The Digression Sessions - Ep. 32 - Jason Weems!

Episode Date: April 11, 2012

Hola Digheads! Comedian Jason Weems joins them Dig Sesh boys this week. While time is a precious commodity for comedian / teacher / father / all around good dude, Jason Weems , he was nice enough to join Josh and Mike for a Dig Sesh.  Jason discusses his comedic journey, ambitions, and his process. Jason also shares a candid and woeful story about the first time he did stand up. He didn't go back on stage for about six years after that.  However, Jason returned with a vengance. Through dedication and hard work he's become a comedic force of nature. Jason has been seen at the most prestigious “By Invitation Only” comedy festival in the world, The Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal and was a featured semi-finalist on “Last Comic Standing.” In December 2010, he filmed his first hour comedy special entitled Jason Weems, Vol. 1: Intellectual Property in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland that is available on JasonWeemsComedy.com  And check out the brand spanking new DigressionSessions.com !!  And JasonWeemsComedy.com PLEASE rate, subscribe, and provide a nice comment on the iTunes!! It’ll help the podcast climb the charts!   Follow us on the Twitters:  @DigSeshPod @JKuderna @MichaelMoran10 @JWeemsComedy

Oh, yeah. Oh, right. Oh, shit. Jason isn't dancing. I'm not. Normally our guests dance. This is probably the earliest podcast we've ever done. This is probably the earliest podcast anyone's ever done, ever.

Probably so. Probably so you have a kid. Yeah, right. Welcome to the 10 a.m. podcast. We're sipping on some coffee. They owe me disgusting jaywalks. Happy Sunday to you all out there right how you guys doing talk about gardenias so i know we shouldn't be wearing sweaters now but i just love a nice sweater i'm gonna hold on as long as i can all right welcome to the digression sessions hello

everybody i'm one half of your favorite pair of earbuds, Josh Kodernick here. And I'm the other half of my favorite pair of earbuds, Mike Moran. How the hell are you, everybody? All right, be honest. You can tell us. All right. Really? I think they're okay.

They'll work through it. All right. All right, Mike. Only our listenership would say something like that, to be honest. Hey, what do we say about positive attitudes? Come on. Come on. We don't speak with them.

They're horrible at saying that, all the positive attitudes. Too much positivity bringing this cast down. Well, how are you, Mike Moran? I am well. I can't complain. Yeah? Yeah. Yeah, things are good.

Worked really late last night. Oh, yeah? Down at the Paper Moon Diner? Yep. You know it. Oh, yeah. But, yeah, things are good. Worked really late last night. Oh, yeah? Down at the Paper Moon Diner? Yep. You know it. Oh, yeah. But, yeah, things are good. I can't complain.

Got a bunch of crack.com columns I'm working on. And, yeah. How about you, Josh? No, not much has changed. I'm moving, which is fun. Spiritually? No, no. I'm staying, which is fun. Spiritually? No. I'm staying in that hole.

Existentially? Existentially, no. Not moving at all. Staying in that dark hole. No. Physically, I'll be moving all my belongings into a new domicile soon. Okay. Gotcha.

Which brings me to my next question. Jason, can you help me move on Monday? I can't. Damn it. This cast is over. All right. Well, this didn't work. All question. Jason, can you help me move on Monday? I can't. Damn it! This cast is over. All right. Well, this didn't work. All right.

Well, this failed. This is an elaborate plan. Strict people. For months, I've been planning this. What can you do for us? Yeah, so I'm moving. Excited about that. Moving is always a bitch, but it'll be nice to be somewhere else.

Yeah. Are you excited about the new house? Oh, yeah. It's all right. You realize the new house is listening, Josh. I don't know. I forgot the new house is going to be a guest on next week's podcast. It's going to be so awkward.

Yeah, so doing that, working on label stuff, and working on getting shirts printed for the digression sessions and better robot right editing mike finazzo's album doing improv moving staying crazy busy working on your stand-up routine no no not at all i think we need to do a little encouraging on the josh i know i know i know i just haven't had time i read my tweets in front of strangers. That was kind of weird. Umar. Just on the street? Yeah. Excuse me, sir? Sir?

Sir? I like big butts and I cannot lie. George Washington. George Washington. I told that joke. Umar Khan is doing an open mic night at the Pratt Street Ale House. Yeah, how was that? It was fun.

But when I got there, I think Umar was a little buzzed. And he's like, hey, man, I think Umar was a little buzzed. And he's like, hey, man, I'm sorry. We're losing the room. We shouldn't do it. Really? And he's like, all right, let's do it. So we just go up there.

It was one of the dumbest things ever. I'm just holding my cell phone and a microphone. So here's another tweet that I wrote in my office. You know what I mean? It got some good laughs, but I think it was just like, what the hell are we doing? But it was fun. I mean, nice little experiment, I guess. Yeah, you got to do it do it do it yeah yeah it was do it just do it nike right i'm like nike man just do it somebody dropped that that bout of uh redneck philosophy on me once really yeah i'm like nike i just do it well i think i think i was kind of like

wow i was kind of impressed by all the things that he does in life he's like yeah man it's like nike man just do it i'm like feel him man going broke it must be a little embarrassing like uh having your uh your your you know the the words that inspire you in life come from like you know marketing campaign yeah exactly exactly like right like you know you want to attribute it to like gandhi or something you know you don't want to be like yeah i i find my greatest philosophical inspiration in uh nabisco right just air max box just like the commercial says man have it your way you know that's how i live my life all right well let's bring our guest officially into the fold you may have seen him on the last season. What was that, 2010?

Last Comic Standing? Yeah. Semi-finalist of the last Comic Standing. He might be your kid's teacher. You may have seen him at a PTA meeting. Who knows? Performing stand-up all around our beautiful country, Mr. Jason Wayne. What's up?

What's up? Thank you for having me, guys. Thanks for joining us. Beige is the new black, is that how your shirt says? No, it says beige is beautiful. Oh, cool. New t-shirts for sale. Oh, shit. Awesome. JasonWilliamsComedy.com. Yeah, check it out. Oh, my. How's the

new DVD doing? It's good. DVD's doing good. T-shirt's doing good. Oh, yeah. I forgot. What is it? Volume 1, Intellectual Property? Intellectual Property, yeah. Good stuff, good stuff. Filmed here in Baltimore City. I was at the second show for that.

Yeah, yeah. Uh-huh. Things are well. Cool, man. Cool. So how long have you been doing stand-up? I've been doing stand-up. It was five years officially, September 27th of 2011. So right now I guess I'm about five and a half in. Wow.

It'll be six this September. Wow. So you're about like four, three and a half years when you got on the last comic standing? Something like that, yeah. Yeah, that's pretty fast. I think so. I mean. I'm not sure what other people.

Has anybody else made it on with that few years of experience? Not that I know of. Yeah. But. I mean, you made it pretty far. I mean, semi-final. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I have a bunch of questions about the show.

Okay. I think, so, the way that the show is set up is that you have to audition in front of the judges. Like, it's done in a... Superman type of style. Like the movie where he's... Sorry. Right.

Well, but it's just so awkward because you have to go on stage at a comedy club like you're performing for an audience but it's just three people people judging you right right was that awkward it is yeah it's awkward uh but you still have to just tell your jokes like you're performing to a full room right you have to still take your pauses when you know a laugh would be there right still, right. Still kind of look around, give eye contact around the room. Because pretty much it's the three judges in front of you. Do some crowd work with the cameraman. Right, right, right.

Then over in the corner, it's just like boom mics and like put deuces in the shadows, like writing down notes and stuff. Stuck a cigarette to the shadows. Pretty much. Thinking how they can exploit you. Yes. Speaking of eye contact, what is your policy with eye contact with the audience? Do you try to keep a... I try to. I think that's just me in general.

Whenever I'm in conversation, I try to lock in on someone or something. Just so it doesn't feel like I'm looking into dead air. Right. Don't talk about Mike's eyes like that. Refer to his eyes as dead air.

Yeah, like that guy named his abs in situations I've named my eyes the dead air You pull down your glasses all the time He's doing it He's showing the dead air That's my signature move Right Nobody cares but Josh

He's doing it Shut the hell up Keep doing it Yeah, okay, so then So you audition And that was for Andy Kindler, Greg Giraldo, and... Natasha Leggero. Yeah, yeah.

So those are all funny people. Funny people. And then Greg passed recently. I didn't know that he had a drug problem before, like, until after he died. That was pretty crazy. He was in addiction for a long time. Yeah, he passed. Did you get to talk...

