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HB! Live #037 - Cory Kahaney: 30 Years of Comedy Advice in 55 Minutes

Cory Kahaney joins us to share her insights on navigating the comedy business after 30 years in the game.

Key Takeaways:

  • Cory emphasizes that being a good comic alone isn't enough for success; self-promotion is key.
  • It's crucial for comedians to adapt and evolve with the changing landscape of comedy.
  • Networking and building genuine relationships are vital in the comedy industry for growth.
  • Stage time is essential; aiming for eleven sets a week can accelerate your progress.
  • Creating original content and developing your unique voice will help you stand out.
  • Use social media effectively to grow your audience and promote your work.

Follow Cory on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ckahaney/

Join our email list here: https://hotbreathpodcast.com/vip


Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HotBreathComedyNetwork/


Transcript
Joel Byers:

What's goody, hot breathiverse?

Joel Byers:

Welcome back to Hot Breath Live, our weekly livestream where we answer your comedy questions.

Joel Byers:

Me, comedian Joel Byers with co host comedian Yoshi.

Joel Byers:

So not on these live streams.

Joel Byers:

Excuse Yoshi there.

Joel Byers:

Join us every Tuesday at:

Joel Byers:

eastern time on our YouTube channel and ask our questions directly to us or to our special guests like we have today, 30 years in the comedy game, just dropped a brand spanking new special with comedy dynamics called Antique Joke Show, Hot Brethren and sister.

Joel Byers:

And welcome to the hot breath verse, the one and only Corey Kahaney, everyone.

Yoshi:

Let's go.

Joel Byers:

Game on game.

Joel Byers:

So in the pre show show, for those of you that are watching or listening to this podcast after the fact, because you don't join our live streams for some reason, which you should.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, Corey already dropped a gym.

Joel Byers:

She said there is no karma in comedy.

Joel Byers:

Was those those words?

Joel Byers:

I believe so.

Joel Byers:

Please, now that we're officially live, put these kids on game.

Joel Byers:

What do you mean by that?

Corey Kahaney:

Well, I mean, if you think being a good person going to help you in the business, it's not.

Joel Byers:

Have you learned that the hard way?

Joel Byers:

Is that what you're saying?

Corey Kahaney:

Remember you said when we first met, like, I'm all about helping up and commerce?

Corey Kahaney:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

There's no, like payback for it.

Corey Kahaney:

Just I've.

Corey Kahaney:

Maybe I could count on one hand the payback.

Corey Kahaney:

I guess it's more.

Corey Kahaney:

What I'm trying to say is it's so random.

Corey Kahaney:

Who gets touched with the star?

Yoshi:

Sure.

Corey Kahaney:

Wand, you know, the Harry Potter wand.

Corey Kahaney:

And sometimes it just makes absolutely no sense.

Corey Kahaney:

Sometimes.

Corey Kahaney:

And sometimes people are really crappy people, but they, for whatever, they have a knack of being at the right place at the right time or, you know, they have a vibe about them that people want to get to know.

Corey Kahaney:

Being a great comic is not.

Corey Kahaney:

Well, I don't have to tell you because you're doing social media and all this stuff.

Corey Kahaney:

Being a great comic clearly isn't enough, right?

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

Sadly, the other side is now true.

Corey Kahaney:

Being a crappy comic with all the other stuff is enough.

Corey Kahaney:

Now.

Joel Byers:

How do you feel about that?

Joel Byers:

I mean, you've seen comedy for the past 30 years and like, at a certain point you work, you get really good at the craft and now it's like, all right, what?

Joel Byers:

What now?

Joel Byers:

What else do I have to do?

Joel Byers:

I got good at my job now what?

Joel Byers:

You know, I mean, maybe how has it evolved over the years and how are you trying to adapt now?

Corey Kahaney:

Well, I think it's always been, it's even from the beginning, self promotion has always been a weak spot for me.

Corey Kahaney:

Like, I had this fantasy that if you're funny, they'll find you, and that is no longer really the case.

Corey Kahaney:

And I remember I once ran into Dave Hotel on the street, comedian.

Corey Kahaney:

And, you know, as most comics, huge fan I am of his.

Corey Kahaney:

And I gave him a hug, and immediately, without any prompting, he just started, like, ranting about how he just wasn't really good at going on Facebook.

Corey Kahaney:

And I was like, man, I hear you.

Corey Kahaney:

And I could just tell it was, it was really hard.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

Which is crazy from that guy.

Corey Kahaney:

It was about ten years ago, and, you know, I think we were talking about somebody else that was very strong on the social media.

Corey Kahaney:

Let's just say that.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

He was comparing despair.

Corey Kahaney:

He was comparing himself.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Have you ever considered quitting?

Joel Byers:

And how close did you get if you did?

Joel Byers:

I've gone up and down.

Corey Kahaney:

I have not.

Corey Kahaney:

But I will tell, this is the advice I give people that are on the fence about quitting.

Corey Kahaney:

I say, if the phone stops ringing, that's a really good hint that you need to stop doing this.

Corey Kahaney:

So if the phone doesn't ring or the text doesn't happen or the email and people don't want to book you, and it's all just an uphill battle after two years, you need to start thinking about it.

Joel Byers:

Interesting.

Joel Byers:

That is good perspective.

Joel Byers:

I think after the pandemic, I just kind of got, I got comfortable at home and was like, oh, man, do I want to be gone?

Joel Byers:

And I was really, like, I talked to Yoshi about it.

Joel Byers:

Like, I was kind of like, oh, my gosh.

Joel Byers:

I kind of worked all these years to get this point.

Joel Byers:

And then now that I'm back in the rhythm, I was like, oh, yeah, I love comedy.

Joel Byers:

And the bookings were always there.

Joel Byers:

It's not like I was sitting at home twiddling my thumbs.

Joel Byers:

It was more of, like, that lifestyle.

Joel Byers:

And you mention it in your special as well.

Joel Byers:

Like, traveling is a lot of what we do, so that can become very taxing over the years.

Corey Kahaney:

Yeah, it is.

Corey Kahaney:

It is.

Corey Kahaney:

You know, I'm sure you've had a million comics give you the, you know, the line, we don't get paid to make people laugh.

Corey Kahaney:

We get paid to get there to make people.

Joel Byers:

You may be the first to say it on here, but I have heard that before.

Yoshi:

Yeah, for sure.

Yoshi:

So with your special.

Yoshi:

Right.

Yoshi:

So you're 30 years into the game with this special.

Yoshi:

What was your process for?

Yoshi:

Like, what, what was the idea behind this special.

Yoshi:

First of all, great name.

Joel Byers:

Yes.

Yoshi:

Just off the bat, freaking amazing name joke show.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

And the premises are just so on point.

Yoshi:

Like, big fan.

Yoshi:

And one thing I will say, you are, you have speed.

Yoshi:

Like your, your cadence is just, like, so fast.

Yoshi:

And in watching it at home, my only thought was, oh, my God, you are a killer live.

Yoshi:

How does the sort of version of.

Corey Kahaney:

Your live show, first of all, vast majority of New York based comics have, you know, sort of an inborn need to machine gun it out.

Corey Kahaney:

And part of the reason, part of the reason is, you know, we're all, we're fast walkers.

