The Morning Formation (TMF) Podcast

Military to Comedy: Dan Dean's Inspiring Journey of Courage, Transformation, and Laughter

• KP • Season 3 • Episode 10

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We're excited to share with you an incredible journey of courage, transformation, and laughter with our guest, Dan Dean. From his days in high school, to serving in the Marines and Army National Guard, and finally taking the leap into the world of comedy, Dan's story is truly unique and inspiring. Join us for an in-depth exploration of military life, the challenges of transitioning back to civilian life, and the surprising connections between military service and comedy.

In this fascinating episode, Dan takes us through his time in Okinawa, Japan, and shares his insights into the mindset and culture associated with serving in different branches of the military. We also discuss the unique backgrounds of those in the National Guard and the significant impact that college benefits had on many individuals' decisions to enlist. As we continue, we delve into Dan's journey into comedy, touching on the influence of comedians like Bill Burr on his style and the importance of perfecting a set to captivate audiences.

Don't miss out as Dan shares his advice on staying positive during difficult times, finding the right balance between a career in carpentry and a passion for comedy, and how he's connecting with audiences through his new TikTok page and other social media platforms. This insightful and entertaining episode is a testament to the courage it takes to follow a unique path and embrace the unknowns in life. So, are you ready to embark on this incredible journey with us and Dan Dean? Tune in now!

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KP:

This episode is powered by Act Now Education. Go to www. actnoweducationcom for free comprehensive educational resources and opportunities for active duty, veterans, military spouses and children.

Dan:

I love the Marines. I was weird that way because when I was in high school, i was completely the opposite of a person you would imagine going into the military. As a matter of fact, i was completely anti-military. I thought that the military was for weak-minded fools and they brainwashed you and that was the only thing you would do if you didn't have any other option in life. I just assumed I was going to go to college, get a degree and become a professional, upstanding citizen. That's what my idea was of what life was supposed to be.

KP:

Warriors fall in. It's time for formation. I'm joined with a longtime acquaintance who graduated from high school and, like many, left his hometown to become part of the few, the proud, the Marines Our guests today then transitioned out of the Marine Corps and into the Army National Guard, redeployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Now, at almost the same time, our guest today, dan Dean, somehow found himself on stage doing comedy. He's been part of several comedy tours and today he's going to share his professional journey and insights on life. By the way fascinating fact I honorably took Dan's high school football number after he graduated number three And Dan was also my supervisor at one point. So it's great to reconnect with you. It's great to see you, buddy. It's great to have you on the show as well. Thank you for joining us, dan.

Dan:

I forgot all about that supervisor thing. I don't really count that job As a matter of fact. that job is probably why I joined the military.

KP:

You know, i do remember you joining right after that specific position.

Dan:

Huh I was like I can't do this. I can't sell fake ass jewelry for the rest of my life. Where's my life heading? I thought I was a smart guy. I'm sitting here in the middle of a mall in a kiosk selling some bullshit to whoever walks by.

KP:

And also supervising some high school brat that rarely showed up to work. So this work I know is very gracious to have the opportunity to work for Dan, and it was selling gold-plated jewelry. I had a great time working there, man, and I remember some of the pranks where we would like super glue the quarter to the floor and just watch people try to pick it up. Yeah, it was a good time working there.

Dan:

I had a lot of fun and met a lot of interesting people. I always got free pretzels from the pretzel store. There were some perks to working there, but you're working at a kiosk at the mall doing nothing. It was fine for a high school kid, but I was out of high school. I'd been to college for a year, I stopped going to college and now all of a sudden I find myself working at the mall. What the fuck? What has my life come to?

KP:

Yeah Well, hey, man, there was no shame. I appreciated it And it was definitely for some reason. I was very blessed to have really awesome jobs, from working at the little local grocery store there in South Charleston to working for you at the Upper Valley Mall, which back in the 90s that was the place to be. Now I think it's probably a flea market, who knows But I know who you are. I've been in contact with you for a number of years now, but for the audience members out there that are meeting you for the first time, would you mind letting them know and introducing yourself, letting them know who you are and how this all started out for you.

