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

Key Takeaway

Replace “what if” with one small act of proof today. Send the pitch, publish the draft, ask for the opportunity, or practice your craft in front of a real audience—before you feel fully ready. Jo Koy’s career grew not from waiting for perfect conditions, but from repeatedly making himself available, accepting imperfect stages, studying his craft, and treating failure as evidence that he was in the game. Momentum comes from showing up again after the awkward first attempt.

Episode Overview

Jo Koy shares how insecurity, childhood trauma, racism, financial struggle, and repeated career setbacks shaped his persistence as a comedian. He explains how he created opportunities through relentless preparation and action—from asking for unpaid stage time to self-financing a Netflix special after being rejected—and why he continues to promote his work personally even after selling out arenas.

Full Transcript

Transcript of Jo Koy OPENS UP About Mental Health & Turning His Pain Into Purpose from The School of Greatness. Auto-generated from episode audio; may contain minor errors.

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That's Joe Coy. And if you've ever caught yourself saying, I hope this works out, waiting on some outside force to hand you your shot, sit with that for a few seconds. Because what if the thing standing between you and the life you want isn't luck, it isn't timing or connections, it's just you finally deciding to bet on your own work. In this episode, Joe takes you behind the mic and behind the mustache drawn on with eyeliner nights when he bombed on stage over and over. You'll hear how he turned insecurity into his greatest material, how he financed and shot his own Netflix special after they passed on him, and why he still hand delivers his own flyers to car windshields, even when the show's already sold out.

Joe Coy is a stand-up comedian, actor and producer with multiple sold-out Netflix specials, including his newest, Blue in the Face. He's shattered box office records at some of the biggest arenas in the world and built a career by simply refusing to wait for someone else's permission to start. This is Joe Coy, and welcome to the School of Greatness. 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 kid, like when I was like five or six, I'm not even making this up, I already knew I was really funny.

Really? Yeah, it was the weirdest thing, and my mom would always be like, oh, Joe is so funny, and my dad always laughed at everything, and if they had parties, I'd be funny. I knew that there was a group of people laughing, something that I would do, and then I knew I had that skill set because my dad was in the military, so every three years, four years, we were bouncing, but I didn't care because in my head, I already knew I'm gonna be the funny one in the school.

Right away, I'm gonna be the funny guy at the school, I'm gonna be the funny guy at the school. So I was never sad that I was leaving a group of friends, I was happy because 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 sadness turned into excitement because I remember I was like, oh, I'm gonna be so funny, everyone's gonna think I'm the funny guy.

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 eight years old or something? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Really? Yeah, well, you remember, I'm military, too, and the Philippines has always been bilingual. They speak English better than Americans, man, you know what I mean? Very articulate, they get all the humor, you know what I mean? So it was there, and I was speaking Tagalog, which was crazy because we were living there and my aunts lived there, so it was cool, it was a good time back then, but I remember coming back to the States, just like, I was excited.

I was excited to see this new school and be the funny guy at the school, I swear, it was the craziest thing. Like, if you look at my junior high after sixth grade, seventh, eighth, ninth, I went to Spanaway Junior High, class clown, class, class clown, like, seventh, eighth, ninth, it was always me, the funny guy. And I knew it, like, right away, I mean, sixth grade, seventh grade, that's when I was listening to Richard Pryor and watching Eddie Murphy, like, I was watching Eddie, you know, do Delirious, like, already I already knew I wanted to be a stand-up 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 trying to figure out the audience, you're trying to learn, and that's all just how it is, that's just, that's what I love about stand-up, is that moment where you have to figure out how much you love it. And it always comes out going, nah, I love this. And you just keep pushing. Even if you weren't funny that night or that day? Yeah, yeah, you just keep pushing, and 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 the arena? Yeah, I've done it, I've done it a couple times, it's just a bar with 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 periods of time where 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 were always like, knew you had it. No. If you're talking stand-up, no. Yeah, yeah. Never. Gotcha. Never stand-up. Mm-mm. So was 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 what makes us strong, is the failure. Everyone fails, but 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 the opportunity arises and you accept the challenge and you fail, then you won. Mm-mm. 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. Mm-mm. 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 comic 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. Well, some people care, right? If they bomb, they really care about how people perceive them. Well, then that taps into 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. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Yeah. So that's how I look at it. It's like, I mean, we live in a time where, yeah, it's like things are accessible, everyone has a voice now, and you just take it with a grain of salt. Yeah. But you got to remember, it's like, we're all supposed to fail.

You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. Like, you're not going to 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 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 stand-up, right? Mm-hmm. Was there ever a moment where you feel like, oh, I've made it? I started at 89.

