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episode 1175 of the Behind the Shield podcast,
or go to Carnabunkergear .com. Welcome to the
Behind the Shield podcast. As always, my name
is James Geering, and this week it is my absolute
honor to welcome on the show U .S. Marine turned
comedian Michael D 'Angelo. Now, in this conversation,
we discuss a host of topics from his turbulent
upbringing, his journey into the military, the
travel that opened his mind, his transition out,
finding the world of comedy, the rapid fire comedy
tour, and so much more. Now, before we get to
this incredible conversation, as I say every
week, please take a moment, go to whichever app
you listen to this on, subscribe to the show.
Leave feedback and leave a rating. Every single
five -star rating truly does elevate this podcast,
therefore making it easier for others to find.
And this is a free library of almost 1 ,200 episodes
now. So all I ask in return is that you help
share these incredible men and women's stories
so I can get them to every single person on planet
Earth who needs to hear them. So with that being
said... I introduce to you Michael D 'Angelo.
Enjoy. Well, Michael, I want to start by saying
thank you so much for taking the time and coming
on the Behind the Shield podcast today. Thanks
for having me, James. So where on planet Earth
are we finding you this afternoon? I'm sitting
in my apartment in East Los Angeles. Beautiful.
Let's start at the very beginning of your timeline
then. So tell me where you were born and tell
me a little bit about your family dynamic, what
your parents did, how many siblings. i was born
in las vegas uh i have one sister she's my half
sister we got different dads and my dad were
construction my mom was kind of a chaotic person
but she um she was uh she did like hair and nails
and she was a massage therapist and stuff like
that but mainly she did heroin so when you would
jump straight into it now In 2026, where a lot
of us are having a more educated conversation
on mental health, and we realize that there is
a generational trauma to a lot of the suffering
that's going on today, what, when you reflect
back as far as your mother's upbringing, do you
think contributed to her struggle with addiction?
Oh, fuck. You know, I couldn't say exactly what
might have happened to her, but I know that she
was doing drugs for a long time. She did. She
was doing like heroin since she was like 15 years
old or something like that. She was, you know,
that was back in like, I don't know, the 70s,
you know, or the yeah, the yeah, like early 70s.
So it's a different time, you know, whether it
was her own family dynamic and the way her parents
raised her or just the the social environment
she found herself in or. something like that
yeah she was uh experimenting and and doing crazy
shit in an era where that stuff was a little
more i don't know there was there were less options
like there were no podcasts right there was no
instagram there was a there's a lot less shit
to keep yourself entertained and i think that
era the 70s i think you know drugs and rock and
roll were a little more like i mean the people
pushed back on it for sure but i think it was
more a little more normal to experiment with
that kind of stuff, you know. And, you know,
I don't know how that informed her adulthood,
except that she continued to do drugs and she
was a crazy person. So talk to me about that
dynamic then as a young boy. What were, as you
reflect back now, the kind of highs and the lows
of the upbringing that you had? I mean, the highs
were very far and few between. by the time i
was born my dad was kind of losing everything
because uh he was battling with her and they
were doing drugs together and uh the lows were
super low because she was you know struggling
with this drug addiction and you know divorcing
my dad and chaos so she was in and out of my
life as a kid a lot and by the time by the time
i was like old enough to be like aware of, you
know, what was going on, which was still at a
pretty young age. She was basically not a mother
figure at all. What about sports exercise? What
were you playing and doing in the school age?
As a little kid, you know, I played like I was
in like karate. I played soccer, stuff like that.
Mainly like a big bike rider. You know, I was
one of those kids out in the streets riding the
bike everywhere. But I didn't play like I didn't
get into like football or basketball. And by
the time I was old enough to like. really play
sports. I was, I was out in the streets running
around being crazy, running from the cops and
shit like that. And what was the environment
that you grew up in as far as you mentioned Vegas?
Was it a, you know, what kind of neighborhood
were you in at that point? So that's another
part of it is I went to a different school every
year from like kindergarten all the way up through
high school. Moved a lot, a lot of different
neighborhoods. People are always like, oh, what
part of Vegas are you from? And I basically spent
a little bit of time everywhere, you know, East
Vegas, West Vegas, Central, North Vegas, South,
all over really. I spent a lot of time moving
and going to different schools and connecting
with different street kids from all over the
city. I asked this question to people that were
like military brats, for example, that moved
all over the world or they just had gypsy parents
or in your case, obviously, a kind of similar
dynamic. What were the pros and what were the
cons of constantly being moved around? Well,
the cons were definitely, you know, instability,
uncertainty, harder to. find like a you know
a safety and that wasn't just removing the home
life was crazy you know it was hard to find like
a a comfortable like place to be in general you
know we were we lived with a lot of different
people and and it was very uh where we sleep
in tonight sort of a thing um the pros i don't
know as an adult i think i have like a a perspective
on you know of stress and instability and uncertainty
that gives me a comfortability in those environments
now where it's like, ah, you know, like as an
adult, it's much easier because I do actually
have control over my own life. And, you know,
I have like a comfortable, safe place to be.
So no matter what the world throws at me, I can
kind of like come back to my own center and my
own home, things like that. So it gave me like
a grit, you know, and just a perspective of like.
how things can really be, what it's really like
to not have control and what's really like to
have uncertainty. What about comedy? There's
a lot of people that come on, myself included,
that used comedy to offset ultimately bullying,
trauma, all these different areas. Were you leaning
into that back then or was that something that
developed later in life? So when I was a little
kid, I was writing a lot. I was always writing
like short stories and stuff. particularly comedy
but i was definitely like my imagination would
like come out on the page um it was kind of like
a a a place for me to have that outlet comedy
specifically because i grew up mainly my dad
raised me i spent a lot of time with him in environments
that are very adult you know whether it was bars
or construction sites or just hanging out with
him and his friends And I picked up on like bar
jokes and things like that very fast. The one
thing that was always fun was, you know, being
around a group of adults and they'd be like telling
their like bar jokes and stuff. And I'd be like,
I got one. And they'd be like, oh shit, what's
this kid going to say? And then I'd lay one on
them and they'd all start laughing. They'd be
like, where'd you hear that? Like, ah, you know,
I picked it up. So at a young, young age, yeah,
I was like telling jokes, hanging around adults,
talking about adult shit. And then as I got older,
like into like middle school and high school
it became this like uh kind of like a shit talking
i guess because i it was less of like joke telling
and more of like being able to deliver the right
timing you know just something's going on you're
with your friends and that you put in your two
cents at the right time and you just you kind
of break tension or or just say that thing everybody's
like holy shit what do you say you know People
call it shock humor. It wasn't so much shock
humor. I call it timing. Sometimes you're just
in a place and an environment where people are
talking and there's just an opening, an opportunity.
