Jay Mohr (@jaymohr37) is a comedian, actor, Emmy nominee, bestselling author of Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live, and host of Mohr Sports from Los Angeles and Mohr Stories.
“Desperation has a very distinct scent.” -Jay Mohr
The Cheat Sheet:
- How Jay Mohr dealt with panic attacks while working on Saturday Night Live (and how panic differs from fear).
- Jay’s secrets to being a better impressionist.
- What it’s like to start out as a stand-up comic at age 16.
- The power of sincerity and real storytelling in comedy.
- How Jay copes with imposter syndrome.
- And so much more…
About Jay Mohr
Jay Mohr is a stand-up comedian and actor who has performed since he was 16. He was a cast member on Saturday Night Live in the early 1990s and wrote about it in his book Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live. He appeared in Jerry Maguire, starred in the CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried, was the first host of Last Comic Standing, and hosts the Mohr Stories podcast.
Key takeaways
- Panic has physical symptoms (shortness of breath, a stuffy nose, no sleep) that you can learn to spot and name before they spiral.
- Once you can label a symptom, you can slow down, work out where it came from and talk yourself back to calm.
- Jay’s best material comes from things that really happened to him. Truth is what lands with an audience.
- Acting works the same way: in the moment you have to be telling the truth, or the scene falls flat.
- Desperation is easy to spot, in business and in conflict. Separate yourself from it instead of reacting.
- Treat in-between time (travel, hotel rooms, waiting) as space to look at yourself and work on yourself.
Jay Mohr is a comedian, actor, radio host, and bestselling author of Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live. He’s been performing stand-up comedy since he was 16.
Since landing his dream job on Saturday Night Live in the early ’90s (perhaps not ideal for someone prone to panic attacks), he’s been cast in 25 films — including Jerry Maguire and Picture Perfect — and guest starred in over 50 TV series. He was the lead in the critically acclaimed CBS comedy Gary Unmarried for two seasons, was the Emmy nominated inaugural host and producer of Last Comic Standing, is currently the host of Mohr Sports from Los Angeles and Mohr Stories podcasts, and still finds time to do stand-up comedy. Listen, learn, and enjoy!
Mohr About This Show
Whether or not the name Jay Mohr sounds familiar to you, you know who he is. He was a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1993-1995. He played sports agent Bob Sugar in Jerry Maguire. He was Professor Rick Payne in Ghost Whisperer. He was nominated for an Emmy as the inaugural host and producer of Last Comic Standing. He’s the author of No Wonder My Parents Drank: Tales from a Stand-Up Dad and Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live. And he’s the host of not one, but two podcasts: Mohr Sports from Los Angeles and Mohr Stories.
He’s also known for doing some pretty spot-on impressions of Tracy Morgan, Norm Macdonald, Al Pacino, and Christopher Walken, to name a few. But in fairness, he’s had some time to practice: he’s been doing stand-up comedy since he was 16.
“What’s amazing about comedy,” says Jay, “and Buddy Hackett told me this, the first time you do it, you’re using .1 percent of what you’re able to do if you keep going. But still, somebody sees something in that .1 percent where they go, ‘What are you doing Wednesday? Because there’s an open mic in Hackensack.’ Then Wednesday in Hackensack, you’re like at .01 percent because you suck and somebody goes, ‘You know, Saturday nights there’s this place in Montclair…’ And then you find your tribe.”
Still, for all his time on stage, Jay considers himself more of a funny storyteller than a joke creator.
“For stand-up, I’m a horrible writer,” Jay says. “I’m a great ‘this happened’…because one’s the truth, and the other one is something I’m trying to construct that’s just a funny idea…three years ago, I realized my entire show that hasn’t been written yet already happened to me. So I’ve just got to buff the rear-view mirror.”
Listen to this episode of The Art of Charm to learn more about what Jay discovered that made him a better impressionist, the bonding power of Drakkar Noir, using trauma and personal pain as comedy fodder, what they make at the bookstore on Lankershim Blvd., the Monopoly board properties to which Jay most relates, negotiation, what actors and lawyers have in common, what Jay’s audience can expect from him, what happened to Jay on a childhood bike ride through an abandoned asylum, the differences between panic and fear, why it was nearly impossible to stay in character when performing a scene on live television with Chris Farley, Jay’s favorite podcast, how to jump start a baby who has Bradycardia, and lots more.
THANKS, JAY MOHR!
If you enjoyed this session with Jay Mohr, let him know by clicking on the link below and sending him a quick shout out at Twitter:
Click here to thank Jay Mohr at Twitter!
Click here to let us know your number one takeaway from this episode!
Resources from This Episode:
- Transcript for Jay Mohr | Mohr Stories (Episode 639)
- Mohr Stories Podcast
- Mohr Sports from Los Angeles Podcast
- No Wonder My Parents Drank: Tales from a Stand-Up Dad by Jay Mohr
- Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live by Jay Mohr
- Jay Mohr’s website
- Jay Mohr at Facebook
- Jay Mohr at Instagram
- Jay Mohr at Twitter
- Rudolph Visits The Island of Misfit Toys
- The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson
- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
- George Carlin on Saving the Planet
- Linda Carroll | The Narcissistic Continuum (Episode 580)
- Jim Kwik | Kwik Brain (Episode 611)
- Matt Foley: Scaring Kids Straight In Prison
- AoC Toolbox | Imposter Syndrome (Episode 583)
- Mohr Stories with Jay Mohr #335 Pete Turner
- A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy by Thomas Reeves
- Irish Bartender — Rick Shapiro
- LeBron James Slams Phil Jackson for Referring to Business Partners as ‘Posse’ by Dave McMenamin, ESPN
- The Zimzum of Love: A New Way of Understanding Marriage by Rob Bell and Kristen Bell
You’ll Also Like:
- The Art of Charm Challenge (click here or text AOC to 38470 in the US)
- The Art of Charm Bootcamps
- Elite Human Dynamics
- Best of The Art of Charm Podcast
- The Art of Charm Toolbox
- The Art of Charm Toolbox for Women
- Find out more about the team who makes The Art of Charm podcast here!
On your phone? Click here to write us a well-deserved iTunes review and help us outrank the riffraff!
Best quotes from Jay Mohr
“In that moment you are telling the truth or it doesn’t work.”
Jay Mohr, 13:46
“You get symptoms of panic and it takes a while to train yourself.”
Jay Mohr, 30:00
“It takes a very long time to realize social media [is] a bathroom stall and people are just writing on it.”
Jay Mohr, 52:38
“Desperation has a very distinct scent.”
Jay Mohr, 67:09
“Liminal space is the only time you could really look at you and work on you.”
Jay Mohr, 70:22
Jay’s whole act rests on being himself under pressure. If nerves still take over when you walk into a room, the X-Factor Accelerator trains that same calm, honest presence.
FAQ
What is Jay Mohr known for?
Stand-up comedy, his time on Saturday Night Live, roles in Jerry Maguire and Gary Unmarried, hosting the first season of Last Comic Standing, and his Mohr Stories podcast.
Did Jay Mohr host Last Comic Standing?
Yes. He was the original host of NBC’s Last Comic Standing.
What does Jay Mohr say about panic attacks?
He had panic attacks during his SNL years. He says the fix was learning to recognize the physical symptoms, like shortness of breath or no sleep, so he could calm himself down instead of feeding the fear.
What is Mohr Stories?
Jay Mohr’s long-running podcast.
Related reading
- Overcoming Anxiety When Meeting New People
- Why Imposter Syndrome Is Normal (Dr. Jill Stoddard)
- How to Tell Better Stories
Want to know how you come across to other people? Take the free 2-minute Influence Index.
