Speaker 1: Hey, there's one about dramas. Freddie Rodriguez. Welcome through those
Speaker 1: and me goes.
Speaker 2: This is part two of our Beautiful Conversation with Angela
Speaker 2: Johnson Ray.
Speaker 3: I am so good at talking. So I'm at this
Speaker 3: place in my life where I have nothing going on,
Speaker 3: and it's one of those where I'm like, oh, I
Speaker 3: think I have to move back home, like I gave
Speaker 3: it a good go. I don't have money to pay
Speaker 3: my rent and it's already I'm living at my friend's condo.
Speaker 3: She was. She was a professional dancer, touring with like
Speaker 3: every major artists who can think of, so she was
Speaker 3: doing really well. She let me rent a room out
Speaker 3: of her condo and I wasn't paying rent because I
Speaker 3: couldn't afford it. But she was my best friend, so
Speaker 3: she was like, it's fine, just yeah, whenever you can.
Speaker 3: I was her Joey. She was my Chandler. You know
Speaker 3: how Chandler used to pay everything for Joe Like it
Speaker 3: was like that for us. So im as place have
Speaker 3: no money, my sister back home in San Jose is
Speaker 3: sending me gift certificates to the grocery store so I
Speaker 3: could get food too. She's sending me some money so
Speaker 3: I could like pay my phone bill things like that,
Speaker 3: and she was very much like don't give up, like
Speaker 3: stay because they're like, I think I got to come home,
Speaker 3: and she's like, no, no, no, not yet, don't give up.
Speaker 3: And at the same time I also felt in my
Speaker 3: spirit like that same feeling of like I know I
Speaker 3: got something. I also felt in my spirit that God
Speaker 3: wasn't done yet. Even though my circumstance was showing me no,
Speaker 3: He's done. I felt like my spirit, my gut was
Speaker 3: like not yet, you know. So I'm like, all right,
Speaker 3: hold on a little bit longer. I get a call.
Speaker 3: They're like, hey, do you want to do a set
Speaker 3: at the ice House? Pays twenty five bucks. I'm like,
Speaker 3: hell yeah, twenty five bucks. You know how many top
Speaker 3: promins A little bit of gas, that's all you need.
Speaker 1: Five bucks.
Speaker 3: And I lived in Glendell at the time. Glendale to Pasadena. Boom,
Speaker 3: I'll be there.
Speaker 1: You can do it in Neutral too.
Speaker 3: Ye hate you so much right now? So I do
Speaker 3: this set they behave in my twenty five bucks and
Speaker 3: it was for at the time, Verizon wireless. This is
Speaker 3: during flip phone era. Okay, so Verizon wireless was doing
Speaker 3: this thing where you can download a comedy clip onto
Speaker 3: your phone for a dollar ninety nine, Like that was
Speaker 3: that was the thing. So I go, I sign this
Speaker 3: little paper and they give my twenty five bucks. I
Speaker 3: do my twelve minute set, and they're like, all right,
Speaker 3: we're gonna upload this to Verizon, and Verizon customers can
Speaker 3: download your comedy clips and watch you on your phone.
Speaker 3: That's a new thing. This is a new technology, right,
Speaker 3: And so it's like.
Speaker 1: Okay, great, do you on your phone?
Speaker 3: What?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: Yeah. So then maybe weeks after that, this brand new
Speaker 3: thing called YouTube comes out. Yes, who's gonna pay a
Speaker 3: dollar ninety nine for a comedy and they can watch
Speaker 3: it for free on YouTube. So then this company, the
Speaker 3: production company that paid all these comics that day to
Speaker 3: come and do their set, they ended up taking those
Speaker 3: clips and uploading it to YouTube. So this is now,
Speaker 3: Like that was filmed in two thousand and six, this
Speaker 3: is now January two thousand and seven. My Space days okay,
Speaker 3: my MySpace page starts blowing up with messages from people
Speaker 3: people that I don't know, yeh okay, and they're like, hey,
Speaker 3: when are you coming to perform? In filling the blank Australia, Philippines, Crazy, Atlanta,
Speaker 3: you to all over the United States, Hey when are
Speaker 3: you coming to perform here? And I'm like what, yeah,
Speaker 3: what are you talking about?
Speaker 2: And it's worth saying that when that platform launched, it
Speaker 2: was so new that whoever was uploaded there at the
Speaker 2: beginning got all the clicks it was on.
Speaker 1: It was there, a gate was open.
Speaker 2: It wasn't like they created they closed the algorithm now
Speaker 2: and you got to pay to get more engagement. If
Speaker 2: you got on YouTube, you can find that video, you know,
Speaker 2: So imagine the amount of people that eventually got to
Speaker 2: see your.
Speaker 4: So you got uploaded right when YouTube started brand new,
Speaker 4: and then and then like the first few people who
Speaker 4: subscribe to YouTube were hitting you up.
Speaker 3: Going like there was from January to February, there was
Speaker 3: four million views on this video, which at the time, Wow, was.
Speaker 1: Crazy, incredible, crazy numbers.
Speaker 3: Now, let me tell you if you don't have four million.
Speaker 1: At the time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, oh yeah, So it was going viral before viral
Speaker 3: was an actual positive term. Yeah. So I started getting
Speaker 3: phone calls from family members. They were like, Hey, there's
Speaker 3: this email going around at work and it's a video
Speaker 3: of you and my coworker sent it to me. She
Speaker 3: doesn't even know that we're related, but she sent it
Speaker 3: to me, and I'm like.
Speaker 1: That's how I started.
