Locked In with Ian Bick - Unmasking The Cartel: Why Ozark Falls Short Of An Authentic Depiction | Johnny Mitchell Pt. 2

Episode Date: December 17, 2023

Renowned podcaster and comedian Johnny Mitchell returns to our show in this exciting episode. He shares captivating insights into his most memorable guest, shedding light on the fascinating world of p...rison content. We delve into discussions about the accuracy of the hit Netflix series "Ozark" and uncover Johnny's unique perspective on its portrayal of criminal enterprises. In an era where prison content seems to saturate the airwaves, Johnny offers his candid thoughts on why this genre may be reaching a tipping point. Tune in for a captivating conversation that promises to be both enlightening and entertaining. Big thanks to www.findagreatattorney.com for sponsoring this episode. Are you in need of an attorney? Visit www.findagreatattorney.com to find the best attorney for FREE. Follow Ian Bick on Instagram: @ian_bick & Snapchat: ianbick Connect with Johnny Mitchell: YT: https://youtube.com/@theconnectpod?si=0c-0Xn0JKFiOzJh_ IG: https://www.instagram.com/mrjohnnymitchell/?hl=en Buy Merch: https://lockedinbrand.com Use code lockedin at checkout to get 20% off your order Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:06 - Netflix documentary Untold crime and penalties 00:04:13 - Different Approaches to Podcasting 00:06:13 - Unique: A Story of Poverty and Survival 00:08:16 - The Rise of the Rude Boys and Crack Explodes in Harlem 00:10:26 - From Incarceration to Education 00:12:29 - Compassionate Release and YouTube Content 00:14:29 - Talking about Old Times in Harlem 00:16:22 - The Art of Embellishment and Hyperbole 00:18:23 - Find a Great Attorney 00:20:21 - From Smuggler to Comedian 00:22:17 - Comedy and Connecting with Fans 00:24:20 - Dealing with Different Audiences 00:28:21 - The Fascination with Latin America 00:30:18 - The truth about Ozark 00:32:13 - Opinions on Fraud 00:34:05 - The Changing Face of the Mob and Dealing 00:37:53 - YouTube Interviews with Controversial Figures 00:39:52 - Dealing with Untruthful Guests 00:41:44 - David Shapiro's Vetting Process 00:43:38 - Networking and Hustle 00:45:30 - The Power to Influence and the Dream Podcast 00:47:32 - The Power of YouTube for Comedians 00:49:33 - Lessons Learned: Starting a Podcast Post-Prison 00:51:29 - The Challenges of Content Creation 00:53:34 - Chevy Chase: From Icon to Strip Mall 00:55:35 - Delusional People and Integrity 00:57:33 - Paying for Guests Connect with Ian Bick: https://www.ianbick.com Powered by Creative Evolution Studios https://creativeevolutionstudios.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 He eventually goes down. Big federal RICO case. He gets hit with the Kingpin Act. Never actually got caught with any drugs. And of course, the evidence they used against him was just like a couple of people saying that he gave his brother some kilos who they ended up selling to him, right? Just that whole loose string that the feds used to make the case stick, right?
Starting point is 00:00:25 And his brother was murder. was murdered in during the the trial and the whole after he was arrested his brother was on the run because he was linked into the conspiracy right his brother gets murdered
Starting point is 00:00:40 so his lawyer comes to him and said look just put all of the coke on your brother he's dead you know we can get some leniency out of this right and he goes I can't do that like I stand by my word always and they gave him life plus 25 years
Starting point is 00:00:58 On today's episode, we have my good friend and fellow podcaster, Johnny Mitchell, back on the show to catch up with him since he was on our show back in April. Johnny is the host of The Connect with Johnny Mitchell and also an up-and-coming comedian. Make sure you check out his content and his stand-up clips. I have to say, he's very funny and his podcast is super insightful in the world of crime. This episode is brought to you by Find a Great Attorney.com. If you are injured anywhere in the country, visit find a great attorney.com, a free service that can find you one of the best lawyers in your area. You focus on getting better and they'll do the rest. Exciting news, everyone.
Starting point is 00:01:39 My studio is producing the Talking Trash podcast available on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube where you can watch the full episodes. The Talking Trash podcast features A.J. Galante and Daniel Amesbury. AJ is a good friend of mine. I train at his boxing gym, champs boxing glove in Danbury, Connecticut, and he was a best guest on this podcast over the summer, and he was also featured in the Danbury Trashers Netflix documentary, Untold Crime and Penalties. If you're any kind of sports fan or you really just like hockey,
Starting point is 00:02:14 you need to give this podcast a listen. They're talking anything from sports to reviewing fights, and they're going to have some really, really exciting guests on the show. So make sure you guys check. that out the Talking Trash podcast. And remember to leave us a review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. And I hope you sit back, relax, and get ready to lock in with Johnny Mitchell. Johnny Mitchell, welcome back on the show today. Yes, sir. Hey, buddy. Thanks for having me. You said that the last time. What? Last time I said thanks for having me.
Starting point is 00:02:56 No, you said like, we always used to rip you because you were like, thanks, Ian. And then you were like, thanks for having me. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's the least I can do. I'm out here on the East Coast. I have to come see what you've built. And it's truly, you're surpassing me now. I'm getting kind of nervous. I walked in. I was like, wow, I got to get my shit together.
Starting point is 00:03:17 I mean, you've got an empire up here. You've had the better studio, though, since before I started. Yeah, but it's in a garage. Look at you. That studio's in a garage? Yeah. Really? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:27 It looks legit. It is in my editor and executive producers garage in the back of his house. Yeah. On a sketch. Yeah, absolutely, dude. And we have women down there and it's in South Central. So we have to be like, no, no, no, it's cool. Johnny, it feels like I've known you for like years now.
Starting point is 00:03:46 Yeah. Because we talk like every day. I talk to you all the time. Yeah, since we met in April back. I shot you a cold email. That's right. And then you actually responded. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:55 But since then, you're almost at a million followers, subscribers on YouTube. You did Tom Segarish show. Yes. His podcast. Yes. How was that? It was great. It was great.
Starting point is 00:04:05 That's, I mean, it almost felt like doing a TV show. It's so heavily produced that it was like kind of surreal, you know? So everybody does there. All the Titans in the comedy podcasting space do it a little differently, right? Joe Rogan, very bare bones, which is people are surprised to know that like he actually has one of the most basic setups. It's just two mics like this. They do a live switch, which most podcasts are edited, right? multi-camera.
Starting point is 00:04:34 And yeah, just not a lot of frills because he doesn't need it, right? He was the first one in the space. But now guys like Andrew Schultz, I mean, it's like doing late-night TV. It would be, you know, it's like a mini, you know, Jimmy Fallon kind of production. So, yeah, everybody does a little differently, but the scurros were great, you know. And, I mean, Austin is just, I mean, what a town, you know. If I was 10 years younger and, you know, not in recovery, I would. live there. But yeah, no, it was great, man. It was great.
