A Heartfelt Chat with Elise Hollywood Evans

In this latest episode of the 'Yeah Buddy' podcast, your energetic host, Buddy Rahmig, shares a rich conversation filled with laughter, positivity, and insight with the outstanding Elise Hollywood Evans. As an actress, fashion designer, model, and talk show host, Elise's journey through the entertainment industry is an inspiring testament to resilience and joy.

Dive into discussions about her early exposure to the arts, the Comedy Cash Cow competition, her associations with legendary personalities, and in-depth chats about societal issues and networking strategies. This captivating conversation offers a brilliant blend of entertainment industry insights and infectious laughter. Learn how Elise continuously spreads joy through her work while overcoming barriers and fostering black excellence in the industry.

The episode also spotlights the robust journey of resilience and self-love in the face of societal negativity, stresses the importance of setting personal boundaries, and shares the mesmerizing narrative of Elise's diverse career—ranging from graphic design and dancing to acting, comedy, and film. Also, listen to Elise enthusiastically sharing her phenomenal experiences from various film projects.

End with some amusing observations about roaches and relationships. Tune into this lively, heartfelt interview that carries a precious message about transforming personal art into a beacon of positivity and a testament to the enduring spirit of a radiant woman gracefully navigating life.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Let me get my sniffles out now allergies oh
yeah that's the worst i know every time i wake up and like my eye
just starts swelling up i'm like oh it's that time of year oh my god your eye
doesn't turn into like bernie mack right we talk about that eye yeah no yeah
yeah allergy seems to be ugly for me i'm like god damn yeah like i just got

(00:23):
my ass whooped i was like who beat you up i was I was like, Paulin. Yes.
Yeah. What's going on, world? This is your man, Buddy Romig.
And we are back at it with another episode of the Yeah Buddy podcast.
And this episode is brought to you by the Comedy Cash Cow competition.
So if you want to see a bunch of comedians compete and fight for their chance

(00:45):
to win a thousand dollar cash prize and star in their own short film,
you need to go to www.comedycashcow.com.
Tickets are available right now. And it takes place May 25th in Vacaville,
California at the Journey Theater, man. Like 500 seats.
It's going to be crazy. You're going to have a whole bunch of industry people
in there from managers, agents, film distributors. It's going to be a real good time.

(01:07):
So I encourage everybody to come out there and network. Meet some people that
watch these comedians duke it out and fight it out to see who will take home
the grand prize of the Comedy Cash Cow winner show.
And now we all get into this episode, y'all. Y'all, just like every episode
of the Yeah Buddy podcast, I always try to bring in some of my friends from
the entertainment business, the entertainment industry.

(01:27):
We could chop it up, see what we've been up to, what we got going on,
talk about our journeys in the entertainment business.
And this episode is like no other, y'all. This episode is like no other.
This time I got my good friend right here. We got a, she's an actress.
She's a fashion designer, fashion model, just overall fashion icon is what I would call it.
Talk show host. She is the self-proclaimed, well, not self-proclaimed,

(01:48):
she owns, she lives up to it every time I I've talked to her,
but she is the go-to joy icon.
That's what we call it. She has a clothing line, Joy Life. Right now,
I want y'all to make it live, make it loud for my good friend,
Miss Elyse Hollywood Evans.
Hey, everybody. How you doing? That's H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D. Yeah,
buddy. It's a great opportunity.

(02:10):
Thank you for inviting me to your show. I'm excited, man.
Yes. I'm excited about what you're doing. The show's coming up.
And let me throw my hat in the ring for comedy.
No, I'm not a comedian, but I did work for the biggest comic out there. But, yeah.
Who is this? Who is that? Paul Mooney. Okay. Oh, yeah. Paul Mooney.
He a barrier. Barrier. Yeah.
Oh, he was my godfather.

(02:32):
You be making some moves. I've been like on your Facebook and on the Instagram
and stuff like that. You be like everywhere.
Yeah. Everywhere in the Bay Area. Well, that's what, you know,
my, you know, my hands are everything. Because I like jumping in and out of sandboxes.
You know what I mean? That's what I call it. You know, the play area,
the dramatic play area. So I'm in the dance community.

(02:52):
You know, I'm in two bands. I mean, like performing bands. I have a show this weekend.
You know, I work with my babe, Dr. Robert Parham on movies, soundtracks. Man, I'm writing songs.
I'm excited to be here with you. Like life is exciting for me right now.
Now I got my podcast coming up.
I host a free flow showcase, man.

(03:12):
I am out there working hard in the industry.
What's up everybody out there. Nice to meet you.
This is, this is the lady right here. Y'all she, she, she, how do you like with
all those things that I do this, this, this, this, this, this,
this, this, how, how do you manage to, to, to do all these things?
And all the, are you doing these things? You're doing them at a high level.

(03:33):
Like you're succeeding at these things.
Well, wait a minute. I came on this with my glasses because I wanted to be cool
like you and look like my shirt. But let me take off my glasses to answer that. Okay. Okay.
I'm not sure how to do all of that. I don't know what I'm doing.
I just do it. You know what I mean? Sometimes I feel like, dear God,
what did you do to me? Like, I'm an artist.

(03:54):
I brought some of my work here. I'm about that merchandise. I'm about that bag.
I'm about that band life. I'm about being on that stage.
You know, our band leader to me, he's like James Brown, and you better be on your stuff.
I work with people that you got to be on your toes. So when I'm out there,
I mean, we're going to light that stage on fire.
So every time I step out on stage, oh, no, we're going to give it to you.

(04:17):
I'm going to serve it to you, whether or not I'm hosting a show,
whether or not I'm in my dance crew, whether or not I'm in the band.
Oh, we are here to entertain.
And that's what I do every single day. I wake up entertaining.
That's Robert. Robert, no. No, that's... We... Robert, is this...
No, because, like, the first time I was introduced to you was at the Sactown

(04:39):
Movie Buff Film Festival, the mixer and stuff like that.
I remember I was outside, like, the back patio area because I was looking at
the food truck. I was like, this shit look good, but I don't know.
My pockets, the way my bank account is set up right now, I don't know.
But I see you out there, you had the whole, like, your phone set up on the tripod
and you was just... I don't know if you was taking pictures or recording yourself on stage.
I was all like, yo, this lady's a fucking star. Yeah, this is what I do everywhere I go.

(05:00):
You know, you got to be your own selfie stick show, right?
Sometimes you got to be the show, take the show with you. So no matter what
else is going on around you, I'm still going to be my own show and my own show.
Yeah. You know, and then, of course, we're content builders, right?
So no matter where I go, taking pictures, doing video, meeting great people
like yourself, you know, and always posting because it's all about what the numbers. Yeah, yeah.

(05:23):
It's a numbers game. games yep so i'm about
that i'm about them numbers yeah but on the
one no on the one hey bootsy on the one but anyway
all right so yeah so the go-to
joy icon yes how did how did that name come about and i mean because you embody

(05:43):
it but like how did that name come about it how did you choose to like like
embody like you just everywhere you go you're just spreading joy yeah well it's Well,
first of all, my parents were into the entertainment industry.
My father's a jazz musician.
And then my mother just, she loved plays.
She's a thespian, right? We would go all kinds of places. She's from New York.

(06:04):
So she, you know, first of all, she was into fashion.
One, I went to all the plays and my mother would always want to go backstage
to meet the people. So she was always dragging me with her, right?
And then, you know, as a little girl, I met Sammy Davis Jr..
Lou Ross, you know, my dad got a chance to play with Miles Davis,
although I never met him.
But I heard Miles Davis has been to my house. That's a whole nother story.

(06:27):
Dad played with Dave Brubeck. So, you know, I grew up in it,
you know, and when I was a kid, my mother used to take her foot,
get out there and dance. I'm like, what?
I didn't want to do it. Yeah, but I was in it. And so my mother had me in fashion
shows because she was really active and active in politics and and all this.
So I was always around people and I was always in a parade. You know,
if there's a drill team, I was on the drill team.