Mike DeStefano passed. Oh, that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A couple people passed from that season, which was kind of eerie. Yeah, he passed. Did you get to talk? Mike DeStefano passed. Oh, that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A couple people passed from that season, which was kind of eerie. Yeah, that was weird. He had, I think, HIV for the longest time, then he died of a heart attack. Something weird, like he beat one of the biggest things ever and then

died of something else. Right, his girl had HIV. It was something that was weird. Yeah. Yeah. So two Last Comic Standing alums have passed away. Well, Greg Giraldo was a judge. Oh, okay. And then Mike DiStefano was one of the finalists. One of the finalists.

He passed away, yeah. Yeah. Did you get to hang out with those guys, the judges, or other comics? Other comics, yeah. Yeah? Not really the judges. I mean, you would see them in passing. When you're out there filming, I mean, they kind of hold you in these tent areas.

Okay. And then, like, you know, one of the assistant producers will come and get you're out there filming, I mean, they kind of hold you in these tent areas. Okay. And then, like, you know, one of the assistant producers will come and get you and, you know, say, you know, you, you, and you. And they kind of herd you in. Right. You know, you stand here. Right. It's a machine.

Right. You stand on this X. Be funny now. Right. This guy will call you out. You move along. It's an assembly line. Wow.

So not really just hanging out with the judges, but other comics. I mean, you know, hanging out in a hotel. Get out there a day or two before you actually film. So you're sitting around, hanging out with other guys. Right, right. Yeah, and seasons past, they also went for a reality show thing. When they had the house. Yeah, are you glad that you didn't have to put up with that?

Very happy, very happy. Yeah, because that was like... True story. Yeah, like they combined the real world and stand-up. They would do like confessionals and stuff like talk was there and everything. Put his finger in my peanut butter. I can't fucking do comedy in this situation.

Yeah, it was weird. Then he had challenges where you'd have to perform stand-up in a laundry mat and stuff like this. Right, right, and try to entertain like nuns or something like that or make them laugh. Yeah, it was too far too far-fetched. Yeah, it's like that's not what laugh yeah it was too far too far fetched yeah it's like that's not what stand-up is yeah this last season 2010 was definitely i think just the best it was straight comedy yeah i mean they tried to build as many you know story arcs

as possible you know right right some drama yeah it wasn't you know the house which was nice i don't think i would have fared well in that situation. No, that would have just been awkward. Yeah, so what was it like performing in the what theater was it? It's out in L.A., right? It was the, I believe it was the Alex Theater. Uh-huh. Out in L.A., it's actually Glendale. Okay. It's considered. Oh, Mr. Hollywood over there. Right, right, right. Excuse me.

Excuse me. Glendale. But it was nice. It was cool. I mean, it's it was nice. It was cool. I mean, it's a big stage. It was glossy. Yeah, I was watching the video last night on your website when you came out and you were pointing to the balcony. I've always wanted to point to a balcony. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I was like, that's pretty cool. Things like that I enjoy doing. Pointing to balconies? Pointing to balconies. Always. That's why I got you. Looking into dead air. You can find Jason's new photo book

pointing to balconies all over the world. His new coffee table book. There it is. So when you're doing comedy, you like to try to come out, at least for myself, and try to build some type of rapport with the audience. Get them on your side. You don't make them feel comfortable. So much about comedy

is just, you know, kind of diffusing the tension. Yeah, yeah. Because the audience just wants to is just you know kind of diffusing the tension yeah yeah because the audience just wants to know that you know what you're doing yeah yeah they don't want to feel like you're tense you know right they feel nerves from you then they get nervous right but well for sure like last comic stand you've got like 90 seconds to perform and it's a huge timer on the back wall and it's just counting down from the moment you just see that clock right right yeah so it's one of these things where you come out. So that was my little way of kind of, you know, saying something to get the audience.

Just kind of breaking it down. A quick laugh before I, you know, dove right into it, too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I was going to say, too, that's – I think we talked about it when I saw you perform at UMBC, but your style, like, when you come out, it's not a lot of energy. I mean, you're very present, but I think you kind of have a way of just kind of wiping the slate clean. Like, I saw you at auto bar, you just sat down on a stool and you're like,

so what was your guys' new year's resolution? So it's kind of an odd way to start, but it worked. I mean, I think, I think we like people just went back and forth with you for like 15 minutes before you officially started your set. Yeah.

Yeah. I like to keep it real loose. Very conversational. Right. I mean, in some rooms you can kind of get a sense of if they're a crowd that's ready for material. Yeah, yeah. If the MC's done a really good job in a feature act and they've warmed the crowd up really good, you can dive right in.

Right. But in rooms where it's kind of, you know, like, you know, one comic might crush and somebody might bomb, then somebody might crush, then somebody might bomb. It's such the energy is just up and down, up and down, up and down. So you kind of, like you say, got to wipe the slate clean. Right, right. Start fresh, kind of hit the reset button uh-huh and i like to kind of like piggyback off of what i've seen whenever i'm sitting in a room i try to write jokes in my head as i'm watching so if i see a guy do a joke that doesn't work i'm writing a joke

about that joke that didn't work or i'm right writing a joke about an audience member who has a you know a horrible laugh and then i go up and I just riff on that for, you know, as long as I squeeze all of the juice out of it. Out of that horrible laugh. Right. Right. Is that something that you learned on your own, or did you try to emulate that in other comedians you saw?

Or is that just something you kind of picked up along the way? Something I picked up along the way is one of these things where it's almost like a survival instinct. Okay. It's from doing so many horrible rooms. Really? Where you try to stand up for the first couple times. Yeah.

You've got this idea, you know, you're going to go in there, you're going to repeat these lines that you've, you know, written down. Right, right, right. Or thought of. Right. And half the time it doesn't work that way. You know, either the audience isn't, you know, captive enough that they're going to sit and listen to you. Right. And a lot of times when you first start in stand-up, it's not in an actual club setting or somewhere where people came to see comedy.

Yeah. It's in bars and coffee houses. Laundromats. Laundromats and stuff like that. Front of nuns. Right, right, right. So you've got to – Open mic night at the church.

Pretty much, yeah. You've got to fight with these community members. Where are my sisters at? So you've got to fight with these community waivers. Where are my sisters at? So you've got to fight for their attention. So you've got to learn ways to, you know. Kind of like separate yourself a little bit. Separate yourself, you know, get people to turn around, stop watching the sports game on TV.

Right. And your way of doing that is to talk to the audience directly? Talk to the audience directly. Not really go at them. Some comics will go up and you're still like, you know, like, what the fuck you got on? Ace jackass, nice haircut. Right, right, right.

It creates this real combative situation. Right, right, right. Which sometimes is funny, but the person has to know that it's a game because sometimes it gets real ugly. It gets awkward, yeah. Real quick. Just like picking on somebody.

So if you're just trying to talk to them, if you talk to somebody long enough, at some point something funny will kind of come out of it. So if you try to talk to them, and then they, if you talk to somebody long enough, at some point, something funny will kind of come out of it. So is that kind of your style with improvising with audience members

is just have a conversation and wait for the funny to... To a degree. And sometimes nothing comes from it. And that's funny. Just the fact that you burnt eight minutes. You're like, well, moving on.

Exactly. So it's just, yeah, just being completely comfortable right and just kind of just letting it take you where it goes i never like to go up there with such a script in my head that yeah i can't you know can't leave from it right right um how long did that take you to kind of get in that zone for me as somebody's i you know i've only done i do improv so i'll have like my troop up there so there's kind of that safety net. You can feed off each other. Yeah, exactly.

So it's not just you, or if a scene isn't going well, it just ends. But if you get a big laugh and then you get out of there, somebody takes over. So it's not on you to keep the momentum going the entire time. So when did you learn to kind of be comfortable on stage without just coming out and be like, ah, these are my jokes, versus like, hey, what the fuck's going on? It's weird because I'm a very shy person by nature. Really? Very shy.

I get extremely nervous before every show. Really? Before every show, if I have some jokes in my head, I completely forget them. Huh. But it's a funny thing. As soon as I get on stage and I grab the microphone, I'm good. So it's like a fight or flight thing. You're like, now I'm here. I have to be here.

Exactly. So as far as getting comfortable on stage, I think that's something that's kind of always been there. Before I started stand-up, I used to host talent shows and stuff at my high school. Okay. And I was always comfortable once I was up there. Right, right, right. School was just one of those things of getting me there. Yeah, it's just the moments before.

Before, right, right. I'm going up. The success is showing up. Yeah, yeah right on so what would you say just like a couple years in or maybe just maybe even a year probably less than that wow i mean that's awesome a big part of it's just just talking shit like right just get up there and don't stop talking yeah yeah it's those dead moments. It's those real pregnant pauses that you lose the energy. Comedy is so much about retaining the energy and keeping it in the room.

