You Win When You Fail | Jo Koy

Jo Koy, a stand-up comedian performing since 1989 and the winner of Showtime at the Apollo, talks with Lewis Howes about how repeated failure and rejection built the craft behind a career in comedy. The conversation covers his early days at BET's ComicView, Def Comedy Jam, and The Comedy Store, self funding a special after Netflix passed, selling out SoFi Stadium, plus a special co-produced with Martin Lawrence.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Lewis Howes?

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• 0:46Lewis Howes?

  Stars and Honey Protein Bars are now available at Target stores nationwide. Pick up a box during your next Target shopping trip.

• 0:56Lewis Howes?

  In business, there's the easy way with staples or the hard way. Hard means waiting too long for custom prints when your business needs them now. Easy means banners, business cards and more, ready as fast as same day. Hard means unfortunate printer errors. Easy means quality, professional-grade print solutions. Don't choose hard, choose staples, in-store, online or through the app.

• 1:22Lewis Howes?

  The most successful leaders, experts and bestsellers would tell you the same thing. There's no expiration date on growth. That's why Southern New Hampshire University offers more than 80 online graduate programs. With career-focused courses and low online tuition, SNHU's master degrees are designed for your next move. And if you're choosing between a few schools, SNHU is a clear frontrunner. It's flexible, affordable and career-focused. Progress doesn't happen standing still. Take one step forward at SNHU.edu/greatness.

• 2:02Lewis Howes?

  The School of Greatness is presented by ChatGPT. ChatGPT Work, a new way to work in ChatGPT, can help you organize multi-step projects. ChatGPT Work can use your apps, connected tools and files to create things like landing pages, trackers, even web apps. You can also make ChatGPT work more specialized by installing specific plugins. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at chatgpt.com by selecting work mode, available on Plus and Pro Plans.

• 2:43Lewis Howes?

  Everywhere I go, airports, events, walking down the street, people stop me and say, Louis, this show got me through one of the hardest seasons of my life. And it's one of the coolest things when people come up to me. So if you see me, please come up and say hi and let me know how this show, The School of Greatness, has impacted you. It lights me up because our mission at Greatness Media is to impact 100 million lives every single week. So if today's conversation hits home for you, do me a favor and push the follow button right now. It means that the next conversation will be delivered to you and will find you exactly when you need it. Again, thank you so much for being here and listening to The School of Greatness. Make sure to follow right now to stay up to date on the latest and greatest.

• 3:28Lewis Howes?

  You know what's crazy? I don't hope. I never say hope. When you say hope, you're asking for something else other than your own talent to get it. That's Joe Coy. And if you've ever caught yourself saying, I hope this works out, waiting on some outside force to hand you your shot, sit with that for a few seconds. Because what if the thing standing between you and the life you want isn't luck? It isn't timing or connections. It's just you finally deciding to bet on your own work. In this episode, Joe takes you behind the mic and behind the mustache drawn on with eyeliner nights when he bombed on stage over and over.

• 4:10Lewis Howes?

  You'll hear how he turned insecurity into his greatest material. How he financed and shot his own Netflix special after they passed on him. And why he still hand delivers his own flyers to car windshields even when the show's already sold out. Joe Coy is a stand-up comedian, actor and producer with multiple sold-out Netflix specials, including his newest, Blue in the Face. He's shattered box office records at some of the biggest arenas in the world and built a career by simply refusing to wait for someone else's permission to start. This is Joe Coy and welcome to The School of Greatness. As one of the best in the world at what you do, you transfer energy.

• 4:52Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 4:53Lewis Howes?

  So well, whether it be in-person, one-to-one, one-to-many in front of thousands of people or hundreds of thousands of people in person or to millions of people on a screen. You transfer energy and it's very hard for anyone to do that well. It's hard for comedians to do that well, effectively, consistently. And it's hard for just everyday human beings to transfer energy well. Did you always know how to transfer energy well when you were younger, growing up? Or is this a skill that you had to learn through trial and error or through failure and defeat and trials that you experienced?

• 5:31Speaker 01

  You know what's crazy is when I was a kid, like when I was like five or six, I'm not even making this up. I already knew I was really funny.

• 5:42Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 5:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was the weirdest thing because my mom would always be like, oh, Joe is so funny. And my dad always laughed at everything, you know? And like if they had parties, I'd be funny. I knew that there was a group of people laughing. It's something that I would do. And then I knew I had that skill set because my dad was in the military. So every three years, four years, we were bouncing. But I didn't care because like in my head, I already knew I'm going to be the funny one in the school. Like I, right away, I'm going to be the funny guy at the school and be the funny guy at the school. So I wasn't, I was never sad that I was leaving a group of friends. I was happy because I knew I could get new friends. Does that make sense?

• 6:27Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 6:28Speaker 01

  It was the weirdest thing. And there was this one elementary school called Elk Plain Elementary. And I was moving from the Philippines. And I remember we were so sad leaving because my dad got an extension in the Philippines for another year. We stayed for one more year because we were begging him, please don't leave. But that was it. That was as far as he could get it. And then we had to move to Tacoma, Washington. And I remember I was so sad, but then that excitement, that sadness turned into excitement. Because I remember I was like, oh, I'm going to be so funny. Like everyone's going to, like, everyone's going to think I'm the funny guy. Like, I remember saying that.

• 7:05Lewis Howes?

  Now, did you think I'm going to be funny even though you're switching countries and cultures? Did you believe like, oh, I'm going to come to America and I'm going to be funny?

• 7:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:12Lewis Howes?

  You just believed it at eight years old or something?

• 7:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 7:15Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 7:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, we remember I'm military too. So but and like the Philippines has always been bilingual. Like they speak English better than Americans, man. You know what I mean? Like very articulate, they get all the humor. You know what I mean? So it was there. It was, and I was speaking Tagalog, which was crazy because we were living there and my aunts lived there. So it was, it was cool. It was a good time back then. And I remember coming back to the stage, just like, I was excited. I was excited to like see, like this new school and be the funny guy at the school. I swear it was the craziest thing. Like if you look at my, my junior high, after sixth grade, seventh, eighth, ninth, I went to Spanaway Junior High.

• 8:01Speaker 01

  Class clown, class, class clown. Like seventh, eighth, ninth, it was always me, the funny guy. It was, and I knew it like right away. I mean, sixth grade, seventh grade, that's when I was listening to Richard Pryor and, and watching Eddie Murphy. Like I was watching Eddie, you know, do Delirious. Like already, I already knew I wanted to be a stand-up comic at that age.

• 8:24Lewis Howes?

  Was there ever a time where you weren't funny?

• 8:27Speaker 01

  I mean, yeah, I mean, always not funny.

• 8:30Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 8:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, there's times where you're, you're trying to figure out the audience. You're trying to learn, you know, and that's all just how it is. That's just, that's, that's what I love about stand-up is that moment where you have to figure out how much you love it. And it always comes out going, nah, I love this. And you just keep pushing.

• 8:55Lewis Howes?

  Even if you weren't funny that night or that day?

• 8:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, you just keep pushing. There's just, there's this addiction that we have. I don't know what it is. Us comics love it, but I really love it. I really, really love it. I'll do an arena. I'll get on my tour bus, and this has happened a couple of times, and I'll literally be like, is there an open mic around? And I've pulled up to open mics.

• 9:22Lewis Howes?

  Right after your arena?

• 9:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, I've done it. I've done it a couple of times. It's just a bar with.

• 9:28Lewis Howes?

  Fifteen people.

• 9:29Speaker 01

  Fifteen people and all they did was turn the lights on because they don't have a spotlight like that type. And I love it, man. I love it.

• 9:35Lewis Howes?

  But do you ever have, um, periods of time where you, you feel like you bombed? You feel like, oh, I gave it my all, but that crowd, they didn't really laugh at the jokes and they weren't really as engaged.

• 9:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:47Lewis Howes?

  Was there ever a season where you weren't as funny as you thought and you thought, maybe I lost the gift?

• 9:53Speaker 01

  No.

• 9:54Lewis Howes?

  No, you're always like, knew you had it.

• 9:57Speaker 01

  No, if you're talking stand up, no, no, never stand up.

• 10:02Lewis Howes?

  So was there ever a time where you just bombed though?

• 10:06Speaker 01

  I mean, always like when we first start.

• 10:08Lewis Howes?

  How do you respond to that and not let the negative effects of an audience? If you bomb and you begin, affect who you are as a person and your identity?

• 10:18Speaker 01

  I mean, that's, that's what makes us strong is like the failure. Like everyone fails. You know what I mean? But like it's, it's when you don't try is truly when you fail. So it's like, if you're thinking about something and you decide not to do it, to me, that's failing.

• 10:39Speaker 01

  But if, if the opportunity arises and you accept the challenge and you fail, then you won. Does that make any sense?

• 10:49Lewis Howes?

  Hundred percent.

• 10:49Speaker 01

  Cause I know a lot of motherfuckers that pass on because they're too scared to do it. You know what I mean?

• 10:57Lewis Howes?

  That's the real failure.

• 10:58Speaker 01

  To me, that's failure. To me, that's just, it's cowardice. You know what I mean? I don't mean that in a mean way, but it's like, I think that's what I love about comics so much. That yeah, we do put ourselves in situations like that. And then we do also say, oh, well, we do that a lot and we don't care.

• 11:18Lewis Howes?

  But some people care, right? If they bomb, they really care about how people perceive them.

• 11:22Speaker 01

  Then that taps into a new, uh, a new era or a new generation of people with social media type feelings. Do you really care about what they say? Or do you look at a, a sold out SoFi stadium and go, well, I guess it doesn't really matter what you said.

• 11:40Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 11:41Speaker 01

  Cause it doesn't make sense. You know what I mean?

• 11:44Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 11:44Speaker 01

  So that's how I look at it. It's like, I mean, we, we live in a time where, yeah, it's, it's like, uh, things is, things are accessible. Everyone has a voice now and you, you just take it with a grain of salt.

• 11:58Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 11:58Speaker 01

  It's like, you gotta remember, it's like, we're all supposed to fail. You know what I mean? Like you're, you're not gonna sit there and tell me Michael Jordan sucks because he lost to Larry Bird when he scored sixty-three points. I dare you to say it.

• 12:14Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 12:15Speaker 01

  Exactly. It's like you're, you're joking right now.

• 12:18Lewis Howes?

  When you were starting out, I could, I think you said you started in the late eighties, early nineties, kind of when you were starting out in stand up, right? And you thought, was there ever a moment where you feel like, oh, I've made it?

• 12:28Speaker 01

  When I started, I started in eighty-nine.

• 12:30Lewis Howes?

  Eighty-nine, right?

• 12:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 12:32Lewis Howes?

  But was there a moment where you were like, I'm, I made it or I know I'm gonna make it? Or was there a period of time where you just feel like, oh man, I'm just grinding out these local shops or local, uh,

• 12:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 12:43Lewis Howes?

  comedy stores and I'm not seeing the momentum?

• 12:46Speaker 01

  I never got into the store, the comedy store. I, I got into the Laugh Factory and, um, and then in Vegas in nineteen eighty-nine, there was no comedy scene. That was just like national headliners. You know what I mean? So they never had an open mic there in eighty-nine, eighty-nine, ninety. All they had was a couple of coffee houses back then. And it got to the point where I was getting good. There was this one nightclub that had a, did a comedy night upstairs where the pool tables were. And you know, you had to get there before the nightclub opened. The nightclub started letting people in at like ten thirty, eleven. So you had to get there at like eight. So we'd have a show from eight to ten or something, right?

