It\u2019s really all coming together for stand-up Michael Yo as he hits the big 5-0.<\/p>\n
\u201cI released a special [Snack Daddy], I just shot another Dry Bar special that\u2019s gonna come out and I\u2019m 50 \u2013 yes, I\u2019m 50!\u201d the Houston-born comedian says with zeal. \u201cPeople can\u2019t tell \u2018cause I\u2019m half black and Asian \u2013 Black don\u2019t crack, and Asian don\u2019t raisin! I tell people I\u2019m 137 years old.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cBut yeah, the 5-0,\u201d Yo says wistfully ahead of Friday September 13 date at House of Blues<\/b>. \u201cNot to get too deep, but it\u2019s a weird thing, because I am 50 but if we were to hang out, you would never think I\u2019m 50. I don\u2019t feel it! Literally I feel like I\u2019m in my 20s. It\u2019s a weird thing where I don\u2019t even feel my age. I think when we were growing up, when you say someone who is 50 \u2013 they LOOKED 50. Even go back to look at old sitcoms, where the parents are supposed to be 35 but they look like 60? Now we know how to take care of ourselves, we eat healthy and all this. But I feel the best I\u2019ve ever felt in my life: mentally, physically, in material and family. It\u2019s all clicking together.\u201d
Despite his rapid fire recording pace, Yo promises new stories and jokes for his Issa Truuue! Tour. \u201c100 percent new material,\u201d he affirms. \u201cand that\u2019s the stress of it. Stand up is just part of me. I tell me I can\u2019t live without my family, or stand up. Like literally it is my right arm. No matter how tired I am, if there is a comedy club around, I will go to it. Me and my wife will go on vacation, and if the kids go to sleep early, I will look for the closest comedy club. Just to go up \u2013 which annoys my wife a lot! It is just part of me. There is no pressure because I love it. If you love what you do.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cNow I will admit, unlike a singer who can sing a couple of hit songs for the rest of their life \u2013 [with comedy] after they see it once live, they don\u2019t want to see it again. That\u2019s what makes it so hard to be a stand up comedian. But since I talk about my life so much, it has become so easy to find my voice and different angles on things. Crazy things happen every single day \u2013 between my kids, my wife, my parents are ridiculous, you know? I talk to them all the time, so I always got material coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking of family, Yo\u2019s young family is growing up \u2013 and the lingering thought remains: what happens when his kids are old enough to watch the jokes he\u2019s told about them? \u201cNow more than I ever, I have to be more careful because they actually understand what I am saying,\u201d he explains, charting his thinking on the looming subject and explaining an announcement for his upcoming material. \u201cI\u2019m more of a family comedian now, I\u2019m going the clean route and not cursing and all that, because I want my kids to be able to watch my comedy. But at the same time \u2013 you still gotta be able to make jokes about them.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo how do you do that where if they see it, but don\u2019t totally understand it yet? So you kinda make a choice that they\u2019ll understand it later in life, and get over it. It\u2019s that weird things because I talk about the balance between my daughter and son, and the different things they do. But I don\u2019t want them to ever see it and say, \u2018aw, my dad thinks I\u2019m this\u2019 because it is just jokes. So even though I don\u2019t curse in my stand up, I still don\u2019t really let them watch anything I do because they won\u2019t understand it \u2013 but probably when they\u2019re teenagers like 15 and 16 is the first time they\u2019ll see my stand up.\u201d
Some may call it re-branding, other may merely observe it as a natural evolution: but Yo pivoting to a clean-only perspective may not surprise longtime followers of his work. \u201cThe thing is \u2013 I\u2019ve never cursed that much.” <\/p>\n
“[Not to say] this is a religious moment in my life, but eight months ago I was just like: I\u2019m gonna dedicate my stand up, and really everything I do, because I\u2019ve always been a believer in God, but I just said that I don\u2019t need to curse. I\u2019m just gonna make this change that going forward, all my comedy is gonna be clean. Right now, I have people who are 40 or 50 years old, bring their 21 or 22 year old kids to my shows. And it\u2019s always been like that because I don\u2019t really curse, but man, I want to be open to everybody coming.\u201d <\/p>\n
