WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1336 - Jesus Trejo

Episode Date: June 2, 2022

Jesus Trejo knows he put in the work to become a paid regular at The Comedy Store, spending years doing open mic spots and performing at 1am for a handful of people. Not to mention paying his dues unclogging toilets at the club and putting up Mitzi Shore's Christmas tree. But even with all of that behind him, Jesus still breaks out in a sweat when he tells Marc about those times he completely bombed as he was trying to learn the ropes. Jesus also tells Marc about being a caregiver for both his parents and what gave him the courage to work that real life scenario into his act. 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.

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All right, let's do this. How are you, what the fuckers? What the fuck buddies? What the fuck nicks? What the fucksters? How's it going? I'm Mark Maron. This is my podcast. It's the one that you like. the fuck buddies what the fuck nicks what the fucksters how's it going i'm mark maron this is

my podcast it's the one that you like it's the podcast that you like how are you is everything all right with that thing on your butt huh did you get that thing fixed the thing you were talking about i don't know how you're driving it if you didn't get it fixed i don't know how you're riding it if you didn't get it fixed what are't know how you're riding it if you didn't get it fixed what are you going to do wait for something terrible to happen get on it hey congratulations two days sober is great three days sober is great five days sober is great 30 days sober congratulations hey just be nice go apologize apologize. Go fucking apologize. Now, go get your fucking shine box.

Look, I'm the guy. I'm the guy. I guess I'm finally where I always wanted to be. I'm the chronically brokenhearted fuck who spends his life doing comedy. Finally. I didn't think it would happen. I thought like, you know, the podcast is great and you know, I'm glad I'm making some money doing comedy and I'm glad I got an audience for my comedy and I'm happy to perform for the people. But back when I was a younger man, I thought what has to happen for me just to go all in in a way with my heart and soul and mind and everything else into just being a real

fucking comic and i figured back then well i mean something's got to crush you something's got to take it out of you something's got to you know just kill something inside of you yeah finally i'm that guy i'm the chronically brokenhearted guy that goes out there and opens up for the strangers, lets them in and then leaves and feel satisfied in his hotel room 90% of the time. Finally, all my dreams are coming true. Today on the show, Jesus Trejo, who's a young comic who can only look forward to what I just talked to you about. He's touring a lot. I met him at the comedy store. He used to work the lot and work the door. He's touring a lot. I met him at the comedy store. He used to work the lot and work the door. And now he's a paid regular over there. And he has

a show on the First We Feast YouTube channel called Tacos Con Todo. And I'm on the way to this episode. You know, I got to be honest with you. I'm not a huge California Mexican food dude. I guess it's because I grew up in New Mexico. I don't know. But, you know, I'll eat just about anything once or nine times or for my entire life. It's hard to know what that's going to be. Lately, I've been craving Asian soups. And that's new, but I think it's a carb hookup with the noodles.

I think secretly I've always been afraid of pasta because of the carbs, but for some reason I think if the noodles are in Asian soup, they're not the same kind of carbs. It's just a bowl full of pasta, which is not fucking true. But I did the tacos con todo. We went to this place that's kind of in this garage space next to a factory that stonewashes blue jeans. And this guy makes the best goat tacos, some sort of goat preparation. And he's just doing it there

until he runs out. I think he's got a deal going with the guy that runs the factory that stonewashes pants, which we took a tour of for the show. We weren't supposed to be in there, but we just saw these vats and big containers full of like pumice rock. And they really do actually stonewash the jeans. But this place does it on a big scale for big companies. And it's not a great looking factory. It does not look safe in any way. And neither do the tacos, to be honest with you. But I ate them. I ate some goat tacos and I ate some goat spinal cord and I ate goat with gravy on it on a tortilla. And I did all that stuff for Jesus because he wanted me to. And I like him.

And he was one of those guys who I just saw all of a sudden, anyways to me, pop and become funny right before my very eyes. I mentioned I'm the chronically brokenhearted guy out there on the road pretending like he doesn't have a broken heart, entertaining the people? That's me, finally. I made it. I made it. Where's the sad guy?

Nope, not sad. That's so not true. I am so far into the sadness in the bits. It's amazing. And these people are amazing, too. These lucky people who are able to engage in the presale right now for all of these new dates. New dates. The password is time, T-I-M-E.

General admission tickets go on sale tomorrow, Friday, June 3rd. For these dates, are you ready? Indianapolis, Indiana on Friday, August 5th at the Old National Theater. Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday, August 6th at the Beaumont Theater. Yeah, let's say it like that. Lincoln, Nebraska on Thursday, August 18th at the Rococo Theater. Des Moines, Iowa on Friday, August 19th at Hoyt Sherman Place. Iowa City on Saturday, August 20th at the Englert Theater. Tucson, Arizona on Friday, September 16th at the Rialto Theater. Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, September 17th at Stand Up Live. And Boulder, Colorado on Thursday, September 22nd at the Boulder Theater.

The Phoenix ones are on sale now. No pre-sale on that one. also i'm going to be in vegas next month go to wtfpod.com slash tour for all of these links to all of these dates and the pre-sale is currently happening the password is time and i will bring my chronically broken heart stifled bullshit right to your town you want in do you want in it watermelon time. Here's what's going on. You know, it's the drought is very frightening out here in California. Fires are very frightening. I've talked about this before, and I realize, like, how much time do I have to get out? You see, what's going to happen is we're all going to need to leave the West Coast and the West Coast, according to some on the, you know, the more radicalized right wingy types, we're the problem. The elitist, progressive, liberal Jews of whatnot. And by the way, woke means Jew. By the way, big pharma, Jew. By the way, socialist, Jew.

But here's the point. Whether we are those things or not, Jews or not, progressives or not, Democrats or not, is eventually climate change is going to force a migration. Now, the way things are going now in this, what they call the, it's not a democracy according to the ultra-right people, it's a constitutional republic. So I imagine at some point the Midwest is going to balkanize into something that is against the rest of the world, some sort of of I've talked about this before. I think some sort of Christian fascist rape culture forced birth shit show. And it's starting to feel to me like, you know, right around the time we're going to

have to get out of the West Coast and the Western states because of drought and fire and everything else and migrate inland. They might close off the boundaries to the boundaries to the new country within the Midwest. And we're going to have to fight it out. And that's going to be weird. We're going to have civil wars over water within the country. I'm prophesizing, but this is also maybe advance Q. I don't know.

I'm making it up as I go along. But what I'm saying is maybe it's time for all of us progressives and radicals and Jews and Democrats of all kinds, all the people, trans people, all of us, the big tent to just sort of quickly and rapidly move inland and just start offering people in Arkansas and Idaho and not Idaho so much, maybe Oklahoma and Kansas, just offering them money for their houses and moving in. That'll change the political profile of the state. Just the mass migration of progressives into the Midwest before they close down the border and we become two countries. Anyway, just speculating, just thinking out loud. I got my sprinklers fixed. I'm trying to comply. And I don't know, it's just so fucking sad because I know what's going on, you know, and I know it's, you know, I don't want to use too much water, but I also want to enjoy my yard. And that might mean I have to leave. I have to leave. There's no reason I can't want to use too much water, but I also want to enjoy my yard. And that might mean I have to leave.

I have to leave. There's no reason I can't enjoy my yard. The only reason is because I live in a state that's got no water and it's about to all be on fire. I got to get out. I got to get out before they close the border of Oklahoma. Listen, Jesus Trejo is here. The episode of Tacos Contoto that I'm on, you can watch it now at the First We Feast YouTube channel. And I like this kid.

I like this kid. He's coming up. It's winter and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So, no, you can't get snowballs on Uber Eats. But meatballs, mozzarella balls, and arancini balls? Yes, we deliver those. Moose? No.

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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. So what happened?

What did you do? You were at CBS? What happened? Yeah, I had a meeting. It was a notes meeting. I got this project brewing. Oh, yeah? You know, we sold the project.

Yeah? Yeah, we're getting notes and then getting ready to take it out wide. Oh, so it's a project? Yeah, it's a... Is it a sitcom? Yeah, a sitcom. For you? Yeah, for me. Oh, yeah? Yeah, it's a... Is it a sitcom? Yeah, a sitcom. For you? Yeah, for me. Oh, yeah?

Yeah. That was loaded. That was a loaded, oh, yeah? Yeah. Yeah. It's still happening? You went out there and you sold a little show? Yeah, man.

I'm just trying, you know, just enjoying comedy and just, yeah, putting stuff on paper to see if people like it. If not, you keep creating, I guess. So what was the process? Is this your first deal? We had taken out some stuff, but this is the first one where... We as in you and who? I co-wrote it with Cesar, one of the... He's the only Latino writer on The Simpsons.