• 13:31Speaker 01

  The host was dating a manager of like a big comedy club in, at the MGM. It was called Catch a Rising Star. And he saw me, cause he came that night and he saw me. And literally when I walked off stage, right? He goes, hey, uh, I'm gonna have you open for a blah, blah, blah. Something, I forgot the guy's name, some headliner. I'm gonna give you a week. And back then a week was basically twelve shows, right? It was like Monday through Monday. It was like two shows Friday, two shows Saturday, two shows Sunday. It was the craziest schedule. And he gave me like eighty dollars a show, right? So I think it was like over a thousand dollars.

• 14:15Speaker 01

  I still zero, I, I remember going to Kinko's and printing out that check.

• 14:20Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 14:20Speaker 01

  I have it somewhere. But that, at that, that moment, I thought, oh my God, I'm about to be a comic. I'm about to be a famous comic. I thought it was over with at that point. I was like, oh, it's on.

• 14:34Lewis Howes?

  They got the money coming in.

• 14:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm a regular at Catch a Rising Star. I remember calling my dad like, oh dad, it's, it's, it's happening.

• 14:41Lewis Howes?

  What year was this? Ninety?

• 14:43Speaker 01

  Oh my, I was like nineteen ninety-four or something, like right around there, ninety-four. So five years in and then nothing happened. I think I got it two more times and it was just like, oh man. And then it just stopped. I guess what I'm trying to say is there were several times where I thought I made it.

• 14:58Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 14:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, but that's, that's the beautiful thing about this journey. You know what I mean? It's like, it's a long, bumpy ass road with a bunch of roadblocks and a lot of gravel roads. A lot of like, uh, U-turns and start over, flat tires, all that shit. Like that's comedy, especially when you're a road dog. It's like, it's rough, man. A lot of, I'm not gonna be there for my son's birthday. Cause I really need this money. So I took the gig at St. Charles, Illinois.

• 15:31Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 15:31Speaker 01

  In the middle of nowhere, Amish country. You know what I mean? I took that gig because I, man, they're paying me twenty-five hundred dollars this weekend. So I, I, I, I've missed those. You know what I mean? But then at the same time, I knew I was winning.

• 15:47Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 15:47Speaker 01

  I'm losing, but I'm winning. And like, there was so many like obstacles that I had to deal with mentally and physically. You know, so it, it just kept going on. Every year it just felt like a win and a win and a win. And then it was like a loss, loss, loss. I won the Apollo, Showtime at the Apollo. I thought I was gonna blow up and then boom, boom, nothing happened. Then I did Def Jam. I got the Def Jam, uh, comedy circuit, like the, uh, the tour, comedy tour, not the one on HBO. I got BET's Comic View. Like I thought things were gonna happen for me, but it didn't. But they did, which is crazy. And the way I got them was, was amazing. Cause I, I, I never said no to the gig.

• 16:30Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 16:31Speaker 01

  You know what I mean? Like the way I got BET's Comic View was crazy. Do you remember BET's Comic View was on, well, it was on black entertainment television?

• 16:39Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 16:39Speaker 01

  And this is in the nineties. It was huge. It's what made D L Hughley huge. It's what made Cedric the Entertainer huge. It made Gary Owen huge. Like those were the hosts and, um, and I was such a fan. Like every night I would watch BET's Comic View. And then, uh, I was, I was a tour guide at the Mirage. And see, you asked that question. Now you get a long answer. So. Uh, so I was at the Mirage and I'm a tour guide. One of the tour guides was like, hey, BET's here. I go, what? Yeah, they're at the, the Country Star. It's like some kind of restaurant. I'm like, I'm there. And I literally asked my manager if I can go home early, cause the show was at eight.

• 17:24Speaker 01

  And I knew we worked until like seven, something thirty. I need to get home. So I was like, can I please just get out of here like five thirty? And, uh, leave early so I can just go home and change and put on a suit. Cause Eddie Murphy said, I always wore a suit. That's what he always said. And he goes, I always wore a suit when he was like a kid. He was like in high school and he was wearing a suit. And he goes, every gig I got, I wore a suit. So I was like, oh, I gotta put on a suit. Like this is a big gig. So I drove all the way home. You know, this is Las Vegas. It's like a hundred and twenty degrees, no A C. I was a tour guide all day. I'm covered in sweat. I don't even take a shower. I just put this suit on. Get back in the car, this fake resume that says Catch a Rising Star. Cause I found a, uh,

• 18:08Speaker 01

  uh, I found a, a folder at, at Catch a Rising Star. They had a stack and he, he gave it to me. The manager gave me a whole stack. I'm gonna put my resume in this. And I put a, a resume that I made and a headshot that my dad took. It was, all of it was awful. And I brought it and I, and I, I went to Country Star and there was this line wrapped around the building.

• 18:31Lewis Howes?

  For auditions.

• 18:32Speaker 01

  No, no, it was a show. Like, people were.

• 18:34Lewis Howes?

  You were trying to get in to perform?

• 18:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. And I walked all the way to the front. And a security guard was standing there, and security guards never help, right? Security guards don't give a, go wait in line. And I go, hey, man, I'm a local comedian, and my name's Joe Coy. And I showed him my resume. I go, is there any way I could just speak to the promoter? Because I'd love to warm up, just like if I could do crowd warm up or whatever. Like, a lot of people know who I'm here. No one knew who I was. And literally, he looked me in the face. I still know what he looks like. He was a big, heavyset guy with dreads. And he goes, I'll be right back. And he left. He left the door and went and got the promoter. And her name was Yvette Anderson. She's still my friend to this day.

• 19:19Speaker 01

  I swear to God, her name is Yvette Anderson.

• 19:21Lewis Howes?

  What did you say to her?

• 19:22Speaker 01

  She came right up to the door, and she goes, hi. I handed her my resume. I go, I'm a local comic. Is there any way I could do warm up? Like, I know your show's booked, but like, I could warm up while they're getting ready? And while you're sitting people, just if I can go up, I love BET. Like, it would be an honor just to go up and just warm the crowd up. And then she goes, oh, we already have the show booked. But you know, you're more than welcome to come in, and I'll hold on to your resume. Because this is a tour. We're coming back to Vegas, and I'll look at your stuff. I go, yeah, I would love to go in, right? This is like 90, I'm making up a number, but it was like 97, right? 97-ish, right? Yeah. So she brings me to her booth, and she sits me down.

• 20:04Speaker 01

  And she's got, remember, this is 97. She's got cameras like that, but studio camera, Canon, like the XLR Cannons, right? Like, I couldn't believe my eyes, like, on sticks like those, too, right? And I was just like, looking at her, like, oh, my God, this is real. Like, I've never seen a studio camera before. So I'm looking at this, and I'm like, oh, is that, this is how they shoot the show, man? Like, I was tripping, and I was so excited, and it was just packed. And then all of a sudden, all the comics are late. They're not there. This is crazy.

• 20:38Lewis Howes?

  She says, go up?

• 20:40Speaker 01

  She literally, and the crowd's going crazy, like, start this show. What the, it's 8:35, start this. And I'm literally like, I'm smiling from ear to ear, because I know, like, bro, she's gonna need me, because they're not here.

• 20:56Lewis Howes?

  Hey, I'm ready, let me go up there.

• 20:57Speaker 01

  And she walks right up to me, and she goes, can you go up?

• 20:59Lewis Howes?

  Shut up, swear.

• 21:01Speaker 01

  And she goes, can you go up for like five minutes or until they get here? I go, yeah. I go, can you please record it? I go, if you record this, that's all I want, if you record this. And she goes, hold on, let me set it up. And she literally set up and pressed record, and she goes, can you go? She had no one introducing me. I had to literally walk up. Oh, by the way, I had that suit on, so it was crazy. I have it all on video.

• 21:23Lewis Howes?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 21:24Speaker 01

  I have it all on video. And I walk up, do my set, fucking standing ovation.

• 21:30Lewis Howes?

  Shut up.

• 21:31Speaker 01

  This is back in the day when people do the raise the roof. And you'll see this one black lady doing this. It was the coolest thing. And I walk offstage, and it's Bo P., who, it's like, one of my favorite comics that was on BET all the time. His name's Bo P. And Yvette were standing right there, and Bo P. got like that southern twang, got like a Louisiana accent, like that. And he goes, hey, man, who the are you? I go, Joe Coy, man, I'm a local comic here. He's like, okay, man, that was, wow, that was amazing. You ever, you ever watch BET? I go, yeah. He goes, you won't. You won't next week.

• 22:08Lewis Howes?

  Shut.

• 22:08Speaker 01

  I swear to God. And I'm literally, I went to work, and I go, I remember asking my manager, I'm like, hey, I need next week off. I'm doing BET's Comic View. No one could believe I got it. And now I'm on BET's Comic View. And then I get a standing O on BET's Comic View. I was number 28 out of 28, no, I was number 27 out of 28 comics. We started filming at 10:00 in the morning, and I don't think I got on stage until like 11:30 that night. Gary Owen, Gary Owen was the host. You should bring Gary on this show, because he's amazing, too. And Gary Owen was the host. And we never met each other. And he went up, killed, I went out there.

• 22:49Lewis Howes?

  Murdered.

• 22:50Speaker 01

  I murdered it. And then that's how I met, just some, you know, like, black comics that were, like, that were doing things. And I met a couple guys, and I met this one guy named, God, what was his name? Oh, I met Honest John. He's a white comic, right? And Honest John was like, hey, you need to call this guy, right? He had this thing where he could get you on, into colleges.

• 23:20Lewis Howes?

  College tour.

• 23:21Speaker 01

  College tour, but it was the black, what do you call it, college program, whatever, like the.

• 23:27Lewis Howes?

  All black colleges?

• 23:28Speaker 01

  Not the all black colleges, like, you know, the black fraternities, whatever. So they would hire famous black comics that they saw on BET and Def Jam, right? And they would come perform at these.

• 23:42Lewis Howes?

  Fraternities or.

• 23:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, whatever, right? And they'd be beautiful shows. They'd rent out, they'd get the theater at like, University of Houston, University of North Carolina. Now I'm opening for these famous black comics, like Samor, and Michael Blackson, and JB Smooth. Like, all of them, this is before JB Smooth was on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Oh, this is just JB Smooth from Def Jam. Like, this is the 90s, and I'm opening for all these cats, right? So now, now I'm making money off of this. I'm getting like 800 a show, right? Plus, they're flying me out, right? So that's how I got that. So now I meet them. This is crazy. Honest John, actually, I met Honest John on the black college circuit. I met, how I got on the black circuit was, I think, Yvette Anderson, right?

• 24:27Speaker 01

  And then, Yvette, yeah, she hooked me up. And then I met Honest John on the circuit, because I opened for him a couple times. He was like, man, you really funny, man. He's a white guy, right? He goes, man, you really funny, man. He's like, he's like, you know who Bob Sumner is? Right? So, and I go, nah. He goes, man, he runs Def Comedy Jam. He runs, he runs the tour. He goes, you need to be on Def Comedy Jam, man. He goes, when we're in Vegas, I want you to come to a show. I'm gonna introduce you to Bob Sumner. So Bob Sumner and Russell Simmons created Def Comedy Jam, and they had a tour, right? And they were at Samstown, which was on Boulder Highway, right?

