're
going to say when you go onstage.
So then later on that night,you'll go to an open mic, um,
And, um, and you'll try to jokeout 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'relike, okay, it's got potential.
It just, it's not ready yet.
(08:04):
I got to go back and polish itback up.
And so, um, yeah, so you, soyou're doing that.
Uh, also during the day, ofcourse, you're, uh, constantly
contacting, uh, club owners,comedy club owners and bookers
who, um, you know, who have, youknow, who have shows.
And so you can go get some workand, uh, work in other cities.
and stuff like that.
You're constantly in contactwith them, other comics.
(08:27):
I tell most comics, you got tonetwork with the comics.
Probably half of my work comesfrom recommendations from other
comics.
You got to get in there andnetwork and rub elbows with
these folks so they know who youare.
It's one of those things out ofsight, out of mind.
(08:49):
You can be the funniest person.
I picked up work being a comicclubs where somebody's like, oh,
hey, you know what?
I got a great show that you'llbe good on.
But if I wasn't there, youmight not get that.
At least until the next part, alot of it is hanging out and
networking.
Even though you've been at theshow for two hours or whatever,
but now you got to hang out withthe comics.
(09:14):
When it comes to road trips andstuff like that, comics are
going to book comics thatthey're cool with and they feel
comfortable with and that theycan hang with.
Dr. Shay (09:23):
You're traveling together for a long period of
time usually, right?
Renard Hirsch (09:27):
Yeah, it could be.
Sometimes it could be an hour.
Sometimes it could be fivehours.
You just never know.
It depends on the show orwhatever.
But yeah, so that's...
Yeah, so then at the end of thenight, you may get up the next
day and say, all right, let'ssee.
Okay, this joke worked.
This joke didn't.
All right, what else can I doto make...
So it's like it's a constantprocess of polishing up new
(09:49):
material.
And then, of course, currentevents are happening so you know
so you're like okay now I thinkthat's funny so then like you
know it's always great when youhave a new topical joke you know
but the only thing about thosejokes is they die fast so you
know if it's in the news todayit might not be in the news next
week so you don't want to spendtoo much joke on topicals I
(10:12):
mean too much time on topicaljokes but you know because they
die so fast but if you get agood one and you can use it for
a couple of months that's youknow 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 topeople kind of let go of it a
little bit.
But I mean, if you got a greatone and it's topical and, you
know, and you can get a goodresponse from it, you know, I
say, I say go for it, you know?
Um, but I mean, cause ascomedians, we, we're looking day
one at whatever's going on inthe news and thinking, what's
(10:50):
the joke here.
So, you know even no matter howbad or horrendous it is or you
know so it's like and it dependson how it touches you you know
too so um you know if it'ssomething that touches you
personally it may be it may betoo fresh for you to you to talk
about you know um but you knowbut yeah you just you just you
you i mean you you make thatdecision at the comic you know
(11:10):
and you know you know where yourcomic level is you know if
you're funny enough or you'reconfident enough in yourself
that you can do this joke andnot 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 andhonesty?
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 andhave a good time and laugh and
leave.
Be like, man, that was a greatshow.
I may have a few littlecontroversial jokes or whatever,
but But for the most part, andsometimes you have to gauge that
as a comic.
I've been doing it like 24years.
(11:58):
So it's like, I can, when Icome into a room, I take
inventory of everything in thereand I can, I can look at the
crowd for maybe about two tothree 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 whatI'm gonna give them.
You know, I like, this is,Yeah.
So like, yeah, you can use it.
(12:18):
You just have to, it's part oflike learning how to read
crowds, you know?
So it's like, you know, causesometimes your crowd is rowdier,
you know, sometimes they'remore quiet.
Sometimes they're moreconservative.
Sometimes, you know what I'msaying?
So you gotta, you know, youcan, you know, I, you can, I
mean, it takes, it takes alittle bit of time, but it's
like, I think after a whiledoing it so long, you can kind
of read crowds and see, okay,this is, this is all grandmas in
(12:40):
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 knowwhat they want.
Or it's a bachelorette party inhere.
I know they want to party.
You have to kind of adjust yourset to whatever you're going to
do.
Dr. Shay (12:56):
Yeah, yeah.
Do you think that comedy givespeople permission to say things
that they otherwise couldn't orwouldn't say?
I
Renard Hirsch (13:09):
don't think it gives them permission.
I mean, you can say whateveryou're big and bad enough to
say.
But, but you better be able toback that up in the parking lot.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, if you, you know, like ifthis is something that you
believe and say, you know, when,when people approach you about
it after the show, you know, yougotta be ready for that too.
