TONY BAKER - From Cream Corn to Comedy Legend

Join Coline Witt and comedy powerhouse Tony Baker for a soul-touching episode featuring his famous college survival meal - the cream corn sandwich.

Experience laughter, tears, and wisdom as Tony shares his journey from theater dreams to comedy stardom, while opening up about life's greatest challenges and triumphs.

-FEATURED RECIPE:
Learn Tony's legendary cream corn sandwich recipe - the meal that fueled his early comedy days!

-CONNECT WITH US:
Instagram: @eatingwhilebroke
Website: www.eatingwhilebroke.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke.
I'm your host, Coleen Witt, and today we have very
special guest, comedian and actor. Legendary comedian actor, legend legendary. Yeah,
you've been in the game long enough to be legendary.
Tony Bakers in the building. How good. I'm very excited
to be very excited to have you on the show.

(00:34):
A little concerned about the dish you're gonna be having
me eat today. I'm concerned. I'm excited because I've never
had this dish on the show. We've taped like one
hundred and fifteen episodes, so to never have a dish
is like very amazing. I literally hate Ramen to the
ultimate max. I've had great Ramen and terrible Ramen. Yeah,

(00:54):
so I'm excited about this dish. But I literally had
called like five people, like I think he's just testing
to see if I'm gonna eat this.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
It's crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
So go ahead and tell everybody what your dishes.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
So my dish is cream corn sandwiches. Okay, Now this
is not something I ate on the regular. It was
a one There was a one time only affair.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
One and done one and done that means it's not good.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
I don't remember what it tastes like. It was just like, man,
I got cream corn in here, there's bread.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
And before he started taping, he was like, I'm not
really gonna eat this right, And I was like, oh,
heck no, you know you're gonna eat this with me?

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Ladies.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
First, I don't mind. I mean, I'm Jamaican. So we
we eat literally everything good at least once.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
That's how it should be at least once.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
So go ahead, start making this. The ingredients are, what's
the ingredients for your dish today?

Speaker 2 (01:56):
So we got the cream corn. Okay, first, as I can,
I haven't had cream corn. I feel like I haven't
had cream corn since I had the cream corn sandwich.
I don't know, I can't remember. Yeah, of course cream corn.
I like the spray, you know. Now, I didn't use

(02:16):
the coconut oil back then. I think I used just whatever.
I think we had pam in there, whatever we had.
I just sprayed the pant over with that. Because I
grilled the bread and just some wheat bread. It might
not even been wheat then, I don't know, like I
feel like it was wheat. This was like, mind you,
this was ninety ninety nine. I think this was ninety nine,

(02:42):
and you maybe even ninety eight.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
So you you went as far as to make shift
cook this day. So you took the cream corn, you
heat it up in the pot, I'm assuming, and you
actually made the bread. So this was a very thought out.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Well, I mean, I was trying to jazz it up
as much as possible, like I'll.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Jack it up for who me.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Okay, okay, it was that's been messed, but at least
I can class it up. Okay, Well, I feel like
when you when you when you grill the bread, classing
it up a little bit.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Go ahead and make me this gormet gormet cream corn.
I can't remember the last time I had cream corn.
I'm like nervous and excited because I remember liking it
back in the day.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Creek corn was a good time. Yeah, creek corn was.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
Like yeah, yeah, when I was a kid, it was
a good time.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
I mean, yeah, you know, taste bush changed.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah. We think we better than stuff we used to have.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
And you're vegan now right, I'm one.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Hundred percent vegetarian, mostly vegan. Now. Why I say that
is because like if I if I want a cookie.
I'm not gonna be.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Like, is that real body?

Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah, I'm gonna get the cookie.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
Okay, So it's like or if I want, like if
I go to the waffle house and I get a waffle.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
Okay, you're not gonna okay, if I if I got
this because you were specific about you know, if you
can't find vegan.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Well, I know, because the can stuff they add a
lot of animal whatever. Okay, So I tend to avoid
anything with animal life.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Okay, Okay, is there a reason for this slide?

Speaker 2 (04:18):
But if it's like you know, like the pork and beans,
or you know, there's gelatine in this animal bones or whatever.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
So that's what I meant, animal bones.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
Gelatine is like usually an animal bone.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
Oh yeah, I didn't know that. So does it smell
like cream corse, take a whiff of it. It is
a nostalgic. Yeah, that tastes that tastes that smells official, right.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, yeah, I remember that. I haven't had cream corner
mad long Okay, Okay, so now I'm gonna get it.
I hate electric stuff.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, I know you told me, but this one gets
hot real fast looking. Look, why do you hate it?

Speaker 2 (05:01):
You see that, because I feel like I could never
get the the heat right, and I'll never forget. One
time I was visiting my brother in Toasta, Oklahoma, and
I was bragging about my French toast the whole week.
Then my French toast is legendary. Man, y'all, y'all ain't
ready for me. And at this time, like he was,

(05:24):
he was, uh, you know, this girl was living with him.
His girlfriend had two twin boys and they were like teenagers.
I had my family there, so it was like I
was talking cat can I cuss on? Yeah, I was
talking cash ship and then I was like, yeah, you
know what I'm saying. And then when I made that
big breakfast for everybody, I the French toasts.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
Terrible, all because of the electric So yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
Because I was it was burning. I burned the majority
of the French and I was like, man, I'm done.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
I think the secret to good French toast is in
my twin could debate this, but a healthy balance of
butter and sugar. Am I right? No sugar?

Speaker 2 (06:06):
Disagree?

Speaker 1 (06:07):
Sugar?

Speaker 2 (06:08):
I got sugar. The sugar. You don't need to add
the sugar to the.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
Fresh tost Oh see, my swe just did that to me,
and I'll be honest. She was like, did you try
did you try it? And I was like, sugar, because.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
You got the scare what you need the sugar for.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
Oh, I'm scared to try your French tos. I'm glad
we STI He said it was legendary. No, the trick
to great French toast is to make sure you add
cinnamon and sugar.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
Answer you, still you're doing too much? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (06:35):
No, let me tell you something.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
About the sugar on top of the French toes. You
like that?

Speaker 1 (06:39):
No, but I mean if there was, that's how they restaurant.
I would if there was. But I'll tell you right now.
I just had French toast from my twin the other day.
She was raving about it, and she said that she
used a little bit of a combo mix of cinnamon
with sugar in it. And I tried it. It just
tasted like cinnamon toast.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
Oh did she did? She get the egg and evaporated milk? Oh?

Speaker 1 (07:03):
You put evaporated milk in it? You gotta that's a cheat.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
You gotta make the rout. The root is essential.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
Okay, tell us how to make this good French toast?

Speaker 2 (07:12):
Okay, so you need eggs, a little evaporated milk, thattmeg, cinnamon,
vanilla extract, and butter is like optional. Use the butter.

Speaker 1 (07:25):
I just used the butter. Yeah, get yeah, of course
you have that little butter hen.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah. So that's that's it.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
Evaporated milkporated milk. So that's like the same as sugar
kind of but.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
It's but it's not but it's not sure.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
I want to try this.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
It's good.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
Oh my god, I want to try this as.

Speaker 2 (07:44):
Long as I'm making on the electric stoves fire. So
and now now that they got like they had this
French toast, they kind of make bread now where they
kind of cater.

Speaker 1 (07:54):
To French toast, like the brochet bread or something, but
they had ever made it on brio spread. I think
I tried it once and I messed it up. It's good.
Damn you made me want to try this French toast because.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
I feel like out of the tree. The breakfast trio
and waffles, pancakes, and French toes frenchs number one. French toes,
if it's made at the highest level, is number one.
Now why I say that because most restaurants fumble the
French toes.

