Ep 871 : Comedy Gives Back With Co-Founders Zoe Friedman and Amber J. Lawson.

All right, it's another episode of Let There Be Talk Special Edition, a Friday episode, which I never do. Introduce Introduce yourselves, ladies. >> I'm Zoe Freriedman, one of the co-founders of Comedy Gives Back. And I'm Amber Jay, one of the co-founders of Comedy Gives Back. >> Explain to everybody what Comedy Gives Back, just so the audience will know right away. >> Yeah, so easily said, "We are the safety net for the comedy community." If you know what Music Cares does for musicians, if you know what the Entertainment Community fund does for actors and performers, then you understand what we do for comedians. We're the safety net. We're there when the [ __ ] hits the fan for comedians, when life hits the fan, as it has for so many of us, uh not just comedians. So, we're there when the when life gets really tough. And we're there to help, you know, with emergency crisis uh scenarios, help them keep housed, >> healthy, >> healthy, and happy. But we can't we can't make sure comics can be happy. But we can at least >> therapy. >> Now I kind of remember during COVID that you guys were actually uh emailed everybody which was amazing that hey if you need some money we have some money for you. >> We did we had we had we started not as a pandemic relief organization. We were ready to open our doors January 2020 to help comedians just like music cares. Hey, I'm a comedian. Uh, my partner got sick. I had to cancel gigs and I fell behind. Can you help bridge so I can stay housed or my health insurance or whatever? And we, you know, that was the original vision. That's what we do now. But when pandemic hit, we became a pandemic relief organization. We helped over a thousand comedians in a shorter span of time, which is far far more comedians uh touching far more comedians appropriately than we would in a normal year doing more of these emergency uh crisis relief, right? So yeah, we gave money out to over a thousand Canadians and two two grants to some and well it was you know we were an overnight sensation 10 years in the making. We have always married comedy, charity, and digital. So that was kind of our first iteration when we started in 2011. And uh and we shifted into this nonprofit model and went back right back to our roots when the pandemic hit. So on what was it? April 4 44 at 400 p.m. we did comedy gives back Laugh Aid and had 80 comedians talking smack for eight hours and we raised ultimately over a million dollars. Yeah, that night half million dollars, 4,000 individual donations, >> which says to me people care about comedy and people care about comedians because we're not talking about corporations, although we got some of that, but we're talking about individual donations that really like I think people realize, oh, I didn't real, right, the rug was pulled out from every live performer. There were no clubs. The clubs on Zoom hadn't started. So, we were really happy to be able to help so many people because it really put us on the map in a different way than um not I mean now because now we're on the map, but that really did kind of expedite our uh our ability to to help and support that many comedians at one you know in one year. Well, I I think that what a lot of people don't know is, you know, they see comedians on an Instagram or a Tik Tok or a YouTube and they they got two, three million, four million views on a clip and they may assume that this person is famous and and rich. And in this world of uh comedy, it it seems like everybody's on TV and loaded, you know, but in reality, there is a massive gap between the upper 25, 30 comedians and the average working comedian. And I always tell people, you know, at any time a comedian could be one flat tire away from the entire [ __ ] thing disintegrating on them because you're constantly gambling on yourself. You're working, you know, 17, 18 hours a day, posting clips, writing material, doing gigs, and you know, one club owner rip you off and holy [ __ ] you're you are it it's a it's a tumble, man. And so to have a comfort of like, okay, I this club didn't pay me and uh the guy ran out of town and you guys could help him, you know. [clears throat] Sorry. Sorry. I'm I'm plugging in. Sorry. Okay. Sorry. Don't look at me that way, Amber. J. Um, yes, you are right. It's one flat tire away from total uh unraveling of a well-laid foundation, right? Like we have no idea what's happening in people's lives. And that's true. What you've said, Dean, is so true about a our country. Like we're at a 1% and then the rest of us, you know, it's this top echelon. And the the the majority are working comedians that that make a living that work anywhere and everywhere they can, whether it be cruise ships or colleges or road gigs. There is everybody's working making people laugh. They're all eligible, you know, for comedy gives back support. But again, like people the the what what what success looks like to the outside is here's this person, but yeah, they might be living in debt. They might have some somebody's family they're supporting. You never know what people's circumstances are. And and comedians are so um you know, they're very much like they're alone on stage. You do it. you're