Entertainer and Comedian Spiritt Garrett Can Do Stand Up Comedy

I Can Do Stand-Up

But before I figured out I could, I was a superfan of the platform

First, I became a fan of stand-up. I still remember watching the HBO half-hour special of someone who did not make my list, only because he was taken before he could really make his way into the legendary side of the game, Robin Harris, and my throat hurting so bad after that little 30 minutes. I was like 10 years old when his special came out

Then I first did stand-up at a family reunion in Bakersfield in 2010. Killed it DESPITE keeping it clean, if I do so say so myself

Then I started a podcast network in 2015. But I was not aware I was not "myself" at that point and was still unknowingly under my mother's whack ass spell designed to hold me back like her. I had not yet found my comedic voice, and all too often, found myself emulating other voices I heard regularly on podcasts. Not trying to be like them. I mean, I was always pretty funny on my own. But just not yet finding my own self. And how could I? I was still being hypnotized. About three years later, I would realize that everything this woman taught me was bullshit and would begin to express such on my podcast. Since most of my podcast listeners were old fucks who still believed my uncle and I were wrong for cussin n shit, obviously I began losing my podcast audience

In 2022, I scheduled a virtual stand-up show to introduce myself to the world as a comedian. What I didn't know at that time, was that the child support office has the ability to infiltrate all up in ya ass and had managed to sabotage/hijack the feed. Not only completely fucking up the show but creating triggers in me when I figured out what happened. There were only two tickets sold (which I was completely fine with btw, just trying to get my feet wet. Since it was a little over an hour, it also provided me with my stand-up clips I'll put up here), but I had already had someone put in the analytics shit showing me the site stats. And yet somehow around some 400 people streamed the show. It left a sour taste in my mouth, but also helped me realize that maybe the best way to introduce myself to the world as a comedian wasn't by way of a virtual show from my home without an audience

Two months after the sabotaged show not heard but wait it was heard 'round the world, I checked myself into a rehab/mental health facility after damn near feeling like I was losing my shit. Only when I had about 10 days left of my first term did I mention in one of the groups my desire to do stand up. One of the guys who was a great singer and served as MC of the Saturday night open mic night suggested I sign up the following Saturday. The previous OMNs had only wielded singers, so I didn't think stand-up was allowed. When not only he adamantly insisted that stand-up would be loved, one of the other guys said that if I did do stand-up, "some of us would be willing to go to open mic night"...

I signed up for the next Saturday, about three days after that group. We put the word out that I would be doing stand-up and the guy with the golden voice would be singing. That Saturday night at 7 pm, they had a record turnout. Even the staff came in and set up chairs for themselves on the side. I would go up third, and as I was rehearsing my material during those three days, I noted that this was the first time I would have done stand-up sober (at the family reunion I was sipping alcohol to calm my nerves, and for the virtual show I was high off my fucking ass). I was afraid it wouldn't be as good because I was sober. Then I decided to use that, which turned out to be perfect, especially considering that I was in fucking rehab! Aw yeah, this should go over swimmingly. So my opening line was something along the lines of, "while I've done this before this is my first time doing it sober, so I don't know what the fuck (we were treated like adults in the sense we could cuss in groups and on the premises without consequence) is about to happen. So you're about to all take this fucking sober ride with me." Completely unexpectedly, that was met with lots of laughter, some clapping, and encouraging words being thrown out to me. It really helped me relax and to go on and kill it. The material was stuff I had come up with during the pandemic, so I hadn't tested it on an actual audience until then. I can't explain the calm that came over me as I would hear the roar of the big ass mess hall time and time again from what I was spittin' into the microphone. We were only supposed to do 5 minutes, but I did closer to 15 minutes because they wanted me to keep going. After all that I had been through, I figured out that I'd finally found my voice. But I wasn't ready then to try again to introduce it to the world. I still had trauma from the events earlier in the year to deal with first. It was just the validation I needed though. The MC did a great job on a couple of the songs he sang, and it turned out to be a great night. One of the guys who worked there would go on the rest of the night and the next day telling everyone who would listen how much he loved the open mic night. Before we knew it, Saturday night open mic night became a mandatory group for the entire premises

