Why Do I Do This?

Our guest on this episode is Mike Bramante, a New York City based stand-up comedian and writer. He performs all over New York City and produces a monthly show called Tell You What, along with fellow New York City comedian Maximilian Spinelli.On this episode, Mike talks about how he mines his own personal experiences for his jokes, since your lived experience is what makes you unique, about how you shouldn’t be afraid to take breaks from comedy since, to quote Pete Holmes, “You need to live a life worth commenting on,” and how stand-up allows him to be in the moment and appreciate the present. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode !

Our guest on this episode is Mike Bramante, a New York City based stand-up comedian and writer. He performs all over New York City and produces a monthly show called Tell You What, along with fellow New York City comedian Maximilian Spinelli. On this episode, Mike talks about his early influences in comedy, from Larry David to Judd Apatow, about how stand-up is about being yourself on stage, which is way easier said than done, and about how he constructs his sets by writing different punchlines and allowing himself the freedom to reach them in different ways as he performs on stage. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode!

Our guest on this episode is Chris Keise, an NYC based Stand Up Comic. A Native New Yorker, Keise has long been involved in the world of fitness as both a personal trainer and gym manager. He is also an ex football player who played at the minor league/semi-pro level. His experiences has left him with a unique take on life and how he views the world.On this episode, Chris talks about how he mines for issues that aren’t commonly spoken about in comedy, how the comedy grind makes you take the bitter with the better, and how ideas take precedence over personal validation for him. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode !

Our guest on this episode is Chris Keise, an NYC based Stand Up Comic. A Native New Yorker, Keise has long been involved in the world of fitness as both a personal trainer and gym manager. He is also an ex football player who played at the minor league/semi-pro level. His experiences has left him with a unique take on life and how he views the world.On this episode, Chris talks about his main goal of doing comedy, how his experiences playing semi-pro football have shaped his views, and how his comedy comes from a heightened sense of self-awareness. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode!

Our guest on this episode is Daniel Louis Vezza, a truly global comedian who has performed to sold-out crowds in over fifteen countries including The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and Melt Fest in Germany. He was also one of the pioneers of the English Language comedy scene in Berlin.On this episode, Daniel and I talk about comics performing sets on Late Night Talk shows, some stuff about the leader of the free world, and how getting into stand up comedy was an adult choice for Daniel. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode !

Our guest on this episode is Daniel Louis Vezza, a truly global comedian who has performed to sold-out crowds in over fifteen countries including The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and Melt Fest in Germany. He was also one of the pioneers of the English Language comedy scene in Berlin.Here, we talk about classical music, and how it is a rich people’s profession, about my move to America and buying a sandwich for a janitor, and Daniel doing edgy material in Berlin. We also talk about his influences, from famous comics to comics working in the New York Scene. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode!

Our guest on this episode is Shelby Zoey Coley, a Black queer filmmaker based in New York City working across nonfiction and documentary forms. Shelby uses rhythm, portraiture, and the spoken word to explore intersections between queerness, race and creative practices. Her work has been featured in renowned publications such as Afropunk, Slay TV and Curve Magazine.On this episode, Shelby and I talk about how people are valued on the basis of money in capitalistic systems, Bill Gates and his trampoline room, and also why she chose art as her mode of communication with the world. We hope you enjoy this episode!

Our guest on this episode is Shelby Zoe Coley, a Black queer filmmaker based in New York City working across nonfiction and documentary forms. Shelby uses rhythm, portraiture, and the spoken word to explore intersections between queerness, race and creative practices. Her work has been featured in renowned publications such as Afropunk, Slay TV and Curve Magazine.On this episode, Shelby and I talk about making a musical featuring people of color on the lines of "High School Musical," her movie “Consistent Slay,” and about how her art is made with the intention to heal some sort of a wound, which she believes all great art comes from. We hope you enjoy this episode !

Our guest on the show today is Von Roburts, a stand up comedian with a commanding delivery and honest demeanor. Von performs stand up all over the United States and has worked with everybody from Bone Thugs n Harmony to Funny Or Die writers.On this episode, we speak about the parallels between forms of art, competition between comics and the power of comedy that allows you to shine light on a situation, or make you forget about it. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode ! NOTE: From now on, episodes of the podcast featuring one guest will be released in two parts of 25-30 minutes each.

Our guest on the show today is Von Roburts, a stand up comedian with a commanding delivery and honest demeanor. Von performs stand up all over the United States and has worked with everybody from Bone Thugs n Harmony to Funny Or Die writers.On this episode, Von speaks about how he was actually forced to start doing stand-up by his barber, who threatened to stop cutting his hair if he didn’t start performing. We also talk about how certain dietary preferences led to greater learnings for the both of us. We hope you enjoy the episode.NOTE: From now on, episodes of the podcast featuring one guest will be released in two parts of 25-30 minutes each.  

Our guest on this episode Marcus Cardona, a New York City based comedian, writer, actor and producer who performs throughout the city. Apart from forming the Youtube Sketch comedy group Pinetree Comedy, he also produces and hosts the popular Bassanova Ramen shop based comedy show, SEND NOODS in Chinatown, and a concept roast comedy show, GROUP TEXT.It’ll be interesting to listeners to hear Marcus’s style of storytelling comedy come to the fore in all the different tangents our conversations took. Marcus speaks about how his parents deterred him from his earlier art by throwing facts at him, and we bonded over how we were both bullied as kids, and also about how getting beat up by your parents is no big deal as a brown kid.Also, Stay tuned for his upcoming split-album project, Buxton Born/Brooklyn Bound. We hope you enjoy this episode !

Our guest on this episode is Eddie Gamez, a New York City based stand-up comedian and writer. Eddie has featured on The Gooncast, Good Morning Texas (KLVT Radio) and Stellar Underground, in addition to his performances all over the country. He is also a co-producer for Comedians On The Loose, a comedy production company that focuses on showcasing the best emerging talent in the industry.On this episode, we discuss Eddie's influences like comedian Chris D'Elia and how emotions are at the core of his performances. We hope you enjoy this episode !

Why Do I Do This? is an artistic inquiry of an artist's background, their influences, and their process. Each guest on the episode tries to answer why they do this thing we call art!