The Toolkit

Tools for building the future

The Toolkit with Jared Freid: Building an Audience and Starting in Comedy

Top Takeaways

  • Inspiration to take on a new venture or path can come from anywhere. Nurture it and take a leap.
  • It is proven that people can earn money by being funny.
  • Failure teaches us many things and prepares us for what is coming.
  • It is never too late to start learning new things. Take advantage of learning from people who say what you don’t want to hear.
  • There is no one way to success. Keep doing what you love.

Guest Profile

Jared Freid is a comedian based out of New York City and originally from the Boston suburb of Needham, Massachusetts. His comedy is current and reflects the ordinary daily thoughts of everyone you know, especially if everyone you know is a millennial, obsessed with dating apps, trying to be a real adult, and worried about their body. (For the record, Jared’s mom thinks his body is “just fine.”)

  • Regular at the Comedy Cellar, Caroline’s on Broadway, Gotham, Stand Up New York and Comix at Mohegan Sun.
  • Performed for the 2017 “New Faces” showcase at the 35th annual Just For Laughs festival in Montréal.
  • Currently starring in the Snapchat series “How Low Can You Go?”
  • Featured on MTV2’s new series “Vidiots” as well as TruTV’s “NFL Full Contact,” MTV’s “Failosophy,” NBC’s “The Today Show,” NFL Network’s “Top Ten,” and AXS TV’s “Gotham Comedy Live.”
  • Over 450,000 listeners per month and regularly in the iTunes top 100. The show has a cult following of loyal fans
  • Written for TotalFratMove, BroBible, Betches, LuvThis and HeTexted

Episode Highlights

  • From Insurance to Comedic Fun: Jared felt miserable waking up in the morning to work for insurance. Affirmation from colleagues and friends helped him start his shift to comedy. He had savings and factored in how to adjust his life accordingly with business elements.
  • A Business Model for Comedy: Honest feedback from comics is important to learn and move forward. Hear what people did before you and learn from them directly. Don’t be afraid of hearing answers you don’t like. Look for mentors and honest answers.
  • On Growth and Turndowns: Be okay with saying no sometimes. A variety of plans and goals should be prioritized. Find a venture that gives credibility to your audience. Keep on exploring platforms to build your audience. Always return to your goal to measure if you should grow more or shift to an alternative path.
  • The Dream and The Material: Experiences you had in the past made you who you are today. There’s no one way to start something. What matters most is that you work on things you believe in. Writing material is essential to know what your audience wants and cares about.

About the Host:

Justin Fortier lives in Brooklyn, NY, and works for a consulting company serving industrial companies.

How to Connect with Justin Fortier

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Transcript

“Over the years, I’ve certainly enjoyed his podcast, online writing, and social media content. But his live act kept the sold-out room laughing for the full set. You can find him at Jared Freid on Instagram. That’s Jared F-R-E-I-D on Instagram. As a loyal follower, I’ve watched Jared take his Instagram presence from only a couple of 1,000 to 170,000 followers.” – Justin Fortier

Justin Fortier: Thank you for opening up the toolkit, where we take time to explore the tools that people have used to build their life and careers. I’m your host, Justin Fortier. My guest today is New York City comedian Jared Freid. I started following Jared about seven years ago when I read an article by him on the website pro-Bible. Over the years, I’ve certainly enjoyed his podcast, online writing, and social media content. But his live act kept the sold-out room laughing for the full set. You can find him at Jared Freid on Instagram. That’s Jared F-R-E-I-D on Instagram. From my vantage point as a loyal follower, I’ve watched Jared take his Instagram presence from only a couple of 1,000 followers to 170,000. His podcast has evolved from a special feature on a college new site to show that as hundreds of thousands of listeners every month and the top 100 comedy podcast. Most recently, he launched a daily show called Freid By Noon, which was still in his ideation phase when he mentioned it in the episode. Stay tuned after the interview for my brief analysis of his new venture. What I like about Jared’s story and why I want to break it down with him on the Toolkit is that he’s not an overnight success. There hasn’t been a clear big break. Over the course of this episode, he provides a framework that other creatives and entrepreneurs can use when approaching their own projects. I spoke with Jared back in February 2020 in between his shows at the Comedy Store in San Diego. He was incredibly gracious to fit me in on his birthday, and I truly appreciate that his girlfriend Jess, who’d flown out from New York, let me steal forty-five minutes of his attention. Since the episode was done in the green room where the comedian waits to go on stage, you’ll hear faint sounds of a jazz band kicking in partway through the episode. Luckily, I got the settings right on my microphone, so it’s fairly mild. I edited out a few interruptions or times when we got sidetracked chatting with Jess in the room but left a bit in so you can see Jared’s humor shine through. As with every episode, I welcome your email feedback to me at justin@toolkit.fm or on my site toolkit.fm. A quick warning. This episode has a fair amount of profanity. So without further ado, please enjoy my conversation with Jared Freid. Jared, thanks for coming on making time on your birthday, no less.

