Original subtitles

That'll happen

going back to the

arts and like,

hey, you know,

of course. I

mean, what what

what first

generation kid

that didn't

happen to where

they fly you back

home and show you

like where they

grew up.

And I used to

make fun of my

dad and my mom

for it because I

was like, I think

you guys

are lying.

Like no one, no

one went to

school here.

This is

just a river.

And you try to

make it seem like

your upbringing

was so bad to

teach me

a lesson.

So you were

born here.

Yeah, I was born

in New York.

I was born in New

York City.

I was born and

raised in

New York.

But my mom and

dad, we used to

go to the R every

summer, spent the

whole

summer there.

You know, there

was no

Disney World.

There was no

American trade.

They're like, oh,

we went

to Disney.

Like, I never

heard that.

I want to say,

oh, my son.

He told that.

Yeah, that was my

Disney World.

But yeah, we used

to go every year.

And my mom, she

came when she was

younger and then

she met my dad

and brought him.

But in my

household, you

know, my mom, it

was like Spanish.

It was the

language I

was spoke.

So that was my

first language.

I didn't learn

English until I

was like seven.

Wow.

Yeah.

Where are we

right now?

This is the Stan

Comedy Club, man.

This is a

legendary club

here in New

York City.

These are the

guys that they

found me when I

was like a young

new comic.

And I kind of

have grown with

this place

because this

place opened like

the same year

that I

started comedy.

This club opened.

Oh, wow.

And so, yes, it's

been about

13, 14 years.

And now,

like 14 years.

Yeah.

On this stage

that we're

standing on, the

greatest

comedians in the

world ever have

been here.

Like this is

where Chappelle

does his

residency.

Chris Rock comes

by Kevin Hart,

Bill Burr,

everybody.

So it's great to

see like what the

place has become.

This is my home.

Yeah, I

don't know.

See, I

don't know.

That's a big deal

because when I

started, it

wasn't that I did

a show here.

It was like a

year ago and we

were standing by

the staircase and

talking.

It was me,

Vladimir Camano,

Ralph Barbosa,

and Marcelo

Hernandez.

And we was all on

the lineup.

A lineup that has

five comics and

four of us are

standing there.

And I was like,

yo, it's four

comics here who

are all Hispanic.

It was not

like that.

When I started,

it was not

like that.

It was one

Hispanic guy.

Right, right,

right, right.

At least in the

mainstream club.

And we've come a

long way.

So I'm

proud of that.

And I'm proud to

be like in the

kind of forefront

of that.

Yeah, it's

beautiful.

It's beautiful.

And so well done.

You were talking

to me earlier in

regards to

performing.

And I think it's

one of the

toughest

things to do.

Yeah.

But you were

telling me about

how you break out

in your act.

It's almost

like a play.

Tell me a little

bit about that.

Yeah, I mean, I'm

kind of old

fashioned when it

comes to

stand up.

I believe in like

the stand up has

evolved a lot.

So it's like a

lot of the

younger guys are

coming up and

they do it

differently than

the way I was

taught to do it.

But when I

started, that's

what a

comedian does.

You build a show

and act, which is

about 45 minutes

to an hour.

And then you tore

that act for a

couple of years.

And once the act

is as good as

it's going to be,

you tape it and

film it.

You release it on

HBO, Netflix,

whatever it is.

And then you

start from zero.

You start

creating the show

again from zero.

So that's kind of

how I've applied.

I just filmed my

third special

this past

December and the

December.

So it should be

out this spring.

And now I'm

starting over new

jokes, new joke

around my

notebook.

Everything I see

is that funny.

Uh, you gotta say

I'm a

married man.

Yeah.

And I came to

some advice.

Yeah.

No, the man that

they can't stop.

They can't, I was

with my family

just this past

weekend, the

married man, they

can't stop giving

you advice.

But all of them,

like you've all

been

married 30 years.

I don't like that

anymore.

So, yeah.

So, uh, romance

comedy, talk to

me, aren't you

coming to talk to

me about how that

happened?

Yeah.

Romantic comedy.

I mean, that's a,

that's a very

special, uh,

piece of work, at

least for me.

Um, I found out

that HBO wanted

to work with me

during the

pandemic in 2020.

I remember it was

like May of 2020.

Like we were

right in the

middle of it and

I got a call from

one of the

producers,

um, Edwin

Lincona.

He had done the

entrenos, um,

where he had

highlighted a

bunch of Latino

comedians.

And he called me

and he was like,

Hey, HBO wants to

do a

special with you.

Um, we don't know

when we're in the

middle of the

pandemic.

We assume

eventually

something is

going to open up

and when it opens

up, you,

you, they want to

be one of the

first projects

that they do for

the thing.

And I was like,

okay, I was super

excited.

Um, but you know,

life happened in

between that, in

between,

uh, that call

and the day we

actually filmed,

my mom got sick

with a cancer.