Corey Kahaney:

We're fast talkers to begin with.

Corey Kahaney:

But in New York, you don't want Lulz, lulz mean people are going to start talking.

Corey Kahaney:

And I don't mean, I don't mean hecklers.

Corey Kahaney:

I mean, there's going to be chitchat, and I don't have time for it.

Corey Kahaney:

So, you know, you have to pace it.

Corey Kahaney:

One of the things Chris Rock says is silence is actually the greatest compliment that an audience can give you because it means they're really listening.

Corey Kahaney:

All right?

Corey Kahaney:

And that I totally agree with.

Corey Kahaney:

in the New York Comedy Club,:

Corey Kahaney:

They've all worked, and they've already been drinking, you know, all night.

Corey Kahaney:

And so if you give them any room for silence, they're going to start.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

And how did the special, how did this special come about?

Joel Byers:

Is this your third or 4th?

Corey Kahaney:

4Th.

Joel Byers:

4Th.

Joel Byers:

Okay.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Cool.

Joel Byers:

Sorry to cut you off there.

Corey Kahaney:

Yeah, no, no.

Corey Kahaney:

You know, the, the old booker for Letterman, Dave.

Corey Kahaney:

Sorry.

Corey Kahaney:

Eddie Brill.

Corey Kahaney:

Yeah, he called me and he said, do you want to do a special?

Corey Kahaney:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

Okay.

Corey Kahaney:

And, but, you know, Eddie, bro doesn't call you unless something is legit.

Corey Kahaney:

So it, you know, I was like, okay, yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

And it was, it was shortly after the pandemic, you know, or like, like when the world first opened up.

Corey Kahaney:

So it was tricky, you know.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

What was your process?

Yoshi:

I guess, like, when, what was your process in terms of the material that you put into this?

Yoshi:

Like, did you think about the title first, or did you have, like, a basis?

Yoshi:

Because your special has a through line, has, like, a theme through it, and it's very personal to you, but which is what I love about it.

Yoshi:

How did you think about what to put on this special versus what you had in your other specials?

Corey Kahaney:

You know, I think I probably just took a joke that I thought was very emblematic of the special and that joke of, you know, you know, they don't make parts for this anymore where I'm sort of just, when this came out, bumpers could still take a hit at 25 miles an hour.

Corey Kahaney:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Eggs.

Yoshi:

So many.

Yoshi:

It's just so many.

Corey Kahaney:

And then, you know, I'm going to get it appraised.

Corey Kahaney:

I'm going to take the antiques and antiques roadshow.

Corey Kahaney:

And it's just, it's a fun moment with the audience.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

It's actually not even, it's not even the greatest punchline.

Corey Kahaney:

It's just, it's just everybody's on board at that point, so let's just, let's just keep going with this.

Corey Kahaney:

And by the way, I don't love jokes like that.

Corey Kahaney:

I like jokes that really are, they have the surprise, they have the element of either a switch or, you know, or a callback of some kind.

Corey Kahaney:

But this one, it's just, we're all in it together.

Corey Kahaney:

It's strange.

Corey Kahaney:

It's a strange moment.

Corey Kahaney:

It's a nice moment.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Joel Byers:

We actually have some questions coming in.

Joel Byers:

We can get from the hot breath of earth here, but already, already putting us on game.

Joel Byers:

But like we said, the special is called antique joke show.

Joel Byers:

She released it through comedy dynamics.

Joel Byers:

You can get it on like Apple, Amazon.

Joel Byers:

You can really get it on all the platforms.

Joel Byers:

So definitely go check it out.

Joel Byers:

This is a comic 30 years in the game.

Joel Byers:

She's done all the late nights.

Joel Byers:

I mean, she's, this is a bonafide killer.

Joel Byers:

And you're gonna learn a lot just watching the special.

Joel Byers:

So the question I'm seeing here, as we're on the topic of joke writing, specifically from Adam Vail, asking, once you choose a premise, what techniques do you use to come up with ideas regarding that premise?

Joel Byers:

Do you use a listing technique?

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

How do you build out a, most.

Corey Kahaney:

Of the time, it's not the premise that is the core of my joke writing.

Corey Kahaney:

It's generally a line, you know, a funny line.

Corey Kahaney:

And I then built around it.

Corey Kahaney:

My process is always the same.

Corey Kahaney:

And I think any decent comic has a person in their life that they can go, is this anything?

Corey Kahaney:

And they pick up the phone and they say, is anybody doing anything like this?

Corey Kahaney:

And then you kind of deliver the line or a very loose interpretation of what you're thinking.

Corey Kahaney:

And they say, yeah, keep working on that.

Corey Kahaney:

That's something you should do.

Corey Kahaney:

And then the next step is, you know, I try it on my husband and I try it on my son, I try it on my daughter, and I try it out, you know, my doorman, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of vetting before I even try it on stage.

Yoshi:

Oh, wow.

Yoshi:

That's an interesting process because I don't know if there's a lot of people that do that in terms of just vetting everybody in their ecosystem before they do it on stage.

Yoshi:

Most, I mean, we've seen some open mics, people do it the first time at the open mic.

Joel Byers:

You should have said this.

Corey Kahaney:

They're lying.

Corey Kahaney:

They did it.

Corey Kahaney:

I don't, I don't believe that.

Corey Kahaney:

I think most of them have tried it on somebody.

Corey Kahaney:

I think most people have tried it, even inadvertently, maybe with an Uber driver.

Corey Kahaney:

You don't know.

Corey Kahaney:

You've just tried it a little bit.

Corey Kahaney:

Or someone said, you know, that's funny.

Corey Kahaney:

And that's why they went back and they wrote it down.

Joel Byers:

You know, once, once you have, like, the funny line, how do you then start to build it out into, like we were referencing or, like a bit that's like, tag, tag, tag, tag.

Joel Byers:

How do you really start to flesh it out?

Joel Byers:

Other specific techniques or, you know, I.

Corey Kahaney:

Also, I don't have any problem with leaning on friends, you know.

Corey Kahaney:

Is there something more here?

Corey Kahaney:

Like, I'll give an example.

Corey Kahaney:

This is something I'm working on.

Corey Kahaney:

I'm doing, I'm doing a new joke night tonight in New York, and my husband and I were walking down the street and there was an adverb, an escape room, you know, and we're married, you know, we're together, like 27 years.

Corey Kahaney:

And I said, we should do that escape room.

Corey Kahaney:

And eternity looked at me and goes, we would never get out of the escape room because we'd be arguing so much.

Corey Kahaney:

Ask someone.

Corey Kahaney:

Push the button.

Corey Kahaney:

I don't know.

Corey Kahaney:

It doesn't matter.

Corey Kahaney:

And we would be fighting so much.

Corey Kahaney:

It was just a very funny idea.

Corey Kahaney:

So I'm going to play with that tonight.

Corey Kahaney:

I have a couple of thoughts on it.

Corey Kahaney:

I'll flesh it out and see.

Corey Kahaney:

And what's great about doing a new joke night or in, you know, for other people, I guess it's called an open mic, is you walk over to a comic and you think, you say, was that funny?

Corey Kahaney:

And they may give you something I'm very good at.

Corey Kahaney:

I always write down things for comics when they're working on material.

