Punched Up

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Stripped Jan 10, 2017

Show notes

"STRIPPED"

Julain Fernadez was eighteen years old. Very shy and had never been to a strip club. So he calls the strip club down the street to inquire, "How it all works."

Julian grew overweight and painfully shy. Two things I can directly relate to. Julian didn't really come out of his shell until after he found stage performance late in life. So he was kind of a loner. He never really belonged to any set of friends in high school. He was bad at talking to girls and never had a steady girlfriend.

Young. Dumb and full of... money. Julian decides to visit a strip club. Little did he know, the events that unfolded that night would change his life forever.

More info and episodes available at www.PunchedUpPodcast.com

Find out more about Comedian Julian Fernandez:

Twitter : @jjfcomedy

Mr Glass Sep 12, 2016

Show notes

"MR. GLASS"

To meet Ken Garr is to be immediately charmed. He has the cool demeanor of a Rat Pack member born to the wrong era. He’s a sturdy guy with a Midwestern ease and whip-smart whit. Dude is smooth. So, it caught me off guard, initially, when he casually mentioned he earned a bronze medalist in the 1988 Special Olympics. I don’t know what I expected a 1988 Special Olympian athlete to look like, but it certainly wasn’t Ken.

“I did the math. I went back and looked at my medical records. I think I have broken around thirty-five bones. So if you average six weeks for recovery… that’s around two hundred and ten weeks or roughly four consecutive years of my life just recuperating.”

Ken has spent most of his life being broken in one sense or another. His first bone break came at six months, and by age three, he’d broken his legs six times. His bones endure a rare bone disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, which basically means he breaks easily. The disease wrapped most of his youth in casts and braces and forced him into walkers. Surrounded by a family of burly firefighters, Ken stuck out. He was different.

“In the eighties if there was anything wrong with you, you couldn’t stay in regular school. They didn’t know any better back then. So they would throw a helmet on you and put you in special needs classes.”

Ken didn’t let his bones hold him back. In fact, he seemingly raced to the next injury with the gusto only a child can muster up. He played baseball, kickball, football. Each came with a new battle scar, but he welcomed the pain for the chance to feel normal. The pain he endured over the years made him who he is today. When he was in a cast or sling and couldn’t bond with friends on the playground so instead he built friendships with humor. He became the funny kid in the arm brace. Making people laugh became more regular than breaking bones for Ken. His broken bones as a child is what has lead Ken to a solid career as a comedian.

More info and episodes available at www.PunchedUpPodcast.com

Find out more about Comedian Ken Garr:

Twitter : @ComedianKenGarr

Five Mins or Less Aug 09, 2016

Show notes

"FIVE MINUTES OR LESS"

Comedienne Melissa Shoshahi shares with us her struggle becoming what her mother wanted her to do, which was what she did. Pedicures and waxing or what she wanted to do with her life. Stand Up Comedy.

Melissa is of Iranian decent. As a female in her 20’s, with a college degree and being the only child. Her parents weren’t thrilled when they found out she wanted to do stand up. They just didn’t get it. It’s not their fault. There wasn’t too many “Comedians” in Melissa’s culture.

She tried to please her mother at first. So, Melissa was going to beauty school during the day and doing stand-up at night. She did that until she graduated and then again, to make her mother happy. Melissa started working with her mother at the salon she owned. This was a big deal. Melissa’s mom isn’t just passionate about waxing. She’s award-winningly good at it. Melissa’s mom has been featured in Allure magazine and in Seattle magazines several times because she does a five-minute Brazilian wax.

"A Brazilian wax means everything. Literally everything, is cleaned down there."

Melissa assisted her mother with waxing but after about a week she told her she just couldn’t do it anymore, it wasn’t for her. A few years later Melissa started doing shows and touring with Max Amini. Her parents came to a show where she was featuring for him and saw her in a different light. Her parents finally realized that stand up was Melissa’s Brazilian Wax Shop. At the end of the day, we’re all chasing our version of a Brazilian wax shop out there. I hope you find yours. Thanks for listening.

More info and episodes available at www.PunchedUpPodcast.com

Find out more about Comedian MelissaShoshahi:

Twitter : @MelShoshahi

Meeting (John) Mayer Aug 02, 2016

Show notes

"MEETING (JOHN) MAYER"

John Mayer’s body may be a wonderland, but meeting him certainly was not…Let me back up. First, meet Kelsey Cook. Kelsey is the daughter of an International Yo-Yo Champion and a Professional Foosball player. Yes, those are real things. She’s also an up-and-coming comedian and Youtube make-up guru that is based in the beautiful city of Los Angeles. You’ve probably seen Kelsey doing stand up on one of the numerous television shows like FOX TV’s Laughs, Uproarious on FUSE, or Live at Gotham. Right now, she is the opening act for veteran comedian Jim Norton across the US on his “Mouthful Of Shame” tour.

