The HoneyDew with Ryan Sickler - Dusty Slay - DustyDew

Episode Date: April 15, 2024

My HoneyDew this week is comedian Dusty Slay! (Working Man, We're Having a Good Time Podcast) Dusty Highlights the Lowlights of his trailer park upbringing. SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE and watch full episodes of The Dew every toozdee! https://youtube.com/@rsickler SUBSCRIBE TO MY PATREON, The HoneyDew with Y’all, where I Highlight the Lowlights with Y’all! You now get audio and video of The HoneyDew a day early, ad-free at no additional cost! It’s only $5/month! Sign up for a year and get a month free! https://www.patreon.com/TheHoneyDew What’s your story?? Submit at [e-mail] CATCH ME ON TOUR https://www.ryansickler.com/tour Toledo, OH | April 26th & 27th Los Angeles, CA | May 12th Miami, FL | June 7th & 8th Get Your HoneyDew Gear Today! https://shop.ryansickler.com/ Ringtones Are Available Now! https://www.apple.com/itunes/ http://ryansickler.com/ https://thehoneydewpodcast.com/ SUBSCRIBE TO THE CRABFEAST PODCAST https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-crabfeast-with-ryan-sickler-and-jay-larson/id1452403187 SPONSORS: Rocket Money -Stop wasting money on things you don’t use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to https://www.RocketMoney.com/HONEYDEW Liquid I.V. -Get 20% off ANYTHING you order when you go to https://www.LiquidIV.com and use code HONEYDEW DraftKings -Download the NEW DraftKings Pick Six app now using code HONEYDEW and take on the competition with your best NBA player picks!  

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The Honeydew with Ryan Sickler. Welcome back to the Honeydew y'all. We're over here doing it in the night pan studios. I am Ryan Sickler, RyanSickler.com, Ryan Sickler on all your social media. I'm going to start this episode like I start all of them by saying thank you. Thank you for however you support me, whether you're new here, whether you've been here, all of it. Thank you. Thank you for supporting everything I do. I love doing what I do. And you guys are the reason for that. All right. And if you've got to have more of this show, I'm not kidding. I've been saying it for years and the community continues to grow. You've

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That's of today. I can't thank you enough for that. My goal was a million. I hope we still get there. We were well on our way, y'all. 550,000 in two weeks and then YouTube said, nah. So there it is. Anyway, you guys know what we do over here.

We're highlighting the lowlights. I always say these are the stories behind the storytellers. I am very excited to have today's guest on. First time here on the do, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Dusty Slay. Welcome to the honeydew, Dusty Slay. All right. You yelled there.

I was not ready for that. I know, I'm trying to bring it up. I know, I know. I'm very excited to have you here. Yeah, hey, I'm pumped. I'm pumped to be here. Well, before we get into whatever we're gonna talk about, please promote anything you'd like.

Well, you know, I'm always on the road, so I say go to my website, dustysleigh.com. You can see all my live tour dates. I have a one-hour special on Netflix right now called Working Man, really funny. And if you wanna watch that, and then you're like, oh, I like him, I'd like to go see him. Now I'm doing a new hour on the road. So it'll be new stuff. I

got another hour on YouTube. That's very funny. I got a half hour on Netflix, stand up season three. So just lots of stuff to watch all my social medias. I'm, you know, try to post things that are entertaining. I don't just try to waste a lot of time on there. And yeah, so I think that's it. I mean, that's all I got to, well, you know what? I do a podcast too called the We're Having a Good Time podcast.

I do that with my wife at my house. And then I do, I'm also on the Nate Land podcast with Nate Burgazzi and Aaron Webber and Brian Bates. And we do that weekly, a lot of fun. Well, dude, I'm stoked to have you here. I've been following you for a while. I really am a fan of yours. And you got pretty fucking hair, bro.

Well, I appreciate that. You do have. You might be of all the men we've had. And some of the ladies. Yeah. I'm not gonna lie, bro. You got some pretty fucking, you got a pretty head of men. Well, I appreciate that.

And I brushed it before I came. I do have one kind of dread back here that I can't get out. But yeah, yeah. I brush it, you know, a couple of times a week when I'm, you know, I knew I was be doing big podcasts today. So I got clean. Yeah, you look like you're ready for big podcasts, bro. That's big podcasts here.

Yeah, yeah. Tell me about you, dude. We just met on the sidewalk out front for the first time ever. You're already, I already love your vibe. So you from Alabama, you said, is that right? Yeah, I grew up in Alabama. I grew up in a town called Opelika, Alabama.

Opelika? Opelika. See, I only know that from the Johnny Cash, I've been everywhere. Oh yeah. He mentions it. He does say that, yeah. And I don't know why he was there.

I got nothing against Opelika. I love Opelika, but I don't know why he was there in that song. My town is, they say it's a Native American term for big swamp, but they're- Ah, is that right? They do say it, and that's what Wikipedia says. Yeah.

Or whatever, whatever the internet dictionary or internet encyclopedia is. And I think that's Wikipedia or is it, I don't know. It doesn't matter, but there's no swamps there. So I don't know why they call it that. But yeah, that's where I grew up. I went to high school there and graduated. And then I was, and I stayed in town, partying. What's your, let's talk about high school for a second. How big is your high school there and graduated. And then I stayed in town, partied.

What's your, let's talk about high school for a second. How big is your high school? Do you remember your graduating class or? Yeah, we had a pretty good size class. I don't know, a few hundred people. Okay, yeah. I don't know exactly, but my dad still has the big senior. All the seniors were all in the basketball gym

sitting out on the bleachers or whatever you call them. And yeah, it's great. So fun, we're all dressed up, gym sitting out on the bleachers or whatever you call them. And yeah, it's great. So fun, we're all dressed up nice. Everybody came over. A lot of the people came to my house that morning. My mom would have been at work. A lot of people came over. We were smoking weed.

We were doing, you know, I think we were, you know, crushing up Adderalls. You know, we were getting wild. Just getting ready for graduation. Yeah, and then we were going to do this nice photo. So we were all partying a little bit and we're sitting there and the whole senior class is up there.

And then we see the, like the dare officer coming towards us and he goes- Wait, you had one in your school? Yeah, we had one. There was always a dare officer present? Well, it was a police officer, but he was also the dare guy. All right, so how old are you?

I'm a senior. No, but I mean right now actually. Oh,E. guy. All right, so how old are you? I'm a senior. No, but I mean right now actually. Oh, I'm 41. All right, so I've got 10 years on you. We never had, we would get, if the police got, the police will be called and then would come through with their dogs. That was my freshman year of high school.

We didn't really have a body present in the building. It was just, hey, get over here. But you had a person that would- Oh yeah, we always had a cop there, Officer Childs. It was always the same guy. He was our cop and he was our dare officer. He gave us all our courses on not doing drugs. So we all knew him and he comes through

and then they asked for me and everybody had just been at my house. So they go, Dusty, is Dusty here? And I stood up and like, everybody is like, tensing up because they were just at my house. So they go, Dusty, is Dusty here? And I stood up and like, everybody is like tensing up because they were just at my house doing drugs. And then they called me down. I had to go all the way across the gym into, I was dressed so nice.

Everybody's watching and shit too. Like, oh my God, oh my God. Yeah. And I had to go to the assistant principal's office and it was completely unrelated. Me and a friend had gone to a school in a nearby city and just walked around and we got caught walking around. I did that.