89, right? Yeah. But was there a moment where you were like, I've 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 at these local shops or local 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 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 of coffee houses back then, and it got to the point where I was getting good. There was this one nightclub that did a comedy night upstairs where the pool tables were, and 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 at the MGM. It was called Catch 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, I'm going to have you open for a blah, blah, blah, something, I forgot the guy's name, some headliner. I'm going to give you a week. Back then, a week was basically 12 shows, right? It was like Monday through Monday, it was like two shows Friday, two shows Saturday, two 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. I have it somewhere. 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. They got the money coming in. Yeah, I'm a regular at Catch Rising Star. I remember calling my dad, like, oh, dad, it's happening.

It's happening. What year is this? 90? Oh my God, it was like 1994 or something, right around there, 94, so five years in, and then nothing happened. Really? Yeah, I think I got it two 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 the beautiful thing about this journey. You know what I mean? It's a long, bumpy ass road with a bunch of roadblocks.

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 going to be there for my son's birthday cause I didn't 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, it just kept going on every year. It just felt like a win and a win. And then it was like a loss, loss, loss. I won the Apollo Showtime at the Apollo. I thought I was going to blow up and then boom, boom, nothing. 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 for you. Like I thought things were going to happen for me, but it didn't, but they did, which is crazy. And the way I got them was, was amazing because I never said no to the gig. Wow. You know what I mean? Like the way I got BET's comedy was crazy. Do you remember BET's comedy was on, well, it was on black entertainment television and this was in the nineties. It was huge. It's what made DL hugely huge. It's what made Cedric the entertainer huge and make Gary Owen huge.

Like those were the hosts. And, um, and I was such a fan like every night I would watch BET's comedy for you. And then, uh, I was, I was a tour guide at the Mirage. And so you asked that question and now you get a long answer. So, uh, so I'm at the Mirage and I'm a tour guide when the tour guides was like, Hey, BET's here. I go, what? Yeah. They're at the, the country star. It's like some kind of restaurant. I'm like, I'm there.

And I literally asked my manager if I can go home early because the show was at eight and I knew we worked until like seven something 30. I need to get home. So I was like, can I please just get out of here? Like five 30 and leave early so I can just go home and change and put on a suit because Eddie Murphy said, I always wore a suit. That's what he always said. And 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, get back in the car. This fake resume that says catch a rising star.

Cause I found a, 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'm going to 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. No, no, it was a show. Like people were trying to get in to perform.

Yeah. Yeah. And I, 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 go wait in line. And I go, Hey man, uh, I'm a local comedian and my name is Joe Coy. And I showed him my resume. I go, uh, 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'm here.

No one knew who I was. And then literally he looked me at 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, 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. Swear to God, her name is Yvette Anderson. What did you say to her? She came right up to the door and she goes, uh, she goes, hi, I handed her my resume.

I go, I'm a local comic. Is there any way I could do warmup? Like, like I know your show's book, but like I could warm up while they're getting ready. And while you're sitting people just fucking 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. Yeah. So she, 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 camera, Canon, like the XLR Canons. Right. Like it was, I couldn't believe my eyes like on sticks like those too. Right.

And I was just like, look at that. I'm 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, it's just, 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 crazy. She says, go up. She literally, and the crowd's going crazy. They're like, start this show.

It's 835. Start this. And I'm literally like my, I'm smiling from ear to ear because I know like, bro, she's going to need me because they're not here. I'm ready. Let me go up there. And she walks right up to me and she goes, can you go up? Go up. Swear. And she goes, can you go up for, for like five minutes or until they get here? I go, yeah. I go, can you please record it? I go, if you record this to be the, that's all I want.

If you record this and she goes, hold on, let me set it up. And she literally set up and press record. And she goes, can you go? And she had no one introducing me. I had to literally walk up. Oh, by the way, I had that suit on. So it's crazy. I have it all on video. No, I have it all on video. And I walk up, do my set. Fucking standing ovation. This is back in the day when people do the raise the roof and you'll see this one black lady doing this in front.

It was the coolest thing. And, uh, and I walk on stage and it's Bo P who it's like one of my favorite comics that was on BET all the time. His name's Bo P and Yvette were standing right there and Bo P got like that Southern twang. You got like a Louisiana acted 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, you ever watch BET?

I go, yeah. He goes, you won't, you won't next week. 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 on BET's comic view. I was number 28 out of 28 and 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 1130 that night.

Gary Owen, Gary Owen was the host. You should bring Gary on this show cause he's amazing too. And Gary Owen was the host and we never met each other. And, uh, he went up, killed. I went out there, murders, I murdered it. And then that's how I met, uh, um, just some, you know, like black comics that were like, that were doing things. And I met, uh, a couple of guys in that. I met this one guy named, uh, 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 can get you on, uh, into colleges. All right. College tour. But it was the black, uh, what did he call it? College. Program, whatever. Like the 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, and they would come perform at these fraternities or yeah, whatever.