Corey Kahaney:

Try it.

Corey Kahaney:

Have you thought of this, you know, kind of thing as far the person who asked about the list joke?

Corey Kahaney:

Let's talk about that for a second.

Corey Kahaney:

So a list joke is a very, very specific formula, right?

Corey Kahaney:

It's a joke that doesn't actually have a punchline and you're just, you're just saying, you're just saying a lot of random punchlines until the audience just has to give it up.

Corey Kahaney:

And if you're so consistent and you give this kind of signal to the crowd that you're not going to stop and you're not invested in their response, that's when they give it to you.

Corey Kahaney:

But if you're doing two or three and you're like, wait a minute, nobody's laughing yet.

Corey Kahaney:

Oh, this is not quite going where I want it to go.

Corey Kahaney:

Not gonna work.

Corey Kahaney:

But, I mean, the greatest list joke of all is Dom Herrera is the greatest, you know, list joke, formula, comedian.

Joel Byers:

You know, I'm talking, I need, I need to watch, I mean, I'm familiar with Dom, but I'm actually, I don't think I've ever actually watched his comedy now that you say that.

Corey Kahaney:

Well, he was an unbelievable master and, yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

And very much, very much uses the list formula, you know.

Joel Byers:

Oh, and a lot.

Joel Byers:

Oh, I thought he had a specific joke about lists.

Corey Kahaney:

He, he does it a lot.

Corey Kahaney:

That's his style.

Corey Kahaney:

Well, definitely not in great health right now, so you may want to really try to go back and see things, you know, from the oughts, if you will.

Joel Byers:

Okay, great.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

For people that aren't aware, that's Dom Herrera.

Joel Byers:

Dom.

Joel Byers:

I r r e r a.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, he's definitely worth someone checking out.

Joel Byers:

Another.

Yoshi:

Just right there.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

And then the, you know, I mean, if we're going to look at formulas, you know, with similes, metaphors, you know, I think the king is probably the.

Corey Kahaney:

Oh, my God.

Corey Kahaney:

Talk amongst yourselves.

Corey Kahaney:

Colin Quinn is the greatest for the analogies, similes and whatever.

Yoshi:

Colin is phenomenal.

Corey Kahaney:

That's, I mean, that's, that's his brand.

Corey Kahaney:

I happen to, you know, like it as well.

Corey Kahaney:

But, you know, he, he's great at that.

Yoshi:

How would you describe your style?

Yoshi:

Like, what would, what would be kind of the style that, you know, you've done this for 30 something years.

Yoshi:

Like, what's the thing that for you is like, oh, this is Corey style and this is where you've gotten to.

Yoshi:

And that's like, you're master of.

Corey Kahaney:

Well, I believe, I believe I, my jokes all have to have a punchline.

Corey Kahaney:

I'm not interested so much in the, in selling a joke by attitude.

Corey Kahaney:

I try to tell people, you know, if you want, like, for example, a joke that is going to be in the middle of your tv set.

Corey Kahaney:

Right.

Corey Kahaney:

Because in the middle of every tv set, you got to have an applause break.

Corey Kahaney:

Just do so.

Corey Kahaney:

You know, you almost put the funniest joke in the middle and the second funniest of the clothes.

Corey Kahaney:

Almost.

Corey Kahaney:

But that middle joke, I think you should be able to lay down on the stage, look up at the ceiling, and say it into a mic, and it would work whether you're selling it or not.

Yoshi:

Gotcha.

Corey Kahaney:

Does that make sense?

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

Basically, just.

Yoshi:

Just raw joke.

Yoshi:

Just a raw joke.

Yoshi:

No attitude attached to it.

Corey Kahaney:

You should be saying, I like comedy, and that's the way I, you know, I aspire to.

Corey Kahaney:

I won't lie to you.

Corey Kahaney:

There's certain jokes that I do sell.

Corey Kahaney:

You know, I.

Corey Kahaney:

But, you know, look, let's, you know, maniscalco, okay?

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

He's a seller.

Yoshi:

Yep.

Corey Kahaney:

He tells the jokes with the attitude and, and, and facial expressions and voices and things like that.

Corey Kahaney:

Again, he's, you know, I got nothing.

Corey Kahaney:

But here's it.

Corey Kahaney:

That, you know, that's, I was going to say something about karma anyway.

Corey Kahaney:

Just throwing it.

Corey Kahaney:

Karma has nothing to do with it.

Joel Byers:

Does he have good karma?

Joel Byers:

Are you.

Joel Byers:

Do you know something?

Joel Byers:

What do you know, Cory?

Corey Kahaney:

What do you know?

Corey Kahaney:

And then this speech from New York City is saying, who is she?

Corey Kahaney:

What did I say?

Joel Byers:

I think he just did a run of five shows at Madison Square Garden.

Joel Byers:

Who will show you.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

He is so amazing.

Corey Kahaney:

Every family member in my sphere has to say how much they love him.

Corey Kahaney:

And do I know him?

Corey Kahaney:

And so some of it is that, yes, he's very funny.

Corey Kahaney:

Yes.

Corey Kahaney:

Very talented, very prolific.

Joel Byers:

And then you're like, have you seen my special anti joke show?

Corey Kahaney:

Now?

Corey Kahaney:

Did you ever see funny people with Adam, you know, with Adam Sandler?

Joel Byers:

Uh huh.

Corey Kahaney:

The best for comedians, the best scene in the movie is he's laying by the pool in his Beverly Hills home, and his parents are there.

Corey Kahaney:

They've come in from Florida, and something about show business is being discussed.

Corey Kahaney:

And his father, just out of nowhere, says, you know, it was funny, Jackie Gleason.

Corey Kahaney:

And there's nothing wrong with what the father's saying.

Corey Kahaney:

He doesn't, he doesn't even mean it in it to be cruel.

Corey Kahaney:

But he there at his Beverly Hills home that has been bought and paid for by comedy.

Yoshi:

By comedy.

Yoshi:

Yep, yep, yep.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

The disrespect is just so next level sometimes.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

We have one as we're talking about style as well.

Joel Byers:

Like, we're talking with a Sebastian.

Joel Byers:

Zach Newford asks, do you choose a comedic style or does a style choose you.

Corey Kahaney:

If you're new, if you're starting out?

Corey Kahaney:

I say, try everything.

Corey Kahaney:

I mean, it's.

Corey Kahaney:

It's the most luxurious thing you've got going.

Corey Kahaney:

When you first start out as a comic, you can do, you can do voices, you can do characters, you could do props.

Corey Kahaney:

Please don't do props.

Corey Kahaney:

But you could.

Joel Byers:

Tell the episode, you.

Corey Kahaney:

Can do poems, you could do stuff with music.

Corey Kahaney:

You could try everything.

Corey Kahaney:

But ultimately, I think everyone that really is a comic that's meant to be a comic has been funny with their family at Thanksgiving.

Corey Kahaney:

Yeah, right.

Corey Kahaney:

And everyone has said, oh, my God, you're so funny.

Corey Kahaney:

You should be a comedian.

Corey Kahaney:

That's who you should be on stage.

Joel Byers:

How do you know you're on the right track?

Joel Byers:

Like, how did you start to tap into your and comedic voice?

