93: The Wayback #93 | Frankie Quiñones

Summary

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The Wayback with Ryan Sickler | Episode #93: Frankie Quiñones

Release Date: October 9, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode of The Wayback, comedian and host Ryan Sickler takes a trip down memory lane with fellow comedian Frankie Quiñones. The focus is on childhood memories, family traditions, cultural identity, and the small but significant experiences that shape who we become. In classic Wayback fashion, the conversation is warm, funny, and nostalgic—packed with personal stories ranging from Little League triumphs to sneaky childhood adventures, and from the joys of fresh tortillas to the shock of the Northridge earthquake.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Frankie Quiñones' New Comedy Special

• First Hour Stand-Up Special: Frankie's debut hour-long special, Damn, That’s Crazy, is out on Hulu, produced/directed by Ali Wong.
  • Quote: "It's my first one hour special and it's produced and directed by my home girl, Ali Wong." (Frankie, 03:23)
• Previous Work: Frankie had a half-hour special for HBO Max previously.

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Family Cars and Station Wagon Memories

• Childhood Car Rides: Frankie reminisces about riding in the backwards-facing seat of a station wagon and the old Volvo in his family.
• Lowrider Impala: Frankie's dad drove a 1965 Impala with a distinctive chain steering wheel, a point of pride but also a workout to drive.
  • Quote: "My dad used to have a 65 Impala with the little chain steering wheel." (Frankie, 05:02)
  • Ryan’s Quip: "No airbag. That is going right through your chest." (Ryan, 06:00)

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Growing Up in Southern California

• Neighborhoods: Frankie talks about growing up in San Fernando, Pacoima, Oxnard, Chatsworth, and Camarillo. Chatsworth was seen as an "upgrade," though the family lived in a small apartment.
• Big Family Energy: Multiple cousins and relatives were always nearby, and the front yards of relatives' homes were combined for maximum play space.
  • Quote: "Their front yards, they live next door to each other, so they combine the front yards. So, you know, it's had like a big play space." (Frankie, 16:40)

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Church, Dancing, and Early Performance

• Cultural Catholicism: The family attended Catholic church but mostly for cultural/holiday reasons, not strict religious adherence.
  • Ryan’s Joke: "A funeral. Sunday school. Funeral. Sunday school." (Ryan, 08:10)
• First Stage Experience: Frankie first got on stage singing at his family's apostolic church.
  • Quote: "That was the first time I got on stage... I’ll be killing it. Hey, with the mic." (Frankie, 10:42)
• Folk Dancing: Encouraged by family (and cute girls), Frankie got into Mexican folk dancing in elementary school, performing at local events, parades, and even big LA Galaxy games.

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Grandparent Central: After-School Rituals

• Daily Ritual: After school, Frankie and his cousins would gather at their grandparents’ houses for fresh homemade flour tortillas, beans, and Kool-Aid—a daily feast.
  • Quote: "Every day my grandma would make a fresh stack of homemade flour tortillas, a pot of beans and a jug of Kool Aid. And that was all we needed, bro." (Frankie, 14:41)

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Bubbling Springs Park & Outdoor Adventure

• Crawdads and Creeks: At Bubbling Springs Park in Oxnard, Frankie would catch crawdads ("I was a part of that problem," he jokes, about over-catching leading to crawdad extinction in the creek).
  • Quote: "Rest in peace the crawfish of Bubbling Springs and Oxnard." (Frankie, 20:04)
• Fishing with Dad: Story of sneaking into exclusive Westlake Village to fish illegally with his dad, often getting tickets but always catching “some trout for tacos.”
  • Quote: "We would sneak in there, bro. Me and my dad. And my dad, you know, we do some illegal fishing. But I think he got like three or four tickets there." (Frankie, 20:54)

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Little League All-Star

• Baseball Beginnings: Inspired by his dad, Frankie played Little League, made All-Stars, and joined travel teams (“the Wild Stallions”).
  • Quote: "I was a little baller, homie. I was a little scrappy, scrappy dude. Lead off, you know..." (Frankie, 23:59)
• Family Expectations: "I had to be in sports either I had to be in sports or I had to have a job." (Frankie, 22:37)
• Coaches & Memories: Reminiscing about Coach Alejo and childhood games at the military base’s CBC fields in Oxnard.

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Sneaking Out for Baseball Practice (Fake Body Prank)

• Classic Childhood Rebellion: Frankie tells the story of being grounded by his mom, yet sneaking out to practice by building a convincing fake body in his bed (pillow, helmet, stuffed Goofy).
  • Quote: "But she wasn't as mad as I thought, dude. She was so impressed of how good I made the fake body look. And she knew I went to baseball practice." (Frankie, 29:13)
  • Ryan’s Observation: "You got one by her. You know what I'm saying?" (Ryan, 30:01)

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1994 Northridge Earthquake Memories

• Living through the Quake: Frankie describes sharing a room with his sister, trophies raining down from shelves during the quake, and trying to protect her.
  • Quote: "I jump on my sister, and I'm like, o. I'm being a hero right now. And I just feel my trophies hitting me on my back like, oh, ah, first place." (Frankie, 33:14)
  • Ryan’s Callback: "First place hurts more, bro. They're bigger... definitely wasn't a participation award right there." (Ryan, 33:22)

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Family Style and Musical Influences

