Uncle Joey's Joint with Joey Diaz - #582 - Erik Griffin

Episode Date: May 7, 2018

Erik Griffin, comedian and actor seen on "Workaholics" and "I'm Dying Up Here," joins Joey Diaz and Lee Syatt LIVE in studio. This podcast is brought to you by: ZipRecruiter - post your job to 200+ job sites with a single click for free at www.ziprecruiter.com/church   Onnit.com - Use Promo code CHURCH for a 10% discount at checkout.   Recorded live on 05/06/2018.  

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Mexicans don't fuck around especially on Cinco de Mayo go to honor calm right now. Stay black. Take that fucking meal. Lee May 7th You can't even take your dick out no more, but who gives a fuck it's all about heart and balls cock suckers Are you fucking kidding me Here we go here we go the flying Jew aka the Christ killer Eric Griffin and Uncle Joey Diaz ready to go here I What's happened you bad motherfuckers Monday morning feeling good if you came out to the sold out shows in Tempe Thank you very much. I appreciate it. The weird thing about that club is I started there as an emcee at 98

And now you go back 20 years later in your headlining you sound out the fucking room It's a great one up. I even got banned from there for a year You got banned and now you're back at the Tempe improv for a year with Danny Murr. How many club bands never last? God rest his soul that creepy motherfucker Danny Murr Was a jealous guy. Did you ever he worked for Danny Murr? No, I don't think so. No When we first when I first moved to LA the Tempe improv was the premier improv Like you just didn't work Tempe like you you're never worked

Like you had to be recommended and recommended and recommended But you had to be recommended by coke fiends Because his favorite comics were coke fiends or anybody that was a celebrity He would mooch up for so the guy that owned Tempe Was an AA guy like the guy that really owned the club Was an alcoholics anonymous guy who hated alcohol He had bought the club when he was a drinker and now that he was the president of AA of Arizona So he didn't let you drink on stage. He didn't want nothing like that. He wanted to sell food

So the club was really weird. The owner was so the general manager posed as the owner And he lost to Eric Griffin Eric Griffin we talked about it this week. We saw the decline like He was just a club guy that really cared. He knew how to book good comedians. He booked a good feature He knew how to you know, not put a dirty act together with a clean act. He just knew a bunch of shit But then he lost his mind And he loved Joe Rogan So every time I would go down and he would be in my ear telling me where Rogan's going to drink afterward

And I would tell him Danny. He don't want you around because Danny would do coke And I'm this was when Rogan didn't get high at all that he didn't even understand that concept And he would go that guy creeps me out. Look at his jaw. How he loses his jaw and shit And I was thinking one night we all went out and we were in scotsdale at a club And then Joe was on fear factor. So we were talking to the who's the Well, that's man. It's a while ago long This is how long we've been going to that club Who was who was the chick that was married to Tito Ortiz the point start jenna jamison jenna jamison

Lived in tempe in phoenix or something at the time and she was there with her then husband At this club with us Danny I think Ari And we they let us stay at the club a little while longer everybody got out we got out Some kid took a bunch of ecstasy And didn't wait for the valet. He got in the car and he ran over the valet unlike three other kids So we walked out of I just remembered this we walked out of there And bodies were all over the place

Somebody had thrown a brick at the windshield to stop the car and the kid was bleeding from his fucking head The cops were there that had the crime scene up. It was fucking crazy. Like this is Tempe's a crazy fucking place But it's too hot But eventually danny murl lost his mind He'd lost the club and then they reopened it and the owners of this club One of them is joe and it's interesting that I was there at the improv the miami improv The night joe started

Like he even came to the club this week and he goes you've been in it a while man. Yeah 27 fucking years How long you've been doing this man since I mean For real since 2003 No, shit. Yeah, when I met you you had just Yeah, I just um you were doing it four years when I met you. Yeah. Yeah, I just you know I okay when I earlier I took like a comedy class when I was like 22 And then I started to go to open mics a little bit But like not I wasn't really trying to do it and then it just you know, it was a pipe dream

That's what I thought and I just didn't have it at that time And then it wasn't till eight years later that I was like, okay, I really want to do this And that's when I started going to open mics every day and really trying to make it What did you do for those eight years? I was man. I was going to school. I was working I didn't I didn't know what my life was going to be. I thought I just thought oh, you know When I was born and raised in LA in LA So you're born and raised in this environment It's different when you from someplace else and you see the dream and you think I'm gonna work to get there

I grew up here. So, you know, you go to a comedy club and you go. Well, how do you get on stage? There was no mentors. There was nobody trying to help you There was nobody trying to tell you how to do it or anything like that. So You know, I just it just I needed to be older to like figure out like, okay. I gotta build relationships I gotta like You know cultivate relationships It's interesting you say that because I started working with joey six seven years ago And I was like I messaged joey because I was a stand-up fan

But I never thought I wanted to do it and then now six months ago So I started doing open mics and every once in a while I'll kick myself almost like, oh, I should have started six years At what where would I be? But I don't think I'd be ready Like do you think are you glad that you waited those eight years? No, you know people always say you shouldn't have regrets, but I don't feel like that I feel like you're whatever you regret Pushes you to work harder wherever you're at now Like maybe you say well, I shouldn't have done that

Uh, I don't believe in all you everything happens for a reason. No, I'm just making up for it. That's all right You know, I just knew what I just fast-tracked at that point because it was like when I was going to open mics Jamie Kennedy was going to open mics and living on people's couches. I went to an open mic with jim gaffigan I went to open, you know, all these people so you cut to like eight years later And I'm looking at all these people that are like, wow, look at everybody's doing it. What why did I stop? So instead of thinking like, oh my god, what am I gonna do? It made me go. Oh, I got really bust my ass Now when you what was going on through your mind those eight years were you watching comedy central? No, I was like, you know, it I wasn't I really wasn't like where you going to the movies. I was going to the movies

Exactly. I was watching like and the thing that I always remember the thing that really clicked in me was like watching raw Like eddie murphy's raw Like that was really the thing that I looked at and I was like, oh man, that's the first time I really thought I think I want to do that But I didn't know what to do. I don't know where to go. So that's why I took so long to finally figure it out Feeling when you're helpless. Yeah, man. That's a helpless Dude, okay. I'm gonna tell you even better than that is when I first I took a comedy class taught by sandy shore, by the way mitzi's uh daughter resting piece to mitzi and um

You know the showcase was at the comedy store And it was like the end of the class graduation, you know, it was in the or And I did this, you know, oh man, I knew I had it. I knew I had the bug right then and there You know, just that that thing of like the whole crowd laughing at you, you know, I was like, oh man, I love this but After that, I didn't know what to do like literally right after because they they rolled the show so let's say The seven o'clock show was our graduation and then they kept the crowd there and then they started the real show

And it was like men see it went up first You know, and I remember watching men see and I was thinking Oh, I think I could do this because at the time he wasn't you know, who he was He just he was doing taco bell jokes and things like that, but he was dynamic, you know, I mean So I thought what year is this? Oh man, it must have been 90 something, you know Four yeah like 94 95 because because he because he brought a chris tucker You know, he had just so def jam and all that was going on too

You know, this was like around that time. So he brought up Men see it goes up first and then he brings up chris tucker and I remember watching chris tucker and thinking I don't think I can do this because he just like Forced the nature on stage at that time, you know, so I didn't know what to do I just I didn't know what to do. That's the helpless feeling Just sitting there thinking. Okay. Well, how do I get on that show and this you have no idea There's no blueprint. There's no, you know, there's no learning annex class

You know, how to get on the main room stage nothing none of that kind of shit, you know, yeah And I just figured it out. I just started going to open mics. I went to the the the long beach the queen mary They had a comedy club at the queen mary They had this open mic called marvis and mary's on washington to do the own he loved comedy So he would have like a every night at a week He would have two or three open mics and then I just started to go in all these places. There was canoga bowl There was uh, all these little coffee houses some of them. You had to pay for it It was I just kept doing it and then that's how I realized, you know, how you get work

