September 13, 2021 • 52 mins
Carlos talks to actor and comedian Cedric The Entertainer about how he first got into comedy, what his big breaking moment was and growing up in St. Louis.
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 (00:03):
Cedric the Entertainer grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and
began his professional career as a state farm insurance agent.
He cleared a state firm desk out and hasn't looked
back since. Cedric has been a part of the entertainment
industry for decades, from the Steve Harvey Show appearances to
the Kings of Comedy Tour and his CBS comedy series
with the Neighborhood. On this episode of The Carlos Watson
(00:25):
Show podcast, Cedric the Entertainer reflects on how he first
got into comedy, what his big breaking moment was, and
growing up in St. Louis. Hey, Cedric, what's up my brother?
Hey man, you're looking young. Yeah, man, you know I'm
(00:46):
saying I've got a few low initations. Okay, alright, you're
not afraid Hollywood is treating you? Right? I love it
and you know, and you know what, don't laugh because
a couple of us are starting to get him. Hey man,
it's really you know, you recognize it, like you know,
age is real, but you know you're normally black, no crack.
But you know, it's been it's been showing us some
(01:08):
fault lines lately. That is a good way to say it.
There are fault light or two with people these days. Yeah. Yeah,
hopefully nobody goes Burt Reynolds you and may he rest
in peace. But but but that didn't end up, right,
You remember how that ended up? Yeah, that's too much
for the situation. Man. I was like, man, it's like
(01:29):
frozen food saction. Oh man, oh man. Yeah that was
that was not as strongest look. That was not as
strongest look. So yeah, yeah, how good did you get
some summertime or did you get any break or what
did you do for the summer? Not really, man, I
was able to uh, you know, we took a little
(01:50):
break after see the Neighborhood when we stopped in March
and I went to a wife for about fourteen days.
That was it. I've been and I've been, you know,
staying busy, you know, every since then for the most part,
Like man, he's trying to create and produce those shows
we had, you know, the success of the show coming
(02:12):
out on Bounce and then uh, then I produce a
little summertime show myself of co CBS the Greatest at
Home Videos, and so we did we did some more
of those this summer. We kind of started that independemic
last year. So I've just been shaking it up. Man.
And then now my wife and family all day, were
(02:33):
you seriously they just came back from Paris. Oh nice, Okay,
you did get to go on any of that? Oh no,
no no, I went to um Connecticut to pay for it.
But now something tells me that you like working? And
am I? Am I projecting? Or are you someone who
likes to stay busy like I feel like Steve Harvey
(02:55):
loves to stay busy. Yeah, you know, I would say,
you know, that's kind of uh, you know what one
always say. It's a little bit of the Midwest upbringing. Uh,
And I lived in a single parent household. My mom
was a school teacher, and it was and it was
my younger sister and always the male. You know. I
felt like it was kind of like it's stilled to
be active, to be able to be a participant. So
(03:18):
I don't even look at my job like that to
this day. You know, even though it comes with celebrity
and recognition, I really look at like a guy who's
getting up to go to work. I don't really like,
oh I'm famous, you know, so people like, yeo, man,
how are you so humble all the time? So chill.
I'm like, dude, I've just got a job. That's where
I looked at it. When when was the first time
(03:39):
people really recognize you? Like when did you cross over?
We're like, you realize all of a sudden you were famous?
Probably you know the greatest time it was a It
was a couple of times. One what I call is
look fake was like one a a comedy competition in
Chicago called the Mill Mill Ginuine Draft, and they put
me in jail magazine. Brother, Okay, I remember that. You
(04:04):
don't even I don't know what people need as far
as faith, but could be in jet in the hood
with like a whole situation. So I was. That was
the one where I felt like, you know, locally people
would see the magazine. I would walk to wear and
people like, oh you dealt graduation? So that was that St.
(04:24):
Louis Love. And then the next time that I really
felt like really famous was after the butt like commercials
uh I did in the Super Bowl And you know,
you you know, I've been on television, I've done movies,
but you don't realize how much impact the commercial is
basically on ten times twelve times in the day, so
(04:45):
your opportunity for exposure is crazy. So it was like
people seeing me in the airport and stopping me and
it was like, yo, I'm out here now, that's crazy
and what what's what's the best thing that's ever happened
as a results of being famou us that would not
have happened, Like if you were to go back and
whisper like, here's what you get when you're faces at
(05:05):
the rest of you not getting what's that? I got
a couple of couple of things I think I really
loved one. Michael Jackson called me at my house one day.
I don't know how he had my number or nothing,
but I was sitting at home. I just had my
son who's about to be twenty one now, so I
was holding him like a baby and I get a
(05:28):
call and it was like, uh said to being a
chaining and I was like yes, and he was like
you have a call from Michael Jackson and I was
like what, I don't think it's a joke. And then
he was like, hey man, how are you doing. I
was like yeo crazy. So that was just one of
the moment and he was He had liked the movie
Johnson Family Vacation and wanted to tell me to keep,
(05:50):
you know, keep that kind of comedy up. He was,
you know, being from Indiana, that all made sense, that
traveling with your family to go visit family. So he
loved that that movie. Now, that was one of those
moments I say come with being famous. He literally just
called you out of the blue, dude, like Michael Jackson,
can get your phone number. Just know that. Don't worry
(06:15):
about the federal government, Michael Jackson, don't, don't, don't don't
talk about your number, Pride and this is new number.
Don't worry about He got it. He got it. He
got the club somehow. I guess if you got the
Beatles catalog, you can figure it out right right right,
give me, give me another one. What else? What else
came with being famous? Well, you know, you know, I've
(06:38):
got to meet several presidents, which was unique, and I think,
you know, being it would take my mom to some
of these things. Well, one of my other favorite ones
I love is being famous. As we were shooting uh
to Steve Harvey Show, and Halle Berry's dressing room was
across the half mine, so you know as she was
(06:59):
preparing to go she was gonna to go do something
some other show and undress room, having me right across
off but and and she come. She was coming out
the door to go to the set, and I stopped it,
and I said, how are you doing? And I said,
look at me just for a second, do you feel anything?
(07:20):
I mean cars I'm talking about, dude, I remind you
of a cuse. I don't care whatever it is. I'm
using that to get in. I don't need it to
be nothing special. But do you feel anything? As you
look at me? You know I have not been that creative.
(07:41):
I need to be more creative. You just expanded my catalog.
I appreciate that she died. That was funny, man, that
was one of the great moments that get right right. Actually,
I need to ask her that because that would I mean,
so many good lines people must have used on her
over the years. You know, I would love to hear
what her top three are. Everybody going for the roadmance.
(08:04):
I'm dealing with what every most of the coach out first.
I'm willing to take the long road whatever. Oh man,
oh I love that waiting up? How did you get
in the comedy in the first place, because uh, that
wasn't your first job, wasn't you know? I was actually
(08:24):
a clans adjuster for State Farm. Um. And you know
I had many jobs. You know, I went to college,
graduated Southeast Missouri State and in Cape Toronto, and you
know I worked in radio for a minute. Uh, I
sold facts machines. Who are the Rico Corporation for a minute?
You know when they renewed that was a new technology
(08:44):
I was. I was considered seller spaceships at the time.
People like what are you? What are you talking about?
And then um, And then it was working at State Farm,
and you know, basically transitioned in the comedy at night
like most people trying to just find you find your
way in life, young man. But the first time I
ever did comedy, you know, another comedian basically worked me
(09:06):
through my set, told me how to do it, basically
taught me how to be a professional. And then I
want five hundred dollars the first time I ever did it.
So I was, well, now, now were you funny growing up?
Like if we had been in high school together, were
you funny? Oh? Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. You know what
we used to call and say, as long as we
called it the Jones Jones and right like Jones and so.
(09:29):
And you know, in the lunch room, we had three
lunch ships. You had first lunch, second uns, third lunch.
I was on third lunch, but the kids were first lunch.
Would be like yo, like come trying to get me
out of class. They'd be like, yo, man, you gotta
come down. You get avoided today. Man, you've been killing us.
So I ended up being a secret weapon. Everybody should
(09:49):
threaten people. You're talking all this stuff to say, we're
saying show up, but you ain't gonna be that that
they call you the entertainer back then or no Hollywood. Interesting, okay,
Hollywood and Hollywood came from. Uh. It was a you know,
I had relatives out here as a kid, so we
would come and visit, and I had a shirt and
(10:11):
T shirt and said Hollywood on it. That obviously now
in in rech foods retrospect, I must award quite a
bit because it became my nickname all even to the
point that my kids and peers would call my mom
miss Wood. They didn't even know my name. I was
really like Hollywood. People were like, come on, be like
(10:33):
how you doing miss Wood, Like, are they talking about
talking about me? Now? How did this switch to eccentric
the entertainer, Well, that name kind of came about as
I started to really, you know, do comedy more professionally. Um,
I didn't have a lot of jokes. I was new,
but I was popular, you know, to to the point
(10:54):
that I had you know, I had friends, I could
call it be on the radio. I had a you know,
a certain degree of popularity. But I didn't have a
lot of jokes. So I would sing, I would write poems,
I would do all these things. So, uh, I was
doing the show one night and the guy was introducing
everybody as the mixed comedian, and I was like, I
just wasn't comfortable with being considered a comedian. I told
him to call me an entertainer. He introduced me and
(11:16):
said to the entertainer. I went, ever, I had a
great show, and then when I when I came off,
he called me, said to be entertainer again. So I
just kept you know what, I think it is great packaging.
Years ago, Joe Montana, the quarterback, told me he thought
part of the reason he was so successful was that
sportscasters liked his name, and that they thought that that
was the name of a hero, and so they liked
(11:39):
telling the story with him at the center of it.
And center the entertainer feels like good packaging. It feels
like something people can root for a little bit. Yeah,
you know, it was. I've been asked throughout my career,
you know, especially earlier on them to change it. You know,
everybody thought like it was too big of a name
to take on. Uh you know, you know, definitely had agents,
you know, that would be like, you know, you know,
(12:01):
maybe you should just you know, nobody's doing like the
you know, like the big names anymore, where everybody's going
by the the real family curtain names. But um, you know,
for me, it was, you know, it was it wasn't
even a name I gave myself, so I kind of,
you know, I didn't braced it for that reason, like
now I'm I'm I'm this guy when I'm doing those jokes.
