I got obsessed with that Kebmo album, Keep It
Simple. I remember that record, yeah. That was
a big album for me also, like at that age. I
was 10, so I guess maybe there you go. There
you go. There you go. It was perfect. And to
be honest with you, you go back and listen to
that album. I think those songs are just nostalgic
for me. Because when you go back and listen to
them, it does feel like the soundtrack to a made
-for -TV Lifetime movie where a grandpa is teaching
his disobedient son how to ride a horse for the
first time. That is Kembo's music. But it's a
beautiful album. Welcome to Overeducated and
Underemployed. We got a really fun episode this
week. Sitting down with my buddy Carson Taylor.
He's got a comedy special coming out next week
on YouTube. It's called Tally Ho. Make sure you
check that out. We got into all kinds of stuff.
Philosophy of comedy. You know, his whole story.
Really, really great conversation. Hope you enjoy
it. I'm going to be up in Athens, Georgia next
week. For like a week. So come find me. I'll
be doing Jittery Joe's Clean Comedy on the 17th.
I'll be doing The Flicker Bar on the 21st. I'll
be doing A Club in Winder, Georgia, just outside
of Athens on the 22nd. So come see me. I'm going
to be doing some new jokes. Those of you up there
that have seen me before, I will be doing all
new stuff. This Saturday, make sure you check
out P -Funk Fest. I'm going to be broadcasting
live on my YouTube channel, so make sure you
go over to the YouTube channel and subscribe.
I'm going to be interviewing members of Parliament
Funkadelic, covering the fest itself, talking
to all the artists there. And I've got some new
equipment to capture it with, so it's going to
look really good. So y 'all look forward to that.
And that's about all I have for you this week.
Here's my interview with Carson Taylor. We get
into it. It's awesome. 15 % fat. Ground beef.
And then I went and... Got sauce. What was the
use of the different beef percentage of fats
for? It was just one that popped up in my head.
Oh, okay. That I've seen before. I didn't know
you got a specific percentage for a specific...
No. I usually just grab whatever gets me out
of there faster. You're just grabbing meat willy
-nilly, huh? Yeah. No. But I see what you're
trying to do. All right, I think we're good to
go. Yeah, we're both on frame. Cool. We're here.
Welcome to Overeducated and Underemployed. I'm
here with Carson Taylor. He's a comedian. He's
also sprung on me last night. He's a pretty good
guitar player, too. Okay. It's easy to impress
me on guitar. I'm a white boy. Yeah. But I'm
going to ask you the same question I ask everybody.
Okay. What's the first song you remember loving
as a kid? Oh, wow. The first song I remember
loving as a kid. Oh, yeah, I have three. Cheater.
Oh, okay. It was all around the same time. It
was Stash by Phish, because my dad was huge into
the band Phish. And then it was Smooth by Rob
Thomas and Santana. Oh, Layla, Eric Clapton,
Derek and the Dominoes. So those are probably
the first three songs I remember loving. And
so the variation of the question that I ask comedians
is, what's the first joke you remember imitating
as a kid? The first joke? More like bit. I remember
my mom and her boyfriend at the time were watching
Chris Rock, Bigger and Blacker, just come out.
And it was the joke about Superman can't walk.
What's next? Aquaman's going to drown in the
bathtub. And I didn't even really understand
that joke too much. I just knew it was funny
because they laughed at it. You know what I mean?
So I remember going to school and telling people
that joke. That was the first joke I remember.
That was probably, like, when I was, like, six
years old or something like that. I remember,
like, standing in my room, the way the living
room was. I could open the door and, like, see
the TV from the thing. So I, like, watched that
whole special, like, from a crack through my
door, basically. It's amazing, like, that end
up being these, it's like a portal into your
parents' world. Yeah. They don't have any idea.
It was a living room TV, and of course I say
it was a big TV back then. It was probably like
this size. You're just like spying on them. Yeah.
I remember watching that special and then watching
the movie Sleepy Hollow. Oh. Yeah. And then I
was like, all right, I'm done watching whatever
they're watching. It freaked me out. At what
point did you start to... Were you really passionate
about music as a kid? Yeah. I wanted to be a
musician all my whole life until I started doing
comedy. Okay. So you're the example of a thing
I talk about all the time on this podcast, which
is that all comedians are going to want to be
rock stars. Yeah. Maybe not all. I was like,
no, that's not me. Yeah, but there's definitely
comedians that you end up finding out they play
music. And there was a time in high school when
they were like, I'm going to be the next Neil
Peart or whatever. So, yeah, no, I totally feel
that because I was definitely in the same way.
Because when I was a kid, my dad was huge in
The Grateful Dead and Phish, and he was a radio
DJ and everything. So I started playing guitar,
and I was obsessed with Jimi Hendrix and all
that stuff. And then you turn 13, and you try
to learn Eruption and all that stuff. In my mind,
I was like, I'm going to perform at Bonnaroo.
Because we went to Bonnaroo when I was 10 and
11 years old. And that was the dream all throughout
high school. One day, we're going to play Bonnaroo.
So yeah, I want to be a rock star for sure. They
have comedians in Bonnaroo. It could still happen.
It could still happen. Anything can happen. But
yeah, and I still make music and release stuff.
I put out a free little... Just an instrumental
album of beats that I made and stuff on Bandcamp.
Okay. There's a link in the description of the
episode. Yeah. So I still make stuff for fun.
Just put it out there, but I do not do anything
for money as far as music at the moment. But
I did have a band called Shropshire Collective.
There's still a band called Shropshire Collective.
Yeah, S -H -R -O -P -S -H -I -R -E Collective.
And we put out an album like two years ago. That's
on Spotify and all that stuff or whatever. Let's
back up a minute. I want to hear about this,
but I feel like we're getting way ahead of ourselves.
Oh, yeah, sorry, dude. I'm rambling. You're fine,
and I want to hear about that, but I want to
hear how you decided, A, to be like, oh, I'm
going to pursue music, and then, B, how you moved
away from that or gave up on it, or it doesn't
sound like you fully gave up on it, but gave
up on it as, I'm going to make it. Yeah. And
now you're making it as a comedian instead. But
I want to back up. So you're passionate about
music as a kid. When did you first get a guitar,
you said? That's my, like, first memories actively.
Because, like, I saw the movie School of Rock.
That was the moment. School of Rock came out,
and I was, like, 10 years old. And we got it
on DVD right when it hit the shelves. And it
changed my life. I remember, like, having a guitar.
And at first I only had a guitar with one string.
And it was this old electric guitar or whatever,
like this, like, Gibson knockoff SG. And I would
just sit there and watch and just play that one
string over and over again and try to learn.
Like, my neighbors taught. Tenacious D had the
one -note song. Oh, I didn't even know that.
Tenacious D's got a one -note song. Oh, okay.
So, I mean, they. I think you were just on the
same wavelength as John. I just knew I had to
get started at that age. But then eventually
I got all six strings. And then I would watch
that movie and I would slow down the part where
he was teaching the kid. I think he teaches them
Highway to Hell, Iron Man, and Smoke on the Water.
Right, that is the way he teaches them. And so
in super slow -mo, I would just sit there and
watch their hands and I would just try to learn.
That's amazing. This is pre -YouTube for those
of you out there. Yeah, that's two years before
YouTube, I think. Closest thing you could get
to do instructional videos. All I had was that,
and then we had Comcast On Demand, and I think
HBO, because we had a subscription, they had
free guitar lesson videos. So it would be like
a guy teaching you how to play. Because back
then, at that age, I was obsessed with Green
Day. So they'd teach me how. when I come around
and all that stuff. So that's how I started learning
power chords, just through Comcast On Demand.
I think they're Xfinity now. So what was the
first concert that you remember going to as a
kid? First concert that I remember going to as
a kid? Ooh. As far as my memories, it's the first
Bonnaroo. Okay. Yeah. When you went to is a four.
Yeah. So it'd have been like the second or third
Bonnaroo. Third one. Yeah. No two. Yeah. So then
the third Bonnaroo. Well, yeah. Anyway, somewhere
there, it was the early years before it got bought
by wide nation and all that. Yeah. So I remember.
Oh, actually, I'll tell you, Noah, my earliest
concert memory is actually going to the North
Mississippi All -Stars soundcheck at Soul Kitchen
because my dad is friends with the owner of the
Soul Kitchen and he worked for 92 Zoo at the
time. And so it was just a radio station and
mobile. And so he we would listen to the North
Mississippi All -Stars all the time at home.
It was 2004. I think I was at that show, man.
Yeah. So I have Luther. We got to go to soundcheck.
Dickinson and his brother, they let us come on
stage, Cody. And they let my sister play the
drums, and he let me play his guitar. And then
Luther gave me his slide, which is still the
slide I use today. Although I suck at slide guitar.
When I mess around with it, that's the slide
I've had since 2004. I was like 10. And there's
a picture of him putting his guitar on me. And
then I realized, oh, a real guitar is heavy,
dude. It was as heavy as I was. It was weighing
me down. What a cool experience. I've had Luther
Dickinson, his assistant producer, Cody Shade
Harrell. He's Cedric Burnside's bass player,
but he plays with those guys a lot nowadays.
I've been listening to those guys since I was
18 years old. The All -Stars were my path from
rock into Americana and blues. And like the more
modern stuff, not the... Not classic blues. But
I got into the All -Stars before I got into the
Drive -By Truckers. They were like my pathway.
Their album Polaris, which came out in 2003,
I think. That was a huge album for me. The experimental
one they did. It was a little more poppy. When
I was a kid, me and my little sister, that was
a huge CD to us. We'd listen to that all the
time. I think it's all them sitting there and
it's like a greenish background or whatever.
I know the record. I'll go, dude, that for me,
it's like when I go back and listen to that album,
it's like my childhood again. Like, I love that
album. Yeah, it's like freshman year of college
for me. Nice. Oddly enough, it was like when
I was growing up, my two biggest albums were
that one and like early part of childhood. It
was that one and Chingy Jackpot. Chingy's a rapper
from St. Louis. That is not something I've heard
of. He had a song called Right There and Holiday
Inn that were huge in 2003, 2004. I think I remember
Holiday Inn. Yeah, it was with Ludacris and Snoop
Dogg. Yeah, that was... Ludacris. But that was
2003, 2004 for me. North Mississippi All -Stars
and Chingy. That's what I was obsessed with.
It's about electric blue watermelon, and it's
like the world's collided. That's the chopped
and screwed. Yeah, I forget about that one. They
threw the electric blue watermelon into that.
That's right. I've got a copy of it laying around
here somewhere, man. Yeah. It doesn't hold up.
By 2007, I became obsessed with Nirvana and The
Doors. So like early part of childhood, it was
North Mississippi All -Stars and like hip hop.
And then 2007, it was literally, I think for
two or three years, all I listened to was Nirvana
and The Doors. So in 05 at Bonnaroo, which you
were at too, right? North Mississippi All -Stars
played, but then they also played that thing
with... John Medesky and Robert Randolph, The
Word. Oh, man, I love The Word. I love The Word.