Oh, yeah. We're co- taking this thing out, and it's been great. This is your time, man. Simpsons and we're, we're co, uh, taking this thing out and it's been great. It's, uh, you know, um, yeah. This is your time, man. Hopefully we'll see. I mean, we'll see, we'll see how the cookie crumbles, but you know, just excited and putting in the work and, uh, so what was the process? What'd you do? You wrote a script or you just got an idea? Uh, pitch. Yeah. We put a pitch together. We went different, uh, production companies yeah and then uh you know cloud nine you know the idea really resonated with them oh so they're a production company a

production company yeah uh so and they have a first look with cbs and you know we got paired up caesar and i and we really hit it off you know it's like you know only childs uh grew up in a very similar family dynamic and uh we And we put this thing together, and the project Inner Child is the running title of it right now. Oh, yeah? So he had a deal with CBS? No, Cloud9 did. Oh, yeah.

So, Cesar, you didn't know him, though? No, no, no. Yeah, they introduced us. Well, it's funny because I met him years before. I went in and auditioned for a project that he had called High and Mighty. That he had written? That he had written, directed, the whole shebang. Went out, auditioned, met him there.

So when we met in the room, Cloud9 put us together. I was like, hey, you look familiar. You look familiar. And we kind of look kind of the same. It's like an NFT variant, you know, where it's the same thing. That's what it's like. We're both NFT variants of each other. And it just clicked, and we were able to really bring some stuff to paper.

And we want to take it out to streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon. Okay. So what is the show that I did that's yours, the taco show? How does that work? Man, Tacos Con Todo, which, by the way, thank you for doing it. I mean, when I was in the parking lot, I remember walking into the store and you walked by and you're like, I think I'm doing that thing. I said, wow, thank you so much, Mark. And yeah, I couldn't believe it.

And it meant the world. This is Tacos Con Todo. We have it over at First We Feast Complex. What is that? First We Feast, so they do hot ones. First We Feast is, so they do hot ones. Okay. Oh, yeah. Have you been on that show?

No. Oh. No, not yet. I've never been on that show. That's where you eat the pepper? The wings, and each wing gets gradually hotter, and they ask you hot questions. Yeah, right, right.

Yeah, so. I don't know why they never asked me to be on it. Oh, I'm sure they want to have you on it. You think so? Yeah. We didn't think you were going to do tacos con todo. They would love to have you over there, believe me. So, yeah, this show, we're on the third season.

Justin Bolas, who's an amazing, I mean, I tell him all the time, he's a genius. He's now the VP over at First We Feast, and he's amazing. He's all things food. He's amazing. He's all things food. He's in. He's dialed in. Yeah. And I guess he had saw a podcast I had done

with Bobby Lee. Yeah. And reached out. We had meetings and that kind of thing. So they already had this IP and this idea and they said,

would you like to host it? I'm like, I've never hosted anything. Way to block my blessings. Yeah. I say that in a meeting. I've never hosted before. I don't know how to do any of that that's the self-sabotaging aspect of the comic or honesty yeah honesty yeah that's one way to look at it and um he was just very kind he really understood uh the angle yeah that i that i brought to the table and i i love

his work which was what what? You know tacos? I'm a guy with a belly, so that's my credential, I guess. But is the whole show tacos? So it's basically eating foods. We basically map out all the great taco spots that are popping up everywhere from trucks to backyards, speakeasies, across the lake. So it's all tacos. Tacos, and then I get to talk to comedians who I'm friends with,

fans of, eating tacos. Now, let me just ask you now, because I was trying to figure it out. So tell me what I ate. You ate birria, which is goat meat. Right. I don't mind goat. I've eaten Arab goat before, Indian goat, maybe some Greek goat. This is the first, I think, Mexican goat I've eaten.

Yeah. So there's been like a big Biza craze in LA. Is that true? Yeah. I mean, I am not on the pulse. I didn't know there was a big goat craze going on. Well, I think food trucks and tacos right now are like are having a big moment right and it's like you know in that area where you went to to go you bs yeah yeah where was that that was in boyle

heights okay yeah right in front of the projects right there right uh great area of like just so many food trucks and uh so the one that we took you to was uh it was in a factory i think yeah so we took you to one of the best spots. It's not even a birria taco, which is what's popular right now. They make it in a taco. They put cheese. This is out of the oven. Consomme, which is kind of the soup that came with it.

Stew, yeah. But that's the most authentic style of birria you could possibly have. And I just thought it was so great to put you in that space because it's like this guy, Hector, is like blowing up because he does such an authentic recipe and the food is so great. Can he handle the orders? I mean, scarcity. It just goes until it runs out. It goes until it runs out.

He opens at 8. He's done by 11, probably even earlier. But this guy started in a garage. So this guy works next door at a denim. I know. We went in there. That was crazy. We're in this space.

It's not even a parking lot. It's in between buildings. Yeah. And then there's a denim factory where if they don't make denim, they stone wash it. Yeah. That's all they do at that place is stone wash shit. Yeah. And we went in there, and it was probably not safe.

No, not at all. We didn't have a hard hat. We didn't have anything. Yeah, the lights weren't even on. I know. It's great. But he works there. Yeah, he works there.

So the owner of the factory allowed him to kind of set up shop in this alleyway kind of garage. Does he take a cut, that guy? I'm sure he does. I mean, it's LA, baby. Is he family, though? I think so. I think they might be related in some way, but he works there during the week. On Saturdays only, he's able to set up shop.

Yeah. And the connector here was, how great would it be to bring in Marc Maron, who started in a garage and had this great podcast blow up from there, much like this man who started in a garage, is still there, but like this man who started in a garage. It's still there, but it's getting write-ups left and right. I don't think I'd ever had it before. It was all very exciting. Yeah?

Yeah. The spinal cord part was my favorite. That wasn't great. Oh, it wasn't? Tell me what was going through your mind as we're eating this, because I'm so curious. No, I'll eat anything. I don't give a shit, man. I'll try everything. I thought it was good, but I'm so curious. No, I'll eat anything. I don't give a shit, man.

I'll try everything. But I thought it was good. But I remember the spinal cord part, because it looks like spinal cord. Oh, yeah. Why was that your best part? You like it? I mean, it's part of the thing. It's kind of like a mixture of stuff.

And I see you kind of picking at it, and you looked over at me, and you're like, dang it. It's like, why'd you bring me here? That look is like it's like yeah yeah because of the spinal cord that's what that's what you wanted you got what you wanted no no that wasn't it that happened to be on there but it was just i mean i was blown away that you would say yes and you would come out i mean i yeah come on dude that's all right i'm a you know i'm a fan i'll do things occasionally you know i mean i've watched you like i i remember

like because i go to the store, I've been going there on and off for however long. Since 87. Since when? Since 87, right? Yeah. But since you've been there, when did you get there? I got there around 2009 or 10. Really? Yeah, because I got past September 7, 2012. With Adam or Tommy? Through Tommy. Yeah? Yeah, through Tommy. So when did I get back?

I mean, I was around. Yeah, I mean, I was around, so I saw you when you were like a baby comic. Oh, yeah, for sure you did. Like, what were you, a door lock guy? I did a little bit of everything, but mostly it was a lot. Yeah. They stuck me in the lot.

I worked everything. I did phones. At the time, remember, the bathroom used to be kind of facing the OR, like the doors were kind of by the- Right, and the phone was there, the pay phone. Oh, the pay phone. That's right. So those bathrooms used to clog up a lot.

So Adam was the GM at the time, Adam Egt yeah and uh you know every so often i worked the back door and he'd be like uh hey man you got to go uh unclog these uh toilets and they were overflow and there was floaties and i'm kicking a turd down the hallway oh i mean it was it was i did i did everything there because i knew it was a opportunity for me to go there and i was it was like tuition to learn i guess it's so funny because like i used to think that way too you know and i did and i and i do because i did it you know i was a door guy but then like i heard chapelle talking about uh i can't remember where he was talking about it but when they you know when he found out that there were comics working those jobs he's

like what yeah why would you do that like i never really thought about it like that because like And when he found out that there were comics working those jobs, he's like, what? Yeah. Why would you do that? I never really thought about it like that. Because either you buy into the store or you don't. Right? So there are people that come in there and they're just sort of like, I just want to do comedy. And she's like, well, you got to work the door. And they're like, fuck you.

