The comedian, featured on the “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” will perform at the Irvine Improv on Oct. 23. We asked him about his upcoming show.
What inspired you to pursue a career in comedy?
Getting fired (from an office job), honestly. I had my toes in stand-up, but getting fired made me jump in full force. I didn’t know stand-up was a career where I grew up. It wasn’t something I saw live – just on TV. But when I saw John Leguizamo’s ‘Freak,’ I loved it. He was Latino, like me, so I was like, ‘I can vibe with him.’
How did your “date-night comedian”-style come about?
Something about relationships came easy for me to break down and write about. Maybe it’s because I read my mom’s relationship books growing up or watched romantic comedies. When I first started, my first girlfriend broke my heart. I wrote about it and discovered my own thoughts about love and just kind of grew it from there.
You capture the absurdities of relationships. Where do you draw inspiration?
I’ve lived with a lot of couples while crashing on couches, so I just saw it. When you perform comedy, it’s mostly for couples on a night out. You can see the way that they sit, laugh, how they order drinks and how they interact with each other. You could see the layout of a good relationship – and a bad one.
