Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Comedian Michael Yo - What Joe Rogan is really like, dreams don't have a deadline

Episode Date: January 13, 2021

Michael Yo joins Chris Van Vliet from his home in Los Angeles, CA. They talk about how they met each other working as entertainment reporters and interviewing celebrities, how Chelsea Handler and Jo K...oy helped him get his start in comedy, meeting Joe Rogan 21 years ago as a contestant on Fear Factor, how he has remained friends with Joe ever since and what he is really like, his spot on America's Got Talent, his advice for a happy marriage, how he almost died from Covid and much more! For more info on Michael Yo: https://linktr.ee/MichaelYo Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  For more information about Chris and the podcast go to https://chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:45 Look at you, man. With the powerful questions. Woo! This is the Chris Van Bleach Show. Chris Van Bleach Show. Ladies and gentlemen. Chris! Well, here we go.
Starting point is 00:01:04 and welcome to the Chris Van Bleach Show, and thank you for being with us on another audio adventure. If it's your first time here, I'm Chris, and I'm obsessed with finding out what makes successful people so successful. And on each episode, we have in-depth conversations and reverse engineer the habits and techniques
Starting point is 00:01:23 of the world's top athletes, celebrities, entrepreneurs, comedians, you name it. If they are the best at what they do, I want to get their insight and help you apply it to your own life. And I've known Michael Yo for the better part of eight years. He's a comedian, an actor, a TV host, and I first met him when he was working as an entertainment reporter.
Starting point is 00:01:47 He's worked for e-news, Extra, and The Insider, and any of those celebrity interviews of mine that you've seen on YouTube, there's a pretty good chance Michael Yo was also there that same day interviewing those same people. You may have seen his comedy special, which is hilarious. It's called Blasian.
Starting point is 00:02:05 You also might have seen him on Chelsea lately or heard him on the Joe Rogan experience. He's been a guest on Joe's show three times. And now he's a guest on my show. So take a screenshot. Let us know that you're listening. It's just our names. If you tag us on social media,
Starting point is 00:02:19 I'm at Chris Van Fleet. He's at Michael Yo. And over the next week or two, you're going to be seeing some of those changes on the podcast that I've been talking about for the last few months. I just want a name that's more reflective of what the show is about.
Starting point is 00:02:33 about. Because when I started this, it was just a place for the interviews that I had on YouTube to live in an audio version. Well, here we are 160 episodes later, and this is turned into its own thing. And I love it. But I need something that's a little bit more reflective. This is not the Chris Van Fleet Show. This is the show about the people who are on the show. It's all about the guests. It's all about shining a spotlight on their life. And they're successful. So I want to take from their stories, find out the things that make them so successful so that we can apply that to our own life. So there's going to be a new name, a new logo, some new music.
Starting point is 00:03:11 But other than that, the show remains the same. You know, we'll have these deep, insightful conversations that's going to let you see a different side of these people. So if it's your first time here, make sure to hit subscribe so you don't miss out on what we have cooking up here. and if you could leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it'd be so, so great. This review is from T.O. Kevin, from the greatest country on earth, my home country of Canada. He says, five and a half stars, always entertaining and informative.
Starting point is 00:03:40 CVV nails at every podcast. Keep up the great work. Well, thank you for that, Kevin. And by the way, have some Swiss chalet and an Alexander Keith's for me while you're there in Canada. Because aside from my family and friends, those are the things that I miss, most about Canada. And if you're not from Canada, if you've never visited, you're like, what is Swiss chalet? And who is Alexander Keith? Well, Swiss chalet is the best rotisserie chicken ever. And Alexander Keats is such a good Canadian beer. I'm glad we got that out of the way. But thank you, T.O. Kevin, for the review. And Michael Yo is such a good dude. And it's so inspiring
Starting point is 00:04:20 seeing what he's built over his entire career, but just seeing what he's built since I first met him, eight-ish years ago. So let's get right into this. Please welcome. Michael Yo. Yo! Yo! What's up?
Starting point is 00:04:38 I feel like your name is, you know, it's also a greeting. I love it. You know, in New York, I'm very popular. You know, like literally everybody in New York and Philadelphia, they love me.
Starting point is 00:04:49 They love me. I was trying to think of the first time that you and I met, and I think we're going back, I think it's seven or eight years, I think. What do you think it was? I think I met you through Kevin McCarthy. Yeah, who's one of my best friends and one of the greatest
Starting point is 00:05:07 interviewers that I know. Oh, he's all about the movies. I think it was on a, I think it was on a junket bus. Yes, absolutely. Was it, I don't remember which junkie, but I know you were sitting next to Kevin, the movie critic, not the politician. I love when politicians or people like angry tweet Kevin McCarthy,
Starting point is 00:05:26 the movie critic, because he's like, dude, I have nothing to do with this. And then he gives a movie fact about whatever's in their text, which is absolutely hilarious. So, yeah, that's where we met at a movie junket in some other city or country. Yeah, maybe it was New York. Maybe it was L.A. because I was flying to L.A. a lot.
Starting point is 00:05:43 And I think that that was a big part of my life for a long, long, long, long time. I was doing movie junkets pretty much every week. Did you like them or no? Yeah, I love them. I mean, to be able to sit here right now and you and I can both say, yeah, we've been in the same room as George Clooney and The Rock and Merrill Streep and Stephen Spielberg. And we can just keep name dropping for the rest of this hour. But that is so, so, so cool.
Starting point is 00:06:09 I mean, it is one of those things where, you know, when you get older and you'll even now, but at least when you're like 70, 80, you'll look back and go, oh, I interviewed all those people. You know, it is a pretty cool thing. And it's so funny how anything you enjoy, if you really enjoy, it doesn't feel like work. And it never felt like work. Yeah. But at times when you have to travel so much and you get to a certain point where you're like, oh, I want to do stuff for myself.
Starting point is 00:06:36 I want to build my brand rather than somebody else's brand. And that's when the switch turns, you know, because it's great building up all these all these other platforms for other people. And that's how you get a break in the industry. But once you get a little name, you need to start doing it for yourself. And you were doing this at the highest level. You were working for E and the insider and extra. Did I miss any?
Starting point is 00:07:01 No, E extra. No, no, that's all of them. Yeah, yeah. I did it at those networks. It was a blast. But I do feel like my last year, year and a half, working for the last outlet. I kept coming home and saying, I'm spending my wills. Like, I'm not growing as a person any.
Starting point is 00:07:23 You know, I'm making phenomenal money. and I felt like I was just doing it for the money. And that's a bad place to be. And now that I'm not doing it, so many opportunities, I make less money, but so many I'm happy and so many more different opportunities are coming because I really, at that time I did stand up. But everybody goes, oh, you're a host, and you do stand up.
Starting point is 00:07:48 Now people go, oh, that's a comedian, Michael, yeah. You know what I mean? So over the last year and a half, I really pushed hard to flip that. And that's been my mission is, and I enjoy stand-up. I can, like, that audience, it's kind of like your YouTube station or your podcast. It's those people are your writer-dyes, and they support you. And when you do entertainment news, those people, it doesn't matter.