(06:49):
So I was always in front of a lot of people all of my life.
So that so it just all that just comes natural and easy walking in a room doing
whatever. What do I need to do?
How do we need to make this work? What we got? You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah.
Because I was going to say, because like most people who I know who I've met
in the like the entertainment world, this entertainment atmosphere,
they got into it at like either either they got into it at an older age or they

(07:13):
were they were the only people within their circle that was doing it and stuff like that.
You, like you said, your your your mom was a thespian. Yes. And then you're
into plays and all that. Yeah.
So so you like so you got like like you just that was just that was just naturally
ingrained in you to be like.
Like this entertainer. Yeah, because my dad helped put the Fillmore District

(07:35):
in San Francisco and the Fillmore Jazz District on a map. I'm from San Francisco.
Born in the 60s. Don't tell anybody, but I still look good. You know what I'm
saying? Black dough crack, black dough crack.
Thank you. Thank you. And there's a mural of my father. His name is Earl Evans.
He went by Chibo. There's a mural of him and Eddie Moore and Merle Saunders
on Hamilton in the Fillmore District honoring Pete Escovedo.

(07:57):
I've had the opportunity to work with the Escovedos. That's Sheila E.'s father
or whatever. But I didn't come of age until I got older in terms of wanting
to act and do all the things that I do, even though I wasn't. I mean, I was around it.
But what got me forward was I carried a camera with me everywhere I went.
And so I would tell people, oh, I'm a part of press.
And I would just go backstage and kept going backstage, filming people, filming people.

(08:20):
And then what happened was some people.
Especially when social media was early on. Some people never had anybody take
photographs of them and they would say, oh, my God, you were in the audience
taking pictures of me or you were backstage.
And I would capture that moment.
And that moment started getting passed around, meaning shared, shared.

(08:40):
Those photos started getting shared. So people would see me and then they started
to believe that I belong backstage.
Stage you know what i mean yeah yeah yeah so it'd be
like come on come on let's you're supposed to be back there or i
would threaten people and say wait a minute you know that guy that's on
stage right now let's say from confunction right one time they
were letting all these ladies on chase me get up there and start dancing and

(09:00):
the guy was like no that's it nobody else can get on stage now i had already
wormed my way backstage and i said you see the bass player over there that's
my brother eric do you know if you don't let me on stage oh it's going to be
a problem and then i I got on stage. Now you got on stage. Now you do your thing.
Yeah. And then just like with the Fantastic Negrito, right? Since I'm a designer
and I wear it myself, sometimes I put celebrities on.

(09:22):
Yeah, I noticed that. Yeah, because you was wearing yourself at the Phil Festival.
I was like, it's not just Jesus Market, but it's nice clothing,
though. Thank you. Yeah.
Thank you. So I have different celebrities that I wear that I've interviewed.
Like you interviewed on a shirt. So to get backstage and meet the Fantastic
Negrito. What's up, Xavier?
Anyway. Yeah. I said, if you don't let, I said, you see this shirt right here?

(09:46):
This is the, this is Mr. Fantastic. And if you don't let me backstage, Mr.
Fantastic is not going to like it. They let me backstage. So now it's like,
people call me, listen, I'm giving this concert. I need you to be there.
Listen, I want you to interview Angie Stone. I've interviewed her,
Confunction, the The Daz Band, Lakeside.

(10:07):
Oh, what's up, Lakeside? I love y'all. But the Tonys, the Escovitos,
I mean, and then all the people that Dr.
Robert turned me on to in the movies and all that.
Man, it's like I listen to the radio. I know the people on the radio.
I've watched a movie now. I know the people in the movies. I just feel like
I belong there. Have you ever felt that?

(10:27):
Yeah. No, especially once I started doing stand-up comedy. Once I started doing
stand-up comedy, I was...
I don't want to say a loner, but I was always just the person that was like,
just to myself, just always doing my own thing, always going to do my own thing and stuff like that.
But then once I got ingrained into the comedy community and stuff like that,
I was like, okay, this is kind of like my tribe.
And I was even doing acting before I started doing stand-up comedy,

(10:49):
but there was just something about the stand-up community and the comedians
where I was just like, this is my fucking group of people right here.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, I was blessed, like I said, to work with Paul Mooney,
my godfather, and Dick Gregory, and may they rest in peace.
Yeah, but through, wow, through Uncle Paul, godfather, I've met so many people

(11:12):
because it was my job to bring first.
OK, this is at the Berkeley Black Repertory Theater when I started there maybe
15 years ago or whatever.
And the night that I met Paul Mooney was the night that I started working for
him through. And thank you, Dr.
Scott and everybody at the Berkeley Black Repertory Theater,
because they love me and I love them. Right. And so, yeah.

(11:33):
So Paul would bring out new comedians, introduce new.
So I met everybody, not everybody, but, you know, there's like out of Oakland,
like even Stevens, Rich.
I forgot Rich's last name. There's Mario Hodge. Yeah.
J. Rich. J. Rich. Hey, I'm sorry, J. Rich. I love you. He's like my son.
God, it just goes on and on. You name a person. I just can't think of all the

(11:57):
names right now. I probably know them.
No, one thing that I will definitely say about the Bay Area comedy community, it is fucking strong.
Yes, it is. From Oakland, San Francisco, even out here to Sacramento and stuff
like that, there's just something in the waters out here when it comes to the
comedy scene where we just got some monsters, bro. And that anybody who even...

(12:19):
Maybe not born in the area, but will, you know, come out here to soak up some game.
Just just figure out like there's just something about it that just make that
just makes you a beast of a comedian out here.
Yeah, you're absolutely right. And the thing is, they all work so hard.
So I've seen a lot of them grow and now they're opening up for D.O.
Hughley and Faison Love and all that. And I met him, too.

(12:40):
You know, shoot. I knew Charlie Murphy.
You know what I mean? I met a lot of people through Paul and doing comedy.
I'm not saying I'm a comedian, but I know how to be a little funny.
You got the personality for it. You got the personality for it.
I can see you. I can see you on a BET comment view or something like that just
because you got the stories, you know what I'm saying? You got the personality.

(13:01):
You got the stage presence.
You can sing, so you can switch it up. You got the package.
Man, I'm an old package, but let me tell you, y'all, I'm out here trying to
do it while I have breath. You know what I'm saying? Because we're not going to last forever.
So my thing is, what will they say about you? you.
And so I'm just trying to leave that joy here, share joy, inspire others,

(13:22):
unite humanity through curiosity, conversation, and community building.
And that's living the forever joy life.
You know what I mean? And a person like me, I took care of both of my parents
at different times. They passed away.
They made their transition while I'm there. And I'm looking at them.
That's like my face at different times.
You know, I said, wait a minute. I don't have any shame, fear,
guilt, guilt, hate, animosity, jealousy, there is no room for it.

(13:45):
There's no room for anything but joy because, see, life is going to throw a
lot of stuff at you, and you've got to deflect it.
But you know what? While you're doing this, it's like I've got to find some joy within the chaos.
And so I try to keep a smile on my face. So no matter what happens,
listen, we won't be here forever, so I'm not going to take all this negativity in.
I'm just going to try to find as much joy amongst the chaos that I can find

(14:09):
and just spread it and be that person no matter what anybody thinks, I don't care.
All right. I'm happy with who I am. That's nice. Cause that was,
I mean, you kind of answered it, but like my next question was like,
cause we live in a, in a society where everybody like views things from a scope and we like being on,
having to be on social media so much, but like people on social media feed so
much into negativity and wanted to see people fail and look at other people's

(14:33):
shortcomings and laughing at it and stuff like that.
You do, you're like the complete opposite of that. Now you're just,
like I said, you embody, like we say, the joy icon, the joy life.
Well, Well, you are answering the kind of question, but like,
why is that important to you?
It's important because we're not going to be here and I can't take in negativity.
You know, I lost a son to suicide. You know what I mean? I went through years

(14:55):
ago, a really nasty divorce.
It was, you know, that snowball from the suicide.
So, you know, we've all had tragedies. We all have a story, right?
But that story doesn't have to make you because we can create more stories.
You know what I mean? Yeah.
And so I want to create my own fairy tale. We can create our own fairy tales
and live the life that we want to live.