Yeah. And once you get it, you can't let it go. Right. And one thing that I noticed that you do, even if there is kind of a pregnant pause, I think at the UMBC show, for some reason there's a giant wooden chicken. There's a big ass chicken on stage. There's a giant wooden chicken that nobody mentioned the entire time. And I think Jace was like halfway through his set.

He's like, why the hell is there a giant chicken here? And like, you know what I mean? And then like you were talking about like the student events board and stuff. And it kind of went somewhere, but it was just like, what the hell is with that chicken? You know what I mean? Like at least it's kind of like breaking the fourth wall down like almost the entire time. Like you come in, kind of comment on what's going on. There's a fucking giant chicken behind me.

Right, right. Let's admit that there's a chicken here. I think that's one of the – it's a couple of main rules of comedy for me. Like for me, one of the top ones is always state the obvious. Right. It's like, you know, if you're in a room and you're on a stage with a shitty curtain behind you, talk about the curtain for a minute. Right. If there's, you know, lights blowing out in the club, talk about the curtain for a minute. If there's lights blowing out in the club, talk

about that. If every comic before you is just bombed or it's supposed to be a clean show and everybody's up there talking about chicken pussy or something. Just something ridiculous. It's your job as a comic to first at least state that and then see what you get out of it.

There goes Mike's chicken pussy chunk. Back to the drawing board on that one right right right yeah like uh at umar show after we've read our tweets comedian jim jim uh meyer went up and i think there's like 12 comedians that night and he's like all right let's keep this train fucking going jesus christ i just watched a guy read his tweets and like yeah i know it's weird you it's weird. And then the crowd likes it because you've got to comment on it. It's not a normal thing when you're like, hey, guys. Never mind. You know, if you have words with friends, tweet or something.

I read off of my MySpace page. Here's my top eight, you guys. Yeah. So, yeah, I guess that's something that you kind of just learned from just being up there. Like if something goes wrong, just comment on it. It kind of diffuses the situation a little bit. Right. And then it's one of these things, another one of those survival instincts.

It's times where you've gone to do a joke or even something that you might have thought of before going on stage. And you thought, oh, this is going to kill. Maybe you saw something happen in a room when the comic was on stage before you. You're like, oh, this is going to be really funny. You go up there and you say it and you get nothing. But this is one of these things where you just got to keep talking or learn how to make a joke about the fact that your joke just didn't work. Right, right, right, right.

Never let it just die. Is that the worst thing you can do with a joke that bombs? Just let it die? Yeah. I think so. I mean, because sometimes when you start riffing on the fact of how badly it did, somehow you'll find something in it that's worth salvaging. Either somebody will scream something or it'll at least keep the energy up for you going into your next joke. Rather than, it's hard when you see a comic and the set's really choppy.

And it's because they might do a joke that's good, then they do a joke that's bad, and then they just let it die. And then it's starting from zero all over again, trying to get back up. Right, right. And it kind of kills the momentum in the crowd, too. At least keep it at three. Don't let it get all the way up. Right.

Let's idle for a little bit here. Let's roll to a stop. Let's not just screech it. Let's not just screech it. Do you have any go-to things that you acknowledge when a joke bombs? It all depends on what the joke was i just i just kind of let whatever comes to my head well now you bring a giant chicken with

you to every show right i bring the giant chicken right right it's hidden just on it i fold it up sort of yellow suitcase right right just folds up exactly chain to your wrist so wrist. So when you first started, how many days a week did you get up on stage? Did you have a goal? The goal was every night. Wow. But sometimes that wouldn't work out. First starting out, it's weird because you don't, comedy is one of these things, it's kind of hard.

You don't know how to get into it. Yeah. I mean, the biggest thing that I always hear comedians say is you just have to do it. Just do it. Yeah. I mean, the biggest thing that I always hear comedians say is you just have to do it. Just do it. Yeah. But to find rooms and then a lot of times, you know, people won't put you up unless they think you're funny. Right. Right. So it's kind of like a like a almost like an introductory period where you might be at one room for three or four months. OK. And then, you know, somebody might see, you know, OK, you're funny. You meet other comics and they vouch for you. Right. Right. And then they put in a word for you in another room.

Okay. Then you're performing at two rooms a week. And then just kind of still balls from there. When I first started, only one girl would put me up. It was a place in Virginia called Clarendon Bar and Grill. Okay. A girl named Casey Wade who used to do stand-up. And were you living in Baltimore at the time?

Living in Baltimore. She gave me three minutes of stage time. How long was that commute for? About an hour and a half. For three minutes? Really? That's comedy. Most nights I drive longer than I'm performing. Even if I'm

closing a show and doing an hour set, I might drive three hours to get there. Really? Damn. The time ratio, time driving to performance ratio is always way off. What's a normal working day like for you? You go into school. Well, yeah, Jason, you're a teacher, right?

Kindergarten. Teaching kindergarten, right, here in Baltimore. So I get to school probably about 7.30, get out at about 3. Sorry, Jason, I've been accused of being a Mike Nazi, but you just got to move it closer. Sorry. How's that? Perfect.

Okay, okay. Sorry. Oh, no worries. Yeah. And accused of being a real Nazi. uh yeah and accused of being a real kid being a real nazi i'm actually moving to brazil that's what i should say hide out for a bit so about 7 30 yeah get to work get out about three get home i'll be with my son for a little while until my wife gets home at about 4.30 or 5. Usually get on the road for a show maybe about 5.30 or 6.

Then might get back in the house. Depends on where the show is. If it's D.C. or something, I might get back in it. Maybe one something. Whoa. If it's a little further,

Virginia or somewhere else. Sometimes I go up to New York on a weeknight. Really? Damn. And I'll get back, you know, 3 o'clock in the morning.

And then do it again? Yeah. Then you get in. And then it's hard for me to – I'm a night person. Okay. I hope so. Once I get in, it's hard for me to shut down. Yeah.

So I get in. I watch a little TV. I eat something. Right. By the time I get in bed, it's 4 or something. Wow. You willingly stay up when you don't have to? No, you just kind of have the adrenaline going a little bit.

Right. You've been driving. You're still thinking about your performance. You've got to wind down a little bit. You've been driving. You're still thinking about your performance. You've got to wind down a little bit. You can't just go to bed. Well, I'm home from New York. I guess I'll turn in for a bit. I could do that right now. Just turn in.

Just close the dead air and go to sleep. I'm fighting it off right now. What time do you get to bed? go to sleep. I'm fighting it off right now. So then, what time do you get to bed? Somewhere in that one to four range,

depending on where I'm at. You wait until the sun peeks into the blinds. And then close eyes. Right, right. Get that nice hour of sleep. And then you get up at 6.30 or so?

Depends on when my son wakes up. Right. So, sometimes I'll get in bed and the moment i close my eyes you'll hear him start crying so it's just like all right you just get right back up like he knows he's like right closing him no exactly right right um so that's thrown a little bit of a wrench into it can't wait till he hears this in a few years. Yeah.

My son is ruining my comedy career. It's one of these things where just the timing for some reason is always kind of right when you get into a little bit of a rest. Wow. That's when he wakes up. Right. Right. So sometimes it works to my advantage.

You know, sometimes it'll just keep me up because sometimes, you know, like you go to sleep for 30 minutes. When you wake up, you feel worse than you did. You're worse. Yeah. Sometimes it's best just to blow right through it. Damn. And then let your entire liver just shut down later on in.

Right. You're just going on fumes the rest of the day. Pretty much. Your organs are eating themselves. Right. Just eat a Kashi bar and just keep it moving. Shout out to Kashi bars. Shout out to Kashi.. Shout out to Kashi.

Trying to get that Kashi money, you know? We already lost to Miss Fields. I know. It's fucked up. Sponsorship. It's tough out there, these granola wars. Right. Wow.

So how often do you do, I mean, is that a typical day where you're just working on like three or four hours of sleep? Now I feel really bad that I invited you over on a Sunday. It's fine. it really depends like if depends on what kind of shows i'm preparing for okay uh like right now i'm in the mode of trying to turn over a new hour so uh i'm only really taking shows where i'm able to stretch my you know time out longer right if it's a 10-minute set, sometimes it's really not that beneficial to me. Right, right. Right now. Yeah.

Because by the time I get up there and I get the crowd on my side, that's five minutes gone right there. Right, right. And then it's hard to really, and a lot of my bits are longer. They're kind of like story pieces. Right, right.