Yeah? I did that when we were seniors in high school one day, we played hooky from our schools, me and two other friends. And the one friend, his name was Mark, he was a year older than us and he drove, he's like, why don't we just go to Franklin fucking high school and walk around their high school? And I was like, okay. And we did. us and he drove. He's like, why don't we just go to Franklin fucking high school

and walk around their high school? And I was like, OK. And we did. And we walked until we were in there. We were good while walking until some teacher was like, you know, who the fuck are you kids? Why aren't you in a class right now? And then we got caught and we just gave fake names and we got out of there. Oh, yeah. But I realized today if that if you did that shit, man,

you'd be fucking locked the school yeah locked down they probably has a protocol for that shit now oh yeah you might not even be able to get in yeah but we didn't give fake names I don't know why we were very honest we were just we got caught we're like hey this who but we we were like we're not doing anything wrong we're just right you know we're seeing if there any girls around here that maybe we don't know there's no tender back then there's no online dating we're trying doing anything wrong. We're just, you know, we're seeing if there are any girls around here that maybe we don't know. There's no tender back then. There's no online dating.

We're trying to figure out what's happening. So the principal, he just asked me about that. And I go, yeah, we showed up to pick up a friend and we got there early. So we just went inside. Sorry about it. It won't happen again. I was dressed so nice.

And he was like, all right, sounds good. And then I just go back and everybody's so relieved. Nothing happened. But it was very scary. And I not I not talked about that before. But that just remembering my senior year made me think of that. And I get all those people sitting there in those bleachers to like, is he gonna rat us out? Like, what's about the file? Yeah, yeah, I'm sure they had no idea. I would have

come back just mouthwork. about the fucking thing. Oh yeah, yeah. I'm sure they had no idea. I would have come back just mouth work. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I should have, but I think I was so shook up in the moment.

You had so much power right there. That I was like, I'm just happy to be out of that. I was like, we're all okay. Yeah. Yeah. You know? So where do you grow up? We talked before, you said you grew up in a trailer park.

Is that right? Well, my parents divorced when I was around two and then I moved to a trailer park with my mom and my two older sisters. Now describe this trailer park, cause listen, I'm telling you, I'm just fucking trash anyway. And I've seen some trailer parks where I'm like,

I could totally fucking live there. I know me. Yeah. I don't need a lot. I could totally kick it there. Well, I thought it was great. I had a great time. It's like, you know, you're on the main road

and then there's a row of brick houses and then there's a dirt road that takes you behind those brick houses. And then there was, you know, 12 or 15 trailers back there all in a row. And I was lot eight. I was kind of right in the middle. Are they nice trailers?

Like what kind of trailers are we talking? I wouldn't say they were nice. They weren't double wides. They were all single wides and they were all old, but they weren't, well, some of them were pretty ratty. Like my sister rented one next to us as she got older. Her and her husband moved into the trailer next to ours. Now my mom owned her trailer, just rented the lot, but my sister was renting the trailer too.

And trailer floors will swell up over time. What's that? The floor will? The floor will swell up, yeah, because it's a particle board. So the heat, the humidity, we're in Alabama, it'll swell up, and then it gets thin in other areas, and then it'll fall through. So she had like a whole winter floor that they put a piece of plywood over and just kind of... We used to work in a junkyard and all the offices were single wide trailers.

And that was, there was a hole in every single one of them. Oh yeah. Every one of those floors. That's what happened. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. They get, they're just. It just rots up and then rots out

and gets weak in another side. Now see my mom's trailer, on the other hand, when that would happen to hers, we would pull the floor up. We would put plywood down. My mom knew how to do those sort of things. So our trailer was good. I mean, it was messy, but it was in good shape. And do you have your own bedroom?

Uh, not most of the time. It was a two bedroom, one bath trailer. So who are you sharing a room with at the time? I really didn't have a room that I even shared with. For a long time, I just kinda would sleep. I would sleep on the couch or I would sleep like my mom worked third shift. So you know, my sister and brother-in-law lived with us for a long time. And

then my other sister and her husband live next door. So I would kind of sleep with my mom, like and then she would go to work. She worked third shift. So I would be or I would sleep with my sister and my brother-in-law. I'm sure my brother-in-law hated it, but. He did. Yeah, we were very close, you know? Yeah.

I was a little kid. But I am, but still, I'm just laughing because I was cramping his everything. Oh yeah. He probably hated it. I'm sure he did. But we were. I all threw you in there.

Yeah, because he would be like, well, why don't you sleep with your mom? And then when, if you wake up in the night, you can come get in bed with us. And I would never want to do that. I'm like, nah, would be like, well, why don't you sleep with your mom? And then when, if you wake up in the night, you can come get in bed with us. And I would never want to do that. I'm like, nah, let's just, we're hanging out, we're having a good time. Because my sister's about 11 years older than me.

Okay, all right, that's exact age of my daughter and her brother, okay, good. Yeah, because we have the same mom, different dad. Same with them, yeah. So my, you know, so I would just, you know, camp out there and then eventually, you know, they moved out and then it was just me and my mom in the trailer. But, and then we moved out when I was 14.

When I was 14, we moved into a house about a mile from the high school. So then I started having a lot of parties. As I got 16, 17, 18, I started having a lot of parties at my mom's house. Your place was the spot? Yeah, because my mom got a boyfriend and she would go to his house a lot. And then my grandmother got sick,

so she would go take care of my grandmother. And then she also worked third shift. So she was gone all the time. And your sister's 11 years older, so she's long gone. Yeah, they're gone. So it's just you? My other sister still lives in town, but not, not in the house. Yeah. Yeah. So I got this house and I'm just hanging and it's like slowly happened,

right? Where I had a couple of friends over, we're drinking, we're having a good time. And then, and then it's like, all right, that worked out. And then next time it's a few more people. Next thing you know, I'm doing full blown parties. Cops are coming. How many people? Tell me about your biggest party. I don't know. It'd be hard to say. Let's say 50 people, 100 people. I don't know.

It's a lot of kids. I would say 50 was probably about right. And there'd be a lot of cars and the cops would come, but usually, you know, I've had the cops come and I meet them outside and just, I talk to them. I go, yeah, we're just, you know, kind of hanging out and everything. And then they would leave.

But then also I've had them call my mom. I never had them arrest me because I was always under-aged. I don't know, they just seemed like they were nice. I did get arrested later. You did for what? Well, when I was working at a restaurant called Western Sizzlin' and I used to just get high working at a restaurant called Western Sizzlin',

and I used to just get high every day and go to Western Sizzlin', and one day I met this guy who was eating in there. He told me he used to be in the Army, and he was like, he told me about how great the Army was and how he's got all these life experiences. And I'm like, at this point I'm 18, I wanna get out of my hometown.

So I see the Army as the way out. So I leave work that day and I go down to the recruiter's office and I start talking to them and they start asking me about weed and they're asking how much weed I smoke and they're trying to help me get clean. They're like, all right, this is what you do. And then they're like prepping me for the physical.

We're like, we moved fast. I mean, I'm exactly what an army recruiter wants. I came walking right in. They're like, oh yeah, this is our guy. So they're, you know, they're basically, you know, giving me, they give me these quizzes or whatever. And then you take them. On the first interview, the same one.

I don't know, maybe not the same one, but you know, as we go along, it'll be like a list your ailments, right? And then you go through and it had like acid reflux. And I'm like, yeah, I have that. And then, and then they take it and they go, you see all these places where you put yes? If you put yes, they're not gonna let you in.

They're like, we're not telling you to put no, but if you put yes, they're not gonna let you in. So you do whatever you wanna do. So, you know, you, you just learned like, all right, I gotta say no to all this. And then I did, I went and did the physical and they tell you- And MEPS, you went to MEPS?

