No Free Passes with Damon Wayans Jr.

This week, guys sit down with Damon Wayans Jr. - actor, comedian, producer, and longtime friend - for a conversation about growing up inside a comedy dynasty and building your own voice from scratch.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Everybody. This is Freddie Rodriguez.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hey, this is Wilmer a bald Rama. Welcome to the
Dose Amigos Podcasts. Once again, we find ourselves being three amingos,
amigos amingos through amingos. We like to introduce someone very
dear to us, someone very special in my heart.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Uh, someone that's been in my.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Soul and in in inside my heart for many many years.
Other ways to say that you know, you know, And
I will also say You've meant so much to me.
And I'm so happy that I can say this out
loud and finally get it.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
Off my chest. I've been holding it so much.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
I don't rarely tell people how I feel about about
this next guest that we have today. So we're going
to introduce this guy. Now, he's a prolific stand up committean. Yeah,
he's an incredible human being. He's a prolific actor. He's
a writer, he's a producer, he's a dancer. Really, he's

(01:09):
an artist, and he's a shoe designer. Uh well, yeah,
it counts right, it counts. He used to he used
to go by Kyle Green.

Speaker 4 (01:24):
Green.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
Shout out to Kyle Green.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
And we got to get into that Kyle Green is
also known to millions of you as mister Damon Wayne,
mister you guys.

Speaker 4 (01:42):
Thank you, guys, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Thank you for being here.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Man, appreciate you.

Speaker 4 (01:47):
I've never been here before.

Speaker 5 (01:53):
Speak easy, yeah, yeah, usually where you said, yeah, you
love that chair.

Speaker 4 (02:03):
It looks nice. It's my favorite chair.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
He did sign that chair like he's got a name
with leathers and Italian leathers.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
That's just neat.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Hey man, Well, welcome to the show.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
Bro. I.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
You know, we always try to tell our guests, you know,
the reason why. You know, they kind of get invited
to this thing, right, and we humbly, you know, get
surprised by how you know, people decide.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
Oh yeah, I'll come and check with you guys. You know,
the truth is that we're not a podcast that just
has a guest, you know. We we we're a.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Podcast to try to, you know, do the deep dives
on our histories and our life and how it all started.
But also you know, we bring individuals that you know,
help us remember those days, but also individuals that we respect.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
And have been part of our lives for a while.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
And and I wasn't kidding early when I said, you know,
you're You're an important person in my life. You're a
great friend to him, to me, your family, and and
I just want to make sure that you know all
kid in a side, you know, I can, I can
give you those flowers, all.

Speaker 6 (03:02):
Can all getting aside. You were a constant name in
my family's house. Like we always talk about you. We
always talk about how consistent of a person you are.
You're always the same, always nice, always there, supportive and
I'm happy to be here.

Speaker 3 (03:21):
Man, Thank you, man, thank you. We started uh with
way too long. By the way, we're gone on vacations together.
I mean we're Oh no, we're like we're all friends.
Like actually do know en?

Speaker 6 (03:35):
Yeah, I don't just drop I would say twenty years Wow.

Speaker 4 (03:39):
Way I met him. I met him through Damien Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
Damnian d Rock shout out to the rock Rock And
he's a legend of the.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Night, absolutely legend of the night.

Speaker 4 (03:52):
But yeah, that's how we met. Cool. Yeah, and then
we've just been buddies ever since.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yeah, we spend New Receives together. You know, our families
I look like each other. I love his wife. She's
an amazing person and a really great.

Speaker 7 (04:06):
Certified She's a great, great cook. She is she is
shout out to cook yesterday. Hey, so just go back
to the beginning for a second. Man, So needless to say,
you know, you know, I love your whole family. Your
family is obviously a dynasty that has uh not only prevailed,

(04:26):
but have led with disruptive and an iconic history and comedy.
And and when I introduced you as Kylgreen, I thought
it was an interesting kind of jump off, right, because
it's kind of the beginning of those moments when you
were like, oh man, you know, I think I think
I want to be funny too, you know, or or

(04:46):
how where that came from.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
But tell us a little bit about.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
Where where were you born?

Speaker 3 (04:52):
You know, where were raised?

Speaker 6 (04:54):
So I was born in Vermont, right, It was just
very random. My grandma had property, she lived in Vermont,
and apparently I think my dad didn't want me, and
so he's trying to like convince my mom to get
rid of me. And she was just like, now I'm
going to live with my mom until you figure things out.
And so she moved to Vermont and then she had

(05:15):
me there and then my dad like I think I
saw him like maybe two months later, and he saw
me and he was like, well, I guess I'll keep them.

Speaker 4 (05:26):
I guess.

Speaker 1 (05:27):
He looks like we can't.

Speaker 4 (05:29):
We can't really get rid of him now, so I'm here.
And and then.

Speaker 6 (05:34):
I moved with him back to That was a weird
way to say it, but yeah, I segue into in fact,
you know, then we moved to Jersey, and then we
moved to California, and I was raised in California. And
then kind of like, you know, the rest is almost history.

Speaker 4 (05:50):
You know.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
I'm sorry, what would your earlier interest, you know, when
you were growing up as a teenager.

Speaker 4 (05:55):
Growing up, so I wanted to be an animator. I
used to draw all the time.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
Oh, can I just say something.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
Damon is just like a prolific, you know artist when
it comes to uh drawing and all that.

Speaker 3 (06:07):
He makes him like.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Beautiful stuff, like really reciting. You drew me like one
of you know, French girl. Yeah, like.

Speaker 3 (06:20):
I still I still have that.

Speaker 4 (06:23):
I still have really good. That was really good. I mean, like,
you're like, draw my breast just like Kate Winslet. I
was like, and by the way it did, and they
don't even really look like that, they don't, but they
were brown. Yeah, because I was.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
Like, he's he ran. He never used brown.

Speaker 6 (06:40):
Yeah, deep brown, deep thank you, thank you you also man,
deep brown, the.

Speaker 4 (06:50):
Deep hue that colors.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
Yeah, the richness of the of the Venezuelan and Colombian cacao, yes,
supple in.

Speaker 3 (07:02):
The cow.

Speaker 4 (07:03):
Yeah, it was you could almost taste them.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
It was like a scratch sniffing.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
That's and and you know, he he also perfected the.

Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yard of drawing with elements.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
So he would use uh, you know, actual like strawberry
for his reds, and and he would use salmon for there.

Speaker 4 (07:25):
Yeah. Yeah, that was kind of my thing.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
But you know, so piggybacking from that, yeah, a little
deeper into your drawing, right.

Speaker 6 (07:32):
So, so, so I was drawing, and I was convinced
that this was what I wanted to do.

Speaker 1 (07:38):
That was your first love, your first love.

Speaker 6 (07:40):
Still I still love it, It's just it kind of
had to take a back seat because I had children
really young, and so I was like, I can't really
I mean, I can dream, but it's like I got
to kind of shift priorities. Everybody in my family is
first kid of nineteen are Oh yeah dude?

Speaker 4 (07:59):
It responsible?

Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah yeah man.

