0:00

My favorite port is the Galveston,

0:03

Texas Port. It's always a good time

0:05

with those people. If Texas are by

0:07

far the most fun people.

0:09

That's Rob Little. He's a stand up

0:11

comedian and somewhat miraculously,

0:13

he's been doing comedy professionally for a

0:15

whopping twenty five years, and

0:18

one of the main keys to rob success

0:20

is that he is tapped into a lucrative gig

0:23

that not only keeps him employed, but

0:25

allows him to live a life that most of

0:27

us can only dream of, or at

0:29

the very least save up for all

0:31

year to live for just a few days,

0:34

because one of Rob's main gigs is

0:37

to perform his sets on cruise

0:39

ships. But before we go

0:41

aboard, let's take a look back at

0:43

the meandering road that eventually led

0:45

Rob down to Port.

0:49

My hometown is Ping County, Michigan, where

0:51

the cheese capital of Michigan.

0:54

Everybody's like, I thought it was Wisconsin. I'm like, oh,

0:56

Michigan, I said.

0:58

And while a dairytown in the Upper Midwest

1:00

might seem like an unlikely place to

1:02

begin a life in comedy, Rob's

1:04

Michigan roots play heavily into his eventual

1:07

success, and it all started

1:09

as he remembers on a family vacation

1:12

to Michigan's Mackinaw Island.

1:14

My parents were watching HBO late

1:16

at night. They thought we were asleep, and they were watching

1:19

George Carland, and I just remember

1:21

them laughing so hard that I was like, that's

1:23

what I want to do when I grow up.

1:25

As wild as it may sound, to have your life

1:28

plan decided by the age of five, that's

1:30

exactly what happened for Rob. He

1:33

knew then and there, while evesdropping on

1:35

his parents' laughter, that he wanted

1:37

to be a stand up comedian. But

1:39

as committed to this life plan as Rob was,

1:42

he still got that Midwestern pragmatism,

1:45

so he understood that this was a dream that would

1:47

take some time to realize, which

1:50

meant that he'd have to take some other jobs in

1:52

the meanwhile to pay the bills.

1:54

I worked at McDonald's and

1:56

I won three national awards

1:59

when I worked there, and I won mister

2:01

Mcopener, mister mcsmile,

2:04

and then the big one was mister mcservice.

2:06

And I got to do a real commercial on TV and

2:09

a photo layout and it was ridiculous.

2:11

What's mister Mcopener.

2:14

It's just not like I was the first one there in the morning.

2:16

But old people are rough on you in the morning.

2:18

Man. If they don't get their senior coffee, they're pulling

2:20

their teeth out.

2:24

Many people believe that to make a dream

2:26

come true, you first have to manifest

2:29

it. We're told to say our life goal

2:31

is out loud or write them down.

2:33

And even in my senior book, when you're graduating,

2:35

we had to make predictions. And my prediction

2:37

was I might go to college, get my computer degree,

2:40

and then I'm going to be the best comedian I can be.

2:42

So is it any wonder then that Rob

2:44

did go off to college and get his computer

2:47

programming degree, of course

2:49

not, because Rob's got that farm boy

2:51

work ethic matched with an unwavering

2:53

dedication to his ultimate plan. And

2:57

the next step in that plan was to

2:59

put that programming degree to work earn

3:02

a little money until he figured out this whole

3:04

comedy thing.

3:05

My first time about of college, I was worked for GM

3:08

and then I worked at kmart headquarters

3:10

and I did kmart dot com.

3:12

And with steady money coming in from computer

3:14

programming, Rob moved to Detroit

3:17

to actively pursue comedy.

3:19

And I was at a bar one night and I saw these

3:22

passes in the window and it was

3:24

for an open mic night, and I was like what.

3:26

I grabbed all the passes and I went up to the bartender.

3:28

I goes, there's a comedy club and he's like, right

3:31

there, it's literally connected to the building.

3:33

I was like what. I ended up living

3:36

at that club after that.

3:38

So that farm boy work ethic that made

3:40

Rob an award winner at Mickey D's and

3:42

an in demand website builder now

3:45

focused itself on comedy stand

3:48

up became Rob's life. But

3:50

all you math whiz is out there know that

3:52

you can't devote yourself one hundred percent

3:55

to multiple things, which

3:57

meant something had to give.

4:00

And I became the worst computer programmer

4:02

any of the companies gonna have. I

4:05

was making all this money, but I was the worst

4:07

employee.

4:08

But as Rob started to book himself for bigger

4:10

and bigger events, he just couldn't be bothered

4:13

to show up at the office anymore. So,

4:15

while working for IBM, he decided

4:18

enough was enough. It was time to

4:20

fulfill that life plan he'd formulated

4:22

at five years old and committed to

4:24

history in his high school yearbook.

4:26

I sent out a company why email telling

4:29

people they should quit their jobs and follow their

4:31

dreams. And I'm going to be a stand up comedian.

4:33

Here's my website. They wouldn't let

4:35

me quit my IBM boss, let

4:38

me take a leave of absence. And the

4:40

week after he did that, the Detroit

4:42

Free Press named me Michigan's best up

4:44

and coming comedian. And I

4:47

sent him that and he goes, oh, you're

4:49

not coming back, are you? I goes, I

4:51

wasn't coming back, and they made me worse up and coming

4:53

comedian.

4:58

And from there Rob was off to the races.

5:01

He threw himself completely into comedy,

5:03

and once again being in Michigan

5:06

played a big part in realizing his dreams.

5:09

Within a four hour radius, I could hit fifty

5:11

clubs.

