Call These Times What They Are: Janky with Hasan Minhaj

You know, there are versions of the country that happen, right?

And the new version doesn't make the old one bad. It's a necessary for growth.

“And I think we're in just a janky version, right?”

Yeah, janky version right now. Mad Christmas, so Bob? You may. Yeah, shit is janky, right? It's super janky.

Yes. Yeah, it's very. He's not going to be happy with that. This episode is brought to you by shit. What's going on with you these days?

Not much. I'm enjoying life. Making it through the winter. Yeah, the winter is a slog. How's the basketball season going for the--

We have some challenges for the Highlanders. For the Highlanders, yes. We have some challenges, but we're doing all right. We're doing all right. Are you doing?

I'm good. I am doing good. But for the world, you know, it's like when you have your health, and your family is good, and friends are good, then there's not that much to complain about. Yeah.

Yeah. Where are you staying? This visit. I'm staying in an Airbnb. Of course.

Of course.

“But this, you know, this has been a really fun trip because everybody's here.”

Yeah. This has been a fun trip. My whole family is here. All four kids. All four kids.

And Kelly, which she never comes hard.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, it is her birthday weekend. It is her birthday weekend. So we have, we're staying in an Airbnb that just happens to be one of my favorite actors

former homes. Oh, really? Horses and wells. Oh, my goodness. What's that house?

Is it some big mansion? Is it spooky? It isn't. And Orson wells, movie posters are all over the place. Booksy Red.

Hmm. He has the Encyclopedia Britannica still there. Oh, I remember that. Remember those? Yeah.

And it's got a pool table. So the kids were having a blast. We had dinner together. It was a lot of fun. That sounds good.

That sounds good.

“So they all gave the Airbnb a thumbs up.”

They gave it a thumbs up and the kids still don't know who Orson wells is though.

Well, yeah, they don't like movies in black and white. But there was a citizen cane poster. Uh-huh. I mean, it was, it made, I feel warm there. So it's going to be a good week.

That's good. That's good. Well, it's going to be a good episode. It's a good episode. It's a good episode.

Because we have a funny man. Yes. And I love a funny man. Yes, you do. So he better be funny.

All right. But why don't you introduce her? Yes. She's. Put the pressure on her.

Do you better come and funny? No, we are guests today. Awesome. Manage. And he's a two-time P-body award winning comedian.

Sounds like he could be funny. Yeah. Do you win twice in a P-body? I mean, that's nice. It's going to be good.

Yeah. But he's best known for his Netflix special Homecoming King, which I saw that too. That which is very funny. He was funny then. So I hope he's funny today.

In addition to Homecoming King, you got the King's jester. And most recently, off with his head in 2024, he created and hosted the Emmy Award Winning Political Satire Patriot Act with Hassan Manage and currently host the podcast in digital series, Hassan Manage doesn't know. Yeah, it doesn't.

He knows. We're going to find out what he knows. But I'm really excited to talk to him because I found out in the research that he was into basketball. But I didn't know my life.

No, my God. We're going to talk about basketball. How much he was into basketball? No, okay. You may have to, this may not be.

You may have to lay back for a minute. Well, let's get him out here. Without any further ado, Hassan, answer, come join us. How are you? Good to see you.

I like the Jack. You're here. Look at you. No pressure at all. No pressure at all.

No. No. No. He's a new chair. No.

Absolutely. This is Obama. I would love to make you like. No. You told you that you could not spend the whole time calling me Mrs. Obama.

But you explained that if you don't. My mother and father will be very upset. They've met you before, by the way. We're at one of the Andrews Air Force Base. Oh, wait.

You and Mr. Obama hosted big and Andrew Air Force Base.

I don't know if you heard of him.

He was the president. Yes, yes. For a little bit. About eight years. But you hosted an event at the Andrews Air Force Base where you invited a bunch of comedians.

We did. Yes. Oh, my God. Yeah. Yeah.

Way more famous. Yeah. David Letterman.

“Because you're like, I don't remember this.”

Let me. But now I don't know. Let me get to there. I'm going to keep listening. Yeah, yeah.

I'm going to keep listening.

John Stewart, much more famous to me.

Mike Bigley, he's about. We're on that. Yeah. We did. We performed for the troops there.

Yeah. And so my brought my parents. My mother works at the VA, so she's worked at the VA for a very long time. And they got that. So I see.

That's what I was getting at. It was like, they must be. In connection with veterans or veterans of some sort. That's what I. Yes.

But I'm also like, I will unapologetically do a plus two. They don't have. They don't have. But this is like what the presidency you just didn't get a plus two. It was it.

You couldn't just like, no, no. I mean, there's all the security and the vetting and all that. So that's your parents probably were invited because of their status. Being shot. I mean, you think.

I mean, I mean, I can give you all the tricks. I'm sure you're aware of it. If you just reply all to the red early enough. And then everybody's gone. Yeah.

And then it's not like it wasn't as secure as I thought. No. I mean, my dad was backstage and the green room. And he was just walking it up to everybody. Yeah.

He walked up to David Lennman. It was pretty awesome. Like, so all the comedians, the obviously David Lennman legend. But what's great is, is my, for my dad. Immigrated to the United States in 1982.

Organic chemist for 35 years for the state of California. So he kind of treated the backstage the same way he would treat like Costco on a weekend. Are those, are the captains? Yeah. So he's like, is that David Lennman?

So all the comedians, me, Malayne, for Bigglia. We're treating him like, he's, yeah. He's on the Mount Rushmore of comedy. And my dad's like, he's interviewed a lot of people. So my dad goes up to him and he's like, hey.

“Who's the favorite president you've ever interviewed?”

He's like, did you interview Richard Nixon? Oh, yeah. So not as we got right to it, and I really thought where my dad, you know, obviously, where he placed the joke or he placed the bit, I thought it was quite brilliant. Just get right to it.

Because you've gotten this of like, who have you met before the shoot? My dad was like, Richard Nixon. What's his name? You know? What did Dave say?

Dave was like, you know, nobody is really asking about Nixon. And so they're just having this long conversation about Nixon and Watergate. And it was really awesome. And then all these comedians that I really admire were like, who's that? Who's this Indian man?

I think this old dude who looks like Abraham Lincoln. I was like, well, it's not just me, man. I was talking to David Lennerman. It's so different. Is he a comedian?