I think so. Yeah, I went through that too. Did you? And they tell you they're like, they're gonna ask you a bunch of different times, have you ever tried weed, any hallucinogenic drugs? You gotta say no, you gotta say no. And they do, you go through these three different people.

It was like a regular dude, and then it was like a big burly, like scary dude. And then it was like a cool chick who was just kind of like, you know, that was the role. I'm not calling her a chick just because she's a woman. Like that was the role she was playing. Like I'm cool, I'm your buddy, I'm hot. She was like, come on, you smoked weed a little bit, huh?

And so you have to just be like, No, no, no. So I did all that. I kind of did a pre swearing in I got a little I got a little ID. And then I come back and my recruiter goes, he goes, I probably shouldn't tell you this, he goes, but you're going to get shipped off in 30 days, and they're going to drug test you again. And I know you like to smoke weed. So if you're gonna do it, do it tonight. And then that night I got arrested for weed and alcohol. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're like my recruiter told me. Yeah, yeah. So I got her, I got her. And I even- What happened?

Yeah. And I- I told you to do it. Yeah. And I didn't even want to do it. At that point I was like, I was like free from this. But I was, I was with a buddy. I was, I really, I think I smoked a little weed,

but I wasn't even doing a lot. I was with a buddy and we were leaving to go to this party. Well, not a party. We were leaving. I talked to these girls and they were like, hey, you know, come over. And we were like, oh, this is great. And as we're leaving, a guy goes,

hey, I got these two beers. You guys want them? He goes, I'm I got these two beers. You guys want them? He goes, I'm not gonna drink them. So we take them from him. And all we gotta do is not open the beer. But instead we're like, let's crack them open. We don't say this out loud, but I think we're both thinking this.

Let's crack them open. That when we show up at this house, we'll be drinking and we'll be looking super cool. Cause we're 18, 19, that's how you think. And I thought that well on into my twenties, but you know, I pulled up, well, so we get there and then I'm on the interstate and there's a cop on the interstate going slow. And it's that kind of that moment where you're like,

I know I need to pass this guy, but I'm a little high. And I got alcohol in the car. So I don't want to contain her. Yeah, so I don't want to pass him, but I'm a little high and I got alcohol in the car. So I don't want to contain. Yeah. So I don't want to pass him, but he's going so slow. I can't ride behind him. So I kind of ride behind him just long enough to be suspicious and then pass him. And then I get pulled over. And so he finds the beer, finds the weed and I go to jail.

And I even told the cop, I was like, Hey, I'm joining the army. I was like, this is really gonna mess me up, you know, and he go he was real smart, though. He's like, this gonna mess you up? Or are you gonna mess you up? And I'm like, Alright, so I'm gonna mess me up, I guess. But instead of me going to the army, I'm now going to have a suspended license for nine months, and I'm going to go live in this trailer because,

and then I'm not gonna go to the army because the court date came after my ship off date. So I couldn't go to the army unless I could have went in lieu of probation, in lieu of, you know, all the other punishments, you know, but I would lose all my benefits, all my signing bonus, my this and that, you know, but I would lose all my benefits, all my signing bonus, my this and that, you know. So I just, you know, I decided not to go to the army. And then I bought, in between that time,

I bought the trailer that I grew up in, my childhood trailer, I bought it for $1,000. No way, $1,000? $1,000. My mom gave it to my sister, my sister traded it in on a new trailer like you would a car. And it was still in the trailer park and they didn't wanna deal with it.

Had I known anything about negotiation, I think I could have got it down. But I was so excited that they said a thousand dollars. I was like, perfect. So I moved in there and then went to court, lost my license. So I'm just out of high school. I've already dropped out of community college. I-

You can't go to the army. I can't go to the army. And now I have a suspended license and I'm on probation. But you're a homeowner, bro. Yeah, yeah. But you're a homeowner, bro. Had I had that kind of insight, yeah, I'm a homeowner. But, you know, so now I'm just living in this trailer.

I got no license. I worked out a deal with my buddy. I had this friend that he was like, got kicked out of his house. And so my lot rent was $120 a month. That was- Yeah, it was amazing. And that included-

And your shit's paid for already. And that included water. So I'm working at Office Depot now and I'm making 220 a week. So for for 120 a month rent, 220 is not bad, you know, so I'm living there, this guy is like, he gets kicked out of his house. So he needs a place to live. And he goes, if you let me live here for free, I'll give you a ride to work every day. So

I kind of had, like, because there was no option for me to not work, it seems like a great deal for him, I'll give you a ride to work every day. So I kind of had, like, cause there was no option for me to not work. It seems like a great deal for him, but there was no option for me to not work. So I kind of had like a chauffeur for a little while. I'm living in a trailer and I got this guy and he had a, an Asuzu rodeo. I remember the rodeo, yeah.

And it had 17 inch rims on it. He had a system. I mean, this was, you know, this was the early 2000s. What color was it? It was black. Okay. It was super cool. I mean, this was, you know, this was the early 2000s. It was black. Okay. It was super cool. I remember turquoise was a big one. Oh, yeah. It was a weird, like, all of a sudden that car came out and I

was like, turquoise, huh? Oh, yeah. So this guy would, I was like, all right, but if this is our deal, you got to be there. I can't be waiting around after work and you're off doing something else. You got to be there. And then he also wanted to sell weed. That's how he was going to make money for himself. So I was like, well, you can sell weed out of my house as long as you smoke with me for free, right. So he would show up every day to pick

me up from work with like a blunt. And I would get in the car. I mean, we were living the life. I was like, this is what I'm talking about. I had real trailer park royalty going on. You know? And this guy had a real system worked out. The king of the lot. Yeah. And there was a lot,

I had a lot of friends that like wanted to get high, but they didn't really want to like buy their own bag. They didn't want to be riding around with it. So he kind of worked out this system where people would come over and just give him three, four, $5. And then he would just, so four or five people would give him $5 each.

And then he would just roll a big blunt and just smoke everybody out. And I'm just reaping all the benefits of everybody. I mean, and it, I mean, it was a real party. I mean, we had a, I had two years unsupervised probation, which meant I couldn't move. And if I got caught doing anything, I would go to jail,

but I didn't have drug tests. Just keep it at home and then you're good to go. Yeah. So, and you live in a, in the trailer park by that point had become a little shady. Like, so it's- So it really didn't start off that way. It just got shady. Well, shady then went shadier.

Yeah. Like when I, and I probably contributed to the shadiness. Yeah. You know? Yeah. There's a lot eight back there. Yeah. But when I was a kid, it was great.

There were a lot of different kids. I had woods on either side. Like we had the row of brick houses, but then the main highway and then woods. And then behind us was woods. I mean, I was playing in the creeks. I was playing in the woods and it was just playing in the in the woods. And it was just a blast, you know, a real adventure for a kid. But as an

adult, you know, I'm not really playing in the woods, but I've got this spot where no one wants to call the police, no one wants the police at their at their trailer. So, you know, I'm just doing whatever. And it was a little shady, but also safe in a way. Like I remember getting drunk and passing out on the couch and my door was left open all night and nothing got taken, you know? I did get robbed later,

but I'm pretty sure that was like a friend. Were you home? No, I was gone. People knew I was out of town and they stole my weed pipes and my Nintendo GameCube. So I felt like- That's all they took? Yeah, that's-

They definitely knew you. Yeah, it's really all the valuables that I had. They took all you had. Yeah. They stole everything I had, god damn. And they brought, I had a little, you know, I had the little chain lock, right? But I had the door, I had a back door

that you could kind of put a shoulder in the middle and pull the handle and it would come open. But I had a door, I had a back door that you could kind of put a shoulder in the middle and pull the handle and it would come open. But I had a chain lock on it and they broke my chain lock. Dude, Jon Stewart's got the best joke about the chain lock. Oh yeah? He talks about that on his New York door and he goes, that chain lock, man. I'm sure I'm paraphrasing here, but the whole point is that thing says you're not getting in here unless you push really hard.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's funny, you know, because I was doing a joke about that for a while, very similar to that. Oh yeah. I had no idea. But yeah, because it's like, yeah, you open it and you're like, ah dang. Oh no. I can't get this little nail out of a trailer wall.

