Club Shay Shay - Club Shay Shay - Damon Wayans Part 1

Episode Date: April 2, 2025

In the latest episode of Club Shay Shay, Shannon Sharpe sits down with the legendary Damon Wayans, a true comedic icon and Hollywood heavyweight. Damon opens up about his extraordinary upbringing in a large, tight-knit family, revealing the tough love, financial struggles, and sibling dynamics that shaped his path to stardom. From his rebellious school days to his first foray into stand-up comedy, Damon shares raw and hilarious stories about his life before fame, including his experiences with family discipline, navigating school with a clubfoot, and his early run-ins with comedy as therapy. Damon dives deep into his career, reflecting on his time with In Living Color, the birth of his iconic character “Homie the Clown,” and his battles with the entertainment industry, including his brief stint on SNL and the challenges of working on toxic sets. He also shares a hilarious encounter with boxing legend Mike Tyson, who once tried to beat him and his brother Keenen up for making fun of him during a comedy bit. He also opens up about the complexities of fame, family, and money, offering his thoughts on relationships with friends, financial success, and the struggles of cancel culture. Damon shares his admiration for Eddie Murphy, recalling how Murphy's trailblazing comedy career inspired him, while also addressing the complex relationship between Black comedians and their freedom to express themselves on stage, including the controversial topic of cross-dressing. #volume See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What's up everyone? Julie Swift Brinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson. We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go. The name? Energy Line with Nate and JSB. Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey, life, all topics are fair game, right? Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us. Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe. Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSB on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,

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And Kira K. Dixon, NBC Sports reporter and host. And we've got a new podcast, Quiet Please, with Mel. And Kira, we are bringing you spicy takes on sports and pop culture, some interviews with incredible people who have figured out how to make golf their superpower. And I Heart Women's Sports Production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.

You can find us on I Heart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. What happens is the more money you make, the less black people you see. So I love about like LeBron. He got Mav and he got Randy and he got Rich. He kept that group around him. and it's divide and conquer, you know at a certain point they sit you down, you know Beyonce's father. Hi, we got it from here. Venus is Serena. We got him Running on my life

Sacrifice hustle paid the price Wanna slice got the roller dice. That's why all my life I've been grinding on my life They're running on my life, I been grinding all my life All my life, been grinding all my life Sacrifice, but so pay the price One a slice, got to roll the dice, that's why All my life, I been grinding all my life I am your host Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprietor of Club Cheche and today we're at Spotlight LA Stopping by for conversation today. He's royalty a true legend a living icon a comedic genius He's been making us laugh for over 40 years a pioneer innovator trailblazer in the film and television industry He's appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Rec Film Registry by the Library of Congress He's ranked as one of the greatest TV dads of all time. A New York Times best-selling author, a fearless artist,

gifted writer, veteran actor, expert executive producer, seasoned stand-up comedian, and a great storyteller. He's mastered the art of creating characters. A member of the royal family, talented Wayans family dynasty that entertained the entertainment empire. They were just inducted until the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame. Marlin calls him the funniest Wayans. His influence has spanned generations. He changed the industry, kicked down doors and built a blueprint that's sustainable. A creative visionary, a versatile entertainer, powerhouse performer, Hollywood heavyweight, a game changer.

The love father. Sometimes he goes by Papa or Papa. Damon Wayans. That's such a, can you see that? That's a hell of a resume. Yeah, it is. When, I don't know how many times you had an opportunity to sit and listen to people explain what you've been able to do in this industry.

When you hear people talking about you've been at this for 40 plus years, what do you think? I think it's wonderful that I had some longevity and I always think about what's next. Because if you sit back and think about what you've done, like I can go on social media and I don't have to leave the house. Everybody love me on there,

hold me to clown for life. But it's like that doesn't like satisfy me. So I'm driven and my whole family is driven, you know, hopefully for greatness. And you know, it's an honor that people like what I did. You know what? I know you don't drink anymore, but bro, we got to toast you. We celebrate people here on this platform. Well, I don't like toast, toast, clink the glass but I will.

Salute. Thank you, salute. Man, how you doing? I'm good. Sixty-five and loving life. Sixty-five and loving life? When you were ten did you project out here like you know what I'm gonna be doing this, X, Y, and Z, because I'm interested, because I had Marlon on,

and Marlon always had an idea, he's like, man, this is kind of what I want to do. Did you always know you wanted to be in this? No, I had teachers tell me, you're gonna be either dead or in jail. So that's the guidance counselor telling me that. You know, so like for me, it was just like, I at a young age started looking to Kenan

because Kenan just did everything right. He was just like my role model. And I knew if I could do what he's doing, I'll be all right. My mother used to tell me, you need to be more like Kenan. I get bad grades. I was getting arrested, I was doing all the wrong things. Right. And then in 82, I got caught stealing credit cards and they released me into Kenan's custody. So I came out to California. Damn, so you have a mom and dad, but they released you to the older brother. I didn't wanna go to my dad.

I'd rather stay in jail than go to my dad. I'd rather stay in jail than go to my dad. My dad would beat you like he didn't know you. Right. I love him and we needed it. I needed it. But you know, back then, now they call it child abuse. Yes. Back then it was just, you know,

I'm teaching this lesson. You have 10 brothers and sisters. Nine. Nine brothers and sisters. Yes. Under one roof. Bro, and I read that your father made like $12,000 a year. Sometimes. Sometimes, okay.

To feed that many kids, put a roof over your head to make sure everything's okay. Did you realize like, damn, I wonder if everybody else living like we living or we just exception? They were living like we were living. I mean, you know, probably less people, but you know, I had a friend, Rob Nett, and they went so poor the oven door was off.

Damn. I swear the oven door would be off. And when they cook dinner, one of them would have to put their feet up on there until it got too hot. And then the other one would come in until the meat was done. So, you know, I was aware that everybody was going through

it. We looked at the project. There was no rich people in the projects. How many bedrooms did the home have? Four. My mother got one. And then there was three of us to a room. Damn.

So there's a lot of feet in people's face, huh? Butts. Feet. My brother's tortured me. My oldest brother, Duane, used to hang me on the door on the hook where your coat is. That's how he babysit me. And I had to put my foot on the doorknob

so I didn't choke to death. So, and then every once in a while he'd come check on me and punch me on my chest. You know what, Damon, you guys are like, your mom never had a stretch there for like an eight year period. They were 10 year period, they were good. They had like eight, 56, 58, 60, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66. I was like, so were you all

close? I mean, did you have sibling rivals you fought like normal kids do or were you always like, because it seemed like Keenan was always the overseer. He was the peacemaker and would everybody look to for guidance, even though he wasn't the overseer. Well, my oldest brother was crazy. The one who used to hang me under the... Like, no, no, listen, he was, he got diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. Oh, okay. So where we come from, everybody crazy. Everybody, there's a crazy, you know,

everybody go around on walker. Everybody know he crazy off, but we didn't know there was medication for it. It was just, he was off. And my brother was that guy. But he was so crazy that he kept people from messing with our family. Because nobody wanted Dwayne. Dwayne told a guy one time, he said, we're going to fight every day until I beat you. White boy living in the building, he was just a bully, Bobby Boyd.