You get your peers to think you're funny because they're the ones that get you work I just did that queen mary gig like two months ago. That's a different That's a new back then it was it was crazy called laugh is hope But um, yeah, and then you just start that's how you start doing it So I went from the long beach then I went to the ice house annex show Uh, I was doing that for a little while and then from the annex show I went to the ha ha You know had to win terry over at the ha ha and then I started doing there

I was hosting and doing a bunch of shows and then from there I went to the comedy store To try to showcase I had my first showcase mitzi didn't even look at me She didn't even talk to me when I got off stage Past j davis that night too by the way, so I wanted to kill myself You know what I mean? She passed j davis on the night I showcase with him and she passed j davis Uh, I look back on it. I think that was like a way to motivate me and that motivated just shit out of me So it was like a year and a half later. I got another showcase

But in that time I was going to Trying to get into the laugh factory the improv and I was working those big clubs trying to get into those big clubs You know and so then I was doing the belly room show in the in the Comedy store and then I finally Got my my real showcase It was in the main room on one of those bringer shows they had and they were doing showcases during that And she was they had her sitting at her booth, you know, and she's still she was starting to be ill at that time, you know And the only words mitzi has ever said to me

As I got off stage and they're and they're walking in her through the hallway to the kitchen She stopped she looked at me and she says You were funny And then walked away And that's the only word she's ever spoken to me and then Tommy came up to me like well, you know, you were past, you know She passed you and then I had to go Do the belly room for a solid year Before I got like made a paid regular like I said once you get there now, it's a complete different story

totally now Because you just thought Like I told once mitzi died is like a little tribute thing And it really that weekend there was like a whole week of thought like Like Ari called me and so I'm coming back from Australia because she might die in that whole week I started thinking about how important mitzi was in my heart and my development. I'm not gonna You know, I'm not gonna lie to you. You know, her passing me made me stay here. I was ready to leave Yeah, and she passed me and now I'm now. What are you doing? It's so weird that

Once you get past you're happy as fuck But now you get thrown into this thing that you're really not ready for not never ready for it You're never ready for and then you're looking at the lineup and you're thinking then there's now there's a new challenge I remember being on the lineup looking at the or lineup and being like, oh, I'm going up at 12 Like I don't want to go up at 12 Then it's like, oh, this is the struggle. This is like it never ends That's what I knew it never ended never ends, you know, you're like, okay, so now I got to go up Now I got a fight to get into like what how do you do that?

And then you realize it actually has nothing to do with the comedy store It actually has to do with what you do with your career You know, and it's like so that's why I was like, okay, so I got to go do other things, you know You know commercial agents and acting and all this other stuff and then in combination with Working yourself through, you know getting better at comedy is going to get you those two things go They go together. Who is your Biggest who did you have to follow that every time you followed on the drive? You want to take the call and crash it into the building because you knew you're going to go die

You know what it was damarara. Oh And the black dude with dreadlocks That I think of his name from time to time. He's not around anymore. He was Solid dude. He wasn't that guy that he would do prints the guy remember that guy. No This guy didn't play an organ. He would just go up that dude straight Stand up and it was ferocious You know what it wasn't like that for me, you know what it really wasn't like that it was like I just at because at that time too

Tommy had just taken over so he was just trying to fix the lineup, you know Like as as much as people give him I mean if there was a short time that he he did, you know, he he was doing work You know to change the culture of the place and get and get people In there and and really take thoughtfulness to the lineup and all that kind of stuff You know, was he like, I don't know if Tommy was racist or anything like that. I don't know He just maybe he's insensitive and uh, you know, whatever he was But I thought that was like a method to his madness

And so at that particular time and I never thought I never it wasn't like that because those guys weren't there anymore There wasn't a big guy at the store when I was coming through It was just John Caparillo and Brett Ernst and Sebastian and these people And I never thought anybody was like I never thought I love those guys But I had confidence in myself where I was like I felt like the enemy was This lineup is the enemy. Tommy was the enemy trying to hold me back So I was like, no, I'm gonna work and I always had just you know, a delusional

Confidence about myself that I didn't think any of these dudes were funnier than me. So you got into the store about 2007. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's when I left 2000 feet exactly around there 2005 2007. Yeah And this was before I even got anything like I got into the store and started doing spots And then I got on tv. It was weird, you know it's uh When Tommy first got into First off, I was there with 10 different fucking down coordinated. Yeah, you dunking everybody all those people and it was crazy how They ended up going crazy

When you have direct contact in those days with mitzi and the 80 calls a day Yeah, but they all ended up going crazy and they were a little way like you had my favorite was scott day I really like scott day scott day was the guy that was there when I became a regular Scott they got it Scott they really had it. What is a certain type of personality? Yeah, he had it to be to be to deal with these people always coming at you You know, I give me a spot. Can I get a spot? You know, it's weird. You have to have power It's a weird and you had to have a certain personality to deal with that, you know, but he was gay

Oh, well, there you go. So he was gay handsome and he fucking just was a great guy But I saw an argument and then he would hang at the store Because he would drink so he would hang at the store and watch the comics and talk to different comics And I still remember a certain argument he had with dice one night how he was sticking You know, I liked scott and then scott quit and I don't know who then quarry qualmo repent replaced scott day and that was completely crazy I don't even remember any of these no quarry was freddy sodos Rest in peace his wife

So she started booking up but then it seemed like water brothers would go there to see eric griffin but freddy sodos would be on the lineup after erico before eric You know i'm saying like it was just it started getting biased and people started to know it Danny kelly was there for a while. Danny kelly was a phone guy And one day they just made him and poor Danny kelly was also trying to be a comic. Yeah, it's just i'm saying Yeah, so now Danny started giving himself nine 15 spots

You know and it got out of hand and he shut up one day and he had a box on his fucking desk Then they replaced him with dunking and then you know, and dunking didn't want to do that Dunking didn't he was doing in alphabetical order doing oh my god. He didn't want nothing to do with it. Yeah Yeah, yeah, then when they did the reality show dunking got out Dunking got out before the reality show. I remember that and then minding the store Minding the store and then tommy came in and now if they were to do minding the store Now is the time to do it for real now is the time but it's different I'll say that it's different not bad different

Because there what was taken away from the comedy store with this new regime what was taken away Is this idea that you were a part of a club and you had to earn your way To get something no matter what you had, you know and now it's not like necessarily like that Like if you got stuff going on you're gonna get in the rotation and you're gonna be in And it's like and it's like, uh, you know and that's fine too But like if you come from the old way Like for me, I remember having to do our I had to do a year in the belly room You know, I had before I could do our spots, you know

Now it's just not like that and some of the new people that come in they don't have the same respect or reverence for the place Because they didn't have to go through that You know and so it's not bad. It's just different. So if you're from the old school, you got to wrap your brain around that But I feel privileged. I feel very Uh, it's I feel very lucky to be a part of what's happened at the comedy store right now And I think in 10 years they're gonna look back and be like man, remember when That's that, you know, the the go the new golden years of the comedy store right now, you know

So that credit to adam, you know, he gets What he's doing it's sensational that I walked in there and I was like this place. I'll never be a regular here Like this will never work for me, you know Look at these fucking people in there And when I first got into the comedy store, I'm not gonna lie to you I put my heart and soul into it. Like that was all that was it. That's all I had That's it. I mean, this is all you have like remember when they told the bridge of gear. He had to leave He said I got nowhere else to go nowhere else to go. That that that's exactly I was homeless

I would take showers in the main room at 9 15 I would bring I would drive to the comedy store and take a shower at 9 15 the main room and then go back at a quarter And take another shower on the back a towel shampoo The whole thing I would do laundry a laundry mat and sleep in the fucking car. I mean that was the comedy store to me I ate there and fucking, you know, the waitress has got food. I moots the half of sandwich. I ate the cherries That's why I ended up weighing 400 pounds. I would eat those maricino cherries like a mother fuck only in america You could be homeless and still end up fat. Yeah only in america. I was eating those wendy's dollar menu Oh, wow four or five hours. You get the bowl of chili. You get the junior

Whatever That's it. You know the lunch special I always walk that it just clicked, huh? You know 15 bucks a set philly-based bars or willy-bar center 40s rudy marino 50 down at the bar You know what? I loved about the commerce casino. I started doing those. Yes, and that's when you really fucking see the only gigs They're paid with a latino. Okay, you know get it only gigs in pain. Oh my god You have to go to like weird places and bars Yeah, but they'd be like a dude will come over to you and be like thanks for coming and you'd be like, oh 40 bucks 50 bucks 40 bucks. Jeff Garcia used to have all those rooms. They give you a taco

Yeah, you can eat. Edwin San Juan was show up on a fucking pipe and a fucking bag of weed I mean, it was like this fucking latin fly. That's how I got in. My first my first tv credit was My second tv credit as pile my first tv credit was actually night call. It was this show on the playboy channel It was like the it was like the it was like the tonight show for porn chicks You know and I did a stand-up set on there and then my second one would but you know how I got that You know how I got payaso Darren Carter the party starter, you know, Darren He hit me up and was like, yo, can you come with me to this gig in like deep wittier?

