In this episode of cosmic comedy. KillTony star Keegan Carmychael and I go through the comedy ups and downs. Keegan has an awesome grasp on what comedy is, how he structures his jokes, and a unique way to remember long sets with one liners. This show was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot from Keegan. Stay tuned after the show for a special sneak peek at the greatest comedy in the galaxy.
Thanks for being on the show, Keegan!
-Trey
Follow us!:
https://www.youtube.com/@KeeganCarmychael
https://www.youtube.com/@treyonstage
00:00:49 --> 00:00:53 Hey man, thank you for doing this, dude. Yeah,
00:00:53 --> 00:00:56 yeah. Hell yeah, yeah, yeah, man. How's everything
00:00:56 --> 00:00:59 been, man? How's comedy been for you? It sucks,
00:00:59 --> 00:01:03 man. Why does it suck, man? I don't want to do
00:01:03 --> 00:01:06 this. Do you enjoy comedy? Yeah, it's funny.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:09 Doing it? You enjoy doing it? I don't, man. Yeah?
00:01:09 --> 00:01:11 Why don't you enjoy doing it? This is the last
00:01:11 --> 00:01:15 resort. Because people are always... People always
00:01:15 --> 00:01:17 ask me, they're like, should I get into comedy?
00:01:17 --> 00:01:22 I'm like, no. If your life is a little bit good,
00:01:22 --> 00:01:26 like if you have a nice place to live, a car,
00:01:27 --> 00:01:29 if you have a nice woman in your life, a family,
00:01:29 --> 00:01:34 don't do this. Run away. Why not do it though?
00:01:35 --> 00:01:38 Are you finding challenges like this in comedy?
00:01:38 --> 00:01:42 I don't think it's as glamorous. I think the
00:01:42 --> 00:01:46 fantasy of comedy is much better than the reality.
00:01:47 --> 00:01:51 Yeah. They make it seem like you're going to
00:01:51 --> 00:01:55 be the fighter pilot next thing you know. You're
00:01:55 --> 00:01:59 homeless and in your car for a while. Yeah. I
00:01:59 --> 00:02:02 think homelessness is the natural trajectory
00:02:02 --> 00:02:06 of being a comedian. Yeah. So you went through
00:02:06 --> 00:02:08 that too? You were homeless for a bit? I've been
00:02:08 --> 00:02:11 homeless a lot. Yeah. How do you treat that?
00:02:11 --> 00:02:14 Do you just try to find jobs and things like
00:02:14 --> 00:02:17 that and then you just... Like do comedy at night
00:02:17 --> 00:02:21 or something or I? I eventually I gave up looking
00:02:21 --> 00:02:23 for a job like I used to go to the library and
00:02:23 --> 00:02:27 apply to jobs well freaking day eventually I
00:02:27 --> 00:02:30 like gave up and I literally just had to get
00:02:30 --> 00:02:33 on an e -bike and door -dash That's the only
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 way and it and actually make more money doing
00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 that than most jobs anyway, so it's fun Do you
00:02:38 --> 00:02:40 have any crazy stories from just doing that?
00:02:40 --> 00:02:42 I feel like I feel like there would be a bunch
00:02:42 --> 00:02:45 of shit from door dashing Yeah from just being
00:02:45 --> 00:02:47 on a bike just out and just getting the food
00:02:47 --> 00:02:50 and everything People recognize me a lot. That's
00:02:50 --> 00:02:55 weird. It's very strange to be like Recognizable
00:02:55 --> 00:02:59 and like moderately famous like very moderately
00:02:59 --> 00:03:02 famous, but then like I'm still door dashing
00:03:02 --> 00:03:05 So it's always weird I get a lot of love like
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 people see me on the street They say nice things
00:03:08 --> 00:03:10 to me and I'm like, yeah, I'm still on a bike
00:03:10 --> 00:03:14 door dashing. It's weird. Yeah sucks That sucks,
00:03:14 --> 00:03:18 man. I used to doordash, too, and I fucking hated
00:03:18 --> 00:03:21 it, so I can only imagine trying to do it all
00:03:21 --> 00:03:24 the time. But it's better than working any regular
00:03:24 --> 00:03:28 job, like in a factory or something. Do you have
00:03:28 --> 00:03:32 any kind of professions other than comedy? Well,
00:03:32 --> 00:03:36 I was a truck driver. I drove semi -trucks. Oh,
00:03:36 --> 00:03:39 no shit. Yeah. Truck driving is the only thing
00:03:39 --> 00:03:41 that can make you more suicidal than comedy.
00:03:41 --> 00:03:46 So, it's the worst. You gotta live over the road.
00:03:48 --> 00:03:53 No one to talk to. No one to fuck. You have yourself,
00:03:54 --> 00:04:00 man. You work 14 hours a day. I used to work
00:04:00 --> 00:04:05 70 hours a week for $300. What? Not in trucks?
00:04:05 --> 00:04:10 Yeah. No way. And I'll call them out too. Werner.
00:04:14 --> 00:04:18 Okay. Werner got hit with the class action lawsuit.
00:04:19 --> 00:04:22 And like three years later, I finally got the
00:04:22 --> 00:04:26 results of it. They're like, it's like an $18
00:04:26 --> 00:04:29 million lawsuit. Find out what you're getting
00:04:29 --> 00:04:35 paid. And I clicked on it. I got $57. No, you
00:04:35 --> 00:04:39 have 57 bucks out of 18 million. I got 57 bucks.
00:04:39 --> 00:04:42 Oh my gosh, dude I know you're talking about
00:04:42 --> 00:04:43 I did one of the class action suits and I got
00:04:43 --> 00:04:46 like I think like a quarter or something like
00:04:46 --> 00:04:48 that Yeah, I was like it was more it was wasted
00:04:48 --> 00:04:51 more time trying to get it Exactly. Yeah the
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 whole time I was working for them like this this
00:04:53 --> 00:04:56 ain't legal. There's no way this is legal No,
00:04:56 --> 00:04:58 did you ever like try like hot shotting or anything
00:04:58 --> 00:05:04 like that? No Truck driving, it's really hard
00:05:04 --> 00:05:07 to make money in truck driving right now. The
00:05:07 --> 00:05:13 government kind of ruins everything. And it's
00:05:13 --> 00:05:17 just so, like the cost, the cost to run your
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 own business now in trucking is insane. They're
00:05:20 --> 00:05:23 trying to get rid of like the independent truckers.
00:05:23 --> 00:05:26 So everybody has to work for a company. And when
00:05:26 --> 00:05:29 you work for a company, it's really hard to.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 Make a good living in truck driving. Yeah, I
00:05:33 --> 00:05:35 bet. Is that how you ended up in all these other
00:05:35 --> 00:05:38 like cities? Truck driving or was that just you
00:05:38 --> 00:05:40 independently going out there? No, I was never
00:05:40 --> 00:05:44 um, I was never truck driving doing comedy. Um,
00:05:45 --> 00:05:47 actually I lost my house in Mississippi So that's
00:05:47 --> 00:05:49 when I got back in the semi truck. Thankfully
00:05:49 --> 00:05:52 I was sober enough at the time to pass a drug
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 test or else I would have really been screwed
00:05:54 --> 00:05:57 So I just had to live out of the truck for a
00:05:57 --> 00:05:59 little bit And then I did six more months of
00:05:59 --> 00:06:02 that. I was like, I can't, I'm done with this.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 And the only reason I got into comedy was I was
00:06:06 --> 00:06:11 literally just listening to the Rogan podcast
00:06:11 --> 00:06:13 and they mentioned the mothership. So I went
00:06:13 --> 00:06:16 to Austin for like two months just to see what
00:06:16 --> 00:06:19 it was about. Oh yeah. You just came here and
00:06:19 --> 00:06:22 just started doing open mics? Yeah. I was really
00:06:22 --> 00:06:24 like unsatisfied with it. So I went to LA for
00:06:24 --> 00:06:28 a while. LA is where I really got better. What's
00:06:28 --> 00:06:30 that scene like? In terms of the big three, in
00:06:30 --> 00:06:34 terms of like L .A., Austin, New York, I think
00:06:34 --> 00:06:38 the open mic scene in L .A. is the best. And
00:06:38 --> 00:06:43 I think you're able to get better. It is tough.
