I give people what they want!
Think about a story that makes you laugh, I mean really laugh. Now think of telling that same story to a room full of strangers to get them to laugh as well, that’s a daunting thought for most. I won’t say this is a rule for all of society, but I will say that it’s probably common to come across someone that thinks they can tell a joke, but in all honesty they can’t. I definitely fit into this category of the less funny culture, but I do know someone that always keeps me laughing. I had the chance to sit down with friend and comedian Oscar Collazos, before one of the recent comedy shows he hosted. We spoke about what it is that makes him love being a comedian. I was enlightened to find out the story of his first attempt at comedy, his venture into business with two colleagues and how in the end comedy can save your life.
FashionHorne- What’s up Oscar!
Oscar Collazos – Hey what’s up?
FH - Thanks for sitting down with me. Let’s dive right in. What was the defining moment that made you want to become a comedian?
OC – Have I ever told you about my first time story?
FH – Please do.
OC – I was here in New York City doing my college internship with Conan O’brien. I went to a HOT 97 comedy show and saw these urban acts, Urban being the nice word for…
FH- Black People (haha)?
OC – Yes a black show. And I was cracking up. I left inspired and obviously a little tipsy and thought, “I can make that happen for myself”. I asked the manager about the next Open Mic Night. I show up the next day to a talent show hosted by Star and Buc Wild.
FH – And you killed it right?
OC – Yeah right. They threw me up to the wolves first. It was a bong show and I got booed off the stage. I got bonged, I have never been so embarrassed in my life. I left there thinking, “yo’ what the hell did I just do?” That was the only day; I won’t say seriously but I KINDA contemplated suicide, I was so embarrassed. We jokingly say that a lot but that day I was, looking for it.
You know what’s so funny, when I got home I was all depressed and my family asked, “How did it go?” I told them I got booed off the stage and they laughed at me (hahaha). They clowned me, I came home looking for support and just didn’t get it…
FH – Obviously despite that deep embarrassment, something with in you connected with being on stage.
OC – Yeah I stayed and watched the other performers which were all rappers. They all got booed off the stage and I knew the audience was going to heckle who ever wasn’t bringing some heat. So I worked hard before I went to another club, not too long after that first experience, and I got some chuckles. I told myself then that I knew I could do this. I kept doing it and doing it and eventually got better.
FH – Is that what inspires you? The immediate gratification of working hard and seeing yourself get better and the crowd validating that work?
OC – Yeah you can say that. I started in college and recently I ran into one of my buddies who hadn’t seen me perform since those early days. He knew I struggled in college and he was afraid to come to one of my last big shows in South Florida. He came and when he left that last show he was like, “dude your freakin’ hysterical and you’ve gotten light years better.” And that made me feel so good, because he was my roommate so he saw me from my start.
FH – How did your upbringing first in Colombia then in South Florida influence you as a child and how do your roots show up in your comedic style?
OC – The way I see it, I was born in Colombia and moved to Miami. Once my life started in South Florida it was split. Outside I lived in America but at home I was back in Colombia. It works well because I grew up with two different cultures and views of how people view the world. In cities like Miami, New York, Dallas, San Francisco, where there’s more diversity it works well. People who have been in the same boat as me, get me. However when I go to an all white town I may struggle a bit, because Joe White guy may not always get the, ‘I came in an inter-tube joke.’ He’s like, ‘what? I don’t get it.’
FH – That’s a good point that leads me to my next question. A lot of being a comedian is being a story teller and creating stories that the audience wants to hear and may even relate to in some way. Who were the story tellers in your family during your formative years?
My jokes are just funny stories...I really try to do what comes natural when I’m up there.
OC – Yeah my jokes are just funny stories. My dad’s a great storyteller, he’s got some humor to him. My mom is very funny. In fact I don’t really model my comedy after anyone famous or well known. I really try to do what comes natural when I’m up there, if anything it is more coming from my parents than anyone else.
FH – That’s a great testament to them both. Now I can’t make a funny joke. I, like a lot of people rely on an esoteric experience to make a friend or group of friends laugh. For a comedian you have to take that same very small group experience and make it broad enough for an audience full of strangers. What is your process when you sit down to make a joke work?
OC – Well like I mentioned for me a joke starts with a story that happened to me. I’ll share an experience with somebody and if they find it amusing, then I tell it to a different group, then another group and another group. If they all find the story funny it usually ends up on the stage. If a joke has made it through the fire of my friends I usually think I can incorporate it into my act.
