Name: Tom Segura Thought He Would be a "Comedy Actor" not a Stand-Up Comedian
Uploaded: 2026-04-01T20:00:10.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Tom Segura Thought He Would be a "Comedy Actor" not a Stand-Up Comedian' from Are You Garbage Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2026-04-01. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Tom Segura Thought He Would be a "Comedy Actor" not a Stand-Up Comedian' from Are You Garbage Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2026-04-01. Transcript available.

And some of this you might have talked about, but we're going to do it in kind
of a linear way, which is interesting.
Where are you living in L.A.?
All right, so I get to L.A. January 2002, and I have no idea how L.A. operates.
I also am not coming to do stand-up.
I'm coming to do, like, comedy acting.
That's what I think my path is.
Comedy acting.
You know what I mean?
Like, acting, but, like, I'm like, oh, I'll do, like, comedic.
Comedic acting.
Yeah, that's what I think I'll do.
We know what you're talking about.
You're explaining comedy acting, but, like, I want to do acting, but comedy.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, if you go up and be an actor, people think you're, like, drama.
So I'm like, I don't have, like, I'm not, like, I'm going to be fucking
Christian Bale.
I'm just like, oh, I'll do what these guys I see doing.
I can be fun.
I can be funny.
Yeah, I can be funny.
A comedic actor.
There it is.
So I go, oh, you have to have some type of idea of how to do this.
I go, what I'll do is I know that SNL pulls people from the groundlings.
Sure.
So I'll sign up for the groundlings.
I'll take their classes.
I'll get into the performing groundlings thing.
SNL will come see me.
I'll do SNL.
And then I'll do, like, great plan.
Obviously.
It's a clear plan.
And I go.
That's how my mom thinks show business works, by the way.
Of course.
That's how everybody.
Why don't you call SNL?
You got good skits.
My mom, you're like, why don't you call Leno?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
For what?
I'm like, just tell them.
Have you ever met Leno?
Yes.
Yeah.
Shout out to Leno.
Leno's a car guy.
Car guy and, like, also, like, the easiest guy to talk to.
Like, really laid back.
Super cool guy.
So where are you living?
Where do you move into?
I'm trying.
All right.
So the first place I live.
Care about your groundlings stories.
This is.
You want the dirt.
This place is on Mansfield in Hollywood between Fountain and Santa Monica.
It is a track for trans prostitutes.
Nice.
And it's also a place people go to get heroin.
It's a big heroin thing.
So you would always see trans prostitutes walking by off of the balcony.
And then you'd see people scoring heroin all the time there.
Cool.
And I was like, this is cool, man.
I live in Hollywood.
It's gritty.
I like that.
This is a story.
These are my L.A. years.
This is where comedy is made.
Comedy acting.
Comedy acting.
Shit.
So I go to the groundlings.
I sign up.
I, um, you have to do, you do, like, an audition class.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And they're like, you can skip the first couple.
I was like, yeah, no shit.
Get Lorne on the phone.
Let's go.
I got shit to do.
I need a Ferrari.
I go.
I want to start with the black belt class.
Yeah.
I mean, I really feel like I'm like, I definitely got this right.
And then you go into, like.
You need to think that to understand.
You have to think that.
Before you get checked, you got to go.
I literally get, I went, if I'm not, I did comedy for the first time.
And I went, if I'm not famous in a year, I'm giving it up.
Like, you just don't know how it would work.
Some dudes hit that.
I gave myself a year and whatever.
What?
It's really crazy.
Yeah.
I gave myself 15 years and it finally worked.
So then they put you in, like, tier.
Like, I'm like, you skipped, like, the bait.
Like, if you see people.
You go into, like, the 201 or whatever.
Yeah, yeah.
You're like, this dipshit is.
Don't tell me I'm like him, right?
So you.
I'm putting this guy.
You jump them.
And you're like, yeah, these guys, they don't have it.
And then you go into, like, 201.
I do that.
Then you go to the next level.
At that level is where I meet some other people that are taking the class that
are stand-up comics.
Gotcha.
Yeah.
And they tell me in class one day, separately, they're like, you should try
stand-up.
I was like, what?
I'll kill that too.
They go, no, I don't.
I was like, what?
And they go, you'd like that.
I can just tell.
I think you would like that.
And I go, I have no idea what to do.
Uh-huh.
So they go, just come with me and I'll show you, like, how I do spots.
So I went with two separate people.
I went with Nick Wegener and I went with Sam Tripoli.
Cool.
I don't know shit.
Tripoli was in my class and he took me around.
