Latest / The Breakfast Club / INTERVIEW: Cedric The Entertainer Talks Bringing His Craft To Broadway, ‘The Neighborhood’, Kins of Comedy 2 + More

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INTERVIEW: Cedric The Entertainer Talks Bringing His Craft To Broadway, ‘The Neighborhood’, Kins of Comedy 2 + More · The Breakfast Club

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Every day a week ago. Pick your ass up the
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: breakfast Club.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: You don't finish for y'all done.
• 0:08
  Speaker 3: Morning, everybody's st j A n Vy just hilarious. Charlamagne
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: the guy we are the breakfast club law La Roses.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Here as well.
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: We got a special guest in the building, the legend
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: entertainer back Morning, Good morning morning.
• 0:21
  Speaker 4: It was so good man, all this well, I can't
• 0:24
  Speaker 4: complain good, great scene, jazz something everybody.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Man.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: The first thing Cedric said when he walked in is
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: you know today's table bring your kids to work there?
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: He said, ye ain't bring your kids.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Slack kids, black kids, hots.
• 0:38
  Speaker 4: And everything, just tear up everything, like no, no, it was.
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: It was a bunch of little white kids on the elevator.
• 0:47
  Speaker 4: I was like, okay. It was like they had on
• 0:49
  Speaker 4: their little quarter zips and everybody's looking like they looking
• 0:53
  Speaker 4: like little business people. I thought, okay, I was expecting it.
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: You know, if you got like how many kids, I
• 0:58
  Speaker 4: got six, like I said, it would.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Have been crowded. Yeah. So that okay, that's that's that's
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: American right there. That's Amican.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: So that's gonna change right now anyway.
• 1:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah, how you feeling, brother, feeling good man, been in
• 1:23
  Speaker 4: the city chilling man.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: I've been uh, you know, here doing Broadway. So I've
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: been like here through.
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: The blizzards and and now the weather is starting to
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: break a little bit.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: It changes like from day to day though, That's what me.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: New York was like.
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: One day you had your little, nice little shirt, short
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: sleeve on, and by the time the night come, you.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Need to yeah crazy, I mean.
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: Scarfed up, barring people clothes. I'm like, let me get
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: that jacket from me.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: So what got you back in the in the Broadway?
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: Between all the you know, the comedy specials, you being
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: on the road, the movies, what made you say, you
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: know what, let me sit down for a minute and just.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Focus on bro. This was a good transition, man.
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: You know after doing the sitcom for eight seasons, so
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: you know, we did the Neighborhood, it wrapped up and
• 2:03
  Speaker 4: eight season. That's a blessing, man. But you know, I
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: wanted to do something different. I didn't really want to
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: be another TV dad or just kind of go straight
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: to that. And the opportunity to do Broadway was gonna be,
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: you know, just one of these places where you get
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: to try your real acting chops you on this stage
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: once they once some lights come up, you out there,
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: you know this is this is you know, this is
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: the dojo for for real actors. This's where they go
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: to work and get stronger. And so, uh it was
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: a blessing.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Man.
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: I ran into Debbie Allen last year. I come to
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: see Othello and saw Denzel and knew he was doing
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: all these August Wilson plays just kind of you know,
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: spoken into existence, really manifested it. So, uh then I
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: saw Debbie and Debbie Allen and she called me, and uh,
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: you know, it was just it lined up perfectly. The time,
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: the timing from when we were wrapping the Neighborhood to
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: when they was gonna start this was perfect. So it's
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: been and it's been great. Man, it's been a great transition.
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: I want you to come see it. If anybody you know, no, no,
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: this is real. This is August Wilson's Joe Turns coming
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: Gone ground Man. August Wilson is a great American African
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: American play right, great play right period though. But he's
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: got you know, shows like Fences and my Raimi's Black
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: Bottom and all these and Denzel's is as committed to
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: do all of them as a film, so he'll we'll
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: do the plays and then they'll make a movie out
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: of it. And so, uh, that's been that's been a blessing.
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: But no, it's it's it's serious work. And then you
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: know Taraji's co starring and uh and we got Reuben
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: Santiago Hudson and Joshua Boone. It's some dope people in here.
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  Speaker 5: It's bad when you think about this play right coming gone,
• 3:46
  Speaker 5: did you feel pressure walking into that legacy or did
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: you walk in like I'm stavy entertained.
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  Speaker 2: I got it?
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  Speaker 4: No, man, I mean, you know it's one of those
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: things that you know, you you definitely don't want to take,
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: you know for granted, like, yeah, just your fame is
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: gonna work in this space, right because this is like
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: sincere Broadway. You know, it's the big time you you
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: on the floor seats of acting as far as what
• 4:07
  Speaker 4: you know, what the world sees, right, and so you
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: know you're.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: You got to come in there and hold it down.
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: And you know that this other like Tony Award winning
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  Speaker 4: people into play, including you know, working for Debbie Allen.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: You know she ain't get ready to play no games.
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: So It's just it was the one where I wanted
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: to be prepared, and I came in after doing the Neighborhood.
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: So I literally finished the Neighborhood on Tuesday and had
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: to be here Sunday, and so I felt like I
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: was behind, Like you know, actors was kind of off
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: book already and I'm still in there like in rehearsals
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: like so, I was a little nervous for a while.
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  Speaker 4: But Debbie, she got me. She was like, look, you good,
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: just keep working, keep working. We got the time, Just
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: keep working.
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  Speaker 1: You good.
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  Speaker 4: I was like, all right, cause it is intimidating. You
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: do feel like, you know all these you know, high
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: level actors, like being in the scene with Denzel or somebody.
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: You know, you'd be like, what am I gonna be?
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: But really hold this down, you know what I'm saying.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: So but I trust it though, you know, how.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: Do you get somebody to feel something serious?
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: Though?
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  Speaker 2: As soon as you walk on, I might just laugh
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: because it's sad. You know what I'm saying.
• 5:11
  Speaker 5: Your disposition, it is a deposition.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Let me talk to my lawyer.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Your disposition is just funny when you're walking around.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: It's so true, though, man, and I think you know.
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: That kind of happens too with the audience, like you know,
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: right away when they see me, it's this idea that
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: and you know, and so that we actually encouraged it.
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: So I don't play away from the fact that I
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: make people laugh. But the character is this sincere guy,
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: you know, Seth Holly. He owns a He owns a
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: boarding house in nineteen eleven. So all the people are
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: kind of the great migration, people coming up from the
• 6:00
  Speaker 4: South coming north Way in Pittsburgh, and it's about people
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: coming transitioning, trying to find their life, find their footing,
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: find where they're going. And so I own this boarding house.
