Comedy in Crisis: Finding Light in Tragedy w/ Adam Chapel

Comedy, Grief, and the Art of Healing with Adam Chappel

 

In this heartfelt episode, Adam Chappel, winner of the first Comedy Rumble in Las Vegas, joins the host to delve into the transformative power of comedy as a tool for healing and community building. The conversation navigates through Adam's personal journey, marked by profound loss and tragedy, and how comedy became a beacon of hope and a means to process grief. Adam shares candid stories of his experiences on stage, the challenges of creating humor from pain, and the unexpected joy of connecting with audiences through shared vulnerability.

 

The episode also explores the dynamics of the Comedy Rumble, the supportive nature of its audience, and the importance of creating spaces for emerging comedians to hone their craft. Adam discusses the inception of his own show, the Hot Box, and the significance of fostering a vibrant comedy scene in Las Vegas. The duo reflects on societal issues, the role of humor in addressing uncomfortable topics like death, and the potential for comedy to unite people in a world increasingly divided by fear and greed.

 

With a blend of humor and sincerity, Adam and the host engage in a thought-provoking dialogue about the cyclical nature of history, the impending changes in our world, and the power of community and laughter in navigating the apocalypse.

 

00:00 What makes a comic is how they approach tragedy

01:34 Adam Chappel hosts Vibe in the Apocalypse about comedy following tragedy

02:09 M. M. hosted his first comedy rumble last month

06:07 Rumble a Thing was your first show. When was that? In September? October. Yeah, October

09:18 I read this fantastic book in August about giving away without expectation

11:49 Salt Banks started a show called the Rumble and it's now two shows

16:38 Anything that gets more people experiencing live comedy is powerful

19:57 Born and raised in Las Vegas, four generations in Vegas

20:24 Let's talk. Let's talk about what feels okay for you

20:58 Your dad committed suicide in July of last year

25:37 You used comedy to deal with sometimes absurd and horrific tragedy

30:10 Your dad's passing is still really tragic for you

33:43 My dad went camping with some friends when I was 8 or 9

36:26 I'd love to sit down and write about my dad's suicide

38:42 Definitely talks of suicide, by the way, you guys. And I get it's uncomfortable to talk about

42:12 What do you, what do you want for your funeral

44:13 Ben: Thank you for sharing your grief with us. That means a lot

45:21 M. Ross: I think that apocalypses are great opportunities for change

50:19 Give away $500 million to fight world hunger

52:24 What apocalyptic skill do you have that you could teach me

54:37 You can follow Hotbox Comedy show on Instagram

55:51 If you need any video work, I. Am. Doing freelance videography work

 

Follow Adam Chappel on Instagram: @adamchapel_14

Hot Box Comedy Show: @hotboxcomedyshow December 18th at Fremont Street, benefiting Goody Two Shoes

Follow the host on Instagram and TikTok: @thefreshkingbenjamin

Comedy Rumble in Las Vegas: December 15th

Comedy Rumble in Salt Lake City: December 21st

 

Join the conversation on how humor can be a powerful force for healing and change in these uncertain times.

Episode Transcript

(00:21):
Yeah, so I, I think that part ofwhat a comic, what makes a comic
is how they approach tragedy.
So I think that, like I said, Idon't know any comics personally that
don't have some background that iseither traumatic or sad or difficult.
And I think what makes the differencebetween, um, maybe a good comic and a

(00:42):
bad comic, and I, I don't love thoseterms necessarily, but like I would say
a comic who is, Actively contributingto, to the community, to other people,
to the sign, you know, to the societyand a comic who's maybe sort of in kind
of a taking mode is how they have One,have they acknowledged that trauma?
Do they know where they were hurt?

(01:03):
And have they done the work tosort of examine that hurt and kind
of try to heal from that hurt?
I'm, I'd say I'm still in that secondboat of trying to, my, uh, my tragedies
happened very, uh, very recently.
And so I'm still in the part ofjust dealing with it and making
sense of it, like, and then I just,comedy has helped me with that.

(01:27):
So I'm not fully developed atall with it yet, but I'm just
going on a journey with it.
I love that you're onthis journey with me.
And by the way, everyone, this isa welcome to Vibing the Apocalypse.
This is Adam Chappel.
Adam say
hi
to the three people listening.
Three
people.
What's up?
Adam is a new friend of mine.
Uh, he was the winner of the veryfirst comedy rumble down in Las Vegas.

(01:51):
Uh, let's see back in October.
Um, and Adam, maybe before we, I wantto come back to this tragedy thing.
Cause I, I actually think that Iactually think that one of the most
powerful, uh, conversations we canhave around comedy is its power to sort
of bring light into the darkness, soI definitely want to get into that.
For sure.
Um,
first let's, let's jump to the rumble.

(02:11):
And so tell me a little bit aboutwhat your experience was like
on that first comedy rumble.
Well, man, I won and I wasn'texpecting that, like at all.
I went in with like, I wrote the firstround, the minute of new material.
I wrote that like, 20, 30 minutesbefore I got to the venue, didn't
expect to pass that first round.

(02:33):
I did.
And then just kept going.
And by the next thing I knew I'mdoing 10 minutes up there with
all my material already burnt.
So I was just telling stories and Ifelt like the crowd was fucking with me.
So I think that they were,they were being very nice.
Cause I've watched that video back abunch of times and I'm like, Oh, they
were very generous with their laughs.

(02:53):
You could say.
And what I love about cause that Isaw that happening to you on stage.
And it reminded me, I've, I've told this,I think I told this story, um, I had Jason
Paxman who won, uh, a couple weeks ago andhe ended up in the same boat where he got
to the, he got to the end and Aiden, hewas like, and that's all I have you guys.

(03:14):
And it reminded me of, I thinkit was the fourth or fifth
time that I headlined where I.
I'd had an hour and I'd done the houra couple of times already, but when
I'd done the hour before I'd done itkind of slow, I'd found other kind
of, I'd, I'd found a couple of likeinteresting rabbit trails to go down.
And then I got into this, thisparticular one and there was something

(03:38):
about the energy of that night.
Like all the openers were,were really crushing.
So the energy was really high.
I came in and I just like hit.
And I just hit, I crushedfor like 30 minutes.
And then after 30 minutes, I checkedmy time and I was like, Fuck.
That was, I just burnedthrough all of my stuff.

(03:58):
Like I did it super, super,and they were popping.
Right.
It was super fun.
But then I was sitting there and I'mlike, I have promised all of these
people another 30 minutes of Comedy.
Yeah.
I've got, I've got fucking nothing.
Yeah.
There was a momentinside where I panicked.
Like there was this momentwhere I was in full panic mode.

(04:20):
It wasn't outside, but I realizedwhere I was and I was like, Oh my God.
And it felt like I, it felt likeI was in the deep end of the pool.
It felt like I'd been like sort ofplaying around in a pool and then
suddenly I, well, where's the ground?
Where's the ground?
Yeah.
And, and what happenedis I sort of floundered.
And then I started to breathe and then Ijust started to sort of throw stuff out.