Jared Freid: Of course. Thank you for having me. What’s the name of this podcast?

Justin Fortier: The podcast is called the Toolkit.

Jared Freid: The Toolkit! That could be so many other types of podcasts that could be like, like we just, it’d be funny if you came here and you’re like, you were like, yeah, this is about business and growing your business. And then, I find out it’s about douchebags across America. So I guess, the Toolkit, we just unknowingly…

Justin Fortier: Yeah, just a collection of high schoolers just making fun of each other.

Jared Freid: Fucking with guys that think that they’re helping people with their career. That’s cool.

Justin Fortier: Exactly, exactly. So this is a big get for me. You were one of the first people I thought of when I started this. Maybe because I’ve been watching your journey as a listener starting back from the TFM days. Yeah, when you’re posting on Bro Bible, starting to do some of those blogs. So I think that’s where I’d like to start in just a little bit of… when you made the jump from working in insurance to starting being funny for money. What was that process like? So I only kind of saw at the TFM start, but what is like, what were you doing on the side it…

“I spent a lot of time every day thinking, what’s the thing I want to do?” – Jared Freid

“You go to college, and you go to this other unreal reality of bubble, in a place where you’re very protected. You get out, go to a job that you’re not even sure you wanted to have because you started with a major that you didn’t even know.” – Jared Freid

“I think the life insurance stuff got me prepared for failure in a way that I never knew.” – Jared Freid

Jared Freid: It was scary. I’ll say this, when I first started, I’m very lucky. Started like, you know, it’s like I was working in life insurance. The best part of my day was writing funny emails to friends. And I was on these big group emails and like I was miserable doing what I was doing. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. And I’m trying, I like, I spent a lot of time every day thinking like, what’s the thing I want to do? What’s the thing like I want to be, you know, I was having trouble like waking up in the morning to get to work and like I really wasn’t like, it felt like I was like just weighed down and I was really… and I talked a lot about this a lot towards the beginning of when I started, stand up this whole idea of that like 25 year old, what am I doing age, and I think that’s a big, a bigger, it doesn’t get enough credit because it’s like kind of a luxury problem, to be like oh boohoo, you don’t like your job, like go, you know, you have a college education, no debt, like go fuck yourself. So it’s like the, but no one, you know, like, what is becoming an adult now, like we don’t even know anymore, like 18 used to be like you go and become an adult. But now 18, you go to college and you go to this other unreal reality of bubble, you know, in a place where you’re very protected, and then you get out and you go to a job that you’re not even sure you wanted to have because you started with a major that you didn’t even know. So I was like, I spent a lot of time, just like, I’m like, I need to find something that like, I want to really have, like, pursue, like, where I feel like I’m running towards something. And I just felt like I was kind of treading water. So I was running funny emails to friends and be like, what’s that mean? I’d be on an email with like, 10 other people. And I would just try and ballbuster and then someone’s like, right off the email chain, like, hey man, that was the funniest fucking shit I’ve ever heard. And I was like, that makes me feel good. So I’m like, how do I repeat that like, and I think the biggest thing that’s helped me through starting, I was like, I want to, like you said, I want to be funny for money. Like, that’s really the goal boil down. And I think that’s helped me like to be able to, when I say that from beginning, I remember telling my parents, I’m like, I’m leaving my job, I had savings, I had some money stacked away. And I knew I could do like, you know, I could live, you know, fiscally, you know, conservatively, and like I could, you know, I kind of did, I did a little bit of the math of like, what it took to me live on a daily basis. And I had savings to like, get to the point of, you know, you’re just trying to get to even like, you’re just trying to get to like money in money out. So I kind of did the math on that, where