Whats happening beautiful people? That's it, the last weekend of the Summer is upon us, I hope you enjoyed it because if its up to the Mayans it will be our last one. I never really got caught up in all that shit, its over when its over, what are you going to do? You get up every morning with a smile on your face because it could be your last and you give it everything you got, thats it, fuck the Mayans, religion and whatever else they're trying to sell you.
I was having breakfast with my Uncle a few weeks back and in the middle of a conversation he interupted and told me he was proud of me. He told me that more than anyone, he knew where I came from and what I had gone through and he told me that my Mother would have been proud. I took it as a compliment, considering that this was the same Uncle I tried to rob in 84" and to be honest with you, he's a Valdez from my Mothers side, those motherfuckers never say a nice word about anybody, so I found it amusing.
He asked me what was it that made me change, I told him that I had just gotten sick of living that crazy life so I calmed down but on the drive home I thought about the defining moment that changed my life forever. It wasn't prison or getting beat up or sleeping in my car for a few months that made me change, it was one thing.....claiming responsibility!
As a young child I was spoiled by my Mother, I had a step father that I love and respected, our relationship was great until about the age of 11, then something changed, I never did anything, that was me. Who broke the glass? Who took the change? Who broke the window in the basement? Not me! Weren't you in the basement throwing a ball with your friends? No I wasn't. I never did anything and it killed my step father. He would tell my Mother that the quality would affect later in life but her and I didn't listen and one day he left.
A couple of years later my Mom passed, and I had to shit or get off the pot, there was no time for playing games. I became a man quickly, I was thrown to the wolves and I had responded or so I thought. I was a troubled kid but hey, I was out there solo, eventually I would figure it out. I did great for the circumstances but I couldn't grow as a man, I tried but something was missing. In 87' I got arrested and before my sentencing they made an appointment with a probation officer that makes evaluations for the court, she said in the transcripts that I would never get in trouble again but after all the interviews that they had conducted that I had not claimed responsibilty for my actions, I thought they wanted me to snitch, if that's what it meant then fuck them.
Once I got inside I asked my councelor, what that meant not claiming responsibilty and he took his glasses off and took a long pause and said that I had been chucking and jiving for years, it was my turn to come to my reality of what I wanted to do. He told me I didn't belong there but I would stay there till I realized what I had done. I thanked him and thought long and hard and I understood what he meant. For years I fucked around on other peoples dime, not that I was a mooch but I'd live on peoples couches but snort blow every night, and then be short on the rent. My friends never cared they loved me for who I was but I was fucking myself.
Eventually one day I said if something goes wrong, its me. Not the guy that didn't pick me up. or the guy who lied about the job, or the alarm not going off, there was always an excuse, when you're a man, theres never an excuse its always on you. I do stand up with comics and when they bomb they blame the people,the number of people, the sound system, the economy, the air conditioning, the comic before them, the Kennedy assasination, the Mars landing.......Get it together, maybe its you, or me, as a matter of fact, I blame me for everything so theres no misunderstandings .If something goes wrong its either something with you or something you let happen, its you!!!!
So if you're stuck in your life and you don't know your next move because of this or that, its not this or that its your fault, take responsibilty, accept it and move on. My step Father Juan would say, kids don't accept responsibility, men do. I didn't become a man till I was 38 years of old but I'm happy I finally did.
Don't forget "Testicle Testaments" at The IceHouse Stage 2 Wednesday night @ 8:30 pm and don't forget Testicle Testament: Crime Stories will be released Friday the 31st on iTunes also, thank you for the support. I also have some NEW dates and T-shirts posted on my Website at WWW.Joeycocodiaz.net
Thank you again for laughing at my stupid jokes and for the love you guys give me.....Have a great week and.....STAY BLACK!
TOUR DATES:
August 29th IceHouse Stage 2 8:30pm 626 577 1894
August 30th Fiamma Italian Restaurant Thousand Oaks 9PM
September 13th-16th Rick Bronsons MINN 952 858 8558
September 20th Madison Wis With Duncan Trusselhttp://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/266991
September 21st Milwaukee Wis With Duncan Trusselhttp://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/267033
September 27th-29th Baltimore Comedy Factory
October 4th Houston Improv
October 5th Dallas Improv
November 1st-4th Ontario Improv
November 8th Chicago HOB
November 15th 17th Scottsdale Arizona
September 21st Milwaukee Wis With Duncan
About Me
- madflavor
- I'm a Comedian who loves to write blogs about my past experiences, no matter what they are.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
SECOND CHANCES
How are you beautiful people? You thought I forgot about you guys but I didn't. I'm getting ready to do a thousand things but today I had dick, so I figured I'd drop a little line on you to tell you whats been going on.
As you guys know, I do a podcast with Felicia Michaels called, "Beauty and Da Beast". Its basically her and I talking shit and sometimes we bring in a guest to ruffle up the feathers a little bit. When we started the show, it really didn't have a theme but it soon took on a life of its own and it became a podcast about second chances since we both had very strange lives. Since we're not the traditional types, the guest we attract are the same, crazy motherfuckers with interesting lives.
We all have interesting lives because from time to time we struggle with life or our personal demons, how we overcome them and continue to live gives us that second chance. What many people don't know about me is that I was married and had a child after I got out of prison and before I got into comedy. After a while my true colors started to show and like everything else in my life at the time, the marriage fell apart. It was fine, we had both made a mistake but their was a child involved. I made a simple deal with her because I wanted to stay in the childs life. After a few months, she got a boyfriend, I started fucking around and before you knew it we had a situation.
The drama escalated and I ended smacking the guy, she took me to court but in the end the only one who suffered was my little girl in the car that day that witnessed the whole thing at the age of 4. I noticed her crying and it hit me, I had seen this type of behavior as a child and between you and I it didn't do a fucking thing for me. Between that situations and many others I decided that for everyones sake I would move to Seattle for a while to give the situation air before it got worst.
I would visit every few months but after a while I started to lose her, between me being away and whatever the Mother was telling her, it was starting to show, now I have nothing because we haven't spoken in years.
Now thats a great story and all, and I had a great time smacking the guy and acting like a fucking fool but the truth was.....I failed as a Father, period. For years it was my own little secret, but once I came to terms with that, it made my life a lot easier. The pain always remained though, what that meant was that no matter what, I never wanted kids again. Its like having sleep apnea, you choke when you sleep why would you want to sleep?
I always thought that God had seen my actions and had taken me off the hook, my wife and I have been together for 12 years and we used birth control for a while but I thought with all the drugs, pills and reefer that my sperm count was dead, well did I get a big surprise a couple of weeks ago when she infomed me that I had knocked her up I almost died.
I can't lie to you guys, I've been in hell lately, not because of the child but because of me, can this happen again? Then I started thinking about all the other things I had failed at the first couple times, did I continue? My Father died when I was 3 and for years his friends told me that his last breath must have been hard because I had changed his whole world and he had stepped up. After thinking about that and beating myself up for weeks I came to a conclusion to be the best Father I could be and thats it and I also realized what just happened.....I got a second chance to at something that you only get one shot at.....Being a fucking man!
Thank you for reading and for all the love and support you've givin me, I'll keep you guys posted! Much love and Stay Black because at the end of the week....Thats all that matters.
Don't forget to go to Joeycocodiaz.net and Beautyanddabeast.com for CD downloads, Documentary info, Club dates, tshirts, explosives. Gorilla Bisquits and more..........
As you guys know, I do a podcast with Felicia Michaels called, "Beauty and Da Beast". Its basically her and I talking shit and sometimes we bring in a guest to ruffle up the feathers a little bit. When we started the show, it really didn't have a theme but it soon took on a life of its own and it became a podcast about second chances since we both had very strange lives. Since we're not the traditional types, the guest we attract are the same, crazy motherfuckers with interesting lives.
We all have interesting lives because from time to time we struggle with life or our personal demons, how we overcome them and continue to live gives us that second chance. What many people don't know about me is that I was married and had a child after I got out of prison and before I got into comedy. After a while my true colors started to show and like everything else in my life at the time, the marriage fell apart. It was fine, we had both made a mistake but their was a child involved. I made a simple deal with her because I wanted to stay in the childs life. After a few months, she got a boyfriend, I started fucking around and before you knew it we had a situation.
The drama escalated and I ended smacking the guy, she took me to court but in the end the only one who suffered was my little girl in the car that day that witnessed the whole thing at the age of 4. I noticed her crying and it hit me, I had seen this type of behavior as a child and between you and I it didn't do a fucking thing for me. Between that situations and many others I decided that for everyones sake I would move to Seattle for a while to give the situation air before it got worst.
I would visit every few months but after a while I started to lose her, between me being away and whatever the Mother was telling her, it was starting to show, now I have nothing because we haven't spoken in years.
Now thats a great story and all, and I had a great time smacking the guy and acting like a fucking fool but the truth was.....I failed as a Father, period. For years it was my own little secret, but once I came to terms with that, it made my life a lot easier. The pain always remained though, what that meant was that no matter what, I never wanted kids again. Its like having sleep apnea, you choke when you sleep why would you want to sleep?
I always thought that God had seen my actions and had taken me off the hook, my wife and I have been together for 12 years and we used birth control for a while but I thought with all the drugs, pills and reefer that my sperm count was dead, well did I get a big surprise a couple of weeks ago when she infomed me that I had knocked her up I almost died.
I can't lie to you guys, I've been in hell lately, not because of the child but because of me, can this happen again? Then I started thinking about all the other things I had failed at the first couple times, did I continue? My Father died when I was 3 and for years his friends told me that his last breath must have been hard because I had changed his whole world and he had stepped up. After thinking about that and beating myself up for weeks I came to a conclusion to be the best Father I could be and thats it and I also realized what just happened.....I got a second chance to at something that you only get one shot at.....Being a fucking man!
Thank you for reading and for all the love and support you've givin me, I'll keep you guys posted! Much love and Stay Black because at the end of the week....Thats all that matters.
Don't forget to go to Joeycocodiaz.net and Beautyanddabeast.com for CD downloads, Documentary info, Club dates, tshirts, explosives. Gorilla Bisquits and more..........
Sunday, July 22, 2012
"TESTICLE TESTAMENTS"
Whats happening you fucking Savages? I'm back bitches!! I try to keep you guys posted but sometimes life becomes an adventure. My wife Terrie is pregnant, I'm on the road, I'm trying to write a book, jokes and keep focused for podcasts and stand up, you only have that much time but fuck it, I'm here. Last week I lost my voice when I got back from the Bay area, I'd like to thank everyone that came out in San Francisco to Cobbs and to The Punchline in Sacramento, you guys were really great.
In 1998 I was read about the show, The Vagina Monolouges, I couldn't believe how great of an idea it was. Later that night, in between coke bumps and cocktails, I thought about a show where guys could go up and talk about an experience or situation that helped them become a man. For weeks I thought of a title and a concept and I came up with Testicle Testaments. I'd go up first tell a story then 3 or 4 other guys would go up. I did the first show in The Belly Room at The Comedy Store.
After a few months I got great comedians to go up, guys like Raphie May, Jay Mohr, Josh Wolf and Andrew Dice Clay, it was amazing. Here were men telling their most intimate secrets on stage, some were funny and some where sad but you learned things and it made the comics go out of their usual realm, something thats weird but very entertaining. It was a great concept and idea but in those days there wasn't Myspace or Facebook so it was tough to get the word out there so after a few months I had to shut the idea down but I always kept it in the back of my mind and now 14 years later, its back!!!
For about 3 years now, I've been trying to put together a One Man show that would incorporate every aspect of my life, the drugs, the death, the comedy, the crimes and the crazy stories. If I did it in order the audience would be there for days, literally. So when I started doing my show at The Icehouse Stage 2, I broke it down into the sections I described and they were still too long. I thought about the concept and it came back to the original Testaments which was to tell the story, explain my state of mind at the time and to breakdown to the audience what I really got out of it and how it affected me in the future.
All in all, I have about 6 of them ready to go. This last Tuesday, I released the 1st one I recorded, it was the story of my kidnapping the drug dealer. Its called, "The Best and Worst Day of My Life" and its available on iTunes. I'll be releasing one of these every other month. This Wednesday I'm recording the story about my Daughter A-Z and how I turned the pain into Comedy. If your not doing anything, come on by, if not I'll catch you next time.
Besides that, I've got nothing for you but love. I appreciate all the love you guys give me. I've got a few dates coming up in Nashville, Michigan and Milwaukee as part of The Bleu Cheese Tour. I'll let you know more about them as it gets closer. The downloads on iTunes are only 1.99$, its cheap but you guys deserve it. Thank you again for all the love and remember......Stay Black because in the end of the day, thats the most important thing!!!!
July 25 IceHouse Stage 2...Testicle Testaments 626 577 1894
Aug 15th Zanie's NashVille
Here is the link for Testicle Testaments
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/testicle-testaments-1-worst/id545719535
In 1998 I was read about the show, The Vagina Monolouges, I couldn't believe how great of an idea it was. Later that night, in between coke bumps and cocktails, I thought about a show where guys could go up and talk about an experience or situation that helped them become a man. For weeks I thought of a title and a concept and I came up with Testicle Testaments. I'd go up first tell a story then 3 or 4 other guys would go up. I did the first show in The Belly Room at The Comedy Store.
After a few months I got great comedians to go up, guys like Raphie May, Jay Mohr, Josh Wolf and Andrew Dice Clay, it was amazing. Here were men telling their most intimate secrets on stage, some were funny and some where sad but you learned things and it made the comics go out of their usual realm, something thats weird but very entertaining. It was a great concept and idea but in those days there wasn't Myspace or Facebook so it was tough to get the word out there so after a few months I had to shut the idea down but I always kept it in the back of my mind and now 14 years later, its back!!!