So what would have happened, e Cedrica if you hadn't
(12:23):
made it? Do you think? Well, I mean, you know,
I was definitely I was working at State for him,
But I always even then, I had an entrepreneurial kind
of spirit, like I always found little hustles and you know,
kind of business ideas, So I think I would have,
you know, maybe found my way into some kind of business, uh,
you know, some sort you know, I believe being from
(12:45):
the Midwest, it would have been a very conservative idea.
Like I don't know if I would have ever dreamed
you know, big like, but you know, maybe maybe owning
or running my own you know, kind of insurance company
by now or some thing in that nature. Are But
I did want to do broadcasting, so I probably maybe
(13:05):
would have found my way back into the you know,
the news area or something like that, or sports amouncing.
I don't know, but you know, I studied that kind
of stuff in college and had had an opportunity to
work for CBS affiliate when I first graduated, doing like
fun news. This was like so this is uh mid eighties,
(13:27):
later eighties, and you know, inside editions and uh, those
kind of shows were starting to become a thing, and
so guys who kind of do that fun reporting that
was gonna be a lane that I was going in.
So maybe maybe, you know, maybe already had Kevin Fraite's job. Okay,
all right, let's take his job at E T he's
pretty good. I still remember him at at Sports Center.
(13:49):
I don't know if you remember him doing the sports
remember him at sports and and you know he was
great there, and so uh, you know, you know, I'd
like to see guys make these kind of trends in
these leagues. And there, you know, Kevin is great and
you know we do a lot of stuff together because
of our you know, CBS affiliation. He looked back for me.
(14:26):
Because it's interesting as I think about your rise, I
feel like I have known you for a long time,
and for whatever reason, I don't feel like um and
this is just me not knowing enough. I don't know
if I fully know how you broke through and how
you think about why you broke through? How do you
(14:47):
think about like if you were going back telling your
younger self, for telling a classroom full of kids, why
did I make it? Why did I not end up
as one of the many comics who were or entertainers
who were talented but didn't make it? Like why did you?
Why do you think you ultimately broke through? I think
a couple of things, you know, Like for me, Um,
(15:07):
I would say it was it was a degree of
wall roundedness that kind of happened from uh, you know
the way my mom raised us. You know this kind
of again, this this positive, you know, forward thinking kind
of personality as a as a as a male. Uh
you know, I was college educated, but I lived, you know,
in the in an inner city for a while. So
(15:30):
I had like an edgy hoodness that I that I knew.
But then you know, I can go and you know,
and and operate and you know, in the corporate environment,
I changed my whole energy. And so I gotta felt
like when I hit the stage, I had something for everybody.
Um and then and then my style was very um relation,
(15:53):
not like I felt like, you know, like you like
talking to a cousin or looking at an uncle or
you know, if I performed like that where it doesn't
feel like, oh, somebody's walking up kind of just telling
you these jokes. And so I think at that time
and I really emulated my stop from the late Robin Harris.
I love oh Man, I loved the baby kids, and
(16:17):
he just worked. He was the kind of comedian that
when I first saw him and I identify with him,
I was like, oh, if you could do it that way,
then yes. And so that's when I really became, you know,
starting to really work at it and care about it.
And you know, I think that television came the right
Television came at the right time for me, Like you know,
(16:37):
and so many of my peers, I would say, we
landed in that space where all the guys from my
class of comedy, Uh, most of us are still around
and still doing well. D L. C. Jamie, Uh, you know,
I can name a few other ones. You know, Chris
Rock was a little bit ahead of us, but but
all of us that kind of came in that that
(17:00):
era with death jam was high. Uh. Comic View for
me was the one on BT because I think when
I and there was a choice, I made the you know,
the choice to go to Comic View, and it made
me a household name because I was the host. And
when I became the host, you know, like an African
American household, I was known and that made me a start.
(17:23):
So that that was one of those things that really
kind of solidified me leasting my own culture. And then
I had to keep transitioning, so the commercials and then
the Steve Harvey Show and then the movies, but all
of it really really kind of seems from the idea
that I think that people feel like they know me already,
and I used that as a school And you know,
(17:45):
I'm not even asking you the question quite right, because
what I really mean to say is that so often
when you hear these stories of people succeeded, there's kind
of a sharp edge to it. And I've always seen you,
as you said, as a very relatable person. Yeah, as
a good person, and so maybe I'm surprised at one
of the good guys is winning. And maybe that's what
I'm trying to say, is how did a good guy
(18:07):
end up winning and winning so consistently. That's really what
I'm trying to ask. You know, that is a that's
a very validquate. I asked that question because I I
recognize that as well. In this business, I kind of feel,
but I do believe that, you know, I kind of
leave with that spirit in life. I try to leave
with that spirit of good will, kindness. You know, I'll
(18:30):
handle my business over here, you do yours over there.
If we can merge together and do something great, if
we see eye eye great. If we don't, then you
do your thing, and I do mind. And so I've
just never been one to be in a lot of
you know, riffs with people. I don't spend a lot
of time with gossip. I don't really have uh what
(18:51):
I've called, you know, new friends. My same core group
of people have been around me for but basically my
whole career. So you know, it's a very very kind
of tight knit group of people. Love everybody, but again,
my my core is pretty pretty tight. You know, everybody
has been with me, been with me a long time, man,
(19:12):
So you know, I trust that space. I operate from
that space, and then you know, I go do my thing. Man,
I don't I don't need to be a part of
the hoop lit. It ain't even necessary. Who's in your
Mount Rushmore? You said, Robin Harris? Who else is in
your comedy Mount Rushmore? Oh? Man, it's that's how many
people in my Rushmore? Was that four or five? Four? Four?
(19:34):
But go ahead and make it your own so you
get as many as you want. Yeah, all right, Well,
definitely Robin Harris, Eddie Murphy, Richard pryor, George Carlin. Uh
I love Robin Williams as well. And and then uh,
and then there is this it's a comedian that's one
(19:57):
of been one of my favorite named Richard Chenney. He
was a favorite comedian of mine growing up, so I
would throw him up there somewhere. He was a funny
little tell you dude that he made me laugh, That's
all I remember. The study was really clever. Now have
you ever melted down on stage? Here? You ever totally
bombed on stage a couple of times? Man? And I
(20:19):
always tell comedians if that he never really happened to you,
I don't know how you could be, you know, a
real comedian, because it is it is a sub zero game.
I mean a lot of times you walk on this stage,
you got to get that audience over to your side,
and it's for whatever reason, it ain't your night. I've
seen it go terribly wrong for you know, some several comedians,
(20:41):
and it's just a part of the business. But ye,
definitely I've had I've had nights, you know. I remember
having a night in St. Louis where when I you know,
I was popping, man, everybody was coming to see me.
I was going, I was getting it in And I
had a night at a show where it was so
bad awful. People ain't money back, you know, and you
(21:02):
know what I was like I was just feeling bad
for myself, not expecting people to really want their money back,
but they wanted the bunny back. I love that. I
love that they were like, you were right, we do
want our bunny back. I was like, oh, I said that.
I just kind of like weird, little you know, self
(21:25):
loathing need man? Do you when you were bombing? Do
you know, like, um, do you know Susie Esmond? You
know Susie who's on us? So I remember her telling
me once that she said, sometimes you know, as a comedian,
even when you're walking up that it's not gonna work.
She said. Larry David used to say to her when
(21:46):
she was um hosting some of those things that when
he when she would hand him the mic, he would say,
stay close, like this is one of these nights you
might have to come get me quickly, Like like, do
you know when you're going out that you're gonna bomb?
You know it's it's it's certain things that you can
read about certain rooms where you definitely know this could
(22:08):
go either way and very quickly. That is a that
is a common statement that comedians say, you know when
they feel it is stay close, like you know, and
I definitely. You know, you've definitely been in environments and
I've been in environments where you realize like and you
can pretty tell tell pretty much early on those at
those first few jokes, even get a get a rumble,
(22:31):
or you're just like all right, and then there is
you know, like you know, I learned from my my
my brother. I saw you had a boy, Steve Harvey,
Steve you know, taught me one time just totally be yourself, man,
don't don't ever just just switch gears and just turn
it to yourself. And you know, as much as you
(22:52):
want to make them laugh, if they're not laughing at
you having a good time, then just rock it that
way and don't even worry about And I was like,
you know, so I've learned to do those kind of
you know, those kind of things on stage to help
me like whenever, you know, whenever you feel like it's
going down the horrible rabbit holes to nowhere. But you
(23:13):
know it is, uh, it is such an opportunity in
this life to take the stage, and to get to
take the stage as many times as someone like you
or Steve does, and to have people paying attention to
you and join you, paying their money, looking forward to it.
And in a way, when I think about you guys up,
there's also such a responsibility too, because you know, we're
(23:36):
showing up hoping that you're gonna make us feel better. Yeah,
I mean, you know, And that's the thing that I
think that I always tell young comedian. It's just that
you gotta remember that people are come in, they paid,
they paid their money, they had all times experiences. Today.
You know, your job was to go up there and entertainment,
you know, going there and try to embrace that, be
your greatest self, the creativity that you have, and and
(23:59):
see if you can train for that to them, to
just get people to transform from from where they really
aren't like to this space that's about laughter and joy
and a good time. And uh, that's what I believe,
you know what the comedian is supposed to do. What
about neighborhood? How's that been? Because this is the third
season now going into the fourth season, man, real blessing. Uh,
(24:22):
it's great. We've been really, you know, really great to
have this show. Man. You know, it started out as
a you know, I had a deal with TV yes
to to produce other shows. They had bought the show
already and so I had to kind of work with
the creator and the writer creator of this show to
bring it into my voice, and you know, it took
(24:44):
some stretching and pulling, and but then uh, I was
really happy that, you know, because one, the whole gentrification
thing is very real in our communities and so we
wanted to be able to tell the story from you
know what that feels like that the world is coming
this melting body that people are uh, you know more
and more, you know, living next to each other and
(25:06):
side by side, and you know that's what you know,
a close east of the world should operate as you
know that we should be able to learn from and
grow with and recognize the differences in each other and
still be able to live side by side. So you know, Um,
we were really happy with the way the shows. But
Journey Out is a great success for CBS, and so
(25:29):
we hope just running for as many as they want
to do. Now. As much as you enjoyed as a comedy,
you guys tackle some very as you said, like serious
cutting edge issues and in a way, you guys were
even ahead of some of the conversation that we've had
the last year and a half has as Has working
on the show changed your mind about anything? Where has
it reinforced or did it offer you new perspectives on anything?
