WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 Cool, so basically you thought you would see like a show today. Okay well 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:12.000 when I was contacted I was told that I was going to be coming here to talk to you guys about following your dreams. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.000 Now, I got to be honest with you, I think honesty is the best policy, 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.000 I had this whole idea where I would be like behind a podium in the middle of you guys 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.000 and speaking outward or seated so that we're all at the same level but 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:29.000 yesterday when I was in New York, I had to get into this really tall taxi and I ripped the middle of my pants. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:32.000 so we're not going to do that no more. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.000 So we're just going to keep my legs closed. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:39.000 And I'm going to do it from over here if that's alright. 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:44.000 That's just really real, I mean what would you do if you tore the center of your outfit up? 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:50.000 He did give a little bit of my bio and I wanted to tell you guys more because I think that when you see 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:58.000 a comedian, actor, writer, or anybody that's on your T.V. or here on the radio or any entertainer, there really is a story for each person. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:00:67.000 There is a journey, because it's not a sprint, no body really blows up over night, everybody hustles their whole life and then you find out about them. 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:12.000 So I wanted to get a little bit of that so you guys could understand that. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:22.000 And then as far as following your dreams, I have some stuff, kind of things that I live and operate by. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:24.000 I wanted to share that with you guys. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:28.000 And then maybe some questions, and I'll answer some questions if you have any. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:31.000 Before we start, are there any questions at all? 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:39.000 Alright, so, not to be narcissistic but I will talk about myself a little bit. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:54.000 All the T.V. credits he said I did, and I also did Tosh.0 on ComedyCentral, and AspireTV, this little thing, I got this for Christmas so I'm proud of it. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:58.000 That's my Instagram by the way, if you look at our videos, I do those all the time. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:01:64.000 So AspireTV is Magic Johnson's T.V. network and that actually airs tonight at 7. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:12.000 So I'm going to try to watch myself on T.V. and not throw up at 7 o'clock. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:14.000 I have a different path than a lot of comics do. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:23.000 I've been doing comedy for 11 years, 8 years without a day job, just comedy alone, and managing to be self sufficient. 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:34.000 And a lot of my peers, they got exposure early, so I have friends of mine who started maybe in Atlanta or Miami or whatever and they were on T.V. within a year and a half, two years, whatever. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:43.000 I didn't get any T.V. for 10 years, so I had to figure out how to eat, and stay afloat, and pay my bills, and stay alive really comfortably 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:45.000 without any national exposure. 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:48.000 So, I have a whole other kind of hustle that I could try to give you guys. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:61.000 Because I think that, all of this, as far as following your dreams, and aspiring towards success lean on hustle, effort, things that you put in. 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:07.000 First thing, not to pick on you, but you got to unfold your arms. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:15.000 I took a psychology class when I was in college and they said when you cross your arms that's non verbal communication for not letting in or anything out. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:22.000 So just receive all the good stuff and the stupid that I sent your way. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:31.000 Let's see, so I grew up in Olympia, Washington and then 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:40.000 I graduated from RiverRidge High School and I went to Florida Memorial College in Miami on a full academic scholarship that I did not deserve. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:48.000 I had like a 2.7 or something in high school but I wrote a heck of an essay and my senior project was incredible so they said let's take a chance. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:61.000 And they wanted to infuse black people from the Northwest into their black people from Miami atmosphere, and get some more diversity, so I just got lucky and went to the school. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:05.000 So I went there for a year and a half 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:11.000 and it was like most HVCU's it was located in the heart of the hood. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:21.000 And it was kind of violent, not that I was or anything like that, but the environment itself was off campus, you would hear gun shots at night, I was like Miami is real. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:24.000 It's kind of like everything Trick Daddy raps about. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:28.000 So and Rick Ross. So I got up out of there. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:39.000 And I went to Washington State University and Florida Memorial was probably maybe 4,000 to 5,000 students so I think you guys may be able to relate 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:44.000 It was the size of a block, we had a lagoon in the middle of the campus. And it was like a constant party. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:54.000 Which was cool. But, transferring to Washington State University was like 27,000 students, I was seeing people for the first time and I had been there a year, I was like this is too big. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:58.000 So I transferred to Eastern, which was like right now the street, closer to Spokane. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:04:64.000 And that's where I finished up school. I really enjoyed that experience. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:13.000 This campus really reminds me of Eastern, like with the atmosphere and the way people are walking, I just saw some people doing a flashmob outside I think. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:23.000 Did you guys see that? Someone was dancing, yeah it was dancers like out of no where. That's kind of the thing you'd see at Eastern, you'd be like what in the what, but it's happening. 