April 10, 2023 • 19 mins
In this special rewind episode of Club Shay Shay, revisit some of Shannon's favorite segments from the show so far. Today, listen to Shannon talk with actor and comedian Chris Tucker about his favorite movies, comedians, getting his start and having a career in show business.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Club Shade listeners, We'll be back soon with weekly
episodes featuring brand new interviews with exciting roster guests. Until then,
enjoyed this special rewind episode with one of my favorite
moments from Club Sha Shade so far. All my Life Running,
All my Life, sa Fice, Hustle back Price one Slice,
Got the Brons swap. Give me your top five hood
(00:22):
classics of all kind a New Jack City, New Jack City.
I like New Jack City, boys in the hood, boys
in the hood, the Mac Mac And I'm gonna, well,
you talk about hood hood classics, uh, because I always
say scar faces hood classes of debate because I love Scoff.
We grew up. We accidentally saw that in Mad Need.
(00:44):
We were kids. My mom and daddy even know what
we were watching. We was gone. They sent us to
the movie and I said, whoa, this is acting. I
thought I was in, you know, the whole big old
drug world with that. But the other would could be
off hand. Maybe minutes to decide uptown Saturday night. Uptown
Saturday night, let's do it again. Those are in there
(01:05):
you ain't gonna put I'm not gonna put Friday in
their house. Oh yeah, yeah, you know what I gotta
put my movie in there. Yeah. There. It's hard to
have a Hood classic any of them, rushmore, any of'em
without Friday being in it. Thank you good looking at
our big bro. That's right, that's right. You grew up
in Atlanta. What was it growing up in Atlanta during
(01:27):
the time? And what did you want to be when
you were growing up? You know, I was blessing. I
found out early, you know, uh that I like entertainment,
you know, going to the movie seeing uh stir crazy
with Richard Pryor in and Jane Jane Jean Wilder trying
walking down to prison talking about we bet we've been
I was just fascinated when when when Richard Pryor came
(01:48):
on the scene Eddie Murphy in forty eight hours, you know,
he was he was in the prison like cakes cakes,
you know, and I was like that on Eddie, you know.
So I and then I when I go when I
went to school, Uh, you know, while I'm the youngest
of six kids, so I had I watched a lot.
I observed a lot because you know, you can't say
that you're the youngest and all you got three older brothers,
(02:10):
two sisters. They say shut up or it's what you know.
So I just watched them, I you know it was,
and I watched them make mistakes. You know they did
they get a whooping, and I'll be like, what they do?
I don't. I don't want to get a whopping when
I could get older like that, what happened? I ain't
take out the garbage like I'm gonna make sure I
take out the garbage when it's my turn shooting. And
it told you good God. So I learned a lot
at a young age. And then I'm you know that.
(02:32):
You know, it was just comedy all around us, because
you know, a big family, there's always something people trying
to get in the bathroom. Get out of the bathroom. Girl,
we're trying to go to school, and i'ma shout out,
what y'all man? And I know, so there was always
something going on in the house and it just I
was just around funny stuff and I didn't even know it.
And I was funny, I guess too, And went to
school and people saying, man, you're funny, You're like Eddie
Murphy is something. I'm like, what you talking? Man? And
(02:54):
then you know, I don't dress out for pee. I
will preach to the whole everybody who didn't dress that
in the in the bleachers, I'd be like, all right,
I get your books your bibles out, and I would
make them laugh for about thirty minutes. Even the teacher
come over there and be like, what is going this food?
And then they said you need to host the talent
show because you you got something. I said, well, how
much they paying? Are they paying anything and they can
(03:14):
get some good grades or something. No, you just go.
So I got like thirty to thirty dollars to host
a talent show. I told my first joke. They laugh.
I said, this is it. This is what I'm gonna do.
Because you know, school wasn't easy for me. So I said,
I ain't going to college. I badly got out of
high school. I'm gonna finish this right now. I'm lucky
I got out of here. So, yeah, that you win
(03:35):
to Columbia, which is indicator, right, Yeah, Decata in Georgia.
Yeah in Decata, Decata. Now y'all have some athletes. That
was that track when Torrence went to Ucator went to Columbia. Yeah,
you know, I know, I know a little bit of
They had awesome track track program off the chain. That's right,
that's right. She graduated with my brothers sister, older sister. Yeah,
(03:58):
but what was for I mean, you went to a
school that was Vergue, that had good high school athletic program.
You never wanted to play sports. I did play sports.
