Episode 1441 - Anthony Ramos
Marc:All right, let's do this.
Marc:How are you?
Marc:What the fuckers?
Marc:What the fuck buddies?
Marc:What the fuck nicks?
Marc:What the fuck wads?
Marc:What's happening?
Marc:Somebody emailed me and requested what the fuck wads, which you'd think would be a no-brainer.
Marc:I'm not sure what exactly...
Marc:what where it derives from i don't know what the uh the semantic history of fuck what is but why not why not it's monday so why not make it a monday for the what the fuck what's how's it going people i'm mark maron this is my podcast uh welcome to it anthony ramos is on the show today and uh we had a great chat lively
Marc:And I don't know if you know exactly who he is, but I can tell you he's an actor and musician.
Marc:He got his big break in the original cast of Hamilton.
Marc:He was the lead role in the film of In the Heights.
Marc:He was in The Bad Guys with me.
Marc:He played Piranha.
Marc:He's released two solo albums of his own music.
Marc:And now he's in the new Transformers movie, Rise of the Beasts.
Marc:And he just released his new single, Viano.
Marc:So a lot going on.
Marc:But it's a strange thing, as some of you realized when I did the Alex Borstein episode, that many of us who are in that cast, although we were all together at times on screen because it was animation, did not get a chance to really interact as characters or as people.
Marc:Now, me and Anthony did a massive...
Marc:press junket in New York where we were going out on video usually to dozens and dozens of markets internationally and otherwise.
Marc:And we had some big laughs, man.
Marc:Big laughs.
Marc:But I never really got to know him
Marc:And this was a great opportunity to do that.
Marc:And not only did we kind of get to know each other, but we got some big laughs.
Marc:So that's going to happen shortly.
Marc:There are new cap mugs available from Brian Jones.
Marc:And these new ones have a brand new design of Charlie Beans with art from our friend Dima.
Marc:The new mugs are available today at noon eastern at wtfmugs.co.
Marc:New mugs.
Marc:New mugs.
Marc:Now, I want to clear a couple of things up.
Marc:First of all, I would like to say that I will be doing shows in L.A., some quite close together, it turns out.
Marc:I'm going to be at Largo on Thursday night and I'm going to be at Dynasty Typewriter on Saturday night.
Marc:These are very different venues.
Marc:Largo is a kind of medium sized theater.
Marc:And Dynasty Typewriter is a small black box theater.
Marc:And I assume there'll be very different shows.
Marc:So that is June 8th, Thursday at Largo and June 10th, Saturday at Dynasty Typewriter.
Marc:I know the Largo show is almost sold out.
Marc:I don't think that Dynasty is.
Marc:And oddly...
Marc:The Dynasty one will probably be more interesting.
Marc:I don't know if that's necessarily true, but with a smaller room, I tend to kind of move deeper and in a different direction because the audience is so close.
Marc:So that's happening.
Marc:You can go to wtfpod.com slash tour for links to tickets to both of those shows if you're in the Los Angeles area.
Marc:I don't know what I'm doing.
Marc:I know that I'm focusing on...
Marc:Joke structure.
Marc:I'm doing that thing that I do when I begin to do new material.
Marc:Like I'm doing the comedy store a lot.
Marc:And I'm kind of like tinkering with these bits that are starting to form.
Marc:But I seem to just be staying engaged on stage and enjoying getting the laughs on purpose without really losing my mind.
Marc:Now, you know, I was talking to William Shatner and I was actually doing this on stage.
Marc:I legitimately had this...
Marc:moment of, not inspiration, but something came to me.
Marc:The idea was, and I talked about it with Bill Shatner, a suicide note that just says, why wait?
Marc:And it turns out, maybe I got two people emailing this.
Marc:And they always, you know, people who know information that really most people don't know, including me, always, you know, they always frame it like, well, so-and-so famously did this.
Marc:I'm like,
Marc:Famous to who?
Marc:But that doesn't mean it's not important to know if something has happened before.
Marc:But I just like how some people hang on to these groups get smaller and smaller of people that hang on to minutia from days gone by because everything just gets lost in the undertow of content and garbage that we dump into our heads daily.
Marc:But
Marc:It's true.
Marc:George Eastman, the guy who established the Eastman Kodak company, he was 77 years old and he was suffering from declining health and chronic pain of some of certain types.
Marc:And his suicide note before he shot himself through the heart was
Marc:Which is is kind of a that's a roll of the dice to hit that thing because it's on one side.
Marc:I guess you can kind of get in the area.
Marc:And I think that if you're going to be considering the shooting thing, I don't know.
Marc:I always think head.
Marc:But anyway, morbid thoughts aside, his suicide note read to my friends.
Marc:My work is done.
Marc:Why wait?
Marc:G.E.
Marc:So.
Marc:It's no longer an original thought.
Marc:I can no longer say it on stage because it happened.
Marc:And of course it happened.
Marc:Why wouldn't it happen?
Marc:It seemed like, you know, an easy one.
Marc:It seemed like parallel thinking was inevitable, but obviously kind of final on his part.
Marc:But that question was,
Marc:is still an interesting question, isn't it?
Marc:Like the sort of work ethic of that.
Marc:My work is done, why wait?
Marc:The idea of the inevitability of death and having some control over it is obviously something most people think about occasionally.
Marc:If you're me, I think about it daily.
Marc:It's part of my routine.
Marc:It's part of my pattern.
Marc:It's part of my, it's one of the plates I spin.
Marc:I need some new plates, man.
Marc:But I often think about that.
Marc:And I guess that I need to share things around this.
Marc:And maybe I've shared them before because I will joke about this kind of stuff.
Marc:I had a joke years ago about suicidal ideation and whatnot.
Marc:And I think as people get more...
Marc:feel more powerless, get more anxious, get more frightened or get more despairing or untethered from what might be their personal reality or the broader community at large, that suicidal ideation and actual suicide is prevalent.
Marc:And I feel sometimes that I should share my own experience around this stuff because for me,
Marc:And this is only speaking to certain people, and maybe it'll help.
Marc:Maybe it won't.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:But for me, I operate at a certain frequency of anxiety that is high and subtle.
Marc:I have a high-level anxiety.
Marc:It's subtle because I just see it as the way I am.
Marc:I don't see it as pathological.
Marc:I don't see it as a mental problem.
Marc:But it is.
Marc:The idea of suicide or the idea of non-existence or being... See, like, if you're really anxious, you're not going to be sleeping.
Marc:So the idea of kind of eternal peace...
Marc:is something relieving to think about.
Marc:And it's not a depression thing, and it's not even that I don't want to live anymore.
Marc:It's just someplace that my brain goes because of anxiety that I find comforting.
Marc:But I'm saying to you that if you're not depressed or you think you might be, I would check in with your anxiety level.
Marc:I think it's something kind of like kind of jacked up about your lizard brain that you might have things, you know, not in perspective.
Marc:And the anxiety is overwhelming.
Marc:So I'm just reaching out to those of you who think you're you might be in despair.
Marc:Obviously, some of you are some of you are depressed.
Marc:But if you're having these kind of feelings where you just want relief and
Marc:And it and it is of the final type.
Marc:Check in with your anxiety levels, man.
Marc:OK, that's all.
Marc:The one thing I'm getting from the algorithm.
Marc:And it's kind of profound to me and I find it very moving.
Marc:is that somehow or another I am in the loop of animal vids.
Marc:A lot of cat bits.
Marc:But these bits where humans interact with animals or different species interact with other animals really get me in terms of these moments illustrating the seemingly true power of love.
Marc:they really get me.
Marc:And I can sit there and scroll through, you know, animals cuddling with other animals or human beings hugging monkeys.
Marc:And just the sort of love that emanates in a very genuine way from animals without self-awareness is profound to me.
Marc:And it makes me wonder about my own capacity for it and why I kind of...
Marc:You know, shield myself from it in a lot of ways or not let it happen.
Marc:I understand those things.
Marc:I understand why that is that I am guarded or or not willing to to let myself let go in the big love.
Marc:But the more I watch these monkeys and cats and donkeys and dogs and ducklings and kittens and just every type of animal having these moments that seem genuine, that when you look at it, all it could be described of is this sort of frequency, this currency, this reality of love that
Marc:Among animals where I just kind of I fucking cry.
Marc:I cry.
Marc:I cry watching people hug monkeys.
Marc:I cry when a puppy is taken in by a mother cat along with her other kittens.
Marc:I just tear up.
Marc:And that that indicates something to me, folks.
Marc:I've got it.
Marc:I better I better get straight with my ability to give and receive love before I check out.
Marc:So if the question is, why wait?
Marc:It's to get that.
Marc:And time is running out, man.
Marc:So I got to turn off the panic.
Marc:get my anxiety in check and let myself love for fuck's sake.
Marc:God damn it.
Marc:OK, look, Anthony Ramos is in Transformers Rise of the Beasts.
Marc:Opens in theaters this Friday, June 9th.
Marc:Anthony's new single Viano is available wherever you get music and music videos.
Marc:And I don't know if I'm one to make any announcements or if they even exist, but it's looking good.
Marc:for a bad guy sequel.
Marc:That's all I'm going to say.
Marc:And right now, this is me.
Marc:And also, be aware of when I might tilt into a slight Puerto Rican tone.
Marc:I've got that thing that I do sometimes.
Marc:And I know it exists.
Marc:Sometimes I know when it's happening.
Marc:But a lot of times, my enmeshment with a guest reveals itself through the way I'm talking.
Marc:So...
Marc:Look out for that.
Marc:Find the moment.
Marc:This is me talking to Anthony Ramos.
Marc:so vegas do you enjoy that vegas yeah vegas vegas it's all right yeah i don't know man i don't know what to do with that i'm not i'm not that kind of guy it's okay yeah like i gambled a little bit in the airport today like i lost 45 dollars
Guest:you waited it was a wasted fucking 45 i should have taken yo like i put 20 in the machine yeah and uh and i like was up 11 i had i won 31 and like 80 cents i was like oh i'm i'm crushing right now i should just take my 31 80 and get the fuck out of here and then next thing you know it's gone it's it was gone it was gone that's the trick quicker than i wouldn't it's hard to leave with money
Guest:It's unbelievable.
Marc:I can't, and I never, I'm not the kind of guy, like, you know, I have other addictions, but that losing money isn't one of them.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Yeah, same.
Guest:I mean, look, I stopped at 45.
Guest:I said, this is, I mean, this is excessive.
Guest:45.
Marc:Meanwhile, there's a guy across town that just lost his house.
Guest:He lost, yo, yo, I thought about that.
Guest:Dude, people just sitting there all day.
Guest:They're just sitting there.
Guest:I can't do it.
Guest:Staring at the screen and just the, I mean, it's like, it's just pressing the button.
Marc:I can't do it.
Marc:I'm bad enough with the phone and I don't win anything.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Right.
Guest:I'm not gaining anything.
Guest:Bro, this is so random.
Guest:You know what I thought about today, bro?
Guest:I thought in the car ride here about when we did the fucking... The junket?
Guest:The junket, and we could not stop laughing.
Guest:So what's the movie Bad Guys about?
Guest:Oh, my God.
Guest:It's about friendship.
Yeah.
Guest:And I'd be like, you tell him, Anthony.
Guest:You go, what?
Guest:Don't judge a book by its cover.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And then there was like another one.
Guest:And then we'd just get into this groove with it.
Guest:It's so ridiculous.
Guest:And then we would switch the answers between you, me, and Craig.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, Craig.
Guest:Oh, he's funny.
Guest:Craig is hilarious.
Guest:He has the most perfect haircut I've ever seen in my life.
Guest:That fro?