00:06:43 --> 00:06:48 There's a lot of people pleasers. In L .A., there's
00:06:48 --> 00:06:52 a lot of comics just playing the political game
00:06:52 --> 00:06:56 to get booked. And because that gets rewarded
00:06:56 --> 00:07:00 in L .A. Oh, okay. I guess if you do want to
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 be a little more edgy, you probably got to go
00:07:02 --> 00:07:06 to Austin or New York even. That's why I have
00:07:06 --> 00:07:07 like LA friends who hit me up. They're like,
00:07:08 --> 00:07:10 well, I just can't take it out here. I want to
00:07:10 --> 00:07:15 come to Austin. I'm like, I don't really think
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 you, it's just, to me, it's really hard to get
00:07:17 --> 00:07:22 good in Austin. Yeah. Nah, man, I don't know
00:07:22 --> 00:07:25 anything about LA, like, but I just have like
00:07:25 --> 00:07:28 this sort of Like sort of like idea about what
00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 I think it might be like, you know, like I guess
00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 in my head I think automatically I'm like it's
00:07:33 --> 00:07:36 gonna be a bunch of like fake people and you
00:07:36 --> 00:07:38 know Nobody's gonna be like saying like real
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 shit. Is that like accurate or you think that's
00:07:40 --> 00:07:42 more like it's accurate in terms of like fake
00:07:42 --> 00:07:45 people first of all first things first I met
00:07:45 --> 00:07:47 a lot of great people and there's a lot of freaking
00:07:47 --> 00:07:50 awesome people in LA, but there are a lot of
00:07:50 --> 00:07:55 people who like just Say what they need to say
00:07:56 --> 00:07:59 to get booked. Um, in terms like the political
00:07:59 --> 00:08:02 side. And I don't even do politics in my comedy.
00:08:03 --> 00:08:07 Um, but like, yeah, if you lean hard left and
00:08:07 --> 00:08:11 do left humor in LA, you'll get rewarded for
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 it, and that's just the reality. So yeah, I don't
00:08:14 --> 00:08:15 know. That's just how it is. And it sucks. I
00:08:15 --> 00:08:18 just think if you can make the crowd laugh, that's
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 what should get rewarded, but it's just not the
00:08:20 --> 00:08:22 case, you know. Yeah. Is that why you chose like
00:08:22 --> 00:08:24 to kind of do one liners? Is it because you just
00:08:24 --> 00:08:26 wanted to get people laughing like right off
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 the bat? Well, what's interesting, the reason
00:08:29 --> 00:08:33 I started doing the one liners is because in
00:08:33 --> 00:08:36 case I ever got, in case I ever got on Kill Tony,
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 I wanted to be able to do quick jokes in a minute.
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 Yeah. But then it took me a year and a half to
00:08:41 --> 00:08:46 get pulled and I just started kind of falling
00:08:46 --> 00:08:49 in love with doing the one liners. Oh, okay.
00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 My favorite comedian was always Demetri Martin.
00:08:53 --> 00:08:58 Great comedian. He explained one time how a joke
00:08:58 --> 00:09:03 is like a puzzle. Once I understood what he meant
00:09:03 --> 00:09:07 by that, it became so fun to me to put that puzzle
00:09:07 --> 00:09:11 together. To me, it's a lot more fun to write
00:09:11 --> 00:09:16 those one -liners than it is to just write long
00:09:16 --> 00:09:20 stories. You know, do long stories. Yeah. What,
00:09:20 --> 00:09:21 uh, so what did he say about that? What was the
00:09:21 --> 00:09:26 puzzle? Um, basically, so basically people laugh
00:09:26 --> 00:09:29 when they make the connection. So when you're
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 writing a joke, you have to get two things to
00:09:31 --> 00:09:35 connect. Right. So like it's very literal when
00:09:35 --> 00:09:38 you, like you, they have to get it to laugh.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:43 So it's fun to like be like, okay, what does
00:09:43 --> 00:09:47 this do? And then what else does that? and you
00:09:47 --> 00:09:50 connect them together for the joke and then they
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 get it. That's the puzzle. It's just making two
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 things connect. Yeah. Do you find it easy to
00:09:55 --> 00:09:58 make those connections or? Um, it gets a lot
00:09:58 --> 00:10:00 easier. You have to train your brain to do it.
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 Um, cause like people, people tell me all the
00:10:03 --> 00:10:07 time, they're like, Oh, one lighter comedy. That's
00:10:07 --> 00:10:10 the hardest form of comedy, but they really just
00:10:10 --> 00:10:12 need to train their brain to do it. Once you
00:10:12 --> 00:10:15 know how to do it, the jokes kind of just come
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 to you. Mm -hmm. Like I don't ever look for jokes.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:22 I don't ever I don't I don't write Like I don't
00:10:22 --> 00:10:24 sit down and write I literally just let everything
00:10:24 --> 00:10:27 come to me You have to let the joke just hit
00:10:27 --> 00:10:30 you and it's cool when it'll hit you at any time
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 Thanks. So like is there so there's nothing that
00:10:33 --> 00:10:35 you just kind of do to pull inspiration from
00:10:35 --> 00:10:37 anywhere You just kind of just combs organically.
00:10:37 --> 00:10:40 Yeah, I always let it happen organically. Um
00:10:40 --> 00:10:44 the last like six months I pretty much just like
00:10:44 --> 00:10:47 get high for two weeks straight. Everything like
00:10:47 --> 00:10:51 just filters into me during those two weeks.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:55 And then I cycle off for two weeks to lower my
00:10:55 --> 00:11:00 tolerance. I only do it when I'm high because
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 it just comes to me. You're kind of freeing.
00:11:04 --> 00:11:09 Yeah. I pretty much just lay down in bed and
00:11:09 --> 00:11:13 get high and everything comes to me. That's just
00:11:13 --> 00:11:16 the reality. Do you find that one particular
00:11:16 --> 00:11:18 substance helps you more than others? Does weed
00:11:18 --> 00:11:22 help you better? I have a secret weapon, but
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 I'm not going to reveal it because then everyone's
00:11:25 --> 00:11:27 going to start doing it. That's right. Don't
00:11:27 --> 00:11:31 reveal the secrets, man. No, there's a certain
00:11:31 --> 00:11:35 variant of THC that people aren't using that's
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 very potent. There's a gummy that has it with
00:11:38 --> 00:11:41 some other stuff and it gives me where I need
00:11:41 --> 00:11:44 to get to. and just everything flows to me. Dude,
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 I love those gummies, man. I know what you're
00:11:46 --> 00:11:47 talking about, though, like, because a lot of
00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 times if I'll take the gummies, I could sit and
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 actually, like, if I'm stuck on a joke, I can
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 sit and it will just, like, it'll just kind of,
00:11:54 --> 00:11:56 like, flow out. I'll just get into, like, this
00:11:56 --> 00:11:57 flow state and I'll just come up with a bunch
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 of tags. But I don't, like, so what I do is,
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 like, when I write, I'll kind of, like, write
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 down, like, a whole big long thing. and kind
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 of like trim it down. So to hear that, are you
00:12:07 --> 00:12:10 always just thinking about jokes? Like always?
00:12:10 --> 00:12:15 Yes and no. Okay. Because I'm never forcing it,
00:12:15 --> 00:12:20 but I'm always letting it happen. Oh, okay. You
00:12:20 --> 00:12:22 have to find that balance. Like I'm never gonna
00:12:22 --> 00:12:26 be like, look at that. Let me make a joke about
00:12:26 --> 00:12:30 that. I'm just gonna look at it and if it hits
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 me, it hits me. It's just there, you know? But
00:12:33 --> 00:12:38 I also believe in putting stuff in your mind
00:12:38 --> 00:12:43 and just letting it incubate. And a couple months
00:12:43 --> 00:12:46 later, it'll just hit me. You're like, oh, that
00:12:46 --> 00:12:50 thing I saw then, oh, now it works. It'll just
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 hit, I don't know how to explain it. Stuff just
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 hits me. I don't force it, it just comes to me.
00:12:56 --> 00:13:00 It makes sense though. So do you have, what separates
00:13:00 --> 00:13:05 a good joke from a bad joke in that? the structure
00:13:05 --> 00:13:09 is much more important than the idea. This is
00:13:09 --> 00:13:12 actually something I talk about in my Kill Tony
00:13:12 --> 00:13:15 interview coming up. Tony kind of asked me the
00:13:15 --> 00:13:19 same thing, and I explained to him, dude, I got,
00:13:19 --> 00:13:24 a few weeks ago when I was super high, and I
00:13:24 --> 00:13:28 had this revelation of joke writing, and I literally,
00:13:28 --> 00:13:32 I go on Kill Tony and I tell him, No, I'm in
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 the process of rewriting 1500 jokes right now
00:13:35 --> 00:13:38 because I just realized how the structure is
00:13:38 --> 00:13:41 so much important than the idea. Basically, you
00:13:41 --> 00:13:45 make a statement, but you have to pivot. I call
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 it the ghost pivot, but because therefore so.
00:13:47 --> 00:13:50 If you can use those words without saying them
00:13:50 --> 00:13:56 out loud and then push the punch to the very
00:13:56 --> 00:14:00 last word. That is the most successful joke.
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 No one's going to understand what I'm saying.
00:14:02 --> 00:14:09 I totally know. But it makes sense. Trust me.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:12 Yeah, it makes sense to you. And that's what's
00:14:12 --> 00:14:14 most important, man. But you can see it, dude,
00:14:14 --> 00:14:16 because you're up there and you're getting laughs
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 from this. Whatever you're doing, you're doing
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 it right, man. People think you're hilarious.