For about 3 years now, I've been trying to put together a One Man show that would incorporate every aspect of my life, the drugs, the death, the comedy, the crimes and the crazy stories. If I did it in order the audience would be there for days, literally. So when I started doing my show at The Icehouse Stage 2, I broke it down into the sections I described and they were still too long. I thought about the concept and it came back to the original Testaments which was to tell the story, explain my state of mind at the time and to breakdown to the audience what I really got out of it and how it affected me in the future.
All in all, I have about 6 of them ready to go. This last Tuesday, I released the 1st one I recorded, it was the story of my kidnapping the drug dealer. Its called, "The Best and Worst Day of My Life" and its available on iTunes. I'll be releasing one of these every other month. This Wednesday I'm recording the story about my Daughter A-Z and how I turned the pain into Comedy. If your not doing anything, come on by, if not I'll catch you next time.
Besides that, I've got nothing for you but love. I appreciate all the love you guys give me. I've got a few dates coming up in Nashville, Michigan and Milwaukee as part of The Bleu Cheese Tour. I'll let you know more about them as it gets closer. The downloads on iTunes are only 1.99$, its cheap but you guys deserve it. Thank you again for all the love and remember......Stay Black because in the end of the day, thats the most important thing!!!!
July 25 IceHouse Stage 2...Testicle Testaments 626 577 1894
Aug 15th Zanie's NashVille
Here is the link for Testicle Testaments
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/testicle-testaments-1-worst/id545719535
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
DEFINING MOMENTS: QUITTING HIGH SCHOOL
Whats happening beautiful people? Hopefully your all kicking ass getting ready for the journey of heat that is called, the Summer! At this point, hot, cold, humid, I'm just happy to be alive. I went to the East Coast last week and I loved it but that humidity could still suck my dick. By the way if you came to any of the shows in Buffalo or in Long Island at Governors, thank you, from my heart, you guys were dynamite. I loved the people and the attitude at both places. I spoke and smoked reefer with a bunch of Savages. From my seeing my man, Steve Shiavone in Buffalo who I hadn't seen since 87', to my man McKenna, to the dude with the pink shirt and mascarra mustache in Long Island, I loved every minute and you know I'd tell you.......Thank you for coming out and making me feel special.
When I was a kid and my Mother would get a couple of cocktails in her, and she spoke of what she wanted and expected of me, as far as education and career were concered. Her ultimate dream was for me to be an attorney, to handle large criminal cases and to fight for peoples rights then with a wink she would say, and you could represent my friends half price, yes it was a joke but the attorney part wasn't. She spoke of me graduating high school and going into the service then she wanted me to go to college. My Mother was serious about the Armed Forces, it was like she was thanking the Country for letting her in by giving me up.
When I was a Sophmore, my Mother passed. Because my Mother didn't leave a will and because of other problems with her paperwork, I wasn't eligible to recieve Social Security payments for neither my father nor my Mother. I could live with my friends rent free but I still had to live. I had some money I got from my mother's friends and a few moves I had made, but the funds were starting to dry up and I was forced to work, I couldn't depend on them anymore. By July of 81', I had to make a decision, my friends Dad got me a job at Masback Sentry Warehouse as a laborer, it paid like 14$ an hour, it was 82", that was a lot of money, I could get on my feet and get my diploma later but at that moment, I couldn't pass it up. Even though it was a tough one, I chose to quit school. It was against everything I believed in but sometimes you have to roll up your sleeve and get dirty. I was devastated, I would snort and drink till I passed out then because of the pain I was bringing to myself and to the spirit of both my mother and my father, this is definately what they didn't want for me but they weren't here now so here I was.
I had a plan so I wouldn't feel that bad, I would work there till I turned 18 then I would go work at a company called APA, which was another trucking company that paid a lot more but trained you to be a truck driver, that was the plan when I was 17, to be a truck driver, thank God for reefer! I enjoyed my job at Masback Sentry, I worked early morning hours, I'd get home, workout and I wasn't doing much, since I wasn't going to school, there was no reason to hang with my friends guys, I'd feel embarrassed, like I had let them down, I laid low. I got promoted to a night loader which paid an extra 2 dollars per hour, I was on the path to success, I could load trucks at night and either get another job or go back to school. About a month into the job, I get sick one night on the dock and get sent home. When I didn't return with a Doctors note I was fired till I produced one pertaining to my ailment, whatever the fuck that meant. A Doctors note was easy in those days, but while I was getting one, I bumped into a teacher named, Fred Terranova, this guy was a fucking beauty, an ex junkie, athlete, who was now a football coach at the high school and a real solid guy to talk to. Anyway, he talked me into going back to. He got a friend of his to do unemployment paperwork since I had been fired now it would get me paid as much as the job I was working so I could go back to High School. I went back in early November so I really didn't miss anything. At the end of the academic year, I was a few credits short and was not alowed to graduate on stage with my friends, but it felt like I hadn't quit, and for me, thats all that mattered.
I didn't remember quitting high school until a few weeks ago. I thought I would never recover from the pain that brought to my soul. I was numb when I had to make that decision but it was what I had to do at the time, and that was that! As bad as it made me feel it was the first time in my life I had to step up for me, after I did that, it changed my life and it showed me what I had to do, sometimes in life you have to roll up your sleeves! A Fucking defining moment.....I never knew.
Thank you for reading and for taking this great ride with me. From the #1 CD on iTunes, to the live appearances, to the support on the documentary, now on Amazon.com, I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Don't forget tomorrow night @ 8:30PM IceHouse Stage 2 is proud to present..."Testacle Testaments".....Class of 82" Who took the money? 8:30PM 626 577 1894
TOUR DATES:
July 11th Cobb's SF
July 12TH-16th Punchline SacTown......The Diazbrothers!
August 15th Zanie's Nashville
More Dates to follow! T-Shirts....If its Not Bleu Cheese....Link on the way!
When I was a kid and my Mother would get a couple of cocktails in her, and she spoke of what she wanted and expected of me, as far as education and career were concered. Her ultimate dream was for me to be an attorney, to handle large criminal cases and to fight for peoples rights then with a wink she would say, and you could represent my friends half price, yes it was a joke but the attorney part wasn't. She spoke of me graduating high school and going into the service then she wanted me to go to college. My Mother was serious about the Armed Forces, it was like she was thanking the Country for letting her in by giving me up.
When I was a Sophmore, my Mother passed. Because my Mother didn't leave a will and because of other problems with her paperwork, I wasn't eligible to recieve Social Security payments for neither my father nor my Mother. I could live with my friends rent free but I still had to live. I had some money I got from my mother's friends and a few moves I had made, but the funds were starting to dry up and I was forced to work, I couldn't depend on them anymore. By July of 81', I had to make a decision, my friends Dad got me a job at Masback Sentry Warehouse as a laborer, it paid like 14$ an hour, it was 82", that was a lot of money, I could get on my feet and get my diploma later but at that moment, I couldn't pass it up. Even though it was a tough one, I chose to quit school. It was against everything I believed in but sometimes you have to roll up your sleeve and get dirty. I was devastated, I would snort and drink till I passed out then because of the pain I was bringing to myself and to the spirit of both my mother and my father, this is definately what they didn't want for me but they weren't here now so here I was.
I had a plan so I wouldn't feel that bad, I would work there till I turned 18 then I would go work at a company called APA, which was another trucking company that paid a lot more but trained you to be a truck driver, that was the plan when I was 17, to be a truck driver, thank God for reefer! I enjoyed my job at Masback Sentry, I worked early morning hours, I'd get home, workout and I wasn't doing much, since I wasn't going to school, there was no reason to hang with my friends guys, I'd feel embarrassed, like I had let them down, I laid low. I got promoted to a night loader which paid an extra 2 dollars per hour, I was on the path to success, I could load trucks at night and either get another job or go back to school. About a month into the job, I get sick one night on the dock and get sent home. When I didn't return with a Doctors note I was fired till I produced one pertaining to my ailment, whatever the fuck that meant. A Doctors note was easy in those days, but while I was getting one, I bumped into a teacher named, Fred Terranova, this guy was a fucking beauty, an ex junkie, athlete, who was now a football coach at the high school and a real solid guy to talk to. Anyway, he talked me into going back to. He got a friend of his to do unemployment paperwork since I had been fired now it would get me paid as much as the job I was working so I could go back to High School. I went back in early November so I really didn't miss anything. At the end of the academic year, I was a few credits short and was not alowed to graduate on stage with my friends, but it felt like I hadn't quit, and for me, thats all that mattered.
I didn't remember quitting high school until a few weeks ago. I thought I would never recover from the pain that brought to my soul. I was numb when I had to make that decision but it was what I had to do at the time, and that was that! As bad as it made me feel it was the first time in my life I had to step up for me, after I did that, it changed my life and it showed me what I had to do, sometimes in life you have to roll up your sleeves! A Fucking defining moment.....I never knew.
Thank you for reading and for taking this great ride with me. From the #1 CD on iTunes, to the live appearances, to the support on the documentary, now on Amazon.com, I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Don't forget tomorrow night @ 8:30PM IceHouse Stage 2 is proud to present..."Testacle Testaments".....Class of 82" Who took the money? 8:30PM 626 577 1894
TOUR DATES:
July 11th Cobb's SF
July 12TH-16th Punchline SacTown......The Diazbrothers!
August 15th Zanie's Nashville
More Dates to follow! T-Shirts....If its Not Bleu Cheese....Link on the way!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
DOCUMENTARY
What the fuck is up? I hope all is going well with you savages. I've been a little busy and its been a little hectic. The Atlanta and the New York City shows were tremendous, thank you again if you came out. I always try to apologize for neglecting the blog of life but sometimes I need to be inspired and what I'm going to tell you really did.
Sometimes we speak when we should keep our mouths shut, thats one of the things that have hurt my career and my life. Sometimes I speak without having a full knowledge or a full understanding of a particular subject, and days after saying it, I get enlighted by mistake, that shit always happens to me.
About a year and a half ago, I was on an episode of the JRE expirience and I said that if I was in a tough situation how many of my friends from Facebook would show up with a gun? I really felt that. For days I got messages from people saying that they were disapponted by my statements, they also told me that they had been fans(A FUCKING WORD I HATE), and that they couldn't believe I felt that way. I was blown away.
For years I thought that people that were on computers were Vampires. I felt they had no social life and at any time these were the same people that built bombs and blew up shit. I fucked around on it but I was really scared. I once went to the Underground MMA forum that Joe speaks about and I was petrified. Then I got an idea. I thought if these people were crazy, what the fuck, I'm crazy too. Maybe I'll start posting what really goes on in my head when I'm walking around, my inner text as they call it, thats what I started to do.......The next thing I knew, I had people sending me messages and I knew I had found some friends.
Next came our podcast, Beauty and Da Beast, with Felicia Michaels. We sat and spoke for weeks about our podcast and how we wanted to get our life and our mistakes out there and again you motherfuckers responded. I undressed my soul on there and you motherfuckers laughed and cried and at times I couldn't believe I was saying this shit to a bunch of strangers but then it got personal and deeper. We got the podcast to levels we had never dreamed of.
Then I got an idea to shoot videos with a bloggie Gabriel Iglesias had givin me about my daily grind. It was called "MadflavorsWorld". No celebrities, no guitars, just my cats, my weed store and some of the dumb shit I do in the day time by myself. I started getting emails that people wanted more, the places where I grew up and places I robbed so I got an idea one night while I was sitting there watching "Law And Order". I called my main man and Director Lee Syatt and I asked him what did he think if I went online on Twitter and Facebook and got donations for a special MadflavorsWorld documentary about North Bergen, New Jersey the place where I grew up? There was silence then he told me to try it, what did we have to lose? Within days we recieved three thousand dollars in two dollars, five dollar and ten dollar donations, I was really blown away. We got plane tickets, hotel rooms and rented a car and a camera and we went back to Jersey and shot what we could in the time we had. I remember sitting on the plane of the ride back home thinking about the words I had said on that podcast......Boy was I wrong, I did have people online who cared. I remember sitting there feeling like an asshole but knowing what Lee and myself had just shot would make up for my ignorance that day.....Thats why you learn something everyday, if you don't, you're doing something wrong.
Next week at this time the documentary, "Where I got My Balls From" will be available on Payloadz.com then on to iTunes just like the CD. The producers of the project(THE DONATERS) will get a link first then a few days later it will be available to everyone else for sale. It's been done but because the new CD went #1 and I thank you again, I didn't want to confuse anyone plus we did a few extra things to give you something special. It will be priced at 5.00 dollars, I'm not in business to hurt nobody. Thank you for all the support you've givin me on all my projects. Like Big Ben Rothwell said in Atlanta, you guys have made me a better comic and a better human being. I have a reason to get up early and get stoned and play music and write things about assholes and pussys that a five year old would write and the reason is you guys, why take things so seriously in the AM, lets giggle together.....Thank you again for reading!
This week Friday and Saturday I'm at The Comedy Spot in Scottsdale 480 945 4422
Thursday May 17th The Woodlands in Columbus 2 Shows
Friday May 18th The Grog Shop Clevland
Saturday May 19th Mullens in Pittsburgh
All tickets for the above shows are on brownpapertickets.com
Have a great week and remember to stay Black!
Sometimes we speak when we should keep our mouths shut, thats one of the things that have hurt my career and my life. Sometimes I speak without having a full knowledge or a full understanding of a particular subject, and days after saying it, I get enlighted by mistake, that shit always happens to me.
About a year and a half ago, I was on an episode of the JRE expirience and I said that if I was in a tough situation how many of my friends from Facebook would show up with a gun? I really felt that. For days I got messages from people saying that they were disapponted by my statements, they also told me that they had been fans(A FUCKING WORD I HATE), and that they couldn't believe I felt that way. I was blown away.
