0:00

Tour dates this week, I'll

0:02

be all over California with

0:04

the great Tom Green. You

0:06

can catch me in Fontana,

0:08

California Wednesday the 23rd, belly

0:10

up in Solano Beach on

0:12

Thursday the 24th, the 25th,

0:15

I'll be at the Coach

0:17

House and 26th, Los Angeles,

0:19

California, the L. Ray Theater. Friday,

0:22

June 13th, and Saturday, June

0:25

14th, you can catch me

0:27

in Fort Collins, Colorado at

0:29

the Comedy Forum. Here

0:31

we are, another episode of Let

0:33

There Be Talk today. Welcome aboard,

0:35

thank you for joining me. Last

0:38

weekend, just a monstrous

0:40

weekend for me. A

0:43

dream come true, I dropped

0:45

my first special, 5836

0:47

on YouTube. and we

0:49

have already hit 20 ,000 views.

0:51

So if you are a

0:53

new listener here or a religious

0:55

listener of Let There Be

0:57

Talk, do me a favor, go

1:00

and leave some

1:02

comments on the

1:04

YouTube platform right

1:07

under my special. It really

1:09

helps the algorithms and send

1:11

it to your friends. Let's keep it going. Let's see

1:13

what we can get going. Fired

1:15

up if I got 5 ,000

1:17

views. So we're at 20 ,000 and

1:19

it's only been out four days. So

1:21

very, very cool. And

1:23

I can't tell you how

1:25

much I appreciate all

1:28

of the positive comments. This

1:30

is absolutely insane. I've

1:32

never seen it really

1:34

98 % positive comments

1:36

on YouTube in this

1:39

fucking insane world. Holy

1:41

shit. That is I

1:44

was ready for the fucking punches in

1:46

the face, but it

1:49

ain't happening. So,

1:51

shit man, that is

1:53

pretty damn cool. What

1:56

do we got today? We got a comedian today.

1:59

On the show, somebody that

2:01

I met probably around the first

2:03

couple years I was doing

2:05

comedy, Jessica Michelle

2:07

Singleton, known as JMS

2:10

around the comedy store,

2:12

a soldier, a grinder out

2:14

there constantly that I

2:17

would see her everywhere like

2:19

myself. There was a

2:21

group of people. It was

2:23

like her, Tony Baker, who

2:27

else? Tony

2:29

Hinchcliffe, Ben Giafraldo.

2:32

I mean, it was

2:34

just constantly Gerard Carmichael. There

2:37

was this group of comedians

2:39

and we were everywhere every

2:41

night. Different venues all

2:43

open mics signing up trying

2:45

to get somewhere in the

2:47

world of comedy and she

2:49

has got here today With

2:51

a special like myself Shot

2:53

at herself paid for it

2:55

herself out in New Orleans.

2:57

It's coming out at the

2:59

end of the month and

3:01

Hell yeah, man. I pay

3:03

it forward I'll have comedians

3:05

on that put out their own specials anytime

3:07

because everybody helped me out over the

3:09

last couple of weeks. And I want to

3:11

thank all those podcasts that had me

3:14

on. Just unbelievable. So

3:17

yeah, make sure you check out her

3:19

special. Follow her on

3:21

Instagram and Twitter and Facebook and

3:23

all that and see her out

3:25

on the road. She's always out

3:27

on the road. Very cool. Fun,

3:30

fun episodes sitting down.

3:32

We're just both

3:34

amped up, hammering

3:36

about our lives at

3:38

the open mics. It's

3:41

fucking funny. She's

3:43

got a great story, man. She did

3:45

Let's Make a Deal and I

3:47

never forgot it. You'll love that story

3:49

and many others. Before

3:51

I get out of here, let me

3:53

just see here if I got anything else

3:55

to say. If you are a member

3:57

of the Patreon, thank you. And if you

3:59

are not, patreon .com slash Dean Del Rey,

4:01

There will be a new bonus episode

4:04

drop this week. You do not want to

4:06

miss that. And I'll be

4:08

talking about all kinds of

4:10

stuff. ACDC out

4:12

on tour. What

4:14

else? Easter. My thoughts on

4:16

Easter. And

4:18

a few other

4:21

things. Yeah. Ooh, exciting.

4:23

That sounds fun. Your thoughts

4:25

on Easter. I don't know what

4:27

the fuck I'm saying. It'll be

4:29

good. Check it out. Join Patreon. And

4:32

while we're at it, I want

4:34

to just give a huge shout

4:36

out to some of the people that

4:38

really pulled the trigger on those

4:40

super thanks on YouTube. Daniel Tesh,

4:42

James DeWeaver, Sam Trajillo,

4:46

Scott Marillo,

4:49

Nick Mireille, Jose

4:52

Munoz, Victor Gozman,

4:55

Troy, one name Troy. And

4:58

I mean, there's so

5:00

many here, but thank you.

5:02

for the people that

5:04

uh you know did a

5:06

little uh did a

5:08

little tipping on the paypal

5:10

and the uh youtube

5:12

paypal i do want to

5:14

read uh read off

5:16

some of the people that

5:18

also did hit the

5:21

paypal which was pretty goddamn

5:23

cool you can hit

5:25

the paypal dean delray at

5:27

yahoo .com frankie ariella maximilia

5:29

von burt thank you

5:31

Mark Brunaut. These are

5:33

old soldier Dellraisers. I

5:35

love Michael McDougal. Our

5:38

nude tabby.

5:42

Just trashin' names. Donate

5:45

and get your

5:47

name trashed. Anyway,

5:51

yeah, thank you so much.

5:53

I'm kind of blown away,

5:55

actually. I'm pretty fired up

5:57

from the great weekend and

5:59

the response from my Special. Once

6:02

again, thank you so much. All

6:04

right, I'll see you out on the road. And

6:07

I will keep hammering you

6:09

with the clips. Sorry. I just,

6:11

I'm proud of this special.

6:13

I'm just gonna keep talking about

6:15

it until I shoot another

6:17

one. Here we

6:20

go. Let's get into it. Let's

6:22

get some comedy talk going.

6:24

Candles are lit. Jessica Michelle Singleton.

6:33

Episode another episode here. Here we are

6:35

a comedian today is rare and

6:37

have a comedian on because You know

6:39

when I started the podcast other

6:41

people were interviewing comedians. I was like,

6:43

I don't want to do that.

6:45

Fuck comedians No, no, I love comedians,

6:47

but you want to do something

6:50

different I mean you do your book

6:52

has is so cool the people

6:54

you get on. Oh man, it's fucking

6:56

I make music. It's not rock.

6:58

So yeah country, right? Yeah, yeah Yeah.

7:00

Dude, I checked out some of

7:02

your stuff, by the way. I'm jumping

7:04

in so fast. I'm coming in

7:06

so hot. right. Yeah, I got a

7:08

record out from 99. I listened

7:10

to it. It was sick, man. And

7:13

I was like, oh, it's quintessential

7:15

90s. Well, it's kind. Or that like

7:17

era. Yeah, it's like, you know,

7:19

Wilco, Alt Country, Tom Petty, Wildflowers, Black

7:21

Crows. Yes. Yeah, yeah. I

7:23

was like, oh, this is a

7:25

vibe, Dean. Yeah, hell. You know,

7:27

I told the story, though, my

7:29

special comes out, you know, on

7:31

Thursday. And I listened

7:33

to the record about a month ago.

7:35

I hadn't listened to it in maybe

7:37

five, 10 years, maybe. Yeah. And I

7:39

was hiking and I go, I'm gonna

7:41

throw this song because I need a

7:43

song for the credits. Yeah. And

7:46

I listened to it and I go,

7:48

Fuck, I love this record. And I love

7:50

my special. So I don't

7:52

really care. These are for

7:55

me. Yes. You're like,

7:57

these are the things I

7:59

love. And that you got to

8:01

put them together is great, too. Well,

8:03

I mean, you know. It's

8:05

like, if you put out garbage that

8:08

you don't like and somebody trashes it,

8:10

then you're like, yeah, he's kind of

8:12

right. Yeah, they're like, yeah, I have

8:14

put that out. But if they're trashing

8:16

something that you love, you're like, yeah,

8:18

the same for you. Yeah, you're just

8:20

not my audience. It took me a

8:22

long time to let go of not

8:24

everyone's gonna be your audience. You don't

8:26

have to. Everybody's not gonna love you.

