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October 15, 2024 56 mins

The Breakfast Club Sits Down With Rickey Smiley To Discuss Grieving The Loss Of His Son, Comedy's Healing, And New Book. Listen For More!

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wake that ass up in the morning.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
The Breakfast Club Morning, everybody in Steve j Envy, Jesselirich,
Charlamage the guy. We are the Breakfast Club Justice, all
maternity leave so long a Rosa is feeling in and
we got a special guest in the.

Speaker 3 (00:14):
Building about to mess up. So many people had because
they're gonna be in their call. Like am I listening
to the right station?

Speaker 4 (00:20):
You got the brother Ricky Smiley here.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Welcome brother, man, Thank you for having me. Man. How
you feeling man, I'm feeling good man. It's a dream
to be here, stopping. Bride lay in the bed and
I sit here and I just scroll and watch all
y'all videos. I've been a fan for years.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
I want to say something before we get started with
the conversation. I saw Ricky a couple of weeks ago.
I saw him in New Orleans at the Inspired No
Lo event, and I went up to him and I
said something that I'm gonna say now. I want to
publicly apologize. I was just about to ask to Ricky
Smiley because several years ago I gave Ricky Smiley Donkey
of Today because a radio executive asked me to. And

(00:57):
you didn't deserve that, brother. So I told when I
saw you, I told you that, you know, And I
wanted to say that again publicly because I feel like
if you if you do something to somebody publicly that
you don't agree with, you should publicly apologize for it.
So I want to. I want to say that to everybody,
all our listeners. I want to. I want them to
hear me say that you didn't deserve that.

Speaker 1 (01:14):
Now.

Speaker 3 (01:14):
I want to apologize to you.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
I appreciate that man the first time when when you
walked up on me. Man, your energy, man, the love
and the respect it takes a you know, a big person.
I know that it was all part of the game
because we have a mutual Uh. One of your employees
is one of my mentees, big man Mac.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, as an intern.

Speaker 5 (01:38):
Oh yeah, that's as an intern.

Speaker 4 (01:40):
And yeah, got to he is.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Well, I put him on stage. I'm the first one
to put him on stage. We'll talk about that, uhcause
I put a lot of them on stage, gave a
lot of comics their start or whatever. I've been in
the game thirty five years. But I really appreciate that, man,
and and don't feel no kind of way about it.
I didn't take it personally. But you know, it takes
a special kind of person to apologize and stuff like that.

(02:02):
I thought nothing because if I thought anything bad, I
wouldn't even be here. You know what I'm saying. But
I love you. I appreciate you, man. I think you're
doing a factorous job. I met you at the White House.
I was excited about that, and I hear you in
Florida all the time.

Speaker 5 (02:16):
We see each other on the road every once.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
In a while.

Speaker 6 (02:20):
A pleasure me you.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
I was gonna start that, but now we even got
to go there because I was gonna ask it. One
time everybody was stolen shots and I was like, I'm
just glad.

Speaker 3 (02:28):
I know everybody it was shot back to.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
From the South. We can go outside and just wrestle.

Speaker 6 (02:37):
At this big age.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
Might have called wrest somebody might.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Not get up. Yeah, I might pull on something that
yeah got up there. He might have called you short
ball headed.

Speaker 3 (02:50):
So many people, you know what I'm saying, whether mister Harvey,
whether it's little du Ball, it's back. So it's just
like what we're doing.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, we're getting older. We don't have time.
That's right.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
Well, you got a new book out right now, it's
some side show sideshow talk about what?

Speaker 4 (03:05):
What's what's what side show about?

Speaker 1 (03:07):
Okay, you know the song that your parents, uh, everybody parents,
Let the side show begin, Harry herds about a sad clown. Right.
My job as a professional comedians to go on stage
and make people laugh. And I lost my son about
a year and a half ago, and it's been hard
because the bills don't stop coming. I'm still a performer.

(03:29):
I still have to go on stage, and I had
to dig deep and get in some real deep therapy
to get myself together so I can continue as a performer.
Because if I worked at you know, Amazon, lifting boxes
or delivering packages, that's one thing. But when your job
is to make people laugh, when you're crying on the

(03:50):
inside with the trauma that I experienced, Uh, that's what
the song sideshow talk about.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
You know.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
See the man with a broken heart. You can see
that he is sad. It hurts so bad. See the
girl who collect broken hearts? Assuming it it's all about
a clown in a circus, performing but dealing with stuff
on the inside.

Speaker 3 (04:13):
I've watched you grieve out loud online and the only
reason I don't like that. Have nothing to do with
how you feel. I know how people react. Yeah, and
when you're already dealing with something, when you're already dealing
with truma, and then you give it to people online,
then they come at you. How did that? How do
you deal with that?

Speaker 1 (04:30):
Oh? No, it didn't bother me, Charlemagne. My job was
I had to help other people because the reason I
was open with it is a lot of mothers out
there that lost their eighteen year old, seventeen year old,
sixteen year old, fifteen. My son was thirty two. When
we were in New Orleans. Your books, your book signing
was right after mine, and I had a couple that

(04:52):
had lost their two year old, right, and these are
that's some of the things that I talk about in
the book. It gave me it. It gives you glimmers
of hope and the glimmers of inspiration even during traumatic times. Right.
So my son was thirty two, but this couple sitting
out here crying at my book sign and their son
was only two. And I could have lost my son

(05:13):
at two, but God allowed me to have, you know,
thirty years, thirty two years, So you get a little
gratitude from that, and it's crazy that you can get
gratitude from something like that, you know, and you start
looking at it's a helpful to The book is a
helpful too for people that's going through the grief process,
because there's a lot of people out there and my
book sign has been packed with people that have lost

(05:36):
their kids.

Speaker 5 (05:37):
How do you still believe? In New Orleans? Yeah, how
do you still believe?

Speaker 1 (05:41):
Right?

Speaker 2 (05:41):
You talk about losing your father at the age of six, right,
and then you lose your son. How do you just
not say, you know what, there is no higher power?
How do you still remain focused and still have believe
and still have hope and still have all of that
going through the pain that you've gone.

Speaker 1 (05:55):
You know, I grew up in Birmingham, Man, so you know,
I got that old Southern Christian background. I went to
Sunday school every Sunday. So I just have some strong
beliefs in a close relationship with God. Because it was
nothing and nobody to land on. I was in an
apartment in Dallas, Texas by myself, you know, when I
found out that my son passed, and I had an hour,

(06:18):
and I had an hour to make it to the airport,
and I'm packing a bag and on the phone with
my other kids letting them know what happened, and trying
to get myself together and preparing myself to lead because
my family needed me. You know, it didn't really hit
me until a year later, right, But at that time,

(06:38):
my son has a mother and a wonderful stepfather, so
I had to protect them. I had to protect my mother,
who was really close to my son because my mother,
you know, recovering addict. My mother had thirty five years clean.
Had to protect her because they had a real special
relationship because she could identify with his struggle. I had

(07:00):
to protect my other kids. I had two kids in
college getting ready to graduate college. My daughter that got shot,
she was a senior in college getting ready to graduate Bailor.
And then I had my son graduate in Alabama State
and then my oldest daughter. So just trying to get
them and then come and say, hey, here's what happened.