Joel Byers:

Was it like a certain joke about a topic?

Joel Byers:

You're like, ooh, let me do more personal, or let me say them a certain way.

Joel Byers:

Like, when did you start to tap into yours?

Joel Byers:

What was that aha moment?

Corey Kahaney:

I think I was always doing comedy.

Corey Kahaney:

I just wasn't always doing it on stage.

Corey Kahaney:

It was, I mean, you know, I worked in food service before I.

Corey Kahaney:

I was a comic and I worked in catering, and I had a moniker as the funniest person in food service.

Corey Kahaney:

But what you need to remember is nobody is looking for the funniest person in food service.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

It was not an asset in any way.

Corey Kahaney:

And probably my being funny allowed me to sell more weddings and bar mitzvahs and Sweet 16 parties because I could be funny with customers.

Corey Kahaney:

And maybe being funny allowed me to get the waiters to work a little bit harder because they knew that, you know, it was a fun workplace in that regard.

Corey Kahaney:

But.

Corey Kahaney:

So I was always doing it.

Corey Kahaney:

I was always doing comedy.

Corey Kahaney:

How it all started for me was I was kind of dating a comedian.

Corey Kahaney:

I wasn't kind of.

Corey Kahaney:

I was dating a comedian.

Corey Kahaney:

And when you date a comedian, you're his audience.

Corey Kahaney:

You.

Corey Kahaney:

And you bring your friends and, you know, you.

Corey Kahaney:

You know, they need to.

Corey Kahaney:

They need.

Corey Kahaney:

They do bringers.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

You know, I did.

Corey Kahaney:

I was the audience of a lot of these bringer shows.

Corey Kahaney:

And little by little, it was eating away at me that, why am I not doing this?

Corey Kahaney:

It's, you know, I am just as funny as that person, as that girl.

Corey Kahaney:

You know what I mean?

Corey Kahaney:

And when I broke up with him, that's when I started.

Yoshi:

You said when you broke up with him?

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

That's something I tell.

Joel Byers:

Cause I'll get asked a lot.

Joel Byers:

How do you get on stage for the first time?

Joel Byers:

And honestly, like, going and watching an open mic will show you how low the bar is, yes.

Joel Byers:

And, like, you'll be like, oh, well, I can bomb at a coffee shop for three minutes with a homeless guy in the window behind you.

Joel Byers:

You know, it's like, shout out to urban grind in Atlanta.

Corey Kahaney:

But I think that's the best advice because there's, you know, again, I love people taking, like, a class if they want to, you know, because it will sort of hold your hand and give you accountability that you're going to actually, at the end of the six weeks, go do a show, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Corey Kahaney:

But are you really, you know, that first show is, is going to be amazing because it was filled with an audience that wanted to be there, that was there to support people and whatnot.

Corey Kahaney:

I don't know if you learn as much as you would learn if you just went to that open mic with the homeless guy in the window.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

That's the character building one.

Yoshi:

That's how you build character right there.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

The classes are.

Joel Byers:

If you, if you work the class, the class will work.

Joel Byers:

But some people take a class instead of doing the work, and they think the class will solve that problem.

Joel Byers:

But it's.

Joel Byers:

The class can help the learning curve, but you have to go and stand on stage and say your jokes at open mics a lot.

Joel Byers:

If this is what you want to do, if you want to test it out, you can just go and see how it feels if you really aren't sure if you want to pursue comedy or not.

Joel Byers:

But the reality repetitions.

Corey Kahaney:

Some people take a class in stand up, you know, the same way they would take a class in ceramics.

Corey Kahaney:

It's like, I want to do something on Thursday nights, you know what I mean?

Corey Kahaney:

But the problem that I see over and over again, I'm sure it's not a surprise to you, is people who take a class and they do that graduation show, and they want that experience to be the next time that they perform.

Corey Kahaney:

And it never is because it gets harder and harder to get people to come and, and then when you go to do an open mic, it's so your crest fallen.

Joel Byers:

They're not laughing at these jokes that the host told them to laugh at at the last show I did.

Corey Kahaney:

It's kind of like you're learning to have an orgasm with a vibrator.

Corey Kahaney:

I would rather you go and, you know, work for it.

Corey Kahaney:

Hump the stage.

Yoshi:

Oh, that's the most epic visual that I've heard about, about comedy.

Yoshi:

That's hilarious.

Joel Byers:

That should be the tagline for a class.

Joel Byers:

Your comedy vibrator.

Joel Byers:

That should be I'm gonna be on to something here.

Joel Byers:

Corey.

Joel Byers:

We could go in on this coming soon.

Joel Byers:

The comedy vibrator workshop.

Yoshi:

Did you say coming soon?

Yoshi:

Don't do that.

Joel Byers:

Oh, I'm a clean, oh, I'm a clean comic.

Joel Byers:

That's bad for the brand.

Joel Byers:

I can't.

Corey Kahaney:

Yes, and that's an interesting thing.

Corey Kahaney:

A lot of times someone will call me to close one of those bringer shows because they need a pro to close the show, and I need the $50 or whatever it is.

Corey Kahaney:

Also, why wouldn't I go to a room that's, you know, filled, you know, you know, and it's hot, so I would go to those.

Corey Kahaney:

And so often I'm sitting there and I'm watching, you know, I'm watching a male comic, and he's incredibly vulgar, like, to the, you know, everything that he's ever seen.

Corey Kahaney:

He's like taking Jeselnik and Jim Norton and Daniel Toshena and Louis CK, and he's mushed it into a show, right?

Corey Kahaney:

And then this girl who's really pretty and young and she's quiet and she wants to talk about, you know, her journey from the church to New York City or something like that, and that is really hard to watch.

Corey Kahaney:

And that I really, I'll go after the MC on that show and say, when that guy came and came all that all over that stage, what are you talking about?

Corey Kahaney:

They told me to hurry.

Corey Kahaney:

I don't care.

Corey Kahaney:

This guy shocked half the room.

Corey Kahaney:

Half the room.

Corey Kahaney:

It's all parents, aunts, uncles in the room.

Corey Kahaney:

And there's nothing wrong, by the way.

Corey Kahaney:

That guy is probably going to be, you know, eventually be a great comic.

Corey Kahaney:

But right then, it was, it was jarring to the crowd.

Corey Kahaney:

I said, you gotta clean it up before this girl comes out.

Corey Kahaney:

And to this day, I once toured the MC, a new one.

Corey Kahaney:

And that person is now a cruise director.

Corey Kahaney:

No.

Corey Kahaney:

And great and very successful.

Corey Kahaney:

And she said, you really dressed me down.

Corey Kahaney:

And I said, I did.

Corey Kahaney:

And she told me the story, and I'm like, but you screwed up.

Corey Kahaney:

I mean, you had it coming.

Corey Kahaney:

It was a very, you know, she goes, yeah, no, I just didn't know I was new and did it, you know?

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

How would you, you said, clean like the, to clean up.

Joel Byers:

How would you recommend a comic clean up a situation like that at a show?

Corey Kahaney:

Well, the MC is what I'm talking about.

Corey Kahaney:

The MC has to, yeah, that's what I meant.

Corey Kahaney:

Like, for people, you have to acknowledge that that was, um, you have to acknowledge that that was what it was.