For years I thought that people that were on computers were Vampires. I felt they had no social life and at any time these were the same people that built bombs and blew up shit. I fucked around on it but I was really scared. I once went to the Underground MMA forum that Joe speaks about and I was petrified. Then I got an idea. I thought if these people were crazy, what the fuck, I'm crazy too. Maybe I'll start posting what really goes on in my head when I'm walking around, my inner text as they call it, thats what I started to do.......The next thing I knew, I had people sending me messages and I knew I had found some friends.
Next came our podcast, Beauty and Da Beast, with Felicia Michaels. We sat and spoke for weeks about our podcast and how we wanted to get our life and our mistakes out there and again you motherfuckers responded. I undressed my soul on there and you motherfuckers laughed and cried and at times I couldn't believe I was saying this shit to a bunch of strangers but then it got personal and deeper. We got the podcast to levels we had never dreamed of.
Then I got an idea to shoot videos with a bloggie Gabriel Iglesias had givin me about my daily grind. It was called "MadflavorsWorld". No celebrities, no guitars, just my cats, my weed store and some of the dumb shit I do in the day time by myself. I started getting emails that people wanted more, the places where I grew up and places I robbed so I got an idea one night while I was sitting there watching "Law And Order". I called my main man and Director Lee Syatt and I asked him what did he think if I went online on Twitter and Facebook and got donations for a special MadflavorsWorld documentary about North Bergen, New Jersey the place where I grew up? There was silence then he told me to try it, what did we have to lose? Within days we recieved three thousand dollars in two dollars, five dollar and ten dollar donations, I was really blown away. We got plane tickets, hotel rooms and rented a car and a camera and we went back to Jersey and shot what we could in the time we had. I remember sitting on the plane of the ride back home thinking about the words I had said on that podcast......Boy was I wrong, I did have people online who cared. I remember sitting there feeling like an asshole but knowing what Lee and myself had just shot would make up for my ignorance that day.....Thats why you learn something everyday, if you don't, you're doing something wrong.
Next week at this time the documentary, "Where I got My Balls From" will be available on Payloadz.com then on to iTunes just like the CD. The producers of the project(THE DONATERS) will get a link first then a few days later it will be available to everyone else for sale. It's been done but because the new CD went #1 and I thank you again, I didn't want to confuse anyone plus we did a few extra things to give you something special. It will be priced at 5.00 dollars, I'm not in business to hurt nobody. Thank you for all the support you've givin me on all my projects. Like Big Ben Rothwell said in Atlanta, you guys have made me a better comic and a better human being. I have a reason to get up early and get stoned and play music and write things about assholes and pussys that a five year old would write and the reason is you guys, why take things so seriously in the AM, lets giggle together.....Thank you again for reading!
This week Friday and Saturday I'm at The Comedy Spot in Scottsdale 480 945 4422
Thursday May 17th The Woodlands in Columbus 2 Shows
Friday May 18th The Grog Shop Clevland
Saturday May 19th Mullens in Pittsburgh
All tickets for the above shows are on brownpapertickets.com
Have a great week and remember to stay Black!
Monday, April 9, 2012
SAYING I'M SORRY!!!!
Whats happening beautiful people? I really wanted to write something after Miami but when I returned for some crazy reason or another my leg swole up under my knee and it was a real scare. We went to the hospital because I thought I had a blood clot after the long flight but it turned out to be blood behind the kneecap or something of that nature, the swelling is going down and it will be back to normal in a few days. I need to have my leg elevated so while I'm sittig here like a momo, I might as well write something.
As you may know, I went to Miami last weekend to do Comedy at The Improv in Coconut Grove, it had been the first time I had performed down there in 3 years. I was excited. I'm Cuban but I'm not from Miami, I went down there a lot while I was growing up because as all Cubans, I have family down there. I can't really say the people I went to visit were family though, my mother had baptized their daughter, in The Cuban culture thats a big thing, so we were like family because I loved them very much. They were the Castrillions, Rudolpho, Vivian and the kids.
My Father had known Rodolpho from Cuba, after they migrated to the States, their relationship grew. My Father was a Club and Restaurant owner but his real business was bookmaking of Bolita( A Spanish Lottery based off the last 3 numbers of the total earnings at the local horse track). Rodolpho was a savy construction guy, who was involved with other things that I didn't know about. Whenever I went down to visit, he would always turn his world around for me, they both would. Vivian was a former Teacher in Cuba who always stressed education, even when you were on vacation from School, she'd still make you read and do math problems for a few hours every day. I would usually go down to visit them in mid July and I would stay till mid August every year since I could remember.
The kids were great, Jaqueline, Rudy and Gina were their names with Jaqui being the oldest but younger than me by 2 years. I would play with them all day long, we did everything, from ride our bikes to swim to catch lizards, those were things you didn't do in the City, so I loved it! At night we'd watch TV and crack jokes and giggle, when it was time for bed everyone would go to there rooms and I would hang with Rodolpho. We would talk about life and school and sports but after he'd have a few drinks the conversation would always go back to a subject he love to speak about, my father, Manolo.
He would tell me stories about them growing up in Cuba and their struggles and how they both went from broke kids to making tons of dough then he would tell me about my Fathers dreams of the future but also the dreams that he had for me, how we wanted me to go into the service and become a soldier than go to law school to be an attorney so I could represent all his criminal friends, he'd tell me that then he'd giggle, I could never figure why. Then he'd end the conversation with how much he missed my father and he would break down and cry, it was surreal, but the comment about protecting his criminal buddies would always make me think.
My father passed when I was 3 years old. I had read all the newspaper articles about his death and how he had died suddenly at the age of 37 from a heart attack and how he had left behind a son and a daughter in Cuba and all the shit they write in those things. One night when I was aboout 11, Rudolpho and I were having one of our conversations and he broke down unexpectedly, it usually took a couple of stories to get him going like this, he looked at me and said that he could've saved my father. I asked him what he was talking about. He went into a story about the last night of my fathers life how they were all partying doing blow and drinking and having a good time and he said that at about 1AM he went home because he had a meeting in the morning and he could'nt get fucked up.
They kept telling him he could'nt leave but he had to go, he said they busted his balls all the way till he shut his car door, he said my mother was the leader of the don't go brigade, but he had to do what he had to do. He said he went home and fell asleep and within minutes the phone was ringing, it was my mother crying telling Rudolpho to get back that something was wrong with Manny. He told my mother to stop fucking around that he had to get up and he hung up. The phone kept ringing and he would'nt pick it up. Finally he said that the phone didn't stop and that finally he got up to answer and yell and it was a different friend telling him that he had to get down there that there had been a problem.
He said he sped down there but when he arrived they were putting Manny in the ambulance, he wasn't dead but he had slipped into a coma. My mother was also sick he said but she was ok by the time they had arrived at the hospital. Within an hour bad news came, Manny had passed. He said he was heartbroken. He and Vivian helped my mom get everything together. They even accompanied the body all the way to Cuba with my mother. He said he was always heart broken about that night, then he lowered his head and told me why.
They were celebrating some big drug deal they had made, something I didn't know about at that age. Besides the numbers game, my Father was also involved with heroin in the 50's and 60's. He partnered up with some Jewish kids from the lower East Side that he had met as a young kid when he came from Cuba way before he had met my mother. They sold Heroin in the Urban areas and my Father was the front man because he knew the language, in those days the races only dealt with one another, from there he got into the numbers business because the Italians could'nt do numbers in Spanish Harlem either.
At the party they were passing around blow freely but someone had pure Heroin in the same aluminum foil that the coke was being passed around in. When it came to my Father he did a big blast, he passed it to my Mom but she only did a little bump. My father immediately started puking and going into convulsions, my mother just puked, she didn't have enough in her system. At this point people started panicking and thats when Rodolpho got the call, he thought it was a hoax, it wasn't, in his mind he felt that if he had come back immediately when he had gotten the call, he could have saved my father, he lived with that.
A few years later Rudolpho got pinched for drugs and a few years after that, my mother died, that was 79'. In 84', I'm having dinner at this Cuban place in Jersey, when this guy approaches me and tell me that Rudolpho is a friend of his and that he's been looking for me. I almost shit, he's out? I asked in Spanish and the guy said yes, and tha he wanted to see me asap. He gave me his number and I called right away. When he answered, we both cried. At the time, I was going through hell. I had been out there alone for 5 years, I needed someone, he was my saviour. Finally I could rest, I had a family, I can move to Miami and start my life. I went down and it was great, I was making plans to move down immediately but I started thinking, why go back empty? This is Miami, while I'm getting organized I'll make a few grand for the move, so on my visits down there, I became Johnny Dealer. I hooked up with a guy that would give me a few ounces on the arm and I started my career as a smuggler. I thought I was Miami Vice!
This went on for a few months then I got sloppy, I started making calls from the house and it didn't take long for Rudolpho to figure out what I was doing. He sat me down and told me Vivian had found out and I had to leave. I was furious! How can you do this to me, I'm just trying to put together a few moves, hell you did it! He told me to pack ad get out. I had some dough but not enough for the cab ride. I asked him for money and he told me he didn't want to talk to me again. I was so hurt. I didn't know what to do. How was I going to get home? I went in Rodolpho's room looking for cash, there was none but there was a gold watch, I clipped it and went to a pawn shop, got cash on the watch and left. My plan was to return the next day, get the watch out give it to Rudy to sneak back in and move on with my life.....Wrong!
I got a call the next day from Rodolpho telling me he knew about the watch and what a piece of shit I was. I hung up on him, at that point in my life, I had done alot of bad things, but this was bad. I immediately drowned my sorrows with Cocaine and never thought about that day again until I was locked up in a cell years later. When I got out I was on a mission to get them both on the phone and apologize for what I had done. By that time everything had changed, their number, their address, everything, I didn't know how to reach them. I did everything I could do to feel better about what I had done. I even named my daughter Jaqueline because I knew how fond my mother was of Jackie.
I've been going to Miami since 98' for comedy and everytime I was down there, I'd look in every yellow page, white page, I'd call information but nothing. The last time I was down there, I did everything I could then a friend suggessted Facebook. I punched in the name on the keyboard closed my eyes and when I opened there was my long lost Jaquelline! I contacted her immediately and I waited. She got back to me but she was not as enthusiastic as I was about finding her.We sent messages back and forth but I felt we hadn't really connected or they were still mad at me. I kept an open mind.
The week before I went to Miami, I contacted her to tell her and her sister that I was coming, I heard nothing. When I got to Miami I checked my facebook and she replied that she'd try to come on Friday, I left tickets but they never showed, I wrote it off and told myself to move on that I would see them in the next life, I was a little sad. Saturday early show I'm sitting outside and before my eyes I see my cousin walk up with her daughter and her sister my other cousin Gina, I could'nt believe it. I hugged them both and while I'm standing there looking at them my life flashed before my eyes, these were the same girls I had grown up with over 40 years ago, and for a minute I felt the warmth that my life had before my mother passed and finally I got a chance to look them both in the eye and say, I'm sorry for what I did. They both looked at me smiled and said not to worry about it that we were family and things happen.
I didn't even sleep that night from the excitement, even if I never see them again I got to say what I had to say, now I can move on. Rodolpho died in 2002 and Vivian is still alive living in a retirement community, I'll see her next time but for now, I'm happy! Sometimes I'm sorry is a bigger word than you think. Thank you for reading!!!!
Thank you for all the support on my New CD, "Its Either you or The Priest". Its still on Payloadz.com but its also on preorder on iTunes with the official release being this Friday the 13th!
The documentary is fucking Beautiful and it should also be ready by Friday......Lee is doing a great job..........Details coming soon!
I'll be in Atlanta next week with Joe for his Taping. I'll be at The IceHouse on the Wednesday April 25th for another episode of "Stories"........The Drug ones.......Acid, THC Crystal, Gorilla bisquits, Cocaine, heroin and more.....626 577 1894! I'll be at The MBar in Hollywood Saturday the 27th for The Art's a Joke @ 10pm Tickets are @Brownpapertickets.com
Thank you guys for everything you do for me.......See you next week! Much love and Stay Black!
As you may know, I went to Miami last weekend to do Comedy at The Improv in Coconut Grove, it had been the first time I had performed down there in 3 years. I was excited. I'm Cuban but I'm not from Miami, I went down there a lot while I was growing up because as all Cubans, I have family down there. I can't really say the people I went to visit were family though, my mother had baptized their daughter, in The Cuban culture thats a big thing, so we were like family because I loved them very much. They were the Castrillions, Rudolpho, Vivian and the kids.
My Father had known Rodolpho from Cuba, after they migrated to the States, their relationship grew. My Father was a Club and Restaurant owner but his real business was bookmaking of Bolita( A Spanish Lottery based off the last 3 numbers of the total earnings at the local horse track). Rodolpho was a savy construction guy, who was involved with other things that I didn't know about. Whenever I went down to visit, he would always turn his world around for me, they both would. Vivian was a former Teacher in Cuba who always stressed education, even when you were on vacation from School, she'd still make you read and do math problems for a few hours every day. I would usually go down to visit them in mid July and I would stay till mid August every year since I could remember.
The kids were great, Jaqueline, Rudy and Gina were their names with Jaqui being the oldest but younger than me by 2 years. I would play with them all day long, we did everything, from ride our bikes to swim to catch lizards, those were things you didn't do in the City, so I loved it! At night we'd watch TV and crack jokes and giggle, when it was time for bed everyone would go to there rooms and I would hang with Rodolpho. We would talk about life and school and sports but after he'd have a few drinks the conversation would always go back to a subject he love to speak about, my father, Manolo.
He would tell me stories about them growing up in Cuba and their struggles and how they both went from broke kids to making tons of dough then he would tell me about my Fathers dreams of the future but also the dreams that he had for me, how we wanted me to go into the service and become a soldier than go to law school to be an attorney so I could represent all his criminal friends, he'd tell me that then he'd giggle, I could never figure why. Then he'd end the conversation with how much he missed my father and he would break down and cry, it was surreal, but the comment about protecting his criminal buddies would always make me think.
