Mike Young- comic, writer, & director

Mike Hartman, performance mindset strategist. This is Develop the Mindset of a Champion with former Stanley cup champion Mike Hartman.

Welcome to Develop the Mindset of a Champion. Today we have Mike Young, but not, you know, Mike, we can't really see your face. His computer crash. So we're using a different system here. Mike. I don't make a lot of jokes. You know, Mike's a comedian slash writer, producer. He's a funny guy. I don't like when people, like, talk about, like, hockey or sports and they try to talk like they're an expert and they're not. I'm gonna make a joke. You got the perfect face for radio. Now, I could say.

The funny thing is, Mike, I've known you for many years. You actually are a very funny person. But hockey was not the. It was never the subject of the comedy, you know, So I don't do a lot. I don't do any hockey humor, but I did, except for the fact that I'm still in a men's league and I'm 50. So that's. The humor just comes out in men's league hockey. But thanks for having me here, Mike. And, you know, humor's getting us through this tough time. I could tell you that.

It is. You know, it's so great, Mike. We've been friends for such a long time, you know, growing up. You know, Mike grew up in Southfield, Michigan. I grew up in Oak Park. We had the same friends about 10 minutes away. It's so great to have you here and the whole purpose. Mike, we do this for our listeners. You know, we help people with their mindset. We help people with their everyday life. And what you do is amazing. You put smile on people's faces. And I just want you. We just want you to, first of all, just share your story, where you're from. How did you get into this? And how and why did you become a writer slash comedian? Please share your story. We'd love to hear it.

Yeah, so I grew up, as you know, I grew up in Southfield, Michigan. Fully diverse community. You know, it was one of the first cities outside Detroit that really had, you know, black, white, Jewish, Christian, Arabic. I mean, we had a crazy mix of people. And I always just got by by being the class clown. I wasn't a great student. My full passion was making people laugh. I have a huge family. You know, every family gathering, I just, you know, I just love the feeling of making people laugh. My dad was a funny guy. My mom's kind of funny, and I just Thought. When I was young, I fell in love with the reaction of being a class clown. It was that simple of a thought. And then I started watching standup comedians when I was young, I started watching Eddie Murphy and George Carlin and Pryor. And I just thought to myself, if I could do that as a living, if I could just make people laugh as a way to make a living, I would just be the happiest person. Because I love that feeling. And so, you know, obviously it sounds really crazy when I say this out loud, but most people who, you know, kind of get to where they've dreamed about, I think say stuff like this. But I always dream, like if I could just live adventurously and kind of like really have life experience for like 25, 30 years, right? And then if I could, then if I could get on stage and tell those stories and tell, you know, audiences all about what I've gone through in those 25 years and then continue to make a living telling those stories. So I kind of like saw this weird vision of me in like a three act story, you know, live my life, write about it, perform about it and try to make a living, you know, doing that. Now granted, I had no family in the business, I had no entrance into the business. I didn't know anybody in the business. I went to college in Arizona. I never did stand up there. Cause I was too scared at the time. But in my mind I was always like, I'm going to be a comedian and I'm going to be a writer. Because I always, I always had a knack for writing. And I just, as a kid, I kind of won a couple like creative writing contests. Even though I was a full blown C student. I mean, just, I'll just be straight honest with you. 2.1, you know, 2. 5 lifetime average. I didn't care about, I didn't love school. It didn't. I just, I was a tough, you know, student. And teachers, teachers would always say to me, mike, we like you, but we don't like what you do. We just don't like the way you act. You're always disruptive, you're always class, you're always cracking the class up. It's always a smart remark. And so after college, in college, I actually had a creative writing class with all these nerds, right, Mike, These kids that will make you feel like you're less than kids that would make you feel that you're not that smart. And I was in this English class and creative writing class and, and I remember I wrote this story Just like I wrote this short story about a fish out of water kid in Detroit. And I just made the story up, I swear. I went to the library, I wrote it in like an hour and I made up this story and it was about, it was actually about an African American kid who's forced to go to a white school. Because in Detroit at the time there was a. Remember, I don't know if you remember, but like there was a time where Detroit public school system could bust you into either your town, Oak park or Southfield. And so I always thought these kids, some of the kids that came to our school didn't want to be there. Like they didn't like it. So just out of nowhere I thought, I'm going to write this story. So I write this story, I think nothing of it. I hand it in. I'm in my nerd class, you know, with all these kids that are like quoting Hemingway and you know, poet, the poet Rimbaugh and, you know, and all these great James Joyce and I don't know who any of these authors are. I haven't read a book in my life up until this point. And so, so the teacher, you know, we come back after we hit everyone, hands in their test and he goes around the room and he starts talking and he starts talking about character and voice and all this, you know, these, these traits that writers, you know, put into their work. And he takes my paper, unbeknownst to me, in front of the whole class, and he goes, this is the paper that we're gonna base our writing on. This is the best paper in this class. And it was my paper. And I'm thinking a. I'm thinking, he just got my name wrong and it's not my paper and he just made a mistake. But then it turned out it was my paper. So my whole point is that I had a, I had a knack for writing. And so I just decided after college, I'm going to move to la. I'm going to go full steam into comedy, but I'm always going to be writing on the side to try and sell scripts like movies and TV shows. And I, you know, I was kind of just blissfully naive. You know what I mean?