So, you know, you can be, youcan be offensive as you want,
(13:30):
but, but you, you, you know, youknow, 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 ifyou're on the other side of
town, you may flick somebodyoff.
off but if you're like ifyou're in your neighborhood you
like wait a minute I mean thismay be somebody I know you know
(13:52):
I'm saying or also don't donothing outside of your
character you know like ifyou're not if you're not down to
get out this car and fight youshouldn't be flipping people off
you know I'm saying so you knowso I was like I think yeah I
don't yeah I mean like yeah Imean it's saying offensive
things I think it has its ownconsequences so you know so you
have to you know you have todeal with that you know so it's
(14:14):
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 nevergotten, I've never gotten, uh,
I've never gotten approachedabout anything.
I mean, I don't, I'm not that,I'm not that comic, you know?
I'm not, I just want to tellyou some of my stories and laugh
and joke and, you know, so it'slike, 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'msaying?
(14:47):
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 addresscertain stuff in the crowd, you
know, cause it'll, they'll messyour show up.
If you don't say nothing aboutit, if somebody's talking too
loud or, or somebody's, youknow, doing something or
whatever.
So it's like, sometimes youhave to, you may have to come
out of your jokes routine andthen come in and address a
situation and then, you know, goback 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 keepgoing if you don't say anything
so it's like something you knowsometimes you have to address it
but you have to address it in away that that'll be funny and
because sometimes the audiencecan turn on you if you go in too
hard on this person they'relike oh wow you didn't have to
do that you know so sometimes soif you if you do that you know
(15:39):
you so then now you got tofigure out now the audience will
kind of turn on you and they'relike oh this guy's an asshole
so we're like we're not we'renot Now we don't want to laugh.
You had to keep that in mindtoo.
You gave me a three-partquestion, didn't you?
Was there one more thing youwanted 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 leavehome the day of the show.
I just wanted to relax all theway up until the day of the
show.
But of course we live in a realworld, so that doesn't always
happen.
But so it's like, yeah.
So, but yeah.
So like if I can, you know, Iwant to relax and do whatever
(16:28):
else I need to do.
And, you know, kind of lookover, usually, usually I try to
look over my jokes.
I keep, I keep my jokes in myphone, uh, like a list of, I
have a list of all the jokesthat I know work.
And then I have another list ofnew jokes that I'm working on.
So, um, so, you know, so I'llusually before the show, I'll
kind of, I'll, I'll take a lookat the old jokes and then I'll,
(16:48):
I'll look at the new stuff thatI want to and figure out where I
want to plug it into theroutine.
And, uh, So, yeah, so I'll dothat.
And, yeah, basically thepreparation for most of it,
basically it's just doing asmany shows as possible, you
know, getting on stage, youknow, every night, you know,
working on your, you know,doing, you know, you're doing
open mics, you're doingshowcases, you know, also, you
(17:09):
know, figuring out time towrite, you know, to expand on
your jokes and figure out howyou 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, Iperform better, you know, like I
think it's just a, you know,it's a whole confidence mindset,
you know, and it's like whenI'm, when I'm, when I'm feeling
(17:30):
good and I'm like, I feel good,I feel healthy, I feel strong.
It's like, I think thattranslates to your stage
performance.
So, so I like to get my, get myworkout and get my jog in, you
know, try to, so I'm, I'm, youknow, so I feel good on stage
physically and mentally.
Right, right.
And if somebody attacks thestage, 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 orsetbacks.
So how do you overcome a nightthat 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 isthat's really like the worst
thing that can happen to you onstage.
So it's like once that happens,you're like, okay, I'm I
survived it, you know?
So you're like, okay, now, nowwhat do you do?
(18:28):
You know?
So it was like, so I guess, Iguess, cause I got, I've been
booed like twice.
So when I first started, sofirst time was at, I believe it
was, I was in college and, butit 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.
(18:50):
So they're like, oh yeah, wecan't wait to boo everybody.
But like the next day, I didn'twant to get out of bed.
The whole school was there.
You feel embarrassed.
I was like, man.
One thing though, when I wentback on campus, there were a few
people who stopped me and werelike, hey man, you good.
(19:10):
Keep doing your thing.
Don't let the haters deter you.
It kind of wasn't my fault.
I used to do this impersonationof The Rock.
When I came out to do it, theyintroduced me.
