Episode 336 - Jo Koy

Breaking Bread with Tom Papa

Comedian Jo Koy joins Tom Papa on 'Breaking Bread' to discuss his journey from small comedy clubs to selling out massive arenas like SoFi Stadium.

Key takeaways

• Jo Koy turned sold-out arena seats from his tours into a permanent, labeled display as a tribute to his journey.
• Performing at massive venues like SoFi Stadium required unprecedented sound engineering—thousands of speakers were used to ensure every word was heard clearly.

Main topics

• Arena comedy tours and logistical challenges
• Sound engineering for stand-up in large venues

Notable quotes

"I took a seat from every arena I sold out. Now they're in my coffee shop."

"We were the heaviest concert ever in that stadium—thousands of speakers, just to make sure people heard the little word between the big words."

Conclusion

Jo Koy and Tom Papa reflect on the evolution of stand-up comedy, from intimate venues to massive

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:01) I started at a coffee shop in Las Vegas. So I just have like this love for. Yeah. You know, the coffee shop, the smell of the espresso beans and this weird microphone in the corner. And I don't care if someone's playing acoustic guitar. Yeah. All of a sudden, I'm buying their CD. Right. You know what I mean? I never play it. Speaker 1 (0:23) Yeah. You know what I mean? This guy's great. Yeah. He's a Speaker 2 (0:26) lawyer by day. But he always wanted to play guitar. But for some reason, I bought it because it's just the environment. Yeah. It's just that. That whole, like, I have nowhere else to go, but man, there's an audience here and I love it. And Speaker 1 (0:39) I want Speaker 2 (0:40) to do that. And I would love for you to see it because the seats, I never told anybody this. This is the first time I've ever told anybody this. So this is kind of cool. The seats that people sit in are Speaker 1 (0:52) the Speaker 2 (0:53) arena seats that I sold out. Speaker 1 (0:57) From arena seats? So all Speaker 2 (0:59) the arenas that I played, I took a seat. Speaker 1 (1:01) You take a seat? I took a seat. You take a seat, and now you're putting them in there. And Speaker 2 (1:05) it's in Speaker 1 (1:05) there. That's bonkers. Speaker 2 (1:07) So Speaker 1 (1:07) I Speaker 2 (1:07) got the Forum. I got Madison Square Garden. Do you label Speaker 1 (1:11) them? I got SoFi Stadium. Oh, my God. Oh, yeah, they're all Speaker 2 (1:14) labeled. I got Wells Fargo. I got every single arena that I sold out. Speaker 1 (1:18) All right. So when you sit Speaker 2 (1:19) down, you see Boston Garden. You'll see Wells Fargo. Oh, Speaker 1 (1:23) my Speaker 2 (1:23) God. Prudential Center. Speaker 1 (1:25) It's breaking bread. Let's talk about this for a minute. Yeah. Because you and I are pals. Haven't seen you in a beat. In that time, you were doing, you were kind of starting arenas. I mean, you had done them, but not at this, with this frequency. When Speaker 2 (1:44) I met you? Speaker 1 (1:45) Last time we saw each other. Speaker 2 (1:46) Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Speaker 1 (1:47) I think you came into the Netflix studio and whatever. Speaker 1 (1:52) Even when I came up to your house to deliver bread, you were just, I think you had just done like your first one or whatever. But now you're doing these giganto, there's no bigger places with frequency. Like the way that guys go to the comedy store and go to the improv. Speaker 2 (2:09) You're Speaker 1 (2:10) going and doing these giant places. It's nuts. Explain that to me. Explain the feeling of, because you come from these small spots. Yeah. You pay your dues. You're always going with rocket speed. But what is it like now to be like, holy, I'm going to do the Garden, then we're going to go to Minneapolis and play their arena. Like, what is that? I don't Speaker 2 (2:36) know. The SoFi Stadium was crazy. Speaker 1 (2:38) The SoFi was bonkers. That was crazy. That was the first comedian to sell out SoFi, which is how many seats? Speaker 2 (2:46) Man, I think we got almost 70. I think we got close to. Speaker 1 (2:49) To 70. And why do you, when you sell out 70,000 seats, why aren't you retiring the next day? Speaker 2 (2:58) You know, that's