Nasser Al Rayess: HE SKIPPED THE 10-YEAR GRIND?! The Stand-Up “Cheat Code” Exposed | DSH #1598

Summary

Digital Social Hour Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Nasser Al Rayess: HE SKIPPED THE 10-YEAR GRIND?! The Stand-Up “Cheat Code” Exposed | DSH #1598
Podcast Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Nasser Al Rayess
Date: November 1, 2025

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Overview

In this episode, host Sean Kelly dives deep with Nasser Al Rayess—a rising stand-up comedian and digital content creator—about his unconventional journey in comedy, skipping the traditional decade-long grind through leveraging social media and public speaking skills. The conversation ranges from sports and pop culture to the art of stand-up, ethnic identity, business strategies, and adapting to the evolving landscape of entertainment. Nasser shares unfiltered perspectives, practical insights, and personal anecdotes from his rapid ascent in comedy and beyond.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Evolving Path to Stand-Up Success

• Nasser's Unconventional Route: Unlike the typical 10-year slog many stand-ups face, Nasser used his early exposure to comedy, background in emceeing, and a loyal social media following to accelerate his trajectory.

• Quote:
  “In order for you to develop the stage presence...it’ll take like 10 years to get to that point. But in my situation, I’ve been passionate about stand-up since I was a kid… when I transitioned from social media content into stand-up, plus my public speaking experience, I felt ready.” — Nasser [00:00]

• Efficiency via Social Media: Nasser explains how doing 45-minute headlining sets, as opposed to traditional short open mic spots, compressed years of experience into a shorter time frame.

  • “If you do 10 minutes a night, it’ll take you six times as long to get 35 hours as I did headlining my shows.” — Nasser [15:20]

• Preparation & Analysis: He scripts, records, and carefully reviews every performance, applying a methodical, almost scientific approach to joke crafting and stagecraft.

2. Comedy Craft: Art, Science & Feedback

• Meticulous Approach: Nasser maps out bullet points, punchlines, and tweaks delivery based on relentless self-analysis.
  • “I have a script I go through. I watch the set after, I analyze every single joke…I write the bullet points and punchlines and edit as I go.” — Nasser [16:17]
• Power of the Pause & Nuance: Small tweaks drive big audience reactions—timing, word emphasis, and body language all play a role.
  • “A pause, an emphasis, elongation, shortening—something can take a joke from one level to the next…but it takes repetition to find it.” — Nasser [18:23]

3. Arab-American Upbringing & Identity

• Origins as an Entertainer: Nasser’s family gatherings became his first stage, his role to entertain guests as a child (serving, storytelling, dancing).
  • “I can pinpoint when I enjoyed entertaining...my parents would pick roles when guests came over—my job was to entertain at age 7. I loved seeing people laugh.” — Nasser [08:51]
• Ethnic Material with Universal Appeal: His sets are grounded in his Middle Eastern background but strive for universality. He remains proud of his roots and integrates his unique perspective into his comedy.

4. From Business School to Comedy Clubs

• Academic & Corporate Detour: Nasser attended Berkeley for undergrad and business school, spending time as a consultant before committing to comedy. He credits business school with giving him tools for fiscal management and self-branding.
  • “I have a business now, a media company I run through my comedy…a lot of comedians maybe don’t know the business side as much. I can manage myself.”—Nasser [40:40]
• Taking Strategic Risks: He produced his first shows at restaurant lounges when comedy clubs turned him down, demonstrating hustle and resourcefulness.
  • “I did shows at restaurant lounges—told them, just give me the stage, profit split…eventually built a ticket-sale history so clubs would book me.” — Nasser [19:40]

5. Social Media’s Game-Changing Role

• Building an Audience: Nasser amassed hundreds of thousands of followers across TikTok and Instagram before turning to stand-up, leveraging that reach to sell tickets quickly.
  • “By the time I left business school, I had like 300,000 on TikTok, almost 100,000 on Instagram.” — Nasser [24:43]
• Changing the Rulebook: He’s adamant every aspiring comedian should be on social platforms for exposure, reach, and direct feedback—even as some old-school comics resist.
  • “If you’re not using social media, you’re being stupid. You’re missing out on the world’s greatest and free advertising platform.” — Nasser [30:57]

6. Crowd Work, Interaction, and Cultural Differences

• Audience Engagement: He often ends shows by teaching audiences (especially non-Arabs) how to dance to Arabic music, mixing classic crowd work with humor and cultural pride.
  • “Funniest thing is seeing white guys who don’t know how to clap on rhythm try to dance to Arabic music.” — Nasser [29:24]
• Arab Community Hecklers: Nasser recounts how some Arab aunties treat shows like living room conversations, not understanding comedy show decorum, creating unique challenges and moments.
  • “They literally come and feel like it’s a one-on-one conversation...‘Oh, NASA, that happened to me too.’” — Nasser [28:04]

7. Influences & Study Habits

• Comedy Heroes: Big influences include Dave Chappelle for depth and story, Gabriel Iglesias and Robin Williams for personality, and Kevin Hart for high-energy entertainment.
  • “I look at all these people and take elements into my stand up—the structure is incredibly polished and smart.” — Nasser [25:25]

8. City Comparisons, Lifestyle Changes & Hustle

• Sports & Pop Culture Tangents: Early podcast minutes swap NBA hot-takes, nepotism in sports, and the fate of teams in Oakland/SF.
• Living Infrastructure: Candid commentary on Bay Area change, cost of living, and food scenes in different cities.
  • “SF…lost its soul…a different city now, but still beautiful—just expensive.” — Nasser [36:04]
• Memorable Cities for Comedy: Best and most surprising cities include Houston, St. Louis, Miami, San Francisco, and New York for diverse, energized crowds.

9. Mental Health, Career Pivots & Gratitude

• Corporate Disenchantment: Nasser opens up about experiencing depression while working at CBS and the pandemic being a catalyst for change.
  • “If there’s ever a moment in my life I flirted with depression, it was CBS…COVID changed the world, and business school let me focus on what I wanted.” — Nasser [41:50]
• Appreciation for Support: He emphasizes the importance of friends and family—his cousins ran doors/bounced at his early self-produced shows.

10. NBA GOAT Debate & Kobe Bryant’s Legacy

• Hot Take: Nasser ranks Kobe Bryant as his second-best player ever, noting Kobe’s “killer instinct” and “offensive and defensive impact,” touting him as more influential than LeBron (despite LeBron's career stats).
  • “I put Kobe top five…actually at two. There’s a killer instinct Kobe had you only ever saw in Michael Jordan…a disrespect towards Kobe needs to stop.” — Nasser [43:41]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You’re missing out on the world’s greatest and free advertising platform…why not take advantage of that?” — Nasser [30:57]
• “Comedy…is such a detail-oriented game…pause, emphasis, de-emphasis…something can take something from one level to the next.” — Nasser [18:23]
• “I’m proud of who I am, my culture, my background. You can laugh at me pooping in a pool at six years old, you don’t have to be Arab for that.” — Nasser [30:46]
• On business school: “It was $120,000…but I learned a lot…I apply those lessons in managing my own business now.” — Nasser [40:40]
• “Top four most influential: him [Kobe], Curry, Jordan, LeBron. And Kobe’s number two for me.” — Nasser [45:22]

