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Is Anyone Listening?

The Next Day feat Lamar Mitchell Jr. (Ep6)

I'll forever be in debt to this weeks guest becasue he was the fist person to give me the opportunity to step on a stage and perform comedy. Lamar Mitchell Jr is not only funny but his story is inspiring. He's very blunt and raw which always leads to a great conversation. Enjoy!Instagram: @tinocochinoradio @lamarmitchelljrRate. Review. Subscribe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Duration:
45m
Broadcast on:
24 Jun 2024
Audio Format:
mp3
I'll forever be in debt to this weeks guest becasue he was the fist person to give me the opportunity to step on a stage and perform comedy. Lamar Mitchell Jr is not only funny but his story is inspiring. He's very blunt and raw which always leads to a great conversation. Enjoy!

Instagram: @tinocochinoradio @lamarmitchelljr

Rate. Review. Subscribe.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All right. The is anyone listening podcast, man. We've been nonstop with this thing, guys. Don't forget rate review subscribe. If you haven't done it, you rate it by hitting either the five stars that a little thumbs up or whatever it may be. Review it. Jump into those comments, man. That's how this thing opens up and people see it and hear it and talk about it. And then obviously subscribe to it, man. That way, every time a new episode drops, you are aware. And as far as shows coming up, dude, you have a few options if you're in the Phoenix, Arizona area, man. Friday, July 12th. I'm opening for Carlos Mancia at Desert Ridge Improv. We got two shows on that Friday and then two shows on Saturday at Stand Up Live. Again, both in Phoenix, Arizona, July 12th, July 13th. Just go to my Instagram @tinocochino radio. Link is in the bio get your tickets before they're gone because they're guaranteed to sell out. So this podcast, what I've been loving about it is the fact that we're talking to, you know what I'm saying, just cool people and people that I respect and people that have been giving me love jumping into the into the comedy world, which is crazy. And at the same time, we're still talking about mental health things and life. And today's guest is important for numerous reasons. One, he allowed me the opportunity to jump on the stage for the very first time. He hosts this open mic. And we're going to talk all about it. He's got a journey. Please, man, Lamar Mitchell, Juniors. Hey, what's up? What's up, man? I'm happy to be here. What's your name? I'm glad to have you here, bro. It's been since I last saw you. Things have been amazing. I've been jumping into it and trying to get some shows booked. And I'm just I'm having a good time. But I felt this just this this comfort and this confidence in in your open mic night that you I definitely want you to talk about because I feel like you've created something very special. And it's a it's an energy that that's welcoming. And it's just it's very unique. Yeah. Yeah. I have say that, man. You know, the biggest thing is you got to be good to people. You got to be good to people. Like you said, we've kind of chopping it up earlier. You all know what people journeys are. You know what I mean? Everybody want to make it somewhere. Why not be that person to help? You know what I mean? Why not? What's it going? What's it going to hurt you? If anything, it might build something more for you later on. And I mean, this is this is an example of it. Who who was like the person that gave you a shot? Like at what age did you know this was kind of like the the world that you wanted to to dive into? You know, ever since I was younger, I was always told, man, you funny dudes, you'd be doing some of the weirdest pranks. I mean, like, I was no holes bars with stuff like I was my family comedian when I was in school. I was always that one, you know what I mean? Being funny. But I had a co-worker who was a comedian and he was like, man, we'd be cracking up at meetings. He's like, man, you got to do stand up comedy. And like, dude, I was like, man, I do. I really want to try it out. Like 10 years later, I did. I was going to say, but like, this is something like for people that never knew I was into it, I never really would bring it up because I truly felt like people would judge me. Because it's such a low key narcissistic thing to think, right? Like, yo, I can get on this stage and people are going to care what I have to say. Some people that look at you like, what are you talking about? And so it's something again that I've always been into since I was a kid. I would stay up literally late to watch like the tonight show and watch which comedians are going to be on at the end of it. But to tell someone it's something that you want to do, I mean, you know, I'm 37 now. And this is something I've wanted to do since I was maybe, I don't know, 10. So it definitely takes, I guess, what time and just like, what was it for you that took 10 years for you to finally try it? You know, it just was a perfect timing, perfect timing. Because I went to a bar and I was just having some drinks and I was like, man, they need to do some open mic comedy here. And dude, I literally turned left and saw on the wall. I said, open mic comedy every Monday. So I went and inquired about it at the bar. She's like, yeah, we do it every Monday. This comedian, I mean, not a comedian. It's producer named Bobby Johnson. He was like one of the biggest producers on the scene then. Actually, he does a lot of stuff now. And so I went to that open mic, man. And from that point, I have not stopped. Oh, wow. And I started when I was 34. Oh, okay. I started when I was 34. I was just having this conversation after we've been talking to so many people, I forget who it was with. But we were talking about how a lot of comedians, like when you think of the biggest comedians now, they're all at least 45 plus. What is the reasoning for that? Do you think it just takes time to become well seasoned? I mean, obviously you got some younger cats like Rob Barbosa and Matt Rife and stuff like that. But like, what do you think it is that takes you, that takes, I don't know for you to get to a certain age to really kind of