(07:21):
Brandon didn't make it. I need you to meet me
at the house immediately, just real calm. I need you
to text me, let me know that you're on your way,
text me when you let me know. Just all of that,
I had to be come. I had to be cool.
I had to get in the car with my uncle's
who was crying. I had to turn the radio own
R and B station. I had to turn on Frankie
Beverley and Maids to go from the airport the house.
I'm comforting them because it reminded them of my dad's death, right,

(07:46):
And so I'm just a child man that sat on
the front road and watch my grandparents go through what
they went through and through my grandfather. I learned how
to handle this situation because that's how my grandfather handled
it as well.

Speaker 7 (07:59):
Did you ever, because losing somebody, especially someone so closeer son,
it changes you. Did you ever at first when you
were trying to get to that like, I mean, I
guess I get through it.

Speaker 6 (08:09):
I don't know if you ever.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
Get through it?

Speaker 3 (08:10):
Fit?

Speaker 6 (08:10):
Were you?

Speaker 7 (08:11):
Were you afraid that when you got back on stage
that first time that, like you just it wouldn't be
the same, Like your ability to kind of push through
and make people laugh wouldn't.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
Be the same. You know, Charlemagne, one thing about funny,
it don't change you when.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
You want something to laugh at, especially in the trauma.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
Yeah, when your ass hit that stage, man, them jokes,
come them jokes, like when you get somebody on the
front road laughing. I cried all the way up. My
first show was in Cleveland at the Horrors Casino, and
I cried from the hotel all the way to the venue,
all the way backstage, blew my nose did like that,
made sure my nose was clean, and walked on stage

(08:48):
and got them jokes and cried after I got off stage.
And you know I was coming, but I've been in therapy.
I was getting therapy twice a week, so I was
prepared to go on stage again. My son died on
a That Wednesday, I was back on the radio, and
they said, take as much time as you need. Well,
either you lay in the bed and think about all
of that, or you get your ass up and go

(09:10):
do your morning show and go do your radio show.
Because all the mothers in Chicago and in Columbia, and
in Charleston and in Atlanta, all over the country, their
kids died too much. As given much as required, you
can't cancel the show. God put you in this position

(09:30):
and put you in a leadership position, and you have
to leave. And I still went to the Salvation Army
like I do on a regular basis. I fed the
homeless with my son closed in the car to go
to the funeral home. That was a dark Wednesday. I'll
never forget it. You have to do it everything, all
of this stuff, and I don't want you to ever
forget this. All of this stuff in me is a test.

(09:54):
It's a test. Our pastor has been teaching us that
for years. It's a test. God is watching you through
your struggles, through your trials and tribulation, and looking at
you seeing how you're gonna handle this. Are you gonna
make it about you? Are you going to use this
situation to help other people? But I was still smart

(10:14):
enough to go ahead and get the help that I
needed in the process because I had to get therapy
because it's trump is a bad car accident.

Speaker 3 (10:20):
Do you think you would have been reacting without the
without the therapy.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
Oh, man, I probably would have been dead. I had
my son was you know, my son was a comic,
No shot, my son was a comedian. I'm singing some
clips my son. Man. I remember my son headlined his
first gig at the Stardome in Birmingham and I walked backstage.
He was by myself. He had on some uh ship.

(10:48):
He had on some some black pants, and I was
roasting him because he had on a white shirt and
some and some uh suspendens and the black protyle right on.
He said, oh, you told me to dress now. I said, Okay,

(11:09):
you look nice, I said, but I said, I said, yeah, whatever,
And he went on stage and performing. I stood backstage
and I I washed him performed and he had a
really good set, and he was doing headlining shows. He
had just started, you know, closing shows. Man. He was funny.
He had a kind of like a sense of human
and uh he was being mentored by Roy Wood Jr.

(11:29):
You know their clothes. You know, we all came from Birmingham,
same radio station, all this stuff. So Roy was giving
him some opportunities. And uh one time, not just the
funniest ship. He was on stage performing. So he had
stayed at my house, fucking left some clothes on the dryer.
You know. He took the clothes out of the washing machine,
put it in the dryer, and then he took all
the clothes and put the ship on top of the dryer.

(11:52):
I was mad as hell, you know, because I like
you to, you know, fow your stuff. Up and put
the man. I went to the Comingy Club. He was performing,
he was on stage. I didn't care. I was mad.
I went into the DJ booth and got on the microphone, said,
you get your ass on stage. You need to come
foot these damn clothes. And we got into a whole argument,
and the audience was cracking up, and I was for
real and he was laughing, and all said, Yah, when

(12:14):
you get on stage, you come home and get these
damn clothes off my drive, slam the microphone and walk
out the door. That's some funny stuff that I that
I always enjoyed talking about.

Speaker 3 (12:24):
But yeah, how has.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
It been like?

Speaker 3 (12:25):
You know, because when you write these books, you put
a lot of you know, you put your most vulnerable,
deepest thoughts into these books. Then you got to go
out here and do this. Yep, you gotta have these conversations. Yeah,
how's that been for you? I've gotten used to it, okay.

Speaker 1 (12:39):
You know, once you know how it is, once you
do one interview, you do another interview, you keep doing interviews.
You just get accustomed to talking about it, and then
you developed some really good talking points that's going to
help other people. Because what people have been telling me
is the feedback that I've been getting this, Hey bruh,
it's been helping me out. You know how many people
walk up to me and said that they lost a
loved one and they talk about it, and just because

(13:02):
they hear you on the radio every morning, now they're
coming out to your book sign. I have people walking
up crying. Almost ninety percent of the people that come
out of by the book have suffered a loss and
can't talk about it and do not go to therapy.
So I've been promoting therapy because when you roll your ankle,
you don't pull out.

Speaker 3 (13:21):
A Bible, you go to the doctor.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
The doctors absolutely the muscle. The brain is a muscle
just like your ankle. Why is it that we black
folks as a stigma that we won't go get help.
That don't mean that you're crazy. You have to get
somebody and talk to somebody that's going to help you
process those feelings and emotion, because you can go into
depression start affecting other organs in the bodies. Some people

(13:45):
don't make it from their loss. They die.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
You know a lot of times people you know, we've
been taught as kids you keep the home business in
the house, right, You never really talk about what happens
inside your house, like you said that one's killing you.

Speaker 4 (14:00):
Absolutely, depression, that anxiety.

Speaker 5 (14:02):
All those facts, all those failings.

Speaker 1 (14:03):
Every time you cry in me, do you know that's
like popping the cap off of a pressure cooker.

Speaker 3 (14:07):
You're releasing.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
I cried this morning. Yeah, man, I sat on it.
I sat on the side of my hotel bed. I
was having some anxiety. I called a good friend of mine.
She answered the phone. When I heard her voice, I
just started crying. Bro, I just let it out. I
just cried. I just needed to just cry. I felt
it building up yesterday and I just started crying. And
the changing of the season, you know that that affects you.

(14:32):
I think they called it seasonal breathing, no depression seasons.