(04:44):
I was like, well, here's astory that I've thought about.
And here's a story that I've thought aboutand watching you do it during your 10
minutes, cause you had about three minutesand then about three minutes into your 10.
I saw the floor kind of drop out for me.
Yeah.
I was like, well, I said, Ithink I said, told the crowd.
I was like, well, if you guyscan't tell, I don't know what the

(05:05):
fuck I'm talking about up here.
And I was just very, very aware of it.
Like, I was like, they, theygot to know that I'm not.
Let me just get it out the way.
I'm not prepared for this, butjust go on this drive with me.
And they did.
And I think I did get some good, I gotsome material out of those 10 minutes
of coming up with shit on the fly.
Like I brought that into my bit now.

(05:25):
It's just totally,
I, I didn't, when I did that, I was like,Oh, I didn't realize that was funny.
Yeah.
I loved about watchingyou do that is number one.
You're right.
And this is just, I think part of the.
I think one of the ways that we'vecultivated the audience of the rumble
is that they, because they know numberone, that a lot of the comics who are
coming up are fairly new to comedy.

(05:46):
So they know that everyone's new.
They know that at least theirfirst minute is brand new.
Yeah.
Also know that like the way that Iadvertise the way that I talk about it
to people is this is kind of a place.
This is a place for comics tocome and hone their craft, right?
These are, this is, these are not, theseare not, this isn't Tom Segura, right?
This is.
This isn't big names.

(06:07):
These are young, hungry up and comers,and they are, they're here to work.
They're here to work andthey're here to try stuff.
And so I think that it kind ofattracts an audience that likes to
see sort of the behind the scenes.
And so because of that, I dothink they're very generous.
They are very, Oh, especially inVegas, man, the Vegas, I remember

(06:30):
just, just, uh, uh, I think two weeksago we had, we had our smallest one.
I think there were like40, 47 people in the crowd.
So it was a, it was a little, littleaudience and there was still like this
generous buzz of, and we still hada fantastic show because everybody
was, everyone was sort of willing.
To kind of share their, there's got tobe sort of a willingness to the audience.

(06:50):
For sure.
Willingness to the audience.
Then you can kind of fuck around.
Yeah.
In that fucking run.
And really, that's why, that's whyI wanted to make the Rumble a thing.
Is that I knew that I had, inorder for me to improve as a comic.
I needed to have opportunities to geton, get on stage in front of an audience
that knew that this was a workshop

(07:13):
and
was willing to sort of goon that journey with me.
And dude, I can't tell you how reallythrilling it was and how proud of
you I was to watch you, you do thatbecause it felt like, it felt like I'd
sort of dropped you into the deep end.
Yeah.
Yeah, bro.
So that like whole thing like gave meso much more confidence as a comic.

(07:33):
Like I was When was that in September,October, early October, October.
So at that point I was.
Like seven months into comedy and atthat point just doing like bar open mics
and stuff like that Which is it's great.
It's fun, but there's no real audiencethere And so that was my first and

(07:55):
I had done wise guys before like thethe open mic nights But it's it's
still just a different different vibe.
And so it was like it feltlike I was like, oh damn
They're really engaged with me.
It was the first time I hadan engaged audience And I was
like, oh no, I can do this.
I'm funny You I don't know, it like hit,it hit and it just gave me a different

(08:15):
level of confidence going into the endof the year, making me start a show,
would have never done that if that wouldhave happened, you know what I mean?
Because I love that, right?
Because what I, part of, part ofmy philosophy when it comes to
comedy and really to life is, I, Ireally believe that humans generate
wealth and success and abundancethrough giving to other people.

(08:39):
And I think that, I think that what thatmeans is it does not matter what you have.
You, it does not matter how poor you are.
It does not matter how broke you are.
I have been poor.
I have been broke.
Right.
I've done, I've been inall of those scenarios.
It does not matter.
You do have somethingthat other people need.
It does not
matter how little you have.

(09:00):
There is something that you, and ifyou, if you simply sort of take stock
and examine what, what you want withthe power that you have, the resources
that you have, the assets that areavailable to you, you've got something
that you could make a generous gift of.
And so.
Um, that really clicked for me.
I read this fantastic book in likeAugust of this year, that maybe like

(09:23):
a month after I did my first, my firstrumble, it's called the go giver.
And it's basically all about that.
And so I, I read that book and I was like,okay, I'm going to, I'm going to try this.
I'm going to try stepping into aspace where I'm not giving away in
like a, in like a passive aggressiveor like a codependent where I'm
like, I'm like giving, givingout of like weakness or giving.

(09:44):
Out of pity or like out of like, Ineed, or there are strings attached.
Right.
I'm going to give you a gift, butthen I'm going to really expect
that you're going to come through.
I'm
going to ask for a favor,
right?
Like then you're going to, it's like,no, I, I am an abundant, powerful being.
And out of my abundance and out of mypower, I'm going to give generously to the

(10:04):
humans around me without any expectationthat they're going to give back to me.
The only expectation that I have is that.
When I give, I'm creatingkind of this energetic vortex.
I'm pushing energy out into theworld in a certain way that it
can't help but come back to me.
Yeah.
And, and so that's, karma is
real, man.
I believe that shit.

(10:25):
I, I believe that I do too.
Shit.
I
too, I I really do.
And, um, and I've seen it.
I've seen it happen because, and,and I want to get into the, that's
why I wanna get into your, yourshow, is that what I've noticed is.
The Rumble is a really powerfulopportunity for comics to come
together and to together createa lot of momentum, right?

(10:48):
Because you look great on that stage.
And every other comic who was onthat rumble also looked great.
Even the ones that got eliminated, right?
Because we all, cause there's somethingabout, like you said, the difference
between a weekend crowd and an open miccrowd is until you get there and you
experience it, it's like, you don't know.

(11:10):
I had
recently watched uh, this AnthonyJeselnik interview, uh, cause he just
dropped a special, um, and he wastalking about how like, he was bombing
in front of bitter open micers for likea whole year, and then one day he just
said, fuck it, I'm gonna go there, didone joke and got I'm all the laughing.
That was like 20 years agoand he still remembers it.
Like, and then audiences changed.

(11:33):
And so I think it was like, that's kindof what the rumble felt like to me.
It felt like, Oh, this is a change.
This is the first time I've experiencedthis and I want to experience this again.
So I'm going to keep doingwhat I got to do to get back
in front of crowds like this.
Yeah.
I mean, throw my own show.
I'm going to throw my own show,
but that's where I want to go.
So you do the rumble, you win, yougenerate, you build, you generate all this

(11:53):
confidence, which is well earned becauseyou're, you're funny and you work hard.
And, and then, and then what do you doat, what's your, what's your path from,
from that rumble to, uh, your, your show?
Yeah, so I started a show with,uh, my good friend Anthony Wynkoop,
another comic, um, called The Hot Box.
We've done two of them now, solike, looks like once a month type

(12:13):
of thing, right on Fremont Street.
At a venue that is not typically forcomedy, but we have it packed out in
there and it's basically, it's essentiallya Kill Tony rip, like let's just be
real, it's, it's, we got, we got a bandin the back, uh, funk is what they're
known as and they're like playing walkup music and they, they're jamming.
We throw some improv bits in there,kind of like Eric Andre a little bit.