I had time and comfort to be able to do that. And I told my parents and they were like, my dad right away was like, oh, you want to be one of the guys, at the time 30 rock was a big show. He was like you, oh, you want to be one of the guys in the writers room at 30 rock, you want to be one of those guys, like I was the weird glasses. And I go, yeah dad, I’m gonna go knock at 30 rock. They’re gonna let me and like, you know, like, it’s gonna be that easy. But he was like, I get he got that he got that there was a business element of it. It wasn’t just that I was gonna go fuck around. And my mom didn’t get it because I think moms really enjoy telling their friends what their kids are doing. And I think the easier you make the message, the happier your mom is. So like, it’s really hard. What’s the message, my son fucking left finance podcast? Yeah, to do podcast, I got all that shit, wasn’t even, I took things I learned from selling life insurance, which was a lot like how to work, how to be respectful how to, you know, approach people how to, and I tried to use that for comedy. And I was like, that was always kind of be my advantage is that I knew, you know, I had this kind of background and like, cold calling and hearing no, and knowing that, you know, I think like the life insurance stuff, like got me prepared for failure in a way that I never knew. And my other like, you know, growing up, I grew up in a suburb where you go, you take, you study the material, you get the grade you deserve. It’s always that and then you go to life, and it’s not that way. So I think doing life insurance stuff, like that taught me a little bit about like, what’s, you know, not everyone’s there to help you out. And so did you start writing and getting things published while you were working out the life insurance? Or did you just basically say, I’m gonna commit, I’m gonna commit fully, I was like, I’m not gonna take any, it’s, I need to, like, jump towards this. And I need to like sprint. Because I’d never done that. Like in my life, like, I was always like, I’ll study just enough. I’ll do just enough to get by. I’ll do and I was, that was the thing that made me feel badly. Like, you know, now I’m in a job where I’m like, I want to be successful. I want to do well, and I’m not even even here where I want to do everything. I’m just not that good at it. I’m not that passionate for it. I guess it wasn’t, it was hard. It was harder to go everyday to that job than it is to do this. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So yeah, so I started what so my plan was, I knew the internet could help me. So I was like, Okay, I started like creating my own jobs, which was really like, very helpful. So like, every Thursday, I had a column up. Every Thursday, I was gonna post something somewhere and it started at weekly WORLD NEWS where I was giving dating advice was called do dating with J train. And then I went to bro Bible and then I started making videos with bro Bible. And then bro Bible sends me like the aveanna Awards, like do, like these videos. And then total frat move sees those videos, and I noticed that total friend had a big audience where they were all talking. They were following people from the site, and I was like, Okay, I that’s what I was always my goal. go be a special funny thing, that someone will go Oh, and he’s and I would have the byline that the end line was Jeffers in New York City comedian. So it was like, it wasn’t just some writer on the site. It was trying to let people know like, no, this is special. You don’t get this. This is every Thursday, you’re getting a little piece of j train. And that was like my gut. And maybe that didn’t work for everybody, but it worked for some people. And that was like always and then that turned into the podcast and like, you’re just looking for more jobs, and I would always just create jobs for myself, that if they weren’t getting paid, I was getting paid in something Twitter followers, Instagram followers, experience getting better. All that stuff mattered to me. And I think when you start something that you don’t, that you just want to live it, I think when you want to, like I wanted to live a life of a comedian, like I wanted to go to the do this club when, you know, we’re in La Jolla, and this weekend, this was the goal to go and do La Jolla and have people show up that know me and want to see my jokes like this was always the goal. And it’s like, every day was doing things to get to this, you know.

