Part 2:
I hope that you read part 1 and is still someone what interested. So where was I?........
Oh yeah, we start off in 2010.....
January 2010:
So after having a good Christmas with my family back in Montana and having a good meeting with Jon Dehler, I head back to Hollywood. January 9th was my first night performing at the Hollywood Improv, I'd have to say I was pretty excited. I had only been living in Hollywood for only 4 months and I spent so much time sitting and watching other comics perform there, I'd have to say at this point, this performance was the biggest one so far since living in Hollywood.
I remember that night so well, I can even recall what I was wearing.....purple plaid tie with a black button up and true religion jeans lol. The show was great, I had a fun time on stage and being on that stage....was great, I felt comfortable right away.
That night I got to know another comedian named Matthew Taylor. I have met Matthew Taylor before through some friends but never got a chance to work with him or anything like that. He had moved to L.A from New York maybe about 6 months before I had. He told me he like my performance and invited me to do some of his shows that he books at the Comedy Store Mainroom and at the Ha Ha Cafe. This was a very kind jesture of him, up until then no one has asked me to be on there show unless I knew them personally or straight through a friend.
I like Matt, him and I clicked, he was a go getter like myself, and the type who just goes out and does things on his own and doesn't wait for things to happen for him.
I was still looking to get more stage time so what I did was hopped on go ole Craigslist. I went on there to see if anyone was looking for a comedian or anything like that. I've never used Craigslist to try to get gigs but man I really wanted more stage time and I'm not a famous person or have TV credits so I was trying to get time the old fashion way.....well Craigslist is not old fashion but its the the harder way lol. Anyways I probably replied to 20 ads and I finally got someone to reply. The dude's name was Micheal Q, a Filipino cat, he liked my stuff I had sent online and agreed to give me a spot on his show at the Comedy Store. The set was great and the show was packed, Q was cool as hell and he liked my set and hooked me up with more sets down the road.
Later on in January, I got booked to perform at this all Black Comedy Club in Inglewood,CA called The J. Spot Comedy Club. To be honest, on the day of the performance I didn't want to perform, I was scared to go down to Inglewood because in the song "California Love," by Dr Dre, he says, "Inglewood, Inglewood always up to no good."
Yeah I wasn't real happy about going to a place where its up to no good. On top of that I wasn't sure how an all black audience would react to my comedy, but I was told once by my older brother Quito, "if you are willing to do the things that seem hardest to do, you will go further then the ones who are not willing to do the things they don't want to do."
So I went, and of course I was the only none African American in that joint, I just sat at a table by myself until it was time to hit the stage. I went up and BAM!!! One of my best sets in L.A so far, I had the crowd rolling from top to bottom. After my set all of these comedians started coming up to me and giving me love, the booker for the club gave me another date to perform right away and I got a free drink. It was a great experience and it helped me learn something....that you never know the great opportunities that lie ahead, if I would have pussed out and didn't do that show, I would have never had a great time on stage, never get booked again for more stage time and it helped because the same booker books a weekly show at the comedy store on Thursday so it all worked well.
Yeah getting booked for that show is not career changing to some eyes, but for me I got an chance to go on stage and perform and have fun and do what I love. Yeah maybe there was no big time agent or tv producer but that performance helped me get one step closer to my dreams, a small step forward?...YES...and its better to take some steps then not to take any steps at all.
February 2010:
Yay! It's my Birthday month. This was the month where things started to shift into second gear. For the past couple months I've been working for this start up company called Laughstub.com. This company is like stubhub.com but focused on live comedy. At www.laughstub.com you are able to go online and search for live comedy shows, read bios of comedians, watch videos, know when the special shows are going on and lots more. The CEO of L-stub is the guy who created Comedy Juice at the Hollywood Improv. If you don't know, Comedy Juice is of the best weekly shows in the Country with stellar line ups every week with people you see on TV everyday.
Anyways, I reached out to Scot (the CEO) and asked if he needed help with anything for his start up business. For my time helping him, in return he would book me for one of his Comedy Juice Shows, (Comedy Juice also has shows at The Irvine Improv and The Ice House Comedy Club) I would spend hours in the office doing data entry and stuff like that, not super hard work just took some time to get done. After putting some serious hours in he gave me my first date for the Comedy Juice Show The Hollywood Improv, kind of as a little gift for my hardwork and for my bday.
That night was a great night, hosting the Comedy Juice show was a buddy of mine I knew from Seattle, a cat named Andy Peters and then me right in the 1 slot, after I got off stage, Greg Giraldo hit the stage, then followed by Ron White, Daniel Tosh, Aziz Ansari, Dan Cummings, Jeffery Ross and Bill Burr. It was an awesome birthday present to share the stage with all those comics. At this point this was the biggest performance since moving to Hollywood (I'm gonna say that alot)
I had mentioned in part 1 that I Terry Taylor (owner of Giggles Comedy Club) and I had got into a virbal fight and I had stormed out of the comedy club. Well couple has past and I heard that Giggles Comedy Club was closing down for sure at the end of April. I truly felt bad on how things ended that night back in December. So I decided to give Terry a call and apologize. To be honest, when I called I thought Terry was gonna be mean about it but he wasn't at all.
I call him and he was rather happy to hear from me and actually mentioned he was gonna call me because he also felt bad about things ended. We made up and he wanted to book me for one more headlining weekend before the club closed down. So I went up there and it was a great weekend, a lot of my supporters came out to the show to see perform one last time at the club that started it all for me. I remember that last night was very emotional for me, being back that club that gave me a chance, a place where I really started my comedy career, met good friends, shared a lot of laughs, met some really comedians. The most emotional part came at the last show of the weekend and Terry Taylor went on stage and brought me up himself. I felt very honored to have him do that. Through it all, I give Terry Taylor mad love for really shaping me as a comic...and later down the road as booker. THANK YOU TERRY TAYLOR aka Coach!!
