Club Shay Shay - Cedric the Entertainer

Episode Date: November 21, 2022

Actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer joins Shannon this week for a drink and a conversation inside Club Shay Shay. The two look at the latest headlines involving some of Hollywood's A-listers, and swap stories on how they each came to find stardom in their fields. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I don't know how he can do it. The leprechaun, he can just do it all. I don't know when he sleeps or how he sleeps. I was like, he was on a commercial after the commercial one day. I called him, I said, Kevin, enough. All right? All my life, been grinding all my life. Sacrifice, said, Kevin, enough. All right? Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Che Che. Want a slice, got the roll of dice That's why all my life, I've been grinding all my life Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Che Che.

I am your host, Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprietor of Club Che Che, the guy that's stopping by for a conversation and a drink today. Man, he wears a lot of hat. He's an actor, comedian, game show host, executive producer, director, entrepreneur. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one of the original OGs of the Kings of Comedy. Over three decades in the industry,

the legend, Cedric the Entertainer. Say how you doing, bro? What up, bro? What's going on? God, hold on. I don't think I've ever read this many. That's nice. Actor, comedian, game show host, executive producer, director, entrepreneur.

Yeah. Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Yeah. The OG. Yeah. Two Taco Bells in Omaha, Nebraska. You got two Taco Bells in Omaha the breath of all the things that I read off what are you most proud of you know I think for me is just just, you know, all of it. I love to act.

I love being a father. I love being a husband. I like being, I like, you know, making people laugh on all platforms. Okay. So I really just like the fact that more than anything. You can wear all those hats. My career has said that I've tried to do and have done a lot of things. You mentioned you were talking, you and I was talking off camera,

and you say you grew up in Carothersville, Missouri, which is a small town near the Arkansas border, moved to St. Louis. When you were growing up in Carothersville, what was Cedric, what were you thinking? What did he want to be? You know, I mean, at that time, you know, you wanted to be an athlete.

Everybody, that was a small town lifestyle, you know? So, you know, you were kind of taught to play sports. And my mother was a schoolteacher. So, you know, education was a big part of that. Education was great. Yeah. So that was a big part of my, you know, kind of like internal household. It's just my mother and my younger sister and myself.

And so, but, you know, the relatives, all your uncles and cousins, it's like yo you gotta play sports man you gotta get out of here okay so but i was also a very as a young kid i can remember being a very kind of fun gregarious kid like that had the jokes and was quick with it right even as a kid but you couldn't be too because your mom was a school teacher she was gonna hear about you acting a fool in class i fooling class I said I never know was the class clown everybody like you was the class clown I'm like no I just shoot man like they actually when we moved to st. Louis they were actually

my mother taught in the same school district that we went to okay she taught elementary we were in we were you know I was more in a junior high school district that we went to okay she taught elementary we were in we were you know i was more in uh in junior high school at that time and so but the teachers all knew each other so they was like oh you know if i did something crazy they called my mother quick i remember i wanted to be bad one year and i didn't smoke but i used to want to hang out with all the kids that like smoke cigarettes and my grades dropped my mom was was like, what is going on? I said, I just want to be bad, mama. I want to be bad. What were the PTA meetings like?

With the mom? Yeah. I mean, you know, again, for the most part, she just kind of sit there and, you know, want to hear what we did and, you know, and what we did wrong. But she was always there. And one of the reasons why also, like I was a pretty good athlete, but my mother was a single mother raising us, and she picked me up from football practice one time.

And because I didn't really know all the stuff, I was in just my junior high, my freshman year, I'm in football practice with some church socks on. So I got, because I wanted to look good. I had my I had my athletic socks on and then I had some matching like you know church socks that looked good with my uniform and my coach saw it and just was like what you're doing pretty boy and makes him basically made me be the tackle dummy for the linebackers and the defensive end. And I was just literally running, playing.

My mother came to pick me up and saw them big dudes, put me in the ground. That was it. I was off the football team. That was it for that. I was big. And she was like, nah, I ain't going to do my baby like that. Okay, so now your athletic career is over.

That's over. When did you realize that you wanted to be a comedian? How did that happen? You know, that was really much later, to be honest. You know, I was, like I say, as I got transitioned from athletics, started doing the school plays. A wild choice to make back then. Yeah, yeah.

Now, how did that go over? You know, it was a certain stigma. Yeah, you to that back in there even more in that time. Yeah, I'm saying so, you know, the fact that you know, the fact that I wanted to be in plays then it became this thing like, oh, are you too much of a mama's boy you know but you know i was funny in my first play i got in i played i don't even remember what the character was but i remember it was funny and i made people laugh so acting was probably the first thing that you wanted to do

even before becoming a comedian probably it didn't recognize it right didn't didn't have but uh and at that time the schools had those kind of programs right yeah we had banned we had you know uh you know plays and you know department club yeah and it was it was serious by the time i got to high school like it was like dope teachers and people really taught you how to act and so you know i became strong at that and that's kind of you know the choice i made from the air on out so you you're doing you're strong at that. And that's kind of, you know, the choice I made from the air on out. So you're doing that. You're doing the drama thing, knowing the stigmatism,

that the stigma that came with that is probably making fun of you. So you like, OK, when did you realize that you can make something of this? You know, I think, you know, like again, during those times, I sang in groups. I was like, you know, kind of what a whole name came where I used to sing. I used to dance. I was trying to I told my mother I wanted to go to like a high school like Fame, right? You know at that time I was like mom. I'm good. I can do all that, you know, and the only one we had in St. Louis was like in the inner city and

it was like really far, you know, 20 miles from my house. I would have had to take the buses again. See a single mother. She pulled me off the football team. Ain't no way. She gonna let me take a bus across town to go to school. So that was out. So so but you know, I just did what I, you know, could in that area.

Got in singing groups always was like trying to perform different ways. And you know, I think that was the best when I knew I can entertain the crowd. Right, but it didn't really happen until I, you know, I think that was the best when I knew I can entertain the crowd Right, but it didn't really happen to like, you know I got in college and I started like doing a radio show and just all these kind of things just led to me Recognizing my personality and I can hold an audience right and you know And I started comedy much later than like I was I was out of school I was working for State Farm and I was out of school, I was working for State Farm, and a dude that was a comedian used to borrow things

that I say and was like, yo, you could be a comedian. And he just told me to sign me up for a comedy competition. How did you come up with the name Cedric the Entertainer? That was, I told you the story before, it's a very, I don't know what you call it, serendipity, right? Like I was, I used to go by a lot of different names I used to have you know

How did you learn you land on cheerio of all the names of all the names hey man so all i remember was it used to be a comedian named kodak okay and you know and he used to go by kodak everybody knew him and he had the one name so i had my name my name is cedric i used to do by cedric and then when people announced my real last name i just didn't really like that as a comedian name so i was trying to come up with a name and so i was like see cheer cheer me happy and you know my name is cedric it's a c in it i'm right cheerio like yeah he just came out i had the necklace and everything dog i used to had a chain so you go so obviously okay you start, you're doing the acting, you like the drama aspect of it, but you go to the comedian side.