Speaker 3: What video is this?
Speaker 4: Was there something about the video was it?
Speaker 1: Was it a particular joke.
Speaker 3: It was just a nail slot, nail salon. It was
Speaker 3: just that nail salon joke. It was four minute a
Speaker 3: four minute video. Yeah, this nail salon joke.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 3: And it starts going like crazy. So then my MySpace
Speaker 3: page is not only blowing up with people, Hey, when
Speaker 3: are you coming to fill in the blank city to perform?
Speaker 3: Now I'm getting messages that are like, Hey, I'm so
Speaker 3: and so the assistant to so and so executive at Fox,
Speaker 3: at CBS, at NBC, at all these different networks, at
Speaker 3: all these different production companies. Their assistants are going to
Speaker 3: MySpace to find me because I don't have an agent,
Speaker 3: so none of these executives know how to find me.
Speaker 3: So I'm getting all these dms on MySpace. I started
Speaker 3: getting all these meetings. I had to buy a calendar.
Speaker 3: I didn't even have a calendar. I what do I
Speaker 3: need a calendar for?
Speaker 1: I had to go.
Speaker 3: I went to Staples to buy a calendar, because this
Speaker 3: is before your phone where you have your I coount.
Speaker 3: I went to Staples to buy a calendar because I
Speaker 3: started get all these meetings to go meet with production
Speaker 3: companies and network executives. And I remember going into and
Speaker 3: I'm so green, like I don't know anything. And I
Speaker 3: go into this meeting and there it's pilot season and
Speaker 3: they're like, we want you to read for this pilot.
Speaker 3: Can you just step out and go run the lines
Speaker 3: real quick and come back in Yeah? And I don't
Speaker 3: know to say anything like can I come back tomorrow?
Speaker 3: Can I, you know, go.
Speaker 1: Coach in there?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Can I just go coach with somebody? Can I have
Speaker 3: a minute to like process? Who is this character?
Speaker 4: You were seizing the opportunity?
Speaker 3: Yeah? So I'm like, oh, okay, yeah, just right here
Speaker 3: in the hole.
Speaker 1: Yeah cool, easy, five minutes, let's go.
Speaker 3: We're back bye. Yeah. And then of course no trash
Speaker 3: because I don't know what I'm I'm doing. Yeah, But
Speaker 3: I start making all these relationships and this is like
Speaker 3: January to February, and then I end up getting a
Speaker 3: new agent, a new manager. I end up getting auditioned
Speaker 3: from Mad TV. So then my audition for Mad TV.
Speaker 3: They're like, you need to come in with three original
Speaker 3: characters and three celebrity impressions. What do you mean in
Speaker 3: three original characters. I didn't go to Second City, I
Speaker 3: didn't go to Groundlings. I took a free joke writing
Speaker 3: class at a church on Tuesday night. That is my education.
Speaker 3: So I was like, Okay, in my joke writing class,
Speaker 3: I wrote a joke about my grandpa and like how
Speaker 3: he's not good with technology. So I'll just say it's
Speaker 3: my grandma and I'll act it out more and I'll
Speaker 3: be like, this is you know, grandma's son, so who
Speaker 3: doesn't know technology? And I basically just recited my joke
Speaker 3: from my stand up but in character, and that was
Speaker 3: one of my original characters. And then I did saw
Speaker 3: another one, and then the last one was Bonquiki. I said,
Speaker 3: this is my sister. She wants to be a rapper,
Speaker 3: and then I became Bonquek. The audition and they're like, okay,
Speaker 3: we need three celebrity impressions. So I went on this
Speaker 3: brand new thing called YouTube, and I was like, all right, well,
Speaker 3: who's Latina and famous that I can try to mimic?
Speaker 3: Obviously Jennifer Lopez. So I started watching Jennifer Lopez videos
Speaker 3: her on the Red Carpet, and I'm like, okay, she
Speaker 3: waves like this. She doesn't wave like this, she waves
Speaker 3: like this, Okay, and then when she laughs it's kind
Speaker 3: of like nasally, and so then I start doing her
Speaker 3: laugh in her wave. So I said, Okay, this is
Speaker 3: Jennifer Lope, she's on the Red carpet.
Speaker 1: Did you how does that? You still do it? And
Speaker 1: you don't know what anymore?
Speaker 3: I mean, I really just it was just like I
Speaker 3: don't know, like the best.
Speaker 2: Part of my impersonations is like even when they're bad,
Speaker 2: it's like really good.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And so that all the producers were asking me questions, Jennifer,
Speaker 3: who are you wearing? My answer to everything was a
Speaker 3: laugh and a wave, and they thought it was hilarious,
Speaker 3: a hilarious choice that I made that Jennifer Lopez doesn't
Speaker 3: know how to answer the questions. All she does is
Speaker 3: laugh and wave. That's hilarious. No, that's all I knew
Speaker 3: how to do, right, That's all I could master. And
Speaker 3: then the other one I was it was like Paula
Speaker 3: Abduel on American Idol was always drunk at the time.
Speaker 3: So I did drunk fallow on American Idol and they
Speaker 3: you know, her little drunk clap and they.
Speaker 2: Love, oh my god, you're looking down and clap and
Speaker 2: it's perfect.
Speaker 3: And then the last one was Rosslyn Sanchez. I watched
Speaker 3: so many episodes of her Without a Trace, and I
Speaker 3: did my impression for her one day.
Speaker 1: I was going to ask you that because I know
Speaker 1: you guys know. Yeah.
Speaker 3: So my impression of her was, these are just the
Speaker 3: little things that I noticed and I could pick up.