so crazy that you said that. You know, we sold out like even before, we had three months to spare. We were doing like press run. Like we built out this press run to help sell tickets. And we had nothing to talk about. We were not selling tickets. We didn't need to. It was done. It was so crazy. I remember when we first went on sale, Tom, and the whole upper bowl sold out that day. And then the first week, we sold 30,000 tickets. So we were already at 50 % within the first week. Speaker 1 (3:32) 30 Speaker 2 (3:32) ,000 seats. And we allocated nine months to sell because we were so nervous. Of course. When we looked at that map, we were so scared. Yeah. I was more scared. Floppy wasn't. I was like. This is a crazy map because it was the size of six forums. It was the size of six arenas. Speaker 1 (3:51) Six arenas. Yeah. Speaker 2 (3:52) It's like looking at this picture wall and each section was like a thousand chairs. You're right. And there was like 70 of those. And you're just like. highlighting them. All right, well, this will be our premiere seating. I'm like, can Speaker 1 (4:05) we all sell it for a dollar and just say we're sold out? Speaker 2 (4:09) Yeah, right. What Speaker 1 (4:10) do Speaker 2 (4:10) you mean premium right now? I don't even want to talk like that. How are Speaker 1 (4:14) we going to sell this out? I mean, is that why the 30,000 sold out quickly? Because that was like Speaker 2 (4:19) the rabid fans Speaker 1 (4:20) who just want to be in there. Yeah, those were your fan fans. Who aren't interested in premium seating. Yeah, they're not interested, but Speaker 2 (4:29) they're loyal. They want Speaker 1 (4:29) to Speaker 2 (4:29) be Speaker 1 (4:29) in the building with you. They want to be with you. Speaker 2 (4:31) Yeah. And you know what I said, too, in the meeting? And I said, it's got to be the most speakers we could ever put in anywhere. Like, we're not using towers. We're not using, we are putting speakers. That was my, I swear, I wish we recorded the meeting. The meeting was like, I go, I'll do this, but Speaker 1 (4:50) that Speaker 2 (4:50) section better hear me. Speaker 1 (4:52) Right. Without echo. Speaker 2 (4:55) Without echo. Like, we better have speakers. in their ears, man. And I'm willing to sacrifice all the money Speaker 1 (5:02) for Speaker 2 (5:03) the speakers. And we did, man. We were the heaviest. You're going to love this, Tom. We were the heaviest concert ever in that stadium. And we're talking like the heaviest amount of speakers. Speaker 1 (5:16) We had Speaker 2 (5:17) so many, like thousands and thousands of them. Just trucks Speaker 1 (5:19) coming in. We did. Speaker 2 (5:20) It was like Rolling Stones rolled in. Oh, my God. And they even told us we had more than like... Like, I'll make up a name, but it was like YouTube. Yeah, yeah. We Speaker 1 (5:28) had Speaker 2 (5:28) more speakers, and I'm not exaggerating. Jeez. Because we knew, man, because it's stand-up, bro. Like, rock, you can get away with it. You just take some towers, like, okay, it echoes, but you know what? We're here. It's a vibe. It's an energy. Stand-up, you need to hear the little word in between the big word. Yeah. And if they don't hear it, we're not, why are we doing this? Speaker 1 (5:47) Yeah, yeah. No, exactly. I know. There's... They're having complaints out there of people that go in and it's like echoey and they don't get the good experience. It's a different... Speaker 2 (5:58) Not ours. People are still talking about it. And you know what's crazy is that halo. You know the halo in the middle of SoFi? Yeah, yeah. It's two... There's an inner halo and an exterior halo. Each one is 40 grand to turn on. Oh, really? Yeah. So if you want to save 80 grand... you could turn them off. Speaker 1 (6:18) Right. And just Speaker 2 (6:19) count on the big iMacs that I have on stage. Yeah. I was like, well, Fluff also was like, they're not going to be able to see it, bro. They're a mile away from the stage. Like, even the iMac's going to look like a small person. Yeah. So we turned both iMacs on. It was the craziest thing. It's Speaker 1 (6:36) great, though. But I mean, that's the way you want to do it. I mean, it's, I mean, and you guys were the first ones to