Speaker 1 (08:25):
I think most restaurants can't cook breakfast period though. I
think the only place I honestly like if someone were like, hey,
let's meet for breakfast, the only place I'm choosing this
Blue Jam Cafe. And that's it.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
They got a good uh, they got the little they
got like a good vegan scrambling.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
Really yeah, I like I like their little potatoes, but
everywhere else absolutely not. I'll just cook breakfast in my house.
But now take me back to what was going on
during this cream corn sandwich air.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
Okay, So we in college. I went to New Mexican
State in ninety eight, nineteen ninety eight, and I know
some people watching him be like, ninety eight, man, did
they have cars? Then? That's crazy? Was that prohibition al capone?
It was ninety eight, and so you know we broke

(09:16):
you know, we getting financial aid. We out here scrambling,
and at that time, I think I might have been
working on campus, like works thirty job or whatever in
Department of Black Programs. So you know, times was hard,
and we already in the poor state. So we pour
into poor state, poor college students. So we we ended

(09:41):
up and at this time, so this was probably I
want to say this was ninety nine because I was
an alumni ninety eight, so this was ninety nine when
I had the cream course sandwich. So I was illegally
staying with my with my homeboys, Andre and Jamal, they
had that they were living on on campus. They had

(10:02):
the four bedrooms. I wasn't supposed to be in there.
We like, we like broke into one of the rooms
pretty much, and I was staying in one of the rooms.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
Broke into one of the rooms. Yea, it was.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
I wasn't supposed to be there, got it, got it.
I was staying in there, so I was illegal. Technically
I was homeless, but not really.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
So it was it was now it's coming full circle. Okay,
we're getting in there.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
Technically Visita del Monte was the name of him. And
I think I got in academic trouble or whatever and
I couldn't stay there anymore. So it was like, well
the door is open, don't you just you know, crash
with us. So we in there. And one night, I

(10:57):
mean it was it was cream corn in the crib.
It was bread. It was toast heck playing dream.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
And all y'all went in on this bread in this.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
Corner I feel like it was just me this night.

Speaker 1 (11:12):
Okay to Jack.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
Everybody was because.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
This jagging the box around back. Okay, okay, okay, listen, okay, okay, okay, okay.
I know, I know I'm an eighties baby. Okay, yeah, yeah,
we don't. We don't have that. I don't think so yeah, okay,
I think that's an l A thing or any city,
any city, but New York thing.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
Okay. So so yeah, so that it was cream corner there, bread,
want you that bread?

Speaker 1 (11:44):
You make it? Did you at least have a car?
So you were like just stuck in the crib and
you had these are my options.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
I had a car, but I didn't have the bread.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
The bread. I had the bread, so you was hungry.
You said let's make it through. You get in the
kitchen and that's what you whip up.

Speaker 2 (12:01):
This is I was like, let's bring them together.

Speaker 1 (12:03):
At that time, did you know you were inching towards
the entertainment business at that point or were you what
were you going to school for?

Speaker 2 (12:10):
I was going to school for I've always wanted to
be an actor, to be honest with you, but I
felt like, you know, I was in New Mexico at
the time. I was raised in Chicago, moved to New
Mexico because my brother got stationed there in the Air Force,
and I ended up going to New Mexico State.

Speaker 1 (12:28):
But I was like, may you moved to New Mexico
because your brother, my.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Oldest brother, he was he joined the Air Force. He
went to Hawaii for his first order. Then New Mexico
was his second order, and he was like, watch ya
come stay you know, with me in New Mexico. And
my mom was born and raised in Chicago, so she
was like, I'm down for something different. And at that time,
I was scared of nuclear war, okay, So I was like,

(12:53):
I'm down to move because Chicago gonna get hit early
in New York get I was terrified, okay, nuclear awards.
So I was like, uh yeah, I'm down. So we
moved out there because of that, Okay. So I went
to New Mexico State and I was majoring in psychology first,

(13:17):
and I was never like college was never something I
really wanted to do, but I was like, let me
just do it. I was going to the community college
at first and clovies New Mexico and then my friend
Andre was like, Yo, I'm going to New Mexico State.
I was like, I'll go with you, and so I
went out there. So majored in psychology. That was the
initial major. But it was boring.

Speaker 1 (13:38):
I was like, psychology was boring. I was, and so
I was like, good to know I've always wondered about it,
but guess to know I was boring.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
Okay, mind you, I'm just doing the basics. I didn't
even get into the heavy psychology courses. But it was
just like, man, I ain't feeling none of this because
I knew I wanted to act. I was a kid.
I wanted to be a TV and movies because I
was obsessed with the TV and movie, especially movies. But
New Mexico just felt at that time, it felt like

(14:08):
a world away from Hollywood. I was like, yeah, mind
you fast forward they would, but at that time I
was just like, ain't not cracking out majoring something regular,
and so it was psychology and then I changed it
to secondary education science.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
Okay, that's a hard subject.

Speaker 2 (14:30):
So I was gonna I was going to teach because
I was like, I like biology, you know what I'm saying.
I could teach, like, you know, because I like because
I felt like teaching would be a form of performing.
So and I'm good with like the youth. And so
I was like, yeah, secondary education, I can teach middle school,
high school. Them. Science classes was kicking my ass. Chemistry

(14:56):
told my ass whole open twice. They then ecology tore
me in half, Genetics tore me in half. Physics I
ain't even I was, I'm dropping this one, and so like,
I can't do the science, you know, astronomy, ace, but
everything else tore me up. So I was like secondary education,

(15:20):
social studies. I changed my major again.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
I can teach history.

Speaker 2 (15:24):
History is not hard. That ain't no formulas, ain't no
X outside of the parentheses, none of that. Ain't no
quadratic equations. I got to worry about. So I changed
it to that. And then that was the plan. I
was all right, I'm gonna teach.

Speaker 1 (15:38):
Oh, you did good in it.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
I was. I was thriving.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
I was okay. Now now I can feel like I
found the path.

Speaker 2 (15:46):
I found a path.

Speaker 1 (15:47):
Okay, So did you end up graduating with it?

Speaker 2 (15:50):
I didn't graduate because it was like while in college,
I auditioned for a play. It was a miso, man,
I played Crooks. Crooks is like this disabled black man
within the play. So I played that won an award
for it. And then because I never thought I wanted
to do theater, and I was like, man, I just
want to do TV and film theater. Looks I did theater.

(16:13):
I was like, man, this is dope.

Speaker 1 (16:16):
Really, this is this is dope. Okay.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
So I was like, so at this time, I've already
put years into these other steps, so now I'm just like,
I should major in theater the whole guy.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
Damn oh that was an option. Yes, okay, I.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
Was like, but I was always just hated.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
So how did you end up in the theater play
you just tried out without? Okay? Okay? Cool?

Speaker 2 (16:44):
On campus? It was a it was a play on campus.
I was like, let me audition at the role, did well,
got the award. Then I did another play with that
same director. It was like a holiday place. So we
were playing various characters.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
I was like, you loved it.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
And then this one guy saw me. I think he
saw me of mice and Men. So he was doing
his own version Offenses by August Wilson. Yeah, so he
wanted me to play Troy in the lead. And I
was like, man, that's a lot to memorize. Yeah, I

(17:21):
did it. I remember that whole thing, and I was
just like at that point, I was just like, I'm
going for that act. I have to.

Speaker 1 (17:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:31):
I was always into it. I was always like I
was doing like vine videos in the nineties, Like I
was just making little sketches and shins and stuff like
that with a camquarder and just like I was always
on that type of time, and I was just like, man,
I just gotta go for it because I knew if
I got my degree, yeah, I'm not gonna go as hard.

(17:52):
I'm gonna be teaching. I'm gonna be grading papers, I'm
gonna be teaching summer school.

Speaker 1 (17:56):
And what's your What was your family saying in all
of this?

Speaker 2 (17:58):
My family was like whatever you want to do, Like
they would never it was never any like you should
do this, you should do that. It was just like
okay either way. It's all Like I was kind of
scared to tell my dad that I was dropping out
because he was more those grades doing. My mom was

(18:19):
just like do you Pops was just like the grades
looking like he was sating like extra money if the
grades were good. So I was just kind of like,
I don't want.

Speaker 1 (18:32):
So how'd you break it to him?

Speaker 2 (18:34):
I just told him, Uh, I was like, yeah, because
I was too full semester shy of a degree. Oh
my god, yeah I was. I was right there. But
I was like, but I know, I know my son,
and I knew like once I started teaching, I'm not
gonna be going to these I'm not gonna be scrambling.
I'm gonna be teaching grading papers and like, nah, it's

(18:57):
that safety there. It's just like but if I go
out here where this is the focus.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
So what was your next plan? So you deliver the
news to dad. He takes it pretty okay.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
He was like, Okay, you know.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
I ain't send it no more money, you know, No,
I'm just I'm asking Like was he like that?

