Latest / Only Bombs! Comedy Podcast / 1 Year Anniversary Episode | Only Bombs!

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1 Year Anniversary Episode | Only Bombs! · Only Bombs! Comedy Podcast

• 0:00
  OK, hello, it is I once again trade on stage.
• 0:02
  And today is a very, very special episode because
• 0:06
  this is the one year anniversary episode today.
• 0:10
  We're going to get into a lot a lot of different
• 0:13
  things, a lot of like the editing, the growth
• 0:15
  of the podcast, where it came from and most of
• 0:18
  all, like how it started. And to to bring that
• 0:22
  all together, I brought a recurring guest that
• 0:25
  has been on this podcast several times before.
• 0:27
  And I'm so happy to have this person back. And
• 0:31
  there's a lot of story to tell from the beginning
• 0:34
  with this person. So I would like to welcome
• 0:38
  back Chen. Only bombs, baby. That's it. Welcome
• 0:42
  back, Chen. Man, it's good to have you back.
• 0:47
  I'm so happy that you're here. It means a lot,
• 0:49
  especially with it being one year. So to also
• 0:52
  commemorate this right in this portion right
• 0:56
  now, right here, I'm going to... bring you your,
• 0:59
  one more time, your custom music video. That
• 2:34
  was fast, wow. It was almost like time traveling.
• 2:40
  It was really amazing how quickly that was. Yeah,
• 2:43
  you'd do a one hour music video before the podcast.
• 2:46
  Yeah, it was just like a David Fincher movie
• 2:50
  music video kind of thing. Oh my gosh. Well,
• 2:53
  how has the year been treating you? I'm doing
• 2:58
  pretty well. Right now I'm still working at the
• 3:02
  university and making enough and have enough
• 3:07
  time, well, enough free time for me to pursue
• 3:10
  comedy and music at the same time. That's great.
• 3:13
  That's great. And you're still doing your, oh
• 3:15
  gosh, why am I drawing a blank? The Along for
• 3:20
  the Vibes. Yes, but Along for the Vibes sort
• 3:23
  of, it used to be once a week, now it's once
• 3:26
  a month. Gotcha and ah, I wish you were there.
• 3:30
  Maybe you were there, but we were up to eight
• 3:33
  band members along with like two two people working
• 3:38
  like the Sound engineering cameras and announcing
• 3:43
  and all that but then but then we sort of well,
• 3:46
  I guess people Left and then now we're just down
• 3:49
  to just me Courtney and right now we have Edgar
• 3:53
  Edgar. Yeah, so just three of us. Yeah, what
• 3:56
  is uh, what does Edgar play? Edgar plays electric
• 3:58
  guitar. He actually does a great job on it. Oh,
• 4:02
  Edgar. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's great. Yeah,
• 4:04
  Edgar. He's a lot of fun, too. He is. Such a
• 4:07
  nice guy. Does he still play with that little
• 4:09
  small guitar, too, every now and again? Small
• 4:11
  guitar? Yeah, I thought, wait. Nah, I think that
• 4:14
  was like one day at tiniest. Then I went to go
• 4:16
  see and he had like a tiny guitar. I think I
• 4:20
  could, nah, I could be misremembering. Nah, he
• 4:22
  only, as far as I know, he only plays one guitar.
• 4:26
  Yeah. I might've been misremembering. Just because
• 4:28
  the musician is small doesn't mean... It might've
• 4:31
  been, what do you call it? It might've been a
• 4:34
  conversation that got intertwined in memory.
• 4:37
  No, the small guitar situation was Joey. Joey
• 4:41
  was with us, and then he left. Oh. Yeah, Joey
• 4:46
  liked his full -size guitar, but one time he
• 4:48
  didn't have it, so I let him borrow my small
• 4:50
  one, and he was complaining about it the whole
• 4:52
  time. Oh, so there is some validity to what I'm
• 4:56
  saying. Yeah, you aren't crazy. You're just remembering
• 4:58
  the wrong people. I'm sitting there thinking,
• 5:00
  I'm like, well, this is early onset Alzheimer's
• 5:03
  right here live on the show. Right? Yeah. Well,
• 5:09
  I was going to ask you some questions that are
• 5:10
  sort of like this podcast related, you know,
• 5:13
  to have like a little bit of... Discussions and
• 5:16
  about like about that, you know And I know one
• 5:19
  of the things the other things that I did want
• 5:20
  to cover in this too is also uh explaining like
• 5:23
  You know how the show is made Uh, and you know
• 5:26
  like things like that and I would love for you
• 5:27
  to go on that journey with me if you're down
• 5:29
  Yeah, hell. Yeah, i'm ready to trauma bond. Let's
• 5:33
  trauma bond. Oh, oh god Yeah, that's that's probably
• 5:36
  a very correct thing fun trauma bonding. Yeah
• 5:40
  Yeah, so uh, so what do you remember most about
• 5:42
  like the first time you were on? Besides the
• 5:45
  fact now, oh, I'm sorry. Let me go ahead and
• 5:46
  premise this real quick. Uh -huh. Chen, Chen,
• 5:48
  I don't know if I told this. I think I said it
• 5:50
  in like episode two with Clemente, um, that,
• 5:54
  um, the, you, you came in like, what, like four
• 5:57
  times? Uh -huh. To shoot because I kept fucking
• 6:00
  it up like every time. Like it was just, it was
• 6:03
  either audio or it's video. And even then the
• 6:06
  final product that I put out there is like, is
• 6:08
  still. Like fucked up. Like, you know what I
• 6:11
  mean? So you came in three times. Like, what
• 6:13
  do you remember most about like the first few
• 6:15
  times? Lots of dogs barking. Lots of dogs. Yeah,
• 6:20
  that's right. That's right. No, it's, I mean,
• 6:26
  I guess I remember being excited and wanting
• 6:28
  to collaborate and I'm still excited and wanting
• 6:31
  to collaborate. Yeah. Yeah. But I never did your
• 6:34
  podcast before, so I was... Don't know like like
• 6:38
  whenever I go into a new thing. I try not to
• 6:40
  have any expectation. I just Go with the flow.
• 6:44
  You just go with the flow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
• 6:46
  So was it do you think that like in the beginning?
• 6:50
  Because I remember like one of the things I wanted
• 6:52
  to do was make it an enjoyable experience for
• 6:55
  you because Especially because it was like you're
• 6:57
  you're giving me your time to kick this thing
• 6:59
  off And so it meant it just I know we just spoke
• 7:02
  about it But it always meant the world to me
• 7:04
  that you were willing to do that And it means
• 7:07
  the world to me that you're willing to invite
• 7:09
  me. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And actually, speaking
• 7:12
  of that, yeah, that's exactly why every one -year
• 7:15
  anniversary, that's why I was saying that you
• 7:18
  are going to be the one -year guest no matter
• 7:20
  what for life because of it. Thank you. Yeah.
• 7:24
  No, no. Thank you. Thank you. Because really,
• 7:27
  without you and your patience, you know, most
• 7:30
  of all, and just coming in and being so go with
• 7:33
  the flow, I don't think I could have felt comfortable
• 7:36
  enough to kick it off correctly. And so it really
• 7:38
  means a lot that you did that and it really helped
• 7:41
  pave where it's at right now. You know, so I
• 7:44
  really appreciate you. I appreciate you too,
• 7:47
  and I'm happy that I was able to help out. Well,
• 7:50
  yeah, well, thank you. I'm very happy that you
• 7:51
  were like. So what I know is sort of evolved.
• 7:55
  Have you noticed any kind of like specific changes
• 7:58
  along the way? Uh, you seem more professional.
• 8:02
  Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah. How so? Uh, you
• 8:07
  went from, you know, like that episode where
• 8:11
  Thor was walking around in bath robes. Uh, oh
• 8:16
  yeah, yeah. And now you seem more put together
• 8:19
  like Dr. Strange. Whoa. That's a compliment for
• 8:24
  me. That's a compliment for me. Thank you so
• 8:26
  much. You see, I like Doctor Strange a lot. I
• 8:31
  just watched the, what is it, Universal Madness
• 8:33
  or something like that? The one where, was it
• 8:37
  Spider -Man in it or no? Oh, was it the three
• 8:40
  Spider -Men? No, not the three Spider -Men, but
• 8:43
  there was one where he, Doctor Strange was fighting
• 8:46
  Spider -Man and Spider -Man was able to like
• 8:48
  pull the different dimensions together. He was
• 8:50
  doing calculations, but then all the dimensions
• 8:53
  collided in a way that it caught Doctor Strange
• 8:55
  and he was able to sneak. out with the Tesseract
• 8:58
  or something? I forgot. Oh, man, I forgot too.
• 9:01
  I think that is the one with the three Spider
• 9:03
  -Man. Yeah. Yeah, that's a yeah. But no, no,
• 9:06
  that's I love. I love that. Like, you know, I
• 9:09
  love that I seem more like Doctor Strange. That's
• 9:11
  a really good analogy for me because because
• 9:14
  I do want to be more more professional with this.
• 9:17
  Yeah. You know, and it's been kind of hard to
• 9:20
  do that sometimes, you know. And so like the
• 9:23
  it's. The fact that you can see that and it's
• 9:27
  something that you mentioned automatically is
• 9:29
  pretty cool. It's really great. Thank you. I
• 9:31
  appreciate that. So what have you gotten better
• 9:35
  at, whether in your career or anything over the
• 9:38
  past year? What have I gotten better at? I guess,
• 9:45
  well, there's so many different things I got
• 9:48
  them better at. I got them better at working
• 9:51
  the sounds. Like, uh, just recently I was messing
• 9:54
  around with, uh, not just sound effects, you
• 9:56
  know, like you already know I do the sound board
• 9:58
  when I do like sound, like pretty much do the
• 10:02
  sound engineering for shows. But not only do
• 10:04
  I do that now I'm able to apply sound effects
• 10:07
  to like the host mic and things like that. So
• 10:10
  I've been playing with different effects, like
• 10:12
  if they're announcing somebody. So there's a
• 10:14
  coming up to the stage next, and then I will
• 10:16
  hit the button. Uh, now I turn on the echo effect
• 10:19
  and then they will say the next person with.
• 10:21
  a booming echo. Oh, wow. Like a proper like,
• 10:25
  it's almost like comedy slash, I don't know,
• 10:28
  UFC or whatever, like announcer where you make
• 10:31
  a grandiose. Yeah. Right before people come on.
• 10:34
  Now, of course I combine that with the walk of
• 10:36
  music when I, so we have all that going on. And
• 10:39
  right now I'm doing just that on Monday night
• 10:41
  and it's only like two weeks in too, because
• 10:44
  I've been, um, I've been working the sounds and
• 10:48
  I've been doing the soundboard, but I've been
• 10:50
  getting more, more involved. So, Oh, wow. Like
• 10:54
  I'm surprised that it took me this long to actually
• 10:57
  be able to do that because it was actually wasn't
• 11:00
  that hard. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. But, but that's
• 11:04
  the thing, right? Like there are some things
• 11:06
  where you just throughout the grind, like breakthroughs
• 11:10
  happen. Like if it happened naturally, it happens,
• 11:14
  but it doesn't happen like right away. Sometimes
• 11:16
  it will take a year or something. Yeah. Yeah.
• 11:19
  Oh, I totally get that. Yeah. So that is really
• 11:25
  interesting for you to say because I remember
• 11:28
  where you were at. I loved how you were doing
• 11:30
  things. I remember telling you probably on both
• 11:34
  of the episodes you were on about how I loved
• 11:36
  how you just would throw in the sound effects
• 11:39
  and how you would highlight or enhance people's
• 11:44
  sets and stuff. Yeah. I do it better than other
• 11:47
  people. Not to brag. Oh, it's okay. It's great.
