March 11, 2022 • 25 mins
Ed talks with comedian Earthquake. The funnyman talks
about his Netflix special, and the big opportunity fellow comedian Dave Chappelle has given him with this special. They also talk about the state of “Black comedy” and what the comic thinks of the popularity of the social media comedians and whether any topic is off limits. (Warning: Adult language)
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Welcome to the latest edition of one hundred The Ed
Gordon Podcast. Today a conversation with comedian Earthquake. The veteran
comic is a familiar face to many African American audiences.
He's had a long stand up career, appeared in some
films and television shows, and is often spoken with reverence
by other comics. Unlike some of his contemporaries, mass appeal
(00:46):
has eluded the d C native, but his recent Netflix
special produced by Dave Chappelle may change that. Here's a
clip one morning Earthquake deals in adult language. If you
know what I mean, I wish one of my kids
will tell me I'm not a great ass father. Only
got one question for on period. If I'm not a
(01:07):
great father, who are you comparing me to? Who this
MEPhI large grew? Black man? You think gonna make the
sacrifices I did and all this for you like I
did take you to all these activities. Go to your
basketball game, be there for three hours and your ass
don't even get in the game. Me ain't you're sitting
on the bench. You can have faith time me this
(01:30):
bush sitting over there like you assistant coaching check Since
we're comparing. You ain't a good ass child. Almost lost
my job. These kids, these ain't jokes. One of the
things I've always said about you is I didn't think
(01:52):
that you got your just dudes. You you you remind me
of what people call a singer singer, and you're a
comics comic. You know, you always had fans, but you
reached a certain plateau that others had, But comics always
mentioned you when they talked about the funniest cats out there.
Tell me how this has felt for you over the
last you know, a few weeks since the special has hit.
(02:15):
Um beyond the switch M validation to the point that
I was getting distribution, you know what I mean? You
couldn't you um being the funniest dude on the show
with all other great people and never resonated into anything
bigger than just being the funniest dude that the live performance,
(02:38):
you know what I mean? And UM, I was like,
when are they ever gonna get to the eads? When
they're passing out opportunities, they keep skipping me over like
you're in a d n V. They call, you know,
be four and You're like, all I see you know
they get the eat then you they go to Jay,
You're like, hey, I know he coming for Jay, but
there so you know, um, when I got the call
(03:01):
from Dave, I knew the significance of the opportunity. Chappelle
opens the special by giving respect to the veteran comedian.
He talked about how he always admired Earthquake. It was
an example of the comedic connection that exists among a
group of black comics that seem to have formed a brotherhood.
(03:22):
Talk to me about those early days and how you
would help young comics yourself. Well, you know, you just
you can only you can only help or supply your
partners with the platform you have, you know what I mean. So,
because we have gate keepers, because you're dealing with something
(03:44):
that's that is subjective. What's funny to one person not
be funny to another, you know, especially when you have
gate keepers that aren't black on us, they don't get us.
So they rather it's a human nature. They rather give
opportunity for some person they recognized with in some person
they hear about. So, you know, to have someone like
(04:08):
Dave and the rest of them get to that point
that they respect their opinion and able they will allow
you get on their level and tell the people, yeah,
you love me, but just who you should see? Now?
What's the comedians? The true ones understands what I'm saying
that I always tell comedians there's nothing different than me
(04:32):
or you made in that quote quote made. It's an
opportunity that they cashed in on. Mm hmm. It's just it,
and you just gotta keep striving until you get that opportunity.