Starting point is 00:05:05 Have you seen a, like, kind of an uptick of non-prison creators inviting the prison content creators on their show? Because you, you kind of stand out because you're a comedian, so you have that aspect, but you're also, you've been to prison. Yeah, yeah. I don't, I don't think so. I don't think you see, yes, definitely amongst, if you're viral, the big people will have you on. But, no, regular people still don't know how to talk to prison people. So I think it's usually just, just not a good fit, right? Like, you have to have some idea or interest in the space in order to
Starting point is 00:05:38 invite a guest on and be able to talk about it intelligibly, you know? Do you think you have the advantage because you're a podcast or yourself and you're able to speak fluently and kind of tell your story and entertaining what? Yeah, yeah. That was just the niche. I just got lucky. I was a guy that could articulate it, but also really lived it. And as you said, you told me this. And it was, and it was gassed me up. You were like, The Connect, you guys professionalized
Starting point is 00:06:07 street content, essentially. And I think we did that, you know, because now it's like you see a lot of people who will not be named, using the guests that we use and using the branding that we use.
Starting point is 00:06:20 And I'm honored, you know, like that was dope while it lasted. Now everybody gets to go use it, right? So, yeah, I definitely have an advantage.
Starting point is 00:06:29 I mean, I follow in your footsteps too because I professional, what I did and I got that idea from watching yours and we have similar guests on. Yeah. And you see the flow and now we're working together and like I put you onto this person and you know, you bring me business and it's it's quite a remarkable time. Next podcast, right? Yeah. You have some pretty crazy guests. What do you think it's like the craziest story you've heard on there or the craziest guest? I mean, the best guests, the craziest guest, the most inspiring story, the wildest story is unique,
Starting point is 00:07:00 which I don't know why you haven't had him on here. Well, I know why, because he's very, very difficult to deal with. But, you know, unique. He goes, his name is Wayne Hall. He's Jamaican, but his street name is unique. And he was born in Kingston in the 60s in Jamaica, Kingston, like the west side of Kingston, the shanties. I mean, poverty, like, you think you had a bad day. Like, these kids are running around.
Starting point is 00:07:25 He didn't wear shoes, shoes, Ian, until he was eight years. old on a plane going to America. You know, he had goats in his backyard. He would make friends with them. And then guess what? It's on his plate for dinner. That's the kind of poverty he came from. So he lands in Brooklyn, and this is, you know, whatever, the early 70s.
Starting point is 00:07:45 By the late 70s, he's 13 years old, and he's, you know, working Jamaican heroin dealing spots on Schenectady in Brooklyn. And he's making about $10,000 a week as a 13-year-old. I mean, it's mind-blowing. right so he but then you know the the story is so wild he becomes a junkie for a while ends up doing like becoming a stick-up kid they called them back then robbing drug dealers up in washington heights and just wild and yeah i mean the jamaicans are the most wild gangsters go if anybody is like interested in like the history of street gangs go look up the rude boy era of like the the shattas
Starting point is 00:08:25 from the 70s and 80s like the gang wars in new york and this is the era that he came up So he does a bid, comes home in like 86, and what's happened now? Cracks exploding. So he gets off drugs and he gets hit off with a pack and, you know, just starts taking over crack spots in Harlem and makes the right connections, meets a, his lawyer introduces him to a Colombian connect. Back then, it was met it. The cartels supplying New York were obviously Pablo Escobar, the Medelline cartel, and then the Collie cartel. He had a direct line to collie cartel cocaine. So he was getting bricks for like $6,000 a piece, a kilo, and, you know, selling him for $8,000 to $10,000.
Starting point is 00:09:13 And he was selling hundreds a day. So he's making whatever, $3 to $5 million a week. Okay. And this is just a black guy from New York. Insane. And he wasn't even the biggest one. He was big, though, real big. and you know
Starting point is 00:09:26 he's throwing legendary parties he knows all the old school rappers right it's just you can't even fathom that he would walk into you know midtown luxury car dealerships with 50 grand in his shoebox
Starting point is 00:09:41 and and he would if he was going out that night if there was if the club was going off that night he would go buy a car to match the outfit he was going to wear just to go to the club it was that kind of never will it repeated in American history. So eventually goes down. Big federal RICO case gets hit with the
Starting point is 00:10:02 Kingpin Act, never actually got caught with any drugs. And of course, the evidence they used against him was just like a couple of people saying that he gave his brother some kilos who they ended up selling to him, right? Just that whole, that whole loose string that the feds used to make the case stick, right? And his brother was murdered in during the trial
Starting point is 00:10:31 and the whole, after he was arrested, his brother was on the run because he was linked into the conspiracy, right? His brother gets murdered. So his lawyer comes to him and said, look, just put all of the coke on your brother. He's dead. You know, we can get some leniency out of this, right?
Starting point is 00:10:48 And he goes, I can't do that. Like I stand by my word. always and they gave him life plus 25 years and he took it like a you know just on the chin and he said send me somewhere where I can get further my education this is what he told the judge sentencing him to life and because in his mind he was like yeah I think I'm going to get out of here they're putting so many people in prison for drugs there's just no physical way America can sustain this so he's a really incredibly like intelligent uh forward looking guys And so he said, judge, I'm going to, I'm going to make a promise to you.
Starting point is 00:11:25 I'm going to, you know, get an education because he was illiterate. 31 years old, he goes into prison. He can't read or write. And he's worth tens of millions of dollars. So he goes into prison and, you know, he does what? He's locked up for like 26 years. For his first 10 years, he's wild and stabbing people, bringing dope in. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:11:47 Starting riots. Like, you know, he's a young guy and he's, you know, in Carson, for life, right? And he's in Lewisburg. You know, he's just, his first day sees a guy get fucking shanked at his neck and bleeds out right in front of him. It's, I mean, you can't blame the guy, right? He's just doing what he has to do to survive. But then he, you know, he starts behaving better, and he gets all these degrees and, you know, gets, you know, does anger management and parenting and gets his welding certificate and, you know, one thing after another, after another, after another, And then in 2018, Trump, I don't know if he didn't pass a law, but whatever you call it, he rolled back the mandatory minimum sentencing for federal inmates, thus giving, you know, federal judges leniency if they want, right, on old cases.
Starting point is 00:12:39 So a judge could look at your prison record and be like, okay, yeah, this is, you actually didn't deserve to do this much time. and they grant you what they call a compassionate release. So, yeah, he files a compassionate release. And COVID had just hit. It was like April 2020. They just knocked on his door. He had no idea. And they were just like, roll up.
Starting point is 00:12:59 You're going home. And here he is doing YouTube. Making YouTube content. But it's wild, bro. And as an old school guy like him, what are his reactions when, like, White Johnny Mitchell comes and says, you want to be on my YouTube channel? No, he loves it.
