Roberto Reed: The Thrill of Making People Laugh

ROB LEE: Welcome to The Truth In This Art, where we explore art, culture and community connections. I am your host, Rob Lee. Thanks for listening. Today, we're joined by a Baltimore-based comedian and improviser. Please welcome the very funny and talented Roberto Reed. Welcome to the podcast. Thanks for having me. Thank you for coming on. It's very rare. I think you might be the second, maybe the third person with the derivative or version of Robert or Rob or something like that. So it's a very small group of us that have been on this podcast.
ROBERTO REED: Seems that way. Yeah, I do seem to meet a lot of Rob's out there.

ROB LEE: Yes. And and I'm thrilled to have you on. I remember, you know, checking you out at big actually a few months back. And I just remember I just remember being there and I'm like, OK, this dude is funny. I got to talk with this guy. And and then like the audience kind of like fake hated you and you kind of called it out, which I thought was really funny. Which show did you did you see? This was this was the Artscape thing.

ROBERTO REED: right oh my gosh yes no that was fun i i i've tended to lean into those roles sometimes where i can like play a bad guy and then at some points i'm not quite sure if it ends up if they think i'm really a bad guy so i kind of circle back but yeah it's always fun i i talked about that a bit and i was like this guy's a villain i like it thanks

ROB LEE: So, you know, as we start off, um, you know, I like to kick it over because I think there's a lot of energy and a lot of juice with how, you know, we denote ourselves, how we describe ourselves. Like, you know, folks introduce me and say, he's a podcaster. And I'm like, I use the term, you know, audio wizard, you know, that's what I use. So, you know, for you, you know, again, throw to have you here to kick things off. Could you share a bit about you and like introduce yourself to the audience?

ROBERTO REED: Man, I'll be honest, this is the first time I've been given the opportunity to have to do this. I'm a comedian. I'm in the beginning of my career. I have been performing stand-up for two and a half years now, and I've been improvising for about two years. It's kind of a journey that I started years ago. I mean, I'm only 22 years old, but when I was in high school, I remember not having any plans for a career other than wanting to make people laugh and wanting to be in a career where I could be creative and write. So and I, I think, to be honest, it's a tough question, because I think I'm still in that self discovery part of my life at the moment. I'm still trying to figure out what it is that I realized that there's a difference between what makes you happy and what excites you and what, like what you want to be doing what you find yourself doing. And you don't realize how much you're enjoying yourself. And so you know, it makes me happy to I enjoy myself doing various things, but I think I've found myself recently becoming the most engaged when I'm writing and when I'm helping others hone their work and honing my own work and my craft. The other day, I got to help a buddy of mine write his bachelor speech or his first man speech for his buddy's wedding. It genuinely was one of the most, it was the one of the most thrilling afternoons of my life, because I cut his speech down from four pages to one. And, and it was, and it was doing that, that I realized, like, that's the work that I want to be doing. But as a performer, I realized that I, I never like the, the time when I am the most myself, or the that everything else kind of disappears is when I'm on stage. And when I'm, just in that there's kind of like it's only been described to me as that feeling, which is just you're just in the zone and and kind of everything disappears and everything feels right. And I'm just trying to chase that right now.

ROB LEE: I hear you. And thank you. I mean, we're we're absolutely going to dive deeper into some of those things. You teased a few. So I appreciate that. Yeah. You know, you run into people all the time like, oh, you're funny. You should do this. You should do that. I have no interest. None. Can't do it. Can't get on stage. I'm huge. I'm tall. I mean, it's just all over the place. It's just me. You know, so it's just more attention in my area. And I shy away from attention. Hence, I'm a podcaster. Um, so talk about a bit about sort of that, that initial moment when, you know, you kind of realized sort of this, this passion for comedy, for improvisation, for, um, for writing, you know, like any of those moments, like, can you walk through those sort of initial moments where, you know, did you have an uncle to say, you know what, that's really funny or, or friend at school to say, all right, that's a good bit right there. And, um, kind of go from there, like, You know, in giving you the pad time, if you will, when I think of sort of doing this, someone helped me realize it actually through this podcast. I was a masters of ceremony when I was like five. You know, no notion of being afraid on stage, you know, which I am now. I'm terrified of stage. But, you know, no notion of being afraid on stage. And I'm just five and I'm thirty eight now. So it's like a really, like really early period where it's like you're going to be in front of people on a mic and kind of just controlling and framing this thing. And I don't know. I had a person who's a theater person mentioned this to me. And it was like, yeah, I think you had that early on. I used to give myself no credit for it.