• ’80s Family Photos: The nostalgia is enriched with discussions of old family photos, hairdos, and fashion.
• Music at Home: The house was always filled with old school funk, especially Rick James—so much so, Frankie's sister is named Christina Marie after Teena Marie.
  • Quote: "They went to Rick James' funeral... My mom would always be, she till to this day. Oh my Ricky Rick. My Ricky Rick." (Frankie, 35:02)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Mexican Folk Dancing and Family Pride:
  "When he sees his grandson repping like that, you know, how could you not just be like, ah, yes." (Frankie on his grandfather, 12:17)
• On Snacking at Grandma's:
  "All you need is a little bit of butter. You go. And then you have one of those, and you go play a little bit." (Frankie, 16:19)
• Reflecting on Childhood Laughter at Church:
  "Some of the hardest times I've laughed are when you're not supposed to laugh. And my brothers and I would start laughing in church." (Ryan, 10:02)
• Mom’s Toughness:
  "She's from the projects, bro, and oldest of all her siblings. So she just, like... She's got a real fire in her." (Frankie, 31:07)

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Notable Timestamps

• [03:23] — Frankie plugs his special, “Damn, That’s Crazy”
• [05:02] — Frankie describes his dad’s Impala and chain steering wheel
• [10:42] — Frankie sings “This Little Light of Mine” at church
• [14:41] — The daily after-school food ritual at Grandma’s
• [20:04] — “Rest in peace, the crawfish of Bubbling Springs...”
• [23:59] — “I was a little baller, homie.” Little League memories
• [29:13] — The fake body/prank to sneak out of the house for practice
• [33:14] — Surviving the Northridge earthquake and the "trophy defense"
• [35:02] — Mother’s love of Rick James and naming his sister after Tina Marie
• [38:16] — Final plug for Frankie’s special

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Tone & Atmosphere

The episode is warm, funny, self-deprecating, and deeply personal. Both comedians riff on their own family quirks and shared working-class roots while drawing out the universal nostalgia of ‘80s and ‘90s kids growing up in tight-knit, lively, sometimes chaotic, and always-loving households.

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Closing Note

Frankie wraps up with a grateful shoutout to Ryan and one more mention to catch his Hulu special, Damn, That’s Crazy. The episode is a whirlwind of family love, slapstick childhood rebellion, cultural pride, and the music, food, and memories that make home feel forever close.

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For stories of old-school cars, big families, childhood troublemaking, and performing Mexican folk dance for your abuelito, this is a quintessential "Wayback" trip—don’t miss it.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

All right, y', all, big news. My new stand up special, Live and Alive drops Friday, October 24th, right here on my YouTube at 9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific. We shot it at Comedy on State Madison, Wisconsin. There were two sold out shows, the crowds were unbelievable and I'm telling you honestly, it's my best work. All right, this special is special. I'm really proud of it. It's self produced, it's self funded, it's self released, and straight from me to you, the way it should be. And here's the best part. During the premiere, I'll be live in the YouTube comments with you guys hanging out the whole time. I'll answer questions. I want to watch it all unfold in real time with you guys. Like we're there together that night. All right, so make sure you subscribe to my channel, hit that reminder and join me on release night. This one means a lot to me and I would love to experience that first watch with you guys. Friday, October 24th, 9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific. Live and alive right here on my YouTube. Subscribe now and don't miss it. I'm just trying to drift off and try not to die. My whole job is try not to die. And person I miss the most is my daughter. You know, I'm a single dad. My daughter's seven at the time and they won't let her visit. I've got one buddy sitting in there one night with me. He's got a couple girls and he's like, what are you thinking about? And I was like, my daughter. And he's like, yeah, just definitely don't be thinking about like graduation, her getting married, or grandkids. I was like, oh my. I wasn't thinking about any of that at all. I'd certainly thought about things that I would miss, but I thought about things that were more current. Like for example, I love to go fishing and I take my daughter fishing all the time. And at the time she hadn't caught her first fish. I want to catch my daughter's first fish with her. I don't want her mom's boyfriend doing that. Steve, Steve, Steve. Hey, baby. We're gonna be here all day. We're gonna be here all day, baby. I like that kind of party. Welcome back to the Way Back. Everybody. Ryan Sickler here. Ryan Sickler.com and Ryan Sickle on all your media, listen, thank you guys for supporting this show. I always say thank you for supporting anything I do. This is a fun show. I love doing this show. Tell everybody about this show. You got to watch this show. We're bringing people's past to life. And I'm very excited to have this guest back here with me today. Ladies and gentlemen, Frankie Quinones. Hey, welcome to the Way Back, brother. Before we get into your stories, right there you got a new special. Tell us about it. Where can we find it? All that stuff?

[C]

Yeah, please watch it. It's out October 10th. It might be out already by the time this airs. It's called Damn, that's Crazy. It's on Hulu and yeah, it's my first one hour special and it's produced and directed by my home girl, Ali Wong. So please check it out.

[B]

I didn't know this was your first.

[C]

First hour. Yeah, I did a half hour before for HBO Max. But this is my. Yeah.

[B]

Where did you shoot?

[C]

Portland, Oregon, at a place called Revolution Hall. That was cool, man.

[B]

So who October 10th?

[C]

Yes, sir.

[B]

Make sure.

[C]

Damn, that's crazy.

[B]

Make sure you resubscribe to Disney, y'. All. When you said that, I forgot they.

[C]

Were part of the family.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Okay.

[C]

Appreciate.

[B]

So I'm stoked to have you back here. I always ask the guests before we get into their stories if they ever sat in this seat facing traffic back in the day. And you have. Who in your world had this seat?

[C]

It was one of my aunts. One of my theas or her husband had a. One of the old station wagon and then some family, friends of our, The Macias. The Macias is watching this. Henry Macias was his name. He had a. A Volvo, one of those old Volvos. And it had the seats at face to back.

