Broke Boyz From Fresno
Hey everyone it's Martin from the Broke Boyz From Fresno Podcast, my goal here is to entertain, inspire, and uplift our community. I'm all about keeping it real, sharing my daily struggles, and motivating others who might be going through the same. Join me as we navigates life’s challenges, supports one another, and builds a stronger, more connected community together.
Broke Boyz From Fresno
From Garage Days to Warnor’s Stage: Isaiah Washington on Comedy, Community, and Central Valley Pride
A Fresno-born comic turns grief into craft and city pride into mission, tracing his path from Manchester memories to Warnor’s Theatre while breaking down the real work behind stand-up. We trade mall nostalgia, crowd work tactics, mental health truths, and a blueprint to grow local comedy.
• Fresno roots, Manchester Mall memories, Thrifty’s and local food spots
• From videography and loss to first open mic and early bombs
• Studying joke structure, timing, callbacks, audience psychology
• Dark humor boundaries, free speech and consequences, internet vs live rooms
• Crowd work vs written material, when to pivot mid-set
• Fresno open mics, mentors, and building a local scene
• City pride, representation, and calling out “small town” stigma
• Goals for a youth performing arts hub and creative pipeline
• Teamwork for skits, asking for help, building collaborators
• Mental health habits, prayer, momentum on low days
• Sports riff: Raiders vs Niners, stadiums, and fan reality
Follow him @isaiahthecomic
Follow us @ brokeboyz_ff on Instagram and TikTok
Intro Music by Rockstar Turtle- Broke Boyz (999)
Christmas Intro Song by Nico
I'm from Friday. We're out of college and we're gonna get seven every weekend. I ain't gonna get seventy one.
SPEAKER_00:We them broke boys on the hood. We on the missions understood. We always winning like we should. We flyin' high, we butterfly up to the sky. No way you catching is goodbye.
SPEAKER_02:What's up everybody? This is Martin from the Broke Boys, and today we're here at one of the most historic buildings in Fresno. Huge, huge shout out to the person that made this happen.
SPEAKER_01:My boy right here, Isaiah. Please introduce yourself. Hey, what's up? I'm Isaiah Washington, a stand-up comedian, born and raised in Fresno, California, man. And shout out to Warner Seniors and shout out to Mike, man. Mike Flowers for making this happen, letting us shoot here in this beautiful um venue right here, man. Hopefully one day I get to play here too. You know, that's a dream, man. Oh, I mean, we're here, man, manifesting. Yeah, we are. We're making it happen. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Hell yeah. But thank y'all for having me on, man. Oh, thank you.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you for coming on and and allowing me to really express my sincere gratitude and to dive in deeper into your career and dive in deeper into who you are. Because you are a huge figure out here in Fresno. You are a representation of Fresno. Okay. And you're doing your thing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, thank you, bro. Huge figure. Backhanded compliment. I'm big. We both big, ain't nothing wrong with that. These motherfuckers had dog days, bro. I was at dog days. I had my shirt butted up. I look like the Michelin man. That shit was about to pop out and hit production. I was like, dang, my ex commented on y'all shit, and I couldn't even reply because I didn't look fresh. I couldn't be like, nah, I'm a catch. But my shit was all buttoned up tight. I was like, I made sure to have the shirt open today. Someone was gonna insert the little Spider-Man movie. My button was holding up for dear life.
SPEAKER_02:Dude, I didn't even think anything of that when I saw it, but then when you pointed it out, I was like, uh uh.
SPEAKER_01:Well, God nobody, that's my fault. I should have been more self-aware of how big I am. And no, when I sit down, I know that happens. So don't happens, brother.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it happens. That's a big boy. Don't say it happens. I'm just saying judging.
SPEAKER_01:That skinny dude do not judge your extra, extra small. He just wore the large shirt to feel good with us, bro. Hey, don't call me out, don't call me out. I can't know the secret on that, all right? Oh man, bro. But yeah, I do appreciate y'all having the audio of the show. I love the fit, man. Honestly, incredible, bro. I hope y'all can see his shoes. My boy got them things on him, brother.
SPEAKER_02:Expensive. They were imported. Brother, yes, real leather. So, man.
SPEAKER_01:You ever been to Ross? Rossey.
SPEAKER_02:Man, yeah, man. Well, I want to dive into deeper for your upbringing. Where you were born here, born and raised here in Fresno, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I was born in uh Fresno, California. Um, my mom and my dad met at West Hill College up in Kalinga. Okay. My mom's from Texas originally, my dad's from the LA area. They just happened to settle here. So I'm kind of like my parents are transplant, but I'm born and raised here, you know. And uh so growing up was just kind of it was cool. I had a cool childhood, you know what I mean? Uh my mom was uh struggling at the beginning, trying to make her business work. Shout out to July Star Janitory Service, man. And then um, but yeah, like my first little spot, like that I remember, we we was like in a garage and stuff, but we're living in like a white family's house, like a guest house garage, right? Um kind of near Manchester area. So that's like the area I grew up at. Um Manchester, like Central Fresno, uh Fresno High Area sometimes, uh Lafayette Park were a lot of times I spent my days at. And then, but yeah, just growing up was uh it was it was chill. Like, like I say, like I wasn't uh brokers, but I wasn't, you know, we were lower middle class. We had rough times, you know, times where my mom had to hustle and make things happen, you know what I mean? Go get on the bus with all her cleaning supplies and and keep the lights on and stuff like that. But but uh overall though, I was blessed, man. Just um blessed to have a place to lay my head at at night. And shout out to my mom, man. She made all that happen. Shout out to the biggest thing. Shout out moms. I mean, growing up on uh that area in Manchester, you got to see Manchester when it was like popping the popping, bro. I remember I remember going to the little carousel when they had the carousel and it was popping, bro. I was a little kid I was like, bro, they had the red robins right there. Man, always wanted to go in there, but my mom was like, nah, we don't got the extra money today. Right. Then one time on my birthday, I got to go in there. I felt special, bro. They gave me the little, you know, the little gift saying me happy birthday. Yeah, I was feeling good, bro. Manchester back in the day, I remember it was popping, bro. I remember when they had God shocks up in there, and then like the food color up top was top uh dope, and then just like the stores in there were just popping, bro. Like I remember when Foot and Mall right down the street was popping back in the day. Like, bro, it used to be popping. But you know, online kind of killed the malls over time and shit. Yeah. Yeah. You ever think Fashion Fair would end up like that? Man, I went to Fashion Fair the first for the first time in a long time, like two weeks ago, and it was kind of like it's slowing down compared to what it was. I just think, bro, online consumerism is like like people just want to ship to their door. You you talk to most people, they they get in there from Amazon. Right. So it's like it takes a the convenience and stuff like you don't have to go in the store and I'm I'm still a store dude just because I like to I like to get my stuff now, so I'm like, I'm like boom, go into the store. I only get stuff online if it's like equipment stuff. You know, gotcha. Like it's kind of hard to find. But uh, yeah, malls are you know they're around, but I don't know how long they're going to be around. Right. Right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I know. I remember growing up, I mean, Fashion Fair Mall was the place like if you you definitely had some extra change. Like I remember I would work so hard uh during the week uh in the fields, just saving up as much bread as I can to buy school supplies, school clothes. And uh I talked about it with somebody earlier during the week, and I said back in the day, I remember I used to have like 300 bucks uh-huh and I would buy myself multiple different outfits, shoes on top of everything. And uh I was a huge sneaker head growing up too, so I definitely always had to get one pair of Jordans and one pair of Nikes. So I would work so hard just to save up for it and go to the mall. And I remember, man, the malls, I get such like nostalgic feelings going back to the mall.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, the mall was a place, bro. The mall was the place you see all the little pretty ladies when you were the kid. You might have to run a fade at the mall. Like you're like, it's just a little, just a little, you know, or you're gonna get mean mugged, and I'm like, I don't even know you, bro. And then uh, bro, and then just like shopping there with it. It was cool, it was a vibe. Yeah, it was the for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Nowadays I can't even notice. If I don't wear my glasses, I ain't gonna notice that I'm meeting getting somebody, you know, mean mugging me.
SPEAKER_01:And some people might be thinking, like, oh, who the fuck does that you know what the fuck you look at?
SPEAKER_02:And I'm just like, bro, I'm just trying to see. Like, I can't even see what colors you wearing, bro.