Like it was like deep in the hood someplace, right the latino hood, you know And he goes come with me if he just wanted me to come with him so we can get the carpool lane On the freeway so you can drive no carpool lane. So I go I do a set I just happen to be going up in front of alex romundo And alex says to me because that's the only reason why he watched me because you know You don't really watch people until you unless you going up after them then you might sit and watch Alex comes up to me and says, hey, I'm about to do this show I think you'd be good on it. Let me talk to my guys and then you could we're doing a show at the improv

You know and I went did that show at the improv? That's when I met scott montoya and all these people and they were like, all right They booked me on the payaso comedy slam. What did you think at first? I thought well, I didn't have anything So I thought wow, I'm going to be on showtime. I thought it was going to be this big thing to his credit The way he put it together then was the way you should put things together. We did two shows You know what I mean? If he was doing it now He wouldn't have done two shows

It would have been if it was two shows, it would be like 10 comics, you know what I mean? And it just wouldn't have came out I thought they got the best out of it by doing two shows and combining and that's how they should do all those things But anyway, I thought it was great. Then we're at this big 900 c theater And San Bernardino and all these people and I'm like, wow, this is amazing Look at what I'm doing on a tv thing And I thought I was going to be great and then I thought well This the potential for a tour for this too and like, you know, all these great comics on the lineup, you know, johnny johnny sanchez and

You know, you know, my joey medina and alex romondo and you know all these people all these up and comers and You know, I thought oh, this is good. And then what happened? We did one show a day indian casino and that's the last we heard of payaso comedy slam I when they approached me They had been talking to me for like a year that day He was going to do something the guy kept coming up to the store the old guy his partner Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What was his name? I forget what his name was. Oh my god And then they made an offer and when they said showtime i'm like, look

Do you know how many fucking things I've shot over the years? Do you have any idea totally totally different places in our career at that time $800 a thousand bucks 350 To shoot a special they were gonna sell at the showtime or pbs. Do you know how many of those deals I had? I could count them i'm fine. It's amazing. I wish I had an abacus Like that's how many things Did you do the same set for all of them? No, you just people contact you and go look We're putting the show together. We shot one at the high. I'll never forget that was the most embarrassing thing

I was ever involved in because I was cheering for it not to air. I just I just wanted the money. That's it. I did a movie like that. Yeah, you just care about the money You don't care if it's fair. You want it to fail. You don't want nobody to see you in this You're like, I hope nobody ever sees this. There's a guy that shot me I swear to god Maybe 10 years ago. We did a special at a theater In hollywood this guy went all out borrowed 80 000 from his grandfather. Oh, no, the whole thing as he's giving me the money I'm like you poor bastard. You know what i'm saying? Like

You're never gonna get your money back. Like you're in no danger He's like, yeah, I got a cousin the one and i'm telemundo special and all this shit and he fucking sold it He went off bro. He called me a year later dog. Can I have a mission to put it on youtube? Fuck no Fuck you and fuck. No, you're not putting it on youtube. I was prepared for him I mean, it has been so many of those people approached me over the years. So what made you do it? The payaso slam cocaine same thing Same thing. I told him it was like that back then. Oh, yeah You know that bad. I didn't know that was the tail end

That was the tail end of the do you remember I didn't go to the party Oh, that's how I had to catch my drug dealer before he closed the 12. Yeah, but you went but you did that payaso You did the you you were at that gig we did at that indian casino. Come on. Yeah, man Remember that gig we did at the indian casino. No, uh, what? Yeah, you were you were gone. You were that that you don't even remember that No, yeah, man. We we went to um, I gotta remember where it was like deep deep in the mountains That was something and the guy called me gabriel. I don't even remember that one the guy was so drunk He's like look who it is. It's gabriel. I remember I remember just johnny didn't come because he was at a funeral He says he was at a funeral

But we did anyways, we only did one show. I know you were there because I remember you were talking shit in the green room That's where I remember specifically. You just were like going off about different things It was so when I shot payaso I shot payaso like anything else I shot Like this ain't gonna go nowhere. Yeah, like this ain't gonna go nowhere. I'm just gonna do a fine till today. I fucking regret it Till today I fucking regret it. Well for me. I just I it was like I said, it was my first real major life No, it's I said, you know what I mean? I don't I regret what I did I wish I would have dressed better. Oh that I wish I would have prepared myself for it

I didn't take it seriously I didn't show up for the rapper rounds. I didn't want to be involved. I didn't care And this is the regrets that you have as a comic from time to time But I had to call Montoya And actually tell them I'm sorry for my behavior. Oh, wow I wish I would have done it differently. I would have been a different comic today Because I didn't take it seriously. It sounded like I sat down with a notebook and worked on this set

Right weeks at a time. I just went there. It was the night after Thanksgiving. Do you remember? I don't remember. We shot that either the night after Thanksgiving or like before Thanksgiving I think it was a weekend or something. Yeah, I told him it better be in cash. I don't have time for checks I don't have time for a check. So you better put yardsticks in there. I used to yell everybody Oh years ago. Not even fifties. Years ago. Rudy gave me a check that bounced And after that, I won't take checks from comics. Don't give me no check. Just give me cash Rudy Moreno bumps to check. Come on. Yeah, one time by mistake. I love Rudy though. No, I love Rudy. Come on He was the one that he was he gave me some of the best spots I've ever when I was first coming up

Look at man In this comedy game, I was sitting in the tempi improv And they were talking about that the week before D. L. Hughley had been there D. L. Hughley was D. L. Hughley the first time I stepped on stage. Mm-hmm. Like D. L. Hughley was already big 25 years ago Like he like the journeys people have had everybody has a different journey, you know, like he was he D. L. Hughley was D. L. Hughley I saw D. L. Hughley do something that I never saw any other human being do He got a standing ovation as an emcee

On on that damn on that chair Standing ovation as an emcee just Destroyed the room like whoever had to follow him. God bless his soul Just leveled the room D. L. Hughley was there before me the week before This is a phenomenal journey This this comedy like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah for real. It's a phenomenal journey The first 10 years suck depending on how you look at it

Yeah And it sucks depending on the effort you put in it, but everybody has a different journey So you can't judge yourself. It's like you said you got you did it for two years Then you fucking put it off your mind three years And then one day it's such a fucking weird calling. Yeah, like you could have been a dentist a doctor or a lawyer You chose something that is the hardest Thing in the world. It's so weird because Once it bears fruit that the addiction of the comic mind

