Jo Koy OPENS UP About Mental Health & Turning His Pain Into Purpose

I remember reading like this article, pretty sure it was Aerosmith. They said that they used to make their own flyers and Xerox copy them, and they would put it on windshields everywhere. After I read that, I literally went to Kinko's and taught myself how to make a flyer.

Really?

And to this day, look, I can show you a text. I asked my guy, I go, I need 10,000 flyers for Netflix 'cause I'm about to pass these out.

Right now?

Yeah, I don't give a fuck. I'll stick it in a car window. I don't— I am humbled.

He's a stand-up comedian, actor, and producer with multiple sold-out Netflix specials. He's shattered box office records at some of the biggest arenas in the world. This is Joe Koy.

The one thing I never say is hope or hopefully. You'll never hear me say it. It doesn't even process, especially with what we do. I feel like when you say hope, you're asking for something else other than your own talent. But how did you get the confidence I don't know, because I was so insecure.

Really? What were you insecure about?

Well, I—

As one of the best in the world at what you do, you transfer energy so well, whether it be in person, one-to-one, one-to-many, in front of thousands of people or hundreds of thousands of people in person or to millions of people on a screen. You transfer energy and it's very hard for anyone to do that well. It's hard for comedians to do that well, effectively, consistently. And it's hard for just everyday human beings to transfer energy well. Did you always know how to transfer energy well when you were younger growing up? Or is this a skill that you had to learn through trial and error or through failure and defeat and trials that you experienced?

You know, what's crazy is when I was a, a kid, like when I was like 5 or 6, I'm not even making this up, I already knew I was really funny.

Really?

Yeah, it was the weirdest thing because— and my mom would always be like, oh, Joe is so funny. And my dad always laughed at everything, you know. And, and like if they had parties, they—

it—

I'd be funny. I knew that there was a group of people laughing. It's something that I would do. And then I knew I had that skillset because, uh, my dad was in the military. So every 3 years, 4 years we were bouncing, but I didn't care. 'Cause like in my head, I already knew I'm gonna be the funny one in the school. Like I, right away, I'm gonna be the funny guy at the school. I'm gonna be the funny guy at the school. So I wasn't, I was never sad that I was leaving a group of friends. I was happy 'cause I knew I could get new friends. Does that make sense?

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. It was the weirdest thing. And there was this one elementary school called Elk Plain Elementary, and I was moving from the Philippines. And I remember we were so sad leaving because my dad got an extension in the Philippines for another year, and we stayed for one more year because we were begging him, please don't leave. But that was it. That was as far as he could get it. And then we had to move to Tacoma, Washington. And I remember I was so sad, but then That excitement, uh, that, that sadness turned into excitement. Because I remember I was like, oh, I'm gonna be so funny. Like, everyone's gonna— like, everyone's gonna think I'm the funny guy. Like, I remember saying that.

Now, did you think, I'm gonna be funny, even though you're switching countries and cultures? Did you believe, like, oh, I'm gonna come to America and I'm gonna be funny?

Yeah.

You just believed it at 8 years old or something?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Really? Yeah.

Well, you remember, I'm military too, so— but, and, and, and, like, the Philippines has always been bilingual. Like, they speak English better than Americans, man, you know what I mean? Like, very articulate. They get all the humor, you know what I mean? So it was there. It was— and I was speaking Tagalog, which was crazy because we were living there and, uh, my aunts lived there. So it was, it was cool. It was a good time back then. And, uh, but I remember coming back to the States just like, I was excited. I was excited to like see like this new school and be the funny guy at the school. I swear it was the craziest thing. Like, if you look at my, my junior high, after 6th grade, 7th, 8th, 9th, I went to Spanaway Junior High. Class clown, class clown, class clown. Like, 7th, 8th, 9th, it was always me, the funny guy. It was— and I knew it like right away. I mean, 6th grade, 7th grade, that's when I was listening to Richard Pryor and—

Mm-hmm.

And watching Eddie Murphy, like I was watching Eddie, you know, do Delirious. Like already, I already knew I wanted to be a standup comic at that age.

Was there ever a time where you weren't funny?

I mean, yeah. I mean, always not funny.

Really?

Yeah. There's times where you're, you're trying to figure out the audience, you're trying to learn, you know what I mean? And then that's all just how it is. That's just, That's, that's what I love about standup is, uh, that moment where you have to figure out, uh, how much you love it. And it always comes out going, nah, I love this shit. And you just keep pushing.

Even if you weren't funny that night or that day?

Yeah. Yeah. You just keep pushing. There's just an— there's this addiction that we have. I don't know what it is. Us comics love it, but I really love it. I really, really love it. I'll do an arena, I'll get on my tour bus, and this has happened a couple times, and I'll literally be like, is there an open mic around? And I've pulled up to open mics.

Right after your arena?

Yeah, I've done it. I've done it a couple times. It's just a bar with—

15 people.

15 people. And all they did was turn the lights down because they don't have a spotlight, like that type. And I love it, man. I love it.

But do you ever have, um, Periods of time where you, you feel like you bombed? You feel like, oh, I gave it my all, but that crowd, they didn't really laugh at the jokes and they weren't really as engaged.

Yeah.

Was there ever a season where you weren't as funny as you thought and you thought maybe I lost the gift?

No, no, no.

You're always like, knew you had it.

No. If you're talking standup, no, never, never standup.

So is there ever a time where you just bombed though?

Yeah, I mean, always, like when we first start.

How do you respond to that and not let the negative effects of an audience, if you bomb when you begin, affect who you are as a person and your identity?

I mean, that's, that's what makes us strong is like the failure. Like everyone fails, you know what I mean? But like, it's, it's when you don't try is truly when you fail. So it's like if you're thinking about something and you decide not to do it, to me that's failing. But if, if the opportunity arises and you accept the challenge and you fail, then you won. Does that make any sense?

100%.

Because I know a lot of motherfuckers that pass on because they're too scared to do it. You know what I mean?

That's the real failure.

To me, that's failure. To me, that's just— it's cowardice. You know what I mean? I don't mean that in a mean way, but it's like, I think that's what I love about comics so much, that yeah, we do put ourselves in situations like that, and then we do also say, oh well, we do that a lot, and we don't care.

But some people care, right? If they bomb, they really care about how people perceive them.

Then that taps into a new, a new era or a new generation of people with social media type feelings. Do you really care about what they say? Or do you look at a sold-out SoFi Stadium and go, well, I guess it doesn't really matter what you said, right? Because it doesn't make sense. You know what I mean?

Yeah.

So that's how I look at it. It's like I mean, we, we live in a time where, yeah, it's, it's like, uh, things is, things are accessible. Everyone has a voice now and you, you just take it with a grain of salt.

Yeah.

It's like, what you gotta remember, it's like, we're all supposed to fail. You know what I mean? Like, you're, you're not gonna sit there and tell me Michael Jordan sucks because he lost to Larry Bird when he scored 63 points. I dare you to say it.

Yeah, exactly.

Exactly. It's like, you're, you're, you're joking right now.

When you were starting out, I think you said you started in the late '80s, early '90s, kind of when you were starting out in standup, right? And you thought, was there ever a moment where you feel like, oh, I've made it?

When I started, I started at '89.

'89, right?

Yeah.

But was there a moment where you were like, I'm, I made it, or I know I'm going to make it? Or was there a period of time where you just feel like, oh man, I'm just grinding out these local shops or local, uh, yeah, comedy stores. And I'm not seeing the momentum.

I never got into the store, The Comedy Store. I got into the Laugh Factory. And, um, and then in Vegas in 1989, there was no comedy scene. That was just like national headliners, you know what I mean? So they never had an open mic there in '89, '89, '90. All they had was A couple coffee houses back then. And it got to the point where I was getting good. There was this one nightclub that had, uh, did a comedy night upstairs where the pool tables were. And, you know, you had to get there before the nightclub opened. The nightclub started letting people in at like 10:30, 11. So you had to get there at like 8. So we'd have a show from 8 to 10 or something, right? The host was dating a manager of like a big comedy club in at the MGM. It was called Catch a Rising Star. And he saw me because he came that night and he saw me. And literally when I walked off stage, right, he goes, hey, uh, I'm gonna have you open for, uh, blah blah blah, some— I forgot the guy's name, some headliner. I'm gonna give you a week. And back then a week was basically 12 shows, right? It was like Monday through Monday. It was like 2 shows Friday, 2 shows Saturday, 2 shows Sunday. It was the craziest schedule. And he gave me like $80 a show, right? So I think it was like over $1,000. I still zero— I remember going to Kinko's and printing out that check.

Wow.

I have it somewhere. But that, at that moment, I thought, oh my God, I'm about to be a comic. I'm about to be a famous comic. I thought it was over with at that point. I was like, oh, it's on.