Did you know eventually that becoming a comedian would lead you to be in movies? Well, it was starting to be around that time. Like, you know, like this is, this is mid, this is late 80s, 87-ish, 89. So you start to see, like, course, we had the super famous guys. So it was, you know, Richard Pryor and the Bill Cosby's at that time and the Red Foxes. But then Eddie Murphy was popping off. Yeah, he was young. He was a guy that felt like us, right? So you start to see like, oh, young people then, you know, shortly after came to, you know, the living colors, and then you started to know people like Martin. And I, at that time, just through stand-up, met Steve Harvey.

So it was one of those times where you started to recognize, like, all right, cool, comedy could be a way out. It started to grow. But beforehand, you would just think you could never because everybody was big time you know if you you you didn't know the low low level people you only knew the big names and there was very few of them so that didn't really seem like a true path you know to start them you mentioned that you got you're starting in the late 80s but you see the transition that a lot of the comedians made you look at richard prower being a comedian and then he's huge yes you see eddie murphy comedian he's huge obviously red fox and lot of the comedians made. You look at Richard Pryor being a comedian, and then he's huge. You see Eddie Murphy, comedian, he's huge. Obviously, Red

Fox and some of the others. Did you think, man, that could be my path? Once it started to happen, like once I tried stand-up, and, you know, I mean, the first time I ever did it, I got a stand ovation and won $500.

So I, what? And what hey you know that was the most money I made at one time because I had jobs I had corporate jobs and did well but not like somebody hand you a bunch of cash like he was like yo like you know and I started doing the math like if I can do this right three nights a week I'll be killing my job you know where you do work so why you selling so you're selling insurance or you're with State Farm yeah are you doing the comedian on the side yeah I was a claims adjuster so I handled the wreck after okay okay and show up you know you know what understand I didn't work that is I do yeah I get five you five hundred on a

total car yeah exactly you know but you know your peoples though. They be coming in and trying to, this a classic, see? No, that's a Cutlass. That's not, yeah, it's a classic maybe nowadays, but back then, that's an old Cutlass family. I know you love it, but that's not, I can't give you all the money you trying to get for that. When you told your mom that you like, like mom this corporate thing ain't for me i'm about to become a comedian full-time what was her response you know that was a tough one because

my mother again she's from a small town worked her way up through college definitely believed in get you a job corporate that was the journey that everybody did at that time. If you weren't, you know, like an athlete and, you know, going to be in the NFL or the NBA, then, you know, your best bet was to get a good, you know, get a college degree, get a good corporate job and work your way up. That was it. And I was on that path.

I'm working with State Farm. I got like opportunity. I wear a suit and tie. I got a look. I got a little and tie. I got a little I got a little corporate card I got a company credit card She like those are the things that you want in life and I was like, no I don't so I mean I told her I wanted to quit and you know and do comedy But I had a strategy I'll say I'm not gonna just quit I want to try to work my way to

You know where it makes sense, but I definitely don't want to do this job. This is not my 30-year plan. Yeah, this is not me. She was a little saddened by that, thinking that was a good plan, but I remember I told her a joke that I wrote. I wish I could remember this joke exactly, but I just remember

I told her a joke that I had written, and we were standing in the kitchen at my childhood house, and she laughed so hard, she went to the ground. Okay. And that's my vivid memory of my mother getting who I am. You know, like, so it was like, it was just a dope moment because I still just remember the fact she laughed that hard.

Like, she was just, she was on the ground. And so that was, like, dope. And so, and then she came to a couple of shows her me when she told me not to curse so you know like it's so early on in my career I'm kind of known for not cursing people think to this day people still think I don't curse when I do comedy but any motherfucker true so So, when your mom comes, do you have to alter your material when your mom's in the audience? For sure. I mean, you know, like, to a degree.

I mean, I end up, of course, trying to honor that and write to things that was just bright and smart and things that try to have a little more context to them. smart and things that try to have a little more context to them. But, you know, if I had jokes that I felt like was a little risque for her, I probably wouldn't do it if she was at the show. Like, you know, that would be a choice to just, you know, just respect on GP. But, you know, it was things that if I felt that, I mean, we had to talk about this one time.

I was like, Mom, if the joke calls for it, like I've tried to do it, you know, like where I do it all clean. But I told her, I said, if I write this joke and it feels like it calls for this naturally, I just gotta say it. I don't really wanna start to try to alter, you know, my show, but it did help me from going on stage and just literally using curse words as bridges to the next thing, right?

Sometimes a joke calls for a curse word. Exactly. There's no other way around it. That's the only bridge that can connect it. Exactly. From the beginning to the end, that curse word. Exactly. And so, you know, you got to trust that as a comedian.

It's instinctual, right? But then, you know, but then you also know people that basically just use curse words as a bridge to another thing. And they don't even mean it. They didn't have to say it. Right. So it's like why? But you just kinda relax on it and then people go like, he wrong. Right.

Is he? Yeah. You mentioned that Steve Harvey, you met Steve Harvey. You and he had a show, the Steve Harvey show that was unbelievable. We're gonna talk about your sitcom career, cuz man, you be knocking them out the park. When you hop on it, that thing go into syndication. Yeah.

The residual, them thing night, huh? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? You open up the mailbox in the OG style. That? Oh, okay. Let's go somewhere.

The movie. How did you transition from, from okay I'm a comedian okay I write this to having something written for you and to be able to project that let say it let the guy that they see on stage because that's what they want they want the funny guy yeah they see that the scene on stage they want him to project now for 120 minutes yeah that was of course like again I think having my theatrical background and you know from high school and in college you know it was a part of like stand-up even my early stand-up had a lot of characters in it I would do

like four characters right and scenes to tell a joke right and so I think for me to transition from both television and but but to film really was a better transition for me because it has a lot more true natural character stuff. In TV, you're trying to deliver a punchline to hit them, right? But in a movie, you can be the guy. Right. So Barbershop One was one of the first things. I did another small movie called Ride

that was my first movie and it had the great, late, great John Witherspoon in it playing my brother and Snoop Dogg. But I was like in good hands because the director was from St. Louis. Okay. And Millicent Sheldon. And then the producers with the Huntland brothers,

they from East St. Louis. Okay. So it was like this family situation. They took care of you. They took care of you. Right, yeah. So, but I think by the time I started doing Barbershop. Barbershop, Eddie became. But you mentioned that how they wanted you to play another part.

Yeah. And you was like, nah, I'm Eddie. Yeah. This is me. I got to do Eddie. Yeah, they wanted, actually it was the part that Anthony Anderson ended up playing was what they wanted me to play. And I was like, when I read the script, I was like, no, this old man,

I know him. Like, I can do him. And they were like, you sure? And then, you know, they wanted to cast an older actor. And when I came in and did the reading, they wanted to hear the script. Right. And we did the reading. And so when I did script, right? And we did the reading. So when I did it, it just was like they got it right away.

I mean, the whole, the voice, the attitude. Like I could literally do Eddie without even. I don't know if anybody. It's hard to say that now after seeing you play him in a couple of the series. It's hard to believe somebody else could have played that part and done a better job than what you did. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, you know, for sure. And I believe that, too. It was definitely transitional. That role was meant for you. Exactly. Transformative in my career. It literally transformed me from being, you know, one of the dudes in the group to when that movie came out,

I was in the next situation. He said, you know what? They see you that. Obviously, Ice Cube did out I was in the next situation he said you know what they see you that obviously ice cube did a great job yeah in the movie with it now they see you not only can you you know be follow-up but you can lead yeah okay was what the Johnson family but led led to that exactly right and that in Johnson family vacation was again one where I also started to add my producers to that. Right. Because it was a movie that I had that I felt was right for me.

