This week on Yes But Why, our interview is with standup comedian, Alex Velluto.

Alex Velluto is a standup comedian, based out of Utah. With millions of online views, he has performed in the top comedy clubs across the country in over 60 cities as a member of the Dry Bar Comedy Tour. Dry Bar Comedy produced his debut comedy special, “Alex Velluto: Spurious,” available now on Amazon.

Alex was a finalist in the prestigious Boston Comedy Festival, was named “Best of Fest” at the Golden Spike Comedy Festival and was the winner of the Finger Lakes Comedy Festival in Ithaca, NY.

Alex shares his love of John Mulaney and Jerry Seinfeld. Alex tells the story of going to see Seinfeld perform comedy. Wow! I’m so jealous!

In our conversation, we talk about the ups and downs of figuring out how to be a comedian and all the weird advice he got along the way. Alex tells stories of his comedy community at Salt Lake City’s WiseGuys Comedy club. Tune in for great advice about marketing yourself!

Support Alex Velluto by watching his current comedy special on Youtube, “Alex Velluto Presents: Alex Velluto!” You can also get more fun Alex content by checking out his podcast, Free Lunch with Alex Velluto.  

 

Yes But Why Podcast is a proud member of the HC Universal Network family of podcasts. Visit us at HCUniversalNetwork.com to join in on the fun.

This episode of Yes But Why podcast is sponsored by audible – get your FREE audiobook download and your 30 day free trial at http://www.audibletrial.com/YESBUTWHY. 

This episode of Yes But Why is also sponsored by PodcastCadet.com. Swing on by PodcastCadet.com to get help for all your podcasting needs! Go to PodcastCadet.com and put in offer code YBY20 to get 20% off your first consultation!

 

 

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(production notes: recorded phone call with Rodecaster on 10/27/2020)

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRANSCRIPT by Otter.ai

HOST  00:00

Hello, Yes But Why listeners, this is your host, Amy Jordan.   Welcome to Yes But Why episode 236 – my conversation with comedian, Alex Velluto.     But first, a bit about our sponsors.   This episode of Yes But Why podcast is sponsored by audible. You can get your FREE audiobook download and your 30 day free trial at audibletrial.com/YESBUTWHY.   Audible is available for your iPhone, Android, or Kindle. Download your free audiobook today at audibletrial.com/YESBUTWHY.  This episode of Yes But Why is also sponsored by PodcastCadet.com.   Podcast Cadet is dedicated to helping you build your podcast. We will connect you to the resources you’ll need to get better and better with each and every episode.   Swing on by PodcastCadet.com to get help for all your podcasting needs! Let us know you heard about us from Yes But Why and you’ll get 20% off the workshop or service you buy!  This week on Yes But Why, we talk to standup comedian, Alex Velluto  With millions of online views, Alex has performed in the top comedy clubs across the country in over 60 cities as a member of the Dry Bar Comedy Tour.   Listen in as we chat about idolizing Jerry Seinfeld, touring with Dry Bar Comedy, and performing at the WiseGuys comedy club in Salt Lake City!  To support Alex and his comedy right now, check out his podcast, Free Lunch with Alex Velluto.    I now present to you: yes but why episode 236 : Alex Velluto on how to become a comedian!  Enjoy!  I’m Amy Jordan. And this is Yes But Why podcast yeah

 

GUEST  02:15

Yeah, I remember when I was a kid, just being fascinated with comedy all the time. And I would like back in those days, I didn’t have internet at my house. So I went to the library to look up like how comedians became comedians. And I remember reading this article about like, the different genres of comedy like, they’re like Tim Allen is a sound effects comedian, Jerry Seinfeld is an observational comedian. And it is all the weird things that don’t actually exist. So, and I read about like keeping ideas in a notebook. So I would always do that. As a kid. I would like write joke ideas in a notebook. And then in like, I think it was 10th grade, I took a creative writing class. And we had a poetry slam. And I essentially just did stand up jokes that I had written in this idea notebook for the poetry slam, and I can’t remember what they were sure, but they couldn’t have been good. So I probably plead the fifth on that.