I wanted to go pro like you. But I for
my wrists in practice, that was it. That was that
was God saying you better go figure something else. I
jumped up, man to catch a ball, to you know,
(04:19):
just to catch if we were just throwing, getting ready
for practice. I jumped up instead of coming down on
my butt ball, I said, oh, I'm embraced myself. Look,
broke both of my wrists. And even the doctors was laughing.
They're like, how did you do this? I submit just
to take me to the doctor, thinking the hospital, and
that's when I quit. I said, I said, I need
to do something else. But yeah, I mean I love
(04:39):
sports and you know, wanted wanted to be go pro
like everybody else. But you realize at a very young age.
So during the comedic thing when you were in high
school or coming up, whether to make people laugh or
to make make sure people weren't laughing at you, because
I have a funny side. But I used to talk
with a list and I when I found at a
(05:00):
very young age that if I made other people laugh
at someone else, they wouldn't notice what I got going on,
and so I could keep him up off feet yep, yeah, yeah, yeah,
it was it was us. See I probably have talked
about you see, I probably not I was doing. I
was one of those guys that I was just making
people laugh because it was it was really cost I
didn't really want to do the work. Some of the
(05:22):
work was hard for me. I was like, shoot, man,
what y'all doing? Hey, hey, hey, you know I mean
messing with people who studied that did their homework. Hey,
come home, give me some answers, and they'd be like, shot,
I will shut up, teased to looking right at us food.
I was one of those And then but I wouldn't
make people laugh because they you know, it was easy
to do. So I feel like I just started up
(05:43):
and get get and get the class going. So how
old were you or when did you start doing the
Eddie Murphy and Michael Jackson impressions. Then Eddie Murphy from
from high school, you know, he was the man for
me and uh, and Mike too. As a kid, Oh man,
I remember my play brother up the street used to
(06:04):
dance just like Michael Jackson. He had the prettiest girlfriend.
I said, man, I want to be like this man,
this dude here, and I want to dance like Michael
like he danced. So we always had danced Michael Jackson
contests and and he was. He brought down Eddie Murphy's
the lyrious that he did on HBO because he had
cable before they put the cable down in the street
(06:24):
while we lived down on the street by the circle.
He already had cable and he had a VCO. Because
he was only child. We weren't, you know, we had
to wait. You know, had the stereo. You remember the stereo,
So he had all that stuff. He brought the lyrics
down and it was over. We got cable right when
Rocky three became up. We came out on HBO and
we was like watch Rocky three and the lyrics all
(06:46):
day and we just had a ball. So what's your
goal to lines? When you're gonna impersonate Eddie, you're gonna
impersonate Mike, what's your line? What's your go to? Well, Eddie,
you know. I just talked like like I'll do let
you crazy, so what's up? That's sup. He's a little
older than that. He talked a little like west Side man,
(07:07):
how are you doing? Brouh you just talk low and rich.
But Michael I would go, Chris, what are you? What
are you doing? Chris? What? What's Chris? How are you?
How are you? What I used to talk to? He
was so kind when you a lot of people, some
people don't like when they get mimicked or they get made.
So how was it when they found out you were
(07:28):
doing it and then you saw them for the first time? Oh, Michael.
Michael loved it because I heard from his nephews that
he was a big fan of mine because they showed
him the movies. He uh, they showed him the movies
and Michael was was loved it man, because he knew
everything I did had a little bit of Michael in it.
It was from Fridays, I'm dancing on the porch in
(07:49):
the montage doing Michael dance, money talks, rush hour, doing
the karaoke thing and uh, even in a death cham
I talked about Michael. What if Michael was a pimp?
So he knew that we had kindred experience or something,
and I was a big fan for sure. You said
some of your early influences was Eddie Murphrey, Richard pryor.
(08:13):
Who are some of the other comedians when you were
growing up. You're like, okay, I like his style. Well,
definitely Bernie Mack, I guess said. Bernie Mack was just
just funny, naturally funny. Robin Harris. I didn't get a
chance to meet him, but I heard his albums and
I saw him in the movies, Spike Lee movies and uh,
different movies like that. I just thought they were, I like,
(08:34):
naturally funny comedians and uh and today of course, you know,
uh Dave Chappelle, you know, a friend of mine. People
like that. Man, it's just just just just make me laugh.
The gut to be funny. What was it like performing
on the comedy tour in Atlanta, because Atlanta had used
to I don't know if it's still like it like
(08:56):
like this now, but Atlanta used to have a bunch
of comedy place uptown comedy right there on Pea Street.