My father passed when I was 3 years old. I had read all the newspaper articles about his death and how he had died suddenly at the age of 37 from a heart attack and how he had left behind a son and a daughter in Cuba and all the shit they write in those things. One night when I was aboout 11, Rudolpho and I were having one of our conversations and he broke down unexpectedly, it usually took a couple of stories to get him going like this, he looked at me and said that he could've saved my father. I asked him what he was talking about. He went into a story about the last night of my fathers life how they were all partying doing blow and drinking and having a good time and he said that at about 1AM he went home because he had a meeting in the morning and he could'nt get fucked up.
They kept telling him he could'nt leave but he had to go, he said they busted his balls all the way till he shut his car door, he said my mother was the leader of the don't go brigade, but he had to do what he had to do. He said he went home and fell asleep and within minutes the phone was ringing, it was my mother crying telling Rudolpho to get back that something was wrong with Manny. He told my mother to stop fucking around that he had to get up and he hung up. The phone kept ringing and he would'nt pick it up. Finally he said that the phone didn't stop and that finally he got up to answer and yell and it was a different friend telling him that he had to get down there that there had been a problem.
He said he sped down there but when he arrived they were putting Manny in the ambulance, he wasn't dead but he had slipped into a coma. My mother was also sick he said but she was ok by the time they had arrived at the hospital. Within an hour bad news came, Manny had passed. He said he was heartbroken. He and Vivian helped my mom get everything together. They even accompanied the body all the way to Cuba with my mother. He said he was always heart broken about that night, then he lowered his head and told me why.
They were celebrating some big drug deal they had made, something I didn't know about at that age. Besides the numbers game, my Father was also involved with heroin in the 50's and 60's. He partnered up with some Jewish kids from the lower East Side that he had met as a young kid when he came from Cuba way before he had met my mother. They sold Heroin in the Urban areas and my Father was the front man because he knew the language, in those days the races only dealt with one another, from there he got into the numbers business because the Italians could'nt do numbers in Spanish Harlem either.
At the party they were passing around blow freely but someone had pure Heroin in the same aluminum foil that the coke was being passed around in. When it came to my Father he did a big blast, he passed it to my Mom but she only did a little bump. My father immediately started puking and going into convulsions, my mother just puked, she didn't have enough in her system. At this point people started panicking and thats when Rodolpho got the call, he thought it was a hoax, it wasn't, in his mind he felt that if he had come back immediately when he had gotten the call, he could have saved my father, he lived with that.
A few years later Rudolpho got pinched for drugs and a few years after that, my mother died, that was 79'. In 84', I'm having dinner at this Cuban place in Jersey, when this guy approaches me and tell me that Rudolpho is a friend of his and that he's been looking for me. I almost shit, he's out? I asked in Spanish and the guy said yes, and tha he wanted to see me asap. He gave me his number and I called right away. When he answered, we both cried. At the time, I was going through hell. I had been out there alone for 5 years, I needed someone, he was my saviour. Finally I could rest, I had a family, I can move to Miami and start my life. I went down and it was great, I was making plans to move down immediately but I started thinking, why go back empty? This is Miami, while I'm getting organized I'll make a few grand for the move, so on my visits down there, I became Johnny Dealer. I hooked up with a guy that would give me a few ounces on the arm and I started my career as a smuggler. I thought I was Miami Vice!
This went on for a few months then I got sloppy, I started making calls from the house and it didn't take long for Rudolpho to figure out what I was doing. He sat me down and told me Vivian had found out and I had to leave. I was furious! How can you do this to me, I'm just trying to put together a few moves, hell you did it! He told me to pack ad get out. I had some dough but not enough for the cab ride. I asked him for money and he told me he didn't want to talk to me again. I was so hurt. I didn't know what to do. How was I going to get home? I went in Rodolpho's room looking for cash, there was none but there was a gold watch, I clipped it and went to a pawn shop, got cash on the watch and left. My plan was to return the next day, get the watch out give it to Rudy to sneak back in and move on with my life.....Wrong!
I got a call the next day from Rodolpho telling me he knew about the watch and what a piece of shit I was. I hung up on him, at that point in my life, I had done alot of bad things, but this was bad. I immediately drowned my sorrows with Cocaine and never thought about that day again until I was locked up in a cell years later. When I got out I was on a mission to get them both on the phone and apologize for what I had done. By that time everything had changed, their number, their address, everything, I didn't know how to reach them. I did everything I could do to feel better about what I had done. I even named my daughter Jaqueline because I knew how fond my mother was of Jackie.
I've been going to Miami since 98' for comedy and everytime I was down there, I'd look in every yellow page, white page, I'd call information but nothing. The last time I was down there, I did everything I could then a friend suggessted Facebook. I punched in the name on the keyboard closed my eyes and when I opened there was my long lost Jaquelline! I contacted her immediately and I waited. She got back to me but she was not as enthusiastic as I was about finding her.We sent messages back and forth but I felt we hadn't really connected or they were still mad at me. I kept an open mind.
The week before I went to Miami, I contacted her to tell her and her sister that I was coming, I heard nothing. When I got to Miami I checked my facebook and she replied that she'd try to come on Friday, I left tickets but they never showed, I wrote it off and told myself to move on that I would see them in the next life, I was a little sad. Saturday early show I'm sitting outside and before my eyes I see my cousin walk up with her daughter and her sister my other cousin Gina, I could'nt believe it. I hugged them both and while I'm standing there looking at them my life flashed before my eyes, these were the same girls I had grown up with over 40 years ago, and for a minute I felt the warmth that my life had before my mother passed and finally I got a chance to look them both in the eye and say, I'm sorry for what I did. They both looked at me smiled and said not to worry about it that we were family and things happen.
I didn't even sleep that night from the excitement, even if I never see them again I got to say what I had to say, now I can move on. Rodolpho died in 2002 and Vivian is still alive living in a retirement community, I'll see her next time but for now, I'm happy! Sometimes I'm sorry is a bigger word than you think. Thank you for reading!!!!
Thank you for all the support on my New CD, "Its Either you or The Priest". Its still on Payloadz.com but its also on preorder on iTunes with the official release being this Friday the 13th!
The documentary is fucking Beautiful and it should also be ready by Friday......Lee is doing a great job..........Details coming soon!
I'll be in Atlanta next week with Joe for his Taping. I'll be at The IceHouse on the Wednesday April 25th for another episode of "Stories"........The Drug ones.......Acid, THC Crystal, Gorilla bisquits, Cocaine, heroin and more.....626 577 1894! I'll be at The MBar in Hollywood Saturday the 27th for The Art's a Joke @ 10pm Tickets are @Brownpapertickets.com
Thank you guys for everything you do for me.......See you next week! Much love and Stay Black!
Monday, March 19, 2012
ROBBING A BAR MITZVAH
Whats happening beautiful people? One more day and its Spring, fuck that, in some parts of the Country that means a lot of fucking snow, like in Colorado for example, one minute the birds are chirping the next minute the sky is falling and there's pinguins running around, my point? Who the fuck knows I just got back from a long walk, Yoga, and I'm stoned to the gills.
What many people don't know about me is that in 84' when I was young and confused a took a 2 week course at The American Bartending Institute in New York. Yes I fell for the dream, booze, bitches a cash register full of twentys and a dealer in the bathroom, good times right? Fuck no! I had learned to bartend at my Mom's bar as a kid but it was tough to use that as a reference. My first job mixing drinks was great, it was a Union gig and everyone stole except I got caught and fired. The Institue promises lifetime placement, so I went down there and they would get me these entry level gigs that meant you got shitty shifts, like a Saturday and Sunday afternoon or a slow night, shifts nobody else wanted.
In 85', I was living in New Jesey, but I was about to move to Colorado and start from scratch. I was looking for a job for a few months so I could have a reference when I moved. I called the School and they told me there was a gig open at some country club in Northern New Jersey which was close to where I was living at the time, perfect. I go down there and get hired part time but I could also work the special parties. At the time I'm also Cocaine free and I was almost crime free. I had stopped the January before and believe it or not, I was doing quite fine with it, I was really trying to get things together.
I work a few shifts and as usual it wasn't a money maker but I was determined to stick it out. I'm there about 2 weeks everything is going great and I get asked to work a party, a Bar Mitzvah to be specific. The people I had worked with were all pretty straight laced so I pretty much kept my mouth shut, they were the regular employees but the shift I worked for the party was buck wild. They were in College and we were all about the same age. If I remember correctly, it was an Italian chic from Bayonne and a couple of black dudes from Englewood and a Jewish guy from the suburbs who out of all of them was the craziest and the coolest. He was smoking dope while we he was working with his Yamakuh on!
This Jewish kid was working behind the bar with me and I noticed that the kids parents kept giving him bundles of gifts and envelopes to put in the back office. After a few minutes, the Italian chic comes over and ask why were they giving him that stuff to put in the back. He told her that there was probably cash in the envelopes and they didn't want them out in the open. The girl was like, fuck that! She was complaining that the guest weren't tipping her so she was taking dough out of the envelopes. By this time, the 2 brothers from Englewood are in on it, the Jewish kid said it was bad luck but he was in for a taste. One by one they went back there, I stood there in shock! For the first time in a long time, I was really trying to get my life together. The Christmas before, I had spent it sleeping in hallways and on couches and I was sick of it. I was sick of the drugs and the bullshit and this was the beginning of it, now these kids are robbing a Bar Mitvah, how the fuck this always happen when I'm around. This was the kind of shit I would bump into on a regular basis. I made up my mind not to go to that back office, I was broke at the time but so what, I wanted to live my life straight.
All of a sudden the one Brother comes out and says, there's a bunch of cash back there, you better go back there and get you some! I said fuck it! I walk in and these animals are taking ALL the cash out of the envelopes, there were thousands of dollars. I stopped them and told them they'd notice the cash gone, to just take a little bit from each envelope but to hit all the envelopes not just a few of them. Finally, I started taking 20$ and 50$ like a motherfucker. Once we hit like a grand a piece, we stopped and between us, there was a bunch of loot left. We're all doing shots celebrating, I couldn't believe it. I remember leaving that night and feeling terrible about myself but at that time, thats who I was, a common thief.
I went back the following week for my shift and the regular waiters were talking about it. They were asking, Who would do such a thing? They knew it was the staff that had worked that night. They asked me questions and said the police would get involved. I finished my shift and never went back. I never felt good about that one, a kids Bar Mitzvah money? Thats cold blooded, but it was a hell of a party though!
Those are the kind of stories that pop in my head from time to time and I want to shoot myself but its done. It was a long time ago, and we've come along way. I wonder about the people that were my accomplices on that day, do they still remember the day? Do they feel as bad as I felt? Twenty years ago, I felt bad but you got to ask yourself, who the fuck knocks off a Bar Mitvah? Nobody's never even thought of that one.
I hope you enjoyed my Monday afternoon story, its fucked up, but its my life, what can you do? Anyway if you want to hear more fucked up criminal stories, this ain't nothing, come to The IceHouse Stage 2 on Thursday March 22nd @ 8:30. 626 577 1894 Get tickets this place always sells out!
The documentary will be released Monday April 2nd and I'll be @ The Miami Improv March 29th-31st 305 441 8200. Besides that, have a great week, a good Spring Day but most importantly......Stay Black!
What many people don't know about me is that in 84' when I was young and confused a took a 2 week course at The American Bartending Institute in New York. Yes I fell for the dream, booze, bitches a cash register full of twentys and a dealer in the bathroom, good times right? Fuck no! I had learned to bartend at my Mom's bar as a kid but it was tough to use that as a reference. My first job mixing drinks was great, it was a Union gig and everyone stole except I got caught and fired. The Institue promises lifetime placement, so I went down there and they would get me these entry level gigs that meant you got shitty shifts, like a Saturday and Sunday afternoon or a slow night, shifts nobody else wanted.
In 85', I was living in New Jesey, but I was about to move to Colorado and start from scratch. I was looking for a job for a few months so I could have a reference when I moved. I called the School and they told me there was a gig open at some country club in Northern New Jersey which was close to where I was living at the time, perfect. I go down there and get hired part time but I could also work the special parties. At the time I'm also Cocaine free and I was almost crime free. I had stopped the January before and believe it or not, I was doing quite fine with it, I was really trying to get things together.
I work a few shifts and as usual it wasn't a money maker but I was determined to stick it out. I'm there about 2 weeks everything is going great and I get asked to work a party, a Bar Mitzvah to be specific. The people I had worked with were all pretty straight laced so I pretty much kept my mouth shut, they were the regular employees but the shift I worked for the party was buck wild. They were in College and we were all about the same age. If I remember correctly, it was an Italian chic from Bayonne and a couple of black dudes from Englewood and a Jewish guy from the suburbs who out of all of them was the craziest and the coolest. He was smoking dope while we he was working with his Yamakuh on!
This Jewish kid was working behind the bar with me and I noticed that the kids parents kept giving him bundles of gifts and envelopes to put in the back office. After a few minutes, the Italian chic comes over and ask why were they giving him that stuff to put in the back. He told her that there was probably cash in the envelopes and they didn't want them out in the open. The girl was like, fuck that! She was complaining that the guest weren't tipping her so she was taking dough out of the envelopes. By this time, the 2 brothers from Englewood are in on it, the Jewish kid said it was bad luck but he was in for a taste. One by one they went back there, I stood there in shock! For the first time in a long time, I was really trying to get my life together. The Christmas before, I had spent it sleeping in hallways and on couches and I was sick of it. I was sick of the drugs and the bullshit and this was the beginning of it, now these kids are robbing a Bar Mitvah, how the fuck this always happen when I'm around. This was the kind of shit I would bump into on a regular basis. I made up my mind not to go to that back office, I was broke at the time but so what, I wanted to live my life straight.
