Feb. 8, 2026

Comedian ISMO: Comedy, Wordplay, and Rally Driving Adventures

Comedian ISMO: Comedy, Wordplay, and Rally Driving Adventures
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Johnny Mack interviews the Finnish comedian ISMO, who is known for his witty wordplay and observations on the English language.

ISMO is set to perform at the Just for Laughs Vancouver festival as part of his Perseverance Tour.

The discussion reveals ISMO's back injury from a dune buggy accident, his unexpected talent in rally driving competitions in Finland, and his unique approach to comedy. ISMO shares insights into maintaining a social media presence, writing jokes in both Finnish and English, and his evolving goals in the comedy world, which include innovative content creation and avoiding traditional pitch processes for studios.

00:51 Meet ISMO: Comedian and Rally Driver
02:38 Rally Driving in Finland
06:15 Opening for Ralphie May and Social Media Insights
11:53 The Art of Comedy and Wordplay
16:47 Language Switching: Thinking in English vs. Finnish
18:39 Translating Jokes Between Languages
22:50 Performing in Different Venues
24:57 Exploring Music and Comedy
28:34 Future Goals and Experimentation
 


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WEBVTT

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Kalaroga Shark Media.

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Hi there, I'm Johnny Mack with your daily comedy news.

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My guest today is the comedian Ismo. We'll get to

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him at a second. For ten years, just for last,

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Vancouver has been Western Canada's biggest comedy festival. The festival

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is bigger and better than ever this year February twelfth

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through the twenty second and Ismo will be performing there

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on Sunday, February fifteenth at the Vogue Theater. It's part

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of his Perseverance tour. Now, if you don't know this

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guy yet, you're going to love him. I suggest maybe

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hit pause now and go watch on YouTube. He did

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a set about the word ass. He did this on Conan,

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So just search Imo Ismo Conan and it'll come up

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on YouTube. It is brilliant. He does a lot of wordplay.

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You're gonna love this guy. Ismo is an internationally acclaimed comedian, author,

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rally driver we get into that, and master of wordplay.

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Globally recognized as the voice of all second language English speakers,

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Ismo is one over audiences in person online with his

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sharp takes on language, culture and life's absurdities. In my prep,

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I learned he had an accident in which he heard

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his back. I let off with that, and that got

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us into some other things, and eventually here we get

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into a discussion of comedy in general and his comedy.

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I loved talking to this guy. Here's ismo how is

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your back?

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My back, It's it's almost back to normal, but it's

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I still feel it, but it's yeah, I did break it,

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but the end of August, so it's yeah, I've been

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trying to exercise it now. I'm sure the bone has

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finished boning. No, that's not the word boning. In Finland,

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we say the bone is boning when it's like becoming

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more bone. But yeah, but I think the bone is fine.

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It's just that I yeah, it's just the muscles are

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tight and they're still like eggs sometimes.

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What happened.

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I jumped on a dune.

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Buggy atv or a motocross track and a jump went

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way too far and I landed from like I don't know,

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thirty feet.

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I don't like.

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It was just like it was like, yeah, yeah, that

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I broke one vertebrae, A piece broke off.

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Is that an activity that you do or was that

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just a one off? Hey, let me go out and

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do something crazy.

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I started to drive rally a couple of years ago,

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so I've been doing some motorsports and I'm surprisingly good

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at rally driving, which is insane because I started in

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my forties.

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So but.

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That was a dune buggy, so that was a different event.

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That was like I've never really driven that thing, so

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that was crazy. But so but yeah, I do like

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motorsports and I've always been kind of a speed freak.

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Where do you go rally driving in the state, so

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fascinated by this, This sounds awesome.

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I've rallied draven in Finland so far. So last summer

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I did three competitions and I'm going to do three competitions.

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I'm actually going to do like the World Championship Rally too.

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In it says like one like the biggest rally event

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in Finland. It's in August, so I'm going to do

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that also now.

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And so yeah, just yeah.

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Raley driving is like it's like on regular roads they

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closed them off and it's like it's I love it.

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It's crazy, it sounds amazing.

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It sounds like one of those things that you know,

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like you alluded to, you get a couple of years

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on you and you start to do these more adventurous

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things that you're like, I should have done this when

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I was twenty.

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Yes, I wish, I like I was.

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I was a big rally fan, like rally of course,

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like in America Canada, people don't. I don't know if

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there's a big rally scene in Canada, but like Americans

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don't even know what a rally means other than a

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politician giving a speech, which is not days it's so

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it's yeah, But in Europe it's huge, like because you

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close off roads and then you like and it's I

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was a huge fan of rally when I was a

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kid and always wanted to drive it then try it,

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But now it took like four years to finally do it.

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So I've been faking it as a dumb American. I

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don't know what it is either. So you said you're

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doing the biggest ones. There was a civilian. I assume

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you're not like an elite. I apologize if you are

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an elite's rally driver. So can anyone do this? How

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does this work?

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It is like levels, like I guess any sports. So

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but I'm actually participating in the big.

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Actually world championship event.

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But my car is of course not gonna be the

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one that the top driver driving. But it's like there's

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Rally one is the best, Rally two is the second best.

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So I'm going to drive Rally three, which is still good,

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but it's so I'm actually competing. But it's like, of

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course I'm not expecting to win, but I'm hoping I'm

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not last either.