I used to go there all the time. Yeah, yeah,
it's still, man, there's so many funny young brothers out there. Man,
you can't even count them on hand, man on one hand,
and it's still strong and they're still doing comedy even
during the pandemic. Man, they still out there, still open,
(09:19):
people ain't stopping man. So uh yeah, man, I can't
wait to see who else is out there. But we
definitely got a good track record of a lot of
great comedians coming out of Atlanta. What made you decide
to move to LA and not New York to do
your comedy Because everybody, all the comedians was coming down
to the Comedy Act Theater and they were they were
(09:40):
coming from LA, like DL Hughley and Jamie Fox and
all those guys would come down and they would see
me open up with for him at times and they
were like, man, you need to go to LA. You
you work, You're pretty good, you can get there. And
I was like, okay, you really think? So they was like, yeah, man,
you need to go to LA. So I knew that
LA was the place for the movies and tell Vision
and all that stuff, and New York was more theatrical.
(10:03):
So that's what made me go out to LA. So
what was it like? Your your mom, You're like, okay,
I'm gonna go. I've been to mom, I'm been Mom, Dad,
I've been. I've been to going alone. I've been there,
I'm been the deal. What were your emotions like, because
you know, you know, that's not like I got a
job lined up. I'm going out there, I'm going to work,
(10:25):
You're going to new comedy. You gotta get called, you
gotta get called back, you gotta get readings. There's no
guarantee any of this is going to happen. Yeah, yeah,
they were. You know, my mom and daddy was so
so supportive, but they probably was so so happy I
found something that I need. I was gonna do because
my mom thought I was gonna live with her forever,
and she right because I built to the house and
(10:46):
I stayed with her right now, see me, right? But
she said, I'm just I have to start. You go
be with me, baby. You know, I was just gonna
to help you out. But I was fortunate enough man
to have I knew somebody in LA, and I thinkt
I moved with my girlfriend from high school. Father lived
in LA, so I had a place to stay. My
(11:06):
mama felt comfortable about where I was gone because she
knew I was gonna be out there by myself. So
it was just it just it was just god, man,
it worked out. So in other words, you kept the
girlfriend from high school, so you haven't place to stay
when you came out here with a father. Huh oh, No,
she was fine. I wouldn't try to leave her. Was
because you just asked your dad. Because I didn't think
he was gonna agree with it, like you crazy, gonna
be living up at my house with my daughter, sleeping
(11:27):
with my daughter. No, but he was cool with He
was like, yeah, come on, come on out. And it
was just things that fell into place. As soon as
I graduate from high school, a comedy club open up
Comedy Act eight where Robin Harris and everybody came from
you know. Uh. And then you know, when I was
ready to move to La, my girlfriend father was living
out there already, and uh, I told her, asked, can
(11:48):
we go? I thought he was gonna say no, and
I was not to get another plan. He said, yeah,
it's okay. They kicked me out two months later, but
I had I had two months to find a roommate
and I was and then I was out. I was
on the road rolling in. They were coming home from work.
I was just getting up on the couch because I
was out all night on the comedy clubs, and they
would come home to work and I'm like, hey, getting
up off the couch and his wife at the time,
(12:09):
his new wife, was like, he needed to go, he
need to go. He ain't paying a rent and he's
just sleeping all day. So then I found me a
roommate and that's the rest is history. What are some
of the advice that you would give young and up
and coming comedians. Trust your you know, uh, trust your dreams, man,
go out through your dreams. I went out the mind
(12:31):
and it all happened even more than I ever could
imagine happen. But you know, every moment was a surprise.
And when a door when they when a door closed,
another one opens up. Like I was telling you I
was going for a TV show. I didn't get that,
but I walked out of that audition. I got Fridays.
So don't get frustrated when the door closed to just
look at the find the positive in it, and keep moving.
(12:54):
But keep working. Like Marvin Gaye said, stay on the
floor and keep dancing, because that's the only way somebody
gonna see. For the next part, and when you when
you're working, even if it's something small, somebody might see
and say, oh, he got the look for the next part.
So you gotta just keep doing what you can do
to keep going to you know, to get to where
you want to go? Was Death Comedy Jam the show?
(13:14):
Because I remember Dale ended up I think DL ended
up hosting that, and some of the great comedians have
come through there. Martin Lawrence was was the host for
a while, Dave Chappelle, Bernie mac Steve Harden, I mean
so many, Yeah, what was it? What was it like
auditioning being on Death Comedy Jam? Did you know a
lot of the brothers and sisters that you were out
(13:37):
there against we're gonna turn out to be what they
later became. You know. I was on the same show
as Burning Matt. He was the headliner and I started
by the first Death Jam and I went up and
I thought I blew the place away. I thought that,
you know, there was nobody gonna follow me. And I
went upstairs, you know us the bathroom us think in
New York wherever we were, and I saw a guy
(13:58):
out there and I said, hey, man, you're a comedians,
said yel. I said what's your name? I'm burning him up.
