WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.000
This episode is sponsored by a company who has

00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:04.719
truly found a solution to an age -old problem,

00:00:04.860 --> 00:00:08.380
and that is Carna Bunker Gear. One of the most

00:00:08.380 --> 00:00:11.099
prevalent conversations in the fire service is

00:00:11.099 --> 00:00:13.560
should we or should we not train in our bunker

00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:17.320
gear? Now the answer to both is yes. As most

00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:19.679
of us are aware, the carcinogens from structure

00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:23.179
fires of which there are over 260 that are dangerous

00:00:23.179 --> 00:00:26.280
to human health, not to mention the PFAS and

00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:28.359
other chemicals that are within our gear from

00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:31.420
the manufacturing process, are factors that we

00:00:31.420 --> 00:00:34.119
obviously want to minimize. Now the other side

00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:36.920
of the coin is that we do need to train in our

00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:39.500
gear. There is no way to acclimatize the heat

00:00:39.500 --> 00:00:42.100
retention and lack of mobility than to actually

00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:44.700
wear the gear. So seeing this problem himself,

00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:48.399
firefighter and exercise physiologist Ryan Conley

00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:51.780
developed a carcinogen -free gear at a much lower

00:00:51.780 --> 00:00:55.460
cost that can be used in non -IDLH atmosphere

00:00:55.460 --> 00:00:58.539
and training that does not require puncture or

00:00:58.539 --> 00:01:01.500
tear resistance. Now, as someone who always trained

00:01:01.500 --> 00:01:04.079
in gear myself throughout my career, I wish this

00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:06.900
technology was around then. And I got to test

00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:09.540
it personally while coaching my tactical athlete

00:01:09.540 --> 00:01:12.819
class a few weeks ago and can testify that it

00:01:12.819 --> 00:01:15.480
not only simulates the heat retention of frontline

00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:18.959
gear, but also the lack of mobility, which is

00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:21.319
imperative at operating at a high level on the

00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:24.180
fire ground. Now, some additional benefits include

00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:27.120
being able to doff the gear when you do get banged

00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:30.219
out for a call, increasing the lifespan of your

00:01:30.219 --> 00:01:33.629
frontline bunker gear, And then also public education.

00:01:33.629 --> 00:01:35.870
Think of the number of times that we allow, for

00:01:35.870 --> 00:01:38.829
example, schoolchildren to wear our gear when

00:01:38.829 --> 00:01:41.989
it's infused with all these carcinogens. So there

00:01:41.989 --> 00:01:45.349
are so many real world applications for a fraction

00:01:45.349 --> 00:01:49.549
of the cost of IDLH rated bunker gear. So if

00:01:49.549 --> 00:01:51.469
you want to hear the whole story behind this,

00:01:51.549 --> 00:01:54.010
listen to my conversation with Ryan Conley on

00:01:54.010 --> 00:01:57.590
episode 1175 of the Behind the Shield podcast,

00:01:58.069 --> 00:02:03.930
or go to Carnabunkergear .com. Welcome to the

00:02:03.930 --> 00:02:05.689
Behind the Shield podcast. As always, my name

00:02:05.689 --> 00:02:07.730
is James Geering, and this week it is my absolute

00:02:07.730 --> 00:02:11.289
honor to welcome on the show U .S. Marine turned

00:02:11.289 --> 00:02:15.349
comedian Michael D 'Angelo. Now, in this conversation,

00:02:15.449 --> 00:02:18.349
we discuss a host of topics from his turbulent

00:02:18.349 --> 00:02:21.830
upbringing, his journey into the military, the

00:02:21.830 --> 00:02:25.069
travel that opened his mind, his transition out,

00:02:25.250 --> 00:02:29.210
finding the world of comedy, the rapid fire comedy

00:02:29.210 --> 00:02:32.930
tour, and so much more. Now, before we get to

00:02:32.930 --> 00:02:35.009
this incredible conversation, as I say every

00:02:35.009 --> 00:02:38.289
week, please take a moment, go to whichever app

00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:40.889
you listen to this on, subscribe to the show.

00:02:41.370 --> 00:02:45.370
Leave feedback and leave a rating. Every single

00:02:45.370 --> 00:02:48.530
five -star rating truly does elevate this podcast,

00:02:48.849 --> 00:02:51.289
therefore making it easier for others to find.

00:02:51.490 --> 00:02:56.469
And this is a free library of almost 1 ,200 episodes

00:02:56.469 --> 00:03:00.150
now. So all I ask in return is that you help

00:03:00.150 --> 00:03:02.810
share these incredible men and women's stories

00:03:02.810 --> 00:03:06.830
so I can get them to every single person on planet

00:03:06.830 --> 00:03:10.069
Earth who needs to hear them. So with that being

00:03:10.069 --> 00:03:14.659
said... I introduce to you Michael D 'Angelo.

00:03:14.860 --> 00:03:36.500
Enjoy. Well, Michael, I want to start by saying

00:03:36.500 --> 00:03:39.139
thank you so much for taking the time and coming

00:03:39.139 --> 00:03:42.259
on the Behind the Shield podcast today. Thanks

00:03:42.259 --> 00:03:45.080
for having me, James. So where on planet Earth

00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:48.080
are we finding you this afternoon? I'm sitting

00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:51.879
in my apartment in East Los Angeles. Beautiful.

00:03:52.539 --> 00:03:54.340
Let's start at the very beginning of your timeline

00:03:54.340 --> 00:03:56.719
then. So tell me where you were born and tell

00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:58.620
me a little bit about your family dynamic, what

00:03:58.620 --> 00:04:01.960
your parents did, how many siblings. i was born

00:04:01.960 --> 00:04:05.319
in las vegas uh i have one sister she's my half

00:04:05.319 --> 00:04:08.460
sister we got different dads and my dad were

00:04:08.460 --> 00:04:12.659
construction my mom was kind of a chaotic person

00:04:12.659 --> 00:04:17.959
but she um she was uh she did like hair and nails

00:04:17.959 --> 00:04:20.680
and she was a massage therapist and stuff like

00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:25.879
that but mainly she did heroin so when you would

00:04:25.879 --> 00:04:29.610
jump straight into it now In 2026, where a lot

00:04:29.610 --> 00:04:32.610
of us are having a more educated conversation

00:04:32.610 --> 00:04:36.350
on mental health, and we realize that there is

00:04:36.350 --> 00:04:38.769
a generational trauma to a lot of the suffering

00:04:38.769 --> 00:04:42.110
that's going on today, what, when you reflect

00:04:42.110 --> 00:04:45.290
back as far as your mother's upbringing, do you

00:04:45.290 --> 00:04:47.250
think contributed to her struggle with addiction?

00:04:48.580 --> 00:04:51.860
Oh, fuck. You know, I couldn't say exactly what

00:04:51.860 --> 00:04:54.040
might have happened to her, but I know that she

00:04:54.040 --> 00:04:55.519
was doing drugs for a long time. She did. She

00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:57.519
was doing like heroin since she was like 15 years

00:04:57.519 --> 00:04:59.860
old or something like that. She was, you know,

00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:02.720
that was back in like, I don't know, the 70s,

00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:06.759
you know, or the yeah, the yeah, like early 70s.

00:05:06.759 --> 00:05:10.139
So it's a different time, you know, whether it

00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:12.180
was her own family dynamic and the way her parents

00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:15.540
raised her or just the the social environment

00:05:15.540 --> 00:05:18.389
she found herself in or. something like that

00:05:18.389 --> 00:05:23.149
yeah she was uh experimenting and and doing crazy

00:05:23.149 --> 00:05:25.449
shit in an era where that stuff was a little

00:05:25.449 --> 00:05:28.589
more i don't know there was there were less options

00:05:28.589 --> 00:05:30.069
like there were no podcasts right there was no

00:05:30.069 --> 00:05:32.769
instagram there was a there's a lot less shit

00:05:32.769 --> 00:05:35.129
to keep yourself entertained and i think that

00:05:35.129 --> 00:05:38.930
era the 70s i think you know drugs and rock and

00:05:38.930 --> 00:05:41.250
roll were a little more like i mean the people

00:05:41.250 --> 00:05:43.750
pushed back on it for sure but i think it was

00:05:43.750 --> 00:05:47.399
more a little more normal to experiment with

00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:50.279
that kind of stuff, you know. And, you know,

00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:54.199
I don't know how that informed her adulthood,

00:05:54.279 --> 00:05:56.519
except that she continued to do drugs and she

00:05:56.519 --> 00:06:00.000
was a crazy person. So talk to me about that

00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:03.660
dynamic then as a young boy. What were, as you

00:06:03.660 --> 00:06:05.959
reflect back now, the kind of highs and the lows

00:06:05.959 --> 00:06:09.620
of the upbringing that you had? I mean, the highs

00:06:09.620 --> 00:06:13.959
were very far and few between. by the time i

00:06:13.959 --> 00:06:16.980
was born my dad was kind of losing everything

00:06:16.980 --> 00:06:20.180
because uh he was battling with her and they

00:06:20.180 --> 00:06:24.019
were doing drugs together and uh the lows were

00:06:24.019 --> 00:06:26.680
super low because she was you know struggling

00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:29.920
with this drug addiction and you know divorcing

00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:32.800
my dad and chaos so she was in and out of my

00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:37.319
life as a kid a lot and by the time by the time

00:06:37.319 --> 00:06:41.860
i was like old enough to be like aware of, you

00:06:41.860 --> 00:06:43.319
know, what was going on, which was still at a

00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:45.980
pretty young age. She was basically not a mother

00:06:45.980 --> 00:06:50.620
figure at all. What about sports exercise? What

00:06:50.620 --> 00:06:52.160
were you playing and doing in the school age?

00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:55.139
As a little kid, you know, I played like I was

00:06:55.139 --> 00:06:57.899
in like karate. I played soccer, stuff like that.

00:06:58.980 --> 00:07:01.240
Mainly like a big bike rider. You know, I was

00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:02.819
one of those kids out in the streets riding the

00:07:02.819 --> 00:07:04.879
bike everywhere. But I didn't play like I didn't

00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:06.620
get into like football or basketball. And by

00:07:06.620 --> 00:07:09.560
the time I was old enough to like. really play

00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:12.220
sports. I was, I was out in the streets running

00:07:12.220 --> 00:07:14.319
around being crazy, running from the cops and

00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:17.060
shit like that. And what was the environment

00:07:17.060 --> 00:07:19.079
that you grew up in as far as you mentioned Vegas?

00:07:19.180 --> 00:07:20.759
Was it a, you know, what kind of neighborhood

00:07:20.759 --> 00:07:23.620
were you in at that point? So that's another

00:07:23.620 --> 00:07:25.579
part of it is I went to a different school every

00:07:25.579 --> 00:07:27.319
year from like kindergarten all the way up through

00:07:27.319 --> 00:07:29.920
high school. Moved a lot, a lot of different

00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:31.139
neighborhoods. People are always like, oh, what

00:07:31.139 --> 00:07:33.040
part of Vegas are you from? And I basically spent

00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:35.579
a little bit of time everywhere, you know, East

00:07:35.579 --> 00:07:38.699
Vegas, West Vegas, Central, North Vegas, South,

00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:43.560
all over really. I spent a lot of time moving

00:07:43.560 --> 00:07:47.139
and going to different schools and connecting

00:07:47.139 --> 00:07:48.939
with different street kids from all over the

00:07:48.939 --> 00:07:52.410
city. I asked this question to people that were

00:07:52.410 --> 00:07:54.370
like military brats, for example, that moved

00:07:54.370 --> 00:07:56.589
all over the world or they just had gypsy parents

00:07:56.589 --> 00:07:58.550
or in your case, obviously, a kind of similar

00:07:58.550 --> 00:08:01.589
dynamic. What were the pros and what were the

00:08:01.589 --> 00:08:05.829
cons of constantly being moved around? Well,

00:08:06.009 --> 00:08:09.230
the cons were definitely, you know, instability,

00:08:09.670 --> 00:08:16.220
uncertainty, harder to. find like a you know

00:08:16.220 --> 00:08:18.180
a safety and that wasn't just removing the home

00:08:18.180 --> 00:08:20.360
life was crazy you know it was hard to find like

00:08:20.360 --> 00:08:27.519
a a comfortable like place to be in general you

00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:29.319
know we were we lived with a lot of different

00:08:29.319 --> 00:08:32.740
people and and it was very uh where we sleep

00:08:32.740 --> 00:08:37.320
in tonight sort of a thing um the pros i don't

00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:40.279
know as an adult i think i have like a a perspective

00:08:40.279 --> 00:08:45.610
on you know of stress and instability and uncertainty

00:08:45.610 --> 00:08:49.750
that gives me a comfortability in those environments

00:08:49.750 --> 00:08:52.970
now where it's like, ah, you know, like as an

00:08:52.970 --> 00:08:54.830
adult, it's much easier because I do actually

00:08:54.830 --> 00:08:57.309
have control over my own life. And, you know,

00:08:57.330 --> 00:09:01.009
I have like a comfortable, safe place to be.

00:09:01.269 --> 00:09:03.889
So no matter what the world throws at me, I can

00:09:03.889 --> 00:09:06.289
kind of like come back to my own center and my

00:09:06.289 --> 00:09:09.070
own home, things like that. So it gave me like

00:09:09.070 --> 00:09:12.029
a grit, you know, and just a perspective of like.

00:09:12.360 --> 00:09:15.480
how things can really be, what it's really like

00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:18.340
to not have control and what's really like to

00:09:18.340 --> 00:09:22.059
have uncertainty. What about comedy? There's

00:09:22.059 --> 00:09:24.240
a lot of people that come on, myself included,

00:09:24.379 --> 00:09:27.840
that used comedy to offset ultimately bullying,

00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:30.820
trauma, all these different areas. Were you leaning

00:09:30.820 --> 00:09:32.820
into that back then or was that something that

00:09:32.820 --> 00:09:35.980
developed later in life? So when I was a little

00:09:35.980 --> 00:09:38.019
kid, I was writing a lot. I was always writing

00:09:38.019 --> 00:09:41.600
like short stories and stuff. particularly comedy

00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:43.740
but i was definitely like my imagination would

00:09:43.740 --> 00:09:46.860
like come out on the page um it was kind of like

00:09:46.860 --> 00:09:52.919
a a a place for me to have that outlet comedy

00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:55.860
specifically because i grew up mainly my dad

00:09:55.860 --> 00:09:59.480
raised me i spent a lot of time with him in environments

00:09:59.480 --> 00:10:03.960
that are very adult you know whether it was bars

00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:08.039
or construction sites or just hanging out with

00:10:08.039 --> 00:10:12.419
him and his friends And I picked up on like bar

00:10:12.419 --> 00:10:16.399
jokes and things like that very fast. The one

00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:18.399
thing that was always fun was, you know, being

00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:20.080
around a group of adults and they'd be like telling

00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:21.639
their like bar jokes and stuff. And I'd be like,

00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:23.600
I got one. And they'd be like, oh shit, what's

00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:25.659
this kid going to say? And then I'd lay one on

00:10:25.659 --> 00:10:26.779
them and they'd all start laughing. They'd be

00:10:26.779 --> 00:10:28.379
like, where'd you hear that? Like, ah, you know,

00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:32.360
I picked it up. So at a young, young age, yeah,

00:10:32.379 --> 00:10:34.480
I was like telling jokes, hanging around adults,

00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:38.360
talking about adult shit. And then as I got older,

00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:41.759
like into like middle school and high school

00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:47.340
it became this like uh kind of like a shit talking

00:10:47.340 --> 00:10:51.940
i guess because i it was less of like joke telling

00:10:51.940 --> 00:10:56.500
and more of like being able to deliver the right

00:10:56.500 --> 00:10:58.700
timing you know just something's going on you're

00:10:58.700 --> 00:11:00.720
with your friends and that you put in your two

00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:03.279
cents at the right time and you just you kind

00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:06.039
of break tension or or just say that thing everybody's

00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:08.949
like holy shit what do you say you know People

00:11:08.949 --> 00:11:11.049
call it shock humor. It wasn't so much shock

00:11:11.049 --> 00:11:14.710
humor. I call it timing. Sometimes you're just

00:11:14.710 --> 00:11:16.149
in a place and an environment where people are

00:11:16.149 --> 00:11:18.830
talking and there's just an opening, an opportunity.