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:31.000 So, then I threw a lot of events at the school, I brought guest speakers, I wanted to enrich our experience at school. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:40.000 And, when I graduated, I had an offer from the school to stay on as like the African American Education Program Assistant Director or something. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:50.000 But, I had started doing comedy and I had to choose. Would I like to do that or would I like to do comedy, and I chose to do comedy. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.000 I'm skipping a step because it's a talking point. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:61.000 But I think, it's essential to know that in order to follow your dreams, the first thing you need to do is know what they are. 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:04.000 And that's very hard to figure out. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:14.000 It's very difficult to figure out like what, I'm not sure about language restrictions, I think hell is okay to say, but to wonder what in the hell am I going to do? 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:22.000 It's a normal thing for people in college, after college, there's probably 80 year olds still wondering what in the hell they are going to do. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:28.000 But in life, wondering what we're going to do and what we're going to put our energy into 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:33.000 it's a big thing, like what's the meaning of life for each one of us, and what our we going to be, and what am I good at. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:42.000 And I didn't know I was good at stand up comedy, I had no idea. Of all the things I thought I could possibly do, I was like playing football, and baseball, and good at science, 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:51.000 and then somebody dared me, just flat out dared me, after classes every day we were sitting in the student union building and we would just talk smack. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:58.000 We would just literally clown everybody that walked down the stairs, and they wouldn't hear us, but we would be having a good time laughing. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:06:65.000 And my friend, John Fowler, he was crazy, he was the one white kid who kicked it with all the black kids, but he was cool. 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:15.000 And he would do stuff like, he would walk up and grab like 50 plates and then fall down the stairs with all the plates, like on purpose, and just make the loudest noise. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:20.000 People got so used to it, the cafeteria people would be like "Fowler" before they even looked around. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:30.000 And so, there was this one day we were sitting in there, and I was just clowning around with everyone, and he was like "Yo, do you think if there was a comedy competition, that you could do it?" 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:36.000 And I was like, "Do it? I'll win." You know, just being cocky. And he was like, "Oh yeah, turn around." 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:47.000 And so I turn around, and I hadn't looked this way yet that day, but there was a big poster thing that said "Student Only Comedy Competition". 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:52.000 And he was like, "Guess what you got to do." I was like, "Guess I got to write some jokes." 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:60.000 And so, I watched a couple stand up specials, and was like okay I see what they're doing, they're on stage alone and telling jokes. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:08.000 I got some funny stuff, things I thought of, or ideas that I always thought was funny or something I saw that was peculiar, I'll just try it. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:16.000 And so that was going to be on, I think on a Tuesday, in the middle of campus, with everybody at school. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:26.000 I don't know how they advertised it that good, I thought it was going to be like this many people but it was everybody, the volleyball team, the football team, my crush was there, the pressure was on. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:32.000 And I knew it was going to be like this, I was really scared honestly with the opportunity to do that. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:37.000 And so, Fowler told me, "Hey there's this comedy club in Spokane and they have an open mic on Wednesday's." 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:41.000 We're too young to get in but they'll let us in while we're on stage. 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:49.000 So alright well let's try it, so I go down there with a 3x5 card and I read off the stuff I have on the card, trying to look at the card as little as possible. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:58.000 My memory was absolutely nothing, so I was struggling to say the least. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:67.000 But what I did do was I at least found some sense of comfort in that space, to be on stage. Because in life we're not really alone a lot, 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:14.000 unless we make an effort to. And if we are alone, we surely not alone in front of a lot of people. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:20.000 It's a whole new word, anyways, so I did that and on the following Tuesday, 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:27.000 we walked on campus and we did the show. And I actually did very well. Like there was probably 12 people in it, 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:33.000 and I beat everybody in it except for Fowler and I did not know that Fowler was going to be in it. 00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:35.000 Fowler just came out there and he was hilarious. 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:45.000 Apparently, on Christmas breaks and Thanksgiving breaks and Spring break and stuff, he would go back to Seattle where he was from, and he would perform at all these different comedy clubs. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:50.000 And he was a real comic and he dared me because he thought he saw something in me that I could do that. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:59.000 Sometimes you need that in another person to tell you, "You know what, you draw, but you draw really good. Like, maybe there's a career or something in that." 00:09:59.000 --> 00:09:64.000 You kind of water that seed that they planted and it may turn into something. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:14.000 So, I got dared, I did that, and then I probably had two more years at that school and they did that comedy competition every six months or so and I won all the rest of them before I left. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:24.000 I went back to the comedy club that I started in and had like five minutes and I would host and then I would feature. And the club owner started sending me to other clubs he knew about in Washington. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:31.000 So, on the weekends after class, I would leave and go do shows in like Walla Walla and all these other places, which sounds crazy right? 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:41.000 But, at the time, it was like free food. So, we all just rolled. It was like me and like four or five of my boys and we'd go down in like three cars, and just show up somewhere. 