"From Struggle to Stand-Up Comedian : Raymond Orta's Comedy Lifeline on Comedy Saved Me with Lynn Hoffman-Replay

Comedy saved me. Oh my gosh. Raymond, first of all, I'm so excited to talk to you. I wanted to just say thank you. Like Buzz just said to Romy Ovan because we had him on another podcast that I host called Music Saved Me. And when he found out that we had this podcast about comedy saved me, he nearly fell off his chair. He's like, you have to talk to Raymond. You have to. We're like, okay, give us his info. We're in. So. No, my buddy Romy Ovan, I've known him for several years and I actually ran into him going to a show at the airport real randomly and he was on his way to Nashville. I was on my way to California and we were flying out to Austin to a connecting flight there and he was telling me all about it. I'm like, bro, this is awesome. And he's been doing some massive things for his music career and I've been crushing it in the comedy scene lately. I feel it was good to catch up with him. Yeah. Maybe maybe you guys down the road, you could do like a comedy music show. Oh yeah, that's definitely in the works for sure. He's a naturally funny too. Yeah, he really is. And I think everybody in the Valley where we're from has a natural knack for being that that's that style of personality where we're just like goofy and goofing on people and stuff like that. It's it's a lot of fun down here. I love it. Well, thank you again for coming on. So I'm really excited. I read this thing. Let me I'm trying to find where I wrote it down. It says, this is crazy. Raymond Orta, a comedy prodigy since the age of eight delivers high energy, vivid storytelling. His shows are so intense that he often leaves audiences in hysterics, sometimes literally needing medical attention. Have you actually had to like clear, you know, bring someone back to life at a show? Yeah, that actually happened at this like outdoor beach and biker fest is what it's called. It's like a like a Harley Davidson rally out in South powder Island. And I made this lady laugh and pass out and she pissed herself. And they had to get her by ambulance out of the whole place. It was pretty nuts. Wow. Right. So that's why I was just wanting to breakfast this for our listeners. Yeah. And one of my claim to fame is I've made two people that I know of completely crap their pants and that's really hard to do in comedy. That's that's that's really hard. That's like the Mount Everest of comedy besides making somebody die, making somebody poop is is up there. I have never ever heard that before, but I love it. Oh my gosh. You got to understand that it's like the the the stars having to align for that to happen. This guy had to like the people that had that happened to them. They had to like they were locking up their house and they're like, man, I got I should probably go to the bathroom. It was like, no, there's no time. I'm going to go out with one in the chamber. And now they go. All right. On that note, if you have to go to the bathroom, you might want to go now. We're going to go take a break with some commercials. And then we're going to come right back with Raymond or top. It's a time to do this is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human. Comedy saved me. Welcome back to Comedy Saved Me, the show where we sit down with some of the funniest people alive to talk about how laughter can be a healing force that didn't just change their lives, but it might have literally saved them and others too. I'm your host, Lynn Hoffman. And if you're into inspiring stories of resilience, redemption and the transformative power of humor like this one, please share it with your friends and maybe just lift them up a little bit too, because that's exactly what we're all about here on the on the comedy Saved Me podcast. Sorry, I get them confused sometimes. Today's guest is someone who literally made someone poop their pants twice as we learned before we went to break, but he proves that comedy can hit harder than a punchline at a midnight show. He is a self-described beacon of positivity and laughs, which I absolutely love. A man who blends sharp wit with hilarious storytelling, a performer who can take you from tears of laughter to tears of recognition in the same set. And I can tell you, I'm already crying, laughing during the commercial break. I wish you could have heard everything. If you've never seen him live, you know you are not just at a comedy show. You are at a Raymond Orta experience. So buckle up. Just today we're talking heart, hustle and humor with the one and only Raymond Orta. Raymond, welcome to Comedy Saved Me. What an awesome intro. I really appreciate that. That was like, I don't know where you got that. Chad GPT knocked out of the park or something. That was really good. It's my LLM friend. No, that was really, really, really well done. That was so good. Thanks so much. Well, what I want to know, what first up first is what drew you to comedy? And like, when did you realize that making people laugh was more than just a hobby for you? Well, my first taste of making somebody laugh was my mom. I made her laugh when I was real young. And my dad was a super, I have plenty of stories in my show about him, but he was not a very nice guy. He was super mean, abusive. And my mom and him got divorced because she found him cheating on her several times. And there was this one time where we're living out of her car and I made her laugh. And it was such a good feeling for me to make my mom laugh when she was going through so much that I really liked that feeling. And it made me feel good to be able to bring her some joy. I must have been like four or five years old. I can't even remember what I did, but I remember her laughing like big time when she had been crying for a long period of time. And I said something, I did something, and it just broke the tension with comic relief. And I just knew that that was something that I really enjoyed. And in school, I was always the class clown, always looking to make people laugh. And in my third grade year in school, my teacher, she came to me with a poster and she's like, look, look at this. And it was a poster for a talent show. And I remember the poster so vividly, it said, can you sing? Can you dance? Can you do magic? Can you do all these different things? And at the very bottom it says, or even tell jokes. And she said, you can tell jokes. You're super funny. And you should try out for the talent show. And I was like, oh, man, that sounds like a lot of fun. I definitely want to do that. And she's like, well, you have to come up with a five minute routine and you have to, it has to be clean. And then you can be in the talent show. And I was like, OK. And so I came up with a five minute routine as a third grader. And I remember going up in front of my student body, in front of all the elementary kids and the staff, and I crushed it. I did five minutes of clean material that I wrote myself. And I won the talent show. And from one moment, from that day, I used to be a chubby kid that was always getting put in the friend zone. To now I was the funny, popular kid that everybody knew everybody wanted to hang out with. And I was like, man, this is what I want to do with my life. I