Taking Charge: Creating Opportunities in Comedy: Joann Socrates - Stand Up Comedian

SPEAKER_00 0:04

This is the Beyond the Story Podcast, a show that goes way beyond the story. And now, Sebastian F. Joanne, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Thanks for being here. Kind of wild how you and I connected and met, and just also a great testament to how we absolutely make shit up constantly. Because I was like, that's my LA Instagram comic crush. And you're like, I'm in Hollywood, Florida. I was like, uh what do I do now? But I started following you through co through the comedy world. I feel like it that yeah. I feel like that that's where we found each other.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

How did you find me on Instagram?

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Didn't you did you host shows down here at all?

SPEAKER_01 1:00

I did, yeah. I I started a room at the Bluesburgers in Hallendale.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

That might be it.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Like a once a month show.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Okay. That might have been it.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

But I do a lot of shows in Miami too.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

When I was first starting, I would uh just start following everybody that I would either get meet at a at a mic or I would see on Instagram. And um I think that's probably where either way.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Here we are.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Yes, here we are. Welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

So how long have you been doing comedy?

SPEAKER_01 1:28

I would say it's been about six years now.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

So you're like a veteran.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

I think ten years and you're like a veteran. I think that's when your like career takes off the ten year mark. Maybe.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Yeah. So it's it's funny, you know, a career taken off with comedy. That's such a shot in the dark, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 1:48

It is, yeah. Well, you just never know.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

I mean one in a million of getting discovered. I think it's pretty much the same same scenario.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Yeah. Well, and like we were talking about the Netflix thing. Um, you know, I think like even Matt Reif, he was like trying to get a Netflix special for a while, and then they finally, you know.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

That guy's brilliant. I mean, I haven't watched a lot of his stuff. I watch his clips here and there, but the guy is just I mean, I watched him just destroy like three minutes of crowd work like out of nowhere, like on the fly at one of his shows, and I was like, oh my god, he is incredible.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Yeah, and people don't realize how hard crowd work is. Like you have to really think on your feet, you have to be in the moment.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

I did it on my first time I ever did comedy, though.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Really?

SPEAKER_00 2:29

I was in Dorao, El Dorao, and um I wrote a bit about dating a Venezuelan that won a papers and that fed me the most arepas I'd ever had in my entire life. Well, Dorao is just full of Venezuelans, so I, you know, know your audience, people. And uh there was a girl in the front seat in the front row that was kind of cute, and I was like, uh, normal pickup line. I'm like, you like gringos? She was looking, I'm like, what are you looking around for? Your boyfriend's in the bathroom? Fuck, I thought we could go to a soccer game or something, right? The place just lost it. But that was it. It's terrible. Crowdwalk's terrifying.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Yeah, because you just don't know what they're gonna say. It's usually you know, it should be something funny, but you you have to come up with quick responses and be in the moment. And you know, he's he's a genius at it. I think he does it so well. And he his material is great too.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

What about uh Kill Tony? Are you a Kill Tony fan?

SPEAKER_01 3:24

I do like Kill Tony, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

So I heard that Tony Hinchcliffe is not a that funny of a comic, but he is brilliant with the freaking roasting.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_00 3:33

And like the quick, like on the fly. Because that's I think that's one of the best parts about Kill Tony. Like he's so quick and on it.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

But he's got a couple comics that he's helped develop that are on their way to doing big things. David Lucas is absolutely brilliant at the crowd work, and the roasting is unbelievable. And Cam Patterson is unbelievable. Hans Kim's pretty funny too. So those three guys that he's been kind of shaping and molding, but David Lucas is crowd. He did a gig in Tampa and got heckled by um a lady in the crowd and she would not give up. And he's like, bartender, let me get a slim fast on the rocks for this bitch right here. And I'm like, whoa. So I met him in Austin a couple months ago, and uh he uh he's he's good at the crowd work. He might have been tired because he's been spent a lot of time at Rogan's and like Rogan loves all those guys that Tony like they become homies with Rogan, and then they're like regulars at the mothership. And that's if you made it at the mothership, you know. Yeah, then Austin's a great comedy scene. We haven't talked about Austin.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

Yeah, I know. I was um I was thinking that as well. It's a it's gotten big over there as far as comedy, but I think you know Joe Rogan was like building that since 2020, so it's nice to see that it's like doing so well. The place looks amazing.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Unbelievable, it's beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

I would love to perform there.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Me too. We should go to Austin.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

We should go to Austin.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

Sign up for open mic on Monday night.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

We should do like uh we should go on an open mic tour all over the country.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

That's a great idea.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

And film it.

unknown 5:04

That's a great idea.