I've never seen them, but I've... My dad used
to listen to that. He probably did. Yeah, my
dad, like, that album, that, like, tannish brown
album, yeah, with the hard writer, that album
rules. The Word's awesome. They're badass. It's
just cool to me. I'm thinking we've been in a
lot of the same concerts long before we ever
knew each other. I know, but I was like a fourth
grader. Not much older than that. That's the
thing. When I talk to people that are either
a little bit older than me or a little bit younger
than me, now the age difference doesn't mean
shit until you start talking about back then.
The opposite is true, too, for children's programming.
Now, I had a kid in 2007, 2008, 2009. But a lot
of the time, somebody will be talking about some
children's programming that they grew up on,
and I'm like, I have no idea what you're talking
about. All the really good cartoons I grew up
on and stuff, all the younger people, they know
a lot of it. Because it stuck around. And they
rule. It stuck around. I grew up on like early
Simpsons. My dad, like when I was a kid, my dad,
there was a time where I don't even know if we
had cable because he had all these stacks of
VHS tapes that he had taped of the Simpsons himself.
And he would even stop the record during the
commercials and then record again. netflix in
1999 of like just all commercial free simpsons
on vhs tape that he labeled and he just labeled
them like simpsons 1 simpsons 11 so you had to
guess which one would be a season because maybe
like simpsons 14 would they were all just randomly
what would come on tv So Simpsons 14, it would
start off with an episode from Season 8, Episode
6. And then it would go into Season 3, Episode
2. So you never know what you got. But we would
figure out, like, we like the compilation of
Simpsons 17 is a good one. So that one would
get set to the side. And we have the greatest
hits section. Springfield Roulette. Yeah, we
knew what episodes we wanted. The softball one
was huge. We loved that one. Did you ever star
in the really good ones? Maybe. There's a chance,
yeah. There's a chance. What were some of the
other comedy that really got you rocks off? SpongeBob.
Early SpongeBob as a kid. I remember watching
the premiere episode of SpongeBob when it first
came on television. Growing up with those first
three seasons, it took over. I took over every
classroom in America. Yeah, I got into Spongebob
way later when I just... Yeah. Stoner culture.
Or just by the time I had a kid that got into
Spongebob. But I missed the window. I was too
old for Spongebob. Yeah. So I got into Spongebob
later. But if I had not had a kid or while it
was on, I had no idea about Spongebob. Now, like...
I think I told you last night, like, I took mushrooms
and watched the Spongebob musical, and it was
one of the greatest fucking nights of my life.
Yeah. Fantastic. I love Spongebob. I feel like
from, like, 1999 to 2003, as far as, like, references
and being part of a culture, Spongebob was to
kids what Chappelle's show was for adults. Like,
we knew the lines and the references, and we
tried to do the characters. It was a big deal.
I was not aware of it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. At least
it was where I grew up. This one probably was
huge for us. I'm sure it was. I think those are
the kinds of cultural things, though, that I...
But we also... I love Chappelle's show, too.
I would go to my friend Dwight's house. His parents...
His mom was cool. He got to play Grand Theft
Auto. So I was like, I go over there and I get
to play Grand Theft Auto. So that was cool. And
then when I went over there, I saw Chappelle's
show for the first time. And it was like... I
didn't fully get everything, but I was like,
something's happening here. Chappelle's just
funny. Yeah, he's one of my all -time favorites.
He's made his mistakes like anybody else. I haven't
seen his last two or three specials, but hands
down, he's one of the greatest of all time. The
thing that bothers me, and we don't have to get
too super into this, but the thing that bothers
me about him is... I don't think that the material
that he keeps getting in trouble for is worth
the trouble. Yeah. It's not funny enough to be
like, regardless of any punching down, like,
I don't even want to get into all that, but I'm
just saying it's not funny. Like it's not funny
enough hill for him to die on. That's what I
would say. And then his last special was like
an hour and 20 minutes. And if you cut that,
that 20, if you cut 20 minutes of it, it was
fucking amazing. Yeah. So I just don't think
that I think he's doubling down on the wrong
shit and it's making him less funny. Yeah. His
humor as far as what I've heard other people
say and stuff it seems like his newer specials
have definitely like caused more divide than
his earlier stuff. But and it's like He's speaking
his mind as part of being in America. I need
to check him out before I really have an opinion
on him. You know what I mean? We're not even
trying to comment on the content. I just don't
think... At a certain point, I think he's letting
his, like, desire to prove that he will keep
doing whatever he wants is making him less funny.
I feel that. Like, sometimes, like... I think
some people can get way too preachy. But see,
that's the other thing. It's hard to say that
about him because sometimes he'll have 15 minutes
of silence that builds up to one line that like,
boom, it explodes in the room and you just have
to sit there and be like, this guy's a genius.
I think what's important is like... What we were
talking about that I think is relevant to what
I'm after here on this podcast is your early
influences of comedy and your early influences
of music. Did that ever converge for you? Music
and comedy? I was never a big Weird Al fan. I
remember when White and Nerdy was huge growing
up. I would watch his, because I was such a Nirvana
fan, I would go back and watch his Smells Like...
Team Spirit or whatever the song is. It smells
like Nirvana. Yeah, it smells like Nirvana. That's
what it is. That's what it is. I think it smells
like Team Spirit instead of Team. I don't know.
Anyway, but it was probably one of the early
days of YouTube and someone would just be wrong.
Like when everyone thought Phish was that bluegrass
band that covered gin and juice. Or Napster.
I remember Napster. It was probably one of those
situations. So I knew Weird Al from just a handful
of songs, like A Surgeon and all that. But I
can't ever say that I was a huge fan or I knew
too much about him. I haven't watched that movie
on him either, which I hear is good. So you weren't
super into Weird Al, but did music and comedy
ever really cross over for you? Music and comedy
stuff that kind of crossed over for me, really,
that I realized was this is like when I was young.
the Chappelle show, the episode with John Mayer.
Oh yeah. Where he played the guitar. Cause I
was just starting to learn how to play the guitar.
Like when that episode came out and had it on
DVD. It's one of my favorites. Yeah. Actually
what I was referencing when I said it was easy
to impress me with guitar. Cause I'm a white
boy. Yeah, dude. And that was huge to me because,
like, eventually, this might have been a few
years after it came out, but eventually my parents
just let me, like, have a Chappelle show on DVD
because I, like, kept talking about it. So they
obviously watched the whole damn thing. So I
was obsessed with that sketch. And I just loved
how he played guitar on it, on each one. And
then at the end, when they started doing the
theme songs, it was, like, hilarious. And so
that was a huge influence, I think, on how comedy
and music can go together. He even did music.
But he had a song that I remember being obsessed
with. And then this guy that used to be a, what
was his name? Oh, Demetri Martin. Oh, yeah, Demetri.
Loved Demetri Martin. And so, like, when he would
do musical comedy every now and again, like,
I loved that. Yeah. There's a handful of things
that I realized that it could be married, but
I never. That's never something you've tried
to do. I've written one funny song before. It's
a breakup song, but it's also each last line
is funny. You know what I mean? At first, I actually
just went through a breakup, and I meant for
just the song to be sad. And then I played it
for somebody, and they laughed. And I was like,
yeah, that is ridiculous. So now I realize it's
just a comedy song. You know what I mean? Like,
I think there's some poetry in there in the beginning.
And then it just goes into ridiculousness. Was
it soul -crushing when they just laughed? No.
Maybe it was obvious. I was like, yeah, this
is funny. You were like, oh, I'm hearing this
out loud for the first time, too. I played it
at, like, one open mic before. But I don't...
It just feels weird to do music and comedy. Frank
Zappa is... I love that. That's incredible to
me. Or like Parliament Funkadelic, the way that
they use comedy and music is awesome. But it's
still... I feel like when you do it in a musical
way like that, on that big level, like Fish is
very comical and sometimes on their New Year
shows they'll do big things. But I feel like
it almost has to be more theatrical in a way.
And I'm just not a theatrical... I just sort
of like... Musicals or... I remember when Across
the Universe came out. That was good. But I've
never been a huge... I'm trying to think if I
ever liked a musical. So there's old musicals
that I've seen that I love. On the Town with
Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly and another guy
that I can't... But that one, the sets are huge.
There's this one where this... It's like they
obviously just use the stage, but the way that
they do the background, you're like, where is
this filmed? It's crazy, like in the Superdome.
And yeah, some of that stuff's just... I love
old films. One of my favorite movies that I haven't
watched in a while, but I have it on DVD, and
I'll go back and watch it from time to time,
is the original Ten Commandments. And I'm not
a religious person at all. But I love that movie.
Just the story of Moses rules. And just how big
that they basically just built Egypt. And like
now that everything's like digital and can be
AI now and everything, it ruins like a huge aesthetic
of like back in the day, they would just hire
a bunch of people. People had jobs. And I was
like, all right, so what are we doing today?
We're building three pyramids. And you're like,
Jesus, let's do it. And it's like crazy. I think
if you watch the Lord of the Rings movies and
then you watch the Hobbit movies. Yeah. That
exemplifies exactly what you're talking about.
You go from these massive sets in the Lord of
the Rings movies, handmade costumes, and everything
being on a fucking green screen. It's just...
Those old movies are wild. The good, bad, and
the ugly. Just some of those shots of the landscapes,
they're incredible. Oh man, his music is fire.
There's just certain musicians where every time
there's a chord change, of course... It just
makes me mad. What is that? It's incredible.
So at what point did you decide you wanted to
be a performer? You're playing guitar as a kid,
and you're performing. It sounds like you're
performative with your friends, repeating sketches
on TV and things like that. But at what point
does it go from, okay, this is a hobby that I
enjoy doing, to I want to take this really seriously.
And not necessarily I want to be a comedian or
I want to be a guitarist or whatever, but it
sounds like you always knew you wanted to be
some kind of entertainer. When did that realization
happen? There was times around, it all probably
was around high school, ninth or tenth grade,
because somewhere around ninth grade, my dad
showed me the movie Pulp Fiction. All of a sudden,
I was like, I didn't realize there's people behind
the camera doing stuff. You know what I mean?
I never looked at it like, you don't realize
what you're not conscious of as a kid until you
become conscious of it. I think it was just the
fact that he was just telling me about Tarantino
and all this stuff. And then we watched Reservoir
Dogs because I started getting at that age. I
was like 15, 16 and stuff. So, yeah, yeah. So
he started showing me. We started watching like
cooler movies that we thought I should see. And
then like Goodfellas and all that. And then I
got obsessed with like directors. and like writing
and stuff like that. So then I would try to write
my own like little short films. And then another
huge moment was I got in a band when I was in
high school and it was these guys, Shropshire.
We, these two guys in high school basically heard
that I could rap because our album is like pretty
much like half hip hop and half like funk. Rock.
So my best friend Curtis, he basically, they
said that they were looking for somebody to join
their band and they wanted someone who could
rap. And he was like, oh, dude, my buddy Carson
can rap. And they're like, really? And they're
like, yeah, and he plays guitar. And they're
like, but he can rap? And then he was like, yeah,
but for some reason he always has to rap about
doo -doo. And that's, we were in the ninth grade.