You got the money coming in.

Yeah, I'm a regular at Catch a Rising Star. I remember calling my dad like, oh, Dad, it's happening.

It's happening. What year was this? '90—

Oh my God, it was like 1994 or something. Like right around there, '94. So 5 years in. And then nothing happened really. I think I got it 2 more times and it was just like, oh man. And then it just stopped. I guess what I'm trying to say is there were several times where I thought I made it.

Really? Yeah.

But that's, that's the beautiful thing about this journey. You know what I mean? It's like, it's a long, bumpy-ass road with a bunch of roadblocks and a lot of gravel roads, a lot of like, uh, U-turns and start over, flat tires, all that shit. Like, that's comedy, especially when you're a road dog. It's like, It's rough, man. A lot of, I'm not gonna be there for my son's birthday because I really need this money. So I took the gig at St. Charles, Illinois.

Right.

In the middle of nowhere, Amish country. You know what I mean? I took that gig because I, man, they're paying me $2,500 this weekend. So I, I, I've missed those, you know what I mean? But then at the same time, I knew I was winning.

Wow.

I'm losing, but I'm winning. And like, there was so many like obstacles that I had to deal with mentally and physically, you know. So it just kept going on every year. It just felt like a win and a win and a win. And then it was like a loss, a loss, loss. I won the Apollo, Showtime at the Apollo. I thought I was gonna blow up, and then boom, boom, nothing happened.

Really?

Then I did Def Jam, got the Def Jam uh, comedy circuit, like the, uh, the tour, comedy tour, not the one on HBO. I got BET's Comic View. Like, I thought things were gonna happen for me, but it didn't. But they did, which is crazy. And the way I got them was, was amazing because I, I never said no to the gig.

Wow.

You know what I mean? Like, the way I got BET's Comic View was crazy. Do you remember BET's Comic View? It was on— well, it was on Black Entertainment Television.

Yeah, yeah.

And this is in the '90s. It was huge. It's what made D.L.

Hughley huge.

It's what made Cedric the Entertainer huge. It made Gary Owen huge. Like, those were the hosts. And, um, and I was such a fan. Like, every night I would watch BET's Comic View. And then, uh, I was, I was a tour guide at the Mirage. And see, you asked that question, now you get a long answer.

I love it.

So, uh, so I'm at the Mirage and I'm a tour guide. One of the tour guides was like, hey, BET's here. I go, what? Yeah, they're at the Country Star. It was like some kind of restaurant. I'm like, get the fuck outta here. I'm there. And I literally asked my manager if I can go home early 'cause the show was at 8. And I knew we worked until like 7-something, 30. I need to get home. So I was like, can I please just get outta here at like 5:30 and leave early so I can just go home and change and put on a suit? 'Cause Eddie Murphy said, I always wore a suit. That's what he always said. He goes, I always wore a suit. When he was like a kid, he was like in high school and he was wearing a suit. And he goes, every gig I got, I wore a suit. So I was like, oh, I gotta put on a suit. Like, this is a big gig. So I drove all the way home. You know, this is Las Vegas. It's like 120 degrees, no AC. I was a tour guide all day. I'm covered in sweat. I don't even take a shower. I just put this suit on and get back in the car. This fake resume that says catch a rising star because I found a Uh, I found a folder at Catch a Rising Star. They had a stack and he gave it to me. The manager gave me a whole stack. I go, I'm gonna put my resume in this. And I put a resume that I made and a headshot that my dad took. It was—

all of it was awful.

And I brought it and I went to Country Star and there was this line wrapped around the building.

For auditions?

No, no, it was a show. Like, people were—

You were trying to get in to perform?

Yeah. Yeah, and I walked all the way to the front and a security guard was standing there and security guards never help, right? Security guards don't give a fuck. Go wait in line.

Yeah, yeah.

And I go, hey man, I'm a local comedian and my name's Joe Koy. And I showed him my resume. I go, is there any way I could just speak to the promoter? 'Cause I'd love to warm up. Just like if I could do crowd warmup or whatever. Like a lot of people know who I am here. No one knew who I was. And literally he looked me in the face. I still know what he looks like. He was a big heavyset guy with dreads. And he goes, I'll be right back.

And he left.

He left the door and went and got the promoter. And her name was Yvette Anderson. She's still my friend to this day.

Shut up.

I swear to God, her name's Yvette Anderson.

What did you say to her?

She came right up to the door and she goes, hi. I handed her my resume. I go, I'm a local comic. Is there any way I could do warmup? Like, I know your show's booked, but like I could warm up while they're getting ready and while you're sitting people, just if I can go up. I love BET. Like, it would be an honor just to go up and just warm the crowd up. And then she goes, oh, we already have the show booked. And, but you know, you're more than welcome to come in and I'll hold onto your resume 'cause we're— this is a tour. We're coming back to Vegas and I'll look at your stuff. I go, yeah, I would love to go in.

Right.

And this is like '90, I'm making up a number, but it was like '97, right? '97-ish, right?

Late '97.

Yeah. So she brings me to her booth and she sits me down and she's got— remember, this is '97. She's got cameras like that, but studio cameras, Canon, like the XLR Canons, right? Like, I couldn't believe my eyes, like on sticks like those too, right? And I was just like looking at them like, oh my God, this is real. Like, I've never seen a studio camera before. So I'm looking at this and I'm like, oh, is that— is this— this is how they shoot the show, man? Like, I was tripping and I was so excited and it was just packed. And then all of a sudden, all the comics are late. They're not there. This is the craziest shit. She says, go up. She literally— and the crowd's going crazy. Like, start this shit show!

What the fuck?

It's 8:35. Start this motherfucker. And I'm literally like, I'm smiling from ear to ear because I know, like, Bro, she's gonna need me because they're not here.

I'm ready. Let me go.

She walks right up to me and she goes, can you go up?

Shut up.

Swear. And she goes, can you go up for, for like 5 minutes or until they get here? I go, yeah. I go, can you please record it? I, I go, if you record this, it'd be the greatest. That's all I want. If you record this. And she goes, hold on, let me set it up.

Oh my God.

And she literally set up and pressed record and she goes, can you go? She had no one introducing me. I had to literally walk up. Oh, by the way, I had that suit on. This was crazy. I have it all on video.

Oh my gosh.

I have it all on video. And I walk up, do my set, fucking standing ovation.

Shut up.

This is back in the day when people do the raise the roof.

Oh yeah.

And you'll see this one Black lady doing this in front. It was the coolest thing. And, uh, and I walk off stage and it's Bo Pea, who— it's like one of my favorite comics that was on BET all the time. His name's Bo Pea. and Yvette were standing right there. And Bo Peep got like that Southern twang, he got like a Louisiana accent like that. And he goes, hey man, who the fuck are you? I go, Joe Coy, man. I'm a local comic here. He's like, okay man, that was wow. That was amazing. You ever watch BET? I go, yeah. He goes, you on. You on next week.

Shut up.

I swear to God. And I'm literally, I went to work and I go, I remember asking my manager, I'm like, hey, I need next week off. I'm doing BET's Comic View. No one could believe I got it. And now I'm on BET's Comic View. And then I get a standing O on BET's Comic View. I was number 28 out of 28— no, I was number 27 out of 28 comics. We started filming at 10 in the morning and I don't think I got on stage until like 11:30 that night.

That was—

Gary Owen was the host. You should bring Gary on this show because he's amazing too. And Gary Owen was the host and we never met each other. And he went up, killed. I went out there, murdered. I murdered it. And then that's how I met just some Black comics that were doing things. And I met a couple guys in that. I met this one guy named God, what was his name? Oh, I met Honest John. He's a white comic, right? And Honest John was like, hey, you need to call this guy, right? He had this thing where he could get you on, uh, into colleges.

College tour.

College tour. But it was the Black, uh, what do you call it, college program, whatever. Like the—

All-Black colleges?

Yeah, not the all-Black colleges, like, you know, you— the, the Black, uh, fraternities or whatever. So They would hire famous Black comics that they saw on BET and Def Jam, right? And they would come perform at these—

Fraternities or something?

Yeah, whatever, right? And they'd be beautiful shows. They'd rent out the— they'd get the theater at like University of Houston, University of North Carolina. Now I'm opening for these famous Black comics like Samore and Michael Blackson and J.B. Smooth. Like all of them. This is before J.B. Smooth was on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Oh, this is just J.B. Smooth from Def Jam. Wow. Like this is the '90s. And I'm opening for all these cats, right?

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So now, now I'm making money off of this. I'm getting like $800 a show, right? Plus they're flying me out, right? So that's how I got that. So now I meet them. This is crazy. Honest John, actually, I met Honest John on the Black college circuit. I met— how I got on the Black circuit was, I think, Yvette Anderson, right? And then, uh, Yvette.

