Earlier this summer Saul Trujillo walked into the Cheroot Longue in Downtown Modesto and spun what amounted to be his entire stand-up comedy career into his first taped special.
All of those years of grinding away at open mics throughout Northern California, and the long road trips to the Pacific Northwest as he went from club to casino trying to scrape by enough money to pay for his expenses, and his hard work at becoming a well-regarded local staple were suddenly front-and-center as the Stockton native – who spends quite a bit of time in Manteca these days – led the audience through a set that even accomplished comics have a hard time putting together.
And now he’s hoping that people will take to the finished product.
On Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at Cheroot – located a 915 10th Street – Trujillo will be hosting an extended release party for his “Drugstore Debutante” special that he’s planning on releasing to popular streaming services like Amazon Prime and Spotify as well as other e-retailers to make it easier for people to consume his material.
“Actually releasing it is now pushing me to write more material,” said Trujillo – the winner of the 2017 San Jose Improv Comedy Competition and a participant at the recent World Series of Comedy in Las Vegas. “This special represents everything that I’ve worked up to – all of the hours that I’ve spent writing and all of the time working on it – and having an hour of material is a bit of milestone that a lot of comics don’t believe until they see it for themselves.
“Now I’ll be able to hand this to them and it’s a testament to all of that work.”
Filmed with a three-camera high-definition setup laid out by fellow comic Nick Larson, the special will be available as an audio recording on music services like Spotify and Pandora. Amazon is expected to carry the streaming video as a purchase option.
As a founding member of the Deaf Puppies – a tight-knit collective of Central Valley comics that has grown to include hosting comedy shows as part of their mission – Trujillo will include other members such as Larson as a host and AJ DeMello and Taylor Evans as featured acts.
Being a part of that group, Trujillo said, has helped motivate him to get to where he is today and the group serves as an important sounding board for new material and ideas that he’s flushing out before a performance.
“The Deaf Puppies are kind of a weird thing – comedy is very much an individualistic thing where you get up there and do your own material, but it helps to have people to exchange ideas with and write with and having that support matters,” Trujillo said. “You need somebody to encourage you to get out there to the open mics and the clubs and with this group everybody supports everybody and pushes them to become better.”
Tickets for both shows can be purchased in advance for $10 by visiting www.eventbrite.com and searching for Saul Trujillo Live. A limited number of door tickets may be available on both days for $15, but is depending on seating.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.