The HoneyDew with Ryan Sickler - 321: Michael Yo Was Patient Zero

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

My HoneyDew this week is comedian Michael Yo! Check out his new comedy special, Snack Daddy, on YouTube or at http://MichaelYo.com. Michael joins me this week to Highlight the Lowlights of being patient zero with COVID-19. He dives into his close call with death, what it was like being a guinea pig, and the long road to recovery that followed. We also discuss navigating something so unknown at the time while trying to balance being a husband and father with two young kids. SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE and watch full episodes of The Dew every toozdee! https://youtube.com/@rsickler SUBSCRIBE TO MY PATREON - The HoneyDew with Y’all, where I Highlight the Lowlights with Y’all! Get audio and video of The HoneyDew a day early, ad-free at no additional cost! It’s only $5/month! AND we just added a second tier. For a total of $8/month, you get everything from the first tier, PLUS The Wayback a day early, ad-free AND censor free AND extra bonus content you won't see anywhere else! https://www.patreon.com/TheHoneyDew What’s your story?? Submit at [e-mail] Get Your HoneyDew Gear Today! https://shop.ryansickler.com/ Ringtones Are Available Now! https://www.apple.com/itunes/ http://ryansickler.com/ https://thehoneydewpodcast.com/ SUBSCRIBE TO THE CRABFEAST PODCAST https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-crabfeast-with-ryan-sickler-and-jay-larson/id1452403187

San Jose, I'm bringing the live and alive tour your way I'll be at the San Jose improv Friday February 28th and Saturday March 1st Madison, Wisconsin. I'm excited to announce. I'm shooting my next special at your club comedy on state I was there not too long ago had such a great time such a great club that I'm excited to work with them and bring you my next special. Two shows Saturday April 12th. Get your tickets now at RyanSickler.com. The Honeydew with Ryan Sickler.

Welcome back to the Honeydew y'all. We're over here doing it in the night pan studios. I'm Ryan Sickler. I want to thank you for supporting this show. Thank you for supporting anything I do. I don't care what it is. Even if you just tell somebody about the show, thank you. And if you got to have more, then you got to have the Patreon. You've been hearing me tell you about it for years.

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And that tier is only three bucks more. And you're getting exclusive bonus content as well. Not just another show early and ad free. All right. That's the biz. You guys know what we do here. We highlight the low lights and always say these are the stories behind the storytellers. And I'm very excited to have this guest on today.

First time here on the honeydew. Ladies and gentlemen, Michael, you're the honeydew. ladies and gentlemen, Michael Yo. Welcome to the honeydew. Give it up for me. That's right. Clap yourself in, brother. Clap yourself in. You know what? If nobody else is going to clap for you, you got to clap for yourself. I one time did a podcast with Todd Glass. Shout out to Todd Glass. Years ago. It still sits with me. And you went in, it was over this beautiful classic car, like floor. Yeah. I had to had to smoke in a band of Carlos and Todd knew the guy.

It was all glass, like boogie nights and you're up over it. And you're just looking at all these classic cars from the movies. And he starts doing his podcast and Todd's different. You know, he does. His own way. Oh, yeah. And after about 15 minutes, he's like, all right, we're going to we're talking for 15 minutes. He goes, all right, we're going to introduce you now. I'm all right, we're going to we're talking for 15 minutes. He goes, all right, we're going to introduce you. Now I'm like, now we're going to do an introduction now. Now. Yeah. And he has his like a, I was like a four piece band right here. Oh, wow. Right.

And he goes, now you have an option. You can just sit here and we can talk and we can introduce you or you can go back over there down the stairs, wait out of sight and the band can play you in. And I said, well, band's gonna play me in and I went up that's the best so thank you for being thank you man before we get into whatever we're gonna talk about please right there oh yeah promote all of it I got a brand new comedy special that just came out. It's called snack daddy Michael yo.com or it's on YouTube. It's doing great. Also, I just kicked off a brand new tour. It's called the Issa True tour. And that name is a true came out from my mom. That's a

saying if you see my special, she loves to say that it's a true. So yeah, the specials out there, the new tours out there and follow me on Instagram at Michael. Yeah. Yeah. The specials out there, the new tours out there and, uh, follow me on Instagram at Michael. Yeah. Um, so I wanted to talk to you about a few things. I know we've crossed paths many times in comedy. You just one of these good looking dudes. You're old. Whatever. You don't look old. You're a good looking motherfucker, especially in comedy. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I, okay, I see that. I see that. So your mom's Asian? My mom's Korean and my dad's black. Korean and black. Yeah. And how did they meet up originally? Well, it's two different stories.

My mom said she was at a bar and they met through a mutual friend. My dad said when he met my mom, she was on a poll. So I don't know which one is true and he sticks to that story but my mom goes no but in the club we met there was a poll and I was dancing on it and I was like okay my dad never said that part so it's funny man and they have a great time man they've been married 50 years 51 years now 51 years now, 51 years.

They're still together and they love each other? Love, man. They do, huh? Yeah, but it's different kind of love where they love verbal combat, like one-up in each other. Not ever mean, but they go back and forth. And man, I get a lot of comedy from them

because they're so funny. I do a podcast with them sometimes. Do you? You have them on? Oh, man. They're like that. They're cool to come and sit down and do that with you. Oh, they love it. Oh yeah. Like they, it blew up in Korea, the podcast and the clips and my mom is calling me saying, when we go on podcasts again, can we podcast? Can we podcast again? So now she's hitting me up. I'm like, mom, I gotta go on the road. She's like, no, hilarious. She's like, schedule podcasts. I need podcasts. So yeah, it's great, man. And I think when I've when I started

comedy, I started telling these stories about my parents, a lot of people didn't believe it. And I go, No, they are really like that. And one of my friends, Nick Garrow is like, Oh, you need to show them just do a podcast with them every once in a while. So you can show people that this is who they are in it. And I did it. And those clips go viral viral and people just love them. People, they stop them everywhere. It's great.

You talk about a lot of this in the new special and stuff too. I do, I do. I talk about my parents a lot, all my specials, and my wife. I'm like, I try, I'm not like Nate Bergazzi or Jim Caffigan, but I wanna be like Bill Cosby without the rape. You know what I mean?

That's what I was about to say, man. I need to be right there. No pills, no jello, but I do think, you know, there is an opening for a guy like me because I do family comedy. You know, I want to be that guy, you know, and a little bit edgier, but I think there's a big opening.

And that's what I do anyway. I'm not doing it because of the opening. I just see like, hey, that's the path I'm gonna take. Yeah. So I want to also talk to you about what happened to you during because this is what you wrote in about COVID. And I know people like, oh, this was different. Yeah. So I was saying to you out there, I remember following you and your story.

