March 6, 2025 • 62 mins
In this captivating episode of "Eating While Broke", host Coline Witt sits down with voice-over veteran Melique Berger, celebrated for her iconic roles in "Pokémon" and "Rick and Morty".
Melique shares her extraordinary journey, starting from her bohemian upbringing in a theater-producing household with ties to the Motown industry, to becoming a trailblazer in the voice-over world.
She also treats listeners to a special recipe for Jewish Spaghetti and Hamburgers, a nostalgic dish from her childhood that brings her story full circle.
This heartfelt conversation is filled with raw insights, touching moments, and valuable life lessons.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Speaks to the Plannet.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
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(00:22):
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Speaker 1 (00:59):
Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke.
I'm your host, Coleen Went and today we have very
very special guests. Berger is in the building and I
keep having I think I'm so focused on your voiceover
talents that I'm like starting to funel my words because
I really want to hear rhyme from Pokemon on the mic.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Oh please, stuff, now listen. You gotta just think within yourself,
be yourself, be Judy yourself, baby girl.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
I love this. What can you do? More voiceovers too?
Since I have you, I'm gonna take you.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I do this.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I was like, if a singer is sitting here, I'm like,
you gonna sing me my one on one concert right now.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
I'm enjoy this, enjoy well. First of all, let me
tell you something you don't know me. So we got
a little missus Pancakes. Wow, I'm Ricky Morty. Wow. And
then there's there's just always my bubby, my Jewish bubby
from Brooklyn. Will forget about that. Now Ruthy Burger is
in the building and she's gonna be She's gonna stay,
(02:01):
so don't start with her. Wow. Ever, there's just so
many of this beautiful, just so many characters, and there's always
there's always a cerebro from X Men, which welcome professor.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Oh my gosh. So, just so you guys know, you
are the first black female actress in the Pokemon series
Guys that is coming out on Netflix right now, is
on Netflix. You can ask them right now.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
She's and I want to say something even more. I mean,
I'm the first female black queer gym leader and trainer.
Now my character, I'm not going to classify her as queer,
but I will classify her as the first female black
trainer and gym leader.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So that that's that's a big deal. And for it
to happen on Black History Months, I mean, yeah, this
is incredible. And she dropped on my birthday on February seventh,
So oh, you're a catch. You down come to you that? OK,
it's just an honor. It's an honor, and you know,
you always just want to reach one other sister, one
(03:08):
little girl that's talking into her hairbrush like I was
my entire life.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I'm like, I know we're supposed to get into the dish,
but I'm really curious. So I'm gonna go ahead, just
get into a guy early. But this interview is gonna
be a little backwards, but I'm just curious. So, like,
you get the roles, how does it work?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Do you have your own recording studio at home or
do you have to go into studios?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Have cur okay? Well, things changed with the pandemic. People
started having their own studios and recording that way. But
this was something that I went into the studio and
I did the audition from home, but then the job
happened in studio. I do a lot of my auditions
from home, but I've also been a working voice of
for actor for thirty six years.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
I think that's amazing. And then you've never did you
have to ride the bus of the roller coaster from
hell in the industry because you've had a long career.
Is it like they just go call Malik on this,
Malik will handle it?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Alike, will do it?
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Or do you still have to pay your dues even
though you have such a long resume.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
My dues are very interesting. We'll say I have always
paid dues. But my mother, God rest her soul, Myra Berger,
was a very big commercial agent and on camera commercial agent,
and before that she was a theater producer. So I'm
born and raised in this business. I have been working
(04:28):
since I was three, starting with Russian ballet. I got
my first acting scholarship at five from the Alphan Theatrical
Ensemble so I've been working by disciplined. Yes, by seven,
I was playing the flute with the Los Angeles Philharmonic
and James Galway. I started studying Shakespeare at nine and ten.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
You're making my daughter look very lazy.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Right, She's not lazy.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
I didn't even get her to brother, let alone audition
and memorize. Well, lower was your mom? Your mom hasn't
been strict. I'm just trying to imagine, because I'm telling
you right now my daughter tap dances all over me.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Well, well, my kids are also, hopefully they're more wildly
talented than I'll ever be. I got two lyricists that
are giving you their drop of knowledge that I'm like,
they listened, Wow, I listened, Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
But to start at three, four or five, seven and
a half, all these responsibilities, I would imagine your home
life was very strict or not at all.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
My mom was a bohemian. I lived in a theater.
That's how it started. My mom was a theater producer.
My mom and my antiguin they were just like there
were art people and my mom being you know, this
cool Jewish check from Brooklyn. Before I came around, she
was very much into the black theater scene in the
(05:49):
early sixties, mid sixties here in Hollywood. She my family
moved here from Brooklyn in the mid sixties. My mom's
older brother, Shelly Berger, was as one of his I
guess still was, Well he is. He's the Temptations manager.
So he was in business with mister Hardy and he
was one of the vice presidents of Motown Wow. And
(06:11):
he had already moved to California, and my family decided
to follow him.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Oh wow with it.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah they did. And so my mom found out they
were moving to California and she was always just drawn too.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
And how old were you when you had to move?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I wasn't I wasn't here yet.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Oh you weren't here. Oh so you're not a Brooklyn girl.
You're a Calli girl. You want to raise for household damn.
But you got to accident down good? Yeah, that accident
down good. That was totally believed that.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Okay, No, I'm not Brooklyn, I am La. I'm West Hollywood.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
That's how you know your voiceover work is platinum status
because I was like, you do that voice great sang? Okay,
so you're gonna take me into what you're eating when
you're broke. What are you gonna have me eating today?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Okay, so I will tell you the broke situation.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Good.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
My mother was and is and will always be my life,
my mentor, my everything because it was just my mom
and I. When my mom decided to marry my dad,
who was black and God rest his soul, also, she
went to my Jewish grandparents and said, the night before
mel and I are going to get married, and we'd
very much like you to come to city Hall tomorrow.
(07:27):
My Jewish grandparents said, we understand what we're going to do.
Please call us when you're done, and do not have
any children.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I believe that as a Jewish and black child, I
believe that I've been there. Okay, so totally relatable. See,
we're gonna be best.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I told you, I told you, I told you so.
When this happened, she was just owned by my grandparents.
And even though my uncle could you know he was
doing what he was doing, and that was cool because
he's a man, but this was their daughter.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
So wait, your uncle was doing because he was because
temptations and all that.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Yeah, it still does. God bless them.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Yeah, so it's not It wasn't a broke thing. It
was an away thing, and you know, my mom and
dad did what they did. It worked as much as
it worked. But by nineteen months it was done. And
she called my uncle Shelly, and he got us home.
And there are a lot of issues with my mom
and my dad, but they made sure to tell me
you were made out of love, and I was love
(08:26):
that and that was And I never saw my dad again.
They got divorced. I never saw him again. So my mother, ever, ever, ever, ever,
ever again?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
How old were you?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I was nineteen months most half? I guess, yeah, do
you even remember that?
Speaker 1 (08:42):
None?
Speaker 3 (08:43):
I have no recollection of any of it.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
But do you have like pictures or something?
Speaker 3 (08:46):
I have a picture. I have a picture. So it's
very interesting to not know that entire side.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Oh so you don't know the whole entire side. No, oh,
we got stuff, We got stuff.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Relate O. Okay, we really do. So you will now
tell you about Jewish spaghetti and Jewish hampergos. So this
is arrested.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I'm going to backtrack. So were they when they were
together and she got disowned for the time that she
got disowned, were you guys struggling? Did she share that?
Were they struggling together during that period.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
The struggle was my my father was a huge which
she didn't know. He was a drug addict and a
huge alcoholic. And it's really funny. She met him at
Bonnie's Beanery. I'm Santa Monica in Los Angle and he
walked up to her and he said, hey, you want
to be my old lady, and she said yes, and
that's how that happened. Okay, So, yeah, there was some
(09:38):
problem she didn't know about.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Okay, Okay, Okay, that's a that's a lot to handle.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
That's that happens.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah, I feel like I'm so invasive.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
No please show I'm ready. Okay, there's no shame.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Okay, tell me this story. My new friend Malik, So
you know that she.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Moved to Baldwin Hills, she had her baby and up
there was a lot of alcoholism and a lot of
drug abuse in that situation, you know, and she took it.
She took it because my mom's a G. She's a G.
And again, she was really into the theater scene. So
and it was absolutely it was black a blaxploitation time
(10:18):
when she was hanging with like dope black actors at
that time. Arnold Williams was one of them. Ron Rich
was another one of them. She also, come to find
out later in life, was dear close with her true prior.
And that's another story because we'll get into she's my
relationship Raine Pryor, who is my sister. Okay, and that's
(10:41):
where fried Chicken Unlacus comes in. But that's that's that.
That's another story which we will talk about too. Good.
So this recipe that we're going to talk about about
our George spaghetti and hamburgers. It wasn't that that we
were broke. We were well. It was we were broke.
We were broke because we were alone because we didn't
get that money anymore from my grandparents. They didn't know me.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
But when we came back and my uncle Shelly did
come and basically rescue us from a situation. He called
my grandparents and he said, you better get up here
and meet your granddaughter. Oh that one got emotional for you.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah good, I want to see you cry before me. Okay,
sorry because I cried with the Okay, so.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Sorry, you go. And I will forever be grateful for
him to bring me home. I had to bring my
mom home and to keep us safe and I'll tell
you when Jack and Ruth Berger saw their grand baby,
they gave me the most beautiful life and my Jewish
Jewish education, and they threw me to the arms of
(11:46):
the rabbi and I am very proud. Drew.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I love that. So there was that, Yeah, so my
grandma's So they embraced you. It just.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Was I was a baby girl.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Did they ever talk about not trying to be negative?
But did they ever at some point bring up the
biracial part of denied it? They denied it.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
I was so light skinned. They just didn't talk about
it until I talked about.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
It, and then you started getting more vocal with it.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
I got very vocal with it. I'm super vocal with it.
In nineteen eighty nine, I was a big dancer still
and I went to a club called Water the Bush
and met Africa Islam and got very indoctrinated into the zulination.
I actually was the second name Zulu Queen in Los Angeles.
(12:40):
Hip hop and graffiti are a big part of my life,
and that was it. That was my thing, and I
was very proud. I still am proud to anybody who's listening,
and that I talked about it. A lot, and I
think by the air of young you poor. One year,
(13:01):
I was going to see the minister Farrakhon speak and
my mother called my grandfather and she was like, Daddy,
like she's gonna go and she's gonna hear fharicn. And
my grandfather said, my you have to let it do
what she's gonna do, because one day she's going to
have to pick. And then my cousin Nicole was like, Papa,
you can't make her pick.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Yeah, she's everything. Yeah, but did you feel a lot
of pressure growing up like you had to pick? So
because it eventually becomes like this prevailing like thing culturally right,
because are the blacks really accepting you? And are the Jews? Definitely?
Are the whites accepting you?
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Well, I went to Hebrew school for a long time,
so I'll tell you there's a lot of are you adopted?
Did you convert? And Jewel?
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Well, if your mom is Jeelle.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
That's the thing though in different spaces, and I talked
to rain about this all the time. You are asked
if you converted, and we're to the place where no,
we did not convert, And why are we being asked
that if our mother's are Jew? Why are you asking
me this? Now? We've risen above that and there's so
many more black Jews now, which really leads me to
(14:08):
the ninth birthday I had at Flipper's roller boogie ballas
I saw Rain. She was skating there and I was
nine and I saw this girl that looked like me,
and I skated right up to her and I said,
you have to come to my birthday party. And she
was like, when is it? And I said, it's right now,
because I never saw another person that resembled me, and
(14:31):
it wound up being Rain and Rain and I have
been together ever since, and we didn't know who we were,
that our parents knew each other. And we forged through
this together because we thought we were the only two
black Jews in the world at that point. And we
have gone through it together. So she's mine. There's the
(14:53):
other tier, she's the other foot, you know. And we
did it and we had no idea that our folks
even knew each other. And that's pretty did and then yeah,
and so I'm the fast one and she's the one
that got the straighted.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
You did mention though it was your mom that called
your dad that was concerned about the you showing up
to the Fara con.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
No, it was my mom that called my grandfather.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
It was your mom calling your grandfather.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
She was with my dad.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
No, I met your mother calling your grandfather. So she
was concerned about it too though.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Because she thought that I would turn my back on
the Jewish community. And she didn't know. There was never
a dad.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
There was my papa, I met your I met your grandfather.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Yeah, but I will tell you there never was a dad.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
My grandfather was the the patriarch, and that was the everything,
and that's who sent me to Hebrew School. And you know,
so I went through a lot. So I went through
a lot there, but my Jewish identity is everything to
me and sisters, I'll tell you, I've had some some renans.
I've had some rennans, especially dancing back dancing Russian ballet.
(16:02):
That was a lot too, you know, And it was
a lot on camera because you can't be funny and curvy,
I mean eighty one, eighty two, eighty three, eighty five.
