Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers - JO KOY Took 16 Family Members to the Philippines
Episode Date: May 28, 2024The hilarious Jo Koy joins Seth and Josh on the pod this week! He tells them all about moving schools often as a child with a parent in the Air Force, what it was like trying to make a name for himsel...f as a young comic in Las Vegas, traveling with his family to the Philippines, and more!  Sponsors:NissanThanks again to Nissan for supporting Family Trips, and for the reminder to chase bigger, better, more exciting adventures. And enjoy the ride along the way. Learn more at nissanusa.com Delete MeGo to JoinDeleteMe.com/TRIPS and use promo code TRIPS for 20% off.Â
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This episode of Family Trips is brought to you by the 2024 Nissan Pathfinder with seven drive modes.
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Hey, Pachi.
Hey, Sufi.
How are you?
I'm great.
You just got back to California from your East Coast wedding venue search.
Yeah, it was quite a swing because I went home for a little bit.
Yeah. Then I went to McKenzie's hometown, Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. And then we
sort of bopped around, mostly in like the Catskills for a couple days. But we saw a lot of venues.
And just two days, really. Yeah. And we didn't set up appointments, we just sort of showed up.
Right. Which I feel like,
I don't know if people like it when you do that, but everyone was very accommodating,
I think, because they know if you have a wedding there, you're probably going to spend a lot of
money there. So it is part of their deal is to be nice to those people. Yeah. So we saw some great stuff. We got, you know,
there's a couple places
that are in the running.
And yeah.
Speaking of in the running,
I'm, you know, again,
get married when you want to get married
at the venue you want to get married at.
With that said,
I think there's this real window right now
where my daughter Addie
would be great running down an aisle at a wedding.
Yeah.
Like, maybe as a ring bearer.
She's very, she basically never walks.
She always runs.
And when she runs, she looks like she's going to tip over.
And I do think, I would hate for you to miss this hilarious window.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, I think we would love to figure out
how to do it this year,
but a lot of these places
are booked up,
and so that would be,
you know,
we're looking at 2025,
which is not ideal,
but I don't know.
It might have to be
the way it goes.
Kids, do you think
you're going to encourage people
to invite children
or no children?
Well, I don't want to give
too much away. Oh, oh yeah that's true in terms of uh your stand-up but also when i got to see you do stand-up
and you seem to imply uh don't have kids at your wedding yeah but you have to have mine
yeah i guess you do have to have mine at your wedding. Okay.
I can't make it, but they are going to come and they're just going to be great.
They're going to be there as my proxy.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's very exciting.
Yeah, we're very excited.
And it was nice to see some places that actually would be, like, really fun.
We've talked a lot about how Mackenzie's an equestrian.
What are the odds she comes down the aisle on a horse?
Zero percent.
Zero percent.
You're certain?
Down the aisle, zero percent.
Like on the approach, I'd put it at like five percent or even less.
I don't think she wants that.
Also, she doesn't have a horse back east.
Like, if we're looking back east.
I can see if we were doing it here, her saying, like, I want to ride Frankie in because he's our horse.
And she would want Frank to be there, and she'd trailer him up there. Yeah. Wherever it's going to be.
But not to the East Coast.
Gotcha.
Mom and Dad told me they did want to ride in on horses.
Same horse or different horses?
Well, they actually want to be a pantomime horse.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Who gets to be the front?
Well, I think Mom would probably insist. Yeah, I think so, yeah. Who gets to be the front? Well, I think mom would probably insist.
Yeah, I think so, too.
I feel like that would be...
Do you think mom and dad could be a
pantomime horse for an hour and not get
divorced? For an hour?
Yeah. Just an hour.
But they have to do stuff. They can't just stand
in one place. They're a
pantomime horse and they gotta get through a corn maze.
I feel
like when they're walking upstairs
sometimes dad will put like
the crown of his head against mom's
butt and say pantomime horse.
Yeah, so they do have a little bit of training.
Yeah.
But a staircase is
an ideal circumstance for that. It's
once you're on flat land that it starts
to become very problematic. I don't have a lot of hope for them as a Panama Morse, I feel like.
Yeah. No. You were a trooper this last weekend. I saw you a couple times. I saw you on both
weekends. Yeah. But we had a friend. So you do stand up in Boston, which is great. Thank you.
friend. So I do stand up in Boston, which is great. Thank you. And then our friend Mike Lazaro had his 50th birthday party in New York and you were up in Connecticut and you drove into the city. I did.
Got to the party right at like 7.30 and then at 10 o'clock, it was the Saturday before Mother's
Day, you're like, I got to get back up to Connecticut because tomorrow's Mother's Day and we've got all these kids and it's going to be the big day for Alexi.
And you bounced right out of there.
I did. I felt like I ticked a couple of boxes.
Got my buddy's birthday and also got Mother's Day.
Yeah, you partied pretty hard.
You're on the dance floor.
I was. I was feeling pretty good.
It was a good night.
You, though, then I heard that you maybe stayed until 2 in the morning?
I went to bed at 2 in the morning.
But I was there as late as it could go.
There was this great 80s cover band called Rubik's Cube who had a costume change for every song.
Exceptional.
Yeah, there was a male lead singer and a female lead singer.
exceptional song.
Yeah, there was a male lead singer
and a female lead singer
and so when
it was a male lead singer song
the female lead singer
was doing her costume change
and then she would come out
dressed like Cyndi Lauper
and he would come back
and he'd come out
like Flock of Seagulls
and she'd go
it was amazing.
Yeah, and it's also like
it's a 50th birthday
so we're getting older
and they finished
what felt like an impossibly long set
and said, we're going to take a quick break.
We'll be back for another set.
And I was like, you are?
You're coming back?
And it was a break to do the cake and to do some speeches.
It was also a costume party.
I don't love a costume party either,
but I did put in as good an effort as I could do for a costume party.
It was you dress up like your favorite 80s character.
I dressed up like MacGyver, but really, if we're being honest, MacGruber.
Yeah, which after you were gone, the lead singer said,
I think someone was dressed up like Josh Myers, was doing a Josh Myers.
I think that was about your costume.
Oh, that's very funny.
You were Wesley from Princess Bride.
Yes, Wesley.
Wesley.
And Mackenzie was one of the Robert Palmer girls.
Mm-hmm.
And both of those all turned up with other people.
Yeah, two Wesleys, three Robert Palmer dancers.
And in the end, three Robert Palmer dancers is good, because that's,
they almost always came in threes.
Yeah. You never, I mean,
there was maybe a couple shots of
just one of them, but the whole thing was there was
a group of them. It was a really good party. Fun
party. Yeah. Well done.
This is a
wonderful conversation with
Joe Coy, who's a
lovely gentleman
who has a fascinating life.
And we do hope you enjoy the
conversation with him. And we also hope you
enjoy the theme song
by our friend Jeff Tweedy.
Family
trips with
my
brothers
Family
trips with the Myers Brothers.
Here we go.
Yeah.
There we go.
Hey.
Joe Coy!
How are you?
I'm good now.
It's so nice to see you, Joe.
Oh, thank you so much, Seth.
I'm very embarrassed by the fact that I did not know Joe Coy was not your given name.
You know, I always made sure, like, I love my real name.
And like when I was a kid, my nickname was my last name.
Herbert is my real last name.
I'm half white, half Filipino.
And so my whole life, I was always going by as Herbert
until I started going on stage.
And it was a thing.
Like no one can pronounce my name for some reason.
Like, you know, when you do open mics, it was like,
okay, we have Joseph Hebert.
We have Joseph Hebert.
It was just, it was getting to the point.
And then people would make fun of it.
They would do a joke.
Like, you know what I mean?
And it just got to the point where I was like, I'm just going to go with my nickname.
And that was my aunt.