Potter.

Yeah, she hooked me up. And then I met Honest Jon on the circuit 'cause I opened for him a couple times. He was like, man, you really funny, man. He's a white guy, right? He goes, man, you really funny, man. He's like, he's like, you know who Bob Sumner is, right? So, and I go, nah. He goes, man, he, he, uh, he runs Def Comedy Jam. He runs, he runs the tour. He goes, you need to be on Def Comedy Jam, man. He goes, When we're in Vegas, I want you to come to a show. I'm gonna introduce you to Bob Sumner.

Wow.

So Bob Sumner and Russell Simmons created Def Comedy Jam and they had a tour, right? And they were at Sam's Town, which was on Boulder Highway, right? And because the Strip wasn't hiring Black comics for anything unless you were Martin Lawrence or Chris Rock, you were not getting on the Strip. It just wasn't like that. Like, I'm telling you, it was such a crazy time back in the '80s and '90s. And, uh, so they had to go off strip. They had to play these weird rooms, you know what I mean? And so anyway, I'm at Sam's Town and I'm backstage with my sister, and here comes Bob Sumner, right? He's eating something. She's eating like a muffin or something. She got food on his lips. And he's just like, hey, Honest John said you really funny. I'm like, yeah. He goes, all right, well, this is what I'm gonna do. We're gonna put you out before the show starts. We're not gonna open the curtains. We're just gonna kind of open it up and just go through it. Kind of like Carol Burnett. You remember the Carol Burnett Show when the girl would walk in between? He's like, we're gonna go through the curtain. And then don't say welcome to Def Jam. Don't say, are you ready for the show? And when you say goodnight, just say my name's Joe Coy, goodnight, and then come back through the curtain. And we're still seating people, all right? So, you know, the house lights would be on, but, you know, it's a packed house. And I'm like, okay. And he walks off. And I literally look at my sister going, I'm gonna fucking eat my ass out there. This sucks, right? Like, what the fuck? Like, why am I even here? I was so pissed.

No warm audience.

Yeah, people are walking in. This sucked, dude. It was completely cold. And then all of a sudden, the stage manager overheard everything, right? And he walks up to me and he goes, Hey man, I just want you to know we're about 89% full. Like, we're not gonna leave the house lights on. It's pretty much packed in there. I'm gonna turn it down. I'm not gonna turn 'em off, but I'm gonna turn 'em down so it's gonna feel good. But all the other stuff that he said, you're gonna have to do, all right? But I'm gonna turn those house lights down for you.

That's nice.

Yeah, it was really cool. And literally these 2 stagehands pulled the curtain like this and I sneak out and then a spotlight hits me. Swear to God, dude. And I'm like, hey, I'm Joe Coyne. And I do like 10 minutes. Good night. Standing O, right?

Wow.

Standing O. I did this Michael Jackson bit that always killed. Standing O. And I crawl back through the— I crawl back through. I don't say—

You don't fall to the side.

And then he had this amazing set that said Def Comedy Jam. And, you know, they had the turntables. I think Kid Capri was there. It was just crazy. And I couldn't even say I was involved with this thing.

Oh, man.

through the curtain and my sister hugs me. She's like, oh my God, I knew you'd kill it, blah, blah, blah. And Rudy Rush, he's a comic, a really funny comic, and he hosted the Apollo. And he was hosting that show that night and he's standing next to Bob Sumner and he goes, who the fuck is this guy? He goes, oh, that's Honest John's friend Joe. He goes, why the fuck did you put him on now? Why didn't you put him on the I gotta follow this shit, man. He goes, what do you mean? He goes, I didn't know. Rudy looks at me and he goes, you ever do the Apollo? I swear to God, bro, this is exactly how it went down. He goes, you ever watch the Apollo? I go, yeah. He goes, man, I'm gonna have my producers call you, man. You gotta do the Apollo. You're gonna win the Apollo. I swear to God. Do that same set, you're gonna win the Apollo. I'm flying out to New York. Like 3 weeks later, doing the Apollo Showtime at the Apollo. This is the '90s where they used to—

Boo people.

Yeah, yeah.

Throwing stuff on stage.

Bro. And I won. I won that 3 weeks later.

Yeah.

I'm at the Apollo and I win it. I did the same routine that he told me.

And you crushed.

Rudy Rush. Yeah.

Yep.

Still my friends in there. I'm still friends with all these people to this day.

This is 30 years ago.

Yeah, I started 37 years ago.

But this around '97.

This is '97. So yeah, you're right.

There's 3 decades, but it seems like for a decade before Yeah. Almost a decade, 8 years before that, you just had to kind of sneak your way into any opportunity possible.

Yeah.

I don't know if sneak your way is the right word, but enroll your way.

Yeah.

Go up to the front of the line, do the thing, say yes, get off work, whatever it took to just say, all right, they're not going to give me the best opportunity. I'm still going to make myself available and ready, and I'm going to do it under the worst conditions if I have to.

Yeah.

What gave you that courage and confidence to be able to go for it even when everyone else probably would've said, ah, it's too risky?

I don't know, man. I don't know what it, what it is. I gotta get up there.

Wow.

I have to, and I don't care. I really don't give a shit. Like, if you, if you, yeah, I don't know. I really don't know. It's my desire. It's my passion. I know that there's, there's something that I'm trying to reach, and the only way I can reach is if I keep climbing, right?

Wow.

So if I say no to that, then I, I, I, I, I walk back 2 steps.

Yeah.

But if I just go one step forward, I'm good. I don't know, that's cheesy saying that, but it's, it's real. Like, I could have easily said I'm out of here, which most comics would have, especially that Def Jam moment. A lot of comics would have been like, yo, fuck this guy. And then they would have just like— especially now with the podcast, they just talk about it on the podcast and just on somebody. Yo, fuck that guy. You know what you want me to do? You want me to crawl through the curtain. I'm better than that. It's like, so what? It's his show. Right.

It's not your show.

Yeah. It's not your show. It's his show. And you're asking for a spot. Like, this guy's a promoter, which means he paid for that set. He paid for the design. He paid for ads. He paid for these comics to be there. And now you're asking for stage time. on a show that he produced. And so if I eat my ass on that stage, that reflects him. And that's how I look at it. Like, I don't get offended by it, I just get motivated by it.

Yeah.

Like, that's why I keep saying, if you fail, you fail. But it's like, you're not— you win. You win when you fail. Like, there's that famous Michael Jordan commercial where it's in black and white and it's just him Narrating how all the things that he did that, that failed. Remember that? How many, how many free throws?

I missed thousands of shots.

Yeah. I missed thousands of free throws, game-winning free throws, game-winning 3-pointers, game-winning shots. Like I missed a dunk, blah, blah, blah. I, but I failed. I won 6 championships.

Yeah.

Like I failed.

I think the end is I failed and that's why I succeed. Yeah.

And I, I don't know what that did to me. Maybe that burnt inside my soul, but You know what I mean? I'm not— and the interviews, like, you gotta remember, this is before the internet. So I was literally like trying to discover people like any way I can. I remember reading a Rolling Stone ad on Chris Rock. He would sit there and wait for time just to get a spot. And he was 17, like 18. Everyone knew he was a phenom, but like he couldn't get stage time because he was only 18. He had to wait till they put the chairs up or some shit. You know, same thing with Eddie, same story. I think that's what it was. It was like the same story, like same thing with Eddie. Like, I think he was 15, you know what I mean? And then I heard the same thing about Chappelle. He was like 15. And I'm like, bro, I'm 18. I gotta do the same thing they did.

This is crazy, man. But how did you get the confidence?

I don't know, because I was so insecure.

Really? What were you insecure about?

Well, everything. My teeth were bad. I broke my teeth when I was a kid. So all my teeth were crooked and broken in half. That's why I have fake teeth. And they were fake. I mean, I had bad teeth all the way into my, like, until I started making real money. Like, I think I fixed my teeth when I was like 36. So my teeth were bad for a long time. And Super insecure. I had like a short tooth up here because I fell on a rock and it stopped growing. I say it all the time on stage. I go, it got to the point where I had to like put my tongue in my tooth just to hide it because every time I'd smile, people would always do like this look like, oh, they'd be scared. They didn't know I—

Yeah.

So I'd always stick my tongue in my tooth and I had to laugh at my own shit. Like I would share, like share with all of you their tongue. Like, literally, I had to do that. And like, I was always insecure about my teeth and how I'd— I was losing my hair. I had severe sleep apnea with no, no CPAP machine at the time. Like, it was just everything. I was just super, super insecure. And I think the only thing that gave me confidence was stand-up.