That's why we have a brotherhood, because we know I
might not be better to you, or I might you
might be better than me. I got an opportunity, cash
(04:54):
in on it, and that's why you're there. Only the
comedians that get upset or hate on the other one
that make it. It's the ones that really to me
is scoring and and um with the word I'm looking
for to the point that they over here just upset
with another comic. But most of us together understand you
(05:15):
finally got a chance at the back. You hit it
out and regret. We're happy for you because all of
us want that shot. When you talk about the kind
of comedian you are, and maybe you don't like labels,
people love to put labels on you know. They're political comics,
they're observational comics, their comics that comes solely. I think
about Cosby in his early days played off of the
(05:37):
personal and the family and the like. What would you
consider yourself? I do it all. If you watch my special,
I I'm able, I am bounded me back in the day,
I'm able to give you some medicine with some candy
in front of it. Now, your mother used to put
candy in front of the medicine and on the takes
(05:59):
boon to give it to something good. So it takes
that first. That's more what I am. I'm quicker. I
don't it don't take me a long time to get
to the point. I don't elaborate on the point long
I move on. Um, I am the comedians to media
because I do it totally different than any of my fields. Yeah,
(06:19):
I know that that in the special, you know you
you talk about what I sometimes consider traditional comedy too
to us, Right, you've got those last, but then you
shifted over to Trump. There are a lot of people
that either would have stayed in that lane with the
traditional quote unquote black comedy, but wouldn't have touched political
stuff or vice versa. Right, So you've been able to
(06:41):
you know be that cat. What I loved is you
went back home to d C um and it was
very clear at the end which side of d C
you from. And those of us who lived at d
C understand that. Man, But give me a sense of
what d C meant to you. You know, I'm always
interested in where people come from and how it shapes you. Right,
(07:02):
So I'm I'm from Detroit, so that is a big
part of who I am talking to me about what
d C was and is to you. The forgotten ry,
you know what I mean. We have our own music
that hasn't has not the plateau go go outside of DC,
nobody listened to it. Were in our own world. Some
(07:25):
of the great people in the world. Man, black people,
our people, Uh, we love we have our little niche.
We love wings with bumbo saws, carry out crabs. You
know what I'm saying. I'll go go music. We was
the first one to fall in love with the Clyde
(07:46):
Stone because we came and came from lives love, our women,
loving because just everything that goes symbolic with being black,
you find it in d C. And it's it's a
beautiful thing. And the reason I did Southeast because I
wanted to let them know. It's just this is where
I'm from. We have some of the most if not
(08:08):
talented people coming from that area, and they need to
be recognized, especially for our youth. That is other things
you can do. You can be where you come from,
don't determine where you're going, and that's more than anything.
Let me ask you this, man, Were you always funny?
So people don't believe this because they have a certain
impression of who I am. I was two votes away
(08:29):
from class clown in high school. I still hate that
I did not get that title two votes. I lost
the damn title in high school. But nobody thinks I
would ever be that way because of the persona I
have on the air. Were you always funny? No, My
funniest person in my family is uh my brothers, and
(08:49):
we all are funny. I have a funny family, but
the funniest one to start onn but he don't know
how to put it together and make a set out
of it. I won't teach them. But no, I mean yeah,
I was the do I was observationist. I was more
like you. I was a smart kid. I was in
the upper bound program in the ninth grade, and it
was gonna send me to Georgetown to go to college.
(09:10):
Early I was that new. I was into computers in
the whole not comedy came for me. Was this the
best decision that day? And nothing else came. I never
knew it was gonna be my destiny. I never knew
it was my purpose. That's the reason my name is earthquake,
because I said, if this don't work, I don't want
(09:32):
to mess up my good name. If I didn't come
to Fruition and didn't make up something, I didn't go
back being Nathaniel Strongman. That that's that's funny because I
didn't know until recently that you were in the military,
your Air Force. Well, I'm very practical and calculated. I mean,
(09:57):
I said, you know, with a mother that fuss all
the time, I get very strict, and I said, well,
might as well join the military. They strict, and they
as you, but at least they need your check. So
she adn't given no money. And it was a great
place to see the world. And I tell people all
the time, get you any job that you you presrived
(10:20):
or you want to do, they have it in the military,
and they give you a chance to see the world,
get educated and tell us as the time that you
decide what you really want to do. The commercial is
a is a great, great commercial. That is a great
place to start to start. And I started there. I
did nine years and it was the best experience because
(10:43):
coming from DC and it's so segregated of our own
I actually got to see the world consists of a
lot of people and not that only is a lot
of people. We all do the same thing, we just
do it a different way, so we have more in common.
So it changed my whole perspective on people's self and
(11:04):
preferably and mostly Caucasian people, because I got to interact
with from and say, Okay, they're just people. When we
get back, Earthquake talks about the growth of quote black
comedy and what does he really think about the explosion
of social media comedians. A recent documentary Fat Tuesday tells
(11:43):
the story of how comedian Guide Tory broke through to
give black comedians a space at an iconic comedy club
in Los Angeles back in the nineteen nineties. Some of
those comedians saw their visibility and opportunities in the comedy
field grow. However, most continued to play to majority black audiences,
(12:04):
and larger fame and bigger paydays eluded them. For years.
Hollywood seemed to allow only a couple of black comedians
at a time to climb to the highest runs of
the comedy ladder. Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, will Be Goldberg,
Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle. I wondered
(12:25):
if Earthquake sees today's environment allowing for greater room at
the top for more than just one funny black person. Well,
it does because you have more platforms. But you gotta
understand those comments that you read. They went through white clubs.
