 So I was at TSU in Houston, and my mom and my dad split. My dad, how he got through his divorce, he used to go to the comedy club, just what he used to do. He used to have huge companies for him. I grew up with comedy in the house. Couldn't really watch certain movies when I was coming up, but when he came to stand up, he just let me watch it. And that's kind of like what we bonded over. And I kind of got a lot of constant about life just being around my dad because that's like my mom was around my dad. We just need him all the time, everything. So I turned 16 and I started working. And being in shit in the house and helping my dad, he treated me different. Like he treated me like, hey man, you a man now. So we would go out, we would go to the comedy club. And at the time, in Houston, the comedy club was just joking. So a lot of big names out of Houston came from there. So it was the only black comedy club in the city. And the improv wouldn't there yet. So really, there was some white comedy clubs, but they didn't book any black acts like that. So that's where all the mainstream black acts would come to. So we'd go there and go watch comedy and shit. And I knew when I was in high school that I wanted to stand up, but there was no class. I was a journalism major. I was on track to go and do TV reporting and news report. But in my head, I didn't want to do this shit every day. I didn't want to talk about the news. You know what I mean? I just, I knew what I liked. That was funny, man. Chico said the same exact name. That's how you got into it. I was going to the comedy club, man. So I knew then that was it. So of course you don't want to jump out and be like, yo, I want to do comedy. No, your parents got the idea for you there. Going to school and shit. So I was on a scholarship. I went to school. Everything was going good. And then with my homeboy CP, Chris Pierce, this nigga worked in the enrollment office. And he worked in registrar's office. He was like, man, I got a way I can put like 20 genes in your pocket. And I was like, all right, what's up? What's the move? He was like, just give me your social. And I got you. I was like, all right. I was like, so you telling me I gave you my social. And that's it. And I mean, mind you, Chris was the first person I ever got drunk with. I ever got drunk. First off, I have been drinking. In Texas, everybody drink. I thought I couldn't get drunk. So he brought the biggest goddamn thing a gene I'd ever seen. Who's in college? I think I had the genes with the handle on it. Bumpy face. He was like, he's calling me rookie. He said, rookie, you can't drink with me, man. So I'm drinking this goddamn gene. We free pouring this shit out into a cup. I'm fucked up. That's how we got cool. I went out, cussed out three of my neighbors, pulled my dick out on one of these bitches that was the senior that was, that was fine. And after that dog, he was like, man, shit, you can't hang with this dog, you can't even know his friend. So he told me that shit about the 20 Gs. I was like, cool, I gave him my social. He gave it to me. Three days later, he brought me my transcript, printed out. And then he had changed six grades. He changed all my Cs to Bs and all my Bs to As. Took my GPA from like a 3.2 to a 368. I ended up getting a scholarship on top of the scholarship I already had and some grant money. So they gave me a huge refund chain. Walked away with like, at the end of it, like $19,000. 19 with 19 Gs. I was like, nigga, I'm lit. It's home. So I'm thinking life is cool. I was trying to get online for capital. Started going through that process. Everything was good. The one that he called me and told me, hey, man, you go to the registrar's office. I just scheduled it. I was like, cool. I go to the registrar's office and in there, it's like two hundred people. What the fuck everybody doing in here? School, police department came in. Then the vice president, the person who came in and came in and told us, all y'all kicked out of school. Y'all are to be escorted from school campus. Y'all should not come back home. You trust passive for academic dishonesty. So it's like people that sit in the band, basketball players, like all tech people. So immediately I called Chris. I'm like, Chris, what the fuck? And they gonna answer the phone and text me back. He's like, man, I had to run to Louisiana. Make that money, make sense for yourself. They can't do nothing to you. They can't take you to jail. You ain't do shit. All they can do is to speak to you. So I ended up having me say, request a student here and then you'll be all right. I requested a student here and then the student here and they was like, okay, not gonna expel you, but you're gonna be suspended from school for two semesters. Which is basically a fall in the spring. It was in the middle of the spring. So I had to go through a whole fall in the spring. I'm back in the fall of the fall. So that was the spring of 2003. So I was kicked out the rest of the spring and all of 2004. And that's when I said, fucking, I ain't got nothing to lose. I got some seed money. I started going to the comedy club and going on stage. So that's what kind of kept me sane cause I've been in school all this time. So I started doing coffee. I was going to the coffee club and the first show I did had a bunch of money. So I got drunk. Happy all over the