While on tour with Norton, Kelsey found herself at a swanky Hollywood after-party packed with celebrities and comedians. You name it, they were there. Louie Anderson, Bob Saget, Jeff Ross, Gilbert Godfrey, Melissa Rivers — and squeezed into a corner booth surrounded by professionally funny people was the man, the myth, the legend, and Kelsey’s ultimate fantasy, John Mayer.

“John Mayer is one of those artist who every album they put out, it like correlated to abreak up in your life. Ya know, you listen to the lyrics like – ‘This is about me, ME and TIM!!’ – Tears streaming down your face.”

The night went on, drinks were had. Stories were shared, and Kelsey returned to her hotel room later, where her brain then began to head into overdrive. She couldn’t shake the thought of what just happened. Then she realized that all of those after party guests were not only staying at the same hotel, but They were all staying on the same floor as well. That’s when her she went into full-on fangirl mode. She started playing out fantasies from the comfort of her own bed.

“What if I put a dress on and go back downstairs? I could fix my make up and go down for a drink. I wonder if he’s still awake? Maybe I’ll roam the halls for a bit until he comes up to his room…”

Kelsey has still never got another shot at meeting Mayer… and maybe she never will. Life doesn’t owe any of us anything. It doesn’t matter how much you want something to happen, it doesn’t guarantee that it will. However, I felt bad for Kelsey. I wanted to help. So I asked her to write a missed connection for Mr. Mayer in hopes that maybe he would read it, and give her a second shot at introducing herself. The way she always dreamed it would happen. Less denim, and more conversation. So at the end of this episode, Kelsey writes John a Craigslist Missed Connections Ad. Enjoy.

More info and episodes available at www.PunchedUpPodcast.com

Find out more about Comedian Kelsy Cook :

Twitter : @KelseyCook

Death By Chocolate Jul 25, 2016

Show notes

"DEATH BY CHOCOLATE"

Our story starts like most great stories start, on a cold dark night. Chris Cope was working a “Comedy Zone” Club in Harrisburg, PA. That’s about an hour away from the big Hersey’s Chocolate Factory. Saturday night after his shows Chris started having the worst chest pains of his entire life. He called 911 and an ambulance came and took him to the ER. He was determined not to die in Harrisburg! Mainly because he was weighing over 400 pounds at the time and it would be embarrassing as a fat guy to die near the Hershey’s Chocolate plant.

The CT scan showed a rip in his aorta. He had a heart aneurysm and was bleeding to death internally. A nurse took one look at his chart and asked him if he wanted to speak to a priest. Chris said he was hoping to start with a doctor first. They flew a surgeon in from Pittsburg who gave him a 20-25% chance of survival but after a six-hour surgery and a long recovery he made it (obviously).

Chris was 27 years old and weighed over 400 lbs. He was constantly working the road, barely sleeping, and living off energy drinks and junk food. It was nothing for him to eat a 3,000 calorie meal at McDonalds. That lifestyle finally caught up with him. In the year following the surgery, Chris got a personal trainer, dropped some weight and today is doing a lot better. He has been on Comedy Central and Grey’s Anatomy and is doing standup comedy full time and living in Los Angeles. Find out when Chris is coming to your city visit http://www.iheartchriscope.com

You can see on Comedy Central’s TOSH.O, FOX Television’s show Laughs and Grey’s Anatomy. Chris is doing standup comedy full time and living in Los Angeles. Find out when Chris is coming to your city visit www.iheartchriscope.com

More info and episodes available at www.PunchedUpPodcast.com

Find out more about Comedian Chris Cope :

Twitter : @ChrisCopeComedy

Facebook : Chris Cope

Kiss of Death Jul 04, 2016

Show notes

"KISS OF DEATH"

Comedian Bill Blank’s first childhood kiss triggered a rush of anxiety attacks that still plague him as an adult. Bill talks about the peer pressure attached to hitting it off with girls, experiencing your first kiss and simply having a girlfriend even if the relationship is for a couple of days.

Bill talks about the build up and the fascination associated with it all. He also opens up about his friends waiting for the ‘moment’ and when it finally happens, and how for Bill, it was the most disgusting thing he has ever experienced. Bill started battling severe anxiety attacks at the age of ten. Once he was a teenager he started having irrational thoughts and a heavy fear of death.

