JUSTIN SILVA + ASHLEY COTTO + NEW BABY

Summary

Podcast Summary: Chente Ydrach – JUSTIN SILVA + ASHLEY COTTO + NEW BABY

Date: July 13, 2026
Host: Chente Ydrach
Guests: Justin Silva (comedian), Ashley Cotto (Justin’s partner)
Theme: Comedy, family, cultural identity, and the realities of stand-up life

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Overview

This entertaining and heartfelt episode features comedian Justin Silva and his partner Ashley Cotto in conversation with Chente Ydrach. The trio dives deep into:

• The chaos and joys of parenting, especially with a new baby in a large family
• Justin’s multicultural roots and their influence on his personal and comedic life
• The grind and vulnerability of a stand-up comedy career
• Cultural differences, language barriers, and surviving in both English and Spanish settings
• The healing and transformative power of comedy during life’s hardest moments

The episode mixes humor with honest discussion about grief, ambition, and the support systems that keep creators going.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Parenting, Family Culture & Big Families

Timestamps: [00:51–04:46; 23:57–24:26]

• Ashley on New Motherhood:
  • "It's been good. I mean, a little challenging, but I'm happy and excited." (Ashley, 01:07)
• Justin on his Dream of a Big Family:
  • Justin says he now dreams of having a large family, influenced by his love for being a parent:
    "I dream of...me with, like, four kids." (Justin, 02:23)
• The Importance of a Family Home:
  • Chente reflects on his wife’s family home in Vega Baja as a central meeting space, especially during holidays.
  • "The importance of a house where everyone gathers. When you're young, you don't appreciate that shit." (Chente, 02:58)
• Humor even in Parenting Mishaps:
  • Justin shares being the family’s go-to for baby vomit stories:
    "Ashley feeds him, she give them to me, and I'm like, hi, Poppy. And he just throws up right to my mouth. I hate that shit." (Justin, 01:45)
• Grief in Family:
  • Justin shares that he and Ashley lost one of their children and the challenge of performing during that time:
    "So we actually have seven kids. One of them passed away. I had to do a show that Saturday. We lost the baby on Sunday." (Justin, 24:19)

2. Identity, Roots, and Multicultural Upbringing

Timestamps: [04:16–06:03; 30:02–32:38]

• Justin’s Heritage:
  • His mother is Puerto Rican/Dominican; father is Cape Verdean/Portuguese.
  • "Now people know about Cabo Verde. I would literally say, I'm K Verde. And they're like, what is that?" (Justin, 04:52)
• Geographical and Cultural Differences:
  • Fun banter about how people identify with islands (Puerto Rico vs. Cape Verde).
• Language Barriers:
  • Justin laments not speaking better Spanish, saying he and his grandmother have very short conversations.
    "My grandmother...We talk, but the conversations are short, bro." (Justin, 30:13)
  • Attempts at Spanish with Chente result in humorous exchanges.
    "I take little words and I run with it." (Justin, 67:22)

3. From Electrician to Comedy Star – Justin’s Trajectory

Timestamps: [06:34–08:07; 39:39–41:48; 46:07–48:06]

• Past Work & Near-Death Electrician Stories:
  • Justin recounts being an electrician and the mishaps that nearly injured him.
    "I actually have my linesman. I put together two wires in the hospital...Blew a hole in my linesman." (Justin, 07:30)
• Comedy Hustle:
  • Talks about self-managing early on, hustling through generic managers, and eventually growing his team.
  • "I have the best team right now. I have the best team." (Justin, 41:39)

4. The Comedy Life: Craft, Tour Stories & Personal Process

Timestamps: [16:06–23:33; 32:38–38:54]

• Constantly Evolving Material:
  • Justin explains that he evolves his set with every tour, feeling a responsibility to keep it fresh for returning fans:
    "I always got to change something up." (Justin, 17:47)
  • Compares the process to musicians—musicians can repeat songs, but comedians can't repeat jokes.
• Touring Success:
  • Shares pride in selling out more shows than ever in 2026, moving from clubs to theaters.
    "2026 has been a big blessing for me, bro. Big blessing...Selling out the most shows I've ever did in my life." (Justin, 31:33)
• Challenge Performing After Loss:
  • Justin’s candid about performing just after losing a child:
    "Ain't shit. Funny, bro. Ain't shit. I never dealt with that...And I gotta go out there and make them laugh." (Justin, 24:53)
• Comedy's Healing Power:
  • Justin shares that fans have told him his work literally saved their lives:
    "I was about to do something. I was about to kill myself...I was on your page for a whole hour. Watching your videos. You saved my life." (Justin, 22:34)

5. Sports, Culture, and Representation

Timestamps: [08:28–13:14]

• Soccer Boredom & World Cup:
  • Hilarious critique of soccer’s drawn-out endings:
    "Soccer is pretty boring to watch...It's nonstop. Yes. Nonstop nothing." (Justin, 09:35)
  • Connection to Cape Verde’s World Cup viral moment, likening it to "Cool Runnings", and the story of an electrician-turned-goalie (Vozina).
• WNBA Debate:
  • Debate over Shaq's suggestion to lower rims for the WNBA to encourage more dunks.
    "I think that'd be awesome and entertaining for us because then we'll watch Girls Dunk." (Justin, 13:34)
  • Honest banter about gender, attractiveness, and dunking in women’s basketball.

6. Clubs, Venues, & Audience Vibes

Timestamps: [32:38–38:54; 59:19–62:36]

• Comedy Clubs vs. Theaters:
  • The difference in energy and dynamics between intimate clubs and big theaters.
    "Performing in a theater, you don't hear the laughs in the back...I only see these people smiling and laughing." (Justin, 36:24)
  • Club shows are often more explosive and fun for fans than remote, large venues.
• Disaster Show Stories:
  • Recalls a Puerto Rico theater show plagued by venue issues and logistical nightmares.
• Performing in Jail:
  • Justin’s account of doing shows in prison:
    "I was nervous...two hundred fucking diesel dudes...I picked the most toughest guy...you're scaring the out of me. And they all just broke out laughing." (Justin, 58:13)

7. Language, Bilingual Performance, and Puerto Rico Connection

Timestamps: [64:01–68:47]

• English vs. Spanish Sets:
  • Justin is clear: his sets in PR are in English, with a sprinkle of Spanish:
    "You have to let them know it will be an English show." (Justin, 63:59)
• Navigating Language Logistics:
  • Both discuss sending show info in English or Spanish to cater to diverse audiences.
• Learning Spanish:
  • Justin (humorously) struggles to converse in Spanish, reflecting the Latino diaspora’s code-switching reality.

8. Comedy, Vulnerability, and Finding Material

Timestamps: [43:49–46:07; 53:14–54:20]

• Balancing Family and Comedy:
  • Ashley plays a key role in helping Justin discover bits from everyday stories.
  • "My favorite person when it comes to writing my jokes is this woman right here, Ashley. She’s a beast." (Justin, 44:35)
• Storytelling Roots:
  • Justin has always been a storyteller; even as a kid, he was voted class clown.
• Turning Pain into Material:
  • Urologist/doctor jokes, embarrassing checkups, and sex jokes as fruitful ground for standup.
    "I haven’t come up with a bit yet because I haven’t found humor in it yet." (Justin, 54:20)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On the Grind:
  • "I'm temporarily motivated to be permanently lazy." (Justin, 06:45)
• On Performing Through Grief:
  • "Ain’t shit funny, bro...And I gotta go out there and make them laugh. Fuck what I’m going through, you gotta laugh." (Justin, 24:53)
• On Saving Lives Through Laughter:
  • "If I can save one life, bro. I’m doing my job. I’m doing God’s job." (Justin, 22:34)
• On Family Communication:
  • "My grandmother...We talk, but the conversations are short, bro." (Justin, 30:13)
• On the WNBA Rim Debate:
  • "I think that’d be awesome...because then we’ll watch girls dunk.” (Justin, 13:34)
• On Comedy Clubs vs. Theaters:
  • "Performing in a theater, you don’t hear the laughs in the back...I was scared. Am I not funny?" (Justin, 36:24)
• On Stage Fright in Jail Shows:
  • "I picked the most toughest guy. He had tattoos on his scalp. I was like, hey, bro, you’re scaring the out of me. And they all just broke out laughing." (Justin, 58:13)
• On Language & Identity:
  • “I take little words and I run with it.” (Justin, 67:22)

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Noteworthy Segment Timestamps

• Ashley and parenthood: 01:07–01:54
• Justin’s multicultural background: 04:31–05:41
• Electrician stories: 06:34–08:07
• Soccer, Cape Verde, and sports banter: 08:28–10:29
• Comedy vs. music – material process: 18:08–19:05
• Performing after loss: 24:19–25:17
• Comedy clubs vs. theater: 36:02–36:45
• Performing in jail: 57:12–59:19
• Language struggle: 64:01–68:47

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Final Thoughts

This episode showcases the intersection of comedy and real life, where laughter, sorrow, hustle, and community all intermingle. Justin’s stories—whether about family chaos, cultural identity, the perils of DIY electrical work, or bringing joy inside a prison—reveal how standup is both a vocation and a lifeline. Through all, Ashley’s presence grounds the conversation, while Chente’s probing, playful curiosity makes for an engaging and relatable listen.

