Kelly and Raul (Coconut Grove Comedy Festival) on THC - #80

Episode 80 of The Heir Cast taps into the heartbeat of Miami’s rising comedy scene with Kelly from Gold Medal Laughs and Raul Hernandez, two of the three minds behind the Coconut Grove Comedy Fest, the first comedy festival in the city since 2016.

We break down the real story behind the festival: what sparked it, the moments that made them realize Miami needed this, and why the lack of true comedy clubs has accidentally created a different kind of monster… a hungry, self-made scene where comics either leave to chase opportunity or stay and sharpen their craft until they’re undeniable.

We also dive into the bigger picture: Florida quietly producing serious talent, with even current Saturday Night Live cast members coming out of the state. This isn’t just a local movement… it’s a pipeline for the future of comedy.

From there, we get into the logistics of pulling off a full festival, what to expect this year, and even take a swing at recruiting future comedians for next year’s lineup. If you’re a comic, this is your sign. If you’re a fan, this is your front-row seat to something that’s just getting started.

🎟️ Grab your tickets here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/coconut-...

💸 Use promo code: OFFICIALHEIR for 15% off

🎤 SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
We’ll be filming a LIVE episode of The Heir Cast on Day 2 (Saturday 4/25 at 3:05 PM) during the festival—pull up and be part of it.

Tap in, support the movement, and witness Miami comedy leveling up in real time.

Subscribe, like, and follow The Heir Cast for more conversations with the people building culture from the ground up.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

You know, I I consider myself a student of comedy, right? I'm not I'm not a master. I'm not any I'm always learning, right? And one of those things is I I I look at the business side. Like especially now more than ever, I look at the business side.

SPEAKER_04 0:12

Like it's not just stand-up. We're showcasing everybody.

SPEAKER_02 0:17

We're gonna have commie magicians, we're gonna have improv. We're gonna have classes in case someone wants to learn to learn how to write a joke, learn to do improv. English, Spanish, Isacpa Seg, we're gonna have Creole. There is a potential to make things happen right now. And it's crazy because this is my the my spiel, ready, okay? We are one of four major metropolitan cities, I believe, in the United States. I believe it's New York, LA, Chicago, and I believe Miami's right there. I believe Miami's right there. And if you don't believe me, go look at all the high-rise gang build and look at all the skyscrapers that are coming out of Miami. We're growing quickly, right? And uh the one thing Miami is in need of that all those other cities don't have is we only have one real club. Back in 2022, there was this um this Instagram message that went out to a bunch of comedians like, oh, we want you to ghost write uh uh roast for my husband, da-da-da, we'll pay you$2,000. And a bunch of comedians were submitting, but the problem is they're also like submitting their bank accounts and shit like that. And a lot of them got fucked. And big time comedians, big time comedians got fucked with because it's an because they were thinking, like, oh, it's like five, ten minutes, easy ten thousand.

SPEAKER_03 1:49

This was like national.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

This is national national. It was it was a scam that was getting run by uh it was so. I guess there was like a guy who's targeting specifically comedians because it was an easy thing, easy sell, and comedians. I saying this, even the best ones you know, they're not making that great amount of money. Even the biggest. So, like a two grand offer to write like 15 minutes worth of work, it was an easy sell. Wow. And the scammer picked up a lot, he fucked over a lot of people. Jesus, that is crazy.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

That's okay, a movie.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

You can ask uh in the scene, you can ask Winton about it. Winton got it. I got it. It was crazy.

SPEAKER_03 2:28

Craziness. Yeah, well, craziness on the aircraft is how we started, is how we get it popping. Uh, welcome back, folks. Another day another pod. Thank you all so much for coming along. Subscribe, do all those things you like. Uh, today we got two friends, friends of the show, friends of me in my uh adventure into this comedy world as we interview comedians and go to comedy shows. I've gotten to meet Raul and Kelly. So now I get to introduce y'all to Raul and Kelly.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Hello.

SPEAKER_03 2:54

Hey, and we're we're here today on a mission. It's very specific uh because we're talking about something important, because the people, the fans, the world, everybody wants to know what was the last comedy festival in Miami in 2016? What was the last one?

SPEAKER_02 3:06

So that's a great question. The last large-scale comedy festival ever happened in Miami was the South Beach Comedy Festival.

SPEAKER_03 3:14

South Beach Comedy Festival.

SPEAKER_02 3:15

It was huge. So that festival, to give you some background into it, was ran by Live Nation, WME, and Comedy Central. Wow. So it was like a triple thread of like these big entertainment giants. They wanted to make comedy happen in Miami. Um, one of the reasons WME was involved, because WME, for those who don't know, was William Morrison Dever. Uh a big talent agency. They had an office here in Miami. And the CEO of that office, and I love the guy, I've actually spoken to him a few times. He wanted to bring comedy to Miami. He thought Miami, that comedy can happen in Miami and be successful. It was a good market, right? He was a little too early on that because what he was expecting was all the snowbirds, all the New Yorkers that were going to come down. And since there's a big comedy scene in New York, they thought you can transfer to Miami. Transplant. Exactly. So they brought to the Fillmore, it happened about seven times in the Fillmore. They even locked down Lincoln Road, and they would oh they'll put a stage on Lincoln Road. And at that comedy festival, they had Joe Rogan, Daniel Tosh, Chappelle. What? Will Farrell came out to it. It was a big monster comedy festival. They would even launch Comedy Central shows. They'll do like private screenings of new Comedy Central shows there. Um and then unfortunately, WME left Miami. Uh Comedy Central, unfortunately, we all see what Comedy Central's turned into now. Um, and they all pulled out. And then that was the reason for I want to say the collapse with the reason why that shut down. But and that was a really strong festival. And we haven't had something like that in Miami, hopefully, until now. That's what we're aiming for.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

I love it. And right now, you guys are striking the iron where it's hot. I think comedy's in a bubble right now. You brought it up earlier, even the biggest comedians aren't eating like that. Right now is the first time, I think, in the century, in the in the history of life of life on earth, that there's multiple stadium comics at one time. There's multiple guys doing stadiums. It's never existed.