Speaker 3 (14:35):
I've been dealing with anxiety and depression for my whole life,
and I started going to therapy in twenty sixteen. And
when I wrote a book about it in twenty eighteen,
my dad read the book. And I had a cousin
who completed suicide that week, and my dad told me
it was the week of Thanksgiving twenty eighteen, am homictocking line,
and he told me that between reading my book and
my cousin completing suicide, he told me for the first

(14:56):
time ever that he was going to therapy two and
three times a week. He tried to kill himself thirty
plus years ago, and that in South Carolina they put
him on ten to twelve different medications for his mental health.
And I remember I asked my mom. I said, Mom,
you know Dad was going through all this, and she said,
I thought he was playing crazy to get a check,
because that's what they're doing this sooth. They give you
the crazy check. But imagine if he would have had

(15:16):
that conversation with me when I was young, just told
me that the way we're discussing it right now, Imagine
if we heard, you know, older men in all life
having that conversation early, we'd have known that the stuff
we was going through was normal.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
Yeah, my granddad never talked about it. My dad died.
My dad was twenty six. My granddaddy didn't talk about
it until it was like eighty five because he would
be at my house all the time, you know, and
I said, I'd say, well, Daddy, what happened? My dad
died here in New York. You know, My dad died
of a drug overdose here in New York. And my
granddaddy was like, he just started telling me. It's like
I was there when they bought your dad's body in.

(15:53):
I stood there like a man. I was standing in
the morning when they rolled my son'body in there like
I took that shit like a g I didn't shed
a tear. I just made sure everything was done properly,
you know, bought the barber, inn talked to the barber,
I want my son mustache and beer done. And I
stood right there and I took it. But all of
that stuff you cried in the cardlestuff, it hadn't really

(16:16):
really hit me. It's coming out in small pieces like
this morning. Maybe this morning was some of it. And
I didn't cry at the funeral because my granddaughter was
looking at me the whole time, was like pickaboo because
she didn't know what was you know, the home while

(16:38):
you know she looking at me, we playing because you know,
and I just had that memory of my grandparents crying.

Speaker 4 (16:45):
Ricky, have you dealt with it because it doesn't seem
like you fully.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, it's a process.

Speaker 4 (16:52):
Brou Do you have a think about just giving away
just stop it?

Speaker 5 (16:56):
You know, like I don't want to do this anymore.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
Was that ever a mo No man, we got to
say people, man, my listen, some have to die so
others can live, you understand, And you know, no Cross,
no crown, bro. We have to go through what we
have to go through, and we have to talk about it.
And I'm sure just trying to break the generational curse

(17:18):
of number one not talking about it, not going and
getting therapy and getting help and to talk about, you know,
drug addiction. You know, I had a son and a
nephew age thirty two and a niece. I had a niece,
a son, a nephew all died of age thirty two
within two years of each other.

Speaker 6 (17:38):
Can you talk a.

Speaker 7 (17:38):
Little bit about that, like just in real time when
they were here dealing with the addiction and trying to
help them through it, and like also wanted them to
get better, but addiction, understanding it like it kind of
takes over where it's not it's not even just them anymore,
Like it's it's a big beast.

Speaker 1 (17:52):
Yeah. The only thing I regret I didn't have a
good understanding of the illness because I had a a
niece and a nephew that was cool and come and respectful.
But it didn't affect my son that way. You know,
my son would go off about stuff, you know, and
it damaged our relationship or whatever because I didn't understand, like, Hey,

(18:13):
I'm your dad. You can't say that to me. You
know I'm driving around looking for you to fight you
in the middle of the street. You know I raised you,
I cooked food for you. You know what I'm saying.
I wash your clothes. You slept in the bed when
me when it was thunder. Don't say that to me,
you know. So I just didn't have a clear understanding
of that. But I did everything I could to save
to save his life.

Speaker 5 (18:33):
Did you ever blame yourself at all?

Speaker 1 (18:35):
Oh? No, that's one thing I never felt. I never
felt guilt. Now, you know, I felt a lot of stuff,
but guilt was not one of them. I did everything
I could as a father to save his life, you know, rehab,
the seventy grand off the bat boom like like, you know,
we did that twice, and you know my mom was
trying to help him. I just couldn't. I just couldn't

(18:57):
get him. I just couldn't get him to get him.

Speaker 2 (19:00):
Well, would you do anything different? As a dad during
any of those times and reason.

Speaker 1 (19:06):
Before I have six, so I like to that's that's
a good question. Uh. I wasn't tough on him. He
was the one that I caught him. I was tough
on my other kids, like like the other kids was
like I was just really really really really tough on them,
and he was the one that I just kind of
caught on and did everything for and took it because
that was my first born or whatever. I just wish

(19:28):
that I was tougher. I know that sounds strange because
it sounds like I should say I should have been
easier on him. I was easy on him. I should
have been tougher on him like I was the other kids.

Speaker 3 (19:41):
What do we call tougher though, beause I you know,
we come from the era I was getting beat with
extension cards and my daddy made me take a bath.
I gotta go and beat my kid. I don't even
touch my kids at all, right, So what do you
call tough?

Speaker 1 (19:54):
I just wouldn't give him, you know, I don't think
I brandon. I hit him. I popped him a couple
of times when he was about fourteen, made him go
stand in the corner and go do that little right there.
I would to make sure those legs and those cats,
you know what I'm saying. I didn't. By the time

(20:17):
I started getting tough on him, it was time for
him to go off to college, you know. But the
other kids, like Malik went to military school then he
went to IMG Academy, would say he had a military mindset.
I think this, But I tried to do that for
Brandon because I sent him to the National Guard, you
know what I'm saying. So my son served. He had
a flag drake off his because he served our country.

(20:38):
But I just think I caught on him a little
too much, and he just loved on him. And he
was the one I loved on, hugged on, you know,
and just up under me all the time.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
Yeah, I don't. It's hard when you're a parent now
did Like I said, who the air? We grew up
and I'll be talking to my nine year old like
she a basketball player, like, but you wouldn't have survived
in the nineties with my grandma and my mom and Daddy.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
Was going to be right. But the key is it's
good that you talked to her with that coach, boys,
because we have to give kids, more of what we
had as opposed to what we didn't have. You know
what I'm saying, You like who you are. You like
how you turned out right get that same thing.

Speaker 5 (21:16):
To your kids and the evall version of you.

Speaker 3 (21:19):
I'm sure in through therapy, I've learned to love every
version of me. That's what you got to do in life,
you know, like every version of you served the purpose absolutely.

Speaker 7 (21:27):
In chapter twelve year book, It's let the Tears Fall,
you said that it took you a year for all
of this to really like hit you. Yeah, what was
that day like when you were like, I'm feeling it
like that first time?

Speaker 1 (21:39):
That one year anniversary. A few days before that one
year anniversary, Man, it hit me like he had just died.
And I was sitting I had just got off the air.
I was down in South Florida because I didn't want
to be in the house, but that one year anniversary,
I just wanted to go get away, and man, it
hit me, man, and I was I did some crying,

(22:01):
and I I think I think it was a bad
mistake for me to be there by myself. But I
just kind of sat on the couch and just cried
pretty much for a couple of days, like like really
cried because the only difference was I didn't have a
casket and some flowers and some condolences. Right, I had
all of that to keep me distracted doing when it

(22:23):
actually happened, I had to protect everybody. But that one
year came in and uh, it was like it was terrible.