you're very solitary creatures that don't really reach out much for help [laughter] or focus. So, it's a really hard thing to get comedians to say, "I need help." You know, there's a lot of shame and a lot of taboo. It's changing, you know, especially pandemic helped, you know, you know, level the playing field. Um, but yeah, so it's been um but yeah, right. We don't know what's going on in their lives. that one flat tire like you said or one one one sickness to take them away you know and I remember even when sinbad you know he had all sort of these health issues and he kind of had a goofund me recently and people like I don't understand he was so well let's do the math he was doing his corporate gigs but he had to stop because he had a bad back and this was before pandemic so he went a number of years not working right he doesn't do sitcoms right now doing whatever he does corporate or gigs or whatever then his back goes out he doesn't work for a couple years then pandemic happened who ever knew that was happening and then the money that had to stretch to support his whole family stretched even more and and you know people go how does that person need help you never one flat tire away Jean I mean I think that's it one [ __ ] flat tire away >> also it's a whole new world with streaming there's no [ __ ] residuals so you see somebody you go that guy was on a show for three years well yeah now there's no more mailbox money what people don't understand if you were on friends or Seinfeld or or Happy Days or or [ __ ] any of these big shows that ran for 5 10 years, you're pretty much set for life because you were getting checks nonstop in the mailbox. But now the way the business and the greed has happened, it's like, oh yeah, you work and then that's it. And it's it's a it's a whole different animal. Now you can have the outside audience to go, well, you know, that's the [ __ ] price you get. You you want to do entertainment. It's like, yeah, man, but imagine your life. You work 9 to5 every day and you come home and there's no TV or there's no, you know, comedy for to help you laugh through some bad times or no music. People that download and steal the music and think all the musicians are rich. It's really insane. If you just thought about your life for one minute without any kind of art, you would just be there listening to your wife just, you know, >> or Trump, God. >> Yeah. Right. Yeah. There's nothing nothing to um drown it out. So, >> yeah. No, it's so important. We like to, you know, save the laughter, save the music, like in the sense like protect our artists, you know, and consider them >> A artist, >> capital A. And I mean that's really when we started this we looked around and you know there was music cars musicians and actors fund now entertainment community fund for and what nothing for comedians and the business grew so exponentially so fast I don't know if we totally caught up and we obviously comics trying to explore guilds or unions not going to work we know comics are scabs by by design they are designed to work [laughter] you can't stop them so we can't do that but what we can do is support them on the back end, right? Like, so, hey, I can't pay for my insurance premium. Well, don't lose your health insurance. You're, you know, let us, you know, let us pay your premium or your Cobra, which, you know, speaking of Brody, right? Like, what was going >> to say, good transition into, >> you know, and we do this night because he losing Brody to suicide was the straw that broke the camel's back for us. It made us know comics needed to be taken care of, but it was so acute that we he wasn't the first. He's not going to be the last person. and comedian we learned leads to suicide. But we realized that that you know these other organizations exist. And when we learned that Brody lost his health insurance because his show was cancelled, right? He had the two seasons of a show. That's great. Good insurance. SAG After got it. Enjoy it. Like he was probably on Cloud9. He had some good doctors. He was in a good role. his show gets cancelled, which I'm sure hits on a a heart level for comedian anyway, even though it's part of the game, you know, part of the journey. And then he had to switch doctors because he couldn't afford the Cobra because Cobra is like extreme ripoff. >> And we weren't around then. Not to say that we could have changed the outcome of Brody's life, that mental illness, mental illness, but if we were able to pay his Cobra for a year, if we were around and he was able to stay with those doctors, who knows, right? We don't know. But because of the that the the sort of obstacles that come for the comedian's life, he lost his health insurance. He switched doctors. They knew it was going to be darker before it got better. And I don't, you know, and that that's the night it, you know, it happened. It got too dark for him that night to handle it. And we don't want to lose one more. And we do we do like suicide prevention like, you know, webinars and we do it. I mean, two people show up and yet then somebody takes their life the next day. So, we know that the problem's not obviously solved. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of changing our mental taboo, you know, that stigma that that suicide has for people. And if we continue to let it be a taboo, we're doing a disservice to everybody. Um, anyway, so that's why we get together every year on 818 because Brody was, as you know, the 818 comic. He was from the valley. He was from Rita. He was a valley boy. 818 all the way. And we are honoring him and the mental health and wellness of comedians every year when we have this comedy benefit, the friendship uh the festival of friendship comedy. It's a lot of words comedy benefit which with an amazing lineup. And Dean, you were there first saying yes from the beginning. You understand I mean you you're friends with Brody and you understand the the journey so well. Of course, you live it. Um, but we're so grateful for your support, Dean, the night. >> Well, uh, I want to tell everybody it is this Tuesday night. It's 8:18, August 18th. Uh, we've been doing this for years. And, uh, I will tell everybody this right now. At no point did I think that this would ever happen uh, with Brody, and not even for a minute. M >> um so I mean I was with him two nights before so it you know so you just never know what people are going through and a lot of times people may think that it was part of Brody's uh character uh you know I'm doing awful and and that was just such his um his unique style of comedy. So, I just wanted to let people know you just never know what people are going through and um and also when you're dealing with um you know, medications and you're you're moving around different uh medications, it can be a complete um upside down run. And so, it's uh it's still something that just socks me in the gut. Um because it was for our our group of uh comedy store family. It was kind of the first real suicide that happened was somebody so dear to everybody. I mean in the 70s they had one there. The guy that you know took his life. He jumped off the hotel next door. And that was those pe but this was really our it wasn't like somebody from uh a distance. I saw the guy every day, every night of my life. So, it it it's still brutal, you know. Um, so yeah, you got to just uh watch out for your friends. >> And and especially in this political climate and constant non-stop negativity on social media of like, oh my god, everything's poison and the bombs are coming and and the, you know, everything's against us. I have no money. It's uh it's it's real tough out there. I really am an advocator of exercise and uh getting outside of your apartment and walking and getting sunshine and and exercising. Man, it's really really helped me. >> I think that's a good tool. Um, I think that and one thing I learned or we've been learning because of the suicide in our community and how it impacts and we've gotten calls where right we don't even know the person but they're having some trouble and one thing we did is we called 988 and for people listening if you don't know 988 it's the 911 of suicide it's the suicide crisis line and what I want to say is it can be if you're feeling It does. You don't have to even feel suicidal. It's there. They do it by text. They do it by call. Um that is a crisis line. But the one thing we learned is how to help somebody who is feeling suicidal, which was a super terrifying idea to me before because I'm a comedy producer, [laughter] you know, before starting this nonprofit. And we would get these calls and we were like, "How do we do it?" And we called 980 and we go, "How do we do it?" And they talked us through it like this person was in Nevada. We can do a home visit. We can call this number. And they walked us through the very steps that we could take at that moment to help this person. And it was amazing. It was such a tool for for us to give support where we needed. It's there for anybody. It's 24/7. It's also a text line, like I said, for people who don't want to say it out loud or feel that their roommates might hear. So, it's there and it's a great resource. And to what you were saying about you never know what people are going through, if you haven't heard from a friend in a while or they've been going through, just text them thinking of you because call them thinking of you. Let's go out. Let's take a walk. Walk with somebody. Don't, you know, tell them what they need to do. that could be the piece that gets them over that little bit right then and there because it is often just a momentary blinder that nothing can get you know so that >> um we're partnered with Dee Hirs and they do some seminars for us from time to time and one of the things we learned is not trying to turn their frown upside down but to just sit with people in their pain, which is like, you know, you got to be a pretty evolved person to be able to sit in the pain, >> but like just sit with them and listen to them and not try to solve their problem, >> but just be with them. Be with them in the moment. >> It's definitely not going to work when you're like, "Come on, dude. It'll turn around. >> Walk it off." >> Yeah, [laughter] that stuff is uh you know, I'll tell you an interesting thing. When you're a comedian, you have some big highs and big lows, but it it's funny. It's not like an ego thing or whatever, but a lot of people don't understand once in a while you'll be really in a low