Starting point is 00:08:14 I tell everybody this. It doesn't matter who hosts those shows. People aren't coming for the host of those shows. I tell my close friends, it doesn't matter if you were all. I was on. It doesn't matter unless you're bringing a point of view or an opinion. And on those shows at that level, you can't do that. Because your livelihood is based on a celebrity liking you and liking what you said,
Starting point is 00:08:41 or they'll never give you an interview again. Did you enjoy doing the junkets? I did my first, like I did it for 11 years. And I would still do certain people. I would do the rock, Kevin Hart, Jennifer Aniston. There's some people I really love, and I would still do it, you know, but I wouldn't do it for things. And I would want more control of the interview. Like, I'm not going to ask stupid shit anymore.
Starting point is 00:09:04 You know what I mean? To set this up for people, a junket is those interviews that you see on TV where the person is sitting basically in front of either a TV screen or in front of a poster about the film. And they're doing, what, 40, 50, 60 interviews that day. Yeah, maybe even 100. Who knows? Maybe. And a different reporter cycles through every four minutes. It's only four, actually, you got the double slot because we got eight minutes.
Starting point is 00:09:27 Yeah, because I was national. I'm just saying. Oh, we were national, not local, but whatever. We'll keep it moving. Jeez, okay, well, nice having Michael Yo on the show. I remember having a conversation with you on our way to one of movie screenings, and you were diving deep into comedy and, you know, super passionate about it. But like you said, you were still a TV host.
Starting point is 00:09:48 So at what point in your career, did that shift start to happen where you were Michael yo the comedian who also hosted stuff. Well, my contract ran out on the insider, and they knew I wasn't happy. And yeah, would I have signed again? Probably just because of the money. So honestly, it ran out there. I wasn't happy.
Starting point is 00:10:08 They knew I wasn't happy. The show went away, actually. The show died. And I had a lot of other interviews with other outlets, but I wasn't in it, man. I was not in. I went back. Like, I got interviewed by all the outlets again,
Starting point is 00:10:22 And it was kind of like, I don't love this. And I would, first thing I said when I went in, which would lose me the job, is I don't want to ask stupid questions. You know, I'm not going to ask, I want to stay away from this gossip stuff. And that's all that those networks are. So, you know, now they're gearing more to getting away from it. But three years ago, when I decided to get out, I was just like, or two and a half years, I was like, I just don't want to sit in a room with a celebrity and ask them pointless shit. that I really don't care about. So give me an example of a time
Starting point is 00:10:56 when you had to ask a question that you're like, oh, it's Anne Hathaway. It's Anne Hathaway. I'll never forget it. It was Rio 2, I believe. Kanye West and Kim Kardashian just was on the cover of Vogue. And Anne Hathaway was on the cover of Vogue. And my boss really wanted me to ask her
Starting point is 00:11:15 what she thought about Kim and Kanye being on the cover. I thought it was the dumbest thing ever. I was like, who gives a fuck? Like, why would Anne, this might, in my mind, I'm going, why would Anne Hathaway really give a shit who's on the cover of Vogue if Kim and Kanye? You know, because at that time, Kim, this was big news because they put a reality star on the cover. And Kanye wasn't Kanye then. And literally, I waited for the last question.
Starting point is 00:11:43 I asked her, she gave me a very piecey answer. She said something like, oh, if, I don't know. Anna Wintow, I think her names. If she decides to put her on the cover, it's great, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. As I'm walking down the stairs, I hear Ann Hathaway goes, who the fuck is that guy asking, I don't give a shit about Kim and Kanye, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And she goes, why would I care who's on the cover?
Starting point is 00:12:10 I really don't give a shit. That's such a fucking suit. And she ripped into me, and she didn't know I hurt her. And me, my primal instincts, my fighter instincts, like, oh, no, no, no, no, we're going to have it out now. Because I'm just doing my job. And one thing celebrities need to know, that's our job. Because if we don't come back with the question they want, we get punished for it.
Starting point is 00:12:32 So you got to expect that because nobody just wants to hear about your movie for eight minutes. I'm sorry. You know, we want to know about your lives or you're dating. That's what entertainment news is. So, but as I was walking back up to get into it with her, I said, in my mind it clicked. You know, she's fucking. right? Because I didn't even want to ask this question. Because I thought it was stupid.
Starting point is 00:12:55 And here's the thing that's messed up about the whole thing. We didn't even air any of it because her PR agent came up and said, don't air it or you'll never enter. So I basically blew a relationship with somebody for something that never aired. And that was the attorney, it was one of those moments in your job where you go, there's got to be more to my job than this. Yeah. So it's funny you mentioned Ann Hathaway because I have a viral.
Starting point is 00:13:21 moment with Anne Hathaway that still nine years later, maybe it's 10 years later now, still gets all these views. Really? And it was so simple. It was so silly. The first photos of her as Catwoman had just come out. And I was interviewing her in New York for a movie called One Day. Maybe you were on that junket.
Starting point is 00:13:38 I don't know. I don't remember. These first photos would come out. And I thought, oh, it would be good to hear her talk about Catwoman. So I said, oh, you know, like these first photos came out. How did you fit into that suit? ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, you know, lots of working out and all that stuff. I said, well, you know, how much weight did you lose to get into the shape that you're in right now?
Starting point is 00:13:58 How much weight did I lose? What a forward young man you are. How much weight did I lose? I'm like, I didn't mean it like that. And I was asked in the way of, like, you know, Christian Bale is lost and gained weight for roles. Renee Zellweger famously put on weight to play Bridget Jones. You know, it's a common thing to talk about this in the world of that. But you never ask a woman about her weight.
Starting point is 00:14:20 You know that, Chris. Yes, I understand that, but can you ask an actress about that? And the answer should be yes, yes, it's just part of the world. Because ironically, two years later, when she played Fontaine in Les Miserables, she talked all about the weight that she lost for that role. Yeah, maybe she didn't feel like answering it. But I just didn't ask the question very well. And now it has, you know, millions of years.
Starting point is 00:14:45 That's one thing that I took pride in. is that I found ways to ask questions without asking the question. Yeah. You know, and that's what you guys do. You know, like when Brad Pitt broke up with Jennifer Aniston, they said, well, we need a Brad, we need her to talk about Brad Pitt.
Starting point is 00:15:04 Of course, her reps are like, don't talk about Brad Pitt. It was for Marley and me was the movie. I know it was one of my first junkers. So I go, I can't ask her about Brad Pitt. And this is my first time, but I can't disappoint the people that just hired me at E.A. Entertainment. this is my big break.
Starting point is 00:15:20 So I'm interviewing her and I go, so tell me, what's the difference between a man and a dog? Because it was Marley Me. And she grabs my arm, starts laughing. She goes, there are so many things. Dogs are more loyal. Boom.
Starting point is 00:15:41 And that was the clip. Because everybody was, so, could she be talking about Brad Pitt? You know, like so it was that one thing where it's funny. I talked to my close friends. It's funny how I remember when I got into entertainment news like 12 years ago, I had a good friend work at one of these network news broadcasting places. That's very popular.