• 11:51
  I know I do it better than most people. Well,
• 11:54
  first of all, having experience helps, but also
• 11:58
  because I've been doing it for two years now.
• 12:00
  But the big thing is that I'm a comic too. So
• 12:03
  I can like sort of anticipate where the punchline
• 12:06
  is coming from and from which angle. So that's
• 12:09
  why I can time it. And of course, I also think
• 12:13
  about the whole flow of the show, like a host
• 12:17
  would. Yeah. And even though I'm not the one
• 12:19
  announcing or anything, but I think about it
• 12:22
  like, um, well, for instance, I don't do sound
• 12:26
  effects for sound effects sick. So if somebody
• 12:29
  is on stage, if they tell a joke, but the punch
• 12:33
  line, the punch line doesn't land. Yeah. Then
• 12:37
  maybe sometimes I would do a sound effect to
• 12:39
  help nudge it towards the surprise factor to
• 12:42
  get the, to get the laugh out of people so that
• 12:46
  the comic can continue. Or they do a punchline
• 12:50
  that's so good that it deserve a tag in the form
• 12:54
  of a sound effect. I would do that too. Right.
• 12:56
  I think about it like that. And, but I, but if
• 13:01
  they're building tension, you don't want to.
• 13:04
  Yeah. Yeah. Because like, if you do the sound
• 13:06
  effect, you essentially do it like When they're
• 13:09
  building the tension or building their premise
• 13:11
  of building their setup and you do that, you
• 13:14
  essentially pop the balloon before it's ready.
• 13:16
  Yeah. Right. Because that's so like, no, no.
• 13:19
  Yeah. So, so like you have tact. Yeah. You have
• 13:23
  tact. I don't just do it for no reason. And I
• 13:25
  tried not to make it obnoxious either. Yeah.
• 13:28
  I get it. Totally. I remember, um, with in the
• 13:31
  beginning of, uh, in the beginning with Only
• 13:34
  Bombs, sound was like one of the biggest things
• 13:37
  that I struggled with. Actually, so much so that
• 13:39
  the people that listened to your very, very first
• 13:42
  episode have told me that they have to turn the
• 13:43
  radio all the way up. And then the next one pops
• 13:46
  on and then it's like, boom, like it's way too
• 13:48
  loud. And yeah, so sorry about that. If you listen
• 13:51
  to the first episode, I need to fix it. Provided
• 13:57
  they can still hear, do you know how to say in
• 13:59
  sign language? No. But I remember like sound
• 14:06
  design, like of course I was like, this is also,
• 14:09
  it's not just a video thing, right? It's not
• 14:11
  just like a talk show, but it's also a podcast.
• 14:16
  And so sound design has always been incredibly
• 14:18
  important and I didn't really know that at first.
• 14:21
  I was just so excited to get things out and I
• 14:23
  didn't really pay attention to the sound. what
• 14:26
  I learned is that YouTube and Instagram and web
• 14:29
  and broadcast and all that, I had to learn as
• 14:33
  well that those, they're made to specific sounds
• 14:37
  and volumes and how things work and sound design.
• 14:41
  And I constantly try to get better at it. So
• 14:44
  just like you're saying, when it kind of, just
• 14:47
  learning the sound part. And now it's like, okay,
• 14:49
  I have a method, I know a method that works,
• 14:52
  I have it, it's good to go. Of course, This is
• 14:55
  a practice. It's something that you continuously
• 14:56
  have to learn, you know, but um, but now it's
• 14:59
  like, you know, it's a lot better and it comes
• 15:01
  out a lot smoother, you know, thankfully, you
• 15:04
  know, and it's something that I'm more confident
• 15:06
  in. But back then I just remember, uh, just being
• 15:09
  like, what the fuck? I didn't, I didn't even
• 15:12
  think about this, you know, and I remember one
• 15:14
  of yours, like specifically one of yours was
• 15:17
  like, it just was scratchy. It was just fucked
• 15:21
  up. Like, man, I was just like, Oh, Chen, damn,
• 15:24
  I'm sorry I fucked this up again. It's okay.
• 15:27
  You know, I felt so bad because you'd come, I
• 15:30
  think, like twice already. Uh -huh. You know,
• 15:33
  but, you know, it's just, yeah. That's one way
• 15:37
  to tell if Chen fucks with you. If Chen will
• 15:41
  come back four times to make sure you succeed.
• 15:43
  You know, one of my favorite clips was Clemente
• 15:47
  asking me, he went like, did you make Chen come
• 15:51
  back again? Because I actually made Clemente
• 15:53
  come back And it was like did you make Chen come
• 15:58
  back and I was like three times and he just lost
• 16:01
  it. Yeah It's such a great clip. I'll go ahead.
• 16:04
  I'll put that here. All right, but uh, but yeah,
• 16:07
  no, it's such a great clip It's one of my favorites,
• 16:09
  you know for the show, but uh What's uh, so what's
• 16:13
  something in your career that you're still trying
• 16:14
  to figure out? This one is both career, but also
• 16:18
  like contentment and maybe even social commentary.
• 16:23
  I don't know. It's like, um, reaching a point
• 16:28
  where I can feel content and, and that, that
• 16:32
  may never be right. Because it's like, because
• 16:35
  like in my day job, I wish I'm working on things
• 16:40
  that's more impactful closer to my capabilities
• 16:43
  in IT, but I took on the current job to survive.
• 16:48
  Right. So I wish that for my day job. And as
• 16:52
  for my other pursuits, like music and comedy,
• 16:56
  I hope that, well, I wish I can reach a point
• 17:00
  where, like, you see people where they get big
• 17:05
  enough that they essentially do their open mics
• 17:09
  on shows. Open mics on shows? Yeah. Like, instead
• 17:13
  of attending open mics, they're actually just
• 17:16
  doing a spot on the show, but it's their open
• 17:20
  mic. Yeah, yeah like to be that like prolific
• 17:24
  at it. I guess mm -hmm. Yeah, yeah, so being
• 17:27
  content What does that look like to you being
• 17:29
  content? Yeah, I mean in a way I'm content right
• 17:33
  now, but I don't want to be complacent Like like
• 17:36
  I'm content that I make enough where I don't
• 17:40
  have to work Well, like technically I work two
• 17:43
  jobs one is unpaid because it's comedy, but,
• 17:46
  but like I'm content because I make enough where
• 17:49
  I can pursue comedy and music on the side. Like
• 17:51
  there are people who don't even make it on the
• 17:54
  internet. Like there's no presence of them on
• 17:56
  the internet because they're too busy working
• 17:59
  jobs just to stay alive. Right? Like they, they
• 18:02
  don't even have time to make the solve videos
• 18:04
  that we see at GoFundMe or whatever. Right? So
• 18:08
  like, oh, and those are the real people you need
• 18:10
  to look for and help. Okay. Just a quick PSA.
• 18:16
  And so I'm grateful for what I have right now.
• 18:23
  Now I don't want to be complacent because I know
• 18:25
  I can do so much more. So I keep pushing myself.
• 18:29
  Yeah. Yeah. That's very similar to, I guess,
• 18:34
  what this is for me as well. Like I said a moment
• 18:39
  ago, it's a constant learning process. There's
• 18:42
  so many different things that I want to do and
• 18:46
  view and the way that I want this to be presented
• 18:50
  and put out there and stuff. I think that as
• 18:55
  long as you're striving to continue to grow,
• 18:58
  that complacency will be minimal. I think that
• 19:02
  it happens when you go like, okay, there's nothing
• 19:05
  left to learn. Again, that was a big one. I know.
• 19:11
  Wow. Are you sure the government isn't running
• 19:14
  an interference campaign at the moment? I don't
• 19:17
  know. That was crazy. It's like Trey is currently
• 19:22
  interviewing the future rebel leader. Something?
• 19:27
  That was just weird. I don't know. I guess there's
• 19:30
  just jets or something going on right now. Apparently
• 19:32
  there's F1 happening in Austin. Yeah, but not
• 19:35
  in the sky. We live in the future now. Okay.
• 19:41
  Yeah, who knows where it's going to be. I don't
• 19:43
  assume anything anymore. Yeah. I mean, other
• 19:47
  than they're going to focus harder in the butt,
• 19:49
  but other than that, it's common. It's common.
• 19:54
  Let's see. What keeps you continuously wanting
• 20:00
  to do things even when they're not going well?
• 20:05
  Well, I mean... Because I've done other things
• 20:10
  that are not myself and no matter, even if it
• 20:13
  goes well, there's no joy in it. So, so if there's
• 20:17
  no joy, because I spent the first 28 years of
• 20:21
  my life, I'm 35 now. I've spent the first 28
• 20:25
  years of my life living up to what my parents
• 20:28
  told me, what society told me, what school told
• 20:30
  me. And it, uh, getting backstabbed back to back
• 20:38
  when I was 28 really shattered it for me. And
• 20:41
  so I guess that's rock bottom for me. And, um,
• 20:46
  I was able to climb out of it, but now it's like,
• 20:52
  like I knew I was like looking back, I know I'm
• 20:56
  depressed back then because my ex, uh, my ex's
• 20:59
  family used to say that my favorite thing to
• 21:02
  say is just, okay. Like they can tell me to do
• 21:06
  things. I would just say, okay. Like there's
• 21:09
  a certain, to me back then, there's a certain
• 21:13
  kind of like resignation to life in the sense
• 21:17
  that other people tell me what to do. I just
• 21:19
  say, okay, and I do it. Yeah. Yeah. And, and,
• 21:23
  and, and I guess to tie it together with comedy
• 21:26
  or at least even being an Asian American is like,
• 21:34
  I can tell that society and my parents want me
• 21:38
  to be the hardworking Asian and stay quiet and
• 21:43
  just make money and don't cause any trouble.
• 21:46
  Right. But on the other hand, I realized that
• 21:51
  in a way I sort of want to put the promises to
• 21:55
  test by this country, right? Like freedom of
• 21:58
  speech, ability to express yourself, to pursue
• 22:01
  happiness, right? For me, happiness isn't to
• 22:04
  keep my head low and be a background character.
• 22:08
  And so, and so I wanted to at least go for it
• 22:12
  while I can. Yeah. Yeah. What do you think that
• 22:15
  people misunderstand about becoming like a comedian,
• 22:18
  you know, or about you becoming a comedian? Well,
• 22:23
  there are many things, right? Like for one, for
• 22:28
  one, funniness can be learned. Like, yes, some
• 22:33
  people are innately funny, but funniness really
• 22:36
  can be learned if you know the formula and you
• 22:39
  take classes and things like that. That helps.
• 22:42
  but but there are so many people who just want
• 22:46
  to hit open mics over and over again and Hopefully
• 22:52
  and the one and the one time I'm sorry about
• 22:56
  that Okay, the one time so so the thing with
• 22:59
  people hitting open mics doing the same materials
• 23:01
  without experimenting like like there are a few
• 23:04
  things right like lately I noticed a lot of people
• 23:07
  say that And and I came over this idea before
• 23:10
  they started saying that I was thinking about
• 23:13
  it before they do But now the cat's out of the
• 23:16
  bag, I'll say it too. So, it's important to do
• 23:20
  comedy when you're having fun. Like, nobody cares
• 23:23
  that you're trying to make it big. Nobody cares
• 23:26
  that this is your next career. People paid money,
• 23:29
  people spent time to show up, right? Your job
• 23:32
  there is to have fun and make sure that other
• 23:35
  people are having fun. Like, fuck your aspirations,
• 23:38
  fuck your goals, fuck where you want to be in
• 23:41
  life, live in the moment and... Try to have fun.
