No I.D.
No I.D. was created as a different outlet to give flowers to the guests as well has give out jewels to the listeners. No I.D. is a thought provoking and in-depth podcast that offers multiple perspectives. on subjects ranging from sex to controversial topics to race to lifestyle covering all cultural conversations and building a platform to educate but encourage viewers to engage. No I.D. is candid unscripted with the Host/Creator/Comedian Jerome Davis.
https://noidmediallc.komi.io
No I.D.
Corey Marshall: From Life-Altering Events to Stand-Up Success and Beyond
Comedian and writer Corey Marshall joins us to share his unexpected journey into the world of stand-up comedy. Imagine turning a life-altering event like a divorce into an opportunity for reinvention. Corey did just that, boldly stepping onto the stage for his first-ever one-man show without any prior experience. His fearless leap into comedy not only led to a successful debut but also caught the attention of influencers from New York's Caroline Comedy Club. However, it wasn't all smooth sailing—Corey reflects on the humbling experiences of witnessing fellow comedians bomb on stage, teaching him resilience and the importance of maintaining confidence in the face of potential failure. With 13 years in the industry, Corey offers insights into the hard-won lessons that have shaped his comedic career.
From being inspired by legends like Bill Cosby, Dave Chappelle, and Eddie Murphy, Corey's journey has evolved from stand-up to exciting new ventures in writing. He shares how the storytelling finesse of these iconic figures and shows like Comic Relief and the Blue Collar Comedy Tour have influenced his comedic style. Transitioning from the stage to creative writing, Corey explores opportunities in script punch-ups and even ventures into crafting horror and metaverse-themed comic book series. We also discuss practical tips for aspiring comedians and the significance of embracing one's unique voice. Stay connected with Corey and myself, Comedian Roma, on social media, and don't forget to check out our comedic escapades on No ID Media TV on YouTube.
all right. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to a new season of no id podcast. As your guest, your host rome davis, I have here writer comic jedi ellen from the ny, the one and only the great cory marshall yeah, what's going on, bro?
Speaker 2:you can't hear me how you feeling, man?
Speaker 1:yeah, I can hear you.
Speaker 2:It was like I was about to say, we just did like a sound check man I don't know, what's going on the struggle.
Speaker 1:It always, man I got. I saw this man perform a couple of weeks ago at a Joker Day showcase over here in Virginia. Hilarious comedian straight from NY. I did not do any crowd work on him because he had Army Fatigue songs, so I know I'm going to get my ass whooped.
Speaker 2:The Army Fatigue man. Those are just pants I purchased from a store, but you still Would've got your ass Ripped, though, regardless.
Speaker 1:I was not gonna do Nothing that day, man.
Speaker 2:Definitely not military.
Speaker 1:So let's just start here, cause You're a comedian and a writer. How did you get your start? And who was Corey Marshall? How did I get?
Speaker 2:my start and who was cory marshall? How did I get my start and who was cory marshall? Those are like entirely two diverse two different questions, yeah but, um, I got.
Speaker 2:Let's start with how I got my start In stand-up. I got divorced. I got divorced and I needed to pick me up. I was just feeling down and I was always funny and it was definitely one of those things to where I think I can move forward. I was used to public speaking and presenting. So I got divorced. I decided to pick me up and what I did was I actually rented a theater in Richmond Virginia and I rented a theater in Richmond Virginia and did my first comedy show. It was a one-man show.
Speaker 2:I knew nothing about comedy, not gonna lie, not like I do now. I had an idea about how a show should go. I had an idea about how a set should go. I put jokes together and I did my first comedy show and it was a one-man show and it ran about over an hour and a half and all I did was tell jokes and funny stories. First time doing it, I was the only one on the show and from there there was some people in the crowd that um was happy to be visiting from Caroline Comedy Club in New York and like um, and they was like yo, like you should really consider uh, taking comedy, and I was like I think I might do it and then I ran into some people um in the community that was pretty frequent at the Richmond Funny Bone and then I got in with them, started going to writing sessions there and stuck with it, man, and that was probably maybe 13 years ago 13 years ago, oh wow 13 years.