"If I can save one life, bro. I'm doing my job. I'm doing God's job." (Justin, 22:34)
A fitting reminder of comedy’s deeper purpose beneath the jokes and applause.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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Payment of dollar forty five for three months, ninety dollars for six months, or one hundred eighty dollars for twelve month plan required dollar fifteen per month, equivalent to taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only greater than fifty gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy. C terms.

[B]

Señoras y señores, ladies and gentlemen, we have a great show ahead of us. It's probably going to be mostly in English. ¿What's up?

[A]

I love it. ¿What's happening? Un poquito, sí. Yo puedo hablar español.

[B]

¿Mira, Ashley, how's motherhood been with the sixth, baby?

[A]

It's been good. I mean, a little challenging, but I'm happy and excited.

[B]

This is like, obviously you know more than I about parenting. ¿But isn't this the best? The best.

[A]

I like it. All they do is eat, sleep and

[B]

look cute even while vomiting.

[A]

Yeah. Until it vomits on you.

[B]

Even that is cute.

[A]

Now when it's hanging from a lip, I hate it. I hate just be. There ain't nothing cute. Vomiting is cute. He vomit on his face before. He only throws up on me out of everyone in the house. Ashley feeds him, she give them to me, and I'm like, hi, Poppy. And he just throws up right to my mouth. I hate that shit. I do a lot of my life. I hate it.

[B]

A lot of people, for sure, in your DM's or even in private conversations. A lot of people. Tell you guys like six.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

¿Isn't that too much? Every time I would love, I grew up in a small my family, we were me and my sister, obviously, my two parents. But somehow I dream of now this is a new dream in my life since my first baby, I love it so much that I visualize me with, like, four kids.

[A]

¿You want more?

[B]

I want more. But Vero is like, take it easy, bro.

[A]

It's hard.

[B]

Yeah, I bet it is. What's like the I love a big family.

[A]

Think about the holidays.

[B]

Get that closer to you when they all come around.

[A]

You know, that's gonna be fun Thanksgiving will be cool later. All the kids.

[B]

¿You know what I noticed the other day? My. My wife's, or my wife to be, because we're not married yet. Her dad has a house in Vega Baja. And none of my family have houses. We're all in apartments. They're all in apartments. And like he, we had a party. Her father does reunions of the family a lot. And I was like, the importance of a house where everyone gathers. When you're young, you don't appreciate that shit.

[A]

You don't understand it.

[B]

But it's so cool. And just sitting there, watch the old relatives get closer to death.

[A]

Damn. I didn't see that coming. ¿What just happened? This shit went so from Beautiful to. This was really happening. That's what I'm thinking. This might be my last buy. This is the last mendy Siong.

[B]

People watching in your family and people outside and drinking. Or, you know, it's it only can happen in a house full of family members. And if you have a big enough family, that happens in your house every day.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And you have that.

[A]

Yeah. But I don't look at people the way you do ten day. You just told me the way you

[B]

look at people that are getting closer to death.

[A]

I don't look at my grandma and be like, well, this could be it. I never did that. My last bendiciones. Jo de bendiga.

[B]

Oh, yeah. You told me before we started recording, I was talking to Justin. ¿And you told me because I wanted to understand Your lineage and your Puerto Rican and Dominican are from the same side, right?

[A]

That's my mom. Yeah. My grandma. One hundred percent Puerto Rican from out here. My grandfather, Dominican. Santa domingo.

[B]

Okay. And so what. ¿What's your dad?

[A]

My dad is now I can say it. Shout out to K Verd. My dad's K Verdian in Portuguese. Oh, well, before you could have say it, people didn't know. They didn't know. I could say, but I'd just be like yo. My dad's African. My dad's African.

[B]

You're saying because of their. Of their performance in the World Cup.

[A]

Yeah. Now. Now people know about Cabo Verde. Now they know about it. But before that, no one knew, I would literally say, I'm K Verde. ¿And they're like, what is that? ¿To this day, people still ask, what is that? ¿Where is it?

[B]

I'm looking at a map right now.

[A]

Yeah. My dad, it's on the west side of Africa. It's like it's like Puerto Rico. ¿It's an island off of Africa, huh?

[B]

Okay.

[A]

But it's beautiful.

[B]

Oh, okay. Okay. Wow. It's in the middle of nowhere.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

¿So why part like Puerto Rico? So they were conquered by.

[A]

You guys are just in the middle of nowhere. You're just off the edge of freaking Florida.

[B]

There's other countries nearby. Cab is like maybe five hundred miles off of Africa.

[A]

¿What countries do you guys have near Puerto Rico?

[B]

Dominicana.

[A]

¿How close is that?

[B]

Jamaica, Dominican Must be less than one hundred miles.

[A]

Less than one hundred miles.

[B]

I'm super guessing.

[A]

Super guessing.

[B]

I'm super guessing, anyways. But Caboele. Yeah, I understand. Now people are aware because of their it was uninstained. They did great showing.

[A]

They did great man shout out to Virginia.

[B]

It was so insane that I bet. ¿Do you remember the movie Cool Runnings? Yeah. ¿The Jamaican?

[A]

Yeah. Cool runnings. For you guys that didn't understand his role tongue. Cool runnings. I've never heard someone say like that. ¿You remember the movie Cool Running? That's just way. Better than the original.

[B]

This was such wow. There. There will be a soccer version called Cabo Verde Running.

[A]

Oh, they're gonna make a. Yeah, they're gonna make. They're gonna definitely make a documentary.

[B]

I heard. ¿I heard the goalie was an electrician, aren't you? ¿Weren't you an electrician?

[A]

¿Yeah, but how you know he was?

[B]

I. I think I read it somewhere. I'm not sure. If. Maybe that's a meme that, but.

[A]

Yeah, I used to do electrical. I still, you know, if she really needs something done in the house, I do it. But it takes a lot. I don't. I'm temporarily motivated to be permanently lazy.

[B]

¿What was your specialty as an electrician doing?

[A]

Whatever. My damn lamps. I thought you put a lot of lamps for your family. Just lamps. That's my specialty.

[B]

I can lamp electrician.

[A]

I do see what I'm saying you made how easy that she made. That sound.

[B]

Real easy.

[A]

I done put together a hospital. Not alone with help, obviously. But I've done outlets more than lamps, but lights were my thing, I guess. You know, people need some light structure. I used to run wires everywhere. Put dryers together and all that. Absolutely.

[B]

That happens a lot.

[A]

Yeah. I actually have my linesman. I put together two wires in the hospital. And I thought the electrical was cut off and I clamped them, squeezed them together. Blew a hole in my linesman.

[B]

¿What's a linesman?

[A]

A linesman is just like pliers. And I used it to tighten it. And I went to go cut them both. And I didn't know it was on. My elbow was touching the grid. You know how you have dropped ceilings. The whole building was grounded and the power was on. So when I touched the thing with my elbow and I touched the wire, that junk popped. Yeah. I got hit on the elbow, that junk hurt. And then my linesman just popped. Okay. Nah, nah. I didn't die. I'm here. I'm here, babe.

[B]

Okay, when that happens, do you need to keep working or can you say,

[A]

like, see you next week get me, I'd fall back. ¿I'm like, you know what? This isn't for me. I came down from my little ladder and I was like, All right. I don't think I should be doing this. You got. ¿Why didn't I start yelling at people? ¿Why you ain't telling me the lights was on? ¿Like I had questions? I feel like somebody set me up.

[B]

I have good news for you, Justin. Yes, Caboel. This forty year old, forty year old goalkeeper, Vozina gained worldwide attention. Not just for his teller performances like his clean sheet against Spain, but for his inspiring background. Before fully establishing himself as a professional soccer. He worked as an electrician and bus driver. This is the opening scene of Cool running Scowlwell. Der driver of cool running electrician.

[A]

That's great elite man to be to go right to the FIFA field and kick butt the way he did. He did. Great.

[B]

I saw the Uruguay. I have seen very little games, but I saw the Uruguay. And I was like Uruguay for sure will kick the ass of whatever this country is. And whatever this country is. Shut the world the hell up.

[A]

Let's be honest, though. One hundred thirty five K right to. Oh, yeah. He went from like thirty thousand followers to eighteen million. Nineteen million followers. Vizini within maybe two weeks. ¿What? Yeah. Life change.

[B]

Yeah. Fuck winning. The World Cup that is winning.

[A]

Yeah. To me, that's winning. Your whole life has changed because overnight, because of how great you were. Now he will be a millionaire. Now he's playing on Messi's team at the block. And Messi shot Miami drafted him. But I must say, could we agree. Soccer is pretty boring to watch.