And every day, Dwayne would just walk up and punch this dude in his face. He'd get beat up every day. But he was relentless. He'd be riding on his bike, he'd see Bobby, and they'd scrap him to the point where Bobby had him with his, he was sitting on his chest and punching him in the face going, all right, you won, you won. And he didn't want no part of him because he had to like, he'd be outside with his back against the wall because he didn't know where this was coming from. But that told everybody else, don't mess with my family.

Right. What's one of your proudest childhood memories that you can like share? Keenan getting his first gig on, you know, he did The Tonight Show first, and then he did a pilot with Irene Kara, who was like this, she was beautiful. She passed, but she was- Flashdance, right? Yeah, yeah. Fame.

Fame. Fame. Yeah, she was, and we just thought, man, this is great. He dreamed it, and then he did it. And that was like one of my favorite childhood moments because I didn't even think about, I wasn't even thinking about doing standup back then. You know what?

I think you and I are similar in this way because my brother, I felt, whatever I saw, I felt I can do. So if I saw him do it, I could do it. If I saw him go someplace, I felt I could do it. So that's seemingly how you look at Kenan. You're like, well damn, he doing all that, he out in California, he doing this.

Hell, he could do it. He lived in the project just like I did. He ate what we ate. He got his ass tore from dad just like I got mine. So if he didn't get as many, he didn't really. He was really, he was a good kid. The good kid, got straight A's and yeah. Kenan, the one thing he did that we got him for,

it's like he got in trouble with school and then the teacher called home and Kenan said, I get it, he ran and got the phone. He's like, yeah, and then he hung up. And my mother came, my mother's like, who the hell was that? Cause we're not supposed to answer her phone. And Kenan was like, it was Sammy Williams. And they knew he was lying.

He got Sammy Williams called. And then he called back. They called the number back. And he's like, I get it. And it was the teacher. My mother said, no, I'll get it. And that was the only time Keenan really got his ass beat by my father.

Wow. And then the jokes went on forever. Sammy Williams, anytime the phone rings, Keenan, go get Sammy. But I read that when you guys would fight, your mom would make you guys kiss. Yep, in the mouth. Huh?

Mm-hmm. I learned how to tongue kiss with Marlon. No, but like once you kiss your brother in the mouth, you don't want to do that. You don't want to fight. Yeah, you would do it. Yeah. We'll take this. We'll go outside.

We'll find a place to finish this. But like we didn't like kissing each other. But to finish the kissing thing. Yeah. Like to this day, we all kiss. I noticed that. Hello and goodbye. I noticed that. Because you goodbye. I noticed that.

Because you never know what's gonna happen when they walk out the door. Even if I get into an argument and we yelling and screaming, all right, niggas, yeah. I wonder, you know what? Cause I saw, I noticed it when you guys were on Live in Color. Right.

And I noticed that, I was like, well, you know, they can't do this all the time. Yeah, all the time. And I saw you guys when you were at the NAACP, the Image Awards. Have you guys always been that close? Yes. Yeah, we are our best friends.

Like the funny thing about being awayans is we don't, you know, Kim is very social. She has a lot of friends. Marlon has a lot of friends. Is she? Yeah. I would never have to guess that. But Kim has like old school friends.

She's not out and about. Her friends are from college, Westland, and from the project. So she has still a lot of those friends. Marlon still has Omar and Mitchell, all his childhood friends. And my friends are my brothers and their friends. I'm cool with Omar, I'm cool with him. Because as long as they love him, they vet him for me. Yeah, as long as they love him, they're cool.

You're cool with him, I'm cool with you. Yeah, yeah. But so were you guys bullied? Because it's a lot of you brothers. So you guys kind of ran the neighborhood, huh? They didn't run the neighborhood because we moved into the projects and it was predominantly white and then it slowly got blacker and blacker and more dangerous.

But we were respected and because of Dwayne, we were kind of protected because nobody wanted to fight this fool every day. You're gonna bully me in your brain. I'm tired of that. But my mother would always tell us, listen, if you get into a fight, it's ten against one. Wow. So y'all should never lose a fight.

And my mother make you go back downstairs and fight. So there wasn't no losing? No losing. And my mother would fight for her kids. Damn. Yeah, this woman fight for her kids. Damn. Yeah, this woman slapped Kemp once in the laundry. My mother went downstairs, hair all over her head, and the lady, she was pregnant.

She beat the pregnant? Your mama was pregnant or the lady was pregnant? My mother. My mother was always pregnant. Yeah, I said, she had a tear in your face. She was on her own. She was on her own, damn. Every childhood memory of hers,

she got a baby here and a bump here. That didn't stop. My mother chased this woman from the laundromat to her house, and then was going to fight her husband for her kids. So nobody, you know, she would send a message. You don't mess with my kids. They don't want that crazy pregnant woman. Tell me about this game that you guys used to play,

Make Me Laugh or Die. Or Die? Oh, that was a great game. Because that was like commando comedy. So what happens is we'd be sitting, because we had to be upstairs at 6 o'clock. Unless you had a full-time job that demanded you to be out later, 6 o'clock. Not 6.01, 6 o'clock. So my dad is going to, you know, he's going to put hands on you.

So what we would do is we would all sit around in the living room and then one would get up and have to make everybody laugh in unison. It couldn't be one, like, no. You have to make everybody laugh. And if you didn't, then you had to die. And the die would be something like, go grab daddy's beer and drink it in front of him. Oh!

No! No! And we couldn't wait for you to not be funny. So we had incentive not to. We'd just sit there and just... Even if it was funny, you weren't laughing. Mm-mm. Fart it out.

You wouldn't know what was happening. Yeah. Yeah. So did anybody actually drink his beer? Oh, yeah. You had to do the die, or we'd beat you up. What the hell? Yeah.

There was die, or sometimes it was just like, nah, I ain't doing that. And then you got to take punches. Right. From Dwayne, the one that used to hang. My brother hit you and make this sound. That made it hurt even more. You don't want that. And then I read that you guys have to pass gas

in front of your mom. Yeah. Come on Damon. That's whatever we chose you had to do. Go sit on my lap. I ain't playing. I don't want to play. I don't had to do. Go sit on my lap and start. I ain't playin'. I don't wanna play, I don't wanna play. I don't wanna play.

