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Moses Storm has led a crazy life. The comedian and actor tells me about growing up in his family’s “failed” cult, living in a bus with his five siblings, and eventually meeting his hero Conan O’Brien on a rooftop that smelled like tapas. We also talk about the making of his first comedy special, “Trash White,” which has his fingerprints all over it – literally.

Please note, Funny Cuz It’s True contains mature themes and may not be appropriate for all listeners.

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Transcript

SPEAKERS

Elyse Myers, Moses Storm

Elyse Myers  00:00

How did I get hired at my first restaurant job? That’s a bizarre question. But I would love to tell you, I was 17 years old when I found a listing on Craigslist for open interviews. I had never heard that term before. But I had watched enough America’s Next Top Model to know what an open casting call was. So I figured open interviews would probably work the same. Just with like less modeling, I’m assuming I immediately got dressed in the fanciest outfit I could find in my closet, which I think ended up being some type of like forever 21 blazer and some jeans that had so many holes in them on purpose. They were basically shorts, it felt right, I guess. I rode the city bus from La Palma to Huntington Beach, California, where eventually I would actually move to but that’s a different story for a different day. And I walked through an industrial business park to find the sign I was looking for, quote, open interviews, new restaurant opening soon, this was me, I had 100% confidence in the tank and 0% reason for it. Because up until this point, I have never served a day in my life. There’s a funny hierarchy that happens in restaurants. And if you’ve not worked in one, you wouldn’t really know. But the staff is ranked each position at a restaurant they work at with a specific level of importance, and you don’t jump ranks too soon, you don’t really jump ranks at all, you slowly painfully crawl your way up the ranks with the permission of like 12 people you didn’t even know existed until it comes time for you to climb those ranks. Whatever ranks doesn’t even feel like a real word anymore. Any hoops. The fact that this was a new restaurant under construction means that the owners and the head chef, were going to have to train the entire staff on the menu and also the culture of the restaurant that doesn’t exist yet. So sure, being a seasoned server would probably come in handy. But beyond knowing how to hold a couple more plates than everybody else. I mean, even the people with no experience, me, could probably keep up eventually, yes, but right away, no. Turns out they were group interviews, you think that would be less intimidating, because there’s more people to focus on at once. But then you all end up just interviewing each other. And it becomes kind of like The Hunger Games of interviews, which ends up being even worse than a one on one interview. I was very upfront with the fact that I knew absolutely nothing about being a server in a restaurant.

Elyse Myers  02:17

And I don’t really know if divulging that much information that quickly was as necessary as I initially thought it would be. Things were not going incredibly well. I didn’t know how to speak in a group like this. And I figured I was out of the running pretty much immediately. Mainly because one of the first things I blurted out when I sat down was I don’t have any serving experience, no serving experience here. No clue what I’m doing, would love to learn don’t know fast learner don’t know what I’m doing. About middle of the way through the interview, one of the owners saw me in the back being way more quiet than I was at the start of the interview. I was intentionally pulling away I wanted this job so badly and I knew I wasn’t going to get it. So I decided I don’t want to want this job. But she wanted me to engage. So she started giving me a preview of the menu to see how I would react. She started calling off a few of their main entrees, one being spaghetti and gigantic meatball. My face lit up immediately because this is exactly how my grandmother makes spaghetti with just one big meatball plopped on top. And I raised my hand without even thinking and I said I love spaghetti and meatball emphasis on the singular. I shared my personal connection to the recipe and how shocked I was because I’d never seen anybody else make spaghetti like this, and I was back in the running. But then next was a role playing exercise where we had to pretend to serve the owners of the restaurant and a fake table. And I was back out of the running. I flipped back and forth many times during this interview and at the end of it, I really wasn’t sure where I stood. Mostly though my confusion was attributed to the fact that this was the most bizarre and most extensive interview I’ve ever had and ever will be a part of in my entire life. You would have thought we were auditioning for a role in a Broadway musical where the majority of the plot happens in a restaurant. There was so much detail in so many games. I waited a week or so and then I finally got the call that I did receive the job but I’m 100% positive it was only because I got so excited about a giant meatball. Thank you.

