Ashley Brooke Corby

Ashley Brooke Corby is an author and comedian based out of Nashville, TN.  She was the first female comedian to be in the "Best Comedians of Nashville" list from the Nashville Scene in 2022. 

In this interview, Drew and Ashley chat about the olden days of the Nashville Comedy Scene, Ashley's book Ashes No More, Joke Writing, and Shoe Collecting.

Connect with Ashley Brooke Corby Here

Order "Ashes No More" Here!

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

And I just wanted to like thank you for doing this with the Clean Comedy. Like, this is such a huge accomplishment and such a great contribution to Nashville and apparently, you know, 30 other states.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

You're welcome. You're welcome. Welcome back to the Clean Comedy Chats. We're here with another comedian. Each week we bring in a comedian from the Clean Comedy Collective. I'm your host, Drew Davis, and today I have a very good friend of mine and fellow Nashville comedian, Ashley Brooke Corby. How are we doing, Ashley?

SPEAKER_03 0:41

We're doing great. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Welcome to my house.

SPEAKER_03 0:45

Love it.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Ashley is a stand-up comedian from here in Nashville. She's also an author. She and one of the coolest when I was reading up on you, one of my favorite things about you is that you're the first female comedian to be ranked as uh best in the scene from the Nashville scene at was it 2022. So how about that? That is just, you know, no one there's plenty, plenty of comedians that might have won that award as in best in the scene, but none of them were the first female comedians.

SPEAKER_03 1:10

I I don't think I don't I think I still hold that title as the only female on the list, but I'm not sure. I haven't been keeping up with it.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

So I hope we've I hope we've put female comedians on that list since I hope so too.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

But then kind of like I hope I keep it.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Or maybe not. I don't know. You're the only you we're gonna say it, you're the only female comedian voted best in the scene at Nashville. And and I've no one researched me on no one catch me on that.

SPEAKER_03 1:34

So uh Yeah, please don't.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

It's enough. We believe it.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Um, and just before we get into the interview, just so everyone knows, you can find all of our podcast episodes on cleancomedycollective.com. We also have uh that's where you can see all the comedians from across the country who are part of the Clean Comedy Collective. Me and Ashley are in the Tennessee scene, but there's several like I think we're at like 30 or so different states, not all 50 yet. That's the goal by 2027 is to get a comedian in each state. We don't have one in Hawaii yet. We also don't have one in um, I don't know, states that I forget exist.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

Right.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Yeah, so um we also have a lot of other things, so it just check it out. And if you're a comedian who wants to work with us or learn more about us, check out our website. That being said, Ashley, I want to talk to you about stand-up comedy.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

I love it. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

But let's do it. So you have you have been a comedian for uh for all I know is uh for forever because I I remember when I started, I want to say 2012, uh at Spanky's Bar and Grill. Uh you were you were there, but you are had already been there. So was Spanky's Bar and Grill in Nashville Comedy the first open mic or first comedy scene that you did, or was there something before then?

SPEAKER_03 2:38

Or no, it was 2010. My first open mic was Spanky's, and at that time it was the only open mic we had. Well, then we had um the rusty nail. Yes. The biker bar.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Did you ever do that? I have because because it's kind of come it's come and gone, and it is definitely it's I feel like the rusty nail has always had like a weird room vibe. Like that, yeah, that's where I had my first heckler. That was right. Yeah, so and it was a wild room.

SPEAKER_03 3:02

So I think I did too. And I I remember it was Big Sexy who did that, who put that on. And I remember he said to me, like, this is a tough room, but this will put the hair on your chest. And it really did, and it taught me how to project my voice because it was loud people drinking, super loud bar, tough crowd. And it was like, if you could just get them to listen, right, you know, then it was like, Okay, I think I'm doing something good.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

And since then, because I I they occasionally have rooms nowadays, there's occasionally have comedy shows there. I I feel like they put in a few more walls, so the room's smaller. But I remember when it first when I was like when I had my first secular, it was like a big old wide space. And if you had lots of people, plenty of people in the back weren't listening, and so yeah, it was quite a quite an experience. But uh, as Big Sexy said, as you mentioned, uh, those kind of rooms, especially when you first start out, absolutely put hair in your chest.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

Because if you can get a room like that going, then when you're in a room where people are listening on purpose, yeah, it's a lot easier.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

So so you've been doing comedy since 2010 here in Nashville. So I guess one of the questions I had was like, what was the scene like then versus now, or like what are some big differences, or like just just yeah, comparing today comedy in Nashville, Tennessee to like 2010?

SPEAKER_03 4:14

Well, in 2010, I think I was one of like maybe five females. You know, I there was Leslie Nash, Christy Eatson, uh Jessica Carter. Emily Fleming had just moved to New York, I believe, when I started. Um, forgive me if I forget anybody's name, but there just really wasn't a lot of us. And then I think there was only like 30 comics in general, it was a pretty small scene, and now it's just exploded. There's so many people that I don't know, uh, a lot of younger people, but at the time I was probably like one of those younger people that I started, right? So it's just kind of like I'm surrounded by young Gen Z, but I'm sure people thought the same thing about me. Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

And at the time they were like, I'm surrounded by millennials. Yeah. But it is interesting doing comedy in like your 20s versus doing it in your 30s. This was something we talked about a couple weeks ago with one of the guests, just about how like, you know, I feel like a lot of comedians, if they start out, if we start out later, we're always like, man, I wish I was younger when I started doing this. But I I having done it in my 20s and now doing it in my 30s, there's some benefits to like being a for lack of a better word, an older comedian. I don't know if 30s is older, but you know, but in comedy, they're like, Well, you're almost dead. So very true, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think I I think for me, one of the biggest things is um just because the older you get, the less you kind of are worried about what everyone thinks and the your perception of like and that becomes a big source of help in in comedy.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

So yeah, and I think you're just a little bit more relatable because you've had more life experience and and that kind of gives you better material. Whereas like in my twenties, I didn't I don't know, I didn't I didn't know as much, and I didn't have as many my friend group was all I had, you know, and then it's like I started doing comedy and my friend group expanded to different types of people, and that gave me different stories to tell on stage.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

That's pretty fun that uh you do meet different types of people in comedy. Like you meet you, you you have your kind of your worldview of what's around you, and then like then it expands. Now, do you remember what like what made you decide to do comedy for the first time? Like that it's there's a I feel like everyone has a story for like why they decided they were gonna just get up on stage and try it.