8:28

You just find your people. you know.

8:30

Well somebody told me yesterday they somebody

8:32

posted up which comic do you think

8:34

sucks and it was literally hundreds and

8:36

hundreds of all the best. The best

8:38

ones yeah no I said that'll pop

8:40

up a minute on my Facebook news

8:42

feed every once in a while it

8:44

seems to be a trend. Oh yeah.

8:46

And it's everyone's tagging the big comedians.

8:48

Well, I I always think that people

8:50

champion you on the way up. They're

8:52

like, that's our guy with bands. I've

8:54

learned it. Yeah. With bands, then they

8:56

get to the top. Now, like, fuck

8:58

that bad show out. Yeah, fucking

9:01

garbage. I never want to be

9:03

at the top. You watch every few years.

9:05

It's somebody knew that they're just like, I'm

9:07

down with some strong medium. Yeah,

9:10

just right in the middle, strong medium, occasional

9:12

theater. Yeah, right. Just sell.

9:15

under the radar working, you

9:17

know, this is my 41st

9:19

year on stage. So under

9:21

the radar. That's

9:23

wild. I know. How does it,

9:25

for you, the, I mean, now

9:27

I'm interviewing you on your podcast,

9:29

but the difference in like, because

9:31

you did music for years. 25. How's

9:34

the, I don't know, the

9:36

rush compare, you know. Comedy's way

9:38

better. Yeah. I know like you or

9:40

other people, they, they. They play some

9:42

music too, and I'm like, get out.

9:44

You're like, don't go down that road.

9:47

Get out. It's dark. Stay

9:49

focused on the comedy. I

9:51

know. I mean, you

9:53

have to. It's such a long game,

9:55

you know what I mean? Now, what

9:57

happened? You were like, you did like

9:59

a country song and it hit? Yeah,

10:01

I was dating a musician during lockdown,

10:03

not a country musician, but I think

10:05

I just annoyed him enough that I

10:07

was like, hey, I got this idea

10:09

for a song. I've always wondered, I

10:11

like to sing. Just let

10:13

me hang out with your friends. We'll

10:16

write it out. Let's for fun. Yeah.

10:18

And then I put it out and

10:20

a bunch of people started sharing it

10:22

and it got, I mean, it tracked

10:24

in like the top forties on the

10:26

iTunes charts and a couple of stations

10:28

played it. And it's just small, you

10:31

know, in the grand scheme of things.

10:33

But I was getting enough attention that

10:35

I was like, Oh, maybe I should

10:37

try making more music. There were people

10:39

that I knew from entertainment. Like

10:41

the industry I knew them from

10:43

doing comedy and they had never given

10:45

me the time of day And

10:47

then all of a sudden they were

10:49

calling me like you gotta do

10:51

more music and I'm like It's always

10:53

something like when I left music and

10:56

started comedy people are like Why

10:58

did you leave music and I'm like

11:00

have you ever done anything for

11:02

25 years? You get tired. Have you

11:04

ever done anything for two years? It

11:06

can be exhausting you have to

11:08

love it and I imagine it's the

11:10

same with Music that at a certain

11:12

point you could stop loving it

11:14

the same way and I mean I

11:16

see people in comedy I watch you

11:18

know people we started with Start

11:20

to hate it and you're like it's

11:22

so hard. Why would you? Why

11:24

are you still going if you

11:26

don't at least love doing it? Yeah,

11:29

get a regular job. It's so

11:31

much easier. You come home at night

11:33

You got a paycheck sleeping in

11:35

your own bed security. You only hate

11:37

like three people Yeah, instead of

11:39

just like a new person every week

11:41

that you're you feel slighted by

11:43

for no particular It's been crazy how

11:45

long you've been doing comedy like

11:47

the same as me 15 years in

11:49

July. Yeah. Yeah, I just started

11:51

my 16th year Yeah, and where we

11:53

meet like haha, I think actually

11:55

Oh, yeah? Up, you know, the old

11:57

ha -ha. Right. Doing, you know,

11:59

giving Jack $5 to go do the mic.

12:01

That's how I started in LA. It was

12:03

just down the street for me. So I

12:05

was like, all right. $5 open mics. Yeah.

12:07

I used to have $20 a day. I

12:09

gave myself and it was like. It

12:12

was like seven for Taco Bell. You

12:14

could get a couple of seven layers and

12:16

a drink. The most comedian thing. Yeah,

12:18

you're like, this is the food budget. then

12:20

five for gas for my motorcycle. That's

12:22

all I needed. Yeah. And a couple of

12:25

fives for open mics. Yeah. I

12:27

mean, you hit it hard too. I

12:29

was always like low key jealous of

12:31

the bike. I was like, man, fuck

12:33

that guy for being able to get

12:35

around so fast. Yeah. Stuck in traffic.

12:37

Like, I'm not going to make it

12:39

to sign up at the improv or

12:41

whatever. Yeah, it is. Holy. Shit, sometimes

12:43

I think about it now. Like I

12:45

went and did La Jolla last Thursday

12:47

just to do a one nighter. I

12:49

used to ride my motorcycle there for

12:51

15 minutes by. That's wild

12:53

now. I know and as I'm driving home.

12:56

I go no fucking way Could I

12:58

do that now? Yeah, I'm like thank God

13:00

I had the energy and maybe if

13:02

I was new to it I'd still have

13:04

that I still have a lot of

13:06

energy about it But yeah when I

13:08

think about that kind of stuff that I

13:10

would drive so far Just a ten

13:13

minutes instead of a seven right could really

13:15

work out some stuff here. Oh, yeah,

13:17

cuz we're doing three in town Yeah, and

13:19

to be able to do ten You

13:22

do a two -hour drive to

13:24

do 10. Yeah, for nothing. Oh,

13:26

for free? Yeah, yeah, just to

13:28

spend money being just buying food

13:30

and like paying for gas. Yeah,

13:32

yeah. Yeah, but I mean, I

13:34

don't know, I kind of feel like

13:36

that's what you have to do. You

13:39

have to do that. I mean, I

13:41

laugh kind of now when people complain

13:43

about something, you know? Yeah. And I'm

13:45

like, oh, you don't even know. Like

13:47

you had a video go viral and

13:49

you've only been doing this a year

13:51

and now you're on tour. You

13:53

know, you have to go through

13:55

the fucking beat down to become

13:57

a soldier on stage. Absolutely. You

14:00

have to be in the trenches.

14:02

Otherwise, you just, I

14:04

think we had to put ourselves in

14:06

positions where it was nearly impossible or

14:08

so fucking hard to get as good

14:10

as you can possibly get. I mean,

14:12

if it's always. Crowds that

14:14

if you're never struggling on stage, I

14:16

feel like you're not gonna reach your

14:18

potential Yeah, you know you have to

14:20

like go through the meat of things

14:22

to make your stuff better and get

14:24

more comfortable What got you into it

14:26

mental illness? I don't know. Oh, I

14:28

mean were you watching comedy as a

14:30

kid? Yeah, I grew up in a

14:33

house that watched a lot of my

14:35

mom it always boggles people's mind when

14:37

I'm like Carlin really inspired me because

14:39

they're like You? You're

14:41

humping the air. But

14:43

I grew up just, my mom

14:45

loves stand -ups. We'd watch all

14:47

the HBO specials and then, you

14:49

know, comedic... Like sitcom type

14:51

shows of the 90s. I grew

14:53

up, you know, like watching Living Single

14:55

and Living Color. SNL was big

14:57

in my house. It was the only

14:59

thing that my house was united

15:01

about was laughing. So I mean, I

15:03

have the classic, you know, shitty

15:05

childhood where that made me funnier because

15:07

Alaska, right? Well, I lived in

15:09

Mississippi until sixth grade and then We

15:11

moved from, my mom drove us

15:13

from Mississippi to Alaska. It's

15:16

so strange. Like me who's been around

15:18

the world, I'm like, you can drive there?

