November 27, 2023 • 48 mins
Prepare to crack a rib as we unearth the laughter treasure with our guest, the uproarious Cletus Kassady. Ever wondered how a seasoned comedian navigates the world of comedy? Well, Cletus gives us a hilarious sneak peek into the behind-the-scenes world of comedy, shedding light on his natural wit and humor that has been his defense mechanism since childhood. This knee-slapper of an episode takes you through Cletus's journey from radio to BET and opening for prominent comedian Ali Siddiq, all while staying true to his authentic self and his dedication to his comic craft. And oh, the celebrities he's met along the way - Magic Johnson, DC Curry, and DL Hughley to name a few! But Cletus's humble charm remains unscathed, reminding us that stars are just people too.
But the comedy industry isn't all fun and games. We discuss the challenges comedians face in an industry that can be surprisingly competitive and the impact of social media - a blessing and a curse. It may launch careers, but it can also dilute the essence of comedy. But fear not, we believe in the power of collaboration, much like Kevin Hart and the Plastic Cup Boys. We also yearn for Virginia, Cletus's home state, to become a recognized talent hub where comedians can thrive. In our quest to understand the art of comedy, we dive into the transitions comedians often make, drawing from Eddie Murphy's venture into reggae music. And of course, Cletus's innovative vision for a more organized comedy scene in Virginia couldn't go unnoticed.
Strap in for a ride through the world of comedy, with Cletus Kassady unique insights into the industry he loves, his determination to evolve, and his views on comedy merchandise. And guess what? The laughter doesn't stop here. We have an upcoming comedy special featuring Cletus Kassady himself, and we couldn't be more thrilled! So, join us, share in the laughs, learn a thing or two about the comedy industry, and show your support for Cletus Kassady,a comedian who knows how to keep the laughter rolling!
https://noidmediallc.komi.io
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode
of the no ID podcast is me,your boy, rome Davis.
I have here Icon in the game.
You seen him at the funny bone.
You seen him on my car ismorning radio show.
He's traveling all around doingcomedy.
He is one of, I would say,virginia goats, but I don't want
(00:24):
to put him in the spot ofVirginia because this man has
moved outside of Virginia comedyscene so far, inspiration for
me to get out of Virginia comedyscene.
I'm not going to say overrated,underrated, but I am going to
say this man is rated funny, theone and only Cleetus Cassidy.
What's going on, brother?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
What's going on, man?
I don't know what to call youRome, romy, rome JD.
Mr Davis is your show, so Iwant to make sure I'm respectful
and everything that I do, man.
But thank you so much forhaving me on, man.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Man, I appreciate you even giving me the opportunity
to bless you with the interview.
Oh hella, nervous, trying tomanage like I emailed you.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah.
Yeah, you was a little bit.
You know, you slid into the DMs.
It was a little weird.
No, I don't know what to do.
No, I really appreciate it.
I think that I got a differentkind of mindset.
With that kind of stuff, man,I'm really approachable.
I love when people reach outand talk.
(01:28):
I don't have a problem withreaching back and talking to
people or sharing my experiencesor things like that man.
So I'm honored.
Anytime anybody feels like theywant to ask me questions, I'm
like word, let's get it.
You know what I'm saying yeah,man.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
So let's just get right into it.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Let's get right into it Earlier.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
like I told you, man, I've seen you all around, but
about two and a half weeks agowas the first time I actually
saw you in person and it was atIleesa D.
And when I'm telling you, meand my date were weak as hell
when you did the big, tittybroad joke.
You demonstrated what she gothrough.
(02:12):
I just want to know how did youget your starting comedy lead?
What made you do it?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Man, so my kind of flow in comedy is a little
different than a lot of people's.
Man, I never grew up wanting todo comedy.
I didn't have that as a as amind goal.
Like you know, some people wakeup every day and they like they
got that a sistaic to you.
Wake up in the morning andthink you were singing and you
were singing.
That won't ever my thing, man.
I went to college to be a gymteacher because I was like man
(02:40):
who does the most work, I mean,who gets the most money without
we're doing the least work?
And I was like gym teachers.
I had never seen a gym teacher.
And then it was like man, I hada hard day at work.
Man, you throw a ball out, yougo sit in the corner, you call
it a day.
So naturally my personality hasalways been with and things of
that nature, man, and in fact Ijust did.
(03:03):
I just spoke to a group ofpeople recently and I let them
know that humor for me hadalways been a defense mechanism.
I use it as a defense mechanism, man, like when I was growing
up, we grew up, we grew up po,because we couldn't afford an OR
.
That was a lot.
So we just we can get a P and aO, but that was a lot, man, we
(03:25):
ate at a restaurant called pofolks.
That's exactly what we was withit.
So I got joked and differentthings like that.
We grew up in the hood so I hadto use it to fight back.
So I had to be able to be smartenough and witty enough to joke
with anybody.
Let anybody know, yo don't evenstart it.
So it got to a point where I wasjust that good and nobody would
(03:45):
.
Even they was like yo, thatain't the one you wanted with.
You know what I'm saying.
Where, you know, you had guyswho physically you didn't want
it with.
They knew verbally, yo, thatthat ain't the one.
Like he got on a peritonics man, but just let them live.
So that was that.
But so it was just a naturalprogression for me and I think
sometimes the old saying thatyou know we want to walk it to a
(04:09):
certain path, though we want,you know, god answer our prayers
, Like a lot of times he alreadygot everything set up for us
and he's waiting on us to walkit to it.
And so that's what happenedwith me, man, like my stuff just
ended up being why I ended upon stage Like I went to college
to be a PE teacher, ended up onthe radio from there, ended up
working at BET.
There, bet, just doing astandup Like never been in the
(04:29):
classroom to teach.
So it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Man.
I appreciate that man.
You're a beast.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
I'm just up there trying to find my niche and just
try to do me.
I think that's the easiestthing for people.
It's like you got to do me LikeI'm on that show.
You can't see me when I'mopening for Ali, and to me,
ali's the deep top five in thegame right now.
You know what I'm saying.
So do you get intimidated bythat?
That's the thing.
Do you get intimidated by beingon the show with somebody who's
top five or do you try to belike well, look, man, it's five
(05:02):
spots.
You know what I'm saying.
Let me get one of those spotstoo.
So I just try to go up thereand do me and comedy subjective.
So either you're going to likeit or you're not going to like
it, but I'm going to give youthe best of me while I'm on that
stage.
It's not going to beintimidated by it and that's all
I try to do.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
It is top five.
Yeah, top five, my top five.
You work with them every day.
Well, you've been on this showand I've been on this show,
michael Coyer.
And how did that come aboutwith Michael Coyer?
Michael Coyer.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, I'm not on this show anymore.
We just kind of split and went,you know, separate ways on that
one man, you know.
But we Kobe and Shaq, thatthing.
But Coyer, somebody called youhas a.
He has a comedy section that hedoes on his show daily.
Somebody recommended that I doit.
He calls me.
I pretty much think it's a prankcall.
(05:54):
I get a phone call.
He's like yo, this MichaelCoyer.
I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, and I'm doing that,
watching it, like I'm gettingthat call.
He's like no, it really is,michael Coyer, man, can you do a
set on my show?
You'd like three minutes and Iwas like, oh cool, I didn't know
him.
He didn't know me.
Just out of the blue I go onthere.
I killed the three minutes.
He was like yo, you killed thethree minutes, I need you to
(06:15):
come back again.
I was like, all right, just letme know.
He literally called me likethat next week.
He's like yo, can you come backagain?
So I came back again.
When I came back that time,he's like oh, like, I just need
you to start coming on more.
And so I ended up going fromjust being a guest to end up
being one of the co-hosts andproducers of the show and then
(06:35):
kind of traveled and did somedates with him Not sex, because
then I don't want nobodythinking that went wrong.
I want to make sure that got inclearly S-E-T-S, s-e-s-s.
Sometimes it's good to have aSouthern draw, sometimes it
ain't.
But I ended up going on theroad with him for a few shows.
We did a few cities and sothat's how that just kind of
(06:57):
established man.
So that was cool, it was a coolperiod Be able to do that man.
But I'm doing mine, he's doinghis.
It's cool.
But shout out to Mike Carl, youman Just reaching out.
It was on the blur, and that'sthe thing I tell people be
prepared for whatever may comefor you.
A lot of people don't thinkthey can be prepared for success
.
You got to be ready to rock.
(07:19):
You got to be ready to go whenpeople be like, oh I, here's
your chance.
You got to be able to take itand run with it.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
That's right you got to.
Yeah, you just got to walk thatpath.
I got it all figured out foryou because you ain't got to
figure it out.
Man, I know what you want to do.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Man, I was horrible in math so you know my figure is
bad.
So there ain't no way I'm goingto worry about somebody else
figure.
I can't figure nothing out, manLike you.
Look at me.
I'm barely in this little box.
Man, you got your whole body inthe box on the screen.
Man, I am barely in here, it'sjust hand and shoulders, Bro.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
I'm sitting up right now.
I'm trying to hide the COVIDbelly that's going down right
now.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Oh man, at least yours is COVID belly, mine was
before COVID.
Now that I know that we canblame it on COVID, that's what
I'm calling mine.
Man, look at this COVID belly,this COVID 36.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
COVID, 42,.
Man, I'm taking it, whatever itwas.
I feel bad because you got yourhat on.
I got my hairline showing.
Oh seriously, you have ahairline.
That's the whole thing.
I do not man my hairline and myeyebrows got in a terrible
argument, man, and they was likelook, one of us got to go.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
And so the hairline left, and I was like I'm going
to go, I'm going to go, I'mgoing to go, I'm going to go,
I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to
go.
And so the hairline left andit's just eyebrows left.
So that's what I do and I don'tfight it, man.
No woman is going to knowwhat's really going on until I'm
locked in.
You're going to get a hat on meat all times.
(08:41):
I'm going to bed in a hat, I'mwaking up, skull caps,
everything.
It's not until you, all the wayin, you ain't going to know
what's going on underneath here,man, this is an ancient Chinese
secret underneath my head.
Man, I can't do it.
I recently went to the hospital, man.
This is no lie, man.
Before they put me on theambulance, I was like yo, let me
grab a cap real quick.
(09:01):
It's not going to happen,because I'm going to die back
here and people know what'sgoing on in my head.
No, sir.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Damn man.
How has the comedy scene been?
Because, like I said, you'vebeen around and got the word
will out of names and stillestablishing your name.
How has that been?
Have you gotten star struck yet?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
No, I still am not star struck.
Yet there's two things thathappen for me, man, I've worked
with every man, if you reallyname it DL DC Curry, alisa Deek,
just about nephew time me, ofcourse, kevin Stase, their
friend of mine, cal Tony Baker,to hear I've worked with
(09:44):
everybody right, I don't getstar struck and I think that
when you get star struck is whenyou don't feel like you belong
where they are too Right.
So a lot of my esteem has comefrom and I'll tell you really
who put me in that place andthis is gonna sound weird, but
(10:07):
it was Magic Johnson.
Magic Johnson, I did a show,like you said.
I've been into it a while, soI'm kinda dating myself.
One of my first things I wasstill in college.
Alan Iveson used to have acelebrity softball game.
So Alan Iveson has thiscelebrity softball game.