Speaker 2:And your first mic was literally a showcase first mic I did was a feature presentation, no idea what I was doing. I just knew I wanted to do it. And well, I haven't done that again since that time because I learned a lot. But it was just, I ain't doing that again, but it was actually a great. But it was just like I ain't doing that again, but it was actually a great show. Man, it was a great show and it was a fantastic show.
Speaker 2:And I say this right, just real quick. I had never. I think the reason why it was a good show is because it was definitely all preparation.
Speaker 2:Also, just my mindset at mindset this time, because I never seen anybody bomb before. Um, I don't even think I've been to like a real live comedy show, to be honest. Um, um, like uh, at that comedy club or anything like that. I never sat down and um went through what actual comedy set would look like. You know what I'm saying. So I didn't know what Faye would look like for the most part, and in my head it was going to be a success y'all.
Speaker 2:And I never seen anybody bomb. I never seen anybody have a bad set. After that show, I started looking up at the funny bone and started going to comedy shows and when I seen people bomb I was like, oh my god, that could happen to me. And every time I hit the stage after that I always had the fear of bombing. And then that's when I started bombing. I started having bad sets and everything like that. So so that's just like a note that I kind of took in from myself, like nah, don't expect to have a bad set, it'll still happen, but just don't anticipate.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure I think I have a couple of bad ones. I had a chicken bone thrown at me because my set was so bad one time.
Speaker 2:Well, that's a win-win situation that's a win-win situation. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, it's like yo my set is horrible, but people are giving me shit.
Speaker 1:Like it's just you know, you see how short I am. I don't have no bass in my voice, so it's not like I can go jump up. I just took that L man. I was like, yep, I'm going to go ahead and go home. I think I quit for one month, a month and a half, and then I came back and just came to it, man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, those bad sets, man, I don't know. Man, they do something to you. You know what I'm saying. They usually affect you more than what they should, because in your head you're thinking everybody's still thinking about your set. You're thinking everybody still thinks that you're horrible. You know what I'm saying? Ain't nobody thinking about you? You know what I'm saying After your set is over, you know. But yeah, little things, man, they can really get to you if you let it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they can, they can, they can, they can. So you've been doing it 13 years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, roundabout, yeah for sure.
Speaker 1:Okay. Any other experiences or lessons you've learned in those 13 years?
Speaker 2:I learned so many man. I mean it's a whole lot, all of it pretty much. I really can't pinpoint specific ones, but just all throughout my career. You always hear advice. You always learn different things. But just all throughout my career, you always hear advice. You always learn different things. And sometimes the advice you hear, um, works for a certain season. You know what I'm saying. Whether or not you adhere to it, your whole career is just. You know, it's something that I heard. I'm gonna stick with this for a minute and then, you know, you start developing your own thing. But you know, um, you get a lot of good advice. I think some of the most monumental advice, of course, was the ones that were related around being authentic and finding your own voice and the confidence part. I think those are probably the more consistent ones. And also, keep getting up on stage and keep riding, keep doing the grab. You know, those were like the most consistent and true advice that I received throughout my career, for the most part.
Speaker 2:Yeah same same.
Speaker 1:It's like riding a bike, not riding a bike. It's like going to the gym. You know how you go in there. You go there for a year. You eat, right, you're lifting, doing everything. That moment you say, you say, you know I'm gonna take some time off.
Speaker 2:It's that time the man titties come back out I guess I was gonna say come, is that like riding a bike? I rode some bikes and I never rode in a block and somebody said boo, boo, look at that bike rider, boo, or threw a chicken bone at me. You know like nobody never rode my bike and got hit with a chicken bone.
Speaker 1:Nah, man, and it was a flat too that's probably pissed me off, but we ain't gonna get. I never rode my bike and got hit with a chicken bone, nah man, and it was a flat too. That's what probably pissed me off. We ain't got to get into that man. Are there any comedians that you look up to or admire, like ones that you study?
Speaker 2:Has anybody ever said no to this question?