“I just thought, I’d rather commit suicide than live in fear of dying.”

Bill slowly learns to accept and deal with his anxiety by treating it as a ‘person’ and talking himself out of fear every time it tries to overcome him. He makes the anxiety his strength. Then at the age twenty-one, Bill discovers standup comedy. This is a huge turning point in his life. That rush of the stage began to act as a vaccine for Bill’s anxiety. Bill isn’t 100% cured. But it does prove that laughter just might be the best medicine out there.

More info and episodes available at www.PunchedUpPodcast.com

Find out more about Comedian Bill Blank:

Twitter : @BillBlank1

Facebook : Bill Blank

A Stab At Stand Up Comedy Jun 13, 2016

Show notes

"A STAB AT STAND UP COMEDY"

Ricarlo Flanagan hasn’t lived with his mother since he was 16 years old because Ricarlo and his Step Father’s relationship is complicated. Well actually, calling their relationship complicated would be a HUGE understatement.

Ricarlo's parents had him at a very young age. Ricarlo’s mother was only seventeen and his father was nineteen when they had him. Soon after he was born Ricarlo’s father joined the Military. His mother hated this decision and the young couple split up. Years later, Ricarlo’s mother found herself marrying an abusive alcoholic who did not get along with Ricarlo.

One day Ricarlo went to the hospital to support his friend whose father had recently had an aneurysm. When he got back home he found his stepfather really drunk and mad at his mother about some change she kept from the grocery store. His step father looked at it as stealing and wanted revenge. Things got heated and Ricardo and his step father started to fight. Thing escalated as they do and quickly took a turn for the worse.

After the step dad scuffle, Ricarlo decided to move in with his father. During this period of his life, he made time think about his life. Where he was, and where he wanted to be. He rediscovered his motivation while living with his father in Michigan. It was a stress free lifestyle and he felt like his old self again.

Ricarlo went back to school, lost weight, got a job and moved out. He ended up taking a comedy class because he didn’t know anybody in town and didn’t have anything to do on his days off work. That’s when he fell in love with comedy. Little did he know, Stand Up Comedy would turn his whole life around. Since then, Ricarlo has been featured on FUSE TV, Laughs on FOX and NBC’s Last Comic Standing. Ricarlo’s debut comedy “Man Law” is also available on iTunes. Enjoy.

More info and episodes available at www.PunchedUpPodcast.com

Find out more about Comedian Matt Kirshen:

Twitter : @FatherFlanagan

Facebook : Ricarlo Flanagan

From Speechless to Showtime May 31, 2016

Show notes

"FROM SPEECHLESS TO SHOWTIME"

Ben wanted to be an entertainer since he was five or six years old. The only problem was he had a stutter problem that began around the age of three. I think you already know how this story goes, Ben had a difficult time in school and was bullied. Sometimes he would just lock up and couldn’t even say hello to people in the hallway.

In 7th grade science class Ben was one of the most educated kids in class. Once he had to give another presentation he literally couldn’t speak. Ben was enlisted in speech theorpy classes throughout his childhood but would never commit to the exercises and practices they would send him home with. One afternoon his speech teacher had him reading a report out loud when she noticed something odd. She noticed that Ben seemed to be focusing on the presentation of his speech but not the content. Ben explained, “Yeah, I want it to sound perfect. It doesn’t matter what I’m saying.. I just want it to sound good.”

After Ben realized he was seeing things all wrong. Most people with a fear of public speaking see it wrong. They think that it’s so important and everyone is judging them and it has to be perfect or they will look like an idiot. In reality, the opposite is true. Most people are just glad they’re not the one speaking and have very low expectations. They aren’t expecting Winston Churchill; they are just expecting information from whoever was chosen by this company at this moment to speak.

“Take a step back and think about if your little speech or stand up act or presentation at work is really so important. Take another step back and realize there are millions of people starving to death. Take a further step back and realize we’re spinning out of control on a planet in a vast unknowable universe where we are the tiniest speak that truly couldn’t have any significance based on the size and grand scheme of things.Do you think on that planet, on that one spot in that one room you’re top with the way it comes off? Not even the words, but the style?!”

Ben said his perspective started to shift.

“You’re not special because you’re speaking to people. Your job just happens to be speaking but you’re still just a cog in the machine.“

Once Ben started to see the bigger picture, he doesn’t get the least bit nervous.

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“The Bandit“ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Dreams Become Real by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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