SPEAKER_01:No, I really can't see what colors you wear, bro. No, I was thinking about that the other day, man, because like I wear glasses every once in a while, man, because uh like sometimes when I'm driving, just like far-sighted or nearsighted. I'm nearsighted. So it uh but anyways, uh yeah, bro. I was like, I put them on and I was like, damn, bro, some people could catch me slipping, like I would never know, like, oh, that's an enemy. I don't even got enemies like that. But if I was like that, I was like, oh, I wouldn't have even known. I would have just been smiling. The next thing you'd be, you would have to be this.
SPEAKER_02:Like, oh shit. Yeah, I ain't smiling at you and just put the microphone off. Man, this microphone knocks somebody out for real. I'm telling you, you ever in a bad predicament during a podcast? Oh, yeah, we're gonna be able to do that. A parking garage, best blue. You get in a fight, a motherfucker pull a microphone outside, but don't take it lightly.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, don't take it lightly. Don't take it lightly. Fat ass fucking indent, like right here, just a like the cartoon. Like, man, that should be crazy, bro. Hey man, I gotta ask. Yeah. What is one of your most favorite stores that you went to as a kid in Fresno? Favorite stores in Fresno. Like, it don't even gotta be around no more. Just one of the ones you was like, I used to be there all the time as a kid, and you miss it. Oh, as a kid? It was uh damn, what was that store name? And uh it was in Manchester Mall. Uh Spencer's? No, it wasn't Spencer. It was like a toy store. Like I said, it was freaky. It's like, yeah, I was like, bro, I'm I'm I'm seven years old and Spencer. My mom, can I get this? This boy handcuffs. This boy had a different childhood than us, bro. I kind of trying to get away. You trying to test the limits. I mean, we can relate, you know. I mean I think it was called Zaby Toys or something toys, bro. I wish I wish you just put something on my mind just now. Yeah, I'm gonna be like, Radio Shack, bro? Oh, Radio Shack was called Radio Shack as a kid. But the toy place, man. I wish I I remember the name of the toy place. Um fucking uh what else did I like as a kid, bro? Any ice cream shot? Uh 50s? Thrifties? Yeah, yeah, I fuck with thrifties. Okay. I wouldn't get it much, but I'll fuck with it. Um where else? Uh dang. I can't even remember think of any other ones right now, bro. And Fresno, I used to like the taco stand on the east side, two for it was like two for a dollar. It's still there. Alrightos? Yep, bro. Shout out to Al Rico's, bro. I remember going there as a kid. I used to love going over there. Yeah. My mom would give me a horchata. I'm like, hell yeah. I'm living, bro. Yeah. Even then back in the days, bro, you didn't have too much bread, but you was like, I'm not going to no McDonald's.
SPEAKER_02:You hit Al Rico's, they're gonna plug you them topics. Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01:And one thing about them that I fuck with is they don't cheap out on the meat. No, no, no. They're not just going a little bit of meat and have a lettuce on it or nothing. No, they bless you. They bless you for sure. But no, man. Thrifties, bro, that's a that's a name I have. Do they still do thrifties? Because all the Red Aids, all the Red Aids are closed. Yeah, uh, they got one uh they had one more near Clovis on like I think it's Shaw and Cedar or something, somewhere, yeah. Kind of by uh Doghouse. Right. Yeah, there's a other I think there's like two or three left. Two or three left, that's it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, because they're all going bankrupt. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I used to I used to deliver to the writers out there to Lamore and Hanford, and then they closed down that facility. It's both of them. Um bankruptcy and all that, so hey, shout out that rainbow sherbet, though.
SPEAKER_01:I ain't gonna hold you, bro. I was younger that Orange or Rainbow Sherbert Sherbert. Sherbert boy, I was with it, bro. If it wasn't that it was cookies and cream. I mean you can't go wrong with the cookie and cream classic, right? Come on, bro.
SPEAKER_02:I ain't gonna say mine. People judge me when I say mine. It's Rocky Road, ain't it?
SPEAKER_01:No, it's mint chocolate chip, ain't it? Fuck. Yes. Oh, bro. I'm a mint chocolate chip boy too. Come on, man. Thank you. Come on now. Go jump off the ledge. If y'all don't know, there's a big lead right there. There's a big dip over there.
SPEAKER_02:Drop right here.
SPEAKER_01:No, but I like I like mint chocolate chip. I like cookie dough. Uh, but I don't like it when they put too much cookie dough in it. Yeah. Like as a kid, now now I'm kind of my palate kind of chained to where like I mess with Rocky Road a little bit. Okay. And uh I like instead of mint chocolate chip, I love more like chocolate chip.
SPEAKER_02:Just like chocolate chip. Chocolate. Okay. Ain't nothing wrong with that. That's respectable.
SPEAKER_01:I like Sherbet as a kid was fire. Now I'm like, that shit too shit. Yeah, it's way too sweet.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. That's real. So what got you into stand-up, man? Is there any inspiration that really got you going?
SPEAKER_01:Or were you always like the class clown and that's what to be honest, growing up, I wasn't the class clown, but I was the funny, quiet dude. I was very to myself, very uh, very shy as a child. But I was always that dude, like, if we was at the bus stop together, I'll make you laugh. Now, if there was a full group, I might be timid up and like not tell no jokes, but I'm always observing, always listening. And in my head, I'll be like, oh, that would have been funny to say. And then until I gained confidence later on as a young adult, you know, that's when I started inserting myself in those situations. But as a kid, I was more like quietly funny. I was like, Assassin, I might hit you with a sniper, you know. Boom, like, oh, Isaiah finally talked, but it was funny as fuck. You know what I mean? And uh with my close friend group, they all knew I was funny. But like, as long as if you were to go back and ask like Delmar Elementary, like, was Isaiah funny? They'll be like, uh Isaiah was quiet. You know, that would that would say. But um stand-up, getting into stand up itself, uh, man. Sometimes I hate telling this story because it gets too real. Okay. But it is a real story, you know? So trauma, trauma sometimes gets you into comedy. So I would I used to shoot music videos for 10 years, and then uh like a bunch of stuff happened. My camera broke. Uh, I got into an altercation, got jumped. I was uh then my father passed away in front of me, and that shit like made me spiral, you know. Like I didn't have money to buy new equipment. Uh I'm dealing with my post dying. I was drinking a lot, bro. I was drinking heavy, bro. Like after when when a tragedy happens, a lot of times, bro, if you already partying and stuff, you look at something. It just makes it even worse. So like after that, bro, I couldn't sleep and shit, bro. I had to drink, like, I was drink, didn't have to, but I was drinking myself to sleep. Kept seeing like things I could do to maybe save them by replaying shit. Right. And then like, bro, I probably wasted a year of my life, bro. Just like, well, shout out to my mom's because she let me stay at her house like while I was like trying to figure shit out. And um fucking like in that darkness though, I was like listening to shit. Actually, podcasts kind of brought me into uh stand-up. I was listening to a podcast. There's a local podcast, um, local as in Bakersfield. Okay. They used to talk about local comedy. And um they would talk about like coming out to Fresno, doing comedy shows. I was like, bro, there's comedy in Fresno. Right. I never even knew that. I didn't know they had open mics here, none of that. Like growing up, never heard of comedy in Fresno like that. Unless it was a big act. Somebody coming in. Yeah, so I never heard of local comedians. Right. And then so I'm listening and I'm like, and I'm listening to how they do it, and I'm like, oh, that's what I naturally do in my mind when I think at home. Right. I'm naturally making jokes like that. I'm naturally seeing the world like this and and and and bringing the funny out of it. And I was like, dang, man, that like sounds like something I would want to do. And like being where I was at, the one thing that really attracted to me with comedy is that comedians have this ability of taking trauma and turning it on its head into laughter. A lot of the greatest comedians like Richard Pryor, um Patrice O'Neill, like they take that stuff that they felt and they flip it, and and and then that's where like it's almost a form of therapy in a sense. So you're able to like, because once you're on that stage and you're really able to talk about that shit, like you'll never truly get past it, but you're like in a better place. Right. And then over time, bro, I was just like watching them, and then I started watching stand-up more. Cause like growing up, I wasn't really a stand-up fan like that. You know, I seen the like Eddie Murphy stuff, Kevin Hart, Cat Williams stuff, but I wasn't like watching that daily and like, yo, that's what I want to be. I'm gonna be honest, that was not my bro. I used to shoot music videos. I thought I was gonna be the Height Williams out here, you know. I thought I was gonna be uh Cole Bennett, you know, like that's what I thought I was gonna be. Right. And then um, but like something uh just something in me was just like, man, that sounds like something you should do. Then I started uh researching on the comedy mics and and Fresno. And at the time when I first started, there was only uh, I think two open mics in the city. Uh and then uh what's it called? I started watching them. And I like I would go to the back of the room by myself and just watch people do stand-up for like three months. I didn't have the balls to do it. So yeah, if you think about doing stand-up, just go watch it, man. Just go watch it. Like I was in the back of the room watching, I would get nervous, like I'll get nervous just being in the room, just thinking about doing it. Like, bro, you gotta go on stage and make people laugh. And then most of the rooms were like, and like in Clovis or North Fresno. So I'm like, these people ain't gonna be able to