- It's been a week already.
(ethereal music)
I don't know how long I can do this.
(slamming)
(electronic clicking)
(ping)
- So I was born and raised in Harlem,
and it was a rough neighborhood.
As a kid, I seen people get shot, stabbed,
or even do drug deals in front of me.
As a kid!
Even though I grew up in a rough neighborhood,
I was always the one that loved making people laugh.
I was the funny one out of my friends,
I was the class clown, and I loved making my family laugh.
Growing up, my favorite comic,
I'm gonna be honest with you, was Chris Rock.
One of the most fondest moments
I have in my life was sitting down and
just watching Chris Rock doing his standup,
and enjoying that time with my father.
- So when you white, the sky's the limit.
When you black, the limit's the sky.
(audience laughing)
- When I lived in Harlem,
I always tried to mind my own business,
but living in the hood,
it's like living like a crab in a bucket.
If you try to live a good and honest life,
people will try to pull you into trouble.
I knew at the time if I stayed in New York,
things would not end well for me.
Good thing my best friend, Jeffrey,
convinced me to join the Navy.
When I joined the Navy, I became an aircraft director
on the USS Ronald Reagan.
I was part of the Iraq War and the war in the Afghanistan.
During these wars, we eliminated the Taliban generals.
In 2011, we were the first responders
to a deadly tsunami which happened in Japan.
This was the operation that broke the camel's back.
When we arrived, we went through a radiation cloud
and the whole ship was contaminated,
including the ventilation and the water.
The contamination was so bad,
sailors to this day are still
suffering from health problems.
After that experience, I knew it was time to leave the Navy
and pursue something I love, which is comedy.
I left the Navy and I started doing standup,
but there was one problem.
I was afraid of public speaking.
How the hell am I gonna do this
being afraid of public speaking?
So I saw a Kevin Hart special, Let Me Explain, and
there was a moment he was walkin' out and
he had a heartbeat and looked scared and he looked nervous,
and he went out there and he talked to 30 thousand people,
and I said, "You know what?
If he could do it, I could do it, too."
So I got off my ass and I did it,
and I did it over and over and over again.
And while I was doing standup,
I started doing videos, so it was video and standup.
The problem with doing videos and standup is
there's no money.
Around 2016, I met Jenny Lorenzo.
At the time, she was a Buzzfeed producer,
creating this video right here.
I hope you sleep by yourself.
Ruh-bah-bah-bah-bah.
(laughing)
The video hit and Buzzfeed offered me a residency,
which meant that I had to move
from San Diego to LA with no money.
And moving to LA with no money was no joke.
I don't even know what I'm doing.
(ethereal music)
For the first couple of months,
I was couch-surfing, I was sleeping in my car,
I even stayed in cockroach-infested apartments.
I had to learn how to direct,
shoot, add, write, set up lights,
and I didn't know how to do any of that.
But when it comes to pursuing your dreams,
you gotta do whatever you need to do.
While I was sleeping in my car,
I was still able to create amazing videos.
(slamming)
(speaking Spanish)
(cheering)
My mentality was, if the they don't hire me,
it wasn't become of me, because I gave it all.
After I got hired, I still had to keep proving myself,
and even though it was hard,
I kept being authentic to myself.
After a certain time, I kept working, creating videos.
I started reaping the rewards
from all this hard work I was putting in.
The best thing for me is being invited to VidCon,
being invited to NYU to speak at panels,
going to Miami to speak to journalists.
Like, all of this came about just because I didn't give up.
I'm super happy I'm part of the Pero Like family.
I had the biggest year of my life this year,
and I know that next year is gonna be even bigger.
(upbeat music)
(ping)