Speaker 6 (08:05):
Yeah, So so I knew I had to get my
stuff together, and so I started, like you know, going
to acting class, sort of writing, doing stand up and
and I've kind of just kind of built my little
infrastructure of creativity that was still you know, in the
realm of creating things, but it wasn't quite animation, but

(08:27):
it kind of it fulfilled me the same way, if
that makes sense. And I just knew I had to
get it together. And everybody in my family's funny anyway,
so it's all about who wants to like actually take
that next step experience, like all that rejection experience and
kind of like the trials and tribulations.

Speaker 4 (08:44):
Of of our industry. So yeah, so that's that's kind
of like how.

Speaker 8 (08:50):
I never every time I watch you, I never feel like, Okay,
he's just sort of writing his family's co tails.

Speaker 6 (08:58):
Like I try not to try. I try to, like,
you know, I definitely appreciate everything that they've done, and
I know that it is you know, without them, there
wouldn't be me. But I definitely try to not only
kind of pave my own way, but also make them
proud while I'm doing it, you know. So it's like
they see me, they see my work, and they appreciate me.

(09:18):
That I'm not stinking up the name.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
But you have to realize one thing, you know, to
kind of pig it back on what you just started there.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
You know.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
You know, people have this perception right that like, oh, well,
you know your uncle or your dad or your mom
or whatever.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
And the truth is, you still have to audition for
this stuff. You still have to earn this. They're not
just going to hang you over a movie.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
You know.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
Yeah, And and I think that the one thing you
you you probably could say that you had is is
you have support from a family that says, hey, it
is you know, kind of a family, family business. But
you got to swim on your own, like this is
not They're not gonna just like if you can't act,
or if you can't be funny, if you can't write,

(10:03):
you're you're just not invited to that one.

Speaker 8 (10:05):
You know. Yeah, you were born with an inherent skill, okay,
and whether you had your family or not, Like I
watch you and I go, oh, no, matter what, that.

Speaker 1 (10:15):
Dude was going to be in the position he's in now, that's.

Speaker 4 (10:18):
Really cool, you know.

Speaker 6 (10:19):
Yeah, I mean I think that's I I appreciate that sentiment,
you know, I'm I'm just grateful to be here, you know,
to be able to you know, take care of my
family while doing something that is so exciting and so
much fun. So when people like bring up nepotism or
nepo babies, like, I don't ever, I don't run away

(10:39):
from that. I'm just like, yes, but also, you got
to do the work to stay here.

Speaker 4 (10:43):
They'll give you maybe one shot.

Speaker 6 (10:46):
But if you're not, if you're not delivering, they're not
going to continue to give stuff just because your family
is working.

Speaker 4 (10:52):
So yeah, there's.

Speaker 3 (10:53):
How did Kyle Green Kyle Green.

Speaker 6 (10:58):
Kyle Green is a is my middle name and my
grandma's maiden name, So I just put that in. Yeah,
Mi Kyle. That's why I keep that a secret. Don't
tell nobody.

Speaker 1 (11:12):
Dad's name.

Speaker 4 (11:13):
It's his whole name. I'm just his name, right, So
he had that nerdy middle name and shout out to
all the Kyles in the world. Not really, no, really,
you are fucking nerds or what.

Speaker 6 (11:28):
But Yeah, So I wanted to create my own name
so I could kind of pave my own path and
I and I knew my dad did stand up and
so I just kind of wanted to, like, you know,
get my footing before I started going on stage as
Damon Wayne's junior. You know, being a namesake is freaking weird, man,
you know.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
But also the burden of having to carry whatever, whether
it's good or bad expectations. Also, it's not liberating for
you to be free. And dude, I've said this a
few times and we've talked about this on the show
a few times.

Speaker 3 (11:59):
Comedy you have to be free. There's got to be a.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
Piece within you that has like you can go to
you can be on stage and try to make people laugh.

Speaker 3 (12:08):
When you're carrying something, you have to.

Speaker 2 (12:10):
Divorce all of it. You have to drop all of it,
you know, in you know it to be funny, you
have to really really be free to soar so but
you're doing the Caygreen experiment however.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
You want to they want to call it.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
You really it really.

Speaker 4 (12:23):
Probably helped get my own my own voice.

Speaker 6 (12:27):
It helped me get my confidence up right, because I remember,
you know, going on stage and opening for my dad
when I first kind of had to abandon the name
and they'd be like Damon Wayne's Junior. I would feel
the audience literally.

Speaker 4 (12:40):
Cross their arms.

Speaker 6 (12:41):
Really as soon as I before you even get to
the mic, They're just like this, let's see what he's got.
So you have that like intimidation factor when you're doing
stand ups, so you know, I'm so new to it,
and so it's like, let me get let me figure
things out first before you guys start judging me.

Speaker 8 (13:00):
Right, So you did all the Cayle Green about a
year and a half, and that's so that you're just
getting stage hours and trying to figure that.

Speaker 6 (13:08):
I would have done it longer, but people would like
in the middle of my step be like that's name
and Wayne's son, like ways in the middle of my punchline,
like how am I?

Speaker 3 (13:18):
That's great?

Speaker 6 (13:19):
Yeah, So I had to just like abandon it and
just embrace my name r Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
And how do you think people do that? If they
if you were to figure it.

Speaker 6 (13:26):
It looked so much like them and people would like
hear you know, like that I'm doing stand up and
so yeah, they would just always expose me, especially because
a lot of the times I would be the host
for my dad's shows, so I would go out, I'm
going out.

Speaker 4 (13:39):
First, I'd look like a Wayne's So they would just
put it all together and be like shut up, wait,
So what.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
Would that so okay, so you're opening for your pops
and you're like, okay, what's that routine? Like like why
do you how do you open? What routine did you
open with? What was your first Do you remember your
first joke?

Speaker 4 (13:57):
No?

Speaker 1 (13:57):
How old were you at first?

Speaker 6 (13:58):
I was like twenty three, so I kind of started
like four years yeah, twenty four. Yeah, I was like
twenty four because I did I did something. Yeah, yeah,
it was twenty four, so I started that. I don't
remember my first joke, but I do know that he
had taken me on the road with him and he
was like selling out like like theaters at the time,

(14:20):
because it was like he did the show my wife
and kids, right, and so it was like as soon
as it was over, he hit the road it was
and he was doing like six thousand seaters, five thousand seaters.
It made me like really good, very durable. I was
passionate about it. So I did a lot of stand up.
So my five minutes or my ten minutes were super strong,

(14:42):
to the point where deaf Jam saw me do my
ten minutes set and they were like, do you want
to do a set? I was like, I want to
be doing stand up for like a year and a half,
they're like, come on down, and I wound up doing
it and I got standing ovasi.

Speaker 4 (14:55):
Oh my god, but I only had ten minutes. So
after that came out what else eternity?

Speaker 2 (15:00):
When you don't have the right set, okay, you're.

Speaker 3 (15:03):
Like, oh my god, I still got seven more minutes
to go.

Speaker 6 (15:05):
But it's like when you record your ten minutes set
and you only have ten minutes, it's like and then
they go, all right, now they want to have you
headline somewhere. I'm like, I don't have any more material,
you know, so I had to like really like hunker
down and figure out how to how to expand my
hour or expand to even have like thirty minutes.

