That joke's been done

Willie Nelson’s sound guy, who’s a friend of mine, once asked me, “Why is it that any time somebody grabs a microphone in comedy there’s feedback?” I thought, Wow, that’s true—every single time. And then, with “Silicon Valley,” I was, like, I’m not going to do this in this whole series. No feedback on the mike! In the pilot, there’s a scene where a tech guy comes up and grabs a mike. And the editor put in feedback. I said, “Take it out.” The sound mixer put it back in. I said, “Take it out.” It got all the way to the final mix, and we were playing it back, and another guy who just started goes, “Oh, wait, the feedback’s gone. We’ve got to get the feedback on it!”

No. No feedback!

-- Mike Judge
Mike Judge’s Secret Art of Satire

The New Yorker August 7, 2022

Having confidence

I had a friend in junior high—I don’t know why I was friends with him, probably because I couldn’t get anyone else to be my friend—and “Happy Days” had just come out, and he thought he was the Fonz. He thought he was the coolest guy. I remember thinking, He’s happier than I am, and it’s just because he doesn’t know any better. There’s something to be said for that kind of unfounded confidence.

-- Mike Judge
Mike Judge’s Secret Art of Satire

The New Yorker August 7, 2022