Chris Duffy

It always feels like much murkier than you think it might from the outside.

There isn't one set definition of success.

Totally.

You know, I think, honestly, when I talk to people, especially people who are not already in performing arts and want to be, the hardest part about it that I think is hard to grasp before you do it is that there is no promotion in this job, right?

Like, your job title is comedian.

And the difference between when you are a completely tamed,

terrible comedian and not making a single cent and not making a single person laugh and when you're hugely successful it's still the same title and so you don't ever have like this um clear i've advanced to the next level it always feels like much murkier than you think it might from the outside

There's an interesting thing where I think the difference between like meaning and value and success.

And I would probably put quotes around success because it's like, what do we think of a success, which often just means like making money or having a particular title.

And those actually aren't very often very meaningful or bringing a lot of value to your life, because like you said, you get there and then it's like, well, well, what actually comes next?

There's an interesting thing where I think the difference between like meaning and value and success.

And I would probably put quotes around success because it's like, what do we think of a success, which often just means like making money or having a particular title.

And those actually aren't very often very meaningful or bringing a lot of value to your life, because like you said, you get there and then it's like, well, well, what actually comes next?

OK, so we've already opened up so many of the threads that I want to chase down during this conversation.

And one of them is, you know, we talked about the stairs, the flip side, the other way of approaching a career that is a framework that I learned from you is that this J curve, the idea that we we get somewhere and then we jump and it's kind of we jump off a cliff.

We go backwards in some ways in our career in terms of like it doesn't feel like we're making progress.

It feels like we're getting worse.

It maybe feels like we're making less money, but it can lead us to an entirely new place.

So can you talk a little bit about what the J curve is and then a little bit about how that has guided you in your own career decisions?

Okay, so we've already opened up so many of the threads that I want to chase down during this conversation.