True Patriot Love - Comedy Got Softer？ ft. Dave Merheje & Jean Paul

00:00:00.000 you are tuned in yours truly jay martin the renaissance man and i call this all jokes aside

00:00:10.080 and this episode right here is going to be i'm going to say it before it even starts it's going

00:00:15.020 to be one of my favorite because i got two of my favorite comedians in the building uh these guys

00:00:21.180 go back with me like car seats like way back we all grew up and started roughly together

00:00:28.620 We went through the nervous energy

00:00:31.220 I'm going to allow them

00:00:32.720 I'm going to brag about them

00:00:34.660 Because they're amazing

00:00:35.840 Fresh off of coming into town

00:00:38.920 For the Juno Awards

00:00:40.220 Writers, movies

00:00:42.580 TV shows

00:00:44.320 Script writing

00:00:45.560 On stage award winners

00:00:47.400 Right here is like the real comedy

00:00:50.740 Canada Hall of Fame

00:00:52.380 And I don't want to brag

00:00:53.180 But it's just Julie J. Martin

00:00:54.620 All jokes aside

00:00:55.520 Introduce yourself

00:00:57.260 because you're my brother from another mother john paul tell them a little bit about yourself

00:01:00.620 uh i'm a lebanese comic man john paul uh the island hipster yeah yes so uh you know your

00:01:10.700 brethren for life and that's it one half of the trinette versus jamaica sensational decades

00:01:16.140 long running mother's day clean comedy clash and before he does it because that was a wonderful

00:01:21.340 intro by the way my brother before he does it when i heard this guy was in town right i was like what

00:01:28.540 i tried to get him uh you see them on so many movies tv shows i'll read off the accolades after

00:01:34.140 but i mean we know him as our guy dave barhash he's in the building say what's up tell where

00:01:39.580 you live tell why you're here that's my boy right there i reside in los angeles but i am canadian

00:01:46.380 yes i am the lebanese well i guess yeah the lebanese comedian but i have uh i was born in

00:01:52.220 canada wow so that'll get kicked out yes but i my parents were born in lebanon i just do a whole

00:01:57.500 bio of them but no i'm super super pumped yeah i mean we go like i'm actually even coming here

00:02:04.620 i thought about this time where um at the newbie and show where i think you were i think you were

00:02:10.300 headline i can't remember remember i think he won the first time when he first came on right

00:02:15.020 and then everyone uh i think they were trying to were they trying to stack

00:02:21.580 they did stack it and then you like murdered and we were like yeah it's all right he's okay yeah

00:02:26.860 he's cooking everyone it's so funny dude it was like uh every play was a blitz

00:02:34.220 every comedian was a blitz every get to the quarterback get to the quarterback

00:02:40.300 from what i can remember maybe my memories it was like uh like in a good way it was like a

00:02:46.060 like a storm was coming yes you know what it was you know what exactly what it was like

00:02:50.060 and you being from la will know exactly what it is it's like getting jumped in in a gang

00:02:54.060 yes like you came to like i don't think you had been doing it that was the thing i don't think

00:03:05.340 you'd be doing it long i don't think you've been doing it six months yeah no just six months in

00:03:08.780 and kenny kenny pulled a you want to headline this and i'm like okay in that time i was still

00:03:13.920 working at bell so i had access to limousines and i think that pissed off some people with

00:03:20.160 all due respect i think they were pissed too that you were just murdering right away and then you

00:03:24.860 weren't like i guess doing other you know because comedians are so uh like fixated on like the

00:03:31.420 the in between right the the crafting like you know they're not putting time or they are they

00:03:37.460 on the grind or whatever it was right it was like but people probably didn't know that you came from

00:03:41.860 entertainment back correct so you already had like speaking of you already had it yeah yeah

00:03:47.140 yeah you had a juno before comedians had accidents yours wasn't even from comedy right right you had

00:03:52.420 like such like good performance like it was like a it was like almost yeah in 2000s like people

00:03:58.500 were performing i don't think i mean people perform not as much now i think as comedians

00:04:03.860 it's more of like it feels like more of like you know delivery and delivery but back then it was

00:04:08.340 like a show i think there was wigs and wardrobe which we never seen anything i'm like what a

00:04:14.980 wardrobe change that's crazy it's culturally appropriating before before people were getting

00:04:20.180 canceled is he wearing indian shoes yeah i'm wearing indian shoes you know what to be honest with you

00:04:27.700 guys thank you thank you for all of that when we started out uh especially when i started out and

00:04:32.340 seeing all you guys especially that night it'll be a night it's in my head forever uh some of the

00:04:36.660 greatest names were on that show i don't even know how can he fit them of course you two were on it

00:04:41.140 mark was on it jason rouse jerry d uh john cedric it was just yeah act after act after act it was

00:04:50.580 crazy to see if you were there because i think the the nubian show at the time i mean it's still

00:04:55.140 great but at the time it was like i don't know it felt like it was a mystique yeah and it was

00:05:00.260 had a bit of mystique and it had a sheen on it you know what i mean yeah you couldn't really walk in

00:05:05.380 um now when people do it i guess it's like i don't know if it seems more welcoming not that it wasn't

00:05:10.740 super welcoming but like they would let you know yeah it's less confrontational yeah sorry not

00:05:15.780 confrontational it's less gladiatorial yeah way less that's the word i've seen people walk out i

00:05:21.540 i've had to walk out with like basically a body cast but like emotion yeah yeah my favorite story

00:05:27.940 from my favorite boo from all that is uh and and and i love wafik nasrallah did you hear him so

00:05:35.540 i want to hear it let's go so so wafik comes on uh great comedian from from ottawa and uh he's

00:05:42.420 he's pretty much blind in one eye and uh and he goes up first yeah i don't know i'm not laughing

00:05:49.220 at the first time goes up destroys kenny comes up and he's like you think we should have him back

00:05:54.740 and the crowd's like yeah so kenny brings it back whatever it is three four six whatever months later

00:06:00.580 to to do it again and you know wafer's feeling you know he's feeling himself he's smelling himself

00:06:05.540 and uh gets up and just just bombs same material i have no i can't remember oh and uh bombs and

00:06:13.300 then kenny gets on and the first thing kenny says is damn that took it in his good eye

00:06:17.860 I was like, wow.