Corey Kahaney:

Something you know, or, you know, that I can't believe that guy's single.

Corey Kahaney:

What?

Corey Kahaney:

You know, some crappy, dumb thing like that.

Corey Kahaney:

Or, you know, I.

Corey Kahaney:

My ex husband.

Corey Kahaney:

Ladies and gentlemen, acknowledge.

Corey Kahaney:

Do a joke or two, maybe go into the audience, if you can, a little bit, just to remind everybody that, you know, that we're.

Corey Kahaney:

There's a variety of ways of laughing.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

So you're almost talking like a reset.

Corey Kahaney:

You're.

Corey Kahaney:

You're, you know, you're the sorbet in between the courses.

Yoshi:

Nice.

Joel Byers:

It almost helps to address the elephant in the room.

Joel Byers:

I mean, like, even Yoshi Yoshi and I did a show, and the.

Joel Byers:

The feature, she was a little dirty for the room, and I could feel that.

Joel Byers:

So, like, the first thing I said when I went up there was, I just addressed how, like, oh, I thought this was a clean show, and that kind of broke the ice.

Joel Byers:

Everyone was like, oh, okay.

Joel Byers:

Because you could just feel like they were.

Joel Byers:

They were down for some dirty but not explicit.

Joel Byers:

And so once I addressed that, it almost kind of was, like, popped the balloon, and people were like, okay, we can relax and laugh.

Joel Byers:

Everyone was just kind of.

Joel Byers:

It was a small town in Georgia, so it's.

Joel Byers:

Those kind of rooms can be a little tricky to just kind of find out where the connection is.

Corey Kahaney:

Right.

Corey Kahaney:

I would tread cautiously, Joel, with that.

Corey Kahaney:

A better way to do it is.

Corey Kahaney:

I hope you won't be disappointed.

Corey Kahaney:

But I am, like, squeaky clean.

Corey Kahaney:

She was hilarious.

Corey Kahaney:

Give it up for her.

Corey Kahaney:

But you know what?

Corey Kahaney:

Fine.

Corey Kahaney:

I'm a little bit, you know, I'm a little bit, you know, opie, you.

Joel Byers:

Know, I said pastor.

Joel Byers:

I did bring up looking like a youth pastor at the beginning as well, so I did.

Joel Byers:

I was sure to check that box.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, you're saying not roast the comic, basically.

Corey Kahaney:

And never.

Corey Kahaney:

You're right.

Corey Kahaney:

Never knock them, you know?

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

Unless they really died.

Corey Kahaney:

Okay.

Corey Kahaney:

There is.

Corey Kahaney:

There are cases, I think, if they really died, you know, you could do a joke, and if the joke doesn't hit, you could say, I'll bring that guy back.

Corey Kahaney:

But if somebody.

Corey Kahaney:

If somebody's.

Corey Kahaney:

Especially if it's.

Corey Kahaney:

Especially if it's a.

Corey Kahaney:

If it's a girl, you.

Corey Kahaney:

Here's the problem with the sexes here.

Corey Kahaney:

So, like, a guy should never really, really trash a girl because the audience could turn on you.

Corey Kahaney:

And a girl, it's very complicated.

Corey Kahaney:

A girl can't trash a girl either.

Corey Kahaney:

It's like, a girl can trash a guy.

Corey Kahaney:

A guy can't trash a girl.

Corey Kahaney:

And the best thing you could possibly do is to put it all on you.

Corey Kahaney:

Always put it on you.

Corey Kahaney:

I'm so sorry.

Corey Kahaney:

I, you know, I.

Corey Kahaney:

My comedy is like, for a four h club.

Corey Kahaney:

Is that okay with everybody?

Corey Kahaney:

Because we're going to be talking about puppies.

Corey Kahaney:

That's the way to do it, is the smart way.

Corey Kahaney:

But if somebody really dies, you know, you can't help but not use it, you know?

Corey Kahaney:

You don't like that joke.

Corey Kahaney:

I'm bringing Matthew back out here.

Corey Kahaney:

Right.

Joel Byers:

I like.

Joel Byers:

That's a more civil approach.

Joel Byers:

I've known her for, like, ten years, so I.

Joel Byers:

It was all in, like, good fun, but I could see that getting misconstrued, especially if a set doesn't go like, we all have these sets as comedians, so afterwards, the last thing you want to hear is a reminder.

Joel Byers:

So I could definitely.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

See a more civil approach to that.

Yoshi:

Yeah, yeah.

Yoshi:

I think you handled it well.

Yoshi:

I think it was.

Yoshi:

I was hosting the show and I was just like, all right, good luck, Joel.

Yoshi:

You're the professional.

Joel Byers:

All right.

Corey Kahaney:

Come and talk about.

Joel Byers:

Talk about cleaning it up.

Joel Byers:

She wasn't off the stage, and he's like, your next comedian, Joel Byers.

Corey Kahaney:

Really, Yoshi?

Corey Kahaney:

That's how you did it?

Yoshi:

That's how I did it.

Yoshi:

But here's the thing.

Joel Byers:

I.

Yoshi:

Actually enjoy the darkness of it because I like, I like sort of the contrast.

Yoshi:

And I know Joel is going to be the clean version.

Yoshi:

Right.

Yoshi:

Of whatever was happening.

Yoshi:

And so I was like, hey, I actually told him beforehand, I was like, joel, I'm not saying anything in between.

Yoshi:

Like, I'm going to literally just bring you up on the laugh that they already gave her for coming on stage.

Yoshi:

And it's just going to happen because I want you to sort of do your thing.

Yoshi:

Yeah, I told him for sure.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

This wasn't like a showcase, and Joel did like 45.

Yoshi:

This is a true professional.

Yoshi:

It wasn't like someone, I'm just throwing up there, be like, all right, you make it happen.

Yoshi:

No, and he did great.

Yoshi:

So, yeah, there's not a lot of people who I would.

Yoshi:

I would say if I needed to do that, I would have done it, but I didn't need to with Joel.

Corey Kahaney:

And that's the difference, you know, there's.

Corey Kahaney:

There's nuances and there's.

Corey Kahaney:

Yeah, I'm missing.

Corey Kahaney:

So that's all, you know, that point.

Joel Byers:

Of view, though, for sure, Corey.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

I appreciate that.

Yoshi:

Oh, yeah.

Yoshi:

It's such a great point.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Is there anything?

Joel Byers:

Because that is something.

Joel Byers:

I don't know.

Joel Byers:

It's like a yemenite.

Joel Byers:

As a male comic, I don't know.

Joel Byers:

Is there anything we can do to be better?

Joel Byers:

It's like, like you said, like, with, like, the sexes and comedy, we're coming up from completely two different worlds.

Joel Byers:

We can't even fathom all the struggles they're like a female comic is having.

Joel Byers:

So, like, how, as a male comic, how can we be better?

Joel Byers:

I don't know if that's a good word.

Joel Byers:

I don't know.

Joel Byers:

I don't know.

Joel Byers:

I don't.

Joel Byers:

I just want to be a good person.

Corey Kahaney:

I mean, in terms of.

Corey Kahaney:

In terms of supporting female comics or terms of having, you know, a difficult female in the crowd, I mean.