15:20

Yeah. Alaska always seems like some place

15:22

you can't drive. I mean, you can do

15:24

a full drive through Canada. What we

15:26

did was we got. My mom drove us

15:28

from Mississippi to, I think it was

15:30

Bellevue, Washington. Honestly, I was so young, it's

15:32

hard to remember, but there's a ferry

15:35

you can drive your car on. My

15:37

mom's like, it'll be like a cruise ship. It was a

15:39

Greyhound bus on the sea. We're

15:41

on this ferry boat. sitting in your car, right? Oh

15:43

my God, thank God, no. My mom

15:45

got us the upgrade for a cabin,

15:47

which was just like two bunk beds

15:50

in a little room. And you had

15:52

to pack your own food and... just

15:54

on this ship with a bunch of

15:56

people who I mean if you're taking

15:58

a ferry boat into Alaska you've had

16:00

some dark moments like Is it like

16:02

going for a pipeline employee? My mom

16:04

got a job. My mom's always been

16:06

a civilian employee for the government A

16:08

lot of my friends are convinced she's

16:10

in the CIA because of the places

16:12

she has been after I graduated high

16:15

school But she got a job with

16:17

the fish and wildlife up there. So

16:19

They offered her money. They offered to

16:21

pay to move her. It was right

16:23

after my parents split up. And

16:25

I think she was just, I mean, at

16:27

the time I was like, you're ruining my

16:29

life. But now I'm kind of the age

16:31

she was. And I'm like, oh my God,

16:33

if I had two kids and my methed

16:36

out husband had just hit the bricks, like,

16:38

yeah, I'd be like. in a small town.

16:40

We got to get out of here. Yeah.

16:42

Yeah. The whole town's talking. Yeah.

16:44

Yeah. Meth in a small

16:46

town. Yeah. There's a movie. Yeah.

16:49

Let's write it. You're like the

16:51

only guy in the small town up

16:53

all night. Why isn't the liquor store open?

16:57

There's Doug again. Just breaking stuff. Was

16:59

that his name? No. His name

17:01

was John. But Doug feels like a

17:03

good. Yeah. Yeah.

17:05

John Michael. So.

17:09

I mean, you, you moved

17:11

to LA for what? For

17:13

comedy. I mean, I did it a

17:15

little bit in college. I went to

17:17

college in Florida. I, the last year

17:19

I got, I did a couple open

17:22

mics and in retrospect, I'm like, this

17:24

is so deranged, but I was like,

17:26

I'm going to Hollywood. I'm

17:28

just going to go big or go

17:30

home. Like why, I guess I had

17:32

the mindset of why try to make

17:34

it in a smaller scene, just to

17:36

have to re. Start so I guess

17:38

I mean you got to be a

17:40

little deranged to get into this yeah,

17:42

no any entertainment Oh, yeah, there's no

17:44

guarantee and I never even cared about

17:47

if I was It wasn't about making

17:49

it. To me, getting on stage at

17:51

the comedy store at the Apotluck was

17:53

making it. Yeah. No. Right. That you're

17:55

like, if I just get on that

17:57

list. Yeah. That's I try to channel

17:59

that now because it's it's easy to

18:01

have moments of I don't want to

18:03

say taking it for granted, but, you

18:05

know, it becomes routine. And I try

18:07

to like have moments where I remember

18:10

that the things I'm doing were such

18:12

a pipeline dream at some point that

18:14

it's if me, you know, driving into

18:16

my Kia Spectra 15 years ago could

18:18

be like I'm at the comedy store.

18:21

Yeah, like I'm on like on my

18:23

names on the wall. It's

18:25

yeah, it's been a great, you

18:28

know, I got a pamphlet somewhere

18:30

here. I forget it's around here

18:32

somewhere. I used to

18:34

save all those potluck lists. Really?

18:37

Yeah. So I got them all. It's

18:39

crazy to go. There's like

18:41

suicide. Jimmy. Yeah. Is

18:44

he alive? I

18:46

think G .T. passed. You know, boon

18:48

shaka laka! I heard he passed too.

18:50

Oh, really? Yeah, that's what somebody just

18:52

told me. So, you know, that's

18:54

the list. I mean, it's the real

18:56

magic is as you start to see,

18:58

you know, you're maybe one or two,

19:01

the opening of potluck awful. Then you

19:03

move up to like five and then

19:05

you're at like eight and then you're

19:07

at the end when it's really maybe

19:09

people in there because it was empty

19:11

back then. Oh, yeah. And that was

19:13

like the spot when you that was

19:16

the whole thing. When you started getting

19:18

at the end of potluck, you're like,

19:20

I'm gonna get in here. They

19:22

like me. Yeah, it

19:24

was such a crazy, crazy time. And you

19:26

were counting all your sets. Did you

19:29

count? So wait, I have to know. I

19:31

counted them all. Yeah. All of them

19:33

since day one. I'm gonna

19:35

re -ask you this on my

19:37

podcast, but just did you, did

19:39

that include mics or just

19:41

shows? No mics. From day one,

19:43

December 6, 2009, Hollywood

19:45

Improv. That was your first time

19:47

up? Was that the improv? Yeah, I

19:49

did this show. It was like,

19:51

so you always wanted to try comedy,

19:53

like one of those. Oh, yeah.

19:55

It was like a housewife, a

19:58

fucking construction worker, some,

20:00

you know. dentist my dentist

20:02

I met my dentist there you

20:04

know I met a chiropractor

20:06

from an all -female comedy showcase

20:09

like that it was one of

20:11

those and this this guy

20:13

Joe Farazzo ran it and and

20:15

you know he was in

20:17

the comedy scene in New York

20:19

he was an older guy

20:21

and and I just you know

20:23

went down there and did

20:25

it and then the three days

20:27

later, I did the belly

20:30

room, that Jerome Cleary and Abel.

20:32

I remember that name. Our

20:34

meeting guy, I forget

20:36

his name. They ran a show on

20:39

Friday nights. In the belly. Yeah. And

20:41

then that was that was

20:43

it, man. You were just 298

20:45

that year. Wow. 298.

20:47

Man, just addicted, just hitting it.

20:49

Well, you know, some people go, Oh

20:51

yeah, it's addiction. To me, it

20:53

was kind of just like, Oh,

20:56

I should have been doing this. You

20:58

found the thing. Yeah, I found the

21:00

thing. That's the thing. I mean, I felt

21:02

the same way the first time I

21:04

ever did stand -up was it was an

21:06

open mic at sidesplitters in Tampa because that's

21:08

where I went to college. And I

21:11

didn't know that the open mic was a

21:13

competition to be in the semifinals of

21:15

Florida's funniest person or some, you know, like

21:17

local. Some scam. Yeah, some bringer scam,

21:19

probably. Yeah, for sure, for sure. But

21:22

I did stand up because at the time I

21:24

was like, oh, well, I would love to be

21:26

on SNL, but I don't know how you do

21:28

that. Some of them are stand -ups. I'll try

21:30

stand -up. And I don't know if it was

21:32

this way for you, but like the first laugh, it

21:34

was like, oh, it's so woo -woo, but

21:36

I'm like, this is the thing I'm supposed

21:38

to do. You just feel it. You're

21:41

like, oh, this is where I belong. Yeah,

21:43

and now, you know, I

21:45

grew up like you on stand -up. So

21:47

to me, it was comedy and rock

21:49

and roll. They were the same thing. So

21:51

you put on a Richard Pryor record,

21:53

and then you put on an ACDC record.

21:55

Had a party. It wasn't like, what

21:57

the fuck did you put on? I was

21:59

like, yeah. Yeah, of course you did

22:01

that. Yeah, and everyone went crazy and they

22:03

it. over there, you know, I'm doing

22:05

the impressions of it, you know. But Rodney,

22:08

you know. Oh, I loved Rodney. I

22:10

loved Catty Shack. Oh, I mean, all

22:12

those great movies. I grew up on

22:14

Rodney and then Robin Williams albums. I

22:16

didn't listen to those until later, right?

