January 22, 2020 • 42 mins
Aside from the fact that he is one of the most talented comedians we know, Tehran is also just one of our favorite artists to interview - he's raw, transparent, and really makes us think. If you don't know Tehran already, he is a stand up comic and host at some of the world's most popular venues. Tehran is truly a gatekeeper in the comedy world. Leading the stage at world famous venues like the Laugh Factory and the Comedy Store, he has an influence over who takes the mic, and ultimately who breaks into the comedy scene. In this interview Tehran discusses what it takes to make it as a successful comedian, gives insight into the "it factor" everyone strives to achieve, and tips on what not to do on stage.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Behind the Influence, a production of I Heart
Radio and t DC Media. And I kept working, working, working,
got an opportunity to be at the Laugh Factory, hosted
my own show. Then that became two shows, and now
I am responsible for two of the most popular nights
in Los Angeles. This isn't me being arrogant saying, oh,
look at me, appease me. No, appease yourself. This is
(00:22):
a job. This is a career show up. I will
be honest with anyone that asked me a question, but
sometimes they will not appreciate or expect my honesty. So
many people are so willing to change the world, so
few people are just simply willing to change themselves. Yeah,
that was That was interesting. That was real. That was real.
(00:44):
That's the nitty gritty part of Hollywood that people don't
know where the talent spit up their gum in the
hand of the assistant, and that assistant had to take
with jewel. There wasn't that wasn't just gum. That wasn't
hard gum. That was wet, chewed up gum. And then
it was and it was thrown in the trash. It
was small, but it was big. It was a small thing,
(01:06):
but a big I felt really doing that. I could
have just grabbed the trash can and brought it over,
but likes, you know, you put in, you put in effort.
You didn't even you were like, no, this is immediate,
I will take it in my hand. And because you
took spit gum instant promotion in your hand and put
it out in the trash can, alright, you know that's Victoria.
(01:28):
She just took my gum straight out of my mouth
for this interview that I'm so excited. It's the first
one that we're doing on the first interview of twenties,
which would sound great if it wasn't such a horrible year,
right because started out like all this promise and then
Day one Australia is on fire Day two, World War three,
Day three, rent was due like just craziness. Four Tatiana
(01:48):
has lost all use of hand. It's the weirdest thing.
We were talking about this before we started recording, but
I just want to fill you guys in, not that
it matters, but maybe during this episode some weird feeling
will come back. Both of my hands have lost all feeling.
I cannot spread my fingers apart use them, and just
I want everyone to just think real quick, how often
(02:09):
you use your hands and your fingers and what you
use them for, and imagine no longer having use of
those things. Okay, so the comedian and me automatically went
to the worst, most dirty things. You like. Everything you
said just sounded like married to a good man, great
man who has surgical gloves on hand. Great guy. Yeah.
(02:32):
So al right, guys, we are sitting here with Tehran.
He is by far one of my favorite humans on planning.
Thank you. You are also one of mine. I've been
trending this year and you didn't. I've been trending Tehran
not for the best things. You know, I'm named after
the capital of Iran. So awkward, awkward, But you know what,
it's not about that. It's about you. You know, we're
(02:54):
here with you. I've interviewed Toron a few times before
and in different contexts. You know, are as a comedian,
all the success that he's had so far. This show
focuses obviously on influence, and Tehran is no exception to
the word influence because he's essentially a gatekeeper tastemaker within
the comedy world. Um, and we'll get into his background
(03:16):
a little bit so you can understand why and how.
But basically Tehran he books shows, he hosts shows, So like,
if you're funny and he thinks you're funny, he'll feature
you on his show. I definitely will. I give a
space for people who I think are talented or up
and coming talent, especially in the Los Angeles area. So
the major hubs of comedy in the United States are
going to be in New York, l A. And there
(03:39):
of course Chicago and places like that, but New York
and l A or where it's at. And New York
is where you get good, but l A is definitely
where you come to get famous. So the people who
control comedy in l A control if you're gonna make
it big or not, if you're going to be famous.
This is where it happens exactly. And when I say
that Tehron hosts shows, he's not hosting, I'm like random
(04:00):
and no shade to this, but not some no name,
random back room bar whatever. So and obviously that's iconic.
A laugh Factory has broken every single major comedian in
this world was broken there well, comedy store in the
lave Factory. And I would say the Seller are the
(04:21):
three top comedy clubs in the world, not just in
the United States but literally in the entire world. And
being at the Laugh Factory, I have my own two shows,
and I obviously have a lot of influence on the
lineup overall, and at the Comedy Store and at the Improv,
so I do shows there as well. And being in
that position, not only do I see everyone I know
(04:43):
who's going to be tomorrow. And there's a lot of
talent coming through as we speak. Jack Knight, Renee Vodka,
Sam j Sam Jay is brilliant, She's hilarious. Renee is
this up and coming Latino comedian who is just very
funny and charismatic. Jack Knight is the next Dave Chappelle.
You're watching this happen. Where does Jack Knight find you?
(05:05):
How does that connection happen? Circle of influence, So the
best way to get connected, it's not just what you know,
it's definitely who you know, and who you know will
depend on how good you are. People will talk about you.
There's a comedian right now, Chapelle Lacy. I heard about
him for months before I actually even interacted with him,
simply because people were like, this kid is on the
(05:28):
up and up. He's up and coming. He's hilarious, and
so I heard about him and now I'm trying to
place him. We just had him on Fresh Faces at
the laugh Factory. So that's how it works. Is who
you know is very important, a lot of connections. Comedy
is full of politics, the way politics is right now
full of comedy. But what if you don't know anyone there?
You just you know when you're screwed. If you don't
(05:48):
know anyone, then you better start making friends quick. It's
not a coolincidence that Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider are
best friends, and Judd Apatow and Seth Brogan and that
crew are all closely connected, and that Judd Aptal and
Adam Sandler are buddy buddies and Judd is directed all
the move That's not a coincidence. These are people who associate,
(06:11):
they connect, and they definitely your social inventory is everything. Okay,
So talk to me about somebody in Alabama whose social
inventory is not going to be as robust as Tron
living in you know, the hottest city in the world. Well,
here's here's the good and the bad news. If you're
in Alabama, by the way gas in Alabama is at
like two dollars and fifteen cents, that's amazing. So if
(06:35):
here in l A it's at like four dollars and
fifties cents, which means that for two dollars and thirty
five cents more, you can be successful. And I guess
you need to take You need to move, You need
to leave Alabama and get there. And Dean Delray makes
a point of that when he says like things like that,
like the concept is if you're in Alabama, that's not
the place. Now, that doesn't mean I'm a person in Alabama.
(06:58):
I will never make it. Thankful, Lea, the Internet has
made entertainment into a democracy. You can find anywhere, anytime,
any place in the world. But at the end of
the day, you can be in Alabama streaming your content
or like whatever. But at the end of the day,
you've got to be you have You're going to eventually
have to move. And there are people that are like,
(07:18):
well I don't want to move. Well that's fine, you
don't have to do this. None of us have to
do this. We get to do this. This is a
decision that we made. L A in Hollywood did not
call a single person and say, oh my god, we
need you, we need it. So you're gonna have to
sacrifice and know that the ends justify the means. Get up,
(07:39):
get out, and get something. Okay. So initially when we
open this, you were talking about like New York is
where you get good and then la is where you
in my opinion, because New York you can hit as
mini mics. In New York you can definitely hit three
to six mics a night, which is virtually it is
a lot. Even something like forget the politics. Geographically, it's
(07:59):
difficult to get to six mikes in l A. Geographically
people will be like, oh, I'm only staying two miles
away from you, is like you might as well have
just stayed in Alabama exactly Exactly. In l A, you're
going to be like going to Long Beach to one
of them. That doesn't make it. It's your whole day
you planned. Like if anytime I have to go to
Santa Monica, I just know that's Monday and Tuesday. That's
(08:19):
my whole Monday and Tuesday. That's the end of that.
So the concept is in New York you can hit
three to six mics. Just an average person can hit
three to six mics every single night, and practice makes perfect.
There is no secret get off on mics, practice, practice practice.
So one question something that I might have like it
(08:42):
might be a stereotype that I'm falling into, but not
all blacks are like that. How many times do I
have to tell you what's wrong? Question? So New York
and l A have this like constant rivalry rivalry, right,
would someone argue that the crop of talent coming out
of New York who are doing stand up like their
(09:04):
real goal is stand up versus l A. You've got
this like entire crop of actors and like influencers and
want to be famous for whatever, and no shade is
the pool a little more flooded here. That's not to
be very honest, that's not a very nice thing to say,
but it would be so true. That's the case. In
New York. You have people who are specifically there for
(09:27):
stand up. If you ask one of them what their
ultimate goal in life would be if they could be
the most decorated actor, the most decorated stand up comedian
of all time, they would most likely choose decorated stand
up comedian. I do not feel the same about a
lot of the talent pool that's in Los Angeles. Now,
does that mean that there is not talent in Los Angeles? No,
(09:49):
there is clearly talent in Los Angeles. This is where
every prom queen and football star in the country comes
here to become a hostess at Catsuya. That's how it works, right,
So there's a lot of talent here. However, it does
become oversaturated and since there are only certain spots that
make it once again the store, laugh Factory of course,
(10:12):
and improv, and there's some outskirt places, flappers and hop
but no one's really going to those places to be big, right,
There's limited space, limited place, and an oversaturation of people
trying and flooding trying to do this. And every actor
feels like the easiest way to break through because it
makes you feel like you're doing something as opposed to
(10:34):
just sitting around and waiting for auditions. Try stand up
and it makes sense. I mean, there's so many benefits
to stand up. Your building confidence, you're getting reps in
your practicing. I feel like you find your voice. In
many ways, actors like to have their own niche personality
or whatever. So I could definitely see the benefits of it.