Elyse Myers  04:42

Okay, actually, can you just pretend that you’re listening to a fully complete theme song here? I got really in my head. And I tried to make it perfect. And I couldn’t. So this is going to be the theme song right here. Hi, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Funny Cuz It’s True, I’m Elyse Myers. Today I’m talking to comedian and actor Moses Storm. I’ve been following Moses’s work for quite a while now. And his comedy is so perfectly tailored to what my brain thinks is funny that I just quickly became obsessed with like every piece of content that he puts out in his life is kind of incredible. Well, not even kind of his  life story is very incredible. Moses was raised in this tiny cult with no formal education until college, and then as a kid, he would find joy by watching Conan O’Brien in secret. And then now as an adult, all these years later, Conan O’Brien is producing his work. How does that even happen? This interview with Moses is easily one of my favorites, because it’s all about the power of comedy. So two things that are funny because they’re true. Number one, Moses and I are both dyslexic. And I just think that’s a really fun fact. We talk a little bit about it in the interview, and it actually plays a part in how he named his special trash white. And that brings me to my second point, when I was watching his special trash white, I had to pause the TV multiple times, because I was laughing so hard. I kept missing like the jokes that followed my laughter. And I didn’t want to miss anything. So I kept pausing and laughing and then I would play his special in my car as I would drive to work because it’s so good. I wanted to hear it 17,000 times. So definitely go watch it. Okay, let’s get into it. Moses, hello, hello. I’m grateful that you know, you are able to join me today. Listen, I know we just started but before we get into anything of actual substance, I need you to know what got cut out here. So I was really nervous to talk to Moses. And literally one of the first things that pops out of my mouth as soon as his face loads up in my computer screen was to compliment him on his special but the way I did it was by basically shouting at him. Your special is so good. doubt that was how I greeted him. Oh my god. Oh, please, for I want to start with a little icebreaker really quick. If we like where to start a TikTok trend, like what would that trend be?

Moses Storm  07:08

Oh, man, this might be too inside baseball. I can’t give a right answer to this. But it’s really bad trend. It’s happening. Where everyone’s constantly uploading comedian crowd work clips. I’m sure you’ve come across one.

Elyse Myers  07:23

Oh, yeah. It’s like my whole for you page right now.

Moses Storm  07:25

Right? You watch one and it’s really the HPV videos. It just keeps going back. And the thing was crowd work is it’s not that good. It’s a lot of you had to be there moments. If you were in that room and you were drinking and you were in Atlanta ahead at 11pm there I’m sure it’s pretty hilarious if a guy was wearing Hawaiian shirt and his name was Greg it’s a big laugh in the room but it does not translate. So my trend would be because all the all those videos with very lame Rowson, they have the most aggressive titles where it’s like comedian owns hecklers. Yeah. Comedians, slam down pro-lifers. And if you watch the video, and it’s like, good, you know, you shut up. What’s your name, Tony. So then the trend would be audience members, epically owning comedians, so there’s a nightmare of mine. But people would go to a show and they would film themselves like comedians film themselves, and they would just give a mild, gentle comeback of like, yeah, my name is Tony. It’s actually Anthony, because from my Italian heritage, making fun of that, and then they can upload as a clapback. Audience Member epically owns comedian.