Speaker 4 (15:24):
I didn't know.

Speaker 2 (15:25):
How would you describe the the I guess the theme
off your sets? Did you do you gravitate towards a
more like a reflection of like reality, Like I'm wondering
because here's here's the most specifically why I'm asking this question.
Your range as a as a comedian and as a human.

(15:48):
It's so diverse that it's interesting to figure out what
do you decide that it's part of your arsenal when
you're on that stage right.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
So when I first started.

Speaker 6 (16:00):
You know, you know me, I'm kind of random, like
I have like outer space ideas. A lot of my
stuff was like tethered to reality, but it was like
like a weird.

Speaker 4 (16:10):
Take on something.

Speaker 6 (16:12):
And so I realized early on, like like you'll get
a lot of laughs, but people will leave not really
remembering anything that you said.

Speaker 4 (16:19):
So I kind of had.

Speaker 6 (16:20):
To ground my stand up a little bit in reality,
and I start talking about my family, start talking about
my upbringing, being a young dad, these kind of things
that kind of help people, you know, relate to me
connect because I felt I realized that and I'm still
figuring this out. But like, stand up comedy is interesting

(16:40):
because people audiences prefer relatability over funny, and as a
comedian who was raised by comedians, I can see like
a well structured joke and appreciate it for just being funny.
But other people who are not used to that, they'd rather, like,
you talk about your family, you talk about life and

(17:01):
stuff that we can connect to, and so I've been
doing that. That's been my journey now is just relatability.
So yeah, so that's that.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah for sure, because because it's it's so unique because
you you know, you're great with characters, are great word voices,
You're a great storyteller. And I I I think your
randomness is a super power that most comedians are afraid of.

Speaker 4 (17:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (17:28):
Yeah, I mean I think it definitely helps set me apart.
It helps, you know, people not talk shit about me
when I leave, you know what I mean, Like other comedians,
like they don't they don't when I do stand up,
Like I don't hear whispers of them going he's not
even funny, because they they they agree they see me,
they're going, oh, he's funny. So I have you know,
I feel like I have the support of the stand

(17:50):
up world too. And and I just kind of trying
to use whatever I can. I'm left handed. I feel
like being left handed makes you think weird. Anyways, what
do you what do you mean by what do you
mean by randomness?

Speaker 1 (18:01):
What do you mean like random? Sense of humor?

Speaker 6 (18:04):
Yeah, A little bit like like stuff that's like, you know,
what's something that I've been doing that's a weird joke
to me? Also, I have a joke where I go,
this is you know, I saw that movie Superman, the
Superman movie that recently came out. My favorite Superman is
the very first Superman. Yeah, yeah, chrisop reeves and it Yeah.

(18:27):
I was like, my favorite scene in that movie is
when Lois Lane dies to save her life, Superman flies
around the earth counterclockwise so fast it rewinds time, bringing
her back to life.

Speaker 4 (18:37):
I was like, damn, that's love.

Speaker 6 (18:39):
But I was also like, damn, if you'd have phoned
around the earth a couple more times, uh, he could
have stopped slavery.

Speaker 4 (18:45):
Right.

Speaker 6 (18:47):
So that is like an example of it's like, why
are you even thinking? Yeah, yeah, and then I have
I go on with the bit, but it's like that
that's kind of like my absurdest kind of where I'll
take things that are not necessarily related and connect.

Speaker 4 (19:06):
Them in a way to make people laugh.

Speaker 6 (19:09):
But it's also like, could you sit through an hour
of just random shit like that becomes homework? I think
for certain audiences that came to relate to you or
get to learn about you, you know, being raised as
a waynes I think is like I have like a
big chunk of that, and I think people relate to
that most and my kid material people relate to that.

(19:31):
Marriage material people relate to that, and I think that's
they'll come up to me. They'll laugh harder at like
a Superman joke or an absurd joke, but they'll come
and talk to me about the family stuff.

Speaker 4 (19:42):
You know.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
There's interesting feedback because I think also, you know, it's
that kind of experiment of like, what is your normal
family relativity to the randomness?

Speaker 3 (19:54):
And it is, I mean, and.

Speaker 2 (19:55):
You carry so much love and respect from the common community.
And it's because you putting the hours on that stage.
You're not just like showing up and you know, the
month to like, you know, try just.

Speaker 6 (20:07):
You know, that helps to not a dick like yeah, yeah,
going around you know, like my ship don't think you know,
and I and it doesn't.

Speaker 3 (20:18):
Trust does not trust trust.

Speaker 4 (20:25):
Your doesn't.

Speaker 6 (20:27):
Yeah, chlorophylls, that's what helped.

Speaker 8 (20:34):
I've gotten that sense from from you and your And
this is without even really knowing you.

Speaker 1 (20:38):
I know your uncle Marlon a little bit.

Speaker 8 (20:41):
But that's what I've always admired about your family, is
the way y'all have carried yourselves or there's been this
sense of humility maybe is the word I'm looking for.
I've never I've never felt a sense of like cockiness
or ego or what you just say about being a dick, like,

(21:01):
and I've always admired that about it, especially me. I'm
a Chicago guy, I'm a Midwest guy, so it's kind
of how we roll a little bit, you know.

Speaker 6 (21:07):
So yeah, man, Yeah, there's also something like about an
entire family kind of doing the same thing. That's humbling, right.
So it's like, no matter what I succeed in doing, Like,
I'll have like a movie that opens and does really
well and I'll tell my family they were like, yeah,
so we did that too.

Speaker 4 (21:27):
I'm like, oh okay.

Speaker 6 (21:29):
It's like, you know, there's nothing that I can like
do necessarily that could give me that chip on my
shoulder because they are just right there to flick it off,
you know, which is great because I think we all
kind of keep each other in check and keep the
egos low.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
I will give you.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
I want to make sure that while you say that,
trying to find ways to give you a chip, because
because the truth is that.

Speaker 3 (21:54):
You've taken and you're not. And I mean this metaphorically,
not literally, but.

Speaker 2 (22:00):
But they establish a very specific tone of comedy at
their generation. There's multiple generations, right, there's like your dad dance,
your uncle's right, and they all have had a sector
like ten to fifteen years of pop culture where they've
defined the tone for that moment.

Speaker 3 (22:20):
I will say that I think you're done.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
You've done the most efficient and most relevant evolution of
your family's comedy for what actually works today pop culturally.
Everything that I've seen you, you know, pop up if
you understood, you know that your feet have to be
in the ground when you're in front of that camera,

(22:43):
that your eyes are telling out of the storylines. You know,
no matter how big you can go with things, you
still stay a great performer on camera. And you know,
I wanted to go into some of your TV and
film work because you know a lot of people when
did dance Flake happen?

Speaker 3 (22:59):
That happened before opands, No.

Speaker 4 (23:01):
Dance flock happened?

Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (23:02):
It did?

Speaker 6 (23:02):
It?

Speaker 1 (23:02):
Did? It?