But on the same token, I could see how someone
(10:54):
who's main goal to be comedian and they they're flooded
with all this, all these other people, I could see
how that could maybe offend. Maybe not offend, isn't it? No,
it is offend is the correct word. When you see
someone that's doing something that you take seriously and this
is your passion, and they do it once a month
and they call themselves the same thing, it's offensive. You're
(11:16):
looking at it and you're saying you don't have the
right to use this term in reference to you when
you literally put in the least amount of effort and
here I am busting my ass to do the do
the thing that I say I do so as a gatekeeper,
do you take that into conederation when you are booking.
In fact, recently had a conversation with a comedian who
(11:39):
was telling me how, oh, I just like doing comedy. Well,
then no, I'm not going to give you the opportunity
on the most famous stage in the world to perform
when there are other people who this isn't their hobby,
this is their life passion, this is their goal. That's
who I'm going to give an opportunity to especially personally,
(11:59):
I like giving opportunities to a diverse field of voices
because that's what comedy ultimately is. It's a platform to
be heard. And while I am all for there are
people like, oh no more white men. I think white
men have a space in comedy, and they have a
huge one. But I do feel that transgender and and
l g B t Q and black and brown and
(12:22):
yellow and purple and everyone else has a space as well,
And so I will look for that. Not that I'm
going out of my way for diversity, it's that I
feel like inclusion. I will always go out of my
way for I can't stand that, by the way, when
people are like no white girls or no, and I'm like,
what that's that's that's just here. Of course, that's as
(12:43):
that's as oppressive. However, at the same token, it shouldn't
be just white girls or just white males. But let's
be honest, there's nothing funnier than a corny white dude, right,
A dad, A corny d love that ship. Okay, So yeah,
I don't know. I think my friend in the background,
because he is a white dad, white dad. What do
(13:06):
you call a fish with no eyes hilarious, Right, you
got it, that's yours. Okay. So, so Toronto, we have
talked about him being a gatekeeper. I'm sure you guys
are wondering how does one get in this power position. So, Toron,
if you could just give us like a high level
of how you got to the place. Obviously you're wildly
(13:27):
talented and in the owners of these comedy stores are
trusting you, but you didn't get there overnight. Talent is
a word we often used to attribute to people to
deny ourselves where we are like, well, they're talented, so
that means I don't have to do it. No, what
it was is I got very lucky because I worked
(13:47):
very hard. I worked very hard and got very lucky.
And when those two meet, all of a sudden, it
seems like opportunity. Right, that's those two collide. And what
happened was I was What happened was I. And this
is why I actually feel inclusion and representation is so important.
I was literally in law school trying to figure out
my next move in life. I knew I didn't want
(14:08):
to practice law, that was never the plan, but I
need to figure out what I did ultimately want to do.
I turn on the television and this is me in
my twenties. This isn't me as a thirteen year old
or as an eight year old. This is me in
my twenties. I saw a comedian, Mikey Winfield, who had
a show on Fuse network where no one watches Fuse,
and I was watching Fuse and he would perform comedy
(14:30):
and present videos and things like that. And he's a
light skinned black guy with a froe and I literally
saw him do it, and I was like, if he
can do it, I can do it. That's literally how
that happened. That's began the path. Then comedians like Master
Bonnie and Maximini gave me an opportunity to perform, and
then Mas actually pulled me aside and gave me the speech,
gave me the if you really want to do this,
(14:51):
then you have to do this. This isn't just something
you do once every three months and because you're funny
with your friends. This is an art form. And it's
interesting because we we always think that when comedians go
on stage and if they say the same thing, we're like,
why didn't you say something new? We just make it
look so easy that everyone thinks they can do it.
You would never expect a singer to go on stage
and sing a brand new hit every time they get
(15:12):
on stage. We are writing as well. We are just
writing beats and merits and jokes into jokes, and they're
doing it into rhythm and song. It's a very similar process.
So I got I practiced getting up on the mic.
I practiced finding a voice that was unique to myself
when I'm on stage, and I practiced being on stage
(15:33):
in front of people. That's people's biggest fears, and everyone that, oh, well,
I can be funny. No, it's not the same. And
I kept working, working, working, got an opportunity to be
at the Laugh Factory, hosted my own show. Then that
became two shows, and now I am responsible for two
of the most popular nights in Los Angeles and I've
been to both of them. Hilarious. You are a great
(15:54):
audience member, and I feel like you're really funny. Yes
you are. I don't know if you guys have had
conversations with Tati and her and her personal views on things.
Her take on things and the way she states them
is that comedian mentality, which is a starting point you
should have some here's my rebuttal. Here's my rebuttal of
(16:15):
that I will interject my comedy into these things that
are my passion. I will not pursue stand up for
the exact same reason that we discussed in the beginning,
because I have too much respect for the people who
went to improv classes groundlings auditioned. That is their thing,
and I'm just like And also it's not my passion.
(16:36):
So if somebody were to say to me, you will
become a billionaire doing a doing stand up, I wouldn't
do it because it's not it wasn't my end goal,
my end goal. If someone told me I would be
a billionaire giving out handies on Hollywood Boulevard, I would
just stand on Hollywood boulevards like I like, once you
say billionaires are off, fine, I shouldn't have gone to
(16:58):
the billionaire once you hit Billy, alright, alright, all right,
I shouldn't have gone to the b club. Let's talk millions. Okay, okay,
We're we're so reasonable. The point, the point being, for me,
my passion would not be that right. Like, maybe I'd
have a thrill and be really excited to get off
stage and be like, oh my god, I just did that.
That was awesome. But to your point, why would I
(17:18):
want to take a spot potentially from someone who that
is really their passion when my passion is here. I
want to talk to people, I want to interview people.
I'll just be funny on my interviews. And that's and
that's why I applaud the fact that you and I've
seen your progression in your path and you have it. Obviously,
people love you and they love talking to you about
She's got it and she gets you to tell secrets
(17:39):
that you would not normally tell. That's that's a little
thing she does because she loves comfortable Yeah, yeah, fun secrets. Yeah,
So like I would have to I would have to
murder Tatiana if I ever, like if I was on
a TMZ story, I'd have to get rid of her
because she would know that you're like she's gotten things
out like she man, she can't move right, Yeah, I'm
(18:01):
like a paraplegic. That just means it's easier to murder,
like this isn't yeah, this isn't feel bad. This is like,
am I gonna make it? And then she can bring
me down secrets like you know, like she knows you're
always so complimentary of me. I just feel like I
need to have you every day. No, no, no compliments.
It's so interesting how compliments and the truth sounds so
(18:23):
uh similar. When you're being sincere, You're I definitely think
you're being sincere because there's those people who are like,
I love you, and you're like, yeah, I'm not that
person at all. I'm quick to actually seen you really
shade people. Yeah, I'm very upfront. You know where you stand.
There's yeah, Terronto is a pretty straightforward, and I think
(18:44):
that you need to be that type of person to
be in the role that you are. So I want
to ask you, like, you've got to have millions of
people who are saying, hey, can I get a coffee
with you? Can I have advice? Like pick your brain?
I know for a fact for experience, any time I've
asked you to meet with someone, you have because you're
a very helpful person. However, do you draw the line
(19:07):
with these pick your brain? You're in a power position.
You know, people are not just wanting to have coffee
with you because they want to have a lot date
with you. They want something. How do you determine who
you give time to invest time into well. I will
be honest with anyone that asked me a question, but
sometimes they will not appreciate or expect my honesty. I
(19:30):
think it's every every person's responsibility to try to help
the next person up the ladder. In fact, that the
thought process behind oh, I want to be the only star.
This is not a zero sum game. This is not
a situation where I only when if you lose. The
concept is even at night, if you look up in
the sky and there's only one or two stars, you
don't look up again. It's when the night sky is
(19:52):
filled with stars that you stay staring up at the
sky and awe. That's how I feel when it comes
to entertainment. When it comes to comedy, there room for
all of us. However, how do I differentiate between those
who belong in the night sky and those who are
simply falling stars? And that has to do with the
person's ambition, It has to do with their personal motivation,
(20:14):
and it has to do with their talent level as well.
Is it does it ever have to do with you?
Just somebody rubs you the wrong way, you don't like them.
I don't take most things personally. In fact, some of
the people that I respect the most in this game
are people I do not like. I don't find funny.
I also do not hang out with them outside because
you would think, like if you're in a power position,
(20:34):
you know people are catty. Of course, you would think
somebody would personally block someone. A lot of that happens
a lot, by the way, in comedy and comedy it's
one of those things where you don't know who someone's
going to become. You don't know who someone is, and
you don't know how if you're rubbing someone the wrong way.
I actually have a great story about Tiffany Hannish, a
(20:55):
big name comedian, when Tiffany Addish was on the come up.
Because her story, by the way, which is known now
and everyone knows her and loves her, that's real. What
she talks about is her truth of truth. She is
a very much an open book. And I I've known
Tiffany and she's been like a sister to me and amazing.