• 23:45
  Like that's literally us as comedians, especially
• 23:48
  when push comes to shove, right? Yeah. Like fuck
• 23:52
  making it on Netflix. Fuck all that. Like you
• 23:55
  put all that aside, you live in the moment and
• 23:57
  you try to have fun with everyone in that room.
• 24:00
  And then another thing is, um, more open mic
• 24:04
  doesn't mean better comedian. Like there are
• 24:07
  some people who did get better through repeated
• 24:10
  exposures. Like one thing I noticed just this
• 24:14
  last week, I was in San Antonio and one of the
• 24:18
  hosts from what I remember of him a year and
• 24:23
  a half ago, he has become better, like funnier.
• 24:26
  Shout out to Brad. Shout out to Brad. Okay. He's
• 24:30
  like, you don't deserve it, but... Wait, what?
• 24:34
  You don't think Brad deserves it? No, no, no.
• 24:36
  Like, I'm just kidding. Oh, okay. But I don't
• 24:40
  know Brad that well, right? Like, I try to keep
• 24:44
  shout outs to people who deserve it, but who
• 24:46
  deserve, who doesn't, right? But anyway, shout
• 24:49
  out to Brad. And I noticed that he became funnier
• 24:53
  and he was able to... make people laugh and get
• 24:57
  the room in the happy state before bringing up
• 24:59
  people. Now, how do you get to somewhere like
• 25:02
  that, right? Obviously you need a place. It's
• 25:05
  like me at Shakespeare's every Monday night,
• 25:07
  right? You need a place where you can just do
• 25:10
  it through repetition and then you try different
• 25:13
  things every round and try to get better. Right.
• 25:16
  Right. Yeah. So. So more open mic doesn't necessarily
• 25:22
  mean better because what ends up happening is
• 25:25
  that people practice the same bad form. It's
• 25:27
  almost like martial arts. They practice a bad
• 25:30
  form over and over again. But then the one day
• 25:33
  that they get lucky and hit a group of patrons
• 25:38
  who happened to be either be drunk or dumb or
• 25:41
  have a different kind of sense of humor. And
• 25:43
  they laughed. They're like, yeah, I made the
• 25:46
  breakthrough, but they were still doing the same
• 25:48
  thing. Yeah. It wasn't people at like their best
• 25:51
  form. Yeah. You know, you may. Yeah. And so they
• 25:54
  do the same thing year in, year out. There are
• 25:57
  people who are still telling me the same jokes
• 25:58
  since two, three years ago. Yeah. Right. And
• 26:02
  then, and they like, if you're telling the same
• 26:04
  jokes, it's fine, but at least play around with
• 26:08
  it, right? Like try the delivery, like change
• 26:11
  up the delivery, try changing up, maybe add more
• 26:14
  act outs or change up the timing, change up Like,
• 26:18
  there's so many things you can do. Yeah. I love
• 26:21
  your analogy of the martial arts. I think that's
• 26:23
  a really, really good analogy, actually, because
• 26:25
  I love how you spoke about, you know, you might
• 26:29
  do, you might practice like half -ass and then
• 26:32
  get somebody who's drunk and like fucked up,
• 26:34
  but that doesn't mean that somebody's at like
• 26:36
  their strongest form. And, you know, I think
• 26:38
  that's pretty wise, you know, in like, because
• 26:43
  yeah, yeah, it's like you can just, you know,
• 26:45
  like you're not gonna... And this is from the
• 26:47
  same thing when I was doing a lot of open mics
• 26:49
  and everything. I noticed that just because I
• 26:54
  was doing open mics, it wasn't making me a better
• 26:56
  show performer. The show performance is more
• 27:00
  like being able to read the audience and being
• 27:05
  able to dance with them. But the same people
• 27:07
  will go to the open mics. It's always just comics,
• 27:10
  really. And every now and again, you might get...
• 27:13
  You know, maybe four or five people who were
• 27:15
  just there to be like, what the fuck is this?
• 27:18
  You know, like, but they're but they're not exactly.
• 27:21
  you know, the audience member who paid to be
• 27:25
  there. Uh -huh. Or who are just trying to have
• 27:28
  fun or see what's going on in town, right? Yeah.
• 27:31
  So open mics, it's like open mics are great for
• 27:34
  getting behind the mic and just kind of working
• 27:36
  on your stage presence. Sort of like getting
• 27:39
  a gauge about how it feels and sounds when you
• 27:42
  say it out loud. But it's not a good gauge about
• 27:44
  whether - But if you just wanted that, you could
• 27:46
  have done that at home with the microphone and
• 27:48
  the PA speaker. Yeah, there is kind of a different
• 27:51
  feel to it because like what I do is if I am
• 27:55
  talking, like if I'm just kind of speaking a
• 27:57
  joke out loud, you know, like I'll pick up a
• 27:59
  brush or I'll pick up just, you know, this thing
• 28:01
  actually. I've spoken into this. This thing has
• 28:04
  heard so many bad jokes. It's not even funny.
• 28:07
  For those listening, it's a Sony camera remote.
• 28:11
  Is it why it's shriveled up? Yeah, that's why
• 28:14
  it's shriveled up. And yeah, it's kind of weird.
• 28:18
  True, true chin. But yeah, no, I would just sit
• 28:20
  there and just be like, oh, blah, blah, blah,
• 28:22
  blah, and I would just say my joke. So yeah,
• 28:25
  it's like practicing speaking it out loud, but
• 28:27
  it's very different than when you do it in the
• 28:29
  mic. So I think that there's some validity to
• 28:31
  what you're saying, for sure. So how do you think
• 28:36
  comedy has changed you? So for me, comedy is
• 28:50
  about getting in touch with that little voice
• 28:53
  in the back of my head. So like, I'm one of those
• 28:56
  people who have inner thoughts. And so for me,
• 29:02
  sometimes comedy, for me to be so snappy, I essentially
• 29:05
  break down the barrier between my inner thought
• 29:08
  and what I say out. And sometimes my, I just
• 29:11
  say my stream of consciousness. Oh, okay. Yeah.
• 29:14
  Now, It works. It makes sure that I'm fast. But
• 29:20
  my inner self sometimes would say something that's
• 29:22
  not like, that's not like, you know, not appropriate
• 29:27
  or something. So I get into trouble. Okay. So
• 29:31
  you're a little bit more reserved in a way. Well,
• 29:34
  like I said earlier today, I was, I'm essentially
• 29:37
  a child with an inner adult. And so, and so I
• 29:40
  regulate why I let out a lot of times. But for
• 29:44
  me, when I When I try to tell jokes like like
• 29:49
  if I'm doing something on the fly Mm -hmm, then
• 29:51
  I break down the barrier But most of the time
• 29:54
  I write my jokes and then I try to just perform
• 29:57
  my jokes But on the in the spur of the moment
• 30:00
  thing it pretty much get more in touch with my
• 30:03
  inner voice Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, that makes
• 30:06
  for that makes sense, too You know, um, and oh,
• 30:10
  sorry and I go and I do uh Nowadays I actually
• 30:13
  write one joke a day every single day Oh, that's
• 30:16
  great. I've been doing that for 150 days now,
• 30:20
  about, no, 130, 130 days now. Although I'm behind
• 30:24
  by one day, so I knew I'd come up with two jokes
• 30:26
  later today. When you write down your jokes,
• 30:29
  is it just like a quick thought, or is it like
• 30:32
  a fully, like, okay, this is fully written, it's
• 30:35
  structured, doesn't necessarily mean it's good,
• 30:37
  but it's just structured. Sometimes it's, um,
• 30:41
  so sometimes it's just a simple one -liner. Okay.
• 30:45
  Sometimes it's a one liner with different takes
• 30:49
  that can span for pages. Um, and sometimes it's
• 30:54
  a long form kind of joke, but I, for me, long
• 31:01
  form is slowly starting to form for me. Like
• 31:04
  for me, I mostly do one liners one after another,
• 31:07
  after another, maybe I'll tag them up every now
• 31:09
  and then, but right now I'm mostly do one liner,
• 31:11
  two liner, right now. But long form is slowly,
• 31:18
  like I, I'm slowly getting a feel for it. Like,
• 31:22
  like how to make it more long form is just that
• 31:25
  I, it's like seeing a silhouette of something,
• 31:29
  but you don't have a grasp on it yet. Yeah. Yeah.
• 31:32
  And, but a silhouette is better than nothing.
• 31:36
  So, so I know I'm getting more familiar with
• 31:39
  it, but it's, I haven't grasped it yet. Now I've
• 31:45
  like. So, so one thing that's really interesting
• 31:50
  about comedy is that what you are taught and
• 31:55
  actually understand it, and especially in comedy
• 31:58
  are two very different things. As in I can look
• 32:03
  up what a joke is. I can read on it. I might
• 32:06
  even take a class on it, but it actually took
• 32:09
  me, when I first started doing comedy, it took
• 32:12
  me about three months of open mics and then afterwards
• 32:16
  taking classes. to, so it took about six months
• 32:19
  total actually for me to actually innately understand
• 32:23
  what the joke is. Like it's one thing to say
• 32:25
  set up punch or the twist or whatever, right?
• 32:29
  That's one thing to say that, but to innately
• 32:32
  understand what it is, it actually took about
• 32:35
  six months. And so, and so, so while the growth
• 32:42
  thing that we were talking about just now is
• 32:44
  that I understand for long form, it's either
• 32:46
  one -liner With whole bunch of tags, you tag
• 32:49
  it into long form or you tell an interesting
• 32:52
  story. And then you make sure that you have your
• 32:55
  punch lines nested in there somewhere to make
• 32:58
  the interesting story funny. Right. Yeah. That's
• 33:03
  to me, that's the concept, but I haven't innately
• 33:06
  understand it yet. Like I'm still trying to figure
• 33:08
  it out. And once I get understand it innately,
• 33:12
  like how I understood what the joke is. Then
• 33:15
  I can see myself doing more of that. Right. Now
• 33:18
  I try to do it doing open mics just to get a
• 33:22
  feel for it, but like, so far they're hit and
• 33:27
  a miss. They don't like, I'm not consistent with
• 33:29
  it yet. It's still like, yeah, I get it. It's
• 33:31
  still a tough like sort of concept about what...
• 33:35
  Like what a joke actually is a lot of times if
• 33:38
  you see like like sort of newer comedian This
• 33:40
  is something that was doing even myself, you
• 33:41
  know row comedian Yeah, like a newer like a brand
• 33:44
  new guy like just getting out there when you
• 33:46
  said neural I was thinking about someone saying
• 33:48
  this is very cerebral Yeah, maybe that maybe
• 33:54
  that is what I said neuro but a newer comedian,
• 33:57
  you know Just somebody who's like just getting
• 33:58
  up there first few months open mics that kind
• 34:00
  of thing. Um, you know, like they get up there
• 34:03
  and they don't they don't say a joke they don't
• 34:05
  say anything they just kind of just get up there
• 34:06
  and this isn't everyone of course this is not
• 34:09
  a blanket statement this is just sort of like
• 34:10
  just a small observation but like they they get
• 34:13
  up there and they'll just say a story or they'll
• 34:17
  just say something funny that happened to them
• 34:19
  and it's like no that's not a you see that's
• 34:22
  not a joke you see like what a joke is a joke
• 34:24
  has structure a joke has like like it's it's
• 34:27
  It's kind of like saying the difference between
• 34:29
  a paper that's written in a Chicago or APA format
• 34:34
  or something like that. You know what I mean?
• 34:35
  It's kind of like just there's a way that you
• 34:38
  do it. It doesn't necessarily mean it's the right
• 34:42
  way. You could do it your way, but there is a
• 34:45
  structure. Does this serve the purpose of making
• 34:47
  people laugh? Does it serve the purpose? Yeah.
