Latest / Caught on the Mike... / Stand up comic & "Viral" impressionist Cameron Logsdon

Transcript

Stand up comic & "Viral" impressionist Cameron Logsdon · Caught on the Mike...

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Disclaimer.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities that they reference to the medium.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's the medium in Omaha by the Omaha Entertainment in Art Sports in both 2022 and 2023 with almost 200,000 followers on Instagram and almost a million on TikTok.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Cameron Logsdon is on the podcast today.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, this is caught on the mic.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard me talk about it time and time again.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: I bring up the pandemic to a fatiguing extent.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: And because without the pandemic, I probably wouldn't have this podcast.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: But something else that blew up during the pandemic was that fun little social media app that's probably going to get banned by our government, TikTok.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: With me today is an impressionist, a stand-up comic from my hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Cameron Logson, how you doing, man?
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm doing great.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for having me on.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: You've been doing the stand-up comedy thing for quite a while now.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I've been doing stand-up comedy for just short of 10 years.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, doing comedy a long, a long time.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_04: Just um comedy in general.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Nice, nice.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk a little bit about your origin story.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: So without any further ado, why don't you introduce yourself?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Let's kind of go through the steps.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_04: So it all started.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_04: I was adopted by a farmer in Kansas, and when I was about 13, I discovered I had superpowers.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_04: Um you say origin story, it makes it sound like I don't have I don't know that I can deliver anything that's gonna be as epic of uh, you know, to like meet the standards of an of an origin story.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_04: But you know, I got my start.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_04: I was I was born in Omaha and I I grew up here.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and I, you know, I had always done some kind of performance in my life.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_04: Like when I was a kid, I was just talkative, I was loud, and you know, I would do voices and you know, kind of just little shows to entertain my my family and friends and stuff.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I kind of got in, and then I've always just kind of had an interest in any kind of creative or art or performance thing, and you know, I really did, I really ran the gambit of it.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_04: I was in uh high school or middle school when like Eight Mile came out, and so we were freestyling all the time, and I and then I did slam poetry for a long time, which I don't like to talk about a ton because it's slam poetry, but I do have a lot of respect for the people who do it.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_04: And um I did uh I did like speech, like competitive speech stuff.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_04: So I had all this like a little bit of theater, not a lot of theater because it required so much time.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_04: But I did all of this um different types of performance things, and ultimately what you know, the the the long and the short of it is it it kind of led to I found that most performance things for me were kind of a dead end, or I I kind of like figured it out and like okay, you get to a certain point, it's like I could go all in on this, or I could turn back and maybe try a different route.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_04: And um, comedy was the only one to me that like had it it was like being lost in a in a corn maze, which is Nebraska-centric stuff, you know.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_04: It was like being lost in a corn maze in the way that I was like, oh, I could keep going down this forever.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I don't know if I'll ever figure it out.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_04: And so I just really liked it.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_04: Like of all the different performance things that I've done over the years, comedy has been the one that has kind of just kept my attention and held it.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_04: It's like this long puzzle that you're just trying to constantly figure out what's new, what works, what doesn't, what flops, what hurts so bad because you're bombing so hard.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, but it just but you can't go out like that, so you just got to keep coming back to it.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_04: And so to me, it's been just this the past decade or so has just been this uh perpetual chase where I'm like, I just want to figure out how this whole thing works and keep taking it apart and take the parts apart.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_04: And uh so that's kind of what's kept me into it, you know.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_04: Especially like I said, I've done so many other different types of performance, but the comedy one is the one to me that is like I think the hardest, and so the thing I'm I'm like maybe the most drawn to.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think a lot of people, especially creative-minded people, kind of dip their toes into a little bit of everything until they find what sticks.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Because very similarly, you know, I went through high school thinking I was gonna be an actor, and then I end up getting into the whole rock band thing and and doing that for years.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I think a lot of people have a similar story and a similar trajectory in that light.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean, I think that's probably it.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_04: Like you're on it, right?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_04: Like if you're a creative person, you dabble in all the things, and then you just kind of have a preference.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_04: You know, you have a preference to the thing that like clicks for you, and my biggest regret is that I didn't figure it out sooner.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I was I was like, I think I was like trying too hard to be too serious, and maybe I was like just who knows, going through it or whatever, and I was like, no, like art is pain, is life is blah.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, and then I was like, oh no, that actually sucks, and it's it's way funnier now that you think about it, then you're like, really?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_04: Was it pain?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_04: Was it you know, it's like, no, you're alright.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_04: You're okay.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_04: Like the world is a lot harder than you're making it out to be.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, you'll be alright, you know, so maybe have some fun.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_04: Smile.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_04: You know.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Not to dip my toes into having a behavioral science degree that I don't have, but it's a lot of times you kind of wonder if creative people, really left-brained people, aren't commonly misdiagnosed as having ADD because their attention goes so many different directions when they are creative like that.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I I don't know.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I I would definitely say like being working in creative areas my whole life, I feel like if a lot of people have kind of been, you know, like diagnosed or have or like truly experience those things.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_04: But I also think like the nice thing about anything creative is it's all got, it's all like a big web, you know, and everything is so similar.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you're you know, you're great with podcasting, but that comes from probably being able to act and just learning to talk to people and doing shows and like you know, both on the technical side and just the level of comfort talking to different kinds of people in different spaces, like all of that is probably the connected stuff that you have, and and I definitely see the through line for for a lot of different things, you know.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: In a market like Omaha, do you find that it's fairly competitive as far as comedy goes?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_04: If I'm being honest, like no shade to the other comedians in the city uh that have been here over the years.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_04: I wish it was more competitive, you know.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_04: I think like the problem with Omaha as a comedy city is a problem that Omaha and a lot of the Midwest has with any industry, which is like people are good.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_04: You know, there are good people that are from here, there are good people that are here, but the nature of entertainment, the nature of the field, and and really I think kind of the nature of like being in a small or mid-market is uh brain drain, right?