Another big thing blossomed for me in this month, I started my first open mic in my hometown Billings,MT. Not gonna lie, I wasn't sure how this all was going to workout but I know I wanted to do it. The deal I worked out Jon Dehler was we were gonna hold an open mic on the first and second Wednesday of every month and then a contest on the last Saturday with a big contest held in July where the winner gets a free trip to Stand-Up Bootcamp in L.A.
Weeks leading up to the first show Wayne and I we hustling, we called friends and asked them to give comedy a try, got a hold of local media like radio and newspaper. This was a gonna be a hit or it was gonna fail. So I flew into Billings ran around putting up posters, handing out flyers and a bunch of other things that took alot of time I had because Billings doesn't have a whole lot to offer.
The 1st open mic was a hit! 16 aspiring comedians, 176 people watching (sold out), 1 happy Asian Comedian (me) at a venue called Asian Nites and a happy owner of the venue. Drink sales were up, people were happy and the foundation for the stand-up comedy scene was laid on the ground. It was great to see a bunch of local people who have never did stand-up in their life go up on stage and give stand-up comedy a shot. It's not easy going on stage, it takes alot of balls and on top of that writing your own material to make people laugh can be a challenge if you have never done it before.
Later on that week I met with Jon Dehler the owner, and he had asked if I knew comedians in Hollywood with some TV credits who would come up to Billings and perform. We talked and thought it would be cool to have a National Headliner come up once a month and perform. Up to this point there was no real presence of comedy except my homies at Projectile Comedy who does Improv Comedy which is a different from stand-up, don't get me wrong those guys are hella funny and I love watching those fools but there hasn't been comedy at a national level.
Well there was stand-up comedy at this place called "The R-Club," in the Billings Hotel which has stand-up comedy every Friday but the comedians are booked from Dave Tribble aka The Tribble Run. The Tribble Run is knew through the Comedy Community as a hell gig aka "one nighters," they call it a hell gig because you will have one show in one town and the next night have another show 6 hours away and then the next night have to drive 8 hours the opposite direction, you pretty much need an oil change in between gigs. Anyways my beef with the "R-Club," was that they were the first ones I asked about starting an open mic there and they were quick to say no, which I found weird at first because when me and my buddies would put on our own shows in Billings they were always down but I guess they have a new manager so yeah. My point being is this, the comics booked for the shows don't have big TV credits so the comedians on their shows are either young comics working out longer sets to get better or old comics who are bitter and do it pretty much just to get laid and free drinks.
So I decided I'm gonna good quality comedy, comedians who've been on TV, comedians who kill it all the time, and most importantly comedians that the young comics in Billings can watch, learn and perform with. It never has been done before and I wanted to be the one that brings the best comedy to Billings. I have a feeling March was gonna bring some big things...and it did.......
March 2010:
What made March such a crazy month for me was because I had a lot of firsts happen in this month. This was the month I performed on TV with all the cameras and lights and action type of stuff and the first headliner coming to Billings,MT and the first time I seen a meth head clean my apartment.
In February I forgot to mention I went to Las Vegas to audition for a popular TV show, but for legal reason I have to change the name of the show to Schamerica's Got Talents (wink), it was a small audition an invite only. I got the audition through a friend of mine. I went into that audition and did a great job and it seemed the producers loved me. Well in March it turns out they did, because I got a call to and was asked to perform in the "Judge's Round," which means I perform in a big ass theater in front of Sharon Osborne, Piers and Howie Mandel.
They only gave 10 tickets to give out so this being my first time on tv I gave to my good friends, Jeff Dye, John Sanders, The Brothers Clark (roommates) tan-man, Maria, Jeremy Horn and James Karhu. I remember sitting in the holding for 4 hours with a bunch of people. There were all different type of acts, they had a group of dancers who dressed in red full body spandex suits...(you could see there balls it was gross), these little monkey kids who did break dancing (so cute) and just a nuch of weirdos foe sho.
I was like 15 in the line-up and I had 90 seconds to perform in front of the judges and impress them along with the 2,000 plus people that were in the theater. I was eating a tastey crossiant sandwich and trying to focus, well right after I took the second bite I hear in the back ground, "hey we are losing the crowd, put the comedian on maybe he can get them going."
I was like "oh snaps, I think they mean me." So one of the producers says, "hey lukas, you're on in about 12 mins." So I smoked a quick cig and went back stage. I remember taking my first look out at the crowd from back stage and I was like,"Holy Shit thats a lot of people." So I'm sitting back stage and the before me gets the 'X" from Piers and it louder then shit. I remember people keep telling me that the judges are hard on comedians and I thought to myself......and I remember what my mentor had told me before I went on stage, "relax have fun, make the people laugh and don't focus on making the judges laugh...also visualize a standing O."
Now its my turn, Nick Cannon gives me a quick interview and boom I hit the stage........it was the weirdest feeling, I have never experianced this feeling, my heart was beating so fast I pee'd a little. I was standing in front of the judges and they asked my name and where I'm from, I said, "My name is Lukas Seely and I'm from Billings, Montana." Sharon replies, " There are Asians in Montana?" I reply, " Yes, all 7 of us." She laughed.
Then Piers asked, "so why do you think your funny?"
I reply, " because people always text me lol." he says, "ok, lets see what you got."
I start telling my jokes, and right off the bat I'm getting big laughs, the crowd is really feeling me. I throw my last joke right before 90 secs and Boom..............the crowd starts screaming and then.....a Standing Ovation! I haven't received a standing O from people who have never seen me before.....not gonna lie I almost cried because I have never felt this feeling, 2 thousand people standing to their feet cheering me on.....I realized...at this point.....this was the biggest performance I have ever done...in my life!
Piers gave me the Yes, Sharon gave me the Yes and Howie says,"I've been doing comedy a long time now, and I don't know many people who could do what you just did in 90 secs....you get a big Yes and see you in Vegas!" I remember coming off stage feeling like a million bucks, Nick gave me a hug, the producers gave me a big hug and picked me up in the air and man was it awesome. I'd take that over sex any day....well almost any day.