Dan:

Well, they've gotten a little glimpse into me right now. But yeah, my name's Dan Dane, from the Metropolis of South Charleston, ohio, and I wasn't really going anywhere in life, so that's when I decided to go into the military. I was in the Marines for eight years, had a little bit of a break in service there and then I transitioned into the Army National Guard, deployed three times between the two services and ended up retiring in 2019 after 23 years.

KP:

Wow, I didn't realize you were in the Marines for that long. I remember when you left and then when you came back you must have been on leave or something. I saw you at the local gas station. Where were you stationed at when you were in the Marine Corps?

Dan:

I was active duty for four years and then I went and did four years in the Marine Reserve. So when I was active duty, after boot camp at Paris Island and then Marine combat training at Lejeune, i did MP school in Alabama, at Fort McClellan, and then my first duty station was in Okinawa, japan. I was there for a year as a garrison MP, basically doing regular police patrol work in Japan on this tiny island, and I wish I would have stayed longer. I don't have any idea why they offered me They even offered me a small bonus, but it was a bonus which was unheard of at the time in the Marine Corps. I declined, i just wanted to be back in the United States. Then I came back.

Dan:

I was at Marine Corps Air Station Buford for three years after that. I finished out my active duty time there. Then I went into the reserve and most of my time in the reserve was actually on TDY. I was active duty most of that time. I ran the Marine Corps Humvee for the Marine Corps Recruiting District there for about six months or so, which there are a lot of really cool experiences and stories with that. Then we deployed for the first time right at the beginning of the war in Iraq in 2003, which was also quite an experience right there at the beginning. Then I came back. Like I said, i took a couple years break. I was still on the IRR, but I took a couple years break and then switched over.

KP:

I didn't realize that you had deployed to Iraq so early, I guess at the same time I was finishing up. I was finishing up. I was in an Ash Regard at the time enlisted. Then, around 2003 was when I got my commission. By the time you and I reconnected again, you had already been out. You went to Iraq in 2003?

Dan:

Yes, right as the war started. It was about seven days after the bombing started. We knew we were going, so we were at Camp Pendleton when they started the bombing. We got there just a few days later and we were doing some security checkpoints along some of the MSRs. We set up EPW camps. The grunts would go through the towns and they'd come out with all these EPWs and they'd bring a big five ton out to our collection point and just start dumping the prisoners, literally kicking them off the five ton. We took control of them there and then we would transport them down to a different spot in Kuwait where they were holding the EPWs at that point. Then, after the festivities started to calm down a little bit, we moved down into Kuwait and we were Running customs missions for the returning units.

KP:

Wow, yeah, so you had you'd been there four times, right, three, three times. You did it with Afghanistan once. No, i never did. Oh, you just did three total. Okay, go gotcha. So we know. What's amazing to me was, talking to the hundred and first, when I was stationed or when I was deployed to Mosul, iraq, there were a couple of captains and first lieutenant said, had talked to me and told me that the year and a half before when they were there, they described Mosul as a completely different place. Now, for the three times that you deployed, did you see an evolution of change in Iraq, like of the war, and how it was not the same each and every single time? Maybe it was the heightened security or the type of equipment you were using?

Dan:

Well, that's hard to say, because the second time I deployed I was in Kuwait the entire time. It was more of a vacation than anything, to be honest. The third one was too, but I did spend some time up in Iraq and that was a little bit different, because that was an army deployment, whereas I was Marine Corps the first time. Not to mention when we got there in 03, we didn't have anything. The war had just started. There weren't any hard structures. We didn't have any air conditioners. We were there in two man pup tents in the middle of the desert Hanging out for a month.

Dan:

We were eating MREs three meals a day. We had cases of these one liter water bottles and we got two of those per day. You had to drink them in the morning because as the day got on they just got hot. The only relief you would get is if you were able to go on patrol in a vehicle and you could get your sock wet and put them in the wet sock and hang it out the window. We also didn't have any up armored humvees. We didn't have any armored vehicles. We were driving along in soft top 998s with no doors in the middle of Iraq in a war We had just the most bullshit equipment you can imagine When we got to an actual base. Finally this army unit rolls in and they've got all this nice ass equipment, all these nice humvees. Here we are sitting in our just ghetto piece of shit vehicles. It was quite a bit different, but there are reasons for that.