(25:52):
You know? You know, I mean, you know, being being
a guy over fifty, I've seen so many things in
this world. On the course, you know, like you know,
we we attacked the social injustice, you know in our
first episode last season. That got us a lot of
acclaim and it was a very you know, it was
the perspective in which we did the episode was really great.
(26:14):
You know. The main thing is is for me, like
like the show is set up, is to learn from
the white my white counterparts kind of perspective and then
be able to educate. And I think in these close
quarters like this, you're able to give a far more education,
you know. You know, like even to the point that
you know they wanted to you know, I remember that
(26:36):
there was a whole thing that that episode about using
the term allies and they wanted to lock the US,
and look, we're not doing that. We're not doing these
lock on terms that kind of justifies our whites over
you know, all these years of social injustice by saying
just because I stand here now, I'm considered an ally
(26:57):
and that gives me this past. And I was like,
those are the kind of terms that I believe, you know,
how we let people off the hook. We need to
really deal with this, We need to really know, like
how you how that makes you feel that I I
had the power to tell you know, Did that make
you feel something? You're like yo? I was like, yeah,
(27:17):
that's what we're talking about, Like, not the fact that
you wanted me to agree with you. I had the
power to tell you know, and it change, It changed
everything about your day. That's what That's what y'all get
to do to us most of the time. What happens
when you are in front of all white audiences is
that a different comedy set and a different relationship for you.
(27:40):
And when you're in front of mixed audiences, you know,
that's That's one of the great things Steve taught me
that one of the first times that I bombed that
I really recalled was me trying to change my set
for an all white audience. And uh, I bombed because
I went up there and I you know, I basically
got outside my offer itself and was trying to do
(28:02):
what I thought they would like or would relate to
and so uh, I remember that I bombed and Steve
walked to Beck and cuss them out, and I mean
they laughed so on Carlos, they were laughing at him
going off for them. It was like, wow, that's when
(28:23):
you see like he he didn't change his his his language,
he didn't change you know, his countryness. He was Steve
Harvey up there and then and and he let them
have it. And and it was like, Yo, from that
moment on, I recognized, like, yo, this this is all
you gotta do with like, just don't even worry about it.
(28:43):
Was right right and train you came. You know, it's
all good. They don't like that one, then they just
don't like it, but don't don't try to make them
like you. But you know, it is such a uh
that is such a hard place for most of us
to get to in life period. And and figuring that
out and seeing that and being comfortable with yourself. Uh
(29:05):
good that or otherwise? What what a challenge. I'm just
thinking about all the people who struggle with it in
all the various different ways, and and all the benefits
for those who are able to be comfortable with themselves
and that they can compete in a very different way
when you're comfortable with yourself. Well, you know, you know,
we always talk about this, like when it comes kind
(29:26):
of to our grandparents, are you know, elders in our neighborhood.
And I do think that most people kind of really
learn and wait to get to that space to where,
you know, in their life where it's basically they don't
they don't give a damn no more. Right. But it's
so it's your grandparents, that's funny, right, they're just too
(29:49):
old to care, and you know, and I think, you know,
it's you know, that's what That's what I identified with
my character and Barbershop and a lot of people, you know,
I gotta add some contralt virtual about it. But but
what I was tapping into, as you know, as an actor,
was that this guy was old enough not to really
(30:09):
worry about your opinion about his opinion, Like he didn't
care about what you thought about his opinion, and so
therefore he could say what he wanted like and and
I love that, you know, and you know, we always
that we can get there, you know, in in in
ways it's still what I would say, still respectful to others,
and still not hurtful and not this idea like I'm
(30:33):
so crashed and and wrong that I'm in teaching only
being a you know, a jerk. But you want to
be able to say your truth and living that and
be honest about it and those kind of things. I think.
You know, you have to you have to learn the
trust to get there. And they do come, you know,
with scraping your knees up a few times. Uh, you know,
(30:54):
because that was a very embarrassing moment when I bombed,
because I bombed in front of like TV executives, and
it was one where she that went to back for me,
and I remember that like he had went to back
for for me to be on the on the Steve
Harvey Show, and and so you know, for me to
go up and not like deliver, you know, it makes
(31:17):
people either try to question his thoughts or question like
they knew better or whatever, right, And so you know,
you kind of walk, you walk in that shame for
a minute or you walk in it. But then the
instantly she basically my big brother go up and let
them know like that's not getting ready happened today. I
don't care what y'all think. This dude funny for real,
(31:40):
blow they block and y'all don't know nothing, and blow
blow and look at and looking at them over the
dirty shoes you got on. And he went off and off. Man,
I'm laughing, they laughing, And it was just like a
cool right on bro like so you know, it was
one of those great moments that you you kind of recognized,
like like lesson, learned, period, got it. But but but
(32:04):
you know, but that's also that says something good about
him too. I mean, what a good spirit that that
he did that and uh and that cleared some room
probably for everybody, uh in there the way I would
imagine right there thinking about that, anybody who had an
experience will definitely go into it the next time without
all that you know that you know who they are
(32:25):
about the situation, because they don't know, you know, somebody
just gonna come out and the back and let them
have it, right. And what do you think about St. Louis.
I realized that St. Louis is in the news a
lot these days, from Corey Bush to the mccloskey's, from
your new mayor, first black female mayor of the city. St.
(32:47):
Louis is showing up and obviously sadly heartbreaking Lee Ferguson,
which is close by. But St. Louis Is is in
there in a way that I don't feel like it
was ten years, twenty years, thirty years ago. What was
your and Louis like growing up? Yeah, very you know,
still a very segregated town, but also one that felt
(33:07):
like a It was a big city that felt like
a small town. So you know, like there was a
lot of kind of you know, kinship and relationship to
people all over the city. And at the same time
it was a big city. You wouldn't you don't know
everybody there for sure, and you know, but you know,
we recognized St. Louis as for me definitely at home,
(33:30):
like so, uh, it was a city that was always
racially divided, so you know, those kind of tensions always
kind of existed. Yet uh, you know it was it
was it was pushing forward and had you know, it
had this out of dude, a lot of great uh
universities there. So the educational component started to bring about,
(33:53):
uh you know, like biotechnology and those kind of things,
and so the city started to grow with people that
were like coming there to go to watch you as St.
Louis you and these kind of really great collegiate institutions
in the city started to grow in that way. And
you know, I think it's still only in a way
suppresses the African American though, Like it's not about like
(34:17):
one of the initiatives that you know, we wanted to do.
You know, they're starting to do it. You know, even
approached because my mother is a school teacher. It's really
building from the inside out. Like I think that our
educational system has to get you a much stronger including
secondary or education beyond high school is where you know,
(34:38):
in the world, just the skills and trades and these
kind of things have kind of fallen to the wayside,
and people don't think that these are important jobs anymore, uh,
and or that you know, college is the only way
to make it. But again, the idea to have a
true technical skill or true labor and skill uh can
(34:58):
allow people to really provide for their families. And even
in the world of technology, the idea of just being
you know, having a skill set that can allow you
to come in and do a job, a physical job.
It's something that I believe that you know, our kids
need to have this exposure and St. Louis they'd rather
(35:19):
go and get it from other places. You just don't
see them building out that infrastructure with the with the
people that are they're very interested. That is interesting, especially
since you have a number of very interesting, um global
celebrities coming out of out of St. Louis. I think
for yourself, I think about Nellie Um, Jayson Tatum h
(35:40):
is from there as well. Um. I know Brad Pitt's
not from St. Louis, but it's from from St. Louis. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
A lot a lot of a lot of great, lot
of strong personalities are uh you know, of course, and yeah,
like say that the athletes Bradley Bill, Uh Tatum, uh,
Ezekiel Elliott. A lot of these guys are all St.
(36:03):
Louis natives. Man, Hey, I'm gonna hit you with a
little bit of rapid fire. You mind if I hits
(36:24):
you with a couple of different things. Let's go, all right?
I say Obama, you say what coolest ever? I love it?
I say Cleveland? You say what love it? I say,
greatest athletes of all time? You say Jordan's most interesting
(36:46):
book you've ever read? Monster Cody Andre Uh, most beautiful
place you've ever been to? Oh Man, um uh, Australia, Queensland,
the surface paradise over there. Oh that sounds beautiful. I've
been to Australia, but only to Sydney and Melbourne. Yeah,
(37:09):
you gotta go to that. That that their Miami version.
That's really pretty over it. And are you an airbnb guy?
Are you a hotel guy? Well, we'll do a little
bit of both, depending if I got the whole family
going with me, We're gonna get a house and rent
a house like but I do like hotel. I like
the amenities of being able to just call and have
(37:29):
stuff come. But usually we traveled pretty heavy and you know,
so that it's better for us to like have a
house and just operate from there. The biggest mistake or
biggest failure you've had in this life, man, you know,
I think, you know, like trusting my gut on, you know,
and it was it's a it's a it's a pronocoon,
(37:52):
like trusting my gut on knowing that I wanted to
do something, but I made the I took the other
move for the money, and and then I think that
overall my overall plan. Oh, somebody worded this perfectly. I
I gave up for what I wanted in the long
(38:13):
run to get what I wanted right now. And that's
that would be one of those things. I had a plan,
and I knew that I had this plan, and I
pivoted on that plan because I accepted what I could
get right now. And then that's one of those things
that you always go back and I'm like, man, if
I just would have did it my way, I would
have been way further and and and so you're saying
(38:36):
you were there was a movie or something that you
took in the short term instead of maybe a series
or a different project that you really wanted. Yeah, it
was a movie that that I took that I wanted
to I wanted a certain director. I had, you know,
a way that we were gonna do the movie. And
then the basically we had the studio pivoted on me
and told me I had to go with their director
(38:58):
and I had to do the movie their way, otherwise
I wouldn't be able to, you know, otherwise we would
have to wait. They didn't say that they were going
to take the movie away. It was like, we can
do it this way now, or you can wait maybe
six months to do it your way. And so I
basically waited it out. It was like, well, who knows
(39:18):
what will happen in six months, whatever, I'm gonna take
them now, which is another lesson that I always tell
people to the best deal is the one that's on
the table, no matter how much you negotiating, and only
in hindsight. But in hindsight, I knew that the choices
that I was making were for the betterment of the product,
(39:39):
and this one was really because they were forcing me
into a situation where either I go or I don't go,
and they couldn't promise me that, so I uh, I
took it in. Then. It's one of those things like
in my career I always looked back like man in
the movie was the Honeymooters in the mood that the
Honeymoons did great, But the movie that I wanted to
(40:00):
do would have had me do. It would have been
a franchise, and I know it in the director I
wanted and everything. We would have had a big, big,
big movie career. But that movie was one that's like
I just did it, nice mood, got it. You know.