even think about doing it in there. Speaker 2 (6:43) Yeah. And you know what's cool about that, Tom, is, LA is the hardest market. It's so hard. Speaker 1 (6:50) It's harder Speaker 2 (6:50) than New York. The improv is Speaker 1 (6:51) hard. Yeah, man. Speaker 2 (6:53) It's the hardest to even try and sell a hard ticket. Yeah. You know what I mean? Without 9,000 people asking for comps. You know what I mean? Right, yeah. Because I have an agent that knows an agent that represents Speaker 1 (7:05) SoFi Stadium. Yeah. Speaker 2 (7:08) And Speaker 1 (7:08) the thing is, when Speaker 2 (7:10) you do something at that level, it's like... That no one knows, like the fans don't know this, but we rented the building. Speaker 1 (7:17) Right. Speaker 2 (7:18) SoFi didn't hire us. Speaker 1 (7:20) Right. Speaker 2 (7:20) People really honestly think, oh, SoFi, how much did they pay you? Motherfucker, they paid us nothing. Yeah. We paid SoFi to turn the lights on. Yeah. Speaker 1 (7:29) Yeah. So Speaker 2 (7:30) I don't think people really understand that. But that's why when you say first, it's not about being first. It's also the first to take on that risk. Speaker 1 (7:40) Yeah. Speaker 2 (7:41) Because when you see how much that price tag was just to open the lights and staff it, you would say no so fast. Speaker 1 (7:49) Yeah. So fast. That's so many. And to Speaker 2 (7:51) know that you had to sell 70 % just to break even almost. Speaker 1 (7:55) Right. Speaker 2 (7:56) You had to sell more than 50 % just to break even. God. I was happy when we sold 30,000 tickets. I'm like, we made it. Speaker 1 (8:04) Yeah, done. They were like, but we need Speaker 2 (8:07) to get paid. Speaker 1 (8:09) What's cool about it is, just from seeing the clips, I wasn't there. Your act doesn't change. Yeah. Your act is your act. Yeah. You're still the same guy. Speaker 2 (8:20) Yeah. Speaker 1 (8:20) Which is so... great i mean it has to be in some regard but i could see it getting away from you yeah i could see it being like what do you feel like a lot of times you'll play a place and i remember just being in a place with 5 000 people yeah and it was like this is starting to get big where i'm not feeling it as much and having as much fun what do you feel with 70 000 Speaker 2 (8:43) i'm telling you tom it was electric because i think it was I think it was more of a moment than Speaker 1 (8:50) it was a celebration Speaker 2 (8:51) for all of us. One, our fans, but two, just for our culture and just like, we're in here. It was crazy. Speaker 1 (9:00) Yeah. Speaker 2 (9:01) Yeah. Speaker 1 (9:03) So you feel it is like off a joke, say. Speaker 2 (9:06) It was so electric that they were on every word. It was almost like I was at, you know, Jamie Foxx came. And he went up and did a, you know, he just sang real quick. Speaker 1 (9:17) Oh, wow. But Speaker 2 (9:17) the first thing he said to me was like, hey, man, this felt like the Laugh Factory. Oh, really? Yeah, he watched the whole show. And he was like, that was so intimate. Yeah, yeah. What was that? And I'm like, one, I think it was just the love from the fans. But two, it was those damn speakers. Speaker 1 (9:33) Yeah. It was those speakers. Yeah, huge difference. Speaker 2 (9:38) And oh, and another thing, I didn't tell you this, but I... I was like training, man. I was going to the improv on Mondays. You know what I mean? I was like going to the Irvine Improv, the Bray Improv, the Ontario Improv, and just doing one show, one night only. And literally, I was telling them, you know, I'm preparing for SoFi. Right. Speaker 1 (9:58) So, you Speaker 2 (10:00) know, Speaker 1 (10:00) I'm Speaker 2 (10:00) coming quick. So I was cutting out fat. You know, I was just getting to the punches because I knew I had to get to the punches fast. Yeah, yeah. You know, I don't have time for the buildup. By that time, they're like, I'm going to pee. Speaker 1 (10:14) Yeah. Speaker 2 (10:14) I'm going to go down five stories. No noodling around. Speaker 1 (10:20) Don't give them a minute. Yeah. Don't give them any room. Speaker 2 (10:23) Yeah. None. No wiggle room. I know. Don't give them an opportunity. Yeah. Yeah. I'm thirsty. Bye. They're going home. Speaker 1 (10:34) Yeah. Oh, man. Speaker 