Couple Things with Shawn and Andrew - John Crist

Episode Date: July 24, 2025

We loved catching up with John!!! Our conversation bounced between light and deep—covering everything from the chaos of his love life to the raw, honest truths about addiction, depression, and the road to healing. Of course, we somehow ended up laughing every other minute. We also talked about his upcoming comedy tour and everything there is to look forward to!! It was vulnerable, hilarious, and everything in between. Hope you enjoy! Love you guys! Shawn & Andrew You can find John's tour dates, book and more here! ▶ https://johncristcomedy.com/ Follow John ▶ https://www.https://www.instagram.com/johnbcrist/ Beam Kids is now available online at https://www.shopbeam.com/COUPLETHINGS Take advantage of our exclusive discount of up to 40% off using code COUPLETHINGS Subscribe to our newsletter ▶ https://www.familymade.com/newsletter Follow our podcast Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/shawnandandrewpods/ Follow My Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/ShawnJohnson Follow My Tik Tok ▶ https://www.tiktok.com/@shawnjohnson Shop My LTK Page ▶ https://www.shopltk.com/explore/shawnjohnson Like the Facebook page! ▶ https://www.facebook.com/ShawnJohnson Follow Andrew’s Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/AndrewDEast Andrew’s Tik Tok ▶ https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewdeast?lang=en Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to a couple things interviews. With Sean and Andrew. Today we have, I would say, one of our best friends. He might not say that back to us. But we have the incredibly funny comedian, John Chris. John was a guy that I strived to be friends with for years. And then we actually became friends with him. And now we've known him for seven years or so. And he's delightful. I actually enjoy his conversations off camera more than I do the conversations we have with him on camera. He is incredibly thoughtful, always has an interesting perspective, and yes, he is hilarious, but he is also, like, worth listening to. And if you

listen to the things that he says, I think you'll be challenged. He's definitely experienced a lot in his life, had challenges of his own. And we talk about a lot of it. So I hope you gleaned something new from this conversation with John, maybe something that you pull away from. If you do, Share it in the comments and let us know if you want more guests like John and who that might be. We're open to recommendations. But thank you, John, for your time and thank you for listening. Let's roll into this one. You said you had a conversation.

You can drink your coffee. Do you mind if I actually sit there? In between you guys? I'd feel better just as a guest. I feel like I just feel better. I'm just joking. No, you can go back to your other seat. I will.

Okay. You said he had a conversation with Lydia. Are we seeing Lydia? Yeah. Okay. Fine. Oh, my God. You have to do about 13 seconds of research to figure that out.

Okay. Where you had a conversation where you didn't feel like you could talk about something and not feel ashamed. Yeah. Have you always been able to do that? No. How long did it take you to get through that? Oh. And do you think that comes with having a supportive partner?

Or do you think that comes with a whole lot of things? I mean, I'm a man of faith So become from A, how God feels about you And then how you feel about yourself And then a partner could obviously do significant things To tear that down or build that up But I think it was in I always told the story where

When I went to rehab in 2019 They would come in there And these people obviously know everything about you And every secret you ever have You tell them your whole story Mm-hmm And they go, we're proud of you for coming in here. And you're like, what?

You know what I'm saying? That's the opposite of what the religion I grew up in. They were like, if you, you know, you're bad, you're excluded, you're made a poor choice, especially a lot of religious, there's a lot of shame. And they would incur all day, it was like the second place I went to rehab, it was like a step-down facility. So you were, it was kind of nine to five. So you go nine to five, do all the classes, and then you go home to an apartment

complexes in Hattiesburg and then you had your phone and I would it was I was so uncomfortable with them saying that they were proud of me that I was a good person that I would get on Twitter and go find bad stuff about me does that make sense because that is how I felt that's what y'all probably saw the tail end of you were like you guys are like you're a good guy do we love hanging I was like there's no way because I didn't feel that about myself so how are you ever going to believe someone else if they say that about you there's like there's no possible way and every time you get something good they're like oh they just probably needed you know you get invited to like a celebrity's game or whatever they're like oh they prep somebody probably backed out you know you would like that's a

funny example but you by default put yourself down i don't know why it's a safer it's it makes me think that's like a really powerful side effect of uh healthy marriage i think is the reduction of those false narratives that you can start stacking where it's like, whoa, I'm around this person all the time. I've tried to do a better job. This does not come naturally to me to say,

John, I'm all up in my head about this. And I've done a better job, I think, the last like six months. And she'll be like, oh, hey, don't worry about it. Actually, there was something that happened like two years ago. You won't remember it. But like, I was like, I was like palm sweating,

nervous all the time. And I just after a while brought up to Sean. She's like, no big deal. This is, this is just what happened. I was like, oh, snaps you out of it. And you're like, I start to see the light to the smoke. And you're like, okay. That's how you, yeah.