And I was like, we were obsessed with Dave Chappelle
and all that. Doo -doo's a big word. It's hilarious.
It's so funny. It works. I went to the first
band practice there, and I, like, brought my
guitar, even though I was supposed to rap. And
I was like, I'll play guitar or whatever. And
at that point, I was, like, getting good with
the blue scale and the major scale so I could,
like, solo a little bit. But, like, high school
soloing, which for a smaller town in 2010 wasn't,
like... I go back and in my mind, I was like
shredding back then. I'll go back and listen.
And it's almost like an SNL sketch. It's what
it feels like now. But I knew how to solo a little
bit and be a lead a little bit and like improvise
because I was obsessed with like Fish at that
time and the Grateful Dead and all that stuff,
like around 16. So I started smoking weed. And
then. And there's a story that I'll tell you
in a little bit. There's a solidifying moment
where I knew I wanted to be a live performer.
But I got into the band, and we, like, in a year,
it was, like, all we worried about, dude. Like,
I'm sure all of our grades were, like, slipping.
We had to be the best band. And so we got to
play Bay Fest, which was cool in Mobile. And
then we played three shows at the Soul Kitchen
in high school. That's wild. So it was fun and
then everybody went to college and then we were
like doing that thing where it's like we'd all
get back together for three months and do shows
and then everybody would go their separate ways
and get back together for three months and do
shows. We did that for years and then COVID happened
and my buddy Zeke hit me up and he was like hey
man we should we're always trying to like still
rap and freestyle and make beats and mix. We
love like mixing genres and stuff so we have
songs where it's It's like a hip -hop beat, but
it's got slide guitar and electric piano. Just
different. Just having fun, trying to mix. I'm
stoked to listen to this. Trying to mix. It's
half comedy, half serious, half hip -hop, half
rock and funk. It's fun. I enjoy it. It's weird.
One thing that I'm still upset about is we named
the first song. The first song is beautiful,
in my opinion. I really think it's the best song
on the album that opens the thing. And the album's
called For the Children. And so Zeke just named
it Drops of Poopeter. And I feel like when people
read that, it's like, dude, still, 20 years later,
the poop and doo -doo jokes, it doesn't end.
Train of them. Yeah, and I just feel like when
people read that, they're just like, I don't
know if I'm going to listen to that one. And
it's like, oh, that should be called just, no,
please, this is a beautiful song. I'd rather
call it that. You know what I mean? That's hilarious.
But yeah, no, so it's a weird album, but I enjoy
it. You said a minute ago there was a moment
you realized you wanted to be a live performer.
The moment I realized I wanted to be a live performer
was when I was 16 and my dad, or maybe 17, but
my dad took me and two of my friends to our first
ever fish show in Alpharetta, Georgia. So it
was like 2011. It was June 14th and 15th, 2011.
And we went, and the first night, Me and my friends,
like, snuck and got some mushrooms, and we ate
them. And so we tripped for the first show, and
it was like, oh, man, this is incredible. And
then for the second show, we, like, slipped away
from my dad so we could, like, do more, get in
more trouble. We, like, the second show, there
was, like, this crazy thunderstorm. It was, like,
almost like Tornado Watch. It was wild, dude.
It was lightning. A tree like fell over on a
concession stand. Was this the Hi -Fi Buys Amphitheater?
It was the, back then it was the Verizon Wireless
Amphitheater. The first time I went to it, I
think it was called the Lakewood Amphitheater.
But yeah, so we... It was like going, we were
tripping our balls off and it was going down,
dude. Like the storm was crazy and they were
in the middle of the song Mound and it was getting
weird. And then they knew they had to leave the
stage. So Trey goes into the mic and he's just,
sorry guys, we have to leave. There's a storm,
storm, storm. They just got to keep doing all
that and messing with the noise and everything.
And then lightning struck and everyone screamed
and they kept hitting this bell on the stage.
It was just a lot to take in as a kid. And this
lady behind me was freaking out. And she, like,
grabbed me and started swinging me while the
music was going on. And it was like we started,
like, sliding down the mud on the hill or whatever.
And I was, like, got to the point that I was,
like, scared. And then next thing you know, we.
we're like they left the stage and everyone's
just like trying to pile under the pavilion and
we're like sitting there just like getting soaked
and rain's like pouring down and we're trying
to make our way through all these people and
then next thing you know there was this dude
that i had met i don't know who he was anything
about him and then next thing you know he We
like get through all these people and there's
just this patch of just empty space. And I look
up and that guy's just standing there and he's
wearing George and a black trench coat. And he
just looks at me and I looked at him like, and
he just goes, I know. And we hugged and I just
instantly felt better. And then it was a great
experience. But that was the moment that fish
there. When the show started, they played this
bluegrass cover, Paul and Silas, and it was clear,
blue, beautiful skies, and each song got darker,
and the clouds got darker. Then as soon as I
felt better, I was like, I don't know what's
going on, but I want to do this to people. I
want to take people on a journey like this. That
was the moment that I knew I was like, I want
to be a live performer. At the time, musician,
but now comedian. That's wild as hell. I had
a similar experience with panic one time. I was
on mushrooms and they were playing spirit of
the Swanee music park. It started. It was like
one of the really good panic shows. Yeah. Cause
we've talked before and I think everybody knows
like panic can be really great and they can be
really not great. Yeah. But this was a great
night. This was a great show. And it started,
it wasn't scary. It didn't get scary. But it
did feel like they were controlling the weather.
Dude. I was convinced. Because they started playing
Maggot Brain. Yeah. And the skies opened up.
And I'm just like, it's these fucking sorcerers,
man. Dude, I'm telling you. I tell people all
the time, I have friends that hate jam bands.
They're not into it. And I try to get them to
go to a show with me. Because I finally convinced
my buddy Curtis to come see Fish with me. And
we saw him three times. I think he just went
to one show. I went to three. But he finally
got it because he was like, oh, shit, this is
like a fucking wild party. And I was like, dude.
But the moments when your favorite band gets
deep in a jam and they're like locked in, you're
like, this is like one of the, you know what
I mean? I think we were talking last night about
the drive -by truckers. I played you that video.
Of them doing Hell No, I Ain't Happy, going into
Prince's Sign of the Time. Yeah. That's one of
those moments for me when they're like, when
I've seen them do that. There's been times where
I've seen them do that where it's just like,
they are nowhere but with each other and with
us and present. Yeah. And there's nothing like
that in the world, man. Yeah. And I think that's
the kind of shit that I locked into as a kid
with music that made me, I don't know that I
ever wanted to be it. a rock star or whatever,
but I have followed bands around since I was
like 13 years old, nonstop. It's just, that's
what I do. Like my hobby is traveling and going
to concerts. Yeah. What was, do you, did you
struggle with like anxiety or depression as a
kid? Was he, were these like an escape for you?
Um, maybe. I mean, my parents were divorced.
My dad, he got a divorce. He got two different
divorces in my childhood. I didn't struggle with
depression or anything, but I think definitely
from maybe some of that stuff, I really got locked
in to how music can take you to a million different
places. I remember maybe around that time when
he was like, Going through stuff, I got obsessed
with that Kebmo album, Keep It Simple. Yeah,
I remember that record. Yeah, that was a big
album for me also, like at that age. I was 10,
so I guess maybe there you go. There you go.
There you go. It was perfect. And to be honest
with you, you go back and listen to that album.
I think those songs are just nostalgic for me.
Because when you go back and listen to them,
it does feel like the soundtrack to a made -for
-TV Lifetime movie where a grandpa is teaching
his disobedient son how to ride a horse for the
first time. That is Kembo's music. But it's a
beautiful album. It reminds me of that thing.
Remember that? Hawaiian guitarist is. Beautiful.
That's what will make you cry. Yeah. And I don't
know anything else that he does. Assume that
his other songs are just like, here's a song
from Aladdin. And then he just does another hit
song from people's childhoods. Because I don't
know any other thing that he covers. I would
love to think this would be awesome if he. Did
that one song and then I go to find his other
music and turns out he just did like outcast
covers. That would be, I want that to be the
truth. I only knew, he had one record that I
knew of that had that Over the Rainbow cover
on it. I think he passed away. Yeah, he did pass
away. But I don't think anybody knew anything
other than they would buy that album and they
would only listen to Over the Rainbow. Because
depending on what you're going through, it could
make or break your day. Like it might be the
last song you want to listen to for the day.
You're like, all right, and we did that. We did
that. Yeah. It was like 50 first dates. When
you get to the end and he sees his daughter,
spoiler alert, or she sees his daughter, whatever.
You know how it ends. That song starts playing,
and every time you're like. I guess I watched
what after this? That 70s show? I should read
a book and go to sleep. So at that point, did
you think you wanted to be a musician? Yeah,
I wanted to be a musician. When you had that
moment. For sure. I was in the band at the time,
and then we broke up after we were together for
a year, and then we broke up, and me and one
of the guys and another dude started a jam band
senior year of high school called The Young Uncles.
I'm pretty sure that Ben Folds wrote that. Yeah?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He just took the long way of
kicking one dude out. Because we ended up having,
so like we ended up having a, it's so funny because
the album ends up becoming both these things,
but we had an argument between the band where
two of us wanted to be more of a jam band after,
because we went to that fish show and we came
back and we're like, guys, we went to the bass
player of the drummers. You don't get, you don't
understand what we could do. You don't. We need
to be playing 31 -minute songs that change people's
lives. Not the skills to be doing that at all.
We should be playing 2 -minute and 30 -second
songs and learning proper chord structure and
changes. So we literally, what happened was the
other guys, they wanted to be like the Red Hot
Chili Peppers. And when you listen to our new
stuff, it's basically like a jammy Chili Peppers,
like when you listen to the album we made. But
yeah, eventually it's just like, okay, I think
we're just these guys and we just need to have
fun. We were in the bass player to take mushrooms
is probably what happened. Yeah, we were, for
that age, we were doing wild shit. You came back.
From the fifth show, and you had also, like,
you had been on psychedelics during this. Experience,
yes. You're, like, wiser now. Oh, dude. You come
back and you're like, I've been through, I've
seen the shit, guys. And it's so funny to be
like that when the place that you went to be
enlightened waters $11. You know what I mean?
No, I went to the land of the free to learn to
meet my God. And you don't start doing comedy
for like another almost 10 years at that point?
No, I did comedy. I started doing comedy when
I was 20. So I started four years later. Like
25. I'm 30. I'm about to be 32 in four days.
Forgetting how young you are. Oh, yeah. I'm so
gray. I'm bald. I got, I'm starting to go gray.
You got your hair, man. Yeah, that's true. Yeah,
this is, I'm like hoping eventually maybe I can
just pull off like this Dobby look or something.