(15:15):
And it starts here and it starts in here.
And then you got to just, you know, put a shield around you.
I mean, not be too protective where you don't let love in.
I mean, but you got to protect yourself. You have to protect your spirit.
You have to have your boundaries.
Yeah, your boundaries. So in the world that we are in, in comedy.
When you were talking to Dr.
Parham, you know, about, you know, how do you stay grounded or whatever?

(15:37):
The way I look at it is I cannot compete with anybody for any reason because
God gave them what God gave them and God gave me what God gave me.
Now, in this human world, we do compete and that's a little fun.
But what I'm saying is in terms of who I am, a person may think that they are
far greater than I am. I don't care what you think.

(15:58):
It only matters what I think and it only matters that me share joy.
And so that's what I, when I walk in a room, I want you to feel that.
When I leave, I hope that you feel that.
And I do the best that I can to stay on my best behavior so I can always live up to that.
Awesome. And so you've taken that whole joy life mentality.
You turned that into like the fashion line now or the merch line and just in general. Yeah.

(16:22):
Okay, so I grew up in an era, again, I'm dating myself, where we had home economics.
So I learned how to sew, cook early, you know, and then we had,
what, print shop, so metal shop.
So I learned how to make things. And so back in high school,
only reason why I didn't win best dress, because Molly Woo won that best dress
for the high school, but I should have won.

(16:44):
But anyway, I would take, since I could sew, I would just repurpose a lot of
things, like cut my jeans and then put fishnet on the side or something like that.
And then put another color on the inside, put fringe on my cuffs or whatever.
Whatever, you know, I just wanted to be different. I didn't want to look like everybody.
So I was always different. And my mother was into fashion. So, you know what I mean?

(17:07):
So I would just change up, change my look, my look up all the time.
And that started early. Yeah.
So me wearing myself, my first T-shirt that I had of me was in 1991, I think.
So I started wearing me in 1991.
Then I met a gentleman who's an amazing painter, Lee McCormick, Lee Casso.

(17:29):
And he said to me one day, how about, you know, have you ever had anybody just
paint you? How many stars have someone paint them?
So in five years, we amassed 19 paintings, and then the paintings turned into merch.
Merch and then i work with a lot of photographers and the photographers
love it when i wear their work yeah
and so uh this is mel peter's work right here so
then next thing you know my shower curtains are

(17:51):
me you know what i mean but it's just art it's art you know like
when lee was painting me it's a lady that's painted it wouldn't you
wouldn't know it was me necessarily it looks like me you know what i'm saying if
you saw it in the store you wouldn't say oh that's elise hollywood evans
or anything maybe when you see this yeah but anyway yeah so
it turned into the merch and i'm all about that merch merch
and we got merchant movies like in our movie i'm

(18:12):
mad as hell i have my suitcases in there with my face
on there a couple of other things in there in this movie cocaine roach hey i
can't wait till it comes out you know the pillows in there i created you know
some of the art in there i created and let me segue see we need a pillow let's
do it we're gonna get into the movie section right now but i want this all about
this pillow wait a minute no Well, we're going to talk about the movies.

(18:34):
But no, when I saw this pillow, I said, we got to move that pillow.
We got to have this one over here. There we go. Hey.
So she's from my, there's Power in the Afro collection for our young black girls.
I have black boys too. You know, Power in the Afro, Power in the Fro.
There's power in our color. You know, we illuminate power. Yeah.

(18:57):
You exude that black excellence and stuff like that. Where can people get this?
Okay. Well, let me tell you, you can go just email me because Elyse Hollywood Evans at gmail.com.
Because guess what? All of my stuff is exclusive, signed, and it comes with paperwork.
Because I'm an artist. And before I started acting, dancing,
singing, and all that, I was an artist first.

(19:18):
And so I was in galleries. So I have people that collect my art.
So it has to stay at a certain level.
Place price point whatever because i have collectors
who have invested in me as an investor yeah in
art and so now i'm just you know i'm doing creating pillows
and i also customize so if you gotta i was
gonna say can i get i can get a pillow me yes i would love to have like

(19:39):
my old like merch to like sell out like shows yeah man like
my like a yeah buddy pillow like yeah yeah buddy we
can work that out yeah yeah i got
you so and yeah and people ask me to do their daughters or whomever
and i yeah i customized too so i'm
going to start my online store but in the meantime it's just

(20:00):
like i'm just trying to just keep up and we're going to switch this
pillow out real quick yeah so in our movie cocaine roach yeah we have merch
and so we're all about that and then we're going to have merch when we have
our okay my little boy hey he's a you know one of those young mind motors you
know what i mean we molding the mind he's our next scientist our next president, our next banker.

(20:20):
Yeah. You know, our little black person. Got the suit and everything, yeah.
Yeah, you know, yeah, we got to celebrate our young people because,
you know, everything that I do is not about Forever Joy, girl.
It's the Forever Joy life and spreading joy and, you know, and leaving something
seven years out, seven generations out.
This is not about me. This is about selling, but also teaching my children how

(20:42):
to have their own company, leaving a company to my children so they could feed
their children, so they could feed the masses.
Because it's not about one individual, it's about all of us.
And so I have to use the talent that God gave me to spread the joy and to spread
some entrepreneurship, make some money and spread the love and share.
Everything that you've shown me so far, it just feels like, because I got my

(21:04):
start acting, working in the Bay Area.
So I was able to meet, they connect with a lot of wonderful like Bay Area entertainers,
actors, artists and stuff like that.
And everything that you're showing me right now, it kind of just embodies what
it is to, to the Black Bay Area culture where it's all about,
you know, independence.
You're doing your own thing. It's about spreading...
Excellence it's about representing our people putting

(21:27):
our people on and not only that but then like how you say putting
people in positions to to be better than what they
are today you know be a better person tomorrow yeah that's just a wonderful
thing there was no real question to that but i would like just give you your
kudos or your props for that you know say like it's it's a wonderful thing to
see people doing that and it's a it's a complete honor to have you here here
on the couch you know being on this podcast and just just spreading this wisdom

(21:50):
this joy this the joy Boy,
you know, this is dope shit.
Thank you so much. And it's a joy to be right here with you and talk about art and stuff.
I just got a call today from someone that wants to start a program.
And she was asking me, can you teach art?
I said, well, not only am I going to teach art, we're going to take our creation
from physical form, bring it into digital form and turn that,

(22:14):
take the digital form right back out and put art right back on top of that and
then turn around and sell it.
And I'm going to help these kids start their own business. business so you
know what i mean so we're going to start maybe with backpacks you know with
duffel bags or something like that t-shirt or whatever and
then teach them you know from creation to product
you know what i mean and teach them how to put together a shirt or whatever

(22:36):
because if you give a kid a child a fish you teach i mean give them a fish you
don't you feed them for one day but if you teach them how to fish fish you feed
them forever i'm about seven generations out we We got to empower our people.
And I don't know what to do. The only thing God, not the only thing,
the one thing that came to mind is through product.
I don't know what to do. So this is what I have to offer to the world.

(23:00):
And so one question I want to ask, we'll start getting into the whole entertainment
sphere, like the movies and stuff like that.
Being a Black woman in the entertainment industry, what has been your experience?
Because I, like I said, like me, like being into similar things of,
you know, going out auditions, you know, hearing the rejections and hearing

(23:24):
the no's, hearing the yes's and stuff like that.
But for like a Black woman who's trying to pursue this industry to any capacity,
whether it be an artist, you know, doing the talk shows, you know,
just just try to be in all these places.
What what can you kind of advice you already told us like your your story,
but what kind of advice can you give black women trying to pursue this business?