I don't wanna play. I don't wanna play. I don't wanna play. I don't wanna play no more. But it made us funny. It helped make us funny. Right. You know what I mean?

It's like this, this, like, you can kind of trace why, one, we were like, we are still best friends, and two, why we're funny. Right. Because we made each other laugh and two why we're funny because we made each other laugh and we weren't easy laughers you know me. Where did that come from? Was your dad funny? Was your mom funny? Where do you think that came from? My

mother. Your mom? My mother was hands down the funniest woman. That's one of my only regrets in life that I never got my mom on stage. I wanted to have her go on stage. Really? And there's this little room in Burbank called the Yoohoo Room, like 30 people, have all of us in there, give my mom the mic, and then tell her, talk about Marlon. And my mother got not only stories, but she got punchlines. She know where all the bodies are.

Wow. Do you think had she not had a family, all these kids because she had to raise a family, do you think that'd be something that she would have been interested in? My mother used to sing at the, what is that, in Harlem, the Apollo, you know, the green sisters. All of them, they beautiful.

They won contests, they won contest they won You know prizes and stuff like that. So her Dream was to be a singer. Mm-hmm, and then you know kid after kid after kid put that a hole So when you got it's 12 people in a home, your mom, dad, and the siblings. What are you guys eating? My mother was a miracle worker. She'd feed all of us with $10 a day. Ten?

Three meals. We get a bag of knuckles, pig knuckles. We get a box of rice, we get, they used to make this cereal called like puffer wheat, but this had no sugar on it. This was just like a big bag styrofoam. We used to get that, we'd eat that, you know, if we had sugar, we'd put sugar on it, but that was it. There was nothing special, you know what was nothing special about our meals. Did you ever complain like, man I don't want to eat this?

No because my father didn't play about food. One time I hated peas and I hated lima beans and whenever I get it we would try to like spit them out and my father would make you eat it up the trash. What? Mm-hmm. I did, one time we was being there and what we would do is like sit around the table and we're eating this and we'd fill up our cheeks and then we'd get up and excuse ourselves

and go to the bathroom and we would try to make you choke on the meat. Yeah, my father didn't play with food. It seemed like your father was very, very disciplined, very strict. Do you think he was like that way because he had boys and he knew what was going on because this is the 60s? And the way it was back then is a lot different than it is now. But some things change and some things remain the same. You think he was the way you guys because he knew what you guys were gonna face? Yeah, but it was that and he didn't really have a dad,

so he didn't really know. Okay. And then he read in the Bible that you should spare the rod. Spoil the child. Spoil the child, but the rod of discipline ain't always your hand. Yeah, you can have a conversation.

Yeah. You ain't got a PC. The old school, the old guys wasn't like that. Yeah, yeah. And then, you know, I think we got extra spankings because he would go to work and come home and be unhappy and, you know, it was just a lot. So I guess at a certain point we were,

you know, his little punching bag. And plus it's always noisy in the house. Yeah. But my mother hit him at the door. So what we had to do, if you got in trouble, you have to sit in front of the door when my dad come in. Uh-oh. He saw y'all sitting there.

He know something was up. Yeah. Yeah. I was so scared of my father when I heard his keys jingling, I peed on myself. Damn. I ain't lying. That's because I knew my dad would beat you with stuff,

like the slap from under the bed. Just like, hmm. Did he ever say- I got a belt, wait, hold on, here, take my belt. Did he ever say, did he? Did he? David, hey, you take your belt off. Yeah, yeah.

To keep it from finding something else. Yeah, whatever he get, you know, the thing from the iron, iron cord, yeah, my dad. Stench cord, yeah. Yeah, yeah, so, you know, the thing from the iron, iron court. Yeah, my dad. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, I love him today because I knew he was protecting, he taught us lessons and, you know, you got 10 kids. So, you know, you're going to be the example. I'm gonna beat you so he don't do what you did.

Did he ever have a conversation with you guys? He got older. And you got older. Yeah, you know, you don't understand it till you have your own kids, right? You know me like I have my sons right and then I go Oh, wow Cuz my son we grew up they was up in Beverly Hills and they would hang out in the hood, right? Got jumped into gangs. I got a crib and a blood living in my house. I didn't even know I Didn't know. But that's like you, you, you have to watch your

kids. You know what I mean? It's like you, you just have to just know that boys are different and they need, they need you to, Hey, you know? But whether the situation, given how you was raised, your dad was very strict, very hands on, literally. Did it make you take a step back and not be that way towards your own kids? I chose the comedic route with my kids. I was like my son, if he messed up in school, he's like, oh, you a clown. Okay. So if you're going to be a clown, you're gonna look like one.

And I shave all of this out his head, and he just have the size. Now you go to school, and you'd be a funny clown. So you have a little young homie, a little young homie. That's right, that's right. And I would make up, cuz they went to a private school, crossroads where they could dress how they want. No, you're going to put on a suit. You're going to be a well-dressed clown.

That's how you want to be. And they'd go to school. And they would have, you know, they think they can get slick and have, you know, some clothes in their locker. I show up at school. Put your suit on, clown. I know the game. Why you ain't dressed up, clown?

As a child, what would you say your favorite meal was? Beans, franks, sauerkraut, mustard rolls, and yeah, beans, franks, sauerkraut, mustard, and rolls. Sauerkraut? Oh man. When you poor, sauerkraut. It's just something different. It's good.

I'm Camila Ramon, Peloton's first Spanish-speaking cycling and tread instructor. It's just something different. It's good. I'm Camila Ramon, Peloton's first Spanish speaking cycling and tread instructor. I'm an athlete, entrepreneur, and almost most importantly, a perreo enthusiast. And I'm Liz Ortiz, former pro soccer player and Olympian and like Cami, a perreo enthusiast. Come on, who is it? Our podcast Hasta Abajo is where sports, music, and fitness collide. And we cover it all, de arriba hasta abajo. Sit down with real game changers in the sports world, like Miami Dolphins CMO Priscilla Shoemate,

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Dub Dynasty, the story of how the Golden State Warriors have dominated the NBA for over a decade. The Golden State Warriors once again are NBA champions. From the building of the core that included Clay Thompson and Draymond Green to one of the boldest coaching decisions in the history of the sport. I just felt like the biggest thing was to earn the trust of the players

and let the players know that we were here to try to help them take the next step, not tear anything down. Today, the Warriors dynasty remains alive, in large part because of a scrawny six foot two hooper who everyone seems to love. For what Steph has done for the game, he's certainly on that Mount Rushmore

for guys that have changed it. Come revisit this magical Warriors ride. This is Dubb dynasty. The Dubb's dynasty is still very much alive. Listen to Dubb dynasty starting April 8th on the iHeart radio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's Julie Stewart Banks. I'm doing a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts and the National Hockey League, and I'm paired up with one of my favorite players, the always quotable Nate Thompson.