My dad? I know he's an engineer. He's not getting a chemist, but he's a comedian. Yeah. But also like, if you meet comedians, they'll tell you.

They're not even the funniest person in their family. No, that's right. It's not the funniest person. It's like, it's, I probably the least fun person in my family.

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And how did your parents feel about it?

“I know you talked about this a bit, but you know, your father's an engineer.”

My father's an organic chemist. Which is even more smart guy. Totally. And then my mother is a physician. I didn't even know it was a thing to be quite honest.

I didn't know it was an industry that paid money. That you can make a living from it. Also, I grew up in Davis, California. You know, not to brag. It's the closest city over Sacramento.

Again, not trying to... Okay. City drop. Not to be a greatest. With two walls.

There's a lot. There's a lot happening there. You see Davis. My former alma mater.

But so show biz and Hollywood felt a million miles away.

To be on my first love was basketball. I really, that was on like my vision for it. I really wanted to play. Did you think you could go pro? When you're, when you're in second or third grade.

Okay. When you're doing the book report. Yeah. He's like this. Yeah.

Did you wear, I have the, you know, walk around with a ball. And it's a wristband. I did have the wristbands. And I was like, yeah, I would bag mom. Like every player in the school.

I plan, I plan, I square play. So I, well, I played freshman and JV. I didn't make varsity. That's okay. I don't want to be as honest.

That's all right. But I don't try. Yeah. He was about to be. I didn't know he was talking to any guy.

He could probably say. No. But everything, what's really cool about it is. Comedians tend to be very heavy people. But if you, there's something really beautiful

and having a sport or an activity that articulates what you do. What you do in real life. Mm-hmm. So you can get in your head about a lot of stuff. That's the difficulty of modernity and the difficulty of adulthood I found.

You can spend all this time worrying, not worrying. But was really great. I found with basketball is, and then later in comedy,

So you learn about how tall you are, how strong you are, how to position yourself in relation to someone else. Like I said, I sized you up as soon as you walked in. I was like, okay, he's much taller than me. But I can, I can probably get underneath there. Is that how you size your opponent?

It's, it's basically what you can get away with on the sport.

Yeah. So how do you size me up? I'm not, I don't play. Do you size me up in the same way? I mean, you think I could get around her.

We'll see. I could just, I did try to go to the NBA player once and she did. Swat the SHIT on me. So this is on getty images. I was, yeah, I went, I went to Asia Wilson.

I was okay. I would be able to do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She sent my stuff into the chat last. Yeah.

“To beat my sister all you have to do is be sweaty and then try and bump into her.”

You're going to get out of here. The thing I'm tall, the thing, and we went to the All-Star game. And the biggest thing that I saw was like, they're, oh, they're so much pushing. There's a lot of pushing. I mean, we know just like, that was just, that big, I just pushed that other give big.

But God, I would be done. It's like, once I got pushed in the back once and didn't know about it, I'd be like, I'm going. Can I say something where I really felt like Kissman and Destiny was on your side. Mrs Obama.

So if you keep saying, Mrs Obama, we're going to be here all night. Can you give me an alt and comedy we called an alt? Give me an alt. I cannot call her. You can call her Michelle.

You can call her Michelle. You can call her. You can call her. Emot. That's my nickname.

Emot. That's what they call with no. Yeah. Come on. So when you're at the game, there was a possession where the ball came into the stance.

Oh, yes. And your husband. Yes. I mean, this was out of a romantic comedy. It was.

It was good. Straight up. Because all I thought was ball and big guy coming my way. Yeah. And I'm coordinated.

But I was like, I, I'm just dumbfounded. Right.

“But how many of these highlight reels have you seen where a basketball player was diving in the crowd?”

Yeah. Yes. Jump on our first lady. Right. Yeah.

Like that could have happened. She could have had popcorn. She could have been. Yeah. So there's.

There's a million. There's going to go horribly. Mm-hmm. And then for him to just be like, oh. Oh, here you go.

My honey. Yeah. And then Kevin Booker comes in for a day. It's just like poetic. It's poetic.

Yeah. Yes. So the, the plinkle ball of possibility. Yeah.

Always seem to just align with like the most charismatic.

Yeah. Yeah. Because I, I've got to, again, and do the fall. And I'm really, I've, like, tried to catch the ball. So anyway, I was.

I was. I guess of that. We digress. Right. But, but what I love about what I loved about really loving it as a kid is you also learn how to

win graciously and lose graciously. Yeah. You, you also understand that losing is a part of it. Mm-hmm. And as I pursued a career in show business too, understanding that failure is just a part of

it. Yeah. Yeah. But, but the other part of it is also understanding that. And, and this is where I couldn't get to the varsity level coach.

And I'm going to call you coach now. Because you, you coach in the lead level. Is what really got to me is during summer league, during A, A, A, A, A, U. I would miss a shot or two. And then I would start to get in my head.

Oh. And I wouldn't be focused on the next possession. Yeah. Yeah.

“And so much of life is, is just being like whatever happened.”

Right. Right. You literally have the ball right now. And you have to figure out, you, you simultaneously have to be present. But also kind of anticipate what could happen in the future and make this possession count.

And I didn't realize that how useful that was in comedy, which is if you, if you do multiple sets of night, most comedians working in New York City will do three, four, five sets of night. Yeah. If you had a bad early show, let it go. Mm-hmm.

Now you have to read where the room is at right now. That's your next possession. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And just accordingly.

And the best comedians are able to just let that previous show go. Yeah. And it's completely in the moment. And also able to bomb graciously. Yeah.

Like, all right. I missed that free throw. I had a bad set. Like, it happens. What was your first bomb?

Do you, I know you remember it, you know? Um. And what did it feel like? And you, you know, did, did you just go blank? Was that the kind of thing where you just forget what you're saying?

Um. He was trying to forget it. No. You feel it. You feel it.

No, no, no. When you bomb, you feel it. Uh, you're made states. Yeah. It's also because people are staring at you.

Yeah. Yes. They let you know. You're right. You know how there's that old saying where everyone's like, nobody's thinking about

you that much when you're bomb. Mm-hmm. Everybody's thinking. And then they go home and they talk about it. Like, really bad.

It's awful. You know, they leave it. It's, it gets worse. Yeah. You know how when they say it.

Yeah. It actually gets worse. You remember it was at an IRF pub.

It was, it was, it actually was really humbling because my first few shows were amazing.