It's funny when my next rapid fire for you was
the most interesting thing you've learned about dreaming fearlessly. And
(40:25):
I feel like maybe you already answered it, but but
but answer it however you want? What what is? Because
so many people centric you don't want to dream fearlessly. Um,
it's hard, it's difficult. People are scared to do it,
especially in this world. What have you learned? What would
you tell a younger version of yourself about how to
dream fearlessly and bring it alive? Well, I think like
(40:45):
you think about dreaming fearlessly is really trusting. That is
that don't don't doubt yourself from trying, like, don't stop
yourself from what you believe is going to happen, like
let the chips fall away, man, and your best opportunity
is really gonna come by being in this situation and
(41:08):
getting out there. And that was one, you know, like
for me starting this, I had a working at State farm,
uh you know kee growing up in a single parent household.
I was doing really well the you know the company,
you know, the people loved me and they were moving
me up. I was making good money for a young
guys like twenty six seven, you know, making making nice money.
(41:30):
I got a house, I got a car. You know,
I'm like, but for me to say, like I believe
in comedy. I just came up with a plan. I
saved up enough money and I had a strategy to
do some shows. And then I had a quick date
and I did it, and I just I quit on
that day, and I well, I took a leave of absence,
which is very clever. I'm I'm still actually I like
(41:56):
the way you said it. Though you said I had
a quick day, I was back in so we used
it as a leave of absence and uh, you know,
but again a strategic move. I still have it available
to me to this day. I'm still gonna leave of
absence from stay for him. At this point, I told
(42:17):
I was trying to write a TV show when I
just showed back up and take over my desk one day, Like, yo, gods,
you know that actually would be a good show. That
would be that would be uh, that would be a
lot of fun. That would definitely be a lot of fun.
All right. The thing you're most excited about hosting the
Emmys man mainly, you know, the celebrating, celebratory energy of
(42:40):
the night. Man, Like, I feel like television has got
us through. It's gonna be so many wonderful stars out. Uh,
you know hopefully you know we say clear of anything,
you know, the pandemic stuff right now, but you know
it plans to be people in the audience slams back out,
really having a good time. Television brought us through this
(43:00):
crazy year, and I just really look forward to giving
that vibration off. Is this idea that we're gonna be
here um really you know, commending each other and laughing
and patting each other on the back for the work
that was done. And you know again we've all you know,
found ourselves you know, leaning towards television and in these
past eighteen nineteen months. So uh so this is gonna
(43:23):
be fun and I'm looking forward to that energy. Man.
I love that most interesting thing you've learned about love
in this life, man, is uh one is you know,
love is probably more about you being selfless than what
(43:44):
you would than what you receive. It's it's truly, uh,
this thing where you know, the sacrifice of what you're
willing to give to express love, to show love. Uh.
And I mean I think we all kind of do
that unconditionally when it comes to kids and those kind
of things. But when you're in a relationship and you
(44:04):
realize that you have to you have to give, You
have to truly give of yourself in order to express
and show love. Uh. That's the greatest thing that I've learned.
If you could have dinner with anybody, dead or alive,
who would you have dinner with? Oh man, so great,
that's so strong, right there, man, Uh, oh man, Vernon
(44:28):
Jordan's love loved the swagger Vernon Jordan with somebody that
you know, I've always wanted to just kind of sit
and chill with. Um. Uh. Frederick Douglas another kind of
personality I always kind of loved dealt with, and it's
always dope. And then uh, he's not a real person.
(44:53):
But Nuckie Thompson from Boywalk Empire. That's great, you know.
I like all three any of those, and all three
of those have something about Did you ever meet Vernon
Jordan's I did meet him though, Yeah, I met him
in me, you know, very pleasant joe and great. We
we sat and talked for a few minutes. But I really,
you know, wish I would add I wouldn't sit down
(45:15):
and just boast up with him, you know. Yeah, yeah,
but both of you. I knew him a little bit,
both of you have great voices. Both both of you
have great, strong, heard across the room voices. Uh, both
of you, I think are very warm people. People immediately,
even if they couldn't articulate it, they felt better in
his presence. And I think the same is true about you,
(45:38):
that people just feel immediately more comfortable. And the same
was true about him and Um and he had a
very slight sense of humor. You know, he would, uh,
he would send me notes sometimes when I was on
the air. He said, don't wear that shirt again. He
said that was a one time shirt. You'd say, don't
wear that shirt again. He said, you weren't. One time
(45:58):
you proved your point. Don't wear that shirt again. So yeah,
he was, he was. He was a good one. Hey, Umi,
before we go, I know how much you love cars.
Where are cars going? Do you think? I mean, do
you you think a lot about the future of travel?
And if you were to try and fast forward and
think about where cars will be ten years, twenty years
from now, because I've seen you in all these nice
(46:19):
different cars, where do you think we're going? Well? I mean,
I definitely technology is the key with everything. And of course, uh,
you know LORI emissions. So I mean, you know, I
don't know if we'll ever beat fully like the Jetsons,
but you know, you know who knows, and in a
short amount of time. But I think like being able
to kind of control um airways with a lot of
(46:43):
moving vehicles seems like it would be a lot harder
than what we think, you know that you know, like
in our minds that seems really great, but they can
barely get three drones in the sky right now without
like just knock everybody down. So but I do believe
that you know, like kind of you know, driving this technologies,
really having sensral things to lower accidents where people lay,
(47:06):
cars will at stop stop themselves and not you know,
you know, running the circumstances, you know, especially like for
overnight drivers where people are like out and goes and off.
I think we'll just start to have a lot more
technology that protects the the you know, the driver and
the vehicle. Uh. So, you know, I really like that.
(47:29):
Of course, you know, Lauren, the emissions of you know,
with you know, the kind of technology that doesn't use
carbon and stuff. So uh, those things will continue to
be you know, highlighted, highlighted. I think that you know,
you know, the sensory of driving and the idea of
what we grew up on is gonna be very important.
(47:51):
But a lot like why kids don't have house phones
no more. Eventually, you know, like kids, they uber they're
just nobody's gonna really want to drive their Their car
will drive for them and they can just get in
and put in a put in an address, and be gone.
And I think that that's gonna be more and more
the case that the actual physical idea of being in
(48:13):
charge filling the road, Uh, that's gonna be somewhere in
the past. And like like a Blockbuster store. Oh man,
that's crazy you say that. I remember when, uh when
Blockbusters being a final question greatest St. Louis athlete of
all time? And I'm gonna I'm gonna give you some
liberty here because it could be someone born and raised
(48:34):
in St. Louis, but may also be someone who played
in St. Louis or was connected that way. The greatest St.
Louis athlete of all time? Yeah, and for me, I'd
have to go with Ozzie Smith. That's my guy, you
know what I mean. And I wondered if you were going, yeah, yeah,
like the wizard is the dude man, like, he's that
person that grew up and he he put St. Louis
(48:56):
on the map. Man, we all you know my generation,
we oh little Dozy Smith, you know. And of course
you know later in life I've become friends with and
we played golf together and god, and he's just a
super fantastic guy. Remember early on in my career, he
used to hire me. I would come to perform at
birthday parties for for him or his wife for something,
(49:17):
and so he was one of the first people like
to hire me and you come out to his home
and hang out with him, and it was just like
so but you know, as a as an athlete, I
just remember him hitting that that home run, and after
there was the eighty two World Series where he went
over the you know, over the right field wall, like
just short field wall, and you know he's a little
(49:38):
dude on the on the field. But he was that man,
that's my guy, right hey, man, that was a that
was a good choice. Now, can you do a backflip?
Can you do an saying no, no, no, that would
be no. I can do a roll I could do
a rollover like rollovers rollovers out too Hey, Cedric Man,
(50:02):
I so appreciate you, and uh, I really appreciate you
stopping by and uh and I hope I get to
meet you in person one of these days. I would
love to uh, I would love to shake your hand properly. Yeah,
the same here. Man. Definitely enjoyed this man, super cool dude.
And I didn't even realize you were in the pay area,
so I thought some reasons. I thought you were like
a Philly Yeah, no, no, no, awesome man. Yeah. I've
(50:23):
been at the Bay for uh for a long time.
I always loved it up here. Come down. Are you
in l A or where are you? Yeah? Yeah, okay,
okay in l A. I was just up there and
we uh you know when Ronnie Lot's son, right, yeah,
tech conference. I was up there a couple of weeks ago,
up there for that tech conference, hanging out? Have you
(50:45):
you was? Did you meet Kelvin Calvin Beatam Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A bunch of those guys are a good friends. And
Ronnie has been a good friend for a long time.
I uh, I like, uh, Ronnie is another one like you,
inverted George. Ronnie makes every body, everybody feels better around him. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
he's super cool man, and it was good. I remember
(51:07):
going to uh fort Mad game. There was a couple
of years, uh when the year they went to the
super Bowl and but it was uh just can'as City
and he had his box up there and I was
like walking through and Ronnie songs like like like that
was just dope. Everybody's like, yo, you know Ronnie, it's
(51:30):
all good, you know. I mean he's uh, he's a
good one. People forget how ferocious he was. I mean
he was. He was. He was the littmust man. That's
I still think you you know, like, I mean, you
gots you know on that on that d back. That
was the dude right there. You gotta same man running
a lot this with you. It's the littmust come on guys. Yeah,
(51:52):
you know he was. He was. He was. He was
a head hunter. And what people don't know about Ronnie
played college basketball too, See that I didn't know, Yah,
superior act athlete. Yeah yeah. Um hey man, I'm gonna
let you go, but I'm wishing you all the best
with season four, and I'll make sure I come say
hello next time I'm in l A. Indeed, thank you, man,
(52:14):
I appreciate it at a great time this morning. Okay,
be safe, all right, take care. Thank you for listening
to this episode of The Carlos Watson Show podcast. If
(52:37):
you enjoyed this episode, please tell your friends to find
us on the I heart podcast app or Apple podcast
Cedric the Entertainer grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and
began his professional career as a state farm insurance agent.
