Latest / Only Bombs! Comedy Podcast / Rachel Faith McMillen | Comedy, Sobriety & Finding Her Voice | Only Bombs! 45

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Rachel Faith McMillen | Comedy, Sobriety & Finding Her Voice | Only Bombs! 45 · Only Bombs! Comedy Podcast

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My guest today is a Houston comedian who has
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appeared on kill Tony and skank fest made her
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comedy mothership debut in 23 and features for
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comedian rich Voss She's also the creator and
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producer of look but don't touch comedy all while
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doing this maintaining a career in the legal
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field Rachel McMillan welcome to only bombs Yeah,
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absolutely. How's uh, how's everything going?
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Everything's good. I'm very busy. I bet Yeah.
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Yeah. You're doing all that, like, legal stuff
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and doing comedy? Yeah. So, like, what is it?
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You work during the day and then you come out
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here at night? Nine to five. Yeah. The grind
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is real. Yeah. Starting off, it was, like, five
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mics a night, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Did
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you start in Houston? In Houston, yeah. Yeah.
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I did a few open mics in some couple sets years
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ago in, like, Bad Astronaut, you know, Secret
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Group. But is that kind of where you started
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or? So I did an open mic first time. Best friend
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was like, you should do it. And I needed the
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hit. I needed the dopamine hit. Sure. So Christian's
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Tailgate. I went to Christian's Tailgate, did
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an open mic there, got like a huge laugh, got
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a huge laugh. And it just sort of catapulted.
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Yeah. I just couldn't stop. I was like, where's
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the next one? Secret Group is where it landed.
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Right around COVID, Secret Group was closed down,
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so they had a big party and opened it back up.
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And yeah, I found my fucking vein, sorry. No,
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that's cool. You're a fucking vein indeed. No,
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that's really awesome. So you basically found
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it early, the bug kind of bit you, huh? Yeah.
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Yeah. found it, like, right off the bat? Was
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it anything that you ever, like, struggled with
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at all, or was it always just kind of natural
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to you? It was natural. A lot of people kind
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of have that, you know. Oh, it was always just
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so funny. Class clown, like, around my friends.
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Everybody thought I was just so funny. But I,
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like, have a very sort of dark shadow personality.
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So I wasn't trying to be funny. I was just always
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saying things that piss people off that got a
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laugh. So I use that dark and twisty personality
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to write comedy. Sort of the Anthony Jeselnik
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one, two, three liners, which is par for the
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chorus for Kiltoni. And yeah, just found that...
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people were really entertained by how much of
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an asshole they could be. So I don't know how
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to say that. So I was like, man, that was really
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mean, but there's like, it was always, yeah,
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it was part of my personality of just being able
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to make people laugh. Yeah. Yeah. I love Jocelyn.
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I love that darker kind of sense of humor because
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I really think that it's in many ways like more
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real than... like a lot of things. It's almost
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like, you know, some it's almost like someone
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saying what everybody else is just thinking.
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You know what I mean? Yeah. And so like, is is
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that something that's just in your personality?
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Like, for sure. Yeah, I have a just I'm dark
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humor. I have like the skill of like creating
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very, you know, I feel like, you know, gotcha
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sort of jokes. and punchy jokes. And yeah, but
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I mean, and also being able to use the comedy
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muscle tool and how to write a joke, you know.
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You can't just go out and say whatever you want
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to say on stage, you know, so I was able to make
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some pretty good jokes. As being on, you know,
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Kill Tony, I learned, oh, I can write some pretty
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good jokes, you know, like, so. Yeah, was that
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like, Kill Tony, was that the time that you felt
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most validated in your comedy? For sure. Yeah.
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I went in with a mindset on that show of like,
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okay, a lot of people are giving me some pretty
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heavy feedback that I'm going to be completely
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destroyed by what they say. And so my mindset
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was if I want to do well and be better at this,
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Why not do it in front of the greatest minds
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in comedy? So give me the competition. Like I
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want to see how well I do. And I wound up, yeah,
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just, I feel like destroying. Like I did really
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well. And then I have the joke, you know, one
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of the weirdest things about getting sober is
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you find out you have kids and you let that land
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and the whole crowd sort of hear that elevate.
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Yeah. You kind of sit in it. And you can just
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feel them like, oh, they're getting it, they're
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getting it, they're getting it. Yeah. So did
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you always have like a natural knack for like
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just kind of waiting for that kind of thing?
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Or was that sort of something that you kind of
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picked up? Total natural, honestly. Really? My
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timing always, yeah. That's great. It is great.
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Yeah. Yeah. To say the thing people go, oh man,
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that's so funny. Yeah. Yeah. And then just, you
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know, just hearing that sort of like... That
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kind of like just uproar, that laughter. I love
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it when comedians do that. When they just tell
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that one joke that just kind of just makes you
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kind of, you got to sit in it for a minute and
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then you get it. And then it's like, wow, you
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know. Yeah. It's Pat O 'Neil's really. He's got
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it. Yeah. Pat O 'Neil's got it. That dude is
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like a machine gun of jokes. He's so good. He's
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so good. He's someone that I would want to emulate.
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Like he's someone who writes jokes so well, crafts
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them so well, does it so, I mean. You got it.
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He's coming up with it every week. Yeah, he's
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someone that I like to watch Timmy no breaks
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is killing it. Mm -hmm Christina Mariani's killing
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it. I'm bringing all the guys in but um, oh,
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yeah Those are the people that I really enjoy
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watching because they've got it now. They've
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got it down They've got it down to the science
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almost so yeah the I did like it was it was kind
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of like right before I guess like she exploded
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but I did this show with and Like it was like
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a little Shakespeare show and she was like headlining
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the Shakespeare show. And that was the first
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time I ever seen Christina Mariani perform. And
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I remember thinking to myself, I was like, like,
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because you know, Shakespeare's is like, you
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know, at the time that nobody was laughing, you
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know, like it was just typical Shakespeare's
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kind of like, you know, Tuesday night kind of
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thing. And nobody was laughing. And it was like
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one of those like, I know it looks like she's
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bombing, but these are fucking good jokes. like
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these are legit and so like where she's at now
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I'm completely like not even surprised so so
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I see like you know like I see kind of like your
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uh uh what you kind of go towards like you go
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towards jokes is that what did you say that's
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a safe absolutely yeah yeah I don't want to go
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up there just talking about um you know some
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therapy or thing that happened like I want to
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make sure that everything that I put on stage
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is crafted yeah It just doesn't feel authentic
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when you're going up there just sort of talking
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into this, talking about your personal life into
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a crowd. Like, I want to go up there with really
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well -written jokes so that people, I mean, you
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want them to feel what you're saying. So, yeah.
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I do, I take pride in the jokes that I write
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because I feel like I've crafted them for a while.
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Nice. What's your writing process? Do you just
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observe things or does it just come to you and
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then you write it down or is there more to it
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than that? Yeah, it's all day. Sometimes I'll
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take a night or two to have my own safe space
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at my house and just keep the noise off. Sometimes
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it's just staring at the wall. Start the juices
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will start flowing Oftentimes, I'm really tired
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when stuff comes to me, but I'm always putting
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stuff into the into the phone. I used to type
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it out Mmm, like on a typewriter. No a typewriter.
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Okay, of course on a computer thing Of course
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not a fucking typewriter Yeah, that's insane.