It's a different thing. We the Bruce Bruce, the Honest
(12:47):
Jay's uh um My Man, Don d C. Currt. We
we imitate our people. So it's the high end shitness circus.
You know what I'm saying. You know what I mean.
Though we're in white establishment. Clientele is black. But those
comments you said before, they did white rooms and bring
(13:11):
them to them. So of course, if you participate in
the system, within the system, it's quicker for you to
elevate in the system instead of them to come out
from or come out and scout and say they're going
down to where he say fat Tuesday and come see
us in our own form. A lot of us black
(13:31):
comics feel uncomfortable telling their jokes in front of predominant
white audience. They're more accustomed to, you know, their own,
which they should. Me and myself, I take on the
take on that challenge because I don't let them know
that collectually funny was they can't mess with us, me
(13:55):
on the on us on it, and I can write
a joke just as intelligent as you can and you'll
see it. What do you think about the new form
of comedy that has has changed with social media? Right,
You've got a lot of comics that have found their way,
didn't have to go the old school way of the
club circuit and the like. Have become very very popular,
(14:15):
and you know again, a number of them have catapulted
to two million dollar careers. Now do you do you
see that as just a new way or do you
see it as maybe the foundation isn't what it should be. Well,
I don't knock them, I tell them, but they're gonna
have that eventually. Whichever way you do it, you've got
(14:37):
to come back to the foundation of standing on that stage.
Holding that night and capturing the audience attention for whatever
contract with your time you use, contracted the uh assigned
to thirty minutes or forty five minutes or our attendments.
I tell social media comics this, it's not how many
(14:59):
followers you have. There's how many comedians you can follow.
If you can't get on that stage and go behind
fold comedians that just made it on fire, then you
were not in this league. You gotta be able to
follow other comedians and not just be able to put
a sketch up and get a lot of people to
(15:20):
say they love you on it, because that's not a
true test, because you're not dealing with the consequence of
the joke not working. They can't boo you on you
over the phone on your Instagram. You know what I'm saying.
You know what I mean. You you You don't get
to edit it and cut a joke when you're doing stand.
(15:41):
It has to come out ready, ready, exactly when you
start saying it on stage. Let me ask you what
may be an unfair question. I'm gonna acknowledge that upfront,
But for you, over the years, who's been the hardest
person to follow? You know? I think of singers who
say you don't you don't want this fool open then
because it's hard on you, you know, they shut it down.
(16:03):
Who who for you has been that? I mean, I
mean it's a I mean, it's all opinions. You know,
you have to be mentally prepared for hone j Lavelle, Crawford,
Don DC, Carried, Bruce, Bruce, these brothers bringing fire Man.
You better be ready for any of them. So if
you if you're mentally prepared and I know what it is,
(16:27):
it's not hard for any of them on it. But
if you don't be ready and understand that they are phoneable,
you can get boomed. You're gonna have a long night
and the ain't nothing like that. Be up there about
yourself and don't nobody find you funny man. That's the
worst feeling in the world. J. Yeah, he's a wild boy.
(16:50):
He's a wild boy. Can you tell a crowd from
the minute you walk out there if they're gonna be
hard to win over, if they're ready? Can you feel that? Yeah,
you can feel it from the first person. You can
see what the other comedians is. You tell her they're
laughing at that. I'm gonna kill and you seem they're
struggling and you're like, oh that's good stuff. See that.
(17:13):
That's when you ship into another another mode for me anyway,
another gear because they're fan only blows when you're hot,
So you gotta understand. You know, they fickle, so you
have to, you know, go right at them like I
know what you're here to see me, So don't act
like you're not. You might as well laugh to get
(17:36):
your money back. Ain't lucky you got anything else to do,
you know, those are the things you saying. You know,
ain't enough people here to ruin my career. You don't
have to laugh and not tell everybody I had a
great show you mentioned. I saw something that you talked
about Steve Harvey helping you in the beginning learn how
(17:56):
to kind of set an act up for stand up?
Who else help help your long the way? Well, what
he told me was the degree of what jokes you
need to do before you do something, such as the
special idea and what's the appointance of how thick the jokers.
I really don't watch a lot of comedians because I
(18:17):
don't write physically. I right mentally. So when you right mentally,
you have to protect your thought pattern and make sure
you don't get contaminated by somebody else's thought. And you
think you came it up with yourself. So the best
way for me that keeps to stay sanitized is I
don't watch other comics. But again, I never getting into this.
(18:41):
It was just, you know, the best decision that day.