But I'm curious that, one, that is a massive responsibility, too. And it takes a lot of awareness and practice, I think. But as far as, you know, Sean saying you're a good guy, you're saying that feel good. Do you think you were good at your profession because of that desire that you have for people pleasing? Or do you think that that's an unfortunate quality that you bring to your profession? You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I think it's, we've got me and, like, some of the, I'm, like, on the top, like, five of, like, touring comedians. And then, like, unfortunately, the, yeah, no, no, no, no, no, I'm not saying, like, no, no, I'm not saying like that.

I'm not saying like that, but, like, the top, I'm on, I wouldn't say in the top five currently, but I'm, I'm, all the other for I'm the go live here like all the other ones are like you're like I'm at the top of the list and all the other ones are my buddies that are yeah so it's like when we talk about that all the time about how like you wouldn't like for example if another comic lists like if I'm an unhealthy spot we've joked about this before like shows sold out in Austin Texas you go to their website see what the venue is, Google the capacity, or like go to Ticketmaster and like look up the seating chart to see how many tickets they've sold. You're doing that when you see other comedians sell.

When you're, when I'm unhealthy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That you just go and we, and I don't think you, I don't think you become great at this, at this job without, I don't think you're professional basketball player.

You don't, LeBron James, you see what Steph Curry's doing, and you go, I got to be better. I think that's what makes, certainly as an athlete, you would have something to say on this topic. You certainly go see the, I know you always, like, who do you hate the Russians or who's your, who's your rival? This would be an interesting conversation because I would debunk you. You would? My competition is just me.

Yeah. I was never allowed to watch my other competitors You weren't If you go back and watch I was like in a corner And I would not watch You wouldn't hear the news I'm about like oh there's a lot of chat

A lot of Nostia Lucan chatter out there I think my biggest competitor was Nostia And so like we would push each other But Outside of that now You wouldn't Yeah how do you view the other competitors You don't want to compete against them

For sure She got a 9.76 on the uneven bars or whatever And you're like I gotta get it it was a different psychological conversation back in the day because I was a child so like the strategy for my coach and like my entire plan was to

keep distractions at a minimum and say like this is the score we're trying to beat we're going to go beat it in any way possible but I'm not going to watch them to figure out how to do it I'm going to do it in my own way yeah yeah I think the comparison to or like wanting approval I think think Jerry Seinfeld talked about he's like if you got this at birth you got this gift basket

you're going to be a great businessman you're going to be ultra competitive but it's also going to come with I would say mine let me put mine you're going to be very funny going to be very observant about the culture but it's also going to come with a little bit of depression it's also going to come with a little bit of jealousy or comparison would you take this whole basket And I would say 10 times out of 10. Does that make sense? It's going to come with some other things. If you're going to become great,

it's unfortunately going to come with some other qualities that in your personal life probably are not helpful for you. So how do you continue the profession and still progress your personal life without falling victim, not victim, but like falling back down a slippery slope? Did Lydia give you this question? No.

Ask him about this, please. I would say if I have a I would say I have an idea I have an idea of a video that I want to make okay am I making it out of I think God gave me this ability to look at the culture and verbalize it in a way that other people are like yes thank you or that they appreciate it that it inspires other people makes them laugh you're helping versus i need to get back in the algorithm or i need some it's i need some i need to fire up this engine to get some to get some my my validation so you just kind of have to be honest with it why are you making this what do you what's they kind of have to look yourself in the mirror a little bit and sometimes i just want to get back in that algorithm i don't like when people come on podcasts or like, I do an ice bath every more. I'm like, you're a regular person, dude. It'll be a normal person. I still struggle with it, is what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Then you go, gosh, I want to be, yeah, I want to get invited to the thing. I think me and, me and Lydia, we were, it was some, like, I like to write jokes and tell jokes. That's like on my, right above my door, write jokes and tell jokes. All the other stuff is getting invited to the red carpets uh presenting the award that is uh the celebrity golf tournaments that is all second they're like i need to go if i'm trying to think of something that i would say that she'd be like no i need to go to this uh i need to make an appearance of this thing to i need to go to the day 2 to 500 it'll be good for my exposure you're like stop i just want to go there a lot of people recognize me there i'm popular there i have a good time she goes yeah all right

As long as you can admit that, you go have a good time. I like that. Yeah, versus... The accountability side of it. Yeah. I've always... I tell you that story about the Range Rover. No.