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:47.000 And I would go up and tell these terrible jokes, I was not good, I was not good, but no one was. 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:51.000 So, at that time it was cool. So that's what I did. 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:62.000 So when I graduated, there was a comic that I really liked, every time I saw him on T.V. he was hysterical, his name was Rodney Perry. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:09.000 At the time, he didn't really have a lot of credits, but since then, he's like played the number two man in a Tyler Perry movie, he went on the road with Mo'Nique. 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:15.000 But anyway, I just saw him on this show it was called like "The Big Black Comedy Show" or something. 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:22.000 So I googled him, and there was his facebook, so I went on facebook, I sent him a message, I was like "Yo, I'm a comic I just started, I'm not good. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:30.000 And I'm at here in like the Spokane area and I want to see if you'd be interested in coming out here. I've brought a couple of speakers, I think I can maybe have you come." 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:35.000 And he was like, "No I'm not coming but let's just talk." And so we chatted a little bit, 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:45.000 I told him I was coming up on graduation and I didn't know if I wanted to go to L.A. or go back home to the other side of the mountains and just do something or stay in Cheney 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:49.000 and take this job that I was offered. 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:56.000 And he was like, "You need to move to L.A. Like if you have any doubt about it, you need to move to the mecca of what your dabbling in. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:60.000 You have your toe in the ocean, come down here and swim with us." And I was like oh my gosh. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:12.000 So I just kind of stepped out on a limb, I ignored the nay sayers, any haters, family that was doubtful and was like I'm just moving. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:14.000 So I took 300 dollars and I moved to L.A. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:18.000 I had an uncle down there I have never met but my dad was like, "He's a good guy." 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:27.000 So I went down there and I lived in his spare room and I worked at like an insurance company he owned and I did stand up every night. 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:34.000 Unfortunately, I didn't realized exactly how big California is, like I know it's a long state but I didn't realize, I thought I was in Southern California, 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:38.000 I was like two hours from Hollywood thinking that I had made it. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:46.000 So I realized I need to move in, I was like that means I'm not living here, oh my god I have to pay real rent, California rent, it's like 2,000 dollars for this little table. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:52.000 So, I tried to save up my money and all that stuff and then move in. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:60.000 And that was going fine and everything and then it just dawned on me that starting off with 300 dollars, as much as I had accomplished, it was probably three years down the road now, 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:09.000 as much as I had accomplished and how I was staying afloat and I was doing good, that if I wanted to move into Hollywood I wanted to have a better starting place. 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:22.000 So, I went back to Washington and I started a lot of different comedy shows and I was working everywhere and then I saved like probably like. Are you recording? "Yeah." 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:31.000 I saved a lot of money. No, I basically like, let's just say this is Washington, 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:37.000 there's all these shows on the west side, and a couple on the east side, and maybe in Walla Walla, and some in the middle and I started a lot of different shows. 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:46.000 And then it dawned on me that it would make more money for me to have one show. So I stopped doing all of the shows and I told everyone to just come to this one show. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:49.000 And I did it every week on Thursday nights. 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:58.000 And from the first show all the way until we stopped doing it, we had probably 450 people every time we did it every week and it was 20 dollars a person. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:13:69.000 It cost to throw it but I was able to save a lot of money and invest in myself, my career, and the things I wanted to get. Like I knew I wanted a Mac Book and a camera, and a tripod. 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:17.000 Things that I would use in my career. And so, I saved like, I would say I touched down in L.A. with 27,000 dollars. 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:23.000 And within two months of getting a place, getting set up, buying furniture and everything, I probably had 7,000 dollars. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:28.000 Just to give you an idea of how expensive it is. And I've been there since. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:35.000 So, that's really what I wanted to give you in a sense of my journey. 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:44.000 The credits kind of started to come and now like I don't know your guys perception of like if you'd say, "Oh my gosh he was on Tosh.0" I don't if you're like "That's awesome." I don't know. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:52.000 All I know is, I've just been working very hard, and every now and then my phone rings and it's somebody saying, "Hey man we got this thing for you." 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:55.000 The work that I've been doing, people pay attention to. 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:60.000 And so it's not like it's so unobtainable now, it's just a phone call. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.000 So that's how I did Tosh.0. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:16.000 Enough about me, specifically for my journey. I just wanted to talk about it so that you could see the trials and tribulations, so that you could see the ebbs, the flows, the valleys and the peaks. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.000 Because it's not always just roses. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:24.000 You know what I mean, like I went down there, I hustled, I worked my ass off, and I still had to go home tail tucked. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:29.000 Like I still had to go home, like man I cannot do what I want to do. It would be some stuff or someone would say, 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:40.000 And at the same time their like, "Hey we got auditions for last comic standing. " I'm like, but I need 200 dollars. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:49.000 So I missed the audition, go get the 200 dollars, come back, guys that I'm funner then, just by comparison, got last comic standing. 