But for me, I was like, all right, I'll just live at this place. Yeah. I'm no stranger to hard work and i knew that if i could put in some sweat equity into the place i was going to be a part of the place and really learn about it so it was yeah i i took on any shift that i could from seating you know uh yeah yeah lot phones maintenance i mean now was mitzi cognizant was she conscious when you were there when you got so mitzi wasn't involved in a day-to-day business but i did get to meet her because i toured with paulie quite a bit you know yeah you know over the years i met him there at the parking lot and one

of the really cool things hey buddy dude jose trejo's he called me he still calls me jose to this day i don't think he knows my real name no no he's great um but when we would come back from like touring yeah he did this really cool thing that I'm so grateful for is like he let me go buy a Christmas tree and I get to go set it up at Mitzi's place on Doheny yeah and I'd set it up and she'd be there and you know I Christmas for the Jews yeah it was it was it was great I mean I'm you know no more than a couple words of you know exchanging back and forth i kind of kept to myself but i i set up the tree and it was just to me it was you hear this legend of of mitzi like the mother theresa of comedy kind of like

and i was able to see her yeah live yeah live putting her tree in her house yeah it was great looking at you confused yeah she uh yeah i didn't speak much to her i i kept to myself but the act of that tree was it meant it meant the world to me you just love that the old jewish lady's got a christmas tree they're like that guy named jesus is setting up in her living room and she barely knows what day it is it's beautiful image polly's a character. So, like, when did, where'd you grow up? I grew up in Long Beach. Eastside Long Beach.

Born and raised. Yeah? Yeah. So, like, what was that? How old are you now? I'm 35. 35. Born in 86, the year before you started at the store.

That's your point of reference? Yeah, yeah, point of reference. So, what was, how big a family uh interesting so i i'm i'm only child between my mom and dad yeah but i i do have a pretty uh big uh i have half siblings oh yeah yeah they were both married before uh after oh kind of interesting this is this is a juicy part here the the real spinal cord of the conversation. So my mom and dad are not married to each other. Right.

So my dad is married or was married to – so he had another family in Mexico, essentially. Okay. So, yeah, my mom – Did your mom know that? I think so. I didn't know that. I was late to the party. So it was like a slow reveal over the years.

And it was like, oh, I started putting two and two together. Really? This is gnarly. Wait. So, okay. So your dad's living here, but he's legal, right? So he's an American citizen now. But yeah, so he came to the country to work, meets mom.

My dad's a gardener construction worker uh did construction during the week up in like palos verdes yeah and uh did uh you know gardening work up there and you know around town so my mom cleaned houses and she was a nanny so i like to say that my parents met on the circuit you know i just you know it's like all the people that would go up the hill into palosalos Verdes to work. So they met each other and one thing led to another and then I'm here. And then it's like, oh, dad has another family. Really? Yeah.

Was he sending money back or how did it work? No, he was going like for years, he would go during Christmas to spend time. Yeah, to spend time with his family. So dad was gone during the holidays and he'd come back early in uh the following year and you didn't know i mean i put two and two together how old were you eventually i'm like oh so that's why mom cries i thought mom was a party pooper trying to ruin christmas and it's like, I get it, ma. But she's got other kids too? No, I'm my mother's only child. Oh.

But dad has family out there. Oh, yeah? Yeah. Have you met him? I did through, like, here and there. It's like there was a, so there was a brother. Where's your dad now? He's here.

Yeah, the whole squad's here, mom, dad, and I. You met him? What do you mean you met him? So I had met a brother, a half-brother of mine, when I was younger, and I didn't know the context or who he was. And then he went back. Then he came out here for a little bit, stayed with us. And then I'm a slow learner, Mark.

So eventually I'm like, ah, you're a half-sibling, right? And then during COVID there was a situation that happened and they all came down here like uh in 2020 high to 2020 like i'd say like uh height of pandemic maybe like it was the summer so maybe august yeah uh they came down and i got to meet them all and they're like again nft versions of like my dad i'm like oh this mustache but in a different way you know it's like slightly taller dad yeah i mean a chunky younger dad yeah it's a and uh so brothers and sisters how many uh four that i know of yeah so you can't get information i i mean it's it's a need to know basis i think it's what my dad he's slow rolling me with this stuff i guess it's it's complicated but it's it's but you're. Can't he come clean on that?

I'm not old enough to know yet. I mean, no, I'm playing. There'll come a time when I'm mature enough to know that information again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you get along with the guy? Yeah, yeah. It's like there's a WhatsApp group chat

and they chime in there. Some of them do, some of them don't. But your dad's here. Yeah, my dad's here. I'm a caregiver to both of my parents. Oh, really? Yeah. So I'm a caregiver. I've been a caregiver for such a long time. How long?

A long time. What does that mean? So my mom has always been kind of ill in one way or another. So like in 2013, my mom got like a brain tumor, right? Maybe 2012, 13, like somewhere around that. So they couldn't find out what was wrong with her.

And they found out it was like, we thought it was cancer. We were like the whole shebang. And it was like meningioma. And so they went in there. What is that? So it's like a brain tumor of the brain. There was like a mass on the left-hand side. Yeah.

They went in there. They did surgery. It was like a mass on the left-hand side. Yeah. They went in there. They did surgery. It was like insane. And then, you know, that greatly impacted my mom's like cognition, movement. Yeah. And then over the years, it just complicated things so much. And right now, we're like kind of dealing with like this pretty heavy onset of like dementia.

And then years ago, like my dad got colon cancer and, you know, getting treatment and, you know, being the only child was kind of like career life and and caregiving yeah as a matter of fact there was a documentary that arp studios uh they did a project right after they did a dinner with don rickles yeah they took on this project called care to laugh and they arp yeah and uh they they followed me for like a year of like caregiving and doing mics i'm like you know at that time driving up here to do mics and that kind of thing and also juggling this like heavy stuff you know so as i'm doing comedy at night you know going back and then my dad went to mexico to get treatment yeah and i'm left with my mom so it's like you know juggling the gardening business

so it's like i i even say to my specialists like i feel like there was a moment in time where it's like juggling the gardening business. So it's like, I even say to my specials, I feel like there was a moment in time where it's like, I felt like I lived the American dream backwards because I went to college, followed my dreams, and then mowed lawns. Yeah, I mean, so it's like, that's life, man. What's the special called again? The special Stay at Home Son.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was on Showtime. Right, right, right. But yeah, the documentary kind of explores that. But yeah, it's like, yeah, caregiving has a big part in my comedy. I mean, it's like that's where I draw from. And the whole definition of who you are.

Yeah. I mean, yeah, it comes out of sacrifice. You went to high school down there in Long Beach? Yeah. Yeah, I went to Wilson High School. And then when did they first start getting sick? So my mom had like some like knee stuff, like cartilage kind of, uh, issues. So that was like, that was like high school for me. And then, um, that's just walking thing, right? Yeah. It's like a walk.

They just worked there. Like they've always worked so hard, you know? So it's like they, you know, their body really aged and, you know, in their, in their late 50s, 60s. It was already kind of like they were. So now they're like 75, 76, but they've aged quite a bit just because of the work that they've had to do since they were kids. Yeah. It's just kind of sad but interesting that their experience as Latino Americans is just that one that almost is not stereotypical, but that he's a gardener and she was a cleaning lady. Yeah, there's some stereotypes. No, but it's just sort of like you don't. That is the the experience for so many, you know, immigrant people that they start at this level.

Right. You know? It's also interesting because even though I was born here in Long Beach, born and raised. Yeah. You know, Spanish was my first language. English, I didn't have full command of the language until maybe fifth grade. Yeah. um, maybe fifth grade. Yeah. And, uh, as a matter of fact, even in high school, I'm still an ESL class. Yeah. ESL English as a second language classes. And I, I, I went in and petitioned to

get out of it by senior before senior year. Cause I'm like, I'm not learning anything here. It's like, I'm, I'm rifling through stuff and it's like, there isn't a challenge here for me. Right. And then, you know, you know, having to deal with that and then going into city college, kind of figuring out the city college deals. Like, do I go to college here? Yeah. You know, I went to Long Beach City College and then it's like trying to figure out like higher education, then transferring to Cal State Dominguez Hills. You know, I graduated there with a business degree and then telling my dad that I'm telling my parents I'm about to be a comic. and then telling my dad that I'm telling my parents I'm about to be a comic.

