What's goody Hot Breath verse.

Welcome back to Hot Breath.

This is your weekly guide to comedy mastery.

I don't know.

It was learn the show where you learn comedy from the pros and then your weekly guide to comedy mastery and then your.

Your weekly comedy tune up.

I don't know, there's been a lot of different phrases but we're back.

Comedians Joel Byers and Yoshi Show.

Yoshi Show.

Yoshi Show.

Sorry.

This is our first episode we've ever done.

I realize that people do have a hard time saying that.

Not just you.

Yoshi.

I know it's a 40 inch slip, but I don't even know what a freudiant slip is.

I know it's just a slip, but yeah, it's usually Yoshi Show.

That's how most people it rolls off.

Yoshi Show, Yoshi Show.

I'll get a Joe Biden a lot.

You'll get what?

Joe Biden.

When people say Joel Byers come into this or they'll call me Joel Bowers or Joe.

I've gotten a lot of weird names over the career.

But a lady thought at a recent show I did that he said Joe Biden.

Wow.

Actually I think it was the.

I just did a workshop for like a speaker convention, like teaching them how to add humor to their speeches.

And a lady, actually that is where it was.

A lady.

As soon as I walk up there goes, oh, I thought he said Joe Biden.

That's how the whole workshop started because I got announced by the guy hosting the event.

I thought I said Joe Biden.

So then, you know, it was off the rails from there.

I was.

Oh for sure.

But it went well.

It was a good, it was a fun workshop.

Definitely want to do more of those.

But Joe Biden, I get a lot for some reason.

Oh for sure.

I can see that.

I can definitely see that.

But this whole show is to help comics level up their own games by sharing our experience as professional comedians and also answering your questions directly as well.

So it's really good show.

Just to get better at comedy faster.

Yeah.

The Joe Yoshi Show.

Yeah.

Joel Yoshi Show.

Joe Yoshi Show.

We do have a several exciting things to get into today.

I got to open for Matt Rife again this past weekend.

So a couple extra lessons learned there and from an audience that was at least twice the size of the one last week.

I don't, I didn't get an exact number.

It was at least twice the size and.

But we'll get into that.

But I did want to first Shout out the hot breath Averse.

Yeah.

We are the world's most supportive comedy community.

And I saw in our Facebook group that Hot Breath, Bobby Sutton, Joyce Lyles and Phil Ketron, AKA Grampy.

We're at the Keenan Thompson Showcase here in Atlanta this past weekend and it was a packed house.

They killed it.

And I just love seeing the Hot Breath verse come together, you know, I love that.

Yeah, the Keenan Thompson show is.

It's really cool.

They've been doing that for a couple years now.

It's a showcase.

They get people out and then they get him out to Las Vegas too, which I think is very, very cool.

Yeah, they've been running that bad boy for a couple years now.

Yeah, I did it pre Pandemic and I.

I don't think they do this anymore.

But at that time they were doing satellite showcases and if you won that showcase, they would fly you to New York and they would put you up in Times Square and then you would get to perform at Caroline's for.

On a showcase hosted by Keenan.

Wow.

Yeah.

And that was.

That was lit.

Yeah, that was.

That was one of those trips.

You're like, oh, we out here doing it.

It had a stipend and everything.

We're like, oh, like that, like that.

And then I think like the next year, whatever, the Pandemic hit and just kind of, you know, reset the world.

But yeah, it's great to see them still doing those events and more than ever.

And I, yeah, I see people posting about it all the time.

So anytime the hot breath of verses out there combining forces, I love to see that.

Yeah, yeah.

So, yeah, congratulations, boys and girls.

Yeah, that was great.

And also congratulations to, I do want to say, Helen Anderson, this month's Clean Comedy Contest winner.

There's a loud clap for everyone.

But, you know, every month I host a clean comedy contest where comics get two weeks to write a brand new 60 second set based on that month's theme.

And I want to play her set because I actually really enjoyed her set and I do.

We do a live stream finale of the top three and I interview the winner.

So that interview is on the podcast on the episode before this.

And if you'd like to compete in March's contest, I will link that registration link in the show notes of this.

But I do want to play her set just because I thought it was so funny and just to give comics an idea of like how the sets go.

It sounds easy.

Oh, a brand new 60 seconds of two weeks.

But then you have.

Then you're like oh, that's a lot of writing to get a strong 60 second set.

And that's a lot of editing and you have to film it.

Like there's a lot of steps.

But as Helen talked about in her.

In her interview, she is a chronic procrastinator and this contest gave her like a deadline to be like, okay, fine, I am creating new material because I have this deadline to where I have to submit it.

So it really helped her.

But she's actually an attorney during the day and she recorded this at her office.

So she is kind of.

She's a little soft spoken when she submitted the set, but it's funny, so I wanted to share it.

So here we go.

Helen Anderson, all the way from Utah.

Enjoy, everyone.

My husband and I have been married 10 years and we're a little older.

But one thing I love is when he wears his reading glasses.

I don't know why that turns me on.

Maybe it makes him look smart, like a professor, or maybe it just makes me feel seen.

But I get excited as soon as he starts looking for them.

He never knows where they are.

He checks his pockets.

He checks my pockets.

Sometimes he pretends to lose them just to tease me.

For our anniversary, I got him some sexy specs from the naughty eyeglasses store in the mall.

Of course, the pair was see through.

Sometimes I text him in the middle of the day to ask what he's wearing, knowing full well he had to put his glasses on to read it.

That's love after 50.

It's not blind, but it needs a prescription.

Yeah.

That'S pretty good.

I thought that was fun.

A lot of fun wordplay.

The see through one line was very funny.

Yeah, I like that.

That was very good.

Solid.