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_04: Like people leave, you know, you get too big for your britches and you move on and you move up and you move out.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_04: And so, you know, as somebody who's been doing it in Omaha for less than less than 10 years still, like as as of today, less than 10 years, which uh in a New York or in LA, that's still not that's not a tremendous amount of time for people who've been doing 30, 40, you know.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_04: But I that makes me a veteran in the Omaha comedy scene.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_04: Nobody should be considered a tenured veteran uh after having done something for less than 10 years.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_04: That's not enough time to be a veteran, right?
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_04: Like that's not enough time to be uh to be the old man on the hill like, well, back when I started.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_04: Like that's not enough.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_04: Uh so I think that's the problem that we face like as a comedy scene.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_04: And so it's I think there are a lot of people here that are good, and when you're when you're starting, you're it's definitely competitive.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_04: But over time, you really just kind of have to outlast people because they'll either quit or they'll move.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_04: And if you don't, then you know you can rise to the top pretty quickly.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_04: Now, I definitely work with comedians in town that are that always keep me pushing myself harder and trying better and trying more.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_04: And when new people start, I always feel the the need to like get back into the mics and write and be creative and push myself.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_04: But I will say that the people that inspire and challenge me the most aren't aren't even here.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_04: Like I have to compare myself to what's happening in other places.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_04: So the thing that I think that is the most competitive part of being in comedy in Omaha is like it's uh it's more so just like not becoming comfortable, which I think is like what all of living in the Midwest is about.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_04: You know, it's like it's it's cozy, it's very comfortable, and we all end up 70 years old.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you know what?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_04: Actually, I'd rather just chill out and be here.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_04: But when you're young and ambitious, you're like, ah, I need a little, I need I like a challenge, you know.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's a really good way to phrase that all up because I think you can quantify that across several different arts.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Again, talking about our diversified assets here, but you can say the same thing about the music scene, you can say the same thing about the art scene.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I think Omaha at large is very underappreciated, but it can also be simultaneously overappreciated, underappreciated by the people that live outside of it, but sometimes it can be overappreciated by the people that live in it.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: So they do get comfortable, get complacent, and they either quit or just you know move on too soon before things actually happen.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: I know when I was doing the music scene for years, there was a common mentality that more is more, and sometimes less is more.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: And like valuing yourself as that commodity, you are the art, you know?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so you have to give people a reason to keep coming back.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_04: That does make sense.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_04: And and I definitely think like doing comedy or doing anything creative in Omaha, like there are so many opportunities, right?
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_04: Like if you want to film a sketch or if you want to get on stage, it's a lot easier to not have to kill somebody for stage time or pay to shoot some, you know, you don't have to get permits to shoot in somebody's bar.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_04: They'll just be like, what?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_04: You're filming something?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_04: And then you walk in with your you know, home video camera and they're like, it's so professional, you know.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_04: Like there are like you try to do that in another city, they'd be like, uh-uh-uh-uh, we we we need money on this, you need a permit, you need to go through all these things.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_04: But like people here are so kind and appreciative, and it's not as common.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_04: So that's definitely the case.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_04: But I think sometimes you're right.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_04: Like, if we get too comfortable, we're not necessarily challenged to grow.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_04: And I and I think that you know, for the people that listen to your podcast, whether that's I think that's true, whether you're in the arts or not, you know, whatever you're doing, it can be really comfortable to not push yourself to to expand.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, it's a line that I use when I lead people is get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and then you'll find success, you'll kind of unlock things.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: So, with that said, what other markets have you explored thus far?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Because we're gonna get into your social media reach here in a couple of minutes, but just from the sheer comedy, stand-up comedy standpoint, what are some other markets you've explored and what are the differences between them and say playing in your home city?