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Key Timestamps

• 00:00–01:22: Stage presence, “cheat code” for comedy, NBA talk (Jeremy Lin, Bronny James, LeBron in the West)
• 08:51–10:35: Nasser’s upbringing, early love for comedy, talent shows, emceeing Cal football/basketball
• 11:27–13:22: Transition from college to comedy, first big stand-up show in Dubai, club bookings
• 15:19–16:32: Repetition and accelerated learning through longer sets, the math behind stage reps
• 16:11–18:23: Joke-building process, role of script and self-analysis, the importance of delivery
• 25:21–27:33: Comedians studied and why—Chappelle, Gabriel Iglesias, Robin Williams, Kevin Hart
• 28:04–29:47: Comedy hecklers, Arab aunties, and unique audience dynamics
• 30:57–33:15: Social media as “the world’s greatest and free advertising platform” for comedians
• 34:36–38:46: Most memorable performance cities, Bay Area commentary, and pandemic era anecdotes
• 40:40–43:29: Business school ROI, corporate life vs. comedy, building a sustainable career
• 43:34–45:22: Kobe Bryant top 5, NBA GOAT debate, “killer instinct” and legacy

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Tone & Style

The conversation is candid, high-energy, and often humorous, blending playful banter with sharp, practical insights. Nasser is both analytical and animated—taking his craft seriously but rarely himself. Sean Kelly keeps the dialogue flowing, digging with bold questions while sharing laughs and stories as a genuine fan of both basketball and comedy.

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This summary provides a comprehensive view of the episode, capturing its core takeaways, central stories, and actionable lessons for those interested in comedy, personal development, or carving unique careers in the digital age.

Transcript

[A]

In order for you to develop the stage presence and knowledge of how to move and transition and crowd work and being able to pick up different things and be able to change the joke and understand that joke can be better if I just maybe pause for three seconds longer or change the emphasis on that word. It will take you like, 10 years to get to that point. But in my situation, I've been passionate about stand up comedy since I was a kid. Like, I used to memorize the sets, I used to pay attention to this stuff. So for me, when it came time to transition from doing, like, social media content into stand up, combined with my public speaking experience, being an emcee for, like, cow, I felt ready.

[B]

Okay, guys. Nasser Al Reyes. How'd I do on that?

[A]

Did okay. 50. 50. We're gonna work on it, but it's better than most white people have done it. So I think you're Asian. Greg give you some. Some love on the. On that one.

[B]

So half Asian. Halfway, baby.

[A]

Yeah. It's enough. Enough culture for you?

[B]

Yeah. Whatever situation I'm in, I'll apply that race and I'll.

[A]

It's good.

[B]

I'll leverage that.

[A]

It's called a little bit of a selective. Selective racism. Is that a good way to say it? Okay. It's good.

[B]

Like, I feel out the crowd and if. If they want me to be white, I like more white act.

[A]

Okay. So code switching in general.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I like that.

[B]

When I'm hooping, I act more white. Cuz if you're Asian, you get picked less.

[A]

100%.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. Unless you're Jamie Lynn. Well, that was only like two weeks that lasted.

[B]

L. That was a crazy time.

[A]

It was, you know, randomly. The other day, I was watching his highlights.

[B]

I. I've been down that same.

[A]

Just one of those things I do. I just. I. I'm like, jam highlights. Those two weeks. I think one of the most fascinating two weeks of basketball I've seen in my life.

[B]

Yeah. Every few years I'll think about, oh, German, pull it up.

[A]

Jam happened. And he beat the Lakers. One year. I'm a big Laker fan. And he beat the Lakers. And it was very embarrassing because I'm like, Kobe's a guy. And Jamie Lynn dropped, like, I don't know, like 40 points MSG against Kobe. It was wild. But not to digress, to talk about Jeremy Lynn and start the podcast.

[B]

No, I'm a big Hooper, and you are. Okay. End up playing with Kobe a few years later, right?

[A]

He did.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, there was that. There's a famous Famous scene where Jeremy Lynn has a ball. He's playing on Lakers, and Kobe's asking for the ball with like 10 seconds left. And Jeremy Lynn, like, says, no, no, I got this. Kobe has his hands up. He's like, what are you doing? It's my ball. And he hits the shot.

[B]

And.

[A]

And he hits the shot, which is only Jeremy Lynn. I wonder what he's doing now. I don't know what Jeremy Lynn's up to.

[B]

I think he's still trying to ball, but it's tough, man.

[A]

There's no way he's making the league anymore. There's no way.

[B]

People are too good.

[A]

No, the league has gone way too different, bro. Like, everyone's so super athletic. Look at the Thunder, bro. Now, like, the entire team can, like, switch on any other defender. It's wild.

[B]

Yeah. I think right now it's. If you. If you can't shoot, drive and play defense, no, you're screwed.

[A]

Everything you need, everything from centers to point guards.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I read somewhere where I was watching a podcast, I think it was actually with Katie and LeBron, where Katie was talking about, if you're a 6:2 NBA player, you probably are not going to be good in the league anymore.

[B]

I saw that podcast this morning.

[A]

Okay. So you remember he was talking about that and it was kind of like I felt like he was throwing shade at Bronnie James a little bit with like. Because Bronnie James is 6:2, he's like, yeah, if you're 6:2 and you can't shoot and defend your ass off, then you're probably gonna be a role player. And like, LeBron's there. I'm like, he's talking about your son, bro. He's talking about your son. Yeah.

[B]

Well, let's be honest. Bronny made the lead because of LeBron.

[A]

Yeah, 100%. Don't get me wrong. He did make the lead because of his dad, but he was the 55th pick in the NBA draft, and that pick is usually like, that's five picks before the end of the draft.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Now, in a realistic situation, he would have been signed to a two way contract, being undrafted. But because your dad's LeBron James, you're gonna do it. But, bro, if you want to talk about nepotism in the NBA, what was it? Danny, a son just got hired to be like the VP of the Jazz. Like, what is. Danny and his son had know about basketball for him to be VP of basketball for the Jazz.

[B]

Yeah. So, yeah, I'm not a fan of the complaints because Nepotism happens everywhere.

[A]

Happens everywhere.

[B]

So that'd be just like complaining about your own business that you work for.

[A]

Right? Like, to be honest, I'm a Laker fan. I love the Lakers to death. And I'm a Kobe guy. With LeBron, I'm happy. Like, let him have his kid. It's fine. But now I want him off my team. I'm done. I want the Lakers focused on LUCA. I want LeBron to go do whatever he wants to do. That's my. My take on.

[B]

You just got Ayton.

[A]

We did a good DeAndre Aiden. I'm happy about it. But I mean, he has a work ethic problem. Like, people on the trailblazers all talked about how, like, he wasn't really working that hard. Do you know there's a story about deandre Ayton. Last year he missed the game because he said that there was too much ice on his driveway.

[B]

Really?

[A]

And he. He was out because he's like, I can't drive. Because I'm like, that's the most bitch thing I've heard in my entire life. You can't drive across your. Your driver to get to the game because it's too icy. So I'm a little bit worried about what he's gonna bring to the team. He's gonna be better than Jackson Hayes for sure. Yeah, like, Jackson Hayes has no offensive game at all. It was just more of, like, a somewhat good defender and rebounder. But at least DeAndre will be able to pick and roll with Luka. That's gonna be important for him with the team. And he brings more, like, more to the table than I think any center the Lakers have had since was in. Well, I don't know if you consider Anthony Davis a center or not.

[B]

That's Dwight Howard, maybe.