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I can't even believe I just said. I'd come in
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with my notes at open mics and be like, did you
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type out your jokes? I'm like, isn't that what
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we're supposed to do? Yeah. Or write it out like
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I have journals, you know? Yeah. Yeah, it's everywhere.
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It's sort of a post -it note of jokes. You think
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of an idea, think of a story, think of a tag,
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anything. And I'm constantly, constantly sending
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jokes to my friends and just feeling out. Um,
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yeah, it's like, it just became just a part of
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my everyday thinking. Mm -hmm. Yeah. Pretty obsessive.
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You just think in jokes. Yeah. Yeah. No, I totally
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get it. I wake up and you're like, God, that's
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funny. It's most of the time. Sometime I look
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at it and I go, it's really not that funny, but
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you got to get it down on paper. Mm -hmm. So,
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yeah. Do you have people who sort of notice that
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you just think in jokes like that? Yeah. Yeah?
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Yeah. What do they do? Like, do they... tell
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you to like to calm down or do they ever like
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get annoyed by it? Well, let's say at work they
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do. At work? Yeah. I can't say this in court.
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Yeah, yeah. But Your Honor, I've got a great
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joke for this. Yeah, like that one client that
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I called again. Yeah, no, and I have to, I do
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have to temper it down because I am, I'm kind
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of like an asshole. But yeah, and it just, my
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friends, they're well, I feel like Comedy so
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natural that I can easily entertain, you know,
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just friends and family at all times Yeah, so
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it's and then obviously you're not gonna be like
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I just said that funny thing I gotta make sure
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I write it down or whatever But I mean sometimes
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you can you can explore that I think I said that
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was a good that could be a good story Yeah, I
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like to make people happy. Yeah. Yeah, like this
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is it I think this too a couple of days ago,
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I was like, we hang out with the most clever
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minds in the world. We're hanging out with people
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who I'm always entertained by that make my heart
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happy. It just brings me so much joy to think
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that we have the coolest job or coolest friends
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circled. Yeah, yeah, so you're saying you make
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people like you like making people happy with
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and you say you're also an asshole But like what
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uh, so like bring it back. Yeah, like, you know
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I said that thing but I'm not really like then
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I give them out so much affection and especially
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my close friends I know yeah, she's kind. She's
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an integrity, you know, she's a good friend,
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right? But yeah, like man. Oh She did it again,
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you know, and I'm like, yeah, but you know that
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you're like you're the prize like you're the
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best you're just killing it. Like, I'm always
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encouraging. Mm, so it's more like a tough love.
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Yeah, for sure. We're just not tough love. Like,
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just, yeah, just like, you got to be able to
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joke and banter with your friends, you know?
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Yeah. And some people, yeah, some people you
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got to be a little bit more careful about, you
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know? You don't want to hurt people's feelings.
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Right, yeah. Yeah, I kind of, like, that, I guess,
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like, as I got, like, a little older, I started
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learning that. Like, when I was younger, I just
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would just say shit. you know, just constantly
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machine gun jokes and they were just nonstop.
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So when you say that you kind of had to turn
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it down, I felt that, really. I was like, yeah.
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Don't hurt people's feelings. I try not to, when
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I say the thing, to make it personal. So I'll
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say it, but I will say something that's completely
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insane, you know, and it is funny. Yeah, yeah,
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yeah. I'm like, oh yeah, well. Oh my gosh. I
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was supposed to be on silent. Sorry about that.
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That's all right. My phone just rang. All right.
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But anyway, yeah, so, like, you don't want to
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get too personal. Hold on, let me make sure my
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phone is on silent. You're good, man. Which I
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thought it was. But, Apple. Anyways. But, so,
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like, where do you think this kind of, like,
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this sort of, like, observational thing comes
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from, like, with you? Is it just, like, you just
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kind of picked it up when you were a kid? You
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just saw things? Yeah. And, like, you were just
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like, oh, that's weird. Yeah, they have, like...
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the mascot, the scapegoat. I think I learned
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all this stuff in rehab. But yeah, no, I was.
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I was just always looking outside of the structure
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as a kid. Does that make sense? Like there's
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rules, there's discipline. I was always not necessarily,
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I mean, probably definitely committing felonies
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when I was a kid. I took my parents' checkbook
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to the playground when I was in... Preschool
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and I passed him all out. So I was always but
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I was always yeah, I was always like investigating
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and just my mind was very Yeah, just looking
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for Outlets to say things and yeah. Yeah, so
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it was just a mischievous little kid Yeah, but
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it was always entertained by comedy always entertained
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by comedy SNL growing up doing skits with my
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friends and stuff, you know, like just videoing
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skits and creating and writing and stuff. I love
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to write, so. Yeah. SNL was huge for me, too.
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Yeah. When I was younger. Like, you know, in
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the 90s, like SNL, like Phil Hartman and Steve
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Martin. Yeah, like the older stuff like that.
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Oh, Ferrell. Yeah, all those guys. So we had
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a tradition where my family would watch it every
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Saturday. I just remember thinking, like, you
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know, Cam Patterson, he's on it. I never thought
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someone I would have, you know, a work... Associate
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that would just be like on SNL one day. I know
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right. I know cuz in my mind when I was a kid
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I was like that's why wouldn't I want to do that?
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That'd be how how yeah. Yeah, and he's doing
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it and Which gives me so much not hope about
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maybe I'll be like this thing because I don't
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know what the thing is Mm -hmm, but it gives
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me hope because I'm inspired by it Yeah, we can
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achieve. Yeah, but SNL was a big one huge. Yeah
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I like live comedy, man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do
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you ever just put it on stand up to just relax
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at the end of the day? All the time. Yeah. I
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put it on all the time. I'm constantly watching
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comedy, man. What's one of your most watched?
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I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. No, you're
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good. Who am I watching and what am I watching?
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I'm always on social media. You just kind of
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cypher through them. I'm just cycling through
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it all the time. I don't know. Yeah, I guess
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I'm so obsessed with it. Yeah, I kind of think
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of like social media like when I watch like other
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Austin like podcasters or other Austin like Just
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sketch comedy guys. Yeah, it's kind of like flipping
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through the channels and just seeing your friends
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You know, it's so cool. Like just watching everything
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that everybody's doing Yeah, Joe Ellis for example,
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you were on Joelis's talk show, you know friendly
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fire and everything and and she was on this show
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and And so like I was like man. It's just seeing
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how small the community is, you know I love it
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and everything. So when you came to Austin, like,
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where was the first place that you went to to
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do comedy? Oh, man. That's a great question.
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Okay. Kill Tony. Kill Tony. Put my name in the
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bucket one time. Bam. First time. First time.
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Me too, actually. No. Yeah. Nice. I was sitting
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there relaxed, chilling, just thinking. I'm like,
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yeah, no, they're not going to call me. I got
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a long time. All of a sudden, tray on stage.
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I was like, what the fuck? So, but yeah, what
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was your time like? Mine? I was so motivated
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and challenged by all the, the noise that people,
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like I said, people were giving me, you're going
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to be completely embarrassed. They're going to
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completely destroy you. And, uh, I just, uh,
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I remember being like, yeah, but I want to tell
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these good jokes. And I think that I'm going
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to, I think that it doesn't matter. Yeah. It
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doesn't matter. Even the second time I did not,
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I had great jokes. The timing was off. Um, I
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didn't do as well as. my brain thought I could
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do. But it's so much fun. It's such a killer
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opportunity. What else did I do in Austin? Oh,
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Dearing South by Southwest, my show, my comedy
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show, I took to Creaking Cave, which was surreal.