Starting point is 00:16:03 And he made fun of me. Look at that all salacious. Now the news is worse than celebrity news. Like they're headlines. And hey, coming up next, what did Donald Trump say about this? And what did Joe Biden say? Like, they're worse. It's almost like one is Angelina Jolie and one is Jennifer Anderson.
Starting point is 00:16:21 Like literally, they do the exact same things that entertainment news does. And I said, that's the downfall of news. Once they went that route, it's over. It's over. I think one of the things I really did appreciate was watching a film the night before, then the next day, when we had the opportunity to sit down with the directors about it, I would love that because sometimes you could get some insight into the film that other people wouldn't get because you were there in the room with them able to ask those questions.
Starting point is 00:16:47 I love the directors as well. I mean, just think about it. Living in L.A., now I do a bunch of acting. I've been getting in a lot of auditions, great auditions. So the time I spent with those directors, just think how many people in the industry would want to sit down with a director of a big movie. And most of the time, the big outlets I worked on,
Starting point is 00:17:08 they would pass on the directors. I'll be like, no, I want to interview. I want to be in front of their face because you never know what's going to happen. That's such a good point. It was a two-way street. I was interviewing them because I was interested in what they had to say about the movie. But also, I wanted to get in front of them because they may be like, oh, Michael, yo, I remember that guy from back then.
Starting point is 00:17:27 He was very cool. Let's give him a shot. Because, I mean, you know how many actors would want to sit in front of a big director for 10, I would get 10 minutes with them? I mean, you're just having a conversation about their movie for 10 minutes. Did it ever lead to anything? Did you ever interview somebody and then that director a few months later? was like, we'd like you to audition for this? No, because I didn't act then.
Starting point is 00:17:51 You know, I was very all about comment. My thing is, when I jump into something, like my dad always told me, be more important than your job. So when you lose it, you have something else, you know? Or if you're at that job, no five different things at that job. So when they fire you, they lose five different positions.
Starting point is 00:18:07 You know what I mean? So, like right now, I'm hosting this show this year coming up. I'm doing stand-up and now the acting part is starting to pop off so I have my hands in a bunch of different things and that's where I like to live and that's where I like to be because
Starting point is 00:18:27 like hosting tech could go away tomorrow but like for instance your YouTube channel it doesn't go away until you want it to go away so I started I started this thing in the morning on my Facebook page if for some reason Facebook people love me YouTube not so much. You know, like YouTube, I can't gain traction.
Starting point is 00:18:46 But Facebook is blown up. YouTube's tough. YouTube's a very, very slow growth. But I also think it's more, it's more niche. It's more dude related. You know what I mean? I feel, and maybe I'm wrong, but like my audience lives on families. Like my comedy, everything.
Starting point is 00:19:05 My audience just, you know, my audience is a lot, you know, you get these breakouts. It's the rock and Ellen. that shows you, like, my audience loves to rock and they love Ellen. So, and they love some girly stuff, but they love some, like, race car stuff. So it's weird trying to figure out why it's working on one and the other not. But I have this thing called Morning Yo. And every morning I pop on and do a podcast that I put out that day and also a live stream of the podcast.
Starting point is 00:19:34 And I let people, random people jump in to it. And I like to talk to them and get a positive story. I had a dude from India. a shake today jump in from India. He watches. I had a trainer from Houston, Texas, jump in. But I also tell the life of my story and try to get some positive news out there and just what's going on in my world. Have you always been interested in comedy? No, not until I was on Chelsea lately. When I was on Chelsea lately, I was the reporter, because I worked at E, and my job was to defend the celebrities. And that's why they called me the
Starting point is 00:20:08 celebrity ass kisser and all the comics would make fun of me. But I had to interview them, so I couldn't make fun of them. Yeah. I roll. Everybody had a role on that show. It was like it was a show full of comedians, but everybody had like Joe Coy, she was going to make fun of them being gay. Me, she was going to be, I'm the celebrity ass kisser.
Starting point is 00:20:28 Heather McDonald, she called her Heather Longboobes. Like everybody, you know, everybody had their own role. It was like a TV show. Like, here's your role. You stick with it. And that was my role. But once hanging out with a bunch of comedians, Joe Coy was the one that said,
Starting point is 00:20:44 you should really try this because you're funny and you're so relatable and people like you. So he's my mentor in comedy. So after I really started, he took me on the road. And to see his growth 12 years ago, he was selling out clubs, but now he's selling out stadiums.
Starting point is 00:20:57 And it's amazing to watch. But when you watch you on stage, you have this presence. You have this presence about you. And I feel like your background in television and radio kind of helped you jump the line a little bit. I feel, I feel that if you can do radio, you can do any platform. Yeah, I agree. Because radio, if you have to paint pictures with words, once they can see you,
Starting point is 00:21:20 it's so much easier. If I can entertain you with a story just by you listening to it, that means when I'm on stage, you're going to get the full package. So that's why I, that's my opinion. If you do radio, you could actually get up on and do stand-up. I don't not do well, but you'll be solid. You know what I mean? So any radio person out there, you should try it once. I think everybody should try it once because it's so exhilarating. I remember interviewing Finesse Mitchell years ago.
Starting point is 00:21:49 Oh, love him. He's so great. And I said, if there's any aspiring comedians that are watching this right now, what kind of advice do you have for them? And he says, listen to your last set. Don't watch it. Listen to your last set. And if you don't hear laughter every 15, 20 seconds, go rework your stuff.
Starting point is 00:22:08 Yeah, it's true. Wow. But the whole idea of like you just said, that's the whole idea of radio. Just because you're walking around the stage and doing funny stuff doesn't make you funny. My radio, the biggest radio moment in my career, I worked in Houston, Texas. And Greg Head was, his name was Greg Head. He was the boss of 979 to Box back in the day. and Lance Thomas, rest and peace, he passed away.
Starting point is 00:22:35 But he took me, he was like his right-hand man, and Lance Thomas took me to a Biggie concert. Because we were the host of that night, and I think it was the summit at the time. So it was, no, it was P. Diddy. Biggie just died, but it was the tribute to Biggie. And I looked at Lance Thomas. And he was like a boss to me in radio.
Starting point is 00:22:59 And I go, look at this. It was like 15,000 people. Look at this. thousand people, man, going nuts. That's incredible. And it goes, dude, you think that's awesome. If you say something funny on the air in Houston,
Starting point is 00:23:13 Texas, two million people laugh at one time. And that just hit me like, oh, my God. Like, I never thought about it like that. Like, if you say something funny in radio with millions of people listening, you make two million people laugh all at once. And that was something that I never thought about. It was never put in that perspective.
Starting point is 00:23:37 It's like with your YouTube channel, if you say something that's entertaining to people, you're reaching far more people that's in a stadium, you know, that are watching your videos, that are sharing your videos. And that's why I love where social media is right now. It's good and bad, but most good things are. You know what I mean? Pizza is great. But if you eat too much of it, it'll kill you.
