Episode Transcript
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And now, join Kevin Hart as
0:57
he dives into the minds of some
0:59
of the world's funniest comedies. This
1:02
is Comedy Gold Mines with
1:05
Kevin Hart. Whatever
1:07
world, welcome to all your episode
1:09
of Comedy Gold Mines. but we
1:11
do what? When we get inside the minds
1:13
of brilliant comedians and oh my god, what
1:15
amazing minds they are and today, Well,
1:18
today today we got an amazing mind.
1:20
We also have an amazing personality. We
1:22
got an amazing spirit. We got an
1:24
all around good fucking guy, man.
1:26
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Fluffy,
1:29
AKA, Gabriel, Gracias
1:31
to the show. What's going on with you, Gay?
1:33
Brilliant mind. That's thank you. Bring
1:36
your mind. I consider
1:37
every comedian, every comic.
1:40
I
1:40
do not care who you
1:42
are I do not care what you do.
1:44
If you are in the space of
1:46
comedy, if you're in the space of
1:48
laughter and and developing, providing
1:51
somehow, breaking it to people, you
1:53
have a brilliant mind because this is not an easy
1:56
job. And this job that we have,
1:58
this shows about making people understand the
1:59
people, the individuals. the the
2:02
the brain behind the movement in the
2:04
machine. And god damn man,
2:06
amazing minds you have.
2:08
So I mean it when I say it. k? How
2:10
you doing, man? I'm doing great, man. I'm a
2:12
a little groggy forgive me if I'm if
2:14
I keep doing that. If
2:16
this is It's kinda early. It's
2:18
kinda early for me. I was I was talking really.
2:21
Some of your crew earlier about when
2:23
do you breathe? because honestly, my schedule
2:25
is so exhausting. I looked at your schedule, and
2:27
I'm like, how is it that Kevin's doing a movie,
2:29
doing a TV show? He's on live right
2:31
now and he's working out. There's, like, gotta
2:33
be nineteen Kevin Hartz. I am
2:35
a very busy guy, man. I'm
2:37
I'm an active and active
2:39
person, but III love it. I thrive
2:41
off of it. need to move. I'm one of those people
2:43
that just can't sit down. What about you? What time
2:45
does your day start? Are you a late riser? Oh, man.
2:47
I'm a I'm a somebody that needs to nap, really? and
2:51
that is crucial. Give me a ideal time.
2:53
What time do you wake up? What what time are you getting
2:55
up? let's see. Normally, when I can get up,
2:57
it's probably around ten o'clock in the morning. And
2:59
the reason it's seven o'clock in the morning when I get up is because
3:01
I usually go to bed around three to four in the morning.
3:03
Okay. I I function better at night. If
3:05
you're more lucid at night, I feel a lot better
3:07
at night and so yeah. I got the hamster
3:10
hours. So at nighttime though, when you say
3:12
you function at night, what are you doing in the middle of
3:14
night? Are you just up? Are you are you
3:16
watching TV? Are you in
3:18
the streets? Are you in the studio?
3:21
What does the what does the nighttime provide
3:23
you. Where where where does the energy come from? And
3:26
why? Well, I think it depends on the time of the week
3:28
because, you know, there's certain time of the week where I'm
3:30
on tour, on the road, on different city.
3:33
hotel room, I'm a tour bus. It's
3:35
right after the show. Sometimes it shows Anne
3:37
eleven. The other night, I had to show Anne right
3:39
at midnight. So there's that come down period
3:41
of you know, before you go to bed.
3:43
And then during, you know, Monday to Wednesday,
3:45
I'm usually home. Okay. And so most of the
3:47
time, I spent it either on social media, just,
3:49
you know, finding out there's, you know, going back and
3:51
forth with fans or,
3:53
you know, see what's on TV. Love it.
3:55
Okay. So right now, you own a row right now,
3:58
Gabe, was it immediately at the pandemic?
4:00
Did you just, like, pick right back up? Go
4:02
right into it? Or was there a second of, like, getting
4:04
familiar with the stage again,
4:06
you know, getting your jokes and shit together? How
4:09
fast did you go out? Well, I was off for over
4:11
a year. I think all of us none of us could
4:13
really get into it. Yeah. Some of
4:15
us had to be extra creative. By the way, I love
4:17
the the fact that you pulled that off. I'm like,
4:19
oh, you still found a way to go. Stand up.
4:22
So you
4:24
know everybody watches you. Right, Kim? everybody
4:27
watches me like, what is he doing? How's he
4:29
doing? What what's he up to now? I put
4:31
that shit together, Gabe. I did it in. I put
4:33
it together and two and two months of
4:35
my listeners you're talking about, don't fuck this
4:37
up. And literally, we were sitting
4:39
around and I figured out a way to
4:41
go, work on material, but I was like,
4:43
right now, people want content,
4:45
they want IP. If I can
4:47
figure out a safe way to do it
4:49
and prepare for it, I'm I'm
4:51
gonna try it. So the challenge to me was just
4:53
doing it in that short period of time.
4:55
You know, you're talking about, like, forty five,
4:57
fifty days. I put this set together. And
4:59
I was like, alright. I'm gonna I'm gonna shoot it. was that
5:01
was me and my my adjustment
5:04
to the now. Right? This is what
5:06
the world was going through. So how do I adjust
5:08
how do I put something out there? that's how I did
5:10
it. Yeah. And I was getting pressure
5:12
from Netflix because I was supposed to deliver a new
5:14
special in September of twenty twenty.
5:16
Mhmm. And so it was one of those things where once
5:18
there was an opportunity to perform
5:21
somewhere because the whole country whole
5:23
world was closed, but there was two states that
5:25
basically that didn't acknowledge COVID
5:27
-- Exactly. -- Texas -- Yeah. -- in Florida.
5:29
Florida. Yeah. Google rebels. Yeah. Yeah.
5:32
Look look over. I says, you know what, I
5:34
can't do anything in California. So I had an
5:36
idea that, okay, how about I do a
5:38
residency somewhere? You know, we'll do a whole
5:40
thing where we got this COVID protocol where everybody
5:42
stays in the bubble. Same group of people.
5:44
We had doctors on deck. I actually
5:46
had, like, you know, people testing every
5:48
day to make sure everyone's safe.
5:50
Holy shit. And so we're gonna do thirty
5:52
shows, in thirty days in San Antonio,
5:54
to Texas. And then on the thirtieth day, we'll shoot
5:56
a new Netflix special. And so this way,
5:58
you know, I get to get warmed
6:00
up again, have thirty consistent shows. We're
6:02
not going anywhere. We're not on planes
6:04
or trains, and it's the same car going back and
6:06
forth. We rented a house. and it was
6:08
the same people in the house. I told everybody it was, like,
6:10
the Mexican version of the real world because it's just
6:12
all, like, hey, come out of the way. Come back. Come on.
6:14
Yeah. It was, like, we're all hanging up together. And
6:17
unfortunately, on the twenty seventh
6:19
day, I tested positive for COVID.
6:21
I managed to get COVID some holy shit
6:23
out there. And it's weird because we
6:25
had a a team of thirty people. With
6:27
all the crew of production and everybody, I
6:29
was the only one that got sick. So we still
6:31
don't know who I got COVID from. The only
6:33
people I came in contact with really were
6:36
media. Mhmm. I did I did some interviews and stuff
6:38
to promote the shows in San Antonio,
6:40
but Other than that, man, it's like, how
6:42
the hell did it happen? How was your battle with COVID?
