WEBVTT - Laughs, Lessons and Legacy with Anjelah Johnson 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:08.080 Hey, there's one about dramas. Freddie Rodriguez. Welcome through those 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:08.600 and me goes. 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:10.840 This is part two of our Beautiful Conversation with Angela 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:11.440 Johnson Ray. 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:17.160 I am so good at talking. So I'm at this 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:22.040 place in my life where I have nothing going on, 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:23.639 and it's one of those where I'm like, oh, I 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:26.520 think I have to move back home, like I gave 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:29.320 it a good go. I don't have money to pay 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:32.960 my rent and it's already I'm living at my friend's condo. 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:35.320 She was. She was a professional dancer, touring with like 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:36.920 every major artists who can think of, so she was 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:39.120 doing really well. She let me rent a room out 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:42.600 of her condo and I wasn't paying rent because I 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:45.440 couldn't afford it. But she was my best friend, so 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:48.960 she was like, it's fine, just yeah, whenever you can. 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:51.760 I was her Joey. She was my Chandler. You know 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:54.200 how Chandler used to pay everything for Joe Like it 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:57.800 was like that for us. So im as place have 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:01.840 no money, my sister back home in San Jose is 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:04.040 sending me gift certificates to the grocery store so I 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:07.160 could get food too. She's sending me some money so 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:09.800 I could like pay my phone bill things like that, 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:15.480 and she was very much like don't give up, like 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:17.600 stay because they're like, I think I got to come home, 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:20.039 and she's like, no, no, no, not yet, don't give up. 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:23.920 And at the same time I also felt in my 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:26.120 spirit like that same feeling of like I know I 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:29.720 got something. I also felt in my spirit that God 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:33.840 wasn't done yet. Even though my circumstance was showing me no, 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:37.800 He's done. I felt like my spirit, my gut was 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:41.319 like not yet, you know. So I'm like, all right, 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:44.640 hold on a little bit longer. I get a call. 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:46.600 They're like, hey, do you want to do a set 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:50.760 at the ice House? Pays twenty five bucks. I'm like, 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:53.720 hell yeah, twenty five bucks. You know how many top 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:58.440 promins A little bit of gas, that's all you need. 0:01:58.480 --> 0:01:59.040 Five bucks. 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:02.360 And I lived in Glendell at the time. Glendale to Pasadena. Boom, 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:04.080 I'll be there. 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:05.400 You can do it in Neutral too. 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:12.040 Ye hate you so much right now? So I do 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:15.639 this set they behave in my twenty five bucks and 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:20.280 it was for at the time, Verizon wireless. This is 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:23.760 during flip phone era. Okay, so Verizon wireless was doing 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:27.360 this thing where you can download a comedy clip onto 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.520 your phone for a dollar ninety nine, Like that was 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:33.160 that was the thing. So I go, I sign this 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:35.880 little paper and they give my twenty five bucks. I 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:38.920 do my twelve minute set, and they're like, all right, 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:42.720 we're gonna upload this to Verizon, and Verizon customers can 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:44.560 download your comedy clips and watch you on your phone. 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:47.160 That's a new thing. This is a new technology, right, 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:48.240 And so it's like. 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:50.079 Okay, great, do you on your phone? 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:50.280 What? 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:50.720 Oh? 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:55.120 Yeah. So then maybe weeks after that, this brand new 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:58.360 thing called YouTube comes out. Yes, who's gonna pay a 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:00.880 dollar ninety nine for a comedy and they can watch 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:04.200 it for free on YouTube. So then this company, the 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:07.160 production company that paid all these comics that day to 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.840 come and do their set, they ended up taking those 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:15.079 clips and uploading it to YouTube. So this is now, 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:17.960 Like that was filmed in two thousand and six, this 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:22.359 is now January two thousand and seven. My Space days okay, 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:28.440 my MySpace page starts blowing up with messages from people 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:33.400 people that I don't know, yeh okay, and they're like, hey, 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:42.840 when are you coming to perform? In filling the blank Australia, Philippines, Crazy, Atlanta, 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:44.520 you to all over the United States, Hey when are 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:47.680 you coming to perform here? And I'm like what, yeah, 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:48.600 what are you talking about? 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:52.040 And it's worth saying that when that platform launched, it 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:55.360 was so new that whoever was uploaded there at the 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:57.800 beginning got all the clicks it was on. 0:03:58.120 --> 0:03:59.760 It was there, a gate was open. 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:02.720 It wasn't like they created they closed the algorithm now 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:04.800 and you got to pay to get more engagement. If 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:07.120 you got on YouTube, you can find that video, you know, 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.240 So imagine the amount of people that eventually got to 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:10.600 see your. 