[B]

Yeah, a lot of people, a lot of the. You're younger than me. How old are you?

[C]

45.

[B]

Yeah. So a lot of the younger people in your pocket talk about that Volvo.

[C]

Oh, really?

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

Interesting.

[B]

But it's funny to me because I know you got a family, a big family and you got.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

I know somebody held on to that station while end of the night still around. That's what I'm saying, you know, as long as it's. And you would roll back there in those two cars growing up.

[C]

Well, yeah. And there, you know, a lot of pickups.

[B]

My dad.

[C]

My dad. My dad used to have a 65 Impala with the little chain steering wheel. Did he?

[B]

Yeah, the chain steering wheel.

[C]

Chain steering wheel. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

The little skid. The smaller one too. The wheels like this.

[C]

Yeah, bro. It's like that.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I talk about it in my spirit because they don't come with power steering. So, hey, you know. So his arms forms would be buffed.

[B]

Parallel parking, that thing in the Valley, dude. Yeah, yeah, Full size. They were smaller. It was like a tinier one. I know exactly what you're talking about, man. I couldn't imagine parallel parking with there like this.

[C]

See that one at the top?

[B]

Yep.

[C]

There it is. That's it. That my dad's steering wheel, bro.

[B]

That is some. Right there.

[C]

That's crazy, right? Frag.

[B]

Go park the car.

[C]

Like, the look of it, but it looks cool. Like, damn, bro. Got calluses on your hands.

[B]

And what's up?

[C]

What's up with your hands? You play baseball? N. I got a chain steering wheel, man, on my right.

[B]

Chain link steering wheel, dude. Hilarious. No airbag. That is going right through your chest. That's going right through your chest.

[C]

But you're cruising.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

Those things are built like tanks, too.

[B]

Look at that upholstery, too. Look at that. That is. You don't make it like that anymore.

[C]

Look at that. That's just living.

[B]

Oh, you cozy time. You fall asleep on that seat.

[C]

That's why you have that nice upholstery.

[B]

Because you're just cruising one handed on that little. Little wheel. One handed on that little. Just one wrist right over the top of that.

[C]

That's. Yeah. For driving straight.

[B]

We were talking before we recorded. We're asking you about some places you live and you said you used to live in these apartments across from Chatsworth High School.

[C]

Is that right? No, I was.

[B]

So what's the address on it again?

[C]

I was born in San Fernando and then. Then we lived and like, Chatsworth was like, for our family. Like, you know, most of my family were. Were, you know, around here. We live in Pacoima and then Oxnard. Oxnard, California. So they were like, ooh. Because Chatsworth's like Chatsworth moving on up. But yeah, they were like, but, you know, but we only. But we lived in a one bedroom apartment right there. But. Yup. Crazy, homie. Wow, look at that.

[B]

That's a trip Isn't it wild? Dude, I haven't gone back and looked at my old house.

[C]

Crazy, man. Those are.

[B]

This is down here.

[C]

These are like redone too.

[B]

Oh, let's take them back. Let's take them back to 2007.

[C]

AC, the station wagon.

[B]

Look at the cars, though. Look at the cars. 2007.

[C]

Damn.

[B]

That guy didn't give a. If he stole his. His windows open, he don't care. Take this car. You live in here? How many brothers and sisters do you have?

[C]

One sister. That's it.

[B]

One sister who's older.

[C]

I'm older.

[B]

You're older. All right. And you would go to Sunday school, you Catholic family?

[C]

Well, it's funny, I would go to. We go to Catholic church, kind of like culturally, you know, both sides of my family, my grandparents.

[B]

But are you going. See, I grew up Italian American. Yeah, My grandmoms are doing church and like that on Sundays, but we're going holidays.

[C]

Yeah, that's.

[B]

We were holidays and I had to go to Sunday school. We're going Easter, Christmas, you, you know.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

A funeral. Sunday school funeral, Sunday school.

[C]

Somebody dies, you got to get religious. But. Yeah, but my grandpa, dude, he was an usher at this church called Our lady of Guadalupe, and in the. In this neighborhood called the Colonia, and it was like an accident in Oxnard after we moved over there, but it.

[B]

Was like it up here. Hold on. What's it called, Lady.

[C]

Our lady of Guadalupe.

[B]

Yeah, there you go. Our lady of Guadalupe.

[C]

Oh, that's the new one. Yeah, yeah, that's the new one.

[B]

Isn't it funny how. How these churches just keep getting nicer and newer?

[C]

Yeah. All right. I'm like, Parish, that's not the one I would go. Went to.

[B]

Yeah, Parish is still my same apartment over here. But this church is nice.

[C]

I mean, that. That's a whole new section right there. They used to be just strawberry fields, but. Yeah, my grandpa was an usher dude, and he would. I would stay with my grandma grandpa a lot in the summers and. And my grandpa would wake me up like five in the morning on Sunday, and I hated that, bro. And he would. He would. Cuz he would usher the Spanish and the English man. So I'd be there like, you know, half the day on a Sunday. You. You're on your way there, it's still dark outside, and then it's just boring, bro. Catholic service is boring, you know?

[B]

It is boring.

[C]

No, no, no, no. Your eyes are all watery. You're just trying to stay away.

[B]

You're sitting. We're Kneeling. We're still like, what are we doing? I'm shaking hands with somebody now. What the are we doing? Wrap this. Yeah, I hated. Peace be with you.

[C]

Oh, you did.

[B]

Listen, as a performer, look, I enjoyed the break of this. Oh. But I hated turning around somebody, so I hated it. I was so nervous.