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So I guess it's kind of sort of not quite.

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I've ran the New York City Marathon and theoretically I

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could have won.

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Yeah, well exactly, yeah, so I'm definitely not expecting you

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to do.

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But the thing is that, like last year, I did.

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It, Like I was in a few competitions, and I

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was so happy that I started to do this like

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two years ago, and I still beat some people with

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a similar type of car that have been doing their lives.

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So I was like.

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Really like people were like they couldn't believe that it's

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a comedian driving the car.

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Let's say that, like it was.

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I was better than I thought or anybody thought, but

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of course I'm still not gonna win anything.

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You are more famous over there than you are here.

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Are you a celebrity driver over there? Are you just

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on the down low and no one really knows because

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you mentioned that, Oh, comedians in the race, how is

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that playing out? It's like, oh, we gotta beat this guy.

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Well yeah, I've heard that some of the guys who

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are like, well, if this comedian is gonna be and

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I'm gonna sell my car, and then I hope they

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are now selling their car. But so but yeah, it's like, yeah, people,

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most people.

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In Finland know me.

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So it's and I'm sure they rally organizers are happy

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that I'm participating because I'll bring some publicity to it.

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But but yeah, so I'm not hiding that I'm a comedian,

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but also I'm actually there to race.

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I'm not there to joke.

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So much fun? Is there TV coverage because then as

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a producer type, you would be of an interesting story

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that we would want to package.

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Yeah, that was like even in the smaller rallies I

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did last year, there was some TV coverage a little

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bit in Finland. But now this is going to be

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the international event that's like the biggest motorsport event in

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Finland every year, so that there's gonna be a lot

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a lot of coverage for that.

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So let's see how it goes. It's great.

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As I was diving on your resume, I saw that

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you opened for Ralphie May for a little bit. So

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when I when I was at Serious Radio, I got

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to know Ralphie a little bit pretty well. I just

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wanted to spend a minute just talk about what an

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awesome guy he was. I just had a look up.

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I can't believe he passed away in twenty seventeen, but

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just for my listeners, can you just share some Ralphie adventures.

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I actually opened for him only once, so and that

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was like years and years ago. It was so long ago.

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He was doing a show in Finland. I lived in

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Finland back then, and the organizers asked me to open,

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and I was like excited to do it. And I

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was actually doing my set in Finnish because it was

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in Finland, because that was like so long ago that

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I didn't even do much.

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English stuff yet, So I think I was. I think

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I was doing finish.

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But then we had some talks and I always remembered

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that he said one thing to me that he said

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that whatever you.

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Have, just put it all online.

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And I didn't listen, and I wish I did, because

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like I've been putting way more stuff later.

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But like, but then I didn't even have much English stuff.

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That was long ago.

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But I I've only recently, like the past few years,

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I've started to put way more stuff online and that

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has made a huge difference. So he gave me the

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best advice that I didn't listen to.

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Do you find it a pain in the neck to

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you have to feed the beast of social media? Are

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you doing crowd work for crowdwork's sake? Are you on

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stage going, oh, this could be a clip? Or are

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you just doing your thing and letting your team figure

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that out, because I know there's like this whole devil

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of you got to just constantly put things out now?

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Yeah?

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Yeah, And that has been a like I think for

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most comics it has been like so Goose comics, how

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often like perfection is when it comes to putting stuff

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out and we're always like not that. But then I

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some years ago I hired a team and they are

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basically not even asking me.

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They are just putting stuff out.

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Every week, and it's been hugely great because if the

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comedian is like deciding what to put out, it's going

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to be like one clip a year. But like, do

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we always like, yeah, I didn't like the way I

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said that one part, or I did like we think it,

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we overthink it. So it's really good that there's a

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separate team of people who are just cutting all my

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shows and just putting them the clips and putting them out.

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So that has made a huge difference.

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And I would recommend that to all comedians just hire

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somebody else to do it, because I mean, I'm sure

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there's some comics who are like really good at that,

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like editing and putting stuff out, but like most comics

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are not. So that was the best decision of my

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life to hire that like a team to do it.

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And I don't really do that much crowd work. Sometimes

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I do when we do post that, but I don't

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really do it for that. So I like tons of

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old stuff that we can post, and sometimes we post

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new stuff too, but of course I don't want to

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have too much stuff of the current stuff I'm doing

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live online. But there can be a few few that

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but so, but I was I was kind of a

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late late adapter of social media adopter. Adapter that's not

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an adapter adopter, I don't even know, because adapter is

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the one you use for electricity, but adopt. So also

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you can adapt to social media, but you can also

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adopt social media.

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Okay, those are funny words.

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But yeah, I've never been like, really that has been

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hard for me, but I've studied. In the past few years,

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I actually started to enjoy the social media a little bit.

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But before that it was just something that I was

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just like, I knew you have to do it, but

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I was not like, not that adoptive.

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But now I'm.

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Actually finally starting to do some podcasts and like to

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do lots of other content that we've been shooting some

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sketches and scenes and stuff like that, so so like

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doing like other stuf also online, and that's been really great.

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So yeah, it's funny how things change. If you go

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back twenty years ago, all the what I call the

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brick Wall comedians, they were all hating Dean Cook because

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he was just a social media comic. He's just on MySpace,

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and Dane is talented and just happen to figure out

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that part of it first. It's funny how everything's just

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come around.