My aunt is the one that always calls me Joe Coy.
But the way she says it isn't the way we say it.
So we say it phonetically, Joe Coy.
She says it Joe Coy.
So anyway,
that's the short story.
And how old were you
when you got the nickname
from your aunt?
Oh, she always called me it.
But I just didn't,
I never,
I never like,
you know,
when I did,
when I started doing stand-up,
I wasn't like,
oh, I'm going to have a name.
Like I wasn't,
I never thought about
using my name.
I just went as Joseph Herbert.
I didn't know, I didn't know that was a funny thing.
I will say, knowing about the sort of host at a stand-up night,
I can see why at some point you just have to bail on Joseph Herbert.
Because that does seem like the name that they would do really hacky jokes about.
And then you'd have to just win back an audience who decided you stunk.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And it's five minutes, by the way.
You get five minutes at a coffee house. So you don't want to stunk. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's five minutes, by the way. You get five minutes.
Right.
At a coffee house.
So you don't want to clean up.
Yeah.
I will say, I think Netflix would not even put up a tile
that said live with Joseph Herbert.
Joseph Herbert, yeah.
So you're very lucky.
Yeah.
Unless it says TED Talk.
Yeah, right.
If it says TED Talk with Joseph Herbert,
it's like everyone's tuning in.
Were you Myers for a while, Seth, with our friends from growing up? talk yeah ted talk with joseph herbert it's like everyone's tuning in we were we were you myers for
a while seth with our kid with our friends like from growing up because i feel like nobody ever
called me myers oh my new hampshire friends did yeah um yeah i've only ever been seth gotcha
yeah well never last name yeah fun so you mentioned halfway at half filipino
yeah your dad military that's when he met military. That's when he met your mom.
That's when he met my mom.
Yeah.
Gotcha.
I always say that.
That was like one of the first jokes that,
uh,
I was opening for a comic,
Corey Holcomb.
And,
uh,
and he was like,
Hey,
you,
you're real funny,
but I don't know anything about you.
That's what he said to me.
And,
uh,
he goes,
where are you from?
What are you?
So won't you talk about that? And I literally, it drove me mad because I was like, is he hating on me? You know what I mean? Like I just killed in front of him. And that's what he says in the car
ride home. And then I got it. I was like, oh, okay, let me talk about what I am.
Like, who am I?
And that was the first joke from that night,
driving back from Palmdale, California with Corey Holcomb.
And I was just like, the first thing he said to me,
what are you?
And I go, I'm half white, I'm half Asian,
which means my dad's in the military.
And it was the first joke.
And that's from, like, Corey Holcomb inspired that
for me to say that
I will say
that's a real
pro
stand up move
guys who've been
on stage a lot
yeah
who appreciate
the audience
has to know something
if it's just jokes
you just go
in and out of their head
but if you
give them some
personal information
some of your bio
I think that's what
makes you sticky
with audiences that's you know and I got that's what makes you sticky with audiences.
I, that's, and I, you know, and, and I got,
I understood what he said by that.
And I was still young by that, you know, that I didn't have,
that was like 25 years ago when I was opening for Corey Holcomb.
So I was still new to the road.
And, and then, you know, here's this guy that's just, you know, he's,
he's an improv guy.
And I was just like, oh God, this guy headlines the improv.
You know what I mean?
So I'm glad he said that to me.
I'm glad that was the guy that said it to me.
It's also a great joke.
And I think it's also a very endearing joke.
And I think, yeah, the math of that joke is so perfectly airtight.
My favorite part of that joke is because it's actually about my stepdad, too, as well.
So I fused two dads together.
So because both of them were in the military.
Both of them were white.
And then the second part of that joke is my dad is borderline racist.
He used to say things like, you know why I married your mama? And I'm like,
why? Because I love Chinese food. She's Filipino, Fred. And he's like, whatever. Ross is Ross.
And the thing about that joke was, it's not even a joke. He really said that. And that was the
times we lived in. You're talking about a stepdad from West Virginia. He really said that. And that was the times we lived in, you know, like you're talking
about a stepdad from West Virginia. He just served two terms and, you know, he did do two tours of
Vietnam. And, you know what I mean? He's from West Virginia and that to him, he wasn't being
racist. It's just, that was the America he lived in at that time. And as an Asian kid, that's what
you're like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course. Asian kid, that's what you're like,
yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.
That makes sense.
Yeah, you're right.
Rice is rice.
But that was really something he always said to me.
So I always made sure
that I gave Fred his props
because he always said rice is rice.
So your dad convinces your mom.
Did they get married
when they got back to the States?
My mom and dad got married when,
no, they got married overseas in Japan.
So I'm actually from Masawa, Japan,
but that's military.
Right, yeah.
Military is just, you know,
every two years I was in a different place, so.
And you've got siblings, yeah?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
And where do you fall?
You've got three siblings, I want to say?
I got, I have my sister, Gemma,
who runs everything,
who you guys are probably communicating with.
And that's my...
She's second?
I don't know. She's right after me.
And then Rowena
is after her.
And then my brother, Robert, is the eldest.
Gotcha. And where are they all now?
Are they spread out? Robert's in Vancouver,
Washington,
and then Rowena is in vegas and so and
my sister and i are in la i'm glad you mentioned so that's vancouver washington in america yes
yeah because i once was in vancouver canada working on a movie and i had a stand-up show
in seattle and i thought oh my god i'm to book a train ticket. That's so great.
And then I got to the Vancouver train station and they said,
we don't have a train that goes to America.
That's so funny.
You booked,
you booked a ticket from a different Vancouver and I had a real,
I feel like I'm in my mid thirties.
I feel like I should know there's a second nearby Vancouver.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's so funny.
I, to be honest, I lived in Washington my whole life.
And I just recently found out that there's a Vancouver, Washington.
So I don't want to sit here and act like I wanted to laugh at you.
But then I'm like, yeah, man.
I just found out too.
I was probably on that train.
So you were born in Washington or in Japan?
Japan, Masala.
I know.
And you know what's crazy is I had a chance at 18 to claim dual citizenship.
And I should have did it.
Just so I had that Japanese passport.
You know, like now, you know, you don't think anything of it.
But man, it would have been nice to just to have it.
Just offering it to you.
The second passport. That's the life
of an international superstar.
Right? Yeah.
Or if something goes south with your
sort of, your American personality,
then you can just be like, I'm... Bro, Kobichiwa.
Yeah, chuck it. That's not me anymore.
Domo Arigato. I'm out of here.
You've already changed your name once.
You're cancel proof when you got that
second passport. What? You've got somewhere else to go where they don't know anything start japan i'm live in tokyo
have you done shows you have you ever done a show in japan only military and i got to perform
in uh uh on the base that i was born on wow that was great that was. It's, it's great. I have so much compassion
for military. So whenever someone says they're military, it's just like, you know, some people,
you know, they, you know, a lot of people they're ignorant and ignorant in the sense that they don't
know. Right. But like just how hard military life is. It's like, it's, it's not the soldier,
but it's everyone in the family, man. Everyone is enlisted.
Everyone. When the soldier has to move, so does the family. And it's rough on their psyche. You
know what I mean? It's rough. It's just, I don't know how many new friends I had to go through
every two years. And it crushed me to get up and just pack my bags and move to a different place and start all over again. And it's hard, man. It's a hard life. So hats off to you.
So when did you settle? Was it your entire first 18 years that you were two years everywhere?
Yeah. Well, it went Misawa, Illinois, Philippines. That was the best. We lived there for five and a
half years. And then Washington was, Tacoma, Washington was where we settled.
And then that's where my mom and dad divorced.
So that's, yeah.
And then life changed when we got to Tacoma.
Yeah.
What's the spread in years between you and your youngest brother?
My eldest brother.
