WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1277 - Felipe Esparza

Episode Date: November 8, 2021

The challenges of standup comedy were nothing compared to the obstacles Felipe Esparza faced throughout his childhood. His family was caught crossing the border and sent back to Mexico. When he finally made it to America, he found himself living with an abusive father in a Los Angeles neighborhood being decimated by crack and PCP. And as Felipe tells Marc, even when he was getting good standup gigs, he couldn't escape his past. They also talk about Felipe's vegan journey, the big comedy lesson he learned from the library, and the difference between doing his act in English and in Spanish. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a night for the whole family. Be a part of Kids Night when the Toronto Rock take on the Colorado Mammoth at a special 5 p.m. start time on Saturday, March 9th at First Ontario Centre in Hamilton. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will get a Dan Dawson bobblehead courtesy of Backley Construction. Punch your ticket to Kids Night on Saturday, March 9th at 5 p.m. in Rock City at torontorock.com. Death is in our air. This year's most anticipated series, FX's Shogun, only on Disney+. We live and we die.

We control nothing beyond that. An epic saga based on the global best-selling novel by James Clavel. To show your true heart is to risk your life. When I die here, you'll never leave Japan alive. FX's Shogun, a new original series streaming February 27th exclusively on Disney+. 18 plus subscription required. T's and C's apply.

Lock the gate! All right, let's do this. How are you, what the fuckers? What the fuckniks? What the fuckbuddies? What's happening? I'm Mark Maron. This is my podcast.

Welcome to it. How's everything out there? Are you guys okay? Listen, a couple of things right up front here. There's going to be a live episode of WTF on Sunday, November 14th in New York City and admission is free. You hear me? Are you hearing this? I'll be talking movies with author Jason Bailey, who wrote the new book, Fun City Cinema, New York City and the Movies That Made It. And we're doing this at the Paris Theater on West 58th Street, the only single screen movie theater left in Manhattan. All right, so listen and listen

close. Listen to me and listen close because I'm only saying it once. I'll say it twice. At noon Eastern today, we will post the signup link on the WTF pod Twitter account. It's going to be first come first served. So click that link and sign up before tickets are all gone. That's WTF pod on Twitter at 12 noon today. You hear me? That's for the free live podcast in New York City at the Paris Theater on West 58th Street, November 14th, Sunday.

Bring your coffee. Get a nice coffee, maybe a bagel or something. Huh? Could you toast this a little more? Could you please toast this a little for a few more minutes? Could you take this back in and toast it for a few more minutes? Do you have a cloth napkin that I could put out? Sorry, working on an impression of a specific person that's not a celebrity.

And I was fucking nailing it. The other thing I want to mention tonight, I'm at Largo here in Los Angeles for the last time I will be doing this full set like this. So I don't know if there are tickets or not left. But this is it before I go. I'm looking forward to going to New York. I've not been to New York since the plague. I have no idea what to expect

if it's anything like Los Angeles it's going to seem tenuous at best think about that man fucking year and a half or however long it took ongoing terror and trauma

and fear lockdown and we're all jacked in. We completely acclimate and adapt to a day-to-day engagement with the computer in a way that was life-sustaining. That was our life. Streaming, Zooming, reading, whatever it is, whatever rabbit hole you choose,

whatever activity you were doing, the internet became our qualifier. That's codependent talk. That's Al-Anon talk. That's program talk for who you are codependent to, who you are enabling, who you are trying to fix, who you are trying to make behave differently. The internet is our qualifier culturally.

We love them, her, it. Sometimes it's scary. Sometimes it tells us things we don't want to. Sometimes it behaves in a bad way and we can't really stop it. That is who we are codependent. That is a symbiotic thing. And it became desperate and essential during lockdown. So in the middle of all that trauma, in the middle of all that fear, in the middle of being ripped open and facing the unknown on a viral level and also on an environmental level we depended on

that connection so imagine what it did to our fucking traumatized brains imagine that interface now imagine that i've talked about it before. We volunteered for it. Now we're all pimped out by the algorithm. And your reality, your sense of reality, your perception is guided and defined by the choices you make streaming. By the choices you make online. By the choices of content that you curate and allow into your brain. That is the parameters of your perception. I mean, outside is outside. There's your car.

There's your hose. Where's your cat? That's the store. Be careful. Fill it up. Want to take a drive? Fill it up. Plug it in a drive, fill it up, plug it in.

I'm going to cook this thing. That reality has a context. That's the reality reality. Slow going. But the electrified perception of what you allow into your brain in the form of content or information. What is the context of your perception?

What are the parameters of your perception? What are the parameters of your perception? What are you logging into? What choices have you made that will then enable the great throbbing algorithm to mine your desires? Your brain is a fucking whore. Turned out.

You let it happen I like the free thinking whores yeah you're making all the choices big boy yep Felipe Esparza is on the show today he's a comic and people may have seen

his stand-up specials on Netflix or when he won Last Comic Standing. He's been a regular on Superstore and the Eric Andre show. Funny guy. Odd guy.

We'd only met a couple of times but I was always sort of fascinated with him. Worked with him once. Was happy to talk to him. He's on the Netflix series Gentified. The second season premieres this Wednesday, November 10th. He's currently on tour and you can go felipesworld.com

to see the dates and get tickets. Also his podcast is called What's Up Fool. You can get wherever you get podcasts. Funny guy. Are you self-employed? Don't think you need business insurance? Think again. Business insurance from Zensurance is a no-brainer for every business owner because it provides peace of mind.

A lot can go wrong. A fire, cyber attack, stolen equipment, or an unhappy customer suing you. That's why you need insurance. Don't let the, I'm too small for for this mindset hold you back from protecting yourself. Zensurance provides customized business insurance policies starting at just $19 per month. Visit Zensurance today to get a free quote. Zensurance. Mind your business.

Death is in our air. This year's most anticipated series, FX's Shogun, only on Disney+. We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that. An epic saga based on the global best-selling novel by James Clavel. To show your true heart is to risk your life. When I die here, you'll never leave Japan alive. FX's Shogun, a new original series, streaming February 27 27th exclusively on Disney+. 18 plus subscription required.

T's and C's apply. Hi. So what, do you play anything? I've been practicing piano. I have a keyboard. I bought a keyboard. Yeah. So I've been practicing on it and on YouTube. Yeah.

I watch the colors go down and I know how to play the beginning of Commodore's Easy. Yeah. You know what? I know how to play the beginning of a lot of songs. Yeah. Just to fool people. Sure, man. When they go like, do you play?

Yeah, I know how to play a little Claire DeL loon real quick it's amazing on the fucking YouTube that like you just learn anything you want anything you know back in like how old are you man 53 I'm 58 so like when we were kids oh yeah to go get a guy yeah yeah go take a lesson yeah I find I'm gonna hang out with a mariachi or something. Yeah, yeah. Well, that's great music. I knew a guy that was in a regular rock band in Corpus Christi.

He had to work like a bartender. Yeah. And he joined a conjunto band. Yeah. Well, that's where it all comes from, Texas, man. He's a drummer?

He's a drummer. So what have you been doing, man? I saw you at the airport. You looked like you were going at it. I've been, we started touring again. I have a tour called called Unmasked Tour.

It's going through next year. Do you do shows in Spanish? When I was working, I did a Netflix special in Spanish. I saw that in Spanish, yeah. And how does that, what do you see in terms of the difference in how many people watch it? Do you get a bigger audience, I guess? I haven't noticed. You don't know.

I get emails. You can't tell with the Netflix. Sometimes I get an email from a guy like in Peru. Hey, Spanish. Thank you. I got it. But the people who saw my English one, they saw the Spanish one, and they liked the Spanish one better. Really?

Do you know why? Probably because my Spanish is more of a West Coast, East LA, you know, Spanish. Yeah. West Coast, East LA, you know, Spanish. Yeah. West Coast Spanish. Then the Spanish, they speak in like Spain or Venezuela or Cuba. Like Mexico. Yes.

Yeah. My Spanish is not like Mexico, but because I noticed that the dialect didn't work. And a lot of Spanish words that I use here in America don't exist in the Spanish language. Really? Like we made it up. Oh, here. Yeah. Like when we say in English, hey, can you fix my brakes?

Yeah. And if you grew up in Boyle Heights or East Los Angeles, Lincoln Heights, you know, West Coast, Albuquerque. Yeah. You say, hey, man, can you fix my brekas? We had an A-S. But that word doesn't exist. The right word is frenos. Really?

Somebody corrected me in Mexico. Brekas? Brekas. Yeah. Yeah, I grew up in New Mexico, so I guess it's probably the same Spanish. Yes. But did you, you were born in Mexico? I was born in Mexico, snuck in, fair and square. Yeah? How old were you?