You just gotta, you just gotta enjoy what you
are. Enjoy what you wear. That's the trick to
comedy. Crowds will eat you alive if they think
you're uncomfortable. And not even in a they'll
heckle you way. You can just feel them not like
you. You know what I mean? Or they're nervous
for you because they can tell you're nervous
for yourself kind of thing. I had set myself
up for an advantage. to start really strong with
comedy was I had already taught college. I'd
already taught adults. I was already very comfortable
up in front of a room of people that didn't necessarily
want to hear me talk. Yeah. In front of people
that were like, this is fucking school or this
is required training that the state's making
me do or whatever. And I think... Just being
comfortable in that situation. I can go up and
bomb and it doesn't bother me. It doesn't bother
me at all. I'll learn from it. I feel like I
have enough sensibility to know whether it was
me or the room. Sometimes it's both. There's
this synergistic energy in a comedy show. The
crowd has to want to laugh. They also have to
feel like they're in good hands. Yeah. Because
comedy is one of those things, especially on
the lower open mic level, stuff like that. People
don't know what anyone's going to say, and they're
just there to eat a sandwich. Yeah, and I think
that's one of the ways that Kill Tony has really
damaged our industry. Yeah. That type of comedy
is lord shit. It's like the yin and yang, because
I'm not a big fan of the show. I have friends
that have done it, and I support them. I wouldn't
do it. Yeah, 100%. If I was in Austin when it
was going on, I'd probably sign up and check
it out. But Tony is the worst part of the show.
There is a good and bad to it. And just from,
I think, what could end up happening with some
people is they get to a point in their career
way too early. that they're not ready for. And
then when you go to these towns and you have
a bad set because you weren't ready to do 45
minutes, you should have been doing 15. Then
also there's the fear that that might hurt you.
Not forever, because I think people's time, as
long as you get better, there's nothing that
anyone can say if you're getting better. You
know what I mean? It's just as long as you're
getting better, you know, you're going to be
fine. And so it is one of those things. I have
a buddy who... I've been to Austin twice. I went
before the comedy boom in 2017. When I started,
podcasts blew up. It was like 2014. WTF and Joe
Rogan became the biggest things on the planet.
I waited for Marin to finish it. That put more
eyes on stand -up comedy because all these comedians
were starting podcasts. And then the Kill Tony
thing happened. And then it was like... Kill
Tony is basically the lottery for stand -up comedy.
Right. Where you go and you pull your ticket
and you just pray that your number gets called.
And then there's the second... It's almost...
Imagine to get a million dollars, you buy your
ticket from the gas station, you scratch it off.
They're like, you got the right number. Now three
people are going to punch you in the face. And
if you can withstand it and be funny, you might
become the next whatever. So there's like an
element of it, too, where it feels like the lottery
for comedians. I think that's the element that
I think has damaged the industry the most. The
trickle -down effect of that is that now everybody
thinks they can do comedy. Yeah. And it's one
of the hardest things you can do, I think, period.
And I think one of the issues that, for me personally,
you know, and I can't speak for everybody, but
I think, for me, one thing that I don't like
is that it showcases that comedy. A lot of Kill
Tony, let's say 90 % of it, is... comedians on
an open mic level how many times have you seen
where someone's like first second or third time
ever doing stand -up and it's on they get on
there and i get it you've won in the lottery
you could have you could just happen to just
be perfect for that Three minutes. What a stupid
decision on the part of the comedians. But they
get their clip out of it and all that. So I understand
that. But I think when most comedians start out,
especially just in modern times, we usually start
off trying to do... We think comedy is offensive.
Or we have to go for shocking topics. And I was
the same way. When I first started, my first
couple of joke notebooks were just like... shock
value comedy. And I think a lot of people start
off doing that until they figure out how to make
joke structures and then how to make anything
funny and start putting their personality into
stuff and things like that. So I think it showcases
nationwide that comedy is this thing that it
really is just on the amateur level and some
people just think that's what comedy is. You
know what I mean? Because it is so big. It's
like... the Walmart of comedy right now. And
that's one of the good things that Kill Tony
and Joe Rogan have done. I was a Marin guy big
time. I don't take advice from him unless it's
about fighting or like stage presence. I don't
know if that's good advice. Yeah. If I want to
learn how to shoot a bow and arrow properly,
I'll listen to Joe Rogan. But past that, I'm
not voting a certain way because Joe Rogan's...
I gotta figure it out. But, like, I just think
Joe Rogan and Kill Tony, a part of the reason
why I could even do this tour is, I would say,
a huge part is because of them, because they've
made comedy so popular. Yeah, yeah. I agree.
It's a yin and yang. So, like, it is one of those
things where, like, as much as there's things
that I don't like about it, there's also things
that I'm like, I get to eat a lot off of comedy
because there was not this much work. in the
south 10 years ago i think it's helped the industry
but it's hurt here i think we what you were talking
about i think helped me get to where i really
feel about it and i think what it is i think
that any comedian who thinks it's a good idea
to go on one of the biggest platforms in the
world for comedy their first second or third
time or whatever If you haven't been doing comedy
for like at least six months or a year, I'm not
saying they shouldn't let them on. Yeah. But
I think it's an incredibly stupid career move
to sign up because if you do get pulled in, you
suck. Like first impression. And second, you
only have one minute, which means you can't really
do a story. No. You have to get. It's incredible.
And then. The other thing is, I feel like your
chances are better if you have years of theater.
Because then you're not so nervous about being
in front of a live audience and talking. You
have experience doing that. The people who have
no experience doing that, and it's their second
time ever on stage, and they do Kill Tony, I'm
like, oh my god. I was like, dude, there's no
way you're comfortable. And we can all see it.
For sure. launched this whole conversation is
the moment that you're not comfortable on stage
the audience will eat you alive yeah the moment
they can say now i think there's comics that
can lean into being uncomfortable on stage emo
phillips is a good example i think like he he
is like awkward by nature and and that's his
stick but yeah but he's still in control though
because he has the you know i mean you can still
feel it i feel like people put off an energy
you know Deprecating humor is so effective because
you start saying anything that somebody else
might be thinking about you and it completely
disarms that. I do a lot of self -deprecating
humor just because that's always the kind of...
I grew up, I loved Homer Simpson and Dave Chappelle
and a lot of the times they're the punchline
of the joke or the situation. And so... Yeah,
I've always just enjoyed humor where I just beat
up on myself. And then I have things or observations
and opinions and stuff sprinkled throughout my
set and everything. But for the most part, I
know my story, so I like just figuring out jokes
that I can remember about funny things that happened
in my life. If I have an experience, say I go
through a drive -thru and something hilarious
happens, I need to jot that down. Yeah, I think
for me, it's similar, but it's... Almost just
like the reverse of that, where it's I'll find
a joke about something in the world that I think
is particularly funny. But then I'm like, but
what will really make it funny is if it's really
about my perspective or my insecurity or my whatever.
And usually that's the truth anyway. It's like
getting to whatever it is that I'm uncomfortable
with. in the world usually comes back to me anyhow
but if I could get to the root of that's usually
where it's really clicks because it's okay I'm
no longer criticizing the world I'm just talking
about this thing in the world that bothers me
and here's what about me makes it like incompatible
yeah and yeah I think those are like Especially
the opinionated jokes. The best ones are the
ones that are almost completely bulletproof.
Every angle you think about it, you're like,
damn, that's a good point. You know what I mean?
It's tough to write those. It takes a lot of
figuring it out and thinking about it from different
angles. I have a joke that I worked on. I worked
on it for nine months before I told it on stage.
I workshopped it with one of my friends. Not
because I was worried about whether it was offensive,
but just in case. I'm like, if he thinks it's
funny, then it's bulletproof. I'm not worried
about being offensive because it comes from a
real place and I'm not hateful about any of it.
But if I get him to laugh at the joke, I've won.
It's over. I think it's good to get people's
opinions on it. Definitely. I do that. But I
always am like a believer to just listen to the
audience. Because if something's funny and it's
a good point, audiences will give it up. Let
me clarify. I was working on this joke for nine
months before I ever told it. Because I'm like,
I heard Jerry Seinfeld saying the thing, the
audience will teach you what kind of comedian
you are. And I really think that's so funny just
because it is. He doesn't listen to us. I love
Seinfeld. But I don't think he's a great stand
-up. Oh, I do. I love Seinfeld. I do believe
it's like when you listen, if you're going on
stage and you're completely being yourself, it's
almost like you're this blank marble slab and
every audience chisels away at you until you
become the sculpture you're supposed to be. You
know what I mean? I think I'd approach it the
complete opposite. I started comedy really late
in life. I had a really good idea of who I was,
what my value was. I was in my late 30s, mid
-30s when I started. I had already raised a kid.
I think had I been doing comedy throughout that
time period, that would have been true. But coming
at it as an older person... Stepped away from
my quote -unquote normal life to pursue this
shit. Yeah. I'm more like, here I am. I know
who I am. Rock me like a hurricane. But no, it's
like, I know exactly who I am, and you can either
like me or hate me, but I know that I'll find
the people that like me. For me, it's like the
opposite. Like, I don't... But that's why I waited
nine months before I told that joke on stage.
I knew it wasn't there yet. Once I was confident,
it fucking killed. But I was like, I know it's
not there yet. So it was... I do listen to the
audience if I know a joke is funny, but it's
not working. Because it's, okay, I'm not setting
it up properly. Yeah. I'm not. There's something
I'm not doing right, but I still know. I'm confident
in, like, the core of the joke or whatever. I
think what you're saying is completely valid.
It's just, like, I approach it. Oh, yeah. That's
the best part about comedy is everybody, like,
as long as your way is working, then that's the
way to do it. And so that's. Working for you.
I appreciate it. Thank you. You really are one
of the funniest people I know. For real. I think
you're fucking hilarious. Dude, thank you. Thank
you so much. I think it's important to take people's
advice when it's in terms of just stage presence.
I had a guy a year or two ago tell me that apparently,
I didn't even notice this, but he's like, yeah,
dude, when you talk, a lot of the times you rock
side to side a lot when you're on stage. And
so now I'm way conscious of that. And sometimes
if I'm about to do it for a second, I'll be in
the moment conscious of it and stop myself and
just stand there and talk. hold my stage presence
and so like little things like that are important
to take but i think as far as what you want to
talk about it's like you got to be the person
that you want to be on stage and even if you're
going to do hard -hitting subjects and stuff
like that that are going to make people's neck
hair stand up when they first hear the setups
of jokes you just that's just something that
you got to ride out It ends up being about an
insecurity that I have. You're saying something
and doing a misdirect. It's just one of those
things where it's like, when you do that humor,
the setups usually make people's hair stand up
on the back of their neck. I told that joke last
night, and I could see. I told her afterwards,
I was like, I saw you clench. I saw it, and then
once I got through it, she was relaxed and laughed
and whatever. But I could see. She was nervous
for me. Yeah. That's definitely like how I changed.
Cause when I first started off, I was like, just
like straight up shock humor. Like I was just
trying to be shocking, but I'm saying like, and
then like eventually I started doing like, I
think I've gotten to the point now where I like.
I think what I've learned is what was the shock
jokes that got laughs. Like I started understanding
why it got a laugh and then what was funny about
how it was written and that kind of stuff. And
then I started taking that kind of knowledge
of the structure or whatever. Okay, this is a
joke. And then putting that into other places.
And still having moments where I say something
that's really, cause I have a few lines in my
set that sometimes just get a straight up groan.