Justin Fortier: Yeah, I found it was interesting that there are some comedians who approached the, all stand up all the time. But one reason why I was wanted to have you on this is because I saw you really took a business approach to doing it in terms of, you’re going to build the podcast elsewhere. And from my perspective, it looks like this is somewhat of your art. It’s hard to be an artist, but you really approach some of these other things. But while you are developing your comedian route, I’ve heard you talk about seven days a week, what does that look like in the city? And where were you kind of modeling? So you did the the posting and stuff like that, but what did it look like getting in the clubs and what sort of responsibility or I guess, role models were you following?

“I need to be good enough that they want to come back. I need to be good enough that they want to bring their friends.” – Jared Freid

Jared Freid: It was hard. It’s still hard. Basically, I would wake up every day like, I really use my calendar a lot, where it’s like, what are the things I need to get done today? What are my shows tonight? So in the beginning, it started as, I was very interested in learning. I think that’s a big thing, if you’re going to start something. So when I first started, I took sketch writing class at UCB. I took improv at Chicago City Limits. I went to a stand up club, and I started asking comics after, is there any comedian here stand ups that do, you know, like, that will talk to me for money. I was like, I don’t want to take a class for stand up. I want to talk to a comedian. I want to ask questions that I won’t get a lie back. I don’t want to be, I don’t want… I think a lot of people will live in this, like, they want to hear answers that they want to hear. I was like, just tell me what sucks. which way to go. Don’t give me the bullshit of like, go to this and then buy into this. But I got a lot of that through selling life insurance, where it was like, you know, a lot of people just saying to me, like, oh, do this for tomorrow. And it’s like that bullshit work where I’m like, just say yes or no, I don’t want maybes. So I reached out to the stand up comic who had experience and I ended up like, getting tutoring for him just to get just, I was basically paying for a friend, you know, to give me advice. So and it was all in the interest of learning about it, learning about what was going on and what people did. And like, you know, the, I’ll give an example. So there’s a thing called, there’s open mics, but then there’s bringers. Okay, the difference in an open mic and a bringer, open mic, you show up, you put your name on a list, they’ll say buy a drink, or pay $5 you go on stage in front of a bunch of miserable comics, that fucking sucks, okay? Then there’s bringers. If I brought five of my friends, then I would go on stage for five minutes in front of everyone in five of their friends. So it’s a real audience. It’s a lot of fun. It’s your big night. It’s your bar mitzvah, you know. And I was told early on and people think, well, if I do the bringers, I’m at the clubs in the club will see me. And they’ll have to book me. That’s not how it goes, I would have maybe gone that bring around. But when I went to people who knew what they were talking about, and I wasn’t afraid of hearing the answers that sucked to hear, no one wants to hear diet and exercise, but that’s the answer. So it’s like, the answers I got were like, yeah, those bringers are a waste of your time, no one will respect you. No comic will look to like, think that you’re a good comic, you have to go to the rooms that suck to get better. You have to go to the diet and exercise rooms, not to the, you know, the keto rooms, you know, so it was that that’s a perfect example of like, okay, I dug into, like, really looking for mentors, looking for the honest answer. That’s not always like the fun answer. And then listening, you know, and it’s like, you know, because listen, I can have five friends come to my shows for the rest of my life, but they’re not going to come to the lawyer. They’re not going to be here. I’m not going to be, and one of my friends are going to lie to you. Your friends are going to laugh because they know you. You need people that you have no idea from fucking anything to laugh at your jokes. Yeah, then they have to laugh right away. So you have to leave those things behind and like, you know, friends will be like, when can I come? When can I come? I was very protective. You know this from listening to my podcast, like the podcast is easy to put out. The columns every week, I could fashion them. I could whittle them down, I knew what I was saying. Stand up, I didn’t put out a lot of stand up. I waited, I was like, stand up was my baby. That’s my kid, like, I’m not ready to show that to people. I need to be good enough that they want to come back. I need to be good enough that they want to bring their friends. This is my life. You know, this is an investment forever. You know, and you see that in stand up. Like you’ll see a lot of people that, they’ll get into it, and they’ll go, well, I got my five minutes, get all my friends to come and all my friends will come see how great I am. It’s like, if that’s what you’re doing, you’re doing it, you’re not doing it for a career. You’re doing it for a one off, you know, we’re doing it to…

Justin Fortier: Exactly. I definitely was able to tell that you were protective of your stand up. Yeah, having those clips online. But you’ve said yes to a lot of things.

Jared Freid: Yeah. I’m a whore.

Justin Fortier: Thanks for coming on this show. All the other shows you’ve been on and the things you posted. But now the as you’re getting a little bit later and more known, the commenting and replying to everybody’s post on Instagram and stuff, I’m sure that’s becoming more challenging.

Jared Freid: It’s getting harder.

Justin Fortier: Are you able to think about saying no to some things now? Because you’ve always been like, yes, all the time.

“What gets me closer to that goal? What gets me better?” – Jared Freid

Jared Freid: It’s hard. It’s hard to like, you have to have, I think it’s like, I compare this to dating a lot. And the advice I give to dating and people that write into the podcast is like, you have to be okay with, you’re a good party. You know, like you have to be, there’s a point you have to go, I’m a good party, I need music, I need food, and you have to take everyone that’s coming to your party and go, yeah, I would come like, yeah, you have to make decisions. And the decisions have to be right for the time and place of the party. So I hear what you’re saying. Like, it’s hard, because there’s so many things, and I think with, you don’t want to feel like you said, you gave away the one thing that could have been big for you. But it’s like, I always go back to funny for money. What gets me closer to that goal? What gets me better? And what gets me you know, living you know, doing the things that I came in wanting to do, like, you know, there’s like right now on my mind is doing a late night set. Like this is like an example. Doing it like doing the tonight show would be a great thing for me. Doing a different, like one of, The Tonight Show the only one I want to do. I’m being choosy. I’m taking my name out of the running for those other shows. Not because I don’t think they’re great shows, but there’s only one that I feel gives me the credibility with my own fans. That would be really, like amazing and great. I don’t think going on The Tonight Show is gonna get me a sitcom. I don’t think that’s gonna get me retirement. Like I don’t believe in that I’m doing it for reasons that I’ve sussed out that I can see help me to get to the next place that I need to go and with, especially with the audience that might know me…