relate to what I'm saying. Like, like, uh I don't know if I can really do this and shit. And then eventually, bro, like I just like wrote my first set. Uh, it was like about Bill Cosby, uh, because he just got in trouble with all that crazy shit. And then I was gonna say that, then I scratched the last second, changed it all up, and it was about like me becoming uh like if I would if I were to become a father and shit, like I remember my first set still, and then eventually I finally did that thing, got on that stage, bro. There was three people on the stage. Three people, I mean three people on the crowd, okay? In the crowd, bro. It was by freaking. I was the last comedian up. I went up there, I did my first minute. Cause usually when you do an open mic, you get five minutes. So I did my first minute. I messed up, and I was like, I told the crowd, I was like, hey, hey, y'all think I could start start for the top again? Like, you know, like fucking, we don't give a fuck. And then so I started all over, and then uh shout out to this one dude, man. Uh, because I had a okay, say, you know, it's your first time. Uh it was like whatever. Uh I got a couple chuckles, and then this one dude um in the crowd, like afterwards, I was kind of like chilling at the bar, like kind of going through the process, like, man, shit, I don't know. Like, I like really don't know how I'm feeling. Second guessing yourself. And then that dude walked up and was like, bro, like, you funny, like once you like gain confidence on stage, bro, I think you're gonna be like dope at this shit. Right. And I was like, just that little spark of somebody saying that shit, I was like, all right, I'm gonna come back tomorrow. And then I came back tomorrow. And then ever since I did that, I just kept going, kept going, kept going. Then eventually, you know, I just work on my craft heavily, especially in the beginning. I was like studying everything, studying punch lines, studying different techniques, studying different styles of comedy. It was just like I was in there, bro. Obsessive over there. Yeah, yeah. Now I'm a little more loose with my style, but back then it was very like You gotta learn. Because you gotta learn about timing, you gotta learn about audiences, I'll study audience members. Why is this person not moving? Why is this person laughing? Why is this person got his arms floated? Just trying to read people and then like connecting to people. That's one of the biggest things with stand up, bro, is like connecting with your audience as quick as possible. Right. Because the second they connect with you, you can almost take them anywhere. Yeah. But yeah, it was definitely a journey to get there. Uh, one of my the best things that ever happened to me in life, man. But yeah, like really, bro, this when I was about to start, like I really like, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but I really like was talking to God. Like I said, I was in a dark place, drinking all the time. You know, I still be drinking, but I bro, when I started stand up, I stopped drinking for like a year just to get my mind right, you know what I mean? But I was in a dark place, bro, and I just talked to God, bro. I prayed, I was like, man, like if you want me to do this, like I like, I'm gonna do it all the way, but like I just, I don't know, I just need a sign, like to do this. Bro, I laid down on my bed, it was like a cloudy day. Right when I lay down, bro, like a line, a light shined through the light, hit my face, like the warmest feeling I ever felt, bro. And I got up and I was like, all right, I'm gonna do this shit. And then fucking actually started comedy the day. Fucking Nipsey Hustle got shot, rest in peace. And that also was like, bro, like take that. Because I was a Nipsey hand fan, so I was like, bro, like, he would always talk about like going after your dreams, hustling and stuff like that. And I was just like, bro, fuck that. I'm gonna go do that shit. So hopped on that stage, bro, and then never look back, still on here. You know, so yeah, we doing it. Fresno, you know, reping that shit to the day I die, man. Yeah, because you gotta rep the city too, though. You got stuff. You gotta rep the city, man, because uh I I get tired of the people that make it out of here that don't act like they're not from here. Right.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01:What are you talking about? There's a lot of people that made it from here that have been, oh yeah, I'm from a small town called Fresno. What the fuck you talking about, bro? You from Fresno. Say that shit with your chest, buddy. Right. Man, like I want people that love their city to make this shit, bro. Shout out to the people that made it, you know, those people that rep in it, like, shout out to Jalen Green, shout out to Xavier Worthy, you know, shout out to them, they doing their thing. But I need we need more people to like really rep their city. Like, you don't gotta rep it all the time, but when people ask you, like, yeah, yeah, I'm from Fresno, don't try to downplay where you from, bro. Right. The people out here beautiful, they they helped you, they helped you grind to get to where you get, you know, and you just always gotta like remember that shit, bro. Right. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's super hard knowing that that that there's people that do downplay Fresno, do talk down about Fresno, and they like almost like secondhand embarrassment of the town. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's just like, nah, showcase where you come from. Like, showcase that no matter how bad it is, like, hey, bro, I'm I'm from Fresno. I grew up, I grew up working in the fields. Yeah, I grew up from the bottom of the barrel. That's my journey, that's where I come from. I'm proud of it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, for sure. The Central Valley is well known for its agriculture, yeah. Nah, for sure. And I think a lot of people try to put cities in the fact that like uh how many tall buildings do you have? Like how many nightclubs do you have? It's like, is it popping like that? But when it comes down to it, it's like who like who's going to build you up? How are the people there? Like, do the people root for you? You know, there is a lot of griminess here, but it's like the people that want to see you win, they want to see you in. The city got, you know, they support. Uh they should get better too. You know, we got to get better at supporting, you know. But um, but I think a uh narrative ever since we were kids, I'm pretty sure it happened with you too. It's like, uh, Fresno ain't shit. It's a drive-by town. Like, there really ain't nothing to do in Fresno, and da da da. And it's like, okay, I see your point of view, but also I think that um cripples a lot of people here to think that you can't make it out of here. It's just like, I just gotta be this person, a blue-collar like worker, which is fine, you know, go get your bag or whatever. But it's also if you want to be a producer, you can make it out of here, bro. Right. You want to be a TV film commercial dude, you can make it out of here, bro. It's like there's so many opportunities and so much talent in this city, and we just gotta grow it, nurture it, uh, talk good about ourselves, talk positive about ourselves, like really, really shine, bro. And I think one thing that really made me have that concept, that mindset, is like in high school. Like I was messing up, got kicked out of uh Bullard High. Shout out to Bullard, but I ended up going to J. E. Young, and then I was taking like classes at Fresno High or whatever. Then I just stopped going, bro. I was like, my mom was working all the time. She really couldn't, you know, keep track of me or all that. I just I was going through it, whatever. Stopped going. My mom kicked me out the house, sent me to my dad's. I lived in Cleveland, Ohio for a year. And when I was out there in Ohio, shout out to Cleveland to the land, man. My brother from out there and all that. But like when I was in Ohio for a year, they had city pride, bro. Oh, they were like, they'll talk about their rappers, bro. Like, we got bone thugs out here, we got Kid Cuddy out here, shit, we got whoop, right, they they talk about their players, yo, LeBron from Akron, but shit, Cleveland clan, bro. They even though a lot of people talk bad about Cleveland itself, like the city, they were like, yo, we got pride, like they had pride about their city. Right. And I and I would always try to hit them back with shit, like, oh, I'm from Fresno, we got, and I was like, damn, bro. And then Fashion, when I was out there, made the freshman cover. And then I I had somebody rep. I was like, bro, we got Fash Sean, bro. He on the XXL. Who y'all got on the XXL? Right. Who and then, but that changed my mindset of seeing like representation does matter, bro. Seeing somebody from the city on there, right? Seeing Fashion on the XL gave me inspiration, you know what I mean? Gave me like hopes that, like, oh dang, somebody from the same city? Oh, he any from kind of by Manchester? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, we can make it out to work, you know what I mean? And I think that's very important as artists out here to rep that because you never know who's coming behind you. And hopefully the person coming behind you is better than you and keeps the torch going. You feel me? Yes. And we talk about that all the time, man. You gotta keep passing that towards.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah, for sure. This episode is brought to you by Never Trusted. But before we keep it rolling, we gotta give a big shout out to our sponsor, Never Trusted, straight out of the 559. They've been rapping the culture and the grind since day one. Never trusted is more than just a brand, it's a statement, it's for the ones who hustle, the ones who've been counted out, and the ones who never folded under pressure. You'll catch us rocking never trusted on the podcast and the free and at advance because it is resonant, resonant raised, and built for everybody chasing something bigger. So if you're trying to support local and you want gear that actually should be after the lifestyle, go tap in with Never Trusted. Hit their socials, grab your drip, and let them know the broker was sent you. Never trusted was built in the 559, trusted by no one, respected by all. Now back to the episode.