So it's kind of like getting the crowd on your side in maybe one bit. Right. Then you're saying goodnight. All right, I'm kind of like getting the crowd on your side in one maybe one bit right then you're saying good night all right i'm out of here and that might have been a two hour drive wow if you want a good audience okay so you're just saying you could take any show anywhere and it might not just be the best crowd like you kind of are you at that point where you can kind of pick and choose the shows that you do i am am. Nice. I turn down a lot. A lot of stuff that I've either done before or I've just done it long enough now

that I get the sense from either the booker or I know other comics that have done it and I know that it's just either shitty or you have to fight for your laughs. And it's like, why would I do that? Right, right. And some nights it's good. Some nights you want to do that just to kind of stay on your toes

and keep that fighting edge about you. Right, right, right. But sometimes if you're in the mode trying to get ready for an audition set or if you're trying to prepare a new hour to film on your DVD or if you're trying to do a late night spot or something, you want a set to be tight.

It's not crowd work. Right, you're just to do a late night spot or something, you want a set to be tight, it's not crowd work. Right, you're just kind of refining it. Right, right. So it's kind of counterproductive to go somewhere and just argue with an audience member for 10 minutes. Right, right. How do you write your material? Because it is longer.

Do you write on stage? Yeah, I just do it all mentally. Okay, so you just kind of know what you're going to talk about, like a certain subject, and you just try to find the beats on stage? Yeah, I just do it all mentally. Okay. So you just kind of know what you're going to talk about, like a certain subject, and you just try to find the beats on stage? Pretty much, yeah, yeah, yeah. When I started out, I used to write stuff out on Post-it notes and in the back of gas station receipts. Okay.

I used to always have just tons of stuff in my pockets. Anytime I would come up with an idea or a one-liner, I would jot it down. And then somebody showed you a notepad. This is my showpad. Change your life. All the comics used to shit on me when I first started. Because they were like, what the fuck are you doing, Weems? Because they had these little, what did they get them from?

Barnes and Nobles, they're called. Moleskine. Yeah. Everyone thinks it's moleskin. Yeah. I thought it was moleskin until you just said that, actually. So they're pulling them out. They're all fancy.

And they're like, this is where I keep my jokes, Weems. They're right with calligraphy. Right, right. The old timey feather pins. I'm standing on stage just pulling handfuls. And I'm just throwing. I got an Exxon receipt. Written with a pack of mustard.

Right, right. And I'll just read it. And then if it was funny, I'd put it in this pocket. If it wasn't funny, I'd put it in this pocket. The unfunny pocket's the right pocket. Right, right. And I would just do it like that. And you knew you were doing well once your left pocket started to rip a little bit.

Right. Then I used to take those jokes and I used to kind of categorize them. I would take Ziploc bags and I would write on the front like family. I would write family on the front of the Ziploc bag. Any joke that had anything to do with family, I would put it in that bag. And then somebody introduced you to a manila folder. Right, right, right, right. And then he starts posting notes in Ziploc bags.

That's funny. Then it got overwhelming to the point that you didn't know what anything was. Yeah. And a big part of that was because I was writing a lot of jokes years before I started stand-up. Really? So I tried stand-up for the first time in 2000 when i was in college and i bombed horribly uh it was one of these things where i was always funny around people that i was comfortable with right but then once you get

on stage you get on stage it's a different thing the lights are in your face and the strangers yeah they're just like i don't give a fuck about right you have no you have no prior uh experiences together right so things where i would be with friends and we would have like, they would have known about when we were at the mall two weeks ago. So if I referenced something and then tied something else to it, they would get it. Right, right. So I didn't understand, you know, the idea of a setup and a punchline and all that type of stuff. Okay. I just thought that as soon as I started talking, they were going to start laughing.

It's me. I'm Jason Reeves. And I started and I couldn't Reeves. And I started, and I couldn't hear anything. And you couldn't see anybody because the lights were so bright. And I just froze up. I said goodnight, and I walked off stage.

That's all you said? I started the joke. It was a joke, and I can remember the joke. The joke was about that movie Training Day was out at the time with Denzel Washington. And I had this joke about

if Little Bow Wow was in the movie, it'd be called Potty Training Day. And I had this joke about if Little Bow Wow was in the movie, it'd be called Potty Training Day. And I thought this shit was gold. I was like, I'm going to go up here and tell this. These bitches are going to fall out of their seats. And I went up there, and I started it, and I got nothing. And I said goodnight, and I walked off stage, and I walked behind the curtain.

And at the time, I didn't know any of these comics. These guys like Larry Lancaster, guys that have in baltimore for a number of years yeah a bunch of different guys who i now know but back then i didn't know them but they were back there these are all guys who you know even then probably no five ten years in they were just clowning me ah he bombed he bombed they're just laughing doing what comics do so then my ego rose up in me and i was like you know i'm going to let these dudes clown me. So I get the DJ and the host to bring me back out. I come back out again.

Wow, retribution. Retribution. Get out on stage, grab the mic with all his confidence, and I start telling the same exact joke. Maybe you didn't hear me. Maybe you didn't understand. We'll break this down. What if Lil Bow Wow.

I got to the same exact part of the joke, and it was still dead silent. So I said goodnight again. Oh, wow. And walked off. And then I didn't do stand-up again for six years. Wow. So I was offstage pretty much longer than I've been performing now. Right, right, right.

So from 2000 to 2006, I didn't touch a microphone. Damn. But I was always writing. Right. So I was, you know, I'd be at the mall with my buddy. I'd be at the store. Anytime I'd see something funny, I'd jot it down. Yeah, yeah.

But then I was just, like, I was writing it, but I wasn't performing it. So it was just backlogging. So I just had all this stuff in these Nike shoeboxes underneath my bed. It was almost like drugs. Right. It's like the scene in Blow where they just have boxes of bed. It was almost like drugs. Right. It's like the scene in Blow where they just have boxes of money. Right, right, right. Yours are just jokes.

Pretty much. So it's just stuff lined up underneath my bed, 20 boxes of stuff, just all the way up to the rim. You would open it up and, like, jokes would just be falling. Right. Do you still use any of those old ones that you had? Every once in a while I'll dig in there and see if there's anything I still find an emotional connection to. Right. because that's such a big part of me i know some comedians who

they're just not like machines or robots but they can go up on stage and kind of say something word for word of what they wrote down of what they wrote down and i can't do that yeah like i feel like i'm reading a script right and then I miss one word, all of a sudden my mind, I panic. My mind train wrecks. I'm trying to double back and remember what I was supposed to say. And it just gets really weird. And that's when I got to the point where I was like, I've got

to stop writing it. So then I used to go on stage and I would just talk like you said. I know I want to talk about my day at school. And I would talk and maybe the first two minutes just talk. Like you said, I know I want to talk about my day at school. Right. And I would talk. And maybe the first two minutes might not be funny.

But then I get to a point and I start getting the laughs. Right, right, right. And then you kind of, I record in my mind. I know, okay, this is the part where it got funny. Right, right, right. So the next time I go on stage, I tighten up that first part, those two minutes getting to that. So I get to it quicker. Right.

So then, yeah, it was just one of these things where I had all this material, wasn't performing it, and then when I tried to perform it, it wasn't funny anymore because- It's just kind of stale or you're not really connected to it. I wasn't in that mindset. Right. Yeah, yeah. It was stuff that might have been funny five years ago. Right.

To these fucking Spice Girls. Am I right? Right, right, right. Anybody? But now I'm not the same person or I've got a different perspective on something. Right, right. So was that hard to deal with on Last Comic Standing? Because what, you get like what?

Like you said, like a minute and a half or three minutes? Right. So was that hard? Did you have to, did that kind of freak you out about altering your bits a little bit? Like condensing them? Not really. I guess the hardest thing was there's a lot of restrictions on what you can and can't say in regards to, like if it's a joke about Walmart, you can't say Walmart.

Oh, yeah, that's right, because in your bit you said these big chain stores. Stuff like that, that when you get used to telling a joke a certain way and you know the rhythm of it, it only feels right coming out of your mouth that way. Right, right. So to just say, you know, I went inside this big box store the other day, it doesn't feel like my joke anymore. Yeah, yeah. Just because of that one word. And specifics are funnier, too. Right, right, right.

You guys ever in a store? Yeah. Yeah? Right. Well, I can relate to that i've heard of i've never been in one i've heard hell yeah i've been told yeah so that was the hardest thing for me just uh right because then i guess you kind of have that little voice in the back of your head like get this right don't say the wrong thing so it kind of pulls you out of the moment a little

bit you can't exactly just be in the zone that's's exactly it. Gotcha. Now, did Last Comic Standing get you invited to the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival? Or was that before? It did. That actually kind of happened almost simultaneously. Really? I was auditioning. I auditioned for Last Comic Standing in, I want to say, the late February or March of 2010. Right.

And auditioned for, just for last, I think my first audition for Montreal was like the end of 2009, maybe sometime in December. And then they always have callbacks. I think I got my callback sometime in, might have been March. Last Comic Standing aired in June of 2010.