gain that credibility? You know, I think life experience, bro, because the older you get, of course, more experiences you're going to have. So which means is you're probably going to be more relatable to a larger mass of people than if I'm young, coming into comedy. You know what I mean? Like if you young coming into comedy, say you 18, 21, and you got to entertain a 45 year old, you know what I mean? Yeah, that's a huge fucking gap. I saw something like probably not going to understand you. I saw something like that, the open mic that we had had. There was a guy that went up there and he's actually had really good confidence and he had good material, but it was material for a college crowd. And so the people that weren't in college just couldn't relate to it. They didn't get it. And unfortunately, the laughs weren't really there for him that night. But I know if he was in the right spot, he would have killed it. He would have killed it, bro. It's wild because we get a whole lot of life experience. But 18, you got to be an old soul. You know what I mean? They talk about an old soul. You got young kids that kind of get it. You know what I mean? And they can relate to the older crowd. But I mean, doing a college type, well, I'll take this, for example, I'll ask a lot of kids, 21 years old, like in Tempe area, like if I'm on Mill, if I'm at 10 PM, half of them don't know any other comedians than Matt Reif. You know what I mean? Right. That's a good point. They don't know any comedian. They couldn't name one comedian, besides Matt Reif. And of course, probably Kevin Hart and the ones that are super big or whatever. So and they don't go to shows like that, bro. At that age, they're not really going to shows. Do you want to show the 21 years old? I don't know. You're just going to bars. You're just trying to drain your house parties or whatever it is. Like the comedy scene is not the scene. Exactly. So when you're looking at that, I think, you know, me, like I said, I started at 34. I started, I mean, I was kind of young, but I was, you know, had a little bit of experience on me or whatever. So it was very easy to write that material that was relatable. You know what I mean? Because if I got a crowd that's older, like me, they probably got kids. They probably been in a couple relationships or two, you know what I mean? They probably spent the block a few times, you know what I mean? You know, so it was kind of easy for me. And I had a lot of steam when I first started, you know what I mean? You know, going out and out of town and, you know, working with some big names and shit. But unfortunately, I wish I had some of the stuff that young cats got, the learning, knowing how to network, you know what I mean? And all of that type of stuff. Because some of these young cats are stepping into the scene now, man, they great network it. You know what I mean? Getting out there and talking to the comedians, me, I'm old, you know how all the dudes be. You know what I mean? Oh, yeah, that's Kevin Hart. What's up, Kevin? It's funny because that was one of the things I was first worried about, like going into it, like when I showed up to the open mic that night, I didn't know anybody there. And so I'm like, man, like, on top of that, if they happen to know me from the radio thing, they're gonna think, oh, here's that radio guy trying to get in our space. And so I was kind of like that in my head. But I was like, you know, I'm just gonna be cool. I'm gonna go up to everybody. And at the end of the day, I respect what you all are doing. I'm trying to get into this. And so I went up to everyone for the most part and shook everyone's hand and said, what's up? Some were very welcoming, some were very like, who the fuck are you? And I get it though. And I feel like that's, I don't know, man, it's tough when when you're going after something and you want something, we were talking about this off the air. When there's something you want, you see somebody else going for it. It's almost like it's just an internal thing, right? Like an instinct like, oh, I gotta go. Like, why are you here to get what I want? You know what I mean? And you know, I think that's just being human. Yeah. You know what I mean? As long as you don't do anything to sabotage that other person or sabotage yourself by saying we're doing something that's gonna put you, you know, further back to your goal. But, you know, you just got to be cool. And me, I'm just not like people think, because I'm a comedian, that I'm a big talky type person, like you're, you're great. And I think that with the way that you did radio first, and that you develop relationships with people, man, that shit is going to work in your favor. Like, appreciate that. Beyond, bro. You know what I mean? Because you're comfortable talking to big names and all of that. Me, I'm the type, you know, I don't want to be. Oh, man, a fanboy. That's in my head. Yeah. You know what I mean? But it's like, am I being a fanboy? Or am I trying to build something with my coworker? Right. You know what I mean? No matter how big that comedian is, he's still a comedian. Yeah. You know what I mean? So, you know, approaching me, eight, one of the greatest things is asking questions. For sure. You know what I mean? Hey, bro, man, I really appreciate you. I love you as a comedian, man. I just, you know, I'm new to this, trying to figure it out. Well, that part of this, what I wanted to do, like this podcast, too, like, originally, this podcast was strictly about mental health. Yeah. And because I was just at a really low point. And now where I'm at a point where it's different, I'm married, I'm happy, things that work are thriving. I'm jumping into this new chapter of my life with the comedy thing. Yeah. I'm like, man, if I can still talk about, like, life-related things, but also talk with comedians and get their perspective, I can do both because you've got your own life story that we'll talk about shortly. And I can hear that from you. And I can learn certain things from you that I'll probably eventually apply to whatever I'm doing. It could be something I applied to my day-to-day life. It could be something I applied to my set. But I'm just about good conversations