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: So I just played them as like one of them
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: og you know, uncle grandfathers, you know, and they funny
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: even though they serious. So you so once you see
• 6:20
  Speaker 4: me like like locking to the role, you'll understand the
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: serious parts and then you'll get But I kind of
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: did that in Barbershop too, Like it's moments in the
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: in Barbershop movie where I'm really sincere and you you
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: can believe it and then and then as opposed to
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: like the moments where I'm just telling jokes. So this
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: is more that it's more like the sincere of the character.
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: But I have an opportunity to be myself and to
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: let people laugh, and I didn't get to do that
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: in the American Buffalo.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: The first time I did Broadway, it was all serious.
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: It was David Mammon, and I remember my audience would
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: want to laugh at things that weren't funny, but they
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: just needed that release because.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: It was me. They was like, God, that's crazy like that.
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  Speaker 1: I didn't say nothing.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: How the schedule schedule, you know, man, I mean you're
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: doing shows.
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  Speaker 1: Eight shows a week.
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  Speaker 4: You do one Tuesday, two Wednesday, one Thursday, one Friday,
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  Speaker 4: two Saturday, and one Sunday.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: So it's a it's a grind. You got one day off,
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  Speaker 1: so Monday Mondays is the only.
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  Speaker 4: Day off and you got to try to get it
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: all in whatever again, you know, your relaxation, your bills,
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: pay your doctor visits, everything got to happen on that Monday.
• 7:26
  Speaker 6: So yeah, you gotta rest.
• 7:29
  Speaker 4: Yeah, because I mean when you're doing these shows, you
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: know you do have to project. They have you miked
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: up a little bit. I think it's more, uh, you know,
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: more modern than it used to be the old way
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: where you add like project everywhere, but you are micd up.
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: But still it's important to let the back of that
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: thea to hear your voice right, and so you can't
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: really count on the microphone, so it is an opportunity.
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  Speaker 4: So we do all these little warm up exercises and
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: stuff like that to kind of keep yourself uh where
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: you know, where you let people hear you.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: I got I got a good voice.
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: Though, I got like a natural kind of big, big voice,
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: so that I just you know, I got that Saint Louis.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: So sometimes people don't understand what I'm saying. I guess
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: you could.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: Have did radio. You could have been in a with
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Jerald verdisonbody.
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  Speaker 1: Written.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: Now you don't have to say, you know, I was
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: wondering with with that being said, do you ever get nervous, Like,
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: what's the craziest thing that ever happened while you were acting?
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Right?
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: Did somebody forget their lines? Did you forget your lost
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: come out too early? Did something the lights go out?
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: What was the craziest thing that happened while.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: You Yeah, well, one one I come out.
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: It's a scene where I drop a bucket and this
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: bucket it's got like got like pots and pants in
• 8:45
  Speaker 4: it because that's what I do as a little side hustle.
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: I make pots and pants, and so it drops and
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: bucket fall over and then it's like two levels of
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: the stage and they started to roll where it would
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: have fell into the audience, and so I'm like looking
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: like and other people talking about it's like, so I just.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: Go and get it because I see about to roll
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: off the stage.
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: So it's just one of these moments where need for
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: me to scoop it all up. It's just making more noise.
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: I turned around, I was like, and it just kind
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: of walked off. But it was one of those moments
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: where you have to decide, like it's live. So when
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: things are happening, you just gotta kinda go with it.
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: I definitely like early on and drop lines where you
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: just you like, I I don't know where I am
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: because there's so many words, like all this willson right
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: with a lot of words and these speeches and it's
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: kind of like, you know, nineteen eleven vernacular, so you
• 9:42
  Speaker 4: gotta kind of like say it a certain way.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: And then but it's it is.
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: It's one of those things that once you get to
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: doing it, and like all of us we learn to
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: trust each other. It's almost like with like a trapeze family, right,
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: like you gotta you gotta know like the other person's
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: when I let go, like this your job, you catch
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: me like So that's and that's kind of what happens
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: we be out there. Like if you see somebody losing
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: it and you can tell they off, you just go
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: and catch them, just run up and take them to
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: the next thing and like let it go because the
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: audience don't really know unless they know, you know, like
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: it's people that's super theater folks, and they're gonna be like,
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: you know, you guys drop the line and seem to.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: You hope not, but it is.
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: It is folks like that that are very like super Broadway,
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: and they they're coming there for that.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: So you know, we don't we don't want to, you know,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: we but.
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: We we We Actually, DeBie works are so hard that
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: it's not like we we do that a lot. It
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: just happens, you know, because your brain is just gonna
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: slip sometimes out there.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: You know, it's every night. Sometimes you do two shows.
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: That's when it really happened when you do two shows,
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: because you feel just a notice like even when you
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: perform like stand up on the multiple show night. You know,
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: like I said this joke already, Like so you'll be
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: out there thinking like.
• 11:02
  Speaker 6: Did they hear.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: Okay?
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, you be looking around like like yeah, you
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: say that's twice?
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: Is there?
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: No, that's the that's the only thing you know that
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: the playwright, you know, these guys like that's who this.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Play is called August Wilson's Joe Turner's coming along.
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: So's he the top of the food chain on here.
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: So you gotta do you gotta do the words, and
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: that's what's important.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: And so I mean there are you know, kid, like
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: it's times.
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: Where you may be a variation where it just come
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: out your head the way you would say it, but
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: you still need to be saying the context for the
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: most part. Yeah, you don't get to just kind of
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: take them take a full left turn and just like
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: hit him with the new joke that's in your head,
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: Like I got I got some bars for this.
• 11:58
  Speaker 7: I would think people understand you keep saying August Wilson.
• 12:01
  Speaker 7: Other people understand how like major August Wilson is like
• 12:06
  Speaker 7: a certain group of people. But when I went to
• 12:08
  Speaker 7: at Dell State, it can hit anything theatrical. They focused
• 12:11
  Speaker 7: on August Wilson, like it's kind of like Shakespeare, but
• 12:13
  Speaker 7: it's our version of Shakespeare. Like people lean so heavily
• 12:16
  Speaker 7: in on August Wilson.
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's got like it's eleven or ten plays for
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: sure in the series, and I believe it's eleven of
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: these all just super I mean, very important plays. They
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: kind of tell the story of us, like you know,
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: history from slavery and then these different stages of our culture,
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: like Joe Turner Coming Gone is this stage when slavery
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: was over and.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: People are looking.
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: And trying to find who they are, and they're looking
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: for their families because people have been separated, and yet
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: you know, in the South they would still keep people.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: And it's one character, Loomits.
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: His character has been captured and he was trapped for
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: seven years and then he gets out and he's looking
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: for his wife and he comes and stays at our
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: boarding house. And so he's a guy that's on the
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: journey to find like his life and his footing and
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: all that stuff. And yet you know, I've never been
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: a slave, my character, so I'm kind of arrogant and
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: a little bit, you know.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: A little bit of a such a much in a way,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying.
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: But but all of it you learn from everybody else's
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: journey as it goes along.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: So this was really special about it.