Man, he's eight years older than me. Man, he's eight years older than me.
Okay.
Yeah, eight years older than me.
But we had a rough one.
We had a rough one.
The family life was rough.
So like rough, rough.
So, but we won't talk about that part.
Well, you talk about the Philippines being the best.
So what?
Best, best.
All my greatest memories are from the Philippines.
And I'm not saying that because, oh, my mom is Filipino.
And no, it was truly the best time.
You know, I lived during the Marcos administration.
So that means there was U.S. presence there.
There was military bases there.
Everyone was making money.
You know, the Filipinos were making money.
Americans had money. So it was, everyone was living very well. You know, I mean, yes, it was
still a third world country, but I'm just saying like there was opportunity for a lot of people.
So it was just, it was a different time. And I'm not, I'm not, I'm not celebrating the Marcos
administration. You know what I mean? Not at all. I'm just saying
the reason why I said that is
that's the last time the military
was there. Yeah, sure.
And it was a different time.
It was a lot of fun where I could
I was on the base but you could take your
bike and ride off the base and
here I am like
nine years old
in flip flops and, living the island life.
It was just the best memories of my childhood.
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Was the base islandy enough that that was a vacation or did you in those
years go places?
Oh,
it was the best.
It was.
Plus I had family there.
So we would always go every weekend.
We would go up to my aunt,
who the one that named me Jokoi,
she lived in Manila.
So we would take,
you know,
every weekend we would go up to her.
And then now we're in the city of Manila. You know what take, you know, every weekend we would go up to her and then now we're in the
city of Manila. You know what I mean? So like just seeing that as a kid and running through the
streets again with all my cousins, cause we were all the same age. Like those were just the best
memories. Like I can't even explain that environment. You know what I mean?
What is the vibe of Manila? I've never been there. So this is Manila in the 80s.
You would love. of Manila. I've never been there. So this is Manila in the 80s. Well, here's the thing. I
just recently, you know, I fly the whole family. That's always been my goal. When I started making
money, I'm like, I never had a vacation because of the divorce. We never went on vacation. Like
vacation for me was just stay home and not go to school. So that's vacation.
And I was like, no, when I start making money, I'm not going to separate the family.
Cause that's what happened to us.
That's why I don't know anyone on my dad's side.
I mean, I know him now because of what's happening in my career, but cause you have that money.
Yeah.
It just sucks.
You know, I hate to say that, but it's like, you know, but when we were broke, I didn't know anyone on my dad's
side. We only knew everyone on my mom's side. It was kind of a horrible divorce. So it's like,
I learned from that. When me and Angie divorced, I told her, we're not doing that. We're not
going the route that my mom and dad did. I'm going to be your best friend. You don't have to get a lawyer. When I start
making more money, I will increase whatever it is that you need. I will. And I stood by that.
I bought her a house in front of my house, Seth. You've ruined your view. I see everything.
But I love it. Like it's the best of both worlds. My son loves it that his mom and
dad are so close, like, and literally like physically close as well with the house. And,
and, and I even told her, like, I'm not separating the family. I want, when we go on,
when I go on vacation, I'm not just going to take my side of the family. And then you go
and vacation with yours. We're all going, and this kid is going to grow up with his family. That way, when we die, this continues on.
Like, you know, I'm not going to continue what my mom and dad did.
You know what I mean?
Which a lot of families do.
They grow up separate.
And then they continue doing the same behavior.
And I'm like, I'm not doing that.
We're breaking this chain now.
Is your mom still around?
Is she still with us?
Oh, yeah.
That's great.
She's in Vegas as well.
That's great. So does she see your son still with us? Oh, yeah. That's great. She's in Vegas as well. That's great.
So does she see your son all the time?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And my dad as well.
My dad, he's in Phoenix, so that's a little hard.
But I fly him out to things and make sure that they all bond.
It's an effort, man.
It's a lot of effort.
But anyway, long story.
Sorry.
I flew them all to the Philippines for the first time.
And it was amazing because it woke them up.
You know, they live in America where, you know, things are accessible.
Food is fast and cheap.
And an iPhone is a luxury, not a necessity. You know what I mean?
And when they went there, they realized that all these things that we take for granted is
pretty much the third thing on these people's minds. You know what I mean?
Yeah. So this is a recent trip that you took?
Oh, yeah, yeah. It was last year. And I, oh, it was amazing.
How big was your group how many total people
oh my god I I fly deep Seth so it's it's about 14 to 16 deep wow and that's yeah that's sort of
nieces and nephews for you as well all nieces and nephews and you know what else oh and you know
sometimes cousins and and uh and ex-wife and they live the life of luxury man like i'm like peter pan type whatever you want
if you can think it it'll come to life and it's like it's that type of vacation and i live
vicariously through them because it's like when i was their age i couldn't get that kind of stuff
and i and i'm like just do it man this is what This is why I work all year. So just go, have fun.
Yeah.
What's an itinerary like when you go?
Like how long is your trip and what are your highlights?
That one was three weeks.
Three weeks.
Look at that.
Three weeks.
First class, everything.
Nothing worse than seeing a 15-year-old in a lay down bed.
Oh, man.
Flying overseas going, the soup isn't hot enough. I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's bad. worse than seeing a 15 year old in a lay down bed. Oh man. Yeah.
I don't need it.
He's going,
the soup isn't hot enough.
I'm like,
yeah,
it's bad.
Yeah.
Did you,
so when you spend three weeks in the Philippines,
do you move around the country?
Are there different?
Yeah.
So,
you know,
my sister,
Gemma,
my beautiful sister,
Gemma,
the one that,
you know,
pretty much does everything for me,
my day to day and,
and runs Joe Coy.
She, she's adopted, but, and runs Jokoy. She, she's adopted,
but, uh, but we're very close. All the, even the family side is very close. Like that,
that's my mom's childhood friends. We, we adopted from her and, um, and we went to her,
uh, what they call province. It's called a province. So we flew to another island and, and,
you know,
we built a school that we built the road there and built the school out and
built the library out.
And I'm never public about this stuff that I do.
You know what I mean?
I don't like doing that.
Cause I hate it.
You know what I mean?
Like,
I don't know.
It sounds pretty nice.
I think it's good.
I,
it also takes the sting out of the fact that you've got a 15 year old, a first class plane ticket. I think that it's nice. I think it's good. It also takes the sting out of the fact that you got a 15-year-old
a first-class plane ticket.
I think that it's nice.
You're like, I also built a road,
and then I built a school at the end of the road.
Yeah.
But I even told her, I was like, hey, no TV, no nothing.
Like, when I go to the Philippines, it's like, it's a thing.
You know what I mean?
Like, a lot of people find out I'm there.
So I knew if we went to the school like i didn't
want it to be public all over the place and i just wanted to see it you know what i mean and sure and
of course it it went it went public everyone found out that i was going but but i i had to show
these kids that i'm not just doing comedy like we we're doing more than that. You know what I mean? Like, like we're, we're culturally,
I'm trying to promote and,
and shine light and give my mom a voice and give my sister a voice and let
people know that,
you know,
there's,
there's,
there's people here,
you know what I mean?
And let's give them an identity.
And,
and,
and on top of that,
there's a responsibility for me,
you know,
with the position I'm in,
to be able to give back.
And I wanted them to see that.
I want these kids to see just how important a road is
to get to this school
because they can't ride their bicycles on this mountainside.
They need a physical road.
And, you know, these kids were walking to school
and when it rains, because it's, you know, it's tropical, it rains every other day, it's mud.
You know what I mean?
So it's like the road was very, very important.
So we had to build the road and then we built, you know, the basketball court and the library
and all this stuff, you know, stuff that they needed.
Now, how proud, how much does Mama Koi brag about her son when he goes back to her native
land?
I mean, I think it's nonstop.
