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Comment by tcbawo | Hacker News Reader

The point he makes about eschewing fame to stay grounded could probably be applied to modern society and social media in general. I have only a passing familiarity with Tim Minchin from the past, but he seems like a thoughtful and introspective guy with a timely message.

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A long time ago, I heard Bill Murray say something to the effect of, "If you want to be rich and famous, try 'rich' first. You will probably be happier."

Tim Ferris has a blog post underscoring this point quite forcefully: https://tim.blog/2020/02/02/reasons-to-not-become-famous/

This post is great. It made me realise that not only do I not want to be famous, but that I want to live as privately as possible. I'm now much more wary about (say) using my real name online or making it easy for strangers to find out where I live and work. What's the point? In the internet age, it's never been easier for a sociopath with a vendetta to destroy my reputation and career (or worse), no matter how little I did to deserve it.

That reminds me of another Bill Murray quote: "When you become famous, you've got like a year or two where you act like a real a**. You can't help yourself. It happens to everybody. You've got like two years to pull it together — or it's permanent."

If I remember correctly, this was in the context of Chevy Chase with the point being that Chevy never figured it out and has been an a$$ ever since.

Bill Murray has something of a reputation for drawing a clear line when he's becoming too much of a center of attention in public life (an instance I'm thinking of is him asking to be left alone while watching White Sox games from the stands), and that's probably helped his career, if not also his state of mind.

Bill Murray at White Sox games? Surely you mean the Cubs.

I could be wrong, but I remember it being Comiskey. I don't think anybody expects to keep score quietly at Wrigley.

I have seen Bill Murray wrestle with his brother in a sumo suit at a minor league baseball game in Butte, MT. All that being said, he had an affinity for owning minor league teams and would show up and be himself. Butte, America is a hard town to be loved in and he is/was.

Meh, I know plenty of miserable rich people.

Maybe it's easy to be miserable despite being rich, but it's even easier to be miserable because of being poor.

But also being famous could still make them even MORE miserable!

He's also talented and very funny.

I respect his reasons, but I'll miss his comedy.

He has not quitting. He's making a comeback. The title refers to the ten-year break he took. This is clear if you don't comment on just the headline but take the time to read literally the first sentence below it.

For mean one of the most appealing parts of his comedy is that he is very clear that it is one thing to be insightful and quite another to actually make the better choices. He plays with that dichotomy a lot.

Even here. An essay on the corrupting and addicting influence of fame that basically announces a return to seeking fame.

But he’s Back

The thing is, I assume that fame is somehow a need. Or a distorted bias on a real need. We all kinda want to be joy to others and receive their welcome too. A strong and warm connection to a lot of people is probably wired in our brains. There, fame would just be a pathologically high kind of bond both in count and intensity.

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