• 25:10Speaker 01

  And because the strip wasn't hiring black comics for anything, unless you were, unless you were Martin Lawrence or Chris Rock, you were not getting on the strip. It just wasn't like that. Like, I'm telling you, it was such a crazy time back in the 80s and 90s. And so they had to go off strip. They had to play these weird rooms, you know what I mean? And anyway, I'm at Samstown, and I'm backstage with my sister. And here comes Bob Sumner, right? He's eating something. She's eating like a muffin or something. She got food on his lips. And he's just like, hey, Honest John, say you really funny. I'm like, yeah. He goes, all right, well, this is what I'm gonna do. We're gonna put you out before the show starts.

• 25:53Speaker 01

  We're not gonna open the curtains. We're just gonna kind of open it up, just go through it. Kind of like Carol Burnett, you remember the Carol Burnett show? When the girl would walk in between, he's like, we're gonna go through the curtain. And then, don't say, welcome to Def Jam. Don't say, are you ready for the show? And when you say goodnight, just say, my name's Joe Coy, goodnight, and then come back through the curtain. And we're still seeing people, all right? So, you know, the house lights be on, but you know, it's a packed house. And I'm like, okay. And he walks off, and I literally look at my sister going, I'm gonna eat my ass out there. This sucks, right? Like, what the, like, why am I even here?

• 26:31Lewis Howes?

  No more body, no more body ins, yeah, people walking in.

• 26:34Speaker 01

  Dude, it was completely cold. And then all of a sudden, the stage manager overheard everything, right? And he walks up to me, and he goes, hey, man, I just want you to know, we're about 89% full. Like, we're not gonna leave the house lights on. It's pretty much packed in there. I'm gonna turn it down. I'm not gonna turn them off, but I'm gonna turn them down. So it's gonna feel good. But all the other stuff that he said, you're gonna have to do, all right? But I'm gonna turn those house lights down for you. Yeah, it was really cool. And literally, these two stagehands pulled the curtain like this. And I sneak out, and then a spotlight hits me, swear to God, dude. And I'm like, hey, I'm Joe Coy. And I do like 10 minutes. Goodnight. Standing O, right?

• 27:19Speaker 01

  Standing O. I did this Michael Jackson bit that always killed. Standing O, and I crawl back through the, I crawl back through, I don't say. And then he had this amazing set that said Def Comedy Jam. And, you know, they had the turntables. I think Kid Capri was there. It was just crazy, and I couldn't even say I was involved with this thing. And I crawled through the curtain, and my sister hugs me, she's like, oh, my God, I knew you'd kill it, blah, blah, blah. And Rudy Rush, he's a comic, a really funny comic, and he hosted the Apollo. And he was hosting that show that night, and he's standing next to Bob Sumner. And he goes, who the is this guy? He goes, oh, that's Honest John's friend, Joe.

• 28:03Speaker 01

  He goes, why the did you put him on now? Why didn't you put him on the show? I gotta follow this, man. He goes, what the, he goes, I didn't know. Rudy looks at me, and he goes, you ever do the Apollo? I swear to God, bro, this is exactly how it went down. He goes, you ever do, you ever watch the Apollo? I go, yeah. He goes, man, I'm gonna have my producers call you, man. You gotta do the Apollo. You're gonna win the Apollo. I swear to God. Do that same set, you're gonna win the Apollo. I'm flying out to New York, like, three weeks later, doing the Apollo show, time at the Apollo. This is the 90s, where they used to.

• 28:37Lewis Howes?

  Boot people.

• 28:38Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 28:39Lewis Howes?

  Throw stuff on stage.

• 28:41Speaker 01

  And I won. I won that.

• 28:42Lewis Howes?

  Three weeks later?

• 28:43Speaker 01

  Yeah. I'm on the Apollo, and I win it. I did the same routine that he told me.

• 28:48Lewis Howes?

  And you crushed.

• 28:49Speaker 01

  Rudy Rush, yeah. Yep. Still my friends, I'm still friends with all these people to this day.

• 28:54Lewis Howes?

  This is 30 years ago.

• 28:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, I started 37 years ago.

• 28:58Lewis Howes?

  But this is around 97.

• 28:59Speaker 01

  This is 97, so yeah, you're right.

• 29:01Lewis Howes?

  Three decades, but it seems like for a decade before, almost a decade, eight years before that, you just had to kind of sneak your way into any opportunity possible. I don't know if sneak your way is the right word, but enroll your way.

• 29:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 29:16Lewis Howes?

  Go up to the front of the line, do the thing, say yes, get off work, whatever it took to just say, all right, they're not gonna give me the best opportunity. I'm still gonna make myself available and ready, and I'm gonna do it under the worst conditions if I have to.

• 29:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 29:32Lewis Howes?

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• 30:17Lewis Howes?

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• 31:02Lewis Howes?

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• 31:46Lewis Howes?

  Hiring now, then this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. What gave you that courage and confidence to be able to go for it even when everyone else probably would have said, ah, it's too risky?

• 32:00Speaker 01

  I don't know, man. I don't know what it is. I gotta get up there.

• 32:06Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 32:07Speaker 01

  I have to, and I don't care. I really don't give a, like, if you, if you, yeah, I don't know. I really don't know. It's my desire, it's my passion. I know that there's, there's something that I'm trying to reach and the only way I can reach is if I keep climbing, right?

• 32:24Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 32:25Speaker 01

  So if I say no to that, then I, I, I walk back two steps.

• 32:30Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 32:31Speaker 01

  But if I just go one step forward, I'm good. I don't know, that's cheesy saying that, but it's, it's real. Like, I could have easily said, I'm out of here, which most comics would have, especially that Def Jam moment. A lot of comics would have, you know, fuck this guy. And then they would have just, like, especially now with the podcast, they just talk about it on the podcast and just on somebody. Yo, god, you know what you want me to do? You want me to crawl through the curtain? What, I'm better than that. It's like, so what? It's his show.

• 33:02Lewis Howes?

  Right, it's not your show.

• 33:03Speaker 01

  It's, it's not your show, it's his show and you're asking for a spot. Like, this guy's a promoter, which means he paid for that set, he paid for the design, he paid for ads, he paid for these comics to be there. And now you're asking for stage time on a show that he produced. And so if I eat my, on that stage, that, that, that reflects him. And that's how I look at it. Like, I don't get offended by it, I just get motivated by it.

• 33:30Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 33:31Speaker 01

  Like, that's why I keep saying, if you fail, you fail. But it's like, you, you're not, you win. You win when you fail. Like, there's that, that famous Michael Jordan commercial where it's in black and white and it's just him narrating how all the things that he did that, that failed. Remember that? How many, how many free throws?

• 33:52Lewis Howes?

  Should have missed thousands of shots.

• 33:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, I missed thousands of free throws, game-winning free throws, game-winning three-pointers, game-winning shots. Like, I missed a dunk, I blah, blah, blah. I, but I failed. I won six championships.

• 34:04Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Like, I failed. I think the end is, I failed and that's why I succeed.

• 34:08Speaker 01

  Yeah. And I, I don't know what that did to me, maybe that burnt inside my soul, but, you know what I mean? I'm not, and the interviews, like, you gotta remember, this is before the internet. So I was literally like, trying to discover people, like, anyway, I can't, I remember reading a Rolling Stone ad on Chris Rock. He would sit there and wait for time just to get a spot. And he was 17, like, 18. Everyone knew he was a phenom, but like, he couldn't get stage time because he was only 18. He had to wait till they put the chairs up or some, you know, same thing with Eddie, same story. I think that's what it was. It was like the same story, like, same thing with Eddie, like, I think he was 15, you know what I mean? And then I heard the same thing about Chappelle.

• 34:53Speaker 01

  He was like 15 and I'm like, bro, I'm 18, I gotta do the same thing they did.

• 34:59Lewis Howes?

  This is crazy, man.

• 35:02Lewis Howes?

  But how did you get the confidence?

• 35:04Speaker 01

  I don't know, because I was so insecure.

• 35:06Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 35:07Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 35:07Lewis Howes?

  What were you insecure about?

• 35:09Speaker 01

  Um, well, I, everything. My teeth were bad, I broke my teeth when I was a kid. So all my teeth were crooked and broken in half. That's why I have fake teeth. And, um, and they were fake, I mean, I had bad teeth all the way into like, until I started making real money, like, like, I think I fixed my teeth when I was like 36. So my teeth were bad for a long time and, uh, super insecure. I had like a short tooth up here because I fell on a rock and it stopped growing. I, I say it all the time on stage, I go, it got to the point where I had to like, put my tongue in my tooth just to hide it. Because I, because every time I'd smile, people would always do like this look, like,

• 35:51Speaker 01

  oh, they'd be scared, they didn't know I, so I'd always stick my tongue in my tooth and I had to laugh at my own, like I was Cher, like Cher with all their tongue, like, literally I had to do that. And like, I was always insecure about my teeth and how I, I was losing my hair, I had severe sleep apnea with no, no CPAP machine at the time, like, it was just everything. I was just super, super insecure. And I think the only thing that gave me confidence was stand-up.

• 36:18Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 36:19Speaker 01

  I knew I'd kill you on stage, you know?

• 36:22Lewis Howes?

  So it's like you had to get on.

• 36:23Speaker 01

  It was my superpower, yeah.

• 36:25Lewis Howes?

  Without the stage, it was like you had a lot more.

• 36:27Speaker 01

  I felt very, yeah, you know, I had just like this, you know, traumatic childhood with, you know, like the divorce with my mom and dad when I was like nine, 10. You know, my brother with his, you know, his mental disability and just him in and out of like group homes and, you know, you know, hospitals, you know what I mean? And police coming to the house because my brother's beating up somebody at the house. It was just a very negative, negative. My, my childhood was set up for me to fail, you know what I mean? Yeah, big time. Supposed to fail, especially the times that we live in, like, there was no positive reinforcement with what I'm watching on TV.

• 37:10Speaker 01

  I'm being conditioned to think of my own race a certain way, which led into my comedy, you know what I mean? You watch cartoons with your friends and every time they made fun of an Asian guy with the cartoon, you know, the slant eyes and the water buckets on the shoulder and they're hobbling around building a train and, and here I am, I have to laugh at that because I don't know what funny is. I, I don't, I don't know if they're making fun of me. And they are, you know, I'm being programmed. I'm not thinking about my mom and her feelings and the racism that she's enduring. You know what I mean? I'm just watching, I go, oh, okay. And then every Asian character that's in a sitcom has a heavy accent. These are all like mental conditionings that, that kids my age had to go through in the

• 37:55Speaker 01

  80s and 90s. And you're being programmed, indirectly programmed. So it's like, yeah, when I first started stand-up, I'm like, oh, this is what they want to hear. This is what I need to do.

• 38:05Lewis Howes?

  Was it more like self-deprecating stuff then?

• 38:07Speaker 01

  Well, it's just, yeah. And it was like racist stuff about my own culture. And it's just like, that's, that's the times we lived in. And it was okay, it was acceptable. You don't know, I don't know any better. I'm a kid in 1994, how old am I? I'm 23. You know what I mean? Like, I'm, I'm a kid and you don't know, you just, you just want to be funny. And you, you were programmed a certain way and you don't know it. You just don't know that you're being programmed, like, you know, until you get older and you're like, whoa, Pat Marina never had an accent. Pat Marina used to chop it up with Robin Williams and Richard Pryor. And he was a badass stand-up comic, but yet for some reason, his roles had to have a

• 38:52Speaker 01

  heavy, heavy accent. When he became Al on Happy Days or when he was Mr. Miyagi, it's like legendary characters, but why did he have to have the accent?

• 39:02Speaker 01

  Like, what kind of racist is that? You know what I mean? And that, that's why it's hard for me to explain to this generation. The opportunities that we had back then aren't what they have now. Don't get me wrong, racism is still in Hollywood, but it was in your face. And told to you in your face back then.

