3 rules for life | Andrew Hamilton of OG Crew transcript

For me, I was locked up and I was all like I was on the sidelines of my own life. I asked myself that if I could start again, what would I do? And weirdly, there was only one answer and that was to get out and do standup comedy. Hey there, I'm Matt Diolla and welcome to my short form podcast, Three Rules. Each episode, I ask a guest to share three rules that help them find success and happiness. Today I'm joined by Andrew Hamilton, a stand-up comedian who earned a nomination for best newcomer at the 2023 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Before comedy, Andrew spent 15 years as a drug dealer, a path that ultimately landed him in prison. Now on the straight and narrow, he's turned his past into some hilarious material both on stage as a part of his popular YouTube channel OG Crew and in his book, The Profound Benefits of a Stint in Prison. I don't know if it feels weird to be on a self-development podcast when you par it so often in your content. Um, but I'm really excited to kind of dive into some of these rules that you found that have helped you.

Well, after the kind of the amazing guests I've seen you've already had on the podcast like Truthless and James Smith, I was like, "Wow, I'm just like an ex-con exjunkie um whose brain is fried from cocaine and I can barely string a sentence together. So, I don't know if if my uh insights are going to be considered anywhere near those ones, but rule one, don't go to jail. Well, maybe I mean, it worked for me. So, that's true.

Yes. Yeah. Just I guess be careful what kind of crimes you're committing. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I was only in prison for 4 months and I think that's probably about like a good amount. I think any longer than that, you're probably going to have a bad time. But just a little quick stint. Yeah. Reminds me of like the old scared straight program. Have you ever like Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was just like for me it was it was like rehab.

But I think for me my my first rule would be uh that nobody's coming to save you. That's what I kind of realized when I was locked up is just how alone I was. I in the first two weeks in there I was in quarantine which because of co and so you're just stuck in a cell uh for 23 and 1 half hours a day. I had no TV or books. And so it was very hard on your mental health just to stay positive when it's kind of like you've just [ __ ] your entire life up.

And so yeah, that's when you you realize, hey, the only one that's going to get me out of this is me. Mhm. And that's I think uh equal parts terrifying, but also um uh uplifting because you're like, well, you start to realize all these things that you have still. I still had my health. I still had my sense of humor. Um, and I still had my mind. So, I started writing just to keep my mind active, I started writing uh like a journal every day.

I got a pen and paper. And then I just for my own sense of humor, I started writing prison food reviews every day and scoring them out of 10. Like the frittata needed salt and stuff like that. And so, yeah, I think just realizing that I had the power within me to to fix this and and and and that it was going to have to be me um was the first step for me and um a very very positive journey in the end. But it is terrifying to start. this rule um this like relates to a couple rules that have come up before which I love and like because it kind of comes around to this idea of taking taking ownership and responsibility for yourself uh even when you're kind of life is falling apart around you.

Um what does that mean for you like in terms of taking ownership once you get out of prison? Uh you you you still have nothing. So, how do you like take ownership over the things you can control and how do you start to put the pieces together to where you are today? It was gradual. I think it was just um it took me a little bit to adjust even though I was only locked up for 4 months. I I got used to a rhythm in there and so then go when I got bailed to my parents' place, it was weird to just even be able to go to the bathroom without having to get permission or to leave my room or even just going to the grocery store with my dad for the first time.

I felt like I had this kind of in this stain on me. I thought people were going to know that I just gotten out of jail and and it was wrong. They they they couldn't tell. But I think that I it it was a slow process of me just realizing one of the the scariest parts was I was on bail. So I thought I was going to go back to prison, right? So you still got this dark cloud hanging over you. So uh at that point it's very hard to kind of move on with your life.

So, I guess I just tried to to make the most of it then, which was by staying fit and writing every day. And then I started writing jokes and and that was when I saw an ad for Australia's biggest standup comedy competition for amateurs and I signed up for that and got given a heat and I thought, well, [ __ ] if I'm going to do this, I need to go and test out some material. Had you done standup until that point? Never.

So, you signed up for a competition before you ever did stand up. Wow. And so, I thought, well, [ __ ] if I'm going to do this competition, I need to go to some open mics, but I was on bail and so I wasn't allowed out of the house unless I was in a company of my mom and dad. So, I had to go to these open mics with my 75-year-old mother. And I would get there and it'd be like 20 25 guys, mostly in their early 20s, getting on stage to talk about wanking and come for 5 minutes.

And I you put your name in a bucket and you get drawn out randomly about when it's your turn. And so you could be there for like two or three hours waiting for your turn. But because I was I had a police curfew, I had to be like, "Hey, it's my first time doing comedy. You don't know me, but can I also go on early?" Yes. And they're like, "Who the [ __ ] are you?" And so then I had to be like, "Oh, it's my I have a bale curfew." And luckily other comedians thought that was the funniest thing ever.