Speaker 4 (23:03):
Was? That was my first thing? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yeah, So I remember, I remember when that was being written.
I remember when you guys you know, were developing that
and shooting that. And remember when you guys had the office.
I think you guys had office of Paramount, right, it
was an office?

Speaker 3 (23:16):
Was that paramount of Fox?

Speaker 6 (23:17):
I forget it was, so I remember I only remember
the office that was by the grove, Like they had
this office by the grove that was like across the
street from you know, like that that marketplace in the Grove.

Speaker 4 (23:29):
So I remember that.

Speaker 6 (23:30):
I don't remember the paramount office never had to.

Speaker 2 (23:34):
Be you guys had you were given like a little
production office, right, And I think that's when d Rock
was taking meetings there.

Speaker 6 (23:40):
Well, yeah, so they So I wasn't even part of
Dance Flock until I started auditioning for it.

Speaker 4 (23:46):
So I had to audition for that. Absolutely.

Speaker 6 (23:50):
I auditioned seven times now, kept bringing different. I would
beat somebody and they would bring somebody new, then they
bring somebody where.

Speaker 2 (23:57):
It did not was that this studio is that like
your own family.

Speaker 4 (24:02):
I think it was my own family.

Speaker 6 (24:04):
I think it was because they didn't think I was
necessarily ready to be like, you know, like carrying a
whole movie. I had just like been auditioning. I hadn't
really gotten any you know parts, so I was like
still green, right, But they could tell I, you know,
I had my natural comedy and that's what it would
keep winning, you know against the competition, is my comedy chops.

(24:29):
Because I was like good at improv. I was good
at all that kind of stuff. But I think that
they knew like, oh, this guy's kind of green, and
you know, but I finally, you know, proved myself to
the point where I think Uncle Marlon was like, just
give them the job.

Speaker 1 (24:44):
And who directed it?

Speaker 4 (24:45):
A Damien? Damien, Wayne's my cousin.

Speaker 3 (24:48):
It's interesting.

Speaker 2 (24:49):
I mean, I'm sorry going back to it, it's interesting
that you're saying, like, you know, they were wondering, like,
you know, you're still were green?

Speaker 3 (24:55):
Can you're hand of a movie?

Speaker 2 (24:56):
Everybody in the first tiered of leadership in that movie
was how allowed to cook for the first time on
that level too. Yeah, So it's an interesting thing because
I think this was also Damien's first big movie to
produce and develop and and and be a director, and
so it's a very interesting thing that their perception was.

(25:17):
You know, I would dare to say that everybody that
was in that production office at Paramount was very green
and that the people like Marlin will come in and
like sprinkle the pixie dust on it, you know. But
but they were allowing to cook. So it was interesting
that you were being put through the gunlet on that
level when they were handed that part and.

Speaker 8 (25:33):
What was that like for your cousin to go, Yo,
you got an audition for this one more time?

Speaker 1 (25:38):
Yeah, fifth time. It's just and your cousin keeps bringing
you in.

Speaker 6 (25:41):
What was wild is at the time, man, I was
so desperate to work. I remember, you know, because we
were young. Dad, I had I think four kids by
the time I was twenty four. Really, so I was
just like, you know, all yours oh yeah, yeah, wow, yeah,
uh piloting up, Bill's piling up. And I just had

(26:02):
this desperation that like I couldn't even I just had
tunnel vision.

Speaker 4 (26:06):
I was just like, you couldn't care.

Speaker 6 (26:07):
I don't care how many times they bring me up
against somebody. I'm gonna beat this person. So I was
like I needed this job. I needed to work, and
so I just you know me and you know Shane
shame So Shane and I shout out to Shane Miller.

Speaker 3 (26:22):
One of the best people.

Speaker 6 (26:24):
He's definitely one of the guys that helped me get
that part because he he would stay up every night
just drilling the scenes and finding different takes.

Speaker 3 (26:32):
He's the best cheerleader.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
Like he's just like such a supportive human being, beautiful person.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
All hard.

Speaker 6 (26:40):
He was a really good actor too, You're really good
at he was like coaching me, yeah, because he was
I think he was doing Aaron Spizer like religiously for
a while at the time, and so he had like
all the different techniques that I didn't really know, Like
I knew how to improvise, but I didn't really know
how to like you know, what's my motivation? All that
kind of like early stuff, and so like, yeah, he

(27:03):
just worked with me, and so anytime I would go
out there, I would just or whoever I was going
against out of the water.

Speaker 4 (27:10):
And so yeah, so I really needed that that job.

Speaker 6 (27:15):
And so when I finally got it, it was like
a but it was also like let's get to work.

Speaker 8 (27:20):
You know.

Speaker 6 (27:20):
I had no I had no ego. I had no
it's like, yeah, you guys, you know put me through
the ringer. I had no resentment.

Speaker 4 (27:26):
You know.

Speaker 6 (27:26):
I did promise myself. I was like, I'm never working
with these motherfuckers.

Speaker 1 (27:31):
I got to see, but.

Speaker 4 (27:35):
I'm not. But I wound up working with them.

Speaker 3 (27:40):
But yeah, so and then and then so then happy
Endings happened.

Speaker 4 (27:45):
Happy endings?

Speaker 3 (27:45):
How how how soon after that?

Speaker 6 (27:47):
So Happy Endings was so I did the dance Flick,
and then I did Deaf Jam, which I talked about
and then I got to and then I auditioned for
Happy Endings. So maybe two years after that, I'll for
Happy Ending That was my first television show audition and
I booked it and I was just like, what the
what is happening? You know, it really kind of like

(28:10):
messaged with your brain because you think everything is going
to be easy like that. After that, I auditioned for
Happy Endings. I got that, and I was also green.
They had I think they hired at acting coach for
me because they you know, again my strengths were improv
but I also like, was going.

Speaker 4 (28:30):
I was you had a show?

Speaker 6 (28:32):
Yeah, I was in a show with a bunch of
people who had you know, a lot of credits.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
My yes that they were young, but very young.

Speaker 4 (28:43):
Alicia Cuthbert, which I don't know how many movies, one of.

Speaker 3 (28:47):
The best people, a beautiful human being.

Speaker 6 (28:50):
So all these guys I had to like kind of
like and then and I learned so much from them,
and it was such a It was such a good
breeding ground for comedy because the writers were great, everybody
was young as hell, and and everybody just wanted to
make a funny, fun show, no egos, and.

Speaker 3 (29:07):
It was the first of its tones.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
Kind yes, you know, they're taking the stuff that like
had worked from the office and also the things the
absurdity of all those situations, and they made it into
a true single camera and because you know, the office
felt like a montage of sketches that were tied loosely
through an episodic idea.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
Right, they you know, had a lot of I mean,
I don't even know.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
You guys were probably shooting two three pages straight up
because you guys were talking with each other. It was
so much dialogue, but it was everything was a set up,
set up jokes, set U set up jokes, set I
set up jokes, and you guys just passed the ball
so beautifully and the.

Speaker 6 (29:45):
Scene was just just full of It was like the
same jokes permitted as like a sketch show, but it
was like a television show and these were actual, like
supposed to be three dimensional characters.