A couple days after my night of glory I had to meet with Ty Barnett (last Comic Standing, Comedy Central Presents, etc..) I wanted to book as the first comedian to come headline my room in Billings,MT. Ty and I knew each other but never really worked together. I was good friends with his good friend Harold Gomez, Gomez would take me on the road with him a lot when I was starting in Seattle, I love that guy. Anyways, I met Ty at a local bar and we chatted about comedy and I was really trying to convince him that Montana would be a great time, after 3-4 drinks I got him to commit. As we are leaving the bar he asked if I smoked the green leaf, I rarely smoke because I wig out when I do, but since I wanted him to come to Billings really bad, I took a couple hits and man......I was stoned out of my mind.
I think I might have freaked him out a little because on the car ride to my place I was making spaceship noises and laughing my ass off. he kept looking at me and asking if I was alright. He dropped me off at my place and said good bye, then I walk to my apt lobby realizing I didnt have my keys to get in....now I start freaking out.....I call my roommates and bagged them to bring me their keys. While I was waiting outside for them I started to get paranoid, I can be in public when I blaze cause people freak me out. This one girl walks up to me and says, "my car needs to be jumped do you have jumper cables?" I replied in a British accent, "no, no, I don't know how to drive and I mountain bikes cause it reminds of mountains." lol she just looked at me and said, "oooooh-kay." My roommates came through gave the keys so I went up stairs and decided it would be a good idea to watch Jurassic Park and all it did was freak me the heck out lol.
Back in Billings,MT and its my show im producing with a National Headliner. I have never put a show together really, like a real show, mostly just shows with friends but not a full production. I remember being so stressed out, trying to make sure posters were out, handing out flyers, setting up radio interviews, hotel stuff and making sure the headliner was treated well. One of the things that helped was being a comedian and thinking of how I would want to be treated and then delivering that to the headliner. Also thinking back of the hay-days at Giggles and remembering how Terry ran shows as far as line-up and who put in time at the venue.
The shows went well, packed crowds both nights, Ty killed the audience and received a standing ovation, people were happy, venue was happy and Ty and was happy. I actually took Ty to my parents house for some lunch so he could have some quality Asian food, he loved it. He told me that he had a wonderful time and would love to come back to Billings again......for him being the first comedian to take the plunge to Billings, I always will remember that and will forever thankful....I plan on booking him for our 1 Yr anniversary show in March 2011.
April 2010:
April was a cool month....well kind of. I needed a headliner for April because I had May booked so I was calling all my headliner friends and finally my buddy Kyle Cease came through. During this time we were having our open mics in Billings,MT and we were growing to about 18 comics from 16 and had new faces come through and I was starting to see some new talent crop out of Billings. It was nice to see this stand-up thing grow in Billings and seeing people with raw talent. The comics were really starting to take this comedy thing seriously, doing open mics, working to get better and getting people to come to shows. I had an idea, I decided that since I'm bringing these headliners in to perform I had asked them to spend an hour meeting with the local comics to talk to them about comedy and how to write and the whole thing. Yes I brought these guys in to perform and provide great entertainment for the city but more for the young comedians learn and possibly grow from all of this.....man I wish I had this for me when I was starting out in Billings, I think I'd be further along if I did.
Again the shows in Billngs were successful, sold out shows, crowds happy , everyone happy.
Back in L.A I get a call one day to host a show at the Hollywood Improv with Dane Cook as the headliner, man was I happy. I know alot people dislike Dane Cook, but I am a fan, he did a lot of things for comedy, because of him more comedians got famous because of the internet. I think a lot of people should be thanking him instead of ripping on him all the time. Regardless of how you feel for Dane he did do a lot of great things. I remember being kind of nervous but at same time just being so excited to have the opportunity. When I met Dane Cook he was such a nice guy and kind. If you haven't seen him live, he really knows how to rock an audience. After the show I got to hang out with Dane, Bill Burr and Jeffery Ross and chillin and shooting the shit, what a great night...up to this point....this was the best show I was on since living in L.A.
April wasn't all fun, one night I get an email from a producer at Schamerica's Got Talent saying these words exactly
" Dear Lukas,
We are sorry to inform you that unfortunately you will not be on this season of Schamerica's Got Talent. We wish you the best of luck in your future and your endeavors. "
That was it, no explaination, no nothing. I was pretty bummed at first because I thought this was going to be my coming out to America but nope. I realize everything happens for a reason but I was confused on why they decided why they would do that. I mean I crushed in front of the judges, the audience loved me, i mean dude...I was signing hella autographs and taking pictures after the show but nope...no nothing. I did learn something from it though, I learned that I can do well in front of cameras and in front of a lot of people which I learned later on that in 2010 I will have to do the same. Oh...and I later figured out why I got pulled from the show, well at least my theory on why....stay tuned......The Part 3, the final part to my first year in Hollywood Review....it gets better!!!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Hollywood- My First Year in Review (Part 1 of 3...the Trilogy lol)
Well it's been a long time since I have updated my blog, so I decided well....good time to update it with my first year in Hollywood. I'm also writing this in hopes that whoever reads this will be inspired to do what it is that they love.
Just a quick recap, I grew up in Billings,MT then moved to Seattle,WA right after college. Spent 5 years in Seattle working on my comedy as well as myself. On Sept. 11th 2009 I packed my bags and moved to Hollywood in pursue of my dreams.......pretty much one year later......this is what happened........
Since the 3rd grade I've always had the dream about moving to Hollywood and becoming a star. Eddie Murphy, Jim Carey, Adam Sandler and Chris Farley were big influences for my career. I always loved making people laugh, it was my thing, my God given talent. I always knew how to make people laugh and I love it. Making strangers laugh is great because you never know what that person is going through and to make them laugh and smile and forget about the bull crap is really rewarding. Taking it to the stage was the biggest thing and always a dream of mine and to do it on TV, that was my only goal when I first started comedy is just to be able to perform on TV so I knew that one day I'd have to move to Hollywood to do it.