Yeah.
Thank God.
I would hope.
Thank God.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Because I would suck if I just flew first class and just got drunk every night and I was on the news.
Just checked into the Manila Four Seasons and then that's it.
Does she still have deep family over there?
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Well, no, I shouldn't say no.
I shouldn't say yeah, because now they're all here.
Right.
You know what I mean?
Through the years, they all eventually moved here.
I think my favorite thing that I ever did was when I shot this special called In His Elements.
I had a chance to shoot a third special for Netflix.
And I go, I asked them in the room if, uh, is it
cool if I just go to the Philippines and just showcase the Philippines? Like, can I just show
what we eat? Can I show them what the town looks like? Can I show them what my people look like?
Cause I always describe my month, you know, but I want them to see what this, this place looks like.
Cause it's beautiful. And on top of that, they speak English.
Like they speak fluent English
and they know conversational English.
They know humor.
They love American entertainment.
I guarantee you when we get there,
they're going to get it.
And my whole theme was,
let me get some Filipino Americans
that are trying to make it
in the industry here in America
and let's bring them
home so they can see where their parents are from and see where they left to come here so that you
can have an opportunity. And you know, it was, it was the best. I got to read three comics that,
you know, finally got to see where their parents are from. Their parents came. It's emotional.
You know what I mean? was like it was that was
the whole purpose that and on top of that i didn't get paid for it like i you know what i mean like
i did that out of like i could have shot a third special man i could have shot it in florida you
have the jokes yes you have the jokes i could have had a third special but i didn't want to do it i
knew like like this is an opportunity
and I need to use this
opportunity. And it was beautiful
because I got this
girl and her dad that was a producer
and she was a rapper. And all she
wants to do is be a rapper
and she lives in the Philippines and
put her on that platform and she wrote
the opening song
to my special my special boom.
She gets a Def Jam contract from the special.
And that's,
that's all I wanted.
You know what I mean?
Is it,
when you mentioned those three comics had never been back,
is that,
do you feel like that's common for a lot of Filipino Americans who,
that they haven't come back?
It's common for a lot of immigrant children that live in America.
And, and I, hopefully, you know, my whole goal was like, maybe this is the blueprint.
You know what I mean?
Like, I would love to see a Puerto Rican comic go back to Puerto Rico, man.
You know what I mean?
And just showcase and highlight that.
And, you know, Vietnamese, whatever it is, whatever it is that your parents are.
Because it's hard to explain it to this generation now, Seth, Josh.
Because now with the internet, we're all kind of connected.
But if you grew up in the 80s, it was rough, man, to see what my mom went through.
Coming, just transplanting herself in America, you know,
in the sixties, the height of racism, she's looked at a different way. She can't even watch TV.
There's nothing that looks like her. You know what I mean? There's nothing that looks like her son
because no one knows what the hell I am. You're not Asian and you're definitely not white,
but you're something. And, uh, so it was, it's a struggle. And like, there's this responsibility
for me to be like, no, I made it in Hollywood. And now I'm going to go ahead and give what my mom
has never had in this country, which is her identity. Like, let her see herself on TV for
the first time. You know what I mean? Let her hear her her accent let her see her food let her have a
little representation on tv and that's what that whole in his elements was all right so one you're
gonna have one meal in the philippines what's the meal what's the chicken adobo chicken and you
would love it i already love it i'll make it for you. Great. It is our pizza to Italians.
You know how everyone has a signature dish.
You know what I mean?
Mongolian beef for Chinese people.
Chicken adobo is the most amazing meal you'll ever have.
If you try it, you'll go crazy.
Great.
So I'll make it for you.
Does your mom, when you were growing up, did she make a lot of Filipino food at home? Yeah, because it great so i'll make it for you does your mom did when you were growing up did
she make a lot of philippine food at home yeah because it's so easy to make you know it's like
four ingredients but it's like amazing you know i mean it's like garlic it's soy sauce vinegar
a little bit of brown sugar it's over with i'm great it's over with. Feed the kids. When you're on this big trip,
you know, three weeks in the Philippines,
I'm sure every day can't be looking at your road
and your school.
Like, where do you go?
What's like, are there excursions?
Oh, yeah.
We need to go see this,
like these buildings or this beach or this.
Please go to Boracay.
Boracay is like, and I hope I'm saying it right,
but it is, there's so many beautiful resorts there
and just like the best hotels.
You know what I mean?
I stayed at the Shangri-La.
That's where you guys should stay.
And it was just top notch.
It's just beautiful.
It's gorgeous.
And you'll love Boracay.
It's just amazing. And then of course, Man'll love Boracay. It's just amazing.
And then, of course, Manila is beautiful.
And I stayed at the Shangri-La there as well.
And just like the shopping is just top-notch.
It's just, it's gorgeous.
The people are so friendly.
I think we just got nominated for like the happiest country, I think, or something like that.
I really do.
And as cheesy as that sounds, but when you go there,
I swear,
you're going to be like,
hey man,
these people are happy.
You know what I mean?
I don't see the struggle
that they're talking about.
If you're any representation
of the Filipino people,
I believe they're
the happiest country.
Oh, thank you.
You're literally
the most effervescent person
I know.
Oh, I love you, Seth.
You're the best, man.
And when you were a child
in Manila,
you said you were like running around with your cousins.
Like what does a group of kids do in Manila?
Like are you?
Oh man, bikes with no brakes.
It's just like go run through the city.
The American dollar was,
I can't remember how much it was,
but I remember for like two pesos,
you know, you got,
and you're going to laugh when I say it,
but you get barbecue on a stick and you get a bag of soda because they put everything
in the bags, by the way, because they recycle the bottles.
So they still do that, by the way, when you go to Manila, you'll see vendors on the side
and you got a straw in a bag drinking Coke.
And it's just like, I remember as a kid, I'm like, you know what I mean?
Just running through this town.
I mean, that's my if i told
my kid they were gonna have meat on a stick in a bag of soda that would be their greatest day
and then is it true uh manila is just there's tons of stores but they're all shoe stores
emelda marcos joke thank you topical hilarious topical that's just for the older people who
are listening that's so damn funny.
That's so funny. There is a shoe pair. It's not true that it's funny
and it speaks to how nice you are.
It's so funny because I feel like
every Filipino,
and I'm generalizing, is a
shoe head. And we've been shoe heads
our whole lives. So at the end of the day, Imelda
is just representing her nation. It's just, we all
have a little bit of her blood, yeah.
I mean, you go to my closet right now,
you're going to be like,
Joe, this is too many shoes.
And I'm like, yeah.
Blame it on Imelda.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
You know, oh, I got to say something.
We just got nominated for some awards.
God, I got to look them up.
But you know, I produced,
I don't know the name of the awards.
I want to though.
I want to shout this out because it's a huge moment.
Well, obviously it meant a lot to you.
It did because I just got it today. But the reason. I want to, though. I want to shout this out because it's a huge moment. Well, obviously, it meant a lot to you. It did,
because I just got it today.
But the reason why
I'm bringing it up
is because it was about
the Marcos,
you know,
administration
and the people rising.
And it was called
Here Lies Love.
Are these awards
they emailed you about
and asked for your
social security number,
Joe?
Yeah, yeah.
No, but
Here Lies Love was a musical that I produced on Broadway. No, but, but here's why here,
here lies.
Love was a musical that I produced.
Yes.
Of course.
David Byrne.
Yes.
And he crushed it.
And we,
we,
we just got nominated for some awards and so we're just,
I'm so happy and honored.
And yeah,
cause it was the first all Filipino cast about a Filipino,
you know,
story.
And it was on Broadway and it was amazing. Old disco. It was on Broadway.
In an old disco?
Old disco.
Of course,
a lot of singing.
That made a lot of Filipinos proud.
