#195 - Dusty Slay - Comedian, on Working at Western Sizzlin', Being Kicked out of the Army and How to Live A Positive Life

Dusty Slay is a comedian from Opelika, Alabama. He’s done stand-up on both Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel’s shows. He talks about growing up in a trailer park, getting his start in comedy and how he approaches writing and telling jokes. He also talks about what it was like to play the Opry and hang out with Jeff Foxworthy. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, about to get in with Dusty Slay episode comedian.

(00:04):
I like, who does live here in Nashville, So it's
pretty cool. I think the third comedian to have on
the show, Nicky Glazer, John Christ, Dusty Slay. We're a
regular stopping post for the America's greatest comedians. Here's Dusty
on having to take his shoes off at someone's house.
I went to someone's house the other day and they
asked me to take my shoes off for it. Came
in son, and I hate that, you know, show up

(00:25):
with somebody's house. They're like, hey, come on in, you
mind taking off your shoes. I'm like, now, just go home.
So he's gonna hop in just a second and we'll
talk to him. I met him when the bad Land
Sons were doing their announced, which is Brandon Ray's band.
He was there and I felt like the exchange on

(00:46):
my end was a bit awkward because I didn't give
him the correct context of the meeting. I saw him
and I was like, hey, man, I'm a big fan,
and he was like yeah, and I was like, you're
coming over the house right. He had no idea who
I was. Really Yeah, I had no idea and he was,
uh sure. He didn't want to say and they didn't
want to say no. And I was like, all right, man,
let's see you at my house. And I'm not sure

(01:07):
if we ever addressed that there was a podcast or
that I was Bobby Bones from you know, the podcast
with the radio. I was just like, seeing at the house,
come on over. And so I think when you actually
got to the house, he may have been like, oh,
you're that guy. I have met your house. Uh so, yeah,
that was a few weeks ago, and he's here. We
had a nice talk. We just walked downstairs. And we
usually come up and cut this after the show. So

(01:28):
we'll get to that in one second. Let me encourage you.
You know, Caroline Hobby has a new podcast. It's called
Get Real, but she has one with the Um like
a hair Silas to the Stars in l a and
in Nashville. She talks about the difference and which actors
and actress that she likes to work with the most.
And I check that out Get Real with Caroline Hobby,
Velvet's Edge with Kelly Henderson, Amy has Four Things with

(01:50):
Amy Brown Um and you know, you check out some
of the stuff that we do here so is there
anything you'd like to say? My d uh. Follow the
show on Instagram. I'm putting a lot of stuff up
there now, so if you hear something you can see
it too. It's the Bobby Cast. The Bobby Cast followed
the Bobby Cast because somebody else has Bobby Cast. What
is that? What's the other Bobby Cast? It's like a lot.

(02:12):
I don't know. I think it's a guy named Robert something.
Robert Castronado just made it. I remember being a Robert
and having like a hidden post. Well, it's the Bobby Cast.
And also, if you listen to something you like it,
tag it, hit it up. Oh it's Bobby castro Oh yeah, yeah,
I can't even get Bobby bones still. That dude doesn't

(02:37):
really post anything anymore either. All Right, we gotta go,
Thank you very much. This is the newest episode with
Dusty Slay. Check out Welcome to Episode with Dusty Slay.
This is why I like I like walking in, just
sitting down and go on. I love it because a
lot of times it's been like twenty minutes talking about stuff.

(02:57):
Luckily we've already met once right outside of Brandon Ratio. Yeah,
the Batman's sons. I was like, hey, man, you're coming
over for something. We had to delay this once, right,
the thing that we almost delayed it, but then your
trip got canceled. But I don't know that's what happened.
I got called out to l A, we're hiring writers
for this show, and I was like, oh, I gotta go,

(03:17):
and then that's right, that's it. Thank you, thank you
for remembering. Yeah, well this is great. I mean, I'm
happy to be here, pumped about it. I've been listening
to the Bobby cast all day and cramming, need to
cram for this. I love it. I want to play
a couple of clips just so our audience if they're
not familiar with but why the way. I think it's
super funny and I'm very happy that you came up.
I think I told you that. I was like, dude,
I'm s such a fan. Now here is this is

(03:39):
some of your clips from your balance that you call.
If I play these, that would be great. All right.
Here's a dusty on I wearing trucker hats. I got
this hat a goodwill. Uh. This hat changes me. A
lot of people don't know that it changes me because
you haven't seen me without it, all right. But if
I take this hat off, you're like, oh, man, I
bet that guy likes rock music. Right there. I put

(04:00):
this hat on. You're light. Now he's got a rock collection.
Then thank dad. All right, we're having a good time. Okay,
thank you, thank you, thank you. If I take this
hat off, you're like, man, that guy looks like the
lead singer from the rock band Corn. I put this
hat on. Your light now he grows corner. Woman like,

(04:23):
if I take this hat off, you're like, man, I
bet that guy smokes weed right there. But put this
hat on. You're like, now, that guy definitely smokes weed.
You know what I mean. What is it like going
on a show like Foulon and having to Are you
having to play at an angle? Like? Do you play
directly to the audience? Are you playing to a camera? Well,

(04:44):
on Foulon, the cameras are right in front of you,
and then the audience is a little higher, So it's
the it's the opposite of a regular comedy show where
you're up higher looking down on the audience. So my
my second Foulon, where I do the stabbing joke, I
normally looked down at the so it's a little weird
to have to set up. Yeah, but you know, doing
that hat joke on Foul and it really ruined that

(05:07):
for my live shows. You know, I love that joke,
but now everyone knows the hair is not attached. I
mean not not everyone, but a lot of people are like,
oh no, we saw you do that joke already. Did
you feel a little like, Man, I don't want to
do these jokes because again, it kills the joke. Almost
a song you can hear a hundred thousand times and
love it even more, but a joke, it's kind of dead. Yeah,

(05:29):
I think so. I think that if people have seen
you do the same joke live, as long as you're
like into it, certain things change. I think they can
still like it. But I feel like there's something about
we've seen that on TV, Like now now you're doing
a thing for us that you've already done on TV.
But I love those jokes. So you see five minutes here,
I do an hour in a comedy club. So I'm like,

(05:50):
it's only two minutes that you've seen. Do you still
use these same jokes? Uh? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean
my goodwill joke that's on there. I change it up
a little bit. The hat jokes. I changed some examples,
but yeah, I still do that. Here's dust Down taking
his old TV to Goodwill. I just got a new
TV recently, and I wanted to get rid of the
old one, but I didn't want to throw it away,

(06:11):
so I decided that would take it to Goodwill, right,
And I showed up a Goodwill with this old TV,
and the good Will guy was like, nah, he said,
we don't take TV's like that anymore. But they did
take it later that night when they were closed. Um,
I'm not getting rejected from Goodwill, is what I'm telling you.

(06:36):
I didn't get my receipt though, so I won't be
able to claim that on my taxes, so that'd be
a tough year. Do you ever do they drop off
a bag of clothes a Goodwill and they're like, you
want to receive for that? I'm like, no, I don't,
won't prove ever on these clothes. It's like, you see
what I'm wearing, Imagine what I'm giving away for free?

(06:57):
I mean, all right, like the pretty excited to walk
out under the cameras and lights of a TV show
or more nerve wracking. I think that's the first time.
It's so nerve wracking behind the curtain, But when that
curtain opens up and I go out, it's like all
the nerves turned to adrenaline and I'm like, let's just
do this. Let's get out there, let's do it. What

(07:19):
was your first TV appearance? I did Jimmy Kimmel. Actually
I did a well, I did a TV show called
Laughs way back, but I don't know if that counts.
It was in certain markets. My first big thing. Yeah,
I think so. Uh. It was on Fox, but I
never could find it anywhere. There's a little clip. It's
still on YouTube. It's it's pretty bad. I had shaved
the sides of my mustache show that my mustache didn't

(07:40):
connect to my beard. I don't know why I did that,
but I looked weird. It had rained. It was pre hat,
so I had my hair kind of slicked back. Anyway,
Jimmy Kimmel was the first, and I did that in
two thousand. I did it in two thousand seventeen. It
aired first week of two thousand eighteen, and I used
all my trailer park jokes once. I love but I
wasn't ready. I mean, I was ready to do it.