Speaker 4 (29:58):
And so a lot of.

Speaker 6 (29:59):
People that the people that saw it and loved it
loved it, a lot of people didn't get it. I
feel like it was maybe five years ahead of its
time because I feel like if it would have came
out like during the sweet Spot, when you know, everybody
was like into like you know, like gay marriage and
into all that kind of stuff. Like we were kind
of like right before everybody, you know, interracial. You were available,

(30:24):
but we didn't even talk about the interracial part of
our relationship, which was really cool because it was just
like people who did the just.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
Made any like real uh uh, you didn't do a
reoccurring skit on it, you know, you really just you
just became, you know, and you were available at a
time where this new generation who had that mentality and
that philosophy and that spirit, and you became an anthem
for that.

Speaker 4 (30:48):
Absolutely it was Network.

Speaker 1 (30:51):
It was that ABC.

Speaker 4 (30:52):
The creator of the show, David Cash Chicago Boy like you. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (30:56):
So like it was like like Adam Pally, who really
really funny dude. He's on He's doing all the Sonics.
He's like in the Sonic movies are great, They're crushing.

Speaker 4 (31:08):
I love them.

Speaker 3 (31:09):
I has a crush on.

Speaker 6 (31:12):
Understandable, understandable, and he can like go super Saiyan, Like
that's do you think his level?

Speaker 4 (31:18):
There's levels to him.

Speaker 8 (31:19):
Do you think your show was too sophisticated for Network
at that time?

Speaker 1 (31:23):
Maybe belonged on cable.

Speaker 4 (31:24):
I think so.

Speaker 6 (31:25):
I think that either that or just like waited a
couple of years to come out, right, because at this time,
I think Modern Family was like that was a peak
Modern Family. So they put us on after Modern Family.
So you know, they'd have like ten eleven million viewers
and then it would drop to like eight million for us,

(31:46):
and you know it's not like, which is insane now,
but yeah, we had like eight millions. They were just
like and then they started bouncing us around the week
and we were just like, we kind of knew that
was like the death Ring.

Speaker 4 (31:57):
But we did three seasons. They got three seasons.

Speaker 2 (31:59):
When we were doing seventy show, we were doing I
think between twenty one to twenty.

Speaker 4 (32:03):
Two million Live in Life in.

Speaker 2 (32:07):
Nielsen Next Morning Live, and when we dropped to nineteen million,
they were like, I don't know, I don't know. So
they think about the audacity of run right now, you know,
I'm technically in the number one, number two every week
drama on television, right, So it's just for years, bro,

(32:27):
you know what, our live numbers are five point five
six million now crazy.

Speaker 4 (32:32):
Though, right, right?

Speaker 2 (32:33):
But everybody else is averaging four, right, so you're like, oh,
this is crazy, but it's just TV is not what
it used to and it brings me down full circuit
to it.

Speaker 3 (32:42):
It's just it's.

Speaker 2 (32:43):
The the comedy as a destination is in an unfortunate
place because the industry is so timid and so scared
to be funny that everything's so soft hitting, you know,

(33:05):
and very few individuals like you you know, exist to
be trusted with, you know, drive it to where it
needs to be and let's just surrender to the fact
that they know their audience and they know the tone
that they need. But you know, you have the usual

(33:26):
suspects making TV shows and it's a lot of wholesomeness
and a lot of soft hitting jokes and a lot
of like you know, the grumpy dad jokes, you know,
and like nothing, nothing is moving with innovations. So how
do you handle that part? Like how do you look
at a comedy and read a script and you're like,
there's potential.

Speaker 3 (33:42):
Here, Like it's about collaboration, I'm assuming, but.

Speaker 6 (33:45):
Yeah, it has to be collaboration. It has to be
you know. Can I see myself doing this for a
certain amount of time, right, like for years? In success?
I do agree with you that I think it's weird
to have to be playing such soft comedy on these networks.
No offense to the networks, it's just when you have

(34:07):
the Internet to compete with, right, You know what I mean,
If you know that is your thing that you have
to go, you have to adapt, right, And that's kind
of I feel has been the slow demise of our
industry is them refusing to adapt until it's too late.

Speaker 4 (34:24):
Right.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
It's like, well, when they're trying to appeild too many
and they're trying to tell brands like a Chevy or
like a state farm or like or whatever, and you're saying, like,
here's where you know America is. You know, they have
to kind of water down everything. But what they I
think they feeling. We talk about this some exime, but
I love to get your perspective on this stuff because

(34:47):
because it's specificity, it's mainstream. When the moment you make
it too true to too many people, one likes no
one likes it. So it's like this common denominator where
I feel like we got to change this this paradigm
at some point.

Speaker 8 (35:01):
Yeah, I think it goes to what you were saying
earlier about good comedy is having freedom right, you use
that word freedom right, and what you just said about
competing against what's online online, they have the freedom to
do whatever the heck they want, right, So it's coming
from a very very pure, very honest place, and that's
what's getting traction. So going back to what you're saying about,

(35:23):
you know, the network's having an answer to Chevy and
having an answer to these people.

Speaker 1 (35:27):
It's like, how do you bridge the gap?

Speaker 8 (35:29):
How do you how do you tell Chevy and and
and some of their sponsors that this is what's in
right now and take a very specific stance about what
type of comedy is going to bode well on their
network as opposed to like, let's let's do some sort
of soft, broad stroke comedy, you know, which, as you said,
they're they're they're losing in that regard, right. We had
we had a conversation about comedy and what comedies you

(35:50):
like and what's what's hard hitting and what's not you know,
and and I agree.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
With you, I think some of that it's missing.

Speaker 6 (35:56):
Yeah, most of them, you know, most people's favorite comic
of these are from like ten to fifteen years ago.

Speaker 4 (36:03):
And that's a bad thing.

Speaker 1 (36:05):
Yes, what do you like.

Speaker 6 (36:07):
Dam No, I'm just saying like like popular like like
a step Brothers or a tele exactly.

Speaker 3 (36:14):
We'll be able to guess what just happened.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
I mean, it's just perfect timing, right, and like I'm
not trying to give them any you know, any but
there's a certain phone company, right. I can't mention them
on because you know, shout out to all of our
phone sponsors here, but but there's a phone company that
just dropped the commercial and it's straight up a parody
of Austin Powers with Mike Myers and Seth Green and

(36:36):
Rob Low. Like they just straight up a scene, the
dining room scene that they're always you know, kind of
they're always just talking to each other whatever.

Speaker 3 (36:44):
But anyways, and this phone company created this.

Speaker 2 (36:46):
And so when you think about companies, those were some
of the first hard hitting mainstream parody companies. The tropic
Thunders of the world, right, the Team Americas of the world.
You know, when you think about that, and you think
about how a phone company who's supposed to appeal to
so many when in grab the one last one of

(37:08):
the last few nostalgic moments that you're describing and say,
this is how we connect most right?

Speaker 3 (37:14):
How specific that is.

Speaker 2 (37:16):
Doctor Evil telling you, you know, asking about this in
straight up Mac Marris.

Speaker 3 (37:19):
You know, it's, I guess, a very very interesting thing
to think about.

