With Zak Bermudez
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00:00:00Manhood, brought to you in part by Solomon's Bespoke.
00:00:05Manhood, brought to you in part by Reboot Sports Drink.
00:00:14Welcome to another conversation here on Manhood.
00:00:17Today's topic is, is everything a joke?
00:00:21So to my right, Johan T. Iodike, Behavior Change Consultant.
00:00:24To his right, Zach Bermudez, CEO of Storyline Media, content creator.
00:00:32We know him, he's made us laugh several times and continues to do that.
00:00:36I'm really happy to have you on the show, Zach.
00:00:39And to his right, Niall McNish, Vibes God.
00:00:44I feel like you're leaving, I'm a provocative.
00:00:46Yeah, on purpose, on purpose.
00:00:48Because Niall, not everything is a joke.
00:00:51Not everything is a joke.
00:00:52And we're going to explore that more today.
00:00:54I know, I know.
00:00:56And everybody's going to disagree in some form or fashion.
00:00:59But in Trinidad and Tobago specifically, we talk globally and then we could get down to, you know,
00:01:04but more specific to Trinidad and Tobago where we put, is everything a joke?
00:01:10And what is the consequence when not everything becomes funny?
00:01:15Because you might think you're telling a joke or you think you're ridiculing someone
00:01:19or you're telling them something in jest, being funny, and it turns out to be something else.
00:01:26So let's explore that.
00:01:27Is everything a joke?
00:01:29All right.
00:01:29Well, I would actually say everything is a joke.
00:01:31Of course, there are certain things where you cannot make a joke about it.
00:01:36We have boundaries in Trinidad.
00:01:38I was not about to say, I disagree with that.
00:01:40You can make a joke about anything.
00:01:42Nah, I mean, there are certain things.
00:01:44I mean, I can't even say it on air.
00:01:45There are certain things that can happen.
00:01:46And you really, if you make a joke about that online, you can mash up.
00:01:49Well, you see, online you might say no, but Trinidad culture in general, we have Pekong culture.
00:01:55No matter from generation, before I was born to the younger generation, Pekong is part of what Trinidad is.
00:02:02And I agree that some things shouldn't be joked about, but we in Trinidad, they still joke about a lot of things, you know?
00:02:09Everything.
00:02:10But is it subjective?
00:02:12Like when you say not everything should be joked about, now what you might find not funny, other persons may find hilarious.
00:02:19I've had clients who committed or attempted suicide.
00:02:24And then, let's say people in the workplace find out of people, and people come and say, hey, I hear you drink bleach.
00:02:30Right?
00:02:31There's a joke, but maybe something shouldn't be joked about.
00:02:35That's what I mean.
00:02:36The thing is, it's not a joke though.
00:02:37I don't find that funny.
00:02:39I don't laugh about that.
00:02:40Hey, I hear you drink bleach.
00:02:41I don't find that funny.
00:02:43You know what I mean?
00:02:44No, the underlying thing here is that, you know, because initially when Johans, he said,
00:02:48he has clients or had clients that committed suicide.
00:02:52I told him maybe it was a seance or something he was doing.
00:02:54I said attempted.
00:02:55Then he corrected himself.
00:02:56So, again, I'm using that specifically.
00:03:00That's a joke.
00:03:00I know, I know, I know.
00:03:01Is everything a joke?
00:03:03So, even when something is serious, we still find a way to make a joke.
00:03:06And I'm asking myself, do we do that because it's a way of comfort, like how people use self?
00:03:11It's a trauma response.
00:03:12It's a trauma response.
00:03:14Is it insecurity?
00:03:15Is it that we're deflecting?
00:03:19That's, you know, apart from certain things, like you said, are very funny.
00:03:23But everything is subjective.
00:03:25So, there are things I could tell you for sure, Zach, that you might say, that's not funny.
00:03:28Johans, he might agree with you.
00:03:30But my friend here, I've seen some things he showed me.
00:03:33I will love this.
00:03:34And he'll be like, that is hilarious.
00:03:35It's differences in humor too.
00:03:37You know what I mean?
00:03:37Like, I can make a joke about things that your mind be able to make a joke out of.
00:03:40And same thing for you all with me.
00:03:42You know what I mean?
00:03:43I think it also depends on who you're telling the joke to.
00:03:46You know, you have to be careful.
00:03:47You know, like you won't just tell some random stranger some real dark joke.
00:03:50We'll tell your boys, you know, because you know they'll understand that joke they will get, you know.
00:03:54They will know it's just a joke.
00:03:56You know, so it does, you need to also understand who you're telling that joke to.
00:04:00And be careful who you're saying certain jokes to, you know.
00:04:02So, let's get down to, like, even in content creation, right?
00:04:05Because a lot of stuff that you do is hilarious, right?
00:04:10And I find that the most popular and famous comedians in the world are ones that simply relate to what we do every day.
00:04:19Or that we could relate to.
00:04:21And, but the ironic thing with that is, is that what we're laughing about when we do it or it's done to us, we don't find it funny.
00:04:30But somebody now pointing it out, you know, holding up that mirror, we find it absolutely hilarious.
00:04:36You know, like, you might find a woman responding to you, or it could be a horn, it could be how somebody breaks in, and you don't find, you don't find any of that funny.
00:04:46But when someone then puts it in a particular way, and you're like, yeah, well, I'm really guilty of that.
00:04:51It's almost that expression all the time.
00:04:53I'm guilty of that.
00:04:54And then you're laughing at self.
00:04:56At yourself, yeah.
00:04:57Well, that's a good point, because maybe then we could enter into the realm of a joke, the subjectivity of a joke, could be based on your ego, right?
00:05:07Because I don't want my ego to be bruised, so I will laugh at other people.
00:05:12So part of the joke is, it's a good thing it's not happening to me.
00:05:16Yes, exactly, yeah.
00:05:17Agreed.
00:05:18And then, so, this segment, as we all know, is always a general discussion initially, is everything a joke?
00:05:25So when we talk to people and we call them, you know, like a fat person, slim, you know, or we might call them porky, or, you know, teeter, you know, like a man teeter, like a bite a bum, and, you know, short man, and all of these different things, you know, big head.
00:05:40Listen, Trinidad, maybe Caribbean, but Trinidad humor specifically, I find hilarious, right?
00:05:47And I like it, you know, because you see how, if you call a fat person a pig or porky, that's kind of lame to me, because that's obvious.
00:05:56If you call a fat person slim, it's all the opposite.
00:05:59And I think that's brilliant.
00:06:01I'll give you another example, right?
00:06:03When I was in university, I went to school in Baltimore, right?
00:06:06And there were a lot of different people from different countries, different races, et cetera.
00:06:11But the Trinies used to play football with African players, players from different parts of Africa all the time.
00:06:17And I remember this one guy, well, we thought his name was Levi, right?
00:06:23So we called him Levi, Levi, Levi, all the way up to graduation.
00:06:27And when we heard his name, which was a very African name, we wondered why.
00:06:32And he was given that name by a Trinie because the first time he came to play football, he didn't have a short pants, and he wore Levi jeans, right?
00:06:41And listen, I remember, I laugh, I laugh, I laugh.
00:06:45But it was so brilliant.
00:06:46Right.
00:06:47And we choose whether it is a joke or a nickname based on some sort of metaphoric context.
00:06:56And I guess maybe that's our history as storytellers.
00:07:00But the joke sometimes is so clever, even if it hurts in your feelings, you just have to appreciate it.
00:07:06However, I know people, like, for example, there's a friend of mine, and we grew up, and he was called, now we have a shorter name for him, Bubble, right?
00:07:16But his initial name was Bubblehead.
00:07:18Because back then, you have a slimmer body, you have a big head, and it was looking like one of those Bubbleheads.
00:07:25And now, that even though you've grown out, and we've grown out, we've grown out of people, and so on now, you find some people like that name.
00:07:34Like, I know people called Sticks, or Stringy, or Stones.
00:07:38But this particular, you call him that now, and he's like, I, you know, I'm coasting on it now.
00:07:46But back then, it had been powerfully caused.
00:07:48So I don't know if it's, at that point, you're just accepting of it, or you like to be accepted, and you can't stand up for yourself.
00:07:58And now that you're in a position of...
00:08:00So, yeah, if you're in secondary school, you could stop a group, a class, or a people from not giving you your nicknames.
00:08:07Nah, don't call me that.