I said, okay, you going up? He said, yeah, I'm
going to I said. I thought to myself, all right,
good luck, you know, because comedian after me Bomb and
then Burnie went up there, told the house down, and
I said, oh man, I gotta get back to work.
I gotta get my stuff together. But that Depth Jam
(14:19):
was my platform that really got got me. My first agent,
got me my uh you know, that was the reason
why you know, they got me for Fridays. They saw you.
You know, I was rising up on the Depth Jam
and Depth Jam two and all that stuff. So that
was my first big platform, and then Friday's, you know,
was the movie stuff platform. Give me, give me your mouth.
Rushmore comedians. You only get four, your four best comedians
(14:43):
all time, Richard Pryor, Robin Harris, Eddie Murphy. I gotta say, Bill,
cosby those guys you left. I'm just saying the guys
you left off that is right and wrong. You left
off Chappelle, you left off Seinfeld, you left off Lenny Bruce,
(15:07):
you left off Red Fox. Yeah yeah, well those gotten
a Red Fox is up there too, But he was
wavingfore I well, I know all about him because I
do comedy and I studied it. But and Chappelle is
in my generation, so he's all that that level with
with with me. And he's one of the greatest. Don't
let me, don't be mistaken. But ain't none of 'em
(15:27):
gonna touch Richard. Ain't none of us gonna ever touch Richard.
Ain't none of us gonna ever touch Robin Harris. Ain't
none of us go ever touch Eddie Murphy in movies
and stand up and and and and Bill Cosby. He's
one of the greatest. Richard Pryor used to imitate Bill
Cosby and and then and then I gotta say Dick Gregory.
So it's it's so many, man, it's of it. You
(15:48):
believe that had Robin and Burning lived longer, they would
have had a greater place in the uh in the
comedic hierarchy. Oh, for sure, Robin Harris was to be
out of this world. He would have been like Eddie
and and and up there and probably big, just as
big as Eddie and Bernie was going. It wasn't then
(16:11):
he couldn't do drama comedy. He was gonna he was there.
He was already there too, because he stayed here long.
So yeah, those guys are they own that out restaurant
for sure. Man. So when you you write jokes, do
you just sit down? I mean, so how how did
it happen? I mean, you know, I've talked to rappers
and entertainers and they says, Okay, if I'm gonna write
(16:31):
a song, you know, I might be laying down, I
wake up and I start writing, or I might be
eating and something coming to my head and I just
put it down and start writing. How do you write jokes?
How long did it take you take you to write
a set? Yeah, it takes it. You know, when it
comes to me, when it comes from I usually don't
sit down and think of stuff. I let it come
to me and then I will write it down. Or
(16:53):
I would get in uh you know, get in a
mood or something, and then it just all come to me,
and it's like whatever, wherever it is, wherever I am
I'm at, or if I go to the comic club
that night, some come to me. But yeah, I ride
you down stuff throughout you know, the year or you know,
and but but I just let it come to me
because so much stuff uh just just comes and then
(17:15):
I keep. You know, some stuff I let go and
some stuff I keep. Was it a difficult transition from
go from stand up to acting, And there's a natural
transition that a lot of comedians have gone on to
be actors, from Red Fox to Richard Pryor to Eddie Murphy, yourself,
Bernie mac Robin Harris. I mean so many guys, said
(17:37):
the entertainer Bruce. I mean so many guys. Yeah, yeah,
it's it's it's a total it's totally it's totally different.
Stand up and acting is totally different. You have to,
like and stand up, you're more animated and you're more wired.
In the movies. You gotta tone all that down and
then you gotta come up when you when you need
to come down when you need to. I noticed that
(17:59):
when I started doing acting. I said, oh man, I
gotta take this down, you know, because they got your
your head and a hundred you know, close up and
you're moving all around here. I'm like, I can't do
that here. I gotta calm down right here and look,
you know a certain way, so you gotta adapt to that.
And then also you gotta go deeper because you're playing
a part. And then you gotta you know, you gotta,
(18:19):
you gotta go deeper than uh than stand up. Stand up.
It's you, it's your life and it's it's hard too
at times. But acting it's another level. It's another level.
But you're using that act. When you got that comedy
tool and take it to acting, it's it's good. Have
you ever forgot a line while you're doing stand up? Oh?
All time? All time? But stand up so good because
(18:41):
you got the audience right there and something might happen.