When I was in rehab, I had Honda Civic. And then I, when I got canceled, I had to come back six months later for, like, a recheck. And I came back with a, like, blacked-out... The Black Ranger Rover. And my therapist was like, what's going on here? And I go... I go into this, like...

I go, well, I, like, drive a little. lot of long distances and I like I need like a safe car because there's like semi trucks around and then like I play a lot of golf and I I can't really have like trunk I need it and they just go you're lying and they go go home think about that and we'll talk tomorrow there's my only instructions and I went home and I go all right I feel like I was on top professionally I got notched down a bit and this having this car would be like oh that guy must be and when I went, picked up a girl on a date or when I pulled them to a valet,

I was a little insecure, this feels good. And they go, do you have enough money for that? I go, yeah. Are you hurting anyone else by having that? I go, no. They go, have a good time. All they wanted to do was get you

to be honest with yourself. And then they did, it wasn't like, if I was, my kids couldn't go to school because they would be like, all right, this ranger might be a problem, but they were like, all right, you're free to go. But you thought, Maybe their response would have been, like, shaming, like, oh, you're so arrogant or this is so unnecessary.

Or we need to work on this, or maybe there's some things to unpack from your childhood. They're like, all good. Do you feel like now that you had the big pivot moment, you did the therapy sequence, is there a temptation to think, like, I'm good? Yeah, that's why I try to say that I'm still, I follow up every thing I say with, like, I still just want to get attention on the internet. Yeah. Just because I'd be going to church sometimes And the pastor was like, I was really of a struggle this week.

I got an extra shot of espresso And then I parked in the handicapped parking spot. I was like, That cannot be your biggest problem. Surely. You have worse thoughts than that. Yeah. That's what comedy.

I think comedy is just verbalizing the things that you think out loud. Is there a downside to, you mentioned like the depression. Why is there a correlation there? I think it would like my girlfriend would like I walk around and I like I like I'm like very emotional are you laughing yeah Sean wow he's trying to share I think I thank you dude we're just two guys trying to share right now she's like I'm very emotional um that you like ingest

everything like we go like I like I can't like I was like Gosh, I go with the loud muffler. Lydia was like, just let it go. I was like, I need to go talk to him. She's like, no. Or like the news. You watch it. It's all very heavy, you know, like things that have happened in Nashville, like tragedies.

I like ingest them all. And then I try to like synthesize it into like maybe comedy or humor where it could be. But sometimes it doesn't come out. It just kind of gets stuck in there. And then you're just like, why? the world this way everybody's the worst everybody has bad intentions everybody nobody you know what I'm saying you just kind of go around in there that that's it yeah when I'm not in a good place two questions I have is comedy in a

twisted way a little bit or comedians filled with pain thousand percent and it's just like a masking technique to deal with it I don't even know if it's masked but yes I got it yeah I don't think it's masked I don't think it's masked unless you I'll never forget we went to your first show back Oh yeah Yeah

Oh yeah And I remember The Prius and the Prius joke With the You're dating somebody Or you pull back into your dad's house With the Prius Oh

I can bring that joke back Yeah that was a good But I'll never remember Sitting there as your friends Listening to it And watching everybody Who didn't know you Yeah

laugh so uncontrollably at funny jokes when it's like your friend sitting there listen to certain jokes and you're like dang that's actually like that's true and like it's actually a personal experience and that's actually like a really dark thing that you went through but you're making it so light and people are so funny

does it help you heal through things that you are going through or is it just a way to like like a coper or like uh like uh i i have this uh joke about my dad about how like my dad uh he was a real like manly man and i'm not and he'll be like hey john like he was like john uh like go it's one my favorite it's a whole joke he was working on something in the garage and he needs he goes John, go get me the Phillips. I came back with the neighbors.