Right. And they'd be beautiful shows. They'd rent out the day we get the theater at like University of Houston, University of North Carolina. Now I'm opening for these famous black comics, like some more 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. Like this is the nineties and I'm opening for all these cats. Right. 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 Yvette, yeah, she hooked me up. And then I met Honest John on the circuit because I opened for him a couple of 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 runs deaf comedy jam. He runs, he runs the tour. He goes, you need to be on deaf comedy jam, man. He goes, when we're in Vegas, I want you to come to come to a show. I'm gonna introduce you to Bob Sumner. So Bob Sumner and Russell Simmons created deaf 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, 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 eighties and nineties. And, uh, so they had to go off strip. They had to play these weird rooms, you know what I mean? And 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, I say you really funny. I'm like, yeah. He goes, all right. Well, um, this is what I'm going to do. We're going to put you out before the show starts. We're not going to open the curtains. We're just going to kind of open it up. You 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 going to go through the curtain.

And then, um, don't say welcome to deaf jam. Don't say, uh, are you ready for the show? And when you say goodnight, just say, my name is Joe Coy. Good night. And then come back through the curtain. Uh, and we're still seeing people. All right. So, uh, you know, the house lights be on, but you know, it's, it's a packed house. And I'm like, okay. And he walks off. And I literally look at my sister going, I'm going to eat my out there. This sucks. Right?

Like what the, like, why am I even here? No warm audience. Yeah. It's completely cold. And then all of a sudden the stage manner 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 going to leave the house lights on. It's pretty much packed in there. I'm going to turn it down. I'm not going to turn them off, but I'm going to turn them down. So it's going to feel good.

But all the other stuff that he said, you're going to have to do. All right. But I'm going to turn those house lights down for you. Yeah, it was really cool. It literally, these two stage hands pulled the curtain like this. And then a spotlight hits me. Swear to God, dude. And I'm like, Hey, I'm Joe Coy. And I do like 10 minutes. Good night. Standing. Oh, right. Wow. Standing. Oh, I did this Michael Jackson bit that always killed. Standing. Oh. And I crawl back through the car, crawl back through.

I don't want to say. And then he had this amazing set that said depth comedy jam. And you know, they had the turntables. I think a kid Capri was there. It was just crazy. And I couldn't even say I was involved with this thing. And I crawled through the curtain and my sister hugs me. He'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 this guy? He goes, Oh, that's honest. John's friend, Joe. He goes, why the, did you put them on now? Why didn't you put them on the show? I got to follow this man. He goes, what the, 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 do, you ever watched the Apollo? I go, yeah.

He goes, man, I'm going to have my producers call you, man. You got to do the Apollo. You're going to win the Apollo. I swear to God, do that same set. You're going to win the Apollo. I'm flying out to New York like three weeks later doing the Apollo show time at the Apollo. This is like the nineties where they used to like people. Yeah. Yeah. And I won, I won that three weeks later. Yeah. I'm on 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. 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, 97. So yeah, you're right. Three decades. But it seems like for a decade before, almost a decade, eight years before that, you just had to kind of sneak your way into any opportunity possible. Yeah. 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. The school of greatness is brought to you in partnership with Airbnb. And some of my favorite travel memories are the smaller moments, walking through a neighborhood, finding a local cafe, a local spot, and getting a real feel for the place that you're visiting.

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And Southern New Hampshire University can help Southern New Hampshire University offers over 200 career focused degree programs online. Plus, Southern New Hampshire University has some of the lowest online tuition rates in the US. So balancing school, work and life actually feels achievable and affordable to find your degree at SNHU dot edu slash greatness. That's SNHU dot edu slash greatness. What gave you that courage and confidence to be able to go for it, even when everyone else probably would have said it's too risky? I don't know, man.

I don't know what what it is. I got to get up there. I have to. And I don't care. I really don't give a 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 walk back two 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. Well, you'll fuck this guy. And then they would just like, especially now with the podcast, just talk about it on the podcast and just on somebody. Yo, God, 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. 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 on that stage, that that 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. Like, that's why I keep saying if you fail, you fail.

But it's like you you're not you win. You win when you fail. 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 thousands of shots? Yeah, I missed thousands of free throws, game winning three pointers, game winning shots. I missed a dunk above a blow, but I failed. I won six championships. Yeah, like I failed. I think the end is I failed and that's why I succeed.

Yeah. And 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 interview is like, you got to 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 something.

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. I'm like. Bro, I'm 18, I got to do the same thing they did. This is crazy, man. But how did you get the confidence? I don't know. I was so insecure. Really? What were you insecure about? Well, I 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 and they were fake. I mean, I had bad teeth all the way until 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.