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: And now I think that's what makes his writing as
• 13:32
  Speaker 4: far as the stories of African Americans, really resonate with
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: us because it's spiritual, it's funny, it's like it definitely
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: is like it's written heavy, but because it's us, like
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: culturally black people in there talking to us and you
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: know they laughing, it's just like, yeah, it's the same
• 13:54
  Speaker 4: quality of going to any black film where you you know,
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: where we people sitting there and because it's theater, feel
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: like we in your living room, like you sitting in
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: that audience, Like you.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: Don't do that? Why you going to that? Girl?
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: You know you hear that all the time, Like you like,
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: y'all black black as hell? Yeahbec well, y'all a supposed
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: to be talking to us like this, but but it's all right,
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: you know, we we've learned to embrace all of that.
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: That's the energy that that's uh, that feels like love
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: and the love that you want to get, you know,
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: that celebration of who we.
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: Are, what the Broadway expose about I guess your craft
• 14:28
  Speaker 5: and your skill set that TV and stand up never did.
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: Man, you know, I think it's that that idea, that
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: of connection, right, it's something that you have to have
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: as a stand up where you connect to an audience.
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: But I think the idea of being able to do
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: the combination because then you know, as an actor, you
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: you get to stop and start over and go, you know,
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: and look look for that that feeling that you want
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: or you didn't say the words quite the way you
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: wanted the land, you know, a scene. But I think here,
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: you know, know, it is this ability to take what
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: is innately your power, like this ability to connect with people,
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: this ability to be somebody that you recognize and then
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: turn it on and then and go out there and
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: be it right, you know, right at the moment. And
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: I think that's what I try to do because my
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: character starts off the plate, so I have to bring
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: you into this play like right away, right, you know,
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: And I think I look at that as my job,
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: like the job as well somebody started then you know,
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: that's pretty much how it is. Right, Like you're gonna say,
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: a man, you the first one out here. You got
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: to make it happen, and you know, and it's Taraji
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: and I, but you know, we're on there and we're
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: kind of setting up the pace and then it just
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: goes and so you know, it's important that I think
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: that I had to learn to take trust what I do,
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: you know, as a stand up like the ability to
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: walk out there on your own, which is the craziest
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: sport of them all. I kind of feel like stand
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: up is like you you don't have no support, you know,
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: and get a drummer song or none of that.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Like that's the hardest thing to do.
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: Yeah, being a stand up comic going up there by
• 16:05
  Speaker 5: yourself talking to hundreds thousands of people trying to make
• 16:08
  Speaker 5: them laugh.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the expectation to laugh. I think that's the
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: hardest thing to do.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: I think it's I think it's Broadway because see, at
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: least stand up comedian and you practice you on your own,
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: but Broadway you got to play off of what somebody
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: else does. What y'all got line, But if they mess
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: up their lines or they forget their lines, so you
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: forget your line.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: See jokes, you practice that both of them.
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but I mean, but stand up, stand up to me,
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: is still a little bit more is. I kind of agree,
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: because you just don't have no balance, Like say in
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: a in a in a Broadway play, if you do
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: mess up and you've been you've been rehearsing, somebody.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Else can pick it up for you.
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: It's almost like in a band, right, like if you
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: drop all, you forget the lyrics, they just start playing.
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: You know, you know, like I mean, you used to
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: go to to see like New Edition them about around.
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: He'll just tell you the same for thirty five he
• 17:00
  Speaker 4: was saying, don't you I'm here, I pay money.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: You should be right.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: Dance now, be like, man, y'all go ahead.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: Man.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: But I figured with comedians, I figured there was for
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: both of y'all. I figured there's this one joke y'all
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: got in the cut just in case y'all forget y'all
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: get a brain fart or brain freeze.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: And be like I forgot where I was. That y'all
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: could just go back to that.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: Y'all don't have that, I mean, man, sometimes it's that's
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: tough though, Like if you lose your balance something on stage,
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: sometimes you know it is a it could take a
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: minute to turn it back on right, just to kind
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: of find your way back to it, because a lot
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: of it is in the setup.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: You like wrote a joke and you did the set up.
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: And then you forgot, like you forgot where you are,
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: and you're like, oh, man, man, I blew the setup,
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: Like I kind of blew the joke because I blew
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: the setup. Like now I don't know if I can
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: go back and reset it up. I'll try, you know
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: what I'm saying. But most of the time you have
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: to move on. Need to be mad. You be like, man,
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: I ain't get to.
• 18:02
  Speaker 8: Do that job last night, And that's one that you
• 18:04
  Speaker 8: really wanted to be.
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: I hate when my gang could tell me that too.
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: That you know, you'll come up to be like you
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: need to do so and so tonight you be like, man,
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: that audience would have killed you know, you be like man,
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: you hate when you do that like this, But that
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: is that that's that free willing spirit of being a
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: stand up though up there, because you a lot of
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: times you are you got, you got your routine, but
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: then you you just kind of you have to go
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: at some time.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: You just be out there.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Did anybody doubt that you could do the role?
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: No? You know, no, no, no, not right away. I
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: think that was really great.
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: I had great confidence Debbie was the main person that
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: really need to be behind me. I think that, you know,
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: probably some of the other actors may be you know,
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: and not saying I don't know, I didn't know them personally,
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: but at the time, but I think that, you know,
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: people assume that you are just gonna come in and
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: not take it serious and like kind of take your
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: your use your fame or whatever, your popularity and just
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: kind of come in and and not respect the words
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: like because that's that's the thing about Broadway kind of
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: to everych point is that it is a sincere space.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: Even though the play can be fun, the space is real.
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: And I just and don Chito doing the play up
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: here too, and we went to lunch before and you know,
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: he considered a serious actor, so we just had you know,
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: at dinner, just was talking about it.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: But he was like, man, you know, you're natural, like
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: trust it.
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: Don't don't get all in your head about you gotta
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: be some other thing. You know, you be yourself and
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: it'll show up and then it'll you will make the
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: character real. And that's what that's what I really embrace
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: more than anything. Proof Yeah, with with iOS, which is dope.
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: That's dope too. We went to go see that I wanted.
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: I wanted to ask you another one.
• 19:49
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I want to say like the play, right, the
• 19:50
  Speaker 5: play explores a bunch of different stuffright. He talks about
• 19:52
  Speaker 5: finding your trauma, finding yourself after trauma. It talks about
• 19:56
  Speaker 5: identity freedom. What part of that personally hit you?
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: Man? You know, I think it is.