• 34:51
  Yeah, it can be a funny story. Yeah, it can be
• 34:55
  good. But that's the reason why it's you know,
• 34:58
  a joke is a structure. Yes. And, and actually
• 35:01
  that's what you just said is, um, it's very important
• 35:05
  when it comes to like a lot of comics, newer
• 35:08
  comics here, they like to do, they want to do
• 35:11
  a story, right? Because a story is hard to steal.
• 35:13
  I get it. It's a person, right? Yeah. Right.
• 35:16
  But when you look at the successful comedians,
• 35:21
  like Dave Chappelle, right? As well as Louis
• 35:25
  C .K. They can get away with longer form because
• 35:30
  people already know them. People already love
• 35:33
  them. They're willing to give them the trust
• 35:36
  to say nothing funny for five minutes straight
• 35:41
  before delivering a lethal blow right at the
• 35:43
  end. Right? Yeah. Yeah. They can get away with
• 35:46
  that. But for us, we don't like people don't
• 35:49
  know us like, or, okay, people might know you.
• 35:53
  And maybe locally, people know me, but for majority
• 35:56
  of the time, people don't know us, right? We're
• 35:58
  not like a household name yet, right? So we actually
• 36:03
  have to earn people's goodwill by being funny
• 36:07
  right off the bat. Yeah. And you count just like
• 36:11
  say, Oh, I'm going to tell a four minute story.
• 36:13
  And because you like me, you stay for the last
• 36:16
  one minute of punch lines. It doesn't work like
• 36:18
  that. Right, exactly. Dave Chappelle and Lewis
• 36:21
  CK, for example, what I love about the way that
• 36:25
  they do it is that they make, they just, I don't
• 36:28
  even think they can help it. They make the story,
• 36:31
  the joke. And so Lewis CK, his punchlines essentially
• 36:36
  literally lead into the next joke. It's phenomenal.
• 36:40
  It's crazy how he does it. And so he'll take
• 36:43
  something and add the premise. You know have
• 36:46
  like the setup and he's just saying a story.
• 36:48
  He's just talking He's just saying something
• 36:49
  really good long form is almost like it's literally
• 36:52
  that it's almost conversational. It's almost
• 36:55
  like a story Yeah, and and you can read it like
• 36:58
  a story, but you know, it's funny him where it's
• 37:00
  funny at the same time And yeah, and then at
• 37:02
  the end at the end like of whatever he's saying.
• 37:04
  It's a punchline Yeah, like and it's just like
• 37:07
  whoa, I didn't see that coming and Dave Chappelle
• 37:09
  does the same thing, huh? you know, and it's
• 37:12
  a and It's like, yeah, when you get to that point,
• 37:14
  it makes sense. But at like, you know, it's almost
• 37:17
  like at your beginner level. Like, yeah, I guess
• 37:19
  I guess it's sort of like one of those things
• 37:21
  where it's like you got to be a little bit more
• 37:23
  like head on. It's almost like you can't be your
• 37:25
  hero yet because you're not in the same shoes.
• 37:28
  Exactly. You can't be your hero yet. You still
• 37:30
  have a lot to learn, you know, and there's ways
• 37:32
  to do it. Like there's, you know, and I think
• 37:34
  that's like that's something that I'm sort of.
• 37:36
  kind of picking up, especially from having so
• 37:37
  many comedians on here, is I'm sort of picking
• 37:40
  up. It's just like, sometimes I'll have somebody
• 37:42
  who's like in the middle of learning that stuff,
• 37:44
  or I'll have somebody who's like, they just speak
• 37:47
  differently when they're more experienced, you
• 37:50
  know? Well, I remember seeing a clip, not to
• 37:56
  throw shades, but like, there's... There's something
• 38:00
  to be said when comedians eventually reach a
• 38:03
  point where they say, oh, it's almost like music
• 38:06
  where there's a flow to comedy. Yeah, there is
• 38:09
  a flow to comedy, but then you listen to their
• 38:13
  set. They, they, they, they, they're saying the
• 38:16
  things the maestros say, but they don't actually
• 38:19
  deliver. Yeah. Yeah. So it's a, yeah, yeah, I
• 38:25
  get that too. You know, um, it's just, like I
• 38:28
  said, it's just all, it's all. a learning thing,
• 38:31
  you know? And that's a, you know, that's what
• 38:33
  even just to kind of come back to this podcast,
• 38:36
  like that's what I think has been like another
• 38:39
  crazy thing about this podcast being on for like
• 38:42
  a year is just the amount of perspectives that
• 38:47
  I've kind of learned when people sat across from
• 38:50
  me like you are now. And the things that people
• 38:53
  have literally brought to this table has been
• 38:57
  like, absolutely crazy about, like, especially
• 38:59
  about what comedy means to people, you know?
• 39:04
  People have, like, really opened up, like, heavy
• 39:07
  and said some really, like, heavy, heavy things
• 39:10
  here, you know? And it really shows, like, just
• 39:14
  how deep comedy goes. And the reason why it's
• 39:18
  such a beautiful art form is because, like, you
• 39:20
  know, there's one inherent goal in comedy, and
• 39:22
  that's just to make you laugh. It's just that
• 39:24
  simple. But getting to that goal, it's just you
• 39:28
  have no idea how complicated that could be. And
• 39:32
  it's just kind of cool to just sort of sit back
• 39:35
  and witness that from each one of my guests and
• 39:38
  how they take that journey to get to that laugh.
• 39:43
  It's really interesting, because everybody has
• 39:47
  a perspective, and that's essentially what it
• 39:49
  is. That's essentially what the stand -up game
• 39:51
  is, I guess. Just perspective. Wait, but nobody.
• 39:55
  OK, how about this? What does comedy mean to
• 39:59
  you, Trey? So comedy means a lot to me because
• 40:02
  this really is the only way that I think, you
• 40:05
  know, I think just in joke, like so I've been
• 40:10
  that way ever since I was a kid, like by basically
• 40:14
  like I was always like kind of hyperactive as
• 40:17
  a kid and like first grade, you know, like was
• 40:19
  like one of the biggest things. Were you beaten
• 40:21
  like me too? Oh, yeah. Totally. Totally. You
• 40:24
  know, I flunked first grade. I failed. And so
• 40:27
  I had to be held back. And I kind of continued
• 40:30
  with that behavior. I didn't get any better,
• 40:32
  you know? And then I just kept being the class
• 40:35
  clown the entire time I had an audience. And
• 40:39
  the only time it was ever funneled, like the
• 40:41
  only time I could ever just chill, was when I
• 40:44
  finally learned what drama was. And I learned
• 40:47
  that in like fifth grade. And then I stayed in
• 40:50
  drama forever. and just having that outlet made
• 40:55
  like just being, you know, like in front of people
• 40:57
  on a stage, you know, it created a more sense
• 41:01
  of calm in my life, you know, at a young age.
• 41:04
  Yeah. And like, and so I went through my entire
• 41:08
  life thinking like, you know, okay, I need to
• 41:10
  constantly be on stage. That's just where it
• 41:12
  is. And that's the way I still am, is that I,
• 41:15
  you know, like, and this right here is a kind
• 41:16
  of a stage for me. You know, this podcast is
• 41:18
  sort of like a stage for me. and it's created
• 41:21
  a sense of like very calm in my life that I've
• 41:23
  never had like forever. But every time I fought
• 41:26
  it and stayed off the stage, that's like, that's
• 41:30
  when my life kind of just went in shambles, really.
• 41:34
  Like it's when I said like, okay, I'm going to
• 41:35
  turn my back on music or I'm going to turn my
• 41:38
  back on. you know, like acting, like when I finally
• 41:42
  left acting, when I finally left being an extra
• 41:44
  in movies and things like that, you know, it
• 41:46
  just like, I was like, what the fuck am I doing?
• 41:48
  It doesn't like, life doesn't make sense anymore.
• 41:50
  You know, when you, when you said that, I was
• 41:52
  thinking to myself, what if, what if after discovering
• 41:56
  drama, you get to be your real self during drama
• 41:59
  and you started acting outside of drama from
• 42:04
  that point on? So there was a, that's very valid
• 42:09
  question because that there was a big thing in
• 42:12
  my life where I didn't, so like, you know, that
• 42:15
  kind of goes with what my answer was essentially
• 42:17
  gonna be. So the reason why comedy is so important
• 42:21
  to me is because I feel like I finally found
• 42:23
  who I really am exactly. For my entire life,
• 42:27
  I kind of felt like I was always some kind of
• 42:30
  imposter. I never felt right in what life as
• 42:34
  a whole was. Comedy helped me say that, oh, this
• 42:41
  is who I am. I know who I am now. I feel better.
• 42:45
  So when you tell me earlier that you think I'm
• 42:47
  more like Dr. Strange now, I'm like, yeah, well,
• 42:50
  I'm giving you me. I'm giving you who I am as
• 42:54
  a person and I feel so much better. That's the
• 42:56
  story of humanity. We give other people ourselves
• 42:59
  and hopefully they will accept it. Yeah. And
• 43:03
  so, yeah, that's what comedy means to me. It
• 43:05
  just really, like, it really gave me, like, a
• 43:08
  bigger sense of identity. It gave me the only
• 43:11
  sense of identity that I know. And I didn't remember.
• 43:15
  So it's like, you know, you mentioned that you're,
• 43:17
  you know, a child or like, what is it, adult
• 43:20
  caught in, what do you, adult caught in child's
• 43:22
  body? I'm a child with an inner adult. A child
• 43:27
  with an inner adult, yeah. But no Chris Hansen,
• 43:29
  of course. Oh, of course. Hello, Chen. Please
• 43:32
  take a seat there. Please take a seat and have
• 43:35
  a piece of pizza. Oh, no. But no, man. It's like
• 43:40
  there is just that, literally just that. When
• 43:46
  I started doing comedy, I started to slowly sit
• 43:49
  back in the saddle of who Trey is. ever since
• 43:54
  my I've dedicated my life to it and ever since
• 43:57
  I've you know sat here and talked to comedians
• 43:59
  and and made this you know the comedy podcast
• 44:02
  you know that it is I guess and um Things like
• 44:05
  that. I really I really really have felt more
• 44:08
  comfortable With me being me for for probably
• 44:12
  once for like the first time since I've been
• 44:15
  a kid You know, so that's that's what it means
• 44:17
  to me. It means everything to me. It's like it's
• 44:19
  something that's it'll never go away. It's like
• 44:21
  It's just it's just me. Yeah, I can't live a
• 44:24
  life without it. I I'm one of those kids when
• 44:27
  I was growing up. I pretty much I think I started
• 44:32
  learning music when I was six three to six years
• 44:34
  old and And then ever since then I at least go
• 44:38
  on a major performance once a year all the way
• 44:42
  till like college yeah, so so for me like of
• 44:48
  course I try to Remember before 28 I was trying
• 44:51
  to live what I was told so I sort of forego the
• 44:55
  stage and just try to keep my head down and just
• 44:58
  be a good Chinese IT worker person, you know,
• 45:02
  yeah and and It's not to say it's bad because
• 45:09
  it's actually like keeping your head down and
• 45:12
  not care rest of the world and just keep to yourself
• 45:15
  and having your own family that's happiness in
• 45:21
  an of itself too. But when that is shattered
• 45:27
  without me wanting it to be shattered, but it's
• 45:30
  shattered. And when you're given the freedom
• 45:33
  to choose for yourself again, and in that case,
• 45:37
  me, I guess I sort of dug back at my root. And
• 45:44
  that's why I like go by the name of Chen nowadays,
• 45:47
  at least. Like outside of government paperwork,
• 45:51
  right? Because, because Chen, that was the last
• 45:54
  thing I was born to this world with. Oh, okay.