Starting point is 00:13:15 I mean, I gave him really good promotion, you know. I put him on, kind of. But, you know, he put us on. He gave us great, charismatic, like, heart-wrenching episodes. I can't even really, like, I'm choking up just, you know, telling his story because it's, yeah, it's inspirational. Because he's a good guy, but, you know, he's born into horrendous circumstances. And you've spent a lot of time with unique. Have you seen a lot of, like, effects of that 26-year prison sentence in a social environment?
Starting point is 00:13:44 Yeah, yeah, I don't want to like I don't want to disparage him But there is there is something that guys that have done that much time and have seen that much violence and probably Committed a lot of violence too There's something that they can't ever shake off themselves But I'll tell you the funny part I noticed about Guys of that era they're all in like pushing 60 You guys are fucking old and they're all partying like they're 25 because they've been locked up for over half their lives, dude.
Starting point is 00:14:15 So they took us to a club in the Bronx. Shout out to Salsa Con fuego. And this is one of the clubs where you feel like you're going through TSA. I mean, they're just, no, it actually felt worse than TSA. It felt like you were going into the prison visiting room. They were like, I was open my mouth, you know, lifting up my tongue, showing my ass crack. But I was like, good, because we were the only white. We were the only honkies in there.
Starting point is 00:14:38 I was like, thank God they're patting people down. But like, dude, we were partying in a club. and like it felt like 1987, you know. So it's funny that, and they get together, these old school black guys that still live in Harlem or Jersey or the South Bronx. They're all getting out of prison now. And those that survived, it's like a social, it's like a fraternity now. They get together and they talk about the old times and it's, you know, it's cute.
Starting point is 00:15:04 Now, we have individuals on both your show and my show that talk about violence, either they committed or they've seen in prison. Yeah. How are they allowed to talk about that? Do you know about that at all? I don't exactly. I don't exactly. I mean, yeah, because, well, if murders, there's no statute of limitations, right?
Starting point is 00:15:23 So, I don't know. I don't know. Unique never, he never gave any specifics. So, I don't know. I think unless there's an active cold case, you know, I think you're probably fine. Yeah, I don't know, to be quite honest with you. I think most of people just don't, most law enforcement doesn't give a shit. Unless they really want you, they're not going to go back and comb podcasts.
Starting point is 00:15:51 And they just don't. You know what I mean? Prove, too. Like if you have a statement being made on that podcast. Yeah. What's surprising, I learned just being in the justice system and then talking to lawyers and prosecutors, it's actually hard to, relatively hard to prosecute a murder. It's easy to arrest you and charge you with murder, but to actually convict you without
Starting point is 00:16:10 having like really solid evidence is tricky. Especially nowadays, people don't fucking trust the system anymore, as they shouldn't. Do you think certain content creators lie about stories, like make it up and belish it? Oh yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, you know, comedians do that. Comedians are the biggest liars because we're so desperate for laughs. We do, we'll say anything. And that's okay because it's in, I think the audience basically knows that like, embellishment and hyperbole. That's, it's like a movie script.
Starting point is 00:16:46 We all know that like Narcos, for instance, that's what do they call it, dramatized for effect. That's what stand-up comics do, right? We say, yeah, the other day, I was talking to my girlfriend. It wasn't the other day. It was last year when you wrote the joke, right? Like, you're always, you take liberties
Starting point is 00:17:03 in order to make it more palatable for the consumer. So yeah, I'm sure podcasters do that. you know when I wrote my novel Days of the Trap I did that it's why I called it a novel because I move things around and you know like I don't remember you know these quotes that I said
Starting point is 00:17:20 15 years ago right so even on the connect we would you know piece things together and leave stuff out that didn't fit like a certain narrative in an episode right so yeah I mean that some people lie that's not good but yeah
Starting point is 00:17:37 no there's a big difference between hype when you're doing what this is called entertainment and just straight up, you know, being a fraud. No. Because frauds get found out. Find a great attorney is a service revolutionizing the way injured parties find one of the best personal injury attorneys in their area. I've known the founder Richard Hastings for a long time and I am impressed with his abilities
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Starting point is 00:19:12 The strength of your lawyer might very well determine how much money you were able to get for your case. Let's get back into enjoying this episode with Johnny Mitchell. I help you run some of your social media and I look at your comments on some of like your old connect clips and a lot of people come after you thinking like you took what was an anarcho's movie or whatever and you just started telling stories about it. I mean, show me what movie there is. But you actually live that. life though too yeah and like i i you know i don't even it's not even very remarkable i mean i suppose it's remarkable but it's when you're really in it and you look at stories about guys like unique you're like oh i was just a middle class ordinary drug trafficker like there's nothing that that's so
Starting point is 00:19:57 special about my story i guess what's interesting is that like i never had to sell drugs i never i never got fucking touch funny my dad was wasn't an alcoholic. My mother wasn't on heroin. Like it was a good, you know, there was problems, but not really. It was a good life growing up in Portland, Oregon for Johnny Mitchell. Like, I could have been anything. I could have done anything, but this was the personality that just, I don't know where it comes from. It's this attitude. It's this anti-system attitude, which, and mixed with like, mixed with being in a very special time in history. which is like the bootlegging era of pot smugglers like me from the northwest.
Starting point is 00:20:42 That's, so it was just an accident how it happened. But yeah, I don't think it's too remarkable, you know? Yeah, well, you're always a hustler and an entrepreneur. That's true. And that kind of carried over to what you do now. Why did you never, why did you never get into drug dealing? I actually did. I was a failed drug dealer.
Starting point is 00:20:59 I sold pot in high school, like in eighth grade. Which for like a couple times. Like my friend would get weed from his. dad and I would sell it. But, um, you know, I thought about it when I had the club. Yeah. Because that would have been a gold mine. Totally. You could have just, you know, shuffle all of the drugs through the club. Yeah, but I was already under investigation by the FBI by the time I own the club. Yeah. So I can, they were rating me for liquor too for underage drinking. Yeah. We were selling nips for $5 a nip. And then when we got busted for that,
Starting point is 00:21:31 we sold, uh, jungle juice in the Gatorade bottles. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we did. So we did that, but I always think all the time, I'm like, dude, I would have made a fucking killing if I sold drugs. I know. But I also would still be in prison now, too. Probably. Because it would have been some crazy drugs like Molly or ecstasy or something. It would have been just weed. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:21:51 I mean, it's so much different now. Yeah. I know. It's sad. Now, you ended up becoming a comedian. And since we've talked, your comedy career has taken off a lot more than what it was back in April. Do you want to talk about that? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:22:05 Yeah. Say where you're at. Yeah, so I've, you know, I've been doing comedy for 10 years. That's what I started in prison, basically. I was doing these talent shows, and I talk about it on my show. And, yeah, I've just been hustling and, you know, doing comedy podcasts and featuring, doing these thankless, you know, $500 weekends and just like, you know, it was, it's been rough. It's hard. It's comedy is a hard racket.
Starting point is 00:22:35 And so, yeah, but, you know, the Kinect changed everything. That introduced me, you know, to millions of people and the ones who like comedy are now starting to come out to shows. And, you know, I was just down in Jersey last night. And, you know, I had a bunch of fans in the audience. And it's wild. Like, I had a kid, like a paraplegic in a wheelchair. The guy can't even move his arms.