Right.

Kind of like, you know, look, you had guidance in hockey probably, but you also just had a gift that, you know, you didn't brag about it, you were super humble about it, you didn't talk about it, you just kind of wrote it. And it was just this amazing journey. And so I got to la, I started doing Stand up comedy at the Comedies World Famous Comedy Store on Sunset. And I started, I stood in line every week, you know, like, literally for an hour every Sunday just to do three minutes of comedy. So every week I'm out there, there's, you know, every scrappy comedian. And by the way, there's. I'm there with like, guys that are huge comedians now, right? Sebastian, Brett Ernst, Bobby Lee, you know, Dave Attell. Chappelle was already getting kind of big because he had been in the game early. But like, a lot of well known comedians were in my mix then. Tony, Rock, Chris's brother. And so I started doing stand up. And the owner of the Comedy Store saw me one, you know, saw me one day. Mitzi Shore, Pauly Shore's mom, she was like the famous godmother of comedy. She put, you know, Eddie Murphy, Jerry Seinfeld, David Letterman, Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison, she put them all on to the game like she was the queen. And so one day she saw me and she literally, like a tap from the Godfather, she was just like, okay, you're in. Call the club on Monday, she said, because that's how she talked. She this little lady and she was like, call the club Monday and give them your availability. You're in. So that changed my life and it put me on stage every night for years at the, at the, at the Comedy Store. So I was often running in stand up, but I was always writing in the back. Like no one knew it, none of my comedian buddies knew, but I was always writing movies and ideas and, you know, shows that I was going to try and sell.

I want to get into that. But Mike, the amazing thing is what you did is what listeners have to hear. A lot of people, no matter what it is, they want to start at the top. I want to be this, and I'm going to do it. You grinded you, you fought your way into clubs, you, you had to sell yourself, you had to be funny. You had to do all of these, I call them the little things in details, like a professional athletes or somebody that's in a profession. It could be a doctor, lawyer, whatever it is, plumber. You had to go out there, you had to do it the hard way. Where I have people coming to me and they say, hey, how can I, you know, get into, you know, being this. In this profession? How can I be an athlete? And you put in the work hours. And I really want you to share because I. Please share with everybody because we're so proud. All of the things that you've done. I know you've done stuff on Netflix. Just please share that with us because it was amazing. Some of the things that I've read about and I learned more about you over. Over the last couple years.