It's a stupid joke. But I, it comes from a real insecurity. Like my brothers would always be working with my dad in the, and I was more into like theater or like art. I wasn't really like, they were, I remember drilling, they were drilling, they were drilling, pounding, like hanging out with my dad. I, that comes from a real wound. Not a wound, but just like a reality that I didn't, I wasn't even.

really interested in that and so i'll make a joke a thousand people are like dying laughing it does it is very therapeutic okay and i still love to tell jokes that have meaning like that to me so you're not sacrificing yourself to not heal in order to be funny so it actually is like a coping mechanism or like a healing thing for you yeah or you'd see you see things in the culture like our podcast You just see things You're like for real angry about them DoorDash is offering financing now That's 100%

Wait for the meals that you order Yes you can finance your door And I go delivery? Yes So if you're like getting a Chipotle Instead of like $15 you can do like $7.50 this month, $7.00 or I don't know what And I go I was That to me is

A gigantic red flag Yeah. A gigantic. I was like, this is terrifying. It genuinely, now, we try to massage it in a way, but I'm really angry about that. But you make it fun because that's it. You're like, does everybody else feel that, am I insane? Or is this the wildest thing I've ever seen? If everybody's like, yeah, dude, we need financing for, like, Chipotle. I was like, what? But it comes from a real place of, I don't know, I guess. I think my Lydia can just like see things

She works in the news She can just see things She has to disconnect from it Because she's reporting on like She was reporting on like murder Every night And I sometimes I go Babe I can't like watch

I can't keep It's too much It's too heavy It's too I just wear it so like Deepless But I think that it's good If you watch any of the greatest comics

I think look at the run That Nate Bargatsy's been on Some of his observations about his relationship, about his daughter, about him as a husband, is so unbelievable that he must wear that so heavily. Otherwise, he wouldn't make a joke about it. You write about what you think about, the great comics do. That's why I keep coming back to topics about faith. But I feel like I talk more about as you get older, you start paying a lot of money in taxes. And you go, I would like to have something to say about what's going on here.

When you're a kid, you don't think about that. You don't care about it. So everything, every topic is something that I care about deeply. It's a joke, but it's not a joke. Which, I mean, we talked about this the other day, John, the whole idea that everyone kind of needs therapy and has to have some coping mechanism. So what are we doing? You know what I'm talking about?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody needs to have something. Whether if you're in the You're in the airplane I know what he's talking about Oh do I think well John and I were just kind of going back and forth Yeah Sean you aren't a part of this guy

If you're in the airplane you're sitting up there And somebody's on like watching YouTube loudly And you're like And you look around to see if anybody And then these guys goes and you go Yeah thank you like if you're in the group text about your kids game or whatever and some mom puts something wild in there which i'm sure happens you text the other mom that's your friend you're like i can't believe

just because you either disagree or think that's a wild thing to say versus of your what you would say would be acceptable and you're like surely somebody else and then you go oh i can't feel but you're looking for some kind of stability in life or to try to navigate it somehow you need some support yeah i agree that's what comedy when it's when it's done well it should help you well it's almost like a a more public version of it's a more useful version of gossiping in a certain way i'm thinking like gossip is like this angsty useless thing meant to tear down yeah yeah yeah but like in in your profession you're like taking that thing that people usually say behind the doors yeah and say what was the example

you gave of the couple the CPAP machine thing yeah you know what I'm saying? Yeah with the I was at Tim Hawkins it was his show I went to see him and he's he started talking about the CPAP machine he's like isn't that

isn't that heightened boost romantic if I mean it's like I would sound like Darth Vader hey babe put on your nicest outfit and he was doing this whole thing I saw I was sitting off at the side stage I saw a sitting in the front this was more than laughter

these people were undone because that is obviously been a point of difficulty he probably has a lot of shame about it because that's embarrassing she's probably feeling lack of connection when he has to put the it's like a

that has become a barrier in their relationship he put it in a way that like yeah gossip would be her going to her other friend that her husband has one to be like I can't believe these guys and it was, that would bring them apart.

This, in a way, would bring them together. Yeah. In a healing way. Yeah, that's really powerful. Comedy's not always, it doesn't always work out like that. But when it does, it's the best. Yeah. We're talking about that and then the parenting tips from John and Andrew.