00:11:18.850 --> 00:11:22.049
They set you up. I was getting really good as

00:11:22.049 --> 00:11:24.870
a kid to be able to see those little moments

00:11:24.870 --> 00:11:30.269
to insert here. I remember being called a sniper

00:11:30.269 --> 00:11:32.690
when I was younger because I wasn't very talkative.

00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:36.460
brain could even tell me to shut the fuck up

00:11:36.460 --> 00:11:38.019
and not say the thing my mouth would already

00:11:38.019 --> 00:11:41.200
say it and you know it would be funny i'm assuming

00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:44.919
but what was interesting is i was also very good

00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:47.120
at making fun of myself and i think that when

00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:52.139
you can get that kind of level as far as um you

00:11:52.139 --> 00:11:55.259
know making fun of your of yourself it dissuaded

00:11:55.259 --> 00:11:57.679
people you know bullying because they're like

00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:00.539
well shit if he can be so brutal on himself what's

00:12:00.539 --> 00:12:02.860
he going to be like with us so i almost found

00:12:02.860 --> 00:12:06.059
like having a smart mouth is almost a deterrent

00:12:06.059 --> 00:12:09.340
sometimes for bullying if that makes sense definitely

00:12:09.340 --> 00:12:12.960
what about career aspirations what were you dreaming

00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:14.799
of becoming when you were in the school ages

00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:18.500
oh man when i was in school ages all i knew is

00:12:18.500 --> 00:12:20.399
that i wanted to work and i wanted to make money

00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:22.740
and have a job and like you know have a financial

00:12:22.740 --> 00:12:26.080
security that i was not finding as a kid but

00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:27.759
as far as what i wanted to do i didn't know i

00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:31.600
was like The first thing I can remember, even

00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:34.259
entertaining as a kid, was that movie Armageddon

00:12:34.259 --> 00:12:36.740
came out and being like, oh man, the money's

00:12:36.740 --> 00:12:38.279
good, the scenery changes, and they let you play

00:12:38.279 --> 00:12:39.960
with explosives. Dude, I want to work on an oil

00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:42.120
rig, you know, shit like that. But it was never

00:12:42.120 --> 00:12:44.779
like, I'm going to do this, I'm going to be this.

00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:50.960
It was more of like, I just want to make money

00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:55.840
and find a financial stability. And I didn't

00:12:55.840 --> 00:13:00.200
really know. what that looked like except, you

00:13:00.200 --> 00:13:03.559
know, just like getting a job and maybe I assumed

00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:04.960
maybe I was going to end up doing construction

00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:09.639
like my dad. And it kind of started to go that

00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:11.519
way. I've worked with my dad on job sites from

00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:15.159
like a very young age. And when I was like finally

00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:16.980
old enough to like work legally on the books,

00:13:17.019 --> 00:13:18.940
I went out and like got my first job at like

00:13:18.940 --> 00:13:21.980
a pizza place. You know, saved every check, bought

00:13:21.980 --> 00:13:24.779
my first car and started to gain that independence

00:13:24.779 --> 00:13:27.679
and have that like financial sense of like control.

00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:34.120
There is a common acknowledged statistic now

00:13:34.120 --> 00:13:38.419
that the ACE score, which is the Adverse Childhood

00:13:38.419 --> 00:13:40.759
Experience score. A lot of us in uniform, first

00:13:40.759 --> 00:13:44.940
responder, military have an ACE of. six out of

00:13:44.940 --> 00:13:47.500
ten which is quite a lot of when you were younger

00:13:47.500 --> 00:13:49.940
um and there's you know there's an acknowledged

00:13:49.940 --> 00:13:53.840
um principle that you know a lot of us that did

00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:56.600
feel trauma when we were younger maybe didn't

00:13:56.600 --> 00:13:59.039
have stability didn't feel safe didn't feel loved

00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:02.580
etc then were drawn into a profession where they

00:14:02.580 --> 00:14:04.179
could be the protector they could they could

00:14:04.179 --> 00:14:06.000
be part of a tribe they could have a mission

00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:09.419
that made the world a little bit better one thing

00:14:09.419 --> 00:14:12.289
though i think that that Take someone from the

00:14:12.289 --> 00:14:16.570
crossroads of either a positive road like that

00:14:16.570 --> 00:14:21.409
versus in prison, dead, et cetera, is a positive

00:14:21.409 --> 00:14:23.690
mentor in their life. If your mentor is a gangbanger

00:14:23.690 --> 00:14:26.929
on the corner, you may not be following a good

00:14:26.929 --> 00:14:28.870
path. If your mentor happens to be someone else,

00:14:28.889 --> 00:14:31.070
it might steer you towards military first responder

00:14:31.070 --> 00:14:34.570
or a better road. When you look back, it sounds

00:14:34.570 --> 00:14:35.929
like you had a good relationship with your dad.

00:14:36.070 --> 00:14:37.789
Were there any other mentors that were maybe

00:14:37.789 --> 00:14:39.669
filling some of those voids that you needed?

00:14:41.100 --> 00:14:44.600
To honestly know. And that's kind of where not

00:14:44.600 --> 00:14:46.820
necessarily like the gangbanger on the street,

00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:50.799
but because my home life was so unstable, I wasn't

00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:55.679
at home a lot. And I found this like brotherhood,

00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:57.700
this camaraderie running the streets with these

00:14:57.700 --> 00:15:00.759
other wild kids. And not to say that I was looking

00:15:00.759 --> 00:15:02.500
up to any of them. That certainly was not the

00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:04.840
case. It was I was very aware that like we were

00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:07.539
all a bunch of shitheads. There was no there

00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:11.289
was no leader. There was no. uh mentor at all

00:15:11.289 --> 00:15:17.210
um but i was searching for like a community i

00:15:17.210 --> 00:15:19.409
was searching for like camaraderie and a brotherhood

00:15:19.409 --> 00:15:22.330
for sure running around out the streets and and

00:15:22.330 --> 00:15:25.649
i found it that's for sure you know it definitely

00:15:25.649 --> 00:15:32.190
gave me um a place to like connect and feel uh

00:15:32.190 --> 00:15:35.850
you know a closeness to people that that i just

00:15:35.850 --> 00:15:39.360
wasn't getting at home i guess So how did you

00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:41.440
find yourself walking through the doors of a

00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:46.379
recruiting office? Well, being the kid out in

00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:49.620
the street running wild, shit started to add

00:15:49.620 --> 00:15:56.600
up. And for me, I was a shit talker, and I liked

00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:59.340
adrenaline, and I liked to hang out with all

00:15:59.340 --> 00:16:03.820
these guys and have fun, but I was never a fighter.

00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:07.620
I was never, you know, I never sold drugs. I

00:16:07.620 --> 00:16:10.279
never carried guns. None of that shit. I stole

00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:12.500
from, like, the grocery store and shit. Like,

00:16:12.500 --> 00:16:14.639
my friends were, like, stealing cars and crazy

00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:17.759
shit and selling hard drugs and, you know, getting

00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:20.200
into, like, really scary stuff. And I just happened

00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:22.019
to be around them when it would happen, you know.

00:16:22.899 --> 00:16:24.899
And it just, you know, I started getting out

00:16:24.899 --> 00:16:27.080
of hand. It all escalated. We went from, like,

00:16:27.139 --> 00:16:29.620
being kids fighting each other to, like. fighting

00:16:29.620 --> 00:16:31.980
adults in the street. And now these guys, you

00:16:31.980 --> 00:16:33.600
know, we're getting shot at, you know, when I

00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:36.039
was 16, a friend of mine was getting jumped and

00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:37.740
I ran out there to go help him and someone sliced

00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:40.820
my face open with a straight razor. And it was

00:16:40.820 --> 00:16:43.159
about that year within that time period that

00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:46.139
I was like, I got to get out of here. Like my

00:16:46.139 --> 00:16:48.259
friends are going to jail. They're going to prison.

00:16:48.899 --> 00:16:51.039
Friends are getting shot. I got my face sliced

00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:53.340
open. If I don't get out of here, I'm going to

00:16:53.340 --> 00:16:55.500
end up dead or in prison. Like I gotta, I gotta

00:16:55.500 --> 00:16:58.649
make a move. I have to leave. And so in the middle

00:16:58.649 --> 00:17:00.629
of my junior year, I went to the, I went to my,

00:17:00.669 --> 00:17:03.549
my, like they let us out for winter break and

00:17:03.549 --> 00:17:06.029
I went to the front office and I got my transcripts

00:17:06.029 --> 00:17:08.789
and I went to a community college and I took

00:17:08.789 --> 00:17:11.390
my GED and I got the GED and I went to the Navy

00:17:11.390 --> 00:17:13.390
office and I was like, yeah, I want to be a SEAL,

00:17:13.470 --> 00:17:14.869
you know? And they were like, we're not taking

00:17:14.869 --> 00:17:17.910
GEDs right now. And I was like, well, shit. Okay.

00:17:17.990 --> 00:17:19.269
So the Marine Corps office right next door. So

00:17:19.269 --> 00:17:20.750
I went there and they were like, we'll work with

00:17:20.750 --> 00:17:24.670
you. We got a plan for you. And I signed up to

00:17:24.670 --> 00:17:29.410
join. And yeah, that was kind of I was in such

00:17:29.410 --> 00:17:32.769
an eager rush to join that my recruiter like

00:17:32.769 --> 00:17:37.289
fucked me real good. He got me so good. I was

00:17:37.289 --> 00:17:38.470
basically telling him I was like, yeah, man,

00:17:38.509 --> 00:17:40.410
like because I got my original date was like

00:17:40.410 --> 00:17:44.009
September 2008. I was like, yeah, man, if someone

00:17:44.009 --> 00:17:46.230
drops out of their program or, you know, their

00:17:46.230 --> 00:17:48.410
contract, I'll go early. Like if something opens

00:17:48.410 --> 00:17:50.880
up early, I want to go and get out of here. He

00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:52.079
was like, all right, yeah, I'll let you know.

00:17:52.180 --> 00:17:53.779
And then something opened up. Basically someone

00:17:53.779 --> 00:17:55.380
dropped out and he was like, Hey, we got a spot.

00:17:55.559 --> 00:17:56.940
You'll leave about a month early. I was like,

00:17:56.980 --> 00:17:59.759
perfect. Let's go. He goes, but you're going

00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:02.440
to have to change your MOS from a, I was like

00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:07.359
a motor T to like a infantry. And I was like,

00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:09.400
all right, sweet. That'll work. I'll be a machine

00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:11.079
gunner. He was like, and you're going to lose

00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:13.140
your sign on bonus. I was like, all right, whatever.

00:18:13.579 --> 00:18:15.480
He goes, and you got to be reserved. And I was

00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:17.910
like, what's that? He goes, well, basically,

00:18:18.029 --> 00:18:20.190
you'll go to boot camp, then you go to machine

00:18:20.190 --> 00:18:21.849
gunner school, and then you'll come home and

00:18:21.849 --> 00:18:24.230
check in at Nellis Air Force Base. I was like,

00:18:24.289 --> 00:18:26.970
no, no, no, no, no. I don't want to be back in

00:18:26.970 --> 00:18:28.950
Las Vegas. The whole goal is to get out. He goes.

00:18:29.490 --> 00:18:31.450
oh, don't worry about it. When you check with

00:18:31.450 --> 00:18:33.369
your unit, you can put in your paperwork to like

00:18:33.369 --> 00:18:35.930
activate and go to, and you can join another

00:18:35.930 --> 00:18:38.529
unit and you won't have to be here. And the unit

00:18:38.529 --> 00:18:40.809
that you check in with is going to Iraq in March.

00:18:40.890 --> 00:18:42.890
So if you don't get held back or recycled in

00:18:42.890 --> 00:18:45.190
all your training, you'll be able to go to Iraq

00:18:45.190 --> 00:18:46.789
with them. You can put your paperwork in for

00:18:46.789 --> 00:18:48.309
active duty before you leave. And then when you

00:18:48.309 --> 00:18:49.890
come back, you'd be active, blah, blah, blah.

00:18:50.410 --> 00:18:52.650
And I was like, oh, sure. That sounds great,

00:18:52.730 --> 00:18:55.970
Mr. Recruiter. Yeah, absolutely. So I joined.

00:18:56.460 --> 00:18:58.140
And then I get out of machine gunner school.

00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:00.319
I check in with my unit. And I'm like, yeah,

00:19:00.380 --> 00:19:02.119
I want to go active duty. And they're like, or

00:19:02.119 --> 00:19:04.200
first I'm like, okay, we're going to Iraq, right?

00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:05.579
And they're like, no, they started their work

00:19:05.579 --> 00:19:07.059
up in November, dude. You're not going to Iraq

00:19:07.059 --> 00:19:08.940
with them. And I was like, okay, fuck, all right.

00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:11.299
Well, I want to put in my paperwork to go active

00:19:11.299 --> 00:19:14.559
duty. And they go, no, you can't do that. I go,

00:19:14.660 --> 00:19:16.380
why not? My recruiter said. They go, oh, yeah,

00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:17.660
did your recruiter tell you that? Well, you have

00:19:17.660 --> 00:19:19.539
a billet here. You're filling this billet. You

00:19:19.539 --> 00:19:22.400
can't. You're not going active. That's not what

00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:25.680
you're doing here. You're filling a billet. And

00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:27.759
I had a I had kind of like a moment. I was like,

00:19:27.819 --> 00:19:30.819
oh, fuck this. I'm not staying here in Las Vegas.

00:19:30.900 --> 00:19:32.960
You guys just you guys. Someone lied to me. This

00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:35.160
is bullshit. I'm going to I'm going to fucking

00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:37.660
I'm going to figure out a way out of here. And

00:19:37.660 --> 00:19:39.880
because I was standing in this office with all

00:19:39.880 --> 00:19:42.119
the like, you know, like the people, all the

00:19:42.119 --> 00:19:44.480
all the leadership told me this. I was like,

00:19:44.539 --> 00:19:46.240
OK, what do I do now? I'm just like this young

00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:47.880
Marine that doesn't know a whole lot. So I was

00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:50.099
like, I'm going to write a letter to my senator.