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so I mean, I've been lucky enough to do stand-up just about everywhere all across the country, you know, New York to LA, Austin, Minneapolis, New Orleans, um DC, Denver, just everywhere.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I've done I've been doing I've done comedy everywhere.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and you know, I would say that most places are very similar to Omaha, right?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_04: Like most comedy scenes are very similar.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_04: They're like relatively small.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_04: Um, some are bigger than others, but it really just kind of goes up in scale.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_04: The difference is that like, particularly if you look at like a New York or a Chicago or even a Denver, um, the amount of people doing it is higher.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_04: And so the stage time is less, and people then maximize what they're doing with the time, which in comedy means everybody's writing tighter, they're they're making better use of their time on stage.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, it's like they're just training at a different pace.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_04: Like they're just trying to get better faster, they're riding smarter, they're cu there's more, it's more competitive, right?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_04: Whereas in Omaha, you could, you know, people are forgiving, it's pretty comfortable, it's pretty spacey.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_04: It's kind of like being on a on a sports team and people being like, all right, we have practice at 6 a.m.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_04: every day, and we're gonna bust our butts for the two hours that we're on there, versus being like, I don't know, I mean, work out when you feel like it, and you know, everybody have a good game.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_04: You know, like it's it's just it's comforting and it's nice, but the other, but other markets sometimes are um, they just force you to to maybe get better.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_04: And so going and visiting those places, the thing that I've learned is you can definitely still be just on track with anybody else in any other city, but you have to make use of your time and your space here um while you're in the Midwest and uh and and do the most with what you have available to you, and you can't just take what you have for granted.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_04: Like if you can get on stage for you know every night for at least make five minutes.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, there are other people that are trying to get on stage for two, you know, and so don't take those things for granted.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_04: And and it's just like you know, people that try to buy a house in the Midwest.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_04: Houses are cheaper, don't take it for granted, you know.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_04: Like make, you know, if you're gonna do it, do it.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_04: And um it doesn't mean that houses are always affordable anywhere, but the the point being like take you know, appreciate the the good things about being here in the heart of the Midwest, you know.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: And do you notice that sharpening that sense of efficiency improved you whenever you do come back home and you do a show at home?
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_04: Always, always.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_04: I always tell comics from here, I'm like, go somewhere else and perform, get your butt whooped, and then come back and try harder.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_04: Uh and it always happens.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I always feel like I'm because because on the one hand, you're like reassured, you're like, oh, I can hang, like I'm I'm cool, like I'm not, I'm not out of my league here, but at the same time, you're like, but I could probably be working a little bit harder, you know.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_04: So you come back and you're like, let me get some stuff done.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_04: And it's always inspiring, you know.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_04: I always feel good about it.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_04: So that's my feeling.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_04: And I always tell comics, um, you know, get out, play other places and try other stuff and do different things because you'll only be better for it.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and again, to quantify that across another artistic platform, I remember when I did my last band, it was my most successful band that I had done up to that point.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: It got me all the big shows.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I almost didn't do that band.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like, like six months before that band started, um, my first child was born, and I was like, I'm I'm done doing this shit.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: I have to do the very conventional, structured life because I'm a dad now.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: But I ended up sitting on the couch eating wheat thins, watching Scrubs reruns, 50 pounds heavier while my ex-wife was pregnant.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, okay, I gotta get off my ass and do something again.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: But I worked with a lot of other veterans, and one of the things we did after we got a show ready, I was like, let's not book our first show in Omaha, let's book it in Des Moines and kind of stage test everything.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because if we can win over a crowd that has absolutely no idea who we are, when we get home, we're gonna kick so much ass.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's yeah.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, like it played out that way.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly how it worked.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: We came home, we worked out the kinks, and our first show like was damn near sold out, and it it would went gangbusters.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, long story short, I mean, it goes to kind of what we're talking about here.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_04: Again, I think that's probably true if you're in comedy and music, if you're in theater, if you're a filmmaker, if you're if you're a vet a veterinarian, you know what I mean?
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_04: Like hold yourself to the standards of of the of places that maybe are more of a I don't know, and who knows?
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe Omaha's leading the pack and and veterinarian care.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_04: But but you know, yeah, I'm with you.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I know in 2016 you won a late night writers workshop.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk a little bit about that because it sounds like you've dabbled in a little bit of writing as well.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_04: That's that's that's this man does his stuff, folks.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_04: Uh yeah.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_04: So in at the time, you know, I was doing stand-up, but I was also interested in late night writing and um like writing for shows like SNL or or the Tonight Show, you know, Seth Meyer, stuff like that.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_04: Um, so I was interested in late-night writing, and I had uh taken classes and was working on packets and constantly writing sketches and stuff.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_04: At the time I was like recording and filming sketches, but I might do a couple a year and put them on YouTube to no reception, you know.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_04: Um I didn't really understand the pace of things, but I was writing in addition to doing stand-up and stuff.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_04: And so I applied to this program.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_04: It was this uh late night writers workshop program.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_04: It's a program um aimed at kind of it was aimed at like helping diverse riders kind of break into the industry, right?