6:44
Was it was it a tough one, or were or were you
6:46
okay? No. Actually, the
6:48
first night that that I felt something, I
6:50
went up on stage and I felt as good as I feel right
6:52
now. And in that short span of,
6:54
like, an hour and a half, When I got off stage, I
6:56
had chills, body aches, and I
6:58
was really, really just I was cold.
7:00
And I'm not a person that's cold. I'm always complaining
7:03
about how hot it is. And so -- Mhmm. --
7:05
I had my tour manager that put a
7:07
blanket on me. I was freezing. And they still had
7:09
a second show. So They came in and
7:11
they tested me, and I tested negative. And
7:13
so they're like, okay, you don't have COVID
7:15
because we're testing them, it's negative. I
7:18
thought it was low blood sugar. Okay. because, you know, I'm
7:20
diabetic. So sometimes when my sugar drops, I
7:22
get chills or I get a little bit like loopy.
7:24
Okay. And so we thought that that's what it was. And
7:26
No, man. It was a day of body aches and
7:29
chills. And then two days later,
7:30
that's when the test showed that I was
7:33
positive. So, unfortunately, you
7:35
know, these rapid tests, if you're if you if
7:37
you just get COVID, it's probably not gonna
7:39
show up. It's not gonna detect it. Yeah. And it wasn't
7:41
all my symptoms went away that it showed
7:43
up positive. What I love is that you figured out
7:45
a way to, you know, be
7:47
creative in a time where creativity
7:50
was shut down. Right? So, you
7:52
know, I applaud those that figured out a
7:54
way to still say, well, I'm
7:56
going to safely work on
7:58
my craft and safely
8:01
have a goal in an agenda. Right? I'm
8:03
gonna put this plan together. And let's
8:05
see if I can safely achieve
8:07
that goal. and you work in there and
8:09
get into the twenty seventh day, man. That's fucking that's
8:11
a bummer. You know, that you got that far, that
8:13
you couldn't get to the thirtieth day. Yeah. So
8:15
what what happened? What did you end up doing with
8:17
the material? Well, I couldn't you
8:19
know, we had to basically shut everything down. One side
8:21
test -- Yeah. -- positive. Everything pulled the plug,
8:23
you know, Netflix and the big you know, all the
8:25
phone calls were made, and it's like, ugh, lights were
8:27
canceled -- Yeah. -- home. Okay.
8:29
And, yeah, I have to go to quarantine for ten
8:31
days. And after that, you know, we're
8:33
trying to figure out how do we how
8:35
do we go back on the road? Because little by little certain
8:38
states started allowing live
8:40
performances. Mhmm. And when we did the
8:42
the the residency in San Antonio,
8:44
the shows were still socially
8:47
distant. So what we would do is we'd sell packs.
8:49
So, like, let's say, eight people wanna come
8:51
see the shows and group of eight
8:53
would have their area, and then we put two
8:55
seats empty in between and then that
8:57
next group. And so it was all
8:59
spaced out in we we we figured that
9:01
that was probably the safest way to play
9:03
it. And, you know, Texas is Texas, so
9:05
they they did what they did. But as soon as they
9:07
started opening up the doors for us
9:09
to perform in other states, we
9:11
just started booking as much as we could and
9:13
said, hopefully, things will get better.
9:15
We're we're betting on that the
9:17
doors are gonna open and the the the venues
9:19
are gonna allow people to come in
9:21
and sit together and, you know, every every state
9:23
had the rules with the mask with
9:25
with a vaccination cards. There's some
9:27
places that that it's a big deal, like San
9:29
Francisco, everyone in the building was
9:31
vaccinated. And you have to show proof
9:33
of vaccination. And there are some
9:35
places where it's optional. We'll
9:37
take your word for it. No. It's not some
9:39
places where they don't even know it was
9:41
a pandemic. in some places. There's there's
9:43
some places where you gotta remind them. Now, you know we're
9:45
going to some shit. Right? Oh, no. I didn't.
9:47
These people just they just out or or
9:49
this is the COVID test. You have a temperature? No.
9:51
Come on man. Come on man. Alright. Well, get in
9:53
here. Get your ass in here and sit down.
9:55
Let's talk about you being
9:57
one of the hardest working
9:59
comics today.
10:01
I mean, you know, Gabe, I I don't
10:03
think that there's another
10:05
comedian that has been consistently
10:09
headlining at such
10:12
a at such a steady, steady
10:14
successful pace. Like,
10:16
you're your your burn rate. Right?
10:18
Because I watch. I I know the venues you
10:20
do. I I know how long you go
10:22
on tour. And the same thing you said to me where you're
10:24
like, yo, Kevin, when do you break? When do you stop?
10:26
Like, Gabe, you gotta fucking engine that
10:28
doesn't stop either. You you're pretty
10:31
fucking you're pretty consistent. Do
10:33
you go three sixty five? Or what's your
10:35
shutdown time? Like, when you're on the road,
10:37
when do you shut down and say, okay, I'm
10:39
gonna take a little break and then get back out
10:41
there again. Well, aside from COVID, which
10:43
is the longest break I ever took, I
10:46
don't. I don't take vacations. I don't
10:48
like taking breaks because I I have that
10:50
mentality where, you know, I
10:52
recognize having an opportunity and you have
10:54
to strike while the iron's hot because you never know.
10:56
That opportunity could go to somebody else if you're
10:58
not ready to work for it and ready to get into it.
11:00
Mhmm. You know, I'm on the road forty seven weeks out
11:02
of the year. That's my market forty
11:04
seven weeks and the rest of the time is just
11:06
us planning things or me working on
11:08
a TV show or working on whatever else I
11:10
can, you know, get into. at that
11:12
time. But forty seven weeks is normally the
11:14
the route. And I,
11:16
you know, I work holidays, so I always do a
11:18
show on Christmas. We're working new years.
11:21
birthdays, anniversaries, it doesn't matter. You
11:23
know? because if if there's work, I
11:25
wanna I wanna do it because I
11:27
can't. Why is that? I think it's just
11:29
programming for when I was a little kid. My mom would always tell
11:31
me, you know, you have to if there's a chance
11:33
of work, work is is not easy. It doesn't
11:35
come easy. And if you get an opportunity,
11:37
you need to take it, don't ever
11:39
waste an opportunity. Mhmm. My mom would always
11:41
tell me don't waste an opportunity.
11:43
And if you have a chance to grow, make
11:45
yourself better, provide for your
11:47
family get yourself to another
11:49
place. Do it. Now when you say your
11:51
mom, was your father around? Was it just you
11:53
and your mom? It was just just mom
11:55
and myself. My my dad You know, it
11:57
was one of those things where I you know, the the
11:59
more III think about it and the more people I
12:01
talked to, the more I realized, yeah, you
12:03
know, my father was a a musician. He was a
12:06
man. Yeah. He was an entertainer. He was a guy that was on the road
12:08
a lot. Okay. And so I
12:10
knew him briefly. And
12:12
and then I met him again
12:14
thirty years later And, you
12:16
know, for the longest time, I had this thing where
12:18
I'm like, forget this dude. This guy has a pond. You
12:20
know, he wasn't there for me, this and this and
12:22
that, but I didn't know the whole story. And
12:24
now being a person who's an entertainer
12:26
who's seen a certain lifestyle, who's seen certain
12:28
things, I have a better understanding of
12:30
you know, where he was coming from.
12:32
And so I yeah.