(08:03):
But I didn't. I don't know. I don't think I
had proper preparation for the show or for the show.
I didn't. I just didn't know what it would be like.
All Right. I thought, Hey, there'll be a warm up comic,
maybe there'll be other comics, so I'll be able to
roll right in on a hot crowd. But with Jimmy Kimmel,
they have they have a really nice room set up
for you to do comedy, but they watch all these

(08:23):
celebrities and then the whole audience stands up, moves to
a different room. Oh, they do just to sit down
and watch comedy. So they were practically a cold crowd again.
And here I am coming out with jokes that I've
never opened with. So now when I'm doing a late
night I just opened with those jokes for you know,
for weeks leading up to it. They move the crowd over. Yeah,

(08:43):
and half the audience is sitting down, half for standing.
It's a great room, but you need like a warm up. Like,
so my whole set, I'm like, the first half of
my set is getting the audience into what I'm doing.
Second half, great, are you able to think and actually
slow down while you're doing television or is it just
like this the whole time, like in your head, like spinning.
Jimmy Kimmel was for sure spinning. I did. I did I.

(09:06):
They asked me what I did. I want to do
it for the crew before before the tape, and I
was like, yeah, I'd love to practice. And I did
five minutes. In about three minutes, I missed jokes, I
was stumbling. I was like, I don't know what's happening.
I went back to my room rehearsed it a bunch.
I mean, it's jokes I told a million times. But
now I'm like on TV thinking that the camera guy's
gonna go. I don't know why you picked this guy.

(09:28):
And then but yeah, it was great. How leg it
is the trailer park stuff in your act? Uh, it's
almost a hundred percent drum. I mean I grew up.
My parents got divorced when I was two. I moved
to a trailer park with my mom in Alabama, and
I lived there until I was fourteen, and then I
moved back into a trailer. I bought the same trailer
when I was eighteen for a thousand bucks and lived

(09:51):
there for about two years. So you're living in a
trailer park. Did you think that that would just be
your home? Or at least because I'm from the same
type of upbringing, and no one really either you know,
in my hometown or you know, when I live at
the trailer park, no one really leaves, and so you're
just not taught their options. Yeah, I mean, I don't

(10:11):
know that I thought I would always live in a
trailer But I graduated high school. I had no idea
what to do. I was working at Western sizzling. Uh,
what did you want to do at seventeen when they
said what are you gonna do? What did you think
you wanted to do? I had no idea. I never
had any yet. My dad, when I was a kid,
his his brother used to be a chiropractor, and my
dad really wanted me to be a chiropractor. Right, So

(10:31):
I didn't even know what it was. But I have
paperwork at home from elementary school where I wrote cow
practor like c O W practor I was like, that's
what I want to be. I didn't even know what
it was. So I never had a plan. I never
had any idea what I wanted to do, So I
was just doing jobs. I mean, I awaited tables. I
joined the army, and then I got arrested before I

(10:52):
got in, and so my court date came after my
ship off date, so I I didn't go. And uh,
so I was let's hold on a second. So you
at what point in your life do you go, all right,
my options are hanging around here or join the army
at what age? Is that? Seventeen or before graduate high school?
After when you haven't you feel like you have no options?

(11:12):
It was I was eighteen and I was working at
Western Sitisland waiting table. And I don't know if people
know what that is, Like a golden corral without all
the class, you know, like a silver corral, That's what
I say. And it's uh. But so I'm working in
there and this older guy comes in and he had
been coming in all week. He's a construction guy, and
he starts telling me about how he joined the army
and how great it was and how he went all

(11:33):
over the country, all over the world. And I was like,
that's what I want to do. So I left work
that day and went to the recruiter's office. You went,
you left the sailor to go to the recruiter. Yeah,
and they said, and what do you look like? Then?
I had shaved head. I mean I think I was ready.
I wasn't long here. It wasn't the kind of the
look now now, no glasses, no beard, chip. I mean
I was ready. I was a prime young Army cadet.

(11:57):
You know, I was ready to go. And but I was,
you know, I was, you know, smoking a bit of
weed back then. And uh so the recruiters tried to
work with me to help me get clean. You know,
they were like, all right, we're gonna figure out how
to get your clean. So we went through all that,
and then I did the what do you call it
the physical? I did the physical where you walk in
and you you know, you're getting your underwear and you

(12:18):
do like a duck walk, and they do all kind
of test on you. And then you do a drug
test where you're you know, you know, you're at a
urinal and then there's a guy sitting right next to
you looking at you, like looking at your penis right
to make sure it's not a fake penis, because you
can do that or you can pour someone else's pee
into it, right, And I'm joining the army hoping that's
not the job I get and and then so then

(12:40):
everything goes well. I come home, my recruiter goes, he says, uh,
he said, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I
know you'd like to smoke weed. And when you get
back in, when you when you're gonna get shipped off
in a month. So when you go, they're gonna drug
test you again. So if you want to smoke to
night's the night that night I got arrested for alcohol
and weed because you went as hard as they thought
your mind. I really didn't. Actually, I was just riding

(13:02):
around with a friend. I was I was at a party.
I left the party. I hadn't been drinking. I don't
even think I did any I mean I was ready,
I was committed. I was like, I want to join
the army. Let's do this. And on my way out,
a friend goes, hey, I got these two beers. Uh
do you want them? And they were unopened, so all
we had to do was not open the beers. And
we get in the car. We're going to meet these

(13:23):
girls that live in a trailer park. And you know,
I thought, hey, let's be cool, right, let's open these
let's be drinking. When we get there because that's what
trailer park girls are into, you know, knowing they're gonna
have to take you to a couple of court dates.
And so we pulled up. Well, we're on our way,
and we get pulled over. And then I didn't know
what to do. So I stuffed the beer under the seat,

(13:43):
and so obviously it spills out. My buddy stuffs his
weed in the beer bottle, so now it's mine. So
I got arrested for consumption of alcohol and possession of marijuana.
I didn't even go that hard. No, I was ready.
I was like, I was ready. I was like, let's
do it. Do you have to call your recruiter and said, hey,
if you're gonna go hard, go hard tonight. But well
I went hard. I didn't even go that hard, and
I got busted. Well, I went in on Monday and

(14:05):
told them, and uh, they really tried to get me
out of it, tried to work around it. I was
so happy at that point. I was like, you know what,
I don't want to go now, and I didn't know what.
I was so confused. I was like, all I wanted
to do was travel around a bit. But this was
August two thousand one. So I would have been in
the arm in boot camp when September eleventh happened. So

(14:25):
I'm pumped. I'm pumped. I didn't go. Were you the
funny guy at the restaurant? Well, the restaurant was hard
because when I worked there at Western Zizen, I was
like the only male, and I was way younger. I
was like I was eighteen and everybody else was forty,
you know. So I mean I had some good times.
I mean I had some funny stuff, but I don't
know if the older women really liked me that much.