5:11

Probably eventually, though Rob

5:13

had exhausted that circuit. So he

5:16

gave La a shot, didn't love it, gave

5:18

New York a try, really didn't like

5:20

that. And then one day his

5:22

agent suggested he apply for cruise

5:24

ships. And Rob thought, cruise

5:27

ships.

5:28

It wasn't even on my radar. And

5:31

he said, hey, why don't you come out in audition for these?

5:33

And I was like, okay, And

5:36

when I did, a man like instantly

5:39

all the cruise lines were like, Yeah, we'll

5:41

take them.

5:43

When we come back from the break. We set

5:46

sail with Rob Little.

5:55

A strong work ethic, takes

5:58

pride in a job well done. This

6:00

is the kind of person you need. Express

6:03

Employment professionals can help because

6:05

in good times or bad, we understand

6:08

how critical it is to manage your business

6:10

for today with the right workforce.

6:13

We offer hiring solutions to fit changing

6:16

demands. Express knows

6:18

Jobs. Get to know Express. Go

6:20

to expresspros dot com to find

6:22

a location near you.

6:26

We're back with comedian Rob Little,

6:28

who, after a successful few years of

6:30

performing on dry land, has just

6:32

booked his first gig aboard cruise ships.

6:35

And the only difference is we have to

6:37

do family friendly shows on there, so

6:40

you'll have little kids right in the front row.

6:42

And a lot of comics

6:45

get caught up by that. They get tripped

6:47

up by it, and they worry more about the kids.

6:50

And it isn't about the kids. They're gonna laugh

6:52

if they see their parents laughing.

6:54

And even with the adults in the audience. For

6:57

many of them, stand up comedy is not something

6:59

they do in everyday life. But

7:01

on a cruise, all bets are off.

7:04

They'll drink a few my ties, hit the buffet,

7:07

then play a little shuffle board. So

7:09

what the heck, why not check out this stand

7:11

up comedy guy.

7:12

People come right up and go, we don't normally go to

7:15

shows, and then they're like, we need to

7:17

do this more often. This was a good time, and

7:19

they'll come back to every one of your shows.

7:22

Rob's quickly learned that these cruise gigs

7:24

are pretty ideal for a comedian because

7:27

comedy has become big business on cruises.

7:30

Most of the ships have large regal theaters,

7:33

and if a comedian does well, their

7:35

subsequent shows will often sell out.

7:37

As hype circulates around the ship.

7:40

People are like, oh my god, you gotta go see which

7:42

one the bald one? You gotta see It's

7:44

always the bald, white, chubby

7:46

guy or whatever they say, you know.

7:48

And for those few days aboard the ship, a

7:51

comedian can become a bit of a celebrity.

7:53

You like, you'd be walking around the ship and

7:55

they're like a rat, you know, and then come

7:57

join as you know, next thing you know, you're drinking,

7:59

you're in them and stuff like that.

8:02

Well, comedians would normally have to travel

8:04

from one city to the next to perform.

8:07

Cruises offer consistent work and

8:09

a steady lucrative paycheck.

8:11

I mean, financially, I make more

8:13

than I even did IBM, So it's definitely

8:15

worked out in the long run for sure.

8:17

And with all the cruises out there now, a

8:20

comedian can really line up in gigs.

8:22

And this week coming up, I'll be doing my two hundred

8:25

and third cruise.

8:26

Oh my gosh.

8:27

Yeah. I keep track of them all night, keeople, like a

8:29

little diary of them.

8:30

That's incredible. But

8:34

of course, a job is still a job,

8:36

and like any job, it has its pitfalls.

8:39

A lot of people think we only work one hour a night,

8:41

and that's so not true. That's

8:43

the easiest part of our job is going on stage.

8:46

The rest of the stuff we're online. We're

8:48

too kick booking gigs, or we're doing research

8:50

on jokes, or we're making flyers, we're

8:53

promoting, we're doing all this other stuff.

8:55

And despite working a boarder ship packed

8:57

with people, the job can be

8:59

surprisedly lonely.

9:01

You're surrounded by people that are

9:03

on their vacation, but

9:06

you're not on vacation. You're working. People

9:09

will say that too. You're like, oh, man, you

9:11

know, I'm not having a great day. I'm kind of bummed

9:13

out. I'm stuck on the ship and people are

9:15

like, oh, poor you, and I'm like,

9:18

you have no idea, man, I

9:21

didn't choose a vacation by myself.

9:24

It's even worse around the holidays.

9:27

I did a Thanksgiving one time. Oh

9:30

my god. It was like stabbing

9:32

me in the heart. They're like, this ain't a Thanksgiving.

9:35

This is this is a prison. Is what

9:38

this is? You know. It's hard to say

9:40

that to people because they just say, oh, oh,

9:42

you're in Saint Martin. I'm like, yeah.

9:47

But in spite of the occasional workplace

9:49

challenges, which let's face

9:52

it, every single job has, Rob

9:55

Little realizes that he did

9:57

it. He freaking made his dreams

9:59

come true.

10:02

I just love it. I literally

10:04

just passed twenty five years so I've been doing it.

10:06

Congrats. Wow.

10:07

Thanks, that's a.

10:08

Pretty long career in comedy now.

10:11

Yeah, I think so.

10:14

So the next time you're on a cruise and you want

10:16

to laugh and also see a guy

10:18

living out his dreams, a dream

10:21

that he came up with way back when he was five

10:23

years old, just look for the bald

10:25

white guy, or,

10:28

better yet, check out Rob's itinerary

10:30

and tour dates on his website roblittle

10:33

dot com. When's

10:35

your next cruise ship out?

10:38

I actually go on one next week on

10:40

a celebrity cruise. And you have no clue where

10:43

you're going, now

10:46

that you say that, I don't

10:50

From the job, I'm Avery Thompson.