00:06:22.800 Because if you Bob, Kenny would come in.

00:06:25.280 That was the best part about it.

00:06:26.540 He was watching people bob and be there.

00:06:29.360 But I got to kind of segue in.

00:06:32.040 Dave Miraj, you would come on.

00:06:35.120 And I like the guys that are coming up after us, so to speak.

00:06:38.500 They're like, oh my gosh, Dave Miraj on.

00:06:40.660 And wherever your name was slotted, no one wanted to go behind you.

00:06:44.720 because you were just you would be you had this way of looking so nervous in the green room

00:06:50.780 do you know you do it i don't know i don't know what i'm doing yeah and you would find a way

00:06:57.000 to take i don't know what i'm doing and go there and make it an absolute masterpiece like tell us

00:07:03.560 where where does your writing come from it was one of my questions where does your writing come

00:07:07.440 from especially then you would do the lights thing remember the lights yeah like i think it was like

00:07:13.080 i think energy i think it was like actual nerves which still kind of exist and then now it's like

00:07:20.360 a little bit more like it's controlled i could be like okay i'm gonna use this in a positive way not

00:07:26.120 that it wasn't used in a positive way back then but i think it was like you know obviously i would

00:07:30.200 write but i would like think about it all day or all week and like kind of put it this set in my

00:07:34.840 head um throughout the week but then i would always allow a space for if i could go if it

00:07:41.720 i can improvise or go the way not the way the audience wanted but like where i felt the journey

00:07:48.040 was going up there it wasn't like i didn't try to restrict myself like my act all the way through

00:07:54.200 because i i love the spontaneity of or even if it went bad because it was just like it felt like

00:07:59.960 super raw to me so i think that's where it a lot of it came from it was structured but like i think

00:08:07.480 sometimes when you see it it's like oh he's like rambling so it doesn't look like it's

00:08:12.600 structured or there's like punch lines they are it's just that like i leave it's like almost in

00:08:17.960 my head it's like a timeline or like it i can see the set this way right and then i'll just slide in

00:08:23.960 or yeah or if like somebody says some i'm like i'll slide this in there it's like from like

00:08:29.160 basically going up you know like 10 15 times at that time 10 15 times a week right and you were

00:08:35.880 obsessive when it came to doing spots he was he was crazy i think people think i am still and i'm

00:08:42.680 no man he'd make it to my my open mic to be like i gotta go and he's like downtown othington here

00:08:48.440 that that would time the bus yeah it was another comic i don't think i think he stopped doing it

00:08:52.440 but he would i i was like impressed he did a spot on your show yeah and then he goes all the bus is

00:08:57.640 here and he got from the stage yeah yeah from the stage because he missed the song in toronto and i

00:09:03.800 gotta get the transfer you leave and we were like oh he was hustling i can't i don't know why it's

00:09:08.280 not coming in my mind but i don't think i'm that obsessive now because i just think i try to work

00:09:13.240 a little smarter i think back then i needed to lighter you had to be the reps yeah but i agree

00:09:17.800 with you i think that's what everybody in the beginning you know yes you you you just did it

00:09:21.480 you were so happy one you were so happy to to be allowed to tell jokes and yeah to go somewhere

00:09:27.640 and then eventually you realize to to work smarter not harder correct you know i think

00:09:33.080 people still think though they'll be like man you you hitting it like the same way i go not

00:09:37.400 it i mean dude i'm not a chance i'm i don't even want to be there i don't even know how i did that

00:09:43.960 both of you come from such a unique background you know what i mean and how has your background

00:09:49.000 shaped the identity of your your comedy and and how did it how did it you know have a fixture in

00:09:54.440 how you deliver your i mean i don't i don't know about dave but i i'm speaking for myself like

00:09:58.680 being uh from trinidad and tobago the the climate and i don't mean temperature wise

00:10:06.280 um we're we're people where everybody in trinidad thinks they're funny and they are like super

00:10:10.920 comedic and we come from a lime in culture which is is just basically like a contained party and

00:10:17.800 and uh some of the best storytellers i've ever seen included in my family like my uncle trevor

00:10:22.600 my uncle larry were like some of the funniest dudes so so i think i have it in me uh pause

00:10:29.640 um uh to i i think i have that natural sense of timing and i think i get that um through genetics

00:10:37.000 as well as just through the fabric of the country and so so for me it it's it uh is an important

00:10:43.400 part of and plus i just have a genuine still do a genuine love for for stand-up right i mean like

00:10:49.400 you know new stuff old stuff like you know like i even like the mumble rap of comedy

00:10:56.680 not all of it obviously and your background mike um i i had an answer but i was just thinking about

00:11:03.480 like you know i mean i don't know this the comedy scene in toronto was like so cool back then

00:11:09.160 because i feel i mean not that it isn't now it's just kind of like because i was more entrenched

00:11:13.800 in it back then it's like you had like elements of like the alt scene correct then you had your room

00:11:18.680 and in ajax and then you had your like your brand basically was like an empire of like

00:11:24.440 different shows and it was just like i fully remember i was with nick reynolds and at your