She got diagnosed

with cancer.

I had to put

everything on

pause and take

care of her and,

you know, be by

her side.

I stopped the

touring.

I was doing local

spots in the

city, but I

wasn't touring.

And she actually

ended up passing

a week before we

were supposed to

film romantic

comedy, um, but

HBO called and

they were like,

look, don't worry

about this.

Like whenever

you're ready, you

give us a call.

We'll make

it happen.

The deal is on

the table.

You, you,

whenever you're

ready, just call

us and we'll

figure it out.

And, um, I took

some time off,

you know, yeah,

love for me.

But then I

realized, I

remember sitting

at home and I

realized like,

you know,

part of me was

like, what am I,

what am I doing?

Like, what am I,

what is this?

Like, I'm just,

I'm just sitting

here, um, being

sad all day.

And so I was

like, what if I

let me try to put

this energy

towards like

creating

something and

that's when I

finally, that's

when I really

understood

that as a

creative, how

some of the best

work comes out of

a place of

darkness.

Because like,

when writing a

good joke is the

only thing that's

going to

bring you

joy, it'll really

make you focus on

that joke and

really work hard.

Yeah.

When everything

is going good,

you're like, I

don't need

this joke.

I'm doing good.

You know, but in

that time I got

super focused on

like the jokes

and I was

like writing

every day in my

apartment.

It was, that was

the only thing I

could do.

It was either

that it was

either writing

all day or crying

the whole day.

So I started

writing.

I started

working, um, a

couple months,

you know, after

my mom had

passed, I

decided, okay,

I'm ready to go

back on the road,

start

touring this.

I want to do this

project that she

knew that I

was doing.

And she knew that

I had put on

pause to, uh, you

know, to

care for her.

And we, we hit

the road hard.

We hit the road

for like a year

to 18 months,

like every city,

like doing

the jokes, really

trying to like,

it's funny.

How can we make

it funny?

How can we add,

um, more to it?

And then, you

know, that summer

came around and I

believe in the

spring, I,

I like me and my

management, we,

we called HBO and

we're like, we

think we want

to film in the,

in the summer.

And they were

like, all right,

like whatever you

guys want.

And they gave us

a free pass.

I found a venue,

found a director,

Ida

Rodriguez, another

super funny

comedian.

She helped me a

ton directing.

We found a

production

company and we

created it.

And when it

happened, you

know, when

you're, when

you're living

through it,

it seems like you

don't know what

it is, but in

hindsight, I'm

really

proud of that.

I'm pretty proud

that I was able

to do that.

Beautiful.

Also, you also

doing

podcasting, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I just started a

podcast, not just

as a way to like

engage

with my fans.

Yes.

You know, when

people like you,

they just want to

hear you rant

about whatever's

going on in your

life or in

society.

So I started a

podcast about a

year ago.

We're actually

reaching our

hundredth episode

and it's been a

slow and steady

climb, but it's,

it's a, it's a

whole different

dynamic when you

podcast.

Cause when I go

on tour now,

people come up to

me and they speak

to me as if they

know me cause of

the podcast,

they'll be like,

so how's

your aunt?

Like, you know, I

know she just had

surgery and

you're like, how

do you know

my, oh, the

podcast, the

podcast.

Yeah.

So that's a, I

think that's a

good way to

connect and

engage with your

audience.

Now there's so

many avenues.

Uh, so being

Dominican, uh,

anything that you

use to use

besides your,

your family.

I know that you

mentioned

your family.

Yeah.

I mean, I, I

don't feel like I

don't, I

personally don't

think that

I use like

my family or

being Dominican

too much.

I try not to lean

on that too much.

I know what

it's like.

I feel that, you

know, it's been

done a lot

of the stuff.

It's been done as

funny as it is.

A lot of the

times I see it

and I'm like, I'm

a student

of comedy.

So I'm like,

yeah, you know,

this is just a

different version

of this person

who did it great

already, which

that's fine.

That's an avenue

that you want to,

but I guess, I

don't know if

it's like the

Virgo in me, but

I remember when I

first went out to

Hollywood

and I started

taking meetings,

I got kind of

frustrated by

sitting with

executives and

they're,

and they kind of

want you to like,

give them a

Dominican story,

what they would

call that, like,

you know, like my

mom came and she

was homeless

for like, I

think, which if

that's your

story, that's

fine, but I also

kind of,

from that

moment on, I was

like, I am giving

you a

Dominican story.

Exactly.

I'm Dominican.

Exactly.

This is a story

that I've lived.

So this is

inherently a

Dominican story.

Like sometimes

people don't

realize this, but

they'll really

try to

put you into

like a box of

whatever they

believe you

should be or

whatever it is.

And if that's

what you are,

that's fine.

But for me, I

feel like I

connect more

with, um,

Dominicans and

Latinos and

people from

different parts

of the world who

come from

immigrant

parents, but

they're, they are

Americans.