They set you up. I was getting really good as
a kid to be able to see those little moments
to insert here. I remember being called a sniper
when I was younger because I wasn't very talkative.
brain could even tell me to shut the fuck up
and not say the thing my mouth would already
say it and you know it would be funny i'm assuming
but what was interesting is i was also very good
at making fun of myself and i think that when
you can get that kind of level as far as um you
know making fun of your of yourself it dissuaded
people you know bullying because they're like
well shit if he can be so brutal on himself what's
he going to be like with us so i almost found
like having a smart mouth is almost a deterrent
sometimes for bullying if that makes sense definitely
what about career aspirations what were you dreaming
of becoming when you were in the school ages
oh man when i was in school ages all i knew is
that i wanted to work and i wanted to make money
and have a job and like you know have a financial
security that i was not finding as a kid but
as far as what i wanted to do i didn't know i
was like The first thing I can remember, even
entertaining as a kid, was that movie Armageddon
came out and being like, oh man, the money's
good, the scenery changes, and they let you play
with explosives. Dude, I want to work on an oil
rig, you know, shit like that. But it was never
like, I'm going to do this, I'm going to be this.
It was more of like, I just want to make money
and find a financial stability. And I didn't
really know. what that looked like except, you
know, just like getting a job and maybe I assumed
maybe I was going to end up doing construction
like my dad. And it kind of started to go that
way. I've worked with my dad on job sites from
like a very young age. And when I was like finally
old enough to like work legally on the books,
I went out and like got my first job at like
a pizza place. You know, saved every check, bought
my first car and started to gain that independence
and have that like financial sense of like control.
There is a common acknowledged statistic now
that the ACE score, which is the Adverse Childhood
Experience score. A lot of us in uniform, first
responder, military have an ACE of. six out of
ten which is quite a lot of when you were younger
um and there's you know there's an acknowledged
um principle that you know a lot of us that did
feel trauma when we were younger maybe didn't
have stability didn't feel safe didn't feel loved
etc then were drawn into a profession where they
could be the protector they could they could
be part of a tribe they could have a mission
that made the world a little bit better one thing
though i think that that Take someone from the
crossroads of either a positive road like that
versus in prison, dead, et cetera, is a positive
mentor in their life. If your mentor is a gangbanger
on the corner, you may not be following a good
path. If your mentor happens to be someone else,
it might steer you towards military first responder
or a better road. When you look back, it sounds
like you had a good relationship with your dad.
Were there any other mentors that were maybe
filling some of those voids that you needed?
To honestly know. And that's kind of where not
necessarily like the gangbanger on the street,
but because my home life was so unstable, I wasn't
at home a lot. And I found this like brotherhood,
this camaraderie running the streets with these
other wild kids. And not to say that I was looking
up to any of them. That certainly was not the
case. It was I was very aware that like we were
all a bunch of shitheads. There was no there
was no leader. There was no. uh mentor at all
um but i was searching for like a community i
was searching for like camaraderie and a brotherhood
for sure running around out the streets and and
i found it that's for sure you know it definitely
gave me um a place to like connect and feel uh
you know a closeness to people that that i just
wasn't getting at home i guess So how did you
find yourself walking through the doors of a
recruiting office? Well, being the kid out in
the street running wild, shit started to add
up. And for me, I was a shit talker, and I liked
adrenaline, and I liked to hang out with all
these guys and have fun, but I was never a fighter.
I was never, you know, I never sold drugs. I
never carried guns. None of that shit. I stole
from, like, the grocery store and shit. Like,
my friends were, like, stealing cars and crazy
shit and selling hard drugs and, you know, getting
into, like, really scary stuff. And I just happened
to be around them when it would happen, you know.
And it just, you know, I started getting out
of hand. It all escalated. We went from, like,
being kids fighting each other to, like. fighting
adults in the street. And now these guys, you
know, we're getting shot at, you know, when I
was 16, a friend of mine was getting jumped and
I ran out there to go help him and someone sliced
my face open with a straight razor. And it was
about that year within that time period that
I was like, I got to get out of here. Like my
friends are going to jail. They're going to prison.
Friends are getting shot. I got my face sliced
open. If I don't get out of here, I'm going to
end up dead or in prison. Like I gotta, I gotta
make a move. I have to leave. And so in the middle
of my junior year, I went to the, I went to my,
my, like they let us out for winter break and
I went to the front office and I got my transcripts
and I went to a community college and I took
my GED and I got the GED and I went to the Navy
office and I was like, yeah, I want to be a SEAL,
you know? And they were like, we're not taking
GEDs right now. And I was like, well, shit. Okay.
So the Marine Corps office right next door. So
I went there and they were like, we'll work with
you. We got a plan for you. And I signed up to
join. And yeah, that was kind of I was in such
an eager rush to join that my recruiter like
fucked me real good. He got me so good. I was
basically telling him I was like, yeah, man,
like because I got my original date was like
September 2008. I was like, yeah, man, if someone
drops out of their program or, you know, their
contract, I'll go early. Like if something opens
up early, I want to go and get out of here. He
was like, all right, yeah, I'll let you know.
And then something opened up. Basically someone
dropped out and he was like, Hey, we got a spot.
You'll leave about a month early. I was like,
perfect. Let's go. He goes, but you're going
to have to change your MOS from a, I was like
a motor T to like a infantry. And I was like,
all right, sweet. That'll work. I'll be a machine
gunner. He was like, and you're going to lose
your sign on bonus. I was like, all right, whatever.
He goes, and you got to be reserved. And I was
like, what's that? He goes, well, basically,
you'll go to boot camp, then you go to machine
gunner school, and then you'll come home and
check in at Nellis Air Force Base. I was like,
no, no, no, no, no. I don't want to be back in
Las Vegas. The whole goal is to get out. He goes.
oh, don't worry about it. When you check with
your unit, you can put in your paperwork to like
activate and go to, and you can join another
unit and you won't have to be here. And the unit
that you check in with is going to Iraq in March.
So if you don't get held back or recycled in
all your training, you'll be able to go to Iraq
with them. You can put your paperwork in for
active duty before you leave. And then when you
come back, you'd be active, blah, blah, blah.
And I was like, oh, sure. That sounds great,
Mr. Recruiter. Yeah, absolutely. So I joined.
And then I get out of machine gunner school.
I check in with my unit. And I'm like, yeah,
I want to go active duty. And they're like, or
first I'm like, okay, we're going to Iraq, right?
And they're like, no, they started their work
up in November, dude. You're not going to Iraq
with them. And I was like, okay, fuck, all right.
Well, I want to put in my paperwork to go active
duty. And they go, no, you can't do that. I go,
why not? My recruiter said. They go, oh, yeah,
did your recruiter tell you that? Well, you have
a billet here. You're filling this billet. You
can't. You're not going active. That's not what
you're doing here. You're filling a billet. And
I had a I had kind of like a moment. I was like,
oh, fuck this. I'm not staying here in Las Vegas.
You guys just you guys. Someone lied to me. This
is bullshit. I'm going to I'm going to fucking
I'm going to figure out a way out of here. And
because I was standing in this office with all
the like, you know, like the people, all the
all the leadership told me this. I was like,
OK, what do I do now? I'm just like this young
Marine that doesn't know a whole lot. So I was
like, I'm going to write a letter to my senator.