Right. We took it to the studio and then made the movie the way we wanted to make it. Right. So that was really great. That was another great transition of being able to, like, grow in this business, go from taking your skill and then putting it into place to build another part of your business right so now you got the hat you you you do the tv and you're unbelievable with tv so how how are you

juggling i mean like when you're doing a movie obviously there's no there's no stand-up gig because movie you three three four months yeah uh there's no tv because you can't do can't or can you hop back and forth you can't you can do you could do stand up when you're doing the movie you can't do really can't do television in the movie at the same time unless you Kevin Hart you know saying Lord knows I don't know how I'll die back every leprechaun he just do it all like you know I don't know how he I was like he was on in the commercial after a commercial one day. I was like, boy.

I called him. I said, Kevin, enough. All right? I'm buying it all. I got everything you can sell it, so don't talk to me no more. I'm going to talk about your wine. Oh, yeah, man. You came out with a wine, Zeta Napa Valley Red,

which was inspired by your mom, Rosetta, and served as the educator for 30 years obviously I have a cognac also tell us about the process of coming up with a wine or coming up with something that's gonna honor your mother because obviously when someone does that that person had a tremendous influence an impact on their life and you want this you won't hurt it you want the world to know who this woman is yeah me you know uh again my mother didn't she didn't really drink much or you know have you know that kind of lifestyle but

she would like a glass of wine every now and then so uh you know of course i've been approached like so many people about different brands you know partner with you know liquor companies and liquor brands and uh you know a friend of mine had started working in Napa, and then another friend that I have a business with knew the winery. And I just went to go meet the guy one day. We sat on the wine, you know, in the vineyard, chilled, talked, got to know each other,

started laughing, started drinking, and then he liked to do philanthropic things with wine. And so we started to develop this idea that my mother was an educator and into literacy so we can develop a wine and give to literacy programs. And so that's how we developed the Zetta. And I started to really understand the wine, started tasting it, started explaining what I wanted and got something that I felt is very special.

I wish I'd have brought you a bottle. It's very special that it's a great wine, man. People enjoy it, it's doing really well. And we're actually on our second vintage, so we're popping off right now. Congrats on that. Yeah. The TV, Stevevey was your first yeah then you had your own yeah so that i had so i went to steve harvey that i just said

entertaining presents yeah uh that was on fox then we went to the soul man yeah uh and now in the neighborhood right so and i had a couple pilots all in between but those are the ones that ran like you know the neighborhood lies in syndication yeah, but it was syndication soulman syndication Steve Harvey show and You know we only did one season of said the entertainer presents And you know it's unfortunate because it's got great great skits on there but it was around the same time that the Chappelle show was popping off, too. And so it just, you know, those two things were in competition as far as the audience goes, I guess.

When you sit down and you do TV, what are you trying to get across? What do you want the audience to see? What do you want them to know? What do you want them to feel? What do you want the audience to see? What do you want them to know? What do you want them to feel? Like, I mean, for me, like, you know, like I said, growing up in a small town,

my biggest memory of watching TV was watching it with my grandmother, you know? Like that was her thing when she came home and chill. As the grandkids, we all kind of gathered around her. So I remember shows like, Hee Haw. Yeah, Hee Haw was good. And Laugh-In. Right.

And so- You know, the Jeffersons, Good Times, All in the Family, all the- Yeah, all that stuff, man. And so the jefferson's good time all in the family all that stuff man and so it was a it was that feeling of knowing that when people come home they want to laugh they want to be with each other they want to be able to do something so that's the same feeling i'm trying to get when i do a tv show i'm trying to tell you a story and allow you to kind of come into these people's world that makes you laugh, and you can sit back and just watch their stuff and have a good time. And that's, you know, and every now and then from the Jeffersons

and from good times, you learn every now and then you can put in a real message. Right. You can say something important, but it ain't a requirement. Right. Yeah. When you were sitting there watching those, did you ever think you would have one of those? Oh, no.

Now, again, you think about being in a small town like that in Missouri, that's so far removed. That's so far removed, so far away. And even, you know, once you get to Hollywood, you realize how far it is away. I just remember, like, you know, doing, came up on Comic View view really get my popularity yes in the black the whole thing as a comedian in the black community yes so I remember used to really being black famous right and know in people in Hollywood had no idea who I was so I was super like I went to Detroit dog I might shut this ball down right no but you come out here, you go in the meeting like Cedric the interrogator.

Love you, love your stuff, Cecil. You're so funny. You'll be like, it's Cedric. You have Patti LaBelle on your show, she plays your mother. Yes. What's it like working with Patti? Did she bring you any pie? Did she bring you any pie?

Man, it was COVID, so she couldn't bring anything. I was trying to talk her into cooking, because she's actually made food for me before. So Miss Patty can get down. Oh, she get down like that? Yeah, so that's a thing that people don't know. Even when she's on tour, she have a whole kitchen come in. So she cooks.

So but it was COVID. We couldn't really do any of these things. But she's so great. She's gracious. She actually, I do a big We couldn't really do any of these things. But she's so great. She's gracious. She actually, you know, I do a big fundraiser for my mom in St. Louis. And she was one of the first people to say yes to come in and perform for that, have a big gala. And so she's just great. So when I called her to come and play my mother, it just was really kind of full circle because that was the only one my mother got to see before she passed was when Patty games, right?

That was great. So so it was like she was the only one lady I mean other than Gladys Knight there was the tool that I wanted to be my mama, right? You know you talked we talked about earlier and like telling jokes, but now said we're in a different time Yeah things that were funny and you could say about different groups. Yeah. You can't say as much now, or you can't say it all. How do you walk that line? Do you go right up to it?

Because I mean, still, Chappelle felt like, look, I'm a comedian. Yeah. And my job sometimes is to offend people. I'm sorry, but I'm not sorry. I'm gonna say the joke. I'm gonna say what needs to be said, and you do with it. But I think he's different because Chappelle doesn't need he's walked away from Hollywood. So he

said, I don't really need Hollywood. I'm going to tell these jokes because I can go sell my to Netflix, and we cool. Or I'm going to go do stand-up, and we cool. How do you walk that line, Sid? I mean, it's the thing that you have to be most aware of. I think as a comedian, of course, your job is to be, you know, a provocateur,

orator of the world the way you see it. It's important for comedians to be free to say things in the way they see it and the way they want to say it. So I'm a big fan of that. And at the same time, I'm on CBS. The Tiffany. Okay, so I pretty much know if I say something across the line, it won't necessarily just affect my livelihood.