(23:48):
OK, well, first of all, you don't have to raise your dress.
Let's start there, because every man or woman these days will promise you anything
and everything just to get to them cookies.
You ain't got to give away the cookies to get to where you need to go. oh, you got to have this.
You got to have, because if this door doesn't open, open up your own door,
kick a door down, build a damn door.

(24:10):
I'm about building doors to open myself. If you don't want to open up the door
for me, that's all right.
What did James Brown say? I don't want nobody to give me nothing.
I'll open up the door and I'll get it myself.
So, you know, so that's what I would tell a woman to be, stay true to who you are.
Don't put your, don't feel like you got to be groped. Let me tell you,

(24:33):
when I started this business, in this business, I was with Soul Beat a long time ago.
And at the interview, all I could get was somebody trying to touch.
And I made my 20s touch on my legs, feel on me. It's just...
It doesn't feel nice. Yeah. It doesn't feel good when you know that you have
this. I graduated from UC Berkeley.

(24:54):
You know what I mean? I got a brain. I know how to write.
There's a lot of things I could do, you know, and then have certifications in
all kinds of things, graphic design or whatever.
So, you know, you have to, I would say to young ladies out there,
like I said, you don't have to raise your skirt and feel good about who you are and be confident.
And no matter what anybody says, including yourself, don't talk yourself out

(25:16):
your own genius. Don't talk yourself out your own blessing.
No. Use what you got. And if it doesn't work over here, go over there.
Yeah. Because not one person is your God.
Mm-hmm. Not one person has the king. And if Hollywood don't let you in,
baby, listen, I'm a locksmith.
I'm going to unlock my own door.

(25:38):
Mm-hmm. Yeah, because this is a male-dominated industry,
you know, but like you're saying, That's why I want you to tell,
you know, any woman, I mean, it's black women, but women in general,
just what their experience is like, because I can't speak on it or anything like that.
But just want them to know, like I say, set boundaries for yourself.
Just be true to yourself and use that brain.

(26:01):
You got to use that brain. Yeah, I've had to have men escorted out of clubs, acting crazy, you know.
And then when I didn't know I had it going on when I was younger,
oh, it was just really ridiculous trying to get in. And but then,
you know, you get to a point.
I know how to be firm and I'm not afraid to be firm.
Yeah. But it took a long time to do that. And I wasn't sleeping around,
you know. And then plus, let me tell you, Paul Mooney, thank God.

(26:23):
He you know, he told me, he said, let me tell you, well, a wet pee or wet.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Wap.
Wap. OK. A wet wap. Yeah. A wet wap doesn't something. Well,
it doesn't. A wet pussy doesn't.
Something. A dry purse. I can't think of it at the moment The
bottom line is Don't give up your cookies You ain't getting nothing out of it
Yeah A wet pussy in a dry purse Or something like I said it Anyway We could

(26:48):
cuss We could cuss all this podcast I said the pussy work Yeah It's all good
Anyway We're not editing it out But we just let y'all know Okay,
Okay, I'm sorry But anyway Yeah, a wet pussy A wet pussy in a dry purse Don't
make any sense There we go That's it,
That was like a double entendre because it's like S-E-N-S-E and there's also

(27:11):
C-E-N-T. Oh. That was... Yeah.
Gotcha. Yeah. You know, thank you.
Yeah, buddy. Yeah. Yeah. We love our black women up here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Now, smooth transition from the WAP to the band play.

(27:33):
You're also, you do the singing, you're in the band.
I saw something on Instagram about that. It was like Too Funky something.
Hey, Too Funky Shoes with New Souls. Hey, what's up, family out there?
I'm also with the Funky Heroes, but let me back up to Too Funky Shoes with New Souls.
Yeah, we were together over 20 years ago. I was their dancer back then.

(27:57):
And that's when I learned graphic design 20-something years ago.
I was taking classes with Steve Jobs.
Well, not with him exactly, but, you know, going to Macworld.
I was taking classes with the writers, you know, of the books and the people that created Adobe.
So with that, I started teaching the best practices of graphic design in many universities.

(28:17):
And when I was learning, I started off with Two Funky Shoes with New Souls when
we were the 11th Commandment. And that's how I started getting my chops.
I didn't know anything about design. I was making their posters.
And then they went away for China, 10 years plus.
Then they came back out because they kicked black folks out of China during
the pandemic. Oh, wow. Yeah, it did.
Well, you know, you had the president going, chain that, chain that.

(28:39):
Oh, I could see them doing that. We was blaming Chyna Fair for this.
So they was like, y'all got to get the fuck out of here. Yeah, right.
Y'all ain't about to be spreading that propaganda and then come over here eating
our food. You got us fucked up. That's right. So they got basically...
No, they had to leave. Because if you didn't leave, you would have been locked in.
So they were like, we're not going to get locked in. So they came out here.

(29:00):
So we started having backyard boogies, no audience, and just rehearsing.
And then we just kept doing it, kept doing it, kept doing it,
kept getting better, better, better.
I was still kind of like the dancer. And then Tambora was like, no, you need to sing.
And I was like, well, okay, I'll do that. that
and then so we then the world kind
of opened up and then we started going into the clubs and

(29:22):
then ever since then i mean we are rocking and rolling i
got a show coming up this saturday at tupelo in
san francisco and hey sacramento you know we
come out here once a month to the torch club all right cool this is this just
adds up this is going to air in about two weeks so anybody who's watching this
i heard about two weeks so by the time it happened by the time it happened by
the time people watch this it already happened but it was a wonderful show It

(29:45):
was a great fucking show. It was a great effing show.
Y'all come back to the next one. The next one will be like two weeks from now.
Well, there you have it. For real.
No, because we work hard. And I'm telling you, we are a bad, bad band.
And we do all the festivals and all that. Man, I love being on stage.
It's something about it and just seeing all the people out there.

(30:07):
And, you know, at first I get a little nervous in the beginning.
And then it's like it's on. on because see my job is
to go into the audience because i'm the hype person too
so not only do i dance and backup sing i'm the
hype person so i jump off the stage i get into
the audience i get in their face and have a lot of fun i'm
taking pictures as i'm singing and going along the way so that's two funky shoes

(30:29):
with new souls our lead vocalist she is amazing the other special case she's
also sings we have a guy now in our group who sings and then the musicians are
just off the So it's just like when I'm with them...
I think that they are amazing. It just makes me want to get that much more amazing, right?

(30:50):
And then, so that's Two Funky Shoes with New Souls. I'm also the host for the Funky Heroes.
That's by Andre Preston. And we dress up like funky heroes, and we play to a
comic book that he's written.
So that's a multimedia show that we do.
So we have the movie playing in the background, and we're kind of singing and

(31:10):
acting out what's going on in the comic book.
And so that's the funky heroes we love that
and it's a it's a family show so we
were doing this right before the pandemic we were going to all the schools
in the oakland unified school district you know join
the funky heroes or whatever and then you know there's power in the afro and
the kids would love to touch the afro and all that so then i'm also a part of

(31:32):
samba funk hey king theo been a member i think 14 years now samba funk um so
professional samba dancing my children and also are available,
I mean available, a part of Samba Funk.
And I currently have a podcast with a guy named Gentleman, an awesome person,
Tony Mayfield. He's Curtis Mayfield's son.

(31:55):
He has the trillion dollar studio. We're about to start our tiny desk.
We have a full on studio in Point Richmond, California.
All the instruments are there. You don't need to bring anything but yourself.
And we got the recording booth, the console.
I mean, everything is a beautiful situation.
All new equipment.
So we're starting our tiny desk there. Then I also host a free flow showcase.

(32:18):
That's at the Berkeley Black Rep every other Tuesday.
We have a full band there, a DJ, camera people, and we promote people with original
music at the free flow showcase. case.
And then, of course, I'm working with Dr. Robert and all of his films.
I was in Snow Black with him.
Of course, Mad as Hell, and now I'm the star, the lead role of Cocaine Roach.