All of a sudden the one Brother comes out and says, there's a bunch of cash back there, you better go back there and get you some! I said fuck it! I walk in and these animals are taking ALL the cash out of the envelopes, there were thousands of dollars. I stopped them and told them they'd notice the cash gone, to just take a little bit from each envelope but to hit all the envelopes not just a few of them. Finally, I started taking 20$ and 50$ like a motherfucker. Once we hit like a grand a piece, we stopped and between us, there was a bunch of loot left. We're all doing shots celebrating, I couldn't believe it. I remember leaving that night and feeling terrible about myself but at that time, thats who I was, a common thief.
I went back the following week for my shift and the regular waiters were talking about it. They were asking, Who would do such a thing? They knew it was the staff that had worked that night. They asked me questions and said the police would get involved. I finished my shift and never went back. I never felt good about that one, a kids Bar Mitzvah money? Thats cold blooded, but it was a hell of a party though!
Those are the kind of stories that pop in my head from time to time and I want to shoot myself but its done. It was a long time ago, and we've come along way. I wonder about the people that were my accomplices on that day, do they still remember the day? Do they feel as bad as I felt? Twenty years ago, I felt bad but you got to ask yourself, who the fuck knocks off a Bar Mitvah? Nobody's never even thought of that one.
I hope you enjoyed my Monday afternoon story, its fucked up, but its my life, what can you do? Anyway if you want to hear more fucked up criminal stories, this ain't nothing, come to The IceHouse Stage 2 on Thursday March 22nd @ 8:30. 626 577 1894 Get tickets this place always sells out!
The documentary will be released Monday April 2nd and I'll be @ The Miami Improv March 29th-31st 305 441 8200. Besides that, have a great week, a good Spring Day but most importantly......Stay Black!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
COMPLETE CIRCLE
What's happening beautiful people? Hope your having a great week so far and I hope your preparing yourself for St. Patty's Day. I was never a big St.Patty's type of guy, I love the Irish, I've just never been a big drinker so its never worked for me. I could only drink after a couple of bumps and its not cool to bump while the sun is out, thats always a disaster. I can't wait till we celebrate a Saint thats responsible for reefer, I'll be there at 7AM, rolling bones with 2 crosses on!
As you guys know, when I was younger, I was a bit of a criminal. By the age of 20, I had been involved in some crazy stuff and people would always approach me with a scam from time to time. I had a friend named Heavy Sy, that was a phony insurance type guy. He would set up accidents, then take you to an Attorney who was in on it along with the Doctors and the Chiropractors. One day Sy came up to me and told me that he had a score. I asked what type? He tells me all I have to do is fall and he would take care of the rest. One night, I tell him I'm ready and he picks me up and takes me to the front of a Sporting good store where there was a small crack in the sidewalk. He tells me to walk up to the crack, trip and fall in case they hit you with a lie detector test, lie detector test? He laughs and I fall.
I get up and we go to some hospital, he pulls over and lets me out a half a block before the emergency room, he tells me that he can't be seen at the hospital, and that they had cameras, he told me when I was finished, the nurses would call him and he'd pick me up. On the way home that night after the hospital took x-rays and smiled, he told me he would meet me the next day to take me to see my new Attorney, I told him no problem.
The next day we meet the Attorney and he tells me the strategy, you go to the Chiropractor everyday and you make all your Doctor appointments, keep your mouth shut do what they tell you and in a year, you'll get a nice payday, everytime you go to a Doctors visit, its like punching in at the factory, the higher the hospital and Doctors bills were, multiply that by 10 and hopefully, thats what your check will be.
At the time, I was just hustling and part of my hustle was to get to all of my meetings on a daily basis. About 5 months into it, I get stupid one day and decide to clip the Chiropractor's check book, I give it to a friend and he gets caught pushing the checks in New York City. I didn't know if they had my name, so I decided to stop going to this particular Doctor from the embarrasment.
A few months later, I get caught up in some shit and I decide to take off to Colorado were I forget about the whole deal with the Doctors and the Lawyers. About a year later, I move back to Jersey and on a coke binge I bump into Heavy Sy and he tells me that the Attorney had a check for me in his desk. The next day I contact the guy and he tells me that he had the check but he had to send it back to the insurance company because he had never heard back from me, but if I came in and did the paperwork, he would have them cut me a check in 10 days. After about 2 weeks, the guy contacts me and ask me to come down and pick it up, when I get there, I shake his hand and he passes me my Do-Re-Me! I go outside, open the envelope and the number on the check is, 18,223.00! Eighteen Grand! I have my friends Dad cash the check and I took off to Colorado and never thought twice about it, the date was June 26th 1985.
In August of 88', I was sentenced to serve 6 years in prison for Kidnapping, Burglary and Aggravated Robbery, it wasn't as bad as it sounds, it was really a drug rip gone bad. Since it was my first offense and my Attorney(not the same swindler from Jersey) plea bargained it down to a non violent crime, I got to a halfway house by February of 90' and I got released from there in February of 91', all together, my little fuck up had cost me about 2 1/2 years of my life, not bad because in my heart, I thought I was going to go away for about 6 years, my first real plea bargain was 9, so I just sat there and smiled.
Then another thought came into my mind, the true cash cost of the case, I netted about 18,500 from the powder I had stolen, not bad. When I sat down and added up the Attorney bills, what the private investigator cost and the different specialist that we had to pay to testify, do you know what the final number was? 18,320.00!!!! I thought about the number and for some reason it rang a bell, oh my God, what did I get for that settlement? 18,220! I sat there and just immediately got the chills, life had sent me a reciept, not to mention, I also lost 3 years of my life, I sat back and decided that the time I served was for all my other sins and between you and I, that was the moment that I found out that life was a motherfucker and I also found out that Karma was real, I was happy because for the first time in my life, I was free. I had paid my debt to society but I had also paid my debts to life, which in a way, was a bigger debt than the one to society because thats the one that earns you a shot at a second chance, don't get me wrong, I continued to fuck around for a few more years, I just watched what I did a little closer because I knew that now, I would pay for everything I did from that moment on.
Thank you for reading and for understanding where the fuck I'm coming from. I also want to take this moment and apologize because I'm going to have to push back the release of the documentary until Monday, April 2nd. We have 6 hours of North Bergen footage, 2 hours of One Man show footage from The IceHouse, and 2 hours of sit down interviews with myself and other people. Lee (The Director from Isreal) has a previous project that he's involved with in the day time, and the night time is the only time he really has, we'll be getting together this weekend to look over what he has and who knows, it might go out early but we want to give you something we'll be proud of. We are also planning on a screening/comedy show/smokeout for sometime in late April for all the supporters of our film, thank you for understanding.
If you liked my little story, make sure you come out to The IceHouse for "Stories" the Criminal ones on Thursday March 22nd @ 8:30PM 626 577 1894. I'll also be @ The Miami Improv March 29th -31st 305 441 8200. The New CD is not on iTunes yet but its Still #1 on Payloadz.com and its still 5 Beans$!!!! Besides that, thank you for ALL the support and the love, see you soon and remember....Stay Black because at the end of the week, thats the most important thing!
As you guys know, when I was younger, I was a bit of a criminal. By the age of 20, I had been involved in some crazy stuff and people would always approach me with a scam from time to time. I had a friend named Heavy Sy, that was a phony insurance type guy. He would set up accidents, then take you to an Attorney who was in on it along with the Doctors and the Chiropractors. One day Sy came up to me and told me that he had a score. I asked what type? He tells me all I have to do is fall and he would take care of the rest. One night, I tell him I'm ready and he picks me up and takes me to the front of a Sporting good store where there was a small crack in the sidewalk. He tells me to walk up to the crack, trip and fall in case they hit you with a lie detector test, lie detector test? He laughs and I fall.
I get up and we go to some hospital, he pulls over and lets me out a half a block before the emergency room, he tells me that he can't be seen at the hospital, and that they had cameras, he told me when I was finished, the nurses would call him and he'd pick me up. On the way home that night after the hospital took x-rays and smiled, he told me he would meet me the next day to take me to see my new Attorney, I told him no problem.
The next day we meet the Attorney and he tells me the strategy, you go to the Chiropractor everyday and you make all your Doctor appointments, keep your mouth shut do what they tell you and in a year, you'll get a nice payday, everytime you go to a Doctors visit, its like punching in at the factory, the higher the hospital and Doctors bills were, multiply that by 10 and hopefully, thats what your check will be.
At the time, I was just hustling and part of my hustle was to get to all of my meetings on a daily basis. About 5 months into it, I get stupid one day and decide to clip the Chiropractor's check book, I give it to a friend and he gets caught pushing the checks in New York City. I didn't know if they had my name, so I decided to stop going to this particular Doctor from the embarrasment.
A few months later, I get caught up in some shit and I decide to take off to Colorado were I forget about the whole deal with the Doctors and the Lawyers. About a year later, I move back to Jersey and on a coke binge I bump into Heavy Sy and he tells me that the Attorney had a check for me in his desk. The next day I contact the guy and he tells me that he had the check but he had to send it back to the insurance company because he had never heard back from me, but if I came in and did the paperwork, he would have them cut me a check in 10 days. After about 2 weeks, the guy contacts me and ask me to come down and pick it up, when I get there, I shake his hand and he passes me my Do-Re-Me! I go outside, open the envelope and the number on the check is, 18,223.00! Eighteen Grand! I have my friends Dad cash the check and I took off to Colorado and never thought twice about it, the date was June 26th 1985.
In August of 88', I was sentenced to serve 6 years in prison for Kidnapping, Burglary and Aggravated Robbery, it wasn't as bad as it sounds, it was really a drug rip gone bad. Since it was my first offense and my Attorney(not the same swindler from Jersey) plea bargained it down to a non violent crime, I got to a halfway house by February of 90' and I got released from there in February of 91', all together, my little fuck up had cost me about 2 1/2 years of my life, not bad because in my heart, I thought I was going to go away for about 6 years, my first real plea bargain was 9, so I just sat there and smiled.
Then another thought came into my mind, the true cash cost of the case, I netted about 18,500 from the powder I had stolen, not bad. When I sat down and added up the Attorney bills, what the private investigator cost and the different specialist that we had to pay to testify, do you know what the final number was? 18,320.00!!!! I thought about the number and for some reason it rang a bell, oh my God, what did I get for that settlement? 18,220! I sat there and just immediately got the chills, life had sent me a reciept, not to mention, I also lost 3 years of my life, I sat back and decided that the time I served was for all my other sins and between you and I, that was the moment that I found out that life was a motherfucker and I also found out that Karma was real, I was happy because for the first time in my life, I was free. I had paid my debt to society but I had also paid my debts to life, which in a way, was a bigger debt than the one to society because thats the one that earns you a shot at a second chance, don't get me wrong, I continued to fuck around for a few more years, I just watched what I did a little closer because I knew that now, I would pay for everything I did from that moment on.
Thank you for reading and for understanding where the fuck I'm coming from. I also want to take this moment and apologize because I'm going to have to push back the release of the documentary until Monday, April 2nd. We have 6 hours of North Bergen footage, 2 hours of One Man show footage from The IceHouse, and 2 hours of sit down interviews with myself and other people. Lee (The Director from Isreal) has a previous project that he's involved with in the day time, and the night time is the only time he really has, we'll be getting together this weekend to look over what he has and who knows, it might go out early but we want to give you something we'll be proud of. We are also planning on a screening/comedy show/smokeout for sometime in late April for all the supporters of our film, thank you for understanding.
If you liked my little story, make sure you come out to The IceHouse for "Stories" the Criminal ones on Thursday March 22nd @ 8:30PM 626 577 1894. I'll also be @ The Miami Improv March 29th -31st 305 441 8200. The New CD is not on iTunes yet but its Still #1 on Payloadz.com and its still 5 Beans$!!!! Besides that, thank you for ALL the support and the love, see you soon and remember....Stay Black because at the end of the week, thats the most important thing!
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
CALLING SOMEONE OUT!
What's happening beautiful people? Its March 7th, the year is flying. I'm sorry I haven't written in a while but with the surgery and The Xmas movie, I've been a little tied up but I'm back. The knee is doing great! Thank you for all the kind thoughts, all I have to say is modern medicine is a motherfucker!
Sometimes in life we get stuck or fall behind and someone says something and we take it the wrong way and get mad, I think they call it, calling someone out, some people could deal with it, and others can't, even when someone is telling us the truth. The reason I'm bringing this up is the other day I was thinking about my life and the things that woke me up. It wasn't prison or the birth of my child, it was a talk a had with an aquaitance that changed everything, it wasn't pretty at the time but it hit home.
It was January of 95', I was trying to cut my teeth in Comedy. At the time the only real open mike we had in Denver was at The Comedy Works on Tuesday night. They would put up amatuer comics like myself and towards the end of the lineup, they would throw up a pro. For months one of the comics that showed up was a guy named, Matt Woods. He wasn't a household name at the time but he had been around and his claim to fame was that he helped Roseanne Barr in her early days as a writer. He was now working with the club to help the young guys write and what not so the club could have their own homegrown headliners, it was a great idea.
I was going through a nasty divorce plus I was working as an sports handicapper plus I was trying to do comedy, not really I was learning about comedy. Lets face it, I was funny from the very beginning just being me but I had no structure and even then I would smoke all the guys he was working with. On Tuesdays before the open mike, he would have writing sessions at his house that I couldn't attend because I wouldn't get out of work till 6pm and then I'd still have to take a bus to Denver, in reality I didn't really want to be there anyway, I was too busy lining up my coke for the night, and I thought he really couldn't help me anyway, who was he anyway? He wasn't on TV, fuck him.