I've been stand-up comedy for really about 7 years, I started doing it while attending Rocky Mountain College in Billings,MT. There wasn't a whole lot of opportunities to do stand in Billings, so me and a 3 other guys (Chad Korb, Dan Paul Shafer and Brad Porter) would put on our own stand up shows at a local bar. It was fun and we always had a good crowd but not enough stage time. So I moved to Seattle worked hard at comedy for 5 years and built a great following and met some really people which alot of I consider close friends.
Making the decision to move to L.A was hard at first, because I had went from some Montana kid who didnt know a lot of people when I moved to Seattle, to having a lot of supporters and going out and having people recognize me from my comedy. It was a great feeling, I was performing almost 8-10 times a week and performing on some really awesome shows. I was comfortable with my surroundings and to leave all of that and start over was scary. So to over come my fear of moving I had to do something that scared me also...which is singing karaoke. I suck at singing and it scared to shit out of me to sing in front of people. So I did it...the first song I sang was Nsync's "It's tearin up my heart." I know lame but I like me some Justin Timberlake. On top of that I had people or other comics saying I should wait or that I can do the same things in Seattle then I could in L.A...or the best was, "you should wait til Hollywood wants you, not you wanting Hollywood. I've been asked twice to go to Hollywood and I still turn them down." says some douchy guy who is old but wants to be cool. So pretty much just people trying to scare me before I move down to L.A.
September 2009:
On September 11th 2009 I arrive to L.A not having a clue what the heck im gonna do...but I did know one thing....I wanted to comedy and I wanted to do it on tv and I wanted to perform at the Top Clubs in L.A which are The Comedy Store, Hollywood Improv and the Laugh Factory. I didn't know how I was gonna do it but I knew I wanted to do it.
I didn't even have a place to live when I first moved to Hollywood, lol, I spent two weeks sleeping on a friend's couch who I knew from College...(Thanks Tan-man!) Looking for a place in Hollywood is a mad headache and expensive. Lucky I ran into some dudes that I kind of knew because I did comedy with their brother in Seattle and they happen to be looking for a place in Hollywood at the same time. So me and the brothers Clark found a place in the middle of Hollywood after looking at probably close to 20 different places. Some really cool guys, they come to alot of my shows in L.A and I really appreciate them for that, plus they tell me how good of a cook I am.
So now I have found a place now it was time to figure out how I'm gonna get stage time. When I moved to L.A I knew about maybe 5-9 people. 2 booked a show, the other 3 were comedians I knew from Seattle and a friend/old coworker and Tan Man and some peeps from Billings,MT. My first show was booked through I guy I met a year before when I was doing a show in L.A. A very nice guy, his name was Matt Spivey. He booked for a show at this place called the "M-Bar," a cool little place. It was probably my second weekend in Hollywood so I was pretty stoked, and that night two dudes who are comedy managers and do shit with MTV came out just to watch me because their boss had seen me before in Seattle and they wanted to come see what I was all about.
So its my first show in Hollywood and I pull up to the venue and right away I see movie stars, Jona Hill (Super bad, Get him to the Greek) and John C. Reily (Step Brothers, Talladega Nights) were there checking out the show before, so I was on cloud nine. Then I met the two guys who were there to see me and they were all excited and said they heard alot of good things and blah blah blah. It was a packed room, the audience was laughing hard at the comedians before me so I knew they were hot and ready to go. Now its my turn to hit the stage and ......BAM....I totally eat shit on stage. I was struggling to make people laugh, they were just giggling and so I got more nervous and was rushing my words and I just totally tanked it. I did so bad that the two guys who came to see me didnt say good job they just said, "hey it was nice to meet ya and good luck with everything."
I was kind of down on myself no lie, but I also knew it wasn't the end of the world so...on to the next one. I knew that the places to perform were not an easy cookie to crack and I also knew I had no idea of how to "get in good" with the clubs but I also knew that I'm an easy guy to get along with and I'm good at talking to people I don't know. Matt S, was cool enough to make a couple phones to some people who book shows at the comedy clubs and my first comedy club booking was at The Ice House Comedy Club in Pasadena, CA on Nov. 7th.....we are still in Sept lol so I was like "man, this sucks, I have to book stuff way out in advance. and whatthe heck am I going to do between now and then?"
I have a friend I knew from New York named Maria Shehata who I had met when I did the New York Underground Comedy Festival a couple years back. She had booked a sunday night show at this place called "The Hyperion Tavern," a small little place with about maybe 10-15 people there and half were comics, but none the less I was grateful for Maria to put me on stage and do some time.
When I was in Seattle I spent a lot of time hanging out at Comedy Clubs especially Giggles Comedy Club which is my home club and will always be even though it is now closed. Terry Taylor the owner of Giggles was the first club owner to give me a chance and go on stage. Even though people didnt like him and he liked to tell me I was gay a lot, he was a great guy and he helped me out a lot so I definitely give him thanks for giving me opportunities to grow as a comedian on stage. Hollywood is a different beast, there are so many comedians trying to "make it" that hanging out at the comedy club doesn't mean you get stage time like you do in Seattle. However I learned this.........if I want to perform at a place, why not hang out at that place and get to know people, because just you are not being buddies with the club MGR's and owners, at least I'm there with other comics and I get to see comics who I look up to.
October 2009:
After a few weeks of hanging out at the Hollywood Improv, I stop in on a regular tuesday night and guess who I see?.......my favorite comedian Dave Chapelle....man I was losing my frickin mind, I still kind of get star struck and at this point I was very star struck. I just got done watching his set and everyone was leaving the show room and Dave was sitting by the exit, so cleared my throat and walked up to him and said, " Dave, I know you probably hear this alot but you are like one of my heros and I wanna be your best friend." he looks at me and says, "hey thanks man, have a seat....and do you got anymore of that good smelling gum?" Man I was so excited I couldn't even talk, then Chris Tucker walks in the room and now its me, Chris, Dave and maybe about 8 other comedians just sitting in the showroom and all I could do was just smile and nod my head because I was still speechless. Dude being in Hollywood not even a month and I get to see one of my all time idols....shhh...I was happy.