I remember specifically when she was uh she was in
(21:18):
the lobby and a big name comedian who everyone would
know if I said his name, specifically told Tiffany she's
not funny. She will never be funny. She will never
make it. Tiffany was very upset in the lobby. Jamie
Massot of the owner of the Laugh Factory, comes over
and says, Tiffany, I believe in you. He is an
accent and then lo and behold. Three years later, Tiffany
(21:41):
is the most famous female comedian in the world, and
she I'll never forget she she was on the cover
of Vanity Fair. It said the funniest comedian live, not
funniest woman, funniest comedian alive. And she simply tagged that
person on Twitter and tagged them so we can verify
who this I mean you and you, like everyone would
(22:03):
know who that person is. You know everyone? What does
What is the benefit of saying something like that? First
of all, do you genuinely think that this comedian felt
that or do you believe that the comedian felt threatened?
What's the benefit of always being a good person even
if you have If if you felt that way, there
(22:23):
was no need to say it or express it in
this way. There was a little bit of a conflict
simply because of Tiffany being on stage when it was
the other person's time and coming off. And it wasn't
even that much. It was simply the person decided to
go off. And and honestly, here's the thing you have
to remember. You should treat the janitor the same way
(22:44):
you would treat the general because you never know when
roles will will be reversed. And more importantly, just and
just be a good person. Just generally be a good person.
Does that mean that I never say anything that would
come off mean, that's not true. I say mean things
all the time, but it's because as I believe them
and I will not I don't say it in a
in a way that's negative. There's a difference between critique
(23:05):
and criticism, and critique is when you're actually trying to
help the person out. You want them to be better.
And there's a comedian, actually Shang who as a comedian
who's been doing it a long time. I'll never forget
Gerard Carmichael, who had the car Michael Show. And I
mean Gerard is so famous now Jay Z and Beyonce
came to the laugh Factory just to watch him perform.
It was crazy to see that progression as well. Gerard
(23:27):
car Michael, who I've always liked. I remember he used
to come in and this is before he was famous,
and comedians will be like, uh, there's Gerard. Gerard's not
that I don't understand. And I used to think Gerard's
hilarious just watching it and I could tell. And Jamie
actually calls me the comedian whisper because I like pick
these people and they do make it. Gerard used to
come in and people would shade him. Shang, however, after
(23:48):
watching special, specifically set it to Gerard's face and was
not in a mean way. He said it and this
is my opinion. I do not specifically think you're that funny.
And it wasn't in a mean way. It wasn't in
a negative way. It was in a this is my
opinion way. That's different. And what I respect Shang is
Shang didn't flip flop like everyone else who said the
(24:10):
same thing behind his back, but then it was so
nice to his face. What Shang did was he set
it up front and was respectful about it and said,
this is how I feel. I posted this and I
feel this, and I don't mean to hurt your feelings.
Everyone's entitled to their opinion, that's the thing. Everyone is
entitled to an opinion a matter of taste, and my
personal point of view. If you look at someone who's
(24:31):
a great if you say things like I don't like Drake,
I understand that you don't have to like Drake. But
if you say something like Drake sucks, you're a hater
because clearly Drake doesn't suck. You know, Kobe doesn't sound
when people like Kobe sucks. I've seen you play basketball.
What are you talking about? Kobe is amazing. Just say
I don't personally like something. That's a matter of opinion.
(24:54):
That's understandable. So tell me about the booking process, specifically
on your end, what that looks like. Well, let me
explain booking for people, because a lot of people always
ask me, can I mean on your show? Where? Or
they think of friends? When you watch a movie with
Leonard DiCaprio, his friends are not in that movie. It's
not like it's Leonardo and his best friend. And that's
got to be awkward because I'm I'm guaranteeing you have
(25:16):
friends who want to be doing what you're doing very much.
So people are my friends and we're in this business
and they would love a shot. In fact, I have
Cold Opens by Matine Stewart and Manachem Silverstein, who are
people who are not only my friends, but I also
see a lot of potential in both of them, and
that's why they have that spot. How do you manage that?
When it comes down to is I'm very upfront and honest.
(25:38):
It's not. There's no secret, there's no personal bias. It
comes down to this. When I book a show at
the Laugh Factory, Unlike the Comedy Store, which has three
rooms and runs a rotating show, meaning that comedians go
up each room probably has twenty comedians a night, sixty
comedians in in a single night go up in the
In the Laugh Factory, we do four comedians a show.
(25:59):
So basically sixty comedians what the Comedy Store does in
one night, the Laugh Factory does in a week. So
you're asking to be one of sixty. When I choose
my shows, this is how I pick. The first comic
that I put on my show is a person who
is industry favor meaning C A, W, M, ME, A
manager three yards something contacts me, wants their client to
(26:21):
get up, and because industry is coming to see them,
it's the hopes that they see all of us, and
so we stay involved. So that's one person. The second
person is of course, a headliner. It's gonna be a Crystalia,
it's gonna be a Tony Rock. It's gonna be someone
who deserves that space because they've worked so hard and
now they're headliner, and they are a draw. Ken Jong,
who's one of the nicest human beings on the planet,
(26:42):
Ali Wong, someone of that nature is getting She's amazing, right.
Then the third person is going to be someone that
has the political connections. They are a laugh factory or
a comedy store and improp favorite. There's someone who's been
in the family and while they may or may not
be deserving of that, but now there was a time
that they were, and so they continue to be on
(27:04):
the lineups. And the last person I bring is someone
who is good good enough to be on that stage.
It's not like I'm doing them a favor. They're good
enough to be on stage, but they also have a draw. Ultimately,
as a comedy club, you want to put butts in
that seat every single show. We in comedy, they're the
thing things called a bringer show, and that's when a
comic gets the chance to be on the stage by
(27:26):
being able to bring ten or twenty paying customers. Uh
and those shows are looked down upon, and it's because
that's for rookies and new people. It's like open micers
who want a bigger shot. However, once you at a
certain level, every show is a bringer show. The difference
is I bring fifty and Kevin Hart brings fifty. And
that's why Kevin Hart is Kevin Hart. It's butts and seats.
(27:49):
You don't just sell out Madison Square Garden. It doesn't
sell out itself. Somebody wants to be on one of
your shows and they don't have a family connection, they're
not a headliner, they don't have a draw. Do they
not have a chance? Do they have a chance? Yes,
anything within the possible realms of possibilities is possible. Is
(28:13):
it very likely? It's very difficult. They're gonna have to come,
but here's how they reach. There are people like me
who are very open minded to these things. There was
a time a comedian Chris Red good friend of mine.
I saw him and I saw a potential and he
was working very hard, and he was from Chicago, came
to l A and I used to put them on
my shows all the time. People like, why do you
(28:34):
put him on the shows all time? Like that's not
fair to us. Chris Red is now on Saturday Night Live,
and he's like one of their premier people. You know
it's because I saw that or Rammy Yusef, who's who,
by the way, just won a Golden Globe and that's
like our boy. These are people who you can tell
this is where it's going, and so you pick them.
(28:54):
But other than that, if someone wants to contact me,
they find me on Instagram. Don't just say hey, hey,
can I do your show? That means nothing to me.
Everyone wants to do my show. Of course you want
to do my show. Industry is at my show. Average
actor might audition what once or twice a week. Comedians
get to audition every single time we hit a stage
because there will be someone undoubtedly at the major clubs
who are there from the industry that can that can
(29:17):
change and make our lives. So everyone wants to be
on my show. Don't just say hey, can I be
on your show? No, give me some give me something,
send me a tape, talk to me, tell me why
you feel like you deserve to be on the show.
This isn't me being arrogant saying oh look at me,
appease me. This is me saying no, appease yourself. This
(29:37):
is a job, this is a career. Show up, be there,
do do the little things. It's you're sending in a resume.
You're applying for a job which a stage time. Do
the same things. Give me, give me that cover letter.
Are you actively looking for people? Do you go to
Do you go to those tiny backbar shows to see
(29:58):
who's up and coming or do you just kind of
wait for people to come to you. I definitely keep
my ear to the ground. I look for talent. I
go to shows. More importantly, this is where it comes
to the who you know if you are doing it.
It's like if you build it, they will come. Exactly
if you're doing it, we will hear about you because
(30:19):
and sometimes, of course it works the other way. Nepotism
is very real, right, So sometimes it's someone's best friend,
someone girlfriend, boyfriend. Of course they get those roles. With me,
it's not that's not uh my criteria at all, but
it happens that way as well, where people get hype
but they aren't they don't live up to the hype.
(30:41):
But with me, if I hear about you or if
I see you in a position even Renee Vodka, who
we went to Lebanon together to do a show, who
wasn't basically an open micro at that point, and people
were like, why are you taking Renee? I saw him kill.
Renee came to Lebanon, Beirut, of all places, killed in Beyrout,
(31:01):
and then people were like, well, why do you And
now he just won the NBC Diversity Showcase, which is
one of the top showcases for comedy in the entire country.
So you see that promise, and it also helps that
Renee's a great guy. No one wants to be around
a douche bag like no one I don't. I don't
want I don't want to be around it f boy
anymore than Victoria wants a date one like I just
(31:23):
don't want to be around those people. So if you're
also a person you want on your team, you want,
you want this person around, it is okay. I feel
comfortable with you. You are a nice person. I see
you're a good person. You don't talk trash about other people.
