The idea of the archetypal nerd is totally blurred these days. So many people of this current generation have grown up with technology and video games. It’s just a part of the world now, a part of our shared culture.
The nerdist movement is less about consumers; there is a large contingent that are creative nerdists instead of consumers.
While the liberal media elite depict the bowler as a chubby guy with a comb-over and polyester pants, the reality is that bowling is one of the most tech-heavy sports today. Robotic pinsetters and computerized scoring were just the beginning.
Comment threads are the new therapy for people. They just go and post the worst things they can think of because they feel bad, and then other people start attacking them, and then they attack back.
My father was one of the greatest professional bowlers of all time. Seriously. Billy Hardwick: PBA Hall of Fame, Player of the Year in ’63 and ’69, and the first winner of the triple crown of bowling, among other things.
I think for a lot of people, bowling is sort of a joke. But I love it, and it means a lot to me, so any chance to help promote it or celebrate it or not make the hackiest jokes – ‘Bowlers are like plumbers and they wear the craziest shirts!’ – I’m way into.
As someone who’s very nerd-minded, whenever I see a lot of cross-platform stuff when I get bonus material on either side, then it makes me want to dive deeper, sort of like tearing apart the different pieces of the pie.
I think doing the podcast may have been one of the best career decisions I’ve ever made in my life.
I think some of what makes it a good podcast is that it’s organic. It doesn’t feel forced. If we can say anything about ours, it’s that we’re not faking it at all. We’re genuinely interested in the people that we’re talking to.
Every time I finish a record, it’s sort of feels like, “I can’t believe that I’m hanging out and having a conversation, and people are gonna listen to this.” It’s an odd thing, but it’s really cool.
I made a lot of changes in my life between my twenties and thirties, and it all sort of revolves around how I think people with nerdier brains tend to problem-solve and approach things differently then “norms.”
I feel like being nerd is not about the superficial quality; it’s about how nerds approach life. It’s much more emotional and mental than it is you’re some fat guy living in your mom’s basement, which I think is just a hacky stereotype.
If you have laser-like brain it’s not always focused on the most productive things. If you want to play Halo: Reach all day, that’s fine, but if you want to accomplish some other things, here are some ways to do that using your innate nerd gifts.
I categorize nerds as creative-obsessive. A lot of nerds are creative people who obsess almost unnaturally over the minutiae of things.
Twitter is really a hyper-distilled version of how the internet should work – short bursts of relatively useful information.
I do lots of crowd work in my set, because I enjoy writing material through riffing and conversation.
I think people have this stereotypical idea in their head of what a nerd is. People have said to me before, “You’re not a nerd!” because I think they think of the classic Revenge Of The Nerds archetype.
As a comedy nerd, I get a lot out of the podcast because I’m genuinely interested in the people I’m talking to.
One of the many reasons why I love stand-up so much is when you’re performing, you get instant feedback. You know if stuff is working right away.
Twitter is basically text messaging. Twitter is a guy you can always elbow in the side and say, “Hey, look, a guy in a clown suit just threw up!” And I don’t have 400-800 words to say about that, I just wanted to say that one thing.
Stand-up for me is usually a weekend thing. I go out of town and just do it.