Now, we're talking, dude. Now, I like to go on a parenting podcast. Well, just the whole tiger with Dondra Agassi vibe of, you know, the father how i was actually talking jet had his first baseball game this past oh yeah yeah t-ball but do we want to talk about your remember your strategy hilarious yeah is that what we're talking about that's what i thought you're talking about yes yes yes yes see i knew i can't say that on a podcast it's the wildest thing i've ever you can't no say it please say i'll back you up dude i back you up well we're just going back and forth and i think i had just finished on andra agassi's

book open which is phenomenal but it's all about how his dad just really overdid it on putting him on the tennis court yeah we just bumped into and erotic too so it's top of mind tiger woods yeah so he's in the news yeah and i was thinking about him and his dad who also over overpushed him yeah and then uh and i was just thinking about how like we talk about therapy that do better help do marriage counseling we all need it was said ingest we know we all need it but also kind of serious. No, go ahead. We'll be quiet. Me and Sean. Hey, we're going to be quiet. Go ahead, Andrew. The thought occurred.

Like, hey, if we all need therapy and counseling, we might as well get therapy and counseling with, you know, a couple of green jackets, US Open championships, and a couple million dollars. You know what I'm saying? You know exactly what the kid's problem is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we just got to work on this. And they'll forgive it.

Yeah. Just go to the range. The entire world would be like, it was a dad problem. And so at least it's open, at least potential spouses now. You don't have to do years of soul searching. No. At least you're crying, but you're on a yon. We all knew, yes.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Well, I think what my therapist said one time is that my kids are probably going to be in therapy because I've over-therapies them. So you're like, no, I don't think any parent or child listening to this is like, no one's really getting out of this thing unscathed. To your point. We'll know exactly what the issue is. Might as well pound in like a, my dad had to. he was on it worked on his dad's milk truck got up at 4 a.m.

And it like, it was like, this is wild for a kid. But at least he has a great work ethic. That's kind of what you're saying. Yeah, exactly. He has no problem getting up early and working hard and working all day. We know that this unhealthy input will lead to this output. That is very predictable. I do want to say.

No, Sean, no. No, this might surprise you. There was a clip of a podcast that I saw. It was called like the health. sports parent podcast whatever it's probably in your network where she was saying like you need to have a conversation with your middle you know whether it's like a little older age elementary or middle school kid your athlete and say like this is your thing not my thing like I'm not going to push you to like get there because this is your thing like this is what

a healthy sports parent should do and it was actually shocking majority of the comments were taking and your side it is my job to get that green jacket for my child and i was like yeah you were like the opposite of what we've been talking about literally this is crazy you go to the comments and they're all not what you thought no they were they were literally like my duty as a parent is to push them wow so hard and like to get them to that elite level and to get them to that NFL and and i was like oh my gosh it's terrifying here's a cat terrifying yeah you will break a child yeah i think I think there's a Venn diagram of talented kids

and over-driving parents that burn out and never succeed. And I think there's way more overdriving parents than there are talented kids, right? Yeah, that will never succeed. And every once in a while, every once in a while the stars align and you get a parent who pushes their kid

and the kid is Tiger Woods and then you get a generational talent. And you go look at... And he got really lucky, but still he's got trauma. But then what ends up happening is you have kids who end up falling in love with the sport who probably aren't the

god-given talented people who have supportive parents and that ends up working out but like the most talented sometimes won't ever get a shot because their parents will break them before they get there dang that's the fact right there and you yeah I think if you go I mean my

parents I think the other what funny about the premise you have is that it seems like now is you are three weeks in you're like I'm not going to be starting you're like I'm quitting and you're saying we're not quitting in it we're not yeah you know you're not quitting like all the that's why everybody's gets so frustrated with the nil and they go why I'm not I'm not a I'm not a I'm gonna go I'm gonna sit for three years

learn how to become great right there's none of that so everybody just goes I'm like oh the coach didn't it was a little bit of a tough love or he like nope I'm out and that's what you're saying the parents got you know you're not now I've heard like We're going to sit down in the spring. And if say you want to play tennis, we're going to decide that now. For sure. If you do, you're not quitting. For sure.

And we can decide again next summer if you want to keep going. Yes. But ultimately, it will be your choice. Yeah, but here's my, I really think, though, it almost. You're now on a parenting part. It makes little to no difference. John Chris. Back to the, back to the narrative thing.

