Locked In with Ian Bick - Unmasking The Cartel: Why Ozark Falls Short Of An Authentic Depiction | Johnny Mitchell Pt. 2
Episode Date: December 17, 2023Renowned 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
Transcript
Discussion (0)
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?
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
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
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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?
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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
as a lawyer and how much he really cares about his clients.
Accidents can happen to anyone, leaving you not knowing what to do or where to turn.
most people don't know how to go about finding a top-rated lawyer.
Find a great attorney.com can connect you to one of the best lawyers in your area.
Have peace of mind knowing you're in the hands of a lawyer that can help maximize the amount of money you can get for your case.
Find a great attorney.com relieves the aggravation of finding a highly regarded attorney for any type of accident case in any state.
All you need to do is fill out their brief online forum and then they can get to work, finding you a high-regarded attorney for a high-regory.
highly rated lawyer in your area.
The best part is, everyone, there's no cost for their service, and the lawyers they
refer you to only get paid if they win your case.
You don't have to come up with any money out of your own pocket to hire one of the best
attorneys in your area.
Make sure you guys check out Find a Great Attorney.com.
They are highly recommended, and you do not want to take a chance and hire a lawyer that
will not properly represent you.
visit find a great attorney.com, fill out their brief online form, and let them do the rest.
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
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
At Hyundai of Glendale, Lisa New, 2026 Hyundai Tucson SC Frontwheel Drive for 269 a month plus tax for 36 months with owner's assurance in America's best warranty.
10-year 100,000 miles.
Stop by Hyundai of Glendale today or Hyundaiofglendale.com.
36-month lease, 4,49 to its signing.
Tax-tile license and dock fees extra.
Plus government fees and taxes.
7,500 miles per year, expire 6126.
Who available at this payment?
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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?
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Yeah.
There's a whole big difference.
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
But you know,
that was my takeaway
after watching the Gotti doc
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.
Well, no.
No.
Columbia, dude.
You know what Popeye?
No about Popeye?
No, it's Papa.
Fucking,
he was Pablo's like main hitman.
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,
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.
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
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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,
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.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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,
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?
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?
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,
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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?
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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?
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,
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.
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.
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.