And I got the call from Montreal in May of 2010. So it was all kind of happening side by side. Pretty badass. It was cool. Last Comic Standing was filmed during the school year. It was. How did you pull that off? Just called my principal and said I wouldn't be in.

I'm not feeling too well. I'll be back in June. Right. And it's cool because she's very understanding. She's seen me from when I started comedy. I was working at this school prior to starting stand-up. So she saw me when I was just starting. She saw me

when I started getting heavier and heavier. Right. So she understands that, not that I don't give a shit about the school. But she understands that. But I really don't give a shit about the school. She understands that it's something bigger that I'm chasing. Right. Yeah.

And even when I'm at school, I mean, I'm making people laugh. Yeah. I was going to say on your DVD, you have a lot of coworkers out in the crowd. A lot of coworkers. Yeah. So, I mean, I guess everybody's pretty aware that you're a comedian. People know. It you have a lot of co-workers out in the crowd. A lot of co-workers. Yeah. So, I mean, I guess everybody's pretty aware that you're a comedian. People know. It's just a matter of time.

People know that I'm just there for the benefits. Right. Does that ever present a problem with parents of students? Like, I don't want my son to be a joker. It hasn't been. Or at least it hasn't been made known to me. So, Datron's mom isn't aware of her? No, no.

Hopefully by the time she hears that joke, I'll already be long gone. I'll change your name and living in Brazil. Exactly. Right, right. Gotcha, gotcha. And I try to, if it's a joke about a specific kid, I never try to make it so malicious that it's like ruining the kid's reputation. Right, right. It's pretty much just me retelling

what the kid said to me. So if anything, it's just me recounting a series of events. Did a child really rub his penis on the mirror? He did. And kids do worse things than that. That's like an easy day.

I pray for a day but that's all that happens is the kid just rubs his penis up on the mirror. Gets it all foggy with the ball fog. The ball fog. That's the name

of your next DVD. Jason Williams volume two. Ball fog. The ball fog's rolling in. Right. Chapter one. Right.

The ball fog is taking over the town like ball fog in here. It. Chapter one. Right. The ball fog is taking over the town in Winchester. It smells like ball fog in here. It does, man. It's like the sequel to the movie The Fog.

Ball fog. Yeah, is that, I guess that has to be pretty crazy working with kindergartners on a daily basis. It's good. I mean, it's one of these

things where it's almost like I'm performing while I'm at work in order to hold five-year-old's attention. You have to be theatrical. That's your own hell room. Pretty much, yeah, to a certain degree. So, I mean, it's been times where I almost kind of test out material on them. Really?

I mean, kids laugh at anything. Right, right. But at the same time, you know, I'll say something or the same time, you know, I'll say something or the way I'm, you know, teaching something, I think it just kind of sharpens me up. It keeps me in that mindset of, you know, always

being, you know, in the moment. Yeah, I mean, because it's kind of the same thing. I mean, you have to have a captive audience. You've got to. Either way. Right, right. Especially with little kids who are distracted by everything. Yeah, yeah. So you can tell when you're losing your crowd. Come on, guys. Come on.

They're messing with their shoes and stuff. They're pointing to the balconies. Right, right, right, right. See you kids up there. Exactly. See you. So what was it like performing in Montreal for the festival? It was cool.

It was one of these things where I think going in, I think I expected a little bit more from it. Okay. Like TV deal or yeah it's one of these things where you hear so many like stories about it and how grand it can be yeah I think yeah I think when I guess you went in 2010 apparently it used to be crazy back then like I think in the early 2000s early 2000s like like if somebody even if they're just starting they've been doing stand-up for two years they would get a deal with nbc or something like something crazy like back in like the late 80s and during the 90s right guys like seinfeld okay yeah yeah and kind of prior to the internet exploding right this was kind of the

place to go and pop like it was one of these things where you know you work clubs get invited to this festival right and before it was this mass exposure online everybody from the industry would come right all the agents all the top tv execs right they'd just be at these shows just scouting right right right um so if you had a good set it kind of lined you up for you know everything else right right right now i think things have gotten so watered down. Everybody's a comic. Everybody has a YouTube channel. Everybody has this and so forth. Check out my videos on Funny or Die.

Pretty much. Right, right, right. It's so much shit to weed through. Sometimes it's hard to just let your talent speak for itself. Sometimes it's a guy who really isn't funny, but he might have a great online presence. Yep funny But he might have a great online presence Or he might have a lot of followers on Twitter And agents see that

And they think, okay, well if he got people following He might have a fan base That equates to dollars So on and so forth Then it's another guy who's really, really funny Maybe his site doesn't look as good Maybe he's not as ambitious on the business side And he kind of gets left behind.

He's got a shitty Friendster profile. Pretty much. Right, right, right. Not doing well. Right, right. I got you. I got you.

So I think going in, I don't know if I expected a TV deal, but I think I was just, I don't know what I was expecting, but I was expecting more than, you know, what happened. Right.

I mean, I went and had good shows. Yeah. Met a lot of good people, made some connections. But I think in my head it was just, I don't know, I saw something different than what it was. Right. So, yeah, I guess once it's over, it's like, now I go home, I guess.

Yeah, you go home. Right. It's one of these things. Same thing with Last Comic Standing. But, I mean, it is pretty awesome just to be invited because, I mean, it's an invite-only festival, right? Invite-only festival. Yeah. So it's an invite-only festival, right? Invite-only festival. Yeah. So it's huge. I mean, because you're there and you're walking around.

Literally, the entire town just turns into, it's just taken over by comedians. So, I mean, you've got guys who are just starting out like myself. But then you're walking down the street and you walk past, you know, J.B. Smooth. Right. And he's just, you know, laughing, you know, talking like Leon. Right, yeah. Or, you know, you're in a mixer after a show and you're standing next to, you know, God knows who. I mean, it could be Chris Rock or whoever.

Sure, sure. You know, Bill Burr sitting there. I mean, it's just these things you just. Fatty Arbuckle. It's cool for that. Yeah, it's cool for that reason. Sinbad's ordering toast. Right, right, right.

Exactly. Sinbad loves toast. He's got a reputation. What are your goals ultimately with comedy? Like what would you love to do with comedy if you could do anything? Stand-up's always my first love. So you'd always want to do stand-up? Always want to do stand-up.

I'm not trying to use it as a springboard just to get into movies. Right. Yeah. And then forget all about stand-up. You hear that, Mike? All right. You can't do that. No.

Yeah. All right, you can't do that. No. Yeah, so stand-ups, I literally want to be just the best stand-up comedian that I can be. Right. I would love to be, you know, mentioned and considered one of the greats. You know, I would love to kind of, you know, it's kind of, you know, like that progression. Like, you know, it was Pryor, and then it was Cosby, and, you know, all these guys. And, you know, Rock, and then, you know, Chappelle. I would love to be like that next guy on the evolutionary chart, just to kind of keep it going. And I would love to, I'm not sure how it's going to happen, but I want to kind of take comedy to a different level.

I think there's been certain periods in comedy where there's either been a special or a joke or something that's kind of just changed the landscape of comedy as a genre. Sure, sure. Like when Chris Rock came out with, you know, Bring the Pain and he did all the jokes like niggas versus black people, that type of stuff. Yeah. Like those were huge moments in comedy. Yeah, yeah. And it wasn't, I mean, people are always putting out specials and it might be funny for the moment. Right. But then you for the moment. Right.

But then you forget about it. But when you reference certain points, like I want those, I want to have one of those moments in common where it's like, you know, you know, Rock did this. Then it was Jason Williams did this. Right. Right. Yeah. I've heard an interview with Louis C.K. and he was, he said Chris Rock was always kind of like, not an underling, but he was always around. He would do okay.

But then he really just went on the road for like a year and put together that special. And then he came back and performed at Caroline's and I think Louie was there. Not Geraldo, Nick DiPaolo and a couple of the New York stables were there. And they weren't doing as well. And they just watched a kid, I guess to them,

he's like a kid, just crush. And they're like oh he's changing the game and here we are we're still you know saying the same jokes and bitching about the same stuff so so that's what i want yeah so that was definitely like a changing moment i think right right right right to go from you know backup player on snl to like comedic force yeah yeah so i want that i would love to uh at some point you know write my own sitcom maybe i'm not sure if i even want to be in it i would love to just write it and kind of be behind the scenes um yeah it seems like that's where you get all the money that's what the money is right like yeah tyler perry just puts his name stamps his name on some piece of script i would love to

watch the money rolling a tyler perry-esque type person scripts. I would love to be a Tyler Perry-esque type person. Right, right. I would love to have a comedic empire. Yeah. Even so much right now, I'm very business-minded with what I do. I mean, I like to, everything that I do is the Jason Williams comedy brand. So whether it's the DVDs that we put out, the T-shirts, the website, everything I do is packaged a certain way.

