No I.D.
Comedian Jerome Davis hosts No I.D. Podcast — the show where real conversations meet raw comedy. Each episode dives deep with comedians, creators, and culture shifters, exploring everything from life and career to art, mental health, and surviving the grind — all with sharp humor and zero filter.
If you’re looking for real stories, unfiltered interviews, and laughs that hit different, this is your podcast. No scripts. No fluff. No I.D. required.
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No I.D.
Camp Jokes, Real Laughs W/ Ed Phillips
Smoke-filled sets, long quiet drives, and the stubborn joy of getting the joke right—this conversation with comedian and writer Ed Phillips digs into the parts of comedy most people skip. We start with the real: improv roots at a Virginia Beach Cinema Cafe, the three-month wait to get a shot, and how those early reps shaped his timing, listening, and confidence on stage. From there, Ed explains how sketch sharpened his structure and why his best stand-up sticks close to lived moments—like a Blue Ridge camping trip that became a vivid bit about fear, friendship, and a maybe-bear.
We talk craft without fluff. Ed breaks down how he studies specials and sets across HBO, YouTube, Hulu, and beyond, pulling lessons on economy, escalation, and callbacks from comics like Sinbad, Mitch Hedberg, Josh Johnson, and Ramy Youssef. Mentorship takes center stage too. Honest notes from veterans like Mike East Mill cut years off the learning curve: kill weak tags, fix the angle, and don’t post half-cooked material just to feed the algorithm. There’s wisdom in letting a joke live in rooms until it’s ready for the internet.
Then we zoom out to the 757 scene. Producers are building better rooms, comics are pushing past the comfort of hometown applause, and the real growth comes from traveling—testing whether your voice lands outside your zip code. Ed shares wins (hosting at BlurCon with Orlando Jones), losses (that “brave” compliment every comic dreads), and the recovery rituals after smoke-lounge gigs and late nights before a 6 a.m. shift. Through it all, his philosophy stays simple: write honestly, perform widely, learn quickly, and dress sharp because it’s you—not a bit.
If you care about the craft—how jokes are built, how scenes evolve, and how comics keep going after the rough nights—hit play. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves stand-up, and leave a review with the best lesson you learned or the biggest bomb that made you better.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the No ID Podcast. I have comedian, writer, uh, the creator of Commonwealth comedy, Funko Pop enthusiast, original Power Ranger enthusiasts. I see the Red Ranger right there. So you definitely was in the game for a long time. I met this man back in January during the Last Word Festival. We just did a show with each other about a couple of weeks ago at the Teller Smoke Lounge in Newport News. He was the sharpest man dressed between all of us that night. I got my comedy brother here, the one and only, Ed Phillips. What's going on, brother?
SPEAKER_00:Hey, too much, man. I appreciate you having me on. I'm excited to be here. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Hey, let's rock out, man. How's everything been since Taylor Smoke? I know we would talk about it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I'm uh I'm still airing my clothes out after that one. It was a good time. It was a good time. I I definitely learned a lot, got a lot of uh experience from the show. So, you know what? We're gonna we're gonna track it up as a win.
SPEAKER_01:It is a win because I I I liked the show and I like the fact that Cletus was asking us about like how we feel about the show, and he was like, oh, we can work on this, we can work on it. That's that's one of the things that I uh appreciate about you know the comedians, the vets that's been in it for the longest, and just say, man, I'm gonna reach out to the young bloods. Cause me and you was like, we're like babies compared. Like two babies up there trying to hold our own, trying to fight for our life. I was laughing because when I walked in there, I said, Yep, I'm about to stink for the rest of the night.
SPEAKER_00:I was, you know, it wasn't at the beginning, it wasn't uh it wasn't that smoky. And I was like, I might be able to I might be able to wear this stuff tomorrow. And like by the time I was leaving, I was like, I don't know. I might have to go back to Target on this one.
SPEAKER_01:I think in the back, it was like that that group of guys, man, they just started change smoke. I was like, oh yeah, I'm about to die.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, their first time out there, I think they said, so they were they were doing everything.