But again, having a big TV show means that you hire. I probably have a crew and a staff of 130 people that work for me. And if I'm willing to just fall on the sword of some joke and ruin it for everybody else, it's not really responsible. So I think about it that way as well. So certain things, yeah, you might want to say it, and then you decide. When I'm on that stand-up stage,

I feel like it's my duty to be free up there. Yeah. So I don't try to, you know, temper myself too much, and at the same time, you know, I don't try to temper myself too much. And at the same time, my brand and who I am in general is not necessarily to offend. My jokes gonna have, they can be offensive to some. But there's a message.

And at the end of the day, a comedian job, yeah, he wants to be funny, but he's trying to get a message point. He's trying to get, a lot of things happen, these are truth that I made funny. Yeah and i always say this too if you could kind of stand in the truth of what you believe then that's that you're gonna you're gonna have your argument people gonna have dissenting opinions so be it you know me but if i believe i'm really truthful about this and i'm not saying something for shock value or just to be rude or just to feel like I'm being- You end up trying to be the old

Andrew Dice Clay. Right, I'm just contrary for the hell of it. Right. Just gonna be rude to people. Right. That ain't dope to me, so. When you look at the fallout, I don't know what your feelings are on what transpired at the Oscars. But looking at the fallout and the aftermath,

do you believe Will Smith will ever be what he once was? I think it'll be tough. I think that really will be a tough call. I know that, you know, that this is a town that is about that business of business, and Will Smith has proven to be a box office star, you know, has that star been damper to them? Sure. So will people take these chances?

Yeah. And if he's able to do it again and hit when he hit, King Richard was out at the time that it happened, but it's, again, a successful movie that still plays every day, right? And he won the Oscar the night he did the actual deed. And so people don't relate them as the same thing for whatever reason, right? There's that deed and then King Richard. And you're like, oh, I like that movie

and I'm willing to watch it, maybe because it's about Serena and them and a bigger story, but I don't put them in the same category. So, you know, I mean, they're both good dudes to me. And so it was unfortunate to see it happen. You know, and I'm two sides of the coin. I got in trouble for a joke because I felt like sometimes,

you know, somebody got to get the shit slapped out of them. I ain't saying it's... It should have been Chris. But somebody... I mean, people act like that ain't a real thing in life. Like, that's a thing that people forget because we live in this Twitter world, and everybody feel like they can say what they want to say,

and people forget, oh, it's a part of the world. Somebody exists. You might get the shit slapped out of you. Right. That's all I'm saying. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews,

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And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast i see did the apology seem sincere i mean he's come out i mean i thought i thought when he got up there to accept the war said this is just me he apologized to everyone the academy and this one and that one but but not the man he had just slapped. He was mad that night. He was really mad, dog. I don't know exactly what the thing was, but all I tell people, in my

opinion, is for you to physically get up and go and walk 20 feet. In that place. In any place. At that moment. Any place. If you ever been in a fight, bro, you understand. Like, you on that football field, y'all out there grinding. If you get outside yourself for the moment that you literally about to fight another person,

you not who you are. Right. Period. It just don't happen unless you a brute. Right. Like, if you a brute and you walk around thugging people, that's you. But most human beings, dog, for me to literally go, I'm gonna walk up and slap shit out.

Right. I'm not me right now. I'm outside my normal way of being. And that's the truth, because I've had physical altercations, and I can remember not knowing what happened, why. Why, what led to it. I just was, it was, oh, you said something, you spit on me, you called me there, it happened, we win.

We didn't, you know, everything else was out the window. All the decorum. Yeah. What about the movie? What about the movie? Yeah, what about the movie? What am I doing? Oh, this dude walked 30 feet to do that.

He did. You don't do that, dog. You don't do that in a natural sense of state. That's not a human reaction to something unless you wake up every day as a villain. That's what villains do. A normal person ain't going to walk 30 feet to go slap somebody. You mad, for real. What's going on with the comedians?

I just saw last week Michael Blackson and Cat Williams was beefing. Michael Blackson said something about comedians can be forgiven. I think he said that Cat Williams smokeds smoked crack cat took offense to that we see monique and dl was going back and forth monique has since apologized but y'all y'all like rappers y'all can't we just get along what's up with the comedian i need the chains man we like rappers man i would need a little baby chain no you know i I think that, again, we live in a world where we're definitely more accessible to people. And, you know, the idea that somebody makes any comment about anything,

then people can take that, any sound bite, cut it up in a way that makes it an offensive statement, right? And if people take that and we live in a world where that comes comes to fruition then you have a lot of misunderstandings you do have people jumping on these things for for the idea of the fodder of it all like the idea so half the time you know those those incidents don't even you know be real like you know again people end up apologizing because they go like, oh, I didn't even have all my facts, you know? Oh, I didn't, at the time I didn't know I was just mad and, and it comes off good because we all live in this. If I put it on my Instagram, then it's true. Right. You know? So that's, that's where I really feel that that's happening in the world of comedy

now, because it is a bunch of measurements about who is the best and why and who you know and some people base it on money some people base it on funny right so you know like and people start to measure themselves about that kind of thing right you know luckily for me I'm just from a generation where we out the way at least for me like I don't well you I mean you were cat I mean cat say you stole one of his jokes yeah like it was ridiculous you know what I mean, Cat said you stole one of his jokes. Yeah, like, I mean, it was ridiculous. You know what I mean? It was like the idea of the joke that he was even talking about don't even match up with no timeline. So for me, it was one of those things like...

Did you have a conversation? Did you guys sell it? Did you have a conversation with Cat? Well, I responded to him the way he responded to me, but that's what I said as well. I've seen Cat, you know, even before then. Right. I've seen this guy 30 times like dog if you literally was that

Upset about it like don't let me say Like that don't even make sense. This is this is some internet shit, and that's all I can say so You know when I responded to him he didn't respond back to me, and I left it at that Do you feel that someone else has stolen some of your material? Oh, that's a part of this business. Like, you know, and I think that, you know, sometimes it's intentional and sometimes it's not. Right. Like, you know, like I would say sometimes people will hear a joke or take a slice of your material and make it their thing, right? But the origin of the joke came from you.

Right. And so that's happened that's a part of it that that is that is not a not an uncustomary thing right now everybody knows that comedians you know your job is to write original material right your your job is to have original point of view so i'm not i'm not saying that that's not a you know something that can't happen but this particular thing didn't happen. But in general, yes, I've had people take my joke. You hear- Did they make it funnier

than you have made it? I don't, maybe for them. You know what I'm saying? It works for them, they put it in their set. Right. You know, you hear it, you're like, yo, dog, that's my joke. You just changed it a little bit, but that's my joke. You look at Aries Spears, and I wanna talk about him

and his thing to Lizzo. Was that off limits, off base? Again, it's a branding thing. Like that's Aries Spears' brand as far as I'm concerned. You know what I mean? Like he's a guy that take them kind of chances to tell jokes, you know? His sense of humor, that's the space he goes to.

So, you know, for him, he was telling the joke. his sense of humor, that's the space he goes to. So, you know, for him, he was telling the joke. Like, for the media and the people, they, you know, we want to get into fat shaming or whatever the topic of the day is, right? So you can at least easily offend anybody at any time. Right. So that's the point, I think, for me. I don't you know I think

it's distasteful just ain't my taste. But if you make a joke about someone theoretically you can offend every joke you tell that happened to be about someone can be offensive. Whether you talk about someone's speech impediment, whether you talk about the way they walk, the way they look. So you can offense if somebody wants to be offended they gotta be offended by what you say. Yeah we was talking about this the other day because on Kings of Comedy beat Mac late great Bernie Mac He got a whole joke about a rich, you know, yeah You you can't say none of that now, right you couldn't do no parts of that joke he called the little boy

Yeah, I know the kids that was growing up. He just needs a nephew. He's called an F-word. Yeah. Right? You can't do none of that no more. Right. But these things was exactly, at that time, considered funny.