It looks a certain way. Yeah, and that's good. It has a certain level of quality to it. I'm not just putting out any type of shit. Right, right. So, yeah, it's one of these things where I just want to be. I would love to get filthy rich off of this shit. I think this is my best way at becoming really wealthy.

Mm-hmm. Okay. That's good that you're honest about that. And have fun with it, you know, way at becoming really wealthy. Mm-hmm. Okay. Let's be honest. And have fun with it, you know, somewhat at the same time. Yeah. I mean, I think that's a goal for most comedians. I mean, you just want to make money off of only being a comedian. Yeah.

You don't want to have the day job. Right, right. And then if you can progress from there to be filthy rich, it would be nice, too. And I think that's the next step for me. I think I feel like this year is going to be – it's been a couple of years now that I've had the opportunity where I could have stepped away from the day job. Right, right. But it would have been either money wouldn't have been flowing in as much. Right.

I'd have to give up my benefits. You know, in fact, I've got a little boy now. I'd say now with your son, it's a little tougher. Right, you've got to think about things like that, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But this year I feel like something big is about to happen. Mm-hmm. Just some different things I've got in the fire that I really can't talk about right now.

Okay. Nice. Does it have to do with chicken pussy? It might. It could very well. Coming to NBC this fall. Chicken pussy. Jason Weems presents.

Right. Yes, I feel like this could be the year that I step away from the day job. Nice. And I think once that happens, I think I'll could be the year that I step away from the day job. Nice. And I think once that happens, I think I'll even start growing even more as a comedian. Just the amount of time that I can sit and, you know, either deal with the business side of it. Because now everything's rushed. So it's, you know, I'm at school from 7 to 3. I get home, I might have from 4 to 5 to catch up on emails before I'm out on the road doing shows.

Right, right. So now I can take a little more time. I can just sit for a day and just kind of let my thoughts settle and things like that. I think it'll be a good step in just me continuing my comedic growth. Yeah, because that's what, like 8 hours of your day that are just taken away.

When's the last time you got a full night's sleep? Full night. Define full night. I feel like that should be your goal ahead of getting filthy rich, sleeping for once. What's the last time you slept for eight hours straight? I couldn't tell you. Really? I honestly couldn't tell you.

Wow. How do you function? I think it's one of these things where you just, your body almost kind of. Jason, we're trying to get that Kashi money. Right. Well, I eat Kashi bars. Thank you. Right, right.

All right. No, but yeah, you just... Your body kind of almost just changes. It learns to work off of four hours or whatever it might be. Well, I guess also if you're working on something that you really want to do, you kind of can, I guess, push through it a little bit. If I'm losing sleep, it's going to be to do comedy in New York, not for

something you don't want to do. Have you always been someone who doesn't need a lot of sleep? Or is that something you've... I guess kind of sort of. Even when I was little, my father was a Marine, so he wakes up like the crack

of dawn. He'll wake up like, literally, if you stand above my father, it's like 3.29. Right when the clock hits 3.30, his eyes just open up. You're like, oh shit, daddy about to kill somebody. It begins. I was one of these guys who I loved hanging out with my father when I was little.

So he would get up and go to the grocery store like at 4 o'clock in the morning when nobody was there. So he would get up and go to the grocery store like at 4 o'clock in the morning when nobody was there. Wow. So I would get up and put my clothes on and go with him just so we could hang out. And we would get back. My mother and my brother would still be asleep, and we'd be in the kitchen, you know, unpacking and stuff. Right. Right.

So I think I was always used to kind of function on less hours. I mean, I would go to bed then when i was little maybe eight or nine right right get up at four so i mean it was still wow that's pretty crazy but all right so you're used to it so it's not bad so um so if things are things are moving along so it's just you're gonna be doing stand-up right like yeah are you are you do you do uh shows like across the country like are you i mean i guess you mostly do shows, like, across the country? Like, are you, I mean, I guess you mostly do shows in, like, Baltimore, D.C. now, but I see you have, like, some shows in Massachusetts and Philly and stuff. It all depends.

Yeah, mostly during the school years, try to stay East Coast as much as possible. Gotcha. During the summertime when I got a little more flexibility, I'll go out West or Midwest or wherever needs to be if the opportunity is there. Gotcha. But just being an East Coast guy, most of my connections are East Coast. So I've got a lot of ties to New York, a lot of ties to, you know, I started in D.C. So I mean, most of the guys who I started with are either there or branched out from there.

Right, right, right, right. Yeah, and then you got to kind of go where the money is. Right, right. Where they'll have you. to just kind of go where the money is. Right, right. Where they'll have you. Right, where they'll have me, exactly. So who are your guys that inspired you? Like you said, Richard Pryor, Chappelle, Cosby. I love all the guys who everybody loves.

Right, right. Those guys. There's guys who are kind of under the radar. Okay. Guys who are kind of still where I'm at. Okay. That I like is uh guys on last comic with me Maranzio Vance out yeah I know that name one of the finalists very funny guy

another guy was on last conversation me a guy from Chicago little rail he's actually uh about to be on the new season of living color oh that's right color is returning it's returning yeah yeah interesting funny dude are any of the old cast members coming back? I think so. I think Tommy Davis is going to be on there. Cool. A few other people. Yeah, I think David Allen Greer was talking about it, too. Really? Yeah.

Right, right. He's hilarious. He's got an Ian Edwards out in L.A. Okay. Very, very funny. Right on. I think I just hang out with people that I'm close to. Aaron Jackson out of D.C.

Okay. Seton Smith, who's in D.C. He's in New York now. Yeah, he just moved to New York. Okay. Seton Smith, who's in DC, he's in New York now. Yeah, he just moved to New York, yeah. My buddy Mike Way. It doesn't really matter what level of success you're at. Uh-huh. I just like people that are hungry about what they're doing.

They're chasing it and bringing something unique to stage. Right, right. But, I mean, what comedians inspired you, that made you want to get up on stage? Brock. Uh-huh. Chappelle. Right, right. But, I mean, like, what comedians inspired you that made you want to get up on stage? Rock. Uh-huh. Chappelle. I don't know these guys.

Yeah. Kid Rock? Yes, Kid Rock. John Chappelle? I love him. The midget that he used to be with. He died, man. He did die.

The Kid Rock midget did. Joe C. Joe C. rest in peace. How'd he die? Three foot nine with a ten foot dick. I don't know how he died. I think he choked on some of that ball fog. That's the thing.

He was always breathing in Kid Rock's ball fog. Ball fog, right. He's at ball level with his mouth and nose all the time. That would make sense, yeah. Poor guy. Yeah, those are the guys who I would watch and laugh at. Right, right, right. Yeah, I was just guys who I would watch and laugh at. Right, right, right. Yeah, I was just watching Bill Cosby himself the other day.

Yeah, now I think about it. He comes out and just sits on a chair. He doesn't really hold the mic to his face or anything. That's Cosby's thing, man. Yeah, he's like, drinking's a weird thing. Right, right, right. Cosby's a beast. He's one of these guys where, like Chris Rock always talks about him,

he says that Cosby's the greatest comic that's ever done, even past, Rock even puts him past Pryor. Wow. Because he still tours. Still tours. He's like 60-something. He was here in Baltimore a few months ago, wasn't he? Maybe last year?

Yeah. He'll sit and do two and a half hours in a chair. Right. And crush it. Yeah. In a chair. Right, right, right. When other guys have to be on their feet moving,

doing cartwheels and everything else. Yeah, it just comes out, sits down. It just does it. It's like watching your grandpa talk. Have you gotten any of your heroes? Not the guys who I really, really. I've met J.B. Smoove in Montreal. He's hilarious.

Just for a quick second. Sweet guy, though. What is his stand? He does stand up, right? He is funny as shit. Yeah, I'm sure He's hilarious. Just for a quick second. Sweet guy, though. What is his stand-up? He does stand-up, right? He is funny as shit. Yeah, I'm sure he's funny, but he seems so scatterbrained. That's what it is.

Is that how it is? That's what it is. He'll come out, and he'll have a white T-shirt on. Just rip on that. And then he'll put his head down inside of his white T-shirt, and then start pulling his bald head

out of the top real slow. He's like, who's that black baby coming out of that white one? Then he'll talk about it literally for ten minutes. Then he'll take the microphone cord and act like it's his cum. And he'll act like his cum is thick and black. It's like silly string.

I mean, he says the most random shit. And he makes the funniest faces. But I cannot stop laughing. I love rock. I love Chappelle. But there's very few people that make me laugh harder than J.B. Smoove. Really? Right.