[C]

I get to interact with somebody.

[B]

I never knew the real rules. I'd wait just enough to see we're kneeling. Okay, now we're near. But I would cheat. Neil, you ever do that? Or you put your ass on the bench or just one.

[C]

Hey, I'm down here, though, you know.

[B]

There was nothing better though. I say all the time, like, some of the hardest times I've laughed are when you're not supposed to laugh. And my brothers and I would start laughing in church. And then you get yelled at. You better not. And then. Oh, you try to hold that in. I would just. Out of cor. My. I'd see him. I'd see him shaking a little bit. We just be pissing ourselves at church.

[C]

My dad used to whoop my ass in back of church.

[B]

Did you have to dress nice? Did you have church clothes?

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cuz my mom and dad, we did that to. We did the Catholic thing of peasants like our grand. My grandparents and stuff like that. But my mom and dad, we went to an apostolic church so that those apostolics you sing, you know, you get down a little bit. It's more of like a party, which I enjoy. That was the first time I got on stage.

[B]

Is that right?

[C]

I'll be doing little songs, you know. This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine Or I'm gonna jump down, turn around, touch the ground and praise my Lord.

[B]

You know.

[C]

I'll be killing it. Hey, with the mic.

[B]

Okay, so you're singing and stuff here. Oh, there we go. There we go.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

This is mom and dad right here.

[C]

Yeah, my mom looks like she's on a good one right there. Oh, yeah.

[B]

She looks straight out of like an 80s soap opera.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. She's doing her thing, man. She was so be. She still is beautiful.

[B]

But you had sent some pictures in and we'll get to this. But dancing was a big part of. You're sitting here singing now, like, how did you get into that? What kind of dancing was it, man?

[C]

Well, I just all kind of dancing, but my mom and dad. My mom's definitely a dancer. And then, you know, I would imitate like James Brown and stuff in the house. I had a little sprinkler Head I got from my dad's work truck. Pretend that was a mic. And. Hey, so Mexican folk dancing, you know, man, I think I was like, fourth or fifth grade. I got into that and then I didn't.

[B]

I went, did someone. Why, though? Someone in the family doing it, you.

[C]

Know, it's always around.

[B]

There you are.

[C]

That's my senior pictures, dude.

[B]

Mo guapo, man. Moy guapo over here, bro.

[C]

It's like, hey, we get it, you know?

[B]

Jesus Christ. O and the left him right out there. Oh, yeah.

[C]

See, my grandpa's like, when he sees me in that. Ah.

[B]

Does that make him proud?

[C]

For sure, bro.

[B]

Did he do that also, or is he just like you? He's my grandson. Carrying on this hair.

[C]

He's from. He's from Sakatecas, Mexico. So he's just like. When he saw me, he's Grant. When he sees his grandson repping like that, you know, how could you not just be like, ah, yes.

[B]

Well, I mean, yeah, it's way better that than being in a gang or some other and seeing your grandson. Look.

[C]

Look at which he saw some of his grandsons do, you know? So I was the one that he was.

[B]

So. Who gets you into that, though?

[C]

Oh, man, I had family members in it. A lot of my primas and my female cousins were in it. And then, you know, a friend of mine. Danny. Danny Palomino. Danny Palomino, homie, if you're watching this. Yeah, he got me into it. And then, you know, and then there was some cute girls in it, bro, and I wanted to holler at him, too. And then so. And then I just. I started liking it, you know, and then we were doing, like, cool stuff. We do, you know, a lot of parades. We would do the halftime shows at the LA Galaxy games.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

At the Rose Bowl. And so it was fun, you know, I got to meet Jorge Campos. I don't know if you remember him. He's a goalie. That was a little. But he was sick and. Yeah, yeah, we got to do. Oh, yeah, there you go. Dancing right there. See that? I learned from my mom. My mom's always dancing to this day.

[B]

Mom like a. Like, go out dancing lady, like, club.

[C]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

Did you win awards with this type of dancing and stuff? Like, would you. Was it a competitive type?

[C]

No, no, no. You're just like, you know, just. You do weddings and parades and you're hired. Private parties. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Oh, you're making money doing it.

[C]

Well, not. Not. Not me, the group company. But the group would just use the money to, to stay afloat. We had to pay for venues to practice in to. Our costumes are expensive.

[B]

Yeah, that looks like it.

[C]

So it's kind of. I'm sure somebody was making money on it.

[B]

How many guys the girls are in there?

[C]

Oof. I don't know, man.

[B]

Less or is it pretty even?

[C]

I think it was pretty even.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. About, you know, maybe 10 of each. It's not, not a big group, but yeah.

[B]

And you were saying, Excuse me, after what, elementary school? Back in the day you go to your grandparents house. Is that where.

[C]

Yeah, we all, we all a lot of us cousins, you know, on my. So my grandparents on both sides lived pretty close to each other and so, you know, both sides of the family were always kind of in the same area. So every day after school we go to my, My grandpa's, who. My grandpa's still alive. He's 97, bro.

[B]

Damn. All right.

[C]

And my grandma, rest in peace. She. She died a while back. But we'd go every day. And every day my grandma would make a fresh stack of homemade flour tortillas, a pot of beans and a jug of Kool Aid. And that was all we needed, bro. Yeah.

[B]

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[C]

You do it at the tortillas, bro.

[B]

I'm over.

[C]

I. I would just put my face in them and just, you know, dude.

[B]

The smell of them is so good.

[C]

All you need is a little bit of butter. You go. And then you have one of those, and you go play a little bit.

[B]

Come back, hydrate koolaid up in it, too.

