A lot of time his sister Gemma comes out to the shows to help sell t-shirts and DVDs and to just hang out and she’s great too. I’ll be putting more pics on my facebook from our travels but we’ve been doing so much stuff sometimes it’s hard to me to keep on everything.

In other good news I’ll be doing the Laughing Skull Comedy Festival in Atlanta coming up at the beginning of March and I’m pretty excited about that and right now I’m in Denver where we have one more show to go. I guess maybe in my next blog post I’ll start from the beginning so the people that choose to read my blog can get a sense of where I’ve been and where I come from for this one I just wanted to do SOMETHING with it. Take care and enjoy the Super Bowl

Speaking of schedule I put some other dates on the other night and will be putting more up in the next couple of days. I DON’T put EVERY SINGLE THING I do on because some of the shows I get asked to do are loooooonnnnngggg and boring and I don’t want to put the people I invite out through that kind of punishment. I know that might sound kinda’ rough but I DO this shit and sometimes I find it rough to sit through the number of comics they’ll put on a show. It’ll really cure you of any love you had for comedy.

The Jo Koy shows I usually tip you off to because I know you’re gonna get a quality show in a quality venue. Anyway, I hope you all had a good holiday and that you aren’t too stuffed. I’m gonna start small and promise to update this tomorrow. Let’s take it from there

I had a GREAT time there and even got a standing O in McAllen, Texas at the Cine El Rey. Shout out to TABLE 3 Super Rowdy bunch at table 3 but had such a good time with them and they really made it fun. I did do a bit of drinking that night after the show but I thought it was a good time to celebrate and the following nights it was business as usual.

We were trying to make it home after the last show in Brownsville on a Friday night to do my friend Sqweek’s Birthday show that I was supposed to be headlining. I figured with the time change and everything it should be possible but in the end it was not. I was able to warn her in enough time that she was able to get a replacement but really wish I coulda’ made it.

As for what’s going on right now, we got back on Sunday morning and I’ve been in Oakland since. Tomorrow I will be staying in the city (San Francisco) where I will be featuring for Russell Peters. I believe it is 9 shows we are doing and they are ALREADY all SOLD OUT. The guy is absolutely amazing and I am glad to be working with him.

For any of the new friends and comedy fans I have met don’t worry there is more stuff with Jo Koy planned. He is a really good friend of mine and I absolutely love working with him.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention, I was on Comedy Central’s Live At Gotham this past Friday and am getting some really good feedback on that. I’ve got A LOT of stuff going on and really could go on and on but I’m kinda’ tired and should probably get some sleep now. Check out my schedule (www.thairivera.com), it has SOME of the stuff I have coming up and I’ll be adding more in the coming days weeks and months. Life is great and I thank you all for reading

Then I’m coming back to San Francisco to do Thursday-Saturday with Senor Jo Koy. If you want to come out to those hurry and get your tickets all shows are already sold out except for the Thursday 10p.

Update: Got back from Tommy T’s a couple hours ago didn’t know it was really a contest. Thought it was a different situation I guess. Had a good set but didn’t get to do what I really wanted to do which was Tommy’s, Bliss Bar, Deluxe. I went up number 20 but thought it would go by sooner. After my set I just wanted to leave and try to make it to the city but on my way I realized I would’ve missed all of Deluxe anyway. FML

I was starting to become a true pack rat so I had to throw things away from when I first got to LA and stupid stuff like receipts to Taco Bell, so stupid. It took me all of three night of seriously working to get rid of all the clutter and file what needed to be filed and then my dishes had been in storage for like 6 years so they were all dusty and needed to be washed and I noticed a lot of stuff I didn’t need there too so some of that got thrown away and some is going to Goodwill tomorrow. Then I had quite a bit of laundry to take care of. I will tell you about my schedule in tomorrow’s post and why it was so important that I get all of this stuff organized now because it’s kinda’ ridiculous and I feel this post is going to be long enough. Tonight I made my first dinner and that was pretty great.

Alright peeps, I gotta sleep now they’re moving my internet at 8am

So I woke up at about 1p and got a text from Gretchen saying that she was hosting the open mic at Verrazano’s. It’s a pizza place on La Brea that I am not giving the link to but only because I don’t think they are going to be having the open there anymore. It was supposed to start at 3pm and didn’t end up starting til 4 and there were only 3 comics including the host Gretchen so it was a weak turnout. I did my set anyway and had as good a time as you can have with that small of a room. I came home took a shower and did my hurr and headed out to Sunset Grill. Went up first there and then hung out for a couple comics.

Came home finished getting ready and went out to the, You’ve Seen These Guys show at the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club. That show was fun and I had a good set but it ran a little late so as soon as my set was done I was ready to go. I went to Akbar and hung out with Jens, Stephen and Jojo but Duane and Tyler weren’t in attendance so that part of it wasn’t good. I don’t go to Akbar for the music or the dancing and I hardly ever drink when I’m there so if I don’t get to see all of my crew it makes it a bit disappointing.