Starting point is 00:23:59 You know, so good. So good. So everything's good and great, but. Social media is a tool. Social media is a tool and so is a knife. You know, a knife can be used to, you know, to perform surgery on someone. And a knife can be used to stab someone and kill them. And I think that, unfortunately, people look at social media is, oh, it's just, you know, look at all the bad things.
Starting point is 00:24:20 Yeah, it's hard for me to be on Twitter anyway. It's just a garbage can to me. Like Twitter, it's like, I just post, I don't even look at it. I just, through other apps, I just post on it. Like, it's just garbage to me. You know, the only thing that's useful on there is, like, really breaking news or watching a Super Bowl or some game or something. Yeah, sure. You know, like live, live tweeting is really a thing because if you're every, a lot of people watch the same show and then you'll see funny things.
Starting point is 00:24:49 Or I love to see the jokes that happen on Twitter, but it's a human garbage can most of the time. When you stepped on stage for the first time, what was your first joke? I don't remember. I blacked out. Like, that night is a blur. It was in Miami. It was at the Miami Improv. Okay.
Starting point is 00:25:08 And I did like 20 minutes my first time. What? But it was, yeah, it was crazy. But it was a- Did you get laughs? Oh, yeah. It was great. That's amazing.
Starting point is 00:25:18 It was unbelievable. And that's how I started. And I just interviewed the guy that Neri's, he's on my podcast morning yo but he brought me up and he goes i never seen a guy never do comedy go up there for 20 25 minutes and just make people laugh i they Miami harold even wrote about my first time on stage because i promoted it on my radio show at why 100 yeah so it was sold out my first show ever was sold out so it was a very supportive crowd because Miami if they love you they love you so it was a very supportive crowd so i could have been horrible but it seemed like i was rock star
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Starting point is 00:29:02 You're right about Miami. If they love you, they love you. Oh, 100%. Like literally, I still get people reaching out to me and go, oh, man, we miss you on the radio, Y100. It's, it's one of those, it's, it's the Latin culture, man. You're like family. And, which sucks because I'm half Korean, you know, and Korean people don't support Korean people usually. You know, like Filipinos do. Like Filipinos, well, they're right or die. If you're Filipino and you're funny or you can fight or whatever your talent is, they support it. Koreans, nah.
Starting point is 00:29:35 Uh-uh, they, no, we don't like that. No. You make joke, no joke about us. You know, so it's kind of, it's really messed up. I wish Koreans were more supportive of Koreans. And then I'm mixed. So that's a big movement right now, which, you know, I feel great about is that we're starting to see more mixed couples on TV with mixed kids, you know, like six years ago. Cheerios made a commercial where they had a white mother with their mixed child in the kitchen and the black father in the living room.
Starting point is 00:30:08 And it had to get pulled from TV because so many racist people were like dog in it. It's unbelievable. And when people say, you think racist is still good? Yes. That was only seven years ago. You know, unbelievable. They put it back up, you know, which was good. But the comments were just horrendous. And now your kids are part Korean, part black, and part white?
Starting point is 00:30:32 25% Korean, 25% black and 50% white. So they're black, white, Asian. So we call them pandas. They're actually panda bears. So we give birth to panda bears over here. I'm a panda maker. A panda maker. If you're white, I will make a panda with you.
Starting point is 00:30:54 How do you make the jump from radio to television? I mean, I started in radio. I started behind the scenes in radio. But really had to put in the time in television to get those reps in and be seen and have a real. I got a random phone call for me that gave me a job. Did they hear you on the radio? Yeah, the boss heard me on the radio. Had his team come out.
Starting point is 00:31:16 it was Marine. I'll never forget it, Marine, Tiffany, and Annie. And I think Annie's still. I've met with Annie. That's fine. I think Annie's still there. And literally, they were looking for a guy to do a radio show forum on Sirius XM that could also do TV on the Daily 10. And I was like, okay. I literally, I said no to the job for six months because I really never wanted to be on TV. And then my mom calls me up one day and goes, you know, you never want to look back and say, what if I took that job. And I'm glad I took it. So I did radio out there. I still, I did my Miami show out there for like eight years. No, but for like four years while I was doing TV because I was scared about losing my job because I didn't have any experience. And my first contract at E, my first year, every three
Starting point is 00:32:05 months, they could have let me go. So you got that first contract where it's every three months they can let you go. And then your second and third year, once they say yes, you got a year. So I was like, I'm not going to lose my radio job in three months after moving there. So I want my radio. They had to write in my radio job as far as a contract. And anyone listening, if you have something that's very successful and you get into the entertainment industry, they will want to own everything you do. But don't let them own anything you've already established.
Starting point is 00:32:37 Because if they really want you, like I waited six months until they said yes. Because I wasn't going to lose a great paying job for, I might make it. You know, I, no, no. So you were still, were you still living in Miami when you got the job of- No, I lived in L.A. Oh, so you were doing the radio show from L.A. For my last four years, nobody ever knew.
Starting point is 00:32:59 What studio were you doing it from? Ryan C. Crest, second studio. Oh, because that was in the E-building. So every morning, it was so weird. I tell people this story. The first time he walked by, he was like, what's up, yo? Because in radio, you know everybody in radio. So it's like, so you.
Starting point is 00:33:14 I was like, what's up, Ryan? And then I remember seeing him in Miami on TV, American Idol. That's when it all blew up. And I go, man, I wish I could do that. And then when I saw him pass me every day and he goes, what's up? Yeah, I was like, oh, I can do this. Because it's reality now. He's a dude.
Starting point is 00:33:30 He's walking by. He's saying, what's up to me? I can do this shit too. You know, it's not like, you know, he got a big break. He's talented. But we all need breaks. And he got his break. And now for 12 years,
Starting point is 00:33:44 You know, I feel like I've built momentum. And now I'm at that breaking point. I'm just waiting for that one thing to kind of push you over. And I think in the industry, that's how it kind of builds up is if you're playing this game, it's like you build up a name, you build up a name, and then you're just waiting for that one thing to kind of send you over the top. Do you think you've had that break yet? No. I almost had it.
Starting point is 00:34:10 It came very close at the end of this year. but they went with a bigger celebrity, which I get, which I get. Is this the show that you were going to have about your life? Oh, no, no, no. That's still in development. So we're still working out. That sounds like your break right there. But it's not done.
Starting point is 00:34:26 Like, to me, the big break is when it's done. Sure. Everything sign and everything. Like, I tell everybody. Just filming a pilot is not your break. It's not. It's not. It's not a break until it gets picked up.
Starting point is 00:34:38 And it's an accomplishment. And you shouldn't overlook that accomplishment. But until those contracts are signed and it's where people can see it. Because I've been offered jobs that were taken away because I wasn't a big enough celebrity. And now, since you were a host as well, all the hosting jobs that normal hosts would get, celebrities get them. And it's not like they're, some are good, but some are really bad. But they got a big name.
Starting point is 00:35:04 So it's kind of that thing where, you know, it's what do you do? You know, so you kind of almost. got almost. I was so like when I say so close, so close where but after they said no, they went with this other person, I was like, I get it. Was this a show you would have started?