• 45:57
  Yeah. And so I want to carry that. I want to
• 46:01
  carry that, you know, like how when parents make
• 46:05
  a kid, they, they actually want the kid and they
• 46:09
  want if like, whatever good, good things happen
• 46:12
  to that kid, right? I want to carry that energy.
• 46:15
  Like, because my real name, like Charlie Shi,
• 46:18
  right? That was after the divorce at six. So
• 46:24
  it's almost like I've been living this character
• 46:29
  like the whole time until I went back and yeah,
• 46:33
  sort of reconnect with my roots again, because
• 46:35
  like, I may never understand the hard feelings
• 46:41
  back at six years old, but at least I can try
• 46:45
  to recreate at the original good intentions.
• 46:48
  Yeah. At my birth. And so that's, yeah. Yeah.
• 46:53
  It's great. It's really an amazing thing, you
• 46:56
  know, what this, like, you know, what just comedy
• 46:59
  can be, you know, and just like, sort of like
• 47:03
  it is discovering, it's rediscovering happiness,
• 47:06
  you know, and stuff. And yeah, it's just, it's,
• 47:11
  man, like, it's just, it's humor. Like, it's
• 47:15
  humor, like, and, you know, Like, this kind of
• 47:19
  thing just literally popped in my head for, like,
• 47:21
  I guess what you were saying, but just to show,
• 47:23
  like, how crazy, like, the humor is, you know,
• 47:27
  being a firefighter, you see a ton of, like,
• 47:31
  horrible, horrible shit. You just kind of get
• 47:33
  used to it, right? But, you know, like, one of
• 47:37
  the things, like, there's a specific memory that's
• 47:39
  in my head that pops up that makes me think,
• 47:42
  you know, laughter is the best medicine, right?
• 47:45
  Laughter is the best medicine. And the thing
• 47:48
  is, I have seen that on a scale that I can't
• 47:53
  even tell you. I have literally seen people whose
• 47:58
  blood pressure looked terrible. And if I found
• 48:01
  a way to just say a joke, I literally have seen
• 48:05
  the numbers on my monitor just get better. I've
• 48:08
  seen them become calm. And the thing is, it's
• 48:13
  like I've literally seen people tell jokes in
• 48:15
  their final moments, like as they were about
• 48:18
  to die, they told one last joke. I've literally
• 48:21
  seen that. And it's just, it's just wild to think
• 48:25
  that, yeah, sure. It's like, you know, comedy
• 48:28
  could be something that can't be taken seriously,
• 48:30
  but I'm like, in fact, it's probably, it's right
• 48:33
  alongside that seriousness more than you can
• 48:37
  ever imagine. It's like, Walter, for that one,
• 48:40
  it's almost like In math, you can't divide by
• 48:43
  zero, but comedy is the closest thing you can
• 48:46
  get to it. Right. Yeah. And, and what you were
• 48:49
  talking about, I remember waiting in line for
• 48:52
  Kiotoni, like not as a sign up, but you know,
• 48:55
  for the standby line to get in. I remember there
• 48:58
  was this firefighter guy who was trying to get
• 49:00
  in to see it. It's not you. Okay. There was this
• 49:05
  other firefighter guy and he was telling me a
• 49:07
  joke and it was, it was intense. It was almost
• 49:10
  horrible. Right. Yeah. But then back then I also
• 49:15
  realized that like just only recently that I
• 49:18
  heard about the concept of gallows humor. Oh
• 49:21
  yeah. Yeah. So, so then I, so what, uh, just
• 49:24
  to let people know, like what is gallows humor?
• 49:27
  Really dark humor that law enforcement, firefighters,
• 49:31
  and I guess executioners, prison guards, pretty
• 49:35
  much people who do really stressful jobs that
• 49:37
  are bored. I guess crab fishermen in those huge,
• 49:41
  like the deadliest catch kind of like those kinds
• 49:43
  of humor that they tell each other to help them
• 49:46
  pretty much to help them calm down or help them
• 49:50
  get through the roughness. Yeah. I love, I love
• 49:52
  what you're, I love what you're saying because
• 49:53
  yeah, that is a very big thing. Yeah. Like for
• 49:55
  us, like you just, you just make jokes. Now,
• 49:59
  now, now, of course, if you make it out to public's
• 50:01
  eye out of public's ear out of contacts. That's
• 50:05
  how people get fired for no good reason. Because
• 50:08
  people don't see like how rough it gets. Yeah,
• 50:11
  they don't understand. And it's just like a coping
• 50:13
  mechanism. And people say, how can they say that
• 50:16
  about the corpse? This is so inhumane or something,
• 50:20
  right? It's coping. Yeah. You know, to cope.
• 50:22
  So I'm sorry. So continue with what you were
• 50:25
  saying. Oh, that was pretty much what I was saying.
• 50:27
  It's like I heard his... joke but then I realized
• 50:31
  that it was gallows humor and because of then
• 50:34
  it was fine so yeah yeah yeah it's just like
• 50:36
  it's a different it's just a different form you
• 50:39
  know there's some there's some firefighter comedians
• 50:41
  that I've heard who have a few jokes that are
• 50:46
  just such a great way of capturing that and they
• 50:49
  put it they put it some of them are very talented
• 50:51
  at putting it out on stage like for you know
• 50:53
  um people who aren't even in that kind of thing
• 50:55
  to understand you know um and You know, so it's
• 50:59
  like, I think it's definitely possible to bring
• 51:01
  Gallow's humor to light, but I think it would
• 51:04
  be very difficult. Well, what's his face? There
• 51:07
  was this old guy that they like to bring out
• 51:10
  on Killzone. It was Brian... Oh, wait. Oh, I
• 51:15
  don't know his name. Yeah, but the old guy who's
• 51:18
  offensive. Like, the first time I heard him,
• 51:21
  I'm like, ah, right? But then... As I hear more
• 51:24
  of his jokes, he's actually hilarious. Like,
• 51:28
  you just can't be too serious with his jokes.
• 51:31
  Like, you're like, oh, oh, is that what it is?
• 51:37
  Yeah, comedy is, it is that, you know, it is
• 51:40
  that. Like, it's, you know, and I know in...
• 51:44
  you know, only bombs, like, you know, like I
• 51:46
  know we were kind of talking about like this
• 51:48
  whole thing from the beginning, like how it started
• 51:50
  off with like, you know, the music videos that
• 51:52
  I would put together and, and stuff. And that's
• 51:55
  mostly because I was a musician, you know? So,
• 51:59
  and also the other thing was - Like, do you still
• 52:00
  play music? Oh, yeah. Yeah, of course. What instrument
• 52:03
  do you play? I play guitar. Yeah. Uh, what are
• 52:06
  you doing November 6th? Um, I, I don't know.
• 52:09
  I can let you know. Can you play by ear? Yeah.
• 52:12
  Yeah, I've been playing for like check if you're
• 52:16
  doing anything on November 6 Along for the vibes
• 52:20
  we got what's it called? We got We got a spot
• 52:25
  in a comedy festival Wow, but Edgar is out of
• 52:30
  town that day. Okay, and then so it's just me
• 52:32
  and Courtney and while it's fine I can handle
• 52:36
  all of it. I think we because it's big enough
• 52:39
  and I feel like we owe the audiences who are
• 52:43
  going to be there a proper show. And then I'm
• 52:47
  quote unquote the music director for the show.
• 52:50
  I sort of want to make sure that we have at least
• 52:54
  a decent lineup for the musicians. Yeah, I'll
• 52:58
  have to get back to you. I'll let you know. Let
• 53:00
  me just make my little note here. Yeah, November
• 53:03
  6th. There's this... old guy who's a little bit
• 53:08
  chubby. He liked to wear this paperboy hat, who's
• 53:11
  also a comedian. But I played music with him
• 53:15
  at... So every Sunday, right next to Shakespeare's,
• 53:19
  there's this bar called Dizzy Roosters. Sunday
• 53:22
  night from 9 to 11 o 'clock, they have this thing
• 53:25
  called Open Jam. Open Jam is open mic for musicians.
• 53:29
  Oh, yeah. Oh, I've been to many of those. I played
• 53:33
  that a few times. That old guy comedian can play
• 53:37
  the drums really well. So if I can get you and
• 53:41
  that old guy, we're set. Oh, yeah. Just a couple
• 53:43
  old dudes, huh? Yeah. Hey, you're not the old
• 53:46
  guy. Yeah, no, I, uh, no, yeah, I'll definitely,
• 53:49
  I'll let you know. But, um, yeah, but originally,
• 53:51
  like with the, with the music videos, um, it
• 53:54
  was, I just kind of wanted to do like the idea
• 53:57
  that I had. for them when I first did the music
• 53:59
  videos, was that everybody would have like a
• 54:02
  custom intro featuring their own like little
• 54:04
  theme song and music, right? And so I wrote these
• 54:08
  little words, like just like a few of these little
• 54:10
  things. And of course, you know, in order for
• 54:12
  me to make it happen, I used Suno, you know,
• 54:15
  which I discovered through you. And I loved it.
• 54:18
  I still do love it. Sometimes I'll just go write
• 54:20
  a song. It's what, you know. Suno is one of those
• 54:25
  things where lately people I think it's popular
• 54:28
  to make hood versions of Disney songs. I edited
• 54:33
  one of them that wasn't completed. It was Get
• 54:37
  Low, but Disney's Princess Edition. That's great.
• 54:40
  It's on my channel. So somebody did it, but it
• 54:43
  was only like a 57 second clip. That's sort of
• 54:46
  how I knew it was AI. Which channel is it on?
• 54:49
  Oh, it's Chin's Antics on YouTube. Chin's Antics
• 54:51
  on YouTube. Alright, just make sure that people
• 54:53
  can go listen to it. Yeah, so that one. Think
• 54:56
  it has at least 10 ,000 views now, but hell yeah.
• 55:00
  Well people want that song Okay, but and then
• 55:03
  so I use you know as well as my knowledge in
• 55:06
  music editing because like for my soundboard
• 55:08
  I just don't do soundboard. I Actually use audacity.
• 55:13
  I do sound editing on every single sound file
• 55:16
  put on there unless they're out of the box good
• 55:18
  Yeah, like like For instance, people who walk
• 55:22
  up on the stages only takes like three seconds,
• 55:24
  five seconds, right? So you can't have a song
• 55:26
  that have like 30 second intro build up, right?
• 55:30
  You have to cut the song right to the good part
• 55:32
  where you just even, it's almost like in radio,
• 55:37
  they call it sting. You want the sting right
• 55:40
  there. Yeah. Right there. And then, and then
• 55:42
  let them be on stage. Yeah, I was going to do
• 55:45
  that. I was going to originally just do stingers.
• 55:48
  But then I kind of just took a step back, and
• 55:51
  now I just have it pretty much just right into
• 55:53
  it. And I like that format a lot better. I really
• 55:57
  do. Plus it actually, I don't think anybody knows
• 56:01
  this about the music videos that I used to make,
• 56:03
  but they would take a long time. It would take
• 56:06
  about almost 10 hours to make one. And it wasn't
• 56:10
  just like, it wasn't just. taking pictures and
• 56:15
  just putting it to music. It was analyzing the
• 56:20
  beat, setting the pictures in motion, transitions,
• 56:25
  cuts. Oh, one of the skills I picked up in the
• 56:27
  last year was DJing. Yeah. Oh, I don't know if
• 56:30
  you were around when I DJed this past Monday.
• 56:34
  No, not when you DJed, but when I went to...
• 56:38
  Kiltoni to sign up. I saw that you had your DJ.