(32:43):
And so working with Dr. Robert, it's like, oh, my God, I write a lot now.
I mean, I'm almost finished writing two movies.
Because he writes and he's such a great writer, and I'm so motivated to do that.
So, yeah, in addition to the bands
and the dancing and then the movies and putting the merch in the movies.

(33:03):
And here's the other part. All right. Ooh wee, our soundtrack is fire, right?
So then everybody who's submitting songs to Dr.
Robert, guess who gets to listen to them? Okay. Me. So with that said,
everyone that I've reached out to have given me some music.
Now I've just written like 10 songs.
So, you know, I'm ready to go. And then Robert's business partner connected

(33:26):
us with someone with a high profile record company. I don't want to say which
record company. No, we can't.
We shh. but this is this is what we're working on this is huge and like i said
the soundtrack that we have currently for cocaine roach you know oh we got schooly
d in there it's our our uh musical director,
nocturnal what's up yeah yeah oh he was signed to uh aftermath right at one

(33:48):
point yeah yeah yeah dr drake for sure yeah so we got knock on that oh did i
clap myself oh okay not and oh my god Ron Kat.
Ron Kat Spearman. He's a P-Funk all-star.
Oh, my God. He wrote, don't walk away, boy.
He's in the movie, too. And then some other artists in there.
The soundtrack is ridiculous.

(34:09):
And we got Tupac in it. I know Tupac is not there.
With us but nocturnal has the music and
just to be with the cast and all
that so for me from the bands to the movies
to the dance community to the comedy community
the acting oh my god i'm around some amazing people y'all amazing you're a real

(34:32):
uh a fixture in the city with the way you have your head like i said we said
at the beginning about like having your heads and everything stuff like that
you're a real fixture in the city an important person in the city was that
is that something that you take is that something that you like you recognize
like you look at the mirror you'd be like yo i'm like i'm important out here
or is is you just you just do you no i'm doing the work of the lord no you know

(34:54):
i mean doing the work of joy no i i just do me but here's the deal i'm a people
person yeah and i work with a lot of people i know a lot of people and yeah,
people are drawn to me like I am drawn to them. It's like being in a vortex.
So right now I feel like I'm in a vortex of great opportunity.

(35:15):
You know what I mean? Like I said, no matter what comes my way,
because we all got problems, we could, why talk about it? Let's focus on that joy.
So I'm in this vortex right now of just great people, great things happening.
And I just want to share it and then help somebody else along and feed seven
generations out. I'm going to always go back to that feeding seven generations
within everything that I do. Yeah.

(35:38):
Because the reason I had brought that up, like you being a fixture in the city,
you know, being a person of importance, trying to do my research,
stuff like that, like your Facebook page and stuff like that.
You had made a post, something about like you had won. Let me get my note because
I don't want to fuck it up. The Black Excellence Award. Yes.
You was the woman of the year. Yes, sir. And this was this past year? Yes.

(36:00):
2023. 2023. Yes. I mean, that was just like a couple of months ago.
Yes. So I mean, like, what was that like when you did that? How did that whole
thing happen? You went in woman.
That's a woman of the fucking year. Yeah. No. And thank you to the Barony Company.
And thank you to Lito. Oh, my God. Well, they found me out there.
You know, I'm out there like you.

(36:21):
You're out there in the world. And so, you know.
They were watching me. And so then that's how that happened.
And I'm just, I have a lot of gratitude because I really try.
I work with politicians too.
I really try to, I used to go to all my city council meetings and stuff like that. Not so much now.
So I'm really involved with helping the community out there.

(36:43):
So, yeah, and then I'm in a sorority, so I volunteer when I can with the organization,
you know, and when I can volunteer in general, I do that. Not so much now.
I'm really busy. But for a long time, I was out there in the community and I
give back as much as I can.
You know what I mean? Whether or not I'm teaching or leading a seminar for free

(37:04):
or hosting something for free to me, that's not free.
It's just for love because I'm giving back. back
yeah so as far as like feeling important in the
community i mean okay yeah
to some degree because i am a connector right i'm a connector people call me
say hey i want this actor can you find that person i may not know them but i

(37:24):
bet you i'll find them yeah and then i bet y'all make that phone call to make
that happen you know what i mean yeah so important like that only important
in terms of what can i do to the for the community and to help somebody else
along the way because i have help yeah yeah and that's what it is i think one
of the things that people.

(37:44):
Truly take for granted in this industry is the importance of paying it forward
you know somebody blesses you you got to bless somebody else or you got to bless
two more people you know it's,
It's such a, because with the egos and the personalities of,
like, especially if you're the person that's in front of the camera,

(38:05):
or you're the person that's on stage, you get that whole, it's gotta be about
me, it's gotta be about me, but it's really not, it's about.
The people in the audience, the person that you're entertaining,
the person who, the people whose eyes are on you, that's going to look, that's watching this.
And it doesn't matter whether it's, I mean, 35 people at my comedy show or 3000
people or 3 million people watching me in the Matrix Revolutions.

(38:27):
Shits, but it's about the people that is watching it.
They're going to, they're going to look at that and watch that.
And they're just going to be all like, shit, man. Like I want to do that. I think I could do that.
And then they, they, they might meet you one day.
They talk to you, ask you for advice, whatever it may be, some sort of help

(38:48):
you got to pay it forward.
Because the only reason why I was able to get onto the matrix is because I had
great mentors, people who gave me an opportunity and it would be extremely selfish
of me to not pass on that knowledge, pass on that wisdom.
So I say, well, again, like what you're doing and stuff like that.
When the woman of the year just put these people on.
The Honorable Barbara Lee's 12th Congressional Award, me and my BFF Althea,

(39:13):
we get, we produced the Light of the World gospel concert.
So we were recognized as a Berkeley Black Repertory Theater.
That's really big. Thank you. Thank you so much, Dr.
Scott, for believing in us and supporting us so much so that we're coming back
this year at the end of the year with another gospel concert.
We sold it out. So we proved ourselves that we're producers as well.

(39:33):
You know what I mean? Yeah, we put on that event. And then prior to that,
that March earlier that year, my retaining wall fell during the rains.
Another story. I gave a big soiree there.
You know, I had samba dancers. I had band. I had wine tasting at my event.
The talk show portion of the event. And since I'm an artist,

(39:55):
I had the Mojo Lounge going on.
I had the food catered. So, you know, I try to involve everything that I do
and the people that I'm working with.
If I have something to do with it, you're going to be a part of my show.
And if I make money, you make money. When I eat, you eat. And that was the Light
of the World Certificate. What was the exact name of the certificate?

(40:15):
The 12th Congressional Award. It's a certificate of achievement from Barbara Lee's office.
You know, we brought the community together for the light of the world.
And we had Dolores Thompson hosted from KBLX.
We had Percy May, who's a comedian, I met when I was working with Paul Mooney.
She came through the rep. You know, we had the baddest singers out there.

(40:39):
We had a full band, a sound system.
I mean, you know, it takes like to make a production.
We had a choir. So we couldn't have done all of this without everyone being involved.
You know what I mean? Yeah. So that award. And, you know, of course,
with Mad as Hell, I won three awards for Best Supporting Actress in Mad as Hell.

(41:00):
And I play the director's the main character, his wife in the movie.
So I have a pretty big role in that movie as well.
And I think I really did good in Mad as Hell because I really approached,
I was not dating the director at the time.
If you ever see that movie, you'll say, well, were they dating? Not at all.
I came in as a professional and I wanted to slay it. And he's a hard director sometimes.

(41:25):
Yes. He was, when I messed something up, I didn't know how to die.
I practiced everything. I knew my lines. I knew my lines because I was nervous.
And then Amy's so cute, and I didn't really know her. She said,
oh, I can help you with your lines. I was like, no, I got my lines.
I didn't know how to die. Yeah. Yeah, no. I couldn't call the right way.

(41:47):
And then he started sweating it. And then he says to me, I only do three takes, three takes.
And I was like, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, yeah.
I got one more question, then we're going to dive deep into this whole movie-making
world that you're in with the maddest hell in the cocaine world.
But just one more question then we're going to dive into that atmosphere.
So did you win on Pictionary?