It was like, you're too funny to be curvy, and
you're too light to be connected with another family. So
(16:23):
you either need to get really really fat or lose
all all of everything to get a job. Wo you know,
a different world was where we went here in La
to like it was the stable, like here's your pink
and green sweatshirt, and here's your special business. And it
just turned into something that got very sad. It was sad.
(16:45):
Maybe coming on voiceover artists was a fluke. It was
an accident. Oh, it was an accident.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
It is so it is almost lunch stiff and we're
gonna be eating. So what do you was sorry to
derail you one hundred times about eating.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
We are eating Jewish spaghetti and hamburgers, which was my
It was my grandma Ruth, My bubby roots was the recipe.
So this is the recipe that you could do it
two ways. If you had a little extra money, you
could make it with salmon croquettes. If you were ball
(17:21):
and on a budget, you could do it with hamburger.
We're going to do it with turkey, Yes, tonight, accommodate
with turkey. We're going to do some accommodations. And the
reason we call it Jewish spaghetti is there's no olive oil,
there's no garlic.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Got it?
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Got it?
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Also, I should remove the garlic powder that is.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Fine, don't worm about gard but it is basically butter
instead of oils, onions instead of garlic, and it's a
it's quick and simple, large can of tomato sauce, tomato paste,
a lot of love. And what I did motsa meal
instead of bread crumbs. And what I did as my
(18:04):
son's got older, was we had to get that creolesis
and just a little bit to get as of blackness
that sounds of blackness.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
And then you had the eggs.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
The eggs are going to bind our meat. And then
it served with our favorite This is like the kool
aid of of Jewish grape juice last right, which is
non alcoholic. And so we have that and we'll talk
(18:34):
about that stuff too. So what do we do? You
get to do it?
Speaker 1 (18:37):
You down, I'm gonna be the lazy side chip that's like,
please don't burn down and ooh that's how you make it.
And I'm gonna be eating very good today. So go ahead,
start cooking. Here we go, let's get I'm gonna get
all up in your business and find out more she
up in my business exactly, all right, all right, go ahead,
(18:58):
start cooking, cooking.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Okay, So I'm going to start with the.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Share out the way, so chair it's trying to like
it's because it's.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
This is not the big d it. Okay, here we go.
I'm gonna start with my of my onions just this.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Oh no it's not on Okay, so that the right one.
Tell you a joke. I can't do it on the
spot like that. But while you're heating the oven, well,
actually you could. Just most of our audience are listeners
and they're not able to watch the episodes, so you
could go ahead and start telling us how to make
(19:37):
the dish.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Knife.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
She needs a knife. You know. We kept just so
you guys know, we kept going Malik, I'm missing anything
and within.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Ten seconds missing knife. Okay, well then I will tell
you listeners. Butter in the burger household is basically it's everything.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
That's how you know if someone could cook good by
the way, if they use butter. I go through just
so you know about twelve sticks a butter a week.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I love you for that, really, I love you for that.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
People always ask like, what's so good about it? I'm like, butter,
real butter, and it's not a.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Bit of salted. It has to be salted. I don't
care if you say and don't use unsalted better butter.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
I saw we had Chris Spencer on the show and
he said something I never heard someone say. He said,
unsalted butter is just like using macoline, Like what are
you doing? And I was like, oh my god, that
was so brilliant.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
That is good and pick up just Chris Spencer. My
mom was Chris Spencer's agent. So what Chris Spencer. Everyone
knows spaky. It's laky. What's that? You know? Funny thing
about butter? People are so scared of it. Please don't
be scared of but it.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Butter.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
It's a fine thing. Butter is a fine thing. So
there's that. So I'll tell you some more. Then I'll
give you some more of the story. My mom suddenly
passed away in twenty six, twenty thirteen. My mom found
out that she contracted hepatitis se from my dad because
(21:10):
he was an intravenous drug user. And in ninety nine
I got sober because I had some really bad issues
with drugs and alcohol and it was something that needed
to happen. Now, God spared me because I happened to
believe in God that I don't push it on anybody. Else.
But that's just who I am. I'm a child of God,
(21:32):
and that's why I'm still alive because the things I've
done in my life, you would I'm walking miracle straight up.
And I got sober, and my deal was because it
was just me and my mom, who was my agent,
my manager, my life force.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
I mean, my mom and.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
I got sober. But the outclause was if anything God
forbid were to happen to her, I was going out.
I had been married to my kid's dad. I'm also queer.
He knew that's the deal.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
From one day to dude, just know you told him
up front.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Any guy I dated son, if you're watching, I didn't
know because you do.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Oh well, so he knew. I gotta get I'm curious.
Okay someone wait wait, so he knew any signed up?
And what was the arrangement? Like you could tolerate?
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Absolutely? Absolutely, okay, absolutely, that's just how it is.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
And he was cool with it, of course, very because
I mean, that's not a bad deal too.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Listen, well, you know I separate my poisons. You don't
have anything to do with what I do on my day.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
What if he says, though, did it open him up
to say, well, can I opt for extras.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
To you know what? That was? Even he was a musician,
so when he was on the road or whatnot, that
doesn't have anything to do with me. I'm a lot
of what you do does not anything to do with me.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Okay, o.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Business.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
As I get older, I'm starting to get there. I'm
starting to be like, I'm going to do myself. Yeah,
I know who I am.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
So there's that. And what it is is what it is,
what it is, what it is, you know what I'm saying.
So I say that because there was a reason I
was saying that.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
So wait, wait, if you were if you are queer, sorry,
but you married a man? What what what was your
intention to marry him? Were you just in love or something?
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I fell in love. I fell in love. And that
goes back to the sobriety because I met one of
my first sponsors was black and Jewish and I'm also
a singer. So she said, okay, I'm gonna take you
to this church because they need singers. And I walked
into this little we went into it. It was like
an alley in Englewood. It was a garage and so funny,
(23:45):
and you know, I'm in my Fred Siegel's Best. If
you don't know Fred Siegel, everybody it was. It was
terribly expensive clothing still and Lauros and I had just
turned thirty. It was like two weeks in the thirty
and I walked in. This brother was warming up his sacks,
and I was dressed terribly inappropriately to go to church.
Of course, because you know me, you already know me,
and I can.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
I'm visiting it.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
I'm fierced. And you know I met I met Damon Renti,
and he was the original saxophonist of Atlantic Star and
de Barge and this and that and this and that.
I'm putting my hand in here right now.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
I was just more concerned that she is not even
used in the Little Spring.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
You gotta feel it. You gotta feel. You have to
your onions, you gotta feel your salt. You what's going on?
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Very fancy.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
She's a fancy last, She's a fantasy live.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
I've never in my life cooked and did that whole
spriggle thing, but I think I'm going to steal that
sprinkle on.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
You gotta get your sprinkled and teach my daughter how
to do this, just even if you don't know how
to cook. Just do it. Do that.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
So you walk into the walk into the.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Church and and it's on because he's warming up his sacks,
and like, oh, that's what I'm going to marry. Also
without having a dad. You know, I knew that this
was He's fifteen years my senior, and I wanted to
have children, and I said, oh, this is going to
be safe. And I needed safety because I had just
gotten sober and I knew I didn't want to be
(25:13):
who I was any longer. And that's what happened. And
we were together for quite some time, and we had
beautiful boys. Lys lyricsis shout out to seventy, shout out
to Negro Ku, Kooli Jackson and Julian and we did that.
We you know, we did this thing. We made a
beautiful album together and we're still. That's one of my
(25:36):
best friends. Man, that's that's one of my best friends.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
So you meet him, meet.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Ministry two thousand.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Ministry two thousand, and then does Sobriety end up creeping
in there?
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Nope, stayed Sobriety stayed good. But him and my mom
were like oil and water.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Okay, there was that because.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
First of all, my mom was tough from Brooklyn five
feet tall.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Wait it was he he's black? Yes, okay, okay, got.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
It, got it. And but we all lived together because
my mom had just what does it call when you
leave your job because you retire?
Speaker 1 (26:12):
That's it?
Speaker 3 (26:13):
Okay, And you don't separate me from my mom.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yeah, you just don't package steel.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
We're a package steel. But all in all, oh, pepper,
pepper gone. All in all, we had two beautiful babies.
And I say that because in this he did support
my sobriety so much and I was able to stay sober.
But when we had started parting our ways, I did
find out that my mom was very sick, and it
(26:39):
happened very quickly. My mom had gout and after we separated,
they had given my mom a medication that woke up
the pepsi and within three years my mom was gone.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
So I didn't have the upbringing as many folks do.
When you're in my industry. This is what you do
with your money, this is how my mom handled everything.
And even in marriage, my mom still handled all of
my because she was my ancient and a manager, my
business manager.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
So and were you and your husband at the time
doing really well?
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Or we were we were fine, but everything was separate.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Everything was separate.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
So she was most definitely So I didn't know how
to pay a bill or right. I knew how to
write a check, but you know, I didn't know how
to take care of myself. And I had my two boys,
and you know we lived the life of Riley m Well,
that's not realistic. I then found out the hard way,
(27:45):
so like when they turned the lights off at the
condo that we got, and when I didn't know how
to go shopping and I didn't know that you needed
like quarters and stuff when you didn't have a washing machine.
The night of my mom's memorial, I just said, well, Fitt,
(28:10):
call the dude, and I was out. You know, within
minutes of my mom passing, I took, well, you know
you're going to call someone when you're gonna start using drinking.
So while my mom was dying, I packed it in
and gave up fourteen years of sobriety.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Fourteen years, my goodness, fourteen years. You wasn't lying when
you said this story was how was that?
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Now was that? And at that time I want to
say that Jackson and Julian were oh no, oh tomato
paste tomato paste, So you want to get the tomato
paste into the butter, into the onions first because you
want to melt it down. And this is one small
can of tomato paste. Yeah, I'm gonna put this here.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Do whatever you want.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Everything, Thank you. Everything's going together and.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
This story is so good. Every time you step and
now it's agree.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
It's just all there, we go, there, we go.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Okay, So you so you had I'm just curious, genuinely,
like emotionally, how did you feel on the inside when
you like just said goodbye to fourteen years of sobriety
because that had to have been a tough pill.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I felt nothing because I lost my mother and I
was not prepared and I didn't want to be here
anymore because I didn't know how to survive without her,
because we didn't have a plan for that. And I
was very angry with God and I I didn't know
(29:39):
what to do with my babies, and I even asked
him to take them. I didn't know what to do.
And Jack and Julian are eighteen months apart, an aquarius
and a cancer. They are anointed angelic. They're everything good
about me. And I did not deserved to be their
(30:01):
mother as far as I was concerned, Tomato sauce. I
lost it. I lost it.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
So how long were you in the I lost it mode?
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Three years? Three years, three years.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
You're so strong, it's so powerful right now, it's crazy
to imagine that three years.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Yeah, I did some research for three years, and for
three years, these young men grew up. These young men.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Grew How old were they at the time, I'm sorry
to be.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
They were in third So it started third and fifth
grade into oh no, no, no, no, it was middle school.
They were middle school getting ready like Jack. At the
end of it, Jack was just starting high school. You
eated his first year ninth grade. I signed him up
(30:51):
for ninth grade with a big gulplovodka and in my
hand and in uber.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Oh, you were in it.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
I was in it. Okay, I was in it. And
I was, you know, leaving notes with money for pizza
hut and still going to my auditions, you know, still
doing my thing, still working.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
At this point, who's managing your money while you're in
this kind of you're stuck in it.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Yeah, it's just straight thugging.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Did your ex take full Well he wasn't. Really, it
doesn't sound like he was saying, full responsibility of the kids.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
He did everything he could, like he'd see them on
the weekend. But what my ex did, and I you know,
God bless him for the rest of every day of
this life. He made sure that that rent was paid.
There was always a roof over our head. He was
doing their laundry, he was picking them up when he could.
There's food in the house. And that's when when my friends,
you know, we're gathering, you know, they were gathering. They
(31:49):
were No one didn't check in on those babies. Those
babies were never alone. But it was those babies that
checked in on me. And that's when Jackson and Julian
grew up and they saved me, and they checked in
on you. Yes they did.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Are you comfortable getting into that, Yes i am.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
I'm very very I'm truly blessed that I'm alive to
tell you the story. And when that happened, it was like,
what were they gonna do? You know, I don't have
There weren't many people they could have called. Now the
sauce as hopefully you see.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Is it looks good, it looks delicious. I'm hungry.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
There we go, there we go. We're going to move
over to the Jewish hamburgers.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Now do you want to put this here?
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Is that? Okay?
Speaker 1 (32:37):
I'm pretty sure if we burned down the house, you
and I were doing it together, doing it together. And
by the way, I don't have real insurance. Hare shout
outs to the mall for not.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Knowing we're gonna you know what, we're actually gonna do
tape that we could put the sauce in here. Then okay, okay, great,
go back to the story. So they check it on me.