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That's like, that's like I wish I would have like

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figured this out way sooner. Like it's that's the way

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the world was going a long time ago, and the

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early early adopters definitely they got they really they nailed it.

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And yeah, every profession, I'm sure when something new comes

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and things change, people resist it and yeah, so yeah,

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I wish I would do that or would have done

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it more.

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Now I'm doing it way more and it's it's working.

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But yeah, I'm sure like some comedians are like so

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purist purists that they are like, yeah, you can only

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do it in certain way. But I think the only

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rule is to people have to laugh, don't steal jokes

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and make people laugh.

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That's the only only two rules.

248
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Yeah, yeah, that's how are you finding audiences? I know.

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One of the topics that kept coming up last year

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was the helpful audience member that I'm going to set

251
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you up, mister comedian, so you can have a crowd

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work thing and I'm going to help you do your act.

253
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Are you running into that or is that kind of

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calm down?

255
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I don't run do that that much. Like sometimes yeah,

256
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I get sometimes like heckles, and sometimes they're actually kind

257
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of funny, but I don't get heckled that much. I

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mean analyzing it sometimes because I have an accent I

259
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don't know if you notice that I have a kind

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of a strong accent. Kind of sometimes I was thinking

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that maybe there's a joke in it, Like heckling a

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second language comedian is kind of like tripping somebody in

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the Special Olympics. It's like people whould feel like they

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don't want to heckle me, but they of course sometimes do.

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But I sometimes see other communies getting way more heckles

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than I do.

267
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So as your style has developed, you do a lot

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of wordplay, a lot of commentary on English language. Was

269
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that something you deliberately set out to do or did

270
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that just develop over time.

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I've always like been hugely obsessed with language and wordplay,

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even when I was a kid, and then I was

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in Finland when I started to do come out in Finnish.

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A big chunk of.

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That was wordplay too, Like it's never been only wordplay,

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but a big chunk of it has been wordplay in Finnish.

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And then I explained it to English, and then turned

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out that like I was coming up with stuff about

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the English language that nobody else.

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Had, I didn't.

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I was kind of assuming that I'm sure there's a

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bunch of comedians who've already thought of all this stuff,

283
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but turns out now in many I'm the first one

284
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to figure this out, which is kind of blowing my

285
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mind sometimes that like, I can actually come up with

286
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lots of like new language observations about the language that's

287
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not even my first language.

288
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So I've been excited about that.

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And I think it also helps that it is my

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second language, because then I can see the forest from

291
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the trees, or like I can, I can see the

292
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things that most native speakers wouldn't see.

293
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I'll recommend to my listeners if they haven't or ready,

294
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to watch your somewhat famous Conan set, which has some

295
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wordplay there. I won't spoil any of it. I appreciate

296
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the ratitat style, you know. I guess i'd put you

297
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more in that coategory than the storyteller. One of the

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things I talk about on the show is one hundred

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percent of the time, if I put a comedy special on,

300
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my wife will show up thirty eight minutes into it,

301
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stand there and say is this guy funny? And I

302
00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:29.799
find myself explaining, well, you see what he just said

303
00:13:29.799 --> 00:13:32.120
he set up fourteen minutes ago. That's called the callback.

304
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And then Dad and she just and so what she

305
00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:37.200
came by yesterday on the laundry run. You were just

306
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in the middle of just boom boom boom boom boom

307
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and got the laugh and she came and went, So

308
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I'm like, all right, I like this.

309
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It's awesome. Oh yeah, yeah, if you like yeah, that

310
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makes sense.

311
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So I do have callback sometimes, but it's mostly like

312
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quick stuff and take one subject and just milik it

313
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till the end.

314
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And well, I'm glad that she enjoyed it.

315
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Now, your stage persona is set. You're in real life too,

316
00:14:00.919 --> 00:14:03.559
is so charismatic. You just have this whole vibe of hey,

317
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we're having a good time and we're all in this together.

318
00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:06.000
It's great.

319
00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:08.440
No, thank you, thanks.

320
00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:12.799
I've yeah, that's that's nice. I don't hear that word often,

321
00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:15.759
but I guess that's nice. I'm like, I like to now,

322
00:14:15.799 --> 00:14:18.759
I like to think myself as carriages madic it just

323
00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:21.240
like I don't know, I've always just think of the

324
00:14:21.320 --> 00:14:24.240
jokes and the delivery, just kind of the rhythm and

325
00:14:24.279 --> 00:14:24.759
the delivery.

326
00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:25.840
It just comes naturally.

327
00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:28.919
I don't really think of it that much, but I

328
00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:32.480
have got some comments sometimes that like people are really

329
00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:37.480
like paying attention to every every detail, and it's because

330
00:14:38.519 --> 00:14:41.559
but yeah, I'm glad that, I'm glad you see it

331
00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:46.159
like that. That's yeah, it's always like, that's all. We're

332
00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:49.919
just talking actually with somebody earlier that like that. Most

333
00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:53.240
comics are like really insecure about themselves and their own stuff.

334
00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:56.320
I think it's only the good comics that are insecure.

335
00:14:56.120 --> 00:14:58.960
The shitty ones are like they think they know everything,

336
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so always questioning.