Elyse Myers  08:40

I’ve seen a lot of videos where some people say that like stand up is going to die in the next few years because of the rise of people uploading heckling clips. People that have never been to a stand-up show are now only seeing their first time stand up through the view of somebody heckling. So they their first introduction to this is a two way conversation. Because people don’t want to burn their content, the exact like you said, and I’m curious, like, because you do have interactive elements to your comedy, do you feel like that helps people feel like they can be involved. And then also when it’s not their turn to participate that they can just sit back? And listen, the new

Moses Storm  09:18

show I’m working on is even more audience participation. So rather than fight it, I’d see the same thing that you see, like, yeah, it’s gonna change comedy, because that is most people’s experience with it. More people are watching that one heckler clip than will ever watch your HBO special. So rather than try to fight that, I’m just leaning into that. So with the new show that perfect call, basically the rough concept, the show is that we’re making my call didn’t work out. My family’s called. So we’re trying to make the perfect call with the audience that night based on everyone’s experience in that room with religion, and some of my own and I like I shared a little bit of me like here’s where I think maybe things went wrong. And here’s what we need. Members. That’s you guys just trying to fold them in.

Elyse Myers  10:04

And I guess for people that don’t know, can you just mentioned the experience in the court? Like, can you share a little bit about kind of what your childhood was like?

Moses Storm  10:12

Yeah, I think it’s a little generous to say that I was raised in a cult. Because I was raised in a profoundly unsuccessful doomsday cult.

Elyse Myers  10:20

When you say unsuccessful, what does that mean?

Moses Storm  10:22

I guess I’m marking success in that we couldn’t get our own Netflix special today. Okay. It’s not really it’s not really the merits of a religion that make someone’s life better or even make some money, was there enough murder, was there enough intrigue and sex parties in the common room to get your own special? No. It was by parents and the two other families and it was a failure from beginning to end. It was a mixture of Judaism and Catholicism. It had no name no name. Yeah, no name. You should try it on TikTok.

Elyse Myers  10:58

I know that your HBO special talks a little bit about it for you kind of what is that process look like of trying to figure out what to include from your childhood and what not to like having the balance of serious versus funny? And how do you find that balance?

Moses Storm  11:19

Yes, I so I guess the job of convenience to not bum people out, right? We’ve all have trauma in our own lives. We have all things that happen to us. And it’s beautiful to talk about this on stage. But if you are doing standup, you do have to dig people out of that hole. The tired nurse just got off her 16 hour shift and is putting on stand up to forget about her life.

Elyse Myers  11:41

Yeah. This reminds me so much of when Atsuko was talking about how comedy is a service and care, you have to like people to be good at comedy. It’s like the comedian is the center of attention, but they’re also catering to what other people need and want to see. I just think it’s so cool. Is that kind of what got you into performing is that you wanted to kind of just be a pause in someone’s day. Like, what got you into that?

Moses Storm  12:05

Oh, yeah. It’s something I wanted to give back because I feel less guilty about how much joy I got from it. Which if you weren’t convinced I was raised to call that there it is. Guilt around just joy.

Elyse Myers  12:20

Guilt, shame. Enjoy your life. I feel guilty all the time. It’s amazing. Yeah,

Moses Storm  12:29

I think it was such an escape for us because it was so many moments that were just hell. And if I saw comedy, if I saw a Chris Farley movie, or if I watched Conan growing up secretly, these are things that brought me so much joy that yeah, I don’t know. I was like, That’s so fun and made me feel so good. I should do that. Yeah. So that was it. That was that was as much thought went into it. And then I was also 18. And I had never been to school and could barely read or write. So I was like, Okay, well, probably comedy. That’s probably the one thing I could maybe monetize and break generational poverty.

Elyse Myers  13:09

What was your entry into the like, comedy performing world if that was the if that’s kind of how you started?

Moses Storm  13:14

So I think first I started working at a grocery store called leader came back into our life and completely gaslit my mom, what are you doing, and you got to get a job, your kids have to get a job. And then I was 16, I got a job at a grocery store. And then that’s where I started for the first time being around kids my age or just people my age, and without the supervision of my parents, because the other thing about not being in school, traveling around at a bus, spreading the word and always moving is that that’s the most isolating thing travels very isolating. And then I fell in love with the girl at the grocery store. Or at least what I thought love was its extreme. And everything about the cult said that that was wrong. And that this girl was going to hell and I would go to hell if we were ever together. And then it was just a feeling thing was knowing how I felt that’s a true feeling. Okay, well then this other called stuff is probably bullshit then, because this feels real.