00:08:08You know they're calling it.
00:08:09They can call it even more.
00:08:10Correct.
00:08:11When you don't want it to be called, yeah.
00:08:12Correct.
00:08:14But accepting that joke, I think, knowing the culture, and as I say, because Trinidad is a pecan culture, I think as men, our skin should be a little thicker than, let's say, maybe in another country.
00:08:25But it is, but it is, our skin, as in Trinidadians, we could take talk better, because if, you know, we shared stories, I used to live in Jamaica for a while, them fellas over there cannot laugh at themselves.
00:08:38At least that's my interpretation.
00:08:39So, of course, you know, we're playing basketball, pecan is my culture, you understand, just talking shippiness.
00:08:45Now, he, he, no, he insults me.
00:08:48Well, I took it as an insult, right, but I laugh it off.
00:08:51He called me, he called me a b**** man, right?
00:08:53He said, you're a b**** man, because, you know, I don't mind going down on a woman.
00:08:58That's where this conversation came from, right?
00:09:00He trying to throw that jab to me.
00:09:02But bad man no bow.
00:09:03Bad man no bow, right?
00:09:04And, right, so, I say, well, all right, I'm a b**** man, but why it is he telling everybody we are b**** men?
00:09:13Because he's supposed to keep our relationship private.
00:09:16That was just me, you know, I accept, I accept it, I'll bring him into it.
00:09:20That is just jokes.
00:09:22Bro, that man wanted to kill me.
00:09:25He wanted to kill me on that court, and I had to run home, I had to run back to, like, yo, they try to calm him down.
00:09:31He'll be like, no, it's just tricky to just kick, sting, and he's like, nah, man, nah, man.
00:09:36But they say, but you call him a b**** man first, right?
00:09:39But he just found that there's no, that was, like, the biggest insult, and the fact that I was so accepting of it,
00:09:44and brought him into the whole tree is what was the main issue, and he didn't like that at all.
00:09:50And then I, they don't ever laugh with each other like that.
00:09:52No other culture is going to understand our humor.
00:09:55You know what I mean?
00:09:56And in turn, like, you're going to school and, like, you're getting these nicknames, right?
00:09:58But if you don't get called a nickname in school, you're not cool.
00:10:03You know, like, it's kind of like, you kind of want a nickname.
00:10:05All right.
00:10:05The nickname ain't going to be good at it.
00:10:07It wouldn't be what you want.
00:10:08It wouldn't be the way you want.
00:10:10But if you get a nickname, you're good.
00:10:11You kind of want that nickname.
00:10:12Because people, they're going to call me Bermudez.
00:10:15They're going to call me Crix or something.
00:10:17Because I'm my last name, you know what I mean?
00:10:18Right, right.
00:10:18So you kind of want a nickname in school, you know?
00:10:21And if you don't get a nickname, then it's like, yeah, people that seem, you know,
00:10:24like, nobody know anything about me, you know what I mean?
00:10:26Yeah.
00:10:26Okay.
00:10:27That's a good perspective.
00:10:28So your nickname was Crix in school?
00:10:30It was Crix.
00:10:31It was Dixie.
00:10:31It was Rough Tops.
00:10:32Everything about my last name.
00:10:34My thing was my last name, right?
00:10:36That was my thing, right?
00:10:38Obviously, I get a white boy and thing, but that's what happened.
00:10:40What was your nickname?
00:10:42I didn't, like, people say Redo.
00:10:44Red man?
00:10:45Redo?
00:10:46So I know hearing what he's saying, I'm thinking of myself,
00:10:49maybe I wasn't cool in school, boy.
00:10:51Because I didn't.
00:10:51My grandfather gave me a nickname.
00:10:54He used to call me Goathead.
00:10:55Right?
00:10:56Goathead.
00:10:56Sorry, it was Goathead, which was, I think, was short for Goathead,
00:11:00which is because I had a big head.
00:11:01Right.
00:11:02Right?
00:11:02You know, small, you know, he grew up, he had a big head.
00:11:05I had a big head and he called me Goathead.
00:11:07So amongst the family, that was a name.
00:11:10Now, of course, you know, people are probably going to come and hashtag that.
00:11:13But would you have wanted Goathead in school?
00:11:15Hashtag Goathead, guys.
00:11:16No, but in school, they never did that.
00:11:17But I, apart from that, I really don't, like you said about laughing at yourself,
00:11:22I don't take those things too seriously.
00:11:25I mean, I hosted an event a couple weeks ago.
00:11:30And in there, you know, there's a diplomatic corps, right?
00:11:33And just reading it through, not even focusing, I said the diplomatic corps, right?
00:11:38C-O-R-P-S.
00:11:40Right?
00:11:40And by the time I was finished, I know there was all these messages and all that, bro.
00:11:46You know, it's cool, it's cool.
00:11:47And I just had to say, you know what?
00:11:49Hey, I made a mistake.
00:11:51I can't retract what I did.
00:11:52And I didn't really laugh it off, but you learn from it.
00:11:56So sometimes when people throw things back at you, it's a learning curve.
00:12:00You know, whether you want to accept it or not.
00:12:02You kind of need to hear certain things too.
00:12:03You do.
00:12:04You know what I mean?
00:12:04And that's why, and trainings have a really good way of telling you things that you need to know
00:12:07in a very sarcastic and soft way, you know, like if you're fat and you need to lose weight,
00:12:12like you need to lose weight bad, they're going to call you, they will call you thin or slim, you know?
00:12:16They will give you the opposite of what it is, you know what I mean?
00:12:20And I think that's good.
00:12:21There's certain things you need to hear.
00:12:23If you're smelling bad, they will call you something to tell you, hey, you're smelling bad.
00:12:26But they ain't going to say, hey, you're smelling really bad.
00:12:27It have a negative to that also because not everybody just catch it, right?
00:12:34And sometimes you have to be direct
00:12:37because you see that story was given about the guy who needed the deodorant, right?
00:12:42Who was called Dio's.
00:12:43Right?
00:12:44One, that one lame.
00:12:46Dio's, I don't know.
00:12:47I will never catch that, right?
00:12:48But that was the point.
00:12:49I kind of like it.
00:12:50I kind of like it, yeah.
00:12:50But that was the point because...
00:12:52For him not to catch it?
00:12:53No, other people.
00:12:54Because we did everything at that point to ask the guy to put on some deodorant or to...
00:13:01I mean, I'm sure he did.
00:13:02Nobody didn't do everything at that point.
00:13:03But nobody wanted to approach him.
00:13:06And so Dio's became the name in the office to...
00:13:11But not to him directly.
00:13:12Not to him, but to make us kind of like just kind of brush it off to cope.
00:13:16It was a coping mechanism.
00:13:18So that's what I'm saying.
00:13:19If everything is a joke, it was our coping mechanism.
00:13:22And I want to bring it back to when we say, is everything a joke?
00:13:26Everything is not a joke.
00:13:29And as you pointed out, Niall, in your circumstance and Johansson yours and Zach in yours, there are repercussions.
00:13:36So because not everyone gets our culture, even within the culture, sometimes you can take things too far.
00:13:43Because in that conversation, you're like, when is enough enough?
00:13:46So, you know, we have a culture, mother talk.
00:13:49Your mother this and your mother that.
00:13:51And there comes a point that you might say something that's a little too much.
00:13:55And a man will hit your bottle.
00:13:57Yeah, for sure.
00:13:58Like if somebody's mom pass away.
00:14:00And you make a joke about that.
00:14:01Too soon or too...
00:14:03So timing is everything.
00:14:04Timing too, yeah.
00:14:04So I want to come down to, apart from we are one of the most, if not the most, creative country in the world when it comes to memes.
00:14:16I mean, our timing.
00:14:17Literally, just as it happens, you best believe you could go on social media and you could see a meme about it.
00:14:22One time is a meme, yeah.
00:14:22The creativity is amazing.
00:14:24And I wish that we'd put some of that creativity to use and find ways to course correct a lot of what's happened in this country.
00:14:31But with that being said, there's the other side of it.
00:14:36That these jokes sometimes go too far or the memes hurt, hurt people and cause reactions.
00:14:43And that is another area that I'd like to explore with when is a joke gone too far or is it a joke in the first place?
00:14:50Is a joke subjective?
00:14:52All of these different scenarios.
00:14:54But, you know, we have to take a break.
00:15:01Hey everyone, welcome back to Manhood.