KP:

What's that famous quote by Rumsfeld? We go to the war with the equipment we have, not the equipment we wish we had In 2004,. I remember standing in a cell hall and watching that press conference or something, and he made that comment At the time. we were doing convoys and patrols with soft sided humvees and using what's called ghetto metal, which is the metal that we put on.

Dan:

Whatever you could find you welded on yourself.

KP:

Right. I was kind of part of that transition because after he said that and there was so much public outcry over it because I remember there was an E4 that stood up and asked the question why, after almost two years, why are we still putting our own armor on our own vehicles? Why don't we have up armored? His response was we go to war with the equipment we have. Within the next month we had to send an entire platoon down to Kuwait to pick up all this Oshkosh level three armored vehicle. That E4 saved literally thousands of lives. After that, him asking that question and them having such a big push for that up armored stuff.

Dan:

He probably got an NJP. He probably got an Article 15 for saying that shit too.

KP:

Yeah, you know, what's funny is I actually tried to look him up. I wanted to interview him. I want to find out where he is and you can't find him anywhere, not on LinkedIn, not anywhere. So maybe one of these days I'll get lucky, because I do want to find out whatever happened to him. He's probably that E4 and I used to have his name. He's probably single handedly saved thousands of lives by asking that question that day and pushing the American leaders into providing the right equipment for that type of war at the time. Sorry, i didn't mean to go down the rabbit hole with you, man. Let's jump back to the Marine Corps. You served in the Marines. You're out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and you're from a small village in Ohio with 2,000 residents, total right. So did the Marines after your time deploying and then you got out? did the Marines meet your overall expectations? and what would you tell anyone out there that would be thinking about joining the Marines and leaving home for the first time?

Dan:

Oh, i love the Marines. I was weird that way because when I was in high school I was completely the opposite of a person you would imagine going into the military. As a matter of fact, i was completely anti-military. I thought that the military was for weak-minded fools and they brainwashed you and that was the only thing you would do if you didn't have any other option in life. I just assumed I was going to go to college, get a degree and become a professional, upstanding citizen. That's what my idea was of what life was supposed to be. And then you've already heard the story of why I decided to join And I don't know, maybe I did get a little bit brainwashed, maybe I didn't. but as far as the military goes, after 23 years I don't think there should be a draft per se. but I think anybody should try.

Dan:

the military of some sort doesn't have to be the Marines. Everybody kind of knows that if you wanna challenge yourself, if you wanna go the hardest route, Marine Corps is probably the way to go. But try out the military. If you're physically capable, do it. It's gonna do you good, no matter what. You're gonna get benefits out of it, whether those be mental, physical, financial or otherwise, you're gonna get something out of it.

KP:

Yeah, no doubt I'll tell you what I remember prior to going to war and after going to war, how much my perspective changed overall with the different services, specifically the Marines. Whenever I worked with the Marines in Mosul, they were always extremely professional. You could always feel like that you could depend on them to have your six at all times. Man. They were some of the most professional like locked on groups that I ever worked with over there, to include special forces and any other units out there. It really changed my perspective overall And as far as I think, sometimes people don't know what's best for them.

KP:

I know it's tough to leave home. Yeah, i think it's tough to go to leave home and go to basic training or boot camp. Hell, i didn't wanna do it either, but I had to do it because I felt like that was the only way that I was gonna be able to pay for college and I was ever gonna turn the page to go to the next chapter and grow up and become a man. So for me it was one thing that you know it helped catapult me into the next chapter, but it was another thing that I didn't wanna do it, but I just felt like I had to do it. I agree with you 100%, man. I think that we need to look in the mirror sometimes and take that hard, that hard right versus that easy left, you know, or vice versa. So I guess it took you a couple of years after being out of high school right to do that.

Dan:

Yeah, it absolutely did. And this just kind of piggybacking on what you just said. As I progressed in my career, as I became a senior NCO and the Army or whatever, i would see so many people. Anytime I got a new soldier command I'd ask them why they joined And the number of people who told me they joined for the college benefits was extraordinary. But what was really satisfying to me was when I would see those same people who joined specifically for college benefits end up re-enlisting and extending and continuing their career. You know, they joined for college, ended up liking it and that have realized that it was a good thing for them and they continued on with that.