• 39:23Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 39:24Speaker 01

  You know what I mean? When you get a Tia Carrer auditioning for a part where, you know, she's Filipino, but they're like, yeah, just, you know, you know, Asian accent, you know what I mean? You know, picking it up, but yet you could sing like a rock star. That was the role that she had to audition for. And a lot of Asian actresses that were like badass at acting, but for some reason, those are the only parts that they're allowed to go audition for. I'm just saying, like, the window of opportunity for anyone of color back then. That's why I said that on stage, you know, when I did live at the Forum, when I said that, like, not all of us get a fair shake. And it's hard to explain this to people because you don't see it. You don't see it through our lens. You don't understand what we have to go through.

• 40:08Speaker 01

  You can ask any comic that comes in here from my generation, like, what was it like, you know, with these comedy clubs in LA? And they'll tell you, there's the white room. And that was the room that we wanted, which was the weekend, Friday, Saturday. And we all called it the white room, White Night. Yeah, man.

• 40:25Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 40:25Speaker 01

  It was White Night. Ask any comic, you can, if you had Cedric the Entertainer, ask him what night was the White Night?

• 40:31Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 40:31Speaker 01

  And he'll tell you, oh, that's, that's Friday, Saturday at the Improv.

• 40:34Lewis Howes?

  And everyone wanted to get in there.

• 40:35Speaker 01

  Everyone wanted that because that was, that was the night you got paid. That was the night that audience paid. Those were the nights that were completely sold out. But yet you looked at, you looked at the list of comics that were on and it was all white. Unless you were already, you made it, you know what I mean? Then you'll get a Martin Lawrence.

• 40:54Lewis Howes?

  Right, right, right.

• 40:54Speaker 01

  You have me, or you'll get a.

• 40:56Lewis Howes?

  One person, man.

• 40:56Speaker 01

  You'll get one, one. And, and but for the most part, it's, it's buried within four or five. And it's like, then you get us, the guys that are trying to talk about my mom and try and also sell you my point of view. But yet, you know, we, we were always hit with, oh, I don't think they'll get it. Oh, maybe on a Tuesday, you know? It was just like some really indirect racist shit, man. So it's like, when you ask us why we, well, the confidence in why we do it is because the opportunities were slim and far in between. So when, when you get that call, I'm not going to say no to it.

• 41:34Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. You say yes whenever you can.

• 41:37Speaker 01

  I have to.

• 41:37Lewis Howes?

  I have to.

• 41:38Speaker 01

  Even though you know they're clearly racist.

• 41:40Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 41:41Speaker 01

  They got in trouble for being racist. Then they're finally going to ask you to do something and you're just like, yeah, I mean, yeah, this is my shot. Let me do it. I, I can't say no.

• 41:51Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 41:52Speaker 01

  You know, so, you know, you, you see stuff like the Comedy Store with Fat Tuesdays. You know, like, why was the Black Knight on Fat? Why was it on a Tuesday night? Because Tuesday night was the only night that they turned the lights off. Like, who's going to anywhere on Sunset on a Tuesday? But yet we'll turn it on and, and, you know, we'll give it to the black comics and we'll call it Fat Tuesdays. And, and Guy Torre took the challenge. Guy Torre's, all right, give me Tuesday night. And it went from one, it started at eight. And, and sold them out. And then next thing you know, they would do two shows, eight and 10. And then next thing you know, you got eight, 10 and 12.

• 42:31Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 42:32Speaker 01

  And now you're turning out famous black comics left and right on a Tuesday with lines down the street. Like, it's crazy, man. It's, I don't know, I'm talking too much.

• 42:42Lewis Howes?

  It's all good, man. It's all good, man.

• 42:44Speaker 01

  You know what I mean? But it's just like, those were the shows that I did. I would drive from Vegas because I couldn't get the weekend show. Yeah, with a broken taillight. I remember I got two tickets, one going there and one coming back. And I had to come back because I was at the, I was a tour guide that morning with a broken taillight. And I got a ticket both ways.

• 43:05Lewis Howes?

  Shut up.

• 43:06Speaker 01

  And I didn't even get paid that much. I got like 40 bucks just to do a show with George Wilburn and, and Gary Owen and, you know, like, like these comics that I, oh, Joe Torre. Like all these black comics that I admire at Fat Tuesdays.

• 43:22Lewis Howes?

  What is that, a four hour drive or some, five hour?

• 43:24Speaker 01

  Back, back and forth. And this is back in the nineties when they didn't have all those. Now you drive to Vegas and there's so many things you can do, like every 30 minutes or, or every 15 minutes or something. Back then, man, it was, it was Barstow, San Bernardino, like. And I, yeah, no AC.

• 43:42Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man.

• 43:42Speaker 01

  Trying to stay up with sleep apnea.

• 43:44Lewis Howes?

  Oh, my gosh, man.

• 43:46Speaker 01

  Just to do a 10 minute set.

• 43:47Lewis Howes?

  You were doing whatever it took.

• 43:49Speaker 01

  Whatever it took. Yep. I remember I caught the bus, the Greyhound, just to do, uh, this one, uh, no, I caught the Greyhound because I lost my ID. Yep. Lost my ID and I did, uh, I did, uh, oh my God, what's it called? It's such a great room, man. I wish I could tell you what the name of it, but Comedy Act Theater. Comedy Act Theater in, uh, oh God, like somewhere in, uh, Inglewood, that, that area, down that way. Don't quote me on it. But anyway, uh, yeah, I had to catch the bus, bro, back home.

• 44:26Lewis Howes?

  From Vegas?

• 44:26Speaker 01

  Took me nine hours.

• 44:27Lewis Howes?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 44:28Speaker 01

  From LA, from LA back to Vegas.

• 44:30Lewis Howes?

  The bus probably cost you more than what you made.

• 44:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, it was cheap. It was like 25 bucks.

• 44:34Lewis Howes?

  Okay. You made 20.

• 44:36Speaker 01

  And I remember I held my backpack like this.

• 44:38Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I've taken Greyhounds a few times. It's sketchy.

• 44:40Speaker 01

  That sucked, man.

• 44:41Lewis Howes?

  Sketchy, man.

• 44:42Speaker 01

  Just to do, by the way, didn't even get paid for that show. I was auditioning.

• 44:46Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man.

• 44:47Speaker 01

  I was auditioning for Guy Torre.

• 44:48Lewis Howes?

  My friend, I hope you're enjoying this episode. And the School of Greatness drops new conversations every Monday, Wednesday and Friday around money, mindset, healing, manifestation and relationships. And if you're not yet following the show, then you're missing all of them. Please tap the follow button right now and you'll get notified the moment every new episode drops because the next one might be exactly what you need. Now let's get back to the conversation. I see so many good ideas sit in notes apps for months. And the people who ship find ways to remove friction and keep moving.

• 45:25Lewis Howes?

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• 46:06Lewis Howes?

  Go to HostingR.com/greatness and use the discount code GREATNESS for 10% off. That's HostingR.com/greatness and use code GREATNESS for 10% off. The most successful leaders, experts and bestsellers would tell you the same thing. There's no expiration date on growth. That's why Southern New Hampshire University offers more than 80 online graduate programs. With career focused courses and low online tuition, SNHU's master degrees are designed for your next move. And if you're choosing between a few schools, SNHU is a clear frontrunner. It's flexible, affordable and career focused. Progress doesn't happen standing still.

• 46:51Lewis Howes?

  Take one step forward at SNHU.edu/greatness. I think the theme that I'm seeing about your career and also your life is just you are 100% all in, committed.

• 47:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:06Lewis Howes?

  To the craft and to creating opportunities for yourself.

• 47:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:09Lewis Howes?

  Most people, if there's a four hour drive, if there's a line they have to wait in, if it doesn't seem like there's an opportunity, they're not going to make the opportunity. It seems like you've spent 30 plus years.

• 47:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:20Lewis Howes?

  Of saying, I am going to not only do whatever it takes to get in front of someone to make the opportunity.

• 47:26Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:26Lewis Howes?

  Then I'm going to beg, claw, scream, dance, whatever.

• 47:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:30Lewis Howes?

  To show them I'm willing to do whatever it takes.

• 47:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:33Lewis Howes?

  And I think that level of commitment and.

• 47:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:36Lewis Howes?

  Full ownership to your dreams and your goals. It's gotta be one of the reasons why you've accomplished so much.

• 47:44Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:44Lewis Howes?

  Obviously you need to be talented.

• 47:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:46Lewis Howes?

  Because some people might do that and not have the goods.

• 47:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:49Lewis Howes?

  But you had a combination of the, I'm willing to do whatever it takes and I have the goods.

• 47:54Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:54Lewis Howes?

  And I'm willing to master the craft constantly.

• 47:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:57Lewis Howes?

  And, and be a good person.

• 47:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:59Lewis Howes?

  And I think that combination is what sounds like, has had, you know, multiple, you know, Netflix specials, what, five Netflix specials now?

• 48:07Speaker 01

  Could be my six.

• 48:07Lewis Howes?

  Six Netflix specials, sold out SoFi, sold out some of the biggest arenas in the world.

• 48:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:12Lewis Howes?

  On multiple continents. And it's because your willingness to do these things for decades.

• 48:18Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:18Lewis Howes?

  Before you quote unquote made it.

• 48:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:21Lewis Howes?

  Is what it sounds like.

• 48:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, and I'll, I'll keep doing it.

• 48:25Speaker 01

  I think people lose, uh, I don't know what it is that they lose, but uh, this fire burns inside me, man. I love it. But I remember reading like this article and I, I'm pretty sure it was Aerosmith. Don't, it's either Aerosmith or Bon Jovi. I always mess this up. Maybe I should look it up again. But they said that they used to make their own flyers and Xerox copy them. And they would put it on uh, windshields everywhere, everywhere. They would go to the parking lot, anywhere, any, any mall or a grocery store. And I remember after I read that, I literally went to Kinko's and taught myself how to make a flyer.

• 49:02Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 49:03Speaker 01

  Yeah. And, and literally I would hand out flyers everywhere. And to this day, look, I can show you a text. I swear to God, I'll show you a text right now, just to prove that I'm not lying. Uh, I asked my, my guy that does a lot of my graphics, uh, I go, I need 10,000 flyers for, for Netflix. Cause I'm about to pass these out.

• 49:23Lewis Howes?

  Right now?

• 49:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, I don't give a.

• 49:26Lewis Howes?

  So you're gonna go and still do it like you did 30 years ago?

• 49:28Speaker 01

  Well, I like, it's a little different, it's a little different now because I'm selling out places.

• 49:33Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, of course.

• 49:34Speaker 01

  But I got three sold out shows this weekend. Like, you know, they're completely sold out. I'm going to Miami.

• 49:39Lewis Howes?

  Why post flyers if you've already sold it out?

• 49:42Speaker 01

  Because not everybody knows you.

• 49:44Lewis Howes?

  That's true.

• 49:45Speaker 01

  You, you, you gotta be the most narcissistic human being to think that you're that famous. You're not. There's people that do not know you, man. That's fine. They're not supposed to know you. You don't need to know me, but you can get to know me. And when you do, it's up to you, whether you like me or not.

• 50:06Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Give me a chance. Watch one segment, watch a 10 minute thing.

• 50:09Speaker 01

  Yeah. If you don't like it, that's fine. That's what this is. It's a, we live in a world of choices, bro. Like the, the, the, I, I fall under the umbrella of standup comedy, but there's different genres. It's like saying I follow, I do music. It's like, okay, what genre of music? Country. I don't really listen to country, but I'll give it a shot. That's what it is.