It got to the point where I had to like. Put my tongue in my tooth just to hide it, because because every time I'd smile, people always do like this look like, oh, they'd be scared. They didn't know. So I'd always stick my tongue in my tooth and I had to laugh at my own. Like I was Cher, like Cher with their tongue. Like literally I had to do that. And like I was always insecure about my teeth and how I 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. Well, I knew I'd kill you on stage, you know. So it's like you had to get on. 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, the divorce with my mom and dad when I was like nine, ten, 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 my childhood was set up for me to fail. You know what I mean? 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 here I am, I have to laugh at that because I don't know what funny is. I don't I don't know they're making fun of me. And they are 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. I go, oh, OK. 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 start 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 OK. 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 twenty three. 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 Marino never had an accent. Pat Marino used to chop it up with Robin Williams and Richard Pryor, and he was a bad ass 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 the accent? Like, what kind of race is that? You know what I mean? 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, 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, picking 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 bad ass 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 L.A.?

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. It was white night. Ask any comic you can. If you had such an 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 I don't want to get into that. 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 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, you know, you'll get a one person. You'll get one one. And but for the most part, it's buried within four or five. 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 we were always hit with, oh, I don't think they'll get it. Maybe on a Tuesday, you know, it was just like some really indirect racist, man. So it's like when you ask us why we will. The confidence in why we do is because the opportunities were slim and far in between. So when when you get that call, I'm not going to say no to it. Yeah. You say yes, whenever you can. I have to have to. Even though, you know, they're clearly racist.

Right. They got in trouble for being racist. Then they're finally going to ask you to do something. And you're just like, yeah, I mean, yeah, this is my shot. Let me do it. I can't say no. But, you know, so, you know, you see stuff like the comedy store with Fat Tuesdays. And you're like, why was the black man 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?

But yet 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 Guy Torrey took the challenge. Guy Torrey's all right. Give me Tuesday night. And it went from one. It started at eight. And and sold them out. And then next thing you know, they would do two shows, eight and ten. And then next thing you know, you got eight, ten and twelve. 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 not talking too much. It's all good. 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. Yeah. With a broken taillight. I remember I got two 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 shot and I didn't even get paid that much.

I got like 40 bucks just to do a show with George Wilburn and Gary Owen. And, you know, like like these comics that I owe Joe Torrey, like all these black comics that I admire at Fat Tuesdays. What is that? Four hour drive, five 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 it was Barstow, San Bernardino and yeah, no AC.

Oh, trying to stay up with sleep apnea. Yeah, man. Just to do a 10 minute set, you were doing whatever it took, whatever it took. You know, I remember I caught the bus, the Greyhound just to do this one. No, I caught the Greyhound because I lost my ID. Yeah, lost my ID. And I did I did. Oh, my God. What's it called? It's such a great room, man. But I wish I could tell you the name of it. But comedy theater, comedy theater in a.

Oh, God, like somewhere in Inglewood, that that area down that way. Don't quote me on it. But anyway. Yeah, I had to catch the bus, bro. Back home from Vegas, nine hours from L.A. from L.A. back to Vegas. The bus probably cost you more than what you made. No, it was cheap. It was like twenty five bucks. OK, you made twenty. And I remember I held my backpack. Yeah, I've taken Greyhounds a few times. Yeah, that's 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 Torre. My friend, I hope you're enjoying this episode. And the School of Greatness drops new conversations every Monday, Wednesday and Friday around money, mindset, healing, manifestation and relationships. And if you're not yet following the show, then you're missing all of them. Please tap the follow button right now and you'll get notified the moment every new episode drops because the next one Might be exactly what you need now. Let's get back to the conversation The most successful leaders experts and bestsellers would tell you the same thing.

There's no expiration date on growth That's why Southern, New Hampshire University offers more than 80 online graduate programs with career focused courses and low online tuition SNHU's master degrees are designed for your next move and if you're choosing between a few schools SNHU is a clear front-runner. It's flexible affordable and career focused Progress doesn't happen standing still take one step forward at SNHU.edu greatness You know those pieces in your closet you keep coming back to because they just make getting dressed easier That's what I look for especially when I find something that works in a lot of different situations and one of those pieces for me right now is Quince's 100% organic cotton mesh stitch sweater polo It's an easy staple to work into my wardrobe and that's exactly what quince does They focus on high-quality wardrobe staples made with premium materials in timeless Versatile styles so you're getting pieces you can keep reaching for and it's not just clothing Quince brings the same approach to hotel quality bedding and bath kitchen essentials and thoughtful designed Furniture find your next fall favorites at quince Download the quince app for app exclusive offers and go to quince.com Lewis get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada and the UK to That's q u i n c e dot-com Lewis I Think the theme that I'm seeing about your career and also your life is just you are 100% all-in committed.