Is the bearing of the fruit The little fruit bearings guess what? Last night at Rudy's room. I did 38 minutes, bro Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. I'm saying. Yeah, I remember the first time you had to do like a long set A long set somebody you fucking didn't I remember I remember for me. I had to go to uh, I did triple runs Do you ever do the triple run? Come on. Yeah, so I had to do Yeah, so I you know, I was doing these 30 minutes and I was like wow first time I did 30 minutes I was like, oh sure. What place did you go? Oh man? Come on billings

my most uh What they look at you like in miss zola and all those places zula montana and bozeman and all these places It was great. I I I remember my first time ever doing a road gig was The first one was I went out to like san marcos and near san diego That was my first gig with one of those type bookers and I was like, ah, this is great And so now my first out-of-town gig is a is a is a uh, triple run and I have to go to um, what was that, uh Montana someplace in montana And I had to fly to utah

to meet the Headliner this guy named scott benet. Okay, and I get there and he's all like, yo man. My license is uh My license is uh, you know Expired whatever it was you restricted license. So you got drive, you know, so I'm driving his car You know from utah to montana With with his dog. He has a dog, right? And we hit the places to this pack the car is jam packed You know what I mean? So I'm driving but I was I loved every second of it And we got to this little town and we was at the holiday end and the show's in the bar

You know and I go down early to look no one's in there and I'm thinking okay the people gonna show up You know, man They're gonna come And then uh, this show the show's about to start. There's like 12 people in this bar And I'm like, what's going on? Then the guy looks at me. He's like, you ready to start and I was like, okay You know and he's like, all right. Here we go. He goes on stage He's like, all right, everybody just took a few announcements before we start Remember the dart tournament you had to sign up for that on thursdays and we got karaoke on whatever, you know

And he's going on he goes, all right the comics here from la names eric You know, here we go And that's how I got brought on stage from my first out of town gig in front of like 12 13 rednecks in montana Here we go And I got on stage and I just I I was like, I made it And I loved every second of that hundred dollars. I made that hotel room And we and we and we traveled uh, there were night We and we traveled like 500 miles every single day for a week

You know, and it was no rhyme or reason to the gigs anywhere either So it might be bozemen's here in the next closest city might be something else But no we had to drive past that place To go to some faraway place and then drive back and it was snowing and it was just I'm a mob. We had to go to mild city montana, which is way up there It was like I that was my first experience on the road and I thought okay. Does he get better? I was like damn this is and this is how many triple weeks that you end up doing um

Not too many because I did a few but not too many I also did pat wilson remember pat wilson's gigs and she thought that a run was the third the ninth and the 12th She thought that that was a run. Yeah So what am I supposed to do between the third and the ninth? Well in seattle at that time they had You had pat wilson. You had another chick that she's dead. God rest her soul. She was a fucking cunt And you had uh, and you had uh, the chick from portland oregon the chubby chick And then you had yes donna richards

Uh, you know what's what's her face isn't it? She's still a lot. Uh, I know the chubby chick partless because she had like she would do gigs in tahoe Tahoe and shit When you booked the third the seventh and the 12th is because You would call the other lady and say hey, I'm doing runs for pat wilson And she'd go what dates you're gonna be here and then she would fill those in And then you would fill the comedy underground on monday for the open right right right and then you would that so it would be Eight or ten days in seattle. That's yeah, those are the days you'd go from and then you call john fox and then you're weak in bellingham

All the way by the canadian border. He had a bunch of bullshit all bullshit He had these little bullshit bars you would do and you didn't you wonder like what's going on no hotel No hotel you're driving and so at that time. I thought this was great. This is how you $100. No hotel And who was the mid who was the mid mid country guy? um cw kendall was texas But there was somebody that would be like right next and then there was when I was coming up There was a company that was very good. They were very good to me. I forget what their name was

I sent them a tape and they made me a co-headliner Right off the bat. I remember the first time I did that I remember the first time I did that I ate dick Oh my god the first week with them on the road and they were as nice as can be Butte montana was my first hour long gig for for for triple had to do an hour You think I had an hour? Please I didn't have an hour. I was like how the fuck am I gonna do this hour? But I powered through it. That's when I knew I had to take it a little a little more serious

That was like when I was like, okay, I got to take this serious, you know I was doing all these things. I had a commercial agent. I booked a few commercials That's why I saw a state a float and then like I say when I got the payaso commis lane that was 2006 Then in 2008 I booked live at Gotham You know live at Gotham is when I got my first agent TJ mark walter mark walter He was my first he he booked me from that and then he's the one that like on his reputation got me out doing like low-pay Headlining gigs and then from there is when you know, that's when everything started to happen

So how how how many years into this where you both when you started doing road gigs? Well for me, I started doing road gigs like but see these aren't great road gigs. Yeah. No. Yeah So it was like a year and a half. I was out. I was out doing triple runs You know, I needed to I knew because I knew that's a shell shock in a year and a half But I I knew I couldn't make it in LA though. I know you came from someplace else. Yes See, I knew in LA like I don't know why people come to LA like these guys that don't just started doing Crazy, they're crazy coming in LA drives me crazy. It's like and they think and then they get upset about They're spoiled because let's say you a comic and you live in tempi. Okay

You're a comic you live in you live in phoenix, arizona and tempi and then like here comes joey Diaz Is coming into town and you get to open you get to be and see so you think that's regular You think it's regular to be in front of 600 people every night. You think oh, this is what comedy is like motherfucker No, it's not it's you it's in LA. It's the open microphone of 11 people It's the belly room at you know one o'clock in the morning If you even have the opportunity to get in the or you're going up super late when you first start You first get into these things 115 And they don't even know how to deal with that. They're just like there's only 11 people here

How can I perform in front of 11? That's what that taught me how to perform for 10 people eight people seven people Exactly, I never forget a story that I went to houston And I did a show in fact joe was saying he goes. Do you remember Easter sunday? We did a show on Easter sunday once at the Miami improv That had 60 people in there and it started at eight and then the 11 when a naked woman getting up on stage And let me eat fruit off a pussy and shit. It was crazy But I learned all those small people set from the commie store and then something happened one night I got a call at about 10 30 at night

and it's Club owner in houston and he goes I gotta tell you something. He goes now. I understand you guys from the store He goes johnny sanchez was here tonight And we had there was a houston rocket playoff game So we only had 14 people I was on a cancel show. He said he wouldn't cancel it Joey, you know, it was one of the best shows I've ever seen in my life He goes, that's what you guys get from the store. Yeah, man. That's he wouldn't put you through three years Of fucking midnight and in those days for me it was following paul mooney

See, this is what i'm talking about. Yeah. I don't know. This is what i'm saying. That's what i'm saying Like you have a whole there's an idea of like this is even even what I went through Pails in comparison to what you went to, you know, no, no, like it's not even the same kind of thing So now it's just a simple like, you know, and the thing is like sometimes it causes a thing like I remember You know, it's like like there's a thing after the store It's like, you know, you call if you're gonna be late and then the next person goes and then you go up after You know, like these new people come they don't even they don't understand any of those type of type of things And so it's just different, you know, but like I say I remember coming up and just I like that

people I've I've had a lot of bad situations with young comics and la because of the movement What they expect to happen? Oh It doesn't drive me crazy Because I know the ropes

I know what needs to be done. I did them. I know how much time needs to be spent So you come to me with any story and I know when you're ready and when you're not Do you know what I am because I know the time frame And I know the work ethic that needs to go and then something else has to happen You have to become it And that's a complete level. That's what happened to you after those eight years when you came back You become it. You know, that's a different fucking feeling. You know what I was I tell young comics I always say, uh

You know, you have to to to know you could do this You don't have to answer that to me. This is a rhetorical question. Yeah. No, no, no You have to with with you and whoever you believe in They have you you have to believe this is what you're meant to do and you don't really feel that until You've gone through some stuff Like when you stop worrying about when you stop feeling like you're entitled to things People in this business think that it's like a deli where you take a number and you're waiting for hollywood to go Number 75 and you're like, yes, my chance. It's my time to go make it. No, it doesn't work like that

Sometimes people skip the line Sometimes people take a long time Sometimes people get a chance and they fall right off Sometimes people work for a long time before they get a chance. There's no right or wrong way You just gotta be ready and you have to know this is what you're meant to do But see the young comics in los angeles What happens is that they mingle with guys like you and I