 

HOST  03:30

But I like the idea that it’s in a poetry slam though, because the only poetry slams I’ve ever seen are when people they talk like this, and they involve you in the tone of their voice. So I like the idea that you’re like telling me

 

GUEST  03:49

they’re basically the same thing. Like a lot of a lot of comics now I’m just doing their material and john Delaney poetry slam voice. Myself included. I love john Delaney. But it’s just their material with this weird aspect.

 

HOST  04:10

I don’t think what he’s got going for him. It’s gonna work for everybody. There’s something there’s something weird and special about him.

 

GUEST  04:18

Oh, yeah, for sure. He’s like one of those comics that like create a generation of comics that other people hate. I think I think he’ll be the next one. Like it was Mitch Hedberg copycat for a while George Carlin copycats are still around and they’re annoying. Yeah, so he’s gonna be the I like my generation of comedy. copycat thing? I love him, and I do try not to fall too far into just straight up copying him. He’s amazing.

 

HOST  04:56

What would the comedian say you were listening to and emulating when you were a kid in 10th grade, it wasn’t john. You’re not that young

 

GUEST  05:05

now. Okay, so I’m in Utah. So the only comedian that I knew were like Seinfeld, Brian Regan and Jim gaffigan. Like, remember learning about Jim gaffigan, like, junior year of high school. So that’s how long it took Jim gaffigan to get to Utah. And then I went to see Jerry Seinfeld performance, a theater in Salt Lake City. And that was like, my first time at a comedy show. a live show. How is that? Yeah. It was cool. I went by myself. Because tickets are so expensive. Yeah. And I wanted to go but my parents said it was too expensive for them to go to. So I got a it was my birthday present from one of my aunts. And I spent the birthday money on a Seinfeld ticket, like by myself, and sat like, six throw. And that was incredible. I love that. I like my first comedy show. Is that wow. And then I remember my mom took Yeah, that was my first live comedy show or concert.

 

HOST  06:25

Seinfeld by yourself?

 

GUEST  06:28

Yes, I’d never been to live performance before that. Like no concert, no comedy show, anything like that? on a big scale? I guess

 

HOST  06:41

clearly it it held up, or else you wouldn’t be doing it for a career.

 

GUEST  06:46

Yeah. And I still like him. And like, a lot of his stuff from the sitcom doesn’t hold that. But I do really resonate a lot with like, his comedy philosophy still. And like, his philosophy is very interesting as like, the joke is above everything else, including emotion or like meaning or things like that. Yeah, you like then I’m on Zen Buddhist, which you can tell the influences from it’s like, transcendental meditation practice. He does and everything.

 

HOST  07:25

You know, a lot more about Jerry Seinfeld than I do.

 

GUEST  07:29

Yeah, did you know he did? He did Transcendental Meditation.

 

HOST  07:34

I didn’t know that. I know that. All the rich people are doing now. I hope it helps.

 

GUEST  07:39

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like it really gets to know Seinfeld history. This is a weird tangent. But it’s okay. He started doing meditation in college, like before he started stand up. And so I’m still trying to figure out how to develop a good like meditation practice every day. So essentially, Jerry Seinfeld got mentally healthy, starting in college, before stand up. And then now he’s like Uber successful and says, you don’t have to have a mental illness in order to be funny. You don’t have to be miserable to be funny. That’s like one of the tenants of his philosophy. But I’m also like, dude, you got mentally healthy with the meditation without knowing it? That that was gonna help you so much. And that, like, carried you through all this stuff?

 

HOST  08:47

Yeah. Anyway, you’re right. He definitely had a roller coaster experience as far as like going from being a road comic, too. All of a sudden doing this show, that becomes a huge hit. And now all of a sudden, he’s like, can’t leave his house. Any like, you know, people are all over him. Like, from what I understand. He’s not a big fan of people running at peak, he’ll talk to people occasionally. You see that on the on the coffee podcast show? You know what I mean? He’s like, okay, you know, it’s a sort of weird experience, but he has to deal with it. So it’s great that he has that meditation, to be able to navigate it. You know, I feel like it also made him like wise old man before he was old. You know what I mean? Like, so he could be like, it’s okay, we’re just gonna go with the flow of this. Like, people are like, Alright, man, whatever. Like he’s such a weirdo. But really, he’s like, calm and easygoing. It’s like Gary, Shannon. You know what I mean? Like finding out he’s so like, involved in this like, spiritual journey was like, Oh, yeah, that really like it just makes

 

GUEST  09:53

you and then also, which I don’t think Transcendental Meditation is in Buddhism, but You can see where they share a lot of similarities. Among Garry Shandling are buddies,

 

HOST  10:05

I’m gonna say that my only concern about Transcendental Meditation is that it’s very expensive to take one of those

 

GUEST  10:14

secrets.