And then I have the next line that'll get a laugh
or whatever, but it's, I still definitely, I've
calmed down a lot in terms of like how edgy I
used to be, but I still. I love all kinds of
comedy. So I like having jokes that are clean
and then having jokes that are dirty and having
a mix of both in my set. A little silly. Yeah,
yeah, exactly. I enjoy it all. Like Brian Regan,
clean comic, one of my favorites. Seinfeld, clean
comic, I love him. But then there's also people
that I enjoy that it's Richard Pryor, classic,
Dave Chappelle, Patrice O 'Neill, and guys like
that. Let's talk about Seinfeld for a second.
Yeah. Because I do like Seinfeld. I think he's
one of the greatest comedy writers of all time.
Yeah. I like his material the first time I heard
it. My problem with Seinfeld is that, and he'll
tell you this, he's like, when I do a show, people
come and they want to hear the greatest hits.
And I don't think that's true for comics most
of the time. That might be true for Seinfeld,
right? Yeah. But I don't think that's true. I
think the core difference between comedians and
musicians is musicians can write a song that
people want to hear all the time over and over.
You don't listen to jokes over and over. You
might watch a special more than once. Yeah. But
you don't listen to jokes like you listen to
songs. Two people that I could listen to over
and over again would be, like, Dave Attell and
Ronnie Dangerfield. Okay. They're just, like,
everything's quick, and the jokes are hilarious.
Punchlines. But my point is just that he just
goes out and does the same jokes, right? Yeah.
He'll switch it up, I think. Like, he says he'll
add, like, a new 10%, like, every couple years.
Yeah. And then so eventually it slowly evolves.
It's probably a brand new set every, like, eight
years. It's, like, the opposite of what most
comics do. Yeah. That's the new thing, though,
because what most comics do is... Carlin was,
like... Yeah, Carlin was, like, the first one
to... do an hour every single year and Steve
Martin would do that but even like prior it's
probably like every two or three years but yeah
like I think it became more because of those
handful of guys it became more mainstream to
make a new hour every year but I think like a
lot of the 70s and 80s and even 90s there's a
lot of guys who They've made a career out of
just doing that same set for 10 years. Just hitting
the clubs. And I think eventually it is true
that unless you are Seinfeld, because to me,
he's like Paul McCartney when it comes to writing
jokes. He writes jokes about Pop -Tarts. And
to me, Rodney Dangerfield is like John Lennon.
All of his jokes are about getting cheated on.
My wife, she's always sleeping around. All of
his bits are just about a human being having
the worst day of their life. There's like the
light and the dark with them. But because I just
think they're like a top just joke structure
and just how every line and every word means
something. And we're the comma. Yeah. But those
are things that like I are like subconscious
for me. Like, I don't think I'm like. To the
point where I'm like consciously, okay, I pause
here or it's feelings based. Just recording and
listening back and then learning. Like I do believe
it's listen back and where they laughed, put
a star by that and figure out why they laughed
there. And a lot of the times like you'll get
a laugh from the moment that wasn't supposed
to be funny. And it's usually because you said
something in your true, honest, just how you
talk to your friend's voice. and they liked that
it's it's so hard to figure out dude and like
i've been doing this for going on 12 years now
and i still bomb it just it never ends dude you
do new material most likely like i say this like
if i write 10 jokes 10 new jokes and try them
at an open mic i usually like my batting average
with 10 brand new jokes is usually two did well
and eight bombed And I take those two and I just
try to turn them into a little bit something
better. And then even sometimes jokes that work,
they just don't make it. You just forget about
it. Some of them will remind me sometimes, hey,
why aren't you doing that bit anymore about the
thing? And I'm like, oh, I forgot about that.
I haven't done that in six months. Because it's
just not what you're interested in, even though
it was a good joke. It's just not what I want
to talk about. I was talking to this comic, Ian
Aber. He's a comic from Atlanta. He's hilarious.
And he was telling me something that he heard.
about, I can't remember who said it, might have
been Chris Rock or somebody, but basically like
a comedian has five subjects that they basically
talk about. 15 minutes at a time you know i mean
like in like your whole career so it's like you
basically you watch any special by any of your
favorite comedians it's usually about the same
five subjects and so that's the things that they
like to talk about it and it's the things that
they view from a million different angles and
so that's one thing where i've definitely figured
out like the things that i like to talk about
a lot of it's like childhood or just trying to
stay sober jokes about that or go into concerts
or things like that movies and I just I think
that's one thing that happens too is it gets
easier to write even though writing jokes will
never be easy it's easier to get to what you
want to talk about because the longer you do
it you realize what you want to talk about And
I think in the beginning, you just have all this
stuff jumbled in your head, and it's hard to
like. I think good advice for anybody out there
who's thinking about doing comedy or who is on
open mic level still and trying to get to a point
where you're getting booked all the time, think
of the top five things you love, and it doesn't
have to be like, and not anything shocking. just
like top five things that you love or just pick
five things you love pick five things that you
hate and try to just write about those subjects
and narrow it down to that so you're not just
sitting there it's like oh should i write about
hotels should i write about politics Some comics
don't even really sit down and write. I don't
sit down with a blank piece of paper and a pen
and write. I pace around like a psychopath and
think of an entire joke in my head, basically.
And then when I like what I have in my head,
or at least where I'm going, then I'll start
putting it down on paper. And I'll leave the
setups with no mark. And then every time there's
a punchline or some kind of tag, I put a star
by it. Like a lot of the times my advice to people
is if you're struggling with writer's block,
which people, there's no writer's block. And
I think it's, I don't think you should try to
force it, but I think one thing to help get over
the hump that I've done is I'll take an old joke
and just try to rewrite the punchline. Cause
it's like putting a ball on a tee. It's like,
I just said, no one's got the setup. It's literally
already set up for me. Just rewrite the punchline.
Like I did that with the briefs joke. I do a
joke about boxers and briefs. And I just kept
rewriting what I thought briefs looked like or
like what I thought boxers looked like over and
over again or what I looked like when I wear
briefs or what I looked like. And I just kept
thinking of different angles and analogies and
funny stuff. And then I would try them all out
at open mics and I would narrow them down to
what were getting the biggest laughs. I was like,
okay, here's the three best ones for this. But
I think, yeah, sometimes. when you're trying
to write new jokes or you don't even really know
how to write jokes yet. You just have so much,
like the world's just in your head and you don't
know what to pull out. So it's narrow it down
for yourself. What's five things I love? What's
five things I hate? Write about that. What's
something I've already written that's gotten
a laugh? Okay, maybe I can, let me try to, this
already works and I won't forget this. It's written
down here. Let me try to rewrite it and see if
I can get a bigger laugh on it. Or let me see
if I can add a tag to this. maybe this could
be an even bigger joke than just these three
lines. This could end up being a three -minute
joke. So you've talked a lot about your writing
process, and you've talked a lot about kind of
the early days of wanting to become a performer.
I really want to know, Carson, what's the story
with going from being in a band, being, I want
to be a musician, to starting comedy at 20? I
feel like we were, like, age 16. You saw Fish.
The band broke up, and then you guys would do
these annual shows three months a year. How did
that... Did you start doing comedy, like, during
the off months when the band was not around?
No, so the drummer in the band, Zeke Buchholz,
another one of my best friends, he actually owns
the Crescent Theater in Mobile, Alabama, comedy
club. He... Oddly enough, we just graduated high
school, so this was probably October 2013. He
did comedy one night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
I think he did a couple open mics and decided
he wanted to do stand -up comedy. We bought tickets,
me, him, and another guy bought tickets to go
see fish in Redding, Pennsylvania. And so we
drove from Mobile, Alabama to Redding, Pennsylvania,
saw the show, and then on the way back, we dropped
him off in Washington, D .C., where he just lived
after we dropped him off. Yeah, and he just did
comedy there in Philadelphia. I think he eventually
moved to Philadelphia, and it was like for maybe
six months. Okay. And then he moved back to Mobile,
and he discovered an open mic that was happening
at the Bly Mule, this restaurant in Mobile, and
they're doing comedy in the attic every Wednesday.
And I would go and just watch him do it and support
him. And so we went, I probably went and saw
him do it like five or six times. He was telling
me that I should do it. Like I should sign up,
you know what I mean? So then I signed up for
the first time on October 8th, 2014. I still
remember the date. Do you remember like the first
jokes you told? My whole set, so you get five
minutes at the open mic, and my first set was,
I probably did three minutes, and it was all
about the shirt that I was wearing, which was
a Cheech and Chong shirt. And I don't even remember
what the punchlines were or what I said. I just
remember that it was... It might be for the better.
It was awful. I just don't even remember. I just
think... I don't even remember what the jokes
were about. I just remember that I was wearing
that shirt and all my jokes were about me and
my shirt. It might be good that you don't remember.
Oh, I don't think I said anything that would
get me in trouble. But I'm sure all the punchlines
were just horrendous. But then the next time
I wrote my first joke. A kind of joke, and it
got a laugh. And so it was like the second time
on stage when I got a laugh off of writing something,
I was like, oh, wait. I think I could do this.
And then you go through some awful experiences
for 12 years, and then you sit here, and now
I'm talking to you. You talked a lot about the
writing process that you went through and how
that developed as a stand -up over the years.
What are some of the more, like, less artistic
challenges that you can think about? Obviously,
there's, like, life on the road and money. And
I know that you've struggled with addiction and
sobriety. Now you're two years sober. Yeah. And
what are some of the biggest, like, what? So
that's, like, kind of the overarching thing,
the overarching story of everything. Life on
the road is hard. Do you think that you tell
a joke about your parents? You're one of your
parents being an alcoholic and that's how you
make alcoholics, right? Do you think that was
where a lot of your addiction really did come
from? Or do you think it was something that like
the lifestyle also? Yeah, it was. I think it
was a combination of, I think a lot of. me dealing
with outside stress improperly because I was
a caretaker for my grandpa when I first started
doing comedy and then year one of comedy I was
21 and my girlfriend was like we were having
a baby already when I was 21 and I was taking
care of my grandfather and I was trying to do
stand -up comedy at night And so I think a lot
of the outside forces and stress and stuff and
not being able to handle it, that started. I
think when I really started drinking more is
when my grandfather died. Okay. So I just handled
that incorrectly, and I started drinking, like,
every night. Yeah. And then it was just, like,
balancing that cycle of trying to keep it together
and then eventually just being like, all right,
I just want to be done with all this. Yeah. A
lot of addicts, especially with alcoholism, people
talk about it became easier to just not do it
than it was to control it. Yeah. And that's when
the turning point was for them. And I still smoke
weed. And I still do. It doesn't even feel like
it feels wrong to say sober. No, 100%. There
are people who, if they smoked one joint, like,
within two weeks, they'd be back on, like, trying
to find OxyCons, you know what I mean? So there's
people who really struggle with things, like,
on a whole other scale than what I'm dealing
with, you know what I mean? I just knew that,
like, alcohol was, like, going to hold me back
from everything. And so I knew, like, I just
had to get that out of my life. So did you feel
like you really hit a rock bottom or was it really
more of a, I know I can't, like the ceiling is
too low if I keep drinking? Yeah. Like I would
just like, I couldn't, I was like all my money
was just going to the gas station at that point.
