Apologising for arriving a minute late due to some technical difficulties, Connor Wood virtually joins BreakingNews.ie from a well-lit, well-designed, Los Angeles apartment.
“My Zoom never works when I need it to,” he begins, and we set off into the interview.
"Who is Connor Wood? Oh my gosh, you’re hitting me with that right away. Wow, I don’t know, I’ve never met him, I guess now he’s a comedian," Wood laughs, not knowing how to quite describe himself.
He started making TikTok videos during the Covid pandemic, like many other social media stars, and "it's just all kind of moved really quickly into being a comedian," Wood says.
"That's the funniest part of the whole thing, is that it was an accident."
But comedy is freeing, he says. Rather than being confined to the one- (or now 10-) minute time limits of TikTok, he can elaborate on things more on stage, talking slower.
"If you do three of your one-minute videos that can transition into five minutes, now you've got 15 minutes on the stage, it's actually kind of freeing," he says, "because I don't have to make it a minute, I can talk and talk - and I love talking, so it was nice to move over to the stage."
The TikTok-star turned podcaster turned comedian is taking to Dublin’s Liberty Hall Theatre on November 27th as part of his Fibs & Friends tour.
However, the move to the stage was not all plain sailing, Wood says.
"It took me a while to not be so scared because I can delete a video, I can't delete myself off the stage in the middle of the set, but, I'm getting the hang of it, I think.
"It's going really well, I'm knocking on wood over here, but it's been pretty unbelievable, with taking it offline, and there's so much more to come too. It's been great, but it's just getting better."
Woods' podcast, Brooke and Connor Make A Podcast, with Brooke Averick, is also connected to his stand-up career, he explains.
"There's a lot of overlap with the podcast and conversations I have with Brooke, and when I go and do these shows, a lot of stories that I'm telling people are already familiar with because of the podcast, so it'll save me time. I'll be like, remember, my landlord and everyone is like, yes.
"I don't have to explain the characters or who these people are. Everyone is kind of familiar, and I think because of the podcast, they [the fans] want to be part of the growth, they know I'm brand new, I'm not a veteran comedian, but I think everyone, especially the podcast listeners are excited to be part of the whole process," Wood says.
The challenges that come with being a stand-up comedian and being a content creator are different though, Wood iterates.
"Yeah, my life is so hard," he laughs, before becoming more serious.
"The challenges are different every day. The touring is kind of taxing, to go place, to place, to place, I haven't seen my dog in three months, and travelling is not great when it's every day.
"But it's been really rewarding. I think I'm in a part now, where I'm learning more again. I don't have to do the same set, I can tweak it, I can try new stuff, and so I'm in that era right now where I'm trying new stuff and getting the crowd more engaged, which they're having a lot more fun with because they're part of the show.
"It's been really fun, so I'm excited for this era right now. It's challenging, it's really challenging to do crowd work and not have a punch line ready. You just have to trust that you can get somewhere with a conversation, but it's been so far so good. I know the next show, now that I say that, I'm going to bomb," he laughs, lightening the mood again.
Wood has never been to Ireland, and is scared of flying.
"I'm going to have to be knocked out. I'm going to have to be asleep the whole time," he says.
Regardless though, he's excited, "over the moon" in fact, to go global with his comedy.
"It's going to be a learning experience."
"It's going to be such a new experience and I'm scared again, which is fun because I don't like being super comfortable, and so I think the sets that I have now, they've been pretty consistent, people have been loving them.
"I'm hoping it's the same reception, but I'm going to have to tweak some things and I'm going to have to familiarise myself more with the culture, and comedy culture too, so I'm really excited to be uncomfortable, and just to see Ireland," he says.
He's doing Thanksgiving in Ireland with his family, as his show falls on November 27th, the day before the holiday.
His parents are flying to London with him for his London show on November 23rd, and they will travel to Ireland together.
At the time of the interview, Wood had no specific plans for Ireland, but "will see what pub serves turkey" for the big day, and as excited as he is to go international with his tour, he is really excited about seeing his dog afterward, so he is only staying in Ireland for a couple of days.
"I just need to get to my dog. He's in Texas, he's been having a great time with his grandparents, but I'm jealous, and he's going to forget who I am, so I need to get to him ASAP," Wood says.
Connor Wood performs at Dublin's Liberty Hall Theatre on November 27th, with tickets available here.