SPEAKER_02 5:15

Never existed. That's crazy. You know, you always had like one, one at generation. I was taking over, right, yeah. Uh the first one, I know some people are not gonna believe this, was Steve Martin. Steve Martin was the first stadium comic. It was huge, right? Then to the 80s, you had Eddie Murphy kind of hit that, Robin Williams was coming into his own, and then we had like a low in the 90s, but then you know who brought it back in the 2000s? And a lot of people shit on this guy, but he he brought back comedy. Who? No, who Dane Cook. Dane Cook's huge. Dane Cook was the first big real stadium comic in the 2000s, and he doesn't get credit for that. I understand he's a complicated figure and stuff like that. What makes him complicated? What do you mean?

SPEAKER_03 6:01

Yeah, Dane Cook, like when you say Dane Cook, I think Comedy Central. Yeah. And like at that was killed when I was a kid growing up.

SPEAKER_02 6:07

Bro, I remember me and my brother watching Comedy Central Presents. Uh I I grew up, I didn't watch TRL, I didn't watch MTV. I would stay up late at night and watch like Comedy Central and Richard Pryor's sets, right? I was a weird kid, right? Uh and I remember watching my brother, two of the Comic Central presents, and being like, these are the next guys. These are clearly the next guys. One of them was Dane. That Comic Central Presents still, I watch it to this day. It's it kills me every time. And he's losing his hair. You could tell he totally got hair transparent. He went to Turkey before I did.

SPEAKER_03 6:39

Didn't cook money, baby.

SPEAKER_02 6:41

You gotta get that money. The other guy was a guy named Pablo Francisco, who I thought he was uh, I don't know if you guys remember Little Tortilla man. He used to do a lot of impersonations. Okay. Um and I thought those two were gonna be like the next jump off point. And then what actually got Dane finally really into spotlight was ironically MySpace. He was the first major celebrity on MySpace to have a million followers. Really? And he was the first one to like put like his skits and stuff like that on MySpace. It was a big deal.

SPEAKER_03 7:13

How was he using MySpace? Was he using MySpace like just like to drop content or was like he interacting with fans?

SPEAKER_02 7:18

He was interacting with fans. He he just he saw a pathway that not a lot of other comedians were doing at the time. And like he I remember he did skits with um who is the guy from Family Matters. Um uh uh he's old, he died recently. Uh comedian, glasses, the dad, not Family Matters, uh the one in San Francisco Days Go bye. Yes, Danny Tanner. Who's Danny Tanner? Um, give me an Bob Sagitt. He was doing skits with Bob Sagitt, and I was like, holy crap, and it was like a big deal. Um so I can't thank Dane Cook enough because the world we live in now, where you gotta put your bits, you gotta put all your skits, you gotta do all your sets, and have something thrown up to content online, that started with Dane Cook, honestly. He was like the progenitor to all that.

SPEAKER_03 8:11

That's cool. That's a cool so how old are you, bro?

SPEAKER_02 8:13

I am 38. Yeah, I'm old. I'm an old man.

SPEAKER_03 8:17

Minister thing killed. I appreciate I know people younger than me that are fucking bothering, bro. So you know, I didn't people in high school that were bothering. So that's good though, man. I saw the perspective you had on MySpace, because I was on MySpace, but I'm there coding, like, you know, worry about who's my top. I was looking at it from the business standpoint, like that, like how were comedians and you know, artists even using it at the time. And I remember music being on MySpace, but I never remember artists interacting with people. So that must have been crazy.

SPEAKER_02 8:43

It was crazy because I I don't know if you remember this. There were not many celebrities on MySpace in the beginning. Like they were like very Tom. Yeah, Tom's doing it. It was Tom. That's it. Tom, the ex-girlfriend that you were trying to get back with, is number two. Your actual crush was number seven, and then and then your family made up the other three.

SPEAKER_03 9:01

Yeah, that's crazy. So that's and I think of Dan Cook as an innovator because of the the characters he would do. He would do like uh uh what was the name of the fucking he would do um the BK Lounge. But he would do a Spanish accent character um he would do characters, he would do puppets, right? No, he would do puppets. He would do puppets.

SPEAKER_02 9:21

Well, he was on crank yankers. He would um crank yankers was its own thing, but yeah. Are you thinking Jeff Dunham, maybe? The jalapeno on the stick? Which can I think so?

SPEAKER_04 9:35

I think Dean Cook had a couple scares.

SPEAKER_03 9:37

The jalapeno those what I was just um referencing. Jalapeno on the stick. That's what I was referencing.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

Can I tell you something? Who do you think is the number one earner of comedians since 2005?

SPEAKER_03 9:48

Right now, I think it's Bert Kreischer, right?

SPEAKER_02 9:51

It's Jeff Dunham.

SPEAKER_03 9:52

Oh, it is Jeff Dunham still?