337
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And I'm not a comic in case you can't tell,

338
00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:08.799
but as I understand the art of it, you're always

339
00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:11.799
looking for economy of words and trying to tighten a

340
00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:13.639
bit and see if you can get one more tag

341
00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:15.679
in there. So right, like, for a lot of these things,

342
00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:17.080
the work's never finished.

343
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Yeah, exactly.

344
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And that's why we don't like putting stuff out because

345
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we never feel it's completely finished. But that's the great thing,

346
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which also media, you can put the same thing out

347
00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:28.279
later when it's finished. But that's the thing is that

348
00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:30.519
it's really hard to me to understand. It's hard for

349
00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:33.559
me to understand how people make like comedy movies or

350
00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:36.080
plays and stuff. When you first write the whole thing,

351
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and you do the whole thing, and then you show

352
00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:40.200
it to people, because with comedy, we like we work

353
00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:42.600
it with the crowd to make it better so that

354
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you always can tweak it. And often the word economy

355
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like I know this. Sometimes I'm like take words out

356
00:15:49.080 --> 00:15:50.879
to make it tighter. But often I end up that

357
00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:54.480
I have to add words to get people, to give

358
00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:58.279
people more time to think so it's not too fast

359
00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:01.399
because the rhythm has to be just perfect. So often

360
00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:04.240
I end up saying the setup twice so everybody kind

361
00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:06.879
of really gets it, and then I do the punchl

362
00:16:06.919 --> 00:16:10.039
like I like to sometimes think. Sometimes I feel like

363
00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:12.559
I have to add stuff, or I have to add

364
00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:15.720
long palsies or but sometimes I have to just tiden

365
00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:19.080
it and it's always that rhythm sense. I'm kind of

366
00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:20.919
I'm happy that I kind of have the sense of

367
00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:23.639
the when the laughter is gonna come. If you have

368
00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:27.879
the like exactly the right amount of time before the

369
00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:30.759
information hits you and then the punchline hits you.

370
00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:32.480
Let me get a break in here. Have you seen

371
00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:37.080
my heating bill gotta make somebody at podcast? He's isma

372
00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:41.440
I'm Johnny McBee right back. His most Perseverance tour takes

373
00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:44.480
into Just for Last Vancouver he'll be there on Sunday

374
00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:48.320
the fifteenth, playing at the Vogue Theater. Are you thinking

375
00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:51.600
and writing in English or are you thinking in Finish

376
00:16:51.639 --> 00:16:52.440
and translating.

377
00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:57.120
I take turns, like now I was in Finland for

378
00:16:57.159 --> 00:17:00.200
a month during the holidays, and then I was also

379
00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:02.080
be thinking and writing in Finnish. But now I've been

380
00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:04.240
here for a month and now I'm just thinking and

381
00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:09.039
writing in English, so it kind of it changes. But yeah,

382
00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:13.359
and I end up talking Finish every day, mostly on

383
00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:17.839
the phone call or somebody finished in here. But there

384
00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:19.759
was like one time in my life where I didn't

385
00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:24.079
speak any Finish for like three weeks, and that was

386
00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:26.160
like then I think I started to dream all in

387
00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:28.400
English and it kind of switched. But no, that was

388
00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:30.240
just one time in my life. But that has never

389
00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:34.400
happened since because now I'm always, of course like communicating

390
00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:39.519
with Finnish people, if not daily, almost daily, and then

391
00:17:39.559 --> 00:17:42.519
I'm never like in the fully that I kind of

392
00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:47.279
just one hundred percent thinking in English, but I don't translate. Well,

393
00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:50.599
I'm while we're having this conversation, I'm definitely not even

394
00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:54.559
thinking Finish at all, like I'm just thinking and speaking English.

395
00:17:54.759 --> 00:17:57.680
I think I'm thinking in English. Maybe I'm thinking in pictures.

396
00:17:57.720 --> 00:17:58.160
I don't know.

397
00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:03.720
Yeah, I'm I can barely get home from the airport

398
00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:06.920
if I had to speak Spanish. But when I do that,

399
00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:10.759
I think in Spanish. And as I'm doing this, so

400
00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:13.480
I'm in my Johnny Mac persona. The guy who holds

401
00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:15.359
the microphone is Johnny Mack and the real guy in

402
00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:19.039
real life is john and I when I'm in this mode,

403
00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:20.640
I tend to think as Johnny Max. So one of

404
00:18:20.680 --> 00:18:23.559
the questions I would have is, if you're home and

405
00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:27.160
you're thinking in Finnish, say does your bring kick in?

406
00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:29.640
And go? Oh this this goes into an English language set,

407
00:18:30.119 --> 00:18:33.759
I'll keep this for the finish set. Or I'm just

408
00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:35.240
curious about that whole process.

409
00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:38.720
Yeah, yeah, that is like interesting, and I'm like, I'm

410
00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:41.799
definitely wherever I am. Sometimes I get an idea that's

411
00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:44.519
a finish joke that only it's a word finished wordplay

412
00:18:44.599 --> 00:18:46.119
or some Finnish culture thing.

413
00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:48.119
That I know it's not going to translate.

414
00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:50.559
So then I just write that down and finish, even

415
00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:52.200
though I'm wherever I happen to be.

416
00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:54.799
But but but.