Speaker 3 (22:30):
What about the chapter when the addiction chases the bloodline?
Was that difficult to write because you know, you got
to go through your whole generational lineage with that. Was
that a difficult chapter right now?

Speaker 1 (22:39):
It wouldn't. It was just being being open and honest.
My dad struggled, my mom struggled. I had wonderful grandparents.
My granddad talked to me every day church, Sunday, school.
You know, hey, here's a trumpet, play that, here's some
PMO lessons. Let's go do that a little from little
I did trumpet, little football, did it all. My grandparents
kept me busy with the splending instruction, talk to me

(23:01):
every day so I didn't have to. I didn't have
those issues. And then he always talked about how my
dad died, so don't do this. So I just stuck
with it, and to this day, I don't drink or smoke.

Speaker 3 (23:13):
I always wonder how grief impacts people who lost their
parents at a very, very very young age. Does it
hit you later in life? You see somebody out with
their parents and it hits you, like, what is it?

Speaker 1 (23:23):
It did when I was when I was a kid.
But what hurt me about my dad's death was watching
my grandparents cry like that on the front row. I'm
in therapy for that. That comes up in therapy. That
wipes me out. Wow, that wipes me out more than
my son's death. Why I'm a grandmama's baby, like you
understand you from the South, like watching my grandparents cry

(23:47):
like that on their front row. Man, I can't get
over it. Even when my grandparents died, the only thing
I could think about. Their casket was in the same
spot my dad's castle. Well, the only thing I could
think about was them crying on that front April the eleventh,
nineteen seventy four. Wow, I will never forget it, man,
It just it tears my soul out of my body.

(24:07):
I can deal with my son and death. But that's
that's what I struggled with more than anything. Wow. And
that's why I didn't cry at my son, you know,
because my granddaughter was watching.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
Man, I don't even want to traumatize her like that. Like, man,
dang boy, yeah, life is mother.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
Listening up there talking about it because about.

Speaker 3 (24:28):
But that's what I understand about that. That's why that's
why I noticed, like just putting this out there to
the world and having to relive all these stories and
retell these stories, is it therapeutic or does it feel
like you open it up?

Speaker 1 (24:37):
Man? This is therapy because if I go and get
in that car and start crying, that is helpful. It
is helpful to cry. It was helpful for me your
CRD this morning. You understand. I'm good.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
But I also think what you're doing is helping people
that don't know how to deal with it and can't
talk about it because now they have a friend in
you in this book and they're saying, well, let me
see how Ricky dealt with it.

Speaker 5 (24:58):
Let me see what the troubles he's going through. It
is normal.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
I can feel this way because a lot of times
people feel like they're on their own, yeah, and they
don't have those feelings.

Speaker 4 (25:05):
So that's that's one amazing thing about this this book.

Speaker 3 (25:07):
Well, let's talk about something else for a thing you
put on a lot of comedians, Ricky, and I think
that coming from the South, right, people don't. I don't
think people realize how big you are sometimes like this,
you know what I'm saying, Like, I don't think they
realize how how much money you got number one, but
rich you are, and just how big you are. And
I think it's it's almost a stigma with comedians from
the South, like they don't get the respect that they deserve.

Speaker 1 (25:29):
I think, yeah, I just do it for the love
of the art. Charlemagne Envy. I remember cussing d Ray
Davis out snatching a drink out of his hand because
he was too young to be drinking. Hey give me that.
You know. I had a little comedy club back in Birmingham,
the comber Zoon, So I would I would have like
d Ray Corey holcom Cory Hoakan was like, hey, man,

(25:52):
I ain't never been outside of Chicago. I'm like, okay, cool,
let's go on the road. You know, I would take
those guys on the road. Corey holc them, d Ray Davis,
h a lot of them, man, that Tyler. Some of
them have passed away. You know. I would just take
him on the road to help him, because that's what
Steve did for me. You know, nobody have to don't

(26:12):
nobody have the food. You know what I'm saying. Some
people can just ignore you. Steve was one of those
guys man that was helping and training company down I
started November thirteenth, nineteen eighty nine. Wow, that's the first
time I went on stage. I met Steve before he
did show Time of the Apollo and then tell you

(26:33):
a story I wrote about it in my first book,
and just talk about the discipline and the structure of comedy.
I was dressed like a like flavor flave because I
thought that was the thing I'm doing the show with Steve.
And Steve was like, listen, he said, people pay money
to see us perform. Your outfit is nice, he said,
but tomorrow I want you to come dress better. I

(26:55):
want you to dress he said, I want you to
dress nice. You know. Bruce, as the owner, was standing
in the door watching. I was embarrassed. I felt bad.
I felt like my career was over. You know, my
feelings were hurt. I was like, oh shit, you know,
I don't want to blow an opportunity with Steve Harvey Man.
He said, you can go ahead and introduce me. He said,
but tomorrow, let's get it together. Say yes, sir, you know,

(27:17):
because you can't say nothing nowadays. You can't correct nowadays
because everybody says it. I said, y'all give it up
and show your love right now. But Steve Harvey, queen,
I'll never get a queen the tea to come on
for the love of money, off that New Jack City
soundtrash and he came up. I'm talking about. It was
electric and I wanted to stay there and watch man.
I ran out that damn comedy club door. I jumped

(27:38):
in my nineteen seventy nine to YO the Corolla Force Speed.
I peeled out of that company club driving. I drove
all o way across town, ran in my apartment, put
on a suit I had mare from Jeans West because
I used to work at Jeans West, you know. Put
my suit on boom time and I'm running driving back.
I made it back to the country club just in time.
When I walked back in the day, he was like,

(27:59):
all right, y'all been for god man show. My name
is Steve Harvey. Peace. When I walked back up there
and had that suit on, no nigga, not tomorrow tonight.

Speaker 5 (28:09):
That's what's up right now.

Speaker 3 (28:10):
What Steve said to you when he saw so.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
You damped me up and he you know how you do?
You let me up and down? And he said, Si,
I'm gonna talk to you after the show.

Speaker 3 (28:23):
I said, yes, sir, And Steve's annoying man.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
Oh my god.

Speaker 3 (28:27):
Now o'kay with nobody, you know.

Speaker 1 (28:29):
After the show? He said, follow, he said, following this
car right here. I followed him back to the hotel room.
I sat on the edge of the bed and took
a little notepad in the pencil, and he lectured me
for about two hours, and me and another comedian sat
on the edge of the bed and wrote notes, how
to do this? Why not do this? You did this
joke wrong? Why are you cussing on stage? Why are

(28:49):
you dressed like this? T A T and T is
in the audience? You need to do this da da day.
I took all that stuff. I took it serious because
I wanted to be great. I wanted to be better
at at what I did, and I ended up opening
up for the Kings of Company. I did some shows
where I did a few dates with the Kings of Company.
You had to ride with Steve. You don't get your

(29:09):
own limousine. You have to ride with him. So you
have to be disciplined. Get into the limousine, keep your
mouth closed, slide all the way up, put your back
to the driver. Speak when spoken to. Had to share
a dressing room for Steve. We frant brothers. But I'm
not ever comfortable enough just because you're a que and
I'm a cue. I'm finna come in here like I'm entitled.
Be quiet and speak when spoken to. That's discipline I

(29:30):
got from my grandparents.