love, love, love, love this. I love making people laugh. I love the popularity that brought me. And from that moment, I was hooked. I've been passionately pursuing comedy since I was eight years old. And when people hear that, they're like, for real, like, no, it's like legit. I've been writing jokes and performing them since I was in third grade. That's so impressive to me. And the crazy thing is, is that you remember that far back that you would make your mom laugh during this time. I could still remember the jokes that I did in my third grade talent show. And I tell them to people that it is they are still funny. And I did my third grade talent show, fourth grade, fifth grade, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth grade talent shows. And I won every, I've never lost a talent show doing comedy. Wow. Wow. That's amazing. Well, it's obvious that you were paying attention to listening to what you loved and translating that into a career in comedy is a whole different ballgame. But people usually do tell you to do what you love and the money will come. But that's easily easier said than done. For real. And the first time that I made money doing comedy, like that I saw like the dollar signs was my ninth grade talent show, the grand prize for first place was a hundred bucks. And I'll never forget it because it was so, I went on stage or we're backstage at the gym and there was like this dance team, like talking smack to me. Like you're really, it looks, it feels like one of those Disney movies, right? You really think you're going to win with those cheesy little jokes of yours? Like total mean girls, right? And I was like, well, even if you guys win, there's 12 of you guys and the grand prize is a hundred bucks. You guys are going to win like eight dollars each. It's like, well, you're going to get a water burger, like a combo. Like congratulations. That's it. What did they say? Did you say that to them? Yeah. And we were like kind of talking smack. And then they brought me up to the gym floor and I was, I started making fun of like the security guards that was, that were working there at the school and I could impersonate them so like spot on. So when I started doing their voices, every, like you could imagine all of my fellow freshmen friends are like, oh, dude, this guy's imitating Gart. Like we had nicknames for all the security guards. And then one of the guys was named Garfield and he had a voice. It sounded like this. You guys better get, you better get off the grass. And he was always telling us to get off the grass, right? And then we had our principal, our principal had our super funny voice, real high pitched voice for a man. And it was like, almost like Muppet. Like he had a voice. It sounded, it sounded like this. And his big thing was, y'all hurry up and get to class now. Hurry up and get to clients. The kids must have gone nuts. Oh, people were going nuts. So I'm making fun of the security guard and the principal at the same time, like man, the security guards over here telling me, hey, get off the grass. And the principal's like, hey, get to class. Let's get off the grass and get to class. So I'm going back and forth between these two and the kids are losing it. Well, at that time, like the security guards that were inside the gym watching us, they're calling the security guard that I'm making fun of. Like they're calling them on the walkie talkie, like, bro, you got to come over here and watch this. It's like ripping you up right now. And so they're like calling them and man, like this guy couldn't have walked into the gym at a more proper time. Like it was as if it was like, I couldn't have scripted it any better. Cue the deer. Yeah. Like, like the guy, the guy opens the door and you know, like those, those gym doors that are like metal and this super loud. And so you open the door. Yeah. And he just, he pounded it open. And everybody like, they had just finished laughing at me making fun of this guy. And they look at the door and he's standing there all like, and they're like looking at him and they look at me like, oh, what am I going to do? Like you just got busted. And then I'm standing on the middle of the, of the gym floor and I looked down and go, Hey, sir, there's no grass down here. So everybody's like losing it. And then, so I'm making fun of him. Like, and then at that time they called the principal over and the principal walks in because he's hearing that I'm making fun of him too. So and this has already taken up like most of my five minute segment that I was supposed to do. So when the principal walks in, again, the crowd looks at the principal and they look back at me like, Oh, what's he going to do now? And I go, well, I guess that's my cue to go back to class. And crowd. Yeah. The place, yeah, the place that I was, I was in probably like in front of like, like about 700 kids and, and the place was going nuts. And, and there was nothing that was going to beat that. There's, there was a, the dance team was like throwing down their pom poms. No, no. You're describing like a scene from Mean Girls, you know, like, For real, for that. It was, it was one of those scenes where I was like, um, and then they paid me a hundred bucks and I was like, my, my, my gears and my brain started, started spinning. And I'm thinking like, man, uh, that was for five minutes. I just made a hundred dollars and five minutes. And for me, that was like mind blowing, uh, that I could make that kind of money in five minutes. So I started thinking like, man, if I could, if I could make up five minute slots and, uh, at a hundred dollars each in an hour, I can make 1200 bucks. You know, and I, and I started just thinking about, about that. Like, um, like the mathematics in my head, like, man, imagine making $1,200 an hour. And I was like, wow, like as a kid, I was, that, that was my mentality. And, um, It makes sense that you realized you, you could make a career out of it at an early age. Yeah. And, and a buddy of mine, he was my best friend in high, in high school. He's still my best friend. He's, we're like brothers. Uh, his dad, he owned a bar where we would go and, and bus tables and kind of clean up and pick up and take out the trash and stuff after school. And for extra money, you know, like five, 10 bucks a year and stuff like that. But his dad was also a, uh, he's a Tejano, Tejano musician, singer and a hall of famer. So he kind of like made this bar so that he could have a place for him and his friends to jam out, you know? And, uh, so we were out there cleaning the tables and we had already finished our work and my, my friend's dad had set up the PA system because his friends were going to come over and they were going to jam out. And my friend goes, Hey man, you should go up on stage and do some of the voices that you do. Cause I was known for doing impressions and stuff. So I'm like, Oh, you think it's cool. And he's like, yeah, go for it. And, um, his dad started watching me perform and man, I was making all of his clients laugh doing like Arnold Swartz, an angry person that you listen to me command. And, uh, you know, Bill Clinton, he loved my Bill Clinton impression and my George Bush impression and stuff like that at the time. And, um, so I had all