Those are things I look forward to because if you
talk trash about other people, then you're gonna talk trash
(31:43):
about me. So I don't need that. I want people
who are positive. You're in the space, you're gonna go perform.
I need to be in a positive energy space, don't
f with my g I need everyone to be on
the same page when it comes to that, and you're
more likely to get on. Yeah. I mean, I've definitely
heard of all the industries that the comedy space is
(32:04):
probably the most brutal and throat. As far as like
key that you're talking about, I can't imagine how many
ugly stories you've probably experienced of backstabbing and stepping on people.
How do you how do you stay? How does your
skin stay thick through such a I think from what
I've heard a shady industry. It's not just what you've heard,
(32:27):
it's what I've experienced, as what every comedian's experienced. I
stay in my lane. I keep my head down and
I keep doing my thing, and I do my best
to avoid obstacles and know that nothing and no one
gets in my path. So someone else's success does not
undermine mind, someone else's failures do not add on to mind.
(32:48):
And if you stay out of the gossip, it doesn't
follow you. You don't have to involve yourself and that stuff.
Just keep it's one of those be good regardless. So
many people are so willing to change the world. So
few people are just simply willing to change themselves, Like
you can just simply keep being yourself. It doesn't matter.
(33:09):
I don't even know what quote we're going to use
for the quote card. I'm like, every time he says something,
I'm like, oh no, I mean I just because it's
it's this, isn't I live this? Like this is how
I really am. I wear a bathrobe. I mean, I'm
just simple. I wish you guys could see him right now. Literally,
every time I interview him, and not just interview him,
he will be at everywhere. I'll be at high in
(33:31):
the bathroom, I perform, and I'm comfortable. I just want
to be definitely have a look. I love that I appreciate.
So speaking of look, I kind of want to get
into like a factor, right. I feel like in the
comedy space, you definitely have to do something to stand out.
There's so many comedians out there any space. Branding is important,
right right, So you know, and I'm going to actually
(33:52):
link you guys to a past interview I did with
toront where he does talk about branding and why he
has his name on his hat and it's actually very smart,
Like why a Gucci when you can wear your own
Like that's the whole thing. People will be like, why
do you wear your name on your own stuff? It's
like you're wearing right, that's someone At that point, you're
wearing almost his full name, Ralph Lauren. You are literally
(34:13):
wearing his government name. The government name is Ralph Lauren. Right.
So we we had a really good conversation about that.
So if you guys want to hear more about that
and branding and all that stuff, I'm gonna link you
guys to that interview. But so there's gotta be some
things that you look for. Can you list those out
of us? Just because I feel like someone's gonna be
listening today who really really wants to be either in
(34:34):
your shoes one day or just be on your show?
What are you looking for? In general? When it comes
to comedy, this is the thing. How do you and
before people, especially when entertainment, people will be like, oh
my god, that's a bad angle. That's a bad angle.
You think Danny DeVito has a good angle? Danny DeVito works,
you know, like he's not just works, he's a star.
(34:56):
So whenever you question the way you look, just remember
Danny de Vito is. That's all you have to remember,
is that Danny, Danny DeVito, baby, Danny de Vito is
at not just he doesn't just work. He's a star. Okay.
So here's the thing. First, when it comes to a look,
be yourself, look yourself, there is a certain genesic quality
(35:18):
that people have, that factor where you can just it's
an intangible quality that certain people have where it's very endearing.
With comedy, that's the first thing. If you're yourself on stage, yourself,
your truest self, you will you will ultimately do very well.
Dave Chappelle is amazing at that. At this point, he's
in the zone where he's literally just himself all the time,
(35:42):
unapologetically he's himself, his special He went hard in the
first two minutes. Yeah, I mean he goes hard in general,
Like even when you hang out with Dave, Dave goes hard.
Every time I hang out with Dave, he just like
goes hard. He does. You say that, but it's like
Dave goes hard like he's he's he's an interest sting, charismatic,
introverted listener and he listens, and then when he says something,
(36:07):
everyone gets quiet, and it's a bar one of the
best times I've ever had in comedy. One time, Um,
I get a text Dave Chappelle's like, I'm at the store.
So one time he says, I'm at the store, right,
So I go. I go to the store. And up
to this point, it wasn't the best show. Right up
(36:28):
to this point, it was like a lot of newer people.
So it wasn't the best show. It was like a
bringer show. On top of that, then Kevin Hart goes
on stage okay, and like I remember this one lady
like was about like basically have a heart attack. She
was just like, oh, I don't know. And then and
then after Kevin hartt Chris Rock goes on stage. Okay,
these they had no idea this was happening. Chris Rock
(36:49):
goes on stage and some people had left. I felt
I bet they felt horrible. And then after Chris Rock,
Chris Tucker, who hadn't been seen for a while, goes
on stage, and then Cat Williams, Okay, look at who's
done on stage all in this one show. And then
Chappelle goes on stage okay, and does like an hour
and a half like it's nothing. Yeah for anyone, Yes,
(37:11):
for people who stage these people they saw and Chappelle,
was he hilarious for an hour and a half or
two hours that he did comedy? No, No, he wasn't.
At some points he was just talking. Some point he
was just sitting there smoking a cigarette and drinking a
beer on stage. But for ten minutes he was more.
He was funnier than all of us put together. That's
(37:33):
how brilliant he is. And and once again, you're in
the room minutes that it makes you brilliant. And he's
just unapologetically himself. But as far as a look, you
should have a look. You should have a look where
it's this is your look, this is who you are.
And that's why we like we like Chubby Seth Brogan,
but not so much Skinniers. I mean, yeah, Jonah Hillymore.
(37:58):
Not only are you not funny, keep to these sea roles.
Next role, you better have cancer because I just don't
believe you, you know. So it's a look, there's a feel,
and with your material, if you're saying something that someone
else can say, then I'll just have someone else say it.
If you sound like Kevin Hart. I will just go
find Kevin Hart. That just comes down to who you
(38:20):
are as a person. So at the end of the day,
and you're saying you have to be yourself, that material
has to genuinely be your life, come from your heart.
It's not even not even necessarily your your life. It
could be your opinion, but it's your opinion, it's your
point of view, it's your writing, it's your way that
(38:40):
you view the world. That's why when when we look
at directors and we're like, oh, this director is great
as opposed to this director's average. Everyone can hold a camera,
it's the way you frame it where you are showing
us the audience exactly what you see as the creator.
That's what. That's what makes a Harry Potter book so great,
whether you like Harry Potter or not. J. K. Rowling
(39:02):
created a world in which all of us vividly saw
this world exactly the way she saw it in her mind.
Because we can all go up there and tell a
trump joke, right of course, but it's about the delivery,
and you are the perspective and the perspective and have
I heard this take before? So how does one finesse
that because I think we all have some level of
(39:26):
raw talent, but you have to really work that. What
would be your piece of advice for somebody. Philosophically speaking,
discovering comedy is truly discovering yourself. The way you do that,
and now we go bookend it. Practice practice, practice, especially
on stage, literally, practice being on stage, practice speaking your
(39:48):
mind on stage. It is one of the most terrifying
things to do. Especially unlike movies or music, where you
find out feedback later, comedy is instant. Yes, you say something,
either they laugh or they don't. And the worst thing
isn't when you get booed. The worst thing is when
you hear crickets where people are just silent, So at
(40:11):
least you've evoked some emotion exactly you get booed, at
least you've you've you've created something. But when it's just
silence and it's crickets and you can hear that pin drop,
that's when people sweat. That's when it's like, oh, oh,
I'm here all week. You know, it's just like one
of those things where that that five minutes, which sounds short,
(40:33):
isn't an eternity at that point, so you've given us
so many nuggets of information, and I think that people
can really learn from this interview. Is there anyone that
you think we should be paying attention to right now?
Since you have such a good eye that you would
like to give a little bit of I will go
down a list of comedians just so we can give
(40:55):
our audience some people to check out. In a room
of people whose names are being definitely kicked around. Chris
red romy Yusef are definitely these names that Eliza Schlezinger,
you know, but people know them. But if you're looking
for like new talent up and coming, uh and Andrew
Schultz by the way, because he's made it like that
(41:16):
guy did it on his own. I respect that You're
gonna look for Renee Vaca. You're gonna look for Jack Knight.
You're going to look for Fox, who's a transgender comedian,
very funny, Mateine Stewart, Manacolm Silverstein, Sam j very good,
Audrey Stewart working very hard. These are people that you're
(41:36):
going to be looking for. Vanessa Johnston, Lea Lamar. I
like everyone to have a voice. It's very interesting. It's
great to watch Tehran breaking stars and actually a star himself.
I'm so lucky in the making, like because people like Tehran,
Oh I have and I aren't you one the terrorist
watch list? Like no, I'm gonna yeah no. But you're
(41:59):
definitely mean, You're someone of influence, and you definitely are
a taste maker in the comedy space. And I think
that sky's a limit with you, obviously, And I'm so
I love that we have this together, that I get
to call you and we get to I get to
pick your brains. You're one of my favorite people. But
you know that, and you and you also have this
(42:19):
like Armenian thing. Anyway, it doesn't matter, it's a thing.