(Sidenote- one night Maria and my good friend John Sanders were driving to an open mic and we were blasting Miley Cyrus's "Party in the U.S.A" so for the first 4 months thats all I listened to because it fit me so well)
Around late October, I still was struggling to get on stage but getting a spot here or there like if I performed once a week for two straight weeks, I considered that a busy two weeks. Anyways, one day I stop by a comedian friend of mine and we were just shooting the shit and he starts talking about this thing called "Stand-Up Bootcamp" which was thought be a Comedian named Kyle Cease. My comedian friend were kind of poking fun of it and saying its a rip off and what not. I kind of knew Kyle because he is a Seattle guy and he also filmed a Comedy Central Presents and also an hour special. So they show me the website and stuff and they were ragging on it a little so just kind of over looked it and didnt care. So that same evening I head down to the Hollywood Improv to watch Comedy Juice, (Comedy Juice is one of the best comedy shows in the country. it's every weds at the Hollywood Improv and the line ups are crazy, from Ron WHite, Bill Burr, Daniel Tosh, Dane Cook...like all on the same show, its an awesome show)
So I'm at comedy juice and in comes walking in is Kyle Cease who was performing that night and I just thought how weird it was because we were just talking to about him and his bootcamp earlier that day. My buddy John says hi to Kyle and introduces us telling him that I'm a comedian from Seattle. Kyle was very nice and we just started chatting, he brings up that he is doing the bootcamp thing next week and he explains to me what it is all about and tells me I should come do it. Keep in mind it costed at the time $1,000 to do and I didn't have a lot of money.
After Kyle and I had spoke I started thinking to myself that things always happen for a reason, but the problem was that I could either take the workshop and not exactly know what is gonna come from it and at the same time have some friends make fun of me....or I can just not take it and everyone will be happy.....so I went with my gut feeling and I decided to take the Stand-up Bootcamp. The Bootcamp was a 5 day event, and a great experience. Kyle is a great motivator when he speaks and not just talking about how to be funny but talking about getting in the right mind set of things, like not stressing before a show, being positive and shit, ya know healthy mental staff like Tony Robins. Then he would bring in National Headliners to talk to us about techniques, how they started, the do's and donts of comedy. One of them was comedian Louie Anderson, he gave real awesome speech, he didn't sugar coat anything and was very real, and very real guy he is.
I learned a lot at bootcamp, things that not every comic will tell you and things that every comic should say. I met some connections through bootcamp that really helped me in my first year. I also understood that even though I learned some things, I have to put it into action if I want to make this thing work. So off to the races........
One thing I learned, well I've always kind of knew it but just helps when someone breaks it down fo ya, is that if you help people without excepting anything in return......you will always go further in life. This made me think and figure out how can I help people.
November 2009:
So, around mid-November, I get a call from Auggie Smith, Auggie is a Billings, MT Native who moved out of Billings and also became a comedian. I kind of look up to Auggie because he was a Billings guy like me and went out to pursue his career in stand-up comedy. He travels all over the country making people laugh and he has been on Comedy Central and a bunch of other stuff. Anyways he calls me up and asks me to open up for him back in Billings,MT. This couldn't have came at better time. I was struggling for money and needed to pay rent, living off the bare essentials so this helped alot.
After the one of the shows I was talking to local people and one guy mentions to me that he would like to do stand-up comedy but there is no place for people to try to be a stand-up. It made me think to back in the days when I lived in Billings and it was hard to do stand-up and BOOM...it hit me.....this could be my opportunity to help people. So I told myself I was gonna find a venue and start an open mic for stand-up comedy in Billings,MT.
For Thanksgiving I decided to go to Seattle because my parents were flying up there and also because I was seeing someone in Seattle so I decided to spend two weeks up there. Since I was up there I figured to do a bunch of shows at the comedy clubs. In the books I had booked a one night at laughs in Kirkland where I would headline and make some good money and then also I would perform at Giggles Comedy Club my home club.
When I arrived at Giggles comics and other people were giving my shit for doing the bootcamp, which is fine, I mean everyone has their own opinions and even though they don't really know what its all about I just brushed it off. One night I was at Giggles and the owner was giving me shit about headlining at the other club and we were going back about this and that and then I finally got pissed off and yelled at Terry and told him to go fuck himself and left the club. I knew that the wasn't a good way about going about things but I was mad, I don't get mad often but when I do I blow up son! In the end I still felt bad about how it went down at least I had sex that night so that was a bonus...just sayin
December 2009:
I'm starting to meet more people in the comedy scene in L.A, getting up on stage at The Comedy Store which was nice, My good friend John Sanders who I knew from the comedy scene in Seattle lives in L.A and produces a show at the Hollywood Improv once a month on a Saturday. He was cool enough to book for a show in January at The Hollywood Improv. I was so stoked because I have spent months at that club and would always visualize myself on that stage. I woud see so many big name acts on that stage and I wanted to be up there with them.
One day I get a call from Louie Anderson, which was kind of crazy, he gave a really good speech at bootcamp and I loved his work on his cartoons and his HBO specials. Anywhos he calls me to let me know he is now apart of Stand-Up Bootcamp w/ Kyle Cease. He called to introduce himself whatnot because I was helping Kyle with bootcamp stuff, like answering phone calls from people interested in bootcamp and doing just little work for them because I like helping. Louie Anderson is such a nice guy, he asked me if I needed help with anything because the work I was doing for Kyle was free..(it was my decision to work for free because I was gonna get help with getting on stage and to me getting on stage is worth the money in my account.) so I just said I needed help getting on stage so Louie said he was gonna see what he could do to help me.