Starting point is 00:22:55 He got a motorcycle accident. And he was sitting right up front with his mom, who's his caretaker. And I was like, I got to, I got to go in on this guy. I was like, mom, do you mind if I shit on your son? And she was like, do it harder. And so I was just fucking just roasting this guy. You know, talk about his mom, cleaning up his spittle. You know, it's like, but I brought him so much joy because he's such a big fan of the connect.
Starting point is 00:23:19 Yeah, it was, you know, that's what makes it. That's what makes like the difficulties of stand up worth it is when you see, when you're killing and you see how happy people are just to like, you know, have a release. Yeah. So that's, that's been cool. So yeah, we're just going to keep it going. We're just, the idea is to build up, you know, the idea is to be making it as big as you can, you know, be selling out theaters eventually and then maybe arenas, right? So that's, you know, we'll see it. We'll see where it goes.
Starting point is 00:23:48 How often do you incorporate prison stories into comedy? I do. It's probably about 10 minutes, 10 to 12 minutes. But, yeah, it's in a comedy club. I need to be touching all subjects. I do topical, a lot personal. you know, I'm very, very like, I really bear my soul on stage.
Starting point is 00:24:08 And, yeah, so I can't do a full prison set. I want to do a special where I, in prison, where I just do prison material. I think that would be killer. But yeah, you can't do it to ordinary people because in a comedy club, it's kind of, yeah, you kind of got to, yeah, you got to keep their attention because they're drinking and they're in a bar.
Starting point is 00:24:28 You can't make it too heady. That makes sense. What do you think is like the hardest thing about comedy when you're in that environment? All of the unknown elements, you know, so I got a table full of chatty, fat white women over in the corner drinking Zimphindel. You know, obviously they're not getting laid and, you know, so they won't shut the fuck up. And I'm like, he just laugh. You don't have to, you know, so I have to deal with, I have to deal with them. And then I have to deal with the black guys crossing their arms.
Starting point is 00:24:56 They don't like me. And I'm like, okay, are they going to rush the stage? There were no metal detectors here. And then, you know, so it's just like, and then I got to make, you know, I have, you know, there's so many, that's what makes it fun too. Because when you're in the moment, you're doing crowd work. You're fucking, you know, playing off people. But yeah, just being funny for an hour's hard. It's hard.
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Starting point is 00:25:44 PH71529, pH 7-1-4-665-9. Yeah. You know who you remind me of a little bit now that you're sitting here and just like your height and stuff is Eric Kenori, who was on your podcast? And I had him on mine a few weeks ago. Yeah, I saw that. I saw that. He's great.
Starting point is 00:26:00 I love Eric. He has a good outlook and it's kind of like similar to yours and stuff. Yeah. And he came here and he didn't know what to expect with me and he didn't really want to tell the whole story like he did before, but I was asking him different stuff than what he was normally used to. Yeah. But you remind me a lot and just how we met too because that was like a cold, cold email
Starting point is 00:26:18 too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Eric's, uh, the pot dealer that I always wanted to be. Well, I mean, he was moving serious weight too. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:26:28 Yeah. he's older so he was doing that thing where he was the generation before mine when he was moving you know wholesale weight from Canada that's back when this region was like it was Canadian bud that was the good bud right and then guys like me started shipping packs from humble county and Mendocino and that's that's what put that market out of business you know but yeah it was it's it's funny to you know reminisce man how did you become so knowledgeable about the cartel. And what's your fascination
Starting point is 00:27:02 with it? I don't know. Well, my fascination was just when I met them when I was doing business with them, I was so interested in like, you know, like I'd be like in a hotel room in Garberville, which is this tiny little town
Starting point is 00:27:18 in Northern California. All the industry is left. Logging hasn't been there for 30 years. Yet in September and October, in any year you can't get a hotel room cost you $400 a night that's because every drug trafficker from every region of the country is there picking up work right and I mean like serious weight we're talking 50 pounds or more millions of dollars are changing hands behind closed doors and like a motel 6 and these
Starting point is 00:27:49 tiny little dumpy nothing forest towns okay and so I'd be fucking sitting in front of these guys who just like young kids and you know a couple of them are like they look like farmers almost right these are like you know guy and i'm just be like where where do you come who do you work for i didn't know who they were working for at the time right said the guy who introduced me to them said they were with the sena loa cartel and and but as i'm like as i'm on a bed that we're watching like shark week or whatever the fuck on the tv i'm like these are just goofy kids just like me what what's the story. Who are you? How does this structure really work? Are you
Starting point is 00:28:31 sending the money back to Mexico? Do you own this big pot garden that you have somewhere? You know, 30 miles into the forest? So after I got locked up, that's when I started to like meet
Starting point is 00:28:47 a lot of these cats were locked up, right? A lot of these Mexican cats and I speak Spanish and I've always been interested in Latin America. I lived in Argentina. I lived in Columbia, lived in places in South America, you know, traveled back and forth and shit. So, yeah, I just started to, like, read about it and learn about and pay attention to it. And yeah, it's just always fascinated me, certainly, just the way it fascinates a lot of Americans. And so that's why with the connect and really, when we go down to Mexico, we ask, like, what actually is the cartel?
Starting point is 00:29:21 How does it actually operate? and it's it's nothing like what people think they get it all wrong you hate ozark yeah ozark's a fucking gay show and starbucks yeah starb yeah how did you know that you told me on that was those two lines went viral in our last episode oh yeah yeah yeah fucking hate Starbucks I hate it you fucking you fucking gross suburban classless pigs you fucking souless oh my girlfriend loves a suburban cul-de-sac Starbucks Well, I took you to Duncan that time, and you were like, I just want a coffee, just a plain coffee. Just give me a coffee. Fuck the bullshit.
Starting point is 00:29:59 Don't give me a Frappuccino. And the Ozark one. America loves Ozark, though, because of the cartel and how it's portrayed. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, yeah, that's what is it? It's a family who's laundering money through casinos. No, I watched the season and a half. The first season was very good.
Starting point is 00:30:19 He was an accountant. Right, right. And so, and they're laundering money for the cartels. I get it. So I'm not sure if that's true, but I don't really know. But I'll tell you what Americans, Americans think the cartels operate like Fortune 500 companies. It's not true. It's not true.
Starting point is 00:30:40 But they are violent. Yeah, they're violent. But they don't. That goes without saying. What does that have to do with operating like a Fortune 500 company? Well, no. I'm saying like when is the violence. portrayed an Ozark and accurate depiction
Starting point is 00:30:53 of what happens. No, not on this side of the border. But we heard that article or the news story a couple months ago where those four people drove across and they got... That was on the Mexican side though. Okay, so if they crossed that. All the violence they're doing in the show or most of it is on this side. The cartel
Starting point is 00:31:09 members, dude, when they're in the... Our great country, when they're in these four walls dude, they behave. No one's getting executed in the U.S. Not really. Not really. It used to happen. You know, sometimes there's like in California, They'll be like gruesome murders and they'll say they're cartel linked. But like I guarantee you when there's like a hit in a place like Bakersfield, it's Mexicans, Americans.