with good people that I can learn something from, no matter what it is. We can learn from the oldest person, the youngest person, the most illiterate person. You know what I mean? To the smartest person. It ain't about how many books you read or what your grades look like. You know what I mean? Because when you get to our age, that's no against a damn. Oh, you're a student in high school? That's irrelevant. You know what I mean? So you just want to be able to be a sponge still to this day because that's one thing in life that we will never stop learning. My business partner, Mikey, who you just met, he's always said, we're always learning. You're either learning what to do or what not to do, but you are learning. Bro, perfect right there. Massive. Go ahead and hashtag that one. So let's talk your life, man, your upbringing. Where are you from? What's the story behind Lamar Mitchell Jr, man? Man, it's interesting as hell, I tell you. So I'm originally from Chicago. Chicago, Illinois, man. I ended up moving out here when I was in high school. So I've been out here most of my life, and I'm still a 100% Chicago dude. I got the post logo on the back of my leg. Oh, you do? Everyone thinks I'm from Chicago because I tatted it. But I got it because of the Jordan, the last dance documentary. I think it was so powerful to me and just talking about teamwork and just fighting to end all be the best. And bro, it was so motivational literally when I finished it, I was like, I need that tattoo to represent that time, bro, that era, because it was just untouchable. It was a machine, bro. They worked like a machine. Like, you know what I mean? You got gears and all that shit. And they just worked. It was, you know, only thing that I could compare that to is probably that, that Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors, when they went like they just was working as a machine, you know. But yeah, growing up, man, I grew up Chicago, um, you know, it was, it was, it was interesting. It was wild, bro, to say it the most because I mean, when you grew up Chicago, you see a lot of shit do a lot of shit. You get into a lot of stuff that you probably shouldn't be getting into. And it's wild because, you know, you, you, you're getting to gang banging and shit at fucking like, I'm talking about real type gang banging. It like this really is like part of the culture, right? It is. It is, man. And they don't discriminate once you win it. They don't care how old you is, man. If you sleep walking that walk, you're talking that talk, you go from the old to cast of the younger, you, you can get it. You know what I mean? That's crazy. Um, you know, and you know, you know, mom and dad, you're always getting to other shit. You know, and they finally said we move into Arizona. What made it big Arizona? Just cause it's such a, we have family out here. Oh, okay. And, and I had lived out here, like when I was like in third grade for like six months and then we ended up going back to Chicago. So they kind of was familiar with the place, you know what I mean? Um, but they was going through a lot of shit, man. 90 Chicago wasn't that nice man with drugs and, you know, violence and just, it was wild. Do you think that, uh, do you think that moving to Arizona saved your life? Yeah, I hated it. When I first moved here, I fucking hated it. The only thing that made me like Arizona was the weed. This west coast shit is good. Oh, man. And that's the only thing that probably kept me here. I'm gonna be still trying to go back to Chicago. I'm gonna stay with grandma. Uh, that was the weed because I would go here and I got a $50 ounce and it's a whole bag full of weed. And I go to Chicago and that shit is, I spent $10 on nothing like, no, and a weed was stressed. I can't see myself living out here smoking that shit. And so you get out of here. At what point do you find, does it finally feel like home to you? Um, when I started liking, uh, what is it, uh, fucking palm trees and shit? Like, I hated palm trees. I, I probably just in the last 10 years started liking Arizona, like liking it, liking it. Oh, wow. Like, you know, like, I like the, the, the landscape now. I like the palm trees. I like it's clean. I like that it's, you know what I mean? Not Chicago. Uh, but it took a while, bro. Like I was the kid that always went back to Chicago. You know what I mean? Like, I have to go back with a summer, whatever it is, you know what I mean? I have to go back. I got to stay connected. You know what I mean? Um, so, but I did, I did save my life because, you know, I was starting to get into a game, bang. And it was, it was wild. Like I, I've been through some shit like running around, getting chased in sixth, seventh grade by people with guns. You know what I mean? Because I'm we saying we in this lifestyle. You know what I mean? Um, and getting chased and, you know, getting in the fights whole summer, we had a war with these cats. You know what I mean? Like, for real, for real. They been not walking outside of the street. We better not walk on they side of the street. Like it was crazy. Like we had friends that had been killed at age. You know what I mean? That's wild, right? Do you like you have kids now? Yeah. When you are at this point in your life and you have kids and you think about them being that age, you were wilding out back home. Do you ever reflect on that and just like, like kind of trip out? Um, my kids, they, they lived very different life. Uh, because we were able to afford them a different life by living here in Arizona. Like my kids on those streets, they know the fucking basketball courts, you know what I mean? And anything downloaded in them is what they got from the fucking family. You know what I mean? Like they go around, they think they this or that, and they say all the everybody like, you know, no. Yeah, y'all got that from us. You know what I mean? Um, so, you know, looking at them, I'm like, man, y'all are great. And then, you know, my oldest son is 25. My, my next son from that is 22 and they are doing extremely well for themselves, you know what I mean? And me, I don't think it would have been that way if I was in Chicago with them. You know what I mean? Like my oldest