00:14:22 --> 00:14:27 I haven't even scratched the surface of my potential
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 because Like I just keep learning and I feel
00:14:30 --> 00:14:34 like I've really like pivoted the last couple
00:14:34 --> 00:14:37 months in my joke writing and really learning
00:14:37 --> 00:14:41 like the formula I guess. A lot of people run
00:14:41 --> 00:14:45 over their punch lines. You have to end on a
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 word that's punchy and a lot of people just run
00:14:48 --> 00:14:50 right over the punch line. They don't give the
00:14:50 --> 00:14:54 crowd that time to laugh. So a lot of times a
00:14:54 --> 00:14:59 comic will say a funny idea, but nobody laughs.
00:15:00 --> 00:15:03 And they're wondering, why did nobody laugh at
00:15:03 --> 00:15:07 that? Because you had a funny idea, but you had
00:15:07 --> 00:15:09 no idea how to structure it. You have to structure
00:15:09 --> 00:15:12 things in a way that's designed to make people
00:15:12 --> 00:15:15 laugh. Yeah. Do you ever, like you go out to
00:15:15 --> 00:15:17 open mics and do you see that a lot? Do you see
00:15:17 --> 00:15:19 people doing that a lot? Like where they just,
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 you're like, dude, that's such a good idea, but
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 they just didn't execute it? Yeah. Oh, all the
00:15:23 --> 00:15:26 time. And it's not just open micers. I mean,
00:15:26 --> 00:15:29 it's, you know, more established people as well.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 They'll kind of go like, why did nobody laugh
00:15:32 --> 00:15:35 at that? That's funny. Yeah. Yeah. It's because
00:15:35 --> 00:15:38 it was funny. You just didn't put it in the form
00:15:38 --> 00:15:41 of a joke to make people laugh. That's the biggest
00:15:41 --> 00:15:45 mistake people make in their joke telling is
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 they run over the punch line. Yeah. You have
00:15:47 --> 00:15:52 to make it obvious that this is where you laugh.
00:15:52 --> 00:15:54 Know exactly what you're talking about when I
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 because there's been times I go out there and
00:15:56 --> 00:15:58 you'll see somebody just Automatically like say
00:15:58 --> 00:16:00 their own joke and just get completely deflated
00:16:00 --> 00:16:03 You know just by just by like the flatlining.
00:16:03 --> 00:16:06 I mean shit. I've fucking I've done that You
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 know what I mean? Like how do you handle things
00:16:08 --> 00:16:11 like like feeling like you're bombing? Something
00:16:11 --> 00:16:15 I've gotten so much better at Recently is when
00:16:15 --> 00:16:19 I am bombing mm -hmm. I'm not bombing I think
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 the best comedians, even when they're bombing,
00:16:21 --> 00:16:25 you can't tell because they're so good at playing
00:16:25 --> 00:16:29 it off. If the crowd doesn't react well to a
00:16:29 --> 00:16:32 joke, I'm able to play it off so well now that
00:16:32 --> 00:16:36 I can get a laugh by playing it off. And all
00:16:36 --> 00:16:39 this comedy is is building tension and breaking
00:16:39 --> 00:16:43 it. So if I say something and they don't laugh,
00:16:43 --> 00:16:46 that's fine because what just happened is I built
00:16:46 --> 00:16:51 more I built more tension. Yeah. So now I get
00:16:51 --> 00:16:54 an opportunity to break that tension again. Yeah.
00:16:55 --> 00:16:58 Do you have like just jokes, like just ready
00:16:58 --> 00:17:03 to go just in case that happens? Yeah, like playing
00:17:03 --> 00:17:06 things off. Yeah. I think that's, I think that's
00:17:06 --> 00:17:11 what really separates an open mic 'er and an
00:17:11 --> 00:17:15 experienced comedian is when it's not going well,
00:17:15 --> 00:17:19 You know what to say immediately to turn it around.
00:17:20 --> 00:17:24 Yeah, so yeah, I'm getting very I'm getting much
00:17:24 --> 00:17:28 better at um Having things ready to go for certain
00:17:28 --> 00:17:32 situations. Oh, yeah What was it was that also
00:17:32 --> 00:17:33 a pivotal moment when you figured that out about
00:17:33 --> 00:17:36 yourself? It's a game -changer Yeah, because
00:17:36 --> 00:17:40 before um, you know a lot of early comics when
00:17:40 --> 00:17:42 the sets not going well They just don't know
00:17:42 --> 00:17:45 how to play it off right and turn it around and
00:17:45 --> 00:17:48 then you're up there for like 10 minutes and
00:17:48 --> 00:17:52 it's super awkward. Yeah. But if you know how
00:17:52 --> 00:17:55 to lean into that tension and break it, I think
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 that's the thing about doing standup is it's
00:17:57 --> 00:18:00 really hard to understand things until you figure
00:18:00 --> 00:18:03 them out. I know that's dumb to say, but it's
00:18:03 --> 00:18:06 a feeling. No, yeah. It's kind of like learning.
00:18:07 --> 00:18:08 Uh, you know, like learning the ropes, like there's
00:18:08 --> 00:18:11 a, there's a way that you do this. You know what
00:18:11 --> 00:18:13 I mean? Exactly. You know, it's like, I was telling,
00:18:14 --> 00:18:15 I was telling somebody that's it's almost like,
00:18:16 --> 00:18:19 uh, like, so I play guitar and I was like, dude,
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 it's kind of like playing guitar really. It's
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 like, it's a, yeah, you start off and you're
00:18:23 --> 00:18:26 shitty as fuck. And then you slowly learn how
00:18:26 --> 00:18:29 to like put things together that work for you,
00:18:29 --> 00:18:32 you know, and then becomes your song. Yeah. And
00:18:32 --> 00:18:35 I was, I was literally just going to bring up
00:18:35 --> 00:18:38 a guitar analogy. There's like this great quote,
00:18:38 --> 00:18:41 he talks about like, you spend all this time
00:18:41 --> 00:18:43 learning everything about the guitar and you
00:18:43 --> 00:18:46 got to think so much, so much, so much. And eventually
00:18:46 --> 00:18:50 you just get to turn your brain off and play.
00:18:51 --> 00:18:55 That's a point where I'm getting to in my standup
00:18:55 --> 00:18:59 is when I go up there, I can just turn my brain
00:18:59 --> 00:19:04 off and play because whatever the situation is,
00:19:04 --> 00:19:08 I know which notes to hit. Because the crowd
00:19:08 --> 00:19:11 is part of the instrument. The crowd wants to
00:19:11 --> 00:19:15 be heard, too. And you have to know how to play
00:19:15 --> 00:19:18 the instrument that is the crowd. Man, yeah,
00:19:18 --> 00:19:21 that's good, dude. Once you figure that out,
00:19:21 --> 00:19:24 you start getting a lot better at stand -up.
00:19:24 --> 00:19:27 Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's good, man. That's good.
00:19:27 --> 00:19:30 And that really kind of hits me because I think
00:19:30 --> 00:19:33 back to when I was on Killtonian, I've mentioned
00:19:33 --> 00:19:35 doing here a bunch. because I was on Killtony
00:19:35 --> 00:19:38 right and I went and I said my jokes but I remember
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 like I had to like seriously like super think
00:19:40 --> 00:19:42 about everything I do with my jokes and then
00:19:42 --> 00:19:44 I told him I played guitar and they gave me a
00:19:44 --> 00:19:46 guitar and I just played it. You know what I
00:19:46 --> 00:19:48 mean? It's like, but it wasn't like, you know,
00:19:48 --> 00:19:50 the reverse. I was thinking super heavily about
00:19:50 --> 00:19:52 my jokes, but with the guitar, I was like, oh
00:19:52 --> 00:19:54 yeah, fuck it, I can just do it. And so it's
00:19:54 --> 00:19:55 kind of like, yeah, so what you're saying is
00:19:55 --> 00:19:57 sort of like, man, if I could just get that way
00:19:57 --> 00:20:00 about my jokes, you know, I would be good to
00:20:00 --> 00:20:02 go, you know? So that's pretty good, man. That's
00:20:02 --> 00:20:04 pretty good. Do you like, do you find yourself
00:20:04 --> 00:20:08 like just sort of like reflecting on your joke
00:20:08 --> 00:20:10 writing and on like your sets at the end of the
00:20:10 --> 00:20:13 night or anything like that or? I don't really
00:20:13 --> 00:20:16 like think about... a set when I'm done with
00:20:16 --> 00:20:22 it. I'm very much based on feel. I don't really
00:20:22 --> 00:20:25 think about things, I just feel them. I remember
00:20:25 --> 00:20:28 when I was bus driving, I was training to be
00:20:28 --> 00:20:32 a bus driver. And I already had experience driving
00:20:32 --> 00:20:34 semi -trucks, which is way harder than driving
00:20:34 --> 00:20:36 a bus, right? And when I was training to drive
00:20:36 --> 00:20:38 the bus, the trainer would tell me all this shit.