SPEAKER_02 9:53

Jeff Dunham as a touring company, not talking about TV, not talking about movies. Jeff Dunham is number one by far, and I'll tell you why. He had a residency in Las Vegas for like 20 years, and that is like the Mendo Bier thing right there, and it was like a sellout every time. And I'm gonna tell you the other thing. Where he really makes his bread and butter merchandise. I promise you this, and every person has seen this, everyone has seen a de a Jeff Dunham t-shirt. At least one. You've at least I kill you! I kill you, I kill you, yes. You've seen that shirt at least once in your life. I kill you, I kill you. It's crazy. Those little things, you know. I I consider myself a student of comedy, right? I'm not I'm not a master, I'm not any I'm always learning, right? And one of those things is I I I look at the business side, like especially now more than ever, I look at the business side. Like, how do people make money? How does comedy work in the financial sense? How does it work to market yourself and stuff like that? It's a very important tool. You know, it's one of the things I recommend to every comedian. I know you think that being funny is what's gonna get you ahead, but it's not. It's honestly, I hate saying this, and you can say this as a musical person, but it's 10%. It's 10% of it.

SPEAKER_03 11:09

It is people buy it, people buy people that's sales when you're that's sales, whether you're selling books, cigarettes, anything, whether you're selling vacation homes, and people are buying the product regardless. People are choosing to buy it off of you when they f relate to you and feed into your personality. And that's what's cool about the pod, but like with the artists and comedians and everything, look at the shirt, speaking of comedians with merch. Sergio, Sergio Miller. He's gonna be at uh Coconut Grove Comedy Festival, which we're here uh to promote. Uh but yeah, man, that's it's it's an extension of what you're doing. And bro, with music, bro, I can't tell you how many artists that I didn't really care for, but then I hear them say something on an interview, and like, oh, okay, that that that makes me look at this artist in a different way. And it helps me buy into them more.

SPEAKER_04 11:50

So you believe in them, believe in their mission, believe in their why, believe in in what makes them take and it makes them relatable to you 100%.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

Yes. So let's fast forward now. How do you guys put together the Coconut Grove comedy festival? Are you two behind it? What's what's going on exactly?

SPEAKER_02 12:07

There's three of us. Okay. Um, and uh I will tell you this. I might be the the cuerpo of the comedy festival. Dabba might be the heart, but the brains and the blood that moves to the comedy festival is this young lady. Kelly Kells, okay. Yes brains and the shoulders.

SPEAKER_04 12:28

On the Patreon, you'll see them.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

Uncensored. It came by. Uh Dabba had a show at uh Coconut Grove. It was an outdoor show. Uh we were doing it for another festival type thing. It was called King Strut. King Mangle Strut. It's like a little parade they do. It's a funny. King strut. Like I'm strutting. Like you're strutting King Mangle Strut. And it happens on one of the roads of Coconut Grove. They shut it down, they do a little parade, right? So we're there doing a show to promote the parade. And Dabba turned to me and he goes, Well what do you think about doing a comedy festival in Coconut Grove? Dabba, of course, has uh Mike Dabba, by the way, following Mike Dabba. Um he has a few shows in Coconut Grove, and after I did my set, I was like, you know what, bro? Let me walk Coconut Grove. And I literally, that night, while everyone else was doing their sets, I walked up and down Main Highway and started looking at shops, I started looking at restaurants, I started looking at stages, and I was like, this could happen. We can make this happen here. Because I would say, I would argue in Miami, and there's many beautiful parts of Miami, I don't think there's any better place in Miami to walk in than Coconut Grove. Because you're walking by Mission Star Restaurant, Mission Star Restaurant, a bar that's been there since the beginning of time. History. Like it's historical, it's beautiful. There's weird ass birds flying around you. Yeah, there's shade, the streets, and and it's it's a beautiful area. And it's historical.

SPEAKER_04 13:56

And it's built for pedestrians.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

And it's built for pedestrians. Important. So I was like, yeah, let's do this. I pitched to Kelly. Kelly got me and Dabba together, and we we we just started doing it. We started making it happen. At also a coconut grove staple, Flanagans. Please check out Flanagans. I don't know if you heard about it.

SPEAKER_04 14:18

The original grove, the original.

SPEAKER_03 14:19

A lot of business goes down to Flanagans. Okay, and then so coming together, uh putting like the is the name like right there at the beginning? Like, do you guys just stick with the name off the rip?

SPEAKER_02 14:30

Is it kind of like this? Uh that's totally Dabba. Tabba Dabba did the name, Coconut Grove Comedy Festival. We want to roll with it. I know it's more than 20 letters, but I don't care. It got to the point. It was Coconut Grove. Is it a roll with more than 20 letters, or you shouldn't have just uh usually yes, for those who want to start your own social media. Uh if you're gonna make a handle uh for your social media, it has to be within 20 letters. They've decided uh uh through analytics and research, and I'm not making this up. Talk to Jack GPT about this. A person will only type up to 20 letters before they give up on something. Chat, is it true?

SPEAKER_03 15:08

What's what's one of the I guess what's one of the challenges you guys first run into like putting this together? Is it hitting the venues up? How does that work? How do you approach the venues?

SPEAKER_04 15:16

To be honest, it's coordinating all of the people. It's uh we have over seven venues. Two of those venues actually have two locations in each of those venues. So it's really like nine venues. Oh and a hundred and two comics.

SPEAKER_03 15:32

So and so let's run down to the optics of the festival. So nine venues and the things are going on at all different venues and everything.

SPEAKER_04 15:39

At the same time, concurrently. Wow. So we have a certain um like show runners and room hosters that are in charge of these rooms because we can't be everywhere you know at the same time. And we're our job is to make sure that you know these comedians are getting there at the same time. So you'll have like as their coup here, and then uh at nine o'clock, and then we'll be like, okay, well, she has to get to this other show at 9 30. We're gonna have to be swapping location, swapping things, right, right, right. Like music festivals. That's our music festival. Exactly how it is. Yes. Uh it's 102 comics currently on our list.

SPEAKER_03 16:14

Wow, 102. Thanks, brother.

