The Question That Proves "Making It" Is a Lie | Joe Tuccitto — Creating Consciousness Ep. 7

"What do you actually want from making it?" Welcome back to Creating Consciousness. This week I sit down with Joe, the owner and founder of The Corner Comedy Club, a mentor, a friend, and one of the realest minds I know in the Toronto comedy scene. We get into the full origin story of The Corner — how a Joe Rogan podcast monologue about being the hero of your own story struck Joe at the lowest point of his life and put him on the path from construction worker to comedy club owner, how he ran his own podcast for years just to secretly pick comedians' brains about how the industry actually works, and how Queen and John's old Speaker's Corner — the free-speech booth that ran on city TV before YouTube existed — gave the club its name and its DNA. TIMESTAMPS:00:00:00 The Joe Rogan Podcast That Started It All00:05:00 How He Secretly Researched the Comedy Industry00:08:00 Why The Corner Comedy Club Is Named After a Soapbox in England00:13:00 A Safe Place for Dangerous Ideas — Opening Year of MeToo00:18:00 How the Hungriest Comedians Built the Club Organically00:22:00 Why He Tried Stand-Up for a Year Then Quit00:28:00 What He Looks For When Curating Comedy Lineups00:36:00 Why a Handshake Beats Every Credit on Your Resume00:40:00 Why You Don't Have to Leave Toronto to Make It00:50:00 The Question That Proves Making It Is Already Yours00:56:00 The Year He Decided to Have No Goals01:03:00 The War of Art and Why Resistance Will Try to Stop You01:08:00 How Hitting Bottom Made Him Finally Ask for Help01:11:00 Why Anger and Forgiveness Are the Real Roots of Addiction01:17:00 Levels To Me: Mafia Movies and Modern Day Kingpins#creatingconsiousness #makingit #podcast