[B]

I agree.

[A]

This shit is. I don't care what anybody says. Oh, it's so. It's nonstop. Yes. Nonstop nothing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, you know. So me, I watched the highlights. I was excited about watching K verdian play because I was like yo. ¿Anything could happen that y' all ain't even supposed to be here right now, you know? So this is entertaining, but that shit boring dog.

[B]

Yeah. And you know what God like the mystery clock after the ninety minutes.

[A]

That should piss me off. ¿What happened that? I gotta add seven minutes twice.

[B]

¿Why can't you just tell me with exactly precision how many minutes and seconds are left? ¿How about you just stop the clock while it's under? ¿While it's not being played?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Let's just stop the clock.

[A]

Damn it. And just do ninety minutes. These be like, Oh, the art. The refs is arguing. That's a minute someone got hurt. That's a minute. I ain't got time for that. I'm thinking the game over. These got eleven minutes left. Yeah. Soccer's boring, bro. Yeah. I'm sorry to all my soccer fans out there.

[B]

Everyone is hating. Everyone is hating the new hydration.

[A]

It's stupid.

[B]

I like it because that's your hydration moment as well.

[A]

But the clock is still running, and that's how they add more time. Oh, the clock don't stop. I see like four hydration breaks and I think it's new. Right where they get water. I think they. I think that's great. They need water.

[B]

The critic was like, obviously the first American The this world Cup in the United States has gonna be marketed as hell and they need more spots for advertising. So the theory is that this hydration moments are to get more ads in the game.

[A]

I respect it. Yeah, cause it's just. It's not like basketball. You call time out football. You call time out. You go to a commercial, you can advertise. Like you said, whatever you want soccer is just non stop ninety minutes of running. I guess they get a little halftime, bro. The shit whack man. Shout out to them for playing it. Shout out to them. I'm not knocking anybody that plays soccer. Shout out to you. But that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I can't enjoy your amelior this. How I look, it's like watching tennis. It's just back and forth.

[B]

No tennis, tennis, tennis. ¿I'm gonna say this wild shit tennis points happen for you, right?

[A]

Okay, I get. It's like basketball football.

[B]

¿What's your sport?

[A]

Basketball football. I could watch that.

[B]

What's your basketball. You're from Connecticut.

[A]

I'm from Connecticut. We ain't got no team, bro. Go ahead, say it.

[B]

What's. ¿What is your team?

[A]

We ain't got no team. We got Connecticut. Sons. I'm not. I'm not watching the girls. I'm not knocking. Y' all your girls are very. I'm gonna get fucked up by the girls and Kenneth.

[B]

Okay. ¿Can I. Can I ask you both something controversial? ¿What do you think about? The Shaq recommended this. The suggestion of lowering the basketball rim for the WNBA.

[A]

I think that'd be awesome and entertaining for us because then we'll watch Girls Dunk. Yeah.

[B]

I would love to see.

[A]

¿You want to say Girls Dunk? I just.

[B]

Annie, everyone.

[A]

I watch the NBA because when get dunked at three pointers. Impressive. You make a couple threes, even for girls. Caitlin Clark. She hit a couple threes. I'm like, oh, that's hot. That's dope she killing it. Steph Curry. That's dope he hot right now. ¿Is that attractive for you?

[B]

I'm gonna say.

[A]

I just said Steph curry. Oh, no. The girl's dunking.

[B]

I'm gonna say you the girl's.

[A]

Duncan is not attractive.

[B]

I'm gonna say. This is my personal opinion. Three pointers are cool. But a person who started playing yesterday can achieve a three pointer. I will never dunk in my life.

[A]

My knees don't work.

[B]

So dunking. Is like show. Yeah. Even if if. Even if they. If they lower the point system to one point per dunk, it would still be the.

[A]

I would like it. Yeah, dunking is cool. It's not attractive, but it is pretty cool.

[B]

¿By the way, who's attractive? ¿Well, you know what? By the way, there is attractiveness in the WNBA.

[A]

They're pretty girls. Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

One hundred percent, actually.

[A]

Yeah, but they just look tall and strong. It's intimidating.

[B]

But they look more attractive outside the court because everyone's tall in the court. If you. If you're like in church, I go and you see a massive tall girl. ¿It's like, whoa, what happened? Fantasize with that.

[A]

¿What do you think about?

[B]

I don't know. Some tall.

[A]

Just think about climbing trees. ¿Is that what you think about?

[B]

¿You know what?

[A]

¿How long would it take to get to the top?

[B]

I would prefer a super tall. Let's suggest. I'm sorry to have this conversation, but let's suggest that my girl, my baby,

[A]

pick me up cause she gonna be tall, but you don't need a tall girl cause my wife picked me up. She just. She be. Wow.

[B]

You're like little people.

[A]

All right.

[B]

¿What do you prefer? Oh, you know what.

[A]

Ask it. Ask it. Ask it. Ask it. Ask it.

[B]

Ask it. I'm gonna play my story and you do whatever you want.

[A]

Ask it, though. Ask that question.

[B]

¿What's more fun, little little person? ¿Woman or tall gigantic woman?

[A]

I think he loves midget a little bit. A little person. A little person. We can't say that, babe. We're gonna get it red. ¿You love a little person? Yeah. A little person. A little person. A little person. A little person is to me. Is way funner. I think.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I just think they're awesome. He was little person. Strippers. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah, you were.

[A]

I want one. I want to see one. I want one.

[B]

Oh, he wants one. I understood. He was a stripper whose market is specifically for little people. ¿Are you a little person? No, I'm sorry. I only do shows.

[A]

Yeah. For the little people community. No, no, I want to. I think little people are cool. I think they're dope that I would do one with a little person before I do one with like a six eight girl.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Okay. Yeah. That's intimidating.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And like this hurts way more than this.

[B]

If you are a tiny human for her, your thing is gonna be like super tiny for her as well.

[A]

No, I don't think. Grows. I don't think you're tall. Let's make it, though. No, they don't do that. The line doesn't go further. I don't think.

[B]

Okay. You're on tour currently. Let's change the subject. Save myself. Justin Silva is currently on tour.

[A]

Oh, I gotta make a bit about this in my set in my next show day. We're gonna talk about it.

[B]

Do you. ¿Do you create bits on the flyer? Is it the same set practically show by show.

[A]

Each show, I always add a little bit more to take some things away. So no show was exactly the same, but definitely like. So every six to seven months, six to eight months, I try to come up hope with a new hour. Really. That's what the goal is. Yeah.

[B]

You're kind of a genius.

[A]

I. You're kind of thank you, but I.

[B]

No, no, you are. But there's a word for like people who create a lot of art. That's. There's a word. It's better than genius, but let's keep genius.

[A]

And I love you for that. No Thank you. I like genius, That's a compliment. But I also, it only pisses me off because I haven't been able to properly shoot a special yet, which I'm working on, you know, I have my first special on Hulu, which is awesome. Yeah. Thanks. Shout out to him. But the fact that if I can shoot my special and then get my material out there, I'll feel better. I'm not gonna call it waste of materials. That when people that's been to my show before come back. I actually, it happened one time. I did a show in Detroit and this girl came to my last show in Detroit, which was a few months before that. ¿Right? And she was like, hey, I heard. I heard some of the same things. She was like, you were freaking hilarious. I love it. I always keep coming because I love the jokes. ¿But are you gonna change it up next time? And that, like, that hits me as a comedian, that hits me. And I'm like, dang, I don't want anybody to come to my show and think they about to just pay for the same exact thing. I always got to change something up.

[B]

No. And people. People will stop going.

[A]

Exactly. They're not getting anything new.

[B]

They already seen. She could probably say, oh, Justin's coming again next week. I already saw the show. Yeah, that's. That's a benefit of the musicians. That comedians don't have a thousand percent musicians.

[A]

Their music is going to hit. You say the same words. And I'm not calling them less talented, not even almost because you got to think about it, though. They're.

[B]

They're.

[A]

They're. They're. They're up. They're up late night, like, busting their ass, writing, writing songs, and for a song to sound good, you got to put your heart and soul into it. So I commend those dudes and then when you're able to go perform it day and night to people, it's freaking awesome with comedians. We gotta. We definitely gotta switch it up.

[B]

But ponder. Ponder. That's a great word.

[A]

That's a great word. ¿You said it, right?

[B]

That musicians create their music. The ways we create a set has to be. You regularly add five minutes to your set. Yes. Imagine that every band created songs like that and tested it out for months and recorded after a year or whatever time of touring the albums would be a lot tighter.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Tight albums aren't tight.

[A]

Nah, you're right.

[B]

I bet like, once the last time you heard an album like a full first play, like boom and sat down. Enjoyed it, watched the art and just marveled at the art.

[A]

Never.

[B]

That doesn't happen. Nah, that happens with stand up specials. It does not not every like, not as much as, but more so than when. Than with music.

[A]

Yeah, you're right. It's hard, man. Comedy freaking hard, bro. That's why I commend. Anybody that gets on that stage, grabs a microphone and attempts to do it.