2 (10:36) So it was nuts, Tom. I wish you would have seen it. It was great. I Speaker 1 (10:38) know. I didn't even know. When was it? March 26th. In March, yeah. It Speaker 2 (10:43) was crazy. Speaker 1 (10:44) It's so crazy. Yeah, man. So you now have a new Netflix special. Yeah, Speaker 2 (10:48) September 15th. Speaker 1 (10:49) Is it the similar material? Blue in the Face. Blue in the Face. Today, actually, when this drops. Oh, so let's Speaker 2 (10:57) do Speaker 1 (10:57) it again. It's Speaker 2 (10:57) today. Speaker 1 (10:58) Do Speaker 2 (10:59) we have to reenact this? Speaker 1 (11:00) No, they got it. New Netflix special. Yeah, man. Today. Today. As you don't cut this out. Is there any way? He doesn't cut any of that out. I love this Speaker 2 (11:14) one because I talk about my stepdad. Speaker 1 (11:17) Oh, yeah. And it Speaker 2 (11:18) meant a lot for me to do that. You know, he came into my life when I needed him the most. And he was a war veteran. He had two Purple Hearts. He had two Bronze Stars and a CIB badge. Jeez. He was my hero. because I came from a really dysfunctional home with a brother that was dealing with mental illness, and he had a history of like, you know. Speaker 2 (11:42) And disrupting the house bad to the point where the cops were always there. Some Speaker 1 (11:45) troubles. Speaker 2 (11:46) A lot of trouble. How old Speaker 1 (11:48) were you? Speaker 2 (11:49) That happened my whole life. So that started when I was eight. And it went all the way until, and then Fred came along. And he was the first guy I ever see beat the shit out of my brother. It was crazy to see it. Wow. And I was like. Speaker 1 (12:03) How much older is he? My Speaker 2 (12:05) brother's eight years older than me. Whoa. But to see that was just like, whoa. Speaker 1 (12:10) Order him. He was my Speaker 2 (12:11) guy. You know what I mean? Right. Because my mom and dad divorced, rightfully so. I get it. It was so dysfunctional. Uh-huh. And to see Fred come in and just become the man of the house. Speaker 1 (12:26) This isn't going to happen. Speaker 2 (12:27) Yeah. It went from me being a snotty-nosed teenager to seeing him do that. And I was like, yes, sir. Do it in my bed, sir. Speaker 1 (12:34) Yes, sir. Speaker 2 (12:36) You know what I mean? And I'm not even lying. He was such a like, fix your bed before you go to school. Messy bed is a messy head. He always said that to me. Speaker 1 (12:46) Right. You know what I mean? Messy bed is a messy head. Yeah. That's a great line. Speaker 2 (12:50) Straighten your room up. Straighten your life. You know what I mean? He was about it, man. He was so military. Yeah, he knew football in and out. He knew sports. You know what I mean? He was a Dodger fan. That's why I'm a Dodger fan. So it was just fun to like, when he passed, I was like, man, I got to talk about this guy. Speaker 1 (13:09) Right. Yeah. Speaker 2 (13:10) It's a good story too. It's just beautiful. Oh, that's Speaker 1 (13:13) great. So is it thematic? Is the special pretty much that? Speaker 2 (13:16) Yeah. Well, no, no. He was the closing bit. And I've been holding onto this story for like, I don't know, five years. I tried it once before and it just didn't fit right. Speaker 1 (13:26) But Speaker 2 (13:27) this one, from start to finish, I always like my stories to... have like this book bookend. Yeah. That's stupid for me to even say that. Like, Oh, I Speaker 1 (13:38) don't know how you write your books. Speaker 2 (13:40) You Speaker 1 (13:40) probably Speaker 2 (13:41) put your bookends in the middle. I don't. Mine are on the end. Right. Speaker 1 (13:47) But I just, Speaker 2 (13:48) I, what I'm trying to say is like, even if I go off and just talk about something topical, I want it to merge into a story. and flow in and be there for a reason. I don't want to just go left and be like, beer bongs are cool, right? Like, I don't, Speaker 1 (14:07) weren't you just talking Speaker 2 (14:09) about Speaker 1 (14:09) your son? So like, Speaker 2 (14:11) yeah, that. And like, I wanted him to end, I wanted him to end my special, but not me just go, by the way, I want to talk about my dad real quick. I didn't want to do that. I wanted to like, flow yeah