Because like I said, you were like, patient 001, bro, man, it was crazy. And it was early too. And when we, no one even knew anything was going on. And I said, like, I've had Janice Pappas on who had a horrible experience as well, but me, my daughter, like we were, we were stuffy. It didn't never even got into our chest. I just had RSV. Yeah.

Okay. It, that, that crushed me way more than COVID did. I was down for three weeks almost. But the COVID, I say again, I'm not knocking it. I was very lucky, but I did lose my smell for, it's four years now and I'm about 80% back. I'm really starting to get things that I didn't before. I'm like, Ooh, there's, I just smell air. Whatever's in the air. And I don't know if that's good. I don't know if that's great. Like here's not here. The thought is fired. Yeah, I know. But let's talk about what happened to you. Cause it, it almost killed you.

So like it was bad. It was bad. It was bad. So literally I woke up gasp before. What month are you in February? Three days after lockdown, three days after, three or four days after lockdown and And the weekend, that weekend before I was at Gotham in New York, in New York, literally sold out four shows. It was like a super spreader event we were at. I was going to say, yeah. Literally everybody, even one of the bouncers almost died from COVID. Like I took pictures with news people that came out to see me.

They all got every, that was, well, that holds 375. So you're talking about meeting every single person. So I met about 1500, 1700 people who were just spreading COVID like it was crazy. So I came back and I didn't feel great at all, but you know, sometimes after the road, you're like, oh, I'm just exhausted. So I woke up one morning and couldn't cut it. Also after the road too, not to cut you off, but I, especially during the winter months, there's just filthy people on these tubes. Yes.

And I expect to get something when I'm traveling like that. I expect to get some kind of respiratory shit, head, whatever, because people are sneezing or touching all that disgusting. Dude, I had a dude sitting next to me and that's the worst. This last trip, I had a dude sneezing a whole, and he knew he was sick. He even put a mask on. He was sick, but I, he must've been a boss of a lot of people that were on the plane because they kept coming up to him and I saw him sneezing his, and he would shake everybody's hand. I was like, I just wanted to yell out,

you are disgusting. I don't know if I can curse on here. But yeah, I want to say, man, I was like, you are fucking disgusting. Like you're the problem. You know, now we're way more educated. I mean, I can't believe it was a thing to do that. Now I'm polite, I try to do it in his sleep,

but dude, I don't shake people's hands anymore. Unless I know them or trust. I hear you. Like when we do meet and greets, meet and greets, fist bumps, bro. Yeah. Also there's just people out there don't know how to wipe their ass too. Forget about it. Bro.

There's just people. I see people, you know, we travel a lot. I see people go to bathroom and just walk out. You're fucking disgusting too, you know? So, all right, three days after lockdown, what happens? What are you experiencing first? Just feeling like you might get a cold and run out? Fatigue, worn out.

And then I woke up one more and just gasping for air. I couldn't catch my breath. And my wife was like, what's wrong? She says, can you catch, I'm like, no. And she called 911. And this is a true story. A lady, the operator, it was a black lady named Teresa. And-

What's up, Teresa? What's up, Teresa? And she was looking it up, cause nobody knew what it was. She goes, and literally on the phone, she goes, this could be COVID. And then she goes, ooh, he could be contagious. Then a long pause.

And then she goes, girl, you better get away from her. A girl. You better. My wife, this is true. My wife goes, what I do. She says, put them in the front yard. Like I'm like, well, so I got to go to the front yard and wait for the ambulance and it was so new that the ambulance people, the guys that got it,

they weren't hazmat suits because they were petrified. Yeah. Yeah. So, so they, they weren't hazmat suits. No. Because they were petrified. Yeah, yeah. So they took me. You got two hazmat guys coming out of the ambulance. Can you imagine also being in a neighborhood like, what the fuck's going on with the yellow house? I'm in the front yard like,

ooh, ooh, ooh, look at, and people walking by like, you all get out of the house. Hazmat suits are coming out of the ambulance. But like, they picked me up and took me to the hospital and they like, we've never seen a person like you. Cause they had people come and get, you know, but nothing like me at that time. And I remember them taking me to the ICU right away,

right away. And literally nobody was in there. I was the only one in there. I stayed there and I got worse and worse. My temperature went up to like 104.9. Damn. I was hallucinating. I was gonna say, when is it borderline like really close? I don't know, but I know I was close.

I don't know what the temperature is. 104.9. 104.9. You were hallucinating. Would you remember the shit you were seeing? Dude, I saw myself standing next to myself, listening to the doctors and I don't know if this was real or not, but I heard the main doctor go, if we put them on a ventilator,

he's going to die because his body will forget to learn how to breathe on its own. And I heard that. And I asked you inside yourself. Like no, let me tell you something. I was so, I was so like the pain was so bad that if they had a button that said, take your life, I might, it was that bad, right? It was bad, right? Like it was to the point where you just didn't want to live, man. It was like people say,

how many days were you in? I was in there nine, nine and everything like, cause it got, it got worse fast. Cause at the beginning, like the first day just they calm my breathing down, but I could watch TV and literally everything that popped on TV, they would put him to me. Like I was a test. I was a guinea pig.

I was about to say. I was a guinea pig. I was like a real like guinea pig. You are the person that like, let's see what we can do with this patient, figure out what works. They gave me all the drugs, the hydroxychloroquine, all the stuff they were testing, everything.

They gave it to me. And my pain was so bad. Like the second day and third day, it just like... From what? Was it your lungs? Like pain in the chest? It felt like... I don't know exactly what it was, but imagine just everything shutting off in your body

slowly and you just feeling like everything... It's just life is getting taken away. It's almost like something's just... Just life is being drawn out and then everything's breaking down. So nothing's working and you're just like, just the pain. Like I can't even describe the pain. Like I would never want somebody to go through that. I don't care.

Like it was that bad. And my wife, like... I mean, are they letting her even come in near you? No, they told me, they told her, they told me before I went in. Like if you go, you go like this. Hey, you can't come in. Yeah. So, they told me, they told her, they told me before I went in. Like if you go, you go like this. Hey, you can't come in. Yeah. So my wife, so sweet, she would drive by with the kids and just send me videos.

Hey, it's just, it's. What hospital were you in? St. Joseph's. Oh, here in Santa Monica? Burbank. Oh, Burbank, Burbank. That's like St. John's in Santa Monica. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

St. Joseph's. And she sent me messages and it like, I think a couple of days, I knew what was going on, but I didn't, cause I was so out of it. I was just, it was just the worst feeling. And then the doctors really didn't know what to do cause it was early. And like, I remember going through it

and the problem, the biggest thing about it when I remember is when you hit a button, usually doctors come in, but they had to get dressed in the suit. So it took them 10 minutes. So you're like dying from pain, literally dying from pain. You hit a button and it takes them 10 minutes to put on the thing. And you're just like agony

and you're watching them get ready. You know, you're like, know, you know, and it, and just to see the doctor's reactions to not knowing really what was going on at that time. Let me tell you, I, and again, I had an experience in the hospital where they fucked up and the surgeon came in crying. Oh, you don't want that. That's what I was like, I'm laying there like, why are you crying? Like, this is not a good sign. Right? No, you don't want that. That's what I was like. I'm laying there like, why are you crying?