Speaker 2 (37:22):
But you know, when you develop comedy today, you know,
and you're because you're you're a prolific producer. You've produced
a lot of stuff. You're produced scripted and non scripted,
and you know, how do you where do you draw?
Is it more difficult nowadays to be inspired on like
to make companies knowing that you have this uphill battle

(37:45):
with networks and and and cable networks and streaming platforms
when it comes to making comedy, or.

Speaker 6 (37:50):
I would say so, I think it's definitely an uphill battle.
But it's not impossible, right because there are people that
are doing it. You know, you have like the Bill
Lawrences of the world who have found their niche. You know,
you have access to different people that can kind of
help your vision come to fuition. But it is definitely

(38:14):
like you're gonna hear a lot of nose, You're gonna
hear a lot of You're gonna have to adjust a lot.
I think people are more geared towards dramedy. They don't
really even really know what like a full blown comedy is,
you know, and I think that, you know, my family's
movie that just came out, the parody movie is is
it kind of a testament to how hungry these audiences

(38:38):
are for just a laugh out loud comedy, like we
need that, especially nowadays. So I think the tide is
kind of turning. They I think they announced right after
the success of the Scary Movie. They announced twenty four
Jump Street, right, twenty three Jump Street. I was twenty

(38:58):
three Jump Street, Okay, yeah, so they're they're they announced that.
So I feel like the tides are kind of turning,
and people are starting to kind of open up and
let these comedies in. And so hopefully there's a resurgence,
like you know, you know, you know, everything cyclical anyways,
So it went away, but then it's coming and and

(39:20):
I hope it keeps coming.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
Yeah, but even the comedy keeps.

Speaker 4 (39:23):
Coming and coming.

Speaker 3 (39:24):
Excuse me, you're talking about comedy.

Speaker 4 (39:28):
Coming, funny stuff just like I need it in my face.

Speaker 6 (39:32):
Oh yes, it's a metaphor comedy, comedy all over in
a funny way.

Speaker 4 (39:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
Even then, I thought I thought the show you did
with your pop was really good.

Speaker 4 (39:44):
Man, that was fun.

Speaker 8 (39:45):
It was Oh man, it was so good on so
many different levels. First of all, just seeing you what
you pop together, I thought was so cool. I can't
remember the last time I saw something like that, And
and I felt like I was watching it. And even
though it was network work and obviously within the parameters
of what the network allows, I was like, ah, I'm

(40:05):
watching weigh in style comedy again. Uh, And I can
feel it coming through, even even like, hey now right now,
even through the parameters or that, you know, And I
grew up on your family's comedy, you know, like I
was in high school when In Living Color came out,
Like I was, you know, I'm very much of that generation,

(40:29):
so I'm very much in tune with what that comedy is.

Speaker 1 (40:32):
So when I saw that, I liked it for all
of those different reasons.

Speaker 8 (40:35):
But I really saw your Family's comedy come through, and
I wish, I wish it would have kept going.

Speaker 1 (40:40):
I was an avid, avid watcher.

Speaker 4 (40:41):
I appreciate that. Man.

Speaker 6 (40:43):
I definitely felt like, especially towards the end of the season,
we were really kind of finding the footing of the
show of what the show is, you know, you know,
in the first couple of episodes, you're always experimenting. You're going, Okay,
what's working with this guy, what's not working with this guy?
And so like towards the end, I was like, Okay,
this is kind of where we're supposed to be. And
unfortunately it didn't go forward, but it would have been

(41:05):
a lot of that's a show that I could have
done for, you know, season after season. It's also really
cool having like we had so much family, you know,
on the production, and.

Speaker 1 (41:15):
My aunt was there.

Speaker 6 (41:16):
She directed a bunch of them, so my daughter was
like helping out to my oldest. My oldest too, were
actually helping out a lot and they were learning a lot.
So it was like really cool seeing like generations of Waynes.
Everybody looked like each other.

Speaker 4 (41:31):
It was really cool.

Speaker 6 (41:33):
And then and then we also had a lot of
people that were like from my dad's My Wife and
Kids show. They were on there like doing beyond the
camera grip work. So it was just it just felt
so familial.

Speaker 2 (41:45):
So your is your is your family getting the bug?
Does any of your of your.

Speaker 6 (41:49):
Oldest daughter is she's a really good actress and she
an episode, yeah, very how she did an episode of
the show, and she was, you know, it's her first thing,
and so it was really cool. She didn't have to audition, though,
oh she did audition. She one time, one time.

Speaker 4 (42:09):
More lean than my uncles were to me.

Speaker 6 (42:13):
But how is she not she's twenty three. Yeah, man, yeah,
it's big girl.

Speaker 2 (42:18):
And and and she she's she feels like you think
comedy is what she's kind of leaning towards.

Speaker 3 (42:23):
So that she's going to be both.

Speaker 6 (42:25):
You know, I think she comedians can Yeah, she's she's funny,
but she's also like, I think her instinct might be drama.

Speaker 4 (42:35):
But uh, she can do it all. You know.

Speaker 6 (42:37):
I think she's a she's a really she takes it seriously.
She's always an acting class. She's always she's doing plays.
She went to she went to Europe to like learn
how to do theater and stuff like that for the summer.
So she's she's actually like really you know, applying herself.

Speaker 3 (42:54):
Yeah, she's doing the hours.

Speaker 4 (42:55):
Doing the work. You gotta do the work.

Speaker 6 (42:56):
Yeah, the work is what keeps you around, you know,
So yeah, yeah that's great.

Speaker 3 (43:03):
Do you you do how often are you doing stand
up right now?

Speaker 6 (43:06):
Probably like two three weekends a month. Usually I book
in my month, so I have time with the fam.
I'll do like the first week and then the last week.
But right now, because I'm gearing up for a special
stand up special?

Speaker 3 (43:19):
Way can you talk about that?

Speaker 6 (43:20):
I mean, I mean that's just kind of what I'm
you know, I have an hour and I'm just kind
of really going through it and seeing like what would
I keep you know, from this hour? Uh and put
it on on television or what wouldn't I and switching
things up, adding personal material like I was telling you about, And.

Speaker 3 (43:37):
Where where is this special going to be?

Speaker 1 (43:39):
Oh, we don't.

Speaker 4 (43:39):
I don't even don't even know yet.

Speaker 6 (43:41):
I'm doing DC in early July, so and everybody says,
shoot your special there. So I'm going to go there
for the first time and see how it feels, and
if I love it, I'm frigaking That's where I'll do it.

Speaker 3 (43:52):
That's cool.

Speaker 4 (43:52):
Yeah, It's been a lot of fun.

Speaker 6 (43:54):
So I've been going up a lot more now because
I want to be ready, you know, and you have
to kind of like drill your jokes to where it's like,
you know, and squeeze out any kind of you know,
extra material within each bit. You're like, Okay, where can
I take this and yeah, it's been a lot of fun.
It's a lot of work, but that's the grind.

Speaker 2 (44:15):
I look at you and Jake and Lamore and all
those guys as like, you know, you you guys are
in this very excited and honestly, I wish I was
sometimes when I see you guys be this free to
go out there and be and like just do comedy
and get back to and do it and developing it
and producing it and making it all of stuff.