Wow.

I knew I'd kill you on stage, you know?

So it's like you had to get on stage.

It was my superpower, yeah.

Without the stage, it was like you had a lot more—

I felt very— yeah, you know, I had just like this— You know, traumatic childhood with, you know, like the divorce with my mom and dad when I was like 9, 10. You know, my brother with his, you know, his mental disability and just him in and out of like group homes and, you know, you know, hospitals, you know what I mean? And police coming to the house because my brother's beating up somebody at the house. It was just a very negative, negative My childhood was set up for me to fail. You know what I mean?

Really?

Yeah, big time. Supposed to fail. Especially the times that we live in. Like, there is no positive reinforcement with what I'm watching on TV. I'm being conditioned to think of my own race a certain way, which led into my comedy. You know what I mean? You watch cartoons with your friends and every time they made fun of an Asian guy with the cartoon, you know, the slant eyes and the water buckets on the shoulder and they're hobbling around building a train. And, and here I am, I have to laugh at that because I don't know what funny is. I, I don't, I don't know if they're making fun of me, and they are, you know. I'm being programmed. I'm not thinking about my mom and her feelings and the racism that she's enduring, you know what I mean? I'm just watching it going, oh, okay. And then every Asian character that's in a sitcom has a heavy accent. These are all like mental conditionings. that, that kids my age had to go through in the '80s and '90s. And you're being programmed, indirectly programmed. So it's like, yeah, when I first started stand-up, I'm like, oh, this is what they want to hear, this is what I need to do.

Was it more like self-deprecating stuff then?

Well, it's just, yeah, and it was like racist stuff about my own culture. And it's just like, that's, that's the times we lived in, and it was okay, it was acceptable. You don't know, I don't know any better, I'm a kid. In 1994, how old am I? I'm 23.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? Like, I'm a kid and you don't know. You just, you just want to be funny and you, you were programmed a certain way and you don't know it. You just don't know that you're being programmed. Like, you know, until you get older and you're like, whoa, Pat Morita never had an accent. Pat Morita used to chop it up with Robin Williams and Richard Pryor, and he was a badass stand-up comic, but yet for some reason his roles had to have a heavy, heavy accent. When he became Al on Happy Days or when he was Mr. Miyagi, it's like legendary characters, but why did he have to have the accent? Like, what kind of racist shit is that? You know what I mean?

Right.

And that, that's why it's hard for me to explain to this generation the opportunities that we had back then aren't what they have now. don't get me wrong, racism is still in Hollywood, but it was in your face and told to you in your face back then.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? When you get a Tia Carrere auditioning for a part where, you know, she's Filipino, but they're like, yeah, just, you know, you know, Asian accent, you know what I mean? You know, thicken it up. But yet you could sing like a rock star. That was the role that she had to audition for. And a lot of Asian actresses that were like badass at acting, but for some reason those are the only parts that they're allowed to go audition for. I'm just saying, like, the window of opportunity for anyone of color back then— that's why I said that on stage, you know, when I did Live at the Forum, when I said that, like, not all of us get a fair shake. And it's hard to explain this to people because you don't see it. You don't see it through our lens. You don't understand what we have to go through. You can ask any comic that comes in here from my generation, like, what was it like, you know, with these comedy clubs in LA? And they'll tell you there's the white room, and that was the room that we wanted, which was the weekend, Friday, Saturday. And we all called it the white room.

White night.

Yeah, man.

Wow.

It was white night. Ask any comic. You could— if you had Cedric the Entertainer, ask him what night was the white night.

Wow.

And he'll tell you, oh, that's, that's Friday, Saturday at the Improv.

And everyone wanted to get in there.

Everyone wanted that because that was, that was the night you got paid. That was the night that audience paid. Those were the nights that were completely sold out. But yet you looked at, you looked at the list of comics that were on and it was all white. Unless you were already, you made it, you know what I mean? Then you'll get a Martin Lawrence. Right, right, right. You know what I mean? Or you'll get a—

One person maybe.

You'll get one, one. And, but for the most part, it's, it's buried within 4 or 5. And it's like, Then you get us, the guys that are trying to talk about my mom and try and also sell you my point of view. But yet, you know, we were always hit with, oh, I don't think they'll get it. Oh, maybe on a Tuesday. You know, it was just like some really indirect racist shit, man. So it's like when you ask us why we will, the confidence in why we do it is because the opportunities were slim and— Far in between. So when, when you get that call, I'm not gonna say no to it.

Yeah. You say yes whenever you can.

You have to, you have to. Even though, you know, they're clearly racist.

Right.

They got in trouble for being racist. And then they're finally gonna ask you to do something and you're just like, yeah, I mean, yeah, this is my shot. Let me do it. I, I, I can't say no.

Right.

You know, so, you know, you, you see stuff like The Comedy Store, with Fat Tuesdays. And you're like, well, why was the Black night on Fat— why was it on a Tuesday night? Because Tuesday night was the only night that they turned the lights off. Like, who's going to anywhere on Sunset on a Tuesday?

Right.

But yeah, we'll turn it on and, and, you know, we'll give it to the Black comics and we'll call it Fat Tuesdays. And, and Guy Torrey took the challenge. Guy Torrey's, all right, give me Tuesday night. And it went from 1— it started at 8 And sold them out. And then next thing you know, they would do 2 shows, 8 and 10. And then next thing you know, you got 8, 10, and 12.

Wow.

And now you're turning out famous Black comics left and right on a Tuesday with lines down the street. Like, it's crazy, man. It's— I'm talking too much.

It's all good, man. It's all good, man.

You know what I mean? But it's just like, those were the shows that I did. I would drive from Vegas because I couldn't get the weekend show.

To LA?

Yeah, with a broken taillight. I remember I got 2 tickets, one going there and one coming back. And I had to come back because I was at the— I was a tour guide that morning with a broken taillight and I got a ticket both ways.

Shut up.

And I didn't even get paid that much. I got like $40 just to do a show with George Wilburne and Gary Owen and, you know, like, like these comics that I— oh, Joe Torre, like all these Black comics that I admire. At Fat Tuesdays.

What is that, a 4-hour drive or something? 5 hours?

Back and forth. And this is back in the '90s when they didn't have all those— now you drive to Vegas and there's so many things you can do, like every 30 minutes or every 15 minutes or something. Back then, man, it was Barstow, San Bernardino.

Man.

And yeah, no AC.

Oh, man.

Trying to stay up with sleep apnea. Oh, my gosh, man. Just to do a 10-minute set.

You were doing whatever it took.

Whatever it took. Yeah. I remember I caught the bus, the Greyhound, just to do this one— no, I caught the Greyhound because I lost my ID. Yep. Lost my ID and I did— oh my God, what's it called? It's such a great room, man. Man, I wish I could tell you the name of it, but the Comedy Act Theater.

Okay.

Comediac Theater in, uh, oh God, like somewhere in, uh, Inglewood, that area down that way. Don't quote me on it. But anyway, uh, yeah, I had to catch the bus, bro, back home.

From Vegas?

Took me 9 hours. Oh my God. From LA, from LA back to Vegas.

The bus probably cost you more than what you made.

Yeah, no, it was cheap. It was like $25.

Okay. So you made $20 then.

And I remember I held my backpack like this.

Yeah, I've taken Greyhounds a few times. It's sketchy.

Yeah, that shit. Sucked, man.

Sketchy, man.

Just to do— by the way, didn't even get paid for that show. I was auditioning.

Oh, man.

I was auditioning for Guy Torrey.

The School of Greatness is brought to you in partnership with Airbnb. And one of the things that I love the most about traveling is when a place surprises you in a way that you didn't plan for. You go for the event, you go for the dinner, the meeting, or whatever it is. But what you remember is the conversation with someone local, the neighborhood you didn't expect to fall in love with, the feeling of experiencing the rhythm and the music and the passion of the place instead of just passing through it. And that's part of why I list a space on Airbnb. I love the idea that someone can come into a city and feel more connected to the local culture, not just check a box and move on, but actually feel a place just a little bit more. And the income from it can help fund the next adventure. It can go towards a home refresh, or just create a little more breathing room in your life. So the next time a big event comes to your area, your space might be a part of someone else's trip in a really memorable way. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com/host. I think the theme that I'm seeing about your career and also your life is just you are 100% all-in committed to the craft and to creating opportunities for yourself. Most people, if they're there's a 4-hour drive, if there's a line they have to wait in, if it doesn't seem like there's an opportunity, they're not going to make the opportunity. It seems like you've spent 30-plus years of saying, I am going to not only do whatever it takes to get in front of someone to make the opportunity, then I'm going to beg, claw, scream, dance, whatever, to show them I'm willing to do whatever it takes.