year. I used to do this class called Roxy. I listened to Deep Brandy and I'll leave, you've been on the podcast, but this time, I'll leave. I just got out of jail. I've been in jail for like eight years. And so it was funny. Dahlki just did comedy for you. He was a young and big at the time and he just started kind of mentoring me. He was like, this is what you really want to do. And I'm like, yeah, he's like, why you want to do this? You think you're a fucking clown? You think you're a fucking goof? I was like, no, I was like, really? You know, I used to come and watch out niggas when I was just joking and shit. And I think that's what I want to do. And I know it won't hurt. That's what I want to do. It's like, all right. So he invited me to the home to do his room. But the first thing he did was, was like, you know, gave me all these things. Like, what's your point of view and who are you? I didn't get none of that. I didn't understand any of that shit. I was just like, I thought it was just to be fucking funny. So I go to the fucking comedy club. I get drunk and fucking drinks at the time. It's 50 cent, you call it. I mean, 50 cent, you can get a fucking shot of innocence. I think I spent about $12 in it, bitch. I bought a bunch of drinks for me and like three or four of my friends. It was all fucked up. Hand with jokes, I was gonna say what I thought was funny. I went on stage, started talking about fucking bitches and eating pussy and shit. He did well. He was mad the whole time though. He was like, that ain't comedy, nigga. You did, you gotta laugh, but that ain't what comedy about. So, all that nigga, you a hater. And so he invited me to his office the next day. At that point, I'm fucking hungover. I get there like nine in the morning. He say, go out the door and come back in. So I walked up the door and walked back in. He was like, all right, start your seat. And I was like, what? He was like, exactly, nigga. Go out the door and come back in. And basically what he was telling me was you weren't drunk. You ain't drunk right now. And comedy is about who you are and what you think, you know? And from there, I started thinking about comedy. It's different. So I was out of school there the whole year, got back in school, and I ended up giving a book by my classmates to do the homecoming comedy show. That was it. I started working at this comedy club. I was right off campus, right on like almost damn near on our school campus. Called the candy lady. I got a job working there and shit. I ran the open mic night. That's where I started my comedy. That's what I said. I said, well, it's the interesting part about being in a position to be next is always somebody that thought that it was gonna be next. Like the next thought is, it's a dangerous place to be in because you can always stay next. The play with black offices, theoretically, most times, it's hard. It's always they wanna pit and make it one nigga at a time like that. Hollywood doesn't know how to ingest all the variations of black men. They only see one type of black person at a time. That's how they know how to ingest, especially for comedy. Because, you know, for comedy, you can sway people's opinion about how they look at the world. A smart, edgy comic can sway your mind, say you can't have too many niggas running around here, change how people think about shit. It's like, you know how Kevin Hart thing, it's a safe bet, it's a move. Kevin work his ass off, you know what I'm saying? And I don't take nothing away from Kevin, I don't take nothing away from Mike or Ken, even our class. So I think our class is slightly different is because we play better together. We play way better together than other years did. You know, it was a grind for dude, it was a grind for us, but we play different. Like, shit, we get it, we know it ain't gonna be one thing that's going to put us over the top. That ain't real life. Like, example, Tiffany Haddish. Tiffany Haddish been doing comedy. She was like 12, 13, and she put in her dirt. And she did show after show after show after show, TV show after TV show after TV show after TV show to the point where Tiffany out talking and she's like, damn please, she's like, I'm working my ass off and I just gotta keep going and trust the system and keep working, you know? Sometimes I get in my head and wonder, is this for me? But I know it's for me because I've been doing this and this is what I'm supposed to do. Then she puts girls true and it's like, oh my God, Tiffany Haddish, where you been? But she been here the whole fucking time. And so that's just how it is. It's like, you gotta keep hitting that motherfucking bag and it ain't a really a next thing. It's like, you gotta put your time in and what's for you is for you. It's gonna happen. It's gonna happen, dawg. It's gonna happen for you if you do what you're supposed to do. Like I can't say this. Consistency is a motherfucking. Consistency is probably the hardest thing that keeps most, it's a lot of funny dudes out there, funnier than me. I mean, to me, that's funny. You're not as consistent. And consistency is a tell-tale, man. It's like, how well are you gonna work then? How are you gonna work? How consistent are you gonna be? How hard are you gonna work? And I mean, it don't cost money to work hard. It don't cost money. Like, they ain't gotta do what I tell them to do.