It's daunting for someone of any age to get in front of a crowd and try to make them laugh. But a 12-year-old trying to make a comedy club full of adults laugh? That sounds downright terrifying. And if there's anyone who'd have the guts to do that, it's little Seth Rogen.
In a recently unearthed video, a pre-bar mitzvah Rogen does a stand-up set in 1994 at a bar in Vancouver called The Lotus. As Rogen later recalled on The Tonight Show, this set was "at a lesbian bar called the Lotus, which is a flower. I didn't understand at the time. I thought it was Ladies' Night."
His set is pretty damn edgy, too, for a 12-year-old. He opens by saying he was a two-time Playgirl centrefold and discusses the historic persecution of Jews. Kid has a bright future.
Matt Miller is a Brooklyn-based culture/lifestyle writer and music critic whose work has appeared in Esquire, Forbes, The Denver Post, and documentaries.
