Digital Social Hour - The Wildest Jail Story You’ll Ever Hear – Che Durena Tells All | DSH #1230

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

🔥 Che Durena on Stand-Up Comedy, Viral Fame & Hustling His Way to the Top 🚀 In this hilarious and raw episode, we sit down with Che Durena, comedian and viral content creator, to talk about his journey from struggling in Mexico to selling out comedy shows worldwide. Che shares his wildest stories, how he built his massive social media following, and the hard truths about making it in stand-up. We dive into: ✅ How he went from broke in Mexico to a full-time comedian ✅ His wildest travel and jail stories (including Mexico!) ✅ The rise of social media comedy & how he blew up on TikTok ✅ What makes a great stand-up comedian & his writing process ✅ Why comedy podcasts are taking over entertainment This episode is packed with laughs, unfiltered advice, and inside stories from one of the fastest-rising comedians today! 📲 Follow Che Durena & Get Tickets: 🔗 Website & Tour Dates: CheDurena.com 🔗 Instagram: @CheDurena 🔗 TikTok: @CheDurena 🔗 Podcast: Dark Souls with Che Durena ⏱ CHAPTERS 📌 00:00 – The Wildest Jail Story You’ll Ever Hear 📌 04:10 – How Che Durena Became a Stand-Up Comedian 📌 09:20 – From Living in Mexico to Performing in New York 📌 14:50 – The Struggles of Being a Broke Comedian 📌 20:15 – How He Blew Up on TikTok & Social Media 📌 25:30 – What Makes a Great Stand-Up Comedian 📌 30:45 – The Truth About The Comedy Grind & Open Mics 📌 36:15 – Why Comedians Need to Adapt to Social Media 📌 41:10 – Comedy Podcasts vs. Traditional Late-Night Shows 📌 46:30 – The Future of Stand-Up & Where Comedy is Headed SPONSORS: SPECIALIZED RECRUITING GROUP: https://www.srgpros.com/ 🔥 Apply to Be on the Podcast & Business Inquiries: 🎙 APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application 📩 BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail]

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I took off my condom, which I was wearing and I didn't want to just throw it on the balcony. So I shoved it in my pocket. So when I get to the ground floor, the cops come in there, ask me all these questions. So like, where were you? And I was like, I was in there. They're like, what I get to the ground floor, the cops come in there, ask me all these questions, like where were you? And I was like, I was in there. They're like, what room? And I'm like, I don't know.

I'm still pretty drunk from the night before. They're like, where are your shoes? I'm like, they're in the room. I had flip flops on. I left my flip flops in the room. And then they're like, OK, we've got to search you. And then the guy searches me and pulls up the used condom out of my pocket, dude.

Yeah. And I remember the guy pulling him out and being like, ah, and then all the other cops dying laughing. And then, yeah, then they took me to jail. All right, guys, we got Che here. My man, best Afro I've ever seen. Thank you, dude. Yeah, I've been rocking this for a long time.

For real, how much work goes into that? Not a lot. It's honestly the easiest of all the hairstyles I've ever seen. Thank you, dude. Yeah, I've been rocking this for a long time. For real? How much work goes into that? Not a lot. It's honestly the easiest of all the hairstyles I've had. I had cornrows when I was younger. I had a mohawk when I was younger. I had dreads for a long time. Afro is the easiest. How tough was the mohawk?

The mohawk was kind of a pain just because of my hair texture. To make it really good, it took a lot of work. I would literally like, obviously you have to keep the sides maintained. But then I would blow dry it. Then I would put a hard gel in it. Then I would comb the hard gel out. And then I would wax it.

But it was like a Spartan helmet. It was like feathered almost. Yeah, it looked sick. But I was like, I don't know, I was like 17 or something like that. Which hairstyle had the most success with the ladies? Oh, probably just Afro, because I've had Afro the longest. Afro has been the best for me. It distinguishes me a little bit more.

I've always found success with ladies, it's better to go niche. I don't know, I guess if you're the most handsome dude ever, you can just be a generically hot guy. But I need to angle a little bit more. So if I get a mustache, the afro, I have more of a specific look. Say 80% of women aren't really into it,

but 20% are really into it. And you just want to work on your niche. Smart, you're like a sniper with it. Yeah, yeah. Just play to your strengths. I love it, though. A lot of people try to attract everyone. But you're like, nah, screw that.

No, I've never been like that. I've never been attracted to everyone, either. Yeah. You're picky. What's that? Are you picky with a little? I'm not super picky. I just like chicks who are specific, who have a look.

I think my least thing I'm the least attracted to is, for lack of a better word, a bimbo, like a Barbie. If you see a girl, blonde hair, skinny, black dress, sorority girl style, that's never been my go-to. I've never had success. I don't think they like me either, to be fair. I've never had success with them, but I've also never been like that's what I'm looking for. Yeah Yeah, I like if it's like she's got like, I don't know a bunch of tattoos or I like a specific look

She's got a look going like an intellectual with a bit of a dark side. I guess so. Yeah Into I mean any you can't it's hard to be in a relationship with someone who doesn't have some brains. You want to be able to hang out and have a good time. You're looking for your best friend, right? Realistically. But a bit of a dark side, she's got to have a little grime on her. She can't be completely squeaky clean.

That just won't work for me. I've definitely got some mud on my hands, for sure. So I do need a little bit of grime. We were just talking about the grime. You love the grimy cities, man. I do. I love. Yeah, we were talking about Spokane Washington,

which is a sleeper hit. I mean, I don't think it works for all comics, but definitely for my brand of comedy. Spokane Washington is, I've been there. I've done six shows there so far. They've all been incredible. They've all been super fun. Crowd's awesome.