SPEAKER_01:I'm over here getting passionate about the city, buddy. We in Fresno right there out the warnest fucking city here, man. Come on now. Now I love that, man. I love it.
SPEAKER_02:I love meeting people that really do want to showcase the the the city, and uh I think that's what made us different from everybody else that's been doing the platform because we went, we were going to the spiral parking lot, we were going to the lake. I mean, we still got to do the episode at the beach, but then then dog days came and then going to other people started showcasing all that, then all that kind of definitely shifted everything from people's perspective, showing, like, hey, you know what? You guys really do want to showcase restaurants, right? And that's the point. And when you told me that you were like, you know what, I got a special place, I was like, I wonder where. Like, yeah, yeah. I was thinking about it.
SPEAKER_01:And then when you told me it was Warner's Theater, it's like, wow, yeah, let's do it, man. Like I told you, like, I like what y'all are doing with like the location thing, bro. Like, legend, bro. The spiral garage is legendary, bro. Like, if you in music and you never shot a music video on a spiral garage, I don't know if you from Fresno, bro. Like, bro, every person that makes music, I shot so many music videos up there, bro. It's just that's the scene, bro. Like, you almost, even if you haven't done it, you gotta go do it just to be like, bro, this is legendary, bro. Like, any anybody that made music out here, damn near, especially rap music, right? Done shot a video up there, bro. That's a legendary spot. People used to do donuts up there and all types of stuff, bro. Now they got a little gate, so it's gained off a little bit. But you know, back then it was wild. You know, we would be up there just chilling, bro. You'd be chilling. Bring your girl up there and do something. Uh-huh. Go test out the suspension. I couldn't do all that. I'm too big to do the car stuff. You know, I just could get the I'll be lying. You know, if there's a wheel, there's a wheel. Ah, yeah, yeah. I ain't gonna lie, I had damn near a whole relationship in a car, bro. You know, make that shit happen. Pop the truck, lay down the truck. It's an exact one. Even C sec, bro. Make sure it happened. But yeah, no, but y'all doing it beautiful though, just taking it uh and and also like you said, it's showcasing the city and it's showcasing the talent, and and and it's cool, uh, like also like it's showcasing the artists too, like, yeah, and maybe their element too. If they got a spot, they're like, oh yeah, come here. This is where I'll be doing my shit. Like, come check it out.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no, absolutely. And and and being here on this stage, one day you are gonna be here on this stage. Yeah, and you're gonna be performing to all the audience. All this shit's gonna be sold out. Yeah, with ghosts.
SPEAKER_01:You know the platonic. Front row. Yeah, nah, this shit's gonna be all sold out except for one seat, and I'm gonna be mad. I'm gonna be like, who the fuck didn't buy a ticket? Go to the one of the backstage people, get your ass over here. Fill it, fill it. Go go up there, bro. Fill her, filler. Nah, I don't need a light guy. That's my life. Yeah, bro. Now, this is a uh very beautiful theater, man, and like, yeah, hopefully one day I'll get to really perform up here and and do it and showcase my talent, bro. Yeah, yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_02:I know uh off camera we were talking a little bit about performances. I do want to reflect on that. How is it when you got to deal with live audience? Is it challenging or how was it to overcome some of the challenges?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it was just um repetition, man. Uh, it is uh challenging at the beginning, you know, because your nerves are going to get to you and uh some people act like they non-nerving like they always have. Nah, bro, like that. Them first couple times, like you're gonna feel that, especially with comedy, you don't have any um there's nothing to save you. That's the one thing about it. Like, there's no beat in the background. If you forget your lyrics, there's no there's no guitarists, there's no, like, if you stop talking, that's it. Everybody's looking at you like, crickets, what you gonna say next? And when it goes bad, trust and believe you feel that thing, you feel everything. But over time, you kind of fall in love with it though, in a sick way. You're like, even when it goes bad, you're like, ah, I know this feeling. Like, but just over time, it's just like a repetition, bro, just going on stage, uh, like, especially with stand-ups, you know, a lot of people don't know this because a lot of people see the finishing product and they think like, oh, this is just how it, like, oh, they're just funny. It's like Dave Chappelle was doing stand-ups since he was 16, you know what I mean? Kevin Hart was in every comedy club, you know, working that shit out. Cat Williams used to be in the bay called Cat in the Hat and learning his style, and then he found his style and started taking off, you know. Like, so it takes a lot of repetition to just go into open mics, and then the more you go to open mics, the more, you know, the anxiety goes away a little bit. Right. And like I was saying, like the feeling doesn't go away, but you know how to like uh like how to maintain it. Maintain it and like control it and like uh you're able to like use it when you need it. Like maybe your joke is talking about anxiety and you're feeling that channel that anxiety, bro. Right. Maybe you're a little depressed that day, and you're telling a dark joke. Don't get into that, you know what I mean? And you learn how to manipulate it instead of letting it control you, stuff like that. What's so crazy about that is is it's like you can turn one of the most darkest moments into something laughable and not have to use things like alcohol or drugs to cope with those dark things. Yeah, it's so crazy, man. I I think that's beautiful because uh even for me, like same situation. I grew up seeing a little bit of comedy, but I didn't never like sit down and watch it and really think about it. It wasn't until recently that I grew up I started watching um more people through YouTube just watching people on comedy, and I'm just like, damn, like that was low-key a dark ass joke, but yeah, yeah, you gotta turn it into something laughable at some point. You just continue to leave it at what it is, then you'll never be able to really move past it. People are gonna continue to come back to it and feel that same emotion of sadness or depression. So I think it's a positive thing, man. I think what you're doing is amazing. Absolutely. And with Stando too, it's like nobody can kind of hurt you too. Because once you make it, because like bro, eventually I'll talk about anything in my life. The most embarrassing shit about so it's like nobody can really, you're almost like bulletproof in a sense, because it's like, bro, I'm gonna talk about that on stage anyway. It's like, oh, you want to talk about me in some type of light? It's like, and it's true, I'm probably gonna talk about that. Me being fat, I'm gonna talk about that. Me having titties, I'm gonna talk about that, man. My shirt not fitting right, I'm gonna talk about that, bro. Me having to stay at my malls for way too long, I'm gonna talk about that. Anything y'all you wanna say, I'm gonna bring that on stage, and it makes it kind of like, bro, you really can't hurt me because it's like all the jokes they can come up with. I'm already coming, coming up with it. And I'm going to turn it, it's going to be funnier than what you come with what you do. Right. So it's like that's that's one thing I like about stand up too. It's like beautiful, you get to put your heart on that stage, bro. You get to, I seen some comedians, man, they talk about everything you like, bro. Like you almost want to be like, bro, why you even saying that? Yeah. And but they hit you with that punchline, and you like, you fucking genius, motherfucker. Like, like, and then like, bro, I heard people say some shit where like in an everyday world, you be judging them, but yeah, they put it on stage, made it funny. It's like, bro, I can't even judge you, bro. Like, and we're all humans, we all got these problems, and I think that's why comedy relates to a lot of people because it it shows a lot of people like oh, there's other people that do this, right? Oh, shit. I think the same way that I do. Yeah, yeah. Or like, oh, I can relate to that in some way. I've been in a dark place and I had to do some dumb shit. And like, oh, okay, for sure. Like, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Oh, I get you. Man, so is there sometimes that you do dark humor jokes? Or do you ever get credit in the line of like maybe you're about to get canceled, maybe you're yeah, you know, especially with cancel culture.