Speaker 3 (44:37):
I get.

Speaker 2 (44:38):
I get crazy FuMO too when I see you guys,
because you guys are are you know, you're at a
place in your careers right now where like comedy is
such a great brand for you guys, and it just feels,
you know, it feels like you guys are at this
moment where you could be defining.

Speaker 3 (44:59):
Defining what comedy.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
Is going to be, you know, for the next ten
years and the moment you guys and now that you
guys are at the place in your careers where you
guys actually can now make the stuff. You're not just
being casting it, you're producing it, you're writing it, you're
directing it.

Speaker 4 (45:14):
All.

Speaker 2 (45:14):
You guys have a really interesting way to start a
whole new generation, like you know, when Apato created the
League of Extraordinary straight Men, you know, and you think about,
you know, this generation where people can just be a
little bit more out loud with their comedy. I think
that you guys all have like a really good opportunity
to kind of voltron into like what comedy can be next.

Speaker 4 (45:35):
That's very interesting.

Speaker 6 (45:36):
I never thought about it like that, being able to
kind of set the tone for what.

Speaker 3 (45:41):
Because there's no one else.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
And I'll tell you that right now, Like there's a lot
of great superstars right like there's the Marlin right then
there's like the Ben Steelers, and then there's the you know,
the Paul Rods of the world. Right and I can
and you can tell that these are safe bets. But
with you guys, you don't have to play safe because
you will make comedy consumable for masses because now you

(46:05):
carry a little bit of nostalgia and you carry a
lot of bit.

Speaker 1 (46:09):
Of right now.

Speaker 2 (46:10):
And I think that you guys bonding together and locking
arms to you know, to create that league where you
guys are just shopping each other's things and helping each
other's stuff move forward. You could pay another grade decade
of comedy, and it will be it will be justice,
to be honest, I love that.

Speaker 6 (46:26):
I think that it's you know, I think the fact
that we're all buddies really helps to and none of
those guys have egos and so they're always you know,
you call them in for a favor, they call you
in for a favor. And it's like you said, it's
just like everybody shows up, and everybody shows up to
really to make each other laugh. Like that's what we

(46:48):
like to, We like to, that's what who we're trying
to make laugh, not even the audience, and the audience laughs,
you know, you know, just as a result of how
much we enjoy being around each other. But that is
a really idea, like just like going in there and
trying to figure out how can we put our stamp
on the comedic game. And I think it's really cool,

(47:09):
you know, I think because I think we're all individually
doing great work, but I think collectively we could do something.

Speaker 2 (47:14):
Imagine how trusted you would be at any studio or
any streaming platform, you.

Speaker 3 (47:18):
Know, you working us your night at front.

Speaker 2 (47:20):
It takes a village to make one thing anyway, So
it's not like it's not an ego about credit or
who's on that screen and who's it's really about, like
continuing to create an investible industry and the genre itself
is suffering.

Speaker 4 (47:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (47:35):
Yeah, I mean your family did it, right, your uncles
did it.

Speaker 3 (47:39):
Moved on TV show.

Speaker 8 (47:40):
Yeah, I mean, I know Marlon is a brother, but
he's of a different generation, you know, and he did it,
and so like you're just the next guy in line,
and you've earned that position.

Speaker 4 (47:51):
Yeah, I mean you guys are you guys are crushing
it right now? Yeah?

Speaker 6 (47:56):
Yeah, no, I'm saying like you're preaching to the choir
for sure and that. But also I didn't really think
about the whole idea of you know, revolutionizing uh you know,
the comedy space potentially, you know, especially because now there's
stuff is coming out. I was watching the show. I
don't know if you're allowed to say shows names. Yeah,

(48:17):
Widow's Bay, I've seen that. I really love how they're
they're writing that tone. I feel like that tone of
like where there's scares, there's thrills, but like the funny
is actually like genuinely funny.

Speaker 4 (48:31):
I think it's so.

Speaker 6 (48:33):
You know, I think there I think it's such an
experiment that's actually working for them because.

Speaker 4 (48:38):
Nobody's doing that like that, nobody's doing.

Speaker 6 (48:41):
Horror but like funny but never, you know, so funny
that it's making you not look at the horror as
actual threats.

Speaker 1 (48:51):
It's unconventional.

Speaker 8 (48:53):
It's unconventional the same way that you said that the
stuff you're seeing online is unconventional. And and that's why
I think you're responding. I'm with it, man, I'm caught up.
I'm like, this is crazy different. It's very reminiscent of
stuff that Hero Mariah has done before with.

Speaker 1 (49:09):
Atlanta and the other stuff that he directed for. So
I'm very talented.

Speaker 6 (49:14):
Yeah, I think that, Like you said, I think the
Internet just the the existence of the Internet has kind
of blurred so many lines.

Speaker 3 (49:23):
Oh yeah, no passports needed.

Speaker 4 (49:25):
Yeah, it's just this is the best time to experiment.

Speaker 2 (49:28):
That's right, And you know what you are going to
be received in ways that you didn't expect, I'll tell you.
And you know, Freddie and I have found so many
rabbit holes that when we get to the bottom of
the rabbit hole, you realize, Man, it should have been
that easy, or it should have been that simple so
many years ago, you know, and our best form of

(49:51):
survival by the way, there I say, when it comes
to even content that we're talking about, is our ability
to kind of lock arms with one another is what
reassures the survival of genres, of industries and all that stuff,
because you know, in order to be trusted, you you
kind of have to do it together, you know. And

(50:12):
I look at you know, and you know, one of
one of the things that I'm really proud about our
friendship is that we've always looked at like black and
brown as like how do we not do this more often?
Like how are we not developing and starting in each
other's stories and like supporting each other's endeavors and like
in fueling our audiences because I really believe that, you know,

(50:34):
the African American community, in the in the Latino community
have an inlands amounts of relativity, Like they just connect
to each other in so many vital and critical values,
and we fail to tell our story together, you know,
And I think it's a really exciting time. And then

(50:56):
there is like that next generation of like who else
comes to the full because I really do think the
Asian community should be you know, united, like then you know,
the you know, the the white community should be. And
then you know, we have brothers of all brothers and
sisters of all different cultures who are ready for that
revolutionary moment where we can just take genres and be like,

(51:19):
if you're really you know, if you're a studio, if
you're a streaming platform, and you need relevance, like we
can provide, right, were old enough, we're young enough, and
were we all are shopping together, but it is that
segregated kind of approach of like, well, I'm going to
try to sell a show, you know, and you're like,
you're out there by yourself. And I mean we both
have had pot deals at major studios and and you know,

(51:42):
sometimes it's easier to cook together than it is to
like serve a meal on our own.

Speaker 6 (51:46):
I fully agree, you know, and I think that I
think a great way of doing it kind of harkening
back to what you were saying about, you know, the
whole New Girl guys of it all is doing it
in an organic way that's not necessarily preachy, and it's
just happening.

Speaker 4 (52:05):
You know.