They're like, man, you have this education, something that we would have killed for. Essentially, you have this great opportunity. We've sacrificed so much. You're telling me you're going to go be a clown. It's like that's a hard pill to swallow. But me knowing that like the work ethic, the inheritance that was passed on to me early on from my dad, work ethic the inherent the inheritance that was passed on to me early on from my dad work ethic i'm like trust me this is going to take a while but this is going to be a long internship and that was before your dad got sick that was before my dad got sick i was mowing lawns with him like on on weekends you know working doing comedy at night or working the store at night on the

weekends so what was it that like you know what made you decide that that was the way to go like in terms of you just went to the college just to make sure you had a degree i mean you do what people tell you to do and also like my parents wanted like my parents never had any schooling i think combined they probably have a second grade education so i know education is a big thing for me sure and um so i think i i definitely wanted to do it and and was told i needed to do it but also felt in my heart that it was important yeah i mean to learn those skills and um i wanted to do this and that and eventually i you know everything clicked i'm like i just need to graduate because i want to do comedy well what

what made you realize that when did you that? Just comedy, like that burning desire to do comedy. But who were you watching? What made you think that? Oh, man. It's like I've been a fan of comedy. I mean, so again, I don't have command of the language. So my first in to comedy was Mexican comedians, Chespirito, who did Chavo del Ocho. And he was such an amazing writer.

The name Chespirito breaks down to Little Shakespeare. He was a tiny guy, and he was such an amazing playwright. I have no idea what that guy does. Oh, man. He's amazing. Cantinflas was another one for me. Cantinflas was, that's old-timer. Yeah, old-timer during Charlie Chaplin days.

Sure. Who Charlie regarded him as one of the funniest comedians ever. La India Maria, which was this indigenous woman. You were watching Cantinflas? Yeah, I was watching Cantinflas as a kid, and that was... Where'd you get it, on video? Just on TV.

Oh, yeah? Yeah, VHS, that kind of stuff. On the Mexican TV, they got repeats and stuff? Yeah, yeah, they would play stuff like on weekends on Univision, that kind of thing. Yeah, yeah.

And then it's like slowly I started getting into stand up comedy Spanish speaking? Yes a little bit you know there was a show called Tablo Gigante and every so often they would bring in

comedians but they would tell jokey jokes so and so walks into a bar da da da street jokes and I would write them down I had a whole notebook

full of them but then I started getting into stand up Was your dad a fan or were you just watching the television and you were just picking up on it i was probably like hyper aware to this like comedic stuff because i would see maybe my parents the only time they would like laugh and that kind of thing so i think it was one of those oh yeah core memories where i'm like

everything else is shit yeah but right now they're laughing they like this so yeah so maybe that was like a formative thing. What's the other guy's name? So you have Cantinflas. You have Chespirito. And Chespirito, does he do, he's not stand-up. No, he's not stand-up. It was very much like sketches and almost like a sitcom of sorts.

There was a kid that lived in a wooden barrel. And his whole, um, goal in life was to get a ham sandwich and he was very poor and he lived in a barrel in the middle of this neighborhood. And there was like, uh, the,

the single older woman, you know, who, who the college, the local school professor would go over there. Yeah. Professor Kira Fales. And there was a single dad with a daughter.

And, um, there were all these characters that had this community huh um yeah because i don't know like having not seen it or not understanding the language it always struck me what little i saw i would always sort of think that the mexican television comedy was very broad very big theatrical. Yeah, it can be. And there were these kind of comedic archetypes that I think people gravitated on.

I mean, look at Cantinflas. Cantinflas was a street sweeper. He walked around with a trash can on wheels, and he would sweep, and he had a red handkerchief. He had a sailor hat. His pants were sagging. They were ripped. But he was able to do many variations of this character.

He was a priest. He was this. So he put himself in these situations. And it was always very nice and endearing. And, you know, that was definitely my formative comedic influences moving into stand-up. Now, as a kid, I'm watching Bobby's World. That's Howie Mandel's thing. Oh, yeah. Life louis anderson's cartoon so yeah so you start looking at these characters you're like oh they do this thing called stand-up yeah yeah yeah and you're like oh man so you that leads into

oh don rickles look at this guy how old were you when this is happening i don't know like maybe 11 or yeah that kind of thing yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah. Yeah, around that age. And now I'm doing a deep dive. I'm watching everything. Yeah. Like anything I can get my hands on, you'd have to go to the record store, you know, buy CDs and that kind of stuff.

And then, you know, one thing leads to another. It's like Kennison, you know, Bill Hicks. Where'd you find those guys? How old were you when you found those guys? Yeah, I was probably like in high school. Oh, yeah? In high school. So you were just a complete comedy nerd guys? Yeah, I was probably like in high school. Oh, yeah? In high school.

So you were just a complete comedy nerd at that point? Comedy nerd. Digging shit up. The whole thing. I'm consumed by comedy at that point. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's like, and I'm discovering guys like George Lopez, who's like, I literally remember the moment I got kicked out of English class in high school.

It was Mrs. Linker's class. Yeah. And somebody gave me a bootleg copy of of george lopez's comedy album and there's a bit in there that um he describes the only time we went to mexico was when a family member was sick and he goes into the act out and he's like get up my mom's dying get up my mom's dying and everyone would pack in a van and go down to mexico and that made me laugh so hard that I got kicked out of class. They took away my CD player.

They took away the CD, which wasn't even mine. It was a bullet cop, but it wasn't mine. So I can't give it back to them. I'm like in this, I'm in the hallway supposed to be thinking about, you know, what I should be doing. And I'm crying, laughing, still thinking about this bit. And it just resonated with me because we would go to Mexico quite a bit, again, for my mom and dad.

Yeah. Most every weekend to go see the doctor down there because, one, we didn't have health insurance and it was cheaper down there. Yeah. And so every weekend for a long time, I think since middle school into high school, like 11th grade, we were going every single weekend. Really? Yeah, because it's like my mom needed treatment for this or that. My father needed treatment for this and that. Or if I got sick, we're going to TJ.

Right. And so I remember that was like, I think, a big kind of marker in comedy for me. So you would go to TJ to see a doctor and then get prescriptions? Yeah. Just right there in the border town? Yeah, border town in Tecate. I used to spend a lot of time there in a little town called Tecate. Yeah.

And it was great. Yeah? Yeah, a lot of food, restaurants. I remember wandering by myself. It was great. There was a restaurant right in front of this hospital called Hospital Guadalajara. That was the name of the hospital. And right in front of it, there was a restaurant called Los Albañiles, right?

You used to go over there, and for a couple pesos, you get a huge milkshake, which was just banana milk and some chocolate powder. Yeah. I mean, you couldn't tell me nothing, dude. I was like king of the town, dude. It was, yeah, it was just, it was beautiful. So that, like hearing George talk about that experience, it connected you, it resonated.

It connected me. And you knew there was at least, you know, a Latino voice out there. Yeah. There was a Latino voice. And then you start, you know,

discovering, you know, your Dave Attell's and, you know, it's like you, Mitch Hedberg, Steven Wright, these,

these one-liner comics, which I became so obsessed with, you know, it's like Mitch and, and, and right were like big uh ronnie dangerfield i mean that was huge for me because economy awards the flip the derailment of this idea i mean wow i mean that was literally like i i hear people describe heroin i'm like yeah yeah that's what that's when I discovered Mitch Wright and Dangerfield.

That was it for me. In high school? This was maybe, yeah, high school, telling the high school into college. Yeah. And, yeah, just listening to like Ronnie Dangerfield's 1995 special in Vegas. Yeah. These jokes where it's like. So many.

It's like, my dad, I don't think he likes me. So I asked for a bubble bath. He started boiling water. You know what I mean? It's like, wow's like, my dad, I don't think he likes me. I asked for a bubble bath, he started boiling water. It's like, wow, how did he do that? That's like, no magician could ever wow me in that way, even though I love magic so much. But you know it's

a trick. It's a trick, but it's like, you're giving information, you're slow rolling people with information, and then, but it's like you're giving information. You're slow rolling people with information. And then it's not this. It's that. I mean, that to me is. The turn of phrasing.

Yeah, derailment, the misdirection, whatever people call it. It's like insane. And then, yeah, it's like to be able to do comedy at whatever I bring to the table. But it's great to be able to express myself in that way and also do it in Spanish. Like, be able to tour Mexico. Well, when did you first start doing it? Like, how did that happen?

Like, what did you put together to start? Was it Spanish or English? English. Yeah. It was in Long Beach. So I'm 35. I'm about to be 36. So I started when I was 20. That was the first time I ever went on stage. Yeah. It was in Long Beach. So I'm 35. I'm about to be 36. So I started when I was 20.

That was the first time I ever went on stage. Yeah. Local bar in Long Beach. MySpace days. So I see the thing come up. I was like, oh, man, that's like- Comedy night? Comedy night.

