Pure Laughter
By the time he was 11, Todd Glass already knew that he wanted to be a professional stand-up comic. Now a veteran in an industry that eats charlatans, Glass believes stand-up comedy is the best bang a person can get for their buck in the entertainment industry. “If you go to see a comedian do an hour [show], you’ll get hundreds of laughs. If you go to see a movie, you don’t get that.”
“I said a long time ago, I’m not pro-marijuana in that I want to march to get it legal. I just want to smoke it.”
Over the years, Glass has not only performed in prestigious locales across the planet, he’s also appeared on television shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, the legendary Politically Incorrect, and sitcoms like Home Improvement, Friends, Married . . . with Children, his own Comedy Central special, and other shows including Comics Only and The A-List. Even after success, Glass warns that for any comedian, performing can still feel like taming a lion for the first time. “Stand-up can be harrowing. It’s like sex, you must really want to do it or you never would.”
“If someone is anti-liquor, I get it. If you don’t think pot or liquor is good, that’s OK. If a person thinks liquor should be legal but not pot, I don’t know where to start. If I go down to the beach and have a hack or wine, nobody says anything. So, I act the same way about pot.”
Stand-up comedy is still a facet of the entertainment industry, and eventually any entertainer has to either make money or settle for enjoying the ride. Glass knows. Between the internet, YouTube and other platforms, comics have more opportunities than ever to find success. “It really just takes its course. You just do it and do it. Some people take longer than others. I have friends that do it as a hobby,” Glass said. “There are a lot more vehicles than there used to be. Comedy gets better and better, more real. Acting has gotten more real.” If you’ve always wanted to check it out, now is the right time. “I think comedy is in a good place,” Glass said. “It seems like a golden age.”
Glass observes that stand-up comics should be realistic. “On one level, they all want to make a living. I’ve been doing stand up a long time. You see people who go further than you, but you also see people who quit,” Glass shared. For some, even after finding success in comedy, the fight to maintain success is one that comes with challenges. “There are actors who ended up on a series that got canceled and they are back to waiting tables. At the end of the day, people want a vehicle to get noticed, and that can be just about anything these days,” Glass says. “A podcast, Netflix and even social media.”
Glass keeps busy performing at nearly every club in Los Angeles when he isn’t touring the rest of the planet or doing his podcast. “I just got done shooting another one-hour special. I put a lot of time and work into it. My last one ended up on Netflix.” He is still thinking of a name for it. Glass is also working on a television show. “I’ve shot a pilot called ‘Camping with Todd’.” The premise involves taking various celebrities into a deep, dark forest for an interview. “We sit around a crackling fire and talk.” So far some of his guests include Jon Dore, Zach Galifianakis and Eddie Pepitone.
Part of the class Glass possesses is that he is cool with cannabis. “I said a long time ago, I’m not pro-marijuana in that I want to march to get it legal. I just want to smoke it.” Across the country, however, possession can still mean prison. “Unfortunately, it is a fight,” he says. “If someone is anti-liquor, I get it. If you don’t think pot or liquor is good, that’s OK. If a person thinks liquor should be legal but not pot, I don’t know where to start. If I go down to the beach and have a hack or wine, nobody says anything. So, I act the same way about pot. I started smoking it at 30. I don’t want to smoke it 24 hours a day. I don’t smoke seven days a week, but I like getting high, and I enjoy the people who enjoy it, too.”
www.toddglass.com