Yeah. But I had a busted window, I had a broken window with a piece of cardboard right there. All they had to do was climb through. They didn't have to break my door, you know? But it's probably less suspicious though, you know? But you know, so that's what I did for a while. I just kind of lived in this trailer, just doing this.

But in a lot of ways, it was really like a great time. I had a, you know, I was working at Office Depot. I was working the early shift. I would get up at like 5 a.m., being at six. I'm out at like two or three. I would go, I would smoke a little joint and go to the tanning bed. I mean, I was all about the tanning bed back in the day.

You don't look like a tanner, bro. I know. You were tan back in the day, you did? Yeah, yeah. I had a real, yeah, I love a tan. I'll get, in the summertime, I will lay out in the sun. I love the sun. Yeah.

But yeah, I mean, I would- So your day was early morning at Office Depot, you're done by two or three, smoke a little joint, hit the tan in bed. Yeah, I mean, because, you know, I had a suspended license for nine months, but I had a two license for nine months, but I had a two years probation.

So eventually I got the license back. And that's what I would do. I'd get off work, I'd go hit that tanning bed, I'd fall asleep in the tanning. It was amazing. It's probably one of the only places you'd get a quiet rest too, I can imagine, when all these people are coming in and out of your place.

Oh yeah, I mean, my place was a real party and there was a lot going on. It got a little dark for a little while, you know, some heavier things got involved, but for the most part it was all cool. What happened, like what? What heavier stuff happened? Just various drugs, you know, I never really talk about them,

but you know, just various things that- Stuff you tried or just things you saw people do? Things were around, you know what I mean? Yeah, I hear it. And people were being, you know. That was our home. In high school, it was me and my two brothers. My dad had passed. My mom went and lived with her boyfriend, just didn't care about us. And our home became that. Oh, yeah. Seven days a week, it's everyone coming over all the time. And yeah, I didn't even smoke weed back then. I didn't start smoking weed till I was really like 21.

And I would drink, but I saw, like when the Grateful Dead would come to town, they'd go to the Capitol Center and we'd all go party in the parking lot. Every now and then you get a ticket, you go in, whatever. I've seen them once, but the parking lot was where everybody would spread out and then they'd all come back to my place.

And this guy's got opium and this guy, I'm like, what? Like that's when we would see the weirder drugs come into the fold. Yeah, cause people just need a place to go. And do their drugs. Right, and I always had a place. Like even when I was living with my mom and when I was living with the trailer, I always had a place.

So these people just need a place. And we were right next to Auburn University. Oh my God. So we would get, you know, we would get, you know, good acid and things like that, but that, you know- Why were Johnny Cash played? Probably so. Now that I'm thinking about it.

Probably came through Opel Ica and then played in Auburn. Yeah. But you know, it's like- So can we jump back for a second? Yeah. Because you said you went from the trailer to the house, mom's gone and that sort of begins the party phase. Yes.

So go back there for a second. Is that where you really started? Oh, I got sidetracked with being arrested. No, this is what we're supposed to do. Is that where you start drinking and stuff? Is that the, like, where it really starts to hit for you? Yeah, I mean, because I was always a really good kid. Like, I was well-behaved.

I wasn't getting into trouble. But once I got a driver's license, because in the trailer park growing up, we were a little outside of town. So I was pretty isolated just hanging out with country kids. And then when I got my driver's license, I was suddenly able to really hang out. And I always had divorced parents,

so I would go, you know, my dad's house every other weekend, which was in a different town. So it was hard for me to keep plans with friends and things like that. So a lot of times, like, eventually, I kind of stopped being invited to things because they would be like, Oh, once you come over this weekend, I'm like, no, I can't. I got to go to my dad's this weekend. So but when I got my license, I got a job and I was no longer going to my dad's every other weekend. And I was like, really able to hang out. So then I got friends, I got more out of school friends. And then we started getting into drinking.

I didn't really drink until like 17 maybe, but it's like with everything. Once I did it and I was like, ooh, this is fun. Then I was like, let's do this all the time. And then so every weekend was a party and my house was in front of the school about a mile from the school. So I would just go down the road right here,

last house on the right, we'll be there on Friday. And it suddenly became this really cool spot. And I was like, you know, I was never like not cool in school but I got real cool because of this. Same. Same. We're going over there. I also got to a point too where I was like, can we please, is anyone else's parents gone

this weekend? Can we go party at your house? I'm just sick of being here. Yeah. Like I'm here all the time, but it did become a place where everyone came. And same, like they knew if you just hopped up because we lived in a it was I say it was a duplex, but I mean that's it was like If a duplex was I don't know is a quarterplex a real thing because that's what the fuck it was like

Yeah, three. It was like taking it. It was like taking a duplex and then cutting it in half and living in that like even small Oh, you just had a small. Yeah, it was like a regular place. They made a duplex. Oh yeah. Yeah. Two bedroom, and me and both my brothers shared a bedroom all like from 10th through 12th grade. And you know, you'd want to go to sleep at night. Yeah.

And there's a guy up in one of our beds. Two brothers must be wild, huh? Two brothers, and I'm a twin. So I've got one, we don't look alike, but same age. Yeah. And so I'm in a twin bed here, got one we don't look like but same age. Yeah. And so I'm in a twin bed here and they're right next to me in bunk beds. Yeah. That was our room from 10th, 11th and 12th grade.

All three of us together and then I would want to go to bed and since I was the solo bed that wasn't in the bunk beds I'd come up and there'd be someone in there with their girlfriend. I'm like you gotta get the fuck out of here. Oh yeah. Go fuck in my mom's bed over there. Yeah, yeah. It's all geese and stuff.

She had a big geese thing going on. I know about that. That's, it's a shame that I do know about that. Yeah, yeah. Because my mom lived in like a log cabin house. So it was a loft. So there was her bedroom and then there was a loft where it was wide open, right?

And that was my bedroom. But it's like, when there's a party, there's no privacy in the loft. So the only privacy would be my mom's room. And it's sad to say, but that is the truth. Yeah, you bang out in your mom's room. A lot of action went on in my mom's room. That got way more action than she gave.

Yeah, who knows? But. My mom's did. But it did get some action, I'll say that. And yeah, and it's like, it was such a blast. I mean, these times were like, so carefree in such a way. Like my life is still pretty easy, but it's like, back then it was like, I don't know.

Like I remember waking up and after a party and just going through all these ashtrays and there were all these like little blunt roaches in there and I just was breaking them all up and I rolled like a, just a roach joint. And then I had no, nobody was at my house. So I went looking for somebody. So I drove by a friend's house and I found this guy

and me and this guy didn't, we went to high school together. We didn't know each other that well, but he was pretty sad this day, his his girlfriend had just broke up with him. And he was real sad. And we just smoke this, this blunt joint and a roach joint. And then like the dirtiest weed already. And then he played on guitar, a Mark Chestnut song called, I don't know how I'll get her off my mind. And I know the lyrics to that song.