I tell ya one thing, I realized one thing, I'm so focused on comedy that I don't go out clubbing that much anymore. I go out and drink and get wasted but going to clubs was and is not on my top list. I mean I do a little bit but not a whole lot. My theory is that if I bust my ass for the next few years, I'll be able to go out all the time and party with the finest, but for now I'll party here and there. Same thing with women, I mean as much as I would like to have a GF and share things with doing my journey its just not on my to-do list....I mean there are some I would like "to-do" but its not my focus, its not what drives me, what drives me is my family, my parents who risked their lives so I could have a better one, for my friends who believed in me from the very beginning and supported from thick and thin, for my fans who love coming out and watching shows and supporting, and to my Asian brothas, I know it sounds cheesy but I'm trying to just rock this thing so me and my Asian Brothas become a hot item in this country. And to all the ones that said I couldn't do it, that drives me, the ones who doubt me and think that just because there are alot of comedians out there and that I'm just another one...pttt, yes there are a lot of comedians out there but not of all of them are working as hard as me, when they walk up at noon I'll already be up for 4 hours making phones, sending emails, working on stuff to help me get to the next level. I came to Hollywood without an invitation but I plan to stay at the party and let everyone know I'm here to blow shit up.
So back to December, I call my close friend Wayne Wilcox, I told him I had an idea, I shared with him my interest in starting a stand-up comedy scene in Billings,MT, and asked if he would like to help me with it. At first he was like, "comedy in Billings?" but being a great friend he is, he said he had my back. So we started brainstorming on venues that would be good for stand-up comedy. There were some places I've done comedy before so he hit those places up first but none of them were really hip to the idea and didn't think having a local comedy scene would worth it.
Then I made a call to a friend from highschool and a big supporter of my comedy, her name is Rachel Dehler (Johnson now). I made her laugh so hard one time she actually pee'd her pants no joke. Her father is this big casino mogul in Montana, he owns a bunch of casinos and sponsors the local minor league baseball field called Dehler Park. Anyways he has this venue just west of Billings called Asian Nites, I know very ironic, but I had performed there before so I thought I'd call Rachel and let her know about my vision in bringing comedy to Billings and creating a stand-up comedy scene. She totally loved the idea and made a phone call to her father and in less the 6 hours I received a phone call from Jon and we planned to meet in Billings over Christmas break.
Late December Wayne and I met Jon at a Mongolian Grill. When you see Jon he looks like a big teddy bear, a very humble guy and nice as hell. We sat down and I shared my vision with him and without any hesitation he was down. We were so excited we started planning and decided to launch our first open mic on Feb 3rd 2010 at Asian Nites.
What a great way to end the 2009 year, at this point I really felt like great things were to come in the 2010 year and boy was I right.......to be continued.........
Just a quick recap, I grew up in Billings,MT then moved to Seattle,WA right after college. Spent 5 years in Seattle working on my comedy as well as myself. On Sept. 11th 2009 I packed my bags and moved to Hollywood in pursue of my dreams.......pretty much one year later......this is what happened........
Since the 3rd grade I've always had the dream about moving to Hollywood and becoming a star. Eddie Murphy, Jim Carey, Adam Sandler and Chris Farley were big influences for my career. I always loved making people laugh, it was my thing, my God given talent. I always knew how to make people laugh and I love it. Making strangers laugh is great because you never know what that person is going through and to make them laugh and smile and forget about the bull crap is really rewarding. Taking it to the stage was the biggest thing and always a dream of mine and to do it on TV, that was my only goal when I first started comedy is just to be able to perform on TV so I knew that one day I'd have to move to Hollywood to do it.
I've been stand-up comedy for really about 7 years, I started doing it while attending Rocky Mountain College in Billings,MT. There wasn't a whole lot of opportunities to do stand in Billings, so me and a 3 other guys (Chad Korb, Dan Paul Shafer and Brad Porter) would put on our own stand up shows at a local bar. It was fun and we always had a good crowd but not enough stage time. So I moved to Seattle worked hard at comedy for 5 years and built a great following and met some really people which alot of I consider close friends.
Making the decision to move to L.A was hard at first, because I had went from some Montana kid who didnt know a lot of people when I moved to Seattle, to having a lot of supporters and going out and having people recognize me from my comedy. It was a great feeling, I was performing almost 8-10 times a week and performing on some really awesome shows. I was comfortable with my surroundings and to leave all of that and start over was scary. So to over come my fear of moving I had to do something that scared me also...which is singing karaoke. I suck at singing and it scared to shit out of me to sing in front of people. So I did it...the first song I sang was Nsync's "It's tearin up my heart." I know lame but I like me some Justin Timberlake. On top of that I had people or other comics saying I should wait or that I can do the same things in Seattle then I could in L.A...or the best was, "you should wait til Hollywood wants you, not you wanting Hollywood. I've been asked twice to go to Hollywood and I still turn them down." says some douchy guy who is old but wants to be cool. So pretty much just people trying to scare me before I move down to L.A.
September 2009:
On September 11th 2009 I arrive to L.A not having a clue what the heck im gonna do...but I did know one thing....I wanted to comedy and I wanted to do it on tv and I wanted to perform at the Top Clubs in L.A which are The Comedy Store, Hollywood Improv and the Laugh Factory. I didn't know how I was gonna do it but I knew I wanted to do it.
I didn't even have a place to live when I first moved to Hollywood, lol, I spent two weeks sleeping on a friend's couch who I knew from College...(Thanks Tan-man!) Looking for a place in Hollywood is a mad headache and expensive. Lucky I ran into some dudes that I kind of knew because I did comedy with their brother in Seattle and they happen to be looking for a place in Hollywood at the same time. So me and the brothers Clark found a place in the middle of Hollywood after looking at probably close to 20 different places. Some really cool guys, they come to alot of my shows in L.A and I really appreciate them for that, plus they tell me how good of a cook I am.