SPEAKER_01:It was a fun experience, man. So tell me, man, how how did you get into comedy, man? How how did that start?
SPEAKER_00:Um, yeah, so I I've been uh performing since like 2015. Got I've always like been interested in comedy, but I really got started in improv. Uh I don't know what I don't know what part uh of the state you're in, or if you want to say that because you know people on the internet crazy. Okay. Oh yeah, me too. All right, yeah. Um but yeah, it was a um Cinema Cafe in Virginia Beach, and they used to do a weekly improv show. And when I was in college, I used to go and watch the show, and the the guy who ran it, um, you know, just to say, like, hey, if you want to try it, come talk to me afterwards. So I probably I watched the show for like maybe a year, like a year and a half before I hit him up, and I'll never forget, because it was like October, it was like right before Halloween. I went up and I was like, Alright, I'm ready to try it. Put me on. And he said, Okay, he did not text me for three months. And the whole time I was like, Alright, yeah, I guess that's just it. I guess I just don't do it. But yeah, he uh he gave me a shot in like January of the next year. Uh and then kind of just went from there. I was doing an improv, and then uh pretty soon after that I got into stand-up, and then right around the same time started doing sketch comedy. Just yeah. Kind of went from there, man.
SPEAKER_01:I got you. So who were some of you like influencers like while doing comedy? Because you got a variety from improv to stand-up to sketch. Like who that's a that's a lane that you only really see like folks like D Milliton or Philip Wilson go into that I've that I can remember. So like who was like that that influenced you to do it?
SPEAKER_00:I think if I'm if I'm going back to like the like my very first like comedy influence, that's probably Sinbad. Because like me and me and my dad, so my dad, his friend uh Troy, who used to work with him, he gave him a uh a VHS bootleg of Sinbad's uh Afros and Bell Bottoms, and he brought that home from work, and I watched that with him, and from that point on, I was like, oh, com this comedy is dope. Like, I like this. So, you know, really from there, like I kind of couldn't get enough of it. So it was like I watched a lot of people. I mean, you know, I know Chappelle is here and there in the modern day, but definitely at the time that I was getting into it, um, I did like him. Uh definitely liked Sinbad. I liked Man, what's his name? Mitch Headburg. He was just weird. Like Mitch Headburg was just he was weird and he was like still funny and he was something different. So like I liked him a lot too. Um but I think a lot of my more like modern influences, um, oh and and then also I guess like back in the day I did like Whose Line Is It Anyway, because that was really the only like unless you were going to see a live improv show, Whose Line was really the only way you were seeing improv. Yeah, a lot of my modern influences, I like um I like Josh Johnson, I like Rami Yusuf, uh Ben Schwartz and Thomas Middle Ditch. Like they did the Middle Ditch and sports on Netflix, uh the improv thing, and that was pretty cool. Yeah, I mean it's just uh it's a lot of influences, man. It's a lot of a lot of people that you can learn from.
SPEAKER_01:I like it. You got a mixture, man. You went from whose line anyway to Mitch. Mitch. Mitch will go up there and be like, yeah, uh the L the escalator's broke. There's no such thing as a broken escalator because it's just steps.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, exactly. I think that's the thing, is it's like I I I like his perspective of like, it's just uh yeah, it's just funny. It's like like you said, like it's like how's escalator, broke? You still use it, you still go where you need to go.
SPEAKER_01:Still can walk up the steps. That's dope, man. Your first comedy show you did he took you three months to get a text back.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Was there a time, and I'm being honest, was there a time that you thought about like actually leaving comedy? I'm like, you know what, this this ain't it. Because I think about quitting all the time. I'm not gonna lie to you.
SPEAKER_00:I was gonna say, honestly, it it is one of those things where like when I'm in the like the creative process, that is the most fun piece of it to me. Like when I'm sitting down and I'm writing and I'm working out a new idea, that is the time where I'm like, I can do this forever. And then, yeah, sometimes you have a show and you're like, maybe I'm done. Maybe I don't do this anymore. You're driving home, you're like, maybe, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, maybe it's time to hang it up.