Speaker 5 (29:31):
Who's the other comedian on the bed with you?

Speaker 1 (29:33):
I was probably is Sir walk Yeah, a comedian that
lives in Burningham, Sir Walt, and he was mentoring a
lot of us, but he was really into teaching. Come
on with him sitting down. I mean we're sitting there.
He's standing up, walking back and forth, and he's talking
to us. And I remember a couple of times I
was about to nod because I was so sleepy, because

(29:53):
I go to bed really and but that that was
something that was life changing.

Speaker 3 (29:58):
Well you still like that. I changed the title Little
my first book cause of Steve. I was gonna name
my book I Don't give a Fuck and neither should
you a self help guide or how not to give
a fuck. And we was driving around in a ranch
in Georgia and I told him that title. He looked
at me and he said, I gave you anough no
playing that, ain't it. He said, that's the problem with y'all.
Y'all don't give a fuck. We need y'all need to

(30:19):
give a fuck. All people need to give a fuck.
Same thing. Lecture me for about an hour, and I'm like,
all right, I got it.

Speaker 1 (30:25):
Yeah, big brother Mentor. I was supposed to be on
his morning show and we had a big argument sitting
in this truck, and then Rashaan got on the phone said, no,
you need to do your own thing. We're gonna use
nephew Tommy. He said, you go over here. If it
don't work out, you can come be on the show
with us. Wow.

Speaker 3 (30:41):
So hold on, You're supposed to be a co host
on Steve Harvey show.

Speaker 1 (30:44):
So Steve was gonna give me. When Steve left Radio one,
they said, who do you think? They said, He said,
Ricky smileing. So I went down there to do the
morning show with Steve for two weeks so he can gradually, Hey,
turn the show over the list, Hey, I'm gonna be
going in two weeks, but Ricky Smiley gonna be taken over.
The chemistry was so good and we were so fun.

(31:06):
I was just throwing them all kind of ally oops,
making him recycle jokes, and we were just so funny
on the air together. Were looking at each other like,
hey man, we need to we need to, you know,
and me and Steve had it. We was like, Okay,
we're gonna we're gonna stick together. I'm gonna go to
New York with you, and we got in the car. Rashaan,
our other frat brother with Steve, managed that, you know.

(31:26):
Ra Sean said hell no, He said, no, you know,
I just have this idea that you should go over here.
We're gonna bring in you tell me and if it
don't work out, you can always come back. But let's
give this a try and see how you do.

Speaker 6 (31:40):
Was that tough to hear that?

Speaker 7 (31:41):
Because you because think about it, like you go to
New York with Steve Harvey. It's like you say, what
do you think? Was it hard to accept that? And no,
you should not it wasn't.

Speaker 1 (31:49):
Because once Steve gave me that look when he did
the fun and he just kind of you know that look,
you know, look when you give you that that big
brother look like Okay, we're gonna go ahead. You're not
gonna argue with him, right, Who do you do that
for that?

Speaker 7 (32:04):
Because you talk a lot about people that you mentor
and and you help, but like, who's somebody that you
do that for that? Like we might not know about
that might have started in your clubs or just unknown,
and now it's like taking over comedy wise.

Speaker 1 (32:15):
Oh man, little duvall with somebody that I that I
have a real good relationship with that I was doing
some you know, mentorship because remember I was the host
of Company View in two thousands with a lot of
people mentored just by being on that show, right right,
that's what That's what eighty five they told me. So
that I'm tripping, like like Carlos Miller was like, bru,

(32:37):
I met you when I was fourteen years old. You
was in a hotel. I got excited. I'm hearing these
stories and stuff. Man, not realizing the impact on company
because I'm on beet Monday through Saturday. Like when when
Comedy View really blew up. It was in Atlanta, and
then I hosted again Charlotmane in two thousand and four,
and then the year after two thousand and two thousand
and one, I had my own little TV show, The

(32:59):
Way We Do It Us Time, you know, and I
was doing all these characters and all these voices and
all this kind of stuff, And so when comics needed
help and needed mentorship, I would always, you know, hey,
dress nice, Hey, stop cursing. Does that curse word make
that joke funny? Are you cursing just to be cursing?
That's a real thing. I just had that conversation with

(33:20):
a comic. I say, hey, man, you curse too much.
The cursing is not making the joke funnier. But if
the curse word is a part of the punchline, then
use it, I said. Because it's like I give the
onion example, Like, like you eat an onion, it's nasty,
but if you take it and chop it up in
sawteed and get some flour on it, and you're still

(33:40):
eating an onion, but you can't taste it. It's just
an analogy that I use with comics, and I make
them redo the joke, and I say, damn, you did
the same joke and got the same laugh, got a
bigger laugh because people are not offended. You know what
I'm saying. So you know it's no training and stand
up anymore. You know. Back then, in the eighties, late eighties, nineties,
comics go pull you to other side, Mark curry them.

(34:01):
They would pull. George Wallace got on my ass so
bad one night.

Speaker 3 (34:06):
Why you was bombing?

Speaker 1 (34:08):
What? No man? I did some jokes behind him after
he closed it, after he headlined the show. I didn't
know any better. He said, you don't do them, damn
joke temping me. God, damnit, I make what phone call
your career open? Damn motherfucker. I said, I'm sorry. He said, yeah,
you said good night, read the announcement, and bring your
hands back to morrow. I said, yes, sir, and I

(34:29):
came on back. He was nice to me the next night,
and he won't admit it to this day. I said, Joey,
you remember me said I didn't do it, shut up,
but it was good. I needed that shit. If I
got a boogie in my nose, tell me, don't let
me be out here bad. Pull me to the side.
And help me.

Speaker 3 (34:47):
But you can't even do it. You feel like you
do that nowadays and somebody will be like, oh man,
he threatened me, hurt my feeling. He hate me, hating
so to be offended me.

Speaker 1 (34:56):
It's like what man, I tell comics man, because that's
the only with asked Corey Hokerman asked Dray Davis. I
used to get at them all the time about little stuff. Man.
I'm like, hey, man, you I think d Ray was
nineteen or twenty when I bought him to Birmingham. I said,
you can't drink nothing, you can't have that. Give me
that fussing at him about little stuff, man. And now
he's great and we laugh about it all the time.

(35:18):
He's just gonna always be my little brother or whatever.
They all come to the house. If you ever come
to Birmingham, you know you're welcome. I cooked my ass
off or whatever, sons I wish you're right, y'all always welcome.

Speaker 4 (35:33):
Now, there was a rumor that in your contract he
said that you had to wear a dress.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
Oh man, don't pay that stuff.

Speaker 3 (35:40):
God, maam, honey, put some fly on.

Speaker 1 (35:48):
And so so so I'm then I started doing comedy
eighty nine man, you think there's a contract somewhere. I'm
just I knew that. That didn't bother me. Were bothered me?
He was People believed it.

Speaker 7 (36:02):
Oh yeah, they did, because it's always been that thing
about the wear of the dress. To not wear the
dress to it's comedy.