00:11:30.360 show i think i was trying to dance and i turned around and this woman goes no don't do it she

00:11:37.480 did don't do it and i remember me and nick were like oh man i've never been stopped but it was

00:11:43.240 like you had like all these elements that made i think basically i was like man now i sound like a

00:11:50.840 like an old person but like i was so glad to come up in that time but i agree i agree too like when

00:11:57.320 i think of some of the names like uh like when i saw you today one i wasn't expecting i knew you

00:12:01.640 were in town but i wasn't expecting to see you today but when i saw you i was so i was filled

00:12:05.880 with like just like just joy because i i know i know who you were then and i know who you are now

00:12:12.440 and and when i think of the names when we came up with here's there was you it was nate mcintosh

00:12:17.640 uh to watch to watch bircher to watch nick reynolds come up to watch christopher to

00:12:22.760 watch pedro to watch you yeah me to yeah to watch like like just to watch all these people succeed

00:12:28.840 arthur arthur simeon like like all these names when you think about it are are all successful

00:12:34.280 comedians yeah yeah and and to and at least for me like i feel like the the the uncle uh you know

00:12:41.000 the cool uncle that got to even though i was just slightly ahead of them i know you guys looked up

00:12:46.680 to me like oh my god john paul yeah yo he's the guy bro yeah he's the guy but but to watch you guys

00:12:51.960 now be yourselves to me is like the dopest dopest feeling in the entire world that right there be

00:12:58.120 yourselves as comedians we were in a time where we could be ourselves yes and now we find that

00:13:04.680 something happened after covid a lot of people got more sensitive a lot of people got more what

00:13:10.040 you can say and can't say uh is there a time now within your careers that you guys are ever afraid

00:13:16.360 a of being canceled or taking it too far i'll say no just for the simple fact that uh i at least

00:13:24.120 take calculated risks right and if i am going to say something it's going to be something that i'm

00:13:28.920 willing to to stand on correct as as as the kids say ten toes down right you know what i mean but

00:13:34.520 But I can also say for myself, I'm not a controversial or a political guy.

00:13:41.720 But if something strikes me and I feel strongly about it, I'll say it, man, just because, you know, the stage is supposed to be our sanctity.

00:13:51.120 And I think we're the ones that people look to, regardless of whether people – and it's funny to go from class clown does he's not going to make it in life and he needs to blah, blah, blah, to all of a sudden,

00:14:03.420 we're the beacon of information correct we're the ones that people like this guy say that

00:14:08.360 so now all of a sudden you're taking us seriously correct so so if i am going to

00:14:13.400 say something that could be construed uh or misconstrued right uh as controversial that

00:14:19.520 might be canceled i'm gonna stand ten toes down and if it's just something that i think is

00:14:23.200 this is gonna get a reaction i'm not about that i'm not i'm not gonna do it just for that

00:14:27.560 dave i asked the question to you as well because i've seen your stand up from its conception

00:14:31.880 a lot of it was spontaneity sometimes you say something almost like a tourette's what comes

00:14:37.060 out and and that's authentically dave i wonder how he would go through the times where okay dave

00:14:44.100 you can't say that and that question's almost a double uh edged sword because you have to go

00:14:48.420 into tv where those risks aren't often taken yeah i mean like over time i mean now too i am very

00:14:55.660 i mean i'll very i'll admit that i am very self-aware of what i can and what i can't say

00:15:00.980 because i do want to work in places and spaces like i do really want to act more and all that

00:15:05.780 stuff but i do naturally not like a controversial person correct so i you know most of it is about

00:15:11.140 my family and you know and i also think like and it's not my place to judge anyone i'm not

00:15:16.740 even judging you know but i think a good sign of a joke of it's i feel it even if it's controversial

00:15:21.780 it's not harmful i think along the lines comedians are like also if you're like i i can't say

00:15:28.500 anything and you have a netflix special you can say something exactly they gave you something

00:15:33.220 that's just like something to make you say that yeah that's like a very weird like it feels

00:15:37.380 performative it's like who's this for man you got like you already have 10 you have like a lot of

00:15:42.260 netflix specials or a lot of hulu like whatever you're on like obviously somebody let you do that

00:15:46.900 you know the ultimate cancel someone greenlit it yeah you can't do anything but i feel like if you're

00:15:52.020 with your intention that's a lot of things too is like i feel like i don't want to be tricked

00:15:59.160 it's like look man if you want to be racist through your jokes or offensive purposely then

00:16:06.020 tell me you're going to do it right stand on business that way don't go hey man you're being

00:16:10.960 like woke yeah right like i'm not i'm like i know when it's a racist you know you know what you were

00:16:15.800 saying yeah just you're like you don't play me right because you know we know yeah on entertainment

00:16:20.700 like just because we're in a platform of entertainment but like you would like if we

00:16:24.340 were outside entertainment on not that i'm not a physical person or anything but i'm like just like 0.56

00:16:29.380 i'm the idiot like you're you know purposely that this intention was already like right you know

00:16:34.240 you see a lot of comedians you know back in the day like carlin and lenny bruce they were saying 0.80

00:16:38.740 things you can't say but it was done in a way where i don't think it was harmful to people's

00:16:42.460 culture and it was crafted yes it was crafted and it wasn't crafted to solicit or elicit a response

00:16:48.520 that's now feels like it was to to elicit laughter at the end of it all but it was still also you

00:16:54.600 know plant the seed for something to think about if that's something you've never thought about

00:16:58.040 before you know and and and one of my whole things too is when i say i'm going to stand 10 toes down

00:17:03.240 i'm glad that you mentioned the word that i i do my intention is a big thing for me you know in life

00:17:08.600 but uh and mostly in comedy and and like to to your to your appointment the way my grandmother