 

HOST  10:15

Yeah. There’s something like only rich people are allowed to experience this, because I guess that’s what’s going on. And I just don’t love that. So, uh huh. That can be rough. But let’s get back to you. You’re a child. And you’re seeing Seinfeld and it was a great experience. I’ve never thought of going to a comedy show by myself. I mean, I guess I have plenty of times. But I just never thought of it. I’ve never gone to like a famous comedian. I’ve gone to lots of people with their, to their comedy shows by myself. And it’s a pleasant experience, because you don’t have to worry if your friend likes or dislikes, the comedy, you’re just there for yourself, which is fun. But tell me more about how you continued to do it through high school and college. How did you actually finally get yourself up on stage?

 

GUEST  11:03

So I, I went to that show, and then my mom took me to another show. Um, that was at like, a baptist church or something. He’s like, local Christian comics put it on. And I remember that there was like, a jazz trio there playing music before the show. And there were a cocktail francs, and a comedy show at this church. And I still know these comics, and I, I love them. They’re great people. But I also remember thinking at that show, like, I just come from the Seinfeld show, and I’m watching them. I’m thinking, Oh, not all comedy is like that level of Seinfeld. But they did tell me about open mic, which was a good thing. And I didn’t even know open mic was a thing. It wasn’t in my AltaVista search that I did at the library. Yeah, so I went to wiseguy. This is the local club in in Utah, and I went to wiseguys open mics, like often on during high school in college, well, often on during high school, and then I kind of picked it up more near the end of college. consistently. He stopped

 

HOST  12:30

doing performance during college to focus on studying the marketing pretty heavy.

 

GUEST  12:37

Yeah. And I went on, like a church mission for my church.

 

HOST  12:43

He did that. How was that? Did you go somewhere? While it was?

 

GUEST  12:48

Yeah, I went to like, I went to Paraguay. Oh, fine. When Yeah, I just found out today someone was mentioning that. I was in this area in Paraguay that’s like the biggest black market in the world. And they told me that when I was there, but it’s like Grand Theft Auto in real life. And I’m like this little sheltered, white shirted kid. And like, the Grand Theft Auto place, and someone was telling me today after 911 happened, one of the first places they looked, was in this city in, in Paraguay, for, like the terrorist organization. Because, little to unbeknownst to me, while I was there on a mission, they have like, it’s not just like black market TVs and steak rolexes. They have like, f 16 that they sell on the black market, like the nuclear arms dealers and stuff and like what I could have been wheeling and dealing as a little Mormon missionary, trying to infiltrate the black market, stead of doing whatever jaded thing.

 

HOST  14:06

It’s cool. It’s correct. You could have just been like Jonah Hill, who was selling the guns running all around and making millions of dollars until they find out that you’re a 20 something young man and they’re like, Wait, what?

 

GUEST  14:21

I feel cheated. Now. I got out of it for stupid here was like a fake Rolex that I have somewhere I could have gotten Mike. You don’t know that was fake. That could have been real. Yeah, that’s true. Everything immediately. So I’d hope the good people at Rolex have a better sense of quality. Even there, they were funny about that stuff that they would just openly say. They wouldn’t say it was fake, but they would say it’s like a replica their way around it. Like Would you like a replica? Sure.

 

HOST  14:55

Well, that’s like two years off.

 

GUEST  15:01

Yes, comedies, but I would still think of jokes. While I was on my mission and stuff. You know, I kind of got back into the little laughter

 

HOST  15:10

You get a lot of good Paraguay material.

 

GUEST  15:14

I really, I just found out that thing about the black market city today though, so maybe I’ll, I’ll talk about that. It’s a good one.