[A]

Yeah, Dwight Howard right back in 2012. Not with 2020. In 2020, he was a really good defender. It was necessary. Man, the Lakers just lack size, bro. It's a whole thing.

[B]

That's why they lost this year. They had everything else other than size.

[A]

Yeah, they had. They. Honestly, if they had a good center like Anthony Davis, if I would have gone far.

[B]

But catch 22 because you had to get Luca firm.

[A]

Exactly. And all that makes sense, though. I mean, think about it. Anthony Davis is 31, Lucas 26. You're going to do that trade 10 times out of 10. But you did lose some size and you sacrificed that year. So I'm just interested in seeing what's going to happen with the Lakers Next is like, LeBron's on this expiring contract. You're focused on Luca. The team can only get so good because they're capped with the second apron and all that new cba. So now they added Deandre Ayton. There's not much they can do else. There's rumors they're looking at Andrew Wiggins. I'm not sure if that's the upgrade they need because they definitely need a really good like, like wing defender because they lost Dorian Finney Smith to the Rockets. Ruiz are fantastic offensive player, but his defense is like pretty mid. So I don't know what they're gonna do to add that like, you know, athletic score to their, to the team.

[B]

We'll see. The west is so stacked, man.

[A]

Too stacked, bro.

[B]

I think Braun should have stayed in.

[A]

The east, you know, honestly. Yeah. Because he can make it to the finals and lose every single year.

[B]

So I mean, yeah, if he was on the Caps, he probably would have.

[A]

Made three more finals 1000%. And honestly, with this team that he has now, he probably could have won a couple finals. Yeah, right. But honestly, with his contract, he can't get traded now. He has $53 million. The different teams that people have been talking about, like let's say the Dallas, they're going to be hard cap, second apron, Cleveland, hard cap, second apron. The warriors had to trade Jimmy, but they're not going to do that that soon. Knicks won't do that as well. So also the Knicks hire Mike Brown. You see that?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What do you think about that? That's a.

[B]

Well, they didn't have many options.

[A]

Yeah, every coach was turning down meetings. They asked for every single coach interview, bro. It was wild.

[B]

The Knicks, they got a bad reputation.

[A]

They do have a bad reputation. There was no reason for them to fire Tom Thibod. Although you, you fire if you can replace. But they had no plan. They fired him with no plan issue.

[B]

That was the issue. I wonder what their reason was too.

[A]

I think because they thought that they reached the peak with him, you know, I mean, Tom is notorious for running like a seven man rotation and running his starters into a, into the ground, which I think is evident. I think the reason why they didn't beat the Pacers, they didn't have the depth. Yeah, right. And they couldn't keep up with that depth. And when you have your, your starters playing like 40 minutes a game, they're not gonna keep up in seven games. They end up losing, you know, and that first game they lost, when they up by 15 with like 4 minutes left, it's bad coaching.

[B]

That's all.

[A]

Coaching.

[B]

That shot will haunt me.

[A]

Yeah. Are you a Knicks fan?

[B]

Oh, I grew up in Jersey, so kind of. I used to like the Nets when they were in Jersey.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

But then they went to Brooklyn.

[A]

So you gave up on that?

[B]

Gave up on the Nets? Knicks. I just. I think they're cool.

[A]

Yeah, they're fun. But it's a New York Knicks, bro. The fans are crazy. You see the sidewalk talk? Nyc. That's. The games are wild. They do. Yeah. Nets are a hard team to root for, especially if you move.

[B]

Nah, I can't root for them.

[A]

Dude, I'm surprised that you don't root for the Nets, because I grew up like a Oakland Raider fan, and now they moved to Vegas, obviously, and I'm still a Raider fan.

[B]

Oh, you are?

[A]

I'm a Raider fan still because, I mean, it's the Raiders. I grew up watching them, so I'm gonna stick with them. And also, I grew up going to the Oakland Coliseum. What a stadium. That stadium is horrible. I don't. You haven't been to it?

[B]

Haven't been.

[A]

It's the worst stadium that you'll ever step foot on planet Earth.

[B]

Horrible. Is that bad?

[A]

It's horrible. And I'm really happy they moved to Vegas because, I mean, allegiant is next level.

[B]

Can't beat allegiance.

[A]

You can't be. Oakland couldn't afford a stadium like that, bro. Oakland can't afford to have a police officer, let alone have a nice stadium that's worth $2 billion.

[B]

You guys are losing the A's, too.

[A]

They are losing A's. They're in Sacramento now. They're playing two years in Sacramento before they build a stadium in Vegas. Oh, yeah. Oakland, man. They're getting that. They. They. It's a poorly ran city, bro. They did not. Now, it's not like the Donald Trump is a poorly man city. It's not good. Yeah, they couldn't keep any of the sports team. They lost the Warriors, San Francisco lost the Raiders of Vegas, and I lost the Ace of Vegas.

[B]

Damn.

[A]

They got nothing.

[B]

Is that where you grew up?

[A]

I grew up in the Bay Area, so, like, I was born in San Francisco in the Mission and then grew up in South City, but I went to. I went to school in East Bay. I went to Berkeley, and so I spent a lot of time in the East Bay, and I went to. I went to business school in Berkeley as well. And so, like, the East Bay has a really special place in my heart, and Oakland has a lot of Heart and a lot of soul to it, which is why I think attracted me to the Raiders in the beginning with compared to the Niners, but the city is going through it. It's a tough place to be right now.

[B]

Damn, I haven't been there.

[A]

Yeah, there's parts of it that are really nice and parts of it that need some work. A lot of good food, a lot of good history and culture. I mean, like, so much of the Bay Area rap scene is. Is out of Oakland from E40 to. You name it, bro. Like, it's actually E40 is from Vallejo, from what I think. But it's fun, bro. You should go.

[B]

Yeah, I'll try it out. Is that where you got into comedy around that time?

[A]

Well, I got into comedy well, there. I can't tell you the exact date I got into comedy. Comedy is one of those things that I've always just wanted to entertain and be funny. Like I always say, I can pinpoint when I remember I enjoyed entertaining was when guests would come over. There's a thing with like Arab families when guests come over, like your parents decide, like, specific roles for you. Either you're the one that's going to serve food, you're the one that's going to sit there and entertain them, or you're the one that we're going to show off to the rest of the family, right? And my role was to entertain a guest. I'd be like 7 years old. I'd be sitting there and I'd be sitting there, like just entertaining the guests with stories, dancing, you name it. And so I think from a very small age, I realized, like, wow, I really like. And I love seeing people laugh. And so I. I have like pictures on my phone when I'm in the third grade at talent shows. I didn't know how to write a set, so I would memorize other comedian sets, right? Like, Gabriel Iglesia is one of my favorite comedians legend, right? I used to memorize like a five minute set from his. And when it was talent show time at school, I'll perform his set.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Right? And my friends will all laugh. They're third graders. They don't know the difference. They just, you know, I didn't know how to write a set, so I would, I would perform them. So I learned honestly the stage presence of a comedian, right? I would memorize Gabriel Glacier. I memorized like a five minute thing from Russell Peters. And I kept on doing that at talent shows. And I would sprinkle in my own jokes, you know, when I Started learning and learning and that developed into like a love for, like, just like being in front of a crowd through public speaking. And so then I started doing different ways of public speaking. Like in college at Cal, I was the emcee for the football and basketball team, right? So I'd be there 60,000 people leading cheers and all these different things. And so that taught me, bro, like, I lost any fear of any crowd. Like, if I'm out in front of 6,000 people in the middle of like pre game coin toss, I'm out there leading a cheer. I'm. I can, I can make a room of 100 people laugh.