00:15:11Today we're talking about, is everything a joke?
00:15:13And right now, I have a story for it, right?
00:15:15So, I think it depends on certain people won't take your joke the same as others, right?
00:15:21So, for instance, I have a stutter, right?
00:15:24I grew up with a real bad stutter.
00:15:25I've worked on it, you know, to the point where now I could, you know, I could talk confidently.
00:15:29And I still have a stutter every now and again.
00:15:31So, I made a video a time.
00:15:34You see?
00:15:34You see it coming out?
00:15:34I made a video a time on stuttering.
00:15:37It was, you know, myself are based on real life.
00:15:39So, I was acting out a scenario where I have a stutter and I'm telling somebody something in an argument and a stutter and I get vexed and I run off.
00:15:47Somebody in the comments was saying how this is like a serious disability and I shouldn't be making a joke about it.
00:15:54But I told them in the same public comments, this is something that I go through, right?
00:15:59This is my way of telling people, hey, you have a stutter.
00:16:02So, if you hear it, you know, that's just so who I am.
00:16:04You disarm people already.
00:16:06Exactly.
00:16:07So, I am using my platform.
00:16:08I am using humor to get comfortable with something that I go through, right?
00:16:14And I think that you, the person in the comments who had a stutter, you should really look at this also as something that's positive too.
00:16:24We are bringing light to something that a lot of people experience and we are putting it out there in a way that people can understand what we go through with, you know what I mean?
00:16:35You know, we are arguing or something, a stutter happens and you kind of feel a way about it, you know?
00:16:40But you shouldn't, you know?
00:16:41That's why I'm making a joke out of it.
00:16:43So, don't look at these things as negative.
00:16:46Don't look at, oh, you're making a joke about these people.
00:16:48No, I'm not making a joke about you or the disability.
00:16:52I'm just making a joke out of it to bring it in a more positive kind of light, you know what I mean?
00:16:56Well, that's why, and we have spoken about it before, jokes sometimes really rattle people's ego, right?
00:17:03Because you embraced it and you took front, you know?
00:17:08Sometimes when you have a quote-unquote disability or something that people would laugh at, you take front and you make fun of it first, right?
00:17:15And you highlight it.
00:17:16But I have some people who can't do that.
00:17:18So, you're highlighting something like stuttering or maybe if somebody had a limp or something like that.
00:17:24If they really haven't embraced it or it's something that really has a sore spot for them, I don't think they could take it as a joke.
00:17:31Embracing it.
00:17:32Yeah, that's the thing.
00:17:32Maybe he hasn't embraced that as much as I have.
00:17:36I've embraced it.
00:17:37It's me.
00:17:37Whatever.
00:17:38I work around it.
00:17:38Cool.
00:17:38Maybe he's still uncomfortable with it, you know?
00:17:42And then you also have that people sometimes get to you before you can get to them.
00:17:47So, for example, if you have an issue, something like you have a weight problem, right?
00:17:53You may then call somebody, you know, spots or whatever, you know?
00:17:58Because something to deflect from what you might be going through.
00:18:03And again...
00:18:04Somebody who has it worse than you.
00:18:06I really am sorry, but it just reminds me of when I was in school, right?
00:18:09We had a priest that came in one time and he said, you know, he had a stutter, a stammer.
00:18:15But again, in school, you're innocent of these things.
00:18:18And he said, I am...
00:18:19He had a stammer and he said, I am Father Harris, right?
00:18:23And somebody stood up and said, we could call you Father Harris for short, you know?
00:18:29Clever.
00:18:31I've been saying...
00:18:32No, Robert, that is lovely because...
00:18:35No, Trinidad is brilliant, isn't it?
00:18:37We're brilliant, we don't kill you, brother.
00:18:40Remember, Niall, when I was saying that we have pecan culture and you're saying we have to have tough skin and we have the toughest skin.
00:18:48And I agree because I think as men, we need to have tough skin in general, right?
00:18:54Because one, if you're living in a culture where people will make fun of you, what you would do?
00:18:58You would get vexed at everybody, you would cough down everybody, you would leave Trinidad, what you would do?
00:19:02You had to learn to adapt to it, one.
00:19:05And then two, also, even as men, you know, we often speak about our responsibilities.
00:19:10And sometimes, if you learn to manage your emotions, for me, in one area, you can manage your emotions in another area.
00:19:16So if they could take somebody telling you something real, real deep and that would hurt you when you're able to embrace it and you're able to make fun of it and make a joke of it and move forward,
00:19:27then other scenarios, you might be able to use those tools and to help you manage your own emotions.
00:19:33It helps you get comfortable.
00:19:34But a lot of times I've realized that people weren't actually embracing it.
00:19:39They actually was, it was bothering them.
00:19:42But because of the peer pressure that's around them, they were just accepting it.
00:19:46True.
00:19:47And that's different.
00:19:47Correct.
00:19:48So that they actually go through that trauma every time.
00:19:50Less cool.
00:19:51So when, as like Robert Friend, who got older now, he don't want to get cold bubbles anymore.
00:19:56You understand?
00:19:57And in the time, everybody told that he was cool with it.
00:20:00But now, he not or not.
00:20:02Which brings me back to, you mentioned earlier that not everything should be a joke, right?
00:20:07And I actually disagree with that statement.
00:20:09I find that if it is that, like for the stutter, for example, right?
00:20:12That guy really was toting feelings off of that.
00:20:15But you found that you were justified in why it should be funny.
00:20:20But that could be applied to everything.
00:20:22You understand?
00:20:23And telling a joke is a skill.
00:20:25So some people are good at it, and some people are not so good at it.
00:20:28Reading a room is also a skill that is applied to a joke.
00:20:32So some people, even though their delivery just wasn't as good as it should be, hence why the joke wasn't funny.
00:20:40But I feel that anybody can construct a joke.
00:20:44Well, sorry, a good person can construct a joke well.
00:20:46A creative person.
00:20:47So there's emotional intelligence, and you know, when people say he's tone deaf, right?
00:20:51Right.
00:20:51And in that emotional intelligence, you have people like Dave Chappelle, for example, who knows that that topic is controversial and says it anyway because it's like, you know, lighten up.
00:21:02You know, let's talk about it, and let's make light of this and have a discussion about it instead of wanting to go to war or kill or murder or whatever these things about it.
00:21:11And there is a skill.
00:21:13Zach has that skill.
00:21:14Correct.
00:21:14You know, where a lot of his content, which I want to talk about, you know, like how do you then determine in certain cases what is a bit much and what is not.
00:21:23But in that circumstance, I want us, after you've discussed that, after we've discussed that, really, to really get back to when I say not everything is a joke, there's time and place.
00:21:36So we could tell a joke about it.
00:21:38We may have a chuckle.
00:21:40But in the environment, if we're joking about, I mean, the situation that's happening in Trinidad, you know, be it crime, be it, you know, the economic scale, all of these different things.
00:21:53Is it, are we saying it's, are we laughing to get by?
00:21:57Are we laughing to buy another day, another hour, another week?
00:22:02And is it then really funny to us is what I'm saying.
00:22:06Or are we just hoping carnival to pass?
00:22:08Well, let me go to another party.
00:22:09Let me take a drink.
00:22:11And we're there suppressing what the reality is to survive.
00:22:17I think a little bit of both, a little bit of everything.
00:22:19Because the same way where you was not, or you're choosing not to tell Dio's his issue, because it was a choice.
00:22:26Everybody just hinting, hey, let me give you a derude.
00:22:29Yeah, I feel like Dio should have told him, call him to his face.
00:22:32So then he'll start to wonder, hmm, why are they calling me that boy?
00:22:34And then he's like, hmm, maybe I smell bad.
00:22:36Then he might try to fix the problem, you know.
00:22:37So I feel like there's something like that should have been more directed towards him.
00:22:41Because if it's around all the coworkers and not him, then it's kind of like Dio'll have this little inside joke about him.
00:22:46Then it's kind of disrespectful in a way.
00:22:49You know, so by calling him that to his face, he now gets to understand why they call me that.
00:22:53He can fix the problem, you know what I mean?
00:22:54But like we spoke about earlier, Zach, that even if we should have actually said something about it and given him the opportunity to course correct it.
00:23:04But it could be that as we had that discussion, that in his community or in his environment or with his partner, they had no issue with it.
00:23:12It don't matter.
00:23:13It didn't matter.