I wore nine NHL sweaters and I have story after story to share. And believe it or not, I have plenty to say and not just about hockey. Believe me, he does. Energy Line with Nate and JSB is the name of the podcast and it's gonna be, well, it's gonna be quite the ride. We're officially line mates, Nate. We're the Energy Line. We'll have plenty of folks join us, current players, some of my former teammates, Hall

of Famers, and wait to see some of the connections that Julie has. She has quite the Rolodex. Okay, we'll lean into Nate's playing experience and tap into our interests away from hockey and try to do what Energy Lines are supposed to do, provide an emotional boost. How do you feel about all that, Nate? I'm vibing, Julie. I'm ready to roll. Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSB on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever

you get your podcasts. So you eating beanie weenie? Yeah. You have pork and beans with sugar on it. Oh my God. Yeah. I mean, your dad worked three jobs. He still wasn't making enough. Beans with sugar on it. Oh my god. Yeah, I mean your dad worked three jobs. Mm-hmm

He still wasn't making enough but he dog he dog time when he get home David. I had time to whip ass He worked overtime yes, I'm sorry. Have a look up with drinks Hello you got in trouble for stealing from your dad. Mm-hmm. I stole 15 cent from my father and he missed it. I'm like, I don't ever want to be missed. Y'all that poor, he missed 15 cent? 15 cent came downstairs and followed me down the stairs and like a school bully threw me against the wall with my money. And I'm like, I know, I didn't take no dollars.

So I'm just like, what? And I had it separated in my pocket. Right. Right, cause I didn't, you know, he had a change and my father searched me. I ain't paid you a dollar, he's stopping for his. Took my, that's my nickel, 1964, that's my nickel. And he beat me right there on the stairs like a dude off the street.

Damn! And like I said, I don't ever want to be that poor that I missed 15 cents. But that's with me today. That's part of my motivation. Damn! Mm-hmm. Did your siblings see it? When y'all got whippened, did they make fun of y'all?

All the time. We mock you as soon as you go, yes daddy, yes! That make it worse. That make it worse. It was worse than a whooping. But how important do you think having your dad in your household, given what you know now,

how important do you think that is to have a black man in your household given what you know now. How important do you think that is to have a black man in the household? The greatest gift my father ever gave us was coming home. Damn. That's deep. Because my mother didn't make it easy. He was a dumb MFA and all kinds of stuff. Because he didn't, he didn't, you know, she wanted stuff in life. Like new underwear, like stuff. She couldn't do little stuff,

makeup and get a hair and couldn't do it. But we came home humble, you know, sometimes he had to tell her there ain't no food. What? Mr. Provider, you ain't got no food. And you trying to tell me what to do. Yeah. So, but, but that was the gift. That's like, you know, you come home,

it doesn't feel good, but. So he's working three jobs. He has to provide for this family. And when he gets home, your mother, your mom doesn't make it easy. And I think Marlon said he could have he could have easily understood if Pop would have checked out because it wasn't easy. We used to say what hit her or something. Damn damn damn. I ain't lying. My father he would never he never would like cuss at her. Really? Yeah

my father too when she died he was ready to go. I miss her. I miss my gal. What? The one that used to cut you out? You miss her? Yeah! Every day? You got peace now. You ain't got nobody cursing you. I miss my gal. Damn. He was just ready to go. Check, please. But that's like, he taught us love. Like, unconditional love. You know, he always saw her as the 16-year-old he fell in love with. You know, that's beautiful. You mentioned your mom has sisters and they would sing occasionally at the Apollo. Did your mom sing around the house? Oh yeah, yeah. Music was like, you know, that's one thing we always had in the house. And to this day, I listen to music all the time because those are some of the happiest times in our life you know when you when Al Green

was on you know there was gonna be peace in the house I remember I took my mother and father to see Motown Review on Broadway and we're watching the play my mother and father sitting together and my father goes, he just, my mother, nigga, shut up. He just started sobbing, the subject of my life. And I was like, wow, it's powerful. What music, I guess all the memories of, you know, what they went through is just, is beautiful. But I, you know, there's always music in the house. What are some of the best things your mom and dad taught you and what would you want their legacy to be?

My dad taught us stick-to-it-iveness and that you have to, whatever you do, whatever you have to do to feed your family, you know? And you do what you can do until you can do what you wanna do. Cause my dad always had dreams of like being something. My dad, he was Amazon before Amazon.

This, I swear to God, my dad, so we lived in the projects. There was three buildings with, there was 25 stories tall, 10 families on each floor. So my dad would go to warehouses and get like Afro picks. And then he would put them on, we put them on cardboard and he'd send us door to door. That's 750 families. Somebody need a Afro pick. We go door to door and we have a pitch. You know, sometimes we get them beads that

Serena Williams and them used to wear. And you're not going to hit, who is it? You want to buy some beads? Nigga wants beads. I ain't got no beads. We just hold them up, beads, you want some beads? Get out of here with them beads. But you know, you meet people who appreciate it. You get to know everybody in neighborhoods. Some people just give you money just because. Just because.

Yeah, and then some people would throw the beads. Get your ass out of here, sir, I ain't got no money. Or just take your beads and close the door. You see him outside, that's them he's got my beads on his head. Your family was raised Jehovah Witness and there are a lot of the Jacksons, Prince, Biggie, Terrence Howard, John Rue, Naomi Campbell. Explain to me, because I don't really hold, all I know is that we close the door in a lot of them faces.

Yes. Because when they come right out, I did with you. I was one of them faces. Yeah. So what do you think your mom and dad was drawn to about this religion? Well, my dad was drawn to it. My mother was not. My dad just knew it was the truth.

And so the kingdom we pray for, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. What is the name? It's not God, it's Jehovah. Right. Let your kingdom come. What is that kingdom? Who's the king? Jesus. Let your will be done.

What's the will? As it is in heaven on earth, that's the will, is that we live in unity and be God. So man has plans, God has a purpose. So, you know, I believe that. And you look at, all you gotta do is read the news and then read 2 Timothy 3, 1 through 5. And you see it's what it says,

how people will be in these days, critical times, hard to deal with, lovers of money, self-assuming, hearty, the critical times, hard to deal with, lovers of money, self-assuming, hearty, blasphemous, having a form of godly devotion, proofing false to his power. This is where we are today. Right. Are you still a practicing Jew? Yes. Yes, and I love it. I think the greatest feeling you'll have is to be at peace with God and peace with man, because that puts you at peace with yourself.