Guest:That fro is the most perfect haircut I've ever seen.
Guest:So clean.
Marc:Perfect.
Marc:The hairline is like.
Marc:Yeah, it's perfect.
Marc:Perfect.
Guest:Somebody painted that shit up.
Marc:I know.
Marc:It's like totally retro perfect.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, I mean, it was good.
Marc:I think people loved that movie.
Marc:You were so funny.
Marc:It was so funny.
Marc:Thanks, man.
Marc:Everybody was so, I mean, you know, everybody was... Do you get feedback from kids?
Guest:Sometimes.
Guest:Do you hear about it?
Guest:Every now and then I get a kid, you know, I get a kid's parent have to tell the kid, that's Piranha.
Marc:Yeah, and then they're like, what?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:He don't look like a piranha, bro.
Guest:Get out of here.
Marc:You got to do the voice for him.
Marc:Right.
Marc:How many times have you been like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:Just once, I think.
Guest:Just one time.
Guest:Yeah, because most of the time the kid's just like, I don't care.
Guest:He doesn't look like a fucking piranha.
Marc:Yeah, they don't know.
Marc:It's just some guy.
Marc:Sometimes they get impressed, though.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So Vegas, though, what do you do when you're out there?
Marc:You just sit at a panel?
Marc:You sit at a table?
Marc:You sign things?
Marc:You talk?
Marc:They gave you an award for what?
Guest:They gave me an award.
Guest:Fucking nose, bro.
Guest:I don't fucking know anymore.
Guest:I just show up.
Guest:Did you have it?
Guest:Nah, nah.
Guest:Dude, it's hilarious.
Guest:All these award shows, man.
Guest:All these award shows are the same.
Guest:You show up and if you win anything, you go backstage and they're like, so we're actually going to take these from you and we're going to mail you your award.
Marc:With your name on it.
Guest:I'm never going to get this award.
Marc:You'll get it, and then what do you do with it?
Marc:You're like, what do I do with this?
Guest:Dude, my mom, I won a Grammy once in my life.
Guest:For Hamilton?
Guest:Yep.
Guest:And my mom has it somewhere buried beneath the files of her life in some closet.
Guest:In a box?
Guest:In a bin.
Guest:Bro, it's like, I don't know.
Guest:I have no idea where that thing is.
Marc:You gave it to her, and she's proud, and then she's like, I don't know where to do it.
Guest:Yeah, she's like, yeah, good job.
Guest:Here, let me bury this shit.
Guest:in the ground, in the backyard of the projects in Brooklyn.
Marc:Dude, I think you can get her out of the projects, can't you?
Guest:I tried.
Guest:It ain't for lack of trying, let me tell you.
Guest:What, she just doesn't want to go?
Guest:She doesn't want to leave, bro.
Guest:She knows where her bodega is.
Guest:She's dug in.
Guest:I promise you, dude, the conversations.
Guest:It gets to the point where I was getting so frustrated.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Because she would, like, complain about some shit that's going on in the neighborhood.
Guest:And then I'm like, you know, you don't have to live there.
Guest:Like, you're complaining about some shit that you literally do not have to go through.
Guest:Like, people have to go through this shit.
Guest:And you did.
Guest:When we grew up, you had to go through it.
Guest:But you don't have to do this anymore.
Guest:Like, this is a choice you're making.
Guest:I'm making an offer to you.
Guest:I'm like, I've made this offer to you, like, multiple times.
Guest:And you still choose to...
Guest:You're just like, yeah, nah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But listen to my complaint, though.
Guest:I need you to listen to my grievance.
Guest:Well, I guess, like, I don't, how old is she?
Guest:My mom is 61.
Marc:Wait, I mean, I don't know.
Marc:Like, I guess just as part of the life, you get used to a life, right?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, I don't, it's odd.
Marc:How many kids in your family?
Marc:It's three of us.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And she's dug in there, right?
Guest:She's dug in.
Guest:That's her neighborhood.
Guest:She's dug in.
Guest:They all know her.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And now she's the mother of a star, so she's got a little cachet.
Marc:She's like the mayor.
Guest:Shit.
Guest:I mean, look, hey, man, you know, if you can make it make sense to me.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:I mean, yeah.
Guest:She's just like there.
Guest:I'm like, yo, like, yo, ma, just bounce.
Guest:Like, what are you doing?
Guest:And she's got, you know, she's got her church.
Guest:She's got her friends.
Guest:She's got her vibe.
Guest:You know, she knows where.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:She knows where to get her groceries.
Guest:I get it.
Guest:I understand.
Marc:Why shake it up?
Marc:We're going to go put her in a nice place, and then she's going to invite her friends over, and they'll be like, ooh, so you're not too good for us now.
Guest:No, I mean, we'll start slow.
Guest:I was like, yo, why don't you just get a two-bedroom apartment somewhere else?
Guest:Let's just start there.
Guest:Anywhere else.
Guest:Maybe in a neighborhood where you don't have to have these complaints and grievances, right?
Guest:And she's like, nah.
Marc:i want to move to florida but i don't know when and i'm like oh she wants to go florida i think so where you are where i'm at yeah so where'd you grow up i grew up in brooklyn in bushwick and she's still there still there bro in the same place same place wow same place yeah anyway so what was it what did she do
Guest:She lives now.
Guest:That's all she does.
Guest:She doesn't do... I mean, I think she runs errands, a lot of errands.
Guest:I feel like every time I'm talking to her, she's running an errand.
Marc:Yeah, I do that too.
Marc:Sometimes if you're self-employed, it's kind of hard to figure out what the fuck to do with your day.
Marc:So you're like, well, maybe I'll go to that other supermarket.
Marc:I wonder if they have it.
Marc:Right.
Yeah.
Guest:I was like, yo, what are you doing today?
Guest:Like, what errand could you possibly be running right now?
Guest:Like, yo, I'm like, yo, ma.
Guest:She's like, oh, I gotta drive your aunt to, your aunt Millie to the thing.
Guest:Or I'm like, she's like, oh, I gotta go to the credit union.
Guest:I'm like, what the fuck are you still using the credit union for, yo?
Guest:Like, you can't pay a credit card online.
Guest:What are we doing?
Guest:Right.
Guest:But she's, you know, I love my mom.
Guest:She's amazing.
Guest:But, you know, I think she's just like, she's trying to keep herself busy.
Guest:It's kind of funny.
Marc:It's kind of a great idea for a movie.
Guest:That is actually hilarious.
Guest:Right?
Guest:Please write it, Mark.
Guest:Like, produce it and just give me a small part of it.
Guest:The mom that will not leave.
Marc:The mom that won't leave.
Marc:Even though you've offered her everything.
Marc:I feel like I've seen that as a side story.
Marc:So what did she do when you were growing up?
Guest:She was a medical biller.
Guest:So she worked at a hospital, like for a hospital, like Jamaica Hospital.
Guest:Then it was Long Island College Hospital.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And she was just... I know where Jamaica Hospital is, right off the highway, right?
Marc:Yep, yep.
Marc:You see it when you're coming back from the airport.
Guest:Right, that's exactly right.
Guest:Yeah, and when I was a kid, I was so... I don't know what it was.
Guest:I just knew that was the only hospital I knew.
Guest:So, you know, I used to have asthma, like bad asthma.
Guest:And if I had an asthma attack, if I was getting an asthma attack, I'd be like, Mom...
Guest:We need to go to Jamaica Hospital.
Guest:We can't go anywhere.
Guest:We gotta go to Jamaica.
Guest:She's like, yo, bro, you're gonna die if we take you to Jamaica.
Guest:Gotta go down the street.
Guest:Something a little closer?
Guest:Yeah, I mean, but she still, I mean, she took me and we made it, thank God.
Guest:How'd you kick the asthma?
Guest:I just started playing sports and training and working out.
Marc:I didn't know that can go away.
Marc:It just goes away?
Marc:Childhood asthma?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, fucking COVID brought it back a little bit.
Guest:Did it?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Oh, you got it?
Guest:But I feel I'm starting to feel better again.
Guest:You had the COVID?
Guest:Oh, yeah, bro.
Guest:I had that shit.
Guest:Did you have it early?
Guest:Three or four times.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Oh, I was an OG COVID.
Guest:OG COVID hurt.
Marc:The bad COVID.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Oh, I had the bad COVID.
Guest:I think the shit hit me twice in like two months.
Guest:I mean, and they said it's not even possible, but I got sick bad, like almost the same.
Guest:In Florida?
Guest:No, it was out here in LA.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:I was here in LA.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Staying at a friend's place.
Guest:I thought it was a flu.
Guest:I mean, it could have been.
Guest:I could have gotten the flu one month and then COVID the next.
Marc:But you didn't get the New York COVID.
Marc:That was particularly bad.
Guest:I got, I mean, I got every COVID you could think of, my brother.
Guest:I promise you.
Guest:I was, I got the, he's outside COVID.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Somebody put a leash on this guy.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Fucking, I was, got all the COVIDs, man.
Guest:You know, like it was, but you know, I'm grateful that.
Guest:You seem all right.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Thank God.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's so funny.
Marc:You know, I never feel great.
Marc:So like I was saying on stage a couple of times, I'm like, I wouldn't even know if I had long COVID.
Marc:I never feel good.
Guest:I wouldn't know.
Guest:I mean, I'm just,
Marc:I always feel kind of shitty, so I don't know.
Marc:But you would know.
Guest:I don't want to make light of it.
Guest:No, yeah.
Guest:Some people got a problem.
Guest:It was horrible, man.
Guest:It was a long time, dude.
Marc:It was bad, bro.
Marc:And now we're all just kind of moving on, but it's sort of like, that was like a time hole.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:What the fuck was happening, you know?
Marc:Everything was terrifying.
Marc:Like, I just tried to remember it.
Marc:Like, I go to the gym sometimes.
Marc:I just rejoined recently after COVID, and I'm in there.
Marc:I'm like, this would have been life-threateningly scary just to come here.
Marc:I'm still not going to go in the fucking sauna.
Marc:I don't know what's in the sauna.
Guest:Mysterious things happen in the sauna.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:I'm more worried about COVID.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Because I can always say no to the other thing.
Guest:Yeah, right, right, right, right, right.
Guest:No thanks.
Marc:I didn't know this happened at this sauna.
Guest:No thanks, pal.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:Good luck with it.
Marc:I'm going to go ahead and go.
Marc:Let someone else come in.
Marc:But it's great to see you.
Guest:It's good to see you, man.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:I'll see you out there on the machines.
Marc:It's good to see you, Charlie.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:We know.
Marc:I won't say anything.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:No, it's cool, man.
Marc:Don't worry about it, bro.
Marc:So I got that.
Marc:What did I get?
Marc:A single?
Marc:A new single?
Marc:Oh, I got a new single, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, it's good, man.
Guest:Thanks, man.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:It's good.
Guest:It's a good groove.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:It's a little... It's pretty heavy.
Guest:Oh, it's super heavy.
Marc:You know, I've listened to it.
Marc:I'm trying to get into it.
Marc:I'm like, oh, shit.
Guest:Don't worry.
Guest:I got the party joint coming out next.
Guest:I just had to get this one out of my system.
Guest:Trauma.
Guest:I had to get out into it.
Guest:Fucking trauma.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Breakups.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, it was crazy.
Guest:Oh.
Guest:Is that what happened?
Guest:Yeah, it was a breakup and-
Guest:The song's called Villano and people paint you as this villain.
Guest:Or you feel like you're being villainized.
Guest:When you break up with somebody?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:We just broke up just because we just broke up.
Guest:And that was it.
Guest:I was out with a girl a couple weeks later.
Guest:A couple weeks later.