Elyse Myers  14:16

So it was the girl. Did you guys end up dating?

Moses Storm  14:22

Yeah, briefly. And then it was like, it was just, it was just a kind person, but it’s really what you’re doing to me right now at least is just someone that’s kind and intelligent that I’m able to say things out loud to and then when it’s absorbed in your ears and then you just see how you process it. And oh, fuck just as sweet oh nine person saying like, hey, that’s maybe not the truth. Maybe this is an all gonna burn.

Elyse Myers  14:52

I’m sure too like because you were so isolated. You didn’t have a lot of people that allowed you to ask questions or have any room in your life. where you could even ask a question, right? And I feel like somebody else seeing your life from the outside, even asking you like, so you live in a van or like, so you didn’t go to school, you know, just having somebody outside asking you those, you probably didn’t realize it was weird or not, you know, the normal experience until you’re at, you’re talking to someone who had a very classic experience as a child, which would have just been really disorienting, I feel like,

Moses Storm  15:24

exactly. I mean, it was exactly that we weren’t allowed to ask questions, because that was seen as Doubting or not having faith. So not only are we not allowed, but it was a high crime. So just the first time that I was able to do that, I mean, I felt like a bad boy, what a rebel right now I’m just having questions, having some free thought over here.

Elyse Myers  15:49

We got to take a quick break. But when we return, Moses tells us about his time in college. So from the grocery store, how did comedy and acting happen?

Moses Storm  16:10

So the grocery store gave me a little bit of separation, I was able to steal a little bit of my paycheck back, just giving it to my mom. And like, make a little nest egg. And I signed myself up for a college, the desert of California so anyone could go, you didn’t need a GED.

Elyse Myers  16:29

So when you said you didn’t go to school, when was the cutoff for you? Like did you stop going in high school or middle school?

Moses Storm  16:36

Never. If God’s gonna end the world, according to my parents, and like 46 minutes from right now. There’s really no reason to go to school. There’s no reason to get a job or lay any routes or future plan because we’re always made to feel like fire and brimstone. And so it’s all gonna collapse. Wow. Yeah, so Antelope Valley Community College, and if it was a college or just a bus stop was close, and then adults in there. It didn’t,

Elyse Myers  17:04

it was equally as helpful.

Moses Storm  17:06

It wasn’t the maybe the brightest of people. One time I was in a Final Cut, like video editing class, and I look over is the 65 year old guy he’s eating. He’s eating orange like apple with the PA one. Just like his face and all the zest, shoot out of the screen. And it’s not even like he’s enjoying it like, oh, it’s his preference. He likes it. He’s wincing.

Elyse Myers  17:34

I hate oranges.

Moses Storm  17:38

He’s physically in pain, even every single bite. But there was enough people making videos there that were making, like funny videos. And from what I had secretly watched by my thumbs back of Conan, they were making sketches the same time that YouTube was a thing. So it was just like, oh, of being able to make videos with people that I met at that terrible college, my friends by my friends. They’re just like, oh, the one people that were not 1000 years old, or had bags for shoes, or

Elyse Myers  18:13

We’re eating oranges. Like yeah, exactly.

Moses Storm  18:16

So she’s like, oh, yeah. We started making videos. And then two of us moved down to LA because it was a two, two hour drive.

Elyse Myers  18:25

So you guys were like making videos. And you mentioned Conan twice. So I feel like he’s a big part of your story. Did you end up ever like working with him? Or was it just his comedic influence that?

Moses Storm  18:35

You set out to do that. That was your intention. That’s genius. You should be very proud of this plan.