Or other comics and they feel how come i'm not moving as fast as he's not moving Where if you developed in michigan, you're not worried about a fucking headshot Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're not worried about being seen at a coffee shop. There's so many variables that aren't involved when you do comedy in boston per se or in Miami or in new olines or you're in houston texas per se There's things you don't even worry about that. You don't need to worry about At that level, do you know what i'm saying? Yeah at that level when you start worrying about the three years Well, I should have a commercial agent. No, you shouldn't you've never even done a fucking triple run

You'll shit your pants in a fucking commercial audition. You will shit your fucking pants I know when you're ready for a commercial you'll know it When you go up there and you're you're gonna know audition and you fucking read In your hands shaking. You know how many times that happened to me at the sopranos call back the third time first season Oh, wow The hint you should have heard you thought it was a fucking you thought it was a fucking hurricane on cnn You know when you go into an audition you have to have no side to you to base you I even if I was off book

I'd always have something to base me in those. Yeah. That's how I was taught I can't tell you how many uh What's the movie will smith and the other guy Rona crest she was huge when I started when you got read by rona crest. Oh, shit That's like Clint Eastwood and shit. I remember one time it was like a fan Was off in the room They kept they kept saying joy put the fucking paper down put it down put it down already and shit You know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know how many auditions you have to blow

Before you know, oh my god So it all works in unison. Yeah if you really see it Before you booked the commercial you had to go to butte, bitch And that half hour that you didn't have you just earned that commercial going to an acting class Yeah going to all you know, it's crazy What the pattern is and I hate when people try to move ahead of it All you could do that's what people don't want to do. They want to skip down to skip the line They want to skip try some crazy because you're gonna have to go back

I always compare the pens all commercial from the 90s. You can either pay me now Or you could pay me later How many times in the last comic standing that somebody went and they were not a headliner They were put on the road They did one good stint on the road and then they disappeared Because they were not ready to headline But the agents got greedy with them still put them up. How many stories have we heard the people going out? I've been to have you been have you been to clubs and them talking about how yeah, I can't bring I can't bring that person

You know they they want this and but now it's too. They they bust it. It's it's done So even if that show comes back and those people going to road the clubs know now, they're like, well, let's see Let me see who comes You know, they really I see but I always think they messed up in that particular NBC NBC did not have enough respect for that show If they did this could have been a different thing like American Idol What legitimizes American Idol is when the person that wins

Goes on to do a record contract and a song comes out So if you're NBC and you have the last comic standing you're supposed to take that person and throw them on a sitcom Make them a star That's your net you could do it your network give them a five episode arc on law and order Make them a star, but they just throw them to the wind. Oh, we did this thing and now it's over So America's been watching and now they're like, well, I thought that was you made you made it seem like this was an important thing That's where they messed up that show could have still be going on today It could be like a hit it could be great for comedy if they would have done that

Like if the winner gets a development deal and they had their own sitcom that comes out that year, you know It could easily could have done that but nope. It's just like they cancelled the show one year before the final Before the finale they cancelled the show so Well, it's interesting because i'm at a place at six months that even like 12 people sounds exciting to me because i'm doing it for old comics But you were talking about people just wanting to jump the line But it's a weird industry where we don't really have this information

Like I understand that like it's a little bit jumping the line But how are you really supposed to know like I know i'm not a headliner, but why could in my head? I'm like oh, maybe I could do a triple one, but you're like no you're At least a year or two away from a triple one. Well, I'll say there's no right or wrong way It's all about the work ethic that you put into it Like the times have changed now and the old school heads got to remember they got to realize this Like for instance if somebody is on got an instagram following and they and they've done their little funny videos And they've gotten millions of followers now and they want to start doing comedy. That's their open mic now

That's their process to get on stage And it's valid Okay, when people complain about instagram people or youtube people I always say they're just better at instagram than you if you were good at instagram You'd have a million followers too So nobody wants to go to open mics open mics suck But we had to because it was the only way to get on stage now There are numerous ways to get on stage there are actors like jeremy pivens who decided i want to be a comic now

So because of his fame, he don't have to go through to open my process. Excuse me, you know, they decided for him He's sexually harassed But Either way and again, that's a mistake. So he didn't have to go through the i'm gonna put a guy who's crazy over pussy On the fucking road, you know what i'm saying? Like it's like remember for years whenever a player would fuck up They sent him to miami really? Yeah But the guy's got no problems living in them, but he can't stop snorting now. You're gonna send him to the dolphins You're a fucking genius

But i'm just saying there's no right or wrong way to do this thing Well, that's what i'm telling to you is that you just it's all about your own work ethic So because the problem is this you're good. You might get an opportunity And you have to be ready being ready is Putting a lot of time and work in so when your agent calls and says hey, there's this audition for such and such When you get there you're not going to be out of your element You know and that's what happened and that takes all the

practicing and all the time you put into Hone your craft and and and know how to deal in with situations performing in front of five people And performing in front of a thousand people like all these different things are going to lead you to when you are in front of that Casting director you are ready That's what happened to me when i when i got workaholics I remember the day i was auditioning willy bar center was there johnny sanchez was there So i got the first call the second call You know i did my i was looking around the room and i was like i'm not going to get this

Because it was the dude from george lopez show the dude from boston legal it was like all these guys uh j philips was there he had just done uh the Phil will will ferrell movie and i'm looking around like i don't have shit How am i going to beat these people and i just thought but i was ready i prepared for that audition Man i busted my ass on that audition had my i was working on it with my friends I was making choices and i went there and i was like wow They had to give it to me So after that experience when i hear people say oh, i don't know if they're looking for me

I go don't think like that But how did you learn i learned that next so now anything i go on i feel like oh i can book this I don't care who's in the room i'm in this i'm the same i don't even fuck who's in the room dog I remember going to auditions and getting in signing your name turning around sitting down Looking at your sheet. You're so insecure and you pop your head up You just glaze across the room and you see he was in the room with you And the more you move your head the harder your heart Because this guy was

This guy wasn't seven this guy was an ocean's 11. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This guy wasn't rambo. Oh my god. What's he doing here? He was on a sitcom for eight years. Yeah. Yeah, and then you get the call back And now you're in the room with even heavier hitters Like i haven't got the call back for uh for The movie they made about boxing the fucking uh The black dudes freed No, uh, wait, this was right before the first strike in la. Oh, sure that the first one reality show was about the reality tv was about to take over Uh, who went to jail?

Splayed Oh, well, at least knives did a movie where he was a boxer in prison. Oh, yeah Okay, well, he was a boxer in prison and I remember I got a call To be one of the gangsters And jesus christ irrick they put me through hell. It was a in those days. There was a thing called the pre-read in this town A fucking pre-read high level casting people would just make you them come in and talk to you Hi, eric, what's your name? What you like to do? No, I like stand up. I want to be better stand up Well, give me a favorite and read this for me and then they would call your agent and make sure you could read for the role

I started dead with this fucking guy. Yeah, his name was rubin something. He was black He had his offices were on labrea and wilson that call building there on the right hand side They were all in there in those days rubin The chick to cast the volleyball movie. They were all in there if you want in there and dropped off 10 headshots If you get a call in three days because they were all in there I would go in there every 90 days and just drop off headshots all 10 floors at a different casting director So I went in there. He pre-read me When I went to that first fucking read

It was in hollywood then and they made it like a nice office with white people where they offer you water and shit You go to those auditions or they offer you you're like that now. Oh, yeah You offer people water, but usually you go to an audition. They don't offer you shit. Yeah That audition the first time I went to read read they offered me fucking water I almost shit my pants. They took they validated my parking I was like, oh This is real And you walk in the room and there's four fucking guys and they've all been in big movies

The one guy was the guy that fucking he was I'll never forget that read That was the scare because I just saw seven the night before it was on cable And I went in the next day and he's sitting there reading for the same part. I'm reading for But then something would happen and you want me to tell you what started happening. Yeah, what's that? Because I bet you I feel the same way two things happened I had to do half time of a Buffalo Sabres game one time. Oh, shit, and I got booed so bad I got booed so bad I got booed so fucking bad

For 15 minutes. It was just horrible like nothing could bring you back And then I got made a regular at the store and for years had to follow palm warning. So actually this is what would happen to me I would go to those auditions Walk in very insecure my little mafia Sudan Walk in sign in, you know Sit down I look at the sheet like I don't know what I'm doing

And then I'd pop my head up and look around the room and I'd see Frank Stallone I'd see Johnny roast beef. I'd see the guy that got freezing the sopranos. I'd see all those guys in auditions And after a minute I would go, you know what? Yeah, this guy probably went to Juilliard and this guy studied with Johnny bananas And this guy studied with Johnny Gumbaz. But guess who the fuck I am Number one, I did a half time on the Buffalo Sabres game And number two I follow Paul Mooney on a nightly and I know for a fact None of these motherfuckers in the room could do that. Yeah, man. And that's when I started booking. Where's that Tony Bennett?