It's like that kid, I could be the best dad ever. And then have one moment where I say, jet. don't do that because he's standing on a dangerous thing or whatever and he's like my dad used to yell at me you know what I'm saying and then you're like well what are we doing anyway so might as well stack the U.S. open dude just freaking out to a certain extent I like how that's very very very arrogant to be like our kids obviously going to like as if that's on the table might as well win a few great jackets while we're at it as if that's an option I think the last time we golfed I shot a 120 or something like that might as well

but the thing I will say is you gave a great example saying you and your brothers were different you favorite theater whereas your other brothers are over there with drill sets and like whatever I do believe every child has a god-given talent and interest in something

and it's our duty as parents to help them find whatever that is and to help foster that agree so jet is our three-year-old, bikes. Yep. Don't know how and don't know why.

It's bikes. We didn't push that on him. He literally stole a bike from his older sister and that's all he wants. He's into bikes. Yeah. Yeah. Now, if we spend the rest of our lives pushing him to be a football player, that's not fair to him. I agree.

Because his interest is in bikes. So it's our job to help figure out how he can get every. every opportunity he wants in that world. Set jet down a bit, listen, there's no money in bikes. Exactly. I got you, dude, yeah. But I think that's what's, like, missing now. Nobody in bikes, Jet.

Okay, we've got to wrap this up, bud. You ever heard of the famous mountain biker? No, you haven't. Let's get in there in the weight room. No, my, my brother, heads up. Oh, my God. Sorry. Speaking of.

What was it? Oh, that broke. Oh, wow. All right, we're going. You're going to take it off there? Stand up with Andrew. Oh, yeah. When me and my brother have talked about this all the time, we went to Walmart or something, I don't know, and there was a, you can buy a bike in Walmart.

You know, there's a bunch of, so there's a kid riding one, and my brother, we've talked about me and my brother, as adults, I've talked about this. And he goes, dad, I want, can I get a bike? And my dad said, we don't have any money. and my brother has gone on to be like a like a world class works in finance and he felt that to your point that we're interesting I was there

I was and it didn't connect with me yeah yeah yeah he goes he was so embarrassed that that we don't have money and he hated that feeling so much that he from that I mean he was like in high school he had like his own vending machines he was like doing like business deals with And he's wildly successful.

And he said it's because of that. Interesting. And I was there. And my temperament or my, whatever you say, however I was born or whatever, didn't, it wasn't trauma for me. It was for him. The exact same situation. So I think, I'm not a parent, but you as, you can't be, I have to, they're going to get it somehow. Well, and it's the whole idea of like, no, and we could try whatever we want.

like our kids are are their own little people yeah they have their own little things we can't create that life like our yeah whatever and my I've talked to some of the stuff in my book about my own and my siblings are like reading it like what

they're like we were there and I don't remember yeah and I'm like there's some these memories in there that was like so that had been being bullied and they were like we don't remember it like that or like we you know because you took it as like that Walmart

that's the end of the world so I think as I would imagine as a parent you can't it would be almost next to your impossible to escape out of life with no well but then so I'm in this like men's group

and they're all 50 years old 20 years or so older than I am talking about their parenting experiences and the realization hit me that I could be a really good parent for one kid in one phase maybe but then I could be a terrible that could be the worst parenting style

ever for that same kid in a different phase or a different kid in that same phase and you're like yeah this is I mean this is going to be an uphill battle all the way and there's no way yeah for the rest of our life yeah it's just humbling where you're like okay it's humbling I guess that's

to try to yeah because I was one of eight kids everybody was disciplined the same way right and I also had like a bunch of like learning disabilities we were homeschooled I was like they were like sit down read this chapter and i was like all my other brothers were outside playing because we were home school they were outside playing by like noon i was sitting in there at all four i couldn't they were like well this is how school works and they're like well this kid this kid we can't it's impossible i was a journalism

major in college because i was like i could sit down and write a paper in 10 minutes a 50 page paper i could just write in 10 minutes but i could never read a book learn the lessons in it and then take a test on it my brain just doesn't work and i've been lucky probably similar to your kids i've been lucky to to find a thing that my brain works great at i don't even know if i'm i would consider myself otherwise pretty close to unemployable no yes i found this thing and i'm like like i had a job in marketing i was like It worked in sales. I always describe it as, like, I could never, like,

I would be decent at sales, but I would never send the invoices. I would forget to track it in the Excel. I couldn't do any of that. I said it was, like, running on a moving sidewalk, but it was going this way. And I was, like, running. I was, like, making a little bit of progress, and then I found stand-up I was running,

and then it was going the same way. And now we're like, yeah. Do you think everybody has that moving walkway? Yeah, you think, I agree, dude, everybody. I think you just got to get reps at trying and failing and then you have to find your thing. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, and I also don't.