417
00:18:54.759 --> 00:18:57.240
Then there's there's lots of stuff that can be translated

418
00:18:57.319 --> 00:19:00.920
to both languages. But it's kind of like, now when

419
00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:03.960
I'm here, I'm going to be in America or like

420
00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:09.279
in mostly like yeah, mostly in North America now and

421
00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:15.400
until like May, so I'm gonna I'm gonna just mostly

422
00:19:15.480 --> 00:19:18.440
just think and write in English. But then I am

423
00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:21.480
doing a new tour in Finland in August September, so

424
00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:25.000
in the back of my head I am like like

425
00:19:25.079 --> 00:19:28.279
finding stuff for that too, And when I go to

426
00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:32.319
Finland in the summer, I'm gonna definitely like spend the

427
00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:34.680
day looking at all this new stuff that I've written

428
00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:37.160
in English and see which can be translated to Finnish.

429
00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:40.079
And now, when I did a bunch of new stuff

430
00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:42.599
in Finland just before I left Finland in the beginning

431
00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:45.359
of January, and I did like almost two hours of

432
00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:49.359
completely new stuff. And then now I've been here, i'm here,

433
00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:51.359
I've been like trying to figure out which one of

434
00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:53.440
those I could translate to English.

435
00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:55.720
So it's kind of so.

436
00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:57.720
If I run out of new ideas in either language,

437
00:19:57.759 --> 00:19:59.640
I can just go to the other language material and

438
00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:00.880
try to fun stuff there.

439
00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:02.400
So it is kind of great.

440
00:20:02.599 --> 00:20:05.720
And sometimes it surprises me that a joke that I

441
00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:08.839
first wrote in Finnish is actually funnier in English or

442
00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:12.440
vice versa, or sometimes it kind of translates in theory

443
00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:13.319
but not in practice.

444
00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:16.839
And yeah, it's and sometimes you just don't have a word.

445
00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:19.720
It's just like it's just like I had this whole

446
00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:23.039
long bit about like in Finland about like I don't

447
00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:24.799
really know what a word is. I guess a hobo

448
00:20:24.920 --> 00:20:27.880
would be the word in English, but like it's just

449
00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:30.359
such a different word because in Finland it's kind of

450
00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:32.279
not a bad it's kind of a nice word for

451
00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:35.960
like a guy drinking all day in a park bend.

452
00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:38.039
It's like kind of a nice word. It's not like

453
00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:40.440
a bad word. But in English there's not a nice

454
00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:42.440
word for that. And then that whole bit is like

455
00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:46.079
the energy is different. So sometimes there's just no words

456
00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:50.519
that like there's like some great words in Finnish that

457
00:20:50.599 --> 00:20:54.000
like the English language just doesn't like like everyday life,

458
00:20:55.079 --> 00:20:58.240
every day life, like you know, like just the basic

459
00:20:58.359 --> 00:21:01.839
everyday normal life. That's like there's a word for that,

460
00:21:01.880 --> 00:21:04.200
like a simple word for that in Finnish, and it's

461
00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:07.279
a great word, but there's no every day life. That's

462
00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:09.680
three words that all have other but in Finland, we

463
00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:12.000
have this one word that like summarizes all that and

464
00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:15.200
it's a great word, and you guys need that. There's

465
00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:18.279
so many other words that like Finnish has but English doesn't.

466
00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:20.039
And then there's some words the other way around that

467
00:21:20.039 --> 00:21:23.119
Finnish doesn't have, so and some of those words happen

468
00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:24.880
to be really good for jokes.

469
00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:28.359
I know when you're over here, you don't do politics.

470
00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:30.480
I've listened to other interviews with you where that's not

471
00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:33.480
really your thing. Is there anything to be mined in

472
00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:36.720
the other direction? Performing in Finland As somebody who's been

473
00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:39.640
in the United States at a time where things have

474
00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:42.839
been a little more colorful than they have traditionally.

475
00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:46.119
Been, there's lots of people always in Finland like like, oh,

476
00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:48.680
like you're probably talking all about this stuff, and I'm like, no,

477
00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:52.319
there's enough comedians doing the political stuff. There's saw much

478
00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:54.799
of them and like online and everywhere. So I just

479
00:21:54.839 --> 00:21:56.920
decided years ago that I'm not going to touch it.

480
00:21:57.519 --> 00:21:59.680
But actually recently I have been trying to write a

481
00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:03.000
joke about just trying to understand the American politics, and

482
00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:04.519
I think that's going to be a good joke. So

483
00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:07.200
it's not like a political joke, but it's like just

484
00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:10.559
trying to understand because and the whole premise is kind

485
00:22:10.599 --> 00:22:14.279
of like there's two parties, like it makes like in

486
00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:17.039
Finland we have eight parties and I still don't like

487
00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:19.319
any of them. How could I pick from two? Like

488
00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:21.960
it's like it? And then there's the whole thing about

489
00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:24.279
all these subjects. So I was thinking that I want

490
00:22:24.279 --> 00:22:27.279
to because I do think of that stuff sometimes, but

491
00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:29.359
I don't want to be a political comic. But I

492
00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:33.359
could write a bit about trying to understand politics, and

493
00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:35.240
I think that would be a good angle for it.

494
00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:37.039
That would be kind of like a unique And because

495
00:22:37.079 --> 00:22:39.079
I don't want to, I'm always trying to go for

496
00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:42.839
something that's like hopefully unique or something like an inside.

497
00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:46.440
It's not like I'm just like trying to like preach

498
00:22:46.599 --> 00:22:48.799
or preach to the choir or whatever.

