 Hey, what's happening ladies and gentlemen welcome to the eighth episode of King penny podcast man. We got a great guest today. Hey, I want to remind you guys about the deadlift contest tomorrow at the weight pile on the Rockies 1610 Main Street. Hey, man, we got four possible prizes for winners man cash and prizes for not everyone but for winners. You know what I'm saying? So tap in man 1610 Main Street Longmont Colorado at the weight pile on the Rockies man. Let's get this episode started man. Let's get up. Welcome our guests man. Hey, you want to state your name and where you're from, sir? State my name and my occupation and where I'm from. My name is Ricky Ramos. I'm a professional comedian or would like to be a professional comedian or aspiring to be a professional. I don't know how you say it anymore. No, I'm a comedian. I was born and raised in Denver, grew up 38th and federal before it was gentrified Denver North High graduate. Yeah, love my city, love my state, Rockies fan, avalanche nuggets, you know, first ever 47 year championship, Broncos ride or die, I don't care, you know, big old native boy, you know, now I'm out here slinging jokes. So Longmont resident, Longmont resident, I don't live on the east side, though, I live on the west side of Longmont, the fancy side, so I'm not going to fulfill stereotypes right off the bat. All right. They're like, oh, this guy's from the east side. I've been doing comedy for like 10, going on 11 years now. Yeah. How's it going? It's got its ups and downs, it's like any other profession, I guess, but it is something that I get to wake up and get to do every day and love to do, and it is a dream come true, you know, coming from where I was coming from down in Denver and growing up at times where it wasn't as nice as it is now, it's nice to, you know, be able to wake up and enjoy what you do every day versus, you know, having to go to work every day and do a job, you know. Everybody likes to do their passion. It's dream come true for sure. How is the Colorado comedy scene? Colorado comedy scene is a beautiful scene. It stretches from Fort Collins all the way down to Pueblo, various locations throughout the state, you know, all up and down the front range. It doesn't matter where you're at in Colorado, even Eastern, you know, Plains, Colorado, I know a few comics out there that run some shows out there. So basically, you know, it doesn't really matter where you're at in Colorado, you can always find some comedy. Is it like a tight-knit community or is it like, you just got to ask around, yeah, like what, it's just, you know, it's kind of like drugs, you know, you ask around and you find something. That's not the only one conversation. You don't want to start that conversation. Yeah, it's something where you, you know, you just ask around, hey, is there comedy shows or, you know, most comedians are very eager to post their shows and what they're doing and what they got going on. But I mean, are they helpful? Yeah. Are you guys helpful in one another life? Oh yeah, there's a lot of the times, you know, we do try to feed off of each other because the energy, we all feed off of each other, you know, so if, you know, we can bring that energy to another section of Colorado or bring that energy to another part of a town in Colorado or whatever the case may be, yeah, we're all going to try to accomplish the same goal, which is who needs comedy in their life. Yeah. So it hasn't always been comedy, right? There's been some bumps and rough patches in your life, right? Uh, yeah, growing up in Denver, like I said, it was, it wasn't exactly the ideal situation, um, it was, you know, obviously broken home situation. Uh, grandma was there a majority of the time. Uh, my dad was a single parent, uh, working as best he could to put food on the plates and, uh, like I said, my grandma picked up some slack here and there, helping them out. Um, education was real big in my family. Education was key, um, but at the same time, you know, after my grades and homework was turned in, it was still the opportunity to go run with my boys and hang out with my boys. And obviously, you know, living both sides of the coin, you got a pick and, uh, eventually in high school, it had gotten to the point where, um, it was a full ride scholarship to UCLA to play golf, actually, um, and, you know, I wanted to be the cool kid on the block. I wanted to, you know, run around and act like my, my stank, don't stink and ended up part of a Colorado state property. So, and I did that, it was, you know, struggled with that, got out, um, you know, kept doing the same old thing, repeated scene, um, started delving into drugs and then I got the opportunity to move out here a long month, um, through some family members and I came out here. Still the same thing. Flip flopped, dealt with drugs, the whole scene in and out, in and out of the system, a cumulative delivery. I spent all together. I spent about a good 17 years in the system, um, consecutive. I did like three and a half years behind bars. So I dealt and, and, and wrestled with it for a really long time, especially addiction, um, hardcore drug users never did anything super crazy, but it was, you know, some, some scheduled substances here and there, you know, where are you at with that now? Oh, I haven't touched anything since 2017, basically. Yeah. I mean, I do, I do, in delving some recreational marijuana and have a drink or two. Um, but yeah, I haven't done anything hardcore for, you know, since 2017, um, which, like I said, that in itself was a journey, you know, getting clean. I went cold turkey, got my shit together, cold