I watched him do spots.
I was like, I don't even understand the concept of how this works.
So he's showing me.
He's doing these spots around town.
Nick takes me one day into this place called the Cat Club on Sunset.
And it's not a bringer show.
It's a book show.
Okay.
But it's like, you know, it's not high level.
It's not like established comedians.
It's like people all trying to, like, kind of get in, you know?
So he walks me up to this lady, Kathy, and he goes, this is my friend Tom.
He's a comic.
And I'm like, yeah.
And she goes, okay.
And she's like looking at something.
He's an actor.
She goes, we have a, like, you want to do this show, like, April 9th or
whatever?
And I was like, yeah.
Yeah, of course.
Sounds good.
And she's like, all right, cool.
You're booked.
And I was like, great.
And I walk out of there.
That shit's fucking easy, dude.
Fuck.
And then I leave there and I'm like, I don't know what I'm going to do.
How far away was this?
Three weeks?
It was like a few weeks away.
And I go.
Not joke one.
Do you have nothing?
Well, I'm like, I have to, like, start writing things down.
So I go to the improv.
I see stand-ups, like, perform.
And I'm like, oh, I got this shit, dude.
Like, this is fucking.
Come on.
I'm going to run circles around.
Sure.
These guys suck.
I write down stuff and I'm like, I don't know, I got, like, 45 or something.
And then the.
45.
Dude, you're just, you have no idea how it works.
You have no idea how it works.
You're like, there's no, like, here's the rule book.
There's no Ten Commandments.
You're just like, all right.
It's that, like, unknown, right?
Especially if you haven't, like, there's some people who are, like, they're
around a lot.
So they start to, like, get an idea.
But I wasn't around it.
Like, it was, it's so, like, I knew what stand-up was, obviously.
But I wasn't, like, in the clubs watching.
To be like, oh, they're redoing the same bits.
They're changing it.
I have no idea.
I have no idea.
But you're booked.
You're all set.
You're in.
April 9th.
Come on.
April 9th.
I remember that as the date was approaching, I got, like, more and more nervous.
And the morning of the set, I popped up out of bed at, like, five in the
morning.
Like, just sat up, like, like that.
And I start, like, walking through the apartment, like, rehearsing to myself.
Here's how fucking dumb I am, though.
Are you doing, like, do you have, like, a remote in your hand as a mic?
Probably.
That was my go-to move.
That Comcast remote was pretty good.
He's doing the Tonight Show introduction.
Hey, everybody.
Doing gestures.
Oh, you want me to come over to the couch?
Which side's the band going to be on?
The craziest thing that I did.
I still, I mean, I can't believe I did this.
But it's, like, it's so dumb.
I'm in that, I'm at the next level of the imp class.
Groundless class.
Like, the day, two days before, we have class.
And then people are just talking.
I was like, oh, yeah, I got a show Thursday.
Doing shows.
And they go, I didn't know you did stand-up.
And instead of being like, well, I'm going to try it for the first time, I just
go, yeah.
Duh!
Yeah.
I'm actually, like, high level.
The whole class is like, we want to see you do stand-up.
And I was like, fuck, yeah.
You should.
I'm fucking good.
Learn why wouldn't you want to be at.
Legend in the making.
I go to that thing, and I'm just a nervous wreck.
I don't, I never drink before sets.
Like, I've always been like, I don't like that.
Right.
That day, at the bar, I think I downed three in, like, four minutes.
Just, like, pounding them.
So nervous.
And since I'd never done a set, I'm like, when do I go up?
And they have the list.
You know, they go, you're seventh.
And I was like, oh, Jesus.
Now you got to sweat it out?
So the MC is, like, this older lady.
She goes up there, and she's reading stuff.
She's doing her set.
And then she's like, all right, your first comic is Tom Segura.
And I'm like, I'm seventh.
As I walk on stage, I go, I thought I was seventh.
And she looks down, and she goes, oh, yeah.
Like, yeah, you were.
You were.
And so I'm like, all right, bitch.
But I, at least I do well enough in my mind where it's, like, fine.
And then I get off, and I think one of my friends had come, too.
And afterwards, we all went somewhere, like, to have drinks and hang out.
And I was, like, fucking throwing a party, basically.
And one of my friends, he leans over.
He goes, you know you didn't get paid, right?
Like, he's like, you're acting like you got paid.
And I was like, why do you have to fucking ruin it?
Yeah, what are you talking about, man?
We're having a big night.
I'm right here killing it in LA.
Yeah, this is a great day.
Just fucking let me have fun.