Speaker 3: I'm like, oh, let me just exaggerate them. And it
Speaker 3: was that when she talked, she always talked like with
Speaker 3: her chin up, and she talked down off of her
Speaker 3: nose whenever she was talking to fall down. And when
Speaker 3: she speaks Spanish, her Spanish is at the tip of
Speaker 3: her mouth. It's not from the back like just regular talking.
Speaker 3: It's very much to the tip of her mouth where
Speaker 3: he and it's very fast the way she speaks, very
Speaker 3: fast like this, And so I started to like, I'm like,
Speaker 3: let me just exaggerate all of these things. And so
Speaker 3: I did this, as you know, ross and Sanchez on
Speaker 3: Without a Trace, and I just made up some scene
Speaker 3: and exaggerated those things. And I'm like, oh my god,
Speaker 3: that's amazing. And then I booked Mad TV and that
Speaker 3: was in May of two thousand and seven, and then
Speaker 3: I wrote more stand up and I started touring. By
Speaker 3: the end of the year, I was now a touring comedian.
Speaker 3: So it started with January two thousand and seven, I
Speaker 3: had no money to my name, unemployment checks ran out,
Speaker 3: no agent on nothing to By the end of the year,
Speaker 3: I had my agent, my manager, I was on Mad TV,
Speaker 3: and I was a touring stand up comedian.
Speaker 1: Wow, man, God is good.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's how it works.
Speaker 2: It all falls in place in such an unexpected way,
Speaker 2: and then you wake up and you're like, oh, I'm
Speaker 2: actually doing this right, Like you're in that struggle of
Speaker 2: trying to get that and then you're like, oh, I
Speaker 2: got a check on how I spread this over the
Speaker 2: next six months because you're probably not going to get
Speaker 2: something else, And there another six months and then all
Speaker 2: of a sudden.
Speaker 1: You're just like, oh, I'm making a living.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really thank you for sharing all of that.
Speaker 2: What a beautiful journey, what a very clever instinct. But
Speaker 2: you know, it's a great value and of the hustle
Speaker 2: that you have to have in order to break it,
Speaker 2: you know, you got to. And also what you did,
Speaker 2: you know, almost accidentally, but quite literally on purpose, is
Speaker 2: you broke a mold and you build a new one,
Speaker 2: and you build the mold that only you could fit.
Speaker 2: And in those times, in the nineties and early two
Speaker 2: thousands and that in that era, you had to be
Speaker 2: so different to stick around. You could be one like
Speaker 2: the others because those are inexchangeables. So you have to
Speaker 2: break the mold, you have to build a new one.
Speaker 2: And they noted for them to get what you provide,
Speaker 2: what that product is is they got to keep hiring you.
Speaker 2: You know, you having the versatility to be a Matt TV.
Speaker 2: It's like genius because also a very funny woman. It's
Speaker 2: a very powerful performer, you know. And at the time,
Speaker 2: with stereotypes were boxing as all and like he's the
Speaker 2: hot guy, he's the door key one, he's the you know,
Speaker 2: she's the bomb show or whatever. Humor comedy was a weapon.
Speaker 2: Very few people there to give each other those roles.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's that's just remarkable. I see myself so
Speaker 2: much in that story too. But I got to say,
Speaker 2: it's it's amazing. It's amazing to think about that and like,
Speaker 2: you know, you go from Matt TV and go on
Speaker 2: touring and then you've had tons of specials, like you've
Speaker 2: done comedy specials.
Speaker 3: I'm working on my number seven right now. What was
Speaker 3: your first special? My first special is called That's How
Speaker 3: We Do. It was for Comedy Central in two thousand
Speaker 3: and nine.
Speaker 4: And what was what was that like to go like,
Speaker 4: like Wolmer just went through your whole path, right, What
Speaker 4: was it like to like, yeah, you were touring, you
Speaker 4: were doing your thing, but like to like land your first.
Speaker 3: Honestly, it was really unheard of for someone who had
Speaker 3: been doing stand up for as little time as I
Speaker 3: have to get an hour special on Comedy Central. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it was unheard of. And even the way I started
Speaker 3: with stand up, I only you know, you hear about
Speaker 3: comics the feature for years and years. I featured three
Speaker 3: times before I started headlining because of that YouTube video.
Speaker 3: Because they saw that I could sell tickets just because
Speaker 3: of that YouTube video. So I had to write material
Speaker 3: so that I could get to a headliner place, so
Speaker 3: I had material to give the audience. So I featured
Speaker 3: three times and then I started headlining and working my
Speaker 3: butt off and writing material, and I became a comedian.
Speaker 3: Even though acting was always my dream and what I
Speaker 3: wanted to do, stand up was the thing that was
Speaker 3: taking off for me. So in the beginning of my career,
Speaker 3: I fought stand up. I kept like I would go
Speaker 3: on the road and do my shows, but I kept
Speaker 3: looking over my shoulder back at Hollywood, like, are you
Speaker 3: guys ready for me? Net No, not yet, Okay, I'll
Speaker 3: be out.
Speaker 1: Here on the road.
Speaker 3: Then let me know when you're ready. Yeah, And then
Speaker 3: they never got ready.
Speaker 1: What's kind of not true.
Speaker 2: I think you're You're always in that, you know. I
Speaker 2: believe you're always in the shortlist of like Okay, we're
Speaker 2: gonna go pilot season and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I think it's about you know, to me, the big
Speaker 2: question is, you know, now you're such an accomplished comedian, right,
Speaker 2: you're obviously a great actress. Do you want to do
Speaker 2: that leap and commit to a show or that?