Right. So if you start to retro people of what they said and how they said it or what they said in life, and now here we go charging them for the crime today, that is, you know, that's a hard thing to do to someone who's supposed to be speaking freely. Let me, I wanna continue on this, but I wanna go back. Prior, Murphy, some of the guys and the joke that they told back then, how would they survive in today's climate?

Dude, we watched Delirious the other day. We like, nope, nope, nope. survive in today's climate? Dude, we watched Delirious the other day. We was like, nope, nope, nope. We used to start counting off jokes, like wouldn't be there, wouldn't be there. Eddie Murphy ain't really that good. You know, you find yourself trapped in that story. Like if I had to take off all the jokes

Eddie Murphy couldn't say nowadays, you'd be like, ah. But that's the difference, right? Climate, the times we live in, what's acceptable in society. And we just got to a point, again, we just have a lot more exposure to each other. We have a lot more growth that's happened as people. So sensitivity, awareness about, you know,

things that just wouldn't be acceptable. You know, none of the gay culture would be acceptable, you know, things that just wouldn't be acceptable. You know, none of the gay culture would be acceptable, you know, like back then. Right. You know, none of it. None. Let alone how it's grown into, you know, multiple letters. You know what I mean?

So that is, that's something that just was, you have to understand this is the world that we live in. And then you, as a person growing and accepting and understanding That we live in a great big wide world and that's the thing and I think if people literally just truly trusted that part Right, you wouldn't you wouldn't have to you know, you know castigate against anybody that was different than you you know, really care Tiffany Haddish Says that she lost everything Yeah Tiffany Haddish says that she lost everything because of some old skits. Because she kind of like Aries Spears said what he said about Lizzo,

they went back and started dragging up skits that she was involved in. And then she kind of got dragged into something that she really didn't have anything to do with. And it's like, oh, well, you remember? And this came out and somebody wanted to sue her. And then the charges were dropped, but the damage is already done yes yes i mean that's you know and again those are the things that you know again we live in accusatory point point the finger at you first and then you have to and it's guilty i mean it's not no longer you know innocent until proven guilty you're guilty until

proven innocent yeah and in in anything like I say I could throw you the you know I could throw you anything out there in out of context of like how I was shot when it was shot what it's about and then and if you saw it as that thing wrong you're gonna be like oh man that's terrible which again to us today that that particular joke just was distasteful I don't know exactly who would even have shot that right you you know, or thought that was funny. Even at the time at any time, but however, you know, somebody thought it was funny, right? And they did it right. So, you know, and now here it is, you know, this many years later and it, you know, adversely affect her for real. It hit her career in a real way, man. Have you talked to her? I reached out to her. We text back and forth when it first happened.

You know, of course, these are not the times where people want to just be taking a hundred phone calls. But, you know, she knows that I got love for her. And, you know, just really just trying to make, you know, in my, you know, just wanting, you know, wanting the case to be, of course, if it was Really a bad case against her just really rooting for it. That's all you know

That's all I could say growing up in st. Louis I mean you guys have I mean obviously you got a great baseball team when you wouldn't you know in the late 60s With Bob Gibson cars were unbelievable. Lou Brock. Lou Brock, yes, yes. Kurt Flood. Yeah, Kurt Flood. Now you look at Jason Tatum, you got Bradley Beal, Ezekiel Elliott. How proud are you for those guys being from St. Louis?

You're from St. Louis. Yeah. You probably remember, I don't know, you're probably the age of a lot of these guys' parents. Yeah, yeah. So how proud are you from like, I got some homies that made it, doing it big. Oh man, I mean it's big. I mean, because it is, you know, St. Louis, though it's a big city, it's a small town. Right. Like, you know, and so that connection is very real. So we love, we love that. You know, you love to see, you know, people pop

off and come represent the city. Right. I mean, so, you know, it don't even matter what team they play for. At this point, you hold it down for them, right? Right. You know, like, we in St. Louis, we didn't grow up as no Celtics fans. Right. But if Jason playing, like, we rooting for Celtics, right? That's our whole thing. Ezekiel, you know.

You can't root for the Cowboys. That never really happened. That's what I was going to say. I was like, Ezekiel, he on his own. Yeah, I wish you the best. Yeah, but yeah, I'll see you after the game. You know what I'm saying? Take your jersey off and we all meet up.

Right. Put your St. Louis hat back on, and you're good. Yeah. Did you know Nelly before you guys blew, I mean, before you became Sid the Entertainer, before he became Nelly Moe? Did you guys know each other? So I you know, I was I was young said entertainer. So I was actually popping off. I used to do a calm. I've used to do a

variety show right talent show. Yeah. And so I would come back to st. Louis and do this talent show and you know, Nelly then was a local with a local hit doing really well. So I hired them to be like the final act. They didn't compete. They was just like the person that everybody came to see. And that was my first time meeting them. And that particular night, when I saw the group, there was the whole lunatics, Nelly was automatically the star.

And so I just remember when they got their deal, everybody, you know, they came to me. It, like, yo, they wanna just sign Nelly. We ain't going. I said, guys, y'all need to really learn the truth about yourself. Right. Nelly the star. Right, yeah. And Nelly will take y'all with him, but y'all can't expect to go in there with six people, bruh.

Yeah. That's not happening in big business. No. That's small- The group thing over. That's- The OJs, the four top, the Jackson Five. Yeah, ain't's not happening in big business. No, that's small group thing over. That's the OJ. Remember they cut the Jackson five to one. See, it started out they did it all cuz they was family. Yes. It was smart. They was like, yo, everybody come on in.

We got it. What's the other boy name? Marlon. Okay, we're gonna do that's what they call him in the contract. Yeah. Got Jackie, we need him. Yeah. Jermaine, he writes some songs sometimes. Tito play the bass, that's good. We need him, all kind of.

But then, and what's the other boy's name? You got Jermaine, Jackie, Marlon. Yeah, Marlon, yeah. So come on, Bree Marlon, and then Randy came and he was like, all right, cool. That's how they signed him. So, yeah. Sure we can't just get Michael. I'm looking at your parents.

Your parents went to an HBCU. Kudos, Lincoln University. Yeah. You graduated from a PWI, Southwest Missouri State. Why did you go Southeast? Southeast, my bad, my bad. Why did you go to an HBCU? Grades.