And then you just start chilling hard and not
like working towards anything. I heard Nate Bargetzi
tell a similar story where he like, it wasn't
like, he was like drunk with his friends and
nothing bad had happened, but he looked at them.
And he was like, I got to quit drinking or I'm
not going to get where I want to be. Yeah. I
think everybody that has, it's not like he didn't
have things that he regretted that would cause
my alcohol or him drinking too much or whatever.
But I think it was not like my life has fallen
apart because of it. Yeah. Kind of realization.
Yeah. Like I have friends that drink are doing
great. Like they can handle it. It doesn't affect
their lives negatively. But like for me personally,
it was just like a downward spiral of just couldn't
get it together. But you didn't really feel like
you had hit a rock bottom per se. No, there was
never that. There was a handful of moments that
probably should have felt like that. But I think
that's the thing. You just wake up and brush
it off and be like, I guess we'll keep drinking.
Yeah, I got you. You know, nothing, like, I never
got a DUI. I never went to jail. I went to jail
when I was, like, 18 for being on the roof of
my high school. And we got caught with weed and
alcohol because it was, like, a red and brown
Mardi Gras. Right. We were tripping on acid.
Of course, we did not tell the cops that. That
was smart. But I had to spend the night in jail
when I was, like, two weeks into being 18. That
was the last time I've ever been in trouble with
the cops. And thank God I quit. And thank God
I quit drinking, you know what I mean? Because
I do have friends who have gotten a lot of DUIs.
But I just know that no one's like, hell yeah,
I got a DUI. It sucks, but it's a lot to deal
with. Yeah, I think DUIs are a turning point
for a lot of people. Yeah, for sure. And most
of my friends, everyone's grown up. We all have
responsibilities and stuff now. So I've seen
everybody calm down around me for the most part.
But, yeah, it is one of those things where I
think everybody peaks in their chaos in their,
like, late 20s. And then at some point there's,
like, a moment of, I think you've got to slow
down a little bit. Yeah. Or at least, like, redirect
that energy into something else. That's the other
thing is I don't ever think about drinking because
I'm, like, I have so many other things that I'm
focused on. And I've learned how to handle stress
better. and realize that, like, you know, there's
good things and the bad things, and not everything
means it's the end of the universe or whatever.
I didn't even think that back in the day. I just
think I can tell it's like I just got so used
to having alcohol be the thing that cured everything.
That it just became a routine. It's like, okay,
I gotta go to... It stops curing anything. That's
what you do. He's like, alright, gotta wake up,
gotta shower, gotta go to work, gotta get off
work, gotta black out, gotta wake up, gotta do
it again. It just became like a part of everyday
life. You don't even see it happening. Was that
part of... Taking your comedy career to the next
level, too. I think... I got to the point, like,
when I first got into comedy before, because
I would say, like, I started doing comedy at
20. I started drinking, like, really heavy at
23, 24, somewhere around there. But those first
three years, I was, like, dedicated. And I would
ride around. So we would go to... I figured out
where all these music open mics were. And so
I would just go to these music open mics. There
would be like one at this place called the Blues
Tavern. And it was all just like bikers with
like ponytails, gray ponytails and their wives.
These dudes in their 60s who want to play Midnight
Rider three times. Yeah, exactly. It'd be 27
minute long midnight riders of a line of seven
guys waiting their turn to rip a guitar solo
at the music open mic. All played. Yeah, it was
cool. But I would just go into these music open
mics and ask if I could do comedy. And then a
friend of ours figured out that there was a coffee
shop called Satori, and they were doing, like,
a music poetry open mic. So we just asked them,
like, hey, can we do comedy? They're like, yeah,
sure, why not? So we started doing comedy there,
too. And then they were like, no, that was a
bad idea. No, they have other reasons. It's always
the college bar that fucks it up for everybody,
you know what I mean? Everyone's making fake
IDs. And then the cops were like, there's underage
drinking. And you're like, no. So yeah, the whole
open mic got shut down. But I was like 20, 21
when I started. That was the other thing. I was
not, I was lied and said I was 21 for the first
year of comedy because I wasn't going to be able
to do comedy if I was under 21. So I was already
the first year. I remember announcing that I
was 21 at one of the open mics and the bartender
was like, you motherfucker. What were some of
the things, so it's like you're, I'm stumbling
over my words here. You're, you talked about
how you're an adult now with responsibilities
and you're very much like aware of who you are.
And what do you talk about on stage at 20? Oh,
dude, nothing jerking off. Yeah. Like I think
this is why I waited so long to do comedy. In
my life. One of the big reasons was like, I didn't
think I had any. Yeah. I was a 20 -year -old
kid who only, for some reason, young guys, it's
always young dudes, they start off thinking comedy
is like this. Not everybody, but they only hear
certain words. So, like, literally it was all
trying to be shocking. I was like, I know what's
funny. Cancer, AIDS, 9 -11. You know what I mean?
And then, like, eventually after, you know, enough.
Because then what happens is if you do a well
-written joke about one of those things from,
like, an interesting perspective and it gets
a laugh, then you're like, okay, shit, that got
a laugh. But then all the other ones that get
groans, you're like, why is that getting groans?
And you really have to look at it and go, it's
getting groans because it's just a shitty thing
to say. Right, yeah. So it's, who do I want to
be? And then you start figuring it out and chiseling
it away. And then, you know, you start understanding,
like, context and then also different perspectives.
So one thing you talked about that shaped your
comedy was, like, what you're talking about here.
going up as a blank slate in the audience, kind
of chiseling away. How much of that do you think
went into your personal development as a person
too, as a human being too? Do you think that
sort of approach helped shape your like moral
view on the world too? Yeah, I think so. That's
interesting. Definitely. I think also like just
getting sober helped me. I just don't. I don't
know. I can tell there's a transformation from
being overtly dirty to whatever I'm doing now,
which is like a PG -13 slash R thing. yeah i
don't know i guess so i guess it's helped in
that way but i think also you just get older
and you meet all kinds of people especially with
comedy you travel more i guess the bigger question
and i've performed in front of all kinds of audiences
but really just mainly in the south so it's yeah
i guess my question though is as somebody who
like you've spent more than a third of your life
As a comic and starting at such a young age when
you didn't necessarily have a formed worldview,
how much do you think being a comic and these
experiences of talking about things and getting
feedback, how much of that has shaped who you
are as a person? A lot. A lot. It seems like.
I think I don't notice until I go back and say
I listen to an old thing or watch an old thing
of myself. Or whatever. There's a video that
I put on my YouTube, and it's me and two of my
friends, the first time we ever tried to go on
a tour. And it's 2017, so I'm 23 years old. I've
been doing comedy for three years, and we went
to Austin. This was before Joe Rogan or anybody
lived there. And we went to Austin, and we went
to Tallahassee here, to Byrds, and we went to
Knoxville, Tennessee, and we did this whole trip
of the South. Going back and watching that video
and then seeing where I'm at now, it was just
like I didn't realize. I was like, man, this
has really become a huge part of my life. It
really has shaped a lot of all my closest friends
now are stand -up comedians. The people that
I normally talk to and hang out with for the
most part are all comics. That was a slow transformation.
When I started, I only knew... I had all my friends
that I knew, comedians that I saw at open mics.
And then eventually things transfer and people
go this way and you go this way. And it's like,
damn, I only hang out with comics. I mean, I'm
somebody that pretty much only hung out with
musicians for the longest time. It was just like...
I was like the roadie or the fucking... promo
guy or the merch guy or eventually I managed
bands and I tried to start a small record label
here and all kinds of shit. I have friends that
aren't comics, but it used to be 80 -20 this
way and now it's 80 -20 the other way. What I'm
getting at is now it's 50 -50 comics and music.
Now I hang out with comics and I hang out with
music, but that's about it. And, you know, exactly.
Yeah, it's changed my social life completely.
But it also, I think, you're somebody that, like,
had their, like, A thing. Like, you're in a band.
Like, growing up, like, you had this thing that
you produced, that you made, that you were proud
of, and you were, like, focused on. And it was,
like, your output. And I don't think I ever...
had that until i started doing comedy yeah so
for me when i like the way that comedy and doing
comedy like helps shape who i am is it's like
it's almost giving me like a new sense of purpose
yeah and confidence in the my place in the world
yeah that too that's awesome and i think like
it's the bet like that's the one thing for like
When you tell a joke and it gets a laugh in front
of a group of strangers who have no idea who
you are, and they're, like, basically of all,
with a noise, said yes to the thing that you
did, that's, like, the greatest feeling, dude.
You cannot overdo it. It's, like, the closest
I'll feel, like, to feeling like Vince Carter
doing a windmill dunk. Because that's, like,
sometimes I just... I want to feel like what
it feels like to be Vince Carter for two seconds.
Yeah, I just want to, like... Like if there was
like a time machine and it's like you can be
anybody you want, but you only get 15 seconds.
I'm like, I want to be Vince Carter when he jumped
over that guy in the Olympics. That's who I want
to be for 15 seconds. You're about to record
your first special. Yeah. At what point do you
think you decided you felt like you were ready?
I guess. That's like a hard question for a lot
of comedians. I guess it was because other people
told me that I should do it. Okay. Which I think
is a good sign. I think that means it's too late.
Yeah. You should have done it. Because like I
have. Not too late. I have a couple of friends
that have made specials, and they're awesome.
My friend Olivia Searcy made a special. She made
a special, and it's great. It's fucking hilarious.
I think I watched it over the holidays, but I
loved it. Yeah, it's hilarious. So there was
just different people that said I should make
a special, and so I was like, and then when I
thought about it, and I was like, I do have the
material to do a half -hour special, and some
of these jokes I've been doing for a long time,
and I'm tired of it. And I feel like it's also,
I feel like every comedian, thinks that they
don't work hard enough, and we probably all don't.
And I feel that way about myself all the time.
I'll go through pockets where I'm writing like
crazy, and then I'll be a lazy bastard for a
month. You know what I mean? And won't write
shit. And so I really want to, because some of
these jokes are so old, and not all of it, like
10 minutes of this 30 minutes are jokes that
I have been doing for years. And then 20 minutes
of it is stuff that I've probably written in
the past year or two. I do want to write it and
scrap it all and then force myself to, all right,
you've been doing this for now 12 years. You
can write an hour from scratch, start working
towards it, put the work in, and so that's what
I'm going to try to do. So when you're putting
together a special, how do you approach that
differently than just doing a set of the same
amount of time somewhere? I'm performing. All
I try to remember is how I'm going to open and
how I'm going to close. And sometimes how I'm
going to close will change depending on how the
set's going. If I'm headlining, if I'm featuring,
I pretty much have down what I'm going to do
for a 15 to 20 minute set. But if I'm doing like
30 plus, I pretty much just know how I'm going
to open the first like two, three minutes and
then how I'm going to close the last two or three
minutes. And then in between, I'll just see what
happens and let the energy goes how it goes.