Speaker 1: I would love to?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would love to. I mean I've pitched so
Speaker 3: many shows, you know how it is, development deals and
Speaker 3: you know, all that kind of stuff. So over the
Speaker 3: twenty years that I've been here, starting from the ground up,
Speaker 3: I've had different development deals, show deals, and it's been
Speaker 3: some of these shows that we've done have been such
Speaker 3: great ideas. Oh oh my god, this would have been amazing,
Speaker 3: you know that kind of thing. And I still dream
Speaker 3: for it. I still want it, and I think it's
Speaker 3: in a different way now to where I've definitely embraced
Speaker 3: stand up as my career and my show. Having my
Speaker 3: show one day is like the icing on the cake,
Speaker 3: so to speak, Like I would I would love to
Speaker 3: have my show, but it's not where it would break
Speaker 3: me if I didn't get it, sure, Whereas.
Speaker 2: This is the moment where you, by the way, will
Speaker 2: get your show. And we're breaking it here because that
Speaker 2: sounds so much no, no, and actually I kind of
Speaker 2: have kidding but like mostly serious. And the fact that
Speaker 2: like when you are able to let go, it's when
Speaker 2: it all happens, when you take when you get let
Speaker 2: go of the rope is when you learn how to swim,
Speaker 2: you know, in many ways, right, but I think metephobia,
Speaker 2: what I'm trying to say is that you you you
Speaker 2: poison for that you're in that moment. I think we're
Speaker 2: young enough and old enough to to really take charge
Speaker 2: on some things and and I just see it happening.
Speaker 2: You know, I feel like we're kind of we're breaking
Speaker 2: news here, would you get We're manufestent to show up
Speaker 2: it because because I will say that we really could
Speaker 2: use you on prime time television.
Speaker 1: We really, we really need you on that screen, you know.
Speaker 2: And there's very few people in our game that can
Speaker 2: do really disruptive and most importantly, you know, uh stereotype
Speaker 2: you know, breaking uh you know, vibes and performances and
Speaker 2: characters that could really elevate our community and the way
Speaker 2: that we needed. And very few you know, can can
Speaker 2: do what you do as as you know. But we
Speaker 2: just really hope that you crack it in the next year.
Speaker 2: We can really, So, you know, what what what would
Speaker 2: be ideal for you?
Speaker 4: What was if I may ask, like what was some
Speaker 4: of the stuff.
Speaker 1: That I don't know, I don't know how.
Speaker 4: To ask this, but like that you've pitched in the past,
Speaker 4: or like what would what was something that you thought
Speaker 4: would be would be cool?
Speaker 1: You know, like I would want to know, like.
Speaker 4: What would your idea for an ideal TV show be
Speaker 4: for you?
Speaker 3: So I always my dream is always a multiicam sitcom.
Speaker 4: Yeah my friends, Yeah, it's taking it back to the
Speaker 4: beginning exactly exactly.
Speaker 3: And I feel like every time I would pitch it,
Speaker 3: the multiicam's dying, it's dying, No, don't. I was always
Speaker 3: non multicam's just single cam, think single camp. I'd pitch
Speaker 3: single cam shows and then I would still go back to, okay,
Speaker 3: what about this my family? It's always, you know, based
Speaker 3: in my family. And then it's so interesting to think
Speaker 3: about how my pitches have gone from fresh out of
Speaker 3: college woo woo woo, and then it's like new mom,
Speaker 3: and then it's like midlife. Listen, are they going to
Speaker 3: stay married? They're not sure, their child's grown up and
Speaker 3: in high school now, and it's like all the different
Speaker 3: I'm waiting. I'm like, okay, this ship's sailed, that ship saliled.
Speaker 3: I'm like, okay, maybe it's this one, right. But it's
Speaker 3: always something based in my life and my family. That's
Speaker 3: how I write my material. My material is always based
Speaker 3: around relatable connective tissue. How am I connected to you
Speaker 3: as a human being? When I write my stand up,
Speaker 3: it's always like, obviously I want to make you laugh,
Speaker 3: but I want to connect with you on a human level.
Speaker 3: How are we both human, because that's what's going to
Speaker 3: tie us together to where you go, oh, I see
Speaker 3: myself in you, And then when I make you laugh,
Speaker 3: the laugh is that much harder because you relate to
Speaker 3: me and you connect to me, and you're like, oh
Speaker 3: that's me, Oh that's my husband. Oh my gosh, my
Speaker 3: daughter does that. Oh my god. And now we're all
Speaker 3: just a bunch of humans laughing having a good time.
Speaker 3: Like That's that's how I approach my material. That's how
Speaker 3: I approach my TV show. Idea is how can I
Speaker 3: connect to other humans and bring joy and tell some stories?
Speaker 4: Yeah, and and and the person that you are now
Speaker 4: as someone who's who just had a baby, right, yes,
Speaker 4: two years ago.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I became a dom in my forties daughter daughter, daughter.
Speaker 4: May we ask your daughter's.
Speaker 3: Name, Yes, her name is Rosalie Harlow Reyes. We call
Speaker 3: her Rosie. And your husband's name Manuel, Manuel, Manuel. We're
Speaker 3: teaching our daughter our full names right now. So she
Speaker 3: knows my full name because she's on the road with me.
Speaker 3: So she hears my intro video. Will they say, please
Speaker 3: welcome Angela Johnson Reyes. So now she'll be in her
Speaker 3: crib at six forty five in the morning and going,
Speaker 3: please welcome ange Reyes. You know she gives me the announcement,
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, the best.