Speaker 1 (36:08):
Listen, it's comedy. I grew up watching Flip Wilson. Flip
Wilson is the greatest of all time. And right when
you landing at Flip Wilson, he turned around to do Geraldine.
Me and my im wanna sit down and watch that
with my grandmother. My characters came. Man. I was doing
prank phone calls on the radio. I was doing Bernie's jinkins.

(36:28):
And whoever would have thought a character that you do
on the radio calling funeral homes and all this stuff
turned into a character and somebody asked you to play
the character in a movie or whatever. You know, it's
funny that all that stuff is tamboo. Now they do
that in Philly.

Speaker 6 (36:43):
Mother knows they do.

Speaker 1 (36:44):
You ever heard it?

Speaker 6 (36:45):
And they do the calls.

Speaker 7 (36:46):
I just thought about that when you said that. I
don't know if they got it from you, but mother
knows they call people all the time.

Speaker 3 (36:51):
But that's the thing radio everybody.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
I started. I listened to the Jerky Boys and then
Craners Mercer, but the characters developed. I do. I do
a redneck character. I do Beubert, I do Bernie Jingings,
I do Joe Willie. I have a gospel quartet, Joe
Willie and the Duderrama Nairs. You know, I do a
little Darren Precious. I do a lot of characters. I'm

(37:18):
i'm I'm talented. I played the trumpet, I play the
French one. I played the bass guitar, I played the tube.
I'm an organist. I played the beat three hammon at
church on Sundays. You know what I'm saying. I study music.
I'm just multi talented, and you can't make everybody like you.
I have never did anything, had any beat with any kind.

(37:41):
I had one beat with a coming and it was
a que beef for twenty years, and that was Arnie's J.
Me and Arnare's j could not freaking stand each other.
We have because a show happened, and you know, comments
get there early and go on first. You know, Artie said,
got that and didn't do the order or either. Something happened,

(38:01):
but we had beef. Nobody knew about it, right, And
I'm shure God worked nobody knew about it. COVID came.
I'm sitting on Delta. I'm in for a lot of
the airport, getting ready to fly to Atlanta where I
can drive home, you know, And I see a dude
getting on a plane with a mask on. He got
fishing rods Well, who fished? Arn SJ. Lavell Crawford and

(38:24):
What's my Man? Shadik Houston. Those are the three comics
that really fish. They fish fish, they go fishing. I said,
it's Ron J. I had spoke to IRONJ in twenty years.
And so I got up and he was sitting right
next to me, and he sat right next to me.
I don't say nothing.

Speaker 3 (38:42):
That's God.

Speaker 1 (38:44):
I saw as I said, I know that's Ron HJ.
I hadn't talked to him in twenty years like we had.
It wouldn't so ugly beef, like I'm gonna kill you,
just like forget you, forget you or whatever. And you know,
I'm a Christian person. I'm all about resolving and loving
on people because that's my heart. And I grabbed his
arm and he did it like that, and I looked.

(39:07):
I grabbed it and he's like like what, And I
pulled my mask down. Man. He started laughing. He started laughing.
So Charlemagne, give me your hand, the other hand, the whole,
the whole, the whole flight. Me and Jay like this
because when he started telling me that the twenty years,

(39:29):
all the people that passed away, everything that happened him,
we cried the whole flight from full lot of them
to Atlanta. I said, now I apologize. He said no.
He said, my wife been trying to get me to
call you for years, been on me about that. I said, nah,
you don't have to. It was just love because because
I had always said, if I see on the show again,

(39:50):
I'm just gonna tackle him. I can't Cat. I saw
Cat one time and he had said some stuff that's
before the internet came out, and said some stuff, some
stuff years ago. He was roasting all the comedians that
wore a dress, that play a character. You know, he
was roasting I was talking about it on the Fox

(40:12):
one day and I'm driving down Fourteenth Street in Atlanta.
I saw Cat walking across the street and I had
my granddad in the car. Then my ford f one
pity and Uh, you know, I'm one of the type
of dudes I'm gonna be carrying. I'm like, hey, Cat
was up. He was walking the Starbucks. I never forget it.
He said, come on, have a couple of cough with me,
a cup of coffee with me. So I went over there,

(40:32):
and before he went the Starbucks, he came around. I said, hey, man,
Cat Weaven. I said, this is my granddad or whatever.
My granddad saw you on TV before my Granddadthery said yeah,
and Cat stood in the door had a conversation with
my grandfather or whatever. And that was like one of
the last times I saw him. And there was no
issue because it's all love or whatever, because you know,

(40:55):
I don't know why I never did anything to him.
If I did, you know, I'm always open man enough
to apologize.

Speaker 3 (41:02):
He felt like he was clearing the record on because
I think he or was it that he was supposed
to play a role? You said, well, what I did.

Speaker 1 (41:09):
When I went out there, I auditioned for that part,
and uh, that's what I really auditioned for. I didn't
audition for the Santa Claus. If I'm not mistaken. The
Santa Claus role was supposed to be for what's his name?
He played in the First Friday, the comedian that passed away?
Oh man, that was that was that was on drugs
and stealing and breaking the people house Johnson. I think A. J.

(41:32):
Johnson was supposed to play and this is what what
I heard or whatever, and they put me in that
role because at that time I was on B E
T and stuff like that. But I did audition for it.
That's what I went out there and read for my
manager at the time, came on the air, cleared that up. DAVIDY.
Talbert came on on Instagram and cleared up the fact

(41:53):
that there's no country. He had hired me, uh to
play my role in the movie first Sunday before he
hired he cleared he cleared that part of.

Speaker 3 (42:03):
But q Q classifier too. You said that you did
audition for money, Mike, but when they saw how you moved,
they thought you'd be better for Santa Claus exactly.

Speaker 5 (42:11):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (42:12):
And I don't have no have no beep. I love
everybody if there is an opportunity to resolve, That's why
I'm the rap beef and stuff with the rappers get killed.
I don't want comedy to ever come to that. You know,
that's not what I do. That's not how I was raised.
You know, we're from the South and we just don't.
We don't. We don't do that.

Speaker 3 (42:31):
I want to talk about some of the revolutionary stuff
I feel like you've done in radio. I feel like
this nation, you know what I'm saying, we had never
seen that before. And I mean, you know, as a radiohead,
to see radio personalities on TV in that era, that
felt like watching Howard when Howard did it on E right,
So that was that was a revolutionary thing. And also
making the move to urban ac Yeah, like knowing when

(42:54):
it was I don't know if you knew it was
time or like how that happened.

Speaker 1 (42:57):
It just happened perfectly. We you know, we was on
hip hop stations and it was great. But we was
getting older. You know, I'm in I'm almost fifty brat.
You know, we all in our forties or whatever. We
ain't got no business playing certain stuff because we just
gonna You're gonna naturally age. You just can't, you just
can't can't be on the radio. We don't even know
who some of the some of the we didn't know

(43:18):
who some of the rappers are that were playing like
who is this? Now? Brat Brat the first female rapper
sell over me and she's like, who you know? You
got you got the back seller song this who is
We're looking over the top of our glasses.

Speaker 6 (43:34):
Making funny that I used to watch y'all funny.