• 56:41
  What do you call that? It's a turntable. Yeah.
• 56:43
  Yeah. Yeah. It's, um, so with DJing, one thing
• 56:47
  I noticed is that even if I'm just trying to
• 56:50
  work two songs together to mix it together or
• 56:53
  like to hand off from one song to another, even
• 56:56
  if the song is only like three minutes long each,
• 57:00
  getting it passed off just right where it feels
• 57:04
  great to the ear and it makes sense musically.
• 57:08
  sometimes that can take me a full hour just for
• 57:10
  one song. And then, what's it called? And then
• 57:14
  for me to do a 30 minute set in DJ, it usually
• 57:18
  takes about, I try to do two minutes of each
• 57:20
  song. So it would take about 15, sometimes 18
• 57:25
  songs. And each handoff is like an hour, an hour
• 57:29
  and a half. So it actually takes me, now not
• 57:32
  always, sometimes some songs mesh together well.
• 57:35
  So like I would spend the first week Putting
• 57:37
  it together in the hurry Second week. I will
• 57:41
  go back. I'm like, I don't quite like how these
• 57:43
  two songs come together Let me try a different
• 57:45
  combination. Yeah, so that's another week third
• 57:48
  week Just to test how how it sounds and fourth
• 57:51
  week finalizing it before I work on the next
• 57:53
  one So a simple 30 minute can take a full month
• 57:56
  like easily. Yeah, I completely understand Like
• 57:59
  I said with those music videos or whatever like
• 58:02
  it would take about 10 hours to create them.
• 58:07
  I basically stopped them just because I heard
• 58:13
  that a lot of people, they didn't understand
• 58:16
  the point of them. That's why for this one, maybe
• 58:21
  put it towards the end. Well, I thought about
• 58:24
  that too, but I'm just like, no. The editing
• 58:27
  in each episode, just to speak upon how the episodes
• 58:31
  are Edited it's a like so I watch what we do
• 58:36
  and then I cut on Like so I'm gonna watch your
• 58:39
  episode and I'm gonna and I'm gonna put a multicam
• 58:42
  footage into DaVinci Resolve, right? That's what
• 58:46
  I use. And there is a multicam smart switch that
• 58:49
  is, I guess, powered by AI, but it doesn't read
• 58:51
  it, in my opinion, as well enough to capture
• 58:53
  the full conversation correctly. So what I end
• 58:56
  up doing is I watch the episode, I watch the
• 58:58
  full episode, and I do the switches manually
• 59:02
  to also make room for inflection, things like
• 59:06
  that. Because sometimes I can be talking and
• 59:08
  just your... expression towards my speaking or
• 59:13
  vice versa, sometimes just that. Well, AI doesn't
• 59:18
  catch that. What AI catches is just who's talking
• 59:20
  and it just switches back and forth, right? Yeah,
• 59:22
  that's not even AI. That point is just, oh. If
• 59:25
  sound signal was coming from this video, switch
• 59:28
  to that. That's not even AI. Right. Basically,
• 59:32
  I'll take that, and then after that, it gets
• 59:37
  into music intros, it gets into creating what's
• 59:40
  called a lower third, and so the thing that goes
• 59:43
  to the bottom that says, Chen at Chen's Antics,
• 59:46
  and then all of that, and so creating it, and
• 59:50
  so with that, and then after that, we get into
• 59:54
  audio. And then audio is like the most important
• 59:56
  thing. So audio takes like the longest. And,
• 59:59
  you know, like doing equalization, you know,
• 1:00:05
  dynamics, you know, all sorts of, oh my gosh,
• 1:00:06
  it's like, there's so much. Does your sound ever
• 1:00:10
  get out of sync with the video and you had to
• 1:00:12
  adjust it? Oh, manually? Yeah. Yeah. I had that
• 1:00:16
  issue too when I was filming for Along for the
• 1:00:18
  Vibes for a bit. Yeah. Yeah. And like, basically
• 1:00:21
  like what I learned with this is it'll never
• 1:00:24
  It'll never sync up. So I have to, I gotta go
• 1:00:26
  in and I just find them. That's why you clapped
• 1:00:28
  in the beginning, it helps. Yeah, that's why
• 1:00:30
  I clapped in the beginning. I do the same. Yeah,
• 1:00:33
  that's all it is, because you can do it, you
• 1:00:34
  can judge it just by that one clap. Basically,
• 1:00:40
  after all that is synced up and matched, then
• 1:00:43
  it's coloring of the footage. The footage right
• 1:00:47
  here is going to be like a picture profile footage
• 1:00:48
  that's going to be grayed out. Actually, I'll
• 1:00:51
  show you what it looks like right now. Basically,
• 1:00:54
  this would be what it looks like with absolutely
• 1:00:57
  no coloring right here. Then I will go in and
• 1:01:00
  there's these. It's adjustment features that
• 1:01:04
  kind of similar to being like that you have on
• 1:01:06
  your iPhone. It's digital makeup. Right, digital
• 1:01:08
  makeup. Wow. And if you go to your iPhone, right,
• 1:01:13
  and I'm telling like basically the viewer who
• 1:01:15
  has no idea what this is. So if you go to your
• 1:01:18
  iPhone and you go into your adjustments on your
• 1:01:20
  pictures, you can go through and see that each
• 1:01:22
  little setting of contrast, exposure. Warmth.
• 1:01:25
  Warmth, absolutely, all that stuff, right? And
• 1:01:28
  I essentially just manually create that. and
• 1:01:32
  I just do something similar. There's more to
• 1:01:35
  it than that, but that's kind of like just the
• 1:01:38
  way, just a quick way to sort of explain it,
• 1:01:40
  right? Well, when after it's all said and done,
• 1:01:43
  you know, then there's, of course, clip making
• 1:01:45
  and cutting the best parts of the video, which
• 1:01:49
  ends up, see, the reason why clip making is so
• 1:01:51
  difficult is because I don't use opus clips or
• 1:01:55
  any of that shit because I have before and I
• 1:01:58
  fucking hated them. to be honest with you. So
• 1:02:00
  I don't use Opus clips or anything like that.
• 1:02:03
  I go in and I do them. That's probably why they're
• 1:02:05
  not the best, honestly. But now I'm taking something
• 1:02:09
  that was a 16 by 9 frame, which is this widescreen
• 1:02:13
  format, and then making it a 9 by 16 frame. And
• 1:02:18
  then I basically... add and create the subtitles
• 1:02:23
  that you see that are burned into the video,
• 1:02:24
  the hook that's going to come at the beginning.
• 1:02:28
  I used to have stingers on the back end, all
• 1:02:30
  that good stuff. All of that goes into every
• 1:02:34
  single video that I do. Ultimately, it comes
• 1:02:38
  out to being about close to 30 hours. It's a
• 1:02:42
  very long time. One clip takes like, probably
• 1:02:46
  about an hour, hour and a half to make. And that's
• 1:02:50
  because another thing that I pay attention to
• 1:02:52
  is music. So if you watch the clips that I make,
• 1:02:56
  you'll watch the background music is also, it's
• 1:02:59
  like there's a whole thing that goes along with
• 1:03:01
  that because there's ducking, and ducking is
• 1:03:04
  a very specific procedure. And what ducking is,
• 1:03:07
  for those of you who don't know, is ducking is
• 1:03:10
  when, if you listen to like a movie or something
• 1:03:12
  like that. they're speaking and yet they're loud
• 1:03:17
  and the music is loud at the same time. You're
• 1:03:19
  like, how the hell is that going on? It's because
• 1:03:22
  they're doing ducking and they're basically doing
• 1:03:24
  a specific kind of procedure sound -wise to make
• 1:03:27
  it to where it works well. Music plays such a
• 1:03:31
  big portion. of these clips and highlights and
• 1:03:35
  things like that of what you're saying. The reason
• 1:03:38
  why I do the music and the stock music and things
• 1:03:41
  like that is because I want to capture, I just
• 1:03:45
  want to create a feeling. After all that is said
• 1:03:50
  and done, it's about 30 hours an episode. I do
• 1:03:54
  that alongside working two jobs. You know, so
• 1:03:59
  it's like, uh, you know, that's how much dedication
• 1:04:02
  that this thing takes, you know, and that's how
• 1:04:05
  that's how much it's been, you know, going on
• 1:04:08
  for literally a year and fucking up a fucking
• 1:04:12
  up a lot making mistakes. Like I've had, I've
• 1:04:15
  had people come on who've had to be, who had
• 1:04:17
  to have reshoots and have been unable to do so.
• 1:04:20
  Yeah. You know, um, I've had people who like
• 1:04:23
  who were scheduled and unfortunately because
• 1:04:26
  of my job, I had to literally cancel it at the
• 1:04:28
  last minute. There's been so many fucking mistakes
• 1:04:33
  and every single one of them, I'm like, God damn
• 1:04:35
  it. But thankfully, Internet only remembers your
• 1:04:38
  winning shots. Well, Internet only ever sees
• 1:04:43
  the winning shots. They only ever see the finished
• 1:04:47
  product. But on the back end, what there is is,
• 1:04:51
  It's so much trial, but so much error. 90 % of
• 1:04:59
  the time, it's fucking up and fixing it and learning
• 1:05:02
  how to do it. It reminds me of a quote where
• 1:05:05
  it's something like, a novice haven't tried more
• 1:05:10
  than an expert has failed. Yeah, it's something
• 1:05:15
  like that. That kind of reminds me of... Only
• 1:05:19
  bombs simply the name you see so it might sound
• 1:05:23
  kind of like a like sort of a Okay, only bombs
• 1:05:26
  in of itself is sort of a joke, right? It's and
• 1:05:29
  it's a continent, right? Because a bomb a bomb
• 1:05:33
  is like if you look are you hiding the terrorists,
• 1:05:35
  right? If you look at a bomb and like let's say
• 1:05:38
  sports, right? A sports bomb is an event in sports
• 1:05:43
  that could potentially change the trajectory
• 1:05:45
  of the game and maybe make the game 10 times
• 1:05:48
  better and a record that, you know, future people
• 1:05:52
  will either try to break or future people who
• 1:05:55
  watch the game will always remember. So a bomb
• 1:05:59
  in sports is like a massive event. However, a
• 1:06:02
  bomb in comedy is an event that might happen
• 1:06:07
  that you fucking, it's like the worst thing that's
• 1:06:09
  ever happened to you. You know what I mean? If
• 1:06:11
  we're going through TSA, I'm sorry. Right. And
• 1:06:15
  so... And so, like, when I was creating this
• 1:06:18
  whole, like, when we were trying to create this,
• 1:06:20
  it was me and Matt, my brother. And we were just
• 1:06:24
  kind of throwing around ideas and we're like,
• 1:06:26
  well, it has to be called something bombs, you
• 1:06:29
  know? And so - Trace bombs? Yeah. Well, at first.
• 1:06:33
  Right, at first. Like what I was thinking was
• 1:06:36
  simply calling a tray on stage. Uh -huh. And
• 1:06:39
  it was going to be like I used to do a podcast
• 1:06:41
  just with just me talking head direct in front.
• 1:06:45
  Uh -huh. Kind of footage of just me speaking
• 1:06:47
  about my experiences with stand -up comedy. And
• 1:06:50
  then it came about where it was like we would,
• 1:06:53
  my brother and I, we would see a lot of people
• 1:06:56
  just bombing their fucking asses off. But here's
• 1:06:59
  the thing though, I just want to be like, supportive
• 1:07:02
  on this real quick, is that the bombing was their
• 1:07:07
  grind. It was them growing, you know? And so,
• 1:07:13
  like I said, I know it has a double meaning,
• 1:07:16
  you know, bombs? But the thing is... Only grind.