SPEAKER_03 6:24

Yeah, yeah. So it was something that uh I was working at Hooters and all of my friends were like, you need to do stand-up. And I just felt really intimidated by it because I was a writer, but I had never written a joke, so I didn't think that I could do it. And then I I read a book by Russell Brand, my bookie book. It's good, it's his memoir, and it was about how he had uh his childhood was kind of troubled and he had a lot of drug addiction problems, and then he stand he found stand up, and I could relate to him and I thought if he can do this, I can do this. So I came back and I was like, I went to LA, I read the book, I came back and I was like, I'm gonna do stand-up, and but I was nervous, so I I had a friend that I I asked to go with me to an open mic just to check it out, you know, to feel it out a little bit, and I had some material that I had written, and then when I was in the bathroom, he signed me up, so yeah, and I came out and he was like, I put you on the list, dude. And I was like, Oh man, I'm not ready, you know. But I was a drinker at the time, so I just had some tequila sunrises and I went up there and I got some laughs and I felt great, and so I kept doing it, and then like the next week I didn't get the laughs really right, and I was like, I gotta keep doing it because I could do it once. So I, you know, it was just like kind of chasing that high.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 7:44

And then I got very methodical with it and studied the other comedians who were so many great writers in Nashville and like learning how to cut out a lot of the words and get to the punchline quicker. And it just became kind of an obsession with me and my perfectionism to like learn the joke structure, yes, and to get it down, to have it memorized, and I'm still the same way. Like I still am very methodical with my joke writing, practicing, moving this word here, that you know, and just just keep working on something until it's perfect.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Yeah, well, and actually I'm glad you mentioned that because one of the things I wanted to definitely talk to you about is because I and I've told you this before. I you are a very good joke writer. You are very cute. You um and when I when I teach comedy, I'm always telling like one of the first things I'm talking to is like having like well-defined punchlines, like being able, I the what I tell my students is like it, you know, worry about if it's funny later, but you should every joke should like this is the point where people are laughing.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

Right.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Whether they do or not, that's part of the skill of making it work. But yeah, so but like when I hear your comedy, I can absolutely hear like this is where the punchline is. This and so so and and you do it really well, which I've always been impressed with. Yeah, no problem. So um, so I guess the question was like your joke writing process, or like, and then you've ex talked about it a little bit, but like what is your joke writing process, or do you have like a favorite place where you write jokes or like a strategy or like um yeah, so my jokes are basically about my life.

SPEAKER_03 9:02

So whenever I have an event happen that's very interesting or even something very painful, I'll just start writing about it. And as I write it, I write it into like two or three sentences. So I'll take an idea and I'll be like, okay, I'm gonna give myself three sentences, right? For this first part of this idea. And I write two things that are similar, and then the third thing is that misdirection, and then I build on it and I write the next idea, and I just do that. My my thought process is I like to have one-two punch, one-to-punch, and I'll tell a story, but throughout that story, I have several different blocks where it's one-to-punch, one-to-punch. I hope that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

It absolutely absolutely does. And if anyone's listening, uh and you're a comedian and you're that that would be a great section to rewind and like write down what she said, because that is a great formula for writing jokes. Um, but you've been doing comedy for 15 years, right? So that's awesome. Um, have you seen that your style or anything about you doing comedy has like changed over the years?

SPEAKER_03 10:05

Um, yeah, so uh, well, a lot of my comedy has been a big part of my faith journey and coming into the identity of who I am, who I am in Christ. And when I first started doing comedy, I was very lost. I was drinking a lot, I was doing a lot of drugs, I didn't know who I was, and I didn't really know, I knew how to make my friends laugh, but I didn't know how to make strangers laugh. So I kind of played on that dumb blonde, you know, girl. And that's not who I was. And people would call me out on it. They're like, that's not who you are. And I'm like, yeah, but it works, right? Like I know how to write for this. I know how to write those um dirty jokes. It was very easy for my mind to go there. So then I started to um when I came to the Lord, I was like, okay, I want to be a clean comic. I don't want to, I don't want to do the shock value stuff. And I had to then train my brain to go to the thing that people wouldn't be shocked by, right? Like to write things that, yeah, there was a twist, there was that misdirection, but it was actually very thoughtful, right? And intelligent. And so that really evolved my comedy. And I had this whole thing where I got rid of a bunch of my material. I kind of started over and I did that. And I've done that several times throughout my comedy career, is every time I kind of get closer to being who the woman that I'm supposed to be, my material changes, or if an event happens in my life that's like, um, okay, I'm done talking about that on stage. Now I need to replace it. I need to find something new that's going on in my life. So uh as my life changes and things evolve, my comedy just kind of reflects that.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Yeah, that's awesome. I I love it. It's so cool to see um just as we grow, our comedy grows as well. And it and it's I enjoy what I enjoy when I watch comedians for like a while. Well, there's people I know in person or like you, you know, fake famous comedians if you've heard all their specials. Like to me, the best example is Mike Brabiglia. When you listen to like his first special versus like his last one, you see he he's had a similar thing where like he was like a young guy in his first special, very like frat boy party bro jokes, and then like his last one's about like his like wife and kids and being a dad and stuff like that. So that's cool. So yeah, it's just it's very interesting. And I have noticed that about you. Well, I know because we've talked about it, about how like you had a set you had material that you did in your 20s and when you were younger that you don't do now. Um, and I it's interesting to me because you did make a very conscious effort of I'm not doing these jokes anymore.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

Um, and and then you kind of did start fresh. And um I've I've liked both the of both routines. I didn't, you know, there was I I didn't I don't have like one, I prefer, but I I do think it's cool that you um and for any comedians listening to this, um every everyone around you is always gonna have opinions on your comedy, right? Like that's true, yeah. Everyone and what I find is especially a lot of people that are like older or older into comedy than you, maybe not necessarily older, older, but like people that have been doing it longer, but they have faith in you and they want to see you grow, they'll often tell you like what you should do with your comedy. This is what you should lean into, this is what and sometimes it's good advice, but sometimes it's also like you know that's not you.