SPEAKER_01:How do you deal with that? Yeah, cancel culture to me ain't a real thing yet. Because I ain't on that, I wouldn't say I'm on that level to be like, it's like, right, what are you gonna take away? Like, at this point, you know what I mean? But uh to be real, I I I think when it comes to live shows, cancel culture is more of an internet thing. Right. People in person, bro, like, they they laugh, bro. I seen I seen some of the craziest comedians talk about like some wild stuff. Me personally, I'm not um intentionally dark. This is not my style of comedy to be like talk about some dead babies or something. Like I seen dudes talk about that and make it funny, but that's not where my mind goes. I'm more like dark in the sense of like um I will talk about darker things in my life or darker subject matters and turn it funny, but I'm not really like um trying to just like just say the most wild stuff. Right. But I do think it's important to have the um freedom of speech. But also you gotta understand there is freedom of consequence, you know. Like, like if you just come up here and say some racist ass shit with no jokes, no nothing, like expect people to get mad. You know, like people will get mad. But if you make it funny, it's like maybe 75 of them laugh, maybe 25. Fuck the 25, stick with that 75. But but like you can't just come up here and just say whatever, right? You know, and just be like, yo, that's comedy because we have freedom of speech, and I could go on stage and say the n-word, and then I'm white. It's like, nah, bro, that's not comedy. That's just you a white dude trying to say the n-word on stage. Right now, you making it clever as hell, you might get the blast. Like Louis C.K. Bro, he his first joke on one of his special, he say the n-word, and but it's so good, you're like, ah, like I want to be mad at you, bro. But like, that was fucking good. I might tell you behind closed doors, bro. Like, don't say that shit, but that was a good ass joke, brother. Like, like it's no, it's like if you can make it funny enough, there will be a certain amount of people that fuck with you. Yeah, right. But there's always going to be people that's like, oh, I don't like that, or why'd you talk about that? It's like you can't really um if you let that affect your comedy, then you're not gonna be true to yourself. And I don't think you're probably going to be a good comedian. And I think it works both ways too, because as an audience member, why are you going to a comedy show taking shit too seriously? Yeah, for sure. That's another thing, too. Yeah. Having to deal with that as a comedian, especially when you're first starting out, I'm sure that's probably one of your challenges was seeing, like you said, oh, why has this person got their arms crossed? Yeah, yeah. Because they don't fuck with the content that I'm creating, or is it the simple fact that as an audience member, they're just like, I'm not a comedy person. Yeah, you know, for sure. I think that's a challenge that uh I feel like a lot of people that would like make or break them in their earlier days for sure. I just had that happen on this Friday. I had a show. Uh older, older um white people. Shout out to older white people, it'd be cool, but it was just like a country club. Yeah. And I was talking about a subject, and you could see their face like white, like I don't even want to hear this shit. But I had to call them out. At this point, I could do crowd work, so I called them out, I fucked with it. Yeah, and then I was like, just hold on, I'm gonna get to the joke, just ride with me, da da da. Right. And then eventually they, you know, after the show, they're all cool and stuff like that. But you can see it. And it's kind of fun sometimes because you're like, all right, how do I flip this? Make it like I can tell you uncomfortable. Right. And sometimes you go even deeper. That's that's where us comics are sick. We see you like, uh, I don't like this, and we're like, all right, let me poke it even more. Let me see how far you fucking sissy ass, motherfucker. Let's see. Let's see. I'm going to take it there. What are you going to say after the show? Right. In regards to like crowd work, do you enjoy crowd work more than like stand-up comedy? Uh, more than material. All of it's stand-up. Well, other than material, yeah, my bad. My bad, yeah. Um, but crowd work to me is uh I like material better because it's just uh uh it's what I want to say. Okay. And so it's like to me, I look at a stand-up set as like a story almost. Not everybody looks at that, but it's like there's a beginning to an end, and I wrap it up at the end, and there might be a call bag and type things like that. And when you do crowd work, it's more uh just like improv. Improv, uh a little quicker, a little more tongue-in-cheek, not as deep thoughted, um, right. A little bit uh, it is a really good skill to have because you never know what's going to go on with the crowd. Like somebody might heckle you, or you gotta shut down the heckler, and then get, but I usually try to get back into my material. Sometimes though you'll get lost in crowd working. If it's working though, it's working. Keep it going, keep it flowing. Like there's been times where I like try to do my set, like my material material, and I'm like, this is not the crowd for it. Let's fuck with the crowd. And you know, because at the end of the day, so you know, especially you're getting paid for shows, you're getting paid to make people laugh. So if your set's not working, you gotta deviate a little bit, you know, and make it make it work, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. So when you work and you have your set already prepared for, and you you said it right now too, like you have to maybe rely on something else. Is it all improv or is it something that you already, you know what? I've done this in the past. Let me try to use that material back.
SPEAKER_01:Um when it comes to crowd work, it's a little bit of both, you know. It's like um sometimes like you'll be messing with some somebody and it triggers like an old joke, and it just naturally comes out. But crowd work is a lot more like freestyle rapping, I guess. It's like, it's like you might have said some lines before, but a lot of it's improv. And then, but uh so compared to material, material is like the stuff you go to open mics and kind of religiously, work it out, work it out, work it out. Bro, it might take uh two years to get one joke perfect, and that's like crazy to say, but like it really might take that long to get your 10 minutes set where you needed to be, where it's like bow, bow, bow, bow, bow. Because it takes way longer than you think. Like you think it wouldn't take that long, but like you consistently have to like work on it. And if you really want to be on that next level with those dudes that are like really doing it, like you gotta like go to the gym. You know, you gotta work on that. Do the mental gymnastics and work on your wordplay and uh work on punch lines and work on timing and and just like do it all the time, right? Man, yeah, that's crazy. That sounds like a lot, there's a lot of stuff that goes into it.
SPEAKER_02:Like I would have never thought, yeah, and honestly, like I didn't notice anything about like how you were saying earlier about any local comedians here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I honestly personally didn't know that they had comedy clubs or anything like that. Yeah, for sure. I always thought it was just like a Bay Area thing or an LA thing. Um, and truly I noticed you first on my for you page, and then uh you were doing a lot of the if you're you're really from Fresno when you and uh those kids were really funny, and I would send them to the old group chats. Yeah, cool. And then and that's how I discovered, like, oh shit, there's yeah, local comedians.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, yeah, bro. And that's uh kind of what I want to do, push more too. Uh uh, because it's like like I said, I didn't even know. Like, so I don't expect people to really know unless you're like really trying to get into stand-up or you're a really a stand-up fan, you know what I mean? But if you're just like a regular everyday Fresno dude, you're not gonna really know about those shows out here. Yeah, but there are uh a lot of uh a lot of good open mics uh going on, and we're starting to produce a lot more shows. We don't have an official comedy club in Fresno yet. Uh the last factory was supposed to open, I don't know what happened with that, but uh hopefully one day we get an official club where it's like more centralized, where it's like this is where you come for comedy. But right now, like the Chigos Old Town Club is every Wednesday, Fridays they be having shows. They're usually pretty cool. Uh Quell State down the street every Wednesday, they're starting to have open mics if you're ever thinking about doing comedy. Uh Tuesdays at Strummers, they're doing open mics every week. Uh Thursday at the um in Sanger, I think it's the Call Out Bar. I might be fucking up the bar's name, but in Sanger, they got an open mic. And usually Friday and Saturdays, we have like shows like in different areas. Like Feather DeWise, uh, shout out to Featherwise. He's like a comedy legend out here in Fresno. Like, if you don't know who Feather DeWise is, like, that's somebody like like when I started comedy, I'm like, bro, there's people like this out here? Yeah, like I still I did a show with him the other day. I'm like, I still look at him like, ah, bro, I still got work to do. You know, there's a couple comedians out here where it's like, I might have more of a name because I put myself on social media and stuff. And don't get me wrong, I'm a beast on stage, but I'm still learning. I'm still learning. There's dudes out here that have been doing it 30 years. Get on that stage, make you fuck it. You like, bro, I