Speaker 2 (19:17):
I never said that, but it was just like but
I really wasn't hitting.

Speaker 1 (19:21):
Him up for they Yeah, it.

Speaker 2 (19:23):
Was like, this is what I'm doing because I'm very
like strong will and so I'll be like, I don't
even want to hear what you got to say.

Speaker 1 (19:31):
Oh my god. So then what was your plan? Did
you where did you go from there? Did you move
to la? What did you do?

Speaker 2 (19:45):
So what happened was so at this time I started
doing all the plays and stuff in like two thousand
and three. I got married in two thousand and three also,
and so we had we had two boys before we
got married. We ended up having the boys and then
we got married in two thousand and three. So my

(20:06):
ex wife is she's a nurse, so she can get
a job anywhere. So it's just like she was just
like CALLI. She had a cousin that was already out here,
and she's a nurse as well, so she had that
end and so it was just like all right, So
she was down. So we made the move in two
thousand and six. Now at this time, my oldest son

(20:30):
was six, my youngest probably four, and so made the move,
came out here living Orange for that first year.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
Living Orange, Orange County, Orange County. What was it expensive
back then? It's always been oh okay. I was just kidded.
And so because she already had relationships, Yeah there, okay,
that's a nice area, that's ex area. But yeah, how
was you haling that?

Speaker 2 (21:03):
I was like, you know, when you're not from here,
you're just looking at the little map. Oh I could
just drive right there, but then that traffic is tear
my booty.

Speaker 1 (21:14):
Hole Loya his booty hole references.

Speaker 2 (21:20):
Yo.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
And so you were going to reading maps too, hungh?

Speaker 2 (21:25):
Because when I had the I had the atlas, remember
the big fig Yeah booty Atlas you can get from Walmart. Yeah, yeah,
I'm using that.

Speaker 1 (21:36):
But you know how, because when I first moved here,
I would try to read those maps and I'd be
lost in the in the same two miles for like hours,
like I don't know how to read this thing. And
then God, map Quest, map Quest came and saved my life.

Speaker 2 (21:49):
Map Quest saved my ass.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
But so you move here, your is your wife now
at this point like the primary breadwinner?

Speaker 2 (21:56):
Why one thousand? Now?

Speaker 1 (21:58):
How did that make you feel?

Speaker 2 (22:00):
Oh? Man? So I was the house husband at this time.
So I'm holding the kids down, I'm getting them signed
up for school, I'm taking them to school, all that done.
So I'm handling the board, I'm cooking, I'm doing all this. Okay,
that's cool, I'm doing I was the housewife.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
Okay, But how I have to ask these questions because
I want to know, But like, how did you handle that?
Were you? Just Like I know what I'm here for,
so I know it's going to take time. How did
she handle that, Like what kind of strains, Like what
was the emotional behind the scenes, Like how did you
feel during that period?

Speaker 2 (22:31):
Emotionally? For me, I felt like a failure in a
sense because it was like because my wife, she knew
she was going to be a nurse from high school.
So it was just like boom pile, four years degree,
me changing my major, I'm failing. I'm on academic probation.

(22:52):
You know what I'm saying. There's a lot of uncertainty.
So I was in I was in limbo in terms
of drive, career goals. I'm in limbo from like essentially
ninety eight to when I started doing stand up in
two thousand and eight. Wow. Even even though I picked
up on the acting thing and I was like fun,

(23:13):
but I was still just like.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
Of course because I'm not right. Oh father, Now you
know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
I can't be new. I should have figured all this out.
So I'm in my head a lot. So so yeah,
so that gets in your head. It's like, man, you
know what I'm saying, Like I don't want this to
be even though I know you gotta work hard at it,
but it's just like I got a family though, you know,
and so.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
So where you're like juggling like whether you're making the
right decisions too or And then it.

Speaker 2 (23:42):
Was like and then when you when you get out here,
it's daunting, like you have the fantasy in your head
like I'm gonna get out the greyhound, the director's gonna
see me. I want you my new picture. Yeah, and
so but that's not the that's not the reality. So
the reality is you're doing extra work. You're sitting in

(24:04):
traffic driving you on set doing extra work for scraps
for long hours. And yeah, that's the reality. And so
it's like I'm just like, oh man, this sucks. This
is not this is not what I thought it was
gonna be.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
And so how's your wife at the time dealing with
did you kind of going through the motions in her
being the primary did she handle it? Okay?

Speaker 2 (24:33):
She did, Like in hindsight, she she handled it like
a g because she was you know what I'm saying,
because she was working because on her end, she was
doing what she always sought out to do.

Speaker 1 (24:42):
So she was happy. She had like good home and
then she had her career.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
Yeah, okay, she being a nurse, she's trying different things
within that and was always able to find work because
we lived in Orange that first year and then we
moved to Burbank. Was a much better location because.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
Well, especially for your career. Yeah, that's exactly.

Speaker 2 (25:03):
So it's like Burbank felt like a small town right
next to La so I can just go over the
hill and go to an audition or whatever and it
was just like you come back, it was safe, were good.

Speaker 1 (25:14):
Yeah, it was just like perfect.

Speaker 2 (25:16):
The only thing it was a little too non black.

Speaker 1 (25:19):
But other than that, I'm like, something smells like it's burning.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
I don't know what this is an extra smoky right,
and this is what I'm talking about with the electric stove.
It's always some bullshit.

Speaker 1 (25:33):
Like something's burning. I smell it.

Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah, what changed?

Speaker 1 (25:38):
What changed? Is it your toast?

Speaker 2 (25:40):
It can't be the toast? Is it? I just dropped
these that's extra smoky?

Speaker 1 (25:46):
That look. Okay, we're gonna pray that Tony doesn't burn
down the set. So so in two thousand and eight,
now is this in two thousand and eight when you
moved to Burbank or when did when.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
The Burbank two thousand and seven?

Speaker 1 (26:01):
Okay, so then at six to seven was orange and
so you were doing acting auditions, and then it was
once you moved to Burbank, you try out, you start
doing common stand up.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
I started doing stand up in two thousand and eight.

Speaker 1 (26:13):
Now what was that first experience like and what made
you actually say, Okay, I'm gonna go for stand up.

Speaker 2 (26:18):
So what happened was we gotta we gotta go back
to New Mexico State again. Okay, So I was very
much involved in.

Speaker 1 (26:32):
Oh my gosh, it smells official. Yeah, I think you
don't like this.

Speaker 2 (26:37):
You said, what you don't like this? I mean I might.
I am hungry. I haven't eaten today, so.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
I ate because I knew what we were gonna eat. Yeah,
because I just was like, man, I don't know. I
thought you were pranking me for a second.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
Little faith. Now we can do this two ways.

Speaker 1 (26:54):
You can either I'm gonna do it the way you
did it. I think I'm gonna pour it on here.

Speaker 2 (26:58):
Pour it on the bread and fold its folded. Or
you could just make it a real sandwich.

Speaker 1 (27:05):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (27:05):
The reason I did the fold is because it's wet.
It's like, you know, it's cream corn. So having a
sloppy sandwich like that. That's not a sloppy Joe just
didn't make a lot of sense. I'd rather do the fold.

Speaker 1 (27:18):
This is crazy, but what happened in New Mexico. Go
take us back to New Mexico.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
So let me get back up in here.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
I'm excited to try this too.

Speaker 2 (27:28):
Don't be too excited. Man, Lord you expectators.

Speaker 1 (27:32):
Okay, guys, So just so you know, I broke my
little bread in half. I'm putting my like this right, yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:39):
I just I can't believe this I did. Man.

Speaker 1 (27:43):
I literally was like, oh, he's breaking us.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
I wouldn't do that to you. All right, here we go.

Speaker 1 (27:49):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (27:51):
Will it tastes like bread and cream corn? That's all
we live?

Speaker 1 (28:02):
I would eat the preme corn playing man.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
The bread is just to add some extra half.

Speaker 1 (28:09):
Yeah, the bread and cream corn isn't isn't hidden, but
try it.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
Try it.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
Bite of that prem corn straight. Let me tell you something,
it's remarkably great. You don't you will go home and
get some cream corn after this.