He cleared a state firm desk out and hasn't looked
back since. Cedric has been a part of the entertainment
industry for decades, from the Steve Harvey Show appearances to
the Kings of Comedy Tour and his CBS comedy series
with the Neighborhood. On this episode of The Carlos Watson
(00:25):
Show podcast, Cedric the Entertainer reflects on how he first
got into comedy, what his big breaking moment was, and
growing up in St. Louis. Hey, Cedric, what's up my brother?
Hey man, you're looking young. Yeah, man, you know I'm
(00:46):
saying I've got a few low initations. Okay, alright, you're
not afraid Hollywood is treating you? Right? I love it
and you know, and you know what, don't laugh because
a couple of us are starting to get him. Hey man,
it's really you know, you recognize it, like you know,
age is real, but you know you're normally black, no crack.
But you know, it's been it's been showing us some
(01:08):
fault lines lately. That is a good way to say it.
There are fault light or two with people these days. Yeah. Yeah,
hopefully nobody goes Burt Reynolds you and may he rest
in peace. But but but that didn't end up, right,
You remember how that ended up? Yeah, that's too much
for the situation. Man. I was like, man, it's like
(01:29):
frozen food saction. Oh man, oh man. Yeah that was
that was not as strongest look. That was not as
strongest look. So yeah, yeah, how good did you get
some summertime or did you get any break or what
did you do for the summer? Not really, man, I
was able to uh, you know, we took a little
(01:50):
break after see the Neighborhood when we stopped in March
and I went to a wife for about fourteen days.
That was it. I've been and I've been, you know,
staying busy, you know, every since then for the most part,
Like man, he's trying to create and produce those shows
we had, you know, the success of the show coming
(02:12):
out on Bounce and then uh, then I produce a
little summertime show myself of co CBS the Greatest at
Home Videos, and so we did we did some more
of those this summer. We kind of started that independemic
last year. So I've just been shaking it up. Man.
And then now my wife and family all day, were
(02:33):
you seriously they just came back from Paris. Oh nice, Okay,
you did get to go on any of that? Oh no,
no no, I went to um Connecticut to pay for it.
But now something tells me that you like working? And
am I? Am I projecting? Or are you someone who
likes to stay busy like I feel like Steve Harvey
(02:55):
loves to stay busy. Yeah, you know, I would say,
you know, that's kind of uh, you know what one
always say. It's a little bit of the Midwest upbringing. Uh,
And I lived in a single parent household. My mom
was a school teacher, and it was and it was
my younger sister and always the male. You know. I
felt like it was kind of like it's stilled to
be active, to be able to be a participant. So
(03:18):
I don't even look at my job like that to
this day. You know, even though it comes with celebrity
and recognition, I really look at like a guy who's
getting up to go to work. I don't really like,
oh I'm famous, you know, so people like, yeo, man,
how are you so humble all the time? So chill.
I'm like, dude, I've just got a job. That's where
I looked at it. When when was the first time
(03:39):
people really recognize you? Like when did you cross over?
We're like, you realize all of a sudden you were famous?
Probably you know the greatest time it was a It
was a couple of times. One what I call is
look fake was like one a a comedy competition in
Chicago called the Mill Mill Ginuine Draft, and they put
me in jail magazine. Brother, Okay, I remember that. You
(04:04):
don't even I don't know what people need as far
as faith, but could be in jet in the hood
with like a whole situation. So I was. That was
the one where I felt like, you know, locally people
would see the magazine. I would walk to wear and
people like, oh you dealt graduation? So that was that St.
(04:24):
Louis Love. And then the next time that I really
felt like really famous was after the butt like commercials
uh I did in the Super Bowl And you know,
you you know, I've been on television, I've done movies,
but you don't realize how much impact the commercial is
basically on ten times twelve times in the day, so
(04:45):
your opportunity for exposure is crazy. So it was like
people seeing me in the airport and stopping me and
it was like, yo, I'm out here now, that's crazy
and what what's what's the best thing that's ever happened
as a results of being famou us that would not
have happened, Like if you were to go back and
whisper like, here's what you get when you're faces at
(05:05):
the rest of you not getting what's that? I got
a couple of couple of things I think I really
loved one. Michael Jackson called me at my house one day.
I don't know how he had my number or nothing,
but I was sitting at home. I just had my
son who's about to be twenty one now, so I
was holding him like a baby and I get a
(05:28):
call and it was like, uh said to being a
chaining and I was like yes, and he was like
you have a call from Michael Jackson and I was
like what, I don't think it's a joke. And then
he was like, hey man, how are you doing. I
was like yeo crazy. So that was just one of
the moment and he was He had liked the movie
Johnson Family Vacation and wanted to tell me to keep,
(05:50):
you know, keep that kind of comedy up. He was,
you know, being from Indiana, that all made sense, that
traveling with your family to go visit family. So he
loved that that movie. Now, that was one of those
moments I say come with being famous. He literally just
called you out of the blue, dude, like Michael Jackson,
can get your phone number. Just know that. Don't worry
(06:15):
about the federal government, Michael Jackson, don't, don't, don't don't
talk about your number, Pride and this is new number.
Don't worry about He got it. He got it. He
got the club somehow. I guess if you got the
Beatles catalog, you can figure it out right right right,
give me, give me another one. What else? What else
came with being famous? Well, you know, you know, I've
(06:38):
got to meet several presidents, which was unique, and I think,
you know, being it would take my mom to some
of these things. Well, one of my other favorite ones
I love is being famous. As we were shooting uh
to Steve Harvey Show, and Halle Berry's dressing room was
across the half mine, so you know as she was
(06:59):
preparing to go she was gonna to go do something
some other show and undress room, having me right across
off but and and she come. She was coming out
the door to go to the set, and I stopped it,
and I said, how are you doing? And I said,
look at me just for a second, do you feel anything?
(07:20):
I mean cars I'm talking about, dude, I remind you
of a cuse. I don't care whatever it is. I'm
using that to get in. I don't need it to
be nothing special. But do you feel anything? As you
look at me? You know I have not been that creative.
(07:41):
I need to be more creative. You just expanded my catalog.
I appreciate that she died. That was funny, man, that
was one of the great moments that get right right. Actually,
I need to ask her that because that would I mean,
so many good lines people must have used on her
over the years. You know, I would love to hear
what her top three are. Everybody going for the roadmance.
(08:04):
I'm dealing with what every most of the coach out first.
I'm willing to take the long road whatever. Oh man,
oh I love that waiting up? How did you get
in the comedy in the first place, because uh, that
wasn't your first job, wasn't you know? I was actually
(08:24):
a clans adjuster for State Farm. Um. And you know
I had many jobs. You know, I went to college,
graduated Southeast Missouri State and in Cape Toronto, and you
know I worked in radio for a minute. Uh, I
sold facts machines. Who are the Rico Corporation for a minute?
You know when they renewed that was a new technology
(08:44):
I was. I was considered seller spaceships at the time.
People like what are you? What are you talking about?
And then um, And then it was working at State Farm,
and you know, basically transitioned in the comedy at night
like most people trying to just find you find your
way in life, young man. But the first time I
ever did comedy, you know, another comedian basically worked me
(09:06):
through my set, told me how to do it, basically
taught me how to be a professional. And then I
want five hundred dollars the first time I ever did it.
So I was, well, now, now were you funny growing up?
Like if we had been in high school together, were
you funny? Oh? Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. You know what
we used to call and say, as long as we
called it the Jones Jones and right like Jones and so.
(09:29):
And you know, in the lunch room, we had three
lunch ships. You had first lunch, second uns, third lunch.
I was on third lunch, but the kids were first lunch.
Would be like yo, like come trying to get me
out of class. They'd be like, yo, man, you gotta
come down. You get avoided today. Man, you've been killing us.
So I ended up being a secret weapon. Everybody should
(09:49):
threaten people. You're talking all this stuff to say, we're
saying show up, but you ain't gonna be that that
they call you the entertainer back then or no Hollywood. Interesting, okay,
Hollywood and Hollywood came from. Uh. It was a you know,
I had relatives out here as a kid, so we
would come and visit, and I had a shirt and
(10:11):
T shirt and said Hollywood on it. That obviously now
in in rech foods retrospect, I must award quite a
bit because it became my nickname all even to the
point that my kids and peers would call my mom
miss Wood. They didn't even know my name. I was
really like Hollywood. People were like, come on, be like
(10:33):
how you doing miss Wood, Like, are they talking about
talking about me? Now? How did this switch to eccentric
the entertainer, Well, that name kind of came about as
I started to really, you know, do comedy more professionally. Um,
I didn't have a lot of jokes. I was new,
but I was popular, you know, to to the point
(10:54):
that I had you know, I had friends, I could
call it be on the radio. I had a you know,
a certain degree of popularity. But I didn't have a
lot of jokes. So I would sing, I would write poems,
I would do all these things. So, uh, I was
doing the show one night and the guy was introducing
everybody as the mixed comedian, and I was like, I
just wasn't comfortable with being considered a comedian. I told
him to call me an entertainer. He introduced me and
(11:16):
said to the entertainer. I went, ever, I had a
great show, and then when I when I came off,
he called me, said to be entertainer again. So I
just kept you know what, I think it is great packaging.
Years ago, Joe Montana, the quarterback, told me he thought
part of the reason he was so successful was that
sportscasters liked his name, and that they thought that that
was the name of a hero, and so they liked
(11:39):
telling the story with him at the center of it.
And center the entertainer feels like good packaging. It feels
like something people can root for a little bit. Yeah,
you know, it was. I've been asked throughout my career,
you know, especially earlier on them to change it. You know,
everybody thought like it was too big of a name
to take on. Uh you know, you know, definitely had agents,
you know, that would be like, you know, you know,
(12:01):
maybe you should just you know, nobody's doing like the
you know, like the big names anymore, where everybody's going
by the the real family curtain names. But um, you know,
for me, it was, you know, it was it wasn't
even a name I gave myself, so I kind of,
you know, I didn't braced it for that reason, like
now I'm I'm I'm this guy when I'm doing those jokes.