 

HOST  15:23

It’s a good one. I know the restaurant that when I moved to Austin, I live I’ve lived here for 10 years, when I moved to Austin, I, I found a Mexican restaurant that I liked. And I just started going there all the time, because I was like, I’m just gonna keep going back to this same place. Because it feels comfortable. And it’s like a fun spot. And whenever people would visit me, I would bring them there. And I really liked it. And I was always telling people they should go. And I was always really surprised that they were very, very empty all the time. But I continue to go there. And I figured maybe my, my guacamole was helping the business. And then shortly after I lived in the city for a couple of years, the restaurant was shut down because it turned out to be a front for heroin. And they were just smuggling drugs and laundering money through this restaurant and like me, and seven other people were the only ones that actually ate there. And I was like, Oh, what? What? So I understand crime happening directly in front of you. And you know, no, happens to me. I’m very naive, very naive, but

 

16:34

for sure.

 

GUEST  16:36

I’m like, fascinated with business to a certain degree. And that, to me is almost more impressive than just running a restaurant. Oh, yeah. You said the food was good. It was good. And and they pedaled the heroin fairly successfully until they got caught, right. That’s impressive. from a business standpoint,

 

HOST  17:00

here’s hoping that was better than best paid chefs in town.

 

GUEST  17:04

I know. But I’ve been to restaurants where the food is such shit that like, like, well, these guys have got to be a friend for the mob or something. But then, like, the place you went to, they had their shit together and they peddled the drugs. Well, but I mean, I don’t know

 

HOST  17:24

that it did very well, because they clearly got caught. It didn’t work out for them. I believe they’re probably in jail. But not the day. It’s not they’re not winning.

 

GUEST  17:37

Yeah, well, those are the only drug dealers we hear about are the ones that eventually get caught. That’s true. The thing about getting big in the drug game is you’re never known until after.

 

HOST  17:49

Yeah, drugs and art a lot of a lot of things like that, you know?

 

GUEST  17:53

Yeah, no,

 

HOST  17:54

sometimes you know, you do a lot of painting. Yeah. And then you die. And then everyone’s like, Hey, did you know that Larry was great at painting? Oh, my God. And then it’s

 

GUEST  18:04

time now. To think about like, how pissed off then go would be, like, found out how famous he was. Now,

 

HOST  18:12

he kept the other era off. I’m telling you, he’d be.

 

GUEST  18:15

Yeah, he’s keeping his shit. I like gave my whole life and energy to all this. And you like it after I die? Now

 

HOST  18:23

you like it? Could someone have said, Hey, Vinnie, good job once in my life.

 

GUEST  18:30

Seriously? No,

 

HOST  18:31

I was begging the court cancel the game for attention. Did you see the screen one? Did you see the one where I’m screaming on the bridge? I’m about to jump. Trying to tell you I’m reaching out.

 

GUEST  18:49

Yeah, absolutely.

 

HOST  18:51

I wonder about all those things. Like what was I found out recently? Oh, Charles Dickens was famous in his own time. So like, when Charles Dickens wrote cool things, people were like, Oh, my God, Charlie, you’re like the best. And he’s like, you know what I am. He like invented the book tour, so that more people could tell him he was awesome.

 

GUEST  19:10

Like, I was like, what a tale. Like, so funny. He told me that.

 

HOST  19:17

It’s like you think of Charles Dickens as being like super boring because of so many different things that seem like old school to us. But it’s not old school. It’s just his stuff is so engrained into the world that like you take it as commonplace. It’s like No bro wrote that. And at the time, people were like, That’s amazing. Who’s this guy? And he’s like, let’s get in this carriage and go town to town and tell everyone how amazing I am.

 

GUEST  19:42

And they did. Yeah, that whole system of marketing was invented because of his ego.

