From a host of The Daily Show and stand-up comic, Michael Kosta, comes a wildly funny and insightful memoir about his unlikely journey from professional tennis player (#864 in the world) to professional comedian (there's no ranking system in comedy but he's probably . . . top 50?). Before Michael Kosta was performing stand-up comedy specials and hosting The Daily Show, he was a professional tennis "star," reaching the lofty heights of the #864 ranked men's singles player in the world. Stop laughing. That's better than your world ranking. As a tennis pro, Kosta traveled across the globe, competing in such exotic locales as the Netherlands, Tokyo, and even rural Illinois before deciding to put down his racket and pursue a more stable and predictable career: comedy. In a completely unexpected and wild journey through the backwaters of professional tennis, Kosta shows the unlikely ways life on the court prepared him for life in front of a microphone. Like comedy, tennis is brutally competitive, and most people lose at it. Unlike comedy, no one in tennis puts a gun on the table as they count out your earnings in twenty-dollar bills at the end of the night. And then there are the things that have more to do with what happens to you-and what you end up learning-as part of growing up. Topics include: how to properly discard an unwanted European hard-boiled egg, giving CPR to your dead grandpa, cringe-worthy "sex" in the Red Light District, crying so hard in a car that strangers call the cops, and also happy things like what it feels like when your dreams come true. From misadventures in tennis to the humbling setbacks of comedy, Lucky Loser is a heart-filled story of making your own luck, the universal experience of failure, and the many ways in which we all inevitably lose on the way to success.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and good morning Michael. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Hi, er, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Man, dude, I have been so impatient waiting for this,
and the reason why is because I love to go
in and study those that are on television, their body language,
the way that they handle the delivery of news and
or jokes and things. And then to find out that
you were a professional tennis player, that explains so much
why your brevity is unbelievable, your reactions to things is unbelievable.
It's because you're still playing the game of tennis.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Thank you for that observation. Yeah, I mean maybe it is.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Maybe that's where the reaction time and the confidence and
the faux confidence, maybe that's where it comes from.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I mean, because comedy itself is a competitive sport. I
mean you've got to be able to be in that
game and know when is when, and how to deliver
that ball.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
That's right and the part that that isn't true.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
And this is what I talk about in the book
and what I had to have had to undo is
in comedy, my initial thought was I should be competing
with my fellow comedians, and that creates a lot of
unhappiness and sadness.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Because that's not a nice way to go about life.
But what's competitive in comedy is it's you versus the audience.
I gotta win this match.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I gotta win you over guy who's sitting there with
his arms crossed and not having fun. And you know,
I speak about that in the book. I approach my
life as this tennis player. I mean, you know, I
also approached the comedy scene as a tennis player, and
it served me pun intended in a lot of ways,
and a few ways that didn't was I thought the
whole world was a.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Tournament, and I've had to turn that down a little bit.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah, I mean, because one of the things that a
lot of people don't realize. I wish that more people
could experience that green room experience, such as like at
the comedy club in Los Angeles, the comedy Store, because
I mean, all those comedians come together as one. There's
no bitter enemies there. Everybody is working as one there,
and I wish people would understand that you were not
competing against each other.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
And it's hard to it's hard to remember that when
everyone is fighting to pay their bills and make a
living and then one person breaks out right.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
So one person finally breaks out, is on a.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
TV show, is driving a nice car, and it's very
easy for the rest of the comics. And I've been
a victim of this, and also someone that did this
gets mad at that person. But yes, that's what I'm
here to tell any young person or young comedian. There's
enough jokes for everybody. There's enough laughter for everybody. Our
job is to make people laugh. Focus on that number
(02:29):
eight hundred and sixty four in tennis. Man, I'll tell
you what.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
I'd still be throwing a party because I made that
top eight hundred and seventy.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yes, yes, I am proud of it. It's still my
email signature. That's not a joke. I'm forty five years old.
