“My girlfriend and I broke up, but it’s okay because we’re so different. For example, I’m a carnivore and she’s a vegetarian, I’m a Leo and she’s a Capricorn, I’m Mexican and she’s…employed.”
Manny Crespin, 23, is a senior at CSU-Pueblo and is majoring in mass communication with an emphasis in integrated communication and also majoring in business. When he’s not in school, he’s on-call for the Forest Service, but
Crespin now resides in Pueblo, but he made his way from Alamosa, Colo., to Canon City, Colo.
“I was sheltered,” Crespin said. “My parents sheltered me from the things I’m involved with now.”
Canon City is a very conservative place and Crespin didn’t have the chance to be exposed to some of the obscenity heared in his jokes. He did finally get some exposure when he made the transition to public school.
“It was middle school, the sixth grade,” Crespin said, as he started to grin. “I heard the word ‘crap’ for the first time and it freaked me out.”
When Crespin graduated from Canon City High School, he made the decision to go wherever a scholarship would take him. Crespin played baseball pretty well and Sante Fe seemed to be calling his name.
Crespin found himself at College of Sante Fe for his freshmen year. He liked it there, but it wasn’t everything he wanted. The one thing that he liked about Sante Fe, is that this is where his passion for stand-up comedy started.
“I was always the class clown, but I never thought of making a career out of comedy.”
One day, some students at the College of Sante Fe asked Manny if he had ever given stand-up comedy any thought. He said he pondered at the idea and it really grew inside of him.
It stuck with Crespin and this was around the time that he made the move to CSU-Pueblo. He put his eyes on his goals and he’s been striving ever since. Of course there have been struggles along the way, like the loneliness, but he always finds ways to cope with it. This guy has always been a relationship guy and when he finds someone, he wants to hold on to them for as long as he can.
This goes to show that he is passionate about everything he commits himself to. He has committed himself to his studies, work, comedy and to whoever is in his life. The main thing in his life, at the moment, is comedy.
“I just want to be happy and content with life,” Crespin said. “I feel that way when I have a girlfriend, but when I don’t, I run to comedy.”
Crespin has aspirations beyond comedy and his roommate, Jeff Meigs, think’s that Manny has set goals for himself outside of comedy.
“I think his real goal is to be a motivational speaker one day and inspire others,” Meigs said. “He has a lot going on in his life other than comedy.”
Meigs explained that him and Crespin have become close, but he feels that Crespin keeps up a barrier. He explained that most of the things he has learned about Crespin has come from living with him.
“Manny is very out-going,” Meigs said. “He makes friends easily, but those ‘friends’ don’t ever get too close.”
Crespin explained that for most of his comedic career, he has been alone. For comedians, they’re usually alone when they travel to shows, but they usually have support from friends and family back home. He doesn’t have that and his parents often tell him that he needs to pursue something else.
Crespin remains strong and remains on his journey. He mentioned that he could possibly be giving stand-up comedy a real run for it. School is necessary for him now and he wants to finish that first. Crespin might not end up being a full-time stand-up comedian, but he will always involve laughter in his daily routine.
“No matter what’s going on in your life, learn to laugh, because the human race only has one real effective weapon, and that’s laughter.”