#34 Tom Shadyac on the Seriousness of Being Funny
The Road to Now
Benjamin Sawyer
4.8 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 12 December 2016
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tom Shadyac has probably made you laugh. He was the youngest ever staff joke writer for Bob Hope and he directed some of the biggest comedy films in recent memory, including Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Nutty Professor. A lot of people would say Tom has "made it." Tom would disagree.
Tom joins Ben and Bob for a conversation about his life and the path that led him to abandon the pursuit of fame and material abundance to focus on helping others. He tells of his 11 year period of unemployment as he struggled to find success in the Los Angeles comedy scene, his relationship with Jim Carrey, and how following his own passions led him to take a risk with Ace Ventura. Tom also talks of his approach to teaching film, and explains why he defines success as a state of mind.
You can find out more about Tom's story and philosophy in his book Life's Operating Manual and his documentary film I Am (which we highly recommend!).
More on this episode and The Road to Now podcast can be found at our website: www.theroadtonow.com
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Coming up, on the road to now. |
| 0:03.5 | It's like John Wooden used to say, you can lose the game, and you can be much more successful, |
| 0:09.0 | because you have given it your best, you've put all your talents to use. |
| 0:14.0 | If you can face the boo, which is not just true of stand-up, it's true of everything in life. |
| 0:19.0 | If you can face the boo, that's going to give |
| 0:22.4 | you a strength to be who you are and to walk that unique note or voice that you have to speak with. |
| 0:29.5 | Kids think, there's going to be an end point. All right, I'm a director. There's an end point. |
| 0:33.1 | I'm a director. No, that's just part of the becoming. It's all processed. There's no end point. |
| 0:40.9 | I'm Ben Sawyer. I'm Bob Crawford, and this is the road to now. Ben, how finals we go? |
| 0:47.9 | Oh, God, don't tell. Well, it's going. It's going. As of the time this launches, because we're recording this on Thursday, as the time this launches |
| 0:57.7 | on Monday, all of my final grades will be in. |
| 1:00.5 | And I will be relaxed. |
| 1:02.5 | And it will be a triumphant moment for me. |
| 1:05.1 | But right now, I am beneath a stack of papers that seems like it will never stop. |
| 1:12.1 | Well buddy, we appreciate what you're doing. |
| 1:14.8 | I just want to say thank you for increasing the American history IQ of this nation's youth. |
| 1:23.1 | Hey, we've got one person at a time, one step at a time. |
| 1:26.3 | We've got to do what we can. |
| 1:27.8 | And yeah, and thank you, Bob, for staying in shape for your family. |
| 1:32.2 | Where are you right now? |
| 1:33.0 | Why don't you tell everybody? |
| 1:35.3 | I am in the parking lot of a gym in North Carolina where I like to get some exercise. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Benjamin Sawyer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Benjamin Sawyer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.