• 50:29Lewis Howes?

  So you got 10,000 flyers you're about to go, or your team's about to go and pass them out.

• 50:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:34Lewis Howes?

  Down what? Yeah, LA or the city or anywhere you're going on tour.

• 50:37Speaker 01

  Everywhere. Every parking lot, I'll have a stack.

• 50:39Lewis Howes?

  That's incredible, man.

• 50:40Speaker 01

  I'll stick it in the car window. I don't, I am humble, bro.

• 50:44Lewis Howes?

  And you'll do it yourself too?

• 50:45Speaker 01

  Hell yeah. If I got, I'll have three boxes in my car.

• 50:48Lewis Howes?

  This is amazing.

• 50:49Speaker 01

  And they will be empty.

• 50:50Lewis Howes?

  And you'll just put them in windshield and just about.

• 50:52Speaker 01

  I don't care, bro.

• 50:54Lewis Howes?

  I like that.

• 50:54Speaker 01

  Don't care.

• 50:55Lewis Howes?

  That's amazing.

• 50:56Speaker 01

  And I'll pick them up. If you drop it on the ground, I'll pick it up.

• 51:02Speaker 01

  I don't care.

• 51:03Lewis Howes?

  Amazing, man. At your level with your success, you're still doing that type of work.

• 51:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:08Lewis Howes?

  That is impressive.

• 51:09Speaker 01

  I don't, I don't understand where.

• 51:13Lewis Howes?

  That inspires.

• 51:13Speaker 01

  I don't understand where the laziness comes from.

• 51:15Lewis Howes?

  That inspires me.

• 51:16Speaker 01

  Like I, I love, I dreamt this when I was nine. Like I, I, I'm still asleep dreaming. When I wake up, the dream's over. You know what I mean? Does that make sense?

• 51:29Lewis Howes?

  A hundred percent, man.

• 51:30Speaker 01

  When someone tells you to do something, you're like, oh yeah, maybe you're right. I'll stop doing that, bro. That, well, you just woke up to nothing.

• 51:39Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 51:40Speaker 01

  Uh-uh. I'll, I'll, I'll stay, let me sleep and continue this dream.

• 51:44Lewis Howes?

  Wow, man.

• 51:45Speaker 01

  Yeah. This is all a dream right here. This right here, I'm just dreaming. I'm living my dream, bro. Like imagine me laying in bed as a kid going, someday. And I close my eyes and this, this is what's happening while I'm dreaming as a kid.

• 52:00Lewis Howes?

  If you could go back, I guess 40, 50 years then, when you were a kid, when you were going through that traumatic time and your parents getting divorced.

• 52:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 52:07Lewis Howes?

  Struggling with all this stuff and you were very insecure.

• 52:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 52:11Lewis Howes?

  What would you say to him if he was sitting right in front of you right now?

• 52:14Speaker 01

  Oh, you're good. Keep watching those, keep watching those specials.

• 52:19Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 52:19Speaker 01

  Oh, hell yeah, dude. I watched every special, like, I got a master's degree in standup. And I didn't watch it for the funny. I watched it for the art, like, how did Carlin do that? Like, how did Dennis Wolfberg do that? How did Richard Jenny do that? How did Lon, how, how did Louis do that? How does he, those voices? How does Eddie Murphy just command that stage the way he does? You know what I mean? That confidence, like, what is it? I, I really, like, I was a student, bro.

• 52:53Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 52:53Speaker 01

  I remember there was this one year, I can't remember what year it was, like 90 something, late 90. And Comedy Central said they were gonna do a New Year's Eve marathon and it started at like eight in the morning. And then we're gonna keep going until midnight. And I literally woke up and I watched standup. Cause you gotta remember, there's no internet.

• 53:15Lewis Howes?

  And there's no reruns.

• 53:16Speaker 01

  There's no reruns. Yeah, exactly. There's no reruns.

• 53:19Lewis Howes?

  Watch it live or you just sit?

• 53:20Speaker 01

  Yeah. Uh, yeah. And you had to hope to God that, you know, I hope they play that again sometime this year. Well, this, this was the day they were gonna play a standup marathon. And I remember I got up at eight. I was ordering food. Ask my mom, bro. I was ordering food. It was being delivered. And I literally sat there and I watched every half hour special, hour special, premium blend, whatever it was, 15 minutes. They, they played everything that night.

• 53:49Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 53:49Speaker 01

  And I watched all of them, man. And I remember my mom, I remember my mom and Fred, my stepdad. They were going to a party at like 10. They left the house. They got all dressed up. And uh, and my mom looked at me, she goes, you, you sure you don't wanna come with me? Like, let's just go celebrate New Year's Eve together. I go, no, mom, seriously, I'm good.

• 54:10Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 54:11Speaker 01

  Like she thought I was pulling, like, oh, he doesn't have friends.

• 54:14Lewis Howes?

  Wow, you're enjoying it though.

• 54:16Speaker 01

  Bro, I was good. I had Domino's. I got the two liter. I got the two liter of Coke.

• 54:22Lewis Howes?

  Let's go. That's all you need, man.

• 54:23Speaker 01

  All I, and it was two pizzas for like eight bucks. I think it was 7.99 back then. I'm not joking, bro. I was killing it. And I was literally sitting on the floor.

• 54:34Lewis Howes?

  Also, are you just kind of?

• 54:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, I have the book.

• 54:36Lewis Howes?

  Shut up.

• 54:37Speaker 01

  I, I have everything, bro. I have a spiral. I have a spiral that says, I, I think it said something like, uh, first applause break, 30 seconds.

• 54:49Lewis Howes?

  Oh, you were timing it too.

• 54:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 54:51Lewis Howes?

  You were like, cadence of it all.

• 54:53Speaker 01

  Yeah. Like I was saying stuff like that.

• 54:57Lewis Howes?

  You were a real student.

• 54:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, I was like, oh, oh, that's okay. Blah, blah, blah. Like how many words to set up? Bah. Da, da, da, da. Okay. Oh, okay. Like, what are we talking about right out the gate? Like, yeah, I was doing that shit.

• 55:11Lewis Howes?

  Cause it's like a, it's like a dance when you're on stage.

• 55:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 55:14Lewis Howes?

  In a sense, right? And you've gotta have like almost the timing, the rhythm. It is a song.

• 55:19Speaker 01

  But it has to be yours.

• 55:21Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, you can't copy someone else, otherwise it's fake, right?

• 55:23Speaker 01

  That's why I don't believe in like, oh, teach a class. There is no class. Like, it, it's, it's you. Who are you? You know what I mean? It's just like asking Denzel to teach a class. He'll teach you the basics.

• 55:37Lewis Howes?

  Right, right.

• 55:37Speaker 01

  But he can't teach you Denzel.

• 55:39Lewis Howes?

  Be yourself, yeah.

• 55:40Speaker 01

  Like Denzel is Denzel. He's beautiful. You don't need to give him words. Don't give him anything. He'll get you on the first look and you're just like, yeah, well, let's cast this guy.

• 55:53Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 55:54Speaker 01

  What the, did he just do right there? He just looked at me. Like you can't, that, that's you. And that's, that's the same thing with standup. What is it that separates you? What is that you wanna talk about? What is, like, and it could be anything as long as it's your voice. I'm not saying like, I'm a storyteller, cause I love to tell stories, but I got you, man. Like it's, it's gonna be delivered the same way you write a joke. Like watch it. It's everything that you want. You got the setup, the premise, the punch, the tags, the callbacks. I got it all. I'll go into the crowd and I'll show you how to go into the crowd.

• 56:27Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 56:27Speaker 01

  I'll show you how, how to go into the crowd. I got it. I'll do it. It's, I, I love this.

• 56:33Lewis Howes?

  Is there anything about comedy you haven't mastered yet?

• 56:37Speaker 01

  I, to me, I, yeah, I think I've, there's, my particular style, I've masked. I love it. I love it so much and I know how to do it. I can literally go up there and just tell you what I wanna talk about. And I will deliver it the way it's supposed to be delivered. It's like.

• 56:56Lewis Howes?

  If someone puts you on the spot and says, all right, you got three minutes, ready, go. Do you already like have a, do you already know like different sets you have, time limits, stories? Do you have it all? If you're like just going to watch, you're not planning to go up.

• 57:09Speaker 01

  I'm, I'm so.

• 57:10Lewis Howes?

  Hey, we need you now, like, and you had to go up. What would you?

• 57:14Speaker 01

  First of all, there's standup and then there's a gig. I, I think that's the thing about standup that, that has this uh, weird uh, perception, right? Like, oh, you're a standup comic. So uh, um, here, go inside this broom closet and there's two guys standing there.

• 57:33Lewis Howes?

  Ready?

• 57:33Speaker 01

  Kill them.

• 57:33Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 57:34Speaker 01

  It's like, no. Uh, like you would never do that to anybody else. Like, we're not clowns. Like you got a bunch of people at round tables eating sushi right now, getting drunk.

• 57:46Lewis Howes?

  Got a good setup.

• 57:47Speaker 01

  And you want me to what? With no opener? You want me to what? Like, get, stop. Like, like.

• 57:55Lewis Howes?

  So that doesn't work.

• 57:56Speaker 01

  No. And anyone will tell you that. Everyone's got one, dude. I got, bro. Everyone's got, you know how many comics, you know, take these corporate gigs and they hate it? They hate it, but they take it cause you guys pay so much money.

• 58:13Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 58:14Speaker 01

  I, I stopped. Like I stopped years ago and it's, it hurts.

• 58:19Lewis Howes?

  Cause the audience isn't as engaged, is that right?

• 58:21Speaker 01

  Because you feel like a, it's a, it's clownery. It's like these big round tables with big giant table settings and knives and forks clanking and people are asking for more wasabi. And you want me to be funny?

• 58:37Lewis Howes?

  They pay you a big check.

• 58:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 58:39Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 58:40Speaker 01

  Outta here, dude. Like, this is like, we have the greatest, we have the hardest and the greatest art form when it comes to entertainment. You can't, you can't with a comic, man. You can't. I say it all the time. Like any comedian, I will never say anything bad about a comic publicly.

• 58:59Lewis Howes?

  Did you know how hard it is?

• 59:00Speaker 01

  Because I know, I don't care how, what, what style they do, whatever. It is, we, we are a different class and, and in this game of entertainment and, and it's untouchable. It's under, like, it's untouchable. You can't, you can't with us.

• 59:19Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 59:20Speaker 01

  You just can't. Like, like you talk about.

• 59:24Speaker 01

  We, we have to be therapists. We also have to be a psychic. We have to figure out every single person in this room.

• 59:32Lewis Howes?

  What's gonna make them laugh?

• 59:33Speaker 01

  And adjust.

• 59:34Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 59:35Speaker 01

  In a way, and it's crazy, man. You got, you can have 70,000 people in the stadium, but for some reason, there's this one cat I'm looking at. Just one, and every comic will say that to you.

• 59:45Lewis Howes?

  Who's just kinda like?

• 59:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, and if there's not a comic that doesn't say it to you, they're, they're not telling you the truth.

• 59:50Lewis Howes?

  So how do you deal with it when there's people in the audience?

• 59:52Speaker 01

  It's not, it's not that, it's, one, who gives a?

• 59:57Speaker 01

  That, that's the thing, who cares about that guy?

• 59:59Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 59:59Speaker 01

  Or that chick, we don't care. But the thing is, it just, it bothers you. Like, we will literally go in the green room, like, did you see that?

• 1:00:10Speaker 01

  The crooked hat guy?