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Oh, I bet. Yeah. That's amazing. I had some cool
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experiences, especially in Austin. But yeah,
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that was a big moment because Rebecca Trent,
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like accepted it and let me do the show there
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and stuff. My buddy Bill Dawes on the show. What
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else? I don't know how frequent. Austin's probably
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more my scene than Houston. Oh, yeah. I feel
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that completely. I like the certain places in
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Houston that I, you know, they kind of resemble
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Austin in a way. Like Axelrad. Yeah. You know,
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I used to go there and do comedy there sometimes.
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Yeah. And I don't know what they have now. But
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back then they had sort of like a I don't know,
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like a nightly kind of comedy competition kind
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of thing. So you try to be like - The minute
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mic. Yeah, yeah. I've done that minute mic. It's
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so much fun. It is. And for some reason, like
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I always got like more nervous at that mic. I
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don't know why. Like, you know, I was like, I
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do get nervous like on like every one of my,
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every time I get up, like there's always like
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a pit in my stomach that kind of grows, you know,
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but for some reason that one, I was just like,
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I'm like, I'm not going to make it. And then
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I get up there and just, you know, do whatever.
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It's fine. Yeah. There's no freeze anymore. I
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don't have that freeze panic anymore, which is
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cool. But yeah, I know what you're talking about.
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Yeah. I'm getting butterflies. Yeah. Have you
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ever like, you say you've had freeze panic, you've
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actually - The second time I ever did an open
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mic. I have my boss there, a lawyer that I used
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to work for and my coworker and my friends and
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stuff. And I just went up and I was like, check,
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check, check. Sweat just dripping down my body.
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What did you do? I just froze. You said nothing.
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You said nothing? And then I panicked, and I
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was like, all right. And I don't remember if
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I said things, what I said, how I said it. Got
18:53
off and went, well, get her next time. And I
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was just like, what the fuck was that? Yeah,
19:01
I told you. What is that? I did that at sunset.
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Oh no! Yeah, put one of the Sunset open mics.
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I think it was the Java in jokes. I got up there
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and I think what I was, I don't know, I think
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it was a high ceiling so I was intimidated by
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or something. For sure. And there was like two
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people in the crowd and yeah. And I said, it
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was like literally just two people and I think
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one of them was literally laying across like
19:24
three chairs, you know? And I said a joke and
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I literally heard like, and I was like, oh fuck,
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and fight or flight kicked in and I fucking flew,
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you know? But yeah, like so like what do you
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what does your uh? The people that you work with,
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you know being like a legal team. What do they
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think of this comedy thing? Um, I have good support.
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Yeah, they like it. Yeah, if I will there's I
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have had experience where people have not supported
19:54
it and They don't stick around very long. But
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yeah as far as like work and stuff Yeah, they
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have to like you have to support my dream right?
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Yeah, if you don't I don't want to be around
20:05
people who don't support my dream. Yeah. Um,
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yeah. And they've gone to shows, um, when it
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was in, it was at Kill Tony Sugarland last year.
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Uh, one of my coworkers, they've come, I did
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my show, Look, But Don't Touch It, Houston Improv,
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and the whole team went. Yeah. Sometimes I'm
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like, man, I hope they don't get too judgmental
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about these jokes, but then you just go up there
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and do it and they're drunk anyways, whatever,
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you know? Sure. Yeah. I totally surround myself
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with people that. Like, you will love me for
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this. That's my, yeah. Because some people don't.
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Like, I've had experience with people who, yeah,
20:47
they don't stick around very long. And if they
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don't understand it, I'm like, well, you know,
20:54
sorry. I get it. Yeah, you need you need that
20:58
kind of support system for this kind of thing
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Yeah, you know you're like the the audience and
21:02
you you yourself is sort of like punishment enough
21:06
like You know, like you just constantly there's
21:10
this battle of like I'm not good enough I can't
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do this this fucking socks and then you're like,
21:14
no, I've got a good start self -hate Self -hate
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give it to yourself enough. So you need people
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to be supportive. Yeah, you know, but how did
21:22
the the Look, but don't touch comedy. How did
21:27
that come about? um COVID and COVID happened
21:32
and I just started comedy a buddy of mine Had
21:39
an art gallery and so the idea was look, but
21:42
don't touch the art, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah,
21:45
and I yeah, you got a capacity of like 35 to
21:49
50 people all the Austin comics, like Casey Rocket
21:54
and Christina Mariani and, you know, Hans Kim.
21:58
They all wanted some time. And I knew when I
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started, I was like, well, what do you got to
22:03
do to make this, you know, like, to get in with
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the crew? Like, what do I need to produce a show,
22:10
right? And so, brought all those comics in. And
22:16
I remember I was just telling a buddy of mine,
22:18
I was like, I looked in the basket, because it
22:20
was just donation one night and my buddy Will
22:23
looks at me and he goes, there's $500 in this
22:26
basket. And I was just like, how, what? There's
22:30
like 35 people here, 500 bucks in this basket.
22:34
So I started spinning the wheels a little bit
22:36
more. I was like, I could probably take this
22:38
like to Houston Emperor. I could take this for
22:39
the riot. I could take this to Vulcan. So I started
22:42
doing that. I was like, let's spread this thing
22:44
out. And so now it's kind of, yeah, just kept
22:47
the momentum for about almost five and a half
22:50
years now. Wow. Yeah, it's fun. Congratulations.
22:54
Thanks, Dan. That's great. Yeah, it's a lot of
22:56
work. I bet. So much work. So how has it a lot
23:00
of work? For anybody who hasn't really ever produced
23:03
a show, like myself, because I'm learning. Yeah,
23:06
you got to be mindful of people's time. When
23:08
you book the show, I've had people be like, make
23:10
sure the show is set and you have the place and
23:14
make sure you have how much time people are doing.
23:17
You got to have your lineup. you know, have what
23:19
you're paying the comics, um, and like, you know,
23:22
all the gear, um, the microphone, sound system,
23:27
and if you're hosting, which is, is hard to do.
23:29
I don't like really, oh, let's just go do 10
23:32
minutes of front host the show. Like when I'm
23:34
hosting, I kind of do a natural flow into the
23:37
lineup. Cause I don't want to seem like, you
23:39
know, I'm still on the show or whatever, but
23:42
yeah. Make sure you pay your comics on time.
23:46
You know, make sure you have the lineup, flyers,
23:48
market it, you know. There's a lot that goes
23:52
into it. There's a lot that goes into it. So
23:53
you spend about, you know, four hours and three
23:56
to four hours a night producing the show, right?
24:00
And then when you can make connections, like
24:02
make connections with Nick over at Vulcan and
24:05
Rebecca over at Creek and, yeah, just Brian at
24:10
the Riot and stuff like that. You just got to
24:12
be respectful of how they run, right? So you're
24:15
bringing a show in, make sure that it's on time
24:18
and stuff. And yeah. So did you kind of learn
24:21
all of this through sort of like trial and error?