(14:47):
I think I was probably a punk kid. You weren't
the funny waiter. No. I worked later at a restaurant
called Hyman's and Charleston South called it's called hyman scuse yes, yeah,
Himan Seafood, which is actually it's located on the same
block as a restaurant called Sticky Fingers. And there used
to be another, uh store, they're called Loose Lucy's all
right there on the same block. And uh so the

(15:08):
red Light district of South Carolina. Yeah, and and I
had to people used to ask me. They would be like, uh,
are you one of the Hyman's Because it's owned by
a family with the last name him. They would are
you one of the Hyman's And I'm like yeah, because
they named me Dusty Hyman, you know, the oldest one.
And uh so, you know I worked at I worked
at that restaurant. I was funny then, I was having

(15:29):
a good time, but I was also a big drinker.
But did you ever think that there could be you
can monetize your creativity? Like when did that actually become
a thing where you go, maybe it ain't a lot
of money, but I can actually do this and maybe
pay the car insurance. Well I think it's like it
is that trailer park mentality right where you're like, ah,

(15:49):
you know, I like comedy, I'm funny, but I'm not
gonna be a comedian. I mean, let's be realistic. I'm
not gonna move to New York. I'm not gonna move
to l A. I'm not gonna be a comic. But
I moved to Charleston, South Carolina, and I, uh, I
went with a friend. We moved there together. He took
his girlfriend and then him and his girlfriend went off
and uh, you know, did their own thing, and I'm

(16:11):
so I'm alone. So I ended up taking this improv class,
improv comedy class, had no idea what it was, started
taking it. A buddy of mine was like, hey, you
should do some stand up. Do that country character that
you do, and uh, I was country or back then,
and I'm like, oh, yeah character, So I did. Uh.
Two thousand and four, I did my first stand up set.
I don't say that I started then because I did

(16:32):
it a little bit and then quit. But I wore
overalls and no shoes came out. It went pretty well.
But I was just doing real kind of hack jokes,
you know. I had a joke that I was doing,
like I would say my wife. I don't know if
I said wife or girlfriend obviously not married, but I
was like, my girlfriend so ugly. I take her with
me everywhere I go. Oh, I say, I take my
girlfriend with me everywhere I go. She's so ugly. I

(16:54):
don't want to have to kiss her goodbye, right, you know,
old hack jokes like that. But it went pretty well.
I could sell it, and then I was like that's great.
So then I start keep doing it, and then I
start bombing, and then I'm getting drunk all the time
and bombing, and I'm like, I gotta quit. So I quit.
I quit by two thousand five. I guess when you
take the improv class that were you that good that
you thought I should expand? No, I got talked into it.

(17:17):
I thought I was funny, but I got talked into it.
But were you good at improv? I was funny at improv?
I don't know that I was good, you know. I
think there is a difference in being good at improv
and being funny. I have some teachers they were they
were funny, but they were so good at creating a
scene and just creating this world that obviously didn't exist,
but you wouldn't know it if you were just listening

(17:37):
to them. Very funny. Uh, I could always be funny,
but I don't. I couldn't really set the scene. So
you hop on stage as a character from Heha basically yes,
and it's going all right until it doesn't go all
right anymore. Yeah. You know. Then I start, you know,
I start trying to write new jokes, and every joke
I'm just I just in my brain. I don't even
know how to write jokes. I'm just going too the

(17:59):
hackiest thing. And anytime I even try to tell stories
about my life, it's just like, it's all not funny.
So I'm like, I don't even know why I'm doing this.
So I quit. For about three years, I lived on
the beach. I was just drinking and partying and I
lived on Folly Beach and it was a great time,
wonderful time. But then in two thousand and eight, same
friend UH invited me out to do comedy again, and

(18:21):
I wrote this bit that I have on on one
of my albums called the Letters of the Alphabet or
the Alphabet Story. I don't know what it's called, but
it's about the alphabet, really weird, obscure kind of bit. Uh.
And it went great and it and it fueled me.
I had this, I had this feeling when I left
this is and I still get it to this day.
I mean, especially after that Tonight Show appearance. It all

(18:42):
comes back after doing the Grand Old Opera. It's there.
It's just like a buzz that you can't get with
anything else. And I was like, I want this all
the time. So then I then I you know, I
had a little more experience and I started being able
to write actual jokes. Do you feel that coming from
very little was actually an advantage when you get into
a field that makes very little at the very beginning. Absolutely.

(19:06):
I mean, I you know, I know what it's like
to not really have stuff and I don't care. You know.
It's like, I think success makes me happy in a
way of achievement, but all the other stuff, I mean,
it's nice. I mean, I bought a car this year.
Wasn't a big deal. I wasn't stressed about it. That's nice.
I've been in a play the car before that. I
bought the first tank gas I put in. I was like,

(19:28):
oh no, I didn't have a car for two years.
I rode a bike. And then uh so when I
put my first tank of gas, and I was like,
oh man, forty bucks every time. That's what we're gonna
be doing now. And and now it's like, yeah, I
mean it's uh you know, I'm not rich, but I
don't have the same problems that I used to have.
For me, that was the whole deal was I was
okay with being broke because I grew up broke, Like
I was able to chase a profession and not have

(19:53):
a lot because it didn't give a lot. And I
was okay with that because if you don't have a
well you don't know, right, is it was this easier
for me to to really dig in because I was
good at being poor, right, it's functioning. Yeah, I think
there's a freedom and being poor, right, And I always
thought it was a bad I always thought it was
such a bad thing. For a while, I was like,
woe is me? Until I realized it was like I

(20:13):
was like twenty eight or twenty nine years old, and
I'm like, the greatest thing that ever happened to me
was I came from nothing because I had nothing to lose. Yeah. Yeah,
I mean it's there's such a freedom in it where
it's like you don't really have to answer to anyone
because there's nothing you can lose. But at the same time,
there is those you know the same you know. I remember,
you know that whole joke of you know, just that

(20:36):
thing of what would you do for a million dollars? Right?
I remember sitting around with some friends just talking about
some things, and my one friend was like, oh, I
would never do any of those things. And I'm like,
and I had a boss at the time that was
really hard on me that I just I couldn't stand
the guy. And I thought, you know, what if that
meant never having to take anything from that guy again.
I'll give it up. I'd do that whatever it is

(20:56):
for a million dollars, you know. But now that I'm
at a different place where I have happiness in my job,
I'm like, no, I don't even I don't even want
a million dollars breakdown. You talk about writing a joke,
and you went from trying to write hockey stuff in
your opinion, hockey stuff too, you know, things that fulfill

(21:18):
you a little more. I think there's a real insight
to how people write their own jokes, Like your joke
writing process is what well, I think. I think it
changes all the time. I mean now it's a little different.
I mean, something can just happen to me, Uh, some
interaction can happen and it and it just all becomes

(21:39):
telling that funny interaction in a way that people will
be able to understand and that people will be able
to get and it and it can be just changing
little things, you know. Recently, I got to open for
the band Alabama in Iowa, and I'm a huge fan
of Alabama. So after my set, I went out into
the audience to watch. I mean I had never seen
them live it's amazing to me. And this lady comes

(22:00):
up to me and she goes, have you ever milked
a cow? And I said no, and she said do
you want to? And I said no. And then she said,
my husband's getting wild tonight and I need somebody to
help me milk the cows right, And I wasn't sure
if she meant sex, but I said no and I
regret it, and I was back at my hotel later
and I was like, I could be milking some cows

(22:21):
right now, but just I was just watching a set
that I did about two weeks ago, and I was
doing that exact same story, but it was just small
little things in there that I wasn't saying that. It
just comes through repetition. The more I say it, the
more I realized, Okay, they laughed at this, Let's let's
try that. It's just like a repeat of uh, have
you know It's like, have you ever milked a cow? No?