son, he loves Chicago. Like at one point, he didn't, he didn't even want to come back to Phoenix. He's like, man, dad, I get anxiety when I come back. Like, you're so late back out here. You live here, you used to this, but you know, it's, it's almost like a person, this first generation coming from Mexico. You still connected, like a month to freaking Mexico. You know what I mean? Like you probably still speak more Spanish in your household, you know. So that's how it was with them learning Chicago being the first, you know, generation in Arizona, you know, and, you know, to be honest, like I got so much family out here now. I had, I know people that were born and raised here and got families and all that. We got way more family than them. You got that little bitty ass family, like, what are you all been doing? Like, we got a whole freaking gang. We can start a tribe out here. This is wild. Bro, for you, like you said, you started at 34 is when you got into comedy. What prior to that? What were you doing? I have two questions. I guess the first one is, what were you doing prior to like really like focusing on comedy and trying to like, you know, like make that your life? Pride is messing around with these damn crazy ass ladies. Yeah. You were getting, you were getting set material. That's what you were doing. Exactly. Because this is exactly what my set was about when I first started out. You know, prior to comedy, I was in the darkest place ever. You know, I, I had prided myself when I was young with being a good dude, being the talker of the family, being the one to talk a person down the ledge. Somebody needs some advice because I did counseling. I've got a vast history in working in behavioral health. You know what I mean? Working with kids, working with, you know, drug addicts, people with every, you know, mental illness you can think of, you know, and so you started learning behaviors. You started seeing people patterns. You started seeing, you know, people for not just being people. You started looking at other shit like, oh, this person ain't genuine. This ain't that. You know what I mean? So I'd be weird about people for a minute. And then I, you know, we got married and that was the worst shit in the fucking world. Oh, really? She was my language. Oh, no. You're free. This is therapy. What was it that that, why was it such a bad decision? Just wrong person wrong person. You know, I can't say wrong person because I got a son out of it. It was all, I mean, if I had to do it all over again 10 times or so I probably wouldn't do it for my son. You know what I mean? It sucks to say that, but I would, you know, don't do. But, you know, the lady I married, well, first, my first two kids, well, I was with her, you know, and I was just in that player mode. I don't want to claim her. We got together when I was 17, really didn't get to experience and live life. But that's what a lot of people don't understand too. Like when you're that young dude, even people in like early 20s, they think that I'm just going to settle down and get married. And it's like, bro, you might want to live a little life before, but you, I remember when I was 21, I thought I was grown. I thought I was going to have lost a job and I didn't have any savings and I had $300 in my account. I'm like, oh, shit, I'm not grown. I need help. And so when you're young, I mean, you just, you just don't have that right mindset, you know, don't man, you think you are super grown. Oh, yeah. Man, I sit back and I look at my 21 damn, you really thought you had it together at that age. That's wild, you know. But, you know, and then I ended up marrying the one that I shouldn't have. Okay. You know what I mean? Like I married the sad chick. Got it. Got it. Got it. Which was my high school best friend, I would say, to an extent. Oh, wow. Okay. When our separate way, she had a couple of kids got married divorce. I had a couple of kids. I was single for the most part. But the thing about her, though, we did a lot of shit that was, that was common. You know, we had a lot of stuff in common. So at that age, we out partying, fucked up. I got a coach, a basketball game the next morning, my shirt inside out, I'm standing there coaching with a bell, hang over like, you know what I mean? Like, it was wild. So we, we, we matched each other energy, which was great. And when you're young, you think that's all that matters. You're like, all they get it. And to that real shit happening, you know what I mean? Like you get married and then everybody want to be serious now. Why? Why the change? You know, and it just was the worst shit. We was bad to each other. I can't say it was 100% her. Because we all like always want to look at the other person as being a reason. It else take two people to tackle, man. For sure. You know, and we both were shitty to each other. You know, as big as you to admit that, you know, man, I tell her that she don't like that. She'll never admit to none of this. Yeah, I was crazy. You'll never do that. But me, that's one thing that, you know, through that experience, I take that with me. I'm like, I can sit back and see my wrongs. And I'm okay with not being perfect. I'm okay with every now and again. I'm a fuck up. You know, I'm, I'm okay that I don't get all the answers. I'm okay. I may say one thing and then the next thing I'm doing a different thing. Yeah. It's life. You know, we try to maintain a certain form and stay on course, stay on track. But life happens and we don't necessarily, at the time, know what to do. And so you're at this low point, the marriage, you said, didn't work. And obviously you have a kid now at what point do things start to get better for you? Like when do you start to kind of see, you know, the light? To be honest, comedy was a way of me taking my situation, making it funny, you know what I mean? And I felt certain way about it initially, you know, when I was making jokes about my wife and my, and my, you know, what I went through. It was cool to be able to find a way to separate from it, to look at it and say, so that it became my motto. Nothing is too bad if you can still laugh at it. Oh, that's good. Or if you can turn your pain or situation that you thought