And we just sang, we just got high and sang that. He's so sad. And I'm like, I got nothing to do. You know what I mean? Yeah. And we, yeah, we had a great time. Did you know nearly 75% of people have subscriptions they forgot about? Between streaming services, fitness apps, delivery services, it's

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Now, let's get back to the do. And so I did that up until I was 21 and that's when I got off probation. Okay, so you were just drinking, partied on probation for the two years pretty much. Right, and so this cop that arrested me, that kept me from going to the army and you know, essentially serving my country. I'm now just in a trailer doing drugs and drinking.

So he really, really helped me out. And in a lot of ways, I am very thankful to this guy, but not not because of what where his heart was at per se, but I'm glad I didn't go. Yeah. You know, but who knows? Maybe I could have went, my life took a different direction and maybe I really liked the direction that went. There's a certain person made for the military.

Yeah. And thank every single one of you for your service. Absolutely. I can tell you. It ain't me. Yeah, it's not me. It ain't me. I got up to almost doing it as well and then I was like, no, man, they kept lying to me and all the computers went down when I was there

and they're like, so we're just gonna assign you jet mechanic and I was like, that's the same thing you guys said when I first interviewed, was like, let's just say you're a jet mechanic and I was like, that's interesting that, no. So weird shady shit happened. Then my grandma passed and I was like, I'm interesting that now. So weird shady shit happened. Then my grandma passed and I was like, I'm not going, fuck this shit.

I'll be miserable and lonely. I won't know anybody and everybody's dead now. So yeah, I didn't go either. But it's funny, because in life you think that people give you advice. I don't know, just in general, I feel like it's gonna come from this kind little pat on the back, like, hey, Dusty, you know?

Yeah. But here's a guy who was a dick about it, but still. Oh yeah. It's like being in a car crash and it waking you the fuck up and going, oh, okay, yeah, I shouldn't be doing that shit. Oh yeah. Well, you know, speaking of advice,

people will give you advice when you're younger and they're like, you realize later, they don't know anything. No. That their lives are miserable. I've told them that all the time. Also, do you remember the time when you were a kid and you saw an adult and it first hit you were like, I'm smarter than you.

Oh yeah. You just assume older people know everything and then all of a sudden it hits you one day like, Oh my God, there's a lot of dumb ones of you out there. I think as you get older and like your dumb friends are now older and you realize, oh, at one point the age of this person would have been an older person to me. And you've been dumb your whole life. So these dumb people are out there.

They're out there. They were out there when I was kids and they're just giving advice to people. And I'm like, you don't, you're like, so that's my thing now. Well, people give me advice. I look at their life. That's right.

Through that filter, you're a miserable person. Yeah. And I go, do I want this? Now, I think there's a couple of ways you can look at it. One, you can say, well, this person made a lot of bad decisions. So maybe they've learned from that. Right, maybe.

Yeah. You gotta roll the dice on that. But I don't know if they did. I just want advice from people that have lives that I'd like to live. So what happens to you now after you're finally off probation, you're not going to the army, what happens now?

Well, I moved to Charleston, South Carolina. And why, what made you do that? Well, me and a buddy, we both had some like grand New Year's Eve plans and they both like fell through and we ended up hanging out and we were like, this town sucks. Now I don't think my hometown sucks, but at 21- Everyone thinks their hometown sucks.

Yeah, at 21 I did. I was like, I gotta get out of here. So we decided that we were like, you know what? By the end of this year, we're gotta get out of here. So we decided that we were like, you know what? By the end of this year, we're gonna move out of here. So we went to Savannah, Georgia. Savannah, Georgia, they had this, they had come to my high school to talk to us, Savannah College of Art and Design.

And I'm like, you know, I've always been a little artsy. I like to draw, I like doing these things. I was like, that seems cool. I don't know how, and it was so expensive. I'm like, there's no way I'm ever gonna go to this school. But I thought, you know, maybe I could just go to Savannah and Savannah seems like a cool place. So we went and visited

and his dad was living in Charleston at the time. So we thought, well, while we're here, it's just another two hour drive north to go to Charleston. Let's go visit his dad. And we went up there and his dad showed us around and I'm like, Charleston is awesome. Like it was this, you know, it's changed a good bit now, but this was 2004 and it was a nice like quaint city,

kind of hidden, nobody really knew about it. And I was like, this is where I want to go. So we decided to go there. He got a job, my friend had done a little college, so he got a job with the hospital, MUSC, and then I transferred with Office Depot. So he moves up there. Moves you Office Depot like that much they let you transfer.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I was doing good. You know, I was crushing that's great. I was crushing it at Office Depot. I was you know, when I was working there, I was the receiving manager, but the manager position was no longer a thing. So I was just the receiver. And so I would go in in the morning, unload the truck with the forklift, and then check in all the stuff, and then break the pallet down,

put it on carts, then stock the shelves. Each time they would fire someone, I would just take over that position. And so I'd go to, people would buy furniture and I'd have to go load it with a forklift, but there would never be a person to help me. So I would find out where it was at. I would raise the forks up to the shelf

and then climb the shelf and then load the furniture on, climb back down, lower the shelf. Can you have a ladder? Well, it was, you know, it's big furniture. So you need the forklift. Oh, like the office desks and all that stuff. And then I could go up to the front, ring them up at the cash register.

I could do everything in the store. I wasn't getting any respect in there, but I could do everything in the store. I wasn't getting any respect in there, but I could do everything in the store. I knew where everything was at and I was on drugs, you know? You know what I mean? That's how easy it is to work at Office Depot and be a good employee. Yeah, I knew everything in the store.

Just say yes to drugs. Yeah. And so then I moved, so that transferred and I was employee of the month at the new office depot. I think the second month I was there, they were like, wow, this guy can do everything. And then a month later I called in sick cause I was hung over and they were acting like,

oh, we made a mistake transferring you here. They really tried to lay it on. For one day. Yeah, they really tried to lay it on thick. For one day. Yeah, they really tried to lay it on thick, but it was fine. I was a budding alcoholic at the time, and I was just getting used to people saying things like that to me.

So this would be, you know, the next nine years, I would be prepared for people's disappointment with me for being too drunk. But, you know, So my friend moves there and has the best job he's ever had in his life. He's making big money. And I'm making the same money now in Charleston that I was making in Opel Ica.

And my rent went from 120 a month to 500 a month. And so I was like, things were tight for me. And then my buddy, who I'm still friends with, we're like best friends, but at the time he moved his girlfriend up. And so our whole plan, our whole moving plan became him and his girlfriend hanging out and me alone in this new town.

So I had no friends. Everybody I worked with at Office Depot was old. I had nothing, you know, I had no money. So I saw in a paper, an ad for improv classes. And I didn't even really know what improv was. But it was comedy. And I thought, you know, maybe I'll give this a try. So I signed up for improv classes. And that's how I would meet people to get into stand

up. Okay, so it really was out of this loneliness that I found common. That your career was born. Yeah, but I started hanging out with improv people and then I started working at a restaurant, hanging out with restaurant people. So the improv people were like so silly and like always doing games, you know, like we were hanging out at the bar

and they're like still on. And I've never been like that. Like I like improv and I like them, but I was like, so I would get, I think that I would get really drunk to try to like be silly like them. And so, you know, I was just becoming an alcoholic. And then I was also working at the restaurant and that's all we would get off work and just, you know,

it's like the bars close at two, we're off at midnight. We got an hour and a half before they're doing last call. So how fast can we drink? And so that's, you know, and then I would do that. And then I, you know, I became a pesticide salesman. So I would be selling pesticides, waiting tables, doing improv, doing a little standup.

