WEBVTT - Oscar Nunez 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.400 And you wearing the white coat is labbed as a 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:04.720 dental technician. That was not the life that you saw 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:07.600 for yourself. Horrible in a laboratory body. Look, it's a 0:00:07.600 --> 0:00:10.600 great profession if you want to do that, but it 0:00:10.680 --> 0:00:14.000 wasn't for me. There's no applause, there's no groupies, there's 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:16.400 no cocaine. All the things that you we've talked about. 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:18.919 This what you went that's why you went into the business. 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:20.880 That's why I went into the business. And there was 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:30.000 none of that in the in the laboratory. Hi, I'm 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:33.680 Oscar Nunyaz. You know me probably best from the office. 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:37.239 And I have to count them. Two SAG awards, How 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:49.440 many do you have? Hello everybody, and welcome back. Here too, 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:53.840 off the beat. I am your host, Brian Baumgartner. And 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:59.120 oh no, here we go today. I am bringing on 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:02.800 a guest who need needs no introduction, but probably would 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:06.199 demand one anyway. He has my friend from the dandr 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:10.160 Mifflin accounting department and also friend in real life, Oscar 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:15.559 nun Yez. Now, while you might know Oscar best from 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:18.520 well our time together in the office, did you know 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:24.759 that Oscar once worked in a laboratory. Yes, Oscar worked 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:29.200 as a certified dental technician, which we all know is 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:34.440 the gateway to comedy. H Oscar joined me from his 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:38.640 closet today too well, to dive in deep about his 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:42.920 start in the improv world and the incredible journey that 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:46.120 brought him and his family from Cuba at a young 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:49.960 age to the US. What I ended up with was 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:53.320 a totally new side to my old friend. I heard 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:58.040 stories I have never heard before, including how Oscar feels 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:02.640 about putting his hands in people's mouth. So, if you're 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:06.320 up for a little sage, advice and a lot of 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:11.280 very dry humor, join me in welcoming the Shall we 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:22.000 say incomparable Oscar nun yez bubble and squeak. I love it. 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:28.720 Bubble and squeak on bubble and squeaker cookie every month 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:46.280 left over from the nab people. Here you go. Hello, 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:50.280 there's Brian. What's up? Oscar? What's up? Man? How are you? 0:02:51.000 --> 0:02:53.399 I'm good? How are you? Did your wife just say 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:57.280 if you get bored, you can play with your daughter's toys. Yeah, 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:01.640 because the computer is uh set up on a little 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:05.520 stand that she has a little rolling table on the top, 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:07.840 and the shells below are full of her little toys, 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:16.760 her my little ponies. Yeah, and other things. Oh all right, Oscar, 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:19.600 are you are you thought out? Oscar and I were 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:24.799 just in Wyoming together. Are you thought out yet? Barely? Man? 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:29.720 It was cold, It was very cold. Zero belows minus 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:33.200 thirteen Was that the lowest we got? Let me just 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:40.080 throw out some numbers at you. Three, zero, ten, eleven. 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:43.560 Those are the ones I remember. Yeah, we went down 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:47.320 to zero. Yeah, I think we went below zero, but 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:52.080 I think we did too zero. It's great to see 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:55.440 you again. Thank you for coming and uh and talking 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:57.440 to me. We talked a lot about the office last time. 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:00.520 We're going to talk about some other things today. One 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:03.440 of the reasons I wanted to chat. I think a 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:06.920 lot of people don't know you were actually born in Cuba. 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:12.480 See see, yes, I was born in Cuba. You were 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:17.520 born in Cuba, and you left Cuba and went to Venezuela. 