And I wrote a letter to the senator. I was like,
hey, Harry Reid, I want to, you know. This is
my situation. They told me this, but this is
what they're telling me now. And, you know, I'm
young. I'm able bodied. I just got a machine
gunner school. I'd like to go active. I want
to blah, blah, blah. Thinking that I was going
to get like orders in the mail. They were going
to be like, yeah, here you go. Problem solved.
No, he called headquarters Marine Corps like,
hey, we got a Marine saying he's being treated
unfairly. And they brought me in and ripped me
a fucking new one. And they were like. Who told
you you couldn't? All the same people that told
me I couldn't. Because technically, they fucked
up. They should have let me submit my paperwork.
They could have denied it or lost it. But they
shouldn't have told me, like, no, you can't submit.
And I was like, oh, you guys did. You told me
no. You were all standing here. She said, you
said, what the fuck are you talking about? And
it clicked. I was like, oh, this is what it's
going to be. You guys are going to fucking lie
and bullshit me? All right, good to go. Then
I'll fucking, you fuck me, I'll fuck back. That
was kind of like the beginning of my career.
with the Marine Corps. I've had only one recruitment
story. And bearing in mind, I got 1200 episodes
now, pretty much, where the person got what they
want. And that was Pat McNamara, Delta. And he
took his, no, his dad sent his lawyer friend
with him to the recruitment office. And he actually
got the MOS that he requested. I think that's
the single. positive recruitment story i've had
where the person got exactly what they were hoping
to get from the beginning so well that's a fucking
rarity exactly we'll take a lawyer there we go
so you're in reserve status walk me through then
you know how that unfolds to to you know where
you end up deploying so i you know i check in
with this unit and right away like i pissed them
off and I get to end up going to – we do some
annual training. I go to Bridgeport. It's great.
I kind of get that level of training that I've
been looking for, getting to get good Marine
Corps skills and shit, and I thrive. Then the
next time I get to go out, I go to Central America.
I go to Belize, and I'm in the jungle getting
this really awesome training again. So my cup
is getting filled. I'm like, oh, man, this is
what I wanted. This is the kind of stuff I wanted
to be doing. At this point, I had submitted for
schools. I wanted to go to marksmanship school.
I wanted to go back to machine gun leader's course.
And because I had pissed off the leadership,
they kept fucking up my paperwork or coming up
with bullshit excuses. Like a week before, I'm
supposed to go to some school. They're like,
oh, sorry, your blood work didn't get done. Even
the corpsman's like, what the fuck are these
guys talking about? You don't have to do blood
work. You don't have to do any of it. These guys
are making shit up. Finally, a deployment comes
up to go to Southeast Asia. i go to basically
i get to go to southeast asia we start out in
japan um we're in japan for a little bit and
then we jump on a ship and island hop down thailand
singapore indonesia malaysia korea and it was
amazing it was like it's beautiful my like first
time like on a ship like that and we're also
doing like real marine shit too we're not like
in the fucking mountains of the desert like we're
doing beach raids every country that we're at
our ship stops off the coast we jump on these
aavs we push up and we come onto the beach we
raid up into the jungle and it's fucking amazing
it was cool as shit and uh at this point i had
developed a real knack with my mouth to like
piss off all the shitty people because i had
become like i was so like obsessed with like
being good and like being like a good Marine
and trying to like be, be, you know, the best,
be in the best shape I could learn all the knowledge
I needed to learn that being in the reserves,
there's so many shit heads that it's easy to,
it's easy to do really well and be like a stud,
you know? So I was like, I was mad at the leadership
and any opportunity I had to like call them out
or just be a smart ass or, you know, shit like
that, I would. And by the time I got on this
deployment, I was like, so good at like picking
out weakness in the command and people that were
making mistakes that it earned me a lot of attention.
It earned me, it was interesting because it earned
me a lot of attention with like really good Marines,
like guys that were fucking like fleet Marines
that were good dudes. Cause they didn't fuck,
they stayed, you know, they get in the reserves
on their way out and they realized like, oh yeah,
look at all these fucking pieces of shit. And
they'd meet me and they'd go, dude, you're good
shit. Like, you'd have been great in the fleet.
You're not fucked up. Like, these guys are fucked
up. So, like, the right people liked me, but
then all the shitheads hated me because I was
just constantly, like, pointing out their flaws
and, you know, picking apart all the bad decisions
and the mistakes they were making that were,
like, fucking with our quality of life and shit.
And that deployment was kind of like... a real
double -edged sword because i connected with
a lot of really good guys and and got to do a
lot of really cool shit and even though like
the landing force commander became my friend
but uh you know all the people that were making
mistakes kind of like they all got put in the
spotlight because you know on this deployment
it's just a lot more moving parts so if you're
an idiot you don't know what you're doing like
it's going to show you're going to fuck up and
it became that and it was a lot of me going see
told you look at these idiots you know what i
mean what about the stability of the military
when you went through and then also obviously
the the you know the kind of education a lot
of us get when we travel and see other cultures
you see the kind of shared humanity more often
than not what did that structure and stability
and purpose and tribe do for you that was kind
of lacking prior to the military um The structure
was great because I craved some structure. My
life was so chaotic, so the structure was awesome.
But if there's one thing I can say about the
military, there is so much chaos. At least in
the group that I was in, there's so much mistakes
happening. you're like, sometimes you look around
and you go, how the fuck do we win wars? Like
how are you guys, this is all fucked up. So there
was a lot of like, a lot of like really looking
into the machine that is the military industrial
complex and being like, yo, this is how this
shit is run. And, and it all gave me like, it
makes you frustrated as someone who craves like
control and structure and problem solving. When
it's like the leadership and the people in charge
don't have their shit together. They're disorganized
for whatever reason. And it makes you bitter.
It makes you upset. You're like, first of all,
this is the guy that's in charge. Second, like,
look at all this suffering and excess time wasted
and bullshit because these people don't know
what the fuck they're doing. They suck at their
jobs. So there was like that. But when I joined,
I definitely got a stability because my home
life was so unstable. I went to boot camp and
it was the first time I got three meals a day
for a consistency like that. It was the first
time I slept in a bed every night for eight hours.
There was a sense of stability. And because I
was growing up so stressed, a lot of the stress
and training is all manufactured. you know, particularly
the mental stuff. The Marine Corps is big on
that mental shit. It's very manufactured. And
I had a hard time like taking it seriously when
I first joined because I was like, this is like,
it's a fucking joke. They're doing this to stress
us out. Like these aren't, this isn't a real
situation. But it still gave me like a stability,
you know, whether it comes from like, you know,
wearing camis every day, like your uniform's
the same. You're going to have breakfast. You're
going to have lunch. You're going to have dinner.