Joel Byers:

Oh, yeah, supporting female comics, I'm making sure.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

I was struck by how well Sam Morell gets away with it.

Corey Kahaney:

You know, if Sam Morel has a woman in the audience that is, you know, relentless and giving him lip, I mean, he, you know, he is delicate.

Corey Kahaney:

He just lets the workout, lets the rope out.

Corey Kahaney:

It's poetic.

Yoshi:

It is poetic.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

When it's that good, I have to give it up.

Corey Kahaney:

He does it so well, and the audience is very much on his side.

Corey Kahaney:

But I think there's also an underlying thing at the bottom of it, you know, that Sam likes women.

Corey Kahaney:

I don't know if that makes sense, but, like, he doesn't inherently hate women.

Corey Kahaney:

You can tell that he likes them.

Corey Kahaney:

And I don't know how that message comes across, but it does.

Corey Kahaney:

As far as, I don't know, supporting female comics, we're all crazy.

Corey Kahaney:

It's very tough.

Yoshi:

That's so funny.

Yoshi:

Your advice is good luck.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

You know, I mean, the things that I've seen over, you know, over my 30, 31 years at this point, doing comedy, you know, the, it's more the damage you do, not so much the help.

Corey Kahaney:

Like, you know, I remember when I first started doing comedy, you know, a famous comic would bring his female comic girlfriend, and she would feature.

Corey Kahaney:

Right.

Corey Kahaney:

Well, then the club wouldn't book a woman comic for another nine months because she was socked, wasn't really ready.

Corey Kahaney:

And that happened over and over again.

Corey Kahaney:

And they can't say no to said famous comic because, you know, he's probably, he's probably even eating her pay.

Corey Kahaney:

You know what I mean?

Corey Kahaney:

Like, I'll, you know, I'll pay her.

Corey Kahaney:

That kind of thing.

Yoshi:

Yep.

Yoshi:

And so I've had that happen before.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

I've been there where the opener for said comedian was so bad.

Yoshi:

I mean.

Yoshi:

Nope.

Yoshi:

Like, when I say two laughs in 30 minutes, two laughs in 30 minutes, and he had to go up afterwards and I was hosting.

Yoshi:

I was like, I was doing one of those things.

Yoshi:

I was like, oh, my God, that was great.

Yoshi:

Wasn't it?

Yoshi:

Just, I was, I couldn't find the thing to do.

Yoshi:

I was like, I'm just going to force you guys to clap at your headliner.

Yoshi:

And that's what I did.

Yoshi:

I was just like, let's get excited about this headliner.

Yoshi:

It's going to be amazing.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

Cause I couldn't, I couldn't do it.

Yoshi:

It was just so hard.

Yoshi:

But, yes, I've had that situation before by said Khomedin, who brought his girlfriend.

Corey Kahaney:

And, you know, the truth is, the club owner is watching, and the club owner sees no laughs from a woman, and so he's gonna be slow to headline a woman.

Corey Kahaney:

That's the kind of things I've seen.

Corey Kahaney:

What else?

Corey Kahaney:

A lot of times, guys give the woman comic on a show the check spot because she really wants a spot, and they're trying to help her out.

Corey Kahaney:

And again, I do think you need to do the check spot.

Corey Kahaney:

I really do.

Corey Kahaney:

It's important because you got to learn how to do it.

Corey Kahaney:

But if you want to help, don't give them the checks.

Corey Kahaney:

But every so often, don't give them the checks.

Joel Byers:

But, yeah.

Joel Byers:

And maybe the intro shouldn't be, are you all ready for a female comedian that could be a good one to not do as well?

Corey Kahaney:

100%.

Corey Kahaney:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

And not only that, but, you know, your disdain for female comics can come through just in the intro you do.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

All the shows that tonight show, and, you know, it's all bullshit.

Corey Kahaney:

And then, you know, they've discredited them, especially when, you know, when sometimes the woman does have a credit, like a decent one.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Oh, yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

I think with, you know, with 600,000 followers on tick tock is a great intro.

Joel Byers:

Mm hmm.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, I would get those.

Joel Byers:

I do, like, a lot of hood rooms in Atlanta coming up.

Joel Byers:

I would be the white boy on a lot of shows, and I would always get the intro, like, oh, this next comic, we came up in the streets slinging dope, like, rap song.

Joel Byers:

It's about him.

Joel Byers:

They would all, and I would just walk up there, but I would end up, what I would end up doing is, like, the more comfortable I got, I would just start roasting the host until they stopped giving me that intro because, like, it would get a pop, but not my pop.

Joel Byers:

It's more like, ah, the white boy like it.

Joel Byers:

It wasn't a laugh I was seeking, so I started to kind of fight back, and then they were like, oh, never mind.

Joel Byers:

Type deal.

Joel Byers:

So.

Yoshi:

Yeah, you did roast a lot of streets.

Corey Kahaney:

It's amazing how thin skinned, uh, the.

Corey Kahaney:

The, uh, these hosts can have, you know, like, you know.

Joel Byers:

Mm hmm.

Yoshi:

Yep, yep.

Corey Kahaney:

Why you gotta be like that?

Joel Byers:

Yeah, too far, white boy.

Joel Byers:

Too far.

Joel Byers:

Why boy, Joe crazy.

Joel Byers:

They would say, you stupid.

Joel Byers:

We, uh, we have it.

Joel Byers:

What's funny is Yoshi and I are, like, opposite comedians.

Joel Byers:

Like, I'm more like the black comedian.

Joel Byers:

Yoshi's more like the white comedian.

Joel Byers:

And we'll give each other point of view based on that.

Yoshi:

All right.

Joel Byers:

I don't know if that's.

Joel Byers:

I forget.

Joel Byers:

I'm too white.

Joel Byers:

If I just say black people get uncomfortable.

Corey Kahaney:

Are you guys both.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Yes.

Corey Kahaney:

So it's a pretty vibrant comedy scene there, isn't it?

Yoshi:

Very vibrant.

Joel Byers:

Oh, it's awesome.

Yoshi:

Yeah, it's awesome.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Every night in front of different audiences, different races, different backgrounds, different economic status, just driving not that far, you can get a lot of different cross sections for comedy.

Joel Byers:

It's great.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Yoshi:

I like to perform in front of people with 401 ks.

Yoshi:

That's, like, my audience.

Yoshi:

It's like, oh, you got a job?

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

How did you start making money in this game, corey?

Joel Byers:

Because I'm ready, and I'm making money.

Joel Byers:

Like, I don't want to say I'm not getting booked and all that, but, like, let's get a tax bracket going here.

Joel Byers:

You know, my wife is ready for that, like, corporate work or how'd you start to be like, all right, let's.

Corey Kahaney:

I was going to say when.

Corey Kahaney:

When Yoshi said, you know, my target audience has 401k.

Corey Kahaney:

My target audience is spending the 401k.

Corey Kahaney:

I'm embarrassed to admit the two times I played Atlanta, I was there.

Corey Kahaney:

I was either doing an over 55 community, or I was doing, like, a jewish community center.

Corey Kahaney:

Or maybe I came down and I did a fundraiser for a synagogue or a temple.

Corey Kahaney:

I really had never played any of the clubs there.

Corey Kahaney:

Just in my life.