Well, tell me about the alcoholism. You say it was nine years of drinking, like before you really finally, because you're sober now, right? Yeah. And have been for how long? Twelve years. That's great. Yeah. But, you know, do you not trust yourself with it? Oh, no. You don't?

Because for me, it always was I'm fine to not drink. But the moment I have a drink, I'm like, oh, it just really gets in me. And I'm like, oh, this just really gets in me and I'm like, ooh, this is fun. So many people have sat there and explained to me, because I'm fortunate, because I can drink half a beer and leave it. Yeah. I'll smoke a whole joint, but I'll leave a half a beer.

Yeah, see I'm the opposite. But other people are like, if I have one, I want 20. Right. And they mean 20. They don't mean four or five, they mean if I have one, I'm going. Oh, yeah. You would too?

Yeah, I mean, I'll talk to people about blacking out sometimes, and they'll be like, oh, yeah, I blacked out one time, and it was crazy. I'm like, I was blacking out once a week. Were you really? I mean, I feel like once you black out, like you're really susceptible to blacking out again. And I used to black out all the time.

I mean, once a week may be extreme, but I'm sure there were times where I blacked out multiple times in a week where, you know, I would just drink so much and then we, you know, we, and I had a friend and this was my real problem. My friend was also just like me and we could not embarrass each other. There was never, like I had other buddies, we'd be out and they'd go, hey, you know, kind of lock it up. And I'm like, all right, all right, all right, all right.

All right. You know what I mean? But this guy's like, he's like, nah, this is fun. He's like ramp it up. You know, we're like, we're agging each other. You know, it's like, I would get kicked out of a bar and then my friend would, you know, he would get kicked out just so we could leave together.

I mean, it was like, there was no embarrassing us. And you know, I got kicked out of a bar. I got into a fight with a guy at a bar and I started throwing coasters at him. Like, there's no reason for any of this. It was for his being alone. Yeah, just, I had a lot of insecurities I used to deal with.

And I think when I would get really drunk, these, I was now like overcompensating in a way. Like, I might think someone doesn't really like me. Like, if I think someone doesn't really like me now, I'll just like talk to them and see if they don't like me. But back then I wouldn't, I just assume you don't like me. So now I'm trash talking you. And I'm drunk enough to do it to your face.

Gotcha. And then they'll start, and I remember just flicking a few coasters and they kicked me out. And then me and my buddy left and we drove, I remember we drove to the gas station and we were like in the gas station, like in the parking lot, yelling, we were on top of the car.

We got kicked out of the gas station parking lot. I don't know anybody that's got kicked out of a gas station. That's the place you go and you get kicked out of somewhere else. Yeah. But I was always pretty good at talking. I got kicked out of a sushi bar one time. We were-

Or what? Well, we were, it was me and a bunch of work people and we were at kind of the, whatever the thing is where you're all sitting around the grill while the guy's flipping things up and I'm trash talking another guy at the table that I work with, that I like. We were friends. I don't know what happened to me.

It's just like, I'm like the alcoholic that you see on TV that gets drunk enough to start verbally abusing people. That's who I am. It's just like, I'm like the alcoholic that you see on TV that gets drunk enough to start verbally abusing people. That's who I am. Not physically, but I'm like, I'm verbally abusing people for no reason. I like them. It's a hibachi girl in front of everybody.

This guy's flipping through this, he was having shit, you're like, fuck you, Greg. Yeah, exactly. For no reason. But I always had like a lot of kind of rough around the edges friends that really liked me because I was, you know, pretty wild. So people didn't really want to fight me because I had these other friends. And it was like, I don't know, it was pretty ridiculous. I got myself into a lot of situations that I probably would have been really beat up had I not had these friends that I had.

You know, people with real messed up knuckles where you look at them and go, oh, you've been fighting a lot, huh? And, but they always liked me. These kinds of people always liked me. And I liked them. But, so I got into an argument with this guy and his girlfriend, and then they kicked me out.

And I went to another bar and I had a beer and then the bartender at that place cut me off. And so I went back to the sushi restaurant and I talked to the bouncer and I was like, I'll be cool, man. I'll be, I'm totally cool now. And he goes, all right. And then like I was out again in three minutes.

I think, I mean, I went right back. He let you in and you went right for it. Yeah. Yeah. And that, you know, I mean, it's like, you know, I mean, I try to make jokes about these things, but it's like, you know, you're talking about lows here. I mean, that was what was happening to me.

When I was like sober throughout the day, I would make friends, people like hanging out with me, we could go to the bar. And if we kept it light, a few beers, I mean, I was like making friends with everybody in the bar. We were having a great time, but it'd be like one shot and my eyes would get real glossy

and I would get a little sweaty. And my friend could say, he would tell me, he said, I could always look in your eyes and know when you're gone and know when something's about to happen. And that's what I would do. I would lose all these friends. I would lose friends all the time. They would be like, I had no idea you were like that. Oh, really?

I'm like, yeah, well, and you get tough to it in a way to where you're like, hey, if you can't hang, you can't hang. I mean, that's not my problem. You know, if you don't want to, if you can't hang, you can't hang. I mean, that's not my problem, you know? If you don't want to get kicked out of a couple of bars, that's not my problem. You'll be a pussy. Right. Yeah.

Yeah. Right? I mean, it's like, I thought we were drinking. That's what drinking is. Yeah, are we drinking or are we drinking here? Couple of bars. Yeah. And I loved it.

I mean, I would get banned from, Banned, you'd been banned? There used to be a manager at a restaurant I worked at and he gave me a real hard time when he was my manager. And then he left and became a manager at another bar in town that we used to all go drink at. And I was in there and I was, and he was kind of helping our table

because he knew everybody, but I was really letting him have it. You know, I was, this is a big dude, kind of helping our table cause he knew everybody, but I was really letting him have it. You know, I was, this is a big dude, right? So if we got into a fight, he would have killed me. What do you say? Like what kind of stuff are you saying? Just, you know, trash talking. I mean, I-

Are you, are you like challenging him? Like you want to go outside or anything or just shitting on him? Just shitting on him. Okay. Right, I keep it all pretty clean now, but I used to be a pretty foul mouth guy and I would really trash talk him, you know, and he-

Publicly in front of all these kids. In front of everybody, because I was like, yeah, you used to make my life hard. Now here's my chance to get back at you. And then he banned me from the bar. He got banned. Even the bartenders, because we always tip well, we're restaurant people, right?

So the bartenders loved me, even though I got rowdy, they were like, well, he pays us a lot of money. So I would go in there and they go, I wish I could serve you. They're like, I just can't, I'm not allowed to. And so, but eventually I got back in there, me and that guy are friends now. But also he was a twin, by the way, he had a twin brother. And, but, you know, and so that's, you know, that will be a pattern through my whole life. I'm through my, through that whole time in Charleston, I wrecked a car, I flipped a car and you know, that will be a pattern through my whole life, through my, through that whole

time in Charleston. I wrecked a car, I flipped a car and you know, no one ever got hurt, but I flipped a car, landed on the roof of the car, had to crawl out and you know, I, you know, I, I, I managed by yourself. I was, well, I was with my drinking buddy and I always say, I have a joke about it now. I just say I was by myself because I don't need to drag him into it. But because we just, you know, we got out, we got home. A guy picked us up. He just left the car. Yeah, it was

in like a swamp area. What was it? It was a had a 99 Saturn. It was a four door real family car. You know, there's an annoying automatic seatbelt that would come out. Yeah, yeah, great bumpers annoying automatic seat belt that would come through all the shit. Yeah, yeah. Great bumpers, five mile per hour bumpers. They say you could hit anything.