At the time I was putting a 50% effort into it like everything else in my life except snorting, that I gave my all. I was a hard worker but my heart was never into anything because deep down I thought I was a waste, why would I put an effort into anything if I'm going to end up in jail anyway, that was my thinking. I would always get a spot on Tuesday, but sometimes I wouldn't show and I would call with a half ass excuse and even when I'd show, I wouldn't be prepared but some way or another I would end up shining, it was weird.
One particular Tuesday night, I went down there with the same attitude and I had a 50-50 set. I'm sitting at the bar talking shit when Matt Woods approaches me, he smiles and ask if he could have a word in private, I say sure and we go to a table and sit. The first thing he ask is, Why are you doing this? I answer him, I want to be a comedian, he tells me, no you don't, your just killing time, I just looked at him. Matt was a big guy and he was getting serious, at the time I was going through a lot and I really wasn't stable, he continued to tell me how I was the funniest guy down there without even trying but that I was wasting my time. He told me to look at myself, I said what? I had a t-shirt on that was wrinkled, and dirty jeans and my nose leaking, I was a fucking mess. He told me that if I decided to put effort into this that I would be a star but that I didn't want to do that, that I wanted to be a bum, by that point my fist were clenching, and there was more. He asked me about cancelling spots and how someone else who wants to do comedy is missing out on a set because I'm signing up then cancelling, he told me to not come back till I thought about what he told me, just as I was getting up to slap the motherfucker, he told me that I probably wanted to punch him but to think about what he told me because if I put my mind to it, I'd be one of the greats. It took everything I had from smacking the guy. He shook my hand and asked me if I wanted another drink, then he said that maybe I should try my hand at bartending because it didn't take any commitment. I turned the drink down and under my breath I told him to stink the drink up his mother's ass and I walked to the bus station.
On the walk, I kept thinking about how I was going to kill this motherfucker and I also thought about the way he had spoken to me. At the time I had 2 felonies in Colordo, a 3rd one would put me in the slammer for a while but I still thought about how I didn't stick up for myself, then on the bus ride it came to me, why I was so mad, he had told me the truth. He didn't lie about anything, it was like he had a crystal ball, for days I sat there steaming, but that did me no good. These things he said, I had known so I took his advice.
I bought a notebook, I did as many spots as I could do and I stopped cancelling and I also found a new sort of peace, the answers to life I was looking for were answered by him setting me straight. I thought about putting my anger aside for Matt and thanking him for the advice but I never saw him at The Club after that. Then one day I got a call that I was banned from the club for sexual harrasment. I decided to move to Seattle and work on my game, after 18 months I decided on Los Angeles, I was ready. I'm in L.A. doing spots around town. One night I'm at the Brave Bull, a room run by my friend Rudy Moreno at the time. I'm up 3rd after this big time old school comic, his name slips my mind. The guy goes up there and destroys! There I am having to follow this guy and the fear rolls in, I'm looking for the exit but by then Rudy comes up to me and tells me I'm next and that he's bringing me right up, my stomach is in knots, I can't follow this guy!
I go on stage and Bang! I decide to go off! I'm up there in my zone, I destroy for 15 minutes, I get off and a bunch of people are there shaking my hand and what not and there in the shadows was Matt Woods with a smile from ear to ear, we hugged and he said, my talk really helped you. We looked at each other and we both had tears in our eyes because we both understood what had happened, he provoked my ego something that is very painfull, but it worked. I told him that he didn't know how close he came to dying after that and he answered, he knew. Today I'm glad he called me out.
Its like that story about you trying to open a jar and you can't then your Grandma comes along and opens it just like that. It took a stranger of sorts to change my life for the better, here I was around people I knew for years and it took this guy to read me the riot act and change my attitude towards the way I looked at things. People always write me emails about how the podcast helps them with different situations in there life, after I thought about this story, I understood.
Thank you for reading and for understanding where the fuck I'm coming from. Thank you to all that showed up @ The IceHouse Stage 2 on Wednesday night for The One Man Show, "Stories" about North Bergen to finish the Documentary which should be out March 17th, we got our footage, thank you again for all the donations and all the support. I also want to thank the Director, Lee Syatt from Isreal and my man Manny for helping me put this thing together. I'm doing another "Stories" segment( not the same stories, this time, Criminal ones) @ The IceHouse Stage 2, Thursday March 22nd @ 8:30pm get your tickets because these shows will sell out...626 577 1894
The new CD, "It's Either You Or The Priest" is still #1 on Payloadz.com thanks to you guys, its still 5$, when it goes on iTunes it will be more so don't come crying to me later.
Besides that, thank you again for all the hope you ball lickers bring into my life, see you soon.........................STAY BLACK!!!!
Sometimes in life we get stuck or fall behind and someone says something and we take it the wrong way and get mad, I think they call it, calling someone out, some people could deal with it, and others can't, even when someone is telling us the truth. The reason I'm bringing this up is the other day I was thinking about my life and the things that woke me up. It wasn't prison or the birth of my child, it was a talk a had with an aquaitance that changed everything, it wasn't pretty at the time but it hit home.
It was January of 95', I was trying to cut my teeth in Comedy. At the time the only real open mike we had in Denver was at The Comedy Works on Tuesday night. They would put up amatuer comics like myself and towards the end of the lineup, they would throw up a pro. For months one of the comics that showed up was a guy named, Matt Woods. He wasn't a household name at the time but he had been around and his claim to fame was that he helped Roseanne Barr in her early days as a writer. He was now working with the club to help the young guys write and what not so the club could have their own homegrown headliners, it was a great idea.
I was going through a nasty divorce plus I was working as an sports handicapper plus I was trying to do comedy, not really I was learning about comedy. Lets face it, I was funny from the very beginning just being me but I had no structure and even then I would smoke all the guys he was working with. On Tuesdays before the open mike, he would have writing sessions at his house that I couldn't attend because I wouldn't get out of work till 6pm and then I'd still have to take a bus to Denver, in reality I didn't really want to be there anyway, I was too busy lining up my coke for the night, and I thought he really couldn't help me anyway, who was he anyway? He wasn't on TV, fuck him.
At the time I was putting a 50% effort into it like everything else in my life except snorting, that I gave my all. I was a hard worker but my heart was never into anything because deep down I thought I was a waste, why would I put an effort into anything if I'm going to end up in jail anyway, that was my thinking. I would always get a spot on Tuesday, but sometimes I wouldn't show and I would call with a half ass excuse and even when I'd show, I wouldn't be prepared but some way or another I would end up shining, it was weird.
One particular Tuesday night, I went down there with the same attitude and I had a 50-50 set. I'm sitting at the bar talking shit when Matt Woods approaches me, he smiles and ask if he could have a word in private, I say sure and we go to a table and sit. The first thing he ask is, Why are you doing this? I answer him, I want to be a comedian, he tells me, no you don't, your just killing time, I just looked at him. Matt was a big guy and he was getting serious, at the time I was going through a lot and I really wasn't stable, he continued to tell me how I was the funniest guy down there without even trying but that I was wasting my time. He told me to look at myself, I said what? I had a t-shirt on that was wrinkled, and dirty jeans and my nose leaking, I was a fucking mess. He told me that if I decided to put effort into this that I would be a star but that I didn't want to do that, that I wanted to be a bum, by that point my fist were clenching, and there was more. He asked me about cancelling spots and how someone else who wants to do comedy is missing out on a set because I'm signing up then cancelling, he told me to not come back till I thought about what he told me, just as I was getting up to slap the motherfucker, he told me that I probably wanted to punch him but to think about what he told me because if I put my mind to it, I'd be one of the greats. It took everything I had from smacking the guy. He shook my hand and asked me if I wanted another drink, then he said that maybe I should try my hand at bartending because it didn't take any commitment. I turned the drink down and under my breath I told him to stink the drink up his mother's ass and I walked to the bus station.
On the walk, I kept thinking about how I was going to kill this motherfucker and I also thought about the way he had spoken to me. At the time I had 2 felonies in Colordo, a 3rd one would put me in the slammer for a while but I still thought about how I didn't stick up for myself, then on the bus ride it came to me, why I was so mad, he had told me the truth. He didn't lie about anything, it was like he had a crystal ball, for days I sat there steaming, but that did me no good. These things he said, I had known so I took his advice.
I bought a notebook, I did as many spots as I could do and I stopped cancelling and I also found a new sort of peace, the answers to life I was looking for were answered by him setting me straight. I thought about putting my anger aside for Matt and thanking him for the advice but I never saw him at The Club after that. Then one day I got a call that I was banned from the club for sexual harrasment. I decided to move to Seattle and work on my game, after 18 months I decided on Los Angeles, I was ready. I'm in L.A. doing spots around town. One night I'm at the Brave Bull, a room run by my friend Rudy Moreno at the time. I'm up 3rd after this big time old school comic, his name slips my mind. The guy goes up there and destroys! There I am having to follow this guy and the fear rolls in, I'm looking for the exit but by then Rudy comes up to me and tells me I'm next and that he's bringing me right up, my stomach is in knots, I can't follow this guy!
I go on stage and Bang! I decide to go off! I'm up there in my zone, I destroy for 15 minutes, I get off and a bunch of people are there shaking my hand and what not and there in the shadows was Matt Woods with a smile from ear to ear, we hugged and he said, my talk really helped you. We looked at each other and we both had tears in our eyes because we both understood what had happened, he provoked my ego something that is very painfull, but it worked. I told him that he didn't know how close he came to dying after that and he answered, he knew. Today I'm glad he called me out.
Its like that story about you trying to open a jar and you can't then your Grandma comes along and opens it just like that. It took a stranger of sorts to change my life for the better, here I was around people I knew for years and it took this guy to read me the riot act and change my attitude towards the way I looked at things. People always write me emails about how the podcast helps them with different situations in there life, after I thought about this story, I understood.
Thank you for reading and for understanding where the fuck I'm coming from. Thank you to all that showed up @ The IceHouse Stage 2 on Wednesday night for The One Man Show, "Stories" about North Bergen to finish the Documentary which should be out March 17th, we got our footage, thank you again for all the donations and all the support. I also want to thank the Director, Lee Syatt from Isreal and my man Manny for helping me put this thing together. I'm doing another "Stories" segment( not the same stories, this time, Criminal ones) @ The IceHouse Stage 2, Thursday March 22nd @ 8:30pm get your tickets because these shows will sell out...626 577 1894
The new CD, "It's Either You Or The Priest" is still #1 on Payloadz.com thanks to you guys, its still 5$, when it goes on iTunes it will be more so don't come crying to me later.
Besides that, thank you again for all the hope you ball lickers bring into my life, see you soon.........................STAY BLACK!!!!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
FEAR!
What's happening beautiful people? Its been a hell of a week but we're here. The surgery went well and the recovery has been a piece of cake, thank you for all your thoughts. Its amazing how far we've come, I remember when they would stitch you up with a needle and thread, then they'd shoot you directly in the wound with the liquid coke, then they'd start sewing.
Anyway, enough of that, I'll faint right here on the computer. A few weeks ago on one of the JRE podcast, I spoke about fear and how I dealt with it. Lets get something straight, I've always been scared of my own shadow. If it wasn't for my Mother's methods of raising a child, I would have been in trouble. I was an only child and to boot I was an immigrant, my father died when I was three and I was left to my mother. When you have a Spanish mom, your her little prince, for Christ sake, my mom would dress me in white from head to toe and send me out to play, I didn't know, but my mother thought it was cute. That was NYCity in the 70's, I got tortured and I adjusted but it always left a scar in my brain, that all white clothing shit was Cuban and kids would laugh, are Cubans weird? So I did everything to be American, thats all I strived for as a kid. I ate hotdogs and hamburgers like a motherfucker. I watched every TV show imaginable, thats how I really learned to speak English, so after a while, I had it covered, or did I.
In the 6th grade I discovered another secret, I couldn't do a pull up in gym class so they wouldn't give me the Presidents Patch for fitness, that killed me. I went home and did pushups and jumping jacks for weeks, eventually two years later I did a pull up. Where are you going with this Joey? Those little things always made me feel weak, and I'm sure there were other things that gave me those feelings of insecurity.
About 9 years ago, I started getting really bad anxiety attacks. I would get to a place, see a few people and just leave, you have no idea how many gigs and auditions and functions I missed because of this. I thought it was the blow, but we all know that gives you balls of steel, was it the other drugs and alcohol I was doing? I went to see Doctors and phyciatrist and they all perscribed some shit, but those feeling didn't go away. I would be home relaxing watching a movie and my brain would flip out. At the time doing blow would be the only thing to calm me down. I would run red lights till I'd hit the ATM machine and then do the same on the way to the dealer's house, it was amazing. I'd get the package, grind it with my hands and snort it at the first red light that now I would stop for. It was a great bandaid for a while but I knew eventually, it would have to stop.
After a few years of this, I sat down one night and had a long talk with myself. The conclusion I came up with was the anxiety that was hitting me was my body telling me that there was something wrong with it that I had to take care of, the first thing I did was to throw away the pills and start working out. I went to sleep at a decent hour and I gave accupuncture a try, that was 6 years ago, but there was something else.
I've always had a voice, something my mother put in my head at an early age, say what you feel and do what feels right to you. Lets face it, I've always been a fucking wild man but after I got out of prison, I tried to tone that down a little. I figured out that maybe I should think before I strike, think about things before I let the Cuban come out, I tried it for a while. Then came the divorce, they fucked with me not to mention I had 2 felonies already so I had to behave, but at the same time, I had to keep my mouth shut, it got so overwhelming for me that I left that dream of raising a daughter to pursue comedy, it was painfull but I knew if I stayed something bad was going to happen, so I bit my tongue.
Then I moved out to L.A. to pursue my dream and boy do you have to be a sheep and keep your mouth closed because that person knows this person and this person knows that one, so even though I was dealing with a bigger thiefs than I ever was and at least I had the balls to rob me with a gun, these fucks don't have those types of manners, so again I bit my tongue. That fear along with my other insecurities drove me and my addictions to new levels and I didn't even know at the time, that what was giving me the anxiety, one not taking care of myself and two not telling people how I feel and telling them to go fuck themselves but most importantly, living my life on my terms, fuck the Jone's and the Johnson's!