Mm-hmm. In that, that feeling of finding your thing is something that I was chasing my entire life. Mm-hmm.

And my first few shows went really, really great.

And then I think it was my third or fourth show. Um, it was at an IRF pub and I had to follow somebody. And then people were leaving. So when you do some of these pub shows, people are watching again. There's, there's a lot of other variables out of your home show.

“And you have to learn how to not only have your set,”

but you have to crow the room to get attention to where you are. And, um, I went very poorly. Mm-hmm. And, uh, yeah, I, an older comedian told me just get, get on stage. Yeah.

Yeah. Book another show is clearly what you actually can. Get back on the horse. Yeah. I just get back on that way.

You can make that a memory ASAP. Yeah. How were you when you started? I was 18. Yeah.

I was just from college. I didn't know. Again, it was, it was through just complete happens. And it's funny enough. I got into it through, um, my computer's teacher.

So I was a bit, I was quite a chattermouth. I was a bit of a sense in class. High school. High school. Okay.

So my, my computer's teacher. I can't picture that. Because my computer's teacher. This is, this is dating me a little bit. I don't know if you guys remember.

Because it's called a computer's teacher. It's called computer's teacher. Yeah. I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer."

I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer."

I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer."

I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer."

I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer."

I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer."

I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer."

I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I was like, "I'm a computer." I'm never coming home. Yeah.

So Ms. T said, "Look, there's this thing called FBLA. Future Business Leaders of America. There's a, we go on these competitions. But there's a competition called Impromptu Public Speaking. I know you don't do your homework and I know you have attention issues.

Impromptu Public Speaking allows you to make it up as you go along.

I was like, "Oh, this is amazing."

Sign me up. So Ms. T took me to these competitions and helped coach me through it. And at the competitions for Impromptu Public Speaking,

“you have to take the affirmative position or the negative position on something.”

And I just found, if you make fun of the person you're competing again, you know, when make fun of what's happening in the room. So, like, for example, like, "I remember putting my first, so you're a bully." Wait, wait.

Wait. I was like, "No, no, no, no, no, no." Is Gary Payton a bully? Absolutely. [laughter]

So, like, what are the first, I was like a sophomore in high school. And they make you debate these things. A 15-year-old shouldn't be debating, so it's like, we're competing in Redding, California, which is even further. Oh, yeah.

For them, they're in Oregon. Great. Okay. So we're in Redding, California. And they were like, a city initiative has been raised, like to renovate this gymnasium or not.

You know, however if we use the city's funds, it will take money away from whatever the library. Yeah. You have to argue for the gym and you have to argue for the library. So I got up there and I was just like,

I basically was like, look, me and him are 15.

We shouldn't have a position on this right now. We both got dropped off here. We don't know what a budget is, because a person tends to pay for everything.

“Also, I think it's dad, one of the judges.”

So that's like a clear conflict of interest. So why are we even having this debate when, like, this could be a legal. You know, and so like the judges are, they just started laughing. And then I think I, I think I won, but what I do remember is after we finished,

one of the judges came up to me and he's like, "Hey, man, I really hate judging these things. I actually judge these things because I have my son on the weekend and I have to like spend time with them." But you made it really, really fun.

And that was really awesome. And then Miss Taku, she told me on our drive back to Davis. She was like, you're really, you kind of have this gift of gab and it's useful. And you could not say things in class and say things here.

That would be very, very beneficial to you. I used to do. In touch with Miss T. I recently got her phone number and I've been trying to get a hold of her. Yeah, she regretted.

Miss T is, you know, life changing. And I, I just want to let her know. Because the irony is she's my computer's teacher, but she's very offline. But up until that point in my life, up 15, 16.

And I didn't realize this until much later. I was looking to be seen.

The reason why I think I was being so talkative or trying to interject in classes. I felt like I had something to say. Yeah. And I had something to share with the world.

And I felt like I wasn't hurt. And she saw something in me. All my other teachers thought I was too talkative. They thought I was a bit of a, not a knucklehead, but just, he's not a great student.

Or he can't focus. He moves around too much in his chair. Yeah. And my report card would be filled with all these almost like behavioral issues.

And Miss T was the first person that said,

I think you're incredibly capable.

“And I think you have this skill set that I think would be really useful and helpful.”

And she also helped me get to national competitions and then we lost. I lost. And I was really upset. And she also helped me lose. Gratians and understand how to come back from losses as well. So she really changed the trajectory of my life. Because I really thought.

Great things weren't going to be in my destiny. So I was talking with a friend the other day about how the FIFA World Cup is coming to the world. I know I'll definitely be tuning in. Maybe even putting together a few watch parties. Invites some people over and explain what off-sides means for any newcomers.

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Well, I want to talk about that you know we are very close to our mom. And you and your dad lived in Davis via yourselves while your mom was doing school. Doing her residency and everything else.

“Can you just talk to me about how you felt about that?”

And I don't know what I would've done if I knew nothing was wrong with my mom. And she was somewhere not with me. Yeah, I think as a kid, it was you just know what you're living through.

So basically my dad has a job with the state.

My mother is finishing her medical degree and her residency. And then my sister is being raised by our grandparents in Delhi. So both my grandfather and my grandmother are raising her. And then when I'm eight, my grandparents were able to bring my younger sister back to the US. She was born in the States, but then she went over there and she was raised raised by them.

And really what my parents were putting together was their version of the American Dream. It wasn't until later that I realized, oh, this was quite different than the way a lot of people grew up. But also as an adult, I think the thing that I really seeped and I...

“And maybe I'm making up for it in my life is I want our place to be the sleepover house.”

Like I want our home and the situation for my children to be in.

And my nephews to be in is that they have a place that's always stable.

They don't have to constantly be in transit. So I mean, the thing that I'm trying to change is when you're a child of immigrants, everything that your parents have, basically like wealth money or opportunity is appreciating. So if you have money, every dollar you spend, you're losing money. And that asset, i.e. money is the only asset that matter. Your time is valued as you.

And so my parents spent so much time trying to build themselves in this country that they didn't get to spend a ton of quality time. And I'm trying to make up for that now that I'm older.

Yes.

“That's been the greatest choice my career being able to do stuff with them.”

Even us meeting over all star weekend, my parents are in India right now, but otherwise I would have brought them. It's just, hey, let's just all be together. Yeah. And let's, we don't have to worry about... I don't know, this is a very common thing in immigrant households.