SPEAKER_04 16:15

You know, and and we're trying to really play homage to what comedy's about, the creative side. So it's not just stand-up. We're showcasing everybody.

SPEAKER_03 16:25

First show you guys announced was Master Debaters, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_05 16:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

But and it's not just stand-up, like like Kelly said. We're gonna have commie magicians, we're gonna have improv. We're gonna have classes in case someone wants to learn to learn how to write a joke, learn to do improv. That's cool. We're gonna have English, Spanish, Isaac Pase, we're gonna have Creole. We're representing everything about Miami because I'm tired of oh man, I'm about to go on the rank.

SPEAKER_04 16:58

Everybody is tired.

SPEAKER_02 16:59

I'm tired of Miami getting bad mouth as a bad comedy.

SPEAKER_03 17:03

Thank you, Dance Lauder. If you're listening, this is for you, but it's talking about you, dog. Not just dance. I mean, I'm getting on Miami not too long.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

That's because his boy just got fired. So I'm sorry that your boy couldn't coach the football team. Look at him.

SPEAKER_03 17:15

Oh, McDonald's, come on. Yo, wow, okay.

SPEAKER_02 17:24

Dolphins, telling you. Okay, I'm sorry that the 49ers haven't won a Super Bowl since Joe Montana, but okay, relax. Jesus. Keep smoking, Dan. You relax, all right? I love you, by the way. Please come to our comedy building, bro. He's good, man.

SPEAKER_03 17:43

This is crazy. All right, moving past that. But so you you want to reframe the idea of comedy uh in Miami because a lot of these outsiders have, I guess, and comedians for I guess I've heard a lot of comedians on a podcast say bigger comics. Kristen Stefano said it, I've heard I think Joe Liz say it. It's hard for them to come down to the Miami improvements, they'll just do the Dania because it has a whole other day of travel, it has a whole other, you know, and there's only one club out here like that's built for comedy, so it kind of deters outsiders coming in, but Miami's growing here. I've had countless comedians on the show. I go to comedy shows all the time.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

Miami's we are we are in a boom era right now, and there is a potential to make things happen right now, and it's crazy because this is my the my spiel, ready, okay? We are one of four major metropolitan cities, I believe, in the United States. I believe it's New York, LA, Chicago, and I believe Miami's right there. I believe Miami's right there. And if you don't believe me, go look at all the high rights getting built and look at all the skyscrapers that are coming out of Miami. We're growing quickly, right? And uh the one thing Miami is in need of that all those other cities don't have is we only have one real club. One real one. New York has at least seven. Chicago has not only like five or six, but they're historical, like places that SNL guys came from. And you know, LA's LA. LA has like all the entertainments. Legacy clubs. Exactly. And it's something that we are been striving and clawing and trying to make happen here to get the funding for, get the finances for. And part of doing this comedy festival is to bring all the eyes of the United States to Miami.

SPEAKER_04 19:27

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:28

And band everybody together, change the culture, you know, not just for the fans, but also for the comedians. Change the culture of how we work together. 100%. You know, everybody's really rallied behind the festival, and that's what's uh really been moving. You know, 102 comics is not an easy feat.

SPEAKER_03 19:45

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_04 19:46

Yeah, crazy, crazy, crazy.

SPEAKER_03 19:49

And uh so we're we're locked at 102, or is there some surprise guests?

SPEAKER_02 19:53

I mean, we might have some surprise guests. Uh we actually have one uh close friend of mine that might come. Uh we're very excited. Uh there's a lot of surprises, there's a lot of things in store that a regular attendee, I mean, we haven't we're about to drop the schedule, but there's still things that we're working on mechanisms in the back that are about to take place. And the more that this comedy show, I mean this comedy festival gets into the public eye, get ready for 2027. Is what I'm saying. I'm not to talk mad shit right now, but we already know when 2027 is gonna be bananically. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:33

That's why we're we're excited because this is really a stepping stool to what is to come. Like we're almost we we know that after this this year, that next year, um, we are going to probably have much bigger names. You know? It builds, definitely. Exactly. It it will definitely build. Definitely build. Cool. Not to say that the big the big names we have already are not big enough.

SPEAKER_03 20:56

They are exactly crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy. I'm looking forward seeing Chris Silio for the first time in the person. This he's killing it. Is he the first person for Miami to go on Kill Tony? He no, not the first person for Miami.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

Who else was gonna um actually one of our main headliners, Amber Joy Lane was on Kill Tony? Oh, okay. So Kill Tony used to travel before they had traveling show, before they were locked in. And then when they moved to the um Comedy Mothership, they were travel. And the one time they did in the Dania improv. Oh, really?

SPEAKER_03 21:22

I never knew that.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

Yes, bro. It was back actually in the middle of the pandemic.

SPEAKER_03 21:26

Watch that episode in the middle of the pandy happening. In the middle of the pandy, okay.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Um pandemic for those. Yes. Uh actually, the one who got the uh golden ticket in that episode is a guy I love, and I wish um he'd be out come out more as Freddie Finnerty. Uh please go check out Freddie Fennerty, but Amber Joylane was on that episode. Um there's been a lot of Tarno, Alex Tarno has been recently on.

SPEAKER_03 21:50

Has the dude that won the Butcher Master Debaters gone on yet? Um he left. Uh Thomas. Thomas, has he gone on?

SPEAKER_02 21:55

Thomas has gone on, I believe, twice, and he's done great twice. So that's the excitement. Exciting thing as well that Miami comics used to have this reputation for some reason that oh we weren't good enough, we couldn't hold up to the caliber for New York or a Chicago comic. It's stupid because you can see look, two Florida comics are now an SNL main casters, which is Marcelo and Camp Patterson.