Like, one dude at a show was like, uh, he was like kind of floating around the, the merch table. And I was like, Hey man, do you like want a picture or something? Or you want some merchant? He was like, yeah, I'd love a t-shirt. And I was like, Oh yeah, what size? And he was like, can I just give you a bag of weed for it? And I was like, yeah. And he just pulls a bag of weed out of his pocket and hands it to me. There was another one where this lady, I was crowd, every time I go to Spokane, sometimes I'll prep certain

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I mean, I don't jail isn't present pleasant. So like, yeah. So, you know, I have actually, no, I was in jail once for like a day. Uh, I got arrested for being wasted in Mexico. Yeah. That's scary. Mexican prison. I was living out there. So it wasn't too spooky. They kind of wanted a bribe. Oh my God. This was so like the, what happened was, uh, I was hooking up with this girl. She was like, Oh, I'm going to go to jail. I'm going to go to jail. I'm going. That's scary. Mexican prison? I was living out there, so it wasn't too spooky. They kind of wanted a bribe. Oh my god, this was so, like what happened was,

I was hooking up with this girl. And she was there with like a university program that basically sent people to Mexico to study in Mexico. And I was hooking up with her, but you weren't supposed to have guests in your room. So her roommates got home, and she was like, you have to like sneak out through the window. So I snuck out through the window.

I'm on a balcony, and I start climbing down balconies to get down to the ground floor. Security guard sees me, and he calls the police. Because he's like, this guy's scaling the walls. I get to the floor. The cops are there. But what had happened when I left and I was on the balcony, I took off my condom, which I was wearing. And I didn't want and I was like on the balcony,

I took off my condom, which I was wearing, and I didn't want to just throw it on the balcony, so I shoved it in my pocket. So when I get to the ground floor, the cops come, and they're asking me all these questions, like, where were you? And I was like, I was in there. They're like, what room? And I'm like, I don't know.

I'm like still pretty drunk from the night before. They're like, wear your shoes. I'm like, they're in the room. Like, I had flip flops on. Or I'm like, they're in the room. Like I had flip flops on, or I left my flip flops in the room. And then they're like, okay, we gotta search you. And then the guy searches me and pulls out the used condom out of my pocket, dude.

Yeah, and I remember the guy pulling him out and being like, ah! And then all the other cops dying laughing. And then, yeah, then they took me to jail and they just like, I had to like call a friend and then my friend came and picked me up. And then, yeah, then they took me to jail. And they just like, I had to call a friend. And then my friend came and picked me up. And then they lied about what I did. They said I was banging on all the doors

and trying to break into places. But they weren't even there to see it. Sounds like Mexico. Yeah, they wanted a bribe. And I had no cash on me. It was basically. You were broke at the time? Yeah.

Well, I just, I, yeah, I was kind of broke. Yeah, I was living paycheck to paycheck at that point in my life, for sure. That was pre-comedy career? Yeah, I, yeah, I was kind of broke. Yeah. I was like living like paycheck to paycheck at that point in my life for sure. That was pre-comedy career? Yeah. Yeah. I think maybe I had just started comedy because I started comedy in Mexico.

Wow. My first like year, year and a half of comedy was in Mexico. So I, the way I kind of got into it, like early on like grade four, I did public speaking and I did a speech about my family and it was funny. And so I kind of got a taste of for something like that. Never touched anything like that again. Then in high school, public speaking came back in English class and I was like, Oh,

I remember grade four, I made a speech and it was funny. I should like try and do that again. And I had success with it, I remember grade four. I made a speech and it was funny. I should try and do that again. And I had success with it. I did really good. And then what ended up happening was I didn't touch it ever again, or not for a little while. Then my brother started doing standup, and this is when I was living in Mexico.

And that kind of opened the door for me, because prior to that, I was consuming standup like crazy, watching standup all the time. I loved it. It was one of my favorite forms of entertainment But I thought you had to be famous in order to do stand-up Yeah, and so when my brother was like, oh, I'm doing stand-up I was like, what do you mean you're doing stand-up? Like I thought it was like you're famous so people come see you and it was a byproduct of fame where it's the other way around

He was like I'm just going to open mics. And I was like, there's open mics for comedy? What is this? And so I just started writing jokes with the intention of sending him these jokes. And then I wrote enough jokes to be like, well, if I wrote enough, I can probably just do it myself. And then I found an open mic in Mexico and played El Carmen.

It was like five dudes, it was like four Canadians and one American that ran this show. And I like called and was like, hey, can I do the show? And they were like, yeah, and I came and I did whatever, seven minutes, and it went well enough. And I was like, oh, I think if I could keep doing this, maybe I could be good at it.

And I just started like really focusing on that. It felt like the first time I ever had a purpose and a goal and something to dedicate myself to. That's cool. Yeah. Mexico. So did you have to do it in Spanish? No, we did in English.

It was all for tourists. Sometimes the tourists spoke English. Sometimes they didn't. Got it. But that was the start. And I did that for about a year, year and a half. And then I moved to Toronto. And when I moved to Toronto, so I

was working as a scuba diving instructor in Mexico. Then I started bartending and diving at the same time. Then I was making like, OK money. I had like, I kind of had cash to throw around a little bit. Then I stopped doing both of those, started working at a call center. And that was like more scraping by kind of thing. Like I wasn't hurting, but I wasn't making a lot of money.

Call center got shut down. They didn't renew my visa. So then I was working illegally in Mexico, selling tours on the street. And then I was really broke. I had no cash. Wow. Then I tried to renew my visa.

They didn't want to, through the system that you go to renew it, they didn't want to renew my visa. And then I got a letter of deportation. They were basically like, you have 20 days to get out of the country. Or we're going to deport you. And so I was like, OK, I want to do this stand-up thing. I'm really dedicated to this.

I was like, I have no cash. And there was this guy who I worked with at the call center. It was this guy, Dave. Dave, I will remember forever. He was this older dude. He made a bunch of money selling timeshares. He kind of had some demons. Like, he drank a little bit too much.

He had a drinking problem that he got over and stuff. But he was a very wise person. He was the closest thing I ever had to a mentor. We would stay late at the call center and shoot the shit. And he introed me to health in a way that I had never experienced before. Have you ever heard of Rob Wolf? Rob Wolf. He's an early health guru guy who is big on micronutrients, like spirulina and shit.

That was the first time I'd ever heard of spirulina. Fucking Dave, are we allowed to swear? Yeah. Oh, sorry. OK, cool. Dave intro'd me to coconut oil. He's like, yeah, I put coconut oil on my hair, and it took my gray hair away.

