Jerry Seinfeld says 'none of us' are better than that

Even the best comedians can only write two hours of good material over their whole career, Jerry Seinfeld has said.

The comic says modern stand-ups feel the pressure to churn out new content all the time – at the expense of quality.

‘I think comedians now try so hard to be all new all the time, I think the quality suffers because none of us are really that good,’ he told the New Yorker Radio Hour.

‘Chris Rock and I have determined that a great comedian working his ass off his entire career writes two good hours, the rest is…,’ and let the sentence trail off.

The comic also said he probably wouldn’t make any more stand-up specials for Netflix beyond the two he has already put out. 

‘I won’t put it out there unless I think it’s of a certain quality and I doubt I can get to that in the time I have left,’ he said.

Seinfeld turns 70 on Monday and said: ‘Even though I’m 70, I don’t like old people…. They don’t look good. Everything’s deteriorating.

But despite not planning any more specials, he said he has no plans to quit stand-up

In a separate interview with the Associated Press news agency, Seinfeld said: ‘The work part of my life is not stand-up. It’s all the other things.

'Stand-up is an incredible, pure experience. Surfing is the great regret of my life that I never really got good at that. I did it for two weeks one time many years ago. But if you were a surfer, you would never stop doing it. 

‘That’s what stand-up is for me. Feeling that energy, that natural life-force energy under you and around you, I never get tired of that.’

And here’s another new interview with him:

Seinfeld has just directed his first film, Unfrosted, which will be released on Netflix on May 3. Co-starring Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan and Hugh Grant, it is a comedy about the creation of the Pop-Tart.

Published: 27 Apr 2024