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: The idea of me is like continued discovery, Like what
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: I had to What I realize is that when I
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: was making this choice, that I wasn't comfortable or really
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: still happy with being like successful my whole life. Right,
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: Like if I say, well, man, I've been successful for
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: a long time. I had a lot of TV shows
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: and all these things. It was an emptiness that needed
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: that something else needed to happen, And that happens in
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: the play where you like you where some where you're
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: looking for something else and this choice to kind of
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: almost you know, because Broadway is not it's big time,
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: but it's lower money, right, Like, so you make a choice,
• 20:48
  Speaker 4: Like you make a choice to come in and do
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: this for six women. I've been here since February and
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: we run till July. So this is a long time
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: of like a right, I'm just gonna but and then
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: you work a lot. You work different. You work every day,
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: eight shows a week. It's totally different. Like you said,
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: you might do a movie. You got three days on.
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: You come in, do your little scenes and leave, and
• 21:13
  Speaker 4: you know, you got a trailer a s u V
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: outside and it's shiny. You know, this ain't that shiny,
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: Like you know, I gotta get my own lunch and
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: you know it's just that kind of thing. Yeah, No,
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: it's it's it's broab. You do your own makeup, it's everything.
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: Everything is like this is what you do, Like this
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: is not you know, but they you know, they make
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: it comfortable for you.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: But it's not.
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: It's not the not the whole glam squad and all
• 21:38
  Speaker 4: the big old shiny stuff that you get when you
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: do movies.
• 21:41
  Speaker 7: So it's to bring your own squad with you, because
• 21:43
  Speaker 7: I know some people will bring their own people.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah no, not with that for that money. Do York guy,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: I brought my wife.
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: I gotta rent apartment I got, you know, my kids
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: will pop up. But you know, like I'll bring my
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: team in for certain things, but you know, like like
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: mainly like like big press runs and stuff like that,
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: but you know, like just on a daily basis.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: Now that's every day every day, you know.
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: I mean I have to get them a place to live,
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: they have to have travel.
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: I'm like, is it true that that Michael Jordan made
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: you quick gambling?
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: I got no.
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: I just lost money playing with him playing golf one time.
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: You know, but this mj like you know, he'll gamble
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: on anything. So I'm just trying to, you know, be
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: be a I'm trying to be in the game. You know,
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: just play And I bet a thousand dollars a hole
• 22:35
  Speaker 4: and lost every hole.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: So you lost every hole every God damn, that's a
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: lesson learned. And he wouldn't his money. He wanted his
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: money because a billionaire. So you know, no, when you gamble,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: you got to pay that ain't playing like that.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: You be like, like, what do you like what you pause?
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: Man, he's not that type of hole.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: Cut it out. You'd be like out a thousand dollars every.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Well, you be thinking you're gonna win one of them.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: You know, do you play golf?
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: You didn't win nothing, but you gotta know you gotta
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: actu wage.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: But what you do and you you try to.
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: Get favors, you like, hey give me four strokes is
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: oh give me three times?
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: G That was just.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: Man, this is gone.
• 23:27
  Speaker 6: Man.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: Man, you realize how down you trip out, how golfs down? Actually,
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: like wow, man, give you that stick out the bag.
• 23:38
  Speaker 4: To me the whole man, I keep losing my balls
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: black a lot.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: That's a lot.
• 23:46
  Speaker 8: I didn't really notice that.
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: Man, everybody, I'm playing golf, like, buddy, that's a lot.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: Man.
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: You know, it's funny because you talk about the money
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: you're not making with Broadway. But I don't know if
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: we understand what you just did with The Neighborhood No.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: One hundred and fifty six episodes. I think the last
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: episode is next month, right.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, the last episodes will come on next month.
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and I think the last few and uh man,
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: it was that's that's a blessing because you know, like
• 24:21
  Speaker 4: I did. We did five seasons on Steve Harvey, five
• 24:24
  Speaker 4: seasons on soul Man.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: And then eight on on on on A Neighborhood.
• 24:31
  Speaker 5: Respectful, respect all of those sitcoms. This is a little different. No,
• 24:35
  Speaker 5: this is no Yeah, you can syndication forever said, and
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: it's one of those things that you know, we had
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: a great time during the show.
• 24:44
  Speaker 4: I mean, you know, of course to Sheena Arnold legendary,
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: every show she been on, being crazy, Max greenfelt amazing,
• 24:51
  Speaker 4: Beth Bear, the whole cast was just so and we
• 24:54
  Speaker 4: enjoyed each other so much.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: Man.
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: So it was one of those shows you really didn't
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: want to see come to an end, but you know,
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: you also get it too, like it just sometimes it's
• 25:03
  Speaker 4: just like all right, cool, we but we felt like
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: we could have told more stories forever, Like you know,
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: I had a great writing staff.
• 25:09
  Speaker 7: I thought there was supposed to be a plan spin off.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: No, we had two that didn't work.
• 25:14
  Speaker 4: We did we spent off with We spent off with
• 25:17
  Speaker 4: Tracy Morgan. We had to show Crutch that was gonna
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: be on Paramount. Plus we shot eight of those with
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: Tracy had as the New York version of my character,
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: like it was dope when his adult kids moved back home.
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: And then we had we shot on with the boys,
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: my two sons where they had their own life and
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: they decided not to go forward with it. And so
• 25:40
  Speaker 4: it was one of those things that we did, like
• 25:42
  Speaker 4: you know, really economically. You know, it was like trying
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: to do something for a budget because it was during
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: that time when CBS was up for sale and it
• 25:49
  Speaker 4: was all that you know, it was lawsuits and the
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: president was suing them.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: It was crazy, man.
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: So you know, they just didn't They were really nervous
• 25:57
  Speaker 4: about moving forward on anything like that.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: You know, it was going to cost them money. So
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: so it was one.
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: Of them kind of situations where the politics of it,
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: I feel like hurt that.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: But this show should have had.
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: The spinoff, Like when you think about a show that's
• 26:12
  Speaker 4: that successful in eight years, they should have It should
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: have been at least another show that ran for a
• 26:16
  Speaker 4: while and we tried a couple of different versions but
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: it never worked. So yeah, and doing something after Young Sheldon,
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: like you know, so it's a couple of them that
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: that kind of spent like that. But you know it's
• 26:30
  Speaker 4: been the execs over on the CBS side.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Been great, man.
• 26:34
  Speaker 4: We've been having you know, we we've been talking trying
• 26:36
  Speaker 4: to figure out something else to do.
• 26:37
  Speaker 5: So you know, I wanted to ask you, like, you're
• 26:39
  Speaker 5: a comedian, right, and there's certain things I know comedians
• 26:41
  Speaker 5: want to check off their list.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: Having a hit sitcom is one of them.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 26:45
  Speaker 5: Man, when you look at the Neighborhood, you say yourself,
• 26:47
  Speaker 5: you say to yourself, Man, I did.