00:17:14.360 you know would describe it is you know if you're doing it to be performative don't piss on my back

00:17:17.960 and tell me it's raining it's like if you're gonna like if you like i come from middle eastern

00:17:25.000 background you're gonna insult my heritage right you're insulting my heritage there's no if it's

00:17:29.560 a joke that like if you just want to do that i don't care yeah so i think that's where the

00:17:35.320 not the confusion i think a lot of things i see is like that which that's what i mean where for me

00:17:41.000 not trying to stop you from freedom of speech or i'm not a person that would get offended that

00:17:46.360 easily it's just like you can tell when you being you being um shady with me about right that's what

00:17:52.920 it is where i'm like uh you know and don't be surprised when you get pushback yeah because you

00:17:57.320 get to say something so you have freedom of speech but i don't have freedom to say to say something

00:18:01.640 back it's like a lot of times you know i mean uh you know people of like ethnic background it's like

00:18:07.320 you know you both probably we've all been in that situation where i'm like i think they're being 0.80

00:18:11.320 racist yeah right they're like you know i mean it's like around i kind of feel like that right

00:18:15.080 now i got a question i'm itching to say your culture throughout your career that i've watched

00:18:23.520 dave has a lot of hip-hop influences i don't know many uh lebanese rappers but that being said your

00:18:33.180 influence how did you i both of you i know music is is in our in our comedy constantly uh i know

00:18:39.840 hip-hop was your thing um what's your letter to hip-hop and how is it personified in its way to

00:18:44.680 make you a better comedian and it's the same with the music of cultures because we all love all

00:18:48.620 music but i just know specifically dave has a lot of influences from hip-hop a lot of battle rap too

00:18:55.320 because of like the way they would like perform to me was like i think i feel like was influenced

00:19:02.440 by that like where the hand movements maybe or the energy of of hip-hop i i enjoyed from like

00:19:08.900 the marketing of it the presentation of it which i try to adapt to stand up perfect that was like

00:19:14.820 how i you know and i mean mine mine is is pretty much the same but just add that so so the the

00:19:22.280 thing i'm working on now is called dual citizen which is d-u-e-l not d-u-a-l right because i'm

00:19:26.760 both you know born trinity but like grew up in in toronto so i consider myself both but when it

00:19:32.500 comes to music um you know reggae soca and hip-hop are like my my big influences you know like the

00:19:39.520 bravado of of of hip-hop you know to be able to talk your shit and and just the the laid-back

00:19:45.980 niceness of of reggae and soca to to make you feel nice you feel loose yeah i try to combine

00:19:51.840 the two i'm basically like uh the fushnikins of um so it and it's a big influence and for me

00:20:02.060 uh music also because i'm i get i'm and i know it sounds crazy to say but i get so nervous

00:20:08.780 when i go before i perform even even you know anywhere even yeah and and to me my go-to music

00:20:16.420 to listen to like to calm myself down before is either hip-hop reggae or soca it's never

00:20:21.800 it's never r&b it's never a chris brown and no disrespect to chris brown loves music and all that

00:20:26.060 And just R&B in general, but like hip-hop or reggae or soca

00:20:30.020 are the musics that kind of slow me down 1.00

00:20:33.120 because I can feel it in here. 1.00

00:20:35.140 And if I can feel it in here,

00:20:36.400 hopefully it'll translate out here, outwardly.

00:20:39.800 In life, we make goals.

00:20:41.100 All of us make our comedic goals.

00:20:42.960 We started out, our first goal is open mic.

00:20:45.540 And then the next goal is, can I do the Nubian show?

00:20:48.240 And then from there, we go higher and higher and higher.

00:20:51.700 Experience for me, my first time was later.

00:20:54.460 I got to finally touch Just For Laughs.

00:20:56.620 I finally got to do the Halifax Comedy Festival.

00:20:59.340 You two are festival savants.

00:21:03.340 Explain to me the drive it was to get there,

00:21:07.100 when you got there, how you felt.

00:21:08.780 I've always loved my experience at Just For Laughs,

00:21:11.340 just being in the hotel where all the comedians

00:21:13.580 around the world were.

00:21:14.780 It's like hanging out with the X-Men.

00:21:16.140 Yeah, and tell me your experience.

00:21:18.540 You guys have went from getting to the Just For Laughs Festival

00:21:21.900 to be actually writing you know the ironic part about that journey for me to to get to just for

00:21:28.060 last if we're speaking about just for last specifically yeah and no disrespect any of

00:21:31.180 the other festivals like you would you had heard so much about just for last before you even really

00:21:37.420 started to be a proper comedian right uh and and when i started off i started off on kenny's all

00:21:44.300 black comedy show right and that's where my voice came from you know what i mean that's where i got

00:21:48.220 my voice and and then as i started to go more mainstream uh it used to be presented to me and

00:21:54.060 again ignorantly i i bought into some of it that that that was a crutch and and doing you know

00:22:00.540 ethnic comedy or black comedy or whatever oh you you you don't have any other gears so i wanted to

00:22:05.660 prove to them i can play your game i could learn the rules and i can win and i can win so when i

00:22:10.860 got to just for last like ah i did it but but i felt like i i had almost kind of lost something

00:22:17.180 on the way there and from doing it i was like oh it wasn't what i thought it was going to be it

00:22:22.300 was great don't get me wrong but i wanted to be able to then tack back and be able to tack

00:22:29.260 tap back into who i was culturally because that's that that was and still is a huge

00:22:34.620 component of of who i am i love being a representation of my culture of my people of

00:22:40.380 of my voice and all that kind of stuff without being over the top preachy or anything like that

00:22:44.780 but it is a real if you know me off stage you know that is you know it's like why is he why