(22:43):
Do you want to? No? Like that always gets to
laugh from people now. But what I would say before,
have you ever milked a cow? But like, you know,
I grew up on a farm, but I never milked
a cow. And then she was like, do you want to,
and I was like, well, no, and that's not funny.
But somehow the no no is funny. And I would
say in you in know instead of actually saying the
word sex, which made it funnier. I'm not a dirty comic,

(23:05):
you know. I don't mind getting a little edgy, but
I don't want to go dirty, you know. So for me,
even saying the word sex is a little dirtier than
I go. But you know, but it's like some of
my earlier jokes, it was like, all right, let's let's
think of this story. One of my first ones I
wrote was about getting pulled over. Uh that time me
and my friend you know, was drinking, and it's like

(23:28):
it had it felt like it had to be this
big thing. It had to be this big thing that happened.
I went to jail, I got arrested, and that's a
story worth telling. Whereas the ladies saying do you want
to milk some cows? Not that big of a deal.
But it's all about the wording. I don't know if
that answers the question, but it's like, uh, this weekend,
I got I gotta I was at this elevator and
we were on the fourth floor. There was nowhere to

(23:49):
go up. This is the tallest you could get. We
both got in the elevator. He was with his girlfriend
and he was like what floor. I said one, So
we hit one. He hit two and he is you're
going down, We're going up. I was like okay, and
it was so weird. I just let it pass right.
But then the he said, but we'll just ride with
you anyway. I was like okay, and then it opens

(24:10):
it too and he goes, well, I guess we stole
it from you. I'm like, what floor did you think
we were on? You know, we're on the one and
a half floor. But it's things like that that happens
to me, and then I just uh, Then I just
figure out the right wording. And then oftentimes it's like,
you know, I've heard it said you don't let facts
ruin a good story, right, So if it's not funny,

(24:33):
then you make up a little something and it's a
repetition and missing. Yes, absolutely. I mean I listened to
your podcast with John Chris today and I just heard
you talk about that that so much of it is
about failure, and it's like you fail. I fail all
the time at comedy and it is me going back
in and saying I'm gonna keep trying that, or I'm

(24:54):
gonna keep doing that. That makes me successful because I
get better at it. I figure out how to do it.
When you're in South Carolina and you go, Okay, I'm
gonna do this. You get an old beater car, drive
around all around the country or way, well, I bought
a Uh I ended up. I saved what I What
happened to me was I used to sell pesticides for
a living. So I was driving everywhere I was Yeah,

(25:15):
so pesticides to lows and home depot and uh so
I was driving a old sale Oh yeah, that's hardcore.
You got in deep. Well, I was driving. I would
drive to the store and talked that I'd build displays
and and and talk to them about you know, doing
this and that normally getting rejected all the time, and
that that's interesting to me because that was a job
I wasn't interested in. So the rejection was harder for

(25:37):
me because it wasn't something I was willing to fight for.
But sending a veils to a comedy club every month,
being like, will you book me wasn't that big of
a deal to me because I'm like, I want to
get booked here. If if they don't build an extra
pesticide display for me, I don't really care that I
want to work this club. So I had. I had
that job, and I wrecked a few times and I

(25:57):
had a lot of speed and ticket so my insurance
was really in pensive and I couldn't figure out how
to quit the job because I was like, I gotta
pay for this car and I had really expensive insurance.
So the trade off what I quit drinking, I quit
smoking cigarettes. So that was a huge expense out of
my life. And then I was like, if I sell
the car, I don't even need the job. So that's
what I did. I sold the car, quit drinking, quit

(26:19):
smoking cigarettes, just went back to very basics of life.
Had a bike and then I just saved up money.
So in two thousand fourteen, when I bought a car,
I bought a Volvo, but I bought used Volvo a
hundred thousand miles and I put an extra two hundred
seventeen thousand miles on the car. So I put three
D seventeen on it. And the day I traded it in,
I pulled in and my car is just leaking all

(26:41):
this stuff out of the bottom. And I was like,
now it's time, And what do they give me for
a trade in for a three hundred thousand mile Basically
they gave me like, uh, you know whatever. I would
have tried to negotiate. I'm no negotiator, right, So I
was like, hey, how about the car you knock off
a thousand bucks? They were like, okay, perfect, which they
are probably knocked off anyway, but they were like, all right,

(27:02):
this is you. Ever play a room that's so not
full it's uncomfortable? Oh so many times. I actually, after
I did Jimmy Kimmel, I thought my whole life was
gonna change, right. I thought, Oh, I'm gonna be setlling
out every room I do now. So I had these credits.
You know, I did Last Comic Standing in two thousand fifteen.

(27:23):
I didn't make it very far, but enough far enough
to use it as a credit. So people would bring
me up to stage as the headline or there will
be twelve people in the audience and they're like, you've
seen him one Last Comic Standing, You've seen him on
Jimmy Kimmel, Alive here he is Dusty Sleigh. So I
would come up and I would go, yes, I'm very famous,
And that's what I would do all the time to
kind of break that tension. I would go in very famous,

(27:45):
very rich, and it would break the tension. And I
think work in those small rooms like that really helped me.
Work in small rooms, working big rooms, I mean it
all helps you to shape you to be the best
comic who can be. Because you know, Saturday night early
show at Zany's, people in the room, you gotta be

(28:06):
you gotta be not doing well two not have a
good show, you know, but twelve people, you're like, that's hard.
It's hard to get in there and connect with him
because that audience is probably thinking, well, this is a
bad show. We shouldn't have came to see this guy.
And with a few people, there's not much to feed
off of with each other, right, Like bigger rooms, listen,
if you can get them, they're easier to to have

(28:29):
them kind of reproduce laughter within themselves. Yes, like they
want to laugh, and that many people that want to
laugh will kind of spread it around, something like a
virus in the room. Um. Absolutely, and and something about
the room being dark or being hidden. Uh, you can
laugh like, if there's twelve people in the room, it's
well lit up front, throw all up front with the
lighting of the stages. You don't want to be the

(28:51):
one guy laughing. Uh. One of my friends of the
comedian Nikki Glazer, and she talks about going on Jay
Leno back in the day and going up. My life's changed.
I'm after the show boom and nothing. Oh yeah. She
goes to which like maybe you saw me on Like
what what you pickles? Like, oh yeah, I know, I know.
That's the weirdest thing. It's like if somebody is like

(29:13):
I've seen you somewhere and I'm like Jimmy Kimmel and
they're like, no, I think you used to work at
a Low's. Okay, yeah, that's probably it, you know. But
the Tonight Show the first time, I mean that show,
that set went really well, That set went the way
that I wanted it to go, and that essentially changed
my life. I mean it was a chain of events
that happened. But yeah, I mean that changed my whole career.

(29:35):
How did you get on that show? What chain of
events are referring to? Well, I did in two thousand seventeen,
I did the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland, Oregon, and
through that I got an audition for Just for Laughs
the Comedy the Comedy Festival in Montreal, and uh, they
wanted me to do Unwrapped, but I had a manager
at the time, so I couldn't do Unwrapped. So they

(29:57):
were like, all right, you can audition for REP. They
have those two showcases, and so I did that showcase.
I didn't get it, but the booker for Jimmy Kimmel
was there, so that's how I got that booking. But
I got to meet Jeff Singer from JFL. So then
in two thousand eighteen, I do the Laughing Skull Festival
in Atlanta and Jeff Singer is there and Michael Cox,

(30:18):
who books the Tonight Show, both there. I had a
killer set. They both saw it, and Jeff Singer starts
talking to me again, and you know, kind of just
you know, talking to me a bit, and I get
the impression that if I were you know, unrapped, that
I might be able to get JFL unwrapped, and which yes,

(30:39):
and and then Michael Cox talked to me and he's like,
I'd love to have you on the show. Why don't
you send me a tape. So I start sending tapes
back and forth with him. I go through some things.
I come out unwrapped. I dropped the management that I had.
I thought, you know what, it's not gonna hurt me.
I got Jimmy Kimmel on my own. It's not gonna
hurt me to be without a manager. Even if nothing happens,

(31:00):
I'll be fine. And so, you know, once I let
Jeff Singer know that I was officially unwrapped, you know,
a few weeks went by and I ended up getting JFL,
which was great. I got just for laughs, unwrapped new faces,
so pumped, and you know, I was still communicating with
Michael Cox a little bit, but it had kind of
died off. And then my set at JFL went so well.