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:21.279 How long were you in Venezuela Just a year? Why 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:26.760 did you leave Cuba? Because the revolution took place, and 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:29.720 that there was a lot of corruption in the government, 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:35.279 in the presidency and whatnot, and so I think the 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:39.480 time was there was like revolution in the air, and 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:45.200 people weren't happy per se with the government, but it 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:49.880 wasn't catastrophically out of control, but it was, I don't know, 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:52.760 it was a volatile time. I think there were three things, 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:55.719 like three revel Like there was a union unions, and 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:59.080 the students were having a revolt and at that time 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:04.440 and Castor. Oh, these three movements started happening about the 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.520 same time, which I think was I don't know, fifty 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:12.479 eight or yeah, or fifty nine. And his revolution. He 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:14.839 he left on a yacht from Mexico with like twenty 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:18.039 seven guys or something, and it picked up steam in 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:21.160 the Sierra Madre and the mountains, gathering people behind them, 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:25.920 and they came into the city and Batista the president, 0:05:26.640 --> 0:05:31.680 unlike the president of Ukraine, who is a real patriot 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:35.280 and a you know, wonderful person, this fella cut and run. 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:40.680 He had no qualms about leaving. He left with then 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:46.960 three million dollars, which is astronomical. He left the country 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:50.880 and that's it. And then the Castro swept in. And 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:54.560 then he said he was going to, uh, you know, 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:57.960 have elections and clean up the government, and he did, 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:02.800 and he stayed in power basically, and then he you know, 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.760 he went to the United States and asked for support, 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:07.880 and they thought he was a flash in the pan 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:10.200 and they said, get lost, you won't last two weeks. 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:12.520 We'll be back there, you know. And then he went 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:14.680 to Russia and they did back him up, and then 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:17.760 he came back and declared, we are communists now, and 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:24.159 so there's no more private property, and they confiscated private 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:27.560 lands and so they took a real estate and from 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:31.039 us and all that stuff. And my uncle had a ranch. 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:35.000 They came to take his ranch and he armed his 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:38.200 ranch hands and I think they shot two communists and 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:41.000 they threw him in jail as a political prisoner tilt eighty. 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:43.880 He was in jail from nineteen sixty nineteen eighty and 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:46.360 we got him out in nineteen eight. And my parents, 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:50.200 they were just starting their professional careers. My mom was 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:53.800 a dentist, my dad a lawyer. And my dad's friend 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.920 came up to him and said, uh, they just made me. 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:00.360 This new government just made me ambassador to my scout. 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:03.000 Do you want to be my assistant? Will leave with 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:06.520 our families and go And my parents thought about it. 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:08.680 They're like, no, we don't want to do that. And 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:10.400 then they're like, well, what do we have to leave. 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:14.280 So they're like, we are leaving the country, and the 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:18.560 newly formed government said we need professionals. You guys should stay. 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:21.720 They said thanks, no, thanks for leaving, and they said, okay, 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:25.080 you can leave. You can't take anything with you. Everything 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:28.000 stays here. So they left anyway. So they left. They 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:32.280 left with me, and they took a ham, like a 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:34.960 fifteen pound ham with them, and we took a boat 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:37.920 to Venezuela like a cooked ham to like a cooked ham, 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:40.840 and we for for us to eat, but we ended 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:43.440 up splitting it with people on the boat. We took 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:47.080 a boat to Venezuela. We were there a year. They 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:50.840 didn't like it. My mom particularly didn't like it. You know. 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:54.240 She was, like, I said, a dentist in Cuba. She 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:57.600 got to Venezuela, my dad was hanging out with some friends, 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:01.120 and I don't know, one of his friends, his new friends, 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:03.760 says something to the effect of, you should be in 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:05.800 the kitchen. Why are you here, Why are you discussing 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:07.600 this with us? And she's like, oh, no, no, no, 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:12.160 and she's like, we're leaving this country. So they did. 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:15.120 They left and we went to Massachusetts. We were there 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:20.840 a year. My sister was born there. Now it's and 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:25.400 all their friends were in New Jersey, and Massachusetts was fine, 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.320 but they were the only Cuban family there and they're like, 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:30.080 let's go to Jersey where all our friends are. So 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:31.840 that's what they did, and that's where I grew up. 