So now I have found a place now it was time to figure out how I'm gonna get stage time. When I moved to L.A I knew about maybe 5-9 people. 2 booked a show, the other 3 were comedians I knew from Seattle and a friend/old coworker and Tan Man and some peeps from Billings,MT. My first show was booked through I guy I met a year before when I was doing a show in L.A. A very nice guy, his name was Matt Spivey. He booked for a show at this place called the "M-Bar," a cool little place. It was probably my second weekend in Hollywood so I was pretty stoked, and that night two dudes who are comedy managers and do shit with MTV came out just to watch me because their boss had seen me before in Seattle and they wanted to come see what I was all about.
So its my first show in Hollywood and I pull up to the venue and right away I see movie stars, Jona Hill (Super bad, Get him to the Greek) and John C. Reily (Step Brothers, Talladega Nights) were there checking out the show before, so I was on cloud nine. Then I met the two guys who were there to see me and they were all excited and said they heard alot of good things and blah blah blah. It was a packed room, the audience was laughing hard at the comedians before me so I knew they were hot and ready to go. Now its my turn to hit the stage and ......BAM....I totally eat shit on stage. I was struggling to make people laugh, they were just giggling and so I got more nervous and was rushing my words and I just totally tanked it. I did so bad that the two guys who came to see me didnt say good job they just said, "hey it was nice to meet ya and good luck with everything."
I was kind of down on myself no lie, but I also knew it wasn't the end of the world so...on to the next one. I knew that the places to perform were not an easy cookie to crack and I also knew I had no idea of how to "get in good" with the clubs but I also knew that I'm an easy guy to get along with and I'm good at talking to people I don't know. Matt S, was cool enough to make a couple phones to some people who book shows at the comedy clubs and my first comedy club booking was at The Ice House Comedy Club in Pasadena, CA on Nov. 7th.....we are still in Sept lol so I was like "man, this sucks, I have to book stuff way out in advance. and whatthe heck am I going to do between now and then?"
I have a friend I knew from New York named Maria Shehata who I had met when I did the New York Underground Comedy Festival a couple years back. She had booked a sunday night show at this place called "The Hyperion Tavern," a small little place with about maybe 10-15 people there and half were comics, but none the less I was grateful for Maria to put me on stage and do some time.
When I was in Seattle I spent a lot of time hanging out at Comedy Clubs especially Giggles Comedy Club which is my home club and will always be even though it is now closed. Terry Taylor the owner of Giggles was the first club owner to give me a chance and go on stage. Even though people didnt like him and he liked to tell me I was gay a lot, he was a great guy and he helped me out a lot so I definitely give him thanks for giving me opportunities to grow as a comedian on stage. Hollywood is a different beast, there are so many comedians trying to "make it" that hanging out at the comedy club doesn't mean you get stage time like you do in Seattle. However I learned this.........if I want to perform at a place, why not hang out at that place and get to know people, because just you are not being buddies with the club MGR's and owners, at least I'm there with other comics and I get to see comics who I look up to.
October 2009:
After a few weeks of hanging out at the Hollywood Improv, I stop in on a regular tuesday night and guess who I see?.......my favorite comedian Dave Chapelle....man I was losing my frickin mind, I still kind of get star struck and at this point I was very star struck. I just got done watching his set and everyone was leaving the show room and Dave was sitting by the exit, so cleared my throat and walked up to him and said, " Dave, I know you probably hear this alot but you are like one of my heros and I wanna be your best friend." he looks at me and says, "hey thanks man, have a seat....and do you got anymore of that good smelling gum?" Man I was so excited I couldn't even talk, then Chris Tucker walks in the room and now its me, Chris, Dave and maybe about 8 other comedians just sitting in the showroom and all I could do was just smile and nod my head because I was still speechless. Dude being in Hollywood not even a month and I get to see one of my all time idols....shhh...I was happy.
(Sidenote- one night Maria and my good friend John Sanders were driving to an open mic and we were blasting Miley Cyrus's "Party in the U.S.A" so for the first 4 months thats all I listened to because it fit me so well)
Around late October, I still was struggling to get on stage but getting a spot here or there like if I performed once a week for two straight weeks, I considered that a busy two weeks. Anyways, one day I stop by a comedian friend of mine and we were just shooting the shit and he starts talking about this thing called "Stand-Up Bootcamp" which was thought be a Comedian named Kyle Cease. My comedian friend were kind of poking fun of it and saying its a rip off and what not. I kind of knew Kyle because he is a Seattle guy and he also filmed a Comedy Central Presents and also an hour special. So they show me the website and stuff and they were ragging on it a little so just kind of over looked it and didnt care. So that same evening I head down to the Hollywood Improv to watch Comedy Juice, (Comedy Juice is one of the best comedy shows in the country. it's every weds at the Hollywood Improv and the line ups are crazy, from Ron WHite, Bill Burr, Daniel Tosh, Dane Cook...like all on the same show, its an awesome show)
So I'm at comedy juice and in comes walking in is Kyle Cease who was performing that night and I just thought how weird it was because we were just talking to about him and his bootcamp earlier that day. My buddy John says hi to Kyle and introduces us telling him that I'm a comedian from Seattle. Kyle was very nice and we just started chatting, he brings up that he is doing the bootcamp thing next week and he explains to me what it is all about and tells me I should come do it. Keep in mind it costed at the time $1,000 to do and I didn't have a lot of money.
After Kyle and I had spoke I started thinking to myself that things always happen for a reason, but the problem was that I could either take the workshop and not exactly know what is gonna come from it and at the same time have some friends make fun of me....or I can just not take it and everyone will be happy.....so I went with my gut feeling and I decided to take the Stand-up Bootcamp. The Bootcamp was a 5 day event, and a great experience. Kyle is a great motivator when he speaks and not just talking about how to be funny but talking about getting in the right mind set of things, like not stressing before a show, being positive and shit, ya know healthy mental staff like Tony Robins. Then he would bring in National Headliners to talk to us about techniques, how they started, the do's and donts of comedy. One of them was comedian Louie Anderson, he gave real awesome speech, he didn't sugar coat anything and was very real, and very real guy he is.