[C]

And then you have one with beans. And then, boom, it was. I could eat that all day, you know. And then she kept doing that until she got, you know, arthritis, and then she had. She had to stop doing that. But, man, that fresh stack of flour tortillas.

[B]

And then your aunt lived next door, you say. So you're.

[C]

Yeah, so my. My grandpa, then my. My aunt. My. The aioli. And then all her. Her daughters, you know, and then, you know, and then my. My grandpa a lot. There was a rotation of cousins that would live with my grand grandpa, too. So it was always people around, but their front yards, they live next door to each other, so they combine the front yards. So, you know, it's had like a big play space.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And then one of the walls of the garage, you could, you know, play butts up or, you know, just.

[B]

Yeah. So how many. How many of you guys are over there?

[C]

I don't know, man. It would rotate throughout the years, but I would say at least, I don't know, eight to ten of us.

[B]

I would. I would.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

How awesome was that? Did you love it? Yeah, I mean, dude, that's awesome.

[C]

Some of them went to school. There was a school on that block. My grandma's like this school called Marino West. And it's still there, I think. And, yeah, it's dud still there. And, you know, we'd go grab the cousins getting out of there, and then, boom, just move to the front yard and then just, you know, just playing and active, bro. You know what I'm saying? Sweating and playing with the dogs and eating some more beans and tortillas and then drinking some Kool Aid and then until the sun goes down every day, you know, it's a good time. Yeah.

[B]

I'd asked you about vacations or camps, and you said you want. You. You used to go to this little park.

[C]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Bubbling Springs.

[B]

Yeah, Bubbling Springs Park. Where is that?

[C]

Yeah, that. That's an Oxnard. So Bubbling Springs. Only from people that are from that area. It you. So we. They have little League there, too. So I played at cbc, which is. There's a military base goes by, but then we play some of the Games right there, Bubbling Springs. But Bubbling Springs had a creek that goes through it. Still there, I think the creek. But they used to have a bunch of a crawdad or crawf. Crawfish. Crawdads, you know. And man, we'd go in there, you know, you just, you catch them, you know, keep them as pets for a while.

[B]

How'd you know they were in there?

[C]

I would just like a known thing like, you know, you just go into the creek, you get some, get some crawdads, you know. Oh, there we go.

[B]

So there's a little like creek running through here.

[C]

A main drag of it.

[B]

Oh, there's there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, man, we used to go. Can you look this up, Kirsten? I think it's called Morgan Run, Maryland. So where I grew up, when we got out to the county, we had streams and all this. And we used to just go, you know, around like a day would be go, just go to the damn stream. You know what I mean? Let's go to the stream.

[C]

That's a real stream though.

[B]

This one's pretty. Yeah, well, this I had a ass little creep. No, we didn't, we didn't play in that part of it. We were in the little creek like this over here. Like that right there. Yeah, like that. Exactly. We'd go in there and play and around and one day we just lit. You know, you go in those deep pockets and you lift it up and boom. We called them crayfish back then. That's how we grew up calling oh crayfish, but crawfish, you know, you're going and catching though. These are just the. But man, you get a big one and that was so cool. You'd, you take your shoes off, you had to lift it up real slow and then they'd, you know, shoot backwards.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

You try to get them in a cup and all that and then yeah, we take them home, keep it as a pet. We get big fat ones sometimes and just go cray fishing all day long.

[C]

Yeah, when they had like the full grown shell.

[B]

Yeah, dude. Yeah.

[C]

I feel bad though because they went extinct at Bubbling Springs and yeah.

[B]

Crawl fished them into extinction, bro.

[C]

I mean, I, I was a part of that problem. I feel bad, man. I mean, rest in peace. The crawfish of Bubbly Springs and oxcart.

[B]

They'Re gone, dude. They are gone. Kids like, I don't know, man. I see one in years. You say you used to go fishing with your dad too?

[C]

Oh yeah, man.

[B]

Where are you going fishing?

[C]

Go Fishing a lot. You know, we go to the ocean, but we'd go to Lake Casitas, like Lake Kachuma. We'd go all the way to. And then when. Then we lived in Camarillo for a while. And then for a long while. But, uh, there was a. There's a. There's a nice. I mean, Camarillo's nice too, don't get me wrong. But there's a Westlake. I don't know if you know about Westlake Village.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[C]

It's like real nice right there.

[B]

Yeah, sometimes they do that. You're like, they're in a damn lake around here.

[C]

There it is. Okay. See? But it's like a private lake. Like, fools live there. I mean, hopefully there's more Mexicans there now, but there was none back in the day. So we would sneak in there, bro. Me and my dad. And my dad, you know, we do some illegal fishing. But I think he got like three or four tickets there. And I felt bad for him, homie. I'm like. And then, of course, I'm like, hey, it's because he's Mexican.

[B]

Wait in front of you. It's happening.

[C]

Yeah, bro.

[B]

You know, I'd be like, he's coming out the security. That's not DNR or anything there. I wouldn't imagine somebody that can give them a ticket. Some white people that had some money say, hey, man, get these two brown.

[C]

But my dad was like, it was like a red. Like, I mean, he put himself out there, bro. Cuz we're rolling in there in a low rider.

[B]

He's pulling in with the chain. A dude, you ain't flying under the radar anyway.

[C]

Yeah, we're rolling it there to Westlake island or whatever with a low rider. It's a fishing poles.

[B]

And.

[C]

So, yeah, we. We tried to sneak in there to fish, bro.

[B]

We did sneak. There you go.

[C]

There's the whites.