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_04: And uh, you know, for me, one um I'm uh I'm mixed race, I'm I'm I would I grew up broke, I I was a teen parent.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_04: I um am from Nebraska, which like all you know, pick pick what the thing the thing is that I'm not in the industry, I'm all those things.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I was all those things.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_04: And so I was like, this is a cool program, and I would love just an opportunity to meet.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_04: So um I applied, uh I applied the year before and didn't get in.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_04: I applied again the next year, and I think they got you know over a thousand applications.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_04: You just submit a writing packet, it's all writing, and they strip your name from it, it's all just your your you know what quality are you submitting.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_04: And I got accepted.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_04: I, you know, went through an interview round and stuff, and so then after that, I went to New York uh and I I was at 30 Rock with the NBC NBC head for for a week.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_04: We spent a week there.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_04: It was me and five other writers, um, all of which I'm still in touch with.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_04: They're all great and phenomenal.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_04: They've all gone under one of them has two Emmys, two of them have been nominated for Emmys, another one's a great stand-up.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I was very lucky to be in this group.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_04: I definitely had imposter syndrome being there.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_04: But the whole point of it was you're there, they bring in writers from different shows, um, you know, SNL, Tonight Shows, Seth Martin, you know, all these different late-night writers, and they just basically train you up, and they're like, okay, here's what it takes to make it in this business, and here's some insight, here's some connections and things.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_04: That was my first um kind of point of validation outside of Omaha.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_04: And it was like the biggest thing.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_04: It it still remains one of the one of the biggest things that I've I've done in terms of like just being recognized for my my talent.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_04: Um and it and it really changed the trajectory for some things because it gave me a connection then to writers and comedians from outside of Omaha and really expanded my network, which then expanded the standards of which I was holding myself to.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_04: You know, when when I'm doing that writer's workshop, and then I come home to Omaha and I'm at an open mic with some people that are just kind of messing around, figuring it out.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_04: But I'm like on an email thread with somebody who just got nominated for an Emmy for writing for Bojack Horseman, I'm like, try harder, Cam.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you can't hold your, you know, you gotta try harder.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_04: It it's no shade to anybody here.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_04: It just means that like you can have respect and love for the things you're doing, the things you're doing, but just know you're gonna get passed up if you don't hold yourself accountable.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_04: So that experience was phenomenal for me because it opened up my worldview.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_04: It made me feel just a little bit, even though I had imposter syndrome, it was just enough validation to make me feel like, all right, you can keep pursuing this thing and keep going.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_04: And and it and it did.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_04: It kept me kept me from quitting for a long time because I think that like anything, if you don't, if you don't see any wins, it's hard.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_04: You know, it's a lot of losses in entertainment, it's a lot of losses in any kind of performing thing.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_04: You know, you take a lot of L's, you you bomb a lot, and uh you've got to have a couple wins along the way to kind of keep you motivated and reinvigorate you.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_04: And that was definitely a big one for me that kept me wanting to keep going.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think the thing that a lot of people seldom show.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Self short on is the fact that time is the world's most valuable commodity, and once you've spent that time, you don't get it back.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: So why waste it?
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like pursue those things and pursue those interests.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: So now we're gonna talk about the fun stuff.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: What's happened this past three years in particular?
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've started to see your face pop up on news stories all over the place.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: What the hell happened in a good way?
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: What what exactly happened?
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_04: What what's interesting is uh I've just been lucky enough to have a lot of stuff on social media blow up and go really well.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, that's the short of it.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_04: Like I've had some stuff just go really well.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_04: Um the way that happened was, you know, during the pandemic, I was like a lot of people.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_04: Some people said, Oh, I'm gonna chill and just like take this time off, which I did, but also I just had that itch and I couldn't go out and perform every night like I was, but I was doing that in Omaha.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_04: So I was like, okay, let me start getting online.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_04: And I just start, you know, I opened TikTok up, and I like I said, I had been putting out a couple sketches a year on YouTube, or maybe a thing every once in a while on Instagram or Facebook.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I had a a viral video in Omaha go go viral on Facebook, but like it was Omaha specific, so it has the reach of Omaha, and that was kind of it, you know.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but during the the kind of the summer of 2020, I finally got TikTok and I was like, okay, let me just start doing stuff.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_04: And I did a ton of different things.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_04: I went in with kind of no strategy, no thoughts to it, just vibes and just putting comedy out.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and I did that a lot.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_04: I started doing it a lot.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_04: And then I um I figured out that doing impressions and voices and stuff, it's like the perfect platform for that because it's like just such a bite-sized little talent show thing that works on social media, which not everything works on social media.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_04: Some, you know, and I've had videos go really well that weren't specifically impressions, but only because I learned basically how social media works a little bit better.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_04: So then I think those things had a better chance of being successful.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_04: But I started putting more stuff on social media, it started blowing up, it started going, you know.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, we're talking millions and millions and millions of views on stuff, and it's been shared, and and I was really lucky to have all that happen, but the but all it was was I was just kind of like a lot of us, I was trapped and I was looking for an outlet, and I turned to social media and it connected.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_04: I think what helped me connect and do well though, was I didn't just open social media with no background, you know, with no comedic timing, without having had voices or writing or stand-up or joke-telling ability or on-camera present, like all of this stuff that I had been working on in Omaha, it just kind of in my life and around friends and family for so long.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, I finally had a like um an outlet to push it all into.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_04: I doubled down on it.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_04: And it for the people that are in the Midwest, it was it was a gift.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_04: Like social media has been such an opportunity for anybody who felt like they weren't in a market where people could find or discover or whatever them, that they could, that I was able to get the stuff that I was making out.