But yeah, the finalists were Scott Shanahan and Sandy Bernstein and Helen, who ended up winning.

But yeah, all the sets were awesome.

My wife and I watch all the submissions together and now with our.

Our child as well.

So that it's a clean.

It's a clean contest now.

You know, there's a baby watching.

But it's cool to see people who have, like, competing in several contests and they were a little dirtier.

It was cool to see them figure out how to make things clean.

And everyone did a great job with it.

I was pleasantly surprised because, you know, booking, well, one.

I mean, booking clean comedy is a pain because so many comics are like.

It's like a different language to them.

They're like, what do you mean?

What is.

How do you.

I can't do what.

Yeah, like everyone can do clean, even if they're not clean.

Like, yes, there's ways to for sure make your dirty jokes clean.

It's just being willing to put in that extra effort.

Absolutely.

And there's different levels of clean.

Right.

Like, I think that's what people sometimes need to understand.

There's like G rated clean, which is like, anyone, anyone.

I mean, anyone from a grandma to a kid can be in the room while you tell the joke that's like super G rated.

Then there's like PG rated, where you can talk about some other topics, but definitely have to be like, okay, just, you know, you're likely not gonna curse.

Right.

And then there's like PG13, which is like, yes, I'll probably talk about relations and like, some other topics, but I'm not gonna curse either.

And then there's just, you know what?

I would consider sort of just the rest of comedy, which is that open mic off, free for all.

Everything kind of goes.

But.

But I think it's also helpful whenever you're like, getting booked for a clean gig to ask what kind of clean it is.

For sure.

I think that's an important factor.

Even I know comedians who are church comedians who do churches and they have to ask what kind of stuff they can do as well.

Because if you go to a church and you say something about, oh, I was drinking with my friends, they may look down on that because they don't want you advocating for drinking at that church.

Yeah.

So my favorite example of that is Andrew Stanley, hilarious comedian, preacher's kid.

Like, you know, as clean as it gets.

He.

He told me a time he.

He, like, did a church and they were.

Where they were drinking beer and every, like, and, you know, everything was fine.

And then he did another church where he said beer on stage, and they got upset with him.

So it's like both church gigs, completely different environments, completely different expectations.

So, yeah, you want to get all that up front and in writing for your accountability of, like, if you have any questions about jokes, then, like, ask the booker ahead of time.

Like, when I did that clean comedy festival last year that you were a part of.

Yeah, yeah.

I had several of the comics be like, is this okay?

Is that okay?

And then they even walked into the show like, is this okay?

Is that okay?

Like, it was funny.

Just hear comics squirm around clean comedy.

Like, I don't know, but everyone can do it.

You know, it's just putting a little extra effort.

I.

I interviewed Caitlin Palufo, which will be out at some point when it's Edited.

Yeah.

But she's, she's like, can be as dirty as it gets.

And she was talking about she opens up for Fortune Feemster a lot, who is cleaner.

So Caitlin has to clean it up for her audience.

Yeah.

And she also just did the Tonight show.

So she just talks about ways that, you know, she can be as dirty as anyone out there, but she also has techniques to clean up her dirty material when she needs to as well.

Yeah, yeah.

But she murders murderer at a different level.

It is fun to watch her on stage.

Yeah, for sure.

Oh, but yeah, so we want a little bit of a clean comedy diatribe.

But that is a big motivator for the monthly clean comedy contest now is just giving comics like that accountability to write clean jokes just in case something comes up where they want to book you and you have to do 10 minutes clean that you're able to say yes and actually take the gig.

Because I mean, clean comedy pays more.

That's, that's just the reality of it.

And you can do more shows because you can perform for more people.

So.

Yep, just keep that in mind, kids.

So if you want to join that contest, I'll link it the registration from March in the show notes.

But I just want to shout Helen out.

I was very excited for that set.

But speaking of clean as well, did a country club show.

As we talk about different events having different expectations, you know, country club show this past weekend was what, you know, you could basically say whatever.

And then other country clubs are like, oh, maybe PG 13, maybe just don't say anything about race or politics or anything.

But I mean, even if a show is clean or not, if I book a show, I, I tell comics to like avoid politics and stuff.

For sure.

I don't want.

It's at the end of the day, if I'm the producer, it all ultimately reflects back on me.

So if anything happens, that comic's just going to go on to their next show and be like, oh, well, not my problem anymore.

But you know, as I'm booking more and more country clubs, your reputation and testimonials are gold.

So, yeah, I'm always intentional about avoiding that advice of stuff anyway.

But you, you did me a solid this weekend in filling in the country club show, so I appreciate that.

Yeah, yeah, I love that.

It's always good to know that you can be a stand in when somebody gets a big opportunity because that's also how comedy happens.

Right.

Like, there's just times when, you know, I mean, I won't name any Clubs.

But there's many clubs around these here parts that call you last minute and see if you're available.

Yep.

The day of.

Sometimes the hour of.

Sometimes the hour of.

Yeah.

Hey, can you be here in 30 minutes?

And there's nothing wrong with that, especially if you have the time to make it happen.

But sometimes you don't have the time.

And then some people let you know like a couple days before and when you mess up a text message and said you are available, I mean, you're not available.

And what you meant was you are available.

Know, and then they remember that and they say, oh, since you are available, we'll need a solid.

I need a, I need a hand.

Yeah, I.

Because I, I'd worked, you know, I worked with Matt the week before on several shows and then, yeah, this other pop up show randomly, like on a first name basis.

Now I just, I just want Matthew.

Me and Matthew, I use his biblical name, but dude, he.

Matthew sold out.

Yes.

Four theaters in the same city in two weeks.

Like, it is, it's just, it's a completely different level.

And I don't know why I'm not surprised, but when you just see it, it's just like, what?