Guest:You're like, fuck it.
Guest:Yeah, fuck it.
Guest:We're outside.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:It's Florida.
Guest:Yeah, it's Florida.
Guest:No, it...
Guest:Yeah, no, it was in L.A.
Guest:Oh, it was?
Guest:In L.A.
Guest:Yeah, so everything's happening in L.A.
Guest:So I stay away from L.A.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:I stay away from Los Angeles.
Guest:Unless I have to see you.
Guest:Someone took a picture?
Guest:Oh, it was horrible.
Guest:Yeah, it was terrible.
Guest:And I'm like, yo, I'm just trying to live my single life out here.
Guest:I'm just trying to chill.
Guest:Yeah, how long were we with the other one?
Guest:A minute.
Guest:He said, I love you with the other one.
Guest:Yeah, it was a long time.
Guest:It was like almost seven years.
Marc:Oh, so two weeks later was.
Guest:Oh, it was two weeks later.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Super soon.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I don't know why I thought I was like, I said, oh man, I'm not that famous.
Guest:I'm not.
Guest:Because I'm not.
Guest:Dude, I'm like a C-list celebrity at best.
Guest:But I think, I guess it was C-list enough.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:For someone to be like, yo, I recognize that Latin guy.
Marc:Yeah, they got the C-list paparazzi out there.
Guest:Oh, the C-list paparazzi.
Guest:They just have their phones.
Guest:They don't even have cameras.
Guest:No, the strippers over here, you know, popping it on the pole and also, you know, popping her finger on her camera or somebody.
Guest:She gave somebody the smoke signal.
Marc:Like, oh, yo, I recognize this guy.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:But you're not C-list now, are you?
Marc:No.
Guest:You know what?
Guest:In my mind, bro... You know, it's funny, right?
Guest:I'm like at this place where someone would be like...
Guest:are you that guy?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Or the best one is, yo, are you famous?
Guest:And I'm like, well, if you had to ask that, I don't think I'm that famous.
Marc:Yeah, that's always the good one.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:What's your name again?
Guest:What's your name?
Guest:You that guy from that, wait, you that guy, right?
Guest:I'm like, you know, I don't know if I'm that guy.
Guest:You tell me.
Marc:So that's the level of fame you're at?
Guest:I am at you that guy fame.
Marc:I used to do a bit about how I'm at the level of fame where three guys could be walking up to me, right?
Marc:And one guy would be like, holy shit, Marc Maron, I fucking love you, man.
Marc:The other two are like, I don't know who this guy is.
Marc:So then they got to explain who I am to their friends while I'm standing there.
Marc:That's the level.
Guest:It's crazy, bro.
Guest:It's like, you're just kind of like...
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:It's like that.
Guest:You walk in that line.
Guest:You want to just chill and just... I had this conversation with a friend the other day, too.
Guest:He said that his brother got super excited.
Guest:His brother saw Mark Wahlberg out.
Guest:I probably shouldn't have said that.
Guest:It doesn't matter.
Guest:Out in the world.
Guest:There's nothing bad about Mark Wahlberg.
Guest:Telling people to pray?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Mark Marin is a savage, ladies and gentlemen.
Guest:He's a fucking savage.
Marc:What's his little tagline?
Marc:Get your prey on?
Marc:Yeah, get your prey on.
Guest:Come on, man.
Marc:We all got to get our prey on.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:I'm working on it.
Guest:Touch with the higher power.
Guest:So you see him?
Guest:Yeah, right.
Guest:So his friend...
Guest:So he sees him.
Guest:His brother sees him.
Guest:And coming out of an elevator, his brother starts going crazy.
Guest:Oh, my gosh.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then a friend of my friend goes, he said, you know, I was a little drunk.
Guest:I was like, yo, forget about it.
Guest:Why do you want to picture me?
Guest:Yo, he's whack anyway.
Guest:And walks away.
Guest:And I'm like, why would you?
Guest:What did Mark Wahlberg do to you?
Guest:Like, what did he do to you?
Guest:Why would you?
Guest:Why would you?
Guest:First of all, doubly...
Guest:You did like a, not just one moment that was whack, that you did that was whack, but two.
Guest:First of all, you threw salt on your brother's moment.
Guest:Your brother's over here living his life.
Guest:He's seeing one of his heroes or maybe, or I don't know.
Guest:But he's seeing somebody he looks up to.
Guest:He's hype.
Guest:Let him be hype.
Guest:And then number two, you calling my man Mark Wahlberg whack?
Guest:He didn't even do nothing to you.
Guest:What are you talking?
Guest:He's just being Mark Wahlberg, chilling, coming out the elevator, stunting.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You know, what's going on inside of you?
Guest:We had a whole debate at dinner.
Guest:Shit was hilarious.
Marc:Did he end up crying just saying he was jealous because he doesn't talk to his brother enough?
Marc:Wow.
Marc:That could be an underlying issue.
Guest:That's super deep.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:Shit.
Guest:Do you go to therapy?
Marc:I have in my life.
Marc:I'm just working the angles.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:What's that guy do?
Marc:What's your friend do?
Guest:He's a songwriter.
Guest:He's amazing, too.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:He's a fucking brilliant, amazing songwriter.
Marc:Yeah, it's funny with artists, though.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:Like, after a certain point, they're like, yeah, fuck that guy.
Marc:You know, no matter what they did.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Guest:Yeah, he helped me write the song, too.
Guest:Oh, he did?
Guest:Yeah, he helped me write the song.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He's, um, we've been close friends for a long time.
Marc:Hard to know what to do with Mark Wahlberg.
Marc:I did a movie with him.
Marc:I was in briefly in Spencer Confidential.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Because he's intense, you know, and he's Mark Wahlberg.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And I remember just sitting there in the chairs once, him and me.
Marc:And I'm like, is anyone going to talk?
Marc:And I didn't know what to say, so I was just sort of like, dude, do you eat almonds ever?
Marc:Almonds?
Marc:Did you say that to him?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And he goes, yeah.
Marc:I'm like, how much, though?
Marc:Like a day?
Marc:Like, you know, because he's a healthy guy.
Marc:You know, maybe a handful here and there.
Marc:I'm like, oh, it's good.
Marc:It's good.
Guest:No, no, I'm just asking.
Guest:Because I've been thinking about my intake as well.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:I'm thinking about getting ripped, and I'm just wondering how many almonds.
Yeah.
Marc:All right.
Marc:So you're growing up there.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:How many, are you the oldest?
Guest:I am the middle child.
Marc:Are the other two, uh, full of talent?
Guest:They are full of talent.
Guest:They are.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:My sister is really smart.
Guest:She's beautiful.
Guest:She's, um, what'd she get your life going into?
Guest:You know, she's kind of figuring it out a little bit.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:That's a little sister?
Guest:Yeah, a little sister.
Guest:I mean, we're almost the same age.
Guest:We're 11 months apart.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:Yeah, my mom's was quick to work.
Guest:Where's your dad at?
Guest:You know, no, dad's around.
Guest:I'm just like, fuckers.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:A couple years ago, I could have been like, you know, about that.
Guest:But no, he's around.
Guest:I spoke to him yesterday.
Guest:Back in the picture?
Guest:Or was he out of the picture for a while?
Guest:He's back in the picture.
Guest:Oh, good.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:He was in and out.
Guest:He was tiptoeing, tiptoeing on the marble floor.
Guest:My man was, he dipped the toe in, into the pool, you know, come out, right?
Guest:He'd be like, oh, that...
Guest:He'd be underwater.
Guest:You're like, oh, that foot looks familiar.
Guest:Yeah, I think that's him.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:But yeah, no, he's around now.
Guest:He's in the city?
Guest:Yep.
Guest:He lives up by Washington Heights.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And your older sibling?
Guest:My brother, we work together.
Guest:Oh, yeah?
Guest:Yep.
Guest:So we travel together.
Guest:He's in your entourage?
Guest:He's in my entourage.
Guest:He's your entourage.
Guest:Your road manager?
Guest:My road manager.
Guest:That's good.
Guest:Confidant.
Guest:That's good.
Guest:He helps me with everything.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, he's... And that works out.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, he's solid.
Guest:Yeah, I mean, sometimes, you know, right?
Guest:I mean, I'm sure, you know, I don't think he'll hate me for saying this, but I'm sure I could get a way better assistant.
Guest:But not someone you could trust as much.
Guest:But not someone I could trust as much.
Guest:So I will ride this one out.
Guest:Yeah, why not, man?
Guest:That's my guy.
Guest:I trust him with everything.
Marc:So when you were a kid, was it always about music?
Guest:Yeah, man, I love music, man.
Guest:Music was the first, I think it was baseball music for me.
Guest:Baseball, that was your sport?
Guest:Mostly baseball, yeah.
Guest:Like my brother played, you know.
Guest:I used to have this nickname called the franchise.
Guest:So in the backyard, like in the projects, we all shared this one backyard that now they are building this massive condo, condominium building in this backyard surrounded by projects.
Guest:I was like, wow.
Guest:They're eventually just going to push them all out.
Guest:As soon as I saw that building going up, I was like, yo, so Ma, you still feel the same?
Marc:Maybe eventually just move her into the building.
Guest:Yeah, right.
Marc:She wouldn't be on the same block.
Marc:Right, yeah.
Marc:Little upgrade.
Marc:Same friend, same bodega.
Guest:Oh, my gosh, bro.
Guest:That's the plan.
Guest:I'm going to move you into this new building they're building in the fucking backyard we've been looked at for all of our lives.
Guest:It's wild, though.
Guest:It was just a lot.
Guest:Yeah, man.
Guest:And they took it.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Is that part of, is that changing out there?
Marc:I mean, is it happening?
Marc:I mean, Bushwick is definitely.
Marc:That was like, yeah.
Guest:The last one to go though, right?
Guest:Bushwick's the last, the latest one.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:The latest of the Mohegans.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:To get took.
Marc:Is there still room to be taken?
Marc:I mean, is there still more of Brooklyn?
Guest:Oh, for sure.
Guest:Yeah?
Guest:For sure.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I don't know, Brooklyn.
Marc:That all happened after I left New York.
Marc:I was in Queens.
Marc:And there was a couple of people out in Greenpoint, you know, living in, you know, like, you know, places that had machinery in them.
Guest:I got a little spot in Greenpoint now.
Guest:You do?
Guest:Yep.
Guest:Yep.
Guest:It's nice.
Guest:In a place where there was nothing.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Nothing, bro.
Guest:Like, I mean, I look at these streets.
Guest:No building?
Guest:There was no building.
Guest:This is a new building.
Guest:They built this in, like, 2019.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But, like, and they just built a new one last year.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Right next door.
Guest:And I'm just looking at all these buildings.
Guest:I'm like, damn, London.
Guest:This shit was here.
Marc:Wow.
Marc:Nice?
Marc:Yeah, it's nice.
Guest:It's cool.
Marc:Is there still Polish diners around?
Guest:There are a couple.
Guest:There are a few.
Marc:You still get a pierogi around the corner?
Marc:Right.
Guest:Then you get the Eagle Company Coffee Cafe.
Guest:They're getting all the fresh produce.
Guest:It's so wild, man.
Marc:Compared to, I don't know, you're younger than me, but growing up in New York, it's totally different, right?
Guest:Oh, 100%.
Marc:I can't, like, it's so weird.
Marc:Like, I was in Astoria.
Marc:I never thought Astoria would change.
Guest:Where'd you live in Astoria?
Guest:I lived on, like, by 23rd Street.
Guest:I lived two blocks away from the park, from Astoria Park.
Marc:Okay.