Because my prayers aren't, God, forgive me. No. Thank you. Thank you for my family. Thank you for this journey. It's nothing but like gratitude, because I ain't living a life that I gotta apologize for. There was a time, I was wild. Couldn't even pray. God, never mind.

You don't want to hear this. Do you, do the Jehovah's Witnesses? Do they celebrate holidays? Do they celebrate things? Because I'm trying to figure out like did birthdays were birthdays big in your family? No, my mother celebrated everything. My mother would celebrate Christmas, birthdays, you know. But how did that work? He does and she does. I mean, my father just going around. Are you serious? My mother would save money up all year to get her something.

And one of the greatest Christmases we ever had was my father took the money and tried to open a business that she was saving. So we didn't have no Christmas. My mother sat us down. There ain't gonna be no Christmas this year, y'all. What? No Christmas? My mother sat us down. There ain't gonna be no Christmas this year, y'all. I went, no Christmas? That asshole in the room. And she would just told us what happened. My father wanted to have a business, right? And so we decided that we're gonna write Santa Claus a letter.

And all of us wrote Santa Claus a letter. And then we mailed it off to the North Pole. Nothing. Nothing. Till Christmas morning. U-Haul truck pulls up to our house, bikes, all kinds of toys. It was just like, wow. That felt like Christmas.

Wow. And then the next year, we tried to do it again. And they said, stop, niggas. No. Tell your daddy. Yeah, but it's OK. Because most of the stuff is based in paganism. I said on toast because that's some old Greek pagan thing

where they clink it and you go and chase the demons away. Well, if they hear from me when I'm drinking, you know what I mean? It's like people don't know what they do. They're celebrating stuff they don't know. Easter. Just tradition that's been handed down. That's right.

With knowledge comes power. Once you know that Jesus' death is more important than his birth, right? Christmas, that's something that corporate America figured out how to get rid of all the inventory at the end of the year. Let's clean this out. We'll have a sale. Call it Christmas because Jesus didn't celebrate his own birthday. Don't you think he threw a party if it was important? Change everything to wine. Everything's wine.

True. Right. So it's like, once you know, then it makes it easier to go, oh, okay, I get why I don't celebrate this. You mentioned something earlier about a few minutes. I never talked about my mother. You didn't? What she, because I poked jokes, right? But you asked, what did she give us?

Love. My mother was the heartbeat of this family. That's what Marlon said. And taught us how to love and how to, you know, even though she sometimes didn't practice what she preached, but how to get past grudges. That's your brother. That is your sister.

You love them. They're gonna, for the rest of your life, they're gonna be your brother and sister. That's what my mother gave us. Love. Did your mom ever discipline y'all? Yeah. My mom, my mom would do this thing. It was like, come here, let me slap your face. She wouldn't even taste it. Come here, let me say, you be doing this. No, I think I stay over here. And then the trick was she gets you like this and then bam, ears ringing.

You'd be like, what the hell? Yeah, my mom, but she had to be really, really mad at you to hit you, to pop your ear drugs. Yeah. That's what old people, they believe in slapping. My grandmother slapped fire at your mom. Yeah. I mean, what is that about? Because it's better than a punch.

A slap is more of a humiliation. It is. As Chris Rock. Oh, Lord help me. Oh, Lord help me. Oh, Lord help me. Lord help me. No, I didn't.

Marlon told us his story about the foot. So you had a club foot. It looked normal. I have a club foot. It looked normal. I mean what you got a size 11 and a half and a nine? No, no. Well, no. Here's the thing.

A club foot now, I don't have the same flexibility. I was born with my foot twisted all the way around. Okay. Right? So you had to wear the iron braces at the bottom? Yep, yep, orthopedic shoe. Came up to here. You know, it was...

They had, it was high on one side, huh? Mm-hmm. Thick, the hermit muscle. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I walked with a limp, you know? But people thought it was cool because I perfected the limp. Like, it's rather smooth.

Because I wanted you to look up. Right. You know what I mean? That was my whole thing in life, when we played the dozen, get you to look up and look at the shoe. Because I'm vulnerable down here. Right. So I hit you before you even look.

You'd be like. Did you, were you insecure about it did what you self confident about super super no you have come to me self-conscious very super you know your family your brother and sisters killed you about that didn't it I never felt like they had jokes but it there was so much love in my house I never felt like them attacking me okay I know they took talking about my little foot okay cuz I'm in on the joke I'm laughing they see me. I know they talking about my little foot, but it was okay, because I'm in on the joke. I'm laughing.

They see me with my pants off. And it's a little baby foot. Yeah, but it's okay. It was in love. You put anything in love, it takes the sting out. When you go outside, they were trying to hurt you. They got you? Oh my God.

But I got them. And the true Kim, Kim would fight. All the time. And people make fun of you for it. All the time. I'm a baby brother. I'm her older brother. Older brother.

But you treat her. And you got little sister. Kick they ass. Like, like a, like alley cat fight, you know. Kim is demure and you know. Yeah, she seemed real. And that's what, when you told me she was social, she doesn't come off as social.

She seems very quiet, very subdued. I'm here for a purpose. I'm going to talk when people need to talk to me, I'll talk to them. But I'm not, you know. She's shy. She said, you know, she don't, none of my family like the lime like that.

Marlon. Marlon. Marlon loves it. Me, Keeney, Sean,, Kenan, Sean, we don't have to be seen. We rather Kim, we'd rather not be seen. Even juniors like that. Like, I don't need that. Hold on. The doctors thought you were gonna be a little person.

We can't use the M word. They thought you was gonna be a little person because of the foot. No, they put me in the special ed class. You? Yeah, because I'm in there with them. And my mother was like, no, it's like he's nothing wrong with him. But I got to know all the kids and... Right. So they figure any abnormality and deformity that you had, there had, there had to be something wrong with you,

mentally or emotionally, what? I think it's just because I was black. Oh. You know, and they just like, here, let's have some fun. True, because I remember those classes, I don't remember seeing a whole lot of white people in those classes. Yeah, and they put me in there with the, you know,

back then you called them retarded people, you know, and like I said, I made friends with some of them, you know, until I got one of my made friends with some of them, you know, until I got with my other friends, then I disowned them. Get out of here, Corky, get on with it. Crap with my style, man. David, I know when the regular kids saw you going in those classrooms, bro.

Oh, they would come by and tease me. They'd be pointing at me and doing that. I'm like, oh man. Bro, oh they would come by and tease me. They'd be pointing at me and I'm like, oh man Did you have homework? Did you have homework? Yeah, easy homework. Fold this paper That was the homework. Here fold this paper in half. Ooh, you did good I was the smartest kid in the class, but finally.