Like, this is not a good sign. Right? No, you don't want that at all. Anybody ever see something scary? Yeah. Let a surgeon come in to cry and be like, we messed up. I'm like, yeah, no shit. So what are they doing for you?

If they're not putting you on a ventilator, how are they helping you breathe? Or are they just making you do it on your own? They're making me do it on my own. So that you don't- And they're pumping me up with a lot of drugs to calm, I guess just to medicate the body, because they didn't know how to treat it. I remember a doctor giving me something and going, oh, okay, now we know what it does. You know, like literally, they were like, oh, okay.

And what's fascinating about it is a year, two years later when I was doing standup in St. Louis, four doctors came to the show cause they wanted to meet me and they go, we were tracking you in St. Louis, like your chart. We were looking at your chart. Wow. From over there all studying your ass. Yeah. So it was, it was pretty incredible to know that some people were tracking what you were doing to see what the hospital was doing Because they had no idea but it was it was a time where they didn't know what they were doing in there It hurt really bad. What day would you say like you were at your worst? Oh the third day third day third day in the hospital because the first day you're feeling the effect

But you don't know what it is really. Second day kind of hit him. But that third day, that's when I started that's when the temperature spike. That's when started loosening. That's when it's like, Oh my god, the pain is so bad. Just kill me. Just have any real conversations with your wife. Through text, because I couldn't talk. And it was like, no, well, to tour until I turned it around. I couldn't talk. And it was like- The whole time. No, until I turned it around, I couldn't talk on the phone.

I couldn't talk. I remember I texted, I texted my parents and I go, hey, I just want to say I love you. And that's all in my wife. I thought I was texting a lot, but my wife told me it was just a couple of words, because I couldn't even text that much. I was so in and out.

Yeah. You know, and also you're probably on Dilaudid or whatever else. They're putting you on to give you pain free. Oh yeah. So, so. Dude, I had to pay my daughter's mom's like, hey, I had a sitter here the other night. Could you just pay her a couple of bucks? I brought her here while you're in the hospital. I fucking. I paid some lady named Kristen. I just sent them up. It wasn't even the lady and she never said it back. She never said it back. She just kept this. It was like $120.

And then the babysitter's like, Hey, no offense. You never pay me. I'm like, I, yeah, I'm on drugs in the hospital. I'm like, Oh, I just paid some other. I don't even know who the fuck does lady just send him random money out. You're out of your mind. You're out of your mind. You don't even know who the fuck this lady is. Just send him random money out. You're out of your mind. You're out of your mind. I didn't know what I was doing. And you're just scared too. I was about to say scared to death.

Literally scared to death because then you start thinking about, oh, I'm never going to see these people again. And at that time, my son was three and my daughter was only like six months old. And I was like, and I was like, I. And you can't FaceTime them or anything. No, I was.

Yeah, nothing. My thing. And they can't come see you. No, no. And my main thing was, and this is always when I was a father, you know, became a father. I wanted to live long enough. And this is my main goal and I can't control this,

but I wanted to live long enough where my kids will really understand how much I love them. Because I think it's a crime that any parent gets taken away before the kids really know how much they love them. I say parenting is a long game and you gotta wait till maybe they're in their like thirties or when they start having kids and be like, man, how do you appreciate it? Yeah. But when when they love the least they can know like my son is seven. He knows I Yeah, he knows I love him. My daughter

knows I love her now. You know what I mean? But it was so scary that like, oh, they'll never really know. Especially my six month old, like how much there's really you're just a bleep in their life. Just think about it. And that really that that's the stuff you think about in a hospital. It's like, wow, my legacy with my kids. You're a picture to your six month old. That's right.

A picture. A picture. A photo of a person she named after. And to your son, you're like, oh yeah, yeah. Yeah, that guy. I remember him. You're the guy that, yeah, yeah, yeah, I had a dad. You know, didn't really know him.

You know, you're that guy, you know, and that's just like, Oh, I, that just crushed me, that thought just crushed me, you know, and it's like that. Have you dealt with any, um, significant death when you were a child like that or anything, because your parents are still alive, my, I mean, just my grandmother, but they were like 90s. So it was different. You know, uh, the major death I dealt with and I didn't really know the guy, but I played football at the university of Arkansas and your Razorback. Yeah. All right. Oh yeah. I lost all my dreams there. So I love the Miami hurricanes.

So, but wait, did you go play for them? No, I wasn't good enough for them. I went to Arkansas, but I got too many concussions and couldn't play anymore. Is that right? Yeah. So the football dream died. So I just kind of like wiped out the school from memory. I've always been a Miami hurricane. Well, that memory is all that CTE wipe it out itself. Are you worried about that these days? No, no, cause I'm a no, because I got recruited as a receiver. So I didn't get hit in the head that much.

But when they moved me to linebacker, because I gained some weight and I was still fast, that's when I started getting hit in the head. And that was only like for a year. So I didn't get a lot in the head, you know? So that, but it was good that that happened because I got knocked out like at practice. I woke up in the hospital. Did you? Yeah. Woke up in the practice. I woke up in the hospital.

Did you? Yeah. Woke up in the hospital. Woke up in the hospital. And I was like, what's going on? And then the doctor said, literally the doctor said. The doctor. NCAA football is a different game, bro.

And that's when linemen were like three, like they were just monsters. Everybody's small today and fast. These guys are smaller and faster today. Not the LP and Ray Lewis over there. No, no, no. They, I woke up and the doctor said, you can play football, but we need a year

for your brain to like heal. And I was like, nah, I'm done. Like I didn't want to go through that again. Yeah. You know, so yeah, but I'm a big Miami Hurricanes fan. So that's how, but I am a Razorback kinda of, so I don't know where I was going with that. And you asked me what college I was at and I was like, said that, but I don't, I asked you about significant death and you talking about the linebacker at,

we had a linebacker that committed suicide and we all had to go. That was my first time ever. Like experiencing something like that. Someone taking, yeah, taking their own life. Yeah, taking their own life is a different story. Yeah, and knowing, like seeing that person every day and then the whole team had to go to their funeral, you know, and see his family crying

and it was over a girl, you know? So it was kind of like this whole, my freshman year of college, like you see suicide, you see that, oh, this guy was so wrapped up into a girl and she didn't like him, he committed suicide. And it was, and he was the starting linebacker for the team. And it was very sad, man. I remember going to the funeral.

Like we all got on buses, went to the funeral. And it was like, I never, I couldn't understand at that time why anyone would take their life. You know, it's still foreign to me, but I understand, I guess I could say, cause everybody got their problem. When you get older, you understand, yeah, everybody got their something.