SPEAKER_03 13:10

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

And so at the end of the day, you know, you gotta do what's you.

SPEAKER_03 13:14

Um well, and one thing that I heard when I first started was like, be careful what you listen to other comics say because all they know to do is to teach you how to be like them.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:22

You know, and it's like it's cool when a comic gives you a tag, you know, or is like, hey, you could add this, that you know, you could change this or that. That's cool. And sometimes it works, but sometimes it's like, yeah, but that's not me. Yeah, that's you, dude.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

Yeah, that's that's very true. And that's a so that's a that's it. I when I teach, I try to usually at the end of like whatever I say, this is what you should do. There's always like a or just whatever you want.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's good advice.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Yeah, or just figure it out, you know. Like so because people when they come to classes, they want that instruction, but with comedy, it's not that easy. Like what works for you might not work for me. So yeah, um, but that's cool. Uh, but you're not just a comedian, you're also a writer and an author. And uh actually, for anyone on YouTube, I brought um Ashley's book, Ashes No More. Um I also brought a pen because I realized you um haven't signed I never asked you to sign it. So if you if you want, you can you can sign sign it. Right.

SPEAKER_03 14:15

Do you want me to sign it right now?

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Uh do if you're okay with it. Yeah. So there we go. This is a live signing. Live signing. How cool is that? Yeah. And as she signed, just for everyone to know, uh Ashley's gonna tell us more about her book. Um, but uh it in our links and in our notes, you can uh do a lot of different things. You can go and see um you'll be able to click um on a link to get to Ashley's stuff where you can learn more about her as a comedian and go to her website. But there's also gonna be a link where you can go buy her book. So after you hear her talk about it, if you're like, man, I really want to check that out um on whatever you're listening to us on or on YouTube, uh, it's in the notes. And um, so that's that's just the notes is a great place. You could even send us a message through the notes. You can go down there and click send us a message and you know, tell us whatever you want.

SPEAKER_03 14:57

There you go. I hope you can read that. My handwriting is illegible, and you know, I've always been very insecure about my handwriting, but now I'm at a place where I'm like, you know what, you figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

Right, absolutely. Let me see. Um I can I read it out loud?

SPEAKER_03 15:10

Sure, I think it's safe.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

Okay, I figured out Drew, thank you for all that. All that, that, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I said all through for a second. I'm also a really bad reader too. So that's okay to that. I was like, I have reading disabilities and stuff. It's probably not your handwriting, but uh thank you for all that you do in Nashville comedy and for being such a supportive friend. Love Ashley Britt Corby. Thank you so much. That is great. Well, and now I I was thinking about that. I was like, why haven't I gotten her to sign it? Um anyway. Um, but um, so your uh you can um tell us as much or as little because I know when I say like tell us about your book, that's like basically me like tell about tell me about your entire life. Um, because there's a lot to it. Uh and it's it's it's really cool, it's really fascinating, it's really um awesome. Um and so to as much as you'd like to get into this, feel free to tell us about your book.

SPEAKER_03 16:05

Um yeah, so I'm just somebody who spent her life really sick, uh, had a lot of health problems, had a lot of mental health problems, a lot of substance abuse troubles, and didn't ever really understand why no matter how many therapies I did, no matter how much I prayed, no matter um how many doctors I saw, just like wasn't getting better. And I really started to go on this journey when I became sober in um gosh, like I moved to Chicago and I started working with a therapist, and she was like, You gotta get sober. So that was like 2012, and I got sober for a while. I started doing therapy, I started having repressed memories. Actually, before that, I had a repressed memory surface of being sexually assaulted, and it was something that happened to me right after high school, and I had completely repressed it. And I thought, okay, well, now that I remember that, I'm gonna do better. So I started seeing this therapist, and I was getting a little bit better, but I was still having issues, and I quit sleeping and just really spiraled. I lost my job in Chicago. I had lived in Chicago for Chicago comedy, had to move home, it was very painful, and then I had to go on this really deep journey where I gave my life to the Lord and um really pressed in with him. And over time, I had more repressed memories surface. So in 2022, I remembered being sexually abused by my father, and I had completely repressed it. And um, my father at the time had Alzheimer's and I was caretaking for him. I was helping my mother caretake for him. We had just moved him into memory care, and he had been apologizing to me, and I had been having nightmares of him abusing me. And I just started to put it together and was like, Oh, these are not nightmares, these are actually memories, right? Yeah. So uh I said, Lord, I'm gonna forgive him. You know, I'm gonna forgive him. I just need you to heal me from this. I want to get past this, I need to get my life on track. You know, I wasn't able to stay in comedy because it was taking such a toll on my mental and physical health. And I I wanted my life, you know, I just felt like I'd been robbed of so many years. So I started to remember things. This was in December of 2024, started or 2022, started to remember things, started writing the book in February of 2023, finished the book in eight weeks in April, I believe. Yeah. And then I just started to um, I hired a little boutique to help me with all the edits and things. And it came out on a um, it came out on April 2nd, 2024. And on April 3rd, the following day, my father passed away. Oh man. Yeah, it was pretty, it was pretty intense. It felt like uh it felt like the Lord gave me my story and then gave me a book, a gift, and then just tied the bow on it and was like, and now it's time for your dad to move on. This chapter is closing. So yeah, and I've just been ever since then like really working on my own inner healing and sharing my story with people and doing comedy and then just working the nine to five, trying to survive.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Yep, right. I I understand, I understand two out of three of those very well. Um, so like when does it do you feel like it's been helpful to your how has it affected you like your healing to be able to share the story with other people?