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:51.000 And this was seven years ago before they brought it back. 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:57.000 They got last comic standing, their careers went to a whole other place, and to this day, they can't follow me on stage. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:60.000 But it's like decisions like that 200 dollars that made me like, I need to go home, 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:07.000 have enough money to where I can say, "I'm cool on the 200. Let me go do this audition." 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:17.000 So, now the points, the points that I wrote down real quick on your paper in pencil. 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:25.000 Following your dreams. Like these are things that I've either have had instilled in me by mentors or parents or wiser people than I 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.000 or things that I have seen from watching other people mess up. 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:37.000 And, the first thing I would like to say is simple, it is to stay away from vices. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:46.000 Because if you want to follow your dreams, you need to be level headed, you need to be able to see, to focus. If you can see your dream, you can't see it if there's always things in the way. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:56.000 So, for a man, I think that that is drugs, alcohol, lots of women, yeah, I think that those are the vices. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:61.000 Every famous comic that I ever saw that like didn't blow up or that fell off was like drugs. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:08.000 Like Richard Pryor, drugs, Ronnie Dangerfield, women, Bill Cosby, women. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:19.000 So I just try to avoid the vices I that I see other failing from. So I would suggest that. And I know you guys are kicking it and all that. Cool, maybe, it's college, recreation sake. 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:29.000 But, don't do anything that would hinder or get in the way of what you're trying to accomplish, your next step in what you're doing. 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:31.000 So leave the vices alone. 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:35.000 The second thing is failure. 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:50.000 You're going to. You're going to fail. There's nothing you can do. You're going to fail miserably, like you're going to fail so bad you're going to call home like, "Mama I need help." Like you're going to. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:55.000 No matter what you do. You could be a football player, basketball player, soccer player, you're going to fail. 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:61.000 Life does not give anyone a path of roses. Millionaires fail, poor people fail, you're going to fail. 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:09.000 So why not follow your dream, so those failures that you keep getting back up from lead to something bigger. 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:17.000 Is that connecting? That looked yummy, whatever you just put in that look yummy. 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:25.000 So, I mean from what I've experienced and seen from failures, it's inevitable, everyone's going to fail. 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:36.000 And, I think it's corny to say, but it's cliche, it doesn't matter how many times you fall, you know what I mean? You guys have heard it, read it, seen it, tweeted it, just keep getting up. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:47.000 You know what I mean? Just keep getting up. Sometimes, you're going to fail from the system, the way that a thing is set up, like this is the way that everyone does this, 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:51.000 this is how you have to do it, this is the structure we all operate by. 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:58.000 And that will cause you to fail. Other times, there will be someone else in your way or somebody who is already in that station in life 00:18:58.000 --> 00:18:61.000 who doesn't want you to have that station in life and they'll lead you to fail. 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:05.000 The worst kind is when it's something you did, your own error. 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:12.000 That's the one you really got to sleep on, or try to get some rest on. When you're like, "Oh I failed because I did that." 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:13.000 You know what I mean? 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:25.000 When you're really focused on your dream and your path and what you want to accomplish in life and how you want to effect the world and the legacy you want to leave when your gone, 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:30.000 You know, all the other things they're always going to be coming at you. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:41.000 You don't think Kevin Hart has stuff thrown at him every five minutes, crazy stuff, or anybody. Bill Gates, you know how many people ring his door bell like "Um let me get a million dollars." 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:48.000 For what? You're always going to be approached. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:56.000 It's just you want to try and live in a way, conduct yourself in a way, where you aren't the reason for your own failure. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:65.000 As best as you can. Because you can't predict the future. But just try to be thorough. 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:11.000 The next one I wrote down, and it made sense when I wrote it down. It just says jump. 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:20.000 There you go. Take risks. Who said that? Thank you. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:25.000 Yeah, jump. 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:37.000 It's just one word but it really, like if you break it down in the meaning of it, to say I want to be this or I want to do that, and to see all the other people who are already doing that is daunting. 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:44.000 You know like, when I first moved to L.A., before I moved I watched a ton of comics, I watched all the comics, all the deaf jams and everything. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:49.000 I got to L.A., and I was standing in the Hollywood improv, which anyone can walk in, I wasn't special for that. 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:57.000 But I walked up to the promoter who somebody told me, "That's the guy who runs the night." So I was like, "Hey man I wan to go up." And he was like, "Get your ass out of my face." 00:20:57.000 --> 00:20:63.000 I was like what and he was like, "Get out of my face. You know how many people say that to me. No, bro I don't know you." And I was like, "Please?" 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:07.000 And he's like, "No I'm serious. Get out of my face I got a show to run." I was like what the ****. 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:19.000 So, I was like, "If said person was to get out of your face, where would you like them to stand?" He was like, "Just go over there with all those other comics." I was like, "Alright fine." 