Moses Storm  18:35

My brother started secretly watching that show for their musical performances. They’re very talented musicians can play anything they pick up. So I saw the show that comedy for the first time, I had never seen anything like it. And I went so far as convincing my mom […] school. Just sign me up for this video program. With a Becca Academy is a Christian video Academy where they send you VHS tapes of kids in the classroom actively going through puberty and trying to pass around the most sensitive microphone in the world. And you are like the teacher pauses like oh, and then for our video students at home, what do you think the answer is for a. And I was too far gone at that point and could barely read or write to really keep up with any of those classes I tried. But the whole point was to get my own TV VCR in my room so that I could secretly record Conan that was really the main reason.

Moses Storm  18:58

What a psycho? This is like a villains origin story. Where do you just see them? Because I would put the tape in and he would come on and at one of me it’s like 12:30am to stay up, put the tape in press record and then turn the TV off again, and then set a record and then back in the morning when it was supposed to be to school then I could watch it back. But then just be up the whole time with my heart racing.

Elyse Myers  19:59

Did anyone ever find out?

Moses Storm  20:01

oh yeah my brother’s definitely found out I told him what I don’t do thinking of like, you know you didn’t know what I was doing in that room when they thought I was masturbating it’s like everybody was just under a series of blankets with a TV and VCR around me just so hot, just to hot 90s TV.

Elyse Myers  20:24

With like the static Yeah, like when you put blankets over them the static got worse and so like anytime you moved your hair just like shocked you.

Moses Storm  20:32

So they probably don’t even believe me today. So that show was such a huge influence and maybe for the first not even performance not even for the first like who you are on stage as a person. I was ripping off continents identity like people would say that because I picked up on all the mannerisms.

Elyse Myers  20:54

You’re just like, thank you.

Moses Storm  20:58

What is that? Sounds like it’s of the devil but okay, thank you.

Elyse Myers  21:04

Why was it Conan? Like, what about him made you react like that?

Moses Storm  21:09

Because on its surface if you’re just a watch you think this is the dumbest comedy in the world. Okay, then when you keep watching you understand that this is someone that puts a lot of heart and attention and work something stupid like the characters they would bring out like FedEx Pope if you just think about like cutting a FedEx box, making it a pope Pat and you felt like oh shit, I have this connection with you because that’s what I wanted to put on the ship ton of work behind something so stupid. So then, so then we make bad videos. I have four jobs working after hours nightclub is a busboy and people just throw up on the ground and I pour salt dust over it and I sweep it up. I’m not really bussing tables. People aren’t ordering chicken linguini people are eating handfuls of ecstasy and throwing up on the carpet.

Elyse Myers  21:57

You’re like bussing human beings into the vomit buzzer.

Moses Storm  22:01

So I started doing stand-up from there because friends told me to like you should do stand-up. And then I did the coward’s way I did improv intensely.

Elyse Myers  22:11

This is fascinating to me. Because when I was talking to other comedians, that sounds like I’m like telling on Moses. Oh, yeah. Well, I was talking to other okay, sorry, focus. Okay. So when I was talking to comedians like Angela Kinsey, and Mike Birbiglia and others whose background is so like, rich in improv, they would say that improv was like one of the hardest things you can do. And so it’s really like it blows my mind every time I get to talk to these professional comedians who are so good at what they do, who have vastly different opinions about what, like, is hard. And what is good. It’s just I think it’s all difficult. So there’s that, is that the coward’s way out.

Moses Storm  22:55

It’s like a little bit easier because you fail together and it’s way more fun if I could survive on improv alone. Oh, boy. What I love that. It’s not cowardly. Totally. But if you are afraid to get on stage, that’s a great first step. That’s a great thing because you’re with other people. You don’t have to be fighting the other person could be the funny person. You could be the straight man. And you can still feel what it feels like to get a laugh. Yeah, to hear self-paced and talk on stage get comfortable. Where do you put your hands? So it is a great thing. You just can’t fall into the trap. But that’s all you do. Right? You have to have something else like you like making videos and something that’s tangible. And not just for that. 100 people that night the perform for.

Elyse Myers  23:37

Because you started with improv. But what did you do after that?