[B]

Hilarious, dude. This guy right here probably called the police on it.

[C]

I know. He look like he ready to call the police on. He look like that Google car. Yeah.

[B]

Did you ever catch anything? Yeah, bro, they had fish.

[C]

My dad was like, they're biting. And then, you know, he would get a ticket, but we would come back with some trout. You know, my dad would clean the trout and we had some fish tacos on me. Yeah.

[B]

You also said Little League was a big thing for you back in the day, huh?

[C]

Big thing. My dad played ball, so it was like, you know, he was. It was, you know, I had to be in sports either I had to be in sports or I had to have a job. But definitely, literally was like, you know, there you go.

[B]

Yeah, there he is, the cbc. Red.

[C]

Yeah, CBC is a. I don't even remember what it stands for.

[B]

Something Camarillo Ball.

[C]

No, no, it's a. No, that CBC is a military base in Oxnard.

[B]

Oh, okay. They sponsored a team.

[C]

Yeah, bro. They had nice fields, like the military dudes.

[B]

Oh, they had fields, too.

[C]

Oh, yeah, like the. Like the. Probably the nicest ones in that area. And it was called cbc and. Yeah, it's right there. It's right in Oxnard. There's a military base. Point Magoo. There's a Point Magoo.

[B]

I've done stand up at Point Magoo.

[C]

You have?

[B]

Yeah, man. There used to be a place called Horn Blowers. Yeah, bro. Yeah, yeah. And that's also the place where we took off to go do the military base.

[C]

Is it Horn Blowers? I was on, like, the Ventura.

[B]

It was on the Ventura harbor up that way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I know where you're talking about.

[C]

So this base, you gotta, like, go through gate. Like, there's a guard and you got to show your license and get a day pass, and it's one of those things. But, you know, you could go watch games if you let them know I'm going to the game, and there'd be a military guy there. You know, there's multiple gates. It's a big base.

[B]

Did you ever. Were you ever on a team that won the championship?

[C]

Yeah, bro.

[B]

You were?

[C]

Yeah, I made all Stars. I was a little baller, homie. I was a little scrappy, scrappy dude. Lead off, you know, Lead off, little homie. They hit like a chopper. Ground ball. And then just, you know. You know, And I would piss off the info. That's a little, you know, just like.

[B]

Yeah, I'm. Thank God. My brother. I have a twin brother, too. We were always good at sports. And one of the nicest things that ever happened, one of the most complimentary things, and I'm a kid that I will ever remember, is we just couldn't decide. We. We played sports our whole life, and I think we were on vacation or something. You know, there's no Internet or. Back then. And.

[C]

Right.

[B]

We go up to the ball field to let them know we are going to be playing that year. Okay. They're already doing the teams.

[C]

Uhhuh.

[B]

They're already picking who they want on their teams. And. And when we walk in, this one guy goes, God damn it. We got to redo everything now. Because they wanted us, you know what I mean? And you had to take both of us because my parents were try. You know what I mean? So it's like, this guy's like, God damn it. I was like, yeah, they really want. I was like, no, we're redoing all this.

[C]

Sicklers are here.

[B]

Yep.

[C]

And we got.

[B]

So that's two picks, you know, I mean, we were. That's a problem, you know, I mean. All right, I'll take. We were both good, though. We were both good. You didn't have to take a shitty one with a good one. You got two good ones, you know. So you won trophies, all that. You were good, huh?

[C]

Yeah, man. Yeah.

[B]

Any other sports? Did you play other sports?

[C]

Nah, you know, I. I played. No, I just. All baseball year round. I played football one year in high school, but that was all. All baseball, even. I played in summer league, traveling team. Oh, you played in. Yeah, I ran into. It was funny. I ran into my old. One of my old Little League coaches and like, traveling team coaches. You know how even in Little League, like, you make the All Stars and then they have, like, traveling teams in the summer, you know, you do the car washes and all that, raise money for it to go and play in tournaments. Yeah, we had a team, the. The Stallions. The Wild Stallions.

[B]

And that was your all star team. Good.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah, we were pretty good. I mean, make it to, you know.

[B]

This is a big state final state, though, you know what I mean? Like you. I try to always think about, I gotta go look whatever it is from. Or excuse me. Washington to the bottom of California is three states. I mean, there's so many on the east coast, you know what I mean? You're only. You're only just three of them. And even. You know what I mean? Like, we're just Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, we're playing. We're not going, you know, down to Florida and all that. But that's where you would if you were in California alone. Right now we got to go down there.

[C]

I think Southern California and Florida produce the most baseball players.

[B]

And football, they're playing year round. Yeah, down there. Florida and California. Makes sense. What about sneaking out and stuff like that? Did you ever do that when you were a kid?

[C]

Oh, man. Yeah, I did. I. One time I was grounding my mom's like, you ain't going nowhere. I forget what I did, but I remember she wouldn't even let me go to my. My baseball practice.

[B]

Oh, that's. So I said, compromising the team.

[C]

I felt like, yeah, exactly. So I was like, I got to do the right thing here. Mom's is Tripp happen, you know, like, like you. I could be grounded, but you don't ground me from sports activity. That's doing a positive thing. You know?

[B]

That's right, dude.

[C]

So I put up. I made like a fake. I put used pillows. I made like a fake little body. Oh, I had a. I had a goofy.

[B]

Well, you like Ferris Bueller, you talk about.

[C]

I had a goofy. Like a goofy stuffed animal. You know, goofy from.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

You know, Disneyland or whatever. And man, I got a crazy story about that for I. I rammed it. But anyways, we'll get there, we'll get.

[B]

There, we'll do that.