there's Speaker 1 (14:24) a Speaker 2 (14:24) reason why i'm talking about my guy yeah Speaker 1 (14:26) right it's gotta be like where do you work that out that Speaker 2 (14:34) one that one was kind of easy to work out i'm not gonna lie yeah that was his it's so fun to tell that story uh Speaker 1 (14:41) -huh you Speaker 2 (14:42) know i mean because he's from west virginia you know right he's from the mountains like You know what I mean? All I did was just tell the stories that he told me. Right. You know what I mean? Stop being such a titty baby. Like he used to always say that. You know, go run to your mama. I know you. I know you, titty baby. You still breastfeeding. He used to say that shit. I didn't understand it, but that's like mountain talk. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. And it was just like, oh, he's calling me a bitch. And he would always say stuff like that. Like, you know, I didn't have, like I asked him, why'd you join the military at 17? You know what I mean? That doesn't make sense to me. Like a vicious war that's being televised and you opted to join at 17? Like you weren't drafted? You lied? He's like, yeah. And his excuse, this is a true story. He goes, we didn't have central plumbing. You ever shit in the snow before? Like real talk like that. You ever shit in the snow before? Even though how hard my life is, I got uncles dying in the coal mine. You think I won't fuck around in the coal mine? Speaker 1 (15:43) Right. War was a better option. I'd rather war Speaker 2 (15:46) was a better option, motherfucker. Speaker 1 (15:48) Jeez. Speaker 2 (15:49) I'm like, all right. Yes, sir. Can I go clean my bed? Speaker 1 (15:54) Before we keep talking. I'm having a messy head right now. I'm going to make it again. I'm going to make it again. It's my mom home. I'm hungry. How long is he in your life? Speaker 2 (16:04) You know, he came in when I was like 15, which was when I really needed him. 14, 15. I needed him, man. I didn't have any like a male. figure in my life you know what Speaker 1 (16:14) i Speaker 2 (16:14) mean and and when he came in it was sports it was basketball it was throwing the football it was driving a car it was you know what i mean yeah yeah Speaker 1 (16:24) he Speaker 2 (16:24) bought me my first sports hat he bought me a lakers hat you know like i i've never been taken shopping like that before with a man you know what i mean i look i love my dad but you know they divorced yeah Speaker 1 (16:37) and Speaker 2 (16:37) he moved to Phoenix. So like, that was cool. Like here I am in high school and I got this man, like, Speaker 1 (16:43) yeah, get Speaker 2 (16:44) some, get some good shoes, boy. Was Speaker 1 (16:46) it an adjustment? Was it like, Oh man, I was like, my mom Speaker 2 (16:51) brought home a new dog from the shelter. I'm like, Hey, I think it's hungry. Let's feed him. What's his name? Fred. I Speaker 1 (16:59) love you, Fred. You shoot guns. Speaker 2 (17:01) Wow. Purple heart. You're a hero, bro. Just all in. Yeah. Then my brother kicked the door in one day. Bam! He fucking kicked the door in. And we had to call the cops. But before they got there, man, he charged the hallway towards Fred. Fred fucking picked him up. Bam! Threw him on the ground. He goes, I'm going to let you up, Bubba. But I swear to God, you do that again, we're going to be right back here on the motherfucking floor. And I'm just like in my boxers, just skinny. Speaker 2 (17:33) 10th grade like yo this guy used to beat the shit out of me hit him again hit him again Fred and then he let Fred let him back up and then my brother started walking towards the front door look I'm not making fun of my brother you know I'm just trying to shine light on something that was so dark and Robert you know because I love Robert you know I mean he's got sure Speaker 1 (17:54) bad Speaker 2 (17:54) mental illness but anyway he's walking towards the front door and he Speaker 1 (17:58) fucking Speaker 2 (17:58) turns around and bah he He throws one at Fred. Speaker 1 (18:03) He hits him Speaker 2 (18:05) on Speaker 1 (18:05) the side like that. Speaker 2 (18:06) And then Fred just wraps him up and then falls to the ground. Like, he didn't pick him up. He fell. He grabbed