I ended up being the host ofthe celebrity softball game.
(10:28):
So I did celebrity softballgame.
You got Magic Johnson playingKevin Garnett, everybody from
BET, like it's a who's who, awho's who of people for that
time frame.
So Magic Johnson is at thisshow, at this game.
He's playing in a softball game.
At the end of the game I godown to get Magic Johnson's
autograph.
And Magic Johnson says to medawg, why would I give you my
(10:52):
autograph?
You are bigger stars I have.
And I was like no, because you,first of all, you're Magic
Johnson.
You're internationally known,locally accepted just nobody's
having sex with you.
But other than that, likeyou're Magic Johnson.
So that night in the green roomthey had an after party.
That night we're in the back.
(11:14):
They got like a green room forlike all the VIPs At the time,
hits for the Street was on BET.
It was a big show.
Me and Hits are in there goingback and forth.
We just playing the dozens.
I'm giving him the business.
We going back and forth, likehe giving me, I'm coming right
back with him.
It got so bad the promoter hadto make all the stars leave.
He's like can y'all please goout in this party Cause we
(11:37):
uncharged all these people.
But Magic Johnson, all thesepeople, they all want to sit.
Magic Johnson, kevin Garnett,who's to this day the blackest
person I've ever seen in my life, like they all wanted to stay
in this room to hear me and Hitsgoing back and forth.
At this time Hits got a Hitsshow.
You know what I'm saying.
So for me.
I realized at that point intime man, you're just as good as
(12:00):
they are.
They're humans.
They shop at Target, walmart,all that kind of stuff.
So I don't necessarily get starstruck.
I do appreciate the moments ofworking with people.
Working with Ali to me, Ireally appreciated that moment,
cause that's my guy.
Like I said, I respect him thatmuch.
Dc Curry same thing.
(12:21):
When I did my show with DCCurry I was like dog.
I'm in the room with DC Curry.
Dl Hugley took me out to eatwith him.
Afterwards I'm sitting at thetable with DL Hugley.
I'm like dog.
I'm sitting at the table withDL Hugley and he felt that I was
enough of his peer to invite meto come eat with him.
You know what I'm saying.
He invited me to come breakbread with him.
(12:41):
Now I don't ever take any of itfor granted.
I'm gonna soak up all theknowledge and information I can
get from them.
I'm still humble around them,but I don't get star struck if
that makes any sense.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
It makes sense.
It makes sense Now.
I got star struck when I did ashow for DL Hugley last year,
cause that's somebody thatstudied, whatever the case may
have you.
But when we met in that greenroom, at the funny bone he just
introduced himself like a normalperson working that target,
like he was just like a normal.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
He ain't not an abnormal dude.
At the end of the day, yourealize all of these guys are
people.
They just have excelled intheir careers.
Nobody walks into McDonald'sand be like, oh my God, it's a
cashier.
You know what I'm saying.
If all y'all put on thatMcDonald's shirt, we all get in
she ain't like oh my God, he'son fries.
I can't believe you're talkingto the fry guy.
(13:37):
If Grimmis walk in, you justlike what up Big G and you keep
it moving, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Big Fags.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
I would probably if I had to get started.
It would probably be like somemusician that I've never worked
with or whatever.
Like it would have to be likeif Lauren Hill walked in the
room and I would probably missher, cause she'll be like three
hours late.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah, I saw that video.
She been doing that shit forover 20 years.
All right, then, the time, thetime she on it.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
I don't know why people go to Lauren Hill
concerts at this point,expecting her to be on time,
like that's on you, like at thispoint, it's your fault for
going and expecting her to be ontime, but she's still my fave.
Like I would probably getstarted with Stevie Wonder.
Stevie Wonder, if I walk in theroom, stevie Wonder's in the
room, I probably wouldn't havenothing to say, I'd probably
just be like, and I'd be like ohmy God, don't let them see me.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
He be like yeah, I watch you stand up all the time
clean this oh my God, I'd laughit like wild Stubblin.
Are you still in Virginia?
Are you originally fromVirginia?
Are you still in Virginia?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
So I was born in Colorado man, but raised in
Virginia, right right in thecapital city, portsmouth.
So yeah, it's still inPortsmouth.
People don't believe me when Isay I still live in Portsmouth.
Like, I still live inPortsmouth, man, I know how to
duck and dive and shoot backwhen you got to.
I have a vision.
(15:06):
Without being too deep, my wholething was man.
I got two kids man, one that Ilove and one that I'm getting
used to.
And with my kids, I always hada vision of I'm not gonna have
to be a father from afar.
So people have always been likeyo, you need to move to DC, you
need to move to New York, youneed to move to LA, and I'm like
but where they gonna be at?
You know what I'm saying.
(15:26):
So my first priority has alwaysbeen to them.
So I never left and I've got avision.
If I can make it from here,that's where it's gonna be, and
I feel like I can.
And I've been blessed to be ina lot of opportunities.
But I've lost a lot ofopportunities just because I
haven't lived in like a LA orNew York, but I feel like
they'll come back to me.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
They definitely will, man.
So you started off at thecollege.
How has the comedy scene beenfor you as you was going up and
getting further along into thegame?
Because, like I said, you'rerated funny in my opinion.
You know what I mean.
I appreciate it, man.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Comedy is.
I've always excelled Comedy is.
It's a weird business.
Comedy is one of the onlybusinesses you can get fired
after being good.
Being good can really hurt youin comedy Because you got a lot
of insecure headliners and I'mtalking about, like guys that
don't want an A list.
So you got a lot of guys on theA list who are really, really
(16:24):
insecure and don't want to workwith anybody who they think is
gonna be a threat to what theygot going on.
They might steal some shinefrom them on the show.
So being mediocre gets you alot of work in comedy.
Like if you just good enough tonot bomb, like everybody, man,
come on, man, open it and do allthis stuff.
But man, if you good, goodpeople like hey, man, you all
(16:45):
right, you'll never hear fromthem again.
So that has been one of thethings that's been difficult.
There's not a lot ofcollaboration.
Also, the game has just changed.
It used to be you had to hit,you had to go through the open
mic circuit.
Then you had to start hosting,start featuring and building
your business building yourbusiness up, building your setup
(17:08):
, building your material up.
Now it's about if I can get ahot viral video.
I'm in, like, if you get a hotviral video man, that 30-second
video people will book you in aheartbeat.
I watched Ha Ha Davis and Ha HaDavis was like he didn't
understand it.
He had to learn the game.
Ha Ha Davis was viral, funny onsocial media.
(17:31):
One of his first shows was theApril Fool's show at Madison
Square Garden.
He comes out to Madison SquareGarden doing that show and he
realizes oh no, man, this isdifferent.
I got a really new comedy Likeuh-oh, I ain't got no jokes, I
ain't got no material.
So he had to go back and getmaterial.
So that's one of the thingsthat has changed in the game.
But I've done well, man, I'vebeen able to go.
(17:53):
Man I think me and my daughterwere counting the other day, man
, like 29, 30 out of 50 statesto do comedy in Both coasts.
I've done a lot of things thatI've dreamed of been on TV,
national televised and even onsocial media stuff with Kev on
stage.
It's a sitcom done RolandMartin multiple times.
(18:14):
So it's, I mean, it's been awhirlwind.
I'm writing for people that Inever thought I would be writing
for in a million years.
So it's a good time, man.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Yeah yeah, bro, so blessing, it's a blessing, like
I say it like this it's only afew comedians that I really look
up to and I know you're notoriginally from here but from
somebody from Virginia that'sdoing what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Salute, man, I appreciate it and no, I counted,
I mean man like it was threeyears in Colorado.
So you know, virginia is reallystill home, man.
I went to elementary school,middle school and high school in
Virginia.
So Virginia is home and there'snothing but greatness here.
You know what I'm saying.
Virginia is home me and made mewho I am.
There's so much greatness here,but I want to be one of the
(19:01):
greats from Virginia that stillis Virginia to the core and
everybody knows that's aVirginia guy.
You know what I'm saying somany times because Virginia
hasn't been put on the map.
People look at a lot of ourVirginia icons and think they're
from somewhere else.
People look at Pharrell and belike, oh, he got to be from New
York.
(19:21):
They look at Missy and they belike she got to be from Atlanta
or LA.
But he's like, nah, he stayedfrom right.
And DL Huggley was born inPortsmouth and he only stayed
for like a day, but he was bornhere.
They made that stop.
Portsmouth, general, that'swhere he was born.
Wanda Sykes is Portsmouth.
You know what I'm saying.
We've got people who arePortsmouth, and I ain't just
(19:44):
talking about our athletes.
It's crazy, but Virginia hasgot so much.
When they say it's something inthe water.
It's true.
It's just we got to make itstick to where people recognize
Virginia.
I'm working on it and I ain'ttalking about DC.
So all you DMV people, it's notwhat I'm talking about.
It's about real Virginia.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Real Virginia.
Yeah, I agree I think Virginiahas a lot of talent up and
coming and established talent.
Just got to have some work witheach other a little bit.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
We got to start collaborating and we got to
realize, man, one of the thingsI love about LA when I go to LA,
right, one of the things I loveabout LA you can put people in
a room.
If there's a writer, an actorand a photographer or
videographer in a room, thewriter that act in a
videographer can see each other.
(20:37):
They be like yo look, I write,yo, I act, I record, yo, let's
put something together on filmand there ain't no question of
who's going to get the creditfor, who's going to get the
money for, who's going to be thebig name nothing, it's like all
three of us work, let's work,let's put it together, it's
together, and then they go abouttheir business.
They've learned how tocollaborate.
That's one of the things wehaven't learned how to do.
We haven't learned how to belike let's collaborate.
(21:00):
I look at Kevin Hart and theplastic cup boys.
Right, all of the plastic cupboys are talented in their own
right.
Nain Spank, all of them aretalented in their own right.
But they realize that if wework with Kev, if we come
underneath Kev, he's taking usto places we not be able to take
(21:21):
ourselves.
So let's collaborate, let'smake Kev shows great.
Let's write for Kev, let's makehis stuff pop and he takes us
with him and all of us aregetting to a bigger place.
That's the kind ofcollaboration I'm talking about
in Virginia.
Like I want Kev to realize wecan all get together and do
skits, put together skits thatare quality skits.
We can get together or write aquality movie.
(21:43):
All of us work together, ratherthan everybody trying to trying
to for Nago.
They all weigh in, only worryabout them.
Man, if we all come togetherand collaborate, it'll work.
If we look at and I know I'mgoing long- on your podcast.
But if you look at even comedy,go back and look at Eddie
Murphy's Raw.
Eddie Murphy's Raw is producedby Keenan Iver Wayans, Keenan.
(22:09):
At that time Keenan was stilldoing his stand up and Eddie was
doing a stand up.
But Keenan is like yo, let meget in, help my brother get the
way he got to get.
It's going to come back for me.
Kim is in the front.
You see, Kim, if you actuallywatch the, if you ever watch
Eddie Murphy's Raw, Kim is oneof the people like I'm here to
see Eddie Murphy, Like that'sKim, that's Kim Wayans, the
(22:31):
sister.
She's getting FaceTime in there.
So now she's getting credits.