22:18

Um, even those are great. Even though

22:20

I know people say controversially. He borrowed

22:22

some bits. Yeah. Yeah. He just write

22:25

checks. Yeah. He's like, can I have

22:27

that and just write you a check?

22:29

But it was constant bumps though. Then,

22:31

you know, in San Francisco, the

22:33

comedy scene's huge. The

22:35

first big comedy wave

22:37

has Bobcat. You know,

22:39

he's there. It's

22:42

a Robin Williams. It's

22:44

It's purple onion. Bobby

22:46

Slayton, Kerry Snow, the

22:48

morning zoo type of stuff. Oh, yeah.

22:51

Oh, that morning zoo stuff. Yeah. Yeah.

22:53

I mean, yeah. So I grew up

22:55

on a like kooky radio prank. That's

22:57

a great marin bit right when he

22:59

imitates it. The three people. Yes.

23:02

Fuck it. So, you know, yeah,

23:04

I get it. You're you're around

23:06

comedy. You get to LA. Do you

23:09

remember your first time going to

23:11

the store? The first time

23:13

I went to the store was actually

23:15

I visited LA before I moved out

23:17

here I didn't get up. I signed

23:19

up for potluck some guy who I

23:21

cannot remember in Tampa who in retrospect

23:23

I can't remember his name. He looked

23:26

a lot like Norm McDonald That means

23:28

nothing, but he was like, oh Tommy

23:30

I know Tommy when you get there

23:32

go say hi to him and now

23:34

I have no idea if that guy

23:36

was like a legit Comic

23:38

or who's just like one of the you

23:40

know, but he knew Tommy's name hang arounders of

23:43

the store kind of right fringe weirdos that

23:45

are always gonna be there They're like part of

23:47

the vibe. Yeah But, you know, I went

23:49

around back and I was like, is Tommy here?

23:51

And they're like, no. And I was like,

23:53

OK. So scary.

23:55

A baby comedian in the door

23:57

guys are so mean as a

23:59

ghost town. There's no one there.

24:02

Everybody's angry. Yeah. Everyone's so pissed.

24:04

Yeah. So I signed up and

24:06

didn't get up. But then. I

24:08

got a ride with Courtney Black,

24:10

if you remember her, Marcella and

24:12

Jamar. I met them on the

24:14

patio and they're like, well, there's

24:16

another mic at Sunset Grill, which,

24:18

you know, it was this attic

24:20

mic couple blocks down the road

24:23

and like, let's go there. So

24:25

I was just like, all right, I'm hopping

24:27

in with these people. I just met on

24:29

this patio and those are my first kind

24:31

of LA friends, I guess I made, or

24:33

people in the comedy scene I met, and

24:35

I went up in that attic, had a

24:37

great set, and you know, great. You

24:40

just go well, I didn't it wasn't for

24:42

nothing at least I got up But yeah,

24:44

and then I didn't go back for I

24:46

didn't go to the comedy store really till

24:49

I was like two or three years in

24:51

Wow, cuz I had this fear it would

24:53

have been fine Yeah, but I had this

24:55

fear of what if I get pulled and

24:57

I'm not good enough You know you put

24:59

it on this pedestal and it's like let

25:01

me tell you you're going up in a

25:03

lineup where there's gonna be tons of people

25:05

who aren't good enough and you have to

25:08

be so iconically bad for people to remember

25:10

your bad the best scenario is you're great

25:12

and people go who's that worst case they

25:14

just kind of forget you and there's no

25:16

there was no audience at that time so

25:18

it didn't even matter it's just comics yeah

25:20

it's just a Tony Hinchcliffe in a corner

25:22

and I'm like oh god please don't make

25:24

fun of me when I get off stage

25:27

yeah Ben Giafraldo and they were kind of

25:29

mimicking the class before that yeah or they'd

25:31

be like oh you fucking suck they roasted

25:33

everyone it's like no wonder they ended up

25:35

becoming roast writers and stuff but it was

25:37

so Intimidating being like, if I do bad,

25:39

the old guys are gonna make fun of

25:41

me. And it's like, you're gonna make funny

25:43

for you if you do good. It doesn't

25:46

matter. To me, it didn't matter

25:48

at all because I was like, hey,

25:50

I'm 44. And

25:52

also, I had done a shitload

25:54

of stuff, but I didn't say anything

25:56

to them. I've traveled the world,

25:58

and I've done movies. I just went

26:00

in there like, I don't know

26:02

what to do. And you're like, I'm

26:05

just a comedian like you guys.

26:07

I just laid back. But I just

26:09

remember getting there, and there was

26:11

a giant guy. And this guy really

26:13

became a friend and helped me

26:15

pre, before you

26:17

even really see Tommy, Alex

26:19

Moore. So he was in charge

26:21

of pulling the names and

26:23

putting it together. And he was

26:25

a giant. I don't know

26:27

this guy. He was a giant

26:29

white guy. And we're still

26:32

friends. He moved back to Alabama

26:34

or whatever. He

26:36

was an open miker that

26:38

became a comedian at the store

26:40

and got passed and then

26:43

kind of ran the potluck. And

26:45

I'm telling you, he's bald. giant

26:48

biker looking dude. I must have just

26:50

missed this guy since I didn't go right

26:52

away. Oh yeah he would tell me

26:54

stories like he'd ride the bus two hours

26:56

to sign up on the list and

26:58

when the list came out people would one

27:00

guy got stabbed because it was just

27:02

like. Mayhem. Pigeons yeah. I think they do

27:04

a line now. Yeah but online or

27:06

something I think. Oh yeah they still they

27:08

did move it to online but then

27:11

I thought that they had moved it back

27:13

to. It was crazy. It was mayhem

27:15

you're just squeezing that's where I had an

27:17

advantage being like little I was just

27:19

Slytherin between people like it was like a

27:21

mob like pigeons when you throw seed

27:23

It's like everyone's just trying to get on

27:25

a lot Yeah, just like

27:27

scribbling and being like I hope you

27:29

can read my name and then it

27:31

was like and then you just sat

27:33

on the patio for an hour Yeah,

27:35

and then this list would come up

27:37

they tape it on the inside window

27:39

Yeah, everybody would just flock to the

27:41

window and you just watch people get

27:43

disappointed defeated. Yeah And

27:47

it was just like the first

27:49

time you get on that list you're

27:51

like this is it Yeah, I

27:53

remember feeling like this is my big

27:55

moment And there's so many times

27:57

now that I'm like they are they

28:00

both are big milestone moments, but

28:02

totally but it's like Your life wasn't

28:04

gonna change overnight from that moment,

28:06

but it doesn't matter. It was all

28:08

little things in the you know,

28:10

little bubbles boiling in a pot basically

28:12

is how I am. I

28:15

mean, you know, it really does change

28:17

when you look back on it.

28:19

Now you go, wow, well, that is

28:21

really the stepping stone. That person

28:23

saw me and they mentioned me to

28:25

somebody else and like it's all

28:27

these little tiny things that added up

28:29

to us getting to where we

28:31

are. You know what I never thought

28:33

about with you starting later in

28:35

your life? that you

28:37

just touched on because you're like, I was

28:39

44, I didn't care. And now I'm in

28:41

my mid -30s. And the difference just in

28:43

now and how little I give a fuck

28:45

about what people think of me, that

28:48

must have been such a gift. Oh,

28:50

it was, guys... That you're like, I

28:52

don't fucking care if you like me.

28:54

They were very, very insecure. Yeah, and

28:56

I and I get it because I

28:58

was at one time that age So

29:00

if people start getting a little traction

29:02

or heat, they're going to get jealous

29:04

They're going to start saying shit and

29:06

and I'm like I already saw this

29:08

in the rock and roll world You'll

29:10

get over it and your best way

29:12

around me is just to bring me

29:14

into the camp Yeah, because I'm gonna

29:16

provide all kinds of cool things. Yeah

29:18

Yeah, you can leave me out, but

29:20

you're gonna miss out on all the

29:22

good stuff Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, and

29:24

I think eventually what happened was, they

29:26

were like... You know, back then it

29:28

was a heavy hazing to see if

29:30

you really wanted it. It was so

29:32

hazy. Brutal. Like a fraternity. Brutal. And

29:35

people now don't even fucking know. They

29:37

complain like, I can't believe I'm on

29:39

at 9 .30. Shut up, pussy. Wow.