So I found the Sydney comedy community to be very welcoming and supportive of me straight away. And so I did my first ever 5 minutes on stage. It went fine. I got laughs and immediately felt the rush of it and I thought, man, I want to be doing this every night. I fell in love with it straight away. Oh, that's beautiful, man. Um, God, this podcast could be an hour long, but I'm going to do my best to keep it to 15 minutes.

Um, let's move on to rule number two. Rule number two is embrace the crisis because that's what happened to me. It all fell apart. And I used to have a podcast where I would speak to people about times when they hit a crisis point in their life. It was called shit's gone sideways. And what I found uh I found this common thread with people who have all gone through a crisis point. Whether that's um a suicide attempt, health issues, uh brutal divorce, uh losing a job, um going to prison. that some for a lot of people this crisis point actually ends up being one of the best things that's ever happened to them because it forces them to ask themselves questions about themselves in their life that they have perhaps have never asked or haven't asked themselves in a long time.

And so that was it for me. It was this huge pause button where uh for me I was locked up and I was all like I was on the sidelines of my own life and was like if you could start over again what would you do? There was only one answer and that was to get out and do standup comedy. Like it was just it was that and nothing. And so I think that for a lot of people if you were told you have one year to live and you were like okay well what do I want to do with that year?

You'd probably have an answer. Mhm. And so I feel very fortunate that I had this crisis point because it's changed my life and saved my life. And I think that uh there are a lot of people who may not necessarily have such a huge crisis point in their life and they get to 80 and like it was never great but it wasn't bad enough that they had a crisis point where they actually got really self-reflective and they get to 80 and they're like, "Oh, I didn't love my marriage.

I my job sucked and I never really did anything special with my life. The worst thing that ever happened to me ended up being the best. And so I don't know how to say to someone in a practical way uh if they if they don't have a crisis point like how do you how do you really ask yourself that? Because I think that it's very hard if your life is is is okay but you're not loving it. It's very hard to then ask yourself that question about what do I actually want to get out of life and then go and actually act on it.

It could be this moment right now listening to this podcast like if if you are if cuz I mean that's one of those things that I think I was most afraid of when I was younger is that the my life would just become monotonous and I would just get a job and then every day I would wake up do the same thing. I wouldn't be inspired. I wouldn't kind of seek moments of fear where I felt uncomfortable. Um, and I think still to this day, it's like it's one of those fears that's still in the back of my head where I'm like, you have to keep pushing yourself.

You have to keep challenging yourself because if you don't, then um, you'll remain stagnant and you won't grow and you'll eventually kind of settle into a life of of mediocrity. Um, I think what's so beautiful about your story is that you used it as fuel as well, too. So, it's not only did you kind of face this hardship and then turn it around, but you you can also use that as material. Like the hardest points of your life, the most difficult things you've had to get through can be turned into something more productive if you look at it the right way.

It was an insane thought. I was sitting in Long Bay jail and I thought about doing standup comedy or I could just go back. I I used to work in public relations for over a decade and I was like there was only one article in the paper about my arrest. Um I could go back to a white collar job and it would be okay or I can get on stage every night and say, "Hey, I went to prison for drugs and we're going to make a heap of jokes about it and own the [ __ ] out of it." And I thought that is insane.

I bet it's going to work. Yeah. And so that's that's the point of there's there's no turning back. You're like there's no hiding from it now. [ __ ] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There there's no turning back. And and I don't know why, but just I knew with my with with every fiber of my being that it was going to work, and it has, and it changed my life. Sometimes you need to go through some pretty drastic moves to be like, "Holy [ __ ] that was the best thing that ever happened to me." I'm going to be back with the third and final rule in a moment, but first, one of the ways I'm supporting this podcast is through Patreon.

By becoming a patron, you get access to the full unedited episodes of the show. What is your take on that kind of business guru industry? I mean, that's why we started making them in the first place, cuz I was just so sick of hustle culture videos. You know, it's all about guys keeping their circles small and leveling up. And I'm like, none of this means anything. This is insane. As a patron, you'll also get additional unused footage from my YouTube videos and access to a membersonly area where you can ask me questions for my Patreon exclusive AMA podcast.

And most importantly, you'll feel good knowing that you're supporting a creator you like. And really, what other incentive do you need? Simply go to patreon.com/mattella to support the show. That's patreon.com/mattella. There's a link down in the description below. Thanks for considering. What's your third rule? My third rule is liking the person you see in the mirror. Because for so long I Yeah, I was a wealthy drug dealer and I had friends. uh I'm putting that in inverted commas around me and on paper I I thought I had a great life but I I I knew I didn't really like the guy that I was and now I am a poor comedian excon publicly outed as an egg kicks con on pretty much every meter outlet uh no man and I you know I live with my parents and I am happier now than I've ever been right I I I love my life and I really like the guy that I see in the mirror uh now and I like the guy that I'm continuing to become.

And so I think there's a lot to be said for um for forcing yourself to be something um for for money or success or because of a certain image rather than um a person that you really like. Cuz you got to you don't spend any more time with anyone other than yourself. And it's pretty hard uh if you don't like yourself. I think that's if I think back to the reason why I went down such a rabbit hole with addiction with with gambling and drugs and alcohol.