499
00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:52.200
Sure, So the reason we're speaking today is you were

500
00:22:52.519 --> 00:22:56.720
performing at the Just for Last Vancouver Comedy Festival. I

501
00:22:56.759 --> 00:22:58.759
was checking out the Vogue Theater where you're going to

502
00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:01.119
be playing. It looks like a real nice old style

503
00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:04.079
movie theater that they converted into doing live shows. Do

504
00:23:04.119 --> 00:23:05.359
you like that kind of room.

505
00:23:06.200 --> 00:23:08.039
Or to an old movies. I don't know if I've

506
00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:10.119
done that before. I don't think I've done that before.

507
00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:13.039
Yeah, yeah, I've done some that have been like old

508
00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:13.720
movie theaters and.

509
00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:16.240
Yeah yeah, it's one of those you know, two levels balcony.

510
00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:19.839
And yeah that I normally like, at least the similar

511
00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:22.400
ones I've always loved, Like it's you can hear a

512
00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:24.880
pin drop, Like it's like when it's it's not like

513
00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:27.039
a there's a bar in the back and there's noise,

514
00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:30.359
it's like, really everybody's focused, and I love that.

515
00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:32.359
Does it make you change up what you might do

516
00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:34.759
if you were in a smaller club you have to

517
00:23:34.759 --> 00:23:36.759
work harder to play the back of the room.

518
00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:37.319
Not really.

519
00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:42.039
I I the big bigger venues when they are shaped

520
00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:45.880
and like formed good, they are even better. Like sometimes

521
00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:48.119
a bar type of comedy club to have a show

522
00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:51.440
can be like that's what comedians I used to and

523
00:23:51.480 --> 00:23:53.640
that's what we like do all the time. So then

524
00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:57.079
theater might feel like overwhelming. But I've kind of I

525
00:23:57.359 --> 00:23:59.480
think I just realized years ago that like it's just

526
00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:02.319
it's just just play like you normally do, and just

527
00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:04.319
if you don't see the back road, then perform to

528
00:24:04.359 --> 00:24:07.079
the front. Row just sometimes look into the darkness because

529
00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:11.160
you know people are there. But yeah, I actually I

530
00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:14.519
do like I think a size like that is like really.

531
00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:17.119
Perfect, perfect for comedy. That's like a thousand seeds.

532
00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:22.880
So I just did my biggest show ever was eight eight,

533
00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:27.559
seven hundred sixty five people in Finland, which is actually

534
00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:30.400
the exact the amount of hours in one year. That

535
00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:33.599
was crazy the amount of tickets I saw. That was

536
00:24:33.640 --> 00:24:36.720
the record of comedy like standby comedy tickets in Finland ever,

537
00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:39.480
and it was exactly the amount of hours in a year.

538
00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:41.240
That's like a really weird go is this?

539
00:24:41.319 --> 00:24:45.240
But anyway, that was like really awesome, Like I haven't

540
00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:47.720
done like a long set to a big crowd like

541
00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:48.759
that before, and.

542
00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.039
That was in Finland.

543
00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:52.920
I do some songs too, and those songs were like

544
00:24:53.000 --> 00:24:54.720
I was I felt I was actually singing.

545
00:24:54.759 --> 00:24:56.039
Well, that was so awesome.

546
00:24:56.920 --> 00:24:59.279
Yeah, I saw your dambling in the music. Do you

547
00:24:59.279 --> 00:25:01.559
play an instrument? Are you the singer or how is

548
00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:02.319
that manifesting?

549
00:25:02.759 --> 00:25:03.640
I play guitar.

550
00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:06.559
I'm like I wanted to be a musician before comedian.

551
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:09.400
And then like in Finland, I've always done like these

552
00:25:09.400 --> 00:25:12.240
parody songs and I often finish my set with a

553
00:25:12.240 --> 00:25:14.640
parody song or two, but I haven't.

554
00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:17.400
Done those in English yet. I don't know. I don't

555
00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:18.319
know when I'm gonna do that.

556
00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:21.799
I don't trouble with the guitar in outside of Finland,

557
00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:24.359
so I just I haven't done.

558
00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:26.279
It yet in English. But let's see. I'm working on

559
00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:28.200
some songs here, but I don't know yet.

560
00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:33.599
It's so interesting. There's an old saying that the comedians

561
00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:36.599
want to be actors, the actors want to be singers,

562
00:25:36.599 --> 00:25:39.119
and the singers want to be comedians, and you tend

563
00:25:39.160 --> 00:25:42.200
to see a lot of that. I guess I can

564
00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:47.640
see the relatively straightforward from performing into a microphone is

565
00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:50.200
similar to performing into a microphone in front of a crowd,

566
00:25:50.440 --> 00:25:52.160
So I guess that makes sense to it.

567
00:25:52.359 --> 00:25:56.200
Yeah, there's definitely like I'm sure like many comedians, well

568
00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:59.359
many comedians want to be musicians too, and also actors

569
00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:02.279
for sure, and then lots of actors and musicians want

570
00:26:02.279 --> 00:26:02.920
to be comedians.

571
00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:04.400
So yeah, it's a good like.