Jared Freid: So the last show so many people were there were like they know from the bachelor they know me for a podcast. Oh, this podcast guy that makes fun of the bachelor. They don’t know me as a stand up. My goal with that show’s they walk away going, wow, This is a guy we should see on Netflix. We got to go to the next show. So it’s being able to keep that in mind with every decision. You know, because some things aren’t for me, like acting stuff. Like I get like, sometimes I’ll be like, hey, they want you to come audition for an acting thing. Alright, do I want to spend a day learning lines to audition? Or do I have to spend a day getting my podcast better and better preparing so that people will love it so much that they can tell a friend? I mean, to me one’s a lottery ticket, one’s building a business to me, you know, so, but to other people that go, but there’s professional actors that are fantastic actors, they would go, I’m not a podcast person. I’ve worked my whole life to be great at auditioning, it’s not a lotto ticket to them. So it’s different for everybody.

Justin Fortier: In building the business, I’ve seen the two platforms, Instagram and podcasting are really, they seem to be where you’re able to hold the most followers right? But you’re starting YouTube, what was some of the thought behind that? Obviously early but by adding video to the podcast.

Jared Freid: It was all just based on ability, so like, I think adding video was like all part of like having a good studio, having the right people around. Also for me like comedian is a lot of jobs that make up one name. So like just like you said, podcast, Instagram, Twitter, stand up. And then you know, I did a Snapchat Game Show. I’m trying to pitch TV shows. I wanted to host non-scripted shows. So to me, when you’re doing so many things at once, I’m looking for things that can be repeatable and consistent. I don’t want to do a podcast that I have to stop in a month because I don’t have time to do it. I don’t want to do YouTube that have to stop a month from now. So the opportunity for YouTube is someone says, okay, we have an opportunity, we can do YouTube videos, and I go, and we tried before, I don’t know if you remember what we did. We tried to make video five or six years ago, and stopping that is such an embarrassment to me. I’m like, no, I want to be able to walk. I want to be able to walk in, flip a light switch and be funny on YouTube. How do we make that happen? So I think that’s like a reason that I would start now because, you know, my managers like, hey, let’s, here’s how we’re going to do it. And then we create a plan, we get ahead. I’ll never be in a position… I don’t want to take on something that, I think people do that with podcasts, I’ll be like, we should start a podcast. And then they go, they’re good for a month. And they go, well, what do we do now? Let’s change it to make it easy. You know, it’s like, you should be changing your podcast, but at the same time, it should be, it’s turning the Titanic, not a speedboat.

Justin Fortier: I had a couple ideas. But one of them was turning the podcast. So you took the TFM podcast and became the J train show. And along the way, I think even before, while it was still the TFM, the audience was shifting a little bit, was that a business decision or just kind of a maturity decision?

Jared Freid: You know what it was about? It was the opportunity to move again, funny for money. Okay, so if I always come back to that, I need to put butts in seats. I need followers. So I wanted to teach them to do that, that column every week. And they would be like, we’ll give you 50 bucks a column. Keep your money give me seven retweets, and an Instagram post, that was kind of like, that was that was my negotiation. And it started with Twitter, and then it moved to Instagram. So then, when I went and visited my go also want to start a podcast and they literally looked at me they go, what’s a podcast? I go, perfect. I’ll find a studio, I’ll host the show, you guys promote it. Yeah. So that was the deal. We started the pocket podcast, I was like talking about shifting the site. It tried it. And then I go, hey, and if you have email sentiment, send me your emails. And I gave out my personal email. And the emails were always questions. And they were always advice questions. So you get enough of those, you go, well, this is the show, this is what people are asking for. And then it becomes more me. And then it becomes, the reality is, TFM goes, well, we want the name back, because this isn’t even our brand anymore. And I go, you’re right. And they also want to start podcasts, they want to like, you know, they want to feel like they’re the celebrity. I get that, you know, like podcasts become more popular. Now they’re like, well, we want to be Rogen. You know, like I get that everyone’s got, you know, some ego. And they go, let us get the name, you take that, you change the name, you keep the RSS feed, and we’ll go be amicable, and it has been. I hear from, you know, Madison every now and again. He’s a great guy. Like, I like those guys, we always got along. It was just one of those things where it’s like, you got to make decisions. You got to, you know, life changes along the way. The problem is, you know, in 2020 to 2015, the changes are more public. It’s like, you know, if you and your girlfriend post on Instagram, you’re gonna have your own mini press conference. You know, like, now you’re LeBron. So we turned it into an advice show. And then luckily, women got into podcasting. And that’s really where the podcast took off. Because it was really a show for women and men, but like, women love it. And you’ll see the audience tonight. It’s crazy.