12:35
The questions I had was was very
12:37
minimal. Here's a question. I mean, you know,
12:39
you you growing
12:41
up, you know, in a single parent
12:43
household. Right? Your mom holding it down and,
12:45
of course, instilling this
12:47
this this, I mean,
12:49
behavior that's so present right now, which
12:51
is which is one of, look, put
12:53
something. Put your mind to something. finish
12:55
it, work, go out there and get it. Like, there's a
12:57
there's an ambition about you. Right? And
12:59
it it comes from somewhere. It was instilled in
13:01
you. The things that you're saying about your dad is
13:03
you now realize. but him
13:05
not being around, you know, you
13:08
are are parent. Right? You don't you have kids,
13:10
Gabe? A son. Right? I was just a son now. He's gonna
13:12
be twenty five next week. Twenty five next
13:14
week. Your relationship with
13:16
your son and you being on the
13:18
road. You know, do you talk to your son?
13:20
Has it has it ever seen
13:22
that like it affected him in
13:24
any way, I mean, through the years of dedication
13:26
that you put into your craft, was it ever a
13:28
void or feeling of a void that came
13:30
from him to you? Anytime you're not
13:32
around for certain, you know, certain things, there's
13:34
always gonna be that feeling of, like, oh, I could have
13:36
been around more. I could have done more. But
13:38
I mean, I I feel like
13:41
I've had enough conversations with
13:43
him over the years where, you know, he understood what
13:45
I was doing. And also also to
13:48
technically, I'm I'm technically his stepfather. you
13:50
know, so -- Okay. -- saw what it was like
13:52
before and he saw what it was like with
13:54
me and it was a difference in, you know, the
13:56
environment. And when I say the environment, I don't just
13:58
mean like, oh, a bigger house or a better
13:59
lifestyle. I mean, just the environment of
14:02
the the peace and the happiness that
14:04
was in the house and and the, you know, I
14:06
didn't I didn't bring added drama
14:08
to the environment. I was always just
14:10
trying to be supportive, helpful. If
14:12
anything, I just I I feel like I might have pushed him
14:14
a little bit too much. Okay. Like, come
14:16
on, man. You got you got I I would do
14:18
to him when my mom would do to me. You have all these
14:20
opportunities. You have ten
14:22
times more opportunities now than what I had. Why are
14:24
you wasting them? And so
14:26
there was a lot of those conversations and
14:28
but he knows that I mean, well, he knows that I love them.
14:30
Mhmm. And it's you know, as long as he knows that,
14:32
then, you know, we're we're good. But, yeah, there was
14:34
certain times I wish I could have been there for a
14:36
birthday. I made it a point to be there for
14:38
his graduation. and I said,
14:40
hey, you better graduate. because I'm gonna take
14:42
some time off. I'm gonna take some time off. Hey, you know I don't
14:44
do that. So if I take some time off, you ask
14:46
better god damn graduate. Don't have me miss a day. You better
14:48
handle the paper. You better wave. You better take
14:50
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What about
16:28
let's talk about your your loyalty, man.
16:30
You know, I know there was a
16:32
period of time where you had the same group of guys
16:34
around you. Right? Like, you toured with
16:37
the same group. And I remember I remember at a
16:39
comedy club, I'm trying to think of what
16:41
comedy club it was, but I believe we were in San
16:43
Francisco. And I remember watching you perform
16:45
punch line. Yes. We're at the punch line. And
16:47
after the show, you had such
16:49
a business. You had such a
16:51
business going after the
16:53
show where you had a machine and the
16:55
machine was producing the was
16:57
it the CDs or DVDs? It was
17:00
something, but you were You were putting
17:01
them in the machine. The machine was spinning them
17:04
out. You said after the show, that's how we make
17:06
them. We sell about x, y, the
17:07
amount of them. I go out there with the fans.
17:09
I made sure I say, hi, they come, they buy,
17:11
but your team knew
17:12
the system. Everybody played the major
17:14
role and
17:14
it wasn't just about the standup. It
17:17
was about the business that happened around
17:19
the standup and after the
17:21
standup, that I paid
17:23
attention to way back then.
17:25
way back then, I was like, fuck. He's not just making
17:27
money here. He found a way to make
17:29
money here. And Gabe, you've always
17:32
been business like
17:34
from the shirts, to the to
17:36
the fluffy characters, to the to the branded
17:38
things that you've created around
17:40
who you are. Where did that
17:42
come from? Where did the where did
17:44
the insight idea insight
17:46
and idea
17:47
come in within that opportunity?
17:49
I'm gonna go grab the other things
17:51
that I don't think other people are taking advantage of that
17:53
you do so well. You know what?
17:55
I'm a really big fan of
17:58
professional wrestling. Professional
17:59
wrestling for me, like, I
18:02
grew up watching it. I loved everything about
18:04
it. I loved the characters in the ring. I
18:06
loved the ambiance. I loved just everything
18:08
about it. and I loved the
18:10
business side of it. I loved the merchandise.
18:12
I loved just all of that and and how
18:14
everything is is is put out there
18:16
in a way where it's like, here's this show. then
18:18
here's the extras. And
18:20
so I followed the Vince
18:22
McMahon little way
18:24
of doing business back in the day because I've
18:26
always had jobs where we're we're working in
18:28
retailing and stuff like that. So I did have that that,
18:30
you know, that experience. And
18:32
I just knew that there was more growth than just me
18:34
going up and doing the, you
18:36
know, doing the show. People still wanted
18:38
to be around. People still wanted to take
18:40
some of that home with them. And the first
18:42
thing I did was MCP. So I
18:44
would record a show, and then I bought a CD Burner. And this
18:46
is not gonna what it was back then. I remember
18:48
I bought a CD Burner on
18:51
the road. And then I
18:53
go to a store and buy a big old spindle, a
18:55
spindles of blank CDs.
18:57
And we earn them. We earn more,
18:59
you know, and sell them. And
19:01
then at the end of the week, I would return the the stevia
19:03
burner to the to circuit city or
19:05
a Best Buy or wherever it was. I
19:07
don't know who we would do that. We wouldn't have to
19:09
carry around this machine, so we could always crank
19:11
them out. And instead of
19:13
spending the money, I reinvested it
19:15
and just got better things
19:17
to to make. And so it's like the CD turned into a t
19:19
shirt, turned into two t shirts, turned
19:22
into a warehouse, turned into a double
19:24
white warehouse, turned into a building,
19:26
and it's like, you know, we started growing
19:28
the brand and but let me let me stop
19:30
you right there because I want people to I wanna make sure that
19:32
people listen to what you're saying. Right?
19:34
Like, when he's saying warehouse, for
19:36
my listeners. And then he's saying a double warehouse. And he's saying
19:39
he he he bought things
19:41
and these things were
19:43
basically used to create the
19:45
product that he was selling. He would then
19:46
take that money, invest that money back into
19:49
better product.
19:49
That better product sold
19:52
more. he then took that money and
19:54
invested it into stationary
19:57
things or or buildings that could
19:59
then house the product
19:59
that he was selling in such high volume.
20:02
You you just understood, and
20:04
I'm
20:04
telling you, Gaye, this is something that a lot of the
20:06
people in our craft don't
20:07
don't get
20:08
and don't understand. You
20:11
understood early that you
20:13
had a fan base and this fan
20:15
base was following you and responding
20:18
to you. and they loved you to the point to
20:20
where everything that you put in front of
20:22
them they wanted to have.
20:24
Like, that's a that's a talent within
20:26
itself.