00:22:49.420 is he talking like that like you you know that that's that's really me like i'm that guy and

00:22:54.060 then he walks in dave walks in fresh faces and wins at the home room yeah i mean that took like

00:23:02.940 that took a lot of years to get there i think it was a lot of times i i thought i was owed it that

00:23:08.460 year or whatever it was i was like oh i did really well here and then you know i mean but it just

00:23:12.940 wasn't my time i think back then i was just you know you're just kind of younger in comedy and

00:23:17.100 you're just like eager right i mean you're still eager now but like you're just kind of antsy and

00:23:22.140 then when i got in yeah i think at the end of the day i think all the years because i didn't see it

00:23:28.220 at the time of building up my act and gaining experience and then they really helped me you

00:23:33.740 know because back then the homegrown competition was a contest so right yeah it helped me win

00:23:38.380 because i was like i was really really vetted and seasoned and at the time again speaking of going

00:23:45.020 back to to battle rap yes yeah yeah so you treated it like that yeah i gotta win that comedy rap i

00:23:51.020 gotta win that one what what happened in uh yes eight wow that's what it reminds me of well it

00:23:56.460 was like a um i mean when i would treat it up there like you know i mean i heard it from someone else

00:24:02.700 uh to another comedian it's like when i'm when we're in that space i'm not trying to be your

00:24:07.900 friend right i know comedy's um um subjective and it's like you know you're trying to bring

00:24:14.000 laughter but i always back then at least back then i always looked at it i was like yo when we

00:24:18.480 when that in that space i don't care you yeah you can cook not a team sport yeah first thing i told

00:24:24.120 you yeah first thing he told me is not a team sport like you're like why is he doing this

00:24:27.820 dude this is not a relay race and and other cotton again just just be you do you because

00:24:34.360 other comics have whatever internal it could be past trauma whatever they're dealing with

00:24:39.880 at the time that they try to i i i need this you know i mean so i just always say don't let

00:24:47.420 whatever someone else's intention or or or goals are um you know upset what you're trying to do

00:24:54.380 so now i got to get into the gravy or the the itsy part of it um you guys have worked with so many

00:25:00.700 people like i know you're on the jerry d show i was doing your like so much tv people and and shout

00:25:07.020 out uh shout out to you man raimi is a hell of a show bro thank you to be so like i i couldn't

00:25:15.020 like i'm already proud of you stand up wise but to see you wow on such critically acclaimed shows

00:25:20.940 shows like that like artistically production-wise like it and and just the voice it makes me super

00:25:28.440 proud to be like that's my little brother yeah man congratulations bro congratulations shout

00:25:33.340 out to you man so some of the people that we've worked with we meet the goods we bads you know

00:25:38.060 you were talking about you went and did it yourself and i'm not here to dog people be like 0.63

00:25:41.900 oh jay's podcast you know dave mirage said that this guy's a jerk but you have we have jerks in

00:25:47.940 business yeah i don't need you to say names but give me some times where these people were just

00:25:55.140 uncool to deal with i don't need names i'm not putting you out there like that dave but you

00:26:00.020 have had interactions where you had someone that was just being a prick i think it was like i think

00:26:04.980 it was unintentionally i look back at it now i think it was friends of ours right i think it was

00:26:10.580 people we like you know like you know and i don't think they were being necessary like i could

00:26:15.540 understand now because i happen to me where i look at something because i'm just much older

00:26:20.980 i'll look at it and if it was a style i didn't understand my brain was like what's happening

00:26:25.060 here i do it so i think and i realized i was doing what they did to me and i was going to

00:26:29.380 have to stop that quickly but i remember like no peers i don't know you know who was in if

00:26:35.300 if you were part of them or just people part of the mix of like he was just doing premises but

00:26:40.820 then i look back i go yeah probably if it looked optically it looked like there was like no joke

00:26:46.900 there so i think like you know when you're younger and comedy and people you kind of look up to and

00:26:53.140 people you were inspired by are jamming up against you back then it was a lot of yuck yucks comics

00:26:59.380 you i kind of harbored unlike not an angst but i was on um my back was against the wall of like

00:27:05.540 okay but i think as i grew and became friends with everybody i'm like oh yeah you know

00:27:12.820 they maybe didn't understand what i was doing that's completely uh understandable now so and

00:27:17.860 but also there are i'm not not gonna say their names you know i mean there are people who just

00:27:22.900 kind of come with hate and like yep it's funny i ran into someone who treated me awful and then

00:27:28.980 they treated me nice recently and i was like you know well i didn't forget but i was like

00:27:36.180 who knows what this person was going through back i try to see it more of like a try to find

00:27:42.100 forgiveness there's some people i don't yes there's a couple people i'm like i don't think i could

00:27:46.100 forgive you right now yeah i'm not in that place even though i'm trying to be in that place right

00:27:50.180 but for the most part is like i don't know what traumas you were going through and that's how i

00:27:54.820 see it too like my perspective my like my perspective is is in the moment back then it

00:28:02.260 you you take it personally and then i learned to take a step back and realize ah this isn't about

00:28:08.420 me this is about you and once i realized that and that again not to sound all hokey and and hippy

00:28:14.660 dippy but like when i started to get into like meditation and yoga and kind of like settling

00:28:20.420 myself and understanding who i was i started to realize that none of it had to do with me

00:28:26.020 as and not just in comedy just just in life generally speaking when people are being

00:28:30.260 you know 99.9 percent of the times when people are being assholes to you it's it's something

00:28:34.660 that they're going through absolutely you know what i mean i i second that so i kind of i kind

00:28:39.700 of step back from it and i'll absorb it unless you're being like insanely disrespectful in my

00:28:44.660 face at the time then you know i think but i don't take any of that personal and i and oddly enough

00:28:49.460 ironically enough i almost feel sorry for that person because they haven't been able to fix

00:28:55.300 whatever's broken inside and yeah it's just a sad thing because you know it is the two i've

00:29:01.060 encountered and i'm going to say it uh not because it's my show but i can uh was that dan ninen

00:29:06.580 situation oh my god when i opened for russell peters and we switched the order around and he

00:29:12.100 was like i go on before russ and they were like jay are you gonna do the indian bit and and i

00:29:17.300 I remember you telling him,

00:29:18.880 it's not that Jay's the best comedian in this group.