You go to round table pizza. You, you stuff all the red crust peppers into the person. We don't have to, we have to rock down on that. We're good. We're good.

Yeah. Yeah. That drawer next to the silverboard that goes on all the packets. It's like, why? Where are we doing this?

Yeah. So I read, I read in the research that your comedic awakening came with seeing Chris Rock. Yes. Yeah. Never scared.

I remember that. Yeah, it was a brilliant special. It was an amazing special. Yeah. Yeah.

I, a friend of mine. I was supposed to go to a college party with a friend of mine. And he was getting ready. And he was like, put it on his outfit. And he's like, man, like, going out with my roommate and Ron,

he's a bit of a square bear, but like, going out with him. I thought that, like, turn was so funny. Like, square bear is such a funny way to describe a nerdy person. Yeah. And, um, and Ron was like, he was in his room.

But he was, it was an insane thing to see, like, a grown man do this. But he was lying on his tummy. Like, he was like, he's my five-year-old son. He's lying on his stomach on the carpet. And he has two laptops open.

And he's watching Futurama, the animated series on the one laptop. And then the other laptop.

He's watching Chris Rock, never scared.

So that's what he was supposed to do. Yeah, but he was one of the first, like, multi-screen people to be doing this in 2004. This is, like, way ahead of its time. We'll talk about what multi-screen you have.

But like, in Ron's been on that forever. So I was like, what are you watching? And Chris Rock was in this, like, um, Oh, my God, it's one of my favorite specials ever. But he's in this maroon suit.

And he's performing at dark constitution hall. And he's being so irreverent. Yeah. And that, I, that, the way he's talking about politics and society. And culture, race.

Yeah. He's been so honest. Um, and he's stalking. Yeah. Yeah.

He's like, people are, like, applauding it. Yeah. And so, um. The way I saw it as, like, as a freshman in college. I had a job at office max.

I was selling printers at office max. And then I'm going to college. And obviously high school. Everybody's telling me from the moment I was in kindergarten. The B.O.B.D. like, color in between the lines.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I got to see someone basically be irreverent and disobedient.

Yeah. That's really what comedy is like. It is a release of, on the pressure valve. And he's being, like, rewarded for it. Yeah.

He gets to say whatever he wants to say. He gets to behave the way he wants to behave. He gets to say the way we all kind of feel. Um, and, and just the, the theater looked so big. Um, and I was like, I want to do that.

I, I think, I think, mistock you. She was getting ready to do something like this. Yeah. Because he's basically constructing an argument in a funny way. Yeah.

So we are already kind of doing that in forensics. But there's also something about you that is. Very committed to the authentic truth of things. Right. Or just like the feeling of it.

Yeah. I remember even in, in the thing of wanting to say what it feels like. I remember even in like third grade.

“When people are like, when did you know you wanted to be a comedian?”

I had this teacher. Um, this is in, this is in the years, it's 1993. So diet soda is a huge deal.

And in my teacher, Miss Anderson is in the third fourth combination class.

She would crush a 12 pack of diet pepsies over the course of the day. See, you're just watching. And I'm watching this crush. Oh, a dozen pigs. Yeah.

Yeah. And in the early 90s, there was this big thing with like kids can't drink soda. One of the adults can drink soda. And I remember asking like this and it as a joke once. I was like, I was like, I know you had 11, 11 sodas.

Can I get the 12? And she was like, a song. Like cut it out or something. She barked at me. She said something.

She was like sit down. Like no. And I was like, okay, fine. I remember then that night my dad loved watching 60 minutes. Mm-hm.

And it was like this in his package of like, as pertain. Mm-hm. It may be in your soda, but it also may be giving you cancer. You know.

And then I remember making class the next day. And I was like, Ms. Anderson. As I was in, I was like, can I get, can I get, I know you had 11 dipepsies. Can I get the 12? And she's like a son.

Well, you cut it out, please.

“And I was like, are you totally right, Ms. Anderson?”

I think adults should be the only people getting cancer. And so cool. And she sent me to the principal office. And she was like, what she sent was inappropriate. And I was all wrong.

But I felt like what I did say was wrong. And it was super disrespectful. And I hope Ms. Anderson didn't get cancer. But-- But she's working on it.

Hard. You great.

But I was always searching for that place

to be articulate how I really feel. Yeah. And that was what comedy was for me. It finally gave me a place to take a lot of these thoughts that are running around in my head.

And it gave me a productive channel to put them in. So once you started, like, this is going to be my career. I'm off to LA or wherever you go. Yeah. Talk about how hard it was to make it.

And what helped you get through that. Yeah. So yeah, it is trying to make it in show business. It's a very strange, elusive thing. Because what is it?

How do you even define that? So if you're a nightclub comedian, I really kind of just broke it down into monkey bars. And this is where the playing sports and actually failing. Yeah. And also the go figure it out.

Go figure it out. Yeah. Or like, what is the next thing that you'd like to do? Okay. So you can do 10 minutes on stage.

All right. Now you want to get to 30 minutes. And then eventually you want to be a headliner. You want to do 60 minutes and headliner club.

Well, the first thing you got to do is you got to be an opening act.

So you got to be really good at becoming an opening.

“So you need to figure out 15 killer minutes that you can do in front of any,”

you can do it in front of Mike apps. You can do it in front of Gabriel Iglesias. You can play any room. You can play a white room. You can play a black room.

You can play a casino. Mm-hmm. And then you have to move to a city where there's a ton of clubs. So then I moved to San Francisco. You know, and I get a day job.

And I'm just pursuing. And I just took it one monkey bar at a time. And what I really. I loved about it. And I've come to now.

I've been doing comedy 20 plus years.

But it really did save my life because. The whole art form in and of itself is completely made up. You know, comedians, if you think about it.

“If you want to be a working comedian, we're.”

We're below magicians, but we're above clowns. Yeah. You know, like. If you can do magic, I'm very impressed. Right.