didn't even know somebody could be that funny. And there's a couple dudes out here in Fresno that are like beast mode for real. But they, you know, they might be older, don't do the social media as much and stuff like that. But but bro, like, shout out to all of them because uh all of them were very um welcoming to the younger comedians and you know, taught them stuff and like put them under their wings and like you know, showed them the ropes and stuff, and then like this new generation of comics, like shout out myself, Mike Wooden, we got Ethan Wallen, we got we got uh Antonio Martinez, Jesse Andrada, we got people out here like starting to like do their thing. And when you come to a show, Natalia McLovin, shout out Natalia, like that are like really um like starting to get the like we're building the the foundation and then and then you know we need more comics and stuff like that. I think uh not enough people know about it. And and then a lot of people don't know it's a grind. So like some people will come in and do it once or twice and then realize like, oh no, like you gotta take this seriously. Right. Like, and a lot of people drop out, but yeah, for sure. If you ever think about doing comedy, hit me up. Like, if you ever like that's one thing I'll always try to like, hey, try to guide you in the right direction, even if I'm not at all the open mics, I'll be definitely like, here's the person you gotta talk to, come out here, you know what I mean? Encourage you. Yeah. Especially, man, we need more African Americans, we need more Mexicans doing comedy, we need some more females doing comedy, man. Like, come out there and do your thing, man. If you're funny, come out there and do your thing. And we uh it's a very encouraging community, like real, like we want to see you win. You know, and we'll we'll help you help you on that journey. If you do bad the first time, it doesn't really matter. You got on the stage, you know, it takes time to be on that high level, you know what I mean? Right for sure. Absolutely, absolutely, man. I love that. So what amongst everything, what is your biggest goals? My biggest goals, uh well, comedy-wise, uh, you know, I just wanna I want to be like the best I can be. Um and I wanna take it to uh to a level just where I can stand up there with some of the greatest, you know, and and have my name up there with like uh just like being like oh this dude's a dope ass comic, bro. Like at the end of the day, that's just like have my own fan base and all like that. Community-wise, like eventually I wanna I wanna uh build like a uh just a lot of what we were talking about, like I'll build a program or something to help help the youth, help um like like showing people there's a different way. Like if you got a uh talent, like um, like I don't know how to put it, like have like a almost like a teaching center where like you can learn how to do podcasts as a 13-year-old or 12-year-old. You can learn how to do comedy, like a community center or like really the arts and like a performing arts center. Yeah, but really like that's invested in and invested in the youth and and showing showing the kids a friend. It's like man, like like the gang shit, you know, that's like super popular, like the thing, whatever. Like, but it's like also it's like bro, a lot of people like when I was shooting music videos and all that, a lot of these dudes is talented and stuff like that, and they just like nobody was saying you talented, or being like, oh bro, you can you can take that skill and go over here. So like building more, uh, more places like that, that would be my overall goal for Fresno. Uh, you know, over time I'll probably have more goals to grow the community, but like right now, that'll be like my overall goal. Just like, I would have I want to help like people like just see like there's more out here and you can make it happen. A lot of talented people, a lot of talented people that don't know they're talented. Sometimes it takes somebody to be like, just okay, hey bro, like you don't even know you're good at this. Right. Just come over here with me. Like, bro, you funny. I see you, you, you're funny in front of all your friends. Hey, come over here, come to open mic, bro. Let me show you the rope. Like, I want those type of programs, you know what I mean? And there's a lot of a lot of dudes on the block that's the funniest people you'd ever know. Yeah, but they're gonna be able to do that. But don't even don't even know about comedy. Right. Don't even know like that's an option, you know. So just putting that out there. And it might be only like a couple people, but shit, a couple people, a couple people, you know? And then the more people that grow and more people that grow, it shows other people like what y'all doing with the podcast and thing. It's like right now, it's like there's there's a couple people doing it, but the more y'all all do it in the city, there will be more. Y'all be the um pioneers and everything like that. Right, but there'll be people under y'all that like look up to y'all and then and then hopefully y'all get to show in the game later on and stuff like that, right? And then help grow the city like that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and it's a beautiful feeling, and I'm pretty sure you probably get it too. If people come up to you and be like, Oh, you inspired me to do conspired me to do more skits. Yeah, yeah. Because people have come up to us and they've been like, Wow, like you guys really did something with this, and like I really inspired to do something like that. And I tell everybody, just dive into it, bro. Yeah, for sure. You don't need a book, you don't need nothing, just fucking figure it out.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah, just uh just grind. Just grind and then trust yourself and then be real with yourself, be real what your skill set is and ask for help. Ask for people to uh that's something I'm learning still. Like asking for teams, you know, and being like, you know, there's certain things I can do, and being being open to letting other people give you advice and stuff like that. It's all part of the game, you know what I mean? But it's like that's something sometimes I struggle with because I'm so like that. Or sometimes I gotta like calm down, or like my homie Feezy, shout out to Feezy the Great, and be like, hey bro, like, hey, like you gotta refocus here and stuff like that. You know what I mean? And so having good people around you is uh very important, you know what I mean? Building that team up, like y'all got your team that shit, like y'all all work together and help each other and grind it out, and that's very important, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, and something that I had to learn for sure is like I definitely need somebody that can manage me. Yeah, I definitely need a videographer. After Dog Days, I was like, I'm gonna upgrade it into this shit because it's it's the evolution of the things that you have to learn. Like, hey, you need you need people, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:You can't just do it by yourself. Yeah, for sure. And that's that's still something like me personally. I'm like learning. I'm learning, and I'm I'm trying to be more open to like because a lot of times with stand-up is such a solo in like you're but skits, especially, it's like, all right, we I'm starting to want to do a cast of people, like starting to do like regular casts of like, all right, we gotta build characters, let's uh let's do this, and let's then like okay, I need to start talking to somebody, be more of a cameraman. Since I was a cameraman for so long, I'm like, oh, I I know how to do all this shit. Yeah, but it's like you don't have somebody do it for you. Yeah, and eventually it's like, nah, like that's going to fall in on itself. So that's something right now, currently, I'm exploring within myself of like absolutely how to grow it, how to um be more open to people coming into my life and helping grow, um, grow this career and also helping them shine too at the same time. Right, yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02:No, for sure. And and when you start getting open-minded, things will file into their into place by themselves. Yeah. That's one thing that I've learned. Yeah. Is is never force anything. I will never force anything, any project. If it if it happens, it happens. And if it doesn't, it doesn't. It's gonna happen naturally, and when it happens naturally, it's more fulfilling, it's more like at its fullest potential. For sure. So you definitely take it one day at a time, take your course and duty already doing it. Yeah, thanks. And keep on grinding, keep on going, bro, because it's showing up and and you're inspiring not only just the people around us and the people that are watching this, but you're also inspiring the next generation of comedians. Exactly. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:Hopefully, man. On a daily basis, bro, you never know. And that's another thing, too, is the the people who don't say anything. Yeah, the people who are inspired but don't say a word. The amount of people that we ran into and like, bro, I watch your guys' podcast all the time. Like, you're like, what? I wouldn't have never expected that. Yeah. My own mom, I went home one day and she was just like, Oh, I saw you guys' podcast at y'all to be. And I was like, man, and I was like, there's no way you actually well, and I mean, yeah, I live with my mom right now, so it's just like she be seeing me gone, coming up and out the house and stuff.
SPEAKER_02:It's just it's those supportive people that you get that just kind of just help you out to keep going. So uh speaking about all that, knowing that a lot of this stuff is with trauma and dealing with trauma and coming from a dark place, how are you mentally now?
SPEAKER_01:How am I mentally now?