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_04: And for years I had been holding myself to a standard higher than my circumstances, but I now had an outlet to kind of try to get some of that stuff out.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_04: And I was lucky enough that people liked what I was doing, and I just kept doing it more and more, and I've been really lucky now to have had uh you know some success on online.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: You are only 250,000 people away from hitting a million on TikTok.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: You were at 188,000 on Instagram.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's wow.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you you niche it down perfectly.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: It is like like sprinkling in your impersonations with little bits of comedy that are already refined.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's definitely gonna trigger the algorithm or cause somebody to engage for a lot longer than just some guy that says, okay, I'm gonna randomly make a TikTok video.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_04: I I do feel like, you know, like I said, I'm I'm fortunate in that like I understand that like the specific thing I'm doing online, like is is it's perfect for online because it's just in print, it's just voices.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_04: Boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, move on, you're dead, you're good, you know.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, but at the same time, one thing that I learned through a lot of trial and error on social media is kind of how things work.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_04: And I knew the joke, I knew jokes, and I understood writing and all that stuff.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_04: So I think there's like elements of all that that get sprinkled in.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_04: And maybe that's what separates me from some.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, there are thousands of people that do this thing.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, but I think the work ethic and and a little bit of the other background has maybe helped me break through a little bit more.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_04: The one thing that I understand better now is that if specifically for comedians, like I can I understand, like, regardless of what your background is, if I looked at your comedy, I'd be like, okay, now I understand how we can get your voice online and get it through and help you grow and make it work.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_04: Whereas um, I think that's probably the hard part.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_04: You know, my thing that I'm doing is just my thing that I'm doing.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_04: I'm chasing my fun.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_04: But I think if other people chase their fun in their voice and their way, everybody can make social media work for them.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_04: And I've just been fortunate enough to figure out how it works for me.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_04: Um, at least so far.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_04: I'm having fun, and that's kind of the thing that keeps me going with it.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: The fact that you've leaned into the whole impersonation side of things.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think back to when I was a kid and I wanted to I wanted to do acting, right?
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: I was psycho-obsessive with Saturday Night Live.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: It was like always doing impersonations of the impersonation that you just saw on Saturday Night Live.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of how you honed your craft and you made yourself better because next thing you know, you're creating your own characters or you're finding people that like your old high school principal, all of a sudden you're able to impersonate him, and he becomes a part of an improvisation act or something along those lines.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: So it's I think it gets underappreciated and undersold how much better that makes you in the grand scheme of things.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_04: Any artist, I think, is probably worth their salt when they figure out how to start mining their life for inspiration, you know, and and that's what makes every person and every like artist and every comic and every you know, painter, and every poet and every singer, whatever, that makes them all unique is because you're you're pulling so much of your own self.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_04: And sometimes it's just figuring out how to get that perspective through.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you know, there are people that do impressions, and so you know, there are a lot of people that do the a lot of the same impressions that I do.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_04: We we all have maybe a slightly different take on them.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_04: Um the thing that I try to do to separate me from a lot of them most of the time is like, okay, what's my what's my punchline here?
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_04: Like, what's my joke here?
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_04: How can I make my writing stand out different than just repeating the line from the movie, like the character, you know?
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_04: So I try to switch that up, but I think that's just my personality coming through.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_04: Whereas there are other people who like do impressions and stuff specifically that are like just like the best actors in the world, like are just phenomenal actors.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_04: And so they focus on like I think acting things and and stuff like that that maybe comes through a little bit more where I'm worried about all right, what clever way can I spin this that might be more fun?
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_04: And and so that's the comedy part of me coming through.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_04: Um yeah, but I but I think that I'm I'm also just pulling from the stuff that makes me me, and in you know, and infusing that with the stuff that I'm doing that people like.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: A difference between somebody trying to deep fake another person and just doing a funny impersonation is like over exaggerating the qualities that you find in that impersonation.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I definitely think that's true.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_04: You know, and and that's the one thing, it's kind of the difference, I think, between looking at uh like if you were to see Dana Carvey, you talk about OSML, you see Dana Carvey do George George Harbert.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, nah nah not.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_04: You watch him do that versus watching Jamie Foxx in Ray, right?
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_04: It's two different things, you know.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_04: But Jamie Foxx can also, because he's the most talented person in Hollywood, he can also like turn on what would be the uh comedy version of Ray, also.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_04: But it's just you know, contextually like where you where you kind of put it.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_04: I'm a person, you know, sometimes I wish I I was like willing to be a little bit more exaggerated and goofy, and sometimes I am, but I also like really like doing the like impression.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_04: I want it to sound really good.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_04: Like I am like, so I'm always like stickling for that.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_04: So I'm more likely to write something goofy and then say it as close to the person as possible rather than you know, do like a Christopher Walking, ah, I'm Chris, but you know, do it all crazy over the top.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_04: I'd rather it sound more serious, but then say something absolutely absurd, you know?
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: So let's run through some of the greatest hits, man.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: What what uh what are the impersonations that you get the most clicks off of?
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_04: It's no surprise.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_04: And and you know what's funny?
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_04: People will write things too.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_04: They'll be like, oh, this guy only does the same ones over and over.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_03: What I will say is the reason why, like, there's a good reason why, you know, I've got a tendency to do Mark Wahlberg, right?
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_03: It's like I do Mark Wahlberg first and foremost because he's funny to do.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's hilarious.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_03: The second thing is, people love it, right?