Starting point is 00:35:25 I would have been a big part of it. Yeah, big part. We're all going to try to figure out what this is. It's a big show right now. Who's a Michael yo looking person who got this job? No, they don't look like me at all. But they did want me for my hosting skills, my comedy skills.
Starting point is 00:35:42 and my knowledge of celebrities. So it would have been great. And I still think in the future, I'll be a part of that network. And what's great is, is when this person got the job, I was like, I get it. And my job, because once you reach a certain level,
Starting point is 00:36:04 and celebrities know that you get jobs you don't necessarily deserve. You get jobs because you're known. when you come up in the game, every job you get you earned because there's so many people going for. But then once you reach a certain level, and that's the next level I'm talking about,
Starting point is 00:36:23 it's like that next level that when you get that next job, jobs will just fall in because you've gotten that. Not necessarily you deserve that, but now people know who you are, they like you. And you still have to prove you're worthy of it. But once you prove you're worthy of it, Yeah. Everything just falls into place.
Starting point is 00:36:44 You're saying no to jobs now. And that opportunity was this close, was this close. But I got it and I wasn't bummed at all because I felt like my job is just to keep growing, getting better and get to that point where I get jobs I don't deserve. You know, you're going to get one of those jobs. And this is going to be, yeah, you're going to get it. You're right on the precipice of this. I love that word precipice. Oh, the precipice of this.
Starting point is 00:37:11 But you're going to get one of those jobs and not unlike Kevin Hart or Burke Kreischer or many other celebrities, many other comedians, they're going to go, oh, man, where this guy come from? You're like, what do you mean? It's like a 15-year overnight success. Oh, yeah. Well, here's the thing that's great about comedians, I feel like, is we all know. I've known Burke Kreisher for eight years. I've known Joe Rogan for 21 years. I've known, like, the comedians that are breaking out right now, they've been doing it for 15, 20 years. So I don't think a comedian will ever look at another comedian unless they're brand new, you know, and go, oh, how'd they make it? Because every comedian knows the struggle of just being in, I'm going on 10 years right now. So in the comedy world with Joe Coy, Berg-Crackson, I'm still a newbie.
Starting point is 00:38:00 You know, they got 20, 30 years in the game. But I'm just trying to accomplish what I need to accomplish in half the time. because they started way younger than I was, you know? When you say you've known Joe Rogan 21 years, are you going back to Fear Factor? Yeah, Fear Factor. Yeah, that's when I first met him, man. It was pretty amazing to meet Joe Rogan at that time.
Starting point is 00:38:21 Like, he was my first experience with Hollywood. I remember I met him at the place on sunset where they shoot all the TV shows. They ride that horse thing, saddle ranch. So I was at saddle ranch, and that's where, I met Joe Rogan in the cast and they kind of took us out one night. And yeah, it's so weird how you never know. 21 years later, like, we're still friends. We didn't keep in touch all that time until I moved to L.A. and started comedy.
Starting point is 00:38:55 But he was always been a supporter of my big supporter. And he always jokes that I'm the most successful person off of Fear Factor. When you ran into him, when you moved down to L.A. and started doing comedy, did he remember you being on Fear Factor? he came up to me. It was like, yo, it's good to see you out here doing comedy.
Starting point is 00:39:13 I mean, so supportive, man. Because Joe Rogan's a big deal out in L.A. before he moved to Austin. And like, I'm a type of person where I don't like to get into people's space unless I'm invited,
Starting point is 00:39:24 you know, and he's so big. When he walks around the comedy store, I mean, very nice guy, but it's also, you know the bigness of him. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:39:34 Like, everybody's like, oh my gosh, Joe Rogan here. And so I was like, yo, I'm just staying to the side. And I actually saw him at a smaller comedy club because he was working out. And that's where we ran into each other. And I didn't even know he was there.
Starting point is 00:39:48 And he goes, Michael, yo, I turned around. I was like, oh, what's up, Joe? And then he said, you need to be on my podcast. And that was the first time I ever got on his podcast, literally just bumping into him. And how much did being on his podcast change things for you? Huge. It's a massive platform. It's not massive.
Starting point is 00:40:06 It's the biggest podcast in the world. Like, it's incredible. It's incredible. Like, I'm a dude that, you know, I had 40-something thousand followers. And just being on this podcast three times, I have almost 86,000. And I attributed all to him. You know what I mean? And his audience is loyal.
Starting point is 00:40:27 And when I beat COVID, they were there. Like, they're very supportive. So, you know, they're funny. They're supportive. Some of them are dicks. But, you know, like Joe Rogan says, he goes, I have all these followers. If just 10% are dicks,
Starting point is 00:40:41 you got a million dicks out there that's going to message you, you know what I mean? So, you know, because this YouTube station, I think has 10 million people. So he goes, just 10% of those people are dicks,
Starting point is 00:40:51 you're going to have some mean comments, you know, so. Well, you're, you know, you come from that background of interviewing a lot of people.
Starting point is 00:40:57 Joe Rogan is now arguably one of the very, very best at this. Amazing. From your point of view, what do you think it is that makes him such a great interviewer? I think it's,
Starting point is 00:41:10 He really listens and he gives everybody a platform, no matter if you have a lot of controversy behind you, he, he interviews, he interviews people like, he asks questions that normal people would ask. Because it's almost like, I know nothing about what you're talking about, but I want to learn everything. And if you say something, I don't know, I'm not scared and I'm not going to pretend like I know it. You know, I want you to, what does that mean? You know, what does that acronym mean that you just said? You know, so I feel that and I feel that he has the pulse of his audience. But that's built over time, too. Like Joe will tell you, he was a horrible interviewer when he first started.
Starting point is 00:41:51 But just think of 10 years of knowledge or 11 years of knowledge out of all the experts, different people, sharing their life experience, and how much knowledge he has now. But he's so well read. He's so well read on everything. Well, he's well read, but also I think he interviews so many different people. You learn all that knowledge. Just think if you talk to a different expert, a fighter, a person living a real life, every single day for hours. You would have a bunch of knowledge, just random things you would know that you learn.
Starting point is 00:42:24 Like, I listen to some books. Like, I'll put it like this. I watch the Hamilton, right? It's on Disney, the play Hamilton. I was so fascinated by it. I started reading about it. Now I know a bunch of facts about fucking Hamilton and his, when he died and his daughter and all,
Starting point is 00:42:42 you know, and Aaron Burr. But I wouldn't have never done that if I didn't watch it. So I looked it up. So now when somebody brings up Hamilton, I'll know more about it than them because I had that experience with it. But just think if you were talking to people, you talk to a specialist in Hamilton, or you talk to a doctor that's about Corona,
Starting point is 00:43:01 or you talk to this health person about this. all those years of talking to people for three to two hours a day, your brain is just filled with knowledge that you can just recall things. And it makes you more educated when you talk. You know, because that's what life is, experience. And he's getting somebody's experience. It's almost like, you remember Mortal Kombat when that guy goes, come over here.
Starting point is 00:43:24 And he would grab your soul. Yeah, Scorpion, of course. So he, that's what Joe Rogan's doing to people every, like grabbing their knowledge and just. What an analogy, you know? Get over here. Get over here. Just all your knowledge.