00:29:21.640 It's just that that bit, this Russell crowd

00:29:24.240 is gonna go nuts when they see it.

00:29:26.620 And it was funny because he was like,

00:29:27.920 no, I go on before Russ.

00:29:29.460 And then Russell came last minute

00:29:31.140 and Russell was like, Jay, you doing the bit?

00:29:32.820 Yeah.

00:29:33.660 And he switched us.

00:29:34.500 And all of these guys said like, eat this guy.

00:29:36.940 But it wasn't about eating him.

00:29:38.280 It was just about me doing it.

00:29:39.540 I was new at the time.

00:29:41.120 We had, Russell took us out for dinner.

00:29:42.740 We went to a Greek spot.

00:29:44.120 It's just how we were sitting.

00:29:45.120 I was sitting beside him.

00:29:45.960 like hey enjoy and he was like don't talk to me synonymously a week later russell's performing in

00:29:51.320 new york uh at the world famous apollo theater yeah and he's like do you want to come in i'm

00:29:57.320 like yeah get out there and dan ninon's opening act and he doesn't let me in like he locks the

00:30:02.920 green room door let him in the building in the building and then i see him out front he's got

00:30:07.240 a camera taping and i'm like dad i get it you think i murdered you last week be a comic and

00:30:13.400 And he was like, do I know you?

00:30:14.900 And I was like, wow.

00:30:17.020 I had to call this guy to call me from jumping off

00:30:20.100 at that time, the Empire State Building

00:30:21.500 because I couldn't believe it.

00:30:22.600 And I'm not blaming Russell

00:30:24.400 because they booked him on the phone.

00:30:26.840 But I'm just saying, jerks are out there, jerks are out there.

00:30:31.620 The same thing happened with Steve Harvey.

00:30:33.620 It was like these two guys really gauged

00:30:36.580 how I wanted to think.

00:30:37.720 So those moments, I do relate with you

00:30:41.200 with whatever Dan was going through,

00:30:43.040 whatever Steve Harvey was going through that day.

00:30:46.080 I just thought I had found the dude and well,

00:30:50.700 he killed me that day.

00:30:51.920 They both killed me those days.

00:30:53.580 And those are things I will never forget.

00:30:56.000 You know what I mean?

00:30:56.840 And I sit back and I take your mantra on that.

00:30:58.960 They must've been going through something

00:31:00.340 because they didn't know me from a whole amount.

00:31:02.000 I just did what I normally do.

00:31:03.560 And it's that experience.

00:31:04.560 And the other thing too, is like,

00:31:05.880 I feel like things like money and let's say fame

00:31:10.600 or notoriety just kind of amplify

00:31:13.020 who you are inside right so if you were if you become famous or rich and you're an asshole you 0.50

00:31:19.360 were you were an asshole before that you know i mean you are who you were before you got here 0.58

00:31:23.880 straight yeah i mean and i remember hearing that line from jay-z and i was like oh man this is so 0.80

00:31:27.800 classic you know what i mean and so again i that that's a you problem and i i try not to absorb

00:31:33.180 that energy and one of the big things for me is i try to curate curate my energy and what you always

00:31:38.760 tell me all the time he's like yo man what's you what's your what's your repellent how come people

00:31:43.060 don't you know i mean that's what you i i try i don't put that energy out there and i and i don't

00:31:48.180 my energy and i don't say that i put out a shitty energy but i i don't put an energy out that looks 0.56

00:31:54.080 like the door is wide open right like i need you to knock yeah so you gotta knock you gotta knock

00:31:59.740 and then i gotta look through the peephole and make sure you can come in i'm not home all right

00:32:04.180 so this is my favorite this is my favorite question you're not prepared for this both of

00:32:07.900 are not prepared for this no i'm not into booty play listen being this guy we go so far back i'm

00:32:17.260 going to need another episode for just me and him because we have so much to talk about with our

00:32:21.740 stuff i'm honored that i got you in the building that just worked out perfectly that dave merhaj

00:32:29.900 is in from los angeles and he has a couple of minutes to spare with us so i had to make sure

00:32:34.620 sure that this question was there i moved this mic for a second and open up a shirt that someone

00:32:39.680 gave me okay that's bad boy i don't know any of those legends and they might not be everyone's

00:32:48.280 legend because he got prior there uh who else we got bernie mac robin harris robin harris and red

00:32:55.220 fox i'm here to talk to you guys about some of your goats man not curry goats for the west indians

00:33:01.560 that they're watching i'm talking comedy goats uh i want your list of guys i did this you know

00:33:07.600 it was hard i was doing this with a couple of comedians before and it was like so hard because

00:33:11.400 mount rushmore is what four right about rushmore is four all right let's for fun for shits and

00:33:15.940 giggles let's see your mount rushmore dave yeah go first yeah let's go first that's a tough one i

00:33:21.140 guess it's people like i mean it alternates but like i would say richard pryor was the first

00:33:28.580 I mean my uncle back in the day my Kenny uncle showed me Dice Clay Eddie Murphy