(12:37):
If you've ever seen that, but we're tryingto throw it out there, and it's free.
It's free to sign up,comics sign up online.
We are charging five bucks at this nextone, just because uh, proceeds are gonna
go to Goody Two Shoes, the charity.
Oh, hell yeah.
So it's not even, we're noteven pocketing it, but we do,
we are gonna charge for that.
Right?
Yeah.

(12:58):
Yeah.
And it's just been a great trajectory.
I mean, we did the last one November27th, and It's, it's been great seeing
how well it's received, the comicsappreciate it because it's a stage in
front of, in a new audience, it's a stagein front of an audience, and I think
that's one thing that comics in Vegasare missing, like, unless you're getting

(13:19):
booked at Wise Guys, or Kimmel's, orLA Comedy Club, you're not, you're not
getting, you're not, you're not gettingin front of an audience that often.
Yeah,
we like to provide that for sure.
And we film it, produce it, edit it.
Cause I'm, I'm a videographer for work.
I've been doing that forthe last seven, eight years.
So it's like you said, that'smy skill to offer to the scene.

(13:42):
And I did kind of keep it tucked away atfirst, not out of like selfishness, but
like, I don't know if I wanted to openthose floodgates of having everybody
hit me up to do a video, but, but I waslike, I started producing that show.
And then that's how, like,That's my skil like, production.
And Anthony, my co host,he has a lot of background.

(14:03):
He's a musician as well.
So he has lots of background inthrowing shows, producing shows.
So I think using our knowledge ofproduction value and putting on a
good entertaining show for people andmaking sure it visually looks good.
We're trying to just Makethe whole scene rise.
Well, we want to see more showspop up that aren't just an open
mic with nothing wrong with that,but we have like 30 open mics.

(14:24):
We don't need another right now, butwe need more shows in my opinion.
You
need more stage time, right?
Like comics, comics.
When I, when I first started, my, mycomedy mentor said something really
stuck with me, which is that comedyis the only art form that you have to
practice in front of your audience.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right?
Every other art form, you cango into a closet somewhere.

(14:47):
If you're, uh, if you're playing aninstrument, you can go into a closet
somewhere and you can just do that thingover and over and over and over and
over and over and over and over and overand over and over until it's perfect.
Yeah.
You can rehearse lines, right?
You can once, you know, a bitworks, but, but even then,
you never know until you hit the stage,
you never know until you hit the stageand, and there's something about, and

(15:10):
so I love, God, it, it tickles me.
I love that because I love that.
Cause what I saw in missingin the scene in, in salt lake.
And then as soon as I started talkingto Kate banks, I was like, Oh,
obviously this is the case in Vegas.
Obviously this is the case.
Probably anywhere.
There's a scene, especially a city
like Vegas and salt lakewhere we're not quite small.

(15:31):
We have a decent sized scene, butwe're not LA, New York, et cetera.
Right.
It's sort of there's, but, but what Ifound was dozens of really talented,
really funny people who are all kind ofclamoring for the same, like three or
four spots on maybe opening a weekend atwise guys, maybe opening it, like maybe

(15:52):
doing something that Jimmy, like with veryfew opportunities and, um, and there's
something in my brain that just says.
Uh, if, if I can't, if I can'tget an opportunity, I'll make
that opportunity for myself.
Yeah.
And I love that.
That's what you're doing now.
I love that.
I love seeing, I love seeingthat, that cause you're right.

(16:15):
We need more shows.
There's no, there's not, there'sno competition in comedy.
Our competition in comedyis not with other comedians.
It's with ourselves.
Yeah.
For sure.
It's not with other shows.
Your show does not compete with my show.
They compliment each other, right?
Because our real, our real competitionis Netflix, is movie theaters.

(16:36):
It's any kind of, it's any kind ofentertainment that sort of keeps you
locked inside of your house and doesn'tget you out around other people.
So anything that builds thescene, anything that gets more
people experiencing live comedy ispowerful and it's good for everyone.
And I think it's especially goodfor the world right now because

(16:57):
the world is batshit crazy.
We're, we're in the apocalypse.
It's happening all around us
for sure.
And, and as it's happening all aroundus, I, I can't think of anything more
because I have very little control.
Over the world, right?
I have very little controlover who's president.
I have very little control over, over eventhings like climate change or any of these

(17:21):
big things that are, that are happening.
We
can only do so much.
We can only do so much.
And that doesn't mean weshouldn't do those things.
Obviously we should, but also I thinkit's really easy to get overwhelmed
by all of that stuff and to forgetthat we actually have a lot of
power over our, our immediate world.
Your immediate world in Vegas, myimmediate world in Salt Lake, right?

(17:44):
That we can actually do a lotto create safety, to create
community, to create fun in.
And so it doesn't have to bethat the, even though things are
crazy and, and not even crazy, Iwould say objectively bad, right?
Like I, I remember.
I think a year ago, I read that theUN said, we're not even doing, we

(18:07):
can't call it global warming anymore.
It's we're in global boiling,like we already warned it.
That's scary.
I didn't know that.
Yeah, we already did it.
Like we won it.
We've already tipped.
We're past the point of no return already.
Yeah.
And, and the way I kind of think aboutit is like, have you ever seen like
an avalanche and like a film of likea, of snow falling off a mountain?

(18:28):
Yeah.
There's kind of this moment wherethere's sort of like this crack, you
sort of see the whole mountain kind ofcrack and then it goes, yeah, we cracked
that already have, we can't fix it.
The world cracked and, and now we'rein sort of the, the, the, the drop.
And I think knowing that if you are,if you're aware that that's where

(18:51):
you're at, then you can snowboard.
Down, then you can serve, right?
Then you can sort of ride that wave.
And while you're, and my intention isI'm riding that wave is I want as many
people as I have direct influence over.
And as I have power to protect and to carefor those humans are going to be safe.
Those
humans are going to have a good time.
They're going to feel okay.
And I can't think of anything morepowerful, especially in our world,

(19:13):
in America right now, because thereare vast Powers that are dedicated
to, to making us hate each other.
I
can't think of anything more powerfulthan to combat that hate with get
together in a room with people thatare all live in your neighborhood,
that all live in your city and laugh.

(19:34):
Yeah.
I'm big on community.
Um, I grew up like myparents like ran a food bank.
And so it's just like, it's giving backto the community has just always been,
it's ingrained in me at this point.
And so like, it's why it feelsgood to give back to this, my new
community, this comedy community.

(19:54):
And it's, it's, it's, it's fun.
Where did you, where did you grow up?
I grew up here, born and raised Vegas.
Oh, Vegas, Vegas local.
Hell yeah.
Yep.
I'm four generations in Vegas.
Whoa.
Yeah.
Not many of us.
You're
almost as Vegas as I am Mormon.
Yeah.
Yeah.

(20:15):
I'm just missing a second mother.
Uh, it's not, it's notall it's cracked up to be.
Um, let's talk, let's kindof shift a little bit.
Let's talk a little bit about,um, your comedy journey.
Let's talk about sort of got inwhat sort of brought you into it.
And I know that I've, I've, I'm aware ofsort of some of the peripherals of it.
And so only talk about whatfeels, what feels okay for you.