00:19:50.180 --> 00:19:51.640
And I wrote a letter to the senator. I was like,

00:19:51.700 --> 00:19:53.769
hey, Harry Reid, I want to, you know. This is

00:19:53.769 --> 00:19:55.750
my situation. They told me this, but this is

00:19:55.750 --> 00:19:57.809
what they're telling me now. And, you know, I'm

00:19:57.809 --> 00:19:59.809
young. I'm able bodied. I just got a machine

00:19:59.809 --> 00:20:01.529
gunner school. I'd like to go active. I want

00:20:01.529 --> 00:20:03.549
to blah, blah, blah. Thinking that I was going

00:20:03.549 --> 00:20:05.210
to get like orders in the mail. They were going

00:20:05.210 --> 00:20:07.190
to be like, yeah, here you go. Problem solved.

00:20:07.710 --> 00:20:09.849
No, he called headquarters Marine Corps like,

00:20:09.970 --> 00:20:11.529
hey, we got a Marine saying he's being treated

00:20:11.529 --> 00:20:13.410
unfairly. And they brought me in and ripped me

00:20:13.410 --> 00:20:16.920
a fucking new one. And they were like. Who told

00:20:16.920 --> 00:20:18.839
you you couldn't? All the same people that told

00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:20.619
me I couldn't. Because technically, they fucked

00:20:20.619 --> 00:20:22.200
up. They should have let me submit my paperwork.

00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:24.660
They could have denied it or lost it. But they

00:20:24.660 --> 00:20:27.420
shouldn't have told me, like, no, you can't submit.

00:20:28.380 --> 00:20:30.740
And I was like, oh, you guys did. You told me

00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:32.200
no. You were all standing here. She said, you

00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:34.660
said, what the fuck are you talking about? And

00:20:34.660 --> 00:20:36.019
it clicked. I was like, oh, this is what it's

00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:37.319
going to be. You guys are going to fucking lie

00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:39.519
and bullshit me? All right, good to go. Then

00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:42.759
I'll fucking, you fuck me, I'll fuck back. That

00:20:42.759 --> 00:20:45.059
was kind of like the beginning of my career.

00:20:45.450 --> 00:20:49.329
with the Marine Corps. I've had only one recruitment

00:20:49.329 --> 00:20:51.769
story. And bearing in mind, I got 1200 episodes

00:20:51.769 --> 00:20:55.369
now, pretty much, where the person got what they

00:20:55.369 --> 00:20:58.170
want. And that was Pat McNamara, Delta. And he

00:20:58.170 --> 00:21:01.769
took his, no, his dad sent his lawyer friend

00:21:01.769 --> 00:21:04.470
with him to the recruitment office. And he actually

00:21:04.470 --> 00:21:06.769
got the MOS that he requested. I think that's

00:21:06.769 --> 00:21:10.359
the single. positive recruitment story i've had

00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:12.240
where the person got exactly what they were hoping

00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:14.799
to get from the beginning so well that's a fucking

00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:17.240
rarity exactly we'll take a lawyer there we go

00:21:17.240 --> 00:21:21.299
so you're in reserve status walk me through then

00:21:21.299 --> 00:21:23.920
you know how that unfolds to to you know where

00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:26.700
you end up deploying so i you know i check in

00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:29.079
with this unit and right away like i pissed them

00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:34.390
off and I get to end up going to – we do some

00:21:34.390 --> 00:21:36.470
annual training. I go to Bridgeport. It's great.

00:21:36.569 --> 00:21:38.829
I kind of get that level of training that I've

00:21:38.829 --> 00:21:43.069
been looking for, getting to get good Marine

00:21:43.069 --> 00:21:46.150
Corps skills and shit, and I thrive. Then the

00:21:46.150 --> 00:21:48.690
next time I get to go out, I go to Central America.

00:21:48.690 --> 00:21:50.690
I go to Belize, and I'm in the jungle getting

00:21:50.690 --> 00:21:52.990
this really awesome training again. So my cup

00:21:52.990 --> 00:21:54.710
is getting filled. I'm like, oh, man, this is

00:21:54.710 --> 00:21:56.390
what I wanted. This is the kind of stuff I wanted

00:21:56.390 --> 00:22:02.750
to be doing. At this point, I had submitted for

00:22:02.750 --> 00:22:04.990
schools. I wanted to go to marksmanship school.

00:22:05.049 --> 00:22:06.490
I wanted to go back to machine gun leader's course.

00:22:06.910 --> 00:22:08.549
And because I had pissed off the leadership,

00:22:08.710 --> 00:22:10.630
they kept fucking up my paperwork or coming up

00:22:10.630 --> 00:22:14.390
with bullshit excuses. Like a week before, I'm

00:22:14.390 --> 00:22:15.589
supposed to go to some school. They're like,

00:22:15.730 --> 00:22:17.670
oh, sorry, your blood work didn't get done. Even

00:22:17.670 --> 00:22:18.930
the corpsman's like, what the fuck are these

00:22:18.930 --> 00:22:20.710
guys talking about? You don't have to do blood

00:22:20.710 --> 00:22:22.970
work. You don't have to do any of it. These guys

00:22:22.970 --> 00:22:27.910
are making shit up. Finally, a deployment comes

00:22:27.910 --> 00:22:32.140
up to go to Southeast Asia. i go to basically

00:22:32.140 --> 00:22:34.559
i get to go to southeast asia we start out in

00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:37.559
japan um we're in japan for a little bit and

00:22:37.559 --> 00:22:39.759
then we jump on a ship and island hop down thailand

00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:42.700
singapore indonesia malaysia korea and it was

00:22:42.700 --> 00:22:46.319
amazing it was like it's beautiful my like first

00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:50.349
time like on a ship like that and we're also

00:22:50.349 --> 00:22:52.529
doing like real marine shit too we're not like

00:22:52.529 --> 00:22:54.509
in the fucking mountains of the desert like we're

00:22:54.509 --> 00:22:56.509
doing beach raids every country that we're at

00:22:56.509 --> 00:22:58.930
our ship stops off the coast we jump on these

00:22:58.930 --> 00:23:01.490
aavs we push up and we come onto the beach we

00:23:01.490 --> 00:23:04.109
raid up into the jungle and it's fucking amazing

00:23:04.109 --> 00:23:07.769
it was cool as shit and uh at this point i had

00:23:07.769 --> 00:23:10.630
developed a real knack with my mouth to like

00:23:10.630 --> 00:23:14.970
piss off all the shitty people because i had

00:23:14.970 --> 00:23:16.809
become like i was so like obsessed with like

00:23:17.130 --> 00:23:19.190
being good and like being like a good Marine

00:23:19.190 --> 00:23:23.190
and trying to like be, be, you know, the best,

00:23:23.190 --> 00:23:25.950
be in the best shape I could learn all the knowledge

00:23:25.950 --> 00:23:29.589
I needed to learn that being in the reserves,

00:23:29.670 --> 00:23:33.529
there's so many shit heads that it's easy to,

00:23:33.569 --> 00:23:38.230
it's easy to do really well and be like a stud,

00:23:38.430 --> 00:23:41.950
you know? So I was like, I was mad at the leadership

00:23:41.950 --> 00:23:44.990
and any opportunity I had to like call them out

00:23:44.990 --> 00:23:47.690
or just be a smart ass or, you know, shit like

00:23:47.690 --> 00:23:51.569
that, I would. And by the time I got on this

00:23:51.569 --> 00:23:55.549
deployment, I was like, so good at like picking

00:23:55.549 --> 00:23:59.009
out weakness in the command and people that were

00:23:59.009 --> 00:24:01.450
making mistakes that it earned me a lot of attention.

00:24:01.650 --> 00:24:02.890
It earned me, it was interesting because it earned

00:24:02.890 --> 00:24:04.650
me a lot of attention with like really good Marines,

00:24:04.789 --> 00:24:07.569
like guys that were fucking like fleet Marines

00:24:07.569 --> 00:24:09.670
that were good dudes. Cause they didn't fuck,

00:24:09.710 --> 00:24:11.049
they stayed, you know, they get in the reserves

00:24:11.049 --> 00:24:12.809
on their way out and they realized like, oh yeah,

00:24:12.829 --> 00:24:14.680
look at all these fucking pieces of shit. And

00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:16.259
they'd meet me and they'd go, dude, you're good

00:24:16.259 --> 00:24:17.640
shit. Like, you'd have been great in the fleet.

00:24:17.740 --> 00:24:19.500
You're not fucked up. Like, these guys are fucked

00:24:19.500 --> 00:24:22.420
up. So, like, the right people liked me, but

00:24:22.420 --> 00:24:24.779
then all the shitheads hated me because I was

00:24:24.779 --> 00:24:27.339
just constantly, like, pointing out their flaws

00:24:27.339 --> 00:24:32.819
and, you know, picking apart all the bad decisions

00:24:32.819 --> 00:24:34.519
and the mistakes they were making that were,

00:24:34.539 --> 00:24:37.579
like, fucking with our quality of life and shit.

00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:43.509
And that deployment was kind of like... a real

00:24:43.509 --> 00:24:45.150
double -edged sword because i connected with

00:24:45.150 --> 00:24:47.730
a lot of really good guys and and got to do a

00:24:47.730 --> 00:24:50.690
lot of really cool shit and even though like

00:24:50.690 --> 00:24:52.809
the landing force commander became my friend

00:24:52.809 --> 00:24:56.589
but uh you know all the people that were making

00:24:56.589 --> 00:24:59.829
mistakes kind of like they all got put in the

00:24:59.829 --> 00:25:02.549
spotlight because you know on this deployment

00:25:02.549 --> 00:25:04.170
it's just a lot more moving parts so if you're

00:25:04.170 --> 00:25:05.529
an idiot you don't know what you're doing like

00:25:05.529 --> 00:25:07.769
it's going to show you're going to fuck up and

00:25:07.769 --> 00:25:09.970
it became that and it was a lot of me going see

00:25:10.509 --> 00:25:12.789
told you look at these idiots you know what i

00:25:12.789 --> 00:25:17.009
mean what about the stability of the military

00:25:17.009 --> 00:25:18.829
when you went through and then also obviously

00:25:18.829 --> 00:25:21.009
the the you know the kind of education a lot

00:25:21.009 --> 00:25:23.029
of us get when we travel and see other cultures

00:25:23.029 --> 00:25:25.390
you see the kind of shared humanity more often

00:25:25.390 --> 00:25:29.329
than not what did that structure and stability

00:25:29.329 --> 00:25:32.170
and purpose and tribe do for you that was kind

00:25:32.170 --> 00:25:37.220
of lacking prior to the military um The structure

00:25:37.220 --> 00:25:39.839
was great because I craved some structure. My

00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:42.019
life was so chaotic, so the structure was awesome.

00:25:43.859 --> 00:25:48.420
But if there's one thing I can say about the

00:25:48.420 --> 00:25:54.039
military, there is so much chaos. At least in

00:25:54.039 --> 00:25:56.279
the group that I was in, there's so much mistakes

00:25:56.279 --> 00:26:00.230
happening. you're like, sometimes you look around

00:26:00.230 --> 00:26:02.470
and you go, how the fuck do we win wars? Like

00:26:02.470 --> 00:26:05.190
how are you guys, this is all fucked up. So there

00:26:05.190 --> 00:26:09.170
was a lot of like, a lot of like really looking

00:26:09.170 --> 00:26:11.170
into the machine that is the military industrial

00:26:11.170 --> 00:26:15.890
complex and being like, yo, this is how this

00:26:15.890 --> 00:26:22.809
shit is run. And, and it all gave me like, it

00:26:22.809 --> 00:26:25.069
makes you frustrated as someone who craves like

00:26:25.069 --> 00:26:27.940
control and structure and problem solving. When

00:26:27.940 --> 00:26:35.740
it's like the leadership and the people in charge

00:26:35.740 --> 00:26:38.700
don't have their shit together. They're disorganized

00:26:38.700 --> 00:26:42.519
for whatever reason. And it makes you bitter.

00:26:42.660 --> 00:26:43.940
It makes you upset. You're like, first of all,

00:26:43.960 --> 00:26:45.579
this is the guy that's in charge. Second, like,

00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:49.339
look at all this suffering and excess time wasted

00:26:49.339 --> 00:26:51.140
and bullshit because these people don't know

00:26:51.140 --> 00:26:52.619
what the fuck they're doing. They suck at their

00:26:52.619 --> 00:26:57.420
jobs. So there was like that. But when I joined,

00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:03.359
I definitely got a stability because my home

00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:06.279
life was so unstable. I went to boot camp and

00:27:06.279 --> 00:27:07.880
it was the first time I got three meals a day

00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:10.079
for a consistency like that. It was the first

00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:12.079
time I slept in a bed every night for eight hours.

00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:17.720
There was a sense of stability. And because I

00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:20.380
was growing up so stressed, a lot of the stress

00:27:20.380 --> 00:27:23.160
and training is all manufactured. you know, particularly

00:27:23.160 --> 00:27:25.140
the mental stuff. The Marine Corps is big on

00:27:25.140 --> 00:27:27.980
that mental shit. It's very manufactured. And

00:27:27.980 --> 00:27:30.240
I had a hard time like taking it seriously when

00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:31.940
I first joined because I was like, this is like,

00:27:31.960 --> 00:27:34.400
it's a fucking joke. They're doing this to stress

00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:35.819
us out. Like these aren't, this isn't a real

00:27:35.819 --> 00:27:42.339
situation. But it still gave me like a stability,

00:27:42.380 --> 00:27:43.819
you know, whether it comes from like, you know,

00:27:43.819 --> 00:27:45.980
wearing camis every day, like your uniform's

00:27:45.980 --> 00:27:47.920
the same. You're going to have breakfast. You're

00:27:47.920 --> 00:27:48.940
going to have lunch. You're going to have dinner.

00:27:49.470 --> 00:27:52.130
There's a schedule. There's a routine. It gives

00:27:52.130 --> 00:27:56.230
you a comfort in knowing what to expect, which

00:27:56.230 --> 00:28:00.170
I did not have before I joined. There are so

00:28:00.170 --> 00:28:03.470
many countries that do certain areas really well

00:28:03.470 --> 00:28:07.569
that if every country had the humility to learn

00:28:07.569 --> 00:28:09.849
from other countries, the rising tide would lift

00:28:09.849 --> 00:28:12.170
all ships. All countries around the world would

00:28:12.170 --> 00:28:14.569
benefit from this education system and this healthcare

00:28:14.569 --> 00:28:18.049
system, etc., etc. As you progress through Southeast

00:28:18.049 --> 00:28:20.430
Asia, were there any elements at all of some

00:28:20.430 --> 00:28:22.029
of these other cultures that made you think,

00:28:22.089 --> 00:28:23.569
oh, that would actually work really well back

00:28:23.569 --> 00:28:31.809
home? You know, it's hard to say. I mean, Japan

00:28:31.809 --> 00:28:35.650
was really clean. The people there are very nice.

00:28:36.529 --> 00:28:38.490
I didn't spend a lot of time with the Japanese

00:28:38.490 --> 00:28:43.809
military per se. I'm trying to think of like...