And I was like, so then I started eating macaroot to coconut oil. He was like, yeah, I put coconut oil on my hair, and it took my gray hair away. And I was like, so then I started eating macaroon. And you could get a cacao, like fresh cacao, by the kilo in Mexico for nothing. You could buy two kilos for like $5. And so I started putting that in smoothies and stuff. And then I got really into health.

And then when the comedy thing started coming in, I would stay late and watch comedy on the computers at the call center. And I remember one day me and Dave were just shooting it. And he was like, oh, you want to do this comedy thing? You should go chase it. And I was like, yeah, I think I'll go to Toronto. I'll move to Toronto.

And I'll try it for like three years, and if it works out, it works out, if it doesn't, it doesn't. And then he went home and he watched comedy, a bunch of comedy, and then the next day, we were the same thing, we're shooting the shit, and he was like, yeah, I remember you saying you were gonna go for a few years.

He's like, that's not gonna work. He's like, these people either are or are not comedians. And I didn't understand that at the time, but I get that now. It's like being a comic is like your perspective on the world and how you communicate with people. Hanging out with the comics is a different experience, how you open yourself up to people and your willingness to be raw and exposed.

It's a whole, I think anyone who dedicates their life to something will understand. If you're a fitness person, it's how you eat and how you sleep and you're thinking about it all the time and your decision making all changes because of this thing you are passionate about. And comedy is the same way. He saw it right away.

I didn't understand this. But after the call center got shut down, we were both looking for jobs, so we were both working the tour thing. And we used to have a coffee before we would go to the tour thing. And this was when, like, I got the letter of deportation. I was like, kind of, I had no time to get out of the country.

And he was like, you should just go. Like, if I was you, I would sell everything I owned and just go. And I was like, I don't own anything. Like, I have a blender. Like, what am I gonna sell, I would sell everything I owned and just go. And I was like, I don't own anything. I have a blender, like what am I gonna sell, dude? And I remember walking home from work, or was it late at night? I remember it being nighttime.

So it must've been late at night. Maybe I was walking to get food and it like clicked in my head. I was like, oh, I have all this scuba diving gear still. I'm gonna sell all my scuba gear. And so I just sold all my scuba diving gear and. I'm going to sell all my scuba gear. And so I just sold all my scuba diving gear. And I remember looking up the sky and saying, thank you. I was like, I have the answer to how

I'm going to chase this dream. And so I sold all my scuba diving gear. I got like $450. I got totally ripped off, but I didn't give a shit. And then I bought a plane ticket to Toronto. I knew no one in Toronto, but I knew Toronto had the biggest comedy scene in Canada. And I could have gone back home to Vancouver

and like stayed with my dad and like, but I knew it. I knew that I was too lazy and that if I went home, I would have just like, it would take me forever to do it. I just had to jump into it. So I flew to Toronto, knew no one. By the time I got to downtown Toronto, I'd like 25 bucks. Damn. And I went to a Starbucks, I took out my laptop and I googled Toronto homeless shelters. And then I found a youth shelter close by. And I went there. And they were

like, Oh, we, we don't have any beds left. And so they're like, we can feed you but we got to like, we'll give you like an address for a men's shelter. And a men's shelter is like a much rougher environment like the youth shelter honestly like it could have been the best situation possible it was basically a hotel like it's social services in Canada are really good that was one of the reasons why I wasn't afraid of just going and chasing it because I was like I'm I barely have any money in Mexico and I'm surviving. I'm going to be fine in Canada. Like I just knew it was going to work out. And so I was sitting there eating and then one of the kids who was staying there showed

up but he was drunk and they were like, Hey, we have a zero tolerance policy on any substance use while you're here. So he, they're like, he can't stay here tonight so you can get a bed. And so then I was able to stay there and then I stayed there for like six months. I never had to sleep on the streets or anything like that. I was technically homeless, but I did Bobby Kelly's podcast. I told him that. And he was like, you weren't fucking homeless. Because Bobby was actually homeless,

like sleeping on benches and shit. There's levels to homelessness. Oh, yeah, yeah. And so this was the best case scenario. You got fed. You got three meals every day. You got a bed to your. I was sharing a room, and then I got a room to myself.

They like, there was laundry services and everything. It was for homeless youth to get up on their feet. And some kids there had, it really opened my eyes to how people end up homeless and on drugs and these different things. Like some of these kids, they were like, yeah, I've been homeless since I was like 12. Or like one girl was like, she was so smart.

I know she's doing well because I saw her working somewhere later, but she's so smart going to school. But her mom was super abusive. And so she had just she had to like run away. Well, and so I was like, man, it's really starts for a lot of these people super young before they ever have a chance to get up on their feet that things fall apart for them. And so I was so grateful for that place. So I stayed there for about six months. And then I went to this intermediate housing thing where there was no curfew or anything like that.

And the whole time I was staying at the youth shelter, I told them the likes. I was like, yeah, I just moved here from Mexico, blah, blah, blah, the whole story. And I was like, I moved here to do comedy. And they trusted me and let me stay out and break curfew and go do open mics and then come back later. And I never drank, I never, no substance use,

nothing like that. And then, yeah, stayed there for six months, stayed in their intermediate housing that had no curfew or anything like that. But it was a place you could stay and like have your room and like buy your own stuff and like get a little bit more of like, I'm living on my own kind of thing. And then after that, I moved into my first like comic house.

There's like very, this is a very common thing in different comedy scenes. It'll be a house of like four or five comics, all just living in like some shitty apartment, all sharing rent. And so there was four of us in there and it was three comics and one musician. And the rent was dirt cheap.

It was like $400 a month, maybe $450. Total or each? Total. Wow. Oh, no, no, each, each. Sorry, sorry, sorry, each. Still cheap. Yeah, cheap.

And this was downed. And this is Canadian, too. So that's like 300 American. And this was downtown Toronto. It was like prime location Toronto, but it was a shit hole. It was owned by this dude, his name was Armando. Armando was this Portuguese dude who was like half deaf

and he owned several properties in the area, and he didn't give a shit about ever raising the rent. He just wanted his rent money. He made wine in his basement, and he was like, just give me your money, and I wanna be left the fuck alone. He just made some good investments when he was younger, and just is living his life.