turkey. Um, so it was, uh, it was, it was a bumpy road, um, coming where I was coming from, um, and then I was given the opportunity, um, by the court system actually, um, here in Boulder County, they were, they basically came to me and they were like, what are you going to do? Like, what is your plan? What are you going on? Like you're young enough to figure this out, but if you keep going down the same road, it's just going to be a revolving door for you. Like we need to figure this out. Um, and that's when at that time I was working at a call center in Boulder and one of my buddies was actually graduating from CU, uh, with a creative writing degree. And I was like, oh, we're going to, you know, we're going to make children's books. What's going on? And he's like, no, I'm going to do a standup comedy. And I was like, oh, okay. I was like, well, how do I get into something like that? Without having to go to CU and, you know, creative writing degree in the whole nine, um, and he's like, I'll tell you what, he's like, just write five minutes of what you think is funny and tag along with me to an open mic. And, uh, underneath the hotel, Boulder, Otto was a bar and that was where I performed my very first set in comedy. Um, and I typed out piece of paper, took it with me. It was like, this is going to be awesome. You know, I completely bombed reading from the paper. Uh, it was, you know, it was, it was horrible. It was a horrible experience. I was drunk. Um, but I took it as a challenge from that night on. I was like, I can do something like this. Like I can actually try to do something like this. And from then on, you know, I just was like, oh, okay, let me figure out what's kind of funny, what's funny, writing down everything that I thought was funny. Um, and it wasn't till I ran into some local pros in the area in Boulder and they were like, nah, man, you ain't, you're, you're not talking about anything. Your jokes aren't hitting on anything. The, you know, what separates you from the pack? Why should people listen to you? What is going to grab people's attention? Like what story are you trying to tell us? You know, it's not just like, who are you? Not just, you know, fart jokes. Um, so I was like, okay, I was taken back and went home and scrapped all my material and, and, uh, you know, start talking about my real life, you know, the situations growing up in Denver and being gang related and being drug addicted and going to prison and, and, you know, that whole, my, my whole life basically. And, you know, as comedy progressed, you know, my life progressed and as it got, you know, better and, and gave me something to focus on, obviously my story's changed. Um, I do still have more of an edgy style, but I do mix in, you know, being, uh, being a stepfather and, and going from the streets and going to prison and going into a father figure role and coming home from prison and going back to school for psychology and, you know, becoming a youth advocate and just how my life changed. Um, basically just like I said, my story, man, just telling my story. And it just so happens that people find it funny. People find it, uh, an attention grabber. Um, just however we gain followers. I mean, I'm just out here having fun, you know, if you, you look at my, my pages and you look at my social media, there's not a whole lot of videos out there of my stand up. Um, and I guess that's a lazier part on my end with the new, you know, phones everywhere. We can record everything. You know, let me record my set, put it up. Um, but it's, you know, when you do get, be able to sit down and listen to me do a 20 minute, 30 minute set, you can see, oh my God, you know, we don't, we don't live our lives like that no more, you know, we're, no, but, so I normally ask people, right? I asked them their family situation just to try to get an idea. And so you had mentioned like stepfather, your relationship status or, you know what I mean? Yeah. So, um, I actually, uh, run a show here in town. We can get into that a little bit later, but, uh, I run a show here in town and, and one night, uh, running the show, um, I was heckled by somebody in the crowd and, uh, turns out that, you know, four or five years later, she became my wife, um, and yeah, she had three kids at the house. I kind of stepped into that stepfather role, that father role, that, you know, that position, um, and they have a wonderful, they have, they have a, you know, a decent relationship with their own father and I make sure that I don't, you know, interject in that, um, situation, but at the same time, let them know that I'm always going to be there for them. I was stepping into that role coming from your home. Oh, it was, you know what I'm saying? Like the difference between how you were raised versus coming into this situation. How did you, I mean, you know, when I was, I was raised, it's very weird because I'm even starting to talk about it in my, in my routine about how I'm starting to become a fish out of water because the times that I was raised, I mean, they're, they're changing so drastically. I mean, you don't see, you know, cholos and low riders and shooting people up anymore and drive-bys and you don't, you don't hear about the gangster anymore. You know, it's, it's completely changed. So me having the mentality of, I'm going to approach everything with animosity and I don't care what anybody says. It's very hard to approach the world like that when everybody else is just so progressed already, you know, and it's just like, oh, am I the dinosaur here trying to beat everybody up? You know, am I the T-Rex running through the herd trying to