There's a schedule. There's a routine. It gives
you a comfort in knowing what to expect, which
I did not have before I joined. There are so
many countries that do certain areas really well
that if every country had the humility to learn
from other countries, the rising tide would lift
all ships. All countries around the world would
benefit from this education system and this healthcare
system, etc., etc. As you progress through Southeast
Asia, were there any elements at all of some
of these other cultures that made you think,
oh, that would actually work really well back
home? You know, it's hard to say. I mean, Japan
was really clean. The people there are very nice.
I didn't spend a lot of time with the Japanese
military per se. I'm trying to think of like...
A lot of what we were doing was like training
in the jungle and shit. I didn't get a lot of
time with like culture and spending time with
like their, their people so much. I spent a lot
of time with the time, uh, military, the time
Marines, those guys were great. It taught us
a lot of like, uh, like Muay Thai fighting and
shit like that. Um, but yeah, I can't really
speak to like the cultures, unfortunately. Like
I didn't, there wasn't like, you know, we got
like basic culture PowerPoint training before
we went into a country, but I wouldn't spend
a lot of time in the countries. like you know
really absorbing culture we were like in the
jungle training and stuff like that i lived in
japan for 15 months um and it is incredibly clean
someone pointed out i don't think i even really
acknowledge this but there aren't any trash cans
in the street in japan You don't eat or drink
when you walk culturally, and you're responsible
for your own trash. So another really interesting
thing is that I saw, I don't know if this is
all schools, but a lot of schools, the school
children clean the school. So their whole philosophy
on ownership and community is different. I thought
that would be one to bring back here. Oh, yeah,
that's powerful. Yeah, make the kids clean their
own school. See what happens to graffiti and
trash and all the other things then. Wow. I never
even thought about that. That's a really good
point. So you're at the Southeast Asia deployment.
Where did you find yourself next? So while I
was on that deployment, because I was excelling
with certain people, they offered me to do another
deployment. I was going to go to the Black Sea
for a little rotational deployment through there.
Signed up for it, got selected. I came home from
Southeast Asia, and I was home for like a week,
and then I went to Texas to start the workout
for the Black Sea. And then my dad had like a
massive heart attack. He had to have open -heart
surgery. And he didn't have really anybody else
to take care of him. So I stayed home from that
deployment, helped him like rehab and like get
back to health and shit like that. So I missed
out on that one. And then right around that year,
this is by 2012, my back started getting weird
on me because I was like, I was like training
really hard, trying to like be really strong.
I trained for endurance. You know, I was a machine
gunner. It was when we were running through the
jungles, like I excelled so much. These guys
were like, make me the ro because i could carry
all the heavy and move and keep up with the platoon
commander and move to the jungle and the hills
and and i thrived on that i loved it like it
felt really good it gave me like a sense of worth
and and i was getting like high off the endorphins
too i love to smoke myself that's how i became
like a pt stud but my back started getting weird
on me and at first like it just felt like oh
you know my backs it's just weird like maybe
i pulled a muscle or something and the first
advice i got was from doctors that were like
Oh, yeah, here's some muscle relaxers. Just,
like, take a few days off, lay in bed. And it
got worse. It got so much fucking worse to where
I couldn't walk. I was walking with a limp. I'd
have crazy spasms and couldn't sleep and couldn't
get out of bed. And I was like, oh, shit, what
am I going to do? Like, what's happening? And
it got so bad that the Marine Corps was like,
we can give you a new job or you can get out.
And at that point, I had a bad taste in my mouth.
So I was like, I'm fucking out, dude. Cut me
out. My back was all weird, and that's kind of
how I got into stand -up. When I got out, I realized
that I couldn't work physically laborious anymore.
So I was like, I'm going to have to get into
white -collar shit. I'm going to have to learn
to talk to people and do sales and stuff like
that. But I was like, oh, man, where can I go
to figure out how to get comfortable talking
in front of groups and shit in a professional
setting? Talking to Marines is easy military,
but I want to get better at talking in front
of people. and uh i took one of my notebooks
that i was wrote shit in and i went to an open
mic and uh it was fucking it changed everything
for me i didn't have like this oh my god i'm
gonna do comedy for everything like that's what
i want to do but i went up and like it was like
this crazy adrenaline rush it was legal it was
free you know i didn't get hurt nobody got hurt
and i was like oh i like doing this now like
this is cool with the back injury i actually
had a bad one when i was a firefighter and and
uh same thing pills were thrown at me and and
luckily i had the kind of background as a athlete
and a coach so i'm like okay this is i did this
lifting this is not something that pharmaceuticals
are going to fix um and so i went down the kind
of cairo pt road and ended up rehabbing it just
with movement but when you think about that when
the body is spasming when the back is spasming
that's protecting whatever you know connective
tissue that you've damaged sort of throw drugs
that just gets the the protective mechanism to
let go makes no sense whatsoever you know what
i mean so it's crazy and this is all you know
the workman's comp in the fire service you get
this i got numerous friends that have got their
backs fused now and they can't do half the things
they used to be able to do versus taking the
time understanding it's going to be a painful
maddening road but at the end of it you're going
to be stronger than you were before but we've
got this fucking quick fix mentality in in modern
medicine where you know the insurance companies
or workman's comp don't want you to actually
do it the right way they just want to slice and
dice and get you either retired or back to work
yeah they start pumping you for that medication
because it's just the status quo. It's, you know,
the, everybody's getting their check. The pharmaceutical
companies are getting their money and, and it
does provide that immediate relief. They go,
look, we feel, look, don't you feel better? Wow.
Look at that work. This is, this is incredible.
Look, he's doing great. Look at all the pain
he was in. Now he's not in pain. And yeah, it
took for mine specifically, it took like a few
years before I finally had like control over
my, over my injury. And I, and I was educated
on what was going on. I was working, uh, While
I was still living in Las Vegas in the Marines,
I was doing private security and somebody that
I was working for noticed that I had been missing
a lot of work. And he's like, what's going on,
man? Where you been? And I was like, my back,
man. I can't come to work. I'm dealing with this
shit. And he had a bad back and he was a really
wealthy guy. And he was like, oh man, I'll send
you to my people. And I was like, I can't afford
that. He was like, no, no, I got you. And for
like a year, he sent me to a physical therapist
and paid for me to go. And that physical therapist
like changed my life, like really showed me and
taught me a lot of shit and helped me understand
like what was going on. And like, you know, explains
like, yo, this is a long road. you're gonna have
bad days for the rest of your life that just
is what it is but you listen to your body you
do this rehab you work on your you work on your
body in the way that you're supposed to and you'll
have more good days than bad days and you'll
understand what's happening when it happens you'll
know these signs and things like that and uh
and just like really man just helped me so much
and and i'm so grateful to those people that
that like really help take care of me and give
me that opportunity to to recover holy shit because
it was so scary to not be able to take care of
yourself you know and and to not understand what
was going on like when at that time in my life
and in the marine corps like i there was no fucking
like nobody was like hey also recovery rest you
know it was like go go go go you know pain is
weakness leaving the body and i thrived on all
that shit but when you're 17 and 18 like you
don't realize that you're You're burning a candle.
