Ending Soon! Save 33% on All Access

Tiffany Haddish Bombed Onstage and Gave Us All a Great Lesson in Dealing With Failure The comedian's jokes might have flopped, but her response was pitch perfect.

By Dan Bova

Johnny Louis | Getty Images

There is some debate over who actually uttered the famous phrase, "Dying is easy, comedy is hard," but there is little debate that actor/comedian Tiffany Haddish learned it the hard way while performing on stage on New Year's Eve.

Shortly after taking the stage at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, the star of Girls Trip and a ton of other comedies spoke about partying until the wee hours of the night/morning before, and then, according to those in attendance, forgot her material and stumbled through the rest of her set as audience members booed and headed for the exit. Haddish was well-aware that things weren't going swimmingly, and was quoted saying, "This is gonna be on TMZ or whatever like "Tiffany Haddish Ate a Bag of Dicks on New Year's Eve!'"

Related: Why We Should Teach Kids About Failure

By all accounts, she then grabbed a bottle of Ciroc and started drinking with the remaining audience as she wrapped things up.

Is your stomach in a knot just reading this? Whether your job involves standing in front of an audience telling jokes or sitting in front of investors pitching your business, there's a good chance things haven't always gone your way. Maybe you misspoke, maybe you were ill-prepared, maybe you got brain freeze and completely locked up. It happens to everyone, and most people (this writer included!) will spend the following day, week or month with our heads buried, humiliated, frustrated and replaying the disaster on a constant loop in our brains.

But not Haddish. The next day, Haddish owned up to her onstage crash-and-burn and sent this out to the Twitterverse:

While many on social media took this moment to deride Haddish for being unprepared and -- every comedian's worst nightmare -- unfunny, there is a lot to learn from her response: she owned up to her screw-up, vowed to learn from it, and is clearly moving on.

At Entrepreneur, we talk about embracing failure all the time, and Haddish's response was as powerful for what it said as it was for what it did not. She didn't get defensive. She didn't make excuses. And most importantly for her own mental health, she's not dwelling on the bad. You can't change the past, you can only learn from it to help shape the future. So next time you are bombing in a meeting, know that it'll be over soon enough and that there will always be tomorrow. And, if necessary, a bottle of vodka.

Related: Jon Taffer Says There Is One Common Denominator in Every Failure

Dan Bova

Entrepreneur Staff

VP of Special Projects

Dan Bova is the VP of Special Projects at Entrepreneur.com. He previously worked at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Maxim and Spy magazine. Check out his latest humor books for kids, including Wendell the Werewolf, Road & Track Crew's Big & Fast Cars, and The Big Little Book of Awesome Stuff.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Leadership

How to Break Free From the Cycle of Overthinking and Master Your Mind

Discover the true cost of negative thought loops — and practical strategies for nipping rumination in the bud.

Business Solutions

This is Your Last Chance to Get Microsoft Office for $25

Lock in a lifetime of access to 2019's Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more favorites for your business.

Growing a Business

It's Time to Prioritize Regular Performance Reviews — Here's Why Reviews Are Essential for Employee and Company Growth

Regular check-ins, focused discussions about goals and progress and constructive feedback build a thriving work environment.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Starting a Business

How to Find the Right Programmers: A Brief Guideline for Startup Founders

For startup founders under a plethora of challenges like timing, investors and changing market demand, it is extremely hard to hire programmers who can deliver.