Everybody is working togetherand that's what made them great
Prior to seeing Murphy as such asuch competition that he didn't
help him prior would giveMurphy wisdom.
He's sitting and talking to him.
He talked about it.
You know what I'm saying.
(22:52):
Eddie Murphy talked about it.
So now we got cats that if I'mon, I don't want to let you get
on.
Or I ain't talking to JeromeLike I ain't going to give him
no tidbits, I ain't going totell him how to do it.
That's the wrong way.
I should be willing to be likeyour Jerome got a podcast.
Absolutely, get on his podcast.
Let's push it.
You know what I'm saying and Idon't care, I got my own podcast
(23:13):
.
I don't care if your podcastgoes great.
That's what's meant for you.
That's how it should go.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
I think everybody wants to be a big fish in a
small pond.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
And they end up drowning each other man.
It's even enough suffocating,you do.
Let me be a small fish in theocean with room to grow.
You know what I'm saying.
We all in this ecosystem, weall go get together.
Now there's going to be somewhales out there, man, and you
know what, and I'm probably endup dating all of them.
But that's not the point.
Some guys go date a Barracuda.
(23:47):
Some of us are going to end upwith a great white.
It's going to happen.
Give me the beluga.
Give me the beluga?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
I don't know, I just want the fan and dory kind of
chick.
Did you forget everything?
I'm sorry, I forgot about it.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Probably the best kind, though, man.
I used to want to date Fantasiabefore she could read.
I'd be like, man, I'll be outall week.
And she'd be like where was youat?
I'd be like I left you a note,but that ain't got nothing to do
with it.
That is, you can read I don'twant her and like the next man
can have her.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
The next man can have her.
Yeah, yeah, I don't know, it'sa lot of I don't know.
I do my own thing, man, I'msilent and I travel and do my
thing.
And, like I said, you were likeone of the inspirations because
, like my friend, when we wentto see you on at Ali Sadid, we
saw you on Ali.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Sadid.
We all went to go see Ali and Ijust happened to be there.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
That's what happened, but go ahead.
She was like I never heard ofCletus.
I said you never heard ofCletus.
My homeboy AJ told me about you.
I looked you up all over thepandemic, the lockdown.
I said let me tell yousomething.
He's from VA.
He said I never heard him.
I said I think he was just oneof those guys that does his shit
(25:03):
perform and just bow out.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
That's exactly what he probably do I'm horrible at
promoting myself.
Man, that's what, and I know myfault.
So I got to get a team ofpeople that are doing it.
Man, like the humility is ahard thing for me, like I stay
humble, I go do my show.
Like you don't ever see me, andI see cats.
They try to put out yo, I'm thebest in VA.
(25:30):
Like I'm the best in the city.
Come holler at me Like youcan't, can't, nobody do what I
do and I sit back and I watchand a lot of stuff that they say
, that they trying to do like Idid it, like I've been there,
like nobody from Portugal haddone chocolate Sundays before me
.
Like nobody I've done chocolateSundays.
I've been to LA, done chocolateSundays, got my time, got my
(25:54):
stand ovation.
Like I've done all of that.
So now when you say, whenpeople say that they gone, I'm
the first one, you're not youjust the first one to go and
brag and boast about it.
But I've been known at LA, I'vebeen all over the country.
You know what I'm saying.
So that's, that's on me, thoughA lot of people got that Dion
Sanders attitude Like they gone,get out there.
(26:16):
Hey, everybody, look at me, butare you winning?
Though that was my fault Dion'swinning in his heart.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
I'm about to say.
You know, he just lost for astraight little tough.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
It's four and six.
It's crazy out there.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
But it's more games.
It go buffs If Dion, if youlisten to it coach, send us all
the money you want.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Dion must be the money.
Turning me on must be the money.
Yeah, yeah, we remember that.
You can't let that down, but weremember it.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Actually, you know what I was listening to that at
work today.
I have no reason, rhyme orreason to even lie to you.
So what's worse?
Speaker 2 (26:58):
What's worse, dion Sanders with must be the money,
or Eddie Murphy with party allthe time, party all the time.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
As you like.
Party all the time.
My girl likes to party all thetime If you want it.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
I don't know what Eddie was on.
I don't know where Eddie was on, but I hope he never gets on it
again.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
If you want to see something that's bad, look up
the song he did with MichaelJackson.
What's up with it?
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I saw that that whole singing career.
Now by far I think the mosttalented individual probably
walking on this earth right nowis Jamie Foxx.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
This is like.
Jamie Foxx is one of the fewpeople that can find himself top
five in multiple categories.
If you want to go be like, ifyou want to be like voice, if
you want to be like music, youcan easily put Jamie top five.
Because he sings, he plays,writes, you can easily put Jamie
top five.
Music comedy you can easily putJamie in his stand up top five.
(28:04):
When you start something outlike a part of his career that a
lot of people look over is,jamie does impressions.
So if you want to be likeimpressions, you can put Jamie
up there.
Then the acting you can putJamie up there.
You play pickle ball, which isprobably right now my favorite
sport.
You can't miss what Jamie isdoing.
Jamie would have that massiveEddie though he shouldn't have
(28:28):
sung, but when you got enoughmoney and you got people around
you, that's just going to belike yes, that's how you end up
with that album.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
You did reggae for a couple of years too.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
I'm like Eddie, you killing them dog.
You sound just like you fromthe island One, two, three Eddie
.
No, you should have somebodyshould be friend enough with
Eddie.
They've been like no because no, no, edward, edward.
(28:59):
That's what they should havebrought out, edward.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Murphy no, he did, he did reggae.
You know how you go onInstagram.
Sometimes, man, they got likesome of those four page and I
had didn't.
I know he did a song, michaelJackson to today and I did not
know he did reggae until like acouple of years ago and I looked
it up and, eddie, I love you, Ithink you the goat, you sign
field my top two, but Edward.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Reagan Murphy, stop it.
Hell middle name is Reagan.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
I had one.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Reagan Murphy, I was like stop it.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Shit, but his genius is in impact.
Well, hey, they're going likean Eddie ramp, like yesterday.
I was watching as bad with him.
And on wisdom and move fromwhen he was a boxing, like 2002
or whatever.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Great.
He's got a movie, mr Church.
Mr Church Like it.
I'm in.
Mr Church like yo, who, likehis acting, is top notch.
Just don't sing.
Edward Jimmy got so listen thatrole and dream girls was made
(30:06):
for him.
An album.
No, let Jennifer Hudson sing analbum.
Let Beyonce.
You were not here for that.
That's not why you were here,edward.
Edward Reagan Murphy, stop it.
Don't sing no more.
He can date all the singers hewant, whether he was married to
a spice girl.
He dated Johnny Gill, but justdon't sing anymore.
(30:31):
My bad, I said to think I don'tknow if he was dating Johnny
Gill.
John was just living in thepool house.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Yeah, johnny, johnny Gill's ex -wife, right, johnny
Gill's ex-wife.
Uh shit, how?
Just a pivot.
Now you see a lot of peopledoing comedy.
You see everybody, everybodydoing comedy.
They going from transition fromskits to stand up, stand up
skits and even music to stand up.
(31:00):
How do you have there ever beenlike a mommy, like man this guy
should just stop outside ofEdward Reagan Murphy doing music
.
Has there ever been anybodylike you know it might not pivot
for him a little bit.
He might want to focus onsomething else, or do you know
it?
Just keep going.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Don't quite.
I see it all the time.
So here's the thing aboutcomedy.
First of all, comedy issubjective.
So just because I don't thinkit's funny doesn't mean that
there isn't a group of peopleout there.
You just got to find a group ofpeople that thinks whatever you
do is funny.
I'm I'm a comedy purist.
Like I studied comedy, so Iknow the difference between
stand up comedy, physical comedy, storytelling, slapstick, all
(31:40):
of those different things.
Like I'm, I'm into the rules ofthree, I know what callbacks
are.
Like I can physically tellpeople what the formulation of a
joke is, but I can't tell youhow to be funny, right, I think
that one of the problems that wehave now is that there's two
different levels of comedy andpeople aren't differentiating
(32:00):
between the two.
There never used to be the thethe advent of social media.
Social media, I say, is alwaysa double-edged sword.
The good thing about socialmedia is it gives everybody a
voice.
The bad thing about socialmedia is that it gives everybody
a voice, right, it's a wholelot of people you shouldn't be
hearing from.
(32:20):
So now, because of social media, there weren't ever really
amateur comedians when we weregrowing up, right or in back in
the day there was comp.
You, if you got into comedy, yougot into comedy because that's
what you were trying to do.
Now you got people who justdipple and dabble.
(32:42):
They do it just to get someviews.
We just try to be silly on onfilm so that I can get views.
The more views I get, thesocial media pay me a check,
like.
So now you see a lot of peopledoing stuff that it really
wasn't before, and that's in allof the different lanes and
(33:03):
genres of comedy.
So, like when people are doingparodies.
I ain't mad about people doingparodies, I just want you to be
good at it.
And if you're going to do anyof those things to me, go be a
professional about it.
Get into it, because I take thecraft seriously, but a lot of
people don't.
They just out there, they belike yo dawg.
I can make some money realquick.
Let me throw something,anything on film and I'm there.
(33:26):
Let me just get on stage.
Let me go to a comedy classreal quick.
Oh, like, cats graduate.
And you know I don't want todisparage you, this is your
story.
But cats will go to a comedyclass and then go to a comedy
school.
They'll graduate on Tuesday,wednesday night, they done
started a room at El Taco Locoand I'm like, dawg, you not
ready for that yet?
(33:46):
Like you haven't paid any dues,you haven't learned the game,
you ain't even got you nomaterial yet.
It's not time for you to be atEl Taco Loco.
And then El Taco Loco is noteven a venue that's ready for
comedy.
Like we disrespecting the gameby just throwing it up in the
lobby of McDonald's, like that'snot what we need to do.
(34:06):
So what I see in the 757 thathurts me is I'll see 25 people
try to do a room per week andeverybody's got the same seven
comedians.
Now you're all doing theseshows the same seven comedians.
You're all getting in is eithergetting free or it's $5.
And then when you try to put ona show and you be like, hey, I
got $25 tickets, and you be likewhy won't nobody pay for my $25
(34:30):
ticket?
Because I saw you every daythis week at El Taco Loco for
free or for free beers.
Listen, if we get together right, we can create a comedy scene.
We get together, we say, look,we only gonna have one mic,
there's only gonna be one openmic and it's gonna be in a nice
place.
We're gonna get everybody to gothere.
(34:52):
And guess what?
You can't get on that mic everyweek.
If you're gonna come to thatmic, you're gonna do it, you're
gonna do well with it, you'regonna work, but you ain't coming
back for like three weeks.
Now we're gonna rotate in fiveor six people.
That way we don't have peopledoing comedy marathons where the
open mic is 74 people gettingthree minutes apiece.
(35:13):
What?
Who wants to sit through that?
I Love comedy and I'm notsitting through that.
Now, if we cut it down to tenpeople Getting ten minutes
apiece and they can actually getin there.
Now you got comics coming inactually being able to work on
material.
Because I got ten minutes, Ican work.
(35:33):
I can learn the whole game.
I could look how to come inwith an open, I can learn how to
close, I can learn how to doCrowdwork, because I've actually
got time.