But what I've been doing for this past month
is actually narrowing down, like, 30 minutes
that, like, works. Or I can tell, like, the ebb
and flow of how, like, each subject changes to
this one and changes to this one. Yeah. Wraps
up at the end. My next question was, like, is
there... I think some comics put out a special
and it's just like the greatest hits of their
jokes. And maybe they're not longer form comics
that tell stories. Like, Jesselnik is somebody
that comes to mind. Even though his last special
got a little bit more involved and had a bit
of a narrative going throughout of it. Most of
them are just like, boom, let me get the jokes
per minute up. How intentional. are you trying
to build a narrative in your special and how
much of it is, I've got these jokes and I just
want to connect them. Like, usually I just kind
of find the connections, like, naturally just
by telling them and doing different sets. And
that's probably being lazy. Like, I should be
looking, and this is the thing where, like, I
never feel like I'm doing enough work. I should
be looking down and finding the connections.
Your brain is doing that, though. Yeah, I think
naturally it's trying to. Like the beginning
set list that I was doing when this tour started,
like in comparison to like now, I can already
tell where it's like towards the middle part.
I've definitely slid a lot of things out, other
things in and mix some things up to where it
was in the beginning. So the ending I'm worried
about now because of last night. Because they
were taken aback. Yeah, it was a bunch of young
kids. They were afraid to laugh at a lot of things.
One thing that I'll say, man, is you weren't
there early. I feel like the middle comics, but
the early comics, they were not having us. They
were not having us. It was like an ebb and flow
all night. It was weird. They were pretty responsive
for me. But compared to two weeks ago, it was
almost the same set that I did. Totally different
crowd. But it was like they were afraid to laugh.
Yeah. And that's what I've experienced with younger
audiences in general. Somebody who's toured the
last month, what have you noticed? No group of
people is uniform, right? Yeah. So one thing
that I've noticed, I think, that is... When I
first started, it was pretty much the average.
Older people were less offended. Unless you,
in the South, sometimes you punch down on God
and Jesus too much. Can you punch down on God?
You can. I've seen some older people get upset
or just straight up leave if they feel like you're
shitting on the Lord too much. I guess you can
punch up and down on God. But so no one, everyone
acts like there's a generation that's not offended
and you can find someone's button no matter what.
But I have noticed like younger people definitely
don't like it when you talk about the hot button
issues in a way that they view as a negative
way. You know what I mean? So you gotta be, if
the joke's well written, like I'm a big believer
if it's a good joke, people, they'll give it
up. And if it's not, You just have to be careful.
Because I do certain jokes where I can look at
the audience and I can tell they might find this
too dirty. You know what I mean? Like older.
Do it more. It makes me curious on what's going
to happen. You know what I mean? I think sometimes
I used to overly be like, I have something to
prove to you now. And then it ruined the energy
of the room. And now it's more like I try to
go up with this understanding. hear me out you
know what i mean because especially when i've
done older crowds and i'll do like jokes about
pornography or like dirty or sex jokes and stuff
it's i feel like if the joke's well written they'll
laugh and if i'm just being dirty to be dirty
i'll figure that out based on their reactions
you know what i mean yeah it's just these all
different kinds of things I think like every
audience is, you should try everything in every
kind of room. Because like I just did, like North
Carolina, I did a show at the Playhouse in Jacksonville,
North Carolina, which is... near Camp Lejeune,
which is a military base, and then at another
place called Chicano's. So it was like families
in there with kids the next night. So I had to
do a headline with, I did my R set, and then
I headlined the next night and had to do like
a PG -13, PG -er set. Two nights later, I was
at this place in Matthews, North Carolina. You
could tell they had money. And so then it was
weird in that town because it's like they love
certain dirty shit, but then certain stuff, they're
like, they would just fall silent. I'm glad I
did this month on the road because it's... I'll
be back home, and a lot of the people in the
audience are people that are there to support
me. You know what I mean? I have that in my favor,
but I also wanted an honest opinion on these
jokes. Let me tour all these cities where no
one in the audience has any idea who I am and
figure out which of these jokes are unanimously
funny. Almost everywhere. But that other joke
did great in North Carolina. The one that I'm
planning on ending, we won't give it away. Hey,
of course not. But the one that I'm planning
on... But the joke that I plan on ending the
special with in North Carolina, the two times
that I did it, it did great. I got the reaction
that I was hoping it would get. And then last
night, everybody was like, absolutely not. And
it makes me worried now. I'm like, oh shit, I
have two more shows to figure this out. I think
I would not listen to that room on that joke.
And I'll just leave it at that. Okay. I would
take that response with a grain of salt. I'm
worried if I am going too emotional and really
wrapping people too far in to where I say that
it is like, why would you do that to me? But
I think now that I know that's a possibility,
I should just stick with it. Trust that I'm in
a room where everybody knows me and then no matter
what the reaction is, just stand there with a
smile on my face and sit in it. Yeah. And then
say goodnight. I think that is exactly the right
way to do it. Okay. Yeah. I agree with that 100%,
man. I think if you sit in it, even if they have
that response initially. It's okay. And I have
another line that I didn't do last night. There's
another line that I have. Tell me after if you
want. I'll tell you after. I didn't do it last
night because I was like, if they hated that
to that level, they're going to hate what's supposed
to be the last line. So I literally, I have no
qualms. You might be wrong about that, too. I
feel like sometimes you push. Oh, I pulled out.
If you don't push it over the line, that's when
you fucked up. Because it's, all right, I'm uncomfortable.
But if you shove them over the line. They didn't
know that there was another line coming. So I
just pivoted to shitting on towns and stuff.
And then shitting on Mobile. And I ended with
a big laugh. So it's fine. It's fine. I pivoted
and found a different direction. And we got where
we needed to go. But I was shocked. It's so funny.
It's like I read like Louis C .K. said something
about this in an interview. But it is true. It's
like I got too cocky with that joke. And I forgot
that it's like an awful thing to say. So it's
literally because it did well. It was like the
last three times I've said it, I was like, got
this. So then I said it and everyone was like.
And I was like, oh, shit. Oh, shit, I forgot.
I'm sorry. Though, there is also, like, a point
where if you sit in that uncomfortableness for
a minute, then people find it funny. And that's
what I think you're, like, on to with it. It's
like... They got to calm down, and then they'll
see the humor. The shock wears off, and then
they see how smart it is, too. Yeah. If that
makes sense. Yeah, I think I just need to approach
it with more sensitivity. Yeah. I think I said
it last night too confidently, and that made
it worse. You know what I mean? This is, I think,
where weird might just be different is comics.
I would have taken the response you got last
night from that joke as a win. I did not. I would
have. It made my forehead sweat a little bit.
I was like, oh, they hate me. I was like 17 minutes
in at that point. And for 16 minutes and 59 seconds,
they loved me. And then in one second, they were
like, get the fuck out of Tallahassee. I know.
But the look on the, you know what really hurt
me? It was the look on the lady's face. All the
women in the crowd were like, just like this
during my whole story. And then when I ripped
the cord on that, I just saw them like, I hate
this guy. Like, I actually hate this guy. And
that kind of broke my heart a little bit. I don't
think they hated you. No, I think it was fine.
I think the fact that I pivoted and moved on,
it made it better because it's just comedy. And
I think that made the joke more likable to bandage
it up on the end. If I would have done the last
line, there's no way, dude. I knew better. I'm
anxious to hear that. Basically, part of me feels
like I did the right thing. Part of me makes
me feel like a pussy. You know what I mean? I
just want to note right here that after he told
me what the line was, I totally agreed that he
should not have told it. Carson was right here.
He made the right call. Reading the room is always
really important. I also want to respect the
room and don't want anybody to... You don't want
to be the guy that was like, I said the thing,
and they're like, now we can't do comedy here.
And it's not like I have anything to say that's
bad, nor would that joke even in the line is
not that bad. I just don't want to give away
the joke because that's how I'm going to end
my special. It's not like no one would have actually
been mad if I said the last line, but it just
would have been the continuation of, please stop.
What's next for you, man? What do you think?
Do you have goals with what you have in front
of you? No, I have goals. I didn't mean that.
I don't really have goals. No, I understand.
I didn't have goals until I got sober. Didn't
even think about it. All I knew was I wanted
to do comedy, and I got to the point that I was
just getting drunk every night and doing it once
a week. I think the way that I approach it is
more like what Hank Green, he's like a science
popsicle. There it is. But what he basically
says is like having goals is fine, but like operating
with the tools you have and just making whatever
you can with what you have is usually how he
operates, right? He makes a new app and it's
just like because I can and I want to, not because
I have this goal of making this. Yeah. And that's
what I mean by I don't have goals. It sounds
like with the special, that's. What happened
is I have all the tools to do this and people
are telling me I should do this. Yeah. Yeah,
this is like where I've set a goal and I've been
working towards this one thing, which has been
exciting. After that, my goal is to try to build
to an hour, do another special maybe in two years.
And in between that, I want to try to get booked
at more clubs, actual comedy clubs. More festivals.
So I did a few festivals this past year. Has
that been a good experience for you? Yeah, I've
enjoyed it. Going to festivals is fun to me.
What are some of the festivals that you got a
lot out of? Fountain City Comedy Festival. And
another one that I enjoyed was the Lunchbox Comedy
Festival. Just because it was like a lot of Louisiana
and Mississippi comics that I'm friends with.
And so that almost felt like a family gathering.
So it was like a bunch of, there's like people
that I hadn't seen in years. So it was fun. That's
a good one. But the Fountain City Comedy Festival
was cool because that's a guy named Steven Taylor.
And there's other people involved. I can't think
of their names right now, but he's the one that
I usually talk to from that area because in Kansas
City. And so he, it was the fourth one that we
did, that they did. And it was the first time
that I did one. And the, The cool thing about
it was, like, they had a day where they made,
they had a waffle bar. And so we got up early
one morning and went to this bar that they. Coveted
as fuck. So, like, look. They had a guy that
came in, this dude Will, who's like a fucking,
he's a saint. He like came in from Colorado or
something and just rented a car and was just
willing to drive all the comics wherever they
needed to go for free. So he literally just picked
us up. We had places to stay for free. Like they
hooked us up with all this stuff. weed's legal
on the Missouri side of Kansas city. So that
was the shit. Yeah. That was the shit. Just don't
go to the Kansas side. And then fucking like
all the venues were like close by. They were
all bad -ass. Yeah. Kansas city is just cool.
I love the whole scene. The barbecue best I've
ever had in my life. It was killer. And then
one morning they did this awesome thing that
I have notes in my notebook that I wrote down
from this night. But they did an industry thing
where we all went to this bar at 11 a .m., 10
a .m. had the waffle bar like ready so we could
have breakfast and they have four different people
that book like major like festivals or clubs
or one guy ran don't tell comedy and but he was
like one of the head guys that run it nationwide
And they had them sit on the stage and just give
us all like career advice about where to go or
where they think comedy is going or where they
see it going in the next five years and all this
different stuff. And I took down a bunch of notes.
