One Laugh at a Time with Larry Garza

December 29, 2021·1 hr 39 min·5 clips

Larry Garza stopped mid-set before cancer surgery, told the crowd he was scared, and got the biggest laugh of the night.

Host Aaron Tito opens by welcoming Larry Garza, a San Antonio comedian he describes as a brother rather than just a best friend, on the night of Larry's sold-out roast at LOL Comedy Club. Larry announces the roast will stream live on Comedia AgoGo's YouTube and Facebook due to selling out, with donations accepted via Venmo and Cash App. The two immediately fall into reminiscing, with Aaron recounting how Larry whispered 'I'm still better than you' in his ear right as he was being introduced to record his comedy album — a Michael Jordan-style psych-out that Aaron says made him angrier and sharper on stage. They discuss Larry's habit of disappearing — 'Batmanning' — and returning with odd items like collectible Selena mugs and gas station fried chicken, which Aaron used to pander to a Corpus Christi crowd to great effect. The conversation turns to their first paid out-of-town gig together in Houston, booked by promoter Carlos Silva, where a double-booking conflict nearly derailed the show before they agreed to cut their sets. After two successful shows, the promoter took them to an after-party at what they identified as a vampire bar — all red decor, no mirrors, Gothic chandeliers — where Aaron accused a patron of being a vampire's 'familiar' and demanded to see his lip. A TABC agent on the bill then threatened to shut the bar down for serving after 2 AM, prompting a hasty exit. The group then ate at a converted shoe-store Mexican restaurant at 4 AM before the promoter attempted to find them lodging, cycling through motels while paying with a large wad of cash and insulting managers. They ended up in a $25 motel room with damp carpet, apparent blood stains in the bathroom, and a hardcore porn channel on a TV that was bolted to the wall with its plug locked — impossible to turn off. The three comedians — Aaron, Larry, and a larger Regan — shared a king bed and eventually fell asleep with the TV still running. The promoter never paid them, citing a brown recluse spider bite and a partner who allegedly took the money. Larry says the experience taught him to always insist on payment, and Aaron recalls watching Larry firmly demand payment at a Corpus Christi show where the event was cancelled after they had already driven down. The episode transitions to Larry's health journey, with Aaron noting that Larry's comedy album 'Big Mama, God, and Monster' marked a shift toward vulnerability on stage. Larry describes recording what he thought might be his final comedy special at the Bang Bang Bar in San Antonio the week before cancer surgery, with the San Antonio film community volunteering cameras and equipment on short notice. He recounts stopping mid-set to address the crowd directly, admitting he was scared, and improvising a joke about brain cancer — 'I guess I'm just a fucking asshole' — that broke the tension and transformed the show. Larry reflects that none of his health crises — kidney cancer, brain metastasis, seizures — actually killed him, reframing them as things that 'just sucked' rather than bad things that happened. He expresses gratitude that outcomes weren't worse and describes his philosophy as finding humor in close calls. Larry then addresses misconceptions about cancer, explaining that the word is as broad as 'food' and that not all patients lose hair or receive chemotherapy. He specifically explains that kidney cancer is treated with surgery and, if metastasized, immunotherapy — not chemo — and that it responds well to immunotherapy when caught early. He also criticizes Texas Oncology as a for-profit operation and references a friend named Clint Worth who warned him to ensure all treatment stayed in-network after receiving a $75,000 bill for a single bag of chemotherapy.

As heard by us

A loose comic hangout that finds tenderness in surviving a cancer scare.

Larry Garza and the host talk through a cancer scare, the joke that helped settle a tense crowd, and the way humor can take the edge off fear without making it disappear.

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Why you'd press play

You want a comic hang that turns from jokes into cancer survival talk.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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