00:20:39 --> 00:20:43 When you get here, do this, five paces, look
00:20:43 --> 00:20:45 at this, turn that, I'm like... Shut the fuck
00:20:45 --> 00:20:49 up. That's not how my brain works. I'm all feel.
00:20:49 --> 00:20:54 All feel. Just let me do the damn thing. That's
00:20:54 --> 00:20:57 how I am with comedy. I'm not... It's all feel.
00:20:57 --> 00:20:59 So like when I'm done with the set, I don't really
00:20:59 --> 00:21:03 have to think about it and analyze it. I've...
00:21:03 --> 00:21:06 I've felt it. You've felt it. And I know how
00:21:06 --> 00:21:10 to react after. Yeah. Dude, so you have like
00:21:10 --> 00:21:13 a... How many freaking like one -liners that
00:21:13 --> 00:21:17 you can go off of? Do you have any idea? On my
00:21:17 --> 00:21:21 laptop, it's up to like 1 . But that doesn't
00:21:21 --> 00:21:24 mean they're all good. A lot of them suck. But
00:21:24 --> 00:21:28 it's important. So one of the best pieces of
00:21:28 --> 00:21:31 advice I heard was from one of the writers of
00:21:31 --> 00:21:36 Rick and Morty. He said, write the bad stuff.
00:21:37 --> 00:21:40 So when I have an idea, and I know it's probably
00:21:40 --> 00:21:44 not good, I still write it down. Because what
00:21:44 --> 00:21:46 you don't wanna do is get in the habit of saying,
00:21:47 --> 00:21:49 that's not good, I don't need to write it down.
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 Because then you're gonna think that about everything.
00:21:52 --> 00:21:53 Eventually, you're not gonna write anything.
00:21:54 --> 00:21:58 So, whatever joke I have, I still write it down.
00:21:59 --> 00:22:03 And I like to go try it. Because, look, I don't
00:22:03 --> 00:22:05 know everything. Something I think is stupid,
00:22:06 --> 00:22:09 sometimes it works. And then sometimes the ones
00:22:09 --> 00:22:13 I think are really good. They don't work so well.
00:22:14 --> 00:22:16 Yeah. That's good right there. Yeah. Cause you
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 don't know what other people are thinking, you
00:22:17 --> 00:22:22 know? Yeah. What I, um, I used to, I would say
00:22:22 --> 00:22:26 like the first like two years of, of comedy,
00:22:26 --> 00:22:30 like I was really more complex and I had to come
00:22:30 --> 00:22:35 to the realization of you got to dumb it way
00:22:35 --> 00:22:39 down. And that's not being disrespectful to the
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 audience. I'm not saying the audience is dumb,
00:22:41 --> 00:22:45 but I need to get them to laugh. And for you
00:22:45 --> 00:22:48 to laugh, you gotta get it quick, you know? Because
00:22:48 --> 00:22:51 if I might say something complex, and you might
00:22:51 --> 00:22:56 sit there and go, oh, okay, that's good, that's
00:22:56 --> 00:22:58 funny. But it doesn't matter, because you're
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 gonna laugh. Right, right. And by the time they
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 get it, you're already moving on. Yeah, exactly.
00:23:03 --> 00:23:06 Yeah. Man, I had this, uh, I had this toilet
00:23:06 --> 00:23:09 joke that did that. Like, and I forgot what the
00:23:09 --> 00:23:11 punchline was now, but like, but, uh, but yeah,
00:23:11 --> 00:23:13 it was like, for some reason I was like, oh man,
00:23:13 --> 00:23:15 this is going to be good. And then I get up there
00:23:15 --> 00:23:17 and it was like, it fucking, it just sucked.
00:23:17 --> 00:23:19 Like nobody fucking liked it like ever. You know,
00:23:19 --> 00:23:21 but it was funny because I began my next joke
00:23:21 --> 00:23:23 and then all of a sudden people just like started
00:23:23 --> 00:23:26 laughing, you know? So do you take like, when
00:23:26 --> 00:23:28 you go out there, do you take like your, you
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 know, your best jokes of the night and like move
00:23:29 --> 00:23:32 them over to try to like, like the Chris Rock
00:23:32 --> 00:23:35 thing, you know? Um, I don't know. What does
00:23:35 --> 00:23:37 that mean? So, apparently what Chris Rock did
00:23:37 --> 00:23:39 was he would go, he would have like a new set,
00:23:40 --> 00:23:41 right? And he would, and I just saw this like,
00:23:41 --> 00:23:43 like on Instagram somewhere. But like, but he
00:23:43 --> 00:23:45 would take the set and he would say the jokes,
00:23:46 --> 00:23:48 right? And then he would put the jokes that did
00:23:48 --> 00:23:51 well in like a green column and then the jokes
00:23:51 --> 00:23:53 that didn't do well in a purple column. And the
00:23:53 --> 00:23:56 next time he took all the green ones and he moved
00:23:56 --> 00:23:59 it over, you know, and basically he kept moving
00:23:59 --> 00:24:02 over the columns until he had all green. So people
00:24:02 --> 00:24:04 were like, oh, how did Chris Rock do it? And
00:24:04 --> 00:24:05 it's like, he did that. Do you have like, kind
00:24:05 --> 00:24:08 of like, a kind of same sort of thing? Um, yeah,
00:24:08 --> 00:24:14 so I get what you're saying. And, um, sort of.
00:24:14 --> 00:24:21 Sort of? So, um, I know the jokes that are gonna
00:24:21 --> 00:24:28 pop well. And... I like to put in jokes that
00:24:28 --> 00:24:31 I know aren't gonna do as well in between things.
00:24:32 --> 00:24:34 Because it goes back to what I said earlier about
00:24:34 --> 00:24:39 building tension. Yeah. Sometimes I want... I
00:24:39 --> 00:24:41 don't know if this is gonna sound super arrogant.
00:24:41 --> 00:24:43 I'm not acting like I'm the greatest comedian
00:24:43 --> 00:24:45 ever, because I'm not and I have so long to go.
00:24:46 --> 00:24:48 But I do tell jokes that I know aren't gonna
00:24:48 --> 00:24:55 work. Strictly to build tension. So I do have
00:24:55 --> 00:24:58 jokes. Yes. I guess to your analogy. Yes. I have
00:24:58 --> 00:25:02 green jokes. Sure. But I have jokes that are
00:25:02 --> 00:25:06 more red. Gotcha. And I mix them in to build
00:25:06 --> 00:25:10 tension. It's something, it's something I kind
00:25:10 --> 00:25:13 of learned from Harland Williams. I feel like
00:25:13 --> 00:25:17 Harland, I picked up on Harland doing this. He
00:25:17 --> 00:25:19 says stuff that he knows isn't going to work.
00:25:21 --> 00:25:24 But that's why it's funny. And what it does is
00:25:24 --> 00:25:28 it builds so much tension. So then when you really
00:25:28 --> 00:25:31 have a green joke, boom, now that thing's really
00:25:31 --> 00:25:34 gonna pop more. It's something I've been messing
00:25:34 --> 00:25:37 around with. That's pretty cool though. I didn't
00:25:37 --> 00:25:41 even think to do that, man. I just tell people
00:25:41 --> 00:25:46 that my whole set is pretty much shitty. You
00:25:46 --> 00:25:49 know, but uh, but no man, that's pretty cool
00:25:49 --> 00:25:50 Like so was it harland williams that kind of
00:25:50 --> 00:25:52 gave you that sort of inspiration to do that
00:25:52 --> 00:25:54 Or was that something that you just kind of naturally
00:25:54 --> 00:26:01 fell into? Um Harland and William So William
00:26:01 --> 00:26:03 Montgomery, I don't know. This is gonna sound
00:26:03 --> 00:26:07 really bad and I'm sorry William Sometimes I
00:26:07 --> 00:26:10 think William does it too. He says something
00:26:10 --> 00:26:13 that's he knows probably isn't gonna work. Yeah,
00:26:13 --> 00:26:17 but it builds more tension. I know I keep reiterating
00:26:17 --> 00:26:20 it, but it's all about building tension and breaking
00:26:20 --> 00:26:24 it. It really is. So, yeah. And that's what I
00:26:24 --> 00:26:27 learned from Jordan Peele. Because Jordan Peele,
00:26:27 --> 00:26:33 great comedy writer, amazing whore story writer.