• 1:07:20
  Well, no. We're where we need to be. But thank
• 1:07:25
  you for the suggestion. You and grinder. No,
• 1:07:28
  when you said only bomb, that's dumb grinding.
• 1:07:32
  So it means that people are grinding. Yeah, exactly.
• 1:07:36
  They continuously are grinding. Maybe I'll have
• 1:07:39
  a coffee shop called On The Grind. I don't know.
• 1:07:44
  So with Only Bombs, it was like, It was like
• 1:07:48
  basically success through failure was essentially
• 1:07:51
  that. Like, so just like what you just mentioned
• 1:07:53
  a moment ago, it was just being, you know, dealing
• 1:07:57
  with the failures, dealing with the constant
• 1:07:59
  failures. But the thing is about bombing is it
• 1:08:02
  makes or breaks you, right? It may like you either
• 1:08:04
  walk away from it saying I quit forever or you
• 1:08:07
  say, okay, well. You know, I'm going to get back
• 1:08:09
  on the horse and do it again. And so it's sort
• 1:08:12
  of like, I just want people with the mentality
• 1:08:14
  of, yeah, I bombed. And so I'm going to get up
• 1:08:17
  and I'm going to do it again. So I only bombs.
• 1:08:21
  And that's what, that's what it means. Yeah.
• 1:08:23
  And that's what the name means. So in of itself,
• 1:08:25
  it's a joke. It's a continent. It's a double
• 1:08:27
  meaning. When you say that every there, there
• 1:08:31
  exists a comedian. I'm not going to throw a name
• 1:08:33
  out, but there's a comedian who is very good
• 1:08:37
  at showing up, but they just. Haven't making
• 1:08:40
  progress with their mute like comedy and they
• 1:08:44
  literally only Yeah, and so and I always feel
• 1:08:49
  like I Like I always feel bad for whoever comes
• 1:08:52
  up after them because it's because like there's
• 1:08:55
  a momentum Then he just stops right there right
• 1:08:58
  now, of course if people coming up after him
• 1:09:01
  the Practice is to how do you pick up a dead
• 1:09:06
  room then? Yeah, but yeah. Yeah. So I've actually
• 1:09:11
  had that happen before where people didn't want
• 1:09:13
  to come on my show because they thought that
• 1:09:15
  it was like only speaking about failure. No.
• 1:09:18
  And I was like, okay, well, I guess I don't want
• 1:09:22
  you on the show because you clearly have no fucking
• 1:09:24
  clue what this is. Like this, like what Only
• 1:09:27
  Bombs is supposed to be is like an expose on
• 1:09:31
  like you as a person. Like, you know, getting
• 1:09:34
  to know the grind, getting to know the comedians.
• 1:09:38
  And when I have the comedians in front of me,
• 1:09:42
  I try to make this to where it's something that
• 1:09:44
  they feel very comfortable with sharing intimate
• 1:09:47
  reasons behind why they're doing comedy. And
• 1:09:51
  they do a great job. And I tell them when I go,
• 1:09:55
  when I sit down, I'm kinda giving the pre -show,
• 1:09:57
  like the pre -flight thing. You know, I'll sit
• 1:10:00
  down with them and I'll tell them I'm like, you
• 1:10:01
  know, hey, we can go as far as you want to go.
• 1:10:03
  Like if you don't, you know, we can keep it very,
• 1:10:05
  very, you know, like sort of just on the level
• 1:10:08
  and that's fine. That's fine. And we can go real
• 1:10:11
  deep. Yeah. For some, that's what they choose
• 1:10:13
  to do. And we're going to keep going until we
• 1:10:15
  reach China. Right. Yeah. And look what we found.
• 1:10:18
  Chin. But yeah, no, like that's, that's what
• 1:10:22
  some have chosen to do. And I'm honored, you
• 1:10:24
  know, either way, because because I just want
• 1:10:27
  people to share their experiences and share their
• 1:10:31
  growth in this, you know, and that's what, I
• 1:10:35
  think that's what makes it special, but that's
• 1:10:38
  also what makes it why like a year has gone by
• 1:10:41
  and there's no end to me, there's no end in sight,
• 1:10:46
  you know, in fact evolution. There's no end to
• 1:10:49
  the bombing in sight. Well, yeah, no, no. But
• 1:10:53
  it's kind of weird because throughout the year,
• 1:10:55
  I've literally thought that I've wanted to change
• 1:10:57
  the name several times. No, it's endearing. Keep
• 1:11:00
  it. Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate that. And it
• 1:11:04
  takes balls that other people don't have with
• 1:11:07
  their fragile egos. Yeah, it's kind of, I don't
• 1:11:11
  know, it's really... Like, I really don't want
• 1:11:14
  people to get hung up on the bomb part. I guess,
• 1:11:16
  like, it was kind of, I feel like it's a joke
• 1:11:19
  that bombs in of itself, to be honest with you.
• 1:11:21
  It's such a powerful little thing, you know?
• 1:11:23
  Nobody's perfect. We're bombing all the time.
• 1:11:25
  Yeah. That's another thing. Yeah. Yeah. Everybody
• 1:11:28
  bombs. So models will bomb your way to success.
• 1:11:30
  Yeah. Everybody bombs. It's, you know? Yeah.
• 1:11:33
  And that's like, there's so much to it in the
• 1:11:36
  name that makes it to where it's like, okay,
• 1:11:38
  is it too complicated? You know? Or is it just
• 1:11:41
  right? I don't know. But... It's gotten huge,
• 1:11:46
  you know what I mean? As far as being something
• 1:11:49
  in my life, it's gotten huge. It's something
• 1:11:54
  that me, my family, and everyone is supporting
• 1:11:58
  like crazy. You know how we were speaking on
• 1:12:04
  growth earlier, right? This thing, only bombs
• 1:12:09
  for me, has been the path of least resistance
• 1:12:14
  in my life. It's been the only thing in my life
• 1:12:17
  that has gone smoothly. It's like it just keeps,
• 1:12:23
  it just means so much to me. You may say path
• 1:12:27
  of least of resistance or you can also attribute
• 1:12:30
  it to passion. Passion. Yeah. Passion. Yeah.
• 1:12:34
  Passion. Yeah. You know, and I've learned so
• 1:12:36
  much too from the comedians who've come on, you
• 1:12:39
  know. I really have. It's been wild. I have loved
• 1:12:45
  almost every single story. Every time somebody
• 1:12:48
  comes on and they tell me anything, I get enthralled
• 1:12:50
  with what they're saying. And the questions,
• 1:12:53
  even though I'll write them down or something
• 1:12:56
  like that, the questions, sometimes I just get
• 1:12:59
  lost in what they're telling me. And I've loved
• 1:13:02
  its growth. I've loved how it's grown and I loved
• 1:13:05
  what it's become. And I can't wait to see, like,
• 1:13:09
  how it evolves. I think the way that I want it
• 1:13:11
  to evolve is I want it to become not just a stand
• 1:13:15
  -up comedy thing, but just comedy in general,
• 1:13:17
  just, like, actors, you know, playwrights. Imagine
• 1:13:21
  Jim Carrey on here. I know, right? I would love
• 1:13:24
  to see, you know, because he's a standard comedian
• 1:13:26
  actor. I would love to be like, well, how do
• 1:13:29
  you connect the dots between the two, you know?
• 1:13:31
  How do you make all those faces? Yeah, like,
• 1:13:34
  yeah, how do you, like... How did you discover
• 1:13:37
  that you could do that, and how would you use
• 1:13:39
  that to your advantage in a performance world?
• 1:13:45
  Because I just want to learn. But the other thing
• 1:13:48
  is I just love people, and I love listening to
• 1:13:52
  people. I love listening to people's stories,
• 1:13:56
  and it always means the world to me when people
• 1:13:59
  just open up a little bit. And so it's like,
• 1:14:03
  yeah, I just want this thing to keep becoming
• 1:14:06
  something, you know? Like, I don't really care
• 1:14:08
  how big it is. I really don't. But what I do
• 1:14:12
  care about... I also love it when my lover says
• 1:14:15
  they don't care how big it is. Good. Good. Good.
• 1:14:21
  Now don't sit on my face anymore, right? Lover,
• 1:14:25
  you know? But yeah, no, I'm sorry I'm just going
• 1:14:29
  off about that. It's just... I just can't believe
• 1:14:31
  it's been a fucking year. Yeah. When your goal
• 1:14:34
  spot, like in the middle of it, you're like literally
• 1:14:37
  like battling and struggling, but then he's like,
• 1:14:40
  oh wow, it's been a year. Yeah. I can remember,
• 1:14:43
  like when I go back and I watch everyone's episodes,
• 1:14:46
  like every single episode, I can tell you where
• 1:14:48
  I was at creatively during that time. And also
• 1:14:51
  what I was like emotionally. because of the way
• 1:14:54
  that I did their music and because of the way
• 1:14:56
  that I did the cuts and what I was trying to
• 1:14:58
  create. There were some times, there are some
• 1:15:00
  people I watch and it's bittersweet because that
• 1:15:02
  episode came out really good, but I remember
• 1:15:04
  I was going through a really tough time. It's
• 1:15:09
  crazy. That's how much emotion that I put into
• 1:15:11
  this. It's almost like a diary. It is. It's like
• 1:15:14
  a diary. It's like a diary that I'm creating
• 1:15:16
  and this is another entry that we're doing right
• 1:15:17
  now. I know that when I edit this episode, which
• 1:15:22
  I'm gonna literally start tonight. Like, I know
• 1:15:24
  that when I edit this episode, like, I know I'm
• 1:15:26
  gonna put, like, you know, just like every episode,
• 1:15:28
  I'm gonna put my heart and soul into it, but
• 1:15:30
  it's gonna look different. It's gonna feel different,
• 1:15:33
  you know? And I think the big reason why is because
• 1:15:37
  I'm kind of, like, what I'm doing right now is
• 1:15:39
  I'm kind of letting it all out. Like, I'm just
• 1:15:42
  kind of, like, I'm just saying the things that,
• 1:15:45
  you know, like, have been, like, on my mind about
• 1:15:47
  Only Bombs. Yeah. and about what Only Bombs means
• 1:15:50
  to me. And I'm glad I can share that with you
• 1:15:53
  because you were literally here for the very
• 1:15:57
  beginning. And it's just like, I know I've said
• 1:16:03
  it before, and I know that other podcasters and
• 1:16:08
  other people like comedians can understand this.
• 1:16:11
  It is so heavy. There is so much work. And I
• 1:16:17
  don't know if anybody knows this, like at all,
• 1:16:19
  because I get a lot of these questions all the
• 1:16:21
  time, whatever, but I'm it. I'm the only one.
• 1:16:25
  There is no one else. There is no team. I've
• 1:16:29
  had people written. Not yet. Yeah, not yet. But
• 1:16:32
  I don't even know if I can give up the reins
• 1:16:33
  at this point. Yeah, because people don't always
• 1:16:36
  do it to the quality that you want. Yeah. I'm
• 1:16:39
  like, because the way I watch every episode is
• 1:16:41
  fucking to a T, man. Like, it is... I am, like,
• 1:16:46
  perfection city. Like, you know, the biggest
• 1:16:50
  questions that I get about Only Bombs is, like,
• 1:16:54
  what cameras are you shooting with? How are you
• 1:16:57
  getting this footage and everything? And I'm
• 1:16:59
  like, dude, my cameras are, like, cheap, like,
• 1:17:01
  $400 or $500 cameras or whatever. It's just that
• 1:17:04
  I pay attention to every little fucking detail
• 1:17:07
  of this podcast. Cinema photography. Oh, yeah.