So I really like I'm playing with house money until
my real purpose came, and it never came. Never better
job ever came. Quick. Let me ask you this. I
remember asking Um said and d L this anything you
won't touch No, because I know it's not coming mean spirit.
(19:05):
If it coming a joke, phone is to be told,
it's how it's toned. And is there a time like
I remember, I remember after nine eleven a lot of
people didn't want to joke at all about that, and
I I have Paul money and you know Paul didn't
(19:29):
give it. Damn he went right to it. Right. Is
do you believe that there can be a time frame
you know when something tragic happens that you gotta let
some of it blow over. It all depends on the
type of the joke. The reason why will be Brobert
is a big fan of mine because I was the
only one that went to Aspen and touched on nine eleven.
(19:52):
Didn't nobody talked to it. And mine's the one. I
went into it. They said, UM, saw them to and
there's a coward and the terrorists. And when I said it, um,
he's also he's a hell of a motivated speaker. Because
you're a bad person. You can get your fathers to
kill the eself and you stay in the cave. And
(20:13):
that's how you hit it from that point on, and
you just continue. It's how you said when it is Um,
it is comedian that we say too soon, too so,
But I haven't. I haven't crossed that bridge. Right. Let
me take you back to the special Man when you
when you knew it was coming and all things were
signed and you were ready. Um, any butterflies, any nerves?
(20:38):
I mean you you had to know if I hit
this right, this is going to take me to a
different level. But you can't say no. You can't tell
a Trump support or nothing about Trump. Oh yeah, not
my Trump. Hey love my Trump. People ask me all
the time, Quait, what kind of woman are you looking
for in your life? I said, nig I'm looking for
a woman like a Trump support him. Don't matter. What's
(21:00):
she here about me? That bitch. I don't believe I
heard he got another woman. That's fake news. Maybe that's
fake now, don't listen to them wholes here the enemy
of the snakes. These ain't Joe. I was determined and
what I did. I made one promise to myself. I
(21:20):
was gonna beat me at the end of the day.
I was gonna show what it is comedian earthquake is
because if you look at all my peers, they all
were just making it off of being who they are.
And it's Camin, Chris Rockets, Chris rock Day, Chappelle, d Chappelle,
the yell is, the Steve. Obviously they made who they are.
(21:43):
So I was like, I'm gonna show them who earthquake is.
And that's what that's And it was the mission accomplished,
and I was gonna I was willing to deal with
with the results as long as I showed who I was.
Was it what you wanted? I know often when I
have a high profile interview, you know there's always the
(22:05):
the after, right, you'll get your reviews, you get, but
then you review it yourself, right and you look at
oh I wish I had done this, I've done that.
How you feel about it? I feel great about it,
of course, you know, I'm of My hardest criticis other
things left out at it, stuff on it. But it
achieved the goal. It's the first one. I'm gonna do
it another one and it's gonna be better than next one.
(22:28):
But what it did do it just introduced me to
the world, you know, and that's what I want. My
friends always knew this, such as about's to yourself, and
now everybody else knows. So now you know. Now I
can do it on bigger scales and even better. What
do you want to do? Man um down the line?
(22:50):
You want movies, you want TV? What is it that
that your roadmap uh says for you? Well, I'm gonna
do a national tour, I'm um, I'm gonna do an
overseas tour. I'm gonna do a TV show, and I'm
gonna do more movies. I just did my first lead
in the movie called Bad, written with Danielle Rollins, and
(23:13):
I'm gonna do more movies. And now I'm in a
position to do these things. It's about choice. Down I
just want to make sure I'm in a vehicle that
highlights who I am, because you know they'll put you
in something. Man. You know I'm getting some offers right here.
I like him on Man, you noticed jury sun tell
(23:34):
this is awful and this is a person who care. Hey,
hold all that. So look, man, I am happy to
say that. You know when I called you after you
could say, well that Negro been calling me before. And
you know that I've always thought that you was up
front and funny as anybody, man. And I'm just happy
(23:56):
to spotlight has found this way and stopped on you. Man. Well,
thank you for all your prayers and your for everybody
was hoping for it to happen. It probably happening like always,
It's God's time. I wouldn't have preferred in any other
way because I'm prepared for it now. Quite good to
see you, brother, Always good to see you. My life's
(24:17):
give brother you. Earthquake Special Legendary is on Netflix now.