Starting point is 00:43:39 I'm just like, ah, and that's what he's doing. Every single day, he's just grabbing people's knowledge. And now he has it. Last time that he had you on, you guys talked a lot about your situation with COVID, which, you know, you mentioned there. I think that really opened a lot of people's eyes to the fact that this is a serious thing. You're a healthy guy. And you were on death's doorstep.
Starting point is 00:44:02 Man, I was talking to my wife about it last night. My second night there, I didn't think I would see it, 2021. You know, I mean, now that it's a new year and you just look back and go, what a ride? Like, it was bananas, like knowing it was good and bad. The good part was you got to think about everything. It wasn't sudden. You know, you got to think about your legacy. You got to think about what you can see.
Starting point is 00:44:32 say to your wife, if you know it's going to go the wrong way, you can think about your kids, but you'll never see them grow up. You know, it just, it was crushing. But the thing I felt good about is that it was more of reflecting of my life as well, knowing I treated everybody well. And I was really, that made me happy. Knowing if I left this earth, people would go like, that's a good dude. And he did good things when he was here. He helped people out when he could. And a lot of times you don't reflect about things like that. And it wasn't an ego thing. It was just like I really, while I was laying there going in and out,
Starting point is 00:45:08 that was really big to me. Did I lead a good life and did I treat people right? Because that's all I want when I leave. And did I pass along that to my wife and kids? And that's what I thought about the most, you know? So it, I felt great. I felt great about what I've done to that point. And then when I got that second chance,
Starting point is 00:45:34 when I made it through, now it's even amped up even more, where I want to do more, but we've been stuck inside. So I want to do great things. I want to go out there and really push. And, you know, I love the Rocky.
Starting point is 00:45:44 So inspiring to people, I want to be that guy. I want to inspire people. And that's why it's like my morning, yo podcast, it's like positivity in the morning. Yeah. Every guest that comes on,
Starting point is 00:45:54 tell me something good. Tell me something positive in your life. And that just keeps people moving forward, knowing that it's last year was shitty. But this year, we know more than last year. Yeah. So we know what works and what doesn't work. So let's all get on the same page. You know, how did America's got talent line up with your COVID?
Starting point is 00:46:15 Oh, my God. So I did that. God, I did that like, and I got sick like three weeks later, two weeks later or something like that. because we taped it long before, you know. But then you were doing it with no audiences. Yeah, that sucked. That sucked. Because you were like, you got COVID like at the start of March.
Starting point is 00:46:35 You got COVID before these lockdowns were happening. Yeah, yeah. Well, it was around, it was like a day before the lockdown. I don't really remember the day, but I do know when I got it, things were locked down, but I was one of, I was the first person in the hospital in my area with it. So it was still early. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:46:56 It was still early though. Yeah. It's interesting that you're talking about like building all these things on top of each other. And then you're, you know, you're at that breaking point. You're at that precipice. We'll say it again. Yes, the precipice. But it's being on Rogan, America's got talent.
Starting point is 00:47:10 These are all the bricks that you're laying here. How much did AGT help you? AGT was solid. If I could have done it again, it was a little bit of cockiness in it where I was like, oh, I'm going to make the finals. So this is the order of sets I'm going to do. And I, the second set I wanted to do, they didn't let me do. So I had to go back and find another set. And then they didn't let me do that set.
Starting point is 00:47:36 So I winded up doing my third set. And that's what I wasn't happy about. But I get it. You know, I don't make those calls. But the show was so supportive because they wanted me to do that first set. And they were like, well, if you just change certain that, what I should have done is, and I'll never do this again and I learned through AGT,
Starting point is 00:47:56 I went against my gut. These people on AGT wanted to fight for me to do the set I want it. And my thing being on the TV side was I don't want to make the network mad because you never know I don't want to burn any bridges.
Starting point is 00:48:09 But you have people on the show that wanted to fight for you and I didn't let them fight for me. And I just kind of bailed on it. When I knew that next set would have got me to, because it's one of the biggest sets I do in my stand-up special
Starting point is 00:48:22 that gets the biggest reaction. And they wanted to fight for it so hard. And I was more worried about, isn't that we're going to like me or not, if I fight them on this. You know, so that's what I learned is, if you have people that run a show that want to fight for you,
Starting point is 00:48:40 fucking let them fight for you. Because obviously, they know what they're doing. You know what I mean? Like, they want you to succeed. And that's what that show, that's what I loved about AGT. everybody on that show, all the bosses, want everybody to win. You know, they really want you to win.
Starting point is 00:48:56 You had an audience, I feel like you would have gone all the way to the end because you would have had that crowd in the palm of your hand. Well, you know, it's a thing where they asked me today before, before the show, you're not going to have an audience this year. Do you want to still do it? And I was like, man, if there's one person, there's an audience. And I don't want to disrespect comedy because that's what I always been taught. If there's one person that shows up, they get in a show.
Starting point is 00:49:22 So I didn't want to let my brother in down by saying, no, even though they would have never known, I would have known. You know what I mean? So I'm prideful in that. And look, no audience. I wish one day, maybe three years from now, four years from now, I can go back and just do a set with an audience and crush it and do the set I really wanted to do. But I also feel I'll go back as a way bigger comedian and they'll want me to put. pop on the show and do a set. So I love everybody at AGT and my not having the guts to say, you know what, I'm a fight, which y'all fighting, like they were fighting for me harder than
Starting point is 00:50:06 I was fighting for myself. And that's what made me mad looking back about the whole situation, because they knew, they knew this set was going to get me to the next, they knew. And they knew the other sets weren't at that time. Do you think that not being on stage this, last almost a year now has hurt your comedy career or hurt the career of any comedians? I think it's helped comedians that are big on social media because they're still putting out content. Me, it's more of I'm working on my second, like my second special, I feel is the one that's going to put her over the top because I got so much knowledge for, like, my corona stories, unbelievable, and I've been practicing it. I've done shows since. And it crushes in my,
Starting point is 00:50:48 just when I'm a new material, it has a darker edge to it now. Because I feel like my first special, it was nice, it was fun. It was a Taylor Swift song. You know, it's fun. It was. It was fun, poppy, you know, everybody loves it. People can relate to it. If you don't want to be down, watch that one.
Starting point is 00:51:07 And one of my good friends who's a big comedian goes, I watch your special. It's great. But there's no darkness. Like, there's no, everything's lovely in your life. And people like that, but they want to hear the bad things too. But at that time, there was none. I was living on top of the world. But now after almost dying, now having two kids, always tired, now, you know, almost being
Starting point is 00:51:32 married five years, being together seven years, you know, you find funny things that happen within a marriage that, look, my life is still amazing. But now I'm finding the darker moments. And my dark is not too dark, but it's darker. than my first special, which is, my first special is Rainbow's Katie Perry video. You know what I mean? But it's good. But like I put it against anybody's special.