24:26
Yeah, failure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so like,
24:29
what did that look like? I used to give a lot
24:31
of comics time. Like, you have like 15 comics
24:35
on your show right now. I'm like, yeah, but I
24:38
just want to make sure that everybody gets some
24:39
time. Then I got to the point where I was like,
24:41
I'm only having four comics on the show. We're
24:43
going to do maybe 15 to 20 minutes each, get
24:45
paid out equally, and that's it. Yeah. So, and
24:49
say no a lot. You get comics running up to you,
24:52
man, going to get five minutes, and you're like,
24:54
no, this is a run show. You get hired, so move
24:58
on. Yeah. Yeah. Had to kind of get a little bit
25:00
more business. with it rather than make everybody
25:03
happy. So, but at first I was, it was trial and
25:05
error because I was making people happy. Maybe
25:07
the microphone didn't work, whatever. And bring
25:11
people in seats, right? Like sell tickets, sell
25:14
your show. It's a big thing. It's really hard
25:17
to do. So, work at your shit. I'm working with
25:24
Lauren Allen in December. I actually can't expose
25:29
or say too much detail about it because it isn't
25:31
locked in, but I have worked with her in the
25:33
past, so we might work together in the future.
25:37
And that was great because then we did a co -host,
25:40
co -produced thing. That girl's a hustler. Yeah.
25:45
The first time I ever really saw her was Suicide
25:49
Mike. Yeah. I used to love the Suicide Mike.
25:53
I've heard mixed reviews about it, but I used
25:55
to love it simply just because of the way that
25:56
she ran it. Yeah. And she was such a domineering
25:59
personality. Yeah. So what you're saying is not
26:04
surprising to me. When she came on here, she
26:07
had a great episode just in of herself and really
26:10
kind of opened up about those kind of things
26:12
of where it came from as well. Right. So what
26:15
kind of a... What made you even want to produce
26:18
a show, like, make a show to begin with? Right,
26:20
like, that's why, you know, people were saying,
26:23
have a thing. Have a thing. Yeah. You want your
26:25
own thing. Well, have a thing, and, you know,
26:29
when you're a part of a team, so the unit is
26:31
the community, comics, sell something to them
26:34
that they want, right? So they want time on stage.
26:37
Yeah. So I was like, if I want to fit in here,
26:38
sure, I can go do a bunch of open mics, show
26:41
up to all these, which I did, and also... have
26:45
a thing that people want, you know, to be a part
26:48
of that, that makes you part of the team, you
26:52
know? To be like, she's a hard worker, like she's
26:55
producing the shows all over Texas, you know,
26:58
like she's busting her ass trying to make sure
27:01
she's getting her, you know, time in. Yeah. Yeah.
27:04
So there's been a lot of time. Yeah. It seems
27:08
like what do you do like as far as like time,
27:10
like outside of comedy? to sort of decompress
27:14
or just sort of relax a little? Well, I'm in
27:21
recovery. So yeah, which I talk about a lot.
27:30
It's the thing that's just keeping me alive.
27:33
So I go to a lot of meetings. I'm heavily committed
27:35
to the community and recovery. I do that. You
27:39
know, there's a lot of like being sober. What
27:43
it has taught me, when I was getting high, it
27:46
was always a struggle to figure out how to maintain
27:49
a healthy lifestyle, right? Or things would pile
27:54
up and I couldn't seem to find a way to be an
27:59
adult, right? And recovery has taught me that
28:02
I can do anything. It freed your mind a little,
28:05
huh? Yeah, so when you're like, what do you do
28:07
to calm down? I'm like, no, I don't calm down.
28:10
I stay sober. you know, get connected with God
28:13
and I can do anything. Like, so I'm always hustling.
28:19
That's good. That's good. I'm always working.
28:21
What do you do to calm down? I don't know. It's
28:26
not really a good thing. Pray, meditate, go for
28:28
a walk. I would climb like a climb, run, stuff
28:31
like that. I'm very active, but yeah. Most of
28:35
the time just grind. Yeah, grind. Just a different
28:38
kind of grind. Don't, yeah. Yeah. Do you have
28:41
an activity that, like you said, climbing, for
28:43
example? Like, that's pretty awesome. Yeah, it's
28:46
arduous because it's, yeah. But it's just fun.
28:51
I mean, people have their own activities, right?
28:53
Like, I'd like to go for long runs or they do
28:58
pickleball or whatever the fuck. So it's just
29:01
a thing. But yeah. But you're always kind of
29:04
like, you're always still like one foot in the
29:06
door in comedy. Right? Always. I feel like I'll
29:11
lose a limb if I don't make sure that I'm always
29:16
have a key to that. Yeah. I know it sounds maybe
29:20
a little hyper -obsessive, but like - No, not
29:24
to me. I completely understand. The way this
29:27
podcast is, for example, I'm always at least
29:30
thinking about it just a little bit. Yeah. It's
29:33
just kind of like I'm thinking about like, the
29:35
next guest. Basically, I know when you leave,
29:38
I'm going to be thinking about, OK, cool. The
29:41
pacing of this episode, how that's going to go.
29:43
Maybe I can do this kind of music. What kind
29:45
of thing am I going to do? I'm always just thinking.
29:48
Always. It just exists like that. So I totally
29:50
get it with what you're saying. I completely
29:52
commiserate. It's like there is no turning off
29:56
100%. No. But that's the beauty of it. I was
29:59
like, sure. I'll go drive to Dallas or San Antonio
30:02
or I'll fly to Utah. Like zero dollars just to
30:06
do a five minute spot. Yeah. Yeah, it doesn't
30:08
matter the stage You just gotta get them behind
30:11
the mic. Yeah, you know, yeah, I totally get
30:14
it You know, it's a was there a moment like that
30:17
Was there like a turning point in your life that
30:19
like this became that or was it just like? like
30:23
I know we I know I can't it's sort of a similar
30:26
common question from when I asked earlier, but
30:28
like was there a turning point basically like
30:31
I think My brain is so addicted, like I have
30:37
just such an addictive personality. The second
30:40
I hit the stage, it was like, okay, well, so
30:42
now what do I need to do to make sure this doesn't
30:44
go away? And then just ran with it, yeah. So
30:50
yeah, I have into producing shows, open mics,
30:55
getting on shows, maintaining a level of respect
30:59
to the comics so that you continue to get booked.
31:01
Yeah, I don't know. There's a lot that goes into
31:07
it. Yeah, it's kind of it's kind of hard to describe
31:09
like really hard to describe, you know, it's
31:12
um, like there I think when When I was performing
31:16
more and stuff like it was hard for me to juggle
31:19
work in this, you know And and now I've got like
31:22
two jobs and then this it's like a third job
31:25
You know, but it's like you can see where the
31:27
love is. Yeah, you know Yeah, and you just you
31:30
can see where you like you put you're all into
31:32
like all of these, everything that you're doing.
31:36
The other thing I love is the look, but don't
31:39
touch comedy. As soon as you said that, or as
31:42
soon as I read that, I was like, oh man, that
31:45
sounds like a museum. It sounds like something
31:47
you'd see in the Louvre. It goes hand -in -hand
31:52
with how deep comedy gets. So you're saying you
31:56
have an addictive personality. It's like, what
32:00
a wonderful addiction. Yeah. Comedy is, right?