I was just trying a lot of things before I found stand-up. I was just like experimenting with a lot of, I was volunteering, I was teaching tennis, I was starting my own businesses. I was doing the, I was like, then I happened to come into stand-up, but I was very curious about, I was just unhappy in my current situation. So everybody's like, how did you find your dream? go, I don't think I'm the guy to... But I think that's exactly how you find your dream. Yeah. I think that's actually the biggest mistake people make

is they think, oh, this is... They find one thing they're good at. Yeah. And they're like, well, I'm good at this, so this must be what I have to do. I actually think you need to try 100 and 500 things. Yeah, agree.

And figure out that whatever sucks sucks and that's not your thing and keep finding something until you find... Like, fell on... Just not bikes. I'm just joking, I'm doing it. I'm curious. So, what's your take on all these, like, TikTok comedians, you know? Like, all this.

Has that vibe always been there, or is the internet, like, all the social media creating comedians? Well, so it's this, I think I, you know how, like, I think attention is a drug. I don't even know how to say it. I don't think it's probably in the DSM. or something but that is it has to be one of them because a lot of times people are just making content i'm like you don't believe this you don't agree you're just and i i was talking to one of my buddies i this is like three weeks ago i don't really ever we talked about how um god if you're a person of faith or a believer in christ he knows your thoughts right he knows

the devil does not he doesn't know what's inside your brain he war he tempts you based on and error so he'll throw things over to you and there somebody was like i'm i get really tempted by uh when i see i get envious of other people's uh vacations and how rich they are in their houses i go that's not mine that's there that's not mine is not that but we said if you there's a lot of like influencers like the the women that are like you know they say these outfits or like like to not like look I was like, you just want to look good in that outfit. Then you're probably not going to go with me on this. But like, just be honest.

And I feel like, just be honest. This is not making you any money. I know how much money an influencer makes. You're like, this is not making your money. It's good attention and you look good and you want to just say that. And then we'll be like, let's. Are you agreeing with that? We agree with that.

Yeah. Why would I disagree with that? Yeah, I feel like that's, I mean, people in the comments are going to be like, I can't believe you said that. There's a thousand percent, an entire world of. People who post something solely for the attention. This is not making you any money. I know how much money you make on the Internet and you are, this is not it.

No, but they're getting attention. Yeah. It's refueling their loneliness or their need for validation or whatever it is. Yeah. For sure. And if somebody also said, hey, what's going on here? And an influencer said, I'll be honest, I never felt beautiful and I posted this and I got a lot of likes. And I went down this.

road and now you know she in sends me a box of stuff and I post about it and and they're like all right is it affecting your family or being honest about your situation they'll be like go for it similar to me with the rent they're like good for you but if you if you're not being truthful it's not even to us it's to yourself and I think that to your question about the TikTok comedians it's like there's not much barrier to entry to start to get some attention and I think the best somebody told me that you can't be a prolific comic before 40 because that's how long it takes to have something of worth a point of view that you've lived enough years to be like no I don't you'll need to hear this and I think the greats are like I'm not really doing this for attention

I mean hopefully people embrace it and they like it but like y'all need to hear this for some of the younger they just the attention feels good and they'll just go back to that I mean we talk about them on our podcast i feel like all the time like this is this is a wild piece of content but that how many people have we seen come and go through our algorithm in the past 10 years yeah and it's just like you're not like uh you're not about that life is maybe how yeah you're about yeah you're not committed to it what are you what are you actually about i'd love to sit down and and and talk about what you're it's but it's just like well it's also trying to make a video that its views or something it would also it will it will it will that that will not end well

but look didn't end well for me fortunately I'm still alive it wasn't the end of the story but look where it took me John has alluded to this several times but he's written a book all about his experience called delete that it's really good thank you man it is really good it is kind of about this yeah yeah that's not what we were planning on talking about but it is kind of about that but we are here to talk about your tour yeah how many times you Can you go back to Utah, dude? Do they just love you out there? Bro.