I was going to say it's plastic. Yeah, you could hit anything going five miles per hour and it wouldn't do any damage. And I really put that to the test. You made it out of a fucking flipped sack. Yeah, flipped it, landed on the roof. Do you remember it? Oh yeah, pretty well, yeah. What happened?

Is it night? Is it day? It was night and I left a party, partying with restaurant people. And you know, we in Charleston, and I don't know if this is like this everywhere, but back in the day, there was no Uber, no Lyft, and cabs were pretty unreliable. We had a cab company in town,

but you'd call them and they'd be real rude to you and they're like, all right, we'll be there. But they won't give you any time and they could come and somebody else could scoop up your cab. So we just drove. I mean, everybody was drinking driving all the time. I think it's obviously dangerous and don't do it, right? But it's like when you're out in the country drinking and driving, you're on a dark road and you're on a long road and you get sleepy and you're so- No shoulders, it's just right into the grass? Yeah, it's like in Charleston, it's, you know, we had this thing where it's like you stay,

these three communities, downtown, West Ashley, James Island, we always said, if you stay in those three communities, you're not gonna get pulled over. And it was all four lanes, well lit. So drinking and driving was pretty easy. But this night I was at a party and people that I used to drink and drive with all the time,

I remember a couple of people being like, let us drive you home. That was where I was so drunk to where even my alcoholic drinking and driving friends were like, let us drive you home. Give us your cheese stuff. And, but I was like, nah, I got it. And then, I'm on some back roads.

And it was like a 90 degree turn. And I just kind of sailed over. I didn't make the turn. I just kind of went on in. And there was a spot where there was a telephone pole. And then there was another spot with a broken telephone pole. Now, I didn't break it. Somebody else hit that thing.

Somebody else had done it. And so I think I hit the stop that was sticking up because the axle of my car was ripped back. And so I think I hit it and then kind of spun and flipped. Both of my side mirrors were broke. Did you do one flip or did you roll? I think I did one complete flip because it broke both side mirrors.

So, yeah, so it was a mess. And you both were okay? We both were okay. Like, what's that moment? You're upside down or you landed on the tires? I kind of remember like just being out of the car. I didn't get thrown out, but I just, you know, we probably weren't wearing seat belts, you know,

so we got right out. You might've been in that Saturn, bro. Might've been. Might've been in that Saturn, bro. Might've been. Might've been in that Saturn. The airbags did come out. Did they? We had a little airbag burn, but overall we were pretty good.

And I quit drinking for a month after that. A month? Yeah. And my buddy, he had a beer that morning. We went to lunch. I mean, he's like, I didn't wreck. You know what I mean? Oh! He didn't wreck. You know what I mean? Oh!

He didn't wreck. Yeah. He is wrecked. He is wrecked. Yeah, he's like, that's your problem. You gotta deal with this. Me, I'm, I gotta drink because I gotta hang out with you.

Tell me a little bit about your dad. So your dad moves away, but he's local enough, but it's just a different town? Yeah, well, you know, my mom and dad lived in the house that my dad basically grew up in. My grandfather built the house my dad lives in in 1947. My dad's dad died when he was 19, and they moved, him and his mom moved for 10 years.

And then the guy who bought his house offered to sell it back to my dad. So other than 10 years, my dad's been there his whole life. Oh wow, okay. So my mom moved in with him when they got married. So when they got divorced, she moved out. And my dad still lives in that house. So stayed where he was.

Yeah. Is that where you were born? Were you born in that house? I was- I mean, that's where you spent your first couple of years. Yeah, I mean where you were born? Were you born in that house? I was. I mean, that's where you spent your first couple of years. Yeah, I mean, I was born, you know, I was in a, I was born in a hospital. I'm not even trying to be funny about it,

but yeah, I wasn't born in the house, but the, yeah. And then I lived there for three years. And then I grew up going back and forth and my dad got remarried and had, I had two stepbrothers growing up, but only at his house. So every other weekend- Never crossed. Yeah.

They didn't come party with you guys? No, no. Wow. Well, they were, my dad got divorced from her before I started partying. Gotcha. So they, you know, they got divorced probably when I was about 14.

And then my dad remarried when I was 15 to the wife he's married to now. She's great. A year later, he remarried. Pretty quick. And they've been together ever since. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, close to 20 years, if not 20 years now.

Aren't you close with your dad? Were you always back then too? Yeah, I'm close with both of my parents. I mean, I don't, you know, we're not hanging out a bunch. We're not talking a bunch, but we do, we are close. You know, I don't, you know, I don't know. We, I don't think that I have the kind of bond where we're like, you know.

You call and talk weekly to your mom or? I'd say every two weeks maybe. That's not bad. Yeah, I try to, you know, I try to keep, keep going, but you know, there's always a lot of family stuff to where I end up talking about other family members and then it becomes an issue. And so.

So let me ask you this then, what's the moment you just say, fuck it all, I need to get clean. Like what happens and why do you do it? Well, I was thinking, it's just 2011. I was thinking of moving to LA. I came to LA and I had not been drinking. I had taken another break, but I came out here

and I started hanging out with a buddy and we drank the whole time. I was here like a week. We drank the whole time. I did a couple of shows, nothing that I even remember, but I liked it and I was like, all right, that's what I wanna do. My old roommate from Charleston was living out here

and I was like, all right, I wanna move to LA. So then my friend that lived in New York City, he's like, why don't you come up here for a few days and just see if you'd rather move to New York City before going to LA. So then my friend that lived in New York City, he's like, why don't you come up here for a few days and just see if you'd rather move to New York City before going to LA. So I drove up to New York from Charleston, hung out with him, drank all week. I came home and I partied all weekend in Charleston.

I just drank Thursday. I got back on a Thursday. I partied Thursday, partied Friday. I went out on a date on Saturday. A very successful date. The girl liked me, I think we probably would have started dating. It went very well, but I drank and then when the date ended,

I went to another bar and drank some more. And the next day, I just felt so run down. My body was just exhausted. I was smoking a lot of cigarettes, I could barely breathe. I just felt really awful. And I just was like, you know what? I'm gonna take a break. And then I just decided that I was gonna take a break

for a while. And I just started to feel so good in this break. I wasn't smoking, I wasn't drinking. I just quit them both. And I started to feel so good that I was just like, why would I ever do that again? And I just- So no rehab or anything like that?

No, I was, you know, I was, I was doing comedy and comedy was going well. I had won our local comedy competition in Charleston, which was a big deal. I'd never won it before, but I won in 2011. Big deal to me at the time. And I was like, all right, this is great. But then I quit drinking shortly after winning that.

And I considered quitting comedy. I was like, I don't know what I'm doing, but I went through a total life change. I was selling pesticides as a job. And I was like, so upside down in my car, like I ragged out this car, wrecked my car so many times and it was so beat up. I traded it in, carried over a negative equity on that.