00:23:14And therefore, it might matter to us, but it might matter to him.
00:23:18So even bringing it up, but at least at that point, we would have known to say, okay, well, now if we continue to say Dio's, it's like we're pointing out that we don't like it.
00:23:27You don't care how we feel about it.
00:23:29And then we're just going to move in this sort of semi-antagonistic environment.
00:23:33So sometimes when I'm coming up with like what kind of, and it's not jokes I'm making, it's like these skits I play out and just how I act in this skit, that's what makes it funny, right?
00:23:42I'm not necessarily telling a joke, but let's talk about cancel culture.
00:23:47We have a very strong cancel culture and that's something that I'm afraid of, right?
00:23:50Because I have a platform that I use, right?
00:23:52And I can get canceled very easily.
00:23:54You think we have a strong cancel culture?
00:23:55I don't know why I disagree with that in Trinidad.
00:23:57I think we have a very, very strong answer.
00:23:58But you elaborate, you elaborate.
00:24:01People look at the smallest things that we, especially, because in the industry that I'm in, right, when the people, a lot of people see me, right?
00:24:11A lot of people look at the things that I do.
00:24:14Let's just say I, I won't call any names or anything, but I did an ad for a gambling business, right?
00:24:21And somebody reached out to me and they were DMing me, like, and they were real strong in their opinions and they were telling me how I shouldn't be promoting gambling because there's, because my audience is kids and thing.
00:24:34And I just sent them one screenshot.
00:24:36The screenshot was my analytics showing that only 8% of my following is kids.
00:24:41So I told them, hey, you know, I'm not saying, hey, go out there and gamble, right?
00:24:46The ads that I do, I do them in a way that I'm promoting them, but it's not like, hey, go and gamble, go and spend money, go and take your parents' money, you know?
00:24:57Choice.
00:24:58So everything now that influencers do, content creators do, it comes with a risk.
00:25:04Somebody out there is going to see something and want to make a big deal out of it.
00:25:08And they want, Trinidad's love the Bacchanal.
00:25:11We love Bacchanal, you know what I mean?
00:25:12So that's why I think maybe I disagree with you because you didn't get cancelled.
00:25:17You had somebody who had an objection to it, which is fine and that's obvious.
00:25:21Which is inevitable.
00:25:22It always have one person, no matter how great a message you send, it always have the one person who will have the objection.
00:25:30And I think that the cancelled culture is not as strong in Trinidad because we appreciate jokes, you know?
00:25:36Yeah.
00:25:36We generally appreciate jokes, even though somebody will be offended.
00:25:40It's, I have seen, I remember, I'll tell you, I had a video and it was a serious video.
00:25:47I can't remember exactly what it was about.
00:25:48Oh, I was talking about therapy and the couch and, you know, embracing therapy.
00:25:53And somebody say, where you get our couch?
00:25:58We say nothing about therapy.
00:25:59And then my joke was, eh, well, I get by standards, you know, and then we went through this whole thing.
00:26:05And then somebody came and say, the man trying to put a serious video about a new accent about the standards or the couch.
00:26:12But it still was a joke and people came in on that guy, don't take it so serious.
00:26:16Man just interested in the couch.
00:26:18And I agree, but it had somebody who was very offended by it.
00:26:22But look at how the train went, even without me intervening.
00:26:26People made it a joke also.
00:26:28But the platform is also important.
00:26:30So, for example, you putting that out there could easier be cancelled than Zach, right?
00:26:38Because Zach's platform is about that.
00:26:39So, Zach could now turn that on that person and f*** them up.
00:26:44That's exactly what I do in my comments.
00:26:46That's it.
00:26:46So, like, you had to be, you had to have some cojones, some testicular fortitude to really decide,
00:26:52is this really so impacting in my life that I want to now go and challenge a man who's very good and creative at storytelling
00:27:00to now spin my mess, my quote, I'm going to hope for some likes or a mess up to say something to him who's now going to use that against me
00:27:09and now I'm going to come.
00:27:11Or maybe you want your five seconds of it?
00:27:13I think it's that.
00:27:13I think a lot of times when you, especially people doing comments, they want some kind of attention.
00:27:19They want, they, one, I feel like a lot of it comes from frustration and not being heard or seen, right?
00:27:25And that's why that, that issue, they, they, they, they miss the joke totally.
00:27:30I'm sure a lot of you, a lot of your jokes, they, they, they see it and they just could not accept the humor in it.
00:27:36A lot of people, a lot of people miss the jokes, right?
00:27:38But yeah, as you were saying, Robert, um, a lot of people, they, they, they are scared to leave a hateful comment
00:27:44because they know a lot of fans are going to r*** them up.
00:27:47I'd even have to reply.
00:27:49I have people replying for me, r***ing them up right through, you know what I mean?
00:27:52Exactly.
00:27:52Yeah.
00:27:52You know, so, but I want, I want to, you know, at the, at the earlier conversations, Zach, you, you know,
00:27:58we were talking about how does that connect to manhood, right?
00:28:01Is, is everything a joke?
00:28:02Because it can be very general.
00:28:03Um, and we could say we are culture of, you know, being, we have thick our skin than most people who don't understand our culture.
00:28:10So it's a very cultural thing, but in every culture outside of Trinidad and Tobago, they have their own form of it, right?
00:28:17How, what I want to have a discussion, you know, a deeper discussion on a deeper dive is,
00:28:22the connection to manhood and nobody's saying that women aren't offended as well by jokes,
00:28:27but I think women are offended by different types of jokes.
00:28:30So for example, if it's to their, their look or, um, certain other things and they're probably less volatile with their, with their response.
00:28:41Whereas a man, um, if you tell a man something about his manhood, um, or something that can in any way really at the core disrespect him,
00:28:52especially whereas a, a woman might be, you know, male to female might feel offended.
00:28:57A male, on the other hand, is more inclined to be violent if things are said in a environment, in a community.
00:29:05Where it's now a disrespect on a, for example, your case in Point Nile, your, your guy in Jamaica in, on the court.
00:29:13It's now people laughing at him, you know, making him look in a particular way.
00:29:17Had you said that one-on-one, would he have acted the same way as to now being ridiculed in, in, in, in,
00:29:24in, in that environment to now get to a point of violence.
00:29:28And, and that is what I, when, when we come, we say is everything a joke where that the consequences of that,
00:29:34we're no longer that thick, thin, thick skin, right?
00:29:37We are now acting out and it's no, no, it's, it's no longer funny.
00:29:41Well, it goes back to what, what I'd mentioned before about the ego, right?
00:29:45Because a joke is not a joke to somebody if it touch, touch that soft spot, soft spot in, in your ego and, or,
00:29:53so I'll go with ego first and, or if there's something that's significant happening in life.
00:29:57Because let's just say, and Robert, I'll use it as an example.
00:30:00Robert shared, um, sincerely on set about the death of his father and, you know, how he felt about it.
00:30:06Now, I wouldn't make a joke about that because I consider Robert a specific way.
00:30:10But let's say somebody here who don't know it.
00:30:12And let's say Robert do something and he say, well, die by your father.
00:30:15Didn't teach you how to address or something like that.
00:30:18Robert would take that in a specific kind of way as not a joke.
00:30:21But the person, because they don't know the scenario, would do it.
00:30:25So I'd say one, how you take a joke.
00:30:27Is that because my shirt too long today with the jacket?
00:30:30Yeah, yeah, something, something.
00:30:32Oh yeah, okay.
00:30:32Right?
00:30:33So, so one is, if it, if it is there to you, not, this is not ego talking about.
00:30:37If something is really there to you, you wouldn't take it as a joke.
00:30:40But then also, if you're ego fragile in some way about something and, and male and female,
00:30:45there's, there, I think there's a such thing as male and female ego, because there's something
00:30:49as you were saying, that females generally, I saying generally, not only take offense
00:30:53from, and then there's things generally men take offense from.
00:30:57So understanding those paradigms at times important.
00:31:01And I think actually for the, the man himself, because you had to understand sometimes what
00:31:06you could take a joke about and what you can't take a joke about.
00:31:09Correct, correct.
00:31:09It's different.
00:31:09Right?
00:31:10And I think it also, it also, it's very important to what you're saying about man or woman.
00:31:14If you're telling a joke to a man or woman, right?
00:31:17You really have to also take into consideration that how well do you know that woman?