• 1:00:13Speaker 01

  What was that all about? Who the was that? Like, literally, we'll all stand in the green room.

• 1:00:18Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:00:18Speaker 01

  Just like, what the, we, we don't care about the standing ovation. You know, like, it's crazy, dude. And we, that's the kinda shit we gotta go through, like, and we don't sit on the same song. Don't get me wrong, I love to go see live music, I love it, cuz every night is different, because the crowd is hyped and, you know, you get to hear a different version of the song live, and it just sounds good. You get to hear all the instruments at once, live, it's, it's a beautiful feeling. Standup isn't like that, bro. Like, we, we're not doing the hits. Like, I can't, I can't go up there and be like, oh, by the way, I'm gonna do a

• 1:01:01Speaker 01

  live from Brooklyn today, like, they're gonna be, everyone's gonna want their money back. It's like, no, bro, we've seen that. We want new shit.

• 1:01:10Lewis Howes?

  That's a lot of work to always come up with new material.

• 1:01:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, and you gotta give it to them.

• 1:01:14Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:01:15Speaker 01

  Like, that's me, by the way, like, once, once this special drops, September 15th, it's, it's such a, like, a fun night for me, because I'm like, yo, everyone's gonna get to see that routine that I worked on. But at the same time, it's a sad night, cuz it's, I'll never do those jokes again.

• 1:01:30Lewis Howes?

  Oh.

• 1:01:30Speaker 01

  Like, I'll never talk about my stepdad again after that. And I love doing that story, I love telling that story on stage. But it's done, after this, it's done, I'll never.

• 1:01:39Lewis Howes?

  Ever talk about that stuff again?

• 1:01:40Speaker 01

  No.

• 1:01:41Lewis Howes?

  Not even like, a part of it every now and then?

• 1:01:43Speaker 01

  Even if you yell it out, I won't do it.

• 1:01:45Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:01:47Speaker 01

  And if you yell it out, I really won't do it. Yeah, I just, I can't. There's no reason.

• 1:01:54Lewis Howes?

  Man, that's a lot of work.

• 1:01:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's crazy, cuz an hour special to me is like a marriage. And it's like, we get divorced, but it's a happy divorce.

• 1:02:02Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man.

• 1:02:03Speaker 01

  It's like a happy divorce, like, I, I, you know, I, I wave to it. And I don't do, I don't do greatest hits at the end of my show, I, I don't think that's a.

• 1:02:11Lewis Howes?

  Cuz you got six specials now, so it's like, if someone watched three of them.

• 1:02:14Speaker 01

  I got eight.

• 1:02:14Lewis Howes?

  Eight, but six on Netflix, I'm sure, yeah.

• 1:02:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, six on Netflix.

• 1:02:17Lewis Howes?

  Eight specials, but six on Netflix, so if someone watched the first couple and they see the same material, a little bit of it, they're just saying, ah, I already watched this.

• 1:02:24Speaker 01

  Hey, you did that already.

• 1:02:25Lewis Howes?

  Dang. What about on tour, could you do it at us? Really? Man.

• 1:02:31Speaker 01

  I can't.

• 1:02:32Lewis Howes?

  That is a lot of work. Yeah, but I love it. No, I mean, it's great, but it's like, you gotta always be thinking of new material.

• 1:02:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:02:38Lewis Howes?

  That's a hard job.

• 1:02:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, but it's not, it's not, it's, it's a lot of fun.

• 1:02:43Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:44Speaker 01

  It really is a lot of fun.

• 1:02:45Lewis Howes?

  Gosh, man, I mean, you talk about, people will watch this after the special's out, or hopefully they'll watch it, your special after they see this. You talk about your stepdad, and you were telling me a little bit before, you had a tumultuous, you know, childhood, you were mentioning a lot of trauma with the divorce and stepdad and then dad. What was the biggest lesson your stepdad taught you that has guided you throughout your life?

• 1:03:07Speaker 01

  But my favorite that I like to tell people and smile is, uh, fix your bed. Fix your bed, a dirty, a dirty bed is a, a messy bed is a messy head.

• 1:03:17Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:03:19Speaker 01

  And he was military, you know what I mean, two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars and a C I V badge.

• 1:03:23Lewis Howes?

  Your stepdad.

• 1:03:24Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:03:24Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:25Speaker 01

  Uh, and, yeah, when he came into my life, you know, don't get me wrong, I love my dad, and things happened. You know, there were fights, we had to call the cops. He fought my dad a lot, you know, and my brother was scary, he was a very scary guy. Small, but he could fight, he was like, three cops on his back.

• 1:03:44Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:03:44Speaker 01

  And a punch in the back of his head, you know what I mean, cuz they won't put the cuffs on. He won't put, let him put the cuffs on, he'd just look at me like, yeah, they're scared, they're scared. And I remember looking at my brother going, I'm scared, I'm scared, Robert, like, come on, stop. And and then all of a sudden,

• 1:04:03Speaker 01

  this guy Fred comes in

• 1:04:06Speaker 01

  and he picks my brother up and slams him. You know what I mean, cuz Fred's like, six, two, six, three, big, and when my mom met him, he was like, two seventy-five, army grunt, you know what I mean? Like, this guy was in it and wasn't scared to fight, man, and I remember he, you know, threw Robert to the ground, laid on him, and he, he was like, uh, I'mma lay here, brother, alright? You know, I don't wanna hurt you, I'mma lay on you.

• 1:04:32Lewis Howes?

  Your stepdad?

• 1:04:33Speaker 01

  We wait, yeah, I'll wait, we'll wait for the cops, we call the cops, so what do you, what do you wanna do? You wanna get up and leave? And we'll tell the cops that you're gone. We're gonna lay on you right now, you tell me. Let me up, let me up, and they let him up again, my brother swung on him again, bam, threw him to the ground again. He goes, look, I'mma do this, I don't mind doing this, we can keep doing this. Wait till the cops, you're gonna go to jail again, we ain't gonna see you for a while.

• 1:05:02Speaker 01

  What you gonna do, Robert? And then Robert's like, yeah, let me up, let me up, get out of here. And he let him up, and we're walking down the steps, he swung on Fred, and then Fred grabbed his hair, hit him a couple times in the face. And then, uh, and I think that's when Robert just looked at him. It's kinda crazy, too, cuz I think it was that, that wake-up moment, where my brother was just like, okay, I'm not that guy anymore. And then Robert just walked down the steps and then just walked away, and I remember looking at Fred, cuz I was, uh, I think I was like sixteen or seventeen when he did that, and I was just like, oh, okay, we got, I gotta, I got this guy in my house right now, I got someone that's got my back right now, so I looked at him different, you know?

• 1:05:47Lewis Howes?

  Your stepdad, yeah.

• 1:05:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, I was like.

• 1:05:48Lewis Howes?

  This was, you were fighting your brother, your brother was doing this to you.

• 1:05:51Speaker 01

  He, no, he was doing it to Fred.

• 1:05:52Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 1:05:53Speaker 01

  But Robert always did it to us, he, he was pulling my sister down the steps, he would, you know, hit me, hit my dad, and you know, he's, he's scary, but now we got Fred, and Fred's like, oh, we're not playing that here, bro.

• 1:06:05Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:06:06Speaker 01

  Uh-uh, this isn't happening in this house, now while I'm here, and I was like,

• 1:06:12Speaker 01

  alright. And that was my guy, I was, I remember looking, I'm like, I'm gonna go fix my bed.

• 1:06:19Speaker 01

  Like, you said, like this, right, sir? Like this, right, sir?

• 1:06:22Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:06:23Speaker 01

  It's not messy no more, sir.

• 1:06:24Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:06:25Speaker 01

  Swear to God. And to this day, and you can go to my house right now, my room's got bags from this weekend, just open and shit all over the place.

• 1:06:33Lewis Howes?

  What you mean?

• 1:06:34Speaker 01

  My bed, nice fold pillows, you go to any hotel room across, anywhere you go see me, I do not leave that bedroom unless my bed is fixed.

• 1:06:44Lewis Howes?

  That's great, man.

• 1:06:45Speaker 01

  Hmm, that's Sergeant Fred Harrison.

• 1:06:47Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:06:48Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 1:06:48Lewis Howes?

  And what about your mom, I got a couple final questions for you, but what about biggest lesson your mom has taught you?

• 1:06:53Speaker 01

  I think what my mom indirectly taught me was hustle. And I think that's where I get it from. Cuz when my mom moved here, I always tell this story, and I feel like a, like I'm on repeat, and I feel bad, but you know, there was no Facebook, there was no Instagram, there was no X, there was none of that.

• 1:07:15Speaker 01

  You know, there was no websites, you know, now you, you know, you come, you come to this country, you know, if you're an immigrant and you come to this country and you just, you wanna find a community that, that speaks your language, eats your food, and it's easy.

• 1:07:27Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:07:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, literally, it is easy, you just go to Maps and type in Greek food, boom. Thousand restaurants right by you.

• 1:07:34Lewis Howes?

  Facebook groups.

• 1:07:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, Facebook group, Greek, look, look, friends, blah, blah, blah, boom, here we go. You can meet them that day. Find a friend, you didn't have that back then, bro. My mom would go to church on Sunday, we'd all be sitting with her, and she'd be literally looking around, just looking for someone brown that looked like her, and at the end, real quick, you know, Joseph, what, are you Filipino? What's that, oh, nice to meet you, huh? Next you know, they're talking, now she's got this friend, now she got that friend, then they start renting out the nights at Columbus Hall at the church. It was the eighties, and you know, next you know, it's potluck night, now it's all Filipinos, my mom's going through a divorce.

• 1:08:14Speaker 01

  Now it's just her and, and, and, and her kids, so now we just gotta find, you know, we don't have family, cuz my dad's family is all we had, and now they're not with us anymore, so now we got, you know, the Portugals and all these people that are taking us in like a family, and it, that's why I identify with Filipino culture so much, cuz of that, like, those moments were so special to me, and that's where I was performing, like, I was dancing like Michael Jackson at these potluck nights, at the nights at Columbus, and seeing my mom roll lumpia up, you know, our Filipino egg roll, she would roll them up and make a bag of twenty-five and freeze them and then sell them at work, booked these nights at Columbus Hall shows, and everyone had to perform, and

• 1:08:57Speaker 01

  just seeing her do this indirectly is probably why I make flyers.

• 1:09:03Lewis Howes?

  That's cool. That's really cool, man.

• 1:09:05Speaker 01

  That's why I rent out theaters, that's why, that's why I paid for those specials when I had to, instead of complaining and going public and saying, buh.

• 1:09:15Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:09:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:09:17Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful, man.

• 1:09:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:09:22Lewis Howes?

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• 1:11:15Lewis Howes?

  You gave some advice to your younger self.

• 1:11:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:11:17Lewis Howes?

  Uh, you said, we're good, you know, keep going. But if you could go in the future and imagine the last day of your life or the last days of your life, live as long as you want, but it's the last days.

• 1:11:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:11:29Lewis Howes?

  And your future self is looking back at you right now.

• 1:11:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:11:32Lewis Howes?

  What do you think he needs to say to you for this next season or chapter of your life?

• 1:11:38Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 1:11:41Speaker 01

  Man, you know, there's a comic. There's a comic, uh, that I used to take on the road. Well, I still do.

• 1:11:49Speaker 01

  His name's Chase, Chase DuRusso. And I've said this a lot on stage before, but Chase is the one that burnt it into my head.