you would never get through into fucking comedy like, whoo, I was a wild boy at them times. You can sit back like, I used to do some kind of on it and say, yeah, I probably wasn't the best person. You know what I mean? I mean, that you take your power back, man. That's where the, that's where the growth comes into play, right? It's accountability and just understanding that you made mistakes and you're not going to make the same mistakes, just growth in general, right? And you hope not to. I mean, like last night, I got into my dad and we never get into it. Oh, well, ever, ever. You know what I mean? But we got into it. Are you taking the accountability? Was it your fault? No, it was his fault. And he don't take accountability. That's what I got. That's a old head thing to pride is fucking crazy, especially with older dads. Like, I was just talking about this. I went on an episode a few weeks ago that my dad, I feel like when I turn, I'm not close to family really at all. And I mean, my mom here and there, we talked, we've tried to rebuild. And my dad, we talked, I don't know, a couple of times a year. And that's it. And I had at one point, I was like, man, I really want to, for the listener, sorry, I know you've heard this before, but Lamar doesn't know. I was basically like, look, every time I try and get a hold of you, we try and talk like it never happens. What's the reason? He's like, oh, man, you know, I got these prepaid phones. It's hard to always keep it on. I was like, all right, I'm gonna put you on my plan. So you don't worry about it. I'm gonna take care of the phone. And I'm like, Oh, this is gonna work. And even then we talked maybe twice a year. And I'm like, damn it. Like there's no excuse for the phone. And then even recently I reached out. I'm like, yo, man, like, I mean, this was like within the last year. I'm like, yo, man, I really want to know why we don't talk more, like, like, pride aside. What is it? And he's like, Oh, man, I don't know, you know, I'll do a better job. I'll reach out. I'm like, all right, cool. And then he hit me the next day. Hey, what's up? Everything cool. I'm like, yeah, how's the weather? All right, cool, you know, just very surface. And then that was that. And I just think it's a, it's just a generational thing, man. I just think like, I don't know what it is about. I don't know if it's a certain age. And like the dads feel like, you know, you are a man now. So you just do your own thing. And they kind of just take a back seat. I don't know. That's kind of what I feel like in my situation, maybe not in yours. But I just in general, I feel like for some reason older dads just can't take, they can't take the accountability. Me and my son, my older son, he, Lamar III, he ended up playing, he played basketball since he was five. He found something that he loved and he stuck to it. And it took him all the way to play D one. He got his fucking, his, um, degree for free. All of that, bro. You know, and so he played for Phoenix College, ended up, you know, going and playing for Central Connecticut and Connecticut. You know, he did two years out there, pandemic. So this is all during the pandemic, ended up, you know, graduating from there. And then, you know, because of the pandemic, they had another year of eligibility. So he ended up going to say an Angelo in Texas and finishing out a year of basketball there. So then from there, he had friends in Dallas, uh, he went and lives with them for a little while. Finally came back to Arizona. He was like, dad, yeah, man, I got a job interviewing Dallas. I don't know if I'm gonna take it. I'm a chill. I said, boy, if you don't get yourself on that plane and go see what happens, you know what I mean? Dallas is a great market. You know, yeah. So he went out there, worked his job. They said, man, wait, they want to send me back to Connecticut, because they got an office out there and they say, I'll move faster if I go there. So he, luckily, because it's funny how this happens, he ended up going to Connecticut. So they shipped him back. He was familiar. Right. But to say this, bro, I don't talk to my son like that no more. It's wild. We have absolutely no problems. He know he can call me. I know I can call him. He needed advice. He need money. He need whatever. He know he can call me. And I know I can connect with him every single day. For one, I'm not a phone talker. Okay. You know what I mean? So, you know, it's awkward for me to be on the phone. You know what I mean? I know I mean, because you talk and you're a comedian. And that's probably what it is. I talk to God damn much. But I don't talk to him as much and there ain't no bad blood. I'm not saying it's the same situation with your dad or whatever. But it is kind of like that. You're watching them grow up and you see them flying. Just doing their thing. We see them. We clip the wings and we let them go. And we'd be like, Hey, I'm your biggest fan. I'm your biggest, whatever you need. I'm there if you need me. I'll be there. However long you take a flight to get there if you need me. I'm there. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's almost like an unspoken bond in a sense. Like I have friends like two of my best friends don't live here. They're out of state. And I could I mean, we talk a few, you know, as much as we can. We don't see each other as much. Maybe a couple times a year. But it's like when we do see each other, it's like no time passed as soon as you see each other. Yo, what's up, man? Oh, bro. And we're good. You know what I mean? That's what you that's what you want to expect. If it's ever been any distance between you and the loved one. Like, as long as when we do see each other, we back to clicking the rocket. Yeah, unless it was some bad blood. Right. You probably need to address that. For sure. Yeah. We gon' mess it and act like we're having a good time. No, you for a girl. No. That didn't happen. But you are. So so when you jump into comedy at 34, you're a grown ass man at this point. How do family and friends around you react? Because again, it's one of them things that not everybody just jumps into. And some people see it so far fetched. Like you're gonna be what? A comedian? Okay. Was