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:14.400 So you got uploaded right when YouTube started brand new, 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:17.280 and then and then like the first few people who 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:19.400 subscribe to YouTube were hitting you up. 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:22.839 Going like there was from January to February, there was 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:27.160 four million views on this video, which at the time, Wow, was. 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:29.840 Crazy, incredible, crazy numbers. 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:33.080 Now, let me tell you if you don't have four million. 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:34.360 At the time. 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:40.720 Yeah, oh yeah, So it was going viral before viral 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:46.400 was an actual positive term. Yeah. So I started getting 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:49.640 phone calls from family members. They were like, Hey, there's 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:53.520 this email going around at work and it's a video 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:56.479 of you and my coworker sent it to me. She 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:58.400 doesn't even know that we're related, but she sent it 0:04:58.440 --> 0:04:59.840 to me, and I'm like. 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:01.040 That's how I started. 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:02.800 What video is this? 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:05.120 Was there something about the video was it? 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:06.279 Was it a particular joke. 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:10.080 It was just a nail slot, nail salon. It was 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:12.159 just that nail salon joke. It was four minute a 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:14.800 four minute video. Yeah, this nail salon joke. 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:15.360 Okay. 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:18.799 And it starts going like crazy. So then my MySpace 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:20.600 page is not only blowing up with people, Hey, when 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:23.120 are you coming to fill in the blank city to perform? 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:25.800 Now I'm getting messages that are like, Hey, I'm so 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:29.040 and so the assistant to so and so executive at Fox, 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:32.280 at CBS, at NBC, at all these different networks, at 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:36.240 all these different production companies. Their assistants are going to 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:39.240 MySpace to find me because I don't have an agent, 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:42.839 so none of these executives know how to find me. 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:47.760 So I'm getting all these dms on MySpace. I started 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:50.280 getting all these meetings. I had to buy a calendar. 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:52.200 I didn't even have a calendar. I what do I 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:52.919 need a calendar for? 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:53.440 I had to go. 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:55.440 I went to Staples to buy a calendar, because this 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:57.440 is before your phone where you have your I coount. 0:05:57.920 --> 0:05:59.760 I went to Staples to buy a calendar because I 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:02.680 started get all these meetings to go meet with production 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:06.880 companies and network executives. And I remember going into and 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:09.919 I'm so green, like I don't know anything. And I 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:13.719 go into this meeting and there it's pilot season and 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:15.560 they're like, we want you to read for this pilot. 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:18.440 Can you just step out and go run the lines 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:20.440 real quick and come back in Yeah? And I don't 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:24.000 know to say anything like can I come back tomorrow? 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:25.360 Can I, you know, go. 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:27.479 Coach in there? 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:28.000 Yeah? 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:29.599 Can I just go coach with somebody? Can I have 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:33.320 a minute to like process? Who is this character? 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:34.960 You were seizing the opportunity? 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:37.080 Yeah? So I'm like, oh, okay, yeah, just right here 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:37.480 in the hole. 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:39.320 Yeah cool, easy, five minutes, let's go. 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:44.280 We're back bye. Yeah. And then of course no trash 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:48.279 because I don't know what I'm I'm doing. Yeah, But 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:51.479 I start making all these relationships and this is like 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:54.400 January to February, and then I end up getting a 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:58.599 new agent, a new manager. I end up getting auditioned 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:02.640 from Mad TV. So then my audition for Mad TV. 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:05.200 They're like, you need to come in with three original 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:12.560 characters and three celebrity impressions. What do you mean in 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:16.280 three original characters. I didn't go to Second City, I 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:20.440 didn't go to Groundlings. I took a free joke writing 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:24.400 class at a church on Tuesday night. That is my education. 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:29.360 So I was like, Okay, in my joke writing class, 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:32.120 I wrote a joke about my grandpa and like how 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:35.360 he's not good with technology. So I'll just say it's 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:39.560 my grandma and I'll act it out more and I'll 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:42.240 be like, this is you know, grandma's son, so who 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:45.520 doesn't know technology? And I basically just recited my joke 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:48.560 from my stand up but in character, and that was 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:51.520 one of my original characters. And then I did saw 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:55.480 another one, and then the last one was Bonquiki. I said, 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:58.240 this is my sister. She wants to be a rapper, 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:02.080 and then I became Bonquek. The audition and they're like, okay, 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:04.480 we need three celebrity impressions. So I went on this 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:07.400 brand new thing called YouTube, and I was like, all right, well, 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:11.000 who's Latina and famous that I can try to mimic? 