But you know it turned. I went to a place
where I was this is really you know that, this
is real, y'all because I was wearing a gown at
(33:09):
pastout time every night, with a full face of makeup.
So when they came in and saw me not here
any longer, at least they'd have a memory of a
beautiful mom oh my gosh, and they could say and
not be scared to say, doesn't mommy look beautiful. I
never wanted them to walk in if I wasn't here
(33:30):
any longer and be scared. I mean, that's when you've
really lost it. Yeah. So I had a spiritual awakening,
and since I had so much time and so much ego.
I decided that it was time to get clean, and
I called a friend and I said, I'm going to
(33:50):
DT or detox alone, because I had too much pride
to step into a meeting as a newcomer again.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Okay, oh yeah, because you've kind of you've been okay, okay,
you know, so you go, you go into detox by yourself.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Myself, I sweated out a dear friend that I'll always love.
We don't speak any longer, but she came to the house.
She made sure that the boys were okay. You know,
I was in the bends. I got through it, I went,
I did it, but I was still working as an actor.
I knew how to get there, do my job, get out.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Now did other people in the field know that you
were struggling with this problem?
Speaker 3 (34:25):
Or I asked that really really well one job, not
so well? Every everybody else? Well, okay, real well, at
least I thought I did. And I was very skinny,
and I was a little green, a little of a
green haze. And you can laugh now, because tragedy pleus
comedy equals sign if it does. Yeah, but I held
(34:47):
it together best I could, and thank you so much.
And I need a little room. I'm gonna go, and
I did.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
They're like watching a movie. When I say you ever
see a movie and they go to commercial, You're.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
Like, fuck stop commercial all.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
She put the bowl down, guys, let's put the meat
in there. Fast forward. I want to get to the
story just like you, guys.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
So we're gonna take two eggs right now, full starters,
two eggs. And my very best friend said, listen, if
you don't get clean, I will leave your life. And
you've got to do it for the boys.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
But this is after you did detox or before.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Right before she said, if you don't get clean, she
took me and my best friend is Welsh, as is
my new husband. She said, if you don't get you
have a new husband. We'll talk.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Oh my gosh. When I saying I like this story.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
I'm like my husband funny enough is trans I'm from Wales,
so I got, we got. We got to talk.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
When I say, I've never been so curious, we have
what forty five minutes we're gonna go all the time.
Katie already knows that I feel bad because we have
another guest, but we'll figure it out.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
A lot of talk about so anyway, if you don't
get clean, it's done. I'm out of your life. Matthles,
So in here right now, two eggs. We're using turkey
for my sister because she's not gonna eat ground beef.
And she said, so listen, let's have our last shot
at Jamison. Get your ass clean, so then clean detox.
Here comes the matzamal again. This is Jewish breadcrumbs. And
(36:22):
I had my last shot at Jamison and then I
went and detoxed because it wasn't just alcohol, it was
also drugs. My jug of choice is very Rick James.
And I'll leave it at that. And I'm glad I
would have asked one hell of a drug and and
I did it. I went home and I started so in.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
My seasoning, and she put the tonys.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
I believe Tony's just last.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Tony's last. I'll startry season. I'm paying attention to the
story gains.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
I'm going to I'm gonna do some onion powder after that.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Just seasoning all the meat.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
Guys us name to me.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
And she's she's gangster with it because she's not even
using the little sprinkle tops.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
All that look looks, smell and touch.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Oh there we got the onion.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
You know what it looks like, you know what it
looks like it's gonna be. And then this is where
the garlic comes in at my house. Garlic at my
house just a tast a little because you know it's
a gas drop. Now what I did, though, I do hear.
My father's from New Orleans. We didn't live. We get
(37:31):
our our little bit, just our little bit.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
Of our Tony's okay.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
And then this is when I put the gloves on
because I'm on the TV. Okay, you know it's my hand.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
Oh yeah, So back to the story. So you go,
you go to.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Oh, I don't know the detax. It's in my bed,
sweating it out. Oh I thought you said you wish,
So I don't go anywhere. I'm having my sheets changed
every six hours or so, sweating out GATORID B twelve
vitamin C.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
And during the whole details, are you like pooping yourself,
throwing up and all that? You have to go through
all those motions, like you have to go through everything,
and then like, is there is there family on site
to like get you drinks or just stay and are.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
You there's not? There's there's there's main family. There's not family. Family.
I don't have a lot of family, family, a and
and that's what it was. Okay, it was what it
needed to be for me to do it. I don't
have anya people around, but I have who I need
to have to get me through because I'm in a
(38:32):
lot of prayer. I have God, yeah, and a lot
a little too much pride. But you know, if I
was going to go, I was going to go. Had
a couple of conversations with with death. Who to me.
She never scared me. She was never coming with a
sickle to take me. I felt when I saw her
(38:53):
the three times. And I'm just going to tell everyone
this might sound strange, but she's super hot. She has
red hair, she looks I she had badass boots on
and a hell of a belt buckle.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
Milike. I love you, I really think, I genuinely.
Speaker 3 (39:06):
Just love you. I love you too. I knew when
I saw you so and she you know, she's she
stood over the bed a couple of times and she
just checked in just to let me know she was
there and I didn't have to come. She never put
her hand out to me and said let's go. She
stood there and let me know I didn't have to
(39:30):
come detox is.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
Really bad trip.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
It's a trip.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
So how long do you have to detox for?
Speaker 3 (39:36):
It took me about fourteen solid days.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Fourteen days of hanging out with the girl. What's you say?
She was worth?
Speaker 3 (39:45):
Just badass, a badass belt buckle on bad She was like,
hey you she was good, she was good. Made it
fourteen days?
Speaker 1 (39:55):
What do you so? Then you start your walk?
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Officially, I didn't start my walk yet. I waited thirty
I waited thirty. But in this time my best friend
yet again. Her husband was, I'm just gonna like clean this,
you know, when I'm not, I'm gonna use the same
pan and nice and hot. Here comes to oil because
I'm getting ready to make some little Jewish mebals.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
Guys, we're gonna eat good.
Speaker 3 (40:18):
We don't eat good, and we're going are we hot
orre we We're still hot? Okay, we're gonna put that
oil in. And there was a screening for a film
that he had just produced, a documentary, and their friend,
who had many, many years of sobriety, was that the screening,
here's the setup, and I'm in a program and of sobriety.
(40:42):
And when there's someone there that that has time. They're
sometimes called your eskimo, and your eskimo is who kind
of brings you back. Right. So she comes up to me,
a very dear friend and says, so you got some time? Now,
how's that? How's that doing? How's that going for you? Thank? Yeah? Here,
(41:05):
you haven't gone to any other meetings? How's that gonna
worry you? And I'm like, I'm fine, I'm doing great,
I'm wonderful, terrific. Well, if you ever want to, you know,
you can call me. And my prideful ass waited thirty days. Okay,
so I did not have to walk in New Okay.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
Was walking anew that tough for my ass? Okay?
Speaker 3 (41:28):
Yeah, it was because I still wasn't ready to Now
I would. I would never suggest hello, if you're struggling,
please just get some help please. And I'm a'm eight
year staff now.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Wow, Congress, thank you, Congret, thank you for coming back.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Now we have Rhyme and Pokemon. We had a lot more,
but you know, we got a lot. We got a
lot to look forward to it and I got a
new frame.
Speaker 3 (41:57):
But life, that's man.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
I would to now learn, you know what, when I
got the recipe for a Jewish spaghetti and Jewish meatballs.
I was like, Jewish spaghetti, yes, there is jewishballs.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
There we go. So I can't say that that like
this was like my my jelly, my jelly, you know, sandwich.
But it means so much because this was what I
could do. This was pretty much all I could bring
myself to make because it still smelled like my mam
(42:35):
was home who and it was something that my baby's loves,
and it was something I knew how to do. So
that's what I made.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
We're gonna end It's gonna be my new favorite dish.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
I hope it is.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
So what's the deal with the oil? You have to
put a lot and then you put a lot.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
Crying meat balls.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
I've never made meatballs in my life.
Speaker 3 (43:10):
Crazy?
Speaker 1 (43:10):
Are they terrible?
Speaker 3 (43:11):
People? Hate? They're terrible people. You're gonna hate them. They're
gonna hate them.
Speaker 1 (43:15):
Use the tight ones. Everyone likes the tight ones.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Make little one.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
I always give the big ones.
Speaker 3 (43:19):
Make the little ones because they cook faster. And these
gloves are really hard and I'm so ready to take
them off. Sorry, please take them off.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
You could take them off. Just don't touch your hair.
I want it's gonna be that awkward, like, hey, you got.
Speaker 3 (43:35):
Kill me, they would kill me.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
That is your hair naturally curly? Is it like mine?
Speaker 3 (43:40):
My hair is like yours?
Speaker 1 (43:41):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (43:41):
Cool?
Speaker 1 (43:42):
I was just curious, all right.
Speaker 3 (43:43):
How's my hair not like yours?
Speaker 1 (43:45):
I'lly I always gotta ask.
Speaker 3 (43:48):
Yeah, yeah, just thick.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
Yeah, it's actually.
Speaker 3 (43:52):
You're real thick. I'm unbelievable. So that's thank you.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
Kimming like, okay, so you're frying these and you're making
you do you have to take off your rings? Are
you good?
Speaker 3 (44:03):
I don't take off my ring? Oh god?
Speaker 1 (44:04):
Okay, so okay, so cast me up. Okay. So we
went through one hell of a journey with you. Thank
you for all the transparency. Now you're going through the
detas and everything your career. You're still managing to hold
up a really good career and you're making this money,
but your ex is still helping out make it short
at So is your career like, make it enough to
(44:27):
pay for everything? What's going on during that whole period?
Speaker 3 (44:30):
Well, I don't know how to. I still don't know
how to handle my money.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Though, Okay, So, and then is the addiction sucking up
some of that money too?
Speaker 3 (44:37):
Oh, the addiction. Well, you know, we all do what
we do to survive and try to use our addiction
money to just take care of our addiction. So that
might mean, you know, I don't know, you might start
your own secondary business to keep that afloat. You might
I don't know, you might have wait in the car
(44:58):
or something so you don't have to worry about you.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
You are beyond real.
Speaker 3 (45:02):
We might do some of the You might start a
pizza delivery service. I mean, I don't know you so
oh but no, but actor as actor and nightlife is nightlife.
That's what happens to some folks.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
So when did you end up learning about how to
take care of the bills and stuff?
Speaker 3 (45:21):
I was with my agency that I loved, and I
again another guide shot by the grace of God. I
ran into my agent, Portia Scott, my current agent and
business partner. Hi Porscha, I love you so very much,
and I had already booked Missus Pancakes on Rick and Morty,
and more needed to be going on because again she
(45:42):
was the only black female character. You know, I've been
these black female iconic characters and nothing was being done
with them. And I loved my agency but the animation
department just didn't do what could have been done because
I don't think they got it. Portion I had to talk,
(46:03):
and I decided to leave my agency and I go
over to Portia. Wow, a black agent, a black female
agent that had her finger on the pulse. And when
that happened, life changed, and we've been together ever since.
I created my own acting technique because even before all
(46:24):
that happened, I started coaching.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
This stuff is popping, but you sound like a pro
in a kitchen.
Speaker 3 (46:30):
You're good.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
You're not even flinching. I'm over here praying.
Speaker 3 (46:34):
Girl, Come on now. I created my I started coaching actors.
I started coaching animation and commercial a while before that
with the casting director and because my mother always said
those who can't do teach, and a casting director said,
you know, we'd like you to start coaching for us.
And I came home, was over. She's like, not you,
(46:54):
not you? And I so I started coaching and I
realized I was a great director. How could I not
be doing this my whole life? Yeah, And then it
turned into this weird cult like people just wanted to
keep working with me. And I told my mother I
wanted to start a company and call it the Darchy
Emingite Company because I'm that girl. And she was like, Malik,
(47:15):
your name is Malik Burger. You're gonna make reels. You're
gonna call it Burger's Reels. Duh. So I did that
and I wound up starting something. She's here, she's here,
she likes you. So so I started Burger's Reels and
I became the first black female to produce and direct
(47:36):
animation and commercial demos. And then I created my technique,
art of the pivot, the art.
Speaker 1 (47:43):
Of the pivot.
Speaker 3 (47:46):
So when I started reading over your stuff today, I
was like, pivot. Oh, this is it. And because I
have so much training, and I just took all the
Meisner and Stanislavsky and Uda Hagen and everything I've studied
and started teaching beyond of the pivot.
Speaker 1 (48:02):
So now, how how can people sign up to get
those classes and all that?
Speaker 3 (48:06):
You could go look me up Malik Berger dot com
or Burger's Reels la dot com or is it yeah,
okay it is and not do that. That's what I do. Come,
but you need you know, this is the thing about voiceover.
