Deece Casillas is an internationally touring Latino comedian from South Central LA, now based in San Antonio. A 15-year comedy veteran, he has performed across America, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, and the Bahamas. He has been featured on LMAO TV, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and the Roku Comedy Channel, recorded two albums, and was voted Northwest’s Best Comic four years in a row. Deece is the author of Insomniac and is developing a debut comic book series.
Host: Richard Lowe | Guest: Deece Casillas
Interview Transcript
Richard: Tell me about yourself.
Deece: I’m a touring standup comedian. I’ve been doing comedy for a long time. I just filmed my first special, Not Your Cup of Tea, available now at deececomedy.com — it’s available for donation only, so you can name your price. I’m also working on my debut comic book. That’s the next project coming down pretty quick. I’ve been a writer for different websites, did some script punch-up when I lived in LA, all kinds of stuff.
The Grind of Comedy
Deece: If I sat down and told someone what it took to get here — being able to do standup comedy full time for several years — the logistics seem crazy. I would get off work at 6 PM, drive three hours to a show, get paid $20 to do five minutes, then drive three hours back because they didn’t give me a hotel. I did that Thursday, Friday, Saturday while working my day job. You do that for about eight years and then maybe you start making some real money. There are comedians I know who’ve filmed specials and still have a day job, because it can be tough to make a living at it.
Richard: That seems crazy, but that’s the way you become great. You just do it.
Self-Publishing and Taking the Leap
Deece: I self-published a book around 2010, about 12 years ago. You just kind of figure it out — the writing, the editing, the publishing.
Richard: If it’s important to you, you’ll find the money and the way. People come to me and say a book is the most important thing in their life, a bucket list item, and then they can’t do it or won’t do it. I guess it’s not the most important thing.
Deece: People are just scared. What’s familiar is comfortable. It’s easier to live in misery than to push through the uncomfortable phases to get to the things that will make you happy.
Richard: Don’t step out of the box. Get rid of the box entirely. Why are you in a box?
From Comedy to Comics
Deece: I have a pretty big comic book collection — stuff dating all the way back to the 40s, golden age, silver age. The big problem with the industry now is Marvel and DC are owned by Disney and Warner Brothers. When you’re part of a conglomerate that has to make everything palatable for everyone, you end up shooting down the middle. You can’t get creative or edgy or push boundaries because you can’t rock the boat.
That’s part of why I’m making my own. I’m trying to tour less and do more on the writing and the comic book side. I’ve got a couple I’m working on. That’s the next chapter of my life.
Richard: Where can people find you?
Deece: Go to deececomedy.com. Check out the tour dates, buy the special for as little as a dollar. Follow me on Instagram at deececomedy for updates on the comic book.
Learn more about Deece Casillas at deececomedy.com.
Find Richard Lowe at TheWritingKing.com.