SPEAKER_03 19:19

I mean, it's been great because you know, not everybody has had the same experience as me, but there are people who read my book and they say, you know, I I can relate to this and I I feel less alone in this because my life was so chaotic with the drug abuse, and then I was in physically and emotionally abusive relationships. And so there's just different parts of my story that people can relate to, and I feel like it kind of gives them hope. And then, like in the book, I admit like I'm not totally where I want to be in my healing. So I think people appreciate the idea that I'm like, hey, I don't have all the answers, I haven't figured it out. Yeah, but I'm on this journey and I have the hope. And if I have the hope, then you can have the hope. And I I think that's been what's really impactful is just sharing, you know, the message of hope with people.

SPEAKER_00 20:06

Absolutely. And that and it's it is very meaningful when someone comes to you, not as like a fully formed perfect entity, but like, this is where I'm at, this is what I'm noticeable, this is what I'm still learning, and maybe something here is helpful. I always appreciate that because I I I learned some I respect the vulnerability. Like I'm right, you too. So and that's that's cool. Now, and and then um and the book has jokes.

SPEAKER_03 20:27

I just want to put that out there. Like it's not like all sad, like I it's littered with books, and I had it at a book club, and the women in the book club loved it and were like, it's actually funny, yeah, you know, like it's not.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

Well, I didn't I I think I think uh people like us, like stand up company, you you it's important when we need to to take breaks from the stage and take breaks from but the mindset of being a comedian is something that I think kind of sticks with you. So because there is something, whether it's internally or externally to other people, there's something healing about uh finding humor and stuff. And right the you know, the the darker the thing, if you're able to find jokes from it, it's it's better sometimes it's better for you, sometimes it's better for the people listening.

SPEAKER_03 21:05

So yeah, I think so too. Laughter's healing for sure.

SPEAKER_00 21:09

Yeah. So do you um do you identify more as a comedian or an author, or is there kind of like a hybrid? Are you finding are you finding yourself leaning towards one direction or the other, or is it like both and that's okay?

SPEAKER_03 21:22

Um, well, right now I'd say more as a comedian because I'm doing more shows than I'm you know than I have books. Uh I'm working on my second book. I don't know when I'll be done with it, but uh It's gonna be tough.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

Well, you said eight weeks.

SPEAKER_03 21:34

Yeah, I feel like that was a gift from the Lord because it's like, how did I do that?

SPEAKER_00 21:38

You know, like and I had Do you remember how many hours a day you were spending each week, right?

SPEAKER_03 21:43

So at my job, like I had gotten moved into a role that was so easy that I could do the whole job in like two hours. So I would be sitting there at my job doing my job, and then I would just be able to sit and write. And I would write all day at work, and then I'd be done at work, and then I'd write until like eight o'clock at night, and it was Just it consumed me, and I don't know how healthy that was, but it I I was not feeling well, I was very sick, so I wasn't able to do comedy, so it was my outlet, yeah, you know, and I just poured myself into it. And it's I I would love if I every book I wrote I could write in eight weeks. That would be absolutely amazing, you know.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

It it sounds like I mean, as from one person of a face to another, it sounds like it's like you had the message you had to get out.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

Right.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

Yeah, it was it had to go through your fingers somewhere.

SPEAKER_02 22:28

So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

And I uh I think it's important to note that you took breaks from performing. Like as comedians, we don't always have to be doing it 24-7 all the time. Sometimes you need a break, sometimes with ever other stuff is going on. Um, and when you're taking those breaks, you're living life which is gonna eventually inform whatever your new content is gonna be.

SPEAKER_03 22:50

Right. Yeah, and you're on that journey.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

Yes. So I was hitting it full force, you know, four ish years, like really full-time job, every waking, every thought was comedy, just I mean, it was little I was running out of things to talk about. It was literally just my entire life.

SPEAKER_02 23:04

Yeah, I bet.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

Um, and then when I when I step, well, I I I I used to say I moved it back to a side also, but realistically I feel like I'm working two full-time jobs. But when I got the day job and started doing comedy less, um, for me, and I'm I'm still in this process with it, but like um I'm kind of in a creative drought because I've been pushing at it for so like so vigorously for the past four years. And so like I still, you know, when uh at least once a week I'll go to open mics and I'll try new jokes. I'll, you know, I feel like I'm stretching the writing muscle a little bit. Um, I don't think I've come up with anything wonderful recently. Like like when like like we're doing a show tonight, and um most of the stuff I'm gonna be doing is just kind of like the quote unquote hits, you know, like that. Yeah, so but but I do feel like um I feel like I'm it's like I'm letting my brain breathe a little bit. I'm I'm still doing it because it's fun for me. Right. But like I I I'm also noting that like my creative, it create I'm in a bit of a drought creatively right now.

SPEAKER_02 23:59

Yeah, that's okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

And yeah, it it's okay. So I don't force it. That's the thing. That's me neither. So yeah, it's the that's because that does that just makes you more frustrated. Right. I don't think it makes it any better.

SPEAKER_02 24:09

I agree.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

Um so then when you think about entertainment wise, um, obviously you're working on the second book, um, and maybe speaking to like maybe what what are some goals you have for yourself for comedy and just in in general and anything, because you're now you're a multifaceted in entertainer. So thank you. That's a great way to look at it. Yeah, what is the uh the the first female comedian? Right, what is she up to? Yeah, what what what once you as the as the role model for women everywhere in entertainment, especially not for comedy, what um as this pillar of you know uh uh I don't know. Well yeah, what's what what are some goals you have for yourself?