So the moment I bought the new car, I already owed way more than it was worth. And my insurance was so expensive. My insurance got up to like 500 a month because I had so many tickets and so many wrecks. I mean, I had a totaled a car. Yeah, totaled a car. So I had to, so I was just like in this spot

and I quit drinking and I decided that I was gonna quit my job. But the only way I could afford to quit the job is if I sold the car. So I just, I live downtown and I decided that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna quit the job, I'm gonna sell the car, and I'm just gonna, you know,

I'm gonna wait tables a few days a week. I already had my job lined up. And so that's what I did. And so for two years, I had no car, not drinking. I was riding a bike everywhere. I lost like 40 pounds in two months. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. I mean.

40 pounds in two months. Yeah, you were definitely drinking a lot. My face was very swollen. My stomach was huge. And I just, you know, I started working out. And Charleston is really flat. It's really easy to bike in Charleston and I would ride seven miles to the gym and workout and then ride home. I was only

working three days a week. I had I was hosting trivia in a couple of bars and I would host an open mic that I got paid to do. So that's how I was making a living. And I was like, this is what I'm talking about. I feel like for the first time ever, I had like some real freedom. You know, I lost some friends in a way because they're all still hanging out in the bars and I can't convince them to quit drinking. They're like, we're having fun. You have a problem, not us.

But I just, I don't know, I felt like I really like took my life back and I was not even, I was like, I'm still doing this open mic, but I may quit comedy. I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I just feel good in this like free space that I'm in. That's great.

And I just feel like in that, I decided that I wanted to do comedy, but I never, I was like, you know, there's a way to make a living doing comedy without ever being famous, without ever having to do anything. You can just work the road. And I was like, if I can do the, I hated the pesticide job so much. I hated it, but it was a salary position. I had 401k. I had Terminix. Who were you working with? I was, well, I was a sales rep. So I would go to Lowe's and

Home Depot and sell. Oh, you were one of the big guys. Yeah. So it was like, but I hated it. I just abs, it was just killing my soul. And I was like always like a real artistic guy. And I feel like that drinking like almost like drained that artistic thing for me because I just fell into this party life.

You know, I'd be reading, you know reading Charles Bukowski poems and being like, well, he was an alcoholic and a great poet. That's what I wanna be. I wanna be an alcoholic that's also an artist. But it really was just partying. I was just chasing this endless party. And I feel like when I quit drinking, I like all of the artisticness came back to me.

I was suddenly writing a lot more and I was going to, I would go to the coffee shop and just drink coffee and just write. And I was, I was drawing again, you know, I was like really living the kind of life that I had been wanting to live, but I didn't know how to do it. And I was also free from this corporate job

that I was trapped in. I mean, I had a joke for a while. I was on this kind of like a church retreat one time and this guy asked me, it was just kind of a, would you, he was like, would you eat a piece of poop the size of a fun-sized Snickers bar for a million dollars? And I was like, for a million dollars, I'll eat a king-sized Duke, right?

Because I hated my life. So a million dollars to me meant, that means I'll eat a king-size Duke, right? Because I hated my life. So a million dollars to me meant that means I never have a boss that gets to yell at me again. I'm like free from that. But now I like my life. So I definitely would not be eating poop for money, you know? Yeah, good for you. Yeah, you know? That's great, dude, man. Yeah.

Thank you for coming on here and sharing your stories. It's great. Yeah. I mentioned to you before we recorded, when we get to the end, I'm going to ask you advice you'd give to your 16-year-old self. So after everything we've talked about, what advice would you give to 16-year-old Dusty Slay? Well, I think that I would just say to just take it easy.

It's like, you think that everything needs to happen right now, you think that, but it's like, it's a long journey. Life is a long journey where you're learning things all along the way. Just take it easy. You don't have to, you know, it's like, I just remember thinking like, oh, I gotta, I gotta,

you know, I gotta have a girlfriend now, or I gotta be doing this now, or I need to make some money now. It's like, if you just know that like, you, I gotta have a girlfriend now, or I gotta be doing this now, or I need to make some money now. It's like, if you just know that like, you just get on the right path that you like, and just learn to do things. Like if you wanna play guitar, but you can't play, it's like, well, just start trying.

Just start taking some time. And I would say, don't drink as much. Like really, you don't need drinking. Because that's the thing about a drinking lifestyle is you get into that and you're like, well, everything you do then becomes, your buddy comes to town and you go, oh, let's go have some beers.

And if you're like you and you can have a half beer, that's amazing. But if you're like me, going and having beers means we're out all night. You get thrown out of three bars. Yeah, and it will be a blast, but it won't be productive. I got beat up one time. I did get beat up one time, pretty bad.

Both my eyes were swollen shut. I got jumped by a couple of dudes. Now it was my fault. They probably should have jumped to me, but. They fucked you up? Yeah, yeah, pretty bad. Both my eyes were swollen shut. And yeah, but I was like, even in that,

I have friends that still remember me saying to them, I had this coming guys. Like, I wasn't even that mad about it. I can't see it now, but I can tell you, I did see this coming. Yeah, I mean, I'm like, yeah, I mean, but it's like, that's what I would say. I'm gonna say just, you know, take it easy.

Like you're not where you wanna be right now, but you will get there. So just, you know, don't put so much pressure on yourself. Like I used to, I feel like I used to call myself weird a lot, right? I got into this thing and I still do it a little bit now, but now I'm at a better place in life. But I got into calling myself weird.

And then I started to feel weird. And then my brother-in-law said to me one day, he goes, why you keep calling yourself weird? He goes, you're not weird. Why you keep calling yourself that? And so I stopped calling myself weird, and I stopped feeling weird. And I started feeling, I'm like, you know what?

I'm not weird. I'm a normal person. But calling myself weird all the time made me think when I was in these social settings that I was weird. And I just feel like when I stopped calling myself that, I was like able to exist more as a normal person and just not feel self-conscious. I just think that things can get put on you

when you're growing up that you don't even realize get put on you. Also, you think there's such a big deal and then when you get older, you're like, that was nothing. Yeah. Yeah. But it's everything at that time. You know, not- Yeah.

And I have a friend who told me that when you start to get wasted all the time, you stop maturing, right? So you kind of can get stuck in this phase where you're at. And I feel like I started to get, I started to drink at 17, but I started to get wasted when I turned 21, when it was really legal for me because it's socially acceptable, right?

I mean, even wasted, you're like, oh, I got wasted. And you're like, hey, you're in your twenties, man. Just enjoy it. That's what they always say. And I'm like, but the moment I quit drinking at 29, it would be my 30th year, but I was still 29. I felt like I matured and I got smart so fast. I just feel like that I,

I feel like I grew so fast in a year that was pretty unbelievable. I won the comedy competition for the second time in 2012 after quitting drinking. But like, like way above, like I barely won in 2011, but in 2012, it was like very clear that I was the winner, you know, because I just, you know, matured and grew up and knew what I was talking about.

And I don't know, I don't know if that makes sense, the kind of advice that I would give to myself, but that's what I would say. Thank you, Dusty Slate. Promote everything again one more time, please. Well, yeah, I got a Netflix special on on Netflix called called Working Man. And it's very funny. I'm, you know,

sometimes I get on these podcasts and I'm like, I feel like I'm not being funny. I just start talking. But when I'm doing standup, I am very joke oriented. It's joke, joke, joke. So it's a lot of fun. I got an hour also on YouTube that I like. I do a lot of trailer park jokes and I got the We're Having a Good Time podcast I do. I do the Nate Land podcast.

And if you wanna come see me live, go to dustyslay.com. There it is. All right, thank you, man. As always, Ryan Sickler on all your social media RyanSickler.com. Come see me on tour. All tickets are on my website now. Talk to y'all next week. You