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:34.560 That's like a thumbing sketchy. Yeah, you were telling me 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:37.320 this story while we were in Wyoming, and the idea 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:41.320 of them knowing that it was a bad situation fairly 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:46.600 quickly and making the decision to stay with their stuff 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:50.520 and their land and their property or having the option 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:53.920 to leave, and the boldness that that must have taken 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:57.560 at that time. To remember, they knew the couple. They 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.640 knew the guy. He's not like some who was this man. 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:04.240 They were at school with this guy. My aunts graduated 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:07.560 college with him. They knew him from school. It's like 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:09.120 you went to high school with that Helms, like Ed 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:13.560 Helms took over the country what And they knew he 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:15.679 was an asshole from schools And they're like, oh no, 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:21.400 this isn't good right, you know, he wasn't a good guy. 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:24.079 He wasn't a cool person. So they were like, oh 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:28.360 my god, we're in trouble. He's volatile, he's unpredictable, all 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:32.400 those things. He's got an inferiority complex. It's it's crazy, 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:34.439 it's not good. It would be like, if you were 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:41.559 taking over, you'd be like, oh no, but but free 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:46.040 tacos for the nation every Tuesday, free tacos, free Cuban sandwiches. 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:50.280 He was not. It's not like, oh, we knew Bill 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:53.960 Clinton in school or Hillary Clinton or Bob Dole. How 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:56.240 was he? Oh, he was studious and serious, and he 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:59.160 was he was okay, and they volunteered a lot. He 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:05.360 wasn't a volunteering helping children read. He was a whole 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:09.280 May he rest in peace? Is he? Daddya? Castro is dead? 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:13.800 I find that so interesting. By the way, your mom 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:16.920 was a dentist. Yeah, what of it? I don't know 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:20.720 if I just learned this or not. I don't remember this. 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:25.439 But in this research, you know, we we research extensively 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:28.800 our guests. You mean you go on Google? You you 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:34.880 I am dB You're a certified dental technician. Is that right? Yeah? 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:40.080 I'm afraid. Really, I'm not good. I am I'm not 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.520 good at it? Is this because your mom was a 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:46.719 dentist that had something to do with it. Yeah, I 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:50.679 was floundering and I'm like whatever, and and my mom's like, 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:54.160 you know, you know your cousin Julio is a dental technician. 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:56.160 He has his own laboratory. I'm like, yes, of course 0:10:56.200 --> 0:10:58.800 I know that. She's like, did you ever think And 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:02.040 I'm like, yeah, okay, because the thought being I could 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:06.280 work for for my cousin Julio who had a dental laboratory, 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:10.160 and it's a wonderful trade. It pays well. And I'm 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:12.320 like why not? And so you went to school and 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:16.760 you got certified. Yes, I wouldn't for two years Magna 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:20.160 Institute of Dental Technology in Manhattan. How did I not 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:23.800 know this information? Because this is the greatest Did you 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:27.320 ever consider running the scheme? You know Angela famously she 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:30.800 talks about it all the time, worked at one dentists. 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.880 Did you did you ever think maybe she could refer 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:37.240 people to you, like, go to this address if you 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.480 want your teeth clean, and then it would be you there. 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:42.240 You guys could split the money. That would have been 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:45.679 a good thing before the office. Yes, had it been 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:53.640 dental hygienist but not dental technician. Oh wait, what's a 0:11:53.760 --> 0:11:57.199 dental technician. Well, what's the dental What does the dental 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:00.160 technician do? Then, if you go in for a bridge 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:04.000 or false fake tooth or whatever, and you know when 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:05.560 I was doing this, it was the eighties, when you 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:08.280 went for a ceramic bridge or whatever, and they take 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:11.520 a form from your mouth and impression, they'll send it 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:15.119 to the laboratory and they make the bridge in porcelain, 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:18.040 and you get a wax thing and you make you 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:21.520 carve the tooth out and you bake it and then 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:23.080 you send it back to the dentist and he puts 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:25.040 the bridge in your mouth. The person who actually makes 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:28.960 the bridge or the fake, the fake teeth, the implants 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:33.120 is a dental technician. So they you never see a patient. 