(20:38):
But I know that there'sThere's some sadness there.
Apologies, there's aprinter going off right now.
So that is in the background.
It's okay.
I can't even hear it.
Okay.
Cool.
Cool.
Cool.
And, and it doesn't matter.
It's the apocalypse.
Yeah.
Sometimes the internet doesn't work.
True.
Um, so yes, what were you saying?
I'm sorry.
So yeah, no, just let's,let's jump into your journey.

(20:59):
Like when, when did you, whendid you, did you always know
that you wanted to do comedy?
Never, never, ever, ever.
I, uh, I've always been a really shy guy.
I work behind the scenes.
behind the camera.
I don't like the camera in my face.
I don't like lights on me.
It's the most unnatural thingfor me to have ever done.

(21:21):
And it just kind of happened.
It was, uh, it was in March.
I, uh, started March 7th.
That's my comedy anniversary,I guess you could say.
And, uh, I was just going to this,there's this bar that my office space
at the time was at called Ola Habibi.
And they host the openmic there every Thursday.

(21:42):
And I was just there watchingand I was like, this is fun.
And so I remember somebodymade a suicide joke.
Um, like six months before that,my dad had committed suicide.
And so I saw that and laughedat it and I was like, Oh wait,
this is, this can be funny.
And this was also like,so, so he passed in July.

(22:05):
of last year and then in Januaryof this year, um, my little
sister passed away as well.
So this was like two months after thatwhen I'm just like at an all time low.
Life fucking sucks.
There's no point to this.
But I just
watched this and I just startedlaughing and one, like a week or
two later, I just went up there.

(22:25):
I didn't jump straight into those jokes.
I started with a terrible story.
It was awful.
Did terrible.
But as I kept going, I just waslike, let me try to write about.
My dad hanging himself.
That could be funny.
And, and it's, it's, it's been funny.
It's been healing too.
Like, I feel like I've learned a lotabout myself through writing these
jokes and just this whole comedy thing.

(22:46):
Cause this is a side ofmyself I didn't know existed.
I mean, at all.
Dude, I, I so appreciatethe vulnerability there.
And I, like, I wanted tofirst acknowledge, I wish
I could give you a big hug.
I want to first acknowledge, right?
Like that is real suffering.
That's real tragedy.
That is, that is, That is, thatis really, really heartbreaking.

(23:07):
Um, and I love that, the, the, thesurprise that you got in that, at that
open mic, where suddenly this thingthat I imagined had just been like
weighing on you, and just so heavyand so tragic and so, Just unbearable.

(23:27):
And then somebody makesa joke about suicide.
And I'll bet it was so surprisingto you that you laughed.
Dude.
Yeah, I was dying.
I was dying.
And I recently saw that comic,uh, when Kill Tony was here in
September, I saw him in the line.
That was my first timeseeing him since then.
I just told him like, Hey, that jokeright there made me start doing it.
Yes.

(23:49):
Do you remember the joke?
I don't exactly, but it was somethingabout like this guy hanging himself.
I don't remember it.
I wish I could, but it was,I remember it happened.
I don't even know that the contextnecessarily, because what it,
what it did is it, is it tappedinto everything's energy, right?

(24:10):
So you had, you had all of thisemotional energy that was wrapped up in
tragedy and in, and that was connectedto that and what he was able to do.
And this is why comedy is so magic is hewas able to sort of get into that Little
knot of energy that was inside of you.
And, and he was able to release itphysically and laughter, laughter.

(24:32):
If you think about the physiology oflaughter, it's almost like sobbing.
Yeah.
Right.
You're, you're,
it's the most healingthing through grief, man.
I mean, I've been through too much griefin the past year, and I can say that the
laughter has been made like such a hugedifference and just going out, being out,

(24:53):
talking about it, my thing is I can't.
The way I write jokes, Ijust pull from stories.
I've had a pretty interesting life andso every joke I've told is a true story.
And when I, when I became ready to like,start talking about it, I think I wrote
my first dead dad joke in April and Ijust like, you could tell I'm not lying.

(25:16):
Like last night I did an open micand this, this girl came up to me.
She's seen my set a bunch of times andshe's like, is your dad actually dead?
I said, yes.
She's like, oh shit.
So it's like the.
It made me feel like, okay, I can'ttap into that dark side of me to get
these jokes out, get these jokes off.
I have a couple jokes about mysister's passing, I own still.

(25:38):
That one just stings toomuch to really joke about.
She was, uh, she waskilled by a drunk driver.
Yeah, she was pregnant.
It was a whole sad thing.
21
years old.
So I haven't found thehumor in that one yet.
I've tried.
I have a couple concepts and bits andstories regarding her funeral, but They

(26:00):
never really get laughs like that, andI always feel uncomfortable telling
them, so I'm just, I've shelved thoseuntil I get to a better place in my
five stages of grief on that one.
You know what, so as, as a, as someonewho's also used comedy to, to deal with
sometimes absurd and horrific tragedy.
Yeah.
What I've found is, Youhave to find it funny first.

(26:22):
Yeah, 100%.
So like, I think probably the reasonyou're able to lean into your father's
passing is that, that, that comic came in.
Yeah.
Planted
that
seed.
And so I would say don't, don't force it.
Right?
Like you gotta, there's a lot of, a lotof comics like to get on stage and joke

(26:44):
about how comedy is cheaper than therapy.
Yeah.
And I, I'm, my response to all ofthose people is please go to therapy.
Yeah,
because, because youhave to process it first.
It has to become funny to you first.
A hundred percent.
Yes.
Honestly, what we're doing, what we'redoing is a little bit spiritual, right?

(27:05):
Because what we're doing is we'restanding in front of people.
And especially if we're going to makejokes about grief or tragedy, we're
standing in front of people and we'reinviting everyone into our grief and
we're inviting them to bring their griefinto our grief and we're going to show
them how actually it's this, right.

(27:25):
And we can only do that.
If we can do that ourselves.
Right.
We can only do that ifwe've already found that.
And if we haven't found that, then allwe're doing is we're inviting people into
our grief and now we're all sad together.
Yeah.
And I've had that happen where it hasbackfired where I'll be up there and
it's just sad and it's, it's like, uh, mybiggest punchline is like a lot of friends

(27:48):
didn't, their dads didn't stick aroundmine hung around when that gets nothing.
It like gets in my head and I'mlike, oh man, maybe I'm just sad.
Maybe my delivery's offtonight or something.
Oh, my dad hung around.
So since, uh, I went to that openmic in March, I haven't stopped.

(28:09):
I go to like three, four,five mics a week since then.
Just wanted to get the stage time,get it comfortable being on stage.
Cause it's such a foreign thing to me.
And.
I love it.
I've found a good community tolove, love the comics out here.
It's, it's a fun hang,something to do at night.
And
it's,

(28:30):
I'd say if I wasn't doing that, Idon't know where I'd be right now.
This past year.
I don't know how I would have gottenthrough this year without comedy.
So there's this, there's this,uh, uh, psychology professor.
I love his name.
It's Martin Seligman.
He's, he's sort of credited as one ofthe founders of the, of the positive
psychology movement, meaning that it usedto be in psychology that we just studied.