They gave me the microphone Ipulled the microphone up to do
the thing and as soon as Ipulled the microphone out the
cord fell out the microphone sothen everybody immediately just
(19:34):
started booing oh my god hey letme do the thing so uh yeah so
it's like so yeah that thathappens and uh and one time when
I first went to Atlanta I I didI um I was I was not ready you
know I was like only like a yearin or something like that that
and uh so I'm thinking everytime I've been to Atlanta before
(19:55):
that was for the TSU Classicand stuff.
I always felt like Atlanta wasnice.
It was upscale.
I go down there.
I'm all dressed up.
But then it's like TI GrandHustle night.
It's like a super hood night.
I'm way overdressed for theshow.
I go up and then they bring meup and I do the first joke.
(20:21):
Before I go up, a guy yells outsomething when I walk to the
stage.
And so the whole right side ofthe room fell out laughing.
But I'm like, what?
What'd you say?
And I could never get aresponse.
So I was like, well, I'm justgoing to go ahead and go over my
joke.
So I did the joke.
And the other side of the roomstarted laughing.
But the other side never calmeddown.
(20:42):
So they started booing.
And then it just went aroundthe room.
And everybody, they booed meoff.
And so then I get off stage.
And I'm like, okay, cool.
I'm done.
And then, but it was a guy inthe front row.
He was like, no, he was funny,man.
Bring him back.
And I'm standing on side of thestage like uh no don't bring me
back up and so but then thehost was like he's like hey man
we know this guy's people hecame a long way we're gonna show
(21:03):
him some love we're gonna bringhim back to the stage so he
brought me back out then i gotbooed twice in the same night so
i was like so but so yeah ifelt kind of bad at first but
then i noticed everybody elsethat got up they booed them too
except for the two guys thatthey had seen on tv so uh so i
(21:24):
was like okay so it wasn'treally 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 likeeither, 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 theworst that could happen.
(21:46):
Now let me, let me just go andwork hard, you know?
So, um, so that, um, and alsotoo, I, I, I think every
comedian should move out oftheir comfort zone at some point
in their career so if you canum I was fortunate enough where
I was able to move to Chicagoand uh work in Chicago and it
(22:09):
was like they had a wholedifferent work ethic of doing
shows that I didn't know existedlike they had a whole different
circuit you know I was I was inNashville doing two or three
shows a month I get to Chicagoand they're like you ain't no
comedian they're like we'regonna show you what comics do so
I had some kind of take meunder their wing and they were
like they were doing three andfour shows a night and I was
(22:31):
like oh my I was like that's whyso many y'all on Def Jam and
Comic View and Comedy Centralbecause y'all get way more
practice than people in smallermarkets who maybe don't have a
decent comedy scene so yeah soso being able to work with them
I get they gave me that workethic where it's like okay you
(22:51):
know I was like okay I need tobe on stage like every night you
know So, um, um, yeah, so that,that was, that was, that was
one good, that was like mycomedy bootcamp going to
Chicago, you know?
So I was like, cause the thingabout being in Chicago is like
Chicago, you know, it's a, it'sa, it's a great city.
Uh, it's a tough city.
(23:11):
Um, you know, the weather, youknow, weather is bad, you know,
lots of gang violence and stuff.
Um, so, and they, they, theyhad a really high bar for comedy
in Chicago because they've seenso many legends come through
there.
They've seen Bernie Mac.
They've seen D-Ray.
They've seen Lil Rel.
Adele Givens.
(23:33):
All these great people thathave come through Chicago.
When the crowds, they're like,don't waste our time.
You better be funny.
I watched Bernie Mac for threeyears.
That really prepared me totough crowds.
(23:55):
As a comic, they always say, ifyou can do Atlanta, you can do
St.
Louis, you can do Detroit, youcan do Chicago, you can do New
York, everything else is prettyeasy.
I pretty much found that to bepretty true.
Working in those crowds, ittoughened you up so much.
I felt like when I moved to LA,I'm ready for whatever.
(24:17):
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 tobe in a community of people who
live comedy you know like thatwas the first time I was around
people who were like yeah thisis I don't have another job I
(24:38):
just do comedy you know so I waslike oh okay cool I was like
okay this is even you know soI'm learning you know so that's
like a big part of thepreparation
Dr. Shay (24:47):
yeah and so you mentioned you've gotten pretty
good over the years of readingthe crowd so what have you
learned about human behaviorfrom 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 sometimesat the stuff people will say or,
or do, you know, like I, Iremember one time I, I'd given
away, uh, a free ticket to agirl online.
(25:20):
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 decidesto 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 atthe show.
(25:40):
Of course, everybody in theroom can hear her.
I'm like, what would make youthink this is okay for you to
come and talk in the middle of acomedy show?
I don't claim to understandhumans.
They'll just do whatever theythink they can do or they can
get away with.