eat everybody? And everybody's like, no, man, we're all vegetarians now. Like, what are you doing? You know, and it's like, oh, okay. Well, all right. Well, let me take a step back and get my life together because the way I was taught was, you know, you, you get your homework done, you do what you need to do, and then it's sports, whatever else you've got going on, and then you can go hang out with your friends. But at the same time, you know, if you didn't please your father, you didn't get the good grades and you didn't hit home runs in the game, you know, your father come home and smack you around a little bit, you know? You know, and, and, you know, like I said, that, that is all out the window. That has all changed, you know, and me having to go through that with my, my own home situation, and then going out and hanging out with my friends, and if we didn't steal this car, or we didn't, you know, rob this person, or we didn't do this, then I was going to get it from the homies too, you know, so either way, I was like, you know, I was always fighting somebody, you know, and that whole mentality is, like I said, that's all, that's, that's just so, you know, dinosaur or cake thinking, you know, it's, it doesn't work anymore. So yeah, when I do step into the role of stepfather, I have to sit down and I'm like, okay, I'm like, let's talk about this, let's, you know, what's the issue going on? How can I help you, you know, I try to teach them the right way, like things like, you know, if there's a situation, you know, and somebody does put their hands on you, do not accept that, you can protect yourself in any way, shape, or form, you know, you just got to, you got to curve it another way versus, you know, somebody's talking about you in science class, turn around and smack, you know, you can't do that. Which I want to applaud you on that, man, because that's a tough one to navigate, you know what I mean, especially coming from one situation that you're raised in, that a lot of people hold on to forever, to, you know what I mean, pivoting and being this type of person for these children and for your wife, you know what I mean, it's a really great pivot. But I do want to talk to you about this comedy thing, no right quick. What is your comedy style, like what is your, like, you know what I mean, can you be boxed in to type of, like, who would you say your style is more like, or do you have any problems? I think I was talking to somebody about this the other day, in the simple fact that each comedian itself, I mean, we all have, I guess, a certain genre. You could say that he's got more of like a deaf comedy jam style or he's got more of a, you know, blue collar Jerry Seinfeld type style or, you know, but each comic individually has got such their own unique style that it just, I mean, like for me, I feel like my material is real, real gritty. It's real, you know, I can be, you know, completely squeaky clean if I'm at, you know, the Boulder Creek Festival and I'm doing a, you know, 10 minute spot to promote the Boulder Comedy Festival, you know, that I've never sweated so hard in my life, you know, but I can do things like that. I can, I can be, you know, on the cleaner side here and there, but I'm more comfortable being that blue, that real gritty, that that true teller that, you know, I'm going to make fun of certain situations that not everybody wants to necessarily can make fun of. So you mentioned that, right? Where is the line with comedy now? Or can you like, we're like, you know, I mean, used to be able to, this used to be just free for all jokes off. Yeah. But now you see some comics tiptoeing around or, you know what I mean? Like, hey, there's boundaries here now to where is, if you say the wrong joke, maybe, you know what I mean, that could be the yeah, I mean, and I try to in, I guess, in my personal routine, I try to make them the routine more about, you know, what I see on a daily or how I perceive life to be me personally, my I'm painting the picture of you coming into my world, you know, a progressed cholo from, from Denver, you know, I'm trying to paint this picture of how I see life as it is, you know, I have a, I have a COVID joke about, let's not get on the first train that we see, because maybe the next situation, we're going to have to protect ourselves in a completely different way, you know, in regards to it comes out one orifice and not the other orifice, you know what I mean? So let's not, let's not jump on the first train, like I have just perspectives because it's like, I see life, you know, like, oh, okay, well, you know, we're going, we're all going through the situation together, but I see some people jumping on the strain way faster than other people and, you know, just again, just the way I see things I talk about, I'm trying to implement more about my past drug usage and how I was back then, you know, I have a joke about how he was like a great magician when I was in drill, I would take anything you give me and I would turn it into, you know, controlled substances, you know, just the way I see life, the way I see Longmont, I have a joke about Longmont being, being a house party and how, you know, we perceive it in a house party and I did. So I saw the video how Denver is like cool. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So I try to keep it about, you know, me, my home, the way I perceive life, because yeah, once you start getting into other subjects, like I'm not a political comedian at all. I don't have politics jokes. I'm not a political person. So you'll never really see me talk about politics, but I am talking about drug content and, you know, like I said, my life and because I'm not going to, I'm not going to tiptoe around those subjects. I'm not the type of person that's going to tiptoe around those subjects. So for me, it's like, all right, let's take that subject off the table, because if I talk about that subject, it's, you know, somebody's going to be sad and I don't want, you know, last thing about how you deal with hecklers though. Um, I, it's a, it's funny because we, there's a group, a Facebook group in the Denver comedy scene that we all kind of collaborate and talk to each other about things. And that was one of the situations was how do we deal with hecklers as of late. And everybody's trying more progressive solutions, you know, for me, it's, I, I, I hate to say it because it's such an old school way of thinking, but I use the intimidation factor. I'm like, you know, I'm, I'm like, before I, before I got in the comedy game, I was a hustler. I was in the streets. It was, you know, it was gang member. I was, you know, I was like a rapper. You know, I was dope dealer that went into the comedy game. You know, I should have been a rapper, you know. Um, but that's, I use the intimidation factor and you know, me talking about the drug content on stage and me talking about prison and me talking, I don't really run into a whole lot of hecklers just because the material and the way I carried myself in them and, and, you know, everything about my set is like, I don't really want to tell this guy anything, you know, so. So I did want to talk to you about one thing, right? So you being, like you said, like a Hispanic guy, I got to, I got to say Hispanic guy. So a Hispanic guy from Denver, right? There was recently a video that made national news, like about a woman in Lakewood at a apartment complex. You know what I mean? A Caucasian woman. Yes. Stuff like that. And there was some Hispanics throwing a pool party at the apartment complex that they live in. You know what I mean? It like made national news and she was saying some like she was she kind of lost it a little bit. You know what I mean? I wouldn't say a little bit, but you know, like I what was your thoughts about about that? And do you think that that's something that happens more often than not? It's, it's funny when when we talk about because in my opinion, in my in reality, in my reality, I guess you could say, there's two sides to the state of Colorado and there's two sides to Denver itself. There's the country folk, you know, I have another little joke that says if you're on the on the west on the east side of I 25, we tip our hats like this. We're on the west side of I 25, we're like what's up? You know what I mean? Like so in that there's two different sides of Denver, you know, and and for those that know Denver, the way I know Denver, the Hente Chicanos actually built Denver in like the late 70s, early 80s. It was built by, you know, the Hispanic population. We were very, very large Hispanic community. We still are very large Hispanic community. But I feel like Denver and Colorado has always had that two sides to the book. It was a lot of country folk, you know, hanging out and a lot of the Hente, a lot of a lot of the culture, a lot of the ethnicity. And I'm not just talking about Hispanic culture. I mean, there's so much diverse culture in the city of Denver. When I was growing up, a lot of the quick Newton projects, a lot of my friends out in Denver and a lot of the people I ran with were actually Sue Indians, you know, so there's just a whole, whole, whole diverse gumbo when it comes to Denver. But I feel like it's either in the ethnic pot or it's in the good old country boy pot. You know, so it just kind of depends on what you want. You know, cowboy chili or do you want green chili? You know, I'll let you go ahead and dance around it. Good there with that two step. But no, you don't have to answer. But I do feel a Hispanic opinion about it because I mean, I have my own opinions about it. But you know what I mean? Like what's like with the video? Okay, I run Colorado's only bilingual comedy room down in Denver, which is at Tracy's Brewering, right across the street from Malhi Stadium, great beer, great place to hang out. And we had this similar situation happen. Was it last season? I think it was last season. We had a lady where she was attending. And I usually make an announcement. Hey, you know, we're doing comedy 10 minutes, be prepared, blah, blah, blah. I'd say about a good half hour, 45 minutes into the comedy sets. I have a handful of comedians down in Denver that actually do their sets in just Spanish like only Spanish comedy. And she started no comprender no comprender. I don't know what you guys are saying blah, blah, like started heckling the show. So I got up there. And I you know, I let we'd let the comic finish get up there. And I told the people I was like, man, you guys are letting your privilege show tonight. You know, so that's the type of response that I'm going to give you if you, you know, put that out there towards us or you know, because my biggest thing and it doesn't matter your culture, your heritage, your creed, your religion, your sex, your preference, whatever the case may be. As comedians, this is art. This is an art form. At the end of the day, it's an art form. And, you know, I can't, I'm not, I'm not a painter. You know, I'm not going to, I can't make my art and then put it on the wall for you to look at for forever. I'm not a film maker. You know, I can't make a film and then, you know, it's on your shelf for forever. You know, I'm a comedian. My set has to have you involved. It has to have you