Yeah, thanks, Mike. So, yeah, so Stand up was my entry into the world. And then I had been writing movies on the side. So the TV show Entourage came on, and a good friend of mine, Doug Ellen, was the creator. So, Doug. So along my journey, I'm touring with Joe Rogan at the time, and I'm touring with Dave Chappelle, and I'm getting this amazing stand up comedy life going. But I have a couple movies, movie ideas in my. In my pocket that not a lot of people know about, but I'm holding on to them. And these, some finance guys come to Doug Allen when Entourage is. After Entourage is done, and they say, doug, we want you to do a movie with us. We'd love to hire you to write a movie. And Doug said he was busy at the time, and he said, I'm busy, but my funniest friend and best writer friend, Mike Young, you should talk to him. And so all of a sudden, these finance film guys came to me and they thought they had an idea, and they pitched me their idea of what they thought their movie would be. And as they're telling me their idea, I'm sitting here thinking, and this is for your listeners. Once you're in the door, you got to figure out how to stay in the door without, you know, don't get thrown out of that door. So these guys are telling me their idea, and I'm thinking the whole time, their idea is not that good. But I have a way to, like to make them. To make their idea better. So they tell me this idea about how they don't get along with their wives, but they, you know, they're like, struggling in their marriages and their. Their single friend has a better life. So I said, basically I said to them, give me a week, I'll come back to you with an outline of what I think your movie is. One week later, I come back with an outline, and I. And it was kind of based on my life. And I said, it's about a single guy who helps his married friends get their life together with wives and be better at listening, talking, communicating. And they loved it. So they hired me to write it. And it became my first movie, which is called My man is a Loser. And it was a, you know, independent film that we shot for like $5 million. These guys raised the money and it stars Michael Rapaport, John Stamos, Tika Sumpter and Brian Callan. Now, I wrote the movie, and they're like, we love it. I'm like, great. And they're like, we're actively looking for a director now. I've never directed anything in my life. Nothing. I don't even know how to work a camera. I'm not kidding. Like, literally, I couldn't even get on a computer this morning. So. So I tell them, because I had read. I've watched a bunch of documentaries. I watched Woody Allen documentary, Stanley Kubrick, all these great directors who I love. I watched documentaries and I read books about them. And the one common theme kept going, that I kept reading was they just wanted to direct the pieces that they had written, and they just were going to learn how to direct on their own. So I told these guys, I said, 100% I could direct this movie. They're like, you've never directed. We're not going to put a $5 million movie on your shoulders, and you're just going to. I said, 100%, I can direct it. So meanwhile, what they didn't know was I bought a book on directing. You know, I'm not even kidding. I bought a book directing. I bought a book called how to Talk to Actors on Set. And I bought. And I bought. I bought the Playboy, Playboy interviews of all directors. So the Playboy had like, a book where they interviewed, like, 50 directors. And I bought that. So I just got, like, as prepared as I could. And then they were like, all right, you direct it. And next thing I know, I'm directing the first movie that I wrote. So I write the movie, I direct the movie, and we end up selling the movie to a company called Lionsgate, which is a really big film company. And I'm super proud of the movie. And listen, you learn, at least in my business. And just like a team sport, Mike, making a movie is a team sport, you know? So you have this vision of what the movie is going to be, because on paper, it's perfect to you, right? And then you take it to the set, and now you've got 120 people all working towards the same goal. And so as a director, you have to try to. You're the captain of the team, and you got to just be the captain of the team. And how can I get everybody here to care as much as I do about this? And so I just kind of took the human approach, you know, because I didn't have the technical savvy. I didn't literally the first scene where I'm shooting John Stamos and Michael Rapaport. In the scene, I tell my d. I tell my cameraman, zoom in. He goes, zoom in. He goes, these cameras don't zoom, man. There's a. This is a three hundred thousand dollar camera. You have to change the lens. They don't zoom. So Stamos hears me say zoom. He goes, yo, dude, let me talk to you for a sec. He's like, have you ever directed anything? I go, no, but neither did Woody. No, neither did Woody Allen before he did Take the Money and Run. He's like, all right, good point. I'm gonna help you along the way. So thank God my actors were so cool that they just, you know, when there was something I didn't understand, we worked through it and I just hired the best people around me. So that. That was my first film that I was. I was able to. To write, direct, and I executive produced it and it was successful. And off of that, I don't want to go on like a how did it happen Train. But after the premiere of My man is a Loser, two other producers were at my premiere who I didn't know, and after the premiere, these two dudes came up to me and they're like, hey, man, we loved your movie. We'd love to do a comedy with you. And I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. I'm like, this is how easy it is. I'm like, I just did one movie. And now after the premiere and the party, these guys are telling me I'm gonna do another movie. So then a stand up guy that we did for Netflix became my next movie that I wrote and directed. So it sounds like that part happened. But I think what your listeners need to know is I was. I got ready from day one. You have to get ready. And I did all the little things.