KP:

Yeah, and that's exactly what happened to me. I enlisted in the National Guard, utilizing that 100% tuition assistance that my state was offering at the time, and then the patriotic bug kind of bit me in the ass And next thing, you know, i'm understanding now. I'm understanding what my great uncle, who served in World War II like the sacrifice that he held, my dad serving 20 years in the Army I understand now, like the sacrifices that he did. And so I decided at that point hey, i'm just I'm gonna take this to the next level, i'm gonna become an officer, i'm gonna get commissioned and I'm gonna do four years active duty.

KP:

And at the time the war was going on, i knew that I was going to deploy. The chances were really good that I was gonna, i just didn't know when. So that's exactly what happened to me, man, like I went in for one reason and then I ended up staying longer, you know, because it was something bigger than myself. And you know that's that was. That hits the nail on the head for exactly how I came about doing a total of eight years in the military. Now, when you transitioned out of the Marines, what was it like to go home, to your small village, or did you go back to your small village of 2000 people, and how? how did your perspective changed overall?

Dan:

Yeah, it's a whole different thing dealing with civilians, especially after the Marine Corps, because they, like you said, they're always known as being pretty strict, pretty locked on, squared away. They're very rigid and disciplined And, even if you don't realize it, you kind of get used to that mindset. And then when you get home, when you're dealing with civilians who aren't used to that kind of structure and discipline in their lives, you tend to get a little bit irritated sometimes And I think that's a normal thing. I hear that all the time And it doesn't take long to transition back into that civilian mindset and to get a little bit more tolerant of that. But yeah, that's real, that's a thing.

KP:

Yeah, you know, i've heard some horror stories about folks who go from active duty to reserves or active duty to National Guard, and I know what it's like to go from National Guard to active duty. But can you give us some insight on what it was like for you to transition from active duty Marines to the reserves, to the Army National Guard, and what advice would you have for anyone out there that's thinking about doing the same thing?

Dan:

Well, as far as horror stories go, i guess I probably got lucky. I didn't really experience a whole bunch of that. Everything seemed to be pretty smooth for me, and maybe it's because I allowed myself a little bit of time to get used to it. I got off of active duty And then I took about four months before I went and went into the reserves. If you don't know how that works, when you're going into the active duty Marine Corps you sign an eight year contract, four up front, and then you're going to be in the IRR for the final four years. So then afterwards I was still technically in the Marines but I wasn't in any active branch. Now the reserves is a different branch from active duty. So I just had to go to the recruiter and say I want to be back with a unit again training, but I don't want to be active, so I want to be reserved, and all I had to do is fill out a couple of papers.

Dan:

Next month I was in a drilling status with the unit and there is a big rivalry between active duty and reserve. There's a big rivalry between the Marine Corps and the other branches, between all the branches really. But if we're being honest, it's not all that different. Yes, the Marine Corps is a little bit more structured, active duty is a little bit more disciplined than the reserves, probably. But it's still the Marines, you know, you're still doing the same thing. The training is all the same, the qualifying with weapons is all the same. There's no real difference there. The only difference is you're a civilian for a good portion of the month and you're just doing the military thing on the weekends.

Dan:

And I don't know, i don't know if active duty gets jealous. Maybe they don't get to live their lives the way they want to for most of the month. But you can see where their thought process is coming from. And it's the same with the Army and the active duty, army and the National Guard. And then the difference between the Army and the Marines is considerable in the minds of the Marines. But the biggest thing for me when I was switching into the National Guard was getting over the roadblock of my own mindset. Because when you're in the Marines, especially in boot camp, they drill it into your head You're the best, the Marine Corps is where it's at and anybody else is secondary. So all I, you know, i just had to get over the idea in my own head that I wasn't going to be a Marine anymore. And once I got over that then I kind of fit right into that reserve unit and then again into the National Guard unit.

KP:

It sounds like your overall humbleness and your ability to ground yourself has really helped you transition quite a bit, because I have talked to people before that have very high expectations when they make that jump from active duty to the reserves and the National Guard. And I think sometimes people have a tendency to do that to compare things to the way they used to be or to compare this to that. And I think sometimes you really have to have an open mind about it, and so it sounds like that's pretty much what you had was an open mind and you had transitioned your mind, i guess, and your expectations to understand that, hey, like, not every unit's going to be the same and not every branch is going to be the same. I had heard before, you know, people saying well, i went from this active duty unit and I went to this reserve unit, national Guard unit, and you know it was really messed up. The command did this, the command did that.