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:35.320 This makes way more sense. You never put your hands 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.040 in a patient's mouth. That's that makes way more sense. 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:41.559 Because I thought you had your hands in people's mouth 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:43.679 and in their face. That did not make any sense 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:47.360 to me. No, no, okay, So you were a craftsman. Yeah, 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:49.000 it was a craftsman. I wouldn't be able to put 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:51.360 my hands in a person's mouth. I find it highly 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:55.400 erotic and it wouldn't work for me professional work for 0:12:55.440 --> 0:13:01.320 anyone so yeah, I was. I was a dental signition, 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:03.400 and then I wasn't good, but I was very funny 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:04.920 and charming. But they would always have to do my 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:07.720 work over again because it wasn't too good. And then 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:11.679 I would be there for a while and then they're like, oh, Oscar, 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:13.000 we have to get rid of you. And I'm like, 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:16.000 I know it's not working, but here did you hear 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:18.400 this one? And you know, you would just tell jokes 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:20.400 as you were trying to make the would be funny. 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:22.800 They like, they liked having me every job, liked having 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:25.480 me around up to a point and like, oh, that's 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:30.079 all he's got. I would plateau and they're like, oh, 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:31.960 you don't really know what you're doing. And I'm like 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:34.640 I'm like, I really know, but why when? Why did 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:38.400 you just see that? You know, you're watching Harvey Korman. 0:13:38.480 --> 0:13:39.959 I know you're a big fan of a Harvey Corman 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:41.720 and the Carl Burnett Show, and you're seeing these fake 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:45.559 teeth and you're like, oh, let me make these fake teeth. 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:47.880 This will be funny, this will be Is that what 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:54.280 you did so funny? So funny? Ah? So your family 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:58.800 arrived essentially with nothing into the uses and you moved 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:01.360 to Jersey because they knew there. But it was a 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:05.120 different time. We were welcomed in Massachusetts with open arms 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:08.120 by the Catholic Church, and there was a family that 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:12.479 sponsored us, Bob and Jane I want to say Mayfield 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:18.240 h They have two daughters. But anyway, the man owned 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:23.440 a lightbulb company or something in Boston, and they had 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:26.440 a yacht in Marlboro Head and they had a big 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:28.680 house with a big yard. I was four years old, 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:32.360 but I remember all this, and they they helped us. 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:35.200 They gave he gave my father a job as a 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:38.240 warehouse manager in one of his warehouses. They were well 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:42.760 to do and they were very wonderful and charming, and 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.360 they helped my family and the Catholic church. There was 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:50.720 a father, Soto Longo, who took us to a Chinese restaurant. 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:54.200 I remember that in Boston, and um, he was very 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.440 nice to us. So we were welcomed by the I 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:59.800 was not putting a cage. We were welcomed by the 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:03.040 country and by this and by this wonderful family. And 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:05.280 then but after a year my parents were like I 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:08.160 think they were kind of lonely, and all their friends, 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:10.960 as I said, all their friends from university, all their 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:14.360 attorney friends and doctor friends and dentist friends. The first 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:18.320 wave of immigrants who left Cuba, the professionals in nineteen 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:22.960 sixty approximately, We're going to Florida and New Jersey and 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:24.880 they're like, come on down to Jersey. You guys were 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:27.440 all here, and that's what they did, and you grew 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:30.920 up there right across from Manhattan. Did you go into 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:34.160 the city a lot as a kid, Yes, as a 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:36.520 kid with my parents, and then as soon as I could, 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:39.960 when I was like seventeen sixteen, seventeen eighteen, I would 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:42.200 go as often as I could. It was a bus 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:44.880 right away. I think it was sixty cents or something 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:47.840 like that to take the bus across the Lincoln Tunnel 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:50.840 right out of where Tony Soprano comes out of at 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:54.360 the beginning of uh right there, take that right into 0:15:54.400 --> 0:16:16.880 the Port Authority. You went to not just the Magnet 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:20.479 Institute of Dental Technology. You went to a lot of colleges. 