Speaker 6 (52:05):
It's like how and Living Color came out and it
was very multi racial, and they weren't trying to be
multi racial it was just a bunch of talented people
that kind of had the same goal of being really
funny and really innovative. And I think that like matching
that with the black and brown that, you know, especially

(52:27):
we're doing comedy, that we just seem to do it
and not really think about what message we're trying to portray.
It's more so of just like this is how you
and I are when we're when the cameras aren't on,
and we just bring that onto onto the screen in
a really funny, you know, organic way, And I think.

Speaker 4 (52:46):
I think that's the key.

Speaker 6 (52:47):
The key is doing it in a way that's not preachy,
because that's when people.

Speaker 2 (52:53):
Go like we should we should also, I think entertain
men carry the burden of so much social work and
justice work that we forgot the superpower of itself and
the DNA of entertainment, that is, we're supposed to bring
all of us together in one theater, all of us

(53:15):
together in a living room, like that's what entertainment superpower
is is in bringing differences into a room, acknowledging that
we can allow to exist and coexist, and that we're
also allowed to laugh at the same joke, you know,
and I think that is the first healing power that

(53:38):
entertainment should should you know, to re infuse into entertainment,
because if entertainment is going to have a future at all,
let's not even like get the even more meta on
the issues and the fractures and the holes on the
boat that the Hollywood industry has right now. If we're
going to survive as an industry, if we're going to
continue to bring people together, we got to go back

(53:58):
to entertaining. Now, that doesn't say that we can be true,
truthful to our characters dilemmas and truths as audience members.
Because you talked about your your you know, your stand
up you know routines, and how every time you created
the the you know, the related the relab reliability between
the audience and your stories. You know, there's got to

(54:20):
be a level of truth to what these characters go
through in real life if you're gonna make these characters
relatable on screen. So that's there's always going to be that,
you know, but it is about going for like, if
this is supposed to make you laugh, how do we
make you laugh harder? If this is supposed to make
you think you know about about paranormal stuff.

Speaker 3 (54:39):
Like how do we make you? You know, I think that's.

Speaker 2 (54:42):
The type of conversation that I think that a lot
of these creative groups have to have to do. And
I think it has to be those who are young
enough and old enough.

Speaker 4 (54:49):
Right, because there, you know, we've seen.

Speaker 6 (54:52):
Just by a box office now that there is an
audience that is being underserved.

Speaker 4 (54:58):
Right.

Speaker 6 (54:58):
So you have movies like Upset and back Room, right,
these are overperforming on a level that we haven't seen
since Blair Witch. And it's because they're speaking the language
of this audience that has not been served. You know,
We've been given you know, superhero movies for almost two
decades now, and so now we're finally getting a little

(55:21):
fatigue and allowing these other ideas and these other people,
these other generations to thrive. And I think that that's
kind of where we need to gear ourselves towards too.
It's like teaching the audience is how to appreciate freedom again,
you know, because I think for a while it was
kind of like, you know, you know, watch what you

(55:43):
and so everybody's fear based. But now I feel like
these new generations and current generations are freer and so
it's like, let them be free. Let's see where this
lands and capitalize off it. There's so much money to
be made off of letting people be free.

Speaker 2 (56:00):
Oh yeah, and I think you you said it earlier.
I mean you said it so eloquently earlier when you
said that. The reason why, you know, there's so many
different uh the signs the point that we have to
go back to the strengths of storytelling, which is like,
oh the ones. The Internet made it all current and
relevant and present. The movies were now behind mm hmm, right,

(56:22):
like TV shows were reacting too late, you know, and
there and then you have marketing companies, you know, literally
reacting to a trend like a month after it's gone,
you know. So I think that the point, the point
we're making is is is is such an interesting, uh
exciting jump off for for the envy to intersect.

Speaker 4 (56:41):
There used to be more of an intersect.

Speaker 6 (56:42):
There needs the the the old world need to meet
with the new world and shake hands and not fu
they're not enemies, work together and freaking you know, and
it'll and it'll actually help keep our industry alive and
help the newer industry thrive. It's like, how does this
not make sense. Yeah, how are we fixing it? Should

(57:05):
be the people who are getting paid it to do
all these things fixing the problem.

Speaker 8 (57:12):
I think what's wonderful about the obsessions in the back
rooms of the world is that it was it was
made through people of a certain generation where they had
access to things like YouTube, right, where instead of a
generation or a producer or somebody going to the studios
and saying this is what we want, right, they actually

(57:33):
just went and kind of did it themselves. And they're
showing the studios what they want, and they're showing the
commercial viability of that. And I think that that that's
really powerful because at the end of the day, all
they care about is making money, right, Yeah, And they're
proven that this type of comedy or pardoning this type
of horror makes money.

Speaker 1 (57:53):
And so like, how do we how do we continue
to do that on that level?

Speaker 8 (57:56):
Right, instead of us going in and saying, hey, the
comedy you're doing on your new work is not resonating
with this audience, right, those are just words. So like,
how do we do that the way that back rooms
and obsession did it, so that we can prove to
them in a tangible way that we could do it
instead of just telling them we're pitching themself.

Speaker 3 (58:17):
Yeah. I think it's that vultron mentality.

Speaker 2 (58:19):
We just got to stop the bullshit, stop the the
you know, the solo missions, and just we just got
to be a union now. We got to all kind
of come together in lockcarner and say, like, how do
we push this new generation of comedy forward? How do
we make it mainstream and marketable again and also investible again.
I think that's that's that's part of the next journey.
But but but then, man, I'm just just so grateful

(58:42):
that you're coming and and I'm.

Speaker 3 (58:43):
So grateful for you.

Speaker 2 (58:45):
Ye, so grateful, very grateful for you, super grateful speaking
of kids.

Speaker 4 (58:51):
Yeah, wait, what do you mean speaking of kids?

Speaker 3 (58:55):
I just sometimes it looks great. I don't know.

Speaker 4 (58:57):
I just said I'm grateful.

Speaker 3 (58:58):
Okay, here have you here?

Speaker 6 (59:00):
Absolutely, I'm very happy to be here with you guys.
You guys are they were really trying to figure out
some some real problems, you know. I think that's really cool.

Speaker 1 (59:09):
Absolutely, man, And congratulations.

Speaker 8 (59:12):
As I said, I've been a big fan of your
family and and and the legacy and the comedy and
and uh, you know, I'm.

Speaker 1 (59:19):
A fan of yours man, so so so thank you
for coming.

Speaker 3 (59:21):
You need a podcast, bro?

Speaker 4 (59:22):
Yeah really I don't know. I would just sit on
your guys.

Speaker 3 (59:29):
Liditen.

Speaker 2 (59:29):
And gentlemen, I'm Freddie Rodriguez, was Damion Kyle Green and
a KA Kyle Green a k A idol of millions.

Speaker 8 (59:40):
Yes, yes, yes, and you're listening to the Dose of
Egos podcast.

Speaker 2 (59:44):
And think you for subscribing thing for listening and if
you're watching, well.

Speaker 3 (59:49):
I got two hours of sleep. You can see my eyes.

Speaker 4 (59:52):
Peace, pease eight fool fool