Yoshi:

You have.

Yoshi:

You've got the chop.

Yoshi:

Like, this is your kind of crowd.

Yoshi:

Like, I'm literally thinking about clubs here and what I just watched, and, yeah, this.

Yoshi:

They would eat you up.

Corey Kahaney:

Well, thanks.

Corey Kahaney:

This is a tricky thing.

Corey Kahaney:

Your question, Joel, how do you start making money?

Corey Kahaney:

You know, you know the ways.

Corey Kahaney:

You know the ways that people make money, right?

Corey Kahaney:

They, you know, they.

Corey Kahaney:

They go on the road, and they live on very little, and.

Corey Kahaney:

And they, you know, they're making feature money, which, from what I'm seeing, hasn't gone up much since when I did it.

Yoshi:

Yeah, it's still the same.

Yoshi:

It hasn't changed.

Corey Kahaney:

Or you stay local and you do the comedy clubs, and that's even less money, right?

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

Or you go out and you try to be an actor and try to get acting work, you know, or you, you know, you go to, you go to LA and you try to get, you know, get a commercial agent or a theatrical agent or a legit agent, and you try.

Corey Kahaney:

These are all the methods, but it seems to me from where we're perched right now, the only way to make money is to completely develop and produce your very own thing.

Corey Kahaney:

That's.

Corey Kahaney:

That's where.

Corey Kahaney:

That's where they come from.

Corey Kahaney:

Let's use.

Corey Kahaney:

Let's use Gary Veeder as an example.

Joel Byers:

Okay?

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

Okay.

Corey Kahaney:

He does that brilliant article, right?

Corey Kahaney:

It does.

Corey Kahaney:

You know, somebody, well, I don't know who, decided that whatever, he took meetings.

Corey Kahaney:

They did the podcast.

Corey Kahaney:

You know what I'm talking about, right?

Corey Kahaney:

Gary has this podcast, number one.

Corey Kahaney:

Right?

Corey Kahaney:

So.

Corey Kahaney:

But number one, dad.

Corey Kahaney:

Okay, what did it do?

Corey Kahaney:

Not that it got him more followers.

Corey Kahaney:

Of course it did that it got him this really specific audience.

Corey Kahaney:

Right?

Corey Kahaney:

And that audience, that's the NPR audience.

Corey Kahaney:

It's a sports loving audience.

Corey Kahaney:

It's dads.

Corey Kahaney:

It's.

Corey Kahaney:

It's people that are in therapy.

Corey Kahaney:

It's a really nice cross section of people.

Corey Kahaney:

So he's really building this audience, which is there.

Corey Kahaney:

And that's why developing your own thing allows you to build your audience.

Corey Kahaney:

I'll give.

Corey Kahaney:

Use David tell as another example.

Corey Kahaney:

I remember one time I was, I was doing a show with David tell, and, you know, he was doing insomniac at the time, or insomniac just wrapped and everyone in the audience was from insomniac.

Corey Kahaney:

And they were drunks and they were loud and they were, they were very annoying.

Corey Kahaney:

And, you know, it was, it was painful for him.

Corey Kahaney:

He, you know, Dave is a really smart comic.

Corey Kahaney:

He wants to go out and challenge, you know, the audience, and.

Corey Kahaney:

And he didn't, you know, he wasn't, he didn't appreciate people just screaming out, Dave, we love you.

Corey Kahaney:

You know, that wasn't his thing.

Corey Kahaney:

So if you can develop something, be yourself, be authentic, and as much as possible, you know, you know, promote it yourself.

Corey Kahaney:

And that's where the money comes from.

Corey Kahaney:

Okay.

Corey Kahaney:

There are other ways you can do corporate.

Corey Kahaney:

I mean, you're.

Corey Kahaney:

You are clean cut.

Corey Kahaney:

You should be able to do corporate work.

Corey Kahaney:

Can you.

Corey Kahaney:

Have you done.

Corey Kahaney:

Have you done corporates?

Joel Byers:

I have, yeah.

Joel Byers:

And it's all been more word of mouth.

Joel Byers:

I didn't know if, like an agent would help scale that up, or.

Joel Byers:

But I do.

Joel Byers:

I do corporate work, though.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

Every time you do a corporate work, ask them if they wouldn't mind giving you a testimonial.

Joel Byers:

Okay.

Corey Kahaney:

I mean, you got to grab the name of the company and the thing and as much as possible so that when.

Corey Kahaney:

When you do approach a corporate agent, you can say, yes.

Corey Kahaney:

And I've done, you know, you know, I've done American Express, and I've done.

Corey Kahaney:

I've done Coca Cola, and I've done, you know, sailor's, strawberry farm, and, you know, that kind of thing.

Corey Kahaney:

So.

Joel Byers:

Who books that?

Joel Byers:

Let me get in on that strawberry money.

Corey Kahaney:

Listen, you know, the problem with the corporate agents is that, you know, they have everybody on their roster.

Corey Kahaney:

So, like, you'll open up a roster, and everybody's listed.

Corey Kahaney:

You could get Seinfeld, you could get Daniel Tosh, and you could get Joel Briers.

Joel Byers:

Right?

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

All on the same website.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

And they're looking at it in terms of, like, you know, in terms of, like, price.

Corey Kahaney:

Right.

Corey Kahaney:

So this one's going to be in the $200,000 range.

Corey Kahaney:

This one's going to be the $2,000 range or the $20,000 range.

Corey Kahaney:

So it does take a while, but you can push that forward if you figure out a way to do some public speaking along with it.

Corey Kahaney:

Right.

Corey Kahaney:

Basically, you're doing right now, which is comics, helping comics do a TED talk on that.

Corey Kahaney:

You know, it doesn't have.

Corey Kahaney:

Obviously not a Ted made TEDx.

Corey Kahaney:

They call it TEDx.

Corey Kahaney:

There's things that you do to start doing a talk on it and how you develop this and how you created this, and that puts you into sort of the hybrid.

Corey Kahaney:

Hybrid speaking and stand up corporate.

Corey Kahaney:

And then if you really are.

Joel Byers:

Sorry, I didn't realize how loud that would be.

Joel Byers:

I was just applauding.

Corey Kahaney:

And if you really are the past, you know, I mean, there's a huge market for christian comics.

Joel Byers:

I know I should lean into it more.

Joel Byers:

I've done a few churches.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

It's.

Joel Byers:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Looking like.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, a youth pastor.

Joel Byers:

It can't hurt.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, that's good.

Joel Byers:

I like.

Joel Byers:

Because, you know, our whole mission is helping self cultivate self made comics.

Joel Byers:

So you even saying, create your own thing.

Joel Byers:

And who knows if that'll help pay off in a year or in eight years someone finds it, or now's the timing.

Joel Byers:

Like, creating what you wish existed is now more accessible than ever.

Joel Byers:

So that seems like a great step one for people as well.

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Opportunity.

Joel Byers:

Create it.

Yoshi:

And, like, in your 30 years of doing comedy, what would you say is like the top two, top two or three things that you would tell comedians to focus on.

Joel Byers:

Closing advice here.

Corey Kahaney:

Right now, I would say, you know, grow your social media numbers, grow your followers.

Corey Kahaney:

That would be the number one.