the, the bar laughing. I'm mind you, this, this bar, I'm, I'm 15, 16 years old and I'm performing at a bar, like a Mexican cantina that's like super shady, shanty place. Like making these people laugh is like no easy task. Right. These are hardened, like Mexican man just drinking beer and like just wanted to listen to music and stuff. So, um, I did probably like 45 minutes of me just goofing on the mic before the band got there. And when I got off stage, my friend's dad, he comes up and gives me a $50 bill and I tell him like, Hey dad, like, uh, I told Theo, you know, uncle, Hey, uh, Theo, you gave me too much money. Like usually give me like five to 10 bucks just to clean up around here. And he goes, no, me, what you did up there on stage, that's called show business. And he goes, if you, if you work on that, you'll make a lot more money doing that than busing tables. I'll tell you that. And I'm like, man, he, he opened my mind. He goes, you know what, um, every Friday before we would have a football, uh, home game, they would go to his bar and kind of go to the game afterwards, a little pre-game dub, you know what I'm saying? So he goes, every Friday home game, if you want, you can come and perform and I'll give you $50 for your performance before the game starts. And I'm like, dude, as a 15, 16 year old kid, I was like, uh, this is, this is what I want. You know? So I was, I was super, uh, kind of like baptized by fire, but I was ready for it at the time because I already had a lot of material that I had been writing since I was in third grade. So I was just kind of like goofing on it, but another teacher was super instrumental in my, in my upbringing, cause I was, I was always the class clown and kind of like interrupting people's teacher's classes and stuff. And, um, this English teacher, and, and if there's any teachers listening, I really highly encourage them, uh, with this story because this teacher really showed me what's up. And, um, if there's anything that a teacher can do for a student, what this teacher did for me was everything. And, uh, she pulled me aside cause I was, I was a straight A student that that was one thing about being a class clown that I always got away with it because my grades were so top notch. I was top of the class, perfect attendance. Uh, you couldn't like all my, uh, meet the teacher nights were all filled with like, well, he's always interrupting the class and all that stuff. And my mom would be like, well, what are his grades like? Well, he's got a 98 GPA. It's well, I'm not going to get mad at him. He's got perfect attendance and an 98. Like it's your job to deal with that. You know, well this one teacher, she, she took me aside and said, man, I know that you have like a straight A, uh, GPA, but I know that you're only giving me 50% of your work ethic. Like you're not even, you're cruising in this class because it's not even, you're not even being challenged. You're, you're, you're comfortable being where you're at because you're beating everybody else, but you're not competing with yourself. You should be competing with yourself and see what your 100% is. And she was right, 100% right. Um, and she kind of pushed me to be like, you know what, if you give me a hundred percent effort and you explain to your classmates, why, like how you get it, like, why do you understand the material the way you understand it? And they don't, if you can explain it to them and help me teach them at the end of the class period, when everybody's finished with their work, you can have whatever time is left and go in front of the class and you can tell the jokes. And I was like, yeah, like game on, you know, wow. That was amazing. What a smart move that teacher made doing that. It was mind blowing. It was super, super smart on her part because she, she did exactly what I needed. Like man, and she goes, but on one condition, the jokes that you write, they can't be vulgar. They have to be school appropriate. And, and, and they, that's it. You can be cussing. You can't be doing dirty stuff. It has to be clean, which is another great thing she did for me was make me write clean material. Yeah. You learned how to be universally funny without having to use nastiness or vulgarity or. Yeah. Yeah. That was so instrumental in my upbringing. Cause now I was doing comedy in her class probably like three, four times a week. Oh my. For real in front of, in front of my classmates and they were loving it, man. So all these kids would finish their work just because they wanted to see me go up there and do some voices and skits and stuff. And then it went on over to, um, she was in the teacher's lounge and these other teachers were like, man, I'm having such a hard time with Raymond. Like for real. And she goes, are you serious? Raymond turned my class around like this. All my kids are passing now. And he's like, what? Like Raymond did this. Like, yeah. Like I told him, like if, if he helps me finish all their work, like if he helps his classmates finish all their work at the end of the class, I just give them whatever time. And I get a chance to sit back and watch this kid. He's funny. And so I had three other teachers take the same mentality and I started helping out the other kids with their work. And I was doing comedy like three, four times a day in different classrooms. Raymond Orta in the teacher's lounge performing nightly. Yeah. It was, it was awesome. That's amazing. And by the, by the time I got out of high school, I probably had like, like well over an hour of material of, uh, of stuff that I could do at bars and stuff like that. And um, so I was, I was doing it and I, I got into some, uh, to some bars. I got into some, uh, I was, I started calling in the radio stations, uh, cause I started making friends with DJs that were working on the radio cause I would do impressions, um, and pretend to be like celebrities calling in, you know? Yeah, that's cool. They were, they were all about it. So it was, it was, uh, I made friends with all those guys and, and, um, it was real interesting cause those DJs eventually I started working on radio after that. And it was, it was a big time, like I, I was doing voices on morning radio for five years of my life. It was awesome. It was really cool. That's very fun, especially when you get to hear yourself, uh, on the radio, I'm curious who your comedy heroes are growing up or were growing up and did any of their stories sort of inspire you ever? And I ask you, there's so many things I want to know, but we'll start there. You judge me by, by my comedy influences cause, uh, okay, uh, cause people never see my comedy influences like, uh, when, when I tell them that they're like, really? Like what? Like, so do you, are you familiar with wrestling? I, well, I was a big fan of wrestling growing up as a kid. So me too. Okay. Me too. Yeah. Okay. So one of my biggest comedy influences in my life is Vince McMahon. Oh, really? Yes. That's amazing. I mean, now knowing, looking back, I get it. But like, you know, then, yeah, now we found out that he's all sorts of like a sexual deviant and pervert, but, but nonetheless, and you picked up on that straight showman. And for me, for me, comedy, like man, I've seen Vince McMahon is like a big time, like