everyone very supportive? Everybody was on board and everybody was rocking with me, man. Hey, man. Why you didn't do this a long time ago? Everybody that knew me was like, yeah, I could see you being a comic. See you being a comedian. You know what I mean? So that was confirming. You know what I mean? Because everybody was important to me. It was my biggest fans in the beginning. You know what I mean? Eventually, now I'm like, I don't want to be my fans. You're all my family. I need your fans. Exactly. So but they, man, super supportive. You know, they, they, they look at me as they always tell me, you're gonna get there. Oh, no, nobody work harder than you, man. You gonna get there. You know, I see you fucking putting in the work. You gonna get there. Even when I don't feel like I'm like, man, am I just doing this just to be, you know, it's not a hobby because I get paid and do all kinds of other stuff. But it, it's something that I want to do full time. You know what I mean? And I know my family, if I said, man, I'm about to go quit my job, man, and move to hell. Like they're gonna be like, I understand. That's what I mean. Ain't nobody gonna be like, no, I don't know about that. You're older. You got the kids. You got, you know what I mean? Like, I think that anything I want to do as far as this goes, they, they 100% on board. So what are you like career wise for you? What are some current goals? I mean, everyone's got their own thing. You've been doing this for a minute now. You feel like when I see you on stage, I'm like, yo, the confidence is so crazy. It's just, it's so effortless. And it doesn't feel like you're, it's so dope because it doesn't feel like you're trying and not in a disrespectful way. It doesn't feel like you're trying at all. It feels like you go up there and it's just so, just so nonchalant and confident and conversational. And it feels like, like, I feel like I knew you and I hadn't even met you. You know what I mean? And so like, I feel like that's such, based on what I've been, the advice I've been getting from everybody to talk to me, they tell me confidence is the main thing. You clearly have that. And you've got this open mic night that you do, I see your name on flyers all over the place. What is it for you that you're like aspiring for? Like, what are you, what are you reaching for right now? To be honest, I want to be able to be known by the clubs all across the United States. I want to be able to be booked for whatever I reach out for and then to be reached out and say, hey, we'd love to get you on, you know, some shit. I want to be able to tour, you know, like a real tour, not me saying, man, I got some shows booked over here and at a bar and fucking Cali and then I got one show at a club and then this one is at a brewery. You know what I mean? Like, that's not a tour to me. Like, I want to be able to do that, but I also go ahead everywhere. Yeah. And I want to be working with the movers and shakers right now. Yeah. You know what I mean? I want to work with the movers and shakers because I feel that I'm that talented. Who are you? Who are you into right now? Like, if you can get a call from one person right now, like, let's whoever it is, doesn't matter who it is, it could be someone news, someone that's bubbling, someone that's been doing it. If you can get a call from anyone right now, like, yo, I want you on a road with me. Who would it be and why? Oh, man. As far as somebody I've never worked with and and to do it, I would probably say Deon Cole, Deon Cole from my hometown. It's just one of my favorite comedians, man. And it's funny, because a lot of people are like, man, you remind me of Deon Cole. I'm like, oh, maybe it's just kind of like the swag. But so I would love that, man. That would fucking be super dope. I have worked, you know, have you ever opened for him or anything like that? No, not yet. Not yet. I will, though. Hell yeah. Hopefully. Well, I'm going to say hopefully, because I don't like hope leaves room for error face that I will. Now, but, you know, as far as somebody that I've worked with here in Arizona, and this is just a little guest spot, but I would like to smile. Fucking cool as hell. Chris Red. He from Chicago, too, but he used to be on SNL. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My fuck is funny, bro. Funny, funny, funny. But you know, he gave me a guest spot. His like, when I came off, man, you fucking funny as hell, but you already knew that. You know what I mean? How did you get the guest spot? Like, you just wanted a homies. Oh, yeah. One of my homies. He actually going to be out here on the 23rd. He knew on the show, J-Can from Texas. He, he had been touring and doing some stuff with him, and I had did a show with J-Can that's third crazy. So when he came in town, I was like, man, pull up to your show. And I was just meat. Like I said, I'm not one of them dudes that be, oh, man, can I go in a green room with you or? Yeah, I don't finagle my way. No, I'll go sit in the audience, bro. You know what I mean? Like, I'm here to support you. Yeah. You know, I want to be in that green room. But dude was like, man, you have, you have me Chris, man, come me Chris. And then he introduced me as like, yeah, Lamar, he did a show with me, blah, blah, blah. You want to do some time? Yeah, bro. No, bro. It was like right then right there. Just like that. How long do you love her? I think I did like seven minutes, something like that. That's a win. Yeah. What's your, what's your perfect set? Like, and you're at time wise, like what do you feel like? I mean, I'm sure you're confident and go up there and do whatever at this point. But like, for you, is there a time that you're like, yeah, this is like, you just know, I'm going to kill with this time. Um, I don't know. I don't know. It's, it's a, um, I think I'm going to do well for the most part all the time. You know what I mean? Sometimes I'd be in my head a little bit too much, you know, and I, and I'll never fucking rehearse. I don't never write. I mean, I write, but I don't, I don't be in my shit. Like, you know, you see a lot of comedians got this book. And I think that's, I, I'm no one to give any advice or anything because