And by the time I was 23, I almost couldn't fucking
walk. Yeah, there's a thing called foundation
training that I use out of California. It was
a chiropractor that developed it after completely
fucking up his own back. And he was partly through
school. He was like, how can I have back surgery?
And then walk around saying that chiropractic
is the answer. So he figured out this kind of
movement practice. It looks a bit like yoga,
but it's not at all. You're holding these positions,
but you're up. lengthening the muscle whilst
using your body to add weight to that length
um it was game -changing that was hands down
the thing that really made the big difference
and now at 51 years old i move weight the same
way i did in my 20s after this injury so the
the healing power of the body is incredible when
you get the right movement practices and um you
know nutrition all those things are behind it
the body will heal itself and doesn't mean that
that injury isn't there but you protect it with
the strength and the length that you need to
keep moving yeah When a lot of people talk about
transitioning from the military, and especially
again, if you had that cohesion with certain
people that you worked alongside, you know, you've
got that purpose, you've got that tribe, you've
got that identity. And now you don't again, now
you're in the grocery store, no one gives a shit
what you used to do. Was that jarring for you?
Or did you transition out pretty seamlessly?
Well, you know, being in the reserves, I still
got like this connection to the civilian world
where it wasn't extremely difficult for me. But
because I was so like spun up in my head about
wanting to be like from my childhood as well,
like craving like a structure and like a level
of like success or just like financial security.
I was always like craving, trying to be better
and to grow. And then the Marine Corps fosters
that shit. And like, yeah, you know, know yourself,
seek self -improvement. Like, you know, you want
to be great. You want to be better. You want
to be stronger. being in the civilian world like
it's not that that shit's frowned upon you can
excel absolutely but the transition out of like
all right i'm done with the marine corps my back's
fucked up what do i do now i definitely like
sunk myself into like trying to find work that
was fulfilling and sales was like this way to
make money but what ended up happening is You
know, I did some sales in Vegas. I did some sales
in Chicago. And then I went to NorCal. I got
talked into going out there and doing, like,
solar. Like, the money was looking real good.
I was like, all right, I'll go. And I didn't
have a place to stay, so I, like, lived in my
car. When I got there, they were like, oh, we
don't have any leads for you. You have to go
create your own leads. I was like, okay, how
does that work? They're like, you're going to
go door knock. And I was like, all right, I'll
give it a shot. Let's go. So I'm, like, door
knocking for, like, a month living in my car,
and nobody's letting me in their house because
I got a fucking scar on my face or whatever.
I'm just not good at it. And I'm sitting in my
front seat one day and I'm like, damn, dude,
I know how to work really hard. Like I'm out
here living in my front seat. You know, I should
do something I like to do. And I came home and
just started doing standup as much as I could.
I was like, I'm going to sink all of this, like
drive to be great and to like grow and, and sacrifice.
I'm going to push this into standup. And for
like two years. I just, like, grinded in Vegas
all the bar rooms I could do, all the, like,
shitty shows, anything I could get on, just trying
to get better at writing and cutting my teeth
and getting up in front of these crowds and figuring
it out. And then I started coming to L .A. like
once a week because I started taking classes
in L .A. I was taking, like, improv classes,
writing classes. I was helping somebody produce
a weekly show. And after, like, a year of that,
I was sitting at the comedy store in the back
of the original room, and I was like... And watching
these comics work these crowds, these late night
crowds, these crowds that have been sitting there
for four hours. They've heard all the jokes.
They've heard all the premises. They're drunk.
They're foreign. They're tired. And to watch
these comics still get them and whip them into,
like, just get, like, crack them. I was like,
oh, if I want to get better, I have to move here.
Like, that's what has to happen. I have to move
to L .A. And I moved out in, like, 2017. When
I came to L .A. to grow as a comic, I wasn't
getting the stage time I wanted. I was, you know,
I was new. I sucked rough around the edges on
this ballroom comic. I'm a Marine. People think
I'm some dickhead Republican or something like
that. So I was not welcomed at all. And I had
this moment where I was like, oh, shit, what
do I do? Like, I came out here to develop. Who
is my crowd? This L .A. crowd doesn't really
enjoy me. What do I do? And so I realized all
my buddies in the Marine Corps were the ones
that had, like, always told me, like, yo, dude,
you should do comedy. Like, you should be a comic.
So I sent 400 letters out to Marine Corps units
being like, hey, I'm a Marine. I'm a comedian.
I'll come perform for you guys anytime, anyplace.
And I got the first show, Cinco de Mayo, 2018.
I went alone. I didn't bring any comics because
now I bring a bunch of comics with me. But I
ended up doing 45 minutes for 250 Marines, and
they treated me like I was fucking Dave Chappelle,
man. And I had this aha moment where I was like,
oh, this is my crowd. This is what I want to
do. This is what I'm supposed to be doing. These
guys, these are the greatest crowds in the world.
This is incredible. And that's where I started
this tour. I started Rapid Fire as a way to just
be like, listen, I want to do shows for the military.
I'll come out anywhere for you guys, anytime,
anyplace. I have all the gear now. I don't even
need power. I can set everything up on my own
and put these shows on. And that was like the
real transition was like getting into stand -up
and finding myself, finding my way back to the
military. When I was in university in London,
I used to go to the comedy store there all the
time on my own. I just love comedy. And, you
know, you'd have nights where obviously there
would be pretty good, but there was occasionally
times where a bunch of comics, not only were
individually were amazing, but then they'd get
together at the end of the night and bounce off
each other. And, you know, I couldn't even freaking
move my abs the next morning. I was so freaking
tired from laughing my ass off for hours on end.
But comedy is a strange landscape because, you
know, it's it's literally down to the taste of
the individual. And I totally understand why,
you know, finding the right audience is right
with your specific style. How did you start figuring
out what your comedy would even look like in
the first place? Well, I think it was a lot of
like, you know, trying to find my voice, trying
to be aware of to be like, all right, what what
vibe am I giving off? Like who who am I like?
who am i modeling myself after and a lot of the
stuff i was modeling myself after you know in
the beginning you just do an impression of a
comedian right and i was like looking to like
guys like jessel nick who had this like dark
style this very written style it's very set up
punch stuff and i was looking to guys who had
like that late night chaotic you know ramblings
rants and monologues of like just crazy shit
whether it's stories or just opinions on these
taboo subjects and those guys like guys like
david tell and and uh jim norton and and just
like crazy wild comedy and as i like you know
looked at those guys as like oh they're doing
crazy shit i can do crazy shit i started to find
less of myself modeling after them and more being
comfortable just talking about the things that
I enjoy talking about. And it took me a long
time to like find my voice or, you know, stop
trying to be what I thought everybody needed
me to be and got comfortable enough in my skills
and my own talents to just be like, no, I got
this. I just need to like let it flow freely
and not be so worried or overthinking it. or
trying to make it something that is like these
other things that are great. You don't have to
make it like these other great things. You just
have to be comfortable enough and confident enough
and love what you're doing enough to just do
it and do it again and again and again and again
and again and finding it and being obsessed with
the work and loving the process that I do. and
finding the beats, finding the comedy, finding
the humor in these things that are, you know,
whether they're off limits or they're right on
the line or they're just taboo or whatever, you
know, and that is how I kind of like found this
place that I belong without like coming off as
like hacky or, you know, doing an impression
of some other comic. How did you deal along the
way with the nights where it just wasn't gelling
with that audience? You just look at it as a
drop in the bucket. Because I'm so hungry for
knowledge, there's not a lot of mentors in stand
-up. Unfortunately, this is a very lonely game.