SPEAKER_01 5:06

And we'll just hit up like all these different open mics in different cities, and just take over.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Yeah. Uh we got sponsors. We have sponsors, the host doesn't even know. Well, listen, I always like to say that uh in in the world of comedy, and especially here in Miami, very difficult, very difficult scene because it's up and coming. Uh, I'm grateful that I was able to get my start doing comedy here, but um still a different type of vibe. Um, but there still is a a scene here. But at the same time, like open mics are a less than pleasurable experience because it's not about waiting to get up and and go do a set.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Uh it's the waiting process, I think, of your just I actually appreciate the open mics here more than in LA because out here you get um more time. You don't have to pay to pay to get an open mic in LA.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Like how much?

SPEAKER_01 6:00

Like five dollars for five minutes. Ten dollars for ten minutes. It's like a dollar a minute. It's like five it's like a sex phone operator.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Um one nine hundred comedian.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

And then, you know, and it's all comedians in the room. Out here, you have like real people in the room, you know, so you can really tell if your jokes, you know, hit it's not a bunch of comedians just like either, you know, thinking about what they're gonna do or you know, just kind of like I mean, there's some that pay attention and laugh, you know, if your jokes are funny, but um, I think having an open mic with actual real audience there is so helpful.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

But they're talking.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Who?

SPEAKER_00 6:42

The audience.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

No, they're not.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Usually.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Really? If it's an unconventional space, sometimes usually the audience knows that they there's an open mic because you know, it's like in a little room in a restaurant, and like those people go to see open mics.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Right. They're getting better. There's there's there's a there's a few rooms that uh that are and you don't have to pay.

unknown 7:01

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

And you get more time so you can work on more of your material.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

This is true.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

But I can't oppose to like a lottery, and then you get a lottery, and then you get three minutes, which is you know, you can make people laugh in three minutes, or you can have like joke after joke after joke, like what America's got talents, like two minutes, six seconds.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Kill Tony's 60 seconds.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

I got 60 seconds for Tony. That's why I was like, I'll go to Austin. I was there Tuesday through Friday, so they film on Monday, so I didn't have a shot to go put my name in the bucket. And it's quite different now. You're not in the audience waiting for your name to be pulled. You're like tucked away in a bar up the street now.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

And I still don't know how they pick all the names out and how I think they pick like ahead of time. But anyway.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

And that's a that's you know, you're you're in a bucket, so you can. I mean, we're gonna fli you're gonna go to Austin. They do it every week.

unknown 7:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

So you have to let you have to there's mics all around town.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

I I I didn't I was there for a speaking gig, so I and I was a little south of Austin, and um I didn't put as much. I signed up for one on uh Thursday night and I didn't get in and uh I kind of gave up. But there's mics all over the place in Austin.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

So Oh, you did you did go and sign up for mics and I did sign up for one when I was there.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

I was like, cool, there's one on Thursday night. If I get it, cool. It was one of those go put your name on the website. If your name's on the website, cool. They have one of those here at um it's up on 56th Street North Miami. Uh the theater. It's called uh the Bill and Theater.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

And I got in last two weeks ago. There were twenty-five people. Twenty-five people on the open mic list and the show started at 10. I was like, cool, I look forward to going up at 1245 on a Tuesday evening. So I backed out and uh didn't didn't go. But my point with all this is that I just think with this this day and age, it wasn't always like this. You used to have to pay your dues, go to open mics, and just fucking grind it out and figure it out. I just think there's a better way. I think that if, you know, try instead of trying to get a seat at the table, there's never been a better time to build your own table.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

