"I would rather be a security guard than a rock star"
About this Quote
The subtext is a comedian's favorite weapon: deflation. "Rock star" is shorthand for ego, appetites, and a public life that eats the private one. McCulloch flips it into a burden, making the glamorous option sound like the less adult choice. It's also a sly status move. Only someone with proximity to entertainment's machinery gets to reject its crown with a straight face. The joke isn't that security work is easy; it's that it might be simpler, cleaner, more honest than the endless performance of being "on."
Context matters: McCulloch comes out of a Canadian comedy tradition that treats celebrity with suspicion and treats sincerity like a prop you handle carefully. The line reads as a resistance to the rock-starization of every creative career - where success is measured by attention, not craft. He's not confessing a secret dream of night shifts. He's insisting that dignity can live in obscurity, and that the loudest applause often comes with the worst hours.
Quote Details
| Topic | Career |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
McCulloch, Bruce. (2026, January 15). I would rather be a security guard than a rock star. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-would-rather-be-a-security-guard-than-a-rock-37826/
Chicago Style
McCulloch, Bruce. "I would rather be a security guard than a rock star." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-would-rather-be-a-security-guard-than-a-rock-37826/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I would rather be a security guard than a rock star." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-would-rather-be-a-security-guard-than-a-rock-37826/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.