there to listen to me in order for me to give you my art form. So for us to pour our hearts out in our art form and for you to come back and be like, you know, especially in the Hispanic heritage, that's not going to fly. So what would you tell a young, aspiring comedian or an old, what would you tell them about, you know what I mean, getting in the game? What do they need to know? Or what skillset do they need to? It's a journey. It's a journey for sure. And thick skin is one of the key elements, man. I remember, early on, I always, I've always had a hothead. You know, I've always had a hothead being where I'm from. Like I said, I would always meet animosity with animosity. And I remember one of my friends saying, he's like, bro, you can't be a comedian if you don't have thick skin. He's always going to work. He's off. You're gonna be hotheaded like that every time somebody jokes and clowns on you or whatever. He was going to work. So yeah, the sensitivity thing. You got to get over that because you're gonna be told no, you're gonna be told this, you're gonna be told that you're gonna be told you're not good enough, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's it's a journey. And everybody's got their own journey. You can't sit here and be like, Oh, I should have, I should have got that water bottle. I should be my one. I can't do that. You know, your water will come. You just got to, you got to keep hustling and your day will come, you know, you can't stop. Like my biggest thing is I haven't stopped COVID jail. I shut down the jail, did a show in jail. Like, I haven't really stopped. I say 1011 years because it was there was times where, you know, I wasn't able, I was in jail or a writer's block or whatever the case may be. But, you know, there was still opportunities. Like I said, I was in, I was in Boulder County. I shut Boulder County down, did a whole show while I was in there. You know what I mean? So one of the key things for me is, you know, I didn't stop. I put everything I had into it. There's nights where you cry, you laugh, you, you, you know, blood guts, whatever, man, you keep going. It's going to suck. There's going to be times where you're like, oh my God, I'm like caught now I was built for this, you know what I mean? And and then there's nights where you're like, oh my God, what just happened? What am I doing with my life? Like this is not working, you know? And then like I said, you know, you can't be like, you know, how come he got that piece of pie? That's my piece of pie. Like, can't think like that, you know, that's going to, that's going to tear you up. All right. So I want to ask you some quick questions, right? So who's your favorite comedian? New school or old school? Is there there's a difference? Because well, then and then old school is a lot different than let's go old school. A lot of see there's and then old school is a lot different for me now too, because like when my dad, when I watched my dad watch comedy, it was, you know, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, the greats, you know, and and then I started getting into my own, you know, flavor and like any Griffin and Eddie Murphy and, you know, um, and those guys are considered old now. You know what I mean? So who's so who's your guy? So, you know, and then you have like my guy right now that I love the death is is Mike Epps and Ali Sadiq. Okay. Because they come from the same, the same background, you know, troubles with the law or got your, got your life together, you know, back at it, get out there, you know, I give, I give Cat Williams a lot of props to because he went through his whole, you know, fall down, whatever he went through and he's trying, he's trying again, you know, so I give anybody that that that, you know, who's ever been through that part where you have to completely fall down on your face completely and then get back up and be like, all right, I messed up, let me get my life together again, get back at it. Is there a comedian that you would say doesn't do it? Can you ask that? Like as a comedian, like, you know, NBA players, they know who can play and who can't, right? Yeah, is there a comedian that can that or that you feel that doesn't bring it that's really like high up there? Like, you know what I mean? That's, I mean, like, it's comedy is so it's such a weird place because comedy can bring you up so high and then comedy will throw you back down on the ground so hard. And I mean, look at like Carlos Mencia, you know what I'm saying? He he got to the point where he was doing his thing TV shows, specials, and then they said Joe Rogan called him out and said, No, bro, you're fake. You're fake. You know, there was a whole thing at the comedy store in LA, Joe Rogan called him out and said you're fake, you're not a real comedian. Because you know, Joe, he's got stand up in his in his past. So they start calling him out on all these jokes, you know, he gets thrown down to the ground, nobody wants him, nobody wants anything to do with him. And as of lately, he's actually been grinding it out again, he's grinding it out again, getting back out there. He's going to be at the comedy works, I think here pretty quick in like the fall. And he was just in Fort Collins not too long ago as well. But, you know, that for me is like, okay, you, you, you made it, you did your thing. You, you know, you've had your trial and tribulation. And now you're going back to it. Because there is an opportunity for him to go back and be able to get back to that spot where you're at. So that motivates you as well. You know, people grind like that. I mean, I love to see