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I wouldnt say stand-up iseffectivetherapy, but both demand a similar self-excavation.
Now, a decade and multiple hours later, Esparza finds himself digging deep.
last week, includes some of the darkest material youll find anyone doing now.
you’re free to read some excerpts from the transcript or listen to the full episode below.
Tune in toGood Oneevery Tuesday onApple Podcasts,Spotify,Stitcher,Overcast, orwherever you get your podcasts.
I dug into it as far as I could to learn from everyone from the old days.
I read a lot of books.
So I went to a library.
They had a computer.
Wi-Fi was not for everybody yet, and I didnt have a laptop.
So I talked to a librarian at the library, some older woman.
I talked to her like she was my guidance counselor.
I said, Listen, miss, I want to be a stand-up comic.
I have no idea how to start.
I [can] read, but I dont know how to write stand-up comedy.
And finally, one book on stand-up writing, back in like 1994.
It wasGene PerretsComedy Writing Step by Step.
I read the book.
There was a little homework after every chapter on how to write a joke.
But as a young comic, you have no idea how to do that.
How do you just come up with a joke like that?
Why is Jay Leno so quick?
Why is Katt Williams so quick to come up with a ten-minute set when hes being heckled?
How does [Carlos] Mencia write a whole bit out of thin air?
How do they do that?
I guess it takes time.
And I said, Well, Ill tell you right now, thats not me.
I said, Thats my brother.
I think he stole my identity.
Heres a picture of him.
Well match the photos.
And dont kick me off the show.
And it ended up being my brother.
On Releasing a Comedy Special in Spanish and English
I wanted to challenge myself.
No, I said, Why not both?
Lets give a shot to release both.
But all over the world, worldwide, it has to be 176 million people.
Because 76 million is just in the United States.
All of South America must be more, and so on.
So I wanted to reach everybody.
I also wanted to bring the American style of stand-up to Spanish-speaking audiences in other parts of the world.
Because I speak Cheech and Chong level.
And theyre hilarious, these guys from Mexico.
But Im speaking from a Mexican-American point of view.
If I dont understand it, theres going to be other people who dont understand it.
I could relate to this.
Or they could laugh at it and be a family.