Tomorrow is the big…I think. I’ll keep you posted. I don’t want to bitch about anything right now but I promise tomorrow I will be back to my regular self but for now I’m just tired and want to relax. Love you all mucho and goodnight

Yup folks, I have a wedding to go to. It’s not until the 25th but I will be there I usually hate weddings because they are long and boring but I REALLY love these people. I haven’t known them long but it doesn’t take me long to figure out whether or not I’m gonna be REAL FRIENDS with someone. I’m going to make sure to dress the way I should and be in a good mood even though it starts at…oh shit…I just looked at the invitation and it starts at 3p I love it…I knew I liked these people for a reason. I gotta figure out what I’m gonna wear. THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT.

So in other news, I ended up doing four spots tonight I did the Spot in Culver City, the Bliss (again), the Terrace in Pasadena and finally ended up at the Zoo. For anybody wondering why I’m adding links to these and listing the rooms it’s so if an open micer wants to ask me where I go, or some of the places I go to, like they tend to do, I can direct them to my blog. It’s an easy way for me to avoid having to answer the same things over and over.

Some people might wonder what the point is of doing the Bliss two nights in a row is and this is the reason. Bliss has two completely different vibes depending on the night. Like Tuesday is Dave Corrado’s night. Dave is cool and chill…kinda’ and the room tends to be a bit more on the “supportive” side. Great for working out material but you have to get there hella early because the sign up is at 6 but a lot of people get there by 5:15 and the open mic doesn’t even start until 7. Like I said it can be great for working out material but it’s gonna take a bit of a time investment.

When it’s Wednesday that’s Maurice King’s night and it tends to be a bit more “urban”…LOL!!!! I love Wednesdays because a lot of the comics aren’t even in the room but you just go up and do your time. Maybe nobody’s paying attention, maybe some people are paying attention from outside, it forces you to think and to just work on stuff. You DON’T feel like a superstar but it’s great. I can honestly say most of the comics that go to Bliss are my friends. Especially on Wednesdays like Maurice, Fu, Dbey, Henry Coleman, Rell Battle, Kristin Brock will sometimes make an appearance, Lara Csengody, Julia Lovetere, Dan the Man, Daugne Keith and of course Martin (pronounced the Mexican way). I love Martin and his wife Reyna and the whole situation down there.

Oh yeah, while I’m on the subject, I was on Yelp yesterday and read a review where a guy badmouthed the Bliss and I wouldn’t mind if he were bagging on real shit like the fact that they stopped carrying Krispy Creams but he was saying that it was roach infested and fecal something or other and I will tell you that is NOT TRUE I don’t drink coffee so I’m not gonna act like they’re serving up the best cup of joe in the city because I wouldn’t know and if you were to say that I wouldn’t be able to argue but I KNOW clean and I KNOW dirty and I don’t eat in dirty places. I eat in Bliss, I perform in Bliss, I hang out at Bliss and I can tell you it is NOT a dirty place. Martin is on top of those dishes and wiping down counters and the tables don’t have crumbs all over them, it’s clean and they now have soft serve ice cream. Btw, I woulda’ put this on yelp but I didn’t want it to turn into a “flaming” situation or some bullshit I just thought it was important to mention to you guys. Anyway, nitey nite.

So anyway, I’m getting ready to move to another apartment but in this same building. I currently live in a bachelor that doesn’t have a kitchen. I’m cool with my apartment and the size of it the only thing I need is a kitchen so I’m moving into a studio. I really do love my place and it’s location so I’m glad I’ll be able to still live here. I’m pretty excited about it but know it is going to be a bit of work.

So tomorrow is a lot more open mics and then Thursday is the show at the Jon Lovitz Club

I ended up hitting shitty Bay area traffic on my way to the city (San Francisco) and that sucked but I was on my way to the Brain Wash and really wanted to squeeze in at least one open mic while I was in the area. I think while I was there I either got pick pocketed or dropped something…pretty sure I was pick pocketed.

Anyway, nothing important was taken so let’s move on. Tomorrow I have to be up early to get to the “meeting spot” so we can head out to Eureka >. I hate getting up early but sometimes I HAVE TO do it. The other thing I hate is I have to take BART and I am not good with public transportation and always feel like taxis are gonna try to jack. The cats are still around but a little less annoying or at least out of my way. My set at Brain Wash was SUPER FUN but I’m working on new stuff so it was a bit scary :-/

I’ll be posting some footage soon on my youtube but not of stand up. I really don’t like posting stand up on youtube. I feel that if people want to see me they can come see me. You have to come out to get the stuff that I can’t do on TV. I post things that I think are fun like me and my friends messing around or my little dumb nephews. I’ll work on it when I’m back in LA or maybe from a remote location. I’ll do it when I have a free moment, how’s that? I mean you guys are pressuring me AND I CAN’T DEAL WITH IT!!!! Ok, I’m sorry I snapped. Igonna try not to do it on my new blog but you guys pushed and I broke…let’s not make a habit of this. Dismissed