Had you produced a Broadway show before?
That was my first time ever
producing anything like that
at that magnitude.
It was incredible. I didn't know
what it took to run a
musical and holy shit if i could curse yeah i i don't know how they exist i really don't know how
it is it is great it is a lot it's a lot and god bless all of them well it's so funny because you
obviously understand exactly how a standup can exist.
Yes.
Because it's just one dude and a microphone.
Yeah.
And then you, you know, they, the theater takes a cut and you get the rest.
And then you see a Broadway show and you just watch it.
You go to the same stage, all these people, all these sets.
I get it.
I don't know how they make it work.
Yeah.
I don't know how they do it, but God bless them because yeah, that's New York Broadway.
It's still the coolest thing in the world.
It is.
It really is.
Did you ever come?
Were you guys,
did you ever come to New York city when you were a kid?
Uh,
never.
Nope.
When I was a kid,
I,
the furthest I went was Seattle.
Gotcha.
From Tacoma.
We never went on vacation.
Tacoma to Seattle's.
How long,
how,
how long does that take you?
35 minutes.
Great.
And what's the vacation in quotes?
But what is a trip to Seattle when you're a kid?
When I was a kid, it was going to, you know, they say now, you know, oh, the original Starbucks was there.
We never went.
Yeah, well, you're a kid.
We're going to go get coffee.
We're going to get coffee.
I just found out that this thing's there but I used to go to Pike's all the time
with my dad and you know
it was always a bagel yeah the fish market
is amazing
and the coolest
moment was just recently you know
last month I played Climate Pledge Arena
which used to be the old Seattle Coliseum
where the Sonics
played. And that's where I saw Eddie Murphy perform. I was 15 when he did Raw, when he was
on tour with Raw. And I was 15. NoTicketMaster.com. I had to buy them on the phone. Ticketmaster used
to be a kiosk inside of a department store and I had to buy it on the phone, which is crazy
because the security system back then was just trust the voice. If it sounds like the owner of the credit card, it's the owner of
the credit card. So, you know, my mom's name is Josephine. So yeah, I used my mom's voice to
purchase those tickets. 1 million percent. Did you roll solo to that show?
No, it was me and my friend. And my mom drove us, which really freaked me.
She had no idea she was taking us to a comedy show.
She thought I was going to an Eddie Murphy movie.
And she's like, why is this so far?
Why are we going to Seattle?
I didn't want to tell her until we got there.
And then she had to drop us off.
And then telling people that is like also another thing.
Like you tell a kid that like, yeah, she had to drop us off.
What's the big deal, dad?
Just get an Uber. There was no Uber. And like, yeah, she had to drop us off. What's the big deal, dad? Just get an Uber.
There was no Uber.
And then I would assume
she had to get you home too.
She had to drive around the Coliseum
for two hours until I got out.
And we had to meet at a spot
because there is no cell phone.
Meet me at the telephone pole.
That probably wasn't an all ages show.
Like if you're 15, yeah.
But it was just, no one's going to check.
No, no one checked.
Best day of my life, man.
I saw Paul Moody
that day, too.
Wow.
Paul Moody opened for me.
He had this big pink fedora
and I just remember like,
this dude's wearing
a pink fedora.
Who is this?
This is amazing.
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Did you know then that this is what you wanted to do at 15?
You knew?
I knew what I wanted to do when Delirious came out.
And then when did your mom know, do you think?
I told her right out of high school. I was going to college for about six months.
And then I was just like, mom, I barely passed high school.
Why am I doing this college thing?
Was she heartbroken or did she understand?
Cried, because I was the last one.
Gotcha.
And none of them went to college.
And when I said I didn't want to go, it's just, I failed as a mother, Joseph.
You're supposed to go to college and be a nurse.
What did you say you were going to study?
What was the plan if you were going to follow through?
I told her I was going to get into, this is so funny, poli sci.
And I don't even know why I said it.
Yeah.
I think all my friends were in poli sci.
So I was just like, poli sci.
I think it only exists to be the name of a major.
Yeah, exactly. poli-sci i think it only exists to be the name of a major yeah yeah exactly it just feels like a thing where you tell your parents how expensive it is it sounds like it would cost that much
yeah exactly oh i was so happy to get out and it and it took off fast for me like well that's i'm
very happy on your mom's behalf that it took off fast. When did it sink in for her that, okay.
Oh, wait, wait, hold on, Seth.
It didn't take off fast financially.
Okay.
But you were busy.
Oh, I was living with my mom until I was 31.
Oh, great.
So she was probably, so she was like crestfallen for like a full 11, 20, 11, 13 years.
Yeah, she's just like, go back to school.
How about this? Just do Polly or just do Psy? Psy, 13 years. Yeah, she's just like, go back to school. How about this?
Just do Polly or just do Psy?
Psy, pick one.
Yeah, but it took off as far as like getting into the rooms and, you know.
You're living with her in Washington?
Yeah.
No, no, in Vegas, in Vegas.
So when did she move
to Vegas with your stepdad?
Right out of high school,
we moved to Vegas.
My grandmother had cancer,
so we all moved to Vegas
to be with her.
Okay.
You know, they were like,
oh, she's going to be gone
pretty soon,
so let's move
to be with her.
And that was 1989.
And she went on
for six more years.
I'm like, we could have stayed in Tacoma, man.
It's hot as shit out here.
Was it, was Vegas, at least it seems like,
tell me if I'm wrong,
Vegas is a better place to start a new comedy career
than Spokane would be.
Not in that town.
It was awful in 89.
There was no Mirage. There was no nothing. It was awful in 89. There was no Mirage.
There was no nothing.
It was still old Las Vegas.
Yeah.
So it was very old Las Vegas.
Like I was there when they blew up the Mirage,
you know, blew up the Dunes
and blew up all the Marina Hotel.
Like Hacienda, which is now Mandalay Bay.
Like I was there during that time.
Lance Burton was the headliner.
You know what I mean?
You'll never forget Lance Burton. You'll never forget Lance Burton.
You'll never forget Lance Burton.
The first time I ever went to Vegas,
I forget what hotel we were in,
but it was where Lance Burton was playing.
And every time you'd get in an elevator,
they would say,
you'll never forget Lance Burton.
And I've never forgotten him.
You never forgot him.
Very effective.
Very effective slogan.
But I started performing
I
it was so hard
because they would
only book headliners
and it was seven days a week
so even the comedy club
they had an improv there
inside Harrah's
and it was a seven day
a week Harrah's
so it was like
headliner comes in on Monday
leaves on Sunday
do headliner on Monday
there was no open mic nights
and there was hardly
any comedy clubs
there was no headliners
that came to do comedy. It was always
kind of like the retired, like almost
retired. Almost, you know
what I mean?
No one that's due. It was kind
of like the older. So you weren't, you weren't even learning.
It was like rich little. You weren't learning from
the up and comers. No.
So it was like I had to build my own
stuff. Like I started renting out
theaters and
yeah, I started renting out theaters and yeah,
I started renting out this theater called the Hunt Ridge Theater.
And that's where I would do all these shows myself.
And I would sell tickets.
I would get sponsors to pay for the shows, fly these comics out.
But the way I got into standup is, I mean,
the way I got TV is because I found out that,
remember BET, Black Entertainment Television?
They used to have a show called Comic View.
And I was in love with it.
D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer,
that's where they blew up on.
And I was such a fan of BET's Comic View.
And it came to Vegas.
It was called BET on the Road, Comic View on the Road.
And they wouldn't put them in the main hotels.
Like, black comedy wasn't in the main hotels like black, like black comedy wasn't in the main theaters or they, they,
they weren't putting black headliners in, uh, in the major hotels. So it was at this place called
the country star restaurant. It was the craziest thing. And I'm like, comic views at the country
star restaurant. Okay. And I, I literally was a tour guide at, uh, at this habitat. And I literally was a tour guide at this Habitat. And I literally drove home sweaty.