ROBERTO REED: I appreciate you saying that because I think, one, I find that very interesting that looking back, it's something that has been around the whole time because I think that's the case for me as well. My whole life, I have been performing. It's one of the best compliments my mom gives me is that I've got two older brothers, so I'm the youngest, and she mentions it all the time that I was making them laugh before I could speak. And it just it was my role. And and I think there are things there are reasons for that. I and I don't have to get into like the nitty gritty of like what a childhood is like. But, you know, I was in a household where people weren't exactly happy all the time. And I think somehow I felt it without knowing it. I think I felt the need to ease the tension at times. And because of that, and and that always came out in humor, like I was, I was, I would just be the one to make a joke or be doing a bit be doing a character when things were tense, and it would make my dad laugh, it would make my brothers laugh. And, and, and those were the I think the moments that everything felt okay. And then that kind of just carried into school, I was a bad student, I was not, Looking back, I think about this pretty often nowadays, actually, is how bad of a student I must have been for the teacher. Knowing teachers nowadays, I know peers of mine that have grown up in classrooms and talk about these kids, and I'm like, I was the guy that would not keep his mouth shut. But I remember looking back, I was never attempting to disrupt class, I think I would want to make people laugh, but I was trying to make the teacher laugh. It was never really about my peers. I wasn't trying to make the teacher look bad. I was usually trying to throw the teacher off their game a little bit, but do so in a way that let them know that I was still listening. I was unable to control myself, I think, at the time. And then as my brain got bigger and I started just doing bigger things, I still always wanted to be the center of attention, which I've recently, as an adult, curved into being more respectful of other people's space. But yeah, in college, I was in the marching band, but that's 300 people that now I have a reason to be in front of all the time, so I'd still want to be a big personality. But I remember the moment that I knew there was a way for me to… feel, have that feeling and pursue a career was in, was in high school. I, I just started watching more comedy. I was a big fan of like, Whose Line Is It Anyways? And there's a lot of my older brother, Zach, who I have this podcast with, he was a big fan of, like, British comedy, a bit of Fry and Laurie and what is it Black Adder and IT crowd, things like that, not American comedy, not the type of thing you'd normally see, but it's all very character-driven. I just started seeing more of that and I was like, oh, those are career professionals that are silly like that constantly. I remember watching the show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, Jerry Seinfeld. The way that they would talk about life as though, you know, everybody thinks they're doing this magical thing, but it's like, they're not there. They're just kind of being and that's how their brain works. And I think that gave me a lot of hope that I didn't have one that I didn't have to like, smush this feeling out of myself. And and and to that it was that other people felt similarly. And that I think from that point, I just kind of made the decision. I remember being, I think I was 16 years old. I made the decision that I was going to be poor for 10 years. And that made me so happy. I was like, I'm just going to be poor. I don't have to worry about being a career professional or doing anything successful. I grew up in a family and they're all academics and things like that. And I just decided that I was going to try to do something a little bit weirder. And it has since said, you know, I'm still growing, but I I'm trying not to lose that feeling.

ROB LEE: No, thank you. And I really I relate to that in several ways, like I'm I'm the person that if I'm in a weird social setting is socializing is weird. I mean, he's got to just cop to it, especially especially now. People still aren't good with being outside. Yeah. And I had this tactic and, you know, I kind of so I have a business degree and I kind of like disavowed myself of all of the knowledge that I earned in like business school. I just feel like it's kind of like whack. It's like everyone's fake. So. You know, in that, you know, there are certain things that you learn in sort of the lab, the real life. And you were describing sort of, you know, as you matriculate, as you kind of grow as a person, you're getting different insights. You're kind of like your brain is getting bigger, as it were. So I was like, I have this thing where. I like trying to crack a person. If I'm feeling like this is an awkward situation, if I can get them to laugh, they're on my side. That's the way that I kind of work it. And, and it's always just something unexpected because, you know, I'm a six foot four, like gnarly eyebrow. My, my eyes disappear when I take my glasses off, all of that stuff. That's what I do for people. But when I'm in a setting, it's just like I can always stick out. And usually I'm pretty quiet, pretty reserved. But when I notice that this attention is on me, it just clicks. And I'm trying to make folks laugh. I'm trying to do that, that thing or what have you, because it's like, oh, you won't just look at my size. You won't just look at me in this way. You'll acknowledge like, oh, he's smart or he's funny or he has some sort of sort of thing that is, you know, outside of this obvious thing. So yeah, that's just what comes to mind. And I sort of serve as that role in my immediate family. I'm the oldest. And it's just like, I'm the one that did the college thing. I'm the one that did all of these weird, I'm the one that does the podcast. You know, does these different things. So I feel like that's the role. It's just like, I'm the weirdo of the group, you know?

ROBERTO REED: It's interesting because I definitely, I feel what you're saying. I think that feeling of trying to make people laugh as it's it is the weird one. Like it's it's that role like in a social gathering, if everybody is taking on normal roles or whatever, however you want to call them, and one person is the humor or whatever, is is is taking that opportunity. It seems to be like They're the odd one out, odd being the word, but I think it shows how much more socially aware you really are because you're not only gathering, you're perceiving the tone of the room for everybody or laying it out in front of them and then addressing that it can feel any way you want. And making jokes kind of takes picking up on little things and addressing them. And so I think you've seen the odd one out, because making a joke is usually saying or doing something that other people would have never thought to say or do in their wildest dreams. And so they kind of think that, oh, that's how their brain works, is they say and do weird things. But it's like, no. I think it's it's there's more nuance to it. And there's and I think one, also, you're just a person like you're just a guy. And that's a decision you're making in the moment. But that doesn't say anything necessarily about like who you are. But yeah, I there should be more of that. I don't know. People should be ready to laugh more often.

ROB LEE: Yeah. And definitely I got I got a question later in that vein, because, yeah, I mean, one of the One of the cool things, like I've been with my partner for a while. And, you know, one of the things we talked about early in kind of getting together, I was like, what do you like? Who are your comedians? That was like a question like, what do you find funny? And, you know, early on, and it's still kind of the same. She would give me this sort of compliment and she would play old like Richard Pryor, like vinyl and. And I was just like, I'm sitting there just losing it because I've never heard any of this stuff before. Like, you know, no, Richard Pryor, obviously, but not not some of these records. So I'm going through it. And she was like, when you're really on one and we can't get you to stop, you're you're running bits like this. You're you're doing this. And I was like, that's a compliment I don't deserve. She was like, I didn't mean it.

ROBERTO REED: Yeah. That's a huge compliment. Yeah. No, especially. Yeah. From that man.

ROB LEE: So tell me a bit, and I shared mine earlier, so I need to hear yours. Tell me about that first time you like stepped on a stage like the legit like because in theory, we're always on a stage. But in that real sort of was it an open mic situation? Was it improv? Was it like, I'm at school. I'm going to run this bit right now. I'm going to do these jokes. What was that first time on stage to set the stage for us, if you will?