people grind. I love to see people hustle. I love to see people, you know, not give up. That's my biggest thing is I've seen, you know, people stop comedy, you know, come in, do a couple years. And then I'm out, you know, also too, you've seen the bottom. Yeah. So you know what I mean, it just it's just a different get up once you've seen the very bottom, you know, yeah, it's I do, I do take everything I appreciate everything like anything that comes my way. I'm in awe. I mean, we did like I was, you know, talking to you before the podcast and I was telling you, you know, as of late, I'd say been like three, four, like four, three, four years now, I've been completely done with the system. And since I've been completely done with the system, I've been able to go to Cleveland, North Carolina, Chicago, San Diego, Philadelphia, South Dakota, all these other just to do comedy, you know what I mean? And, you know, for me, the the Oz and the wiles because growing up in Denver, I, you know, I had some some points where we, you know, we'd go to California, we go here with her, but it wasn't a lot of traveling. And then I started getting in trouble. So it was being in the streets and being in the system, being in the streets, being in the system. So basically my whole life, I live that, you know, and then when I got home and I completely left everything behind and we, you know, we started hitting the road with comedy. I was like, oh my God, you know, I was in Chicago and I'm like, oh my God, the train's above me. You know, like this is crazy. You know, I just that wow, that all factor for me is what, you know, I'm so appreciative of everything that comes my way. Newspaper articles, magazines, you know, going to, you know, eating Chicago dogs downtown Chicago by the river, you know, you know, eating porterhouse steaks in South Dakota, you know, at the casinos and Deadwood. That's just that's the wind. Yeah, I mean, it's a it's a victory. Yeah, right at the end of the day. Yeah, I mean, so what's what's been your your your favorite, most favorite venue to perform it? Um, what am I? Well, it's kind of a toss up because it the club switched over. So I haven't been out there yet since it switched over from COVID. But it was the Comedy Palace in San Diego. I'm getting ready to go back out there probably in like October, we'll figure something out. But it's now the mic drop in San Diego. That's it's the new comedy club there. But the Comedy Palace in San Diego, that was a beautiful spot, beautiful fun room. That was actually one of my first road gigs too. So I love I love that little area, that little room. And then the punchline and Philly, the punchline and Philly man is so much fun. Just walking in the door doing what I was doing and walking out knowing that I'm a pro in their club, knowing that, you know, I can drop into Philly tomorrow and be like, Hey, let me jump on a set, you know, and that's, you know, just being able to do that is is an amazing feeling. And not just professional yet, not not just, you know, shows in the breweries either. We're talking the comedy clubs, you know, so that's, it's, you know, big ass wall with everybody's name. Yeah, I was sitting there, I was sitting there in Philly. And there's obviously there's a picture of Kevin on the wall, you know, Kevin Hardie's from Philly. And I'm thinking of my, and all these signatures of all these comedians that have been there underneath his picture. And I, you know, my name's on there. My name's on that wall. And it's just like, Wow, like, this is crazy, you know, and think eight years ago, I was sitting in a cell, you know, being approached by my public defender, and he was like, I don't know we're going to get out of this one. You know what I mean? It's like signed right here. Signed walls with everybody's name on it. Exactly. But my thing is this. So you have a festival this year. Let's touch. Let's talk about that. So Vatos Locos Comedy Festival is actually, like I said, I run Colorado's only bilingual comedy room down in Denver, which is a true bilingual comedy room. We do sets in Spanish. We do sets in Spanish. And we do sets in English. It doesn't really matter. I always tell, you know, audience and comedians, we do both. We don't be hesitant to come in and check out a show. It's a very vibrant show. It's an awesome show. But we do that. Like I said, I see his last Wednesdays of the month. And we were, I was approached by a buddy in Greeley by the name of Rudy Garcia. And he had the idea of doing a show at the Moxie with one of the original Latin Kings of comedy, Joey Medina. And I was like, yeah, I'm in. Let's do it. You know, let's let's see what we can get out of it. And it was a sold out show. We sold it out, had to bring even more chairs, more tables in. Great show. And then I said, okay, let's let's try something different next year. So we brought him to Ryesey's in Denver. And then we brought him to the speakeasy here in Longmont. And then we took him back out to Greeley. And we had we had success. We didn't have great success in Greeley. We had some good success here in Longmont. They usually come out to the speakeasy for comedy here in Longmont. And obviously, we had a bunch of successive Ryesey's in Denver. And after we did the three shows, I was like, we need to turn this into a festival. This has to be a festival now. And I want to highlight bilingual comics from across the country, not just in our area, not just, you know, because obviously, we know that there's bilingual comics in Latino and Hente coming out, you know, every month to support the show. So let's see who's really out there. And so I was