I learned a lot at bootcamp, things that not every comic will tell you and things that every comic should say. I met some connections through bootcamp that really helped me in my first year. I also understood that even though I learned some things, I have to put it into action if I want to make this thing work. So off to the races........
One thing I learned, well I've always kind of knew it but just helps when someone breaks it down fo ya, is that if you help people without excepting anything in return......you will always go further in life. This made me think and figure out how can I help people.
November 2009:
So, around mid-November, I get a call from Auggie Smith, Auggie is a Billings, MT Native who moved out of Billings and also became a comedian. I kind of look up to Auggie because he was a Billings guy like me and went out to pursue his career in stand-up comedy. He travels all over the country making people laugh and he has been on Comedy Central and a bunch of other stuff. Anyways he calls me up and asks me to open up for him back in Billings,MT. This couldn't have came at better time. I was struggling for money and needed to pay rent, living off the bare essentials so this helped alot.
After the one of the shows I was talking to local people and one guy mentions to me that he would like to do stand-up comedy but there is no place for people to try to be a stand-up. It made me think to back in the days when I lived in Billings and it was hard to do stand-up and BOOM...it hit me.....this could be my opportunity to help people. So I told myself I was gonna find a venue and start an open mic for stand-up comedy in Billings,MT.
For Thanksgiving I decided to go to Seattle because my parents were flying up there and also because I was seeing someone in Seattle so I decided to spend two weeks up there. Since I was up there I figured to do a bunch of shows at the comedy clubs. In the books I had booked a one night at laughs in Kirkland where I would headline and make some good money and then also I would perform at Giggles Comedy Club my home club.
When I arrived at Giggles comics and other people were giving my shit for doing the bootcamp, which is fine, I mean everyone has their own opinions and even though they don't really know what its all about I just brushed it off. One night I was at Giggles and the owner was giving me shit about headlining at the other club and we were going back about this and that and then I finally got pissed off and yelled at Terry and told him to go fuck himself and left the club. I knew that the wasn't a good way about going about things but I was mad, I don't get mad often but when I do I blow up son! In the end I still felt bad about how it went down at least I had sex that night so that was a bonus...just sayin
December 2009:
I'm starting to meet more people in the comedy scene in L.A, getting up on stage at The Comedy Store which was nice, My good friend John Sanders who I knew from the comedy scene in Seattle lives in L.A and produces a show at the Hollywood Improv once a month on a Saturday. He was cool enough to book for a show in January at The Hollywood Improv. I was so stoked because I have spent months at that club and would always visualize myself on that stage. I woud see so many big name acts on that stage and I wanted to be up there with them.
One day I get a call from Louie Anderson, which was kind of crazy, he gave a really good speech at bootcamp and I loved his work on his cartoons and his HBO specials. Anywhos he calls me to let me know he is now apart of Stand-Up Bootcamp w/ Kyle Cease. He called to introduce himself whatnot because I was helping Kyle with bootcamp stuff, like answering phone calls from people interested in bootcamp and doing just little work for them because I like helping. Louie Anderson is such a nice guy, he asked me if I needed help with anything because the work I was doing for Kyle was free..(it was my decision to work for free because I was gonna get help with getting on stage and to me getting on stage is worth the money in my account.) so I just said I needed help getting on stage so Louie said he was gonna see what he could do to help me.
I tell ya one thing, I realized one thing, I'm so focused on comedy that I don't go out clubbing that much anymore. I go out and drink and get wasted but going to clubs was and is not on my top list. I mean I do a little bit but not a whole lot. My theory is that if I bust my ass for the next few years, I'll be able to go out all the time and party with the finest, but for now I'll party here and there. Same thing with women, I mean as much as I would like to have a GF and share things with doing my journey its just not on my to-do list....I mean there are some I would like "to-do" but its not my focus, its not what drives me, what drives me is my family, my parents who risked their lives so I could have a better one, for my friends who believed in me from the very beginning and supported from thick and thin, for my fans who love coming out and watching shows and supporting, and to my Asian brothas, I know it sounds cheesy but I'm trying to just rock this thing so me and my Asian Brothas become a hot item in this country. And to all the ones that said I couldn't do it, that drives me, the ones who doubt me and think that just because there are alot of comedians out there and that I'm just another one...pttt, yes there are a lot of comedians out there but not of all of them are working as hard as me, when they walk up at noon I'll already be up for 4 hours making phones, sending emails, working on stuff to help me get to the next level. I came to Hollywood without an invitation but I plan to stay at the party and let everyone know I'm here to blow shit up.
So back to December, I call my close friend Wayne Wilcox, I told him I had an idea, I shared with him my interest in starting a stand-up comedy scene in Billings,MT, and asked if he would like to help me with it. At first he was like, "comedy in Billings?" but being a great friend he is, he said he had my back. So we started brainstorming on venues that would be good for stand-up comedy. There were some places I've done comedy before so he hit those places up first but none of them were really hip to the idea and didn't think having a local comedy scene would worth it.
Then I made a call to a friend from highschool and a big supporter of my comedy, her name is Rachel Dehler (Johnson now). I made her laugh so hard one time she actually pee'd her pants no joke. Her father is this big casino mogul in Montana, he owns a bunch of casinos and sponsors the local minor league baseball field called Dehler Park. Anyways he has this venue just west of Billings called Asian Nites, I know very ironic, but I had performed there before so I thought I'd call Rachel and let her know about my vision in bringing comedy to Billings and creating a stand-up comedy scene. She totally loved the idea and made a phone call to her father and in less the 6 hours I received a phone call from Jon and we planned to meet in Billings over Christmas break.
Late December Wayne and I met Jon at a Mongolian Grill. When you see Jon he looks like a big teddy bear, a very humble guy and nice as hell. We sat down and I shared my vision with him and without any hesitation he was down. We were so excited we started planning and decided to launch our first open mic on Feb 3rd 2010 at Asian Nites.
What a great way to end the 2009 year, at this point I really felt like great things were to come in the 2010 year and boy was I right.......to be continued.........
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