20:27
and then and then the the
20:28
the knowledge and understanding
20:30
to say, I had to build things
20:34
around around who I am that
20:36
are going to last. Like, that's
20:38
what I'm so impressed with. The
20:40
warehouse, the other warehouse I mean, many do you
20:42
have? Do you have two now? No. No. It's just a straight up
20:44
building. And the building houses your business, the
20:46
world of Gabriel. It's it it
20:48
houses the business, and it's it's a
20:50
combination. So it's like, I call it
20:52
because it's where I collect the keep all the cars -- Yes. -- and
20:54
the toys and the business. So I I call it
20:56
Mexican Graceland. Okay. because, you
20:58
know, if you go to Graceland, you could see
21:00
the whole over this whole thing -- Yeah. -- then it'll
21:02
stop by the gift shops. Yes.
21:05
Yes. this is where I mean, I
21:07
I've seen the things that are in your warehouse.
21:09
I mean, your your your Volkswagen collection
21:12
is one one to
21:14
just be and all of. You know, I'm a
21:16
car collector as well, man.
21:18
But, I mean, just a the
21:20
conversation around you and
21:22
your Volkswagen collection is
21:24
insane. Why? Why are those wagons? It was
21:26
my first car. It was my first car and
21:28
it was one of those things where I
21:30
had gotten my my girlfriend back
21:33
her her first car. She had her her
21:35
her first car, but not the original one,
21:37
but an actual replica of her first
21:40
car. Okay. I saw how happy she was like, well, there's no
21:42
reason why she should be more happy than me.
21:46
So I told the guys that a car for
21:48
her. I say, hey, if you guys ever come across the
21:50
Volkswagen, I told you a year and a type, and they
21:52
had it within a day. And I'm like, oh my
21:54
god. And they're like, if you ever anything
21:56
else, let us know. And it's it's Jay Leno's, guys.
21:58
Yeah. So Jay Leno man, he started that. He's the one
22:00
the reason why I've got a card collection was he
22:02
he he's the one that said, what are you doing with your money?
22:04
And I said, well, I mentioned all the things that I was up. So he goes,
22:06
well, you should invest in other things, but you should invest
22:08
in fun. And I'm like, tell me more. He's
22:10
like, I enjoy my collection.
22:12
He goes, everything that's here, if I were to
22:14
sell it, it's worth double. Yeah. He goes, but I'm
22:17
enjoying my investment. And I'm like, do
22:19
you know what you're saying? And so
22:21
one Volkswagen led the 234 or
22:23
five, and then filled up a a
22:25
warehouse. Well, how many do you have now? How many
22:27
Volkswagen? Probably thirty thirty. And are
22:29
they all mint condition? Are
22:31
they built? Do you go and you
22:33
start from
22:33
the ground up? Chassis, etcetera, and
22:35
do the whole nine?
22:36
you filing them and make a decision? They're all pimped up. Yeah. They're just
22:38
totally fixed up. I I got a guy that actually works on all
22:40
the cars. His name's Henry Martana. He's he's
22:43
awesome. He he's he's guy
22:45
that, you know, when they when they
22:47
release magazines with all these different cars and -- Mhmm.
22:49
-- he's usually the one responsible for making these
22:51
cars pretty. Oh, and they're they're all functional.
22:53
And, yes, I fit in all of them because that's always
22:55
a question. Yeah. Like, you're big ass fitting in
22:57
Volkswagen's? Yes. Yes. They I fit in the Volkswagen's
22:59
and they all run. Yep. But
23:02
that's part of it too because again, you know, though it's it's
23:04
an investment, but I enjoy it. I enjoy the
23:07
cars and, you know, it's I'm trying
23:09
to find ways to enjoy the
23:11
fruits of my labor because I I do a lot. And I'm always
23:13
trying to, like, okay. What else can we do? What else can
23:15
we do? And I try to have fun
23:17
with certain things, like, you
23:19
know, with the fungal pops, for example.
23:23
That was a big thing. I I tried to get in
23:25
business with that company a few years
23:27
ago, and they didn't have
23:29
a comics addition. They had television, film,
23:31
icons, cartoons, but they didn't have
23:33
comics. And so I reached out to them,
23:35
and they were like, well,
23:37
we know who you are, but we don't have a comic
23:39
edition. So, you know and then I try to
23:41
get in another year later, and I at
23:43
this point, I had hired somebody who was
23:45
really strong in retail. And she made the phone
23:47
call. And she said, look, this is these are the
23:49
numbers. This is the business. This is what he
23:52
does. this is what could bring to table and they said, look, we we like
23:54
what you're saying. We still don't wanna
23:56
license anything, but if you want to
23:58
if you would like to
24:00
spend money will make the product for
24:03
you. And it's a minimum order of
24:05
basically a semi
24:07
truck worth of phone calls. And
24:09
so I I did it. I spent the money and
24:11
I I you know, I bet on it myself and
24:13
the soccer sold out. And then they got mad that
24:15
they didn't get the licensing. And so a lot of times you have
24:17
to bet on yourself when other people aren't gonna fuck
24:19
you. You gotta invest and spend the money on
24:21
you. How many did you sell? Oh, man. We're
24:23
we're probably somewhere around Eighty
24:26
Eighty thousand? Yes. Did you say
24:28
you fucking saw eighty thousand
24:30
Funko goddamn heart?
24:34
Oh, my god. Oh, yeah. Over over
24:36
how much time? About two years. k.
24:38
And that was actually during COVID where we were
24:40
doing in online because that's the only way we
24:42
could some. But Usually, you're not the shows when people people wanna take
24:44
something home. And then, you know, what the fun goes, man,
24:46
who doesn't wanna take those on the kids, adults,
24:49
everybody collects those? Okay. That's
24:51
huge. so
24:53
man, that is so dope.
24:55
That's
24:56
so fucking dope, man. And and I
24:58
love that you said, you gotta be okay with betting
25:00
on yourself. Not everything's gonna work.
25:02
Not at all. You gonna fail or you
25:03
don't know until you try it. But you want but
25:05
listen. What what is the point of
25:07
having a talent?
25:10
realizing how good you are
25:12
within your talent and
25:14
not taking the risk that make you even
25:17
more excited to do more shit
25:19
with your talent. Right? Like, the
25:21
risk, the the reward and the risk is
25:23
confidence.
25:24
it It's confidence. you
25:25
saying that somebody kept
25:26
saying no. And you said,
25:29
alright. Well, I get why you're saying no,
25:31
but shit. they
25:33
allow us to do it and they say that they can develop
25:35
before, so we pay them fuck it.
25:37
Fuck it. I'm gonna go that route. And
25:39
in their eyes are like, hey, what idiot wants
25:41
to do this? Go give it to them. Give my truck
25:43
full of them. Let him deal with it. We don't
25:45
wanna license it. Give it to him. That's
25:47
his problem. In their mind, that's their win.
25:49
But your win is like, alright, fuck it. I'm a do it
25:51
this way. I'm just gonna I'm just gonna do it.
25:53
I like the hustle. I like the energy and
25:55
hustle that I gotta put into
25:57
now moving these things. And then you
25:59
move them. You
25:59
move them eighty thousand fucking
26:02
units,
26:02
man. That's a
26:03
fucking number game. Man,
26:06
that's impressive, man. Good for you.
26:08
good for fucking you. What else is
26:11
it that you want? Like,
26:13
what what's on what's on the
26:15
vision board? What's the next goal?