You were talking about Yeah, man That's when I started booking Some somebody twice as smart As I For somebody who Will swear I want to give some shout outs real quick to young runt

My brother Pat Shea who showed up in Tempe With some hot chick that kept trying to make videos knock the fuck off. I want to give a shout out To lieutenant Scott Smith Tempe's best for coming to the show. I want to give a shout out to pistol Pete for giving us The cover of the of this in a single also nick becker Adrienne valdez The latin bastard

Kenrifi jr. And Aaron Andrew Ramirez. Thank you, motherfuckers For coming out to the shows and having a great time and all that shit And that's it. So Did you take an acting class? Yeah, I did. I took a class with this lady named Janet Alhante And uh, she was great like this Meisner like this old new york jewish lady, you know She was a big woman, you know, so she would sit in her chair, you know, and she would sit back in her chair She'd be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah trying to be funny. Stop trying to be funny, you know

She's very mitzi-esque actually in terms of like how she attacked comedians You know with the acting and I I love to intellectualize things So like to me the best part of acting class was not actually doing it sometimes was watching other people Yes, and then hearing the notes and then really examining like I was like damn they really This is some this is something's going on here. Yes, you know and and uh, that was great Like the my first real acting class. I see a lot of those people working today like the girl jamie alexander She's on that show blind spot. She was in that class. I remember, you know, that's hard to laugh actually one night She was like she started crying. She was like, I remember our class together and I was like, wow

Like, you know, we've come a long way. I can people come a long way. So I think acting class is important It wasn't till I started doing acting class and improv that I felt my stand-up popped My stand-up really like because I understood that this was a this is a performance I did I did a bunch of places, you know, I did I took a class I took this kind of like use the extension like comedy acting and improv and then I did like uh, what's the one in um Not ucb, but the one on wool shirt on my male rows there. We are we all um

Groundlings groundlings. Okay. I did the first First thing of groundlings, but I didn't continue because I always felt like improv is a skill To make acting and stand-up better not something that should stand on its own To me, it's you know, you know, I mean like I think improv is like when the improv shows I'm always like, uh, I don't want you know, but the people that could do that like at a high level That's always very entertaining But I think that is great for like when you do it within Like oh, here's a movie situation stand-up a tv or a play or whatever

Whatever that, you know, you're using that skill to enhance another part of entertainment But anyway, that's just I went through a chapter of my career. It was like a two-year stint When I went to new york, I picked up a bad habit of talking to the audience I picked up a very bad habit. It's a lazy habit, you know of talking and I got good at it I got good at what's happening. It's not hard to be good at that when you're a charismatic comedian I got really good at it and it but oh, it was always 50 50. Yeah It's always a 50 50 show It's always like so I would have 22 minutes of material and I would bank on 30 more than pro

And I would start in the middle or close at the end for a year I went through that phase where I forced myself because when I was a house emcee at the boulder broker It was the same mooch as every week that came in to eat. So after a while they're like, we know your material It was 1595 for a steak and you got a comedy show with the steak So it was the same fucking 40 people came in for steak night And then they would stay to watch the comics and I was the the headliner So I would just do topical jokes in those days. I would just go through the paper It's really weird when I look at my journey and then I started talking to the audience

And that ended in Seattle when I moved to Seattle Somebody goes you lived everywhere. Yeah, somebody goes dog. You got to stop fucking talking to people Because you're good at it. Don't get me wrong and the improvising is good But once you move to LA It's not going to be bueno for you And then I stopped at the store. I never fucking really talked to people never Ever ever especially because like you're we're not watching the whole show And now I don't even consider fucking doing it like now that people paying to come see me

I wouldn't even take a chance and fucking improvising. I'll throw a tag in If it's appropriate like sometimes you write on stage and stuff like that So workaholics you've been on but now more never young i'm dying up here Yeah, we started you know started workaholics. So that was from 2010 till that we did seven seasons of that You know this crazy character. I I enjoy it. I I'm always gonna look back with fondness of being on a show That's like people's favorite show, you know people still come on to me today every day. I was like montez You know, they love that show. So that was great But then to get this show this kind of like meaty dramatic

dark You know, it shows a different side of me and I I'm really as very rewarding You know, that's why I need people to watch it. So hopefully if this this is monday, this is gonna come out monday, you know Hopefully you watched sunday night and if not Get on on demand showtime anytime and watch uh, i'm dying up here sundays 10 o'clock starting this week sundays 10 o'clock You already missed the first episode. So catch up No, the first episode came out like on showtime a few weeks ago. That was just a premiere a premiere

But tonight it was sunday night is the actual Like premiere for tonight on on showtime. Yeah, I didn't know that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you fucking learned something. Yeah. Yeah, man You don't even tonight. I'll see you at the party tomorrow night. Well tonight tonight. Yeah I'm all confused Are you happy that you like you like it you enjoy it? I do enjoy it I enjoy like, you know, it's like people say to me Do you like acting or stand up more and I think I like them equally because they're different You know, I like taking somebody else's work like, you know, this this pay pay words on the page and then

Bring it to life. There's something great about that. There's something great about being in this Like made up environment and you're like creating something, you know, you're making people feel things I love all that. You know, it's funny. I had a weird thing this week Listen success Winston Churchill defined success is moving from area to area With constant enthusiasm You know, that's why I knew I couldn't make it in the real world as a human being Like as a fucking get up and eat and go to work type of guy. I can't do it. I can't do it You have to move around a little bit. I like I like switching it around

I enjoy acting. I enjoy step but they all have like I enjoy podcasting I don't want to do a fucking podcast. I know exactly what you're saying. It's like, you know, I love doing stand up I love being on the road, but then there's a time when I'm like, I'm at this airport again again. Yeah I'm uh, oh man, I like that. I won't I won't go out back to back no more No more back to back weeks when I don't want to go out and take pictures of people Or I don't want to do little things. Yeah, I don't want to be there. Yeah, I'd rather go out every other week and be a hundred percent They oh, they deserve that and they deserve that they deserve my game I don't want to be a fucking whore. You know, I like that I come in and I book a show for two days

And I'm not talking negatively about the show. It's just aspects of acting that It's the other stuff, you know, I like to freedom of podcasting I I'd love to this was my thing since day one because I got nobody looking on my shoulder Yeah, yeah, yeah, we could say whatever the fuck we want. We could book whatever the fuck we want You know, we could we could get a couch right now and get some pose up in this motherfucker and stream this And whoever, you know, thank god i'm not doing coke and doing the fuck because I'd be doing a podcast You know how many people with two It would not have been good if they had podcasts in 20 years

I would have got arrested every other week They would just bring the video like this is you Can you imagine like going on the episode snowing coke on youtube? Yeah, you don't wonder why the cops are here Can you imagine becoming like the mad periscoper? And just popping up every like you'd have two million followers You'd run commercials on the periscope of fucking coke dealers and shit call me now 1-800 this phone will disconnect in 30 seconds I never understand when people like put people send you these snapchats like all these

morgaholics fans will send me snapchats and stuff like, you know We don't pile a weed in front of them and all this stuff and I just go dad you're like You're gonna go to jail. Yeah, like you're this is out there someplace. You don't smoke weed. No, I sure never did No, I never did no drinking. Uh, no, I don't drink Never no, I never did. I mean just only recently in the past like two years I went on on a vacation with a friend and and and the deal was okay on vacation I'll try so I tried a couple of drinks and I just didn't like it. I just don't like it It's not even about like being goody goody or anything like that. I just don't like it. What's your hobby?