As if the universe desired to affirm his shift in direction, Yo says it was nearly instant when a new door opened that led to the realization of a life-long dream. \u201cRight when I started doing [clean material] 8 months ago, literally 3 months later, I got the call for Scrambled Up, a game show. I\u2019ve been wanting to host a game show all my life! They told me, and I was so excited I hung up and told my wife and started crying. But then he called back and said I forgot to tell you, but you\u2019re shooting 160 episodes! In 4 weeks! So I\u2019ve been shooting 8-9 episodes per day. [And] after doing that for 12 hours, to still go up onstage and practice has been a lot. But great things are happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say it\u2019s really not on your time, it\u2019s on God\u2019s time. I really believe that. I\u2019ve worked so hard, like I was the person who would shoot all the pilots and be told that you\u2019re not famous enough \u2013 you may be great or the best host, but you\u2019re not famous enough. But now I\u2019ve got my shot and I feel like everything is happening for a reason. 5-6 years ago, when I had the opportunity, I wasn\u2019t as good as I was now.\u201d
Dreams fulfilled begat more dreams it seems, as Yo is forthcoming about another bucket list item for his career: the classic American sitcom. \u201cMy dream, since my stand up is so successful right now, I would love to do my own sitcom about my life. People know that. I see the reaction live, they love the stories and I would love to bring that to a sitcom.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s a thing where I\u2019m really trying to break more into acting but also balance it with family. On this game show, I\u2019ve been away from my family for like 6 weeks. I\u2019ll fly from Atlanta to Las Vegas every weekend to see them. It\u2019s a lot, but it\u2019s also, you have to do what you have to do. So I have to balance everything with family first and those opportunities go around them. Because even if your kids say they understand, all they\u2019re going to remember the times you were gone. Not the time you\u2019re there. I try to limit that as much as a possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
While other passions come and go, Yo stands strong with his true professional love: stand-up. \u201cMy friend told me the greatest thing,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you tell a joke about your family and they laugh, that means they\u2019ve identified with it because they\u2019ve got through exactly what you\u2019ve gone through. If you say a joke nobody laughs to, you\u2019ve not related to anybody. That\u2019s why I love comedy, man. It\u2019s a superpower! Just you on stage making somebody laugh for an hour. It\u2019s the best job. If I had to rank it, it would be comedy, by far. Above acting, above hosting a game show, because without comedy, professionally I would be so miserable. I love it that much.\u201d
With this tour, Yo says he aims to honor his parents \u2013 and even gave his mother the title quote. \u201cMy mom is ruthless and so blunt and will just say the most cruel things to people, then say \u2018Issa true!\u2019 I remember I was hanging out with my mom, and this was like two weeks ago, and she was looking at a person and she said \u2018Wow, they have nice teeth and a long face.\u2019 And I just said, \u2018Oh my God mom \u2013 you can\u2019t say that!\u2019 And she says, \u2018Why? Issa true.\u2019 So that\u2019s my mom, she keeps saying things she should not be saying and this whole tour is dedicated to my parents and my mom especially.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cBut the great things is everybody has a person in their family, whether they\u2019re white, Asian, black, Hispanic, that talks like that. I think that\u2019s why my comedy relates \u2013 because yes, my mom is Asian and my dad is black, but so many people after the show go: my Dad is like your dad, or my Mom is like your mom? When it comes down to it, we all got crazy people in our family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fans of Yo should be eating well for the foreseeable future. Between his tour, his game show, and his most recent specials dropped on YouTube, there is plenty of content to fill the hours. \u201cPeople can watch Snack Daddy and my last one (I Never Thought) now. I never thought I\u2019d self-produce it, but I got tired of waiting for people to say yes, and to give me a platform, so I did it myself. <\/p>\n
On the trend of comedians turning to self-distribution over waiting for Netflix money, Yo has powerful insights. \u201cWhy wait for someone to give you an opportunity when you can make it yourself? Now with cameras and stuff \u2013 before it would take $200,000 or $300,000 to shoot a special. You can shoot a special now that is the same quality for 15 grand. And you own it! And you license it! And you make money from everything. So yeah, I think it\u2019s great comedians can control their own destinies. When it comes down to it, there will always be people that will say no. But what got me through the tough times were those 300 or 400 people in the audience who laughed and said yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yo\u2019s performance is scheduled for 7 p.m. on September 13 at 1204 Caroline. For information, call 888-402-5837 or visit houseofblues.com\/houston. $29-49.
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