Speaker 2: What is the most significant thing you discovered as soon
Speaker 2: as you held your your child will copy in you.
Speaker 3: I didn't have that immedia. Oh my god, I'm so
Speaker 3: in love feeling.
Speaker 2: It's a little in first and all the beginning you're
Speaker 2: just trying to keep the baby alive.
Speaker 3: I'm trying to keep you alive, and it's like, who
Speaker 3: are you right?
Speaker 1: What right?
Speaker 3: Hold on? What came alive in me?
Speaker 4: Is?
Speaker 3: I would say, like everything is for her, like my
Speaker 3: my joy, Like I get excited thinking about what I'm
Speaker 3: going to feed her for lunch, Like that makes me happy,
Speaker 3: Like I wonder if she'll like this, Like it's the
Speaker 3: simple little things. Where before it was always my career,
Speaker 3: everything my career, which is why I didn't want kids.
Speaker 3: I didn't have kids to my forties because I didn't
Speaker 3: want kids. I wanted my career. And then COVID happened
Speaker 3: and everybody's career went away for a little while. Sure,
Speaker 3: and during that time I didn't miss it. I was like, hmm,
Speaker 3: if I never go back, I think I'll be okay,
Speaker 3: And I never in my life imagined myself saying if
Speaker 3: I never book another gig, that's fine. Like I always
Speaker 3: wanted more and more and more. And then here I
Speaker 3: was going, it's not as fulfilling as I thought. Like,
Speaker 3: it's fun. I enjoy it, don't get me wrong, but
Speaker 3: it's not fulfilling in this like deep level. And so
Speaker 3: I was like, huh, should I have had kids? All
Speaker 3: my friends tell me like kids are so fulfilling, and like,
Speaker 3: should I have had kids? Oh my gosh, did I
Speaker 3: mess up? So now I'm in my late thirties going like,
Speaker 3: all right, well, let me go to the doctors and
Speaker 3: see if I even have eggs. I don't even know
Speaker 3: if I have eggs left. Before I start saying should
Speaker 3: I have kids? Girl, you don't even know if you
Speaker 3: got options? You owed. So I went to the doctor
Speaker 3: and they did all the tests and they're like, you
Speaker 3: you still have some eggs. Your levels and everything that
Speaker 3: they checked, They're like, you still have some, but not much.
Speaker 3: So you got to hurry up. Whatever you want to do,
Speaker 3: you got to hurry up exactly. And I still wasn't
Speaker 3: convinced I want of kids. So I was like, all right,
Speaker 3: let me save my eggs with your partner. Oh yeah,
Speaker 3: we're married twelve years ago. Oh okay, twelve years. So
Speaker 3: I'm like, all right, let me save my eggs. So
Speaker 3: that way, at least we have some options in the future, right,
Speaker 3: So that I go through the process of saving my eggs,
Speaker 3: and then every time I would go through it, I
Speaker 3: would get bad news. And bad news started with twelve
Speaker 3: eggs and they're like, no, you only have six. Oh,
Speaker 3: just caking, there's only four. And it was like that
Speaker 3: whole thing love IVF. And it was like the more
Speaker 3: they would give me bad news, they were like, this
Speaker 3: may not be for you, you know, because every time
Speaker 3: we go through this process, you don't really have any
Speaker 3: eggs by the end of it, Like, this might not
Speaker 3: be for you. The more they would tell me it
Speaker 3: might not be for me, the more I wanted it. Now.
Speaker 3: It switched from I'm saving my eggs to no, I
Speaker 3: want kids. I'm trying to get pregnant. And so we
Speaker 3: went through IVF a couple of times and I ended
Speaker 3: up getting like, after those couple times combined, end up
Speaker 3: getting like five or six eggs, and then we went
Speaker 3: and made embryos. None of the embryos were viable, and
Speaker 3: they're like, you got to start over, and that's a journey.
Speaker 3: At this point, I'm on tour. I just came out
Speaker 3: with my book. I'm on my book tour. I have
Speaker 3: a bunch of dates for the whole year and a half,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, what am I going to do IVF again?
Speaker 3: I don't have time to do this again. So then
Speaker 3: I was like, all right, you know I have one
Speaker 3: month off in November. I planned one month off for myself.
Speaker 3: I said, I'll do IVF one more time in November.
Speaker 3: If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, that's it. So
Speaker 3: I said, I'm also filming my special in October, so
Speaker 3: let me just focus on my special. I started, let
Speaker 3: me get my body right, get it tight. I started
Speaker 3: not drinking alcohol, not eating club food after the shows,
Speaker 3: like you know that kind of thing. I said, I'm
Speaker 3: going to work on myself, get myself ready for my
Speaker 3: taping because I'm gonna tape my special. So I'm gonna
Speaker 3: get right. I'm working out of the gym, I'm eating healthy.
Speaker 3: I didn't realize I was also preparing my body to
Speaker 3: get pregnant. So I'm scheduled to do IVF again in November.
Speaker 3: I end up getting pregnant naturally in October right before
Speaker 3: my taping. Oh did you I was pregnant during.
Speaker 1: I don't even know I was so before you're taping, like.
Speaker 3: The week before?
Speaker 1: Yes, so you were? How about how long how long
Speaker 1: pregnant were you there? Like, would you like a month?
Speaker 1: Two months? Three months? Well?
Speaker 3: No, not even like a couple of weeks, like.
Speaker 1: A couple of weeks.