(31:23):
It was like, I mean, it was all that I
wanted it to be. I was like, I mean, I'm
worried that I'm gonna be in Montreal and everybody speaks French.
No one's gonna get my jokes, no one's gonna know
what the home depot is, and it just crushed. I'm
doing a wave joke, I'm getting applause breaks for waving
at people and it's amazing. And then Michael Cox calls
me like two days later says, you want to do

(31:43):
the Tonight Show in two weeks, And I said yes,
and so we got a set together and I'm two
weeks later, I'm on the Tonight Show. After that show finished,
you feel like it was a little different than when
you want on Kimmel. Yeah, I felt great on both.
But I have a bunch of friends that live in
New York. So after after I did it, they came
and after I did it, we all went to a bar.

(32:04):
We all went to a cigar shop and then out
to a bar and watched me on the Tonight Show.
A lot of friends that I started with in Charleston
we watched me on the Tonight Show and it just
and then my phone just blew up like never before.
I was hearing from family members and friends and it
was amazing. And uh, yeah, I couldn't sleep. I only
I only had like four hours, so I had to

(32:25):
be on a plane anyway, but I couldn't sleep. I
just I felt amazing. There's a picture of you. It
was on your Instagram of you Leno Foxworthy. Uh the Tennessee. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
you're you're all the is that the opery? So what
was behind that picture? What's the story there? Well, I
got I just got invited to see. I mean, I'm

(32:47):
a huge Jeff Foxworthy fan, always have been. When I
was in middle school, I was living in a trailer
park when his you Might be a Redneck came out
and I was like, oh, this guy is speaking to me,
Like he had us walking around school saying yount too,
and I like we weren't already saying it, you know.
And uh so, yeah, I mean his agent. I had
met his agent at the Nashville Comedy Festival and we

(33:10):
we talked with with him and my manager and uh yeah,
he invited me just to the opera to see that,
and I was like, that's amazing. And then I get
there and Nate had just had his Netflix special come out,
so they were very interested in Nate. But uh, you know,
I ended up getting to talk to Jeff Foxworthy quite
a bit and I did an interview with him earlier

(33:30):
this year. It hasn't come out, but you know, and
just very exciting for me im and I've always been
a big fan. So how is it with you and Nate?
You guys both live here Ish Nate was already uh
popular before I moved here. I moved here in two
thousand and fourteen. The first open mic I did, Nate
was there and I was already a fan of him.
I was listening to his first album a lot. And yeah,

(33:51):
I mean Nate spent a lot of help to me. Nate.
We don't hang out a ton, but he's such a
great dude. And any Nate seems to pop up anytime
there is a import decision for me to make, and
he just and he's there good advice. It's like he's
a step ahead of me all way. Well I hope,
I hope that I'm always kind of following behind what
Nate does. But yeah, and uh so he's like always

(34:13):
like I've been there, done that. So he's always a
lot of help. What's with the show? Did you are? You?
You're taking a show? Like developing a show? Well, I
sold a development deal to ABC last year about growing
up in a trailer park and uh that's a uh
in my first outing, I had never been to ABC studios,
but they saw me at JFL too, and they liked it.
One of the guys from JFL was like, Hey, I

(34:34):
grew up like that too, or one of the guys
from ABC, and it's it's awesome, and so we sold this.
I don't think it's gonna get made, but I got
a couple of other things in the works right now.
I don't think it's gonna happen. It's sound like me
when I talk about these shows. I'm like, no show
ever makes it. That's what I say, No show ever
makes it. Occasionally want to creep through, but I'm just
gonna keep shooting shots until one does. Yeah, it's funny
you say that. So you don't think that will get

(34:55):
made because why that You don't think the passions behind
it right now? But behind the right with the right people. Well,
I well, I think a lot of things happen. Like
one thing happened that like the head of ABC or
whatever that department left mid production of our mid script writing.
But it was like, you know, I've never been through
this before, So I'm paired up with a writer. We
would write a little something and then we would get

(35:15):
notes and they would go, we love it, we love it.
Change this, change this, and we go okay, great, and
then we would change those things. Have another call and
they will be like, oh, we love it. Maybe change this,
maybe change that, and then would have another we love it.
And then one day I'm at a Longhorn Steakhouse in Eerie,
Pennsylvania about to eat a steak and I get a
call and they're like, Okay, we're not gonna do it.

(35:37):
But they didn't say the project is dead. They said,
you know, we're not gonna go this round. We're gonna
try to sell it to some other people. I just
think that's why I think it's not gonna happen. But
I have some other ideas I got. I got a
couple of things that I'm working on. Nothing official yet,
but it seems really good. Potentially a cartoon, which I
would be I would love that. Are you always writing? Yeah?

(35:59):
I right all the time. I mean, I'm right, you
know I'm writing. I I like to do, you know,
YouTube videos my my top five country songs. So I
was really interested in your podcast about the songs that
people think means something, that means something else. I was.
I was pretty disappointed to find out that Phil Collins,
it doesn't mean any, means nothing, means nothing. I wonder
if he just was like, you know what, I'm tired

(36:20):
of people. I'm just gonna say it means nothing. I'm
tired of telling the story about the guy watching the
guy drowned. It bums me up. Man. I was living
in a trailer part for the second time, and me
and some friends went to Atlanta and we're at a
hard rock cafe. This is in the when you know,
hard rock cafe is still doing well here, but uh,
it used to be like a huge everybody had those shirts.
And Uh, this guy in the kitchen as that big

(36:41):
drum solo comes, he bangs on the side of the
stove or whatever, and I was like, it's just the
coolest memory for me. I was like, that's amazing. I
always loved that song anyway, But uh, what did we say?
What made me say? Oh? Oh? Writing? So I write
these episodes out for my for my YouTube, and I've
been right. I've been doing a whole series on my
podcast about how to become a comic from you know,

(37:04):
you're sitting on the couch basically to becoming a headliner.
And so I've been writing those out and now I'm
writing writing a couple of different scripts. Uh, and I'm
writing jokes all the time. So I feel I feel
more creative than ever. And I'm just I'm so happy
to be doing what I'm doing and I'm actually, uh
finally making money, which is nice too because I've been

(37:26):
doing a lot of these shows for twelve people, no
real money, driving for eight hours to get there. I
was watching um on Netflix that a special, not not
a Netflix special, but that had a show I remember
what it was where they would drive all the way
across the country and it would show all these comics
like my Humber that special. They would drive all the

(37:47):
way across the country to do fifteen minutes and make
no money. It was like a documentary on struggling comics.
It's been a while. I've you seen that one? Oh?
I haven't. I'd love to live that one. Oh, I've
lived that one for sure. But the great thing for
me is is I lived in Charleston for six years, uh,
and I got to get all those kinks of not
being a good comic out of me before anybody in
the club ever saw me. And now I'm like, you know,

(38:09):
I I had a pretty high success rate. Or I
could go to a club, I say, hey, uh, let
me come up there, let me do five minutes. Once
you see me, you'll book me. And only one club
did I not do that do well at and it
was a club I showed up. There's four people in
the audience for five minutes. I never made them crack
a smile, and I was like, all right, well, I
still want to get booked here, but I can see

(38:29):
why you wouldn't want to. So you're writing a lot
of stuff. Do you ever write for other comics? Well,
I have this real thing. My wife says that that
I think that no one likes my ideas, but I
always Uh. That's why stand up has always worked so
well for me. I don't have to run my idea
by anybody. I don't have to have anybody think it's funny.
I just go try it, and then if it's not funny,