One hundred is produced by Ed Gordon Media and distributed
by I Heart Media. Carol Johnson Green and Sharie Weldon
(24:39):
are our bookers. Our editor is Lance Patton. Gerald Albright
composed and performed our theme. Please join me on Twitter
and Instagram at ed l Gordon and on Facebook at
ed Gordon Media
Welcome to the latest edition of one hundred The Ed
Gordon Podcast. Today a conversation with comedian Earthquake. The veteran
comic is a familiar face to many African American audiences.
He's had a long stand up career, appeared in some
films and television shows, and is often spoken with reverence
by other comics. Unlike some of his contemporaries, mass appeal
(00:46):
has eluded the d C native, but his recent Netflix
special produced by Dave Chappelle may change that. Here's a
clip one morning Earthquake deals in adult language. If you
know what I mean, I wish one of my kids
will tell me I'm not a great ass father. Only
got one question for on period. If I'm not a
(01:07):
great father, who are you comparing me to? Who this
MEPhI large grew? Black man? You think gonna make the
sacrifices I did and all this for you like I
did take you to all these activities. Go to your
basketball game, be there for three hours and your ass
don't even get in the game. Me ain't you're sitting
on the bench. You can have faith time me this
(01:30):
bush sitting over there like you assistant coaching check Since
we're comparing. You ain't a good ass child. Almost lost
my job. These kids, these ain't jokes. One of the
things I've always said about you is I didn't think
(01:52):
that you got your just dudes. You you you remind me
of what people call a singer singer, and you're a
comics comic. You know, you always had fans, but you
reached a certain plateau that others had, But comics always
mentioned you when they talked about the funniest cats out there.
Tell me how this has felt for you over the
last you know, a few weeks since the special has hit.
(02:15):
Um beyond the switch M validation to the point that
I was getting distribution, you know what I mean? You
couldn't you um being the funniest dude on the show
with all other great people and never resonated into anything
bigger than just being the funniest dude that the live performance,
(02:38):
you know what I mean? And UM, I was like,
when are they ever gonna get to the eads? When
they're passing out opportunities, they keep skipping me over like
you're in a d n V. They call, you know,
be four and You're like, all I see you know
they get the eat then you they go to Jay,
You're like, hey, I know he coming for Jay, but
there so you know, um, when I got the call
(03:01):
from Dave, I knew the significance of the opportunity. Chappelle
opens the special by giving respect to the veteran comedian.
He talked about how he always admired Earthquake. It was
an example of the comedic connection that exists among a
group of black comics that seem to have formed a brotherhood.
(03:22):
Talk to me about those early days and how you
would help young comics yourself. Well, you know, you just
you can only you can only help or supply your
partners with the platform you have, you know what I mean. So,
because we have gate keepers, because you're dealing with something
(03:44):
that's that is subjective. What's funny to one person not
be funny to another, you know, especially when you have
gate keepers that aren't black on us, they don't get us.
So they rather it's a human nature. They rather give
opportunity for some person they recognized with in some person
they hear about. So, you know, to have someone like
(04:08):
Dave and the rest of them get to that point
that they respect their opinion and able they will allow
you get on their level and tell the people, yeah,
you love me, but just who you should see? Now?
What's the comedians? The true ones understands what I'm saying
that I always tell comedians there's nothing different than me
(04:32):
or you made in that quote quote made. It's an
opportunity that they cashed in on. Mm hmm. It's just it,
and you just gotta keep striving until you get that opportunity.
That's why we have a brotherhood, because we know I
might not be better to you, or I might you
might be better than me. I got an opportunity, cash
(04:54):
in on it, and that's why you're there. Only the
comedians that get upset or hate on the other one
that make it. It's the ones that really to me
is scoring and and um with the word I'm looking
for to the point that they over here just upset
with another comic. But most of us together understand you
(05:15):
finally got a chance at the back. You hit it
out and regret. We're happy for you because all of
us want that shot. When you talk about the kind
of comedian you are, and maybe you don't like labels,
people love to put labels on you know. They're political comics,
they're observational comics, their comics that comes solely. I think
about Cosby in his early days played off of the
(05:37):
personal and the family and the like. What would you
consider yourself? I do it all. If you watch my special,
I I'm able, I am bounded me back in the day,
I'm able to give you some medicine with some candy
in front of it. Now, your mother used to put
candy in front of the medicine and on the takes
(05:59):
boon to give it to something good. So it takes
that first. That's more what I am. I'm quicker. I
don't it don't take me a long time to get
to the point. I don't elaborate on the point long
I move on. Um, I am the comedians to media
because I do it totally different than any of my fields. Yeah,
(06:19):
I know that that in the special, you know you
you talk about what I sometimes consider traditional comedy too
to us, Right, you've got those last, but then you
shifted over to Trump. There are a lot of people
that either would have stayed in that lane with the
traditional quote unquote black comedy, but wouldn't have touched political
stuff or vice versa. Right, So you've been able to
(06:41):
you know be that cat. What I loved is you
went back home to d C um and it was
very clear at the end which side of d C
you from. And those of us who lived at d
C understand that. Man, But give me a sense of
what d C meant to you. You know, I'm always
interested in where people come from and how it shapes you. Right,
(07:02):
So I'm I'm from Detroit, so that is a big
part of who I am talking to me about what
d C was and is to you. The forgotten ry,
you know what I mean. We have our own music
that hasn't has not the plateau go go outside of DC,
nobody listened to it. Were in our own world. Some
(07:25):
of the great people in the world. Man, black people,
our people, Uh, we love we have our little niche.