And so yeah, I lived there for probably six months, then moved into another comic house, and then just kind of bounced into, like I lived in four different places living in Toronto, I lived in Toronto for about eight, I think eight years, maybe eight and change. And then in the last few years, like when COVID hit, I started doing all the social media content

because you couldn't do standup. Toronto had the strictest lockdowns in like all of North America. Damn. Like our lockdown was like a year longer than in the States. Holy crap. And you couldn't like sit in a restaurant and stuff.

Like the summer was a little bit better because the patios, but the winter is freezing. And so there was like barely any stand up going on. So I was like, the first few months felt very nice because I'm very much of a grinding comic. Like the way I grow and my like work system has always been like, do as many, get on'm very much of a grinding comic. The way I grow in my work system has always been, do as many, get on stage as much as possible, try and write every day, and just be on that consistently.

Not everyone grows like that. There's just different comics who have different workout patterns. Some people only write on stage. Everyone has their own system. The system that works for me is very like the ones and twos. Like I go on stage, I do my jokes, I look over the stuff I did, I write my jokes out,

and it's very structured. It works for me. And so I had been doing 12 to 20 sets a week for, I don't know how long was, yes, for the up into that point probably like seven years. Holy crap. And that's like two a day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you would, I mean a lot of that was open mics. So you would go get your five minutes and then like the, when you first go, when I first got to the comedy scene it was like go to a show, show up like two hours early, wait out in the cold,

then sign up on the list. And I just would bounce around and do that every single night over and over and over and over again. I would take a night off like once every two weeks. That was once every two weeks, take a night off. And you don't get paid for that, right? No, fuck no. That's the grind.

Yeah, I didn't start getting paid in comedy. Like, I would get like $20 on a show here or there. But I didn't start like living off of comedy until like year eight or nine. Holy. Yeah. There is a 10 year rule in comedy I've heard. There, it can be, some people get really lucky.

Some people blow up way sooner, like Gerard Carmichael had his first special like six years in. Some people go, I don't know, pop way earlier. Most of the people who I idolize in comedy were like into their 40s before they really cemented themselves. Like they were living off of comedy before, but before they were cemented themselves as who we understand them as now, they were like 20 years into their career. So it is very

much a grind, but same as like if you go to school to be a doctor or something. I'm not saying it's as valuable, but it is, it's like, but it is going to school. And so you have to do your time and you're not getting paid before. But it was a long road of that. And because of COVID, yeah, it took like two months where I was just enjoying the time off. I was like, it was guilt free. I was like, I can't do comedy.

And then after a little bit, there was some cities around Toronto that were having comedy shows. But you had to be behind plexiglass, and tables could only have this many people, and they all did all the COVID rules. And there was one place we went to in Kingston, Ontario. It was me and two of my buddies were doing a weekend there, or two or three shows shows or something like that. And my buddy was making TikToks.

And I never, I wasn't on TikTok. I think I'd only been shitting on TikTok because I knew it came from Musically. And I was like, it's lame and cringy and blah, blah, blah. And he was making TikToks and he wasn't getting crazy views, but he was getting like 3000 views. And I was like, damn, this show, that room that we're in sold out would be 150 people.

I'd have to do 20 sold out shows for the same amount of people to see me that just saw him on this little TikTok. And so I was like, all right, well, I should start doing this even if I'm only getting a hundred views. That's a show every time. So at this point, I was working for this YouTube channel called Most Amazing Top 10.

And so I was actually working through all the COVID, because we could work off our computers a little bit more, whatever, what was like separated or sectioned or whatever the term was. And I had built up a little bit of following from working for this big YouTube channel, about 50K followers on Instagram. And I was like, okay, I can kind of co-op this little bit

of popularity into something else. And a lot of the people that work there were younger and I was like, tell me about TikTok. What should I do? How do I do this? And one girl there was like, okay, you wanna be doing mirror rants, stitches and duets. That's what you gotta focus on.

That's like, cause you just wanna focus on your comedy and like your strength is your joke telling. So just that's your strength. And so I just started hammering those out. I would do six a day, six a day, six a day consistently. And I would probably spend like an hour and hour and a half making content. And then I would spend an hour and hour and a half

watching YouTube videos about how to be successful on the platform. And then just started grinding it, grinding it, grinding it, grinding it, grinding it, grinding it. And then it just started blowing up and blowing up and blowing up. And then it just started blowing up, and blowing up, and blowing up. And then I started really posting consistently in December of 2020.

And then by February of 2021, I had a manager reach out, being like, I want to represent you. Holy crap. And at this point, I was at about 900k followers. And then my manager, who's incredible, she had out Rachel Helix. She is absolutely goaded. She helped me get my visa,

helped me get all the paperwork and everything so I could get my visa to come to the States. She's a titan, dude. That's a great manager. Oh, she's so good, dude, so good. I've never heard of a manager doing that. Oh, my manager, my manager's locked in and fucking works her ass off.

Yeah, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing now. And it helped me a ton. And then that opened the door to me moving to the States, which was always the goal. It was just, how do you do it? And now I finally had the finances. I was making a little more cash and stuff.

And then my first tour, I made really nice money. And then it was like, OK, this is real now, and I'm living in the States. And so it's been about 2 and 1 half years I've been living in New York and just grinding the New York comedy scene. And then also shifting my presentation on social media as well.

Because when I started posting on social, I didn't have a backlog of stand-up clips. So I was just making all those duets and mirror rants So a lot of people think I'm a tick tocker who started doing stand-up, but it's way the other way around I don't the only reason I ever started making tick tocks was because I I'm doing stand-up. I knew it would help the career So now I'm shifting all of my social to being like podcast here's my podcast here my stand-up clips, and reducing the amount of stitches and duets and stuff.

I do it. They're still in the mix, but I don't want them to be as important. And even if I take a hit on views and take a hit on the algo, it'll take time to shift to teach people like this is the primary thing you should be paying attention to.

I have noticed you take a step back on content. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah. Did anyone other than Dave from Mexico believe in you those first few years? Everyone was super supportive. I've never had trouble with people doubting me. I've always been a very lone wolf,

like I'm going to kind of do whatever I'm going to do. So my family just supported me because I think they knew that if they were like, Hey, you shouldn't do this. I would have been like, okay, I don't give a fuck. Talk to me. Like I would have just, I'm going to go do whatever I want to do. Like I literally flew to a city I'd never been to before and risked living on the streets to do what I wanted to do. Um, so I think everyone was very supportive. Everyone was, which is great. I've always had a very positive outlook on life.