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:24.040 I went, I bounced around a lot. You went to 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:29.040 Fashion Fashion Institute of Technology. You were interested in fashion. 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:31.480 That was the first school after high school, was f 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.120 I t I should have gone to a regular college, 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:37.240 but I went to f I T because you were 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:42.560 interested in fashion. Yeah, I wasn't, and still am. It 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:45.920 fascinates me that whole world. So yes, I went to 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:48.560 f I T for a for a minute. I went 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:51.800 to F I T because I liked fashion. But my 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:55.800 cousin Eddie, who was I think five, he's five or 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:59.040 six years older than me, he would go clubbing a lot, 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:01.880 and he would go to Student four and fitted in 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:05.439 all these clubs, and some guys saw him at Studio 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:08.840 fifty four, and somehow or other he became a model 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:11.679 for Don Robbie, who was a fashion designer in New 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:16.520 York City. And Don Robbie worked for one of these houses, 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:20.040 either the or or um Cardan. I don't know which one. 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:21.560 I don't remember, but it was one of those. There 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:24.639 are two big, huge houses. I wonder which one. It 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:29.240 was so a long time ago, but Eddie worked for him, 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:32.919 and he was in g Q magazine back in the day. 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:38.000 And one time I visited Don Robbie's offices, which were 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:42.200 six Avenue, which is one of those big iconic buildings. 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:44.240 Whenever they showed New York City and they show sixth 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:48.360 Avenue or Fashion Avenue, it's the same Avenue. It's it's 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:49.960 in front of It's in a lot of movies because 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:51.600 of the fountain in the front and all that right 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:56.119 across kind of across from Radio City Music Hall. And 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:59.639 I went up to the offices and the elevator opened 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:02.960 up and everything was pink and gray, and there was 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:07.600 disco music blasting in the offices as if it were 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:11.000 a discotheque. But it was a place of work, and 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:13.840 everybody looked cool. It was like the double worst product, 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:16.679 like that Eddie was there, Don Robbie was there, and 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:19.479 it was it was party. It was insane and I'm like, 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:24.080 holy sh it, And so I can still doodle, but 0:18:24.359 --> 0:18:27.359 back then I was better at illustrating. And I'm like, 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:28.600 you know what, I'm gonna go to f I T 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:32.919 it's right across the river. Uh And it's a good school. 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:36.399 Calvin Klein went there. Did Bill Blasco there? I don't know, 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:39.600 but Calvin Klein might be their most famous Alma Mado 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:42.679 but I uh so I put together a portfolio of 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:47.360 sketches of fashion of shoes and clothing and whatever, and 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:50.879 that's what got me into the school. And I was eighteen. 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:52.760 I went straight out of high school. But it was 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.000 basically because you wanted to work in an office like 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:58.119 this is this? Is this the idea? Yes? And I 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:04.200 like this yeah. And also it was you know, Brian 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:09.360 Disco was big at that moment, and I had one 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:11.960 ft in rock and roll and one foot in the 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:15.639 disco world. I had like American friends at high school 0:19:15.680 --> 0:19:17.680 and they listened to Neil Young and leads up on 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:19.399 all that ship and I would party with them. But 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:21.800 my Cuban friends they would like to go out clubbing. 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:24.600 So I was like, like in both places, and I 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:27.920 like doing both things. And so I'm like, yeah, sure, 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.439 way not I could do this. But in f I 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:35.760 t it's a serious place, and I go there. I'm eighteen. 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:39.720 I never took home at school. You know, in high 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:43.200 school you could take like cooking or sewing or any 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:49.000 stuff like that. I didn't. I didn't not the days. Yeah, 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:53.560 so my parents, yeah, I'm like a little older than 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:57.240 your parents, just to set things, to give people an ideas. 0:19:57.240 --> 0:20:00.280 So so I didn't know how to sew at all. 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:03.159 And they're like, so then you know you'll have illustration. 