Yeah.

And I think that level of commitment and full ownership to your dreams and goals, It's got to be one of the reasons why you've accomplished so much.

Yeah.

Obviously you need to be talented.

Yeah.

Because some people might do that and not have the goods.

Yeah.

But you had a combination of the, I'm willing to do whatever it takes and I have the goods and I'm willing to master the craft constantly and be a good person.

Yeah.

And I think that combination is what sounds like has had multiple Netflix specials. What, 5 Netflix specials now?

It's going to be my 6th. 6 Netflix specials, sold out SoFi, sold out some of the biggest arenas in Yeah.

On multiple continents. And it's because your willingness to do these things for decades.

Yeah.

Before you quote unquote made it.

Yeah.

That's what it sounds like.

Yeah. And I'll keep doing it. I think people lose, uh, I don't know what it is that they lose, but I— this fire burns inside me, man. I love it. But I remember reading like this article and I, I'm pretty sure it was Aerosmith. Don't It's either Aerosmith or Bon Jovi. I always mess this up. Maybe I should look it up again. But they said that they used to make their own flyers and Xerox copy them, and they would put it on windshields everywhere. Everywhere. They would go to the parking lot, anywhere, any mall or grocery store. And I remember after I read that, I literally went to Kinko's and taught myself how to make a flyer. Really?

Yeah.

And literally I would hand out flyers everywhere. And to this day, look, I can show you a text. I swear to God, I'll show you a text right now just to prove that I'm not lying. I asked my guy that does a lot of my graphics, I need 10,000 flyers for Netflix 'cause I'm about to pass these out.

Right now?

Yeah, I don't give a fuck.

So you're gonna go still do it like you did 30 years ago?

Well, like, it's a little different now because I'm selling out places.

Yeah, of course.

But I got 3 sold-out shows this weekend. Like, you know, they're completely sold out. I'm going to Miami.

Why post flyers if you've already sold it out?

Because not everybody knows you.

That's true.

You, you, you gotta be the most narcissistic human being to think that you're that famous. You're not. There's people that do not know you, man. Yeah, that's fine. They're not supposed to know you. You don't need to know me, but you can get to know me. And when you do, it's up to you whether you like me or not.

Give me a chance. Watch one segment. Watch a 10-minute thing.

Yeah. If you don't like it, that's fine. That's what this is. It's— we live in a world of choices, bro. Like, the, the, the— I fall under the umbrella of stand-up comedy, but there's different genres. It's like saying I follow— I do music. It's like, okay, what genre of music? Country. I don't really listen to country, but I'll give it a shot. That's what it is.

So you got 10,000 flyers you're about to go, or your team's about to go and pass them out around what?

Yeah, everywhere.

The city or anywhere you're going on tour?

Everywhere. Every parking lot, I'll have a stack.

That's incredible, man.

I'll stick it in a car window. I don't— I am humble, bro.

And you'll do it yourself too?

Hell yeah.

If I got—

I'll have 3 boxes in my car.

This is amazing.

And they will be empty.

And you'll just put them in windshields and just about—

I don't care, bro. Dude, I like that.

Don't care. That's amazing.

And I'll pick them up. If you drop it on the ground, I'll pick it up. I don't care.

That's amazing, man. At your level, with your success, you're still doing that type of work.

Yeah. That is impressive. I don't understand where—

That inspires me.

I don't understand where the laziness comes from.

That inspires me.

Like, I, I love that. I dreamt this when I was 9. Like, I, I'm still asleep dreaming.

Wow.

When I wake up, the dream's over. You know what I mean? Does that make sense?

100%, man.

When someone tells you to do something, you're like, oh yeah, maybe you're right. I'll stop doing that. Bro, fuck that. You just woke up to nothing.

Wow.

Uh-uh. I'll, I'll stay. Let me, Sleep and continue this dream.

Wow, man. Yeah.

This is all a dream right here. This right here, I'm just dreaming. I'm living my dream, bro. Like, imagine me laying in bed as a kid going, someday, and I close my eyes and this is what's happening while I'm dreaming as a kid.

If you could go back, I guess, 40, 50 years then when you were a kid, when you were going through that traumatic time with your parents getting divorced, struggling with all this stuff. And you were very insecure.

Yeah.

What would you say to him if he was sitting right in front of you right now?

Oh, you're good. Keep watching those, keep watching those specials.

Really?

Oh, hell yeah, dude. I watched every special. Like, I got a master's degree in stand-up, and I didn't watch it for the funny. I watched it for the art. Like, how did Carlin do that? Like, how did Dennis Wolfberg do that? How did Richard Jeni do that? How did Lon— how did Louie do that? How does he— those voices. How does Eddie Murphy just command that stage the way he does? You know what I mean? That confidence, like, what is it? I really— like, I was a student, bro.

Wow.

I remember there was this one year, I can't remember what year it was, like '90-something, late '90s. And Comedy Central said they were going to do a New Year's Eve marathon, and it started at like 8 in the morning, and they were going to keep going until midnight. And I literally woke up and I watched stand-up because you got to remember, there's no internet.

And there's no reruns.

There's no reruns. Yeah, exactly.

There's no reruns.

You're watching live or you miss it. Yeah, yeah. And you had to hope to God that, you know, I hope they play that again sometime this year. Well, this, this was a day they were gonna play a stand-up marathon. And I remember I got up at 8, I was ordering food. Ask my mom, bro. I was ordering food, it was being delivered, and I literally sat there and I watched every half-hour special, hour special, premium blend, whatever it was, 15 minutes. They, they played everything that night.

Wow.

And I watched all of them, man. And I remember my mom, I remember my mom and Fred, my stepdad, they were going to a party at like 10. They left the house, they got all dressed up. And, uh, and my mom looked at me, she goes, you sure you don't want to come with me? Like, let's just go celebrate New Year's Eve together. I go, no, Mom, seriously, I'm good.

Wow.

Like, she thought I was pulling, like, oh, he doesn't have friends.

Wow. You were enjoying it though.

Bro, I was Good. I had Domino's. I got the 2-liter. I got the 2-liter of Coke.

Let's go. That's all you need, man.

All I— and it was 2 pizzas for like $8. I think it was $7.99 back then. I'm not joking, bro. I was killing it. And I was literally sitting on the floor.

Now, were you taking notes also, or you just kind of—

Yeah, I have the book.

Shut up.

I have everything, bro. I have a spiral. I have a spiral that says I think it said something like first applause break, thirty seconds.

Oh, you were timing it too.

Yeah.

Like cadence of it all. Yeah.

Like I was saying stuff like that.

You were a real student.

Yeah. I was like, oh, oh, that's okay. Blah blah blah. Like how many words to set up? Bah da da da da. Okay. Oh, okay. Like what are we talking about right out the gate? Like, yeah, I was doing that shit. Because it's like a, it's like a dance when you're on stage. Yeah.

In a sense, right? And you've got to have like almost the timing, the rhythm. It is a song.

But it has to be yours.

Yeah, you can't copy someone else.

Otherwise, it's fake, right? No. That's why I don't believe in like, oh, teach a class. There is no class. Like, it's, it's you. Who are you? You know what I mean? It's just like asking Denzel to teach a class. He'll teach you the basics.

Right, right.

But he can't teach you Denzel.

Be yourself.

Yeah. Like, Denzel is Denzel. Yeah, that's true. He's beautiful. You don't need to give him words. Don't give him anything. He'll get you on the first look and you're just like, yeah, well, let's cast this guy. Yeah, yeah. What the fuck did he just do right there? He just looked at me. Yeah, like, you can't— that, that's you. And that's, that's the same thing with stand-up. What is it that separates you? What is that you want to talk about? What is Like, and it could be anything as long as it's your voice. I'm not saying like, I'm a storyteller because I love to tell stories, but I got you, man. Like, it's, it's going to be delivered the same way you write a joke. Like, watch it. It's everything that you want. You got the setup, the premise, the punch, the tags, the callbacks. I got it all. I'll go into the crowd and I'll show you how to go into the crowd.

Wow.

I'll show you how to go into the crowd. I got it. I'll do it. It's— I, I love this.

Is there anything about comedy you haven't mastered yet?

I— to me, I— yeah, I think I've— there's my particular style I've mastered. I love it. I love it so much, and I know how to do it. I can literally go up there and just tell you what I want to talk about, and I will deliver it the way it's supposed to be delivered.

It's like If someone puts you on the spot and says, all right, you got 3 minutes, ready, go. Do you already like have a— do you already know like different sets you have, time limits, stories? Do you have it all? If you're like just going to watch and you're not planning to go up.

I'm so— Hey, we need you now.