Mike, I was the preparation. Mike's amazing. In fact, I have to ask you this, you know, going forward too, like, so this was amazing. I went to see you last year. You called me up and you're in town. We were so excited to see you. I didn't care who was going to be there. And I'll get into that in a minute. So we go see you. You said, you got to come early, you got to come early. I said, okay, why? But you couldn't tell me, and I respected why. You got to come early. You got to get in. Next thing you know, the place is packed, so it leaked out. So next thing, we get in we're all excited to see you. I'm sitting down at the table, and they announce, ladies and gentlemen, our first comedian is Jerry Seinfeld. And we were like, are you kidding me? We're going to see Mike Young. I came to see you that night. And Jerry Seinfeld, he went on for 30 minutes. It was amazing. And here I am. I'm going to watch my good buddy in Detroit I've known since I was 10 years old. And then the hardest thing, which was really amazing, was, okay, so Jerry comes on first. And the reason I found out was an inside scoop was I know he prepares himself before he does some of these big events like in Vegas, and he wants to get in and out, so he goes on first. And then there was about five of you that had a. That had to follow Jerry Seinfeld. How did you do that? Or like.

Yeah.

How hard was that?

Well, you know what, Mike? That's part of the grind. So coming up in the Grind, you know, I've been at the Comedy Store for years, and you'll go on. You're about to go on, and all of a sudden they're like, chris Rock is here. You're not going on. So I've been bumped by stars before. So the way I handle it all is I go into, like, my zone, right? I just go into my own zone, and I go, okay, Mike, I'm my own style. I'm my own thing. Don't. Don't, you know, don't get shook by the fact that this legend who you respect and, like, really want to be, like, in this business, don't get shook by that. Just go deep, go inside, don't go outside. You know what I mean? Like, go. Go in. And so I just get my head straight, you know, while Seinfeld's on. Plus, I watch him because Seinfeld's one of the great craftsmen. So you might think Seinfeld had an easy run. Jerry Seinfeld, the legend, he went through this grind, and he looks at every joke like a. Crap, like. Like a carpenter, you know, like, everything matters. Every single word. He's a wordsmith. And if you watch him, he never says on stage, like, he never trips over his words. He just really. He's just really about the art of comedy. So he's one of the guys I look up to big time. But following Seinfeld, you just have to do you. You just have to do you, because it's going to take the. It's going to take the audience a second to shake off the fact that Jerry Seinfeld just got off stage, so there's like the shock factor and then. But I come on. The way I handle it is I come on with my energy, right? I come on with my. Whatever my first joke's gonna be. I come with that energy, and I just go right into my act and I don't address Seinfeld, you know, at all. I just do my thing and, you know, get right into my groove and bring the audience with me. You have to.

You have to look back, though, Mike, sometimes. Cause that night I was there, I noticed the one guy that was on Saturday Night Live that. That was there. And was it.

Who's that? Pete Davidson?

Yeah, Pete Davidson. So for you, it's like you should be proud of what you've done. You grinded, you banged your way in, you did all these little things to get yourself out there, and that's. I respect that more than anything. I was there. Hey, seeing Jerry Seinfeld was great, but I was there to see you. We were so proud when we left. We love what you do. We love the hard work. I just have a couple questions for you. One of the questions, how hard is it to, like, you go to New York City, and that's one environment, so jokes can work really well there. But when you go to Alabama or I live in Charlotte, North Carolina, it's a totally different market. How do you differentiate the two markets and how you perform? Because I know you perform on late night tv. I've seen you. You perform all over the United States. How does that come about?

Well, my comedy is personal, so I talk about my own life anyway. So you don't. You always. You always have to know your environment, and you always have to know your audience, right? So I don't change my voice for any city. I just know where I'm at, right? So if I'm in Alabama doing a show and there's, you know, a gang of country boys and plaid shirts, you know, I. I play with them. You know what I mean? I'll. I'll make them feel good about. About what they are. You know, I don't. I don't change my act for anybody, but I'm. You have to stay flexible. Like Bruce Lee says, you know, you got to be water, right? You got to be water in any environment. You got to be able to just navigate, feel your way in, feel your way out. Don't create tension with it. Because I've been to every city in America, basically touring, and every city is different, and that's Kind of what I love about what I do. I love, you know, meeting people from different backgrounds and PC and people. And even, like, making people feel good who don't agree with my way of life. Like, who don't agree with what I feel. And whether it's politics or, you know, growing up Jewish in Detroit, like, be in Alabama and I'll toy with these guys, and by the end of it, we're all friends. And that, to me, is the beauty of comedy, because it's the ultimate connector, you know, it's the ultimate connector. It puts everybody at ease because laughter is like a guttural, biological thing. You know, you make somebody laugh, it's like, now they remember feeling good around you forever. So that's really, you know, what I love to do. So when I don't change my act, when I go to a different town, I just blend in with the town and, you know, and use it to make them laugh, not to make themselves.