Corey Kahaney:

And in that vein, get really comfortable with the, you know, with, with the Internet and that how it works.

Joel Byers:

She's just rubbing her head as she's saying this.

Yoshi:

I'm no body, like, expert, but when you're saying that.

Joel Byers:

It was like hurting.

Corey Kahaney:

Yourself, how bad it is.

Corey Kahaney:

I don't understand how I'm supposed to interact with the Facebook professional site that I have.

Corey Kahaney:

But then I got the Facebook personal side and that's the one, you know, I talked to a lot of people and that, but the, all I know is it wasn't until like three weeks ago that I knew how to take something that somebody posted on their stories and make it my story hilarious.

Joel Byers:

You know, what's funny is we had a, we interviewed Ian bag not long ago who has just exploded on social media, but he was literally at a point of like, think about getting out of comedy.

Joel Byers:

And then he, he worked with this social media team that just started blasting his stuff everywhere and then he blew up.

Joel Byers:

And now he's doing theaters in a lot of places.

Joel Byers:

But the social media really is, I mean, game changing.

Joel Byers:

Yeah, that's, that's really the leverage now.

Corey Kahaney:

But as far as, as far as the actual craft.

Corey Kahaney:

The actual craft, you know, everyone tells you it's the same thing.

Corey Kahaney:

It's get as much stage time as humanly possible.

Corey Kahaney:

I actually think there's a little bit of a formula, which I'll share with you.

Corey Kahaney:

I think when you start doing seven sets a week, you see a lot of progress, but you see a ton of progress.

Corey Kahaney:

When you can ratchet it up to eleven sets a week, that's when you really start to change.

Corey Kahaney:

And if you, if you can do more than eleven sets a week, it's because, first of all, if you're doing more than eleven sets a week, it's because you're getting so good that people want you on shows and that, that's when you start to really grow as a comic.

Corey Kahaney:

It's, you know, it's very much like flying.

Corey Kahaney:

You got to have so many hours, you know, behind the cockpit to get your license as a pilot.

Corey Kahaney:

And I really think you need that many hours as a comedian to be a pro.

Corey Kahaney:

But take it very seriously.

Corey Kahaney:

I think it has to be taken very seriously.

Corey Kahaney:

Like, I would build in rewards, like, if I didn't do the seven sets.

Corey Kahaney:

I couldn't go to the movie if I didn't do the seven sets.

Corey Kahaney:

I couldn't get the ice cream but I didn't do.

Corey Kahaney:

And then, you know, and then I moved it into eleven sets.

Corey Kahaney:

You know you have to be a little bit OCD about it.

Corey Kahaney:

You have to be a little bit OCD about it.

Yoshi:

And how long I guess what was your path in terms of how long were you doing eleven sets?

Yoshi:

Like what was sort of your life choices to make to make sure that you were able to do all that?

Corey Kahaney:

Well I, I was doing seven sets for a long time and then I got this crazy opportunity.

Corey Kahaney:

I was the opening act for a show on Broadway called Puppetry of the penis.

Corey Kahaney:

I know.

Corey Kahaney:

Jealous.

Joel Byers:

Who books that?

Yoshi:

Can we get on that?

Yoshi:

Do they have a corporate, do they have a corporate line that we can call?

Corey Kahaney:

I think they may have a show in Vegas now.

Corey Kahaney:

The show ran for a long time but it was these two guys that did, you know, they twisted their penis and it was, they had a camera and it was, I don't even know what it was.

Corey Kahaney:

It was Yoshi.

Corey Kahaney:

There was a built in audience so it was either or it was gay men so it was, that was, yeah, so get a.

Corey Kahaney:

They wanted to open.

Corey Kahaney:

Yeah, female comic right?

Corey Kahaney:

And they couldn't do more than 40 minutes of the show.

Corey Kahaney:

It was first of all it got boring.

Corey Kahaney:

You know this is a sailboat and now this is, you know this is, this is, you know this is the camel.

Corey Kahaney:

This is the.

Joel Byers:

I want to know how to make money in comedy.

Joel Byers:

I think I found it.

Joel Byers:

I think.

Corey Kahaney:

I was doing eight shows, shows a week with that and then I would go you know because I was done, you know I had to open the show so I was done at 830, right?

Yoshi:

Yeah.

Corey Kahaney:

And then I was already in the city.

Corey Kahaney:

:

Corey Kahaney:

I will say this, when I started doing comedy professionally was I had been doing it in my head for so long that by the time I hit the ground I hit the ground running like I was very lucky.

Corey Kahaney:

I got a tv, I got a tv set at about just under two years.

Corey Kahaney:

I got my second tv set at like two and a half years and you know and again I was a female comic, I was funny.

Corey Kahaney:

There weren't as many of me as there were guys.

Corey Kahaney:

I will, you know, I admit that but I was lucky.

Joel Byers:

This is great stuff.

Joel Byers:

Let's, let's land this plane here.

Joel Byers:

And real quick, this could be yes or no, but Megan Carroll's a fan.

Joel Byers:

She said she loves your work.

Joel Byers:

So I wanted to.

Joel Byers:

Her question was, if you run your jokes by your family members first, yeah.

Joel Byers:

They're okay with you saying these things.

Corey Kahaney:

Then when the joke is almost there, I run it by my sister who's a lesbian, and she finds nothing funny.

Joel Byers:

Solid.

Corey Kahaney:

And if she gives me a, then I know.

Corey Kahaney:

I know.

Corey Kahaney:

It's gonna kill.

Corey Kahaney:

Yeah.

Joel Byers:

Well, this has been amazing.

Joel Byers:

You're really helping the next generation here, Cory.

Joel Byers:

So we really appreciate your time.

Joel Byers:

Everyone who found this episode helpful, which we know you did, go watch Corey's new special antique joke show.

Joel Byers:

It's on Apple.

Joel Byers:

It's on Amazon.

Joel Byers:

It's on all the platforms.

Yoshi:

So good.

Joel Byers:

So, so good.

Joel Byers:

And you want to talk about just last per minute and joke writing.

Joel Byers:

This is when you have.

Yoshi:

Oh, my God.

Corey Kahaney:

Yes.

Joel Byers:

And of course, is there anything else you'd like to promote as well, Cory?

Corey Kahaney:

We want to hop breath for follow me on Instagram.

Corey Kahaney:

It's, you know, it's any version.

Corey Kahaney:

First of all, any version of Corey Kahaney.

Corey Kahaney:

There's no other Corey Kaney.

Corey Kahaney:

It'll take you.

Corey Kahaney:

Instagram.

Corey Kahaney:

I have a name like that.

Corey Kahaney:

And TikTok.

Corey Kahaney:

Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Corey Kahaney.

Joel Byers:

We will definitely follow you there.

Joel Byers:

Thank you for your time.

Joel Byers:

And thank you, hot breath, first, for watching live.

Joel Byers:

If you don't get on these live streams, join our email list.

Joel Byers:

I'll send you a weekly alert of when we're going live and who we're having on, but we'll be back next Tuesday.

Joel Byers:

Hop breath of verse.

Joel Byers:

We love you all.

Joel Byers:

Good night.

Joel Byers:

Hot breathe.

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Hot Breath! (Learn Comedy from the Pros)

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Joel Byars