We love wings with bumbo saws, carry out crabs. You
know what I'm saying. I'll go go music. We was
the first one to fall in love with the Clyde
(07:46):
Stone because we came and came from lives love, our women,
loving because just everything that goes symbolic with being black,
you find it in d C. And it's it's a
beautiful thing. And the reason I did Southeast because I
wanted to let them know. It's just this is where
I'm from. We have some of the most if not
(08:08):
talented people coming from that area, and they need to
be recognized, especially for our youth. That is other things
you can do. You can be where you come from,
don't determine where you're going, and that's more than anything.
Let me ask you this, man, Were you always funny?
So people don't believe this because they have a certain
impression of who I am. I was two votes away
(08:29):
from class clown in high school. I still hate that
I did not get that title two votes. I lost
the damn title in high school. But nobody thinks I
would ever be that way because of the persona I
have on the air. Were you always funny? No, My
funniest person in my family is uh my brothers, and
(08:49):
we all are funny. I have a funny family, but
the funniest one to start onn but he don't know
how to put it together and make a set out
of it. I won't teach them. But no, I mean yeah,
I was the do I was observationist. I was more
like you. I was a smart kid. I was in
the upper bound program in the ninth grade, and it
was gonna send me to Georgetown to go to college.
(09:10):
Early I was that new. I was into computers in
the whole not comedy came for me. Was this the
best decision that day? And nothing else came. I never
knew it was gonna be my destiny. I never knew
it was my purpose. That's the reason my name is earthquake,
because I said, if this don't work, I don't want
(09:32):
to mess up my good name. If I didn't come
to Fruition and didn't make up something, I didn't go
back being Nathaniel Strongman. That that's that's funny because I
didn't know until recently that you were in the military,
your Air Force. Well, I'm very practical and calculated. I mean,
(09:57):
I said, you know, with a mother that fuss all
the time, I get very strict, and I said, well,
might as well join the military. They strict, and they
as you, but at least they need your check. So
she adn't given no money. And it was a great
place to see the world. And I tell people all
the time, get you any job that you you presrived
(10:20):
or you want to do, they have it in the military,
and they give you a chance to see the world,
get educated and tell us as the time that you
decide what you really want to do. The commercial is
a is a great, great commercial. That is a great
place to start to start. And I started there. I
did nine years and it was the best experience because
(10:43):
coming from DC and it's so segregated of our own
I actually got to see the world consists of a
lot of people and not that only is a lot
of people. We all do the same thing, we just
do it a different way, so we have more in common.
So it changed my whole perspective on people's self and
(11:04):
preferably and mostly Caucasian people, because I got to interact
with from and say, Okay, they're just people. When we
get back, Earthquake talks about the growth of quote black
comedy and what does he really think about the explosion
of social media comedians. A recent documentary Fat Tuesday tells
(11:43):
the story of how comedian Guide Tory broke through to
give black comedians a space at an iconic comedy club
in Los Angeles back in the nineteen nineties. Some of
those comedians saw their visibility and opportunities in the comedy
field grow. However, most continued to play to majority black audiences,
(12:04):
and larger fame and bigger paydays eluded them. For years.
Hollywood seemed to allow only a couple of black comedians
at a time to climb to the highest runs of
the comedy ladder. Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, will Be Goldberg,
Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle. I wondered
(12:25):
if Earthquake sees today's environment allowing for greater room at
the top for more than just one funny black person. Well,
it does because you have more platforms. But you gotta
understand those comments that you read. They went through white clubs.
It's a different thing. We the Bruce Bruce, the Honest
(12:47):
Jay's uh um My Man, Don d C. Currt. We
we imitate our people. So it's the high end shitness circus.