You know, everybody has something going on. You came to a moment in your hospital situation where you said if there was a button, I would have committed suicide. Because the pain, the pain was so. Because the pain was so bad. The pain was so bad. I don't know if I would have hit that button. I hear you, but I think a lot of us

have been there with the Jesus, if you take me, I understand. Yeah, you know, I'm good. I'm good, you know? I mean, I'm getting older. Sometimes I'm like, oh, I can't imagine being 30 years older in that feeling. I think that all the time too, like being 50 and what I'm like, Oh, I can't imagine being 30 years older. And that feeling, you know, that all the time too, like being 50 and what I went through, I'm like, I ain't making it at 70. Yeah, right. My body's not going to make it at 70 through that same thing.

I'm like, dude, do I want to? And then it took you longer. That's right. It took you longer. And I remember asking them, one of the nurses too, like, why is this taking so long? And she said, cause you're not 20 anymore. Yeah. And I was like, oh, fuck. Dude, if you get a cut on your finger, it takes like three years to heal now. Like everything slows down. Everything slows down.

Yeah. OK, so you're in there. And at what point do they come to at least tell you, hey, we've got you stable? Five days. And five days it took of experimenting and stuff. Well, no, they initially told me, we'll know if you're going to live in three to four days.

And third day was my worst day. And then fourth day, a little bit better. I mean, they tell you that. Oh yeah. They were very honest with me. Cause I said, just be, I told them though. I mean, I didn't say, don't, don't bullshit me. Just tell me what's really going on.

And my doctor was phenomenal. He was more of a, um, what is that called? Not a, what are those doctors called? Um, not a, not a doctor, but there's a different kind of doctor. It's more of, um, like a specialist. No, I can't think of a name, but it's more of the, not herb side,. It's more of a specialist. No, I can't think of a name, but it's more of the not herb side, but it's more of the medical healing. I forgot the name,

but East West combo. Yeah, no, no. Yeah, he was more one of those. And that's why I didn't believe in the mask. No, the what is the thing you put down your throat? I'm forgetting all the debating. Heating and stuff, yeah. Yeah, he didn't believe in all that. Oh, he didn't? No, so he was the one that really, because of him, I made it.

And he was the one that was so honest with me that was like, hey man, we got three to four days. If you can make it three to four days, you're gonna be all right. I can get you through this, but you gotta make it three to four days. And the third day was my worst day. And were you thinking like, holy shit, this is it?

This is it. This is it. Looking at, you know, the memory I have is texting my mom and dad and then looking at pictures of my family and then blacking out. And when they said I woke up like probably four or five hours later, you know, and then the next day got a little better. But the fifth day, they're like, you're gonna make it. They're gonna be all right.

So day five, they're like, you're gonna live. You're gonna live. But are you still in excruciating pain? Oh, I'm in terrible pain. I'm in terrible pain, but they're like, you're gonna make it, because you're stabilizing a little bit. And then they go, on the seventh day,

they were like, we're gonna let you leave. And I remember them saying that. And then I was supposed to be getting ready to leave. And then they all came in the room and they said, lay back down. And then they go, why? And they go, we just let a person go home and they died. They told you?

I was like, dude. I mean like. Dude, I was like, you can keep me in here forever. Yeah. I'm like, you can keep me in here forever. Yeah. All right. You keep me in here forever. We just let a person go home and they die. Yeah. Holy. That was yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's why they told me to get back. He's everything. Thank God. It ain't you that they're telling him, hey, you know, let this guy because they didn't. They thought once they

let you go was fine. Yeah. But you remember people relapsing and the problem was they couldn't get back in the hospital Because now it's crazy literally when I left the ICU was packed. I it was like a different It's almost like a different world when I walked out of that ICU room the whole place people waiting to get in the ICU It was rolling people out because they died like it was all it was night and day literally walking in and walking out like that's how fast it moved, right? And, but that's a big, look, I had the moment as well where they came to me and they said, look,

the next 48 hours for you are touch and go. Yeah. And I was like, what? And they're like, you've massive pulmonary embolisms covering your lungs. Your heart is pushing on your heart. It's swollen twice its size. Your left side or one of the sides is clogged.

And they told me, you better make some calls. I had to call my daughter's mom and she's like, what the fuck's going on? I'm like, I don't know, but they just told me that if I don't make it in the next two days, it's a wrap. I called my business manager. I was like, Hey, remember how we like playfully joked about my living will and trust? I was like, please make sure that shuts up the date. He's like, what? I'm like, I'm not even kidding. His name's Roy the best. Roy Marks came in, helped me out big time and they were like, you just need to wait.

And because I have a blood disease, they couldn't, there's a process where they can go in through your groin and like suck the clots out. But because I have a blood disease, they said that could make you a vegetable. And I was like, well, we ain't doing that. So like, we're going to treat you the old school way. Like we always have, we're just going to give you blood thinner through an IV. And hopefully in a few days it works for you. And I was like, what? And he just lay there and he's lay there.

And you don't know. Oh yeah. Okay. The guy said, you feel like there's an elephant on your chest? I was like, I feel like there's three of them on my fucking chest. You can't breathe. The same everything you're saying. And you're doped up. You're also doped up. You don't know. I'm telling you, I'm just randomly paying people on PayPal shit Shit, like I'm out of my mind. I'm scared to death. Yeah. I'm thinking about my daughter. My dad died when I was 16.

That's all I keep thinking is like, I can't let this kid grow up without a fucking dad. How did that affect you? Like when you're dad, like when you look back on it, how would your life would have been different if he was around longer? I think about it a lot actually, because I wonder if I still would have come here and be who I am today or if I would have stayed home in Maryland and just stayed working for

UPS. Shout out to UPS Baltimore, Hub Primary, 1 Joe Avenue. If I'd have stayed there and just been like a supervisor and just like a family dude around there, because I had a good job. I had a good job before I left and everything, but I was like, nah, I just got to do it. Um, yeah, I don't, I don't know. I mean, I do know.

I don't think I'd be the person I am today. I definitely wouldn't be the, you know, from 16 on I have no parents and that's begins the hustle. Yeah. And I like to think that I have a doctorate in street smarts and I got a fucking GED in regular life shit. You know what I mean? I, I don't know about I've recently had to learn about money, you know, no one's ever educated me. I just save it or spend it. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Like, I don't know. I didn't know what to do. I never did stocks or that stuff. I never had any, it's so amazing when I look, cause I have a next door neighbor who's huge on YouTube, financial advisor, was a millionaire at like 23, and now he's like 33. And his kid is 17 years younger than me. And I go to him, I see him walking his dog every day.

And it's just the knowledge he learned when he was young from his, the people around him. And it just, it just, it doesn't make you mad. Like my parents weren't financial experts or anything, but it just makes you mad. Like you wish you could go back and be like, Oh man, I wish I knew this growing up, but you don't, you don't. Even in like looking back about, I went to college, I got my degree. I wouldn't do that again. I would still go to school, but I wouldn't set my sight on this piece of paper.