Like they all sold out within like hours or days.

Like, and this past venue this weekend was the biggest one yet.

And I, when he post or like he'll even, he'll even post about these.

Like it just happened.

Like the venue posted about it and then it just like sells out.

And like when I saw they posted this pop up show one, I was like, oh man, that's a big space.

I wonder if he'll sell it out.

And then he instantly sold it out.

And I was like, of course.

But I wasn't gonna reach out and like, hey, you know, yeah, I'll let your boy here, you know what's good?

I was just like, oh, cool, he's doing another pop up show.

Good for him.

You know, I have this country club show anyway, so it's all gravy.

And then, you know, he text me two days before and I was like, oh, yeah, let me drop everything.

Yeah, what do you need me to do?

Do you want me to quit comedy and just, I don't know what.

Yes, sir.

Yes, Mr.

Matthew.

Yes, yes, Mr.

Matthew.

But it was, of course I was like, I mean, obviously the instinct is like, duh, no brainer.

But I actually, like, I called you first and was like, I had this country club in two days as well.

Yeah.

And I got this other opportunity and I was like, I Was kind of on the fence about just doing the right thing and making sure I don't leave this country club out it.

Like, because I had a.

I had an experience a few years ago with a comedian, James Gregory, who.

If people don't know a legendary comedian, especially in the South, I mean, he would just go around the south selling out theaters and just.

He was a millionaire.

And I'm gonna model my career after that.

I don't want to.

I don't want to go anywhere.

I don't have to drive now.

But I.

I went and met him at one of his shows in Chattanooga, and we talked after.

And then basically he invited me over to his house and we talked for several hours.

And then he invited me on the road with him, and he's like, all right, I have this date.

Can you do it?

And of course, it was kind of like a Matt Rife thing of like, oh, yeah.

I mean, I just said yes.

And then later on, I realized I had a corporate event that night.

So then instead of just telling James immediately, and James, rest in peace, he's actually passed now, and this was actually the last time we spoke, unfortunately.

But instead of telling him immediately, oh, I have a corporate event that night, I can't do that date, but would love to do a future one.

Einstead was, like, going back and forth with the.

The company of like, hey, I got this other opportunity.

I don't think I can do it, but I could help find someone or whatever.

And they were.

They were just.

I mean, it was all kind of last minute, in a sense, and they're just like, oh, like, I don't know.

It was.

It was a cluster fudge, dude.

And long story short, ended up telling I couldn't get out of the corporate gig, which, you know, in hindsight, I will take the corporate money, but, yeah.

And just tell James I can do another one.

But I waited the last minute to the point where, like, I had to call James and be like, I had this other event.

I can't do it.

And then he was upset.

Yeah.

And because it was, like, super last minute, and he's like, now I have to find someone else after.

Yeah.

He booked it fairly in advance.

This was all on me.

Yep.

And then he got.

He was upset, and he's like, I'm trying to run a business here, basically.

And it.

Long story short, that's the last time we talked.

Yeah.

And it all comes down to communication.

And I should have just been up front, been like, hey, here's the reality of it.

So I I learned that lesson there and immediately reached out to the general manager of the country club and was like, hey, here's what's happening.

Like, I got this opportunity.

And he completely understood.

He's like, oh, yeah, you want to go perform for.

Yeah, of course.

Yeah, go for it.

And not only that, I had a substitute.

Our lineup.

I had you.

Similar to.

When didn't you fill in for me at a helium event, like Don McMillan.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Opening for him.

Like, I had to reach out to them and say I couldn't do that, but I think I had to cancel on them for something.

Yeah, but I had you on deck.

I was on not only like, hey, I can't do it, but I have this reliable comic who's going to do it.

Like, doing the job for them.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

But, yeah, it's just communicating at all levels.

It was.

I learned that the hard way.

So with this country club event, it was just, all right, communicate up front.

Just be transparent and honest and people will appreciate that.

So I'm hoping that's a lesson other comics don't have to learn the hard way.

Like I did.

Yeah.

And absolutely.

And then.

And then the show was like a success.

Like, it was a great show.

Yeah, yeah, great show.

I'll be very surprised if you hear anything bad about it.

You let us.

Yeah, he was very happy.

Yeah.

You actually let us know that it wasn't a clean show, so that's always good to know.

But there were.

There were children there, so it was definitely one of those things where you just had to adjust.

But we were fine.

And could I say some people adjusted to the children.

Yeah.

And some people say it doesn't sound like everyone adjusted to the children, but it wasn't a problem.

It wasn't a problem.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they were.

It was very obvious that this was an adult event.

Yes.

So, but yeah, the child that was there definitely made appearances in people's set for sure.

Because it was very, very obvious that there was a child in the audience.

Like a 12 year old type vibes were they sit on the front very close.

I mean, it wasn't.

It was like three rows back, but definitely close to the front.

People trying to get crowd work clips with a 12 year old.

And here's the thing, like the lights that you had came from like this left side.

Right.

So light came from the left side, so you can't see anything back there.

You could see a child the right side, just clear as day.

Hilarious.

But they were fine.

Like everything.

Yeah, they were yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, the child became, like, the butt of a lot of the jokes, but also, like, very much, like, into it.

Right.

Made for great, like, crowd work.

Some of the comedians talked to the mom, like, why you bring this child out here?

Of course.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, and even some were just.

Just like, oh, you're trying to teach her that life isn't fair and not to do this when she grows up.

So just like, yeah, yeah, funny stuff to riff on, but just overall, amazing show.

Great country club and.

Yeah, yeah, they were very, very into it.

They enjoyed every last comedian that was on the show.

It was a good, great lineup, good staff.

The food was great.

You know, I mean, the usual.