SPEAKER_03 22:18

Camp Patterson, hold it on.

SPEAKER_02 22:19

Alright, and now I mean Celio won a gold ticket, LeMoun's been on Kill Tony, Tarno's been on Kill Tony, and they're dominating the Austin scene right now. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_03 22:31

He's coming up a bunch of times.

SPEAKER_02 22:34

So it's out there. There is growth and it's beautiful growth in the New York community, Austin community that's coming from Miami, and it only makes me I want to say pride because I didn't help them, but like I am just so happy for those dudes. It's your city.

SPEAKER_03 22:48

That's how I feel about Miami artists, Miami actors. That's how I feel about anything, Miami. Like it's it's it's cool to be proud about where you're from and see people doing things you're interested in, representing the city, dog. So you I completely relate to it.

SPEAKER_04 22:59

One of our Spanish headliners is actually coming from Atlanta. He's out there shooting movies. Cesar Pichard. And he's a triple threat because he can speak English, Spanish, and Cuello, you're there. You go.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

Okay, that's the 7%. Okay, cool, cool, cool.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Not the Moho, that's another language. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 23:18

Dope, dope, dope, dope. Okay. And then so what would be some advice you would give to people coming out to Miami for the show? So like tours and things like that.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Come, come. I mean, look, the beautiful thing about this comedy festival, to give you an idea, you can walk literally one end of this comedy festival to the other in 20 minutes. Dope, dude. So it's compact. It's compact. You can literally see all. It's your pick your own adventure, bro. You like let's say hey, you want to see a roast battle. You can see a roast battle, but hey, you know what? I want to see what a Spanish show is like. I can go to a Spanish show. I can just pick my own adventure throughout the night. You can also get drunk as fuck and have a great time in Coconut Grove. You can have a party. You can get a hotel at the mutiny. Okay? We partnered with the mutiny, dudes. Yeah. They filmed Scarface there. That's crazy. That's what Scarface filmed. Yeah, that's crazy. My mom and dad met at the mutiny, okay? Wow. Big deal. Scarface era for real.

SPEAKER_04 24:19

We've partnered with a lot of great businesses that are also going to be offering discounts to all of the festival attendees as they're attending. So it's not just, you know, it's really bringing comedy, you know, Miami comedy on the mat, but it's also bringing people to Miami and the Grove and just having them have a good time with the comics and get to know the comics. It's not just them performing.

SPEAKER_03 24:41

So selfishly, who are some comics you're both looking forward to seeing?

SPEAKER_02 24:45

Um they're guys I came up with. So uh and they're guys I can't wait. I can't wait for you guys to meet these people. Uh one show we're gonna have is a King of Crowd Work show. We're gonna have the Kings of the Crowd called them. Okay, and it's two comics who I adore. And both of them come from the same area.

SPEAKER_03 25:03

They're hosting the show, except to me, the King of the Crowdwork.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

They're not the host, but they're gonna be the main acts. Okay, okay. Uh, and both of them came from the same area, the most disrespected area of Miami, I would say, which is South Dade, which is Homestead, which is Gould, which is Florida City. Okay. And those two are Jay McCord and Rolando.

SPEAKER_03 25:22

Oh, Rolando's episode 62, Master Debate. You're one of my favorites Mexicans of all time. So he's doing the King Crowdwork show. It's gonna be him and be him and Jay McCord.

SPEAKER_02 25:33

And I promise you those are the two best crowdwork comedians, not only in the state, but I would say in the nation. Rolando's a monster. Rolando's a monster.

SPEAKER_03 25:43

They told me off the rip Rolando's gonna be big. And ever since then, every time I've seen, it's oh hilarious, but he's he's a killer, he's a killer. Okay, that's cool. What about you, Kelly? Who are you looking forward to seeing?

SPEAKER_04 25:52

My favorite showcase is actually our headliner showcase that has SR Ku, Jay Morano, Tom Dustin. Huge. You know, we have our big his hitters. I think I'm missing one. Amber Joy. Amber Joy. See? That's gonna be big. You know, so we we have some major hitters that are coming in from what, three, four different states?

SPEAKER_02 26:10

Yeah. You know, so I mean Jay Moreno's a touring comedian. He's doing like zany Chicago, like, so shout out to Jay.

SPEAKER_03 26:18

He's a huge, major. He's one of the people, he's the first person actually that pointed out to me the fact that the dichotomy of no clubs in Miami. When he said it on our conversation, I didn't understand it. But it blew my mind because I go to comedy shows, but it's the improv. The improv's the room. Their little rooms. Right, right, right, right. Yeah, yes, yes, yes. And ever since he's told me that I've said it to other homies in comedy, like, you know, for friends that go to comedy shows, like, oh, that's not true. There's more than I'm like, yeah, but those venues are bars, they're restaurants that you know, they're doing a comedy night. It's not the same. I go to the ben all the time, they'll do a comedy night here and there, but that's a club, you know, it's a lounge. You feel me? It's not specifically designed for that.

SPEAKER_02 26:52

Not to knock those venues. In fact, thank you so much for those venues to be doing. Without them, we don't get here.

SPEAKER_03 26:57

Without them, another venue doesn't open up. Another, who knows? Rogan might open up the mothership too. You don't know what the case is. You know, all you need is one person with bread to see the opportunity. If I had the bread, I would have done it. You feel me?

SPEAKER_02 27:08

So Joe Rogan, please. You and Elon Musk money, please. For God's sakes. Please, please. I'll eat all the alpha brain you want me to, okay? I will do all the uh what's the other thing he has? On it. On it, all the on it clothing. I will tattoo your logo on my face. I have no problem with that, please. You gotta put a Palantir logo in the house.