Justin Fortier: So you used to joke about having two podcasts? As something that, to be… not a little embarrassing, but looking at some of the numbers… I was on Mohegan Sun’s description of you for when you’re performing here. And you’re, the JTrain podcast, it was something like 450,000 listeners a month, that’s definitely a different category. So when you started talking about the late night shows, and TV and a sitcom or something like that, but I think about the distribution you’re currently getting this and even the bachelor kind of, your live tweets, I’m sure is, is beating a large number of shows. So do you think that, obviously those are goals you probably had when you started out… Do you think the landscape’s shifting in such a way that those institutions aren’t going to be as relevant in the future…

“I have to keep creating stuff, keep making it fresh and new.” – Jared Freid

Jared Freid: It’s shifting. You know what, it’s like, it’s definitely shifting. I’ve always had like steady growth. Like, I’ve never had that, like one viral video that like made me you know, oh, that’s J trick, you know, like never letting that never happened for me. I don’t know, to me like, some of these like distribution networks, they just, they’re life changers. I think like, I’m chipping away at a mountain and they’re like, you know, I would love to be able to blow up what I do, for an audience that I can’t understand. Yeah, I agree. I’m doing like the things I’m doing get huge, big enough audiences that some TV shows would want. But at the same time, I’m like, I think some of them, I would love to have the hand. Like I would love to have the help. I’m a one person band right now. And I think, you know, I was just in LA, I’m meeting with all these places. To me, my Instagram, my podcasts are all incubators for bigger things. And so that’s what I try to sell people on to be like, hey, get involved with this, like, look what I do with the bachelor, couldn’t that be a TV show, couldn’t that be helped out by you know, in a lot of those, you know, that’s all like money stuff. You know, like the the answer to all your questions is money. You know, so it’s like, I have to keep creating stuff, keep making it fresh and new. And again, like what the podcasts like, it’s to start as a TFM podcast became the JTrain podcast. Like even now at 35, I’m a guy with a podcast called JTrain, you know, with a nickname I gave myself, you know, that is tongue in cheek supposed to be but someone could look at and go, was he a child? You know, like, I don’t know, you know. So I think with those old, I think you need a mix of the old and the new. I think you always have to stay relevant. You always have to be in front of people showing them I am funny. I’m someone you want to tell a friend about. But also I want to be able to, like, have that thing on TV like that, like, can find more people that gets you a little bit of weight to be able to go on other podcasts because they go well, he’s on, you know, like, yeah, so I think that’s like more of it. It’s less the big break. It’s more of the like, I need, again, it’s like the same thing I said in the beginning, taking some of their people. I want to go to TFM and take the guys that have the sense of you found me in high school. Okay, there was something I did at 27 that you connected with, and it’s like, which is great. That’s what it’s all about. But I want to find more of you, you know, via the next thing.

Justin Fortier: Yeah. Awesome. Going back to that a little bit. I heard. I think it was Andrew Jenks. You’re one of the recent episodes. He asked you if you’d ever heard somebody call you a funny Oprah before? Yeah. Which, which I got a kick out of. But as I was thinking more about it. I was trying to think of somebody in, Oprah started in her 30s of getting kind of her clout. And is there going to be, I guess Oprah is in the future. Do you think?

Jared Freid: I think it’s a good question. I think, I don’t know. Like, like, I have this dream to do a podcast daily. I keep coming back to it. Like who’s gonna take over like, I guess Rogan has taken over for Howard Stern in a way. Yeah, but you can see that that’s Rogan’s a different show than Stern definitely, like, totally different show, but they’ve taken but he’s the figurehead. That stern was. So it’s like, you know, I don’t know how it works. I think there’s gonna be like heads of silos. So like Rogan, like is a head of a one information silo, and then you have like, the, I think there’s just gonna be like that stuff like that. Like, I think there’ll be like heads of states. It’s not going to be one national conversation will be like, you know, many national, like, did you see that article that was like, there was like, it was kind of a negative article about Rogan. It was all about when he had Bernie on the show. Okay. Yeah. So when he had Bernie on the show, and Bernie Sanders, he, you know, gave a quote to Rogan, and Bernie Sanders audience was like, well, you don’t want to be mixed up with Rogan. He He’s blank by blank and it’s like that was just his silo getting entered into by this other silo of Bernie people. So it’s like I don’t know if there’s an over but I think there’s like multiple mini Oprah’s because I don’t think the whole country will be talking about the same person.

Justin Fortier: That makes sense because when my aunt would talk about Michael Jackson back in the day, obviously he’s fantastic but I wasn’t really able to see like a unifying artist emerging even in our time or something like, I always think Justin Bieber.