Yeah, it was awesome.

Yeah, yeah, they're.

And that you saying the.

I set up the lights.

I.

I do want to also say, like, for comics out there, like, I went early, set up everything, made sure, like, made sure he knew, like, the general manager knew, okay, everything's gonna run completely smoothly.

I'm still hands on with this, even though I'm gonna go do this other event.

So.

So, like, I went early, set up sound, lighting the backdrop, and basically all you all had to do was just show up and do the show for sure.

And that made it easier and peace of mind for everyone.

So I was still.

I still went the extra mile just because, like, your word of mouth is so important in this game, and networking is so important in this game, and referrals are so important and valuable in this game.

So that's why it's so important to be, like, we say, be nice, be funny.

And also, you never know who's in the audience at any given show that maybe they're scouting comics to do, like, a private event or something like that.

Absolutely.

And so if you just phone it in that night, you just never know who's going to be there.

So the same with you get booked from, like, a booker at a country club on one show, you could maybe tap into them as a referral.

Oh, do you know any other country clubs who would like to do this?

And if it's not a great show or they don't have a good experience with working with you, then that's the last time you work with that.

Them and any referrals, which are gold in this game.

Absolutely.

But, yeah, man, it was a good show.

Good show all around.

Good lineup.

You know, people actually sat waiting for us to talk afterwards as well.

You know, I love that.

Right.

So that's like, my jam.

I'm.

I'm a.

I'm a networking fiend.

I love talking.

So after the show we were just, you know, chit chatting, meeting people, you know, talking with people that we riffed on on stage, just.

And it was great.

You were getting the child asked for autographs.

Yeah.

The mom came up to us and was just very appreciative that we at least like acknowledged that there was a child in the audience.

And also the fact that like she was like, oh yeah, she hears all this all the time.

And I think the last comedian was a teacher and just had like an entire bit about kids and schools and it was just like hit so hard because the child was like, yep.

And then the parents were like, yep.

Like they were just.

Everyone was inexperienced that kids are terrible and that teachers have get the short end of the stick.

It was just a good show all around, but it was great.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Was.

Yeah.

Usually in that sit, the parent is probably bringing the kid there as bait of like hoping that they'll get made fun of or something like that.

For sure.

Yeah.

Either as bait or the fact that they couldn't find a babysitter.

But it was a country club.

I'm sure somebody, I'm sure somebody could have babysat for sure.

I'm sure they had a maid or somebody could have babysat.

It was, it was that kind of country club.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

It was a.

It was a good one for sure.

Yeah.

The kind where they all had golf carts and yeah.

Drove to the show and we're drinking and driving.

Yeah, it was great and it's great.

And this is, this is also a lesson for comics that want to produce their own shows is the venue is the most important part of you producing a show that's going to be successful or not.

So not working with just any venue, but with a venue that is invested in your show, that wants to see us succeed, that's going to help promote your show, that's like actively cares about your show being a success.

Yeah, it.

That is.

You know, you and I have produced several shows over the years and I've interviewed several show producers and like the num.

The venue is the make or break of your show.

You want to make sure you're working with the venue.

So this country club, the guy, very hands on, set up the room.

Like when I was there setting up the sound and stuff, he was like setting the tables up because there were some like posts throughout the room.

So he made sure the tables were set up around the post.

So nobody's view was like Blocked.

He.

They helped promote.

I mean, they pretty much promoted to their members and it, like, sold out fairly quickly, really.

But they were very hands on from beginning to end to make sure that everything was done as professionally as possible to make this a success.

So whenever you decide to produce a show, make sure it's with a venue that cares and that is invested.

Because sometimes a venue will just be like, oh, yeah, just.

You just set up over there and like, you're gonna be promoting it and like, what's, what's, what's all this?

You know, it's.

They.

The venues that make or break.

If you're producing a show, you really want to make sure you're working with them.

Yep.

Because I know you.

You have that with your monthly show.

You do at that theater in Duluth.

Yeah, they're very hands on, very, like, brainstorming ideas on how can we promote this.

Like, it's a very collaborative relationship and that's why it's been going on for so long.

You've been doing that for years now.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, yeah.

I mean, the venue and like just the producer of the place, I mean, the owner of the place, just like, it's always collaborative.

It's always like, hey, is there anything we can do different?

I mean, we've played with ticket prices, we've played with promotions, we've done different things.

Ads, all that stuff.

Right.

But also like, willing to try things, willing to say, okay, can we try to bring somebody.

Which we did.

We brought somebody, like a big time comedian in town just to see how that would work.

It was good.

Like, we've played with.

We're just having like a couple of people on the show versus a lot of people on the show.

And so, yeah, we've played with many different things.

And yeah, that show's been running for six plus years now, which is wild.

But, yeah, it's on show.

I get to do it.

Like, it's.

It's.

I love that show.

Yeah.

It's a theater.

Beautiful theater.

Gorgeous, gorgeous space.

Sounds amazing.

Yeah.

Yep.

Where you filmed your comedy special, which is available on the Hot Breath YouTube channel as well.

Boom.

Let them know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's a great space.

Yeah.

Weirdly enough, I also have a.

I have a country club this weekend that I'm doing as well.

Damn.

Yeah, I'm literally doing the theater and the country club after.

Uh, and the country club also was one of those things where I was like, hey, I'm going to be at a different show, so I'm gonna have somebody Help me host feature and headline.

So that's exactly what I did.

And the people that I'm working with, they're like, oh, yeah, that's great.

We're down for that.

And so that's exactly.

So, yeah.

Oh, man.

I'll be at one show while producing another show, which is exactly what you were doing with Matt this weekend.

And I love.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Yeah.

Yeah, I could have filled in on that one.

But that's fine.

You don't want to.