Man, you made it back there to grade. Back there you could get in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, you know what? Lincoln, at the time when my mother went to school, we went to go visit, you know, again, HBCUs, they have to fight hard for, you know, so get funding. And it just was a situation where the Southeast Missouri

was actually between Carothersville and St. Louis. Right. So the reason it was attractive to me because that was the route that I knew. Right. Like my whole life we kind of came, go back to Carothersville when we moved to St. Louis, we go back, that was our little trip. So Cape Girardeau where it sat, it just felt like a place where I knew I was going to be

comfortable going away and so and then at that time they were doing a program where they really needed minority students so they gave me the most money yeah what you got a situation so that was it you know the financial aid financial aid the financial aid packet was a little better yeah yeah especially if you don't have no grades right did you spend any time at an HBCU? Did you go to Lincoln? Did you party at Lincoln? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Definitely went to Lincoln, partied there. That's an experience. I think everybody, and I tell people, I tell Howard. We did all, we went to Howard. You got the experience, Black College. Yeah. A homecoming or a game to see the Battle of the Bands, to see the major reds, the drum majors, to go on campus and see the step shows. Yes. Yeah, no,coming or game to see the Battle of the bands to see the major major red the German majors

To go on campus and see the step show. Yes. Yeah, no they go hard. It was definitely that kind of It's an experience for sure You realize you miss it like, you know, cuz I remember I used to always want to go to grambling like, you know Okay, yeah, yeah, they marching band used to be sad. Oh, yeah, you know, I was like man I want to go to grambling And it just looked like a fun environment. And then of course, Different World came in and started making black colleges look like it was like all the babes was there. You like, yeah, I wanna do that.

You pledged Kappa. Yeah. Why? Well, legacy, I mean, like- You know, y'all pretty boys. Yeah, then a lot of people miss it when they look at me. Yeah, cuz I would put you in the queue. But you got a zone man. I say, yeah, you close. I say you a queue, like, you know, you know, y'all pretty boy. Yeah. Then a lot of people miss it when they look at me. Yeah, because I would put you out of the way. I think you're close. I say you're cute. I see you.

It's the dimple. It's a did. Did you get it? Because there's a lot for me to do. You were you good. Were you good with the cane? Were you good? I was cold with the cane. You go with the guys. Come on, come on, say. Hey.

Oh, I was cold. The cane. That was my room., come on, say it. Hey. I was cold. I was cold with the K's. That was my move. So you know, but you know. So what was your line name? Yeah, I was Dark Vader. OK, OK. Dark Vader, you know.

So but my uncle, my only, you know, coolest uncle, I mean, I got several uncles. But my coolest uncle, my mother's favorite brother, was a capper. So he was the guy that was that kind of sharp he is a pretty boy good looking man always been a good looking dude but you know he was that he was that family symbolism that i was like yeah i'm just that's me right there so you and steve harvey a great friend steve is a cute yeah you're a kappa how did you guys become such

great friends i mean really over the time is really interesting. It kind of happened very early. I got stuck in Dallas one time. I was supposed to perform at a, you know, an all-white comedy club when I got there. They told me they didn't need me and I was supposed to make $350. I drove down there. I had a hundred dollars and was going to make 350 and they told me they didn't need me so now I'm gonna need that to 350 though. I understand. I'm not gonna go on but I need that 350 what I need that like All I got is $100 now like I'm that would have been 450 right the whole nother number. Yeah, 450

I'm talking about who drinking if I got If I got 450 I'm walking in the bar like, who drank? Yeah, right. Yeah, but 100? No. That's all. I'm drinking. Yeah, that's me.

Get that one and get a single. Get me a single and I'm gonna drink it like it's hot coffee, whatever it is. So what was it about Steve Harvey that you said, man, this is a good dude? And- Well, he's kind of always been the person that he is, like very entrepreneur, very kind of go-getter, a fixer. So he was, Steve had, you know, he was popular on the white comedy circuit, but he started a black night in Dallas.

Right. So I went, and I was down on my luck. I was stuck. And he knew who I was through another comedian and Then put me on stage and so I went up and I rocked it He gave me five minutes at the end of the night. I got a stand ovation It's just so happens that the headliner wasn't really killing it and he was like well if you come back every night I'm gonna talk to the owner see if I can give you a little something so he basically that's what I did

I came back every night, he put me on, he gave me $200, and that was love, and then booked me to come back as my own headliner. So from there we just connected. We just became friends, we had a good vibe with each other. It was always cool and it turned into this brother situation, we just became partners, man. So it was easy

we never you know try to get in each other's way he do his thing I do mine and we get together we kick it and that's it you know how do you how do you become the host of a BT comic viewing and deaf comedy how did how did that happen so deaf BT comic view really was again one of those things I feel like it was a great comics that came through that it was man and God be looking out because I had I was back at home I was in st. Louis I was like God looking out for me. It was some great comics that came through that. It was, man. And God be looking out because I had it. I was back at home. I was in St. Louis. I was, like, hosting local comedy things, but I had written a lot of jokes,

and I wanted to go on television, but I had been on Deaf Comedy Jam the season before, and they wouldn't let me back on. And I had all these jokes, and I was like, I got to go on TV. So I was like, I'm going to do Comic View. And I remember all my contemporaries like, man, don't go to BET after you've been on HBO. jokes and I was like I gotta go on TV so I was like I'm gonna do comic view and I remember all my contemporaries like man don't go to BET after you've been on HBO

like that's a step down don't do that you gonna mess up your your thing you know and I was like oh man I gotta get these jokes off right so it just so happened that DL had decided to step down and they that year I went they said we're gonna find a new host by a competition right and but I was I was already a beast I didn't really I was like on some others so I won easily and then became the host and became a household name like I was you know because at that time comic view came on every night so it was like news so you know you you you in and that's why I was black famous I was like in black households yeah I was on every night everybody knew me like I was like news. So you know, you in, and that's why I was black famous. I was black in black households.

Yeah. I was on every night. Everybody knew me. Like I was like. It was unbelievable. Yeah, and then we had, like you say, from the common view in my era, yeah, you had the earthquakes when I was hosting. Yeah. Earthquakes, Sheryl Underwood, DC Curry. Yeah.

Adele Gibbons. Adele, yeah. Where Adele came from, Def Jam. She was, she blew up on Def Jam. Chuckie Ducky was on there. Chuckie Ducky, Jamerio and Jamerio. Jamerio, yeah. Hamburger.

Hamburger ain't gonna happen. Hamburger. Yeah, so many great people came from that little era. Right. Samoa. Samoa, yeah. Samoa one of the best, she one of the best. When you did the Steve Harvey show, did you know the Steve Harvey show was going to take off like it did?

It felt like it. You know, when we did it, Steve and I, we were great friends. It was his show, and he asked for me. He wanted me to be on his show, and I actually had a deal to do my own show at that time. And so I thought it was smart to ride, because I actually went to go see Steve do his other show, Me and the Boys.

So he used to have a show, Me and the Boys, that was dope. And I went to see how it worked, and it got canceled. So when I had a deal to do my own show, I was wise enough to feel like I wanted to ride shotgun first. I was like, oh, I want to be in the driver's seat I want to ride shotgun yeah I've done and do that and so that's what I did and it was great because we was already partners but having a good time we laugh a lot and then the kings of comedy came right like in the third year of it maybe of doing Steve Harvey show and then we

blew up even more. So it was like, we just had a great run. That's what I want to ask. Kings of Comedy. How did that group come? It was you, DL, Steve Harvey. Steve was more of the host. And Bernie.