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:27.000 So I walk out of his face and I go over and I stand there and I look. And for the next probably ten minutes, there was like 7 or 8 other people who came up to him the same exact way as I had just done. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:30.000 Every person got the same, "Get out of my face." 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:37.000 So, I thought he was picking on me but he's just callous and the situation has made him like that. 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:41.000 But what really blew my mind was, I was walked over to where I was standing, 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:44.000 and I was looking at him this direction and I looked this way, 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:46.000 and this is where everybody was coming over after he told them to go stand. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:49.000 All the people on this wall wanted to go on stage. 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:54.000 And I looked down this line, and even though there's a show going on and I can barely make out facial features, 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:58.000 out of 10 guys I saw six or seven people that I had seen on T.V., in movies. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:69.000 I was like, I'm never getting on stage. If they're waiting too, like this is nuts, I'm not going up. Might as well leave now. 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:17.000 So, instead of leaving now I was like, I'll just keep coming here and standing on this wall until I bug him to the point where he's like, "Let's see what you got." 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:19.000 You know, and that's what I did. 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:27.000 And the good thing about Hollywood, and the bad thing, is that when you first go up on stage somewhere and they're taking a chance on you, they don't give you more than you can chew. 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:31.000 They literally are like, "Just go do two minutes brother, can you do that?" 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:40.000 And, since I'd been doing comedy in Washington and all that, I had like an hour in Washington, but only five minutes of it was good enough to stay in Hollywood, so the two minutes was cool with me. 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:46.000 Did my little two minutes, and he liked it, he said come back next week. I went back the next week he was like, "Do another two minutes." 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:52.000 And in comedy, they turn a light on in the back of the room where the crowd can't see it, but it let's you know your time is running out, you have one minute. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:57.000 They say, don't run the light. So the light will flash, you acknowledge it, and then you close out. 00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:62.000 Well, I was on stage my second time doing my little two minutes and I had already timed myself at the house. Like, and that's two minutes. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:09.000 I did all my little jokes, got to the two minute mark. They didn't turn it on, he wanted to see what I had. 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:19.000 You know what I mean, so he just left it off. And I was up there like, "Uh, alright." And I walked off. And he was like, "You could have kept going." I was like, "Well you should probably tell me that next time. 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:25.000 I could have prepared three minutes for you." He was like, "Oh three minutes." I was like, "Whatever dude." 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:34.000 But, the concept of jumping into that situation, not knowing the outcome, not knowing I was going to walk into a very callous gentleman when I first got there and all that 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:40.000 and just have the self confidence and the stupidity to be like, "I'm not, I'm just jumping. I don't care." 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:47.000 You know what I mean, it's what it takes, no matter what the craft, the trade, your major, whatever you want to do, you got to jump. 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:51.000 And, you have to jump without knowing how you're going to land. 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:60.000 That, without a parachute, you know, try to have one, try to have, which leads me to my next talking point. Try to have a safety net. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:06.000 Some sort of support before you dive into something head first. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:19.000 Like a pool, say you dove in head first, and your like, "Oh it's a three foot pool." Like you want to have some sort of, you know like, I had savings and a uncle that was already there, like you heard that. 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:24.000 So I wasn't completely just like walking in the Himalayas by myself with a backpack a walking stick. 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:30.000 But I'd recommend, if possible, to have some sort of fall back. 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:38.000 Like it didn't work, I can dust off my wounds, lick my wounds or whatever, and I can recoperate. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:48.000 But, in order to truly jump, you have to do it without that in mind. It's kind of crazy to say that and then also say ignore it. But you have to. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:52.000 You have to just be like, whatever. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:57.000 You're going to have haters, you're going to have doubters. And honestly, a lot of times it's the people closest to you. 00:24:57.000 --> 00:24:65.000 It's the people who helped raise you, it's the people you know, who you break bread with the most, it's the people who are around you the most. 00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:12.000 They're around you enough to not believe you can accomplish that. To think that that idea is crazier than something you can actually do. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:21.000 It's someone who thinks they know you very well. And you have to be willing to say, "Bro, I don't care. I'll have new friends. I'll make new friends. And they'll all be doing that. I'm out." 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:29.000 And you got to jump, you know what I mean. If you fail you fail, get up. Get back at it, do it again, try it a different way, learn from your mistakes, pay attention to what's going on around you. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:37.000 Don't repeat the mistakes of others. That's jumping. 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:54.000 Rules, I wrote rules down. Now this applies to the mode of failure that I said that, sometimes the structure or the system that you're in can be what makes you fail. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:62.000 Like, whose a Seattle Seahawks fan? Just by chance, terrible play call. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:08.000 But anyway, you don't have to be a fan to understand the story of a lot of the players on a team. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:13.000 They say if you're going to the NFL you have to be awesome as a kid, you have to be awesome in high school, you have to be awesome in college. 