Oh, man, I was like four, four or three. Really? I remember I was four because when I got to America, I went to kindergarten. So your whole family come over? Just my mother, my dad, and my three brothers. Do you remember it? Yeah. My mom, my dad came first.

He came over here because- He snuck in? Yeah. We had family members that were already here, his family members. And they were like, come on, make the run for it. He'll come over here, man, snuck in? Yeah. We had a family member that were already here. His family members. And they were like, come on, make the run for it. He'll come over here, man. There's plenty of work. Yeah.

Most of my dad's cousins and brothers were working for, I think, Warner Brothers Records. Oh, really? They were stacking vinyls in the boxes. Packing the records? Packing them and putting them in a machine and they would put the plastic over them. So that's like 49 years ago. Yes. That was like 79. Oh, wow.

And my dad, we went from, we live in Sinaloa, Mexico, which is like 11 hours from the border. Oh my God. 11 hour drive. Way down there. Way down there. Yeah. So we drove, I remember driving when we were little to tijuana mexico my my dad's um aunt lived there yeah my dad's cousins lived there and his sister so we moved into our

we moved my mom and my brother five of us we moved into a house they already had like seven kids in in tijuana in tijuana so now there's 12 kids and there's like four three parents in one house two bedroom house oh my god we stood there for two weeks and these are your cousins yes and we crossed the border with um we thought when i i remember this as a little kid but we crossed the border and we got caught yeah like we made it all the way to San Clemente, but there was a, they had a, like a, they had their own thing going on back then. Like, I don't know, maybe it was the Alley County Sheriffs

or Menet Man, but they had a border patrol stop there too. Yeah, yeah. Like the, ah, you think you made it? Nah, you didn't. Check this out. We have another one. So we got pulled over there and we were put in a like a little jail in san comente yeah yeah and then we got deported my other my aunt who lived in san

esito california she came to go visit us yeah and i don't know what they these adults plotted when we were asleep but um they came to us and they said we we're going to cross the border in two weeks. And they told my little brother to, they gave my brother an identity already at one or two years old. Yeah. With the papers? Yes. So he had to dress up like a little girl.

Oh, no. Yeah. And her name was Patti. Yeah. And I talk about it in my second part special, but yeah. Which special? What's that one called? That's called Translate This. That one, my wife and i we produced it ourself but my little brother was dressed like a little girl with my aunt my aunt dressed him like a little girl and he wore a little dress and then

he like he practiced his name yeah he wore the dress for about a week yeah and we get to the border and yeah border patrol asked him what's your name he says his name and we get to the border and the border patrol asks him, what's your name? He says his name and we get in. Yeah, he said Patty? He said, what's your name, boy? Yeah. Me llamo Patty.

That was it. And my brother's gay now, but you know. I don't think that did it. No. But that was your ticket, huh? That was our ticket. We've been here ever since.

And how does that, like I have no understanding how that works. So, like. We get here, right? But we don't just cross the border and, like, go home somewhere. Like, whoever was driving us took us to Carson, California. Yeah. And there, there was, like, a house. Right.

And there was, like, a lot of families, not just us. Yeah. In different rooms. Yeah. And I guess they're waiting for their money. Yeah. And if you don't get their money, you know, I don't know what they do. Oh, you mean the. The us. Yeah. In different rooms. Yeah. And I guess they're waiting for their money. Yeah. And if you don't get their money, you know, I don't know what they do. Oh, you mean the-

The hub. Yeah. So the guys who took you across, the mules, or whatever you call them, coyotes. What are they called? Coyotes. Coyotes. Mules are drug guys, right? Yes.

Right. So you got to pay them. So that's where that happens. Yes. Yeah. So a lot of people meet family members who have the bread. Yes. There's still immigrants.

We have our own taxi service, bootleg. My grandmother, she had a visa, and she would come visit us from Tuxpan, Nayarit, which is, that's even 20-hour drive from the United States. Yeah. 23-hour drive. Yeah. 20 hour drive from the United States. 23 hour drive.

Yeah. And she would just, she would go to the United States and then she would, right there on, by the, on Los Angeles

and 3rd Street. There used to be a Greyhound station but now it's on Santa Fe. Yeah. There's, there's all kinds of like bootleg

gypsy cabs, you know, from Mexico. Yeah, yeah. And then my grandmother would just talk to a guy and goes, I'm going to Tuxpan Nayarit. How much is it to take me all the way home? Wow.

And I drive her, we'll just drive her. Really? From Los Angeles all the way to Mexico. For 20 hours? For 20 hours. And then along the way, he'll pick up another person. Yeah. And just along the way.

So he's picking up people along the way in his little car. Yeah. And then he'll just hustle his way back to America. Wow. So my mom, I don't know how she did it, but she knew this taxi service. So when you get here, in that situation, how long are you afraid or undocumented? How long has that happened? I was little, so I don't remember.

I was just told, run home. Yeah. After school. But do you eventually get to citizenship? Yes. My father got his green card. Yeah. After school. Do you eventually get to citizenship? Yes. My father got his green card. Yeah. He settled.

He had a visa. Working at Warner Brothers? Working at Pike. He was a welder. Oh, okay. He worked for this metal shop place. My mom later on told me that they were working for federal projects. And then we got our papers also in 1981.

And that was it? Yeah. And then so- My mom and dad are American citizens now. Yeah. And my dad took his citizenship class test in Spanish. Yeah. Because he'd been here over 25 years.

So when you're in America for over 25 years, and you go take your citizenship class, and your test, you take it in your own foreign language. Really? So my dad's test said, ¿Cuáles son los colores de la bandera de Estados Unidos? ¿Rojo, azul, y blanco? What are the colors of the United States, red, white, and blue? Are they both still alive?

They're both alive. Yeah? Are they together? No, my dad lives in an old folks home somewhere in East LA. And my mom, she's living at home with a little Alzheimer's. Oh, they both have Alzheimer's? Just my mom. Yeah?

And do you take care of her? No, my mom has a nurse that shows up. Yeah. And my brother shows up. Yeah, it's just the two of you? Yeah, my brother shows up every other week, every other day. And one of my other brothers lives there. Oh, so you got two brothers? Yeah. My brother shows up every other week, every other day. One of my other brother lives there. Oh, so you got two brothers? Yeah. Older one? One brother lives there. The other one, he just visits. You got an older and a younger? They're all younger. I'm

the oldest. Oh, yeah? So when you get here- Party. Party visits. When you get here, so you grew up the whole time in Los Angeles? Yeah, Boyle Heights. Boyle Heights. And what was it like coming up? So you're here since you're four years old. We lived... I watched some of the special, and it sounds like it was pretty gnarly,

pretty heavy. Yeah. We lived in different parts. We first lived in Boyle Heights by General Hospital next to the freeway. Yeah. And then we moved to the west side by Olympic and Washington. Yeah.

And then we moved into the housing projects of Aliso Village, Pico Aliso, Pico Gardens. How old were you then? Like five, six. I went to, I started second grade at Utah Elementary, which was a little elementary inside the housing projects. Yeah. Now, were the projects terrible, or were they all right? They were bad, man.

When I was a little kid, it was... I remember when I was in fourth grade, we couldn't go outside for recreation or nutrition because there was shooting outside. I think there was a crip gang and flats gang. So that would be, what, Latino gang and a black gang? Yes. That goes on all the time.

Or it used to. I used to live in Highland Park. It used to be bad there, I think. It was bad back then. And when did you, like, did your parents stay together the whole time? Yeah, my parents stood together the whole time. Really? They separated, like, later on when I was an adult.

And then got back together. No, they're not together no more. Oh, yeah. They didn't get divorced or nothing like that because my mom was waiting for my dad to die and get it social. That didn't happen. No. It's a waiting game now for her. Didn't work out.

Well, she's not going to remember. Yeah. So when did you start? Because when I watched the special, which one did I watch, the last one? What was that called? Bad Decisions. Yeah, that's good. It was really funny.

But it sounds like from the get-go, so all three of you kids are in the house, and it sounds like it's pretty crazy. Yeah. But what was it like? Was it booze or what? My dad was an alcoholic. Yeah? He worked all day.

Yeah. And he came home and drank. Yeah. And then yelled. Yelled. Yeah. Beat everybody up. Yeah.

He used to fuck us up. Yeah. I remember one time I was, we were living across the street from Pecan Park. That was before we moved into the project. Yeah. But we were still in the same neighborhood, but didn't move into the project together. My dad, oh man, I was such a dumbass. Yeah. I was playing with a soccer ball.