[B]

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[A]

And I was doing funny stuff on the side. It wasn't until business school I realized, like, now it's time to, like, I had a little bit of like a. A fear of doing like actual standup. And in business school, I decided, like, no, now's the time to actually get into it. I had developed a little bit of a following on social media, so I started doing open mics on campus. And after I did some more open mics, I started doing open mics in San Francisco. And then eventually, honestly, I just gained the confidence for myself to be like, I think I could do like a 30, 40 minute set. So I was in Dubai at the time. I was there for two months for work. I was in consulting. And I decided to write a 30 minute set about my time in Dubai the last two months. And so I put on my first show free Tickets, by the way, literally posted. No one needs to buy tickets. I went to this place, I had a nice little lounge area. I was like, listen, you keep bar and food ever. Just like, I need a space to perform. And it was a small place at 120. I posted on my story and. But we got like 160 people to come and we had to turn away like maybe like 56 people at the door. Wow. And I prefer my first set. I'll never forget when I got up there, it felt like I was supposed to be there. It's like one of those, like, I don't know how it feels like for you behind, like, you know, podcasting, like, like it felt like home.

[B]

Yeah. I knew quick I'd say, yeah, I.

[A]

And so the moment I got there, I was like, this is where I'm supposed to be. And then, since then, I just ran with it. So I started like, I started like, what is it? I put on my own show in different cities across the states. Eventually got the. I got noticed by an agency in LA that does booking for comedy and they booked me my first tour last summer and we did like maybe 30 shows with them. And we're like a crop. I mean, we hit so many different cities across the states and eventually got noticed by wme. W me hit me up and like, dude, we love what you're doing. And I switched over to them and now we're fully into comedy now, doing touring. And like I was just in like Virginia beach on Sunday, which is pretty but ghetto, just like Drake said. And we were in Buffalo and Hoboken and we're going to Tampa and Orlando next week. So it's great, man. Now we're just kind of in the thick of it, bro. I'm only a year and a half into doing pure stand up comedy.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's interesting, but I love it. It's so fun.

[B]

Insane, man. Because when I had Nikki Glaser on, she said it took 10 years for most comedians that she's friends with to take off.

[A]

It does so, bro, every traditional comedian and more of the. From the older generation, they're 100% right. That's what it used to take. But now with social media, things are a bit different right now. The reason why and part of the reason why, and I could be wrong on this one, but this is what, from what I've analyzed, is that when a comedian does 10 years of standup, right, they start off, you're only doing like 10, 5, 10, 15 minutes and you're doing that four to five times a week. And it's a grind, you know, you're doing five to 10 minutes, five to 10 minutes. And so in order for you to develop that, that like, I guess the stage presence, the knowledge of how to move and transition and crowd work and being able to pick up different things and be able to change the joke and understand that joke can be better if I just maybe pause for three seconds longer or change the emphasis on that word. It will take you like 10 years to get to that point. But in my situation, I've been passionate about stand up comedy since I was a kid. Like, I used to memorize the sets, I used to pay attention to this stuff. So for me, when it came time to transition from doing like social media content into stand up, combined with my public speaking experience, being an emcee for like cow, I was, I felt ready, you know, and so I reverse engineer the situation where now I'm doing like 40, 45 minutes on my own shows and I have 45 minutes at each show compared to someone doing 5 minutes, 5 minutes, 5 minutes. I have 45 minutes at each show where I'm able to analyze and get better. I film all my shows, I sit there, watch with me, my friends, a couple of my other comic friends I befriended, and we get better and take feedback. And honestly, comedy is a rep game. It's all about repetition, right? So if I'm doing like right now, this, this year, so far we've done like maybe 35 shows. I've done an hour, right? That's 35 hours that I've done so far, over 35 shows. Now if you do some take someone who's doing 10 minutes, 10 minutes, 10 minutes, how long do you think it's going to take them to do 35 hours?

[B]

Six times as long, right?

[A]

Six times as long. So I'm doing that in a much more condensed time. And that's honestly, it came with the privilege of social media. Social media allowed me to get an audience. But there's a difference. There are people that can do social media, right? And then they're like, oh, I want to do stand up. And they can sell out 400, 300 seats. Amazing for them. But can they actually be a good standard community is a difference, right? I believe in myself and I know myself and honestly, I've proven myself to be a good stand up comedian, right? Other people doesn't translate well. And then I'm a unique case. I'm passionate about stand up comedy. I've been doing it since I was A kid. I have public speaking experience. You know, I. I study this. Like, it's like. Like a freaking AP test, you know? So that's where I'd say distinguish myself, but Nikki Glazer is correct. It does take time. It takes around 10 years for, you know, someone who follows a traditional path to stand up. But, man, the world's changing, bro. Things are. The way we consume entertainment, the way we do, like, do entertainment is changing every single day.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I love how calculated you are because most people come your show, they're just like, oh, this kid's on stage, like, just spitballing.

[A]

But, yeah, no, it's not like that at all. But I have a full script. Like, ask my cousins, all my friends, bro. Like, I have a script that I go through. I. I watch the set after. I analyze every single joke that I do, I write down. I don't sit there and just, like, spitball. There's a. There's a lot of effort and, like, thought that goes into it.

[B]

So you plan out every joke?

[A]

Yeah. Well, now is. Because I do it so often, I don't. Like, I used to write out every single joke before every show. So it'd be like a. A page of, like, seven pages of, like, an hour worth of notes right now. Because I. It's got. I'm gotten so used to it. I will write the bullet points of what jokes, the thing, and I'll write the punch lines, and I'll do edits on where I think I could do, like, change the punchline and whatnot, and I'll go back and watch it. So now I go on my phone, I'll have, like, seven notes of, oh, I'm gonna do the joke. When I pooped in the swimming pool when I was a kid, I'm gonna do the joke about explaining P. Diddy to my mom. And, like, there's these different things that I'll do, and I'll go back and, like, you know, get the feedback and optimize it on that. I very much apply it. Like, it's a formula. It's not just. It's an art. But if I'm kind of using, like, kind of mathematical formulas to get better with it.

[B]

Yeah, that's so cool. I love what you said about the pause, too, because that's something I struggle with because I get so excited when I'm storytelling, I don't pause.

[A]

Yeah, bro, you would. You can overestimate honest or underestimate how important a pause could be in a joke. And not even a pause. I Can look like pause in a joke and I'll look to the left in a way of like, sus. And that look to the left would add laughter to it. Right. You know? Or if you like, there's a joke I talk about where I'm on a Southwest flight and a guy decided to sit on a middle seat next to me. There's open seats everywhere and he takes his ass and sits on the middle seat next to me. And one thing I learned when I was like performing the joke one time I decided to say, I see him coming up. I go, I used to say this motherfucker. But then I changed it. I was like, what if I add a little bit more like color to it? So I go, this motherfucker. And that small, like, change in like character. The voice, like took like the joke from like here to here. Wow. Because you can sense like you could. People can sense like the irritation faster than just saying this. I'm like this.

[B]

So word play is huge.