Like, I know there's preparation. As an athlete, we study. We watch a lot of video. We study players, we study films. You have to be mentally and physically prepared. Now, as a comedian, when you have a blank screen, a blank piece of paper, how do you get your ideas to it? Like, how. What makes you come up with these different ideas in these different acts to portray? You know, like, so you're with. Comedy is so much different than anything else because one night you could be. On the next night, people aren't laughing. So you have a blank screen, a blank sheet of paper. Tell me those thoughts to paper. How do you do that?

So I'll just. I always have a notepad with me, or I always go into my voice recorder in my phone. So I just. I just stay open and I just live life, right? I live my life. And when something hits me and it'll just hit you, I'll write it down immediately or I'll put it into my phone, right? So during this crazy time that we're living through, it struck me being like a. Like, I'm single right now. I'm out of a relationship. I'm single in a pandemic, right? So I'm like. It hit me that, number one, I really don't know how to cook for myself, so. And I've also never shopped at a suit for, like, more than four days. Like, when you're single, you shop for two days. That's it. So when I was. When I was at the market, it hit me. Like, being a bachelor in pandemic is not easy. So I just Take out my phone and I just say to my recorder, you know, being a bachelor in Pandemic is not easy. I only shop for, you know, two days at a time. I can't. I've never shopped for a week at a time. And I'll just kind of throw the concept in there, and then I'll take the concept, and then the next day I'll wake up and I'll open up my computer and I'll take that concept and I'll try to extrapolate a whole bit out of it. So I'll sit, you know, I'll say the line, you know, it's not easy being a bachelor in Pandemic. And then from that, like, the ideas will start to flow, and then I'll craft the act, I'll craft a bit, and I do it. You know, I really write it out word for word, and then I memorize it. I say it over and over again. Then I test it on stage, and that's really the proving ground. You know, you start to test it on stage, and sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes it's golden. But usually when it hits you, when it hits me in the gut, like when I feel it, it's. It usually works like 9 out of 9 out of 10 times when it hits me in the gut is when it really works. When I'm like fishing for it and I'm not really feeling it, but I'm trying to force it. It doesn't work, but I just live life. Something hits me, I write it down or I record it. And that's really the craft of comedy.

So you guys. So you're on the road a lot. I know you're traveling so much. I know you're. You love to do things. I know you play, you're a weekend warrior with sports, and you exercise. How do you find the time to get in a good workout? Or do you. On the road, do you have a regimen that you follow on the road?

I do, Mike. I stay healthy on the road. And I got this idea because I saw Seinfeld like 20 years ago, talking about when he traveled on the road, he would bring his running shoes because he knew, just like all comedians know, it can go the other way quick. It could go to the unhealthy lifestyle of the late night eating and the late night drinking and the partying, and it can go there quick. And I just decided I want to do this for as long as I can while also writing and directing, but I want to do stand up as my Life, you know, I see myself as like becoming a big, you know, a theater selling, stand up comedian. You know, I don't know if I'll ever sell out the garden. It doesn't matter to me at all. I just want to be able to, like, make the living I want doing what I love. So I always said to do that I got to be healthy. And I put health above everything. And I do. And I go on the road, I bring my running shoes and I always make sure there's a gym in the hotel. And I just. Every day I'm in the gym and I'm listening to my, you know, to my comedy on my, my voice recorder. But I make sure. Listen, man, there's one. There's a saying that says, you know, discipline is the only path to freedom, right?

I agree, it is.