(42:10):
No, thank you. Hey, that was so, oh my God. I'll see, I'll try to do a little bit of research.
Yeah, man, my daughter set that up and that's what I love about my daughter.
I mean, she sets it up for us to go on different auditions.
So we did, we're still waiting to hear back. I think it's Wells Fargo,
you know, to see if we could do a mother-daughter thing. But no,
she enters us in different contests or whatever.

(42:32):
So we got the Pictionary. We're looking forward to other things that she does, handles that part.
But oh, my God, just the entire experience from driving onto the lot and just
checking in three different times.
And then we had to bring our wardrobe, but they had somebody steam our clothes.
They had the makeup people. And then they had the people in the audience.
I said, oh, my God, I can live like this every day.

(42:54):
I need my own talk show. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, so a little bit of that. I was like, all right, let's show up.
I was on Let's Make a Deal last year. So yeah, I was on that.
Did you win? Yeah. Yeah. They didn't air me winning, but I did win.
I did win. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You sure that you won?
Oh, yeah. They didn't air me winning. They didn't air it. They didn't know what

(43:16):
happened was is because I didn't, like, go down and, like, you know,
play, like, one of the games or whatever.
It was just more so, like, when Wayne Brady, like, points at somebody out of
the audience and said, like, I'm going to ask you some questions or whatever.
And so he was just asking me random trivia, pop culture trivia questions and stuff like that.
But, like, the reason why that cut me out of it is because, like,
everybody there, I don't know what it was.
I don't know what it was about like the energy that I was bringing or like that just

(43:38):
like I don't know what it was but everybody was just wanting to be just so helpful or
whatever so like he would ask me a question and
then somebody else in the audience would just yell out the answer for me and
I was just all like I got this I know this but you know it don't make for good
TV with these all he's like hey yo buddy what's you know what TV show is Queen
Latifah on and then I get ready to say hey the equal and then somebody else

(44:00):
is like buddy it's the equalizer and I'm all like Like, okay,
next, next, next question. Next question.
That happened like three different times, but every time it did,
it just added more to my money pot. But yeah, they, they, they had to cut it out.
Let me move this pillow. Cause you got a little bit of money looking.
We looking for some investors.
No. Where do you think, where do you think this podcast equipment came from? This was Wayne Brady.

(44:21):
Wait a minute. I don't know you, Wayne Brady. I would love to interview you.
Let me tell you, you dance, act, sing, you do it all.
I try, I call myself like the female Wayne Brady for real, the Bay area,
because he He can actually do it all, and that's what I want to do.
I want to be way, way, way, way. Yeah, multi-talented. Yeah.
Because I put a lot of effort into all of it, like Sammy Davis Jr.

(44:45):
Did. You know, they could dance, act, and sing, and do whatever else. I want to be that person.
Yeah. All right. So now let's get into these movies.
You was mad as hell. We'll start off with Mad as Hell because that was the one
that had just recently premiered, not premiered, but showed at the Sactown Movie Buff Film Festival.
You've already won 34 awards for this thing.

(45:09):
Seeing it on the IMAX, seeing yourself on IMAX, the biggest screen in the world. What was that like?
It was like I wish my mother was still here to see it because my mother was
like, well, my parents, they really supported me in what I did. My mother.
Yeah, I wish she could have seen it more so than me, but just to see myself
there and then and I was good.

(45:30):
Yeah. I mean, you know, it's not about bragging or anything like that is on
the great direction and working with great people.
But when I look back at myself, I can say that I'm actually proud of myself
and look outside of myself because I went in there as a professional and wanting
to do a good job. And I respected Robert.
You know, I met him years ago on the set of Jackson Bolt. He actually not on the set of Jackson Bolt.

(45:55):
I was doing media and my children were working with me and he connected with
me to come down there to cover his to be one of the media people.
And then I was down there. I was like, oh, Gloria Hendry. Oh, my God.
Oh oh my god just to meet her to
see her i saw like he mentioned like art camacho don
the dragon wilson was there then through

(46:16):
him i got a chance to meet fred the hammer williamson oh.
My god it was just just wonderful and
i just wanted more you know what i mean having the opportunity to
interview the stars of the icons that i
grew up watching and then actually be a part of
it and it just makes you want to get better and better
and better just want to do it so i've got the movie bug

(46:37):
now the acting bug but it's kind of already in me because i
was doing plays as a little girl you know what i mean and then
i was at the berkeley black repertory theater for many
years and so i grew up it kind of like
in it so i knew what to do but to do it on screen and
see yourself on imax thank you sacramento
movie bus thank you so

(46:58):
much i got a chance to see myself to make just i
feel good i feel good beat on stage
is cool but there's no experience better than like
seeing yourself on on the big screen you're
just like damn that's me right there yeah
that's me like i'm watching me but i'm right here but
then that's me right there too i was i mean like two places at

(47:18):
once right now yeah but imagine yeah so you've
been you've done a lot of work yeah i mean wow i mean because you know i looked
at your list too and your list just kept going on and on and on and on and on
and on and on and on and now you're doing this and then you're part of this
comedy competition that's coming up yeah yeah i'm host of the yeah the host
of the comedy cash cow competition and like i said that that just comes from being.

(47:42):
Like say paying it forward so the way i even got a
part of that this isn't supposed to be about me
but i see the
tv hosting but like the
way that got started is there's this casting director her
name is tony stanowitz and she basically got
me started broke me into the tv

(48:05):
and stuff like that from doing tv shows
like i almost got away with it tv show called love kills
wives with knives oh my daughter was on wives with
knives what's your daughter tamra lawrence okay she's an actor too you know
i i've met her before not on a set well it was on a set but not that i was acting
it she was out here she was doing a music video for john q it was like it was

(48:28):
like at a roller skating rink or whatever stuff like that tammy green eyes you
know my daughter yeah yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hey, that's what's up. It's a family affair.
Yeah. So, well, I don't know her, but I met her once. No, no,
I got you. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, yeah, so Tony Stato, as a matter of fact, because Tony Stato,
she had directed that music video.
Uh-huh, uh-huh. So she, back in like 2018, she started this film festival called

(48:52):
the Wild West Film Festival.
And it's a whole film festival dedicated to Western movies.
And she's all like, buddy, I just need somebody up here to, you know,
tell jokes. I just need, you know, some entertainment in between the showing
of these movies and stuff like that. And I was like, no problem.
No problem at all. I come whatever, however much time you need me to do. I got you. I'll do it.
I'm there for you. And then from there, it kind of she gave me the unofficial

(49:15):
title of the comedy director, you know, to where she needs a comedian or whatever.
But I just need you to reach out to this comedian, see if they could do this or whatever.
But then eventually she had just put in my ear one time. She's like,
so eventually I want to do a comedy festival.
And I was like, all right, cool. We could do that. And then she just asked me to host it.
You know, she's like, because of the things, she's not only seen me as a funny

(49:38):
comedian, but she basically helped me create my resume, like where people see
the work that I've done and stuff like that.
She was a very integral part in that.
And so now that I have things like, I'm a member of the Screen Actors Guild,
but then also starting my own production company where we're producing our own
comedy shows and things of that nature, funny business comedy at the Uli Theater every month.

(50:00):
Yeah we we just she just
seen that and she's like well you've helped me
create my film festival so here's here's kind of like this for you now that
goes back just to the importance of of paying it forward because i could have
i could have been like no i don't really feel like doing like doing stand-up
for you know this film festival or like or you you gotta you gotta pay me or

(50:22):
something like that it's just it's just just really out of love and just seeing
the work that she's put in.
Helping other people out, I'm like, one, why would I say no?
And then two, she's presented me with a great opportunity as well.
And I never knew that it would grow into, like I said, me hosting this film,
this comedy competition. Yeah.
You know, but now we're giving other comedians the opportunity now to break into the film industry.