One thing I think about humans,I just try to put out as much
(26:06):
positive energy you know intothe world and you know and nine
times out of ten it comes backto you but yeah yeah so you put
that out there and it's like youknow and you yeah like I don't
I haven't had I can count on theprobably on one hand the amount
of no there are lots of peoplecome after the show and have
(26:29):
crazy stuff to say you know notnot not aggressive but you're
just like you know we'll youknow we'll be after the show
we'll be standing around andsomebody walks up to the con and
they'll tell us some crazystuff and they'll walk off and
we'll look at each other and belike, okay, that was weird.
But as a comic, though, youwelcome all those situations
because you never know who'sgoing to say something that's
(26:51):
going to spark another joke thatyou could tell for years after
this.
So definitely as a comic, youhave 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 apark and watching people walk by
and just seeing people bethemselves when they don't think
a camera's rolling somewhere.
I think it's always interestingto 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 createsconnection between strangers or
break down those walls?
Renard Hirsch (27:36):
When we come together and laugh at the same
thing, I think that bringspeople together.
If I tell a joke about takingthe laundry out and then this
guy in in the audience herelates to it and this lady she
relates to the joke the same wayand it's like we look around
the room and we're like oh weall got this in common you know
(27:57):
and this is something funny thatwe all deal with so I think
that's really how it impactslike when we can all come
together and laugh in the sameroom I think there's a
connection there you know it'slike you can you know when you
laugh and you see this otherperson laughing and y'all y'all
high five each other you're likeyeah hell yeah that happened to
me yesterday haha You know, so,like, that's always cool to see
(28:21):
crowds come together.
And, you know, like, and it canbe different.
Like, the big crowds anddifferent crowds, like, they,
it's, you know, I enjoy a moreintimate crowd.
You know, like, put me in aroom 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 comedyclub.
I mean, like I've done theatersand I've done some basketball
arenas and stuff like that.
But it's like, I mean, there'sa certain level of adjustment
that goes to those two.
You know, like when you'redoing a bigger venue, sometimes
the sound travels slower.
So if you're not used to it, itkind of throws your timing off
(29:07):
a little bit.
But usually when the times justhappen to me, I'm like, you
know, you tell the joke and youdon'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 adeep breath and say, okay, slow
down.
Throw the joke out.
Give them a few seconds.
(29:27):
Get the laugh.
Then go to the next joke.
So, yeah.
But it's like what I'm sayingabout the different crowds.
It's like you can have a crowdof 400 and they not really want
to laugh.
And then sometimes you can havea crowd of 45.
But if that 45 really came tolaugh and have a good time, that
(29:47):
show may be better than theshow the 4000 you know so um but
but yeah but like yeah but onething too is like i always
listen to the crowd noise beforethe show because sometimes
they're they're bubbling they'rebuzzing you know and you're
like okay yeah it's like becausewe as comics we we feed off the
energy of the crowd so yeahlike the more energy we get from
(30:11):
the crowd the more it pushes usto go even more overboard and
more over the top with our jokesand our expressions and and and
know and the taglines and allthis other stuff um right so um
yeah yeah so but sometimes youcome in and you got the energy
of a library and you're like ohman i hope they perk up a little
(30:32):
bit when we come out out onstage but but but yeah so yes
you know you you look for youlook 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 soas much as you're willing to
share can you think of a momentwhen humor helped you survive
something difficult you wentthrough
Renard Hirsch (30:58):
humor is I think maybe it was a survival
mechanism for me just growing upyou know like I was so I was
like I was about average size ormaybe bigger than some of the
kids like up until fourth gradethen about fourth fifth grade I
just kind of really stoppedgrowing so I was smaller than
everybody But I knew I could tapin to make people laugh.
(31:22):
So I was like, hey, people arelaughing.
Nobody wants to fight.
And so, yeah, so I think, ofcourse, that, you know, so I
think it's a, you know, I thinkI knew that kind of growing up
through life.
I was like, I'm like, I'drather, like, I love the feeling
of laughter.
I like to make other peoplelaugh.
So I'm like, so I've done,comedy at some funerals, you
(31:50):
know, and, uh, that was, thatwas, 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, Ireally wanted to give them a
happy send off, you know, and I,and I don't know how much, how
(32:11):
well I can do it for people.
I don't know well, but like,like with those people, you
know, they were, these werepeople that I talk to like every
other day, you know, or everyday.
So it was like, I knew I hadenough life material where I
knew I can come out and throwsome funny stuff out too.
And also everybody in the, atthe funeral knew this person
too.
So they, they connect in onthat aspect too.