29:41

You had to do 1 AM for

29:43

a couple of years when you got

29:45

passed. When I got passed, you got

29:47

passed. That was 1 AM. Yeah, it

29:49

was it. Did they even have a

29:51

1 AM spot now? That's crazy. so.

29:53

Yeah, so. You were like initiated and

29:55

people, you didn't get it. into the

29:57

main room, at least I didn't for

29:59

like a lot, that was. the main

30:01

room wasn't even running except for one

30:03

day a week. That's so true. Yeah,

30:05

it was a storage room with a

30:07

piano and a bunch of chairs. Yeah,

30:09

the piano used to just be out on the

30:11

stage and people would go there late night and

30:13

just play the piano. smoke weed, it was like

30:16

a giant clubhouse. Yeah. Matt Taylor would

30:18

do Thursday bringer shows and then they would have

30:20

a show on Saturday and that's it. That was

30:22

it. So there was slim pickings. Yeah. When you

30:24

finally did get a main room spot, it was

30:26

like. the Tuesday, the

30:29

Oh, yeah, what was it called? Tuesday?

30:32

Something Tuesdays? Yeah, I forgot.

30:34

But anyway, so that with the

30:36

main room was just a

30:38

hang and people lived in the

30:40

dressing room. Yeah, it was

30:42

literally just an empty place to

30:44

run around. It was like

30:46

a weird summer camp for degenerates.

30:48

So. Let's talk about your

30:50

showcase. So you're at the store

30:52

for a while because I just

30:54

talked about it last night with

30:56

another paid regular. The

30:59

showcases rarely happened.

31:01

Yeah, did you get passed in a showcase or you passed

31:03

by Tommy? I got, well, I

31:06

got passed by Tommy, but what

31:08

happened was You know, we

31:10

did a couple showcases. I didn't know

31:12

he did showcases. Well, I always thought it

31:14

was just like your past. Well, here's

31:16

what happened. He would once in a while,

31:19

he would come over and go, Paulie's

31:21

in the room. He wants to see you

31:23

go up now. And you'd be like,

31:25

huh? Yeah. So

31:27

funny. There wasn't really a quote unquote,

31:29

a formal show because they just

31:31

would throw you in there. He was

31:34

constantly watching, but. Oh

31:36

yeah, giving his. obscure notes sometimes.

31:38

Yeah, come on. You did a

31:40

coming your eye joke. The sun's

31:42

out. You don't talk about coming

31:44

in someone's eyes when it's 730.

31:46

Yeah, he'd get so mad at

31:49

me. Or he'd go,

31:51

you went over him. He didn't go

31:53

in and then he'd storm away. And

31:55

you know, a lot of people

31:58

trash on him and eventually got

32:00

caught stealing or whatever, allegedly. And

32:02

but I will tell you this,

32:04

at the time, there were

32:06

things that he would say that you were like,

32:08

oh, you know, later on in life, you're like,

32:10

oh, he was definitely right on that. He was

32:12

spot on. Yeah, there were times where he'd say

32:14

things where I was like, What is he talking

32:17

about? And then he would drop a gym that

32:19

I was like, dang, that's that's gold. Yeah. Yeah.

32:21

And he's like tiny glasses in the booth. And

32:23

I'm like, what are we doing, Tommy? That's why

32:25

I had a black eye because this lady and

32:27

him would fight. So

32:29

insane. But, you know, he'd play

32:32

heavy mind games, too. So not only is

32:34

the comics hazing you, but he was playing mind

32:36

games. He'd be like, come by tomorrow, put

32:38

you on and then you show up and you're

32:40

not on the list. He's all can't do

32:42

it. Sorry. And you'd be like, what?

32:44

I've been here all night. You said you're

32:46

putting me on. It's two in the morning.

32:48

Yeah. You got to want it. You got

32:50

and it's just watch. Take it in. What's

32:53

happening? And that was just how it was.

32:55

And it would just be this elusive. Yeah.

32:57

Like he put me in development. It was

32:59

just like, you can call in for development

33:01

now. Yeah. I got my

33:03

showcase. I showcased three times for Adam.

33:05

Wow. Oh, Adam passed. Adam passed

33:07

me. Yeah. I was. I'll

33:09

never really know if I was on

33:11

the cusp with Tommy because I think

33:14

there's a ton of people who now

33:16

aren't even in development because it changes

33:18

with every booker, right? But like I

33:20

felt like I was like any minute

33:22

now Tommy's gonna call me up to

33:24

the big league and then he got

33:26

ousted and I was like, oh, but

33:28

it was Adam who was already the

33:30

GM. He'd seen me go up You

33:32

know, I didn't know until Adam was

33:34

the the talent coordinator That he

33:36

I knew he liked me as a person we chatted

33:38

on the patio and stuff But like I didn't know

33:41

if you'd see my comedy or gave a shit about

33:43

it So then I was I would say fortunately in

33:45

in the style of he liked my comedy Yeah, so

33:47

I was one of the people that he he kept

33:49

trying to showcase me and I did the road so

33:51

much that he'd be like, well, you're

33:53

not here. I can't do anything. You're in

33:55

the middle of the country doing a bowling alley.

33:57

Like, what do you want me to? Because

33:59

I would do these summer tours where I would

34:01

just drive out and I'd have all these

34:04

shitty one -nighters. But I'm like, I get to

34:06

do, I'm headlining. I get to do 45 minutes.

34:08

I'm doing an hour. And I it. Making

34:10

money. Making money and like getting to stretch your

34:12

legs and a long set is just a

34:14

different muscle than like those really short sets. Just,

34:16

you know, it feels so good. You're

34:18

like, free up there. But

34:20

I finally I I did one showcase

34:23

and I felt like it was

34:25

fine. It was fine. It was good

34:27

enough. But it's not like I

34:29

crushed it. He didn't pass me. I

34:31

was like, OK, my second showcase,

34:33

I had to follow Eric Myers, who

34:36

burned the room down with his

34:38

Taco Bell bit. I mean, people were

34:40

standing up. Taco

34:43

Bell. Yeah, just murder

34:45

city. Bless his bag

34:47

of cocaine, your honor.

34:49

I mean, so just

34:51

like human Mountain Dew.

34:54

And I struggled. Right.

34:57

Like, I just, I was like...

34:59

left going, I'm not getting passed. If

35:01

I get passed, something's wrong, honestly. You

35:04

don't want to get passed if you don't do

35:06

good, because then people are talking shit. Then people

35:08

think there's something going on. It's precarious. Especially

35:10

as a woman, the thing I always

35:12

have to be aware of is no

35:14

matter what, people are going to go,

35:16

who did she fuck? No matter what.

35:18

So you showcase a third time? A

35:20

third time, and I was like. And

35:22

who was on that one? It was,

35:25

Jeremiah was on it, because

35:27

we got passed together. Oh,

35:29

I think Kyle Ray, Jason

35:32

Tebow, and

35:35

maybe Doc. Oh, yeah. I

35:37

was at that showcase. Yeah. 100 %

35:39

was at that showcase. Yeah, yeah. And. Cause

35:41

back then you would, you'd go to

35:43

the showcases. Yeah. You go in the room,

35:45

people are in the room either rooting

35:47

for a comedian they like or hoping to

35:49

watch one they hate fail. That's just

35:51

how it is. I didn't do that. I

35:53

was just like, this is an interesting,

35:55

it's a, it's a fucking fry. You're on

35:57

the frying pan. Oh, yeah. And I

35:59

think I went first in the lineup and

36:01

Rick Ingram brought me up. So that

36:04

alone, I was like, fuck. Oh, I remember

36:06

that. He was like, hey, remember his

36:08

speech. He didn't give a shit. He did

36:10

a speech to a lot of these

36:12

comics coming up right now. They got dreams.