You might ask the question and boom that breaks you
to a whole another thing, and then you go back
to whatever you forgot and uh, you good again. But
stand up and nothing like stand up. I love stand
You know what to do? Get the subscribe button to
become an official member of Club she Sei, where we
(19:02):
always do some for two some
Hey, Club Shade listeners, We'll be back soon with weekly
episodes featuring brand new interviews with exciting roster guests. Until then,
enjoyed this special rewind episode with one of my favorite
moments from Club Sha Shade so far. All my Life Running,
All my Life, sa Fice, Hustle back Price one Slice,
Got the Brons swap. Give me your top five hood
(00:22):
classics of all kind a New Jack City, New Jack City.
I like New Jack City, boys in the hood, boys
in the hood, the Mac Mac And I'm gonna, well,
you talk about hood hood classics, uh, because I always
say scar faces hood classes of debate because I love Scoff.
We grew up. We accidentally saw that in Mad Need.
(00:44):
We were kids. My mom and daddy even know what
we were watching. We was gone. They sent us to
the movie and I said, whoa, this is acting. I
thought I was in, you know, the whole big old
drug world with that. But the other would could be
off hand. Maybe minutes to decide uptown Saturday night. Uptown
Saturday night, let's do it again. Those are in there
(01:05):
you ain't gonna put I'm not gonna put Friday in
their house. Oh yeah, yeah, you know what I gotta
put my movie in there. Yeah. There. It's hard to
have a Hood classic any of them, rushmore, any of'em
without Friday being in it. Thank you good looking at
our big bro. That's right, that's right. You grew up
in Atlanta. What was it growing up in Atlanta during
(01:27):
the time? And what did you want to be when
you were growing up? You know, I was blessing. I
found out early, you know, uh that I like entertainment,
you know, going to the movie seeing uh stir crazy
with Richard Pryor in and Jane Jane Jean Wilder trying
walking down to prison talking about we bet we've been
I was just fascinated when when when Richard Pryor came
(01:48):
on the scene Eddie Murphy in forty eight hours, you know,
he was he was in the prison like cakes cakes,
you know, and I was like that on Eddie, you know.
So I and then I when I go when I
went to school, Uh, you know, while I'm the youngest
of six kids, so I had I watched a lot.
I observed a lot because you know, you can't say
that you're the youngest and all you got three older brothers,
(02:10):
two sisters. They say shut up or it's what you know.
So I just watched them, I you know it was,
and I watched them make mistakes. You know they did
they get a whooping, and I'll be like, what they do?
I don't. I don't want to get a whopping when
I could get older like that, what happened? I ain't
take out the garbage like I'm gonna make sure I
take out the garbage when it's my turn shooting. And
it told you good God. So I learned a lot
at a young age. And then I'm you know that.
(02:32):
You know, it was just comedy all around us, because
you know, a big family, there's always something people trying
to get in the bathroom. Get out of the bathroom. Girl,
we're trying to go to school, and i'ma shout out,
what y'all man? And I know, so there was always
something going on in the house and it just I
was just around funny stuff and I didn't even know it.
And I was funny, I guess too, And went to
school and people saying, man, you're funny, You're like Eddie
Murphy is something. I'm like, what you talking? Man? And
(02:54):
then you know, I don't dress out for pee. I
will preach to the whole everybody who didn't dress that
in the in the bleachers, I'd be like, all right,
I get your books your bibles out, and I would
make them laugh for about thirty minutes. Even the teacher
come over there and be like, what is going this food?
And then they said you need to host the talent
show because you you got something. I said, well, how
much they paying? Are they paying anything and they can
(03:14):
get some good grades or something. No, you just go.
So I got like thirty to thirty dollars to host
a talent show. I told my first joke. They laugh.
I said, this is it. This is what I'm gonna do.
Because you know, school wasn't easy for me. So I said,
I ain't going to college. I badly got out of
high school. I'm gonna finish this right now. I'm lucky
I got out of here. So, yeah, that you win
(03:35):
to Columbia, which is indicator, right, Yeah, Decata in Georgia.
Yeah in Decata, Decata. Now y'all have some athletes. That
was that track when Torrence went to Ucator went to Columbia. Yeah,
you know, I know, I know a little bit of
They had awesome track track program off the chain. That's right,
that's right. She graduated with my brothers sister, older sister. Yeah,
(03:58):
but what was for I mean, you went to a
school that was Vergue, that had good high school athletic program.
You never wanted to play sports. I did play sports.
I wanted to go pro like you. But I for
my wrists in practice, that was it. That was that
was God saying you better go figure something else. I
jumped up, man to catch a ball, to you know,
(04:19):
just to catch if we were just throwing, getting ready
for practice. I jumped up instead of coming down on
my butt ball, I said, oh, I'm embraced myself. Look,
broke both of my wrists. And even the doctors was laughing.