00:28:44.109 --> 00:28:46.250
A lot of what we were doing was like training

00:28:46.250 --> 00:28:47.769
in the jungle and shit. I didn't get a lot of

00:28:47.769 --> 00:28:50.549
time with like culture and spending time with

00:28:50.549 --> 00:28:52.730
like their, their people so much. I spent a lot

00:28:52.730 --> 00:28:54.509
of time with the time, uh, military, the time

00:28:54.509 --> 00:28:57.369
Marines, those guys were great. It taught us

00:28:57.369 --> 00:28:59.690
a lot of like, uh, like Muay Thai fighting and

00:28:59.690 --> 00:29:02.609
shit like that. Um, but yeah, I can't really

00:29:02.609 --> 00:29:04.589
speak to like the cultures, unfortunately. Like

00:29:04.589 --> 00:29:06.569
I didn't, there wasn't like, you know, we got

00:29:06.569 --> 00:29:08.589
like basic culture PowerPoint training before

00:29:08.589 --> 00:29:11.029
we went into a country, but I wouldn't spend

00:29:11.029 --> 00:29:14.480
a lot of time in the countries. like you know

00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:16.480
really absorbing culture we were like in the

00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:20.359
jungle training and stuff like that i lived in

00:29:20.359 --> 00:29:23.619
japan for 15 months um and it is incredibly clean

00:29:23.619 --> 00:29:25.559
someone pointed out i don't think i even really

00:29:25.559 --> 00:29:28.039
acknowledge this but there aren't any trash cans

00:29:28.039 --> 00:29:31.150
in the street in japan You don't eat or drink

00:29:31.150 --> 00:29:34.190
when you walk culturally, and you're responsible

00:29:34.190 --> 00:29:37.349
for your own trash. So another really interesting

00:29:37.349 --> 00:29:39.609
thing is that I saw, I don't know if this is

00:29:39.609 --> 00:29:42.049
all schools, but a lot of schools, the school

00:29:42.049 --> 00:29:45.950
children clean the school. So their whole philosophy

00:29:45.950 --> 00:29:48.750
on ownership and community is different. I thought

00:29:48.750 --> 00:29:51.390
that would be one to bring back here. Oh, yeah,

00:29:51.470 --> 00:29:53.710
that's powerful. Yeah, make the kids clean their

00:29:53.710 --> 00:29:55.769
own school. See what happens to graffiti and

00:29:55.769 --> 00:29:59.410
trash and all the other things then. Wow. I never

00:29:59.410 --> 00:30:00.769
even thought about that. That's a really good

00:30:00.769 --> 00:30:03.789
point. So you're at the Southeast Asia deployment.

00:30:04.009 --> 00:30:07.150
Where did you find yourself next? So while I

00:30:07.150 --> 00:30:09.210
was on that deployment, because I was excelling

00:30:09.210 --> 00:30:11.750
with certain people, they offered me to do another

00:30:11.750 --> 00:30:13.369
deployment. I was going to go to the Black Sea

00:30:13.369 --> 00:30:16.250
for a little rotational deployment through there.

00:30:16.930 --> 00:30:19.349
Signed up for it, got selected. I came home from

00:30:19.349 --> 00:30:22.210
Southeast Asia, and I was home for like a week,

00:30:22.210 --> 00:30:23.690
and then I went to Texas to start the workout

00:30:23.690 --> 00:30:26.309
for the Black Sea. And then my dad had like a

00:30:26.309 --> 00:30:27.750
massive heart attack. He had to have open -heart

00:30:27.750 --> 00:30:30.019
surgery. And he didn't have really anybody else

00:30:30.019 --> 00:30:31.720
to take care of him. So I stayed home from that

00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:35.640
deployment, helped him like rehab and like get

00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:38.579
back to health and shit like that. So I missed

00:30:38.579 --> 00:30:41.259
out on that one. And then right around that year,

00:30:41.339 --> 00:30:44.039
this is by 2012, my back started getting weird

00:30:44.039 --> 00:30:47.500
on me because I was like, I was like training

00:30:47.500 --> 00:30:50.380
really hard, trying to like be really strong.

00:30:50.420 --> 00:30:52.079
I trained for endurance. You know, I was a machine

00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:54.299
gunner. It was when we were running through the

00:30:54.299 --> 00:30:56.660
jungles, like I excelled so much. These guys

00:30:56.660 --> 00:30:59.000
were like, make me the ro because i could carry

00:30:59.000 --> 00:31:01.259
all the heavy and move and keep up with the platoon

00:31:01.259 --> 00:31:03.400
commander and move to the jungle and the hills

00:31:03.400 --> 00:31:06.400
and and i thrived on that i loved it like it

00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:08.400
felt really good it gave me like a sense of worth

00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:11.200
and and i was getting like high off the endorphins

00:31:11.200 --> 00:31:13.200
too i love to smoke myself that's how i became

00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:16.220
like a pt stud but my back started getting weird

00:31:16.220 --> 00:31:18.960
on me and at first like it just felt like oh

00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:21.240
you know my backs it's just weird like maybe

00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:23.019
i pulled a muscle or something and the first

00:31:23.019 --> 00:31:25.019
advice i got was from doctors that were like

00:31:25.529 --> 00:31:27.390
Oh, yeah, here's some muscle relaxers. Just,

00:31:27.450 --> 00:31:29.910
like, take a few days off, lay in bed. And it

00:31:29.910 --> 00:31:33.130
got worse. It got so much fucking worse to where

00:31:33.130 --> 00:31:34.910
I couldn't walk. I was walking with a limp. I'd

00:31:34.910 --> 00:31:38.450
have crazy spasms and couldn't sleep and couldn't

00:31:38.450 --> 00:31:41.269
get out of bed. And I was like, oh, shit, what

00:31:41.269 --> 00:31:44.490
am I going to do? Like, what's happening? And

00:31:44.490 --> 00:31:47.109
it got so bad that the Marine Corps was like,

00:31:47.190 --> 00:31:48.730
we can give you a new job or you can get out.

00:31:48.809 --> 00:31:50.650
And at that point, I had a bad taste in my mouth.

00:31:50.730 --> 00:31:52.369
So I was like, I'm fucking out, dude. Cut me

00:31:52.369 --> 00:31:56.839
out. My back was all weird, and that's kind of

00:31:56.839 --> 00:32:01.299
how I got into stand -up. When I got out, I realized

00:32:01.299 --> 00:32:03.400
that I couldn't work physically laborious anymore.

00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:05.819
So I was like, I'm going to have to get into

00:32:05.819 --> 00:32:07.000
white -collar shit. I'm going to have to learn

00:32:07.000 --> 00:32:09.839
to talk to people and do sales and stuff like

00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:12.319
that. But I was like, oh, man, where can I go

00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:14.759
to figure out how to get comfortable talking

00:32:14.759 --> 00:32:17.380
in front of groups and shit in a professional

00:32:17.380 --> 00:32:20.299
setting? Talking to Marines is easy military,

00:32:20.380 --> 00:32:23.680
but I want to get better at talking in front

00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:27.250
of people. and uh i took one of my notebooks

00:32:27.250 --> 00:32:28.809
that i was wrote shit in and i went to an open

00:32:28.809 --> 00:32:32.289
mic and uh it was fucking it changed everything

00:32:32.289 --> 00:32:33.809
for me i didn't have like this oh my god i'm

00:32:33.809 --> 00:32:35.490
gonna do comedy for everything like that's what

00:32:35.490 --> 00:32:38.069
i want to do but i went up and like it was like

00:32:38.069 --> 00:32:40.970
this crazy adrenaline rush it was legal it was

00:32:40.970 --> 00:32:43.529
free you know i didn't get hurt nobody got hurt

00:32:43.529 --> 00:32:45.910
and i was like oh i like doing this now like

00:32:45.910 --> 00:32:50.269
this is cool with the back injury i actually

00:32:50.589 --> 00:32:52.829
had a bad one when i was a firefighter and and

00:32:52.829 --> 00:32:55.589
uh same thing pills were thrown at me and and

00:32:55.589 --> 00:32:58.470
luckily i had the kind of background as a athlete

00:32:58.470 --> 00:33:00.769
and a coach so i'm like okay this is i did this

00:33:00.769 --> 00:33:03.470
lifting this is not something that pharmaceuticals

00:33:03.470 --> 00:33:06.089
are going to fix um and so i went down the kind

00:33:06.089 --> 00:33:08.769
of cairo pt road and ended up rehabbing it just

00:33:08.769 --> 00:33:11.529
with movement but when you think about that when

00:33:11.529 --> 00:33:14.049
the body is spasming when the back is spasming

00:33:14.049 --> 00:33:16.529
that's protecting whatever you know connective

00:33:16.529 --> 00:33:19.190
tissue that you've damaged sort of throw drugs

00:33:19.190 --> 00:33:21.789
that just gets the the protective mechanism to

00:33:21.789 --> 00:33:24.869
let go makes no sense whatsoever you know what

00:33:24.869 --> 00:33:27.349
i mean so it's crazy and this is all you know

00:33:27.349 --> 00:33:29.390
the workman's comp in the fire service you get

00:33:29.390 --> 00:33:31.009
this i got numerous friends that have got their

00:33:31.009 --> 00:33:33.549
backs fused now and they can't do half the things

00:33:33.549 --> 00:33:36.170
they used to be able to do versus taking the

00:33:36.170 --> 00:33:38.920
time understanding it's going to be a painful

00:33:38.920 --> 00:33:41.579
maddening road but at the end of it you're going

00:33:41.579 --> 00:33:44.099
to be stronger than you were before but we've

00:33:44.099 --> 00:33:46.960
got this fucking quick fix mentality in in modern

00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:49.619
medicine where you know the insurance companies

00:33:49.619 --> 00:33:51.279
or workman's comp don't want you to actually

00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:53.079
do it the right way they just want to slice and

00:33:53.079 --> 00:33:55.279
dice and get you either retired or back to work

00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:58.759
yeah they start pumping you for that medication

00:33:58.759 --> 00:34:02.390
because it's just the status quo. It's, you know,

00:34:02.390 --> 00:34:04.390
the, everybody's getting their check. The pharmaceutical

00:34:04.390 --> 00:34:07.650
companies are getting their money and, and it

00:34:07.650 --> 00:34:09.329
does provide that immediate relief. They go,

00:34:09.409 --> 00:34:10.969
look, we feel, look, don't you feel better? Wow.

00:34:11.110 --> 00:34:12.690
Look at that work. This is, this is incredible.

00:34:12.829 --> 00:34:14.769
Look, he's doing great. Look at all the pain

00:34:14.769 --> 00:34:17.250
he was in. Now he's not in pain. And yeah, it

00:34:17.250 --> 00:34:19.550
took for mine specifically, it took like a few

00:34:19.550 --> 00:34:22.949
years before I finally had like control over

00:34:22.949 --> 00:34:25.929
my, over my injury. And I, and I was educated

00:34:25.929 --> 00:34:29.170
on what was going on. I was working, uh, While

00:34:29.170 --> 00:34:30.869
I was still living in Las Vegas in the Marines,

00:34:31.030 --> 00:34:33.849
I was doing private security and somebody that

00:34:33.849 --> 00:34:36.349
I was working for noticed that I had been missing

00:34:36.349 --> 00:34:37.769
a lot of work. And he's like, what's going on,

00:34:37.789 --> 00:34:40.050
man? Where you been? And I was like, my back,

00:34:40.190 --> 00:34:43.480
man. I can't come to work. I'm dealing with this

00:34:43.480 --> 00:34:46.239
shit. And he had a bad back and he was a really

00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:48.480
wealthy guy. And he was like, oh man, I'll send

00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:50.179
you to my people. And I was like, I can't afford

00:34:50.179 --> 00:34:52.139
that. He was like, no, no, I got you. And for

00:34:52.139 --> 00:34:54.840
like a year, he sent me to a physical therapist

00:34:54.840 --> 00:34:57.599
and paid for me to go. And that physical therapist

00:34:57.599 --> 00:35:00.559
like changed my life, like really showed me and

00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:03.460
taught me a lot of shit and helped me understand

00:35:03.460 --> 00:35:05.460
like what was going on. And like, you know, explains

00:35:05.460 --> 00:35:08.579
like, yo, this is a long road. you're gonna have

00:35:08.579 --> 00:35:10.159
bad days for the rest of your life that just

00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:12.900
is what it is but you listen to your body you

00:35:12.900 --> 00:35:15.900
do this rehab you work on your you work on your

00:35:15.900 --> 00:35:18.940
body in the way that you're supposed to and you'll

00:35:18.940 --> 00:35:21.400
have more good days than bad days and you'll

00:35:21.400 --> 00:35:23.320
understand what's happening when it happens you'll

00:35:23.320 --> 00:35:26.900
know these signs and things like that and uh

00:35:26.900 --> 00:35:30.599
and just like really man just helped me so much

00:35:30.599 --> 00:35:32.960
and and i'm so grateful to those people that

00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:36.099
that like really help take care of me and give

00:35:36.099 --> 00:35:40.440
me that opportunity to to recover holy shit because

00:35:40.440 --> 00:35:43.840
it was so scary to not be able to take care of

00:35:43.840 --> 00:35:46.719
yourself you know and and to not understand what

00:35:46.719 --> 00:35:48.880
was going on like when at that time in my life

00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:51.420
and in the marine corps like i there was no fucking

00:35:51.420 --> 00:35:55.159
like nobody was like hey also recovery rest you

00:35:55.159 --> 00:35:57.219
know it was like go go go go you know pain is

00:35:57.219 --> 00:35:58.940
weakness leaving the body and i thrived on all

00:35:58.940 --> 00:36:02.440
that shit but when you're 17 and 18 like you

00:36:02.440 --> 00:36:05.699
don't realize that you're You're burning a candle.

00:36:05.980 --> 00:36:08.760
And by the time I was 23, I almost couldn't fucking

00:36:08.760 --> 00:36:11.340
walk. Yeah, there's a thing called foundation

00:36:11.340 --> 00:36:13.420
training that I use out of California. It was

00:36:13.420 --> 00:36:15.840
a chiropractor that developed it after completely

00:36:15.840 --> 00:36:20.280
fucking up his own back. And he was partly through

00:36:20.280 --> 00:36:21.920
school. He was like, how can I have back surgery?