You just break it. I do. I do love Utah, man. Well, they like, the Mormons like, they're commented to be a little bit on the cleaner side. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to convert, actually. What can people look forward to in the tour?

And how does it stack up to the Sean and Andrew a couple things to her? Oh, yeah. Wait, I came to your show. I know. I'll never forget. I was sitting up on the stage. You know, we, us three, are to credit for Shannon,

Ford's comedy career. Yeah? Yes. Did you know this? Because Shannon came to that show. Shannon texted me. She goes, I'm thinking about doing a comedy show, but I don't, I'm not a comedian. I have this podcast.

I go, well, Sean and Andrew, they're very funny, great sense of humor. I wouldn't consider them comedians either, but come to this show and you could see quite, and she did, and she started. And she's crushing it. And she's crushing it. If they could do it. No. I could figure it crush.

In terms of like, hey, you don't have to do, like, I've been spent 10 years in the comedy clubs. Like, you don't have to, if you have a fan base and a following, they'll come out and see open presents. They don't, they're like, this is awesome. And I think she went to that. And she was like, oh, I thought I had to be. Yeah. Go to the bars and open mics for years. I go, you just do it every one.

And hers is a little bit more, some traditional stand-up, some Q&A, some interviews. And it's awesome. That's awesome. Dude, I can't, kudos to you for doing what you do. That tour revealed to me how uniquely stressful and uniquely rewarding the live shows are. And also, I can, if it was a live Q&A, I would crush that. But if you're doing the bit for an hour and it's just you, that's stressing me out. I hate it.

It makes me uncomfortable. And I also, I don't know. It just, it's not my vibe. So I can't. When's your next Nashville show? That's like you're running on the, on the moving sidewalk. Yeah, it was the wrong one. I got on it, I was like, this is unbelievable.

I think we're going to, we can't reveal the venue, but we're coming in the fall. Okay. Yeah. Can we come? I already know the venue. The way you phrased that, bro. Let's go. No, no, no, no.

We'll see, we'll see, we'll see, we'll see, we'll see. Let's go. Let's go. Let me just, I'm not, I'm also not a current top five touring comedian. I'm in the top. I've been thinking that the whole time. Well, I just want to, if that gets clipped and they're like, what, here's the numbers. Bro, top 20?

Well, all right. The point of it was to say the top one to five are live here. It's like Theo, Nate, Leanne, they're all like my best friends. And that comparison-wise is tough to be like, there's 10,000 comedians below me. I'll say, how many comedians are there in the world? Thousands. And you would consider yourself top 20. Think about that, dude. That's incredible.

That is cool. That is pretty cool. That's insane. Think about that, dude. Let's go. Yeah, you can let that smile go. Let it fly, dude. Let it fly.

I just feel pretty good, man. I feel pretty good. I'm not going to love you. Feels good. Yeah. Wait, we're coming to your show. Yeah, come.

Yeah. Well, every Monday I do New Material Monday at Zanis. Oh, really? Not every Monday, but pretty close. Because that's when you go practice. Yeah. You throw out something and see if they like it. You bought that life.

Yeah, about that life. Do you think you and Atoll ever golf with me again? That was a bad day. No, we'll do it again. We're going on to Trubidor. Okay, sick. You been down there? Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, it's unbelievable. All right, John, I really do love talking with you. Dude, honestly, the way you, well, you're just super curious. You share ideas that are really from a unique perspective. You're honest. And that always leads to a good conversation. So thank you. Also, if you have not seen John do live comedy.

You have to. I would highly recommend it. He's really funny. And say, if you come to the meet and greet, I always ask people how they got there, how they found me. If you say, I came from Sean and Andrews podcast. It would be the best. That would be the best. Yeah, please do drop that.

And then we're getting a referral bonus. You'll like demo us everything. Oh, yeah, 100%. Yeah, 110%. Sign a contract. We'll link information on us to or down below. I'll link to his book. There's a podcast and all the social stuff.

We'll link that down below. But thank you for the time. And you can feel free if the listeners can come over to my channels. And then you just say, you watch my content and then decide if I was doing this for attention or if this is what I meant. Call them out. Call them out. That seems like it was for attention.

Thanks for the time. Absolutely, brother.