And um, you know, I get, you know, fellow comics, especially in Miami, um like to jab about, you know, there's no shortcuts. And I go, there's no shortcuts is life, but there is a way of being smarter. Right. And I've been able to prove that the whole process because I thought, what can I? So why did I start doing comedy? I started doing comedy because I'm totally good with speaking, but comedy was terrifying. Now I figured out both of those things and now I've brought them together. And I then I hosted my first show too, within like the business realm as a compliment to my brand. So I think there's a way, and we were talking about this right before the interview. It's like, what's it look like just put a room together?

SPEAKER_02 9:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

And bring in a couple sponsors and like create an experience. I called it comedy sucks, and even with Sebastian Rusk. So it was on brand with the whole podcast suck deal. Um, and I brought people in that I thought were really funny that had never done comedy before. And uh brilliant writers never really gone and dead it and killed it.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Like my buddy Danny opened up, he has a puppet. Like, so I wrote a whole bit about having my own personal puppet.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

And that's fun.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Yeah, terrifying at the same time, too. Um, but I think we can, you know, I think we can build our own table these days.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Yeah. I mean, that's why I started that room in Hallendale at the Bluesburgers.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

We should start it back up.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

We should. It's a great space. I love it there. It's so nice. They usually play live music at what nights do you do? Um, I was doing it on Thursday nights. Um, but I can they could give me any night. They really they're great. They're great over there. But speaking of like, you know, you can't rush the process. I think I learned that in bodybuilding too when I entered the company.

SPEAKER_00 10:31

Let's talk about that. You yeah, so you entered a bodybuilding to like challenge yourself.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

Yeah, and it worked really well. Steal my soul.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

Okay, good. I love that. I love that. And and it worked because well, it taught me so much.

SPEAKER_01 10:43

I mean, as far as discipline, and then you can't rush the plot like how can you rush your progress on your body? Like, you can't, you know. I mean, I guess you could cheat, but that's not how I was going. And it you have to have how long did it take to like get to um it took like a good year and a half, I think, until I actually like won a show and like saw my body like changing, like I had a six pack and like you know, because like I said, you can't force that stuff. Like you can't get, you know, if like if fat is not leaving your part of your body, you can't like tell me shave it off. Um, I mean, I guess you could, like I said, these days you can kind of do anything.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

Anything's available.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

You can change your sex if you want to.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

If you really want to.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

World of opportunity up to you can do anything these days, but if you are, you know, going to do it naturally, then it takes a lot of patience and discipline and like persistence.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

So much like dating.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Yeah, that too.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Why did you what how did you arrive at I'm I I'm funny, I want to start doing comedy.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Um, I think that I've always I love making people laugh. I think, you know, that was just brought me a lot of joy and I like to like light up a room.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

Um and then uh I told you some people light up a room when they come in and some people light it up when they leave it. Yeah. That's the truth.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

So I and I honestly I think bodybuilding gave me the courage to do comedy because I think I was so afraid of like you know, being in front of people. And then now it's like I like challenged myself to like be in front of a lot of people, like half naked, not half, like mostly, like in this little so and I was always like insecure about my body and like people judging me on that. So I like overcame all that. And then after you know, that I did that after my sister passed away. So after that happened, it's like I looked at life differently. Yeah. I think it it sucks that it takes like a tragedy to like wake you up or open your eyes to like or give you courage or whatever it is that goes on, you know. I think that and then I just learned so much about myself and and gain confidence um during the bodybuilding time that I was like, Joe, you can do this. Like when you work out every day and you don't really want to, or you have no energy and you're like hungry, you know, but you're in your mind, you're like, Joe, go, you can do it, you can do it. Or like you're at the gym and you're like, come on, ten more minutes.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

That transfers over into other areas of your life once you've gone to that experience.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Exactly. Then that's what I was like, comedy. I was like, you love making people laugh, like just go, just like go learn how to write, just try it.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Where's the first place you did it?

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Um Chicago.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Really?