Yeah to the craft and to creating opportunities for yourself Yeah most people If there's a four-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. Yeah, I'm saying I am going to not only Do whatever it takes to get in front of someone to make the opportunity Yeah, then I'm going to beg claw scream dance, whatever. Yeah to show them. I'm willing to do whatever it takes Yeah, I think that level of commitment and yeah full ownership to your dreams Yeah 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 Yeah, I'm willing to master the craft constantly. Yeah, you know and be a good person Yeah, and I think that combination is what sounds like has had, you know multiple You know Netflix specials what five Netflix specials give you my six six Netflix specials sold out So five sold out some of the biggest arenas in the world 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. I don't know what it is that they lose but this fire burns inside me man I love it. I remember reading like this article and I Pretty sure was Aerosmith don't it's either Aerosmith of 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 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 and literally I would hand out flyers everywhere and to this day look I can show you a text I swear to you. I'll show you a text right now just to prove that I'm not lying I asked Mike my guy that does a lot of my graphics. I Need 10,000 flyers print for for Netflix Because I'm about to pass these out right now. Yeah, I don't give up So you're gonna go and still do it like I will years ago. Well, I like it's a little different It's a little day now because I'm selling out place.

Yeah, of course, but I got three 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 Narcissistic human being to think that you're that famous you're not there's people that do not know you man 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 Yeah, give me a chance watch one segment watch a minute thing.

Yeah, if you don't like it, that's fine That's what this is. It's a we live in a world of choices, bro Like 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 music? Country I don't really listen to country, but I'll give it a shot. Mm-hmm. 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 Yeah, and what yeah, we're 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 humbled and you'll do it yourself, too Oh, yeah, if I got I'll have three boxes in my car And they will be empty and you'll just put them in windshields just about it. I don't there's air 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 Talk this a Z Mary your level with your success. You're still doing that type of work.

Yeah, that is a pressive I don't I don't understand where That inspired I don't understand where the laziness comes from that inspired me like I love that I dreamt this when I was nine Like I'm still asleep dreaming When I wake up the dreams over Yeah, 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 What you just woke up to nothing Wow 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 closed my eyes and this this is what's happening. Well, I'm Dreaming as a kid If you could go back I guess 40 50 years then when you're a kid When you were going through that traumatic time and your parents getting divorced, you're struggling with all this. Yeah And you're 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 Jenny 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, I mean that confidence like what is it?

I really Like I was a student bro. I remember there was this one year. I can't remember what year was like 90 something late 90 and Comedy Central said they were gonna do a New Year's Eve marathon and it started at like 8 in the morning and they were gonna keep going until Midnight and I literally woke up and I watched stand-up cuz you gotta remember there's no internet and there's no reruns There's no reruns. Yeah, exactly. There's no live or so. 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 Asked 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 played everything that night. Well, 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 out they got all dressed up and uh And my mom looked at me. She was you sure you don't want to come with me?

Like let's just go celebrate New Year's Eve together. I don't know mom. Seriously. I'm good Wow, like she thought I was fooling like oh, he doesn't have friends. Wow. You're a drunk though, bro I was good at Domino's. I got the two-liter. I got the two-liter of coke. Let's go It's all you need man. All right, and it was two pizzas for like eight bucks. I think it was $7.99 back then I'm not joking, bro. I was killing it and I was literally Floats also, you just kind of yeah, I have the book shut.

I have everything bro. I have a spiral. I Have a spiral that says I think it said something like Uh First applause break 30 seconds. Oh you were timing it too. Yeah, like yeah, I didn't sub at all. Yeah Like I was saying stuff like that You were a real student. Yeah, I was like, oh, oh, that's okay. Ba ba ba like how many words to set up? Ba da da da da. Okay. Oh, okay Like what are we talking about right out the gate? Like yeah, I was doing that Because it's like a dance when you're on stage Yeah, the sense right and you've got to have like almost the timing the rhythm it is a song but has to be yours Yeah, you can't copy someone else.

Otherwise, no fake, right? That's why I don't believe in like Oh Teach a class. There is no class like But it's it's you who are you? Yeah, it's just like asking Denzel to teach a class. He'll teach you the basics. All right, but he can't teach you Denzel Yeah, like Denzel is He's beautiful you don't need to give him my 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 Just looked at me 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? Hmm. What is that you want to talk about? What is like and it can 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 gonna be delivered the same way you write a joke like watch it It's everything that you want. You got the set up the premise the punch the tags the callbacks I got it all it I'll go into the crowd and I'll show you how to go into the crowd Well, I'll show you how to go into the crowd.

I got it. I'll do it It's I love this. Is there anything about comedy you haven't mastered yet? I I've to me. Yeah, I think I've There's my particular style. I've masked. 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 three 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 you you're not planning to go up I'm so we need you now like and you go up. What would you? First of all, there's stand-up and then there's a gig. I think that's the thing about stand-up that that has this weird Perception right like oh you're Santa comic. So Here go inside this broom closet and there's two guys standing there Ready.