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:14.960 Obviously Jennifer Lopez. So I started watching Jennifer Lopez videos 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:16.640 her on the Red Carpet, and I'm like, okay, she 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:19.120 waves like this. She doesn't wave like this, she waves 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:22.680 like this, Okay, and then when she laughs it's kind 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:26.080 of like nasally, and so then I start doing her 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:28.880 laugh in her wave. So I said, Okay, this is 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:30.400 Jennifer Lope, she's on the Red carpet. 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.000 Did you how does that? You still do it? And 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:34.120 you don't know what anymore? 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:37.000 I mean, I really just it was just like I 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:39.440 don't know, like the best. 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:41.880 Part of my impersonations is like even when they're bad, 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:42.840 it's like really good. 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:43.240 Yeah. 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:47.080 And so that all the producers were asking me questions, Jennifer, 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:50.200 who are you wearing? My answer to everything was a 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:52.640 laugh and a wave, and they thought it was hilarious, 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:56.079 a hilarious choice that I made that Jennifer Lopez doesn't 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:57.839 know how to answer the questions. All she does is 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:00.439 laugh and wave. That's hilarious. No, that's all I knew 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:02.600 how to do, right, That's all I could master. And 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:04.240 then the other one I was it was like Paula 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:09.520 Abduel on American Idol was always drunk at the time. 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:11.880 So I did drunk fallow on American Idol and they 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:13.600 you know, her little drunk clap and they. 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:15.679 Love, oh my god, you're looking down and clap and 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:16.560 it's perfect. 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:20.800 And then the last one was Rosslyn Sanchez. I watched 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:26.160 so many episodes of her Without a Trace, and I 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:27.679 did my impression for her one day. 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:29.040 I was going to ask you that because I know 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:30.360 you guys know. Yeah. 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:33.679 So my impression of her was, these are just the 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:35.400 little things that I noticed and I could pick up. 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:37.680 I'm like, oh, let me just exaggerate them. And it 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:40.480 was that when she talked, she always talked like with 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:42.839 her chin up, and she talked down off of her 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:46.560 nose whenever she was talking to fall down. And when 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:49.040 she speaks Spanish, her Spanish is at the tip of 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:51.680 her mouth. It's not from the back like just regular talking. 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:53.000 It's very much to the tip of her mouth where 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:54.559 he and it's very fast the way she speaks, very 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:58.920 fast like this, And so I started to like, I'm like, 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:01.200 let me just exaggerate all of these things. And so 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:03.439 I did this, as you know, ross and Sanchez on 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:05.880 Without a Trace, and I just made up some scene 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:08.000 and exaggerated those things. And I'm like, oh my god, 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:10.680 that's amazing. And then I booked Mad TV and that 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:15.680 was in May of two thousand and seven, and then 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:19.040 I wrote more stand up and I started touring. By 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:21.559 the end of the year, I was now a touring comedian. 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:25.160 So it started with January two thousand and seven, I 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:28.600 had no money to my name, unemployment checks ran out, 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:31.280 no agent on nothing to By the end of the year, 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:33.880 I had my agent, my manager, I was on Mad TV, 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:35.439 and I was a touring stand up comedian. 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:37.360 Wow, man, God is good. 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:37.840 Yeah. 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:39.600 Yeah, that's how it works. 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:42.000 It all falls in place in such an unexpected way, 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:43.559 and then you wake up and you're like, oh, I'm 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:46.719 actually doing this right, Like you're in that struggle of 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:48.240 trying to get that and then you're like, oh, I 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:50.360 got a check on how I spread this over the 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:52.240 next six months because you're probably not going to get 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:54.280 something else, And there another six months and then all 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:54.959 of a sudden. 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:56.240 You're just like, oh, I'm making a living. 0:10:56.440 --> 0:11:08.679 Yeah, it's really thank you for sharing all of that. 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:12.520 What a beautiful journey, what a very clever instinct. But 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:15.800 you know, it's a great value and of the hustle 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:17.440 that you have to have in order to break it, 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:19.760 you know, you got to. And also what you did, 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:25.679 you know, almost accidentally, but quite literally on purpose, is 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.640 you broke a mold and you build a new one, 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:30.680 and you build the mold that only you could fit. 