26:17
I mean, you know, you're you're steady, like I
26:19
said, your your success level
26:21
and and the the time
26:23
that you have you have been steady
26:26
within the success level. Like,
26:28
you you don't lose. And what I mean
26:30
about that is, your your people
26:32
love you. and you look like you're having fun doing what you're
26:34
doing. I mean, goddamn. Correct me if I'm wrong,
26:36
but you're by the performance of fucking stadium.
26:38
Doctor stadium. Right? So,
26:40
yeah, Netflix, I didn't get a chance
26:42
to do that special in San Antonio because I got
26:44
in sick with COVID, but Netflix still says
26:46
we needed a special. And I
26:49
had been away from the LA market for
26:51
about three years now. We said, well,
26:53
you know what? I gotta do something bigger
26:55
and better than the last thing I did. You'll always gotta
26:57
make something bigger and better because if it's not,
26:59
then, you know, hey, you know.
27:02
So I says, I've never done I've only seen
27:04
one other person do something
27:06
at that level, and I was actually at the
27:08
taping of your of your special, what
27:11
now, in in Philadelphia. I was road
27:13
to escape.
27:18
I was there for that man.
27:20
I was very inspiring to see that Kevin,
27:22
you know, sitting there and I'm just looking around
27:24
this football stadium and I'm just like, wow.
27:26
and energy and and it was just it was
27:29
so impactful. And
27:31
I'm like, man, to do something like that. That's
27:34
like, even just to doing an arena, which now sounds
27:36
like, you know, like, there's no way
27:38
to envision that as a as a comic. The
27:40
the only dreams I had when I
27:42
first started was just wanna quit my day job.
27:44
That's it. Mhmm. You know? Mhmm. There was no all
27:46
I wanna play Madison Square Garden or I wanna do this
27:49
arena or this venue or maybe Monday
27:51
play where football teams play.
27:53
There's how do you even think of that?
27:55
Mhmm. So the fact that I was there and I
27:57
saw it as a man, that'd be awesome, you know, be able
27:59
to do that one day. you know, I said, I wanna do
28:01
some big in LA. And the
28:03
last couple of times, I did Staples, and I said, well,
28:05
if we're gonna do a Netflix special,
28:07
I wanted to be the biggest special I've ever done, and so
28:09
we decided to do doctor Stadium.
28:11
I love it.
28:13
I
28:14
love it.
28:16
I'll say
28:16
it again. I love
28:19
it. Why not?
28:21
Like, if you gotta start and you
28:23
can shoot for that bitch, I
28:25
say grab it with two hands. You
28:27
know? And the beauty of
28:29
comedy, when you talk about betting on
28:31
yourself, me doing that statement, that's what
28:33
that was. You know, I I said, I'll I'll go
28:35
and I'll I'll do the specialty here. I'll
28:37
fund it. I'll produce it. I'll I'll
28:39
pay for it. It's it's fine. It's
28:41
Philadelphia. I feel like my city's
28:43
gonna come out. I feel like they're gonna show
28:45
up. And they did. Like,
28:47
that's There's no feeling, like, the feeling
28:49
of just, like, love and appreciation, especially
28:51
from where you're from. Like, that's that's the
28:53
beauty of getting at home. Yeah. That's
28:55
the biggest compliment,
28:55
Gabe, and I love it. Like you said, you
28:58
coming back here in LA, you wanna
29:00
do something big for all
29:01
of my listeners. Like, This
29:03
is not something that's
29:05
like that that that you just
29:07
talk by. This is not something that I can just
29:09
move by quick and go on to the next
29:11
part of the podcast. This This is a
29:13
big moment for my guy,
29:14
man. It's a big moment. And the key thing that
29:16
he said was, he said for him,
29:18
I wanna do the biggest special that
29:20
I've ever done here in LA for him,
29:23
for you to have that. Like, these are the
29:25
wins that you put together for you.
29:27
At the end of the day, you know, we look back this
29:29
road that we've been on for so long.
29:31
This is this is a fucking hard it's
29:33
a hard job. Yeah. It's
29:35
a hard job. You this man
29:37
just told you He goes forty seven weeks
29:39
and weekends out the year. You
29:41
know, this man said
29:42
he's on the road. He's
29:44
he's gigging. That's a hard
29:46
job. So
29:48
you gotta put your you gotta put your fun. You gotta
29:50
put your your moments, your
29:52
your pedestals, your your things
29:55
that make you pat yourself on the back. And Gabe, this is
29:57
definitely one of a man. I swear to you,
29:59
brother, I'm I'm I'm so
30:01
blown away. by just your your
30:03
your mindset and approach to the
30:05
craft. I I truly am, man. That's a
30:07
big fucking deal game. A big
30:09
deal. Good for you. What is it?
30:11
When are you doing? We're doing at Mother's Day
30:13
weekend, May. Oh, twenty
30:15
twenty two. It's I wanna say
30:17
it's May seventh. So it's it is Mother's
30:19
Day weekend. And yeah.
30:21
Man, fingers crossed. Our tickets on sale
30:23
already. Tickets on sale
30:25
December eighth, the tickets on Alright. Well
30:27
December eighth then, I'll make sure people know it. Those tickets
30:29
will be on sale December eighth, man. This
30:32
man is coming home at a
30:34
goddamn
30:34
stadium. It hasn't been done.
30:36
It hasn't been done. So be in the building and be
30:38
a part of history. This
30:39
is history, man. So now I gotta ask you because
30:41
you're probably the only person I can ask
30:43
You know, it's one thing to do a comedy club.
30:45
It's another thing to do a theater. It's definitely
30:47
another thing to do in a ring. But when you're
30:49
doing a space that's so massive
30:52
how did you feel with your timing? You know
30:55
what? I if you remember
30:57
that show gave, I made it intimate.
30:59
So remember those big ass Like,
31:01
I had to look at the scenes. Huge. Right?
31:03
I remember getting a budget for this
31:05
show. And I was like, wait a minute. Well, what? Well,
31:07
hold on. But For screens,
31:09
why why am I paying this much? And it's
31:12
like, you want the quality to be
31:14
clear, you want, you know, a
31:16
high definition, digital
31:19
board so that people can see clear
31:21
and be a part of the the
31:23
experience. Because my biggest thing was I want
31:25
everybody to have a good seat. So
31:27
I had the two screens that was attached to
31:29
the stage and the side. And then in the middle,
31:31
I had another one in the screen. So they
31:33
were they were screens. And what I
31:35
found was we amplified the sound
31:37
system as well because I
31:39
wanted it to feel intimate. Like,
31:41
you don't wanna feel like you
31:43
gotta yell And that's what happens. Like, some people perform in
31:45
these big venues and they feel like they
31:47
gotta yell. But you don't with the right
31:49
sound system, the
31:51
right setup you talk and you'll find
31:53
these people are engaged. Engage
31:55
does nothing like the first laugh that's gonna come
31:57
at you when you're in that stadium. because the
31:59
first laugh is so
31:59
comforting because you feel it in a
32:02
wave. It starts in the back
32:04
and you fucking feel it.
32:06
Like, you you feel that leg, you feel that laugh get
32:08
bigger as it gets closer to
32:10
you and you go, oh, I'm
32:12
okay. Oh, I'm gonna be okay.