I would diversify my classes instead of streamlining them for this one goal. I would take some business classes. I didn't have to take any of them for mass comm. You know what I mean? I would try to at least get a little knowledge and some things that I think would help me down the road a little bit. Yeah, I think and honestly, I think everything's changing now. I think school isn't I always say this. I used to speak at schools

because I was radio DJ in Miami, big radio station. And they used to ask me to go to schools. And they stopped asking me because the question always get asked, do you need to finish school to do what you do? I go, no, because school can't teach you how to have a personality. But if you want to run the radio station, go to school. And most people didn't want to run it, they just want to be on the air like me.

So the teacher's like, hey, you need to stop. My daughter's mother and I have this disagreement where she's like, you should be saving for her college. I'm like, I don't, listen, unless my daughter wants to do something and she's firm about it, that requires college, uh, medical law, whatever. I'm going to let her decide whether she wants to go to college. I don't think anymore. It's like, you gotta go to college and be successful.

You don't. You can go in there and spend $80,000 and be in debt forever. Dude, I see these people graduate college with communication degrees. What the hell is a communication degree? Do you need a degree to communicate? It's so dumb. It's a money suck. That is the biggest money suck ever.

And also, I come from a time, and you you do as well where when you go to film school or anything you're learning about lighting and angles and this person's positioned higher in the scene because they're in power and things like that. Today there's a video that looks like this it's got 20 million views like all of it's out the window. Yes. Everything has changed. Everything has changed. But to go back and answer your question, I wish I had my father here to ask father questions. My dad's the father of two twin boys, I'm a twin, and a younger son, divorce, all that shit. And I would love to have his hindsight on any of it. What a kind of dick was I?

You know what I mean? I want to hear about that. Like, how'd you do this? Why'd you do it that way? He came from a good family. His mom was good to him. Like, my grandma was the best. But our mom wasn't, you know? And so all these different questions, I wish I could pick that up. You know, and on the Yo! Show, when I talk to my parents a lot, I've learned more about my parents in the last two years, I'm passing with them. Yeah. Then all my life, I bet I've heard stories. I was like, what? I w I got 16 years of my dad and you know, the first three

years, four years, you're just a little, you don't. Yeah. So I got about 10, 11 years of real memories. Yeah. And that's nothing. I've got good ones, but man, I wish I could be like, Hey, you know, the tell me your wild stories from growing up that you could never tell a 16 year old because then I'm going to go do that shit. Yeah. Yeah.

I'd love to. That's great for you. No, and I love it. It's, it's, we were never like far apart, but it definitely brings you closer because you just learn things that, that it just educates you more about how your parents came up. Like hearing about my dad, you know, having a PhD in nuclear physics and. Does he? Oh yeah.

And being black and didn't even know he was poor because he lived in a black neighborhood and you didn't leave the neighborhood. Where is he from? It's Houston, fifth, third ward. Okay. Yeah. So, uh, but wasn't that, uh, fifth ward is where the ghetto boys, ghetto boys. Yeah. So that whole area. So what's interesting. He goes, I didn't even know there was racism because we'd never left our neighborhood.

You know, that blows me away. You're just always seeing your people, your people, everybody's doing the same thing. And you had no desire to leave. Yeah. You know, that was your bubble. It's kind of like living in these neighborhoods in LA, like you never leave your bubble really. Like Studio City, you stay in Studio City unless you have to. Yeah. This Santa Monica bubble over here is... Yeah. You don't want to go to Hollywood, not from here.

I, you know, my daughter's mom, they live there and I go to all the sporting events over there and I'm just like, this is not real life. It's not real life over here. I live in Vegas and literally everything is five miles. And we got our five mile bubble. And it has to be me going to the airport to leave that bubble. That's pretty much the only time we leave it. So that's what you get caught in.

And my dad got caught in that. And it's just amazing to hear those stories about him, my mom. She dropped out of high school, but she was like the business person of the family. Like, she's the one that got the business loan. She's the one that put together the business plans. Like, she was street hustler. My dad's like streets, like my dad's not street smart.

He's educated smart. My mom is street smart. So they make a perfect couple, man. Yeah. So back to the hospital here. As you make the turnaround, you're starting to get better. Yeah. Do they ever let your wife come in or is it? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I didn't see my wife They didn't even let her pick me up really. Yeah, how do you go? They dropped you off back in the ambulance do that?

Oh, yeah, you got a ride home in an ambulance. Well, yeah because they don't want Any they didn't want you in a car. They don't, oh, you know what it was? Cause they wanted you to go straight home and how they confirmed that. Oh, they didn't want you going to the grocery store. And spread it and possibly spread it cause they think you're done.

But here's what's interesting is they sent me home to make me stay in a room that they isolated me in my room. And I couldn't even be around my family. Is this because they thought you were still contagious at that point? You really were after 18 days? No, eight days, eight, nine days. But here's what's crazy is I went home and they go when you test negative and remember there was no test.

So I had to go back to that hospital once a week and they pulled the test, but they only could do it for three weeks in a row because they were out of tests. So they did it for three weeks and I still had it. So I had to stay isolated. I think I stayed isolated for like close to two months. Did you? And I couldn't even see my family or my kids. Where were you? At the house.

But in a like, in a guest room. Did you have a way? How'd you, you couldn't see him? How'd you do it? I heard it. I just heard him. That's fucking worse. So my mom, I mean, so my wife would leave food at the door. And then the only time I would leave the room is when they all went to bed, you know,

but I would just run and get a drink if I needed it. I didn't want to get them sick. So cause I couldn't get tests at that time, nobody could get tests. I had to wait. Cause I wasn't going to put my sixth month old or like, you can keep me in that room a year. Like I'm not going to jeopardize my wife or those kids. So we had to make sure in like for two weeks, I could have been clean, but we couldn't get a test. Right. Because I had to go there to take the test. You know, they didn't give it to you. You couldn't just order it. Like you had to go to the hospital and they were like, hey,

and this is and you got to remember, this is the spike of everything. Like if they had a test and they wouldn't even test people at that time, they didn't even have enough tests to test. It's just like, Oh, they kind of took your temperature and see your symptoms and be like, okay, you got it. Or you don't go, go in your room for 14 days and be fine. So you know, they didn't have the rule back then. If you don't have a fever for seven days, you're good.

They just like, if you test positive, you stay in your room. And I think it was like 45 days or 60 days I was isolated. So my wife's a trooper, man. And I- She did all that by herself. All by herself, six month old, a kid. And I heard them crying all the time, asking for daddy at the door.