SPEAKER_03 24:46

Well, I'd like to get an hour of material. So uh with the constant evolving, I'm always getting rid of material and then starting new material. And it's like right now I've got like maybe I might be, I think I have like 25 minutes, maybe I'm not really sure. And I want to get an hour, you know, because it's like even with the stuff with my dad, like I was already working clean, but like when my dad the stuff came out, my dad had a lot of jokes about my my mom and my dad, and I wanted to get rid of all of them, you know. So I was like, okay, I need new material. So that's where I'm at right now, is just like building the material for me that's like post trauma, you know. So that's kind of so I want to get like a really good hour, and then I want to move somewhere where I can get more stage time. Like my goal is to move to Austin, so that's something that like I'm I'm trying to prepare myself for financially. Uh yeah, I want to be able to like work the clubs and stuff like that. And um yeah, I think that's really kind of where my goal is, and then just see where God takes me and just keep writing. I write every day.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:52

So I just feel like you put in the work, it'll it'll pay off. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Um, and so so you do you identify like do you work exclusively clean? Yeah. So you're I was like, I was like, I know when we have you on our shows, you're clean, but they're clean shows, so that makes sense. So do you now do you just does that mean you never do shows that are like not clean shows, or do you just do clean in the not clean shows? Or where do you stand on all I that every I feel like every comedian I have on this podcast has different answers and they're all they're all correct, but like I mean, I prefer doing a clean show, you know, but that's not necessarily realistic.

SPEAKER_03 26:28

You know, I can do a dirty show and be clean, but it's like for me, it's it's kind of tough. If I do a show and I'm on a lineup with other women and the women go up before me and they're dirty, it's kind of hard for me to follow that because the audience is subconsciously expecting me to escalate that dirt.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Right.

SPEAKER_03 26:49

And I'm not gonna do it. And they I don't even think the audience is aware that they're doing it. And so it's like I'm really climbing uphill.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:56

And so I'm not a big fan of that. So whenever I get booked on like a female show, I always ask to go first, you know, like let me let me set my own tone instead of having to like follow a tone that I don't that I don't flow with.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

What a blessing for those shows. Because it no one usually no one wants to be the first comedian. Um as the producer, you want your first comedian. I almost like I almost think like my first comedian needs to be my second best on the lineup.

SPEAKER_03 27:21

I love going first.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

Like it's like it's because you want you want to keep that momentum going. If you I used to do like newest to oldest comedians, like as far as okay, but that's that wasn't that wasn't that wasn't a good idea because if you had someone brand new and it was a tough crowd, it just kind of put them in a hole for the next comedian. So so now usually my if you know I'll have the host and then the second comedian will be will be one of the stronger ones of the lineup because I love that. That's good. So I'm thinking so every producer you've been like, Can I go first? They're probably like, Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 27:50

Yeah, okay, I hope so. Yeah, because I hate to feel like I'm you know, like I'm kind of being a diva, like, hey, can I go first? But it's like, no, this is like best for me to go first, you know.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

And different comedians have like you can tell when you're booking them like different vibes in the lineup. There's some that there's some uh usually like dry or more stoic comedians, I don't like to put ripe up beginning because I need but I if I put them right after someone, it's like really bubbly and energetic. Like it just works. And and I do understand what you're saying about like um if everyone, if if all the women are are are not clean before you, it does it, it is we do unconsciously. And even I mean, even when I teach people about like writing routines, I always tell them like put your dirtier jokes at the end because those other jokes aren't going to be funnier after you do that dirty joke.

SPEAKER_03 28:32

I forgot about that because I I don't do dirty comedy anymore. But yeah, that was a thing when I was doing dirty comedy. It was like always say that raunchiest joke and last.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

And there there is a skill because I've done plenty of not clean shows and where I've followed someone who's like really not clean, and there's like a skill to like subvert, like being like make it's like almost a natural misdirect. I usually say something cheesy, like, well, he just did all the jokes I was gonna do. So I'll just say an article. Yeah, but it's tricky though because you don't want to like crap on the comedian before you, right? Like it especially at the beginning before they know you. But I feel like there is it's possible, but you're right, it is a lot harder when you're like clean at the end and there's a lot of comedians that are so yeah, it's it's it is tough. Um, of course, when we w years ago in Nashville, there were no like clean rooms, there were no clean mics. So if you wanted to work clean, uh you had to learn how to be clean and not clean rooms.

SPEAKER_03 29:23

Um Yeah, and I just wanted to like thank you for doing this with the clean comedy. Like, this is such a huge accomplishment and such a great contribution, contribution to Nashville and apparently, you know, 30 other states or 29 other states, so hopefully 50. Is there is there 50 states, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:40

There's 50 states, but then we have like Washington, D.C. and we have some territories. I'm just like shooting for the 50 states first, and then we'll go and we'll add the because I don't know. I I literally just a few weeks ago because we just had a we just added a comedian from Washington, DC. And I know someone taught me this in school years ago, but like I didn't know DC wasn't like technically Washington, like but it's I didn't know that. It's very much not like so now, like if you look at the website, you'll see all the states in alphabetical order, then you'll see Washington, and you'll see Washington, DC, uh, which is you know, grammatically or whatever, historically correct, but like it bothers me that I like it's not a actual state, but it's but it's not Pennsylvania, but it's technically in Pennsylvania, but it's not really yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 30:20

I had no idea.

SPEAKER_00 30:21

Look at us learn learning, laughing and learning and conversing. So yeah. Um yeah. Um okay. I have a couple more questions before I I bring up the questions from um from the folks listening and um uh but these are like these are just random questions. Okay. These are just like I when I was stalking your website, I was like, oh that that sounds like a fun.

SPEAKER_03 30:40

Um thank you for the web the web traffic. I appreciate it. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Yeah, yeah. It was you you got one this morning. You you might have more than that. Right. So um two things I noticed that uh I I just I we've never talked about and okay. Uh in your in your bio, you talk about you're an avid shoe collector.

SPEAKER_02 30:57

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:58

And I, you know, I I I don't I don't get shoe collections. Because you're a guy. Right, right. Like I might I have my black and my white shoes, and that's all I need. Uh oh no. So so help help me under help me.