Down the street. I'm 20. I can't get into the bar. I go in. Yeah. And the guy running the show, his name's Cochino. I go up to him. I say, hey, can i do some time or whatever he's a holder you're only 20 and then he's like yeah um you're not supposed to be here you know it's like we can shut down this bar sure thing and uh i'm

like so if i come back next week can i go up and do a couple of minutes he's like if you can get past the bouncer i took it at face value. I'm not very bright. Yeah. And next week, I just show up. I'm just kind of waiting it out. I see the bouncer kind of like, I'm picking up on his patterns, you know, doing a little bit of recon. And then I just kind of walk in.

Yeah. Show starts. I'm in the back. There was a ping pong table there. So I just kind of sat over there. Yeah. And then show kind of starts. I don't know how this works.

So it's like, once it starts, I go up to him. It's like, hey, so you- He's hosting? Yeah. And when he gets off, brings up the first comic, I said, hey, I'm here. You said if I could get past the door guy. He's like, oh, Jesus.

He's like, go up there. It gives me like five minutes or something. Is there an audience? Yeah, it was a rough bar. So it was rough around the edges character. Oh, yeah? Character's there, and it was a rough bar so it was it was rough around the edges character oh yeah characters there and it was a cool bar but you know it's like there was an audience there is it comedy night yeah it's comedy night it was on a monday i remember that oh my god and uh so i go

up there uh i get five minutes yeah i mean i hit him with my fire three minutes which was nothing i got one liners i was talking about this uh uh there was a. I got out. One-liners? I was talking about this. There was a thing that came out on the press telegram, the Long Beach newspaper, and they were debating in the editorial about, like, so they gave this guy a last meal that was on death row. Yeah. They put him in an electrical chair.

Sure. And his last meal, he asked for, like, an insane amount of ice cream and, know a bunch of other stuff it was like a whole feast and they were debating where their tax dollars should go to towards this so i kind of set it up very poorly and i said if if if if i was in that situation and they asked me what i wanted for my last meal i would ask for a red bull because i heard it gives you wings. Nothing. And at that point, my knees start shaking.

I'm like, hands are shaking, like a borderline about to cry. I try to put the mic back into the stand. It doesn't do it. The mic falls because it's a wireless one. Batteries fly out. I'm like fumbling out of there. And my buddy's recording the whole thing, my buddy Ton Lee. And he's still recording. I'm'm outside shaking teary-eyed he's like how'd it go up there i'm like you saw how i went up there

it's like turn that thing off and he has that footage i i i want to get my hands on it but i don't i don't really want to see it because it's so painful i mean i'm sweating just even telling you this yeah i mean i can feel it and it took me a whole year before I got back on stage. So it has wings. That's from the advertising campaign? Yeah. I'm sorry, Mark. I didn't mean to bring that caliber of jokes into this podcast.

No, no, no. It's all right. I mean, we've all done that. On the page, it feels clever. How'd you tell the Red Bull joke? No, I'm no, it's all right. I mean, we've all done that, that like on the page it feels clever. How'd you tell the Red Bull joke? No, I'm playing. Yeah. Well, you know, it's just like one of those things where, you know, you're just trying to figure out, I mean, you know, the impulse was correct.

Sure. Right? You know, because, you know, you were fans of guys who can turn the phrase, you know, and it made sense. But it just wasn't strong enough to to to take off yeah not at all so you did one joke and that was it i think i did another joke about traffic cones yeah it's like who decides how far away from the hazard they're supposed to be yeah you know it's like you slam it to something honking after the fact or something like that yeah uh the only child, I probably had like one liner in there. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And another one liner about, yeah. You get all fucking worried. Seven one liners and they're like five minutes and I'm like, yeah, I got it. Yeah. In under three minutes,

I'm out of there. Sweating. Sweating. Yeah, the microphone is broke. $800 in damages on my first set. You had to pay? No, no, no. Oh, good. No. He just ran out of there? No, he- Never went back for a year? Never went back. $800 in damages on my first set so you had to pay no no oh good no

you just ran out of there no he never went back for a year never went back I changed numbers everything he wasn't gonna get a hold of me okay

even if he would've called me the next day wanna come back and try again nah so what were you thinking for that whole year in terms of comedy

is your dream and you just fucking ate it and you just couldn't pull it back together to do it again now at this point your parents are sick both of them yeah yeah uh no my my dad wasn't sick yet but it's like my we were dealing with the stuff with my mom i'm just throwing college yeah so i'm

like i think i'm gonna really see this through college college yeah double down on the college double down on the college i probably bought bought a new class catalog that day. Was this before or after you told them you were going to do comedy for your life? Oh, no. That was definitely before. You keep those things to yourself, Mark. Until you're real sure. Until you're real sure and then you just kind of go with the motions.

But it was just so painful. So after a year, where'd you end up going back? To that same place? Did you feel like you had to go conquer? I didn't slay the dragon until like years in, so I was able to go back. After a year, though, where'd you go start again? It was probably at a coffee shop.

There was another coffee shop in long beach off of cherry yeah that uh they had an open mic and they're probably like coming down out here to doing different open mics and uh and what was different when you went back determination you think i would have learned but i'm like this this red bull thing i think has wings i think this joke has wings no pun intended here so a year later you stuck with the joke yeah i was like it won't work with monster energy drink and i i think it's an energy specific joke here it's so funny that you get locked into this you know like this five minutes or whatever like you just can't let it go some guys can't let their their material go you

know yeah but like when you're starting out you really believed in it though i guess that's Like, you just can't let it go. Some guys can't let their material go, you know? Yeah. But, like, when you're starting out, you really believed in it, though. I guess that's something. When did you finally, how many times did you do it to nothing? I bombed my first five years. Oh, my God. Yeah. I'm a slow learner, man.

Dude, total bomb? I mean, I'll be very careful in how I say this story, but there was a show that I got booked on to host. I bring my parents out. In Long Beach? No, at the Improv in Hollywood. What was the show? It was a show.

It was a show. There was a lineup there. But I know. How did you get booked on that? The person running this specific show asked me to come out. Comic run show? Yeah, it was like one of those bringer type stuff. Okay, all right, all right. So it was a bringer show asked me to come out. Comic run show? Yeah, it was one of those bringer type stuff. Okay, all right, all right.

So it was a bringer show, and I come out. How many years in is this? Probably five. This is the fifth year where I'm like, I'm past the Red Bull mark. You are past the Red Bull? Yeah. Okay. And so I'm up there.

I probably have. Your parents come. Yeah, my parents come. Yeah. And we're'm up there. I probably have. Your parents come. Yeah, my parents come. Yeah. And we're in a pickup truck. Yeah. So the three of us are sitting in the same thing. You know what I mean?

So it's like, this is great. Sparkle in my eyes. Hopes are high. Yeah. Parents are like, we're going to see him do this thing he's been telling us about. And so I go there. It's the worst. It's the worst it's the worst man it's like i'm literally sweating tell you so so we get there yeah you know they check our ids my id or whatever we go in i check in mom and dad order probably some food or something. They're getting ready. Yeah, yeah.

It's exciting. Show starts. I go up there. I do my- Do you follow somebody? No, I'm opening because I'm hosting. Oh, you're hosting. Yeah, I'm hosting.

And I got my flaming hot five-minute setup top just to get- Open it up. Yeah, loosen people up. Yeah. And so I do that. Not good. Nothing. Next comic.

Thank God. So I bring them up and I go up there. Are you guys ready for your next one? I'm just. Yeah. And so I do that. Not good. Nothing. Next comic, thank God. So I bring them up and I go up there. Are you guys ready for your next one? I'm just, and now I'm like, you know what?

I should try some material. Sure. I got a minute or two in between. I start doing that. The person who runs the show goes up to me and is like, hey man,

I'm going to take it from here. What? I said, you sure? He's like, oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're going to take it from here. He's like, I'll host the rest of the show. I said, great. So you had to, oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're going to take it from here. He's like, I'll host the rest of the show.

I said, great. So you had to bring that guy up and you bring him up that he's going to finish it up? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then so I go sit down and my dad's like, what are you doing here? Yeah. I said, well, they said to come, yeah, that they're going to host the rest of it. He's like, yeah, I can see why. Wow.

He's like, let's get the hell out of here. I'm like, yeah, yeah, I think let's get the hell out of here like yeah yeah i think that's a good idea i would like that you know i don't want to ruin this funk yeah and uh let me tell you uh tough ride home pickup truck three of us sitting on the same pickup truck bench i mean that was i was brutal and my dad was like just focus on school man he's like you got a good thing going over there and i was like in my head i'm like you don't know my grades you know it's like you don't know how well i'm doing over there either you know kind of thing yeah but yeah it was it was a hard thing so at that point it's like do i keep doing this thing and and and just like why am i still doing it is like because i think i'm very hard

headed it's like i latch on to this thing same thing for like a like a joke or a one-liner it's like i i get obsessed with this uh figuring the thing out you know and and thank god i did yeah um so after that like that's i just the feeling of disappointing family or loved ones and they're like at least your dad didn't even try to be polite in a way oh he's he that's not something he subscribes to he's gonna be direct and real yeah at all times yeah and like i mean it's brutal but i mean that's really one of those sort of like you know that's it'll teach you whether or not you really have cut out for it or not yeah but you just kept going you just kept going and yeah you keep going and at that point it's like that that's probably when you find out what you're you're meant to do something.