Yeah. Yeah. It's like no like you would never do that to anybody else like we're not clowns Like you got a bunch of people at round tables eating sushi right now Getting drunk not a good sound 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 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 eat it They ate it, but they take it because you guys pay so much money.

I Stopped like I stopped years ago and it hurts because the audience isn't as engaged Because you feel like uh, it's a it's clownery It's like these big round tables with big giant table settings and knives and forks People are asking for more wasabi If you want me to be funny, they pay you a big check. Yeah Out of here, dude, like is it like we have the greatest we have the hardest and the greatest Art form when it comes to entertainment, you can't you can't 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 Did you know how hard it is? Because I know I don't care how what what style they do, whatever it is. We We are a different class and and in this game of entertainment and and it's untouchable Mm-hmm. It's under like it's untouchable. You can't you can't with us. Yeah, you just can't but like you talk about We we have to be therapists we also have to be 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 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 them, right? That's the thing who cares about that guy 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.

Like did you see? The crooked hack Was that all about Was that like literally? Well Yeah, yeah, just like what we don't care about the standing ovation. You know, 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 wrong. I love to go see live music. I love it cuz 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 a Live from Brooklyn today like they're gonna be everyone's gonna want their money back. It's like no, bro We want news that's a lot of work with new material Yeah, and you got to give it to him 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, you know Everyone's gonna get to see that routine that I worked on But at the same time it's a sad night cuz it's I'll never do those jokes again Oh, 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 talk about that stuff You know not even like a part of it every now and 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 Yeah, it's crazy because an hour special to me is like a marriage and it's like we get divorced but it's a happy divorce It's like a happy divorce like I I you know I I wave to it and I don't do greatest hits at the end of my show I I don't think that's a cuz you got six specials now So it's like if someone watched three eight eight, but six on Netflix.

Yes Eight specials but six on Netflix. So someone watched the first couple and they see the same material a little bit of it They're saying hmm. I already watched this. Yeah, you did that already. Dang What about on tour? Could you do it at us? Really? Mm-hmm, man. Yeah, that is a lot of work Yeah, but I love it. I mean, it's great. But it's like you got to always be thinking of a 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 specials out or hopefully they'll watch it You're special after they see this when you talk about your stepdad and you were telling a little bit more You had a tumultuous, you know childhood You were mentioning a lot of trauma with the divorce and stepdad and dad What was the biggest lesson your stepdad taught you that has guided you throughout your life? but my favorite that I like to tell people and smile is a Fix your bed fix your bed a dirty a dirty bed as a messy head.

Mm-hmm And he was military, you know, I mean two purple hearts two bronze stars and the CIV badge your stepdad. Mm-hmm and Yeah, when he came into my life, you know, don't get me wrong. I love my dad and things happen You know, there were fights we had to call the cops He fought my dad a lot, you know, and my brother was scary. It was a very scary guy Small but he could fight you like three cops on his back really and a punch in the back of his head You know what?

I mean? Cuz they won't put the cuffs on He won't put let him put the cuffs on. He just look at me like yeah, they're scared. They're scared And I remember looking at my brother. I'm scared. I'm scared Robert like come on stop and And then all of a sudden This guy Fred comes in and He picks my brother up and slams them Yeah, I mean cuz Fred's like six to six three big and when my mom met him he was like 275 army grunt you know, 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 a lay here brother. All right, you know I don't want to hurt you. I'm a lay on you Just that we wait. Yeah, I'll wait. We'll wait for the cops. We call the cops So what do you want to get up and leave? Well, we'll tell the cops that you're gone We want to lay on you right now. You tell me Let me let me know they let him up again.

My brother swung on him again BAM threw him to the ground again Look, I'm gonna do this. I don't mind doing this we keep doing this Wait till the cops gonna go to jail again. We won't see you for a while What you gonna do Robert? Me let me I do you let him up and we're walking down the steps He swung on Fred and then Fred grabbed his hair hit him a couple times at 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 at 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 they just walked away and I remember looking at Fred cuz I was a I think I was like 16 or 17 when he did that and I was just like, oh Okay, we got I Got it.

I got this guy in my house right now. I got someone who's got my back right now So I looked at him different, you know stepdad. Yeah. Yeah I was like you were fighting your brother. Your brother was doing this to you, you know, he was doing 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 here, bro.

Wow this isn't happening in this house now while I'm here and I was like All right, and that was my guy I was I remember looking I'm like I'm gonna go fix my bed Like you said like this right sir Wow something that's you no more sir Wow Swear to God and to this day you go to my house right now. My room's got Bags from this weekend just open and all over the place. You're mad 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. Mm-hmm. 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 a Like I'm on repeat and I feel bad but you know, there was no Facebook.