They grew

up here.

And even though

they still have

the culture with

them, they

experienced

life as a first

generation

American, not as

like a Dominican

from D.R.

Yep.

There's so many

levels, right?

I feel like in

this project, I

faced the same

thing, you know,

it's

almost a box.

What kind of

Latino

media are you?

And I'm like,

well, all of that

that I'm showing

you is Dominicans

and Latino.

So I totally

understand you.

One of the things

that I want to

ask you, um, Oon

Ching, what did

you think

about when you

saw the

name Oon Ching?

When I saw the

name Oon Ching, I

kind of, I kind

of went back to

like, I thought

it was such a

clever name

because Oon Ching

on its surface

just means like a

little bit.

Right.

But in the real

Dominican

culture, it's not

just a

little bit.

It's like, it's

like,

that's right.

That's right.

Yeah.

So I thought that

was really dope

because obviously

it's a short

thing, but

it's like,

yeah, just gotta

have a

little taste.

See what

you think.

You know,

beautiful.

Talk to me about

anything that

you're working on

new materials.

Yeah.

I just, I just

filmed, I just

filmed a new

special, a new

standup special.

Um, at the end of

last year, that

was a, another

great experience.

That was my

second, um,

special, uh,

directed again by

idol Rodriguez.

We filmed it in

New York city at

a, this rock

club, small

little rock club.

The La Cola Pisan

Rouge of

400 people.

We did two shows.

Um, we just

finished editing

now another

project that I'm

really, really

proud of.

This is like, I

feel like the

second part of

romantic comedy.

I feel like in

romantic comedy,

I was coming at

it from one angle

and, um, that's

where I was at

that point.

I was, I think I

was what 31, what

30 31 when I

wrote

most of that.

So it was a lot

of like stories

and views

of that.

And now mid

thirties, I'm

taking it to like

what it's like to

feel like

somebody

in his mid 30

feel who, who's

not married and

doesn't have

children.

So I, you know,

another piece of

work that I'm

really proud of

and I can't

wait for it to be

out there should

be out

this spring.

We're

looking for it.

That's beautiful.

Coming out.

You said that you

were a

student of comedy.

Talk to me about

anyone that has

influenced you

and that you

study in comedy.

Yeah.

I mean, that I

for standup

standup, you

know, it goes

back to.

So, so far here

in New York.

And I think

growing up, I

always, I felt, I

feel like the

thing that

I had on my

generation had

that's easier

than other

generations, we

had podcasts.

So if you want to

learn about

stuff, there's

probably a

podcast or

a network

of podcasts that

can teach

you the things.

And you can

listen to people

who you admire

and how they

came up and

how they did

the things.

So when I started

like standup

comedy, what I

wanted to do is I

wanted to be a

comedian who like

towards the

country doing

standup does

tonight shows

appearances,

doing standup and

does HBO specials

and Netflix

specials

and comedy

central specials.

So what I did was

I found out the

guys who were

doing that

and I just

listened to what

they did.

And I just

did that.

That's it.

Yeah.

It's that simple.

It really is

that simple.

That's literally

what I did.

Like I went back,

I looked at, you

know, I looked at

Chris Rock.

I looked at

Kevin Hart.

I looked at

Aziz Ansari.

I looked at a

Bill Burr,

Patrice O'Neil

from New York

city, Ida

Rodriguez, who

at the time she

was, she had just

took off on last

comic standing,

even Orlando

labor from he's

another Dominican

from California,

who like, he was

like a little

ahead of me and I

kind of just

listened to the

things they did.

And it's

that simple.

Like you, they'll

just like, oh

yeah, you just go

here, do this.

But like the

problem is people

don't have the

patience.

So they get, you

know, I just was

like, all right,

I'll try this.

I'll have the

patience.

Let me try having

the patience.

And you know,

right when I was

getting

impatient, things

started to move.

So it was,

it was okay.

You

mentioned team.

Every time you

send our team,

I'll team.

What is a team

like in your, in

your, in

your world?

A team.

Yeah.

Like your agent,

who else is

well, yeah.

Yeah.

Well, yeah.

I mean, for me,

you know, I'm

lucky enough to

have, you know, a

big team of

relatively

big of people who

want to, who want

to work for me,

who are

invested in the

growth of my

career, starting

from my manager,

who, who's the

owner of the

stand and one of

the owners

of the stand.

And, um, I have

an agent.

I just, I just,

uh, moved over,

assigned

with CAA.

So I have a whole

team at CAA of

acting agents and

touring agents

and marketing

and all that, and

I have a

publicist who's

in charge of

publicity stuff.

And I have an

attorney who's in

charge of making

sure, you know,

I'm doing things.

You know, beautiful,

beautiful.

And the thing.

And. Patoeira, thanks for trying to get on the team. Thank you,