Speaker 2 (28:23):
It's like old time.

Speaker 1 (28:26):
Tell me it ain't great.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
That's a good time. Cream corn is good corn? Man?

Speaker 1 (28:31):
Why did we give up on cream corn? I believe
how great it is.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
I don't know why we gave up on cream corn.
We turn our backs. Hold on, we turned my clock.
I'll be intermitting faster, inter minute.

Speaker 1 (28:45):
What does that mean? You don't eat till three o'clock?

Speaker 2 (28:47):
Yeah, usually, like sometimes even later. Hold on coolining, So
I'm breaking my fast on this show. Yo.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
You know what. We appreciate you. But I gotta say this.
I don't know why I give up preme corn. It
is simply amazing. I'm having some I have extra hands.
Tell me right, cream corn, it's vegan. What are you
gonna do?

Speaker 2 (29:12):
It ain't crazy.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
By the way, for all y'all listeners, Tony is in
remarkable shape. Remarkable shape. I was like trying to pick
the aprons. And you know, I try to stay away
from white because I'm a sizeable person. But you're in
such great shape. I was like, he can handle white.
He doesn't need to hide. But no, cream corn is Honestly,

(29:40):
I would I would ditch the bread, but the cream
corn cream cool. That is amazing cream corn. No, I
don't think so I have I have a terrible memory,
though I've probably seen it, don't remember. I'm gonna eat
all this.

Speaker 2 (29:54):
Cream corn anyway. So while I'm in New Mexico State,
I'm telling you, I'm just creative. You know, I'm a performer, naturally,
I guess. And so I'm hosting whatever the Department of
Black Programs was doing I was involved in. So like,
if we had an MC battle, I would be the host.
If we having a pageant, I was hosting that. It

(30:16):
was just I was always like I wanted to get
my creative juices out.

Speaker 1 (30:22):
So I'm just doing all that, and you were obviously
good at it to keep letting me be do it.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
Yeah. It was just like, and I was naturally funny.
I wasn't even trying to be funny. I didn't even
become aware of my humor and being funny until so
I was doing all that hosting because growing up I
was funny, but my older brothers never laughed. So it's
like I'm at the crib when.

Speaker 1 (30:46):
I'm cracking their.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
Jokes, they're giving me nothing give you. I'm the youngest,
so it was just like, look at me, the kid.
You know what I'm saying, Man, I'm trying to get it.
I'm trying to get my little jokes. I go to
bed and so so I'm in school thinking I'm not funny.
I'm cracking up my classmates. They laughing, but it's still

(31:11):
just like I ain't funny at home. So I'm just like,
I don't know what they're laughing at it. So in
my mind I'm not even registering the effect. And so
then when I started liking girls, girls think I'm funny.
But at that time, I don't want to be funny.
I want to be the heart throb. I want you
to be like you know what I'm saying, because we
didn't put heart throb and humor together. Were d Yeah,

(31:36):
you were cool and sexy. You were that guy, you
know what I mean, you divante from jobsy or whatever.
You know what I mean. So it's like, you're funny,
and I'm like, man, i ain't trying to be funny.
I'm trying to give you the squinty eyes and my
shirt is off but it's on, and so never register
in the comedy. So I'm just like whatever, So I'm

(32:01):
always funny. So fast forward back to college, I'm still funny,
not even trying to be funny. It's just funny. And
so I was at a concert in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
It was common common was on the Electric Electric Circus tour.
So me and my brother at that concert, this girl

(32:21):
comes out of nowhere like you're hilarious, and I'm like,
you know me, She's like, yeah, you hosted that MC
battle at New Mexico State. You are hilarious. And that's
what it registered like, Man, I'm must be really funny
because this girl came out of nowhere with this, and
so I was just like, it just echoed. It always echoed,
and I was just like, I'm funny. That's crazy. And

(32:43):
then you start thinking it's like the end of the
usual Suspects. I'm piecing it.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
All together, like, Yo, why did it take till two
thousand and seven or two thousand and eight for you
to actually act on the common side Now?

Speaker 2 (32:54):
So it's like, all right, I want to act. Though
that was always the focused like, even though I grew
up watching stand up, I never liked was like I
want to do that. I want to act, and so
I was just like and then I got to thinking
about all the comedians that became actors. I was like,
that's a nice transition acting. Thinking about Robin Williams was

(33:18):
the main in print for that, because he was doing
dramatic and comedic, and he was a stand up commershore
like Robin Williams is the template, and so I was
just like, maybe I can get noticed doing stand up.
That's why. That's what gave me the drive to try
to stand up?

Speaker 4 (33:36):
Okay, And then then when I did it, I was like,
this is it, this is what I was supposed to
be doing.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
Wow, the whole time was supposed to be stand up.
And so I was like, and so once I did
that first open mic, that went well. Then five minutes
at the Ha Ha in North Hollywood, it went well.
I went every day. I was going back every day.
It was NonStop.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
I was just like, now, when did you start elevating
to work in other clubs? Did they just start reaching
out or you start making relationships?

Speaker 2 (34:12):
So in LA there's open mics all over the city.
So we're just doing the open mic circuit. We're doing
We're going to the comedy comedy store signing up for
their open mic. We're doing the improv, We're doing the
Laugh Factory, We're doing all these spots, We're doing these
coffee houses. Were doing every every piece of comedy stage
we can get our hands on. We were doing that.
So that's how you start getting into these other clubs

(34:38):
and so and people see you like, hey, man, do
my show, and I'm doing Bringer shows, I'm doing all
kinds of comedy competitions. I was just doing everything.

Speaker 1 (34:46):
And now LA is a tough market when it comes
to comedy because everything that I've understood LA comedy to
be is like the clubs out here don't really pay
that well or pretty terrible compared to New York.

Speaker 2 (34:59):
Yeah, they they like those open mics. I was doing that.
I started doing. I paid for that stay. I remember.

Speaker 1 (35:07):
I remember knowing that like LA usually pay, beginning to
pay every time, it could be a coffee shop, wherever
you get paying up perform. And then at what point
during this whole career do you start to see uh,
like a hope towards money, money land prom money, promised land,

(35:28):
because I'm sure it was like a long road. And
at this point, you know this is what two thousand
and eight, you're like, Okay, I'm in now, you found
you found your niche. How long for that niche until
you start like actually getting a check that's like, hey, honey,
look what I brought home.

Speaker 2 (35:44):
It was the first time I was like where I
got like substantial three figures.

Speaker 1 (35:52):
Okay, three.

Speaker 2 (36:02):
We did a road gig because I had you remember
it though, absolutely, this is the first road gig I did.
It was ridiculous when I think about it now, how
much I get paid for the amount of drive.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
Okay, so that's still exciting now.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
So my wife's cousin, my ex wife's cousin, he was
doing stand up. So he was the one that took
me to the High High to go up. His name
was to Sean Barrett, and so he was like, yo,
we got a gig in New Mexico, you know, And
it was like so they pretty much I drove my

(36:38):
car out. There was me and him and two other comedians.
So we drove all the way out to New Mexico.
This is like eleven hour drive and to do this
winery or whatever. And so we get out there. I
think I ended up just getting three hundred That was
my cut. I don't know, you know what else everybody
else made.

Speaker 1 (36:59):
And I was just like, this is that's kind of
cool though, right right? And how long was it set?

Speaker 2 (37:06):
So I ended up doing like twenty five minutes okay,
And this this is early on, like I was like, man,
I had that much material. It was just like and
then I ended up staying with like some friends of
mine or whatever, while the rest of the comedians was
at the hotel or whatever or the dorms wherever they
put us up at. Now I get people out here,

(37:27):
I'll be over here. And so I was just like,
man with three hundred, even though you know, I drove
my car, it was justus.

Speaker 1 (37:36):
That's still exciting to know that, like you got to
do something you love compared to the hourly rate of anything.
If you think about it, it's like an incredible feat.
I mean, at least that.

Speaker 2 (37:46):
Was the most tamony money I had seen at that time.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
So then you go home, you brag, and you're like,
I'm sure. Now you're like, I gotta get more.