I'm like, I took my hat to David Copperfield. If you're a clown, I have zero respect for you. Like, I think you're terrifying. I think you are. You are using people's fear against them.

fear against them. Like I think you're possibly demonic or the chupacabra. Like you are participating in the dark arts in some way. And I don't, if any founds watching have zero respect for you. Well, magicians, I, I, I, I tip my hat and I, I stand but below you, sir. But the clowns, what I'm about to ask. Oh my god, just ask. Where do ventriloquist fall? Oh my god. Ventriloquist are technically stage performers. I'll give them that. The fact that they don't do

face makeup or try to scare you through the paint on the face. I would consider them to be on on par with comedians. Yeah, working comedians. Slightly below us though. Yeah, I feel like they're like the ugly cousin of a comedian. But thank you. So actually, let me, let me just finish it in all seriousness. Yes. In San Francisco, there was a laundry mat called the brainwash cafe, which is literally a laundry mat where people are doing their laundry, but they did an open mic there. And so when you go to

the open mic, you'd have this like Indian Muslim kid. Me. And you would have a drag queen. You might have a ventriloquist. You might have someone literally clowning on stage. Someone doing like a super blue, Ali Wong is really blue material. Then do you come out Bell would come on and do this very like political material. Then I would come on and do it like I live at home material. And then people were just doing their laundry. They're folding laundry. But what it, you learn how to get an audience's attention,

keep their attention. But you also learn this whole thing is made up. Yeah. This whole thing, it's not even a real thing. Yeah. We essentially perform in basements bars for laundry mats. We create a show out of nothing. And then we go away. You were these traveling kind of entertainment vagabonds, essentially. And it really did prepare me then for what showbiz is in war. You know, all these things that you're auditioning for are, you know, what is the, what is, you know,

“what these things are like these sandcastle ladies, but then they go away. I think you're being a bit”

cynical about it. Maybe you're not, well, because I do, I think it's the sort of the most clever form of, um, op-ed, you know, storytelling, culture, which is what we are grounded in. I mean, which is why I think people are drawn to it because it's like, I am, I think comedians are fascinating and brilliant weaving together. And I don't think it's made up. I think it is a series of, let me, let me talk about life in whatever form that I want to talk about it in a way, because

if, if you were going to say, I'm going to stand in front of you and lecture you about my thoughts,

weave together a story. And like you said with Chris Roth, can turn it into, now you're teaching, and now you're educating, and people remember it, and they'll come back to it. Yeah, I agree with you. But I also, what, what, I think what I was trying to get at is what it means, what it really means to me that it was really beautiful is that all of the answers that you're looking for exist within you, you're the source material for everything. Yeah. So you are the writer, the director,

the producer, the head coach, everything, the promoter, and it is a really beautiful thing that

“calls for your own personal agency. And so that's what I think is really powerful about it.”

What is it healed in you so far? And maybe healed is too strong of a word, but when you say that, you know, the art form is about what the comedian gets out of it. Yeah. What, what have you found out about yourself in this process? I think, um, growing up, Indian American growing up, Muslim, you're usually one of the few people in the room. Yes. And the great, uh, black comedians and, uh, actors, musicians, the, the Muhammad Ali's, the Dick Regaries, what they showed me,

the Dave Chappelle is through the gift of, oration, through the gift of using your words and language, you can navigate any room. Yeah. Um, and you have something to say that matters. And you can add your chapter to the book of what that genre is. Um, so, growing up in school, I just didn't see myself in popular culture. I didn't see myself in sports, I didn't, I just didn't see myself there, but I, and some people could see that as a weakness, but I was like, maybe this could be my strength,

“because so much about being a unique act on tape, or what do you have to say? And being different”

is probably the most powerful thing. You could be, if you don't want to be an act that's similar

to another act. Yeah. And so these things that you could see as limitations might be the biggest breakthrough that you have. So it showed me in the work that I do now in the specials that I put out. Oh, this chapter is worth adding to the canon that is American stand-up comedy, or this film that you're working on is worth adding to. So this, I'm, I'm working on this film right now with Netflix about the competitive role of Collegiate Bollywood dance, which is like

a very competitive thing at college. Collegiate. Collegiate. It's a real thing. It's the biggest

movie never heard of Greg. Yeah. But we're going to know about it in a past about it. So there

are these kids that are like pre-pharmacy majors, but they're like dancing at night. And the vibes and the love in the intensity is real. Yeah. But I was shocked that the thing that I participated in college was never added to the canon of American musicals. Yeah. So when you think of the great American musicals, Chicago and Lala Land. I mean, there's a singing in the rain. There's a long history. Yeah. But our culture has this deep history with magical realism and song and dance.

And there's generations of kids that have basically grown up dance. There's video footage of all of every Indian kid you know dancing is a child for something. Yeah. Yeah. And to me, this is like a

love letter to the culture. But if I didn't grow up this way, I would have never been able to

write this movie and share it with the world. So we're, you know, we're in post-production on it.

“And I'm sitting in the edit. And I think about all the things that have happened to me in my life.”

It's, it is only because of my lived experience. It is only because of how often I went back and forth between America and Delhi and India. Yeah. It's only through my immersion as this bridge between both American culture. Totally understanding American popular culture and understanding value of culture that I'm able to talk about this this way as this kind of like third culture kid. And maybe this thing can be a bridge to help. Again, add my chapter to what the American

used to be. Yeah. How, how have you felt the growth change lack of growth in this country when it comes to the immigrant community experience? I know that's a lot of your, your stand up. But, you know, when you were coming up, growing up in, in Davis, that great, that great town. And I think it was my favorite. Sacramento. Yeah. Have you felt any growth in this country in terms of

I mean, the weirdest thing for me is that, and, and Black Americans have been talking about this for a

“long time, um, is that there's the, the America that it presents itself to be and then what”

America is. And so when my dad came into 80s, there was this word that was talked about, very proudly when it comes to United States of America. It's the M word. It's merit. This is a country that values merit. And what I'm seeing, what has happened and the actions that the country is now taken in regards to the rollback of civil liberties, civil rights, African American history, ice, uh, the illegal seizure and deportations are particular people of melanin,

is that merit only matters for a particular type of American. Yes. I call it white valedictorian energy. I was told just do, be the best, and you get to be the valedictorian. That's right. But what America is basically saying is we got to have a white valedictorian. Yeah. So on carefully, there's an Indian kid, a Chinese kid, a Korean kid, a Vietnamese kid, a black kid, and we're going to go down the list until we get to a white valedictorian. Yeah. So excellence and being an American looks and feels a

particular way. And that's very different than what the country was that my dad came to, which was it doesn't matter what language you speak. We're here to compete in the Olympics of excellence and of merit. Yeah. And now at age 40, I've gotten to see over the course of many different presidents.