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:09.760 I'm like cool art history, cool textiles, cool marketing, cool draping, 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:14.400 and sewing and tailoring. I'm like, what that's class? And 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:16.679 and you go into that class, they're not showing you 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:19.480 they're in it there to go there, like here's the material, 0:20:19.520 --> 0:20:22.680 cut it draping, and everyone's doing it. Everyone's like all 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:25.720 these people, first of all women, and then the few 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:27.920 guys who were there knew what they were doing already 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:30.480 because they were doing this as they were kids. And 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:33.760 I'm like, oh my god, I'm not gonna embarrass myself. 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:37.600 Better skip this class and just go hang out in party. 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:42.199 So eventually they're like, well you really haven't done anything. 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:45.520 I'm like, asta, Leavista, I know what's coming next. So 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:48.800 I left there and then I was doing a couple 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:50.880 of jobs and then that's where my mom's like, look, 0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:52.720 you have to do something. You have to And that's 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:55.520 when I went to dental technology school. And now when 0:20:55.560 --> 0:20:59.080 I was in dental technology school and I graduated and 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:02.399 I started working in the field, yeah, Magnet Institute of 0:21:02.480 --> 0:21:05.600 Dental Technology is a Yeah, that's where I went, and 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:09.120 now I'm a dental technologist. Right, So when I started 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:13.159 working that summer as a real dental technologist, six months in, 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:15.280 I'm like, oh my god, what am I doing? I 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:18.439 don't want to do this. And then I'm like, all right, Oscar, 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:22.640 you know and and I never Junior and senior year 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:25.119 for me, my parents were getting a divorce. It was 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:28.879 a mess. I never and still I'm just learning how 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:32.600 to ask for help from people and use resources. So 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:35.960 I was like, So I finally asked me. I'm like, 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:37.760 oh my god, what do you really want to do? 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:39.679 Just say it, don't be afraid to say it. Say it. 0:21:39.680 --> 0:21:42.879 And I'm like, well, I want to do stand up. 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:44.640 I want to be a comedian. I want to be funny. 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:47.119 But that was too scary for me, so I'm like, 0:21:47.119 --> 0:21:48.959 I want to be an actor. I could ease my 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:51.359 way into comedy. So I'm like, all right, I'm gonna 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:53.359 learn how to I want to take acting lessons. So 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:55.600 that was less scary for you than to say I 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:58.360 want to be doing stand up. Stand up is terrifying. 0:21:58.400 --> 0:22:01.280 Still is to me to this day. I like sketch 0:22:02.000 --> 0:22:06.159 more than stand up. To do like improv, that's what 0:22:06.200 --> 0:22:09.399 I like. So I gotta I picked up a backstage 0:22:09.400 --> 0:22:11.800 and started looking through it and signed up for some 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:15.920 classes auditions, started doing commercial classes, went to some drama classes. 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:20.240 Eventually maybe a year later, I was working in retail, 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:23.960 which I love retail in blooming Dale's and I auditioned 0:22:23.960 --> 0:22:26.720 for an improv troupe in the village and I got 0:22:26.760 --> 0:22:28.919 in and I was like, Okay, this is cool. And 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:30.920 that's when I started, you know, doing what I really 0:22:30.960 --> 0:22:33.520 wanted to do. I wasn't doing it in high school. 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:38.199 It took me forever because all through grammar school in 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:40.399 high school, people were telling me not to be a 0:22:40.400 --> 0:22:44.000 wise ass. They're like, what are you doing. They weren't 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:46.320 saying this is good, work on it. They're like, don't 0:22:46.480 --> 0:22:53.240 what are you doing? Were they telling you like be 0:22:53.320 --> 0:22:56.600 in your place, you know, don't cause a scene, be 0:22:56.760 --> 0:22:59.679 good and not encouraging you, or no one had the 0:22:59.720 --> 0:23:02.439 idea for you, like maybe you should perform or do 0:23:02.480 --> 0:23:05.880 a play or no. My friends would say it, and 0:23:06.119 --> 0:23:07.840 you know, God help you. If you tried to help me, 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:09.760 I was like, oh, you didn't know what you're talking about. 0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:11.760 Or I would go the other way. I'm like, you 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:15.760 know whatever, people tried. People my friends were like, you're funny, dude, 0:23:15.840 --> 0:23:18.240 do something. But I didn't go out for drama. I 0:23:18.280 --> 0:23:22.680 wasn't helping myself, you know. I wasn't helping myself until 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:25.080 I was like, oh no, this is this is for real. 0:23:25.160 --> 0:23:28.880 Now I can't skate by anymore on charm because now 0:23:28.960 --> 0:23:30.720 I'm moving out of the house. I need to pay 0:23:30.720 --> 0:23:33.360 rent and bills. I you know, I've got to get 0:23:33.400 --> 0:23:36.720 a j O B. Right, And you wearing the white 0:23:36.720 --> 0:23:39.720 coats as a dental technician. That was not the life 0:23:39.720 --> 0:23:42.800 that you saw for yourself. Horrible in a laboratory, but look, 0:23:42.800 --> 0:23:44.920 it's a great profession if you want to do that, 0:23:45.720 --> 0:23:49.160 but it wasn't for me. There's no applause, there's no groupies, 0:23:49.240 --> 0:23:51.840 there's no cocaine. All the things that you we've talked about. 0:23:51.880 --> 0:23:54.320