Jared Freid: I guess I’m probably the only one in America who has ever been like, the Hawaiian guy. But Bruno Mars is a fantastic artist. Okay. He’s from Hawaii. Everybody. Please don’t cancel me. Bruno Mars, I always wonder if him and Michael Jackson switched arrows with Bruno Mars be Michael Jackson. Yeah, you know, I always wonder that. I was told that was stupid. I’m saying, in this hypothetical, Michael Jackson lives during Bruno Mars, his time Bruno Mars lives during the Michael J. I wonder if you like, because my parents went to a Bruno Mars concert. And they were like, this is the most fantastic artists we’ve ever seen our dialogue. They thought he was great. And it’s like, is he more talented? Or was the timing better for Bruno? You know what I mean, for him? I don’t I mean, like, and we’re ignoring all the negative things about Michael Jackson that you have to ignore to have this conversation. But I’m saying Bruno Mars is just when you talk about segmentation and Oprah versus new Oprah who’s the next Oprah? I kind of think of it that way. Like Bruno Mars doesn’t have the same way that the name Michael Jackson has. But his talent just as good. I’m one, that’s my one.

Justin Fortier: When you’re on the road. Is that when you develop your material or when you’re back in the States…

Jared Freid: Every day, so when I go on stage, there’s 100 percenters. There’s 50 percenters and there’s zero percenters. So when I go on stage, I know which ones work 100% of the time. I know which ones I’m working on. And I’m trying to get to 100%. I know what notes I have in my phone where I’m like, let’s see if this works. It’s all just levels and you’re trying to like tuck in new stuff between old stuff. You want an audience just to trust you. So when I go on stage tonight, there’ll be people that love my stuff. They’re in, they trust it. There’s someone they brought your roommate, who’s going mobile, see what this guy’s fucking got, you know, so I need to get them both on the same page very quickly. And then I can go into stuff that’s like, newer, a little bit, you know, more. Like, I think the hardest thing for me is I host a lot in New York. And I think hosting is a totally different gig, like hosting is like getting people on the same page, hearing a joke for the first time. They’re not exactly ready to hear you talk about maybe some social issues, maybe something that’s a little different, maybe something a little like, off the wall, and it’s like, so you’re just trying to get people prepped to be wanting to hear and then you’re trying to make a set, especially on the road where I’m doing an hour. He wanted to have a beginning, middle and end. So you’re working on new stuff to fill in the gaps of the of the arc a little bit. So it’s a lot. It’s, it’s, it’s hard to because I’m not, you know, it’s not like I have Netflix being like Jared the special you tape the special April 5, they don’t say that to me. If I knew the specials, April 5, I could go, here are the 10 jokes I’m going to do and now I fill in the blanks in between I fill the cell thing, that it’s harder when there’s no end day like I have an album out, but like even some of the album jokes. I still want to work on those. I still want to make them better. I think there’s funnier I think I’m more evolved as a comedian do I get to do I leave those because someone at the show has heard the album? Are they gonna be disappointed? But if I’m adding new to it, you know, isn’t that the goal? So it’s tough because there’s no right answer. We’re all just starting our own thing, like, the way I do it is different than the way comics that I know and love doing.

Justin Fortier: So in getting material, I’ve gotten a sense across the board that comics need to be out meeting people, they need to be with the people that they’re going to be talking to, has hosting a podcast where people essentially write in with their problems been good for material, or do you feel like that…

Jared Freid: It’s good for material because I know what people are really thinking about. So like tonight, I’ll do a whole thing about ghosting. I know that people really fucking care about ghosting. They’re really opinionated about, they’re really worried about getting ghosted, so they want solutions to their ghosting issues. So that’s something I know is on people’s mind. The podcast and especially people writing about their problems is a free pass to know what is on people’s minds, because they’re writing very vulnerable things.

Justin Fortier: I’m gonna jump back for a second to you mentioned a manager, when did that get involved in their career? And how involved is that, or with like the podcast ads?

Jared Freid: All of the like, manager agent stuff comes, as you’re like, you’re on the lookout for it, but you’re like trying to create a team of people that feel like you’re, they’re your partner. I think that’s the biggest thing where it’s like, because the more I work, the longer I work with my manager, the more we become friends, and we lean on each other. And the more it’s like business partners, yeah, at first, you know, I mean, I remember when I first started you, you do a show and some cocktail and give it to your other card and then go come meet with me and tell me what you’re doing. And then they go, well, I could send you out and help you out. And but is that a business partner? Is that someone you’re going that you’re creating with? I was looking for more of that than the like, I think everyone’s relationship is different with that stuff. I’ve been very lucky.

Justin Fortier: Yeah, you’ve had a couple partnerships that I’ve seen developed over the last few years. Whether it’s opening for Michelle Wolf, the batches, now Shelby, who’s kind of adding on that level to your podcasting, I guess, how did… we can start with batches, how did that come about?