In thinking about my short-lived stand-up journey (so far), I thought back to the comedians who paved the way for me. The comedians who made my throat hurt, or who's special was the first stand-up I ever "performed" because I had it memorized as I watched it so many times. That actually did provide me practice for finding my own comedic voice and timing in performing their material out loud in my home or car. I'm the type that will add all Netflix stand-up specials to my queue, even if I've never heard of the comedian. And like with music, I'll hit play on your special until you lose me or until it ends, whichever occurs first. I once considered stand-up the hardest thing to do in the world, because you have to make people laugh with nothing but your wit. You have to set up everything and deliver every punch line on your own. I never thought I would have ever been able to consider myself someone who can do stand-up. And now that I'm fully healed, I look forward to sharing my hard found gift with the rest of the world

In the meantime, here are some of my absolute all-time faves to ever do it

George Carlin

The man whose comedic style most influenced my own, this is one man I really wish I could have met. He's my all-time favorite comedian, and the only comedian on this list who could go minutes without telling a joke on stage but still had us all completely captivated. Obviously an extremely brilliant man and he knew it. He also lived in a very different time from my own. I didn't know until I read his Audible book that, like his hero Lenny Bruce, he too went to jail for shit he said on stage. As you all can see this world has been on some pussy ass shit for a very long time. I, for one, am so glad he didn't let that stop him. Salute sir. And thank you

Eddie Murphy

Ok, so while George Carlin is my closest influence and as such my all-time fave, Eddie Murphy is the biggest general influence of my stand-up, as he is still the second biggest star I've ever seen in my lifetime behind Michael Jackson. People forget just how big of a deal Eddie Murphy was in the eighties and nineties. But it was Beatles and Elvis-esque. And this routine is my all-time favorite bit of his

"But I'ma tell you somethin muthafucka, you can take your muthafucking hairy, fat ass wife mustache bitch out the fuck" lmao, like think about that fucking word combination though. Bro that's fucking brilliant lmfao

Richard Pryor

The biggest influencer of one Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor knocked down the door for countless others. The above clip is one of my favorite jokes from my favorite special of his; Richard Pryor: Live in Concert. And it's unfortunately still relevant today, proving just how ahead of his time Richard Pryor really was. RIP sir

Dave Chappelle

Back when I was still podcasting, I was very vocal about my hatred of people trying to sensor other people in general, but especially comedians who become famous like Liam Neeson in Taken; using a special set of skills. When a comedian has to start thinking twice about what they say, you begin to water down the art form. And why? Because YOU can't handle him or her saying it? How fucking arrogant to think you speak for us all? No comedian has ever said anything to offend me, and I don't think they could. Obviously I've disagreed with comedians, and in some cases, would get downright pissed. But I wouldn't classify it as offended at all, as I will always be an advocate of free speech. Can I ask a legitimate question? At this point, why exactly does anyone of the Transgender community click play on a Dave Chappelle special? Seriously? Y'all have been complaining about his material for quite some time, but whenever a new one drops y'all seem to always watch it. I don't like Trump. I'm not mad at him because that would take too much of my valuable energy, and people like Trump truly don't give a fuck who likes him or doesn't. I'm definitely not a fan or interested in anything he has to say. So when I see he has said something or addressing us with his ole lyin ass mouf, I'm not fucking clicking play! You don't agree with Dave, you don't like him. Fine. That's your right. But it's also your right to not fucking click play! Wouldn't that be easier? But no, y'all feel fucking entitled to complain about something as harmless as jokes! Meanwhile y'alls POTUS is like fuck DEI lol. Smh y'all are fucking wild on this planet, man. Y'all really can't see who the true villain is and who it is not in just about any given situation

Ron "Tater Salad" White

This one may have genuinely shocked some of you. But when you stop and think about it, it probably shouldn't. He's a brilliant, sarcastic prick who does and says what the fuck he wants. Let's just say I can relate. I wasn't as big of a fan of his blue collar tour material (although a lot of it was still hilarious), only because he had to keep it clean. Some comedians, like Bernie Mac, Richard Pryor, Carlin, and Eddie Murphy, I think are at their best uncensored. But his Behavorial Problems special is one of my all-time faves