Oh, it hasn't always been this way. Where do we go from here? I mean,

“this is where I would call, I want to call you Mrs. Obama. Where do you think we go from?”

To you know, my awakening to that truth came when I went to Princeton, right? Because here I am this kid. My brother had gone there. I'm a straight-a student due well in class from a public school. You know, the the mistake of what Princeton is and how great the kids are. So I don't test well, but I've great grades. I get in, but I get in feeling like an affirmative action kid. Like somehow I'm, you know, I I did on merit alone, my merit alone. I didn't get in.

That's sort of how you you sort of feel. Yeah. And then you get to campus and you realize, oh my God, there are a whole bunch of different forms of affirmative action that are not like a sea admission. Legacy, you know, I start realizing, oh, you're the granddaughter of the person who's dorm your in. Right. Oh, you're an athlete. You're football player. You're a jock, but they need you on the team. So you're here. And I started which kind of was empowering to me

because I came in feeling inferior, but I realized, oh, you were just making my otherness feel less than when they're all kinds of ways that kids get in, you know. Right. But I found that

that there's a powerful thing just to know and understand. And I so an answer to your question,

“I think we're still growing as a country. We're we're very young and adolescent in many ways.”

And a lot of the mistakes that we're making the things that we do, they feel very juvenile, right? It feels like, you know, it's just not mature, but we're not yet really a mature country. We're a young country. And just like in comedy, when you're young, you've got to fail. You know, you've got to try out some theories and fail. And we've grown up in the winning part. Right. This is what Brox says, sort of that hopefulness thing of his that says, you know,

there are a lot of dips and valleys in the growth of this country. And we've been on this clear trajectory through most of our adult life where things were increasingly getting better, which is why a lot of immigrants came over. You know, because they saw the America that was yeah, what was possible? What was possible? And now we're in a dip. You know, what did you tell your kids? Like, what should I? My children are still so young. And I'm navigating this new chapter of

parenthood. You got to meet my kids. I'm still in the put your shoes on phase of, yeah, just get shoes on man. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But there's a there's a there's an innocence to them. Yeah, the biggest thing when they met you, Miss Obama was I was like, please look her in the eyes, shake her hand. I mean, some of my daughter should be her braids. She was really excited to meet you in her dress. And that's my goal of, do they have good decorum or the super polite, but they still have

or cross the path of, I haven't told them about the fact that they may be perceived as different in this country or other in this country. How did you? How did your father tell you? Don't talk about politics and don't tell people you're Muslim. But I'm and I said, I mean, you name me awesome. I mean, it's really awesome. I'm sure you know, your husband had to go to that with his little name. I'm just pretty, it's there. Yeah, yeah, it's pretty loud. Absolutely.

I was into it. I love that thing. I'm a Muslim president, but if I'm used to it, but

“I love it. I believe you tell your kids the truth. Yeah. You know, about is there an age though?”

No, I think I think what what you will find is the time will come and you will decide if this is the right time or the wrong time. And it's usually, I don't think it's the same for everyone, because for us and we've got four kids, middle school, we kids start to sort of separate.

That's when they come home with questions. And fortunately for our family, we were always in sports,

so I think sports helps you bridge that discussion. And you could have a discussion about what's happening on the field, on the court, and sort of help that turn into what's going on off the court. Your kids will, you'll know when your kids are ready for the discussion. So I talked about this with my wife, so my daughter who you met, she recently asked me a few months ago,

“can we get married? And I was like, I don't know if Mommy would be okay with that. I mean,”

I love you, and I don't know if we can get married, but I appreciate you asking you if you can get married. If Mommy something happens to her, I get you. Yeah. So I'm navigating that. Daddy's can love so much, but I don't think we should get married, but I actually love me to infinity and more. My my my my son tells my my wife, she goes, he goes, I love you all the way to Allah and back. And I was like, that's pretty cool to me. Yeah. Yeah. To God and back. So I don't know

how to hard pivot from that to racism. Yeah. That's a hard pivot. Yeah. But she was like, yeah, I would start with tell it or you can't marry. Yeah. It's like, I just say no, it's like, but why not? Right. That's a whole lot of things. Yeah. Thank you. You can tell. But just like you. But but I was talking

to being about this. And basically what's really beautiful is is their hope and their optimism

right now is is infinite. And I want them to operate from that idea of possibility and abundance and belief in yourself. The thing that I have to teach them is in regards to and I'm going to use like they talk about this in business when one is starting a business or taking a loan is tail risk. And what is the worst case scenario? And black Americans have known this for a long time is that when things go south, there is the floor is lower than you could ever imagine. They don't

play with the kid gloves with you. There is no real benefit of the doubt. If you, if something goes missing in the class or something that happens or somebody acts up, you're going to be looked at a particular way and you're going to be treated. Yeah. There's no yellow cards. We're going to give you the red card. I haven't had that conversation with them a long tail risk of that. Hey, when the when they pull the rug out underneath you, you don't know

I can have a deep it can go. And I don't want to sugarcoat that for them. It is real. And they're my children. I love them more than anything. Yeah. But I haven't prepared myself in a humble with them. I just think it back. I've got three boys in one girl. Yeah. And I probably

“had the discussion with the boys sooner. And for the boys, it's you have to watch everything.”

That was the way I started. I start the discussion. Everything absolutely everything's important. And then from there, we talk about the differences in the people in their class because we've

always been in a school where we're the only people of color or where the diversity. Right. And

to your point about when things go bad, they're going to go really bad. I'd rather I've always rathered air on the side of caution that they know the potential down falls, the potential risk rather than not being afraid to hurt their ability to have hope because kids are more, I think

you know, when they need to know, the more they start interacting with other kids, it's like,

“that's why it's like staying close to your kids, being aware, knowing what's happening in class,”

making sure that they feel comfortable coming home and telling you about something that teacher said or a friend said, you know, things will start to come up, right, especially in this day and age where the tone is so blatant, you know, sadly, I think your kids are probably going to hear and feel more than maybe even you did coming up, right, because we've kind of unlocked that dirty part of the American way, right, there isn't one size fits all, you know, as you find

when you, when you were one of only, when you were not the majority culture, it is a constant,

you know, responsibility to be vigilant about what is going on in the world when it comes to your

kids because I agree with Craig how we were raised is it's better to know what's coming and start