Moses Storm  23:40

Then got the finally worked up the courage to stand up. I had lied to a woman that was running this showcase at the Hollywood improv and it was a sold out night, absolutely. I five minutes, I could do that. I did a five minute set. And then something right away happened somewhere I got heckled or someone started talking back. And I immediately started just addressing that because I ask myself and had dropped the jokes I had started with or had written down. Two years before it was over. I was too nervous to get on stage. And it was the first time in my life that I was able to pause and listen to who I was everything has been trying to please this religion or then getting out of the religion and just trying to keep up trying to blend in with other people I just want to fit in. I know I’m very weird. And I come from this insane past really ashamed of all this stuff. And there’s just so much mental noise and self-judgment and self-hate in that and being on stage. But it was the whole room laughing and it was everything else was silenced in my head. And I was like I need all that noise for it to feel silent and it felt great. And I was like I just want to do this. Whatever I have to do to feel this feeling again and do this up to I’m gonna do in that moment where you get a laugh. It feels like an eternity. But yeah, it’s probably two seconds. And then it went well and I booked a bunch of shows from there. I got my agent manager at one show.

Elyse Myers  25:14

Yeah, like, Good, you’re gonna be a star. We have to take one more break. When we come back. We hear how Moses met and started writing for Conan O’Brien himself.

Moses Storm  25:41

So then start doing stand-up, and then I started my own show, because you got to go back to got to make your own things. No one’s gonna give you a job. No one’s gonna give you stage time as a performer, and I would book comedians that I admired.

Elyse Myers  25:53

What was the show called? This show. Is your show.

Moses Storm  25:59

Very confusing name. People always got it wrong. You think trash whites hard. Are you still doing Show? Show your show? What does that show your show? So then the Conan producers saw myself and my new co-host, Chris Red. So him and I were just cohosting and we do joint stand up. So then that show started going really well. And then I got into the festival Just For Laughs which is a big comedy showcase in Montreal, where everyone that works at Netflix, HBO, all the network’s they all go out there and they watch your five minute showcase, essentially. And it’s a whole industry party.

Elyse Myers  26:37

Was that terrifying for you? Or did you were you hyped about that?

Moses Storm  26:41

Yeah, I was pretty terrified. I think I threw up on the street running there.

Elyse Myers  26:45

Was anyone saw a saw dust to pick it up for you or did you have to do that yourself?

Moses Storm  26:49

Yeah, know I always have the sawdust on me.

Elyse Myers  26:52

Pockets of sawdust everywhere.

Moses Storm  26:54

It was the fastest throw up. I can’t find it because I didn’t take time. It was on the street. I was running to the venue was so nervous. It came out clean. I feel better. It was like a SpongeBob throw it was like that and they completely claim walked away. Have to wipe them out. Oh my gosh. From there. JP, who’s the Booker. He said you should do comedy some time. I should did you’re the guy. I should do that. He’s like I start working on a set for the show.

Elyse Myers  27:26

That’s like your all of your dreams just coming to life. You ended up working on the show after that.

Moses Storm  27:32

Yeah. So and then Chris and I get hired to do Conan O’Brien’s pre show. So before Conan would do his shows down at Comic Con, the Spreckels theatre, there’s gonna be a pre-show. It’d be two comedians up on the roof of the theater just kind of thrown into Eclipse sort of like an like MTV Spring Break style thing. And then the first one they’re supposed to get Conan O’Brien to come up on the roof with Chris and I was like, holy shit. This is the first time we met him like yeah, he’s we get up on this this beach set roof that they built on top of this theater and it’s San Diego in late summer. So it’s hot as shit. The makeup they put melting off the beach. The beach ball that’s like made for the beach is melting. The pH levels different. There’s a vent that lets out. Topless air, just hot exhaust from his tapas restaurant. So just hot tapas air is coming up.

Elyse Myers  28:37

Just sweaty tacos and like small plates. You’re like, huh, I smell like aoli fries. I love this.

