(audience laughs) (audience applauds and cheers) - [Erin] How we feeling?

Are we ready for some more show, you guys?

(audience cheers and applauds) Yes, you are.

I'm very excited to bring our next comic up to the stage.

He has a special on Amazon Prime called "January 3rd."

Clap it up right now for TJ.

(audience applauds and cheers) (funky music) (funky music continues) (funky music continues) - The first time I was funny in America, which is a whole new realization because I was being funny in a language that wasn't mine, that made a huge effect on me.

I think it was my first year in college.

The joke was about a song lyric that has to do with New York City.

"If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere."

Actually, New Yorkers are way too proud because that's not true at all.

People leave other places to come make it in New York because it's kind of easier to make it in New York.

There's a lot of opportunities.

Jay-Z, have you ever tried to be a rapper in Haiti?

Do you know how hard that is?

That is way harder than New York.

I have an accent 'cause I'm from a different place.

That's how accents work.

(audience laughs) It's a lot of fun when you have an accent because you get to find out who's an idiot when you talk to people.

(audience laughs) You do, this girl came up to me recently.

She goes, "You have a bit of an accent.

Where you from?"

I was like, "I'm from Haiti.

I'm Haitian."

She goes, "Oh my God, that is like so cute.

I have never been to Africa before."

(audience laughs) I was like, "Well, that's amazing 'cause me neither, I've never been to Africa, not a day in my life.

It's so far away."

I was offended for a second.

How the hell do you not know that Haiti is in Brooklyn?

How is that even a question?

I thought everybody knew.

(subway bell dings) (subway rider shouts) It wouldn't be the New York City subway without some lady insulting someone on speaker phone.

That's the beauty of it.

I love the subway, man.

It's a no man's land.

Everything happens.

The train kind of helps in your process because you take it from show to show and a lot of thinking and writing and improving for me happens in between shows, so that means it happens on the subway.

Like, I may have said something at show, 7:00 PM show.

Then I take the train to get to the 9:00 PM show and then I keep thinking about it, like, how I could have made that better?

Sometimes, I'll be thinking about a joke and I start laughing to myself on the train and you just look like a crazy person to the strangers.

But nobody gives a (beep) because that's what New York is.

It's a city full of crazy people and we all accept each other.

It's the city of misfits and the rich.

We can't forget about them.

Every time I come out of the subway, I feel like I made it.

I do.

Like, my immune system gets stronger every day just dodging diarrhea and syphilis like I'm in a movie.

You gotta be strong and resilient to live here, which leads me to this question.

How does somebody live in the city every single day?

You take public transportation every single day and that same person is also allergic to gluten.

(audience laughs) That blows my mind.

You all literally sitting on vomit and disease every day of your life, but somehow, bread can kill you.

(audience laughs) - [Bille] Do you remember your first joke or no?

- Well, it was a whole set.

There are jokes that I remember but I wouldn't repeat them because they're not the greatest.

But then here I am, right?

First week, two weeks in New York doing it, I had a little bit of money saved that I'm trying to figure out how to make this work, so I needed a job.

- Yeah.

- And then I got the email and it was about babysitting slash house sitting for this family and they sent me a picture of the family, and I remember specifically they used the word we are a God-fearing family.

But then the part where I felt stupid was you like, all right, we're gonna send you this check.

You go deposit it.

- [Bille] Yep.

- Keep this for yourself and then you send this to us.

That, and then two days after that, the check bounce.

And that was my first real Nigerian scam.

- Oh, they're Nigerian?

- [TJ] Oh, of course.

- Well, I guess it builds character.

I guess hopefully you won't get scammed that way again, so.

- Pretty much.

- [Bille] You may get scammed in a different way, but- - Show business is kind of a scam, so, the whole thing is bound to repeat itself.

We just better scams, scam that you participate in versus the ones you don't.

Show off.

- But I can't get it from the ground, you know?

- [TJ] No, you can't.

- To me, I would say that's kind of crazy for someone like TJ to take that path, you know?

I think he could have been, easily been like a doctor or a lawyer, you know, per se, which is what people kind of elevate in society as a profession that everybody should kind of aspire to be.

Oh.

- [TJ] How's chance?

- Again, you wanna go in again?

You wanna go in again?

- [TJ] Can you do 10 consecutive headers?

I think a doctor is the most prestigious thing an immigrant parent want.

It's very hacky.

They all want it.