32:03
Yeah. I don't want to be champion at it. I want
32:05
to be successful at it. I don't want to just
32:13
hit open mics and hope that someone will book
32:16
me. It's like, no, I want to be booked. I want
32:19
to make sure that if I'm going to do this grind,
32:22
do this thing, yeah, the voice is heard. What
32:28
was getting on something as big as Skankfest
32:32
like for you? 6 ,000 people, something like that.
32:36
Incredible. That was the best party I've ever
32:41
been to. This game fest is cool, man. That was
32:44
in New Orleans, right? No, this was in Houston.
32:46
That was in Houston? It was in Houston. Oh, wait,
32:48
I think it's in New Orleans this year. It is,
32:50
yeah. Yeah, my bad. I plan on hitting that up
32:51
for sure. Oh, hell yeah. Yeah. I don't know.
32:54
That's where I'm actually from. I don't know
32:55
if I told you that. No way. Yeah, born and raised
32:57
in New Orleans. Nice. Yeah, yeah. So if you go,
32:59
let me know. For sure. I'll hook you up. I got
33:01
a ton of places that are great. I'm down. Yeah,
33:03
a ton of great places to eat and everything.
33:05
Nice. Yeah. But I'm sorry. Yeah, I know. And
33:08
just the opening night, I was hanging out with
33:15
Ari Shaffir and Mark Norman and Shane Gillis.
33:19
And at the time I was like, you know, maybe what,
33:24
nine months in, something like that. And I'm
33:25
like, that's Ari Shaffir. That's Shane Gillis.
33:29
That's Mark Norman. We're in the green room.
33:31
I'm hanging out with them. What are you going
33:33
to do? And you're like, I don't know, man. Just
33:34
say hi. You cool. Just act natural, right? As
33:38
the days went on, I was like, that's Doug Stanhope.
33:41
There were so many people. It was unreal. That
33:45
was such a cool party. Yeah, it really was. Did
33:48
you have any notable conversations with anyone?
33:51
Shane was talking about history. Mark was talking
33:53
about needing some Xanax. Sorry, Mark. Do it.
33:59
Allegedly. Allegedly, of course. And yeah, Jessica
34:04
Keerson, she's kind of a, she does a lot of crowd
34:08
work. Her comedy, watching her experiencing that
34:12
in the box, for me was probably notable because
34:15
it, for the first time, made sense why there
34:18
are people who can do crowd work. Yeah. And she's
34:22
fucking fantastic. I was like. What is this jaw
34:25
dropping? Just this is unreal. She's just smoking
34:29
this crowd and you know, the belly laughs and
34:32
every the timing of it. Yeah. So I hung out with
34:36
her after that and I was like, who are you? Why
34:38
are you doing this? How did you do that? Wow.
34:42
Did you? Was there anything that stood out that
34:44
you learned? Um, be calm. Like when you're on
34:51
stage, you kind of feel like got to make these
34:52
people laugh. Be calm, right? Be calm. Let it
34:59
flow. Try so hard. That's a hard tool to learn.
35:07
I feel like a hard tool to sharpen. It's like
35:09
when you get on stage and you're entertaining
35:11
a crowd and you just want to make people laugh
35:14
and it's like, or be calm and be you. The character
35:23
is you. That's who you're presenting. and the
35:25
stage is yours, so let them love you, you know?
35:29
Yeah, instead of assaulting the crowd. So, you
35:33
know, like some people are like, oh, you don't
35:35
think that's funny? You're like, they probably
35:36
don't. Why? Because you just pointed it out and
35:38
now you're yelling at them and people are uncomfortable
35:41
and yeah. I've seen that. I've seen what comics
35:44
get on stage and they're doing crowd work and
35:46
you're like, what are you doing? Right. You get
35:48
the feeling of like, no, that doesn't belong.
35:51
But it doesn't belong. Yeah, you were doing good
35:52
before, man. Like you were doing good. Just tell
35:54
your jokes. Just tell your jokes. You're doing
35:56
better than you think. Yeah. You know, and also,
35:58
yeah, I've seen that too. I've I've done that
36:01
too. You know, I've made that mistake. Like,
36:03
you know, just I think the assaulting the crowd
36:07
deal like with the with the jokes like, you know,
36:11
or like or if they did laugh, not Taking a breather
36:17
and you know, and then the other thing from what
36:19
you mentioned earlier I think is a great skill
36:22
just kind of Sitting in the joke sitting in the
36:25
silence for a moment and letting it happen Yeah,
36:29
you know that was that was a tough one like and
36:32
I'm not I'm not really I'm still very very much
36:36
like amateur, you know what I mean? So I'm still
36:39
learning, you know? And when I go up, like, I
36:42
kind of think about my conversations like this.
36:44
Yeah. You know? And I think about, like, okay,
36:48
let me try these kind of things, because I'm
36:50
still developing my voice. Yeah. You know? Are
36:53
there any other kind of, like, notable mistakes
36:55
that you see comics make that you haven't, that
36:58
you've tried to not make yourself? Oh, I was
37:01
just thinking about that. And people are, hey,
37:03
how is everybody doing? And I, you know, hear
37:05
like, really? Yeah. They're fine. They're here.
37:10
They paid to come. You're asking them like, yeah,
37:15
don't do that. Yeah, they're fine. I love that.
37:17
That's so true. They've been good the last four
37:20
times. The fourth time prior. Yeah. I mean, if
37:24
you're hosting a show, yeah, acknowledge the
37:28
crowd and, you know, get people's attention by
37:32
welcome to Houston or, you know, welcome to Sunset
37:35
Strip and man. You guys are so beautiful. It's
37:38
so good to see everybody. You're going to have
37:40
a great show tonight. Are you guys ready to have
37:41
a great show? Yeah. That stuff, not, hey, how's
37:45
everybody fucking doing tonight? Did you just
37:48
get off work? Oh, yeah. Immediately get into
37:50
that shit. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. You look like,
37:52
you know. Is that your wife? No. You guys want
37:56
to dig it? Yeah. It's like, dude, there's never
37:58
a good joke from that. It's not. You've got to
38:01
be really crafty. You do. You've got to be really
38:03
quick. It's gotta make sense. You know, it's
38:07
just, it's gotta... Just don't put it in between
38:09
the time that you're supposed to do your jokes,
38:11
right? Like, if you don't have good jokes and
38:13
you can't go up there and you can't do the set
38:15
that you're required to do, whatever the time
38:17
is, don't do that, right? Like, don't go up there
38:20
and just be like, have fun. Oh, yeah. So, uh,
38:24
what do you do for a living, you know? Like,
38:27
it just sounds insane. Um, yes, have I done it
38:32
before? For sure. And just get up there and I'm
38:35
like, okay, your period just started. I'm going
38:37
to start asking some questions that are awkward.
38:39
Maybe at an open mic or something, but yeah.
38:42
Yeah. Be mindful. Tell your jokes. Yeah. Right?
38:47
Yeah. Don't assault the crowd. Don't assault
38:49
the crowd. That's a good one. That is a good
38:51
one. Because like, it is, like I said, it is
38:54
something that you see like all the time. Yeah.