00:33:34.880 Richard Pryor and Carlin but I kind of gravitated yeah to Pryor because I just kind of found the

00:33:43.420 vulnerability was something I was like then I realized then I was like I'm gonna chase that

00:33:49.760 vulnerability on stage oh dope when I started how old were you when you figured that out that's yeah

00:33:54.440 when you uh i think i saw he was doing this bit where he was he was he was a heroin junkie and

00:34:00.600 a wino in the wall i know he's trying to get the wino to help strap up yeah and then the lights

00:34:05.240 went out i remember i was in the living room with my mom i don't know why she let me watch it but

00:34:10.920 and then kind of the lights went on i was like i don't even know what that was he came back and

00:34:15.320 started doing stand-up i was like yeah characters i've never seen anything like it so i was like

00:34:20.680 gravitated my 20 early even maybe 17 18 and then i saw this comedy central thing i ain't dead yet

00:34:29.000 yeah and then jamie fox said some like prior put all his business on the stage and i just thought

00:34:35.800 that was another interesting thing that i wanted to try to chase for the rest of time if i had with

00:34:41.080 stand-ups that so he kind of the thing about prior to i'd put prior on even i wouldn't laugh at some

00:34:48.120 points it was more of like a musician it was like more therapeutic correct listening to jazz or

00:34:52.760 something yeah yeah and i don't really find didn't really do that with any other comedian i'd put it

00:34:57.400 on and be like that you know to the you know i remember hit the mafia bit he had where he was

00:35:03.000 like um the time guy so yes yeah that's right yeah but then when he had he does the whole

00:35:12.600 imitation where he goes now you know i was hitting the guy with the ice pick and then the ice pick

00:35:17.800 broke and then with the punch i think some was like uh you know do you want to ride or something

00:35:22.840 like and then i'm like it was just the way he i delivered it delivered it that was so i would say

00:35:27.640 he kind of takes up a lot of the amount rushes in my head because it's just something that i

00:35:34.920 constantly try to imitate or emulate emulate sorry emulate like so many times and i still

00:35:42.360 do i was like how do i get to here i think it's it's here now right it's a masterpiece of like

00:35:48.680 you know when he lit himself on fire and he came back and so it's just it's on i don't know i i

00:35:53.880 mean it's it's quite a list though yeah it's like and i know there's others on it that had my gaps

00:35:58.920 is on it because just how purely funny mike actually yeah and you take like talking about

00:36:05.400 a tree in this room and extend this bit um i can't even like there was when he said uh

00:36:12.920 what's his name uh brown what's the singer's name james james brown yeah he was man they

00:36:19.080 called james brown looking like a thundercat i was like i couldn't he just is so he's silly 0.82

00:36:30.760 the pureness of just the foolish it's just foolish like stupid makes me laugh 0.66

00:36:35.400 and then like eddie like these are people like you know eddie murphy that like oh come on set the uh

00:36:41.000 tone press dude you know like and then you have like carlin obviously if you even look back now

00:36:45.880 because like carlin's clips will pop up on tick tock or wherever and you're like still relevant

00:36:49.880 super relevant maybe even more relevant now and you're just watching this so yeah it was like

00:36:56.840 they pat they created areas for everyone to kind of come after and cheaps your list so for me um

00:37:03.720 Um, and, and, and it's hard to say, they kind of, they kind of mirror what, what Dave's

00:37:08.640 looks like.

00:37:09.080 So my prior experience, and I mean, Richard prior, not, not priors and past, um, you know,

00:37:15.840 homonyms.

00:37:18.080 Uh, so I grew up in the LP era of record players.

00:37:22.340 So I, I remember I was nine years old and we were living in Trinidad at the time and

00:37:27.880 my parents would go out and, you know, being the seventies, they would just leave me in

00:37:32.720 the house.

00:37:33.040 and my dad still to this day is like a big music guy as well as comedy like i'm so thankful that

00:37:39.380 my parents had a great comedy iq so prior was huge and i remember listening to uh to wanted 0.95

00:37:46.400 i think that's the one where it looks like it's a sketch sketch face and and uh that nigga crazy 0.94

00:37:51.940 um i remember listening to those albums you know and and just like you you can hear everything in 0.91

00:37:59.020 there like you could feel the the energy that was in that room kind of thing and it was so

00:38:03.020 captivating because it was great storytelling the vulnerability of the storytelling and even at that

00:38:07.120 age I didn't know you know a good chunk of that stuff um and I'm I'm still pissed that he sullied

00:38:16.240 not not prior but that he sullied his his uh his legacy in in Bill Cosby I knew it yeah still one

00:38:24.380 of the greatest storytellers and the fact that he destroyed the legacy that allows me to comfortably

00:38:32.540 yes speak on his greatness love what he did facts is unfortunate um and uh so then then came the

00:38:40.960 supernova that was eddie murphy right when i was 12 and i saw and heard eddie murphy for the first

00:38:47.160 time that is what made me want to do this to be a comedian right and and and by extension carlin

00:38:54.160 but there's so many for me like like i enjoy pieces of every person like i love not only do

00:39:01.420 i love chapelle i love chapelle's comedy arc and growth you know and growth like from where it

00:39:07.640 started to where it like you didn't even foresee any of that no you know and and uh and the

00:39:13.820 tactician expertise the the breath the hitman heart um writing of of chris rock and the performance

00:39:20.360 you know and speaking of being honest special yeah you know what i mean and and it's and i

00:39:25.840 consider myself a student of the game and even they're like a lot of people aren't ever really

00:39:30.140 aware of the backstory like you know bring the pain people didn't realize that if that wasn't

00:39:35.280 successful there'd be no more chris rock like if that had bombed and didn't do anything yeah he was