SPEAKER_03 31:10

I mean, it might be a little bit of a problem for me. Like, I just like I don't know. It's like um I just love shoes. I think they really make an outfit. I think they can break an outfit, I think they say a lot about a person, and then I need a shoe for all kinds of different events. I've got like, you know, my working out shoes, I've got my stage shoes, I've got my dressing up shoes, and I need a a dress up shoe in and every color, pretty much. And then I need like sandals and floafer. I don't know. I just I don't even go to this many places. But you have a shoe, but well, you might you might I could one day, and I will be very well prepared. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

So so we have a show tonight uh in Kentucky. What's your what's the show show?

SPEAKER_03 31:53

I got new shoes. So I got I got these here, they're Adidas.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

Okay, very cool.

SPEAKER_03 31:57

I I love Adidas, and you know, it's actually Odidos. That's actually the name of it.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

Oh, okay. It's Odidos.

SPEAKER_03 32:03

Oh, that's so it's a last name, it's the owner's last name. But in America, we call it Adidas. I had no idea. Courtney Warner taught me that because she learned it talking to an expert from Adidas.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

But so when you do you, do you do you? I mean you said Adidas to me as a like a lay person, but I did. I did. I but in the shoe community, you probably use the real term.

SPEAKER_03 32:23

I don't know that we have a community date. Right now I think I'm the only one. Surely I'm not the only one. Um, but yeah, I feel like if I said Odidos, people would be like, oh, she has like a stuttering problem.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

Yeah, I thought it sounded fancy. I was like, I was a goodness. I didn't I and they looked just like Adidas to me, but all right.

SPEAKER_03 32:42

I got them at Costco, so they're really not that fancy, but I'm a big fan. So yeah, I got and then I got uh I got a new pair of um like nude kitten heels, which is like a little small heel the other day, and then I got um I got another pair too. I got like two pairs in the past week. It's a problem. It's okay, I'll admit it.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

We all we all have our things. Like we all have our things. So if you were to ballpark guest, how many pairs of shoes do you have?

SPEAKER_02 33:12

Maybe like 50. Okay. Max. I mean, it's not out of control yet. Sound bad that bad. Yeah, that's it's not it's not that bad.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

But but one day you will have a room just for your shoes, not just freaking lately. I love it. Well, then the other thing, so uh in your but in your bio, it was talking about like the different jobs you had, and then there was one that was like, that sounds like a story because you were talking about you'd you know, comedy author, you were talking about a salesman one, yeah. And you said for one day you were door-to-door sales. Right. I I just got it like what just one day, like what just one day, dude.

SPEAKER_03 33:41

Oh, gosh, I can't even remember what we were selling, like was like magazines or something, or newspaper.

SPEAKER_00 33:48

Newspaper sounds really old.

SPEAKER_03 33:49

Yeah, yeah, no, this was a while ago. Um, so uh this guy was trading me, and I didn't realize it was a door-to-door, door-to-door job. And I was in heels, and it was like 90 degrees outside in the summer in Nashville, and I was going with this guy door to door all day, and he was like, Okay, now it's your turn. And I just hated it. I hated going to asking people, like knocking on people's door and just like feeling that anxiety, and like, I hope they don't answer because I don't even know what I'm really selling right now. And and that was it. I just I was like, I'm never doing this again.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

I do not blame you. I any any kind of job that's like just completely commission-based or sales-based. I know when I've been looking like for other jobs, that's always been like a I and what's weird though is because like people always tell me I could be a salesman because I'm like approachability or relatability. Yeah, but like I I can't think of anything I'd want to do less.

SPEAKER_03 34:41

Like, yeah, yeah, and they would like hype them up like at the beginning of the shift, they were just like making this big deal about it, and I was like, dude, this something's up. It's like nobody's this happy about their job, you know. But it's like they had to create that energy to make you feel like you had to get into their matter, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

They had to get into their comedy characters, yeah. Yeah, which that that the truth about like comedy is like you are the product that you're selling, like you have to, it is it is a game of sales, and then like very true, it's a business of relationship.

SPEAKER_03 35:10

So, really, we probably could be fantastic door-to-dollar salesmen if it was, but but also like I don't know, like I it was so hot, and I was wearing this huge heels because I was like, first day on the job, and it didn't say that it was door-to-door sales because I got it, I found it in the newspaper in a newspaper ad. It didn't say it was door-to door sales, so I just wore my Sunday vest. Yeah, and it was awful.

SPEAKER_00 35:31

And you had to walk around.

SPEAKER_03 35:32

Yep, yep, yep. He pulled up to the neighborhood and was like, All right, you ready? And I'm like, What are we doing?

SPEAKER_00 35:42

Whose house are we going to? All of them.

SPEAKER_03 35:44

Yeah, right. Yeah, everyone's out, and everyone's gonna be really unhappy to see you.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

Yeah, no, yeah, that's true. Did you yeah, yeah, I mean, I guess you only had one day, but but I can't imagine anyone ever opening the door, like, oh, thank goodness I was needed this magazine.

SPEAKER_03 35:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Finally. Well, okay, that makes sense. That that now I know, and like I'm glad I asked because when I saw that, I was like, there's gotta be, there's gotta be a reason.

SPEAKER_03 36:10

Yeah, and I think it's it's a testament of like not having the proper footwear, too, because uh if I had had tennis shoes, right, maybe it wouldn't have been so unbearable.

SPEAKER_00 36:18

If you had your uh adias.

SPEAKER_03 36:20

Oh, callback. Love it. Very good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:23

Um, I I'm I'm gonna keep calling them Adidas.

SPEAKER_03 36:25

I mean I am too, dude, and I know that that's not how they're referred, but I do it too.

SPEAKER_00 36:29

Okay, well then well, and you as a shoe expert, right?