Speaker 4: And do you feel that because you were getting your
Speaker 4: body prepared for it? That That's was one of the
Speaker 4: reasons why.
Speaker 3: I also did a bunch of like through the IVF process.
Speaker 3: They were like, oh, you have fibroids. You got to
Speaker 3: get your fibroids out. Oh okay, So I scheduled surgery
Speaker 3: to get my fibroids out. Then then they went in
Speaker 3: for fibroids. Did you're like, oh, you also have endometriosis,
Speaker 3: we got to get so yeah. I found out a
Speaker 3: lot of stuff about my body I didn't know through
Speaker 3: the IVF process. So even though I didn't get pregnant
Speaker 3: via IVF, I'm grateful for the process because I wouldn't
Speaker 3: have known. I would have kept trying to get pregnant
Speaker 3: and never got pregnant because I had fibroids and got endometriosis. Yeah,
Speaker 3: got me all cleaned up, and then I got my
Speaker 3: health right and then next thing, you know, it was
Speaker 3: like the perfect recipe for me personally, and I ended
Speaker 3: up getting pregnant and now I have a two year old.
Speaker 1: Oh my god. So okay, thank you for that.
Speaker 4: So a week two weeks before you're special, you get pregnant.
Speaker 4: Your special happens in October, but then you were scheduled
Speaker 4: to have IVF in November. So by the time November
Speaker 4: comes around, do you I was pregnant, so you knew I.
Speaker 1: Was gonna ask you.
Speaker 4: Do you start going like, okay, I'm about to start IVF,
Speaker 4: but man, I'm sleepy.
Speaker 3: Oh it was all the things. It was my period
Speaker 3: was late, which is never late, and I was like, hmm, yeah,
Speaker 3: that's weird. Yeah. And then let me tell you too.
Speaker 3: After my taping, we celebrate it, and I remember we
Speaker 3: went to d C. I went with the Latino Group
Speaker 3: to DC and we went to the White House and
Speaker 3: it was a whole thing. And then they had a
Speaker 3: big party for us and I celebrated there too. Ay,
Speaker 3: And then after that weekend.
Speaker 1: I'm not supposed to drink.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but you didn't know. I didn't know. I had
Speaker 3: no clue. It was just like I was just living
Speaker 3: my life. But then all of a sudden, I was like,
Speaker 3: wait a minute, Periy's late, this is happening whatever. And
Speaker 3: then so I remember the next weekend, we were on
Speaker 3: the road and the venue got us like a bottle
Speaker 3: of champagne and you know, sold that show. Here's some champagne.
Speaker 3: And then in my head, I was like, maybe I
Speaker 3: shouldn't drink this, just in case I'm pregnant. And I'm like,
Speaker 3: I have a pregnancy test at home in my drawer,
Speaker 3: but I'm on the road and I'm like, I'm not
Speaker 3: gonna have a runner, go get me a pregnancy test.
Speaker 3: It's a random venue in Cleveland, Ohio, you know what
Speaker 3: I mean. So I'm like, I'm just gonna wait till
Speaker 3: I get home. So they give me champagne. I just
Speaker 3: do like a little sip, and I'm just like, let
Speaker 3: me do just in case. And then I get home.
Speaker 3: I have not even twenty four hours that i'm home
Speaker 3: before I get back on a flight to leave. So
Speaker 3: I get home, I take my pregnancy test.
Speaker 1: So you do it with ham or my.
Speaker 3: Husband's gone already, so our next I get home from
Speaker 3: Cleveland and then we're going to Hawaii. I have shows
Speaker 3: in Hawaii, but it's also gonna be like a little vacation, right,
Speaker 3: So my husband he went ahead and I'm gonna meet
Speaker 3: him there. So I'm by myself at home with my dog,
Speaker 3: and I'm I'm like, that's me and you Bonzo, like
Speaker 3: me and you son. Let's let's see if I'm pregnant.
Speaker 3: So I did a little pregnanty this, and part of
Speaker 3: me I'm like, there's no way.
Speaker 1: Right, and after everything you've gone through.
Speaker 3: There's no way. It's just I'm late, I'm stressed. The
Speaker 3: road I say it says pregnant and I and I
Speaker 3: videotaped the whole thing, so I was like, let me
Speaker 3: just in case, and I videotaped myself. My heart dropped.
Speaker 3: My it's beating so fast, and I'm like, oh my god,
Speaker 3: I have nobody to like share. It's just me and
Speaker 3: my dog, and I'm like, no way, no way, and
Speaker 3: it's I can't even call my husband because he's on
Speaker 3: a plane to Hawaii on the phone either, like I
Speaker 3: want to see him in person, and I'm like, well,
Speaker 3: I can't tell any of my friends before I tell
Speaker 3: my husband, Like what do I do? I try calling
Speaker 3: my IVF doctor and I'm like is this can this
Speaker 3: even happen? And then she's not answering her phone. I'm like,
Speaker 3: nobody's answering their phone that I need to. And I'm like, Okay, well,
Speaker 3: I guess this is just between me and God. That's it.
Speaker 3: And Bonzo Me got in Bonzo, that's it. That was
Speaker 3: for us. And so I had a full not even
Speaker 3: twenty four hours, like a little bit more of this
Speaker 3: information just to me and myself. Because then when I
Speaker 3: got to why, I had to tell my husband and
Speaker 3: like surprising with that information and it was just yeah,
Speaker 3: it was a wild experience. So then obviously no more IVF.
Speaker 4: And yeah, is your husband also a comedian?
Speaker 1: No, he's in music to music, yeah Scarlett Santana.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, which also makes it so bizarre pregnant.