Yeah. And I kicked it real hard. Yeah. And I broke our window. Yeah. Our front window. Right, right. And my dad was drinking with his friends next door and right across the street.

He was watching me the whole time and they were all drinking beer then he saw me and i knew it was on right so i ran to the house and um my dad was trying to like find something to beat me with you know like how about or yeah or water hose or whatever right and he was drunk he mad, and my mom was trying to calm him down. Hey, calm down, you know, in Spanish. Calmate, cabrón. Está loco. You know, calm down.

Then my dad, like, he was freaking out because he couldn't find nothing to hit me with. So he was trying to unhook the fucking, the hose from the washing machine, all angry, just to scare me more. And then my mom tried to stop him. And he just pushed my mom out the way. And then we just...

I started crying. And everybody started crying. And he freaked out. And he didn't hit me though. He just ran out. Everybody started crying. That was enough of a unified effort. The tears.

That was the second time I broke the window in a month. The first time we were playing, the tears. Yeah, because that was the second time I broke the window, like, in a month. Oh. The first time we were playing in the house, and I unscrewed the wooden piece of my mom and dad's bed, like, their backboard. Yeah, headboard. The headboard.

Yeah. And it was, like, a long wooden, it was like a pole. Yeah. And I tried to hit my brother with it, and I threw it at him like a spear. Yeah. But it went through the window, and it broke. a long wooden, it was like a pole. And I tried to hit my brother with it and I threw it at him like a spear. But it went through the window and it broke. So that was strike one.

That was strike one. But I got beat for that one. So there was just like a lot of beating. All the kids? All of them. And your mom? Yeah. It's terrible.

Just shoving at first, but then fist. Yeah? Yeah. With the kids or your mom? My mom, just that one time I was talking about on a special that I remember. That was the one time? Yeah. That he choked her and, yeah.

Yeah. So when did you start checking out? Checking out what? Like with drugs. Oh, I started like late. I started when I was 19. But I was drinking like 16, you know. I would find a beer.

I was drinking with my friends at night. Or a beer was drinking my friends and i or 40 yeah mickey's yeah sure and yeah yeah high school stuff but then like in high school i started drinking more with my friends yeah like after school yeah but then i started smoking pot when i was 19 at a christmas party with my friends yeah then i started smoking weed every day yeah yeah and then I started um There was a lot of crack in my neighborhood. Yeah and PCP. Oh, yeah, not so much heroin just PCP and he's right That's the rough. That's a rough ride and I never chose that stuff No, like I and a lot of my friends they were selling it. Did they like it? They were selling they were selling it Yeah, cuz my neighborhood first was known for for thai butter yeah it was called thailand yeah so oh good weed good weed

like it was called the thailand my neighborhood yeah and they would just saw weed weed weed weed everybody would show up right but then that changed to crack yeah then the bam it was like zombies all over my neighborhood like it went down. You remember them? Yeah. It was bad. Yeah. You saw a whole family go down, man. Really? Yeah, I remember watching. Man, I was standing in the streets,

and I saw a guy show up with a Jeep Cherokee. Yeah. And then later on sold the Jeep Cherokee for $200 to somebody with pink slip. $200. And then I saw, sold the Jeep Cherokee for $200 to somebody with pink slip. $200. And then I saw him with his same, I saw him two weeks later, same clothes. Then I saw him in a bicycle with ripped shoes. And it just kept going worse and worse.

Worse and worse. And then he was just naked. Yeah. Running down the street. Living in a skid row. Oh, that's too bad. So it shifted to crack. But did you do this PCP? I did. I did all the street. Living in Skid Row. Oh, that's too bad. So it shifted to crack. But did you do this PCP?

I did. I did all the stuff. I did PCP. I smoked crack. It's hard to handle that PCP, isn't it? Yeah. It's pretty crazy for a while. Yeah, you think you have superman strength.

Yeah. You start biting people's ear off. And you smoked a crack? Yeah. I smoked a crack when my brother got shot. Which brother? My brother Angel. Not Patty?

No, my brother Angel. But he was with me when we crossed the border. Yeah. All three of you. Yeah, he was shot for being a bad person. There was no brown life matter for him. He deserved that. What happened?

Him and his friend. This is from rumors you know i don't want to put him in give him give him another record but they were just driving around doing doing like looking for a rival gang you know trying to buy beer yeah looking for trouble 20 yeah probably 20 21. and um they saw a car and then they started following a car and i don't know who shot first but they they were like in a 20-minute car chase shooting at each other. Yeah. But the other car was a sheriff's car.

Yeah. They were undercover. They were dressed with pendulums, too. Yeah. So my brother was shot, like, in the head, in a mouth a leg oh my god and um he survived man he survived he was um two of his friends um two of his friends passed away in that same shootout yeah but he survived he survived how is he now he's good you know he walks a little crooked living in mexico now yeah but he can talk and everything

He can talk everything normal like as soon as like I remember um He was when we went to go visit him and in jail and I jail, but I'm pretty much jail He was in a county general hospital County Hospital. Yeah, but it was like in the jail ward jail part I didn't know they had that yeah sure so that. So they had to check our IDs. And we went to go visit him. His leg was chained to the bed. Wow. And he was in a little coma. But he came out of it.

He was in a wheelchair for a while. He couldn't move his legs. Right. I remember Father Greg Boyle. Yeah. He grew up in our neighborhood. We grew up in his neighborhood. Yeah.

His church. Yeah. So we grew up with him. We knew him up in his neighborhood. Yeah. His church. Yeah. So we grew up with him. We knew him since he was little. Since we were little. Father Greg Boyle? Yeah. He did the-

Homeboy Industries. Yeah, Homeboy Industries. They do all this stuff, right? Yes. Bakery too, right? Yes. Yeah. We grew up knowing Father Greg Boyle.

He baptized our friends. Oh, yeah. He did our first communion. So your whole life. He baptized my daughter. Your whole life, you know. Yeah, I knew him. So he knew friends. Oh, yeah. He did our first communion. So your whole life. He baptized my daughter. Your whole life, you know. Yeah, I knew him. So he knew how bad we were already. Yeah.

Yeah. And what about him and your brother? So he went to go visit my brother periodically at the hospital. My brother was at the same hospital where Muhammad Ali went for brain injuries. Yeah. And Los Amigos. Rancho Los Amigos. And so my brother, one day he blinked at me.

He goes, hey, fool, I can move my legs already. He goes, don't tell nobody. I want to stay here for a long time. I want to stay here longer. He was comfortable? He had good food here. So one day Father Greg shows up, and he starts blessing him with holy water, and he does a little cross. Yeah.

And then Father Greg throws the holy water in his legs, and my brother turns into the exorcist. It burns! Oh, it burns! Yeah. Father Greg freaks out. Yeah. That's funny. Did he go back to Mexicoxico like after he recovered or what no um after he recovered um he he was in the neighborhood with a wheelchair for a while

yeah and um being um still doing his thing with a wheelchair like you know what doing the bad shit yeah was he like in a gang is that what it was no he was just um crazy dude man oh he loved drugs yeah he loved drugs and my brother went in a wheelchair man and i thought he's still having he's doing he's doing his thing man i'm a handsome guy yeah still having sex in a wheelchair yeah we put he will put girls on top of him and his friends will push him down the stairs to the wheels for love homie yeah and why did you go but end up back down in mexico my brother was um long story short when i was on last comic standing yeah they did a um a thorough background check on all the contestants yeah nbc lawyers private investigators so i came back with a check on my on my criminal record they, Felipe, were you arrested recently

and you have four bench wards? I said, no. I haven't been arrested since probably 91. And I was a DA reject, so I never went to court. And he went, wow, they showed me all these things. He goes, wow, that might be my brother. He probably stole my identity. Because he had stolen my other brother's identity, too.

Yeah. So I had to locate his daughter somewhere. And she sent me a photo of him. And I sent it to the private investigator. Yeah. And he put the name and the photo together. They didn't match. Yeah.

So they found out it was him. After all, they let me in the show. Really? Yeah. And that's out it was him. After all, they let me in the show. Really? Yeah. And that's why he had to go to Mexico? No, because he ended up going to prison, ending up in prison, so they finally got deported.

They deported him. Oh. But he had a good job. He works for AT&T in Mexico. Yeah, now he's got a good job? Yeah. My brother told me this. I had him on my podcast.