36:15

And most of them are going to be

36:17

pretty bad, but they're showcasing to become a

36:19

paid regular here right now. And, you know,

36:21

We'll see about that. You know, like this

36:23

whole set not set you up to succeed.

36:25

It was like, oh, the hazing never ends.

36:27

And I remember like, I was like, oh,

36:29

I'm first. And it's Rick. Good, good, good,

36:31

good. Fuck my face. But I went up

36:34

and I was just in it. I was

36:36

connected. You know how it is when you

36:38

have a good set, you're just present. And

36:40

like, I think it's probably like a little

36:42

wooey, but. It feels like I'm in flow

36:44

when I'm having a good set course and

36:46

they're five minutes, right? Yeah, it was five

36:48

minutes. That's it. Yeah. And that's so little

36:50

time if they're not on board with you,

36:52

by the way, that like fuck. But it

36:55

was just first joke hit. I was in

36:57

it and I got off the stage and

36:59

just to myself was like, well, if I

37:01

don't get passed after that, I just don't

37:03

belong here. Yeah. You know, and it's not

37:05

like I didn't feel like I belong. I

37:07

was friends with people, but I was like,

37:09

that's. That was the best I could have

37:11

done. So either on what

37:14

he wants or whatever, you know,

37:16

and then I got the call

37:18

like two days later, not a

37:20

call. I wish it was a

37:22

call. Getting passed by

37:24

Adam was just you saw the tweet

37:26

go out saying who got passed.

37:28

Oh, wow. Congratulations. So that's kind of

37:31

fire. It's a congratulations. It

37:33

was me and Jeremiah Watkins on our

37:35

newest paid regulars, but. prior to that

37:37

I remember just waiting for the tweet

37:39

and just congratulations Eric Myers and being

37:41

like yeah that makes sense you know

37:43

you're just like refreshing and being like

37:45

just let me down already yeah yeah

37:47

yeah but um yeah that was the

37:49

coolest I mean the coolest feeling it

37:51

was oh god yeah I mean when

37:53

I started out I was like the

37:55

bar for me was I paid regular

37:57

yeah and if I'm making enough money

37:59

to pay all my bills doing stand

38:01

-up I have made it yeah and

38:03

then anything else is bonus I

38:05

remember one time you won like a

38:07

refrigerator on prices, right? I wanna,

38:09

oh wait, washer dryer. Yeah, cause Brenton called

38:11

me and he goes, uh, yeah, we, we

38:13

want to sell this, you know, and I

38:15

go, oh yeah, Craigslist. Craigslist, by the way,

38:17

I sold it to somebody. I was very

38:19

clear that it was an electric machine. They

38:21

came, bought it, took it, and they're like,

38:24

I don't have the hookups for this. And.

38:26

Now I'm like oh this was shitty, but

38:28

at the time I was like you're on

38:30

your own I'm not coming to get a

38:32

washer and you fucking didn't read you're not

38:34

shitty You know you resell it people are

38:36

dumb. Yeah, I go it You're on your

38:38

own now. I saw a lot of stuff

38:40

even right now and you know They have

38:42

buyer's remorse. They come up with bullshit excuses.

38:44

you should have gone to Home Depot. I

38:46

don't have a warranty, dude. Yeah, yeah. That's

38:48

what I was saying. I'm not a fucking

38:50

store, you know? Yeah. I probably damaged

38:52

it, loading it in. Yeah, you probably fucked it

38:54

up and now you want me to take it

38:56

back and you want your money back. So how'd

38:58

that go? You go down and you wait in

39:00

line for the prices, right? Are you in a

39:02

costume? Yeah, it was, oh, it was, let's make

39:05

a deal. Not prices, right? But same thing. It's

39:07

hosted by Wayne Brady. Yeah. I,

39:09

Britain ended up writing a really funny joke

39:11

afterwards about it because we had both gone

39:13

to sign up in Burbank for what was

39:15

that background casting company that was like really

39:17

big. They're probably still exist, but someone told

39:19

us about it. We're like, okay, let's go

39:22

sign up for that. I never ended up

39:24

doing background, by the way. Someone in the

39:26

line came up to us and they're like,

39:28

Hey, are you guys together? And I'm like,

39:30

yeah, they're like, well, I, I work at Let's Make a Deal,

39:32

do the audience. They really liked, they're

39:34

like, I can't like pull any strings for

39:36

you guys, but. They really

39:38

like young, all -American -looking couples. If you

39:40

guys ever want to come to an episode,

39:42

you dress up, you'd have a high

39:45

likelihood of getting chosen. Wow. Yeah. So

39:47

I was like, okay, let's go. So when you

39:49

go in, we dressed in a couple's costume, poor

39:51

fucking Britain. What were the costumes? We were peanut

39:53

butter and jelly sandwich. So I was like peanut

39:55

butter, he was jelly. And

39:57

if for anyone who doesn't know, Britton Biddlecomb,

39:59

sweetest man on earth, funny guy. to

40:01

tour with me, I'd have him open. Yeah,

40:03

great guy. Great

40:05

joke writer, one liners like

40:07

nobody's business. Um, and

40:10

we dated back in the day

40:12

and, um, but quiet reserved until

40:14

you get to know him. He's

40:16

like, uh, much more introverted than

40:18

I am. I'm annoying and I

40:20

know that. Yeah. So we go

40:22

and when you walk in, the

40:24

guy had told us, don't say

40:26

you're entertainers, whatever your last job

40:28

was, say that, you know, say

40:30

your hometown instead of LA, they

40:33

want, you know, real course. So

40:35

everyone who goes through has like, it's a

40:38

mini interview basically is what you're doing. They're

40:40

seeing who has good energy. So we go

40:42

in and I'm like, my name's Jessica. I

40:44

work in special education because I used to,

40:46

and I'm from here. And then Britain comes

40:48

in and is very Britain. You know, he's

40:50

very like, hello, my name's Brenton. He's very

40:53

just reserved. So the

40:55

way the episodes work is they'll pick a

40:57

single individual, a single individual. a

40:59

couple and then a single individual. So we're

41:01

watching, we're in the crowd cheering. Then like

41:03

it's the part of the episode where they

41:05

pick the couple and they pick another couple.

41:07

And this is how I'm so unhinged. I

41:09

was like, this is your fault. Oh my

41:11

God. That's how white trash I am. I

41:13

was like, we could have won a car,

41:15

but you didn't bring the energy. I was

41:18

pissed. I was pissed and he's like, relax.

41:20

And I was like, what? You know, when

41:22

you like abusive relationship. Monster

41:24

I was yeah, I could apologize

41:26

for two seven different men

41:28

from my 20s because I was

41:30

just so undiagnosed mentally ill

41:32

and like I mean I was

41:34

just really excited I was

41:36

like you should have been more

41:38

energetic and then I'm all

41:40

but hurt Sitting the stands like

41:42

whatever and then the last

41:44

game comes and they call just

41:46

me down like the peanut

41:48

butter sandwich and like And I

41:50

go up and I win

41:52

the consolation prize. They had three pieces of

41:55

jewelry and you had to guess the right

41:57

one. And if you guessed it, you got

41:59

the piece of jewelry and the value it

42:01

was. And it was worth like $3 ,000.

42:03

So they would give you the jewelry and

42:05

$3 ,000 cash. And if you

42:07

decided to go with what's behind the door,

42:09

cause you weren't sure. And I was like, I

42:11

think it's this piece. And of course, Wayne

42:13

Brady is like, are you sure? I looked

42:15

at the audience, Britain shrugs. And I'm like, why

42:18

don't you know what this jewelry is? You

42:20

know? And then I was like, ah, Think

42:22

it I really think it's that but

42:24

let's go behind the door at least it'll

42:27

be a fun Maybe because you can

42:29

also just get nothing behind the door. Just

42:31

like Oh, yeah chicken Yeah, exactly. It's

42:33

like a big turd and then he's he's

42:35

like you sure you want to second

42:37

guess yourself and like, okay So behind the

42:39

door was a Roomba and a washer

42:41

dryer like a stacked washer dryer. We don't

42:44

apartment. We had no place for that

42:46

They accidentally sent me to Roomba's though, but

42:48

it turned out I was right about

42:50

the necklace, so I have a good eye for jewelry.