00:31:21Because there's certain jokes you can't really make with somebody because she might take
00:31:23that in like a, let's just say a sexual way, you know what I mean?
00:31:26And that could get in trouble.
00:31:27So it really depends.
00:31:28So when you're telling a joke to a woman, it really comes down to how well do you know
00:31:33her?
00:31:33How, how, how, how, how, how, how much does she know your humor?
00:31:37You know, like, would she understand that that's going to be a joke?
00:31:39Or is she going to take that to her personal?
00:31:41Because she might have gone through her experience or something and you might have bring back up
00:31:44something.
00:31:44Or maybe you said something that was similar to somebody else who said something to her.
00:31:48And that man wasn't close to her.
00:31:50So it kind of like messed up that kind of humor, you know?
00:31:53And the other thing there is, Zach, is when you're telling a joke, be, if it is indeed
00:31:59a joke, make sure that you're seeing it in a way that it's tone and funny because you
00:32:05may deliver something.
00:32:06As you quite rightly said, it's not, not everything that you're discussing in your, or that's
00:32:11in your content is actually funny.
00:32:13It's because of how you act it or how you deliver it or story tell it is what makes it
00:32:17funny.
00:32:17So, um, case in point, I would know certain events, you know, I may say a joke or two,
00:32:23but I mightn't have read the entire room to understand, okay, well, are you going to
00:32:28really get that?
00:32:29Sometimes it's over your head as in might be the research might have been a bit too
00:32:33much and you mightn't understand the depth of the show or the subject matter in question.
00:32:40And it's okay because other people catch it.
00:32:42And I always say, ba-dum-bum-ching, meaning that at some point somebody, the, the, the,
00:32:47um, the proverbial, the proverbial penny will drop.
00:32:50And Dave Chappelle is one of those that is able to talk about anything in a particular
00:32:57way, but he says it in a comedic manner, but also in a very intellectual manner that
00:33:01not everyone gets.
00:33:03But then when it's put up for review afterwards with all the comments and sometimes he's scathing
00:33:07comments, um, that's when a lot of it makes sense.
00:33:11But I still always feel sometimes when you have to explain a joke too much, it's no longer
00:33:15funny.
00:33:16Once you have to explain it even one time.
00:33:17It's not funny.
00:33:18It's not funny.
00:33:18But sometimes it's also a risk taken factor as well.
00:33:21And, and I know we, yes, you, you, you will say we will continue that after the, after
00:33:26the break.
00:33:26Welcome back to manhood.
00:33:39We are chatting about, is everything a joke?
00:33:42Is everything a kiki?
00:33:43Ka, ka, ka, ka, ka.
00:33:45And I actually think that yes, everything should be available to be a joke.
00:33:50However, I know that sometimes if you don't read the room, there's a risk involved in it.
00:33:56Yeah, there are risks involved.
00:33:58Exactly.
00:33:58Sometimes, you know, a joke might come to mind, right?
00:34:01And you might say, well, you know, and you know, this, these are things that you don't
00:34:04really think about, but like subconsciously we're like, you know, should I say that or
00:34:07should I not?
00:34:08And you're like, you know what, if I say it and I get offended, no big deal.
00:34:11It's a small little thing, you know, but you know, I can say it and I'm, I'm a guy
00:34:15that'll laugh.
00:34:16You know what I mean?
00:34:16So you have to really, um, you know, being a man, I think that leads back to being
00:34:20a man and taking risks, you know what I mean?
00:34:22Sometimes you just take the risk, you know, if people get mad, they get mad, what's the
00:34:25worst that could happen, you know what I mean?
00:34:26Take the risk, tell the joke, um, if it's not too serious, you know what I mean?
00:34:29Um, who are you going to really offend with certain things?
00:34:32You know what I mean?
00:34:32But Zach, hear what you just said there, what's the worst that could happen?
00:34:34That's what we're talking about.
00:34:35Things, battles have ensued.
00:34:38Well, you as a man, you need to, you need to take that risk.
00:34:41Risk assessment.
00:34:42Risk assessment in your mind, you know what I mean?
00:34:43So here's my question then.
00:34:44How, how do you differentiate when you're, let's just say, you're in a group of people
00:34:48and you make a joke about another group of people, right?
00:34:52So you can't say, I'm not taking that.
00:34:55There's a difference between a joke and making fun of somebody.
00:34:58Because if your intent is, if you see something, um, about somebody and you want to hurt them,
00:35:04because sometimes people look, sometimes I know people scan you, you know, right?
00:35:09They don't like something about you or they want to embarrass you or something.
00:35:11They scan to find something to make fun of.
00:35:15And the funny thing is, even though this mightn't be scientific, when somebody make fun of you,
00:35:20slash say a joke, sometimes you feel the vibration.
00:35:24You feel the vibration.
00:35:25You kind of sense the insecurity too.
00:35:27Yeah, this man coming.
00:35:27I sense insecurity so, so easily based on the kind of jokes people say now.
00:35:32They kind of, you know.
00:35:33Versus somebody just being clever, right?
00:35:36And in those moments, I think you should be able to react.
00:35:41One, as a man, if you're making fun of somebody for spite, you should be prepared for the consequences.
00:35:47One.
00:35:48And then two, also reading the rumors, as you say, understanding that it's very possible that somebody may not lie the joke.
00:35:56But even me saying that, to be honest, you can't really please everybody, you know.
00:36:01And if I take on that page from Niall, if your intent, it may not happen like that.
00:36:07But if your intent is not to hurt, then I think you should take the risk.
00:36:10If you're being clever, be clever.
00:36:12If somebody offended, what you'll see.
00:36:13But once your intent is not, well, I come out for rubber today, boy.
00:36:17I come out, come out.
00:36:18Yeah, but that next person might think you come in for them because they might take it as a joke, you know.
00:36:23So, again, it goes back to who you're telling the joke to, you know.
00:36:27So, we're talking a lot here about telling a joke.
00:36:30But we're also looking at when we think everything is a joke.
00:36:35And that might mean specifically telling a joke about someone.
00:36:39It might be a scenario.
00:36:40So, for example, you know, they say, and I know you said, you spoke about people thinking that they're being clever, right?
00:36:47And, you know, they say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit but the highest form of intelligence in terms of being able to have that, you know, quick comeback.
00:36:56But there are circumstances where you said about making fun of someone, where you could start off telling a joke, think of it in jest, think that, hey, that person's okay with it or it's funny in a particular environment.
00:37:07It could be something they did in a kitchen or in a lime or anything like that.
00:37:11And then it goes from that to the person not being in that right space at that time or he might be on the prowl and you might be upset in his vibe or you might have said something from back in the day that he not on again, like I said, with the bubble.
00:37:26So, when you look at that and someone says something and then they might then give you a quick retort and then all of a sudden the game changes from what was initially jest and light to now egos, espousing.
00:37:40So, you have someone who now goes, might say something about your girl or your mom or something in the background in front of your woman or in front of someone and then, you know, like, well, what do you mind?
00:37:51I think that's when insecurity comes back in the clip.
00:37:53It escalates.
00:37:54So, as you said about joke, that initially you might say, okay, well, that person should be able to take it or you think that that or be prepared for the consequences.
00:38:03But initially you're not even thinking about that because you're just innocently nonchalant just thinking, okay, I'm just saying this.
00:38:09And then it just escalates to the point of I've seen it.
00:38:12People fight, bottle come out, all out attack.
00:38:16People not speaking for years.
00:38:19I think that is being, I think that's human dynamics.
00:38:23Right?
00:38:24And we can't get away from it.
00:38:25If we continuously try to control, and I'm using this word specifically, control how people react to something we see, then we'd never just be ourselves.
00:38:35And the only thing as men we could do is be ourselves.
00:38:38If you're a**, you're a**.
00:38:40If you're insensitive, you're insensitized who you are.
00:38:43But you need to know that you are a** or you need to know that you are insensitive.
00:38:46So there's certain people that you might not lie around because they know they're going to tell you something.
00:38:51Right.
00:38:52So you need to be comfortable in your own sense as a man.
00:38:54Right.
00:38:54And if you don't like it.
00:38:55But you don't like so.
00:38:56And what is good for the goose, not what is good for the gander, you know?
00:38:59And people, a lot of times, don't, if you could dish it out, be prepared to take it.
00:39:04But you mightn't like to receive it as well.
00:39:07Or you mightn't know the caliber or the retort.
00:39:09That person won't come back.