KP:

But I can also say the same thing for active duty too. I've seen that with active duty units, and a lot of it has to do with the overall culture of those units that have been created over time with the command. So I can see it going both ways myself. I've seen some really high speed National Guard units. As a matter of fact, when I was in Iraq, i was a platoon leader for a reserve unit. I was the only active duty guy and I had some of the most skilled professionals in my opinion when it came to dealing with things outside the wire And I really depended on them and I leaned on them quite a bit to get me through some tough times, you know. So I definitely understand your perspective on that one.

Dan:

The good thing about the National Guard is that you have all these different people and, yeah, you're doing the same job, but during the month they're all doing different things. They come from different backgrounds. You know, you've got a mechanic coming in from an auto dealership, i'm a carpenter coming in, and you've got different cops and just people from all kinds of different backgrounds. So if you need something, you've got a hookup somewhere. I pulled in one time my alternator went out. The guy came out, he worked at the dealership. I went and got an alternator. He fixed it right there in the parking lot for me for free And that's just kind of one of the benefits.

Dan:

But there were a lot of guys who came into the National Guard from the Marine Corps and they couldn't get over that metal roadblock that I talked about. As a matter of fact, there was a guy I deployed with out of the Marines. He got ahold of me and said, hey, i think I'd like to try the National Guard, and we got him over there. He joined my unit. I drilled with him for he was there for about a year and he ended up getting out and going back into the Marines And he retired as the first sergeant in the Marine Corps And he, just he couldn't get over that metal roadblock. You know, i'm a Marine, i'm the best.

Dan:

And but he was a. He was actually a really good Marine. As for myself, i always considered myself kind of an average Marine, so then when I went into the National Guard I was a pretty good soldier, yeah man.

KP:

I mean, yeah, that's interesting.

KP:

I mean your personality definitely has a lot to do with.

KP:

I think the thing about you, dan, that I've known you for a number of years, man, is, you know, i don't, i don't think that, even though you were a Marine, i don't think that that uniform was ever an extension of your character, your personality, your identity, and I think that's a that's a big deal for some people Like I think there's some people out there that'll walk around for the rest of their life, you know, and all this stuff and and who, and all this stuff And it's and it's and, at the end of the day, like, you've always been a very grounded guy, very humble guy, and you've been, dan, and I think I that's one of the things that I really appreciate about you as a person is you never have taken on the.

KP:

The Dan that I met after joining the Marines and you were on TDY I saw at the gas station was the same guy that I remember working with me at the mall. So over the years, man, i think that has helped you a lot with with your transition overall. And speaking of transition, you know, you, you got into comedy, which I had been to a few of your shows before in Dayton and in Dayton, ohio there.

Dan:

You saw me when I was just started. I was terrible back then.

KP:

Dude, i listen. I think at the end of the day, like, just like this podcasting stuff, man, it's not as easy as people think. Um, i and I didn't think you were terrible, you were actually killing it on stage. Um, so would you mind talking to us about comedy? like how the hell did that ever come about, man? Like what inspired you to do that? Is this something you always wanted to do?

Dan:

You said, the people think comedy isn't as easy as it looks It was. If people think comedy is easy, they're looking in the wrong place, because comedy is anything but easy. You have to be kind of a masochist to do comedy, because it's as much misery as it is positive. But as far as comedy goes, i got into it. I have to give credit to the military for getting me into comedy, because I was in a unit in the National Guard with a female soldier and she sent me a message that said hey, i'm doing this comedy show, i'm doing an open mic at Wiley's comedy club. I need some people to come watch. Would you mind coming out?

KP:

Yeah, sure Why not.

Dan:

I'd never been to a comedy show live before. You know, i'd seen some comedy on TV. I'd seen Eddie Murphy, ross and George Carlin, richard Pryor. I knew comedy existed, but I'd never been to a comedy show. So I went and I watched this open mic this girl from my unit And as I'm watching I saw some of these people on stage and I'm like, well, they're not very good. If they could do this, i can do it. So I talked to that guy right there that night. I said, hey, sign me up for this, let's do this thing. About a month later I wrote some material, got on stage and I never really looked back from there and I've taken some breaks here and there when my daughter was born and then I deployed once again after that, but even then I ran some shows over in Kuwait when I was deployed, managed to find a couple other people who wanted to do some comedy And we kind of did some open mics over there, not really a USO tour, but we were performing for the troops.