And then they like just explained also like what
they're looking for, like when you submit a video
or when you submit different things. And so it
was just super. Not only was like the festival
like. they took care of us the shows were all
like packed and awesome and then like they also
i got a lot of great like industry advice out
of it like a lot of times you're just bobbing
your head around mics trying to get as much stage
time as possible and the best way i think a lot
of people still I know that the social media
side is important because I'm trying to build
my social media presence and look as professional
as possible. But I think some people get so stuck
into that that they stop writing and forget that
at the end of the day, your social media is a
commercial for a product that needs to be good
and tight on stage. So it's like your number
one focus should be getting as funny as possible
and really building the best set possible and
then building your social media around a product
that's... product. I hate that we even have to
talk like this. It's like icky. I want to throw
it off of me. It sucks. Self -promotion is so
hard sometimes. Towards the end of my drinking,
I took a job. This is like the peak of my alcoholism,
but I took a job as a broker for one year with
a company called, you can bleep that if you want.
You don't work there anymore. No, they're awful.
It's a blood -sucking vampire corporation. You
would have to do this thing for the company that
they would convince you was the only way to get
ahead, and the way to do that was you had to
get to work at 4 a .m. to do the thing between
4 and 6 a .m. but you don't start getting paid
for your job until 6 .15. Oh, okay. You're doing
all this extra work for free that they're convincing
you. It's corporate. When you said vampire blood
-sucking corporation... and it was like I was
not and there's people there that was what they
were meant to do they were very successful at
it and they could do the whole mumbo jumbo and
they liked wearing the they liked wearing the
khakis and it would be so weird dude office environments
are so weird because it would be like a bunch
of bros It was like ex -fraternity dudes. It
was like ex -athletes, ex -military guys. That
was like 80 % of the staff. That's like the type
of people that they were trying to like get to
work there. Yeah, exactly. It would just be so
weird because it'd be like somebody over here
is like cussing out another dude. There's a guy
with a Russian accent cussing me out from the
truck. And then the dude behind you like rolls
around on wheelies like one of those balls in
a cup. You know what I mean? You're like, what
the hell is going on in this place, dude? Someone's
shooting a basketball in the corner. Straight
up severance kind of shit going on. Yeah. Is
this the place where you got the waffle bar?
No. That was a comedy festival. That was actually
fun. If you haven't watched Severance, it's like
a workplace comedy. Oh, okay. I've heard of it.
It's a waffle party. Oh, nice. And the line from
it is, it's coveted as fuck. The waffle party
sounds like it would be a thing at this company.
But I'll say this, having a shit on one thing
that it did that was good for my life was...
Getting prepared for that interview and really
wanting that job and having to go through the
whole three interview process and go out and
get my own suit. Because I was just a drunk mess
at this point in my life. And one day I was just
sitting at work at my job waiting tables and
I was just tired of it. And I was like, I went
online. I was like, jobs, hiring, and mobile.
And it was the first thing I saw. And I clicked
on it and I filled out the application and they
called me the next day and said they wanted to
do a phone interview. And I did that. And then
they wanted to do two. in -person interviews
and I had to wear a suit and I did that and then
I got the job and I had to do six months of training
where you could not get the job at the end possibly
and I got it and then everything that like I
did to do that because I was still drinking heavy
at the time but it made me more like professional
and mentally aware. There's a way that I still
want to carry myself. Now that I wasn't carrying
myself before and a lot of it was preparing for
that job and getting that job. regardless of
how much, I just would never do that again. But
towards the end of my drinking there, I can't
say this because I don't work there anymore,
but I was not handling the stress of trying to
keep that job correctly because there's a number
that you always have to try to hit in sales and
all that shit. And so I would literally clock
in on my lunch break, and there was a Mexican
restaurant around the corner, and I would go
to it, and I would sit in a booth that faced
the entrance. And I would order three double
shots of tequila. And I would try to slam them
real quick and make sure no one from my job would
walk in and see me. And then I'd clock out or,
you know what I mean, I'd sign my check and then
I'd run back to work real quick. And I'd go in
and sit at the computer just like, whoo. That's
one of those times where you're like, oh, that
should have been a sign. Yeah, it started feeling
like flight a little bit. I was like, are they
going to chill out? If anybody wanted to hire
me as badly as they wanted to hire you, it sounds
like, I would have taken that as a red flag.
Yeah, no. Dude, it's so funny. My buddy Nick,
he's a comic in Mobile. Nick Brackett, he's hilarious.
He tried to get that job, too, and he ruined
it all. He got to the last interview. He's perfect
for that job, and I don't mean that in a bad
way. I just mean, he's a server at a restaurant.
He's now the manager of the... He was a server
and a bartender, and now he's the manager of
the place. In the service energy sales position,
he's the shit, dude. He's just good at that.
So it's like, I know that they wanted him. And
he gets to the last interview, and they're like,
so yeah, we just want to make... Basically, we're
saying, we just want to make sure that you're
not going to use foul language, which they really...
If you're crushing there and making them a million
dollars, you can say whatever the fuck you want
on the phone. But basically, just make sure you're
not going to get angry or, like, cuss on the
phone with anybody. No, I'm not going to tell
anybody to fuck off, if that's what you mean.
And just saying that, they were like, nah. And
he didn't get the job. And I'm like, why would
you say that? Why would you say the thing? Even
in an example of the thing that they don't want
to come out of your mouth at all. Like that white
as kids. Yeah. But no. So, yeah. That place stressed
me out. It really did. I remember there was a
manager there. I bet you got some good material
out of it, though. No, I got nothing out of it,
dude. It's like a nightmare to think about. I
just hated getting up and going to that place.
Sharing it with us here. Yeah, no, it's fine.
They have an 80 % turnover rate there, too. So
every six months, dude, you look around and half
the people that were there are not there anymore,
dude. They're, like, fired or quit. Because it's
a stressful job. But I remember when I hit the
number that I needed to pass the internship,
I remember one of the managers there was like,
man, I thought we were going to kill you there
for a second. I could tell you were stressed
out. I was like, yeah, I'm not going to lie,
I was. Double shot of tequila on my lunch break.
Yeah. Everyone there would describe that when
you first tried to get the job, to make you feel
like it was cool, they'd be like, it's like PG
-13 Wolf of Wall Street. So we can vape in the
bathroom. Cool. Every job that I've ever worked
at, it's like that David Tell bit where it's
like, you should have been there. You know what
I mean? Yeah. I swear to God, every job I've
ever worked at, the whole place is like, dude,
if you would have worked here six months ago,
we were literally banging strippers and doing
cocaine in the bathroom. It's like, man, shit's
changed now, dude. He used to get free food.
Now it's half off. Every time I work at a place,
I should have worked there six months before.
I was like, oh, yeah, dude. George Clinton would
come in with the saxophone player every Tuesday.
Like, what? I won't do that anymore. What the
fuck? So the last thing I want to ask you about,
because I realize we never tied up this little
bit, is your band recorded an album two years
ago. Yeah. After years of doing this cyclical
seasonal show thing, tell me about that. It was
during COVID, and we had nothing going on, and
I was just drinking like a half a bottle of Evan
Williams every day. Oh, God. And room temperature
Andy Gator. That was my go -to during COVID,
and I was watching The Exorcist like every night.
At the time, it was just like, this is what I'm
doing. And I look back at that time and I'm like,
that's pretty dark. Something's going on there.
And I still love The Exorcist. I'd watch it tonight.
But like every night and drinking whiskey, you're
like, okay, this dude's literally fighting demons
on the television screen and in life. But my
buddy Zeke hit me up, the one that owns the comedy
club that first started doing comedy. And he
was like, he gave me this. speech dude he gave
me the fucking we need to be doing something
bro we need to be like it's time dude like we
we've been making these music for all these years
like we need to make an album or try to like
make music yeah yeah and so during covet i'd
go over to his house because he lives in my neighborhood
and we'd sit in his garage dude till sunrise
and we would make songs and just eat mushrooms
and drink whatever just sit there and play music
dude and just record and record and then whatever
we liked we would go and we would get our friends
to like record verses on it and stuff or play
another instrument or whatever and then we would
make a music video out of our favorite songs
so it got to the point that we were releasing
like one music video a month we did that for
about two years probably 15 to 20 music videos
on youtube okay shropshire collective yeah i'll
link it in the description so all covid that's
what we were doing we'd make a song and then
make a music video for the song make a song and
make a music video for the song we were just
doing that and then eventually it's like we should
make an album so we took all of our favorite
songs basically and that was probably like 90
or not 90 it's probably like 60 of the album
and then the other 40 was probably like newer
songs that we were working on that we like we
always want the new your newer shit's always
your favorite shit yeah so and we kept getting
better so that it was hard to pick older songs
that we liked because it was like that kind of
sounds like trash now two years later in comparison
to what we're doing now yeah because you start
figuring out recording better and different things
like that So yeah, so we basically just compiled
all of our favorite songs and then had our buddy
produce it and mix it and all that and then made
an album. Do you think going into the process
of making an album and music videos led you to
deciding to make a special too? It made me decide
that I'm going to edit it myself. Okay. Because
I did a couple of our music videos and edited
them and then we've done... short films and stuff
in the past and i just enjoy editing and also
for my first special i just if it's gonna be
bad i want it to be my fault word you know what
i mean yeah i want to learn so i have a bunch
of friends that are helping me film which is
awesome that i trust that do that and then i
have another friend of mine that's a comedian
that He's good at editing too. And so he's going
to like co -edit with me. Gotcha. And be like
an extra set of eyes. Do you have a name for
it yet? So the working title at the moment is
just a matter of time. Just a matter of time.
But I think I just like that because the story
behind that, I don't have a joke for it. The
story behind that is I got fired from a job and
then the boss hired me back. When I walked in
my first day back, he looked at me and he goes,
if it isn't old J -Mott. And I was like, what
does that mean? He goes, just a matter of time.
And I thought that was hilarious. So I named
it that, but it's really just a working title
for the filming of the special, I think, just
because I like how it sounds. I think it might
draw people in more, but it makes it sound like
a bigger deal than it actually is. Whatever the
actual title is. I'm probably going to name it
something that I say in a line in one of the...
I want to find a line in my act that I think
represents the whole thing. You could just call
it... Like the classic way. Yeah, you could just
call it a line from my act. I mean, I'll probably
just find something that I say in the special
and make that the title. I'm really fucking excited
for it, man. Thank you, man. I'm excited too.
Thanks for coming on the show. Is there anything
else you want to mention before we wrap it up?
Yeah, listen to that album by Shropshire Collective.
It's called For the Children. My special. Link
in the description. Yeah, you can find me at
CarsonTaylorComedy on everything. Although I
just deleted my TikTok. But I still have my Facebook,
Instagram, and YouTube. Special will be coming
out in probably like two months. I'll update.
Once it's out, I'll put a link to it in the description.
And until then, I'll put links to everything
else, too. Sweet. Appreciate it. Thanks for being
here, man. That was my talk with Carson Taylor.
Make sure you check out his comedy special, Tally
Ho. It drops on the 17th. Come see me up in Athens.
And I'll see you all Saturday at Phipps Farm
for P -Funk Fest. Thanks for listening.