• 26:48
  Speaker 4: That, oh for sure, Man, definitely, And you know, and
• 26:50
  Speaker 4: we was able to executive produce it and being in
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: you know, and be in control, like I was able
• 26:55
  Speaker 4: to like be in control of the show, like I
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: can say what happened and what didn't go and all
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: these kind of things and you know, part of casting
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: and all that. So I definitely feel like, you know,
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: we checked that box, you know, and and really feel
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: great about the show, like how it represents you know,
• 27:12
  Speaker 4: definitely a lot of aunties and you know, but I
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: mean it's captured more and more because it's like what's
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: that traditional television it'll get it don't get quite like
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: I didn't feel it like when it was on, like
• 27:23
  Speaker 4: it get that love like back say, with Fresh Prints
• 27:26
  Speaker 4: and everything.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: These were the only shows you watch.
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: But now we kind of got like you know, we
• 27:31
  Speaker 4: got like cable and streaming and all these things that
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: the neighborhood felt like, Man, it's popular, but it didn't
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: feel like when you walk out, you get that crazy love.
• 27:40
  Speaker 4: But now in syndication it is it's crazy because I
• 27:46
  Speaker 4: did when I did the view Yes the other day,
• 27:48
  Speaker 4: they mentioned the neighborhood and the crowd screamed and just
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: caught me off guard because like, you know, when I
• 27:54
  Speaker 4: walk around it, you know, it's it's a degree of like,
• 27:57
  Speaker 4: you know, everybody been knowing me for they whole life.
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: Like it's some day I realized, like, man, I've been
• 28:02
  Speaker 4: around a long time. But it's that that idea of
• 28:06
  Speaker 4: the show being so popular that it's it's a different
• 28:10
  Speaker 4: kind of a you know, I guess that ear that
• 28:13
  Speaker 4: you hear when people are like, oh man, no, that's
• 28:14
  Speaker 4: one of my favorite shows.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: I like that.
• 28:16
  Speaker 4: So I'm glad that, you know, that Syndication kind of
• 28:20
  Speaker 4: got into more people's homes because I think people just
• 28:23
  Speaker 4: didn't on a regular basis watch you know, like your
• 28:26
  Speaker 4: appointment TV like we used to do with The Cosby
• 28:28
  Speaker 4: Show and stuff like that.
• 28:29
  Speaker 3: We talked about, say, you talked about checking things off
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: your list, right, is there anything else that you want
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: to check off your list that you haven't done yet
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: as of yet?
• 28:36
  Speaker 4: I don't know, man, you know, I still I still
• 28:38
  Speaker 4: kind of want to do like you know, like like
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: like kind of like a like a one hour kind
• 28:47
  Speaker 4: of you know, dramedy kind of thing.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: I don't know, I love.
• 28:52
  Speaker 4: I love like that feel of I ain't really laying
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: there like in that insecure space. I mean, I know
• 28:57
  Speaker 4: that was thirty minutes, but I like that more things
• 29:00
  Speaker 4: that feel authentic, like real real or or you know,
• 29:04
  Speaker 4: cool detective. I don't know something something that's but that
• 29:07
  Speaker 4: combination that's you know where you know, he humorous but
• 29:10
  Speaker 4: he funny and it's dramatic and it's dope storytelling. So
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: we looking at all those kinds of spaces. I directed
• 29:17
  Speaker 4: a few episodes of The Neighborhood directed. I don't really
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: I like directing, but I don't, you know, so I
• 29:23
  Speaker 4: checked that box too, because it's one where that's the
• 29:26
  Speaker 4: that's a triple job.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: People don't know.
• 29:28
  Speaker 4: When you direct, you got to be there before the
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: project start, you do the project, and then you there
• 29:33
  Speaker 4: after the project. So it's not like when you act,
• 29:36
  Speaker 4: you go, once you do your job, you out, you
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: like deuce it. So I was like, I don't know
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: if I would really want to love directing because it's
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: the it's it's like all the way with the project.
• 29:46
  Speaker 4: It actually can last a whole year. On one project
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: you're like, I'm tired of this one.
• 29:50
  Speaker 7: So that's the most difficulting because I actually heard Martin
• 29:52
  Speaker 7: talking about that too within line between love and hate,
• 29:54
  Speaker 7: like to direct, and he was in it and writing
• 29:57
  Speaker 7: and then producing.
• 29:58
  Speaker 8: Then you know when everybody else going one of the
• 30:02
  Speaker 8: hardest jobs.
• 30:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah, directing is the one where you you
• 30:06
  Speaker 4: gotta have the most commitment and I and I realized
• 30:09
  Speaker 4: that too once I've done a few movies that they
• 30:11
  Speaker 4: actually it is talent, right, Like you know, a lot
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: of times the director seems like this other person, but
• 30:17
  Speaker 4: a talented director will make the difference. So you'll know,
• 30:20
  Speaker 4: you gotta you gotta always take that in, you know, Now,
• 30:24
  Speaker 4: that's a question I asked. That's why I haven't done
• 30:26
  Speaker 4: a lot of movies because I always want to know,
• 30:28
  Speaker 4: like who directing now, because you don't get you don't
• 30:32
  Speaker 4: get to you don't get a lot of missus as
• 30:35
  Speaker 4: black people. Like if you miss then people just feel
• 30:38
  Speaker 4: like you blew it, like you know what I'm saying.
• 30:39
  Speaker 4: And then and then oftentimes, unless the director is already famous,
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: then the the success of the movie gonna land on
• 30:47
  Speaker 4: the stars, the success or the failure, right but if
• 30:50
  Speaker 4: the director famous, then they might be in it as well.
• 30:53
  Speaker 4: But if they're not, then it's like, man, say a
• 30:56
  Speaker 4: movie you'd be like, well, nah this dude, yeahs so,
• 31:07
  Speaker 4: but yeah, that's the So that's the thing I think
• 31:09
  Speaker 4: I desire, you know, few things now that other than
• 31:14
  Speaker 4: just kind of looking for like cool roles to take
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: my audience on different journeys.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: That's all I look for.
• 31:19
  Speaker 7: Now when you're making your next project, right, Like, what's
• 31:21
  Speaker 7: the happy medium between having big name casts and the money?
• 31:24
  Speaker 7: Because when they announced the Neighborhood deadline said that it
• 31:27
  Speaker 7: was an issue of cost because of the big name cast.
• 31:29
  Speaker 7: But how do you You're going to have big name
• 31:32
  Speaker 7: people because of your relationships? Right, So where do you
• 31:35
  Speaker 7: fall in that?
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: Well? I mean you know that.
• 31:37
  Speaker 4: I mean you realize it's even more so now And
• 31:40
  Speaker 4: it's very interesting because you know, you got like streaming,
• 31:43
  Speaker 4: you got micro dramas, you got all these things where
• 31:45
  Speaker 4: people definitely trying to cut the costs and you have to.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: Decide on that.