00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:20.000 You have to enter the draft, you have to go to the combine, you have to have these numbers, jump this high, be this fast, be this strong. 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:22.000 Then you have a shot of maybe going. 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:27.000 A lot of the guys on the Seahawks Superbowl champion team should have been twice, maybe three times now, of course if Carroll could run the god damn ball. 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:37.000 Anyways, aren't, they didn't get drafted, they went undrafted, they were under, they slipped through the . 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:46.000 They are really unsigned talent and stuff like that. And couch Carroll has an eye for these guys, he picks them and he says, "We'll make you into the player that we know you are." 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:55.000 And that's what makes the Seahawks so dope. Because their like the Replaceable's. It was a good movie, I'm thinking of the Replaceable's right? 00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:57.000 Girl from audience: "That was a show." 00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:65.000 It was a movie too. Replacements, replaceable's I don't know. Anyway, but that's what makes them so dope to me. 00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:12.000 Is that they're not a whole bunch of all american dudes. They're like guys who were literally walking down the street two years ago not knowing what they were going to be 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:21.000 and then they worked hard, worked their butts off, and they went to the top amount that you can go, in their genre, in their thing. 00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:27.000 That to me is breaking down what the system says. 00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:33.000 The system says you have to be this guy, you have to play this way, you have to do this thing. And they were like no and they still succeeded. 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:37.000 Whether it's football, or for me comedy, you can still break those walls down. 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:42.000 Like they say, a new comic probably shouldn't be hosting shows because you're new. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:48.000 Like how much time could you possibly have? How can you entertain a room full of people and you've only been doing it like two months? 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:55.000 Well I personally was like, "I'm not waiting until you guys say I'm good enough to have my own room. It would be my own room right?" 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:61.000 So, I'll just bring funnier guys. I'll be terrible, not always, I'll get better. 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:07.000 And then people would come and see the better guys and I would surprise them every now and then. And their like, "Oh that's pretty good Nate." 00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:12.000 And so, out the gate throwing shows and stuff like that. Like that breaks the mold of what you would expect. 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:22.000 The whole point is that their is structure and there are rules but I feel like, in order to follow your dreams and to truly be successful, you kind of got to break some. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:30.000 And I'm not saying that to tell you to break laws or to get arrested or anything like that. I'm telling you there's a box. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:38.000 And to have your mind in the right place, you need to be thinking outside of it. And you need to be thinking in a way where this is how everybody else is, like I'm not a limit. 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:48.000 If their all walking that way, and I see a direct path to what I want that way, I might just go. Like you need to be able to break the rules, break the standard, you know what I mean? 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:52.000 Be willing to. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:61.000 The next one just says haters. But I think I could touch on that in a way where I hadn't already. 00:29:01.000 --> 00:29:10.000 If you have a dream and you are working on it, or you're thinking about it, or you are trying to develop it, 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:21.000 that you do it with people who have different dreams. You do it with people who are like minded thinkers but they have an entirely different realm they want to go in. 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:29.000 Like say you want to be a famous dancer. Well don't sit in a room and talk about your famous dancer dreams with other dancers. 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:36.000 I wouldn't recommend that. The reason why is because a lot of times you can be very unique and have a very original concept 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:46.000 and you're talking about breaking the rules and going your own way and making your own route and people can hear that and be like, "Well that sounds good to me too." 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:53.000 And they can take that same path. Now your idea isn't original. Or they can beat you down that path just like, "I heard you talking about it. I'm going." 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:59.000 So you want to protect that. Their's a way to be around like minded people. Just people who are pushing for success and following their dreams. 00:29:59.000 --> 00:29:65.000 If you want to be a famous dancer why not talk to people who want to be famous painters. Everybody is still talking about pushing forward. 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:15.000 And another thing why that's good, is because it exposes you to other discourses of thought. It exposes you to other ideas. 00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:21.000 Where a painter might say, "Well why don't you..." Huh. Never thought of that. 00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:29.000 Painters do that? Yeah. You know what I mean. And it could be something as simple as, "I shot a twenty minute special and I don't know how to put it on the internet for people to buy. 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:32.000 Or, it is on the internet and ain't no body buying it. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:41.000 And the painter would say, "Well I sell my paintings, here's what I do." Now you have that suggestion vs. sitting in a green room with 5 other starving comics while they tell you how they're starving more. 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:52.000 Like, when it comes to like people who are doing the same thing as you, I would say don't share you're dreams. Show them. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:56.000 You know what I mean. Like be about that action boss. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:60.000 That's what I would say. Talking about it is only going to get you so far. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:05.000 Getting up and doing is a whole other thing. 00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:20.000 Hard work. I'm exhausted right now. And I should be. I woke up yesterday in New York, day before that in Boston, day before that in Phoenix, day before that in Houston, day before that at home in L.A. 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.000 And that's just from gigs and moving and traveling, doing what I do. 