I'll email somebody something like totally unrelated and I'll write back,
what is this number eight sixty four And I go, oh,
it's my career high tennis ranking from twenty years ago.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
But isn't that great though? The way that life is
nothing but a book of chapters and you just keep
stepping into a brand new one.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, And you know I I write this knowing the
next chapter, Mike, who knows? Because I didn't if you
would have interviewed me as a tennis player. I never
never would have thought I'd be sitting here as a comedian.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So it is. And pursue things, you know, that's one
of the goals.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Go for it, find a path, go hard, pursue with
enthusiasm and it might work, it might not. But when
it doesn't work, all of that you learned will serve
you for this next thing.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Do not move.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
There's more Michael Costa coming up next. Hey, thanks for
coming back to my conversation with Michael Costa, actor, comedian
and professional tennis player. Did you have a name for
you as that tennis player? Because I mean, there are
so many different levels that we all go through in life,
and I have so many different names for myself.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
What about you?
Speaker 1 (03:46):
When the tennis player versus the comedian versus the man
that's on TV?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
What do you mean names I don't get.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
In other words, the writing self, I am not Arrow,
I am the poet may and so then then and
then ct is is who I am in the real world?
Arrow is He's a character, He's a guy that's I radio.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Yeah, what's so tricky about the all the hats I wear? Now?
Daily Show corresponding is a little bit of a character.
It's kind of a big, big dumb idiot who gets
kicked in the balls sometimes. Daily show host is me,
Michael Costa. It's my take on the politics and the news.
(04:27):
Author Michael Costa is different too. I have more time
to tell a story and tell a joke, so I
use the same name, but I just have multiple personalities.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
If that makes sense And.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Isn't this book pretty much an adventure for you to
go into the different transitions that you have moved through
and it really does open up your heart saying I've
been all of this and I'm loving it.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Yeah, I mean, this book opens my heart. This book
is very revealing. I've been very nervous about this book
coming out. Is there's pictures of me as a baby.
There's pictures of my family holding me as a baby.
There's pictures of me crying on the tennis court as
I lost heartbreaking matches. There's pictures with my father who
(05:08):
we lost in the process of getting this book published.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
This book is look the what.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
I One thing I've learned in comedy is the more
specific you can share details of an event, the more
generally people connect with that and I am pouring my
soul out in this book, and I find from the
people that have read it's only been out a day.
People that have read it are saying, oh my god,
that's me, Oh my god, that's my family.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Thank you for writing that. So that makes me feel great.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Julia Cameron from the artist, we would say that you
have gone in there and cleaned out your closet. Now
the question is what are you putting back in your closet.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Michael, Yeah, well that's the next thing we got to
figure out and love the artist's way, and uh yeah,
I do need I need to I need to reload
my clauset.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
I'll do that after this press the book press tour.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Where can people go to find out more about you
and everything that you're up to.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Michael Costa dot com for everything I'm on tour stand
up comedy tour. Most importantly, if you like failure or
you're familiar with failure and how to turn into success,
this book is for you. It's called Lucky Loser. Thank
you so much.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Ero dude, you got to come back to this show
anytime in the future. And if you come into Charlotte,
we got to get together.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Thank you. Appreciate it, you'd be brilliant. Okay, thanks ero,
Thank you dude.
Hello, and good morning Michael. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Hi, er, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Man, dude, I have been so impatient waiting for this,
and the reason why is because I love to go
in and study those that are on television, their body language,
the way that they handle the delivery of news and
or jokes and things. And then to find out that
you were a professional tennis player, that explains so much
why your brevity is unbelievable, your reactions to things is unbelievable.
It's because you're still playing the game of tennis.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Thank you for that observation. Yeah, I mean maybe it is.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Maybe that's where the reaction time and the confidence and
the faux confidence, maybe that's where it comes from.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I mean, because comedy itself is a competitive sport. I
mean you've got to be able to be in that
game and know when is when, and how to deliver
that ball.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
That's right and the part that that isn't true.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
And this is what I talk about in the book
and what I had to have had to undo is
in comedy, my initial thought was I should be competing
with my fellow comedians, and that creates a lot of
unhappiness and sadness.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Because that's not a nice way to go about life.
But what's competitive in comedy is it's you versus the audience.