I don't know how they all got together.

It doesn't matter the country.

There's just something about being a doctor that they all want, partly so they can tell their neighbors that they have a doctor son 'cause that's the coolest thing you could be.

- Good game, buddy.

Let's go.

(upbeat music) - How you doing, bro?

I need some pork shoulder.

You got that today?

If you ask any American who's somewhat familiar with Haitian culture and what their favorite food is, they will tell you it's griot and this is what it is.

It's pork shoulder cubes that's marinated in very specific Haitian spices and then it's fried until golden brown.

A griot is basically a keeper of culture.

It's a West African word.

It's the job of someone who's sort of a one person library in old traditions, the guy that tells the stories and pass the stuff down to other people.

(contemplative music) The first American that I saw mention the concept of a griot was Dave Chappelle, which is the emperor of what I do.

When Dave was accepting his Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the coolest thing in it for me was his mom being there.

It felt like such a payoff for her having supported him when he was starting out as a 14-year-old.

My mom is the exact opposite, and it's a matter of different worlds.

She just doesn't get what I do so she has no interest in supporting it.

To this day, I don't think she will support it.

Why does this make me sad?

Actually, I don't want this.

(contemplative music) She called me on my birthday this year.

I turned 32 this year and my mom called me, her and my dad, and they go, "Hey, happy birthday."

And I said, "Thank you."

And they said, "How old are you turning this year?"

And I said, "I'm 32."

And they go, "Well, so in 32 years, you've done nothing with your life."

You know, if you a dumb child with no future, if you find anything, your parents will be happy.

I give them too many expectations by being an A student and a class president.

I should have been an idiot, really, is what I'm trying to say.

I should have been an idiot who just barely passed, barely got good grades and then one day, they would be surprised.

They would be like, "Well, at least he's a comedian.

We thought he was gonna be much worse."

So, at the moment I have this idea for a bit, and it's about Haitian fathers versus Black American fathers.

Here's what the joke sounds like in my head.

A lot of Black Americans do this joke where the big punchline was, "At least I have a dad."

It was hard for me to get because we don't have that problem in Haitian cultures.

Haitian men are great dads.

Yeah, they're great dads.

Terrible husbands, but great (beep) dads.

Here's how great Haitian dads are.

If your mom is out of town- see there's a part of it I already forget.

Like, if I don't set that up right, it's not gonna be funny.

So, I just gotta keep thinking about it.

If tonight I was able to go on stage, the thought process about it would be easier and faster because if I go and say it in front of an audience, then there's automatic pressure.

For me, the drive to please these people and make them laugh is what forces that pressure on your brain to find the humor in it.

I used to live in Utah 'cause I like doing things I'm not supposed to.

(audience laughs) And that was a great experience 'cause I've never felt so exotic in my entire life.

(audience laughs) Have you ever been to a place where you were a tourist attraction?

(audience laughs) People were recommending me as a thing to do.

(audience laughs and applauds) All right, before you leave Utah, you have to go see the Black guy.

We just got one.

Go see him.

(audience laughs) Success for tonight is if the Haitian dad joke gets enough laughs in the places where I think it should get a laugh and we'll see what needs to be fixed, what needs to be removed, how much of it is fat versus what's actual muscle.

Is this your first show in a long, long time or you've been consistently doing 'em?

- No, I've been doing shows.

I've been doing live shows.

I've got one tomorrow, Corgi.

- Gotta hustle 'cause I know, I remember back in September, comedians were really afraid of what the winter might be 'cause they're like, we have nothing.

- Listen, I love Zoom shows.

I love- - You don't.

Nobody loves Zoom shows.

- I love Zoom shows.

They're great.

- Really?

- Yeah.

You know what it is?

I look at it as a chance to practice.

- Yeah, that's not great.

- No, it's fine for me because it helps me remember my jokes.

- Are you doing comedy to remember your jokes or to (beep) fill the void in your soul?

- Bitch I'm trying to, I'm doing comedy to find a husband.

(TJ laughs) - Are you guys ready for your headliner tonight?

(audience laughs) Okay guys, please welcome to the stage TJ, everyone.

Yeah.

- You've been having a good time?

- [Audience] Yeah.

- All right, I'm the last one and I'm gonna possibly ruin it.

Are you ready for that?

I've been here for 12 years in this country and, you know, you learn little subtle things culturally.