SPEAKER_03 27:31

And a palantir, yeah. Rogan, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Uh Elon Musk's Miami. I I know you're bringing on legacy. I'll be. Oh, wait, Zuckerberg's down here, bro.

SPEAKER_02 27:39

Well, come on. Come on. You if your boy's down here, you can come down here too.

SPEAKER_03 27:42

Real, for real, for real, for real. Okay, and um, is there are you guys being conscious of like booking certain comics like in certain venues like like together? Is there a situation like, oh, these comics blend together more? Is there a situation like that?

SPEAKER_05 27:54

We're curing our curating shows. We are curating our shows.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

We are like, I mean, first we're communicating, I mean, clearly by language, number one. Yeah, but also we're trying so Saturday from 12 to about 5. Most of those actually, all those shows are gonna be clean shows. So every age content, not just the adults, not just people on a party. Kids can come in for free uh with parents supervision, please. Uh it's a family affair. It's a family affair, too.

SPEAKER_04 28:20

And after a certain point, just know that the comedy may get a little bit on the cruise lines.

SPEAKER_03 28:24

On cruise lines, there's there's uh comedy shows throughout the night, but the early ones are less raunchy, and as it gets later, they get raunchier. So same concept. Okay, that's that's possible.

SPEAKER_04 28:33

You might inspire some new little kids to start doing comedy. You know what?

SPEAKER_02 28:37

Can I drop can I drop a little piece of news that no one else has gotten? Are you ready for this? Please, exclusive. Exclusive. Saturday at 2 p.m. 2 p.m. At 2 p.m., Only In Dade is sponsoring a domino tournament that we're gonna have entre medio the comedy festival.

SPEAKER_05 28:53

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 28:55

That's crazy. That's incredible. Are you guys good at dominoes?

SPEAKER_04 28:58

Uh, dude, I mean, I that's why we need you all to come out to play.

SPEAKER_02 29:04

Uh April 24th is 25th, but the Saturday's 25th.

SPEAKER_03 29:07

Yeah, it's Friday and Sunday, right? Both of them.

SPEAKER_02 29:08

Yeah, cool, cool, cool.

SPEAKER_04 29:09

It's a staple of Miami. That was the hangout place. That is true.

SPEAKER_03 29:14

When I was in high school, senior year, I was going to Mr. Frogs, and that was a pop. And I remember frogs. Senior Frogs or whatever. Wait, wait, you were about to fight a bit of a good fight.

SPEAKER_04 29:25

You're like, wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_03 29:28

What a fucking correction. Senior frogs. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 29:32

No, don't talk about my place like that.

SPEAKER_03 29:34

My dad just turned into Karen. That was crazy. But I remember being a senior in high school, sneaking into senior frogs. And I used to be like, yo, this is such a mission. When I'm 21 in two, three years, this is gonna be a lot easier. And then when I was 21, I think the girls died out. Yeah. Yeah, it was unfortunate. And then you know, the girl we had.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

Johnny Rockets. Johnny Rockets. The Mr. Moes. Do you guys remember Mr. Oh man, Moose Juice from Mr. Mo's? Oh my god, how many girls?

SPEAKER_01 30:02

You guys are young and shit, but I remember before Koga Walk was there. Yeah?

SPEAKER_02 30:06

When you had Howling at the Moon and shit, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_03 30:10

And then when they built Koga Walk, there was a club called Bajas up there.

unknown 30:13

That was incredible.

SPEAKER_03 30:14

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:15

No, no, no.

SPEAKER_03 30:16

So back to business here. Let's get let's go over the uh gist of the event. So Friday, oh doors open when? How early can we come out of the day? 5 p.m. 5 p.m. Okay, cool. 5 p.m.

SPEAKER_04 30:25

our first show kicks off and it's actually at our headquarters doors.

SPEAKER_03 30:29

Nice. They just had their anniversary, right? For like how many years? Yeah, yeah. Staple for comedy for a long time. I just went for the first time not too long ago.

SPEAKER_02 30:37

It's amazing. Um just to bring back why Coconut Grove Comedy Festival is so important that it happens in the Grove, is because the original Miami improv, which now is where Calabone is, that that was the original Miami Improv. Oh, really? That was the first location. That was the original first location. And a lot of the great early Miami comedians came out of that improv. Talking about your Philip Schultz, Dave Williamson, Lisa Corroya, um Forrest Shaw, Al Jackson, Neri Signs, uh Lando Laba. You may not know these names, but I guarantee you, multiple of these names have been on the Tonight Show. Uh Dave Williamson had a half hour in Comedy Central, like a lot of big names. Ricky Cruz, I mean now I forget another one. Uh and that was, I mean, man, the first time I ever saw comedy was at That Miami Improv. I saw uh before he was known as Fluffy, it was Gabriel and Gliss, yes. I saw him there murder. He did so good. Man, I don't know if I should tell. Okay, Gabriel Gliss is doing so good. A lady had a seizure in the front row.

unknown 31:43

Huh?

SPEAKER_02 31:44

He literally killing so hard. I saw the lady go that. Bro, I thought the lady died. I just saw her go.

SPEAKER_03 31:53

How many comedians can say that? I'm sure he's remembered that. How many times people seizure in this crowd? That's crazy. He's aware of it too. I'm sure in his arena is I'm sure people seizure you doesn't know. Yeah, but it's in the front. That's funny too. Wow, that's crazy. I hope the lady's okay, you know, if if not our people.

SPEAKER_02 32:10

It was crazy seeing City of Miami fire rescue come and him still trying to do his set is hilarious. With stretching tholo, bro.

SPEAKER_03 32:17

How do you watch that? How are you going through?