00:39:10You might read somebody and say, ah, boy, I could call you all kinds of things.
00:39:14And then all of a sudden you come and you start to hit some jamming and you turn out to be a**.
00:39:17You can't take it.
00:39:18You can't take it.
00:39:18And now I want to fight you.
00:39:20And this is what I'm saying.
00:39:21When we ask the question, is everything a joke?
00:39:23Now that's good.
00:39:24It is the, as a man, what then happens, because women react differently as a man, how we then take it and what we do about it.
00:39:32That, it comes down to that disrespect.
00:39:34When we start to feel disrespected, how we act out as a result of what we perceive as disrespect.
00:39:39Yeah, so women are more sensitive creatures, you know.
00:39:42We have to be careful, you know.
00:39:44Men are more, they are sensitive men, yeah.
00:39:47Men could be sensitive.
00:39:48But the modern day man, he needs to have a bit of insensitivity.
00:39:55A hard skin.
00:39:56Somebody's talking about having a tough skin.
00:39:58You need to be able to have a tough skin and that goes back to being comfortable in your own skin.
00:40:03You know, so I will joke to someone about any, I will joke about anything to anybody.
00:40:07Because I know whatever they tell me, I don't care.
00:40:10I am real comfortable in my own skin.
00:40:12You know, they can tell me anything they want to and I'm not going to be offended.
00:40:14Because I'll take it as a joke, you know what I mean?
00:40:16So, be comfortable in your own skin as a man.
00:40:19So, as you said, as a man.
00:40:21What is your definition of a man?
00:40:24I think, first of all, it depends on who you ask.
00:40:27It depends on who you ask, right?
00:40:28All men are different, right?
00:40:29But I think when it comes down to being a man, like that, being a man.
00:40:34I don't think, you see why I said it there, it's like being a man, tough.
00:40:36No, I actually don't think it's like being tough.
00:40:39I just think it all comes down to problem solving.
00:40:43Being able to solve problems, right?
00:40:45It's not about getting a family and raising a family and providing for a family.
00:40:50It goes even deeper than, a deeper level.
00:40:53And that for me is problem solving.
00:40:55So, if there's a problem in your life, you find a solution.
00:40:58So, that could be, let's just say, there's a hurricane and your roof gone.
00:41:03You should be able to, one, maybe learn to hammer in some nails and put some galvanas up there.
00:41:09Or two, you get a job and you make money to afford to hire somebody to come and fix it.
00:41:14Problem solving.
00:41:15In any case.
00:41:17So, you don't have, so the same example, you don't need to be a construction worker to be a man to fix the roof.
00:41:22But you could be somebody who could, once that roof is fixed, that's a day, you are a man.
00:41:26Once you are able to get that problem fixed, you are a man.
00:41:30And I think that's the base level of being a man.
00:41:33And it's also being comfortable in the fact and believing that there are some problems that you can't fix alone.
00:41:40There are some problems that you cannot fix alone.
00:41:41You know what I mean?
00:41:42So, like sometimes you might need to talk to somebody.
00:41:45You know, tell somebody how you're feeling.
00:41:46There are certain things we're going through that.
00:41:48We can't solve on our own, you know.
00:41:50If I need to go to the next country, I can't do that alone.
00:41:53I have to go and book a plane or book a boat.
00:41:56So, be man enough to also ask for like even directions.
00:41:59For help.
00:42:00Ask for help and also understand that there are certain things that you really can't do and you need help.
00:42:05You know, we are a social species and it's not just one man against the world.
00:42:10It's you and other men and women, you know.
00:42:13So, I'm just curious.
00:42:15I mean, it might be a little off topic, but I'm still curious based on your craft.
00:42:19What are some of the things that you, what's the mindset that you go into to really basically help people laugh at themselves when you're doing your stories?
00:42:30Like, what's your thought process?
00:42:31Yeah.
00:42:32So, one, I try to do creative stuff, right?
00:42:35I try to do something that other influencers are not doing.
00:42:39I would have liked to do my own thing.
00:42:40I love that.
00:42:41I hate trends.
00:42:41I love bringing something new to the table, you know.
00:42:45But I just sit down and I just think of experiences that people could relate to.
00:42:50I also think about how can I make something that is not funny?
00:42:54How can I make that funny?
00:42:56And honestly, it's no interesting way to do it.
00:43:00I just sit down and I think, you know.
00:43:02Going back to problem solving.
00:43:04I mean, maybe I'm thinking, oh, there's a problem.
00:43:07You know, I think most content in Trinidad, I think it's a lot of the same stuff, you know.
00:43:11Like, what can I do to fix this problem, you know.
00:43:13Same thing, like, with my business.
00:43:15I would say, you know, I think Trinidad could do better ads, you know.
00:43:18We don't have proper good advertising, video ads, you know, for businesses.
00:43:23What can I do to solve that problem?
00:43:24So, I build a media company.
00:43:25I start doing professional ads, you know.
00:43:27So, it all goes back to me to problem solving.
00:43:29But, yeah, to go back and answer your question, I just sit down and think how to make it funny.
00:43:36How to make it funny to the general public and pick things that people know about, you know.
00:43:45Have you seen any trends based on the topics that you've chosen?
00:43:50Because you're essentially playing characters, right?
00:43:52Have you seen any trends based on your jokes that you could identify as, okay, more women like this particular style of comedy or more men like this or vice versa?
00:44:07I don't think so.
00:44:08I honestly, I have never, ever thought about would this joke appeal to more men or women.
00:44:14Maybe there were one or two here and there where it was kind of directed towards men.
00:44:18It's like something that I go through that most men will go through that women won't really understand.
00:44:24There might have been one or two in that case.
00:44:27But, for the most part, nah, I don't really.
00:44:29I try to base my stuff toward men and women.
00:44:34Let me say not what you're thinking about beforehand.
00:44:37But, let's say you just did your thing and then based on the comments or the feedback you noticed,
00:44:42trends may be different about men and women.
00:44:45How do you react to certain things?
00:44:47What about that?
00:44:47Nah, because, honestly, I would know.
00:44:49Because, one, if a video does, like, really well, I'm not going to go through all the comments, you know.
00:44:55So, I'm not going to, I'm actually not going to notice the difference between man and woman in the comments or the views.
00:45:00I don't really check my analytics, don't really care about the numbers anymore.
00:45:03So, I wouldn't really be able to tell.
00:45:06Okay, I understand that.
00:45:08One last question and I'm opening this up to the entire panel.
00:45:11Do you all think that women are funny?
00:45:15Yeah.
00:45:15I think, sometimes, sometimes.
00:45:19Are you serious when she's ready?
00:45:21I think if I meet a woman who's extremely funny, funnier than me, it'll be marriage one time.
00:45:26Because that has yet to happen.
00:45:28So, it's more rare, is what you're saying.
00:45:30I think, for the most part, no for me, you know.
00:45:33No?
00:45:33Yeah, I don't find, even when I listen to women comics.
00:45:37God, they're coming for you, but they're coming for you.
00:45:39But that is my opinion.
00:45:40I don't really find women that are funny in general, right?
00:45:44I've met some women who could tell some good jokes, right?
00:45:47But this is what I'm saying.
00:45:48Or even clever.
00:45:49Clever.
00:45:49Let's say clever in terms of Trinidad humor.
00:45:52Let you not go jokes as in the typical joke.
00:45:54Let you go as in Trinidad humor.
00:45:56But, for the most part, I would say no.
00:45:58I would just say that there's less funny women than funny men.
00:46:01I believe it at that.
00:46:03But what I'm saying is, when we say, is everything a joke?
00:46:06I think we keep thinking that it's telling a joke, right?
00:46:09So, when you say, are women funny?
00:46:11You mean funny that they can tell a joke?
00:46:14Like a comedian, like Nikki Glaser?
00:46:16Or if you become local, like a Nikki Crosby?
00:46:19No, we ain't talking comedians.
00:46:20We talk in general.
00:46:21That's what I'm saying.
00:46:21We talk in general.
00:46:24I have female friends around me.
00:46:25I crack up with just by the response.
00:46:31It has some women when they s***ing people up, right?
00:46:34Yeah.
00:46:34They're just as sharp.
00:46:35It's funny.
00:46:36It's funny.
00:46:37And they know how to deliver.
00:46:39But that's sarcasm.
00:46:40So, their wit sometimes is what is very impressive.
00:46:43It depends if you're a sepio-sexual person.