You know, it better than anybody. You know, you didn't really talk about what you were doing, you were just doing it, you know, so comedians and writers, what we do, nobody sees. So nobody like sees what we do, you know, but it's all done for me, you know, from the page to the computer to the voice recorder to the stage. And all you ever see is the stage. So everyone's like, wow, you're just a natural. No, there is no such thing as just, just a natural or, you know, public speaker. I've got to memorize the words. And no one sees those moments. So it's just, it's just discipline, man. So as far as the.

You look healthy, you look like you're in great shape. Your energy is amazing, the energy you bring. And I'm just envious because I know what you do. And I also have to thank you about something. But, you know, as your kids get older, they don't tell you anything. So my daughter's lived out in la, in West Hollywood, and she says, you know, she's a writer. And I said, well, call my friend Mike Young. Yeah, I didn't even know you guys were talking. I mean, she doesn't tell me a lot. So next thing I know, she calls me and says, dad, you won't believe it. Your. Your friend Mike Young hired me to do writing and I did some stuff about Detroit and I did research. I said, wait a sec, Gabrielle, did you take a minute to ask me about Detroit? That's where I'm from. Oh, no, dad. I mean, she lived there when she was three years old, so I know she did this whole thing about Detroit and did. And did this project for you. You know, you have a big heart that Was really nice here. I hope she did well for you.

I hope she did well, Mike. She.

She's really.

She's very talented writer, your daughter. But you're so funny because you're so humble that, like, I could tell talking. I could tell talking to your daughter, you really didn't even talk about being a pro hockey player that much. She's like, yeah, my dad, I know he played hockey, but, like, he's so sweet and nice. I'm like, your dad beat up everybody.

It's funny with my kids, so I can make a joke. So my daughter, you know, she went to NYU. Honor Scholar, 4.2 average. My son did very well in school. And, you know, my daughter was a music, theater. And I said, just like me. But I was in the top three in my class. ABC student every year. I'm not trying to be funny, Mike, but my kids weren't into sports. My son had to play lacrosse at school because it was a prerequisite the school they went to. And my daughter had to play a sport, and she would laugh. Oh, dad, I got cut from the volleyball team. Oh, dad, I got cut from the soccer team. But they needed someone to play on jb. Their passion was something else. And I said, whatever you do in life, go for it. I never pushed them. We didn't really talk about sports a lot, but I just want to thank you for that. Again, my. Just to wrap it up, we're so proud of you being a hometown Detroit boy. I still tell everybody. I brag about how I saw you at Gotham in New York City. The place was packed, and you went out there after Jerry Seinfeld. You have a lot to keep your head up about. This was great having you. I'm sorry the computer didn't work. We couldn't get your face. But this works.

I'll download it next time. We'll figure it out. Mike, I have one quick question for you real quick.

Anything.

Did you envision yourself as a pro hockey player when you were young? Because you were not the biggest guy. You were not the fastest guy.

You.

I want to know, did you have a vision for yourself? And we don't have to go long because I know we got to cut it off, but I just. I always wanted to know because we all heard about you in the neighborhood, and we knew you were, like, this amazing player. And I went and saw you play in the juniors, and I went to saw you play at the ohl, and it's just you kind of, like, had this humble way about you, but I Wanted to know what was in your mind. Was there just a burning thing in your gut? And you just didn't talk about it? Like, did you have the vision that you were going to be a pro hockey player? Because all the odds would say no, and you defied all the odds. So that's. You don't have to talk long about it. But I just wanted to.