I think a lot of it was because I didn't like myself and I didn't want to spend time thinking about that. So I just escape into every single addiction. But now that I live a life of purpose, I don't think about any of that stuff now because I'm like so busy living a life that I love. M so um this might be a little bit uh wanky uh especially to ask an excon who's a comedian now but um like how do you how do you view selflove cuz this is one of those things that I've always really like haven't liked I just don't like that phrase and and you know maybe that's I don't know maybe that's something from my childhood but I'm like something something about like self-love it just is like part of like the wanky self-help culture that I don't really like but even even if it's self-like.

It's like how do you go about that process of kind of looking at yourself in the mirror and getting to like or even love yourself for who you are uh rather than your faults and and what you don't have. I think I just did it through action. I just I made myself the promise when I got out that I was going to do standup comedy. I've I wrote a list of all the things I wanted to do uh in jail uh and they were write a book, do standup comedy, and do more with boxing.

And now I'm I'm doing all those things. And so I think becoming the man that I dreamt about um and you only do that through through actual action um makes it easy. You don't have to sit in front of the mirror and be like I like myself. No, of course. No, that's that's the very lame version of self- loveve for me. I agree. Like I I never resonated with the the the idea that you could love yourself uh when you aren't in a place that you're not proud of.

And I'm sure like my therapist would have a lot to say about that, but like it's the idea that, you know, I feel like you have to work on yourself to feel proud of yourself. Um I have a really hard time believing that I can like sit in a room and just accept myself for the way I am. It sounds a little [ __ ] up, but I'm like I feel like you need to actually put what you're saying into action. And I think Yep. Absolutely.

But I think it's not also about the destination. I think it's about enjoying just that journey because even when I was just going to open mics and hadn't achieved anything in comedy yet, I believed uh that it was my purpose and I and I was loving the process. I would still go on dating apps and be like to girls and be like, "Oh, hey, I just got out of jail and do standup." And it' be like, "Uh, block, unmatched, unmatched, unmatched.

Maybe I'm just totally like undatable piece of [ __ ] right?" But I'm like, "No, like whatever. I I I still believe that I'm doing the right thing out here. Um, that I'm bettering myself." And now I get so many messages from people because of the fact that I own my story. um guys that went to prison and then um moved on with their lives and had never spoken about it and have messaged me saying, "Hey man, um I I thought that this was something that I'd never be able to talk about with people, but now I'm doing a public speaking course and I want to be able to share my story." And I think that, you know, I just got a message from someone at Park Lee Prison to say that they've got a book club at the moment talking about my book.

And so, you never know how much you can touch people by just being your authentic self. Yeah. And even now like I'll have cops, prison officers, criminal lawyers, and crims all coming to my show. A lot of bikes. You know what a bikey is? Yeah. So I have all these guys coming to my show. Um because they resonate with story one way or another. And for me that's really cool. There's probably people that I used to work with in the corporate world that are like, "What the [ __ ] happened to this guy?" Like he's just like now he's like on doing jokes about how he like sold magic mushrooms.

It's like fine, whatever. I I'm comfortable with myself because I spend my nights making strangers laugh and that gives me purpose and gives me fuel and and now yeah, as I said, I'm I'm the happiest I've ever been even though on paper my life would probably look like a garbage fire. No, that's that's that's beautiful. And I think um I think you might be surprised at the amount of people that in like your corporate past who would be envious of where you're at now and the kind of freedom that you're creating in your life and the amount of joy that you can bring into it, too.

It's like I'd so much rather live with uncertainty than like have a monotonous life that's fully certain where you I mean and and even then it's like you never know if that next paycheck is going to come in. You can get fired at any moment. Yeah. Um so yeah, man. Like this is this has been great. I think that's that's the end of the podcast. Um is there anything else that you'd like to share before we wrap up? I uh I'm not a deeply religious person, but it did seem strange to me that at my darkest moment in jail, something spoke to me and said, "When you get out of prison, you're going to do standup comedy and it's going to change your life." And ever since then, I've been on this path and mo time after time after time, I've just been getting signs that this is the right path.

Just a new door will open. And so yeah, I think I'm still grappling with my u my understanding of spirituality, but I think that there is certainly um there is something greater than ourselves out there. Um and so yeah, that's something that I'll probably spend the rest of my life trying to figure out as well. But uh I just I'm enjoying the journey. Thanks so much for coming on. If people want to learn more about your work, where should we send them?

Uh, just go look up Andrew Hamilton Comedy Anywhere or The OG Crew on YouTube. Sweet. Thanks, man. Thanks for tuning in to Three Rules. Want to see every rule from the show? Get the full archive at matte.com/3ules. For my weekly byite-size self-development emails where I share insightful lessons, practical tips, and personal experiments, sign up at mattella.com/newsletter. And if you want to learn more about today's guest, check out the description for this episode.

See you next time.