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_03: They click on it, they come back to it.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_03: I tell them all the time.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_04: I do Mark Wahlberg a lot because it's it's fun and hilarious and goofy for me, but people like it a lot.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_04: I also have a tendency to do Ryan Reynolds, who is different, but I like doing him as well.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_04: And the reason that I like doing Ryan is because you come to the same restaurant over and over again for the burgers and fries.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_04: If you want something else, you'll go somewhere else.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: And yo, like, is the same reason why I will have a tendency to go back to Will Smith is because uh, you know, like a lot of these actors are my favorites that like I grew up with and like that I like watching, you know.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um and so I tell people all the time, like, I I do these ones for it's so many reasons why.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_04: One, because I'm good at them, right?
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_04: Like those are the ones I'm best at.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_04: So those are the ones I'm gonna do.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know why you're questioning that.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_04: Second, uh, they're the ones that people like the most.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_04: You know, it's it does generate the clicks, it does generate the views.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_04: And then, like, you'll notice I'll sneak in more obscure impressions and stuff in between because I'm working on them trying to get them better.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, but then three, I just think they're the most fun.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_04: Like a lot of times it's just the people that are whose movies I want to watch, like I think are silly, or I just think they have like a funny way of talking about things that I just think is like goofy.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_04: Like uh so many celebrities are just caricatures of their own selves, and so I think it's just I think that's funny.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_04: Um but that that the greatest hits or the the thing that gets clicks, like all of that stuff.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_04: I you know, though I I go back to those things because that's what people request the most.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_04: It's the things that do the best, it helps keep people watching.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_04: And then subsequently, like kind of I don't know what's like chicken or an egg thing, but I get better at those ones because I do them so often.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_04: And so then I have more fun doing them because I'm better at them, which makes it more fun to play in that world, you know what I mean?
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_04: It's um and so yeah, I mean I have got a whole laundry list of impressions that I do, but you know, um I definitely have I definitely have my favorites and kind of fan favorites and stuff like that.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: Statham and Antonio Banderas have been leaking into your content a lot lately.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_01: Am I just no, no, you're right.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason why is because Jason Statham, when you put him next to one of these other guys, it's such a hard switch that for me, I want to show people I'm no one trick pony.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna come in here, I'm gonna kick some ass, and I'm gonna do it in a way that serves me.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: So perhaps they want to see it, like they want to hear a different impression.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_01: But I like doing things that tell people I'm not, you know, always going to do people that sound the same.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be a var swing.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: Do one DDs ones.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_04: So I like I like doing stuff too that like I think shows range, like even what five or six that we did there, like they're so different, but they're all so hugely popular.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_04: They're hugely popular in terms of just like their status, which makes them more fun.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_04: It makes it more fun.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_04: Like I can do impressions of people that people are less familiar with, but people are less familiar with them, so it's not as fun for people.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_04: You know, it's fun for the niche people.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_04: There are niche impressions I do that, like the people that are big fans of this one person love that one.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_04: Like Lynn Manuel Miranda is an impression, you know, that I love to do because I know theater people that love that impression, and I think it's fun and funny, and he's done so many Disney movies and stuff that I think are great.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_04: But it's a really hard one, for example, for me to do on stage at a club because the general audience isn't as familiar.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and that's that's true online too, right?
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_04: Like there's some that are just gonna be more obscure, so they don't hit as well.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_04: Uh they're good for the people that do them, so I still sprinkle those things in, but I'm always gonna go back to the crowd pleasers.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: So, as a result of some of these videos going viral and your reach growing on TikTok and Instagram, what's been the most mind-blowing experience that you've had thus far?
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_04: I've had a lot of things that have just really things that I thought wouldn't have been possible have become possible just even in the last in the last year.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I had an opportunity to audition for Saturday Night Live.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, I was in talks to go on Wild and Out.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I just filmed something for college humor.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_04: It's had I've had opportunities to people are finding me and then inviting me to audition or or showcase or perform and do these things that I wouldn't have done.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_04: You know, it's been access to things for me, still living in Omaha, that I would not have happened, that wouldn't have happened for me if I didn't have online.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_04: It just wouldn't have happened.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_04: You'd have to move, you know.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_04: And so now when we're talking about like to come talking about people m leaving and moving to to achieve their goals and things, um, I just feel very fortunate to have tried to make the absolute most of every resource available to me in Omaha.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_04: That means I'm going to the open mics, that means I'm going to the club, I'm going to the indie spot, I'm playing the bar, and I'm also reading everything that's online and practicing my writing and creating online content and trying to get my name out there.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_04: Like I'm trying to maximize my opportunities and make the most out of my circumstances.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_04: And so far it's really paid off in a way that just literally would not have been possible five years ago without social media.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_04: Not social media that we know of today, right?
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_04: TikTok specifically, and then obviously TikTok in um um influenced what Instagram is doing.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_04: So both of those things have helped me, both of those things has helped me better understand YouTube, which is helping me grow there, and Facebook.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_04: So all these different, you know, and I see all these opportunities, all these different kinds of apps and social media platforms and things, which some comics balk at, some comics shake their shake a finger at or, you know, stick their nose up to.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not gonna do that because it's all an opportunity.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_04: And for me, what I'm not doing is I'm also not like turning my back on live performance.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not not getting up on stage and performing.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not not still trying to be a better writer.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not not, you know, I'm not going so far into social media that I lose sight of what I think is maybe the more uh highbrow form of the art form, you know, of the arts.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_04: Like I I get it.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_04: I know what social media is, right?