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: I mean, it's some super talented people out here, so
• 31:51
  Speaker 4: a lot of times, you know, like after being on
• 31:54
  Speaker 4: the Neighborhood for eight seasons, I also know that you
• 31:57
  Speaker 4: can cast without having to have big names anymore, just
• 32:00
  Speaker 4: talented people out here that's like they could do the
• 32:02
  Speaker 4: job right, But it's important to have somebody that you
• 32:05
  Speaker 4: can market, Like somebody got to be famous enough to
• 32:08
  Speaker 4: come on the Breakfast Club, right, otherwise you can't promote
• 32:11
  Speaker 4: it right if they don't, you know, so if you
• 32:14
  Speaker 4: if that person don't have enough of a you know,
• 32:16
  Speaker 4: of energy to come to be booked on shows, then
• 32:20
  Speaker 4: you just can't get it out there.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: So that's the important part. So that's where you balance it.
• 32:24
  Speaker 4: You know, when you're looking at that budget, you kind
• 32:26
  Speaker 4: of look like, all right, cool, I need I need
• 32:28
  Speaker 4: at least one or two other people that can be
• 32:31
  Speaker 4: known to go out there, and then I can I
• 32:33
  Speaker 4: can cast all around that. So I think that's the
• 32:37
  Speaker 4: biggest thing. And then you know, after eight seasons, that's
• 32:39
  Speaker 4: where everybody needed raisers. And that's when you knew like,
• 32:43
  Speaker 4: all right, this show getting ready to be this show
• 32:45
  Speaker 4: to be done because going on the Friends' Days, right,
• 32:48
  Speaker 4: when you know, all right, everybody getting a million dollars
• 32:51
  Speaker 4: an episode, they're like, no, we don't do that no more.
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: So that kind of like became very clear that that's
• 32:57
  Speaker 4: that's what's going to happen here.
• 32:58
  Speaker 5: That's how you know, TV and a bad face when
• 33:00
  Speaker 5: they show can be performing viewership one.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but if it.
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: Costs too much, we can't afford to pay y'all no more.
• 33:06
  Speaker 4: No, no, no, the cut it down. And that's you know,
• 33:10
  Speaker 4: and and I mean it becomes the case, right and
• 33:13
  Speaker 4: you realize that because you want everybody to eat with you,
• 33:18
  Speaker 4: like you you know, and that because they'll be willing
• 33:21
  Speaker 4: to pay me, you know, like like well, say, you
• 33:23
  Speaker 4: know you're gonna come do another season. I'm like, well what,
• 33:25
  Speaker 4: y'all got to take care of everybody else. And then
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: that that's literally what happened.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: It was like.
• 33:32
  Speaker 4: I was like because I had gotten a couple of
• 33:34
  Speaker 4: different big raises throughout the whole time, so and I
• 33:37
  Speaker 4: was like, well, I'm not getting ready to be that guy,
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: like well I'm just the only one eating, you know,
• 33:42
  Speaker 4: I'm not gonna do that. That ain't even cool, Like
• 33:44
  Speaker 4: you know, everybody need to, you know, break people off.
• 33:46
  Speaker 4: And then but when you look at that number and
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: what people want it and you know, like.
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: And what if they just move to a more affordable neighborhood, man.
• 34:00
  Speaker 6: Nobody, Now we ow the Hulu somewhere.
• 34:06
  Speaker 4: I don't know, Like no, I don't know, man. No,
• 34:09
  Speaker 4: it was one of those things like you know, I
• 34:12
  Speaker 4: don't know. And if you CBS came afford you, then
• 34:15
  Speaker 4: I don't know you pretty much just it man.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: I mean Netflix the only ones going to think about
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: getting together.
• 34:22
  Speaker 3: But like, you know what, let's let's just cut out
• 34:23
  Speaker 3: our our fee a little bit so we can stay
• 34:26
  Speaker 3: on television.
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: It brings so much more than just that.
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: All of those talks. But I mean, it really ain't
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: just the actors though.
• 34:33
  Speaker 4: Then, you know, the writers, everybody like this a whole
• 34:36
  Speaker 4: you know, everybody, all the union people, everybody can get it.
• 34:39
  Speaker 4: Eight seasons they all won't they so that that number
• 34:42
  Speaker 4: just keep climbing. So the actors all agreed. We you know,
• 34:46
  Speaker 4: we definitely wanted to just keep doing it. So we
• 34:48
  Speaker 4: was all like, come on, we can do it. Were good,
• 34:51
  Speaker 4: everybody good with where were at. Let's do this right.
• 34:55
  Speaker 4: So but that didn't really work for them.
• 34:57
  Speaker 5: So it's got you you really diversifying your portfolio. I
• 35:00
  Speaker 5: saw you and Andy Anderson, y'all got the barbecue spot.
• 35:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, yeah, AC Barbecue has been growing in it's
• 35:05
  Speaker 4: been four years now. So yeah, we got the we
• 35:09
  Speaker 4: got the restaurant in la We got a cookbook coming
• 35:11
  Speaker 4: out in May.
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: Uh and then we got the sauces and the rubs everywhere.
• 35:17
  Speaker 4: All the stores and the Krogers and Amazon and all
• 35:20
  Speaker 4: that kind of stuff, and so, uh man, it's been
• 35:23
  Speaker 4: it's been fun. We started that as a little, you know,
• 35:25
  Speaker 4: a little one of those kind of pet projects, like
• 35:28
  Speaker 4: you know, like when we got that from uh George
• 35:31
  Speaker 4: Clean and when they started casting.
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: Egos, like the friends just got together.
• 35:34
  Speaker 4: Me and Aunt used to be you know, on our
• 35:36
  Speaker 4: golf trips, grilling and hanging out, and so we came
• 35:39
  Speaker 4: up with the idea and the concept was working.
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: Man.
• 35:42
  Speaker 4: We loved the idea of barbecue, loved the fact that
• 35:45
  Speaker 4: it was cultural.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: And it was different. Like so we like we win.
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: You know, I'm from Saint Louis and from Compton, and
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: but we went to South Carolina, we went to Memphis,
• 35:56
  Speaker 4: we went to Texas, we got all the different We
• 35:59
  Speaker 4: wanted to honor what we decided. We just wanted to
• 36:02
  Speaker 4: honor the idea of that that cookout energy. And so
• 36:06
  Speaker 4: it wasn't about our particular sauce. It's all about the
• 36:08
  Speaker 4: culture of barbecue. And so that's what the book about,
• 36:10
  Speaker 4: the husky and a handsome god, the grilling that's coming out.