 

HOST  19:50

He really did and he would like read his stories aloud. Like check this one out everyone. It was like for real like and just the idea of that is so fascinating. It really all Like, puts into perspective, like going back and reading Charles Dickens things now makes them a little more exciting to imagine this guy like in a bookstore, like, all right, ladies, listen to this one. Like, just so funny. So funny because like, for instance, we’re talking about the marketing and like, how, when you’re a comedian, you have to be like, every job, you have to do a great website, which by web, by the way, have a great website, and like good marketing, get yourself out there, make yourself connected, you know, doing all these kinds of things. Like, how is a person supposed to handle that? How is a person supposed to juggle all those things and their art? How do you do it?

 

GUEST  20:40

Oh, I know, people. I don’t know. I get? I don’t know, I have no idea. I feel like I’m doing all those other things. And then I’m like, when was the last time I wrote something. It’s always like written in some feverish panic while I’m on stage. Like, I wish I had more time to sit down and think about things and write them out in a constructed way, instead of worrying about sales funnels. Zoom recording connections, a the technical stuff. website building social media algorithms.

 

HOST  21:26

Yeah, it’s a lot of crap that I had no interest in. I did not sign up to be a theater lady. So I knew how to press the buttons. I mean, don’t get me wrong back. Back in the day of my actually working theater, like in theater houses, I would press any button and pull any lever you want me to, to this day, I always tell it to my husband, I go, if I can get a job in the box office of a theater, I’ll take it. I just want to be around this stuff, right? But at the same time, like, that doesn’t mean I’m an expert at all the things. And that doesn’t mean that like I don’t even have the wherewithal to get the information. Like, Can I just tell you that I’ve asked hundreds of people to explain SEO to me, and I try so hard to soak it into my brain. And it does not work out. Every time I just go like, Oh, yeah, okay. Yeah, totally. Oh, my God, you totally helped me out. I have no idea. Alex, I have no idea. You know what I mean? Like, they’re just so

 

GUEST  22:24

you can their language or else they won’t, like help you out with it.

 

HOST  22:28

Right? You have to give them like that reassuring smile so that they continue to talk. You’re like, Oh, yeah. I never thought of it that way. Oh, my gosh, you’re really blowing my mind.

 

GUEST  22:38

That’s called guest posting. And they’re like, that’s actually link building. Shout out great. I’m a comedian. Let me write jokes. Uh, huh.

 

HOST  22:47

Yeah, for sure. But it’s like getting older. You know what I mean? Everything changes the name. You know what I mean? Like a from the tech guys to the to the younger people. You’re like, Oh, I’m sorry. What are we calling that now? Oh, okay.

 

GUEST  23:03

Great. Uh huh.

 

HOST  23:04

Cool. Like I, I’ve never felt more old than when I have to, like ask what things mean on the internet. And I never asked out loud because I know, I know. They’ll look at me and they’ll laugh. So I have to send a private message to someone. I’ve seen this or I go and I googled the acronym, which Be careful, everyone. Be careful googling the acronym, is like, there’s just a lot of acronyms. And you just some of them, you don’t want to get involved in your search bar is all I’m saying. I feel like I’ve got off track

 

GUEST  23:38

marketing acronyms and Urban Dictionary acronyms, and you got to search for the right. And

 

HOST  23:44

some of them are phrases that mean illegal activities that you just want to hear about. But it turns out, you’re not supposed to look them up. Like I was on Facebook. Somebody did, Joe not like Q and on. And they’re like, I was like, should I google it? They’re like, do not Google it. And I was like, Okay, what was explained to me what it is, I don’t know what this is. So like, you know, Facebook occasionally is like, Hello, I don’t understand. Please tell me why. Which is nice. I have a handful of 40 somethings who will explain to me what the kids are talking about a mile, like what is this mean? which is helpful, which is helpful, but I feel like we’ve gotten off track. And now suddenly, we’re talking about me. Let’s talk more about you.

 

GUEST  24:28

I like it. I like you. I don’t know more about.