I hope you guys enjoyed this. If you guys want
to check out tron, tell them we're all Your socials
are where they can find you, literally at I am
I A M Tehran t e h r a n
I am Tehran all across the social atmosphere. So find
me anywhere that you find people. Follow me, be my you,
(42:40):
be my Joe Goldberg, stalk me, stock him. I hope
you guys enjoyed it. Tolu Behind Influences a production of
I Heart Radio and t DC Media
Welcome to Behind the Influence, a production of I Heart
Radio and t DC Media. And I kept working, working, working,
got an opportunity to be at the Laugh Factory, hosted
my own show. Then that became two shows, and now
I am responsible for two of the most popular nights
in Los Angeles. This isn't me being arrogant saying, oh,
look at me, appease me. No, appease yourself. This is
(00:22):
a job. This is a career show up. I will
be honest with anyone that asked me a question, but
sometimes they will not appreciate or expect my honesty. So
many people are so willing to change the world, so
few people are just simply willing to change themselves. Yeah,
that was That was interesting. That was real. That was real.
(00:44):
That's the nitty gritty part of Hollywood that people don't
know where the talent spit up their gum in the
hand of the assistant, and that assistant had to take
with jewel. There wasn't that wasn't just gum. That wasn't
hard gum. That was wet, chewed up gum. And then
it was and it was thrown in the trash. It
was small, but it was big. It was a small thing,
(01:06):
but a big I felt really doing that. I could
have just grabbed the trash can and brought it over,
but likes, you know, you put in, you put in effort.
You didn't even you were like, no, this is immediate,
I will take it in my hand. And because you
took spit gum instant promotion in your hand and put
it out in the trash can, alright, you know that's Victoria.
(01:28):
She just took my gum straight out of my mouth
for this interview that I'm so excited. It's the first
one that we're doing on the first interview of twenties,
which would sound great if it wasn't such a horrible year,
right because started out like all this promise and then
Day one Australia is on fire Day two, World War three,
Day three, rent was due like just craziness. Four Tatiana
(01:48):
has lost all use of hand. It's the weirdest thing.
We were talking about this before we started recording, but
I just want to fill you guys in, not that
it matters, but maybe during this episode some weird feeling
will come back. Both of my hands have lost all feeling.
I cannot spread my fingers apart use them, and just
I want everyone to just think real quick, how often
(02:09):
you use your hands and your fingers and what you
use them for, and imagine no longer having use of
those things. Okay, so the comedian and me automatically went
to the worst, most dirty things. You like. Everything you
said just sounded like married to a good man, great
man who has surgical gloves on hand. Great guy. Yeah.
(02:32):
So al right, guys, we are sitting here with Tehran.
He is by far one of my favorite humans on planning.
Thank you. You are also one of mine. I've been
trending this year and you didn't. I've been trending Tehran
not for the best things. You know, I'm named after
the capital of Iran. So awkward, awkward, But you know what,
it's not about that. It's about you. You know, we're
(02:54):
here with you. I've interviewed Toron a few times before
and in different contexts. You know, are as a comedian,
all the success that he's had so far. This show
focuses obviously on influence, and Tehran is no exception to
the word influence because he's essentially a gatekeeper tastemaker within
the comedy world. Um, and we'll get into his background
(03:16):
a little bit so you can understand why and how.
But basically Tehran he books shows, he hosts shows, So like,
if you're funny and he thinks you're funny, he'll feature
you on his show. I definitely will. I give a
space for people who I think are talented or up
and coming talent, especially in the Los Angeles area. So
the major hubs of comedy in the United States are
going to be in New York, l A. And there
(03:39):
of course Chicago and places like that, but New York
and l A or where it's at. And New York
is where you get good, but l A is definitely
where you come to get famous. So the people who
control comedy in l A control if you're gonna make
it big or not, if you're going to be famous.
This is where it happens exactly. And when I say
that Tehron hosts shows, he's not hosting, I'm like random
(04:00):
and no shade to this, but not some no name,
random back room bar whatever. So and obviously that's iconic.
A laugh Factory has broken every single major comedian in
this world was broken there well, comedy store in the
lave Factory. And I would say the Seller are the
(04:21):
three top comedy clubs in the world, not just in
the United States but literally in the entire world. And
being at the Laugh Factory, I have my own two shows,
and I obviously have a lot of influence on the
lineup overall, and at the Comedy Store and at the Improv,
so I do shows there as well. And being in
that position, not only do I see everyone I know
(04:43):
who's going to be tomorrow. And there's a lot of
talent coming through as we speak. Jack Knight, Renee Vodka,
Sam j Sam Jay is brilliant, She's hilarious. Renee is
this up and coming Latino comedian who is just very
funny and charismatic. Jack Knight is the next Dave Chappelle.
You're watching this happen. Where does Jack Knight find you?
(05:05):
How does that connection happen? Circle of influence, So the
best way to get connected, it's not just what you know,
it's definitely who you know, and who you know will
depend on how good you are. People will talk about you.
There's a comedian right now, Chapelle Lacy. I heard about
him for months before I actually even interacted with him,
simply because people were like, this kid is on the
(05:28):
up and up. He's up and coming. He's hilarious, and
so I heard about him and now I'm trying to
place him. We just had him on Fresh Faces at
the laugh Factory. So that's how it works. Is who
you know is very important, a lot of connections. Comedy
is full of politics, the way politics is right now
full of comedy. But what if you don't know anyone there?
You just you know when you're screwed. If you don't
(05:48):
know anyone, then you better start making friends quick. It's
not a coolincidence that Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider are
best friends, and Judd Apatow and Seth Brogan and that
crew are all closely connected, and that Judd Aptal and
Adam Sandler are buddy buddies and Judd is directed all
the move That's not a coincidence. These are people who associate,
(06:11):
they connect, and they definitely your social inventory is everything. Okay,
So talk to me about somebody in Alabama whose social
inventory is not going to be as robust as Tron
living in you know, the hottest city in the world. Well,
here's here's the good and the bad news. If you're
in Alabama, by the way gas in Alabama is at
like two dollars and fifteen cents, that's amazing. So if
(06:35):
here in l A it's at like four dollars and
fifties cents, which means that for two dollars and thirty
five cents more, you can be successful. And I guess
you need to take You need to move, You need
to leave Alabama and get there. And Dean Delray makes
a point of that when he says like things like that,
like the concept is if you're in Alabama, that's not
the place. Now, that doesn't mean I'm a person in Alabama.
(06:58):
I will never make it. Thankful, Lea, the Internet has
made entertainment into a democracy. You can find anywhere, anytime,
any place in the world. But at the end of
the day, you can be in Alabama streaming your content
or like whatever. But at the end of the day,
you've got to be you have You're going to eventually
have to move. And there are people that are like,
(07:18):
well I don't want to move. Well that's fine, you
don't have to do this. None of us have to
do this. We get to do this. This is a
decision that we made. L A in Hollywood did not
call a single person and say, oh my god, we
need you, we need it. So you're gonna have to
sacrifice and know that the ends justify the means. Get up,
(07:39):
get out, and get something. Okay. So initially when we
open this, you were talking about like New York is
where you get good and then la is where you
in my opinion, because New York you can hit as
mini mics. In New York you can definitely hit three
to six mics a night, which is virtually it is
a lot. Even something like forget the politics. Geographically, it's
(07:59):
difficult to get to six mikes in l A. Geographically
people will be like, oh, I'm only staying two miles
away from you, is like you might as well have
just stayed in Alabama exactly Exactly. In l A, you're
going to be like going to Long Beach to one
of them. That doesn't make it. It's your whole day
you planned. Like if anytime I have to go to
Santa Monica, I just know that's Monday and Tuesday. That's
(08:19):
my whole Monday and Tuesday. That's the end of that.
So the concept is in New York you can hit
three to six mics. Just an average person can hit
three to six mics every single night, and practice makes perfect.
There is no secret get off on mics, practice, practice practice.
So one question something that I might have like it
(08:42):
might be a stereotype that I'm falling into, but not
all blacks are like that. How many times do I
have to tell you what's wrong? Question? So New York
and l A have this like constant rivalry rivalry, right,
would someone argue that the crop of talent coming out
of New York who are doing stand up like their
(09:04):
real goal is stand up versus l A. You've got
this like entire crop of actors and like influencers and
want to be famous for whatever, and no shade is
the pool a little more flooded here. That's not to
be very honest, that's not a very nice thing to say,
but it would be so true. That's the case. In
New York. You have people who are specifically there for
(09:27):
stand up. If you ask one of them what their
ultimate goal in life would be if they could be
the most decorated actor, the most decorated stand up comedian
of all time, they would most likely choose decorated stand
up comedian. I do not feel the same about a
lot of the talent pool that's in Los Angeles. Now,
does that mean that there is not talent in Los Angeles? No,
(09:49):
there is clearly talent in Los Angeles. This is where
every prom queen and football star in the country comes
here to become a hostess at Catsuya. That's how it works, right,
So there's a lot of talent here. However, it does
become oversaturated and since there are only certain spots that
make it once again the store, laugh Factory of course,
(10:12):
and improv, and there's some outskirt places, flappers and hop
but no one's really going to those places to be big, right,
There's limited space, limited place, and an oversaturation of people
trying and flooding trying to do this. And every actor
feels like the easiest way to break through because it
makes you feel like you're doing something as opposed to
(10:34):
just sitting around and waiting for auditions. Try stand up
and it makes sense. I mean, there's so many benefits
to stand up. Your building confidence, you're getting reps in
your practicing. I feel like you find your voice. In
many ways, actors like to have their own niche personality
or whatever. So I could definitely see the benefits of it.