32:14
This isn't there's
32:15
there's no difference. Right? And and sometimes people try
32:17
to make it a difference just because of the size,
32:19
but there isn't. Like, as long as
32:21
you're comfortable in your flow, You
32:24
don't have to rush. You don't have to do
32:25
anything outside the norm. They're
32:27
with you. It's just a bigger venue,
32:29
so you don't get the immediate
32:31
impact. that they are. It's
32:33
a discovery. As you go, you're like, these
32:35
motherfuckers are rolling the
32:37
whole time. Like, this is
32:39
this is dope. And then I got to see, like, I
32:41
have monitors that were, like,
32:44
off to the sides that
32:46
were in, like, the three quarter sections of the
32:48
on my right and my left. so I could see
32:50
the fans' faces. Like, I had
32:52
cameras popping, so I could see the
32:54
faces laughing and stuff in
32:57
in sporadic moments throughout the set as
32:59
well. So you know, I think with your setup
33:01
and you shooting the special, you know, you can do
33:03
as many cameras as you want. Make sure that
33:05
you cover that fucking room Make
33:07
sure that you make it intimate though.
33:09
Like, your your your fan
33:11
base loves you. They love you. So they're
33:13
gonna come out. they're gonna don't change
33:15
anything, man. Nothing at all.
33:20
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today. Why
33:52
not? Where
33:52
the fuck the fluffy come
33:54
from? how do you come up with fluffy? Well, it was a nickname, you
33:56
know, growing up. It's so fluffy. And, you
33:58
know, I when I started
33:59
talking about it on stage, you
34:03
know, my whole goal was my last
34:05
name, Iglesias is already famous,
34:07
whether Enrique had it or Julio had it. Iglesias has
34:09
already been a name that's been
34:11
around. And I said, I just gotta work on Gabriel. Mhmm. Fig you
34:13
know what? There's only been one other famous
34:15
Gabriel comedian who's Gabe Kaplan.
34:17
Mhmm. I know And so I said, you know
34:19
what? I think I think I got a good chance of building name up. But then when I started doing this joke
34:22
about being, I'm not fat, I'm fluffy -- Mhmm. --
34:24
and and talking about that that was
34:26
a nickname, at the end of the shows,
34:28
people wouldn't say, you're funny Gabriel or,
34:30
hey, Bless you this guy. Then I always say, hey,
34:32
fluffy. And I hated that shit.
34:34
I'm like, no. That's not
34:36
my name. But at the
34:38
time, I only had, like, ten minutes of material, so
34:40
I'm, like, oh, you know, it's it was
34:42
killing me. So eventually, I learned to
34:44
embrace the word fluffy. Mhmm.
34:46
And and then I had a friend who was
34:48
really good at at early
34:50
social media and learning how to
34:53
put algorithms out into the
34:55
Internet, and he he basically helped
34:57
me brand that on the Internet.
34:59
So it's like now, Even now if you
35:01
put him fluffy on the Internet, I'd come up before anything. I'd come up
35:03
before bunnies, quilts, comforters, cotton candy. I'm
35:06
the number one fluffy thing on the
35:08
Internet to
35:10
to be able to do that. That was like, wow. This is what I mean
35:12
when I say your business, your business sense, and
35:14
just your mind. This is what I'm talking
35:17
about. Like, you having a friend and a friend doing
35:19
that for you and having them wear with all to understand
35:22
algorithms and and searches and which should
35:24
come up. So you're getting fans that
35:26
don't even
35:28
know what and who you are by you being the first thing on
35:30
a search because after it comes up, there is a click
35:32
to your name just to see. That's insane.
35:34
What does Gaye wanna do
35:37
next though? man?
35:38
Kevin, honestly,
35:39
if, you know, for me, I I
35:41
think that I've been for the goals
35:43
that I've set for myself, whether it was,
35:45
you know, just doing my
35:48
love and my passion, being able
35:50
to, you know, get into television or even do a
35:52
little bit of a film. My goal right
35:54
now is basically
35:56
my health. I just wanna make
35:58
sure that I'm I'm okay and that I
35:59
can continue to do what I love to do.
36:02
And if I can maintain, that'd
36:04
be awesome. Okay. But I know that my health is is questionable, not only to my
36:06
fans, but the people around me and definitely
36:08
to myself, and I I know that I need to get in a
36:10
better place there. Okay. And I know that I worked really
36:12
hard and
36:14
I've built this, you know, impressive whatever you wanna call
36:16
it, but I don't think that I've given
36:18
myself enough of that attention. And so I feel
36:20
like I need to start working
36:22
on me If anything,
36:24
the pandemic, Amy, a year off
36:26
to to actually start going to
36:28
doctors and start trying to figure out, you know, what was going
36:30
on with me? Because I I mentioned I'm diabetic. Mhmm. And so
36:32
I got my off on a quick plan. Now
36:34
I got a I got an implant that I switched every other week to maintain
36:36
my blood sugar and make sure that I'm I'm doing
36:40
alright. And, you know, I was able to lose about seventy pounds, which
36:42
-- This shit. -- I'm still big. I'm still
36:44
big. This shit is half of her. Good shit,
36:46
man. That's
36:48
good shit. III wanna I wanna I definitely wanna, you
36:50
know, improve my my quality of life,
36:52
not, you know, just again with
36:54
surroundings. But what's inside.
36:56
And so I think that I've accomplished everything I
36:58
wanna accomplish. I just need to fix me. I
37:00
love that, man. When you
37:02
say when you say what you just said, I
37:04
mean, the biggest thing that I'm hearing is just
37:06
self aware. Right? And and
37:08
if you
37:10
are aware, that's
37:12
half the battle. It's it's the
37:14
ignorance and lack of understanding about
37:16
the obvious that I think some people
37:18
have or or or that acts as a
37:20
as a reason for decline for most.
37:23
Right? But when you're talking about, like,
37:25
yo, III know what
37:28
I need to do, and that's what I wanna
37:30
do. I think that's big. And ultimately, man, it's it's it's another
37:32
win for you. Right? It's
37:35
another it's another triumph. if
37:38
you have said goal and
37:40
you now going, okay,
37:42
this, I'm conquering all these things,
37:44
but now I wanna conquer this thing.
37:46
I wanna I wanna do this. I'm gonna spend set time
37:49
at doing that. I think you you would you would
37:51
you would do so much for
37:54
the world of of health and wellness by just dedicating yourself to
37:57
a change. That doesn't mean becoming a
37:59
body builder. That doesn't mean
38:01
walking out with two hundred
38:04
pounds off of what you are now.
38:06
That just means having a
38:08
a change that that makes you
38:10
happy, like
38:10
seventy pounds. That's nothing to
38:12
That's nothing to shoulder shrug. That's a That's a that's
38:15
a big thing,
38:15
man. That's a big
38:17
thing,
38:18
Gabe. Good for you, dude.
38:20
Good for fucking you. This is why I like
38:22
doing this podcast. I like doing a podcast
38:24
because I walk away just with
38:26
more of an understanding about the people that
38:29
I somewhat under thing, but I don't
38:31
know enough about. And it just it
38:33
really just makes you respect
38:35
your peers more. you know, it's
38:37
it's it's refreshing, And I think anything that you really
38:40
put your mind to, there's no reason
38:42
why you can't
38:44
do it. there's no reason why you
38:46
can't do it. And you wanna talk about the business
38:48
side gate? Let me tell you about the
38:50
business that will come your way just to be a
38:52
part of any initiative that you
38:54
set out for yourself. If you set out
38:56
on the journey and the health and
38:58
wellness space, there's no world. You
39:00
can't get a brand to team
39:02
up with and and and to be a part
39:04
of your journey. you can act as an
39:06
example, you know, for other people that are
39:08
struggling with the same thing. You can make it a
39:10
business. It can be a part of your business.