Yeah, I'll tell you quick, because it's about mindset. So when I was in sixth grade, I struggled as a student. Up until about 10th grade. Like, I really did. I really struggled. And then it started to click. It took me a while. I was a really late, you know, bloomer as far as that goes. But when I was in sixth grade, I told my music teacher that I wanted to be a professional hockey player. And he stopped the entire class. And he said, you know what your chances are? It's one in a million. And I was a little sarcastic. I got in a little trouble for this, and my father was not happy about it, or my mother. I said, you know, he said, it's impossible. And I said, no, it's impossible for you. And that wasn't the right thing to say in sixth grade. And then as I got. I used to go to the Detroit Red Wing hockey games, and I would see myself playing. And as I got better, I wasn't. I was not that good. I played a hockey, and I didn't play AAA till I was 13. And I was one of the. Maybe one of the worst players on the team. I was on the third line with three lines. And then I started to get confidence. One of my coaches named Dave LaMotta, not to get into it, really helped me with Compuare. And he believed in grades first. Bring your report card in. If you don't do well for Compuare, you're not going to play. Really respected this man. He was a engineer at Ford. And then I had Chris Corey at 15 with Little Caesars. And he was amazing. He communicated well with us, and he believed in everybody. And he said, you know what? If you see it, believe it, go for it. But you have to start somewhere. And I just. I did. I saw myself playing. It didn't work out as well. You know, like you said, nobody really sees what has happened behind your curtain and everything you had to do. I almost was done with hockey. I was done. That's why I went back to school and I took correspondence school classes because my days were done. I didn't get drafted until I was 19. So to make that long story Short. You really had to believe in yourself. We tell people there's a lot of ups and downs. I know you went through them banging on doors. And as fast as it gets good in hockey or anything, it gets bad just as quick. Even in the pros. You know what it's like when you're performing. One guy said to me, I just got. I was in Buffalo at 19 and then the next year I went to Rochester. They sent me to Rochester. He said to me, I didn't understand it at the time. He says, Mike, it's 60 miles from Buffalo to Rochester, but it's 120 back. So as soon as you get sent down, it's twice as hard to get back. So work that much harder. And tell us a quick story how some of the ups and downs you had, you know, you're on a high, then all of a sudden it didn't go as well as you wanted to. Have you experienced that?

Oh, yeah, are you kidding? When I started in comedy, I caught a couple good breaks early. Joe Rogan took me on the road. All of a sudden I was opening for Rogan when he had fear factor like 18 years ago. And I was like, this is great. I've made it. I got a couple quick deals, like development deals with different TV companies. They're like, this guy could be a TV star. And you know, you get the deal, you hear the number. You don't know anything about taxes or agents or managers. And like, the number that I thought I was getting financially at the time, because I was going broke in my mind, I was like, oh, wow, these guys are going to give me like a hundred thousand dollars to be. To do their TV thing. And I'm like, this is incredible. And when it all shook out, it was like 33 grand. Right, right. So I remember calling my manager and I go, oh, they got, I said, oh, they got the deal wrong. He goes, what are you talking about? I go, they had it wrong. I go, there's only $33,000. It's supposed to be a hundred thousand. He's like, yeah, your agent took it, your manager took it, taxes took it. Welcome to the real world. And so I was like, okay, now I need to learn how to save money a. And be smart about business. So I immediately incorporated and just got smart with business. But there was a moment where I had a, a tough few maybe five year streak of just in my late 20s to early 30s of like, am I just gonna. Is this gonna be over? Because I wasn't getting any big TV gigs I wasn't doing any movie stuff and I was like, my bank account was dwindling. And I'm. I'm literally thinking, I'm just gonna go home. Like, I came out, I did a bunch of good stuff, I'm gonna go home. And right when I. It was very strange, right when I started thinking, like, I'm just gonna go home. All of a sudden I got like a major television deal to write a TV show for abc. And I think comedy's always up and down, man. Just stand up. And that's kind of why I always wanted to develop the skill of writing, you know, because I knew that, you know, if stand up, like, look at the moment we're in right now. I'm not going to be on stage for five months at least. But thank God I have the skill as a writer. And I can write for, you know, I can write. People hired me to write a movie. You know, I have a new TV show series that's on this thing called Ficto, you know, that started running, that came in at a great time. So I've, I've had ups and downs, Mike. I've had, listen, man, you know, this is a G rated show. But in stand up comedy, I mean, I've been, I've been jumped. You know what I mean? I've been jumped on the road and put in the hospital.

I remember you've been through. Well, Mike, you've been through so much. We're proud of you. It's all we could say is, I always tell people in coaching, if you're going north, you're going full speed ahead. So you go north. If you're east. In coaching, you're sideways. If you're going south, you're going backwards in what you're doing. And I know in our profession it was never, oh, we're always going to stay on track. We always got off track a little bit. Sometimes we were a little east, west, and that's where we are. I'm in New York, you're out west. Mike, it was great to have you. Thank you so much. And we're going to do this again for sure.

Awesome. I appreciate it, Mike. I'll talk to you later. Thank you for having me.

Thank you.

All right, later, Mike.