Guest:Like, right by the bridge.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, this is me popping my lick with death.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I lived on 30, what did I live?
Marc:30th Avenue, 37th Street.
Marc:Like a block down from Steinway.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:The Egyptian part.
Marc:Right.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I lived, yeah, 23rd, and it was, yeah, it was like, I can't remember.
Guest:It's not cool there now, is it?
Guest:Yeah, bro.
Guest:Astoria is, story is popping.
Guest:Really?
Guest:People love Astoria.
Guest:I love Astoria.
Marc:I loved it too, but it was still a story.
Marc:There was no hipsters around.
Marc:It was just like I'd get off the train at 2.30 in the morning and wonder why these families were buying vegetables with their children at 2.30 in the morning.
Guest:Yeah, it's still not really hipstery, but definitely people are moving there.
Guest:You know, a lot of people live in there.
Guest:A lot of people who've done Broadway and shit like that.
Guest:They got a place out there?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I used to have a landlady named Lucille.
Guest:Shout out to Lucille.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I remember when I did my first role on Law & Order, Lucille saw the episode and she said, hey, I saw you on the TV.
Guest:You know, I would give her $500 in cash.
Guest:There was no checks and shit.
Guest:It was straight cash.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I was working at Bread's Bakery at the time.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Doing what?
Guest:I was just, I would register.
Guest:Make bread?
Guest:No, definitely didn't make bread.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:You can find me back there making bread.
Guest:Fucking burning the bread back there.
Guest:I'm inventing shit.
Guest:I used to give samples of chocolate babka out front, too.
Guest:Oh, chocolate babka.
Guest:That's an art.
Guest:Yeah, oh, yeah.
Marc:The bopka.
Guest:Oh, yeah, no.
Marc:People are like, you know, it's like, how are we going to make a good bopka?
Marc:It's beautiful.
Guest:They used to use Nutella.
Guest:Oh, yeah?
Guest:Oh, this bopka was crazy.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:Yeah, I used to bring it home.
Guest:Is it still there, that bakery?
Guest:I think so, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, on 15th Street or some shit.
Marc:So what'd your landlady do?
Marc:Did she raise your rent when she saw you on Law & Order?
Guest:No, no, no, no.
Guest:What she said was, she sees the episode, and then she goes, you know, I saw you on Law & Order.
Guest:I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, you saw the episode.
Guest:She's like, you didn't say much.
Guest:And I'm just looking at her with my $500 in my hand.
Marc:That's worse than, are you somebody?
Marc:Oh, it's horrible, bro.
Marc:You didn't say much.
Marc:Because you knew.
Marc:You knew you didn't say much.
Guest:Oh, of course.
Guest:I was like, I'm over here.
Guest:Yeah, and it's horrible.
Guest:I'm playing like a fucking rapist on this shit.
Guest:And, you know, I'm just like, it's not bad enough.
Guest:I'm playing this role.
Guest:And then, I mean, look, I'm grateful that they gave me an opportunity.
Guest:Oh, my God.
Guest:Yeah, it was, you know, but I said, okay, thanks.
Guest:Thanks.
Guest:Thanks, Miss Lucille.
Guest:See you next month.
Guest:So that was like your first or second TV show.
Guest:It was like my second, yeah, it was like a guest star role.
Guest:I was super hyped.
Guest:You know, you get the guest star role.
Guest:If you get two weeks on a show, you get that two weeks pay.
Guest:It's kind of nice.
Guest:You know, it's a couple months rent if your shit is at $500 a month.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:Like, it's amazing the whole Law & Order franchise for New York actors.
Marc:They all kind of go through.
Guest:Oh, everybody's been through the ringer, man.
Guest:You got, like, that's like the rite of passage.
Marc:How many years until you can play a different character?
Guest:They actually offered me a different character like three years later.
Yeah.
Guest:I was like, is this not too soon?
Guest:I guess not.
Guest:What was that character?
Guest:I actually didn't take the role that time, but I can't remember.
Guest:I feel like he might have been a lawyer or some shit.
Marc:When did you know that you weren't going to be a professional baseball player?
Guest:in high school.
Guest:I mean, I just walked off the field, bro.
Guest:I was 17 years old.
Guest:I was playing summer ball.
Guest:We had finished the season.
Guest:It was my best season, actually, yet in school.
Guest:I had the highest batting average on the team.
Guest:I won, like, best comeback player in the year, which meant, like, yo, you sucked the year before, and you actually, like, got good.
Guest:And, you know, or rather, you was on the bench the year before, and whoa, you played, and it was actually good.
Guest:And I was like, yeah, shit, you didn't give me a chance the year before.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But, you know, I finished the season in high school, and then I'm playing summer ball for our coach's dad.
Guest:You know, rest in peace, Coach DeMarco, DeMarco Sr.
Guest:But, like, I was on the field.
Guest:I'm playing outfield, and I'm just like, yo, this ain't it.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:I was like, I don't think I'm going to make it to the major leagues, so I think I'm going to.
Guest:This might be my last game.
Guest:Did you start singing out there?
Guest:I started singing.
Yeah.
Guest:I said, Coach, do you have a wooden board?
Guest:I have metal on the bottom of my cleats.
Guest:I was thinking about tap dancing out here for the team.
Guest:I just want to get feedback.
Guest:Who's up for a song?
Guest:Anybody ever wanted to do musicals here?
Guest:Anybody ever heard of the show Damn Yankees?
Guest:Were you a fan of that?
Guest:Yeah, I did that show.
Guest:Oh, no, I wasn't a fan of musicals, really.
Guest:I did musicals in high school.
Guest:You did?
Guest:But it was because it was a way to sing.
Guest:I auditioned for a thing called Sing.
Guest:In high school?
Guest:In high school.
Guest:Was it art school?
Guest:No, it was like a regular-ass public school.
Guest:Public school, bro.
Guest:But there was a thing in New York called Sing where all the grades would compete, right?
Guest:So 9 through 12, they do a 45-minute musical.
Guest:This was a musical that was popular, I guess, in public schools.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:They're always there.
Guest:The shit died down, I guess, a little bit.
Marc:There was always a musical going on.
Marc:You may not have noticed it.
Guest:Right, right.
Marc:But they're over there doing them.
Guest:For sure.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:For sure.
Guest:But in our school, there weren't enough people who wanted to be a part of Sing.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:They basically, so what they did was they were like, yo, we're gonna combine the grades.
Guest:So I go in, they're doing these announcements, come audition for Sing, come audition for Sing.
Guest:And I'm like, what the fuck is Sing?
Guest:I'm like, yo, I kind of want to sing though.
Guest:I mean, I haven't sang in a minute.
Guest:It hasn't been a minute since I,
Guest:It's been a while since I've done my thing.
Guest:Junior high school, I had a group, a trio.
Guest:Really?
Guest:It was me and two friends, Khalif and Lennox.
Guest:Doing what?
Guest:We used to sing Temptation songs at assemblies.
Marc:Like an acapella trip?
Guest:Or you had a band?
Guest:No.
Guest:Damn, was it acapella?
Guest:I mean, we've done a couple of acapella stunts.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:But sometimes we'd have a backing track and something we pulled off of YouTube or something, whatever.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:And, you know, I loved it, man.
Guest:It was fun, and we would do these songs.
Guest:Temptations helped me get a few jobs.
Guest:Yeah?
Guest:Hamilton on Broadway.
Guest:Temptations helped me get that job.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Why?
Guest:What did you sing?
Guest:I sang Ain't Too Proud to Beg.
Guest:Really?
Guest:To get Hamilton?
Guest:To get Hamilton.
Guest:Temptations helped me graduate high school.
Guest:I sang Just My Imagination to one of my teachers, and she passed me.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:She literally said, I'll never say her name.
Guest:Tell me it was a math class.
Guest:It was a science class.
Guest:It was.
Guest:And basically, she's like, yo, look, if you sing Just My Imagination right now, I'll pass you.
Guest:Because I was for sure 1,000% failing.
Guest:Oh, it was 100%.
Guest:I was going down.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:If I failed that class, I wasn't graduating.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So she did me an ultra solid.
Guest:So it was just you and her in the room?
Guest:No, no, no.
Guest:There were other kids in there, but the class was so loud in that moment of class.
Guest:She was like, yo, bro.
Guest:She wasn't even paying attention to everybody.
Guest:She was literally just trying to get me to sing Just My Imagination.
Guest:She was like, yo, if you sing this song right now, I'll pass you.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I said...
Guest:It's day through my window.
Guest:I'll watch.
Guest:I just bust it out.
Guest:I'll watch her as she passes by.
Guest:And I was giving her the whole, I say to myself.
Guest:Like, I was just putting it off her.
Guest:Did you twirl?
Guest:Did you spin?
Guest:I didn't twirl.
Guest:I didn't twirl.
Guest:But I took the pencil and everything and used it as a mic and gave her the shoulder movements.
Guest:You know how they used to do back in the day?
Marc:It worked, huh?
Marc:It worked, bro.
Marc:That's crazy.
Guest:God bless the New York City public school system.
Guest:Thank God for public school.
Guest:Shit.
Guest:I don't think that would have worked in private school.
Marc:No, no, you can't.
Marc:You know, but science is hard and she probably knew in her heart that it wasn't your future.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:She clearly believed in your singing.
Marc:She must have seen you singing at an assembly or something.
Marc:She said, this kid will not be an archaeologist.
Marc:He's not going to help this guy out.
Marc:Yeah, let me just get him through.
Marc:So do you go, like after high school, do you go to some kind of arts program?
Guest:I did.
Guest:You know, so my journey from high school on was wild.
Guest:Like I auditioned for that show, thought it was a talent show, ended up being a musical.
Guest:The same thing?
Guest:It was a musical.
Guest:They gave me a lead role in it, and I was like, whoa, I don't think I can do this.
Guest:That sounds crazy.
Guest:I can't memorize all those lines.
Guest:I don't even do my homework.
Guest:Y'all are bugging.
Guest:Teacher's like, you know, who's a good friend of mine still, Sarah Stein-wise, she's like, yo, no, no, you should really do this.
Guest:Like, I think you should.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:She believed in it.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah, she did.
Marc:This is from Sing.
Marc:From Sing.
Marc:The auditions, yeah.
Guest:So I went and they gave me a lead part.
Guest:I decided to do it.
Guest:I loved it.
Guest:I looked ridiculous with a Burger King helmet on, you know, with the crowns from Burger King's helmet, the crowns that they used to have on the seats.
Marc:What play was that?
Marc:What musical?
Guest:It was just called Love Conquers All, a show that the students wrote.
Marc:Okay.
Guest:And I went and I did the show.
Guest:I loved it.
Guest:I felt I was wearing way too much makeup.
Guest:Why a Burger King hat?
Guest:I don't know I think that's what was just I think that's what was available or did it just look like that it looked like that but yeah you know they made it we didn't have access to the top of the line props departments yeah of course but it was great man and you felt that this is it I was like yo I love this shit so I was like you know let me do another one so I did another one called Back to the 80s at school was that all the 80s songs a bunch of 80s songs and you're dancing I sang Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley oh good
Marc:But you're dancing and everything?
Guest:I'm over here doing all freestyling, doing all my own choreography on stage.
Guest:I felt bad for the person running the spotlight because they're like, I don't know where the fuck this guy's going next.
Guest:Because it wasn't rehearsed.
Guest:I just kept moving around and spinning on stage.
Guest:Never gonna give you up.
Guest:Another spin.
Guest:Never gonna let you down.
Guest:Trying to do a split.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:I'm like, I'm bugging out.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:New jazz split.
Guest:Selling it, man.
Guest:James Brown or some shit.
Guest:Yeah, getting big applause.