(38:50):
I adjust. I make it funny. But I try to
write jokes for people. They don't think it's funny, they
won't try it. I've had so many comics for a
long time. My my my real passion was to try
to take a terrible comic that I saw it an
open mic and make them funny. All I wanted them
to do was have one five minutes set, but all
would end up happening was they would do my joke

(39:12):
one time, it would get better laughs than any other
joke they ever did, and then they would differ back
to their old jokes, and then they would just stop
telling the joke, and then they would resent me. Happened
every time. I don't know why most comics I tried
to make funny end up hating me. That's a funny docuseries,
even on YouTube, find somebody that sucks and they're a
part of it, and you're right and developed them as

(39:33):
a comedian and it watches them grow. But you gotta
find someone that's okay with them being the sucky comic
right then using your material. I mean, that's that's my passion.
My passion is to make bad comics good a comedy.
I was reading your twitter. This is your most retweeted tweet.
You know it about people saying I'm not country as
they thought i'd be. This is what you wrote. Somebody

(39:54):
told me tonight that I wasn't as country as they
thought i'd be. I felt birth a cow with my hands,
I've bailed ay and I know how to drive tractor.
I don't know how country that they thought i'd be. Yeah,
I don't know. I mean, I think it's the accent, right,
I mean, I've just lived all over my wife's Canadian.
We're we're ruining each other's accents. I'm becoming more Canadian,
she's becoming more Southern like, and I don't know. I mean,

(40:15):
it's just not there. I don't say y'all a lot.
I used to, Uh, but I don't know what's happening. Words.
My wife is a big reader, and she's always trying
to teach me words. And I'm like, I wish that
I was more Southern, right, more I had more of
a Southern accent. But I don't know. I'm not gonna
fake it, you know, it comes out sometimes. But yeah,
I mean, my my parents got divorced when I was two,

(40:35):
and my I always say there was a custody about
my mom lost, so I had to go live with
her and uh, but she lived in a trailer part.
My dad still lives on a farm. So I've done
all the farming things. I mean, I've drove, I've raked
hay on one tractor while my dad's on the other
tractor bailing hey, yelling at me from across the field,
and I know he's mad by the way he's waving

(40:56):
his hands. I don't know what I've done, but once
we get together, I'll be in trouble. And I bailed. Hey,
I picked up little square bales. I had to birthday cow.
I had to stick my arm inside of a cow
and reach for things, you know, and try to pull
another cow out of it. That country, yeah, you look country. Yeah.
But people they just I don't know what they think

(41:16):
I'm gonna do. You. Uh, you've been I guess the
full time comics is what? Yeah, two thousand fourteen, I
went back to the pesticide job for about four months
and then it was a seasonal job. And I said,
when this ends, I'm going full time. And when did
you meet your wife? I met her in two thousand
thirteen in New York City. So she's not someone that

(41:38):
I saw you just killing it at comedy been like,
that's my dude. Well, we were doing open mics in
New York. She does comedy too. Yeah, she's kind of
semi retired now. The more money I make the less
the more she hates traveling, you know. And uh, but
she uh we met we were both doing open mics.
I was visiting from Charleston. She was visiting from Canada
and I was doing pretty well. But no, I mean

(42:00):
the time she saw me again in two thousand, I think, uh,
I was doing much better. Your mount rushmore of funny
people now not comics. They can be comics if you want.
But your mount rushmore of funny people, well, I would
say John Candy would go there first. If we're not
talking stand up comic, that they don't have to be

(42:20):
stand up comics. John Candy. Uncle Buck is like the
greatest movie too. I mean, you know, it's a little cheesy.
It's a John Hughes film, but I love John Candy.
I'm so sad that he died because I like what
he does. I would say Jeff Foxworthy definitely goes up
there for me is a comic. Uh. Steve Martin, I
love the Let's Get Small album. I just tore that

(42:41):
album up. I loved it, loved it, and I think
if I had to put a fourth person, and it
could be any funny person, I go David's bait. Uh,
Joe Dirt does it for me. We were doing this
backstage one of my shows this past weekend. Steve Martin
is online too for just simply from we were talking

(43:01):
about because I did this bit, which it's only time
to be only okay, I hadn't, I've never done it before.
And so I'm standing up and I've got my guitar
and I was like, Oh, I'm gonna sing this song.
It's a real emotional song and these lyrics Ruined mean
a lot to me. And they bring out a stool
and then I sit down on the stool, but the
mic is still at standing distance and I'm singing the
song with no microphone, right, So I'm just singing it

(43:22):
forward and people can't hear me because the microphones. And
it's such a Steve Martin inspired idea, so I just
sit on the stone. I'm like, but I'm playing the
guard guitar, so you can't hear anything I'm saying. After
I set it up and I finished, and I was like, oh,
that's that's completely Steve Martin influenced. Every part of that
bit was me watching Steve Martin do stadium shows with
a dime you want, I'm not gonna do a magic
trick where people are up in the section g not

(43:45):
seeing the dime, but that was part of the humor.
Um so Steve Martin's and we say Steve Martin, and
I've read Born Standing Up like ten times. Well, he's
so great. I mean the Let's Get Small album. I
always wish that I could see that because I could.
I can't find it anything on it. I've only heard
the audio. But it's like there's some physical things he's
doing that I can only imagine because the laughter, Yeah,

(44:07):
that's happening. I just love he's He's about ten minutes
in and he goes, all right, let's get started. I've
been stalling. I've been waiting for the drugs to kick in.
And it's just I do that sometimes if my show
is not going well. After a little while, I'll go,
all right, let's get started, let's get into it. And
he's so good. Instead of a last meal, you're given
a last song, right, It's it's the one that you

(44:29):
go out on. What is it man? The last song? Ah?
Oh wow? Uh? You know what. I don't want to
be too stereotypical of my own self here, but I
might go, like I Hank Junior country Boy can't Survive.
I always like that song, and I don't listen to
it that much anymore because I've burned it up. But

(44:50):
I don't know, I always loved it. And what a
good way to go out. You're about to die. God,
I love it. Oh yeah, I mean I still am.
I mean, I don't know. Uh, you know, I always
like to separate people from from music. I mean, I
don't know much about him personally, but sometimes I hear

(45:12):
stuff about him and I'm like, he doesn't seem like
a nice guy, but I love his music. I love it. Yeah,
there are a lot of those he has from the
thing about him is he has such a big catalog
that outside of the popular songs that everybody knows he has,
has so many great songs. I just keep thanks to Spotify.