He said that as soon as he got deported, there's a calling center in Mexico. Yeah. My brother told me this. I had him on my podcast. He said that as soon as he got deported, there's a calling center in Mexico for AT&T, and they call Americans. Yeah. And then they need Spanish speakers, English speakers that they don't have to teach English to. Right. So you got all these thugs getting deported from MS-13, flats13 flats 18th street and they're all mexicans so why not work at a calling center so so my brother all day he calls people and tell them about their phone and hooks them up this is all these uh criminals and murderers yeah yeah making the calls right well he's got a gig right yeah so when does this all start? So what did you get busted for? I was busted when I was younger.

Yeah. I had no job. I had no money. There was a drug deal between three guys. Yeah. And the guy dropped a dope when he ran. Yeah. And I happened to be there.

Yeah. And so the cop goes, hey, stop running. He goes, I wasn't even running. be there yeah and um so the cop hey stop running he goes how are they running so the guy found he found like an ounce and a half like not even like 20 feet from me yeah and those guys ran and so wasn't even your dope yeah and then they they took me for it and and those guys that i didn't those guys that i belong to bailed me out like i was out the next day i was out the same day the guys that ditched? Yeah.

They were your friends? I knew who they were. I didn't say who they were but I just said I didn't know who they were. So that was it, didn't stick? No. It didn't come up

until I went to Canada. You went to Canada? For the Montreal Comedy Festival and to open up for Russell Peters. Oh, it didn't come up? It didn't come up then but when I went

to travel alone, it showed up. Really? And they asked me, you've been arrested? And I always say no because, you know, if you were not charged or. You don't know if it's going to come up, you might as well say no. And then if they find it, they're like, oh, yeah, I didn't. Yeah.

Yeah. DA reject. What does that mean? The district attorney of the county rejected the case because it was an unwinnable case. Oh, so that means you were never charged? I was never charged. Huh. I went to, I showed up to court.

Yeah. And I saw my name and it was stamped. No, you go home. Nothing happened to you. Huh. So when do you, like, when you talk about in the specials, it sounds like you had the cocaine problem pretty bad. Yeah. Well, how, that's like you had the cocaine problem pretty bad. Yeah. Were you doing comedy yet?

I stopped when I started doing comedy. I had like 10 years sober, and then I picked it up again in Bakersfield. So what's the story? So when we started talking about drugs, I was like 19. So what were you doing? When did you start doing comedy? How old are you? I started comedy when I was 24, 25. So from 19 to 25 you're just kicking around? Yeah, sober Yeah, oh you were you were sober? From 24 to 30 I was sober. From 21 to 31 I was sober, nine, ten years 21 to 31? Yeah. So you got sober at 21?

Yeah. Like for real? Yeah, like nothing. I was going to church. With Father Boyle? Yeah, Father Boyle came to my house, and then he told me about this rehab called Live Again Recovery Home. So you were really fucked up. Yeah.

And this was when you were kind of a kid, though. Yes. Like you were 20. I got into a fight with somebody in the neighborhood. They were going to jump me. Yeah. And this was when you were kind of a kid, though. Yes. Like you were 20. I got into a fight with somebody in the neighborhood. They were going to jump me. Yeah. And he knew. So maybe you should get away from the neighborhood for a while.

Yeah. So like, but he seemed to like your family or he was just good to everybody. Yes. My mom wanted to go talk to him too, though. Oh, okay. So you go talk to the priest. Yeah. And the priest comes and talks to you.

Yes. And then he said, you got to go to rehab. And you said, okay. Yes. And then you got straight and you were doing the program and everything. Yes. Yeah, for a while. And then when I was in rehab, we used to have like visitors

because our rehab was non-denomination. So you could be a Muslim, a Jew, or whatever. Yeah. Every Sunday, everybody goes to their own church yeah all right yeah so we had this guy named um tim who lived in um who lived in the valley yeah he was catholic but he was like a brother you know like a kind of like i'm not sure leave the type dude yeah yeah a brother yeah he was not a priest yeah he was like oh he did the bad work for the priest so he would go visit us and have programs for the men, you know, other grown men, like activities.

Yeah. Kind of like self-awareness, you know, like make you think about yourself. Yeah. So one day he writes, he tells us, I want you guys to write down five things you want to do when you were little. Like your goals, what you want to be when you were little. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we're like a bunch of heroin addicts.

Some guys are 62, 70. Yeah. I'm young, crackhead. Yeah. All the heroin addicts there look like a crackhead, like we're losers. Yeah, yeah. We look at them like they're old. They ain't going to make it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And everybody was writing stuff like fireman or I want to be Superman or I want to be this. And myself, too. I wanted to be Superman, too. Yeah, sure. I want to be Batman. And he looked at it and go, no, no. What you want to be like before you get on drugs?

Yeah. Like president or astronaut. Oh. So everybody sent it back. So then I wrote on the first one, comedian. Yeah. Go to Italy. Stay sober. Just four, be happy. Yeah. Five, I have it back. So then I wrote on the first one, comedian, go to Italy, stay sober,

just four, be happy. Five, I have no idea, I just left it blank. Those four are good. So that was like the first time I ever wrote down goals. So he didn't want to see them after that. He would just keep it, and he would, now you have something to live for. Now you have a goal in life.

So why do you want to be a comedian? Who were you watching? Who were your guys? What made you want to do that? We have, when I was in high school, somebody was passing around a VHS tape of seven hours of comedy. Just general. They're all HBO specials.

It was Paul Rodriguez, Howie Mandel with a hand bag, and Ronnie Dangerfield's Young Comedian Specials. The one with Robin Williams hosted. Uh-huh. And Robin Williams Special and Sam Kinison, Young Comedians. Oh, really?

Oh, the Dangerfield Sam Kinison? Yeah, that one. And we were watching them all day. We were watching porn, too. And my friend, Jackie Escalera. Yeah. He played that album for us which one um bill bill cosby my brother russell oh yeah who might sleep with yeah and now and then my other other friend emilio garcia he played um richard prior that n word is crazy and we memorized that

one yeah hey you could never get a you could never get an ambulance in the projects unless you yell out five five black people killing a white woman where's the body yeah yeah so that one so we were all into stand-up yeah so it was a thing you and your friends and here in california my brother um angel he was a gifted kid by the way my brother angel the one who got shot yeah he was a man he was a gifted kid, by the way. My brother, Angel. The one who got shot? Yeah, he was a magnet kid, man. And he used to go to Sierra Park Elementary because he was smart. Yeah.

And he didn't go to the schools in the projects. So he found out with some other kids about the comedy show on KMET on Sundays from 7 o'clock to 9 o'clock. It was a Dr. Demento show. Oh, okay. And Dr. Demento, he would wear like a top hat. Yeah. But it was a radio show, and he would play all the comedies,

like George Carlin and Young Weird Al Yankovic. Yeah, yeah. So we would listen to that, too. You listened to Dr. Demento. So you guys were comedy freaks. Yeah, my brother was an angel besides being, he was an exchange student, too. He listened to Dr. Demento. So you guys were comedy freaks. Yeah, my brother was an angel besides being, he was an exchange student too. He was?

Like, my brother was smart, man. Like, he knew how to get in and fit in anywhere. Huh. And where was he an exchange student?

At the park, at the school, Sierra Park. He signed up for a foreign exchange program. Yeah. Filled out all the applications himself.

Yeah. Just had my mom sign her name. She didn't speak bad English. Yeah. Just had my mom sign her name. She didn't speak Spanish, English. Yeah. She told my mom, Mom, put your signature here. Put your name here.

So she's just signing away, signing away. And then one day, my brother told my mom, I'm going to need some money. You know, I'm going to go to Mexico. What? Yeah, mom. They have a foreign exchange student.

I'm going to Mexico. I'm going to live to Mexico. What? Yeah, mom, they have a foreign exchange student. I'm going to go to Mexico. I'm going to live in Mexico City for about a week. And then that kid is going to come live with us. And, man, my brother went to Mexico. He told me he didn't have to pay for nothing. They gave him an allowance. Yeah. And he had his own room.

Wow. And he didn't have to share a room. He saw pyramids. He had lobster. He went to Cancun. He he had his own room. Wow. And he had to share a room. He saw pyramids. He had lobster. He went to Cancun. He went to Chiapas. Yeah. He traveled.

He got cultured in a Mexican culture. Yeah, yeah. That we don't know. For a week. Yeah. But then. Did the other kid come? That kid had to come to our house.

And we live in the housing projects. Four bedrooms. He had to share a room with two other people now and we have bunk beds and like he got the other he went to the bottom yeah i said no motherfucker you sit by the top and this was rich man like he always had cash in his pockets and he never shared like he would buy one ice cream yeah but he got different education huh yeah man he was rich it must have been a culture shock to hang around with because i don't think i'm rich mexicans hang around with poor mexicans in mexico but he did in the states oh

my god bro like he went from taking my brother to eat lobster to standing in line to eat free lunch at the park. Did he have a good time, that kid? Man, I hope he did. Man, this is a funny thing. We went to the park, you know, the city park. Yeah. And they had a city pool. Yeah.