SPEAKER_01:That long ride home with no music on. You're like, yeah, I'm gonna go home. I don't think I'm gonna do this tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00:I remember I one time I did a show in Petersburg, which is like about four hours from here, and it did not go well. And yeah, that whole ride back, I was like, you know what, man? I just drove eight hours to Bong. Like, I don't know. Maybe this isn't it, maybe this isn't for me, maybe I'm done, but I always uh I always end up coming back to it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, man. I think I drove to Petersburg one time, did my cuzzo show, drove four hours to get there. I get up there, I was supposed to do 10 minutes. All I can remember is a good five to seven minutes of it. Bomb to I'm like, no. They was like, you gonna take a picture? I said, No, I'm I'm gonna go home. I'm gonna go home. I don't want to be here no more.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, y'all don't need to know I was here. That's okay. That's okay. I'm gonna hit out.
SPEAKER_01:You get that one encouraging person, you'd be like, asshole. You'd be like, yeah, man, you did good, man. You was good. It's like, no, I wasn't. Don't lie to me, bro.
SPEAKER_00:I man, I remember I did a show in Richmond one time, and somebody came up to me after the show, and they were like, hey man, I just want to let you know that was really brave. I was like, you know, get away from me right now. Don't tell me, don't tell me that was brave. That's the worst thing I can hear. I'm brave. It's like, wow, you went up there with that material? That's brave. That's brave.
SPEAKER_01:Damn. That was brave. I think I got uh you were so cute up there. I'm like, shut up, shut up, shut up. I'm waiting for my Uber. Shut up. Shut up. I got a mentor. I sent him my video. He was like, you did alright. It wasn't your best. I was like, duh. Like, I know how bad it was.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, I you know, I'm glad you said that too, because like that's something I feel is is really necessary in comedy. It's like you gotta have a mentor, like a person that you can really like bounce off of, and also that they're just gonna be real with you. Like, because it's hard, it's hard to find that. Because it's like nobody wants to hurt anybody's feelings. Um, but at the same time, I do want my feelings hurt because I don't want to be bad. I would rather have my feelings hurt than keep doing something that's bad. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01:It's great. Do you have a mentor currently?
SPEAKER_00:Or yeah, I think the if I if I'm looking at like the one guy that has really helped me the most in comedy, that's probably my friend Mike East Mill. He's been performing for a long time. Like he gets up to like New York, and like every once in a while he can go out of the country and do something. But like he is the person who like I really, really value his feedback and what he says. Like when I was like starting to run rooms and stuff, he was right there with me, like saying, All right, yeah, this sounds good, all right. You know, that doesn't sound good, but at the same time, like he's not there to just hold your hand, like he's there to help grow. So, like, that's the thing I really appreciate about Mike. It's like he's there to help you grow, and also he'll keep it real. Like, if you if I message him and I'm like, hey, I'm working on this new bit, I don't think that's it.
SPEAKER_01:My mentor is James Cooper from the venue on 35th Street. Okay, yeah, same thing. I go in there on Thursdays, like, alright, I know what's about to happen. And he'd be like, You did good, could have been better. One day, I know I'm doing good. He'd be like, get your ass off my stage. That's when I know my set and hit. I can take it out, I can tour it around and everything like that. So I know I'll be straight.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:What's like like your material, man? You was breaking down that's my dog, my dog. That's your dog. Okay. I'm like, I know I ain't got nobody in the house right now.
