with Shawn Berman:
Q1: When did you start writing and first influences?
Shawn: I started writing around my freshman year of college. My first influences were my favorite comedians: Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, Demetri Martin, Larry David, Conan O’Brien, and Mitch Hedberg. I wanted to be a stand-up comedian so bad, and to an extent, I still do. A lot of my work is my stand-up act, condensed into poetry.
Q2: Who are your biggest influences today?
Shawn: All these people are still some of my biggest influences, especially Adam Sandler. I think it takes a lot of talent to make people laugh and to be yourself. I’m not writing about serious things. It took me a long time to realize that it’s okay to goof around and to not be serious.
Q3: Where did you grow up and how did that influence your writing? Have any travels away from home influence your work/describe?
Shawn: I grew up in Albany, NY. There’s a real working class mentality there. That definitely influenced my writing. Has made it more grounded in reality, I would say. I’m living in New York City right now. There’s so much talent around me. It really forces me to keep pushing myself and to expand my comfort zone.
Q4: What do you consider the most meaningful work you’ve done creatively so far?
Shawn: I just put out my first collection of poetry called Mr. Funnyman. I’ve been working on this project for about 5 years. It’s all my material that I would love to perform in front of people at the Laugh Factory one day. I’m very proud of the work in this book.
https://amzn.to/3yrVhvx Amazon link
Q5: Any pivotal moment when you knew you wanted to be a writer/poet?
Shawn: I would say performing stand-up for the first time in college. Being able to make people laugh was addicting. I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.
Q6: Favorite activities to relax?
Shawn: I’m a pretty big movie buff. I’ll watch anything. The crappier the better.
Q7: Any recent or forthcoming projects you’d like to promote?
Shawn: I just released Mr. Funnyman and that’s available for only $5 on Amazon! Next month, I have a collection of humorous cinema-inspired essays, At the Movies, dropping with Alien Buddha Press. The magazine I run, Daily Drunk http://thedailydrunk.com/, is doing a lot of kick-ass things. We recently released Nostalgic AF: A Video Game Anthology edited by Nick Olson https://www.amazon.com/Nostalgic-AF-Video-Game-Anthology/dp/B0972ZS8GX. We are in the process of putting together One Anthology to Rule them All (which, of course, is a LOTR anthology edited by Josh Sippie). We have a lot of cool projects happening at DD. It wouldn’t be possible without the awesome community that we’ve built there!
Q8: What is one of your favorite lines from a poem/writing of yours?
Shawn: From my recent collection, Mr. Funnyman:
“there’s something to be said about destroying the system, but i’m not equipped enough to talk about that mostly because i’m pretty clueless when it comes to economics.
but you know what i am good at?
picking out the right hashtags to use on a selfie to ensure maximum exposure on social media.
did you see how many people liked the photo of us sharing a giant ice cream cone
under the moonlight
on the brooklyn bridge
with the caption: we were mint to be?
like 15.
i’m surprised the algorithm didn’t explode
right on the spot
after exposing its one and only weakness:
couples in love,
feeling hopeful after a first date
has gone well.
it’s truly a remarkable thing
if that mushy concept was actually real. Suckers.”
Q9: Who has helped you most with writing?
Shawn: Probably my dad. He’s a comedy nerd and knows what works in regard to joke formats. He’s pretty honest when it comes to writing. It’s good to have someone in your corner rooting for you who’s not afraid to tell you something sucks.
other links:
https://shawnbberman.wixsite.com/sbbwriter
https://www.hobartpulp.com/web_features/two-poems-8b386bdf-899b-406b-9dd9-7d669b8df9c0
https://stoneofmadnesspress.com/look-were-both-adults-here-shawn-berman
Fevers of the Mind 