area. And just one like tweet of like, "Oh, I watched your clip and it made me [ __ ] laugh and sent me through the day." That could completely change a comedian's day. Like, oh god. Okay. Yeah, I've got some purpose here cuz you know it's nonstop. You ain't funny. You can suck. >> You're a goddamn hack. Your forehead's big. You look like [ __ ] You know, it's just nonstop [ __ ] slinging negativity. But once in a while, you'll get that person that'll just, as Brody Stevens would say, positive energy. And then, man, that's like a [ __ ] full tank of fuel that'll just get you soaring, you know? Yeah, >> it's wild. Okay, so it's on Tuesday night at the comedy store. How many years now uh this going on? >> This is our fifth year >> doing the night and always on the walk. >> Yeah. Got the Brody Stevens walk. We go over to the park bench that the city uh uh in >> Rita, >> it's [clears throat] right there on the uh zone there and they uh did a a bench which is amazing and I was I was there when they um inducted the bench and >> a great little spot right there. >> Yeah. And then there's a Does the restaurant still have Brody painted on it? >> Yeah, the mural. >> God, that's amazing. And uh you know it's it's a a great event. Now let's talk about who we got on this year. >> Hold on. Let's you got the lineup there. >> We do. Well, we got the great Dean Delray. We got Jay Moore. We have Adam Ray. Uh we have Ron Taylor, winner of Funny AF. We have Ben Glee, >> Elanor Carrian. >> Elanor Carrian, Cameron Espazito, Scar Brothers, Dan Levy, and >> Bowers. Yeah. >> Which, by the way, Byron Bowers just dropped a book. The The only tough thing about schizophrenia is the spelling schizophrenia. [laughter] >> Um, >> Tuesday at the store. Now, where can people donate that are around the world? >> Thanks, Dean. That's a great question. Uh, donate at comedyback.com. If you can't come to the event and you like what ComedyGivesback does, please support. Easy peasy right at our website comedygusback.com. Uh, and if you can come to the comedy store, the tickets are really reasonably priced. They're $30. It's an 8:00 p.m. show. I will say that this lineup will never happen ever again as lineups don't, but it's such a diverse in the best way possible kind of lineup of comedians and there'll be special guests and surprises uh as there always are. And it's just a great night of comedy, real strong comics. >> Also, big shout out to Tommy Godlo. >> We have to give him love. And um he always has incredible Brody Stevens merch. I wear it yearly. You've got the shirt on right now. There it is. He's got hoodies and everything. And it's a great great way to support the um memory of Brody. And uh you know, I don't think there's anyone more that is the definition of the comedy store than Brody Stevens was. You know, I think about him right now. If he was on Kill Tony, just [ __ ] shut up. God damn. You know, [laughter] he would just be going off the whole show. >> Yeah. Yeah, man. I think about him all the time when I see stuff going on like, you know, he would have done the garden with on Kill Tony because that's the, you know, that's the guy you want on all your shows. So, it's um it's uh it's you know it's it's sad, but this is a great great night, man. And every year it's fantastic. >> It's such a >> And then um Instagram comedy gives back right >> on all our socials. Yep. Follow us. >> And what is Tommy Godlo's again? It's Brody is me friend or >> No, he's Brody Walk. Um sorry, Tommy Godlo. and >> festival of friendship. >> Festival of Brody Festival of Friendship, I think. >> And for people who don't know who Tommy Godlo is, Tommy was a I think number one fan of Brody, somebody who uh live loves comedy and loved Brody and started this when we lost him. There it is. Brody Festival of Friendship. Yes. >> When we lost him, like there were distraught people because I think one thing that Brody did was he spoke about his mental health and a lot of comedians, some do, Richard Lewis did, there are the gener Mark Maron does maybe, but like he really put it out there and I think it touched so many people because so many people felt similar. It's like, you know, I see me in you. And I think Tommy's just got in and now Tommy works with us every year on this. He has great merch that he sells at the event. Um he's friend of of Comedy Gives Back. >> Great friend of ours in Comedy Gives Back and the comedy community. And Brody Brody's memory. >> Is Brody's mom still alive? >> She is. She's 93 94. >> Got it. I love seeing her. She would come to the event, you know, and also to the bench. >> Yeah. >> Awesome. Awesome. >> I love the bench. It's a breezy spot in the hot valley. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> All right, guys. Thank you so much for doing this. >> Yes. Once again everybody, comedygivesback.com. >> Go there, donate. If you can't come to the show, uh this is a uh 24/7 every day this organization is running. They are not just uh once a year at the Brody event. This is a full-time gig and it's constantly helping people out whatever kind of help they need like I said before. So, comedygivesback.com and uh thank you so much, guys. I will see you Tuesday night. >> Yay. Thank you, Dean. >> Thank you. I'll see you guys. >> Bye.