00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:24.420
And then walk around saying that chiropractic

00:36:24.420 --> 00:36:27.119
is the answer. So he figured out this kind of

00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:29.460
movement practice. It looks a bit like yoga,

00:36:29.579 --> 00:36:31.840
but it's not at all. You're holding these positions,

00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:34.389
but you're up. lengthening the muscle whilst

00:36:34.389 --> 00:36:36.829
using your body to add weight to that length

00:36:36.829 --> 00:36:40.510
um it was game -changing that was hands down

00:36:40.510 --> 00:36:42.329
the thing that really made the big difference

00:36:42.329 --> 00:36:46.260
and now at 51 years old i move weight the same

00:36:46.260 --> 00:36:49.820
way i did in my 20s after this injury so the

00:36:49.820 --> 00:36:52.360
the healing power of the body is incredible when

00:36:52.360 --> 00:36:55.400
you get the right movement practices and um you

00:36:55.400 --> 00:36:57.179
know nutrition all those things are behind it

00:36:57.179 --> 00:36:59.480
the body will heal itself and doesn't mean that

00:36:59.480 --> 00:37:01.800
that injury isn't there but you protect it with

00:37:01.800 --> 00:37:03.480
the strength and the length that you need to

00:37:03.480 --> 00:37:07.440
keep moving yeah When a lot of people talk about

00:37:07.440 --> 00:37:09.280
transitioning from the military, and especially

00:37:09.280 --> 00:37:11.460
again, if you had that cohesion with certain

00:37:11.460 --> 00:37:14.739
people that you worked alongside, you know, you've

00:37:14.739 --> 00:37:16.699
got that purpose, you've got that tribe, you've

00:37:16.699 --> 00:37:19.340
got that identity. And now you don't again, now

00:37:19.340 --> 00:37:21.039
you're in the grocery store, no one gives a shit

00:37:21.039 --> 00:37:24.139
what you used to do. Was that jarring for you?

00:37:24.199 --> 00:37:27.679
Or did you transition out pretty seamlessly?

00:37:28.420 --> 00:37:30.159
Well, you know, being in the reserves, I still

00:37:30.159 --> 00:37:33.039
got like this connection to the civilian world

00:37:33.039 --> 00:37:36.239
where it wasn't extremely difficult for me. But

00:37:36.239 --> 00:37:38.659
because I was so like spun up in my head about

00:37:38.659 --> 00:37:42.699
wanting to be like from my childhood as well,

00:37:42.760 --> 00:37:45.500
like craving like a structure and like a level

00:37:45.500 --> 00:37:49.699
of like success or just like financial security.

00:37:50.300 --> 00:37:53.380
I was always like craving, trying to be better

00:37:53.380 --> 00:37:55.480
and to grow. And then the Marine Corps fosters

00:37:55.480 --> 00:37:57.840
that shit. And like, yeah, you know, know yourself,

00:37:57.960 --> 00:37:59.579
seek self -improvement. Like, you know, you want

00:37:59.579 --> 00:38:01.099
to be great. You want to be better. You want

00:38:01.099 --> 00:38:05.800
to be stronger. being in the civilian world like

00:38:05.800 --> 00:38:08.800
it's not that that shit's frowned upon you can

00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:15.059
excel absolutely but the transition out of like

00:38:15.059 --> 00:38:17.440
all right i'm done with the marine corps my back's

00:38:17.440 --> 00:38:20.280
fucked up what do i do now i definitely like

00:38:20.280 --> 00:38:25.019
sunk myself into like trying to find work that

00:38:25.019 --> 00:38:27.780
was fulfilling and sales was like this way to

00:38:27.780 --> 00:38:33.139
make money but what ended up happening is You

00:38:33.139 --> 00:38:35.199
know, I did some sales in Vegas. I did some sales

00:38:35.199 --> 00:38:37.880
in Chicago. And then I went to NorCal. I got

00:38:37.880 --> 00:38:39.460
talked into going out there and doing, like,

00:38:39.460 --> 00:38:41.559
solar. Like, the money was looking real good.

00:38:41.619 --> 00:38:43.199
I was like, all right, I'll go. And I didn't

00:38:43.199 --> 00:38:44.559
have a place to stay, so I, like, lived in my

00:38:44.559 --> 00:38:46.300
car. When I got there, they were like, oh, we

00:38:46.300 --> 00:38:47.519
don't have any leads for you. You have to go

00:38:47.519 --> 00:38:49.880
create your own leads. I was like, okay, how

00:38:49.880 --> 00:38:50.880
does that work? They're like, you're going to

00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:52.420
go door knock. And I was like, all right, I'll

00:38:52.420 --> 00:38:54.300
give it a shot. Let's go. So I'm, like, door

00:38:54.300 --> 00:38:56.000
knocking for, like, a month living in my car,

00:38:56.079 --> 00:38:57.519
and nobody's letting me in their house because

00:38:57.519 --> 00:38:59.380
I got a fucking scar on my face or whatever.

00:38:59.480 --> 00:39:02.360
I'm just not good at it. And I'm sitting in my

00:39:02.360 --> 00:39:03.800
front seat one day and I'm like, damn, dude,

00:39:03.840 --> 00:39:05.699
I know how to work really hard. Like I'm out

00:39:05.699 --> 00:39:07.420
here living in my front seat. You know, I should

00:39:07.420 --> 00:39:10.320
do something I like to do. And I came home and

00:39:10.320 --> 00:39:12.239
just started doing standup as much as I could.

00:39:12.280 --> 00:39:14.920
I was like, I'm going to sink all of this, like

00:39:14.920 --> 00:39:21.280
drive to be great and to like grow and, and sacrifice.

00:39:22.579 --> 00:39:25.199
I'm going to push this into standup. And for

00:39:25.199 --> 00:39:28.170
like two years. I just, like, grinded in Vegas

00:39:28.170 --> 00:39:30.269
all the bar rooms I could do, all the, like,

00:39:30.269 --> 00:39:32.530
shitty shows, anything I could get on, just trying

00:39:32.530 --> 00:39:34.469
to get better at writing and cutting my teeth

00:39:34.469 --> 00:39:36.210
and getting up in front of these crowds and figuring

00:39:36.210 --> 00:39:39.670
it out. And then I started coming to L .A. like

00:39:39.670 --> 00:39:41.070
once a week because I started taking classes

00:39:41.070 --> 00:39:42.650
in L .A. I was taking, like, improv classes,

00:39:42.809 --> 00:39:44.610
writing classes. I was helping somebody produce

00:39:44.610 --> 00:39:49.409
a weekly show. And after, like, a year of that,

00:39:49.550 --> 00:39:51.329
I was sitting at the comedy store in the back

00:39:51.329 --> 00:39:54.130
of the original room, and I was like... And watching

00:39:54.130 --> 00:39:56.389
these comics work these crowds, these late night

00:39:56.389 --> 00:39:57.889
crowds, these crowds that have been sitting there

00:39:57.889 --> 00:39:59.610
for four hours. They've heard all the jokes.

00:39:59.690 --> 00:40:01.309
They've heard all the premises. They're drunk.

00:40:01.369 --> 00:40:04.210
They're foreign. They're tired. And to watch

00:40:04.210 --> 00:40:06.809
these comics still get them and whip them into,

00:40:06.869 --> 00:40:09.550
like, just get, like, crack them. I was like,

00:40:09.610 --> 00:40:11.090
oh, if I want to get better, I have to move here.

00:40:11.269 --> 00:40:12.809
Like, that's what has to happen. I have to move

00:40:12.809 --> 00:40:23.429
to L .A. And I moved out in, like, 2017. When

00:40:23.429 --> 00:40:26.630
I came to L .A. to grow as a comic, I wasn't

00:40:26.630 --> 00:40:28.469
getting the stage time I wanted. I was, you know,

00:40:28.489 --> 00:40:31.250
I was new. I sucked rough around the edges on

00:40:31.250 --> 00:40:33.329
this ballroom comic. I'm a Marine. People think

00:40:33.329 --> 00:40:35.110
I'm some dickhead Republican or something like

00:40:35.110 --> 00:40:37.989
that. So I was not welcomed at all. And I had

00:40:37.989 --> 00:40:39.210
this moment where I was like, oh, shit, what

00:40:39.210 --> 00:40:41.829
do I do? Like, I came out here to develop. Who

00:40:41.829 --> 00:40:44.289
is my crowd? This L .A. crowd doesn't really

00:40:44.289 --> 00:40:48.030
enjoy me. What do I do? And so I realized all

00:40:48.030 --> 00:40:49.269
my buddies in the Marine Corps were the ones

00:40:49.269 --> 00:40:50.769
that had, like, always told me, like, yo, dude,

00:40:50.809 --> 00:40:52.449
you should do comedy. Like, you should be a comic.

00:40:52.960 --> 00:40:55.380
So I sent 400 letters out to Marine Corps units

00:40:55.380 --> 00:40:56.800
being like, hey, I'm a Marine. I'm a comedian.

00:40:56.860 --> 00:40:58.840
I'll come perform for you guys anytime, anyplace.

00:40:59.599 --> 00:41:02.500
And I got the first show, Cinco de Mayo, 2018.

00:41:03.480 --> 00:41:05.559
I went alone. I didn't bring any comics because

00:41:05.559 --> 00:41:07.840
now I bring a bunch of comics with me. But I

00:41:07.840 --> 00:41:10.559
ended up doing 45 minutes for 250 Marines, and

00:41:10.559 --> 00:41:12.340
they treated me like I was fucking Dave Chappelle,

00:41:12.519 --> 00:41:15.920
man. And I had this aha moment where I was like,

00:41:16.079 --> 00:41:20.610
oh, this is my crowd. This is what I want to

00:41:20.610 --> 00:41:22.269
do. This is what I'm supposed to be doing. These

00:41:22.269 --> 00:41:23.710
guys, these are the greatest crowds in the world.

00:41:23.769 --> 00:41:26.769
This is incredible. And that's where I started

00:41:26.769 --> 00:41:28.869
this tour. I started Rapid Fire as a way to just

00:41:28.869 --> 00:41:30.530
be like, listen, I want to do shows for the military.

00:41:30.530 --> 00:41:33.250
I'll come out anywhere for you guys, anytime,

00:41:33.429 --> 00:41:35.690
anyplace. I have all the gear now. I don't even

00:41:35.690 --> 00:41:37.809
need power. I can set everything up on my own

00:41:37.809 --> 00:41:40.670
and put these shows on. And that was like the

00:41:40.670 --> 00:41:42.909
real transition was like getting into stand -up

00:41:42.909 --> 00:41:46.590
and finding myself, finding my way back to the

00:41:46.590 --> 00:41:50.010
military. When I was in university in London,

00:41:50.070 --> 00:41:51.829
I used to go to the comedy store there all the

00:41:51.829 --> 00:41:55.030
time on my own. I just love comedy. And, you

00:41:55.030 --> 00:41:56.369
know, you'd have nights where obviously there

00:41:56.369 --> 00:41:58.309
would be pretty good, but there was occasionally

00:41:58.309 --> 00:42:01.190
times where a bunch of comics, not only were

00:42:01.190 --> 00:42:03.150
individually were amazing, but then they'd get

00:42:03.150 --> 00:42:05.030
together at the end of the night and bounce off

00:42:05.030 --> 00:42:07.429
each other. And, you know, I couldn't even freaking

00:42:07.429 --> 00:42:09.409
move my abs the next morning. I was so freaking

00:42:09.409 --> 00:42:11.750
tired from laughing my ass off for hours on end.

00:42:13.000 --> 00:42:15.519
But comedy is a strange landscape because, you

00:42:15.519 --> 00:42:17.699
know, it's it's literally down to the taste of

00:42:17.699 --> 00:42:19.260
the individual. And I totally understand why,

00:42:19.420 --> 00:42:21.239
you know, finding the right audience is right

00:42:21.239 --> 00:42:25.659
with your specific style. How did you start figuring

00:42:25.659 --> 00:42:28.280
out what your comedy would even look like in

00:42:28.280 --> 00:42:31.460
the first place? Well, I think it was a lot of

00:42:31.460 --> 00:42:34.860
like, you know, trying to find my voice, trying

00:42:34.860 --> 00:42:37.139
to be aware of to be like, all right, what what

00:42:37.139 --> 00:42:40.760
vibe am I giving off? Like who who am I like?

00:42:41.550 --> 00:42:44.190
who am i modeling myself after and a lot of the

00:42:44.190 --> 00:42:46.030
stuff i was modeling myself after you know in

00:42:46.030 --> 00:42:47.530
the beginning you just do an impression of a

00:42:47.530 --> 00:42:50.289
comedian right and i was like looking to like

00:42:50.289 --> 00:42:52.230
guys like jessel nick who had this like dark

00:42:52.230 --> 00:42:54.769
style this very written style it's very set up

00:42:54.769 --> 00:42:57.730
punch stuff and i was looking to guys who had

00:42:57.730 --> 00:43:02.650
like that late night chaotic you know ramblings

00:43:02.650 --> 00:43:06.409
rants and monologues of like just crazy shit

00:43:06.409 --> 00:43:09.409
whether it's stories or just opinions on these

00:43:09.409 --> 00:43:12.110
taboo subjects and those guys like guys like

00:43:12.110 --> 00:43:18.650
david tell and and uh jim norton and and just

00:43:18.650 --> 00:43:24.429
like crazy wild comedy and as i like you know

00:43:24.429 --> 00:43:28.250
looked at those guys as like oh they're doing

00:43:28.250 --> 00:43:33.739
crazy shit i can do crazy shit i started to find

00:43:33.739 --> 00:43:36.139
less of myself modeling after them and more being

00:43:36.139 --> 00:43:38.500
comfortable just talking about the things that

00:43:38.500 --> 00:43:41.440
I enjoy talking about. And it took me a long

00:43:41.440 --> 00:43:45.260
time to like find my voice or, you know, stop

00:43:45.260 --> 00:43:47.719
trying to be what I thought everybody needed

00:43:47.719 --> 00:43:51.119
me to be and got comfortable enough in my skills

00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:54.659
and my own talents to just be like, no, I got

00:43:54.659 --> 00:43:58.559
this. I just need to like let it flow freely

00:43:58.559 --> 00:44:03.550
and not be so worried or overthinking it. or

00:44:03.550 --> 00:44:12.949
trying to make it something that is like these

00:44:12.949 --> 00:44:15.230
other things that are great. You don't have to

00:44:15.230 --> 00:44:17.110
make it like these other great things. You just

00:44:17.110 --> 00:44:20.809
have to be comfortable enough and confident enough

00:44:20.809 --> 00:44:23.590
and love what you're doing enough to just do

00:44:23.590 --> 00:44:26.409
it and do it again and again and again and again

00:44:26.409 --> 00:44:28.449
and again and finding it and being obsessed with

00:44:28.449 --> 00:44:32.539
the work and loving the process that I do. and

00:44:32.539 --> 00:44:34.960
finding the beats, finding the comedy, finding

00:44:34.960 --> 00:44:37.219
the humor in these things that are, you know,

00:44:37.239 --> 00:44:38.820
whether they're off limits or they're right on

00:44:38.820 --> 00:44:41.760
the line or they're just taboo or whatever, you

00:44:41.760 --> 00:44:46.539
know, and that is how I kind of like found this

00:44:46.539 --> 00:44:52.440
place that I belong without like coming off as

00:44:52.440 --> 00:44:56.599
like hacky or, you know, doing an impression

00:44:56.599 --> 00:45:01.079
of some other comic. How did you deal along the

00:45:01.079 --> 00:45:03.699
way with the nights where it just wasn't gelling

00:45:03.699 --> 00:45:09.679
with that audience? You just look at it as a

00:45:09.679 --> 00:45:16.260
drop in the bucket. Because I'm so hungry for

00:45:16.260 --> 00:45:19.679
knowledge, there's not a lot of mentors in stand

00:45:19.679 --> 00:45:21.380
-up. Unfortunately, this is a very lonely game.