I'm so new into this, but just, I do have to create engaging content on the radio and it works in different markets. And so when I do think about why does it work or like, even the podcast, why does it engage and why do people come into it? I think it's because, because of the authenticity. And so I feel like if you're ultimately in no matter what you do, if you're very scripted, then the people feel it and it doesn't feel authentic. And that takes away from it. So it's almost like, like for me, like when I was planning my five minute set, which thank you for the five, by the way, it's supposed to be three. And we went to five. So that was a win. But, um, for me, it was like, what are my just key points? There's almost like bullet points in my head. I want to do this, this, this. And then from that point, it still gives you a little wiggle room to kind of finesse it and make it a little different if you need to each time. But you also know where you need to go, even if you get thrown off. What's my bullet point back there? Boom. Let's go. Fact. So that's how I do. Like if I do a set list, which I do sometimes, depending on what type of show I'm doing, I'll do a set list. And it's just bullet points. Yeah. I want to hit this, this, this, that manner, you know what I mean? And then if I have that order in my head and I'm not overthinking it or thinking about other shit or talking about all that, I'm gonna be cool. You know what I mean? Did you watch the, um, the Chris Rock Kevin Hart Netflix documentary thing? Um, yeah. Yeah. You saw how when they were in the back, Chris Rock basically, his way of doing it was cue cards, not cue cards, but like note cards. Yeah. Each note card just had like a bullet point, like fucking whatever was vampires, fucking bank robbery, this, that, the other. And he had like 50 fucking cue cards. I thought that was interesting. Yeah. He kind of just each night or before each set is like, oh, let's do this, this, this, this, kind of pick them, memorize the bullet points. Same thing. And then just go execute. I've seen people put shit on the, on the stage. And of course, the audience can see it. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. You may have a bullet point on the stage, just lay it out or on the chair or something. You know what I mean? Um, it's, it's wild to me. And it's no wrong way. I don't, I think it's no right or wrong way to do comedy. Like I tell the people all the time, early on, you know, people will ask me advice, you know, when I was growing and, yeah, do that. I'm not doing that. All I can tell you is go up there and have fun. Yeah. Because when you have a fun, you're probably going to do well. How do you deal with, with hecklers or just people that just like obnoxious to drunks that just keep yelling shit? Oh, I'm a make them feel probably stupid and I also you will call them out. Yeah. But you know, you know, it's weird because I'll engage somebody. But when I know they're going to be a little bit talkative or whatever, I quickly switched my, my, um, viewpoint. I go from looking at you, talking to you to I'm going into my next joke and I'm turning totally away from you. So now I'm not even leaving room to be able to keep going. You know what I mean? And if you do keep going, why I address what you said. And then I'm going on and you talk. Oh, you got to get the fuck up out of here, bro. Oh, so you'll call me. Are y'all going to get this guy out? Get him out. You know, I, I've never had to do that, but I will, because at the end of the day, you know, you're interrupting the show. And when you interrupt in the show, then that means these people in his audience ain't getting what they pay for. Yes. It's $6. And they probably did get what they paid for. Let them get a little extra. Is there a, is there a, is there a venue, like, like a dream venue? Like you're like, man, I can't wait to play here. And as far as a comedy club, I would like to do my, my own thing on the comedy store. Okay, big stage. Oh, yeah. I mean, like, I've done the comedy store. I've done, you know, the other rooms or whatever. But I want to be able to have Lamar Mitchell in this room. Yeah, on the key outside. Yeah, I don't care what I'm doing in that room, but it's going to be about me. Yeah. You know what I mean? Not a showcase, not a none of that. You know what I mean? And then, you know, if, you know, things continue to go well, and I grow to a point where maybe I am able to do an arena. You know what I mean? I am able to do a theater. Yeah. You know, that's, that's goals right there. You know, that stuff's crazy, man. I just did a, this damn casino with Carlos Mencia. Yeah. And that was wild, man. It's so funny to, it's only my second time being on stage. And I feel like an asshole, even when I reference it. So it's kind of like I don't want to talk about it, but since we are talking about it, I just feel shit. No, I'm not trying to. It's not a flex at all. It was so different. I preferred the smaller club for the simple fact that like, when we did like, okay, so we did the open mic, it's stir crazy. And as I'm going through my set, I'm able to look into people's eyes and connect. And I see their mouth like smiling. They're like hanging onto my words. And I'm like, yeah, I got them. And it feels so good. And at the casino, the spotlight's so bright that you couldn't see past the front row. And even in the front row, it was so like hard to make out facial expressions. And so it was just such a different comparison. It wasn't bad. I feel like I did good, but it was just, I can see why so many comedians prefer the more intimate room, because you just feel it more. Even the laughter is so spread out that it doesn't feel the same in like an actual club. And the connection is different. You know what I mean? Especially like when you got them big ass bright lights and you can't see nothing. It's like, man, you're going into something blindly and just performing. Yeah, like, it's almost like it's nobody in there. And it's just a spotlight on you. And you just, okay, do well with everything. And then just the then say leaving the arena, like we have the little thing we do outside and we mess with people that energy after the