572
00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:09.319
And because we are actually making this great music producer friend,

573
00:26:09.400 --> 00:26:12.319
and we're doing some like songs, like also working on

574
00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:14.079
some like actual songs. I'm going to do a band

575
00:26:14.119 --> 00:26:16.359
that's like not even called ism or anything. It's just

576
00:26:16.440 --> 00:26:19.400
like a separate thing. And it's some of the songs

577
00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:21.799
are funny, but some are not. But so I've always

578
00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:23.839
kind of wanted to do music, and I'm doing it

579
00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:27.039
now a little bit more. And there was this big

580
00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:30.599
insight we were talking about, like musicians have to be

581
00:26:30.680 --> 00:26:34.319
a little naive and cheesy because they have to be

582
00:26:34.440 --> 00:26:38.000
like excited about like a song. But comedians are the opposite.

583
00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:41.119
We are like cynical and sarcastic and we're like yeah

584
00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:43.039
again of like we're just making fun of things, not

585
00:26:43.079 --> 00:26:46.519
taking anything seriously. But musicians have to be like so

586
00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:48.440
emotional about a song.

587
00:26:48.279 --> 00:26:49.839
And it's really hard to go on that.

588
00:26:49.880 --> 00:26:52.279
So and I think comedians would benefit to try to

589
00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:55.480
like emulate musicians, and musicians would benefit to emulate comedians

590
00:26:55.480 --> 00:26:58.319
a bit, like because you have to be like more

591
00:26:58.440 --> 00:27:02.079
naive as a musician, and in comedy comedy it's like

592
00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:03.559
kind of the opposite.

593
00:27:03.880 --> 00:27:05.799
And the crazy thing, as you know, is if you

594
00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:08.519
were a musician, you could just close your show with

595
00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:11.240
the ass bit for the next forty years instead of

596
00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:12.640
oh yeah, we know that one already. What do you

597
00:27:12.759 --> 00:27:14.279
what else you got, mister funny.

598
00:27:13.960 --> 00:27:16.559
Man, Yeah, yeah, I haven't told the ass bit in

599
00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:18.960
years because like everybody who comes to my show has

600
00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:22.799
definitely seen it. So it's like, yeah, is that true

601
00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:25.000
with a festival crowd, like so, I you know, I

602
00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:26.839
get if you're touring, we're going to see you.

603
00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:30.079
But I find sometimes at festivals it's who's playing on

604
00:27:30.119 --> 00:27:31.319
the night we feel like going out.

605
00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:35.559
Yeah that's like yeah, yeah, so that's definitely I'm sure

606
00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:38.799
whatever show I do, there could be a few people

607
00:27:38.839 --> 00:27:40.359
who haven't heard it. And then if it's like a

608
00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:42.960
if I'm just doing a club spot or a festival

609
00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:45.400
spot or something, they might be like nobody has even

610
00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:48.680
heard about me ever. But it's still like that Jo

611
00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:52.880
had a good run. So I just don't even remember

612
00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:55.839
how to tell you anymore. But that's the thing also

613
00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:59.559
with with I guess some mutuners to get sick off

614
00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:03.440
their heat. So, but comedians definitely like telling the same

615
00:28:03.519 --> 00:28:05.960
joke over. I know there's some comedians who have told

616
00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.279
the same joke for thirty years. I don't get how

617
00:28:08.279 --> 00:28:11.000
they get excited about that, because like, I think that

618
00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:13.440
the greatest comedy as they have a new set almost

619
00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:15.519
if not every year, every other years, like it's just

620
00:28:15.559 --> 00:28:18.839
like we want to. I still believe that the best

621
00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:21.319
jokes I've done I haven't done yet, Like I haven't

622
00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:24.640
written my best jokes yet, so I'm always like aiming

623
00:28:24.680 --> 00:28:25.359
for something new.

624
00:28:25.720 --> 00:28:28.519
So you've been very generous with your time. I want

625
00:28:28.519 --> 00:28:30.359
to be respectful to you and the people who put

626
00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:31.799
this together. SA ask you one more and then I'll

627
00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:34.599
let you go. But this has been great. What's the

628
00:28:34.759 --> 00:28:37.480
long term dream? You know? Back in the day, it

629
00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:39.359
may have been, Oh, I want to host a talk

630
00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:43.000
show at eleven thirty? Do you want an NBC sitcom?

631
00:28:43.160 --> 00:28:46.119
Do you want to be George Carlin? Or where do

632
00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:47.319
you want this whole career to take you?

633
00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:51.279
If I have to choose between Carlyn and sitcom, I'll

634
00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:52.319
definitely do Carlin.

635
00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:56.440
But now it's yeah, the comedy go yeah.

636
00:28:56.440 --> 00:28:58.559
I guess most comedians they wanted to have a talk

637
00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:02.359
show or a sitcom or and then what's the other option? Well,

638
00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:05.200
specials of course and stuff. But now it's be more

639
00:29:05.240 --> 00:29:08.640
like podcasts and online presence and all that stuff, And

640
00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:11.200
it's changing and I'm kind of trying to find some

641
00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:14.559
new things also, like what like I'm kind of I

642
00:29:14.599 --> 00:29:17.599
haven't really locked a goal because the world is changing

643
00:29:17.640 --> 00:29:20.359
so fast that I think the biggest thing might for

644
00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:24.160
me might be some art form that hasn't been invented yet.

645
00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:26.119
So I'm really trying to be open. I'm not gonna

646
00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:30.319
lock anything down. So now I'm actually the most excited.