Even if stuff gets shitty, there's someone whose life is much shittier than mine. And I think it's hard to hold on to that, especially as you grow. You've grown a big platform, and you know how the baseline changes, which is good. You want to keep trying to achieve bigger and better, but you also need to sometimes step back and have gratitude

for like, if I look back three years from now, and sometimes like if I have a weekend that didn't sell as much as I wanted, I go like, oh, and I go, man, three years ago, I would have fucking killed to sell this many tickets, dude. Yeah, when I have an episode flop, I'm like, wait a second. Three years ago, two years ago, I would have been like, damn, 10,000 views, you know?

Exactly. Exactly, dude. So it's like that stuff I try to be really grateful for. And understanding that it's up and down. Entertainment goes like this constantly. Yeah. Yeah, sometimes I'm so hard on myself, dude. It's nuts.

I think it is good, but you have to have the balance. You can't let it consume you to the point where it's negatively impacting you, where you feel down on yourself for days or weeks at a time. But you do need that little bit of doubt to double check everything, to dot your I's and cross your T's, to make sure that the product is as tight as it is. I just recorded my special.

And after the first night, we really got incredible footage. And I was like, yeah, you know, I was talking to the crew. And I was like, OK, we're going to work on this. And the guy running it was like, I thought you'd be more excited. Like we just got two really good shows. The bank recorded four shows.

And so I was like, yeah, no, I just want to get it perfect. And the next night was even better than the first night. But having that, I wasn't like broken about it, but the next night I made sure that I double rehearsed everything. I did little things like I went to the sauna and went, did cardio to like focus my mind. Yeah. Uh, and those like, if you were, if I was too lax, I wouldn't have done those things. And then maybe there would have been a couple moments that were a little sloppier. There was a couple tags I made in the weekend that made the special a little tighter and a little nicer.

And I would have missed those if I didn't have that little bit of doubt. Yeah. I think you really adapted well to social media, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because that really changed the comedy scene. Yeah, for sure. Like, hugely.

Now comedian podcasts are like the biggest in the world. Yeah, it is like, that is like a big focus of mine now. Dark Holes with Che Durena, check it out. Yeah. I've got my podcast now, and I'm pushing that. Because I think it is one of the best. For one, it is a product I truly believe in. I've made a ton of shit.

I've done sketches. I've been in commercials and movies and different things. And you can tell when something is like, this is fine, and when this is really good. And my podcast, I'm like, this is a really good product. I will put in the time and the love to grow this. And I know it's a labor of love, and it takes a lot of time to build the audience for something

like this, but it will be great. And it already is. The product's already so good. But part of the motivation for that is the conversion for comedy fan to ticket buyer on a podcast is one of the highest of any medium you can do as a comic. Yeah I see Theo Von selling out every show. Oh yeah, do you Theo Von? Theo Von I won't say who told me this but someone who's a big

comic told me like he does theaters and they're like he could be a stadium guy if you wanted he just chooses not to be. Wow that's yeah that's respect yeah at the same time you're turning down a lot of money so I don't know how I feel about it. I mean some people just like the different level of intimacy with their shows. Stadium's a way different vibe. I got to open for a stadium comic. And it's very different.

It's cool as hell, dude. It's sick. But it is a very different vibe. And you really need to be a very certain kind of act to perform in front of a stadium. It's a different, you're doing a different thing. That's a good point though, because perfect example, Kendrick Lamar yesterday, he's getting a lot of hate

for that performance. I wonder if it's because it was too big of an audience. I thought it was good. Oh, you thought it was good? I thought, okay, I watched, after I watched it, I was like, I think we get so inundated with like the online opinion so quickly. And so I tried to consume.

I was happy I watched it because I tried to consume stuff before you get that outside opinion. But I thought it was the critiques I think are accurate. Like they're like, oh, it wasn't like Lady Gaga coming down from the ceiling or like people doing a bunch of crazy stunts. He kept it simple. But it was like kind of creepy. And it reminded me of like a Jordan P crazy stunts. He kept it simple, but it was like kind of creepy and it reminded me of like a Jordan Peele movie.

Like there was this horror, like uncomfortableness to it. And people were like, oh, none of these, he wasn't playing any songs that people know cause he's not as like mainstream. I was like, so many of these songs are like famous TikTok sounds. And that's how I was recognizing them. And I was like, oh, I know that. I maybe TikTok sounds. And that's how I was recognizing them. And I was like, oh, I know that I maybe don't know the name, but I know this one.

I'm not a big music guy at all. I know music's probably the area of media I know the least about, but I thought the performance was good. I thought it had its own personality. I thought it was raw. I thought, yeah. And I thought it was like creepy in a cool way. Like I liked how it felt a little unsettling and it was supposed to be,

because it was taking a shot at someone, it was like a diss, it was the final pin in the whole diss saga. Yeah. I thought the expectations were too high just because it's a Super Bowl halftime show. Yeah. And people do some crazy stuff during those.

People do do crazy stuff during those. Like last year, 50 Cent came out like, I don't know if you remember, his feet were on top of the ceiling and he was singing upside down. People just wilding out. Yeah, and there's been way crazier ones. But if you go back and you watch,

I'm not saying that Kendrick Lamar is on Prince's level. But if you go back and watch his prints, now Prince had the hits to get people excited. Kendrick Lamar doesn't have the same catalog. But Prince did a very simple performance. He came out with his guitar and he sung. And his symbol was the stage. And it was a good performance without as many bells

and whistles on it. I do like the bells and whistles for the halftime show, but I thought it was good. I thought it was good. I'm going to say I thought it was good. No, that's a good point, though. You brought up the crowds. It must be a little intimidating,

the larger the crowd is. Yeah, yeah, for sure. It's a different vibe. You can't get as personal. You can't do hecklers. No, that's a good point, though. You brought up the crowds. It must be a little intimidating the larger the crowd is. Yeah, yeah, for sure. It's a different vibe. You can't get as personal. Yeah. You can't do hecklers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's kind of your vibe, the more intimate crowd, right?