39:12
Another partner, a tourist
39:14
sponsor. I mean, that's how you start to connect those
39:16
dots, you know, and that's something that I
39:18
do very well. You know, I align
39:20
those brand partnerships with the opportunities
39:22
that I have coming up. sense together? So
39:24
that's something that you should think about for
39:26
sure. For sure for sure. Thank
39:29
you. Fucking fluffy. Goddamn
39:32
it people. I love it, man. You know, just flip
39:34
just to fluff. It's it's and and what do
39:36
you wanna do? What do you wanna do when you lose?
39:39
more weight, and and the fluff isn't as fluffy as it used
39:41
to be. Spend the
39:44
money, man. I
39:50
leave all those money to my kid who doesn't
39:52
understand opportunity. Let's
39:54
set fire to Greece, Mexican grace line.
39:58
I love it.
40:00
I love it. Emeka, can I
40:02
take two seconds to to just
40:06
acknowledge that that show you did, man. I I start
40:08
true story. No, man. Thank
40:10
you, man. I am I'm rarely
40:13
embius of an idea, but
40:15
man, I'm like, wow. Thank you very much. What
40:17
a way to what a way to take
40:19
something that you're doing and and and put a a
40:21
complete flip to it where I I was hooked. I
40:23
think in the first episode and if
40:25
if but guys haven't seen
40:27
this. It's it's all I'm not trying to kiss your ass. Yep. We're at
40:29
the end of this thing. Yeah. You
40:32
know? I I
40:34
just wanna I just wanna say that. I was so
40:36
impressed five because it's an opportunity you a I think,
40:38
you know, when you did that movie
40:40
with a a Krastin? Yeah.
40:43
That's sad. Yeah. That was okay.
40:46
That was that was a a look
40:48
into a a different version of what you've been
40:50
doing with -- Mhmm. -- which has been
40:52
very successful. But man, to take the world that you're in now and
40:54
and highlight certain things and then show
40:56
how how crazy it can get --
40:58
Mhmm. -- man,
41:00
I was very very blown away by it. You say blown
41:02
away. very impressed. Thank you. I
41:04
like the fact that you also showed certain things
41:06
and they're like the thing
41:08
with fans. everyone thinks
41:10
that, oh, you know, as as
41:12
artists, fans are always right. Fans
41:14
are always, you know, on point
41:16
fans are always good. And there's certain
41:18
times where fans they're they're not
41:20
always, you know, they're not always the
41:22
best. They're not always the most pleasantest.
41:24
No. Not at all. And, you
41:26
know, we do our best to
41:28
try to fees everyone, try to make sure everyone has a great experience, has
41:30
fun, feels welcome. But
41:32
there are certain times where lines do
41:34
get crossed, and unfortunately,
41:36
you know, I feel like there's always a sense
41:38
of entitlement with with the with
41:40
certain people because they feel like
41:42
they know you, like like, I had a guy that would come to
41:45
my shows and he'd say he'd say,
41:47
I don't come here. are come
41:49
here to watch your show. I
41:51
come here to see you. And
41:54
he said it in such a way
41:56
where it scared me. And
41:58
I'm like, like And he'd
41:59
always wait in the
42:01
meet and greets, and he'd just wait at the
42:03
end. And he'd just, like, I just needed to see
42:05
you. And it's, like, I
42:07
don't know what to say. You know? Like, yeah.
42:10
What does that mean? So Yeah. What
42:12
does that mean? What does that
42:14
mean? Yeah. So it's kinda
42:16
like, oh, and you never wanna be mean to anyone. You
42:18
never wanna say, hey, man. Come on. How are you doing?
42:20
Well, that's the biggest thing. The biggest thing for
42:22
us is is is personality that
42:24
we are we're generally nice people. We're very nice people, and I think
42:26
sometimes there's a fear and not
42:28
being nice. There's there's a
42:30
fear in being
42:32
unpleasant and what's that purse what does that perceive
42:34
that? So there's a there's like an
42:37
there's an over there's like an
42:39
overextended attempt. And hey, how you
42:42
doing, man? Hey, good to meet you guys.
42:44
Hey, it's
42:44
like, you know, it's
42:46
like, always just trying to
42:48
be a great representation of
42:50
what people see and and and
42:52
who they believe that we are and
42:56
sometimes sometimes it becomes a lot when people expect
42:58
above and beyond what you're already
43:00
going above and beyond to do.
43:02
Do you feel like have
43:05
you ever been at the point where you felt like
43:07
this is enough? Like, okay, it's
43:10
getting ridiculous and maybe
43:12
I should step back for a second? Yes. You
43:14
know, I I always wanna make sure,
43:16
like, you know, there there's been certain people I've been
43:18
in the past
43:20
from, like, they could have been nicer. What's, you know, what's what the hell man? How
43:22
come, you know, you're this way over here, but you're not this
43:24
way here. But then you get into that position
43:26
and you realize
43:28
you can't have an amazing day every day,
43:30
and we do your best. And sometimes
43:32
sometimes you're having an off day. You know? And
43:34
I never wanna give anybody a bad
43:36
experience, but
43:38
I'm I'm very much a a person who's reactive. So if someone
43:40
comes at me with a good energy, man, I
43:42
return that energy and then stung. But
43:44
if somebody comes at me wrong,
43:48
you know, I I can be a dick. I can be an asshole. I
43:50
can be an unpleasant person. And I
43:52
don't like saying that, but I you
43:55
know, I will give back what I'm being given. And so
43:58
-- Mhmm. -- there has been a couple times where
43:59
people came out me a certain way, and I'm
44:01
like, no, dude. You
44:03
can't how are you just gonna say that? You know? And one
44:05
guy says, I
44:06
don't own you. And I'm like, the fuck you
44:08
do? You don't own me just because you Yeah.
44:10
A lot of ticket. I go, I'm happy to
44:12
take a picture of you like my science or something, but, you know, like, you know,
44:15
the fact that I wouldn't go with these people to
44:17
a bar or I wouldn't hang
44:20
out hey, come on my car. I want you to get in my car and check it out. I don't
44:22
feel comfortable getting in your car
44:24
or going somewhere with I don't know
44:26
you, but sometimes there's that it
44:29
as that Yes. It's sense of entitlement.
44:31
Is that like is that
44:33
sense of entitlement as to what
44:35
I feel you supposed to do. You guys
44:37
supposed to go and do these things. But, you know, the
44:40
older the older we get, the more
44:42
direct we
44:44
are, with honesty. You know? I mean, they got to a point where I used to do the
44:46
meet and greets. I used to do all that stuff, and then I I
44:48
kinda stopped because, you know, they got they
44:50
got they started getting odd.
44:53
Right? They started getting exactly what you're talking about. They
44:55
started getting a little eye. And, you know, you just had to
44:58
a little eye. You know, I'm small. So they get a little
45:00
physical with me. Can I
45:02
can I pick you up? No. Can
45:04
I Hey, man. Man, man. Let me put you
45:06
on my shoulders and say, no.
45:08
Big guy. No.
45:08
You I'm grown. I'm a fucking grown man. You're not
45:10
putting me on your goddamn shoulders. Absolutely
45:14
not. So after I took the picture
45:16
and showed him, I said it's my last
45:18
time. Right? I did it. That's my last that's
45:20
my last one. I'm not doing this
45:22
no more. Yeah. I looked around. I said,
45:25
no. Absolutely not. But do
45:27
you find yourself are you
45:29
still finding joy in comedy?