• 1:11:59Speaker 01

  And he goes, everything that you've done up until this point is a DVD. Like it's the DVD. You, you made that DVD. Whatever it is that you wanted was a DVD. Like everything that you wanted in like your movie, you did it. Here's the DVD of Joe Coy's life. Boom, you made it. Everything that you're doing now is the, is the bonus features on the DVD. So that hour and 20 minute DVD is everything that I dreamt of when I was a kid. Everything that I thought that I, you know, even the ones that I thought would be impossible. Like I remember going, oh, I could never play in an arena. I remember going to see Eddie Murphy.

• 1:12:44Speaker 01

  I went, I was like 15 when I saw Eddie Murphy live. And it was at the Seattle Coliseum at the time. That's what they called it. And I was sitting there and I was looking up. I couldn't believe how many people were there to see him. It sold out. And I remember like, that'll never happen. Cut to me selling out the same arena that Eddie Murphy was at. And I'm sitting in the same chair and I have my son next to me.

• 1:13:07Lewis Howes?

  Shut up.

• 1:13:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, literally.

• 1:13:09Lewis Howes?

  Oh gosh, I just got the chills.

• 1:13:10Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's the craziest story.

• 1:13:12Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:13:13Speaker 01

  By the way, the way I bought my tickets is with my mom's credit card. Cause they didn't have websites back then. You had to call in and her name's Josephine. I just used the accent. I like to get two tickets to Eddie Murphy. Boom, two tickets. We're waiting for it, picked it up after school. Swear to God, bro. And then now I'm at the Coliseum and I remember seeing that, looking up. That's the first time I saw Paul Mooney perform too. And then, uh, now I'm sitting in the same exact seats where I sat and watched Eddie at my show, same arena.

• 1:13:45Speaker 01

  And now it's called the Climate Pledge Arena. And I'm with my son. I just remember putting my arm around my son going, this is exactly where I saw Eddie Murphy, Joe. It was amazing.

• 1:13:56Lewis Howes?

  Wow, man, that's cool.

• 1:13:57Speaker 01

  Yeah. And but, but to think like that happened or selling out SoFi Stadium, the way that was nuts. And being able to hug my son on stage and have, ah, that was nuts, man.

• 1:14:09Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:14:11Speaker 01

  So many crying moments at that time.

• 1:14:12Lewis Howes?

  Man, you're about to make me cry. I'm a new dad now, just thinking about these things.

• 1:14:16Speaker 01

  Especially with what we do, Louis. It's like, it's hard, like whenever you go, I'm a comedian, right? And they're like, you know, but they don't know you, right? And I don't have a post, I don't have a flyer on me. And they go, oh, really? Oh, wow. So where, where do you do this comedy at? And I was like, there's SoFi Stadium. That's where I do it.

• 1:14:35Lewis Howes?

  That's crazy.

• 1:14:35Speaker 01

  But before that, you don't have that. You don't have that accolade, right? And you have to go, oh, well, you know, I'm at the improv.

• 1:14:43Lewis Howes?

  I was on this show and I have this thing.

• 1:14:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, I did this, you know, I've opened for.

• 1:14:46Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:46Speaker 01

  And you know, when you're a dad with a lot of pride, you got this, you know, my son. Hey, you're just like, man, I don't want to say that his whole life. You know what I mean? I don't want to be like, well, you can see me at the improv, like I do it like every Thursday. Like I want my son to be like, yo, that's my dad sold out SoFi Stadium. You know what I mean? Like I want, you know, you dream that, right? And I wanted that to happen while he was in school. Like it was like a goal of mine. Like I have to have this while he's in school. I don't know what it was, but I wanted it to burn in his brain. My dad did that. And, and I want him to walk around school like, yo. And it finally happened.

• 1:15:31Speaker 01

  Like I, I remember he was a sophomore when I shot my first special that I sold to Netflix. So I shot it myself.

• 1:15:39Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:15:40Speaker 01

  You know, I've told that story before.

• 1:15:41Lewis Howes?

  Shot it first, then you pitched and sold it.

• 1:15:43Speaker 01

  Well, they turned me down. So they said no to me. And you know, we were like, hey, we'd love to, you know, do this hour for you. And they were like, no. And I, there's no problem with that, dude. I'm not, I, you know, like it's a business. You know what I mean? They passed on me for a reason. Fine. There's a lot of comics that deserved that spot and they gave it to them and I get it. I just had to prove to them that I deserved to be on it. So we got the cameras, we shot it ourselves. And, uh, and then we, we shot it and we brought it to them and then they bought it. And I'm glad, thank you Netflix for everything, because it changed my life. And when they watched it, they were like, okay, we, we get it. Our bad, let's put this on. And when they put it on, it was a rap, bro.

• 1:16:29Speaker 01

  It was a rap. When live, live from Seattle dropped, it was over with.

• 1:16:34Lewis Howes?

  Then they're like, what's the next one?

• 1:16:35Speaker 01

  It was crazy. Oh yeah. Like right after it dropped, I broke Mariah Carey's record in Hawaii.

• 1:16:39Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:16:40Speaker 01

  Like 22,000 tickets sold. I broke, uh, the forum, the forum record. That was crazy. First comic to sell six shows out. It was crazy. And I remember when I brought, uh, I brought, uh, my son to the forum when I sold it out the first two times. And he brought all his classmates.

• 1:16:59Lewis Howes?

  Oh, that's cool.

• 1:16:59Speaker 01

  And he was a senior, or not senior, he was a, he was a junior. And I remember like, yeah, yeah, man.

• 1:17:07Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 1:17:07Speaker 01

  And I brought him out on stage and I hugged him and all his classmates were there. I was like.

• 1:17:12Lewis Howes?

  Damn, what a gift. What a beautiful, what a beautiful gift.

• 1:17:15Speaker 01

  Yeah. So now it's like, now I'm on the bonus features of the DVD. This is all a bonus.

• 1:17:20Lewis Howes?

  This is all.

• 1:17:20Speaker 01

  This is a bonus.

• 1:17:21Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:17:22Speaker 01

  Talking to you.

• 1:17:23Lewis Howes?

  Joe, I want to acknowledge you for even that story right there of like, you know, a lot of people have said you would have already made it by now before this first Netflix special. Like you toured everywhere, you'd done it, like you've, whatever. You've, you've sold out a bunch of places, but you still didn't have that Netflix special, right?

• 1:17:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:17:42Lewis Howes?

  And still that story to me is still inspiring because you said, you, you said Netflix passed.

• 1:17:48Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:17:49Lewis Howes?

  And you say, you know what? I'm still good to do the special.

• 1:17:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:17:51Lewis Howes?

  And pay for it myself and invest in it. And I'll shop it to you or someone else if you don't take it. And you stepped, you went to the front of the line and you asked.

• 1:18:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:18:00Lewis Howes?

  Again, just at a different stage.

• 1:18:02Speaker 01

  Oh yeah, I didn't even think of that.

• 1:18:04Lewis Howes?

  You know what I'm saying?

• 1:18:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, man.

• 1:18:05Lewis Howes?

  You, you had your resume.

• 1:18:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:18:07Lewis Howes?

  You said, here's my resume. They said, no. You said, can you give me five minutes before the thing? Can you give, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba? And you just said, I'm going to film it and do it myself then, and then I'm going to show it to you.

• 1:18:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:18:16Lewis Howes?

  And you just kept showing up.

• 1:18:18Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:18:18Lewis Howes?

  Like that's been the theme for 30 plus years.

• 1:18:21Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:18:21Lewis Howes?

  Even when you've been on the top, essentially.

• 1:18:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:18:25Lewis Howes?

  And so for me, I want to acknowledge you for just being an incredible inspiration.

• 1:18:28Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 1:18:28Lewis Howes?

  There's so many people who feel like they have to have everything perfect before they start.

• 1:18:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:18:34Lewis Howes?

  They feel like they have to have all the, the school, the credentials, the opportunities, the, the branding, whatever it is.

• 1:18:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:18:42Lewis Howes?

  Before they actually get started and launch their dream.

• 1:18:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:18:45Lewis Howes?

  And you started when you were a kid and you said, I'm going to show up at every stage, every moment. And go to the front of the line and ask, can you put me on stage?

• 1:18:54Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:18:55Lewis Howes?

  Even when they say no.

• 1:18:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:18:56Lewis Howes?

  And you're going to keep asking and keep mastering your craft along the way. So I acknowledge you for the incredible inspiration that you are. For, for telling these stories. There's so much I'm going to want to talk to you about, but I want to get you out of here. And so maybe we'll have to have you back on for the next special.

• 1:19:10Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:19:11Lewis Howes?

  Um, I want people to watch your special that's out right now, once this episode is out on September 15th, uh, called Blue in the Face. And, um, it's going to be a banger, just like the rest of them, man.

• 1:19:21Speaker 01

  This is going to be so good.

• 1:19:22Lewis Howes?

  It's going to be a banger.

• 1:19:23Speaker 01

  It is, man.

• 1:19:24Lewis Howes?

  And you were telling me about some other projects that you're working on behind the scenes that hopefully coming out soon.

• 1:19:29Speaker 01

  Don't say hopefully.

• 1:19:30Lewis Howes?

  That is coming out.

• 1:19:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:19:32Lewis Howes?

  That is coming out soon.

• 1:19:33Speaker 01

  You know, I, I hate to say this to someone like you, but, uh, the one thing I never say is hope or hopefully. I don't, you'll never hear me say it.

• 1:19:43Lewis Howes?

  What do you say?

• 1:19:43Speaker 01

  I literally got it out of my, my, I, I don't even, it's not even in my brain when I talk. It doesn't even process like unconditionally. It just doesn't come out anymore.

• 1:19:53Lewis Howes?

  What do you say instead?

• 1:19:55Speaker 01

  When it comes out.

• 1:19:55Lewis Howes?

  When it comes out.

• 1:19:57Speaker 01

  When it comes out.

• 1:19:58Lewis Howes?

  It is gonna come out.

• 1:19:58Speaker 01

  I said, hopefully it comes out soon. I knew it was gonna come out.

• 1:20:01Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:20:01Speaker 01

  It's just a matter about when.

• 1:20:03Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:20:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, I, I, well, like especially with what we do, I feel like when you say hope.

• 1:20:07Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man.

• 1:20:07Speaker 01

  You're, you're asking for something else other than your own talent.

• 1:20:11Lewis Howes?

  Interesting.

• 1:20:12Speaker 01

  To get it. And I, I don't, I don't hope for anything.

• 1:20:15Lewis Howes?

  That's good.

• 1:20:15Speaker 01

  I will.

• 1:20:16Lewis Howes?

  It's coming out.

• 1:20:17Speaker 01

  Yeah. I, I'm not a motivational speaker, bro.

• 1:20:19Lewis Howes?

  I love this, man. I love it.

• 1:20:21Speaker 01

  I'm not that guy. I just, I just know, like, I don't like hope. I hope that works out for you. Like, what, what does that mean? It, it will work out for you.

• 1:20:29Lewis Howes?

  It's going to work out.

• 1:20:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:20:31Lewis Howes?

  If people follow you, Joe Coy, on social media, they're gonna see when all these books come out.

• 1:20:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:20:37Lewis Howes?

  It's coming out.

• 1:20:37Speaker 01

  This Martin Lawrence project is killer.

• 1:20:39Lewis Howes?

  That's what I was saying. Yeah, yeah.

• 1:20:40Speaker 01

  Martin Lawrence and I produced this special together, uh, which highlights and showcases top headliners that just have not been given the opportunity. And they are headliners, bro. Like, these are animals.

• 1:20:55Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:20:56Speaker 01

  They're, they're, they are beasts, man. I've never seen so many standing ovations in my life before. And I was so happy, man. I was just like, it made me teary eyed. There was one point where I got teary eyed.