Speaker 2 (37:54):
Oh yeah. It was like, okay, there is something to this.
The road is where the money is, so now I
have to get to the point where I can work
on the road. And so but I was just always
just trying to get better, putting my hands and everything
I can get my hands on, winning some comedy competitions
which brought money and bookings, and so it was just

(38:15):
like it was that it was that process of just like,
you know, doing everything, not turning away from stuff and
just growing, getting my name out there and meeting other comedians.

Speaker 1 (38:26):
And at this point, you're still doing the house husbands
during the day.

Speaker 2 (38:30):
During the day, I'm getting up in the morning, bags
under vines, getting the boys ready.

Speaker 1 (38:37):
For school, or making like you don't understand what I'm
going through right.

Speaker 2 (38:41):
Absolutely, So here here's here's the moment where it was
just like it was a dust up because I was
still playing video games too. So yeah, she came off
from work one time and I was on call of duty.
She was just like nah. I was like, she's I
can tell she was just like, nah, you over here.

(39:04):
I'm over here working and you over here and gaming
it up. I know what that looked like. And so
you know, at.

Speaker 1 (39:11):
This point, the kids are at school.

Speaker 2 (39:12):
I'm guessing they was in school, like she had got
off early or whatever. I felt like I got caught.
I rather had got caught with my dick and somebody else.

Speaker 1 (39:24):
You feel what you feel like.

Speaker 2 (39:27):
I felt like, oh you what you're doing home? I'm
on I'm on call of duty. You know. I was
just like, oh man, I felt like cold busted.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
So that's hilarious.

Speaker 2 (39:38):
And then but then there was a moment like later
on it was just like I kind of I kind
of went off a little bit because it was like
I do do a lot, you know, so I was
just like, you don't know what it's like to hit
it with you know what it's like, No know what
it's like. I'm getting these boys together, I'm doing this

(40:00):
and that It was just like while also feeling like
less of a man because she's the bread winner.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
Yeah, yeah, but I love to hear that you you
I hate to say it, but I love to hear
that you had to experience that side.

Speaker 2 (40:14):
Yeah, I was the wife that was getting overlooked for
my contribution. And then I got a job after that.
After that moment, I was like, let.

Speaker 1 (40:28):
Me get a job like a day job so you
can still do the night still.

Speaker 2 (40:33):
I had to find a job where it was flexible
enough to where I could still pursue acting comedy still
hold the kids down. So I was able to find
something through my friend Sean Jones. It was like an
inventory where we counted inventory at different stores. You can
pretty much set your own schedule. So because of that moment,

(40:54):
I was like, let me get a job. So I
was still holding the boys down.

Speaker 1 (41:00):
So now now you're at least you're you're like, hey,
I'm I'm you was you was really doing new thing, Okay.
I like that. I like that I was trying to traumatizing.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
I was trying to I was trying to do the
best that I could while still staying focused on the
reason why.

Speaker 1 (41:17):
I can find the balance. I like that you did that.

Speaker 2 (41:20):
Yeah that's cool because it was like, man, you know
it was And I didn't hold that against her because
I know what that looked like. You know what I'm saying,
I'm not here working and you're playing call of duty.
I was just like, you know, so I was like,
all right, I just had that. I just had to
have that little blowout real quick. But then I was like,

(41:41):
you know what, she right, let me let me contribute
money as well. Yeah, and so that's why I got
that job.

Speaker 1 (41:53):
Problem. So yeah, when does it trickling where you have
where you get to the point where you're like by
inventory job, Well.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
I quit that job pretty quickly because it was like
I was doing because all I'm thinking about while I'm
doing that gig, because this is at night, because this
is after the stores closed, I'm just thinking about.

Speaker 1 (42:10):
I thought it was allowing you to do comedy and
take care of the.

Speaker 2 (42:13):
No, it was it was it was a night gig.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
Oh, so you were allowed you could make money, but
you could take care of the boys, but you couldn't
do comedy.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
Right. It was just like, this ain't gonna work because
I was like, because it had to be when the
stores were, you know, down. So I was just like,
and I'm thinking about comedy the whole time. Yeah, taking
the inventory, I'm thinking about material. And so it was
just like, so I was, you know, scheduling myself so
I can still do comedy several days a week and work.

(42:43):
And then I was like, once I started getting more
and more gigs, I was, I just quit sending in
my schedule.

Speaker 1 (42:52):
Okay, So you were starting to get enough to like
phase out the inventory. Yeah, and without your wife being.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
Like yeah, because you know, because she's all the work
that was being put in.

Speaker 1 (43:01):
Yeah, and well she I'm sure she saw the effort too, like, hey,
he's trying.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
He listened, he tried.

Speaker 1 (43:06):
I think women they wanted to see effort. You heard me,
you heard me. It penetrated, right, I'm.

Speaker 2 (43:13):
Definitely penetrated for sure.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
So at what point in your career are you like,
I one hundred percent on this craft. Is it like
your first acting gig or is it like your first
what's that first big pivotal moment where you're like, I
got this like one hundred percent, never looking back with
a check attached, because I think until you fully get
a check that can sustain yourself, it's still a little

(43:37):
bit of still am I doing the right thing? It's
still still oh still.

Speaker 2 (43:43):
Like that kind of sort of not necessarily, but comedy
as much as acting per still because you know I'm
not I'm not an established actor like that. Yeah, still
to this day. So it's like, but comedy is like,
here's what I loved about comedy more so than acting,
where I felt like, Okay, I can keep this going.

(44:04):
Of course, social media has changed the game tremendously.

Speaker 1 (44:07):
And you dominated it pretty well.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
It's it's allowed me to for a lot of people
to see me everywhere, and so now if I come
to your city's it's Tony, you know, even if even
if you know me for the voice, so you still
be like, let's go see him live, Let's see what
he's he's like. Live and so it's like, ah, And
the reason I focused so hard on stand up over
acting was because I was more in control of my

(44:32):
own destiny with the stand up. You know, with acting,
you're at the mercy of casting, director, producer, director, script whatever.
There's so many things that are out of your control
when you're just an actor. You don't have the right look,
you didn't look right on camera with this other person, whatever,

(44:54):
whether you book it, whether you don't book it, it's
so much out of your control. It's just like I
can't live like that. But stand up, I control the
table more. It's like I can book my own gigs.
I can sign up for this, I can do this,
I can I can do my own show and just
promote it myself. And there's so many avenues that I
have so much more.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
Now.

Speaker 2 (45:14):
I feel like a business owner. Now, I feel like
I'm for real because it's like I'm putting all the
work in and I'm seeing the results of the work
I'm putting in, and then when I do perform, I'm
getting the feedback from the from the customer base directly.
So it's just like, oh, I had a great time.
It's like and I was able to control that myself.

(45:35):
And so that's what made me be like, all right,
stand up is the.

Speaker 1 (45:40):
Is the move now when you look at the way
things have changed, because now we're in a whole different era.
Like I always tell my dad, like he'll talk to
me about a show, and I'm like, Dad, it was
the last time you really went home and watched TV? Yeah, Like,
I mean, I barely know how to work my TV
at this point. I know there's a Netflix button, Yeah
there's Amazon. But you know what I'm saying, Like I

(46:01):
push whatever button or like slide to the icon. But
the last time I actually flipped through a television, I
can't tell you. And I heard not gonna say the
name drop the person. But I was just telling Jerry
back there that like Amazon is now paying for content
way more than even networks are. Right, So now when
you see the ship, do you still feel like acting?

(46:25):
Like you can't control acting the way you controlled comedy still.

Speaker 2 (46:31):
Because it's like unless I was like a writer, director
or something like that, it would be a different conversation.
But since I'm just like purely just on the acting
side of it right now, it's like I still got
auditions still, gotta unless they come to me with like, yo,
we want you in this. That's that's the dream, that's
the ideal situation. I have books stuff like that. But

(46:52):
like and now too, it's we're so oversaturated with content
and different platforms and where you can see anything. It
becomes like because you got Netflix, you got Amazon, and
now you.

Speaker 1 (47:06):
Have all these other people that are like I want
to create my own.