That's totally fine.

I.

I see how it is.

You tick for tack.

I see how it is.

It's.

It's totally fine.

Don't worry about it.

I'm.

Don't worry about it.

I'm not bitter.

That's fine.

Don't worry about it.

This is the last podcast we're ever doing, so I hope you all enjoy it.

I'm so not worried about it.

But, yeah, this.

Yeah, I guess we could talk about this Matt Rife show compared to the other ones.

And I do want to thank.

So many people.

Reached out, and we're like, congratulations.

You deserve this.

You've earned this.

Like, it was, like, just years and years and years of putting in consistent work for it, kind of just to pay off in this way.

And, you know, I mean, I'm still out here, and, you know, I'm not.

I mean, I.

You know, last Thursday, I was the day I found out I was doing Matt Rife's show.

I was at a distillery in front of 12 people on a Thursday, rubbing the wall.

So, you know, it was, like, in an art gallery in this distillery, and I was just talking to the paintings, like, oh, maybe y'all will find this funny.

Instead, like, I.

I closed out the show.

They had been drinking, like, liquor for a few hours.

They were tired.

It was a Thursday.

It was, like, after nine.

Yeah, it was.

It was fine.

The show was fine.

Y.

But it wasn't like, give me, give me.

You know how you were like, I want everything to be a 10 every single time.

And it was just more.

They were just politely.

And it was 12 people.

I don't know what for sure, but I still have to say.

Yeah, so I.

You know, I was doing that show as well.

So.

We do it all, dude.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I was on an impromptu.

Impromptu show on Thursday at the Helium as well.

Just went out, you know, because it's right down the street from the house and did an impromptu mic.

It was a great show.

Made contacts there.

So, yeah, I mean, the grind is real.

It's Never all country clubs.

Of course we want it to be, but no one is just doing all country clubs.

Very few people are just doing just nothing but country.

Yeah, we just getting.

Getting them reps.

Yeah, you got to.

Get the reps in.

However.

However it comes.

Getting dim reps.

So this.

So this show.

I don't even know what to say about it.

I don't know what should I say?

So let's start with like, I guess what was different?

Let's just start with.

I mean, we talked about the other two shows.

What was the difference in the other two shows versus this show?

And like, what are some lessons that you learned on this show that you didn't pick up from the other two?

Well, the venue was literally at least twice as big.

And maybe.

Yeah, I don't.

Maybe not quite three times.

It was way, way bigger than the other two.

So.

And like each one got progressively larger.

So like I did the first, the Buckhead theater with him where it was the guest spot.

And.

And then I did the Sandy Springs theater with him, which is what I like was the opener.

It was just me and him on the show.

And then this one was the same setup of just us two, but just in front of a much larger crowd.

So it was good to be progressively, like it get progressively bigger and not just thrown into the bigger one.

Yeah, probably the.

This has nothing to do with the show.

But parking was like in.

They had to open this backstage gate for parking for.

And that was where the line was.

So people were waiting in line, so they had to like part the line so I could go back there and like park like behind this like blacked out fence.

Yeah.

So they all probably thought like Matt was pulling up and then I'm just in my Camry hybrid.

I'm in my 2012 Camry Hybrid.

Just like, oh, excuse me, excuse me.

Thank you, thank you.

With my rose.

With my rose club sticker on the back looking like, like Matt Rife's chaplain or something.

Just pulling in.

So funny.

Let's pray for a good show.

Yeah, that's.

That's basically what it looked like.

Oh, and Matt's videographer Kyle called me Mormon Matt Rife, which was maybe the line of the week.

I mean, that was.

Oh my God.

Mormon Matt Rice.

Mormon Matt Rife.

That's gonna be Merchant.

There going to be merch.

I'm gonna put that on my website.

Who wants to book the Mormon Matt.

R.

Yeah, dude, that's so funny.

My crowd work is like confessionals.

It's like.

You just have Like a seat on stage, like a divider.

And then you tell everyone, go ahead and say your confessions and I'll let you know.

Say three Hail Marys and then.

My God, go ahead and do two dabs.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I did walk out to the dab again.

You best believe, of course you did all the shows.

I did.

I walked out to a dab.

I mean, it's like a huge stage, so it's like, what do I.

What do I do with all this walking time?

So I'm just dabbing, like.

Yeah, because you can't mess that up.

Because if you danced, you might have messed that up.

You know what I mean?

Like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So we just walk out to the dab.

Give them a little dab.

Will do.

Yeah, yeah.

But it was.

Yeah, the venue was much bigger.

Long word for it.

Trying to think of what else I think.

Well, one thing I was very focused on, intentional about the other two.

I almost over prepared and I was very robotic and I just didn't feel in the moment and I felt out of rhythm with the audience.

So this show I was like, I'm just gonna focus on having fun.

I'm just gonna.

And to the point to where I did go blank a few times, you know, I was doing 15 minutes in this set.

I went blank a couple times.

And then, you know, like when.

Once you have enough material, like, you just have stuff in like your holster that, like.

Sure.

Muscle memory.

So like a few times I kind of went blank and then just like pulled out a muscle memory from like eight years ago of like, you're doing some joke that I don't even think about anymore.

But in the moment of panic, I'm just like goodwill, like, just out of nowhere.

But it was in.

I was focused more on having the set.

Like, the set went.

The set went great, but it was interesting.

This was the biggest crowd, but it was not the best crowd.

It.

The.

The laughter was just.

It was just different.

The timing.

Was it because it was bigger, you think?

Or do you think it was a crowd?

It.

The crowd had a different ceiling.

You know how every crowd kind of has a ceiling of like their laughter is going to be nines the whole time or sometimes it's a six.

Everyone still has fun, but just the temperature of that room is not as hot as others because I.