SPEAKER_00:So it's about to be a foul footage podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Boy, this is some paranormal activity. I'm gonna I love you, but I'm I'm getting off this thing quick. Your material, brother. You had a joke about a camping, a bear? You went camping, brother, for real?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I did. I did go camping. Dog ain't barked all damn day. Truly just been on the phone on the couch sleeping for like two hours and I ain't gonna get active. But uh, I did, you know, I like uh I have a lot I have a lot of friends, I have a lot of like friend groups also. So like I got like my comedy friends, I've got like kind of my college friends, um, like my more like modern friend group. So it's like uh a lot of friend groups, but they don't really overlap a whole lot. So it's like if you see me like hanging out after a show, he'd be like camping, but uh of of like a lot of different friend groups. But yeah, I um it was for I think it was for my friend Kendall's birthday, is what happened. And uh it was for my friend Kendall's birthday, and yeah, we went up to the Blue Ridge Mountains, and that was just like it's one of those things where it's like was I if I was picking the birthday activities, it's never what I would pick. But also I try to be an involved friend when I can be. So yeah, I was like, yeah, I'll go camping without this. I can do that. It's only two and a half days, I can make it work. But yeah, that was really where the like that a lot of that joke came from. And it was like uh a lot of that is pulled from that camping trip. But it's like it's like a mix of like the stuff that happened while we were up there and also just like the thoughts that I was having surrounding the entire thing. So, like, whenever I'm writing, like I love when I can do something like that, or like I can really pull like a real experience and kind of like stretch it out and extrapolate on it and just like really put the audience in my head as like to how I was interpreting everything that was happening.
SPEAKER_01:That's what I like, man. Because you you gave the real on the two, I think two times I've seen you perform. Well, it's only been two times, to be honest with you. It was last word and the smoke lounge. Because you see, like you hear like a lot of comedians go up there and just start, as the young folks say, cap a lot. And I'm like, this isn't believable to me. I don't believe it. I looked at Ed, he was talking about camping. I said, he started going more and more in detail. I'm like, oh, this man has been camping. You know what I mean? He did he's not camping. I'm like, because I was sitting there, you know, I'm awkward when I'm after a show or during a show. Like, I'm just staring off in the space, listening. And I'm like, I was like, he's bold to tell this joke about him camping. Because I'm like, I didn't know. You know, we don't we don't camp. We saw Friday the 13th, we refuse to go in the woods now, you know what I mean? So I really appreciate that when it comes to your material. So a lot of your material is just real life stuff, just flipping into like a perspective, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I like I really I try to use the like what actually happened as the base of the material. And like, no shade to like people who just like to, you know, to make up a situation or whatever. Like that's cool too. Um I definitely have like jokes like that, but my favorite thing to do is really just pull that real world thing and like take you through what I was experiencing, how I was feeling while that was happening, and everything. Because I feel like that is it's it's fun for me, honestly, um, to write that, but I feel like it's also more relatable to to really like put you in what was happening rather than like just making something not. Because I mean, like I said, I do sketch comedy also, so like definitely can make stuff up, but that's what is the most fun to mean.
SPEAKER_01:It is, it is, it definitely is that realism comedy. So I think that's what a lot of people miss on, and I might be going veering off. I think a lot of people try and go to that, like, well, let's try and do a kill Tony Joe Rogan type thing, which is no shot at them, but do it your lame. But I be watching it and I'll be like, yo, this I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. You don't even seem edgy. You seem you, you know, you got that clean attire, like you was like a like anybody know Ed came in fresh to death. And I've never seen this man without a fresh outfit. Hell, his shirt is fresh right now. That's that that is that's the Gambino. See what I mean? Like it's he has that like Donald Glover kind of appeal to him. You could just tell Ed it comes from a real place. Seriousness, and his dog just loves the hell out of him.
SPEAKER_00:He doesn't like when people walk around outside. Uh he's very very protective, very protective dog, but also very scared too. So, like, if someone ever actually did break in, I think he would run away.
SPEAKER_01:I want a dog, but I don't have to but it's a lot of dogs, hmm? Have you ever like travel? Well, you told me about the Petersburg. So as far as like traveling and stuff, because you guys got a lot of sketch improv festivals out there, a lot of stand-up comedy you know festivals out there. Have you already started tapping in? Because like I said, we met at last. That's Williamsburg, that's an hour away from us, two hours at the most. Have you done any big festivals or shows outside of the the Virginia area yet?