Starting point is 00:31:32 It's Chicanos who have grown up there, right? And they always get caught. If there's a, usually the cartel maybe would like kidnap somebody and drive them back to Mexico and bury in there. You know what I mean? But cartels are very, very logical. They know you can't get away with that in America. So we give our drugs to Americans, right? There's no cartel members selling drugs, especially now.
Starting point is 00:31:57 Things have changed, right? There used to be that Colombians and Mexicans would send their own people into American cities and, you know, sell drugs and that legitimately for them, sell drugs directly for them and send them the money directly back. It doesn't work that way anymore. They give them to street gangs that are Americans. They just sell wholesale and then retreat. back to Mexico.
Starting point is 00:32:21 And it's just, it's fascinating. So, oh, excuse me. So that's, and that's what I've just been unveiling as we've been down there and learning about it. It's just really, it's really interesting, man. Do you ever have non-drug stories on your podcast? Yeah, of course.
Starting point is 00:32:36 We had, um, yeah, I mean, we have a, some corrections officers coming on. We've had, yeah, we've had a corrections officer on before. We had a guy who worked with the Detroit mafia family. we had, God, we've had so many people now. You ever have like a fraud guy or anything like that? No, I don't like fraud. So I'm your first fraud guy going on the show? Yeah, I guess you're fraud.
Starting point is 00:32:57 I guess you're fraud. I don't like credit card fraud. What's your objection to credit card fraud? I think it rips people off. The credit card company or the individuals? The individual. Because it's tough to get that, even though, yeah, technically you're ripping the credit card company off too, which good.
Starting point is 00:33:13 But that person will have a real hard time, like, repairing their credit. So, yeah, I don't like theft. I like business. I like business. I like honest, illegal business. So drug dealing. Drug dealing.
Starting point is 00:33:28 I love sports gambling. We had chickie on the pod, you know, to tell us what, like, the old school, like, mafia sports book, how that operated. What do you think of a guy like chicky? Because he does get a lot of hate from viewers and comments. Why? Saying he's like a phony or he's not a real made guy. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:33:44 But he doesn't claim to be a made guy. Like I can tell a guy, I can tell the guys legit when they downplay everything. When they, and they never answer a question directly. This is how I know chicky really was in the mafia because I would ask him a direct question of it. Please just answer this for the clip. And he would tell me a story about a story before getting back to not answering the question. Allegedly. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:34:10 And allegedly. Exactly. He couldn't just, I'm like, and they don't understand. Like, I just need you to just answer it. like I'm your lawyer. Okay, just say yes or no. But you know, people appreciate his honesty with that on the other end of the spectrum. Yes, that's true.
Starting point is 00:34:23 That's true, too. That he's like that and he's humble about it and stuff. Yeah, yeah, that's how I, so it doesn't matter. The guy hates good. He just hates good for the business. Did you watch the new Gotti doc? No, I didn't. Oh, you got to watch that.
Starting point is 00:34:35 Are you into mob stuff at all? Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I'm into mob stuff. Yeah, but I don't know. I guess, I guess now it's getting a little, the mob stuff. stuff. It makes me sad. It makes me sad because it's a bygone era. It's a bygone era and and it's proof that like that the government won, you know, maybe that's a good thing. Maybe that's a good thing. You know, Italian immigrants are no longer in the mafia. They've integrated into society. They're their kin, their spawn, their children are now lawyers and legitimate people, you know, for the
Starting point is 00:35:10 most part. So I guess it I guess it had to go away, right? It was a natural progression. But Yeah, it kind of just, you know, it kind of makes me sad. Drug dealing too, right? Like, it used to be such a simple time before fentanyl. You know? Coke, heroin, weed. So clean. So clean.
Starting point is 00:35:28 Now there's all this goofy shit. Weed is half legal, right? Yeah, it's just, uh, it was better when it was a smuggler's sport. Well, they need a federalized weed, too. It's kind of crazy that's state by state. I know, I know. But now, you know, the cartels are like, uh, well, first of all, they're selling, they're still finding a market for illegal weed somehow.
Starting point is 00:35:48 Like you see drug busts at the border. Like a guy got caught with like, you know, a ton of weed coming into the U.S. Like, where is he selling that? People want to buy cheaper. Obviously, he has a buyer somewhere, right? Also now, you know what these Dominican cats are doing over here in New York?
Starting point is 00:36:04 They're shipping their pounds wholesale to the Dominican Republic. So America is now becoming an exporter of weed. I talked to a grower in Los Angeles. You know where he's sending his pounds now and getting a nice little markup? Thailand. So it's very strange. It's very strange.
Starting point is 00:36:24 America's becoming like, you know, the manufacturer for the rest of the world. Yeah, but it's like when people pay cash at certain things to avoid sales tax, they're going to want to keep paying cash for weed and whatnot. That'll never go away. Sure. Because you go, there's two dispensers in Danbury. You're paying double than what you would for an off-the-street dealer. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:36:43 I just, yeah, I suppose that's true. You know, and they're selling drugs on the internet, right? Like, you know, these uppers that I took that I told you off the podcast, I've been up for two days off these fucking pills, you know, you get them off the internet. You go on Reddit and you say you have them and my guy was like, yeah, I sell like a thousand and five minutes. So I want to ask you about the internet for a second. Have you ever done a deep dive and gone down the rabbit hole, rabbit hole of the Silk Road guy? Oh, no.
Starting point is 00:37:09 I know his story, though. What do you think about that, all that? And do you think he still should be serving life in prison? So he threatened to kill a federal agent, right? It was a death threat. That was the big thing, right? That they, like, attempted or he did the payoff or whatever. Right, right.
Starting point is 00:37:24 Yeah. I mean, look, I never believe in giving anybody life in prison that doesn't really, really deserve it. Like somebody who will, if you will let him out, he'll go kill that day. If he's not going to do that, yeah, everybody should be, you know, most. people should be allowed out at a certain point. So I don't really know the case, but yeah, I mean, the guy's ahead of his time for sure. He's like some brainiac.
Starting point is 00:37:49 Yeah, some fucking, you know, goofball from San Francisco, like a techner. He was 10 years ahead of his time. Yeah, but he's at a penitentiary, too. Like a USP? Yeah, he's at a USP because he's gang banging and shit? I don't know. Probably has to. He looks like a scrawny, white little dude.
Starting point is 00:38:07 Yeah. And imagine when he first went into prison. That's like SBF who just got convicted, too. Who's that? Sam Bankbundfried? Dude, he's not going to... But they're not going to send him to a pen century, though. He gets life.
Starting point is 00:38:18 They probably will before he goes down to a medium. Oh, right. Yeah. Because it's the feds. Yeah. I mean, he's facing a lot of time of billion dollars. You know, they gave Elizabeth Holmes, what, 15 years. So this is more money at stake.