Roy Wood Jr

Roy used to host a radio show sometime between 10 - 15 years ago. I didn't listen to the station as I don't think it was available in Cali. But I know about it through the first thing I ever heard him in. Maybe about 15 years ago or so I became a fan of the Nephew Tommy prank calls from the Steve Harvey Morning Show. He released several prank call albums and when I would listen on Spotify back in the day, my station would play other prank calls from other prank callers and that's where I first heard a series of them from Roy Wood Jr, as he revealed himself at the end of the prank of the Buck Wild Morning Show, I think it was called. I found him hilarious and would listen to all of em I could find. Then once he started on the Daily Show (it may have been before that but that was when it seemed to increase), he started releasing stand-up specials regularly. I love his material and insight, as it's so obviously intentionally tongue-in-cheek. He's clearly an intelligent dude and chooses to use his intellect on hilarious and brilliant everyday observations and outlooks. And his stand-up only continues to get more brilliant. When I watched his latest special, Lonely Flowers, on Hulu, I was legit kinda bummed when it ended bcuz I wanted more. I coulda listened to that man go for four more hours

Trevor Noah

The host of Daily Show, as I stated under his book I read on Audible, I'm a fan of his and, like his former colleague RWJ above, I will always click play when I see he has a new special. Trevor does what I call smart comedy. He's also heavily interested in politics as is obvious to those of who have heard his stand-up or caught an occasional episode or two of the Daily Show. Uh, I am not. But he too is excellent at constructing his material in such an expert way, that you don't have to be deep in them politics streets to get the jokes. This is another dude I could listen to do stand up for hours. Weird I didn't watch the Daily Show, as by the time he came along as host I hadn't watched it in a while

Katt Williams

God people are such fucking assholes. His personal problems have always seemed to be louder than his stand-up. To me that says these judgmental ass people must not be watching his stand up. The man is brilliantly funny and has been for a very long time. He's still making specials, and more insane, he's still laugh out funny. He always has been. Y'all can't take that away from him. His latest special, Woke Foke, had me fucking dying. You can say what you will about his off-stage life (bcuz y'all are going to anyway), but you know you can't ever say anything about the man's talent to make people laugh

Anthony Jeselnik

I love the way this dude's mind works. He's become one of my favorites because of it. I've seen I think three or four of his specials at this point, including his latest special on Netflix from November 2024 called Bones and All. Every single time you think you have an idea where he's about to take his joke, he'll make a quick detour to where you never thought he'd take it. It's absolutely fucking hilarious. You should check him out. He's like a stand-up comedy Eminem

Chris Rock

Long before Will Smith thought it was a good idea for some reason to slap the shit outta him on national television, it may have been forgotten just how funny Chris Rock was when he first arrived on the scene in the 90's. Like most comics who started back then, his funniest days are behind him. But much of that shit was so classic he's earned the right to have a career as long as he wants it

Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias

My fellow Angeleno, Fluffy has carved out a solid career by being consistently hilarious. He's even the first comedian to have a stand-up special at and sell out Dodgers Stadium. Whenever he has a new stand-up special it's mandatory watching for me. I'm even planning to make it to one of his shows live one day before he hangs it up

Bernie Mac

Oh, Bernie had us all in stitches. I almost consider him one of the all-time greats. He was always flawless when we saw him. But the only reason I don't fully consider him a great is because the totality of his body of work was not plentiful enough to consider him in that category. Real quick, ASIDE FROM KINGS OF COMEDY, name your top two favorite Bernie Mac stand-up specials

You're struggling aren't you? That's exactly my point. He was still absolutely fantastic though. May he RIP

Lavell Crawford

Man, Lavelle is one of my personal all-time faves. Consistently funny, even after losing much weight, I had the pleasure of literally running into him briefly in Vegas. My whole mother's side of the family was there, and I along with my sister, one of my uncles, and a bunch of my cousins were out hotel hoppin real late one night. I was drunk as shit, but I still recognized him as he was walking toward me. I said, "oh damn, you're Lavell Crawford." He stopped and said, "hey, what's up". I said, "I was just watching you about a week ago on Martin Lawrence's First Amendment stand-up show." He was like, "that could happen". I don't remember anything else about the convo as I was pretty fucked up. But it was a cool little short moment