“getting prepared for and I don't think that that drowns out their hope, but I think I think it's”

better for them to be a little like Craig a little cautious, but but prepared has have you enjoyed parenthood, your kids are, they're beautiful, let me just say this, they are polite, they are outgoing, they can't, they didn't look me in the eye because they were down by my knees, but they looked me straight in the eyes, yeah, they looked you right in the knees, yeah, they really did, yeah and they were super excited and my son was wearing a tan suit and I don't know if you're a husband,

oh yeah, I really wanted to stir the controversy, yeah, you said a tan suit, yeah, you said a tan suit, on the way low, I mean with no socks, yeah, with no socks, yeah, yeah, very low, you know, we got different marshals though, I'm not trying to have the marshals up here in the city, yeah, it's

“some, the things that sometimes break my heart is when I have to go, yeah, so like I was in the”

edit on something and I'm sliding in these, it's like an insert shot of someone's hand looking something, so I walked in and he was like, "Dad, what are you doing?" and I was like, "Yeah, what am I doing?" like what am I doing? He wants to play with me and what I'm going through a bit of insert shot like, yeah, what am I doing? So those are the tough parts where I know they just want to spend time with me and I'm so I'm so glad that they want to spend time,

they still like mommy more but they really do want to spend time with me and I love spending time with them. The thing that I, the software update that I'm trying to do with them is that I didn't necessarily get from my parents and it's very common in kind of strict dacy culture which is you got a audition for this love, this is thing is unconditional, right? Now there's a condition, the condition is it's your smart, and you're capable and the condition is I got to be able to show you off and tell

other people because I don't have a nice car, I don't have a nice watch but I do have a really smart daughter and you're my flex, so I can't have you be weak, you're my flex. And so this is desire to like, you know, my dad is going to watch us interview and analyze it, oh you cut you out, how could you cut off Mrs. Obama, so unlike the boys, it's wrong, all this he was going to analyze

the game, and I'm his flex, but the thing that I was always looking for was that,

do you know what my favorite color is? Do you know, my favorite basketball team? Do you know, do you see me? Yes. I see my kids, and I just want to let them know that I see the things that they're interested in, my son is really into maps and dinosaurs right now. I daughter is like really into crocheting and K-pop demon hunters, like somehow she's simultaneously 88 and yeah, she even mentioned some things that character, yeah, I don't think so, yeah, I don't mean

me. I thought you would have either picked up the poet, the famous poet, well I just confused. I was totally convinced. So yeah, I see them for what they, who they are and what they'll, but also their temperament, like with my daughter, we can totally load a whistle and be like, you got to run mindrels like she gets, she loves the, she loves the, almost the confrontation, she's got that dog in her, and my son is a little bit more gentle. You got to walk him through it.

So I want them to, that's where I'm trying to meet, spend as much time with them as I can, but I also want them to know like daddy loves you regardless. I don't know if that was quite true with me. Yeah, well that's the, that's the 2.0 of life and when we talk about

right, and the new version doesn't make the old one bet. It's a necessary for growth, and I think we're in just a janky version, right? Yeah, janky version right now. Mad Christmas so much. You may. Yeah, shit is janky. Yeah, it's super janky. Yes,

“you have to be happy with that. But I couldn't find another like adjective. I couldn't find another”

kind of scenario about the boy here. But with each, you know, with each version, we learned something about ourselves as a country. And you know, I'm right now, I'm, I'm kind of digging the way folks are beginning to respond, right? I mean, Minnesota, powerful stuff. I mean, it was a powerful reminder of what a community of people can do and are willing to do to protect one another. You know, when you're not so janky, you don't have to prove that, right? You, and so we haven't been this janky

for a while. And I think our muscle of understanding our truth just got a little lax. We started taking things for granted, right? But as you were becoming a better version of a father, you know, all respect to your, your dad, we already said he did what he had to do. We improve upon that with the learning. That doesn't make what you had bad. It just means that you, you, you're noting

“it and you're making the necessary changes. That I think that's what I'm hoping will happen in this”

country. You will be coming a better better version through the stuff that you didn't get. And I mean, yeah. And how are your parents now? What do they make of of your life and what you've become? Have you become the flex that they, they so desperately want it? I've been told in private. They're very proud. Okay. But I'm not there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, like, all like my, like my, my, my

voice that I grew up with. Yeah. There'll be like, do you always do this in your act where you talk

about like your dad dunking on you? He's really proud of you. He talks about you and I'm like, but that's in private. Yeah. You told me that. You know, like Mufasa's out here telling everybody else about how proud he is of Simba. But I'm in the elephant graveyard being like that. Why that doesn't make me, you know? And like Zazu has to come and be like, you're, you're mad like you. And I'm like, shut up Zazu. So, yeah, they're, they are really proud and bringing

them to this stuff means it means a lot to them. Yeah. So that's really beautiful. The, the parts that are tough for me are the, the speed bumps that you hit in your career. Yeah. And, and watching your

“parents worry, that's the only thing that breaks the heart. Is that any time I've gone through,”

oh, that gig didn't go my way or that review of my show went for it. Yeah. They really, the internet and boomers. Yeah. It's not a good combination. Yeah. They shouldn't be on it. Because they, yeah. Okay. Get, parent A, stop, get off social, just don't let them. Can you take it away

from them? So the problem is with 75 year olds and five year olds. So media is really, it's a

ruining their ranks. Right. It is. It is. It is. How are they as grandparents? Oh, they're, they're totally different. They're totally different. Yeah. Who are these people? Yeah. Who are my mom was like that? Why, why are you so strict? I was like, these are your rules. Like, these are the exact rules. You told me not to jump on the couch. They go to, they, when they were a little, they go to her house and tear up the couch. You're the sports. They go, she's everywhere.

My mom would sleep on the couch and let the girl sleep in her bed because there was a TV in there. So what is it? I don't know. Um, is there a term for this? We should be kind of like, we could probably come up with one because it is, it is consistent. It's a cross cultures. Grandparent dystopia. I don't know what. They, yeah. Because they become these like spiritual like, roomy poets. They're, you'd like, of course, children, this is what children do. Who are we,

but grandparents here, to channel energy of the youth, be gentle with them for they are gentle.