SPEAKER_00:Or I'll get booked to do something every once in a while. Like I I did the um I did a comedy show at BlurCon, and that was the year that Orlando Jones was there. So that was pretty cool. I got to like host for him and intro him and everything, and like that was uh that was a fun time. But yeah, most stuff I I kind of stay within like so of Norfolk now. Just because like my life is different and I'm older, so it's harder to uh it's harder to get farther away. But I do still like apply to festivals. Um I think we my comedy group, we got into festival, but it was in Chicago, it was not that long ago, but we got into that. We had a group that went up there for that, but my schedule did not permit it, so I didn't get to go over to that. But yeah, I'm always looking for like uh festivals or like opportunities to kind of get out of the area because I feel like that's really the the true test of the material. Because if you're like really locked into one area, you kind of only learn how to work a certain a certain number of rooms or a certain group of people, and it's not good for your comedy growth. So, like the the more audiences and the more places that you can get in front of, that's what's gonna be the most beneficial for you.
SPEAKER_01:That's true. I feel like some of us get like complacent on trying to be the big dog of the the Hampton Rose comedy and be like, Well, I'm getting bought here, I'm getting booked here, you know. I'm like, well, go outside. Like, it's nothing like going outside of your home state and doing a show and doing good, and it's nothing like going outside of your home state and bombing.
SPEAKER_00:Like I said, man, Petersburg only four hours away, and I like driving back from that. I was like, maybe I should quit. Maybe I should give it up.
SPEAKER_01:I drove the I ain't I took the train to Connecticut and did the Mohegan and did Comic Roadhouse inside of the Mohegan Sun for last comic standard. They put me on first, they put me on first, and I hate I used to hate going on first. I really despised first. First was like, hell no, I ain't going first. They put me on first.
unknown:First is hard.
SPEAKER_01:I stumbled towards the end and lost to a guy and a girl. The girl said that Michael Mets was a sexy ginger, I wish I could remember her name. And another guy was over there talking about doing coke on us at an amusement park. I'm like, how did I lose? And then I looked at myself, like, yeah, that's I lost. The jokes didn't just, they was hitting, and then I just, I think it was a five-minute set, and I think around like probably like uh three three minutes in, I was like, Yeah, I'm fucking this one up. I'm not playing. And then I had the nerve. I had the nerve to pay for the video to come. I was like, I'm gonna post it anyway. I chopped that damn video up so I can only get like the part that was so good. I was like, I got the most laughs at, that's the one that's going online. And I was like, nah, we good, man. Rode that train for 12 hours there, paid for a hotel, and rode the train out 12 hours back. I spent 24 hours on the train for five minutes, and uh about two minutes of that was bombing. I was like, this is some bull. The booker don't even work there no more because I done reached out like, yeah, it's been two years, man. I didn't grow. This is my videos. I ain't heard nothing from that booker, man. It's like, yeah, he ain't there no more. I was like, I can see why he shouldn't have booked me there. That's the problem. Man, is there a comedian out there that you would like to work out with, work with? Or like, have you ever been starstruck by a comedian that you work with? You said Orlando Jones. That's mad TV, ain't it? That's yeah, yeah. Dr. Lee.
SPEAKER_00:Sit the drum line himself. Yeah, I don't I don't think I've ever been starstruck by a comedian. I've definitely um I mentioned Rami Yusuf earlier. I think he's one I would definitely like to work with. So I think his like his stand-up is strong, but he's also a very strong writer. So those are like I don't know, that's something like he's a person I would really like to work with. I used to really be on like SNL, and I would be like, man, if I get to SNL, that would be that would be cool if I get to SNL. But the more I look, um, it's just like they're not really they're not really checking for people like us. You know, it's like they'll let Keenan do stuff, but a lot of the other black cast members, they really just kind of stereotype them. So I don't know, I don't really feel like that's the I'm also saying that like they were reviewing my writing packets anyways. Um but yeah, I think if if I had to pick one, it would be uh Rami Yusuf. I don't know if you haven't seen he's got like the the show on Hulu, he's got like two specials on HBO now. Uh and then he got like a new animated show on Amazon Prime not that long ago. So like I mean he's doing a lot of stuff, but uh yeah, definitely it would be them.