SPEAKER_02 32:19

I had hair. Really? Over 18. Oh, for sure. Yeah, bro. Oh man.

SPEAKER_03 32:29

Okay. So, and then um, yeah, I wanted to go over like the logistics of the show just so people know where, you know, what times it could go. Saturday, how early is it opening it?

SPEAKER_02 32:37

Uh, Saturday, we are opening literally at 12 o'clock. Nice. Now, those shows that we're gonna start off is gonna be like seminars, like tutorials, we're gonna do classes. How to fill a joke showing. Like a joke writing uh improv class. But we're also gonna have some great improv that's gonna be happening at the time. We're gonna have a lot of great clean shows. Some of the best Miami clean comedians are gonna be out there, like your Sean Katz, a guy who's sitting right next to you, a bald head, some other people. But it's gonna be a wonderful experience, and that's gonna take place in the Garin Art Cafe in our gallery, which is right on Grand. It's owned by a gentleman named Carlos Garin, which I didn't even know this. He was like a former Univision Telemundo star, and he bought a whole block of the Grove, basically. And he's reconverting it, he's trying to give homage to like the Bahamian nature of the Grove, which is something that we're trying to do with our show.

SPEAKER_04 33:26

Bahamian? Yeah, we have two Caribbean shows. Ooh, like what do you mean Caribbean shows? On a Caribbean show, we have uh a gentleman that's from uh a Trini, tri from Trinidad. We have no um uh then we have a Cuban, we have a Dominican, okay.

SPEAKER_05 33:48

I love it, that's cool.

SPEAKER_04 33:49

So that's why we highlight all of the different altars.

SPEAKER_05 33:52

That's what's up. That's what we're trying to do.

SPEAKER_04 33:54

All of the all of the showcases are also different. We have English and Spanish showcases, but we also have like the Caribbean show or the leading ladies showcase or the kings of crowd work versus the queens of crowd work.

SPEAKER_03 34:06

All ladies.

SPEAKER_04 34:07

All ladies, of course, leading ladies, you know, and then or the Brian G's, you know? Uh uh English.

SPEAKER_03 34:12

What's the Brian G's? The black people Brian is hilarious.

SPEAKER_04 34:18

That's cool, the black show? Brian's friends.

SPEAKER_03 34:20

Oh, Brian's G's, okay.

SPEAKER_04 34:22

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 34:22

They all happen to be black, they all happen to have a strong melanin uh texture to them.

SPEAKER_04 34:28

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_03 34:29

They are not.

SPEAKER_04 34:30

Um, Brian G's is crazy. I promise the name was wrong by him. Um they were way crazier names. We have a veteran show. We also have a veteran show. Exactly. Or Manny Hulve, who's also JP Cower. So, you know, he's also a veteran, too. We're trying, we're trying to and Chris Morrison. Shout out to the veterans.

SPEAKER_03 34:55

Shout out to it.

SPEAKER_04 34:55

Exactly. We're trying to really just bring the community together, the comedians together, and Miami together.

SPEAKER_03 35:00

It sounds like we're in the growth. This is really cool. I'm so excited to be out there as a fan of comedy. This is awesome.

unknown 35:06

You guys are doing.

SPEAKER_03 35:06

Yeah, this is so awesome. Uh tickets.

SPEAKER_02 35:10

How can people get tickets? Uh eventbrite, event just type in com uh Coconut Grove Comedy Festival. I promise you we're the number one SEO on everything. Okay, but if anything, you're gonna find us on Instagram at Coconut Grove Comedy Fest or Coconut Grove Comedy Festival.com. I love it. Do you guys actually eat coconut flavored stuff?

SPEAKER_03 35:28

Do I do oh dude?

SPEAKER_04 35:29

Coconut water?

SPEAKER_03 35:30

Okay, I mean that's kind of cheating. Do you get coconut flavored ice cream? Do you dig like coconuts?

SPEAKER_04 35:36

How about some coconut covered shrimp?

unknown 35:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 35:39

I like how you did that. Is that fair? I like how you did that. There you go. I'll do that.

SPEAKER_02 35:43

I'm not I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie, bro. The last chocolate that I'm eating from the chocolate box you're getting in Christmas is a coconut one. Okay, I like that coconut.

SPEAKER_03 35:54

I'm not a big coconut guy, yeah. I used to think I was allergic because I'm allergic to nuts, but then I realized it's not a nut. I'm also retarded, so almond joys.

SPEAKER_02 36:04

Oh, dude, I could tell you're a dad, bro. Only dads like almond joys. I had a whole joke about it. Only dads, only people who have strong 401ks like almond joys, bro, for some reason. That's funny.

SPEAKER_04 36:19

Well, I didn't hear that.

SPEAKER_03 36:20

What did you say?

SPEAKER_04 36:21

No, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_03 36:22

You can imagine what she said. Listen. Um, okay, and then I do the shoe your shots as you all may be aware. Uh, I know the fans are. So for next year's Coconut Grove Comedy Festival, what who are some comedians you'd like to reach out to to get on? Anybody? Open the door for your shot.

SPEAKER_02 36:37

Um, I know. Well, there's many of them. Uh, one of them I would love to have come and is someone I've opened for. Uh, and he's a comedian that recorded his recent special in Miami. That's Marcelo. I would love to have Marcelo come back to Miami. Um, one of the things we're looking for, there's gonna be a new venue available next year in Coconut Grove. Uh historic venue that I think he'll be perfect in. Uh going back to South Beach Comedy Festival, I would love to bring a lot of those guys. I would love to bring Daniel Tosh, who is a Florida Miami guy. Classics. Yes, bro.

SPEAKER_04 37:13

Classics.

SPEAKER_02 37:14

He's from Florida, bro.