Speaker 1 (43:36):
Yeah, but but we just naturally got older. And then
when Tom join her retired, they just slid us over
and and now we look, we're playing R and B
songs and now just relaxing in the morning, We just
we chill.

Speaker 6 (43:50):
Whose idea was it to throw or to get Porsch
on the show on this Nation?

Speaker 1 (43:54):
Yeah? I think that was so good. Well Porsche, uh,
she would fill in for Brad Porsche Kane did a
great job and she would fill in for Brat. And
then they said, hey, you want to do this nation?
So anybody came in and filled. Then the producing and say, hey,
we can get you some makeup right quick? Can you
do this nation? Here's the script and it's nothing, just

(44:14):
reading a tele prompt and hen talk about what we
have already talked about on the radio. Then we were
doing Thisnation while we was on on the air, so
doing commercial breaks, we would shoot a scene from this nation.

Speaker 3 (44:26):
Wow, Oh, I don't know why I thought that was
the show.

Speaker 1 (44:30):
Man we was doing. We was shoot when we first started.
We was in that damn same room for six hours.
We was working out, asshole, And what.

Speaker 4 (44:37):
Did you What did you know you wanted to do radio?
Because radio was not a job for everybody.

Speaker 5 (44:41):
Right.

Speaker 2 (44:41):
People say they love radio, right then when they got
to get there an hour before and two hours after
and they can't move it, especially with comedians because you
guys are on the road, you might not be able
to go on the road somedays.

Speaker 5 (44:51):
So when did you know that I'm gonna stay with
this man?

Speaker 1 (44:54):
I used to listen to these two white dudes named
Mark and Brian. You remember Mark and Brian Charlamagne. They
big and la Mark and Brian. They had this big
ass morning show. But they came from Birmingham. These are
first dudes I used to hear doing characters and they
did some prank phone calls. So I used to listen
to Mark and Brian in high school. They went to
l A and became famous fame, but they came from Birmingham,

(45:17):
and uh, I was like, y'all listening to white dudes
on Kicks one on six. You know, That's how I
got in the soft rock. That's why I'm set up
here listening to Fleetwood, Mac and the Eagles and Stilly Dan.
You know, i'd be on some chill stuff. You have
to listen to that stuff, you know. But I was
crazy about radio and I wanted to do it. And
I'm gonna tell y'all something I drove. When they put

(45:38):
up the new station, hip hop station in Birmingham ninety
five seven. Jam, you know Dasiah Yeah Days came from
our radio station. Wow, Dasha came from our radio.

Speaker 5 (45:46):
She used to be Yeah, she used to be up here.
She's on will list now right?

Speaker 3 (45:49):
Talk about another abou another day? Think about.

Speaker 1 (45:54):
Yeah, she's on with Kelly and that TV show whatever.

Speaker 3 (45:58):
Kelly and He used to be Ryan and Kelly.

Speaker 1 (46:01):
Right, she's on that. And then Roy Wood Jr. Came
from We All come from w b HJ ninety five seven. Jam.
I drove sixty miles every morning just for the opportunity
to be on the radio, and I got paid nothing.
I was hungry and I wondered. Steve used to tell me, Hey,
get on the radio. That keep your name out there.

(46:22):
They keep your brand out there. So now, Charlotte Man,
I do my comedy shows during the week I don't
do comedy clubs on weekend. So I do a show.
I just go do a seven o'clock show at the
Emprov and I do the Emprov Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
That's my four shows and get it in like that.
I'm in bed at nine o'clock. Show start at seven.
I'm back at the hotel sleep and uh, and I

(46:42):
have my weekends off.

Speaker 3 (46:43):
You want to seven?

Speaker 1 (46:45):
No, no, you said the show started. I want to
show start at five.

Speaker 3 (46:50):
When you said, David, I don't know why I thought
of Egypt with Dajah Wood. She is she used to
be Earthquake co host on b LS.

Speaker 1 (46:57):
Yeah with the short haircuta.

Speaker 3 (47:00):
She DJ on right Kelly and whatever. Kelly's Kelly and Ryan.
I think no Ryan left to do Wheel of Fortune.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
Yeah yeah, so yeah, man, we we had that was
a great station. We won, took down the number one
station and uh and just doing good radio morning show
boot camp, learning about breaks and timing and all that stuff.
I take Radio serious Man show to rep air checks,
you know, listening to yourself playing it back like I
take it serious and if you're not serious about but that's.

Speaker 4 (47:31):
A lost start.

Speaker 5 (47:32):
Yeah, that is a lost start.

Speaker 2 (47:34):
Doing radio the proper way, absolutely, air checks, doing when
to go into breaks, teasing, looking at clocks, that is
a lost start.

Speaker 1 (47:40):
Yeah, you better hit that fifty three better? You know
about that fifty three?

Speaker 3 (47:45):
What do you what do you love more? Standable radio?

Speaker 1 (47:46):
Oh? Oh god, damn, that's a good question. Radio don't
give you butterflies. Radio is just sitting in here, like
right now, I'm comfortable, it's cool or whatever. Stand up
gives you a little bit of nzie because you got
to perform. You got to go out there. People paid
money to see you perform. But my stand up is

(48:07):
being great. I'm I'm probably funnier than not ever being.
I got a special coming out. We in negotiation with
Kevin Hart right now to release a comedy special. Oh yeah,
I haven't done done a comedy special in like twelve years.
But it's funny as hell. It's probably my Dave Talbert.
He directed it, him and his wife Lynn. They directed it.
It looked good. It's gonna be funny.

Speaker 6 (48:28):
It's gonna be all over the place, recently shot stuff.

Speaker 1 (48:31):
Yeah, I just recently shot it. Okay, Yeah, I paid
for it myself and I just went on stage and
killed the ass. So I'm really excited about that.

Speaker 6 (48:39):
And what made you?

Speaker 7 (48:40):
I mean, Kevin Heart's Kevin Hart. But a lot of
people go to Netflix too, like, how did you decide
where you were gonna? Who was gonna house it?

Speaker 1 (48:45):
Well, we're gonna, We're gonna see we in negotiation now
because I just did an interview with Kevin Hart and
he asked me about the like I just shot one.
I said, you wanna you want to present it?

Speaker 6 (48:53):
Okay, so I started started that.

Speaker 1 (48:56):
Yeah. Yeah, he's a good friend of mine. I absolutely
love him. Great dude, a great dude, Kevin Man, Jamie Fox,
all of them have been good to need my whole career.
I didn't I didn't know Eddie Murphy was a fan
that I met Eddie Murphy at his house or whatever.
Went over there one day. I had a meeting with
Tracy Edmonds I think they were dating at the time,

(49:16):
and she said, ed play your prank phone calls the line,
I look like you lying? You are you serious? And
I ended up going over there and there's some comments
over there and we had barbecue chicken, collar, greens, cornbread,
macaroni and cheese. It was like we had some real soap.
And that was my first time to meeting Eddie Murphy. Man,
that was that was a pleasure. So that when you

(49:37):
get to do stuff like that. And I'm on tour
with Martin Lawrence right now, so that's my big brother.

Speaker 3 (49:41):
So the funny thing is you talk like you not
wanted you not wanted them you in a conversation.