FH – Getting a joke passed my friends would be a success for me too, but success is measured by different people in so many different ways. Do you feel that you are successful?
OC – I am in the middle.
Sitting here reflecting on the first time I got on stage and those first couple of shows, compared to now where I’ve filled rooms with hundreds of people and did a forty minute routine and it was filled with 39 minutes and 39 seconds of laughter. Honestly that makes me feel successful.
However when you look at it from a grand perspective, I’ve yet to get that elusive television credit, television credits definitely open doors. I haven’t pushed through that door yet.
FH – You and I spoke briefly earlier about the importance of a strong network of people around you in order for success to come. You and two friends recently created The Three Amigos of Comedy. How did that come about?
OC – One of the guys Darren Rivera, is someone I met years ago through our fraternity. We lost contact briefly and started doing comedy separately, then met each other again once we were more established. A couple of years go by and I’m working the Las Vegas comedy festival and I meet this dude named Chris Clarke. Turns out he knows Darren. Long story short we organized some shows together, had a great time performing and we became friends, it just works. We decided to get together and make it a business. We just launched our site and we have a DVD in the works which will be ready soon. Our immediate focus is the college campus circuit.
SUPPORT COMEDY... NO, SUPPORT GOOD COMEDY!!
FH – How would you categorize your stand up routine for someone who had not seen it before?
OC – Angry, a little angry.
FH – Why are you so angry?
OC – Well people love anger and I give people what they want. Think about sports. When a fight breaks out in sports people go crazy over it, they eat it up. I have a buddy that does comedy in LA, he calls me angry Oscar.
So I’d say a little angry and just the weird thoughts that come to my head. I listen to some comics and I think, “wow where did that come from? I would have never thought of that”. It’s because we all, especially comedians have crazy thoughts running through our heads.
FH – Do you think It’s important to ‘go there’ as a creative person with your crazy weird thoughts?
OC – Definitely and it’s even more exciting when watching comedy because when you watch you think you know the joke and you set the punchline up in your head. As they’re telling the joke it goes in a totally different direction than you would have taken it and you just think to yourself, ‘awwww damn got me, that was great!!’
FH - As this is a fashion blog, Lucian definitely wanted me to get this in there. How do you define your personal style?
OC – New York.
FH – ‘New York, WHAT?’ No no no, what does that mean, that’s a little vague?
OC – My personal preferred attire is usually all black on stage. I love an all black look, but now that I live with my girlfriend she’s totally into fashion, she’s trying to break me out of that all black mode. I have no problem dressing up for a big show, because you never know who’s in the audience. You have to protect your brand.
FH – Is there anything you want to say to readers who may have never heard of the Oscar Collazos brand?
OC – Support comedy! No, I wont say support comedy, I’ll say support GOOD comedy. I think that comedy is the most unacknowledged art form out there. People love going to concerts and they’ll do it all the time, people love going to the movies, art fairs and exhibits and they do it all the time. Every single time I ask somebody when was the last time they went to a comedy show it’s either never or like five years ago. The people who have gone always say they enjoyed themselves, but can never tell me why they didn’t go back. So definitely support good comedy.
That hand and hand with the fact that Dr. Oz, from Oprah’s show (YES I watch Oprah), wrote an article in Men’s Fitness “The 25 Things You Can Do To Better Your Life” and number ONE, NUMBER ONE was laugh. Laugh and laugh more, whatever you gotta do just laugh and he went into the scientific reasons behind why laughing is awesome. As I was reading I was thinking, generally when someone leaves a comedy show they feel better.
Now I don’t advise you go to an open mic, you’ll feel worse. Go to a real show and you will leave and feel like, ‘yo I needed that.’ For me I see it every time I’m at a show and afterward someone comes up to me and says they had a rough day and I turned their day around. That makes me so happy. I will hug someone and not let go, I’ve done it before. So yeah I’d say, go out and watch good comedy shows. Improve your health in the process!!
FashionHorne definitely wants to thank Oscar Collazos for sitting down with us and sharing in his awesomeness. Peep the link to find out about Mr. Collazos and The Three Amigos of Comedy.
You can also check out Oscar July 21 9PM at Eastville Comedy club in New York City – featuring Damien Lemon and TJ Del Reno.