Speaker 2: He still has pretty remarkable Did you.
Speaker 3: Not know my husband's in music? He started in Christian music, Okay, Yeah,
Speaker 3: then he moved out of that into just you know,
Speaker 3: regular mainstream music, and then now he does sink music
Speaker 3: for TV shows commercials.
Speaker 1: It's amazing.
Speaker 2: So speaking of how special and special, Yes, it's a
Speaker 2: perfect seguay to talk about your special. Yeah you have
Speaker 2: a special, you shot it already, you're promoting it.
Speaker 3: Like, well, my most reason hour was called say I
Speaker 3: Want What's on YouTube? My first self produced, self financed
Speaker 3: special we founded at the Rhyme and Auditorium Tennessee. Let
Speaker 3: me tell you put it up on a YouTube. It's
Speaker 3: been incredible. And my next special I'm gonna put on
Speaker 3: YouTube as well. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Like comparing that to like, you know, your your specials
Speaker 4: on like the Commontential or Yeah, what's that been like
Speaker 4: sort of the difference.
Speaker 3: In regards to everything. Okay, So I get to see
Speaker 3: all the information, know all the information, be a part
Speaker 3: of all the information, make the decisions that I want
Speaker 3: to make. That that's the best part. Yeah. And when
Speaker 3: my special first went up, the amount of views I
Speaker 3: was getting on my special was right up with the
Speaker 3: top specials that were happening on Netflix, but I was
Speaker 3: just happening on YouTube. And YouTube has now become the
Speaker 3: place where, like you said that, you get to own
Speaker 3: your own stuff and it carries weight in regards to
Speaker 3: if you're a touring comedian. A lot of these people
Speaker 3: are finding my special on YouTube and Facebook videos. It's
Speaker 3: wild the amount of people that have come to my
Speaker 3: shows after I've been touring for seventeen eighteen years now,
Speaker 3: and I ask my audience, who hears this is your
Speaker 3: first time at my show? And it's seventy five percent
Speaker 3: of the people there is their first time seeing me
Speaker 3: because they're finding my YouTube that's my special.
Speaker 4: Has there been any cons, Like we're just talking about
Speaker 4: all the pros and cons. Yeah, of it not being
Speaker 4: on a Comedy Central or HBO versus like YouTube.
Speaker 3: The con is optics.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm, which affects.
Speaker 3: It how which affects in industry because YouTube is not
Speaker 3: respected in the way Netflix is, right, So it's the optics.
Speaker 1: Of it all.
Speaker 3: So there's so many times fans will be like, oh,
Speaker 3: I saw I saw your Netflix special, but they're not
Speaker 3: talking about Netflix. They're talking about my when that's on YouTube.
Speaker 3: But now Netflix just goes with comedy special, so they said, oh,
Speaker 3: what are you doing your nets Netflix special? Because Netflix is.
Speaker 1: So known for standards such a major category.
Speaker 3: Exactly, so people just assume, oh, Netflix is the place,
Speaker 3: like that is the peak if you can get a
Speaker 3: Netflix special, you got street cred, You've made it.
Speaker 1: It's like that it used to becoming.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so how does the optics affect you though.
Speaker 3: Well, I would guess in storytelling within industry, like it's
Speaker 3: still like the yes and nohers at the top that
Speaker 3: Netflix still plays a really big role in things, whereas
Speaker 3: I can show you my YouTube numbers.
Speaker 4: But oh, you mean if you mean, if you're trying
Speaker 4: to ascend to.
Speaker 3: Like sure, getting booked for something, getting my show sold,
Speaker 3: like it's a really it'll be eventually it will mean
Speaker 3: the same thing that Netflix means. But right now it's
Speaker 3: still like, oh, I'm on I'm on CBS or I'm
Speaker 3: on Fox or I'm on Netflix. It still says something
Speaker 3: different than oh, I'm on YouTube. Well, anyway, it can
Speaker 3: be on YouTube right right now? Has that not quite?
Speaker 2: Because YouTube is doing some really disruptive programming. Yeah, programming
Speaker 2: around here's programming around networks, and you know, it's most
Speaker 2: of the world who can't access or can't pay for
Speaker 2: a subscription, and it's finding amazing content, original content actually
Speaker 2: there and they're being elevated on like single camera level,
Speaker 2: like it's it's actually.
Speaker 3: Really cool people watch YouTube more than Netflix. Like Netflix
Speaker 3: is the number one streaming excuse me, YouTube is the
Speaker 3: number one streaming platform and it's YouTube and Google is
Speaker 3: where people look for information. They look for their shows.
Speaker 3: Most people are watching their shows on their phone, so
Speaker 3: YouTube is really where people are spending their time. But
Speaker 3: it's the same thing as if you got your show
Speaker 3: on Fox, on NBC, CBS. It has a prestige, it
Speaker 3: has some street cred to it. Even if it's subconscious,
Speaker 3: it still has something with all these yes and know
Speaker 3: whers at the top something I feel.
Speaker 2: Like you're doing what you did with Verizon and what
Speaker 2: you did with you know, YouTube at the beginning, coming
Speaker 2: back full circle to fundamentals, you know, you're going to
Speaker 2: be available to and also think about an international markets.
Speaker 2: If you're not distributed, if any if like you know,
Speaker 2: you're not in Netflix UK.
Speaker 1: Then no one's going to see you're specially in Netflix UK,
Speaker 1: right like.