Guest:I wouldn't say big, but, you know.
Guest:People appreciate the effort.
Guest:Big enough appreciation applause.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:At an appreciation level.
Guest:That kid's got energy.
Guest:Yeah, kid's got gusto.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:He's gonna go someplace if he just stands still for a minute.
Marc:He's got enthusiasm.
Marc:So what happens after that?
Guest:So after that, senior year, I had gone to work out with a couple D3 schools.
Guest:I wasn't gonna play D1, but I was like, yo, maybe I can play D3 and get some money.
Guest:Ball?
Guest:Yeah, to play ball.
Guest:So I go and I was working out with a couple schools and then we didn't get my financial aid forms in time.
Guest:So, you know, for, you know, FAFSA in New York or I guess all over the states, you got to fill out these financial aid forms so the government knows like what your family, how much money your family's making.
Guest:Do they give you money?
Guest:What are your grades like?
Guest:So we didn't get those forms in time.
Yeah.
Guest:We didn't meet the deadline.
Guest:So all my applications had gotten withdrawn.
Guest:Every school was like, yo, you didn't get this form in time.
Guest:So we can't actually, we can't enroll you for this semester.
Guest:You got to wait.
Guest:So I'm like, yo, damn, like, what am I going to do?
Guest:So Sarah, same teacher, she gives me a pamphlet.
Guest:for this school called AMDA in New York, American Musical and Dramatic Academy, this conservatory.
Guest:It's like a school that you go to if you don't want to get it.
Guest:You can get a degree there, but most people just go for two years to just study the thing that they like, and then they just get out of there.
Guest:You get a certificate and a pat on the ass, and then just like good luck in the world.
Guest:And skills.
Guest:You get skills.
Guest:And you get skills.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So she shows me this pamphlet.
Guest:I want your audition for this thing.
Guest:I was like, all right, cool.
Guest:I'll go.
Guest:But at first, I didn't say cool.
Guest:I mean, I was nervous because that was my first real audition for anything.
Guest:But she's like, yo, don't worry.
Guest:I'll help you with the music and stuff.
Guest:And I'm like, all right, cool.
Guest:So I go and sing This Is The Moment by Jekyll and Hyde.
Guest:She helped me with the song and stuff.
Guest:I got really into it, taking my shirt off and shit.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I'm over here crawling on the floor during the monologue.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I did this monologue by this character named Edgar.
Guest:He does this monologue in this Shakespeare play called King Lear.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I went and did that.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yep.
Guest:And my teacher, Miss Honviolette, Miss H, she helped me with that one.
Guest:She actually put me in the Shakespeare class, the honors class, in...
Guest:In my senior year, even though my grades weren't honors, I didn't have honors grades.
Guest:I had like a hard C, bro.
Guest:Not a minus, not a plus, just like a solid.
Guest:The shit was a bold letter.
Guest:C. It wasn't moving.
Guest:It's not getting any better.
Guest:It's not going to get any worse.
Guest:It was just solidified, bro.
Guest:Nailed to the report card.
Guest:This dude is average.
Guest:Yeah, he's average.
Guest:He's average.
Guest:But still, she put me in this class, man.
Guest:This was another teacher.
Guest:Another teacher, man.
Guest:They all knew.
Marc:They're like, this guy's going to do something.
Marc:They stuck in Shakespeare.
Marc:I can't even wrap my brain around Shakespeare.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, I'm still, you know, every, I mean, I couldn't, I still don't watch a Shakespearean show and leave like, oh my gosh, that was masterful.
Guest:I mean, I still leave scratching my head.
Marc:But you get the, you got the language going.
Guest:But I'm getting, yeah, I can, there's a lot of it.
Guest:Have you done Shakespeare since?
Guest:I've not.
Guest:I've not.
Guest:I auditioned for a movie, but I didn't get it.
Guest:I was pretty sad about that, but.
Guest:it's okay i think i'll get one yeah i mean if you want to yeah yeah i mean if someone will do kind of some kind of hip shakespeare business yeah yeah yeah let's try to make it cool right right but i am excited about i am excited about going um back to broadway i did sign on to uh i mean i'm probably not supposed to talk about it yeah fuck it i'm gonna uh i signed on to do amadeus on broadway oh my god that's the best
Guest:Yeah, to play Mozart.
Guest:So we're looking for Salieri right now.
Guest:So if Marc Maron wants to play Salieri, you know, we could.
Guest:I wonder how, could I handle the singing?
Guest:There's no singing.
Guest:It's a play, a straight play.
Guest:Straight play, Salieri?
Guest:I'm in.
Guest:Come on, that's it.
Marc:That's all it is, bro.
Marc:I could be the bitter, evil fuck that fucks with your head.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:I'd get you laughing.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:Well, at least we'll have a good time.
Guest:We'll have a good time.
Guest:But that's how it happened, man.
Guest:I kind of... Yeah, I just auditioned for that school.
Guest:I couldn't afford the application fee.
Guest:She paid for the application fee.
Guest:She helped me with the essays because I was straight going to give up, bro.
Guest:I was like...
Guest:It was just too hard.
Guest:A lot was going on in my life at the time.
Guest:And when you're a kid, everything feels so much more intense.
Guest:I mean, it was difficult.
Guest:It was hard being broke all the time.
Guest:And dad's not around.
Guest:I'm not living with my mom.
Marc:Where were you living?
Guest:I was kind of living.
Guest:My clothes were at my mom's house, but I was bouncing around from friends' houses.
Guest:But you're not fucked up.
Guest:Yeah, no, I'm okay, man.
Guest:Thank God.
Marc:Yeah, I mean, you avoided that.
Marc:No, but I mean, you weren't getting in trouble.
Guest:Nah, nah, nah.
Guest:That's good.
Guest:Because I was keeping myself busy in school, man.
Guest:I was on a wrestling team.
Guest:I was playing baseball.
Guest:I was doing theater.
Guest:I even joined a production at this all-girls school.
Guest:They needed guys for doing... They were doing Into the Woods, and I joined their production.
Guest:I was really trying to keep myself busy all the time.
Guest:I wasn't good academically, but...
Guest:I said, if I can just focus on something, if I have something to focus on, then I can really... I'll have a shot.
Guest:I'll have a chance to make something of myself.
Marc:And you're really working it.
Guest:Yeah, and I was really committed, man.
Guest:Something snapped in me in senior year.
Guest:I don't know what it was.
Guest:It was just something clicked for me.
Guest:The first three years of high school, I was kind of just like...
Guest:going with the wind a little bit and not really focused and I don't know I think just something snapped for me like yo bro you know this high school thing is done and you're gonna have to go out into the world and you're gonna have to be an adult you know and you gotta figure this shit out you know that nobody's gonna hand you anything you know so I think it was almost like that wake up call like yo if you don't get your shit together bro you
Marc:Well, it enabled you to lock into the talent, you know, like you knew you could do this and you knew you liked it.
Marc:I mean, that's a big thing to know that you're talented and then just be like, fuck, I'm going to work this.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And that was that was really how it happened, man.
Guest:Like and it always started with music.
Guest:Music was always, you know, my first love, but I didn't know how to be an artist.
Guest:Right.
Guest:But then I found my way into musical theater.
Guest:I was like, oh, shit, I can sing.
Guest:And then you act, too.
Guest:You got to act with this?
Guest:All right, fuck it, I'll act.
Guest:And then I loved acting.
Guest:I was like, oh, damn, I love doing both of these things.
Guest:It worked out.
Guest:So that conservatory helped you?
Guest:It helped me a lot, man.
Guest:And then the last piece of that story was I got into that school, but I couldn't afford it.
Guest:So Sarah wrote a letter to the Jerry Seinfeld Scholarship Foundation.
Guest:Jerry had a scholarship at the time.
Guest:She wrote a letter.
Guest:Like, yo, you got to meet this kid.
Guest:He's got a solid nailed in the ground.
Guest:See average bold letter.
Guest:But like, I promise you, like, just, just, just meet him.
Guest:And you went and met some people?
Guest:And I went and met just, it was me and Kate Fenneman, who was a friend of mine still.
Marc:She was with the foundation?
Guest:She was running the foundation.
Marc:Did they bring Jerry in to go like, hey?
Guest:No, Jerry, no.
Guest:I got a funny story about that, too, that I'll tell you later about Jerry.
Guest:An off-mic story?
Guest:Off-mic.
Guest:I'm like this.
Guest:But, you know, I sat there and I just told him my story.
Guest:Like, yo, this is where I'm from.
Guest:I grew up this way and, you know, I grew up in a home, you know, around a lot of violence and alcohol and drugs and shit was crazy.
Guest:But I was just like, look, my grades are not a reflection of who I am.
Guest:I just I really need somebody.
Guest:If somebody gives me a shot, I won't let you down.
Guest:Like, I just need I just need a shot.
Guest:I just need a chance.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And, you know, and she was like.
Guest:I left the meeting with her and, you know, we both got emotional and shit because I really shared a lot with her.
Guest:And, you know, the school's calling me for a loan and something told me, like, tell the guy I give you one more hour.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:One more day.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I didn't know what I was going to do with a day.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then, you know, and all of a sudden...
Guest:He's like, yeah, yeah, sure.
Guest:I'll give you another day.
Guest:And then next thing you know, Kate calls a couple hours later.
Guest:She's like, so, you know, we don't usually give the scholarship out to people with your grades, but we want to pay for your school for all four years, wherever you want to go.
Guest:Dude.
Guest:That's the Jerry Seinfeld Foundation?
Guest:Jerry Seinfeld Scholarship, yeah.
Guest:Shout out to Jerry Seinfeld and his family.
Guest:Is it Carolyn?
Guest:Carolyn Liebling is his sister.
Guest:She was running at the time.
Guest:His sister, who's like, they don't look like twins, but they definitely look like siblings.
Guest:And she's a sweet woman.
Guest:And...
Guest:Yeah, man, it was... So you went for four?
Guest:No, I just went for two years.
Guest:I went for two years.
Guest:I tried to do the degree online, you know, because I just wanted to start working, man.
Guest:And they were like, yeah, you know, the way AMDA works is it's backwards.
Guest:You do the conservatory, and then if you continue on, you know, you do all the classes you would do in a regular program.
Guest:At the back half, the last two years is when you start to get into your real trade or whatever it is.
Guest:And the first couple years in college is like math and English and all that shit.
Guest:That's the way college is.
Guest:And I didn't want to do that shit.
Guest:So I was like, yo, I'm just trying to go straight to the conservatory and get right into the thing that I like.
Guest:The catch is, though, if you go for two years only, you don't get a degree.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So I was like, damn, I really want a degree.
Guest:For what?
Guest:I mean, for who?
Guest:Fucking nobody cares about a degree in musical theater or movies.
Guest:They don't ask what college you went to.
Guest:But I just wanted it for my life.
Guest:Accomplishment.
Guest:Accomplishment.
Guest:Maybe one day I'll go back just for the hell of it to get it.
Marc:Maybe just get an honorary degree.
Guest:Just hang around long enough.
Guest:Can somebody give me an honor?
Guest:Have I done?
Marc:They should have given you that at Comic-Con.
Guest:I said, yo, can I trade this award for a fucking degree?
Guest:They gave me this rising star award at CinemaCon yesterday.
Guest:And I was like, yo, now that I'm thinking about it, I'm like, I'll trade in that award for a degree.
Marc:Yeah, I think it's coming.
Marc:I think you'll get an honorary degree.
Guest:But I'm grateful for that award.
Guest:Thank you, NATO and all the people that gave me that shit and whoever got paid to give me that award.
Guest:It's a promotion for the movie.
Guest:For Transformers.