00:26:35 --> 00:26:37 And he has this quote, he's like, comedy and
00:26:37 --> 00:26:39 whore is the same thing. It's building tension
00:26:39 --> 00:26:45 and releasing it strategically. Yeah, yeah. grasped
00:26:45 --> 00:26:51 that, I really started messing around with structuring
00:26:51 --> 00:26:57 my sets differently. Don't just have all the
00:26:57 --> 00:27:01 green jokes in order. Throw in some stuff that
00:27:01 --> 00:27:07 doesn't work as well to build tension. Yeah,
00:27:07 --> 00:27:08 no, it makes sense, because that was something
00:27:08 --> 00:27:11 that I was sort of learning too. about what that
00:27:11 --> 00:27:13 looks like. Because I think that whenever I went
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 out and I started doing comedy, like, I would
00:27:14 --> 00:27:17 just give the audience everything. You know what
00:27:17 --> 00:27:20 I mean? Like, I wouldn't create that tension
00:27:20 --> 00:27:23 that you're talking about, you know? And I found
00:27:23 --> 00:27:26 that, like, I started getting laughs when I started
00:27:26 --> 00:27:28 writing, like, towards that, but I'm still kind
00:27:28 --> 00:27:31 of learning what that is, like, you know, so.
00:27:31 --> 00:27:35 Well, I think a lot of people... This is actually
00:27:35 --> 00:27:39 the biggest mistake I see in young... beginning
00:27:39 --> 00:27:43 comics, is they're trying way too hard. They're
00:27:43 --> 00:27:46 trying to convince the audience that they're
00:27:46 --> 00:27:50 funny. That's the wrong approach. The audience
00:27:50 --> 00:27:53 can tell when you're trying way too hard. And
00:27:53 --> 00:27:58 like something I picked up from Mitch, when Mitch
00:27:58 --> 00:28:04 is, the times he's really crushing, he knows
00:28:04 --> 00:28:06 he's funny. And he's not trying to convince you
00:28:06 --> 00:28:09 he's funny because he knows he's funny. And when
00:28:09 --> 00:28:13 he's just floating in the joke and letting it
00:28:13 --> 00:28:16 go, not even trying, that's when he gets the
00:28:16 --> 00:28:19 best reactions from the crowd. Yeah. So that
00:28:19 --> 00:28:22 was kind of like the biggest takeaway I learned
00:28:22 --> 00:28:27 from him was don't try. Like you, you know you're
00:28:27 --> 00:28:30 funny. Don't convince them you're funny. Right.
00:28:30 --> 00:28:33 Just spill your mind and let them enjoy it. Yeah.
00:28:33 --> 00:28:36 It's kind of like a pushy salesman. You know,
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 you're not going to buy it just because he's
00:28:37 --> 00:28:39 fucking just telling you to buy it. You know,
00:28:39 --> 00:28:41 like they got to sell it to you. Yeah. You know.
00:28:42 --> 00:28:44 Yeah. And it really comes down to anything. Something
00:28:44 --> 00:28:50 I've been like. Like something I've been really
00:28:50 --> 00:28:53 thinking about, like when I'm high, like I do,
00:28:53 --> 00:28:56 I've been like really digging in deep, getting
00:28:56 --> 00:29:00 in parts of my brain lately, and I've been really
00:29:00 --> 00:29:05 understanding polarity. Um, there could only
00:29:05 --> 00:29:08 be a hundred percent of something between two
00:29:08 --> 00:29:12 people. So like, if I'm giving you more than
00:29:12 --> 00:29:15 that 50%, it starts to become unattractive or
00:29:15 --> 00:29:19 you start pulling away. Ooh, wow. And that's
00:29:19 --> 00:29:22 the thing. It's the same thing. Like, if you
00:29:22 --> 00:29:25 ever meet a girl who's like, just giving you
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 too much, giving you, it's like, no, I'm back
00:29:26 --> 00:29:30 up. Same thing with you. If you've, uh, every
00:29:30 --> 00:29:32 guy's guilty of this. We've. giving too much
00:29:32 --> 00:29:36 to a woman and she pulls away, right? It's polarity.
00:29:36 --> 00:29:38 There's only a hundred percent between two people.
00:29:39 --> 00:29:42 So it's the same thing with standup comedy. If
00:29:42 --> 00:29:45 the comedian is up there just trying way too
00:29:45 --> 00:29:50 hard, the audience is like, well, wait. But if
00:29:50 --> 00:29:53 he's just up there spilling his brain, hey, enjoy
00:29:53 --> 00:29:58 this or not, I don't really give a fuck. Then
00:29:58 --> 00:30:02 the crowd is much more engaged. Yeah, I just
00:30:02 --> 00:30:05 want, I found that like when I, it's so weird
00:30:05 --> 00:30:06 because you go in cycles, I guess like when you're
00:30:06 --> 00:30:09 kind of learning comedy and it's like at the
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 beginning I was like, okay, yeah, I'm just going
00:30:10 --> 00:30:12 to be myself. And then I was like, wait, what,
00:30:12 --> 00:30:14 no, but what is that? I need to go up there and
00:30:14 --> 00:30:16 I'm just going to perform. And then all of a
00:30:16 --> 00:30:18 sudden, like now it's coming back to like, oh,
00:30:18 --> 00:30:20 fuck it. I'm just, I'm just going to be myself.
00:30:20 --> 00:30:24 Yeah. And a great piece of advice in that regard.
00:30:27 --> 00:30:30 Mark. Mark Norman gives the best comedy advice.
00:30:30 --> 00:30:32 If anybody needs to learn how to do comedy, go
00:30:32 --> 00:30:35 listen to Mark Norman's podcast and stuff. I
00:30:35 --> 00:30:40 love that, man. He said, your voice in comedy
00:30:40 --> 00:30:44 is your best jokes. So whatever your best jokes
00:30:44 --> 00:30:48 are, that is your voice. Once you understand
00:30:48 --> 00:30:52 that, it becomes much easier to just... Be you
00:30:52 --> 00:30:55 and relax more on stage. Yeah. Yeah, like one
00:30:55 --> 00:30:57 of the big struggles of comedy is literally just
00:30:57 --> 00:31:01 figuring out how to stand on stage I just told
00:31:01 --> 00:31:04 someone I was talking to I said It took me three
00:31:04 --> 00:31:06 years to figure out how to hold a microphone
00:31:06 --> 00:31:09 the way I wanted to hold it. Oh really? Yeah,
00:31:10 --> 00:31:13 how are you doing in the beginning? Oh, I would
00:31:13 --> 00:31:16 try in the beginning. I would keep it in the
00:31:16 --> 00:31:21 stand Because then I could have both hands free.
00:31:23 --> 00:31:27 But then I kind of found that the more expressive
00:31:27 --> 00:31:30 physical comedy wasn't really my realm. I was
00:31:30 --> 00:31:33 a big cord grabber. I would just be grabbing
00:31:33 --> 00:31:37 like six feet of cord. That's why people ask
00:31:37 --> 00:31:39 me, why do you put your hand in your pocket?
00:31:41 --> 00:31:44 I'll do an hour long set with my hand in my pocket
00:31:44 --> 00:31:46 because I can't... grab the cord and my hand's
00:31:46 --> 00:31:48 in my pocket. Yeah. You seem like when you're
00:31:48 --> 00:31:50 doing your jokes on stage, you seem like you're
00:31:50 --> 00:31:53 kind of like in sort of like a flow state in
00:31:53 --> 00:31:57 the way that you kind of get them. Do you prepare
00:31:57 --> 00:31:59 your set or do you just go like, I'm just gonna
00:31:59 --> 00:32:02 go there and just do my thing? It's prepared.
00:32:03 --> 00:32:06 I have to prepare it because I'm telling so many
00:32:06 --> 00:32:09 jokes. I have to know them in order. But yeah,
00:32:09 --> 00:32:11 it kind of goes into that flow state, kind of
00:32:11 --> 00:32:13 back to what we were talking about with the guitar.
00:32:14 --> 00:32:16 Once you can turn your brain off, you're just
00:32:16 --> 00:32:19 gone. Yeah. Man, sometimes when it comes to...
00:32:19 --> 00:32:22 Because I kind of do the whole story with the
00:32:22 --> 00:32:26 tags deal. So my whole thing is, if I got three
00:32:26 --> 00:32:28 minutes, I know that's going to be enough for
00:32:28 --> 00:32:30 one story with a bunch of tags on a punch line.
00:32:30 --> 00:32:35 But I can never figure out how I can remember.
00:32:36 --> 00:32:39 You just... Do you just remember just those one
00:32:39 --> 00:32:44 -liners like that? I do have a really good memory
00:32:44 --> 00:32:49 in general, but what I'm great at is coming up
00:32:49 --> 00:32:54 with mnemonic devices. So every joke leads into
00:32:54 --> 00:32:59 the next one to me. It would not make any sense
00:32:59 --> 00:33:03 to anyone else, but I have my own mnemonic device.
00:33:04 --> 00:33:07 that every joke leads into the next one. Dude,
00:33:07 --> 00:33:09 I've always wanted to get into mnemonic devices,
00:33:10 --> 00:33:12 like, because I'm very big on, like, writing
00:33:12 --> 00:33:15 everything. Like, I don't know why, but that's
00:33:15 --> 00:33:17 just, like, the way, like, my mind works. Yeah.