SPEAKER_01:I know who Rami is. I watch a lot of stuff. I just watched the season premiere of Saturday Night Live. Cam Patterson was up there, it was his debut, it was his debut, and I didn't know how it was gonna work, but he did the weekend update with Michael Che. And I was like, okay, let's let's see how this works, you know what I'm saying? Because for people out there, Saturday Night Live is a show that I would love to be on as a comedian, uh or even as a writer. I would love just to get one skit. I don't just one. And uh a couple of years ago, somebody showed me how to download the packet, the send and stuff like that. I just ain't done it yet.
SPEAKER_00:I'm just bullshitting, but I have uh I sent a lot of those. I sent a lot of those in. I sent a lot of late night writers packets in. Uh I've only sent maybe one or two for SNL, but um it's hard. I mean, because ever that's what everybody wants to do, you know. Like that's the it's a lot of competition.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, you see Josh Johnson just killing it on the Daily Report, and this man is a a genius. Like, he'll like a sum can drop the day of his show. He already got a like a good 30-minute set.
SPEAKER_00:I was gonna say, I feel like he puts out like uh an hour a week sometimes. Like that's crazy.
SPEAKER_01:Man, I just was watching something of his. Like, this is the reason why the podcast started. We was me and people don't know, me and Ed were supposed to do this at 2 o'clock today. I pushed it back. I got stuck at the gym watching comedy. Like, you know how you be on the treadmill. I was on the I was on the stairs, I was watching it, and then I said, I'm gonna go in the sauna. I went in the sauna. I'm like, oh, Cam, I forget Antonel. Came on. I'm like, you know me, I'm not gonna watch the reel. I'm gonna jump onto Peacock and Star Watchers like, yo, I'm gonna push this interview back because it's 1.30, 140 something. I'm like, I'm not gonna get home in time to do this interview. Stuck in the trans, man. I don't know what it is, brother. Oh man. What other like you watch a lot of stand-up clips, I'm guessing a lot of writing clips. Do you just use Max, HBO Max, or Tulu? Because I'll tell you the truth, Tubi be having some some hits up there for people for us.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I was gonna say I do Tubius like the home of black created content because sometimes for good, sometimes not so good. I think because you were talking about that and uh Taylor Smoke Lounge, uh the Grin the Grinch movie was up there.
SPEAKER_01:And everybody's like, that's a fake movie, dude was like, nah, it's real. I watched it, I said, thank you, I'm not the only one.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Um but yeah, to be too be does have a lot. I used to, and this was kind of like before I don't I it feels weird to say before people took comedy seriously, because it feels like people kind of always took it seriously, like people were always interested in comedy, but I used to like catch a lot of stuff on and I do think a lot of people will still upload to YouTube. Like uh I don't know if you know Paul Elya, but Paul Ilya just put his most recent special on YouTube and I I watched that up there, but yeah, I'll check like HBO Max, Hulu. Netflix for a while was doing pretty good with getting a lot of stand-up content up there, but um like they kind of moved away from that. Uh but I know I think it was uh I think Don't Tell has a bunch of stuff on Hulu right now. I can't remember where I saw it, but I know they have a bunch of stuff up there. And then yeah, I Amazon, I feel like I'm just saying everywhere that I watch stuff, but I mean it really is. It's just like wherever it is, that's where I'll go and watch it. And sometimes I'm just watching it to have a good time, and sometimes I'm studying it, but yeah, uh I feel like you can never watch enough good stand-up.
SPEAKER_01:You gotta do like different varieties. You correct. You hit it on the money. Because I watch too before stand-up, YouTube. You're right, Netflix has moved away from comedy and scene, like I don't know, Mass.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, sorry about that.
SPEAKER_01:You good, brother.