for, he's a showman and I, and I, and I, and I tip my hat to him in a sense when I didn't know what he was doing, right? Let me make sure that people know that when I was a kid watching Vince McMahon and it's like, you're going to have to kiss my ass. Like, yeah, it was funny. It was hilarious. And mean Joe Green wasn't like, and he was a character and then it was all the best of wrestling back then. For real. And the attitude era really was a big part of my comedy influence because, and then a lot of the times I would do all these wrestling impressions for my friends too. So they loved the, the voices and stuff like that. Give me your one. I'll try to guess. Yeah. The Macho Man Randy Savage. Snack into a slim gym. Yeah. It's the cream of the crap. That is so good. That sounds just like him. I would do, I would do all of them like, like, and I was just, I was just watching a Vince McMahon clip the other day, just yesterday actually, and just made me laugh. Like, he was funny, man. But another comedy influence of mine, and people don't see this one coming either is one of my favorites. This is really old school to let you know that I'm a student of the game. Dean Martin. Oh, wow. Yeah. That's cool. And seeing Dean Martin like, sing and perform and like just oozing charisma. Yeah. And the class was like, man, I want to be like that on stage where it's like, man, everybody wants to hang out with that guy. And that's how I kind of like molded my career. A little bit of Robin Williams thrown in there, a little bit of John Leguizamo and Vince McMahon. John Leguizamo and Vince McMahon. Totally. Oh my God. I'm just watching. It's a big spectrum. It's a big spectrum. It's been a new show that I'm watching right now, and I can't remember the name of it. I'll think of it. If I can think of it at the end, it's really good. And he plays a great character, and it's not over yet. Speaking of that, you give away all your videos for like, you don't monetize your videos, do you? They're like, they generate income. They're like, social media has been paying me money, but I don't put any ads on them or nothing like that. They just, they're there for the watching. Amazing. You just go right, I love when you just go right there and it turns on and you're not like bombarded with stuff. You know? Yeah. And I love making people laugh. Like, there's so many messages that I've gotten of people that are going through a bunch of dark stuff, man. And they go to my videos. They leave me long messages. I've gotten so many messages from people that are going through some depression and sadness. Maybe they lost somebody and they go and leave big comments on my page saying like, man, I'm really thankful that you put this video out there because it's getting me through some trauma or some dark times right now. And I'm like, that really makes things worthwhile for me big time. That's for sure. I mean, obviously your message is very strong in the positivity and lifting people up and everything that I've read about you. Welcome back to the Comedy Saved Me podcast. Do you ever use your comedy to address serious topics and how do you balance sort of like that heart and humor when you go out on stage? So my serious topics that I cover are like my own upbringing, you know? Like having my grandpa like passing away. I talk about him like passing away, but it's such a funny, crazy joke. And I do his voice like super good. People freak out with the voice that I do because he was an old Mexican man. So you can imagine when I get into his voice. And so when I get into that voice, people are like, man, and I go, I tell a joke where he's in the hospital and the doctor tells me, he's like, you know, your grandpa is kind of like really in bad shape. I heard him blink and I'm like, what? And he's like, yeah, I heard him blink. I go talk to your grandpa. And if you hear him blink, you'll know that he's like, you know, he's already towards the end of his life. And so I do this whole bit about going into talk to my grandpa and I hear him blink. I don't know if you'll be able to hear it, but I'm going to try to do it on the microphone. Okay. And he goes, and I walked in and I'm like, man, I heard my grandpa blink clear his day. And I, and I, and he's talking. He's like, oh, yeah. Me, oh. And man went, I wish people could just see your face right now. No. And when people see it on live, man, it's one of the crowd favorites jokes. And then usually people like, they like how you do it. Like you kind of like hold your laughter. And I'll call them out like, no, don't you hold your laughter in, let it out, let that laugh out. And I started, I started kind of like picking on the whole subject, but it's, it's one of the crowd favorite jokes. And, and I do that little blinking sound every time he's blinking and people are losing it. Like it's, it's so funny. Wait, what was the sound again? And man on a microphone, it sounds so like just moist. It's just like, oh. Yeah. Yeah. I know today was the day that I didn't bring the tissues. Oh man, that's great. Can I just ask you what this feels like right now when you see me literally with tears rolling down my face, laughing hysterically? I live for that right there, man. I really genuinely love, love, love, love, love doing what I do. And it feels like a superpower. I bet. Yeah. It feels like a super, super power. And like, for example, I just did a show in Albuquerque a few weeks ago and there was this lady in the front row wearing a mask and she was laughing so hard. Like she, what we, what we, in the business, we call them shotgun laughs. Okay. Shotgun laughs is like, when it looks like somebody took a shotgun and just blasted somebody in the head and they throw their head back like, ah. And this lady was letting loose like her whole, the, for the whole hour that I was on stage, she was laughing like that. And afterwards, she told my, my friend that opened up for me that she was battling stage four cancer and that was the hardest she's ever, she's ever laughed in her life. And for me, man, that means the world to me. Like man, this lady's going through some stuff. And I've actually taken a college class on the medical benefits of laughter. And there's a thing. Yeah. And there's laughter therapy. And I want to, and I genuinely feel that man was like, she got some real good medicine that night. Like that laughter really, really she needed that. And for me, that's, that's, that's what my life is all about. I have a, even before I go on stage, I always say a while back before my son was born, I had a near death experience where I died for a few minutes and I got a chance to have an encounter with the father in heaven and feel his love. And every time I go on stage, I want to exude that love that he has for us through the laughter. So I always say a prayer that the love of the father be felt through the laughter that we brought through the talent that he gave me. And man, when I go up on stage, I'm just letting him flow through me in a way that's super powerful. And I genuinely love what I do. Like it's, it's, when people see me on stage, they see somebody that's just passionately having a good time and, and living what his purpose is meant to be, you know? Wow. So I mean, would you, would you say that in a