I mean, he's a different type of comedy. It's more silly. Right, right, right, right. I was listening to a podcast last night on my phone. The guy Neil Brennan who did Chappelle. The champs. Yeah, the champs. I love that podcast.

And they had J.B. Smoove on there. Somebody says, Neil Brennan over the top. And then J.B. says,ove on there. Somebody says, Neil Brennan over the top. And then J.B. says, well, he's not over the top, but you know when you're dealing with somebody that's over the top, you got to over top their top. And he just keeps talking about this top,

and I'm just laughing my ass off. I'm like, what the fuck? I don't know what he's talking about. He's talking about a building in cinder blocks. Right, yeah. Like the spirals that he does are just insane.

He's so funny. Have you figured out to any degree kind of the formula of what's funny to you or what humor is, or do you think it should kind of, do you keep it as like kind of this nebulous, unexplainable phenomenon? Some things, I never know why they're funny. Right. Other things, I think I'm starting to figure out my voice on stage, so I know what's funny coming from me.

Right, right, right, right. Not necessarily from somebody else. But yeah, it's some things I go on stage, I know it's funny, and it hits. I'm like, okay, I knew that would work. There's other things that wasn't even supposed to be a joke that might have been what I thought was going to be the setup and people are dying

at it and I'm like, what the fuck are they laughing at? But then that'll end up being the joke. It's not even what I intended it to be. It's like, okay, that works. Most of the jokes in my set, like right now, are things that I didn't even intend on taking on stage.

Right. I feel like that's one of the best and hardest things about comedy writing for me is that it's so interesting that it's unexplainable and mysterious. You never know. There's no exact formula for it. Right. But then when you sit down to write, it's kind of like, what do I do? This all has to be,, purely comes from your imagination. Like, there's no mathematical formula.

Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what kind of techniques do you use for writing, if any? Just go on stage and just talk. Just talk. Just go up there and, like I said earlier, just have broad topics. Right. Or I'll have an ending point.

Like, I know this is the part that i wanted to end in now she's trying to figure out how to get there how the fuck do i get there yeah yeah right and just staying staying in my head chris rock was talking on i think he was on the uh what the fuck podcast with mark maron yeah and he was saying that he sees so many young comics nowadays and they show up at the club like a bunch of girls. Like it's like eight comics who all came in the car together and they'll do their set and then they go out, hang out front and smoke.

But they won't hang in. He was like, you know, when I was coming up, you stay in the club and you watch everybody on stage. Like you're studying. Right, right. Like you go by yourself. Like it's one of these things where, like if anybody knows me, I'm always by myself i roll in alone i leave alone if i see one of my buddies

there we'll hang out for a little while but i think you really like chris he had touched on it you've got to be very much in your head yeah it's such as it's a it's a solo art form when you get on stage you're not taking your buddies up there with you it's no background singers there's no drums yep so when i'm driving to a show i drive in complete silence that's it chris rock does that too i heard him talk about that like i just drive and i might not even think about jokes right i just get real quiet and then sometimes then coming back i'll put on music right but on your way there i i think uh i think louis does it and i think he only does it because chris rock told him to but he's like you don't really think about

just the things that your mind takes in if you're driving to the show and you're thinking about music or this song sucks like you're not really focused on what you're about to do so you might as well just be blank and I don't like to be quiet to the point that I'm really kind of zoning in on the show because for me I overthink

the show so for me it's just a thing of just kind of just coming to a place of peace like just completely getting still okay and then one of my buddies got him john moomo very funny guy out of dc one night just maybe two years in for me i was really nervous before a show and he was like jace just go down have fun just have fun just have fun oh now you tell me. Right, right. So I'm standing behind the curtain at the improv,

and I'm nervous, and they're about to bring me out. So they call my name, and as soon as I'm about to go out behind the curtain, he just grabs me. And John's a big guy. Just grabs me and just holds me, so I can't get out the curtain. So everybody's waiting for me,

and then they're clapping. They're still clapping. Then all the clapping just stops. And you're not on stage yet? I'm not on stage not on stage yet finally he releases me and i go out the curtain but i was so caught up in the fact that this motherfucker just held me right i wasn't even thinking about the jokes i wasn't thinking and i went out there and fucking destroyed that's awesome and that was the change and that was one of the changing points for me like it was just one of these things where i know not to be in my head but so

much right right um like i mean do your homework try to go on as prepared as possible but not to the point where you're sitting there you know up to the you know 10 seconds before you go on stage looking over every joke yeah yeah reciting them in your head like for some people that might work but for me like you just get so caught up in it that it's not even fun anymore. Right, you gotta get loose right before you go on. So now,

I try to either, I love the fact, I like when I go straight on stage. I hate it when I get to a show and I've gotta wait three hours or if I fly to a show and I get off the plane and I've gotta get a car

and I'm driving around forever. Right, right. It's like, it's just so much anxiety. Yeah. You're just ready to get on stage and I get off the plane, I've got to get a car and I'm driving around forever. It's like it's just so much anxiety. You're just ready to get on stage and just do it. Right, because you're just thinking about it all day, every little thing you do. Some of the best shows I've had is when I've been late to the venue. Really? There's one time I was going to a show and I got stuck in traffic. Then I called the club and the guys said, we're starting the show in 10 minutes, with or without you.

So I'm trying to finally get to the club. Pull up. One of my buddies, Bryson Turner, another comic in New York now. He used to work at the club. At the improv. He's a waiter. I couldn't find parking so Bryson runs out meets me in the street. Gets my car. Goes parks it somewhere.

I run into the club. As I'm running into the club the sound guy's introducing, and here's da-da-da-da, Jason Weaves. I just made it through the green room. I'm breaking ass up the hallway. Kick a door open. Right. I literally dive through the curtain. I grab the mic. I'm out of breath.

And I just ripped. It was just one of these things where you have no time to think. Right, right. So you have no choice but to be in the moment. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the things that you're supposed to say that night come out. The things that you're not supposed to say, you don't say. Right, right. So you have no choice but to be in the moment. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the things that you're supposed to say that night come out, the things that you're not supposed to say, you don't say. Right, right. And it almost feels like it's almost supernaturally kind of guided. Like you feel like God's bringing these jokes out of you. It's just like, I don't know, I don't know what I'm going to say next. Right, right. For whatever reason, because it's not even

a set list. Yeah. I had no idea, you know, where I had no idea you know where i was going to start where i was going to end right right just go up there you start talking before you know it okay this joke pops out and then somehow you jump to another joke that has nothing to do with the other joke right but somehow you make a segue that works wow yeah i've heard uh i've heard a lot of comedians talk about that like just when you're on stage or even if they like come up with a new joke like i've heard joe rogan talk about he's like you don't it's like you're just riding the wave and you're just like a conduit for something else. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's crazy. Those are the great nights. It's nights where, you know, remember when Jordan was playing? He would throw up all types of shots and they would just go in. I hear basketball players say sometimes you just have those nights

where it feels like the rim is 10 feet wide. Just throw it up there. You know it's going in. It's nice to have that on stage. Yeah. Well, you just can't miss. Damn. And that's the ones that give you enough energy to get through the rough ones.

Right, right, right, right. That holds you over for a little bit. You had that real shitty night, and then you're thinking about that good one. You're like, okay, it'll get back there at some point. Right, right, right. Do you still have those shitty nights? Not as much. Mm-hmm.

I think what I define or what constitutes a shitty night for me now changed. Okay. So what used to be a shitty night was one that you just go up there and you get no laughs. Now I might have a set where to some it might seem like I crushed or had a good set. But for me it was shitty. Right. Like you just weren't in it? Yeah, I wasn't in it or I don't feel as though the audience got it the way that it was intended.

They're laughing, but they're not really getting it. Right, right, right, right. Okay, I got you. And I think a big part of that is me just being a perfectionist. Right, right, right, right. I'm always pushing myself to be better. Yeah. And I compete against myself alone.

That's good. I'm not looking at what the other guy went on stage and did before me. Like I can't do what he did. But then again, he can't do what I'm about to do. So it's one of these things where I'm just competing against my last set. So the set that I did on Tuesday, if I did this joke about dogs and it got a nine for the laughter, then I do the joke on Wednesday and it gets a seven.

I'm like, fuck. Now I got toursday and make it you know a 12 somehow like even it out a little bit trying to keep upping it yeah so uh so when when you're writing a new material is that is that tough for you too i mean that's like always one of the great kind of equalizers i think in comedy like even jerry seinfeld or chris rock when they're writing new stuff it's gonna bomb still like i hear when, when they're writing new stuff, it's going to bomb still. Like, I hear when Chris Rock is writing new stuff, he'll go up to the comedy seller and announce, and, you know, he'll be like, and now, Chris Rock.