00:46:46And you're attracted to that.
00:46:48Those things are, that funny could be not necessarily a joke.
00:46:52But their wit, how they respond in a circumstance.
00:46:55Some women.
00:46:56How they may dance.
00:46:57Trini women, when they tell you some creative things, right?
00:46:59Yeah.
00:47:00So, I would say that.
00:47:01You're taking back here.
00:47:03Yeah.
00:47:04For the trini women and how sometimes they could bring across their point when they're trying to s*** you up, especially, could be hilarious.
00:47:11Right?
00:47:11And especially if it's not directed towards me.
00:47:14Because sometimes, especially when a woman, if a woman s***s in you up, right?
00:47:19And there's a woman who knows you and knows intimate things about you.
00:47:22At least for me, most times, it's not funny to me.
00:47:24It might be creative.
00:47:25Not funny to me.
00:47:26I have not gone to a concert in Trinidad and Tobago where I've met anybody that's made me laugh more than, say, Rachel Price.
00:47:36So, you know, and this is human that's coming.
00:47:41Now, of course, we have the content creators now who are coming up with content that's hilarious.
00:47:45But I'm talking about on the stage.
00:47:47Who?
00:47:48Female?
00:47:49No, no.
00:47:49I don't know who.
00:47:51I'm saying the males have dominated that sphere, that platform.
00:47:57Okay.
00:47:57But I'm saying on the stage, can you think of someone, call her name, that's...
00:48:04Telling jokes, not necessarily using Trinidad wit.
00:48:06Well, it is Trinidad wit.
00:48:08It is Trinidad wit that is...
00:48:12That's funnier than Rachel Price.
00:48:15Well, that's what I'm saying.
00:48:16Could you name someone?
00:48:16A female?
00:48:17I can't name a single person, but I can tell you this.
00:48:19Or anybody.
00:48:20No, you said women aren't funny.
00:48:22No, I know.
00:48:23I asked the question.
00:48:24Okay, well.
00:48:25Be careful, right?
00:48:26I asked the question.
00:48:27So, you respond to that then?
00:48:29Sorry, Zach.
00:48:29Okay, we've had a response from all of us.
00:48:31What's your response?
00:48:32I think women are funny.
00:48:34They have a lot less based on men.
00:48:37And I think simply because a lot of times women have to make themselves smaller to be able to survive in certain spaces.
00:48:44So, the same way we're talking about as men, you know, we will say a joke and they might deliver.
00:48:50Me now, I will say a joke.
00:48:52I know that I'll probably get a laugh from one person, but I actually enjoy that cringe humor.
00:48:57Women won't ever have the opportunity to do that most times.
00:49:01They will prefer not to say anything.
00:49:03Yeah.
00:49:04So, hence why I think there's a much less number of funny women out there, right?
00:49:11But, and as you said, but a lot of them, they're very sharp, very witty, and they could tear you apart if they want to.
00:49:18That sharpness and that wit, that has come out good when they're angry, right?
00:49:22When they're angry.
00:49:22And when they start shitting up like our next woman or something, that when it gets funny.
00:49:26And that when it gets really like, get like, the humor and the wittering.
00:49:29Oh, women shitting her man up.
00:49:31No, no, but here's the thing.
00:49:32I think they are only funny, they are only funny in an aggressive way.
00:49:37In an aggressive way.
00:49:37I would agree with that.
00:49:38They're just going to make little jokes here and there, no, no, they're funny like.
00:49:41Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:49:42Like when they're f***ing up in an aggressive way.
00:49:44When a woman gets, when a woman gets, like a triny woman, right?
00:49:48When a triny woman gets, so it's anger, right?
00:49:51But it had a triny wit in it.
00:49:53So then, once it's not directed towards you, right?
00:49:57If it's directed towards somebody else, it will be hilarious.
00:49:59I will, bring it to me too.
00:50:00I still haven't.
00:50:01Yeah, nah.
00:50:02Sometimes you can laugh at yourself too, eh?
00:50:04The fact that that other person getting that jamming is saying.
00:50:06We're laughing at the fact that they're angry.
00:50:07It's making fun.
00:50:09No, but we're laughing.
00:50:10But we're laughing at, not everything is really funny.
00:50:13It's the fact that somebody's being made fun of.
00:50:16Because they're probably not laughing at the fact that they're getting s*** up, right?
00:50:20But we're laughing at one, okay, that is funny how he's getting t***, you know, torn apart.
00:50:25Getting mashed up.
00:50:25But it's also, boy, I'm glad that it's not me.
00:50:28That's on one end.
00:50:29And then another element.
00:50:31I know we, for time, even though you say, you're extending it.
00:50:34Also, and this is a cultural thing I've noticed.
00:50:36So I'll give two.
00:50:38One is, we generally are a passive-aggressive society, right?
00:50:42We don't most times say exactly what we mean.
00:50:45So in a scenario where somebody, man or woman, decide to s*** somebody up or say something,
00:50:54we'd be actually glad and championing them.
00:50:56Because in how long I want to say that, in how long I want somebody say that.
00:50:59I don't have to say that.
00:51:00So you champion them.
00:51:03Or you'll talk for me, but look, you can't give that person talk.
00:51:05Right.
00:51:06So you champion them on one.
00:51:07And that could be, I think sometimes there's a disadvantage to us in society.
00:51:12Because one, we're waiting on somebody else to do it.
00:51:14And then that person not even doing it in a direct manner.
00:51:16So that is one.
00:51:17And then two, I'll give.
00:51:18I realize also, this is systemic in Trinidad.
00:51:23Us making fun of things could also be a trauma response.
00:51:26Most of.
00:51:27Because we don't want to deal.
00:51:29Because we are a passive-aggressive society and we're not accustomed to dealing with things head on.
00:51:33Instead, we diffuse the energy of the trauma with a joke.
00:51:38So I'm going to give it.
00:51:39That's Calypso.
00:51:40Human behavior is thought, feeling, action.
00:51:43Right.
00:51:43What we think creates energy and the energy fuels an action.
00:51:47But when, let's say, the thing happens.
00:51:49I say, oh gosh, this terrible thing happened.
00:51:51Wherever it is.
00:51:51Instead of dealing with it head on, the energy is diffused in the joke.
00:51:56So we send out all the memes, all the energy diffuse.
00:51:59We never deal with the issue.
00:52:00So then, yeah, good.
00:52:02I laugh.
00:52:02I get out.
00:52:03But of course, the issue is still there.
00:52:05What do you think about this?
00:52:06So, for example, case in point, going home the other day.
00:52:10I have a brethren in his seat and a man gave me a real dread bad drive, right?
00:52:15And the rally man in me almost kick in to say, all right, here's what is going on.
00:52:20It's a 6-4 that I drive in.
00:52:22Let me jam, right?
00:52:23And then, of course, a lot of other factors came in about you, Robert.
00:52:26You're not that kind of guy, whatever the case may be.
00:52:29My brethren diffuse the situation easily by saying, you know, I sure he rushed him that he now get a call
00:52:35that a man now jumpy fence, right, to deal with the missus, right?
00:52:40And he had a pelt up.
00:52:42And we had a big laugh about it because the way he said it, no, it just totally diffuse the situation.
00:52:47And it was, instead of dealing with that, that, you know, I went from up here to immediately down here.
00:52:54But we played it off now.
00:52:55Humor is powerful, isn't it?
00:52:56Humor is very powerful.
00:52:57It's humor is very powerful.
00:52:58I honestly think humor is one of the most powerful emotions.
00:53:02And as a scientist, I'm sure you could partly agree, right?
00:53:05Isn't humor a very powerful human fair?
00:53:09Tool.
00:53:09It's a laugh.
00:53:10It's powerful.
00:53:11It's a tool.
00:53:11The act of laughing is a cathartic experience, right?
00:53:16And cathartic means a point where you had emotions inside that you finally get to release.
00:53:22Yeah, we are aware what cathartic means, brother.
00:53:24I didn't.
00:53:25I had no idea.
00:53:26I had no clue.
00:53:27I heard it once or twice before.
00:53:28Thank you, gentlemen.
00:53:29Right?
00:53:29I didn't say something else.
00:53:31I can't have a side there.
00:53:32But, you know, they tell you it takes more muscles to frown than to smile.
00:53:35It does, apparently.
00:53:36So, you know, it's more effort always.
00:53:38And smile or smile or laughing is contagious, right?