So what would have happened, e Cedrica if you hadn't
(12:23):
made it? Do you think? Well, I mean, you know,
I was definitely I was working at State for him,
But I always even then, I had an entrepreneurial kind
of spirit, like I always found little hustles and you know,
kind of business ideas, So I think I would have,
you know, maybe found my way into some kind of business, uh,
you know, some sort you know, I believe being from
(12:45):
the Midwest, it would have been a very conservative idea.
Like I don't know if I would have ever dreamed
you know, big like, but you know, maybe maybe owning
or running my own you know, kind of insurance company
by now or some thing in that nature. Are But
I did want to do broadcasting, so I probably maybe
(13:05):
would have found my way back into the you know,
the news area or something like that, or sports amouncing.
I don't know, but you know, I studied that kind
of stuff in college and had had an opportunity to
work for CBS affiliate when I first graduated, doing like
fun news. This was like so this is uh mid eighties,
(13:27):
later eighties, and you know, inside editions and uh, those
kind of shows were starting to become a thing, and
so guys who kind of do that fun reporting that
was gonna be a lane that I was going in.
So maybe maybe, you know, maybe already had Kevin Fraite's job. Okay,
all right, let's take his job at E T he's
pretty good. I still remember him at at Sports Center.
(13:49):
I don't know if you remember him doing the sports
remember him at sports and and you know he was
great there, and so uh, you know, you know, I'd
like to see guys make these kind of trends in
these leagues. And there, you know, Kevin is great and
you know we do a lot of stuff together because
of our you know, CBS affiliation. He looked back for me.
(14:26):
Because it's interesting as I think about your rise, I
feel like I have known you for a long time,
and for whatever reason, I don't feel like um and
this is just me not knowing enough. I don't know
if I fully know how you broke through and how
you think about why you broke through? How do you
(14:47):
think about like if you were going back telling your
younger self, for telling a classroom full of kids, why
did I make it? Why did I not end up
as one of the many comics who were or entertainers
who were talented but didn't make it? Like why did you?
Why do you think you ultimately broke through? I think
a couple of things, you know, Like for me, Um,
(15:07):
I would say it was it was a degree of
wall roundedness that kind of happened from uh, you know
the way my mom raised us. You know this kind
of again, this this positive, you know, forward thinking kind
of personality as a as a as a male. Uh
you know, I was college educated, but I lived, you know,
in the in an inner city for a while. So
(15:30):
I had like an edgy hoodness that I that I knew.
But then you know, I can go and you know,
and and operate and you know, in the corporate environment,
I changed my whole energy. And so I gotta felt
like when I hit the stage, I had something for everybody.
Um and then and then my style was very um relation,
(15:53):
not like I felt like, you know, like you like
talking to a cousin or looking at an uncle or
you know, if I performed like that where it doesn't
feel like, oh, somebody's walking up kind of just telling
you these jokes. And so I think at that time
and I really emulated my stop from the late Robin Harris.
I love oh Man, I loved the baby kids, and
(16:17):
he just worked. He was the kind of comedian that
when I first saw him and I identify with him,
I was like, oh, if you could do it that way,
then yes. And so that's when I really became, you know,
starting to really work at it and care about it.
And you know, I think that television came the right
Television came at the right time for me, Like you know,
(16:37):
and so many of my peers, I would say, we
landed in that space where all the guys from my
class of comedy, Uh, most of us are still around
and still doing well. D L. C. Jamie, Uh, you know,
I can name a few other ones. You know, Chris
Rock was a little bit ahead of us, but but
all of us that kind of came in that that
(17:00):
era with death jam was high. Uh. Comic View for
me was the one on BT because I think when
I and there was a choice, I made the you know,
the choice to go to Comic View, and it made
me a household name because I was the host. And
when I became the host, you know, like an African
American household, I was known and that made me a start.
(17:23):
So that that was one of those things that really
kind of solidified me leasting my own culture. And then
I had to keep transitioning, so the commercials and then
the Steve Harvey Show and then the movies, but all
of it really really kind of seems from the idea
that I think that people feel like they know me already,
and I used that as a school And you know,
(17:45):
I'm not even asking you the question quite right, because
what I really mean to say is that so often
when you hear these stories of people succeeded, there's kind
of a sharp edge to it. And I've always seen you,
as you said, as a very relatable person. Yeah, as
a good person, and so maybe I'm surprised at one
of the good guys is winning. And maybe that's what
I'm trying to say, is how did a good guy
(18:07):
end up winning and winning so consistently. That's really what
I'm trying to ask. You know, that is a that's
a very validquate. I asked that question because I I
recognize that as well. In this business, I kind of feel,
but I do believe that, you know, I kind of
leave with that spirit in life. I try to leave
with that spirit of good will, kindness. You know, I'll
(18:30):
handle my business over here, you do yours over there.
If we can merge together and do something great, if
we see eye eye great. If we don't, then you
do your thing, and I do mind. And so I've
just never been one to be in a lot of
you know, riffs with people. I don't spend a lot
of time with gossip. I don't really have uh what
(18:51):
I've called, you know, new friends. My same core group
of people have been around me for but basically my
whole career. So you know, it's a very very kind
of tight knit group of people. Love everybody, but again,
my my core is pretty pretty tight. You know, everybody
has been with me, been with me a long time, man,
(19:12):
So you know, I trust that space. I operate from
that space, and then you know, I go do my thing. Man,
I don't I don't need to be a part of
the hoop lit. It ain't even necessary. Who's in your
Mount Rushmore? You said, Robin Harris? Who else is in
your comedy Mount Rushmore? Oh? Man, it's that's how many
people in my Rushmore? Was that four or five? Four? Four?
(19:34):
But go ahead and make it your own so you
get as many as you want. Yeah, all right, Well,
definitely Robin Harris, Eddie Murphy, Richard pryor, George Carlin. Uh
I love Robin Williams as well. And and then uh,
and then there is this it's a comedian that's one
(19:57):
of been one of my favorite named Richard Chenney. He
was a favorite comedian of mine growing up, so I
would throw him up there somewhere. He was a funny
little tell you dude that he made me laugh, That's
all I remember. The study was really clever. Now have
you ever melted down on stage? Here? You ever totally
bombed on stage a couple of times? Man? And I
(20:19):
always tell comedians if that he never really happened to you,
I don't know how you could be, you know, a
real comedian, because it is it is a sub zero game.
I mean a lot of times you walk on this stage,
you got to get that audience over to your side,
and it's for whatever reason, it ain't your night. I've
seen it go terribly wrong for you know, some several comedians,
(20:41):
and it's just a part of the business. But ye,
definitely I've had I've had nights, you know. I remember
having a night in St. Louis where when I you know,
I was popping, man, everybody was coming to see me.
I was going, I was getting it in And I
had a night at a show where it was so
bad awful. People ain't money back, you know, and you
(21:02):
know what I was like I was just feeling bad
for myself, not expecting people to really want their money back,
but they wanted the bunny back. I love that. I
love that they were like, you were right, we do
want our bunny back. I was like, oh, I said that.
I just kind of like weird, little you know, self
(21:25):
loathing need man? Do you when you were bombing? Do
you know, like, um, do you know Susie Esmond? You
know Susie who's on us? So I remember her telling
me once that she said, sometimes you know, as a comedian,
even when you're walking up that it's not gonna work.
She said. Larry David used to say to her when
(21:46):
she was um hosting some of those things that when
he when she would hand him the mic, he would say,
stay close, like this is one of these nights you
might have to come get me quickly, Like like, do
you know when you're going out that you're gonna bomb?
You know it's it's it's certain things that you can
read about certain rooms where you definitely know this could
(22:08):
go either way and very quickly. That is a that
is a common statement that comedians say, you know when
they feel it is stay close, like you know, and
I definitely. You know, you've definitely been in environments and
I've been in environments where you realize like and you
can pretty tell tell pretty much early on those at
those first few jokes, even get a get a rumble,
(22:31):
or you're just like all right, and then there is
you know, like you know, I learned from my my
my brother. I saw you had a boy, Steve Harvey,
Steve you know, taught me one time just totally be yourself, man,
don't don't ever just just switch gears and just turn
it to yourself. And you know, as much as you
(22:52):
want to make them laugh, if they're not laughing at
you having a good time, then just rock it that
way and don't even worry about And I was like,
you know, so I've learned to do those kind of
you know, those kind of things on stage to help
me like whenever, you know, whenever you feel like it's
going down the horrible rabbit holes to nowhere. But you
(23:13):
know it is, uh, it is such an opportunity in
this life to take the stage, and to get to
take the stage as many times as someone like you
or Steve does, and to have people paying attention to
you and join you, paying their money, looking forward to it.
And in a way, when I think about you guys up,
there's also such a responsibility too, because you know, we're
(23:36):
showing up hoping that you're gonna make us feel better. Yeah,
I mean, you know, And that's the thing that I
think that I always tell young comedian. It's just that
you gotta remember that people are come in, they paid,
they paid their money, they had all times experiences. Today.
You know, your job was to go up there and entertainment,
you know, going there and try to embrace that, be
your greatest self, the creativity that you have, and and
(23:59):
see if you can train for that to them, to
just get people to transform from from where they really
aren't like to this space that's about laughter and joy
and a good time. And uh, that's what I believe,
you know what the comedian is supposed to do. What
about neighborhood? How's that been? Because this is the third
season now going into the fourth season, man, real blessing. Uh,
(24:22):
it's great. We've been really, you know, really great to
have this show. Man. You know, it started out as
a you know, I had a deal with TV yes
to to produce other shows. They had bought the show
already and so I had to kind of work with
the creator and the writer creator of this show to
bring it into my voice, and you know, it took
(24:44):
some stretching and pulling, and but then uh, I was
really happy that, you know, because one, the whole gentrification
thing is very real in our communities and so we
wanted to be able to tell the story from you
know what that feels like that the world is coming
this melting body that people are uh, you know more
and more, you know, living next to each other and
(25:06):
side by side, and you know that's what you know,
a close east of the world should operate as you
know that we should be able to learn from and
grow with and recognize the differences in each other and
still be able to live side by side. So you know, Um,
we were really happy with the way the shows. But
Journey Out is a great success for CBS, and so
(25:29):
we hope just running for as many as they want
to do. Now. As much as you enjoyed as a comedy,
you guys tackle some very as you said, like serious
cutting edge issues and in a way, you guys were
even ahead of some of the conversation that we've had
the last year and a half has as Has working
on the show changed your mind about anything? Where has
it reinforced or did it offer you new perspectives on anything?
