Judd Apatow

Few figures have left a bigger imprint on modern comedy than Judd Apatow, the “Freaks and Geeks” creator who went on to direct several of the most influential comedy movies of the century (including The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Trainwreck) and produce films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Bridesmaids and The Big Sick. It’s only in recent years, though, that Apatow has returned to the stage as a standup. “I started four years ago when we were working on Trainwreck,” he tells the Shepherd. “I was seeing Amy Schumer performing at the cellar, and I just got jealous. She was having so much fun. So I started going up again. It reminded me that standup always was the reason why I got into the business.” Apatow’s return to the stage was documented in his 2017 Netflix special, “Judd Apatow: The Return.” “I literally had to sit down and listen to comedy albums again and remind myself how standup joke structure worked,” he says. “After about a year, I felt like I figured out who I was up there. I generally observe that everything I write about has to do with not knowing whether I’m doing a good job at anything.”