[B]

¿What's tougher for you adding five minutes or picking the five minutes that are out because you do club? So you probably do the ninety minute show with an opener or two.

[A]

I do, yeah. So my first opener will do about ten minutes, ten to fifteen, give or take. My feature would do about twenty. Twenty five minutes maybe. And then I'll go up there and probably do anywhere between fifty to an hour, you know.

[B]

So, yeah, you have to. If you add, you have to take

[A]

out one hundred percent. But if I need to do my hour, for sure they know it's going to be ten twenty. And I do my thing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I do my hour.

[B]

¿You know what I saw like year, maybe ten years ago? A documentary where a guy is interviewing. Louis CK. When Louis CK started doing The New Hour every year that was like a new thing. Like a lot of people do that nowadays. But he was like a trailblazer in that, and he devised a plan. He said that when I have a killer closer, I get put that closing bit at the beginning of my next show and have to figure out a new close.

[A]

I love that you're testing yourself so much, man. You know who I respect like I'm not gonna say the absolute most, but one of my favorite comedians right now to watch, it's been like a solid year and a half, bro. Ali Sadiq.

[B]

Oh, I've seen podcast. Never seen.

[A]

Sadiq is. When I say you want to talk about the best storyteller he will, literally have you there like you're like you're like you're just enjoying what's happening in his life. But he turns it into a way where it's so freaking funny, bro, that you want to talk about Genius in the comedy space, bro. He shot four specials one time in, like, two weeks he came. He had a different hour in, like two weeks, probably less. I'm probably giving him extra time goat. That's a goat. That's what that. But he became in my top five,

[B]

bro, at least, like fucking DMX.

[A]

He's He's global like him too. Global like him too. We're gonna complain. I want to. I want to. I want. I have a show in Chicago coming up and I see he's gonna be performing out there. Not, only am I buying a ticket to go to his show. I want to meet that guy.

[B]

¿Where are you doing Chicago?

[A]

It's up on my flyer. I got it.

[B]

You keep him up there right here.

[A]

All right, Chicago. ¿Where's Chicago at? Right here. November sixth.

[B]

Okay. ¿What club are you doing, Or are you doing a theater?

[A]

I'm doing a theater. God is good.

[B]

I bet you're doing so much money, dude.

[A]

I love you. Thank you. I'm glad it's working.

[B]

I know the numbers and comedy. Club numbers are great.

[A]

They're great. They're great, bro. The money. I'm gonna say that. Like when I say that, I mean that so humbly. ¿Right? Obviously. Yeah. But I was making it happen with social media.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. I was made. I was okay with that. That money absolutely helps, bro. But I'm more happy that people come to the show. They have a good time. I get people to come into me and say yo. I was having such a bad day. And because your show I forgot about everything, I was dealing with that right. There is why I do this shit. That's why I have to dm me and say yo. I was about to do something. I was about to kill myself. I've had that dm. She's like, I'm looking at the pills I was about to take. And I opened up my Instagram one more time. And your video popped up. I was on your page for a whole hour. Watching your videos. You saved my life. That's why I do comedy. That's why I do this shit. That's why I do the videos. I don't need all the freaking comments. I don't need all the followers. No, if I can save one life, bro. I'm doing my job. I'm doing God's job.

[B]

Imagine if saving a life is great, that making a person laugh is great.

[A]

Yeah. Laughing out of death is. It's a blessing, bro. Lord knows what could have happened and I would have never known because I don't know the person.

[B]

And sometimes we're sad a thousand percent.

[A]

I fight my demons every day, bro. Oh, my God. I'd be going through it, bro. I be going through it.

[B]

You ain't a rough day today.

[A]

Actually, people smile. They see me smiling they see the videos. We do. They see your podcast. They think everything is great. It's not. It's not happens. Life happens. You know, I have six kids, I have a wife, I have a family that I have to take care of. Things ain't always smooth, bro. We go through, we disagree, we argue, it happens.

[B]

We got. When you try big things and you have big expectations, you kind of set yourself up to lose. Yes, that's risky.

[A]

One hundred, bro. One hundred. And I gotta, no matter what we go through, we gotta go out there and we gotta perform on that stage. No matter what we going through. Somebody could have died that day.

[B]

Have you. ¿Do you have like a cool story about a rough day?

[A]

And I'll tell you right now. Roughest time I've ever had to perform. So we actually have seven kids. One of them passed away.

[B]

¿Remember that?

[A]

No. Thank you for the condolences. Right. We had lost the baby. I had to do a show that Saturday. We lost the baby on Sunday. So I have five days to get my shit together, which we actually kept the baby with us for about four days, just so we could wake up next to it. ¿You know what I'm saying? Then got the baby situated and cremated and all that. But for me, that was the hardest thing. Ain't shit.

[B]

Funny like the Mount Rushmore of the toughest.

[A]

Ain't shit. Funny, bro. Ain't shit. I never dealt with that. I don't know how to handle it. I don't know where my emotions are. I don't know what I should feel. And I gotta go out there and make them laugh. Fuck what I'm going through, you gotta laugh. And I went out there and I did four shows and they had a great time and they even bared with me.

[B]

Yeah, Cause everybody knew they bared with

[A]

me in that process. And I appreciate them for their patience. And not only their patience, allowing themselves to have a good time because they could have. They could have just grieved the whole time.

[B]

No. And understanding that you are grieving while being funny. Oh, I obviously not. Not the same. But I lost a huge person in my life and had to perform like probably ten days afterwards.

[A]

There's no comparing anybody's problems.

[B]

You go through what you go through

[A]

and it's hard, bro.

[B]

I remember the show being particularly good. Good like memorable people being super gracious. ¿Everyone knew, did you get off stage

[A]

with a smiling smile on your face?

[B]

Did it help and we almost crashed on our way. It was a Dallas show, and it was probably the worst flight I've ever. ¿I was not sure, but thinking about, I think crashing is a possibility in this plane, right?

[A]

¿Oh, you was on the plane?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no. The death of my person was not in a plane.

[A]

I know that, but I was just on the plane, bro. I. When I feel turbulence, I just let go and let God, bro. All right. I don't give a. Ain't. I could do. If we go down, we going. This. This is over.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. This. There's no. There's no safe landing this. Nah, nah, this is it. And I prayed in my plane. Got wi fi so I could get my text out the way within that few seconds. I love you, man. I love you.

[B]

¿Did you?

[A]

My mom and my wife, the only ones getting that text. I love you. Tell the kids. I love them. Tell. Dad, I love them.

[B]

¿What was the guy that survived? ¿Like wasn't a plane crash that one Indian guy survived and he was walking? ¿Did you see that?

[A]

You know, fun facts. ¿My Yeah?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, you know. You know a lot of fun facts.

[B]

Indian guys are. I'm googling. One Indian guy survived Plane crash.

[A]

Let me you be having me interested.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, you're the sole survivor of a devastating Air India. ¿Air India? Come on, man.

[A]

They set us up with that one.

[B]

I'm sorry. In June twenty twenty five, the London bound Boeing Seven Hundred Eighty Seven crashed in Ahmedabad tragically killing. Oh, my God. Twenty sixty people, including nineteen on the ground and ramesh younger brother, AJ Thirty nine British national remarkably walked away from the wreckage after unbuckling himself from Seat Eleven A. By the way, my favorite number eleven crawling through a broken fuselage. He has since returned to Leicester, UK, where he continues to grapple with post traumatic stress.

[A]

I'm sure he didn't get hurt.

[B]

Lasting. Yeah, he has lasting physical injuries.

[A]

Okay, okay. That makes sense. Well, shout out to him. God had his back. Shout out to him for thugging that one out, man. Shout out to you, my little Indian. I love you, bro. You made it and I'm glad God kept you around.

[B]

¿You know what? That's such a great positivity. ¿Did you guys hear? ¿Hear about this devastating crash? Only one survivor, seat eleven a, everyone died. Someone lighting the ground, people were in flames, devastated, and one guy shout out to him.

[A]

Salute, Bobby. Salute to my Indian brother.

[B]

¿You know what? I bet he he would have preferred it go to die.

[A]

Yeah, I bet not.

[B]

No, bro.

[A]

Is he like. ¿Is he a potato? ¿Is he like a catch potato?

[B]

I know.

[A]

Instead he walked away.

[B]

Yeah, but he must have seen and live through us a world war like traumatic moment. Like a war like thing. ¿Do you?

[A]

I feel what you're saying like, but

[B]

I don't bullets and bombs and you're

[A]

thinking that trauma has to mess him up throughout his life.

[B]

I don't know if you might as

[A]

well say kill me.

[B]

I don't know if I would have

[A]

liked to survive that, I would have survived. I also would have asked why me. But then I'm a god fair man, so I also would have been like, God, thank you for looking out or

[B]

you survive and you're like, thank you, God. Obviously I have something. God has something in my mind and do nothing for the rest of your life.