But on the same token, I could see how someone
(10:54):
who's main goal to be comedian and they they're flooded
with all this, all these other people, I could see
how that could maybe offend. Maybe not offend, isn't it? No,
it is offend is the correct word. When you see
someone that's doing something that you take seriously and this
is your passion, and they do it once a month
and they call themselves the same thing, it's offensive. You're
(11:16):
looking at it and you're saying you don't have the
right to use this term in reference to you when
you literally put in the least amount of effort and
here I am busting my ass to do the do
the thing that I say I do so as a gatekeeper,
do you take that into conederation when you are booking.
In fact, recently had a conversation with a comedian who
(11:39):
was telling me how, oh, I just like doing comedy. Well,
then no, I'm not going to give you the opportunity
on the most famous stage in the world to perform
when there are other people who this isn't their hobby,
this is their life passion, this is their goal. That's
who I'm going to give an opportunity to especially personally,
(11:59):
I like giving opportunities to a diverse field of voices
because that's what comedy ultimately is. It's a platform to
be heard. And while I am all for there are
people like, oh no more white men. I think white
men have a space in comedy, and they have a
huge one. But I do feel that transgender and and
l g B t Q and black and brown and
(12:22):
yellow and purple and everyone else has a space as well,
And so I will look for that. Not that I'm
going out of my way for diversity, it's that I
feel like inclusion. I will always go out of my
way for I can't stand that, by the way, when
people are like no white girls or no, and I'm like,
what that's that's that's just here. Of course, that's as
(12:43):
that's as oppressive. However, at the same token, it shouldn't
be just white girls or just white males. But let's
be honest, there's nothing funnier than a corny white dude, right,
A dad, A corny d love that ship. Okay, So yeah,
I don't know. I think my friend in the background,
because he is a white dad, white dad. What do
(13:06):
you call a fish with no eyes hilarious, Right, you
got it, that's yours. Okay. So, so Toronto, we have
talked about him being a gatekeeper. I'm sure you guys
are wondering how does one get in this power position. So, Toron,
if you could just give us like a high level
of how you got to the place. Obviously you're wildly
(13:27):
talented and in the owners of these comedy stores are
trusting you, but you didn't get there overnight. Talent is
a word we often used to attribute to people to
deny ourselves where we are like, well, they're talented, so
that means I don't have to do it. No, what
it was is I got very lucky because I worked
(13:47):
very hard. I worked very hard and got very lucky.
And when those two meet, all of a sudden, it
seems like opportunity. Right, that's those two collide. And what
happened was I was What happened was I. And this
is why I actually feel inclusion and representation is so important.
I was literally in law school trying to figure out
my next move in life. I knew I didn't want
(14:08):
to practice law, that was never the plan, but I
need to figure out what I did ultimately want to do.
I turn on the television and this is me in
my twenties. This isn't me as a thirteen year old
or as an eight year old. This is me in
my twenties. I saw a comedian, Mikey Winfield, who had
a show on Fuse network where no one watches Fuse,
and I was watching Fuse and he would perform comedy
(14:30):
and present videos and things like that. And he's a
light skinned black guy with a froe and I literally
saw him do it, and I was like, if he
can do it, I can do it. That's literally how
that happened. That's began the path. Then comedians like Master
Bonnie and Maximini gave me an opportunity to perform, and
then Mas actually pulled me aside and gave me the speech,
gave me the if you really want to do this,
(14:51):
then you have to do this. This isn't just something
you do once every three months and because you're funny
with your friends. This is an art form. And it's
interesting because we we always think that when comedians go
on stage and if they say the same thing, we're like,
why didn't you say something new? We just make it
look so easy that everyone thinks they can do it.
You would never expect a singer to go on stage
and sing a brand new hit every time they get
(15:12):
on stage. We are writing as well. We are just
writing beats and merits and jokes into jokes, and they're
doing it into rhythm and song. It's a very similar process.
So I got I practiced getting up on the mic.
I practiced finding a voice that was unique to myself
when I'm on stage, and I practiced being on stage
(15:33):
in front of people. That's people's biggest fears, and everyone that, oh, well,
I can be funny. No, it's not the same. And
I kept working, working, working, got an opportunity to be
at the Laugh Factory, hosted my own show. Then that
became two shows, and now I am responsible for two
of the most popular nights in Los Angeles and I've
been to both of them. Hilarious. You are a great
(15:54):
audience member, and I feel like you're really funny. Yes
you are. I don't know if you guys have had
conversations with Tati and her and her personal views on things.
Her take on things and the way she states them
is that comedian mentality, which is a starting point you
should have some here's my rebuttal. Here's my rebuttal of
(16:15):
that I will interject my comedy into these things that
are my passion. I will not pursue stand up for
the exact same reason that we discussed in the beginning,
because I have too much respect for the people who
went to improv classes groundlings auditioned. That is their thing,
and I'm just like And also it's not my passion.
(16:36):
So if somebody were to say to me, you will
become a billionaire doing a doing stand up, I wouldn't
do it because it's not it wasn't my end goal,
my end goal. If someone told me I would be
a billionaire giving out handies on Hollywood Boulevard, I would
just stand on Hollywood boulevards like I like, once you
say billionaires are off, fine, I shouldn't have gone to
(16:58):
the billionaire once you hit Billy, alright, alright, all right,
I shouldn't have gone to the b club. Let's talk millions. Okay, okay,
We're we're so reasonable. The point, the point being, for me,
my passion would not be that right. Like, maybe I'd
have a thrill and be really excited to get off
stage and be like, oh my god, I just did that.
That was awesome. But to your point, why would I
(17:18):
want to take a spot potentially from someone who that
is really their passion when my passion is here. I
want to talk to people, I want to interview people.
I'll just be funny on my interviews. And that's and
that's why I applaud the fact that you and I've
seen your progression in your path and you have it. Obviously,
people love you and they love talking to you about
She's got it and she gets you to tell secrets
(17:39):
that you would not normally tell. That's that's a little
thing she does because she loves comfortable Yeah, yeah, fun secrets. Yeah,
So like I would have to I would have to
murder Tatiana if I ever, like if I was on
a TMZ story, I'd have to get rid of her
because she would know that you're like she's gotten things
out like she man, she can't move right, Yeah, I'm
(18:01):
like a paraplegic. That just means it's easier to murder,
like this isn't yeah, this isn't feel bad. This is like,
am I gonna make it? And then she can bring
me down secrets like you know, like she knows you're
always so complimentary of me. I just feel like I
need to have you every day. No, no, no compliments.
It's so interesting how compliments and the truth sounds so
(18:23):
uh similar. When you're being sincere, You're I definitely think
you're being sincere because there's those people who are like,
I love you, and you're like, yeah, I'm not that
person at all. I'm quick to actually seen you really
shade people. Yeah, I'm very upfront. You know where you stand.
There's yeah, Terronto is a pretty straightforward, and I think
(18:44):
that you need to be that type of person to
be in the role that you are. So I want
to ask you, like, you've got to have millions of
people who are saying, hey, can I get a coffee
with you? Can I have advice? Like pick your brain?
I know for a fact for experience, any time I've
asked you to meet with someone, you have because you're
a very helpful person. However, do you draw the line
(19:07):
with these pick your brain? You're in a power position.
You know, people are not just wanting to have coffee
with you because they want to have a lot date
with you. They want something. How do you determine who
you give time to invest time into well. I will
be honest with anyone that asked me a question, but
sometimes they will not appreciate or expect my honesty. I
(19:30):
think it's every every person's responsibility to try to help
the next person up the ladder. In fact, that the
thought process behind oh, I want to be the only star.
This is not a zero sum game. This is not
a situation where I only when if you lose. The
concept is even at night, if you look up in
the sky and there's only one or two stars, you
don't look up again. It's when the night sky is
(19:52):
filled with stars that you stay staring up at the
sky and awe. That's how I feel when it comes
to entertainment. When it comes to comedy, there room for
all of us. However, how do I differentiate between those
who belong in the night sky and those who are
simply falling stars? And that has to do with the
person's ambition, It has to do with their personal motivation,
(20:14):
and it has to do with their talent level as well.
Is it does it ever have to do with you?
Just somebody rubs you the wrong way, you don't like them.
I don't take most things personally. In fact, some of
the people that I respect the most in this game
are people I do not like. I don't find funny.
I also do not hang out with them outside because
you would think, like if you're in a power position,
(20:34):
you know people are catty. Of course, you would think
somebody would personally block someone. A lot of that happens
a lot, by the way, in comedy and comedy it's
one of those things where you don't know who someone's
going to become. You don't know who someone is, and
you don't know how if you're rubbing someone the wrong way.
I actually have a great story about Tiffany Hannish, a
(20:55):
big name comedian, when Tiffany Addish was on the come up.
Because her story, by the way, which is known now
and everyone knows her and loves her, that's real. What
she talks about is her truth of truth. She is
a very much an open book. And I I've known
Tiffany and she's been like a sister to me and amazing.