Starting point is 00:38:31 Yeah. God, they really are fucking... Well, here's the thing. They're piecemealing who they fuck about financial crimes. Yeah. You know? Well, it also depends on if you fight them, if you cooperate.
Starting point is 00:38:42 Yeah. There's a whole big difference. Right. Right. Yeah. But you know, that was my takeaway after watching the Gotti doc
Starting point is 00:38:48 that's Sammy the Bull who literally committed murders. 19 murders at least. Cooperated. And now he's a whole channel. Only in America could you be on YouTube after committing 19 murders. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:39:00 Well, no. No. Columbia, dude. You know what Popeye? No about Popeye? No, it's Papa. Fucking, he was Pablo's like main hitman.
Starting point is 00:39:08 And bro, 19 murders. He did that in like an afternoon. He did that before. dinner. This guy has so many bodies on him. And he got out. And he's huge on YouTube. Is he really? Huge. I'm so fucking jealous of the numbers. Yeah, I'm trying to... I think so. We're going down to Columbia in a couple months. So, uh, they might have demonetized him when, because he got on like some big, I think he was on like a Netflix documentary. And I think maybe they got enough, you know, uh, complaints in YouTube where they're finally like, okay, we got to take this guy's money away. But yeah,
Starting point is 00:39:41 It's pretty wild. When you bring on some of these individuals that have like sketchy pasts or backgrounds or stories, are you, I guess you would call it cancel proof as the interviewer, like by giving them a platform? Oh, what do you mean? So like, do you ever feel like there could be ramifications? Like say you bring on someone that was a murderer or anything that could be gray. No, I not, I don't worry about that. I worry about just the integrity of the podcast.
Starting point is 00:40:09 Like I try to not have people on that I know are lying to me about their story. So that's a thing to answer your question from earlier about people lying on their platforms. I get people, I've had people lie to me on Connect episodes when I'm interviewing them, where I've had to look at my producer, like we both know, like, throughout the two days of filming with them, we're like, this guy has got a fucking tenuous relationship with the truth. like he's he's telling us like 10% truth so what do you say to them you know what I mean like well I'm already in the moment so I kind of have to bullshit them but I don't like them like I take it personal you know what I mean um and then we cut around a lot of that too like we'll cut out a lot of the
Starting point is 00:40:54 bullshit and then I in studio will be like this is the story and here's how they actually relate to it you know um so yeah we've got in trouble a couple times one of the guys uh down in I don't want to give up too much, too much tea. But we filmed with him in Miami and his family didn't like it. And so they, they caught him outside of his business and they, like, beat his ass. After watching my episode, yeah. You take the episode down or it's...
Starting point is 00:41:24 Fuck, no. They threatened to sue me. I was like, come at me, bro. What are they going to say? Like, once you... Exactly. I didn't, you know, we didn't... We're just narrating a story to which we thought was true.
Starting point is 00:41:35 And I think it was... I think a lot of it was true. His family just didn't like, you know, the exposure. You know, I see a lot of guys that come on my show. They want the exposure in the moment. And then afterwards, they think, like, oh, can you take my name down? Can you change this? They want to do that.
Starting point is 00:41:50 Yeah, exactly. And half of YouTube is coming up with the catchy titling and whether that's what the whole episode's entirely about that. Like, I have to exploit you. I'm sorry. You know, I'm exploiting you and making you look like a monster. And that's just what it is, you know? I told Andrew Schultz that when I was on Flagrin.
Starting point is 00:42:07 I was like at the end as I was getting ready to leave. I'm like, oh, yeah, you know, use whatever you want in the title, just exploit it. He was like, oh, and we will. That's what I said to Mark. Mark texted me and he's like, do you feel bad if I call you a con man? I'm like, no, I know how the game works. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Yeah, so I try to vet people now a little bit, you know, the best way to vet people who want to be on your show.
Starting point is 00:42:31 Say, email me. That's simple. Just email me with the details. They never email. I'm like, oh, this guy ain't about it. I called his bluff. I have people fall out a form on my website, and that goes into an Excel sheet. Jesus Christ, you're a fucking robot, dude.
Starting point is 00:42:45 He goes into an Excel sheet. You're a middle manager. I got to show articles. They got to show social media, the whole shebang. Oh, God, you really have your fucking, you are thorough, dude. If only I was this thorough when I was run the nightclub, we wouldn't be here. Yeah, but I mean, you were just a boy then. I can't believe you, Ian Bigg.
Starting point is 00:43:03 You really are something else. I just go off instinct. I just go off feeling. That's why I do my podcast in the garage and you do it, you know. So what was your instinct about me then when you met me? No, I didn't. I wasn't enthusiastic. About me?
Starting point is 00:43:16 I wasn't enthusiastic. Not about you, just about like the whole operation. You bamboozled me, by the way. You go, I'm in New York. Hyde Park. And I go, I fall. You didn't look it up. I was like, I know New York City pretty well.
Starting point is 00:43:31 Where the fuck is Hyde Park? Okay, man, it's probably on like the Upper East Side or something. and then I look at the map and I'm like halfway to Canada and I was so but you seem like such a nice guy I was like I picked you up and you bought already bought my plane ticket so I was like God damn it no
Starting point is 00:43:48 fuck no fuck no and you put me up in a and you had the gall why didn't you just send me to a migrant camp you had the fucking balls to put Johnny Mitchell at the height of his power up in an airport holiday in
Starting point is 00:44:04 Why didn't you just say, hey, I got a bed for you at Rikers? That would have been more respectful. Johnny, because at the time when I booked that, you did not say you wanted to stay in the city. It was fly in, fly out to do my show. Yeah, I don't fly in and fly out. I'm six foot six and I don't like flying. If I'm coming to the East Coast, I'm staying for a few days. But it was okay because I ended up having shit to do out here.
Starting point is 00:44:25 So it was fine. I was going to be here anyways. So, no, I was stuck with you for hours. Yeah, so it was happy to do that. And then just some guy, some white nationalist, it's like April, it's like 50 degrees. He's in a tank top. And I was like, Jesus fucking Christ. I got to start saying no.
Starting point is 00:44:44 You thought I was kidnapping you? Yeah, it was crazy. But, you know, no, it was, no, I was very glad I did it. I love, because I love network. I can't shut up. So it's like I see the hustler, hustle, hustle recognized hustle, you know. So, no, it was good. You have a lot of people that are just starting out that hit you up.
Starting point is 00:45:02 to co on their show to get interviewed? Because I don't see you do too many, like, non-big platforms or anything like that. Oh, to have me? Yeah, the people hit me up to have... Yeah, yeah. Not that... Yeah, it's a good question, actually.
Starting point is 00:45:15 Not so many. Not so many. And I think it's because I usually just don't do other podcasts now, unless it is going to just bring me more exposure, just be, you know... And that sounds kind of callous, and it is, but I, you know, I did every podcast for years, and it's just like, I don't have time now.