Speaker 2: That, you know, very there's a certain amount of programs
Speaker 2: that actually are unlocked for a global platform. You know,
Speaker 2: some things are regional, you know, so I think YouTube
Speaker 2: is one of those where you're like if if you're
Speaker 2: somewhere in India, you're like I can find you, you know,
Speaker 2: on YouTube, which I think is very very disruptive and
Speaker 2: really really cool. And besides your specials and being that
Speaker 2: forward thinking, you launch a podcast as well. Yes, with
Speaker 2: fungula right, what what prompt you for for a podcast?
Speaker 1: If you weren't doing ready?
Speaker 3: I was like, how can I stay home more? How
Speaker 3: can I be with my family, be with my daughter?
Speaker 3: Touring is great, but I have to leave. How can
Speaker 3: I be home? And I love having great conversations. So
Speaker 3: my podcast is about gratitude. And gratitude is one of
Speaker 3: the main tools that I use in my mental health
Speaker 3: journey with anxiety, with whatever it is that I'm struggling
Speaker 3: with or dealing with. Gratitude has always been the easiest
Speaker 3: tool to use. It's free, and it's right there, it's
Speaker 3: right in your pocket. You just you. You elevate your
Speaker 3: vibration with gratitude. You change your perspective with gratitude. So
Speaker 3: I practice gratitude in my life life. And I said,
Speaker 3: let me have these great conversations with my guests about
Speaker 3: what are they grateful for in their life, whether it
Speaker 3: be a mentor they had when they were in third grade,
Speaker 3: whether it be they found twenty dollars in their pocket
Speaker 3: on the way here, like whatever it is is. Sometimes
Speaker 3: it's super simple, and sometimes it's super deep and an
Speaker 3: opportunity for maybe if you don't practice gratitude regularly, to
Speaker 3: reflect and think about those moments in your life that
Speaker 3: you are super grateful for. Because I helped you get
Speaker 3: to hear and woo, and I've been able to have
Speaker 3: some really cool conversations with people all centered in gratitude.
Speaker 3: And we also do our matitude. We do our one maratitude,
Speaker 3: and that's what's the thing that's making you mad these days,
Speaker 3: like getting on your nerves. And even that could be
Speaker 3: something so simple as my husband choose too loud.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 3: He tooos so loud. I can't even handle it. And
Speaker 3: then sometimes it's very deep stuff about their family, my
Speaker 3: relationship with my dad. It's not great and I wish
Speaker 3: it was better. And so it's just a really fun
Speaker 3: experience to have deep, meaningful conversations with people, enlightening conversations
Speaker 3: and we laugh so much and then we cry, and
Speaker 3: it's just such a journey that I get to go
Speaker 3: on with people, learn about different people's lives. It's so
Speaker 3: fun that I get to do that.
Speaker 2: No, And also you can see so much of what
Speaker 2: you're working through in other people and through other people
Speaker 2: and their experiences, and sometimes the secret sauce is in
Speaker 2: other people's stories.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, you.
Speaker 1: Can really walk away with those little diamonds that you're like,
Speaker 1: Oh man, I really needed that.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: We find here all the time.
Speaker 2: I mean, we have some really interesting conversations that kind
Speaker 2: of realign perspective, realign priorities, you know, and most importantly,
Speaker 2: kind of realize the stillness of we should be present
Speaker 2: right now.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: It's so hard to not think about what am I
Speaker 1: doing tomorrow?
Speaker 2: You know, but but the stillness of the of the
Speaker 2: world now, I think is the is It's really really great.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I'm so grateful that you came to share with us today.
Speaker 2: I know how busy you stay, and I know how
Speaker 2: much you're on the road all the time, and and
Speaker 2: to be able to share with your fans and our
Speaker 2: listeners and everybody on the show, you know, just kind
Speaker 2: of your perspective and your beginning is make you make
Speaker 2: you appreciate how iconic it is where you are right now.
Speaker 1: Thank you know, it's just really good to reflect.
Speaker 2: You know, because we we never look back right, like
Speaker 2: you know, when you're grinding, you're like, you know, five
Speaker 2: years ahead, five years yeah, So it's beautiful to look
Speaker 2: back and to see you relieve those memories.
Speaker 1: It's very special.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you for share these with you.
Speaker 4: Thank you for thank you for being our guest.
Speaker 3: Appreciate you, my pleasure.
Speaker 2: This is Freddie Roger and I'm Wilmer Valdama. Thank you
Speaker 2: for being here on Those Amigos. If you're watching us,
Speaker 2: what's up if you're listening to us, also what's up?
Speaker 1: And this was Angela Johnson Rayes. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for being with us.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 4: Dose Amigos is a production from WV Sound and iHeartMedia's
Speaker 4: Michael through That Podcast Network, hosted by Me, Freddie Rodriguez
Speaker 4: and Wilmri Valdorama.
Speaker 2: Those Amigos is produced by Aaron Burlson and Sophie Spencer Zabos.
Speaker 4: Our executive producers are Wilmri Valdorama, Freddie Rodriguez, Aaron Burlson,
Speaker 4: and Leo Klem at WV Sound.
Speaker 2: This episode was shot and edited it by Ryan Posts
Speaker 2: and mixed by Sean Tracy and features original music by
Speaker 2: Madison Devenport and Helo boy Our.
Speaker 4: Cover art photography is by David Avalos and designed by
Speaker 4: Deny holtz.
Speaker 2: Claw And thank you for being there third amigo today.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you guys always listening to those amigos.
Speaker 4: More podcasts from My Heart, visit the R Heart Radio app,
Speaker 4: Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Speaker 1: Is youre next week?
Speaker 4: Mm hmm