Speaker 2 (47:08):
Exactly, and so it's just like, so it's people are
oversaturated with like choices options, so it's a lot of
content out there, and so it's just like we got
streaming platforms and you know, movie theaters are struggling, and
so it's just like and I'm just sitting there like, well,
regardless of what happens, as long as it is there's

(47:29):
not another pandemic, there's no substitute for live entertainment ever. Yeah,
you gotta take your girl out. Yes, you gotta take
your girl out. Y'all can't be watching Netflix all the time.
Let's go Somewhere's go somewhere, Let's go somewhere. I want
to be out, I want to be cute, I want
to be somewhere exactly. And so live entertainment does that,

(47:52):
so it's like and stand up is live.

Speaker 1 (47:54):
So it's like, so what would you say, like, we're
the hardest things to digest as a comedian as far
as as all the way up to this date, like
what are some of the hardest things to like digest
as a comic?

Speaker 2 (48:06):
The hardest thing is just like the struggle. It's like,
you know, you go through so much comedy, years and
years of just like just getting by. Yeah, you know
what I mean. But even then, like I got divorced
in twenty twelve, so I was living off of stand

(48:26):
up and whatever I booked on the sketch side or whatever,
and so that's when I started working with all death
and stuff like that, and I was like, whoa, it
was like every month, I was like, thank you laugh
actory I'm just but I'm living off the craft. But
it was just like.

Speaker 1 (48:44):
Like you like, you're surviving every month? Yes, yeah, okay, okay,
I know what that's like. I'm familiar with that doing
that today.

Speaker 2 (48:52):
Surviving month. Let's go care me. I won this competition.
Who needed that?

Speaker 1 (48:59):
And you're and you're also I'm guessing you're amazing with
money at this point. Oh yeah, like you know how
to live on a budget. You know how your cash
flow works.

Speaker 2 (49:07):
Budget. Oh, I love that. I was just like h
and I had a roommate, so that that's taking some
of the edge off. And so I'm just like bare minimum,
getting the boys what they need, saving as much as possible,
paying the rent, paying the utilities, Uh, anything wrong with

(49:28):
the car, just like you know, I've just been good
with money.

Speaker 1 (49:31):
Good, you know. And so now that's something you had
to learn during this whole pursuit or did were you
like that before?

Speaker 2 (49:36):
I think I started learning it once. I was in college,
those college days and we was dead broke. We was
dead broke.

Speaker 1 (49:42):
I think like, yeah, I could tell because you was
eing bread with this cream of corn.

Speaker 2 (49:48):
Tell you something I learned it squandering the financial aid money.

Speaker 1 (49:52):
Oh okay, okay okay.

Speaker 2 (49:53):
And I was like, yo, I squandered all that money
on clothes or whatever. And so now I'm just like,
I'm looking like a jackass now because I'm in the
super struggle and they don't have to pay this money
back because I got loans, and so it was just like, oh,
so those those were the lessons my dad always told us, Yo,
save your money, save your money, man. Watch out man,

(50:14):
watch out, you know, and so he instilled in us
early like save your money. We was like all right, sure,
but then it was like he was right and so
all of that and I'm still that way, like you know,
like this year, well, twenty twenty four, that's the most

(50:35):
money I ever spent in like a year, because it
was just like I was just sitting on money, all
the money I had accumulated over all this time. It
was just like, okay, I need to buy a house.

Speaker 1 (50:48):
Yeah, I've been seeing your stories. You got a nice house.
You're renovating it and building it.

Speaker 2 (50:53):
And finally bought a house and it was like and
this was after like you know, I paid my mom's
house all off, and then I was just like I
still didn't have a house myself, but I was I
was perfectly happy with doing that for I'm like, man,
life is yeah, I could check out right now and
I'm good. But it was like and then my my

(51:13):
ex girlfriend she was just like, well, think about like
you know, something you want to leave behind for sincere
and so.

Speaker 1 (51:21):
I was just like, oh, you right, generational wealth, that's
what it was.

Speaker 2 (51:25):
And so it was just like all right, I got
to make a move because I was scared to buy
a house because it just looked like a lot CALLI
price is a ridiculous crazy I was.

Speaker 1 (51:32):
Just like the first time I bought a house. As
an entrepreneur, you have imposter syndrome. You're like, are they
really gonna believe that I'm going to survive? And buying
a house, I think is the ultimate test because a
bank has to believe you're not going to go broken. Yeah,
And so I want to know, like, how did it
feel to know that the bank was like you're approved?

(51:53):
And did you feel like, yo, I like I'm official
or did you just know I mean the whole time
or did you have a little bit of imposter syndrome
throughout the whole thing and then you get that final
stamp of For me, at least, it was like, yo,
I'm a legit, right, I'm legit. They said yes to
the craziest to the craziest gammel of life because they
are rigorous. They're like, why did you move this money

(52:15):
to this money in this account to discount discount? Why
did you do this and this and this?

Speaker 2 (52:19):
There? Maybe in there ye ask too many questions. I
was legit. Yeah, it's legit trust me. Now, I wann't
trust nobody.

Speaker 1 (52:27):
After getting on my first after getting my house, I
just remember going, I am never gonna move my money
around the accounts the way, even though I do now
come struggle a little bit, but usually if I'm good,
I keep them very separated. Because my first house experience,
they questioned every transaction. They're like, why did you move
this from this account? This is discount where this money

(52:48):
come from?

Speaker 2 (52:48):
And this is right, the money's there, isn't it.

Speaker 1 (52:52):
You think I'm gonna remember two thousand and I get
but it felt good, didn't feel legit, like tell me
about so.

Speaker 2 (53:01):
So I thought about getting the house in twenty twenty
one and it was like that's that's when I put
my toes in the water, like let me see what
this is like, you know what I'm saying. Because I
knew I needed it was like because I was living under.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
My means for so yeah, yeah, I like that.

Speaker 2 (53:23):
I was scared. I was in that same two bedroom apartment. Yeah,
dirty carpet. It was just like but then I was like,
all right, I want my boys to live with me,
so I need more space. So I was just like,
all right, I need to find the biggest space I
was gonna rent. The biggest spot with the burdbank prices
was they was crazy, and so I was like, man,

(53:44):
let me look out in Santa Clarita or whatever. And
then I was like, you know I should buy a house.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
Yeap, you should, especially at the rents.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
So so they gave me. They gave me a quote
the pre approval, and I was just like, I was
looking that the pre approval they they you know, approved
me for compared to what the houses were going for
in sam Cared, and I was like, I didn't really
like that. I was just like, damn, that's not enough.
And so I was just like because I didn't, I

(54:13):
didn't want to settle for of course. So then I
was like, all right, I'll just rent and I was
just going back then. It was horse.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
I knew you back then, because I would have told
you settle, man, settle, settle. I would I would have
instantly told you to settle. I tell all my girlfriends
that this is first, it's your first. Just settle. You're
just looking at equity. I was just like, I can't
believe you did it. So you waited till twenty twenty
four in the high interest rate.

Speaker 2 (54:36):
So now the interest rate now.

Speaker 1 (54:38):
Is just like and the prices it was disgusting.

Speaker 2 (54:42):
But what the approved I saw. I saw the jump
in preapproval.

Speaker 1 (54:47):
Okay, that's that's good though, and you were working towards something.

Speaker 2 (54:51):
Oh, that's a big difference is what I was pre
approved for in twenty twenty, twenty twenty.

Speaker 1 (54:56):
Also at that time it was probably really high.

Speaker 2 (54:58):
Yeah. Yes, I was just like, now I can work
with this, and so I went in way under.

Speaker 1 (55:05):
Yeah I approved me for of course, I'm glad to
hear that too. Financial literacy do I'm.

Speaker 2 (55:11):
Not pushing it to the limit and so so yeah,
so that felt good. I was scared shitless though, Like
I got cool feed several times throughout the process. Even
after I bought it, I was still just like, that
was me. I make the right choice.