There's not a lot of people putting their hand
out going, come on, get up here, let me help
you out. There are people who do it and it happens,
but it's like, it's very rare. So you're doing
a lot of self -educating. You're doing a lot
of your own research, your own schooling, your
own classes. Like you really have to, really
have to do everything yourself. And when you,
when you have that mindset of like, all right,
I want to get better. When you have a bad night,
it's less of like, fuck, that's a, oh man, this
is bad. And then not that I didn't have those
nights where I go, Oh my God, what am I doing?
Like, am I, am I even a comic? Should I just
quit now? Like you have those nights, but it
doesn't last for very long because the hunger
and the want to grow kind of kicks in and you
go, you realize, you know, from this, all the
knowledge I'm picking up, you know, I even got
it on my wall. And it's basically like, you know,
if you're not, if you're not like bombing, if
you're not eating shit, you're not trying. Now
you don't want to bomb all the time. You got
to have some self -awareness to be like, okay.
like no, no. When a piece doesn't work, you know,
or when it was you have the self -awareness to
know that when you fucked up, but also like you
swing that bat, like you gotta be, you gotta
be willing to swing it and miss in order to like
try and hit the fucking home runs. And when you
miss and it hurts and it sucks and you're embarrassed
and it's uncomfortable, you get, you get better
over time and just chalking it up as it goes.
Yeah. That was just another swing. You know,
I, I, I saw the ball pass over the bat. At least,
you know, I saw that I was too low or I was too
high. I swung too soon. You know, you, you're
so obsessed with the work that you, you, you,
you pick up on the mistakes and you feel less
like I fucked up and more of like, no, I just
learned. I just figured something out. It becomes
a lot of that. How empowering has it become?
forging your own path. I left the fire service,
never even thought I was going to leave the fire
service, but the same kind of similar thing.
I had some incredible departments I was a part
of. And then the last one, the opposite, where
it was, you know, very detrimental, the culture
there. So I decided to step outside and change
it from the outside, the whole profession. But
what I realized is, you know, when you do that,
I wake up and I'm already thinking about what
I'm doing that day. I'm thinking about it. till
late at night, you know, still trying to be present
my family, I can't, I do know how to put things
away for a while. But that is a passion. It's
not a job, air quotes, and I get to forge, you
know, anything that I want to do, you know, and
I get to trim off the fat, there's no have your
guy called my guy, like, we are going to have
a conversation, you want to do an interview?
Yeah, okay, well, let's do it this time. Boom,
done. And I found that so empowering, that, you
know, that you can despite what people tell you
how they you know how terrifying it is and how
unstable it is and what about benefits and all
this other stuff how if you believe in a project
and you have the courage to just go for it yes
it's incredibly hard but man it feels amazing
waking up and knowing that you don't work for
anyone like you got to create your entire universe
yeah it's uh it's empowering you know um you
have you have like complete control but it also
all falls on your shoulders you know uh neil
brennan uh is a stand -up comic really good comic
he's one of the co -creators of the chapelle
show um when i was working at the hollywood improv
as a door guy i asked him in the hallway one
night i was having you know a rough night rough
week and i was like yo man like do i have to
do everything myself in this game like is it
ever gonna like like does it ever get easier
does it get better And he said, he looked at
me, he goes, he goes, it never gets easier. You
only get better and you have to do everything
yourself. And, uh, it's like a heavy weight,
you know, you don't, there's no, there's no,
like, there's not a lot of breaks, you know,
and any break you get, you make for yourself.
You really like some people certainly get lucky.
There is luck and you got to be able to see that
shit when it comes and jump on it. You know,
knowing luck is in your face. grip on that shit
but for the most part it is all on you and it
is empowering especially as someone who has like
a crazy amount of work ethic because when you're
when it's not all on you and it kind of falls
on other people like a team thing it can be difficult
to rely on others and to expect the same level
of commitment or work ethic from other people
so that is like kind of a pro to it it all falls
on you so you're in control so you don't have
to rely on anybody And it does like empower you
to make the moves and make the decisions, be
decisive, get out there and make mistakes and
put your best foot forward and meet people and
go out there. But also it's, it's, it can be
stressful. It can be daunting because when, when
you've done everything you can, you know, when
you, when you, when you've spent all the time
writing and you've showcased it to clubs and
you've sent the emails out and you've networked
and you've been social with people and you've.
you've like really like done everything that
you're supposed to be doing. And then, and then
you still have no, there's, there's no work,
you know, there's no, there's no stage time or
something. It, it, it fucks your head up because
you're like, okay, I can only focus on the things
that I can control, but everything I control,
I did. I checked all the boxes. I would do, I'm
doing all of it. And right now I'm, there's nothing
coming from it. And you're just like, fuck, am
I a failure? Am I doing it wrong? Did I make
a mistake? You have no one to look at but yourself.
And it can be very, it can be intense. It can
be a lot on your psyche. And it can be difficult
to slow yourself down enough to be patient with
the process. Because even if you do go through
and dot all the I's and cross all the T's and
do everything you're supposed to do, don't matter
timing still has a lot to do with stuff you know
you there's a there's an order to things in the
world even if it all feels like chaos there's
you know there's there's people ahead of you
there's people in line ahead of you there's there's
other shit going on in other people's lives and
the world doesn't fucking revolve around you
doesn't matter how hard you work and you sometimes
you just gotta fucking sit and take a beat and
let everything catch up with you I'm a fast -moving
person. I move through the world very quickly.
And I'm hungry, so that makes you a little impatient.
And you can end up fucking your head up and feeling
overwhelmed by your results and lack of. So it
does empower you, but it can also lead you over
an edge that you don't even realize you're coming
upon. because you're so hungry for it that you
don't realize that you're working yourself into
an unhealthy place because even if you're going
100 miles an hour, the world doesn't. 100%. There's
a book, The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield,
and he talks about the resistance. When you care
so much about something and you put all this
work into it, When you're almost there is when
you get the most resistance. It's a kind of universal
thing. And it's so true. And that's when I think
a lot of people give up because they push, they
push, they push and nothing's happening. And
it's kind of like that cartoon. And if you ever
see on social media with the guys digging towards
the gold and he stops, you know, two feet from
when he gets to the gold, it's that. And I agree
with you completely. We tell ourselves a story
that I do A, B and C and that should result in
D. But just because you told yourself the story
doesn't mean that's the way it's going to happen.
