Before every tour, Chris Rock bombs 50 times on purpose.

He goes to a comedy club in New Jersey called The Stress Factory. Unannounced, he'll walk on stage with a yellow legal pad in hand and just riff. Forgetting lines, having to reference his notes, cutting jokes before the punchline, taking notes the whole time. If you didn't know him, you'd have booed him off the stage. Which is exactly how he remains great. Someone once told me they wanted to start speaking but didn't want to do it for free. Didn't want to rehearse in front of their spouse. Wouldn't take the Rotary club in front of 30 people. Speak at a conference where they weren't going to get paid. Everybody wants to be a speaker. Nobody wants to bomb at the Stress Factory.