It doesn't have ship to do with your voice acting.
This is acting acting first voice seconds and now so
(48:28):
people think you need to make funny voices and blah
blah blah, be an actor.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
That's now. You were so good because you started as
an actor, So you're really an actress with that's it.
Speaker 3 (48:40):
Oh, you're an actor and voiceover is the truest form
of acting.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
Why do you say that because you got you don't have.
Speaker 3 (48:47):
A set, you don't have props, you don't have someone
you're working with. This is this is the Greek chorus.
They had masks on their face.
Speaker 1 (48:57):
Baby, wow, this is a thing.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
This is this is your mind. So people don't think
about that, do that? No, these are my glasses and
not their hair. But yeah, that's very important because you know,
I hear people all the time they go.
Speaker 1 (49:13):
You know, people think that I had to really good
for right, and they.
Speaker 3 (49:17):
Was, no, honey, take it an acting class.
Speaker 1 (49:22):
Because you have to be so many different characters.
Speaker 3 (49:25):
Right.
Speaker 1 (49:25):
So if it if it's just a voice for for
for you have a good voice, that doesn't make sense.
Speaker 3 (49:30):
Why are you opening your mouth? What's your moment before?
Who are you talking to? Where are you when you're
talking to them? What are you talking about? What's the
beginning in the middle of the end.
Speaker 1 (49:40):
I actually think about that sometimes when I'm watching a movie, like,
I'm like, man, they had to really get into that,
like mentally, you had to picture yourself there to really
pull it off. Right. So when you're recording now, I
want to get into the business side. So when you're
we're gonna we're gonna call uh, we're gonna call a cut. Damn, guys,
(50:04):
can you could just well, I'll help you pause commercial break.
She needs to wash her hands. So we're mixing the
spaghetti noodles and the sauce. So take me up to
right now where you're at in your life career. Right now,
you have a huge hit. Right now, Pokemon, we know
successfully you are where you are. I don't think you
(50:24):
quite answered the question about who ended up teaching you
about how to manage money. I know your agent ended
up in the picture, but you didn't tell me.
Speaker 3 (50:31):
Like Portia Scott ended up, you know, waking me up
and saying, listen, you got too much, you're too good,
let's get let's get it together. And I opened my
own business and then I felt, you know it truly
was my duty to be of service to other actors.
So I started directing and coaching, and then I realized
(50:52):
I had a huge gift of making demos and teaching
the truth. Then I developed the art of the pivot.
Out of the Pivot is also the sister to Porsche's Method,
which is method on the mic and the actor's toolkit.
And we just have a beautiful, beautiful business teaching other
actors and trying to get Like, if you wanted to
(51:12):
be a dentist, right and you went to dental school,
you'd be able to leave and actually start an office.
In this situation, you can't leave a university and have
a degree and voiceover. It doesn't exist, and we don't
think that's right. So we're fighting for that. And then
I have the most brilliant PR manager with Shannon Shannon
(51:35):
Barnes Strategic. We love you, We love you, And now
I'm just trying to spread spread the word. Now this
is a little small, so what I'm going to do
is the old trick. I'm going to take this and
I'm gonna do the old I was almost going to
do a different recipe for you, which I would have
had to have done this and get everything over on
(51:56):
the plate. We're gonna hopefully well do it different when
we tape this from my house on our phones. But
now you'll see that doesn't have to be pretty. Okay,
does not have to be pretty, but at least you're
seeing that everything is mixed up, and it's that butter
(52:18):
that's going to stick everything together. I like mine saucy,
my grandmother. I'm gonna take this other plate my grandmother,
and it's had. It's fine, don't worry about it, my grandmother,
and then they liked it. A little dryer may serve you,
Madame del And this is just thank you. So again,
(52:47):
this not only has no that's another thing. There's no
cheese on it, but it's Jewish. It's no, it's not
I'm not kosher. It's not kosher. It's funny because I
guess I guess you don't worry. We're gonna we're gonna
teach you more about your Judaism. But please enjoy, Please enjoy,
(53:10):
and tell me what it's like with turkey, because that
sounds really fun to me. So I'm not going to
say it was what did you What was it like
when you were broke? What I will say, this meal
to me signifies what I could do in honor of
my mother, and in honor of a time when I
wasn't all myself, and now I can make it with
(53:33):
a lot more pride. I love that because it's really
nice to be alive and around.
Speaker 1 (53:40):
Yes, and I'm very happy and thankful that you alive,
around and back. Yeah, we're going to try this.
Speaker 3 (53:47):
Do it well.
Speaker 1 (53:55):
She loves me, I like to the people. Is that
the masa meal, the masa oil?
Speaker 3 (54:06):
So my new best friend of me here, guys, look
at this.
Speaker 1 (54:09):
Mhm.
Speaker 3 (54:10):
There was the sweet with the salty, right, and then
if you the.
Speaker 1 (54:17):
Tomato paste makes sense now, right, And then if.
Speaker 3 (54:19):
You can get it all in one bite, then you
see there's a crunch from the onion. Still oh right,
but it's not it's not nasty onion. It's still been.
Speaker 1 (54:32):
I really like the onion in it.
Speaker 3 (54:33):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (54:35):
I really like the onion. And I was trying to
give you very little onions. You don't know this, but throughout,
like I think you had two onions. I cut up
half an onion, and then you came back it was
like that's not enough onion.
Speaker 3 (54:46):
I was like, oh, ship, what's your thing with onions?
Speaker 1 (54:49):
You have to slice them really thin. That's what I
think the secret is, you know, when they have the
big old chunks, you can't do that.
Speaker 3 (54:56):
But did you get a bite with both? Now? Hmm?
Did you gotta buy it with both? What do you think?
I love it so Jewish spaghetti and.
Speaker 1 (55:07):
Jewish spaghetti Sambi balls definitely a good one. I would
maybe add some cheese.
Speaker 3 (55:14):
You totally can.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
I would maybe add some cheese. But I can also
see that the paste actually helps for all of you
guys that don't try to opt out for the paste.
I think the paste helps. Gluid is the paste that's glued.
I think it's the paste.
Speaker 3 (55:26):
And then there's you know, there's a lot of butter
in here because I like it and it tastes good,
and that's why they make it.
Speaker 1 (55:35):
When you cook all your onions at home, you use butter.
You and I it just butter. Let me tell you something,
butter me.
Speaker 3 (55:43):
You know all that.
Speaker 1 (55:44):
Sister, we are sisters.
Speaker 3 (55:46):
Oh wait, we didn't in our cutdamn. We have to
drink the c yes, the pre hugof in shall my love.
Speaker 1 (55:59):
Thank you so much for I mean, these two go
together really well.
Speaker 3 (56:04):
Like Shamalama Lama lamading.
Speaker 1 (56:06):
Real, they really do go together like.
Speaker 3 (56:09):
Shoe Bop Showaddy Waddy Hippie Dippy Dip.
Speaker 1 (56:13):
From now So I got eating because it's a food show.
It's a food show. People actually get irritated by that.
But why she's smacking so much the game? It's a
food show. You don't listen to eating while broke. I
expect to hear some smacking. Now you are stable, I
don't imagine what was like a little under I would
(56:36):
say I'm God at three. So you're definitely like almost
fifty years in the.
Speaker 3 (56:41):
Game, fifty two fifty two years ago.
Speaker 1 (56:44):
So yeah, I thought, you don't look at it. You
don't look at it all.
Speaker 3 (56:48):
But it's the scare of dealing nice sleep without Manchester.
Speaker 1 (56:52):
And then you wait, you also remarried. We didn't cover that.
Speaker 3 (56:55):
Yes, I remarried Jay Robertson from Mertha to Bill. Let's
hear it for whales, yay Wales, and just really quick.
During the pandemic, it was very easy to start ordering
things online. So I ordered a trans man from Whales, Yes,
and he showed up at the doorstep and I was like, great,
(57:16):
I'll take it.
Speaker 1 (57:17):
So transman is.
Speaker 3 (57:19):
Female to male, female female to male, and I've got
to tell you Jay if you're watching, which you will be.
I love you so much, baby, by the love of
my life. And thank you.
Speaker 1 (57:30):
No, I'm I don't know why.
Speaker 3 (57:32):
I don't know why you're covering your mouth like I
haven't seen you eat already?
Speaker 1 (57:35):
Girl?
Speaker 3 (57:35):
To what what you.
Speaker 1 (57:38):
And I eating?
Speaker 3 (57:38):
Like you feel better? You're cute? I really cute.
Speaker 1 (57:42):
You should be because so your ex husband and everybody
gets along great?
Speaker 3 (57:46):
Sure do they should do?
Speaker 1 (57:48):
That was beautiful and I think that's really great for
your sons.
Speaker 3 (57:50):
It absolutely is.
Speaker 1 (57:52):
Absolutely What advice would you give to someone trying to
get into this game?
Speaker 3 (57:56):
Biggest advice go into the Voice Over Reese Guide. Can
I look there? And I really tell you the Voiceover
Resource Guide. The BORG is something that you can find online.
You can look under NAVA, which is the National Association
of Voiceover Artists. Do not fall into a trap where
someone is going to offer you something where you spend
(58:19):
money to become a star able. I can teach you
this in two weeks. No, study your craft and work
with reputable people, people who are in this industry. This
is a very easy business to get into and get robbed.
Please do not do that. Learn to be an actor
this is a craft and it is not going to
(58:41):
happen overnight, so please save yourself a heartache. Work with
real people.
Speaker 1 (58:46):
Yes, and then where can they go to Malik Burger School.
Speaker 3 (58:51):
You can check me out at Burger's Reels b E
r g e R sreels dot com or go over
to Malikburger dot com. You could see what else is
going on with me. Please check me out on Pokemon Horizons.
I want to say, yeah, season two airing now on Netflix.
I am the character rhyme and there's a whole bunch
(59:11):
of lot of stuff coming up too, so hopefully I
will be seeing you at Como Con soon.
Speaker 1 (59:16):
And do you have socials? Are you doing?
Speaker 3 (59:18):
I'm on all kinds.
Speaker 1 (59:18):
It's just Milie Berger, okay, perfect.
Speaker 3 (59:22):
No, just and it's b e r g e R.
That's where everybody messes up. M E l i q
U E b E r g e R. I'm also
this one's best friend, so.
Speaker 1 (59:31):
Yeah, you guys, just slide in the d MS. I'll
tell you how great she is. But thank you, guys,
thank you so much for feeding me and opening up
and telling your whole story. And you were write this story.
I definitely am like in love, love love, love you.
Thank you, you know, and I can't wait to meet
the family.
Speaker 3 (59:48):
You're meeting everybody, So to me, I just wanted to
tell you thank you. I might not have been broke,
but I was broken, So.
Speaker 1 (59:56):
This was perfect. I think. I think you you really
understood the concept of the show. And one thing I
tell people, like, if you were middle class, if you
were rich, or your family was successful, do not hide
your story because the road to success, as you see
with Malik, is never straight. It's a roller coaster. Right,
(01:00:17):
Malik went through a lot, she did. She was exposed
to success. But even talking about financial, money management, or
dealing with traumas and all that, and you know, hanging
out with death. You know, even as fine as she
was fine, you know, she can't us with us, you know.
So shout outs to you and definitely thank you, and
we all can say thank you for keeping it one
(01:00:38):
hundred percent real.
Speaker 3 (01:00:39):
Thank you, Thank you Malik.
Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
Peace out, guys, peace.
Speaker 3 (01:00:45):
Mel blank And he did all these.
Speaker 1 (01:00:49):
Johnny Carson unbelievable day dunk. The question is was he
an inspiration for him?
Speaker 3 (01:00:55):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (01:00:55):
Oh damn, you should have texted me that one. Why
do you think he did.
Speaker 3 (01:01:01):
Over industry. I think that he is the original of
you can do anything you set your mind to do,
because who took over is a man named Bob Bergen.
And Bob Bergen's dream was to be Porky Pig. And
this was a young Jewish guy from Middle America that
moved out here when he was fifteen years old, and
he is now the voice of Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Bugs, Bunny.
(01:01:25):
And he did it, so talk a little bit about
mel blank, what it melt blank? A Jewish guy that
got up and made it, made the voices and made
room for us to do it. That's what he did.
Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
He did every Let me just say something right now,
we gonna keep keep this edit not the educational dead moment,
but keep my dad askn't a really good question in
the episode. For more eating while Broke from iHeartRadio and
The Black Effects, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or
(01:01:58):
wherever you listen to your favorite Jos
Speaks to the Plannet.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'll go by the name of Charlamagne the God and
guess what, I can't wait to see y'all at the
third annual Black Effect Podcast Festival. That's right, We're coming
back to Atlanta, Georgia, Saturday, April twenty six at Pollman
Yards and it's hosted by none other than Decisions, Decisions Man,
d B and Wheezy. Okay, we got the R and
B Money podcast. We're taking Jay Valentine. We got the
Woman of All Podcasts with Sarah Jake Roberts. We got
(00:22):
Good Mom's Bad Choices. Carrie Champion will be there with
her next sports podcast, and the Trap Nerds podcast with
more to be announced. And of course it's bigger than podcasts.
