Thom Tran Is a Regular Standup Comic Except for the Part About Being Shot in the Head in Iraq

The Hilarious World of Depression

American Public Media

Comedy Interviews, Comedy

4.8 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2018

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Yeah, you don't hear a lot of on-stage material from Chris Rock or Sarah Silverman about the time they were on a mission with their unit in Iraq and they took a bullet to the back of the skull. But you hear about that from Thom Tran, a US Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient who not only talks about his experiences on the battlefield but shows video on stage of that injury as well. The Vietnam-born, Buffalo-raised comedian is based in Los Angeles now, gathering acclaim for his jokes and stories while working to help other veterans find the next chapter in their lives.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Cameron Espazito and I have a lot of jobs. I'm an actor. You've seen me on ABC's and a million little things.
0:04.8	I'm a stand-up comic bestselling author, but I am no expert at survival.
0:08.5	On my new podcast Survivor Diet trying, we're going to learn together from shark attacks to
0:13.8	tsunamis and bad breakups. This is your one-stop shop to prepare for the absolute worst-case scenario.
0:20.0	Join me and some special guests on Survivor Diet trying a comedy podcast that prepares you for anything.
0:26.4	Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
0:30.1	Is depression funny? If you know how to wield it.
0:34.0	The guy goes in to see a doctor says there's something wrong with me. I got a sadness I can't shake now.
0:56.5	Is there something I can't take now?
1:01.9	It's the hilarious world of depression. I'm John Moe. Say, before we dive in, a big reminder to swing
1:08.0	by our Facebook page. Great discussions, interesting articles, and your chance to be on the show.
1:14.4	A few months ago, I was giving a speech about depression and mental health. Slighting a few jokes in
1:19.6	there, we get to the Q&A. A guy raises his hand and he says he likes the show and he's an army veteran.
1:26.5	He was in combat and that experience has been a big part of the stress and anxiety and depression
1:32.8	he deals with. He wants to know if we'll ever have a comedian on the show who was a combat veteran
1:38.5	to talk about depression. I confess that I hadn't thought of that because I didn't think people like
1:44.4	that would be comedians because I was unfairly stereotyping them as being completely serious people.
1:52.3	Turns out when you go looking for American military veteran comedians online, you find tons.
1:58.8	It's a whole genre. And what are the names you see over and over again led me to Los Angeles.
2:05.3	My name is Tom Tran. I am a combat wounded veteran of the United States Army. I'm a professional
2:11.0	stand-up comedian. Tom is also a working musician in a band. I talk to him in a converted garage
2:17.5	behind his house full of guitars. By day, he works full-time as a traffic reporter on the radio.
	...

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