SPEAKER_01 13:41

Yeah, I lived in Chicago when my sister was sick. She was in Jersey and I was living in LA, and then I was in Jersey with her for like three months, and then I needed to like get myself together and get a job. So I moved to Chicago because I wanted to be in a city and be closer to New Jersey so I could fly back and forth. And then I was like, you know, it was such a hard time because she had brain cancer, so it was like a slow, you know, and but um so I did like MMA jujitsu in comedy, and then I get a job. Yeah, wait a dive in that. Let me get my playing aggression out. But then I also, you know, I did Second City there too, which was fun, you know, improv and stuff like that. So I've done that.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

You got a great scene there.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Yeah, they have a great scene there. And then I've done acting, you know. Acting is very different than stand-up comedy. Very so acting was like, you know, you just like you're in the scene and you know, stuff like that. But so yeah, and then I took a class, you know, in Chicago, and then we did like a class, like you know, show. And you invite your people, which I didn't really know anybody there, but and it was so fun. I was like, oh my gosh, it was so fun. And then my sister passed away, and then I moved back to LA, and then it that's when I did bodybuilding, and I was like, Wait, I really like doing that comedy thing. I was like, I'm gonna do that again and see how it goes.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

And you did. I mean, in the but one of the best places you could possibly outside of New York, like go and go and do it.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

And you've done you've done some you've done some really cool stuff.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

I mean, that's the pandemic happened.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

Right. And then we were on Zoom too. And then I was like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

And then I was in parks. I was doing park shows and outside comedy.

SPEAKER_00 15:27

We had a few of those here too. Outside comedy shows. My favorite were Zoom, Zoom and Clubhouse.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Um gosh, Clubhouse was like doing comedy on Clubhouse.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

This chick Leah blew up because of Clubhouse and then started.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

Yeah, I was there. I was in the whole thing, yeah, with the with all of them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

Yeah. She completely just absolutely maybe that's where we met.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Clubhouse. But the laughs on, you know, that was so anticlimactic. The laughs on clubhouse. Everybody's muted, number one. And then how you see all you see they're laughing was like they're blinking.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

Well, no, because they would they would bring a decent amount of people up. And uh it was uh, I think it still happens every Friday at 305. Um That's funny. Fat Coochie Friday was uh was the was the mic that I would always hit. But um, what was the name of that? It was a very catchy name that Leah came up with, but she ended up in like oh her her name was like on the icon for um Clubhouse, like the face of the month type deal.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

Oh, how cool.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Uh but um yeah. Uh what is the name of that room? It was very catchy. Now I'm gonna get a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

I guess when it's like and you know different things work for different people, right? Like look like back to Matt Reif. Like he was posting all these things on TikTok. He went viral, and now he has like 15 million followers.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

The first time I saw that guy, he was doing a festival for one of his shows.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Is he from Miami? No, he's from like uh he's from Ohio, but I think he lived here maybe. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 17:01

Hot on the mic.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Hot on the mic, yeah. Yeah, I did a few of those. And then Laugh Factory had like a thing that they did.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

I saw that like well when I was Instagram stalking you, respect the transparency. Okay. Um I was like, this chick's doing it out there in LA. That's why I saw like it was um what's his nuts? The Laugh Factory. That was Laugh Factory in Long Beach.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

Yeah, it was Paul Rodriguez, yeah. So then he saw me there, and then he invited me to do La Factory in Hollywood um the next night, which was so nice. He's so funny. Yeah, he's Paul Rodriguez is so funny.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

I mean, never been more offended in my entire life than watching Bob Sagitt live. Really? Rest in peace, Bob. Oh my god, it was he was uh people were walking out. I was like, he went in the paint.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

And you wouldn't think that of like Full House daddy.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

So the whole set was about Full House and Kimmy Gibler. Yeah, I was like, dude, people's ears were bleeding. Um that's hysterical. But uh Bob Sagitt was loved. That guy was absolutely loved. I didn't realize how much that I was loved until after he died, yeah. Which it's crazy. Did you watch uh the video of John Mayer and Jeffrey Ross picking his car up at LAX? No, it was amazing. Like they're both crying, but they're cracking jokes, and like yeah, Bob's been dead like three days and they're already just running running game, which is which is Bob would want it that way.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

Yeah. Um how long have you been doing comedy?