KP:

Yeah, that's pretty bad ass, man. What type of comedy do you do, Dan?

Dan:

It has transitioned a lot since I've started sort of an observational comic. But the older I get, the grumpier I get. My comedy tends to reflect that to where Bill Burr is a big.

KP:

Right, i love it Yeah.

Dan:

He's one of my favorites and he's a big influence on me. My style is similar to his to where I'm sort of an angry comic on stage sometimes, but he tends to tackle broader, bigger, more important subjects, while I'm up on stage yelling about fight, fighting geese, and why cheesecake is a pie, you know.

KP:

Right, yeah, man, and overall, over the years, have you, have you done any tours and what are some of your favorite clubs to perform in?

Dan:

I've been all over. I've performed in several states, mostly in the Midwest. I'm not, you know, i'm not a big professional comic tour and all over the country It's more of a hobby for me that tends to pay for itself. You know, get paid for shows, but I'm not out there making thousands of dollars or any. I'm not performing in front of 20,000 people at an arena or anything. But I love doing shows at, like, the animal lodges moose, elks and Eagles lodges, that kind of thing. But my favorite clubs are always going to be Wiley's and Dayton, where I did my my very first set and then the funny bone there, and Dayton as well. Fantastic staff, really really nice club, yeah.

KP:

So what are some of the unknowns about being a comedian Things that you learned after you actually got on stage and had the microphone in hand and you started doing your bit. Like what are some of the things that you learned sort of the hard way about comedy?

Dan:

Well, a lot of people coming into comedy think that you have to write a new bit every time you get on stage, and that's 100% not true. When you're on stage, if you're seeing somebody perform comedy, they have probably performed that same set enough times to where they're sick of hearing those jokes. You know the jokes that I tell all end up doing it different shows 50 times to try to perfect that joke to. You know, kind of rewriting it and tweaking it here and there until it's it becomes a good, solid joke. That's why, if you listen to some of these guys, some of these professionals like you know the Joe Rogans, bill Burr, stuff like that they're talking about. They're out there getting their hour ready, getting their special ready. They're doing that same material over and over and over. It's not like they just go out there and have a brand new hour that nobody's ever heard before. And anytime I've gone to see Bill Burr I'll watch his special six months later and he's telling the same jokes that he told when I went to see him. They're just slightly different. He's tweaked them a little bit. He's figured out what was funny and what wasn't and reworded it a little bit, and so that's kind of hard for people to grasp as far as comedians go.

Dan:

And it's hard to get people to come watch you when you're just starting, because you know, say, my mom comes and watch me do a set and she comes back the next week and I'm doing that same set. So you've got people coming out and watching you and you're doing the same material over and over. They're like I've seen this, do you have anything new? I'm like yeah, but this isn't ready yet. You know this isn't where it needs to be yet And I'll do something new once once this material is ready. So people get burned out, coming and watching comedy real quick. It's hard. You know everybody's like oh, i love comedy, i love to laugh. It's hard to get people to come out and watch comedy.

KP:

Yeah, i've actually been to a lot of comedy shows and I saw the late Charlie Murphy when he was up in Chicago and I've seen Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Corolla back in the day Not current Jimmy, but early Jimmy, when he was actually really funny. But and so at at the end of the day, whenever I saw these folks and then I would see the opening acts, a lot of times the opening acts were just as funny as the main, the main person Absolutely Like yeah. So have you ever shared the stage with anyone that that would be considered famous or anyone that you've met or been able to connect with or network with?

Dan:

a little bit. I've never done shows with any of the huge, huge comics. I did a show with Brad Williams who you know he has his own special on Netflix and he's pretty well known. Vince Morris is a comic I love to work with. He's kind of local but he's been on HBO Comedy Central, that kind of thing. I did a show with Chris Gattain who was on Saturday Night Live And yeah, i'm basically giving you my buy now My credits. people have worked with.