I gotta win this match.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I gotta win you over guy who's sitting there with
his arms crossed and not having fun. And you know,
I speak about that in the book. I approach my
life as this tennis player. I mean, you know, I
also approached the comedy scene as a tennis player, and
it served me pun intended in a lot of ways,
and a few ways that didn't was I thought the
whole world was a.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Tournament, and I've had to turn that down a little bit.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Yeah, I mean, because one of the things that a
lot of people don't realize. I wish that more people
could experience that green room experience, such as like at
the comedy club in Los Angeles, the comedy Store, because
I mean, all those comedians come together as one. There's
no bitter enemies there. Everybody is working as one there,
and I wish people would understand that you were not
competing against each other.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
And it's hard to it's hard to remember that when
everyone is fighting to pay their bills and make a
living and then one person breaks out right.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
So one person finally breaks out, is on a.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
TV show, is driving a nice car, and it's very
easy for the rest of the comics. And I've been
a victim of this, and also someone that did this
gets mad at that person. But yes, that's what I'm
here to tell any young person or young comedian. There's
enough jokes for everybody. There's enough laughter for everybody. Our
job is to make people laugh. Focus on that number
(02:29):
eight hundred and sixty four in tennis. Man, I'll tell
you what.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
I'd still be throwing a party because I made that
top eight hundred and seventy.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yes, yes, I am proud of it. It's still my
email signature. That's not a joke. I'm forty five years old.
I'll email somebody something like totally unrelated and I'll write back,
what is this number eight sixty four And I go, oh,
it's my career high tennis ranking from twenty years ago.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
But isn't that great though? The way that life is
nothing but a book of chapters and you just keep
stepping into a brand new one.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, And you know I I write this knowing the
next chapter, Mike, who knows? Because I didn't if you
would have interviewed me as a tennis player. I never
never would have thought I'd be sitting here as a comedian.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
So it is. And pursue things, you know, that's one
of the goals.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Go for it, find a path, go hard, pursue with
enthusiasm and it might work, it might not. But when
it doesn't work, all of that you learned will serve
you for this next thing.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Do not move.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
There's more Michael Costa coming up next. Hey, thanks for
coming back to my conversation with Michael Costa, actor, comedian
and professional tennis player. Did you have a name for
you as that tennis player? Because I mean, there are
so many different levels that we all go through in life,
and I have so many different names for myself.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
What about you?
Speaker 1 (03:46):
When the tennis player versus the comedian versus the man
that's on TV?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
What do you mean names I don't get.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
In other words, the writing self, I am not Arrow,
I am the poet may and so then then and
then ct is is who I am in the real world?
Arrow is He's a character, He's a guy that's I radio.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Yeah, what's so tricky about the all the hats I wear? Now?
Daily Show corresponding is a little bit of a character.
It's kind of a big, big dumb idiot who gets
kicked in the balls sometimes. Daily show host is me,
Michael Costa. It's my take on the politics and the news.
(04:27):
Author Michael Costa is different too. I have more time
to tell a story and tell a joke, so I
use the same name, but I just have multiple personalities.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
If that makes sense And.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Isn't this book pretty much an adventure for you to
go into the different transitions that you have moved through
and it really does open up your heart saying I've
been all of this and I'm loving it.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Yeah, I mean, this book opens my heart. This book
is very revealing. I've been very nervous about this book
coming out. Is there's pictures of me as a baby.
There's pictures of my family holding me as a baby.
There's pictures of me crying on the tennis court as
I lost heartbreaking matches. There's pictures with my father who
(05:08):
we lost in the process of getting this book published.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
This book is look the what.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
I One thing I've learned in comedy is the more
specific you can share details of an event, the more
generally people connect with that and I am pouring my
soul out in this book, and I find from the
people that have read it's only been out a day.
People that have read it are saying, oh my god,
that's me, Oh my god, that's my family.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Thank you for writing that. So that makes me feel great.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Julia Cameron from the artist, we would say that you
have gone in there and cleaned out your closet. Now
the question is what are you putting back in your closet.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Michael, Yeah, well that's the next thing we got to
figure out and love the artist's way, and uh yeah,
I do need I need to I need to reload
my clauset.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
I'll do that after this press the book press tour.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Where can people go to find out more about you
and everything that you're up to.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Michael Costa dot com for everything I'm on tour stand
up comedy tour. Most importantly, if you like failure or
you're familiar with failure and how to turn into success,
this book is for you. It's called Lucky Loser. Thank
you so much.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Ero dude, you got to come back to this show
anytime in the future. And if you come into Charlotte,
we got to get together.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Thank you. Appreciate it, you'd be brilliant. Okay, thanks ero,
Thank you dude.
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