And maybe it doesn't happen because it leads
to something even more amazing that never would
have occurred had it gone the way you thought
it was going to go. But that self -belief that
what you are doing is the right thing and you're
on the right path and just being able to endure
that suffering because it is. I mean, I'm the
only person I get all these emails. Hey, behind
the shield team, like team, it's just me for
everything. So I totally understand what you're
saying, but I think that's the thing is when
you are in the middle of this resistance, just
know that on the other side, when you get there,
will be that thing that you're waiting for. You
just got to believe in it. Yeah. Yeah. And make
peace with the idea that, you know, not that
like that's where it's going and it's inevitable
that, oh, it won't work out. And that just is
what it is. but you have to make peace with the
fact that like things don't turn out the way
you want them to and and you can plan and and
have a goal and a mission and it's good to have
all that because you you head in that direction
you know you're even though it's all like this
you're still moving that way but it's like you
can't you can't hang your hat on a lot of shit,
especially, you know, nowadays in the world like
this, we are living in a very unstable world
that things are, I think things are better for
a lot of people than they've ever been. I think
there's a lot of great systems in place, helping
a lot of people. I think, I think there's more
access to a lot of things than we've ever had.
And we are on the up and up overall, but God
damn the instability in, in the world and in
the economy and, and people and, and social environments
and politics. It's just like, You better not
put all your eggs in any one basket. And if you
do, just be prepared for when that fucking basket
breaks. And you actually said it really good.
Just because you're working towards A doesn't
mean you're going to get A. And not necessarily
A is the highest value, but B might come walking
through the door and you never expected that.
You go, oh, fuck. that i could that's for me
i could do that yeah i didn't you know you don't
you don't know what the outcome 100 is going
to be like you just beat the bushes so hard that
things start coming out of it you go oh yeah
that sure that that you know even though you
think this is oh i want this this is what i'm
going to get you got to be you got to be open
to to like you know opportunity and and and luck
in all the forms that it comes in and And you'll
be surprised when it all starts coming out. It
doesn't happen the way you think it's going to
happen. And you can't bet on it like it's all
going to happen that way because that's just
not how it fucking works. You used the phrase
earlier, manufactured stress, when you talk about
the Marines. And I could relate to that too because
some of the chaos in my early life, I remember
the fire service, fire academy, boot camp style
training. It just used to make me smile. Like,
you know, I knew it was a game. It just wasn't
stressful to me compared to, you know, what I'd
lived up to that point. But obviously I towed
the line. I, you know, did everything I had to
do above and beyond. But I always knew in the
back of my mind that, you know, all the shouting
and screaming was just pantomime. But when you
look at what's going on today, it's the sad use
of that word because it is manufactured stress.
And realistically, a lot of the shit that people
are arguing with, fighting over, worried about
is just manufactured. You know, the boogeyman
is going to get you that you're told is your
enemy because you're the different religion or
political party or, you know, insert label here.
And it's so sad because we are so, so fortunate
as a nation. As you said, we live probably more
comfortably than any culture around the world
up to this point. And yet we've got this manufactured
division that's creating so much mental ill health
and stress. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it sucks. It's,
it's, it taxes, it taxes me. I, you know, it's
part of the anxiety that I feel every day. I'm
just like, you know, I'm good. I'm working and
things are good, but it's like in the background,
you're just like, what the fuck is happening?
Like, why, what is that noise? It just keeps
getting louder and louder and louder. And it,
and it's very, it, that noise. I mean, I can't
help, but I'm not, you know, I'm not a conspiracy
theorist and all that bullshit, but I can't help,
but look at it and go. this shit is on purpose
like this is very much like someone is turning
the fucking dial up on us and it's uh if i think
about it too much it like you know it upsets
me and it that's why i can't get into politics
and all that shit because it's it's very upsetting
it's very very upsetting man which is you know
why i just decided to kind of do because part
of the reason i just like lean so heavy into
comedy it's like i can't uh i can't spend too
much time thinking about all the problems in
the world and shit. You try to act locally, take
care of the people near you and next to you,
your family and your friends, and be good to
the people near you, be good to people, be good
to the people you see every day and the people
you come in contact with. All that other shit,
man, I don't have the bandwidth for it. I'll
go crazy. I do not. I cannot. I just can't. It'll
turn me into someone that I don't want to be.
Well, I think when we all have a realization
universally that it is a deliberate division,
by whatever is above the two puppet strings that
are those two political parties at this point.
George Carlin, how many comedians have been telling
us this for decades? I was going to say decorations,
that's the wrong word. For decades now, the same
message, like just take a step back and look
at the bigger picture. And they're so true. And
all of a sudden you realize that you're actually
standing together, not against each other anymore.
So, you know, I had a neuroscientist on yesterday.
And I asked him, talk to me about the psychology
behind creating stress and what that does for
the ability to critically think about things.
And he said it's a complete direct correlation.
The more stressed and under -slept people are,
the less they can critically think. And so if
you are divided and stressed, then you're not
going to question how these people get into power
in the first place of both sides and how many
of their friends are making billions while our
soldiers are going to war or whatever the thing
is. And there's no question that it's deliberate.
And I think the way that we fight that as a nation
is to take a step back, not look at the sides
that you're told that you are part of, but look
at the shared humanity that you're definitely
a part of. Yeah. Yeah, we have much more in common
than we have in different, you know. 100%. You
know, kind of bringing it back home here, I think...
That's one thing that I have found in LA and
with these shows I'm doing for the military and
first responders. When I first started doing
these shows, I was just trying to get stage time.
That's all it was. It really turned into this
thing where I realized that I was bringing value
to these young men and service women. I realized
even though I was pissed off at the Marine Corps,
When I got out, I realized that like, yo, I'm
still a Marine and I still love Marines. And
I have so much in common, my comedy and all that
is so much in common with these young guys. And
then also I start bringing these other comedians
with me and I watch two things happen. I watch
these comedians get to have these incredible
experiences with these awesome crowds. and develop
themselves as comics in front of these crowds.
And then I watched these crowds, these guys who
are, you know, a lot of these, they're young
Marines. And I asked at the top of the show,
I go, who's been to a comedy club? You know,
who's, who's seen like a live standup show and
99 % of them have not. So I'm exposing these
guys to this for the first time. And I get to
watch them take it in, you know, and I bring
all kinds of comics. I bring people from all
different walks of life and I'm watching. these
young men and service women from whatever background
and demographic they come from have these moments
where they go oh i didn't think like this person
could make me laugh or that i could laugh about
these things with this type of person or this
person would even talk about these things and
make fun of and it becomes this thing where like
people have this oh we're not so different after
all we are more alike than we are different and
and it became it's so powerful because again
like it was just about stage time and then it
became like you know these guys are having like
they're you know it's it's hard to fucking go
through some of the shit you go through the military
whether your unit's bad or not you know these
units these guys are like in these shitty situations
for extended periods whether it's manufactured
or not and then we come out and do these shows
and these guys are like oh my god man like we
needed this this was incredible and then it took
me a while to see this but like realizing the
impact socially and culturally that i'm having
on these young guys because i'm bringing these
different comics out and they're these guys are
experiencing culture in this art form that they
just would not have experienced otherwise and
this is their first experience for it and and
really like you know bridging this gap between
different types of people and doing it through
comedy and humor and and making people feel closer
in a way instead of Like the other, oh, that
person, those people are like that, you know,
and getting to like identify with somebody. Holy
shit, like that's actually a thought that I have,
you know. I've always said this, the fire service
is such a great profession to really observe
exactly what you're talking about. Because if
we're in all our gear and we're masked up and
we're in a smoky room, the only prejudice that
has value is the firefighter that can do their
job and the firefighter that can't do their job.