• 1:21:08Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:21:09Speaker 01

  Cause me and Martin literally went through every single submission ourselves. We casted this thing ourselves. Like, we handpicked all 24 of them, and there's no denying who we picked.

• 1:21:20Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:21:20Speaker 01

  There's no question.

• 1:21:21Lewis Howes?

  All bangers.

• 1:21:22Speaker 01

  Yeah. And, and any comic that's like, well, I submitted, you passed on us. Well, then watch why. Watch why. And, and no disrespect, you'll, when we do another season, we'll look and, and we'll, you know, we'll, if you deserve that spot, we will get you. But I'm telling you, there's no denying these 24. You're gonna watch it and go, alright, yeah.

• 1:21:40Lewis Howes?

  These were good.

• 1:21:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, they were good.

• 1:21:42Lewis Howes?

  I gotta level up next time.

• 1:21:43Speaker 01

  They were good. Maybe I should have submitted a different set, or whatever it is. I don't know what it was. But all I know is this, these 24 comics caught Martin and I's eye.

• 1:21:54Lewis Howes?

  They had the juice.

• 1:21:55Speaker 01

  They had it, man. And they, they shined that night.

• 1:21:57Lewis Howes?

  Hmm. I saw some behind the scenes before we recorded, and it looks pretty epic still.

• 1:22:01Speaker 01

  Crazy.

• 1:22:02Lewis Howes?

  When that's coming out, people will see that. I'm sure you'll be talking about it at Joe Coy on social media and everywhere else online that you share your content. I've got two final questions, Joe. And again, I appreciate you just opening up and being honest and real about all this stuff. It's so inspiring.

• 1:22:16Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:22:16Lewis Howes?

  I know people are gonna be inspired by this conversation. This, uh, this question is called the three truths.

• 1:22:21Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:22:21Lewis Howes?

  Hypothetical question. Imagine you get to live as long as you want.

• 1:22:25Speaker 01

  Uh huh.

• 1:22:25Lewis Howes?

  This is your bonus features, right? You get to do all the extra bonus stuff, all the fun stuff now. But whatever reason, uh, many years in the future, it's your last day on this earth.

• 1:22:34Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 1:22:35Lewis Howes?

  And on your last day, you have to take all of your work with you.

• 1:22:39Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:22:40Lewis Howes?

  So no one has access to any of the 50 specials you'll have by then, or all the content. It's all gone for whatever reason. Hypothetical.

• 1:22:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:22:47Lewis Howes?

  But you get to leave behind to the world three lessons. Three things you know to be true from your life.

• 1:22:52Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:22:53Lewis Howes?

  What would those three truths be for you? Three lessons?

• 1:22:55Speaker 01

  Oh, this is what my dad said to me. But don't say what if, right?

• 1:23:02Speaker 01

  What if I would have done it?

• 1:23:03Lewis Howes?

  Ah, man.

• 1:23:04Speaker 01

  What if I tried? Like, don't ever say what if. Just do it. You know what I mean? Be that kid, man. Like, be the kid that you are. That kid that, that thought they, they could fly when they jumped off the roof. I know that sounds stupid, but man, we can really fly, bro. You can do whatever you want. I'm flying right now.

• 1:23:27Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:23:28Speaker 01

  Not in the literal sense. I'm literally, I'm living out a dream, man. And I want everyone to feel this, cause it's, it's an incredible feeling.

• 1:23:39Speaker 01

  Like, I used to stand in the shower and pretend I was winning the Apollo.

• 1:23:42Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:23:43Speaker 01

  I'm not joking, dude.

• 1:23:45Lewis Howes?

  And they didn't want it.

• 1:23:45Speaker 01

  I swear, I used to do it all the time. I used to self-introduce myself i- in the shower. Like, I used to do this whole intro and, and live, you know, this next guy. I used to do all that. And that with no routine. I had no jokes. I would just do it. Like, I don't know why I was doing it.

• 1:24:02Lewis Howes?

  What was that like when you finally got to that stage?

• 1:24:05Speaker 01

  Insane. Insane. I, I still remember the bar that I went up at, and I lied. I said I was 21 just to get in to do this competition. It was called, uh, oh, God, what was it called? Star Mania. It was called Star Mania in Vegas. My sister was in it. She was singing. But she didn't know I was doing the standup part of it. And, uh, I went to this bar on Eastern and Tropicana. And I drew this mustache. I, I remember I grew my baby hair. I grew it. I remember I wouldn't shave for like a week and a half until the show. And then I, and I just made it really dark with my mom's, uh, eyeliner. And I just made it really, really dark. I looked so stupid, man. And I wore this big suit. I never had a suit before, so I think it was like Fred's jacket.

• 1:24:46Speaker 01

  And I walked in there, like, all confident, like this. And then the, the guy, the guy at the door, he goes, I go, I'm here for, uh, Star Mania, the show. And they're like, yeah, yeah, come on in. Alright, alright, sir. And they sat me down. The, the waitress came, and I remember, don't order a drink. So, uh, the waitress came over. I go, I'll just have a Coke.

• 1:25:07Lewis Howes?

  Oh, my God.

• 1:25:08Speaker 01

  And I got a Coke, and there was a Lionel Richie impersonator that was sitting right next to me. And he went up and he killed it, saying all night long, and crushed it. And then he got off stage, and then, and then I went on, and I, I bombed.

• 1:25:20Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:25:21Speaker 01

  So bad. And, um, there was this lady at the bar. I was like 18, bro. And there was this lady at the bar, right? It was just a dingy bar. And he crushed. I went up. I did nothing but sex jokes. It was like,

• 1:25:35Lewis Howes?

  Insane.

• 1:25:35Speaker 01

  Blah, blah, blah, and condoms, right? And they were just tanking. It was just not funny. And then my mouth started getting cotton mouth. I was getting all cotton mouth. And then, uh, I go, um, you ever get so cotton mouth that your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth? Like, I don't even know why I'm even talking. Like, just get off stage, right? But I'm not. I just keep going. And they're like, you ever, while your, your tongue gets stuck to the roof of your mouth? And the lady in the back of the, because I was talking about condoms, lady in the back of the, uh, bar, she goes, put a condom on it. And everyone started clapping.

• 1:26:13Lewis Howes?

  Oh.

• 1:26:14Speaker 01

  And I was like, oh, my God. And I, I remember I got off stage, and I was just like, I bombed so bad. But the lady, the heckler got the call back. She got, and I'm just sitting there all depressed. I'm wiping off my mustache or whatever. But you know what? That Lionel Richie impersonator, man, I wish I knew his name, man, cause I just wanna hug him. He said, he goes, man, I don't know what you got, but you got something on stage. He goes, like, there's something there, man. Like, maybe not tonight, but you on stage, there's something.

• 1:26:53Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:26:53Speaker 01

  Isn't that crazy?

• 1:26:54Lewis Howes?

  Gave you a little confidence boost.

• 1:26:55Speaker 01

  Yeah. Lionel Richie, man, I wish he would stumble on this. And I would love to hug him, man. Cause like, literally, cause that, it was so depressing. I remember I came home, my mom and Fred were sitting on the couch. And I had that suit on, right? That, and she goes, ooh, nice suit. Where did you, were you on a date? And I just literally

• 1:27:15Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man, right to your room.

• 1:27:16Speaker 01

  Oh, right to the room.

• 1:27:17Lewis Howes?

  Shame.

• 1:27:18Speaker 01

  Laid there, yeah.

• 1:27:21Lewis Howes?

  Man.

• 1:27:21Speaker 01

  And I remember, I think, I forgot who said, I think Eddie or somebody said, I, I bombed 18 times before I got my first laugh. I forgot who said it, either Chris or someone. And I remember just laying there going, yeah, I got 17 more.

• 1:27:34Lewis Howes?

  No way.

• 1:27:35Speaker 01

  Swear.

• 1:27:37Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:27:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:27:38Lewis Howes?

  How many more times did you bomb, though?

• 1:27:40Speaker 01

  Probably 25 more times.

• 1:27:41Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:27:43Speaker 01

  Yeah. It wasn't until I got to this copy house. I remember I joined this one competition. It was just, it was brutal, cause I invited everybody to it, and you bombed.

• 1:27:51Lewis Howes?

  Oh, tremendously. Never bring your friends when you're getting started, right?

• 1:27:55Speaker 01

  Yeah. But then again, why not?

• 1:27:58Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, it's true. And they're laughing with you.

• 1:28:00Speaker 01

  No, they weren't laughing at all. They were just like, I remember, and I had to leave the same way that all the guests, the patrons left. So it was just like this walk of shame with your family. And just like, and everyone that was there is watching, you're just like, oh.

• 1:28:15Lewis Howes?

  No, man.

• 1:28:16Speaker 01

  And you just gotta suck it up. I don't know if I answered your question.

• 1:28:19Lewis Howes?

  It's good, it's good. I got one final question.

• 1:28:22Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:28:22Lewis Howes?

  What's your definition of greatness?

• 1:28:24Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 1:28:27Speaker 01

  Man, your definition of greatness is doing what you love.

• 1:28:31Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:28:32Speaker 01

  If you're doing what you love, there's, there's nothing that, uh, gives you that stamp of approval. Oh, I, I'm getting millions of dollars because I'm doing this pod. That doesn't give you the stamp of approval because you made music. There's people making millions of dollars and they hate what they're doing. There's people that made a million in one day and hated what they did.

• 1:28:56Speaker 01

  But it's when you're doing what you love for absolutely nothing.

• 1:29:01Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:29:02Speaker 01

  That's the true definition of greatness.

• 1:29:04Lewis Howes?

  Hmm. Joe, you've been the best. Appreciate you, man. Love you, man.

• 1:29:08Speaker 01

  Powerful, man.

• 1:29:09Lewis Howes?

  My friend, I hope you're enjoying this episode right now because we are on a mission to impact 100 million lives every single week. And every follow here on this podcast helps us reach more people. Make sure to hit the follow at the top of this show's page right now. It's the single biggest thing that you can do to support the show and the impact of us reaching you every single time we have new episodes. I appreciate you, and I can't wait to see you in the next episode. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally,

• 1:29:53Lewis Howes?

  as well as ad-free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well. Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review. I really love hearing feedback from you, and it helps us figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward. And I want to remind you, if no one has told you lately, that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.

• 1:30:33Lewis Howes?

  How many days does it take to go from total beginner to reasonably proficient at a new skill? Well, if you practice for a focused hour a day, then about 250, which also happens to be the number of reasons to choose T-Mobile. Here's an excellent reason. They have the fastest 5G home internet according to Ookla Speed Test, which you can test for yourself, worry-free, with their 15-day money-back guarantee. Another great reason, it's fast and easy to set up, too. Plug it in, and you're online in practically no time, with no appointment or technician needed. Those are just a few reasons. Find yours at t-mobile.com/homeinternet, where you can check availability and try it for yourself.

• 1:31:18Lewis Howes?

  They're so sure you'll love it. You'll get your money back if you don't. Fastest according to Ookla Speed Test Intelligence Data, second half of 2025. All rights reserved. Redeem money back guarantee within 30 days of cancellation. With the US Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card, you earn an unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase. No quarterly activations, no categories to track, just unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase. Think about those bigger everyday purchases, travel, groceries, things for the house, where afterward you realize, I could have earned cash back on that. That's the kind of opportunity that adds up over time.

• 1:31:57Lewis Howes?

  Visit usbank.com/smartlycard to learn more. The creditor and issuer of this card is US Bank National Association, pursuant to a license from Visa USA Inc. Some restrictions may apply.