SPEAKER_02:Uh, you know, um how's it dealing with certain certain things, even though if maybe you haven't talked about it or even you talk about it in your set and you're just laughing about it, but yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:It's like, you know, there's a because I'm in a very uh a very kind of uh uh weird space right now where like I'm starting to get known, but financially it's still like grinding. Yeah you know what I mean? So it's like like so from the outside looking in, and somebody might be like, oh yeah, he put it, but it's like also it's like nah I'm still figuring this out. Right. Like I'm still regular than the motherfucker, right? Bro, I'm still putting$10 in the pump one, you know what I mean? I'm still figuring this out. But like being okay with that journey of like being like, all right, you haven't got it completely figured out, but um, like just keep pushing it. Eventually it's gonna come out. So like, you know, there's days where it's like, bro, I don't want to do no skips, but I'm like, nah, like fuck it. Like, I'm very, I would say that's one good thing about me. I don't know where I got it from mentally. It's just I'm very like, like, if I get down on myself, like my go-to is like do more. Or like, like, like, oh, okay, you feeling some type of way? All right, let me hit up, let me hit up Fiji. Hey, bro, we gotta go shoot something. Right. Like, like I like that's my That's your dog, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And then I but I have days of like, you know, um, you know, just days of just like being worn out. Like, uh sometimes like like not thinking I'm gonna be funny, like can't come up with jokes is like, damn, bro, like, is it over? Right. Like, damn, am I not funny no more? I've reached the end of it. Yeah, I've reached the, oh damn, there's no more jokes, you know what I mean? You know, just like like, oh man, how you know, and then um a lot of times, you know, it's just pray, just uh just talk to myself, you know, talk to my people around, you know, and uh and just allow myself to feel it. That's one thing I I'm learning. It's just like allow myself to be okay. Like, like let me let me feel this, it'll pass. All right, get back on the grind, right? And let's keep going. And try not to let it kill you, and try not to like push it to the side, because that could kill you too. Like just like uh uh uh and then next thing you know, you're fucking blow up or something and do something dumb. Get overwhelmed or something. But but you know, um mentally, like for the most part, I'm doing pretty good, you know. Uh like I said, there's hard days, there's really good days, and uh just figuring it out. I'm more just every day, just like how how can I get a little better? How can I get it? And uh so just hopefully over time it like I'll look back and be like, oh shit, I'm in a cool spot now. Yeah, but I'm already like right now, I'm like, shit. Like I'm in it, but I'm also appreciating it too. Like, like I said, I used to shoot music videos. We wanted to shoot music videos in this bitch. Now we here shooting a fucking podcast, you know. Like 10 years ago, I'm like thinking, how did motherfuckers get inside the grizzly? You know, inside Chachansee to shoot something like that. Right. But we jumped the fence a long time ago, shot a video in the little pool area, should have got kicked out and shit. And then next thing you know, shout out to Sam, hitting me up. Hey, bro, let's let's do something. I'm on the field or talking, like, right, I'm like, oh shit, okay. Like those moments I do appreciate because I've been in the creative uh arena for a while. Right. So it's like just seeing those small, and not that's not even small, that's big, but yeah, but seeing those opportunities happen is definitely like I take it in, I appreciate it, but I also know like these are just stepping stones. It's like, all right, cool, appreciate that, right? But let's take it to the next level. Uh in the day, you know, you want to have your family straight, you know, you want to be able to give back to the community the way you want to. You want to be able to inspire people, and you know, and uh of course you gotta take care of your own mental health, you know, take time for prayer, take time to, you know, um admit that you ain't perfect, and you know, uh take time to talk to your loved ones, communicate, you know, that's something like communication is something I'm really trying to work on, you know what I mean? And just and just uh continue to just grind, bro. Just trying to hustle it out. Yeah, it's all you can do, brother. Yeah. That's all you can do. How y'all doing though? How y'all met? I need to know. So because y'all like the smaller version of me and Feezy. Smaller version. Originally it was mutual. Yeah, we he had homies that I was friends with. And we ended up hanging out outside of school. So we ended up graduating. We didn't we knew of each other during high school, but we didn't What school was y'all going to? Centuries. Okay, Century. That's why y'all looked at me. Not friends, no, no, no, bullet, bullet.
SPEAKER_02:That's why y'all looked at me like that's rivals right there. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:When I said bullet, they was like, I got some bullet. I mean, so I ain't gonna lie.
SPEAKER_02:No, but uh, yeah, it was a group thing. We all were close, we all hang hung out together, we would drink, party together, get fucked up, like in high. Everybody used to come in my house. That was the always the place to keep it. Um, and then little by little, like some people were we kept we kept hanging out and having deep conversations. We would open about mental health, we would open about like random shit.
SPEAKER_01:We'd talk about some stupid shit. Like being hella gay, huh? We'd all go to Spencer's, you know. Go to Spencer together, is it? Cry together, hold hands, cry together, hold on. That's Central Eastboard, you know. We learned that from the bullet inspired, probably. Now go ahead, keep going.
SPEAKER_02:But it just became like, all right, you know what? Like, we're bullshitting so much, like, why don't we just fucking get on a podcast and do it? We saw like how people would fucking make hella money off this shit, bro. But then um, you know, push comes to shove. I mean, we were I did it, I got an investment of it. Small ass fucking little thing with shitty ass mics, but okay, that was all that I can afford, and that's what just started the ball. And uh and little by little, like, you know, uh people started dropping like flies, you know, people switching up, people change, and then uh you got nothing but love for them, you know. You hope they figured their lives out, but uh at the end of the day, like hey, if you're not if you're not helping me out and you're getting in my way, you're in an obstacle, then hey, go on, you're gonna go keep going.
SPEAKER_01:Especially that's one thing you learn about just being uh an artist or creator, it's just like not everybody's built for that. Yeah, and it it sucks to say, is like there's a lot of homies that I know that just like, you know, we all cool, it's all love, but it's just like I'm in a different lane right now, right? And this is what we're doing. And very similar to your story, that's how me and Feezy kind of like started doing the skits, is because me and him were always been homies forever. Like, like we did a podcast back in the day, but we life happened and we kind of stopped it. And then, but like we'd always bullshit together, chill together, and instantly, I guess it came to a realization because I was already doing stand-up, and I came to him and I was like, bro, like I'm thinking about doing this online shit, you know what I mean? Like the skits and stuff like that, but I really just don't got nobody to shoot the shit. And then he was like, like, bro, I got you, whatever. We shot our first skit with RB the barber. Um, it was just me and RB. And then uh afterwards, I was like, bro, like I want to do more of that. And then he told me he wanted, like, as a kid, he always wanted to be a comedian actor and stuff like that. I didn't even know that. This is my homie for years. I'm like, what? He was like, yeah, bro, like I wanted to be, I want to be in movies like Marlon Wayne and stuff like that. Right. And then I was like, bro, we always chilling together and we drinking, talking bullshit, talking about life. It's like we might as well do that a little bit and do something productive and shoot these skits. Right. And then from there, it's just like, like, shout out to him. He's been down, bro. He's been like I told y'all earlier, man. Sometimes they'll bring his kids to the shoot, you know. The kids run in there. Sometimes we gotta be like, cut, cut, cut, let's re-shoot it. But but he like he dedicated to the skits stuff too, even though he doesn't particularly dug do stand-up, like he's starting to host a little bit at um Frank's place with us at the circle. But like, he he was committed to that, you know what I mean? And it takes somebody like that, like I wouldn't be able to do all these skits without him. You know what I mean? It would it would look hella funny. Me by myself, you know what I mean? So, like, shout out to him to like committing to that, that, that vision and be like, oh yeah, bro, we all in. Let's just let's rock this shit out. You know what I mean? And I I kind of see that with y'all, like y'all probably had that conversation, like, oh yeah, bro, let's let's do this, like, bro.
SPEAKER_02:Like, yeah, it'll be long nights that I'd be working and be like, fuck, I gotta figure something out. And just like I said, like people just switching up, and it's just like, you know what, like, bless their path. I hope they figure themselves out. Yeah, and I just kept it going. And uh really, I didn't I felt like nobody really believed in me, but then when it started, just continue going, continue going, it's just like fuck, okay, this is this is working. And DJ would be in the background being like, Come on, bro, like like I know you. He was just like, You come from nothing, bro. So you figuring it out, you going, you going. And then there would be times he'd be like, Well, shit, like, I want to get on. Like, let's go let's go, let me let me get on. And I was like, Yeah, hell yeah, come on. And then just he just he was definitely one of the people that helped elevate me more and not to stop, not to give up. Yeah, um, there was a there's a handful of people that I can I I show love and always give them love. Shout out Ivan, shout out Juan, shout out my girl. My girl was always a supporter, sure, and they they definitely helped me out of like what keep going, keep going. And now, like, I'm here, yeah, and look where we're at.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, man, yeah. So it's shit, it's working, bro. What y'all got going is a beautiful thing, you know what I mean? Absolutely and like it's just the beginning, too. You know, and uh I'm uh I'm uh excited to see y'all's future, and like now we're excited to see. Come back in a later date, and we all on a different level. We like both all look at each other like, hey bro, look at look at where we came from. Exactly, all coming from the home of Fresno, bro. Places where we didn't have too much, yeah, no silver spoons, no, yeah. You know what I'm saying? No giving opportunities that was like, okay, here's your studio here, go ahead and do what you want to do. Y'all had to do it off the muscle. Yeah. And with that being said, we we really want to see you grind, man. We want to see you up there. We all elevate. We want to see you with us. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. We shouldn't be up there, bro. Oh, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:You brought it up earlier that you that you saw us as like your younger are your the younger version of you and your homie. Oh, yeah. Which is crazy because he's a Raiders fan. I'm a Niners fan.