 

HOST  24:31

Sure. No, that’s nice. I appreciate that. But I want to get back into your experiences starting out as a stand up. You started going to the open mics. When did you start? You know, booking your own shows? And how did you I love the idea that when you wanted to be a comedian, you went to the library and googled or rather AltaVista, how to become a comedian. And just the idea like now I want to write multiple articles with that as the title Just like terrible, bad, bad advice articles for future. Oh, I

 

GUEST  25:04

know, well, someone’s way ahead of you because that’s the article I read. It had no mention of open mic. And you didn’t even have like a mention of like, how you eventually get on the weekend shows. I just like went to open mic for like a year and a half or something. And which is fine. And I basically didn’t interact with many people. I didn’t know like, that was the thing that it was good to do. And I just went and I told jokes, and I last, and I eventually started making a couple of friends. And then like a year and a half later, the club owner came up to me He’s like, I’m only telling you this because it seems like you don’t know what you’re doing. But you know, you can ask me for weekend shows. Right? And then like, I didn’t know that, and I appreciate you telling me because I in fact, I have no idea what I’m doing. I got all my information off of a AltaVista article.

 

HOST  26:08

JOHN, AltaVista gave me bad advice.

 

GUEST  26:11

It’s not going now.

 

HOST  26:16

Oh, my gosh. So he helped you out have the the guy who was

 

GUEST  26:22

wiseguys? Really? Yeah, he’s a he’s become a good friend of mine. And he’s awesome. His name’s Keith stead. Like, he’s really made the comedy scene here. And you tie really great. Like, most of the reason why it’s anything or, and I personally think it’s good. It’s very, like underrated. But on place to do comedy, but

 

HOST  26:47

what’s the scene like, like, now that you’re in it, and you’re hanging with the people and, you know, all the places to go? How does it feel? Like,

 

GUEST  26:57

it feels good. There’s three clubs of wiseguys. Um, and you can do set most weekends. And then the open mic is really good. And there’s other open mics that are smaller, obviously. And, like, I used to go to one of those, but not so much anymore. And there’s also that that dry bar comedy thing here, which, Keith books, he doesn’t run the line, he hadn’t run the company. And he just booked it. And then I, I did one of those specials. And then after I filmed it, I was telling them about my marketing job and the green kind of talking to them about it the same way. I’m talking to you about how I dislike doing that. No, like, we’ll just come do that marketing stuff here. So I ran their Facebook page for like, three years. I got it when it had like a couple thousand followers. And then by the time I left, it was like up to like 4 million followers or something. So you’re welcome, everyone, all the angry. Moms on the internet, leaving horrible conservative comments on comedy videos is all because of me.

 

HOST  28:23

I mean, it’s not all because of you. It’s partially because

 

GUEST  28:28

I feel very guilty for that,

 

HOST  28:29

you know, conservative moms are angry about lots of things, and they’re never gonna stop being angry. I’ve learned that after joining the mom community, just sort of some people are angry and they want to be angry about certain things. I’m angry, but more like bacon. dragway you know, less as I’m gonna yell at you about the way you live your life kind of way.

 

GUEST  28:51

Mm hmm. Yeah, that’s so funny. Yeah, Facebook really is like, made for people who love yelling at things as they pass by. Just like if you’re in traffic, and a bunch of cars drove by you. And you just yelled at each one. But each one was a different post. Let me tell you what I think about you comedy posts.

 

HOST  29:16

Yeah, but there’s always so much more like, involved to somebody who’s like response. You know what I mean? Like, the hard part about sort of political stuff right now is that there’s a big mix of politics and morality, where like people think that there not only are certain things that people are making jokes about, like a mark of that person’s morality, but also, the ability to laugh at something is somehow a bad mark on their own morality. And I’m like, you’re not a bad person because you think something’s funny, especially if it’s off color or out of the ordinary. That’s like kind of the point well, There, we need to push the edges. And so some of us are in the position of, you know, trying to, you know, blur the lines and and push the envelope. Like that’s just the idea. And also like, especially in times like now in 2020 I remember like right before COVID there was a big discussion about like, is comedy dead? Are we not allowed to ever make jokes again, and it was like, now I feel like we hit rock bottom of insanity happening in the world. So now comedy is back. Because comedy is the only thing that makes viable sense. Like, there’s just, everyone’s just like, I can’t please someone make a meme. So I can process this situation, right? Like, there’s just no, no.

 

GUEST  30:47

It’s like, yeah, no one can trust the news sources. Like we can all pick whatever news sources we want to believe in. And we like kind of create our own reality in that way. comedy, kind of, like can cut through all of that. That’s a very astute observation about politics and morality.