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:34.920 And in those times, in the nineties and early two 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:38.640 thousands and that in that era, you had to be 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:41.960 so different to stick around. You could be one like 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:45.280 the others because those are inexchangeables. So you have to 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:47.520 break the mold, you have to build a new one. 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:50.360 And they noted for them to get what you provide, 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:53.560 what that product is is they got to keep hiring you. 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:56.640 You know, you having the versatility to be a Matt TV. 0:11:56.760 --> 0:12:01.480 It's like genius because also a very funny woman. It's 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.800 a very powerful performer, you know. And at the time, 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:08.800 with stereotypes were boxing as all and like he's the 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:11.959 hot guy, he's the door key one, he's the you know, 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:17.320 she's the bomb show or whatever. Humor comedy was a weapon. 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:21.679 Very few people there to give each other those roles. 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:25.120 I mean, that's that's just remarkable. I see myself so 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:27.480 much in that story too. But I got to say, 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:31.679 it's it's amazing. It's amazing to think about that and like, 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:33.839 you know, you go from Matt TV and go on 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:37.520 touring and then you've had tons of specials, like you've 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:38.960 done comedy specials. 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:41.760 I'm working on my number seven right now. What was 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:45.240 your first special? My first special is called That's How 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:47.400 We Do. It was for Comedy Central in two thousand 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:47.760 and nine. 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:50.640 And what was what was that like to go like, 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.560 like Wolmer just went through your whole path, right, What 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:55.880 was it like to like, yeah, you were touring, you 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:59.960 were doing your thing, but like to like land your first. 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:04.160 Honestly, it was really unheard of for someone who had 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:06.560 been doing stand up for as little time as I 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:11.520 have to get an hour special on Comedy Central. Yeah, 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:15.640 it was unheard of. And even the way I started 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:18.360 with stand up, I only you know, you hear about 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:22.760 comics the feature for years and years. I featured three 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:27.319 times before I started headlining because of that YouTube video. 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:33.080 Because they saw that I could sell tickets just because 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:36.679 of that YouTube video. So I had to write material 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.880 so that I could get to a headliner place, so 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:43.560 I had material to give the audience. So I featured 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:47.680 three times and then I started headlining and working my 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:52.040 butt off and writing material, and I became a comedian. 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:55.960 Even though acting was always my dream and what I 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:59.120 wanted to do, stand up was the thing that was 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:01.079 taking off for me. So in the beginning of my career, 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:04.080 I fought stand up. I kept like I would go 0:14:04.120 --> 0:14:05.520 on the road and do my shows, but I kept 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:07.439 looking over my shoulder back at Hollywood, like, are you 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:10.360 guys ready for me? Net No, not yet, Okay, I'll 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:10.720 be out. 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:11.160 Here on the road. 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:13.520 Then let me know when you're ready. Yeah, And then 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:14.600 they never got ready. 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:18.400 What's kind of not true. 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:21.080 I think you're You're always in that, you know. I 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:23.560 believe you're always in the shortlist of like Okay, we're 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:25.720 gonna go pilot season and all that stuff. 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:25.920 You know. 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.080 I think it's about you know, to me, the big 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:33.760 question is, you know, now you're such an accomplished comedian, right, 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:38.520 you're obviously a great actress. Do you want to do 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.240 that leap and commit to a show or that? 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:42.080 I would love to? 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:44.520 Yeah, I would love to. I mean I've pitched so 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:47.040 many shows, you know how it is, development deals and 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:49.840 you know, all that kind of stuff. So over the 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:53.280 twenty years that I've been here, starting from the ground up, 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:56.520 I've had different development deals, show deals, and it's been 0:14:57.360 --> 0:14:59.360 some of these shows that we've done have been such 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:01.520 great ideas. Oh oh my god, this would have been amazing, 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:04.800 you know that kind of thing. And I still dream 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:10.000 for it. I still want it, and I think it's 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:13.320 in a different way now to where I've definitely embraced 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:18.840 stand up as my career and my show. Having my 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:23.600 show one day is like the icing on the cake, 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.360 so to speak, Like I would I would love to 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:31.800 have my show, but it's not where it would break 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:35.120 me if I didn't get it, sure, Whereas. 