• 1:17:09
  Oh, yeah. Lighting. Lighting is a huge thing
• 1:17:11
  that plays a mark. And, but... In the end, it's
• 1:17:15
  like I pay attention to every little thing because
• 1:17:18
  I don't want it to fuck up. And the other thing
• 1:17:21
  that I think might have a small contribution
• 1:17:24
  might be the fact that I'm colorblind. So I'm
• 1:17:28
  really looking at, I have to use color graphs
• 1:17:31
  to capture everything correctly, you know? So
• 1:17:38
  you're technically watching an episode that's
• 1:17:41
  different than other people perceive it. Probably.
• 1:17:44
  Yeah, but if you really think about it, it's
• 1:17:46
  like nobody knows what colors anybody else sees.
• 1:17:49
  You know, it's like, it's just, but it's kind
• 1:17:53
  of like, that's the way that I look at it. But
• 1:17:54
  I use these graphs that I learned how to do through
• 1:17:57
  the YouTube university. Everything that I learned
• 1:17:59
  how to do, you can learn on YouTube and like,
• 1:18:03
  but I get it all the time. And it means a lot
• 1:18:05
  to me, you know, because considering how much
• 1:18:07
  I failed with this. It means a lot that people
• 1:18:10
  have noticed the cinematography in it and that
• 1:18:13
  it looks like a different podcast. You know,
• 1:18:16
  I personally have dreams of becoming a filmmaker.
• 1:18:21
  Like I want to, but I want to be like a documentary
• 1:18:26
  filmmaker. You know, I want to tell real stories
• 1:18:29
  is really what I want to do. And that's kind
• 1:18:32
  of where this sort of has come about. With what
• 1:18:35
  you have right now, you can try one of those
• 1:18:38
  film formats, you know, where the whole story
• 1:18:41
  happens in the room? Oh, yeah, I think I know
• 1:18:44
  what you're talking about. Yeah, that kind of
• 1:18:46
  format. I've actually been writing one. Just
• 1:18:50
  to get your foot in the door. That's brilliant
• 1:18:52
  that you even said that. That really is, because
• 1:18:54
  I'm in the process of writing one. And I was
• 1:18:58
  like, what's something that I could find compelling?
• 1:19:04
  And I was like, you know what, I'm going to really
• 1:19:06
  challenge myself. And I'm like, how can I make
• 1:19:08
  boredom compelling? And I'm like, okay, I'm going
• 1:19:12
  to see what I can do. So I just started, I would
• 1:19:14
  just, I don't have any really good ideas, but
• 1:19:17
  I know it sounds crazy, but that's the point.
• 1:19:19
  Cause I want to take like the worst thing and
• 1:19:22
  try to make it like, how can this be possibly
• 1:19:24
  interesting? And I'm not, I don't think of myself
• 1:19:27
  as very avant garde. I kind of think of myself
• 1:19:29
  as very like, like kind of like just cinematic.
• 1:19:33
  in a way I guess like over the top like I'm just
• 1:19:36
  kind of crazy when it comes to these kind of
• 1:19:38
  things and so that's kind of what uh I just I
• 1:19:42
  have these ideas in my head about how I'm going
• 1:19:43
  to do it um I just you know so yeah and I've
• 1:19:46
  already been thinking about uh documenting ideas
• 1:19:48
  and stuff like that that I want to do and so
• 1:19:52
  it's it's it's coming it's coming you know when
• 1:19:55
  you said how to make boredom compelling and in
• 1:19:58
  that Format that I was talking about I was thinking
• 1:20:00
  that you open the door and you see a monster
• 1:20:02
  screaming at you You close the door you lay down.
• 1:20:05
  It's like yeah boredom is good. Yeah, I guess
• 1:20:08
  I'll just stick with boredom, you know But it
• 1:20:11
  comes with good storytelling, you know, that's
• 1:20:13
  another thing with only bombs it's trying to
• 1:20:16
  take the stories that people have been telling
• 1:20:17
  me and creating, you know, like creating these
• 1:20:21
  the sort of like like where it makes sense and
• 1:20:24
  where you get an idea of it and then also has
• 1:20:27
  a lot to do with the questions and the questions
• 1:20:29
  that I ask people. It's to guide the story and
• 1:20:35
  whether or not that anybody's felt that way.
• 1:20:38
  I hope that they have. I hope that the past comedians
• 1:20:41
  who have been on with a wonderful experience,
• 1:20:44
  that's what I try to bring, is a nice, warm,
• 1:20:48
  comfortable experience where they feel like they're
• 1:20:51
  heard. That's a number one goal. is that because,
• 1:20:56
  you know, it's, I couldn't, I don't think I could
• 1:21:00
  do this without them. You know, I don't think
• 1:21:03
  there's any way that it can be possible. So to
• 1:21:05
  me, I'm like, Only Bombs can only exist as long
• 1:21:08
  as I have guests. And because of that, it's like,
• 1:21:11
  you know. There's eight billion people in this
• 1:21:12
  world. You're fine. Yeah. Yeah. But I don't think
• 1:21:15
  they're all in Austin. And I don't, I don't think
• 1:21:20
  they're all comedians. There are ways just, you
• 1:21:22
  might have to risk a couple silver alerts, a
• 1:21:26
  couple silver alerts or like Amber alerts, but
• 1:21:30
  you'll get your guests. Yeah. No, it's a, I love
• 1:21:34
  that it started in Austin. I love that this became
• 1:21:36
  a thing in Austin. I love that I, uh, you know,
• 1:21:39
  uh, I've got to know the Austin community, the
• 1:21:43
  Austin comedy community. It's a great community
• 1:21:47
  and there are so many wonderful people out here
• 1:21:51
  just trying to make their dream come true. If
• 1:21:55
  you look at Cam Patterson and how he came here
• 1:21:58
  and now he's on SNL and if you look at some other
• 1:22:02
  people who just have gotten here and they're
• 1:22:05
  not anywhere yet, but they're going to be somewhere
• 1:22:07
  and we don't know who they are yet. It's like,
• 1:22:11
  it's amazing watching the dreams, you know? If
• 1:22:16
  my comedy aspiration, I was thinking about someone
• 1:22:20
  like Jon Stewart or one of those like news slash
• 1:22:25
  comedy satire shows. Oh yeah. Yeah, like that's
• 1:22:29
  one of the things that is compelling to me. Now,
• 1:22:34
  falling short of that, I don't mind being in
• 1:22:36
  the writer's room for those either. Yeah. Yeah.
• 1:22:41
  It's just building compelling stories, I think,
• 1:22:45
  really. Just finding what it is and the angle,
• 1:22:51
  and then how to hone that angle. And that in
• 1:22:57
  and of itself takes a lot of learning. So hopefully
• 1:22:59
  my five -year plan is that only bomb stays, and
• 1:23:02
  by then I might have a few documentaries under
• 1:23:04
  my belt. That's what I'm trying to do. Just one
• 1:23:07
  more time, it's a lot of learning and I know
• 1:23:09
  I'm going to fuck it up at first. I know it's
• 1:23:10
  going to be pretty bad. But, you know, but that's
• 1:23:13
  the only bombs, you know, I'm just going to get
• 1:23:15
  up and do it again. The life of Trey. The life
• 1:23:18
  of Trey. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of crazy. It's
• 1:23:22
  really kind of crazy. And yeah, it's such a because
• 1:23:25
  this is so personal, you know, like only bombs
• 1:23:29
  is so personal for me. Like, it's wild. It's
• 1:23:32
  wild to even be talking to you about this right
• 1:23:34
  now. It reminds me of one of the lessons my,
• 1:23:37
  uh, one of my comedy teacher taught. He says,
• 1:23:40
  uh, likeability in comedy comes from vulnerability.
• 1:23:44
  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of weird because
• 1:23:47
  it does feel kind of vulnerable. I almost feel
• 1:23:49
  like this is wrong for me to be opening up to
• 1:23:51
  you right now. Yeah, because we're told to keep
• 1:23:53
  ourselves growing up. And, and this is, this
• 1:23:57
  is like, Psychological Exist -visionism. Okay.
• 1:24:05
  Like, you're walking in front of people naked,
• 1:24:09
  but mentally, you know? Yeah, it is kind of wild,
• 1:24:12
  you know? But um, but yeah, no, so we pretty
• 1:24:15
  much gotta wrap it up, because I'm just realizing
• 1:24:16
  what time it is. Aw. Yeah, I know. Did you go
• 1:24:19
  through all the questions? Yeah, pretty much.
• 1:24:23
  You did? Pretty much, yeah. Because my goal in
• 1:24:25
  this was, of course, to see how you're doing,
• 1:24:29
  ask you some things. I wanted you to join me
• 1:24:31
  on the one year. Also, like I said, I just wanted
• 1:24:35
  to really open up and be vulnerable in a space
• 1:24:40
  that I felt comfortable in and really put things
• 1:24:44
  out in the way that I wanted to. Cheers. Cheers
• 1:24:48
  for one year. Cheers for one year. Here's the
• 1:24:50
  many more. That is, yeah, so it's pretty wild.
• 1:24:57
  You know, it's pretty wild and I can't wait to
• 1:24:59
  see where it goes. But thank you, thank you for
• 1:25:01
  listening to me and thank you listeners to listening
• 1:25:04
  to me. And, you know, and I can't wait to see
• 1:25:07
  what the next year brings, but I really appreciate
• 1:25:09
  your time and I appreciate you, you know, just
• 1:25:12
  coming in and let me open up about this because
• 1:25:13
  it's been a hell of a journey. And it's kind
• 1:25:16
  of crazy to think too, I didn't even mention
• 1:25:18
  this, that Only Bombs won an award too. I didn't
• 1:25:24
  mention it. Trey is famous now. You guys aren't
• 1:25:26
  good enough for him. No, I'm not famous. I'm
• 1:25:30
  not famous. But I think what is really cool is
• 1:25:32
  that it was judged. There were judges for the
• 1:25:36
  award. It wasn't like a people's choice award.
• 1:25:39
  And the judges thought that the show was good
• 1:25:42
  enough. that I don't think, like I said, that
• 1:25:45
  could not have been possible without my guests.
• 1:25:48
  You know, so, you know, I just a million times
• 1:25:52
  thank you to all my guests. And I'm so happy
• 1:25:53
  that also that you're, you know, going to be
• 1:25:55
  at the December 11th show. Uh -huh. I won't be
• 1:25:57
  there. Which is, you know, another kind of frightening
• 1:26:01
  thing for me. But I'm so excited for it. And
• 1:26:05
  I can't wait. I'm going to show you the t -shirt
• 1:26:07
  design, too. I think you're going to like it.
• 1:26:08
  I never performed at the Velveeto Room before.
• 1:26:10
  I've been inside, but never performed there,
• 1:26:12
  so. Looking forward to it. Yeah, I'm looking
• 1:26:14
  forward to it, too. I think it's going to be
• 1:26:16
  really good. But thank you again, Chen, for coming
• 1:26:20
  on. I appreciate it. And I'm sorry if I hijacked
• 1:26:23
  the podcast. No, it's for you as much as it is
• 1:26:27
  for me. Well, thank you. And to everybody watching,
• 1:26:31
  thank you so much for tuning in to this very
• 1:26:34
  special one -year anniversary episode of Only
• 1:26:37
  Bombs. Please get your tickets, and if you'd
• 1:26:39
  like to show, please consider continuously watching
• 1:26:42
  by looking at, I think the squares are over here.
• 1:26:45
  I don't know if they're over here or if they're
• 1:26:46
  over there, but I don't know. Whatever they are,
• 1:26:48
  just watch them. Thanks again, Chen. All right,
• 1:26:52
  guys. Adios.