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:27.000 And it doesn't bother me when I'm tired for those reasons. 00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:35.000 What would bother me is if I was exhausted for working a 9-5 for somebody else and never had any energy to try and put into my own thing. 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:43.000 So, be tired, be exhausted, work hard. What do they say, eight hours of sleep is a night of sleep? 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:56.000 She's like I sleep forever. How long do you sleep? 00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:63.000 Girl in audience: I need about 9-10. Nate: Everyday? 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:10.000 Everyday? Are you a vampire? 10 hours a day? 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:16.000 Girl in audience: I do need that but being at school I get sleep than six hours of sleep, I get like four. 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:20.000 About four hours? Well it's temporary. 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:28.000 It's temporary. It's supposed to be like that. And when you go on break you're supposed to just pass out all over the house and eat snacks. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:32.000 And sleep for four days straight and you're parents don't see you. You're supposed to. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:35.000 But when this ends, there is no schedule that makes you so demanding. 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:41.000 Like there is no syllabus or register telling you, "Here are your classes, here's how much sleep you won't get, here's how much studying you got to do." 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:51.000 You don't have that. Soon as you walk across that stage, what you're schedule is and what you accomplish and what you decide to is on you. 00:32:51.000 --> 00:32:55.000 Not that scared. Because you're your own boss. You can't get fired from you. 00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:62.000 Right? What do you got to lose? It's you. You can maybe beat up on yourself like, "I got to do better." 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:04.000 You're never going to lose that job. 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:06.000 Be the best version of yourself that you can. 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:14.000 And, there's more about hard work that I wanted to give you. The reason why I was asking you about sleep is you have to utilize the time that you are awake. 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:16.000 Is this alright right here? 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:19.000 Okay, so you got to utilize the time that you are awake. 00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:25.000 If it's six hours your getting, or four hours, or whatever, you're up for hell of a lot more time than you are asleep. 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:28.000 What are you doing with that time, you know what I mean? 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:32.000 Like what are you doing with that time? And you may not, what did you say? Netflix? 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:42.000 Netflix is cool, but after a certain amount of hours of binging and watching stuff, it's kind of like, I've seen everything in here. 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:48.000 Like how can their be this many choices and I feel like I've seen it all? I'm not going to watch all the kid stuff. 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:60.000 So, if you can put enough, and I'll use Netflix as a metaphor, if you can put enough time and energy into watching Netflix to where you feel like you've consumed this entire major library of media. 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:05.000 What if you were putting that kind of time into your own thing. Like, what would the feeling be then? 00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:11.000 If you put the time that you're putting into I would say, meaningless stuff. Like I watch a lot of Netflix but I do it for a different reason. 00:34:11.000 --> 00:34:21.000 Because I'm an actor, I produce movies, I do films, so I'm looking to be like, oh that's how they shot that. Or, I'll actually sit through all the credits, like wow that's a good director or photography. 00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:29.000 Like I want to learn from it so I don't make the same mistakes or so that I don't mimic anybody on accident. 00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:35.000 Because great minds think alike and if I think I want that shot and then somebody's like, "You stole that shot from Desperado." I'll be like, I didn't do my homework. 00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.000 So, I watch Netflix and television for different reasons. 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:46.000 I understand it's good to have fun, it's good to relax and watch something. 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:56.000 If you're really following your dreams, you'll understand that while you're doing that, there's somebody else who has the same or similar dream and they aren't doing that. 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:60.000 They're working while you're watching that. They're working while you're sleeping in. They're working, you know what I mean? 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:05.000 And if you want to be ahead of the game and on top of your stuff, you got to hustle. 00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:15.000 Very few people have been given the world without hard work. 00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:20.000 Even a kid that inherited something, they may have been given the world but that's on the merit of somebody else's hard work. 00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:25.000 Somebody else busted their ass, passed away, and boom, little richie rich is rich. 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:32.000 But, this day in age, hard work, it actually does pay off. It really does, you know what I mean? 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:40.000 And that's what I was talking about as far as the credits, like Tosh.0 is great, meeting Daniel Tosh and doing that is cool, like it's fun. 00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:47.000 But that happened from just literally going out every night and being at a show, whether I was performing or not performing. 00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:53.000 Pushing the envelope on what I'm doing. 00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:59.000 This is cool, this brings me to my next point and the last one that I have. 00:35:59.000 --> 00:35:67.000 There's certain fields where it's really important to collect people. 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:11.000 I don't know if that makes sense. Does that make sense? 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:18.000 Like, I want my examples to really hit home. What do you want to do? Do you have any idea? 00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:26.000 Girl in audience: I don't know. I'm looking at criminal justice, maybe being a counselor. Nate: Alright. That's good stuff. What about you? 00:36:26.000 --> 00:36:38.000 Girl in audience: I want to be political activist. Nate: Oh, just for everything? Girl in audience: Mostly for special ed. Nate: What about you? 