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_04: But I also know that it's an invaluable opportunity that you have to seize if you're gonna be in a market like we are.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_04: You gotta do it, you gotta take advantage of it.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_04: Why would you not?
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_04: Why would you not try to do everything?
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_04: And and that's what I'm just trying to do, is just trying to take advantage.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_04: And so it and it's gotten me a lot of uh chances and things that I didn't think I would ever get to do.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: I love that work ethic.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_00: Man, do I love that work ethic?
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because not everybody has that, and a lot of people do balk at like TikTok in particular, and they're like, I'm not getting on this dance app for kids, and it's like you have no idea what you're missing out on until you get on it.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like, as a podcaster, just doing this podcast thing, I have met more potential guests and had a better reach with potential listeners by just embracing the platform.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, am I the guy that you want to pull up in your for you page?
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: Probably not, but has it helped the show?
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, fuck yeah, yeah.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, hey, look, you know, technology happens, it comes and the people that fight it, the people that fight the wave, the people that fight the trend, the people that fight the future always lose.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we're talking about time is the thing you don't get back.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_03: Time is also the thing that is undefeated.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_04: We will keep advancing, and that's not to say you have to embrace everything blindly, it doesn't mean you can't question, it doesn't mean you can't demand improvement, it doesn't mean you can't make it better.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_04: You know, there was a time really early on in like a TikTok when it when it was mostly dancing and music, but then people from all backgrounds, whether you're a home renovat or a comedian or a musician or a painter or a dentist or a zip popper, like whatever your thing is, people made it their own because they embraced it and saw it as an opportunity.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, and that's just that's just what it's always, you know, and there's and there will be another thing, you know.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_04: Who who knows?
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe it'll be the metaverse, and we all gotta get in and be virtual beings that have no grounding in reality, but somebody's gonna do it and they're gonna get there first, and uh if it if it's the wave, it's the wave.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_04: But it's it's really difficult, I think, to fight innovation.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_04: Um you're gonna lose.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_04: You're gonna lose every time.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_04: And it doesn't mean you can't always keep up, but uh I mean it's just that's just the way things work.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_04: They always have.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_00: So, what do you think, um, as a creator yourself, about the potential of TikTok going away?
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think that's a lot closer to reality than we all really want to admit right now.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_04: I think that's interesting.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_04: I think that fortunately we have a little bit of a model for this.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_04: Like Vine was a thing ten years ago, uh, almost exactly about 10 years ago, Vine was really was really happening.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_04: It was an app that was the biggest app in the world.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_04: It made some people huge.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_04: Celebrity stars, millionaires, whatever.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and if I think that if TikTok outright goes away, obviously TikTok's been a huge for me and my reach in getting out.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but I think that if it happens, you just have we just have to kind of accept that as well and just be ready to pivot and transition and move to other things and whatever, you know, something will replace it.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_04: I don't think that TikTok's gonna be around of the like television has been around.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_04: I think that internet will be around, you know.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_04: I think that social media will be around, like television and things like that.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_04: And that might grow to things we can't even imagine now.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_04: If they take TikTok away from um either a national security standpoint or political standpoint, whatever's driving whatever's driving the the concern, valid or not, um, it's something that is users and creators, our options are adapt or die.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_04: You know, and so so I mean for me, I'm not gonna be the one that makes that decision.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_04: And if it's something that where it's just not allowed on in the U United States at all anymore, then I'm not moving to China to keep it going.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_04: Like I'm I'll just figure out what else is next, you know.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_04: Um I think people, you know, I think there's more, and it is a it is a sensitive thing because, you know, what do we know about TikTok's data mining?
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_04: We know that it's excessive.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_04: But we know that data mining is excessive any way you choose to engage in the internet, uh, which is vastly true.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_04: There are there are there is there potential threats or are there security or political issues with who's mining the data and whether or not it has a relationship to what form of what government has access to those things.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, but again, we are so far down in terms of the trickle for decisions for whom that makes sense that our job is to just adapt.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_04: And right now it's here, and I'm gonna keep using it and benefiting from it.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_04: And then if it goes away, I mean I'm smart enough to be able to make sense as to why, if and if it does.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_04: Um and I think you just gotta I think you just gotta adapt.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not, I'm not, I'm not gonna die on the on the TikTok hill.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_04: Uh but I I'll I'll benefit from it and hopefully grow because that's what the people from Vine did.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_04: Vine went away, they moved into YouTube, and they used YouTube as a bridge, and then now they're all.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_04: On TikTok and Instagram and these things.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_04: And so there's a model, and there are people we can model to show us what success is, but the model is always adopt, adapt, and survive.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's a sensitive topic because I know and I make the choice as far as my podcast goes and my content creation goes, is I never get political.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_00: I won't talk politics.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: I won't touch religion because I think that's unique to everybody, and the things that make us different are what make us great, right?