And no cutoffs, you know. And they give you, you got to put your clothes, you know, that green bag and they take care of it. Man, this kid is hanging around with us. Yeah. And he speaks only Spanish. And we're at the pool and we're looking around. Where's Javier?

Yeah. Where's Javier? And then my friend, oh, man, look at that fool over there. And, man, that fool over there and man if we're wearing Speedos bro Speedos like pretty much for others underwear yeah and he's laying on the concrete floor like he's in the Bahamas you know like he's doing at the city pool now you're doing a tanning commercial man like tropical India's laying there man like in his head he's in a capulco man yeah how'd that go over not too good everybody's laughing everybody said hey javier what come you're naked yeah

so you guys are listening to all that comedy and you get in you're sober so when you start at 24 you're sober yes And where do you start doing the comedy? At first, I didn't know how to, some place called, I forgot the name of it. Yeah. It was a coffee shop. Yeah. And it was vegan. Oh, yeah.

And. So it was like an alternative room? Yes. So what year is that? That was like 94. Oh, yeah? Yeah. At a coffee shop.

Yeah. Who else was there? Jimmy Kennedy. Oh, yeah. Alonzo Bowoden yeah freddie soto huh freddie ciente levine yeah um all the coffee shop all the little coffee shop it was like punk rock music first yeah and then while they're taking down their instruments two comedians huh and then while the other then a punk band will show up. Huh. I wonder what place that was. It was right there on Fountain Avenue. And now it's called the Fountain Avenue Theater. But back then it was called something else. Okay.

And you just put together a set? Were you telling stories? Oh, man. I went to the library. Yeah. The Los Angeles County Library. And I asked this librarian, this old lady. Yeah. And then I told her I want to be a comedian, like a career person. And she goes, I don't know how to write.

So she took me to these books in the library for comedy writing. Some of them were like Steve Allen. Really? And one of them was Jean Perez, comedy writing, step-by-step by Gene Perez. Yeah. So I got that one. Yeah. And that one taught me how to write and how to brainstorm comedy.

Really? Like that guy would say that he used to write for just Johnny Carson and Steve Allen and these older comedians, man, from the old days. Jack something. Benny? Jack Benny. Jack Benny. So he would say- Or old days, Jack something. Benny. Jack Benny. So he would say. Or Jack Parr.

Jack Parr. Yeah. So Jack Parr, he was going to roll with Jack Parr, I guess, because I was reading a book. So Jack Parr would write a joke about planes or traveling. Yeah. So he'll write down columns like, oh, all the planes that he could think of. Yeah. And airlines that he'd been on.

And on this column, he'll write stuff that he heard airline guests overhear, like, oh, it's too hot in this plane, or put the window up, all those little things that he remembered things. Yeah. And then somehow all that, he'll come up with the jokes by brainstorming. And you tried that? Yeah. Huh.

And it worked? Yes. Wow. Sometimes I go back to it when i'm lazy really when i'm going through a brain when i'm going through a i feel like a when i'm bombing mentally you know yeah writer's block and um i i took the book from the library and then i learned i bought it huh then there was another book called um comedy right something is called comedy writing secrets by gene perris gene p-e-R-T-E.

It's been around forever. Yeah, I know. I never heard of it. Oh, there it is. Gene Perrette. I was too cheap to join a comedy class, Judy Brown. Yeah, Gene Perrette. Greg Dean.

Oh, what the hell is the name of the book? Comedy Writing Step-by-Step. There's a new comedy writing. It's a revised edition. I think his daughter revised it already just right now that's crazy man i never heard of that fucking book yeah man it's basic um pretty much um i feel like i need it i need it yeah i feel i always feel like i don't do it right me too or when i hear so a comedian write a great joke i thought i feel like i'm never gonna write like that yeah no i didn't

mean to like because i talk man i just talk you know and then it starts to come together i don't write jokes down and like for all these years every time i hear a joke i'm like why the fuck man i gotta get the book and i get a book and then i'll read the book but you read the book yeah but and it still helped you structure the shit yeah help you structure and that's crazy man so you got the book and then you just wrote the act and then you you went on to play some fountain? Yeah, I saw it on, I saw the Alley Weekly. Yeah. And it had like open comedian comedy.

Yeah, yeah. And it had like all these rooms to do comedy. And that was, so you didn't know anybody? No, I didn't know anybody. And you just like, you just worked for open mics? Yes, I went, yes. I didn't want to go alone, so I took my friend Rodney Enos, and he was like my first friend I took to do comedy.

Yeah. And so you just started hitting those open mics? Yeah. Coffee shops, all the other places. Coffee shops and wherever. Yeah? What were you doing, like once or twice a week, three times a week? I was going up like, that was Monday nights.

I would go there Mondays till I got to know people and they told me about Tuesday somewhere. Right. And then Wednesday, Thursday. So who was the crew? I used to go in the beginning. The beginning, I used to hang around with Jimmy Kennedy and Freddie Soto and- When Freddie was just starting? Just starting, yeah.

Oh, really? They were already funny. Yeah. And Alonzo Bowden. He was just starting too? starting, yeah. Oh, really? They were already funny. Yeah. And Alonzo Bowden. He was just starting too? I guess right. I forget. You know, we're old guys.

This is how old Alonzo Bowden was, man. He used to have a joke about, he goes, yeah, man, I want a job for the NFL as a guy holding the cord for the football coach. You know the cord? Yeah, yeah. That's how old. So he was just starting too. Wow's that that group of guys and then you just started going out every night yes and when'd you start did you get when

did you get a break at a club ever were you going around I'm 96 yeah somebody told me that there were auditioning for a Latino comedy festival in San Antonio. And it was going to be Paul Rodriguez and Nelly Galan. Yeah. She's a producer of some other show that was on Def Jam. And Jeff Valdez from Colorado. I remember that guy. He was a producer too.

Yeah. And they told me about it, that they were looking for comedians. Yeah. The lady at that place, Brenda, she told me. So I that they were looking for comedians. Yeah. That lady at that place, Brenda, she told me. So I didn't know where to go. So I went to audition one day. And they said, I don't know. So then I saw in the newspaper that they still haven't found comedians.

So they needed like a bunch of open casting at the laugh factory so all these mexican cuban all these latino comedians show up and i show up too and i do well and i meet um pat buckles yeah and then she was rooting for me to be on the show and i don't know what a set list is and she wrote down a set list for me like she go listen do this joke this joke this joke that joke and do this joke last she's the producer right yeah the talent coordinator so she wrote down my first set list i didn't have a set list back then so that wasn't in the book huh no you gotta learn that it was just writing it wasn't how to get the show yeah so you get she put

together the set list yes and it worked and it worked And it worked. And I only had like 20 minutes, less than 20 minutes of material when I did that show. Yeah? And that was, what was it called? The Latino Laugh Festival on Showtime, live from San Antonio, Texas. They was a big Latin festival, man. They had puppeteers from all over the world. They had these comedians that's coming in Spanish. I met Greg Giraldo there, John Mendoza.

Mendoza? Yeah. I haven't seen him in a while. I know. He's a funny guy. Yeah. Giraldo was great. Eric Estrada, Paul Rodriguez.

There you go. Paul Rodriguez. But did you do it in Spanish or no? English. It was all English. Oh. And it went good? Yeah.

So now you're off and running. Yes, but I was an open mic-er who just got a TV show. Yeah. Two weeks later, somebody goes, hey, Felipe, you want to go headline with me in Houston, Texas? I said, what? What is that? Yeah. They're going to go up a second.

Second? How about I go up first? You go up second. He goes, I don't have an hour of material. He goes, I barely have 20, man. He goes, yeah, but they're going to pay us like $400 each, and they're going to fly us, and they're going to give us a comedy condo. And I said, oh, man.

I said, okay, then. You didn't have that. I have nothing, man. I go up there, man it's And I went from A live audience That was packed 200 people for that taping Yeah

And then the open mic Was like 30 people 40 Right But then the first time I've been in the audience Was 7 people Yeah

Like we didn't They didn't know They didn't know So you go in the headline It's 7 people And you don't have Neither of you have the time They didn't promote it well

And they don't know who you were It was a club with a black comedy club in Houston called Just Joking and man, the first night we saw a bunch of girls

coming to the show with a bunch of chicks. They were standing outside smoking cigarettes and we goes, oh man, some hot chicks gonna come to this show,

man. Yeah. And then when we go in, nah man, all the waitresses leaving because there are not enough people for them to work. Yeah.