Like, and you have to go up. What would you—

Well, first of all, there's standup and then there's a gig. I think that's the thing about standup that, that has this, uh, weird perception, right? Like, oh, you're a stand-up comic, so here, go inside this broom closet and there's 2 guys standing there.

Ready?

Kill them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, no. You would never do that to anybody else. We're not clowns. You got a bunch of people at round tables eating sushi right now, getting drunk.

Not a good setup.

And you want me to what? With no opener? You want me to what? Like, get stopped? Like, like—

So that doesn't work? No.

And anyone will tell you that. Everyone's got one, dude. I got— bro, everyone's got— you know how many comics, you know, take these corporate gigs and they hate it? They hate it, but they take it because you guys pay so much money. Yeah, I, I stopped. Like, I stopped years ago.

And it hurts because the audience isn't as engaged.

No, because you feel like a— it's clownery. It's like these big round tables with big giant table settings and knives and forks clanking and people are asking for more wasabi. And you want me to be funny?

They pay you a big check. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Get the fuck out of here, dude. This is like, we have the greatest, we have the hardest and the greatest art form when it comes to entertainment. You can't fuck with a comic, man. You can't. I say it all the time. Like any comedian, I will never say anything bad about a comic publicly.

Because you know how hard it is.

Because I know. I don't care how, what style they do, whatever it is. We are a different class and And in this game of entertainment, and, and it's untouchable. It's under— like, it's untouchable. You can't, you can't fuck with us.

Yeah.

You just can't. Like, like you talk about, we, we have to be therapists. We also have to be, uh, psychic. We have to figure out every single person in this room. What's gonna make them laugh. And adjust.

Wow.

In a way. And it's It's crazy, man. You got— you can have 70,000 people in the stadium, but for some reason there's this one cat I'm looking at. Just one. And every comic will say that to you.

Who's just kind of like— Yeah.

And if there's not a comic that doesn't say it to you, they're, they're not telling you the truth.

So how do you deal with it when there's people in the audience?

It's not, it's not that. It's one, who gives a fuck? That's the thing. Who cares about that guy? Yeah.

Yeah.

Or that chick? We don't care. But the thing is, it Just it bothers you. Like we will literally go in the green room and be like, "Did you see that? The crooked hat guy? What the fuck was that all about? Who the fuck was that?" Like literally, we'll all stand in the green room.

Yeah, yeah.

Just like what the fuck? We don't care about the standing ovation. We don't like it's crazy, dude. And we that's the kind of we got to go through. Like and we don't sit on the same. Song. Don't get me wrong, I love to go see live music. I love it because every night is different because the crowd is hyped and, you know, you get to hear a different version of the song live and it just sounds good. You get to hear all the instruments at once live. It's a beautiful feeling. Stand-up isn't like that, bro. Like, we're not doing the hits. Like, I can't. I can't go up there and be like, oh, by the way, I'm gonna do, uh, Live from Brooklyn today. Like, they're gonna be— everyone's gonna want their money back. It's like, no, bro, we've seen that shit. We've already heard it. We want new shit.

That's a lot of work to always come up with new material. Yeah.

And you gotta give it to 'em.

Wow.

That's me, by the way. Like, once, once this special drops September 15th, it's, it's such a, like, a fun night for me because I'm like, yo, everyone's gonna get to see that routine that I worked on. But at the same time, it's a sad night because it's like, I'll never do those jokes again. Like, I'll never talk about my stepdad again after that. And I love doing that story. I love telling that story on stage, but it's done. After this, it's done.

I'll never— You can't ever talk about that stuff again?

No.

Not even like a part of it every now and then?

Even if you yell it out, I won't do it.

Really?

And if you yell it out, I really won't do it. Yeah. I just, I can't. There's no reason, man. It's like work. Yeah, it's crazy because an hour special to me is like a marriage.

Wow.

And it's like we get divorced, but it's a happy divorce. Oh man, it's like a happy divorce. Like, I, I, you know, I, I wave to it. And I don't do, I don't do greatest hits at the end of my show. I, I don't think that's a—

Because you got 6 specials now, so it's like if someone watched 3 of them—

8.

8, but 6 on Netflix.

Yes, Netflix.

8 specials, but 6 on Netflix. So if someone watched the first couple and they see the same material, a little bit of it, they're gonna say, hmm, I already watched this.

Yeah, you did that already. Dang.

What about on tour? Could you do it at a—

really, man? I can't.

That is a lot of work.

Yeah, but I love it.

No, I mean, it's great, but it's like you gotta always be thinking of new material.

Yeah. That's a hard job. Yeah, but it's not. It's not. It's, it's a lot of fun.

Yeah.

It really is a lot of fun.

Gosh, man. I mean, you talk about people will watch this after the special's out, or hopefully they'll watch it, your special after they see this. When you talk about your stepdad, you were telling me a little bit before you had a tumultuous childhood. You were mentioning a lot of trauma with the divorce and stepdad and then dad. What was the biggest lesson your stepdad taught you that has guided you throughout your life?

My favorite that I like to tell people and smile Is, uh, fix your bed. Fix your bed. A dirty, a dirty bed is a— a messy bed is a messy head.

Mm.

And he was military, you know what I mean? 2 Purple Hearts, 2 Bronze Stars, and a CIV badge.

Your stepdad?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Uh, and yeah, when he came into my life, you know, don't get me wrong, I love my dad and things happened. You know, there were fights. We had to call the cops. He fought my dad a lot. You know, and my brother was scary. He was a very scary guy. Small, but he could fight. He'd be like 3 cops on his back.

Really?

And a punch in the back of his head, you know what I mean? 'Cause they won't put the cuffs on. He won't let 'em put the cuffs on. He'd just look at me like, yeah, they're scared. They're scared. And I remember looking at my brother going, I'm scared. I'm scared, Robert. Like, come on, stop. And then all of a sudden, This guy Fred comes in and he picks my brother up and slams him, you know what I mean? Because Fred's like 6'2, 6'3, big. And when my mom met him, he was like 275, Army grunt, you know what I mean? Like, this guy was in it and wasn't scared to fight, man. And I remember he threw Robert to the ground, laid on him, and he was like, uh, I'm gonna lay here, brother. I ain't, you know, I don't want to hurt you. I'm gonna lay on you.

Just step—

We can wait. Yeah, I'll wait. We'll wait for the cops. We called the cops. So what do you, what do you want to do? You want to get up and leave and we'll tell the cops that you're gone? We want to lay on you right now. You tell me. Lift me up, lift me up. And they let him up again. My brother swung on him again. Bam. Threw him to the ground again. I'm gonna do this. I don't mind doing this. We can keep doing this. Wait till the cops— you can go to jail again. We ain't gonna see you for a while. What you gonna do, Robert? And then Robert's like, yeah, let me up, let me out of here. And he let him up, and we were walking down the steps. He swung on Fred, and then Fred grabbed his hair, hit him a couple times in the face. And then, uh, and I think that's when Robert just looked at him It's kind of crazy too, because I think it was that wake-up moment where my brother was just like, okay, I'm not that guy anymore. And then Robert just walked down the steps and then just walked away. And I remember looking at Fred because I was, I think I was like 16 or 17 when he did that. And I was just like, oh shit, okay, we got— I got this guy in my house right now. I got someone that's got my back right now. So I looked at him different. You know, stepdad. Yeah, yeah.

I was like, this was— you were fighting your brother? Your brother was doing this to you?

He'd know he was doing it to Fred.

Okay.

But Robert always did it to us. He was pulling my sister down the steps. He would, you know, hit me, hit my dad, and, you know, he's scary. But now we got Fred, and Fred's like, oh, we're not playing that here, bro. Wow. This isn't happening in this house, not while I'm here. And I was like, oh, All right. And that was my guy. I was, I remember looking, I'm like, I'm gonna go fix my bed. I'm gonna fix my bed. Like you said, like this, right, sir? Like this, right, sir?

Wow.

It's not messy no more, sir.

Wow.

Swear to God. And to this day, hey, you can go to my house right now. My room's got bags from this weekend just open and shit all over the place. You know what I mean? And your bed? My bed, nice full pillows. You go to any hotel room across— anywhere you go see me, I do not leave that bedroom unless my bed is fixed.

That's great, man.

That's Sergeant Fred Harrison.

Wow.

Yeah.

What about your mom? I got a couple final questions for you, but what about biggest lesson your mom has taught you?

I think what my mom indirectly taught me was hustle, and I think that's where I get it from. Because when my mom moved here, I always tell this story and I feel like I'm on repeat and I feel bad, but there was no Facebook, there was no Instagram, there was no X, there was none of that. There was no websites. Now you come to this country, if you're an immigrant and you come to this country and you just, you want to find a community that speaks your language, eats your food, and it's easy.