SPEAKER_00 18:22

I have um I'm asking the questions here.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Oh, sorry.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Uh three years now. Three years.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

Three years.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

So um, yeah. I uh I've added comedian to my title because I said so. I mean, build your own table. So it it flows more now than it did, and I think that started to happen because I was I would do a talk, and then the client's like, oh, you're a comedian? Hey, like Thursday night before the cocktail hour, do you mind doing a quick set? So that happened for the first time in January on a gig. I had on a cruise, and um I was like, Yeah, I don't know. And then I nailed like 15 minutes and like people, I mean, again, there's something to be said with a captive audience.

SPEAKER_02 19:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

When people know you already, you're going to get laughs, and you're probably gonna get laughs consistently throughout the entire set versus strangers. So um he loved it so much he said we're doing it again in November. So I'm going again the first week of November.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

And um, I may take you with me actually now that I'm thinking about it.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Please do.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Yeah, because we have the comedy club on Tuesday for our session. So it's a hybrid deal. So it's a four-day cruise, nine to three session, and then you're on the island and doing excursions and everything else the afternoon. I actually think it's the opposite a couple days. We go out and hang all day, which kind of mildly sucks, and then go and and then we go have the session. But Tuesday for sure, cruise starts on Monday. Tuesday for sure. We have the actual comedy club for the venue for like those sessions. So I'm gonna do a 20-minute set because we're in the comedy. That's where I had gotten it from.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Um I'll put it on my calendar.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Yeah, the sixth through the 10th.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

Okay. And I'll be back for the 11th.

SPEAKER_00 20:00

Yes, what's on the 11th? You told me something for the 11th.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

I forgot what the country club gig then.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Yes, here we go. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

You're moving. And I'm on the moving day. 111.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

After a week on a cruise ship with me, you'll be good that you got the whole weekend just wide open next year. You're like, I'll see you next month, all right? Um uh so yeah, that was in fact, he had asked me. He was like, So do you know anybody else that you can go? Um, and I pay for these gigs. So yeah, yeah, it's a pay-to-play type deal. But, you know, last time I did this, it was extremely lucrative because you meet people that want to start a podcast. So my big thing was like, I'll do the gig, but I don't want to, you're not booking Sebastian the comedian for the for the entire business mastermind week because I'll get lost in the sauce. I mean, in more ways than one on the uh on the cruise ship. But um he said, okay, cool. So what what do you think? Because I spoke at the last one. So I said, Um, why don't you interview me? We'll do like a 15-minute like fireside chat the day before, and then that'll promote the comedy set too. He's like, I want to kind of keep that as a surprise, so we'll promote that towards the end. And he's like, Do you know anybody else? And I was gonna bring my brother, who's like my best friend, he's not really my brother, but we've known each other forever. Um, Owen, and because he opened up for me in the Dallas show and did a great job. First he's the one that loves to write, never performs it. His sister's a comic in DC. Uh, but he's gonna be in Turkey. So I couldn't be like, Can you bring him? I'm like, You would love this because you're gonna meet business people too. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

So I'm in.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Okay, good. Sticks to the table.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

That's settled, and we have record of it too.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

We do, we do. Shout out to modern profits uh mastermind.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

I feel like I'm the same color as this chair.

SPEAKER_00 21:40

I feel like you are too. You kind of blend in. I'm glad you or have clothes on because that wouldn't be. You can't really see him though. Uh yeah, we she's dressed, I promise. I I promise, yeah. Um so you uh you're recently back in South Florida from La La Land, which is a you know, I don't know what's crazier now. South Florida's gotten pretty crazy. LA's kind of chilled out a little bit. They they were talking I heard a conversation the other day. It was like it's almost easier to get up and do a mic in LA now than it is in Austin. Like Austin's like the the spot. Like if you get up in Austin.