Starting point is 00:51:56 It's great. I love it. I think it, to me, if I was a bigger name, it would have blew up. You know what I mean? I really feel it's that good. And it has that good family story in it. But this one, it's, it's, I'm excited for people to hear it. But this is that whole thing, you know, it doesn't matter what form of the arts that
Starting point is 00:52:17 you're in, whether you're an actor or you're a comedian, maybe you're a host, a podcast, or whatever, if you're not looking back at your old stuff from six months ago and going, oh, yeah, that could have been better. Then you're not going to the right direction. No, it's true. Like, I look at it and go, oh, you know what, it is, it is light and fluffy. You know, it's very, uh, look, I still want people to go see it because it's funny. I will tell you it's funny, but where my material is now, my material now is a lot deeper and it hits a lot of buttons that I kind of wanted to say on my first one, but I didn't. But now with this life experience, it opens the door to it, you know? So what does your process look like when you start crafting a joke, start crafting a bit?
Starting point is 00:53:04 Okay, I'll tell you, I think first it's just an idea. If I'm talking to you or I'm talking to anybody who do a lot of podcasts, I say something funny. I record it in my head. And then if it hits me again, I go, okay, now let's start working on it. You know what I mean? Like I have a new bit I'm working on right now. It's not even a joke form. It's just something my wife does that irritates me. It's when she goes, when she says the word interesting.
Starting point is 00:53:30 Like I'll say something and she goes, oh, interesting. And I'm going, and I'm like, what, that's very condescending. You know, when everyone can relate to that. Yeah. Like, I'll be like, oh, I saw, I saw my friend. at the mall and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Oh, that's interesting. Like, I plan to meet that, you know, like I'm lying.
Starting point is 00:53:50 Like, for some reason, interesting to me means that you are lying or you're condescending or you're, she's being condescending. I hate that. Oh, interesting. Like, what's interesting about me seeing my friend at the mall? I don't know. It's just interesting. You know? But I have no joke right now, but I know in the back of my head, eventually she'll do something else.
Starting point is 00:54:12 So now I'm on the lookout when she says it. Now I'll have an exact story. Because I know one day I'm going to say some. And she's going to go, oh, interesting. And now I'll automatically record in my head what I said to make her say interesting. I always feel for the family members of comedians. Oh, no, they love it. They're the butt of every joke.
Starting point is 00:54:35 They love it. This is why I never dated anyone that worked in morning radio because I knew that our life would be talked about on the radio. Oh, 100%. That's our life experience. No, I know. I get it. That's what we're supposed to do. So it's the thing where, yeah, my parents get it.
Starting point is 00:54:53 I haven't talked about my wife's parents, but I'm getting there. I'm getting there. Does your wife ever go, you know what, honey? Maybe we shouldn't go with that joke. She's loosening up more and more because she's getting used to me talking about her. Like, just as short story, I have a whole. joke about how my wife put baby food in a cooler and we got somewhere. And I look in the cooler. I noticed there's no ice in it. And my wife looks at me and goes, duh, it's a cooler. You don't
Starting point is 00:55:24 need ice in it. And I go into this long story about how like if you want to stay happily married, you have to, no matter what kind of things they say, you got to find, you got a supporter. I can't go like you can't say my thing is you can't say the first thing that pops into your head you got to say the third to be heavily married never say the first second thing so you got to say the third because the first thing you would say is probably like that's the dumbest shit I've ever heard in my life you know what I mean which is not good for a relationship the second thing is going to be to that level but the third thing would be like I can't believe this cooler is broken you know what I mean that would be what I would say you know to her to make her feel like okay
Starting point is 00:56:07 okay, I'm not dumb. You know, so I need to take some of this advice and apply it to my own life. I'm just saying, I'm just saying, man. So you still single? I am single now, yes. Now. It's the first time I've mentioned this, I guess, publicly. So yeah.
Starting point is 00:56:22 Oh, how long were you dating someone? We were together almost two years. Okay, okay. And your choice or hers? It was kind of mutual. I mean, we have a great deal of love and respect for each other, but it just wasn't their long term. Okay.
Starting point is 00:56:38 You know, this is someone I care about and she's going to be part of my life forever, but it just wasn't there. Is she really? Is she really? I think so. No. I mean, once you're done, you're done, dude. I'm telling you, you can say that all you want, but a year from now, I'll ask you
Starting point is 00:56:51 about her. You're like, who? I don't even remember. It'll never get to the point where there's animosity. At least I don't want. Oh, well, I have, yeah, I get that, but she won't be part of your life. Yeah, I'm not like saying I'm going to be invited to her wedding or something one day. Which would be weird.
Starting point is 00:57:05 What do you think about that? That would be very weird. What do you think about exes being invited to people's weddings? Oh, that's strange. You shouldn't do that. It just makes it awkward for whoever the other person is. Yeah. I've heard of some people doing it.
Starting point is 00:57:18 I'm like, that is dumb. Yeah. Like, why would you? No. No. But I look at the situation you're in with your wife. And when I met you, you were single. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:57:29 When I met you were single, then I remember you met Claire and we were like, oh, she's pretty great. And I would see you every few months. and it was progressing. Yeah. But I guess my question for you is, how were you able to balance the, first of all,
Starting point is 00:57:42 it was your girlfriend, then your fiance, then your wife, now you have two kids. How are you able to balance that side of things with this career that is continuing to grow
Starting point is 00:57:49 month after month? I want to mention the question you just asked. I want people to hear what he just asked because this is what I don't like about celebrities. Women always complain.
Starting point is 00:58:00 Men never get asked that. You know, oh, why do me being a woman being asked how to juggle this and that and this and men never that's bullshit i get asked that all the time that that that is that makes me so how many times have you heard ryan cress people ask him about that you know but women think do that uh i that is the one thing in an annoyment junkets when female actors actresses would say that it's like well you never ask men how they juggle being a father and doing yes i do i do all the time
Starting point is 00:58:35 Anyway, yes. So your question, I just think it's important because I look at it and go, man, if I give just 10% of my time to this other thing, that's 10% that I'm less that I'm giving to my career. Let me tell you, when you have a wife and two kids, you realize how little you did before that. Like you think you're doing a lot, but you're not. You're not at all. Not like, no. with two kids up 24 hours a day. Like literally you, I look at my life and go, what did I do before I was married and had two kids?
Starting point is 00:59:10 Nothing. You think you're busy. Oh, I did a junket today. I'm spent. And that's it. No. Imagine doing a junket coming home and have kids and then a wife. You got to make everybody happy.
Starting point is 00:59:21 I mean, that's, it's not hard to juggle because you love them, you know? I tell everybody when people you use. the, well, I don't have time in my life or relationship. Yeah, you do. You just haven't found the right person. Because when you find the right person, you make time. Yeah, it's that old adage of if you want to do something, you make the time. If you don't, you make an excuse.
Starting point is 00:59:46 Well, because if you really into somebody, oh, let's go to opposite. If you're not into them and you don't have a lot of time because you're too busy in your career, you just texting, hey, how's it going? It's too much. Like literally it takes you a second. You're not that busy. Oh, man. Nothing bothers me more than when you're dating someone and they respond to your text like seven hours later.