I don't like that. I like to play video games And my hobby my hobby and my work is the same thing. I love going to do stand-up Like it's like things happen to me in life and I have this thing where I'll go right to the stage and talk about it You know, so I that's my way I saw your growth. You know, well, I appreciate it. No, stop. Tell me more about me. No, no, no, no, it has been uh You know It's not my journey that baffles me. I I looked at other journeys I looked at Ralphie May's journey. How he came in second. I lost his soul

I look at Mitch Hedberg's journey. I look at Doug Stan. I still remember seeing Doug Stan up in 96. I'm going I'm canceling this. I'm not doing this ever again Because I'll never be this good You ever know what you're feeling? Yeah, I know exactly what you're saying. You just said my friend about hunker Yeah, you saw him and see a brand. Yeah for real. I just thought I can't I just I can't do it How can I do this? June of 96 Stan Hope was up at the up at the fucking Seattle underground And I still remember that was his spot too and I still remember going

Like I have a spot tomorrow. I'm canceling with Pat Wilson And I went camping with my girlfriend and for two days. I really thought about my life. I was like if I'm gonna do this That's the only way you're gonna That's the only way I'm gonna do it. I gotta go balls out to the wall like that He was my first real like Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor When I saw Stan Hope in Seattle like I knew him from triple runs, you know, he lived on a triple run That's what got him really good There's no secret to that that he backed this car and just wanted a triple run for a year

Triple runs Jesus and and karaoke bars So and drinking and still carrying on And then he entered the san francisco comedy competition And they were like, you know what his chances are of even placing up there zero. He's too dirty And he destroyed them all And the night of the fucking isn't that the isn't that the famous one the famous finals? It was him and dane cook him and dane cook and they broke into his car and stole his clothes So he had to go to a thrift shop and by a second-hand suit. That's why he dresses the way he does

Because he put that suit on and he fucking won the thing against dane cook You know, I did it was Phenomenal like it was like did you do any of those? Did you do any of those contests? I did seattle I did seattle six and then what aisha taylor and josh wolf and uh the year I did a david crow one and then San francisco I quit the third night You know, it's just so funny

I did the seattle competition and when I finished that I said I am never doing a competition ever again That is the worst. It's three weeks Like, you know, the only thing the good about it is is it teaches you how to showcase It teaches you like quick stand-up showcase different level of the game six minutes. Yeah, you're like boom You got to come and get six minutes But after but just the way what it did to the comics and and then like having to like Roll around for three weeks and like you had to put yourself up in the second week. I will never forget I was in what year did you do it? I did it 2004

And who was it 2004 2005 one at that? Oh man, I don't even remember man But I remember like, you know, you know siddiqui fuller. Yes siddiqui was in it, you know, just flipping away that year I don't even remember everybody that was in that and uh, I remember I was thinking to myself I got robbed, you know what I mean, but whatever Oh, uh, lamont fergusson lamont fergusson was just no I came in six that year on my thing too But I felt I really felt like it was like I said I just wasn't Some stuff was happening where I was like, come on. This isn't what's going on here But then I thought it doesn't matter

After after that, I was like, I'm never doing this again And I remember john fox was in la at the m bar doing showcases and he came up to me and he was like erica I love for you to be in san francisco comedy competition and I said no I was just like no I don't want to do that and it was crazy to me because two years before that That's what I was that was my goal. That was your goal. That was my goal My goal was to be in this and then oh shit. Sorry and then in um Then I was like no, no, no, I don't I don't I don't want to do this

Let me tell you something. Let me explain this whole thing. I'm never gonna do this. So erica We'll break it down to you I did the seattle comedy competition because I lived in seattle I had moved to seattle to develop seattle when I was coming up in comedy There was a county newspaper that was run by john fox and was written by comics and it was very interesting I learned a lot in that thing, but the the back of it Had every club in the country In state by state, alabama, arizona, you know, arkansas

And I would look at those and circle the ones that I was going to perform at and every month it came out And if you were part of like came out the county works in witsend It got delivered there for free And that's how I got turned on to seattle that logo Just fucking made me go crazy and I met a stripper in michigan when I was on the road She was moving to seattle And I said fucking i'll meet you up there And I had nothing going on in colorado. I was just gonna end up in jail

And I went up to seattle and I stayed the summer And I liked it. I liked the comedy scene up there. It was josh wolf. It was uh Brody stevens. It was a bunch of us up there fucking around Then they asked me through the contest and I got to tell you something for me It was a great experience, but I lived there. I don't listen. I don't regret now lee in three years Yeah, go up there and do it because you can air b&b And just stayed there for three weeks three weeks how many shows you go? Oh you do it because what they do is after the first round You get the money like they give everybody the last place money

Oh, okay. You know what I mean? So like let's say the last place pays 500 They give everyone 500 you know because You know you you could end up being last place. So they've already been paid. That's how they do it Because I've just I've never even looked intending any of these. No, no, no, you don't have to look at it right now But it's pretty interesting because I for me. It was very interesting. I lived in seattle. So I uh my first one was a rocky mountain laugh off by the way I don't think you ever did that one. That was out of utah. I did the one in colorado

See I was in in the 90s contests were big See, I Eric big the biggest one was johnny walker national competition They did the finals on tv. Oh, wow johnny walker black or johnny walker red then the hbo comedy competition So every city had a comedy competition And then the end you would battle it out in like michigan somewhere or in la and sometimes they go vegas Vegas was where you all went and did this battle off every fucking year I when I got into comedy that was sponsored by bex beer

It was a bex beer comedy competition and it was all of colorado And you the rules were you couldn't get paid So the first time I got on stage was in june And that night somebody came up to me and goes I have a gig for you I could give you gas money and I'll never forget when I won the finals of the bex comedy competition There was a red flag that I took five hours for gas The second time I got on stage and the judges were like fuck you he won hands down I liked that one that was a six month competition and it was just people from every every tuesday

Seattle man. All right. That's Seattle. It's my time. Seattle was five nights in a row Six nights. Yeah, monday through fucking saturday. Yeah, you did it and so in your mind And it wasn't by the way, it wasn't just in seattle. It's seattle. It's called the seattle comedy But it's all over washington. Yeah. Yeah, you might be 200 miles away. Yeah, you could be an Everett You could be on the on the billingham up in bellingham is a sunday night Yeah, the bellingham is up what I love what I loved about that competition It's the fact that that was the first time I performed in front of like

2000 people, you know that One of the nights was this kind of casino gig that was this huge room And it was like thousands of people and that was the first time I remember being out there like oh, man This is great. It is so you like it's like so I enjoyed all that but in the end I was like i'm never doing this again Like I loved all that experience, you know, it's like going through boot camp or something. Yeah It was really really, but I wouldn't do the shit again I remember driving there every night with josh wolf and but in my mind like

I already thought what really kills you about is lee is it teaches you not to size up nothing Like I wouldn't I went in there going on. I got this. I'm I got him. I got him. I got this guy coming for real I'll fuck this guy up any night of the week. This guy can't run with me some nights It was just somebody's night and all sudden there's like a little black guy. Yeah, you don't even know who he is And you just dismiss him And the first night god rest his soul his name is floyd j phillips. I just read recently. He died. No Bro, the first night at that pizza place in ballard washington. It was a monday night. I will never forget this memory

I went up there thinking I was gonna win that whole thing on monday night And I came like in 13th And the guy who ripped that room apart that night was floyd j phillips man. I heard he died That that is really bad news to hear kidney god rest his soul. Yes very good to me Man, I have some I had dude. I I did a triple run with him Yeah, man, I did a triple run with him where he calls me and he says he says hey, man I want to bring Somebody to be our opener because remember at the time it was a two-man show

And he goes I want to bring an mc, but don't worry. He'll stay with me First night we do the show and then he comes up to me and he's like, yo He's staying with you tonight And I was like, no, he's not And we had this thing where because he was like telling me you I shouldn't be co-headlining with you That's what he told me. He was like, you ain't you ain't fun. So then that night. I was like, okay So we did this show in like, uh, Idaho You know and I went up and I was like I had that like I was like, oh, I'm not good enough. Okay, and I

Just I was going for it that night, you know, and then he came up to we became good friends after that He's a great guy, you know, because he because he came up to me like, all right. All right Let me tell you something. He took that room apart at that time. He was fucking he was great He was where did he live though? He lived in like he lived in Portland. Yes. Yes. Yeah, I never knew out of Portland I never knew who he was. I never knew At least he feels sad and I didn't keep up with that Monday and destroy he had a joke about the Portland mall. Excuse me security You know, have you seen any black people?

