Zach Esparza interview

Tymon Shipp is an established stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and storyteller based in Los Angeles. Born and raised in East St. Louis, Illinois. I met Tymon through the Fourth Wall family. Tymon's always been super supportive of me and he's a staple at the Fourth Wall Noho. Tymon performs at cruises and has a long history of comedy and writing. I learned so much from talking to him. Thank you so much for the visit, Tymon!!Tymon's advice on comedians should be reading more was spot on. “Remember that you are a business. If you can’t help these clubs make money, they won’t just hire you just cause of your comedic art.Working clean and wide is best in the beginning to get your face in the door. Always be humble and willing to learn.”With over 25–30 years on stage, Tymon has delivered clean, relatable comedy that draws from his childhood and everyday life. He’s performed at top clubs across Los Angeles, including The Comedy Store, Laugh Factory, the Improv, and more. Drawing from his long career in juvenile probation in L.A., Tymon writes scripts about systemic issues.

会話していただいでめっちゃ光栄でした！ヒデさんから色々教えてもらいました。Hide san of The Office fame went out of his way to pay me a visit in Burbank. I grew up with the Office in Connecticut so I was so excited. I used my mediocre Japanese to interview him 😂  He gave me amazing advice both for life and entertainment career wise. His experiences working with BJ Novak, Craig Robinson and others were incredible. Hide san is a bundle of amazing energy and positivity. He told me that people like Jackie Chan are loved is not just because of acting skills but the gentle love these charismatic actors show through their smiles that reminds of our shared humanity. And it is important to experience living normal lives outside of Hollywood culture to really convey that authentic connection with people even in acting or comedy. He wants the future of Asians in entertainment to challenge what has come before on how Asians are portrayed in media. He told me that no matter how painful the world is in comedy and you wanna cry and you might wanna be suffering but once you are on stage, you have to change your mindset to joy and happiness so that you can share that joy with others and become professional. Pure wisdom! Hide san arigatou gozaimashita.

I met Brooke, the valley girl, at mics around town like THC and Nitecap. The last time I saw Brooke on stage, was before I got banned around town lol. She was upset that I didn't put her in the Terry Bu 48 list of comedians I have a crush on LOL. She's actually in the honorable mentions.I enjoyed talking to Brooke because she's a very pensive person with nuanced understanding of American politics which I don't have, and her broadcast journalism background showed a lot. Brooke's also a smart comedian, and I loved talking to her about all things California, comedy and the state of the Union. We also both love the color purple. Thank you so much for visiting Brooke. Please follow her IG at tallbrownone. She’s performed at the Comedy store, the improv, the icehouse comedy club, flappers, and more.

Itai Lev is a NYU Tisch grad who has roots in screenwriting and comedy writing and somebody who always makes me laugh. He's a regular in the comedy scene here in LA and his dad is actually a Rabbi. Itai is super Jewish.Itai was super fun to have as a guest and we talked a lot about Judaism, comedy, history, Itai's jewishness and divine feminine energy. Itai's comedy spans a lot of diverse topics, and I love his self-deprecation jokes and when he talks about autism. Itai is actually super smart and tends to tone it down during his comedy. I'd love to have him as a podcast guest host someday because he's knowledgeable about many things.Please follow him on IG at Itai Lev (@itailevwriter)Thanks for the visit Itai!

Susan Ware is a comedian that I deeply admire ever since I was booked on the same show at Ireland's 32 in Van Nuys thanks to Tim McCray and Ian Ira Rousso. Susan's comedy is smart, succinct, witty and reminds me a lot like Mitch Hedberg. Susan is actually half-Syrian and a long time resident of North Hollywood. Susan loves Anthony Jeselnik, Maria Bamford, Steven Wright, Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton. She doesn't like younger comics doing sex jokes and talking about pronouns. Susan actually went through an Ice House comedy training program with Bobbie Oliver and apparently introduced Bobbie to the Tao building as a real estate person. She's originally from San Francisco. Susan gave us a lot of good advise on comedy and pauses. I learn a lot from Susan's pauses because literally she can do a 10 minute set and it will be more impactful just because of the well-timed pauses and you wouldn't even notice the 10 minutes passing by. She said she makes sure to say jokes aloud while practicing and editing like a ruthless person. Her original goal for moving to LA was to become a TV screenwriter which explains her writing skills. She's been doing comedy since she was 65 and now turning 81 this year. She doesn’t like Trump very much and calls him a narcissist. I honestly think Susan is one of the best comedians I ever met. Thank you so much for the visit, Susan! We ended up talking a lot about politics and shitting on Trump and ICE together lol. #terrybupodcast #losangeelscsomedyscene3