Yeah, for sure. I'm not on like a, like I've sold out a couple theaters, but I'm not at the level where I'm doing theaters consistently. I'm still a club comic doing weekends, which is fucking great. I'm so super happy about that. But yeah, my shows are way more intimate than that.

I feel like that's the purest form of comedy shows. A lot of people do think that. I think theaters are still really, really good. If you're doing like 1,000 cedar, which is, that's the biggest I've done. And that still feels incredible and very intimate and very nice. I don't know what it's like to do like 5,000 seats or something.

I've only done like 1,000 seats or 12,000 seats. They didn't Schultz do MSG? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's like, what, 80,000? I have no clue. It's something huge. Him and who else is like? Was it Tony?

Kill Tony? Kill Tony sold out two shows there, which were incredible. I saw both Kill Tony shows. And those were some of the maybe the greatest live shows I've ever seen. Was that the Trump Biden one or was it? I saw both. I saw when they did Trump Biden and I

saw when they did what was the other one? The other one was Shane Gillis and Joe Rogan was on the panel. And it was like, the first show was definitely that the Trump Biden was the second night. The first show I thought was crazier because I didn't know what to expect. But I felt for the comics that got pulled out of the bucket, dude.

There was because normally Kill Tony, you have like your Kill Tony regulars. Then you have the panel, which is like famous cons. It's like, you're still stacked up against a lot, but if you come up, that's your competition, is going up against the regulars. But there's also a bunch of other, like just regular people who've come up before you.

This show, what they did was, they would have a Legends bucket, then the Regulars bucket, and then just like regular Joe bucket. So they open the show, they intro Shane Gillis, they intro Joe Rogan, Tony's on stage, then they go, okay, we're going to do something we've never done before. We have this special bucket. We're going to pull out Legends. And it's like your first comic, he's the first guy to ever sell out MSG an absolute killer an influence to me everyone give it up for Andrew Dice Clay Andrew Dice Clay opens the show then you have a regular come out who I think

might have been fuck I can't remember who I think it was Jared Nathan who actually we were in the same comedy scene for a long time yeah Jared's Canadian guy dude so it was great to see. I was so happy for him to see him come out. So then you have a crowd favorite come out. And then you have some regular guy nobody knows. I couldn't imagine a harder situation. You have to follow a legendary comic, then

someone everyone loves. And you're just fucking nobody. One dude who did fucking kill it was Jason King. Jason King is a comic from Queens. And he came out, murdered his set. And then after on the panel, they're asking him questions. They're like, hey, so like, what do you do? And he's like, oh, I'm like a musician.

I produce music. They're like, oh, what can you play? And he's like, I can play anything. Give me the drums, the guitar. He's like, you can play guitar? And they're like, should he play guitar for us? He goes to the band, takes the guitar, starts me the drums, the guitar, he's like, you can play guitar? And they're like, should he play guitar for us? He goes to the band, takes the guitar, starts ripping the guitar and everyone's losing it.

It was literally like, if you're watching a movie and they're like, hey, our guitarist isn't here, can you play guitar? It was nuts, dude. It was like, it was, I'm like, in front of a sold out MSG, you're just fucking like, reee, reee, reee, reee. Like, oh dude. I feel like you're there. I felt so, like, I was like, I'm like in front of a sold out MSG, you're just fucking like, like, I felt so like, I was like, I never met him before, but I saw that and I was like, dude, you couldn't ask for anything better.

And you're like, this is, that's a story you tell for the rest of your life. That's legendary. You only have a minute, right? On kill Tony. Yeah, you only have a minute. Yeah. That's hard. I mean, it's a hard amount of time to kill in for anyone, or even like a very seasoned comic. It's very hard to kill in a minute. That's hard. A minute's a hard amount of time to kill in for anyone.

Or even a very seasoned comic, it's very hard to kill in a minute. Yeah, because you did seven minutes when you were on the come up, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Usually five to seven is your normal time you're getting on sets. Doing one minute is you need to be super tight and very focused.

And you really need to think about how you have no time. You've got to get to your punchline so quick. You don't have time to build into what's going to happen. And yeah, it's a muscle that no one's really ever working except for when you know you're going to do Kill Tony. Have you been on there before, Kill Tony? No. I would be down to do it 100%.

Kill Tony is basically late night right now. It's the equivalent of doing late night 20 years ago. Doing late night now doesn't really do anything for your career, but if you did late night in the 80s, that could be what's peak. Yeah, so I would say Kill Tony is the version of that now. It's the biggest thing you can do for your career as a newer comic.

Anything below, I would say, a newer comic or even anything below, I would say, a theater comic. Even if you're a weekend guy, like I'm a weekend guy, it would benefit me hugely. So my buddy did it. He's got millions of followers. He's a great comic. Andrew Packer, Man News, destroys it.

He did Kill Tony, murdered, and then he instantly got 10,000 more views on his comedy special. Like it really can help your shit. Yeah, I mean, I think it's the number one or two comedy podcast in the world. Yeah, yeah, it's huge. And it would be Yvonne.

Yeah. And Schultz is also huge. But yeah, you're right, though. I used to watch the talk shows. I don't watch them anymore. No one does anymore. It feels inauthentic. Yeah, and it was a time.

It was like everything has an era, and it was a time. Everything has an era, and then things fade out. People aren't watching cable television like they used to. So it's moving on to a new medium, a new platform, a new system. Yeah, I think podcasts are in right now. It'll be interesting to see what's next after Pods. There's always something new.

There's always, as technology changes, the AI will undoubtedly open some doors for us to have new platforms and people to experience things in new ways. It's very hard to predict what these things will be, but who would have thought that radio would make a comeback after television? And maybe it will be an older form. Maybe plays are back in after, who knows? That plays are completely far away, but they're not as big. Hey, don't rely on musicals. I just watched Hamilton the other day.

Oh, yeah. Did you like it? I liked it. I've seen one musical. I saw Book of Mormon, because it's the South Park guy. So I was like, I'll go check it out. And I liked it, but I don't know if I'm a musicals aren't really my thing.

Yeah, you're not big on music. Do you use AI to brainstorm any ideas for your sets? No, not brainstorm ideas for sets. I use it for a couple other things, more like, I guess, logistical work. But yeah, comedy-wise, no. It's not funny enough yet. Yeah, I don't think it's funny enough yet.