Oh, dude. Oh man. But I tell you, for 45 days I didn't have to deal with them. So that was nice. I was at home just chilling. Still relying. I was living the life. I was like, this is the door. Oh, man. But I tell you, for 45 days, I had to deal with him. So that was nice. I was at home. I was living the life. I was like, was there a point where you got so good in there? You're like, I was going to chill

in here for a couple of days. Yeah, man. You know what? I was like, you're going to drop food off at my door. Where are my nuggets? Right. I was using that COVID excuse. Like my wife is like, take out the... Oh, man.

COVID got me, man. COVID got me. Yeah. I don't know what's going on over here. Now, do you have any like lasting scars or anything? Have you gone back to a pulmonologist or anything like that? I did, it took about a year. I had long COVID. So it took about a year before I felt it.

That's what I realized I have, because of the smell thing. I didn't know, I didn't even know that was a thing. So about a year I had it and then I started feeling great. And now- A year it fucked you up. Yeah, well not- Impacted you.

Impacted me. Yeah, you could feel like just tired all the time. And it wasn't because of age, it was something bringing me down. So I kept going back, but like levels, what is it? There was levels in me that were still high. Like I had a fluid in me. So it took about eight months to get all the

fluid out. Because what happened was I had COVID and pneumonia at the same time. When did they find that out? Oh, right when I went in. That's why they were like, we'll know in three or four days if you live. So you had fluid in your lungs too? Jesus. It was, they said I'm- You are lucky. No, because they said I was in such good health. That's the only reason I made it. Only reason. Is that right? That's what they said. And they didn't put me,

because the rumor, and this is alleged, and I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist, but I heard from doctors after I get out, because they'll meet me at shows, they'll come out to shows and talk to me about the experience still. And they go, and this is allegedly from a doctor, but he goes, we were putting people on

ventilators, because it's almost like putting a person on ice because we thought we would know how to fix it and like cure it in two weeks. So literally, we're putting these people on ice, just cause we're like pause, just on pause. So we're like, we'll figure it out when they found out too late that it actually was making everybody worse because it was a chest thing, like I forgot what it's called, but it's about your breathing.

And when you cut off, you know, put that ventilator in, it messes all the chest up. And that's where it all came from. I don't know the technical- You don't have to, you're a comedian, bro. You're not a doctor. Yeah, you know, I was like, yeah have to. You're a comedian, bro. You're not a doctor. Yeah. Cause I want to sound educated, but then I remember it. I'm not. So there you go.

Also, I talk about all the time too. They're coming in and telling you about these new medications and all these diagnosis when you're fucked up and you don't know what's going on. Nothing. Bro. I just started, I just put my phone next to me and started recording everything. Yeah. Oh, that's good. I go back and listen later and stuff. You know what I mean? You know, so funny is I'm getting to, you realize you're old sometimes when a young person does something.

I remember a person that's who made me think of recording. Right. Well, let me tell you, I was like, bro, we've record everything for a living. I didn't even think to hit record on my phone. So, so a person hands me their card and I was at a comedy show and a person hands me their card and a young comic, I take the card and a young comic just goes and texts it to me and gives the card back to the guy and I go, oh, I don't even have to take the card. You're right. I felt so old.

But when you grab a pen, I was like grabbing a fin, let me see what's your number? And then they're like, all right, you got it. Like, oh my God, I'm so old now, I'm so old. You know, but fifth day got better. Seven, like the fifth, fifth or sixth or seventh day, they told me to stay in the hospital because somebody went home and died. And they kept me-

So now you're just keeping, they're keeping you there to see. Yeah, just to make sure, because they didn't want you to relapse. So they kept me- So now you're just keeping, they're keeping you there to see. Yeah, just to make sure, because they didn't want you to relapse. So they kept me like another day and a half, and then they let me go. And went home and then isolated for 45 days to 60 days. I can't remember.

Do you know why it got you specifically so hard? Did they talk to you about that? Yes, the doctor said it's almost like, COVID is a virus, but imagine doing four shows at Gotham, meeting pretty much everybody, and you're getting more and more, you're not just getting one dose of it, you're getting like 15,

Every strain out there. Every strain, you're getting everybody's, right? You are, you're like a walking virus. I was like, rrrr. I was like a, you know, a marshmallow man and Ghostbusters? That was me, but a giant, yeah, a walking virus. I was like, I was like a, you know, a marshmallow man and Ghostbusters? That was me, but a giant, but a virus. I was just a giant virus walking around.

And that's why he said it is, I was, I got pneumonia, COVID and I was working and flying. Pneumonia is enough to take you down, dude. Dude, I had, it's amazing that I'm alive. Yeah it is. And then I get to look back. Glad you are. Every time my kids have a birthday I go wow I might have not been here. Doesn't it mess with you like that? Did it change you? 100%. Let me tell you. Still, still. It's been two years and I still think like man I wouldn't, that's a whole week I would have missed with my kid right there. But you have to remind yourself sometimes because you always lose focus of that moment.

So you got to keep reminding yourself where, Oh, I almost wasn't here because like anybody you'll forget time will make you forget a lot of things. So a birthday, there's a lot of the key times in my life, my birthday, my wife's birthday, any holiday. It's like, I really make it a point to say, Hey, I might've not been here. Am I being the best I can be for them, for my wife, just, or for career, you know, and that's what really pushes me. So, yeah, I, um, I was in the hospital for three weeks and then just fucked up after that for a while.

My daughter's mom, we were split, so she had her the whole time. Then her mom just passed away recently and she had to go deal with some of her affairs up in Seattle or whatever. I had my daughter for three weeks every day. It's like I got to catch up on that time. I fucking loved it. I told her every day, we're going to do this. We'll do this.

And I was like, just staying on point with school and, you know, extracurriculars, all this stuff. And I was like, man, this is, it isn't a problem at all. This isn't a problem at all. It's the greatest gift, man. I was so stoked to be like, you're what, you're not a burden. Like this is great. I don't normally get you three weeks in a row.

I'm going to enjoy this. You know, so that was really interesting and fun. It hits me a lot. Is each birthday, like I'm about to have another one, it hits me. Cause I went, for me, the day, I can't remember the actual day, not to look at my phone, but it was MLK day, which switches every year, but that year, two years ago. day, which switches every year, but that year, two years ago. And then every day that this lady would come in and she would wipe the date off the dry erase board and she would just write the new one up.

I was fucking stoked. It's a beautiful moment. I told her every day, a new person would come in, I was like, favorite part of the day. She's like, why? I was like, because I'm seeing you write a new day on that board. That's why. Just a little thing. These ceiling tiles are the nicest ceiling tiles I've ever seen. I'm so glad to see these. I tell you, just give me another piece of craft singles right here at the hospital. Just win just the simple things when you're in that state, all of it. And you gotta keep

remembering that. You gotta remind yourself about that all the time, or you lose sight of that. You know, and you just get, you're just ungrateful about life. And now, you know, it's almost like that opposite thing where I just turned 50 and now it's like, oh, okay, mortality, you got about 30 more good years. So- Hopefully, right?