SPEAKER_00:Um, yeah, I was gonna say I I think it was uh I think it was Netflix when they had um Matt Reif up there, they gave him like two specials. Um they kind of threw the middle finger up, but uh I don't know. I and maybe it's not fair to blame him for that, but I will say after Matt Reif, it seems like they are doing less stand-up comedy uh on Netflix. But yeah.
SPEAKER_01:No hating on Matt Reif and his journey, but he's not like one I would probably pay to go see it. Like, I'll just wait for a clip to come out.
SPEAKER_00:I was, and and that was my thing. Like, he really he blew up off that TikTok clip, um, which I mean I guess is the dream. But yeah, uh it just didn't like I I did watch his first special because I was like, let me see what this is all about because everybody's talking about Matt Wright. If I was like, I never heard this guy, let me see. Uh it wasn't it. I didn't even know if he was on Wild N Out, but I had like went and watched like some foot from him on Wild N Out, and I was like, that's not it either. But I don't know. I mean, I guess if you like him, you like him. That's cool.
SPEAKER_01:But everybody got their preferences, man. So let me let me ask this before we we close out because we keep the interviews about 30 and we are live on Facebook and YouTube. I can't get my Twitch working, but you would have been the first Twitch video. How do you feel like the state of comedy is in the 757 era? You don't gotta get too messy or don't get messy at all. But how do you feel like it is in the Hampton Rose district?
SPEAKER_00:Uh you know, I think honestly, it's a lot of people that are trying to figure it out. I see a lot of people that are really like kind of working on the craft, working to try and like push it forward and make it something new. Um, you know, I I like I see like Zach Ames and Mark Leva, like they're doing a lot of stuff. Uh Jamal Staten, he's doing a lot of stuff. Look at he's getting like the casino rolling. So it is people out there that are really trying to push it forward and to make it something that like is good and something that people will be checking for. So I definitely appreciate that because I mean, like I said, I've been doing comedy for uh 10 years, and it has not all the time been favorable. I'll leave it at that. But I think uh I don't know, I guess the new scene people are um people are putting the work in. So I think we're headed in a good direction.
SPEAKER_01:We're headed in for a good direction. I believe so, because I've been doing this six, and I guess between your 10 and my six, so when we intertwined, we was like, you know what? No, it wasn't that well, man. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:I was gonna say it was there was definitely uh there was a time period of like I I would say like 20 maybe 70, right up to COVID, where I was like, this what are we doing? But yeah, I don't know. I think the bounce back is happening. So like I said, I think we're headed a good direction.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, I think we're headed into a good direction. I got into comedy 2019, so COVID, up until I say 2023, I was like, nah, this, and I get the best advice I ever got was hey bruh, leave your home state and come back. Yeah, that's been the thing. I mean, yeah. So, I mean, shout out to those guys that's trying to, you know, make it better and trying to do their own thing. I I still that's a big salute to them. Uh, shout out to the ones that's actually supporting and stuff like that, especially because I see you at the bank almost every Sunday on Instagram live. Tell somebody's Instagram story, and you got your own wrong on Mondays, right? Yeah, uh the second and fourth Monday.
SPEAKER_00:See, I'm trying to try and do something going there too. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, man. I'm I be trying to come up there when I gotta get up at work at six o'clock in the morning, so I don't I I remember you saying at the uh the smoke lounge.
SPEAKER_00:I was like, man, yeah, you got a new laundry tonight, too. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:About damn near died that day. I went back to work. I was like, don't talk to me. Just email me, don't say nothing. Like, I came home, I gave you a little trick I use before we go. I get the VIX Vapor Rail shower tabs. Uh I leave my clothes in the garage outside, let them things air. I take my shower, wash my hair, but I take the shower tabs from VIX, I throw them at the thing. Let that sting come out, and I just start blowing my nose. And I think that after we left that that little tail of lounge thing, this has happened to me numerous times. I done weed shows too.
unknown:Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_01:The smoke would just come out of the hair and the sinuses would get cleared. And I sleep good, but it's only so long I can sleep because I gotta be up like four hours from the time.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I'm sure you uh probably got under work. They was like, you in a house fire? What happened?