way comedy saved you? Oh man, comedy has saved me. Comedy has saved my, comedy has saved my family many times. Like I can't tell you how many times I've been in a rut or my mom needed several, like a big chunk of money, like all the taxes are due or something. She needs like $10,000. Like not my mom, I got it. Don't worry. I'm going to go do a couple of shows. I'll be back. Give me a weekend, you know? And I'll come and give my mom a big stack of a big envelope full of cash. And she's just like, oh man, like thank you, son. Like, and it feels good to be the son that, that, because she had me when she was real young. She got, she, she was pregnant with me when she was 16, had me when she was 17. And it feels good to, to, to have her back like that. Cause she's, she's never been the one to ever tell me like, no, you should go get a job. You should, she's always been super, super supportive of my comedy. And, and it's, and it feels good that she's had my back. So I of course have to help her out big time. Wow. That's, it's so inspiring. You're, you're, I'd say Raymond Orta, medicine man. My mom wanted me for, for me to be a doctor. And, and I, I, I generally, you know what one movie that I really liked was Patch Adams. Have you ever seen that one? Oh yeah, of course. So Patch Adams was a big time inspiration to me. Then I realized like how much time people have to put in through medical school to get to become a doctor. I was like, um, like, is there a way to go around this? Like, that's so much fun. We have that in common. Two things that you said today. So number one, when I didn't want to go to sleep at night, my brother and I would do everything we could to make my mom laugh so that we wouldn't have to go to bed. She'd have to call my father. Mark, the kids won't stop. And we'd be making like farting noises or something. Or, you know, but that, and then mom thought I was going to be a doctor. And, but then it was the sight of blood in the cost of medical school. That was the problem. For real, man. Like, like this, it made this one time my wife was in the hospital and she was having this procedure done and they, they were doing like an IV line and they missed it and she started like blood squirting. Man, I almost fainted. And I was like, man, I'm glad I didn't get into the medical field because I was, that's the last thing you need. And I'm a huge guy. I'm like six foot five. You are. 260 pounds. Yeah. I'm a, I'm a big dude. So I, I, I walked out of the room and I just, I'm like looking at the nurses station and they're like, excuse me, ma'am. And this lady turns around, she's like four foot 10. And she's just like, yes. I'm like, I think I'm about to faint. And she's like, please don't fall on me. Yeah. Like it's the mountain of a man just fallen over on her. But luckily they've got a chair for me and I sat down and give you some water. Thank goodness. Let me ask you a question. You know, you are, you're a lot, so you're larger than life in many ways. And you, every time I've ever seen you, you've always had a huge smile on your face. And it's obvious that you love what you do and you love helping people through your comedy to heal and in myriad ways. How do you take care of your own mental health? And does comedy have, you know, any role in your self care for yourself? My, my family will tell you that I'm like the last person that, that takes care of himself. I want to take care of everybody else. Um, and, and fix everybody's problems before I take care of mine. I'll just, whatever's bugging me, I'll just eat it. You know, um, yeah, I do that a lot. I kind of like just eat it and keep on, keep on running, you know, like, and, uh, but a lot of, a lot of it has come down to my mental health comes from a good, strong relationship in the Lord Jesus Christ. And, uh, he's my, he's my savior. He, he backs me up every time I go on stage, every time I'm not on stage. I was like sincere relationship with him. I love, um, I love helping people. I love giving, giving to people. And like it's one of those things where having that foundation with him, I really don't feel like things can be going bad. And I never, like my mom says, like, man, the whole house and the whole world could be burning. And I'm like, that's fine. You know, uh, I have a real strong mentality with, with, with a firm, firm relationship with, with our creator and our father in heaven. And it's just, that's, that's what really holds me over. And if there's anybody that's, um, that's listening to this, that is, you know, suffering from mental health problems or, or, or depression or something. I really firmly believe that you're listening to this for a reason. And I really would love for you to, for you to understand that there's a creator in heaven. He loves you so much. He created you from nothing created you and your mother's womb, niche molecule by molecule so that you, so that you can know him and that he can know you intimately and have an intimate relationship with you in a way where he's your best friend. He's your dad. He's your, he's, he's your everyday companion. And, um, without him, I'm nothing. And without him, I can't accomplish anything. I'm a piece of dirt. And, uh, I look at it, I look at myself that way. I'm, I'm a piece of dirt lucky enough to have his breath of life in me. And that's, that's the way I carry myself every day. That's such a beautiful sentiment to share with, with people. And what an amazing way to live your life. Just, you know, leave it up to, up to a higher power. Like don't, don't take any of that onto yourself. My next question was going to be, was there anyone in comedy that gave you advice on how to, you know, stick it out in a, in a business that's not always very kind. Oh man. Um, my, you know what? My, my, my, one of my best friends in, uh, he's actually like a mentor of mine was the guy that I worked with in the radio. And, um, he does comedy too, but he's, he's been a DJ for man, probably like 40, 45 years. Who is it? What radio station? Where? He's down here in South Texas. He, he, he's a syndicated also towards El Paso. Uh, his name is Rock and Roll James. And he's actually James. I've never, yeah, you ever, he's, he's amazing. He's a, he's a real good friend of mine. And he is a lead singer of a, of a kind of like an outlaw country band called whiskey B. And, um, I'm writing that down. Yeah. He's extremely talented, extremely talented. And, uh, he taught me so much about the business and not, and not necessarily comedy. He did see to me a lot about comedy, but just marketing in general, man, this guy's a marketing genius. And, um, he's so good. Like he's, he, he's, he's a high school dropout, but he's one of the most brilliant people I've ever met. Like he's book smart, street smart. And he's like, he, he knows his stuff, man. And he knows how to market. He'll sell, he'll sell you. He'll sell you the clothes off your back and you'll buy it from him. He's, he's amazing. He's really, he's really top tier talent. And, um, I've never heard that, but that, can I steal that one from you? Yeah, for sure. For sure. And he's, he's a real good friend of mine, but in comedy, you, like you said earlier, it's not so kind comedy. All these comedians feel the need that they, they got to keep