SPEAKER_01 22:12

A lot of people from LA moved to Austin. I was thinking when I moved here last year. Um I was like I was I went to Austin to check it out and whatever. Um but I just like I have to be near an ocean. I cannot I couldn't just be in the middle of land anywhere. And I know they have lakes and stuff there, but um but I would definitely love to go visit Austin. But I did want to be near an ocean, and the ocean here is like by far so gorgeous. Like it's the water is beautiful, it's clean, it's warm, it's like the sunsets in LA though are amazing.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

They're pretty epic in the Keys, too. Are they? Yeah, I think you're not in the Keys at all?

SPEAKER_01 22:54

No. Yes, I have actually. I did the Comedy Key West.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

Oh nice. I love it. Yeah. So that's the most epic sunset. Well, you're at the southernmost tip of the United States.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

So uh obviously.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

I would I think I'll take a ride down there.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

Yeah, it's very uh what are you called? There's there's nothing wrong with a drive down to the keys. Like that really kinda and you can kind of stop along the way a little bit. Like little spots and you can stop and grab a bite and hang. Maybe some key lime pie, if you will.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

Maybe I'll do that in October.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Yeah, the he's a I say it's the it's the closest place to paradise.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

I'll take my mom.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Without a yeah, without a passport. Great spot to bring mom.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

I'll bring mom. Beautiful down there. I was gonna recommend we go, but that's cool too.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

That's cool too.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

Mom mom trumps.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

We're going on a cruise.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

This is true.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

This is true.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

So we'll start there.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 23:46

Yeah, if we make it to a week at sea, uh, we'll discuss Austin and the keys. Um so you just got back to South Florida here, and uh seeing what comedy looks like moving forward. You got you got a few things on the uh on the horizon.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Yeah, I'm going to Spain next week.

SPEAKER_00 24:04

That's pretty epic.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

With my mom. Can I go? Um now you know why I'm single, right? I take my mom everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

I bring my mom everywhere too. My mom's like, every time I leave, she's like, Can I go?

SPEAKER_01 24:16

Yeah. Um, we're going to Palma de Mallorca, which is the little island, and I can't wait to swim in the Balaric Sea. Have you ever been?

SPEAKER_00 24:25

No, never been to Spain. Never been to Europe. Oh I know I'm missing out.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:29

Do you want to go to Europe too?

SPEAKER_01 24:30

I do. I'm gonna go. Um my family's.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

We're planning our whole travel agenda here. This guy got this girl on the podcast and just flirted with her the entire episode.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

My family's from Cyprus, which is a little island, you know, in the Mediterranean. Yes. We're Greek. So I just actually read that Zelensky has a few homes in Cyprus. He also has like a home in Miami. Zelensky. The president of Ukraine.

unknown 24:54

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

I don't watch the news.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

You don't? You don't know who President Zelensky is where the war that's going on on the world.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

I'll try not to focus on them.

SPEAKER_01 25:02

The hundred billion dollars we sent to them.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

This is not a political podcast, okay?

SPEAKER_01 25:08

This is But you know, I mean, that's where, you know, I I was like, oh, can I like we have to do our taxes every year, right? And I have to show you exactly where all my money is coming and going, don't I? Yeah. I mean, shouldn't we get the same respect from the government?

SPEAKER_00 25:25

This is not a political podcast. This is not a political.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

But anyway, forgive me. Forgive me for Alex.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

Uh what's his name over here? What's her name? Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. It's yeah, Joe Joanne Jones. We're not that far off, ladies and gentlemen. We're not.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

But anyway, I heard that he bought a couple homes in Cyprus, which is so random because like Do you want to go to Cyprus? I am gonna go to Cyprus next year.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

I look forward to meeting the family.

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Uh well, I uh you don't talk about politics at all on this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

Well, there's nothing to I mean, it's it's it's all opinion. It's all opinion, it's all opinion and perspective anyway. That's true.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

And I don't think it's really it doesn't And I don't even know if that's really actually true that he because you know that he owns homes there.

SPEAKER_00 26:07

But we do spread rumors on this.