[A]

Wordplay is huge, bro. It's bro. Comedy, especially standard comedy is such a detailed oriented game, such a detail oriented game. Like a pause, an emphasis, a de emphasis, elongation, shortening. Something can take something from one level to the next level, but it takes repetition to be able to find it out. And there's stories of comedians that they say they. They've been doing a joke for four or five years and set. We all have jokes as comedians that, you know, if you had to do a 10 minute spot, you can go up there and do that 10 minute spot of jokes you have like that are tried and true. You could be doing that joke for four to five years. And on the fifth year, something in your mind pops up to change the end of that joke. And by it smacks better than the last five years.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah. It's interesting how it works, man. That's why it's a beautiful art. It's such a beautiful art.

[B]

Yes. You're just constantly improving.

[A]

Yeah. You have to be extremely aware of it. You can get lazy and just be fine with it. But I think I tend to try to hold myself accountable in my head about not being too complacent with it. I'm still so young to the game, bro. I've been doing this like my first official comedy club that I did was the Irvine improv last year, June 19th. Right before that, I was doing restaurants and lounges because I had to take a bet myself. I had to like, comedy clubs wouldn't give me a stage because I had no ticket sale history which is exactly the smart thing to do from a business that is.

[B]

Right?

[A]

So I'll go to these restaurant lounges that, like, were Middle Eastern restaurants and lounges. I'd be like, hey, listen, I know you guys usually bring singers, but I have a following on social media. I have a show that I've written. I would love to use your stage, right? And we can do a good. I would really tell them, like, I'm not looking to make money. I'm looking to just have your stage. So we do a profit split that would benefit them. And they're like, yeah, fuck it. If, you know, if you don't sell enough tickets, like, whatever, we still leave in the positive every single time. I would do it. We're not sell out. They wouldn't be prepared for the people that would come. So they would end up losing money by not being able to get food and drinks to people's tables.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And I built a ticket sale history eventually to the first agency noticed, right? And when a first agency noticed, then they could at least sell me to a comedy club. So we did that from, like, from June 2023. I did like a show a month in restaurant lounges across major cities in America. And then it was around, like March 2024 is when I got noticed by the agency. And we booked the IRVINE IMPROV for June 2024 19. And I sold it out on my first go on a Wednesday, which is. I'm very proud of that accomplishment. And that just let a flood of opportunities come in with regards to comedy clubs. Now I strictly only perform at comedy clubs. Obviously, if there's a charity event or gala or school event, you do those. But it was a journey. I had to take a massive bet on myself and there was a lot of help from my family. My friends, like, my cousins would bro. My cousins would come to the show and they would run the door. Like, they would run the door. They were like my bouncers. Like that. Like, like my first show, my brother was about to. Next show, my cousins were about like, checking tickets and stuff like that. Because I remember one show I had to hire some ooses to run security because I had a threat from someone.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah, I had a threat from someone. He was just like this weird guy that was like, I'm gonna come and cause mayhem. This guy, he thinks he's funny. All this. So we had USA's guy didn't show up. But yeah, I had my friends running door. Like my friends will all tell you about, used to run door for me and all this stuff because I was, you know, I was just trying to figure it out. And mind you, I was still working full time. I was full time consultant while I was doing comedy.

[B]

Wow, that's such a different lifestyle, right?

[A]

Oh yeah, 100%. But I was, I was pushing the limits to my, my, my job. They, I was doing the bare minimum to not get fired.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And, and the company itself is really, really poorly structured. It was an Indian tech consulting company. They didn't know what the fuck they were doing. Indian tech consultant, I don't think. I'm not under an NDA or anything with the company anymore. I'm gone. They gave me the money, I got my bonuses, whatever. But they were fucking really poorly organized also.

[B]

Like, it was just a shit show, bro.

[A]

Like I, my first three months of work, I didn't have any work because like it was a rotation. It was a post MBA rotational program. You do it right and they put you in four different rotations through four months. When I joined my first rotation, mind you, my experience was in comms, telecoms, media and entertainment. Right. That's when I got my MBA focused in. They put me on their whole rotation on oil and gas. I told them, why did you put me in oil and gas? Like, oh no, no sir, it's, it's because, you know, oil and gas. I was like, did you put me in oil and gas because I'm the only Arab in this rotation? And they had no answer. I truly believe to this day they put me on oil and gas because I was Arab and I could speak Arabic. That was literally the reason why they put me into it.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So the first three months I'm like, bro, my manager would have a meeting with me every three weeks. He oh, I'm so sorry, I'm busy. You could do this. I would do Chat gb. This is when Chat GPT first started doing market research for oil in, in the Middle east and how we can apply it to like India and whatever. Chad. Gbt. Give it to him. He's like, wow, this is fantastic. I'm like, yes. Just I know what to do. And so in that dead time that I had, I would work on my content and I work on stand up comedy. And I remember I realized I needed to go to Dubai because there was a lot of things going on with like content creation. Dubai. I forced them to put me on an international rotation in Dubai. All expenses, pay trip. And I got to Dubai and the job, mind you, they, the, the rotation they put me on was Gene coding. I don't know about gene coding, but they wanted to create a sales plan for how they can get into the gene coding system into the Middle east, which there is, by the way. They're doing like, I think the doing a whole like gene collection thing of their entire population and the Emirates over there. So there is a market for it. So I go, I do my chat DBT market research and I go push out content there and I build an audience in the Middle east through Dubai. And then eventually got to the point where I was on a bench. And consulting is a term that's called on the bench, where you're not on a billable client or project. I was on a bill. I was on the bench for four months. I didn't know about it because my manager was like, oh, no, no, don't worry, I'll get you a job. I'll get you a job. I get a notification from my email saying I have two weeks to find a billable client or I'm fired. Right. I go call my manager. He said, I didn't know about it. I talked to hr, like, oh no, you're imagining you about it. He was just lazy. And so I got them to extended a month and a half. In that month and a half, I made like a whole like life decision. I was like, I think I'm gonna go into stand up comedy full time. That was March 2024. And then I decided to quit. But I got some severance from them. I threatened to sue and all this other stuff.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

Because they, the way they handle was extremely poor. And then I quit March 5, 2024. So now it's been almost a month and four. A year and four months since I've quit my job.

[B]

Crazy.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You started mainly in Dubai with the comedy stuff.

[A]

The first stand up show I did was in Dubai. Yeah, it was in Dubai. And that's for those two months. I really like pushed myself big to create a little bit of audience and I had an audience. Like, I think when I got into business school, I had like maybe150,000 followers on tick tock and maybe like 10,000 on Instagram. By the time I left business school, I had like 300,000 on Tik Tok and almost like 100,000 on Instagram. Wow. Yeah. Like I was, I was doing my business school stuff, but then I was pushing out the content. And then in those two years since I left, I made a pact to myself. I said in, by the end of this rotation program, I want to be able to make the decision Can I get into comedy full time or do I stick with consulting? And lo and behold, the decision came upon me.

[B]

Were you studying any specific comedians? Were you watching their sets and taking notes?