ROBERTO REED: I, the first time I'm going to describe two instances, because one was, I think the first time that I was, I was stepping onto a stage alone with the purpose of speaking to make people laugh or doing whatever it was. And at a time where I knew that this was the career path that I was going on, but it wouldn't be for another couple years that I would start it, was in my freshman year of college. I was 17. I was in the marching band and at the end of what they call band camp, the marching band spends two weeks before anybody else arrives at the school. The football team is there also, but we're running drill and we're preparing for the first season. At the end of the long two weeks, there's a social gathering where it's a talent show, each section of the band has to give a talent and it's mostly just an opportunity to do whatever you want, like really do whatever you want and be creative as a team or whatever. And I was really, I don't even remember what my section did, but I was really pushing for me to be able to go up onto the stage before everybody and introduce this, introduce us and introduce the set and just say a few things. And like, I remember trying to like, like, you know, talking with them about like, what might be funny for me to say, or what, what's a funny way for me to set it up. And I don't know if it was just because I had a, I was really strong, strong about it, or what it was, but they just allowed me to do that without really much explanation of what I was going to say or do. And I did it. And I remember not getting a terrible amount of laughs, but I do remember saying a few things that were the correct thing to say and made everybody laugh in the moment. So that was the first time that I forcefully gave myself an opportunity to do so that that wasn't by accident or wasn't just like me performing just because that's something I do is like an on purpose. And then it wasn't until maybe a year later, it was actually I can I know the exact date because it was the two was two days after COVID dropped. It was so March 15, or something 2020. There was a show That was kind of a glorified open mic, but it was on the college campus. A buddy of mine was doing it with his acapella group. There was a small band. There was poetry reading and singers and whatever else. And I signed up to do it as a stand-up. And they immediately were like, oh, heck yeah. We didn't expect anybody to do anything like that. That's awesome. And that was going to be my first time on stage. And I was writing jokes for it. I had this little leather book that I kept around. I still have it, but that I was keeping on me walking around campus for a year before that, just writing things down. So I spent maybe two months before this thinking about what I'm going to wear and, you know, writing out all these like writing out these jokes. And I remember really enjoying like that opportunity because I was I was thinking about like pace. I was thinking about things that I didn't even realize until much later that I was doing, which was, you know, I was like for the like how the pacing of a joke and the tone and how my delivery and stuff like that. And then the school, they said, okay, you're going on spring break early and you're also not gonna come back until a week after. We were like, great, extra long spring break. So we had a COVID party. Shout out 2020 before anybody really knew. We had a corona party, actually. We got a 24 case of corona, went to my buddy's apartment, we just had a party. All my friends were there and it came up that everybody knew that I was going to do this and I wasn't going to be able to do it. So they gave me the chance right there and I did my set for them and it killed. It was like, oh, that's it. That's all I needed. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but I worked on something and the payoff, Then a year and a half later, I was actually starting stand-up. It was that moment that I was like, okay, if I work on something, there's a payoff and I can keep trying whatever that is.

ROB LEE: That's great. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. That is really cool. You know, like before doing this, so for give you this context. So this podcast specifically, The Truth and Sorry, was born at Big Improv. You know, I did the first 20 episodes before, you know, COVID turned into the COVID that had COVID and, you know. being around there and seeing different things, you're around people who are creative, who are doing the storytelling thing. And, you know, at that point, you know, I'd been a podcaster for about 10 years, you know, like I was, you know, I was doing it for a long time. And I used to use that that platform, the old podcast I did to to kind of exercise some of these demons of creative demons, if you will. And I remember I just wanted, I like this idea of like fake commercials. And I was like, this is a throwaway, but I think it works. So I had this idea called Big Daddy Cane Sugar. And I was like, they ain't no half stepping when it comes to flavor. And I'm always like, we're stupid.

ROBERTO REED: Yeah, that's crazy.

ROB LEE: I was like, this is what I'm doing. And I think in part being around that and, and kind of just having like, these are one offs, but I have sort of this flexibility to just do these. I can insert these fake ads within a podcast and be able to kind of exercise that, that other thing. Cause what we would do in that podcast was we would cover the news and. we would do it like a game. It was called like a new challenger. So we had the Street Fighter thing going. And pretty much I would reveal one detail, something very innocuous about the title of the story. The stories are always terrible real life stories. And we would try to riff on it in a Daniel Tosh sort of way of how many things can we say about this? You know, or really, how can we go deep on this? this, this, this topic. And, um, you know, that was one of those things I really enjoyed doing. I did about, you know, 10 years of that, about three, 320 episodes of it. That was my way of kind of doing, I guess, in some ways, you know, that's the skill set of doing a late night show. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And, you know, my partner talks about it. She was just like, people are going to just kind of find this years later. And it's like, what the hell happened to this? Why this doesn't exist anymore? It's like, well, people don't really get behind certain things or you don't really find your audience. So so in that, you know, tying all of that together, I want to hear a bit because I mentioned the big connection. I want to hear a bit about how because they're running concurrently. the, you know, the the improv start and the comedy start, how do they serve each other? Like because people always either connect them very intentionally or disconnect them of like, oh, this is not comedy, but it's like, but it can be. So talk a bit about how, you know, doing both of those sort of starting both of those around the same time, like those disciplines, how do they serve each other for you?