 

HOST  31:11

Well, I’m certain I’m not the first person to come up with it. I’m sure I’m regurgitating somewhere article I saw on Facebook, let’s be clear now. But at the same time, like, there’s definitely, it’s hard when it comes to I’m an artist through and through. Sounds like you are too, if you’re like writing jokes as a little kid, and then all of a sudden, you know, you’re seeing Seinfeld at like, 15. There’s some great about that, by the way. So great. I’m like, I’m deeply envious. My first concert was New Kids on the Block, it was a very different situation. But like, you know, it’s just, it’s great to be able to do comedy, and to be able to express yourself in this particular way, because especially right now, you know, I feel like there’s a need to discuss the way things have been and how we could change them. And sometimes the only way that you can do that is with there being some sort of fun person around. And the other part about comedy that people don’t give, like people say, comedy, and they immediately just think, mean spirited, stand up, which is a small subset of comedy as a whole, and even a smaller subset, stand up. Like, they’re nobodies, there is a handful of people that are trying to be terrible, but not everybody, mostly not everybody, right? Like, they’re not trying to make the world a bad place or make you angry, they’re trying to uplift you or give you a break from a rough day, hey, let me tell you about things that I thought were funny. And maybe you’ll laugh, and then you’ll be able to relax and not worry about your

 

GUEST  32:58

job, very pervasive, like tenet of comedy is like is meant for as a as a break from reality. And in that way, like we get to escape, there’s like, escapist kind of stuff. And then there’s comedy that makes you want to, like have to confront the issues of the day. And of course it like, they predict that kind of comedy presents those issues and kind of an absurdist bent to it. But like, I think both genres, if you want to call them that are great. I’m a big fan of like, both of those philosophies, like escaping it or confronting it. Like, it just depends on what you need, you know? Yeah. Plus,

 

HOST  33:44

we’re not Joe Rogan. Like, right. Back to the idea that we were talking about way long ago, where it was like, how did he get that money? How did it work out? And why is everybody mad at him? Because you’d take 100 million to like, bros just been saying what he got the most reaction for? If If comedians learn nothing, and and I’m glad that there were people in Utah to help you along the way, hey, you can do this, hey, you can do that. But as far as you writing jokes, developing jokes, it’s a trial and error process. You tell the same joke over and over and over. And eventually you figure out the best way to do it. Right. I feel like that’s like, it’s like that was life. And if you if you can embrace that, then great, but otherwise, it’s just, you know, if you’re just spitting out what you think people want you to say, you know what I mean? Like without there being the artistry of you, then it gets a little hollow. But like with Joe Rogan, he just says what he knows his audience wants, and we can be mad at him or not, but really, he’s a businessman. And it seems like he doesn’t

 

GUEST  34:56

fit in those things. And so is his audience. So like, why not? That’s fine. And he’s

 

HOST  35:01

a yeller. Great.

 

GUEST  35:03

Good. Uh huh. Whatever. That’s his version of slam poetry.

 

35:07

He loves it.

 

GUEST  35:08

He loves the yelling kind. Yeah, it’s just

 

HOST  35:11

the way he does it. He also apparently loves the color red because that is the color that is all over his entire

 

GUEST  35:19

vision inside of a toasty.

 

HOST  35:21

Yeah, he’s heating up. He likes it hot. That’s why he moved to Texas. Haha. That’s gonna be the news. Yeah.

 

GUEST  35:30

And I, I disagree with Yeah, I disagree with people that get upset at jokes, especially when they’re like, not in their finished form. Like it’s one thing to get upset at a joke at a special because I feel like that something that the artists like worked on and like they’re presenting it to you is like, Okay, this is kind of finished. I’ve figured this out. This is what I believe. And then there’s, like people that get upset at jokes that comedy shows. Whereas the nature of those they’re like, no, this is like I’m workshopping this, and it’s still entertaining to you. But I’m this isn’t finished

 

HOST  36:06

yet. And but getting mad at a comedian for a joke is like getting mad at a band because you don’t like the song. I’m sorry. You don’t like the song? Yeah, the song you like will come up in a minute. Just hang back.

 

GUEST  36:20

Up. And like that’s not your genre of music.