Speaker 1:You'll be the first one.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to be the first one, I'm not going to be the first one. There are, you know, I think we all have, like Mount Rushmore, comedians.
Speaker 1:Of course.
Speaker 2:I got the goats on there, but I'm a fan of comedy man and I actually enjoy a lot of comics man, like a lot of people hit the stage. I'm not easy. I'm easy to impress. When it comes to comics, I'm easy to impress. You know what I'm saying. It's okay, like I respect the craft and there's a lot of people that actually like it.
Speaker 2:But as far as inspiration, the main inspiration for me doing stand-up was actually Bill Cosby. I was a fan, still am a fan of his contribution to entertainment in general through entertainment, I should say and I've always been a fan of Bill and his style of storytelling and the way that he could just hypnotize a crowd for a certain amount of time and keep them captivated with a long, detailed story, a long detailed story. So that was my own, my start, to be honest. And then from there, um, the greats man you know the, of course, chappelle would be Goldberg. I grew up, you know I'm grew up. I was born in 70, so I came up. I was born in the 70s, so I came up watching Comic Relief on HBO, you know, with uh, whoopi Goldberg was on there, carlin, um, robin Williams and stuff like that. So you know, of course I grew up watching them. Eddie Murphy, you know I snuck in and watched Eddie. I wasn't supposed to, but uh, you know, I was always captivated by, you know, by those cats, man.
Speaker 1:And then, uh, of course, when, by the time, deaf Comedy Jam came up like I was just like oh man comedy, you know, okay, blue Collar Comedy Tour is what got me Blue Collar Comedy Tour.
Speaker 2:Hmm, that's interesting, that's a good tour, but I've never heard that come up for somebody. That's a confession. Actually that's a good tour, but I've never heard that come up for somebody.
Speaker 1:That's a confession, actually, that's a confession. Yeah, yeah, it was blue collar comedy tour and I didn't watch deaf comedy jam. I was born 89, so when deaf comedy jam was like popping, I was still on blues, clues and power rangers, so it ain't even bothering me. And then, like bad boys of comedy, like what really shifted me to the things, so like when I heard you perform, you had like a Tony Woods type ass tour. I watched it a lot. Yeah, the stories, yeah, I know you said Bill, but I, like you know bill's the greatest storyteller in my opinion, then it's tony and he got ali and chappelle. But yeah, I saw okay, so okay yeah, I could see that.
Speaker 2:Um, I would definitely say, uh, I appreciate slower comics, you know the kind that don't actually rush. You know I like everybody. But the style that I gravitated towards was the comic that you know that took it's time one because I stutter. You know I need to slow down on stage so people actually understand what I'm saying and like. So that's how I kind of developed the style that I have now facts much shout out to all those people with you that come especially like chapelle and tony woods and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:You know, I'm sure, and you're. You're a writer too, so you write skits, are you right?
Speaker 2:uh, actually uh, screenplay radio and uh comic book writer. I have a my own comic book series. It's called uh, madman tells like a horror. It is a horror anthology based around stories like Twilight Zone, alfred Hitchcock and stuff, but from a black perspective. They all have an essential theme. It's a seven-part series. I think we have six that I completed. We're going to complete the last one to drop a full graphic novel, and I'm also the writer of a comic book series called Peter Kills the Metaverse. They just wrapped it up, maybe a couple months ago, so it's like being packaged now and that's going to hit uh be public pretty soon.
Speaker 1:it's pretty dope, yeah you gotta send it to me. You gotta send it to me. I think the last the comic book I'm reading is, uh, last Ronin, teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles okay, that's a popular joint.
Speaker 2:I'm not mad at that. I'm not mad at that, but actually one of the things that I got into writing um from doing stand-up.
Speaker 2:You say time out no, I was scratching my hand oh um, I got into writing by doing stand up man and so, like it's funny how you realize opportunities or branches open up once you start doing certain things. Like I didn't know I can make a living off of writing. I'm going to be honest, not like I do now. But once I got into stand-up I started meeting other people, I started writing some jokes and they was like yo, you're a joke writer, help me with your script. And so I moved, so I did a script bunch so they would send me a script and I'd punch it up and make it funny. And then I got linked up with some people that was actually doing a joint for TV I can't say network for TV and that's how I got in. I wasn't officially on the roster but they brought me in.