00:33:17 --> 00:33:18 You know what I mean? Have you been doing that,
00:33:18 --> 00:33:20 like, since you were a kid? Like, just mnemonics?
00:33:20 --> 00:33:24 Yeah. I guess it always just came natural to
00:33:24 --> 00:33:27 me. I guess it seems weird to me that people
00:33:27 --> 00:33:30 don't use that method. Yeah. Because it's so
00:33:30 --> 00:33:35 powerful. Every joke... I have has a one word
00:33:35 --> 00:33:41 name. Sometimes the one word will lean into the
00:33:41 --> 00:33:45 title of the next joke. Oh, yeah. Or sometimes
00:33:45 --> 00:33:50 this joke is about this. Well, it reminds me
00:33:50 --> 00:33:53 of this, which is the next joke. It makes sense
00:33:53 --> 00:33:59 to me. So mnemonic devices are the best way to
00:33:59 --> 00:34:03 remember your material. Yeah. Yeah. I, man, I
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04 totally see that. There was, I forgot which comedian
00:34:04 --> 00:34:06 said it, but like I saw something recently about
00:34:06 --> 00:34:08 like, you know, like what if the word acronym
00:34:08 --> 00:34:11 was an acronym or something like that? Like,
00:34:11 --> 00:34:13 I was like, I was like, man, that was really
00:34:13 --> 00:34:16 funny. Yeah. And that's another one I, um, acronyms
00:34:16 --> 00:34:19 as well. So like I said, every joke has a one
00:34:19 --> 00:34:22 word title. Yeah. Sometimes I'll take the first
00:34:22 --> 00:34:24 letter of those jokes and it'll spell like, maybe
00:34:24 --> 00:34:29 it'll spell rust. Okay, and I'll be oh the next
00:34:29 --> 00:34:32 four jokes are rust, you know, and that's badass.
00:34:32 --> 00:34:34 Yeah Yeah, so you can do like a paragraph and
00:34:34 --> 00:34:37 just know all the jokes man. That is fucking
00:34:37 --> 00:34:38 cool What's the longest set you've ever done?
00:34:39 --> 00:34:43 I've done an hour in terms of like a good 145
00:34:43 --> 00:34:46 A good 45. That's not bad though. It's really
00:34:46 --> 00:34:49 important to do be able to do the one longer
00:34:49 --> 00:34:53 sets That's how you really get better. I really
00:34:53 --> 00:34:56 turn the corner when I was able to get more stage
00:34:56 --> 00:34:58 time and start doing like the half hour sets
00:34:58 --> 00:35:01 and whatnot. In the open mic scene, it's really
00:35:01 --> 00:35:03 hard to get good at comedy doing it three minutes
00:35:03 --> 00:35:07 at a time. Yeah. But once you do like the half
00:35:07 --> 00:35:11 hour pluses, you can really like, you have more
00:35:11 --> 00:35:14 room for air. Yeah. And you can fuck around a
00:35:14 --> 00:35:17 little bit, figure out what works more. Cause
00:35:17 --> 00:35:19 if you're doing like three, five minute sets
00:35:19 --> 00:35:21 all the time, there's not a lot of margin for
00:35:21 --> 00:35:24 air. You're just trying to... Go with what you
00:35:24 --> 00:35:29 know. Yeah, that's true, man. I was telling,
00:35:29 --> 00:35:32 I think it was Jamie Lee when she was on here.
00:35:32 --> 00:35:35 I was saying, I'm not trying to talk myself up
00:35:35 --> 00:35:40 because I'm not good yet, but I prefer shows,
00:35:41 --> 00:35:43 doing shows, because I feel like, one, you get
00:35:43 --> 00:35:47 more time, and two, it just feels like the pressure
00:35:47 --> 00:35:51 is off. You know what I mean? Like, so do you
00:35:51 --> 00:35:54 still go out and do open mics? Yeah. Open mics.
00:35:54 --> 00:35:57 Okay. This is my, this is how I approach open
00:35:57 --> 00:36:01 mics. This is Bobby Lee's advice. It's the best
00:36:01 --> 00:36:04 advice I've ever heard for open micing. The point
00:36:04 --> 00:36:09 of an open mic is to get data. If I go to an
00:36:09 --> 00:36:13 open mic and I can get one piece of data, I'm
00:36:13 --> 00:36:16 cool with it. But what really makes me angry
00:36:16 --> 00:36:19 is when I go waste my time there and I don't
00:36:19 --> 00:36:24 get any information to take back with. So I don't
00:36:24 --> 00:36:27 even, the open mic isn't about getting last for
00:36:27 --> 00:36:32 me. It's about just finding about one piece of
00:36:32 --> 00:36:36 data, about a joke, about the structure of a
00:36:36 --> 00:36:40 joke. Like this idea works. A lot of times I'll
00:36:40 --> 00:36:44 go to an open mic. I'm not even telling jokes.
00:36:45 --> 00:36:47 I'm just throwing out the premise to see if it
00:36:47 --> 00:36:49 gets a chuckle. I'm like, oh, okay, I can mess
00:36:49 --> 00:36:53 around with that one. So someone said that to
00:36:53 --> 00:36:55 me one time. I used to go to like the midnight
00:36:55 --> 00:36:59 mic at the creek. Cause at the midnight mic,
00:36:59 --> 00:37:00 there's no pressure. You just throw anything
00:37:00 --> 00:37:02 out there. And I was just like, I would throw
00:37:02 --> 00:37:04 out premises all the time. And someone stopped
00:37:04 --> 00:37:05 me and was like, you're not even telling jokes.
00:37:06 --> 00:37:10 I know. Relax yeah, I'm doing my shit, but there's
00:37:10 --> 00:37:12 someone I don't have a joke for it yet But I
00:37:12 --> 00:37:14 have an idea did it get a chuckle okay now I
00:37:14 --> 00:37:16 know I can mess with it put it into the form
00:37:16 --> 00:37:19 of a chuck I used to like going to those midnight
00:37:19 --> 00:37:21 mics man And then uh and then it was like I felt
00:37:21 --> 00:37:23 like it was like me and like two other people
00:37:23 --> 00:37:24 you might have even been there to be Honest with
00:37:24 --> 00:37:27 you like how long have you been also Nelson?
00:37:28 --> 00:37:30 I've come and went I've been here. I've been
00:37:30 --> 00:37:36 back in Austin for a full year now okay, I've
00:37:36 --> 00:37:39 spent In comedy, I've done two years in Austin.
00:37:40 --> 00:37:43 I've done a year in LA. You prepared to go on
00:37:43 --> 00:37:46 Kill Tony. How did you feel like your set went
00:37:46 --> 00:37:50 on Kill Tony compared to other sets that you've
00:37:50 --> 00:37:53 done? My most recent appearance are in general.
00:37:54 --> 00:37:56 I guess like your first appearance. When you
00:37:56 --> 00:37:59 basically got up there and everything and you're
00:37:59 --> 00:38:02 in front of that stage, which is crazy. I have
00:38:02 --> 00:38:06 a funny story about that. Hell yeah. Tell it.
00:38:06 --> 00:38:11 So the first time I appeared on Kill Tony, they
00:38:11 --> 00:38:16 had just gotten new producers, and they decided
00:38:16 --> 00:38:21 to go with a smoke machine. What? Yeah. It was
00:38:21 --> 00:38:23 the first episode they ever did a smoke machine
00:38:23 --> 00:38:27 in the mothership. I went out there. I could
00:38:27 --> 00:38:32 not see anything. Really? Anything. And I was
00:38:32 --> 00:38:34 thinking to myself, I would think back on it.