Hopefully. So I'm gonna push even harder now, you know, and try to, that's the end you see, like me, my parents are still alive, so I see them get older, and it's like, oh my gosh. Like... Are they healthy? Yes, very healthy.

Very healthy. But you never know. You know what I mean? Like... My stepson's mixed. Yeah. Just like you. Yeah.

And usually, they say, just genetically, mixed kids tend to get the best of both parents. Yes. And they're healthier and tend to be, you know, do you have allergies and all that shit or anything like that? Are you a pretty healthy dude? No, I'm a great, like- Was this your worst? I mean, obviously you almost died from this, but are you normally healthy? Oh my God. This knocked you the fuck down.

Like people get colds and everything. It's very hard to take me down. Yeah. You know, and even with COVID, like they were like, like that was a you met close to 2000 people. You were in New York, and you had pneumonia and you had pneumonia and you were touring for like that was your sixth week or two. You were exhausted. Not enough hydrate. Like yeah, everything was supposed to like, hey, you're not supposed to make this. So yeah, they said because I was in

shape, I try to eat well. But I also know like, my dad's never had a health problem. My dad's had a family they live to 90 all the time. My mom's side, they die at 60. So my mom 74. And she beat breast cancer three times. Wow. Yeah, so but she's super healthy. Like she's active and my dad walks a thousand calories a day Like it takes him a while. He only walks on two But he does that what's funny is I faced up one day and he was on the treadmill and he was at two So I'm talking to him and he gets on and then I just see him fly off the track

Two miles away. No, no, oh the 12 was under the tour. He wasn't No, no. The 12 was under the 2 and he hit 12. And my mom runs in because he's like, oh! My mom runs in and goes, why you hurt my wall? Like all she worried about is her wall. That's it. That's it. Yeah, man. So yeah, my thing with recovering is just enjoying life and providing the best for my family. And remembering. And remembering. That part.

Yeah. How do you, do you intentionally make time now? You're a really busy man. So do you intentionally make time for the kids, for family time, for your wife? You have to. And how do you do that? Are you better at it now since COVID happened?

Are you more cognizant at least of it? Yes, I am cognizant. I do believe though, you know, what our schedules like, I know when I land Sunday, it's showtime. It's like, that's the real show. It wasn't the shows I just did. It's Sunday, I land, I always the promise I made to my wife, no matter how much it kills me, I take the first flight out. I get home by 10, 11 o'clock in Las Vegas. And then literally I'm there. You take it at 6 a.m. or whatever out of wherever.

I've done 5.30, 6 a.m., wake up at 4 a.m., sleep on the plane. As soon as you land, you're going all the way to eight or nine o'clock, because your family hasn't seen you. And mama needs a rest. So I'm taking the kids out and Monday they go to school, so I get to recover a little. Like we have a whole system where Monday, okay,

I take the kids to school and then I do what I want. And Tuesday, kind of like me and my wife do stuff, Wednesday, and then Thursday, back on the road. So literally that's the whole cycle that we do in those three or four days, it's all theirs. Because when I'm on the road, like it's hard to convince, you know, like you would know this, it's hard to convince people that when you're on the road, it's work. You know, like you would know this. It's hard to convince people that when you're on the road, it's work. Like they're thinking you're just living it up. Like you're throwing it.

Nah, it's exhausting. And what's the most exhausting? I'm smiling because I know, yeah, like we're just out there having a good time. Like, yeah, listen, do you know how long it took me to put this hour together that get out here and I'm fortunate, thank you, that the people still wanna come see me and I'm fortunate, thank you, that the people

still want to come see me and I'm responsible for their weekend. They're paying money to see you. And if they go to work on Monday and somebody says, what'd you do this weekend? They're going to say, Oh, I went to this great show and saw this comic. I like named Ryan sick, Oregon. I'm like, I saw this shitty ass comedy show. Yeah. Yeah.

And like, that's a big thing for them for the weekend. They're looking forward to it. They bought tickets in advance. And I tell it's look, also it's fun work. There's no doubt. That's like, that's like being mad at a football player, whatever. Like it's fun, but I'm still got to work. But I have to be on. But I think when you can hang around comics, like when we're husbands or we're married or dating someone, they're like, oh, you don't really work. You know what?

It's because, oh, you just go up there and can do that. So it's not like a football where you gotta go to practice every day. Even though we go to the clubs, but we're going to a club. Everything about what we do sounds like, oh, it's easy. But it's the hardest thing in the world. Stand up, like actors have come to me and say, how do you do that?

Big actors, like it's the most respected thing. I tell people in Hollywood from people in the industry, it's the hardest that you by yourself, it's like Gladiator, you against them. And a lot of people come to shows going, make me laugh. That's the other thing. And I've got about 60 seconds to make these people, first of all, comfortable, believe that this guy knows what he's doing. I could tell he's been there before. And then

you got to get them to like you. And you only got about a quick minute or so. It's funny because a friend of mine is a, he's a salesman. He tells me he comes to shows and he's like, man, it's very similar to what I do in the sense of having to go in and because he sells medical equipment for hospitals. He's like, I got to go in. Yeah, they don't know who I am. At first, I got to break the ice. I got to show them I know what I'm doing. He's like, same thing. He's like, I get about 90 seconds before they get the fuck out of here. Yeah, no, it's true. It's true. Because we've all seen younger

people coming up and just the stage presence makes even the audience feel icky. Sometimes you're like, Oh, I hope you and I don't believe in audience ever says I want him to fail, but they will. And they won't turn on you, but they'll feel bad for you really quick. You know what I mean? Like, Oh, you know, and when they start doing that, you know, it's not a good thing. So luckily from radio, I came from radio. So we already kind of had stage presence.

And that's why I think I kind of, cause I'm going on 13 years of comedy right now. I'm fairly new in the game compared to the people that have been in 20, 30 years. But I feel like radio really helped me a lot because radio, you paint pictures with words, you know, and once they can see you, it's like just take that skill and kick it up

and learn how to write and do that. So yeah, and Joe Coy helped me out a lot with that. He's my mentor. So he started me in comedy. I was on Chelsea lately. So I got the fast track to be able to get on stage, but Chelsea, the biggest thing Chelsea said, do not be that guy on TV that shows up

and doesn't know how to do comedy. Because they will laugh you off and you will get booted out these clubs. Respect what comics do and put in the work. Put in the work. You got it. And that's what's so, this is what I love about comedy. Unlike any other industry, you have to have stage time.

I remember Russell Peters saying, just because I was getting a lot of opportunity of their industry, you have to have stage time. I remember Russell Peters saying, just because I was getting a lot of opportunity on stage very early, he goes, it's not about years, it's about stage time. He goes, you'll meet comics that have been doing it 15 years, but they have five years of stage time. It's about that stage time. I remember early on this one guy being like, man, I got up twice this month.