Starting point is 00:45:31 Yeah. I don't. I can make more attraction just doing good content myself. That's the beauty of it. That's the beauty of it. Like I got a good kick from flagrant. I got a decent kick from your mom's house. But, you know, just the connect, we put ourselves on.
Starting point is 00:45:48 So that's the thing I'm most proud of is that I don't, you know, once I did that, I didn't need anybody else. And look, that's when they started reaching out. That's what I like about my thing, too. No one put me on. Yeah. I went and built. that myself. Exactly. So that's, I mean, that is, and first of all, you're an anomaly. We're
Starting point is 00:46:06 anomalies, but also like, uh, you know, we have the power. We have the power. And it's like, you know, when you don't need it, that's when all is given. And but you know what's unique about these situations is that you have a very different following that they have never had before. A lot of our followers are a certain demographic that wouldn't normally watch a podcast. This is a very, it's so different. Yeah. Which is why, you know, advertisers look at it differently and other hosts of shows.
Starting point is 00:46:37 I mean, you were on two of the biggest podcast for comedy in America and a couple months apart. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah, it was fun. What's like your dream podcast to get on? Oh, man. I guess Rogan. I guess Rogan.
Starting point is 00:46:51 And not that I think it'll do much for me. Because I don't think, you know, and this is no knock on Rogan, the show is bigger than ever, but as a mechanism to launch comedians, it really is not very significant anymore. Did you know that? No, I didn't. Dude, if you got on a Rogan episode as a comedian in 2018, 2019,
Starting point is 00:47:10 or an author, right? But just take my business, comedy. You got on there once and you killed it one time. Change your life. Like you would be selling out comedy clubs all over the country for the next six months. He was a kingmaker, right? Now that's not the case. You know, he's got, he's on Spotify.
Starting point is 00:47:29 He's, uh, become bigger than comedy. He's, you know, like a national voice. And three episodes a week, you just kind of get lost in the sauce a little bit. So, but I, I, I love the guy and I look up to the guy. So I would love to, I've, you know, I've hung out with him in Austin. He doesn't, he would know my name, but like, we've talked in green rooms and shit. And I'm, yeah, I would love to do it. What about playing at his show at his, uh, new comedy club?
Starting point is 00:47:56 Oh, yeah. Come on. Dude, forget about it. Yeah, I'd love to. I'd love to. So, yeah, you know, it might happen, but we'll just keep, you know, like we're pitching Netflix something right now. And it's like, it could happen.
Starting point is 00:48:08 But it's, it's inconsequential because as long as, you know, we have the hustle and we have the vision and the balls because it does take balls and it takes faith, faith, you know, because we put out a lot of money to make the shit happen. We can do it ourselves and it'll work out. there's a lot of pop-up comedians going on Netflix specials now, too. Like, people I've never even heard of. Yeah, yeah, they mostly suck. How do they get on that?
Starting point is 00:48:35 Like, that's a big platform to get on. Yeah, but, you know, but even then the biggest comedy pops now, like the breaking people, like making people into big draws, big names, is YouTube. Like a special on YouTube will do way more for you than a Netflix special, usually. And isn't that what that was Andrew Schultz? this whole thing too. Yes. How he broke out on YouTube. Exactly. Exactly. I mean, his special that he dropped, you know, a year and a half, two years ago, it's fucking fire. It looks like a Netflix special and he put it on YouTube and he got, you know, it's probably up to like 15 million views.
Starting point is 00:49:09 There's no way. Plus all the money he made and like pre-ordering it. So he couldn't do that on Netflix. I don't think. Yeah, probably just probably not. But you never know because they don't show you the numbers. So it's even more like, why do you want to do business with somebody like that? You know, I would do it because it's my position right now, that would be a stripe. That would be a level up. But for somebody that's already got a big fan base and wants to like just, you know, go to the stratosphere, YouTube's a way to go. Have you ever been an approach to like sell your podcast to like a streaming site? I'm considering liquidating or at least like.
Starting point is 00:49:53 licensing the connect to foreign distributors so they can translate it. And you think that's the right move? For the price, Ian, for the right price? The sellout? It's always the right move. Okay. Okay. That's what the guy who founded Kinkos said.
Starting point is 00:50:10 Sold it to FedEx for like $2 billion. He goes, the minute I started my business, it was for sale. If you could do anything differently, starting this whole podcast and going down the path you traveled, what would you do, if anything? Hmm I probably wouldn't have gotten caught And just kept all my money And I'd be living in Columbia right now
Starting point is 00:50:30 What about post prison? Oh shit Okay so I don't get to go down fantasy lane No not fantasy lane Post prison I would have done this shit Earlier I would have done well God I wouldn't have changed much though I would have changed much
Starting point is 00:50:44 But I would have I would have not Uh worried so much About acceptance from the legacy show business powers, right? The networks, the agents, bigger comics. I wouldn't have worried about that for so long.
Starting point is 00:51:03 And I would have, you know, started creating content a little sooner. You know what I mean? You know, if I could have started a podcast in 2013, who knows where I'd be. But I just, you know, I hadn't even started comedy then, and I wanted to get good at stand up first. I didn't feel like I had earned. becoming what I am now, which is like a YouTube or influencer,
Starting point is 00:51:24 or podcast or whatever, before having the foundation of being like a killer comedian. Because that, this, everything I do with this serves the comedy. So I felt like that would have been cheating a little bit. So yeah, I probably just, but yeah, I would have just made content a little sooner. That's the only difference. What advice do you give the person that's just getting out of jail or prison or whatever? It may be bad, just came over their addiction and wants to get into creating content?
Starting point is 00:51:50 Oh, wants to get to creating content. Okay, well, I wouldn't start a prison show anymore. You think it's oversaturated now? Yeah, I do. I do. And most people don't have the chops. So, but if you think you have the chops, then don't listen to me. What do you mean by the chops?
Starting point is 00:52:04 Just, this takes a lot. It doesn't just take a mouthpiece, right? Or a pretty face. It takes, it takes being able to be an orator. You have to be a businessman. You have to have a high tolerance for stress. sleeplessness, right? You have, I mean, it just takes a lot to keep,
Starting point is 00:52:24 this is a media company, right? So I, but look, I don't want to dissuade anybody either. I didn't listen anyway. I mean, everybody told me I couldn't do it, you know. So you're the, the more delusion, you have to have a good bit of delusion, I think. You know, there are some prison YouTubers that,
Starting point is 00:52:43 or like the original ones that are able to get away with just doing a webcam video and they get hundreds of thousands of, views. Do you think those days are over for like newcomers? What are they doing? Are they jacking off? What are they doing on webcam? No, I'm saying like you look at like, um, I'd love to do that lockdown 23 and one. Yeah, you know, individuals like that. Yeah, yeah. They're doing great stuff. They have great content, but it's not, it's not in this setting like yours and mine. It's very it's like gorilla. Yeah, I know what you mean. I know what you mean. Do you think that's like I, if I do that, it's going to get no views.