I remember specifically when she was uh she was in
(21:18):
the lobby and a big name comedian who everyone would
know if I said his name, specifically told Tiffany she's
not funny. She will never be funny. She will never
make it. Tiffany was very upset in the lobby. Jamie
Massot of the owner of the Laugh Factory, comes over
and says, Tiffany, I believe in you. He is an
accent and then lo and behold. Three years later, Tiffany
(21:41):
is the most famous female comedian in the world, and
she I'll never forget she she was on the cover
of Vanity Fair. It said the funniest comedian live, not
funniest woman, funniest comedian alive. And she simply tagged that
person on Twitter and tagged them so we can verify
who this I mean you and you, like everyone would
(22:03):
know who that person is. You know everyone? What does
What is the benefit of saying something like that? First
of all, do you genuinely think that this comedian felt
that or do you believe that the comedian felt threatened?
What's the benefit of always being a good person even
if you have If if you felt that way, there
(22:23):
was no need to say it or express it in
this way. There was a little bit of a conflict
simply because of Tiffany being on stage when it was
the other person's time and coming off. And it wasn't
even that much. It was simply the person decided to
go off. And and honestly, here's the thing you have
to remember. You should treat the janitor the same way
(22:44):
you would treat the general because you never know when
roles will will be reversed. And more importantly, just and
just be a good person. Just generally be a good person.
Does that mean that I never say anything that would
come off mean, that's not true. I say mean things
all the time, but it's because as I believe them
and I will not I don't say it in a
in a way that's negative. There's a difference between critique
(23:05):
and criticism, and critique is when you're actually trying to
help the person out. You want them to be better.
And there's a comedian, actually Shang who as a comedian
who's been doing it a long time. I'll never forget
Gerard Carmichael, who had the car Michael Show. And I
mean Gerard is so famous now Jay Z and Beyonce
came to the laugh Factory just to watch him perform.
It was crazy to see that progression as well. Gerard
(23:27):
car Michael, who I've always liked. I remember he used
to come in and this is before he was famous,
and comedians will be like, uh, there's Gerard. Gerard's not
that I don't understand. And I used to think Gerard's
hilarious just watching it and I could tell. And Jamie
actually calls me the comedian whisper because I like pick
these people and they do make it. Gerard used to
come in and people would shade him. Shang, however, after
(23:48):
watching special, specifically set it to Gerard's face and was
not in a mean way. He said it and this
is my opinion. I do not specifically think you're that funny.
And it wasn't in a mean way. It wasn't in
a negative way. It was in a this is my
opinion way. That's different. And what I respect Shang is
Shang didn't flip flop like everyone else who said the
(24:10):
same thing behind his back, but then it was so
nice to his face. What Shang did was he set
it up front and was respectful about it and said,
this is how I feel. I posted this and I
feel this, and I don't mean to hurt your feelings.
Everyone's entitled to their opinion, that's the thing. Everyone is
entitled to an opinion a matter of taste, and my
personal point of view. If you look at someone who's
(24:31):
a great if you say things like I don't like Drake,
I understand that you don't have to like Drake. But
if you say something like Drake sucks, you're a hater
because clearly Drake doesn't suck. You know, Kobe doesn't sound
when people like Kobe sucks. I've seen you play basketball.
What are you talking about? Kobe is amazing. Just say
I don't personally like something. That's a matter of opinion.
(24:54):
That's understandable. So tell me about the booking process, specifically
on your end, what that looks like. Well, let me
explain booking for people, because a lot of people always
ask me, can I mean on your show? Where? Or
they think of friends? When you watch a movie with
Leonard DiCaprio, his friends are not in that movie. It's
not like it's Leonardo and his best friend. And that's
got to be awkward because I'm I'm guaranteeing you have
(25:16):
friends who want to be doing what you're doing very much.
So people are my friends and we're in this business
and they would love a shot. In fact, I have
Cold Opens by Matine Stewart and Manachem Silverstein, who are
people who are not only my friends, but I also
see a lot of potential in both of them, and
that's why they have that spot. How do you manage that?
When it comes down to is I'm very upfront and honest.
(25:38):
It's not. There's no secret, there's no personal bias. It
comes down to this. When I book a show at
the Laugh Factory, Unlike the Comedy Store, which has three
rooms and runs a rotating show, meaning that comedians go
up each room probably has twenty comedians a night, sixty
comedians in in a single night go up in the
In the Laugh Factory, we do four comedians a show.
(25:59):
So basically sixty comedians what the Comedy Store does in
one night, the Laugh Factory does in a week. So
you're asking to be one of sixty. When I choose
my shows, this is how I pick. The first comic
that I put on my show is a person who
is industry favor meaning C A, W, M, ME, A
manager three yards something contacts me, wants their client to
(26:21):
get up, and because industry is coming to see them,
it's the hopes that they see all of us, and
so we stay involved. So that's one person. The second
person is of course, a headliner. It's gonna be a Crystalia,
it's gonna be a Tony Rock. It's gonna be someone
who deserves that space because they've worked so hard and
now they're headliner, and they are a draw. Ken Jong,
who's one of the nicest human beings on the planet,
(26:42):
Ali Wong, someone of that nature is getting She's amazing, right.
Then the third person is going to be someone that
has the political connections. They are a laugh factory or
a comedy store and improp favorite. There's someone who's been
in the family and while they may or may not
be deserving of that, but now there was a time
that they were, and so they continue to be on
(27:04):
the lineups. And the last person I bring is someone
who is good good enough to be on that stage.
It's not like I'm doing them a favor. They're good
enough to be on stage, but they also have a draw. Ultimately,
as a comedy club, you want to put butts in
that seat every single show. We in comedy, they're the
thing things called a bringer show, and that's when a
comic gets the chance to be on the stage by
(27:26):
being able to bring ten or twenty paying customers. Uh
and those shows are looked down upon, and it's because
that's for rookies and new people. It's like open micers
who want a bigger shot. However, once you at a
certain level, every show is a bringer show. The difference
is I bring fifty and Kevin Hart brings fifty. And
that's why Kevin Hart is Kevin Hart. It's butts and seats.
(27:49):
You don't just sell out Madison Square Garden. It doesn't
sell out itself. Somebody wants to be on one of
your shows and they don't have a family connection, they're
not a headliner, they don't have a draw. Do they
not have a chance? Do they have a chance? Yes,
anything within the possible realms of possibilities is possible. Is
(28:13):
it very likely? It's very difficult. They're gonna have to come,
but here's how they reach. There are people like me
who are very open minded to these things. There was
a time a comedian Chris Red good friend of mine.
I saw him and I saw a potential and he
was working very hard, and he was from Chicago, came
to l A and I used to put them on
my shows all the time. People like, why do you
(28:34):
put him on the shows all time? Like that's not
fair to us. Chris Red is now on Saturday Night Live,
and he's like one of their premier people. You know
it's because I saw that or Rammy Yusef, who's who,
by the way, just won a Golden Globe and that's
like our boy. These are people who you can tell
this is where it's going, and so you pick them.
(28:54):
But other than that, if someone wants to contact me,
they find me on Instagram. Don't just say hey, hey,
can I do your show? That means nothing to me.
Everyone wants to do my show. Of course you want
to do my show. Industry is at my show. Average
actor might audition what once or twice a week. Comedians
get to audition every single time we hit a stage
because there will be someone undoubtedly at the major clubs
who are there from the industry that can that can
(29:17):
change and make our lives. So everyone wants to be
on my show. Don't just say hey, can I be
on your show? No, give me some give me something,
send me a tape, talk to me, tell me why
you feel like you deserve to be on the show.
This isn't me being arrogant saying oh look at me,
appease me. This is me saying no, appease yourself. This
(29:37):
is a job, this is a career. Show up, be there,
do do the little things. It's you're sending in a resume.
You're applying for a job which a stage time. Do
the same things. Give me, give me that cover letter.
Are you actively looking for people? Do you go to
Do you go to those tiny backbar shows to see
(29:58):
who's up and coming or do you just kind of
wait for people to come to you. I definitely keep
my ear to the ground. I look for talent. I
go to shows. More importantly, this is where it comes
to the who you know if you are doing it.
It's like if you build it, they will come. Exactly
if you're doing it, we will hear about you because
(30:19):
and sometimes, of course it works the other way. Nepotism
is very real, right, So sometimes it's someone's best friend,
someone girlfriend, boyfriend. Of course they get those roles. With me,
it's not that's not uh my criteria at all, but
it happens that way as well, where people get hype
but they aren't they don't live up to the hype.
(30:41):
But with me, if I hear about you or if
I see you in a position even Renee Vodka, who
we went to Lebanon together to do a show, who
wasn't basically an open micro at that point, and people
were like, why are you taking Renee? I saw him kill.
Renee came to Lebanon, Beirut, of all places, killed in Beyrout,
(31:01):
and then people were like, well, why do you And
now he just won the NBC Diversity Showcase, which is
one of the top showcases for comedy in the entire country.
So you see that promise, and it also helps that
Renee's a great guy. No one wants to be around
a douche bag like no one I don't. I don't
want I don't want to be around it f boy
anymore than Victoria wants a date one like I just
(31:23):
don't want to be around those people. So if you're
also a person you want on your team, you want,
you want this person around, it is okay. I feel
comfortable with you. You are a nice person. I see
you're a good person. You don't talk trash about other people.
Those are things I look forward to because if you
talk trash about other people, then you're gonna talk trash
(31:43):
about me. So I don't need that. I want people
who are positive. You're in the space, you're gonna go perform.