KP:

Yeah, no, you know, i had one other comic on here in the very beginning when I started the Morning Formation podcast and I brought up military dark humor And I think it kind of triggered him. He got really upset and was like there's no such thing as that And like went off on me pretty much And I don't know he was kind of a jerk. But what are your thoughts on that, like as far as military dark humor and surveillance, not getting it? I mean, do you believe that there is such thing as dark humor?

Dan:

Sure, there's dark humor, but comedy is subjective and every comic has a different style and every person watching comedy likes a different style of comedy. So just because you're a dark comic doesn't mean you're not going to have an audience out there. Anthony Jeselnick is one of the darkest comics that I know and he is goddamn hilarious. I will watch his clips over and over. He's hilarious. You got guys like Daniel Tosh He's also. I just watched a clip of his today. He was talking about what an accomplishment it was for white people to pull off slavery.

KP:

Which is.

Dan:

You know, it's obviously a taboo, crazy thing to say, but that's what comedians are there for.

Dan:

You know, dave Chappelle said the thing about comedians having a responsibility to speak recklessly, and I take that to heart. As far as I'm concerned, there is no subject that's off limits, as long as you can make it funny. And then, you know, i've been in rooms where a comedian will tell a joke and just get absolute crickets, and sometimes that's even funnier than the joke itself. You know, even if I didn't think the joke was funny sometimes just the silence in the room all of a sudden you'll hear me in the back just bust out laughing. You know, because I know that comic is up on stage just dying because nobody's laughing at this joke and nobody in the audience gets what they're going for. And we've all been there. That's how it goes. But eventually you will find the audience and somebody will like that joke.

Dan:

I got advice one time that I've always it's been my number one piece of advice that I always keep close to the chest. The guy told me if you think something's funny, it's funny. You just have to make the audience believe it's funny. And that's where the problem lies. Sometimes you just can't do that. Sometimes you just can't make the audience buy into a bit, and I've had to. I've had to shelve bits and there have been jokes that I did years ago that I'll see and I'll bring back all of a sudden, like this is hilarious. Why didn't this ever work? I'm going to try it again and, you know, change a little something. And all of a sudden, there it is, all of a sudden, that bit works. All you had to do was get a fresh, fresh, fresh thought about it and different perspective.

KP:

I love the whole comedian front because they've really worked hard to push back against a lot of the, i guess, political correctness that's going on today And overall you will see a lot of comics come out and say, hey look, this is what I'm supposed to do, i do this for a living. Like we're supposed to be raw, we're supposed to be real, we're supposed to be authentic. And you mentioned earlier Bill Burr. I mean that guy. When he says stuff it's just for me. I'm like, yeah, he's right. Like why did I ever think of it any other way than what he's saying? It's just common sense, right, and a lot of times comedy can bring that common sense to it all.

KP:

You mentioned earlier that you're into observational comedy. I remember standing with you at the mall and no better place to observe people, right. And I remember us just cracking up and just observing people walking by and the people working over at the cell phone place right next to us, or the person working over there. We would all like make jokes about them. So you know, i guess you had it always. I guess you always had it in you, dan. It was just a matter of having that opportunity to find a stage and to get on it. And you know, thankfully you had a good friend in the National Guard who invited you and got you in on it. And over the horizon, what do you have planned?

Dan:

As far as what Comedy or just life in general.

KP:

Comedy, life in general, anything.

Dan:

Well, the pandemic sort of put a halt on all things comedy in general, And before that I was out there, you know rip roar and doing shows every weekend at different locations, and it never really picked up for me afterwards And I would kind of like to get back to the place where I was to, where I'm doing more shows and and being more active in the comedy scene.

Dan:

But as far as that goes, you know, i'm a carpenter and business has never been better for that. These days I have as much carpenter businesses as I need and I'll just. That's always a fallback for me. You know, if I don't have any comedy lined up, if I don't have anything going on, i can always build something and that that allows me a lot of leeway. It always has allowed me a lot of leeway.

KP:

Yeah, that's awesome and, by the way, speaking of which, if anyone's looking to connect with you, i know that you have the Instagram for the carpentry work, right? What's that?

Dan:

called Camouflage construction.

KP:

Camouflage construction and what other social media platforms are you on if folks want to connect with you?