(45:34):
I just I just tear him up. What is the
dumbest thing that you hear people say about your profession? Oh? Well,
oh man, well I can tell you this. This was
said to a friend of mine, and uh, I don't,
I don't. He said he missed my friend Aron Webber.
He opens for John Chris quite a bit, and he
was on the and the guy was like, when are

(45:55):
you guys gonna be coming back here? And he was like,
I don't know, you know, we gotta get some you know,
we gotta write some new joke and stuff like that,
and he goes, oh, don't tell me that scripted. He
thinks you're just add living time. I mean, just stuff
like that where people want you to tell jokes, just like, hey,
tell me a joke. It's like, you know, there's a
whole thing that goes into it. There's a stage, there's lighting,
their seats, there's an audience, you're in a setting. I mean,

(46:17):
all these jokes are funnier when I'm in that environment.
For me to just tell you that on the street,
all what's gonna happen is I'm gonna tell you the joke.
You're not gonna think it's that funny, and then you're
gonna go that guy's not funny. Do you have people,
because this happens to me a bit, where they're like, hey,
will you come to jokes like tomorrow nine we get
this event, specific jokes about this event because they just
think you can just write jokes like this, And they

(46:40):
also don't understand that you almost you have to test
them somewhere to really feel confident about them. Otherwise you're
just blindly swinging. Yeah. I mean, I've tried to do
that for events, Like I'll be doing an event, I'm like,
all right, I'm gonna trying to write some jokes just
for the event, and then I go out and do
them and sometimes they bomb and I'm like, oh, I've
just started this whole set by bombing when I could
have just went with jokes that I know are good,

(47:01):
you know. And it's like, but I think the more
that you do comedy, the more you can. Like I
just did a week of shows for the company's sheets.
The it's like a it's like a gas station restaurant
type thing. I know what we travel around. You can
order food at the gas station at two am. You yeah,
you know, like a taco and uh from the little screen. Yeah,
And and it's great. And it's like I did three shows,

(47:23):
one Monday, one Wednesday, one Friday, and by Friday I
had my sheets jokes down like they were I didn't
have many, but I had them down. Monday. They were shaky,
they didn't work Friday. They were great because it's my
third time saying them. You know, do you you still drink?
I don't drink. I haven't drank since two thousand because well,
you know, I never liked the expression once an alcoholic

(47:46):
always an alcoholic, because I feel like if I'm not drinking,
I'm not an alcoholic, right, Uh, I only have a
problem if I start drinking again. But I'd like to party.
I mean, there was no sad story for me. I'd
like partying. And when I get a little alcohol in
my system, I'm ready to party and I don't stop
until I my body forces me to stop. Are you
completely straight edge? Now? I'd like to say I'm dry?

(48:09):
You know what I mean? I mean, you know, I mean, no,
I don't. I don't really feel like I abuse anything,
but I uh, you know, I I definitely don't drink.
I haven't had. I had actually was in a church
one time and I had uh communion wine. And every
church I had ever been to it was grape juice.
And this was a This was a hefty, little little

(48:30):
shot of wine that I took and I felt it
run down my throat, and I thought, is this gonna
break me? I could see myself already at brunch having drinks.
I mean, anytime I think about drinking, I think, you
know what I'm It's been seven years. I could probably
have a beer now and be fine, And then I've
already imagining myself drinking every day at every opportunity, so

(48:51):
I can't do it. Your podcast is called We're having
a good time. Yes, tell me what the podcast is? Well,
the podcast, I mean initially it started off because I
was like, you know, I I go to a place
and do comedy and then I'm not back there for
another year. I was like, let me have a way
for people to stay in touch with me, to listen
to me. So I was like, well, we're gonna talk
about some fun conspiracies, bigfoot locked nests, but you run

(49:14):
out of those pretty quick. And then I was like, well,
I'll just tell stories stuff that I can't make funny
on stage. And then I'm like, well I ran out
of those pretty quick. So we we started to teeter.
We were like we were just me and my wife
were just sitting there. We were like, we don't even
know what we're talking about. So that's when I decided
to start this series on helping people become comics, right.

(49:35):
And I think it's a nice insight to my story
because it's all about from my perspective because I did
all of these things from Nashville. I don't know and
I'm not trying to put myself on any kind of pedestal.
But I don't know of any other comic who's gotten
you know, three late nights two in one year while
living in a city like Nashville. Nashville is incredible, and
that's why I want to live here. But everybody that

(49:57):
gets those things either lives in or has lived in
New York or l A or Chicago, and I never have.
So it feels good. So I'm trying to share my
story with people and what I did while living in
a city that's not considered one of the Big Three,
and that's called we're having a good time. That that
same point, So did you do all of this on

(50:17):
that podcast? Is it morphing? As you listen where it
starts out and you're talking about you know, UFOs, and
then it goes to yes, okay, but season one is
us figuring it out. Season two is where we start
with the with the new stuff. Season two were okay,
we're getting started now. Yeah, I mean season one starts off,
we just the you know, first twenty episodes probably as

(50:38):
us cutting on the on the microphones and just talking
bye bye, you know, probably twenty we're adding in bumpers,
we've got sounds, We've got sound effects. A guy named
Joe Denham wrote a theme song for me and uh,
so now I feel like it's great. And my friend
Matt Price wrote a bunch of bumpers for us, so
we got uh. I don't know it's I think it's

(50:59):
a great podcast as even if you don't want to
do comedy for me, I just want people like like
knowing where I came from. I just want people to
live better lives. And I feel like people can get
so caught up in mind sets where they're like, uh,
you know, I'll never be able to do this, or
I'll never be able to do this. I'm trying to
give simple steps on how you can live a better life,

(51:20):
but through comedy, but also just be positive people. You know.
It's like people can get so caught up with things
going on in the world that they get real negative.
And that's what my comedy is all about. That's why
I like to say we're having a good time because
I don't want to talk about anything serious. I'm just
out here trying to trying to make jokes like if
you've got this going on in your life or this
going on you come to my show for for thirty

(51:42):
minutes to an hour, you can just kick back and
forget all those problems. You don't get political. I don't
get political. I don't. I've decided a long time ago
that I didn't even want to make fun of people.
If I'm making some front of someone in a story,
it's that specific person. Uh. But it's like, you know,
I used to make I used to be a little
overweight when I was drinking right, and that I would

(52:03):
make fat jokes. But now I'm like, you know what,
if a fat person comes to my show, I don't
want them to leave feeling bad about themselves. I want
them to be happy too, So I don't write those jokes. Either.
Where you're from an Alabama is that more Auburn country
or Tiede country. Well, I'm from uh town called Opalika
and uh which is right next to Auburn, So they're

(52:24):
Auburn fans. Where I could what I what I like
to say where I come from, you're either an Alabama
fan or you went to college. And then I said,
but I didn't go to college, so roll tide, you know,
and uh, but yeah, my dad's a dieheart Alabama fan.
My My mom's a Diehart Auburn fan, and your wife's Canadian.
My wife's Canadian. The whole culture has got to be
new to her. Oh yeah, she could care less, but
she's been down I mean, gun culture, all that stuff

(52:46):
is pretty new to her. Actually, we once my mom,
I was living in a house. It was her that
lived there. Two of my nephews and my sister and
my brother in law all lived in one house. It
wasn't a five bedroom house. It was uncomfortab bowl and
I was down there. We were hanging out and uh,
my wife was like, do you guys have any guns?
Like She's like, I don't see a lot of guns.

(53:07):
And then guns started coming out of I mean like,
I grew up around guns. I'm comfortable with them. But
I was like, I didn't know you guys had this
many guns. Even my one nephew is bringing out all
these swords. I was like, what's going on around here? Uh?
Some of your dates coming up? You have, uh your
Zanies and Nashville, ont levent you're doing. I mean I
could read off in these places, um Colorado and uh

(53:28):
Green Village, Colorado, you're doing, Boulder, You're doing the funny
Bone Comedy Club in Albany, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Stress Factory, A
couple of nights September, Nashville, Tippy Arizona, West, Palm Beach,
Um and you're doing You're doing the Grand of Opera
in Nashville and in the twenty ninth October. That's cool
to operas, finn Huh. I love the operation. Some of
those dates on the opery, I don't know. I just

(53:49):
was told that they sent me a bunch of dates
and then they're like, oh, some of them may not work.
You haven't got them confirmed, so I don't know they
I thought they were, but then I was like, oh,
maybe I got a little quick. I jumped the gun.
But I've done the opery six times I think now,
and I love it. I mean, is it the first
time you did it? Were you able to actually separate
the people in the audience or was it kind of
a blur the first time? For sure? A blur. I

(54:10):
mean for sure. I was like, my my dad was
there and his buddy, and I'm like, well, it's funny,
like I always there's metal detectors to get in right,
and me my friend Aaron Webber from Alabama, my dad
and his buddy all from Alabama. We come up. I
couldn't get it. I had to go back to my
car put my pocket knife back in the car. Aaron
had to go back put his pocket knife back in