their secrets to themselves. They got a, they got a, you know, they won't tell you like who's booking what they won't give you. They won't open any doors for you or anything like that. So I've made a big career on my, on my own, like kind of opening my own doors. You know, uh, I've done so many shows where I call a venue and be like, Hey man, can I do a comedy show at your place? Just let me keep the door. And they're like, well, okay, sure, whatever. And they'll, they'll, uh, they'll let me keep the door and I'll go over there, set up my own sound system, set up my own lights. And, um, I got a little spotlight right here right now. Care to me. And, um, You have a hair light. You need a hair light. Yeah. Yeah. I got, I got it. I got it all. I got my whole production that I can fit into the trunk of my car. And man, I'll make a couple of thousand dollars every night that I go on stage and call it done. And, but nobody taught me that except that guy, uh, my, my buddy Rock and Roll James. Everybody else, um, in the comedy scene, like you said, it's real cut through and super, uh, kind of like gatekeeper-ish. If I can say that as a word, uh, and I, and I'm, and I'm not, uh, the type of guy that's going to go over there and kiss people's butts. Uh, I don't like to do that. So I, I, I like to open my own, my own doors and, and do my own thing. And the people that are quoted, they're cool. The people that are not cool, but I don't care. That's such a great attitude to have honestly. And you have to have that. The entertainment business as a whole can just be so destructive to a human's psyche. Uh, big time. Anyone involved. Actually, actually like the scene in Hollywood, man, you know, like that, that whole thing about the dress, the dress culture and stuff like that. No. Oh, you've never, you've never heard about like the dress club. No, tell me, I'm out of it. I'm out of the loop. So this is, this is going to blow your mind a little bit. So what's it called? You know, like dress culture, the dress club. Like, if you were like, think about it in, in, in all the comedy movies that you've seen, how many male comedians have you seen put on a dress? Um, well, quite a few actually. Like I'm starting all the way back at the three stooges and going forward. And like, yeah, I mean, like, um, Mrs. Delfire, Robin Williams or Dustin Hoffman, more of an actor than comedian, but still funny. Um, yeah. John Leguizamo was one of them. Yeah. Um, Jim Carrey, all the big time actors they've all put on dresses. And it's one of those like rituals that Hollywood does. Uh, to, oh yeah. And there's some dark stuff in Hollywood that, uh, is real sinister. And I was offered a role in a movie where they wanted me to put on a dress. And I'm like, bro, look at me. I'm a big, I'm a big bearded guy. Yeah. Like, come on, bro, I'm from Texas. Like I can't put on a dress and they were super adamant. Um, they had offered me kind of like, like, uh, you know, the movie Big Mama's house. Yeah. So that's, that's another one. Martin Lawrence puts on a dress and, um, but the, the, the record labels or the, the studios, they kind of sign you into a contract where they make you do these favors, like, uh, of the sexual nature in order for you to get these big contracts and big movie roles. Shut up. Yep. And now, now, now I can't stop thinking about all of them. Like Eddie Murphy, uh, like everybody. Wow. And they, and they make you do stuff and that when they put you in a dress, it's kind of their way of letting their friends know, like in the other studios, like, Hey, I own this person. Like I made this person my own property, you know, and it's a real, real disgusting, like behind the scenes stuff that goes on in order for these comedians to get these movie roles. So I was offered a movie role in, um, a role that STA, Gabriel Iglesias turned down. And it was kind of like a spin off of big mama's house called the Juan's house. And it's, it was, uh, a role when they told me that Gabriel Iglesias, it turned down, kind of threw up some red flags for me. And I'm like, well, why did he turn it down? And he's like, Oh, just they send me the script and like, check it out. It's super funny. You could, uh, you'll be perfect for it. And I started reading the script and I started, and I saw the plot of the movie was this nephew lives with his aunt, Juana, and she wins the lottery and she has a heart attack and dies, but he has to go claim her, her prize dressed as her, like, so he can get the money for himself. And I'm like, nah, like, and I kind of told him like, nah, man, I'm not going to get into a dress and, uh, they're like, Oh, come on, it'd be super funny. And I'm like, nah, I can't, I can't get in. I can't get into a dress, man. And they're like, Oh, why not? Like it's going to be super funny. And I told him, like, look, dude, I'm from Texas. Like, yeah, I can't get an address. I'll never win another argument ever again. Doesn't matter what I'm saying. Like they'll just put up a meme of me in a dress and it's like arguments over, you know, at that time, did you know that's why they were pushing it? You see, you were trying to back out respectfully so you didn't burn a bridge or hurt your career. I try to try to back out respectfully, but they were still pushing my buttons like, come on, it'll be super funny. And I'm like, no, I don't, I don't need to put on a dress to be funny. I'm super funny by myself. Like, trust me, like I'm funny. And they're like, no, come on, come on. Like you can, it'd be a great role for you and all stuff. And I finally just told him, like, look, man, I'm not going to get an address. It goes against my religious beliefs. And as soon as I said that, man, it was like, wham, like doors closed. Everything's like, no. And they told me, well, you'll never get any work around here with that kind of closed minded attitude. And that was the last I ever heard from Hollywood. It was crazy. But did that make you want to be more successful than ever just to prove them that you could do it without them? That's what I've been doing ever since that happened. I've been doing it on my own terms, on my own rules ever since that happened. And it, uh, it's, it's been the best decision I've ever made. I mean, granted, they're not trying to put me on the big screen or anything like that. But I'm super happy. I've been doing theaters. I've been, I, I'm, I'm super humble to the effect. I like to say I'm humble like Moses. Um, I love that. Yeah. Uh, which is funny because Moses wrote the, the place where he, where he said that he's the most, he was the most humble, but he's like the one writing it. So it's like really, really, really, really humble if you're right. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, there was, there was no person humbler than Moses. You know, I'm humble like Moses. Uh, like this weekend I'm doing somebody's backyard party and there's probably like 20, 30 people that are going to be there. And, uh, but man, if, if people are willing to pay money to hear me tell jokes, I'm going to do it. Like I don't care. I'm not, I'm not, uh, how you say, like, I don't like the, the comedians that are like, Oh, I'm not going to do this pool hall or I'm not going to do this bar, this dive bar, bro, put me up anywhere. I'm going to crush it. I'm going to, I'm going to go out there and dominate and I'm going to put on a show. And I was raised in some crazy, crazy bars. Like to, uh, starting my career, one of the, one of the bars that we used to do comedy at, uh, was called Paradise Roadhouse. And it was like a madhouse. Like you, you, you're seeing that movie, uh, Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Of course. One of my favorites. So you know what he steps into that bar, like, uh, like, we let him go. When he knocks all the motorcycles over. So that was exactly what that bar is like, like when we're doing comedy, it's, uh, the main people at the, uh, is the audience where the Bandido motorcycle gang, the, the cartel and the local valley gang all together and none of them want to laugh because they think laughter is weakness. Oh. So like, if you can make them laugh there, man, your jokes will kill anywhere. Wow. That sounds like it's like Peoria in a bar. Yeah. It was, it was so, it was so, such a hard, hard place to do comedy. I saw so many veterans of comedy go in there and just tank, just eat a fat plate of just fat plate of crap. And like, it was, it was humbling for so many people. I was like, man, I would go over there and just routinely crush it. I'm like, man, this is awesome. So anytime I would go out of town and do like an actual comedy club where people are there like all plight and like ready to listen. I'm like, Oh, this is easy. This is going to be, have you ever bombed and had to like early on and had to keep going throughout the whole show? Can, has it ever happened? Yes. All right. I don't know this story so much. You're already laughing. Yeah. Cause it's so funny now. Cause. Okay. From third grade, eight years old, all the way till I was 18, I had never had a bad show. Okay. Never. And then so I'm like, I'm already doing like bars and stuff like that. I'm, I've been crushing it. I'm feeling confident. I'm feeling good. I'm like, yeah, man, kick an ass out here. And, uh, I had this guy that was like acting as my manager and he goes, bro, I got you a gig. It's going to be in front of like two, 3000 people. And, uh, it's going to be at a boxing match. And I'm just like, let's go, bro. I'm going to crush this. Okay. Let's do this. And he goes, uh, all right, man, you're going to go on in between fights, like, like, like a ring girl with the, with the numbers. Yeah, but like, like, you know, when, when one fight ends, there's like a, like, probably like 10, 15 minutes of break time before they bring in another fight. Yeah. I was going to perform in that time during, during, uh, the intermission of the fights, right? So I go on, on, on the ring and this is the, I'm performing outside in a park and outdoor comedy is the hardest. Okay. The, the laughter just goes up into the air and you can't hear anything. But then this was the first time that I was performing in a full 360. Like I had used to be performing like the stages is over here. The audience is over there, but this is like the first time I had to perform in a circle, which I was not used to. And then I was using a wireless microphone outside and this microphone. Every time a gust of wind would come by, it would cut off the microphone. Oh, dude. Oh my goodness. It was like horrible setup. And then it would take like three to five seconds to boot back on. Right. So I'm there like, is this thing on blowing in the microphone? Hello. Okay. Well, uh, let me, let me finish this joke real quick. Oh, it's terrible. It was so bad. And I'm, I'm doing my show in a circle and every time it seems like I'm going to say a punchline, the microphone was cutting off. I was like, Oh, no. And everybody's like, like, what's this guy doing? Like, who is this guy? And man, I've like just feeling like so bad. And I would never forget it because I would, I would do a 360 and I'd see, I'd come around and I, this lady would catch my, my vision. Cause she was sitting in, in her own lawn chair in the park and she's wearing this magenta, like man, she looked like Jabba the hut in a, in a magenta tank top with magenta biker shorts and just like a super white lady, pink with heat. You know, like a humid pink frizzy hot mess. Just, just oozing out of this lawn chair that's barely holding on for dear life. And every time she sees me, she's making sure to make eye contact with me and just doing this. Oh no. You remember that like vividly. You remember that? I'll never forget it. I'll never forget it. Cause it was, it was one of those things where I'm like, I've, I had never had a bad show. I had never had a bad show. And that was the first time that I had tasted like legit, just a straight up bomb. Like, wow. Yeah. Yeah. Like a straight up rejection. I got off stage and it was like, nobody was like, Hey man, it was awesome. Like nobody that was just like looking at me like, what are you doing, bro? Like, Oh, it's terrible. It was in front of so many people too. It was like in front of 2000. Oh man, it was terrible. Like I really genuinely wanted to quit comedy. Like I wanted, I had never had a bad show. I didn't, I didn't know how to handle that. Like how did you make it to the next show? What did you have to work with yourself on? I have, I have such a hard headed nature as my wife. I have such a hard headed nature that I couldn't end on a loss. Like I had to get that out of my system. Like I, even if it was like, oh, go do like a bar or like some cheesy open mic or something, just to get that taste out of my mouth. Yeah. And, and I went to go do like a, I think it was like a club, like a lounge area or something like that where I got a chance to perform and people were like losing. And I was like, nah, this is good at this. I'm good at this. Yeah. But bombing is so funny to me. Like it now, nowadays, I haven't bombed in so long. Like it's, it's, um, knock on the wood here. Come on now. Oh yeah. No, I enjoy, I enjoy them because like I'll laugh. The last time I bombed was this, was this Christmas party that they hired me for. Uh-oh. But, um, this, it wasn't my fault. It wasn't my fault though. Like the, the, the, the people that were doing that were putting on the party as soon as they gave me the microphone, they're like, Oh, um, and by the way, the buffet line is open. Everybody can get up and get their food and everybody just got up and just like, like just left me there by myself. So I kind of started like crapping on my own. Like, well, this is where my career comes to die. People like, you know, just making fun of yourself, just making fun of myself. So now I've learned how to like bounce it, uh, bounce it off and, and, and, uh, kind of make fun of myself in the process where I'm still having fun with it. You know, and I know that, uh, you learn a lot more from bombing than you do from doing good. So I've learned so much from, from, uh, from the bad sets that I really train myself that I'm never like, I can handle almost every single situation that has been thrown my way because I've, I've done, uh, so many shows, you know, where this is going to happen and this, you know, this is what you got to do. But like that, that Christmas party that I did, I'm like, Hey, you hired me for an hour. I'm going to do an hour. You're going to get me