But you do realize, David, like when you were in those classes, you stayed in that class the whole day. You don't change classes. No, my mother got me out. It was a quick stay, you know, probably for like a week. But you know, that, Yeah, it was about a week. Marlon said you were terrible in school. I mean really bad.

No, here's, I was funny. So you went to school to tell jokes. Yeah. You ain't go to learn. This is how my mind thought. Okay. When I went to high school, I took Chinese, Mandarin Chinese. Just because I I went to high school, I took Chinese,

Mandarin Chinese. Just because I knew it was so hard, I could fail it. I'm telling you, I get to the class and it's me and everybody else is Asian because there's a proper way to speak Chinese. Yes. Mandarin is not like- It's not an easy language. Yeah. Each word has four different meanings. So I like, I'm like, Hey, it's Chinese, dad. I can't do it. But I was always like, I had one teacher, Mr. Freeman, who believed in me

in his seventh grade. I used to call him Mike. I would get under his skin, but I would make him laugh. He was my science teacher and he told me one day, so I would do stuff to try to stump him. So we were talking about inertia, right? He's teaching about inertia. And I said, Mr. Freeman, yo Mike, why is it that when you get on the train and the fly flies in and the train starts to move, the fly doesn't smash against the wall? He said, well, the fly goes to the side.

I said, no, the fly never touched the wall to go the same speed as the train. Why doesn't the fly? When you take off, because if you take off and you're not holding on, you fall back. Why doesn't the fly move? That part. And he was like, he said, that's critical thinking. He said, and the thing about you is that you're brilliant. He said, you have a gift. He said, the problem is I need to control the room. Right now, you are controlling my classroom, and that's not good for me.

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give you five minutes on Friday to say or do whatever you want to do. Wow. If you just be quiet. It was a trade-off. It was a trade-off. And I would, you know, sometimes I would blurt out stuff, but, you know, for the most part, I honored that and he honored that. And I couldn't wait for my five minutes every Friday. But he was the only teacher that ever told me

that what I do is special. He's the only one that really believed in you. Everybody else thought you was an F-up, class clown. You dropped out. I got thrown out. I was. I got thrown out of, I went to Murray Berkman High School for Business Careers.

It was the first school, high school, to teach computer science. And they had like computers like, computers as big as this room. Wow. And that's like the cobalt and they're teaching us this. And my dumb behind I, I had a teacher who I didn't like. And somebody gave me some mace and I'm in the class and I'm spraying mace. She made me sit right like this because I was such a, you know, right? So I'm spraying mace. She made me sit right like this, because I was such a, you know. Yeah.

Right? So I'm spraying mace the whole time. She's talking... Oh, my God. Why didn't know mace was going to affect me, too? Laughter Everybody in the class is... Blah, blah, blah.

And I got expelled from that school. Then I went to go, I had to go to another school. Charles Evan Hughes got thrown out of that one for turning off all the lights from that school. Then I went to go, I had to go to another school, Charles Evan Hughes got thrown out of that one for turning off all the lights in the school. Damn! Yeah, and then I went to one of them schools where all you gotta do is show up. You went to alternative school?

Yeah, all you gotta do is show up. I got thrown out of that. Damn! So you realized school wasn't for you? Yeah, yeah, I was, I just, I don't know, I was thinking funny. I got thrown out of one school because I threw a chair off the roof. I didn't want to hurt nobody, but in my mind I thought like a cartoon. I wanted to see them go, and their eyes bond on their head and then run.

You could have killed me. I had no concept of killing. This is in like fifth grade. I didn't. I wasn't trying to kill nobody. Right. But... When you come home, okay, this. You get thrown out of school.

How do you go home and tell, or do the school call and tell your mom and dad that we're expelling Damon? Or do you have to tell them? No, I get on the train and just ride it all day long. That's what I do. Oh, so they didn't know you got expelled? They didn't know. No.

When did you realize, say you know what school ain't for me, the hell with this? Once I started doing standup. Well, like, no, I don't think it was standup. It was just, I had to go to job court. Cause it was that or jail. And so I went down to Breckenridge, Kentucky. And it was the first time I ever saw a horse.

Like, like. A real horse that wasn't on TV. You could actually touch it. Oh yeah, one of them Central Park horse. Just foam out the mouth all day long. It was like a real horse. And it was the first time I flew on a plane, the first time I smelled fresh air, you know?

And I got my GED down there. I got my driver's license. And I went for, what did I go for? I ended up taking accounting. So I learned how to do. You're good with numbers. The numbers, right? And then I came back home

and that was like the first time I went, okay, I did something. I achieved something. You felt a sense of accomplishment. Yes, GED meant something. My parents are so proud. And then I got a job at American Express. Oh Lord. I did, I got a job at American Express. Oh, Lord.

I did. I got a job at American Express. I was in the mailroom. And then they promoted me to mailroom supervisor because I had a way of making people laugh and building like morale. Right? So I had the late shift.

I worked from 7 o'clock to 7 in the morning. And we had to, I always found a way, and I thank my dad for this, of making a job fun. So we had to like open up the mail. You get 550 envelopes. You got to take them out, open it up. Then you have to decide is this a change of address? Is this a return of a credit card? Is this, you know, whatever it is, you had like seven. So you had to manually do it. Right.

And the quota was to do five boxes. I used to do 15. Wow. And I'd have my music on, and I'd have my basket here, and I would just go, and because they had a machine that would open it for you, right, but I was that fast. And I remember the controller walked in one day that was his position, like the manager.

And he said, I've never seen nothing like this. And I would make the other people in the mail room would say, man, slow down. You may look bad. Yeah, but they made me the supervisor. And I would make the other people in the mail room would say man slow down you mean Yeah, but they made me the supervisor and then I had everybody giving them ten boxes a night Wow Now stand up. Mm-hmm. How do you go from being at American Express to the stand-up? I always admired Kenan and then so with Kenan he would I would go to the stand-up. I always admired Keenan. And then so with Keenan, he would, I would go to the improv and watch him perform. And then sometimes I'd get Keenan, you should try this joke, try this. And he would do it and then we'd get laughs.

And so that was the first time I ever thought, well, I thought about that. He said it and got a laugh. Maybe... If I used it for myself. Yeah, maybe I right and then Robert Townsend one day I was still working at Smilers and the delicatessen and Robert Townsend Keenan wearing a like a little improv crew. Mm-hmm. All right, there's like Reggie van

Johnson and Melvin George there's's like four people. And they brought me in, because Keenan told them Damon could do characters. So I'm just there. And I'm just like doing all this stuff that me and Keenan would do all the time. And I remember Robert's face like this. And he said, you got it.