Moses Storm  28:46

But Chris and I we did complain and we’re just like, riffing on that stuff going and comes up. What was supposed to be a 32nd thing. Just 20 minutes of just bullshitting with us did a point where his producers have to come and physically pull him down. And is the first week of shows so then the next show he comes up he does the same thing and that we do 30 minutes is a bigger part of the show and he’s just ripping with us. I can’t hear my own voice. It’s like your hero which is in your ear. And you’re just trying to keep up as fast as you can. And I keep pitching things to tell. I tell Conan by keep going running and by Chris first as my family is in cycle if I say this I secretly record he’s like yeah, just hold off a little bit.

Elyse Myers  29:29

Your ears are just like ringing everything is just like tunnel vision. Like Conan. It’s the only thing that matters.

Moses Storm  29:36

He’s telling me like a good friend like oh, don’t do that. That’s psycho. You’re gonna you’re gonna scare that girl away.

Elyse Myers  29:42

We need friends like that in our life. Honestly.

Moses Storm  29:45

But then I ended up telling Conan the story that I told you about how it’s good to record the show. And then we got to talking and then I cover how we got to this point but he asked Chris and I both we wanted to do and I was like I want to do stand up and also want to add That was okay, we can make that happen. And then Conan is the one that produced trash white, and told HBO that I was a comedian, and that they should trust me and they wanted a relationship with Him. They had no idea who I was as young, unproven, nothing to show for it. But it was just counted having my back and then yeah, and then it went well and that money I put a ton of work because my shot so Yeah, put everything into it. To be able to do that for someone. I mean, that is my greatest trade people I wouldn’t want to do what movie do you see yourself, man? If I could do that for someone that yeah.

Elyse Myers  30:37

I love that you’re doing so much with it. Like you are so good at what you do. And I know that you appreciate it so much, which makes all the difference. And so it’s called I keep wanting to call it white trash. It’s not that it’s trash. White. So I’m dyslexic as well. So every time I’ve just I’ve been flipping it this whole time.

Moses Storm  30:55

Well, me too, because I would always do that with white trash, because I’m dyslexic.

Elyse Myers  31:00

Really, is that what you call that, Trash White?

Moses Storm  31:02

Yeah. And then every set piece on that set that I built, there’s things from the stories you need to think so all those items are pointed things. And if you could make a monochromatic piece of art out of all the shit that happened to you, your life and all this stuff. It is trash.

Elyse Myers  31:17

Oh my gosh. Now I want to go back and watch it again. With that perspective. I feel like I missed that somewhere. I should have known that.

Moses Storm  31:22

Oh, yeah, there’s things that for every story and that net pile.

Elyse Myers  31:26

That’s so powerful. Okay, wait. Now I have a question about that. What does that feel like performing on a stage like that with art that has been made out of things that probably felt really shitty from your life, but you’ve made it beautiful? What does that feel like?

Moses Storm  31:40

It felt great. It felt incredible. Yeah, there’s no, there’s no attachment to any of the things in there. Because some of the things are real things from my life. And from those stories, yeah. But the nerves were significantly curbed the night of the taping.

Elyse Myers  31:56

Because of this set.

Moses Storm  31:58

Because I spent so much time in that building, usually you show up to the venue, maybe at 5pm, the shows at seven and you’re like, oh shit, this looks incredible. And it’s a little intimidating to see all those lights for the first time and see how to see the 1200 person audience that we had to see like all those empty chairs. But I was in there the entire night. I stayed up again the night before.

Elyse Myers  32:25

Training your whole life for this.

Moses Storm  32:28

One been working on this for months, building the set off site, brought it in, had to tie all those pieces together, follow the safety code. So I was there when they were placing all the lights. So I got to see this whole thing get built around me. So by the time it was the show, I was inviting them into my thing that I made my exhibit that I made, it’s like your home. So thank you for coming to my thing versus like, Oh God, I’m stepping on the stage. What if everyone hates me there, it’s a you’re gonna hate me there. This is my thing.