SPEAKER_01:Ah that's crazy. So when we see your skins, I'm like, ah, that's funny. I'm like, y'all, y'all are y'all our younger version. If we stuck stuck with podcasts in the alternate universe, literally. Literally. For sure. That's funny as hell, bro. Absolutely. Hell yeah, bro. I had to bring that up for sure because I was like, I thought about it. He was like, oh fuck, the Rangers lost. Yeah, yeah. And I was like, Oh, bro, y'all lost five, bro. Point to the point. But the Niners lost today, too. So no, but hear me out. There's nothing worse than going to your Instagram notes and cheering on your team mid-game. Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And then you gotta go back to the notes at the end of the game and delete, delete, delete, post a song, act like nobody saw it. I wish I cared, but I just can't. Honestly. Like I wish I felt bad for you, but I just as a Niner fan, I just listen, man. If you put your faith, listen, if you put your money into the Raiders, even as a Raiders fan, bro, come on, you know you're not, you know you're not finna make that shit back. You know you not that's coming from a real Raiders? I'm just saying, bro, like I I got faith in it. That's why I'm still watching the game. I'm still I'm still watching my boys, but it's like, damn, I'm not putting no money up to y'all, bro.
SPEAKER_02:Whenever you're ready to jump shit, man, then you're gonna be able to do that. Y'all need a quarterback, bro. We need a quarterback, and they need to stop, bro. They be running the fuck out of that running back. They be exhausting him to his last breath. It's like we just need a well put put together team, honestly, bro.
SPEAKER_01:It's really pissing me on.
SPEAKER_02:Honestly, what they need to do is they need to get rid of the franchise, start all over, start refresh.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, because man, how many times have you guys rebuilt? Yeah, man. Fired the head coach, the staff, Scott, all-stars. When was the last time the Raiders went to the Super Bowl? Uh thank you. Two one, two-one. I remember Rich Gannon. I'm older than y'all. I remember that shit. Rich Gannon. Y'all lost to Tampa Bay badly. But low-key, they had your playbook. So that was kind of dirty. But I'm saying, seeing a lineup like that, we haven't seen a good team put together like that in years. Yeah, the closest thing y'all had was when Carr, and then he fucking broke his leg and uh shit. Killed y'all. That since then, it's been bad, bro. And all I'm saying is it's still fuck the Niners. I know we just across the bay. It's it's risk, it's love. No, we were. We were across the bay. Y'all were, y'all were. Y'all were. My boy Louis Bell said y'all lost Oakland Raiders now. Y'all the Lost Oakland Raiders, man. If it was up to me, they'd still be in Oakland. Yeah, they would, but they not. No, y'all got a better stadium, though. I'll give y'all that. Oh, yeah. Yeah, but what's you're not paying all that money to go watch your team lose. Nah. At that stadium. Like, does it I'll go watch the fight, the Crawford fight? Yeah. 100%. I'm telling you, brother. I'll probably still spin a dough and go see them. Have you seen uh uh in Vegas yet? Nah, brother. I ain't been to a single football game in person before. Yeah, I've only been to one nine a game. It was dope though. I ain't gonna lie. Just like in person, like I recommend like when you get extra money, bro, just go watch your team, bro. Make sure it's a team you think you can win against. Especially if you want to play somebody. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Especially if you're gonna play the bag, make sure it's a team you like or a good game like that where it's like y'all did lose, but right you were excited during the game and energy was in there and shit like that. I'm thinking of doing it eventually. I think uh it probably won't be this season. We'll see what happens next season when they start doing a lineup again. Yeah, I definitely want to invest into it uh eventually, like really get down and serious with it. Because I grew up watching the Raider games and stuff like that. But again, watching season after season after season. Brother, I used to watch my dad. Yeah, we'd be in the living room watching on Sundays, watching the Raiders play. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:He'd turn the TV off like 30 minutes before the game end, and I'm just like, yeah, at this point, bro, I'm with you on that. Like, man. So I mean, if they if they keep having to lose a season, I mean you might go this year, bro. I mean, tickets might be cheap as fuck.
SPEAKER_01:Don't let it get on. This boy got a gambler's mindset. He's like, listen, it could be red, it could be black. And so, which one you don't want? I mean, I we don't red, bro. It's like like the the worse y'all do, the better seats you get. Like, actually, I wanted to tank the season, so I can go in. Yeah, I want some$50 tickets, huh? Now, me and my boy, actually, last night we were uh looking at it because Feezy was to go out there, and my um bro that we do skits with to Uncle Kennedy. Shout out to Uncle Kennedy, he's from Africa and shit, but he's a Browns fan. And uh what's it called? They were looking up tickets, and like the tickets um next week, I think for the Cowboys or two weeks from now, it was like crazy. It was like something like lowest ticket was like$500. They went to the Browns Raider ticket, it was like$150. It was like I was like, that's the one y'all gotta go to. Fuck going to the Cowboys gang, go to the Browns gang, because y'all both suck. Now the Cowboys suck too, though. We ain't fucking with the Cowboys either though. Oh god. Yeah, oh God.
SPEAKER_02:Hey man. Well, Isaiah, man, I just want to say thank you for giving us the opportunity. Thank you for hopping on, bro. I really appreciate it. Yeah, this episode was incredible. We had to go.
SPEAKER_01:Can I shout out one thing real quick? Yeah, yeah. Shout out to uh Frank's place, and they're doing this thing called uh here at Warren's Cena, you're called uh Boo Fest. It's coming up right now, man. I'm gonna be giving out 10 free tickets so you can hit me up, man. I'll throw them tickets at you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, man. And uh shout out to just everybody in Fresno that's grinding, that's doing their thing, you feel me? All the podcasts out there, y'all especially. Shout out to all the people just um putting in that work, man. Just uh continue to do that, man, and let's make this city, you know, shine. I was gonna say, let's make this city great again, like our Trump. I had to stop myself, other than that. Yeah, I was like, god damn it. I was like, I was like, that sounds so good. Why'd he take that from us? I was like, that's just a good saying, god damn it. Let's make this city shine again. That's right, that's right, that's right. Now this city always shining. You feel me? Because we really from Freddie, California, baby. Shout out, shout out. Much love, y'all. I love you guys. Thank you guys for staying tuned. Please go ahead and check him out.
SPEAKER_02:Please enter your socials, bro, so that way they can find it. Not your social security, your social media analytics. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Let me uh y'all want my credit card too? Uh listening. My VIN number, you want my big hook? Go ahead. This motherfucker just trying to get to the rating. He's saying he just wants some discounted ticket. Anybody a raider fan out there got a season ticket? Give him a ticket. He needs to go to a hey, hey, you know you don't want to go. Give it to your boy. Give it to your boy. Let him go be sad and cry in person. That's gonna be a long drive home. Yeah, long drive, bro. He's gonna be crying in the car the whole way there. But you can find me on social media, Isaiah the Comic 23, or when no, my name's just Isaiah the Comic. That was my email. Isaiah the Comic on everything. Uh Facebook, I don't use that much. It's just Isaiah Washington too. Yeah. Hey, and Shadow Never Trusted. I know you'll see these hats. I know you see that.
SPEAKER_02:I know you guys saw the ad, the 30 second 30-minute ad insert. Go ahead and get you guys a hat.
SPEAKER_01:Y'all put a 30-minute ad in here? The 30-minute mark. Yeah, oh 30-minute mark. It's like magic minute the whole episode. Like, you're really trying to get the YouTuber.
SPEAKER_02:Like, yeah, all means necessary.
SPEAKER_01:Bro, lights are turning off in the back. I told you this place is haunted, bro.
SPEAKER_02:I thought. Dude, earlier, earlier while we were recording the episode, I'm looking at Isaiah. He's telling me something. I could have sworn somebody was like sitting right there in that chair. And you know what's crazy? You see where that chair is unfolding?
SPEAKER_01:Oh snap. Yeah, you know, you from Fresno. This is one of the most haunted places. I've been in Kearney Park at nighttime. Oh, yeah. Looking for shit. I ain't seen nothing. Yeah. This? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You want to do this at night? No. No. Maybe for a Halloween special. Maybe.
SPEAKER_02:I'm gonna be honest with you, I'll go to Boo Fest. Oh, yeah. Well, thank you, man. I appreciate you. Thank you guys. You guys have a good one. Much love. Peace. Peace.