647
00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:33.960
I'm like experimenting on stuff. Like we for example, when

648
00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:35.960
we started to shoot these sketchies, we don't want to

649
00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:37.680
see them as ketches. We want to see them as

650
00:29:37.720 --> 00:29:40.200
movie scenes and make them look like a movie scene

651
00:29:40.200 --> 00:29:42.480
and then eventually they will turn into a movie maybe

652
00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:45.839
or some of them. And like just and even even

653
00:29:46.279 --> 00:29:49.160
like the short form is just so powerful now that

654
00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:50.839
you don't even have to have a movie, Like you

655
00:29:50.839 --> 00:29:53.119
can do just movie scenes without a whole movie, and

656
00:29:53.160 --> 00:29:55.720
you can do you can I started to do a

657
00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:59.000
fake podcast first, like a podcast clips that is the

658
00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:02.640
real podcast is no, but that's just clips. And now

659
00:30:02.680 --> 00:30:04.720
we're actually starting to do a real podcast. But we

660
00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:07.400
were like practicing with just clips and stuff. So just

661
00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:11.359
experimenting on lots of different stuff. So I'm not really like,

662
00:30:12.440 --> 00:30:14.759
I don't I've never really had a solid goal.

663
00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:17.119
I've I was going to be a physics teacher.

664
00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:19.000
I didn't even want that, but like I just I

665
00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:21.119
ended up being a comedian, and then I ended up

666
00:30:21.160 --> 00:30:23.759
moving to America. I didn't plan to move here, Like

667
00:30:23.839 --> 00:30:26.519
it's things just happened. So I'm just trying to be

668
00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:29.319
as open as possible for new things and just do

669
00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:33.759
whatever is the thing that really calls me at the moment.

670
00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:35.680
And the great thing is that now I have this

671
00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:38.079
great guy with videos, this Finnish guy who is also

672
00:30:38.119 --> 00:30:40.240
a music producer, but he's the best video guy ever.

673
00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:42.480
And whenever we have an idea, we just shoot it

674
00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:45.079
right away. And that's kind of a that's kind of

675
00:30:45.079 --> 00:30:47.880
a new new We're just like, yeah, we've been doing

676
00:30:47.880 --> 00:30:50.240
lots of new stuff, and we've been doing this whole week.

677
00:30:50.240 --> 00:30:52.720
We're gonna just shoot like new content that we've never

678
00:30:52.759 --> 00:30:55.319
done before. And so it's just like and like I

679
00:30:55.400 --> 00:30:57.440
kind of decided a while ago that I never want

680
00:30:57.440 --> 00:30:59.200
to pitch again. I don't want to go to a

681
00:30:59.799 --> 00:31:01.880
TV network and try to pitch a show. I just

682
00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:04.559
want to do it and then do a little bit

683
00:31:04.599 --> 00:31:06.440
of it and see if it takes off or not,

684
00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:08.480
and then do the next one. Like it's just there's

685
00:31:08.519 --> 00:31:10.480
no read to pitch anymore because you can just put

686
00:31:10.519 --> 00:31:11.559
everything out there anyway.

687
00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:14.359
And I think that's how Tom Segura sold his Bad

688
00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:18.200
THOUGHTSCT show. You know, he had enough in with Netflix

689
00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:19.960
that they gave him some rope, but I think he

690
00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:22.359
just started filming these on his own as proof of concept.

691
00:31:22.839 --> 00:31:24.319
Oh yeah, yeah, I'm sure that.

692
00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:28.519
Yeah, because that's like, really that's something that the only

693
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:30.640
thing good about if somebody buys a show, you actually

694
00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:33.079
have to do it. But then because then if you

695
00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:35.720
just it's if it's up to me, I might not

696
00:31:35.880 --> 00:31:37.519
end up doing it. But now at least I have

697
00:31:37.559 --> 00:31:39.440
a team big enough that we are actually going to

698
00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:40.079
make it happen.

699
00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:42.720
So it's that's exciting.

700
00:31:42.920 --> 00:31:45.680
There's like because we had this thing about like whenever

701
00:31:45.720 --> 00:31:47.640
we come up with something, we'll do it right away,

702
00:31:47.960 --> 00:31:51.119
and then just two days ago in actually let's first

703
00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:52.920
do it and then come up with it so we

704
00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:56.000
can even just so just do whatever and do it

705
00:31:56.079 --> 00:31:56.480
right away.

706
00:31:57.279 --> 00:31:58.559
I'll let you go. I hope we can do this

707
00:31:58.599 --> 00:32:00.759
again sometime in the future. You were fantastic.

708
00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:02.640
Thank you for ch well, thanks for having medal. This

709
00:32:02.720 --> 00:32:04.559
is great, boy, wasn't he great?

710
00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:07.119
I asked for fifteen minutes and I hit thirty five

711
00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:10.240
minutes raw. We talked a little before and after. Boy,

712
00:32:10.319 --> 00:32:13.119
he was super awesome. He's one of my favorites. There's

713
00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:15.839
a recent Netflix special up two from the eight hundred

714
00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:18.759
Pound Gorilla. I watched that one recently. Highly recommend that

715
00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:21.960
as well. He's ISMAO. I'm Johnny Mack. I'll see you

716
00:32:21.960 --> 00:32:22.599
guys tomorrow.