‘I love the Texas crowds’: Comedian Michael Yo returns to home state for Moontower Comedy Festival

This month, one of the biggest comedy festivals in the country is making a return to Texas.

With more than 150 comedians in venues around the Texas capital city, Austin’s Moontower Comedy Festival has become a premier showcase for a comedian’s talent in the Lone Star State. 

To preview it, standup comedian and Houston native Michael Yo joined the Standard. Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below.

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:

Texas Standard: I’ve read that you said comedy isn’t about punchlines or finding the perfect joke. It’s more about storytelling. And man, you got a pretty distinctive story – growing up in Houston, half Black, half Asian.

When it comes to making connections with an audience, you’ve got a lot to draw on, man. 

Michael Yo: So you know what I found out? I tour all over the country, all over the world, and you find out no matter what color the people are in your family, someone can relate to them. So really it comes down to just telling great family stories and having people connect with a person in your family.

I’ve had dads come up to me and say, “I’m the blunt one in the family, I’m like your mom.” Or “my grandmother is like your mom, they’ll say anything.”

So it’s kind of cool that it shows you no matter what the political world is saying, all people care about is their families and someone that can relate to having a family. And that’s the kind of comedy I draw on.

I was thinking about you growing up in Houston and I think lots of folks, even here in Texas, don’t think of Houston as an especially big comedy city. How did the bug bite you?

You know what? It never bit me in Houston. I’ve always been a guy that just says yes to opportunity. And the one thing that I feel is the one great thing that I have going my way, I learn how to fail fast. If I’m not good at something, I’m not going to keep trying it.

So I was on “Chelsea Lately” when that show was absolutely huge. I was on for seven or eight years it was on, and I was a TV reporter, but I was around great comedians all the time. And one day I was like, “I’m gonna try it.” And then it went really well.

Jo Koy became my mentor. He’s one of the biggest comedians in the world right now. He became my mentor and took me on the road and really showed me the ins and outs of comedy.

And I’ve kind of grown since then in the comedy world. I’ve been doing it for 13 years, but really in our industry, that’s not that long. 

So now when you are thinking about what you’re going to say up there on stage, are there some names that a lot of folks might know? You mentioned Jim Gaffigan. Where do you draw your inspiration? 

Oh, all I gotta do is watch my family and my parents. Like I do a podcast with my parents because people were like, “there’s no way they’re really like that.” I did a podcast with them and some of the episodes have gotten 200- to 300,000 views. People just love my parents.

You know, my dad, what a fantastic story. My dad’s Black, has a Ph.D. in nuclear physics, served our country in the Army and met my mom in Korea, brought her over and she’s like the smart one. And he has a Ph.D. My dad has no common sense, but my mom has all the common sense. 

See, that’s it. You’re talking to people who have experienced this kind of thing.

I want to ask about how your comedy has changed over the years. Did you find that you sort of fell into this right away? Or was this something that you gravitate to?

It was interesting. So when I first started comedy, I was a late bloomer in comedy. I started comedy when I was 37. So you’re talking about you’ve gone through a whole career and then at 37, you’re like, “let me try this.”

That must have been scary.

No, no, and what’s crazy is I was single at the time, so my comedy was about being single, so that crowd would come that watched Chelsea and lots of hot people, and then I got engaged and the first time I announced I got engaged on stage, I got booed by the ladies. They were like, boo!

So then I lost all those people. So now, people that come to my show are married people that have kids, because that’s who I relate to, and that’s who I like talking to, and it’s great, man. It’s great.

You mentioned that you didn’t get your start in comedy in Houston, but what about Texas? I mean, have you done a lot in Texas with your comedy? 

I’ve always toured in Texas for like the last six, seven years. But let’s be honest, when Joe Rogan moved there a couple of years ago, it just blew up. He opened the Mothership and I know all those guys – Rogan, Tony Hinchcliffe, Tom Segura, Bert Kreischer – all those guys I knew in LA.

Like I was on the first episode of Fear Factor ever – 22, 23 years ago – and that’s where I met Joe Rogan. And we’ve been friends ever since. So I’m so excited that he’s so big right now.

And what a lot of people don’t know about him, you could say he does this on his podcast or this on this podcast. But what he really does is give so many people an opportunity to sell hundreds and thousands of books, tickets, or anything that they promote on his podcasts. And he’s such a giving guy.

Yeah, I love the guy. I love what he’s created at Austin for all the comedians. 

Now have you ever done Moontower before or is this your first time? 

This is my first year at Moontower, and I’m so excited. But this is my first time doing any comedy festival.

Now that just hit me. This is your first time doing any sort of comedy festival?

Yeah, because I’ve kind of just been like, my own thing – touring on my own, doing my own things… But, you know, the people were nice enough to reach out to me.

Now, other festivals have reached out to me. I just, I’m not a festival guy.

» MORE MOONTOWER PREVIEWS: Austin comedian Avery Moore to debut first special at Moontower Comedy Festival

See, but that’s the thing that really strikes me because you’ve done something like… How many specials? Three hour-long specials? 

Yeah, yeah.

I’m just surprised, since the festival thing sort of seems to be really rolling here, you know.

Yes, festivals are big all over the country and to be honest with you, I’ve been one of the guy that would get offered and be like “no.” Because it really didn’t fit my trajectory, right? I felt like I only will go to a festival if I want to go to that festival.

I didn’t want the festival to make or break me, if that makes any sense. 

So what struck you about Moontower then?

I love Texas. I love Austin. It’s something my parents, they still live in Houston still, they’re gonna come out to it. My family’s gonna come to it, and the people that run Moontower are absolutely amazing.

And the type of shows they put on… I love the Texas crowds, first of all, since I’m from there. So everything about Texas, I’m all about.

This is the first year Moontower called me, though. So I had to say yes. I used to do radio in Austin, Texas, at 96.7 KHFI back in the day. I had a different name. My name was Johnny Blaze at that time. I lived in Austin, Texas, when South by Southwest was just one day.

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Well now that you’ve done all these things – I mean, you’ve got radio and you’ve done television, you’ve gotten Emmy nods, now you’re doing Moontower. What’s next?

I just wanna keep creating comedy. I would love to host a game show. I’m writing a sitcom about my life. But the main thing is growing in comedy.

Cause that’s the thing – when you do comedy, it’s unlike anything else. When people like you, they’re yours for the rest of your life. No one else can say you’re not good, you’re not that, you are not this, because your a crowd, if they show up and like you, that’s all that matters. And you’re building a legacy with the people that really love you.

And that’s what I love about comedy, unlike any other entertainment out there.

Catch Michael Yo at three different events from April 18-19 during the Moontower Comedy Festival.

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