ROBERTO REED: I started performing stand-up about nine months before I started doing improv. solely by accident. In March of 2020, I was part of this Greek organization thing. They sent me into Baltimore for a conference, and we had one night off, we had one evening off, and I made the wild decision to take an Uber to go to an improv theater to go watch a show by myself. Just because I was like, I'm in the city, I have to do something comedy related, and I did, and it was awesome. would have been maybe 18 years old i saw a show at big and it was i was just laughing the whole time i felt great it was and there's this kind of opportunity at the end they they gave the audience to. kind of be weird or whatever. And I totally leaned into it. And so I just, and it was almost at that moment, I was still like playing with the idea of finishing college at all. And so and there's, my grandparents hate me for this, because I like it, just doing something weird like that. I was like, Oh, I don't need I enjoy learning, but I needed I needed to like find a fix. And so I decided, I was like, OK, I'm going to finish this semester. I'm going to try to move to Baltimore as soon as I can. I'm going to join this improv theater, and I'm going to start performing comedy like this. Then COVID hit, and I wasn't able to. Every time I looked at the classes online, they were virtual, which I didn't mind, but I also was doing classes virtually, and I wanted it to be in person. So I waited on that. Then in 2021, I ended up getting a job at McGuby's Joke House. I started doing stand-up there. That was my first open mic, was at their bar next door. I kind of dove feet first into stand-up. It wasn't until later that Big, my mom actually, it was a Christmas present, she got me the 101 classes there at Big. I guess to actually answer the question, how do they inform each other? So to circle back to the first thing I said, I'm still figuring out my path, necessarily. I'm still looking for the fix properly. And I feel insecure sometimes about that. I'm not necessarily quite sure what to dive in towards anymore, because I'm trying to do all these different things to get that feeling. I do stand up because I, I always I enjoy the persona that that allows me on stage. It's a very, it's a very particular one. And I think I have, it's whenever I'm able to get into that zone, when I'm doing stand up, and I'm on stage, it's like nothing else. And I enjoy it, I get into this weird character that is just me, but a little bit more me. And And it's a skill that I'm trying to work on is writing. And it's something that keeps me honest if I'm out every week, multiple times a week. can't always be doing the same material. And so I have, that keeps me honest, like kind of keeps me week by week in terms of goals to work on is to have new material next time I go out and, you know, hone these particular jokes so that when I'm actually getting paid at a gig, it all works out. And I will say in the time since I've started doing improv and I've finished the curriculum at big and I'm practicing within a D team and doing my own shows and producing my own shows at that theater. I'm just more comfortable. I don't have to feel like I'm pretending to be a stand-up comedian. I am a stand-up comedian. Doing improv, I feel more free because it teaches you all those things of getting out of your head and being at the top of your intelligence while still performing any weird act. You can still be weird and silly and crazy, but not be stupid. I think that has given me a lot of That has helped me a lot. I think improv for me is a different muscle. I definitely separate the two of them in terms of the reason I do them. For improv, I do improv, and I've been saying this kind of as a joke, but it's also true, is I want to trick my way into a real job. I want to trick people into thinking that I deserve to be on their writers team or collaborate with somebody often enough performing on shows that they're like, oh, that, you know, because I also have a very I have a very analytical and objective mind when it comes to show production. I found that also I produce shows with Don't Tell Comedy in Baltimore. I'm their I'm their team here. And it's just two of us. And I've There's another wave of like inspiration comes over me when people ask like, okay, how should this be set up? I know how things should be set up because I know how people feel when they enter a room. And I know how we can, like you go in anywhere that a room, this is comedy. It could have a stage, a light, and a microphone, and that's one thing. But if it has a stage, a light, a microphone, and a neon sign that says comedy, you're like, oh. And so that's a tool. Knowing that about people is a tool that you could use when producing anything, is you create the tone of a room. And from the start, if there's music playing, it's lighthearted. The lights may be dim, but not all. All these different things. Improv lets me exercise all these different facets of the business of comedy, but also stage production, but also show production, writing. I got all these different things involved that I want to be involved with, and I want to be surrounded by people. that are like standup is such a, it's a one track. I'm working for myself. I'm selling myself and I have, and I'm, you're going straight up in the elevator. It's, you're going from open mic to feature to headliner to touring. Like there's a rule book for how you do that. And with improv, I, I know I want to collaborate with people and I know I want to write with people and I want to be on teams that are producing anything creatively and anything comedically. And so Stand-up keeps me honest and it keeps me fresh. It keeps me it's it is a different persona. It's a different tool. It might help me if I get a job as a late night, anything like that as a show host, anything like that's it. I'm going to keep it forever because I don't ever want to give it up. But improv is where I want to find a job, like a real job.

ROB LEE: It's a great answer. And, you know, I'll say, like, I've made this comparison on this podcast before and. I think what people really think about it is value there. I think jazz musicians and comedians are very, come from the same cloth. You know, I think it's something about that in this this notion of going, are you trying out material? It's sort of a late night. It can be intimate things. And there is, as you were describing, but the sort of elevator up, there's a track or you can be, you know, a contributor of like, oh, I'm playing, you know, background here. Or if you're it's just it's jazz adjacent, but you can be in the roots and be on a late night TV show, you know, in that vein. And, you know, it is interesting to because you mentioned one thing I really, really caught my attention about. sort of like the reps, being able to do these things and being able to have this set up. You know, I've tried to do different programming because I'm very interested in that area and put it on a show. You're right. You go there, you see something that everything is DIY, right? To certain degrees here, what I'm able to access and you have the idea, you try to figure it out. But it's certain small things that make it move up. Like, if you don't have music going, or if you don't have the thing timed out right, if you don't have that neon sign that says, there's comedy here, or music, or whatever, people don't know what to expect. So it's almost an inferred contract, in a way, that if you're going there, you're going to get this. I'm not saying I'm going to be funny. I'm not saying I'm going to be interesting. But this is what we're intending to deliver to you. So the last sort of Event that I did in this vein was I do these movie screenings and I did a screening of the blackening at big And, you know, I had a whole narrative that ran through it. You know, I was like three peeps there, you know, earlier in the summer. And, you know, it's a black movie and it came from this improv group, all of this stuff and all ties there. And the audience rocked with us. We had some technical issues, but the audience rocked with us because we set that stage early on. But again, it's that thing you were touching on as far as like, you know, being the next time you're going to be on stage and next time you have this new material and so on. It's getting the reps, you know, like I do this all the time.

ROBERTO REED: So it shows, by the way, this is a fantastic interview. I was going to wait till the end, but I can't. Oh, thank you.

ROB LEE: I appreciate it so much. But when it comes to doing sort of this next thing, sort of to stretch it out, because I like the way you were describing improv is it's a broader way to do all of these other things that you're interested in. Whereas this is kind of the same. It's like, yeah, I can do a podcast. I can, you know, but the moment that I try to stretch outside of it, like I'm on a moderate, I can do this. I can do this. I can do panels, all of this different stuff. Oh, you're just a podcaster. But if you're on stage and you're organizing something, then you're much more than that. But it's very complimentary skills. Mm hmm.