Speaker 2:And then that's how I kind of got my connections and everything and I started doing projects from there, got on some rewrites and then got with WGA and started doing studio work and then got into the production side of entertainment and I knew I had some projects of my own that I wanted to do and film. But you know, like the filming process takes so long and getting approved and getting funding, I wanted to actually complete the stories. And so I said well, let me start doing comic books. That way I could write an idea, get it illustrated and complete it, and that's a full idea already done. So I said all right, and I started moving in that vein and then just got on a lot of comic book projects and then that's where I'm at right now okay, he said screenplays too, so you like the.
Speaker 1:What's his name doing, what a Jordan Peele is doing yeah, actually, yeah, that's the goat for real definitely. Jordan Peele will put gentrification and black trauma in a horror movie, and it's a fucking masterpiece absolutely he killed. Candyman. He killed Candyman it's dope man.
Speaker 2:he has a dope creative team around him too, so I definitely appreciate his journey. Of course, you know black people know well, a lot of people don't know creative team around him too. I definitely appreciate his journey. Of course a lot of people know A lot of people don't know, but I probably do. He definitely started out in comedy. It's pretty dope to see that transition. It's actually pretty dope.
Speaker 1:I think essentially all comedians are writers, depending on how authentic our stories are. When we go on the stage and tell our sets, turn them into a script. That's one of the things I admire by Seinfeld. His whole thing, his whole show is just him and his dumbass friends with curvy enthusiasm same bits. Yeah, it was just like. And then he would incorporate stand up in between, although he's might be working on a bit and that's that's actually my goal, but yeah yeah, I like, I like, I like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, son feels is definitely, uh, he's, he's easily. You know, there's certain comics that are on that mountain worship. Regardless if you like them or not, it's just like. If you look at what they did, like now, they are actually really dope comics and monumental. A lot of people. I don't like something for style, I don't like chapelle, just okay. Well, to say that it's just like. Maybe you don't understand what's happening. I'm not gonna say you don't like comedy, because you can still like comedy and have your favorites. Comedy is subjective. You know what I'm saying, but the craft is the same. You know what I'm saying. It's just like. You may not like this house or that house, but they're all built in the same manner, like you got to have a good foundation, strong foundation and follow, follow certain blocks and everything, but it's just like comedy. Those guys, they do it very, very, very well. They build very solid comedy houses.
Speaker 1:Whether you like this style or not, big flex, that's how you look at it.
Speaker 2:So I am working on this and I'm telling my guests now where I'm keeping my episodes around 20 minutes just for attention span. I should have told you that before we started. Man, my fault, sorry.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, my story would have been way different man.
Speaker 2:My stories would have been shorter, succinct you know, what I'm saying and everything.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry. I am working on this thing where I'm trying to keep it around 20 minutes, because the attention span is lost within the first 30. And I've noticed that the longer the episodes I have, the listen time is down, but the shorter the episodes I have, the listen time is up. So before we go right, two things and two things, and I'm sorry, I should have told you this in advance. What's some advice that you would give to a comedian that's starting out?
Speaker 2:And how can people follow you and see any updates going on? Uh, follow me at Corey Marshallcom. Um, I think my social media stuff was on there. But Corey Marshallhalcom advice that I would give to new comics is the same advice that I started with at the top of the show that I got keep getting up on stage, keep writing and don't be scared to share your voice. Yeah, yeah, don't be scared to share your voice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and if you guys want to follow me as Comedian Roma on all social media platforms, follow me. I do follow back. No ID Media TV on YouTube. No ID is the podcast. Make sure you support Corey Marshall when you go to his Instagram or go to his website. Just hit that follow button. Sign up for any updates. Subscribe comment rate we, uh, we need those now. Um, so go ahead and stop the recording.