[A]

Yeah. Yeah, bro. Dave Chappelle is something I've watched for ages, bro. Just the way he story tells and the way he not only can storytell, but there's. He can send a message through his storytelling. He can make you think about societal issues, you know, through his storytelling. Like, he had the whole issue with what was going on with the transgender stuff, like when, like, people want to cancel from it. But if you looked at the message he was trying to say, it was incredibly smart. The message he was trying to say is that America tends to care more about transgender life, sometimes more than black lives.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Because he had. He had a whole joke about the baby and stuff like that. So if you only watch the two minute clip of it, you would say, oh, my God, this guy is so homophobic, transphobic. But then if you watch the entire 10 minute set, you're like, oh, I get the point he's trying to make. So I really appreciate how he's making these, like, nuanced storytelling to kind of make you think about things that are going on in society. Whether you agree with it or disagree with it, the structure of it is extremely, extremely polished and smart. Right. And another guy I paid attention to a lot was Gabriel Glacis and Robin Williams because they're so personality driven that they usually allow their personality in small little quirks to come out that I really relate to because I'm all about my personality, Right. I'm trying to just. If you come to my show, you're seeing NASA. You're not seeing like a character I'm putting on. You're not seeing anything. Just me, my. My quirks and stuff. So the way Robin Williams and Gabriel Glacis use, like, sounds and this and that, and they're just like, they honestly, their life comes out through words. Really, really, really inspiring. Inspiring. So those three, and then the last one is Kevin Hart. And the reason why Kevin Hart is because I look at him as an entertaining comedian, right? He entertains you with his little movements and that. He saw me, you know, all this stuff. So I've looked at all these people and I've taken elements of them into my, like, stand up to become who I am now. And by the way, it's still a living and breathing process. I still have, like, I'm still figuring myself out. I'm from the community. I was June 2024 now is a lot different in terms of, like, how polished and how I'm getting into it, you know? Yeah, but that's the beauty of the job is that it's living and breathing and you're impacted by, like, you know, your experiences and what's happening in the world and all this stuff. Like, for example, the last year and a half, bro, Trump's been. Every comedian is talking about Trump. How can he not? Yeah, so that's, that's why I really enjoy about it.

[B]

Yeah, it's so easy to do a Trump voice and just make.

[A]

Right. Everyone just, everyone wants to do the Trump voice. So easy, bro. It's like the easiest thing. It's getting a little bit outdone, but, I mean, the guy just cracks me up. But he always, always, every day I think is done, and then the next day he says something funny. Every day.

[B]

Yeah. You get a lot of hecklers at your shows.

[A]

Not, not too often, by the way. You know what's so funny? I get some Arab aunties and uncles who have never been to a comedy show before who don't know the decorum of a comedy show. Like, when you go to the comedy show, you know, you can't yell out loud.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Unless the community asks for it. But, like, some Arab aunties and uncles will literally come to the show and feel like it's a one on one conversation with me. So I'll make a joke. And they're like, oh, yeah, NASA, that happened to me too. I'm like, no, no, this is not your time to speak. This is not like an open conversation. There was one mom, she was sitting front row, and I was making a joke about how, like, my mom would take me to Ross as a form of daycare when I was younger. And she literally goes, oh, I used to do that with my kid too. Speaking of, my kid is here. And when I took him to Ross one day, I was like, no, no, this is not your storytelling moment. Like, you're not. But because they feel like I try to create a very relaxed and welcoming environment at my shows. They, they feel like, oh, I could just talk to you and do it. But that's not how it goes. You, you're there to listen to me, and if I open the door for you to engage the conversation, then in Arabic we say, come in. But they don't understand that because they haven't been to a comedy show before. So that's where I get some hecklers. Sometimes people can get drunk and, you know, those, they, they, they talk a Lot. But I enjoy the challenge that and the pressure that brings when handling someone that's a little bit off the.

[B]

You ever bring them on stage?

[A]

Oh, I do bring them on stage. Yeah. One of my things I do is at the end of every show, I teach people how to dance to Arabic music, especially non Arabs, because it's the funniest thing I've ever seen. These people try to shake their shoulders in rhythm. Like, most of these white people have not done anything rhythmatic with music other than Macarena, bro.

[B]

I just found that out on my wedding dance lessons yesterday.

[A]

Okay. Oh, you're getting married?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, congratulations.

[B]

But I cannot dance.

[A]

Yeah, it's okay. So we had to bring to one of my shows. Although you're not gonna have Arabic music at your wedding. Like, you need to know how to like, just match the beat to the rhythm and your shoulder bounce into the rhythm. So it's really funny seeing like a white guy who doesn't even know how to clap on rhythm attempt to dance to Arabic music. It's a fun way to end. The show ends on a high note and it's like, it's crowd work. You know, I'm allowing their movements to dictate my joke. Yeah, so I enjoy that a lot.

[B]

I love that. So you got a big Arab audience?

[A]

Yeah, I'd say majority of my audience is Arab now. I mean, start off doing like more Arab comedy stuff, and the goal is to expand in the bigger markets, and that just takes time. Like, the more comedy shows you go to, you know, the more people are like, will be able exposed to your comedy and the more like showcases do, which I want to start doing more showcases like at, you know, inshallah, like the Hollywood improv and the live factories and stuff like that. You'll get exposed to more audiences. But I. I think I've not. You know, some people say, no, no, you have to be able to relate to all audiences. I'm like, bro, I'm very proud of who I am, My culture, my. My background. I have a lot to say about my experiences. Now you can come to my show and you're hearing stories about my life. And yes, the setting may be a Middle Eastern setting, but there's still my experience as NASA. So you'll be able to understand it. It's not where it's like all Arab. You don't. It's more of like, this is just a setting. Happens to be a Middle Eastern family or Middle Eastern situation. But for example, like me pooping the pool, you don't have to be Arab to laugh at that. Just me being six years old, pooping in the pool. Right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So it just takes time. Again, I've been doing it for a year and a half. Like, Nikki Glazer's been doing it for 10 years, and now she got, like, she put in so much work and she earned where she's at right now with how big she is.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And that's usually the story for most communities.

[B]

You know, I think for her even more. I think it's like 20. But she said around 10 years it started taking off.

[A]

Yeah, it takes a lot of time. But again, social media is changing the game, bro. If you're not. I tell every community, if you're not using social media, you're. You're. You're being stupid. You're missing out on the world's greatest and free advertising platform. Like, why not take advantage of that?

[B]

Yeah, I know some comedians are against it because they take your phones when you get to the show.

[A]

Yeah, they do. They do take your phones.

[B]

I remember when I went. I think it was Chappelle, actually. Yeah, Chappelle took it. Kevin Hart took it. I mean, for them, I get it because their jokes probably get stolen.

[A]

And, yeah, that's a big issue as well. Jokes can get stolen. But I look at the sense, I'm like, you can clip, you can post your jokes on social media, but also, you show me how you write through sketches on social media. Right. Eventually, a lot of communities want to be able to write stuff and start on their own shows and movies and they want to produce their own shows. It's all about writing. At the end of the day, if I make a sketch, I'm writing a sketch and posting on social media. And by the way, the consumption rate on phones is about this. If it hasn't surpassed tv, it's going to surpass it.

[B]

Definitely.

[A]

People watch content on their phone more than they do on tv.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So now instead of, like, here's how I look at it, my page on social media is a TV channel, Right. You're going to get a variety of content, man. On Monday, you might get me. No. Doing a shower view with my own comedic twist. On Tuesday, you're gonna get me doing a sketch about, like, a certain character developed. On Thursday, I might have a talking head video where something in politics happened. I can make a funny remark about it. So I look at it as a TV channel. Right. You're gonna get a variety of different shows every single day, just like a TV channel would. That's what my. That's what my page is. So why would you not use that opportunity to showcase your talents? Right. And at the end of the day, the reason why I say for comedians to get on social media, because we all want what it was community want, is you want to sell out shows, you want to sell tickets. Social media helps you get butts in the seats. Right. But does it make you a better comedian? You still have to be working the craft, but we also need to make a living. So why would the would you not have more butts in the seats, post on social media, make more money so more people can see your comedy. Also, you can get better as a comedian so you have more feedback. Yeah, but some people are a little bit too traditional, you know, old school. No, I'm not. I'm obviously I'm Gen Z or I think I'm gen Z. 96. I don't know. What, what, you're Gen Z?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. I'm, I think I'm the, I'm the oldest person in the gen Z. I'm 97.