Yeah. How did they put you four guys together? Of all the black male comedians, because I think they had a Queens of Comedy also. Yeah, afterwards. Yes. How did they land on you four guys together of all the all the black male comedians because I think they had a queens of comedy also yeah but yes how did how did they land on you four well I think you know at that time you know again it was all about who they can who I believe it was all about who the promoter can get that he thought could sell tickets right because Martin was his own thing he was already gone he was his own thing and then it was like. He was his own thing. And then it was like Joe Toria took over. Joe Toria took over Def Jam after Martin. So he was his own thing. And then you had all the wins and they were they was they was they on break. Right. And so

Steve was hot. We had the Steve Harvey show. So we had a national TV show. Bernie Mac was the comedian at the time. And then DL was hot. He had a TV show. So what I think but the first year we did it was just me Bernie and uh just me Bernie and Steve. Right. And Steve closed and guy Tory was the host. He would emcee it. I came out first. Bernie went in the middle. Steve closed and then on the uh then as we got into the the bigger run of the tour we brought on dl steve went to the host and even though on the special bernie closed i closed that tour so i was the last the last comedian on the live tour but but on the movie they just cut it it was better for bernie to go last wake up with football every morning and listen to my new

podcast nfl daily with with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game, every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claibon, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic,

and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast at NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day.

Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you did that tour, did you like, okay, your boy here now. What? You can't hit me in the ass with a red eye. What? Your boy landed. When you did that tour, did you like, okay, your boy here now. Oh, what? You can't hit me in the ass with a red eye. What?

Your boy landed. Straight pigeon tuck. Straight dog, I'm like, dude, this is the first time, like this tour's so big, it's all arenas, right? Yeah. So this is rock and roll comedy. This is private jets, leaving out on the the weekend get on the private jet go to the show land everybody got their own limo right we got big sweets it's just it's top of the food

chain you just don't get no bigger than this and we were like making a lot of money and it was with your boys we was having a lot of fun yeah and you know at the time i was singles on the first first kings of comedy so i know i don't you know i'm just I was singles on the first first Kings of Comedy so I know If you want to be single again Now they're quick as wait Let me ask you quick if they were to do if they were to do a Kings of Comedy right now last for Who could it I mean could they do a Kings of comedy right now classic four who could they i mean could they do a kings of comedy

with rock heart chappelle could could they do a king's a comedy for sure i mean those you know they've done shows where they all because rock's not mistaken didn't rock and chappelle an earthquake was over in london at uh London at O2 at the arena, I think just about a month ago. Yeah, so Chappelle was out on tour. Rock is out on tour in London side. And so they'll often get together. Right.

And then they did it, you know, Kevin is here. Kevin is on tour. Yeah, Kevin getting ready to start his tour. Yeah, he's about to start his tour. Yeah, he's about to pop around. But they did, Kevin and Chris did a show in New York, and then Chappelle came, and they went on stage together. So that was a big deal.

And then Chappelle, he, you know, he been working. He produced Quake's special. So Quake is, you know, rocking with them a lot, too. So that's dope. But that's it, you know what I mean? These guys are the big. I mean, people love Cat Williams. People love, you know what i mean these guys are the big i mean people people love kat williams people love yeah i'm looking at look so the branding of those you know of those particular guys like there's a way if they wanted to do it but all those guys so but

then but like you said you like you looking like okay at the time martin was a standalone guy tory was a standalone a lot of these guys are standalone you guys were, you know, Steve had you were in comedy Steve was doing his thing, but you guys kind of wasn't to that level that these guys are now. Yeah, not yeah, not if we were standalone in theaters, right? And that's what made us a package for 20,000 seat arenas. Yeah, that's a different thing. It was on.

And at that time, that was just rare. So you have you had you had, of course, Eddie Murphy to do it. And you have Martin. I think Eddie Murphy maybe I don't even think he did a real tour. I don't know. He did like he maybe did a few dates, but Martin did a real tour and in arenas and Dice Clay. These were the kind of people that did arena tours. And so it was very few people at that time being able to do it in Kings of Comedy did the Superfest model, right? You know, where we put a lot of people on one show and made it a dope night. So it was extremely successful. Is it true that Steve and Bernie butted heads? Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, they were the kind of guys that they both alpha males, you know, like

they both, you know, they just saw it different, you know what I'm saying? But at the end of the day, they was able to get through it. You guys, is that one of the reasons why you didn't do, you did the first part, then the second part? I think, of course, that was definitely a contributing circumstance. But I also think that it had a lot to do with the promoter on the thing because he got a bigger head than all of us. So the dude that put us all together

started to really think it was about him. You know, so it started to be that. So it was a lot of those kind of elements in there where people just... Sometimes people just ruin a good thing. Yeah, just cause, you know, you know, like, y'all would be together if it wasn't for me.

Like, okay, bro. You ain't told no one joke. nobody coming to see you right like you know yeah that was like yeah that kind of thing but now you're starting to lend your voice doing voiceovers yeah and we see a lot of comedians we see a lot of famous a lot of peop actors and actresses doing this now yeah you're boondocks uh Age Madagascar Charlotte's Web and you got a got a NAACP award, image award. Yeah. So what is it about the voiceovers that you like so much? Well, I mean, again, man, again, we grew up in the area where cartoons were king.

Every Saturday, but you only got them on Saturday. Right. It ain't like this day, now you watch them every day, ain't no fun. I don't wanna watch cartoons. I wanna watch it one day a week. Right, exactly. Saturday. Saturday morning with the cereal.

Yes. Let's go. Pajamas still on. Yes. You know, but I think that, but you know, like- T-shirt is black. But yeah, but pajamas. Yeah, yeah. We ain't really got no T-shirts.

Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I made a three that I did people. They was like, oh, I wonder what kind of pajamas you had. Like, no, it's just a- Yo, a raggedy T-shirt. Just a raggedy T-shirt and some basketball shorts.-shirt some basketball shorts you know the best we could do so you know but no but you know like when i started having kids you know you start to really think this would be cool right for them to hear my voice in the movie and you know so that was became a great choice and you know they actually they they pay well that's the other thing that people

don't know uh about those like those those animated movies end up you you'd be quite surprised i remember uh uh madagascar was one of those like when you know when the when the checks came in you was like oh okay yeah yeah y'all y'all be yo y'all got a sequel coming yeah exactly they end up doing three of them and a TV series. But I think the thing is, to do voiceover, you need a very distinguishable voice. Well, yeah, I mean, you know, because you're really only leading with your voice.

So the idea is like, yeah, what does the voice do? What can you do to kind of bring this character to life? Because most of the time when you're doing animation, they just show you a character, a still drawing. Right. And then you can decide what this character sounds like and what you want, along with the director who's trying to get you to say,

all right, cool, we want, you know, can you be a little gruffer? Can you have an attitude? Can you be, you know, those kind of things. Because any time I hear animation, I'm always trying to guess, man, who is this voice? I know this voice.