SPEAKER_04 37:15

Yeah, he's a legend. Legend. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:17

I think he's Orlando. Burt Chryscher is a Tampa guy. He's a Tampa guy. Uh you know, I know you guys might not know this gentleman. He's a he's actually considered the best clean comic of all time. Uh, Brian Regan. Brian Regan's from Miami. Uh, there's a lot of people from Miami, guys. Like, they don't say it because they rep New York or something like that, but a lot of these comics, and I don't know if it's like the shame of Miami, whatever.

SPEAKER_04 37:42

It's because they built in other cities. That's what we're trying to change here. You know, we're trying to build this city and that and that change that culture so that way they come to here, come here to build their careers. Not like here where these comedians here will have to travel to Texas, like Chris did. And we love them. We miss T Tarno and Chris. You know, they travel to Texas to make it out there or to New York to make it out there. You know, we Carlos. Yeah, shouldn't have to be that way, though. It shouldn't have to be that way.

SPEAKER_03 38:12

We should create infrastructure out here so people can come up on that.

SPEAKER_04 38:14

People come out here and they have a good time out here and they don't stop at Daniel.

SPEAKER_02 38:19

And we have we have an NBC Univision studio right there in the row. We have a lot of TV studios here in Miami. Great. We have a lot of digital stuff here in Miami that we can make happen. That's irrelevant.

SPEAKER_03 38:32

Miami's always relevant. Right now, UFC is going down right now in Miami. Yeah, one of the biggest events of the year. So this is great.

SPEAKER_02 38:38

And and we need to capitalize on this as fast as we can and as best as we can. Uh I really do feel like we are the cutting edge now. And that's a beautiful thing. Marcello showed that, Cam showed that, uh Chris is showing that on Kill Tony, that Miami is starting to become much stronger than other comedy scenes can even consider.

SPEAKER_03 38:59

I love it. I love it. I love it. This is awesome. I'm really happy that you all came and did this. I'm so happy I'm gonna be out here. I'm even more excited for the event now. Um any uh advice or tips for anybody? Any comics doing the show? Any comics that are gonna do the festival? And anything you want to tell them before?

SPEAKER_02 39:17

Uh first, guys, thank you. This is uh honestly, it was a dream of mine. I never really thought this was gonna happen. Uh, I appreciate you guys so much. Uh and we will pay it forward and we will make sure we can do whatever we can. And Miami, thank you for allowing me to do this. This is my Levon Hernandez speech right now. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 39:37

I love you, Miami.

SPEAKER_02 39:38

I love you, Miami.

SPEAKER_04 39:40

Love you, Miami. You know? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 39:43

How about you, Kelly? Anything you want to say to the comics that are gonna rock in less than a couple weeks?

SPEAKER_04 39:48

Just get prepared. Get prepared. Get your material prepared. I know that a lot of you guys are stretching your materials because you guys are trying new things, trying different languages, you know, really pushing the barriers of your jokes and um changing them so that way they fit certain crowds. Just be prepared.

SPEAKER_02 40:05

Can we announce one more thing? Do both get it, please. Hey, I heard from a little birdie that AirPodcast is gonna be at the festival. Is that true?

SPEAKER_03 40:16

Well, get your tickets, y'all.

SPEAKER_05 40:19

We'd be bothering them. We wouldn't be able to do it without it.

SPEAKER_03 40:22

Hey, I'm just so happy to be included. I'm so happy to be building with y'all putting up Miami, man. This is really what it's about. This is so cool. It's great.

SPEAKER_02 40:29

So throw away the LA Lakers jacket, bro. Let's get uh come back tonight. Alright, okay.

SPEAKER_03 40:37

All right. Um, from three people that love Miami, I just want to say thank you all for tuning in. I really hope to see y'all out there. Uh, where can they find you guys?

SPEAKER_02 40:46

Uh Goldmetal Laughs, yeah. Number one. Uh, and you can find me at Funny Raul. I'm like Paul with an extra leg. Uh funny Raul.

SPEAKER_03 40:53

Uh talk to me about goldmetal laughs too. That's a new thing that we're we're working on as well, right? Yeah. Talk to me about that. Like explain to those uninitiated what goldmetal laughs is what we're building with that.

SPEAKER_04 41:03

Well, goldmetal laughs is sort of like a it's a production company, but it's sort of like we help sponsor comics or sponsor shows or sponsor rooms. Uh, we don't really do events. The only event that we do ourselves is the comedy Olympics, where we just basically put a show on and and we and we showcase their talent. And it's sort of like, you know, iron sharpens iron, and you only get better if you compete against better. That's what the Olympics is based off of. So you get the best of the best competing against the best of the best. And we're actually gonna be at the improv doing a Miami versus Broward versus West Palm header June 28th.

SPEAKER_03 41:40

That's sick. Oh my god, that's awesome. We out there, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 41:42

But again, we can't do the festival without, you know, the comics and the performers and the other producers that take their time and their, you know, doing this at all hours to really, you know, um build the entertainment industry down here and build the Miami comic scene.

SPEAKER_03 41:59

Gotta do it. It takes people to do it. It takes people that are passionate and people most importantly that like comedy. I think this and I think both of you are perfect examples of that. You've students of the game, and most importantly, part of this living, breathing thing that we call the Miami comedy scene that is bubbling, and soon Dan Sonry's gonna take his word for it.

SPEAKER_04 42:16

Thank you for giving us the platform. You wouldn't be able to. Oh, yeah. Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 42:20

It's you cool people like y'all that make this episode this show cool. So I really appreciate y'all coming through. Thank you, brother. We're gonna see y'all there, all right? Peace in the Middle East.

SPEAKER_00 42:35

I know myself too well, been painful.