And I didn't, I had to go, you know, do the sandwiches to Mars. I didn't really like think about what he said. And then in 1982, I was so proud, this Kenan got his little sitcom and I was telling my wife, Lisa, I'm like, man, Kenan, Kenan, Kenan, you know what, you need to go do stand up. Otherwise, I'm gonna go sleep with Kenan, Kenan, Kenan, you know what? You need to go do stand up. Otherwise, I'm going to go sleep with Kenan, because you make him sound wonderful. So I started doing stand up. And the first time I went on stage,

I fell in love with it. And I didn't do good. I actually bombed, but I got one laugh. And comedy is like golf. All you remember is a good shot. Yeah. You know what I mean? And that's what everybody says.

Everybody say you get, it's not the boo that you remember. It's that one laugh that gets you hooked. And you're like, yeah, this is my calling. Yeah. I knew it. I knew it like as I was doing it. Like, this feels good. Is it a high?

Yeah. It's like a runner's high, especially when you come off stage. You know, the thing is when you're first starting out and you're doing it, you come off stage, you can enjoy the high. When you become famous or whatever, you know, people want to, and it just ruins the high.

You know what I mean? Like you interact because you want to like enjoy that moment. You have like out of body experiences. You know, when you do stand, when you have a great show, it's like you just sit back going, watch this nigga work, go, go, you know, and you forget about the pain in your back and you know, just everything It just feels right. So yeah, it's definitely a runner's high. Wow. And so now You're doing stand-up. You're like, okay

Now you don't want to do anything else but that Or do you have did you have another job? No, I had other jobs because I had to have you know, I had kids Yeah, stand-up ain't wasn't paying like it is, we were paying back then huh? Right. Well, you know, stand up would pay you a burger. That's what you got. You got a free burger, maybe some fries, and a soda. That's what that was your pay. But you know, then they had, they had a strike and they started giving you money for cabs or gas money, so you can make $20 here. But any real comedian that's really about it hits the stage five times a night. So you're not just making $20, you're making $120.

You're making, right? So you can live off of... Back then, that was good money. Yeah. Yeah. How did you and Eddie meet? Through Keenan. Okay. So Eddie would come see me do stand up. He would bring Prince, Rick James. He just thought like the stuff I was doing was really innovative. Right. You know and and then I started hanging out with him and Kenan. You know, the first thing Eddie would do when he came out during like Saturday Night Live and he would call Kenan and go, man, watch this Buckwheat tonight.

Watch Buckwheat. Buckwheat got shot. And I'm just like, so at the time I was doing standup, before I met Eddie, I'm like, who is this Eddie Murphy everybody's talking about? Because as far as I was concerned, I was the next. And then I watched him do James Brown getting in a hot tub, and I was like, this dude is amazing. Amazing.

And I became in awe of Eddie. And the fact that him and Kenan were friends, as soon as he came out, Kenan, come on. And they hang out to the wee hours of the morning. And you tag it along. Tagging along. Eddie would actually bring me, my wife, and my sons on boat rides, like he would rent a yacht

and go around the marina and it and be, I was the only family, just all these pretty women and Eddie and his boys. You were like, uh, yeah, and Eddie would come over, always make time to come over and sit down with us and go, y'all got something special, this is what I want. And he go, now go get some. And he goes, now I'm gonna go get some. But you know, that was so wonderful for me and to see that life. Right. You know what I mean? Because I never had it on that level.

You know what I mean? I was married from, you know, since 1984 or something like that. So I didn't. Damn, you ain't get a chance to enjoy the single life of your stand up. I did. I broke up my marriage.

Don't worry. I broke up my marriage. That's bad sick. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. And I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. And I regret it. Really? Yeah.

Because in show business, you think that this chemistry you got with this person, this actress, is special and pure. And then what you don't realize is she's going to go do that on the next role with somebody else. And you be like, but I left my wife for you. You know what? Tell her the stuff you told my character. She'll take you back.

You'd be like, what? Yeah. I'm Camila Ramon, Peloton's first Spanish speaking cycling and tread instructor. I'm an athlete, entrepreneur and almost most importantly, a perreo enthusiast. And I'm Liz Ortiz, former pro soccer player and Olympian and like Kami, a perreo enthusiast. Come on, who is it? Our podcast Hasta Abajo is where sports, music and fitness collide. And we cover it all. De Arriba, Hasta Abajo.

Sit down with real game changers in the sports world like Miami Dolphins CMO Priscilla Shumate who is redefining what it means to be a Latina leader. It all changed when I had this guy come to me he said to me you know you're not Latina. First of all what is that? I'm not that wide open. Yeah. History makers like the Sukar family who became the first Peruvians to win a Grammy. It was a very special moment for us. It's been 15 years for me in this career. Finally, things are starting to shift into a different level.

Listen to Hasta Waho on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. I'm Israel Gutierrez, and I'm hosting a new podcast, Dub Dynasty, the story of how the Golden State Warriors have dominated the NBA for over a decade. The Golden State Warriors once again are NBA champions. From the building of the core that included Klay Thompson and Draymond Green,

to one of the boldest coaching decisions in the history of the core that included Clay Thompson and Draymond Green, to one of the boldest coaching decisions in the history of the sport. I just felt like the biggest thing was to earn the trust of the players and let the players know that we were here to try to help them take the next step, not tear anything down. Today, the Warriors dynasty remains alive, in large part because of a scrawny 6'2 hooper who everyone seems to love. For what Steph has done for the game,

he's certainly on that Mount Rushmore for guys that have changed it. Come revisit this magical Warriors ride. This is Dubb Dynasty. The Dubb's Dynasty is still very much alive. Listen to Dubb Dynasty starting April 8th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's Julie Stewart Banks. I'm doing a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts and the National Hockey League, and I'm paired

up with one of my favorite players, the always quotable Nate Thompson. I wore nine NHL sweaters and I have story after story to share. And believe it or not I have plenty to say and not just about hockey believe me He does energy line with Nate and JSB is the name of the podcast and it's gonna be well It's gonna be quite the ride. We're officially line mates Nate. We're the energy line We'll have plenty of folks join us current players some of my former teammates of Famers, and wait to see some of the connections that Julie has. She has quite the Rolodex.

Okay, we'll lean into Nate's playing experience and tap into our interests away from hockey and try to do what Energy Lines are supposed to do, provide an emotional boost. How do you feel about all that, Nate? I'm vibing, Julie, I'm ready to roll. Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSB on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You got an opportunity to do Eddie up close and personal. What is something about Eddie that you could share that people wouldn't realize about him, that wouldn't know about him? The funniest guy of my generation for sure, his mind is like a Rubik's Cube, the way he processes comedy. Mm-hmm. And he's one of the most giving people. Like, you know, Eddie can steal scenes. He doesn't have to steal scenes because he's the star. Right.