ROBERTO REED: I've I've said similarly, I like what you said. that, oh God, there was a term that you used to describe, the way that I've phrased it for long is people gather the amount of value out of something that you put into it. So if they see that you value the space and you value the opportunity to perform in front of these people, if you're producing a show, if you're the creator, you can, if it's an interview show, you can have a folding table with chairs or you can have a table that's got a tablecloth. people don't necessarily look and they're like, Oh, they got a tablecloth. Nice job, you know, but they feel it. And that and that's the most important thing, because it is all about, like, from the moment they step into the theater, even not even to the showroom, they, the feeling is already being catered to their night, you know, and and so it and at that point, it's just Like, what do you want from anything that you're doing? Do you want, is it about just, you know, I need to get anything out? Or is it like, are you creating an opportunity for yourself to flex your own muscles? But if you want to flex your muscles in an environment where it's worthwhile to, you have to set everything up properly so that people are ready for it. People, people want it and they don't know that they want it, but they're ready for whatever it is that you have, you know?

ROB LEE: Absolutely. Um, yeah, I had this thing before with this next question. I have this thing that I like to utilize, especially in the, um, cause I do a movie podcast. It's very infrequent, but movie podcast kind of got the, the movie screenings. And one of the things that I have in the movie podcast, cause I don't think there's quote unquote bad movies. I think every movie can move up a level. You know, I called it the one fix and I was like, yeah, maybe higher budget, you know, or better actors, but it's sort of that. And I apply that when I go out to things, I'm like, all right, I don't really care about the money component. And, you know, when I was sitting there, when I first became aware of you and your work and really had a great time, I was like, I like this dude. was, you know, at Artscape, as I was touching on earlier, and I'm just kind of hanging out with folks that are doing their final tweaks, their final preps for like, OK, this is what I want to do. And I was happy to say that I was able to book a few interviews with folks there, you, Michael. And, um, but also, you know, just kind of having this thing, I'm just hanging out with comedians at like big, I was like, this is, this is cool. I like this. I like this a lot. And it is something about that, that vibe and that energy. And so as I go in, it's like, I might like this person, but I haven't seen them do standup yet. I haven't seen them do their, their, their jokes or anything. So, you know, I'm kind of going through and I reached out to some folks that I liked and I didn't reach out to some folks right now. It's like, I need to see you again. You know, I need to see more of your stuff. But I'm thinking about it from that standpoint, this analytical data analyst, think about it from that standpoint of, you know, like, all right, what is that one fix? You know, is it that was the material not for me, but it's still funny, but it's like I'm not their audience or what is it? And kind of thinking through things in that way.

ROBERTO REED: All right, well, meaning I'm not sure if there was a I missed a question there, but it was making me think about something else. Please, please. We're just what you say about like, meeting people and being and enjoying their their company talking to comedians, just behind the scenes greener type thing. I'm constantly astounded. I know many comedians, but I often meet them first and then see them perform maybe an hour or two later. And I am constantly astounded at who people become once they get on the stage. It's fascinating to me because it's not always like they're a different person. Sometimes they go up and they're the same person, just slightly more. Sometimes they go up and it's somebody else. It always gives me the life to see people exercise themselves that way and to know that whatever it is that I'm doing, that when I get on stage and I start performing, other people feel the same way, and it can take any form. Some of my favorite stand-ups in the DMV, they'll just get up on stage, and this one guy, I think his name is Steven Chen, I mumbled that because I'm not entirely sure his name. I met him once. But he was at one of our Don't Tell comedy shows. It was in Handon, just some clothing store. We moved everything out of the way and put a bunch of chairs in there. He drove down from DC and met him. Nice guy, reserved, didn't say much. To me, it seemed like he was focusing up before the gig. And then it gets on stage, and it's like 15 minutes of non sequiturs. It wasn't even set up punchline. He was just saying stuff like, you ever butter the pan with the Pam butter spray, and then you get a little finger and you taste it? And then he'd look around and then he'd start saying something else. And the audience was just loving it. They were eating it up and laughing. And it was my favorite type of laughter that I see is when people are like, what it's like, they don't understand it, but they they see it right in front of them. And they cannot help but laugh because if they don't laugh, then they feel crazy. And, and so just like stuff like that. It's like, how do you even find that you're good at that? And besides just doing it, and then finding and then it feels good. So you keep doing it.

ROB LEE: Yeah. And I got two more questions, and I want to throw this one out there because I think it fits within what you were describing there. At one point, a couple of years back, probably pandemic time, I was probably going to do a TV show. We shot like six episodes, but it's never going to come out. So whatever. But I remember it was this sort of man around town and kind of having people show me how they do what they do. Right. So it's like, I'm gonna hang out with a knife maker. So I'm doing the intro. And I was like, this is funny, right? I was like, I'm just going to do this. And, you know, I'm really I'm really nervous and doing intros. This is like not my thing. I didn't have the reps at the time. And I'm like, I say something akin to we're in this like area that it looks like where Van Damme would fight people back in the early 90s. It's just like everything is abandoned. And I'm like, you ever need to cook up some crack and he needs something really sharp to cut it, get knives from. And they're like, yo, the film, the filmmakers is like, hold on. What are you really going with that? Yes, absolutely. Deadass. And it's knowing the audiences, you know, seeing that sort of nerve. And not knowing to expect that is like, oh, if it was just me running that type of thing the entire time, it's like, all right, it's like, just keep it rolling. This is going to get me comfortable. It's going to get you guys comfortable and get something good. Maybe it can be something that we use later in the side, but just keep rolling, keep shooting. And but yeah, it was just shooting that shot, I guess, at that moment. So it's like this is going to not be received well. They could just sandbag it. They were like, You're an ass. That's funny. That's really funny.