Elyse Myers  33:02

You’re coming into my house sir, so you can just sit on my couch.

Moses Storm  33:06

So I inadvertently made it like a significantly easier even though while the audience is being sat, I was still hand painting things. And in the first taping, there, you can see you physically white paint on my hand. So that was still up until the second that they said go.

Elyse Myers  33:22

Okay, coming in hot with a fun fact. So Moses did this super immersive exhibit in 2014 called Modern millennial, where he basically crowdfunded enough money to get aloft and then invited people to come and watch him, like live his life 24/7, he has always been inviting audiences into very intimate parts of his life, there’s so much power behind being comfortable in a space that you’re going to be creatively performing, especially for strangers. And for you specifically, I just don’t get the feeling that you had a lot of consistency growing up and being able to have control over this creative thing you’re doing and feeling so safe in it. That’s a very powerful thing, I think, especially for you and what you’re performing. And so I just love that for you.

Moses Storm  34:08

I know, it’s a hard thing to recommend other comedians, you should build your own site. Don’t work on your toes.

Elyse Myers  34:14

You should be hand painting things right before people come in.

Moses Storm  34:18

You should direct it and you should edit it you should spend two months editing it yourself and then spend the second half regretting that you agree to edit it.

Elyse Myers  34:26

dude, it’s so good trash white genuinely is so good. I want to watch it like 12 more times I just I hope you’re so proud of it.

Moses Storm  34:34

Thank you. It really does when I say that I really mean it because I was there painting those pieces I was on the road performing dog shit cities that we will now name and doing this for people that don’t give a shit that that are just there to drink and eat chicken wings and then it just in the edit or fighting with HBO today. You have to trust me or you have to let me co direct this. You have to let me edit that There’s so many hard days. So difficult thing. So when people say that they like it, it means the world.

Elyse Myers  35:05

Oh, yeah. I mean, that is how I feel about like this podcast, which is funny because everyone listening is like, you’re not in dogshit cities. That’s not what I mean to everybody listening. I mean, like, I have intentionally be like, I inserted myself into creative decisions that I don’t know if most like podcast hosts would simply for time sake, you know, and like, it doesn’t matter. And like to me, I just take everything I do very seriously. And I really want everything to feel like me. And so yeah, there’s a lot of work that goes into it. And oftentimes, I’m about one decision away from quitting before every single interview. I’m like, You know what, I’m actually okay. Thank you so much. Yeah. But then you hear the product of it. And it’s, it’s beautiful. Like, do you know what I mean? You just you hear the thing that you created.

Moses Storm  35:53

I know 100% what you mean, this why was excited to talk to you. It was just watching your work was like, oh, she has a some of that works like a guy work like you.

Elyse Myers  36:05

Moses, seriously, thank you so much for making the time.

Moses Storm  36:08

Thank you so much for having me. And I meant everything I said, it’s really impressive. Everything you did. So it means a lot. Thank you.

Elyse Myers  36:20

I have nothing to add. Moses’ story is so incredible. I don’t want to mess it up by trying to summarize it in any way. So thank you for listening. That’s it for my conversation with Moses storm and definitely go watch his special. If you want, you can rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts. No pressure, it just helps people find us. Okay, bye.

CREDITS  36:43

Hey, if you want more Funny Because It’s True, just subscribe to Lemonada Premium on Apple podcasts. Funny Cuz It’s True is a Lemonada Media and Powderkeg production. The show is produced by Claire Jones, Zoe Dennis and […], our associate producer is Tiffany Buoy. Rachel Neil is our senior director of new content and our VP of weekly production is Steve Nelson. Executive Producers are Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Jessica Cordova Kramer, Paul Feig, Laura Fisher, […] and me Elyse Myers. The show is mixed by Brian Castillo and Johnny Evans. Our theme song music was written by me and scored by Xander Singh.