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: The whole TikTok thing was originally a partisan type of issue, and now it's become a bipartisan issue.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why it seems a little bit more likely that it's gonna happen now than say even a year ago.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_00: But I will say, if I was a software developer for Meta right now, I would redevelop Facebook Reels to make it as accessible or more accessible than TikTok.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right now is prime time.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: But that's nerd rant aside.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_04: No, no, no, no.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_04: I love the nerd rant of it.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_04: And because I'm so active and use these things too, like I am interested in this conversation.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_04: Instagram tried to do it and it flucks and they reversed it.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_04: But it's smart maybe to make Facebook the place that does it.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, because there can't Instagram's not gonna be the place.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_04: Somebody else might come in.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_04: Who knows?
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_04: I I I think we'll see individual bands, government devices, and state devices and things like that first.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_04: If it goes away, I mean, I think there's just it's maybe too popular right now, like it's a little too popular, it would be too divisive of an issue.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_04: Um even if it's bipartisan, it's too popular.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_04: It can't be stopped right now.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_04: But if the perceived threats become reality, if there is a major data breach, if there is major a major mishap in a situation, and the popularity tides turn, uh I think I I could see it happening.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_04: Um, at which point people will just jump, they'll just jump ship somewhere else.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_04: You know?
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but we'll have to see how those winds blow.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_04: I don't I don't know, man.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_00: You sure you weren't adopted by a farmer in Kansas, man?
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_00: You got some really good mindset here.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_01: Have fun, humans.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be fine.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_00: Oh shit.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, man, this is this has been awesome.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_00: One thing I like to throw to my guests towards the end of every episode is I like to ask the big question.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_00: And the big question is with everything that's gone on the past three years, and we are actually this week, as we're recording this episode, we are at the three-year mark this week of when the world started shutting down.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_00: With everything that's gone on the past three years, what's your advice for making the world a better place tomorrow than what it is today?
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_04: I think the the number one thing you can do is um the same thing has always been is is treat people with kindness, uh, put put positivity out there.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_04: I think people could listen better and be open.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_04: And I think that it's also okay, as much as we can adapt and grow and things like that with technology, I would say it's okay to listen to somebody that has an opinion that's different from yours and do your part to understand that opinion rather than try to justify your preconceptions about what are their belief is.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_04: You know, um, if you're if you're willing to adapt the future of technology, just know that people aren't going anywhere.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_04: And if we can listen to them and try to understand better, it's okay to just embrace that and move on and grow and put some positivity out there, listen to other people.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I mean, we learned these things.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_04: We learned when we were kids.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_04: And it it but it but it it shows itself now, it shows itself now maybe more than ever.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_04: And so that's kind of the energy that I want to put out there.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_04: I'm never, you know, a small thing specific to social media.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_04: You have an option.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_04: If you see something you don't like, you can comment on that thing, or you can go on about your day.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_04: And I think that a lot of times people decide that they want to get into the fight and they want to comment and they want to, you know, whatever.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_04: But guess what?
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_04: All that comment is gonna do is show you more of that thing, because that's how algorithms work.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_04: And the more that you engage with things in life in a negative manner, the more that negativity is gonna stick around.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_04: Life is its own algorithm, and that negativity is gonna keep pushing itself back into your face the more that you put it out there.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_04: But if you're engaging with the people and the things that you love and you're putting positivity out there and not trying to in in infringe on others in a negative way, you know, it's everybody everybody's better for that.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_00: All right, my friend.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_00: Tell everybody where they can find you online.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, man, I'm at Cameron Logston, C-A-M-E-R-O-N-L-O-G-S-D-O-N on everything.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_00: You also have a website, www.cameronlogson.com.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't that a nice pitch?
• 49:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I want to see?
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_00: I want to see you sneak into a high V, go to the performance inspired aisle, and start reading labels in your Mark Wahlberg voice and like start pitching stuff.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_00: Come on, man.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's like low-hanging fruit.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_00: It is don't they have the Wahlbergers at one of the Omaha locations now?
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_04: They've got them at a couple of them.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_04: And you're right.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I just gotta go in and and just do it.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_04: Sometimes these are the things, this is what I need writers, because I need people to.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_00: A couple of Omaha guys would only understand this, though.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_04: They would love it.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_04: No, I'm there, though.
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_04: I like, you know, talking about niching down.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_04: This is a Mark Wahlberg impression for Omaha guys that shop at high V, but specifically this high V at this time when this item isn't stock.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_04: So anyway, yeah, so here we are.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_04: High V, you know.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, he has that whole supplement line.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_00: That is the weirdest partnership on the planet.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_04: It's up.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_00: Anyways.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's funny, man.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_04: It's just a mess.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_00: Cameron Logsden, thank you very much for doing the podcast.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_00: The world is a better place with you and it, my friend.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_00: Ah, they're too kind.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for having me.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_00: Once again, I want to thank Cameron Logson for being on the podcast today.
• 50:30
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you give him a follow on TikTok while you still can.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_00: And if not, give him a follow on Instagram.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_00: Also visit him at www.cameronlogsden.com.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_00: If you are being generous with the follows, make sure you follow Cod on the Mic on TikTok while it still exists.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_00: On Instagram, on Facebook, on Twitter.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_00: Also visit me at www.codonthemic.com.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_00: Feel free to shoot me an email at codonthemic at gmail.com.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_00: I would forward talking to you.
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_00: Cod on the mic with Michael Clark.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Michael Clark.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_00: Till next time.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.