 

HOST  36:23

You know, what is also a thing that you can be accepted. that’s acceptable. not liking stuff. Sometimes. That’s just what happened. Yeah. Sorry. Great. Like everything catered for you? Yeah, it’s like, you don’t have to like something. If you don’t like it, go ahead and not like it. You don’t have to yell at the person about how you don’t like it. That’s the thing that I think we’re talking about people yelling about, you know, reacting to things and being angry about comedy and whatnot. What I don’t understand is, if you really would like it, like, do you want there to be one type of everything? And do you want to have to agree with everybody? I just don’t? I don’t. I mean, you know, it’s like when you say that about politics, people are like, So what you’re saying is okay to be racist. And I was like, I don’t know how we got there. But I think that when you disagree with people, it’s not the end of the world. And when you don’t like something, that’s fine. My husband’s favorite movie is the Highlander. Do I want to watch it? No. Do I ever want to watch it every time? He asks me? No. Does that mean it’s a bad movie?

 

GUEST  37:35

He’s a good person.

 

HOST  37:37

And I don’t dislike the Highlander, or the people who made it. Or my husband who likes it. I just personally don’t want to watch it. That’s okay. Like, like what you like, and if you don’t like it, move forward. No need to yell at that person. You’re not something I like. That means you should change yourself. No, that’s not really how that works. But thank you so much for your thoughts.

 

GUEST  38:06

Like, I don’t know. Yeah, it’s annoying.

 

HOST  38:10

Tell me about your career path as it is your our interview was booked by a manager of some kind. So that means that you are pretty well connected as far as having people who help you do tours and get gigs like how did you get from I’m doing weekend shows, at wiseguys to traveling doing corporate gigs, all sorts of stuff.

 

GUEST  38:44

You kind of have to like figure out how the business works. Which, like, was also not in that AltaVista article. And that just takes kind of some some time and like, experience, like, I would like to have an official, like one of the big agencies represent me at some point. But I know I’ve got to get to a point where they would want to do that. So in the meantime, and like, well, I can kind of delegate out some of those responsibilities to people that know how to do that thing. So I, I found a person that does podcast booking, and hired them to help me get on podcasts. And I’m so glad I did, because I’m getting to know you and like talk to different people outside of my little bubble here. And really great.

 

HOST  39:45

You know, it’s funny is that podcast interviews have really saved me during COVID. It’s also really nice because I like to find out how everybody does it. And it’s interesting. I don’t know that I’ve ever talked to anybody in Utah. So I appreciate chatting with you. Because I’m sure that you know, people could listen to it from your area who maybe don’t know what to do. And now they have a path because they heard your story. And they’re like, Oh, I didn’t know that this was something I could do. Great. Let’s do it. You know, we all have to I’m trying my best to be that AltaVista article and help comedians and performers writers find their

 

GUEST  40:27

that’s what this big podcast has been really helpful for is like, a lot of different AltaVista articles with actual decent advice, but I don’t want to come up like I figured it out. I like feeling very far from having figured it out.

 

HOST  40:43

That’s okay. I mean, we’re all

 

GUEST  40:45

like our mutual friend. figured it out way more. And I’m so happy for her. That’s so cool.

 

HOST  40:50

Thank you so much for being on the podcast. You have been an absolute joy. I really enjoyed chatting with you. And I am looking forward to sharing your YouTube special with everybody.

 

GUEST  41:04

Oh, thank you. Yeah, likewise, it’s been so fun night. But I’m glad we’re here. We know each other now. You’ve been great. Yeah, absolutely.

 

HOST  41:15

It’s really great to meet you. And I just I really appreciate you being on the show and chatting me up and telling me everything

 

GUEST  41:22

Oh, of course. Likewise. real cool person. Glad I know you now. Yeah, a

 

41:28

great connection.

 

HOST  41:31

All right. Here’s my tiny child he’s right here. Oh, look.

 

GUEST  41:34

Okay. Hello, tell me later. Thank you.

 

HOST  41:44

Thanks for listening to yes but why podcast? Check out all our episodes on the spy podcast calm or check out all the content on our network at Universal and HC Universal Network calm