Fear and anxiety go hand in hand, when I started comedy, it took me 9 months to finally get on stage, we all have fears, attack them with 3 hands because if you don't, the fears add up and you go no where. You know whats bothering you, why the fuck are you asking people for help. Everybody has an iPhone and an iPod but when it comes to ourselves, I, we forget. If something is not right, attack it, conquer it or fail, but move on, why linger. You know what you can or can't do, but the quicker you get it over with, the quicker you know. I can't lie I had doubts about that knee surgery until that morning. On the drive is where I talked myself into it. At first I wasn't going to tell anyone, but I did and the added pressure and love from you guys helped me through. I still get scared before I go on stage after 20 years of doing it, at first I panic but after a few seconds I know I'm alive, and again, what can you do? Go in there and do it! Thank you for reading.
If you don't know, the documentary is getting released on March 17th. I am doing a 1 Man Show called, "Stories" on February 29th @ The IceHouse Stage 2. I'm taking footage from the show to use on the film. Come out! Tickets are 10$
Thank you also for making, "It's Either You or The Priest" the #1 Download on Payloadz.com. It will be available on iTunes In March. But you could get it here for 5$! It will be more on iTunes because thats how that works!
Thank you again for reading a have a Happy Presidents weekend! Stay Black!
Anyway, enough of that, I'll faint right here on the computer. A few weeks ago on one of the JRE podcast, I spoke about fear and how I dealt with it. Lets get something straight, I've always been scared of my own shadow. If it wasn't for my Mother's methods of raising a child, I would have been in trouble. I was an only child and to boot I was an immigrant, my father died when I was three and I was left to my mother. When you have a Spanish mom, your her little prince, for Christ sake, my mom would dress me in white from head to toe and send me out to play, I didn't know, but my mother thought it was cute. That was NYCity in the 70's, I got tortured and I adjusted but it always left a scar in my brain, that all white clothing shit was Cuban and kids would laugh, are Cubans weird? So I did everything to be American, thats all I strived for as a kid. I ate hotdogs and hamburgers like a motherfucker. I watched every TV show imaginable, thats how I really learned to speak English, so after a while, I had it covered, or did I.
In the 6th grade I discovered another secret, I couldn't do a pull up in gym class so they wouldn't give me the Presidents Patch for fitness, that killed me. I went home and did pushups and jumping jacks for weeks, eventually two years later I did a pull up. Where are you going with this Joey? Those little things always made me feel weak, and I'm sure there were other things that gave me those feelings of insecurity.
About 9 years ago, I started getting really bad anxiety attacks. I would get to a place, see a few people and just leave, you have no idea how many gigs and auditions and functions I missed because of this. I thought it was the blow, but we all know that gives you balls of steel, was it the other drugs and alcohol I was doing? I went to see Doctors and phyciatrist and they all perscribed some shit, but those feeling didn't go away. I would be home relaxing watching a movie and my brain would flip out. At the time doing blow would be the only thing to calm me down. I would run red lights till I'd hit the ATM machine and then do the same on the way to the dealer's house, it was amazing. I'd get the package, grind it with my hands and snort it at the first red light that now I would stop for. It was a great bandaid for a while but I knew eventually, it would have to stop.
After a few years of this, I sat down one night and had a long talk with myself. The conclusion I came up with was the anxiety that was hitting me was my body telling me that there was something wrong with it that I had to take care of, the first thing I did was to throw away the pills and start working out. I went to sleep at a decent hour and I gave accupuncture a try, that was 6 years ago, but there was something else.
I've always had a voice, something my mother put in my head at an early age, say what you feel and do what feels right to you. Lets face it, I've always been a fucking wild man but after I got out of prison, I tried to tone that down a little. I figured out that maybe I should think before I strike, think about things before I let the Cuban come out, I tried it for a while. Then came the divorce, they fucked with me not to mention I had 2 felonies already so I had to behave, but at the same time, I had to keep my mouth shut, it got so overwhelming for me that I left that dream of raising a daughter to pursue comedy, it was painfull but I knew if I stayed something bad was going to happen, so I bit my tongue.
Then I moved out to L.A. to pursue my dream and boy do you have to be a sheep and keep your mouth closed because that person knows this person and this person knows that one, so even though I was dealing with a bigger thiefs than I ever was and at least I had the balls to rob me with a gun, these fucks don't have those types of manners, so again I bit my tongue. That fear along with my other insecurities drove me and my addictions to new levels and I didn't even know at the time, that what was giving me the anxiety, one not taking care of myself and two not telling people how I feel and telling them to go fuck themselves but most importantly, living my life on my terms, fuck the Jone's and the Johnson's!
Fear and anxiety go hand in hand, when I started comedy, it took me 9 months to finally get on stage, we all have fears, attack them with 3 hands because if you don't, the fears add up and you go no where. You know whats bothering you, why the fuck are you asking people for help. Everybody has an iPhone and an iPod but when it comes to ourselves, I, we forget. If something is not right, attack it, conquer it or fail, but move on, why linger. You know what you can or can't do, but the quicker you get it over with, the quicker you know. I can't lie I had doubts about that knee surgery until that morning. On the drive is where I talked myself into it. At first I wasn't going to tell anyone, but I did and the added pressure and love from you guys helped me through. I still get scared before I go on stage after 20 years of doing it, at first I panic but after a few seconds I know I'm alive, and again, what can you do? Go in there and do it! Thank you for reading.
If you don't know, the documentary is getting released on March 17th. I am doing a 1 Man Show called, "Stories" on February 29th @ The IceHouse Stage 2. I'm taking footage from the show to use on the film. Come out! Tickets are 10$
Thank you also for making, "It's Either You or The Priest" the #1 Download on Payloadz.com. It will be available on iTunes In March. But you could get it here for 5$! It will be more on iTunes because thats how that works!
Thank you again for reading a have a Happy Presidents weekend! Stay Black!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
UNCLE MIKE!
What's happening beautiful people? It's been a while. I try to write a few things at once and I know I'm not focusing on my blogs but I promise I'll try to put a few of these together before it gets busy so I could let you know whats on my mind.
Last week I got a call from a dear friend, Mike Kessler, telling me he was moving to New York City for a while. If you know Mike, this isn't a big deal, he's a rocker roller type guy. He mentioned the reason why he was going back to me about a month ago, but I put the thought off. I've known Mike for about 21 years. We met in Boulder Colorado while I was in the Halfway house for a probation violation. He wasn't in the house with me, I met him at a Nissan Dealer he worked at with another friend of mine.
Mike and I hit it off immediately, we were both from the New York City area, we both were wheeler, dealers and we both loved drugs, from reefer, to pills to powder, we were always doing something. Mike met me at the end of my marriage and the beginning of my comedy career. I remember him and his daughter taping my set in 94' , so I could enter an open mike contest. Mike also knew my daughter when she was a year old. I would bring her over his house to play with his daughter and their dog. Mike also saw me at my worst and excepted me for who I was, he never lay judgement, he knew about all my scams those days from flipping drug dealers to selling fake memberships to the Mafia, he would just laugh and take the knocks along with me and he would always stick up for me.
In 95', when I got my balls together and dove into comedy, it was Mike who found me a car for six hundred that lasted me for 4 years of hard Madflavor driving from coast to coast. I remember the night I left him giving me his last 20$ for gas. I called him every few days to report my comedy progress and in a way he was always very proud. When I got arrested in Seattle, he wired money to my books, without judging me or giving me an ear beating. Finally when I called him to tell him I was going for broke in L.A., he was one of the few people that said, I had nothing, so I had nothing to lose.
I was in Los Angeles for about 2 years when I got the call from Mike that he wanted to move out here with his family because his daughter wanted to model. We picked up right were we left off in Boulder. He would pick me up about 8PM and we would head out to do our thing, first off, I would always do a set or two and pick up cash, then we'd head to the Comedy Store do the last set of the night, get a cocktail, head home and cop what we needed on the way, we'd either stop at El Compadre or at the Martel Cartel to pick up powder for me then we'd go to the corner of Selma and La Brea and get a few rocks for my Uncle Mike. I'd do a bump, he'd do a hit, and we'd go our seperate ways. Uncle Mike wasn't only my drug buddy, he was also a Manager, driver of sorts, it was Mike who made me go to the Spiderman 2 audition, I was hung over and tired, he asked me how many people would kill to go in there? He was right. It was also Mike who told me to try WeightWatchers because he loved me and he didn't want me to get sick. It was Mike who never once tortured me when I stopped drugging and doing blow, Mike was a special type of guy and in reality the closest thing I've had to a real Father.
Uncle Mike is sixty five years old, 17 years my elder and do you know that 3 years ago at 62, he was the top salesman at a Subaru dealership in Southern California. They were getting complaints that he would give Demo drives high so the Corporate offices made him take a UA and he came back positive for 8 different drugs! They made him quit. He was depressed for a few days because he was uncertain of his future, he wasn't eligible for retirement benefits for a few years, he was also a decorated Vietnam Vet, something I forgot to add. But still he didn't know what to do.
He soon found out that he was eligible for unemployment benefits and since he had worked forever he got the highest payment per quarter. He started working out and got off the drugs one at a time. He also picked up one of his first passions, the guitar. He cleaned up and little by little, and he started looking better. He got a little gig with an art guy to keep his mind fresh but he continued to do his thing. Last fall, he went to Florida and reconnected with some guys that he had been in a band with before the Heroin epidemic had hit. They spoke and decided to get together and jam, they had a great time so they decided to do something unheard of for guys their age, put the band together. They shot for January of 2012, one of the guys was building a studio and fixing up his basement to turn it into bedrooms so they could all live together, rehearse and record for 8 weeks. These guys are all the same ages, I think he said the youngest was 62. At that age to start anything takes balls!
I really applaud my Uncle Mike, because of everything he's done for me but most important what he's done for himself. He's raised 2 daughters, he got divorced at the end after 20 years because he's crazy, but they remained friends, but most important, for being there for me all these years. My wife is pretty straight, she never did drugs and she once told me that I was lucky to have Mike in my life because he really cared about me and I have to tell you I didn't know how much I loved Mike until I got that call telling me he was leaving. All I could tell you is that it's never too late, thats the gift I got from Mike, you could do whatever the fuck you want to do in this life. All those years I thought it was something about me but it was his strength that pushed me along, the things you realize after you've lived it!
Thank you for reading! Before you ask, the documentary will be released March 17th. The One Man show I'm doing to wrap around the doc is February 29th at The IceHouse on a Wednesday, I hope you guys can make it out, I'll keep you posted. The surgery went well, thank you for the love and support. I'm still coming down off the vikes and the magic juice they gave me at the hospital, I'm sorry about the rambling but I have to clear the mind somewhere!
Have a great weekend....Stay Black!
Last week I got a call from a dear friend, Mike Kessler, telling me he was moving to New York City for a while. If you know Mike, this isn't a big deal, he's a rocker roller type guy. He mentioned the reason why he was going back to me about a month ago, but I put the thought off. I've known Mike for about 21 years. We met in Boulder Colorado while I was in the Halfway house for a probation violation. He wasn't in the house with me, I met him at a Nissan Dealer he worked at with another friend of mine.
Mike and I hit it off immediately, we were both from the New York City area, we both were wheeler, dealers and we both loved drugs, from reefer, to pills to powder, we were always doing something. Mike met me at the end of my marriage and the beginning of my comedy career. I remember him and his daughter taping my set in 94' , so I could enter an open mike contest. Mike also knew my daughter when she was a year old. I would bring her over his house to play with his daughter and their dog. Mike also saw me at my worst and excepted me for who I was, he never lay judgement, he knew about all my scams those days from flipping drug dealers to selling fake memberships to the Mafia, he would just laugh and take the knocks along with me and he would always stick up for me.
In 95', when I got my balls together and dove into comedy, it was Mike who found me a car for six hundred that lasted me for 4 years of hard Madflavor driving from coast to coast. I remember the night I left him giving me his last 20$ for gas. I called him every few days to report my comedy progress and in a way he was always very proud. When I got arrested in Seattle, he wired money to my books, without judging me or giving me an ear beating. Finally when I called him to tell him I was going for broke in L.A., he was one of the few people that said, I had nothing, so I had nothing to lose.
I was in Los Angeles for about 2 years when I got the call from Mike that he wanted to move out here with his family because his daughter wanted to model. We picked up right were we left off in Boulder. He would pick me up about 8PM and we would head out to do our thing, first off, I would always do a set or two and pick up cash, then we'd head to the Comedy Store do the last set of the night, get a cocktail, head home and cop what we needed on the way, we'd either stop at El Compadre or at the Martel Cartel to pick up powder for me then we'd go to the corner of Selma and La Brea and get a few rocks for my Uncle Mike. I'd do a bump, he'd do a hit, and we'd go our seperate ways. Uncle Mike wasn't only my drug buddy, he was also a Manager, driver of sorts, it was Mike who made me go to the Spiderman 2 audition, I was hung over and tired, he asked me how many people would kill to go in there? He was right. It was also Mike who told me to try WeightWatchers because he loved me and he didn't want me to get sick. It was Mike who never once tortured me when I stopped drugging and doing blow, Mike was a special type of guy and in reality the closest thing I've had to a real Father.
Uncle Mike is sixty five years old, 17 years my elder and do you know that 3 years ago at 62, he was the top salesman at a Subaru dealership in Southern California. They were getting complaints that he would give Demo drives high so the Corporate offices made him take a UA and he came back positive for 8 different drugs! They made him quit. He was depressed for a few days because he was uncertain of his future, he wasn't eligible for retirement benefits for a few years, he was also a decorated Vietnam Vet, something I forgot to add. But still he didn't know what to do.