Speaker 1 (55:24):
Yeah, you realize that. I always like to tell people.
I bought my house with two hundred and sixty thousand
dollars ten years ago in Cali. In Cali it's a townhouse,
but still still and I begged all my girlfriends to
buy homes at that time. You know, I was with

(55:45):
the low interest rate I had. My interest is four
and a quarter. And I also did as an entrepreneur.
You know the game you you like to hide money
in the tax error, so that bites you. You know,
it's twofold, know you you don't report as much, you
get lower approval. So at the time, I was very fortunate.
So thank god I got approved for that because let

(56:09):
me tell you, my life has been nothing but like
it's all roller coaster, high risk or whatever. So what
I did was because the house payments are so low,
every Christmas, I will Christmas present the principal. Yes, so
I always do like a twenty thousand dollars a year
principal payment on December. Every December, Yeah, my house would

(56:30):
be paid off like next year. That's crazy. And all
my friends, you know what, they tell me, you're an idiot.
Why did you do that? Why would you do that?
And I'm like, yeah, well, guess what we're gonna airb
and be this bitch like next year.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
Let me ask you that. Let me ask you this
on on this principal day. Do you have to specifically.

Speaker 1 (56:46):
Mark principle only on the actual check? Oh see you cannot, yeah,
because I made that mistake. So they have so many
different loan programs out there. For everybody that's ever interested
in buying home I always advise you, like there's nonprofits
in LA that will do like it's like seventy five
bucks and they teach you a whole course on home buying.
I think I paid for it. It was worth every

(57:07):
penny A lot of times if you graduate, they give
you like a if you complete the course, so it'll
could be like some kind of down payment assistance. So
I did that. When I bought mine, this was like
ten years ago. I begged all my girlfriends. Of course,
you know, I was like thirty, so you know, girls
are still young. They were like, girl, you whatever, you
wait till you get married. I was like, just in case,

(57:28):
just in case. But no, there's so many programs out there.
But I one of my homies, like two years after
one of my ex boyfriends, two years after I bought
the house, was like, you're an idiot, Like you know
you're gonna pay all this interest, Like look at how
much you're gonna pay for the house right later, And
I told you, I'm like half Jewish, So I I
looked at it and then I said, I realized that

(57:50):
I would be paying like by the time I was done,
I was gonna be paying like four hundred or five
hundred thousand for the house.

Speaker 2 (57:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (57:56):
So when I realized that they had this like mortgage
payment calculator you can google, So I googled it and
I just put in, like how much would I have
to pay to pay it off by the time I'm forty, right,
And it was like twenty k a year? Okay, So
I was like, oh, at the end of every year,
I'll just add an extra twenty k. But also if
you do just an extra house payment, it cuts it

(58:17):
down like ten years. Okay, but I just I do
that method, I'm just like fuck it. And then but
you got to remember the best part of owning a
house is that you get to write off the interests.
So once you get to the principal point, so like,
your tax are gonna be great this year and for
the next couple of years, I'm at the point where
there's no more interest left. Really principle, like I make

(58:38):
a payment, it's like ninety percent is.

Speaker 3 (58:40):
Going to principles fly, but you have But the catch
now is that if you're an entrepreneur on the taxi,
it's gonna hurt because you know when you're married and
you own real.

Speaker 1 (58:51):
Estate, those are like great write offs. The most money
I've ever gotten back in my life is like the
day I got Oh, I got married. I didn't know
you could get money back. So I've learned a lot.
But I'm excited to hear. I love financial literacy, so
it's really nice to hear that you you went through that,
and I get to see your home as it progress
is online. You're doing a lot of work.

Speaker 2 (59:12):
Yeah, yeah, I might as well make it because I've
never had.

Speaker 1 (59:16):
A six foot person tub.

Speaker 2 (59:17):
I saw I can fit in there, I can stretch out.

Speaker 1 (59:21):
Yeah, and it's tough, you know, finding that first contractor.
I did that, Like when I first got my home
and I the bill. They said it was going to
be like a certain amount, and then it came out
a lot bigger, of course, and I had a complete meltdown,
com complete meltdown.

Speaker 2 (59:35):
I'm like whoa.

Speaker 1 (59:37):
And it was a terrible job.

Speaker 2 (59:39):
So oh wow.

Speaker 1 (59:40):
I was like, I'm stay away from contractors for a
little bit. Yeah, but I'm happy to hear this. What
are some milestones like in your story that like particularly
stood out to you in your career that were like
I've officially besides the like big home purchase, Like the.

Speaker 2 (59:59):
First time I was on that a comic standing on NBC,
I was like, yo, I'm on TV. That's a comic.
That was a big moment. It didn't change my life at.

Speaker 1 (01:00:09):
The time, did you think it was?

Speaker 2 (01:00:10):
I thought I thought it was gonna be on the
road now, baby, but I didn't go far enough into it.
And then I did another season of Last Comic saying
I was like, man, this this, this is it right
but it still wasn't it right there? And so but
those were big moments, like when I when I booked
that and I did especially that first time on Last Comic,

(01:00:31):
I had a really good set and I thought and
then it was like I didn't advance. I was like,
that was crushed. So that was a big moment. And
then when I went on the road, when I went
on tour with Kevin on stage the Real Comedians Tour
is Me Kevin to here, that was a great moment

(01:00:51):
because it's like, Yo, we're on the road doing these shows.
It was like my first tour. Yeah, I was like, oh,
this is fantastic. And we did it again, we went
back to back on it. So I was just like
those moments. And then when I went back on the
road by myself and the tickets were selling, that's when
I was.

Speaker 1 (01:01:11):
Just like, wow, yeah, that would be a huge moment.

Speaker 2 (01:01:14):
That that was the moment I was just like And
so all of those little moments right there, it is
just like, man, I really So now it's like I'm
just in a good space of and I'm in I'm
in the space of you know, And I know people
get annoyed when people talk like this, where you're getting

(01:01:35):
a certain financial situation, then you're like, money isn't everything.

Speaker 1 (01:01:43):
But money matters.

Speaker 2 (01:01:46):
Money does matter, and it for you. But it's like,
you know, because I lost my oldest son, and so
when I say money doesn't matter, I would give it
all to get him back. So it's just like I
would I would give everything in my account right now
to get him back. So it's like, even even with
the money, you're still heartbroken. So it's like dang. And

(01:02:10):
then so now I'm in a space and me and
keV on stage laugh about this all the time because
he knows how I am. I will walk away from
money now that I wouldn't have before for peace of mind,
because since you know, since I did lose my son
like that, I'm looking for peace above all else. So
it's like, yeah, they're offering this much money, but I

(01:02:31):
know they're knowing to work with.

Speaker 1 (01:02:33):
Okay, That's what I was going to ask you. What
is like, have you had a real bad example of
like a deal gone bad where you're like never again.

Speaker 2 (01:02:40):
Well, it's not really like a bad deal. Well, but
just like if I know the production will be raggedy
in terms of how they run it, what's going on,
I'll be like, I'm good if they get on my
nerves too much, or if they doing too much stuff
short notice or this is that, and the third I'm like,

(01:03:03):
I'm good. But the money, I'm like, nah, it's not
because if I'm annoyed, it's just like I'd rather not
deal with it because I'm always looking for the peace
and so and so. Since I'm not a big spender,
I don't stress about you know, I need the money.
Of course I can use the money. I need the money.

(01:03:24):
I want to make more money. But it's like if
I got a sacrifice my little my little nerves for it,
I'm walking away. And so I feel like I'm in
a healthy relationship with like.

Speaker 1 (01:03:38):
Finances, it sounds like it sounds like you're good at
it too.

Speaker 2 (01:03:41):
Yeah, it's just like, you know, I won't stress myself
out for more money.

Speaker 1 (01:03:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:03:47):
And so as before, I be like, I'll do anything
for the money.

Speaker 1 (01:03:50):
Well, yeah, when you're coming from this.

Speaker 2 (01:03:52):
Yeah, I'll I'll do whatever for a while.

Speaker 1 (01:03:56):
I have a very difficult question. I asked, Okay, with
everything that happened with your son, dealing with that whole
grief period, how did you like pull through it, especially
being a comic.