It's also restricted. If you go, hey, write me 10 jokes about anal, it just won't. I can't do that. So it's too restricted. So you can't explore what you need to. My writing style is I always start by looking. I have this folder on Instagram called The Best. And it's all reels that have made me laugh. I'll watch that for maybe five or 10 minutes.

And I get into the point where I'm laughing out loud and I'll be like drinking coffee while I'm doing this. Wow. And then I put my phone on airplane mode and then I go and just start writing and I'll literally walk around my apartment and talk out loud and like do the act outs and get into it.

Like I try to get into it as much as possible. And so, and once I'm working on a bit and I start making myself laugh from the bit, I go, OK, we're cooking. We're cooking. I like this. I like this. I love that. Because part of what I really like about it

is that I'm performing it. And enjoying performing a bit is my favorite part of the bit. Sometimes you come up with something, and I'm like, oh, I can't wait to say this on stage. They do this thing on, have you ever heard of good ones no good ones is a comedy podcast where he brings on comics or comedy writers and they talk about one joke and they break down how the joke happened it's a very interesting comedy podcast and one thing he'll do is he's like if you could have someone else's

joke like it's an alternate universe and you came up with this joke, which joke would it be? And that for me, it's like, it's not the structure of the joke. It's like the chance to perform it would be so good. Like there's this one comic in Toronto, his name is Monty Scott, and he has like one of my most favorite jokes ever. And it's, he's like, who invented the two men luge? Like, what the fuck is that sport? Was the top of a mountain on fire?

And they were like, there's one way down and it's gay as fuck. And I just, every time I hear that, I go, oh, I wish I could do that joke. He's like, it's just a man on a man on a luge. But that's like, that is, so when I'm riffing in my apartment and just talking, when I have fun performing it to no one, I'm like, oh, this is, we're good, we're good.

Write this down, write this down. Yeah. That's so cool, man. Yeah. Yeah, that must be a cool feeling to see it come to life, too. Yeah. You could think it's funny and then perform it and it flops.

Oh, 100%. That's part of the reason why the stage time is so important. Like, I think, I mean, I've never created music, but I'm pretty sure you get a good idea for if a song is good by yourself. A joke, you never really know if it's gonna work until you take it on stage. You have to take it on stage,

and you have to work it like again and again, and sometimes like 30% of it works. And then you're like, okay, what do I change here? How do I take this out? And there's been jokes where the whole beginning and premise doesn't get a hit, and then just the punchline hits. And it's kind of like a long tail to get there. And then I've taken the punchline out

and put it into a different joke where the beats are better and the joke's funnier. And so I've completely scrapped the premise, but I need the punchline. And it just all fits together. There's all this. It's like a puzzle. Yeah, yeah, it is very much like figuring out a puzzle

and it's a, you're trying to get people to do something involuntary as well. You're trying to get people to laugh, which is, it needs to be genuine. It needs to come out of them, which is fun about the, that the expression is that it's hard for people to lie. If the crowd's not laughing, you're not doing well.

If you look at a painting, people have their perception of if it's good. And modern art, there's a lot of it that people say is just trash and a cash grab. But in comedy, it's very hard to fake it. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Have you ever had to kick someone out of one of your shows? They got a little too crazy?

Me, I've never personally been like, get this person out of here. But there's been like, the security takes care of it. I went too much? Yeah. I've always sort of prefaced the security and stuff being like, hey, my crowds can be a little bit routier. So everyone gets a warning.

Everyone gets like, hey, don't talk or we're gonna have to kick you out. But I've never had to be like, get this person the hell out of here. And they're usually the securities like ninjas, man. We were, I think it was in Chicago. I usually will do meet and greet before and after the show. It gets people kind of excited

when they see you before the show. And there was this couple, I was doing meet and greet before and after the show. It gets people kind of excited when they see you before the show. And there was this couple, I was doing meet and greet, I'm selling merch, they just cut to the front of the line. And they're loud and already very drunk. And I was like, oh, they're going to be a problem. And so the show starts, they're sitting second row, and they're yelling stuff out. And I'm like, I tell them to shut the fuck up a couple times.

And then they die down, and they pipe up a little bit, and then they die down. And then I just don't look at them, because I'm like, and then they die down, and they pipe up a little bit, and then they die down. And then I just don't look at them, because I'm like, if you interact with them, that's going to trigger them. I wait about 10 minutes. I'm like, oh, I haven't heard from them. And then I look at their table, and they're gone.

And I'm like, wow, the security came in and got them, and I didn't even notice, dude. And there was second row. And I'm like, that's good. They're taking care of business. Yeah, they're probably used to it, I thought. Oh, yeah, yeah. They're trained to do that, to get people in and out

without disturbing the show. Yeah. Did you see Kanye deactivated his Twitter last night? No, I didn't see that. But that's not surprising. I think he's probably like, he's building. I'm not trying to justify what he's doing right now, because I'm really like, fuck, man.

Like I said, I don't know music. I love Kanye's music. I've got some bangers. Dude, he's got in every album, so many bangers, dude. Even like some people in like Donda and stuff, like Donda has fucking bangers, man. But the stuff he's doing now, I think he lives, like I saw that

clip yesterday of when he was At TMZ and he said slavery was a choice Yeah, and the guy just like doing the monologue at him and I was like fuck Yeah Like he's like I live in the real world and I think Connie lives in this other space where he can say the shit and he's Like oh, it's a joke. It's building up press, whatever. And who knows? He's living amongst the ultra rich, and I don't know what's going on over there.

But there's definitely trickle-down effects that reverberate amongst people. And these things can be dangerous when they're thrown out there. And I think it sucks that he's doing that. Yeah, a lot of people look up to him. Yeah, and a lot of people might try to justify their bad behavior, bad, evil behavior,

because of this. The good thing is, though, I think there was, I don't know if you saw this, it was in Ohio. People put up like fucking Nazi flags over like a freeway. It was horrifying. Like, I'm a person of color, so when I see stuff like this, like, I get legitimately worried, because I'm like, if it did, if that did get out of control,

and there was hate groups that grew immensely, I can't hide, I'm in legitimate danger. So one thing that made me feel good was this very small group of people, but then everyone driving by sort of rallied together and tore all their shit down and I think If anything this stuff even for how sickening it is It will bring more people together because I do truly believe most people are good Most people care about each other. Most people just want regular shit

most people just want to like be able to afford a house and have kids and I don't know, live safe and live in a healthy community. And people get upset and they get cut off in traffic and they say some shit. But I truly believe very few people are actually bad, evil people. Agreed. And so when you see people tear down something horrible like that, I'm like, we're still all on the same side. Yeah, that's a good sign.