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:48.000 Girl in audience: I want to be an ER nurse. Nate: That's it? Girl in audience: yeah. Nate: Alright, hey it pays good money. 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:52.000 That's your dream. I want to fix people that are ICU bound. 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:55.000 Good stuff. 00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:66.000 Each career that you guys said, or each dream that you guys have, it requires different things. Like for you, it's going to require a lot more school. 00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:20.000 And probably some strong references that are already in the medical field. And for you, as an activist, it's going to require several causes and a lot of people. 00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:28.000 Because if you are an activist and you are alone, I don't know how powerful that is. 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:32.000 But with a small group, even a small group, you can change the world. 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:34.000 With a big group, you can do a lot. 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:40.000 Did you see the movie Selma? That wasn't a lot of people but they were activists. 00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:50.000 But it took the numbers to do it. And for what you want to do, you're going to have to just give up. No, I'm just playing. 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:56.000 But I'm just saying, for a comic, collecting people is very important. 00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:61.000 Because, if I do a comedy show, and no one is sitting there, I am literally talking to myself in a room. 00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:05.000 And that doesn't work. So, it's about collecting the people, it's about collecting the audience. 00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:12.000 That to me is the difference between a Kevin Hart, who is the number one rated comedian in the United States 00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:16.000 in the urban genre, and me. 00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:17.000 It's really the only difference. 00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:30.000 In his career, he did soul plane, and everybody thought he blew up. But everybody bootlegged soul plane so no body watched it, as far as the numbers would say. 00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:36.000 Even though everybody saw it, it's was like only eight people paid for this, so you're not famous. But everyone had seen the movie, you know what I mean? 00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:41.000 So he would go do shows and the places would be full but all the bookers wouldn't believe it. 00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:56.000 They're like, "You had a movie that was in theaters, here's the box office numbers, and it was worse than, what's a bad movie? Yeah that's bad, that's bad." 00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:11.000 So, they stopped booking him. And he actually was done. Hollywood said, "Dude your career's over." Right after Soul Plane. 00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:21.000 And what he did to fight back was he talked to his agent, his manager, and he said, "Book me in every comedy club in the nation. I'll go for anything. I'll go for $500, I'll go for #2,000 I don't care." 00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:30.000 And he went, and he took his wife, they had just gotten married, and he would do shows, and she would walk around in the crowd and she'd be like, "Can I have your name and your email?" 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:35.000 And he did everywhere int he nation until he had a list that was literally like 2.8 million people 00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:42.000 Then, he would shoot a DVD and be like, "I got a DVD for 10 dollars." Times 2.8 million people. 00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:56.000 F Soul Plane. Let's just put it like that. So, for a comic, collecting people is important. For an activist, if you really want a pack a punch it takes more than one finger to throw a punch. 00:39:56.000 --> 00:39:60.000 So, identify that. Identify what it is, what it would take. 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.000 What is the thing, like what do you want to be? 00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:11.000 Girl in audience: Oh, I'm really open right now. I've been focused on public health, I could do nursing, helping people in that way. 00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:16.000 You should get with her, don't share your dreams but get with her. 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:18.000 What about you sir? 00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:28.000 Guy in audience: I'm majoring in exercise science, so my minors in health, so I kind of want to integrate the aspects of exercise with like drug and alcohol rehab. 00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:38.000 Because I've been in treatment so I understand the process and they don't really emphasis that a lot. They kind of just give you flyers with you should eat better, you should exercise. 00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:51.000 You should change your lifestyle. But they don't really sit down with people and really like explain why it's so important. And I think that's a key aspect that they leave out of treatment. 00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:58.000 Yeah, I think that what you're talking about doing sounds pretty thought out, especially with personal experience being involved with it. 00:40:58.000 --> 00:40:69.000 I think that, what you just said is the kind of thing where instead of trying to incorporate it and work your way into the system already. What's your name? 00:41:09.000 --> 00:41:12.000 Guy in audience: Brandon. Nate: Brandon what? Guy in audience: Brandon Bailey. 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:22.000 So you'd be like, this is the Bailey way. You know, whatever you name it. Like this is the Bailey way of recuperation and exercise and getting better. 00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:33.000 But, instead of saying, "Hey, state of Oregon, can you put this into all your stuff." Like the people who are in those jobs, are happy in those jobs, they may not be cool with the Bailey way. 00:41:33.000 --> 00:41:42.000 Guy in audience: Right. Nate: F them. Start your own. Open your own. Do your own. Like why not. Jump. And that's really what I'm trying to get at. 00:41:42.000 --> 00:41:52.000 In order to do that, in order to get to a destination, if you've ever driven anywhere far, you map out where you're going to stay, where you're going to eat, where you're going to stop. 00:41:52.000 --> 00:41:58.000 So you know what you're looking for when you get there. Like, we're going to stop at this Hilton, where we already reserved our room. 00:41:58.000 --> 00:41:66.000 And do that in life, so you have your points and you have your benchmarks that you want to hit and can identify with exactly what you need. 00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:15.000 Then it's not so far, it's not from here all the way to here. It's just from here to here, from here to here, from here to here. And you look up and you're like, "Wow I'm a long way from where I started." 00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.000 Right? So, that's what I wanted to say. 00:42:19.000 --> 00:42:28.000 Music 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:31.000 Music