(28:51):
Neuroses.
So we, what was wrong with people.
And then he and a bunch of otherpeople came along and like, I think
the seventies or the eighties.
And they were like, Hey, what ifwe studied healthy, happy people?
And we figured out what makespeople healthy and happy.
And one of the, one of my favoritethings that they did is they, they
can, I've got, I've got it on mybookshelf because I'm a nerd, but
it's this huge thick, it's a textbook.

(29:12):
It's like a Harvard textbook and it'scalled character strengths and virtues.
And what they do is they, they went outand they studied every world religion.
They studied every major philosophyand their question was, are
there common human values?
Can we sort of find values that allhumans share across all different worlds?

(29:34):
And, and then can we categorizethem in a way that makes sense?
And so they came up withlike these different buckets.
There's like virtues of Of courage.
There are virtues of humanity.
And one of the buckets that theycreated was virtues of transcendence,
meaning that there are, there arecertain virtues or certain values
that we have as humans that help ustranscend, that help us rise above.

(29:55):
And those are things likeawe or respect or worship.
But the, one of the things that theyincluded in there that I love is humor.
So humor is a transcendentvalue because, and I think that
that's why in some ways we are.
We're sort of like, I tell people,like, I joke that I'm a prophet.
Like that's kind of like a little bitof a gag, especially with my background.

(30:17):
But there's also an element of truthunderneath there where, where I really
do believe that the comic is notjust silly, obviously we are silly.
That's the point.
But what we're really doingis we're, we're, we're finding
the, the, the suffering.
We're finding the pain.
And we're, I mean, people say youshouldn't make light of things

(30:39):
that are, that are serious.
And I'm like, why wouldyou do anything else?
Yeah.
That's, that's dumb.
Yeah.
Why would you not look at a burden,like something heavy, the burden of
grief that someone is carrying andsay, Hey, if you're open to it, I
could make that a little bit lighter.

(31:00):
Yeah.
Cause as soon as you can laugh atsomething, it doesn't have power over you.
It doesn't mean, itdoesn't mean that anymore.
Like I, that your dad'spassing is still really tragic.
Oh man.
Like that's what I said inthe beginning of the call that
holidays are fucking rough.
Like it was about to be the firstChristmas without my little sister around.
So it's like, that's it.
And then she has a daughter and like,It's just that little girl doesn't have

(31:22):
a mom now and it's it does happen ithits me in random times But like because
it's still so fresh less than a year
But I think with grief and death it'sso relatable because it's one of the
few inevitable things of life We're allgonna die and we're all gonna know some
somebody we love is gonna die, right?

(31:44):
It's the hard truth oflife, it's gonna happen.
Yes.
And I think people are afraidof that, understandably so.
And so, some people get reallyuncomfortable to talk about death.
And I wanna get rid of that shit.
Like, we should, like, people are, like,people have asked me so many times, like,
oh, I just, I just don't know how to ask,or I don't know how to say this, like,

(32:05):
is it weird if I ask you this question?
I'm like, no, ask away, dude.
I'm an open book, and this shitneeds to it's such a normal thing.
We should be normal talking about it.
We shouldn't need to, like, beafraid to talk about it, because
death might come get us next.
Like, I don't I don't know whatthe process behind that is, but I'm
very open to talk about My death,my grief process, things that
have helped, things that haven't.

(32:27):
Comedy's helped, for sure.
Comedy helps.
Comedy, I think, I can't think of any,any way to, and especially, especially
to like, be able to process yourgrief, and then to, then to say it
on stage, and then get a big laugh.
Yeah,
it's a great feeling.
It's literally laughingin the face of death.
Yeah, it is a great feeling.

(32:49):
And that's why when those jokesbomb, it hits that much harder.
I needed that dopamine.
Yeah.
Dude, you and I, we should writesome, we should write some hanging
dad jokes sometimes becausemy, my dad also hung himself.
Oh, wow.
But yeah, I'm down.
Let me tell you, let metell you the whole thing.

(33:09):
Cause he didn't, so he hung himself asa joke at my like ninth birthday party.
So we were going, we were goingcamping and, and this like, this like
really, it like really fucked me upfor a while because, uh, we were,
we were going camping and I likereally wanted to go camping cause
I had like, 13 days older than me.

(33:31):
So, so we're basically liketwins and we would always, he's
from another mom, obviously.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so we would always celebrate ourbirthdays together because when you have
16 kids in your family, you don't, peopledon't get individual birthday parties.
Yeah.
Group parties.
Group parties.
Right.
And so, uh, when I was eight or nine,I finally was able to get, like,
I talked my parents into giving memy own party and it was going to

(33:54):
be, we were going to go camping.
My dad was going to take us camping upinto the mountains with, with some, with
some of my friends and we went up thereand, um, We were like, we like hung out,
we like built a little, we were by acreek, we like built a little dam, we
were like climbing a mountain and shit.
And then we go into the tent at nightand it's me and all my friends and we're
all telling like scary stories and mydad is out at the campfire and all of

(34:16):
a sudden we hear Him start screaming.
He's like, Hey, what areyou, what are you doing?
Get away from here.
Ah, and we're all, we're allprogrammed in like this end
of the world bullshit, right?
Yeah.
We're expecting to beattacked by the evil.
Like a
bear or something?
No, not
even bears, like
evil people are coming together.
Oh
shit.
Okay.

(34:37):
You guys, right?
Like the wick, the wicked.
The world is out to get us, andit's only a matter of time before
they come and persecute us.
Uhhuh, . So I'm eight orwe're just like freaking out
in there.
Yeah.
We, we like unzip and we have our flatand we're like going out and we're like
going around and we're trying to see.
And I, I remember I kind of turned myflashlight this way and I see my dad's

(34:57):
legs dangling in the air and I, and Ipull, pull up and I see him, he's hanging
from a tree and my entire body freezes.
Yeah.
And then he starts laughing and, and itturns out what he'd done is he'd taken a
garden hose and he'd tied it to the tree.

(35:21):
He'd thrown it over the tree.
He'd run it down through hisshirt, pants, and then created a
little loop and he'd stood in it.
And then he hoisted himselfup and he was just pretending.
And that,
that is traumatizing, bro.
That was, it was so, itwas deeply traumatizing.
I literally just quit my job becausemy boss did that on a live stream.

(35:43):
He did the hanging joke.
Are you kidding me?
Yeah, he, he went on a Twitch streamand like, did a stunt gone wrong
where he like, hung himself andeverybody there thought he died.
He was safe and harnessed up, but like,still the imagery, and I told him like,
I can't fuck with that, so I quit.
Dude.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It, it really, it, it fucked with me.