So now we're like, now they were mad-dogging us. Yeah. That they were giving us dirty looks. Right. Yeah. So they were like, so they left, and now it was just us with one waitress, one bartender, and the manager. There was nobody there, man. No crowd.

So, man, I'm done in seven minutes. There was nobody there, man. No crowd. So, man, I'm done in seven minutes. So then after that, I started asking, like, where's your favorite tree? Where are you from? I get off at 30. Yeah.

I'm done. Yeah. Then the other guy does the same thing. Like, he's up there asking questions, too. Just trying to get something going. Yeah. And then the last night, it was, man, like, it was so empty. I could hear, like, the ice melt and fall down on the beer.

Yeah. Yeah. And then by the second night, we just started laughing, man. We saw a big old bunch of cases of beer and ice. We just laughed. Like, come on, man. There's too many people here. So they paid us. The guy was paying us in tears yeah so he gave us our money yeah we leave and my friend goes hey man you ever been to a massage parlor and i said never man never okay we're gonna go to one yeah we went to one massagelor, and I've never been to a place like this.

And the police are already there. They're already there? Yeah, they busted it. But what I didn't know, he goes, and then our captain goes, hey, don't worry about that. I know a better one. I know a better one. Right.

So we go there, and it just says Tokyo Studio. That's it. Yeah. And it was blinking, you know, blinking. It flies all over it, you know, the light. Yeah. And we go in there. It's like a, I don't know, a massage parlor, I guess.

Yeah. I've never been to one. Yeah. So I'm laying there on the bed with my clothes on, just sitting there. And I didn't take my shoes off or nothing. Yeah. And I guess the person that massaged me, she's just sitting there, too, and she's doing all these poses. Yeah. But I'm just sitting there. Waiting for something to happen. And I didn't person that massaged me, she's just sitting there too. She's doing all these poses.

But I'm just sitting there. Waiting for something to happen. And I didn't give her no money. I paid her for the massage, but I didn't get no massage. And I didn't pay for no extra stuff. So she gives me a hug and a bottle of water. We didn't do nothing. And I leave.

And I wait for my friend. And we start driving back to the condo. And man, I left the keys to the condo, the comedy condo. At the massage place? It's locked. Yeah, I guess so. Yeah. So we don't know where to get in.

Yeah. So my friend says, man, you're a big guy, man. Yeah. Kick the door down. Like Miami Vice, your tubs, that'll be crockett. Okay. He goes, I don't want to kick the door down, man. Yeah.

Come on, man. We made our money today. We'll just fix it tomorrow. Yeah. We'll go to Home Depot. We'll fucking fix it. No problem. Yeah.

Just kick the door down. Yeah. And I don't know if he was like testing me. Come on, man. Come on. Come on, fool. Kick the door down. Yeah.

So I fucking kicked the door down, and it just, God, like really like when the cops do it. I kicked the door down, it just, God, like it really like when the cops do it. Yeah. I kicked the door down and the door just flew open. Yeah. And then the little short redneck looking Yosemite Sam guy.

Yeah. Comes running. What the fuck, man? Yeah. And it was a wrong condo we kicked down. So we're in Texas, man. This guy could shoot us now. Yeah. He could kill us. guy could shoot us now. Yeah.

He could kill us. Yeah. And I ran. Yeah. I left my friend there. Uh-huh. So then my friend is talking to him, and he goes, hey, man, come back. It's all good.

It's cool. It's cool. And my friend is telling the guy, listen, man, that's my friend. He kicked down the door. But we thought this was our condo. We're staying at the comedy condo over there. Yeah. So you guys just go down kicking condos? my friend like he knew how to talk and this guy's like younger than me he started comedy like in his 60s when he was 16 i guess yeah he's young

he's been around though he said listen man i want you to call a police officer right now call the police for the gesturing is out so you can have a police report of the door being kicked down. Right. I ain't going to call the police. I just want this door fixed. We're going to fix this door tomorrow. Okay? We are going to fix this door.

We have cash on us right now. You want cash? We're going to fix this door. So we started walking around. And the guy said, all right, I better fix it. Then he gave him the phone number and he gives him the address of the worst thing. Yeah. And we went back to the condo.

Did you kick that door down, too? The door was unlocked. We left it unlocked. And we went in there, and we just kept laughing about the guy. Yeah. How he came out all scared, and he didn't shoot us. Did you fix the door? No, we flew back home.

Yeah. Who was that comic? Jeff Garcia. Oh, yeah. Yeah. he was around for a while yeah he was cool man that's funny that's what it was funny man come on doc just take the door down doc kick the door down doc so that was your first headlining gig yeah man so what so what happened so after the headlining gig so that's like your baptism into the bullshit life. And then you come back here and you just start to put the time together? Yes. I met another comedian at an open mic named Carlos Oscar.

Yeah. At the Natural Fudge. Oh, that's the name of the place. An open mic. Okay. That was the open mic where I met Jamie, where I started. Yeah. And then in Hollywood, they had a comedy show on Hollywood Boulevard.

No, on Highland, right there at the Hollywood Hotel. Yeah. It was called Comedy Waldo's. Okay. And it was Waldo's, and they paid like 25 bucks. Yeah. So I met Willie Barsena there, and Willie Barsena told me about the Laugh Factory. Yeah, yeah.

And he told me about a comedy room they have in Montebello. Yeah. So him and I started hanging out. How's he doing? He's doing good, man. Okay. He's touring. He tours a lot.

Good. And he coaches baseball. Oh, good. For his kids. Oh, that's good. His kids are older now, but he loves baseball. So Willie Barsena,

because the guy I hang around with from now on. Yeah. Him, Willie Barsena. because the guy I hang around with from that one. Yeah. Him, Willie Barsena. Well, at that point, he knows what's going on. Yeah, man. You learned the job. Yeah, he's doing colleges.

He's showing me check stuff. Like, wow. Yeah. And I'm impressed. Yeah. And he's like, one time I wrote a joke, and I just wrote it for him. He wrote me a check for it, 40 bucks. Yeah.

And I was like, what? That was my first joke I ever sold. What was the joke? It was, I'm Catholic. I went to confess for stealing a bicycle one time. And Father Greg Boyle told me, would you feel bad about stealing a bike? Yeah.

Did you give the bike back? No. Where the bike at? It's right here outside the church. I don't want to leave it outside man somebody's going to take it so I wrote that joke

yeah and then I met another comedian Joey Medina yeah he was like a road comic that used to work with Pablo Francisco yeah

one man one desire so we were all at the Latino night Pablo Francisco Luke Torres Rudy Moreno these guys were like the veterans that they knew.

Man, if you knew these guys, you were going to make money because they had rooms that paid. Right, right. They were known in the area. Yeah. Stephen's Steakhouse in City of Commerce, that was like Rudy Moreno. And whenever they need a comedy show.

So they're like one-nighters. One-nighters. One-nighters, bro. One-nighters all over the east side. Wow. Like all over the east side, Montebello. And they paid.

San Bernardino, San Clemente, San Clemente, you know, San Diego. And they all paid. Visalia, California, Bakersfield,

like there's a guy named. So these guys would book them and produce them. Yeah. for money. And there's people that who just started doing comedy, Latin comedy in El Centro, a guy

named Papachulo. He did stand-up shows for 12 years. And then there's a guy named Leonard Velasquez. And he does Visalia and The Fox. He's been booking me for 20 years and is it mostly latino audiences yeah that's what by celia is yeah wow so that's a whole network of fucking shows because like i well i noticed that when i talked to like well

not so much lopez but that there's this whole other world man yeah it's like you know black comedy too it's like there's a million rooms you don't know about them i don't know about them because i'm not playing them you know and they pay yeah i used to do one-nighters in boston but it's a different thing but i never knew that there was a whole one-nighter thing here yeah man like a lot there was a one-nighter and um man they played they paid horrible it was at the fourth mb in san diego every sat Saturday, they will pay the headliner $200. They will pay the feature $150. They will pay the opener $100 or $75. And the three comedians will get a nice little room in downtown.

And then when you go to the show, there is 1,800 people at that show. Really? 1,800 people. Holy shit. 1,800 drunk people. show. Really? 1,800 people. Holy shit. 1,800 drunk people. And they're dancing afterwards. And you have a check that you cannot cash. Or sometimes they'll mail the check.

So you have no money. Yeah. I remember me and this other comedian, man, we were hanging around with people at the show just to get free drinks and get free food from them. Yeah. Like we would get to the club and go, you guys coming in now? How much it cost to get in? 20 bucks.