Three minutes I get to work ona joke, maybe two, depending on
what type of style you have.
Hey, cut it down, let everybodycome in.
It's.
But that takes people thinkingoutside of the box and thinking
(35:55):
about me, me, me.
I want a room at El Taco loco.
Calm down, let's make the wholecomedy scene better, then we'll
be better and we become one ofthose cities like DC, new York,
where people come and they knowoh, it's good comedy here, it's
great comedians here, and whenwe actually train our comedians
and get them worked up, we cansend them anywhere and everybody
(36:16):
knows oh no, if it's a comiccoming from the 75, he gonna be,
he gonna be fire, becausepeople talk like I go other
places, I'll go to other citiesand they'll be like yo, please,
yo, we had these go.
I will never forget a comedian,hamburger Hamburger came here.
He did a show.
(36:36):
After the show, hamburger callsme and he's mad at me.
I was like yo, I wasn't on theshow.
He's like yo, why are you nottraining these young cats up?
He said man, I was on the showwith these cats and I can't take
none of these cast in New York.
I can't take none of these catsnowhere.
They not ready.
He said it's up to you as a oldhead to get them together.
And I'm like dog, they don'tlisten to me.
I was like these guys alreadyknow, they know everything, they
(36:59):
.
They took a comedy course orthey saw a video and now they
got a room at El Taco loco Don't.
It was 15 people at the lastshow.
You can't tell them nothing,cuz it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
It really is me.
I just my fault.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
I was just me letting it out.
Man, you allow me to it is getit off my chest, my apple bosom.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
I kind of I've been, I've been doing it for years and
I had two years in the lockdown, so I've seen it and I've seen
people go in, I've seen peopleflame out and I'm like you know
it's perks to have in the roomand then it's downsides to
having a perks is you get toperform, downside is you don't
(37:42):
get to perform.
So like an opportunity comes upon a day that you have that
room, you gotta find somebody tohost.
Can't find nobody to host, doyou get you to miss that on a
golden opportunity to actuallygo towards another Market, like
a whole demographic, like I'mnot known?
So I'll take a chance on anyroom.
(38:03):
Friday I did this past Friday'ssulfur arts and it had an open
mic Tomorrow.
Or imputed podcast come out.
Wednesday I have one of Ambermusic hall.
Thursday I got an audition withAGT frat.
Day I'm back in an open micagain.
Saturday I'm at an open mic.
Sunday I'm at an open mic.
(38:23):
But I never wanted my own roombecause I feel like that kind of
slows my progression, because Ican't focus on my jokes.
I gotta do hosting all the time.
I gotta do.
I mean I may get some improv inthere, but it's this you burn,
you burn out your medium.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
I gotta promo.
You do all that stuff and so,for me, don't.
So let me say this I don't wantto discourage you in any way,
like, if you're doing these mics, I'm.
I think what you're doing isnot the.
So you got people who are juststage hungry, right, they just
want to get on to a microphone.
There's a difference betweendoing it with a plan, like you
(39:02):
thought this thing through youdoing this because I need to
work on my Material.
I need to get better.
I'm doing this audition.
I'm working this material.
I'm getting here.
I'm getting here and I'mbuilding up my name.
I'm okay with that.
I'm okay with you.
Having that kind of philosophylike this is part of my work.
This is part of my training.
I'm talking about the peoplewho be like dog.
I've trained all I need totrain I.
(39:22):
I.
Right now I'm top five in thegame as I've been doing this for
36 minutes.
Give me El Taco loco.
Like no whoo dog, like Calmdown.
There's still so much for youto learn, so much.
You're gonna experience like I.
I knew what I was gonna do.
I even I've even had a strategy, like the first time I did a
(39:45):
show in Philly.
Like I don't even think Icharged a dude to bring me to
Philly, like he was like yo, Iwant you to come do this show in
Philly.
I probably was like yo, give metwo cheese steaks, I'm there.
But there was a purpose in it,because I knew that when I went
to go do this show in Philly IKnew once I'm seen, I'm in now
you know what I'm saying.
(40:06):
So the same guy called me later.
He was like yo, I want you todo this show.
And I was like yo, this is whatthe price is now.
He's all.
Man, I was first one to bringyou to Philly, true, but I was
banking on me To, I was bangingon me.
I just needed to be introducedto Philly.
You know what I'm saying.
So I need to do that.
Have strategies, have goals.
(40:27):
Sit there and look, see whereyou want to be and what you want
to do.
This cast is doing comedy rightnow.
You go back and ask them Well,what do you want to do in comedy
?
Where do you want to be?
What do you want to do?
What are your goals?
And I I mean, yeah, never,never, knew there was gonna be a
question like that.
The August should be.
What are your goals?
(40:48):
If it's a financial goal, ifit's a placement goal, if it's
just accomplishment goal,achievement goal, you should
have some goal that you work on,even in your comedy.
If you want to just be like man, I want to be able to say that
I got an hour of material.
That's a goal.
You know what I'm saying.
If you're like man, I got fiveminutes.
Right now I just want to get to15 solid.
(41:09):
That's a goal.
That's when I know that you'reprogressing and you're really
trying to do this thing.
Man, you should have goals.
My bad if I'm.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
I don't got to be a guy preachy man, I'm my bad, you
okay, you okay Because my thingis, when I start hitting all
the mics is the reasons?
Because I either got somethingbig coming up or I got a show
coming up and that's why I hitup all the mics I can.
My goal in comedy is just to begreat.
I want.
(41:40):
I have done 30 minutes.
I have done this.
Do I feel like I'm the best inthe 757?
Hell, no, because I don't wantto limit myself.
Like it coming up four years Igot a OG by a couple of people
in the game Joe Willis Linell,harris, ron Dea Wood.
(42:06):
A couple of people was OG inthe hell out of me.
I'm like the hell.
No, I'm great, I'm doing it, I'mdoing it too much.
And no, four years in thelockdown, a lot more in that
lockdown, and the writing change.
But, like I've seen, I thinkonce I had a buddy when I was
first coming up together.
(42:27):
He was getting t-shirts made,he was getting merchandise made
up.
I'm like, bro, this is my firstyear, this is our first year.
And then you got t-shirts madeup.
He's hitting up the local TVstation to try and get a
showcase on the local TV stationand I'm looking at him like man
, I don't think this shit, Idon't think this is going to go
(42:48):
the way that you wanted to go,because we, like, we went to
comedy school and we only knewabout one mic, one mic at a time
and that was Khazi's.
And I was like bro, like nah,and I was like we can't keep
performing the same material.
We started, I started going outand I got humbled a couple of
times.
I had some bad mikes, but I'vebeen on the street now.
(43:10):
I've been on a good year and ahalf going on to your street or
just straight, no bombing andfocusing, because I got the same
.
I got the study and, like youwere saying earlier,
observational comedy, surrealcomedy, political comedy, sad,
tired comedy, so many differentvariations, crowd work.
I think TK Kirkland is the kingof crowd work, in my opinion.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
Man your boy is working on now, and just because
Matt Reif is killing it now,they just they different levels.
Though the way that TK doescrowd work is, you know it'll
get you killed.
Matt Reif will, do you know, goviral.
Tk is just the ultimatedisrespect.
I mean, I love it though, butthen you know, but like people
forget TK Kirkland is like 89years old.
(43:57):
Like people don't know thatabout him.
Like he stay in great shape.
You know he talk sharp, yeah so, but TK is dope.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
TK is dope, matt is dope.
Matt has.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
And so and people think his rise is a mediocre,
but he been at this and he waslike 15, 16 years old.
Matt Reif has been working andhe just finally got his break.
And so that's the thing, man,like I think people just got to
be you got to keep pushing, yougot to keep doing what you got
to.
You know you doing.
I love to see the driving anddetermination in people, man, I
(44:32):
want to see them to keep goingand you know, keeping the first
thing.
The first thing, man, is beingfunny, getting good material and
being silent in yourself.
I had somebody, man, they theyhated me from the moment they
met me, like because they veryfirst show they came and they
had all kinds of merch made.
They like I'm doing my firstshow, I was like doll.
You got to worry about beingfunny first.
(44:53):
People ain't going to want tobuy your merch if you're not
funny.
Like, that's got to be yourfirst goal.
Now you have all the t-shirts,cups, hats, baby rattles, all
you want, man, and if you ain'tfunny, if you ain't going to buy
it like your, your first thingis let me get my material down,
let me learn how to be funnyfirst, and then you can start
worrying about getting merch andstuff.
Man, like some of the best,don't have no merch.
(45:15):
I lean on.
Sell no merch.
I was worried about being funny.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
You dropped a lot of jewels on this interview and,
like I said, I appreciate it,man, because I ain't gonna lie,
I was like man, I don't think hegoing to show up to the
interview.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Oh no, man, If I say so I'm, I'm about one of the
things you'll.
You'll find out about me, man,the more that you around me, the
more that you talk to me.
I'm a big relationship person,man.
I put relationship usually overfinance and all that kind of
stuff.
So I really believe that theenergy that you put out to
people is the energy that youget back.
So I try to make sure that I'mgood to people.
If somebody reaches out and say,can you come?
(45:56):
I'm, I'm a.
If I say yeah, I'm a, be there,you know what I'm saying.
Now, if I say, let me, let methink about it, it's a good
chance, I'm not going to come,um, or or I'll try.
If I hit you with an, I'll try.
That's going to be rough, butman, you, you stayed on it.
He was like you like yo.
I was like well, what youtalking about?
What day?
You like yo, I'm talking aboutTuesday 830.
(46:17):
What up?
I was like, oh, oh, he real.
Then, Okay, all right, yeah,I'm in then.
So, yeah, man, I appreciate youreaching out, man, yeah man.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
Yeah, man, I had to come correct.
I had to come correct.
Speaker 2 (46:32):
So yeah, and I appreciated it.
Speaker 1 (46:34):
I appreciate you, brother.
Um, I was like I got a show onthe 25th, on black Friday.
Speaker 2 (46:40):
If you want to pull up, man, you got black Friday,
then I'm right, then right afteryou, man.
So I got black Friday, I got to26, that um funny bone at funny
bone.
Yeah, the 26 man.
Hit me up, man, I let you.
I let you get a guest spot, man, get you.
I ain't that type of dudethat's going to lie to you man.
So you hit me up, man, I'll belike man.
You can get a three to five,I'll put your own sight unseen,
(47:02):
man.
So yeah, that's a, if you'reavailable, that's the Sunday
after man.
So, um, my man, anthony Oaks,out of DC, is hosting a comedian
stiletto out of Maryland.
It's going to come in feature.
Then I'm a dude, then I'm aheadline, I'm a dual hours.
It's a one night only.
So it's going to be fun, man,cause I'm.
(47:22):
It's going to be a little bitdifferent, but it's going to be
fun.
Like I'm not a good time I'm.
I'm working up, I'm going to doa special, I'm shooting a
special April six and next year.
So we're trying to trying towork some of the not not the
material for the special, butsome of what's going on for the
speck.
You just got to kind of bethere, man.
(47:43):
So everybody that's listening,man, you know, not only do I
want you to support this man,but you come out supporting me,
man, on the 26th at Sunday, andif y'all support him, man, he'll
be out there too with the funnybone.