(36:04):
Right.
Because it was like, um, it alsoprobably part of the reason I'm funny,
but, but it did like it, it, it, it,I, I didn't really even remember that.
I didn't deal with that untillike two decades later in therapy.
Right.
I remembered, I remembered that.
And, and.
And to me, what was really, I don't knowthat I've even found the funny, that's

(36:26):
why I think it would be fun to kind ofsit down with you and sort of, yeah,
I'd be down.
Right.
There's something
there.
There's something there for sure.
I mean, that's it.
That's an, like, like, I know it'strue, but that's an absurd story.
Like, that's crazy.
So there's, there's something there.
Imagine.
And where, where I've gotten to is likethe, cause I've, I've sort of explored
the crazy and, and the crazy to me is.

(36:49):
And, and this, I think is reallythe tragedy is I can't, I have,
I have kids, I have a, and I havea, I have a nine year old, right?
And I cannot imagine.
I like to play jokes on my kids,
right?
Yeah, but not like that.
That's crazy.
I can't imagine.
And, and more, more kind of sort ofmore, more deep than that is I, when

(37:13):
I imagine what was going on in mydad's world, that, that he was at his.
Son's birthday party andhe's like alone there.
He's just by himself.
And then he has this thought, Oh, wouldn'tit be funny if this, and which, which
has got to mean in my mind, Oh, he wasprobably that suicidal ideation, right?

(37:34):
That's depression, right?
That's, that's likesome real mental health.
It's dark, right?
That's a dark, that's a dark thing.
That's a dark place that he went to.
Yeah.
Um, but there is something funny there.
There's definitely something funny there.
I'd love to sit down andwrite with you about that.
I'll be down next time you're in Vegas.
Cause Oh, you're in Vegasthis weekend, right?

(37:56):
I'm in Vegas this weekend.
Yeah.
I'll be, I'll be comingdown Saturday or Sunday.
So yeah, let's get to, cause I thinkthat that would be, I haven't, I haven't
even tried to tell that on stage.
Yeah.
But, but I do think there's somethingfunny there and I think it would be
fun to, God, I love comedy, dude.
I think it'd be fun to write some jokesabout our dads hanging themselves.

(38:19):
Nah, it'd be funny.
It probably would be funny.
Mine just succeeded.
Which maybe that's it.
My dad is so, my dad isso bad at everything.
He couldn't even hang
himself right.
Yeah.
That actually might work becauseI, uh, we're going to have to put
a trigger warning on this episode.

(38:42):
Definitely talks of suicide.
By the way, you guys, um, because one ofthe, one of the things that I do think
is kind of when I tell people that I wasraised polygamist, um, I, I'm always, they
always ask me like, how many moms and howmany kids, and I'm always a little bit.
Ashamed isn't the right word.

(39:03):
I just don't think what Ihave is that impressive.
Like I know people who have likesix moms and like a hundred and I
know, right.
It's terrible.
I've got really two cause therewas, there was a third one, but she
was only around for like a month.
So I've got two and like 15 siblings.
That's a
lot.

(39:23):
Yeah.
I know it looks like a lot to
you.
To me, I sort of feel like my dad'skind of like the, the, the funny or
the joke that I'm kind of been playingwith is that my dad is shitty at,
he's, he's bad at being a polygamist.
That's a great bit.
Like he's bad at being, he'sa, he's a shitty polygamist.
Maybe there's, maybe there's a throughline there where, where he's not only

(39:46):
is he bad at being a polygamist, buthe's also bad at killing himself.
And how depressing does it have to be towant to kill yourself and not be able to?
Yeah.
Anyway, that'll be fun.
I will be fun.
We'll play.
I'm down.
I'm down with that.
If we can find something there.

(40:07):
Cause I think that dude,especially like when I think
about, when I think about the.
The, the impact, right.
Of, cause I, I always want mycomedy to be positive, right.
I always want it to be goodfor the people who hear it.
And, and I think one of the, I thinkone of the things that especially
we're, we're dealing with, with menin, in our society right now is male

(40:31):
suicide is, is at an all time high.
It's crazy.
And, and I think that, um, Ithink we, like, like you said,
not talking about Doesn't.
Make it go away.
I think it actually does
it
worse.
Yeah.
And I get it's uncomfortable totalk about, but it's got to be done.
We got to make it notan uncomfortable thing.

(40:51):
Cause it's normal to make it
not an uncomfortable thing.
He's
going to die.
Everybody's going to die and, andeverybody's going to die and please
don't die because at your own hand.
Don't.
Hundred percent please.
I have a, I have a cousin that did too.
Right?
Yeah.
I have a cousin.
Suicide has impacted me.
Right.
It
is such a, it's a just a different typeof death because it is so intentional.
Yeah.
And
it's, it, it, it hits differentthan like a sister's death where it

(41:14):
was a car accident and Well, yes.
That was crushing and sad.
She didn't want to die.
Right.
Dad wanted to die, and that's just a weirdthing to sit with and think like, damn.
Yeah.
But it's important to talk about.
Yeah.
And, and it's wild too because my dad.
My dad, I think also wanted to die.
Yeah.
And, and that, and, youknow, and I, I get it right.

(41:36):
Because I, there've, there've been,there've been parts, there've been times
in my journey where I've felt that right.
Where I've felt, Oh, it wouldbe easier to not be here.
I
felt that so many times this year alone.
So that's why I give it up tocomedy for being a distraction.
Oh no, I can't kill myself.
I have to hit this open mic.

(41:59):
Yes.
And just promise me that I'llmake the same promise to you.
Yeah.
Before you try to kill yourself.
I'm not going to kill myself.
Yeah.
We will definitely goto an open mic first.
Yes.
Yeah.
Man, I heard there was like, I guess acomic in the scene died last year and
they did an open mic at his funeral.

(42:19):
Oh, yeah!
That
sounds fucking crazy.
I don't want that.
If I die, there better not be afucking open mic at my funeral.
No open mic.
What do you want for your funeral?
Ooh, that's a good question, man.
That's a good question.
I want a dab bar atthe, at the after party.

(42:41):
I don't really, I don't, yeah, Iwant people to be a little sad.
But, nothing, nothing too crazy.
Just, I want, I want it to be a good time.
Party.
I like the idea of acelebration of life, right?
I want to be, I want to be celebrated.
And, and what I really want is for, forpeople to celebrate their connections
with each other because of me, right?

(43:02):
I, I really feel like oneof the things that I'm.
I'm here to do is to connect people.
I'm here to bring people together.
I'm here to bring people together outof the darkness and into the light.
I'm I'm here to, and so I would love ifa bunch of people got together when I
passed and were like, Oh, I'm so grateful.

(43:23):
For Ben, because he brought us togetherand sort of continue to continue that.
When I imagined, when I imaginedthat that's, and then also definitely
don't put me in a metal box.
Oh my God.
Like,
yeah, I want to get cremated.
Oh, a hundred percent.
Yeah.
I'm going to get cremated.
And then have you seen it where theycremate you and they put you into
the, like a tree, like a little tree?
No, I
haven't.

(43:43):
Yeah, so you can get cremated and thenthey put, they put you into like this
little, this little bag, um, with a bunchof dirt and the roots of a little baby
tree, and then you can go plant the tree.
Nice.
Oh yeah, that's, that's nice.
I've seen they do like, there'slike this company that puts
ashes inside a vinyl record.
Oh, that's cool.
I
thought that was kind of cool.