But he thought that was a lot. I was like, what? This month? He's like, yeah, how many shows are you doing? I was like, I'm doing two tonight. Yeah, no. And I'm going anywhere I can. I want to say this real quick because I want to give Joe Coy props. So when I'm in the hospital, I'm literally fucking clawing. They're rushing me into the thing. I get a fucking Filipino nurse and they had already seen who I was. The people are like, oh, we saw you have a podcast and I was like, yeah. And then this Filipino nurse is like, you're a comedian?

I go, yeah. Swear to fucking God, Michael, yeah. Do you know Joe Coy? Oh yeah. And then this Filipino nurse is like, you're a comedian. I go, yeah. Swear to fucking God. I'm like, well, you know, do you know Joke? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Everybody knows. She's like, can you FaceTime him? I swear to God. I go, are you fucking serious? Right now? Die over here. So she leaves. I text Joke. I'm like, bro, I'm dying. And this fucking Filipino nurse wants to know if I know you, wants me to FaceTime you and shit. And he's like, are you okay? And I'm like, I don't know.

I really don't know. And he, Joe Coy, to his credit, offered to pay for all my medical bills. And I was like, I can't let you do it, but thank you. I love you for that. And I go, he goes, is that nurse coming back? I go, fuck that nurse. He goes, listen, trust me when I tell you,

she's not coming back. And another Filipina's coming back. And it was, it was, I tell you, it was like my people were everywhere. I tell you another good story about Joe. Like when I was in the hospital, Joe checked up on my wife, like literally anything we needed, you know, he would be there for, and you know what, I don't want to say you find out who your friends are, but you find out how special you are to certain people.

Because you can be, you can still be friends. Yeah, some people are just scared and uncomfortable with it. Uncomfortable, sure. But some people are like, this is my guy and I'm going for it. Like a guy I know, his name is Chris, he's not a comic, you know,

he works in medical supplies or something like that. And I saw him and it almost, I get teary, he was dropping off groceries to my wife and I'm seeing this on the Ring Cam. And I was like, that dude right there, that guy. That's nice. And you can see that from the hospital on the Ring Cam. Yeah, when I was on the recovery,

oh man, I'm tearing up. And I was like, that moment really shook me so much because a lot of times we feel that there's not good people in this world. And then you see that, you're like, oh my God. And if you were gone, that dude's still rolling by with groceries for your family. That's what I'm saying.

For my family. That's hell yeah. And that's what it all comes down to. Yep, that's all that matters. It's family, that's all that matters. We do all this for family. When you're young, you do it for ego. When you get married and have kids and you integrate, you do it for your family.

And man, that moment right there is just humanity. You know what I mean? Like, it's just a beautiful moment where that will be etched in my head till I die is that that guy showed up with his wife with groceries and he did a couple days. You know, till I was better. A good friend of mine years ago is a crazy story, but he and his wife has a son and a

daughter and the daughter was, she's married all good now, but she was just dating this thug and he kept telling her like, look, this guy's an ex-gangbanger. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I'm just telling you, he's not the good dude. And I guess one night he and his wife are laying upstairs and her brother comes home and he and the boyfriend have an altercation. And the boyfriend takes a knife from their kitchen and stabs their son and then leaves, runs out of the house. Their son's like fucking bleeding out in their kitchen and stabs their son and then leaves runs out of the house. Their son's like fucking bleeding out in their kitchen.

So the whole thing happens. They're a black family. The Palmdale police are fucking scum to them. They won't take the kid to the hospital. She has to drive her son to the hospital. They accused my friend, the father of all this. It's crazy. They arrest him.

They don't even let him, they don't even let him know if his son lives or dies. They don't take it. It's crazy. So he's telling me all this shit and they live in Palmdale and I was like, fuck that. So at the time I was sitting in a girl who worked at a restaurant and I just went in and I bought a gang of food. Just tons of it. Tacos, all this shit.

And I drove it out to Palmdale and I was like, look, you're about to go through hell for the next few days. Here's just some food so you don't have to cook and all that. And to this day, that motherfucker will just as like, I can't believe you drove all the way out here to food. And like, it's like it's not that I brought food, it's that you fucking cared and then you thought about us and you considered what we were about to have to go through, even though you don't know what that yet. Yeah. That means you're a good person. Oh, and I, yeah, yeah, I try to be and that just makes you more conscious to do stuff for other people. Yeah. You know, and that's really, you know, the, what I love about comedy is you really do give a lot of yourself to people.

And I believe there's a big why comics feel, I remember Joe, when he, he would come home from touring and be so tired. And we would do a podcast back then. There we go. Why are you so tired? You just performed because I didn't get it, right? But then doing it, I'm like, oh, because you're transferring all this great energy to them. And if they had, to me, if they had any bad day,

you're taking everybody's problems and they're transferring that to you. You know, it's almost through their laughter you're getting, even though it makes you feel good, there's still a transfer of energy. I believe in energy. I believe you could have a shitty room. One person walks in that room can change that whole room.

Guess where all that negative energy goes? To that one person. But he's given everybody great energy. And that's how I explain like, you know, why it's very lonely on the road being a comic. Because I believe you take all this negative energy the whole weekend and you're given all the best energy. And it's just like, if you're not strong enough,

it could wear you down. It could make you drink heavily. It could make you get into things you don't wanna get into. Because how do you deal with three, 400 people, 800 people a night, negative energy hitting you and you're giving everything you got to them? So then that's what I, and you're exhausted. I go, oh, that's why it's the energy

transfer. And that may sound kooky or something like that, but to me it's real. Cause to me, the evidence is everyone's been in a room where it's just like the vibe is terrible. One person walks in and changes that whole room. We're that one person. You know, so I love it, man. Well, thank you for doing this. It's So I mentioned before we recorded that at the end I was gonna ask you advice You'd give the 16 year old Michael Yo, so curious after this conversation what you would tell yourself I Would tell myself people will lie to your face for advancement Don't ever not just professionally, everything.

No, yeah, because you I'm a person that wants to believe in the good and people. But being in this industry, being around, maybe because we're in Hollywood, I would just say, Hey, people will lie to your face, you'll believe them, and then they'll double cross you in life, in business, in everything. So lead with your heart, but don't be dumb. That's great.

That's what I would say. Thank you, man. Thank you for doing the show. Thank you, man. I appreciate it. Promote one more time and get all of it, please. The special Snack Daddy right now on YouTube or go to MichaelYo.com and I'm kicking off my brand new tour, It's a True Tour, all the dates, MichaelYo.com and I'm kicking off my brand new tour, It's

a True Tour, all the dates, MichaelYo.com, just go there and I appreciate you, man. You got it, man. Thank you. Yeah. As always, Ryan Sickler on all your social media will talk to y'all next week. Thanks for watching!