[A]

Now, that's the question. ¿What this dude do? ¿What else does he do? ¿Did he do something with this? ¿If he's just living his life?

[B]

At least do a podcast.

[A]

Do something. Do something and talk about this plane. Ride every podcast. All right. But. Yeah, if the plane got turbulence, bro, I just buckled up and just gloria. Dios. Yeah. Santo.

[B]

¿Do you have you gotten better in your Spanish?

[A]

Yeah, yes and no. But I still suck at this. I know one thing my mom used to always say the webinar. La cara. I've been practicing that.

[B]

¿Do you have family members that never spoke English? ¿So you never talked to each other?

[A]

My grandmother. ¿We talk, but the conversations are sure she Puerto Rican? Yeah, She. We don't. Our conversations are short, bro.

[B]

She alive.

[A]

She live. She live, man. It's just short. It's just a short conversation. Hola, mi baby. Hi, grandma. ¿Todo bien? Gracia. Okay, mi baby. Ashley. Don't upstairs arriba. And then when she talked to Ashley, that's when she get into detail. But me as grandma. Just like yo. You breathing. I'm breathing.

[B]

We good.

[A]

I love you.

[B]

¿She in Connecticut or she in Connecticut? Okay, okay.

[A]

Yeah. My grandma from the She live in the hood.

[B]

¿When did you arrive here in Puerto Rico?

[A]

I've been here since the second.

[B]

Oh, since the second. Since the second. It's the thirteenth. So two weeks.

[A]

Yeah. I've been enjoying the hell out this joke.

[B]

This is your longest time here.

[A]

Hell, yeah. Hell, yeah. This jump from. I'm from Puerto Rico. Yo. This is really about to help my sorto rican tour. The stories I have. I love that. My tour is called sorta Rican, bro, because I'm really. I really tried to be Puerto Rican. I try. But because I'm Dominican, I might have to do some Dominican shit too for my next tour.

[B]

Sorteric and Corillo shows. ¿Where the next stop is? ¿Huntsville, right?

[A]

Huntsville, Alabama.

[B]

You were just in Fort Lauderdale.

[A]

Daniel Beat sold out, man. All four shows blessed. Very happy. It's been going good, man. Twenty. Twenty six. Has been a big blessing for me, bro. Big blessing. I've been selling out the most shows I've ever did in my life.

[B]

¿So are you off no longer doing comedy clubs?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

¿You guys?

[A]

These are comedy clubs. These are all comedy clubs. I do theaters in certain areas. Like when I markets. The best markets or where I've sold out a ton of shows. For example, I did Tampa Bay. I sold out four shows. That venue holds about three hundred eighty. I think. Right so cool. I did three hundred eighty four times.

[B]

Funny bone.

[A]

Funny bone. Okay, so now, because I did that, I'm like, all right, maybe I should do a theater.

[B]

Yeah. The market told me I can do a theater.

[A]

¿Why not? Yeah. You know, you already sold this out. The shows went good. People had a great time. People stay after for pictures that always tells me something. Because I charge for pictures at times. You know what I'm saying. I say, oh, twenty dollars each person you want to take the pick, they'll stay. That line shows me how much fun people had.

[B]

That's an interesting barometer.

[A]

And I love it. I love that people are willing to stay.

[B]

If you do four shows, you can definitely do a theater.

[A]

Thousand percent. Thousand percent.

[B]

I but I gotta do a show

[A]

in Puerto Rico, bro.

[B]

Well, last time you came, you were. You were promoting a theater show.

[A]

I was.

[B]

¿Well, have you? It never happened.

[A]

No, No, that was. That was. That was. That went stupid. That went bad. Yeah. I told my agent, we gotta. We gotta do this properly. And it wasn't even my agent's fault. Okay, Okay. You know, I love the person. I'm not gonna say any names. I love that person. They're my friends. It just didn't go as smooth as I thought. ¿Right? I think I stayed in el coquitaror nearby. Yeah. ¿Is that what I said? I hope I said it. Right. We were supposed to do it somewhere at El Conquistador. Somewhere there in that venue. And I guess whatever happened the day before the show. They're like we didn't know you were doing this here. And this wasn't me talking. This is the person that booked me. So then we had to find another venue within damn near twenty four hours than the venues in the cut a little bit further away. So I got to tell people on social media now. I got to stop doing the funny video. And now, hey, everybody who bought a ticket, all these people, it just went from five, six hundred people to only two hundred people fit. So now I got to reimburse everybody their money.

[B]

It's a sh.

[A]

¿It fucking sucks, right? Then I got to do a venue, and then there's pillars in people's way. Oh, I hate that. I hate that. ¿You know what I'm saying? Now people are in the back room now they gotta kind of look to see me like that. And I but, man, we had a good time. We had a good time, man.

[B]

Yeah, but it's.

[A]

But that was hard.

[B]

I did not know about any of

[A]

this shout out to my boy K Two. Because he absolutely. He absolutely did. Amazing he. He opened up for me, man. And I love him. His name is Chaos.

[B]

¿K E L Z. I think he did a show in punto fijo as well, but he did it in English, right?

[A]

Yeah, he did it. No, he did it in Spanish. And English. He blessed my crowd. Because when I hopped on stage, I told him, I hope y' all don't think I'm about to speak Spanish. I'm about to hit you with every word. I know. And that's it. We getting back to English.

[B]

I would love. We're opening a comedy club here.

[A]

Congratulations.

[B]

We hope it's a secret. I haven't revealed the location, but I'm

[A]

sure I'll be there.

[B]

It'll be. It'll. It's up to your standards what we're gonna building. It's gonna be up to your standards.

[A]

Comedy is my standard. Comedy is my standard. Like I said, that's why I ended with. We had a great time in the fajado show. Everyone had a great time. I stayed after with pictures for everybody had a nice stage and all that. But I just hate when things don't go as smooth.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Ain't nothing about to go. Perfect.

[B]

Yeah, because you're obviously you're prepared to things not going smooth because of heckle or. But to all of a sudden shift gear sign. Okay, we have to go to location. I'm gonna use my platform to tell my million followers that I'm changing location in a tiny market called Puerto Rico. It's such. It's.

[A]

It's suspect. Now you get people. I knew you weren't performing.

[B]

Yeah, I knew.

[A]

I shouldn't have bought a ticket. Look at this, asshole. I knew you weren't here. I'm in Puerto Rico. ¿You're here to go keys?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

¿You don't hear the co keys? I'm here. I'm in the building, but we have to change location, man. And I'm glad they made it happen. I will say that. Even though it was a difficult thing to go through, it was aggravating. We made it happen, man. We made the best of it and everybody was happy.

[B]

¿What's your favorite club?

[A]

That's hard to say. I love going home. I love going home to New Haven, man.

[B]

Connecticut Club.

[A]

The stress factory in Bridgeport. Always shows me love. I sold out seven shows.

[B]

There is that New Jersey.

[A]

That's Connecticut. That's Connecticut. Now, the biggest show I ever did in Connecticut was in New Haven at the Schubert Theater.

[B]

Sixteen hundred people, I think I've seen like it has three three floors.

[A]

Yes. That was a sexy club. But the only bad thing, I don't know if you notice, but performing in a theater, you don't hear the laughs in the back. You only hear the laughs in the front. So when I first started doing theaters, I was scared. I was like yo. ¿Am I not funny? ¿Are these motherfuckers not laughing right now? I can't hear shit. I only see these people smiling and laughing, and I'm like at least they having a good time. You can't hear shit in the back. Yeah.

[B]

¿And you know what? Doing a club tour. Fucks with your timing. Because it's so explosive.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

Yes, I think the average comedy club going person has more fun seeing an average show than the average theater going person. That watches a great show.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

I don't know if it's the Beers or the. Or the lower ceilings, but it's so much more explosive. I did. I opened for. ¿Have you been to Coca Cola Music Hall?

[A]

Never.

[B]

It's a huge black hole of a place.

[A]

¿You took five thousand people, right?

[B]

Five thousand. It's huge. I had never done a place that big. I've done two thousand Cedars a couple of times. That's for my. I've headlined that.

[A]

Congratulations, bro. That's bragging rice right there.

[B]

It's strange, but I feel comfortable with it. But five K. I ate a bag of dog. Shit. I didn't perform good. I opened the show for Marcelo. Marcelo.

[A]

I love Marcelo. Yeah, he is.

[B]

You know what I thought. You know we have egos. I bet you have a great to do this. You have a to. Just think about the idea of. Yeah, I'm going to go on stage with my microphone and my ideas are gonna be blow. People's mind. Yeah, you know, you gotta be up.

[A]

It's the way we think my ego

[B]

told me Marcelo, he's a guy from SNL. He's probably the best comedian in English Latino. Comedian in English right now.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But he's gonna perform in Spanish. Good luck, bro. Oh, my God.

[A]

That raw. He's raw. Funnier.

[B]

Funnier it.