(44:04):
Can
put your ashes in your favorite album.
Yeah.
Oh, that's fun.
That's cool.
Yeah.
I love, I love that.
Um, dude, we are, we are about at time.
So I want to, I want to maybe, uh,shift gears into we, uh, thanks so
much for, for coming and for, for justsharing yourself so, so authentically.

(44:25):
Appreciate you giving me the space.
Yeah.
And I want to just say like, from myheart to your heart, like I, I, I see
you and I, I have, I'm, I'm like holding,I'm holding your grief in my heart.
And I want you to just know.
I'm really sorry.
And I wish, I wish that things weredifferent and I know that they aren't,
um, but you're just held, you're heldin my heart and in my, in my love.

(44:49):
Um, and especially into theholidays, like your whole family.
Um, it is, it is so tragicto lose a family member and
especially to lose a family member.
That's so young.
Yeah.
Just like, uh, so unexpectedly.
So anyway, I just want to say like, I

(45:10):
appreciate
your grief in that way.
Cause it's not mine, but I, Iknow that grief and I, I, I have a
lot of space in my heart for you.
Thank you, Ben.
That means a lot.
Yeah.
Um, okay, so I like to wrap upthe podcast with two questions.
Um, first question is, we, we'vetalked a little bit about the, the
apocalypse and, and like, the waythat I, the way that I think about

(45:31):
that is history goes in cycles, right?
The world isn't going to end, but ourcurrent iteration of the apocalypse.
Human civilization is undergoinga radical transformation.
Yeah.
And I think I, I really don't even thinklike when I look at America and what's
happening in American politics andjust the American world right now, that
to me is even sort of like a smalleriteration of the bigger thing that's

(45:55):
happening, which is down the world.
Right.
Yeah.
I think we were talking about thisbefore we hit record, but like, The UN
like a year ago was like, you know what?
We can't even call it global warminganymore because we're past that point.
We're now in global boiling.
And I mean, you rememberwhat the summer was like.
Every, every day was like, Oh,this is the hottest day ever.

(46:17):
Especially out here in Vegas, bro.
It was brutal.
Oh, and, and so like.
And that, to me, that's nota message of, of, uh, fear.
That's the message of hope because we are,as humans, we are brilliantly creative.
We constructed this world.
We made that happen.
Like we, we did that.
And so we can do something different.

(46:37):
And I also think that, thatapocalypses are really.
Really great opportunitiesfor change, right?
So, so there, there are parts ofthe old world that we can let die.
And then there are parts of the new worldthat we can kind of like birth into.
And so I I'm just curious from yourperspective and from what you see in
your, in your world, um, are there,what are the parts of the old world

(46:59):
that you hope kind of go away andwhat do you hope they're reborn as?
Good question.
Um, I hope fear of talking about deathsince we've been talking about that.
I hope that shit goes away.
I mean, it's dumb, like thatthat's got to go away and change.
And I hope that this newworld can just bring in.

(47:22):
Cause like you said, shoot, we'rein global boiling where our top,
our clock is ticking, right?
So we got one, make the most of that.
We don't know what's going to happen.
And we're going to justtalk about it all, man.
I love that.
We gotta talk about it all.
We gotta stop letting thesenarcissistic, greedy, rich motherfuckers
run the country and dividing us.

(47:44):
Amen.
That's need to change.
Amen.
Musk
out of Twitter.
Be gone, dude.
There's this, I think about this allthe time because I, I, like Jeff Bezos
a couple years ago, he was on the news,he bought a 500 million yacht and I saw

(48:05):
that and I have never been on a yacht.
But
I imagine that a 250million yacht is banger.
Like a 250 million yacht is probablythe cool is probably so fucking cool.
He could have bought the 250 millionyacht and then had 250 million.

(48:32):
It's crazy.
It's a, it's, it's agross amount of money,
gross
amount of wealth hoarding.
Yeah.
A gross amount of wealth hoarding.
And, um, you know, I think sometimesabout, uh, I, I, I think that,
I think that one of the thingswe're moving into is a more going
back to a more tribal mentality.

(48:52):
I think we're, we're going to, we're goingto start to think more like tribes and
kind of act more like tribes as humans.
I want to start seeing communesin the U S that's what I want.
100%.
And, and one of the things, like, Ithink, I think we need to shift one
of our values around wealth in theUnited States, because on the one hand,
I want, I want to incentivize peoplewho want to go make a bunch of money

(49:14):
to go make a bunch of money, right?
Because I want Elon Musk to make Tesla.
I want Elon Musk.
I want Jeff Bezos to make Amazon, right?
I want those things to happen.
And I think that where we went,where we've gone wrong is that we
haven't, we haven't tied the valueof entrepreneurship to an equal value
of Taking care of the community.

(49:36):
So if you're an entrepreneur,that's because you're awesome.
And yeah, in
America, we're so, we're sobrought up like individualism,
like, Oh, get yours, get yours.
And yes, we do need to get oursand survive, but also you can't.
Get yours and then just forgetabout your whole community and
leave everybody else behind.
Right.
Cause nobody gets.
What's the point?

(49:57):
What is the point of asociety without community?
Right.
What is the point?
And like, I think what, what you're,what they're miss, what we're
missing is we've, we've ascribedhonor to having a bunch of things.
Yeah.
I think what we need to dois we need to change that.
And we need to say.
The honorable thing, the way that we,if you want to really impress us, Jeff
Bezos, don't have a 500 million yacht.

(50:19):
Give away 500 million.
Yeah.
Do something with that
500 million party.
Yeah.
Right.
Like do something, do somethingthat kind of brings it back.
500
million worth of food topeople on the holidays.
Right.
So he could solve world hungerlike that if he wanted to,
if he
wanted to, but he doesn't want to.

(50:40):
No, he doesn't want to, what he wants
to do is he wants to have, he wants tohave hit and you know, I think that the,
the, the reality of our new world, right?
The reality of our global boilingworld is it's not going to, I
mean, we already saw this withthe dude that shot the, the, yeah,
I wasn't, I wanted to talk about,that's what this got me thinking about.
It's like, we're already there.
On the one hand.

(51:00):
We shouldn't murderpeople on the other hand.
On the other hand, he the other guymurdered like millions of people.
When you think aboutit, by denying coverage,
if you have hundreds of million, I just,I, I, this is gonna sound very communistic
of me and I don't care, but I firmlybelieve if one person has a hundred
million dollars and another person hasnothing, that first person has something

(51:27):
that belongs to the other person.
I agree.
I agree.
Like we are commute.
We are a communal species.
We made all this, this whole, theability, the, the level of benefit that
we get just like electricity knowledge.
Like we are, we are steeped in community.
We create all creation.

(51:48):
All human creation isan active connection.
We are all doing it together.
And if you say, Oh, I did this.
So I deserve all of this.
And so you take most of it.
You're you actually don't understand
that
you are dependent on other people.
It's like such a childish way of thinking.
Oh, a
hundred.

(52:08):
It's so childish.
It's like a, like, no, these are my toys.
Like, no, like, I don't want to share.
Don't you understand why we have toys?
It's to play with others.
Yeah, no, you're a hundred percenthit the nail on the head with that.
Love that.
Okay.
So next question, last question is, um.