They're like, how did you do this? I submit just
to take me to the doctor, thinking the hospital, and
that's when I quit. I said, I said, I need
to do something else. But yeah, I mean I love
(04:39):
sports and you know, wanted wanted to be go pro
like everybody else. But you realize at a very young age.
So during the comedic thing when you were in high
school or coming up, whether to make people laugh or
to make make sure people weren't laughing at you, because
I have a funny side. But I used to talk
with a list and I when I found at a
(05:00):
very young age that if I made other people laugh
at someone else, they wouldn't notice what I got going on,
and so I could keep him up off feet yep, yeah, yeah, yeah,
it was it was us. See I probably have talked
about you see, I probably not I was doing. I
was one of those guys that I was just making
people laugh because it was it was really cost I
didn't really want to do the work. Some of the
(05:22):
work was hard for me. I was like, shoot, man,
what y'all doing? Hey, hey, hey, you know I mean
messing with people who studied that did their homework. Hey,
come home, give me some answers, and they'd be like, shot,
I will shut up, teased to looking right at us food.
I was one of those And then but I wouldn't
make people laugh because they you know, it was easy
to do. So I feel like I just started up
(05:43):
and get get and get the class going. So how
old were you or when did you start doing the
Eddie Murphy and Michael Jackson impressions. Then Eddie Murphy from
from high school, you know, he was the man for
me and uh, and Mike too. As a kid, Oh man,
I remember my play brother up the street used to
(06:04):
dance just like Michael Jackson. He had the prettiest girlfriend.
I said, man, I want to be like this man,
this dude here, and I want to dance like Michael
like he danced. So we always had danced Michael Jackson
contests and and he was. He brought down Eddie Murphy's
the lyrious that he did on HBO because he had
cable before they put the cable down in the street
(06:24):
while we lived down on the street by the circle.
He already had cable and he had a VCO. Because
he was only child. We weren't, you know, we had
to wait. You know, had the stereo. You remember the stereo,
So he had all that stuff. He brought the lyrics
down and it was over. We got cable right when
Rocky three became up. We came out on HBO and
we was like watch Rocky three and the lyrics all
(06:46):
day and we just had a ball. So what's your
goal to lines? When you're gonna impersonate Eddie, you're gonna
impersonate Mike, what's your line? What's your go to? Well, Eddie,
you know. I just talked like like I'll do let
you crazy, so what's up? That's sup. He's a little
older than that. He talked a little like west Side man,
(07:07):
how are you doing? Brouh you just talk low and rich.
But Michael I would go, Chris, what are you? What
are you doing? Chris? What? What's Chris? How are you?
How are you? What I used to talk to? He
was so kind when you a lot of people, some
people don't like when they get mimicked or they get made.
So how was it when they found out you were
(07:28):
doing it and then you saw them for the first time? Oh, Michael.
Michael loved it because I heard from his nephews that
he was a big fan of mine because they showed
him the movies. He uh, they showed him the movies
and Michael was was loved it man, because he knew
everything I did had a little bit of Michael in it.
It was from Fridays, I'm dancing on the porch in
(07:49):
the montage doing Michael dance, money talks, rush hour, doing
the karaoke thing and uh, even in a death cham
I talked about Michael. What if Michael was a pimp?
So he knew that we had kindred experience or something,
and I was a big fan for sure. You said
some of your early influences was Eddie Murphrey, Richard pryor.
(08:13):
Who are some of the other comedians when you were
growing up. You're like, okay, I like his style. Well,
definitely Bernie Mack, I guess said. Bernie Mack was just
just funny, naturally funny. Robin Harris. I didn't get a
chance to meet him, but I heard his albums and
I saw him in the movies, Spike Lee movies and uh,
different movies like that. I just thought they were, I like,
(08:34):
naturally funny comedians and uh and today of course, you know,
uh Dave Chappelle, you know, a friend of mine. People
like that. Man, it's just just just just make me laugh.
The gut to be funny. What was it like performing
on the comedy tour in Atlanta, because Atlanta had used
to I don't know if it's still like it like
(08:56):
like this now, but Atlanta used to have a bunch
of comedy place uptown comedy right there on Pea Street.