Dan:

I am on Facebook as well, dan Dean on there. I do have a camouflage construction Facebook page also, and I just created a TikTok page. I finally gave in and created a TikTok. I haven't uploaded any videos, but that's gonna be sort of my comedy outlet. I think I've got some really good ideas for some TikTok videos. So if you go on there I think my screen name is Grumpy Dan, but it's at Dan Dean 71. You can find me there. Like I said, you're not gonna find any videos now, but I'm gonna get some comedy videos up there. I've got some ideas.

KP:

I hope that we got you inspired to jump back into it. Man, i know the pandemic. You know, like you said, put a damper and everything, and I'll make sure that I put all of the links in the show notes. So, if you're listening to this on the audio platforms, go down to the show notes. You'll see all of Dan's social media platforms to connect with him. If you're watching this on YouTube, scroll down to the description. You'll see the same thing. All the links will be down there as well, so you can connect with Dan, whether you want him to do some woodworking for you, or you want him to make you laugh, or you want to just have a beer with him, because you know you want to talk about some experiences that you had down range.

KP:

Whatever the case is, dan is a multi-talented professional and I've been. It's been such a pleasure to know you all these years, dan. And just to finish everything off for this podcast, man, what is the number one piece of advice that you would give anyone out there who is currently a service member or is maybe a veteran? you know, a piece of advice a piece of advice for a community to change their mindset, for transition, for change, because change is inevitable and you seem to be the master of that.

Dan:

Well, like I said, i have done quite a few things and having this construction carpentry background has given me the leeway to do that. But I have a couple of pieces of advice. The first is that money isn't everything, you know. Don't get into something just for the money, especially if you're not happy doing it. If you're unhappy at a job, go do something else. There are opportunities out there, there are different things available, and that kind of leads me into my second piece of advice.

Dan:

Don't be afraid to take a chance. Don't be afraid to go after what you want. You know, if you're in a job that you don't like and you want to be an artist, you know, go be an artist. You might suffer a little bit, you might be scraping for money here and there, but don't be afraid to live your dream because ultimately, living an unfulfilled life and having a lot of money is going to be a lot worse in the end than being happy and having to be happy and having a lot of money is going to be a lot worse in the end than being happy and having a lot of money.

KP:

So that's great. Bye, amen to that man. When I got out of the army, i actually got a high-paying job right off the bat and I thought, yeah, this is what I want. I left Hawaii, moved back to the Midwest, sold my board, sold my kayak, sold my life. You know, i'm from the US and I'm like, hey, dan. And now I look back. I'm like why the hell did I do that? I could have gotten a job living in Paradise. And now I'm just kind of living here on the mainland with a good job now, a decent job anyways. So that's very, very wise.

KP:

Dan, and I really appreciated you giving us that.

Dan:

I'm going to say one more thing, though, however, to piggyback on that. How do you feel right now? Forty-three, you're forty-three, i'm forty-five right now. So you can see what forty-five years of living with no money has done to me, compared to this guy over here who had a good-paying job. So I don't know, maybe my advice isn't the best, or else maybe the next two years of your life, you're in for some shit KV.

KP:

No, no, man, Listen, there's a lot of stress underneath this, everything going on over here, and every day, you know I'm drinking the Celsius, getting the caffeine in just to keep it going. So I'm in the same boat as you, man. Like I said, the one thing that I really and I appreciate your service and just you being a friend and an acquaintance all these years, and I really appreciate you giving us the opportunity to learn a lot more about you. Today, man, I hope that you pick up your comedy, you start up a podcast, you do all the things, man, because you have a lot of stuff to give a lot of people out there.

Dan:

Hey, thanks and I appreciate you having me on. It was a good time. I enjoyed being enjoyed talking to you, enjoyed catching up.

KP:

Right on, man, Right on. Well, you keep holding it down out there in the Midwest, out there in the field, out there in South Chucky. I'll hold it down out here in LA and enjoy this two-hour bullshit commute that I do every single day. I hate it. But anyways, for everyone else out there, I hope you enjoyed this interview. Please check out Dan Dean. All the links are in the description or in the show notes below. Dan, thank you for joining us And for everyone else out there, as always, I want you to stay tuned, stay focused and stay motivated.