Yeah, they're everywhere. What how like something like that that he just destroyed but But I know what you're saying you would go to these contests and you would see these guys and you'd be like You're sizing them up. Yeah. Yeah, but don't judge a book by its cover and we did it And guess what? At least I had when they announced your name 13. Guess what happens You drive home. You don't say a fucking word Your friends like you want to go eat not really you go home and you get that notebook and you will stay up all night Yeah, man the next night I came back in place like third remember that thing they used to do I don't know if they did it during your time would be like this like this extra point from the audience cheers

Yes, so that was like a bad thing too. That was like a big like it's crazy. You had to get that you had to get that thing So it's basically one one week of every night Then another team comes up 30 comics whatever 15 and they do their week Now if you place that week you got to come back the third week And your crew goes up against his crew And then the finals well it goes down to five comics and that's a whole another week So it's four weeks of your life. But let me tell you something. I learned to love

Comics like that's the first time I was ever involved with a circle of comics. Yeah, the camaraderie day out try ferris james inman Uh floyd j phillips josh wolf gavin boy that contest Taught me we went to a seattle fucking football game that sunday like Somebody gave us a handful of tickets and we all went together as comics It taught me a lot. It really did and and I Iisha tail. I still remember my isha tailor jump in the pool with her big fucking titties and shit We all went crazy. We were like she had a body of death back then She was just hot, you know and uh

So no it's it's an experience for comics if you've never done it Eric listen I'm happy. We finally got you on the show. I know right? This is great. I mean we can I feel like we could talk comedy and I know no You're very insightful on and I can tell you take it seriously if not You wouldn't be where you'd be I am trying to take it as serious as I can like I say you should intellectualize it and then then forget about that stuff And just do it. That's my advice to you. Yeah, I appreciate it. That's it. That's all just like nike says

Yeah, just just do it just do it and you're gonna run into roblox and then you figure them out And every time you figure them out, it strengthens you. Yeah, those triple runs are very fucking That was I look back at I look back at the time fondly, but I still go damn. I can't believe I was doing You know still booking. Yeah, I you know what I always say I say I would do triple runs today If they if it was more professional Like if it was like you could get a good take at the door and like You you spend like five days in montan I would do it If you could leave with a hefty chunk because you you're doing like these great shows

Because that was what great cities, man bozeman, butte, uh, you know Missoula you could still do that one of your best friends. I know I know I know just flying the buildings I know the car. Yeah, exactly and do all those towns take a piece of the door Yeah, you know book radio triple told me he didn't want me doing it anymore And I knew exactly why because when you get to a certain point where I knew I just was like You know it was like you can't have that out there because you can't have these people going Because there was some bad like no they got bad comments some terrible

Terrible so, you know, you can't have somebody doing even a little well because then the people there are going to be like We need more comics like that, you know That's that's what you work with you stop booking you when you got better you work with comics who Triple runs are an experience, but I'll tell you what for some people Some headliners it becomes a reality And you've seen it out there where or cruise ships. They have you've done a cruise ship. No, and I'm not interested in the mean to At that point I go self-fucking fords down the corner I did I did I did I wanted

I wanted to check it out. I did I so I did like four or five I wanted to see because I was in my mind. I was thinking could I end up here and let me see how it is I did I enjoyed my time, but I was like I feel sequestered And I saw these comics it becomes golden handcuffs. What they do is they they fire everybody. They don't need agents managers There's 50 ships. There's so much work that they could just this is it They're like I'm I'm gonna do this for the rest of I could do this for 10 more years save money You don't spend any money It's like it's a it's a lane that I thought well, let me check on that lane and listen

Comics coming all sizes and forth. Yeah, man. Listen man this comics in michigan that'll take you and me Chew us up and spit us out and they got six kids and a job and a wife and a job that's too much insurance That covers that kid. Yep, and they can't leave that's the reality of this line There's 20 fucking comics out that will level us one smokes crack and lives with his mother You know and he can't you know, you know auto and george would fucking what they don't rest his soul He would take calls from a payphone on tuesdays You had to call that payphone to book them and he would only go down there to get cracked, you know There's no follow-through is what it is comics coming all sizes and forms and whatever you want your career to go

It could go that's the choice that you have. Yeah, I have a choice I I got into the podcast business ticket started selling the comedy caught up Because it took 20 years everything to catch up all those movies. I did Caught up you follow me. Yeah yesterday. Something they're putting it together. They were like, oh, that's the guy from Oh, that's the guy It is such a fucking circle. Yeah a wise guy once told me This business is a business of cultures The people who come here with a quick fucking dream and a quick it has to happen

It don't happen and if it does happen They don't last they go to fuck away the guys that eat this and eat shit And then later on when you're doing movies, you're like, I remember why I'm getting this You know why because I got a flat on the way from bozeman to billings that time And I had a fucking that flat. Yeah, I paid my dues. Eric. Thank you. Thank you. It was great. Don't forget to watch I'm dying up here. I'm an episode one and two. I suppose There's somebody said they seen me. So I don't fucking know. I don't know the episodes You call you in the first episode for sure. It's great first episode. So taffy taffy taffy

So, uh, thank you, Eric. Thank you much success. Do not watch the payasal jam on netflix We don't we don't get the dime when I get the dime from that shit and uh My daddy dates coming up. I know you just have that for special I didn't know there's no a showtime. I did it for showtime. That's coming out. I can't announce the date They tell me but it's it's coming soon It'll be on while the I'm dying appears on but my next date is coming up may 24th I'm gonna be at the bridgeport stress fat stress factory Okay, and I'll be at the stress factory in jersey on the 18th or the 20th is sold out

And I hope I don't have to shoot. I'm dying up here and cancel it now. You guys know the truth The dates might coincide. So you heard it here first. You heard it here first But no, I don't know now. You're gonna have people calling like is he gonna be there or is he gonna be shooting? I think we're working out. I think I'm you can check me out eric griffin dot com at eric griffin with a k You're rik griffin. That's what I am. I'm eric griffin on everything instagram twitter snapchat And don't forget as usual a shout out to fucking On it for always being there for us if you need supplements there the way to go Trust me, I can't hook you up with kettle bells and shit. That's not my division

But as far as the protein shakes the hemp force the The alpha brain the shroom tech all that stuff I give you 10% off to live it right the house and number two. Are you hiring? Posting your position to job sites and waiting and waiting for right people to see it It's never gonna happen. Listen, you know how hard it is to get great talent and how the the way you go Anyway, zip recruiter knew there was a smarter way So they built the platform for the right job candidates for you zip recruiter learns what you're looking for identifies the people with the right experience

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The church family Get zip recruiter for free gratis who gots nothing you get it for free Just go to zip recruiter dot com slash church ch ur ch That's zip recruiter dot com slash church. That's ch u r c h zip recruiter is the smartest way to hire I want to thank eric griffin I want to thank my man the flying jew and I want to thank you guys for putting a great week together I love you guys. I'll see you Wednesday. Stay black. Stay strong hit it lee

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