SPEAKER_03 36:32

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

Then I feel uh well qualified to say that. Um okay, so now we're gonna jump into our ask a comedian section part of the show. Uh technically I've been asking a comedian the entire show, but this is a specific qu section where I ask you questions that other people gave me. Okay. Um, and so just uh a little plug to anyone listening. First of all, thank you for making it this far into the podcast. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, we uh a lot of people just listen at the beginning and then they move on, but you are here still, and we're grateful for that. But you can always send in questions that I can ask our guests. Um you can comment them on on YouTube, or you can set there's a button you can send in on any podcast platforms. You can if you we always about once a month uh make a post on Drew Davis comedy or you know, all the different the clean comedy collective stuff where people can write in and people do that on Facebook and threads and Instagram. Um, I've even had people just email me with questions. I'm a comedian. So if you see me, I guess you could just say, hey, could you add this to the list? And I'll and I'll add it to the list. Uh so any questions you ever have for comedians, uh, I do have a running list. Uh before we started the podcast, Ashley picked three numbers which told me which questions to ask. So uh we're gonna get into it. This first question uh was from Instagram, it came from Bo Vance, who's a comedian, also in the Clean Comedy Collective. Uh and it's a simple one is do you prefer to watch or listen to comedy?

SPEAKER_03 37:50

Watch. Definitely watch. I like to watch how people perform. Uh, I have a habit of just kind of like standing there a little bit. And my girlfriend is uh a little bit, she critiques me a little bit. She's always been like that, and I appreciate it. And she's like, you gotta walk around more, you know? And so I like to watch other comedians kind of walk around and be very um, I like physical comedy. Yeah, you know, like I can really appreciate that. So I prefer to watch it. And I like to see people's facial expressions, you know.

SPEAKER_00 38:19

I'm just like a visual person in general, so it's weird when you're listening to comedy and they do something that you know is like you have to watch and so you're just like listening, you're like, Well, I feel like I missed something.

SPEAKER_03 38:28

Yeah, I feel like I'm left out a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:31

Absolutely. I um I used to move around a lot, but it was like nerves. I just pace, and now I'm more stationary, and I can't tell if it's like I'm less nervous or just like in as I'm getting older, I'm getting more lazy.

SPEAKER_03 38:42

Oh, that's very honest.

SPEAKER_00 38:43

I I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 38:43

So I don't know what my deal is because I tried to I did a show last weekend or a couple weekends ago, and I tried to walk around, but like the cord was really long because it wasn't wireless, and I kept kind of tripping on it, and I was like, okay, if I fall, you know, like it's not worth this. This isn't the night. This isn't the night for me to try to do something new.

SPEAKER_00 39:01

I did fall off the stage one time walking up.

SPEAKER_03 39:03

I've fallen.

SPEAKER_00 39:04

Yeah, it's it's it's uncomfortable. It was towards the end, and I just ended my set.

SPEAKER_03 39:08

I said, Well, what I fell going up the stairs at Zane's on stage. Oh man. And then I went to catch myself and I fell again. So and it's on camera, it's uh pretty funny.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

It was very embarrassing, but I had a good set, and um and wasn't that the start of the set, or like it was like me calling on stage, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:28

But it was like they I think the audience found me endearing, you know? Like cool, yeah. Yeah, so it worked.

SPEAKER_00 39:34

Yeah, yeah. Um, that's a good answer. Okay, on threads is from Brian Brian Adkinson, who's on episode three of our podcast. Um, I think uh he was on an earlier episode. I'm 20% sure it's three.

SPEAKER_03 39:47

Um 20% is pretty accurate, right? There we go.

SPEAKER_00 39:52

Yeah, um, his question is how do you navigate performing in places when you significantly disagree with the audience? And I don't know, I'm I'm assuming that's like if if you're in a place where like maybe the politically they completely design, or I don't know. Maybe you talk about, you know, yeah, how do you when you're just in a room and you're like these people probably I just stay true to myself, you know?

SPEAKER_03 40:11

It's like this is what I feel like I was created to do, so I'm gonna do it. And if you don't like it, then I I I don't know. It's like I I think you'll find something in my set that you can relate to, and I'm just gonna be myself. And even if you don't like the material, maybe you'll just like the way that I say it, the way that I act on stage. Um, I mean, yeah, I've done shows with people in the audience where they probably have different views than me, but I I don't talk about my views. I think that's for me like been my saving grace is I just don't really get involved politically. Right. Um, I do talk about my faith, but I don't really talk about um anything polarizing. And I think I think that's the kind of the secret.

SPEAKER_00 40:55

That's the thing is like the and I feel like this is probably something we we have in common with our material, but yeah, our stuff isn't like uh divisive, it's more relational because people can, you know, we we talk about relationships on stage, yeah. So like that, yeah, people everyone can relate to that at some point, yeah. Or you know, um, or and with like even talking about like our faith, like separately, like it's like um you're not like preaching to the audience, and they've know someone with a similar faith, so they can relate to what you're right, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:24

And I just feel like no matter what room I'm in, I'm supposed to be there, you know. Yeah, and so I don't really look at an audience and judge them.

SPEAKER_00 41:33

I just I know a comedian once where whenever the room was getting a little cold, he's like, This is just where I like to remind you guys, you paid to be here.

SPEAKER_01 41:40

Yeah, you came to me.

SPEAKER_00 41:42

Yeah. And so I've always uh kind of thought that. So our last question uh comes from Facebook, Facebook from Joe Hoswell, and it's um, how has working clean helped your comedy career? And this is cool because you started not clean and now you do clean. So you can probably like you have probably like an insightful insight.

SPEAKER_03 42:01

Well, I did I did a church show for the first time, and I had never done a church show. And back in the day, we used to do these shows at the American Cancer Society. Did you ever do that?

SPEAKER_01 42:12

Whole codge, right? Yeah, whole codge, right? Wonderful shows, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:14

And I used to sweat those shows, man, for so many reasons, but also because like I would be like, I don't know what I'm gonna do. They want me to do, you know, 10 minutes, and I'm talking about you know, R-rated stuff, and is that appropriate? Because they're saying there could be kids. Well, I don't have that anymore. I don't have to sit there and shuffle through my material and like scrounge for things that I can talk about in front of everybody, right? You know, so that, and then I think it's just helped me with the joke writing, which I mentioned earlier, just the fact that like I've trained my brain now to go to a place that nobody's expecting, you know. I I I I believe because it's like with the raunchy stuff, it's like I mean, they're gonna kind of catch on. If you're dirty, they're gonna be like, okay, I can she's already said this and this, I can assume she's gonna take it there.