Speaker 2 (01:04:08):
So, so he passed August third, twenty twenty one, and
so I ended up going back on the road at
the end of August to Atlanta. And so because I
was like, because of course, you know, my team was
just like, hey, you know, if you need to not

(01:04:28):
do nothing, we we understund like, and I was just like,
I don't want to just sit and do nothing. I
want to make people laugh. So I got back on
the road and work finished out the rest of the
tour for that year. And making people laugh was beneficial
for me because I'm getting that good energy, because laughter
is just great energy. Giving back making people laugh makes

(01:04:51):
me feel fantastic. And so and then to hear about
what people are going through themselves, Like, man, I can't
you A comedy show just made you know what I'm saying.
I was having tough, I was in the dark place.
This is that and the third and so it's like
that good energy exchange. It's just like I needed that
because if not, I was just gonna sit and just
be done.

Speaker 1 (01:05:11):
Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (01:05:12):
And so it was like the working help help keep
me going through that. And then I was like, but
I did realize, yo, I need to sit down and
take it. So I took it from like August third
through like August twenty third. I was just you know,
taking it walking still like I always do, trying to

(01:05:33):
get everything together. Because we had like a little COVID
outbreak within the family around that time. It was a
mess and so and I was just like all right.
So I finished out that tour and in the first
two months of twenty twenty two, I was like, I'm
gonna just sit down and just grieve, you know, because
I was never running from the grief. It was just
I need to do something to bring me joy within

(01:06:00):
the grief. And so then when I sat down, I
was able to take it in. It's all right. And
so then I got back to work. And so now
and you know, my friend Chantee, she had lost her
husband and she was just like the best thing I
learned is, you know, grief comes in waves. Don't fight
the waves, all right. So it's just like the water

(01:06:21):
coming in. You just go with it and wherever it
takes you. And so I live like that, Like when
I have a wave, I take it. It's just like,
all right, here we go. Like yesterday was his birthday,
January third, so that day is always the hardest of
the year, and so I was just like, I just
chilled yesterday. I was crying off and on all day
and then just keep going. And then that's what I do.

(01:06:45):
And so and I talk about him a lot, like,
you know, because a lot of times I've been watching
this show called Cross on Amazon Prime and he's dealing
with grief because his wife got murdered at the top
of the show, and the way he's handling the grief
just pisses me off because he has two children that
lost their mom as well, but he can't like talk,

(01:07:08):
he can't talk to them about her or play this.
And I never wanted to be in a situation where
I can't talk about my son because it's like, oh,
you know, I'll get too sad or whatever. It's like, no,
it's just let's talk about him. I'm always down. I'm
down to talk about what happened, how I got through
it anytime.

Speaker 1 (01:07:28):
And with your other son, you're able to like go.

Speaker 2 (01:07:32):
Through that, yeah, because it's like we never want because
a lot of times when we lose somebody, they kind
of turn into the name that should not be mentioned,
you know. Yeah, it's like, don't break up, And I
never want that to be the case because I feel
like he kind of just pushing your loved one. You're

(01:07:55):
tucking it in, you put it in the trunk and
then there. I feel like the love and the memory
can't live on fully like that. So it's like I'm
always down there, Like remember Serainemember. We always doing this,
so we always like So for Christmas, my son lives
in San Francisco. He graduated and he stayed up there,

(01:08:15):
and so me, my ex wife and her husband, we
all went up there to be with him for Christmas
and so and we'll just be talking like you know,
random memories, you know, we talking about Seraine. We talk
about them, were talking.

Speaker 1 (01:08:27):
About but it's in like a good spirit.

Speaker 2 (01:08:29):
Absolutely, It's like, you know, we want his memory to
live on.

Speaker 1 (01:08:33):
I like that. Yeah, I like it. I still think
it's incredibly tough, like from the outside, Oh, for sure
it looks you know, but I commend you.

Speaker 2 (01:08:43):
Yeah, because it was like, you know, I used to
see parents that lost their children, you know, on the
news or whatever, and they be talking to the news
and like, you know, my son was killed this weekend.
I'll be like, how are you able to form a
sentence like I would? I would think that, like, how
were you able to? And then happened to us? And
so it's like and I'm sitting here forming sentences like

(01:09:05):
in ground zero, I was able to be on the
news and be on this and that, and I'm just like,
how am I able to do this?

Speaker 1 (01:09:13):
I literally just told that the other day. I was like,
I had a bad dream, terrible dream. I thought I
was going to die. Yeah, And I was like, I'll
be honest back, like, I think that would be the
straw for me. They definitely think that would be the
day that I like, I'm done, like you know, And
that's that's what I said from the outside, I'm like, whoa.

Speaker 2 (01:09:31):
Yeah, because it was like I would never because I
used to. As parents, we always have that thought like
anything ever happened to any of our kid, I can't
go too. But then it's like when the reality, the
unfortunate reality, hits you in the mouth, it's like, Okay,
what if I did shut down now? Now my my

(01:09:54):
other son's sufferers. Now it's like, you know, my loved
one suffer, I suffer, and who you lost would never
want you to shut down because they're gone.

Speaker 1 (01:10:04):
Do you empathize with even though the guy from the
Cross Show bothers you, do you? Does a small part
of you empathize with him?

Speaker 2 (01:10:11):
Absolutely? Because it's like it's hard because you never want
to tell people how to greet But it's like, you know,
when his son was asking him like how come you
never talk about mom or whatever? And then he was like, well,
his son would ask some questions about Mom and then

(01:10:32):
he'd be like, oh, he started fumbling around or whatever,
and then his son told him. I was like, well,
when she died, it was like I lost both of you,
and so that's when he was like, oh, Like they
hit him in that moment because he was running from
the conversations before. So it was just frustrating to see
him run so much, especially when the kids were like, yeah, Dad,

(01:10:53):
you know what I'm saying. And so it was like
and so I never wanted to be like that, Like
I was always aware of just like you gotta be
there for sincere. You know what I'm saying. And so
it's like and not only that, like I know if
I if I was to pass away, I would never
want my loved ones to be like, you know what

(01:11:14):
I'm saying. And so, and another thing that gets me
through a lot of this is that I don't have
regrets as far as my relationship with Serene, because we
were good. That's good. And so I think that's what
helped me a lot is because there was no regret.

(01:11:35):
There was no underlying beef, there was none of that. Yeah,
because if you got regrets, that's a whole nother emotional
weight on you. With the grief. It's like, man, I
should have I wish I would have. I could have
you know what I'm saying. That'll tell you in half.
And so that we were all good and the last
words were I love you, I love you too. That's

(01:11:56):
what he left here knowing he was loved and we
were good. So that brings me peace.

Speaker 1 (01:12:03):
Yeah, well I mean to good on that. I thank
you so much for being on the show. Thank you.
I didn't get to touch on everything I wanted to
be with hello over the minutes, but thank you so much.
How can everyone keep up with you? Can you tell
us a little bit about the tour directly into that
camera camera?

Speaker 2 (01:12:24):
Yeah, it's called the Replenished Pockets Tour. Like I said before,
I spent a lot of money this past year, good money.
I wasn't wasting money, but it was a lot of
money spent. So now I got to replenish the pockets.
Now I'm back on the road. You can find my
tour days at Tonybakercomedy dot com. Really keep up with

(01:12:46):
me on Instagram. That's my main primary area of where
I promote Tony Baker on Instagram. Don't underscores, no nothing,
It's just straight Tony Baker. I'll be doing the Bay Area, Sacramento, Tampa, Miami, Raleigh, Chicago,
New York, Charlotte, d C, Houston. I feel like I'm

(01:13:09):
forgetting somebody, but uh, my whole schedule is up I'm
promoted every day, so just stay tuned, man. I would
love for y'all to come to these live shows. And
at the at the end of the year, me and
keV we're gonna do something with the Ball Brothers. We're
gonna do a tour for that as well in the
later half of the years. So I'm out here, man.

Speaker 1 (01:13:28):
He's out here in the streets, So pull up and
see him live.

Speaker 2 (01:13:31):
Yes, replenish the pocket.

Speaker 1 (01:13:32):
Replenished the pocket. We want to see the house, and
you'll give us updates on the house. We can start
Untie to see the updates. So let's replenish and make
sure this house looks magnificent. To replenish those pockets.

Speaker 2 (01:13:43):
Tour, Yes, that's the tour.

Speaker 1 (01:13:45):
Man at Tony Baker. Peace out, y'all. Thanks for tuning
into Eating While Broke. Peace for more Eating While Broke
from iHeartRadio and The Black Effects, visit the Eye Heartradio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.