00:45:21.500 --> 00:45:22.940
There's not a lot of people putting their hand

00:45:22.940 --> 00:45:24.880
out going, come on, get up here, let me help

00:45:24.880 --> 00:45:28.130
you out. There are people who do it and it happens,

00:45:28.409 --> 00:45:30.809
but it's like, it's very rare. So you're doing

00:45:30.809 --> 00:45:32.610
a lot of self -educating. You're doing a lot

00:45:32.610 --> 00:45:34.969
of your own research, your own schooling, your

00:45:34.969 --> 00:45:40.110
own classes. Like you really have to, really

00:45:40.110 --> 00:45:46.050
have to do everything yourself. And when you,

00:45:46.070 --> 00:45:48.250
when you have that mindset of like, all right,

00:45:48.269 --> 00:45:51.250
I want to get better. When you have a bad night,

00:45:51.329 --> 00:45:53.889
it's less of like, fuck, that's a, oh man, this

00:45:53.889 --> 00:45:56.579
is bad. And then not that I didn't have those

00:45:56.579 --> 00:45:58.539
nights where I go, Oh my God, what am I doing?

00:45:58.800 --> 00:46:02.119
Like, am I, am I even a comic? Should I just

00:46:02.119 --> 00:46:06.360
quit now? Like you have those nights, but it

00:46:06.360 --> 00:46:08.219
doesn't last for very long because the hunger

00:46:08.219 --> 00:46:11.039
and the want to grow kind of kicks in and you

00:46:11.039 --> 00:46:13.539
go, you realize, you know, from this, all the

00:46:13.539 --> 00:46:15.179
knowledge I'm picking up, you know, I even got

00:46:15.179 --> 00:46:18.099
it on my wall. And it's basically like, you know,

00:46:18.119 --> 00:46:19.760
if you're not, if you're not like bombing, if

00:46:19.760 --> 00:46:22.039
you're not eating shit, you're not trying. Now

00:46:22.039 --> 00:46:23.139
you don't want to bomb all the time. You got

00:46:23.139 --> 00:46:24.260
to have some self -awareness to be like, okay.

00:46:25.379 --> 00:46:28.960
like no, no. When a piece doesn't work, you know,

00:46:28.960 --> 00:46:30.639
or when it was you have the self -awareness to

00:46:30.639 --> 00:46:34.019
know that when you fucked up, but also like you

00:46:34.019 --> 00:46:37.480
swing that bat, like you gotta be, you gotta

00:46:37.480 --> 00:46:39.960
be willing to swing it and miss in order to like

00:46:39.960 --> 00:46:42.460
try and hit the fucking home runs. And when you

00:46:42.460 --> 00:46:44.400
miss and it hurts and it sucks and you're embarrassed

00:46:44.400 --> 00:46:47.519
and it's uncomfortable, you get, you get better

00:46:47.519 --> 00:46:49.179
over time and just chalking it up as it goes.

00:46:49.360 --> 00:46:51.059
Yeah. That was just another swing. You know,

00:46:51.099 --> 00:46:54.469
I, I, I saw the ball pass over the bat. At least,

00:46:54.489 --> 00:46:56.489
you know, I saw that I was too low or I was too

00:46:56.489 --> 00:46:58.989
high. I swung too soon. You know, you, you're

00:46:58.989 --> 00:47:01.630
so obsessed with the work that you, you, you,

00:47:01.630 --> 00:47:04.309
you pick up on the mistakes and you feel less

00:47:04.309 --> 00:47:06.329
like I fucked up and more of like, no, I just

00:47:06.329 --> 00:47:09.070
learned. I just figured something out. It becomes

00:47:09.070 --> 00:47:13.210
a lot of that. How empowering has it become?

00:47:14.549 --> 00:47:17.090
forging your own path. I left the fire service,

00:47:17.130 --> 00:47:18.989
never even thought I was going to leave the fire

00:47:18.989 --> 00:47:21.289
service, but the same kind of similar thing.

00:47:21.909 --> 00:47:24.429
I had some incredible departments I was a part

00:47:24.429 --> 00:47:27.550
of. And then the last one, the opposite, where

00:47:27.550 --> 00:47:29.829
it was, you know, very detrimental, the culture

00:47:29.829 --> 00:47:32.730
there. So I decided to step outside and change

00:47:32.730 --> 00:47:35.530
it from the outside, the whole profession. But

00:47:35.530 --> 00:47:37.510
what I realized is, you know, when you do that,

00:47:37.610 --> 00:47:39.730
I wake up and I'm already thinking about what

00:47:39.730 --> 00:47:41.539
I'm doing that day. I'm thinking about it. till

00:47:41.539 --> 00:47:43.500
late at night, you know, still trying to be present

00:47:43.500 --> 00:47:45.340
my family, I can't, I do know how to put things

00:47:45.340 --> 00:47:47.860
away for a while. But that is a passion. It's

00:47:47.860 --> 00:47:51.840
not a job, air quotes, and I get to forge, you

00:47:51.840 --> 00:47:54.000
know, anything that I want to do, you know, and

00:47:54.000 --> 00:47:57.059
I get to trim off the fat, there's no have your

00:47:57.059 --> 00:47:59.039
guy called my guy, like, we are going to have

00:47:59.039 --> 00:48:00.559
a conversation, you want to do an interview?

00:48:00.639 --> 00:48:02.079
Yeah, okay, well, let's do it this time. Boom,

00:48:02.159 --> 00:48:08.340
done. And I found that so empowering, that, you

00:48:08.340 --> 00:48:11.699
know, that you can despite what people tell you

00:48:11.699 --> 00:48:13.980
how they you know how terrifying it is and how

00:48:13.980 --> 00:48:16.280
unstable it is and what about benefits and all

00:48:16.280 --> 00:48:18.900
this other stuff how if you believe in a project

00:48:18.900 --> 00:48:22.219
and you have the courage to just go for it yes

00:48:22.219 --> 00:48:24.599
it's incredibly hard but man it feels amazing

00:48:24.599 --> 00:48:27.179
waking up and knowing that you don't work for

00:48:27.179 --> 00:48:30.059
anyone like you got to create your entire universe

00:48:30.059 --> 00:48:35.530
yeah it's uh it's empowering you know um you

00:48:35.530 --> 00:48:37.630
have you have like complete control but it also

00:48:37.630 --> 00:48:40.889
all falls on your shoulders you know uh neil

00:48:40.889 --> 00:48:43.610
brennan uh is a stand -up comic really good comic

00:48:43.610 --> 00:48:45.389
he's one of the co -creators of the chapelle

00:48:45.389 --> 00:48:49.230
show um when i was working at the hollywood improv

00:48:49.230 --> 00:48:51.110
as a door guy i asked him in the hallway one

00:48:51.110 --> 00:48:52.530
night i was having you know a rough night rough

00:48:52.530 --> 00:48:54.949
week and i was like yo man like do i have to

00:48:54.949 --> 00:48:57.070
do everything myself in this game like is it

00:48:57.070 --> 00:49:00.230
ever gonna like like does it ever get easier

00:49:00.230 --> 00:49:03.300
does it get better And he said, he looked at

00:49:03.300 --> 00:49:05.480
me, he goes, he goes, it never gets easier. You

00:49:05.480 --> 00:49:08.000
only get better and you have to do everything

00:49:08.000 --> 00:49:11.539
yourself. And, uh, it's like a heavy weight,

00:49:11.619 --> 00:49:15.739
you know, you don't, there's no, there's no,

00:49:15.820 --> 00:49:19.360
like, there's not a lot of breaks, you know,

00:49:19.360 --> 00:49:21.360
and any break you get, you make for yourself.

00:49:21.699 --> 00:49:25.460
You really like some people certainly get lucky.

00:49:25.539 --> 00:49:27.199
There is luck and you got to be able to see that

00:49:27.199 --> 00:49:28.900
shit when it comes and jump on it. You know,

00:49:28.900 --> 00:49:32.139
knowing luck is in your face. grip on that shit

00:49:32.139 --> 00:49:36.179
but for the most part it is all on you and it

00:49:36.179 --> 00:49:39.000
is empowering especially as someone who has like

00:49:39.000 --> 00:49:40.719
a crazy amount of work ethic because when you're

00:49:40.719 --> 00:49:43.019
when it's not all on you and it kind of falls

00:49:43.019 --> 00:49:46.059
on other people like a team thing it can be difficult

00:49:46.059 --> 00:49:49.400
to rely on others and to expect the same level

00:49:49.400 --> 00:49:52.719
of commitment or work ethic from other people

00:49:52.719 --> 00:49:56.619
so that is like kind of a pro to it it all falls

00:49:56.619 --> 00:49:58.139
on you so you're in control so you don't have

00:49:58.139 --> 00:50:02.190
to rely on anybody And it does like empower you

00:50:02.190 --> 00:50:03.909
to make the moves and make the decisions, be

00:50:03.909 --> 00:50:06.329
decisive, get out there and make mistakes and

00:50:06.329 --> 00:50:08.690
put your best foot forward and meet people and

00:50:08.690 --> 00:50:12.769
go out there. But also it's, it's, it can be

00:50:12.769 --> 00:50:16.369
stressful. It can be daunting because when, when

00:50:16.369 --> 00:50:18.690
you've done everything you can, you know, when

00:50:18.690 --> 00:50:21.590
you, when you, when you've spent all the time

00:50:21.590 --> 00:50:23.510
writing and you've showcased it to clubs and

00:50:23.510 --> 00:50:25.650
you've sent the emails out and you've networked

00:50:25.650 --> 00:50:27.449
and you've been social with people and you've.

00:50:28.400 --> 00:50:31.519
you've like really like done everything that

00:50:31.519 --> 00:50:33.960
you're supposed to be doing. And then, and then

00:50:33.960 --> 00:50:38.639
you still have no, there's, there's no work,

00:50:38.659 --> 00:50:41.239
you know, there's no, there's no stage time or

00:50:41.239 --> 00:50:45.739
something. It, it, it fucks your head up because

00:50:45.739 --> 00:50:47.300
you're like, okay, I can only focus on the things

00:50:47.300 --> 00:50:48.599
that I can control, but everything I control,

00:50:48.739 --> 00:50:50.519
I did. I checked all the boxes. I would do, I'm

00:50:50.519 --> 00:50:54.599
doing all of it. And right now I'm, there's nothing

00:50:54.599 --> 00:50:58.730
coming from it. And you're just like, fuck, am

00:50:58.730 --> 00:51:03.150
I a failure? Am I doing it wrong? Did I make

00:51:03.150 --> 00:51:06.190
a mistake? You have no one to look at but yourself.

00:51:06.610 --> 00:51:11.329
And it can be very, it can be intense. It can

00:51:11.329 --> 00:51:16.309
be a lot on your psyche. And it can be difficult

00:51:16.309 --> 00:51:19.090
to slow yourself down enough to be patient with

00:51:19.090 --> 00:51:21.989
the process. Because even if you do go through

00:51:21.989 --> 00:51:23.889
and dot all the I's and cross all the T's and

00:51:23.889 --> 00:51:26.329
do everything you're supposed to do, don't matter

00:51:26.329 --> 00:51:29.409
timing still has a lot to do with stuff you know

00:51:29.409 --> 00:51:33.130
you there's a there's an order to things in the

00:51:33.130 --> 00:51:35.309
world even if it all feels like chaos there's

00:51:35.309 --> 00:51:37.630
you know there's there's people ahead of you

00:51:37.630 --> 00:51:41.090
there's people in line ahead of you there's there's

00:51:41.090 --> 00:51:44.829
other shit going on in other people's lives and

00:51:44.829 --> 00:51:46.469
the world doesn't fucking revolve around you

00:51:46.469 --> 00:51:48.969
doesn't matter how hard you work and you sometimes

00:51:48.969 --> 00:51:52.050
you just gotta fucking sit and take a beat and

00:51:52.050 --> 00:51:56.469
let everything catch up with you I'm a fast -moving

00:51:56.469 --> 00:51:58.349
person. I move through the world very quickly.

00:51:58.909 --> 00:52:02.289
And I'm hungry, so that makes you a little impatient.

00:52:03.030 --> 00:52:07.150
And you can end up fucking your head up and feeling

00:52:07.150 --> 00:52:16.809
overwhelmed by your results and lack of. So it

00:52:16.809 --> 00:52:19.929
does empower you, but it can also lead you over

00:52:19.929 --> 00:52:21.849
an edge that you don't even realize you're coming

00:52:21.849 --> 00:52:27.789
upon. because you're so hungry for it that you

00:52:27.789 --> 00:52:29.889
don't realize that you're working yourself into

00:52:29.889 --> 00:52:34.090
an unhealthy place because even if you're going

00:52:34.090 --> 00:52:38.010
100 miles an hour, the world doesn't. 100%. There's

00:52:38.010 --> 00:52:41.130
a book, The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield,

00:52:41.269 --> 00:52:43.989
and he talks about the resistance. When you care

00:52:43.989 --> 00:52:46.230
so much about something and you put all this

00:52:46.230 --> 00:52:49.889
work into it, When you're almost there is when

00:52:49.889 --> 00:52:52.070
you get the most resistance. It's a kind of universal

00:52:52.070 --> 00:52:54.349
thing. And it's so true. And that's when I think

00:52:54.349 --> 00:52:56.210
a lot of people give up because they push, they

00:52:56.210 --> 00:52:58.489
push, they push and nothing's happening. And

00:52:58.489 --> 00:53:00.110
it's kind of like that cartoon. And if you ever

00:53:00.110 --> 00:53:01.969
see on social media with the guys digging towards

00:53:01.969 --> 00:53:04.849
the gold and he stops, you know, two feet from

00:53:04.849 --> 00:53:07.469
when he gets to the gold, it's that. And I agree

00:53:07.469 --> 00:53:09.650
with you completely. We tell ourselves a story

00:53:09.650 --> 00:53:12.130
that I do A, B and C and that should result in

00:53:12.130 --> 00:53:15.650
D. But just because you told yourself the story

00:53:15.650 --> 00:53:17.349
doesn't mean that's the way it's going to happen.