And it's evident on the fire ground. Their religion,
sexual orientation, you know, pigmentation, whatever
it is, is irrelevant. You can't see it. All you
can see is can they or can't they. And I love
that because that's what it's all about. And
I think comedy does that too. You know, I love
South Park, for example. If you make fun of everyone,
everyone. Then all of a sudden they're holding
a mirror to all of our ridiculousness, you know,
and it's not coming from one side. Like they're
making fun of themselves and everyone else around.
And I think that, you know, in the fire service,
we use dark humor to offset the horrible shit
that we see. So there's so much value in comedy,
especially when you've got a group of men and
women that are from all these backgrounds. Their
shared humanity is they're all Marines and they've
all signed up to potentially die protecting their
country. Or protecting indigenous people in another
country. So I think that comedy is such a great
vehicle for delivering a lot of this shared humanity
again. Yeah, no, it really is. You know, there's,
we call it dark forces. There's forces at work
trying to make that shit hard too. Like the politics
finds its way into everything. And it makes this
art form a little tricky sometimes in certain
rooms and shit like that. But I feel like for
the most part, that's one thing that's really
great about comedy. You know, you get these crowds
that can come and sit down for a couple hours
one night, have a few beers and realize like,
all right, I'm here to listen to people talk
about the world. And some of it I may not find
funny, but I can see the humor in it and I can
appreciate. The work that is being done to express
these ideas and people give you, you know, at
the comedy clubs, people give you a lot of room
to be wrong and be vulnerable and express a thought,
you know, and you have all that room because
you're a comic, you know, this isn't the fucking
HOA meeting. This isn't the, you know, where
I'm not running for office. I'm up here to like.
tell you funny stuff you know and and and if
you just like set all that shit that you're we're
all dealing with aside because that's what you're
here for you're here to let loose and be in a
comedy club then you can have a good time and
it's uh you know it's it turns out to be this
really beautiful thing when people can get into
that headspace like yeah i'm here for comedy
man i just want to listen to people try and be
funny one of the most ironic conversations i
heard robert downey jr was on joe rogan's podcast
probably a couple years ago now And they were
talking about his role in Tropic Thunder, where
he had the blackface. And they were saying, you
couldn't make that film today. And I remember
thinking, well, how sad is that statement? The
whole point of his character is to show how racist
Hollywood used to be. And you're saying that
that's censored now. So you're censoring the
very voice that you're supposed to be having
to advocate. To talk about the ridiculousness
of prejudice and racism. So that's when you have
that censorship where it actually stops people
having healthy conversations, you know, that
pendulum has gone way too far by that point.
Yeah, they're trying to get rid of nuance. And
it's like you can't you can't do that because
they're not even trying to get rid of nuance.
They get rid of the nuance they don't like and
it just becomes one side. It's like, oh, so it's
not OK for us. But when it's OK for you, then
it's OK. Blah, blah, blah. You know. Well, let's
talk about the Rapid Fire Comedy Tour then. You've
kind of walked us through your journey of comedy.
You've talked about bringing on these other comedians.
Talk to me now about the tour and which groups
that you're presenting in front of. So right
now, this year, my main goal is to just spread
the word about the tour. A lot of people don't
know about us. I turned it into a 501c3 a few
years ago because, you know, it's not... It was
never about like trying to make a bunch of money.
And it's hard to get money from the military
to do these shows. It's really hard to find funding
and get them to like fork it over. And it's a
whole thing. So I was like, I'll turn it into
a nonprofit. And then, you know, we can find
sponsors and donors that way, which we got approved
to be a nonprofit right when the country shut
down for COVID. So it's a terrible time to launch.
A lot of people just don't know about us. And
that's why I'm doing this podcast run to let
people know like, hey, this is, you know, I produce
live comedy shows for the military in the field,
in the dark, in the dirt, anytime, anyplace.
And a lot of the shows are free because they
can't, they just, you know, they can't organize
with their leadership to get money together.
As of late, you know, this last year or so, I've
been getting better about trying to get units
to work with budgeting and shit. There's been
some money coming in from them, but it's very
rare. So I'm looking for people to like come,
you know, visit it and check out our website
and donate to us or companies and people that
just want to sponsor it and partner with the
brand. You know, they see what we're doing. Oh,
that's awesome. I like that. My brand does cool
stuff like that. I would love to like collaborate
with you. But that's even like secondary. The
main thing, the primary step one, chapter one,
verse one is I'd like to have more shows. And
I've expanded our reach to not just military,
but first responders, because the first responder
community is filled with a very similar person.
A lot of people get out of the military, become
first responders. And it's a similar work. It's
that work of serving others and doing it in these
high stakes environments that put a lot of pressure
on you. And there's a demand to like. to deal
and cope and and and navigate heavy things and
when that shit's over you need a release you
need that that all right let's come together
and like have some good vibes too you know let's
reset all this shit you know that you don't have
to be in a firefight to need to decompress you
know you could come out of a burning building
you could save someone's life you could you know
You could just be on high alert for days and
days and days on end and never get that time
to like have a release. So I really want to be
able to offer this to the first responders as
well. So that's the main step is like letting
people know that I want to put on a show. I want
to do a comedy show for you, you know, whether
it's a company party or an annual party or you're
celebrating something. I'll come out. put on
a show. It's, I have all the gear, you know,
even if you have a venue, you know, it's simpler.
Some venues have some setup, but I have all this
stuff. I can come out and do it. Not trying to
get rich, you know, just transportation and boarding
covered. And then, you know, some money to help
pay my bills is kind of the, the, the future
goal I'm working at here, trying to build a career
out of this and actually be able to do it full
time. But. I want people to go visit the website,
check us out, see what we've done. Five took
me a couple of years, but I finally have a nice
website that really lays it all out. And that
if you go to rapid fire comedy tour .org, you
can see, you know, letters of recommendation
from previous units that we've done. You can
watch some videos, a post show interviews with
people that are talking about what the show was
like. You can see a lot of like what the shows
are like. And yeah, man, just check us out. And
if you like standup comedy and. You have an event
coming up. I'd love to come out and, you know,
perform for you and maybe even bring some comedians
with me, depending on where you're at, what the
budget is. Brilliant. Well, I know that you're
short of time now, so I want to thank you so
much for being so generous with your time and
coming on the Behind the Shield podcast today.
Thank you, James. I really appreciate the platform.