(52:28):
What apocalyptic skill do youhave that you could teach me?
Apocalyptic skill.
I mean, I can roll a mean blunt Ben.
Okay.
Sick.
Tell me,
roll a mean blunt.
We can, what is the, well, I'll haveyou show me in person, but what is
the, what, what do I need to, what'sthe process for rolling a mean blunt?
What are most people Hand
break it.
Don't use a grinder.

(52:48):
Use your hands, hand break it, use a leaf.
I'm a fan of the Brothers Broadleafs.
Just, just get the tuckin and you're good.
It's just one solid tuck.
Throw enough weed in there.
It's, it's,
I'm so out of the, I don'teven know what you like.
So it's a
tobacco leaf?
It's a, it's a tobacco leaf.
Okay.
That I
roll up in and

(53:09):
Oh, oh, okay.
So you're, we're gonna need
lots of blunts in the apocalypse, so you
are gonna need a lot of them
Yeah.
It's.
So that, that's good.
I would say videography, butI mean, somebody needs to
document the apocalypse, I guess.
Look, just,
just because we are in the apocalypsedoesn't mean we're not going to have As
long as we have power, I can,I can, can charge my batteries.

(53:29):
Then yeah, I can, I canteach you how to film.
I have a whole bunch of, I have awhole bunch of brothers that can
all pedal like a bike generator.
Yes.
Hell yeah.
I like that.
So break it up with your fingers.
I love using a tobacco leaf.
That sounds, that soundsway cooler than a paper.
Yeah.
I, I mean, I, I fuck with paper sometimesdon't get me wrong, but like some
about like just a blunt, like the leafit's like that with a little whiskey.

(53:55):
That is how, that is how yourelax on a cold night in the
bus.
A hundred percent.
A little bit of whiskey andthen surrounded by friends
because you're a good person.
You didn't suck up.
Yeah.
We all smoke.
We all smoke in the blunts.
It's community blunts.
Right.
There is something really, that,that is my favorite way to, to,

(54:16):
to experience marijuana is ablunt with a bunch of friends.
There's something really aboutthe passing and about you're all,
you're all, and then it gets sillyand you're all, it's just a fun.
And so it's, I prefer that way more tolike going out to a bar and drinking.
It's a plant.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Delicious.
It's rolled up in tobacco.
It's a great plant.
Great plant.

(54:37):
Rad, okay, so, um, thanks so much.
What, let's plug you for a little bit.
What do you want, howcan people follow you?
What do you want people to know about you?
You can follow me on Instagram.
Adamchapel underscore 14 is my handle.
Uh, follow the Hotbox Comedy Show.
Uh, that next show is, uh, December18th, which is next Wednesday.
Proceeds are all going to GoodyTwo Shoes, which is a charity

(54:58):
that, uh, helps Give kids shoes.
They came to my middle school when Iwas in middle school, which was crazy.
They pull up in a big van, youget to walk through it and every
kid gets to pick a pair of shoes.
So it's, it's
a
cool thing.
So we're trying to raise, our goalis 500 to raise for them and cut
them a check at the end of it all.
Um, so that's going on hostedby myself and Anthony Wynkoop,

(55:20):
another very funny guy.
And if people want to follow, does,does Hotbox have its own Instagram?
Yeah, we
do.
It's, it's athotboxcomedyshow on Instagram.
Okay, cool.
And if you can, if you'llsend me afterwards.
Let me see,
let me see if it's the hotboxcomedy or just hotbox comedy.
It's hotboxcomedyshow on Instagram.
Okay, cool.
And I'll, I'll pop both of thoseinto the, into the show notes too.

(55:42):
Anything else, any other, any otherthings you want people to be aware of?
Um, no, man, I feel good.
It was, thank you for giving me a chanceto talk about my, my journey, my story.
One, one thing I wanted to just
mention for you is I know that youare, you're, you're currently taking,
doing some freelance videography.
Yes.
Yes.
I am doing that.
Um, if you need any video work,like events, I come from the

(56:04):
corporate background, mainlylike documentary corporate work.
So if you need event recaps,
yeah.
Live streams of seminars and.
And I was very corporate andboring, but like, I'm your guy.
I got you.
So I
just want to pitch you on that too,because we've had you film, I think
two or three of the rebels for us.
And I'll be there
this Sunday too.
And we recently, we recentlyhad someone else do it and they

(56:27):
did not do as good of a job.
I mean, the, the filming was fine, butwhat I really loved about working with
you is, is not only is the qualityof what you do really, really high,
but working with you is really great.
You're super professional time.
You, you deliver it.
Like your turnaround is great.
Um, so, so I would just really highlyrecommend if, if you're looking for
someone and you need someone to, to, to doany kind of video work for you, especially

(56:51):
in the Vegas area, um, definitely hitup Adam because he, he does fantastic
work and he's great to work with.
Thank you.
I do travel as well.
That's, uh, another goal of mine.
I think this year I want to,with comedy, hit the road.
I'm trying to take thehot box on the road.
We want to go to Salt Lake, if you'llhave us over there, like type of stuff.
Oh, for sure.
Yeah.
And I've traveled for video work allthe time, so no stranger to that.

(57:13):
Just caught my ticket down there.
Let's, let's for sure, let's forsure chat about, um, what you would
need in terms of, cause I, I couldprobably help you find a venue up here.
Yeah.
Um, and I'd be, I'd be super happyto, it's going to be, so the marijuana
lies, laws are different here.
I
know they are.
I know that we don't smoke weed.
It's just called the hot box.
Okay.
Okay, cool.
Cause
we, we, we do it in a bar.

(57:33):
So there's liquor licenses involved.
Anyway, we do have a bong on, there'slike a bong on the table, but it's
one of our sponsors, it's just.
Just for, for, uh,
just for aesthetics.
For aesthetics.
We, we do not smoke out of it.
, which
is so dumb.
Um, am I gonna get arrested thesecond I pull out a bong in Utah?
Is that how it works?
You know, I don't, I don't know.

(57:56):
I don't know.
I mean, there are you, there aresmoke shops where you can buy bongs.
Yeah.
So there are.
But I don't know what the rules are.
We would have to, we'd have to do some,some, some research, but, um, yeah, I'd
be, I'd be thrilled to help you helpyou get, um, up, up here in Salt Lake.
I think that, I think that there's,there's a bunch of stoners and
I think I have a good reception.
Yeah.
I think it'd be a fun one.
Awesome.

(58:16):
Cool.
And then for me again, the FreshKing Benjamin or Comedy Rumble,
SLC or Comedy Rumble Las Vegas onInstagram and TikTok also on YouTube.
And then we're, I'm back in Vegas.
on the 15th, which is, I think,going to be this Sunday when
this airs for Comedy Rumble 5.
And then the next Rumble in SaltLake is going to be, uh, 1221.

(58:36):
Right.
So, uh, check those out, you guys.
And Adam, thanks for coming on.
Thank you, Ben.
Thanks for having me, man.
This was a good time.
Absolutely.
Stay safe out there, y'all.