38:56
You know, and, you know, like it just, even at
38:59
work sometimes, like I just. What the fuck Yeah,
39:02
you know, but uh, but yeah, no, it's just sort
39:05
of like I guess it's it's you're also watching
39:07
people learn Yeah, you're watching people develop
39:09
and you know, and it's it's so weird, you know
39:13
Don't write the notes in your hand. Don't write
39:15
the notes in your hand. I did that on my kiltoni
39:17
But but not like not like here like melting on
39:20
your face. I had it on my right here. Oh, no
39:24
Yeah, so when I was holding the mic, I was just
39:26
like No, yeah At the time, I'd only been doing
39:33
comedy for, I think, eight or nine months. Okay.
39:37
I just really learned jokes. I was like, fuck
39:44
dude, I don't know them well enough. I went on
39:50
just completely unprepared and I got that keychain
39:52
for it. Yeah. Dang, that's a cool keychain though.
39:56
Yeah, I'll take it. I'll take it. Sure. Yeah,
39:58
I'm proud of it. Now I feel a little bit more
40:01
comfortable because I feel like it would be a
40:03
comfortable failure. If I went up there and they
40:06
didn't like my jokes, I would feel like, okay,
40:09
at least I have them now, and I know them now
40:11
well enough to go out there and just say them.
40:14
But back then, I was a nervous wreck. That's
40:17
funny. It was crazy. You said that you did really
40:23
great on your Kill Tony and everything. Yeah.
40:27
Was there any kind of thing that stood out that
40:31
either freaked you out or just an incredible
40:33
moment? You can see my facial expression when
40:36
he said, well, it was a rock -solid set. You're
40:39
living the dream, Rachel. My whole head just
40:42
went like that. What the fuck? Yeah, I was surprised
40:45
by how, I was surprised not by the feedback,
40:52
I was just surprised by the whole experience.
40:55
Right. Because there were so many people that
40:58
said there were so many comics that said they're
41:02
gonna just they're gonna destroy you Mm -hmm,
41:04
and I thought I fucking care, you know, good
41:08
awesome That was me. Yes. That was my mindset.
41:11
But um, yeah great jokes The timing was on and
41:17
I'm really I in something that I'm I guess discovering,
41:21
too, is my mannerisms and just, you know, my
41:25
hand gestures and, like, I have a bit called
41:28
the nice girl bit where I'm, like, actually kind
41:30
of army crawling on the floor. Like, so I have
41:33
a whole theatrical line. So it's, like, about,
41:39
you know, the night guys don't, they don't want
41:41
to date their mom. They want to date a bitch.
41:43
So I'm like, she just cartwheel into the splits
41:45
and army crawls out through the window that she
41:47
came to at four o 'clock in the morning. And
41:51
this is about the guy liking a crazy girl. But
41:54
I'm also learning how do I want to stand on stage?
42:00
How do I want to present myself? If there's a
42:03
bit where I'm like, I want to kind of like have
42:05
that hand gesture into it, do that, see if it
42:08
works. Because you don't want to go up there
42:10
stale, just kind of like, you know? Make these
42:14
people, give them the emotions. Yeah. And then,
42:18
yeah, my voice too. Like sometimes I'm I don't
42:21
talk really loud, you know, so I gotta make sure
42:24
I'm not screaming right like and then I said
42:28
fuck that bitch, but it like maybe That was your
42:34
example Yeah, then I'm just not like fuck that
42:37
bitch Standing in front of the mirror. That's
42:40
my morning meditation Yeah, I can do this today
42:50
is my day. You are great Funny you're a funny
42:55
bitch And then you cartwheel out of the bathroom
42:59
like you're crying And you still have toothpaste
43:07
on your face Sometimes, and I'll put my speaker
43:19
on. I forget that I still have the rain noises
43:22
that I listen to all night that are supposed
43:24
to calm me. That's like the audio on. Rain noises.
43:30
And then I'm like, come on, man. Put on prodigy
43:33
or rage. Let's go. Let's go. It's still going
43:37
to be late. Turn off your radio and play it.
43:39
It's just fucking Tibetan rainbows. Oh my God.
43:45
You're like, yeah, all right, let's go. You're
43:48
like, are you fucking kidding me? And then Gregory
43:52
Allen Isaacov comes on or something and you're
43:55
thinking about my dad. I'm like, OK, you're really
43:59
going to be like, do you understand where you
44:01
are right now and who you are? That's your morning
44:04
routine. That's how you do it on stage. It's
44:08
so true, though. You come back to the house and
44:10
you're like, you left the iron on. OK. The cat
44:14
gets wrapped around in it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
44:20
I have, though, I have been thinking about how
44:21
to, like, what are they looking at? Are they
44:25
looking at me just up there in, like, where the
44:28
microphone is? I'm moving. And can they hear
44:32
me? How do I sound? Am I sounding like myself?
44:36
Yeah. Doesn't that get to you? Oh, yeah. Yeah,
44:38
all the time. I'm like, is this really me right
44:41
now? Yeah. You sound fucking insane. Like, you
44:43
don't sound like you're... Yeah. And that is,
44:46
that is... Uh, one of the components is make
44:50
sure your mental health is in check, right? Cause
44:52
if you go up there and you're just kind of like
44:54
had a bad day and you're yelling at the person
44:57
or the thing happened, you're taking that energy
45:01
on the stage, right? Like, so I am, I'm aware
45:05
of that too. Or I'm like, man, dad just died.
45:10
Now you got to go do kill toning, right? Or whatever.
45:13
And make sure that yeah, and hydrated. Sometimes
45:16
I don't really like to eat. Before I go to the
45:19
kill Tony like I like to be completely Fed hungry
45:24
I'm just like food. I need food. But yeah, you're
45:31
like, nah, man. I've been fasting for 36 hours
45:34
Just like you do this minute, you know, yeah,
45:40
everybody's got their routine like when you said
45:42
like the whole voice thing I kind of like it
45:45
takes me a minute to settle in Like, I'll start
45:47
off, and I'm like, who the fuck is this? Like,
45:49
what am I doing? I don't act like this. You know,
45:52
I'm like, I'm not saying the jokes how I would
45:54
actually say the jokes. And then, like, a few
45:56
minutes in, then I'm like, OK, this is me. And
45:58
then I just open up. And I'm just like, why can't
46:01
I just do that? You know, like, we're going to
46:03
just start, you know? And I guess that's all
46:06
a part of it, you know? It's the trick of the
46:07
whole game. It's the trick of the whole game.
46:09
It's just like getting yourself good. But that's
46:12
stage time. What did you say when you opened
46:14
up? When you're opening up your whole five minutes,
46:18
what are you saying? Like I kind of do like I
46:23
have like an introduction joke kind of thing
46:24
that I do I kind of do this this thing to kind
46:27
of give an idea about where I'm from and like
46:30
how crazy my mom is like cuz like that's kind
46:32
of the joke that I have is like so She she had
46:36
me at a young age and so there's this kind of
46:38
joke that I have we're like we went to the same
46:39
school and Coincidentally, we were in the same
46:41
grade And so it's like, you know, like that kind
46:45
of thing. Like she thinks it's funny. It's completely
46:47
ridiculous and, you know, that kind of thing.
46:50
But that's sort of how I do it. I just kind of
46:52
have like a introductions kind of thing, you
46:54
know, like from New Orleans. Do you change it
46:55
up? I change up how it's said. Yeah. So sometimes
46:59
I'll throw in different tags or something like
47:01
that. Or sometimes I'm hyper. And then I'll just,
47:05
I'll go on like little joke bombs and stuff.