show. You know what I mean? Everybody just taking pictures. I'll take a picture of you. You know what I mean? And it makes you feel like my job was well done. I'd sell for on the back. You know what I mean? I had three or four people come up from that audience and say specifically, you were great, man. Yeah. All right. I did my thing. The audience was fucking with me, but those few individuals came out of the way to reconfirm what I was feeling when I left the stage. So, that's another thing. So when you leave in that stage too, it's like, I feel it. You know what I mean? I remember, um, I remember seeing Kevin Hart at Footprint Center. And, you know, it was the stage is in the center. So he's surrounded by everybody from top to bottom, was sold out, so packed. And I remember just thinking, like, damn, like I can't imagine like this is like goals. But then at the same time, I remember being so scared. And I wasn't even the one on the stage. And I remember thinking, how do you come out here for an hour and a half and just talk with no music, with no anything and keep these people engaged? And it's just so crazy to think about. And I mean, it's inspiring and it's goal is sure, but it's just really is crazy. It made you a little anxious like, Oh, Brock felt scared for him. I'm sharing extra heart. I should be nervous. So let's close it out, man. I appreciate the time today. Obviously, thank you for coming in and just sharing your story. Again, like I told you, we talk a lot about mental health. And I mean, you said straight up that you, you know, you've had some dark times. And for somebody that's listening, that might be in that place right now, or they just feel like, like, given up, or they just keep hearing no, or whatever it may be, what type of like positive energy and like reinforcement, can you give them? Um, I just feel life gets better. I feel that if you're in a dark place for a long period of time, you should probably reach out to somebody and try to get connected with somebody that you trust, whether it's a friend, family, whether it's a professional help, you have to find that outlet. Fortunately, for me, I didn't have to, because comedy became that for me. I didn't use it as a mental thing to, you know, Oh, man, this is for good for my mental health. No, I use it exactly what it's for. It was comedy. It brought a smile to my face and it allowed me to be creative. Um, my biggest thing is just understand it will get better if you want it to get better. I mean, you have to really want your life to change. You have to really take accountability. Like we said, we have to take an inventory of the things that are putting us in these situations, whether that's returning to a person that I should not be with, who showed me many times that, that you are not the one, baby, you know what I mean? Or being around, talk to me because you can minimum people don't realize, man, minimize the bullshit in your surroundings and watch some things get better. You know what I mean? Like you really, and it could be you, but you really have to really dig deep and say, I'm the problem and be okay with that. I'm the pro. I need to change this. If everybody in your household been calling you the asshole and they all can agree with it, you probably the asshole. It's not them. You probably looking at them like you all be in that. No, take accountability. More than anything, man, just keep your head above water. Keep 10 toes down. And just work, man, because life changes in the man. The next day can be your moment. Your breakthrough moment. That's real. The next day can be your breakthrough moment. Shout out the other social media. Shout out the open mic night. Shout out whatever you want to promote, man. Close it out. All right, man. Follow me on Instagram, Lamar Mitchell Jr. At Lamar Mitchell Jr., man. Shout out to my home club, Sturg crazy comedy club. We do a dope open mic there every Wednesday is sold out. So if you guys do want to check it out, you got to buy a ticket on lines early. Man, shout out to the AZ comedy scene period, though, man, because I love our scene, man. We have a very dope scene. We got some very, very funny talented comedians. We next up, man. You know what I mean? And I'm happy that you're a part of it now, Tino. I'm not there yet. I don't feel like I'm accepted yet, but I've got work to put in. I appreciate you being humble and being that way because we got a lot of people, trust me, in the beginning and that are not in a position you are. That I'm a comedian and man and everything is they know everything. So no, I'm learning, man. I'm definitely I'm coachable. I'm teachable. And I'm just trying to, like you said, I'm just trying to be a sponge and soak it all in. And then when we sell out an arena or something, then we'll talk about it. Yeah, we'll see what we have then, man. Tino will be up in there like, yeah, you know what, you remember we was talking all this. Yeah, exactly. 40. No, what we had 37 40. Let's do it by 55. 55. Let's make it happen. We gotta do it before that, bro. We gotta do it before. Listen, our knees might not be working the way they do today. Bro, Lamar Mitchell, Jr, man. Thank you for the time, man. I appreciate you. I appreciate you, though. Thank you. Listen, I would love to see you guys in person, man. Take it to on sale now for July 12th and July 13th in Phoenix, Arizona. We got two shows each night. It's myself and Mr. Carlos Mincea. So Instagram at Tino Coaccino radio. The link in the bio will take you to get tickets, get them before they sell out because they most definitely will. If any other gigs pop up between now and then I'll definitely talk about it. Everything us is on the Instagram again at Tino Coaccino radio tap in and be sure with this podcast, man, rate it, review to it, subscribe to it. And also, I post the every guest that we have, right? The comedians, I post their IG handle in the description as well. So you guys can find them, check them out. Follow them and let them know that you love the conversation or, you know, give them a shot because I promise you, man, we're putting dope people out there. And your support truly does mean the world to me, to them, to everybody. So until next week, Well, bye!