I can't. Yeah, you get ripped off, right? Yeah. But you were learning how to do it. So when did Last Comic Standing happen? So you're sober this whole time too? Yeah. Why did you start doing coke again?

I don't know. I started freaking out. After Last Comic Standing? After 2002. Was this after Last Comic Standing? After Montreal. In 2005, I went to Montreal Comedy Festival. When did you do Last Comic?

2010. Oh, okay. But I sobered up in 2009. Okay, wait. So 2004. Okay, so you get new faces? Yes. In 2005.

So you've been doing comedy a couple years? Yeah. And you're a new face. Yeah. And you go up there and you see it all. Yes. You see what it looks like. I've never been there, man.

I was there with the new faces. Yeah. I was there with Jasper Red. Oh, yeah. Natasha Leggero. Yeah. And a bunch of other people. Yeah. Joe Coy. I think they were new faces. Really, yeah. Natasha Leggero. Yeah. And a bunch of other people. Yeah.

Joe Coy. I think he was on New Faces. Really? Yeah. Wow. It's wild. We were all kids, huh? Yeah.

Wow. So that was 2005. I wonder if I was up there. I don't think I was up there. 2005, Greg Giraldo was there, and I think the two comedians from New Zealand got their deal there that year. Flight of the Conchords. Yes.

Because I saw them walking around and everybody was all over them. I said, who are those guys? Yeah. And so what happened? Why did you freak out? Where? Oh, I was doing drugs at Montreal. Oh, you were?

Yes. With who? By myself. Whoever wanted to get crazy. Yeah. So is that where you started doing them again? No, I started doing them again no i started doing it like a month or three months before montreal yeah somewhere yeah then i just went

downhill after that blow yeah crack too oh crack oh you like crack blow and crack whatever's around yeah so 1996 i do that um latino laugh festival okay right san antonio san antonio jeff valdez at Latino Laugh Festival, okay? Right. San Antonio. San Antonio. Jeff Valdez sells it to CBS somehow. Yeah. They're airing it on CBS at three in the morning. Yeah. Comedians find out about it. Next thing you know,

Psych After gets involved. They send me a check. Yeah. So they send me a big fat check. I buy a truck. Yeah. So now I'm rolling. Yeah.

So then I'm making money from that show still you know yeah when byron allen yeah i get a check every once in a while for 80 bucks yeah so it's the show that pays yeah so money's rolling in we're rolling in and then i'm i'm getting booked to headline in um vegas yeah before last comic okay we're at the planet hollywood oh yeah before Last Comic. Okay. Where at in Vegas?

At Planet Hollywood. Oh, yeah? Planet Hollywood. So you're getting good gigs. Yeah, and I would open up for comedians. Which one? Paul Rodriguez. Yeah.

And Russell Peters. That's a big crowd, huh? Russell's? Yeah. I remember when Paul Rodriguez gave me a check for like three shows, and then I saw the check, and I said, I think you made a mistake, man.

That's like $2,000 a show. I only did like six minutes. He goes, what a lay, that's a check. And they're like, all right, I'll take it, eh? Yeah.

He goes, but then I got to call him back again like an hour later. I only have one ID and I don't have a checking account and is there any way I could cash it at that bank

without them telling me to join that bank? So I got to go back to his accountant and the bank and then they cash it for me right there. You got it settled. I remember one time when I opened up for Power Drift in Reno, he calls me up. He goes, hey, what is this about you complaining about your room that is too small?

It's not hot enough. It's not cool enough. There's not enough fruit. What is this shit, man? You know what you were doing six months ago? And I said, I didn't say shit, man. I just got here. I wasn't complaining complaining you will when

you see my room and he hung up and i go to the room it's like a palace yeah it's a whole floor yeah there's a piano there's a hot shit he just wanted a swing a hammock so uh he just wanted to fuck with you yeah so when so when do you have to, like, so at this time are you married? No, I have a girlfriend. But you're still using? No, I started using in 09. How bad did it get? It got really bad.

Yeah? Yeah, like, I was, like, disappearing. Oh. Like, five days awake. Oh. Yeah, missing shows? Yes. No, not missing shows.

I would get to the show with two days of no sleep and kill it. Five days awake. Oh. Yeah. Missing shows? Yes. No, not missing shows. I would get to the show with two days of no sleep and kill it. Yeah. And then I argue with a comedian that's trying to give me advice. Yeah. All right. Hey, bro, you should really watch yourself. Oh, yeah, bro.

Next time you get a standing ovation with two days of no sleep, let me know, homie. So you're a warrior. Yeah. Yeah. Like, even the late Ralphie May, like, jokingly, he gave me advice. Oh, yeah. Hey there, buddy. Yeah. I heard you call up room service.

Yeah. And order a spoon and baking soda. Yeah, man. I was, like, one night, I was out of it, man. Like, the Laugh Stop Comedy Club, they used to headline me. In Ohio? No, in Houston. Oh, Houston, right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, we've got Mark. Yeah, Mark Babbitt. Babbitt, yeah. Yeah, good guy. Yeah. He used to always book me. He was one of the guys that would take me on the road with Freddy Soto and Joey Diaz and

Willie Barsena. Yeah. So he would, oh, really? Yeah. We used to do shows in Bakersfield. Oh, okay. And Juan Villarreal. Yeah, Babbitt.

He would run it, road manage it? Yeah. He was with Wild Wild West, I think. Oh, okay. Yeah, I remember that guy. Mark Barber was good, man. I remember one time he booked me to do a show in Houston, $800. And like, wow.

Then the show gets canceled three days later. He still sends me the check. Huh. That's a good guy. I'm like, wow. Yeah. I like that. I remember that room.

That spoils me, man. Yeah. I remember that room. And then it got taken over by a weirder guy. Yeah. Not a great guy. I haven't been in a long time, though. It's gone, right?

It's gone. It's closed. Yeah. So you cleaned up because you were a disaster? Did somebody step in? I called up room service and I ordered a spoon and baking soda. You did do that? Yeah.

Oh, and yeah. And I tore up the hotel and they lost the account for the hotel. And that was it? Yeah. And then you were like, I got to do this? I got to do this. So would you go back to rehab or you just stopped? No, I just started thinking about it and I stopped.

I just stopped. This is not good. I'm funny. I got to focus. So I stopped in 09 and I started focusing. And Joe Diaz told me about this movie with Nick Torturo and Paul Rodriguez. Yeah. So the director of that movie and producer.

Yeah. Manny Mejia. Uh-huh. Redford Mejia. I gave him my comedy special that I recorded at the Ice House. They record your video. So I had 33 minutes. So you made just a tape. Yeah. Okay. So I gave it to him. Yeah. No, I had 33 minutes. So you mean just a tape?

Yeah. Okay. So I gave it to him. Yeah. No, I had it in a CD. Right, but it wasn't a produced special. No, it was just an audio and a set. A set, 33 minutes.

But I would sell those for 20 bucks. Oh, okay. I would make 100 of them. Yeah. So I gave everybody in the show, everybody in the movie one. Yeah. And then he listened to it.

And this game was beyond drugs or nuts. Yeah. But he comes listened to it and um this game must be on drugs or nuts yeah but he comes up to me he goes felipe how would you like to do a movie based on this audio this audio cd and i said it's only three three three minutes you want to do a short film or what yeah so he goes let's do it right now so i think he's nuts so. So I go on, you know, on a binge, you know, and disappear for a while. Yeah. And I already turned on his phone calls. Yeah. So he corners me one day and he goes, no, seriously, I want to do this movie.

Yeah. So I have dinner with him. Yeah. While my wife is eating fish filet at McDonald's waiting for me. Yeah. I'm at this dinner place in Beverly Hills with this guy and he buys me this big fat fish with purple sauce

and I never had, that fish was delicious. Yeah. Even the bone was good. Yeah. And he gives me a check and I sign over my comedy to him.

Yeah. And he's- That 33 minutes? Yeah. Yeah. And he gives me a check and I, wow,

I could pay my rent for the next couple of months now. Yeah. I could buy groceries. So he hires a writer director named Christian Sesma. Yeah. And he transfers the comedy into a 80 minute motion picture. And then we shoot the movie in nine days.

It's called I'm Not Like That No More. Yeah. And I'm the star of the movie with Paul Rodriguez playing my father and all my materials in that movie. And was it good? Yeah. That movie went straight to iTunes

and then it disappeared. We had a big ass premiere at the big movie theater in Arclight. Yeah. With red carpet and everything. 09.