47:09
I have this other like bit about my car. because
47:12
it's like, it's an 06 Pontiac vibe, you know,
47:15
so I'll say shit like, yeah, I got a flat tire
47:17
when I ran over a ping pong ball, you know, I
47:20
got flipped off by a Waymo because it gets no
47:22
respect, you know, shit like that, you know,
47:25
and I just keep like just throwing shit. And
47:28
so that's kind of the way that I try to settle
47:29
in quicker is a lot of times like those really
47:32
just quick, quick, quick jokes people respond
47:35
to so I can get to like sort of the longer stuff.
47:37
You know, but I'm not heavy. Sometimes you go
47:40
heavy. Well, that was dark. I'm sober. So now
47:43
I love anal. Yeah. And they're like, you're like,
47:50
did you catch that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The
47:55
darkest of jokes. I love it. I really do. She
48:01
just turned around. Her back is toward us now.
48:05
Right. Your phone vibrates and you're like, okay.
48:08
Yeah. The no like that that's you see that's
48:13
good though. It's like how do you end right?
48:16
Yeah, you end by like kind of I feel like the
48:18
way that you kind of end would be like letting
48:20
them go Is that what you do or do you keep them
48:21
like nice and tense the whole time? Just do that
48:25
hot like one of the jokes that work right and
48:29
then Know when you hear I'm gonna end on this
48:33
note. Sometimes you can just go okay. Maybe I
48:36
should throw in another little 30 second, you
48:39
know thing And yeah, but it varies depending
48:44
on time depending on the crowd Feel the crowd
48:46
sometimes like to go look and see right before
48:48
I go on a show who's in the crowd. Mm -hmm, right?
48:52
You go up there. I mean, you're all what Asians
48:55
right like Yeah, it's a whole process right like
49:07
but it's important to know yeah, what am I I
49:11
have a new rule. I'm no longer going to date
49:14
guys that are 20 years younger than me. Like
49:16
you've got to learn what you're going to open
49:19
with or what you're going to close with, right?
49:21
See if it works, play with it, mix up your jokes,
49:25
you know, have them memorized. Have them memorized.
49:29
Have them memorized. Have them memorized. Yeah.
49:32
That's a, I, that's, that's like a big, a big
49:36
thing. Like that I have like a big respect. when
49:39
I see a comic get up there now without a notebook,
49:42
it's just sort of like, good job, man. Like,
49:44
good job. Because it's getting rarer. It's getting
49:49
more rare. Like, I've seen people bring notebooks
49:50
up to shows. And it's like, OK, come on, man.
49:54
If you're Mark Norman, you can, right? Yeah.
49:57
But yeah. Jordan Jensen, I think, did it on one
50:00
of her specials. But she made it like it was
50:03
almost like one of her jokes. Yeah. Like, she
50:06
made it a part of it. Yeah, for sure. And I loved
50:10
it. I was like, okay, cool. But when you're referring
50:13
to it as an, I don't really know what to say,
50:17
because they've literally said that. Yeah. Yeah,
50:20
it's like, come on. This is people's time and
50:23
money. Yeah. You know? Well, it's you. It's you.
50:27
It's you. Look at you. Get back in front of the
50:30
mirror, naked, pull the butt plug out, and fucking
50:35
get to work. Memorize your set. Memorize your
50:38
set. So I always like, at least, I can't not.
50:42
If I'm doing a show and someone's paying me to
50:44
do a show, be respectful and have a set list.
50:48
Always put too many on there too. Like I'll put,
50:51
I'm doing like five or seven minutes, I'll put
50:53
like, you know, 10 to 15 jokes, but have a set
50:58
list. You know, they're all in my notes for each
51:01
show. I have the title of the show and then I
51:04
have the set list for that show. Which I did,
51:07
I had to learn, you know, the bits. But yeah,
51:11
because you... A little setlist is good. Yeah.
51:14
I could see that. Yeah. Because it also helps
51:17
you maintain a story. People don't refer to it,
51:18
but I need to know. You need to know who I am
51:20
and where I am and what I'm doing. You're doing
51:24
a show, be prepared, have some bullets, look
51:28
at it, put the phone down, go up there. At least
51:31
you put it in your brain what you're going to
51:35
say. Yeah. I have an idea. Yeah. See, I think,
51:38
like I said this, because before, like, so I've
51:41
always, the same thing with you, I've always
51:43
been, like, a mega fan of comedy. Like, and it's,
51:47
like, you know, started when I was very, very,
51:50
very, very young. Like, it was, I think I was,
51:52
like, first grade, and I just found, like, you
51:54
know, the kids would just laugh at shit that
51:55
I would say. And then, like, I just was like,
51:59
this is awesome. But the thing that always kind
52:02
of stopped me was I just literally didn't understand
52:05
how to do that, like how to become a stand -up
52:07
comedian. And I, my background was theater. So
52:11
I always kind of thought like, okay, theater
52:14
can help me get to stand -up comedy, not knowing
52:17
that I was like, oh, I could just do it. You
52:20
know, I could just do like open mics. And so
52:23
it kind of like infected me, like where I was
52:25
like, I need to, like my whole life is, is joking
52:28
and stuff like that. So it, so now that I'm kind
52:32
of like in this like realm, Like fully it's like
52:35
it's almost like learn. I don't know like I kind
52:37
of lost my train of thought really but like,
52:39
you know Just kind of like learning these kind
52:41
of tips and tricks and stuff that just like it
52:43
helps make you like a little bit better, you
52:44
know And it's just the it's constant practice.
52:48
Mm -hmm constant learning, you know, but what's
52:50
your uh, what's your goals now? Like where do
52:53
you want to go from here? Yeah, I am I really
52:58
want to get on Killtony for a third time. I've
53:02
got a solid minute that I'm ready to execute
53:04
and I'm pretty confident in that. So Killtony,
53:08
a third. And then, you know, like featuring for
53:13
Rich Voss, open for Bill Dawes. So just featuring
53:16
and opening for like headlining comics and stuff
53:19
like that. And then just tuning my, you know,
53:21
getting more time and material so that... Wouldn't
53:26
it be cool to be a headliner one day? Oh, yeah.
53:29
Yeah. Yeah. That would be awesome. Like, as a,
53:32
you know, featuring for Rich Voss, has that kind
53:36
of taught you a lot? Yeah. When you're talking
53:39
to those guys in the green room, like Rich Voss
53:41
or Bill Dawes, Jamie Kielstein, he's a friend
53:43
of mine, they amp you up so you know you're going
53:49
to destroy before you go open for them. There's
53:51
never been a time where I've opened for those
53:53
guys and not done well. That's great. Yeah. Wow.
53:58
Yeah. Because they just, oh yeah, that thing
53:59
you said, your drink of choice was what? Heroin?
54:03
Like, it's hilarious. Like, your drink of choice
54:05
is meth. Yeah, like, so they'll spar with you
54:08
before you go, maybe do this, maybe do that,
54:10
maybe do this. Yeah, yeah, you got this, you
54:11
got this, you got this. Maybe you got this, people.
54:13
Like, you go in with some of the regular people
54:15
that you're used to in your city or whatever,
54:17
and they're just all, yeah, work was great, and
54:20
you're like, cool. But people who are really
54:23
grinding and doing this stuff, man, they... They
54:25
give me energy that like I'm amped to go on stage,
54:29
man. I'm like, fuck yeah. I'm not to go up there
54:31
and fucking destroy the stage. Yeah. I'm ready
54:33
to be here tonight. This is it. Yeah. Yeah. People
54:36
can feel that energy to feel that energy. Like
54:38
when you man, when you own that fucking stage.