ROBERTO REED: I like that a lot. I like the idea of something being a little bit feeling on an edge, but it it came naturally, obviously. So it came naturally for a reason. And trusting yourself as a comedian and as a creator and trusting the feeling more than you trust, like, oh, When you think, you know, you can step back and look at it analytically, like, oh, will people like this based on the tone and this and that? But often that's not your job as a creative. Your job is to trust whatever it is that like made it all come out and let it just let it happen.

ROB LEE: That's spot on, spot on. So these these last two real questions are in this vein of like sort of process and and even that sort of the talking about certain topics within, you know, comedy. So I want to start with the process piece. So I'm curious about your process, where it is now and. Again, you were saying this sort of trajectory over the last few years, but can you talk us through a bit, and you've touched on it a bit earlier, of having something to write on, having something to capture ideas, but what does that process look like for you, that initial idea to the final tweaks, putting it out there in the universe and doing it on stage, doing it in front of people?

ROBERTO REED: I hate this question, not because it's a bad question, but because it makes me have to think about my own process. It's something that I struggle with terribly. I'm astounded that people can just be like, all right, on Tuesday, 3 to 5, I'm going to go to the library and I'm going to focus. I do not have that. My focus just is, absent and then it'll arrive in the middle of the night and then it'll disappear again. Then I'll just be driving and I'll be like, I'll have all these ideas and everything pieced together. I'll be driving and I'll have my phone up and I'll just be talking into my notes, trying to get the pacing of a certain idea out. And it is so random. And that like, truly, when, at least the the, the first instance of many of like, my best ideas, or at least when it comes to stand up, my best jokes, are usually by accident. Or I'll be writing, I'll be like working, I'll write two pages trying to work out an idea. And Then from that, one of the jokes that I'm trying to make a part of that is funnier than the rest of it. So I'll tear out two pages and then start with that joke. And it's a different joke entirely. It has nothing to do with anything I was just writing about. And I think, honestly, it's just been mostly about you know, I'm still in the mode of trying to figure out how to place my body in the best place to be creative in a certain way. And that's like, okay, you know, I have to eat, I have to have a coffee, I have to, you know, focus, I've started, I'll go to a coffee shop. And I, I've realized my own focus, like I have to put airpods in with nothing playing my hood up, and I put sunglasses on, I'm like, all of my senses are like dead. And only then am I able to like, right, But that's just part of it. It's a job still, and I want to enjoy it as much as I can, but if I'm struggling to try to get something new out, I usually try to, that's when I'd like go to improv. Like that's to me, that's if I'm like really struggling with, with trying to get something new out and stand up, I like, I'm always thankful how often I either a meeting with my conservatory team at big or my indie team, or I have some show where I'm just doing short form games or something like I can get back into you know, one of the one of my Zen modes, which is like getting to be funny on stage, but without it being like my work, I'm kind of I'm getting to play off of others and other people are making me laugh and I'm, you know, enjoyable. And then usually I'm in a better mode to just go up on a stage like an open mic and then just riff. And I, I may like bring up a topic. I think it's I think it's a bad crutch for a lot of comedians, but especially myself that You know, if I don't, if I, if I think an idea is funny, but I haven't been able to write it properly, I just don't write it. And then you try to go up at an open mic and you just talk around it. And I think that's good once. I think it's, you know, you, you do that, you do that once or twice in the right context to try to work out an idea. But if, if it goes beyond that point where you just keep like, you're like, all right, I'm going to put that in my set. And then, you know, you keep going back multiple times and you just, And you never actually write what you're going to say down. There are some comics that it all just comes naturally, and they don't have to write their set. But I write not word for word, but the jokes are written. The setups are specific, and the jokes are written. And so I'll riff on stage. I'll see what sticks. And then whatever sticks, I go back the next day. I write down what I said, and then you just keep folding. You press it one more time, you fold it back, you press it one more time, you fold it back. And then eventually, that's a joke. You have another 30 seconds added to your set. And then the next step for me is, where can I place that joke within my other material that it fits? Like, I've recently taken another step back looking at the whole thing and realized, you know, like, now it's I'm not I'm not just looking at what jokes are working. I'm looking at like, the set as a whole, does it make? Does it start strong? Does it have, you know, do they gain their trust? Can I get creative and playful? And then do I end strong, like, you know, there's, and try not to tone shift too much, try not to make it look too much like I'm doing material and then shifting to a joke. So there's many different, many, many, many steps to it. But I think the process for me is just stay busy. The moment I slow down, I lose my mind. And it makes me less creative, which makes me less busy, which I kind of fall into this hole of not wanting to do things because I haven't been. And so the moment I just go out and I go out and perform again, I feel fine. I feel great. And I'm back. Any second I have, I try to make it worth it. You know, need that fix.

ROB LEE: Oh, yeah, absolutely. So this this is the last real question. And, you know, this kind of goes into that vein a bit where, you know, I I enjoy when comedy pushes boundaries. I don't really like sort of the safe thing. I think, you know, there are If you're skilled at putting together a joke, anything can be funny. And I think now there are certain things that aren't allowed to be funny, right? And are there any topics, contemporary topics or phenomena that you're just like, this is off limits for me? Or what are your thoughts around sort of like topics that you're not going to even consider for material?