I was in my head about a little bit.

And then when I was watching Matt's set, I was just also like, oh, that's this.

This crowd.

Yeah, that's kind of the Ceiling of this audience.

This is.

This is how high they go, basically, and this is how they respond to things.

Things.

So that made me feel better.

It wasn't, like a bad show, but it was just different.

And I was kind of like, oh, no, did I.

Did I?

Was I too loose?

But no, they.

They had fun.

And, like, it was this, like, watching Matt set helped to realize, okay, this is just the responses that they're giving.

But I did have.

I was like, I want to slow down.

Because I remember we talked about the last shows on last week's podcast, and I felt rushed and not.

I wasn't connected with the audience, so I really wanted to connect with this audience.

And there was.

And slow down.

That's something.

Yeah, every comic can do.

Every comic needs to slow down, period.

And it can feel like you're going too slow.

Yeah.

But you're not.

It's only in your head enunciating, going slower.

And there was one joke where I was just.

I slowed way down.

I let the first line hit, and I let the laughter, like, breathe and kind of vibrate in the room.

And then I hit it with the tag.

And I was very slow and very intentional.

And it was like, I don't really play golf much, but, like, you.

Sometimes when you, like, you swing a golf club and you hit the sweet spot and it's just like, boom.

And you just feel the rhythm and it all just is super smooth.

Like, yeah, doing that joke just felt.

It felt like that.

And I was like, oh, I found the timing.

And then I went back to kind of, like, rushing a little bit.

And, like, I didn't slow down.

It, like.

But in that moment, I was like, oh, you get that Every comic will have this at every level of, like, even in the middle of, like, an open mic set, one joke may just pop and you're like, oh, I figured it out.

Or you'll have a set where everything pops and you're like, oh, I figured it out.

And then you bomb for three months.

But, like, I felt it in that joke, and I was like, oh, okay.

I got a taste of how to connect in a crowd that size.

Yeah.

So I gotta.

I got just enough of a taste of it to be like, oh, I want more.

Give me more.

But give me more.

I did.

I had, like, a riff with the spotlight where I did, like, a joke of an act out where I scurry across the stage, and I just was like.

Then I started playing with the spotlight and him trying to keep up with me.

So, like, yeah, I Had moments of fun within this set that I didn't have in the other ones.

For sure.

I set that intention going into it.

That's awesome.

Yeah, I love that.

Yeah.

I don't know what.

I don't know really what to.

Yeah.

To say.

So that was on the performance side.

How was it on the work side?

Because you were also working the show.

Yeah.

And.

Yeah, I mean, in this show, Matt did almost two hours, and in the other shows he did not.

He maybe did 70 to 80, 90 each each other's show probably.

Yeah.

And this one, he.

I think he was just.

He was like, we're out here, let's do it.

Like, and he just kept going.

So he basically did his whole.

He's working on a set for a special he's filming later this year, so he's like intentionally working on stories.

And he kind of did his show and then he kind of just did crowd work for basically another hour.

And he brought his dog on stage.

Hammer.

Yeah, he.

Yeah, he kind of just did his show and then he did like kind of a crowd work show back to back for two hours.

So that was cool to watch.

And there was also a hot breath of Rob Augusta was in the audience.

Oh, nice.

So he.

He was there because he hit me up beforehand asking if I was going to open for him.

And I was like, yeah, man, if you could get a picture.

Like, I told Rob to tag me.

And then like, before the show, they're like, if you take your camera out, we're gonna murder you.

And basically so.

Oh, that's funny.

Oh.

But I mentioned on last week's.

One of last week's.

Last week's shows that we did together, the crowd was a little rowdy and a little bit more unruly.

And his tour manager was like, hey, before you bring him up, just like reiterate, like, no yelling out, no cameras and stuff like that.

So they.

They were more on their game with that this time as well.

Like, we're not doing that again, like, because I don't think that kind of show had happened.

They were saying that kind of show hadn't happened in a long time.

So it was fun.

It was fun.

Over the.

Was it four shows?

I see four of his shows.

I kind of got a different taste of how each show could go.

It was a good kind of cross section of here's like a perfect show.

Here's one completely off the rails.

Here's a mixture.

Like, it was good to kind of see the variety that could happen at shows at that stage.

That he did this past two weeks.

Were any of them back to back?

Did he do any like a 7 and a 9 or was they just one night, kind of one show time?

Just one night.

One show.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

Quote, pop up shows.

Yeah, yeah.

So theaters sold out.

Yeah, yeah.

So I guess from an observation perspective, did you observe sort of like, I guess from a comedic element, how the jokes evolved between all three shows in terms of how.

What he was working on.

He was always trying new tags.

Okay.

So he has.

He has, like, established stories.

Yeah.

And then.

But each show he was almost trying different things at different, different stories.

Like, one show, he may try a few new things in this one story, and then everything else is mostly the.

Same about the same.

And then another show he's like, all right, let me try to tinker on this story.

This time he wasn't, because, I mean, that's something.

As we try to develop new material as comics at any level, sometimes you want to go out there and be like, oh, I'm going to try all these new things, and either you forget them because you're trying too much at once instead of just focusing on a little bit at a time and just incrementally tweaking stuff over time.

Yeah.

So it.

Yeah, it's more productive if you're like, okay, I'm gonna try this one new tag on this set and see how it goes.

And then whatever else happens is cool.

But as long as I get this one new tag out, then this set was a success.

So he definitely had that same approach of trying new things, but not all at once, like, picking a story for this show.

All right, let me try to tag this up differently or add a different point of view or things like that.

Yeah, definitely, definitely trying.

Continuing to try and develop the jokes.

Okay.

They.

They do.

They were different every time.