There was no Instagram. There was no X There was none of that You know, there was a websites, you know now you you know, you come you come to this country you know, if you're an immigrant and you come to this country and you just you want to find a community that that speaks your Language eat your food and it's easy. Yeah. Yeah, literally it is easy Just go to maps and type in Greek food. Boom or thousand restaurants right by you Facebook groups. Yeah. Yeah Facebook group Greek Friends blue boom.

Here we go. You can meet him that day. Yeah 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, you know, Joseph it what are you Filipino? What's that? Oh nice to meet you, huh? Next, you know, they're talking now. She's got this friend now She got that friend then they start renting out the Knights of Columbus Hall at the church It is the 80s and you know next, you know, it's potluck night.

Now. It's all Filipinos My mom's going through a divorce now. It's just her and and and and her kids So now we just gotta find, you know 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 you know 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 like those moments were so special to me and That's where I was performing like I was dancing like Michael Jackson at these potluck nights at the Knights of Columbus and See my mom roll lumpia up, you know our Filipino egg roll She would roll them up and make a bag of 25 and freeze them and then sell them at work Book these Knights of Columbus Hall shows and everyone had to perform and just seen her do this Indirectly is probably why I make flyers That's cool, yeah, really cool man, that's why I rent out theaters that's why I paid for those specials when I had to instead of complaining and Going public insane Wow, yeah Yeah, I See so many good ideas sit in notes apps for months and the people who ship find ways to remove friction and keep moving for 20 years building a website meant Templates dragging boxes around losing a weekend ending up with something that looks like everyone else's well That's over you type one sentence I'm a personal trainer in Denver and I need a website and hosting her builds it in minutes Then you can change it by asking warmer colors add this photo move that up.

No code No design skills 10 million websites run on hosting her and it's rated 4.7 stars on Trustpilot and plans to start at $2.99 a month with your domain and email included that idea in your notes app The website isn't the thing stopping you anymore go to hosting er comm slash greatness and use the discount code greatness for 10% off That's hosting er Comm slash greatness and use code greatness for 10% off This Episode is sponsored by better help if you could wake up tomorrow and be better at one thing I choose being more present putting the phone down getting out of my head and giving the people in front of me my full Attention, but it doesn't have to come from major victories It can be the small habits you create and how you honor your needs on a daily basis better is a feeling Defined by you and for better help.

It's a better help therapist who really gets you It's a focus on global emotional well-being with thousands of therapists and millions of members in over 100 countries It's progress and sometimes getting better means handling stress differently Communicating more clearly or simply taking better care of yourself Haven't tried better help yet. Well, it's easy to get started Just answer a few questions and get matched with a therapist online Sign up and get 10% off at better help comm slash greatness That's better help.com slash greatness You gave some advice to your younger self.

Yeah, you said we're good, you know, keep going but if you could go in the future and Imagine the last day of your life for the last days of your life. You 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 Mm-hmm Man, you know, there's a comic There's a comic that I used to take on the road.

Well, I still do His name is Chase Chase do Russo 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 the DVD Like it's the DVD. 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 Coy'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 off you'd never play an arena. I remember going to see Eddie Murphy I went I was like 15 when I saw Eddie Murphy alive and it was at the Seattle Coliseum at the time That's what they called it and I was sitting and I was looking up. I Couldn't believe how many people were there to see him. It's sold out and I remember like that'll never happen But you cut to me selling out the same arena that Eddie Murphy was at and I'm sitting in the same chair and I had my son next to me.

Shut up. Yeah, literally 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 He had to call in and her name is Josephine. I just used the accent I like to get two tickets to Eddie Murphy boom two tickets were waiting for it picked it up after school Sort of 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 uh 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 put my arm around my son going. This is exactly where I saw Eddie Murphy Joe Hmm it was amazing. Wow, man, that's cool. Yeah, and but but to think like that happened or Selling out so if I stadium the way that was nuts and being able to hug my son On stage and have that was nuts man. Wow So many crying moments at that time Just thinking about these things especially with what we do Lewis it's like it's hard like whenever you go I'm a comedian right really, you know, but they don't know you right and I don't have a poster I don't have a flyer on me and they go So where where you do this comedy, yeah, there's so by stadium that's where I do it it'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 You know, I've opened for 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.

So if I stay, 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. My dad did that. 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 the Netflix.

So I shot it myself. Wow. And I've told that story before it's shot at 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 out for you. And they were like, no. And 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. And there's a lot of comics that deserve that spot and they gave it to him.

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, um, and then we, we shot it and we brought it to them and then they bought it. And I'm glad, thank you Netflix for everything. Cause it changed my life. And when they watched it, they were like, okay, we, 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, live from Seattle dropped, it was over with. Then they're like, 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, uh, the forum, the forum record. That was crazy. First comic to sell six shows out. It was crazy. And I remember when I brought, uh, my son to the forum when I sold it out the first two times and he brought all his classmates and he was a senior or not a senior.