We're bringing the Black Effect Marketplace with black owned businesses
plus the food truck court to keep you fed while
you visit us. All right, listen, you don't want to
miss this. Tap in and grab your tickets now at
Black Effect dot Com Flash Podcast Festival.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke.
I'm your host, Coleen Went and today we have very
very special guests. Berger is in the building and I
keep having I think I'm so focused on your voiceover
talents that I'm like starting to funel my words because
I really want to hear rhyme from Pokemon on the mic.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Oh please, stuff, now listen. You gotta just think within yourself,
be yourself, be Judy yourself, baby girl.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
I love this. What can you do? More voiceovers too?
Since I have you, I'm gonna take you.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I do this.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
I was like, if a singer is sitting here, I'm like,
you gonna sing me my one on one concert right now.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
I'm enjoy this, enjoy well. First of all, let me
tell you something you don't know me. So we got
a little missus Pancakes. Wow, I'm Ricky Morty. Wow. And
then there's there's just always my bubby, my Jewish bubby
from Brooklyn. Will forget about that. Now Ruthy Burger is
in the building and she's gonna be She's gonna stay,
(02:01):
so don't start with her. Wow. Ever, there's just so
many of this beautiful, just so many characters, and there's always
there's always a cerebro from X Men, which welcome professor.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Oh my gosh. So, just so you guys know, you
are the first black female actress in the Pokemon series
Guys that is coming out on Netflix right now, is
on Netflix. You can ask them right now.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
She's and I want to say something even more. I mean,
I'm the first female black queer gym leader and trainer.
Now my character, I'm not going to classify her as queer,
but I will classify her as the first female black
trainer and gym leader.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So that that's that's a big deal. And for it
to happen on Black History Months, I mean, yeah, this
is incredible. And she dropped on my birthday on February seventh,
So oh, you're a catch. You down come to you that? OK,
it's just an honor. It's an honor, and you know,
you always just want to reach one other sister, one
(03:08):
little girl that's talking into her hairbrush like I was
my entire life.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I'm like, I know we're supposed to get into the dish,
but I'm really curious. So I'm gonna go ahead, just
get into a guy early. But this interview is gonna
be a little backwards, but I'm just curious. So, like,
you get the roles, how does it work?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Are you?
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Do you have your own recording studio at home or
do you have to go into studios?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Have cur okay? Well, things changed with the pandemic. People
started having their own studios and recording that way. But
this was something that I went into the studio and
I did the audition from home, but then the job
happened in studio. I do a lot of my auditions
from home, but I've also been a working voice of
for actor for thirty six years.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
I think that's amazing. And then you've never did you
have to ride the bus of the roller coaster from
hell in the industry because you've had a long career.
Is it like they just go call Malik on this,
Malik will handle it?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Alike, will do it?
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Or do you still have to pay your dues even
though you have such a long resume.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
My dues are very interesting. We'll say I have always
paid dues. But my mother, God rest her soul, Myra Berger,
was a very big commercial agent and on camera commercial agent,
and before that she was a theater producer. So I'm
born and raised in this business. I have been working
(04:28):
since I was three, starting with Russian ballet. I got
my first acting scholarship at five from the Alphan Theatrical
Ensemble so I've been working by disciplined. Yes, by seven,
I was playing the flute with the Los Angeles Philharmonic
and James Galway. I started studying Shakespeare at nine and ten.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
You're making my daughter look very lazy.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Right, She's not lazy.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
I didn't even get her to brother, let alone audition
and memorize. Well, lower was your mom? Your mom hasn't
been strict. I'm just trying to imagine, because I'm telling
you right now my daughter tap dances all over me.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Well, well, my kids are also, hopefully they're more wildly
talented than I'll ever be. I got two lyricists that
are giving you their drop of knowledge that I'm like,
they listened, Wow, I listened, Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
But to start at three, four or five, seven and
a half, all these responsibilities, I would imagine your home
life was very strict or not at all.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
My mom was a bohemian. I lived in a theater.
That's how it started. My mom was a theater producer.
My mom and my antiguin they were just like there
were art people and my mom being you know, this
cool Jewish check from Brooklyn. Before I came around, she
was very much into the black theater scene in the
(05:49):
early sixties, mid sixties here in Hollywood. She my family
moved here from Brooklyn in the mid sixties. My mom's
older brother, Shelly Berger, was as one of his I
guess still was, Well he is. He's the Temptations manager.
So he was in business with mister Hardy and he
was one of the vice presidents of Motown Wow. And
(06:11):
he had already moved to California, and my family decided
to follow him.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Oh wow with it.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah they did. And so my mom found out they
were moving to California and she was always just drawn too.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
And how old were you when you had to move?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I wasn't I wasn't here yet.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Oh you weren't here. Oh so you're not a Brooklyn girl.
You're a Calli girl. You want to raise for household damn.
But you got to accident down good? Yeah, that accident
down good. That was totally believed that.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Okay, No, I'm not Brooklyn, I am La. I'm West Hollywood.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
That's how you know your voiceover work is platinum status
because I was like, you do that voice great sang? Okay,
so you're gonna take me into what you're eating when
you're broke. What are you gonna have me eating today?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Okay, so I will tell you the broke situation.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Good.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
My mother was and is and will always be my life,
my mentor, my everything because it was just my mom
and I. When my mom decided to marry my dad,
who was black and God rest his soul, also, she
went to my Jewish grandparents and said, the night before
mel and I are going to get married, and we'd
very much like you to come to city Hall tomorrow.
(07:27):
My Jewish grandparents said, we understand what we're going to do.
Please call us when you're done, and do not have
any children.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I believe that as a Jewish and black child, I
believe that I've been there. Okay, so totally relatable. See,
we're gonna be best.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
I told you, I told you, I told you so.
When this happened, she was just owned by my grandparents.
And even though my uncle could you know he was
doing what he was doing, and that was cool because
he's a man, but this was their daughter.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
So wait, your uncle was doing because he was because
temptations and all that.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Yeah, it still does. God bless them.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Yeah, so it's not It wasn't a broke thing. It
was an away thing, and you know, my mom and
dad did what they did. It worked as much as
it worked. But by nineteen months it was done. And
she called my uncle Shelly, and he got us home.
And there are a lot of issues with my mom
and my dad, but they made sure to tell me
you were made out of love, and I was love
(08:26):
that and that was And I never saw my dad again.
They got divorced. I never saw him again. So my mother, ever, ever, ever, ever,
ever again?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
How old were you?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I was nineteen months most half? I guess, yeah, do
you even remember that?
Speaker 1 (08:42):
None?
Speaker 3 (08:43):
I have no recollection of any of it.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
But do you have like pictures or something?
Speaker 3 (08:46):
I have a picture. I have a picture. So it's
very interesting to not know that entire side.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Oh so you don't know the whole entire side. No, oh,
we got stuff, We got stuff.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Relate O. Okay, we really do. So you will now
tell you about Jewish spaghetti and Jewish hampergos. So this
is arrested.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I'm going to backtrack. So were they when they were
together and she got disowned for the time that she
got disowned, were you guys struggling? Did she share that?
Were they struggling together during that period.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
The struggle was my my father was a huge which
she didn't know. He was a drug addict and a
huge alcoholic. And it's really funny. She met him at
Bonnie's Beanery. I'm Santa Monica in Los Angle and he
walked up to her and he said, hey, you want
to be my old lady, and she said yes, and
that's how that happened. Okay, So, yeah, there was some
(09:38):
problem she didn't know about.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Okay, Okay, Okay, that's a that's a lot to handle.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
That's that happens.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah, I feel like I'm so invasive.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
No please show I'm ready. Okay, there's no shame.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Okay, tell me this story. My new friend Malik, So
you know that she.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Moved to Baldwin Hills, she had her baby and up
there was a lot of alcoholism and a lot of
drug abuse in that situation, you know, and she took it.
She took it because my mom's a G. She's a G.
And again, she was really into the theater scene. So
and it was absolutely it was black a blaxploitation time
(10:18):
when she was hanging with like dope black actors at
that time. Arnold Williams was one of them. Ron Rich
was another one of them. She also, come to find
out later in life, was dear close with her true prior.
And that's another story because we'll get into she's my
relationship Raine Pryor, who is my sister. Okay, and that's
(10:41):
where fried Chicken Unlacus comes in. But that's that's that.
That's another story which we will talk about too. Good.
So this recipe that we're going to talk about about
our George spaghetti and hamburgers. It wasn't that that we
were broke. We were well. It was we were broke.
We were broke because we were alone because we didn't
get that money anymore from my grandparents. They didn't know me.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
But when we came back and my uncle Shelly did
come and basically rescue us from a situation. He called
my grandparents and he said, you better get up here
and meet your granddaughter. Oh that one got emotional for you.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Yeah good, I want to see you cry before me. Okay,
sorry because I cried with the Okay, so.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Sorry, you go. And I will forever be grateful for
him to bring me home. I had to bring my
mom home and to keep us safe and I'll tell
you when Jack and Ruth Berger saw their grand baby,
they gave me the most beautiful life and my Jewish
Jewish education, and they threw me to the arms of
(11:46):
the rabbi and I am very proud. Drew.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
I love that. So there was that, Yeah, so my
grandma's So they embraced you. It just.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Was I was a baby girl.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Did they ever talk about not trying to be negative?
But did they ever at some point bring up the
biracial part of denied it? They denied it.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
I was so light skinned. They just didn't talk about
it until I talked about.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
It, and then you started getting more vocal with it.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
I got very vocal with it. I'm super vocal with it.
In nineteen eighty nine, I was a big dancer still
and I went to a club called Water the Bush
and met Africa Islam and got very indoctrinated into the zulination.
I actually was the second name Zulu Queen in Los Angeles.
(12:40):
Hip hop and graffiti are a big part of my life,
and that was it. That was my thing, and I
was very proud. I still am proud to anybody who's listening,
and that I talked about it. A lot, and I
think by the air of young you poor. One year,
(13:01):
I was going to see the minister Farrakhon speak and
my mother called my grandfather and she was like, Daddy,
like she's gonna go and she's gonna hear fharicn. And
my grandfather said, my you have to let it do
what she's gonna do, because one day she's going to
have to pick. And then my cousin Nicole was like, Papa,
you can't make her pick.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Yeah, she's everything. Yeah, but did you feel a lot
of pressure growing up like you had to pick? So
because it eventually becomes like this prevailing like thing culturally right,
because are the blacks really accepting you? And are the Jews? Definitely?
Are the whites accepting you?
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Well, I went to Hebrew school for a long time,
so I'll tell you there's a lot of are you adopted?
Did you convert? And Jewel?
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Well, if your mom is Jeelle.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
That's the thing though in different spaces, and I talked
to rain about this all the time. You are asked
if you converted, and we're to the place where no,
we did not convert, And why are we being asked
that if our mother's are Jew? Why are you asking
me this? Now? We've risen above that and there's so
many more black Jews now, which really leads me to
(14:08):
the ninth birthday I had at Flipper's roller boogie ballas
I saw Rain. She was skating there and I was
nine and I saw this girl that looked like me,
and I skated right up to her and I said,
you have to come to my birthday party. And she
was like, when is it? And I said, it's right now,
because I never saw another person that resembled me, and
(14:31):
it wound up being Rain and Rain and I have
been together ever since, and we didn't know who we were,
that our parents knew each other. And we forged through
this together because we thought we were the only two
black Jews in the world at that point. And we
have gone through it together. So she's mine. There's the
(14:53):
other tier, she's the other foot, you know. And we
did it and we had no idea that our folks
even knew each other. And that's pretty did and then yeah,
and so I'm the fast one and she's the one
that got the straighted.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
You did mention though it was your mom that called
your dad that was concerned about the you showing up
to the Fara con.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
No, it was my mom that called my grandfather.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
It was your mom calling your grandfather.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
She was with my dad.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
No, I met your mother calling your grandfather. So she
was concerned about it too though.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Because she thought that I would turn my back on
the Jewish community. And she didn't know. There was never
a dad.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
There was my papa, I met your I met your grandfather.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Yeah, but I will tell you there never was a dad.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
My grandfather was the the patriarch, and that was the everything,
and that's who sent me to Hebrew School. And you know,
so I went through a lot. So I went through
a lot there, but my Jewish identity is everything to
me and sisters, I'll tell you, I've had some some renans.
I've had some rennans, especially dancing back dancing Russian ballet.
(16:02):
That was a lot too, you know, And it was
a lot on camera because you can't be funny and curvy,
I mean eighty one, eighty two, eighty three, eighty five.