Like, not one set was like the same from beginning to end.

Okay.

And seeing.

Sometimes he wasn't married to the order either.

He had like a rough chronological order to how he would roll out his jokes.

But sometimes he would kind of.

If something came up organically, he would kind of throw in a joke maybe in the first quarter of a set that I heard him do at, like, the back quarter of his set another night.

So he was still flexible to kind of weave in stuff as it came out conversationally, or if he was doing crowd work, maybe it led him to a different bit than it had in a previous night.

So, yeah, overall, the same structure of the set, but flexible for sure.

And did he work on it first two shows.

Because you said he did crowd work on the.

On that last show.

Like, basically an hour of crowd work.

Did he do any work in the first two shows, or was it just purely just jokes set, no back and forth?

Or did he spray in, like, back and forth with the audience on the first two shows?

Yeah, he.

He weaved in crowd work in all of his shows.

Okay, what was crazy, the show, the Sandy Springs show, he had this viral clip about this lady made him a shirt from, like, coming Georgia.

He says, like, I love coming.

Oh, that was from.

That was from the Sandy Springs show.

Oh, yeah, dude.

They're like.

I mean, yeah, Saturday show.

The clips out Monday, like, oh, wow, they are on it, dude.

On it.

So that clip goes viral at this show this week.

Someone gave him a coming hat.

People were yelling out, like, coming Georgia.

Like, it was.

It was crazy.

Like, people saw the clip and are like, now live.

It was wild to see.

Okay, so, yeah, he.

He would do crowd work each show.

This last show, he basically did his show and then was like, we're just gonna do crowd work for a while.

And then he kept referencing.

He's like, guys, the show was over 30 minutes ago.

So, you know, he kept saying stuff like that.

But his crowd was very organic.

It never felt shoehorned or it never felt forced.

I've seen so many comics do, like, forced crowd work or even, like, you know, I've seen crowd work comics at comedy clubs here, and they'll be like, okay, now's the crowd work portion of the show.

They almost, like, separate.

Yeah, the two.

His.

There was never.

In any of the shows I saw.

There was never a moment of like, oh, that felt forced, or, oh, that was a bit jarring, or, oh, I can see he's mining.

He's mining for a clip here.

Yeah, it was all very organic, very conversational.

None of it felt fabricated.

So when he did do crowd work, it was very conversational.

And almost like, you almost.

I almost, like, wouldn't even notice him doing it.

In a sense, it all just kind of flowed so well.

And I.

I remember talking to his video guy, Kyle, about, like, yeah, they.

They never go out there with the intention of getting a clip.

It's like, if it happens, cool.

If not, cool, cool.

But they never try to force any moments or any interactions, which, I mean, you know, I went through a little phase where I was trying to do crowd work clips, and every time I did it, it felt so forced, and it felt unnatural.

And it's a.

It's a skill and, and listen, there was a moment in the show this weekend where, like, it didn't really lead anywhere and he was like.

Yeah, Everyone says in the comments says crowd work is easy.

He's like, that happens, you know, where, like, it just kind of didn't go anywhere and they just kind of moved on.

But he's very.

It's like, clearly the more you perform in venues that size, the better you get.

But, like, everything felt very intimate and very connected.

And whether you're in the balcony or in the front row, it really felt like he's talking to you.

And it felt like almost a comedy club energy, even though he's in front of thousands of people.

Yeah, that is very cool.

Does that answer that?

I remember what the question was.

Yeah, yeah.

No, no.

Yeah, it was just about what was different from it.

Yeah, I mean, I don't know.

Like, I guess, you know, if you still want to go into more details, like, what does force crowd work versus not force, crowd work look like that we can tell the, like, comics, like, haven't seen it from pretty much like the master of crowd work, I would probably say, in our generation, like, he's.

I mean, Matt Rife is probably the richest comedian from crowd work that we now know.

Right.

Like, in terms of just like, if you look at that list.

Right.

He's probably the only.

Yeah.

That are crowd work, like, heavy in terms of how they got big.

Oh, that top 10 highest grossing comics last year.

Right.

So just curious, what's anything that you could glean that you could advise comics on, on what's forced versus what is not forced crowd work?

I think the questions you ask number one.

Yeah.

I used.

I used that example when I did a local show here a few weeks ago where I said the host was up there clearly just mining for crowd work clips, clearly just going from table to table and like, asking questions like, oh, so what's your deal?

Or, you know, what do you do for work?

Just asking generic, irrelevant questions.

Like when Matt would do crowd work, it was related to something he was talking about or it was conversational.

It wasn't all of a sudden, like an abrupt just, okay, crowd work time.

And like, pointing.

Pointing at the even.

Just like pointing is a little aggressive.

They're just like on the front row, like.

Like, I think asking just generic crowd work questions.

What do you do?

Yeah, are y'all together?

I don't know, just more of like, baseline questions with no real depth to them that it clearly isn't leading.

And, you know, people ask those questions and they get viral crowd work clips.

So I'm just telling you from my point of view.

Absolutely.

And seeing it done at so many different levels that if you can ask more interesting questions, because that's what Ian Bag said on the podcast was you're having a conversation.

It's not.

It's not like a monologue.

You're having a dialogue with this audience.

So ask them interesting questions that lead somewhere interesting, and that's where the humor will come from, instead of you trying to, like, like, pry a joke out of them.

Yeah.

And when you're doing it, it will feel forced.

Forced crowd work.

You will feel it yourself.

Because I've done just feels unnatural.

And you feel like you're trying to get something and you're not really connecting with that person feels forced to you.

When you do, it will be a big indicator of that as well.

I don't know.

What do you think?

I mean, I think from a crowd work perspective, I think it's about keeping it in natural conversation.