[B]

I'm on the edge too.

[A]

Okay. Yeah. So I, I, I'm, I'm like, yeah, it's a tool I'm going to use, but other comedians will disagree with me and that's fine. We can disagree.

[B]

Yeah. I think you need both. I mean, look at Matt Rife, Theo Vaughn.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

A lot of them use podcast. Drew Ski. Yeah.

[A]

Drew Ski. Yeah.

[B]

Drew Ski is crushing it.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

He's selling out arenas now.

[A]

Yeah. He's doing the whole could have been record stuff. And he has other stuff that he did in Atlanta.

[B]

Shout out to him. Andrew Schultz.

[A]

Andrew Schultz are going to start on social media as well. Y so you see what I mean, like these, these comedians who are selling out shows left and right. Massive, massive, massive social media. It's changed.

[B]

I think comedy in terms of the podcast space is either number one or number two.

[A]

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised it's number one, honestly.

[B]

Yeah, it's really up there.

[A]

It makes sense. Why would you not want to hear your comedian talk for an hour for free? Like once a week? Once or twice a week. Theo Von's podcast kills me, bro.

[B]

Almost every episode.

[A]

Yeah, he kills me. His when he went on Joe Rogan, I think it was after the election, bro. That guy cracked me the up his interview with Trump. Yeah.

[B]

Go down in history, bro.

[A]

The thing is, like, you don't know where he's going. You think you know where he's going and he hits you with the Most random, funny, obscure fact or joke out of left field. And it's hilarious to watch. Man, he's so funny.

[B]

Yeah, he's one of one, man. Shout out to him. Where are your more memorable places to perform? You've probably done a lot of cities at this point.

[A]

Yeah, I've done a lot of cities, bro. I've been everywhere From Like Birmingham, Alabama, we did Virginia Beach, Tulsa, Tacoma, Spokane, Indiana, St. Louis. Surprisingly, the crowd in St. Louis was really good.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Crowd in St. Louis was spectacular. I always say New York's an easy crowd to perform in because he's so diverse. It's fun, energetic. Houston is actually a very underrated comedy city. Every time I perform in Houston, like the crowds are very, very electric and engaging. And what other city is good? Miami's fun Indian. Indiana actually was a very fun show too in Nashville as well. But I would say like St. Louis has always been the most surprising city. And I do have to say that San Francisco I think is top underrated comedy scene. Like Dave Chappelle performs there all the time at the Punchline sf and he says he loves it because it's just like you don't have the pretentiousness of, of la, but then you get diversity and everyone there is just like ready to laugh. So San Francisco is a very, very, very good city to perform in.

[B]

Everyone there is probably so stressed from making so much money, right? Cost to live there.

[A]

Oh yeah, it's my guys. So expensive living sf. You know, we were literally talking about this with my, my sister in law, my cousin, about how expensive it is in sf. But I grew up in SF and seeing the city change from being like this nice, beautiful, humble city to being like the center of AI transformation and VC and tech is wild. Yeah, City's lost its soul. It's such a different city now from where it was 20 years ago, I bet. Have you been recently? I went once, but where'd you stay?

[B]

I think downtown or something. I don't remember. It was so expensive. Everywhere we ate it is like 100 bucks.

[A]

Trust me, if I want to get lunch and bro, it's, it's. I live in the suburbs now. That's that for my family. If I want to get lunch, it's like 20 minimum. Minimum if I want lunch, yeah. SF. Yeah. I wouldn't believe what everyone says about SF. Everyone's saying SF is dead. It's always trash. No, it's only a small area of sf. Just like every city has a bad area. SF is still a beautiful city and it's just expensive. Yeah, it's expensive.

[B]

Yeah. Vegas, you get a lot of land out here for your dollar.

[A]

Yeah, you do. I like Vegas a lot. My brother lives here now. I visit quite often, and I'm like, I see. I see what people are talking about.

[B]

Yeah, there's always something to do, man.

[A]

There is.

[B]

We were just talking about the concerts before this. Yeah. Ufc. There's so much.

[A]

There's so much stuff to do. And I was. I was talking to my cousin, too. Is that, like, the food scene is amazing here. They brought all the best restaurants in the world here, and it might. Obviously, might not be as good as, like, the OG City that's in. But still, the. The fact that you can go to, like, Carbone or Peter Luger or whatever, you name it.

[B]

Yeah, we got Cote coming.

[A]

Yeah. Well, that, by the way, if people ask me what my favorite meal is ever, that is top Cotes. Damn.

[B]

I've been trying.

[A]

The funny story about Cote, one of the hardest. It's a very hard reservation to get in New York City. I was in New York the weekend the world shut down.

[B]

Covid.

[A]

Right, Covid. I was in Saudi Arabia, right? I had to leave early because every day, every, like, country was shutting down. You know, I remember I was a Saudi, and my. My uncle told me, he's like, you need to leave. I was like, no, no, I'll stay. He's like, you need to leave. I get on the flight in Saudi. I knew was because half my flight was like, army people.

[B]

Damn.

[A]

I was like, oh, if the army people are leaving, then I need to leave, too. So I landed on march, I believe 11th is a Friday, and you get a sense that people were starting to leave the city that day. It's starting to empty up.

[B]

And.

[A]

And we. We decided to say, guys, let's. It was me, my cousins. Like, let's take a look at the reservations for all the top restaurants. Things were opening up at the time, like, Lure Fish Bar was really hard to get a reservation. We walked in, and that Sunday, we're like, let's see Kote, because Kote was the hot one. It's still very popular. The entire day is open because why Every day, shit's going down. Numbers in the States are getting higher and higher, especially where in New York City. So on Sunday, we went and we had the most. The most amazing meal at Cote. Next day, New York City shuts down. Next day. So that weekend was honestly, like. It was like an empty New York. You have to enjoy everything. While I was so open and the next three months. I got stuck in New York for three months with my cousins.

[B]

Wild. Yeah. You got to have a card to eat at restaurants out there, right?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, bro. That was like, after you got vaccines. But the first three months in New York was wild, bro. All you could not. Not a soul in the street. Geez.

[B]

In New York.

[A]

In New York. And I was so on the street. Ambulance 24 7.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

We live near the. One of the hospitals. Ambulance 24 7.

[B]

It's traumatizing.

[A]

It was traumatizing, bro. I did. I was there for three months. My grandparents live in sf. And you couldn't get a test back in the early days. So my family's like, you're not coming home until you can get a test. And flights were, like, not available.

[B]

You couldn't fly, right?

[A]

You couldn't fly. Eventually when I flew back, it was when. I don't know if you remember, when the aisles, the middle seats were empty. You couldn't sit in the middle seat. You remember that? Yeah, yeah. And you can always say, I own window.

[B]

You got to wear a mask.

[A]

You had to wear a mask. Yeah. You had to go wear a mask. Crazy times, Wild times where that was.