It was like, you're too funny to be curvy, and
you're too light to be connected with another family. So
(16:23):
you either need to get really really fat or lose
all all of everything to get a job. Wo you know,
a different world was where we went here in La
to like it was the stable, like here's your pink
and green sweatshirt, and here's your special business. And it
just turned into something that got very sad. It was sad.
(16:45):
Maybe coming on voiceover artists was a fluke. It was
an accident. Oh, it was an accident.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
It is so it is almost lunch stiff and we're
gonna be eating. So what do you was sorry to
derail you one hundred times about eating.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
We are eating Jewish spaghetti and hamburgers, which was my
It was my grandma Ruth, My bubby roots was the recipe.
So this is the recipe that you could do it
two ways. If you had a little extra money, you
could make it with salmon croquettes. If you were ball
(17:21):
and on a budget, you could do it with hamburger.
We're going to do it with turkey, Yes, tonight, accommodate
with turkey. We're going to do some accommodations. And the
reason we call it Jewish spaghetti is there's no olive oil,
there's no garlic.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Got it?
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Got it?
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Also, I should remove the garlic powder that is.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Fine, don't worm about gard but it is basically butter
instead of oils, onions instead of garlic, and it's a
it's quick and simple, large can of tomato sauce, tomato paste,
a lot of love. And what I did motsa meal
instead of bread crumbs. And what I did as my
(18:04):
son's got older, was we had to get that creolesis
and just a little bit to get as of blackness
that sounds of blackness.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
And then you had the eggs.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
The eggs are going to bind our meat. And then
it served with our favorite This is like the kool
aid of of Jewish grape juice last right, which is
non alcoholic. And so we have that and we'll talk
(18:34):
about that stuff too. So what do we do? You
get to do it?
Speaker 1 (18:37):
You down, I'm gonna be the lazy side chip that's like,
please don't burn down and ooh that's how you make it.
And I'm gonna be eating very good today. So go ahead,
start cooking. Here we go, let's get I'm gonna get
all up in your business and find out more she
up in my business exactly, all right, all right, go ahead,
(18:58):
start cooking, cooking.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Okay, So I'm going to start with the.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Share out the way, so chair it's trying to like
it's because it's.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
This is not the big d it. Okay, here we go.
I'm gonna start with my of my onions just this.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Oh no it's not on Okay, so that the right one.
Tell you a joke. I can't do it on the
spot like that. But while you're heating the oven, well,
actually you could. Just most of our audience are listeners
and they're not able to watch the episodes, so you
could go ahead and start telling us how to make
(19:37):
the dish.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Knife.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
She needs a knife. You know. We kept just so
you guys know, we kept going Malik, I'm missing anything
and within.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Ten seconds missing knife. Okay, well then I will tell
you listeners. Butter in the burger household is basically it's everything.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
That's how you know if someone could cook good by
the way, if they use butter. I go through just
so you know about twelve sticks a butter a week.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I love you for that, really, I love you for that.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
People always ask like, what's so good about it? I'm like, butter,
real butter, and it's not a.
Speaker 3 (20:09):
Bit of salted. It has to be salted. I don't
care if you say and don't use unsalted better butter.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
I saw we had Chris Spencer on the show and
he said something I never heard someone say. He said,
unsalted butter is just like using macoline, Like what are
you doing? And I was like, oh my god, that
was so brilliant.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
That is good and pick up just Chris Spencer. My
mom was Chris Spencer's agent. So what Chris Spencer. Everyone
knows spaky. It's laky. What's that? You know? Funny thing
about butter? People are so scared of it. Please don't
be scared of but it.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Butter.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
It's a fine thing. Butter is a fine thing. So
there's that. So I'll tell you some more. Then I'll
give you some more of the story. My mom suddenly
passed away in twenty six, twenty thirteen. My mom found
out that she contracted hepatitis se from my dad because
(21:10):
he was an intravenous drug user. And in ninety nine
I got sober because I had some really bad issues
with drugs and alcohol and it was something that needed
to happen. Now, God spared me because I happened to
believe in God that I don't push it on anybody. Else.
But that's just who I am. I'm a child of God,
(21:32):
and that's why I'm still alive because the things I've
done in my life, you would I'm walking miracle straight up.
And I got sober, and my deal was because it
was just me and my mom, who was my agent,
my manager, my life force.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
I mean, my mom and.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
I got sober. But the outclause was if anything God
forbid were to happen to her, I was going out.
I had been married to my kid's dad. I'm also queer.
He knew that's the deal.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
From one day to dude, just know you told him
up front.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Any guy I dated son, if you're watching, I didn't
know because you do.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Oh well, so he knew. I gotta get I'm curious.
Okay someone wait wait, so he knew any signed up?
And what was the arrangement? Like you could tolerate?
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Absolutely? Absolutely, okay, absolutely, that's just how it is.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
And he was cool with it, of course, very because
I mean, that's not a bad deal too.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Listen, well, you know I separate my poisons. You don't
have anything to do with what I do on my day.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
What if he says, though, did it open him up
to say, well, can I opt for extras.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
To you know what? That was? Even he was a musician,
so when he was on the road or whatnot, that
doesn't have anything to do with me. I'm a lot
of what you do does not anything to do with me.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Okay, o.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Business.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
As I get older, I'm starting to get there. I'm
starting to be like, I'm going to do myself. Yeah,
I know who I am.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
So there's that. And what it is is what it is,
what it is, what it is, you know what I'm saying.
So I say that because there was a reason I
was saying that.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
So wait, wait, if you were if you are queer, sorry,
but you married a man? What what what was your
intention to marry him? Were you just in love or something?
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I fell in love. I fell in love. And that
goes back to the sobriety because I met one of
my first sponsors was black and Jewish and I'm also
a singer. So she said, okay, I'm gonna take you
to this church because they need singers. And I walked
into this little we went into it. It was like
an alley in Englewood. It was a garage and so funny,
(23:45):
and you know, I'm in my Fred Siegel's Best. If
you don't know Fred Siegel, everybody it was. It was
terribly expensive clothing still and Lauros and I had just
turned thirty. It was like two weeks in the thirty
and I walked in. This brother was warming up his sacks,
and I was dressed terribly inappropriately to go to church.
Of course, because you know me, you already know me,
and I can.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
I'm visiting it.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
I'm fierced. And you know I met I met Damon Renti,
and he was the original saxophonist of Atlantic Star and
de Barge and this and that and this and that.
I'm putting my hand in here right now.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
I was just more concerned that she is not even
used in the Little Spring.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
You gotta feel it. You gotta feel. You have to
your onions, you gotta feel your salt. You what's going on?
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Very fancy.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
She's a fancy last, She's a fantasy live.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
I've never in my life cooked and did that whole
spriggle thing, but I think I'm going to steal that
sprinkle on.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
You gotta get your sprinkled and teach my daughter how
to do this, just even if you don't know how
to cook. Just do it. Do that.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
So you walk into the walk into the.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Church and and it's on because he's warming up his sacks,
and like, oh, that's what I'm going to marry. Also
without having a dad. You know, I knew that this
was He's fifteen years my senior, and I wanted to
have children, and I said, oh, this is going to
be safe. And I needed safety because I had just
gotten sober and I knew I didn't want to be
(25:13):
who I was any longer. And that's what happened. And
we were together for quite some time, and we had
beautiful boys. Lys lyricsis shout out to seventy, shout out
to Negro Ku, Kooli Jackson and Julian and we did that.
We you know, we did this thing. We made a
beautiful album together and we're still. That's one of my
(25:36):
best friends. Man, that's that's one of my best friends.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
So you meet him, meet.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Ministry two thousand.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Ministry two thousand, and then does Sobriety end up creeping
in there?
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Nope, stayed Sobriety stayed good. But him and my mom
were like oil and water.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Okay, there was that because.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
First of all, my mom was tough from Brooklyn five
feet tall.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Wait it was he he's black? Yes, okay, okay, got.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
It, got it. And but we all lived together because
my mom had just what does it call when you
leave your job because you retire?
Speaker 1 (26:12):
That's it?
Speaker 3 (26:13):
Okay, And you don't separate me from my mom.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yeah, you just don't package steel.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
We're a package steel. But all in all, oh, pepper,
pepper gone. All in all, we had two beautiful babies.
And I say that because in this he did support
my sobriety so much and I was able to stay sober.
But when we had started parting our ways, I did
find out that my mom was very sick, and it
(26:39):
happened very quickly. My mom had gout and after we separated,
they had given my mom a medication that woke up
the pepsi and within three years my mom was gone.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
So I didn't have the upbringing as many folks do.
When you're in my industry. This is what you do
with your money, this is how my mom handled everything.
And even in marriage, my mom still handled all of
my because she was my ancient and a manager, my
business manager.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
So and were you and your husband at the time
doing really well?
Speaker 3 (27:19):
Or we were we were fine, but everything was separate.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
Everything was separate.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
So she was most definitely So I didn't know how
to pay a bill or right. I knew how to
write a check, but you know, I didn't know how
to take care of myself. And I had my two boys,
and you know we lived the life of Riley m Well,
that's not realistic. I then found out the hard way,
(27:45):
so like when they turned the lights off at the
condo that we got, and when I didn't know how
to go shopping and I didn't know that you needed
like quarters and stuff when you didn't have a washing machine.
The night of my mom's memorial, I just said, well, Fitt,
(28:10):
call the dude, and I was out. You know, within
minutes of my mom passing, I took, well, you know
you're going to call someone when you're gonna start using drinking.
So while my mom was dying, I packed it in
and gave up fourteen years of sobriety.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Fourteen years, my goodness, fourteen years. You wasn't lying when
you said this story was how was that?
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Now was that? And at that time I want to
say that Jackson and Julian were oh no, oh tomato
paste tomato paste, So you want to get the tomato
paste into the butter, into the onions first because you
want to melt it down. And this is one small
can of tomato paste. Yeah, I'm gonna put this here.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Do whatever you want.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Everything, Thank you. Everything's going together and.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
This story is so good. Every time you step and
now it's agree.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
It's just all there, we go, there, we go.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Okay, So you so you had I'm just curious, genuinely,
like emotionally, how did you feel on the inside when
you like just said goodbye to fourteen years of sobriety
because that had to have been a tough pill.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I felt nothing because I lost my mother and I
was not prepared and I didn't want to be here
anymore because I didn't know how to survive without her,
because we didn't have a plan for that. And I
was very angry with God and I I didn't know
(29:39):
what to do with my babies, and I even asked
him to take them. I didn't know what to do.
And Jack and Julian are eighteen months apart, an aquarius
and a cancer. They are anointed angelic. They're everything good
about me. And I did not deserved to be their
(30:01):
mother as far as I was concerned, Tomato sauce. I
lost it. I lost it.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
So how long were you in the I lost it mode?
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Three years? Three years, three years.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
You're so strong, it's so powerful right now, it's crazy
to imagine that three years.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Yeah, I did some research for three years, and for
three years, these young men grew up. These young men.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
Grew How old were they at the time, I'm sorry
to be.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
They were in third So it started third and fifth
grade into oh no, no, no, no, it was middle school.
They were middle school getting ready like Jack. At the
end of it, Jack was just starting high school. You
eated his first year ninth grade. I signed him up
(30:51):
for ninth grade with a big gulplovodka and in my
hand and in uber.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
Oh, you were in it.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
I was in it. Okay, I was in it. And
I was, you know, leaving notes with money for pizza
hut and still going to my auditions, you know, still
doing my thing, still working.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
At this point, who's managing your money while you're in
this kind of you're stuck in it.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Yeah, it's just straight thugging.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Did your ex take full Well he wasn't. Really, it
doesn't sound like he was saying, full responsibility of the kids.
Speaker 3 (31:28):
He did everything he could, like he'd see them on
the weekend. But what my ex did, and I you know,
God bless him for the rest of every day of
this life. He made sure that that rent was paid.
There was always a roof over our head. He was
doing their laundry, he was picking them up when he could.
There's food in the house. And that's when when my friends,
you know, we're gathering, you know, they were gathering. They
(31:49):
were No one didn't check in on those babies. Those
babies were never alone. But it was those babies that
checked in on me. And that's when Jackson and Julian
grew up and they saved me, and they checked in
on you. Yes they did.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Are you comfortable getting into that, Yes i am.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
I'm very very I'm truly blessed that I'm alive to
tell you the story. And when that happened, it was like,
what were they gonna do? You know, I don't have
There weren't many people they could have called. Now the
sauce as hopefully you see.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Is it looks good, it looks delicious. I'm hungry.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
There we go, there we go. We're going to move
over to the Jewish hamburgers.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Now do you want to put this here?
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Is that? Okay?
Speaker 1 (32:37):
I'm pretty sure if we burned down the house, you
and I were doing it together, doing it together. And
by the way, I don't have real insurance. Hare shout
outs to the mall for not.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
Knowing we're gonna you know what, we're actually gonna do
tape that we could put the sauce in here. Then okay, okay, great,
go back to the story. So they check it on me.