You know what I'm saying. You know what I mean.
Though we're in white establishment. Clientele is black. But those
comments you said before, they did white rooms and bring
(13:11):
them to them. So of course, if you participate in
the system, within the system, it's quicker for you to
elevate in the system instead of them to come out
from or come out and scout and say they're going
down to where he say fat Tuesday and come see
us in our own form. A lot of us black
(13:31):
comics feel uncomfortable telling their jokes in front of predominant
white audience. They're more accustomed to, you know, their own,
which they should. Me and myself, I take on the
take on that challenge because I don't let them know
that collectually funny was they can't mess with us, me
(13:55):
on the on us on it, and I can write
a joke just as intelligent as you can and you'll
see it. What do you think about the new form
of comedy that has has changed with social media? Right,
You've got a lot of comics that have found their way,
didn't have to go the old school way of the
club circuit and the like. Have become very very popular,
(14:15):
and you know again, a number of them have catapulted
to two million dollar careers. Now do you do you
see that as just a new way or do you
see it as maybe the foundation isn't what it should be. Well,
I don't knock them, I tell them, but they're gonna
have that eventually. Whichever way you do it, you've got
(14:37):
to come back to the foundation of standing on that stage.
Holding that night and capturing the audience attention for whatever
contract with your time you use, contracted the uh assigned
to thirty minutes or forty five minutes or our attendments.
I tell social media comics this, it's not how many
(14:59):
followers you have. There's how many comedians you can follow.
If you can't get on that stage and go behind
fold comedians that just made it on fire, then you
were not in this league. You gotta be able to
follow other comedians and not just be able to put
a sketch up and get a lot of people to
(15:20):
say they love you on it, because that's not a
true test, because you're not dealing with the consequence of
the joke not working. They can't boo you on you
over the phone on your Instagram. You know what I'm saying.
You know what I mean. You you You don't get
to edit it and cut a joke when you're doing stand.
(15:41):
It has to come out ready, ready, exactly when you
start saying it on stage. Let me ask you what
may be an unfair question. I'm gonna acknowledge that upfront,
But for you, over the years, who's been the hardest
person to follow? You know? I think of singers who
say you don't you don't want this fool open then
because it's hard on you, you know, they shut it down.
(16:03):
Who who for you has been that? I mean, I
mean it's a I mean, it's all opinions. You know,
you have to be mentally prepared for hone j Lavelle, Crawford,
Don DC, Carried, Bruce, Bruce, these brothers bringing fire Man.
You better be ready for any of them. So if
you if you're mentally prepared and I know what it is,
(16:27):
it's not hard for any of them on it. But
if you don't be ready and understand that they are phoneable,
you can get boomed. You're gonna have a long night
and the ain't nothing like that. Be up there about
yourself and don't nobody find you funny man. That's the
worst feeling in the world. J. Yeah, he's a wild boy.
(16:50):
He's a wild boy. Can you tell a crowd from
the minute you walk out there if they're gonna be
hard to win over, if they're ready? Can you feel that? Yeah,
you can feel it from the first person. You can
see what the other comedians is. You tell her they're
laughing at that. I'm gonna kill and you seem they're
struggling and you're like, oh that's good stuff. See that.
(17:13):
That's when you ship into another another mode for me anyway,
another gear because they're fan only blows when you're hot,
So you gotta understand. You know, they fickle, so you
have to, you know, go right at them like I
know what you're here to see me, So don't act
like you're not. You might as well laugh to get
(17:36):
your money back. Ain't lucky you got anything else to do,
you know, those are the things you saying. You know,
ain't enough people here to ruin my career. You don't
have to laugh and not tell everybody I had a
great show you mentioned. I saw something that you talked
about Steve Harvey helping you in the beginning learn how
(17:56):
to kind of set an act up for stand up?
Who else help help your long the way? Well, what
he told me was the degree of what jokes you
need to do before you do something, such as the
special idea and what's the appointance of how thick the jokers.
I really don't watch a lot of comedians because I
(18:17):
don't write physically. I right mentally. So when you right mentally,
you have to protect your thought pattern and make sure
you don't get contaminated by somebody else's thought. And you
think you came it up with yourself. So the best
way for me that keeps to stay sanitized is I
don't watch other comics. But again, I never getting into this.
(18:41):
It was just, you know, the best decision that day.
So I really like I'm playing with house money until
my real purpose came, and it never came. Never better
job ever came. Quick. Let me ask you this. I
remember asking Um said and d L this anything you
won't touch No, because I know it's not coming mean spirit.