I used to go there all the time. Yeah, yeah,
it's still, man, there's so many funny young brothers out there. Man,
you can't even count them on hand, man on one hand,
and it's still strong and they're still doing comedy even
during the pandemic. Man, they still out there, still open,
(09:19):
people ain't stopping man. So uh yeah, man, I can't
wait to see who else is out there. But we
definitely got a good track record of a lot of
great comedians coming out of Atlanta. What made you decide
to move to LA and not New York to do
your comedy Because everybody, all the comedians was coming down
to the Comedy Act Theater and they were they were
(09:40):
coming from LA, like DL Hughley and Jamie Fox and
all those guys would come down and they would see
me open up with for him at times and they
were like, man, you need to go to LA. You
you work, You're pretty good, you can get there. And
I was like, okay, you really think? So they was like, yeah, man,
you need to go to LA. So I knew that
LA was the place for the movies and tell Vision
and all that stuff, and New York was more theatrical.
(10:03):
So that's what made me go out to LA. So
what was it like? Your your mom, You're like, okay,
I'm gonna go. I've been to mom, I'm been Mom, Dad,
I've been. I've been to going alone. I've been there,
I'm been the deal. What were your emotions like, because
you know, you know, that's not like I got a
job lined up. I'm going out there, I'm going to work,
(10:25):
You're going to new comedy. You gotta get called, you
gotta get called back, you gotta get readings. There's no
guarantee any of this is going to happen. Yeah, yeah,
they were. You know, my mom and daddy was so
so supportive, but they probably was so so happy I
found something that I need. I was gonna do because
my mom thought I was gonna live with her forever,
and she right because I built to the house and
(10:46):
I stayed with her right now, see me, right? But
she said, I'm just I have to start. You go
be with me, baby. You know, I was just gonna
to help you out. But I was fortunate enough man
to have I knew somebody in LA, and I thinkt
I moved with my girlfriend from high school. Father lived
in LA, so I had a place to stay. My
(11:06):
mama felt comfortable about where I was gone because she
knew I was gonna be out there by myself. So
it was just it just it was just god, man,
it worked out. So in other words, you kept the
girlfriend from high school, so you haven't place to stay
when you came out here with a father. Huh oh, No,
she was fine. I wouldn't try to leave her. Was
because you just asked your dad. Because I didn't think
he was gonna agree with it, like you crazy, gonna
be living up at my house with my daughter, sleeping
(11:27):
with my daughter. No, but he was cool with He
was like, yeah, come on, come on out. And it
was just things that fell into place. As soon as
I graduate from high school, a comedy club open up
Comedy Act eight where Robin Harris and everybody came from
you know. Uh. And then you know, when I was
ready to move to La, my girlfriend father was living
out there already, and uh, I told her, asked, can
(11:48):
we go? I thought he was gonna say no, and
I was not to get another plan. He said, yeah,
it's okay. They kicked me out two months later, but
I had I had two months to find a roommate
and I was and then I was out. I was
on the road rolling in. They were coming home from work.
I was just getting up on the couch because I
was out all night on the comedy clubs, and they
would come home to work and I'm like, hey, getting
up off the couch and his wife at the time,
(12:09):
his new wife, was like, he needed to go, he
need to go. He ain't paying a rent and he's
just sleeping all day. So then I found me a
roommate and that's the rest is history. What are some
of the advice that you would give young and up
and coming comedians. Trust your you know, uh, trust your dreams, man,
go out through your dreams. I went out the mind
(12:31):
and it all happened even more than I ever could
imagine happen. But you know, every moment was a surprise.
And when a door when they when a door closed,
another one opens up. Like I was telling you I
was going for a TV show. I didn't get that,
but I walked out of that audition. I got Fridays.
So don't get frustrated when the door closed to just
look at the find the positive in it, and keep moving.
(12:54):
But keep working. Like Marvin Gaye said, stay on the
floor and keep dancing, because that's the only way somebody
gonna see. For the next part, and when you when
you're working, even if it's something small, somebody might see
and say, oh, he got the look for the next part.
So you gotta just keep doing what you can do
to keep going to you know, to get to where
you want to go? Was Death Comedy Jam the show?
(13:14):
Because I remember Dale ended up I think DL ended
up hosting that, and some of the great comedians have
come through there. Martin Lawrence was was the host for
a while, Dave Chappelle, Bernie mac Steve Harden, I mean
so many, Yeah, what was it? What was it like
auditioning being on Death Comedy Jam? Did you know a
lot of the brothers and sisters that you were out
(13:37):
there against we're gonna turn out to be what they
later became. You know. I was on the same show
as Burning Matt. He was the headliner and I started
by the first Death Jam and I went up and
I thought I blew the place away. I thought that,
you know, there was nobody gonna follow me. And I
went upstairs, you know us the bathroom us think in
New York wherever we were, and I saw a guy
(13:58):
out there and I said, hey, man, you're a comedians,
said yel. I said what's your name? I'm burning him up.