45:32
Are you still happy and
45:34
excited about hitting the stage? Or or
45:36
do you have the moments
45:38
of fuck man, another show? or
45:40
back at it again. Has it has it does
45:42
it get to that space of, like,
45:44
redundant or are you still pumped? You
45:46
know what I mean? Where where are you at mentally
45:48
with the crap? You know what? You know, this
45:50
is coming up on year twenty five for me. I
45:52
was having this conversation with the audience the other
45:54
day where I says, you know what? I says, I
45:57
feel like I had been doing this for so long. I don't want you guys to think
45:59
that when I say it's it's great to be here.
46:01
I'm I'm I'm, you know, I
46:03
love the fact that I'm I'm doing the show, and and I
46:06
appreciate you guys buying tickets and coming out of
46:08
the support. But I feel like I've been doing
46:10
it so long that a lot of the things
46:12
became routine. Well, yes, it it
46:14
was redundant where so you you find
46:16
yourself like, I said the exact
46:18
same thing, And I think
46:20
after a while, it wasn't that I lost the
46:22
love or the the the
46:24
passion for it. I just think that it's I had been
46:26
doing it for so long that nothing was
46:28
changing. And I think that's when
46:30
COVID happened, COVID was a
46:32
hell of a reset
46:34
because, you know, it took away what
46:36
I love. it took away what I love, and I wasn't sure if I was it
46:38
back. You know, you know, I'm I'm
46:40
watching, you know, people pull off, Internet
46:44
shows, where they're performing for screens. I'm like, is that is that where this is gonna
46:46
go? Or they're parking lots
46:48
doing driving and movie theaters?
46:50
And and
46:52
you know, the performance for cars and windshields and headlights. And
46:54
I'm like, is this where it's gonna go? You know,
46:56
and so the fact that I can be back
46:58
in the venues that I was
47:01
you know, two years ago, and it's at
47:03
the same level. I tell the crowd
47:05
I apologize for for taking certain
47:07
things for granted. and it feels amazing to be back here because I didn't think
47:09
I'd I'd have this opportunity again. Sometimes you
47:12
need a little refresher, sometimes you need to get
47:14
shaken up in order to remember, man,
47:16
you know what? this is
47:18
special. This what you have here is is is
47:20
not something that just anyone can
47:22
have and and don't take it for granted, don't
47:24
take it lightly. I love being
47:26
on stage. I I can be on stage
47:28
forever. It's my comfortable place. It's my safe
47:30
space. And
47:32
Again, having it taken away from me made me love it
47:34
that much more. And now I'm just like,
47:36
man, this is all I wanna do.
47:40
and I don't know I don't I don't know when it's gonna go away if it
47:42
ever goes away, but I I just wanna enjoy as
47:44
much as possible. That's so dope. And that's
47:46
why that's why I say that.
47:48
the health man. I go, I gotta make sure that I can, you know, still still get on the
47:50
planes. I can handle the blood pressure and the altitude
47:52
and make sure you can get up
47:55
for the crowds and and have the energy team and do, you
47:57
know, be able to perform? You're spot
47:59
on, man. You you just spot
48:01
on with with not only the things
48:03
you say, but just your mind set once again towards the craft. And, you
48:06
know, that if nothing else, I said it before
48:08
in this podcast,
48:10
this pandemic, It took the one thing that
48:12
we took for granted away, and it was
48:14
the the fans, the opportunity to
48:16
perform live and and provide
48:18
laughter. Right? and what we
48:20
think that we're doing
48:22
and and and and
48:24
our reason behind it is, hey, man, we're
48:26
just giving a fans some good shows. We didn't
48:28
realize how much it meant to us too.
48:31
Like that, there was a big
48:33
void myself included of like
48:35
fuck. I missed the laugh. I
48:37
missed the stage. I missed the microphone. Like, you all
48:39
that stuff you just took for granted. So III
48:42
definitely I'm I'm on
48:44
your side. with your
48:46
statement. I feel the same way, and I felt the same
48:48
way. And, you know, when you just talk
48:50
about your health, it's it's it's
48:52
just about being around to enjoy what you
48:54
worked hard to Right? Don't
48:56
don't lessen the opportunities or
48:58
or or the chances for more because you
49:00
don't seem like you're done. You're talking about
49:02
fucking performance at the goddamn Dodge's stadium.
49:04
You talking about the biggest
49:07
best you ever. You're talking
49:09
about achieving new success. You're still on
49:11
the road. You're you're talking about goddamn the
49:13
Mexican grace land. I mean, you don't
49:15
seem like you're done. You seem like you you really do have
49:17
your eyes on the prize.
49:20
And, you know, Gabe, I think the world is a better
49:22
place with you
49:24
in it. You just said you're a fucking great spirit dude, you're a great
49:26
personality. And we don't talk. You see
49:28
each other all the time. But when I do see you, I
49:30
get nothing but motherfucking there is
49:32
doing it
49:34
right. It's doing it right. doing it
49:36
right. You're focused. You stay in your
49:38
lane. You stay out the way. Ain't
49:40
nobody bothering you. You ain't bothering
49:44
nobody. you do your job at a very
49:46
high level, man. And your your
49:48
fan base is proof of what
49:50
happens when you just put your head down and
49:52
work hard.
49:54
You grind. And, you know, the the whole
49:56
idea behind who you are and
49:58
the brand that's attached to you, it's
50:00
it's not only a deserved
50:02
man, it's is necessary
50:04
because you fucking put in the work, dude,
50:06
you put in the work. So
50:08
III love that you just are
50:10
aware. I
50:12
love that you are self aware as
50:14
well as professionally aware. You just you
50:16
just seem to have your head on
50:18
so, so right, man. And, you know, I
50:20
can't wait. I can't wait
50:22
till Mother's Day. I can't
50:24
wait to see and
50:26
hear not only that you achieve,
50:28
say, go that the response was
50:30
nothing short of amazing because I know it will
50:32
be. Do your fucking rock star. I
50:34
gotta say thank you.
50:36
Thank you. for coming on comedy gold mines, man. Where we do
50:38
what? People get inside the mines of
50:40
amazing communities. Oh my god. Today, what an
50:42
amazing mine
50:44
we had the opportunity to get into. We got into the mind of Gabriel and Gracias. That's
50:47
right. Fluffy, the brand. Not
50:49
just the comic, the fucking business
50:51
in the brand. eighty
50:53
thousand, but he's fucking
50:56
things, man. I can't believe
50:58
it. He's where's
50:59
it at? Where where
51:02
did I? You
51:02
gotta you gotta sign one and give it to me. You
51:04
listen. I I swear to you, man,
51:06
my my guys are on if
51:08
you could just sign one personally to me,
51:12
I I'll keep it. It's something that I wanna keep as a
51:14
keepsake, dude. I I'm I'm a
51:16
fan. I'm a friend. I'm a fan.
51:19
and I'm an admirer of what you've done. Thank
51:21
you so much for coming on, man. I appreciate that
51:23
man. Thank you so much. So dope.
51:24
Alright, ladies and gentlemen. That's
51:26
it. You've
51:27
been fucking taught. Goddamn.
51:29
I need to fucking make a toy. What
51:31
am I doing? Comedy gold
51:34
mines is a serious
51:36
XML0L audio production.
51:38
Executives produced by Kevin Hart, Ty
51:40
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Meal Goner, and
51:46
Ian McDonald.
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