42:52

But then I had to go fill out all this paperwork

42:54

and Britain's just stuck on the side of the street

42:57

waiting for me dressed as half a sandwich. Oh,

42:59

man, it's like tax shit, right?

43:01

Yeah, which who knows if I

43:03

claimed it correctly. I'll never know. My mom,

43:05

this is my first year that I've

43:07

done my own taxes. I'm

43:10

so afraid that years from now I'm

43:12

just gonna find out my mom accidentally

43:14

fuck shit up. Oh, man, it's fucking

43:16

it's like I don't make enough money

43:18

if you're coming after me We're in

43:20

trouble. Good luck. I would love to

43:22

make enough money that you're noticing what

43:24

I'm doing with my money government, but

43:26

Here we are So you got a

43:28

special coming out. I do I do

43:30

it. And where'd you shoot it? I

43:32

shot it in New Orleans. I um

43:34

pay for it. I did it's all

43:36

self -produced. It's uh Just a classic

43:39

stand -up special. Um, you know One hour

43:41

one hour. Yep three cameras I did

43:43

it instead of in a I almost

43:45

did it in a music venue, but

43:47

The acoustics would have been wrong for

43:49

filming like it was just so loud

43:51

It was in a just loud loud

43:53

part of New Orleans. So I actually

43:55

actually ended up doing We took a

43:57

clothing store called dirty coast does this

43:59

cool New Orleans like all these like

44:01

kitschy New Orleans like shirts and cups

44:03

and just cool local shit It's like

44:05

a hipster local spot and we Turned

44:08

it into kind of like don't tell

44:10

comedy style. We got a curtain We

44:12

put up we got a bunch of

44:14

chairs and just shot it in the

44:16

room this tight little it was like

44:18

a 50 50 seat people smashed in

44:20

And what made you choose New Orleans?

44:23

You know what it was

44:25

is I well there's

44:27

twofold I was going to see Taylor

44:29

Swift in New Orleans. Me and my

44:31

girlfriends were like, let's go. We booked our flights,

44:33

didn't have tickets, had nothing. That's a whole separate

44:35

story. And I was like, oh, if I just

44:37

do a show, I can write off the travel. So

44:40

at least make a little bit of money

44:42

back and then write it off. And then

44:44

I was like, well, I want to shoot

44:46

a special anyway. Why

44:48

not? It's the most unhinged,

44:50

unorganized. I was like, why not shoot

44:52

it in New Orleans? Because Before

44:55

I lived in Alaska, I lived in southern

44:57

Mississippi an hour outside of New Orleans. So

44:59

we used to take trips there. New Orleans was

45:01

very special to me. And a

45:04

lot of the jokes in my special. There's

45:06

a big chunk about my early childhood

45:08

on the Gulf Coast. So I was like,

45:10

why not shoot it somewhere that is

45:12

the vibe? And then you also, I will

45:14

also know these jokes I'm making. OK,

45:16

the people, we're all on board with it.

45:18

We've all been through this. You

45:20

guys know, I'm not making fun of you. We're talking about,

45:22

you know, it's like, that was just for my own city. Yeah,

45:26

the nuance and it's like, and if

45:28

they don't, well, then. Then I

45:30

bomb and it's not going to be a

45:32

special and then I'll be like, I guess work

45:34

on your jokes, bitch. But it was just

45:36

one show. Did you guys bark to

45:38

get the people in? No, but

45:40

you know what? It was down

45:43

to the fucking wire. It was the

45:45

night in retrospect. It

45:47

has worked out, but I'm like, this

45:49

was the. dumbest idea

45:51

I'm like I'm doing I'm trying to do

45:53

a comedy special the night before Taylor Swift

45:55

nobody gives a fuck about me Taylor Swift

45:57

is here. What are you doing in New

45:59

Orleans is a Classically hard city to sell

46:01

in any artist will tell you it's a

46:03

very with comedy They're just not a scene

46:05

and you there's so much noise to cut

46:07

through but I I did some ads I

46:09

got on the news station, the morning of

46:11

like an hour away in Mississippi. They were

46:13

like, oh, she's shooting her special. So we

46:16

were very lightly sold and that's in a

46:18

room that's already very small. So I'll just

46:20

be honest with you guys. I think we

46:22

had like 30 tickets in what was like

46:24

a 50 seat, 55, 60. It was 60.

46:26

It ended up being full. But I was

46:28

like, well, you know, it'll just be a

46:30

fun show. And my Noah Kopfer, who is

46:32

a great standup comedian, he's a young guy

46:34

coming up. He opens for me a lot.

46:36

He actually opened and helped me. with the

46:38

production and ended up directing it. I mean,

46:40

when we got there. So it was, I

46:42

kind of like didn't have a director, but

46:44

he was so helpful that I'm like, well,

46:46

you get the credit, dude. And then Nate,

46:48

who you know, my boyfriend, he was helping

46:50

produce it as well. They

46:52

were like, it, you know, it doesn't matter. We can, it's

46:54

a small room. They were trying to, it was small room

46:57

anyway, but they're - We'll put the cameras behind the third

46:59

row. Yeah, they're like, it's going to be on you. We

47:01

were not going to see the heads because I wasn't going

47:03

to cut to the audience. So they're trying to do all

47:05

the things you do to like keep an artist from losing

47:07

their mind. And then the

47:09

afternoon, it just like, and then by the time

47:11

it went up, people were walking by, people were

47:13

coming in, it became like a fire hazard. So

47:16

it was like, it filled up

47:18

and then some. Great. So thank God.

47:20

Cause I was like, okay, people want to be

47:22

here. This is going to be fun. At least

47:24

it got rid of me going on stage going,

47:27

I'm fucking, can't even sell

47:29

a fucking ticket. I'm going

47:31

to go, I'm going to debt to

47:33

Taylor Swift. And

47:36

I just sort of, it was low

47:38

budget enough that I was like, it would

47:41

hurt if I have to throw this

47:43

out, but either we get it or we

47:45

don't. If not, because I'd been like

47:47

pushing, I'd had offers for people to produce

47:49

little things in the last like few

47:51

years where it's like, I have the material,

47:53

I'm functionally ready. And I was kind

47:55

of just moving this goalpost for this unknown

47:57

like. Same here. I kept waiting for

47:59

Netflix. For sure they're going

48:02

to come around. Netflix saw me

48:04

at the Garden Crush. They saw me at

48:06

the Hollywood Bowl. I'm on their radar. Oh,

48:08

yeah. Oh, I am sure you have the

48:10

same experience with the amount of people. It's

48:12

like you could greatly help my career. I'm

48:14

positive. I've come up and been like, God,

48:16

you're so funny. Keep it up. And you're

48:19

like, keep it up. Help me. Do

48:21

me. Keep it up. Yeah.

48:23

No, it's the same thing that I was like, oh, I'll

48:25

get someone I want to like. put it somewhere, and then

48:27

I was like, what am I waiting for? Like,

48:30

if that's gonna happen, I have faith

48:32

in myself, I'll have more material, that'll

48:34

be the next one. Let me, let

48:36

me just keep writing. Yeah, I'm like,

48:38

I'm gonna keep doing it either way.

48:40

Like, at this point, I haven't given

48:42

up because Netflix isn't banging my door

48:44

down. So it's like, fuck it, especially

48:47

with social media. Now, where

48:49

are you putting it out? I'm just

48:51

putting it out on punchup .live. Oh, yeah.

