Self-deprecation, or self-depreciation,^[1] is the act of belittling or undervaluing oneself.^[2] It can be used in humor and tension release.^[3]

In comedy[link]

Self-deprecating humor relies on the observation of something negative about the person delivering the commentary. Many comedians use self-deprecating humor to avoid seeming arrogant or pompous, and to help the audience identify with them. In this way, the use of self-deprecating humor could be seen as an application of the rhetorical concept of ethos. This is seen as a major component of the comedy of comedians such as Joan Rivers ^[4], Louis C.K.,^[5] Don Knotts,^[6] and Woody Allen,^[7].

The technique is often used to balance the audience judgment on a performer, after exhibiting conspicuous displays of arrogance.

Professionals in any given field will also either avoid typical jargon and use lay terms to be understood and therefore appreciated by the masses.

Such humour is often stereotypically associated with people from the United Kingdom.^[8][9]

Self-deprecation is an important aspect to clowns. Unlike other forms of comedy, an audience is typically supposed to laugh at the plight of the clown, not with it.

See also[link]

• Outline of self
• Self-hatred
• Self-parody

References[link]

William "Bill" Burr (born June 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, radio host and actor.

Life and career[link]

Burr was born in Canton, Massachusetts. His father was a dentist, and Bill worked as a hygienist for a short time. He began stand-up at age 23 after attending Emerson College, where he majored in Radio. Burr also had a early morning slot on college radio during this period. In 1995, he moved to New York City and lived there for eight months. Burr then moved to Los Angeles, California, where he worked on a number of film and television projects. He returned to New York in 1999 and moved back to Los Angeles in 2008, where he currently resides. Burr stands 5'10" in height, is left handed, and is of German and Irish descent.

He performs over three hundred shows annually, had two movies released in 2006, and has performed on The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. In early 2004, he appeared in two episodes of Chappelle's Show, and in September 2005, his HBO One Night Stand special aired. Along with many other projects, Burr has also been a guest comedian on the Bob and Tom Show as well as on the Opie and Anthony Show on XM Satellite Radio, sometimes sitting in when third member Jim Norton is away. He has also performed on the Comedy Central Presents show.

On December 16, 2006, Burr hosted a three-hour radio show on Opie and Anthony's XM radio channel program The Virus (channel 202) titled "Uninformed with Bill Burr & Joe DeRosa" from 9pm-12am.^[2] The second Uninformed show aired February 10, 2007 from 9pm-12am, and the show has continued to run on an irregular schedule about once a month. Since Burr's move to Los Angeles, it has primarily been a pre-taped show, rather than live. The show's collection of free podcasts can be found at uninformedradio.com.^[3]

In September 2007, Burr signed with Colorado independent label What Are Records?. An expanded version of his 2003 debut album Emotionally Unavailable was released October 16, 2007. Emotionally Unavailable carries content previously available only in Burr’s stand-up shows. It features a completely unedited set with Burr covering topics from rednecks to inadvertent racism to relationship books to crazy people on the subway. The Expanded Edition augments that album with previously unreleased highlights from a different tour - the Houston stop of the I’m Rich Biatch Tour which Bill co-headlined with Chappelle's Show cast mates Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings. Much of the material from this tour later turned up on Burr’s HBO stand-up special.

As with other comics associated with The Opie & Anthony Show, in 2008, Burr's voice was featured in the game Grand Theft Auto IV. In the game, Bill plays Jason Michaels of the biker gang the The Lost MC in the mission "No Love Lost". In 2009, he reprised his role in the game's expansion pack The Lost and Damned.

Burr's most recent special is entitled "Let It Go". It premiered on Comedy Central on September 18, 2010 and was shot at the Fillmore in San Francisco, California.

Bill Burr has been referred to as a "comedian's comedian" by observers of the US stand-up comedy circuit, meaning a comedian whose work is being followed and appreciated by fellow professional comedians.^[4][5] He is a Boston Bruins fan and periodically blogs for NHL.com.

Burr's brother, Robert, is a selectman from Canton, Massachusetts and was briefly a candidate to fill the Massachusetts' vacant seat in the United States Senate after the death of Ted Kennedy in 2009.^[6][7]

Burr appeared in the movie Date Night as Detective Walsh. He also appeared in season 4 of AMC's Breaking Bad as Kuby.^[8]

The Monday Morning Podcast[link]

Since May 2007, Bill Burr has recorded a weekly one-hour podcast, in which he speaks without reservation and off the cuff about his past and recent experiences, going on tour, and sports.^[9] Occasionally, he is joined by his girlfriend Nia Hill, depending on whether she is present in their house or not. Burr also appears as a guest on other comedians' podcasts, such as The Adam Carolla Show,^[10] The Joe Rogan Experience,^[11][12] WTF with Marc Maron,^[13] and Chris Hardwick's Nerdist podcast.^[14] Burr was also the very first guest on Tom Green's podcast. On April 18, 2011 he guest hosted the Hollywood Babble-On podcast alongside Ralph Garman, taking the place of a sick Kevin Smith.^[15]

Discography[link]

• Emotionally Unavailable (2003) [CD]
• Emotionally Unavailable: Expanded Edition (2007) [CD]
• Why Do I Do This? (2008) [CD/DVD]
• Let It Go (2010) [CD/DVD]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bill Burr

• billburr.com, official website
• Bill Burr at the Internet Movie Database