Marc:I don't think that movie's going to have a problem.
Guest:What's your name?
Guest:Transformers what?
Guest:Rise of the Beasts.
Marc:You got a big part of it?
Guest:Yeah, I'm the lead role, man.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:It's unbelievable.
Guest:You're the guy.
Guest:I'm the guy.
Guest:I'm just like Shia LaBeouf and then our guy, Mark Wahlberg.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He's in it, too?
Guest:No, he's not.
Guest:Oh.
Guest:They're not, but I am following those guys.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:Well, Haley Steinfeld was the lead of the Bumblebee movie, and now I am the new Transformers guy.
Guest:Transformers guy.
Marc:Well, this is it, man.
Marc:This is it.
Guest:Is that?
Marc:This is the big one.
Guest:Wow.
Marc:I think so.
Marc:Don't you?
Guest:Maybe.
Guest:Does this upgrade me from C to C plus?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Oh, no.
Marc:It probably put you up to probably strong B plus, A minor.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:A minus.
Guest:B plus.
Guest:B plus is great.
Guest:B plus gets you reservations at restaurants.
Marc:That's for sure.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And a lot more guys with cameras.
Marc:B plus.
Marc:A lot more guys with cameras.
Guest:Yeah.
Yeah.
Marc:So wait, so you just do the two-year conservatory?
Marc:They let you do that?
Guest:That was it.
Guest:I just did two years, and then they're like, yo, if you want to keep going, we've got a partnership with the new school.
Guest:Here's a promo for AMDA too.
Guest:We've got a partnership with the new school in New York, and you can continue on with your degree that way.
Guest:You can do that online, or you can go to the campus.
Guest:Or if you want to go to L.A.
Guest:and continue on in L.A., then you can go to our school here in L.A.
Guest:where this is the campus where you can continue to do the four-year degree.
Guest:Okay, but you were like,
Guest:I just wanted to work, bro.
Guest:I was auditioning already and shit.
Guest:And what was the first gig?
Guest:My first gig out of school.
Guest:You ever heard of the upfront press events?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Sure, the upfronts for new shows.
Guest:Yeah, new shows and networks.
Guest:So Glee was having their upfronts, and they needed just a bunch of singers to perform.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Some shit from Glee.
Guest:Yeah, right.
Guest:Just look like people who are going to be in Glee, who were not going to be in Glee.
Guest:And I was one of those singers.
Guest:I did that, and then after that, I did Grease.
Guest:Grease was my first musical out of school, though.
Guest:Where was that?
Guest:Where'd you do it?
Guest:I did it in Beach Haven, New Jersey at Surflight Theater.
Guest:I don't even know if Surflight Theater is around.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So it's like a regional subscription theater?
Guest:Summer Stock.
Guest:Oh, okay.
Guest:They do like 18 shows in one summer.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:Those Summer Stock theaters, they just pile it on.
Guest:You rehearse for like two days and then you just go.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:How was that?
Guest:It was fun, man.
Guest:It was crazy.
Guest:I got paid like $226 a week or some shit like that after taxes.
Guest:They put you up?
Guest:They put you up, yeah.
Guest:They put you up in a house with a bunch of other people.
Guest:Yeah, it feels like the real world or some shit.
Marc:Yeah, so everybody's trying to get the big thing.
Marc:They're trying to get on Broadway.
Guest:Everybody's talking.
Guest:Yeah, you see this one's writing their musical.
Marc:A lot of singing in the house.
Guest:There was a lot of talented people in that cast, too.
Guest:A lot of folks who were on Broadway, who's still on Broadway, who've written Broadway shows and shit out of that cast.
Guest:I made really good friends from that cast.
Guest:One whom is my friend Mark Summers.
Guest:I just had him on.
Guest:Oh, did you have Mark?
Guest:Yeah, that's my guy, bro.
Guest:Is he?
Marc:Yeah, I love him, man.
Guest:He was in Greece with you?
Guest:He was in Greece.
Guest:He played Vince Fontaine.
Yeah.
Marc:He's a character, that guy.
Guest:He is 100% a character.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That's so funny.
Guest:Yeah, man.
Guest:And I went and I just did that, bro.
Guest:I started auditioning, and I had an agent.
Guest:I got dropped by my agent.
Guest:Why?
Guest:They just said they were downsizing.
Guest:Oh, yeah?
Guest:And you were out?
Guest:No.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:They were like, yeah.
Guest:Sorry.
Guest:Oh, wow.
Guest:We've got to make space.
Guest:Bet you they feel stupid now.
Guest:You know?
Guest:I don't know what they feel like.
Guest:I don't know where they are.
Marc:I hope they're good, though.
Marc:Now, what were you up against doing this stuff?
Marc:Did you feel like you were being typecast?
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Guest:A million percent, bro.
Guest:Like, it was crazy.
Guest:It was...
Guest:It was tough because there weren't a lot of, especially in musicals specifically, there weren't a lot of shows specific to Latino actors, right?
Guest:Right, of course, yeah.
Guest:And then there were, you know, I think musicals, they were trying to get more integrated, but it was still very much like...
Guest:You know, there were a lot of white male leads and there were black male leads too, but it was like not very many Latino male leads.
Guest:I mean, it was like Raul Esparza and then Lin-Manuel because he wrote his own fucking show.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, that's sort of what had to happen.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Like nobody was writing Lin a lead rope.
Guest:You know what I'm saying?
Guest:Like he had to write that shit for himself, you know?
Guest:And I think it was, but it was his show that, you know, because I thought about quitting because I was like, yo, this shit is too hard, man.
Guest:Like what part of it was too hard?
Guest:Just the auditions and being like, oh, I can't be in South Pacific.
Guest:I can't be in, like, ain't misbehaving.
Guest:I ain't going to be in, you know, I'm not going to be in Carousel.
Guest:It feels like they've opened that up more now.
Guest:Now, for sure.
Guest:Yeah, like now, I mean, I don't feel, I mean, I'm excited about, you know.
Marc:But then it was still kind of like, you know, they're not going to cast.
Guest:They only started doing that shit, like, in the last, like, I would say five.
Guest:five years yeah yeah yeah you know where they really started to be like oh yeah let's open it up you know let's cast it you know but but it wasn't yeah they weren't really doing that shit yeah for a while you were frustrated i was super frustrated man i was like yo like you know first three three years of auditioning i was like yo like what the what do i have to do like
Marc:Well, did they tell you to act differently?
Guest:I mean, you know, one of my teachers, and the teacher was just trying to help, but I was like, yo, they were like, yo, maybe if you grow your hair out, you might be a little ethnically ambiguous.
Guest:You know, people won't really know your race, and then you can audition for different roles.
Guest:You can audition for white and maybe, you know, Arabic and Latin.
Guest:So many Arabic parts.
Guest:Right.
Yeah.
Guest:Good idea.
Guest:You're right.
Guest:I'm really missing out on what I go from Latino to Arabic.
Guest:A lot more opportunity.
Guest:Oh my gosh, bro.
Guest:Thanks for that advice.
Guest:Thanks.
Guest:Thanks.
Guest:Oh, fuck.
Guest:Yeah, let me see.
Guest:Yeah, sure.
Guest:I grew it out a little bit, too.
Guest:I was like, yeah, all right, cool.
Guest:Try it.
Guest:Let me try it.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:Those Arabic birds come rolling in.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Good job, man.
Guest:You did the right thing.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I said, yeah, no, we cracked the code with this one.
Guest:Oh, my gosh, bro.
Guest:Oh, fuck.
Guest:I was just like, wow, all right.
Guest:Yeah, this is what it comes down to.
Marc:So what made you, like, how does Hamilton happen?
Marc:What were you doing when... Man, I was...
Marc:Because you did a lot of work, but you were still frustrated.
Guest:I did.
Guest:I did.
Guest:I mean, I'm out of school.
Guest:It started to pick up.
Guest:There were a few years.
Guest:Doing TV too?
Guest:No, no, no.
Guest:The TV happened later on.
Guest:This was just straight singing gigs and theater.
Guest:You know, I did, like, Grease, and then I got In the Heights, you know, my first production of In the Heights.
Guest:I saw In the Heights on Broadway, and that was, like, the moment where I was like, you know what, man, maybe there is a place for me in this space, you know?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And at that time, you know, still, I didn't know how to be a music artist.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:You know, I didn't know how that was going to happen for me, so.
Guest:it was musical theater or nothing, because I didn't have an agent as well.
Guest:So it was like, yo, the only thing you could really audition for, because anybody who does it really knows, anyone who is in the industry knows that, like, yo, it's very hard to get seen for films if you ain't got an agent.
Guest:I mean, it's almost nearly impossible.
Guest:Yeah, for sure.
Guest:To get seen for the films that we watch in the movies and Netflix and shit.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Where'd you see it in the Heights?
Guest:I saw it on Broadway.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I saw it on Broadway right before it was going to close.
Guest:It was like Corbin Bleu was in the cast.
Guest:Was it a hit yet, though?
Guest:I mean, it was a hit.
Guest:It had already won the awards and things like that.
Guest:People were hearing about it.
Guest:It definitely already did all the good things it did for Lin and everybody involved in the show.
Marc:But you hadn't met any of those guys.
Guest:I hadn't met any of those guys, bro.
Guest:And at that time, I was auditioning for a tour.
Guest:They had a tour going out, a national tour, and I auditioned for it, and I didn't get it.
Guest:I did like four rounds of auditions.
Guest:God damn it.
Guest:And I think in the fourth round, I did this dance call.
Guest:And then I went and sang after, and I cracked on the high note.
Guest:And I saw Alex Lacamoire, the musical supervisor's face.
Guest:I could see his face.
Guest:He did this like, you know when people do the eye twitch, and they're not trying to do it, but it just happens naturally when they hear some shit that sounds off or see some shit that's wild?
Guest:It happened.
Guest:I saw his eye.
Guest:The shit just hit a little bit of a twitch, and I was like, oh, yeah, that's it.
Guest:And that goes.
Guest:This one's a no-go.
Marc:I don't know how you deal with that rejection, man.
Guest:Yeah, I didn't hear back from them for a while, and then eventually I had to accept that this one wasn't going to happen.
Marc:And then what gigs were you taking?
Guest:I mean, I did the Christmas show at Radio City.
Guest:Oh, yeah?
Guest:I was a singer.
Guest:There were like eight singers there.
Guest:You're on stage for like eight minutes.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:The entire show, like barely no time.
Guest:It was a nice gig, to be honest.
Guest:If you just want to chill.
Marc:The Rockettes?
Guest:The Rockettes, yeah.
Guest:Like, you can sing well enough.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Or if you can just sing and you can fucking sing.
Guest:You can get on Radio City.
Guest:Yeah, you can get in radio.
Guest:I mean, just chill.
Guest:Like, if you want a chill gig, I mean, it's definitely military school for musical theater, for sure.
Guest:Like, if your arm is an inch too high, like, on the mic, they're like...
Guest:Anthony, can you please, your arm is one centimeter too high.
Guest:I mean, I'm talking about like, it's like that.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:But if you can deal with that shit and have fun still in the midst of that militant process, it's a nice, nice gig.
Guest:That was a good gig.
Guest:And I did that.
Guest:I sang Bruno Mars, a Bruno Mars song.
Guest:Between Bruno Mars and The Temptations,
Guest:They served you?
Guest:They have served me well.
Guest:Thank you, guys.
Guest:Then I didn't work for a little while.
Guest:I worked at a place called Scream Gelato on the Upper West Side.
Guest:I was doing that, selling gelato and chilling and doing auditions.
Guest:I was working the night shift, so I got auditioned in the morning.