Mary is another great comedy connection I made through the Flappers scene so I guess it's no surprise that I was excited to have her over for the podcast interview. Mary Gallagher is a seasoned American comedian, actress, host, improviser, writer, and comedy coach based in Burbank with over 30 years of experience in the comedy world. Her daughter went to school right down the street from me. She's also a die-hard vegetarian since childhood and a Sagittarius and lost her own sibling, like myself. She hails from Wisconsin. Mary describes herself as actually a very quiet, reserved person since childhood and grew up in a strict military family, which was quite a surprise. We talked a lot about comedy, trauma, healing and Pauly Shore and Sam Kinison and English stuff. I first ran into Mary back in 2023 when I started hosting Friday mics with Hazel at Flappers comedy club. Mary has appeared in over 50 national commercials and guest-starred on popular TV shows such as Friends, Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS, How I Met Your Mother, and The West Wing. She also hosted three national TV shows and has worked widely as a comedian/MC at military functions, colleges, corporate functions, non-profits, churches, and comedy clubs across the U.S. (By the way, this is all from ChatGPT because ChatGPT sure knows a lot about her) She also leads live workshops titled “Stand-Up Comedy and Wellness”, designed to cultivate confidence and joy through humor in settings like acting schools, wellness retreats, and corporate events Mary’s style is rooted in kindness and clean humor—she believes in “kind comedy,” comparing her approach to comics like Brian Regan and Ellen DeGeneres. Beyond stand-up, she’s a children’s cartoonist and author of books like The Girl You Are and Gino Has a Birthday, using illustration to foster self-esteem and emotional wellbeing. Recently she was performing for the troops and spreading mental health awareness in her comedy. Please follow Mary at https://www.instagram.com/myfriendmary and also @MaryGallagherComedian  Thank you so much, Mary!#terrybupodcast #losangelescomedyscene

Chris Dunham is a regular comedian at the Fourth Wall and a teacher here in LA. His Teacher's Lounge podcast with Matt Jones is blowing up on TikTok, IG and more! Chris kills on stage every chance he gets and actually is one of the few people who warned me NOT to post on social media the "Terry Bu 48" women comedians that I have a crush on. When I did it in front of him at Fourth Wall, he said to me hey Terry it took a lot of balls to do what you just did but do be careful that it might upset people who are NOT on it! He was totally right lol.Chris is also a former collegiate basketball player at Duquesne University and part of a team that played against Kobe Bryant!! He told me it’s always been the cool kids vs the uncool high school cliques in the comedy scene. The coolest person is NOT in the cool kids table but the actual outsider who’s observing everything and aware of what’s going on. Chris was full of knowledge on weird things happening in the public education system like how they get sued for stupid things and can't even have detention/suspension anymore to discipline students. His students seemed happy that he's blowing up on social media. There's a bunch of teachers I realized in the comedy scene, and whenever I talk to people like Chris, I feel like I should have gotten a teaching job, although it sounds very hard to deal with students. Thank you so much, Chris! Please follow Chris at Chris Dunham (@heymrdunham) and  @TheTeachersLoungeLive ​

I interviewed Bryce, a good comedian friend of mine that I came across in the LA comedy scene while performing at places like ComedyBlvd, Fourth Wall Cafe and Badger and Jam. Bryce helped me out last year when I was trying to come back to LA after all that depression craziness and trying to nail down an apartment from scratch lol. Bryce is a LA-native, huge fan of Shaq and met Kanye. Bryce's comedy style is punchy and irreverent which I respect. I see him all the time in the LA comedy scene, and he's one of the very supportive, compassionate and open-minded souls I found in the scene.Thank you so much for visiting Bryce. Please follow Bryce at https://www.instagram.com/bryceedotcom

Zach and I found each other in the LA comedy scene open mics. We actually have a lot in common like we both work our dayjobs in tech and lived in NYC. He's mixed between Mexican and Jewish. He's originally from Bakersfield, CA. He seems bro-ey at first glance but once you talk to him, you realize Zach is a very thoughtful and intelligent person with lots of wisdom and skills. I always enjoy Zach's comedy. We also talked candidly about depression, anxiety and mental health issues. Social media fasting seems to be helping Zach he said. You can find Zach all over LA. Thank you so much for visiting zach!#losangelescomedyscene #comedianstalkmentalhealth#terrybupodcast #comediansintervieweachother#comedianstalkdepression

Mike "Pi" Piacentino is a rare combo of celebrity fitness trainer and stand-up comedian. He's a polymath of many talents, an Italian-American guy from Philly. He's a staple here in the LA comedy scene and the Fourth Wall. He was just coming back from training million-dollar clients at Beverly Hills before he took time to do this interview with me. I first met Mike when waiting to go up at Potluck at the Comedy Store together with Wendy Wilkins. We also performed together at Vargus Mason's Deez Nuts show at the Comedy Store. My friends who came to support me at that show in 2023 didn't like my set very much and instead told me Mike's set was much better because they are assholes. But all kidding aside, Mike has an amazing punchy style of comedy, and I always learn a lot from watching him. Mike advised me that LA people are very different from East Coast people because if you don’t benefit their artistic goal, then they often don’t want you in their network. Ugh, cultural differences. I was fortunate enough to be invited to perform at his Crickets Comedy Club which he was also using as his artist studio for paintings. Mike is married with a talented son who might become a standup comedian himself someday. Mike loves Bill Burr, Dave Chapelle, Matt Maron and Chris Rock. Thank you so much for visiting, Mike!Please follow Mike on instagram at @mikepicomedy.