I said, okay, you going up? He said, yeah, I'm
going to I said. I thought to myself, all right,
good luck, you know, because comedian after me Bomb and
then Burnie went up there, told the house down, and
I said, oh man, I gotta get back to work.
I gotta get my stuff together. But that Depth Jam
(14:19):
was my platform that really got got me. My first agent,
got me my uh you know, that was the reason
why you know, they got me for Fridays. They saw you.
You know, I was rising up on the Depth Jam
and Depth Jam two and all that stuff. So that
was my first big platform, and then Friday's, you know,
was the movie stuff platform. Give me, give me your mouth.
Rushmore comedians. You only get four, your four best comedians
(14:43):
all time, Richard Pryor, Robin Harris, Eddie Murphy. I gotta say, Bill,
cosby those guys you left. I'm just saying the guys
you left off that is right and wrong. You left
off Chappelle, you left off Seinfeld, you left off Lenny Bruce,
(15:07):
you left off Red Fox. Yeah yeah, well those gotten
a Red Fox is up there too, But he was
wavingfore I well, I know all about him because I
do comedy and I studied it. But and Chappelle is
in my generation, so he's all that that level with
with with me. And he's one of the greatest. Don't
let me, don't be mistaken. But ain't none of 'em
(15:27):
gonna touch Richard. Ain't none of us gonna ever touch Richard.
Ain't none of us gonna ever touch Robin Harris. Ain't
none of us go ever touch Eddie Murphy in movies
and stand up and and and and Bill Cosby. He's
one of the greatest. Richard Pryor used to imitate Bill
Cosby and and then and then I gotta say Dick Gregory.
So it's it's so many, man, it's of it. You
(15:48):
believe that had Robin and Burning lived longer, they would
have had a greater place in the uh in the
comedic hierarchy. Oh, for sure, Robin Harris was to be
out of this world. He would have been like Eddie
and and and up there and probably big, just as
big as Eddie and Bernie was going. It wasn't then
(16:11):
he couldn't do drama comedy. He was gonna he was there.
He was already there too, because he stayed here long.
So yeah, those guys are they own that out restaurant
for sure. Man. So when you you write jokes, do
you just sit down? I mean, so how how did
it happen? I mean, you know, I've talked to rappers
and entertainers and they says, Okay, if I'm gonna write
(16:31):
a song, you know, I might be laying down, I
wake up and I start writing, or I might be
eating and something coming to my head and I just
put it down and start writing. How do you write jokes?
How long did it take you take you to write
a set? Yeah, it takes it. You know, when it
comes to me, when it comes from I usually don't
sit down and think of stuff. I let it come
to me and then I will write it down. Or
(16:53):
I would get in uh you know, get in a
mood or something, and then it just all come to me,
and it's like whatever, wherever it is, wherever I am
I'm at, or if I go to the comic club
that night, some come to me. But yeah, I ride
you down stuff throughout you know, the year or you know,
and but but I just let it come to me
because so much stuff uh just just comes and then
(17:15):
I keep. You know, some stuff I let go and
some stuff I keep. Was it a difficult transition from
go from stand up to acting, And there's a natural
transition that a lot of comedians have gone on to
be actors, from Red Fox to Richard Pryor to Eddie Murphy, yourself,
Bernie mac Robin Harris. I mean so many guys, said
(17:37):
the entertainer Bruce. I mean so many guys. Yeah, yeah,
it's it's it's a total it's totally it's totally different.
Stand up and acting is totally different. You have to,
like and stand up, you're more animated and you're more wired.
In the movies. You gotta tone all that down and
then you gotta come up when you when you need
to come down when you need to. I noticed that
(17:59):
when I started doing acting. I said, oh man, I
gotta take this down, you know, because they got your
your head and a hundred you know, close up and
you're moving all around here. I'm like, I can't do
that here. I gotta calm down right here and look,
you know a certain way, so you gotta adapt to that.
And then also you gotta go deeper because you're playing
a part. And then you gotta you know, you gotta,
(18:19):
you gotta go deeper than uh than stand up. Stand up.
It's you, it's your life and it's it's hard too
at times. But acting it's another level. It's another level.
But you're using that act. When you got that comedy
tool and take it to acting, it's it's good. Have
you ever forgot a line while you're doing stand up? Oh?
All time? All time? But stand up so good because
(18:41):
you got the audience right there and something might happen.
You might ask the question and boom that breaks you
to a whole another thing, and then you go back
to whatever you forgot and uh, you good again. But
stand up and nothing like stand up. I love stand
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