Despite negative feedback from the audience, the people who are judging your art, people around you, the people who are like, why are you putting yourself through this and you still want to do it? Yeah. Just people looking at you like, oh, Jesus, that guy again. Oh, he keeps showing off, that guy. It's almost like that character in that movie, A Million Dollar Baby with a... Oh, yeah, Jay Baruchel's character. Yeah, the character just keeps getting whaled on, but he keeps showing up.

He pays his gym membership a year in advance. It's like, how does he still be here? And then the bully finally just trashes him, just beats the shit out of him to wake him up and go home. That's it. Just comedy in general, that's what it does to you. But so five years in, this is what happens. So when do you get the job at the store?

I don't. So I worked there for a couple of years. So if I trace it back from September 7, 2012, it's like it'll be like two years. So you were already at the store. You were already working at the store. It was probably, yeah. Yeah, maybe it was already at the store. That's when it kind of gets a little foggy. And what were you doing? Like what were they letting you do at the store i it was probably yeah yeah maybe it was already at the store that's where it kind of gets a little foggy and what were you doing like what were they letting you do at the store uh

three minutes so they let you do three minutes at potluck yeah and back then there was a potluck was sunday and monday for us so i could get three minutes on sunday and monday as a door guy at that point i get to develop my hot three minutes you know yeah you get one development spot a week so you can go into the belly room right and you get to do five whole minutes yeah and that to me was like so i'm getting you know eight nine ten so it's like yeah it's like sometimes i would get longer sets in the belly room if it may be so it's like at minimum i'm doing six minutes a week at the store and i'm getting some money for gas to go back and forth. When do you feel like something clicks or at least you know you're like, all right, thank God. I would say, I can tell you what joke gave me confidence.

Oh, yeah? Yeah, there was a joke that I had because before I went all bald i i had a comb over for a long time yeah yeah oh i mean i had a full-on comb over i mean this thing was gnarly and i would spray it on just make sure it held together combed it and uh i would go up there and i just started talking about it and and and that was like it was an act out i could flap it the whole thing and i think that one really like gave me confidence because it was foolproof. And I can tell you, like, I knew that I had a tough set the night before because I could, I was really selling the comb over.

I'm like, yeah, I hurt my neck. The next day I'd be a little sore on my left side. I'm like, oh yeah, that crowd was a little tough, I guess. But yeah, just after a while, just, you know of the comics i'm i'm really like a huge fan of and and just blown away by their writing and their as a person as a comic it's like ian edwards so it's like me watching him yeah you know night after night and well he's like uh he's like a like uh like a boxer like he's just you know he's like a mexican boxer it's like it'll be 107 and and 43 is like how do you get that record you

know it's like but he has no defeats i mean he is just so funny he doesn't miss he just and you know we became good friends and just being able to see him and over the years like you know getting better as as a rider seeing you know being a fly on the wall i remember when he had dreadlocks yeah yeah so we have that in common. We used to have hair, and now we're bald. Yeah, man. All right, so it was the comb-over joke. That gave you confidence. Yeah.

I always thought you were kind of... Did you ever watch Madrigal? Yeah, Madrigal, of course. Big fan. Yeah, he's a good comic. Yeah, he's great. He quit. He's done.

Did he quit? Pretty much. No. Yeah. Is that true? Have you seen him? Well, I mean, he's busy with projects he quit? Pretty much. No. Yeah. Is that true? Have you seen him? Well, I mean, he's busy with projects, I'm sure, right now. No, but he's just sort of like, I ain't doing it anymore.

It's sort of such a sad thing. But he's just one of those dudes. He's like, I do all this other stuff, and this is where I'm making my living, and that didn't work out. And I just, but, you know, I can't believe it. Yeah. Yeah. and i just but you know i can't believe it yeah yeah but the store i think you know being able to see a lot of a lot of the big names you know as i'm coming up i'm seeing you i'm seeing magical

i'm seeing edwards i'm seeing like a ton of comics but it's also learning i mean that sure that that experience of it's insane being around it all the time yeah it's like i remember talking to you a couple times like yeah you know parking your car and then you seeing you know me do like a tough set yeah oh yeah that's like all of a sudden it's like oh that's the it's he's doing it he's a he's a full-fledged comic now yeah and you know your your shout out that you oh yeah yeah there was a yeah when when on the podcast you gave me this huge shout out and people are hitting me up it's like yo he's giving you a shout outout and some nice words. I'm like, oh, there's things along the way that give you confidence.

It's those things. It's like I think comedy is great, and there's a lot of fulfilling things from the audience of them laughing, applauding, all these cool things. But I think as a comic, we can't kind of move forward without the respect of our peers, and that means so much. audience like all these cool things but i think as a comic we can't kind of move forward without the respect of our peers and that means so much sure you know it's like comics that i look up to like yourself and so many others that have been so kind and gracious with their words and you know

provided me so many opportunities so it's like it feels good it's like well when did you start to feel like you could talk about you know your parents and and your situation i mean because that's sort of i mean like i i think it's interesting that the comb over is the first kind of window into realizing you know what feels good as a joke because that's very it's revealing and it's owning something that's kind of embarrassing and you know kind of but using it so that opens up the vulnerability so like after you're able to kind of take ownership of those things that are so fucking embarrassing you can kind of do anything so how do you start to kind of open up and talk about the the shit just five minutes at a time yeah so it's like i i think

the real growth for me was the store being able to have 15 minutes at a time when you finally got to be a regular you mean yeah when i finally got passed as a paid regular when was that yeah september 7 2012 oh that was it yeah that's when i got made a paid regular and i'm getting 15 minute spots at one in the morning at you know 1 30 in the morning you know right before abravaya you know so it's like abravaya for people don't know is the guy who's been doing the last spot at the comedy store for like 30 years yeah is he still around i saw him at the 50th but i don't know is the guy who's been doing The Last Spot at the Comedy Store for like 30 years. Yeah. Is he still around?

I saw him at the 50th, but I don't see him at the store. I don't hang around that late. I don't even know what that place looks like. I haven't seen him in a long time. I used to see him when I was there

like late nights, but I haven't seen him in a long time. When I was there, he used to just go do Carson's monologues. Yeah. That's what I remember.

But yeah, it was, that to me was a big breakthrough. But like, I can't even imagine, I never stay there much past 11.30 ever. So at one in the morning, it must be what, scattered people,

like 10, 15 people? 10, 15, no, it's single digits. Mark. Sorry, it's been a long time. So your slow nights in the golden era of comedy when you came up was 10, 15 people? Man, that's great. No, no, but I wasn't...

Like, I didn't do that at the store. I did that shit in New York. Oh, yeah, yeah. So it was nine people at the beginning of the show. Oh, that's great. And then it stayed nine people. That would have felt like Madison Square Garden to me. Nine people? Come on. In the beginning of the show. Oh, that's great. And then it stayed nine people. That would have felt like Madison Square Garden to me. Nine people?

Come on. In the OR? Come on. There was two people. There was like one person, two people. It was like that kind of thing. Was that during the downtime? Was it the dark period?

Yeah, it was a dark period. So no one was going. Yeah, it was. I mean, that room was clearing out. As a matter of fact, there'd be times where it'll be just like one person that's just asleep, you know, closes tab, just stay there. You're just kind of like dozing off drunk and you're basically playing to your peers. The person working the cover booth or the lot guy that happened to come in and sat down

and watched you. And at that point, it's a writing session. Hey, try that again. What if you said this? It's like, at that point, it's like, yeah, I'll hold the mic and you give me text. But was that when no one was going to the store in general?

Like the shows weren't that popular? Sometimes they'd cancel shows in the OR. I was around the time. So this is like, it started picking up when I became a paid regular. But when I'm a door guy,

the main room is not working. It only works on Saturdays. Right. So that thing is shut down. And then when I became a paid regular, I saw outside promoters start going into that room and bringing life to it, you know, during the week. But yeah, it was that Tuesdays. seeing the room be used for it. Other than that, it's like, and then, you know,

over the years to see that there would be, like, two showings in the main room, that's bonkers. Yeah, I mean, it's because I saw it when it was dead dead. Yeah, well, now it's kind of crazy, huh? Yeah. But even then, like, you mean when Joe and, what's his name, Mencia and everybody, and, like, was that, you were there during that. No, I wasn't there during that.