I had no air conditioning, put my suit on, drove back to the country star, walked up
with a fake resume and walked up to security guard.
Never has a security guard ever helped anybody.
And I was like, hey, I'm a local comic.
I just want to talk to the road or can I go up?
And he goes, hold on.
I'll be right back.
There's a line wrapped around the building, by the way.
And he leaves the door and he goes and get Yvette Anderson, who's the promoter. Can I go up? And he goes, hold on. I'll be right back. There's a line wrapped around the building, by the way. And he leaves the door and he goes
and get Yvette Anderson, who's the promoter,
who I still remember to this day because you'll never forget
Yvette Anderson.
And I
literally, she came up to the
door. She was like, we already got our
comics, but if you want to come watch the show, you
can. And she brought me in. All the
comics were late. I'll leave
it at that
you put you you fill in the place all of them were late about 40 minutes late and literally
the crowd starts getting crazy like like getting mad because the show hasn't started and she walks
up to me she goes do you want to warm up do you want to warm the show up and i was like oh my god
yeah and she put me on stage i still got the videotape by the way because she had this big
giant camera i go if you record me, I'll definitely go up.
And she goes, all right.
And she set it up and she put me up.
I did like six, seven minutes.
People stood.
It was crazy.
And I got off stage and literally the guy
that was closing the show was like,
hey, have you ever, his name is Bo P.
And he goes, have you ever heard of Comic View?
I go, of course I love Comic View. I go, that's why I'm here. And he's like have you ever heard of Comic View? I go, of course, I love Comic View.
I go, that's why I'm here.
And he's like, you're going to be on.
We're going to talk to the producers.
And literally two weeks later, I was filming Comic View.
That's unbelievable.
I love that the jumping off point was a security guard
who thought his job was to be helpful.
Wasn't that crazy?
To this day, no security guard has ever helped me.
It was the weirdest thing, man.
I still remember
what he looks like.
He was just this big,
and I don't know
what it was,
but just this big dude.
He was massive,
and I remember handing
this little folder to him,
like, do you mind?
I'm a local comic.
Yeah, I'll be right back.
I like to think
that they said to him,
hey, you know,
obviously don't let in any bad customers, but if you see a kid with moxie bring him on back
well that's the thing that luck is just being ready for when the moment arrives and you yeah
you had you had prepared yourself you probably i'm sure you didn't think it was going to happen
that night but you had you had six or seven minutes. And so,
yeah,
that's,
that was the best.
And that's how I got into the black,
you know,
uh,
like the black college comedy tour is what they called it back then.
And,
uh,
and I met all these black comics because back then in pros weren't
booking black headliners.
So it's like they were doing like colleges and,
and,
and you know what
I mean? And, and diversity was needed. They can't just have all black comics. They needed somebody
else. They needed an other. And I was other. So it's like, you know, they book a JB smooth in like
1997 or 96. And they're like, Hey, do you have like a white comic? Like, Oh, we got Joe Coy.
So I'm opening for JB smooth. Do you have an Asian comic comic oh i got joe coy you got a mexican you got joe coy you know i mean i was opening for some
more and and and mike epps and and jamie smooth and early in my time at snl i was the token white
stand-up at a black comedy night at like mid like middle tennessee state and it was a haunting evening based on
I mean
the only thing
anyone there
knew about me
was the
show SNL
right
like when they said
from Saturday Night Live
people got really excited
and then a person
they've never seen
before came out
yeah that's hilarious
so they're like
oh so it's not
Will Ferrell
nope
they were like
oh the white guy
from SNL
and then it's like
yeah the 11th
white guy
the 11th white guy. The 11th white guy?
That's hilarious.
But I will say, I rode over in a stretch limousine with all the comics,
and it was truly one of the great rides of my life.
As far as how hard I was laughing.
Yeah.
That's the truth, too, by the way.
It was the best. Those were my favorite too, by the way. It was the best.
They were my favorite.
Those were my favorite shows, by the way.
All of them.
Every single one.
There was never a bad night.
Wasn't that show, Seth, also, it was a clean show,
but you didn't get that note?
Nobody told me.
Nobody told me.
And then they told you afterwards.
I wrote over in a limousine, Joe.
It was the worst language I've ever heard in my life.
And then I walk on heard in my life.
And then I walk on stage and like, you know, just dropped.
I'm not like a dirty comic, but I dropped an F-bomb and like the audience gasped.
And I was like, what?
And they were like, it's a clean show.
I'm like, nobody told me.
It certainly wasn't a clean limo ride.
Yeah, exactly.
The other thing about those shows is you realize realize oh whatever you think killing is there's seven more layers oh there's so many layers that these comedians are capable
of for me it was such a reminder like oh the way they're killing yeah it's going to take me
decades yes you know it's so i love that you said that because once again i'm gonna go back
to my age and be like people know jb smooth now from curb but they don't know that you know
when i knew him he only had one set on def jam and he was and he was making a career out of the
five minutes that he blew up on on Def Jam.
There was no curb.
It's just, oh, that guy from Def Jam?
And that's who I was opening for.
But even myself, all I knew was his Def Jam set.
I didn't know he had 45 more minutes on top of that Def Jam set.
That was just like, what the fuck is this?
Like, this is electric.
And so I, when I became friends with him,
which you know, Seth, JV is the sweetest guy in the world.
He genuinely is, yeah.
He is.
And when we became friends,
I told him I had this room in Vegas.
He goes, I'll do it for you, Joseph.
Yeah, I'll do it for you.
Let's go.
I'll go to Vegas.
And I brought him out to Vegas.
And my dad, the most white man you'll ever meet from Buffalo, New York,
biggest Carlin fan.
You know what I mean?
Like this is, that's all he knows is George Carlin.
You know what I mean?
And here comes J.B. Smooth.
And I remember my dad pulling me to the side.
He goes,
this is the greatest thing I've ever seen.
Yeah.
He's like,
what is this?
This is amazing.
Cause he's never seen the physicality,
the,
the facial expressions,
the,
the act outs,
the,
the way that crowd was reacting.
It was,
I'm telling you,
man,
old J.B. Smooth. And I'm new. J and new JB Smooth is amazing too, but I'm just saying.
Yes, he came from somewhere.
That hungry JB Smooth, yeah, that hungry JB Smooth before Curb, whoo, it was electric, man.
Also, JB, who looks exactly the same the entire time.
The same!
He might very well be 200 years old.
Yes, 200 years old.
he might very well be 200 years old and just 200 years old but he the other thing about jb and i know we're getting a little off track jb was a writer for a couple years when i was at snl
and jb in the pitch would just basically do three minutes you know everybody would be i have this
sketch idea this guy and then jb would just crush with three minutes. And I remember one of the first times,
I think maybe the first time I met Larry David,
I said, you know, the thing of all your accomplishments,
the thing that I am most impressed with is you realized,
oh, I'll just let JB be JB.
Yeah.
And I'll look like the smartest person in the world
because that was, he realized, oh, here's how you make JB work.
Just let JB be JB.
JB, yeah, exactly.
Dude, that's such a great idea,
by the way,
if you just did a thing called pitches.
Just to see those pitches.
I mean, JB,
I think you can go on YouTube
if you're listening
and I think JB has now started
just pitching his old SNL sketches.
I remember one of my favorite
was a guy with a really long cigarette.
The ash was really long
and he never ashed it.
That was a baby pitch.
He had a pitch about
Spider-Man and Superman's
law of dry cleaning got mixed up.
That's so funny.
But again,
I multiply it by a thousand
when JB is acting it out, obviously.
100%. I went off track on that. JB is acting it out, obviously. 100%.