(19:05):
If it coming a joke, phone is to be told,
it's how it's toned. And is there a time like
I remember, I remember after nine eleven a lot of
people didn't want to joke at all about that, and
I I have Paul money and you know Paul didn't
(19:29):
give it. Damn he went right to it. Right. Is
do you believe that there can be a time frame
you know when something tragic happens that you gotta let
some of it blow over. It all depends on the
type of the joke. The reason why will be Brobert
is a big fan of mine because I was the
only one that went to Aspen and touched on nine eleven.
(19:52):
Didn't nobody talked to it. And mine's the one. I
went into it. They said, UM, saw them to and
there's a coward and the terrorists. And when I said it, um,
he's also he's a hell of a motivated speaker. Because
you're a bad person. You can get your fathers to
kill the eself and you stay in the cave. And
(20:13):
that's how you hit it from that point on, and
you just continue. It's how you said when it is Um,
it is comedian that we say too soon, too so,
But I haven't. I haven't crossed that bridge. Right. Let
me take you back to the special Man when you
when you knew it was coming and all things were
signed and you were ready. Um, any butterflies, any nerves?
(20:38):
I mean you you had to know if I hit
this right, this is going to take me to a
different level. But you can't say no. You can't tell
a Trump support or nothing about Trump. Oh yeah, not
my Trump. Hey love my Trump. People ask me all
the time, Quait, what kind of woman are you looking
for in your life? I said, nig I'm looking for
a woman like a Trump support him. Don't matter. What's
(21:00):
she here about me? That bitch. I don't believe I
heard he got another woman. That's fake news. Maybe that's
fake now, don't listen to them wholes here the enemy
of the snakes. These ain't Joe. I was determined and
what I did. I made one promise to myself. I
(21:20):
was gonna beat me at the end of the day.
I was gonna show what it is comedian earthquake is
because if you look at all my peers, they all
were just making it off of being who they are.
And it's Camin, Chris Rockets, Chris rock Day, Chappelle, d Chappelle,
the yell is, the Steve. Obviously they made who they are.
(21:43):
So I was like, I'm gonna show them who earthquake is.
And that's what that's And it was the mission accomplished,
and I was gonna I was willing to deal with
with the results as long as I showed who I was.
Was it what you wanted? I know often when I
have a high profile interview, you know there's always the
(22:05):
the after, right, you'll get your reviews, you get, but
then you review it yourself, right and you look at
oh I wish I had done this, I've done that.
How you feel about it? I feel great about it,
of course, you know, I'm of My hardest criticis other
things left out at it, stuff on it. But it
achieved the goal. It's the first one. I'm gonna do
it another one and it's gonna be better than next one.
(22:28):
But what it did do it just introduced me to
the world, you know, and that's what I want. My
friends always knew this, such as about's to yourself, and
now everybody else knows. So now you know. Now I
can do it on bigger scales and even better. What
do you want to do? Man um down the line?
(22:50):
You want movies, you want TV? What is it that
that your roadmap uh says for you? Well, I'm gonna
do a national tour, I'm um, I'm gonna do an
overseas tour. I'm gonna do a TV show, and I'm
gonna do more movies. I just did my first lead
in the movie called Bad, written with Danielle Rollins, and
(23:13):
I'm gonna do more movies. And now I'm in a
position to do these things. It's about choice. Down I
just want to make sure I'm in a vehicle that
highlights who I am, because you know they'll put you
in something. Man. You know I'm getting some offers right here.
I like him on Man, you noticed jury sun tell
(23:34):
this is awful and this is a person who care. Hey,
hold all that. So look, man, I am happy to
say that. You know when I called you after you
could say, well that Negro been calling me before. And
you know that I've always thought that you was up
front and funny as anybody, man. And I'm just happy
(23:56):
to spotlight has found this way and stopped on you. Man. Well,
thank you for all your prayers and your for everybody
was hoping for it to happen. It probably happening like always,
It's God's time. I wouldn't have preferred in any other
way because I'm prepared for it now. Quite good to
see you, brother, Always good to see you. My life's
(24:17):
give brother you. Earthquake Special Legendary is on Netflix now.
One hundred is produced by Ed Gordon Media and distributed
by I Heart Media. Carol Johnson Green and Sharie Weldon
(24:39):
are our bookers. Our editor is Lance Patton. Gerald Albright
composed and performed our theme. Please join me on Twitter
and Instagram at ed l Gordon and on Facebook at
ed Gordon Media
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.