like, okay, this year, we're going to do it as a festival. We put out submissions. And it's just been overwhelming the amount of support and the amount of just I never knew we had a submission from Delaware the other day. And it's like, oh, I'm like, oh, my God, I'm like, Delaware. I'm like, what are we doing? I was like, we got tax-free Mexicans in Delaware? Like, what is going on? Like, how are we up in Delaware, you know? And so when so when is this thing going? It's September 27th through the 30th. And it's going to be a rae season Denver bar 38 in Denver, the speakeasy here in Longmont. And then it's going to end at the moxie and Greeley. And we are looking for sponsors. We are looking for sponsors, sponsor sponsors, we need sponsors. So that's cool. But you bring up to speakeasy, right? Yes. That's your home court. Yeah, what's your that's your, you know what I mean? That's your space right there. This is yeah, the speakeasy. How do you how do you find comics for that? Oh, dude, well, I am in rotation at the at the comedy works. And being rotation, you know, you you earn your chops, you go from a new name and then they put you in a in a basically like a freshman, sophomore, senior category. And you work your way up. And so I'm in rotation at the comedy works. I have a lot of a lot of different connections I can pull from and listen to that. And yeah, I'm in the the speakeasy is is crazy the way that shows started. It originally started at the opera house across the street at the Dickens. And it was just it was, I mean, for those that have been up there and those that know the area of the opera house, it is such a huge venue that I mean, you put 75 people in there, it still looks like 25 people, you know. So there are issues with the contract and, you know, who was making money X, Y and Z. So we ended that relationship. And at that time, Sarah was opening the speakeasy. And I had walked in there on like a Friday night, it was like six or seven and nothing was going on locals in there just hanging out. And I told her I was like, I was like, let me do a show on a Friday here, you know, her DJ comes in later on in the evening. So I said, I'll jump in there right before the DJ comes and then we'll be out of his way, you know, I'm just a speaker of stand and a microphone, you know, she was like, go ahead, you know, knock yourself out. And yeah, dude, we've been there down there 10 years now. It's doing comedy down there. And I've had people from HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, just movie stars, original Latin Kings comedy and any comedian locally reach out to you on that. Yeah, just hit me up. I got a few rooms up and down the front range. So yeah, just reach out. Side splitting entertainment. And yeah, we'll get you in the system, get you going man. Yeah, shout out to Sarah to speak easy. Yeah. Third in Maine, man, if you guys are in Longmont, man, check it out. Great spot. Nice intimate setting, especially for comedy. What nights do you do? It's Speakeasy's is last Friday's of the month at 7pm. And that's password comedy. You can usually do reservations online too. When we do the bigger names, we do door only stuff like that. But when we do on the regular regular nights, you can get online, put a reservation in, get you a table. Yeah. No, bro. But I just like I said, man, you've been grinding for a minute, you've seen the bottom, you've came out of that, you have beautiful family now, you you have your head on straight, your career ahead of you, man. And it's just a beautiful thing, man, to see, to witness. Yeah. And I want to, like I said, I want to give you your flowers now. Look before you blow up. I appreciate it because yeah, I was, I was talking to the Denver Post the other day too. And they were, you know, they were asking me about levels of success. And, and, you know, I tell them, you know, coming from where I'm coming from, the Quig Newton Housing Authority in Denver, you know, and being out here in the Gooseberry neighborhood, you know, condo, front yard, you know, I got a pug, you know, a tea cup, Chihuahua, you know, I got, I got a rabbit that runs around in my front yard, you know, picked that with Australia, New Zealand Australian rabbit or something like that. Kids got that. Yeah, man, it's the level of success is just, I mean, yeah, we could always, who wouldn't love a couple of specials and, you know, maybe a, maybe a movie or two. But, you know, coming from where I'm coming from, like I said, I appreciate everything that comes my way. So being able to, you know, have my home and be where I'm at. That's, that's the true success. That's the true accomplishment there. So man, that's a blessing, man. So outside of the festival, right? And we're gonna post the dates up on that flyer or whatever like that. And then to speak ease of the last Friday of the month. Last Friday of the month. Is there any other things you have going on? We just added to here in Longmont, here in Longmont, we just added outworld brewing to our calendar too. And that's probably going to be and that's out on one 19. Yeah, one 19 out on the other side of Stan, sandstone by the car dealerships out there, outworld brewing shout out to the last that address up on here too. Beautiful, beautiful place black on black on place. Oh, yeah, we're definitely going to blast that but no, it's it's a cool little venue. We're going to do I believe it's third Thursdays of the month. It was an open Mike type deal for the longest. We're going to switch it over to do a regular show, get some bigger comics up this way as well. So it's a it's it's coming around. It's coming around. So the