ROBERTO REED: Interesting. There are topics that I wouldn't consider reform material, not because I don't think people have the stomach for them, or it's not in classy culture. It's not appropriate to talk about. Not necessarily. I don't avoid things for that reason. I avoid things because I don't think I'm the comedian to say some of these things. And that honestly just comes from the voice that I've realized that I'm speaking from as a comedian. I don't think I'll ever have like, I've found this a lot of comics that I know. are able to talk about serious things or able to talk about um there's this particular comic i know matt pennington he has this he like dances on this edge so often that it is hard to watch sometimes like especially when he's not doing when he has a bad set it's just like oh you just you look terrible and but when he when he does it right and when he's in this in that pocket he's making he's making you know like every type of joke that you think you shouldn't be able to say, he makes it funny, not because he doesn't punch down. He's punching up at the idea of mostly at, I'm trying to phrase it properly, because he's not punching at society. He's mostly just punching at, you know how tense this is for me to even be saying this? what, like, there, there is humor in why you feel tense. And it's never because the actual it's not because you're a good person. It's usually because you are uncomfortable, and you're uncomfortable for a for a reason. And and so I approve of that type of comedy. I think that I think it's excellent. I think it's dangerous. But personally, I, I don't do strong ideas. Like I don't I don't try to hit people in that zone. I usually I'm trying to think what makes me funny. It's it is. And I think I've also found this about like kind of what what separates me from the conventional stand up. And that's because and that's that I am. I'm playing a character. And I'm mostly a lot of my jokes. poke at, like my physical presence. And because I'm a smaller man, I'm not the most masculine, I you know, I've got this, like, I have this look about me and whatever. And so I, you know, I poke at that I poke at my generation, because it's something that, you know, people don't like Gen Z, but there are there are reasons why you don't and they're not all our fault type thing. And, um, And then eventually when I'm in the pocket, it's usually just I'm being silly and I don't like being mean. It's funny, I sound like such a… I'm surrounded by… it's a very dude-bro energy to stand up. I'm not that guy. And so I did like, you know, this is me explaining all this. I'm like, Oh, there's a reason they you know, they don't they look at me the way they do. But it's because I'm enjoying myself. And so if I avoid a topic, it's not because I don't think it shouldn't be talked about. I think you can joke about absolutely anything. And I think some of the best standups there are out there at the moment are exemplify just that is that like, they will make you know, Shane Gillis has he's got all these jokes where you know, he's he's using the R word and he's talking about, you know, his family members with down syndrome. It's like, you've never been you've never like you should you shouldn't joke about that. Right. But it's it's finding that gray area and kind of just displaying it for people rather than punching down you you you toss it into a room and you kind of let the room feel about it what it will. And then you and then you're just like, well, look at look at what you did. Because I didn't do that. I didn't make the room feel like that. And I don't know. But yeah, on that I I think I think people should stay in their lane. But have a healthy exercise of, you know, you know, moving around however you want. However that analogy works perfectly.

ROB LEE: No, that's great. And I'll say this before I go into these rapid fire questions. And thank you. That was a really great response there. So before that, that podcast that I was doing beforehand, before we wrapped it up, um, you know, my cohost, white guy, what have you, not the most masculine, vaguely Italian, you know, those things. Right. And I remember, uh, we were at, um, we were trying to not make fun of anything that was happening in 2020 around like George Floyd and all of that stuff. Cause it's a lie. It's hard to, it's hard to talk about any of that stuff, but I just like how, you know, he became woke briefly. He's like, man, there's a large black man. I should buy you lunch, man. Let's get Italian for lunch. And it was a lot of that energy. But I remember during the summer, it was like some of the greatest hits of him not knowing where to fit as a white guy. And he said something. He was like, so Rob, I got a serious question. What type of porn can I watch on Juneteenth? Should it only be ebony or can it be interracial? He was saying it very earnestly. And I was like, that's hilarious. And the last thing that we said going into the vein of who can say something who can and. I was like, you know, you're you're you're a straight cisgendered white guy, what have you. So there's sort of like limits of what you can probably say without getting a bunch of guff from it. And we were talking about we had this episode we called, what is it? Problematic Ice Cream. And I was just like, I just want to do a version of Ben and Jerry's. And then we just started riffing back and forth. He was like, can it just be half like briars and water? And whoever's buying it, we just like fun things that they hate. I was like, yes, it's called We Don't Kneel. It's called We Love to Fly. All of these different things. Yeah. Then the proceeds are going to like health care for trans people and all.

ROBERTO REED: Right, right.

ROB LEE: He was just like, let's do it. He's like, sweet. That's perfect. Let's make it happen. And I was making to him, I was like, you can't say that, but I can't. Mm hmm.

ROBERTO REED: Mm hmm.

ROB LEE: So, yeah, that's that's that's pretty much it when it comes to that stuff. And now this is the hot seat portion. I want to give you these rapid fire questions. I only got three of them. Sure. And. So you mentioned earlier, you know, television, like sort of the, you know, you mentioned I.T. crowd, things of that nature. I don't know if you've checked it out, but you might like it. Toast of London. I enjoy that. Big fan. Yes.

ROBERTO REED: I was watching before we got on.

ROB LEE: Yeah. Yeah. So in that, is there a TV character that you relate to most?

ROBERTO REED: Oh, God. Um, a TV character that I relate to most, I I think, honestly, and I and not not because I I relate to I think that character exemplifies me. It's these are just the ones that of my favorite shows. Fry, you know, from Futurama. He's just he's just a dummy, man. He's so like, but he's so feeling he's all feeling and and he's very stupid. And I love the way he speaks. I think J.D. from Scrubs. I think there are a lot of characters from Scrubs that I think each one of them, there was a part of me. I think the janitor was a big inspiration just because you didn't quite understand him. God, this is where all of my television knowledge flies out of my head. Yeah, I think those will be that those be my two answers. Because I do think these are like the most influential shows or the most rewatched shows I've ever of of my lifetime are Futurama and Scrubs. And, and yeah, and and like, you know, Bender and Frye, just like that, that dynamic of, of being all feeling just absolutely no objectivity. Like I just wanted that. And then the heart and within Scrubs, it's mostly of like how weird and thoughtful one can get while also having like deep, powerful, heartfelt emotions. You know, I project it on to.