I was there when Joe Rogan and Joey Diaz came back. Like, around that time. It's like when I saw it, I remember them coming back, and the place was just bumping. I mean, it was like sold-out main rooms and sold-out ORs. And it's like, wow. It's like, yeah, it was really cool to see kind of like this. So the 15 minutes of performing for nobody give you the confidence to kind of start pulling it together.

Yeah. Talking about yourself. Yeah. Like you forge this kind of steel. You know, you're hammering away at this red hot steel before like this kind of like pocket of creativity cools. It's like, you know, I'm going to go talk about this. Like my mom wearing diapers. I'm going to go talk about my dad getting cancer and being in denial.

You know, it's like, and that's, if you're going to present something like that, it better be at 1.30 in the morning in a pitch dark room with a couple people. And if you can get some, if you can hear some chuckles and that kind of thing, I'm like, oh, I'm onto something here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and then you go perform that elsewhere and maybe they're not into it but it's like that's the kind of material that i was i i later started doing as a paid regular and to be able to so even as i'm doing my special i'm not really on the road i'm not headlining i'm not doing weekends really no it's like i i got a couple weekends leading up

to it but i pieced the whole hour off of four 15-minute sets. I'm rotating them as I get the spots, and then it's like when I would get one-nighters. Yeah, it's like one-nighters. I would go in and try to piece them together. No, I would do the whole hour. It was four 15s. Oh, wow. So that's how you were working it at the store?

That's how I was working it at the store. And then once I got the- Where'd you get the hours you had you had to run the whole yeah it's like getting close is when i finally got you know an agent and i started getting like what year is this so i filmed my special november 2nd uh 2019 wow so you like you you weren't headlining not not complete weekends yeah it's just one-nighters or stuff like that wow so at that point once i'm on on the road leading up to like say the last six months leading up to the thing it's like i'm having some scattered weekends like some fallout spots some one-nighters that kind of stuff so at that point it's like the four 15 minute sets became

uh breaking stuff up in thirds. That's hard, man, to just sort of be like, all right, well, this, like especially at the store where you're like, this is this 15 minutes, this is this 15 minutes, because it's so easy to get stuck in a habit there. Yeah. Yeah, because you just want to do the shit that works, maybe throw a couple new ones in the middle. Right.

But you're just sort of like, no, tomorrow I got to work on this total other one. I would trick myself into thinking is like, imagine I started comedy right now. yeah and and i didn't have the red bull banger that i had before and uh you know this is what i have right now so i would go up and force what trick myself and force myself to do that that only 15 minutes and and then some weeks i would just do that same 15 over and over again working out a joke or whatever but it was it was me tricking myself into and then some weeks I would just do that same 15 over and over again, working out a joke or whatever. But it was me tricking myself into it. And then later... And they're long form too, right?

I mean, sometimes it's two or three stories, right? Yeah, two or three stories. So by the time I got to the special, I had mapped everything out. I would love to show you that picture afterward, but it's like I mapped everything out. So what helped me doing four 15-minute sets, what really helped me was callbacks

i gotta have a callback from here to here sure it was like callbacks are like they're the greatest oh yes they are they're they're makes audiences just like oh my god i know it's like this kind of smoke thing and the dove flies out of your hands and you're like i got another one going yeah so you're gonna love the next ones. Four birds come out of the way. Yeah, and at that point, it's like I remember kind of weaving. At that point, I got away from the 415s once I'm doing, like, weekends. Yeah. And I said I'm going to do 320s.

So beginning, middle, and end. And then now, do you headline now? Yeah. Yeah, man. I'm loving it. I'm going on the road. I was just in Philly. I'm going to Jacksonville, Florida this weekend.

I got Brea at the end. So it's like I'm loving it. So it's so wild how you put it together because you didn't do it like you didn't go from opening and do feature acts. Yeah, no, I was featuring. Oh, you were? Yeah, I was featuring. I've been opening and featuring for so long, but I never had the headlining weekends. You see what I'm saying?

And Pauly took you out? Who else took you out? Yeah, I went on the road with Pauly, Trevino, Russell Peters, Steve Byrne. Yeah, a ton of people have been. Steve Renazzisi. Yeah. Yeah, so many. I hate to list everybody.

Well, that's the big benefit of the store is that i think you know yeah you can go work out but that someone will be like let's just go do some dates yeah so you can do the work you can do the real job yeah as opposed to just being one of those rooms over there yeah and i and i hate to name everybody just because i feel like i'm going to leave somebody out but it's like yeah the store you're absolutely a hundred thousand percent right it's like you build rapport with these comics that later it's like wait i need somebody open you ready you ready yeah i'll get somebody to cover my shift and you know i'll see you there and then you're you're there an hour before they show up to the in the green room ready to go

when did you uh start working in spanish that happened a couple years ago so that was that that actually happened um when i took my mom to go do like a um to go see the virgin mary in mexico city uh the virgin mary was there yeah well not the real one uh we went to the cathedral in mexico city and uh so i was going to take her there because she was going to have that surgery that brain surgery so it was kind of like uh and and in jewish culture they call it a mitzvah yeah kind of like a trip yeah and uh so i was taking my mom on this on this trip and you know make sure everything was in order so i took him down there and that's kind of i think even a little before that i had tried it out here but i did it in mexico city at this uh spot called a shakespeare forum uh-huh

and it was great and it was fun you just did your regular act yeah i translated stuff and then that was another learning moment for me because you realize some similes and metaphors and wordplay double entendres are are different you have a different set of double entendres and puns to work with. So things weren't working. I had to pivot, adjust. So it felt like I started all over again. I felt like I was in that pickup truck driving home. But you know the language.

It's your first language. Well, my dad would say, you're going to end up mute because you can't speak Spanish or English well. It's like eventually you're in this purgatory of language where you lose kind of this and you gain that and vice versa. So I come to find out that I'm fluent in Spanish but not Mexico City Spanish. Oh, okay. So it's like that was a realization. And then me working on it and performing, and it worked then,

but I would say that I'm a lot better now than I was then. Like this past weekend, actually, no, I was in Oxnard this weekend. So I did the weekend, four shows, Friday and Saturday shows were in English, but the Sunday show was in Spanish. And I was able to do- How many people come? Did you sell it out? The English ones were like, it's the first time where i'm like oh wow like people are coming out you know yeah yeah but the spanish one it's kind of new it's a new thing so it's kind of hard to reach kind of the spanish-speaking demographic because maybe they're not plugged into the emailing list yeah and that kind of thing but you know people did come out and be able to do

an hour in spanish and it's like a hybrid of like the old hour and the new hour. And just being in the moment, like I have command of the language now where I'd be like, Hey, I could talk to this audience member, maybe a little bit of crowd work that sets up another joke, but it's, it's a nice place. You're becoming proficient in Spanish with it.

Comedy. Yeah. So like as far as it does that too, right? Yeah. Yeah. And I think Segura does it. Absolutely. Huh? Yeah. I think Segura does it Absolutely

Huh Yeah so Tom Segura And like we used to Like We put on this show At the At the At the improv

In the little lab Yeah It was like Francisco Ramos Fabricio Coppano and I Yeah And we You know it's like The room holds 20 people

Yeah And Tom Segura And And Felipe were kind enough to come do the show a couple times and you know kind of jam out so it was cool it's kind of like doing comedy in spanish just feels like a basketball play like a working on your left yeah you gotta work on that you know it feels good right you know to be able to sink those baskets with your left yeah you know english

is my like i think in english now yeah it's like my dominant but i mean just on a business level you know if you can build out the spanish market for yourself i mean fuck dude it's a whole other world and there's you know thousands of people yeah i mean like you know la spanish man yeah i mean texas arizona there's all these beautiful markets miami but going to mexico it's like it's like i see the the Mexican comedians right now killing it. And it's like stand-up comedy as we know it here in the States. It's still a very early young art form in Mexico. I think roughly the eldest comic in Mexico is like 10 years into comedy.