Speaker 1 (49:49):
I'm just just humble, man. I'm still like, I kind
of still feel like I'm kind of like just still
young and in the game because I feel young and
in the game, and I know I'm a little older
and up and trying to coach younger comics and I
just kind of sit back and not try to do
too much. But I just try to make sure when
I do do something that is special and that is

(50:09):
awesome and that is funny. And my karaoke nights uh
uh be sold out. My karaoke I see my karaoke
nights sell out faster than my comedy shows. My co
host has down syndrome. What my co host, Big Chris
has down syndrome and he is the funniest damn person.
If you look at my huh, you can see no I.

Speaker 6 (50:31):
Would seeing her trying to laugh, I was gonna ask you,
like call me last night.

Speaker 1 (50:40):
All you have to do. All you have to do
is look up.

Speaker 6 (50:44):
I'm looking at it and Big Chris and that was
it was the he know all the song.

Speaker 1 (50:48):
He gets up there and he's saying you can't get
them off stay. I said, hey, Chris, you're not getting
payd you need to chill. Okay, I have to calm
him down.

Speaker 3 (50:55):
I know how to that I did come about? Like,
how did that?

Speaker 1 (50:58):
How did that idea?

Speaker 6 (51:00):
He smiling Big Chris?

Speaker 3 (51:01):
You're so messy Chris, not even what's all he be doing?

Speaker 1 (51:06):
Man?

Speaker 6 (51:06):
What you made him?

Speaker 3 (51:07):
Saying you never didn't know he cut your grandma.

Speaker 1 (51:09):
Now I'm going you really can't risk go on, here
we go.

Speaker 6 (51:23):
I haven't say this is big Chris.

Speaker 3 (51:27):
Yeah, big Chris, Chris doing his thing.

Speaker 5 (51:30):
Man, that's my call, Chris.

Speaker 3 (51:32):
Though you better pay double. He only make down payments.

Speaker 1 (51:39):
Yeah. It's funny as hell. So so he like the
bring ladies on stage and sitting in the chair and
play a R. Kelly song and he serenate them like
the capitals. I got.

Speaker 6 (51:56):
Down on one stage.

Speaker 1 (51:57):
You just got the one out there. I got this
white the audience out. I take him on the road
with me. We do we do the im proving for
a lot of the in Daniel Beach selling out as
a set. He just I bring him on stage in
the middle of carry and I have to keep have
to set boundaries for him. And he he loved y'all. Oh,
he loved y'all. He watched y'all all the time. He

(52:19):
always he got his phone.

Speaker 3 (52:20):
I bought him Chris Man.

Speaker 1 (52:22):
Yeah. He always showing me something that y'all. Hey, he
wants to come on back. When I come back, I.

Speaker 3 (52:31):
Would come on, you come for the special.

Speaker 5 (52:33):
Bring him up here.

Speaker 1 (52:34):
Yeah, yeah, someone of my special come out, will come
up here to promote. I bring big Chris. That'll be
my gift to your ass because because see we had
the same kind of here, because we laugh at the
same Chris took me to the cemetery. I think you
had a cousin and died, and this particular cemetery. You
go there. You have to follow this red line. It's
in Birmingham. He followed the red line. He was at

(52:56):
the grave crying and I looked up at it. It
was all Bear Brown was a former head coach of
Alabama back in the seventies. I said, and I didn't
tell him that. See, you ain't ship what you said.

Speaker 6 (53:10):
He took you to the cemetery.

Speaker 1 (53:12):
Somebody had died and it was at the wrong grade.
But I just let him let him. I didn't want
to tell him that he was at at Paul Briant Gray.
So I had to get him back to the car,
took him and got got him something to even take
him home.

Speaker 5 (53:31):
Fricky smiling, ladies and gentlemen.

Speaker 3 (53:32):
Brief is grief, man, he got it out.

Speaker 1 (53:37):
Show is out right now.

Speaker 5 (53:39):
My god, you appreciate you for joining us. Bro a
stranger man. You could come up here any time. You
would tell those radio politics and we want.

Speaker 4 (53:46):
You to come.

Speaker 1 (53:47):
Look if y'all ever in Miami. I have a boat.
I'm a boat camping. I go to the Bahamas every
fucking weekend in the summer. I dare you to take
a weekend off and we broadcast on the boat. You
as anybody asked Jeff Johnson, as David Talbot, we go.
I tell I drive all the way across the ocean
to them and the Bahamas it's only fifty five miles

(54:08):
off the coast of four out of there, and I
drive my boat. We go all the way to the Bahamas.
I have a house that I rent. You are more
than what If you just get the full out of that,
you don't have to worry about ship.

Speaker 6 (54:17):
I got you be there too. You said the boundaries
on the boat, don't you don't, Chris?

Speaker 1 (54:27):
Did you see what I had them to do on
the front of the boat.

Speaker 3 (54:33):
Hold on, hope you ain't had them like a phantom emblem.

Speaker 1 (54:36):
You're finished, scream bro Let me.

Speaker 6 (54:39):
Let me let me uh no picture this is Instagram
or TikTok.

Speaker 1 (54:45):
Let me see. I can't hear. It's just slow because
I don't I couldn't get to figure out that Wi Fi.
Here we go, Here we go. You've been a screen
when you see Christal on these Okay, here we go. Ahead.
When I tell you you're gonna you're gonna follow down
when you see this video, I can get to it.

(55:05):
Where is it?

Speaker 5 (55:06):
It's gonna be a me going on social media?

Speaker 6 (55:08):
Yeah, because he's been saying, here we go, Here we go.

Speaker 1 (55:16):
You ready watching them?

Speaker 3 (55:19):
Watch you gotta put this in the video?

Speaker 1 (55:23):
Man?

Speaker 6 (55:23):
Cut it out, man, I can't laugh at that.

Speaker 3 (55:27):
Cut it out.

Speaker 6 (55:27):
I cannot laugh. Is somebody holding it?

Speaker 1 (55:33):
That is not funny? Man.

Speaker 3 (55:39):
You gotta like the fan even know when you think
about the Phantom, what's that called in you?

Speaker 1 (55:45):
The Phantom one?

Speaker 3 (55:46):
The Rose Ray stuff, and he got a list in
front of man. Man, you stupid man.

Speaker 1 (55:53):
The spirit that's in the video.

Speaker 4 (55:57):
Ladies and gentlemen, it's Ricky Smiley.

Speaker 1 (55:59):
Bring Chris and she's looking.

Speaker 7 (56:03):
You're surprised, right, uh yeah, m hmm I thirty two, mhm.

Speaker 1 (56:14):
That my head.

Speaker 6 (56:18):
I still sitting You're right, Big Chris. Back to Big Chris.

Speaker 1 (56:25):
I saw some video on somebody was trying to get
at you, was trying to get at you. I watched
that the baby was the baby was Halloween? No, the
baby Babby.

Speaker 6 (56:35):
That didn't work out, work out, They didn't go past
the interview. Where was it going.

Speaker 1 (56:40):
Not?

Speaker 6 (56:41):
You sit back down.

Speaker 3 (56:45):
Side right now. And it's the Breakfast Club.

Speaker 5 (56:49):
Good morning, Wake that ass up in the morning.

Speaker 1 (56:52):
The Breakfast Club

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