Yeah. And then we had another premiere at the Ricardo Montalban theater and then the audio messes up and it's sad, 09. Yeah. And then we had another premiere at the Ricardo Motel Bond Theater and then the audio messes up and it's sad, man. For those people that were there, man,

you never got to see the ending of the movie. My bad. And what happened to the movie? Still make money? Well, no. The guy owned it. Yeah, doesn't matter.

It disappeared. But I own copies and every once in a while on Christmas, I release it on YouTube for everybody to watch it. Oh, yeah? And that guy doesn't get mad, right? No, he doesn't know what's happening unless he's listening right now.

But you feel good about it. Yeah, because here I am, man. I'm, like, drinking, and this thing shows up. I'm in this movie. Like, I didn't expect this to ever happen to me, but I have my own movie starring Felipe Esparza, Edwin San Juan, Paul Rodriguez.

But when does the last comic happen? Next? That year. Okay. In 2010, like almost eight, after the movie's done, 2010 starts and then I get the audition.

But you're clean then? Yeah. Yeah. And then you win it. Yeah. What is that process? Like two months? How long is that fucking thing?

Like three months. Three months. It was over by August. And what was that? Like the second one, first is that fucking thing? Like three months. Three months. It was over by August. And what was that? Like the second one, first one, third one? Seventh. Seventh? So does that now-

No house. Peter Ingram came up in front of all the 40 people and said, guys, we're not going to have a house. We're going to have just comedy going at each other. So you just compete against each other. No house, no extra stuff. That's better. Who was in it that year?

I'll tell you the people that were in it who didn't make it through who are stars now. Okay. Tiffany Haddish. Yeah. Lil Rel. Lil Rel. Yeah. Yeah.

Lil Rel was top 10. Yeah. And Tiffany Haddish was top 20. And Cristela Alondish was top 20. And Cristela Alonso was top 20. And she ended up getting her own sitcom. Yeah. And I was top five with Felipe Esparza winning.

Second was Mike DeStefano. No, second was Tommy John again. Third was Mike DeStefano. Fourth was Roy Woods Jr. And fifth was Mike Ka fifth with mike caplan huh we all went we all went on a big tour 80 city tour so how long you been a vegan since um 2011 i think just because no man i was trying to lose weight on the atkins diet no and um i didn't do it right like i didn And I didn't do it right. Like, I didn't do what they say. Like, hey, go talk to a physician. Yeah.

So I was eating cheese and Diet Cokes and meat. Yeah. And no water and no lettuce and no tomatoes. So I was constipated, like, for about four days. Yeah. Not going to the bathroom. Yeah. Like, I had to take a Lamaze class, you know, whatever.

But it was bad, bro. Yeah. So, man, finally, But it was bad, bro. Yeah. So, man, finally I just got tired, man, and I just pushed it all out and I hurt myself. And I got like a hemorrhoid. Yeah. And my blood was bleeding.

I felt like I was raped by a ghost at night. Yeah. It just felt so bad that I was afraid to take a shit after a while. Yeah. So I just stopped eating, man, for like three days now. Yeah. So I said I stopped eating and I lost a lot of weight. And I was working on this movie called Taco Shop.

So I said I'm not going to eat no more. And that was it? I'm not going to eat meat no more. I'm not going to eat anything that's hard to digest. So I don't eat cheese or meat. And do you feel better? Yeah. So where are you at now with the drugs?

Just weed? Just weed. I did mushroom for the first time with my wife like four years ago. Yeah. How was that? I felt alive. When it was all done, I felt newborn. Yeah.

That's good. And I felt like a new person. Yeah. I felt like if somebody would have given me this when I was hooked on crack, I would have quit. Like if somebody would have gave me this in dosages yeah because I would just quit right right cuz yeah you don't need it right yeah and you got how many kids I have three yeah I have one when I was in two of them when I was like in high school and one later on yeah and I have my stepson yeah for my wife and you're still married and everything yeah I'm married to my wife.

We live together. We've been together since 2006. Oh, that's good. And you produce stuff together? Yes. My wife is like my manager. She's the executive producer of all my specials.

That's good. I like the special though. That one was good. Lisa Esparza. Yeah. And what's the podcast called? The podcast that I do with Rodrigo Torres

and Martin Rezo and my wife is called What's Up Food Podcast. But my wife and I, we have our own podcast that we did for a couple of episodes

called Enchilada Casserole. We talk about a relationship. We talk about us trying to have a baby. Oh, yeah. We talk about

her miscarriages. Oh. And then we talk about growing up with our violent parents oh yeah more personal oh and uh and but you only did a couple of those yeah like 10. uh-huh did you and so when was that i was like man six years ago so you were able to have a baby no we didn't have a baby oh my wife ended up having a hysterectomy. Oh, she did? Yeah. Oh. We had like three miscarriages. That's weird.

One was in the car while we were driving to a show. We were trying to get to the hotel. Yeah. And it was like the scene from Rutherford Dogs. You know, when they shot Tim Roth? Uh-huh. Yeah. Because I was passing her.

Because she was bleeding from her uterus. So I kept passing her those baby diapers, those big ones, so she could wipe herself over and over. Oh. And then we were in traffic. We're almost there, honey. To the hospital? Yeah.

And then when we got, no, we went to the hotel. Oh. And then in the hotel, she had the miscarriage there. She just caught it. Ugh. That's terrible. But you got a joke out of it. Yeah.

Well, that's what I, you know, it was funny when I was watching the latest special. Because I used to be dirtier. And there was this time where it's like, you know, they tell people, like, you don't want to be too blue. But there was never that many guys doing it. No. Because I watch your stuff and I'm like, I like this honest fucking sex weird shit. And I used to do it myself. And then at some point I got older.

I just stopped doing it. But they always, there was always this thing like, you don't want to be blue, but no one was doing it like that. I mean, there were guys that were talking dirty, but when you really talk about fucking it,

there wasn't that many of us doing it. And I like seeing it again. I know. Like to me, like, like my friend would tell me like a young, the community that I, the veteran, like William and bro, you gotta work clean, bro. You like, the community, the veterans, like, William and him, bro, you got to work clean, bro.

You're never going to work. You got to cross over to white people. Right. Or you got to be clean. Yeah. Then one time, Paul Rodriguez told me, listen, man, don't worry about none of that stuff. Yeah. If you're funny enough, eventually, they're going to just cross over to you.

Yeah, right. And that was the right advice. That was the right advice, man. Yeah. and that was the right advice that was the right advice man yeah but I remember like I would see Joe Diaz

yeah destroy being dirty yeah and talking about having crabs on his eyebrows yeah and like

and like I was working clean all the time yeah like I never talk about that stuff yeah I never did that stuff but then after a while

you know what fuck I'm gonna just be me right nobody's gonna be better than being me that's the best way yeah yeah yeah joey's a character too and he's you live the life and then you know you talk that you talk about this stuff like i i don't know i i don't know if i got less dirty i just got nicer and uh but there was a time where you just talk about all that shit and like it's a very specific zone, man. And you don't see it that much. And it was funny, man.

So you're doing good. Yeah, I'm doing good, man. I'm on a show on Hentified, I'm in one episode on Netflix called Hentified, Gentified. Yeah. It's about a show, a town, Boyle Heights, is being gentrified by white people. That's happening.

Yeah, but also the community who lives there are also part of the gentrification because a lot of the kids are not moving. Yeah. So you got these hipsters who are Mexican who live with their parents. Oh, interesting. In Boyle Heights. Because there was actually some friction, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Is it a documentary or is it? It's a show. It's a series that's directed and written and produced by Linda Yvette Chavez and Marvin Lemus. Oh, good. So is Father Boyle still alive?

Father Boyle's still alive. He's still kicking it at the homeboy industry. Did you ever work over there? Never worked over there. When I was in rehab, it was the beginning of homeboy industry. Back then, it was called jobs for the future. Okay. Jobs, not jails.

You still talk to that guy? Yeah, I do talk to him. I still donate money. When I want less common standing, I donate my money to them. That's nice. Do you ever call him for advice? Sometimes. No.

I stop by every once in a while. He's a busy man, you know? Yeah. He travels. He speaks a lot. But he's always. Do you ever call him for advice? Sometimes. No. I stop by him once in a while. He's a busy man, you know? Yeah. He travels. He speaks a lot. But he's always nice to you. He's always been nice to me. Well, good, man.

I'm glad we did this, man. Good talking to you. Yeah, man. Felipe Esparza. Hope you set your clocks back yesterday. Because if you didn't you're late or early I guess you'd be early right

how come no one's here yet oh fuck let's play some guitar Thank you. Thank you. Boomer lives. Monkey Lafonda. Cat angels everywhere. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis

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