Guest:I would close at 1 in the morning.
Guest:I was like, who the fuck is getting gelato at 1 in the morning?
Guest:What is happening here?
Marc:Are they coming?
Guest:No, they weren't coming.
Guest:You ain't like one customer in that last hour.
Guest:And I'm like, yo, what are we doing?
Guest:Like, what are we doing, bro?
Guest:But they, you know, they kept it open late.
Guest:And, you know, we put the gelato away, come back, you know, do the same shit.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then I went and did Damn Yankees National Tour.
Guest:That was like my first national tour.
Guest:We did 67 cities in three months.
Guest:That's a big gig.
Guest:It was, I mean, a big, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, it was pretty big.
Guest:It
Marc:But I mean, it's like working your ass off.
Guest:Yeah, it was working, definitely working your ass off.
Guest:Like we were in a new city every day, almost every single day on this coach bus.
Guest:You know, I had my position with my pillow already dialed in with the way I slept on the bus.
Guest:Like bus call was at six in the morning every day, some shit.
Guest:Travel like anywhere between six to, you know.
Guest:Was it a good part?
Guest:No, I mean, it was one of the chorus guys.
Guest:I was just working hard to learn how to dance well enough so that I could be in a chorus.
Guest:Because, look, the thing about it was I wasn't really getting any lead roles.
Guest:I wasn't even getting looked at for lead parts.
Guest:So I said, look, if I can learn how to dance well enough, then I can get a chorus part.
Guest:Then somebody maybe put me in the chorus.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And that's kind of how that happened.
Guest:I learned how to dance well enough, bro.
Guest:I would work at this dance studio between my second and third semester of college in the city for free in exchange for $3 classes.
Guest:So I go work there, and then I could get $3 classes.
Guest:I work two shifts a week or whatever.
Guest:With that, you get six classes.
Guest:You get a class per hour.
Guest:And that helped?
Guest:helped bro because i was i would use it up i would roll over to the next week they'd be like you know your classes are rolling over i'm like yo just fucking don't worry about it just give me another shift i need to take this class today here's my three dollars like come on man what are we what are we talking about right you know what i'm saying yeah and um and i was really really going hard i was really like you know i was taking hip-hop i was taking tap
Guest:I would do ballet even though I hated that shit.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And jazz and theater dance, all of that.
Guest:I was even popping.
Guest:There was this dude who, this brolic dude, I can't remember his name.
Guest:He was the popping teacher.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:So I was taking popping class.
Guest:And all of that just so that I could hopefully get good enough at dance so that way I can get a chorus part.
Guest:So that's how I got Damn Yankees.
Guest:I went to the dance call.
Guest:I didn't even go to the singing call.
Guest:You know, when you audition for musicals, there's like a singing call and then there's a dance call.
Guest:And I went, I was like, fuck it, I'm going to go with the dancers.
Guest:I'm going to start that way.
Marc:Because you knew you had to get that skill set in place.
Guest:And I was like, yo, if I can get past that, then I sing.
Guest:And they'd be like, oh, this dude can sing too.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You know what I'm saying?
Guest:Maybe I give myself a chance to get a role.
Guest:So that's kind of how that happened.
Guest:Then I went on to do, I did a cruise ship.
Guest:I did Saturday Night Fever the Musical on Royal Caribbean on a boat, bro.
Guest:The boat was rocking.
Guest:You're over here like this.
Guest:Give me that night fever.
Guest:You're trying not to fall and shit.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Crazy, crazy.
Guest:You see the sets, anything that was hanging, you see the shit just rocking back and forth.
Guest:Yeah, we're in the middle of the fucking Mediterranean.
Guest:Oh, man.
Guest:boats rocking and i'm gonna be trying to keep my balance on stage how long was that car how long uh seven and a half months i did that oh my god that's like really paying your dues oh crazy bro it was wow and then that's when you auditioned for hamilton and then and then i came back from that gig from saturday night fever on the boat from saturday night when you come back from that boat do you think like i'm done
Guest:Oh, man.
Guest:I mean, you ever see the movies where somebody, they come off a boat and they just have one backpack and you see it's like a wide shot and they're just staring out into the city and shit.
Guest:Their whole future's ahead of them.
Guest:That's kind of how I was feeling.
Guest:I was like, yo, bro.
Guest:You need to get back out there.
Guest:Everyone's forgotten you exist.
Guest:They already didn't know you existed.
Guest:They doubly don't know you exist.
Guest:So I was like, yo, let me just get out here and do some auditions.
Guest:So I was going out there, doing some open calls, waking up early in the morning, anything I could get in for.
Guest:And I went and they were doing the equivalent of the spring show.
Guest:So this Christmas Spectacular,
Guest:In New York, they were doing a spring show.
Guest:They needed some singers for that.
Guest:They asked me to be a part of that.
Guest:I was hyped.
Guest:Thank God.
Guest:I was like, yes, I have a job.
Guest:So I go.
Guest:I'm doing this gig.
Guest:And...
Guest:And next thing you know, I get, I'm like, you know, I just got back from this cruise ship.
Guest:So I'm like, yo, again, I got to get out.
Guest:I got to do these auditions.
Guest:I go to an open audition, right?
Guest:The open call is like, you don't need an agent or nothing.
Guest:You can just walk right in there.
Guest:So I go audition for a musical that I was absolutely not right for.
Guest:I go in, I sing Ain't Too Proud to Beg from The Temptations.
Guest:Thank God for the temptation.
Guest:Thank God for that song.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I go, I sing that, and the casting director could not have seemed further away from me, bro.
Guest:I mean, I'm talking about, like, this dude was sitting at a table.
Guest:It was almost, you might as well put me at the edge of one corner of the room.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Like, hey, can you just stand at the wall right there?
Guest:Face the wall.
Guest:Can you actually face the wall?
Yeah.
Guest:Can you pick up the phone and call me and sing the song into the phone?
Guest:From over there.
Guest:It felt so far away.
Guest:And I sing the song and he's just like, I see him through his red glasses.
Guest:He's like, okay, good job.
Guest:I'm like, okay, thanks.
Guest:And I just leave.
Guest:And I go to rehearsal for Radio City and I get an email.
Guest:We'd like you to audition for this thing called Hamilton's Mixtape.
Guest:So obviously I didn't get the other show.
Guest:But Hamilton's Mixtape, I'm like, whoa, what's Hamilton's Mixtape?
Guest:So I go, I open the email, and I'm looking at music and shit.
Guest:I don't know what I'm looking at.
Guest:And I see, oh, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Guest:Oh, this is a guy who wrote In the Heights.
Guest:Oh, shit.
Guest:Amazing.
Guest:The Latino dude that I want to work with.
Guest:The one guy that might give me a job.
Guest:And I was like...
Guest:And then I see, like, oh, these are the same guys that worked on In the Heights, a director.
Guest:Obviously, I knew the whole team because that's, again, the one Latino show on Broadway right now.
Guest:So I'm like, yo, maybe I can get a job with these guys.
Guest:And I look at the dates, and the dates line up exactly when this Radio City show was supposed to happen.
Guest:So I'm like, oh.
Guest:automatically the doubt in your mind is like, oh, this can never work anyway.
Guest:But I was like, you know what, I'm going to go anyway.
Guest:I go in, I do this audition, casting director's like, all right, I sing Bruno Mars in that audition.
Guest:I sing a grenade by Bruno Mars.
Guest:And she goes, you know, looking at your schedule, it doesn't, I don't know how this is going to work, but she's like, you're really right for this, so I'm going to just call you back.
Guest:I was like, okay, cool, sure.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Because I felt the same.
Guest:I don't know how this is going to work either, but I go, I come back, I do another audition, then I do a dance audition, and then I do the final audition for the team.
Guest:I do this audition, and...
Guest:Right before I leave the room, no, I leave the room and then Bethany, Bethany Knox, who was the casting director, she opens the door and she's like, hey, we'll stay in touch.
Guest:We're going to call you after this or something like that.
Guest:I was like, okay, cool.
Guest:We'll let you know or whatever.
Guest:So I go to rehearsal for Radio City.
Guest:Radio City.
Marc:Were you getting yelled at?
Guest:No, no, no, I was on time.
Guest:And I was doing this on the low.
Guest:I was over here, you know.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:And basically, we had tech rehearsals, so it was nice, because we start at 1 p.m., you know, when you're working on the lights and the shit, you're not actually rehearsing the piece.
Guest:It's easier that way.
Guest:They move the time to 1 o'clock, so you rehearse it from 1 to 10 as opposed to rehearsing from 10 to 6.
Guest:So I go to rehearsal and I just see a sign on the call sheet, like on the board where we're supposed to sign in.
Guest:It's basically like, hey guys, don't bother signing in.
Guest:Everyone meet up in the large rehearsal hall.
Guest:So I'm like, yo, what the fuck is going on?
Guest:I'm like, yo, I think we fired.
Guest:And all of a sudden, on cue, I'm like, yo, I think we fired in my head.
Guest:And then a cast member comes running from the side of the stage from the wings.
Guest:And she's hysterically crying.
Guest:She's going hard.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Like, and like, almost like a cartoon.
Guest:And she's like, you know, doing this run.
Guest:And I'm like, oh, yeah, we definitely fired.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Oh, 100%.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So we go up to the large rehearsal hall upstairs, 70 cast members, 77 or something like that.
Guest:And they're just like, yeah, so the show's not ready.
Guest:We think that we're going to postpone this and we'll revisit it next year.
Guest:And all of a sudden, they was like, thank you guys for being a part of it.
Guest:And yeah, see ya.
Guest:Good luck.
Guest:Yo, bro, I was like, yo, we all dead ass just got fired.
Guest:yeah wow they just laid off 77 of us right now cast members alone that's not even including crew wow so i was like wow so so naturally everyone went to the girls dressing room and we cleared out all the alcohol in the refrigerators at the time and everybody's just partying and shit and then i go to the i get a call 212 number
Guest:It's Manhattan.
Guest:So I'm like, if you're getting a 212 call, you know something might be popping off.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That's right.
Guest:If it's local.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And I mosey on over to the guy's dressing room, pick up the call.
Guest:They're like, hey, we heard about Heart and Lights.
Guest:We want you to be a part of Hamilton's Mixtape.
Guest:I was like, yo, thank you, Jesus Christ, Lord, above Father God.
Guest:I was like, yo, I mean, I'm talking about, I was like on my knees and like, thank you, God.
Guest:It was crazy.
Guest:I mean, I was just so grateful.
Guest:It felt a lot like when I got my scholarship.
Guest:It was like one of those moments, those life moments that happened again for me.
Guest:And I was super grateful.
Guest:And this happens.
Guest:And I start rehearsals like maybe a few weeks later I started.
Guest:And I wasn't getting paid a lot of money or anything like that.
Guest:It was just a four week.
Marc:What was the first meeting with Lynn like?
Marc:Did you meet him?
Guest:It was in rehearsal we met.
Guest:The first day of rehearsal when we all sat around and we just kind of went through the music.
Guest:With the original cast.
Guest:With the original cast.
Guest:This was all of us, the original cast.
Guest:This is when we all met.
Guest:Because everybody basically moved.
Guest:We all moved together off Broadway and then Broadway.
Guest:Nobody left.
Guest:Maybe one or two people left.
Guest:My ex-girlfriend actually replaced a girl that was going to play the role.
Guest:That girl decided to go do another show, and they had to recast the role.
Guest:That's how you met the girlfriend.
Guest:That's how I met her.
Guest:And that was when we went off-Broadway, but that workshop was basically almost everyone from that workshop went the distance with the show.
Marc:Yeah, I saw you in the show.
