Jason Rouse's Safe Word

I walked through Austin with Dan Guiry, and this conversation was 20 years in the making. We started on Congress Street and wound our way down to 6th Street, hitting every major comedy venue along the way while catching up on two decades of chaos. Here's the thing about Dan—I met him 20 years ago in Calgary when he was 19 and had done maybe three open mics. Someone told him "You gotta see Rouse, he's crazy." So he shows up, I'm with four pirate-looking ladies, and I ask this kid if he wants to come fuck these bitches with me. He tells me he's a virgin, almost shits his pants, goes home and "feverishly jerked off." That's how we met in 2006. Fast forward four years, Dan's been touring across Canada five times and moves to Toronto. Then he gets into the San Francisco Comedy Competition, doesn't win, and decides to hitchhike to LA. This maniac puts his thumb out on the highway with just a guitar and a burner phone. He messages our mutual friend Brian O'Gorman asking what to do, and O'Gorman tells him to hit me u