Yeah. And they're putting out specials year after year. It's like totally new there. It's a gold rush right now. People are rushing into premises. Are you going gonna go shoot a special in mexico yeah so i'm i'm gonna go shoot it uh this year so i have the first hour that i'm that i translated the dream would be to sell a double special of like spanish and english for every hour here on out like right much like a book you know as far as it does that yeah as far as it did that yeah yeah and it was great and that

has you know for a long time been my dream of, Esparza did that. Yeah. Yeah, and it was great, and that has, you know, for a long time been my dream of, like, if I could do that. How do your parents feel now about your choices? My dad still reminds me of this job where I wore a tie. And I said, you know,

I sold clothes at Robinson's May. It was a department store. He's like, but you wore a tie. Yeah. You know? So my dad still hints at it. My mom's like... Hints at what? He wants you to wear a tie or he's like but you wore a tie yeah you know so my dad still hints at it my mom's like hints at what he wants you to wear a tie he wants you to not be a comedian not be a comedian he's like man it's like i don't know like he's like there's an easier way to do this man to do life to do life to kind of i think what it comes down to it's like i think

parents don't want you to suffer or have the same path of resistance that they did. So I think they want to lessen that. But it's like, if only they could really comprehend that I'm happy doing this and I want to do it for the rest of my life. And when it's all said and done, if I could just put out special after special, it's like, I'm good. Yeah, man. And you keep writing new. Even last night when I saw you, what's your girlfriend's name? Adria. Yeah, she's great. Thank you. It seems like she's on board. Very supportive, absolutely. I'm good. And you keep running. Even last night when I saw you, what's your girlfriend's name? Adria.

Yeah, she's great. Thank you. It seems like she's on board. Very supportive, absolutely. For the full ride. Oh, yeah. How long has that been going on? A couple years.

All right. Yeah. Yeah, a few years, actually. Because I just know you came out. Because I know what that audience last night. It was a little chaotic. It was a little chaotic. It was.

I was in both rooms. I wasn't even booked in the main room. But Ross didn't show up till late so i went on but it was just one of those nights where it was like you know they they weren't bad but they were just sort of distracted or something and it was just you could just feel that weird a little bit of chaos in the room you know so but you could focus on you get enough people laughing to where you you know it could sustain your set yeah and not just be like no i want to fucking leave my body but i mean i saw you come out you know and you're like people laughing to where it could sustain your set and not just be like, no, I want to fucking leave my body. But I saw you come out, and you're like, it was great.

I'm like, was it though? Was it great? And I was very honest. I said, for what I'm trying to do, yes. Exactly. Because I'm doing new premises, and I wasn't fazed by the lack of laughter or just whatever little pops I got with the thing i'm working on it's like that was great well when you're doing the new ship with which is great you know like

when you finally because i'm like at that point now like i don't know where this a lot of this material i'm doing now came from like i'm doing these two-hour shows and you know some of it yeah but some of it's not going to stick you know and some of it will but you know there's a lot of stuff in there yeah but i realize like there's things i need to talk about and you know i have to consciously kind of like all right well figure out you know what you want to say you know and just get it out there like and you know that weird feeling like there's an excitement to doing it yeah uh you know and when it fucking tanks you're just sort of like well how committed am I to this

but the thing you start to realize it's like well if I believe in it I gotta make it work yeah and that's the one thing you know

you don't really talk about to yourself which is like things can tank but like it's all if you have faith in it and you keep tweaking shit

it'll eventually come to life right but you know there's a lot of things that I do impulsively and I get big laughs and I forget. But, like,

when you really focus on something and then you sort of go and you make it work, like, the only problem with that thing is, like, you know, once it's really working, I'm like,

no, that's done. Do you know, like, you know, that's so funny. We do put a kind of an expiration thing and say, all right, that's done.

Yeah. And, like, either you keep doing it or you just sort of, like, that was a good challenge. Right. Yeah. And then it just goes away. So the new shit's kind of working?

Yeah, I think the new stuff is working. Talking about my mom wanting a new walker. Uh-huh. That feels good. That's all relatable shit too. I'm finding, you know, talking about grief and my dad's Alzheimer's and shit. It's like, that's where it's at, dude.

Like in some ways, because like all that kind of stuff like kind of shouldering you know the real challenges of life and you know people you love you know getting sick or you know or you getting sick or losing people it's like what else is there really right where you want how much can you talk about the fucking kardashians or you know amber uh heard or whatever the fuck her name is you know so so how do you kind of challenge yourself or like to talk about things that maybe seem a little too vulnerable like when you start talking about your father yeah it's hard to like you know why usually it starts like a pretty pretty uh you know cynical kind of dark you know and then i feel it out you know like

there's there's a beat that i'm doing that's just never like occasionally it'll get the big laugh and i can't determine what makes it happen or what doesn't you know but it's a matter of like you know rising above the sadness of it it's delicate because what you're talking about is sad as so like you better have a good relief valve in there yeah do you know what i mean and that's the challenge i think of those jokes it's like i'm just you know it's like from the get-go this is sad shit but i've got this little twist that's going to turn it around and relieve you of that sadness literally you know right you can feel it who the fuck knows what makes it happen

i'll stick with shit that doesn't go anywhere. I'm like, I'm doing a thing on stage. It's horrendous. It's horrendous. And it's unnecessary. Because I'm literally saying, I don't know if you watched it, but I'm saying like, I don't know what we're supposed to be doing as comics. Yeah.

Like, I can't just entertain you. The weight of the world is on all of us and we know what's going on. It's horrendous. So I say, the metaphor I'm sort of working with as as what our job is is um you know when someone's sick and dying in the hospital and they're gonna die there's no you know you know what they hear from everybody they know in the weeks leading up to them dying you're gonna get through this man you're strong you're gonna do it if you don't worry about it you're gonna kick this thing that's the comedian's job, right?

Yeah. Just kind of hold a hand and just. Of the world. Of the world, yeah. It's like, you know. But it's the, like, again, it's not funny, but for some reason I think it should be. So I don't know. I think it's great.

And then certain premises, it's like, I really believe in this thing called stand-up comedy. It's art, you know. And sometimes you just have to do it for the sake of just doing it i feel like it's such a like a imprint and like being able to get that out and yeah certain jokes aren't aren't aren't funny you know but they're still jokes yeah you know there's you know it comes out as a certain way and and i don't know comics were so twisted in our minds that sometimes you say something like oh that's not going to be like good it's not going to sit well with me tonight or tomorrow i'm thinking like why did i say that that could have been this is like a am i being disrespectful the red red bull for a year i still i tried it last night actually mark that's why i said it it was great for what

i'm trying to do i'm trying to bring back to his Red Bull wing thing. Dude, I hate fucking, like I felt it the other night, man, when you're on stage and you get that sweat on the back of your neck. Ooh. Oh, man. Those two beads just racing down the vertebrae. Yeah. You have like the little spinal cord coming out. You have no control over it, but it happens when you got to work.

You're up there and you just kind of like lean forward. You just feel the elastic of your box just snap down when you sit like you know it's like it's ain't landing it's not landing and that still happens you know and i and i get off and like fuck they just saw the sadness yeah there was a premise that i tried to tackle that was just like i think i'm not yeah it's like so so the idea was that like you know my mom's health is bad, but my parents are not married. My dad is now able to marry. So my dad comes to me. He's like, you can't make this shit up.

He's like, hey, I've been thinking of marrying your mom. And I'm like, oh, that's cool. And I didn't know what to say. And he got really upset because I'm like, I don't know, you know, take her out for coffee or something, you know. And then he's like, hey, I'm being freaking real right now dude's like i'm like i don't know what to tell you and then you're calm it's such a weird touchy thing for me but at the same time like the the comedic mind to kind of let the comedy in these painful yeah vulnerable moments yeah it's like you know start thinking of the premises like well who's gonna have to marry him you know it's like my parents don't speak or read english yeah i'm gonna be

officiating the thing is like going into like these hypothetical premises yeah you know my mom is hard of hearing mom do you take that and it's like that's what relieves the pain i think and presenting that on stage it's like like just like you said it's like ahves the pain. I think I'm presenting that on stage. It's like, like, just like you said, it's like, ah, shit, the audience saw the sadness. Yeah.

I got to tweak that a little bit. Yeah. It's not ready. Let's let that brew a little bit. It's coming out sad. Yeah. Well, it's all right,

man. It's like, well, that's, I mean, that's the real risk of it. You know, if you're just doing jokes that are just jokes and you're just doing them like math problems, you can just reel them off.

It's like, well, that would be like, but when you, like, cause I go all in all the time and you do that too, where you just put your heart into it. So when they don't work, you're like, it's not just sort of like the embarrassment of a joke not working. It's like, oh my God, it's got a little heartbreak, a little heartbreak there. Right? Yeah. Yeah.

It's all right. We're, we're tough. Good talking to you, man. thank you so much for having me hey it's your stray hell go see him if he's coming to your town and you can also watch him on his tacos con todo show here's a messy guitar riff that i tried to pull together and i kind of fucked it up here and there. But I rolled with it. I rolled with it.

I rolled with the mud and the sludge. Thank you. Boomer lives. Monkey and La Fonda. 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 producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations,

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