[B]

I remember trying to sleep without my mask on, and she fudgeing woke me up.

[A]

Oh, I told you, put it on. I got destroyed at Disneyland once because I was on It's a Small World, and I was like, bro, fuck this. I'm about to be in It's a Small World. I'm already being tortured. Let me take my mask off. Right. It was back when you had to wear a mask at Disneyland, bro. I get on this fucking little boat, I take my mask off, they start it, and they stop it.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

And the girl goes, yeah, the man in the back with the Mickey shirt. Yeah, put your mask on. And the entire boat turns their head towards me, and they're like, put your mask on. We want to go It's a Small World. And I put it on, and I was like, this is the most embarrassing moment in my life. I'm getting scrutinized on It's a Small World.

[B]

That is crazy.

[A]

That's co for you.

[B]

How brainwashed everyone was.

[A]

It was bad.

[B]

I almost fell for it.

[A]

Did you get vaccinated?

[B]

I almost got the V word. Yeah.

[A]

Oh, you got a view.

[B]

I almost did.

[A]

Oh, you almost did.

[B]

I was probably a few days away from getting it.

[A]

Oh, really?

[B]

Well, I wanted to travel.

[A]

Yeah. Well, I had to get it.

[B]

Oh, for work.

[A]

Not for work, for school. Oh, and Berkeley is a very liberal campus school for business school. If I want to go back to campus, I had to get the vaccine. Yeah, that's. And also at the time, to be honest with you, I live with my grandparents. I. I wanted to make sure I could protect them, you know?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so in order for their safety, I got the vaccine as well. It was one of those risks. I was like, I'm young. If there's anything wrong with this vaccine, I'm willing to sacrifice it for my grandparents. You know, that makes sense. So that's another reason why I got it. But also because I wanted to go to school. I wanted to. I'm paying all this money to go to business school. I might as well fudgeing get the vaccine. And it wouldn't let you back on campus. I didn't have any religious reasons. All this stuff. Like, there was nothing.

[B]

So business school worth it?

[A]

You know, That's a great question. Business school, like, I'm a comedian now. I'm not a consultant. I'm not doing MBA things. But a lot of the lessons I learned in business school, I do apply to my career. Like, I'm very much very business focused. Like when I was doing my shows, when I was looking at my expenses in my finances. I do all my. I can manage my finances, I can manage my expenses, taxes. I have a business now that I like. It's a media company. I run through my comedy. All this stuff. I can do that. I have the capability to maximize my profit. Like, I'm able to look at my expenses and realize, maybe I shouldn't do this. Maybe I can cut costs on this area. Maybe I can do this and that. Which I think bodes well for me right now, especially because, like, a lot of comedians maybe don't know the business side as much. They probably have a manager that, like, I have my agent who advises me, but I know how to manage myself. Like, and my agent books shows. And now with wme, they book, they do a lot of different things. So it helps out a lot now, you know, was it worth the money? It was a lot of money, bro. It was $120,000. Yeah. But I learned a lot and also gave me a break. I was working in corporate America after I graduated college at cbs. You know, cbs.

[B]

The new station.

[A]

The new station. But it's a whole thing now. It was cbs, Paramount, Viacom, whatever. I was doing integrated marketing for them. And I think in those two years I was working for them. Like, I always had this deep inkling. I Knew I want to get entertainment on a front facing role like acting or comedy or hosting, and I wasn't doing that. I was all back. And honestly, if there's ever a moment in my life, like I flirted with depression, it was when I was working at cbs, and it was like God sent Covid to change the world. And then I got an email from Berkeley saying, hey, if you want to go to business school at Haas, which is like a top 10 program in the world, you can apply without a resume, but without. Now with. With. With no gmat, you have to take gmat. Your resume, one recommendation, and one essay. I was like, fuck it. So I applied, I got in, and I quit my job faster than you could say yes. And so those two years in business schools really allowed me to, like, focus on what I wanted to do and dial in on my career. Like, I doubled my following on all platforms in business school, and I got a job after that. Paid off. Like, my Indian tech company paid me fucking well. So it l me, like, surprising for.

[B]

An Indian coach, right?

[A]

Because they. They had this whole thing, like, we need to hire the best, like, MBAs out of the country to make our company look better and, like, have smarter people. So they would hire. They throw all these big paychecks at, like, Haas and Harvard and Chicago and all these. And I was there, and all of us were like, what the going on? But we're getting paid. So a lot of us didn't really speak up, but it paid off for me because it gave me the time that I needed. I think time is extremely valuable, right? A lot of people don't take. Take time for granted, but it gave me space where I wasn't working 9 to 5, where that other side of my brain is focused on creativity. And, yeah, we push out the content, and we're able to get to a place that we can at least, like, now grind to get to where we want to get to.

[B]

That's cool, man. Yeah, One last question for you, because my. My boy's a Kobe hater. Where do you rank Kobe?

[A]

Wait, wait. Who's a Kobe hater?

[B]

Well, haters a strong word. He has him outside of his top 10.

[A]

What the.

[B]

Yeah, so I want to hear where you have.

[A]

Okay, first of all, we need to discuss this. All right? The moment Kobe passed away, may he rest in peace, people started disrespecting this man more than I've seen in my life. The guy passed away, and now, like, oh, Kobe's outside my top 10. Is he even top 10? Is he even top 15. All these different things. I'm like, first of all, we need to respect the man and what he did. Five NBA championships, okay? The guy, well, he should have won more MVPs. All this stuff. I put Kobe top five. I put him. And listen, I'm gonna put him at two. Damn, Kobe's two for me. And let me tell you why. I'm gonna tell you, Jordan's number one for me. I, I'm a Laker fan. I respect LeBron. LeBron probably has had the greatest career in NBA history, okay? Numbers wise, all these different things. But when you look at Kobe and you look at LeBron, there's a killer instinct that Kobe had that you only ever saw in Michael Jordan, right? There were moments when Kobe would take over the game. Not with his physicality. I'm talking pure skill, footwork and shot making ability. Like LeBron's strength comes from his physicality. His ability to just be a bully, his ability to be just smart on the court. But when it comes to those, that offensive capability, bro, Kobe was there. People forget, bro. 2010 finals, 2009 finals where Kobe would take the game over. Like, no one can guard him, right? No one can guard him. Fade away. Three pointer. Fade away. Mid range. Most impossible shot ever. He would make it. Was he the most efficient? No, by any means he was not. But in terms of what he brought to the game, offensively and defensively, the guy was all NBA. How many times? 9 times, 10 times, right? 2nd best player in NBA for me and NBA history. And a disrespect towards Kobe needs to stop. Everyone's talking about all this stuff. No, no. What this guy did to the game, Incredible. Most one of the most influential, I think. Top him, Curry, Jordan, LeBron. Top four influential players ever. And Kobe's number two for me.

[B]

You heard that? Michael Sartain?

[A]

Michael, I don't know who you are, bro, but you're wrong. You're wrong.

[B]

Yeah, I might have to set up that debate next time.

[A]

I'll take it to the grave, bro. I'll take it to the grave.

[B]

Let's go. Thanks for coming on, man.

[A]

Thank you, man. I appreciate you. 100 would love to have you, but I want to teach you how to dance every music.

[B]

Peace.

[A]

Take care.

[B]

I hope you guys are enjoying the show. Please don't forget to like and subscribe. It helps the show a lot with the algorithm. Thank you.