I grew up in a pretty small town in north Texas. It’s about an hour west of Dallas and it’s called Weatherford. And the reason that I lived there was because my family started a Chinese slash Thai restaurant. So when we moved there, this was the first Asian restaurant in the whole county. So we were one of the, my family was one of the first Asian American families living in the town. So I was one of the only Asian American kids who went to my school. And it was a pretty typical small town life. I feel like when you live in a small town, you’re surrounded by storytellers, you’re surrounded by stories, especially being at the restaurant. People come in and everybody’s so comfortable with each other, everybody knows each other, so they’re kind of sharing all of these things about their lives all the time. So I remember my uncles chatting with people and them sharing stories of how long their families had been in the town and silly things that had happened to them.
And then of course, the staff is always talking to the customers, telling the same stories over and over again. And so, I mean, I feel like I was just surrounded by stories all the time. I definitely learned how to tell a joke being in … growing up in the restaurant because the waiters, they were so, they loved jokes they loved. Customers would come in and they would tell a joke, tell jokes to them. So I would hear them give the joke many times it was sort of growing up in a standup comedy, in a standup comedy hole, but a lot cleaner. Very clean humor, clean jokes, and just learned how much something funny, how a fun story can really just brighten someone’s day, make them smile, and make them immediately connect with you.
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