(25:52):
You know? You know, I mean, you know, being being
a guy over fifty, I've seen so many things in
this world. On the course, you know, like you know,
we we attacked the social injustice, you know in our
first episode last season. That got us a lot of
acclaim and it was a very you know, it was
the perspective in which we did the episode was really great.
(26:14):
You know. The main thing is is for me, like
like the show is set up, is to learn from
the white my white counterparts kind of perspective and then
be able to educate. And I think in these close
quarters like this, you're able to give a far more education,
you know. You know, like even to the point that
you know they wanted to you know, I remember that
(26:36):
there was a whole thing that that episode about using
the term allies and they wanted to lock the US,
and look, we're not doing that. We're not doing these
lock on terms that kind of justifies our whites over
you know, all these years of social injustice by saying
just because I stand here now, I'm considered an ally
(26:57):
and that gives me this past. And I was like,
those are the kind of terms that I believe, you know,
how we let people off the hook. We need to
really deal with this, We need to really know, like
how you how that makes you feel that I I
had the power to tell you know, Did that make
you feel something? You're like yo? I was like, yeah,
(27:17):
that's what we're talking about, Like, not the fact that
you wanted me to agree with you. I had the
power to tell you know, and it change, It changed
everything about your day. That's what That's what y'all get
to do to us most of the time. What happens
when you are in front of all white audiences is
that a different comedy set and a different relationship for you.
(27:40):
And when you're in front of mixed audiences, you know,
that's That's one of the great things Steve taught me
that one of the first times that I bombed that
I really recalled was me trying to change my set
for an all white audience. And uh, I bombed because
I went up there and I you know, I basically
got outside my offer itself and was trying to do
(28:02):
what I thought they would like or would relate to
and so uh, I remember that I bombed and Steve
walked to Beck and cuss them out, and I mean
they laughed so on Carlos, they were laughing at him
going off for them. It was like, wow, that's when
(28:23):
you see like he he didn't change his his his language,
he didn't change you know, his countryness. He was Steve
Harvey up there and then and and he let them
have it. And and it was like, Yo, from that
moment on, I recognized, like, yo, this this is all
you gotta do with like, just don't even worry about it.
(28:43):
Was right right and train you came. You know, it's
all good. They don't like that one, then they just
don't like it, but don't don't try to make them
like you. But you know, it is such a uh
that is such a hard place for most of us
to get to in life period. And and figuring that
out and seeing that and being comfortable with yourself. Uh
(29:05):
good that or otherwise? What what a challenge. I'm just
thinking about all the people who struggle with it in
all the various different ways, and and all the benefits
for those who are able to be comfortable with themselves
and that they can compete in a very different way
when you're comfortable with yourself. Well, you know, you know,
we always talk about this, like when it comes kind
(29:26):
of to our grandparents, are you know, elders in our neighborhood.
And I do think that most people kind of really
learn and wait to get to that space to where,
you know, in their life where it's basically they don't
they don't give a damn no more. Right. But it's
so it's your grandparents, that's funny, right, they're just too
(29:49):
old to care, and you know, and I think, you know,
it's you know, that's what That's what I identified with
my character and Barbershop and a lot of people, you know,
I gotta add some contralt virtual about it. But but
what I was tapping into, as you know, as an actor,
was that this guy was old enough not to really
(30:09):
worry about your opinion about his opinion, Like he didn't
care about what you thought about his opinion, and so
therefore he could say what he wanted like and and
I love that, you know, and you know, we always
that we can get there, you know, in in in
ways it's still what I would say, still respectful to others,
and still not hurtful and not this idea like I'm
(30:33):
so crashed and and wrong that I'm in teaching only
being a you know, a jerk. But you want to
be able to say your truth and living that and
be honest about it and those kind of things. I think.
You know, you have to you have to learn the
trust to get there. And they do come, you know,
with scraping your knees up a few times. Uh, you know,
(30:54):
because that was a very embarrassing moment when I bombed,
because I bombed in front of like TV executives, and
it was one where she that went to back for me,
and I remember that like he had went to back
for for me to be on the on the Steve
Harvey Show, and and so you know, for me to
go up and not like deliver, you know, it makes
(31:17):
people either try to question his thoughts or question like
they knew better or whatever, right, And so you know,
you kind of walk, you walk in that shame for
a minute or you walk in it. But then the
instantly she basically my big brother go up and let
them know like that's not getting ready happened today. I
don't care what y'all think. This dude funny for real,
(31:40):
blow they block and y'all don't know nothing, and blow
blow and look at and looking at them over the
dirty shoes you got on. And he went off and off. Man,
I'm laughing, they laughing, And it was just like a
cool right on bro like so you know, it was
one of those great moments that you you kind of recognized,
like like lesson, learned, period, got it. But but but
(32:04):
you know, but that's also that says something good about
him too. I mean, what a good spirit that that
he did that and uh and that cleared some room
probably for everybody, uh in there the way I would
imagine right there thinking about that, anybody who had an
experience will definitely go into it the next time without
all that you know that you know who they are
(32:25):
about the situation, because they don't know, you know, somebody
just gonna come out and the back and let them
have it, right. And what do you think about St. Louis.
I realized that St. Louis is in the news a
lot these days, from Corey Bush to the mccloskey's, from
your new mayor, first black female mayor of the city. St.
(32:47):
Louis is showing up and obviously sadly heartbreaking Lee Ferguson,
which is close by. But St. Louis Is is in
there in a way that I don't feel like it
was ten years, twenty years, thirty years ago. What was
your and Louis like growing up? Yeah, very you know,
still a very segregated town, but also one that felt
(33:07):
like a It was a big city that felt like
a small town. So you know, like there was a
lot of kind of you know, kinship and relationship to
people all over the city. And at the same time
it was a big city. You wouldn't you don't know
everybody there for sure, and you know, but you know,
we recognized St. Louis as for me definitely at home,
(33:30):
like so, uh, it was a city that was always
racially divided, so you know, those kind of tensions always
kind of existed. Yet uh, you know it was it
was it was pushing forward and had you know, it
had this out of dude, a lot of great uh
universities there. So the educational component started to bring about,
(33:53):
uh you know, like biotechnology and those kind of things,
and so the city started to grow with people that
were like coming there to go to watch you as St.
Louis you and these kind of really great collegiate institutions
in the city started to grow in that way. And
you know, I think it's still only in a way
suppresses the African American though, Like it's not about like
(34:17):
one of the initiatives that you know, we wanted to do.
You know, they're starting to do it. You know, even
approached because my mother is a school teacher. It's really
building from the inside out. Like I think that our
educational system has to get you a much stronger including
secondary or education beyond high school is where you know,
(34:38):
in the world, just the skills and trades and these
kind of things have kind of fallen to the wayside,
and people don't think that these are important jobs anymore, uh,
and or that you know, college is the only way
to make it. But again, the idea to have a
true technical skill or true labor and skill uh can
(34:58):
allow people to really provide for their families. And even
in the world of technology, the idea of just being
you know, having a skill set that can allow you
to come in and do a job, a physical job.
It's something that I believe that you know, our kids
need to have this exposure and St. Louis they'd rather
(35:19):
go and get it from other places. You just don't
see them building out that infrastructure with the with the
people that are they're very interested. That is interesting, especially
since you have a number of very interesting, um global
celebrities coming out of out of St. Louis. I think
for yourself, I think about Nellie Um, Jayson Tatum h
(35:40):
is from there as well. Um. I know Brad Pitt's
not from St. Louis, but it's from from St. Louis. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
A lot a lot of a lot of great, lot
of strong personalities are uh you know, of course, and yeah,
like say that the athletes Bradley Bill, Uh Tatum, uh,
Ezekiel Elliott. A lot of these guys are all St.
(36:03):
Louis natives. Man, Hey, I'm gonna hit you with a
little bit of rapid fire. You mind if I hits
(36:24):
you with a couple of different things. Let's go, all right?
I say Obama, you say what coolest ever? I love it?
I say Cleveland? You say what love it? I say,
greatest athletes of all time? You say Jordan's most interesting
(36:46):
book you've ever read? Monster Cody Andre Uh, most beautiful
place you've ever been to? Oh Man, um uh, Australia, Queensland,
the surface paradise over there. Oh that sounds beautiful. I've
been to Australia, but only to Sydney and Melbourne. Yeah,
(37:09):
you gotta go to that. That that their Miami version.
That's really pretty over it. And are you an airbnb guy?
Are you a hotel guy? Well, we'll do a little
bit of both, depending if I got the whole family
going with me, We're gonna get a house and rent
a house like but I do like hotel. I like
the amenities of being able to just call and have
(37:29):
stuff come. But usually we traveled pretty heavy and you know,
so that it's better for us to like have a
house and just operate from there. The biggest mistake or
biggest failure you've had in this life, man, you know,
I think, you know, like trusting my gut on, you know,
and it was it's a it's a it's a pronocoon,
(37:52):
like trusting my gut on knowing that I wanted to
do something, but I made the I took the other
move for the money, and and then I think that
overall my overall plan. Oh, somebody worded this perfectly. I
I gave up for what I wanted in the long
(38:13):
run to get what I wanted right now. And that's
that would be one of those things. I had a plan,
and I knew that I had this plan, and I
pivoted on that plan because I accepted what I could
get right now. And then that's one of those things
that you always go back and I'm like, man, if
I just would have did it my way, I would
have been way further and and and so you're saying
(38:36):
you were there was a movie or something that you
took in the short term instead of maybe a series
or a different project that you really wanted. Yeah, it
was a movie that that I took that I wanted
to I wanted a certain director. I had, you know,
a way that we were gonna do the movie. And
then the basically we had the studio pivoted on me
and told me I had to go with their director
(38:58):
and I had to do the movie their way, otherwise
I wouldn't be able to, you know, otherwise we would
have to wait. They didn't say that they were going
to take the movie away. It was like, we can
do it this way now, or you can wait maybe
six months to do it your way. And so I
basically waited it out. It was like, well, who knows
(39:18):
what will happen in six months, whatever, I'm gonna take
them now, which is another lesson that I always tell
people to the best deal is the one that's on
the table, no matter how much you negotiating, and only
in hindsight. But in hindsight, I knew that the choices
that I was making were for the betterment of the product,
(39:39):
and this one was really because they were forcing me
into a situation where either I go or I don't go,
and they couldn't promise me that, so I uh, I
took it in. Then. It's one of those things like
in my career I always looked back like man in
the movie was the Honeymooters in the mood that the
Honeymoons did great, But the movie that I wanted to
(40:00):
do would have had me do. It would have been
a franchise, and I know it in the director I
wanted and everything. We would have had a big, big,
big movie career. But that movie was one that's like
I just did it, nice mood, got it. You know.