00:38:34 --> 00:38:37 I was like... I couldn't see anything. Is that
00:38:37 --> 00:38:40 just how it's always like or is it just a blur
00:38:40 --> 00:38:42 to me? Then the very next episode of Kill Tony,
00:38:44 --> 00:38:48 the air conditioning goes out. And they figure
00:38:48 --> 00:38:50 out it's because the smoke machine is like tripping
00:38:50 --> 00:38:55 the AC. Okay? And then they had to get rid of
00:38:55 --> 00:38:58 the smoke machine. So I was like, I knew I couldn't
00:38:58 --> 00:39:01 see anything. I knew it. That was when they pulled
00:39:01 --> 00:39:04 the HVAC guy up on stage, right? Yes, I was the
00:39:04 --> 00:39:06 episode before that. That was the first time
00:39:06 --> 00:39:09 they ever tried the smoke machine. And it was
00:39:09 --> 00:39:11 always on my head. Because like, you know how
00:39:11 --> 00:39:14 like things... Things are like a blur, you know,
00:39:14 --> 00:39:16 I'm like, okay, is it just a blur to me or could
00:39:16 --> 00:39:23 I really not see? That's really funny dude, I
00:39:23 --> 00:39:25 specifically remember I could see this dude like
00:39:25 --> 00:39:27 right here and he was like And I kept like making
00:39:27 --> 00:39:29 eye contact with him. So if you didn't see anything
00:39:29 --> 00:39:32 it might have been that fucking smoke. Yeah,
00:39:32 --> 00:39:38 that's why you see it in my two appearances after
00:39:39 --> 00:39:41 When Tony and them are just like bullshit, and
00:39:41 --> 00:39:43 I'm actually like standing there taking it all
00:39:43 --> 00:39:47 in like looking around This is what it looks
00:39:47 --> 00:39:54 like But in terms of how my appearances went
00:39:54 --> 00:40:04 um oh Wow the first one the the first one oh
00:40:04 --> 00:40:08 It didn't they they had a It was weird because
00:40:08 --> 00:40:10 I didn't feel like it went well, but I got like
00:40:10 --> 00:40:13 a really big bump from it. So I'm like, okay,
00:40:13 --> 00:40:15 it must've been all right. But when I look back
00:40:15 --> 00:40:18 on my first appearance, I'm like, I really didn't
00:40:18 --> 00:40:21 even know how to write a joke yet. I say that
00:40:21 --> 00:40:23 just because I've rewritten those jokes and they
00:40:23 --> 00:40:26 work much better now. I learned in my second
00:40:26 --> 00:40:29 appearance that the first joke I need to tell
00:40:29 --> 00:40:31 just needs to be really simple that everyone
00:40:31 --> 00:40:35 can get. And I actually took that. into my third
00:40:35 --> 00:40:38 appearance, which people will see. The first
00:40:38 --> 00:40:41 joke I told was super simple. And Tony actually
00:40:41 --> 00:40:44 calls me out on it and he's like, oh, I get it.
00:40:44 --> 00:40:45 I know what you're doing. You're just swimming
00:40:45 --> 00:40:47 and crowd up. I'm like, yeah, that's exactly
00:40:47 --> 00:40:50 what I was doing. Cause I needed, sometimes you
00:40:50 --> 00:40:52 just need to say something to get them on the
00:40:52 --> 00:40:56 same wavelength as me. And then after I told
00:40:56 --> 00:41:00 that joke, I went out and I told three more one
00:41:00 --> 00:41:04 -liners that absolutely crushed. And, uh, my,
00:41:04 --> 00:41:07 my third appearance, my latest one went very
00:41:07 --> 00:41:09 well. I'm excited. I'm excited to see it, man.
00:41:09 --> 00:41:11 I really am. Cause, uh, cause it's been kind
00:41:11 --> 00:41:13 of, it's been kind of crazy, man. Seeing like,
00:41:13 --> 00:41:15 you know, like your evolution of all this, especially
00:41:15 --> 00:41:19 like you go from like where you were at, like,
00:41:19 --> 00:41:22 you know, LA, you know, you come to Austin and
00:41:22 --> 00:41:24 everything. Did you ever think that it was going
00:41:24 --> 00:41:28 to become what it has been for you? Yes and no.
00:41:28 --> 00:41:31 I mean, I always knew I had potential to kind
00:41:31 --> 00:41:35 of. blow up in a way. Um, I didn't know it was
00:41:35 --> 00:41:38 going to quite be this way because I guess I'm
00:41:38 --> 00:41:39 what I'm saying. I didn't understand how much
00:41:39 --> 00:41:42 like hate I was, I would get because I'm so detached
00:41:42 --> 00:41:45 from it. I guess like people want me to care
00:41:45 --> 00:41:48 about what they have to say about me, but I've
00:41:48 --> 00:41:50 just become so detached from it. People will
00:41:50 --> 00:41:53 see that in the latest interview I have with
00:41:53 --> 00:41:55 Tony. Tony is like really trying to grill me.
00:41:55 --> 00:41:56 And I'm just straight up telling him like, dude,
00:41:56 --> 00:42:01 I don't care anymore. I'm so detached from it.
00:42:01 --> 00:42:04 I told him, I'm like, dude, I'm just trying to
00:42:04 --> 00:42:07 shit shower and shave. And he's like, no, give
00:42:07 --> 00:42:08 me a real answer. I'm like, that's the answer,
00:42:08 --> 00:42:13 dude. I know everyone deals with stuff, but I
00:42:13 --> 00:42:15 kind of get like, a lot of times I get like such
00:42:15 --> 00:42:17 a barrage of bullshit thrown my way. The only
00:42:17 --> 00:42:20 way to make it through it is just to detach from
00:42:20 --> 00:42:23 it. Yeah. I love what you said about that on
00:42:23 --> 00:42:26 Rick Diaz's podcast, that quote about the brilliance
00:42:26 --> 00:42:29 is the counterpart. Yeah. You said, like, of
00:42:29 --> 00:42:31 everyone telling you what to do, you know? And
00:42:31 --> 00:42:34 I think you said it was like a beautiful statement,
00:42:34 --> 00:42:38 you know? And I just, I really, that resonated
00:42:38 --> 00:42:40 with me because it's like, it's such a human,
00:42:40 --> 00:42:43 it's just a human thing, man. It's like, you
00:42:43 --> 00:42:45 know, you're just doing your thing, you know?
00:42:46 --> 00:42:48 And so I love that, dude. I love that, I love
00:42:48 --> 00:42:50 that you, like you said also, I think you said
00:42:50 --> 00:42:52 that you were like fueled by this kind of hate,
00:42:53 --> 00:42:55 you know? Oh, I would have quit so long ago.
00:42:56 --> 00:43:00 If people would just shut up, I would have quit
00:43:00 --> 00:43:03 so long ago. And the thing is, people always
00:43:03 --> 00:43:06 have something, people are always gonna try to
00:43:06 --> 00:43:09 tell you what to do for some reason. If I change
00:43:09 --> 00:43:12 everything about me today, they'll find a new
00:43:12 --> 00:43:16 reason to hate me tomorrow. That's the reality.
00:43:16 --> 00:43:18 People love to hate. But what's really cool is
00:43:18 --> 00:43:21 I do have a lot of support, and I have a lot
00:43:21 --> 00:43:24 of fans. Uh, well, maybe not that many, but I
00:43:24 --> 00:43:27 have people who like me and that's cool. Yeah,
00:43:27 --> 00:43:30 man. It's cool when they, people say nice things
00:43:30 --> 00:43:32 to me. I appreciate it. Yeah. So would you say
00:43:32 --> 00:43:34 that like the support outweighs the negativity?
00:43:35 --> 00:43:37 I mean, and this will get deep, but I do have
00:43:37 --> 00:43:42 people who message me or stop me and they'll,
00:43:42 --> 00:43:44 they'll tell me like, Hey, you know, I was in
00:43:44 --> 00:43:48 a really bad place. I was, you know, I was getting
00:43:48 --> 00:43:53 ready to and I found you. and it really helped
00:43:53 --> 00:43:57 me. And that stuff is always going to outweigh
00:43:57 --> 00:44:02 some jackass saying stupid shit. No, I love that.
00:44:03 --> 00:44:06 I love that for you. I love that you hang on
00:44:06 --> 00:44:08 mostly to the support and you kind of just like
00:44:08 --> 00:44:12 say fuck the hate, you know, because it's especially
00:44:12 --> 00:44:15 this whole thing with comedy. It's like. You're
00:44:15 --> 00:44:17 gonna get fucking hate. People are gonna fucking
00:44:17 --> 00:44:20 hate you. Yeah, it's an entitlement to think
00:44:20 --> 00:44:23 you can have positivity without negativity. And
00:44:23 --> 00:44:27 nothing's that serious. That's what I don't think
00:44:27 --> 00:44:29 people understand when it comes to this whole
00:44:29 --> 00:44:31 comedy thing. It's comedy. It's comedy, man.
00:44:31 --> 00:44:37 It's fucking... I think comics take comedy too
00:44:37 --> 00:44:41 seriously in terms of... Comedy's become like
00:44:41 --> 00:44:44 a game of podcasting. where it's like, let's
00:44:44 --> 00:44:47 get on a podcast and say some drama. I don't
00:44:47 --> 00:44:49 want to do that shit. I just want to go up there
00:44:49 --> 00:44:52 and tell a joke about a toaster. You know, like
00:44:52 --> 00:44:56 this is cool. It's a chill conversation, but
00:44:56 --> 00:44:58 like, you know, you see other podcasts is like,
00:44:58 --> 00:45:01 let's just go drama, drama, drama, drama. Fuck
00:45:01 --> 00:45:04 that. I don't want to be a comedian who's like
00:45:04 --> 00:45:07 that. I just see a toaster, make a joke about
00:45:07 --> 00:45:10 a toaster. That's me. I know I told you before,
00:45:10 --> 00:45:13 like the fucking your moon joke. Oh my God. I'm
00:45:13 --> 00:45:14 literally, I'm going to post, I'm going to, if
00:45:14 --> 00:45:16 that's cool with you, I'm going to put that,
00:45:16 --> 00:45:18 the moon joke in this video. I don't believe
00:45:18 --> 00:45:23 in the moon landing. I believe it will stay in
00:45:23 --> 00:45:26 orbit. Dude, what I love about that joke too
00:45:26 --> 00:45:28 is that it's so, it's just, it's so right there.