process brother. Yeah, like I said, man, proud of you, bro. Keep doing your thing, man. You know, I'm saying I appreciate you coming here. I appreciate you having it. I look forward to seeing some more videos and stuff like that. And also to what is it again? The Instagram side splitting entertainment all platforms side splitting is side splitting ET on Twitter side splitting, side splitting ENT on Instagram and then just comedian Ricky Ramos on Facebook or whatever. Give me a follower or whatever. Hey, man, you heard it here, man. King Penny Ricky. Don't forget about the deadlift competition tomorrow at the Waipowl on the Rockies, man. Even if you're not competing, come support, man. Show some love. Hey, you're on your local what are the prizes? What are the prizes? Hey, man, cash, cash and prizes, man. You know what I mean? You show up and get your lift on. You can find out. You know what I'm saying? We lift the mics. What kind of cash is it? Is it legal currency or is it like are you paying again or what? Violin, okay? Violin with pesos? And you're paying the pesos. Oh my God, man. King Penny. This is episode A is the rap, man. Got the comedian Ricky Ramos, man. Stay in touch, man. I'll let you guys later. Thank you, long month. Bro, you don't get the last word. I went through an episode too with somebody with a fresh in my mind. Nobody gets the last word from King Penny. We're out of here. Ricky Ramos, everybody. Fort Collins. I swear to God, I'll be the last Mexican you see tonight. I swear to God, there was only three of us. The four, the four pulled up to Home Depot and they were like, we need three Mexicans for comedy tonight. Me, JD, and Paul, we jumped in, bro, we jumped in. We got here as soon as we could. I was going to hype y'all up, man, because I love coming back to Fort Collins, especially here. It used to be Hodes. I used to host rap concerts for BKG and them. Yeah, I was going to hype y'all up, man. I was going to get y'all with me. Oh, man, y'all love that energy I bring to the table, but y'all don't want to see that because that was my rap days. OK, they used to call me the misdemeanor beaner back in the day. Then I caught two felonies that was over real quick. I'm I'm nervous. I'm a little nervous to be here with y'all tonight. For real, I had to cut my ankle bracelet off to be here with y'all tonight. I did. I kicked that bad boy around the Chihuahua. I was like, Meehaw, I told the oldest one, Meehaw, don't let him out of the yard and we'll get you Dairy Queen on the way home. OK. Stereotypes, I love stereotypes. I love them to death, man. My favorite stereotype. I love speaking stereotypes. Let's stop real quick, because as soon as I walked in, y'all looked at me pretty funny. OK, yes, I am a probation. OK, we already explained, OK. I accidentally sent a picture of my dick to my probation officer. It's all good. My public defender already informed me. It's just a small violation. Don't worry. Yes, I am on probation. Yes, I do have cocaine for sale after the show. All you don't do drugs. Well, guess what? You guys, you're in luck. Yes, I have tamales for sale after the show. I got red and green. We're going to hook you guys up tonight. Oh, you don't do tamales. They're too spicy. Well, guess what? I have empanadas for sale. You see, some of the white people are lost, y'all. Some of the white people are lost. Let's think of them as like artisan or artesian handpipes. I don't know how to say that. Fucking alert it is. Stereotypes. My favorite stereotype. No matter where we go, no matter where we touch down, it's the same thing. Little old white lady, she sees me coming out the comedy club middle of the night. Boom. What does she do? She sees me neck tattoos. Clenches the purse. I hate that stereotype because it throws me back because it's like, bitch, you really think you're stronger than me right now? Is that what's going on? I hate that. Stronger than old ladies. Covid shut us down, man. Covid shut us down, man. I had to do shows locally. Like I did a show in Wyoming. I was doing crowd work. I was like, hey, Wyoming, what do you guys do out here for fun? I swear to God, when I was wearing the front pushes chair out, he was like, we fly kite, bro. I was like, what's going on right now? His wife poked her head around. She was like, yeah, and he's good at it too. Little science behind that shit. But we went to Salt Lake City. That's the rice cake of America. You bite into that bad boy, you're like, where's the flavor? It scared me because there's no Mexicans in Salt Lake City. For the first time in my life, I swear to God, I thought I felt like a black guy. I thought I saw one. I thought I saw one Sunday when we were leaving for the airport. I was like, I ran over. I hooked him in shit. It was a fucking Filipino dude. I was like, oh, this is bullshit. I love it, man. I love it. Summertime, man. Summertime's coming. Let's get ready, especially the ladies. I love the summertime, man, because y'all don't need nothing to the imagination. Except for when you be like, talk to a girl, you look down at her toes, you're like, oh, shit. What is that? See, some of you ladies didn't laugh because it's either you or the homegirl. She got the toenail coming over the sandal. The paint's all chipped on it. Looks like an old childhood playground. She got a mole with hair coming out. It's like a Fragile Rock character. I don't know whether to take you to the mall, get a pedicure, take you to the river to fish with me. Shit. You take her up to the pooter canyon. She's been snatched to fish out the waterfall. Four calls, y'all been beautiful. I reckon very much that's my call.