[A]

I love him. When I met him, it was probably about five years ago in Miami. I open, he was the host and I actually got booked. I think I was like one of the features. I think I only did about ten fifteen minutes. And I did all right. I don't think I did great. I did all right. Marcelo bodied it every time he got on stage. Every time. I love that dude.

[B]

Super talent.

[A]

Love that dude. So proud of him. And super Cam Patterson.

[B]

Simpático. I seen him. Yeah. Super attractive on stage. I'm talking about Marcelo like he looks good, He smiles a lot. He's playful. Really, really, really good.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Ken Patterson. I know him a little bit because of the. My friend here watches Tony Kill.

[A]

Tony Kill.

[B]

Tony Patterson is from.

[A]

Yeah, he's from Florida.

[B]

¿Oh, really?

[A]

I did open mics with him since I first moved to Florida. Me and Cam did a bunch of open mics together. Man, Obviously he did way more open mics. I'm gonna tell you that right now. I'm not even about to take my hat off. I gotta take my hat off to him.

[B]

¿So your career started where?

[A]

Oh, my career started in New Haven, Connecticut. Yep. I started eleven years ago. I started doing open mics there. Then I started getting little gigs, you know, getting booked. Then I went to, you know, then I went to bigger venues. I did a show at Mohegan, Sutton, but obviously it wasn't that many people I had to invite people to come to the show and one thing led to another. Found a manager, didn't go too well. Found another manager, didn't go too well. Missed out opportunity on the agent. Because of the manager got rid of the manager. Because of that, found another agent because I was acting like my own manager to get booked at clubs. I had one of my friends act like a manager and get me booked. Yeah. I went to off the Hood Comedy Club in Naples. I acted like they were my manager.

[B]

¿Were you a good manager for yourself?

[A]

My friend was because her husband was really. He was talented. He does the drum. So she gets him booked. ¿I'm like, if you hit up venues to get him booked, can you hit up venues to get me booked? She was like, Yeah, so she would act like my manager. You know, I throw her some bread as well. Obviously, she got me booked that off the Hook Comedy Club. I found my agent. My agent has been amazing. He trusted me and put me on his back, bro.

[B]

So your actual agent is the Fourth Agent.

[A]

It's like basically, yeah, but now he became my manager. Now, what.

[B]

¿What is? Let's talk about this. Because a lot of people don't. I was lucky enough to have the best one from the go. What is a great. ¿What is a. Must have for a great manager or agent?

[A]

They're willing to do anything for you. Whatever you ask, they're willing to do. Now, if it's not a good idea, they'll let you know their thoughts. But I feel like when the agent is willing, you ask, they've get it done to me. And it's not the world. It's just little things cool. It may not happen this year, but eventually will happen. They always have that in the back of their mind. My agent, he's not a yes man. Well, my manager now, but he's not a yes man. But he's a. I'm going. I'm gonna get this done for you eventually. You know, I asked for brand deals. He's throwing me shit ton now. I asked for more. More shows on the weekends. He's giving me more shows. I told him certain areas that I've never been. Don't get me as many shows. He took that away. He doesn't give me as many shows now. So whatever I want, he's getting it done for me. Man, I feel like I have the best team right now. I have the best team.

[B]

¿And do you travel with him?

[A]

Nah. He'll come every now and then.

[B]

¿Who do you need to be with you in shows?

[A]

My opener and my feature.

[B]

That's it.

[A]

That's it. That's all I need. I get them. Their hotels. We all be good. Everybody come. I take care of them. They take care of me. You know, I feel like we run good. We bounce off each other. Pause right. We bounce off each other

[B]

to have a crew in order to like, for example, I love if I. If we have time, maybe go to a museum or a zoo or zoological. Zoological Sue. And maybe I'll maybe tonight sological. I love to go into the logicals.

[A]

¿You know what word been bothering me out here? Sorry. Continue yours.

[B]

And maybe you can do it at the show. Talk about the zoological or the museum tonight at the show. But if you have a crew and you can bounce off an idea. Yes, the idea will be better the first night.

[A]

One hundred percent. I love when people come to my show and they don't. Just enjoy, Justin. They enjoy everybody. Yeah, that's my goal. I never want somebody to come to my show and be like, oh, Justin was all right.

[B]

Justin the opener sucked. Yeah.

[A]

I want to go into that man. So I like having people that are better than me. It make me have to perform way better.

[B]

You know what I hate people doing reporting on me that they didn't like someone else.

[A]

Oh, hate that. I don't be giving.

[B]

I would never do that. Like, you know, you did great. But you know this guy, he sucked cocktail. I hate that. Don't do that. I mean suck cock. Don't report on cocksocking.

[A]

You. Amazing. This guy's a dick suck. Yeah.

[B]

I really didn't like the bit about. He asked another guy to go up on stand and sucked on his cow.

[A]

Oh, my goodness, bro. Oh, my goodness. You're ruthless.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, you are. I'm glad you agree.

[B]

¿So you travel with your crew?

[A]

Yes. Yes. And they don't suck cock. They're great guys.

[B]

That's a great closing.

[A]

They're great guys. They're great guys. They're really good. They're really good. I think they're. I like to say the better than me. King cows is my opener. And then Trev Houston and he's been on bet, comic view and all that. So he's like a vet in the game. A lot of comedians know him, respect him, and he actually helps me and teaches me a lot of stuff too with the comedy space. My favorite person when it comes to writing my jokes is this woman right here, Ashley. She's a beast because I'm a storyteller. I'll be at dinner with family sometimes and I go into telling people a story. I'm forgetting that. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm doing a bit like it doesn't come to me. I'm just genuinely tell you, like, you know, you should try after I'm done and she sees them react. She's like, Bae. You gotta write that down, like, right now, everyone just laughed. And I'm like, yo, I didn't think about that.

[B]

And, you know, it happens a lot

[A]

like, oh, my God.

[B]

It happens like I hear comedy guys telling a story. ¿You do that on stage, right? No, no. It looks so obvious from outside.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It looks so obviously ready for stage from outside. And it's good to tell it to people.

[A]

I love it. I love that. I have that there, you know. She's always telling me. Babe, you gotta write that down because I forget that I'm. When I'm chilling with family, I forget who I am. I forget who I am, what I do and everything. Because I'm just there. And I'm at a moment of peace, happiness and a wonderful, nice little sanctuary. And I forget what my job is. I'm just there with my family. So I'm constantly telling stories like, I've always done as a child. That's what made me be the comedian.

[B]

I'm in today like, you know, the comedy gear. ¿When did it appear in your life since you were a kid?

[A]

Yeah, man, I was nuts, bro. I got class. You look at my yearbook. I got class clown in middle school. I got class clown in high school. Like that I'm in the yearbooks. Like, you can see it clear as day. I've always. That was my goal. The teachers be like, he's so smart. He's such a good student. But I think he likes attention. I think he just wants to make people laugh. You know, he just. He's very. He's such a powerful person. People follow what he does. He's He's just. He just jokes too much when it's time to focus. I need him to focus every single class every year.

[B]

And I just love a good. ¿Do you have, like, dreams of being a professional comedian?

[A]

Hell no. Hell no.

[B]

¿What was your dream shit?

[A]

¿Electrician? Cause I failed college. Damn it the fuck. ¿What was a dream? I was about to change every light bulb in America, nigga. That was the goal. I was like, I'm about to kill this shit. I'm about to be a journeyman. Then I'm gonna become an E one. Then I'm gonna get my business. Like, I had a goal, bro, because I failed college. And I cried because all my other siblings.

[B]

¿What was your streaming college to graduate?

[A]

I didn't know what the fuck. I went to school for, bro. I went there for general studies. I had no idea what I was going to school for. And I was like, yo. ¿My mom's like, what do you want to be? I don't know. We're like, not a veterinarian, not a lawyer, not a doctor. I try to be an LPN, dude, that's pretty good. LPN is like right under an RN but over a nurse. Right, It's a nurse. But like you're still getting paid good money. I went to school called Stone Academy. And you have to take a test to get accepted to the school. Gente, I swear to God. I went in there. My mom parked the car. He was in West Haven. I walked in, I sat down, wrote my name. First test. First question. Was a fucking math question. Three quarters or Four quarters or something. I looked at everybody. I backed up and woke the fuck out.

[B]

First question.

[A]

First question. Everybody in there looking at me like they like, I'm weird. No, y' all weird because y' all smart right now. And I don't get this shit. I went outside. ¿My mom was like, baby, what happened? This ain't for me. My LPN. I' ma kill somebody. If I gotta come up with doses to give them, I'm gonna kill somebody.

[B]

¿And you know what? What a great thing to put a tough question like, isn't that a great thing that happened because the career told you, this is not for you, shit, ain't for me. Since the first thing that you interacted with in the career was just the first test question in the test to get in.

[A]

But I just want to make some good money. And I said, an LPN is going to make some good money. When I got in there, I said, this ain't the money I need. Shit. Ain't for me.

[B]

So an electrician is not as smart as an LPN. Good to know, bro. So.