48:53

Yeah, well, tell me about that. Explain

48:55

what that is. So it's this fairly

48:57

new website. It's for comedy fans and

48:59

comedians to connect like a closer level

49:01

with exclusive content. So basically you make

49:03

a page and you can put up

49:05

exclusive clips. You can put your podcast

49:07

behind it if you want or clips

49:10

from your podcast, exclusive stand

49:12

up clips and people when they come to

49:14

see it, they'll get a little tiny,

49:16

like 30 second preview and then they have

49:18

to join your page. Like a

49:20

patreon. Yeah, it's a hundred percent free for

49:22

the user All you have to do is

49:24

put your email your name and you put

49:26

your zip code in and that way for comedy

49:28

fans to like Comedians can be directly connected

49:30

to people who like them so when I

49:32

go through a city I I can now

49:34

email through punch up live anyone in this

49:36

city that has signed up for me. I go,

49:38

Hey guys, I'm going to be here. They

49:40

can get first access. You can sometimes make

49:43

like ticket, uh, like they have their own

49:45

ticketing platform now. So if you have your,

49:47

if you're doing an independent venue where you run

49:49

the tickets, you can make a code just

49:51

for the people who, who follow you. And

49:53

there are, they do have options for, you

49:55

can put certain clips behind a paywall. Like

49:57

if I wanted to be like five bucks for

49:59

the special, I could, I'm looking at this

50:01

as like, I want this to try to

50:03

translate into a introducing myself to people who

50:05

maybe aren't totally familiar with me. Cause. Because

50:08

that's what you want to do and then for me

50:10

to get the people who are already fans like where

50:12

are you so I can contact you when I come

50:14

there and I can do my touring in a way

50:16

that's more Makes more sense. I'm

50:18

coming where the people already want to see

50:20

me, right? Yeah, and you know, that's just

50:22

the killer It's back to emails because it's

50:24

the key algorithm on an email. No, they

50:26

get a direct they can throw you in

50:28

the spam But if they don't they get

50:31

your email. Yeah, and you're directly connected and

50:33

it's like this is really me right that

50:35

I'm not like a bot it just you

50:37

shoot off an email and Also as a

50:39

comedy fan what's cool about it is? They

50:41

have your zip code now for your account.

50:43

So when you log in, if you've subscribed

50:45

to people, it'll suggest people that like, oh,

50:47

if you like this, a lot of people

50:49

who follow this person also follow this person,

50:51

check their stuff out. So it exposes us

50:53

to other people's fans. But for the user, it'll

50:56

just say, it gives you a list

50:58

of shows near you. So if you're like, I would love

51:00

to watch live comedy and maybe you haven't before, you

51:02

just go, I'll just go check out this guy. And

51:04

when's it come out? It

51:06

drops on April 29th. Yep. And what's it

51:09

called? Hey, hi, y 'all. Hi, y 'all.

51:11

Yep. Filmed in the South had to do

51:13

it. Yeah. A little, a little nodding.

51:15

There's a, of course, a joke about it

51:17

in there, but yeah, I'm really excited.

51:19

I think it's just so cool that we've

51:21

been doing it about the same time

51:23

and we're crazy, right? Yeah. Cause I don't,

51:25

yeah, we're finally, finally. Yeah. Cause

51:28

a while, your fans are like. They

51:31

see everybody else getting specials. They don't really

51:33

understand. They're like, well, maybe he's not

51:35

good. I mean, it's just doesn't have a

51:37

special. He's hiding his stuff. Yeah. Yeah.

51:39

Or they're just like, yeah. Eventually

51:41

you get sick of people going, when is

51:43

when are you going to get a

51:45

special? And it's like, OK, I'll just do

51:47

it. Yeah. Yeah. Because it's not like

51:49

we don't have the experience of material. It's

51:51

just the industry is a wild, wild

51:53

place. Well, my fear was, oh, shoot. If

51:55

I die right now, there's no comedy.

51:57

There's no legacy. At all. There's four clips.

51:59

Yeah. People go like, he was a

52:01

comedian supposedly. Yeah. Yeah. I think

52:03

he did comedy, but most of you just

52:05

talked about rock. So, you know, 2025, you're

52:08

going to get a little bit of

52:10

rock talk and 90 % comedy now. It's like,

52:12

because when we were coming up there, like,

52:14

don't burn your material. Don't burn your thing

52:16

now. I know. Put it out. Oh, yeah.

52:18

Put it out. Do you get on the

52:20

road, like, I learned that you don't

52:23

really burn material from the road because you

52:25

have people come up to you after shows

52:27

and go, oh, I loved it. But I

52:29

was hoping you were going to do this

52:31

joke. Well, I did nuts to butts on

52:33

the special, which is a by the way,

52:35

a Dean Del Rey icon. There are

52:37

a handful of comedians that comedians love to

52:39

like do the impression of because you got

52:41

the voice and the thing. And I

52:43

just remember the early days of comedy was

52:45

just like people would go, oh, Dean Del

52:48

Rey is there and someone would go nuts

52:50

to butts. Yeah, it was like an iconic

52:52

bit. It was my hot pockets. It was.

52:54

And thank God for that, because you're like,

52:56

and then for years, I was like, am

52:58

I going to be able to beat

53:00

that? Oh my God. The fear of like,

53:02

I'm the nuts to butts guy. That's going

53:04

to be my whole thing. And now

53:06

people don't even say that. But I brought

53:08

it on to the special because as kind

53:11

of a tribute of like, this one put

53:13

me on the map and 170 ,000 people saw

53:15

it on the Laugh Factory website. But

53:17

that's like. That's nothing

53:19

now. That is nothing. Yeah.

53:22

Yeah. It's like there's billions of

53:24

people out there. Oh my God.

53:26

Yeah. So I put that on

53:28

there as just kind of a

53:30

tribute. You're not burning

53:32

any material, you know. Sometimes

53:35

I'll go through a city and I'll

53:37

look through my notes like, shit, what did

53:39

I do in this city here? And

53:41

then I'll go, OK, I'll try to do

53:43

this set here with one joke in

53:45

it that they know like I had this

53:47

big back. you know, and

53:49

I gotta do that. And

53:52

then nobody ever said like, oh,

53:54

you're doing the same shit. You're doing

53:56

the same stuff over and over. One time

53:58

at the punchline, I was on stage

54:00

and I look at this guy, he's not

54:02

laughing. I go, what's wrong with

54:04

you? And he goes, well, I kind of heard

54:06

this stuff. And I go, when he goes, well,

54:09

last month, I saw you open for bill. I

54:11

go, well, hey, asshole, I'm not going to have

54:13

a new hour. Yeah. You know, how

54:15

do you think this works? And you're only catching. I

54:17

did 20 minutes with him, so the

54:19

rest of this you've never heard, so

54:21

fuck you. Fuck you, that's so funny.

54:23

They're like, I get it. I've

54:26

had moments where there's people who I

54:28

start to know in cities I go. this

54:31

core group of super fans, which is so

54:33

cool. And there have been

54:35

occasions where they'll be mouthing a bit. Oh

54:37

yeah. Like if I'm like, oh, and then

54:39

that's when I go. I did this one

54:41

last year, fuck. Do you keep a setlist

54:43

for every... No, but I can go back,

54:45

I record every show. So I can go

54:48

back and just skim through it. I do

54:50

record everyone, that's a good idea. I got

54:52

them all, yeah. A lot of times I'm

54:54

just like, I think this is

54:56

enough different stuff, and it almost always is,

54:58

but it's funny when they... And even like

55:00

the people who are like super comedy fans

55:02

start to come up and they go, oh,

55:04

I like the way you changed that bit.

55:06

Oh, yeah. Yeah. They don't complain, man. You

55:08

know, and also you're getting bigger. So you

55:10

can't worry about the 30 people that saw

55:12

you two years ago. Yeah. Because now there's

55:15

200 people that have never seen you. Yeah.

55:17

So you got to just give them a

55:19

smash or show. Yeah. I want to be

55:21

fire. Yeah. And it's like those people obviously

55:23

came back. So the show was good. You're

55:25

fine. You don't need to worry about them.

55:27

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for doing the podcast.

55:29

Thanks for having me, man. Tell everybody where

55:31

to find you. Follow me at JMS Comedy.

55:33

Go over to punchup .live .jms to get that

55:36

special. And go see live comedy. Go see

55:38

Dean. Go see somebody. Yeah, yeah. Thank you

55:40

so much for doing it. Thanks for having

55:42

me, man. Candles lit, people.