I need to be in a positive energy space, don't
f with my g I need everyone to be on
the same page when it comes to that, and you're
more likely to get on. Yeah. I mean, I've definitely
heard of all the industries that the comedy space is
(32:04):
probably the most brutal and throat. As far as like
key that you're talking about, I can't imagine how many
ugly stories you've probably experienced of backstabbing and stepping on people.
How do you how do you stay? How does your
skin stay thick through such a I think from what
I've heard a shady industry. It's not just what you've heard,
(32:27):
it's what I've experienced, as what every comedian's experienced. I
stay in my lane. I keep my head down and
I keep doing my thing, and I do my best
to avoid obstacles and know that nothing and no one
gets in my path. So someone else's success does not
undermine mind, someone else's failures do not add on to mind.
(32:48):
And if you stay out of the gossip, it doesn't
follow you. You don't have to involve yourself and that stuff.
Just keep it's one of those be good regardless. So
many people are so willing to change the world. So
few people are just simply willing to change themselves, Like
you can just simply keep being yourself. It doesn't matter.
(33:09):
I don't even know what quote we're going to use
for the quote card. I'm like, every time he says something,
I'm like, oh no, I mean I just because it's
it's this, isn't I live this? Like this is how
I really am. I wear a bathrobe. I mean, I'm
just simple. I wish you guys could see him right now. Literally,
every time I interview him, and not just interview him,
he will be at everywhere. I'll be at high in
(33:31):
the bathroom, I perform, and I'm comfortable. I just want
to be definitely have a look. I love that I appreciate.
So speaking of look, I kind of want to get
into like a factor, right. I feel like in the
comedy space, you definitely have to do something to stand out.
There's so many comedians out there any space. Branding is important,
right right, So you know, and I'm going to actually
(33:52):
link you guys to a past interview I did with
toront where he does talk about branding and why he
has his name on his hat and it's actually very smart,
Like why a Gucci when you can wear your own
Like that's the whole thing. People will be like, why
do you wear your name on your own stuff? It's
like you're wearing right, that's someone At that point, you're
wearing almost his full name, Ralph Lauren. You are literally
(34:13):
wearing his government name. The government name is Ralph Lauren. Right.
So we we had a really good conversation about that.
So if you guys want to hear more about that
and branding and all that stuff, I'm gonna link you
guys to that interview. But so there's gotta be some
things that you look for. Can you list those out
of us? Just because I feel like someone's gonna be
listening today who really really wants to be either in
(34:34):
your shoes one day or just be on your show?
What are you looking for? In general? When it comes
to comedy, this is the thing. How do you and
before people, especially when entertainment, people will be like, oh
my god, that's a bad angle. That's a bad angle.
You think Danny DeVito has a good angle? Danny DeVito works,
you know, like he's not just works, he's a star.
(34:56):
So whenever you question the way you look, just remember
Danny de Vito is. That's all you have to remember,
is that Danny, Danny DeVito, baby, Danny de Vito is
at not just he doesn't just work. He's a star. Okay.
So here's the thing. First, when it comes to a look,
be yourself, look yourself, there is a certain genesic quality
(35:18):
that people have, that factor where you can just it's
an intangible quality that certain people have where it's very endearing.
With comedy, that's the first thing. If you're yourself on stage, yourself,
your truest self, you will you will ultimately do very well.
Dave Chappelle is amazing at that. At this point, he's
in the zone where he's literally just himself all the time,
(35:42):
unapologetically he's himself, his special He went hard in the
first two minutes. Yeah, I mean he goes hard in general,
Like even when you hang out with Dave, Dave goes hard.
Every time I hang out with Dave, he just like
goes hard. He does. You say that, but it's like
Dave goes hard like he's he's he's an interest sting, charismatic,
introverted listener and he listens, and then when he says something,
(36:07):
everyone gets quiet, and it's a bar one of the
best times I've ever had in comedy. One time, Um,
I get a text Dave Chappelle's like, I'm at the store.
So one time he says, I'm at the store, right,
So I go. I go to the store. And up
to this point, it wasn't the best show. Right up
(36:28):
to this point, it was like a lot of newer people.
So it wasn't the best show. It was like a
bringer show. On top of that, then Kevin Hart goes
on stage okay, and like I remember this one lady
like was about like basically have a heart attack. She
was just like, oh, I don't know. And then and
then after Kevin hartt Chris Rock goes on stage. Okay,
these they had no idea this was happening. Chris Rock
(36:49):
goes on stage and some people had left. I felt
I bet they felt horrible. And then after Chris Rock,
Chris Tucker, who hadn't been seen for a while, goes
on stage, and then Cat Williams, Okay, look at who's
done on stage all in this one show. And then
Chappelle goes on stage okay, and does like an hour
and a half like it's nothing. Yeah for anyone, Yes,
(37:11):
for people who stage these people they saw and Chappelle,
was he hilarious for an hour and a half or
two hours that he did comedy? No, No, he wasn't.
At some points he was just talking. Some point he
was just sitting there smoking a cigarette and drinking a
beer on stage. But for ten minutes he was more.
He was funnier than all of us put together. That's
(37:33):
how brilliant he is. And and once again, you're in
the room minutes that it makes you brilliant. And he's
just unapologetically himself. But as far as a look, you
should have a look. You should have a look where
it's this is your look, this is who you are.
And that's why we like we like Chubby Seth Brogan,
but not so much Skinniers. I mean, yeah, Jonah Hillymore.
(37:58):
Not only are you not funny, keep to these sea roles.
Next role, you better have cancer because I just don't
believe you, you know. So it's a look, there's a feel,
and with your material, if you're saying something that someone
else can say, then I'll just have someone else say it.
If you sound like Kevin Hart. I will just go
find Kevin Hart. That just comes down to who you
(38:20):
are as a person. So at the end of the day,
and you're saying you have to be yourself, that material
has to genuinely be your life, come from your heart.
It's not even not even necessarily your your life. It
could be your opinion, but it's your opinion, it's your
point of view, it's your writing, it's your way that
(38:40):
you view the world. That's why when when we look
at directors and we're like, oh, this director is great
as opposed to this director's average. Everyone can hold a camera,
it's the way you frame it where you are showing
us the audience exactly what you see as the creator.
That's what. That's what makes a Harry Potter book so great,
whether you like Harry Potter or not. J. K. Rowling
(39:02):
created a world in which all of us vividly saw
this world exactly the way she saw it in her mind.
Because we can all go up there and tell a
trump joke, right of course, but it's about the delivery,
and you are the perspective and the perspective and have
I heard this take before? So how does one finesse
that because I think we all have some level of
(39:26):
raw talent, but you have to really work that. What
would be your piece of advice for somebody. Philosophically speaking,
discovering comedy is truly discovering yourself. The way you do that,
and now we go bookend it. Practice practice, practice, especially
on stage, literally, practice being on stage, practice speaking your
(39:48):
mind on stage. It is one of the most terrifying
things to do. Especially unlike movies or music, where you
find out feedback later, comedy is instant. Yes, you say something,
either they laugh or they don't. And the worst thing
isn't when you get booed. The worst thing is when
you hear crickets where people are just silent, So at
(40:11):
least you've evoked some emotion exactly you get booed, at
least you've you've you've created something. But when it's just
silence and it's crickets and you can hear that pin drop,
that's when people sweat. That's when it's like, oh, oh,
I'm here all week. You know, it's just like one
of those things where that that five minutes, which sounds short,
(40:33):
isn't an eternity at that point, so you've given us
so many nuggets of information, and I think that people
can really learn from this interview. Is there anyone that
you think we should be paying attention to right now?
Since you have such a good eye that you would
like to give a little bit of I will go
down a list of comedians just so we can give
(40:55):
our audience some people to check out. In a room
of people whose names are being definitely kicked around. Chris
red romy Yusef are definitely these names that Eliza Schlezinger,
you know, but people know them. But if you're looking
for like new talent up and coming, uh and Andrew
Schultz by the way, because he's made it like that
(41:16):
guy did it on his own. I respect that You're
gonna look for Renee Vaca. You're gonna look for Jack Knight.
You're going to look for Fox, who's a transgender comedian,
very funny, Mateine Stewart, Manacolm Silverstein, Sam j very good,
Audrey Stewart working very hard. These are people that you're
(41:36):
going to be looking for. Vanessa Johnston, Lea Lamar. I
like everyone to have a voice. It's very interesting. It's
great to watch Tehran breaking stars and actually a star himself.
I'm so lucky in the making, like because people like Tehran,
Oh I have and I aren't you one the terrorist
watch list? Like no, I'm gonna yeah no. But you're
(41:59):
definitely mean, You're someone of influence, and you definitely are
a taste maker in the comedy space. And I think
that sky's a limit with you, obviously, And I'm so
I love that we have this together, that I get
to call you and we get to I get to
pick your brains. You're one of my favorite people. But
you know that, and you and you also have this
(42:19):
like Armenian thing. Anyway, it doesn't matter, it's a thing.
I hope you guys enjoyed this. If you guys want
to check out tron, tell them we're all Your socials
are where they can find you, literally at I am
I A M Tehran t e h r a n
I am Tehran all across the social atmosphere. So find
me anywhere that you find people. Follow me, be my you,
(42:40):
be my Joe Goldberg, stalk me, stock him. I hope
you guys enjoyed it. Tolu Behind Influences a production of
I Heart Radio and t DC Media
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