I remember when I first started doing comedy, Black Americans would do this joke and the big punchline was, "At least I have a dad."

And it took me a second to get what that was about because we don't really have that problem in Haitian communities.

Haitian men are great (beep) dads, amazing.

Terrible husbands, but amazing (beep) dads.

- [Jessica] Let's see what you got here.

Oh, this is the grill.

- Mmhm.

- You need some help?

- No, you can- - Okay.

Just watch?

- Watch and ask questions.

This is my kitchen.

I'm a chef today.

So yeah, this has been marinating since yesterday, so like 24 hours.

- [Jessica] Okay.

- And it's Haitian epis.

You've heard of epis?

- [Jessica] No.

What is it called?

- You've never heard of epis?

- [Jessica] A piece of what?

- It's a- (Jessica laughs) - What?

- Ah, Jessica.

We had a cool relationship.

It wasn't super long, but it was at the beginning of it, the classic, oh I met this girl and she's dope, and we immediately connected.

I really enjoyed making her laugh.

She has a great sense of humor.

Like, I like her to hear some of my quote, unquote edgy or offensive jokes just so I can hear how she feels about it 'cause she's very into that world of this is the language we don't use anymore.

We don't say woman anymore.

You have to say vulva owner.

So if I'm doing a joke, I want someone like her to hear it.

And if it gets past her super woke censors and manage to get a laugh that I know there's something there.

You wanna start a church?

- What kind of church is it?

The anti woke church.

(TJ laughing) Come here if you hate wokeness.

- TJ could go to that church.

- Jessica, I don't hate wokeness.

You have this misconception about me.

Well, I do hate wokeness, but I think you and I have different conception of what wokeness is.

- I don't believe that woke exists.

You believe that wokeness is a thing.

- Well, yes it does because I get to hear and see it and feel it all the (beep) time.

What do you mean you don't believe it exists?

- Oh, here goes the woke girl 'cause I don't even consider myself woke.

It's not even a term that I like to use.

It's just a better way of being.

(laughter) My issue with wokeness or the term woke or the idea of it is that people like TJ create subjective issues and topics that go into that umbrella of wokeness, and those subjective topics happen to be, like, people's lives.

I do think that some jokes have the potential of offering harm to certain people.

I do believe that.

But I don't necessarily- I wouldn't say that it's the responsibility of a comedian to, like, censor what they say.

One, I know that no comedian's gonna do that.

(Jessica laughs) That's not realistic.

And then two, it's just- I think folks would argue that it defeats the purpose of comedy.

(Jessica laughing) - We'll take this out.

I do not wanna get canceled on my burgeoning career.

That's why wokeness is a thing 'cause they can cancel people for saying (beep) they don't like.

- But I think that you have to recognize that there are consequences to what's being said.

Like as a comedian, you are gonna say things and not everyone is gonna agree.

- [TJ] Yeah, of course, and I embrace that.

- People are going to go extreme- - [Bille] Yep.

- Levels.

- But I think it's complete (beep) that someone can try to take your livelihood away 'cause of something you said.

- [Jessica] It might be (beep) but it also is reality.

- Where do you draw the line though?

Like, what can be said and what cannot be said?

(funky music) - No comedian ever goes on stage with the thought of, let me hurt people's feelings.

That's my goal tonight.

I'm just gonna go up there and ruin lives.

No, that's not at all.

We are just clowns trying to be funny, but the nature of things being funny is sometimes saying the wrong thing.

But a lot of people can't get on board with that because they think we're supposed to be legislators.

We're supposed to be philosophers and preachers.

Generally, we try to joke about bad things because that's what humor is.

It's a coping mechanism.

Positive things are not funny because they're positive.

Why would I find a way to cope with something that's nice?

There's no reason for that.

So it's just you find dark stuff and you bring levity to it and 100% of the time, the audience will tell you where the line is.

When they stop laughing, that's where the line is.

That's all.

(audience laughter) - Very excited to bring our next comic up to the stage.

He has a special on Amazon Prime called "January 3rd."

Clap it up right now for TJ.

(audience cheers and applauds) - Erin Maguire, everybody.

Give it up for her.

(audience cheers and applauds) Good to see you guys.

Good to see you.

Good to be here in New York.

I stayed here the whole time.

I had to be here.

It wasn't a choice.

I'm an immigrant.

I don't have anywhere else to go.

(audience chuckles) I don't have a spare Midwest city like a lot of you, so I had to be here the whole pandemic.