(50:46):
You know, and it's all based kind of off of the blueprint that I kind of set
for myself as an entertainer.
So it's just like I said we just talked about like going back like paying it
forward and stuff like that it's just a beautiful thing to see what happens
with you when somebody helps you out and that you in return help somebody else
out yeah right on that's what's up so that's,

(51:08):
how we rock it well you know I'm going to come through that comedy show and
support you yeah yeah that's what we're going to do I want to see you
in action I'm going to be the live yeah buddy get a
dose of this funny business yeah I want to get
a dose of that funniness yeah we're killing
it yeah then either even like with that just networking you
know my agent and stuff like that he's on board with helping me

(51:30):
produce my comedy shows now he's helped me hook up
with a streaming service platform that sound like roku and stuff like that and
then you got connections to like 2b and stuff like that so as the the shows
at the funny business and all these productions that i am putting on is growing
we having people help me out and like
i said it's It's just a testament to understanding that this industry,

(51:51):
because it's not even an industry up here.
It's more so a community. I always call it an entertainment community.
It's always more, I'm going to fuck this word up, this saying up,
but it's bigger than me, basically, just to sum it up.
It's bigger than me. What things I'm doing, like you say, seeing my resume,
seeing the movies and stuff that I'm being on and stuff like that,

(52:12):
it's bigger than just me having a resume.
It's about showing other people that this this is possible yeah man it's possible
because nothing to it but do it you know what i'm saying and like you surround
yourself and your energy that you put out and the love starts to come back to
you so i look forward to seeing you and congratulations,
on hosting that so let me ask you this no i'm just kidding.

(52:34):
We're gonna switch pillows here because we're about to get into the movies because
i'm about the movies and the merch because you want to get more into that you
want to talk to me more about Cocaine Roach? Cocaine Roach.
Cocaine Roach. Let's get into this.
Literally, everybody who's going to listen to these past three podcast episodes
is just going to be nothing but talk about Cocaine Roach because we had Dr.
Perm last time and then before that we got Nakia. We was all just...

(52:57):
Cocaine roach that's the fucking movement right now man we uh
but what what is this so before i well
the funky the funky hot links are
in the movie this is merch in the movie you know what i mean so i'm
all so when you go to our premiere you're gonna see the funky hot links there
as well as us probably selling some packages or candy roaches or something like
that you know because we have to keep we have to keep building the empire you

(53:20):
know what i mean and then somebody might like the funky hot links and they like
the art and they see it in the movie it's like hey Hey, let me get that.
So, you know, the movie is giving more love.
Not only are they going to the theaters, but they're seeing things,
products within the movie that they could buy.
Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. So then it keeps giving and giving.
Nice, nice, nice. And so, Colt K. Roach, this is your first lead in a movie.

(53:43):
Are you the lead? I know you play a substantial role in the film.
No, I am the lead. Okay, yeah, I like how you said that. Wait,
let me say that again. Say it one more time. Twice. Say it twice.
Listen, I am, I am, I am, I am the lead. No, I am the lead.
But no, I have had the opportunity to work with award-winning film director Sandra A. Smith.
I was in her Three Men and a Laptop Part 1 and 2 and in The Gumbo.

(54:06):
And I'm the lead of a movie that we're still in production for.
It's called Julia Stiles. She's a talk show host who's turning 50.
She hasn't gotten married and she's looking for love. And her and her best friend
Candace, they go on these different capers.
So then that's a feature film as well. And so we're still in production for that movie.
Yeah. And so, but this one, so that's, yeah, I'm the featured actor starring

(54:32):
in her movie and I'm the star along with Lawrence Hilton Jacobs.
That's so awesome to see somebody that you went to the movie theater to go see
when you're a little girl, Cooley High, and now you falling into the man's arms
when at the end of the movie, you know. Mm-hmm.
It's cool. But anyway, yeah. So I love doing Cocaine Roach, Marlon Kai.

(54:55):
He's a phenomenal actor. First of all, everybody's a phenomenal actor,
but he was my guy, you know, in this. So we had this antagonism between us within
the movie and he did that and I did that. Gary too. I mean, everybody.
But just when you work with people who are seasoned actors, they know their
lines and they know the story.
So no matter what, how we go around the lines or whatever, we know the story

(55:19):
and we can get in there and just do it and vibe off of each other.
So just the ensemble that we work with, just amazing people. Yeah.
No, Marlon, that's the homie. Me and Marlon, about like in 2015,
we started this short film together called The Two Gamers.
I mean, it's just this movie about two guys.
One's a slacker dude, that's me. And Marlon's like more the buy the book type of guy.

(55:41):
But we were just waiting and a bit anticipated the release of this video game
and stuff like that. And, you know, he's first in line and he's all ready to go.
And me, I'm the slacker. I'm running behind. I don't got no cash on me and stuff
like that. It's just this whirlwind story and stuff like that.
But it's premiered at like, yeah, film festivals all around the country, even Canada.
But then, Marlon, that's the homie right there. Yeah, Marlon's super professional.

(56:03):
Yes. That's the dude right there. Yeah, he comes, he does his homework.
Yeah. Yes. So I got to get Marlon on the episode. We're going to have like a two gamers reunion.
Oh, that would be nice. Shout out to Marlon. That's the homie right there.
Yeah, yeah. Shout out to Marlon and Josh Alvin. And, of course,
Gary Turner and everyone that was in it, part of it. Tori, oh, my God. He killed it.

(56:24):
Of course, Lawrence Hilton, Jason Todd, Sonofonte.
It's a lot of people. Oh, Freeman, Free Jack is in it, and a lot of other people.
My daughter's in the movie. Come on now.
Oh, my God. What am I thinking? It's a family affair. It's a family affair,
and that's what I love about Robert.
You know, Dr. Robert, he keeps the same people.
We're close-knit, and we know how to gel, and we come in, and we make it professional,

(56:48):
and we do it, and we listen to his direction, and it's fire.
I saw a little bit of it. you have a pretty powerful monologue in that thing
where you had to like really like break down and you just give it to Marlon and shit like that.
How heavy, like, not say heavy, but I mean, that's a heavy scene to do.
But what is it like just trying to, like, put it all out there for everybody?

(57:12):
How, what was the preparation like going into, like, shooting that,
doing that monologue specifically, knowing you're going to have to show such an emotional range?
And then, like, afterwards, were you just, like, emotionally drained?
First of all, they kicked me out of the room because I didn't get it right.
The first time, not even the second time. And everybody in there was looking

(57:35):
at me like, bitch, if you don't get this right, you know what I'm saying?
I said, three takes. Three takes. That's all you get.
It was like you got the third take. So everybody, including Vert.
But maybe you ought to go think about it.
And I was like, okay, that's all right. That's all right. Because when I come
back, when I come back, it's going to be fire.
Yeah. Oh. And then I said, what? When I went outside, I said,

(57:57):
what would my mother say?
And she would always say you got to have the courage of
your own conviction to stand up for what you truly believe in yeah
and so it can't it all stem from that
and i say how would my mother do it and then i love working with cinder williams
what's up cinder williams you're amazing so she has this uh scene that she has

(58:19):
in mad as hell that's so powerful is the her monologue and i I kind of brought my inner Cinda.
And then I thought about, you know, I love Viola Davis, you know, and Angela Bassett.
So all of the inner divas that I like to watch, like I said,
including Cinda, including Gloria Hendry, just bringing it. And my mama.

(58:40):
And I brought all those women in the room with me. So somebody was going to come out.
Yeah. No, yeah. I saw you definitely brought it. I see Marla was breaking down.
He's like, oh, shit. When Marla give you that Blake stare, like,
I know you bring it in and shit. You're like, all right, for sure. For sure, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. So it was a pleasure working with him. There's some funny scenes
in that movie I cannot tell you about, but you just got to see the movie. I can't wait.