Yeah.

Yeah. Literally it is easy. You just go to Maps and type in Greek food. Yeah. Boom. Thousand restaurants right by you.

Facebook groups.

Yeah. Yeah. Facebook group. Greek friends. Boom. Here we go. You can meet them that day. Find a friend. You didn't have that back then, bro. My mom would go to church on Sunday. We'd all be sitting with her and she'd be literally looking around, just looking for someone brown that looked like her. And at the end, real quick, Josephine, are you Filipino? Oh, nice to meet you. Next thing you know, they're talking. Now she's got this friend, now she's got that friend. Then they start renting out the Knights of Columbus Hall at the church. This is the '80s. And next thing you know, it's potluck night. Now it's all Filipinos. My mom's going through a divorce. Now it's just her and her kids. So now we just got to find— we don't have family because my dad's family is all we had. And now they're not with us anymore. So now we got the Portugals and all these people that are taking us in like a family. And that's why I identify with Filipino culture so much because of that. Those moments were so special to me. And that's where I was performing. I was dancing like Michael Jackson at these potluck nights at the Knights of Columbus and seeing my mom roll lumpia up, our Filipino egg rolls. She would roll them up and make a bag of 25. freeze them and then sell them at work. Book these Nights at Columbus Hall shows and everyone had to perform. And just seeing her do this indirectly is probably why I make flyers. That's cool.

That's really cool, man.

That's why I rent out theaters. That's why I— that's why I paid for those specials when I had to instead of complaining and going public and saying, bye.

Wow.

Yeah.

That's beautiful, man. Yeah. You gave, you gave some advice to your younger self.

Yeah.

Uh, you said, we're good, you know, keep going. Um, but if you could go in the future and imagine the last day of your life or the last days of your life, live as long as you want, but it's the last days.

Yeah.

And your future self is looking back at you right now. Yeah. What do you think he needs to say to you for this next season or chapter of your life?

The key. Man, you know, there's a comic, there's a comic, uh, that I used to take on the road. Well, I still do. Uh, his name's Chase, Chase DeRusso. And I've said this a lot on stage before, but Chase is the one that burnt it into my head. And he goes, everything that you've done Up until this point is a DVD. Like, it's the DVD. You, you made that DVD. Whatever it is that you wanted was a DVD. Like, everything that you wanted in, like, your movie, you did it. Here's the DVD of Joe Koy's life. Boom, you made it. Everything that you're doing now is the, is the Bonus features on the DVD. So that hour and 20-minute DVD is everything that I dreamt of when I was a kid. Everything that I thought that I, you know, even the ones that I thought would be impossible. Like, I remember going, oh, I could never play an arena. I remember going to see Eddie Murphy. I went, I was like 15 when I saw Eddie Murphy live. And it was at the Seattle Coliseum at the time. That's what they called it.

Mm-hmm.

And I was sitting there and I was looking up. I couldn't believe how many people were there to see him. It was sold out. And I remember like, that'll never happen. Cut to me selling out the same arena that Eddie Murphy was at, and I'm sitting in the same chair and I have my son next to me.

Shut up.

Yeah, literally.

Oh my gosh, I just got the chills.

Yeah, it's the craziest story.

Wow.

By the way, the way I bought my ticket is with my mom's credit card, because they didn't have websites back then. You had to call in, and her name's Josephine. I just used the accent. I'd like to get 2 tickets to Eddie Murphy. Boom. 2 tickets were waiting for me. Picked it up after school. Swear to God, bro. And then now I'm at the Coliseum and I remember seeing that, looking up. That's the first time I saw Paul Mooney perform too. And then now I'm sitting in the same exact seats where I sat and watched Eddie at my show, same arena. And now it's called the Climate Pledge Arena. And I'm with my son. I just remember putting my arm around my son going, this is exactly where I saw Eddie Murphy, Joe. It was amazing.

Wow, man, that's cool. Yeah.

And, but, but to think like that happened or selling out SoFi Stadium the way that was nuts and being able to hug my son on stage and have— ah, that was nuts, man.

Wow.

So many crying moments at that time.

Man, you're about to make me cry. As a new dad now, just thinking about just things Especially with what we do, Lewis, it's like, it's hard.

Like whenever you go, I'm a comedian, right? And they're like, you know, but they don't know you, right? And I don't have a postcard, I don't have a flyer on me. And they go, oh really? Oh, wow. So where, where do you do this comedy at? And I was like, there's SoFi Stadium. That's where I do it.

That's crazy.

But before that, you don't have that. You don't have that accolade, right? And you have to go, oh, well, you know, I'm at the Improv.

I was on this show and I did this, you know, I've opened for. Yeah.

And, you know, when you're a dad with a lot of pride, you got this, you know, my son, and you're just like, man, I don't want to say that his whole life. You know what I mean? I don't want to be like, well, you can see me at the Improv. Like, I do it like every Thursday. Like, I want my son to be like, yo, that's my dad sold out SoFi Stadium. You know what I mean? Like, I want, you know, you dream that, right? And I wanted that to happen while he was in school. Like, it was like a goal of mine. Like, I have to have this while he's in school. I don't know what it was, but I wanted it to burn in his brain that my dad did that.

Wow.

And I want him to walk around school like, yo. And it finally happened. Like, I remember he was a sophomore when I shot my first special that I sold to Netflix. So I shot it myself.

Wow.

You know, I've told that story before.

So you shot it first, then you pitched and sold it?

Well, they turned me down. So they said no to me. And, you know, we were like, hey, we'd love to, you know, do this hour for you. And they were like, no. And I— there's no problem with that, dude. I'm not— I, you know, like, it's a business, you know what I mean? They passed on me for a reason. Fine. There's a lot of comics that deserve that spot and they gave it to them and I get it. I just had to prove to them that I deserved To be on it. So we got the cameras, we shot it ourselves, and then we shot it and we brought it to them, and then they bought it. And I'm glad. Thank you, Netflix, for everything, because it changed my life. And when they watched it, they were like, okay, we get it. Our bad. Let's put this on. And when they put it on, it was a wrap, bro. It was a wrap. When Live from Seattle dropped, it was over with.

Then they're like, what's the next one? What's the next one?

It was crazy. Oh yeah. Like right after it dropped, I broke Mariah Carey's record in Hawaii.

Wow.

Like 22,000 tickets sold. I broke the Forum, the Forum record. That was crazy. First comic to sell 6 shows out. It was crazy. And I remember when I brought my son to the Forum when I sold it out the first 2 times, And he brought all his classmates. Oh, that's cool. And he was a senior— or not a senior, he was a junior. And I remember like, yeah, yeah, man.

That's cool.

And I brought him out on stage and I hugged him and all his classmates were there. I was like, dang, what a gift.

That's beautiful. What a beautiful gift.

Yeah. So now it's like, now I'm on the bonus features of the DVD. This is all a bonus.

This is all bonus.

This is a bonus.

Yeah.

Talking to you.

Joe, I want to acknowledge you for even that story right there of like, you know, a lot of people have said you'd have already made it by now before this first Netflix special. Like you'd toured everywhere, you'd done it, like you've, whatever, you've, you've sold out a bunch of places, but you still didn't have that Netflix special, right?

Yeah.

And still that story to me is still inspiring because you said, you, you said Netflix passed.

Yeah.

And you said, you know what? I'm still going to do the special and pay for it myself and invest in it. And I'll shop it to you or someone else if you don't take it. And you stepped, you went to the front of the line and you asked again, just at a different stage.

Oh yeah. I didn't even think of that.

You know what I'm saying? It's like you had your resume. You said, here's my resume. They said no. You said, can you gimme 5 minutes before the thing? Can you get— and you just said, I'm going to film it and do it myself then. And then I'm going to show it to you. And you just kept showing up. Like, that's been the theme for 30-plus years, even when you've been on the top, essentially. And so for me, I want to acknowledge you for just being an incredible inspiration.

Thank you.

There's so many people who feel like they have to have everything perfect before they start. They feel like they have to have all the school, the credentials, the opportunities, the branding, whatever it is. before they actually get started and launch their dream. And you started when you were a kid and you said, I'm going to show up at every stage, every moment and go to the front of the line and ask, can you put me on stage? Even when they say no. And you're going to keep asking and keep mastering your craft along the way. So I acknowledge you for the incredible inspiration that you are for telling these stories. There's so much I want to talk to you about, but I want to get you out of here. And so maybe we'll have to have you back on for the next special.

Okay.

I want people to watch your special that's out right now once this episode is out on September 15th called Blue in the Face. And it's going to be a banger just like the rest of them, man.

This is going to be so good.

It's going to be a banger.

It is, man.

And you were telling me about some other projects that you're working on behind the scenes that hopefully coming out soon.

