I always think about when I was a kid, and I didn't have anything, and now I get to see my son live a good life.
I love storytellers. When I was growing up, my inspirations were watching Eddie Murphy, Dennis Wolfberg, and Louie Anderson. These guys were great at telling stories, and I made that my own style, talking about things that happened to me and trying to make them funny.
I learned from my dad's mistakes. I think that's why I'm so into my son. I bring him lunch every day: McDonald's, Taco Bell, whatever junk food a kid likes, I will bring it for him. I've canceled gigs so I could be at moments for him. That wasn't a big thing for my dad.
Comedy is not the first choice in Vegas for entertainment.
The stand-up world is very, very hard. There is a lot of competition, and there are not that many venues, and there are not that many opportunities. You have really got to stand out.
I always told myself I'd never be like my mother if I had a kid, but here I am, the same thing. I don't know how this happened. The same type of disciplining, the same kind of forcing him to perform in front of people, not buying him things when I could afford whatever he wanted - it's crazy!
I always wanted to let people know I was Filipino, but I didn't want to go up on stage and make it so you wouldn't understand my jokes because you're white or black. I always wanted to let people know I was Filipino through my mom. That was always my goal. That way, everyone got it. You don't have to be Filipino to understand my mom.
I'm used to taking risks - my career was a risk. Being a stand-up comic is not something that's normally accepted when your mother is Filipino.
A lot of people ask why I don't talk about my dad, and I want to, I just don't have that many stories. When he moved out, he moved to a different state, so it was just my mom and I.
Everything I put on stage is real; that's what my life is. My emotions - I wear them on my sleeve. I'm definitely putting my heart out there when I'm on stage.
Las Vegas gave me my career.
Just to talk in front of people is scary. And now you gotta learn how to be funny, and now you gotta learn how to make people laugh at what you think is funny. That's not easy.
Me and my son's mother, we've been divorced for a while,but we've been really great parents. We're good friends. We're very relaxed when it comes to our son's time with one another. We have an open door.
I started in 1989. I was the booker, the promoter, the headliner. I wore all the hats.
It's been really stressful being on the road a lot, especially when you're a dad. You miss your son a lot. But you gotta make it work because you get to live a good life. I have to sacrifice.
If I find something funny or something that kind of cracks me up, I'll get up on stage. I don't care what situation I'm in or what media I'm in: I'm gonna say it.
The coolest thing for me is that I've been blessed with a nice following. The people that come to see me are fans, and that happens in Vegas, too.
The West Coast blew me up years ago. Ten years ago, I was already selling out five or six shows in a row in the West. Then all of a sudden, the Midwest, Chicago, Illinois, just embraced me so well.
There's a lot of open mics, a lot of comedy clubs. Whatever money I could make was OK with me. As long as I could pay the rent, eat food, and tell jokes, doing it was good enough for me.
The appearance on 'The Tonight Show' was one thing, but the YouTube afterlife was incredible.