Everybody's like, holy shit, it's Chris Rock. And he just tanks. And he just says, no, no, no. Most of this isn't going to work. Sit down. Everybody kind of chill out. Right, right, right. Because he doesn't add all his mannerisms and stuff.

Like, he just talks. Talks. Tells it. Yeah. In its plainest form. Because he says it should be funny on its own, and then once I add- My stuff. Yeah.

It's going to put it way over the top. So is that something that you run into as well? Do you ever work on new stuff on stage, and it's just like, what the fuck was that? Yeah, I work on new stuff. Pretty much every night that I go on stage, I try to throw out something new. Okay. Whether it's one joke, whether it's building on another joke that I already had. Right.

Trying to make it funnier. Okay. And yeah, a good portion of it dies. Right. Like, I mean, but a lot of it's the fact, I think what I'm learning now is the confidence in what you tell it. Gotcha. A lot of times when you take a new joke on stage, you don't have that same confidence in it that you do with the joke that works.

It's untested. It's untested. So you tell it half-assed almost. Okay. You almost kind of, you're not even telling the joke, you're asking the joke. Right.

You're like, so what do you guys think of? Yeah. And then you're giving the audience the power. Right. And it's not supposed to be that way. Right. It's supposed to be a dialogue. This little Bow Wow joke is funny. Right the audience the power. Right. And it's not supposed to be that way. Right.

It's supposed to be a dialogue. This little Bow Wow joke is funny. Right, right, right. Right. You've got to tell, there's times where I go on stage and I tell jokes that really aren't that good. But it's the delivery.

But it's the delivery. It's the confidence you tell it with. So people looking at you like, oh, this must be funny. This is some good shit he's saying. He's confident up there. Right, right. We listen to J.B. Smoove saying,

I got to top the top. Like, what the fuck? But it's the funniest shit you ever heard in your life. Yes, exactly. You have to top the top. Right, right, right. And then you're like, what the fuck does that mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So for me, it's that. It's so many different pieces to it. But a big part is telling things with conviction. Gotcha. Yeah. That'll at least get you, you know, a little bit of lead way. Yeah,

and I think that's one of like, the hardest things with, just doing like, the open mic too, it's like, because you're not really getting laughs, and it'd be like, when you just start out,

because you are so pensive, and you're just like, is this funny? And they're like, I guess. And that is hard always, with open mic, and starting out,

comedy is so hard to start, because most of the time, you're performing in front of a room of comics yeah and it's the other the fact that they're hating or they don't care

they don't care they're thinking that they could have made the joke that you just said funnier right right right right

some of them are just studying some of them are watching it and they might think it's funny right but they're more

so dissecting it right they're thinking okay where I would have taken the joke yeah yeah or they're thinking about tags that he might They're thinking, okay, where I would have taken the joke. Or they're thinking about tags that he might be able to say to make it funnier. Gotcha. So it's always hard performing for comics because it's just

one of these things where there's so many variables. It's rare that you... When you get a room full of comics to laugh, you're like, okay, that's a good joke. Right, right, right, right. Because they're a tough audience. Heard it all before. Pretty much, yeah. I gotcha. Alright, well, we. Because they're a tough audience. I've heard it all before. Pretty much, yeah, yeah. I got you. All right, well, we're at about an hour.

You want to wrap this thing up? Let's wrap it up. Wrap it up. We're bringing in the wrap it up music now, too. Oh, shit. Bring it in. Get ready. Got to top the top.

You know, you got to top the top. You got to get the foundation. You got to get foundation on your foundation. All right, Jason, well, thanks so much for joining us, man. My pleasure, man. Thank you for having me. I know it's your spring break. You're on your way to Cancun to get wild, I'm sure.

Get wild. MTV grind and all that. Pour prune juice on bitches. Oh, shit. Sunsweet prune juice. It's like the old guy spring break. Right, right. Just dumping it.

Yeah, right. Exactly. Put that walker in the air. Be in bed by 530 But all day I'm pouring prune juice Whooping it up At the early bird Specialty Denny's

Alright yeah Thanks man Thanks so much For joining us Thanks for having me This will This will drop On the

9th Okay So you got any shows Coming up What's coming up I'll be in D.C. for most of April. Okay. Got shows at the Improv on the 13th, the 15th, and the 18th.

Okay, cool. And then I'll be on the road for a while. I'll be back in Massachusetts doing some colleges and stuff. Nice, nice. Is that fun doing colleges? It can be. It can be. Sometimes you get a crowd that, I mean, with college kids, sometimes you get a good, good crowd. Sometimes you get a crowd where crowd okay sometimes you get a

crowd where they just kind of stumbled upon the show oh they didn't come to see you it's just a comedy show it's just a comedy show right right right and they might just been walking past the cafeteria and be like oh what's going on in here yeah i don't give a fuck about you no yeah i i've uh mark maron put it perfectly like some people are just like i just want to go to a comedy show he's like well you wouldn't do that with music like, I just want to go to a comedy show. He's like, well, you wouldn't do that with music. I like music. I'm going to a music show. It could be country.

It could be rock. It could be metal. Same with comedy. There's different genres of comedy. So I've had great ones and I've had terrible ones. Right. Right. Have you been to that school before that you're going to?

No, this is a new one. Westfield State. We'll see. It's supposed to be a pretty nice campus, though. Cool. All right. Well, yeah. Westfield State We'll see It's supposed to be A pretty nice campus though Cool Alright Well yeah Please come back anytime After Chicken Pussy

Gets on the air That'd be good We'll hype that That's going to need To be hyped We'll hype the shit Out of that That's going to need

All the hype It can get And your DVD Can be purchased at JasonWilliamsComedy.com Alright So you can get T-shirts there

DVDs. Beiges is beautiful. Schedule. Chickens. Right. Video. If you need to book me, anything. Cool.

Right through the website. Cool, yeah. Definitely get the DVD. It's worth it. Thank you. It's like an hour and a half, right? About an hour and a half. Yeah, it's a lot of comedy.

It was longer than that, but we had to chop it down. Then we had some issues with the editing, so we had to chop some stuff out. Did you edit it yourself? I had a buddy do it. A guy. Actually, the comic I just talked about, Seton Smith. Oh, really? Yeah. He's a real talented editor, so he edited it for me. Was it his decision

for you to come out to Willow Smith? It wasn't. That was all on me. I take full responsibility for that. That was good. Thank you. I appreciate that, sir. Yeah, man. It's a good DVD. Thank you. And you're working on New Hour. Is that going to be a DVD as well, eventually?d as well as well and right now we're looking at filming that next summer okay are you going to do an album with that uh i don't know might okay so we got a couple different

possibilities floating around but yeah i like it another hour's coming soon all right so you'll have to come back to promote all that stuff. Chicken Pussy, the DVD. Chicken Pussy, DVD, Ball Fog. Ball Fog, Volume 1. Right. It's rolling in this summer, the Ball Fog. How about you, Mike Moran? What's going on? Oh, as far as Ball Fog?

Yeah, what's up with your Ball Fog and your dead air? Cloudy with a chance of... Meatballs. Meatballs. Meatballs. Let me think. You know, I don't think I really have anything coming up right now. Is there a Pop 6 show coming up? Probably.

There's some in April, I think. Right? I don't think we have one. There is one in April. I'll have to get back to you on that. I think it's late April. Okay. Cool, cool. But other than that... I think you on that. I think it's late April. Okay. Cool, cool.

But other than that. I think I might be. I think our troops in that show too. April 28th, Mob Town? Very possibly. Oh. That's exciting. All right.

Yeah. Same here. I have some improv shows. I think the 14th and the 28th. I'll be moving this Monday. So anybody somehow hears this before that comes out, please help me. Come help with the piano. Please help with this piano.

It's not going to move. Do you ever even use that piano, Josh? I do. I've never seen you play the piano. I'll play it before you leave. Yeah, the show is on the 21st, by the way. Ah, 21st. Never mind.

All right, go see Mike, 21st. Yeah. Improv. Yeah, that's about it. Check out digressionsessions.com. It looks really good. There's a forum and episode archives so you can check everything out. And we're going to have shirts soon, too, that say Digression Sessions is beautiful.

Nice. That was our own idea. We had that before Jason Williams. Hey, everything's beautiful. Chicken pussy is beautiful. It is. You haven't seen it? Have I?

That's what I got up early to do this morning. All right. Well, yeah. Thanks, everybody. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Bye-bye.

Thank you, Jason. Enjoy your taco. That was fun, man. Dude, thanks. No, thank you. Appreciate it. Of course. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Of course.