SPEAKER_00 42:56

Right. The jokes become predictable, which makes them right.

SPEAKER_03 42:59

Not good, yeah. Yeah, then you're just there for the shock, which works for some comedians, it's just not what I want. So I think it changed a lot about even what I want in comedy because I do want to be more diverse, and I feel like being clean has helped me do that, you know, reach more people.

SPEAKER_00 43:16

That's in and it's interesting. I uh it'll be interesting to see if like when or if you move to Austin because working mostly clean, um, it'll either I feel like it'll be either amazing because you'll be able to offer something to the comedy shows or to the scene that's like not super common in Austin comedy, right? Or it'll be really tough.

SPEAKER_03 43:34

Yeah, and I think I think there's something cool about when you're a clean comic and the audience doesn't even notice it. You know?

SPEAKER_00 43:41

That's something I love.

SPEAKER_03 43:42

Yeah, until later somebody might be like, wait a minute, you didn't cuss. And you like I didn't think about you naked or anything like that. They don't even realize that they're just so into your jokes and your storytelling that like they totally miss that. And that's where I want to be as a comic. I think that's like my biggest goal is just to like make people laugh at the thoughts that I have uh without having any kind of like um judgment against me.

SPEAKER_00 44:07

Yeah, that's what that's great. And you know what? I think I think oftentimes we think um we think the judgment they have is more than the judgment they have. Right. Yeah. And and and they're just happy that you're up there telling jokes and they're enjoying it. But it is really cool. Because I work I kind of um whatever I feel like on the show oh if it's an I mean if it's a clean show obviously I'm gonna stay clean.

SPEAKER_01 44:28

Obviously.

SPEAKER_00 44:29

But if it's like a whatever show, it just kind of depends on how I feel. Nine times out of ten I feel like staying clean though.

SPEAKER_03 44:35

Oh yeah do you not you don't always do clean?

SPEAKER_00 44:37

I don't know I have some really I didn't know that. I um uh so here's here's my personal rule with like how I view everything comedy related um I never want to I I w I wish there was a phrase for like non-offensive comedy like cussing doesn't bother me about certain topics doesn't you know bother me but like I never want someone at my show to feel less than because something I said. That's where I draw the line. So when I write my jokes and even when I'm working on open mic stuff sometimes I'll say something and I'll think about it. Even if it got all laugh I'm like really not I don't really like maybe the message that jokes right I get that yeah um but I'll be honest like um I I did I have I am more comfortable in the lane of clean uh because I tell people I probably have like an hour and a half to two hours of clean material.

SPEAKER_02 45:19

That's great.

SPEAKER_00 45:20

But if you're like how much dirty material do you have like it'd be generous to give me 15. Like yeah I just it's just it's just because it's just not I just started feeling comfortable a couple years ago like if I wanted to cussing on stage.

SPEAKER_02 45:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 45:32

And there is a video of me on YouTube trying to do a dirty set and then apologizing to no one in the I can see that.

SPEAKER_02 45:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:42

Yeah so it's um but one of my favorite compliments though is sometimes you know I'll be on a on a whatever show and you know so people can be dirty, they can choose not to be and I'll just feel like we're doing some my clean bits and usually it's I'm looking around the room and it's not so much I'm saying like I'm gonna stay clean. I'm just thinking my certain bits which happen to be clean are probably what's going to relate to this audience more. So I'll get up and I'll do it. And it's a rule always a nice compliment when someone comes up and you're like I just like that you were clean. Like because even in shows where there's you know even in shows that it seems like everyone wants the dirty stuff there's probably people there that want the clean stuff.

SPEAKER_03 46:14

Yeah I think so too. Yeah I think people appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 46:17

Yeah so well cool well thank you so much for being on this podcast.

SPEAKER_03 46:21

This was great we're about to uh go drive to Murray Kentucky uh how far of a drive is that how long I want to say it's like two hours is it really it's two hours maybe an hour and a half I don't know that we're really about to get to know each other.

SPEAKER_00 46:32

Yeah but yeah we'll we'll just live stream that add it to the Patreon too which you guys could join. Uh you probably won't be able to hear our car conversation on Patreon but you will be able to hear the full this episode and the full many other episodes that we have. But speaking of plugging stuff Ashley what would you like to plug for all of our listeners at home and wherever they may find themselves I guess my book you know I guess yeah my book is called Ashes No More.

SPEAKER_03 47:00

That is the first edition. There's a second edition now that has my last name on it.

SPEAKER_00 47:04

Oh that's right I did I added it just has Ashley Brooke on it.

SPEAKER_03 47:07

Yes I started using my last name again and uh you can buy that on Amazon or wherever you buy books online. Yeah I've got it every it's available everywhere. I'm ready for the audio book I'm I'm I'm so I need to do that but it's like that's that's an investment so but it's on it's on the uh agenda.

SPEAKER_00 47:25

Could you like just tell Siri to read your book and no I don't want to I don't want Siri to because I want my voice.

SPEAKER_03 47:32

Okay yeah I think there's like an art to that right because you have to make sure that like your voice stays kind of the same and I think I go in and out of different like sometimes I sound more southern sometimes I have more of a customer service thing you know so it's like I could yeah there's it's probably more it's more to it although maybe that's what people like it when they hear the voice like wow she sounds like a real person.

SPEAKER_00 47:53

Right yeah yeah oh yeah so well um so go uh on all of our podcast things you we have the links where you can get to Ashley you can get to her book which I highly recommend you buying and reading um and then you can even like send us a message and tell us what you thought about it. Uh comment on this episode feel free to rate us five stars say this is the best podcast of your entire life see I don't you don't even have to think of a comment I'll tell you message me and I'll tell you what comment to say um and uh find all of our things at cleancomedycollective.com. Thank you guys so much. Ashley thank you for being here. Thank you and uh we'll see you all next week. Bye bye bye bye you're welcome