Guest:Oh, cool.
Marc:Yeah, I saw you.
Marc:It was like, yeah, because that's when I met Lin, because he set me up.
Marc:He was a fan of this show.
Marc:Right.
Marc:It was fun, man.
Guest:Yeah, it was a good time, man.
Guest:It was cool.
Marc:But were you just fucking, like when you met Lin, were you like, holy fuck?
Guest:Were you cool?
Guest:Yeah, no, when I met him, I was like, oh, man, he's so awesome.
Guest:Like, you know, he was like a hero to me, you know?
Guest:I was like, wow, like, you're like that guy that really wrote the show that... But sweet guy, right?
Guest:Yeah, no, he's dope.
Guest:He's cool, man.
Guest:He's super sweet.
Guest:Like, you know, he definitely, he's loyal, man.
Guest:Like, you know, like, if y'all got a connection, I mean, you know,
Guest:He and I did, you know, we worked together for five years, maybe, or something like that.
Guest:On Hamilton or within the eyes two?
Guest:Just different things.
Guest:Like we did- The movie.
Guest:We did Hamilton, then we did like a short musical that he did based on a story that happened on NPR.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:We did that.
Guest:And then we came back and did Hamilton for, you know, 800 years for as long as, you know, as long as we did it until the original cast left.
Guest:And then, you know, a few years later, we did In the Heights.
Guest:We did the movie.
Marc:Yeah, it's great.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:The movie's great.
Guest:Thanks, man.
Marc:How'd that go for you?
Guest:It was great.
Guest:It was fun.
Guest:I had a good time.
Marc:But isn't that wild, though?
Marc:You saw that play, and you thought, like, you know, there's hope, and then you're doing the fucking movie?
Guest:Oh, yeah, bro.
Guest:I mean, like, 10 years later, bro.
Guest:It was 10 years, exactly, or something like that, when I watched the show, and then now I'm, like, the lead actor in this show that, like, changed my life, but in the movie.
Guest:You know, like, this shit, you know, as much as the show was amazing, like...
Guest:the reality is that more people will have seen the movie, you know, like... Sure, yeah.
Marc:But the show gets done all the time, I imagine.
Guest:And the show gets done all the time, you know, and it lives on, but it's just like, to be able to be a part of the movie version, bro, like, and play that part, you know, the part that...
Guest:you know, um, gave you hope, gave me hope, you know what I'm saying?
Guest:Like really like, um, you know, gave me this, this, uh, extra kind of kick in the ass.
Guest:Like, yo, like you, you'd be, it'd be a mistake for you to quit this.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And it's just like, it's amazing, man.
Marc:It's, um, it's, I'm happy for you because like you definitely, you know, paid your dues.
Um,
Guest:For sure.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:Like, you know, the focus and the hustle was kind of, it's crazy that you didn't, you know, waver even when you're scooping gelato.
Guest:I mean, dude, I was doing a show.
Guest:I did a show where the producer didn't pay us for weeks and wouldn't answer anybody's emails.
Guest:And I'm like, yo, I got to pay my rent.
Guest:Like, dude, like I didn't even take, you know, I got some job at a clothing store.
Guest:I didn't take that job because you fucking told me that you needed me to be a little more free for the show.
Guest:And now you're not paying me.
Guest:And I'm like, yo, Lucille don't play.
Yeah.
Guest:Lucille's like, Anthony, where's my rent?
Guest:You know, like, I'm like, shit.
Marc:Well, yeah, there was that moment on, what was it, when, you know, you went on stage, it was an award show, I think, and you were on right before, was it the Oscars, right?
Guest:Maybe, yeah.
Marc:Before Lynn?
Marc:And then they went out and said, that guy's gonna be a star.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But there was this idea, wasn't it, that Lynn said that, and I think you kind of, you know, live it, and we talked about it around it, that he said that, you know, we've got to make our own, you've got to make your own Latin stars.
Guest:You have to, man, like...
Guest:You know, it's interesting, bro.
Guest:And that's the thing.
Guest:You know, I did... Recently, I worked with McDonald's.
Guest:They did this thing called Spotlight Dorado, which was amazing.
Guest:It's only been around for one year.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Which goes to show this uphill battle we've kind of been... At least Latino actors have been on for a while.
Guest:You know, there are programs now like Spotlight Dorado where McDonald's is like funding.
Guest:They're like, yo, well...
Guest:A bunch of people submit your films and we'll pay for three people.
Guest:We'll pick three finalists and we'll give them $75,000 each to make a short film and then the people will pick the winner.
Guest:When people open in their checkbooks and they really give opportunity like that, that's how you start to build community.
Guest:That's how you start to build opportunity.
Marc:It's so crazy it's so hard because half the fucking world is Latino.
Guest:Bro, it was like some statistic came out last year, some shit.
Guest:And this happened with music, too, on Spotlight.
Guest:It goes to show Bad Bunny being the highest stream artist on Spotify for the last three years and shit like that.
Guest:But Latinos, I think, if they're not the top moviegoers, if they don't have the highest percentage, they are almost there.
Marc:Someone saw that and said, what are we going to do with this Transformers?
Guest:I guess.
Guest:Shit.
Guest:If that's what happened, then God bless.
Guest:Yeah, man.
Guest:But it's like, yo, we go to the movies.
Guest:We listen to music.
Guest:What are you doing?
Marc:And you're going to be in the Transformers.
Guest:Yeah, man.
Guest:And Transformers just feels amazing, man.
Guest:I watched the second trailer yesterday, bro.
Guest:It was insane.
Guest:It's just so crazy, bro.
Marc:What was the physicality that demands?
Marc:How'd you do?
Guest:I mean, I did most of my stunts.
Guest:The crazy car shit, I mean, all the car shit I didn't do, but anything like jumping off or something or being lifted by getting on a harness and being lifted 30 feet in the air and getting dropped, shit like that.
Guest:I was like, yo, let's go.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I did all this stuff.
Marc:I'm so happy we did all our own stunts and bad guys.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Like I didn't think I'd ever, you know.
Guest:I mean, I still got injuries from bad guys, bro.
Marc:It's tough, man.
Marc:That car driving up and down those hills.
Guest:Unbelievable, bro.
Guest:I mean, that whole time when we fell from that plane, wasn't it?
Guest:Didn't we fall from like a plane or something?
Guest:Yeah, sure.
Marc:A helicopter or something.
Guest:It was unbelievable.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:There's a lot going on in that movie.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Like every time I see it, I'm like, wow.
Marc:Remember the first time we all saw it?
Marc:We're like, was that what we were doing?
Marc:There's like so much going on.
Guest:Pierre used to always try to like explain us what the fuck is going on.
Guest:And I'd be like.
Marc:Yeah, just tell me what's going on with me and the wolf.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Where we at?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I was like, yeah.
Marc:That'd be fun.
Marc:Hopefully we'll get to do more of that shit as a group.
Guest:I hope.
Guest:I hope this next time we'll get together.
Marc:Yeah, because I did stuff with Sam.
Marc:We did that a few times because most of my scenes were like with him.
Marc:So we were in person a few times.
Guest:Yeah, you guys had some heartfelt moments.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:We had work on those things.
Guest:Did you guys work on those scenes and really, like, go in on... Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, because, like, you know, some of that stuff, and I think it paid off.
Guest:For sure.
Marc:You know, Sam was willing to come out, you know, and there were times where we'd be on Zoom, but, like, there was a couple times, especially for the one on the bunk bed and shit, where the real heartfelt moments, we were doing it.
Guest:That's a good scene, bro.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That bunk bed scene, bro, where you kind of check him, you like, yo, you like, I'm on whose side you really... You know, I want to know what you're really doing over here, Wolf.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:I feel like you... Yeah.
Guest:You turning on us type...
Marc:Yeah, we did that face-to-face.
Marc:We did that face-to-face.
Marc:We recorded that shit.
Guest:That shit was fire, bro.
Guest:It was great.
Guest:You guys killed that shit, bro.
Marc:It was great.
Marc:He's a great guy.
Marc:I mean, he's fun to work with.
Marc:But I was like, it was one of those things.
Marc:You two probably, because like, it was so funny, because like, everyone else, like Craig, Awkwafina, everybody's just doing their own voice.
Marc:And I'm like,
Marc:Why'd I make that choice?
Guest:Yeah, I did like a heightened version of my voice.
Guest:I did like the club version.
Marc:Yeah, right.
Marc:So me and you were yelling and everyone else was like, how's it going?
Marc:I'm like, I got the easy, you know.
Marc:I was like, I don't know why I did that.
Marc:But I'm glad I did it.
Marc:And yours was so fucking funny.
Marc:And I, like any animation I do, it's some version of like, what's going on?
Marc:How we doing?
Marc:You know, like it's some...
Marc:Some variation of a gravelly, cranky Jewish guy.
Marc:Why is that the default?
Marc:I don't know, man.
Marc:It just feels like a cartoon.
Marc:He's like, whoo-hoo-hoo, Santo Cielo.
Marc:I'm like, here comes the popo.
Guest:I could have just said, guys, here comes the popo.
Guest:You could, but it wouldn't hit.
Guest:I don't know if it would have hit that.
Marc:The thing was, the reason we do it is because they showed us our character.
Guest:They did.
Marc:So those were the guys, you know, that was our engagement with that.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:We realized.
Marc:The other guys aren't, you know, Wolf is just kind of casual.
Marc:Right.
Marc:In the whole movie.
Guest:And Craig's... Awkwafina's got a little bit of that.
Guest:Oh, no.
Marc:Awkwafina's got that manic thing.
Marc:Yeah, she's great.
Marc:She's amazing.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:She's awesome.
Marc:Well, it was great talking to you, man.
Guest:Yeah, dude.
Guest:Thanks for having me, man.
Guest:Yeah, it was fun.
Marc:It was fun.
Marc:So much fun.
Marc:Got some good laughs.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Good luck with the Transformers.
Guest:Yeah, everybody go see it June 9th.
Guest:Transformers Rise of the Beasts.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:there you go fun right big laughs i got them going i like when i can make guys laugh women guys whoever it's i guess it's kind of what i do uh again if you weren't listening when i introduced him his single viano is out now and transformers rise of the beasts comes out this friday june 9th and hang out for a minute will you
Marc:All right, people, for more Hamilton-related conversation, you can check out my talk with Lin-Manuel Miranda from 2016, which happened after I saw the show, and he said Boomer lives to me from the stage.
Marc:You know, I obviously—I saw Hamilton, and I was very—I almost started crying, not just because of the show, but you're walking off, you look right at me and say Boomer lives.
Guest:Boomer lives, baby.
Guest:I'm a big fan of the show.
Guest:You're so sweet.
Guest:Yeah, so—
Guest:And it was, you know, you really look like yourself.
Guest:So, and it's the logo of your podcast.
Guest:So it's weird to see the logo of this podcast in the 10th row.
Guest:But you knew exactly where I was.
Guest:Yeah, well, I, it was.
Guest:You seated me.
Marc:You knew the seats.
Guest:But no, not that.
Guest:It was like spotting Waldo.
Guest:I was just like, oh, shit.
Guest:That's the cover of that podcast.
Marc:I'm Waldo.
Guest:You found the glasses.
Marc:That's episode 759 and it's available for free in whatever podcast app you're using right now.
Marc:You can get that episode in every single WTF episode without ads by subscribing to WTF Plus.
Marc:Just click on the link in the episode description or go to WTFPod.com and click on WTF Plus.
Marc:Let's slide it out.
guitar solo
Thank you.
.
.
.
guitar solo
Guest:Boomer lives.
Guest:Monkey and La Fonda.
Guest:Cat angels everywhere.