That's why comedy is beautiful, though, because it brings people together. I feel like all sorts of people at your shows, I'd imagine. Yeah, yeah, I do. I get, honestly, because my stuff is, I'm intentionally non-political. For one, I am very uneducated on politics.

So I don't want to be spouting politics, because I'm, I don't know what. You just came to the States. Exactly. Like, ask me about video games? I've got it, dude. But politics? I don't know.

And so I don't want people taking advice from me on anything like that. And also, it's never been what I go to comedy for. I don't go to comedy to learn about politics and stuff like that. There are great political comedians, and kudos to them, but it's just not my ballpark. But because I talk about relationships, sex,

interpersonal things, I'm very observational. Because of that, I attract all kinds. So there'll be people on my shows that are the most bro-y backwards hats dudes who drive a truck. And then there'll be bisexual people with septum piercings who peg their boyfriend. I get the most wide spectrum. I remember I was in Appleton, Wisconsin. I get the most wide spectrum.

I remember I was in Appleton, Wisconsin. I was doing a weekend there. And then I was going right after to Madison to do a one-nighter. And there was this dude after the show. He was like, oh, where are you headed next? I'm like, oh, I'm going to Madison. And he was like, oh, it's real blue over there.

And I was like, dude, I don't care. I talk about cum. I was like, dude, cum is universal. Everyone loves it. So I do think it helps. For as much as there can be discourse, or we're told that there's this insane amount of discourse, I really think people are much more like than you think.

Yeah, for sure. We'll end it here, because you mentioned video games. What is the greatest video game of all time? That's such a hard question. The greatest video game of all time. What have you spent the most hours on? What, oh me personally, what have I spent the most hours on?

I've probably spent the most hours on maybe Elden Ring. I'm a huge fan of the Souls series. I love the Souls series. I think Bloodborne, either Bloodborne or Dark Souls 3, whichever came out first. That was my first intro into them. And I didn't really get them at first. I didn't level my character correctly.

I didn't understand the mechanics well enough. And I enjoy them really deeply right away. It wasn't until Sekiro. I remember Sekiro was coming out, and I had played Dark Souls 3 not too long before that and I was like I kind of got the bug. I want to get this game and I don't know why. And then I would that was the first one I really loved and the first one I beat and I was like then I went back and played other ones and since then I've I've I've beat one. I haven't beat to two is so fucking hard and it's a very different game. Three, I haven't beat yet.

I'm at the last boss, but I'm trying to get as many of the trophies done before I finish it. Bloodborne I've beat a couple times. I've Platinum Bloodborne. Sekiro I've beat a few times. I'm close to Platinum on that. Elden Ring I have beat a couple times, Dark, or Demon's Souls, I've beat once.

And so I'm trying to get the platinum in as many of them as possible. That series is where I've dedicated the most time. But my sleeper hit for what I truly think is one of the greatest video games of all time is Def Jam Fight for New York. Dude, have you ever played this game? No, I've never even heard of it. So Def Jam Fight for New York. Why? Dude, have you ever played this game? No, I've never even heard of it.

So Def Jam Fight for New York is basically, they took a wrestling engine that is very exaggerated. Like one of the finishing moves, you use the guy as a skipping rope. You like smack him on the ground and then throw him in the air and like tombstone him. It's that engine, but they took rappers. And every character is a rapper.

And it's from the 2000s. So it's like Sean Paul, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg. Fuck, who else is in it? Method Man, Red Man. Eminem? Eminem's not in it, no. But it's all rappers, and they have the craziest finishers. And so you start as a street fighter,

and then work your way up. There's multiple different fighting styles. Your trainer who you go to the gym, who trains you how to like learn new moves is Henry Rollins. Dude, the game is so outlandish and it's just at its core so fun. It's one where if you did a modern version,

it would cost you a fortune because to license all these rappers unless they were being really generous, it would be impossible. But you would be so sick if you had this crazy wrestling game with like Drake and Kendrick and fucking Eminem and like 50 cent and all these people in it. It'd be so sick if they did a modern one.

But that is my sleeper hit for one of my personal favorite games of all time. What system was that on? It was on all the ones of the generation. So it was like GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. It was like across that gen. GameCube was one of my favorites. GameCube rips, dude.

That slapped. Yeah, what was your GameCube game? What was the game? Either Smash. I was basic, probably Smash. Smash is great. That goes Melee. Yeah, yeah, Smash is sick, dude.

I main Kirby. You're Kirby main? That's a little dirty. That's a little scummy, dude. Fly up, do the brick. Yeah, you do. I's melee. Yeah, yeah. Smash is sick, dude. I main Kirby. You're Kirby main. That's a little dirty. That's a little scummy, dude. Fly up, do the brick. Yeah, you do. I was cheesy with it, too. Yeah, dude.

I would wait till two people were fighting, and then I'd go. Then you do it and see if both of them? Yeah, 100%. Yeah, yeah. Those were the days, man. Well, man, where can people see your next shows and can't do it? Oh, yeah, K. So when's this coming out? Probably three weeks.

Three weeks? OK. So three weeks from now, you can definitely catch me. I'll be in California. So you can catch me in San Jose, and Brea, and where am I right after that? Oh, Salt Lake City. OK.

For any other dates, go to cheaterana.com. We're adding dates all the time right now. I'm really busy on the road. We've got a huge Canada run coming up. That will probably be displayed by now, but I'm going all over Canada. So you're going to be able to catch me everywhere a bunch of cities I've never gone to before find my podcast at Dark Holes with

Chay Dorana on all platforms and yeah for tour dates go to either chaytorana.com or punchup.live slash chaytorana. Boom check out the links below thanks for having me man you guys