Give him a getting the goodspot, yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:55):
Man appreciate that, brother Absolutely.
Man make sure y'all follow thisman, cleetus Cassie, it's
Cleetus, it's Cleetus comedy.
Speaker 2 (48:03):
Cleetus comedy on everything.
Man At Cleetus comedy onTwitter Facebook.
It's Brandon's Twitter FacebookInstagram.
Christian Mingo, all of them,man.
You can find me right there,man, Yup.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
Yeah, yeah, man Make sure y'all follow me comedian
Rome on all social mediaplatforms.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
Rome wasn't built in the day.
Speaker 1 (48:23):
Hell nah, Hell nah the hell.
Speaker 2 (48:25):
Hell nah.
Speaker 1 (48:29):
You follow me, I follow back.
That's my thing, cause I got toshow it a little bit.
I'm going to go ahead and signon off.
Yeah, all right, oh.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode
of the no ID podcast is me,your boy, rome Davis.
I have here Icon in the game.
You seen him at the funny bone.
You seen him on my car ismorning radio show.
He's traveling all around doingcomedy.
He is one of, I would say,virginia goats, but I don't want
(00:24):
to put him in the spot ofVirginia because this man has
moved outside of Virginia comedyscene so far, inspiration for
me to get out of Virginia comedyscene.
I'm not going to say overrated,underrated, but I am going to
say this man is rated funny, theone and only Cleetus Cassidy.
What's going on, brother?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
What's going on, man?
I don't know what to call youRome, romy, rome JD.
Mr Davis is your show, so Iwant to make sure I'm respectful
and everything that I do, man.
But thank you so much forhaving me on, man.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Man, I appreciate you even giving me the opportunity
to bless you with the interview.
Oh hella, nervous, trying tomanage like I emailed you.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah.
Yeah, you was a little bit.
You know, you slid into the DMs.
It was a little weird.
No, I don't know what to do.
No, I really appreciate it.
I think that I got a differentkind of mindset.
With that kind of stuff, man,I'm really approachable.
I love when people reach outand talk.
(01:28):
I don't have a problem withreaching back and talking to
people or sharing my experiencesor things like that man.
So I'm honored.
Anytime anybody feels like theywant to ask me questions, I'm
like word, let's get it.
You know what I'm saying yeah,man.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
So let's just get right into it.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Let's get right into it Earlier.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
like I told you, man, I've seen you all around, but
about two and a half weeks agowas the first time I actually
saw you in person and it was atIleesa D.
And when I'm telling you, meand my date were weak as hell
when you did the big, tittybroad joke.
You demonstrated what she gothrough.
(02:12):
I just want to know how did youget your starting comedy lead?
What made you do it?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Man, so my kind of flow in comedy is a little
different than a lot of people's.
Man, I never grew up wanting todo comedy.
I didn't have that as a as amind goal.
Like you know, some people wakeup every day and they like they
got that a sistaic to you.
Wake up in the morning andthink you were singing and you
were singing.
That won't ever my thing, man.
I went to college to be a gymteacher because I was like man
(02:40):
who does the most work, I mean,who gets the most money without
we're doing the least work?
And I was like gym teachers.
I had never seen a gym teacher.
And then it was like man, I hada hard day at work.
Man, you throw a ball out, yougo sit in the corner, you call
it a day.
So naturally my personality hasalways been with and things of
that nature, man, and in fact Ijust did.
(03:03):
I just spoke to a group ofpeople recently and I let them
know that humor for me hadalways been a defense mechanism.
I use it as a defense mechanism, man, like when I was growing
up, we grew up, we grew up po,because we couldn't afford an OR
.
That was a lot.
So we just we can get a P and aO, but that was a lot, man, we
(03:25):
ate at a restaurant called pofolks.
That's exactly what we was withit.
So I got joked and differentthings like that.
We grew up in the hood so I hadto use it to fight back.
So I had to be able to be smartenough and witty enough to joke
with anybody.
Let anybody know, yo don't evenstart it.
So it got to a point where I wasjust that good and nobody would
(03:45):
.
Even they was like yo, thatain't the one you wanted with.
You know what I'm saying.
Where, you know, you had guyswho physically you didn't want
it with.
They knew verbally, yo, thatthat ain't the one.
Like he got on a peritonics man, but just let them live.
So that was that.
But so it was just a naturalprogression for me and I think
sometimes the old saying thatyou know we want to walk it to a
(04:09):
certain path, though we want,you know, god answer our prayers
, Like a lot of times he alreadygot everything set up for us
and he's waiting on us to walkit to it.
And so that's what happenedwith me, man, like my stuff just
ended up being why I ended upon stage Like I went to college
to be a PE teacher, ended up onthe radio from there, ended up
working at BET.
There, bet, just doing astandup Like never been in the
(04:29):
classroom to teach.
So it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Man.
I appreciate that man.
You're a beast.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
I'm just up there trying to find my niche and just
try to do me.
I think that's the easiestthing for people.
It's like you got to do me LikeI'm on that show.
You can't see me when I'mopening for Ali, and to me,
ali's the deep top five in thegame right now.
You know what I'm saying.
So do you get intimidated bythat?
That's the thing.
Do you get intimidated by beingon the show with somebody who's
top five or do you try to belike well, look, man, it's five
(05:02):
spots.
You know what I'm saying.
Let me get one of those spotstoo.
So I just try to go up thereand do me and comedy subjective.
So either you're going to likeit or you're not going to like
it, but I'm going to give youthe best of me while I'm on that
stage.
It's not going to beintimidated by it and that's all
I try to do.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
It is top five.
Yeah, top five, my top five.
You work with them every day.
Well, you've been on this showand I've been on this show,
michael Coyer.
And how did that come aboutwith Michael Coyer?
Michael Coyer.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, I'm not on this show anymore.
We just kind of split and went,you know, separate ways on that
one man, you know.
But we Kobe and Shaq, thatthing.
But Coyer, somebody called youhas a.
He has a comedy section that hedoes on his show daily.
Somebody recommended that I doit.
He calls me.
I pretty much think it's a prankcall.
(05:54):
I get a phone call.
He's like yo, this MichaelCoyer.
I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah,yeah, and I'm doing that,
watching it, like I'm gettingthat call.
He's like no, it really is,michael Coyer, man, can you do a
set on my show?
You'd like three minutes and Iwas like, oh cool, I didn't know
him.
He didn't know me.
Just out of the blue I go onthere.
I killed the three minutes.
He was like yo, you killed thethree minutes, I need you to
(06:15):
come back again.
I was like, all right, just letme know.
He literally called me likethat next week.
He's like yo, can you come backagain?
So I came back again.
When I came back that time,he's like oh, like, I just need
you to start coming on more.
And so I ended up going fromjust being a guest to end up
being one of the co-hosts andproducers of the show and then
(06:35):
kind of traveled and did somedates with him Not sex, because
then I don't want nobodythinking that went wrong.
I want to make sure that got inclearly S-E-T-S, s-e-s-s.
Sometimes it's good to have aSouthern draw, sometimes it
ain't.
But I ended up going on theroad with him for a few shows.
We did a few cities and sothat's how that just kind of
(06:57):
established man.
So that was cool, it was a coolperiod Be able to do that man.
But I'm doing mine, he's doinghis.
It's cool.
But shout out to Mike Carl, youman Just reaching out.
It was on the blur, and that'sthe thing I tell people be
prepared for whatever may comefor you.
A lot of people don't thinkthey can be prepared for success
.
You got to be ready to rock.
(07:19):
You got to be ready to go whenpeople be like, oh I, here's
your chance.
You got to be able to take itand run with it.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
That's right you got to.
Yeah, you just got to walk thatpath.
I got it all figured out foryou because you ain't got to
figure it out.
Man, I know what you want to do.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Man, I was horrible in math so you know my figure is
bad.
So there ain't no way I'm goingto worry about somebody else
figure.
I can't figure nothing out, manLike you.
Look at me.
I'm barely in this little box.
Man, you got your whole body inthe box on the screen.
Man, I am barely in here, it'sjust hand and shoulders, Bro.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
I'm sitting up right now.
I'm trying to hide the COVIDbelly that's going down right
now.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Oh man, at least yours is COVID belly, mine was
before COVID.
Now that I know that we canblame it on COVID, that's what
I'm calling mine.
Man, look at this COVID belly,this COVID 36.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
COVID, 42,.
Man, I'm taking it, whatever itwas.
I feel bad because you got yourhat on.
I got my hairline showing.
Oh seriously, you have ahairline.
That's the whole thing.
I do not man my hairline and myeyebrows got in a terrible
argument, man, and they was likelook, one of us got to go.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
And so the hairline left, and I was like I'm going
to go, I'm going to go, I'mgoing to go, I'm going to go,
I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to
go.
And so the hairline left andit's just eyebrows left.
So that's what I do and I don'tfight it, man.
No woman is going to knowwhat's really going on until I'm
locked in.
You're going to get a hat on meat all times.
(08:41):
I'm going to bed in a hat, I'mwaking up, skull caps,
everything.
It's not until you, all the wayin, you ain't going to know
what's going on underneath here,man, this is an ancient Chinese
secret underneath my head.
Man, I can't do it.
I recently went to the hospital, man.
This is no lie, man.
Before they put me on theambulance, I was like yo, let me
grab a cap real quick.
(09:01):
It's not going to happen,because I'm going to die back
here and people know what'sgoing on in my head.
No, sir.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Damn man.
How has the comedy scene been?
Because, like I said, you'vebeen around and got the word
will out of names and stillestablishing your name.
How has that been?
Have you gotten star struck yet?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
No, I still am not star struck.
Yet there's two things thathappen for me, man, I've worked
with every man, if you reallyname it DL DC Curry, alisa Deek,
just about nephew time me, ofcourse, kevin Stase, their
friend of mine, cal Tony Baker,to hear I've worked with
(09:44):
everybody right, I don't getstar struck and I think that
when you get star struck is whenyou don't feel like you belong
where they are too Right.
So a lot of my esteem has comefrom and I'll tell you really
who put me in that place andthis is gonna sound weird, but
(10:07):
it was Magic Johnson.
Magic Johnson, I did a show,like you said.
I've been into it a while, soI'm kinda dating myself.
One of my first things I wasstill in college.
Alan Iveson used to have acelebrity softball game.
So Alan Iveson has thiscelebrity softball game.
I ended up being the host ofthe celebrity softball game.
(10:28):
So I did celebrity softballgame.
You got Magic Johnson playingKevin Garnett, everybody from
BET, like it's a who's who, awho's who of people for that
time frame.
So Magic Johnson is at thisshow, at this game.
He's playing in a softball game.
At the end of the game I godown to get Magic Johnson's
autograph.
And Magic Johnson says to medawg, why would I give you my
(10:52):
autograph?
You are bigger stars I have.
And I was like no, because you,first of all, you're Magic
Johnson.
You're internationally known,locally accepted just nobody's
having sex with you.
But other than that, likeyou're Magic Johnson.
So that night in the green roomthey had an after party.
That night we're in the back.
(11:14):
They got like a green room forlike all the VIPs At the time,
hits for the Street was on BET.
It was a big show.
Me and Hits are in there goingback and forth.
We just playing the dozens.
I'm giving him the business.