He was a, 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, damn, what a gift. What a beautiful gift. Yeah. So now it's like, now I'm on the bonus speeches of the DVD. This is all a 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 would have already made it by now before this first Netflix special 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 say, 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 step, 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 give me five minutes before the thing? Can you give up? 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. Yeah. Even when you've been on the top essentially. Yeah.

And so for me, I want to acknowledge you for just being an incredible inspiration. Thank you. For so many people who feel like they have to have everything perfect before they start. Yeah. They feel like they have to have all the, the school, the credentials, the opportunities, the branding, whatever it is. Yeah. Before they actually get started and launch their dream. Yeah. 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?

Yeah. Even when they say no. Yeah. 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, for telling these stories. There's so much I'm going to 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, uh, called blue in the face.

And, um, 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 that you guys come out. Yeah. That is coming out soon. You know, I, I hate to say this to someone like you, but, uh, the one thing I'd never say is hope or hopefully I don't.

Oh, you'll never hear me say it. What do you say? I literally got it out of my, my, 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. What do you say instead? When it comes out, when it comes out, hopefully it comes out soon. I knew it was going to come out. Yeah. It's just about, about when. Yeah. I like, especially with what we do. I feel like when you say hope you're, you're asking for something else other than your own talent and interesting to get it.

And I don't, I don't hope for anything. That's good. I will. It's coming out. Yeah. 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 will work out for you. It's going to work. Yeah. If people follow you, Joe Coy on social media, they're going to see when all these, yeah, coming out. We just saw Lawrence project is killer.

That's what I was saying. Yeah. Yeah. Martin Lawrence and I produced this special together, uh, which highlights and showcases top headliners that just have not been given the opportunity and they are headliners, bro. Like these are animals. They're there. They are beast, 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. Cause 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, and any comic that's like, well, I submitted, 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, if you deserve that spot, we will get you. But I'm telling you, there's no denying these 24 you're going to watch and go, all right. Yeah. These were good.

Yeah. They were good. I got to 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 shine that night. I saw some behind the scenes before we recorded it. It looks pretty epic. 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 two final questions, Joe. And again, I appreciate you just opening up and being honest and real about all this stuff. It's so inspiring. I know people are going to be inspired by this conversation. This cover, uh, this question is called the three 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, uh, 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 all the content, it's all gone for whatever reason. Hypothetical. Yeah. But you get to leave behind to the world, three lessons, three things, you know, to be true from your life. Okay. What would those three truths be for you? Three lessons. This one, my dad said to me, but don't say what if, right? What if I would've done it?

Oh man. What if I tried like don't ever say what if just do it? Yeah. I mean, be that kid, man. Like be the kid that you are that kid that, 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. 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, 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. And then 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 would 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, uh, Oh God, what was it called? Star mania. It was called star mania in Vegas. My sister was in it. She was singing, but she didn't know I was doing the standup part of it. And, uh, I went to this bar on Eastern and Tropicana and I drew this mustache. 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 a 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 with this. And then the, the guy, the guy at the door, he goes, I go here for a star mania to show.

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 and 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 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 condoms. Right. And they were just tanking. It was just not funny. And then my mouth started getting cotton mouth. I was getting all cotton mouth. And then, uh, I go, um, you ever get so cotton mouth 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, yeah, we're why your, your tongue gets stuck to the roof of your mouth. And the lady in the back of the restaurant, cause I was talking about condoms, 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 call back.

She got the, they're 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. Cause I just want to hug him. He said, he goes, man, I don't know what you got, but you got something on stage. You know, like there's something there, man. Like maybe not tonight, but you on stage, there's something. Wow. Isn't that crazy? A little confidence boost. Yeah. Lionel Richie. Man, I wish you would stumble on this and I would love to hug a man.

Cause like literally, cause that was, it was so depressing. I remember I came home, my mom and forever 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, 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 either Chris or someone.

And I remember just laying there going, yeah, I got 17 more. That's swear. Wow. Yeah. How many more times did you bomb though? Probably 25 more times. Yeah. It wasn't until I got to this coffee house. I remember I joined this one competition. It was just, it was brutal. Cause I invited everybody to it and you bombed. Oh, never bring your friends when you're getting started. Right. But then again, why not? Yeah, that's true. And they're laughing with you. No, they weren't laughing at all. They were just like, 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 you just got to suck it up. I don't know if I answered your question. 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. There's people that made a million in one day and hated what they did. 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. My friend, I hope you're enjoying this episode right now because we are on a mission to impact a hundred million lives every single week and every follow here on this podcast helps us reach more people.

Make sure to hit the follow at the top of this show's page right now. It's the single biggest thing that you can do to support the show and the impact of us reaching you every single time we have new episodes. I appreciate you and I can't wait to see you in the next episode. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links.

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