SPEAKER_01 26:08

I never went trick-or-treating to his house over there. And I, you know, he answered the door. It wasn't like that.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

Got it. Um but that's a great example, trick-or-body talks It's not like I went trick-or-treating there.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

But nobody talks about Cyprus. I was so shocked. I was like, oh, President Zelensky has a house there.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

I am not as well traveled as I'd like to be.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

Um Italy is really fun too. You gotta go to Italy.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

My best friends are there right now that live in Costa Rica, and they are just yesterday was the Amalfi coast. They're on a boat with wine and cheese and like everything you could possibly dream. So those Italians do it right over there, let me tell you. Well, um, I'm gonna have to have you back on the show once we figure out how to uh take over the Miami comedy scene.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

Yeah, South Florida comedy scene here. So stay tuned for that because um I feel like that's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

That was so quick.

SPEAKER_00 26:59

That's it. You've heard that before.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

You've heard that before.

SPEAKER_00 27:04

Uh it was like 30 minutes. Yeah, right. It was I'm like, I feel attacked and triggered at the same time. I I really, I really, I really do. Um but um I just it'll be another stupid experience.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

Is that why you're red now?

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Just get a little warmer. Can we turn the air up?

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_00 27:21

Holy cow. Any final thoughts for our listeners, Joanne?

SPEAKER_01 27:25

Final thoughts. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

Um, I think that's based on the bodybuilding and you know, life showing up and losing your sister and how you decided to show up and like based on all of that, like what would you encourage people to do when it's just life is there or they they feel like their backs up against the wall for a scenario, being able to choose to become enter into a bodybuilding competition and win and then start doing and then move to another city and start doing comedy and really just dive into all that. Like, what's the you know, what what's what's something someone could really take from from all of that? I think there's somebody listening to us right now on the fence about something, or life has shown up in whatever scenario may be.

SPEAKER_01 28:07

So I mean life is short if I learned anything from and you can't you you you think you can control it. If I learned anything from my sister's sickness and passing away, and it's like you have no control of you like you have control of some things, and that's where you um life is short, and you just have the courage. If you something is in your mind that keeps coming up and coming up, that's like your intuition and something that you should try. And um, I think it's prioritize yourself and your wants and your needs. I think we get caught up in other people and their lives or trying to people please, which is what I did for so long.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

People pleasing starts is starts with our parents.

SPEAKER_01 28:48

Yeah. Well, because everything is a grade or a uh, you know, or try to you have to beat this person or get better than that person, or even siblings, you know. You come, you know, you're like, I'm you know, better or this, and just letting all of that go and just really focusing on yourself and doing things that bring you joy, but also like meditation. I know it's so cliche, but and breath work is so important, even if you do it for five minutes of like breathing exercise. Like, I think so many people, especially young, the younger generation, they have anxiety. Everybody has anxiety, everybody talks about anxiety, and no one's trapped energy. Well, and everybody's just like drinking and having fun and partying and going out and trying to like you know get everybody to like them. And it's like, whoa, slow down, like just take a breath, even do yoga, like is amazing for for people's mind. And then your body shows shows up for it, you know. You once you get your mind healthy, then everything else follows suit.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

I think there's some pretty good final thoughts right there. So a couple jokes, a couple little bit of encouragement as well. And uh that's why I like to tell stories. That's why I like to tell people stories and have interesting conversations and just see what uh shows up. But thanks for coming down. Thanks for being on the show.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

Thanks for having me. This was fun.

SPEAKER_00 30:12

Absolutely. You're gonna come back again?

SPEAKER_01 30:13

Short shortcomings? Short. I mean, not shortcomings.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

It's normally a 20-minute episode. We're going like 35 minutes here, I think.

SPEAKER_01 30:20

So I'll come back again, yes, for sure. Good. Maybe before the cruise.

SPEAKER_00 30:26

Thanks for the warning.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

You heard it here first.

SPEAKER_00 30:28

Until next time, friends. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of the Beyond the Story Podcast. Be sure to appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. Be sure to appreciate it. Signing off from the podcast, launchlab.com studios. We'll talk to you next time.