But you know it turned. I went to a place
where I was this is really you know that, this
is real, y'all because I was wearing a gown at
(33:09):
pastout time every night, with a full face of makeup.
So when they came in and saw me not here
any longer, at least they'd have a memory of a
beautiful mom oh my gosh, and they could say and
not be scared to say, doesn't mommy look beautiful. I
never wanted them to walk in if I wasn't here
(33:30):
any longer and be scared. I mean, that's when you've
really lost it. Yeah. So I had a spiritual awakening,
and since I had so much time and so much ego.
I decided that it was time to get clean, and
I called a friend and I said, I'm going to
(33:50):
DT or detox alone, because I had too much pride
to step into a meeting as a newcomer again.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Okay, oh yeah, because you've kind of you've been okay, okay,
you know, so you go, you go into detox by yourself.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Myself, I sweated out a dear friend that I'll always love.
We don't speak any longer, but she came to the house.
She made sure that the boys were okay. You know,
I was in the bends. I got through it, I went,
I did it, but I was still working as an actor.
I knew how to get there, do my job, get out.
Speaker 1 (34:21):
Now did other people in the field know that you
were struggling with this problem?
Speaker 3 (34:25):
Or I asked that really really well one job, not
so well? Every everybody else? Well, okay, real well, at
least I thought I did. And I was very skinny,
and I was a little green, a little of a
green haze. And you can laugh now, because tragedy pleus
comedy equals sign if it does. Yeah, but I held
(34:47):
it together best I could, and thank you so much.
And I need a little room. I'm gonna go, and
I did.
Speaker 1 (34:58):
They're like watching a movie. When I say you ever
see a movie and they go to commercial, You're.
Speaker 3 (35:01):
Like, fuck stop commercial all.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
She put the bowl down, guys, let's put the meat
in there. Fast forward. I want to get to the
story just like you, guys.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
So we're gonna take two eggs right now, full starters,
two eggs. And my very best friend said, listen, if
you don't get clean, I will leave your life. And
you've got to do it for the boys.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
But this is after you did detox or before.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
Right before she said, if you don't get clean, she
took me and my best friend is Welsh, as is
my new husband. She said, if you don't get you
have a new husband. We'll talk.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Oh my gosh. When I saying I like this story.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
I'm like my husband funny enough is trans I'm from Wales,
so I got, we got. We got to talk.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
When I say, I've never been so curious, we have
what forty five minutes we're gonna go all the time.
Katie already knows that I feel bad because we have
another guest, but we'll figure it out.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
A lot of talk about so anyway, if you don't
get clean, it's done. I'm out of your life. Matthles,
So in here right now, two eggs. We're using turkey
for my sister because she's not gonna eat ground beef.
And she said, so listen, let's have our last shot
at Jamison. Get your ass clean, so then clean detox.
Here comes the matzamal again. This is Jewish breadcrumbs. And
(36:22):
I had my last shot at Jamison and then I
went and detoxed because it wasn't just alcohol, it was
also drugs. My jug of choice is very Rick James.
And I'll leave it at that. And I'm glad I
would have asked one hell of a drug and and
I did it. I went home and I started so in.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
My seasoning, and she put the tonys.
Speaker 3 (36:48):
I believe Tony's just last.
Speaker 1 (36:50):
Tony's last. I'll startry season. I'm paying attention to the
story gains.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
I'm going to I'm gonna do some onion powder after that.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
Just seasoning all the meat.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
Guys us name to me.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
And she's she's gangster with it because she's not even
using the little sprinkle tops.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
All that look looks, smell and touch.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Oh there we got the onion.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
You know what it looks like, you know what it
looks like it's gonna be. And then this is where
the garlic comes in at my house. Garlic at my
house just a tast a little because you know it's
a gas drop. Now what I did, though, I do hear.
My father's from New Orleans. We didn't live. We get
(37:31):
our our little bit, just our little bit.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
Of our Tony's okay.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
And then this is when I put the gloves on
because I'm on the TV. Okay, you know it's my hand.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
Oh yeah, So back to the story. So you go,
you go to.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
Oh, I don't know the detax. It's in my bed,
sweating it out. Oh I thought you said you wish,
So I don't go anywhere. I'm having my sheets changed
every six hours or so, sweating out GATORID B twelve
vitamin C.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
And during the whole details, are you like pooping yourself,
throwing up and all that? You have to go through
all those motions, like you have to go through everything,
and then like, is there is there family on site
to like get you drinks or just stay and are.
Speaker 3 (38:11):
You there's not? There's there's there's main family. There's not family. Family.
I don't have a lot of family, family, a and
and that's what it was. Okay, it was what it
needed to be for me to do it. I don't
have anya people around, but I have who I need
to have to get me through because I'm in a
(38:32):
lot of prayer. I have God, yeah, and a lot
a little too much pride. But you know, if I
was going to go, I was going to go. Had
a couple of conversations with with death. Who to me.
She never scared me. She was never coming with a
sickle to take me. I felt when I saw her
(38:53):
the three times. And I'm just going to tell everyone
this might sound strange, but she's super hot. She has
red hair, she looks I she had badass boots on
and a hell of a belt buckle.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
Milike. I love you, I really think, I genuinely.
Speaker 3 (39:06):
Just love you. I love you too. I knew when
I saw you so and she you know, she's she
stood over the bed a couple of times and she
just checked in just to let me know she was
there and I didn't have to come. She never put
her hand out to me and said let's go. She
stood there and let me know I didn't have to
(39:30):
come detox is.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
Really bad trip.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
It's a trip.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
So how long do you have to detox for?
Speaker 3 (39:36):
It took me about fourteen solid days.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Fourteen days of hanging out with the girl. What's you say?
She was worth?
Speaker 3 (39:45):
Just badass, a badass belt buckle on bad She was like,
hey you she was good, she was good. Made it
fourteen days?
Speaker 1 (39:55):
What do you so? Then you start your walk?
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Officially, I didn't start my walk yet. I waited thirty
I waited thirty. But in this time my best friend
yet again. Her husband was, I'm just gonna like clean this,
you know, when I'm not, I'm gonna use the same
pan and nice and hot. Here comes to oil because
I'm getting ready to make some little Jewish mebals.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
Guys, we're gonna eat good.
Speaker 3 (40:18):
We don't eat good, and we're going are we hot
orre we We're still hot? Okay, we're gonna put that
oil in. And there was a screening for a film
that he had just produced, a documentary, and their friend,
who had many, many years of sobriety, was that the screening,
here's the setup, and I'm in a program and of sobriety.
(40:42):
And when there's someone there that that has time. They're
sometimes called your eskimo, and your eskimo is who kind
of brings you back. Right. So she comes up to me,
a very dear friend and says, so you got some time? Now,
how's that? How's that doing? How's that going for you? Thank? Yeah? Here,
(41:05):
you haven't gone to any other meetings? How's that gonna
worry you? And I'm like, I'm fine, I'm doing great,
I'm wonderful, terrific. Well, if you ever want to, you know,
you can call me. And my prideful ass waited thirty days. Okay,
so I did not have to walk in New Okay.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
Was walking anew that tough for my ass? Okay?
Speaker 3 (41:28):
Yeah, it was because I still wasn't ready to Now
I would. I would never suggest hello, if you're struggling,
please just get some help please. And I'm a'm eight
year staff now.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
Wow, Congress, thank you, Congret, thank you for coming back.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Now we have Rhyme and Pokemon. We had a lot more,
but you know, we got a lot. We got a
lot to look forward to it and I got a
new frame.
Speaker 3 (41:57):
But life, that's man.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
I would to now learn, you know what, when I
got the recipe for a Jewish spaghetti and Jewish meatballs.
I was like, Jewish spaghetti, yes, there is jewishballs.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
There we go. So I can't say that that like
this was like my my jelly, my jelly, you know, sandwich.
But it means so much because this was what I
could do. This was pretty much all I could bring
myself to make because it still smelled like my mam
(42:35):
was home who and it was something that my baby's loves,
and it was something I knew how to do. So
that's what I made.
Speaker 1 (42:49):
We're gonna end It's gonna be my new favorite dish.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
I hope it is.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
So what's the deal with the oil? You have to
put a lot and then you put a lot.
Speaker 3 (43:07):
Crying meat balls.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
I've never made meatballs in my life.
Speaker 3 (43:10):
Crazy?
Speaker 1 (43:10):
Are they terrible?
Speaker 3 (43:11):
People? Hate? They're terrible people. You're gonna hate them. They're
gonna hate them.
Speaker 1 (43:15):
Use the tight ones. Everyone likes the tight ones.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Make little one.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
I always give the big ones.
Speaker 3 (43:19):
Make the little ones because they cook faster. And these
gloves are really hard and I'm so ready to take
them off. Sorry, please take them off.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
You could take them off. Just don't touch your hair.
I want it's gonna be that awkward, like, hey, you got.
Speaker 3 (43:35):
Kill me, they would kill me.
Speaker 1 (43:37):
That is your hair naturally curly? Is it like mine?
Speaker 3 (43:40):
My hair is like yours?
Speaker 1 (43:41):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (43:41):
Cool?
Speaker 1 (43:42):
I was just curious, all right.
Speaker 3 (43:43):
How's my hair not like yours?
Speaker 1 (43:45):
I'lly I always gotta ask.
Speaker 3 (43:48):
Yeah, yeah, just thick.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
Yeah, it's actually.
Speaker 3 (43:52):
You're real thick. I'm unbelievable. So that's thank you.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
Kimming like, okay, so you're frying these and you're making
you do you have to take off your rings? Are
you good?
Speaker 3 (44:03):
I don't take off my ring? Oh god?
Speaker 1 (44:04):
Okay, so okay, so cast me up. Okay. So we
went through one hell of a journey with you. Thank
you for all the transparency. Now you're going through the
detas and everything your career. You're still managing to hold
up a really good career and you're making this money,
but your ex is still helping out make it short
at So is your career like, make it enough to
(44:27):
pay for everything? What's going on during that whole period?
Speaker 3 (44:30):
Well, I don't know how to. I still don't know
how to handle my money.
Speaker 1 (44:33):
Though, Okay, So, and then is the addiction sucking up
some of that money too?
Speaker 3 (44:37):
Oh, the addiction. Well, you know, we all do what
we do to survive and try to use our addiction
money to just take care of our addiction. So that
might mean, you know, I don't know, you might start
your own secondary business to keep that afloat. You might
I don't know, you might have wait in the car
(44:58):
or something so you don't have to worry about you.
Speaker 1 (45:00):
You are beyond real.
Speaker 3 (45:02):
We might do some of the You might start a
pizza delivery service. I mean, I don't know you so
oh but no, but actor as actor and nightlife is nightlife.
That's what happens to some folks.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
So when did you end up learning about how to
take care of the bills and stuff?
Speaker 3 (45:21):
I was with my agency that I loved, and I
again another guide shot by the grace of God. I
ran into my agent, Portia Scott, my current agent and
business partner. Hi Porscha, I love you so very much,
and I had already booked Missus Pancakes on Rick and Morty,
and more needed to be going on because again she
(45:42):
was the only black female character. You know, I've been
these black female iconic characters and nothing was being done
with them. And I loved my agency but the animation
department just didn't do what could have been done because
I don't think they got it. Portion I had to talk,
(46:03):
and I decided to leave my agency and I go
over to Portia. Wow, a black agent, a black female
agent that had her finger on the pulse. And when
that happened, life changed, and we've been together ever since.
I created my own acting technique because even before all
(46:24):
that happened, I started coaching.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
This stuff is popping, but you sound like a pro
in a kitchen.
Speaker 3 (46:30):
You're good.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
You're not even flinching. I'm over here praying.
Speaker 3 (46:34):
Girl, Come on now. I created my I started coaching actors.
I started coaching animation and commercial a while before that
with the casting director and because my mother always said
those who can't do teach, and a casting director said,
you know, we'd like you to start coaching for us.
And I came home, was over. She's like, not you,
(46:54):
not you? And I so I started coaching and I
realized I was a great director. How could I not
be doing this my whole life? Yeah, And then it
turned into this weird cult like people just wanted to
keep working with me. And I told my mother I
wanted to start a company and call it the Darchy
Emingite Company because I'm that girl. And she was like, Malik,
(47:15):
your name is Malik Burger. You're gonna make reels. You're
gonna call it Burger's Reels. Duh. So I did that
and I wound up starting something. She's here, she's here,
she likes you. So so I started Burger's Reels and
I became the first black female to produce and direct
(47:36):
animation and commercial demos. And then I created my technique,
art of the pivot, the art.
Speaker 1 (47:43):
Of the pivot.
Speaker 3 (47:46):
So when I started reading over your stuff today, I
was like, pivot. Oh, this is it. And because I
have so much training, and I just took all the
Meisner and Stanislavsky and Uda Hagen and everything I've studied
and started teaching beyond of the pivot.