I don't have a spot in Des Moines, Iowa, so this was it.

I stayed here and I was worried that New York was changing during the pandemic because the subway was squeaky clean.

You know, people were kinder to each other.

And then three days ago, I saw a lady take a (beep) on the subway platform and I was like, oh thank God, woo.

Ah, what a sight for sore eyes.

(audience chuckles) I was really concerned there that we're turning into a city where people don't (beep) publicly.

That's not who we are.

(audience chuckles) Couldn't let a global pandemic change your identity.

I'm glad you're here.

I love doing this.

This is my favorite thing to do, and I'm Haitian, and comedy is great 'cause you get to learn little things about different cultures.

I remember when I was an open micer, I learned about absentee fathers through comedy because a lot of comedians would do this joke and the joke is, "At least I have a dad."

That's the big punchline, you know?

And I didn't get it for a while 'cause somebody had to explain to me, oh, that's a big problem here.

A lot of people don't have fathers.

But as a Haitian, that's not a big thing in our community.

You know, if your dad is not around in Haiti, it's probably the family's fault.

The family probably drove him away.

Haitian dads are generally around.

Haitian men are great dads, fantastic fathers, terrible husbands, but great (beep) dads.

It's like they give 'em a choice, like would you like to be a great dad or a great husband?

And they go, "Well, how about I'm a great dad to three different families.

How about that?"

(audience laughs) "One in Queens, one in Brooklyn, and one in Port-au-Prince.

How about that?"

(audience chuckles) Here's how great Haitian fathers are.

If your mom is out of town, your dad will get his side chick to cook for you.

(audience laughs) Is that not (beep) amazing?

(audience laughs) That's the epitome of a good father.

One time I had four lunches in the same day.

(audience laughs) He told me they were my aunts.

I don't think you're supposed to (beep) my aunts, Dad, but okay.

You do whatever you want.

I like to support Black-owned businesses, which is a good thing to do because you keep the money in your community.

But now it's a problem because people have too many rules where, like a Black-owned business used to mean something owned by a Black person.

That's all it was.

But now, it's just people are so (beep) extreme.

I have a friend, Haitian man, who owns a coffee shop near my block.

And people are questioning the Black-owned business-hood of his business because he's married to a white woman.

The other day, I was about to go in there and this lady stops me and she goes, "Is this a Black-owned business?"

And I was like, "Yes, it's owned by my friend.

He's great.

Go and get some coffee."

And she goes, "Well, what about the white lady I see there all the time?"

I'm like, "Don't worry about the white lady.

(audience laughs) If you must know, that white lady, that's his slave."

(audience laughs) I was like, "Listen, lady, you should not only support the coffee shop, you should also support that white lady because she is also Black owned."

(audience groans and applauds) Thank you, one table who appreciates that.

(audience chuckles) I spent a lot of the pandemic reading American history, and one of my favorite people in this country's history is a man named George Washington Carver.

You may not know who that is, but you should because he's a very interesting character.

George Washington Carver was a Black man born in the mid-1800s.

He was born into slavery, treated horribly, but he's a fighter, this guy.

When he became free, he educated himself and became a scientist obsessed with peanuts, which is a weird thing for a grown man to be into.

This dude found over 300 uses for peanuts and I'm pretty sure he created the peanut allergy to take out white children.

(audience laughs) For obvious reasons.

(audience laughs and applauds) I've never met a Black kid with a peanut allergy before.

(audience laughs) Could the science be that precise?

(audience laughs) That's the mark of a great scientist, you know.

An average scientist will look at peanuts and be like, "What if we grind this up and put it on bread?

Should be nice."

(audience laughs) Not George Washington Carver.

This man saw peanuts and he was like, "This is the most sort of weapon of white destruction.

This is what I'm gonna build my legacy on."

So, I read more about his life and I found out he got castrated as a slave, which is obviously very sad, but I think that was his motivation to get into the peanut game.

(audience laughs) I do.

I think the day he got castrated, he said the most gangster (beep) of all time.

I think that day, he looked at his masters and went, "You guys may have taken my balls, but one day your children will choke on these nuts."

And then he walked away and started a whole new life for himself.

(audience applauds) Thank you guys for having me.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the show.

(audience cheers and applauds) Thank you.

(funky music) - TJ, you guys.

Give it up for TJ.

(audience cheers and applauds) (funky music fades)