I went off track on that.
That's okay.
That's okay.
We've got some research that says you take a semi-standard annual trip to Hawaii.
Is this true?
That's so true.
And I got to fly the family out again.
Okay.
Yeah.
It's a must.
What do you guys like to do out in Hawaii?
Just kick back. yeah and uh must what uh what do you guys like to do out in hawaii just that one is another one that that we love because uh no rent-a-cars but we'll have them we'll have the jeeps for sure
but it's all about scooters and we're all it's just a gang it's just 15 of us on a scooter
and when you say scooter you mean like a vespa or like one of those electric? Yeah, the Vespas. Yeah.
Yeah.
And we're just, we're running that town, man.
We own that.
We own that town.
Where are you going?
Those are our hogs, bro.
Are you in Honolulu?
Are you?
We're in Honolulu.
Sometimes we're in Maui.
You know what I mean? But like now that they're older, they like to go to Honolulu more for like the late nights.
Maui's more, you know, it's done at 10.
How old is the youngest in your crew?
Well, now they're all 21.
Okay.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, they're all 21.
My son, in fact, just turned 21 two days ago.
So he was the last.
Gotcha.
So he had his first drink two days ago, right?
No, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. I just, you know, what's so funny is finding out he was in a strip club at 15 and I'm just
like, huh?
Huh?
At least he didn't make you drive around the strip club for two hours.
Yeah.
Come pick me up in two hours.
Yeah.
It's so funny that our parents were in such denial.
And it's just like, you know, you were doing it when you were 15 too. So why are you acting like this? But the strip club I did not know about. It was like later when I found out about that. But it's just so funny that, you know, yeah, he's 21, but it's probably like his, you know, this is probably his 15th bottle.
Yeah.
He polished off.
So what part of your life did you realize Hawaii was going to be your annual?
I fell in love with Hawaii when I opened for Mario Joyner so long ago.
And just the way people were just like, they're the island.
They are the island.
When they say aloha, they really mean that. That's
not like a joke and they're not being, you know, uh, you know, they're not being cheesy. They
really are aloha. They carry aloha. Like that's, that's what they do. It's all about take care of
your neighbor. We're in this together. They, they really are like that. Like if you, if you help,
they really are like that. Like if you,
if you help,
uh,
somebody in town,
like say,
say you go to this restaurant and,
and God,
if you buy out the restaurant and help them out,
it will make the other people at another restaurant.
So happy that you did that instead of like trying to find out how they can get
the business over to their place.
You know what I mean?
And it's genuine.
Like,
Oh brother,
what you did for blah,
blah,
blah.
That wow,
man,
we really appreciate that.
Wow.
Like,
it's like a genuine spirit that you took care of this local and,
and,
and,
and help them out.
And you don't know what that means.
Like,
it's going to help them above.
So it's like, when you see it and feel it, you're like, oh, these people really are a
community.
They really are loving people.
And I say it all the time.
Like, don't go anywhere else.
Go to Hawaii and it will reset you.
You know what I mean?
Whatever it is that you're going through, when you step foot on that beach and talk
to a local, it'll reset you. and you'll get that aloha spirit. I truly believe it,
generally. That and the Philippines, you feel the happiness and the kindness and you see that
they're more about each other and the place that they're from. That's why when they move to other
places, they can't get rid of that aloha.
Like when you meet a Hawaiian anywhere,
you just, you feel it.
It's the way they talk.
It's the way they talk,
you know, joke around with you.
You feel it.
That was a lot.
That was a lot.
And I guess I work for the Department of Tourism now.
Well, I know you've had some very successful
run of shows in Hawaiiaii where is and
i know they're hot everywhere you have one place to walk on stage where are you going to get the
hottest joe coy crowd one show only one show only it would be uh the blaisdell Theater. In? Yeah. Where's that? In Hawaii.
The Blaisdell Theater.
That place is legend.
Great. You know, that's their Apollo.
That's their whatever.
Is there a Jokoi Day?
Yeah, there is a Jokoi Day, November 24th.
I mean, I guess wherever they name a day after you,
that's probably going to be a good spot for you.
It was, yeah, that was pretty crazy.
But the Hawaiian in Hawaii,
they pronounce it Joseph Herbert Day.
Yeah, they call me Joseph Herbert Brada.
Brada Joseph.
But yeah, that was a crazy run.
I sold out.
I think I sold 12 shows out in a row
and I beat Mariah Carey's record by like 500 tickets.
That was,
that was incredible.
That was so nuts when that happened.
Did you,
I just to loop back to something you said early on,
how,
how often do you do shows for military?
How often do you?
Not enough.
Yeah.
I would imagine they would,
you would be a perfect person,
especially being a child of a, being a child of someone who served.
Yeah, but now I'm going to,
you know, I already told my manager and stuff,
so we're putting some in right now.
That's so funny that you said that.
So we are looping some in as we speak
because I do want to give back to the military.
Have you gone to some very far off places
with like USO shows?
Have you done Afghanistan my god i i've
never done that or i i didn't do afghanistan i didn't do any of that i think the one the hardest
one for me was uh the one of uh georgia and it was uh god man that one was that was tough man that
was a they were sweet but it's uh man the smile on their faces, you could tell that they were going through a lot.
You know what I mean? That one's rough.
It's the Marines.
And the joy on their faces.
I remember they were a little
rowdy at first, and
I remember they were trying to
they were walking around and trying to settle down,
and I remember telling myself on stage,
no, no, no, don't do that.
Don't do that. One, they'll kill me.
So don't do that.
And two, it's like, just let them, bro.
Like, go ahead, bro.
Like, you were drowning in the water for 20 minutes because you had to.
So, yeah, let's go.
Let's open this up.
And it was the best day of my life.
They put me in one of their barracks.
I was like, oh, my God.
Is this a metal bed?
Like, what are we doing now?
Like, is my shower really the kitchen?
Like, what is going on right now?
They're like, this is the Georgia Shangri-La.
Yeah.
Yes.
Is it Fort Benning?
Is it Fort Benning?
I can't remember, man.
We'll get it right.
We'll get it right somewhere.
Yeah.
Shout out to the military and shout out to the't remember, man. We'll get it right. We'll get it right somewhere. Yeah, shout out to the
military and shout out to the Marine Corps,
man. That's, man,
it's tough, man.
All right, well now,
Jeff, it's been such a delight talking to you,
Joe, and now it is time for
Josh to ask you the questions we ask all of our
guests, so prepare yourself.
Here we go, Joe.
You can only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational?
Man, it is for me to relax, and it's for the kids to be educated.
All right.
Yeah, I don't want them to walk away without at least learning a lot from where they stayed.
Yeah.
And appreciating it where they stayed.
Well, from the stories you've told,
that strikes me as,
rings true to me.
What is your favorite means of transportation?
Train, plane, automobile, boat, bike?
It's got to be plane.
Always plane.
Okay.
And it's got to be first class.
I'm sorry if it sounds,
it is a luxury.
I think it would sound insincere if you said, it's got to be coach.
It's got to be coach.
It's got to be middle seat by a bathroom.
But yeah, it's got to be, I have to.
And I have sleep apnea, man.
So when I'm traveling 14 hours, I got to plug in, man.
You're actually doing a favor to the people in coach.
Exactly.
Nobody wants your weak ass apnea.
Yeah, yeah, yeahnea yeah yeah yeah seth if i slept in coach they would be like can someone put him in first class they would squeeze
the apnea tube i was uh i flew coach recently and i was in a middle seat and i had a friend who they
like jogged seats around in the morning they were like you're on a different plane now so that your
seat's not your seat anymore i was still a middle. And I moved to be next to my friend. And then this girl
came on and she's like, I think you're in my seat. And I was like, do you mind just going two rows
back and taking that middle seat? And she's like, yeah, I guess. And I was like, okay. And then she
went back and someone else had moved and was like, I'm actually in another middle seat. And she's
like, oh, hell no. She's like, I'm just trying to get home.