00:45:29 --> 00:45:31 It's like right there. Like the punchline, everything
00:45:31 --> 00:45:33 was just right there. Yeah. That's, that's what,
00:45:34 --> 00:45:36 that's what, that's one of the best comp. I think
00:45:36 --> 00:45:40 that's the best compliment a comedian can get.
00:45:40 --> 00:45:43 is when someone tells them like, oh, that was
00:45:43 --> 00:45:46 right there. Um, but I love it when people tell
00:45:46 --> 00:45:48 me like, oh, that was right there. Cause that's
00:45:48 --> 00:45:53 what pisses me off the most is, um, when I hear
00:45:53 --> 00:45:57 a, uh, a joke and I'm like, how did I not think
00:45:57 --> 00:46:02 of that? It's yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I can't wait
00:46:02 --> 00:46:04 to, I can't wait to like post it just cause I
00:46:04 --> 00:46:06 want like, I want everybody to fucking see it.
00:46:06 --> 00:46:08 Cause it's me. Like when I saw it, I was like,
00:46:08 --> 00:46:12 oh, Oh, it was just literally right there. I
00:46:12 --> 00:46:16 actually haven't told that joke in front of a
00:46:16 --> 00:46:19 real crowd yet. I don't even know. We'll see
00:46:19 --> 00:46:21 if it actually works in front of a real audience.
00:46:22 --> 00:46:25 Oh, dude, I really would love to know. I'll get
00:46:25 --> 00:46:27 a clip of it eventually. We'll see if it works.
00:46:27 --> 00:46:31 Yeah, man, absolutely. Have you ever heard of
00:46:31 --> 00:46:34 Geechee Guy? I don't think so. I'll have to send
00:46:34 --> 00:46:37 you some of his stuff, man. I think he's in the
00:46:37 --> 00:46:39 Guinness Book of World Records. He holds like,
00:46:39 --> 00:46:43 I think he told like 667 jokes in like an hour
00:46:43 --> 00:46:45 or something like that. Okay. Just some kind
00:46:45 --> 00:46:48 of crazy thing. Like he's like for the most joke
00:46:48 --> 00:46:50 writing, but he has a lot of those kind of like,
00:46:50 --> 00:46:53 like jokes that are just like right there. Oh,
00:46:53 --> 00:46:55 okay. I'll have to check that out then. Yeah.
00:46:55 --> 00:46:58 I'll send it to you, man. Is it, it's like in
00:46:58 --> 00:47:02 a, a standup setting or are you just? Yeah. Oh,
00:47:02 --> 00:47:04 okay. Yeah. He's a, he's a standup comedian.
00:47:04 --> 00:47:06 He was around the eighties and the nineties and
00:47:06 --> 00:47:09 Oh, okay. You know, he was really good, man.
00:47:09 --> 00:47:11 I don't know when he passed. I think it was sometime
00:47:11 --> 00:47:14 in the early 2000s or something. And I wish I
00:47:14 --> 00:47:15 had, like, the ability. I would love to have
00:47:15 --> 00:47:17 the ability to be like, oh, let's watch this.
00:47:17 --> 00:47:19 You know, I'm still kind of learning. Oh, yeah.
00:47:19 --> 00:47:22 But yeah, dude, like, I'll send you some of his
00:47:22 --> 00:47:24 clips. I think you might like them. Yeah, I'm
00:47:24 --> 00:47:26 surprised I haven't heard of it. Maybe I have
00:47:26 --> 00:47:27 seen them and I just don't know it, but yeah.
00:47:28 --> 00:47:31 Yeah, he's a... I wish I could think of, like,
00:47:31 --> 00:47:33 one of his jokes for you, but like... But his
00:47:33 --> 00:47:35 jokes are just very much like, they're funny
00:47:35 --> 00:47:37 as fuck, and you're just like, fuck, it's like
00:47:37 --> 00:47:40 right there. It was right there, you know? Like,
00:47:40 --> 00:47:43 I don't know, man. They're pretty fucking good.
00:47:43 --> 00:47:45 I'll just send you anything, dude. Yeah, that's
00:47:45 --> 00:47:47 the thing. That's the thing. That's my approach
00:47:47 --> 00:47:50 to comedy is I'm not trying to go up there and
00:47:50 --> 00:47:54 say something like so profound. Yeah. I think
00:47:54 --> 00:47:56 that's another mistake comedians make is they
00:47:56 --> 00:48:00 try so hard to say something interesting or profound.
00:48:02 --> 00:48:05 You don't have to. You can say the dumbest freaking
00:48:05 --> 00:48:09 thing, and if it gets a laugh, then it works.
00:48:09 --> 00:48:12 Yeah. You know, we were talking about acronyms.
00:48:12 --> 00:48:15 Ever heard Kiss? The acronym Kiss? Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:16 --> 00:48:23 Okay. Another method is the saying, play chess,
00:48:23 --> 00:48:26 not checkers, not comedy. Just play checkers.
00:48:26 --> 00:48:30 Just play checkers. I love that, dude. Just play
00:48:30 --> 00:48:33 checkers, man. Hell yeah, dude. Well, um, did
00:48:33 --> 00:48:34 you, uh, let's see, did you want to put anything
00:48:34 --> 00:48:37 out at all? Or like for like anybody, like anything
00:48:37 --> 00:48:41 that's coming up, like anything new or? No, not,
00:48:41 --> 00:48:46 uh, not, not right now, man. I'm just laying
00:48:46 --> 00:48:50 low. And then I think, uh, I think next week
00:48:50 --> 00:48:52 there's going to be some traffic coming my way
00:48:52 --> 00:48:54 and hopefully I get some more stuff going then
00:48:54 --> 00:48:57 and yeah. Hell yeah, dude. Oh yeah. You got any
00:48:57 --> 00:49:01 shows or anything? Shows right now. That was
00:49:01 --> 00:49:07 a weird way to ask that, but yeah. No, I don't
00:49:07 --> 00:49:11 have any like headlining gigs coming up. But
00:49:11 --> 00:49:15 I'm sure I'm gonna get some more stuff here soon,
00:49:16 --> 00:50:00 so. Fucking right, dude. Hell yeah, man. The
00:50:00 --> 00:50:03 galaxy wants to know. Are you having sexual relations
00:50:03 --> 00:50:08 with Senator Amidala? Absolutely. That's strictly
00:50:08 --> 00:50:12 against Jedi code. Master Yoda is 900 years old.
00:50:12 --> 00:50:17 Never seen a woman naked. Do I lack discipline?
00:50:18 --> 00:50:22 What about Mace Windu? Master Windu's fucked
00:50:22 --> 00:50:24 so many people his lightsabers turned purple.
00:50:24 --> 00:50:27 Okay, fair enough. What about Obi -Wan? He's
00:50:27 --> 00:50:29 a stickler for the rules. Obi -Wan would fuck
00:50:29 --> 00:50:35 Padme if he could. He's a creep. He'd follow
00:50:35 --> 00:50:40 her to... ...Mustafar. Is being in a relationship
00:50:40 --> 00:50:44 with Padme worth all the trouble? I can save
00:50:44 --> 00:50:47 her. We have a saying on Earth. She don't want
00:50:47 --> 00:50:53 to be saved. Don't save her. What are you suggesting?
00:50:54 --> 00:50:56 I'm just saying, maybe let her breathe a little.
00:50:56 --> 00:50:59 Did Obi -Wan tell you to say that? No. Maybe
00:50:59 --> 00:51:06 just give her some space. There's a rumor that
00:51:06 --> 00:51:08 the senator is pregnant. Are you looking forward
00:51:08 --> 00:51:12 to having kids? I'm great with younglings. How
00:51:12 --> 00:51:15 would you play with your kids? Build them a sandbox?
00:51:15 --> 00:51:18 It's real funny. I bet Obi -Wan told you to say
00:51:18 --> 00:51:21 that. I'll force choke you right here if I have
00:51:21 --> 00:51:28 to. We have the results of the DNA test. We're
00:51:28 --> 00:51:31 gonna find out who Anakin Skywalker's father
00:51:31 --> 00:51:35 is. Some say it's Kurt Cobain. Some say it's
00:51:35 --> 00:51:38 Mitch Hedberg. I don't know who those people
00:51:38 --> 00:51:40 are. All right, Anakin Skywalker, your father
00:51:40 --> 00:51:53 is Watto. Is that a joke to you? Obi -Wan put
00:51:53 --> 00:51:57 you up to this. It's not always Obi -Wan. Do
00:51:57 --> 00:52:01 you want to do this interview? I did. Then you
00:52:01 --> 00:52:05 turned on me. Not everyone is turning on you.