Rita Rudner

If you found yourself saying, "who?", ohhh you need to get on your shit. Rita is an all-time great. I don't get the impression she was all that big of a star in the height of her career in the 80's and 90's. And I don't know if she's still performing. But she was absolutely fucking hilarious. Always elegantly dressed, she personified a hilarious queen. And with the greatest of ease and most effortless grace, she would crack you the fuck up without barely ever raising her voice. If you've never heard of her, after watching the above, google her right the fuck away

Deon Cole

Deon is another one who has been consistently funny over his career. Not just on stage, he and Wanda Sykes as co-workers to Anthony Anderson in the first season of Black-ish were my favorite characters on the show. In fact, to be honest, when they left the show so did I. I don't know about them Old Spice commercials with Gabrielle Dennis though. Still, whenever I see he has a special it's a must watch for me. I almost went to his live show last year at an LA comedy club, but I couldn't really swing it financially at that time. And his special, Cole Hearted, is one of my all-time favorites

George Lopez

Another fellow Angeleno, if you're not familiar with his early stand-up you are really missing out. Not only did I love his early stand-up comedy albums, but the George Lopez show is one of my all-time favorite sitcoms. That fucking show was hilarious. His earlier style was pointing out the differences in American and Mexican cultures with absolute hilarity. He did a lot of that along with his whole tv family on the GL show. He too isn't as funny as he once was, but I still haven't forgotten. And the clip above is one of my all-time favorite bits of his

George Wallace

I actually almost forgot about one of the all-time greats. Apologies sir. I know he's retired these days, but this is another one I can never forget about. In addition to his many stand-up performances of his career, my family at the time and I got to check out his Vegas residency at the Flamingo, and we all had a ball. After the show, I bought a t-shirt that he signed for me (that I still have btw), and a CD of what turned out to be the same show we had just seen. But that was a good thing. This had to be, what, 2007? Obviously we would have forgotten the jokes by now otherwise. But I still break it out from time to time to remember. May you truly enjoy your well-deserved retirement sir

Honorable Mentions

There's a handful of comedians I also like and who could have easily made this list:

Bruce Bruce (he was actually one of my all-time favorites. But when my wife at the time and I went to see him live, he told many of the exact same jokes and this was years later. He lost a lot of points with both of us that night)

Wanda Sykes

Kevin Hart (Seriously Funny is aptly named and remains my favorite of his. I liked the one after that too, "alright alright alriiiiiight", and my sister and I even went to the taping of that special at the then Nokia theater (now Microsoft). But his specials after that have been mostly duds"

Jo Koy

Alonzo Bodden (I don't even know if he's still working but he was definitely one of my faves)

Tyler Craig (I found out about a year ago that he died a few years back. May he RIP. Omg my ex-wife and I used to absolutely love him)

Bill Cosby (before his fall from grace that man was hilarious. Bill Cosby: Himself is a classic. I was watching an old episode of Johnny Carson because the guests on this particular episode were George Carlin and Richard Pryor, although Pryor didn't do any stand-up. But in the interview portion, Richard said, "we all watched Bill Cosby, he was the man to us, and he was awesome". Duuuude, when a legend himself gives you that kind of love as his biggest influencer, you deserve your fucking flowers no matter what these millennials think)

Jerrod Carmichael (If you've never checked out the Carmichael Show, where David Alan Grier and Loretta Devine played his parents, Lil Rel played his brother, and Tiffany Haddish played Rel's ex who always still came around the family, you are missing all the way out. That show was laugh out loud hilarious. It only lasted like three seasons, I think, and I was legit pissed that it was over when I binged all the episodes)

Cedric the Entertainer

Felipe Esparza (he won some televised stand-up contest, and as such, started getting his own specials. Another fellow Angeleno, he is fucking hilarious)

Earthquake

Fortune Feimster (she's fucking hilarious too)

Jamie Foxx

Redd Foxx

Ron Funches

Dick Gregory (that man was as brilliant as he was funny. RIP sir)

Robin Harris

Corey Holcomb

Lil Rel Howery

Larry the Cable Guy

Martin Lawrence

Aries Spears