whether you like it or not. Yeah. And that's, you're going to get these jokes, man. I'm going to, I'm going to keep slinging them. And even though nobody's listening, I'm going to keep slinging them. And then I'll be like, have you ever seen that movie? Balls of fury. Yes, of course. So, so I'm like, I feel like that guy, what he's, what he's like in that daytime casino that. All right. Thank you. Thank you very much. Wow. I swear, Raymond, you must be probably one. Romeo Vaughn, by the way, who was on my other podcast, Music Saved Me, which we talked about upfront. He did you such justice, but now that I'm getting a chance to talk to you and people are getting a chance to hear you, I would have to say that most everyone listening right now would agree that you are probably one of the happiest human beings on the planet that I've, I've met. I love, I love being so, I love being a positive, like a positive force, man. And, um, like, uh, Jesus said, let your light shine before people so that they can see the light shining within you. And I'm, I'm that, I'm that person. Like I love to, man, anytime somebody's going through something, I love to bring them up and I love like, Hey man, like, you know, let's, let's think of a way to solve your problem. Let's think of a way to like, like overcome this. We could do this, you know, and I, I, I sometimes to a fault might believe in people more than they believe in themselves. You know what I'm saying? Oh, I definitely know what you're saying. You are, you are a cheerleader, a fellow cheerleader for people who you just want to see people succeed in life. That's your payback. Yeah. Uh, which is pretty amazing. Um, wow, I got so lost in everything. I almost lost both my last question for you. I don't know where it went. Oh, here we go. Do you, how would you like your comedy to impact people and the legacy that you hope to leave? Man, my fans that have seen me, they'll tell you that, that, uh, like, man, they're, they're, they're hardcore fans. And that's, that's one of the reasons that I'm like super successful is that the fans that have seen me know that you'll never, you'll never see the same show twice. I'm not a scripted, uh, robot. I'm not a, uh, person that you're going to be like, Oh, I heard the same jokes. I have like nine hours of material that I've written so far and like, I love coming up with stuff on the fly as well. So you're never going to see the same show twice. So anybody that, that has, um, as far as like, what do I want my comedy to be known as, I want it to be known as a, a person that goes on stage and genuinely gives like everything that they got into what they love to do and, and passionately pours into the people that are there. It doesn't matter if there's two people in the crowd or 2000 people or 20,000 people, I'm going to give you a hundred percent of who I am and enjoy myself. Uh, I love to have fun on stage. I love to be happy on stage because beings, I look at it this way, people are going to these shows. You never know who's in the crowd. You never know who, what kind of problems they're going through. And, um, I have this one story of this guy that texted me one time for father's day and, uh, rather intense story. Uh, he texted me for father's day. Hey, and I don't know how he got his, how he got my number, uh, but he just, I got a text for father's day and he said, Hey, happy father's day. Uh, you don't know who I am, but I was at your show last night. And for father's day, I was thinking about ending my life because my wife left me. She took my kids and I wanted to end my life on father's day so that every time father's day rolls around, uh, they would remember me and be like super hurt by it. And I was doing a father's day show, uh, on the Saturday before, before father's day, and this guy just happened to walk in to the show and he was walking. Uh, I was performing at a place kind of like a, uh, are you familiar with like six street in Austin where there's like bars next to each other, like, like a long strip of bars and clubs next to each other. Um, and there's like a little mini theater where I was performing at. Well, this guy was just going from bar to bar, drinking himself to the point where he was going to end his life at the end of the night. Well, he walked by the theater that I was performing at and he heard laughter coming in from inside and he walked in. This was already like in the middle of the show. So there was nobody even at the door to charge him or nothing. He just walked in, heard the show and, uh, had such a great time that it changed his whole outlook on life. And he texted me this like, man, like today I'm alive because of the show that you put on last night and I, and I came to pick up my kids to spend time with them. Instead of, instead of, uh, having ended my life. Yes. Last night. And I just wanted to say happy father's day to you, uh, because, because of you, I got to be a father to my kids today. I was like, why? You want to talk about like, making my day like, like so amazing. Uh, that's the kind of stuff that like any comedian lives for and any comedian worth their salt wants those kinds of interactions with the people. Not necessarily their fans. They did the guy didn't even pay for the show, but I just wanted like to impact people on that level where man, you say you're saving people's lives with, with jokes. Like that's amazing stuff for me. That, that, that for me is, is, is what I was made for right there. I don't think it gets any better than that, to be honest. For real. I mean, really, if you can do that, then wow, the rest of life seems easy when, when you, when you hear stories like that. And by the way, your light is shining so bright. I need to put on some sunglasses. Thank you so much Raymond Orta for sharing your incredible journey with us. And to all our listeners, thank you for checking the show out. And to Romeo Vaughn, thank you for introducing us to this wonderful ray of sunshine that I hope we get to keep in touch with. Thanks for coming on comedy. Save me, Raymond. And keep, keep spreading your love and doing what you're doing because you're amazing. They appreciate you having me. And if I may be so bold, may the Lord bless you. May he keep you, may shine his face on you and be gracious to you. And may the blood of Jesus cover us all. I bless you guys. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Oh, one more thing. Where can people find you online to see your amazing comedy? Yeah, at Raymond is funny across all social media platforms. At Raymond is funny. Pretty much everything. Facebook.com slash Raymond is funny. Instagram.com slash Raymond is funny. YouTube.com slash Raymond is funny. The only one that's different is TikTok because my Raymond is funny page got banned. But, but, but I got Raymond Orta comedy on TikTok. And Raymond is funny. My TikToks, my TikToks been blowing up lately, so that's good. All right, well, go, go, Raymond. Go do your thing. I didn't mean to keep you so long. You have to go out and appreciate the interview and thank you so much. You guys are lovely. And I look forward to meeting you guys. Romeo talked some real good, real good vibes about you guys. Oh my gosh, right back and let us know when you're in our area, please.