00:53:17.469 --> 00:53:19.389
And maybe it doesn't happen because it leads

00:53:19.389 --> 00:53:21.909
to something even more amazing that never would

00:53:21.909 --> 00:53:23.650
have occurred had it gone the way you thought

00:53:23.650 --> 00:53:27.730
it was going to go. But that self -belief that

00:53:27.730 --> 00:53:30.070
what you are doing is the right thing and you're

00:53:30.070 --> 00:53:32.389
on the right path and just being able to endure

00:53:32.389 --> 00:53:34.829
that suffering because it is. I mean, I'm the

00:53:34.829 --> 00:53:36.889
only person I get all these emails. Hey, behind

00:53:36.889 --> 00:53:40.210
the shield team, like team, it's just me for

00:53:40.210 --> 00:53:42.570
everything. So I totally understand what you're

00:53:42.570 --> 00:53:44.329
saying, but I think that's the thing is when

00:53:44.329 --> 00:53:47.230
you are in the middle of this resistance, just

00:53:47.230 --> 00:53:49.889
know that on the other side, when you get there,

00:53:49.949 --> 00:53:52.130
will be that thing that you're waiting for. You

00:53:52.130 --> 00:53:56.610
just got to believe in it. Yeah. Yeah. And make

00:53:56.610 --> 00:54:04.869
peace with the idea that, you know, not that

00:54:04.869 --> 00:54:06.590
like that's where it's going and it's inevitable

00:54:06.590 --> 00:54:08.809
that, oh, it won't work out. And that just is

00:54:08.809 --> 00:54:11.480
what it is. but you have to make peace with the

00:54:11.480 --> 00:54:16.619
fact that like things don't turn out the way

00:54:16.619 --> 00:54:21.340
you want them to and and you can plan and and

00:54:21.340 --> 00:54:24.300
have a goal and a mission and it's good to have

00:54:24.300 --> 00:54:26.320
all that because you you head in that direction

00:54:26.320 --> 00:54:28.460
you know you're even though it's all like this

00:54:28.460 --> 00:54:32.780
you're still moving that way but it's like you

00:54:32.780 --> 00:54:35.340
can't you can't hang your hat on a lot of shit,

00:54:35.380 --> 00:54:37.179
especially, you know, nowadays in the world like

00:54:37.179 --> 00:54:39.679
this, we are living in a very unstable world

00:54:39.679 --> 00:54:41.500
that things are, I think things are better for

00:54:41.500 --> 00:54:42.940
a lot of people than they've ever been. I think

00:54:42.940 --> 00:54:44.920
there's a lot of great systems in place, helping

00:54:44.920 --> 00:54:47.039
a lot of people. I think, I think there's more

00:54:47.039 --> 00:54:48.960
access to a lot of things than we've ever had.

00:54:49.079 --> 00:54:52.320
And we are on the up and up overall, but God

00:54:52.320 --> 00:54:56.320
damn the instability in, in the world and in

00:54:56.320 --> 00:55:00.840
the economy and, and people and, and social environments

00:55:00.840 --> 00:55:04.409
and politics. It's just like, You better not

00:55:04.409 --> 00:55:09.150
put all your eggs in any one basket. And if you

00:55:09.150 --> 00:55:14.710
do, just be prepared for when that fucking basket

00:55:14.710 --> 00:55:17.570
breaks. And you actually said it really good.

00:55:17.829 --> 00:55:21.570
Just because you're working towards A doesn't

00:55:21.570 --> 00:55:23.349
mean you're going to get A. And not necessarily

00:55:23.349 --> 00:55:27.590
A is the highest value, but B might come walking

00:55:27.590 --> 00:55:29.050
through the door and you never expected that.

00:55:29.090 --> 00:55:31.559
You go, oh, fuck. that i could that's for me

00:55:31.559 --> 00:55:33.739
i could do that yeah i didn't you know you don't

00:55:33.739 --> 00:55:36.099
you don't know what the outcome 100 is going

00:55:36.099 --> 00:55:39.019
to be like you just beat the bushes so hard that

00:55:39.019 --> 00:55:41.000
things start coming out of it you go oh yeah

00:55:41.000 --> 00:55:43.659
that sure that that you know even though you

00:55:43.659 --> 00:55:46.019
think this is oh i want this this is what i'm

00:55:46.019 --> 00:55:49.059
going to get you got to be you got to be open

00:55:49.059 --> 00:55:56.239
to to like you know opportunity and and and luck

00:55:56.239 --> 00:56:00.610
in all the forms that it comes in and And you'll

00:56:00.610 --> 00:56:04.829
be surprised when it all starts coming out. It

00:56:04.829 --> 00:56:06.250
doesn't happen the way you think it's going to

00:56:06.250 --> 00:56:10.650
happen. And you can't bet on it like it's all

00:56:10.650 --> 00:56:12.610
going to happen that way because that's just

00:56:12.610 --> 00:56:16.190
not how it fucking works. You used the phrase

00:56:16.190 --> 00:56:18.230
earlier, manufactured stress, when you talk about

00:56:18.230 --> 00:56:20.130
the Marines. And I could relate to that too because

00:56:20.130 --> 00:56:22.170
some of the chaos in my early life, I remember

00:56:22.170 --> 00:56:25.929
the fire service, fire academy, boot camp style

00:56:25.929 --> 00:56:28.619
training. It just used to make me smile. Like,

00:56:28.639 --> 00:56:30.539
you know, I knew it was a game. It just wasn't

00:56:30.539 --> 00:56:32.400
stressful to me compared to, you know, what I'd

00:56:32.400 --> 00:56:34.579
lived up to that point. But obviously I towed

00:56:34.579 --> 00:56:36.599
the line. I, you know, did everything I had to

00:56:36.599 --> 00:56:39.000
do above and beyond. But I always knew in the

00:56:39.000 --> 00:56:40.639
back of my mind that, you know, all the shouting

00:56:40.639 --> 00:56:44.119
and screaming was just pantomime. But when you

00:56:44.119 --> 00:56:47.280
look at what's going on today, it's the sad use

00:56:47.280 --> 00:56:49.860
of that word because it is manufactured stress.

00:56:50.599 --> 00:56:52.639
And realistically, a lot of the shit that people

00:56:52.639 --> 00:56:54.880
are arguing with, fighting over, worried about

00:56:54.880 --> 00:56:57.179
is just manufactured. You know, the boogeyman

00:56:57.179 --> 00:56:58.900
is going to get you that you're told is your

00:56:58.900 --> 00:57:01.360
enemy because you're the different religion or

00:57:01.360 --> 00:57:04.059
political party or, you know, insert label here.

00:57:04.320 --> 00:57:07.539
And it's so sad because we are so, so fortunate

00:57:07.539 --> 00:57:09.860
as a nation. As you said, we live probably more

00:57:09.860 --> 00:57:12.599
comfortably than any culture around the world

00:57:12.599 --> 00:57:15.679
up to this point. And yet we've got this manufactured

00:57:15.679 --> 00:57:18.800
division that's creating so much mental ill health

00:57:18.800 --> 00:57:22.730
and stress. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it sucks. It's,

00:57:22.730 --> 00:57:26.269
it's, it taxes, it taxes me. I, you know, it's

00:57:26.269 --> 00:57:28.329
part of the anxiety that I feel every day. I'm

00:57:28.329 --> 00:57:30.869
just like, you know, I'm good. I'm working and

00:57:30.869 --> 00:57:32.929
things are good, but it's like in the background,

00:57:33.030 --> 00:57:35.110
you're just like, what the fuck is happening?

00:57:35.190 --> 00:57:37.670
Like, why, what is that noise? It just keeps

00:57:37.670 --> 00:57:40.230
getting louder and louder and louder. And it,

00:57:40.309 --> 00:57:45.590
and it's very, it, that noise. I mean, I can't

00:57:45.590 --> 00:57:47.230
help, but I'm not, you know, I'm not a conspiracy

00:57:47.230 --> 00:57:48.909
theorist and all that bullshit, but I can't help,

00:57:48.929 --> 00:57:51.510
but look at it and go. this shit is on purpose

00:57:51.510 --> 00:57:55.769
like this is very much like someone is turning

00:57:55.769 --> 00:58:00.389
the fucking dial up on us and it's uh if i think

00:58:00.389 --> 00:58:02.090
about it too much it like you know it upsets

00:58:02.090 --> 00:58:04.269
me and it that's why i can't get into politics

00:58:04.269 --> 00:58:06.969
and all that shit because it's it's very upsetting

00:58:06.969 --> 00:58:09.690
it's very very upsetting man which is you know

00:58:09.690 --> 00:58:11.570
why i just decided to kind of do because part

00:58:11.570 --> 00:58:13.289
of the reason i just like lean so heavy into

00:58:13.289 --> 00:58:16.889
comedy it's like i can't uh i can't spend too

00:58:16.889 --> 00:58:20.380
much time thinking about all the problems in

00:58:20.380 --> 00:58:23.519
the world and shit. You try to act locally, take

00:58:23.519 --> 00:58:25.119
care of the people near you and next to you,

00:58:25.179 --> 00:58:26.659
your family and your friends, and be good to

00:58:26.659 --> 00:58:28.500
the people near you, be good to people, be good

00:58:28.500 --> 00:58:30.119
to the people you see every day and the people

00:58:30.119 --> 00:58:32.699
you come in contact with. All that other shit,

00:58:32.780 --> 00:58:35.559
man, I don't have the bandwidth for it. I'll

00:58:35.559 --> 00:58:39.659
go crazy. I do not. I cannot. I just can't. It'll

00:58:39.659 --> 00:58:42.099
turn me into someone that I don't want to be.

00:58:43.000 --> 00:58:44.659
Well, I think when we all have a realization

00:58:44.659 --> 00:58:47.780
universally that it is a deliberate division,

00:58:48.439 --> 00:58:51.860
by whatever is above the two puppet strings that

00:58:51.860 --> 00:58:54.059
are those two political parties at this point.

00:58:54.320 --> 00:58:57.059
George Carlin, how many comedians have been telling

00:58:57.059 --> 00:59:00.760
us this for decades? I was going to say decorations,

00:59:00.980 --> 00:59:04.079
that's the wrong word. For decades now, the same

00:59:04.079 --> 00:59:06.360
message, like just take a step back and look

00:59:06.360 --> 00:59:08.219
at the bigger picture. And they're so true. And

00:59:08.219 --> 00:59:09.760
all of a sudden you realize that you're actually

00:59:09.760 --> 00:59:11.699
standing together, not against each other anymore.

00:59:12.360 --> 00:59:15.159
So, you know, I had a neuroscientist on yesterday.

00:59:15.800 --> 00:59:18.400
And I asked him, talk to me about the psychology

00:59:18.400 --> 00:59:21.380
behind creating stress and what that does for

00:59:21.380 --> 00:59:23.519
the ability to critically think about things.

00:59:23.739 --> 00:59:25.980
And he said it's a complete direct correlation.

00:59:26.340 --> 00:59:29.159
The more stressed and under -slept people are,

00:59:29.340 --> 00:59:32.460
the less they can critically think. And so if

00:59:32.460 --> 00:59:34.500
you are divided and stressed, then you're not

00:59:34.500 --> 00:59:37.000
going to question how these people get into power

00:59:37.000 --> 00:59:39.300
in the first place of both sides and how many

00:59:39.300 --> 00:59:41.079
of their friends are making billions while our

00:59:41.079 --> 00:59:42.940
soldiers are going to war or whatever the thing

00:59:42.940 --> 00:59:45.780
is. And there's no question that it's deliberate.

00:59:46.019 --> 00:59:48.599
And I think the way that we fight that as a nation

00:59:48.599 --> 00:59:51.920
is to take a step back, not look at the sides

00:59:51.920 --> 00:59:54.380
that you're told that you are part of, but look

00:59:54.380 --> 00:59:56.360
at the shared humanity that you're definitely

00:59:56.360 --> 01:00:01.340
a part of. Yeah. Yeah, we have much more in common

01:00:01.340 --> 01:00:05.199
than we have in different, you know. 100%. You

01:00:05.199 --> 01:00:09.179
know, kind of bringing it back home here, I think...

01:00:09.869 --> 01:00:12.409
That's one thing that I have found in LA and

01:00:12.409 --> 01:00:15.150
with these shows I'm doing for the military and

01:00:15.150 --> 01:00:17.369
first responders. When I first started doing

01:00:17.369 --> 01:00:21.550
these shows, I was just trying to get stage time.

01:00:21.869 --> 01:00:24.630
That's all it was. It really turned into this

01:00:24.630 --> 01:00:30.869
thing where I realized that I was bringing value

01:00:30.869 --> 01:00:36.309
to these young men and service women. I realized

01:00:36.309 --> 01:00:39.130
even though I was pissed off at the Marine Corps,

01:00:40.300 --> 01:00:43.119
When I got out, I realized that like, yo, I'm

01:00:43.119 --> 01:00:46.639
still a Marine and I still love Marines. And

01:00:46.639 --> 01:00:51.900
I have so much in common, my comedy and all that

01:00:51.900 --> 01:00:54.960
is so much in common with these young guys. And

01:00:54.960 --> 01:00:58.340
then also I start bringing these other comedians

01:00:58.340 --> 01:01:02.039
with me and I watch two things happen. I watch

01:01:02.039 --> 01:01:05.340
these comedians get to have these incredible

01:01:05.340 --> 01:01:09.309
experiences with these awesome crowds. and develop

01:01:09.309 --> 01:01:11.590
themselves as comics in front of these crowds.

01:01:11.929 --> 01:01:14.230
And then I watched these crowds, these guys who

01:01:14.230 --> 01:01:15.409
are, you know, a lot of these, they're young

01:01:15.409 --> 01:01:17.550
Marines. And I asked at the top of the show,

01:01:17.610 --> 01:01:18.969
I go, who's been to a comedy club? You know,

01:01:19.010 --> 01:01:21.309
who's, who's seen like a live standup show and

01:01:21.309 --> 01:01:24.670
99 % of them have not. So I'm exposing these

01:01:24.670 --> 01:01:28.809
guys to this for the first time. And I get to

01:01:28.809 --> 01:01:30.449
watch them take it in, you know, and I bring

01:01:30.449 --> 01:01:32.550
all kinds of comics. I bring people from all

01:01:32.550 --> 01:01:35.679
different walks of life and I'm watching. these

01:01:35.679 --> 01:01:38.179
young men and service women from whatever background

01:01:38.179 --> 01:01:40.159
and demographic they come from have these moments

01:01:40.159 --> 01:01:43.019
where they go oh i didn't think like this person

01:01:43.019 --> 01:01:44.880
could make me laugh or that i could laugh about

01:01:44.880 --> 01:01:47.380
these things with this type of person or this

01:01:47.380 --> 01:01:48.960
person would even talk about these things and

01:01:48.960 --> 01:01:51.420
make fun of and it becomes this thing where like

01:01:51.420 --> 01:01:56.219
people have this oh we're not so different after

01:01:56.219 --> 01:01:59.239
all we are more alike than we are different and

01:01:59.239 --> 01:02:01.840
and it became it's so powerful because again

01:02:01.840 --> 01:02:03.420
like it was just about stage time and then it

01:02:03.420 --> 01:02:06.960
became like you know these guys are having like

01:02:06.960 --> 01:02:10.519
they're you know it's it's hard to fucking go

01:02:10.519 --> 01:02:12.599
through some of the shit you go through the military

01:02:12.599 --> 01:02:14.239
whether your unit's bad or not you know these

01:02:14.239 --> 01:02:17.960
units these guys are like in these shitty situations

01:02:17.960 --> 01:02:19.920
for extended periods whether it's manufactured

01:02:19.920 --> 01:02:22.900
or not and then we come out and do these shows

01:02:22.900 --> 01:02:24.940
and these guys are like oh my god man like we

01:02:24.940 --> 01:02:29.860
needed this this was incredible and then it took

01:02:29.860 --> 01:02:31.980
me a while to see this but like realizing the

01:02:31.980 --> 01:02:37.920
impact socially and culturally that i'm having

01:02:37.920 --> 01:02:40.840
on these young guys because i'm bringing these

01:02:40.840 --> 01:02:43.159
different comics out and they're these guys are

01:02:43.159 --> 01:02:46.739
experiencing culture in this art form that they

01:02:46.739 --> 01:02:50.019
just would not have experienced otherwise and

01:02:50.019 --> 01:02:53.699
this is their first experience for it and and

01:02:53.699 --> 01:02:55.860
really like you know bridging this gap between

01:02:55.860 --> 01:02:57.800
different types of people and doing it through

01:02:57.800 --> 01:03:02.659
comedy and humor and and making people feel closer

01:03:02.659 --> 01:03:06.010
in a way instead of Like the other, oh, that

01:03:06.010 --> 01:03:08.090
person, those people are like that, you know,

01:03:08.090 --> 01:03:10.570
and getting to like identify with somebody. Holy

01:03:10.570 --> 01:03:13.750
shit, like that's actually a thought that I have,

01:03:13.869 --> 01:03:17.789
you know. I've always said this, the fire service

01:03:17.789 --> 01:03:21.389
is such a great profession to really observe

01:03:21.389 --> 01:03:23.610
exactly what you're talking about. Because if

01:03:23.610 --> 01:03:25.650
we're in all our gear and we're masked up and

01:03:25.650 --> 01:03:28.469
we're in a smoky room, the only prejudice that

01:03:28.469 --> 01:03:30.409
has value is the firefighter that can do their

01:03:30.409 --> 01:03:32.510
job and the firefighter that can't do their job.