Jared Freid: We were introduced by like, kind of like Jewish geography type stuff, where it was like, Oh, you gotta meet my son, he’s putting the other shows and then the son’s sister goes to school with them. But you know, they’re in New York, I’m in New York, and they’re doing they have an amazing platform, but they’re also like, creating quite like, like a behemoth, like a media company. It’s like, so cool, what they’re doing. And so the relationship really became over time where it’s like, a company like that, like, word starts with three women, and then they you know, hire one other. They weren’t what they are now, where they needed content they need people to lean on. So I would always send tweets over to them be like, hey, this fell batchi and they were always so fair. What I love. I love working with people that say no to you. Because the batches were so good about that. They would always go not for us, but it was never no personal. It wasn’t stop texting us. It was always like, no, that’s just not us. And that’s totally fine. Like I and I think what the the part that’s so hard with this, and with dating is in like with anything where you’re trying to relationships, it’s the maybes. It’s when someone that doesn’t like what you did for them, tells you those good and lies to you rather than go This just isn’t working, you know. So that’s always been my relation with betches, where it’s always been so upfront so honest. I respect how hard they work. And they do too. For me, I really do sense that from them. Like, it’s very cool. What’s happened now where we do this podcast together. But it wasn’t like designed, it wasn’t by design. It was like, hey, it started with me doing their hosting their stand up shows for brunch, and then turning into the next thing, you know, sending them a tweet. And then, hey, let me write the bachelor preview for you. I want to do from a guy’s perspective. And they go, oh, that’s a great idea. And it’s like, it what I’ve realized is like, in everything, nobody just helps you. You have to be able to present a value to them to it got to go both ways. There’s no one way streets.

Justin Fortier: Awesome. Yeah, did you ever think that you’d sell out? Like, the batches show in New York, that massive venue that this kind of, I mean, that’s…

Jared Freid: It’s cool. It’s cool. We did town halls, 1400. People. I guess I never really thought that, you know, that type of stuff. I’m like, I just wanted to get bigger, I wanted to grow, I wanted to get better. I want to come to La Jolla and sell out here, like I want, you know, like my comedy, the stuff I do on stage is in for small audiences. It never has been, it’s always been a big groups, big laughters big groups of women coming out together having fun, like, I’m not gonna teach you anything, you know, so it’s like, I like when it’s a huge audience. Like, it’s like, it’s gotta keep getting bigger. So that’s like, what all of this was all about, like, to me, when, when a show like that sells out? It’s like, of course it should. We put together a great fucking show. So it’s like, it’s, it’s never like, well, oh, what are we gonna do now? With all these people? It’s like, we’re gonna fucking kill it, you know?

Justin Fortier: So I think I got two left for you. Is there any bad industry advice you hear about? Or even just maybe career advice to in general, but anything you’re hearing about setting out on their own? Or is there a bad advice? I think the that you hear often kinda, and you’re in the industry, or maybe mistakes…

Jared Freid: I think I think anyone needs to be rationally delusional. I think you have to be rational and delusional. At the same time, you have to believe you have to be, you know, you have to go I want to be funny for money. Because someone can always go, oh, how funny do you think you are? You know, like, I get that response. I get it. Like, oh, you’re think you’re funny? And it’s like, well, I hope to be one day, you know, like, you have to be a little delusional. So I like it. You can hear the show. No, but be I think being rational at the same time as delusional. Like, it’s a hard thing. And you have to check yourself. Look in the mirror. And yeah, that’s…

Justin Fortier: Awesome. And so the last one I had Well, yeah, if New York wasn’t such a big comedy city or New York, Chicago, LA, you’ve traveled to a bunch of Sure. Where do you think you’d live? If work wasn’t attaching you there?

Jared Freid: I think New York. Yeah, I like New York. Yeah, I’m very Northeastern I, I wouldn’t go to Boston. Even though I’m from there. I like New York. I like going down on elevator and walking down a cold street and, you know, yeah, like I said, in the beginning of this show, I was talking about how you can’t complain here. There’s nothing to complain about. Not at all. It’s like, so I like New York. I if I was to pick another city. There’s a piece of me that’s always like, I want to go to like Montana and just disappear. That’s our dream.

Justin Fortier: Helicopter out for a big arena show. A couple weeks.

Jared Freid: How cool would it be, to just be in like a one horse town? There’s something to that? I don’t know. But I, my mom, I always used to say that when I was younger, I’d be like, I want to get rocking chair out mountain, and she’s like, you would like that, you just don’t want to get bothered. I’m like, yeah, that’s what I want.

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