SPEAKER_01:The girl came up to me and said, How was your show? Uh just email me. I don't want to talk no more, man. Oh, I want to go home. I wanna just relax, you know what I'm saying? But if anybody wants to get in contact with you or see any of your contact, or even because you just released a comedy album too on Spotify, correct?
SPEAKER_00:No, that was just uh I do that every once in a while when I have a bunch of shows coming up. I just do a little graphic and I do it like Spotify style because people will stop scrolling to look at like a Spotify post. So I try to try to smart the algorithm. Um but yeah, no, I don't I don't really have anything on Spotify. I used to post a lot of my stuff on my Facebook and YouTube and stuff, but I kind of got away from that just because I realized I was posting the material as I was working it out, and I don't want somebody to like stumble upon something while I'm in the middle of getting it right and then think that's like an accurate representation of what I'm doing. So I kind of got away from that. But I have like bits that are like more fully formed right now, so I probably should get back into that. But that was a very long way to say no, I'm not on Spotify. Uh uh, yeah. If you want to find me, you can check me out at uh Commonwealth Comedy on Facebook and Instagram. That's gonna be where like the majority of my shows show up, and that's a lot of like improv stuff. You can also find me at I put underscores in the name because somebody else had the name, but they were inactive. I don't know. Instagram is weird, but we are oh we are you can find my like my regular Instagram, Ray underscore Charles underscore Xavier on Instagram. If you like Ray Charles or X-Men, that might make you laugh. If you don't, that's just a very long name that I probably should shorten to make it more search engine optimized. But whatever, here we are. So yeah, those are the two places that you can find me the most. I do have a show coming up uh next Saturday at the Annex uh in Norfolk. So that's all improv, and I think we're gonna pull a stand-up for that, but I don't know yet. So for right now, it's all improv. If you're a Norfolk uh and you like the Annex, go check that out too.
SPEAKER_01:If you guys want to follow me, I don't have any underscores underneath none of my names. Comedian Rome on all social media platforms at ComedianRome Davis on YouTube. This is where the podcast is gonna be. And Ed does have something on Spotify. His episode of the No ID Podcast will be on Spotify and other major streaming platforms for podcasts or whatever you watch a view. Listen, uh, follow the podcast at No ID Podcast on Instagram. This episode, Ed, I really do appreciate it, my man. You know what I'm saying? I know we're gonna link up again eventually. You know what I'm saying? I may have to go to Goodfellows in Target and try and outdress you the next time I see you, because I'm like, ain't no way.
SPEAKER_00:They got a lot of good accessories. You can you can really style out.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I'm gonna get you. I'm gonna get you one day. You know what I mean? I'm gonna go for that Carlton preppy look myself, you know what I mean? Watch what I tell you. I'm gonna come in with some shit. And like, oh, good fellows. I'm not gonna kill them right now on the action figures. I got mine, but they up in storage now because I'm moving.
SPEAKER_00:But okay, okay.
SPEAKER_01:Damn, I am jealous, though. He got all the Power Rangers, he got the green, the Funko Pops. Pilgrims.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I was still like I just moved my shelves, so I'm still setting the people back up and seeing the Dragon Ball Z figures all over right now.
SPEAKER_01:And then you got the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers one. When they actually, I don't know why they became ninjas in the movie, that was like the I don't know it was a good movie though.
SPEAKER_00:I they knew what they were doing.
SPEAKER_01:They were like, we got the Yeah, the this the movie was the movie was good, you know what I'm saying? It was better than that turbo one that they put out a couple of years later. We're not gonna go into that because you know what I'm saying. I can sit there and talk about it because I thought all the Power Rangers was good, to be honest with you. Yeah, I still watch it now. Ed, man, I appreciate you, brother, coming on. We're gonna sign off on this joint, man. But anybody that's listening, make sure you support Ed and everything he does. I'm gonna be tagging his uh clips up on Instagram as a collaboration. So y'all be on the lookout. Appreciate you, Ed.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I appreciate you having me on, man.