We going back and forth, likehe giving me, I'm coming right
back with him.
It got so bad the promoter hadto make all the stars leave.
He's like can y'all please goout in this party Cause we
(11:37):
uncharged all these people.
But Magic Johnson, all thesepeople, they all want to sit.
Magic Johnson, kevin Garnett,who's to this day the blackest
person I've ever seen in my life, like they all wanted to stay
in this room to hear me and Hitsgoing back and forth.
At this time Hits got a Hitsshow.
You know what I'm saying.
So for me.
I realized at that point intime man, you're just as good as
(12:00):
they are.
They're humans.
They shop at Target, walmart,all that kind of stuff.
So I don't necessarily get starstruck.
I do appreciate the moments ofworking with people.
Working with Ali to me, Ireally appreciated that moment,
cause that's my guy.
Like I said, I respect him thatmuch.
Dc Curry same thing.
(12:21):
When I did my show with DCCurry I was like dog.
I'm in the room with DC Curry.
Dl Hugley took me out to eatwith him.
Afterwards I'm sitting at thetable with DL Hugley.
I'm like dog.
I'm sitting at the table withDL Hugley and he felt that I was
enough of his peer to invite meto come eat with him.
You know what I'm saying.
He invited me to come breakbread with him.
(12:41):
Now I don't ever take any of itfor granted.
I'm gonna soak up all theknowledge and information I can
get from them.
I'm still humble around them,but I don't get star struck if
that makes any sense.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
It makes sense.
It makes sense Now.
I got star struck when I did ashow for DL Hugley last year,
cause that's somebody thatstudied, whatever the case may
have you.
But when we met in that greenroom, at the funny bone he just
introduced himself like a normalperson working that target,
like he was just like a normal.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
He ain't not an abnormal dude.
At the end of the day, yourealize all of these guys are
people.
They just have excelled intheir careers.
Nobody walks into McDonald'sand be like, oh my God, it's a
cashier.
You know what I'm saying.
If all y'all put on thatMcDonald's shirt, we all get in
she ain't like oh my God, he'son fries.
I can't believe you're talkingto the fry guy.
(13:37):
If Grimmis walk in, you justlike what up Big G and you keep
it moving, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Big Fags.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
I would probably if I had to get started.
It would probably be like somemusician that I've never worked
with or whatever.
Like it would have to be likeif Lauren Hill walked in the
room and I would probably missher, cause she'll be like three
hours late.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yeah, I saw that video.
She been doing that shit forover 20 years.
All right, then, the time, thetime she on it.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
I don't know why people go to Lauren Hill
concerts at this point,expecting her to be on time,
like that's on you, like at thispoint, it's your fault for
going and expecting her to be ontime, but she's still my fave.
Like I would probably getstarted with Stevie Wonder.
Stevie Wonder, if I walk in theroom, stevie Wonder's in the
room, I probably wouldn't havenothing to say, I'd probably
just be like, and I'd be like ohmy God, don't let them see me.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
He be like yeah, I watch you stand up all the time
clean this oh my God, I'd laughit like wild Stubblin.
Are you still in Virginia?
Are you originally fromVirginia?
Are you still in Virginia?
Speaker 2 (14:44):
So I was born in Colorado man, but raised in
Virginia, right right in thecapital city, portsmouth.
So yeah, it's still inPortsmouth.
People don't believe me when Isay I still live in Portsmouth.
Like, I still live inPortsmouth, man, I know how to
duck and dive and shoot backwhen you got to.
I have a vision.
(15:06):
Without being too deep, my wholething was man.
I got two kids man, one that Ilove and one that I'm getting
used to.
And with my kids, I always hada vision of I'm not gonna have
to be a father from afar.
So people have always been likeyo, you need to move to DC, you
need to move to New York, youneed to move to LA, and I'm like
but where they gonna be at?
You know what I'm saying.
(15:26):
So my first priority has alwaysbeen to them.
So I never left and I've got avision.
If I can make it from here,that's where it's gonna be, and
I feel like I can.
And I've been blessed to be ina lot of opportunities.
But I've lost a lot ofopportunities just because I
haven't lived in like a LA orNew York, but I feel like
they'll come back to me.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
They definitely will, man.
So you started off at thecollege.
How has the comedy scene beenfor you as you was going up and
getting further along into thegame?
Because, like I said, you'rerated funny in my opinion.
You know what I mean.
I appreciate it, man.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Comedy is.
I've always excelled Comedy is.
It's a weird business.
Comedy is one of the onlybusinesses you can get fired
after being good.
Being good can really hurt youin comedy Because you got a lot
of insecure headliners and I'mtalking about, like guys that
don't want an A list.
So you got a lot of guys on theA list who are really, really
(16:24):
insecure and don't want to workwith anybody who they think is
gonna be a threat to what theygot going on.
They might steal some shinefrom them on the show.
So being mediocre gets you alot of work in comedy.
Like if you just good enough tonot bomb, like everybody, man,
come on, man, open it and do allthis stuff.
But man, if you good, goodpeople like hey, man, you all
(16:45):
right, you'll never hear fromthem again.
So that has been one of thethings that's been difficult.
There's not a lot ofcollaboration.
Also, the game has just changed.
It used to be you had to hit,you had to go through the open
mic circuit.
Then you had to start hosting,start featuring and building
your business building yourbusiness up, building your setup
(17:08):
, building your material up.
Now it's about if I can get ahot viral video.
I'm in, like, if you get a hotviral video man, that 30-second
video people will book you in aheartbeat.
I watched Ha Ha Davis and Ha HaDavis was like he didn't
understand it.
He had to learn the game.
Ha Ha Davis was viral, funny onsocial media.
(17:31):
One of his first shows was theApril Fool's show at Madison
Square Garden.
He comes out to Madison SquareGarden doing that show and he
realizes oh no, man, this isdifferent.
I got a really new comedy Likeuh-oh, I ain't got no jokes, I
ain't got no material.
So he had to go back and getmaterial.
So that's one of the thingsthat has changed in the game.
But I've done well, man, I'vebeen able to go.
(17:53):
Man I think me and my daughterwere counting the other day, man
, like 29, 30 out of 50 statesto do comedy in Both coasts.
I've done a lot of things thatI've dreamed of been on TV,
national televised and even onsocial media stuff with Kev on
stage.
It's a sitcom done RolandMartin multiple times.
(18:14):
So it's, I mean, it's been awhirlwind.
I'm writing for people that Inever thought I would be writing
for in a million years.
So it's a good time, man.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Yeah yeah, bro, so blessing, it's a blessing, like
I say it like this it's only afew comedians that I really look
up to and I know you're notoriginally from here but from
somebody from Virginia that'sdoing what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Salute, man, I appreciate it and no, I counted,
I mean man like it was threeyears in Colorado.
So you know, virginia is reallystill home, man.
I went to elementary school,middle school and high school in
Virginia.
So Virginia is home and there'snothing but greatness here.
You know what I'm saying.
Virginia is home me and made mewho I am.
There's so much greatness here,but I want to be one of the
(19:01):
greats from Virginia that stillis Virginia to the core and
everybody knows that's aVirginia guy.
You know what I'm saying somany times because Virginia
hasn't been put on the map.
People look at a lot of ourVirginia icons and think they're
from somewhere else.
People look at Pharrell and belike, oh, he got to be from New
York.
(19:21):
They look at Missy and they belike she got to be from Atlanta
or LA.
But he's like, nah, he stayedfrom right.
And DL Huggley was born inPortsmouth and he only stayed
for like a day, but he was bornhere.
They made that stop.
Portsmouth, general, that'swhere he was born.
Wanda Sykes is Portsmouth.
You know what I'm saying.
We've got people who arePortsmouth, and I ain't just
(19:44):
talking about our athletes.
It's crazy, but Virginia hasgot so much.
When they say it's something inthe water.
It's true.
It's just we got to make itstick to where people recognize
Virginia.
I'm working on it and I ain'ttalking about DC.
So all you DMV people, it's notwhat I'm talking about.
It's about real Virginia.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Real Virginia.
Yeah, I agree I think Virginiahas a lot of talent up and
coming and established talent.
Just got to have some work witheach other a little bit.
Speaker 2 (20:17):
We got to start collaborating and we got to
realize, man, one of the thingsI love about LA when I go to LA,
right, one of the things I loveabout LA you can put people in
a room.
If there's a writer, an actorand a photographer or
videographer in a room, thewriter that act in a
videographer can see each other.
(20:37):
They be like yo look, I write,yo, I act, I record, yo, let's
put something together on filmand there ain't no question of
who's going to get the creditfor, who's going to get the
money for, who's going to be thebig name nothing, it's like all
three of us work, let's work,let's put it together, it's
together, and then they go abouttheir business.
They've learned how tocollaborate.
That's one of the things wehaven't learned how to do.
We haven't learned how to belike let's collaborate.
(21:00):
I look at Kevin Hart and theplastic cup boys.
Right, all of the plastic cupboys are talented in their own
right.
Nain Spank, all of them aretalented in their own right.
But they realize that if wework with Kev, if we come
underneath Kev, he's taking usto places we not be able to take
(21:21):
ourselves.
So let's collaborate, let'smake Kev shows great.
Let's write for Kev, let's makehis stuff pop and he takes us
with him and all of us aregetting to a bigger place.
That's the kind ofcollaboration I'm talking about
in Virginia.
Like I want Kev to realize wecan all get together and do
skits, put together skits thatare quality skits.
We can get together or write aquality movie.
(21:43):
All of us work together, ratherthan everybody trying to trying
to for Nago.
They all weigh in, only worryabout them.
Man, if we all come togetherand collaborate, it'll work.
If we look at and I know I'mgoing long- on your podcast.
But if you look at even comedy,go back and look at Eddie
Murphy's Raw.
Eddie Murphy's Raw is producedby Keenan Iver Wayans, Keenan.
(22:09):
At that time Keenan was stilldoing his stand up and Eddie was
doing a stand up.
But Keenan is like yo, let meget in, help my brother get the
way he got to get.
It's going to come back for me.
Kim is in the front.
You see, Kim, if you actuallywatch the, if you ever watch
Eddie Murphy's Raw, Kim is oneof the people like I'm here to
see Eddie Murphy, Like that'sKim, that's Kim Wayans, the
(22:31):
sister.
She's getting FaceTime in there.
So now she's getting credits.
Everybody is working togetherand that's what made them great
Prior to seeing Murphy as such asuch competition that he didn't
help him prior would giveMurphy wisdom.
He's sitting and talking to him.
He talked about it.
You know what I'm saying.
(22:52):
Eddie Murphy talked about it.
So now we got cats that if I'mon, I don't want to let you get
on.
Or I ain't talking to JeromeLike I ain't going to give him
no tidbits, I ain't going totell him how to do it.
That's the wrong way.
I should be willing to be likeyour Jerome got a podcast.
Absolutely, get on his podcast.
Let's push it.
You know what I'm saying and Idon't care, I got my own podcast
(23:13):
.
I don't care if your podcastgoes great.
That's what's meant for you.
That's how it should go.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
I think everybody wants to be a big fish in a
small pond.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
And they end up drowning each other man.
It's even enough suffocating,you do.
Let me be a small fish in theocean with room to grow.
You know what I'm saying.
We all in this ecosystem, weall go get together.