[C]

But yeah, I put the goofy under there and then I had like a helmet that I put as like the head and I made it look good and I jumped. I snuck out the window to go where? To practice? Yeah.

[B]

Okay, so you're not going out the around anything like that. I'm with this. Okay.

[C]

So yeah, I went to practice, bro. And I came back, climbed through the window, and my mom was already the. I. I already knew she found it.

[B]

Cuz it was like, what time of night is this? Like six to eight, something like that. Or.

[C]

Yeah, I think practice was like, like, yeah, five or something. And then. Yeah.

[B]

And how old are you?

[C]

Like, I'm taking middle school. No, no, no. Yeah, maybe close to there. Probably like 11.

[B]

Okay, 12. And you climb back in the same way you went out?

[C]

Yup, yup, I'm back. You know, I'm trying not to make noise in the fence. I'm jumping the fence, like on ninja status. And then I. As soon as I get in my room though, I see that it's, it's, you know, Goofy's all out the covers. Like, we're busted, we're busted, we're busted. I was like.

[B]

Is your mom sitting there too? Or she just.

[C]

No, she, she just.

[B]

I think she heard already.

[C]

Yeah. And then boom, bro, my. My door's open and you just see her come around the corner space, you know, just boom. And I was like. But she wasn't as mad as I thought, dude. She was so impressed of how good I made the fake body look. And she knew I went to baseball practice.

[B]

Okay. I'm all.

[C]

So she was like, here? Yeah, she was like. She was trying to be mad at me, but she was like giggling, you know, she's like, you. You know, like that. It just. I'm sorry, mom. And so for three, she wasn't that mad. But she was like, hey, like, you got me. She's. She came in. She said she came in to check on me. She's like, okay, he's sleeping. Like, he's grounded. Yeah. Like, maybe he's, you know, dreaming about not. Not being a little. And. And then. And I guess she came in and she was trying to give me something to eat, and I wouldn't wake up. And then she, you know, she went in. She's like, hey, wake up.

[B]

And then.

[C]

Oh. And then just pulls the covers and it's goofy, you know? Yeah, that homie. Similar. Similar to that. Real similar to that.

[B]

It's. You know what? I appreciate your mom appreciating that. You got one buyer.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You know what I'm saying?

[C]

She was like, all right.

[B]

I just happened to meet the other day. Not the same thing at all. My daughter's 10 right now, but we were in the grocery store the other day, and we're. We're getting groceries because she's got to kill time between the end of school and gymnastics. I'm like, let's just go and get these groceries. And we're in the grocery store, and I'm not paying attention.

[C]

Right, Right.

[B]

We get up, and then I'm watching go by, and I see this box of hot chocolate. And I said, oh, that's. Wait, who the hell put that hot chocolate in there? I look over my daughter, she is laughing. I said, you put that in there. I go. When she goes, remember when you were back by the bread and you were getting tortillas and I kept telling you, hurry up, hurry up. She's like, you kept touching them and moving and you didn't see it. I go, I did. Not at all, dude. I was. The ladies like, you want me to take them off? And I go, no, you know what? I'm gonna respect it. You got me? I said, ain't gonna happen again. Now I'm gonna be hawking the car. You earned this one. I'm gonna let you have this one. You got it.

[C]

By those wins, I had a. Had to take. I could not take for granted because my mom would throw. Throw objects at me, smack me. All that good. She's from the projects, bro, and oldest of all her siblings. So she just, like. She's got a real fire in her.

[B]

What did she just throw that one?

[C]

She was like. I think she admired that. I didn't want to let my teammates down too, you know? She's like, yeah, all right. You know? Yep, there she is.

[B]

She's got more the Keatsiera curls, bro. That's what I heard the hairdresser tells my daughter. Curls, bro.

[C]

Yeah. She's so beautiful, man. Look at her. Yeah, but she's crazy.

[B]

Yeah. That lady right there is coming at you hard.

[C]

Oh, yeah, bro.

[B]

Don't let that smile fool you. Look at mascara back in the day. I swear, those look like the fake lashes today. And you know they didn't have them back then.

[C]

Yeah, bro. That mascara's got nice teeth. Yeah, bro.

[B]

Look at that little cross. But coming at you like that.

[C]

The hoops and that eyeliner with the cross, though, like. Yeah, like. No, but I'm a good person. But praise God.

[B]

Hi. Behind this.

[C]

I have the power of God behind me, too.

[B]

You lived here during the Northridge quake? 94. How old are you?

[C]

Ah, shoot, I think I was probably 12 or something. And, yeah, bro, me and my sister were sharing a room that night.

[B]

And where do you live at that. Are you in Northridge?

[C]

No, no, no, no, no. Oh, shoot. We were. Well, because I remember my grandma and grandpa were with us. I don't know if. Because my mom and dad were out of town. That was the scary part for him.

[B]

Oh.

[C]

So I don't know if we were in. We were either in Oxford or Camarillo, I want to say which. Cameroon was a little bit closer to the Valley, but it. It shook us, man. I remember, you know, because it happened, like, at 5 in the morning or 6 in the morning, I want to say.

[B]

Okay. Day. Yeah.

[C]

And. Oh, yeah. That's why I think my parents. My parents were.

[B]

I forget it was a holiday. Thank God.

[C]

They probably were out doing a holiday something, and. And I was. We were definitely with my grandma and grandpa. They might have been staying at our house or at their house. But, dude, we hear. We feel the shaking and is falling off the shelves because we had all our stuff up on the shelves. I have my little league trophies, and they just start falling, bro. And I jump on my sister, and I'm like, o. I'm being a hero right now. And I just feel my trophies hitting me on my back like, oh, ah, first place.