[A]

So we're. They're. They're smart. They're smart.

[B]

But yeah, I bet they are.

[A]

They can't. I mean, they could kill somebody.

[B]

And you know what great career to have now. Like, it's AI proof.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

You're absolutely right. Our career. I don't know if it's AI proof.

[A]

Nah, we got a lucky career, bro. You can't ai my jokes. I don't think so. It's too personal.

[B]

Only time will tell. But sometimes I think I. I am of the school of thought of there's nothing quite like a live show. It's the best. ¿I doubt that a robot, two robots fighting will ever

[A]

What the are you talking about?

[B]

Boxing.

[A]

Oh, but.

[B]

But I'm going to.

[A]

I was so lost.

[B]

No, but. No, but I'm going to comedy.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

The danger of two human beings who trained all their. Just give me Don't look at me. Don't look at me.

[A]

Don't look at me. Don't look at me.

[B]

Give me like twenty five minutes and I'll arrive at the point. The surprise, the agony, the tears, the training behind an athlete is something that no robot or AI will ever

[A]

correct.

[B]

So the danger of watching, That's why the roasts are live in Netflix. I love that because there's a danger like someone will say something irrationally racist or crazy or someone will do horribly bad. And I want to see that question.

[A]

¿You like racist jokes? Because I love them.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All right. We're not bad people because of that.

[B]

And I don't. I never think about them because Puerto Rico are like our. If you do comedy here, there's no in that. There's no context for racism in the comedy scene here. It shouldn't be because. No, but there is in the US because immigrants are a thing.

[A]

Yeah. But no one should get mad. It's a joke.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

¿Where are you in? Wasn't, baby. ¿Wasn't he in the Jay Wheeler roast?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Congratulations. I had to put the subtitles on because all y' all was wilding shit sound funny in English on subtitles. Because I know. I didn't mean what you said.

[B]

¿You know what? It was a tough set for me. I said, yes, I'll do it.

[A]

You did your thing, though.

[B]

Yeah, but I. Maybe I'm biased because

[A]

I know you met you and I enjoyed it.

[B]

We laughed and I was nervous as hell. And I tried to to create like my five minute routine. But it's definitely I'm like you. I'm a storyteller. Like I'm gonna tell you about my experience having a baby or going through the guy who sticks his finger up my asshole. I'm forty. I'm forty three.

[A]

You'll have your colonospace colonoscopy. I don't know. We're both fucked up. Say it in Spanish.

[B]

Colonoscopia. ¿Cómo es que el proctologo or what? Prostate el proctologo proxy.

[A]

I think, nigga. Help us.

[B]

¿Who is the? ¿Who is the doctor that sticks his finger?

[A]

Don't write that on Google.

[B]

Dieter,

[A]

can you put the. ¿Can you put the sticks? ¿Can you put the laptop up so they can see what he's typing?

[B]

Who's the doctor who sticks finger in

[A]

in my ass specific. They're gonna.

[B]

Rectal examine.

[A]

Who.

[B]

¿Who does the rectal examination?

[A]

I think it's just the colonos. Colonospicy. Colonos.

[B]

When the finger is still use, how the. ¿Did you say that, anyway? Proctólogo. Creo que protologo. Yeah, porque el urólogo. ¿El del bicho? No, B o. El urólogo. Ah, el urologo is the urologist. Urologist finger. Yeah, it's the urologist.

[A]

His finger.

[B]

Urologist finger refers to A. Yeah, digital rectal examination. Yeah, like I had. I have a bit about going to the urologist and the urologist like my. The beginning of the beat is like you have so many options when you go to the medical school world, like you chose.

[A]

You chose this one.

[B]

Yeah. You chose to stick your finger up other men's and whatever you're.

[A]

I never talked about that one yet.

[B]

No, that'll happen. Yeah, that's like having a baby. They say it's like an instant seven new minutes on your set.

[A]

Yeah, it definitely does. Because I remember I had a hernia and the doctor grabbed my balls. That was. That was. And told me to cough. That pissed me off. My mom was there. I told her do something. She just watched for. He put. He put two fingers right up on my testicles. Kind of In a weird area. Not my nuts, but like. Yeah, behind it, right in the gooch area. Kind of. He was like cough. Yeah, it was like the testicles, but up in an area that was really uncomfortable. I was only fourteen years old called the gooch. I would call it that.

[B]

What a great word.

[A]

Yeah. I didn't come up with that.

[B]

G O O C H. I didn't

[A]

come up with that gooch.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's just like. It's like where our vagina would have been if we had, you know, and he put it there and he said cough and. Yeah, and I had to cough. I didn't even have to cough. I just had to create cough coughing at that moment. And then I think the glove happened. He said cough again. I was fourteen, I cried. I never went back to that hospital horrible, bro, I haven't come up with a bit yet because I haven't found humor in it yet.

[B]

It's hilarious, you know what I showed my balls to a doctor.

[A]

I'm with you, doc. I'm with you.

[B]

Don't worry about my face to go to a return visit and I polished up my balls.

[A]

¿Lotion?

[B]

No, I just like shaved it and the guy didn't say I was like compliment me.

[A]

You're fucking crazy. I was like, I did this for you.

[B]

¿Yeah, I was like, you know, when your girl said like, do you see anything different? And you're like, oh, my God, something. The nails, the hair, the lipstick. For once I knew what that felt

[A]

like you were sitting there like nothing. ¿Did you notice nothing?

[B]

I never went back to that asshole.

[A]

I did this for you. Yeah, I did this. Yo, You're fucking nuts.

[B]

And I have insane ballage.

[A]

Excuse me.

[B]

I have pretty massive balls.

[A]

¿What just happened? ¿How do we get here? Medically approved.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, Yeah. The doctor went out and told my girl like, this guy has massive ball. I swear it's. They're so massive that my. The rest of the aria looks too small.

[A]

Babe, get the fuck out. Get the fuck out. ¿Does Veto know you talking like this?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

She knows the size of your ball.

[B]

She's. You gotta watch my show.

[A]

Oh, my God. I didn't know you talk about balls like this, though. And you talk a lot in Spanish. ¿So what you say?

[B]

Bum.

[A]

Medically. ¿How you say approved in Spanish?

[B]

Aprobado.

[A]

Approved.

[B]

Aprobado.

[A]

Medically aprobado. Bombolas. Grande.

[B]

Bombola.

[A]

No.

[B]

Bola. Bola. Bola. My standups are usually like R rated, aren't. Oh, that's cool.

[A]

I got a couple sex jokes. I just.

[B]

¿But what's your overall rating?

[A]

¿Would you say, I'm pretty PG until one part?

[B]

So if, for example, if Jimmy Fallon or the production team gets a hold of you, do five minutes, you can.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

You would love that. Yes, dude. With.

[A]

No, I don't. We're loading. We're loading on that. That's another talk. But yeah, if I ever get that opportunity whenever it happens, I have a clean five minute.

[B]

¿Is that a dream like? Yeah.

[A]

Every goal. I've asked for every goal. I've written down every goal that I want to happen has happened all of us.

[B]

I'm sure that it's super attainable it's gonna happen. I'm sure.

[A]

And I absolutely can do it. I absolutely can do it. Dude, I did a comedy setting in a jail one time. That was hard. Two shows. One at ten am and one at twelve. I don't even wake up at that early. And they took my phone from your.

[B]

Comedy.

[A]

Whoa.

[B]

¿What were the circumstances?

[A]

I was in Cheshire. I was at the Cheshire jail, and I parked. I walked in, they took my phone, and it was like, you can't bring this in. I was like, why they're like, because they'll get you. ¿I'm like, who's they? And I guess like the people. ¿I'm like, should I be here right now? And then the guy that I want, it's actually one of my. One of my great friends. His wife's. ¿His wife's father is like a priest at that jail, you know? He's the guy that prays for people. And I'm like, all right. Well, I hope they look at you. Well, you know, because you're. It's just me and you, dude, That's it. It's just us. I got one security guard and two hundred fucking diesel dudes.

[B]

¿Were you opening for the priest?

[A]

No. I was the only act. It was like some Latin. ¿Latin time, you know? There's people who was playing Congos. And there was other people that did poetry these. But these guys were inmates. I'm the only one in regular clothes. I'm looking nice. Okay, I'm. I should have wore a sweatsuit to fit in. ¿I'm looking nice, Right? I walk on stage. I'm nervous. Swear to God, I'm nervous. Shit. They were all just staring at me. Angry. They don't want to be there. I don't want to be there. And I picked the most toughest guy. He had tattoos on his scalp. And I was like, hey, bro, you're scaring the out of me. And I just. They all just broke out laughing. Thank God. I was like, if I'm gonna say anything to stay on your good side, if anybody in here fucks with me, please help me. My. And I started fake crying, and he was like, i got you, dude. And once I seen him, smile, the show went amazing.

[B]

I would believe that. That's a great audience.