• 36:13
  Speaker 4: So that's gonna be dope, man. And so that's uh
• 36:16
  Speaker 4: that that's been good. We're just gonna keep building it,
• 36:19
  Speaker 4: keep growing it. That's a you know, that's one of
• 36:20
  Speaker 4: those things that business is hard. You recognize, like, you know,
• 36:24
  Speaker 4: these things you wish they just were successful overnight, but
• 36:28
  Speaker 4: you had to really grind on them because the restaurant
• 36:30
  Speaker 4: business is tough right now too. So but we end
• 36:33
  Speaker 4: up saying we got a sexy little spot, but we
• 36:35
  Speaker 4: we're gonna have to move out of there because we
• 36:37
  Speaker 4: don't have uh, we can't we can't do uber eats
• 36:42
  Speaker 4: and stuff because we in the mall because the drivers
• 36:45
  Speaker 4: can't park. So it's like we realized, like, man, we
• 36:48
  Speaker 4: missing out on a lot of them. Yeah, so so
• 36:51
  Speaker 4: it's that kind of thing. So we just but but
• 36:53
  Speaker 4: it it's sexy and people love it. We've been having
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: a great time with it.
• 36:56
  Speaker 5: So it's common to really have good barbecue. Mad because you'
• 36:58
  Speaker 5: from Saint Louis, I'm sacing line. I've been seeing some videos.
• 37:01
  Speaker 5: There's this spot in Compton called kitchens corner.
• 37:03
  Speaker 4: That's blue after man the boys cold man. It's a
• 37:10
  Speaker 4: couple of it's a it's a it's a it's a
• 37:13
  Speaker 4: couple of different barbecue places out there.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: But my man Bloods, who was one of our big
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: he was one of our big.
• 37:21
  Speaker 4: Advisors and let us on. He started Bloodsho's. They got
• 37:24
  Speaker 4: a big, big barbecue brand. It's a couple of guys
• 37:27
  Speaker 4: over there, man, uh, they be yeah, they get down
• 37:31
  Speaker 4: and a lot of those you know, because Compton is
• 37:33
  Speaker 4: one of those, uh one of the places where people
• 37:35
  Speaker 4: migrated from, right, so people from everywhere, right and these
• 37:39
  Speaker 4: family his his his family from Arkansas, so his and
• 37:42
  Speaker 4: his dad used to do the barbecuing and then and
• 37:45
  Speaker 4: he like the he the real chef with us, like.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: Ain't cooked more than anything. I'm gonna taste, you know, Okay,
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: you know damn, I mean I can get down.
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: But she's like, but I'm more like.
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: Could use some a little correct man the kitchen corner man.
• 38:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah, oh yeah, that's the other Yeah, yeah, yeah, these guys,
• 38:11
  Speaker 4: it's dope right here.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: I'm going I need to go to comment you like that. Yeah,
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: you see the Pauls.
• 38:20
  Speaker 8: That you have one is that who said is that
• 38:31
  Speaker 8: this was not now.
• 38:32
  Speaker 4: This is like this is the status and this came
• 38:35
  Speaker 4: you know, this is from the the.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: Little Cowboy era that was rocking.
• 38:40
  Speaker 8: I like that. I see you got the three mics
• 38:42
  Speaker 8: on the side.
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: But I did. Yeah, you know, I don't find the
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: little pins you eded that that kind of stuff like that.
• 38:48
  Speaker 4: But yeah, I still but I do have I do
• 38:51
  Speaker 4: my hat. I do have my hat, brain, I don't
• 38:52
  Speaker 4: I have the who said? And I got the egg
• 38:54
  Speaker 4: and butters, which are a little more high quality hats
• 38:57
  Speaker 4: to now, Like, so I do those two.
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: You did it right, man, Oh, career, you've done everything.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 39:05
  Speaker 4: Man, just keep it simple, and you know, I really
• 39:09
  Speaker 4: feel blessed by that part of it.
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: Man.
• 39:10
  Speaker 4: They just really just kind of stay steady, stay grinding,
• 39:14
  Speaker 4: you know, stay.
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: Humble, and and just go get it.
• 39:17
  Speaker 4: Like I don't even worry about like the ups and
• 39:19
  Speaker 4: downs of it, you know, cause you'll have moments in
• 39:22
  Speaker 4: your career where you up, you know, and it's super
• 39:24
  Speaker 4: up but then you know.
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: But but in general, I like to entertain.
• 39:28
  Speaker 4: People, and I like, you know, so I was looking
• 39:31
  Speaker 4: out there, I was like, man, I got a book too,
• 39:33
  Speaker 4: and I was looking at it because y'all got all
• 39:34
  Speaker 4: everybody's books. I was like, I ain't come up here
• 39:36
  Speaker 4: for my book though I think it was like a
• 39:37
  Speaker 4: year ago. I don't think I came to promote my book.
• 39:39
  Speaker 4: So I was like, man, I need to get my
• 39:41
  Speaker 4: book of y'all library. Man, Like it was everybody's book.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Was out there.
• 39:45
  Speaker 4: But you know, like all the things you get to
• 39:47
  Speaker 4: do in the in this life and his career has
• 39:49
  Speaker 4: been been super blessed.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: Man. So I like it.
• 39:52
  Speaker 4: I like to you know, I like that spirit of
• 39:54
  Speaker 4: that being. You know, we was talking about this one
• 39:56
  Speaker 4: time we was together. I like this spirit of just
• 39:58
  Speaker 4: you know, you get a little more traversially than I am.
• 40:01
  Speaker 4: But a good dude, like good people like let.
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: Me not put myself like when you where you doing,
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: like just like events and stuff at.
• 40:17
  Speaker 4: Solid dude man, like you know, but then you realize,
• 40:19
  Speaker 4: like you look online like people be mad at him,
• 40:25
  Speaker 4: man like that, what do you do?
• 40:26
  Speaker 9: I was like, okay, yeah, it ain't in the library.
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: I love seeing comedians.
• 40:38
  Speaker 3: I see like more and more comedians working with each other,
• 40:40
  Speaker 3: work work, work, we get up there.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: I've seen recently.
• 40:46
  Speaker 3: I was I love to see comedians working with each
• 40:48
  Speaker 3: other I see. I feel like there's a shift where
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: at one time it was like everybody was going at
• 40:52
  Speaker 3: each other, but now I see more and more comedians
• 40:54
  Speaker 3: getting together going out on the road.
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: Do you notice that as well? Yeah, man, I mean
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: I really like that too. Man.
• 40:59
  Speaker 4: It's all because when I come from that's where really
• 41:01
  Speaker 4: what it was like, we all like just kind of
• 41:03
  Speaker 4: rock together. Of course, you know, Kings of Comedy is
• 41:06
  Speaker 4: one of the you know, the more kind of famous
• 41:08
  Speaker 4: versions of that. But but even like right after Death Jail,
• 41:12
  Speaker 4: when Death Jail first blew, that's how we went out
• 41:15
  Speaker 4: and got bigger. Like everybody was on these big tours
• 41:18
  Speaker 4: and you could mix and match and people. And I
• 41:20
  Speaker 4: did it with Comic View when I like, after I
• 41:22
  Speaker 4: host the Comic View, we used to do a tour,
• 41:25
  Speaker 4: put everybody out there and we just go and have
• 41:27
  Speaker 4: fun and you you, and it's great to see like
• 41:30
  Speaker 4: comics just out there working together and having a good
• 41:32
  Speaker 4: time and so.