Starting point is 00:53:16 Yeah, exactly. They have a certain niche. Yeah. Well, they also have a look. You know what I mean? Like they can take that seriously. We're doing things because this is us, right? We're just more clean cut kind of guys. So if you're doing, okay, I'll say this. If you go down the path of content creation in the space of prison crime, etc, know that it's usually a pop and then it's short-lived.
Starting point is 00:53:44 You know what I mean? Like this is what I would say. clip this, if you will. The pop is fast and it's short-lived. So there better be a strategy on the other end for longevity. And that might include pivoting a little bit. You know what I mean? Just like I'm doing with the Connect.
Starting point is 00:54:05 I'm trying to stay ahead of the game, Ian. What's your plan look like for that? I'm telling you. You're not saying you off mic. Okay. I'm seeking some money into this place, though. Okay. I can tell you that much.
Starting point is 00:54:16 You like what I'm doing. Yeah. Yeah, I like what you're doing. Thanks, John. I want to buy in. You want to buy in? I want to buy in. For you, it's double.
Starting point is 00:54:22 Fuck. I know you got the Columbia buddy hit it away. I know. Not anymore, man. Yeah. Well, Johnny, thank you for coming back on the show, man. Always a pleasure, buddy. Super excited to see where you go and what you got going on.
Starting point is 00:54:34 Thanks, man. Well, I'm excited for you, bro. You know, we're in it together, man. I had, I was watching, uh, I was watching like old SNL episodes the other day. And I, Chevy Chase is on. And I'm like, this guy was truly, like, an icon he was an American icon I grew up watching vacation you know all the vacation movies right yeah old reruns of S&L this guy was a legend and to see how far he's fallen being here in Danbury
Starting point is 00:55:03 Connecticut in a in a strip mall with very little ventilation very little insulation it's cold in here I mean it it was a it was a warning to me and it showed you where this business really takes you. I see why you're in comedy. Yeah, it's, yeah, it was, it made me want to kill myself. But congratulations. It's great for you. So you're telling me you would never give back to the little guy
Starting point is 00:55:32 when you get that old and you were successful? Oh. Because so many famous people don't do that. Interesting. No, no, no, no. I would, I guess. If his only intention was to come up here to be a nice guy, that's.
Starting point is 00:55:47 didn't pay him. Yeah, right. No, he's got a fucking street named after him in Beverly Hills. Chevy Chase Lane, a street named after him. I don't, I think he gets a bad rap a lot of the time. And I think that he wouldn't have came on the show if he didn't get to know me. I spent like a day at his house. Oh, wow. And got to interact with him out there. No, no, in Connecticut and New York. Oh, so he lives out here. He has a house in LA and a house in New York. And I got to talk to him. So he just came up here because he liked you and he wanted to hang out and he knew it would, it would, would be good for your show. I think, yeah, he did it out of the kindness of his heart.
Starting point is 00:56:21 He didn't have to do it. No, that's cool. No one put a gun to his head said, yo, Chavior, I pay, I don't pay for gas. Which, speaking of which I hit up, like, there's certain individuals, like, who's that guy that was on Nelk boys? The guy with the orange hair kind of looks like you. Orange hair. Bob Menary. Okay.
Starting point is 00:56:39 I said, hey, do you want to come on the pod, talk about your struggles with addiction? Yeah. He said, I don't do pods like yours for less than $5,000. Yeah. There's a lot of... How are you going to say that? There's a lot of delusional people like that. I pay people sometimes if I think the interview is going to be right because it's never nearly that much money.
Starting point is 00:56:57 And it's like, yeah, it's just the... I'm like, yeah, business-wise, it makes sense. You don't think that gives up the integrity of it, though? Because that's, like, why, like, HBO Max didn't pay me to do my documentary because they don't pay for documentaries. Right. It gives up, like, the integrity of it a little bit. No, I think that's bullshit. And it's, like, if...
Starting point is 00:57:17 If somebody's doing it because they need to make a living, I'm usually empathetic to that, right? Like if somebody's a dickhead or I usually, I'll just say pass. But, you know, if I have a certain individual on who is a really nice guy who's going to introduce me to other people, which is happening, big things. Like, yeah, 500 bucks. Fuck it. All right. I'll take 500 to that. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:57:44 Five hundred. I, you know, 500 pesos. $500. Which is like $2.50. I'll take $2. It's okay. So, yeah, I mean, I told that, you know, we're pitching the Connect as a documentary to all these, you know, HBO. And I tell them, I'm like, you're delusional if you think these outlets don't pay.
Starting point is 00:58:05 Like, if National Geographic, some white woman is like with the scene a cartel in like the Sea of Cortez interviewing them as they smuggle guns. You think they're doing that for free? You're out of your fucking mind. You think anything moves in Mexico without money? So here it shouldn't be, it should be no different. Yeah, I get it. I mean, I'm learning more about the industry and how it operates and whatnot. I just, I wouldn't personally pay for a guest because I think what makes my show special
Starting point is 00:58:35 is that I have the no-name people come on the show. And that's my niche. Right. And that's what's cool. And we just didn't take that route. You know what I mean? And so sometimes we have no name people. I'm having a no name guy come on, but usually they have something to plug.
Starting point is 00:58:48 I like the people that come on because I also feel guilty. I want people to get something out of it, especially if they're coming out to L.A. Like I'll either, a lot of, or I've flown people out and put them up. I won't pay them, but you do that, right? Or, yeah, bring something on. Like the guy that's coming on today, the CEO, he's got a book. I'm like, great. Let's, you know, I really care about like the guest.
Starting point is 00:59:10 I want them to benefit more than it benefits me. And that's a great thing about our channels is that we have a platform that allows people to do that. Whereas like you go on other individuals platforms with no following who are just starting out and no shade to them. But it's not mutually beneficial in that sense. Exactly. And that's just the unfair part of life, man. Like how do you get a job when you don't have a, like how do you get a job without experience? You know, I'm like, yeah, it's tough.
Starting point is 00:59:38 You got to figure it out. You book Johnny Mitchell to come on locked in and then. 500 bucks, dude. I'll be there. Thank you, Johnny. Hell yeah. I appreciate you, bro. Can I plug?
Starting point is 00:59:47 Of course. We'll put you in the description too. Johnny Mitchell. Dot biz for all my dates. You guys, come out to the shows. I'm a great fucking comedian. Like,
Starting point is 00:59:55 I may not ever get famous, but I'm really fucking funny. So come out. I'm just killing less. I don't know what to tell you. I'm, watch the clips. And I will also input that.
Starting point is 01:00:04 I watch all your comedy clips. Yeah. And they are funny as fun. Thanks, man. And there was no better one than the one you getting tackled. Oh, yeah. You got.
Starting point is 01:00:13 my first viral clip. Yes, on TikTok. It's still has 19 on YouTube, 19 million views. TikTok has taken it down like four times. I know. And I'll just put it back up and it'll get another. It'll go viral instantly. It does not matter. It was perfect. Perfect. Perfect. You should literally be selling out arenas after that one.

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