And it's like, you're still going to get home.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I realize you're being asked from a middle seat to a middle seat to a middle seat, but you haven't sat down yet.
Yeah.
And she's like, this guy already screwed me out of my seat.
And I'm like, screwed you out of your seat?
Like, I just, I wanted to sit next to my friend.
Yeah, yeah. By the way, middle seats, everyone's screwed.
Yeah.
It's a middle friend. Yeah, yeah. By the way, middle seats, everyone's screwed. Yeah. It's a middle seat.
Yeah.
And then someone asked,
someone came around
and was like,
do you want like cookies
or pretzels?
And she was like, diabetic.
And I was like,
you could just say no.
Yeah.
Anyhow.
What is the attitude
on a plane, by the way?
I don't know.
Just, yeah.
What is it?
I'm just going to jump in
and say I think you should
stay where you are and don't sit with your friends. Yeah, yeah. What is it? I'm just going to jump in and say, I think you should stay where you are
and don't sit with your friends.
Yeah, yeah.
You didn't really talk to your friend the whole flight anyway.
We did.
We did talk a lot, but not too much.
Not enough to be annoying.
She watched a movie.
I had to do some work.
All right.
If you had to take a vacation with any family,
alive or dead, real or fictional,
other than your own family,
what family would you like to
take? Oh, like a whole family?
What's another family?
Going on a family vacation, but not your family.
Wow, that's a tough one.
I would say...
Oh, that's a good one.
That's a good one, because
there's two families. Can I say two? Yeah.
Okay. Wanya Morris
from Boyz II Men. He I say two? Yeah. Okay. Wanya Morris from Boys to Men.
He's like my best friend.
Great.
And he's just great.
We're like this.
We just hit on every level.
At the end of a trip with him, like, is it like hard?
We cry.
We cry.
So it's hard.
Yeah, it's hard.
Yeah.
Okay.
And his wife just sits there and looks at us.
Okay.
That's it.
Are you guys done?
We just hug and then we're just like,
I'll see you.
All right, man.
I'll see you.
And then Joe Malosh, my manager.
Yeah, but he's also my best friend.
And I've known him for so, so, so long.
And we just, we're just, our chemistry is like,
we're brothers, man.
So it's just fun to be on the road.
Because, yeah, we're just, we're is like, we're brothers, man. So it's just fun to be on the road. Cause yeah, we're just, we're identical twins.
Great.
That's great.
If you had to be stranded on a desert island
with one member of your family, who would it be?
Oh, my sister Gemma.
Great.
It does sound like Gemma's real A plus.
Yeah.
Cause if Gemma's not on that island with me,
I'm dead on Tuesday.
Yeah.
That was coming across. I'm dead on Tuesday. Yeah, that was coming across.
I'm dead on Tuesday.
You don't, for all your-
You also got there on Tuesday.
I got there on Tuesday and I'm dead Tuesday night.
For all of your accomplishments,
it does not sound, based on this interview,
that you're self-sufficient at all.
At all.
At all.
This was created by Gemma.
Us talking was Gemma.
At some point, I almost expect to see Gemma's
hand come in to give you like a bite of soup.
Yeah. And then
wipe my face. Yeah.
Do you
consider Tacoma your hometown
or Vegas? Yeah, Tacoma's my
hometown. Would you recommend Tacoma
as a vacation destination?
Oh, no, no, no. Not at all.
Yeah, I'm gonna be honest. You know a vacation destination? Oh, no, no, no, not at all. Yeah, I'm going to be honest.
You know what I mean?
Like, why lie?
No, why are you going to go there?
What for?
But Seattle, yes, go to Seattle.
But Tacoma, no.
I love Tacoma.
It is blowing up now.
They're putting money back into old downtown.
I just sold out the Tacoma Dome.
That was 22,500 people.
And it was amazing.
And,
and the people are happy when I was there,
it was a little rough.
There's this stereotype where they called it Tacoma aroma.
And you really did smell it when you would drive from through Tacoma to get
to Seattle.
And they had like this old paper mill that just made the whole town smell a
certain way.
Yeah.
But you know what?
Times are good.
And I don't know why
I just told you that.
Tacoma's on its way back up.
Tacoma's on its comeback.
If it's a coin flip
between Hawaii and Tacoma.
It's Hawaii, man.
It's Hawaii.
Yeah, yeah.
You don't even have to
flip the coin.
And Seth has our final questions.
Joe Coy,
have you been to the Grand Canyon?
Yes!
Is it worth it?
Man, no!
Look
If you own a helicopter
And you can get in and out in about 20 minutes
Yes
But I'm not gonna lie
The first time I went with my dad
We stood there for like 5 minutes
It was like that scene from Vacation
When Chevy just looks at it.
He's like, all right, let's go.
It literally was that.
But the second time we went, because my whole family, we're into aliens, man.
We believe in aliens.
So if you hate us, hate us.
I don't care.
But during the pandemic, we did this whole alien vacation where we went to all like we went to Roswell.
You know, this is when they shut down everything.
So it's just my family in a tour bus.
We went to Roswell.
We went to White Sands.
We went to the Grand Canyon.
We went to Sedona.
And it was cool because it was very, it was like this thing of like this, like feeling the energy and just seeing how beautiful and how grand Earth is and how small we are.
And that was, when you look at it that way, the Grand Canyon is beautiful because it is mesmerizing.
You're just like, wow, this is here.
And no one's really understanding it.
Aliens drop something.
It is.
It is.
Well, right now, the Grand Canyon is like, boy, we certainly didn't get the Hawaii bounce from Joe.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
I'm performing at the Grand Canyon, by the way.
Hey, you got a new special coming out.
Yes. Live in Brooklyn?
Is that what it's called? Live in Brooklyn at the Kings. Oh! The Kings.
And you got a Brooklyn hat. Brooklyn Cyclones?
No, that's it. The Kings Theater.
Brooklyn Dodgers. Brooklyn Dodgers.
Well, can't wait for that.
That's coming out in June. Yes.
Beautifully shot shot it's amazing
shout out to my
my director
and my producers
Michelle and Shannon
they crushed it
and they've been
we've been on this
we've been on this journey together
since live from Seattle
and
and it's just this vision
that we keep
creating together
and I love them
that's great
so great seeing you Joe
always a pleasure.
So much fun.
Thanks, Joe.
Josh, you're amazing.
Seth, I can't tell you how much I love you, bro.
Thank you.
Oh, that's so kind of you to say, buddy.
You're the best, man.
You really are.
We'll talk to you soon.
Love you.
Bye.
All right, take care.
Love you, buddy. Got soda in a bag
What?
You stick a straw in and you suck it back
Huh?
They got a golden sun upon their flag
Who?
Joe Coy just mentioned it on the podcast.
Oh.
It's the Philippines.
On the base.
Uh-huh.
Back in the 80s was the funnest place.
Uh-huh.
Your friends were then out in cyberspace.
Cool.
Can anyone say what is Jokoy's race?
Huh. He is military
Now he goes
Back to Manila
Shangri-La
Cause it's a chiller
Family
He's gotta have em
Rollin' deep
The first class cabin
He's so cool
Sixteen and countin'
Built a school
Upon a mountain
Built a road
Cause it gets muddy
Bag of souls
You said that buddy
Auto shoot
A shoe head fella.
That's what you do.
Just like a melder.
Bag with no braids.
Cause you don't need them.
Giving back.
After 16.
What you gonna eat?
A dobo chicken.
Stick with me.
It's finger licking.
And blots and shards.
It's what you're wearing.
Island life. Bye.