54:40
Yeah. Man, like when you walk out and you're
54:42
like, this is your shit. Yeah. Like, oh, man,
54:45
I love sprint on the stage right now. Yeah. Yeah.
54:49
But like, like, you know. It is a big difference
54:51
between somebody who comes out like, hey, what's
54:53
up, guys? How's it going? Oh, sorry, I wasn't
54:55
supposed to say that. But don't be a dickhead
54:58
when you're opening for someone either. Like,
55:00
take it seriously. Yeah, professionalism. Go
55:03
up there and be like, yeah, what a shitty day,
55:06
you know? No, just go up there and be ready to
55:10
fucking destroy. Yeah. So that is like some of
55:13
my goals are I want to go back to Skankfest,
55:17
keep writing. Kill Tony again, and then yeah,
55:22
I'll be featuring for VOS coming up here in November,
55:26
which will be cool. A big laugh. Oh, hell yeah.
55:28
November what? 5, 6, and 7, yeah. Oh, hell yeah.
55:32
Let me write that down. November 5, 6, and 7.
55:36
I'll put that out there. That'll be good. Yeah,
55:38
oh my gosh, I got to see that. Fantastic. That's
55:42
going to be fantastic. Do you have any other
55:44
kind of like, uh, like prospects coming up? Like
55:46
any like other shows that you're producing or
55:48
anything? Um, so the one that I can't talk about,
55:51
but, um, something in December is brewing. Nice.
55:55
Yeah. When I'll continue to do that, I like taking
55:58
Look But Don't Touch at least somewhere every
56:01
few months now. It used to be every month. Now
56:05
it's like, there's not enough time to produce
56:09
a show like that, like all the time. I would
56:11
love to, but it's a lot of work. But I get the
56:15
opportunities I have now, like that I'm doing
56:16
with my friend Lauren. So we're doing that. Yeah.
56:21
I don't know, man. Wherever I get booked, sometimes
56:25
I was telling my buddy last night too, I was
56:27
like, I get booked so much. Sometimes I'm just
56:29
like, can't. Can't tonight. I like saying no,
56:33
though. I like being able to say I can't. Yeah.
56:37
And I'm respectful about it. Yeah. Yeah. I'm
56:39
not like no show. I just, sometimes I need...
56:43
to decompress or I don't want to be out at the
56:45
bar until two o 'clock in the morning or whatever.
56:48
Sometimes I do want to be out doing the thing,
56:50
whatever. That was a hard thing for me to kind
56:53
of do because I used to do the open mics and
56:56
I'd be out there at midnight and then I'd wait
56:58
to get called until like fucking 1 .42. You know,
57:02
and it's like, I would do my set and then, you
57:05
know, drive home crying about it. And then I'd
57:09
do it again the next day and then work and then
57:11
come back, you know, or like I'd be in, I'd literally
57:13
back in the day, the way I used to do it was,
57:15
so the firefighting shifts, you know, they were
57:17
like, like at Houston, there was 24 and then
57:20
I worked for a different department and it was
57:21
48. So I'd work 48, be off and then I would literally
57:25
drive to Austin and I would basically sleep in
57:28
my car out here and then wait until Like 7 p
57:32
.m. And then just do comedy and then just drive
57:35
back and get to work and And yeah, it was you
57:39
know, it was it was hard and there is a necessity
57:42
to that kind of grind I think I think it's sort
57:44
of like you gotta You gotta see it. You know,
57:47
you just got to do it, you know in your own way
57:50
Yeah, you know some people like are homeless
57:53
and stuff, you know and yeah and stuff but it's
57:56
like literally when I was writing the intro for
57:59
for like for this for the for the podcast for
58:03
what I was gonna put on YouTube. It was something
58:05
that I heard somebody tell me once about like,
58:08
you know, it's like, oh yeah, no, man, some people
58:10
are homeless and some people have mortgages,
58:12
but we all do it. And I was like, you know, I
58:14
kind of, I wish I remember who said it. I think
58:16
it was a guy named Sam. And I just kind of took
58:20
it and I was like, man, that's a great quote.
58:23
And it makes perfect sense. It's like all walks
58:25
of life end up behind the mic. You know? That's
58:27
right. They do. Yeah. And so, yeah, no, I hope
58:30
you get your - My mic never fills you. No, it
58:33
doesn't. It doesn't. It's the real you. Yeah.
58:35
You know, amplified. But I hope you definitely
58:37
get your headlining show. That would be badass.
58:39
Right? You know? That'd be killer. You know,
58:42
you have all these cool people on and everything.
58:45
And, you know, like, do you know how to do a
58:48
headlining show? Like, you know, I'm only asking
58:51
that because I'm fucking, that's not even on
58:54
my fucking radar. Yeah, you have to have like
58:56
23 minutes. 20, 30 minutes? Right. Oh, okay.
58:59
And I'm probably at the 15 mark. Okay. That's
59:05
being kind to myself. Gotcha. And that's six
59:09
years in. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, that's, you
59:15
have a comedy club book you as a headliner, right?
59:18
Right. I'm the guy. I can put butts in seats,
59:21
you know? Man, that's a... I'm enjoying featuring,
59:24
though. I think it's cool. It's a good... Yeah.
59:29
Yeah. I can see that. It seems like a good place
59:32
to be. Yeah. Just kind of like you don't really
59:35
have to take the whole brunt of everything. It's
59:41
like you just sort of like the way it looks like
59:43
to me, I've never been a feature before, but
59:45
the way it looks like to me is that you work
59:48
on your material, you work on what you want to
59:51
do, you learn, and you soak in everything, sort
59:56
of like what it looks like. Would you say that's
59:58
accurate? Yeah Yeah, and you have to be Warming
1:00:05
up your headliner Make sure you warm up your
1:00:09
headliner You're there to make sure that that
1:00:12
crowd is nice and warm for the headliner. So
1:00:16
yeah. Yeah, but um Yeah, man. No your shit. No
1:00:20
your shit. Yeah. Well, yeah, I guess we'll just
1:00:23
about wrap it up Yeah, but do you uh, is there
1:00:26
anything that you want to put out? This is your
1:00:28
camera you hey, man Yeah, just like I said, I'm
1:00:33
really excited if I get pulled on the KT for
1:00:35
the third time. And I'll be featuring for Rich
1:00:38
Boss in November. He's a badass. Check him out.
1:00:41
And the show in December for Look But Don't Touch
1:00:43
Comedy. Other than that, love comedy. Yeah. I
1:00:50
love it. Love it. Well, I appreciate you. Thank
1:00:53
you so much for coming on. I think this is really
1:00:55
awesome. It was a great show. Yeah. Well, that's
1:00:58
it, guys. The lineup for December 11th is out.
1:01:01
Go ahead and get your tickets. It's going to
1:01:03
be at Velveeta, and it's a stacked lineup. We'd
1:01:06
love to see each and every one of you there.
1:01:07
Watch the video. I don't know where it is, but
1:01:10
if you want to continue, keep watching. And thank
1:01:12
you. Subscribe. All that stuff. Adios. Woo! Fucking
1:01:18
cool, man.