01:03:32.550 --> 01:03:35.820
And it's evident on the fire ground. Their religion,

01:03:35.980 --> 01:03:39.300
sexual orientation, you know, pigmentation, whatever

01:03:39.300 --> 01:03:41.559
it is, is irrelevant. You can't see it. All you

01:03:41.559 --> 01:03:43.900
can see is can they or can't they. And I love

01:03:43.900 --> 01:03:45.840
that because that's what it's all about. And

01:03:45.840 --> 01:03:49.280
I think comedy does that too. You know, I love

01:03:49.280 --> 01:03:51.780
South Park, for example. If you make fun of everyone,

01:03:52.039 --> 01:03:54.559
everyone. Then all of a sudden they're holding

01:03:54.559 --> 01:03:56.820
a mirror to all of our ridiculousness, you know,

01:03:56.820 --> 01:03:59.300
and it's not coming from one side. Like they're

01:03:59.300 --> 01:04:01.380
making fun of themselves and everyone else around.

01:04:01.579 --> 01:04:03.699
And I think that, you know, in the fire service,

01:04:03.739 --> 01:04:06.340
we use dark humor to offset the horrible shit

01:04:06.340 --> 01:04:09.340
that we see. So there's so much value in comedy,

01:04:09.400 --> 01:04:11.099
especially when you've got a group of men and

01:04:11.099 --> 01:04:14.139
women that are from all these backgrounds. Their

01:04:14.139 --> 01:04:16.280
shared humanity is they're all Marines and they've

01:04:16.280 --> 01:04:19.320
all signed up to potentially die protecting their

01:04:19.320 --> 01:04:22.340
country. Or protecting indigenous people in another

01:04:22.340 --> 01:04:25.460
country. So I think that comedy is such a great

01:04:25.460 --> 01:04:28.239
vehicle for delivering a lot of this shared humanity

01:04:28.239 --> 01:04:32.840
again. Yeah, no, it really is. You know, there's,

01:04:32.840 --> 01:04:36.239
we call it dark forces. There's forces at work

01:04:36.239 --> 01:04:39.519
trying to make that shit hard too. Like the politics

01:04:39.519 --> 01:04:43.159
finds its way into everything. And it makes this

01:04:43.159 --> 01:04:47.360
art form a little tricky sometimes in certain

01:04:47.360 --> 01:04:50.050
rooms and shit like that. But I feel like for

01:04:50.050 --> 01:04:52.710
the most part, that's one thing that's really

01:04:52.710 --> 01:04:57.030
great about comedy. You know, you get these crowds

01:04:57.030 --> 01:05:00.369
that can come and sit down for a couple hours

01:05:00.369 --> 01:05:03.090
one night, have a few beers and realize like,

01:05:03.110 --> 01:05:08.510
all right, I'm here to listen to people talk

01:05:08.510 --> 01:05:11.849
about the world. And some of it I may not find

01:05:11.849 --> 01:05:16.969
funny, but I can see the humor in it and I can

01:05:16.969 --> 01:05:21.300
appreciate. The work that is being done to express

01:05:21.300 --> 01:05:27.440
these ideas and people give you, you know, at

01:05:27.440 --> 01:05:31.179
the comedy clubs, people give you a lot of room

01:05:31.179 --> 01:05:35.300
to be wrong and be vulnerable and express a thought,

01:05:35.440 --> 01:05:38.460
you know, and you have all that room because

01:05:38.460 --> 01:05:39.960
you're a comic, you know, this isn't the fucking

01:05:39.960 --> 01:05:42.780
HOA meeting. This isn't the, you know, where

01:05:42.780 --> 01:05:45.219
I'm not running for office. I'm up here to like.

01:05:46.089 --> 01:05:49.289
tell you funny stuff you know and and and if

01:05:49.289 --> 01:05:52.110
you just like set all that shit that you're we're

01:05:52.110 --> 01:05:54.269
all dealing with aside because that's what you're

01:05:54.269 --> 01:05:56.210
here for you're here to let loose and be in a

01:05:56.210 --> 01:05:59.289
comedy club then you can have a good time and

01:05:59.289 --> 01:06:01.909
it's uh you know it's it turns out to be this

01:06:01.909 --> 01:06:03.610
really beautiful thing when people can get into

01:06:03.610 --> 01:06:05.489
that headspace like yeah i'm here for comedy

01:06:05.489 --> 01:06:07.190
man i just want to listen to people try and be

01:06:07.190 --> 01:06:10.869
funny one of the most ironic conversations i

01:06:10.869 --> 01:06:13.969
heard robert downey jr was on joe rogan's podcast

01:06:13.969 --> 01:06:15.980
probably a couple years ago now And they were

01:06:15.980 --> 01:06:18.300
talking about his role in Tropic Thunder, where

01:06:18.300 --> 01:06:21.619
he had the blackface. And they were saying, you

01:06:21.619 --> 01:06:24.039
couldn't make that film today. And I remember

01:06:24.039 --> 01:06:26.480
thinking, well, how sad is that statement? The

01:06:26.480 --> 01:06:29.559
whole point of his character is to show how racist

01:06:29.559 --> 01:06:32.920
Hollywood used to be. And you're saying that

01:06:32.920 --> 01:06:35.059
that's censored now. So you're censoring the

01:06:35.059 --> 01:06:37.000
very voice that you're supposed to be having

01:06:37.000 --> 01:06:41.900
to advocate. To talk about the ridiculousness

01:06:41.900 --> 01:06:44.920
of prejudice and racism. So that's when you have

01:06:44.920 --> 01:06:46.760
that censorship where it actually stops people

01:06:46.760 --> 01:06:48.699
having healthy conversations, you know, that

01:06:48.699 --> 01:06:51.019
pendulum has gone way too far by that point.

01:06:51.739 --> 01:06:53.659
Yeah, they're trying to get rid of nuance. And

01:06:53.659 --> 01:06:55.800
it's like you can't you can't do that because

01:06:55.800 --> 01:06:57.300
they're not even trying to get rid of nuance.

01:06:57.320 --> 01:06:59.119
They get rid of the nuance they don't like and

01:06:59.119 --> 01:07:01.019
it just becomes one side. It's like, oh, so it's

01:07:01.019 --> 01:07:03.559
not OK for us. But when it's OK for you, then

01:07:03.559 --> 01:07:07.619
it's OK. Blah, blah, blah. You know. Well, let's

01:07:07.619 --> 01:07:10.880
talk about the Rapid Fire Comedy Tour then. You've

01:07:10.880 --> 01:07:12.860
kind of walked us through your journey of comedy.

01:07:12.960 --> 01:07:14.940
You've talked about bringing on these other comedians.

01:07:15.159 --> 01:07:17.420
Talk to me now about the tour and which groups

01:07:17.420 --> 01:07:20.219
that you're presenting in front of. So right

01:07:20.219 --> 01:07:22.739
now, this year, my main goal is to just spread

01:07:22.739 --> 01:07:24.260
the word about the tour. A lot of people don't

01:07:24.260 --> 01:07:26.679
know about us. I turned it into a 501c3 a few

01:07:26.679 --> 01:07:30.320
years ago because, you know, it's not... It was

01:07:30.320 --> 01:07:32.460
never about like trying to make a bunch of money.

01:07:32.500 --> 01:07:34.639
And it's hard to get money from the military

01:07:34.639 --> 01:07:36.980
to do these shows. It's really hard to find funding

01:07:36.980 --> 01:07:39.860
and get them to like fork it over. And it's a

01:07:39.860 --> 01:07:41.880
whole thing. So I was like, I'll turn it into

01:07:41.880 --> 01:07:43.219
a nonprofit. And then, you know, we can find

01:07:43.219 --> 01:07:45.980
sponsors and donors that way, which we got approved

01:07:45.980 --> 01:07:48.519
to be a nonprofit right when the country shut

01:07:48.519 --> 01:07:50.360
down for COVID. So it's a terrible time to launch.

01:07:52.849 --> 01:07:54.690
A lot of people just don't know about us. And

01:07:54.690 --> 01:07:56.110
that's why I'm doing this podcast run to let

01:07:56.110 --> 01:07:58.110
people know like, hey, this is, you know, I produce

01:07:58.110 --> 01:08:00.929
live comedy shows for the military in the field,

01:08:00.949 --> 01:08:02.789
in the dark, in the dirt, anytime, anyplace.

01:08:03.050 --> 01:08:05.389
And a lot of the shows are free because they

01:08:05.389 --> 01:08:07.489
can't, they just, you know, they can't organize

01:08:07.489 --> 01:08:09.510
with their leadership to get money together.

01:08:10.469 --> 01:08:13.110
As of late, you know, this last year or so, I've

01:08:13.110 --> 01:08:15.230
been getting better about trying to get units

01:08:15.230 --> 01:08:16.909
to work with budgeting and shit. There's been

01:08:16.909 --> 01:08:18.470
some money coming in from them, but it's very

01:08:18.470 --> 01:08:21.189
rare. So I'm looking for people to like come,

01:08:21.270 --> 01:08:22.850
you know, visit it and check out our website

01:08:22.850 --> 01:08:25.270
and donate to us or companies and people that

01:08:25.270 --> 01:08:26.789
just want to sponsor it and partner with the

01:08:26.789 --> 01:08:28.069
brand. You know, they see what we're doing. Oh,

01:08:28.170 --> 01:08:30.489
that's awesome. I like that. My brand does cool

01:08:30.489 --> 01:08:32.789
stuff like that. I would love to like collaborate

01:08:32.789 --> 01:08:36.729
with you. But that's even like secondary. The

01:08:36.729 --> 01:08:39.970
main thing, the primary step one, chapter one,

01:08:40.050 --> 01:08:44.720
verse one is I'd like to have more shows. And

01:08:44.720 --> 01:08:47.460
I've expanded our reach to not just military,

01:08:47.460 --> 01:08:49.560
but first responders, because the first responder

01:08:49.560 --> 01:08:52.439
community is filled with a very similar person.

01:08:52.460 --> 01:08:54.100
A lot of people get out of the military, become

01:08:54.100 --> 01:08:57.560
first responders. And it's a similar work. It's

01:08:57.560 --> 01:09:03.840
that work of serving others and doing it in these

01:09:03.840 --> 01:09:06.079
high stakes environments that put a lot of pressure

01:09:06.079 --> 01:09:10.760
on you. And there's a demand to like. to deal

01:09:10.760 --> 01:09:16.220
and cope and and and navigate heavy things and

01:09:16.220 --> 01:09:18.819
when that shit's over you need a release you

01:09:18.819 --> 01:09:21.720
need that that all right let's come together

01:09:21.720 --> 01:09:24.260
and like have some good vibes too you know let's

01:09:24.260 --> 01:09:26.479
reset all this shit you know that you don't have

01:09:26.479 --> 01:09:28.979
to be in a firefight to need to decompress you

01:09:28.979 --> 01:09:30.479
know you could come out of a burning building

01:09:30.479 --> 01:09:33.180
you could save someone's life you could you know

01:09:33.770 --> 01:09:36.109
You could just be on high alert for days and

01:09:36.109 --> 01:09:38.350
days and days on end and never get that time

01:09:38.350 --> 01:09:41.149
to like have a release. So I really want to be

01:09:41.149 --> 01:09:43.609
able to offer this to the first responders as

01:09:43.609 --> 01:09:47.170
well. So that's the main step is like letting

01:09:47.170 --> 01:09:49.869
people know that I want to put on a show. I want

01:09:49.869 --> 01:09:51.630
to do a comedy show for you, you know, whether

01:09:51.630 --> 01:09:54.029
it's a company party or an annual party or you're

01:09:54.029 --> 01:09:58.050
celebrating something. I'll come out. put on

01:09:58.050 --> 01:10:00.149
a show. It's, I have all the gear, you know,

01:10:00.189 --> 01:10:02.449
even if you have a venue, you know, it's simpler.

01:10:02.510 --> 01:10:04.649
Some venues have some setup, but I have all this

01:10:04.649 --> 01:10:06.729
stuff. I can come out and do it. Not trying to

01:10:06.729 --> 01:10:09.329
get rich, you know, just transportation and boarding

01:10:09.329 --> 01:10:12.149
covered. And then, you know, some money to help

01:10:12.149 --> 01:10:15.210
pay my bills is kind of the, the, the future

01:10:15.210 --> 01:10:16.930
goal I'm working at here, trying to build a career

01:10:16.930 --> 01:10:18.890
out of this and actually be able to do it full

01:10:18.890 --> 01:10:22.420
time. But. I want people to go visit the website,

01:10:22.640 --> 01:10:25.039
check us out, see what we've done. Five took

01:10:25.039 --> 01:10:26.520
me a couple of years, but I finally have a nice

01:10:26.520 --> 01:10:29.000
website that really lays it all out. And that

01:10:29.000 --> 01:10:32.600
if you go to rapid fire comedy tour .org, you

01:10:32.600 --> 01:10:34.399
can see, you know, letters of recommendation

01:10:34.399 --> 01:10:36.640
from previous units that we've done. You can

01:10:36.640 --> 01:10:39.760
watch some videos, a post show interviews with

01:10:39.760 --> 01:10:41.500
people that are talking about what the show was

01:10:41.500 --> 01:10:43.640
like. You can see a lot of like what the shows

01:10:43.640 --> 01:10:47.600
are like. And yeah, man, just check us out. And

01:10:47.600 --> 01:10:51.270
if you like standup comedy and. You have an event

01:10:51.270 --> 01:10:53.970
coming up. I'd love to come out and, you know,

01:10:53.970 --> 01:10:56.770
perform for you and maybe even bring some comedians

01:10:56.770 --> 01:10:58.130
with me, depending on where you're at, what the

01:10:58.130 --> 01:11:01.149
budget is. Brilliant. Well, I know that you're

01:11:01.149 --> 01:11:03.069
short of time now, so I want to thank you so

01:11:03.069 --> 01:11:05.909
much for being so generous with your time and

01:11:05.909 --> 01:11:07.729
coming on the Behind the Shield podcast today.

01:11:08.510 --> 01:11:10.510
Thank you, James. I really appreciate the platform.