(59:04):
But the movie is called Cocaine Roach.
Roaches that do cocaine, and they're trapped in this building,
and everybody, and then there's a story to it. There's an actual plot behind
it, not just roaches. Like, hey, let's do some fucking cocaine and see what
happens. No, there's a huge plot to it, a story behind it.
Listen, I play a co-cat, too.
That's somebody that's complete opposite of your actual personality and stuff

(59:27):
like that, because you go to church, you're part of the gospel and stuff like that.
What is your preparation like as far as acting when you see,
okay, this is what I'm going to be doing.
I'm pretty sure no method acting. Let me just do some fucking lines real quickly.
But what is your preparation like when it comes to just getting a role?
Well, first of all, with this particular movie, I played two different characters

(59:49):
and Robert really made it like you got to be.
He was like, nope, you bring a deal, a big deal out. No, we don't want her. No, we want Tanisha.
So then I had to consciously be Tanisha, consciously get, you know, not ghetto.
I don't know how to say it. A little hood swag. Thank you.
I like that. I had to have a little hood swag. Y'all know, you know,

(01:00:10):
I had to bring out that hood swag.
So, you know, I had to do that. And then, oh, my God, I love Eddie Murphy, right?
So I had to channel my inner Eddie Murphy, meaning that he could do five characters
in a movie or whatever. So I said, OK, I got to do two.
This is my first movie with two characters. I want to build up to three, four and five.
Yeah. Five different people in a movie and just playing completely different roles.

(01:00:35):
I look forward to that. So, Dr. Robert, let's. We're going to see.
I'm going to be there for that one. And I'm definitely going to be there for
that, for the premiere of Cocaine Roach.
Yeah, we want you there. And in our next movie, we got to have you in the movie.
Yeah, I heard about the food that y'all have on set.
I'm definitely going to be there. Even if I just got to tell some jokes during

(01:00:56):
lunch, I'll cook for the chicken. It's all good, man.
Oh, yeah. His daughter, she's like, she's a chef, like a cordon bleu chef.
So, you know, anytime she caters food, oh, my God.
The dessert, everything, just top to bottom. bottom but
yeah like you talked about earlier we make sure we feed our
people good food good people yeah so yeah
when we were talking about when robert was talking about doing the

(01:01:19):
movie we went to go see cocaine cocaine cocaine bear
and then he says oh yeah i'm gonna do a movie about cocaine roach
and i was like get the fuck it sent you you curse get
the fuck out of here yeah we curse okay get the fuck
out of here that's what i said he was like no i'm gonna really do it and then
you know he started he's like no i'm gonna write it and i'm like baby
what you doing i'm writing and cocaine ranch and i was

(01:01:40):
like oh that's what's up and then you
know when he was and then we were just talking about diva big
deal and he put diva big deal in there she has this big personality
so i even want to do a show around diva big deal yeah okay once we wrap all
this up yes yeah yeah y'all are busy y'all are busy before we do wrap up this
episode because i think my laptop is going to die and stuff like that you don't

(01:02:03):
say but before we keep talking but we do we do what we
call is the the mount rushmore route rushmore is
of course the you know your four influences in the game people that you've seen
on the tv screen or the magazine that inspired you or motivated you to be the
person you are today alive or gone both both okay well of course paul mooney mm-hmm.

(01:02:28):
Like my favorite. Oh, well, you know, I love me some Angela Bassett. Mm hmm. OK.
Legend. Legend. Robbed up that Oscar, but we'll get it. We'll get it back. Yeah.
You know, I like Viola Davis. I love Whoopi.
Me and my mother used to go see Whoopi Gold before she was big,
big, big. She was doing a one woman show.

(01:02:48):
So and then there's so many people like that's not fair because then I want
to put Robert on Mount Rushmore. Theo, who I work with.
Tambora, who I sing with. Andre, who I sing with. Tony, who I have the podcast with.
Spider-Man, who I do the Free Flow Showcase with. Like, everybody that I'm working
with, they are my Mount Rushmore right here today.

(01:03:10):
They are alive, making it happen. And then everyone else, like,
hey, Angela Bassett, I would love to do a movie with you.
But then, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. So, yeah, I think I answered that
question right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did I? Yeah.
There's about like six different Mount Rushmores at that mountain. But we but we got it.
We got it. And then, of course, my parents are on top of Mount Rushmore because

(01:03:33):
they were they're my heroes.
They pushed me through my cousin, John. Yeah, man, it's a lot of folks.
And then and then I want to say this. Hey, everybody out there in the area, you know, I love you.
And I didn't mention everybody's name is so many amazing performers out there. You know, I love you.
And just thank you for supporting me. Support.
Yeah, buddy. Tune into his show. You know what I mean? He's got an amazing platform.

(01:03:57):
It's an honor and a privilege to sit down on your couch.
Thank you so much for listening to all the stuff that I had to say.
You know no i appreciate you shedding shedding this
wisdom this light your joy you know it's
been a wonderful thing but like i said what uh okay do i want to you know okay
well this is hey the funky christian canines are coming out so these are gonna

(01:04:17):
be shows the funky christian canines along with the funky hot links who are
actually in our movies plus let me before you wrap it up hey i'm a fine artist
too right meaning that did i draw.
And so, I don't know if y'all can see this. Yep, this is called Mod City Silhouettes.
These are my shopping bags. So, I'm a fashion designer, too.

(01:04:39):
That'd be dope. I can see somebody give that like a birthday gift.
Like, you know, people have put the birthday presents in the birthday bag.
That's like the present on top of the present.
Yeah, thank you. So, the art, my art is on clothes, too. It's in frames.
I make a huge, like, that sign.
You know what I mean? My next mission is to make these out of metal.
You know what I mean? And do an art installation. But you see,

(01:05:01):
I know somebody that could do that. Really?
Like it's like it's like a weird it's like a wire type of thing,
almost like, you know, yeah. Yeah.
I'll hook you up with them. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. So, you know,
movies, music and merch.
I'm all about that product. So, you know, I'm Forever Joy Girl at Forever Joy Girl on IG.
I am Elise Evans on Facebook, but I'm Elise Hollywood Evans everywhere else.

(01:05:22):
E hollywood e on twitter and yeah forever
joy girl on um tiktok just get
with your girl uh i got you you
know you know but it costs you a little something because what we out here feeding
seven generations out so that's what we want to do raise that money and i got
a daughter in college that's gone to ghana so buy some products to support this

(01:05:42):
kid to go to college she's on the dean's list she's my sorority sister and she's
my fourth child to go to college hey i ain't mad at that.
Shout out to good parenting. Yeah.
And then my name has been Buddy Romig. I have been the host of the Yeah Buddy podcast.
You can follow me at Yeah Buddy Entertainment or Funny Business on all social media platforms.
And if you're watching this, you can just follow the says it all right there. Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop.

(01:06:06):
Okay, cool. And like I said, this has been the guest, wonderful guest,
Miss Elise Hollywood-Evans. You dig what I'm saying?
Again, this episode has been brought to you by the Comedy Cash Cow Competition.
Which which takes place May 25th in Vacaville, California at the journey theater.
Like I said, if you want to see 25 comedians compete and battle it out for their

(01:06:26):
chance to win a thousand dollars, star in their own movie and even get signed
to a talent agency, just get your tickets at www.comedycashcow.com.
It's again, I've been buddy roaming, at least Hollywood Evans catch us streaming
on all streaming platforms, Spotify, Google.
Well, Google's podcast is getting ready to go down, but yeah.
Okay. That's another combo. Yeah, that's another combo, But yeah,

(01:06:48):
I think they transitioned it all over to YouTube. But then Apple Podcasts,
Amazon, all that good jazz.
And yeah, I'll catch y'all on the next episode. My name's Big Buddy.
Elyse Hollywood-Evans. Hey. All right, I'll catch y'all later. I'm out.
Boop, boop. Boop, boop. Wait, I want to say this. Listen, everybody out there, you know what?
Listen, buddy. If you want to get rid of a roach, tell it you want a real relationship.

(01:07:13):
Cocaine roach. Yeah. And they give it cocaine afterwards. All right.
All right thank you.