Don't say hopefully. You got to say that.

Yeah. That is coming out soon.

You know, I hate to say this to someone like you, But, uh, the one thing I never say is hope or hopefully. I don't. You'll never hear me say it.

What do you say instead?

I literally got it out of my, my— I, I don't even— it's not even in my brain when I talk. It doesn't even process like unconditionally. It just doesn't come out anymore.

What do you say instead?

When it comes out.

When it comes out.

When it comes out. It is gonna come out.

I said hopefully comes out soon. I knew it was gonna come out.

Yeah, yeah.

It's just a matter about When? Yeah.

Yeah. I, I, like, especially with what we do, I feel like when you say hope, oh man, you're, you're asking for something else other than your own talent.

Interesting.

To get it. And I, I don't, I don't hope for anything.

That's good. I will. It's coming out.

Yeah. I, I'm not a motivational speaker, bro.

I love this, man. I love it.

I'm not that guy. I just, I just know, like, I don't like hope. I hope that works out for you. Like, what, what does that mean? It, it will work out for you.

Yeah.

It's going to work out. Yeah.

If people follow you, Joe Koy, on social media, they're going to see when all these projects come out.

Yeah.

It's coming out.

This Martin Lawrence project is killer.

That's what I was saying. Yeah, yeah.

Martin Lawrence and I produced this special together, which highlights and showcases top headliners that just have not been given the opportunity. And they are headliners, bro. Like, these are animals.

Yeah.

They are beasts, man. I've never seen so many standing ovations in my life before. And I was so happy, man. I was just like, it made me teary-eyed. There was one point where I got teary-eyed.

Wow.

Because me and Martin literally went through every single submission ourselves. We casted this thing ourselves. Like, we handpicked all 24 of them. And there's no denying who we picked. There's no question.

All bangers.

Yeah. And any comic that's like, well, I submitted and you passed on us. Well, then watch why. Watch why, and no disrespect. You'll when we do another season, we'll look and and we'll you know we'll if you deserve that spot, we will get you. But I'm telling you, there's no denying these 24. You're gonna watch and go, all right, yeah, these were good. Yeah, they were good.

I gotta level up next time.

They were good. Maybe I should have submitted a different set or whatever it is. I don't know what it was, but all I know is this these 24 comics caught. Martin and I's eye.

They had the juice.

They had it, man. And they, they shined that night.

I saw some behind the scenes before we recorded and it looks pretty epic.

Yeah, it's crazy.

When that's coming out, people will see that. I'm sure you'll be talking about it at Joe Coy on social media and everywhere else online that you share your content. I've got 2 final questions, Joe. And again, I appreciate you just opening up and being honest and real about all this stuff. It's so inspiring. Oh, I know people are gonna be inspired by this conversation. This question is called the 3 Truths.

Yeah.

Hypothetical question. Imagine you get to live as long as you want. This is your bonus features, right? You get to do all the extra bonus stuff, all the fun stuff now. But whatever reason, many years in the future, it's your last day on this earth. And on your last day, you have to take all of your work with you.

Okay.

So no one has access to any of the 50 specials you'll have by then or all the content. It's all gone for whatever reason. Hypothetical.

Yeah.

But you get to leave behind to the world 3 lessons.

Okay.

3 things you know to be true from your life.

Okay.

What would those 3 truths be for you?

3 lessons for the world? This one my dad said to me, but don't say what if, right? What if I would've done it? Ah, man. What if I tried? Like, don't ever say what if. Just do it. You know what I mean? Just be that kid, man. Like, be the kid that you are, that kid that thought they could fly when they jumped off the roof. I know that sounds stupid, but man, we can really fly, bro. You can do whatever you want. I'm flying right now.

Yeah.

Not in the literal sense. I'm literally, I'm living out a dream, man. And I want everyone to feel this because it's an incredible feeling. Like, I used to stand in the shower and pretend I was winning the Apollo. I'm not joking, dude. Wow. And then you won it. I swear, I used to do it all the time. I used to self-introduce myself in the shower. Like, I used to do this whole intro and live, you know, this next guy. I used to do all that and that with no routine. I had no jokes. I would just do it. Like, I don't know why I was doing it.

What was that like when you finally got to that stage?

Insane. Insane. I still remember the bar that I went up at and I lied. I said I was 21 just to get in to do this competition. It was called, oh God, what was it called? Starmania. It was called Starmania in Vegas. My sister was in it. She was singing, but she didn't know I was doing the standup part of it. And I went to this bar on Eastern and Tropicana and I drew this mustache.

Sure.

I remember I grew my baby hair. I grew it. I remember I wouldn't shave for like a week and a half until the show. And then I, and I just made it really dark with my mom's, uh, eyeliner and I just made it really, really dark. I looked so stupid, man. And I wore this big suit. I never had a suit before. So I think it was like Fred's jacket. And I walked in there like all confident like this. And then the, the guy, the guy at the door, he goes, I go, I'm here for, uh, Starmania. And they're like, yeah, yeah, come on in. All right, all right, sir. And they sat me down. The, the waitress came, and I remember, don't order a drink. So, uh, the waitress came over, I go, I'll just have a Coke.

Oh my God.

And I got a Coke, and there was a Lionel Richie impersonator that was sitting right next to me, and he went up and he killed it. He sang All Night Long and crushed it. And then he got off stage, and then, and then I went on and I, I bombed.

Really?

So bad. And, um, There was this lady at the bar. I was like 18, bro. And there was this lady at the bar, right? It was just a dingy bar. And he crushed. I went up, I did nothing but sex jokes. It was like—

Insane.

And blah, blah, blah, and condoms, right? And they were just tanking. It was just not funny. And then my mouth started getting cottonmouth. I was getting all cottonmouth. And then, uh, I go, um, you ever get so cottonmouth that your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth? Like, I don't even know why I'm even talking. Like, just get off stage, right? But I'm not. I just keep going. And they're like, you ever— why your tongue gets stuck to the roof of your mouth? And the lady in the back of the restaurant, because I was talking about condoms, the lady in the back of the, uh, bar, she goes, put a condom on it! And everyone started clapping.

Oh.

And I was like, oh my God. And I, I remember I got off stage and I was just like, I bombed so bad. But The lady, the heckler, got the callback. She got the standing O. And I'm just sitting there all depressed. I'm wiping off my mustache or whatever. But you know what? That Lionel Richie impersonator, man, I wish I knew his name, man, because I just want to hug him. He said, he goes, man, I don't know what you got, but you got something on stage. He goes, like, there's something there, man. Like, maybe not tonight, but you on stage, there's something.

Wow.

Isn't that crazy?

Maybe a little confidence boost. Yeah.

Lionel Richie, man, I wish he would stumble on this and I would love to hug him, man. Because like, literally, because that— it was so depressing. I remember I came home, my mom and Fred were sitting on the couch and I had that suit on, right? That And she goes, ooh, nice suit. Where did you— were you on a date? And I just literally—

Oh man, right to the room.

Oh, right to the room.

Shame.

Laid there. Yeah, man. And I remember, I think— I forgot who said, I think Eddie or somebody said, I, I bombed 18 times before I got my first laugh. I forgot who said it, either Chris or someone. And I remember just laying there going, yeah, right, I got 17 more.

No way. I swear. Wow.

Yeah.

How many more times did you bomb though?

Probably 25 more times.

Really?

Yeah, it wasn't until I got to this coffee house. I remember I joined this one competition. It was just, it was brutal because I invited everybody to it.

And you bombed?

Oh, tremendously.

Never bring your friends when you're getting started, right?

Yeah. But then again, why not?

Yeah, it's true. And they're laughing with you before.

No, they weren't laughing at all. They were just like, I remember And I had to leave the same way that all the guests, the patrons left. So it was just like this walk of shame with your family and just like, oh, and everyone that was there is watching. You're just like, oh.

No, man.

And just gotta suck it up. I don't know if I answered your question. It's good.

It's good. I got one final question.

Okay.

What's your definition of greatness?

Oh my God, man. Your definition of greatness is Doing what you love. If you're doing what you love, there's, there's nothing that, uh, gives you that stamp of approval. Oh, I'm getting millions of dollars because I'm doing this pod. That doesn't give you the stamp of approval because you made music. There's people making millions of dollars and they hate what they're doing.

Mm-hmm.

There's people that made a million in one day and hated what they did.

Yeah.

But it's when you're doing what you love for absolutely nothing. That's the true definition of greatness.

Joe, thanks for being the brother. Appreciate you, man.

Love you, man.

Powerful, man.

It's your job to try to do your best to grow and to set up whatever you can for those around you. And if don't have people around you, then you're living for yourself. But it's your job to do the best that you can in doing that. Yeah.