Now there's going to be somewhales out there, man, and you
know what, and I'm probably endup dating all of them.
But that's not the point.
Some guys go date a Barracuda.
(23:47):
Some of us are going to end upwith a great white.
It's going to happen.
Give me the beluga.
Give me the beluga?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
I don't know, I just want the fan and dory kind of
chick.
Did you forget everything?
I'm sorry, I forgot about it.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Probably the best kind, though, man.
I used to want to date Fantasiabefore she could read.
I'd be like, man, I'll be outall week.
And she'd be like where was youat?
I'd be like I left you a note,but that ain't got nothing to do
with it.
That is, you can read I don'twant her and like the next man
can have her.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
The next man can have her.
Yeah, yeah, I don't know, it'sa lot of I don't know.
I do my own thing, man, I'msilent and I travel and do my
thing.
And, like I said, you were likeone of the inspirations because
, like my friend, when we wentto see you on at Ali Sadid, we
saw you on Ali.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Sadid.
We all went to go see Ali and Ijust happened to be there.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
That's what happened, but go ahead.
She was like I never heard ofCletus.
I said you never heard ofCletus.
My homeboy AJ told me about you.
I looked you up all over thepandemic, the lockdown.
I said let me tell yousomething.
He's from VA.
He said I never heard him.
I said I think he was just oneof those guys that does his shit
(25:03):
perform and just bow out.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
That's exactly what he probably do I'm horrible at
promoting myself.
Man, that's what, and I know myfault.
So I got to get a team ofpeople that are doing it.
Man, like the humility is ahard thing for me, like I stay
humble, I go do my show.
Like you don't ever see me, andI see cats.
They try to put out yo, I'm thebest in VA.
(25:30):
Like I'm the best in the city.
Come holler at me Like youcan't, can't, nobody do what I
do and I sit back and I watchand a lot of stuff that they say
, that they trying to do like Idid it, like I've been there,
like nobody from Portugal haddone chocolate Sundays before me
.
Like nobody I've done chocolateSundays.
I've been to LA, done chocolateSundays, got my time, got my
(25:54):
stand ovation.
Like I've done all of that.
So now when you say, whenpeople say that they gone, I'm
the first one, you're not youjust the first one to go and
brag and boast about it.
But I've been known at LA, I'vebeen all over the country.
You know what I'm saying.
So that's, that's on me, thoughA lot of people got that Dion
Sanders attitude Like they gone,get out there.
(26:16):
Hey, everybody, look at me, butare you winning?
Though that was my fault Dion'swinning in his heart.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
I'm about to say.
You know, he just lost for astraight little tough.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
It's four and six.
It's crazy out there.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
But it's more games.
It go buffs If Dion, if youlisten to it coach, send us all
the money you want.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Dion must be the money.
Turning me on must be the money.
Yeah, yeah, we remember that.
You can't let that down, but weremember it.
Speaker 1 (26:51):
Actually, you know what I was listening to that at
work today.
I have no reason, rhyme orreason to even lie to you.
So what's worse?
Speaker 2 (26:58):
What's worse, dion Sanders with must be the money,
or Eddie Murphy with party allthe time, party all the time.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
As you like.
Party all the time.
My girl likes to party all thetime If you want it.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
I don't know what Eddie was on.
I don't know where Eddie was on, but I hope he never gets on it
again.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
If you want to see something that's bad, look up
the song he did with MichaelJackson.
What's up with it?
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I saw that that whole singing career.
Now by far I think the mosttalented individual probably
walking on this earth right nowis Jamie Foxx.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
This is like.
Jamie Foxx is one of the fewpeople that can find himself top
five in multiple categories.
If you want to go be like, ifyou want to be like voice, if
you want to be like music, youcan easily put Jamie top five.
Because he sings, he plays,writes, you can easily put Jamie
top five.
Music comedy you can easily putJamie in his stand up top five.
(28:04):
When you start something outlike a part of his career that a
lot of people look over is,jamie does impressions.
So if you want to be likeimpressions, you can put Jamie
up there.
Then the acting you can putJamie up there.
You play pickle ball, which isprobably right now my favorite
sport.
You can't miss what Jamie isdoing.
Jamie would have that massiveEddie though he shouldn't have
(28:28):
sung, but when you got enoughmoney and you got people around
you, that's just going to belike yes, that's how you end up
with that album.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
You did reggae for a couple of years too.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
I'm like Eddie, you killing them dog.
You sound just like you fromthe island One, two, three Eddie
.
No, you should have somebodyshould be friend enough with
Eddie.
They've been like no because no, no, edward, edward.
(28:59):
That's what they should havebrought out, edward.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Murphy no, he did, he did reggae.
You know how you go onInstagram.
Sometimes, man, they got likesome of those four page and I
had didn't.
I know he did a song, michaelJackson to today and I did not
know he did reggae until like acouple of years ago and I looked
it up and, eddie, I love you, Ithink you the goat, you sign
field my top two, but Edward.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
Reagan Murphy, stop it.
Hell middle name is Reagan.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
I had one.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Reagan Murphy, I was like stop it.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Shit, but his genius is in impact.
Well, hey, they're going likean Eddie ramp, like yesterday.
I was watching as bad with him.
And on wisdom and move fromwhen he was a boxing, like 2002
or whatever.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Great.
He's got a movie, mr Church.
Mr Church Like it.
I'm in.
Mr Church like yo, who, likehis acting, is top notch.
Just don't sing.
Edward Jimmy got so listen thatrole and dream girls was made
(30:06):
for him.
An album.
No, let Jennifer Hudson sing analbum.
Let Beyonce.
You were not here for that.
That's not why you were here,edward.
Edward Reagan Murphy, stop it.
Don't sing no more.
He can date all the singers hewant, whether he was married to
a spice girl.
He dated Johnny Gill, but justdon't sing anymore.
(30:31):
My bad, I said to think I don'tknow if he was dating Johnny
Gill.
John was just living in thepool house.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Yeah, johnny, johnny Gill's ex -wife, right, johnny
Gill's ex-wife.
Uh shit, how?
Just a pivot.
Now you see a lot of peopledoing comedy.
You see everybody, everybodydoing comedy.
They going from transition fromskits to stand up, stand up
skits and even music to stand up.
(31:00):
How do you have there ever beenlike a mommy, like man this guy
should just stop outside ofEdward Reagan Murphy doing music
.
Has there ever been anybodylike you know it might not pivot
for him a little bit.
He might want to focus onsomething else, or do you know
it?
Just keep going.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Don't quite.
I see it all the time.
So here's the thing aboutcomedy.
First of all, comedy issubjective.
So just because I don't thinkit's funny doesn't mean that
there isn't a group of peopleout there.
You just got to find a group ofpeople that thinks whatever you
do is funny.
I'm I'm a comedy purist.
Like I studied comedy, so Iknow the difference between
stand up comedy, physical comedy, storytelling, slapstick, all
(31:40):
of those different things.
Like I'm, I'm into the rules ofthree, I know what callbacks
are.
Like I can physically tellpeople what the formulation of a
joke is, but I can't tell youhow to be funny, right, I think
that one of the problems that wehave now is that there's two
different levels of comedy andpeople aren't differentiating
(32:00):
between the two.
There never used to be the thethe advent of social media.
Social media, I say, is alwaysa double-edged sword.
The good thing about socialmedia is it gives everybody a
voice.
The bad thing about socialmedia is that it gives everybody
a voice, right, it's a wholelot of people you shouldn't be
hearing from.
(32:20):
So now, because of social media, there weren't ever really
amateur comedians when we weregrowing up, right or in back in
the day there was comp.
You, if you got into comedy, yougot into comedy because that's
what you were trying to do.
Now you got people who justdipple and dabble.
(32:42):
They do it just to get someviews.
We just try to be silly on onfilm so that I can get views.
The more views I get, thesocial media pay me a check,
like.
So now you see a lot of peopledoing stuff that it really
wasn't before, and that's in allof the different lanes and
(33:03):
genres of comedy.
So, like when people are doingparodies.
I ain't mad about people doingparodies, I just want you to be
good at it.
And if you're going to do anyof those things to me, go be a
professional about it.
Get into it, because I take thecraft seriously, but a lot of
people don't.
They just out there, they belike yo dawg.
I can make some money realquick.
Let me throw something,anything on film and I'm there.
(33:26):
Let me just get on stage.
Let me go to a comedy classreal quick.
Oh, like, cats graduate.
And you know I don't want todisparage you, this is your
story.
But cats will go to a comedyclass and then go to a comedy
school.
They'll graduate on Tuesday,wednesday night, they done
started a room at El Taco Locoand I'm like, dawg, you not
ready for that yet?
(33:46):
Like you haven't paid any dues,you haven't learned the game,
you ain't even got you nomaterial yet.
It's not time for you to be atEl Taco Loco.
And then El Taco Loco is noteven a venue that's ready for
comedy.
Like we disrespecting the gameby just throwing it up in the
lobby of McDonald's, like that'snot what we need to do.
(34:06):
So what I see in the 757 thathurts me is I'll see 25 people
try to do a room per week andeverybody's got the same seven
comedians.
Now you're all doing theseshows the same seven comedians.
You're all getting in is eithergetting free or it's $5.
And then when you try to put ona show and you be like, hey, I
got $25 tickets, and you be likewhy won't nobody pay for my $25
(34:30):
ticket?
Because I saw you every daythis week at El Taco Loco for
free or for free beers.
Listen, if we get together right, we can create a comedy scene.
We get together, we say, look,we only gonna have one mic,
there's only gonna be one openmic and it's gonna be in a nice
place.
We're gonna get everybody to gothere.
(34:52):
And guess what?
You can't get on that mic everyweek.
If you're gonna come to thatmic, you're gonna do it, you're
gonna do well with it, you'regonna work, but you ain't coming
back for like three weeks.
Now we're gonna rotate in fiveor six people.
That way we don't have peopledoing comedy marathons where the
open mic is 74 people gettingthree minutes apiece.
(35:13):
What?
Who wants to sit through that?
I Love comedy and I'm notsitting through that.
Now, if we cut it down to tenpeople Getting ten minutes
apiece and they can actually getin there.
Now you got comics coming inactually being able to work on
material.
Because I got ten minutes, Ican work.
(35:33):
I can learn the whole game.
I could look how to come inwith an open, I can learn how to
close, I can learn how to doCrowdwork, because I've actually
got time.
Three minutes I get to work ona joke, maybe two, depending on
what type of style you have.
Hey, cut it down, let everybodycome in.
It's.
But that takes people thinkingoutside of the box and thinking
(35:55):
about me, me, me.
I want a room at El Taco loco.
Calm down, let's make the wholecomedy scene better, then we'll
be better and we become one ofthose cities like DC, new York,
where people come and they knowoh, it's good comedy here, it's
great comedians here, and whenwe actually train our comedians
and get them worked up, we cansend them anywhere and everybody
(36:16):
knows oh no, if it's a comiccoming from the 75, he gonna be,
he gonna be fire, becausepeople talk like I go other
places, I'll go to other citiesand they'll be like yo, please,
yo, we had these go.
I will never forget a comedian,hamburger Hamburger came here.
He did a show.
(36:36):
After the show, hamburger callsme and he's mad at me.