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:37.200 This is the moment where you, by the way, will 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:40.040 get your show. And we're breaking it here because that 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:44.360 sounds so much no, no, and actually I kind of 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:46.840 have kidding but like mostly serious. And the fact that 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:51.920 like when you are able to let go, it's when 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:54.920 it all happens, when you take when you get let 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:57.360 go of the rope is when you learn how to swim, 0:15:57.680 --> 0:15:59.480 you know, in many ways, right, but I think metephobia, 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:01.800 what I'm trying to say is that you you you 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:03.840 poison for that you're in that moment. I think we're 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:07.240 young enough and old enough to to really take charge 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:09.960 on some things and and I just see it happening. 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:11.840 You know, I feel like we're kind of we're breaking 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:14.520 news here, would you get We're manufestent to show up 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:17.400 it because because I will say that we really could 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:18.840 use you on prime time television. 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:21.960 We really, we really need you on that screen, you know. 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:25.440 And there's very few people in our game that can 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:32.440 do really disruptive and most importantly, you know, uh stereotype 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.640 you know, breaking uh you know, vibes and performances and 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:39.560 characters that could really elevate our community and the way 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.320 that we needed. And very few you know, can can 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:44.760 do what you do as as you know. But we 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:47.880 just really hope that you crack it in the next year. 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:50.880 We can really, So, you know, what what what would 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:51.880 be ideal for you? 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:55.040 What was if I may ask, like what was some 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:56.000 of the stuff. 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:57.960 That I don't know, I don't know how. 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:00.320 To ask this, but like that you've pitched in the past, 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:02.280 or like what would what was something that you thought 0:17:02.320 --> 0:17:03.880 would be would be cool? 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:06.840 You know, like I would want to know, like. 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:09.680 What would your idea for an ideal TV show be 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:10.000 for you? 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.160 So I always my dream is always a multiicam sitcom. 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:16.520 Yeah my friends, Yeah, it's taking it back to the 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.280 beginning exactly exactly. 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:22.240 And I feel like every time I would pitch it, 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:26.720 the multiicam's dying, it's dying, No, don't. I was always 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:32.040 non multicam's just single cam, think single camp. I'd pitch 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:34.920 single cam shows and then I would still go back to, okay, 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.760 what about this my family? It's always, you know, based 0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:41.880 in my family. And then it's so interesting to think 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:45.720 about how my pitches have gone from fresh out of 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:49.399 college woo woo woo, and then it's like new mom, 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.720 and then it's like midlife. Listen, are they going to 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:57.399 stay married? They're not sure, their child's grown up and 0:17:57.440 --> 0:17:59.560 in high school now, and it's like all the different 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:03.480 I'm waiting. I'm like, okay, this ship's sailed, that ship saliled. 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:07.400 I'm like, okay, maybe it's this one, right. But it's 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.280 always something based in my life and my family. That's 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:13.720 how I write my material. My material is always based 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:19.280 around relatable connective tissue. How am I connected to you 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:22.439 as a human being? When I write my stand up, 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:25.200 it's always like, obviously I want to make you laugh, 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:28.320 but I want to connect with you on a human level. 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:31.639 How are we both human, because that's what's going to 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:34.040 tie us together to where you go, oh, I see 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:36.800 myself in you, And then when I make you laugh, 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:41.000 the laugh is that much harder because you relate to 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:43.080 me and you connect to me, and you're like, oh 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:46.960 that's me, Oh that's my husband. Oh my gosh, my 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:50.160 daughter does that. Oh my god. And now we're all 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:53.440 just a bunch of humans laughing having a good time. 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:58.159 Like That's that's how I approach my material. That's how 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:01.560 I approach my TV show. Idea is how can I 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:04.600 connect to other humans and bring joy and tell some stories? 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:07.360 Yeah, and and and the person that you are now 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.520 as someone who's who just had a baby, right, yes, 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:11.560 two years ago. 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:14.600 Yeah, I became a dom in my forties daughter daughter, daughter. 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:17.359 May we ask your daughter's. 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:20.159 Name, Yes, her name is Rosalie Harlow Reyes. We call 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:25.000 her Rosie. And your husband's name Manuel, Manuel, Manuel. We're 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:28.639 teaching our daughter our full names right now. So she 0:19:28.840 --> 0:19:31.840 knows my full name because she's on the road with me. 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:34.760 So she hears my intro video. Will they say, please 0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:38.640 welcome Angela Johnson Reyes. So now she'll be in her 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:40.840 crib at six forty five in the morning and going, 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:45.400 please welcome ange Reyes. You know she gives me the announcement, 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:47.280 Oh yeah, the best. 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:49.640 What is the most significant thing you discovered as soon 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:53.359 as you held your your child will copy in you. 0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:57.320