Starting point is 01:00:09 You're like, come on. Yeah, I don't like that. Really? Can you imagine us having a conversation? You asked me a question. I just leave for seven hours and then come back and answer it. Like, it's so ridiculous. Especially knowing that you've looked at your phone like 46 times during that, you know, seven hours.
Starting point is 01:00:24 Well, now you're putting out too much information about you, Chris. Are you that guy? You're like, why don't you text me back? I just, my thing is, like, me and my wife, we talked a bunch. I don't like texting. I don't like talking on the phone either, but I'd rather talk real quick than the text
Starting point is 01:00:41 because you lose so much of how you're really feeling in text. But I was on a show. I did it with Hinge. It was called ghost stories. We interviewed people that ghosted each other, and we would interview the people, the actual person that got ghosted, in the person that ghosted them and then put them together.
Starting point is 01:00:58 It was fun on them. But I was talking to a girl, probably 26, and I go, well, what if he just calls you? Because calls me. That's weird. Like, really, they think it's weird talking to people on the phone now, younger people. So I don't know what to say. No, I understand that. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:01:17 I mean, me and my wife, we always talked on the phone. Well, maybe that's why it's working. Yeah. I mean, then, you know, I don't believe in this whole texting thing. Like, I'll call her still. She'll say, I mean, we text here and there, but most of the time, it's real conversation. Well, texting has now become, like, the modern day instant messaging. Yeah, it's talking.
Starting point is 01:01:38 No, texting. Texting is talking. But it used to be you logged on, say, instant messenger, and you were only available when you were logged on. I feel in 25 years nobody's going to talk. It's just going to be like just people just in their bubbles. This is another bit you're working on? No, but I'm being serious. about it. Like, we've already stopped learning how to write, like physically write, right? I remember when
Starting point is 01:02:02 I was in school, cursive was a big deal. Like, to learn cursive, you're like, who, I know how to write. Kids, like, my son's three, he knows how to work a phone. You know what I mean? So it's kind of like they're losing, he's not going to know how to write, right? Like we did, he's not going to get excited about cursive because he has a keypad. So we're losing things. Like, I can't even back up my car anymore without a backup cam. I'll run into somebody. You just lose these things that we grew up with. Like, I remember when I knew 20 phone numbers in my head. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:02:33 I couldn't tell you my phone number. Well, it's different now, right? It's shifted. There's a lot of things that our parents' generation did that we never learned how to do. It's true. Like, we'll never, it's okay that we don't need to learn how to send a fax because we'll never have to do it. But it used to be, it used to be how much information did you know?
Starting point is 01:02:53 Now it's, everyone has access to information. It's what can you do with that? information that you have now. Well, we used to think in Ronnie Chang, he's a comedian. He has a great special out. He says, who would have thought? Because we were always like, if we had more information, we'd be smarter. Well, it seems like the more information we have, the dumber we get. You know, because people don't believe real information anymore. You know, you got too much of it now. Now, fake information is real information. Yeah. It's just ridiculous.
Starting point is 01:03:20 What has been your favorite part about being a father? My kids. But what about that? But to know that you're molding a human being. And for me, giving them good values, because I believe every parent think they're giving good values. But universally, I feel like, and even when I reflected on my life, I'm a good person.
Starting point is 01:03:42 That's what I try to be first. And to know my son's going to be a good person. My daughter's going to be a good person. And hopefully I'm around long enough to mold them into that because it's so cool for you to be doing something. And then I look over my son's doing the same. mimicking me. And I'm like, oh, like, that's, like, they really watch you.
Starting point is 01:04:02 Like, my daughter, if I eat something, she'll be like, oh, I want, I want someone. Like, they really watch you. So they really learn your mannerisms in what you do. And that's why, you know, you'll usually hear it at funerals, you know, which is bad. But, oh, my God, you remind me of your father because you do this. You know, because you learn that from your father. And I want him to learn. because my dad went through segregation.
Starting point is 01:04:27 He went through all kinds of crap growing up being black in Houston, Texas, or in Louisiana. I want my son to know those stories. But I want him to also take with him that he's different from me and he's different from my dad. And he needs to accept everything. He's white, black, and Asian. You know what I mean? He needs to accept all that. And he needs to be a great person first.
Starting point is 01:04:49 So I love watching them grow up being good people. You know, my daughter's only one. you don't know yet. She could be like an awful person. I don't know yet. She's too young. If you're her dad, I think she'll be okay. You know, but my wife is way better than me, so I'm sure she'll be great. But my son is a great little dude right now. That's awesome. I love hearing. I've loved this conversation. I wrap up every, wrap up every conversation by asking you, what are three things in your life that you're grateful for right now? Because as it says behind me here, if you can be great, you can be grateful.
Starting point is 01:05:23 Yeah, I think first and foremost, it's my wife is my number one. My kids are number two. And here's a piece of advice to anybody just getting married. Always put, and you may hear opposite, but I believe you put your wife before your kids. Because if your wife is not happy, the whole family is not married, but she was your girlfriend and your fiance and your wife first. First. Before she was a mom. That's right.
Starting point is 01:05:47 You got to put them first. You got to put your partner first and then the kids. Don't do kids first. You can't let them run the house. Because they're only one and three years old. You're putting them in charge. No. So my wife would be number one.
Starting point is 01:05:58 My kids would be number two. And to just make it to 20, 21, just to be alive, just to be breathing, just to wake up this morning. It's something I, every morning I wake up grateful. And I say, I'm alive. We can do this. Because, you know, my dad always say, back in the day, I would say, how you feel this morning? He goes, any day you wake up, it's a great day. And I really believe, I take that with me every single, every day.
Starting point is 01:06:23 you wake up, it's a great day. Because no matter what happens, you can beat that problem that's going on. As long as you wake up the next day, you know. Yeah. I love it. Is that three? Yeah. Wife kids.
Starting point is 01:06:36 Yeah. And being alive. Being alive, man. 2021. It's going to be a game breaker. I'm ready. It's happening. Michael Yo.
Starting point is 01:06:44 Thank you so much, Ben. Thanks, Chris, man. I appreciate it, bro. There we go. Michael Yo. I did not mean for that to rhyme, but there we go. I was just a guest on his podcast, so you can check out Morning Yo,
Starting point is 01:07:02 wherever you're listening to this. And he asks some great questions. So I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. And he's just a good dude. So honored to be able to call him, my friend. And I love this idea that dreams don't have a deadline. That Michael didn't start on TV until he was 35 and didn't start in comedy until his late 30s.
Starting point is 01:07:25 And look what he's doing now. Look what he's doing. He is crushing it now. Now, as J.M. Power once said, if you want to achieve your dreams, the first thing you have to do is wake up. I'm really excited to see what to show you what I've been working on with the podcast. So keep an eye out for that in the next week or two. And hit subscribe so you don't miss out on it. Be great. Be great for my friends.
Starting point is 01:07:49 And we'll see on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, it was. a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock. But there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock?
Starting point is 01:08:08 I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley. Ever heard of then? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Allie.
Starting point is 01:08:19 Follow and listen on your favorite platform.

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