00:53:42And it obviously, you know, when you go into a room and you smile, it sets the tone, you know?
00:53:46It's also safe.
00:53:46Humor is very safe.
00:53:47Yeah.
00:53:48Like, if you make a, if you, like, okay, so in your instance, had you gotten angry in that instance, right,
00:53:55that would have led to way more, you know, detrimental effects than if you just joke about it, you know?
00:54:01I wouldn't have done anything.
00:54:01I wouldn't have done anything.
00:54:03I would have just, why are you still on that, man?
00:54:05And I woke up myself into a frenzy, right?
00:54:08And it would have just upset the apple cart in the room.
00:54:12Your day gone through.
00:54:12My whole day gone through.
00:54:13This man going down the road, not even studying me in the background, because he's not hearing me.
00:54:17And you vex.
00:54:18You vex and I vex and all.
00:54:20So, but my thing is having that chuckle totally change, especially going from one end of the spectrum to the other, was,
00:54:28and it helped me laugh at myself to say, look how you carry, look how you're getting on, you know?
00:54:32I mean, what that fella did was still dangerous, but my reaction, I can control, I am in control of my own reaction.
00:54:41And from the time as men, we go out of control, that's when we're losing self-control, right?
00:54:47So, we indeed have to close one of those conversations.
00:54:51But Johansson, I can't close without a conversation.
00:54:54You know, we always tell you that whatever we discuss, even at the break or behind the scenes, we bring to light.
00:54:58And, um, you had something to say on this off-topic on sweat rice.
00:55:03Look, uh, audience, I don't think that's not, not, not for now.
00:55:08What I was telling them is, I'm going to do a video on the science, the science behind sweat rice.
00:55:14And, all right, all right.
00:55:16Does it actually work?
00:55:17I wonder, does it actually work?
00:55:19Yes.
00:55:20So, yes.
00:55:21So, when we started, I don't, I don't disagree on that one or two, I said, how would I do anything?
00:55:26Listener, listener, hear this.
00:55:28When, when, when we started, we talk about the guy who was, um, sweaty, right?
00:55:33Right, he was, yeah.
00:55:34And then, and then you said, some woman like that, right?
00:55:37Like the scent.
00:55:37And then you said about pheromones.
00:55:39So, that is part of it because sweat rice, you know, is the sweat from a woman's vagina run into the rice.
00:55:47And then he gave, gave the man the rice to eat it.
00:55:50You have pheromones from the, the sex area.
00:55:52So, then the man is almost like a programming.
00:55:55You get programmed with the pheromones.
00:55:57So, then now, when that woman pass, or you smell her and she release the pheromones, your body already in tune to it.
00:56:03So, now, if you don't know what's going on, you just, well, why are, why are feelings for this woman?
00:56:08She feels like the body need that.
00:56:09Yeah, why, why are feeling for this woman, boy?
00:56:11Why, why are I so in love with this woman?
00:56:13Because the pheromones program you to what, to her.
00:56:18At the height.
00:56:19Just to correct it, it's the entire body, not just the genital area, right?
00:56:23So, you have to stoop over and you sweat from the entire body.
00:56:28Okay, okay.
00:56:28I actually thought it was like panties, like your soaking panties.
00:56:31But, you see, you could use that too.
00:56:33You could use that too because that would have the pheromones.
00:56:35That would have the whole body because your body is sweating and it's moving down, right?
00:56:38Yeah, so, you'd have the pheromones there too and you'd put your program into that.
00:56:42So, there you have it.
00:56:45I feel like I prefer this conversation.
00:56:47I feel like we need an episode on that.
00:56:50We just encourage somebody, please, do not do that.
00:56:53We're not going to do this.
00:56:54Do not do this, people.
00:56:56So, we start off at one point just saying, you know, bad man, don't bow, right?
00:56:59But for those that bow, and I mean...
00:57:02I think being a man is being comfortable and bowing sometimes.
00:57:05Correct.
00:57:05Well, not sometimes.
00:57:06You bow.
00:57:06If you like it, you like it.
00:57:09Sometimes I change.
00:57:09If you don't like it, you don't like it.
00:57:11You know, if you like it, you like it, do it.
00:57:12If you don't like it, you don't do it.
00:57:13So, you have some men right now.
00:57:14No, but you can't not do it just because peer pressure.
00:57:18Exactly.
00:57:18Just because I do it.
00:57:19But that means it's your personal preference.
00:57:21If you like it, do it, don't like it, do it.
00:57:23So, you have some men wrong now who really and truly...
00:57:25We're supposed to be an issue, right?
00:57:27Going behind.
00:57:27Look how we're extending the issue now, right?
00:57:28And so, you know...
00:57:32But again, we have this topic coming up where we discuss men and their manhood.
00:57:36And we're not talking about manhood as it refers to men in their...
00:57:40You know, as a man.
00:57:42You know, manhood as men are fixated on issues.
00:57:44We're talking about penis.
00:57:46We're talking about penis, right?
00:57:47He should long to say that.
00:57:48That's a dime of point.
00:57:49So, is everything a joke?
00:57:53So, we need to close, guys.
00:57:54My opinion is everything is not a joke.
00:58:02And that's only subjective.
00:58:03Many people, because we are Trinidadians, we often make fun of things.
00:58:08And it's a difference for me.
00:58:09The major takeaway is a difference between a joke and making fun of someone.
00:58:14And making fun of someone.
00:58:15And redo them.
00:58:16Making fun of someone a lot of times have malicious intent.
00:58:19I come to hurt this person.
00:58:22And that may be the issue.
00:58:23But if generally making a joke and somebody just happened to be offended,
00:58:27that is a wake-up call to me, to the person,
00:58:29to understand that there's something about you that you have to become more comfortable with.
00:58:34Okay.
00:58:35Yeah.
00:58:35Let me jump in and then Zach will go after.
00:58:40I think everything could be a joke.
00:58:42Nothing is off limits.
00:58:45Of course, reading room.
00:58:47Some people are better than others at doing that.
00:58:49And even if that you're in a group of people making fun,
00:58:56because I think making fun could be jokes as well,
00:58:58because again, back to your audience.
00:59:01If it is like we in a group here and we are making a joke about someone who is not in this space,
00:59:07who might look like us, who might speak like us,
00:59:10I still say that as often, sorry, that is in limits as well now.
00:59:16I just say, whatever your expression is based on your group of people that you're wrong,
00:59:21and however you choose to use the tool of humor, I say go for it.
00:59:26Okay.
00:59:27Humor is different.
00:59:28Know who you're talking to.
00:59:30Everybody is going to take something in a different way.
00:59:35Reading room, as Nia said, don't make...
00:59:39Timing as well.
00:59:41I think timing is very important as well.
00:59:43So, I mean, to close, I would say everything could be a joke,
00:59:48but reading room and know who you're talking to
00:59:51and respect timing as well.
00:59:55Okay.
00:59:56So, I'm going to be the advocate here.
00:59:59Everything is not a joke.
01:00:01You know, everything is a story.
01:00:02Everything could be part of conversation as part of an emotion to heal.
01:00:07But ask yourself, in every situation,
01:00:10ask yourself, what is the intent?
01:00:11What is the purpose?
01:00:12What is the need to say something?
01:00:15In jest, in sarcasm, in a retort, whatever that may be.
01:00:19Ask yourself, is it indeed necessary to make joke of that,
01:00:23to make fun of that?
01:00:25And what is the intended response?
01:00:28So, again, I don't think everything is a joke.
01:00:32Everything should be a joke.
01:00:33We should all find ways to laugh at ourselves, yes.
01:00:36We should all find something to laugh at
01:00:39and to bring fun and joy into our lives.
01:00:42But we don't have to make everything a joke.
01:00:43The things that just are serious
01:00:45and needs to be looked at in that light.
01:00:48That's my three, four cents.
01:00:51Thanks again, guys.
01:00:52Johanse, Zach, always a pleasure.
01:00:55Niall, this has been Manhood.
01:00:58Is everything a joke?
01:00:59And, of course, you've got a little insight
01:01:01as to some topics coming up.
01:01:03Sweat rice.
01:01:04Sweaty man himself.
01:01:07Be a man and make you...
01:01:08Thank you very much for watching Manhood.
01:01:10Right.
01:01:15Manhood.
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01:01:19Manhood.
01:01:20Brought to you in part by Solomon's Bespoke.