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: And it's a lot of like a lot of love
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: in general.
• 41:38
  Speaker 4: Like you know, you have you have one or two
• 41:40
  Speaker 4: like you know, gunfights in the in the in the
• 41:42
  Speaker 4: comedy business or whatever. But I don't even think they
• 41:45
  Speaker 4: be you know, it's just it's just the sign of
• 41:48
  Speaker 4: the times. I think, you know, where people just be
• 41:50
  Speaker 4: wanting clicks and they just say wild stuff and then
• 41:54
  Speaker 4: you know, you see somebody in person.
• 41:56
  Speaker 3: Man, it's not Kings of Comedy too, but they do
• 42:02
  Speaker 3: a King's comedy?
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: Can you do a Kings of Comedy?
• 42:04
  Speaker 5: Two?
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: We are we are talking about it.
• 42:06
  Speaker 4: We you know, you know it's it's you know, I
• 42:09
  Speaker 4: talked to Steve and d L the other day.
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: We all we had an.
• 42:12
  Speaker 4: Offer, and so now we're just trying to figure out
• 42:14
  Speaker 4: if that's gonna make sense and why, you know, how,
• 42:17
  Speaker 4: why how and why.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: We do it right now? Uh? You know?
• 42:20
  Speaker 4: B Yeah, well, you know, we were definitely gonna do
• 42:24
  Speaker 4: something with Burne in there. I don't know how exactly
• 42:26
  Speaker 4: we're gonna figure it out, but we're not leaving Bernie
• 42:28
  Speaker 4: out of it. We already talked to the family and
• 42:31
  Speaker 4: stuff on how we're gonna make sure that that he
• 42:34
  Speaker 4: a part of this situation too. And then you know,
• 42:37
  Speaker 4: it's a lot of you know, it may be that
• 42:39
  Speaker 4: idea like how you put somebody on next, it's a
• 42:42
  Speaker 4: lot of like these guys is out here that's like
• 42:44
  Speaker 4: how and you be like, all right, cool, how we
• 42:46
  Speaker 4: pass that torch and say what's next?
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: Right?
• 42:48
  Speaker 4: You know what I'm saying, and maybe do it like
• 42:50
  Speaker 4: that with you know us doing like smaller sets and
• 42:54
  Speaker 4: you know, I don't know, we're gonna figure it out,
• 42:56
  Speaker 4: but we liked the idea of knowing that it was
• 42:59
  Speaker 4: such a big brain and we all out here still
• 43:01
  Speaker 4: doing it and you know, might as well, might as
• 43:04
  Speaker 4: well have some fun with it.
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: What do you see?
• 43:07
  Speaker 5: This is my last question. Who do you see out
• 43:09
  Speaker 5: here now that reminds you of you?
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: Man? I got somebody I know more like me. I
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: don't know.
• 43:18
  Speaker 4: I mean he had actually caught his own lane more
• 43:20
  Speaker 4: than anything. But I probably would say a little real
• 43:22
  Speaker 4: like his, but he aint kind of been his own
• 43:24
  Speaker 4: thing for a long time now. But like he was
• 43:27
  Speaker 4: in that space and then I don't know, man, like
• 43:30
  Speaker 4: uh like this is kind of like just like dib
• 43:34
  Speaker 4: and dab and do a little bit of everything.
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: Like I don't know who you me just.
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: On a straight comedy level.
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: Chico, b oh cheeko, I see, I see you see.
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: I don't know why. I just like that could be
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: your son or something.
• 43:47
  Speaker 4: Chico, Chico, Chico, I love this last clip you got
• 43:50
  Speaker 4: the way he do it.
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: The Oakland dudes up.
• 43:52
  Speaker 4: There, Yeah yeah, but yeah Chico, yeah he be to
• 43:55
  Speaker 4: be swagged up and you know he Yeah.
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: I love all them dudes though.
• 43:59
  Speaker 4: Man, them my guys, man, like all Carlos and DC,
• 44:03
  Speaker 4: Young Fly, all them guys and Clayton all them, you
• 44:06
  Speaker 4: know them them guys is fun, man, They and they
• 44:08
  Speaker 4: all they all like just tight comedians and and.
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: And good at what they do.
• 44:13
  Speaker 4: But yeah, Chico, Chico is definitely fired with it man,
• 44:16
  Speaker 4: and and and and a lot of fun.
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: We did some shows together. Yeah. He cool, dude.
• 44:21
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I like a lot of these guys, man, I
• 44:23
  Speaker 4: like I like the kid Mojoe Brooks too. I like
• 44:26
  Speaker 4: him a lot. I like Ronnie Jordans. I like a
• 44:28
  Speaker 4: lot of these guys. They make me laugh. Yeah, get
• 44:33
  Speaker 4: enough credit, no no, no, yeah and then yeah, so man,
• 44:40
  Speaker 4: it's been fun.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: But you know, and good see.
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: Him in gas Station Pills.
• 44:46
  Speaker 5: Man, it's a show called It's a show called I
• 44:48
  Speaker 5: Got a Story to Tell on tov okay and he
• 44:50
  Speaker 5: played Gastion attended that selling gastition and pills.
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: Oh my god.
• 44:54
  Speaker 4: Man, oh yeah yeah he did. It's funny because he
• 44:59
  Speaker 4: did this corporate event not too long ago. I was
• 45:02
  Speaker 4: at and it was hard, like the audience was hard
• 45:04
  Speaker 4: for him. But Ronnie was just like steady man. So
• 45:07
  Speaker 4: you know, for comedians, you know when a when a
• 45:09
  Speaker 4: comic just like drive through it. We you know, I'm
• 45:13
  Speaker 4: dying over there. I'm like, man, because he's just driving through.
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: He like, I ain't y'all, y'all understand what I'm saying.
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: But I was like, he just murdering.
• 45:26
  Speaker 4: I'm like, man, I gave him, I said, boy, are
• 45:28
  Speaker 4: you crazy man, because that's that's where the comic is.
• 45:31
  Speaker 4: Like sometimes it just ain't gonna be your room, but
• 45:33
  Speaker 4: you just like, look, I ain't thinking about y'all man.
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: It's Joe Funny.
• 45:37
  Speaker 3: Ladies and gentlemen said that the entertainer. You can check
• 45:40
  Speaker 3: him on broad Away. Joe Turners come and gone.
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: I'm coming to Yeah, definitely. All right, Well, we appreciate
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: you for joining the stir creture man. Thank y'all. Man entertainer,
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning every day. A week
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: ago picks up the Breakfast Club.
• 45:58
  Speaker 2: Finish for y'all.
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: Done