He soon found out that he was eligible for unemployment benefits and since he had worked forever he got the highest payment per quarter. He started working out and got off the drugs one at a time. He also picked up one of his first passions, the guitar. He cleaned up and little by little, and he started looking better. He got a little gig with an art guy to keep his mind fresh but he continued to do his thing. Last fall, he went to Florida and reconnected with some guys that he had been in a band with before the Heroin epidemic had hit. They spoke and decided to get together and jam, they had a great time so they decided to do something unheard of for guys their age, put the band together. They shot for January of 2012, one of the guys was building a studio and fixing up his basement to turn it into bedrooms so they could all live together, rehearse and record for 8 weeks. These guys are all the same ages, I think he said the youngest was 62. At that age to start anything takes balls!
I really applaud my Uncle Mike, because of everything he's done for me but most important what he's done for himself. He's raised 2 daughters, he got divorced at the end after 20 years because he's crazy, but they remained friends, but most important, for being there for me all these years. My wife is pretty straight, she never did drugs and she once told me that I was lucky to have Mike in my life because he really cared about me and I have to tell you I didn't know how much I loved Mike until I got that call telling me he was leaving. All I could tell you is that it's never too late, thats the gift I got from Mike, you could do whatever the fuck you want to do in this life. All those years I thought it was something about me but it was his strength that pushed me along, the things you realize after you've lived it!
Thank you for reading! Before you ask, the documentary will be released March 17th. The One Man show I'm doing to wrap around the doc is February 29th at The IceHouse on a Wednesday, I hope you guys can make it out, I'll keep you posted. The surgery went well, thank you for the love and support. I'm still coming down off the vikes and the magic juice they gave me at the hospital, I'm sorry about the rambling but I have to clear the mind somewhere!
Have a great weekend....Stay Black!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
"IT"S EITHER YOU OR THE PRIEST"
Happy New Year! What's happening beautiful people? Hopefully all is well and your starting the year off with a bang. The last week has been hectic because I was getting ready for knee surgery next week, but the date got pushed back till February 7th, so now I have some time to breath so I figured I'd drop a little note on you.
When I was 11 years old, I was at a friends house who had an older brother that was a heroin junkie. We'd be there practicing Karate forms and the brother would show up stoned and beat us both up. I really didn't like the guy but before he would nod off into palukaville, he would play a particular album and break down the whole dynamic of the bands music, believe it or not it was pretty amazing. From Led Zeppelin 2 to Earth, Wind and Fire, this guy knew his music. After being at his house I would always go out the next day and buy the album he was talking about.
One day I went over there on a Saturday morning and he was high as fuck, nodding and drooling. We, as young kids started to laugh, the older brother woke up and asked us, what the fuck we were laughing about? We shit our pants. Then by some miracle of God he said, I know what you idiots are laughing at, he walked over to the record player and flipped the side of the album over. He said he was sorry. Whatever he was listening to when he passed out must have had something funny on it because he thought we were laughing at the record playing but the side had ended.
He put the needle on the record and sat next to us. I heard some applause then a man introduced someone and after a few minutes a heard a joke, then laughter. This wasn't a band playing music, this was something else. I asked him, what was this? In his haze he looked at me and said, Richard Pryor now shut the fuck up. I'm listening and now I'm laughing, then Pryor starts to curse and I'm loving it then I hear his "Dracula meeting The Wino" bit and my head almost EXPLODED! I started crying because I was laughing so hard but I was crying because I was truly blown the fuck away. Whatever he was doing was brilliant. I went to the store and immediatly bought, "The Nigger's Crazy", the album I had listened to and "Is it Something I Said". I listened to them day and night. I would have sleep overs and listen. At that age it was tricky, you had to put the Pryor album on the turntable, then get a album ready to fall in case an adult walked in. Those early Pryor albums were no jokes, there some real blue material on those albums. He was taking people on some wild rides and I really loved that. I can't remember the emotion it struck but I remember feeling free, I can't describe it.
When I first got in to comedy, I always thought of those albums and felt that I would never be good enough to put out an album, I could only dream. Then in 2000, the CD boom started, every comic started putting out CD's on a label. Then comics figured out they could get a taping device and make CD's on their own and sell them after shows. A few people approached me but I would always say no because of some reason or another, but deep down inside it was because of my insecurities. I would tell myself that when I got as good as Pryor, then I'd make a CD but I knew that would never happen.
Cocaine changes people in weird ways because your forced to do things you wouldn't do under normal circumstances. In 2002, with all my insecirities and an addiction, I was talked into taping a CD. The deal included money up front, and you know me, money talks and bullshit walks. I recorded it at The Icehouse Comedy Cub in Pasadena for this company out of Vegas. When I heard it I cried, it was horrible, who cared? I wasn't going to sell it on the road anyway, that was their job. I snorted the cash they gave me and moved on.
In 2007 my buddies from "National Lampoon Radio" put me together to tape another one. I'm not sure if I was sober when I taped that one, its called, "Live from the 3 of Clubs". It was a good CD, but not my best stuff. I coudn't tap in to my certain patua that night, not to mention that I still felt like shit for taping it because I still wasn't as good as Pryor but I had to put something out there.
I started thinking about my insecurities and Pryor and what it would take to be as good. One thing for sure that was different about him at that time was his writing and the subjects he touched on, they were real. Listen I'm a good comic, my material is so-so but I'm great on my feet, what that means is that I can come up with a funny joke or saying in seconds and hit hard with it. Its a gift that I was depending on too much, yes I had a few 2 line bits, but I couldn't control what I did on stage, it was always a dice shoot, and yes when I killed, I killed, but when I died, I died hard because there was nothing there. I felt I was better than that. Now I knew why I didn't have a career.What good is it if I was funny, if I couldn't express the real me.
Last year," Beauty and DaBeast Podcast" had a show and I figured I'd give it another try at a CD. I wrote a little, I prepared a little and what was the result....pure garbage. That was about the time I started interviewing at different car dealerships. I was going to quit and get a job, then I thought about Pryor. I thought about what he had gone through, the drugs, the women, the trouble but he always prepared. He wrote, others wrote for him and he would put it together. I had been clean off the blow for 3 years at this time and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. You know what it was? The writing! Its everything.
I started writing everyday, not jokes but a biography of sorts because the only way to get water is to open the faucet. Its not writing, its the discipline of sitting down and shutting yourself off to the world, its a different high. From the wrting, I started remembering stories that were buried in my soul by the pain and the drugs. Those are the stories you guys hear today. I was embarrased of them but I started bringing them out and for the first time in my life I felt like a real comedian because I gave light to a situation, no matter how bad it is, and in reality, thats what a comedian does.
So what I'm getting at is this, even though I'm no Pryor at this point in my life, I felt that I could record something that I could be proud of so in December, Lee Syatt, the "Director from Isreal" and myself rented a recorder and taped a show to see what would happen and all the hard work and writing paid off, it's called, "It's Either You or The Priest". It's not bad, I laughed listening to it and if you know me I can't stand listening to myself or seeing myself, so that means a lot.
I'm charging a fin for it and I get about 3 dollars and change so I'm not looking to break nobody, we're just looking to get income to shoot other projects in the future like an upgraded Madflavor'sWorld. The documentary we shot will be released March 17th, and we're trying to make you proud so we're shooting some more footage and taping a 1 man show to surround and give life to the interviews. Lee is a genius and he never disappoints, so strap one on, 2012 is going to be huge ball lickers!
Thank you for reading and for all the love and support. I write these things because at times I wish I could get back 10 years of my life but I can't and I don't want you guys to feel the same way! Go out there and rock your dream, you never know what could happen if you try!
Don't forget! From January 17th -26th, turn on your DVR's I'll be on "General Hospital" and look for me on, "Children's Hospital" on adult swim. Have a great week and remember......STAY BLACK!
P.S. Here is the link to buy and download the CD.....Thank You!
http://store.payloadz.com/details/990138-music-comedy-its-either-you-or-the-priest.html
When I was 11 years old, I was at a friends house who had an older brother that was a heroin junkie. We'd be there practicing Karate forms and the brother would show up stoned and beat us both up. I really didn't like the guy but before he would nod off into palukaville, he would play a particular album and break down the whole dynamic of the bands music, believe it or not it was pretty amazing. From Led Zeppelin 2 to Earth, Wind and Fire, this guy knew his music. After being at his house I would always go out the next day and buy the album he was talking about.
One day I went over there on a Saturday morning and he was high as fuck, nodding and drooling. We, as young kids started to laugh, the older brother woke up and asked us, what the fuck we were laughing about? We shit our pants. Then by some miracle of God he said, I know what you idiots are laughing at, he walked over to the record player and flipped the side of the album over. He said he was sorry. Whatever he was listening to when he passed out must have had something funny on it because he thought we were laughing at the record playing but the side had ended.
He put the needle on the record and sat next to us. I heard some applause then a man introduced someone and after a few minutes a heard a joke, then laughter. This wasn't a band playing music, this was something else. I asked him, what was this? In his haze he looked at me and said, Richard Pryor now shut the fuck up. I'm listening and now I'm laughing, then Pryor starts to curse and I'm loving it then I hear his "Dracula meeting The Wino" bit and my head almost EXPLODED! I started crying because I was laughing so hard but I was crying because I was truly blown the fuck away. Whatever he was doing was brilliant. I went to the store and immediatly bought, "The Nigger's Crazy", the album I had listened to and "Is it Something I Said". I listened to them day and night. I would have sleep overs and listen. At that age it was tricky, you had to put the Pryor album on the turntable, then get a album ready to fall in case an adult walked in. Those early Pryor albums were no jokes, there some real blue material on those albums. He was taking people on some wild rides and I really loved that. I can't remember the emotion it struck but I remember feeling free, I can't describe it.
When I first got in to comedy, I always thought of those albums and felt that I would never be good enough to put out an album, I could only dream. Then in 2000, the CD boom started, every comic started putting out CD's on a label. Then comics figured out they could get a taping device and make CD's on their own and sell them after shows. A few people approached me but I would always say no because of some reason or another, but deep down inside it was because of my insecurities. I would tell myself that when I got as good as Pryor, then I'd make a CD but I knew that would never happen.
Cocaine changes people in weird ways because your forced to do things you wouldn't do under normal circumstances. In 2002, with all my insecirities and an addiction, I was talked into taping a CD. The deal included money up front, and you know me, money talks and bullshit walks. I recorded it at The Icehouse Comedy Cub in Pasadena for this company out of Vegas. When I heard it I cried, it was horrible, who cared? I wasn't going to sell it on the road anyway, that was their job. I snorted the cash they gave me and moved on.
In 2007 my buddies from "National Lampoon Radio" put me together to tape another one. I'm not sure if I was sober when I taped that one, its called, "Live from the 3 of Clubs". It was a good CD, but not my best stuff. I coudn't tap in to my certain patua that night, not to mention that I still felt like shit for taping it because I still wasn't as good as Pryor but I had to put something out there.
I started thinking about my insecurities and Pryor and what it would take to be as good. One thing for sure that was different about him at that time was his writing and the subjects he touched on, they were real. Listen I'm a good comic, my material is so-so but I'm great on my feet, what that means is that I can come up with a funny joke or saying in seconds and hit hard with it. Its a gift that I was depending on too much, yes I had a few 2 line bits, but I couldn't control what I did on stage, it was always a dice shoot, and yes when I killed, I killed, but when I died, I died hard because there was nothing there. I felt I was better than that. Now I knew why I didn't have a career.What good is it if I was funny, if I couldn't express the real me.
Last year," Beauty and DaBeast Podcast" had a show and I figured I'd give it another try at a CD. I wrote a little, I prepared a little and what was the result....pure garbage. That was about the time I started interviewing at different car dealerships. I was going to quit and get a job, then I thought about Pryor. I thought about what he had gone through, the drugs, the women, the trouble but he always prepared. He wrote, others wrote for him and he would put it together. I had been clean off the blow for 3 years at this time and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. You know what it was? The writing! Its everything.
I started writing everyday, not jokes but a biography of sorts because the only way to get water is to open the faucet. Its not writing, its the discipline of sitting down and shutting yourself off to the world, its a different high. From the wrting, I started remembering stories that were buried in my soul by the pain and the drugs. Those are the stories you guys hear today. I was embarrased of them but I started bringing them out and for the first time in my life I felt like a real comedian because I gave light to a situation, no matter how bad it is, and in reality, thats what a comedian does.
So what I'm getting at is this, even though I'm no Pryor at this point in my life, I felt that I could record something that I could be proud of so in December, Lee Syatt, the "Director from Isreal" and myself rented a recorder and taped a show to see what would happen and all the hard work and writing paid off, it's called, "It's Either You or The Priest". It's not bad, I laughed listening to it and if you know me I can't stand listening to myself or seeing myself, so that means a lot.
I'm charging a fin for it and I get about 3 dollars and change so I'm not looking to break nobody, we're just looking to get income to shoot other projects in the future like an upgraded Madflavor'sWorld. The documentary we shot will be released March 17th, and we're trying to make you proud so we're shooting some more footage and taping a 1 man show to surround and give life to the interviews. Lee is a genius and he never disappoints, so strap one on, 2012 is going to be huge ball lickers!
Thank you for reading and for all the love and support. I write these things because at times I wish I could get back 10 years of my life but I can't and I don't want you guys to feel the same way! Go out there and rock your dream, you never know what could happen if you try!
Don't forget! From January 17th -26th, turn on your DVR's I'll be on "General Hospital" and look for me on, "Children's Hospital" on adult swim. Have a great week and remember......STAY BLACK!
P.S. Here is the link to buy and download the CD.....Thank You!
http://store.payloadz.com/details/990138-music-comedy-its-either-you-or-the-priest.html
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