[B]

And then first place hurts more, bro. They're bigger. You know what I'm saying? If they were third place, you wouldn't have been.

[C]

Definitely wasn't a participation award right There.

[B]

Ain'T no participation ribbon. This is real hard work.

[C]

God damn.

[B]

That must have been. That must have been my first place. How's the mvp? Just let me. Right there. Protecting yourself. Great.

[C]

And woof. Man, that was crazy.

[B]

Oh, dude. That is great.

[C]

But it was crazy how just instinctually you just go, you know, you just do. Your body just does it. Or you're not thinking.

[B]

Oh, you know. So hilarious.

[C]

Oh man. Hell yeah.

[B]

Where are you in that apartment here?

[C]

I think so, yeah. I think we were in a townhouse or. No, that might have been the apartment actually, now I think about it, this.

[B]

Is so set up nicely. Look the scenarios, photo albums. You don't even see these anymore down here. That's what I think those are. And look at you, clean, all excited about that bike.

[C]

Clean, bro. And actually, I don't even know if that was our house. It might have been like the photographers.

[B]

I'm wondering if that ain't a studio set up or something.

[C]

It might be a studio now I think about it. But with that said, my mom and dad always had a record player, a track player, cd, like anything.

[B]

What are they listening to, man?

[C]

Well, everything but religiously old school funk.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

My sister. I mean my. They went to Rick James's funeral. Like, you know. Did they know my sister's name is. No, no, but they're die hard fans and they went to like his last two performances ever. Oh, yeah, yeah, but they were like. When they were dating, you know, they'd go. My mom would always be she till to this day. Oh my Ricky Rick. My Ricky Rick.

[B]

Nuh. Yeah, yeah, she loved Rick James like that.

[C]

She named my sister Tina Marie after Tina Marie, you know. Yeah, yeah, because everybody's like. Because your name's Christina with a K and everybody thinks it's with a C because she's Latina, like, oh, you're Christina. She's like, no, it's with a K because I'm named after Tina Marie. Her name's Christina Marie.

[B]

But does she like the Chappelle sketch? Yeah, the Rick James.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, because he's in it too. He's like, yeah, yeah, that's in Ensenada, right there by the blowhole.

[B]

I've been there. Punta Cana, I think it is. Yeah, yeah. What is it called?

[C]

The.

[B]

The Bufadora.

[C]

The Bufadora. Hey, right, Sickler, you gotta.

[B]

Punta Cana, where is that?

[C]

Oh, I don't know. I don't. I don't remember.

[B]

I thought that's where it was.

[C]

It might be, it might be.

[B]

Oh, there you go. So I've been there before. Yeah, it's wild. That's awesome. Actually. You get in there and you can feel. You can feel. Feel the wind.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Off of that thing. It is wild there. It Is Punabanda. Yeah, look at that.

[C]

Yeah, there's only so many around the world I forget that.

[B]

Look at that. You gotta be careful too. You don't like somebody just like they're going right the in that it's over. See what else we have. Pictures.

[C]

Yeah, My mom jacked the laundry baskets from Thrifty, but. Or she borrowed it. Sorry, my mom's going behind.

[B]

Got those jacks on them now.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

For real.

[C]

She's part of that problem. But she would. Yeah, she would take the clothes, you know, we go to the laundry, man. She would take the clothes out of the dryer and then put me on them so it could be all cozy. We did that for a while.

[B]

There you are, the CBC Indians without to say that.

[C]

Yeah, that's so funny. I put my lily coach and I ran into him recently or you know, a couple years ago. One thing I remember about that voice had the. He had the nicest feet, homie.

[B]

What? Yeah. Let me tell you something, brother. In the quick Rolodex of my mind right now, I don't know if I've ever seen any of my coaches feed on any sport. Maybe wrestling. If I think back, maybe go out.

[C]

On the field, like.

[B]

What do you mean?

[C]

Nice Coach Alejo, homie. That's my boy right there.

[B]

That's him?

[C]

Yeah, dude. He was my only coach for a long time and then he would coach our traveling team. But yeah, Coach Alejo, man. Good, dude. My little belly button hanging out.

[B]

Oh yeah, I see it now, dude. Your dad's a good looking dude. He had a good looking family.

[C]

Yeah, bro.

[B]

Parents are good looking people. Your mom's a good looking lady.

[C]

Yeah, they're still married too.

[B]

Are they really? They're still together and everything? Oh, hell yeah. That's great.

[C]

Still doing it.

[B]

Does mom switch between the. Or she stay blonde or she do different?

[C]

Nah, she. She does like highlights here and there now, but you know. Yeah, she just keeps it chill. That was. That was like an 80s thing, I think.

[B]

Oh yeah, but.

[C]

But yeah, two good looking people for sure. Then they always had me. My dad would always dress me up, have me creased up.

[B]

That's hilarious. This guy right here is rolling into these neighborhoods in a low rider with a chain steering wheel trying to illegally fit inconspicuously. Dude, thank you for doing this, man. This is a lot of fun.

[C]

Thanks for having me, Ryan. It's a good time.

[B]

One more time. Tell them about the special. All of it.

[C]

Oh, yeah. Well, shout out to my homie Ryan Sickley for having me today on the way back, man. It's been a blast as always. Love being around this dud dude. But please watch my special. Damn, that's crazy. On Hulu, October 10th. Produced by the homegirl Ali Wong.

[B]

Peep it. Awesome. Go watch the special. Talk to y' all next week.

[C]

Ram.