00:39:40.260 out the game yeah you know what i mean he put out like i feel like he they weren't just comedy

00:39:44.660 albums they put out like they felt like classic hip-hop albums yeah correct so i just felt like

00:39:49.240 when you think about those two you're like oh man those are like back to back like one of the best

00:39:53.480 before we wrap up you guys are incredible i'm still happy to have it still not at the booty

00:39:58.700 place i'm on our show here but all jokes aside who's on the come up who maybe two people that

00:40:05.940 you guys have encountered that you're like they're good now but they have the the gumption to be able

00:40:12.220 to what are we talking about like canadian or just in general general general i know dave you're in

00:40:16.660 la you see a lot of them coming up like you're like that guy's gonna have it this guy might have

00:40:20.500 it i'm going to like this new comic that does this so i mean he's already kind of established

00:40:26.360 but one of my favorite dudes to watch just because i find it incredible what he does is josh johnson

00:40:30.940 okay um like just just because it's it's unheard of to be able to shoot a comedy special every

00:40:36.680 week right that's just nuts like you know um he just takes whatever's going on in the news and

00:40:42.580 what's going on in society and it goes up and it and again i don't know what the process is

00:40:46.900 i don't know if he just just shows up and just shoots i think he shoots three of them and shoots

00:40:51.500 one right or just goes up into but josh johnson for me i think is is probably the the next and

00:40:57.600 and he's already there but i think to me i think he's the next blow up because he's especially

00:41:03.080 with what's going on in the world yeah to be able to yes to um synthesize all of that information

00:41:09.360 and turn that into comedy, I think, is a beautiful thing to watch.

00:41:13.180 How about you, Dave?

00:41:14.140 There's multiple.

00:41:15.340 Malik El-Assad, Emil Joaquin.

00:41:19.440 Malik's hilarious.

00:41:20.400 Yeah, they're just kind of like, I mean, they're not really on the come up.

00:41:23.880 Yeah, it's hard to say.

00:41:25.480 They're more established, but they're just not.

00:41:27.320 They're there, yeah.

00:41:28.160 Yeah, they just have like a person or who they are,

00:41:33.100 and you just have a really good, they've gotten their point of view,

00:41:37.660 and it clearly comes across in their stand-up it's funny i mean he's not he's there but like i

00:41:43.420 like when you said who i love watching i love watching nathan mackintosh i love nick and

00:41:48.260 deborah giovanni both those two watching not they've already they're very established and

00:41:53.520 i'm not thinking they're on the come up at all uh it's more of like when you it because you said

00:41:58.940 who i love to watch i was like oh those are two i was like they're just like a i can't even like

00:42:04.420 they just kind of like it's funny nate uh we ended up doing the the hubcap festival and again it was

00:42:10.300 like like average temperature every day we would walk to sobeys in the morning and then like hit

00:42:15.440 the gym and then like we would follow each other to each other's shows and uh it was minus 30 or

00:42:20.440 something ridiculous i had in moncton and some like tiny bar where like you know they still had

00:42:24.540 the hockey game on and yeah and the mic wasn't working and he told and and he told this bit so

00:42:30.840 passionately about um him and his brother running up porn charges on when they had super channel

00:42:37.720 back in the day on first choice or whatever yeah yeah yeah and his mom getting the the bill uh and

00:42:44.840 to watch him tell that with the conviction that only nate mcintosh can was literally yeah it's

00:42:53.020 a beautiful work of art man i think the three of us and i'm gonna keep it just canadian uh i'm

00:42:59.740 gonna say uh same with nate i love nate nate will do a subway bit and i will watch it like clapping

00:43:05.680 so proud on nate mcintosh and mike rita oh yeah mike rita is my guy because i'm just like i i see

00:43:13.260 him walk into rooms where he looks nervous and just destroys it so you do like i think like um i've

00:43:19.820 i'll mention jared campbell as well because he's just like very but uh with mike i remember we're

00:43:25.240 windsor on a just for laughs roadshow and windsor is like that's where i grew up but they're like

00:43:30.120 it could be a problem sometimes even at a just for laughs theater show i'm like these guys are

00:43:35.000 they just like on one even if it's like a theater it doesn't even matter and i think rita um he was

00:43:41.400 doing well he was hosting but i think he came back he goes man what's wrong not what's wrong

00:43:45.080 with these people i forgot what he said i was like i was like bro these windsor this is like

00:43:49.080 savages out there yes like you know what i mean they don't even care if it's a theater show right

00:43:53.400 and then he the way he adjusted in the second half was just too professional it was like you

00:43:58.520 know that's that's yeah not that he was he was doing great it's just that he made the adjustment

00:44:03.160 he made like this uh minor adjustment and it just brought it like yes um because it's like a rowdy

00:44:09.560 because you know those jfl road shows most of them like they're like theater people love going to

00:44:13.160 theater so there was no issues until windsor yeah border towns are completely different

00:44:20.920 completely different vibe yeah yeah you gotta the views of windsor uh expressed by dave merhaj

00:44:25.960 are not necessarily those of john paul well you guys have heard it right here i i could talk to

00:44:31.920 these guys all day i got the island hipster here dave merhaj in town uh yours truly jay martin we

00:44:38.060 are here at true patriot love for everyone you knock on tplmedia.ca make sure you check out all

00:44:45.520 the stuff we have there keep it locked here for some of the best comedians in the world

00:44:48.680 This is All Jokes Aside, I'm your host, Mr. J. Martin.

00:44:51.940 Who's Red Fox?

00:44:53.160 That's that older guy, Sanford and Son.

00:44:56.000 We'll see you next time.

True Patriot Love - April 15, 2026

Comedy Got Softer？ ft. Dave Merheje & Jean Paul

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