Who the hell is this? Yeah. Yeah, I'm always trying to guess, man, who is this voice? I know this voice. Who the hell is this? Yeah, that's always the case. And that kind of goes with doing albums. I remember doing threats on Jay-Z's Black Album. And a lot of people for many years didn't know that was me because, again, it was a character I was doing, and I had a whole different voice form and everything. So that was fun. And then so when people would read the thing, they're like, yo, you threats? I'm like had a whole different voice for him and everything so like that was like you know it was fun and then so when people would read the thing

they like yo you threats I'm like yeah when you do and you do a lot of singing you Luther Vandross and you you like the old school you like you like the soulful and I was thinking I'm like man said can really sing you can sing for real though yeah yeah man I've been you, and I record some songs. I just never put out a like a, put out a music project. I think I'm gonna do it though. Just on, just on GP so I can add it to that list. Right, right.

Yeah. So when you, when you go out there and you open up and has anybody ever told you, they say, man, you ought to do a record, bro. You ought to go ahead. Oh, for sure. You know, one of the, you know, one of the biggest fans of Jamie Foxx,

he always like, come on, man, you should do this. You know, cause, the biggest fans of Jamie Foxx, he always like, come on man, you should do this. And he's definitely a person that as a comedian has transcended it all, like with big hit records and movies. And he's just super talented like that. So, but he's a big fan of like, man, you need to sing, say it, let's go. You like Broadway? I did, I did. I enjoy Broadway. It was very tough. It was one of the, that. You like Broadway? I did, I did. I enjoy Broadway.

It was very tough. It was one of the, that was one of these things, I say, it was the most, it was one of the greatest experiences in my career where I grew. Right. Like, you know, because you get hot and, you know, life is happening and you have really cool things happen to you where you have, like, you know, money milestones and stuff like that. But to, to, as, you know, to kind of like have your career poppin' and then do something that truly challenges you

and makes you get better, that was Broadway. It was one of those kind of experiences where I definitely would do it again, but it was hard work, it was unique, and I was really glad. It was something I'm very proud I was able to do. Because when you look at it, it's different than the movies. It's different than voiceovers because it's kind of like being a comedian

because you're in front of a live audience. Yes. And the thing is that, like a comedian, is that you get instant gratification. You know if the joke's funny. In a movie, you don't know. Man, I think that's going to be good, but I can't wait to get the feedback. Same thing in voiceovers. But that instant, I mean, but I can't wait to get the feedback the same thing in voiceovers But that instant I mean obviously Broadway they're not clap, you know, they wait to the end

You know before what was hard for me is that I was doing a dramatic piece So I was actually stretching right I did American Buffalo It's David Mamet one in you know A great American writer like writes a lot of words a lot of wordplay Right and so you got to learn a lot and you have to lot of word play. And so you gotta learn a lot and you have to kind of deliver these characters. And so with that one, my natural instinct to be funny was something that I had to bring down,

I had to press it down. So the director knew that, you know, that he liked the way that I was taking the character, where I was gonna get some jokes off, but you don't have, in Broadway, you don't have the ability to improv anything. Right. So you have to do what the playwright wrote.

Right. And that was a big challenge for a comedian, because if I see a window where I can get a joke off, then I'm trying to do that. Right. And I remember I asked one night, because we were doing Broadway with Barack One, and I had a, the first time he won, and I had a scene where I have the newspaper right and I've had this whole idea

Like it'll be dope if I say well look at that blah blah And you know when I said it in rehearsal everybody laughed whatever I said was funny the director loved it And then he was like no Cuz I thought it was about to be. I was like, I will kill it tonight. He's like, nope. Give me said Mount Rushmore comedians. Man, for me, Richard Pryor, George Carlin,

the late Robin Harris, Chappelle. That's all you get. I was about to say, you about to keep going. I was like, yeah, see, that's exactly why you probably didn't go to, you about to name five, it's only four. So yeah, I didn't go to a- Yeah, you see, see- Cuz it feels-

Nah, see why you didn't go by- It feels like it's five people on that mountain though. It ain't number four. It ain't number four? A lot of people don't know that. What's next for Ced? Man, you know, I'm going to continue to produce. And I'm producing right now.

I got a lot of new shows that I'm producing for other talent, developing a lot of talent. You know, I'll direct more. Like I said, we're blessed to be in the fifth season of The Neighborhood. I got a show coming out. I got two shows on the Bounce Network that we produce my company, A Bird and a Bear. So we have the Johnson that's on Bounce about a group of black men in their 30s friends. And then Find It Happy is premiering this Saturday on the 24th of September. But it's going to be, that's the second show that we got over there.

It's dope. Just creating. You continue to keep trying to push the limit, man. It seems to me that you're transitioning more behind the camera than in front of the camera, especially when it comes to the movie side. Well, I like that. I mean, I like to be able to create. I think, you know, I have to, you know, in the way these contracts are set up,

I just have the ability to do more of that because once you're on a show like The Neighborhood, we shoot 22, 24 episodes a season. So you're locked up for nine months. So in order for me to, like, stay creative and stay busy, it's easier for me to create stuff for other people. And knowing that I only got three months to get a movie in right so usually you know we'll try to find something to do like in that break and like you know and try to jump

in and pop off but I can produce two three four TV shows in that time right so how much further do you want the neighborhood to go you trying to go 16 yeah ten years yeah i i think i always loved it like what i consider legendary uh sitcoms they usually go eight to nine right you know of course you have those anomalies like i don't know maybe friends or something they go for a long time but you know like science like seinfeld but they right in there two and a half man right they usually brought in red nine years eight nine years uh and i think that that'll be a really strong run i mean as long as the network is loving us the way they are uh you know and we having a good time uh

we got a great cast i love my cast and we i asked everybody would they want to rock you know longer and they was like yeah we having a good time so. So that would be the push for me is to try to get in Anthony's show. Black is just went, they went eight seasons. Right. So I feel like that's the live. You get the eight. Yeah, you got your reassess where you are after eight. Yeah, exactly. Let's drink some of this.

Yeah, yeah, okay. This is a Laporte. I named it after you have after your have after your your after your mom. And I got this after my grandmother. Laporte is a family name? Yes. It's a Porter branch. Where's cognac?

Is it actually from the region? Yes. It's nice. It's got a really nice body to it. This is me drinking, learning to drink wine. So now I'm like, okay, it's got a really nice body to it. This is me drinking, learning to drink wine. So now I'm like, okay, it's full body. There's notes of Summer and Ass Whippington here. You said it's named after your grandmother.

Yeah, definitely. I can see. Got a little butterscotch. Yeah, a little butterscotch, yeah. Little butterscotch in there, that's great. Yeah, this is a smooth sipper right here. It's got like a, yeah, like a brandy vibe to it. Mmm.

Okay. That's great. That's beautiful, man. I really appreciate it. I appreciate everything that you do. Continue to succeed. That's good. Yeah.

That's hard. Thank you, man. No problem. Just a gift? Yeah, absolutely. I really just said it on camera to make sure I got it. You're giving me that, right? Yeah, of course. Absolutely.

No, I appreciate that. Thank you, man. Big up. I've been grinding all my life. Sacrifice. Hustle paid the price. Won a slice. Got the roll of dice. That's why all my life I've been grinding all my life. All my life. I've been grinding all my life. Sacrifice.

Hustle paid the price. Won a slice. Got the roll of dice. That's why all my life I've been grinding all my life. We'll be right back. every single game, every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolfe. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app,

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