ROB LEE: That's that's great. I'll throw this out there because I think you might find it funny. I don't know. I always look at movies, but when it comes to TV shows, my partner, she's mentioned four different people, three of which are from the same show. And one is from something I'm like, I don't I don't know about that one. So pretty much every black dude on the office. So you got from Patrice O'Neill to Stanley to Craig Robinson. She's like, you're in a number of three of them. I was like, fair enough. And then the other one that her and her kids mentioned, which I was like, that's wild. They were like, you're essentially Cal from Euphoria. I was like, wow, that's that's a lot. I was like, that is a lot.

ROBERTO REED: I know I know a very little amount about euphoria, but I'm hoping it's a compliment. Yeah.

ROB LEE: It more so for one scene where he's like, Oh, you know, a bunch of assholes. It was just like that. It is where he's right. Right. His family, by the way, when he says this. Yeah, yeah.

ROBERTO REED: I was like, well, you're you're it seems, you know, they're trying to say you're willing to you. You wear it on your sleeve type thing. You know, you're willing to say you're be honest and say the matter of fact. Yeah.

ROB LEE: Um, what is your what is your favorite meal? Oh, I like how your face completely changed when I asked that, by the way.

ROBERTO REED: Well, I wanted to think seriously about it. I struggle with food. I don't eat well. And it'll show truly how in my 20s I am at the moment that my favorite meal is is food that I pick up from a restaurant. My favorite meal at the moment is Not TMI, but it's details about me. I have Crohn's disease. Dieting and stuff like that, I'm still figuring out, but a chia banana boost with strawberries and protein from Tropical Smoothie Cafe. I'll eat that every single day. It goes down easy. It's got a lot of protein and all the good stuff in it, and it tastes good.

ROB LEE: That's an honest answer. I'm going through, I'm reasoning out my stuff and figuring out definitely increasing the amount of protein and working to increase the fiber.

ROBERTO REED: Yes.

ROB LEE: Oh, yeah. All right. This is the last one I got for you. So let's say you've crushed it, you've killed, you wrapped up on stage. How do you prefer your night to end? What is it? Is it getting drinks afterwards? Is it, uh, you know, like I need to crash now. Dopamine drop. Like what is the perfect night in for you?

ROBERTO REED: I, so I've been, I, I, for the last two years, uh, well, basically since I started up until about halfway through this year, I was going and going and going and going and going. trying to hit as many spots as I can and not giving myself any time. And I've recently tried to be nicer to myself in terms of, you know, I think performing is good for that fix, but I don't think that fix is necessarily all I need to have a good mental health. um because it feels good but i don't know whether it is good as my soul like dopamine you know um so i've been trying to hang out more with people i i you know that being like whether it may mean missing a an open mic for an evening but if i have a show with my improv group i'll get drinks with them afterwards i think the way that Ideally, I think a perfect evening would, of course, mean killing on stage, probably going for drinks afterwards with my team. I think an ideal night would be going from a stand-up show and leaving immediately to go do an improv show. I love the nights that I get to do that. It's such a fun twist. you know, going from improv and then being with my team and everybody's, you know, if it's a nice show, go out for drinks. And then I usually I still have a chronic like I just stay up all night, even though I work a morning job. I'll usually, you know, my improv teams, they're older than I am. They're all at least six years old, six to 12 years older than I am. And so they all get sleepy pretty early. and i so you know we'll go for drinks enjoy yourselves and then i go home i honestly great way to wind down at the end of my like my days has been i live with my best friend uh he's one of my roommates and i'll get home i'll smoke a joint with him and he and i watch tv shows together he and he and i are we're currently watching invincible we just finished better call saul we we've been watching you know we've been It's it is one of just a great pleasure of mine because it's when I finally kind of I allow myself to vegetate and not do anything productive. And that's I like it. That's that that's that is the perfect evening, I think, to me at the moment.

ROB LEE: Sounds like a winner to me. That's that's great. So that's kind of it for the podcast. This is great. We were able to get a lot done and One, I want to thank you again for coming on and making the time to hang out with us. And two, I want to invite and encourage you to share with the listeners where they can check you out, follow you, social media, website, any of that good stuff. The floor is yours.

ROBERTO REED: Well, I want to thank you again for having me. This was a fantastic interview. I don't I don't often get the opportunity to speak on it. speak from the heart kind truthfully like this, you know, I go on a podcast usually and I'm on I'm in my go mode comedian wise and and So and and I liked your questions. Like I think all of this kind of it gave me the opportunity to say exactly what I like, how I felt about these things and maybe centered it more for myself anyway. So thank you. You can follow me. I'm Roberto Reed, R-E-E-D on Instagram, Roberto Reed underscore. I am you can listen to the the podcast I have with my brother, which is the Welcome to Earth podcast, where we do it's Very little of me actually. I play characters on that podcast. Every episode I'm at least two to five different characters that he and I play. crew are. It's I love that dynamic because he and I will. It's just the two of us there. But there will be like scenes going on where there's like six people in the room and we're on the phone with an FBI agent, stuff like that. That's a fun podcast. Check out Don't Tell Comedy if you're in the Baltimore area. I produced that with Adam Friesman. He and I have been doing a lot of hard work. We're getting to weekly shows either in Annapolis or Frederick or in Baltimore, always a different location. Check out the Port Comedy Club. I'm a regular there, but it's a comedy club right in Fells Point that's run by comedians and owned by comedians, everything in there. And so it is for the scene entirely. They have free shows every week where comics get to try out new material. And they've got headliners every weekend. It's run by a great guy, Matt Hurley. They're doing a lot of good work there. What else? Gosh, I should have more. And check out Big Worm Improv. That's my indie team. Check out Big, a lot of good shows. I'm producing a show starting next year. They're going to give me a run of, I'm producing a game show called Curveball. Short form games, kind of Foos Line style, but game show style with buzz and answers and there's curveballs in the mix and stuff like that. So there's a lot of comedy in Baltimore and people should check it out.

ROB LEE: And there you have it, folks. I want to again thank the very funny Roberto Reed for coming on and sharing a bit of his journey with us. And for Roberto, I'm Rob saying there's art, culture and community in and around Baltimore. You've just got to look for it.