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. His latest books for kids include This Day in History, Car and Driver's Trivia ZoneRoad & Track Crew's Big & Fast Cars, The Big Little Book of Awesome Stuff, and Wendell the Werewolf

Read his humor column This Should Be Fun if you want to feel better about yourself.

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

Starting a Business

He Immigrated to the U.S. and Started a Business. It's 'Not the Sexiest' But Sells Over 6,000 Units Daily — Up to $25,000 Apiece — Anyway.

When 16-year-old Amir Loloi emigrated from Iran, he didn't intend to stay in the U.S. forever. Then those plans changed.

Business News

Top-Performing Walmart Managers Can Now Make $620,000 a Year

These managers can now make up to $100,000 more than they did last year.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Productivity

9 Simple Ways to Transform Your Morning Routine and Boost Productivity

What you do as soon as you wake up can make a huge difference in the productivity of your entire day.

Leadership

How Your First Job Can Help Build the Skills You'll Need to Succeed as an Entrepreneur

Your first job out of college should be valued as more than a paycheck. It can be the foundation for a career, that is, if you prioritize growth and learning.

Starting a Business

How to Become a College Planning Consultant

If you can tell a Harvard student from a UC Berkeley student and know all there is to know about college, it's time to throw your mortarboard into the entrepreneurial arena by becoming a college planning consultant.