(54:30):
the car. My dad was being walked in by my
agent at the time, and uh, he had to My
dad had a knife on him and his buddy had
two knives. So they all we all had to go
back to our car to get rid of our knives.
But the my dad's in the audience and I'm like, man,
I really want and his friends there and they're staying
with me. I'm like, if this doesn't go well, it's
gonna be an awkward night. And and then I'm like, oh,

(54:53):
my management was in town. Agents. I mean, I had
this big crew. I'm not used to having a crew.
I'm getting more used to it now, but for so
long it was just me, and yeah, it was a
total blur. I mean, they had me doing the grand
old Opery Instagram live and I'm like, I don't even
do what I mean. I I love social media, but
I'm not great at it. I'm getting better. I write
funny stuff, I have funny content, but doing live things,

(55:16):
I don't know what I'm doing. And they haven't done
that with me since. So how did you did they?
You do you have a handheld micros? You use the mic,
the opery stick mic U the opery stick mind. Well,
I didn't know. You didn't say handheld yeah, handheld? Yeah, yeah,
I don't. I can't do it without a mic. I mean,
for me, it's like even just talking here and having
a the mic like this, I don't know what to

(55:38):
do with my hands. You know, at least I hold
the mike with one hand and then I waved with
the other and then I can't get by. For I,
I've always struggled with that. I used to, uh put
my hand on the mic stand and then I was
like I was just massaging the mic stand and I
was like I had to get rid of that, and
then I would put my hands in my pockets and
then that looked weird, and then I didn't know what
to do with my hand. A wave joke open that up?

(56:03):
Changed everything. Do we have the wave of joke mike? Okay? Uh,
don't run the joke. Save the joke? Okay, great, because
I think a lot of people are gonna come out
and and and check you out. And it is a
funny joke, so we'll just we'll hold that one back. Yeah, well, okay, great,
and I got uh and at least with the hat,
we've played that but they didn't see it, right, So
that's great. But I don't want to I don't want
to kill too much. And you've already done this stuff too, right, Yeah,

(56:25):
I have so much stuff on YouTube now that is,
I have twenty minutes I did a to uh to
Tonight shows and and a Comedy Central thing and a
Jimmy Kimmel So I'm like, I got twenty minutes of
my favorite jokes online. But the uh, I got four
shows in Colorado that I'm about to go do several
several cities, and those those dates are all up today.

(56:45):
It's only the opera ones that I'm a little I'm
not sure about. Yeah, the operation get and I love
the opera. I love playing the operation. Like what days
can you do when you send it off? Like, okay,
we'll let you know. Yeah, which ones of these that
you said? And uh, it's it's great. And Stally he
used to run the reads, a big fan of yours. Yeah,
she's great. Yeah, and she was she was like, Dusty's
killing He's awesome. You gotta see him. That's how the

(57:05):
first had heard about you, with Sally being like, he's
gonna play the Opery's awesome. Well, Sally's great. I was
so sad I was there on her last night, I think,
and uh yeah, so sad to see her go because
I've just really gotten to know her. Uh and it's great.
But Dan is great too, and uh so I think
he took her place, and so uh yeah, I mean,

(57:26):
but it's like the Opry for me. I mean, it's
like when I went home that night, like I met
John Conley. I've been I'm a huge John Conley fan,
and I he's saying rose, yeah, yes he did, And
then I missed he did first the next time I
was there, and he did Backside of thirty, which is
the song that I really like. But I walk in
and I hear him singing that, and I was like, dang,
I missed it. But uh, I mean I just couldn't stop.

(57:49):
I mean, I felt so good. I went home. I
just listened to country music all night. I just couldn't
And I met I've met Charlie Daniels up there. Charlie Pride,
Trace Atkins. It's amazing and every it's still available backstage,
like I've made some good buds back there, just in
the backstage of the opery Um. Kicks Brooks is one
of the first guys that it was like it just

(58:09):
came into the dress room because generally leave the door
open unless you're doing something changing or you're really needing
to remember and zone it on something. He keeps it
or open and everybody back to it just goes in
everybody's room if they want to remember Kicks Brooks of
Brooks and Dune coming in my room be like, boy,
how are you doing? And I was like it was
before the first time I played the Operrey and I
was like, uh, you know, I'm a little nervous. And
he was like, I've like the opportune hundred times. It's

(58:31):
like it's gonna be great. I just remember thinking it's
freaking Brooks and Done Kicks Brooks from Brooks and Done
hanging out of my room. It was really it was
really great. They put me in the Taylor Swift New
Artists Room. The first time you go in and it's
got the big quote, I guess it's just the new
artist room. But Taylor's quotes the real big one above
the door. It's a real cool experience. Yeah, I love it. Yeah,
I've been in that room and now they put me
in the Funny Funny with all the comedians from the

(58:51):
opera up. Yeah, it's so great and it's like, you know,
and I've I've gotten. I did Nashville Squares, which was
the reboot of Hollywood Squares, but hm in l A.
I thought it would be filmed in Nashville. But I
did that and like, uh, Dina Carter was on that.
You know, I grew up listening to Strawberry Wine. Bob
Saggett was the host. All of these things that's been
happening for me are very surreal. But I feel like

(59:13):
that when you when you really work your way up, Uh,
you feel like that you belong, you know, even when
you're around these famous people. You're like, yeah, but I
worked for this, I learned this. I didn't just get
this happenstance. So you feel good, Well, how much I
got the podcast? Already A fan of your work, I
didn't know about the podcast until now. I'm gonna go
learn how to be a freaking comedian. I think that's

(59:34):
the goal. Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, uh well, I
would love to have you anytime. I know that you
said that you don't do clubs, but any I do.
I'm not good enough to do clubs. Well, I do
a monthly show. I do. I do theaters because again
for the same reason we talked about big crowds, they
can feed off each other. I need I need the
laughter of two thousand people, yes, as I don't have
the balls to walk in and do eighty people. Yeah. Well,

(59:56):
and it's also my people to come into a show, right,
And there's a big difference, as you know, that's true,
having to impress people that have no idea what they're
walking into. All right, funny guys make me laugh, or
people that are fans coming I'm going to see Dusty Slade.
There's a difference. Well, I'm still waiting on those. I
got a few. I got a few cities where I
have that in And uh I, I had heard at
the beginning of you said you looked at John Chris

(01:00:16):
Followers and you you judge all self worth by uh
by fas, I hope he didn't look at my instagrat.
We judge all we are are followers. Kid, I'm kidding, no,
I I mean I love the climb And like I say,
I know that you're probably not gonna come, but open
invitation any of my shows. You're welcome any time to watch,

(01:00:36):
to watch, or or to come up. Either way. All right, listen,
we we've done an hour. I appreciate you coming over,
thank you, thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.
Big fan told you that, though awkwardly, when we wrote
that show together, I was like, hey, dude, you don't
know who I am. I'm a big fan. And you
were like, all right, well leave me alone. And I
was like, all right, just so you know I'm a
big fan. I was like, you coming over to my

(01:00:57):
house and had said nothing about the podcast. I was
just like, you're coming over to my house and you're like,
all right, I'll see I'll see you. Then, guy, well
I heard you had a pool, so I'm in alright.
Dusty Slay episode at Dusty Slay on Instagram and Twitter. Uh,
follow them, google them, check out some clips and go
see a live show if you can. And get are
those merch shirts the ones you sell it shows? Oh? Yeah,

(01:01:18):
I have have NASCAR shirts, Wolf shirts I got hats,
you got the whole. I got a flea mark. You're
dialed in. Oh alright, I'm a Road Guy, Episode one
with Dusty Slay. Thanks Na,