But I think sometimes I don't know if people know what that means.

Right.

So, like, if you're talking about.

I mean, I think even, like, I know I have parts of my bit where I talk about how long I've been married and how, you know, and in my longer set, I'll just.

I have a bit that says, you know, I think the secret is not to be honest 100% of the time.

And I'll ask somebody, hey, what.

What's your secret?

Like, you guys have been together for a while.

What's your secret?

And they'll think about it, or sometimes they'll just say, you know, it's communication.

And then I'll say, oh, communication, that sounds terrible 100% of the time.

And then I go right into.

Back into, like, my bed.

Or I ask the question before I go into what's the secret kind of thing?

So it's like, I think there's a natural way to do it, but I think the hardest thing is kind of like learning that skill.

Right.

To your point, getting away from those generic questions, Are you all together?

Are you.

What do you do for a living kind of thing?

Because, you know, that's.

Yeah, that's the big one is like, what do you do for a living.

That'S been beaten badly from a crowd work perspective.

So, yeah, I think just bringing it into natural conversation, where it's a part of your set versus it's like a whole section of your set, you're like, okay, now I'm just gonna do crowd Work or I'm just gonna ask questions, and if I don't like the answer, I just move on to the next person kind of thing.

That's like.

I've seen some of the New York comedians.

One of my favorite, like, even, like Caitlin Palufa, and I think Jordan Jensen also does this, right?

It's sometimes they talk about just being single, and they'll ask, like, hey, did y'all meet on a dating app?

Or what dating apps?

And then they go into a bit about that dating app experience.

Like, that's natural.

You know what I mean?

Because you're just sort of setting yourself up for that bit.

But, like, when they, you know, they don't do it.

But, like, I'll see other comedians, they would just ask, so how job meet on a dating app?

Which one?

Have you tried this one?

What other dating apps do you use?

Long you been on the dating apps?

I'm like, what is this?

Yeah, yeah.

I.

It's just.

Just don't.

I think is the big.

Just don't do crowd work.

I mean, that's probably.

That's the.

That's, you know, the best way to avoid force crowd work is just don't do it.

Just don't work on your act.

Develop your material.

That's so funny.

Just one thing at a time, kids.

Just get a.

Get a good set first, get good jokes first.

Get good at coming.

And, you know, and that's me being the grumpy old man.

Like, you know, just work on your act.

You can feel it when it's forced.

And crowd work is a skill.

It's a completely.

It's another skill that the more you do it, the better you get at it and the more natural it will become.

But it's.

Yeah, it's tough to.

Yeah, it's tough to tell.

Comics don't do crowd work.

And now we're talking about Matt Rife, who did crowd work.

And you know what I mean?

So.

But also, like, Matt is also.

Is a, like, established comedian, too.

Like 15.

20, 15 years, I think, before he popped.

So there's that too.

Right?

So he had the show to back up the crowd work for sure.

Like, if his show was the second half of this past weekend, people may not, like, be, okay, cool, we saw it.

But I don't know if they would come back or it'd be a completely different, like, Matt's audience, which was the biggest surprise to me, was, like, it was like hardcore comedy fans.

Like, I assumed it was all just women that wanted to come gawk at him, which is how it started, but he's curated over time.

These are like hardcore comedy fans.

It was couples.

It was like dads with their daughters.

It was like girls night out.

It was like old retired people coming out.

It was literally everyone.

It was super diverse, all ages, races, backgrounds.

He's really developed, like a super engaged comedy crowd.

But if it was all just crowd work, like, if that's all the people, if that's all he provided, all the shows would probably be like the one last week where it got a little out of hand, just a little rambunctious.

That would be the audience.

And I've seen comics at comedy clubs who are known for crowd work here in Atlanta, and their shows are a little off the rails.

It is like people yelling out, interrupting, trying to make a clip and make a moment and get on their Instagram type deal.

So, yeah, you know, follow your heart, kids.

But I would say develop an act first so you have something to back it up.

If, if you do pop on social media and they come see you live, they're going to want to come see you again.

That's the big thing, like we said earlier, the referral, the retention, the rebook.

That.

That's.

That's what this game's about.

The re up.

Yep.

Yep.

Be nice, be funny.

Be nice, be funny.

That's the lesson, ladies and gentlemen.

Yeah, I think we did it.

Yeah, we done did it.

I agree.

We done did it.

Joe Biden.

You have Joe Biden, Yoshi show.

Yoshi Show.

The Mormon Matt Rife has struck again.

Oh, it's so good.

Did it.

You done funny.

I'm sure you've got a bicycle outside that you're going to be riding and letting people know about the word.

The good word.

The good word.

The good.

The good word.

This was a good word today.

This was a good one.

Yeah.

So thanks for hanging out with us, comedy fam.

If you have any questions, feel free to hit up us on social media.

I'm at Joel Byers Comedy and you're.

I'm Yoshisoh.

Y O S H E E S O Great.

And this month's Clean comedy contest is popping off, so if you want to join, click the link in the show notes to go ahead and register.

This month it's going to start on March 10, so go ahead and save your spot.

I'll be announcing the theme next Monday to all contestants, so join that and hit us up with any questions.

We're here to help.

That's what we're all about here.

Yeah.

Comics helping comics.

Also, if you're in the Atlanta Alpharetta area, I will also be teaching comedy classes.

The next one starts at the end of March.

And if you want to come to the graduation show for my first class, who I'm super excited about, it is going to be March 12th.

March 12th.

It's a Wednesday.

Yeah.

At the Helium Comedy Club is going to be a jam.

It's going to be a lot of fun people out.

But, yeah, we're gonna have a good old time.

Absolutely.

And we'll see y'all next week.

Hot breath, verse.

Hot breath.