It's funny when my next rapid fire for you was
the most interesting thing you've learned about dreaming fearlessly. And
(40:25):
I feel like maybe you already answered it, but but
but answer it however you want? What what is? Because
so many people centric you don't want to dream fearlessly. Um,
it's hard, it's difficult. People are scared to do it,
especially in this world. What have you learned? What would
you tell a younger version of yourself about how to
dream fearlessly and bring it alive? Well, I think like
(40:45):
you think about dreaming fearlessly is really trusting. That is
that don't don't doubt yourself from trying, like, don't stop
yourself from what you believe is going to happen, like
let the chips fall away, man, and your best opportunity
is really gonna come by being in this situation and
(41:08):
getting out there. And that was one, you know, like
for me starting this, I had a working at State farm,
uh you know kee growing up in a single parent household.
I was doing really well the you know the company,
you know, the people loved me and they were moving
me up. I was making good money for a young
guys like twenty six seven, you know, making making nice money.
(41:30):
I got a house, I got a car. You know,
I'm like, but for me to say, like I believe
in comedy. I just came up with a plan. I
saved up enough money and I had a strategy to
do some shows. And then I had a quick date
and I did it, and I just I quit on
that day, and I well, I took a leave of absence,
which is very clever. I'm I'm still actually I like
(41:56):
the way you said it. Though you said I had
a quick day, I was back in so we used
it as a leave of absence and uh, you know,
but again a strategic move. I still have it available
to me to this day. I'm still gonna leave of
absence from stay for him. At this point, I told
(42:17):
I was trying to write a TV show when I
just showed back up and take over my desk one day, Like, yo, gods,
you know that actually would be a good show. That
would be that would be uh, that would be a
lot of fun. That would definitely be a lot of fun.
All right. The thing you're most excited about hosting the
Emmys man mainly, you know, the celebrating, celebratory energy of
(42:40):
the night. Man, Like, I feel like television has got
us through. It's gonna be so many wonderful stars out. Uh,
you know hopefully you know we say clear of anything,
you know, the pandemic stuff right now, but you know
it plans to be people in the audience slams back out,
really having a good time. Television brought us through this
(43:00):
crazy year, and I just really look forward to giving
that vibration off. Is this idea that we're gonna be
here um really you know, commending each other and laughing
and patting each other on the back for the work
that was done. And you know again we've all you know,
found ourselves you know, leaning towards television and in these
past eighteen nineteen months. So uh so this is gonna
(43:23):
be fun and I'm looking forward to that energy. Man.
I love that most interesting thing you've learned about love
in this life, man, is uh one is you know,
love is probably more about you being selfless than what
(43:44):
you would than what you receive. It's it's truly, uh,
this thing where you know, the sacrifice of what you're
willing to give to express love, to show love. Uh.
And I mean I think we all kind of do
that unconditionally when it comes to kids and those kind
of things. But when you're in a relationship and you
(44:04):
realize that you have to you have to give, You
have to truly give of yourself in order to express
and show love. Uh. That's the greatest thing that I've learned.
If you could have dinner with anybody, dead or alive,
who would you have dinner with? Oh man, so great,
that's so strong, right there, man, Uh, oh man, Vernon
(44:28):
Jordan's love loved the swagger Vernon Jordan with somebody that
you know, I've always wanted to just kind of sit
and chill with. Um. Uh. Frederick Douglas another kind of
personality I always kind of loved dealt with, and it's
always dope. And then uh, he's not a real person.
(44:53):
But Nuckie Thompson from Boywalk Empire. That's great, you know.
I like all three any of those, and all three
of those have something about Did you ever meet Vernon
Jordan's I did meet him though, Yeah, I met him
in me, you know, very pleasant joe and great. We
we sat and talked for a few minutes. But I really,
you know, wish I would add I wouldn't sit down
(45:15):
and just boast up with him, you know. Yeah, yeah,
but both of you. I knew him a little bit,
both of you have great voices. Both both of you
have great, strong, heard across the room voices. Uh, both
of you, I think are very warm people. People immediately,
even if they couldn't articulate it, they felt better in
his presence. And I think the same is true about you,
(45:38):
that people just feel immediately more comfortable. And the same
was true about him and Um and he had a
very slight sense of humor. You know, he would, uh,
he would send me notes sometimes when I was on
the air. He said, don't wear that shirt again. He
said that was a one time shirt. You'd say, don't
wear that shirt again. He said, you weren't. One time
(45:58):
you proved your point. Don't wear that shirt again. So yeah,
he was, he was. He was a good one. Hey, Umi,
before we go, I know how much you love cars.
Where are cars going? Do you think? I mean, do
you you think a lot about the future of travel?
And if you were to try and fast forward and
think about where cars will be ten years, twenty years
from now, because I've seen you in all these nice
(46:19):
different cars, where do you think we're going? Well? I mean,
I definitely technology is the key with everything. And of course, uh,
you know LORI emissions. So I mean, you know, I
don't know if we'll ever beat fully like the Jetsons,
but you know, you know who knows, and in a
short amount of time. But I think like being able
to kind of control um airways with a lot of
(46:43):
moving vehicles seems like it would be a lot harder
than what we think, you know that you know, like
in our minds that seems really great, but they can
barely get three drones in the sky right now without
like just knock everybody down. So but I do believe
that you know, like kind of you know, driving this technologies,
really having sensral things to lower accidents where people lay,
(47:06):
cars will at stop stop themselves and not you know,
you know, running the circumstances, you know, especially like for
overnight drivers where people are like out and goes and off.
I think we'll just start to have a lot more
technology that protects the the you know, the driver and
the vehicle. Uh. So, you know, I really like that.
(47:29):
Of course, you know, Lauren, the emissions of you know,
with you know, the kind of technology that doesn't use
carbon and stuff. So uh, those things will continue to
be you know, highlighted, highlighted. I think that you know,
you know, the sensory of driving and the idea of
what we grew up on is gonna be very important.
(47:51):
But a lot like why kids don't have house phones
no more. Eventually, you know, like kids, they uber they're
just nobody's gonna really want to drive their Their car
will drive for them and they can just get in
and put in a put in an address, and be gone.
And I think that that's gonna be more and more
the case that the actual physical idea of being in
(48:13):
charge filling the road, Uh, that's gonna be somewhere in
the past. And like like a Blockbuster store. Oh man,
that's crazy you say that. I remember when, uh when
Blockbusters being a final question greatest St. Louis athlete of
all time? And I'm gonna I'm gonna give you some
liberty here because it could be someone born and raised
(48:34):
in St. Louis, but may also be someone who played
in St. Louis or was connected that way. The greatest St.
Louis athlete of all time? Yeah, and for me, I'd
have to go with Ozzie Smith. That's my guy, you
know what I mean. And I wondered if you were going, yeah, yeah,
like the wizard is the dude man, like, he's that
person that grew up and he he put St. Louis
(48:56):
on the map. Man, we all you know my generation,
we oh little Dozy Smith, you know. And of course
you know later in life I've become friends with and
we played golf together and god, and he's just a
super fantastic guy. Remember early on in my career, he
used to hire me. I would come to perform at
birthday parties for for him or his wife for something,
(49:17):
and so he was one of the first people like
to hire me and you come out to his home
and hang out with him, and it was just like
so but you know, as a as an athlete, I
just remember him hitting that that home run, and after
there was the eighty two World Series where he went
over the you know, over the right field wall, like
just short field wall, and you know he's a little
(49:38):
dude on the on the field. But he was that man,
that's my guy, right hey, man, that was a that
was a good choice. Now, can you do a backflip?
Can you do an saying no, no, no, that would
be no. I can do a roll I could do
a rollover like rollovers rollovers out too Hey, Cedric Man,
(50:02):
I so appreciate you, and uh, I really appreciate you
stopping by and uh and I hope I get to
meet you in person one of these days. I would
love to uh, I would love to shake your hand properly. Yeah,
the same here. Man. Definitely enjoyed this man, super cool dude.
And I didn't even realize you were in the pay area,
so I thought some reasons. I thought you were like
a Philly Yeah, no, no, no, awesome man. Yeah. I've
(50:23):
been at the Bay for uh for a long time.
I always loved it up here. Come down. Are you
in l A or where are you? Yeah? Yeah, okay,
okay in l A. I was just up there and
we uh you know when Ronnie Lot's son, right, yeah,
tech conference. I was up there a couple of weeks ago,
up there for that tech conference, hanging out? Have you
(50:45):
you was? Did you meet Kelvin Calvin Beatam Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A bunch of those guys are a good friends. And
Ronnie has been a good friend for a long time.
I uh, I like, uh, Ronnie is another one like you,
inverted George. Ronnie makes every body, everybody feels better around him. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
he's super cool man, and it was good. I remember
(51:07):
going to uh fort Mad game. There was a couple
of years, uh when the year they went to the
super Bowl and but it was uh just can'as City
and he had his box up there and I was
like walking through and Ronnie songs like like like that
was just dope. Everybody's like, yo, you know Ronnie, it's
(51:30):
all good, you know. I mean he's uh, he's a
good one. People forget how ferocious he was. I mean
he was. He was. He was the littmust man. That's
I still think you you know, like, I mean, you
gots you know on that on that d back. That
was the dude right there. You gotta same man running
a lot this with you. It's the littmust come on guys. Yeah,
(51:52):
you know he was. He was. He was. He was
a head hunter. And what people don't know about Ronnie
played college basketball too, See that I didn't know, Yah,
superior act athlete. Yeah yeah. Um hey man, I'm gonna
let you go, but I'm wishing you all the best
with season four, and I'll make sure I come say
hello next time I'm in l A. Indeed, thank you, man,
(52:14):
I appreciate it at a great time this morning. Okay,
be safe, all right, take care. Thank you for listening
to this episode of The Carlos Watson Show podcast. If
(52:37):
you enjoyed this episode, please tell your friends to find
us on the I heart podcast app or Apple podcast
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.