[A]

It was, bro. When I said people came up to me, was like, dude, I've been in here for thirty years. I promise you I ain't never laughed like that. Thank you for bringing happiness to a place where there's no happiness.

[B]

I'm gonna tell you a story. There are you. Good. On time.

[A]

Which chilling. The game started at eight.

[B]

Okay. There's a super important Puerto Rican comedian who passed away a couple of years ago called Chori Castro. He's one of the people I started this podcast to interview him. And I did it. I achieved that. But one of his stories is that he did a couple. He did, I think, annually. He did a show for jail. For the jails. And years after he did that, he still encountered people who he did shows to inside the jail. And they were like super agradecido.

[A]

Grateful.

[B]

Super grateful. That like, you know. But they don't come inside to visit us. And you came inside to make us laugh. What a great present.

[A]

Hey, Alisa Deke do like that.

[B]

¿Oh, really?

[A]

Yo, bro. I'm telling you, bro, that I love that dude. Alisa Deac is goat it, but yes. Shout out to that man for doing it. It's hard, bro. Monique did it. I don't know. If you know Monique. ¿Legendary, right? These are people like to me. I would do it again. I would do it again. ¿Is it scary? Yeah, dude.

[B]

Don't worry about it.

[A]

¿Scary as? Scary as, bro, I had no phone. I had no weapons. I had no security. It was just me and a fucking priest.

[B]

Okay, you have. Okay, in this imaginary question, you have the right for one weapon to do that show with. ¿What weapon?

[A]

A gun.

[B]

Okay. Yeah.

[A]

That's the way to go like fully loaded extended clip. I need ammo one person. Not about to stop after one bullet. Get. No, I need. I need. I need a gun. But I did it without it. I was with a priest, and I feel like God protected us.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

You know, they did a prayer. I went on stage, bro. They had a good time and I'm not gonna lie every time. I was talking to these people one on one. There was moments where I had no one near me. And I remember me. And the dude were this close and he's just thanking me. And I keep. I keep looking nigga. I'm about myself. Wow. Is just walking around talking. This is their home. I'm in their space. I'm talking to the dude, but I keep looking back at the priest like yo. I'm alone.

[B]

Help me out here.

[A]

Bro. I don't know if you notice, but he getting really close to me right now. You know, he's complimenting me, but he keep grabbing my shoulder to let me know how happy he was. But I feel like it was tugging me in more. So now I'm getting nervous and the priest is nowhere near me. So I'm letting him, please. A Judah man, nigga.

[B]

¿Hey, do you have like, you know, something I learned when I started visiting comedy clubs? I was completely unaware of this phenomenon. Comedy clubs.

[A]

I love your word choices.

[B]

Yeah. Do shows at three o' clock in the afternoon. Five o' clock and I did a couple of matinee. Yeah, And that's such a great thing to discover. Like people like somewhere in history. It got. It got in our heads that no comedy should be done at night. Seems to me that no. That's not true.

[A]

Not true.

[B]

¿Do you have like a certain rule that you only do? ¿Do you like to do more than one show a day?

[A]

I've done three shows on one day, one time.

[B]

¿Oh, really?

[A]

At the yep, never done that. New Jersey, New Brunswick.

[B]

Stress factory.

[A]

Stress Factory.

[B]

I did that.

[A]

Five thirty show, then a seven thirty show, then a nine thirty show. I didn't leave the club till one am. No show started on time, or at

[B]

least the second and the third first

[A]

show was only when that almost started on time. You started at, like, five, forty five. Then. ¿Did they act? ¿Did they act? Because I'm not getting off that face.

[B]

That's a strange club. Because it has. The bar is inside the pillars.

[A]

They have little pillars in the middle.

[B]

People go and they had like when in the pandemic they created like one outside. Yeah. Yeah. ¿Is it outside?

[A]

Or it was outside. Oh, yep. I know what you're talking cool. That's dope, man. I love that You got the experience the comedy clubs too, man. You're awesome, bro. You know, I love every bit of success you have right now.

[B]

I hope that you come to. To our club.

[A]

I promise you, I will.

[B]

And you know what it's. We're. We're going all in on this. It's gonna be the most exciting. I'm leaving right now. In terms of entrepreneurial things, the most exciting moments of my life.

[A]

I love that for. You make sure you tell people when I go there, though. You have to let them know it will be an English show.

[B]

¿Okay?

[A]

Yeah. All right. That's very important.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. No, and you know what I've been thinking about it so much. That you know, when you purchase a ticket, you receive an email, and the email tells you like arrive one hour before. If you are a large group, try to come together. No heckling bring this or that. I'm even planning on you. Choose if you want to read that in email in Spanish or in English.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Because it's a standard email for everyone. Obviously the show will be labeled. Like when I do shows, they say special show Spanish.

[A]

Okay, all right.

[B]

But the email being English, When people buy shows, for example, in Stress Factory, New Brunswick.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

The email, their client, the person who bought a ticket for my show, receives an email in English.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Even though they're gonna watch a show

[A]

in Spanish, that makes sense.

[B]

So here in Puerto Rico, I haven't figured that you're gonna make.

[A]

Sure, if they want an English email or a Spanish email, and you're gonna have it there for them.

[B]

That's your English.

[A]

Is really good, though.

[B]

Yeah, I love. You know what I. Since I was a kid, I loved watching movies in English with subtitles. So I think that's a great school for subtitles.

[A]

For Ashley's mom actually pisses me off because we share Netflix and every time I turn on Netflix Spanish. It's Spanish.

[B]

¿Oh, really?

[A]

Yeah, because her mom watches it in Spanish and put English subtitles. So she's in school just like you, you know, But for me, it pissed me off because I know what I want to watch. I know it's English and I feel like Telemundo.

[B]

¿What are you watching?

[A]

I'm.

[B]

¿What do you give me a wreck? Not necessarily Netflix, but a movie or series.

[A]

The only movie I've ever watched, and it wasn't a movie, was a series. It was all in Spanish because we had no choice. Was the money heist.

[B]

Oh,

[A]

see, you said la casa de papel and that means the house of money. ¿Yeah, money heist in English it's just money heist, right? It's not the house of money such

[B]

a great point, because that usually happens the other way around, like dances with wolves. I think once one time I saw in Spanish is hard, full house, the show full house was translated into problemas like Casallena.

[A]

Just Spanish is hard, bro. It is. I don't care what anybody says. It's so hard when people start going. That's when I freak out. Like we can try to have a conversation with me right now. Spinner, watch this. ¿Do I want to go to the playa? ¿Playa? ¿The beach? Sí. OK.

[B]

¿Qué quiere hacer después?

[A]

Beber cerveza en la playa.

[B]

¿Qué tipo de cerveza quiere?

[A]

Corona, por favor.

[B]

¿Quieres limón?

[A]

Sí, ¿Por qué no?

[B]

Oye, ¿Cómo está tu familia o?

[A]

Mi familia está bien. Mi familia, mi madre y mi padre aquí en Puerto Ricaño ahora, but nada

[B]

mañana talking,

[A]

I'm gonna work on that campaign.

[B]

That was pretty good. I'm telling you, that was pretty good you were.

[A]

So I take little. I don't know exactly what you said, but I take little words and I run with it. So I heard something familiar. I'm like, he's asking about my family. ¿What do you want to drink at the beach? I heard, babe, so I was like, he wants me to drink. All right. Cool. I want a corona. ¿And when you said get it, that means, what kind of beer do you want? So I put my own sentences together. But Ashley knows if we start having a full blown conversation. Dude, I'm cooked. If I was. If I was stranded here, I still don't even know my differences between like derecha and derecha and.

[B]

¿Okay, Do you know what isn't New Haven like a heavy Latino place?

[A]

Yeah, dude. Mexicans. But everywhere.

[B]

¿They speak English?

[A]

No, they speak Spanish. I went to sea town a lot as a child. I never knew where the they sent me. ¿Where's the rice? I'll go to aisle six. I don't know. I don't know. Spanish is so hard to me. I don't know why my grandma tells you. My grandma and I conversation super short, bro.

[B]

That's why it's so impressive for me when athletes like heavily into their twenties, like learn another language in order to appease the press.

[A]

It's like, that's brilliant. That's brilliant.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

I don't know if I'm not interested, I don't want to say that I am interested. But it is very hard, bro. It is. My wife spazz on me in Spanish, and she knows I won't understand, so she makes sure she does it in English. So I can understand.

[B]

Yeah. Passing out is more effective in the language. We both understand, and I appreciate her for that. That's such a cute thing to say.

[A]

I love it.

[B]

Okay. Señora y señores, ahí lo tienen, los mejores. Justin Time. Justin Silva. Tenemos aquí a una persona que se nos retiró del podcast.

[A]

Te quiero mucho, Ashley.

[B]

Los quiero un montón. You have a gorgeous family, Justin. El esta de gira. Sigan a Ashley. Ashley Cotto. Ashley. Ashley. Anel. Ashley. Anel. Y síganme a mí.

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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