#835 - Barry Katz
Serious Circus
Serious Circus, Inc
4.3 • 998 Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2026
⏱️ 108 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Hear behind the scenes stories about Chris Rock, Katt Williams, Dave Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld, Dane Cook, and more, along with raw insights on:
- Why most comedians fail to break through
- The myth of “followers = success”
- Why elite comedians obsess over being undeniably the best in the room
- The difference between talent, work ethic, and true greatness
- How comedy careers are actually built (and destroyed)
From backstage with Jay Z and Beyoncé to lessons learned from decades in Hollywood, this episode breaks down the real rules of entertainment success—no filter, no fluff.
Barry Katz is available at:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/barrykatz
Website: https://barrykatz.com
David C. Smalley:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/davidcsmalley
Website: https://davidcsmalley.com
🎙️ Podcast: Serious Circus
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | our minds are so they lie to us all the time they're always lying to us and if you look at your |
| 0:06.6 | mind as like a 100% pie the degree of your success relies on how much you push the negative |
| 0:18.8 | into the smallest percentage of your brain and you keep the positive the most |
| 0:24.6 | and the people who who suffer and don't do as well are the ones that let the negativity take over |
| 0:32.6 | more and more of their brain and doubt is the greatest dream killer. |
| 0:40.3 | I don't agree with any of this. |
| 0:43.3 | My guest today has helped shape the business of modern comedy. |
| 0:47.3 | He's a true industry powerhouse. |
| 0:49.3 | He's managed and developed legendary talent like Dave Chappelle, Louis C. |
| 0:53.3 | Dane Cook, Bill Burr, Wanda Sykes, |
| 0:56.0 | Tracy Morgan, and Jay Moore, just to name a few. He was an executive producer of Last Comic |
| 1:00.8 | Standing as a major force behind specials, tours, TV deals, branding strategies. He now hosts his |
| 1:06.5 | own podcast called Industry Standard and provides coaching, consulting, career strategy for comedians, |
| 1:12.7 | creators, and entrepreneurs, widely respected Hollywood mentor. It's an honor to have in studio, |
| 1:18.3 | my guest, Barry Katz. Wow, thank you for that unrehearsed speech. I totally made it up |
| 1:24.7 | off the top of my head. It's incredible. It's the improv that you have there. Believe it or not, there were just notes and I did improv some things. One or two words, no. I remember we first talked a while back. You were doing a blueprint thing. Are you still doing that? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I have. I always tell anybody to listen, my biggest strength is my biggest weakness. I love doing everything. |
| 1:46.6 | Why am I here? It's Sunday night. It's 1146 at night on a Sunday night. Yeah, thank you, |
| 1:53.1 | Danny, by the way, for being here for that. Why am I here? Yeah, why are you here? I'm here because I love, I love |
| 1:59.4 | comedy. I love trying to make a difference. |
| 2:04.3 | If I can make a difference in any way, if I can say something that can help somebody. |
| 2:08.7 | So I have this blueprint program, the industry blueprint. |
| 2:12.8 | There's a thousand people in the community. |
... |
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