(32:34):
Cause when I, when I saysomething about what he did,
they're like, oh yeah, he didused to do that, you know?
So, but yeah, but I was, I waslike, I was, I was grateful that
at those moments I was able togive people some laughter and,
and, and, you know, know, in amoment of pain, you know?
Um, so that, that, thatprobably, that's probably like
the biggest, I was like, I waslooking back on it.
(32:55):
I'm like, you know, I was like,I, I didn't see how I did it,
but, um, but you know, I thinkthat's, that's one of those
things you like, you just, I'mone of those people.
I'm like, but you, Hey,whatever, whatever comes your
way, you gotta, you gotta strapup and then do it, you know?
And, uh, and do the, do the, dothe 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 incomedy at that funeral?
Renard Hirsch (33:18):
No, well, no, it was, uh, uh, I wasn't hired.
I was, I was, uh, like, liketwo, two of them were family
members.
So I had a cousin and one was aaunt and, uh, and the other one
was my best friend.
And so, you know how they, theylet people speak, but I was
like, you know, I know that'sthe unique gift that God gave
(33:39):
me.
So I was like, so anytime I canuse it to, to, to heal people,
um, you know, I try to, um, youknow, like it's all like,
Sometimes we don't even know thehealing that's going on from
the stage until you, after theshow, you talk to people and
they're like, man, this is thefirst time I laughed since my
sister passed and it's been ayear.
(33:59):
And so when you get those kindof responses after shows, you're
like, okay, this is biggerthan, this is more important
than just these goofy littlelaughs that I'm thinking about.
It's, you know, it's alsohealing for a lot of people that
need that.
So it's like, and even now, youknow, there's so much stuff
going on in the news, you know,a lot of people losing jobs lot
of uncertainty.
(34:19):
You know, so like people arejust 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 toforget about what's, what's
going on or what might be comingdown, you know, in two weeks or
whatever.
So, so yeah.
So, so, so it was like, yeah.
So I, you, you take that andsay, okay, well it is what,
(34:40):
what, what you're doing is, is,is important.
And I think as comics, you needto know that too.
Cause you know, sometimes youcan, you can feel like you just,
spinning your wheels in the mudwith what you're doing.
But when you see that youactually make a difference in
people's lives, I think that'san amazing feeling just to know
that the laughter is doing that.
Dr. Shay (35:03):
Right.
That's awesome.
Well, I had the pleasure ofseeing you perform recently in
Nashville, but where are yougoing next?
Renard Hirsch (35:10):
Next, we got Tulsa, Oklahoma, and we'll be
back in Zany, so we have like aonce 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 isit's kind of different like we
have um it's the guys on thetour the funny lane tour um so
we're we're on on the show andthen because we usually we tour
it and so on on when we're onthe road all of us we just go
out we do our 30 minutes orwhatever and um but when we do
(35:43):
it at home it's it's uh we weinclude some of the local comics
and uh uh, some of, some of ourother 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 withus and, and, and knocked it
out.
So, um, so yeah, so we got, wegot Chattanooga coming up, uh,
(36:08):
on the tour and, uh, I got Verobeach coming up.
Uh, so yeah, so that's, that's,uh, all the stuff, all the
stuff y'all can find on mywebsite, www.renardcomedy.com,
uh, Put all the dates andeverything on there.
Any of my social media.
I post all my flyers and showsand everything on there.
So y'all follow me at RenardComedy on there.
(36:29):
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 forchatting with me today.
It was such a pleasure.
Oh,
Renard Hirsch (36:43):
yeah, definitely.
Anytime.
I enjoy it.
I always love doing thepodcast.
I can sit and talk to Comedyall day.
Humor
Dr. Shay (36:52):
isn't just about punchlines.
It's about perspective.
Today's conversation remindedus that laughter can make space
for grief, connection, truth,and healing.
Comedy helps us process whatsometimes feels too heavy to
carry all at once.
Whether you're on the stage orin the audience, don't
underestimate the survival skillthat is laughter.
(37:12):
It's not a distraction from thehuman experience.
It's a deeper way of being init.
As always, thank you forjoining 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 wearablewisdom collection in our mind
(37:33):
shop, where each piece isdesigned to spark reflection and
dialogue.
You can also join our growingcommunity for behind-the-scenes
conversations, resources, andsupport of your own journey
through tension andtransformation.
And if We just want to saythank you in a simple way.
You can always buy me a coffee.
Every gesture helps keep thespace going.
(37:55):
All the links are in the shownotes.
And until next time, keepbuilding in the quiet because
that's what will carry youforward.
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