I'm like, who is this person? Yeah. It's, you would never monitor my clothes with girls like

you. And I say, in a, be like, you know, in thin money, they have infinite, they're, we're at Target. Just like, oh, you want that, let us sure. Where is this coming from? Yeah. Who are these people? But, you know, the good, the good thing though is that, fortunately, they're still, they're still alive.

meet one of their great grandparents, which was like a promise that I made to my father-in-law,

my mother, that if, if we get married, I will, I will have your grandchildren meet your parents, you know, and that was something that I was super proud of. I don't know if they fully understand it yet, but I, I would love for them to, when they're of the right age, for them to understand the world that their grandparents and their great-grandparents lived in, pre-partition, India, the

“freedom of India, then their arrival in America and to how we got, I think that would be just a very”

meaningful thing for themselves. Absolutely. Absolutely. That I didn't fully get as chat, yeah, yeah. But understanding and, and shout out to Dr. Henry, Henry Louis Gates for the work that he's doing, because it gives your life meaning, you're able to, even, I was able to just see my own life with a level of grace and understanding, like as in an miracle that this, this happened and is in an

miracle that you're delighted to such amazing people. And hey, that's the hope, right? That's

where they get the hope in a janky time, right? Because that's real and it's, it's important, you know, and that's true, and it's their history, you know, and that's the hopeful, you point to them and you make sure they know, this is the hope, because look at where your grandparents were and your great-grandparents. So that, that arc of today is janky as it is, it's still forward. I think we found the title for this episode by the way. It's janky. So we do try to do some good here

“on IMO by taking a listener question. That's how we started. We started with, you know,”

let's give some advice out to the people. And you as a guest, we gave you a lot of advice today. Yeah. Yeah. So now it's your turn to give back to our listener. All right. Let's take it. Let's take it. We have, we have Marcel from Honolulu. Okay. Oh. I'm an immigrant, an LGBTQ person who has spent much of my life adapting, moving across countries, shifting careers, and learning how to survive within systems that were not designed with people like

me in mind. Adaptation has helped me stay alive, build skills, and remain hopeful. Sometimes, it also feels like I've learned to bend more than how to belong. How do you tell the difference between healthy adaptation, the helps you grow, and over adaptation that slowly pulls you away from yourself? Thank you. Hmm. That's a good, good question. Well, I mean, I think we've all navigated rooms where we might be the only one, or we feel like an outsider. Do you want to share? How,

how you would navigate that? I'm, I'm, I'm trying to be completely honest. I don't, I'm, I'm trying to, I don't think that I have ever shown up in a way that I didn't feel good about.

I don't, I've never let my otherness make me adapt so much that I don't feel like I see myself.

So I'm, I'm trying to relate to that and relate to people who are who are made to feel that insecure about themselves that they are becoming something that they aren't. And I would imagine that in this day and age of social media where you, you know, all there, there are all these signs of

“this is who you should be. This is who you should compare yourself to. I would imagine that maybe”

this generation has a tougher time, maybe than I did. But I think at some level, when you're young, you are adapting to a whole bunch of stuff that you don't have control over. You know, you've got to keep your job. You've got to listen to your parents. You don't, you're new at school. You're new at school. You're new in the class. You're trying to make friends for me. I found it. There's two things that I was thinking about when I heard the question, which is, I remember being in class and

quickly trying to find your group. And I thought it was a weakness to try to find, oh, I like the shoes that you're wearing. You're into this. I think that too. I don't know. Is that a Mickey Mouse watch? I really like, you know, you try to find these moments of connection and you may, you may be changing a little bit about yourself to try to please others. But you could also see it as a strength, meaning I can go into any situation and through my interests, through my hobbies,

through what I know about the world, I can find a way to talk to anybody. Even for me touring

Albuquerque, New Mexico. It doesn't matter where I land. I can always talk to the bar back or the

to cab driver or the Uber. And they will tell you what's going on in the city or the town. And there will always be this connective tissue. And that's not always a bad thing to be like, hey, how are things here in Albuquerque right now? What's going on with the mayor? What's happening with this? You're just trying to find common ground. And that's, that's a cool, that's a strength to be able to go into any playground of life. And the two things I've found the most is everybody

everybody says the rent is too damn high and gas is way too much. Yeah. But it's somebody has a opinion about, you know, the Yankees. Yeah. Something's happening in sports or in culture that you can just, you can start chatting about and find a way to have common ground. But in regards to your identity, sometimes there's this feeling. And I was having a conversation with risamet

about this. It was an incredible British Pakistani actor. He said, sometimes you'll go into the

room thinking that you can change the room. He went to Oxford's British. He dumped the most elite of the Indian institutions. But sometimes the room changes you. You don't change the room

“but the room changes you. And I think the thing that is most important is to have the moral clarity”

and personal conviction that, hey, just no matter what, like, this is who I am. So I'm willing to get into it with you about Yankees, Red Sox or, you know, Kings vs. Likeers. But there's just certain things in my personal conviction. These are things I just don't do. Yeah. You know? Yeah.

And know that. That's like that's your line. Yeah. And don't change it for anybody. Yeah.

Well. Thanks, Austin. Thanks appreciate it. Thanks. We appreciate it. Have me those. Yeah. Yeah. It's good stuff. Yeah. Good stuff. So you've got this net, like special. I have a series called Hassan Menach doesn't know, which is a great interview podcast series. And then I have a, I'm on tour right now with the Hassan hates Ronnie Ronnie, hates Hassan, hatred is the answer. Heading this over piece. We're on tour right now.

We're going to get. Are we going to get that televised? We're working on that. I can't tell you just yet, but yes, the fight will be coming to you. Nice. Very soon. And then yeah, I'm working on this

“Bollywood dance movie called Best of The Baths, which sounds great. So is that an episodic?”

It's a movie. It's a movie. Yeah. Okay. It's a very excited about that. Okay. And it's really beautiful to also be at this chapter of, of, of my career where I can see all this really great young talent. Yeah. Emerging and, and make something for them. Yeah. And that's been really, really, like, wonderful. Well, I enjoy your comedy. I really do. I, you were smart. You were a beautiful storyteller. Oh, thank you. And not every stand-up comedian can take you on that journey

and land juice safely in a way. And it takes a level of vulnerability to, you know, let us inside your, your life. It's, it's really, you know, it's, it's a gift. You had me at smart. I'm just going to take it. Yeah, you're smart. It's really, yeah. Yeah. You're a funny, you're funny.

“All the, you guys, these views very sweet. We got to get out right now. You have to know him to end”

the set. We have to, right now, we got smart and funny. You got to get out. That's my time. I think you're born with that, thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you.