Speaker 1 (48:02):
So now, how how can people sign up to get
those classes and all that?
Speaker 3 (48:06):
You could go look me up Malik Berger dot com
or Burger's Reels la dot com or is it yeah,
okay it is and not do that. That's what I do. Come,
but you need you know, this is the thing about voiceover.
It doesn't have ship to do with your voice acting.
This is acting acting first voice seconds and now so
(48:28):
people think you need to make funny voices and blah
blah blah, be an actor.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
That's now. You were so good because you started as
an actor, So you're really an actress with that's it.
Speaker 3 (48:40):
Oh, you're an actor and voiceover is the truest form
of acting.
Speaker 1 (48:45):
Why do you say that because you got you don't have.
Speaker 3 (48:47):
A set, you don't have props, you don't have someone
you're working with. This is this is the Greek chorus.
They had masks on their face.
Speaker 1 (48:57):
Baby, wow, this is a thing.
Speaker 3 (49:00):
This is this is your mind. So people don't think
about that, do that? No, these are my glasses and
not their hair. But yeah, that's very important because you know,
I hear people all the time they go.
Speaker 1 (49:13):
You know, people think that I had to really good
for right, and they.
Speaker 3 (49:17):
Was, no, honey, take it an acting class.
Speaker 1 (49:22):
Because you have to be so many different characters.
Speaker 3 (49:25):
Right.
Speaker 1 (49:25):
So if it if it's just a voice for for
for you have a good voice, that doesn't make sense.
Speaker 3 (49:30):
Why are you opening your mouth? What's your moment before?
Who are you talking to? Where are you when you're
talking to them? What are you talking about? What's the
beginning in the middle of the end.
Speaker 1 (49:40):
I actually think about that sometimes when I'm watching a movie, like,
I'm like, man, they had to really get into that,
like mentally, you had to picture yourself there to really
pull it off. Right. So when you're recording now, I
want to get into the business side. So when you're
we're gonna we're gonna call uh, we're gonna call a cut. Damn, guys,
(50:04):
can you could just well, I'll help you pause commercial break.
She needs to wash her hands. So we're mixing the
spaghetti noodles and the sauce. So take me up to
right now where you're at in your life career. Right now,
you have a huge hit. Right now, Pokemon, we know
successfully you are where you are. I don't think you
(50:24):
quite answered the question about who ended up teaching you
about how to manage money. I know your agent ended
up in the picture, but you didn't tell me.
Speaker 3 (50:31):
Like Portia Scott ended up, you know, waking me up
and saying, listen, you got too much, you're too good,
let's get let's get it together. And I opened my
own business and then I felt, you know it truly
was my duty to be of service to other actors.
So I started directing and coaching, and then I realized
(50:52):
I had a huge gift of making demos and teaching
the truth. Then I developed the art of the pivot.
Out of the Pivot is also the sister to Porsche's Method,
which is method on the mic and the actor's toolkit.
And we just have a beautiful, beautiful business teaching other
actors and trying to get Like, if you wanted to
(51:12):
be a dentist, right and you went to dental school,
you'd be able to leave and actually start an office.
In this situation, you can't leave a university and have
a degree and voiceover. It doesn't exist, and we don't
think that's right. So we're fighting for that. And then
I have the most brilliant PR manager with Shannon Shannon
(51:35):
Barnes Strategic. We love you, We love you, And now
I'm just trying to spread spread the word. Now this
is a little small, so what I'm going to do
is the old trick. I'm going to take this and
I'm gonna do the old I was almost going to
do a different recipe for you, which I would have
had to have done this and get everything over on
(51:56):
the plate. We're gonna hopefully well do it different when
we tape this from my house on our phones. But
now you'll see that doesn't have to be pretty. Okay,
does not have to be pretty, but at least you're
seeing that everything is mixed up, and it's that butter
(52:18):
that's going to stick everything together. I like mine saucy,
my grandmother. I'm gonna take this other plate my grandmother,
and it's had. It's fine, don't worry about it, my grandmother,
and then they liked it. A little dryer may serve you,
Madame del And this is just thank you. So again,
(52:47):
this not only has no that's another thing. There's no
cheese on it, but it's Jewish. It's no, it's not
I'm not kosher. It's not kosher. It's funny because I
guess I guess you don't worry. We're gonna we're gonna
teach you more about your Judaism. But please enjoy, Please enjoy,
(53:10):
and tell me what it's like with turkey, because that
sounds really fun to me. So I'm not going to
say it was what did you What was it like
when you were broke? What I will say, this meal
to me signifies what I could do in honor of
my mother, and in honor of a time when I
wasn't all myself, and now I can make it with
(53:33):
a lot more pride. I love that because it's really
nice to be alive and around.
Speaker 1 (53:40):
Yes, and I'm very happy and thankful that you alive,
around and back. Yeah, we're going to try this.
Speaker 3 (53:47):
Do it well.
Speaker 1 (53:55):
She loves me, I like to the people. Is that
the masa meal, the masa oil?
Speaker 3 (54:06):
So my new best friend of me here, guys, look
at this.
Speaker 1 (54:09):
Mhm.
Speaker 3 (54:10):
There was the sweet with the salty, right, and then
if you the.
Speaker 1 (54:17):
Tomato paste makes sense now, right, And then if.
Speaker 3 (54:19):
You can get it all in one bite, then you
see there's a crunch from the onion. Still oh right,
but it's not it's not nasty onion. It's still been.
Speaker 1 (54:32):
I really like the onion in it.
Speaker 3 (54:33):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (54:35):
I really like the onion. And I was trying to
give you very little onions. You don't know this, but throughout,
like I think you had two onions. I cut up
half an onion, and then you came back it was
like that's not enough onion.
Speaker 3 (54:46):
I was like, oh, ship, what's your thing with onions?
Speaker 1 (54:49):
You have to slice them really thin. That's what I
think the secret is, you know, when they have the
big old chunks, you can't do that.
Speaker 3 (54:56):
But did you get a bite with both? Now? Hmm?
Did you gotta buy it with both? What do you think?
I love it so Jewish spaghetti and.
Speaker 1 (55:07):
Jewish spaghetti Sambi balls definitely a good one. I would
maybe add some cheese.
Speaker 3 (55:14):
You totally can.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
I would maybe add some cheese. But I can also
see that the paste actually helps for all of you
guys that don't try to opt out for the paste.
I think the paste helps. Gluid is the paste that's glued.
I think it's the paste.
Speaker 3 (55:26):
And then there's you know, there's a lot of butter
in here because I like it and it tastes good,
and that's why they make it.
Speaker 1 (55:35):
When you cook all your onions at home, you use butter.
You and I it just butter. Let me tell you something,
butter me.
Speaker 3 (55:43):
You know all that.
Speaker 1 (55:44):
Sister, we are sisters.
Speaker 3 (55:46):
Oh wait, we didn't in our cutdamn. We have to
drink the c yes, the pre hugof in shall my love.
Speaker 1 (55:59):
Thank you so much for I mean, these two go
together really well.
Speaker 3 (56:04):
Like Shamalama Lama lamading.
Speaker 1 (56:06):
Real, they really do go together like.
Speaker 3 (56:09):
Shoe Bop Showaddy Waddy Hippie Dippy Dip.
Speaker 1 (56:13):
From now So I got eating because it's a food show.
It's a food show. People actually get irritated by that.
But why she's smacking so much the game? It's a
food show. You don't listen to eating while broke. I
expect to hear some smacking. Now you are stable, I
don't imagine what was like a little under I would
(56:36):
say I'm God at three. So you're definitely like almost
fifty years in the.
Speaker 3 (56:41):
Game, fifty two fifty two years ago.
Speaker 1 (56:44):
So yeah, I thought, you don't look at it. You
don't look at it all.
Speaker 3 (56:48):
But it's the scare of dealing nice sleep without Manchester.
Speaker 1 (56:52):
And then you wait, you also remarried. We didn't cover that.
Speaker 3 (56:55):
Yes, I remarried Jay Robertson from Mertha to Bill. Let's
hear it for whales, yay Wales, and just really quick.
During the pandemic, it was very easy to start ordering
things online. So I ordered a trans man from Whales, Yes,
and he showed up at the doorstep and I was like, great,
(57:16):
I'll take it.
Speaker 1 (57:17):
So transman is.
Speaker 3 (57:19):
Female to male, female female to male, and I've got
to tell you Jay if you're watching, which you will be.
I love you so much, baby, by the love of
my life. And thank you.
Speaker 1 (57:30):
No, I'm I don't know why.
Speaker 3 (57:32):
I don't know why you're covering your mouth like I
haven't seen you eat already?
Speaker 1 (57:35):
Girl?
Speaker 3 (57:35):
To what what you.
Speaker 1 (57:38):
And I eating?
Speaker 3 (57:38):
Like you feel better? You're cute? I really cute.
Speaker 1 (57:42):
You should be because so your ex husband and everybody
gets along great?
Speaker 3 (57:46):
Sure do they should do?
Speaker 1 (57:48):
That was beautiful and I think that's really great for
your sons.
Speaker 3 (57:50):
It absolutely is.
Speaker 1 (57:52):
Absolutely What advice would you give to someone trying to
get into this game?
Speaker 3 (57:56):
Biggest advice go into the Voice Over Reese Guide. Can
I look there? And I really tell you the Voiceover
Resource Guide. The BORG is something that you can find online.
You can look under NAVA, which is the National Association
of Voiceover Artists. Do not fall into a trap where
someone is going to offer you something where you spend
(58:19):
money to become a star able. I can teach you
this in two weeks. No, study your craft and work
with reputable people, people who are in this industry. This
is a very easy business to get into and get robbed.
Please do not do that. Learn to be an actor
this is a craft and it is not going to
(58:41):
happen overnight, so please save yourself a heartache. Work with
real people.
Speaker 1 (58:46):
Yes, and then where can they go to Malik Burger School.
Speaker 3 (58:51):
You can check me out at Burger's Reels b E
r g e R sreels dot com or go over
to Malikburger dot com. You could see what else is
going on with me. Please check me out on Pokemon Horizons.
I want to say, yeah, season two airing now on Netflix.
I am the character rhyme and there's a whole bunch
(59:11):
of lot of stuff coming up too, so hopefully I
will be seeing you at Como Con soon.
Speaker 1 (59:16):
And do you have socials? Are you doing?
Speaker 3 (59:18):
I'm on all kinds.
Speaker 1 (59:18):
It's just Milie Berger, okay, perfect.
Speaker 3 (59:22):
No, just and it's b e r g e R.
That's where everybody messes up. M E l i q
U E b E r g e R. I'm also
this one's best friend, so.
Speaker 1 (59:31):
Yeah, you guys, just slide in the d MS. I'll
tell you how great she is. But thank you, guys,
thank you so much for feeding me and opening up
and telling your whole story. And you were write this story.
I definitely am like in love, love love, love you.
Thank you, you know, and I can't wait to meet
the family.
Speaker 3 (59:48):
You're meeting everybody, So to me, I just wanted to
tell you thank you. I might not have been broke,
but I was broken, So.
Speaker 1 (59:56):
This was perfect. I think. I think you you really
understood the concept of the show. And one thing I
tell people, like, if you were middle class, if you
were rich, or your family was successful, do not hide
your story because the road to success, as you see
with Malik, is never straight. It's a roller coaster. Right,
(01:00:17):
Malik went through a lot, she did. She was exposed
to success. But even talking about financial, money management, or
dealing with traumas and all that, and you know, hanging
out with death. You know, even as fine as she
was fine, you know, she can't us with us, you know.
So shout outs to you and definitely thank you, and
we all can say thank you for keeping it one
(01:00:38):
hundred percent real.
Speaker 3 (01:00:39):
Thank you, Thank you Malik.
Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
Peace out, guys, peace.
Speaker 3 (01:00:45):
Mel blank And he did all these.
Speaker 1 (01:00:49):
Johnny Carson unbelievable day dunk. The question is was he
an inspiration for him?
Speaker 3 (01:00:55):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (01:00:55):
Oh damn, you should have texted me that one. Why
do you think he did.
Speaker 3 (01:01:01):
Over industry. I think that he is the original of
you can do anything you set your mind to do,
because who took over is a man named Bob Bergen.
And Bob Bergen's dream was to be Porky Pig. And
this was a young Jewish guy from Middle America that
moved out here when he was fifteen years old, and
he is now the voice of Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Bugs, Bunny.
(01:01:25):
And he did it, so talk a little bit about
mel blank, what it melt blank? A Jewish guy that
got up and made it, made the voices and made
room for us to do it. That's what he did.
Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
He did every Let me just say something right now,
we gonna keep keep this edit not the educational dead moment,
but keep my dad askn't a really good question in
the episode. For more eating while Broke from iHeartRadio and
The Black Effects, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or
(01:01:58):
wherever you listen to your favorite Jos
Host
Coline Witt
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