I was like yo, I wasn't on theshow.
He's like yo, why are you nottraining these young cats up?
He said man, I was on the showwith these cats and I can't take
none of these cast in New York.
I can't take none of these catsnowhere.
They not ready.
He said it's up to you as a oldhead to get them together.
And I'm like dog, they don'tlisten to me.
I was like these guys alreadyknow, they know everything, they
(36:59):
.
They took a comedy course orthey saw a video and now they
got a room at El Taco loco Don't.
It was 15 people at the lastshow.
You can't tell them nothing,cuz it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
It really is me.
I just my fault.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
I was just me letting it out.
Man, you allow me to it is getit off my chest, my apple bosom.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
I kind of I've been, I've been doing it for years and
I had two years in the lockdown, so I've seen it and I've seen
people go in, I've seen peopleflame out and I'm like you know
it's perks to have in the roomand then it's downsides to
having a perks is you get toperform, downside is you don't
(37:42):
get to perform.
So like an opportunity comes upon a day that you have that
room, you gotta find somebody tohost.
Can't find nobody to host, doyou get you to miss that on a
golden opportunity to actuallygo towards another Market, like
a whole demographic, like I'mnot known?
So I'll take a chance on anyroom.
(38:03):
Friday I did this past Friday'ssulfur arts and it had an open
mic Tomorrow.
Or imputed podcast come out.
Wednesday I have one of Ambermusic hall.
Thursday I got an audition withAGT frat.
Day I'm back in an open micagain.
Saturday I'm at an open mic.
Sunday I'm at an open mic.
(38:23):
But I never wanted my own roombecause I feel like that kind of
slows my progression, because Ican't focus on my jokes.
I gotta do hosting all the time.
I gotta do.
I mean I may get some improv inthere, but it's this you burn,
you burn out your medium.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
I gotta promo.
You do all that stuff and so,for me, don't.
So let me say this I don't wantto discourage you in any way,
like, if you're doing these mics, I'm.
I think what you're doing isnot the.
So you got people who are juststage hungry, right, they just
want to get on to a microphone.
There's a difference betweendoing it with a plan, like you
(39:02):
thought this thing through youdoing this because I need to
work on my Material.
I need to get better.
I'm doing this audition.
I'm working this material.
I'm getting here.
I'm getting here and I'mbuilding up my name.
I'm okay with that.
I'm okay with you.
Having that kind of philosophylike this is part of my work.
This is part of my training.
I'm talking about the peoplewho be like dog.
I've trained all I need totrain I.
(39:22):
I.
Right now I'm top five in thegame as I've been doing this for
36 minutes.
Give me El Taco loco.
Like no whoo dog, like Calmdown.
There's still so much for youto learn, so much.
You're gonna experience like I.
I knew what I was gonna do.
I even I've even had a strategy, like the first time I did a
(39:45):
show in Philly.
Like I don't even think Icharged a dude to bring me to
Philly, like he was like yo, Iwant you to come do this show in
Philly.
I probably was like yo, give metwo cheese steaks, I'm there.
But there was a purpose in it,because I knew that when I went
to go do this show in Philly IKnew once I'm seen, I'm in now
you know what I'm saying.
(40:06):
So the same guy called me later.
He was like yo, I want you todo this show.
And I was like yo, this is whatthe price is now.
He's all.
Man, I was first one to bringyou to Philly, true, but I was
banking on me To, I was bangingon me.
I just needed to be introducedto Philly.
You know what I'm saying.
So I need to do that.
Have strategies, have goals.
(40:27):
Sit there and look, see whereyou want to be and what you want
to do.
This cast is doing comedy rightnow.
You go back and ask them Well,what do you want to do in comedy
?
Where do you want to be?
What do you want to do?
What are your goals?
And I I mean, yeah, never,never, knew there was gonna be a
question like that.
The August should be.
What are your goals?
(40:48):
If it's a financial goal, ifit's a placement goal, if it's
just accomplishment goal,achievement goal, you should
have some goal that you work on,even in your comedy.
If you want to just be like man, I want to be able to say that
I got an hour of material.
That's a goal.
You know what I'm saying.
If you're like man, I got fiveminutes.
Right now I just want to get to15 solid.
(41:09):
That's a goal.
That's when I know that you'reprogressing and you're really
trying to do this thing.
Man, you should have goals.
My bad if I'm.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
I don't got to be a guy preachy man, I'm my bad, you
okay, you okay Because my thingis, when I start hitting all
the mics is the reasons?
Because I either got somethingbig coming up or I got a show
coming up and that's why I hitup all the mics I can.
My goal in comedy is just to begreat.
I want.
(41:40):
I have done 30 minutes.
I have done this.
Do I feel like I'm the best inthe 757?
Hell, no, because I don't wantto limit myself.
Like it coming up four years Igot a OG by a couple of people
in the game Joe Willis Linell,harris, ron Dea Wood.
(42:06):
A couple of people was OG inthe hell out of me.
I'm like the hell.
No, I'm great, I'm doing it, I'mdoing it too much.
And no, four years in thelockdown, a lot more in that
lockdown, and the writing change.
But, like I've seen, I thinkonce I had a buddy when I was
first coming up together.
(42:27):
He was getting t-shirts made,he was getting merchandise made
up.
I'm like, bro, this is my firstyear, this is our first year.
And then you got t-shirts madeup.
He's hitting up the local TVstation to try and get a
showcase on the local TV stationand I'm looking at him like man
, I don't think this shit, Idon't think this is going to go
(42:48):
the way that you wanted to go,because we, like, we went to
comedy school and we only knewabout one mic, one mic at a time
and that was Khazi's.
And I was like bro, like nah,and I was like we can't keep
performing the same material.
We started, I started going outand I got humbled a couple of
times.
I had some bad mikes, but I'vebeen on the street now.
(43:10):
I've been on a good year and ahalf going on to your street or
just straight, no bombing andfocusing, because I got the same
.
I got the study and, like youwere saying earlier,
observational comedy, surrealcomedy, political comedy, sad,
tired comedy, so many differentvariations, crowd work.
I think TK Kirkland is the kingof crowd work, in my opinion.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
Man your boy is working on now, and just because
Matt Reif is killing it now,they just they different levels.
Though the way that TK doescrowd work is, you know it'll
get you killed.
Matt Reif will, do you know, goviral.
Tk is just the ultimatedisrespect.
I mean, I love it though, butthen you know, but like people
forget TK Kirkland is like 89years old.
(43:57):
Like people don't know thatabout him.
Like he stay in great shape.
You know he talk sharp, yeah so, but TK is dope.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
TK is dope, matt is dope.
Matt has.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
And so and people think his rise is a mediocre,
but he been at this and he waslike 15, 16 years old.
Matt Reif has been working andhe just finally got his break.
And so that's the thing, man,like I think people just got to
be you got to keep pushing, yougot to keep doing what you got
to.
You know you doing.
I love to see the driving anddetermination in people, man, I
(44:32):
want to see them to keep goingand you know, keeping the first
thing.
The first thing, man, is beingfunny, getting good material and
being silent in yourself.
I had somebody, man, they theyhated me from the moment they
met me, like because they veryfirst show they came and they
had all kinds of merch made.
They like I'm doing my firstshow, I was like doll.
You got to worry about beingfunny first.
(44:53):
People ain't going to want tobuy your merch if you're not
funny.
Like, that's got to be yourfirst goal.
Now you have all the t-shirts,cups, hats, baby rattles, all
you want, man, and if you ain'tfunny, if you ain't going to buy
it like your, your first thingis let me get my material down,
let me learn how to be funnyfirst, and then you can start
worrying about getting merch andstuff.
Man, like some of the best,don't have no merch.
(45:15):
I lean on.
Sell no merch.
I was worried about being funny.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
You dropped a lot of jewels on this interview and,
like I said, I appreciate it,man, because I ain't gonna lie,
I was like man, I don't think hegoing to show up to the
interview.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Oh no, man, If I say so I'm, I'm about one of the
things you'll.
You'll find out about me, man,the more that you around me, the
more that you talk to me.
I'm a big relationship person,man.
I put relationship usually overfinance and all that kind of
stuff.
So I really believe that theenergy that you put out to
people is the energy that youget back.
So I try to make sure that I'mgood to people.
If somebody reaches out and say,can you come?
(45:56):
I'm, I'm a.
If I say yeah, I'm a, be there,you know what I'm saying.
Now, if I say, let me, let methink about it, it's a good
chance, I'm not going to come,um, or or I'll try.
If I hit you with an, I'll try.
That's going to be rough, butman, you, you stayed on it.
He was like you like yo.
I was like well, what youtalking about?
What day?
You like yo, I'm talking aboutTuesday 830.
(46:17):
What up?
I was like, oh, oh, he real.
Then, Okay, all right, yeah,I'm in then.
So, yeah, man, I appreciate youreaching out, man, yeah man.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
Yeah, man, I had to come correct.
I had to come correct.
Speaker 2 (46:32):
So yeah, and I appreciated it.
Speaker 1 (46:34):
I appreciate you, brother.
Um, I was like I got a show onthe 25th, on black Friday.
Speaker 2 (46:40):
If you want to pull up, man, you got black Friday,
then I'm right, then right afteryou, man.
So I got black Friday, I got to26, that um funny bone at funny
bone.
Yeah, the 26 man.
Hit me up, man, I let you.
I let you get a guest spot, man, get you.
I ain't that type of dudethat's going to lie to you man.
So you hit me up, man, I'll belike man.
You can get a three to five,I'll put your own sight unseen,
(47:02):
man.
So yeah, that's a, if you'reavailable, that's the Sunday
after man.
So, um, my man, anthony Oaks,out of DC, is hosting a comedian
stiletto out of Maryland.
It's going to come in feature.
Then I'm a dude, then I'm aheadline, I'm a dual hours.
It's a one night only.
So it's going to be fun, man,cause I'm.
(47:22):
It's going to be a little bitdifferent, but it's going to be
fun.
Like I'm not a good time I'm.
I'm working up, I'm going to doa special, I'm shooting a
special April six and next year.
So we're trying to trying towork some of the not not the
material for the special, butsome of what's going on for the
speck.
You just got to kind of bethere, man.
(47:43):
So everybody that's listening,man, you know, not only do I
want you to support this man,but you come out supporting me,
man, on the 26th at Sunday, andif y'all support him, man, he'll
be out there too with the funnybone.
Give him a getting the goodspot, yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:55):
Man appreciate that, brother Absolutely.
Man make sure y'all follow thisman, cleetus Cassie, it's
Cleetus, it's Cleetus comedy.
Speaker 2 (48:03):
Cleetus comedy on everything.
Man At Cleetus comedy onTwitter Facebook.
It's Brandon's Twitter FacebookInstagram.
Christian Mingo, all of them,man.
You can find me right there,man, Yup.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
Yeah, yeah, man Make sure y'all follow me comedian
Rome on all social mediaplatforms.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
Rome wasn't built in the day.
Speaker 1 (48:23):
Hell nah, Hell nah the hell.
Speaker 2 (48:25):
Hell nah.
Speaker 1 (48:29):
You follow me, I follow back.
That's my thing, cause I got toshow it a little bit.
I'm going to go ahead and signon off.
Yeah, all right, oh.
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