Right? But the thing I learned from Eddie was letting other people shine. You bring somebody in. When I did The Banana Man, I was still working in the mail room. And he's like, he told Marty Bress, the director, you got to let him do it. He wanted me to play the Brunson Pinchot character, right?

Who did a wonderful job. But the director was like, nah, he's unseasoned. And he said, all right, then let him do this one little scene. And Eddie was like, laughing in the scene. You know, I'm with the biggest star in the world. And he's making me feel funny and encourage me. Go, no, no, no, seriously. He says, and the director was like, we got to move on.

And he's going to know we're going to do this. And we got that take. And it was just like, just the fact that he cared enough, you know, to make sure that I shine was beautiful. And then, you know, Eddie put on Robert Townsend, my brother, you know, all the people that he put on in this business. I don't think people really give him the credit he did.

Arsenio, he went on Arsenio's show, you know, multiple times to support his friend. You know what I mean? Paul Mooney, Eddie put everybody on. How did Beverly Hills cars happen? Eddie would see me do standup. He saw that character, he's like, you gotta do this. And he made them put me in the movie. Eddie would see me do stand-up and he saw that character. He's like you got to do this and he

Made them put me in the movie Eddie SNL a lot of people have gotten nobody's been bigger than Eddie SNL and blew up I mean there have been other guys, but nobody's like Eddie you was on SNL for a Minute half a season was on SNL for a minute? Half a season. What would you what did you think what SNL was gonna be as opposed to what you got once you got on SNL? Well I grew up you know when we watched Richard Pryor on SNL you know the famous sketch with Chevy Chase and you know him with Lily Tomlin playing the drunk. And, you know, it's like, wow, he's bringing our flavor to this show.

Right. Because before it was white. It was funny. You know, John Belushi, Brandt, all those guys with Brandt. But it wasn't us. And then I was like, I was born to do this. And Eddie had just left. Eddie actually came to my, you know, celebration party before I went to New York, because I was living out here. And he told me, he said, look, man, learn to write your own sketches, because they're going to put you in it and you're going to hate it. They're going to give you black stuff to do.

You're going to hate it. And so when I went there, he was writing. And I was writing sketches, but they would shoot it down. This dude would like sit there, read my sketches in front of me and go, yeah. Oh, yeah. I just don't get it. I just got tired of getting shot down.

And I kept getting told, well, we're trying to protect you from Eddie's aura. Right. It's like, Eddie's gone. And I knew that the characters that I wanted to do were nothing like Eddie. There would be no comparison. Because I didn't really do impressions. I didn't do the kind of stuff Eddie did.

These are, you know, the funny thing is, I did an interview for SNL, and they showed me my audition tape. In the audition, it's a 12-minute tape of me doing Homie the Clown, Men On, Handyman. The seven characters that I did ultimately on In Living Color that I showed them what I could do.

And I was writing stuff for these characters. Kept getting shot down. So I just, I didn't care. I just changed characters on them during a live show. And I was like, yeah, give me the ball or let me go. Let me ask you this. Were you becoming frustrated because you're like, I'm doing this and every time I try to do something,

every turn you shoot it down. It's that and then the stuff they were giving me. There was one sketch they wanted me to stand in a loincloth with a spear With no lines, so what the hell you gonna be doing just standing there. I'm gonna be stabbing somebody with this beer You think I'm doing this and I told him I said I can't do this My mother is gonna watch this show. I can't do this. And they're like, yeah, got it. You know, it's, you got to service the peace.

That's what I was told. Service the peace. I didn't do it. And then it was- So how do you say, how did you, how did you tell, how did you respectfully tell them no? It wasn't respectful.

I didn't, I just said, no, I don't care who you call. I'm not doing this. I didn't do it. Then we had a I don't care who you call. I'm not doing this. I didn't do it. Then we had this woman, Denitra Vance, who was this, she was very talented, but she did it. And I was like, Denitra, don't, if we stand together, it means something.

You make me look crazy. She wanted that role. She wanted to be on Saturday Night live that she is and with this beer a boobity-a trying to improvise so what's the pay like on SNL nothing I'm paying $1,500 a week so let me cuz I'm always interested how so how does explain to people at home how how does SNL work? So how do you come in there like, okay, the show is gonna air Saturday night.

Are you guys rehearsing during the course of the week? You come in Monday. Okay. It's a writer's night. Okay. So you come in and you pitch ideas. Okay. Right?

And then they say, yeah, go off and write them. So you start writing Tuesday. You write into Tuesday morning and then we do the table read with all the collection of sketches you read. That's on Wednesday. Forty-five sketches like on a, I forget if it was Tuesday or Wednesday. And then you start rehearsing. Okay.

Start picking the sketches and then you start rehearsing Friday and then to Saturday. And you're writing sketches kind of like what's funny in today? What's funny today because I remember I saw that when I had the Cat Williams, they ended up doing a spoof of cat. So you guys are writing things or trying to like

what's happening in the real world and make them funny. I was writing character driven stuff. I wasn't writing like, cause here's the problem when you do kind of social political stuff Yeah, there are no good Nixon jokes, right? Right. It's a dated you date yourself because events happen and then something else happens And then people forget what was that right? So when you do characters Characters cheeseburger cheeseburger cheeseburgers always gonna be funny. He can can have a real brown but you know all the stuff Eddie did all right you know pump you up you know there's a bunch of catchphrases that they've that that are in the you

know the the zygote because of you know character driven comedy that's what people relate to right let me ask you were you say you lasted half a season but you were fired after one season. I did. I got fired after no after in in the middle of the season. Are you the only one that's ever happened to? Has anybody that you know of? I got fired live. I didn't even make the good nights. Damn. They didn't they didn't let the curtain come down. I didn't say good night. He said get the hell out of here. Who told you that?

Lorne Michaels. He was red in the face. John Belushi never did this to me. You ad-libbed, didn't you? I did more than ad-lib. I said get me out of here. Everything I did was to go. But see, God has plans. Right. did was to go. But see, God has plans. Right? Right? So in living color was my vindication. Did you know, hold on, you said you did everything you could to get fired. Did you know Kenan was in the process of doing it? No, no, because this is in 1986 and living color wasn't until 1990.

Yeah. Right? So I was like, I was so angry when I was there. I was walking around, I had these shades on like black, like I guess they're Ray-Bans and they go, why are you wearing glasses? It's too white in here. It hurts my eyes. Damn.

What you thought they were? I didn't want, well, you know, you get shot down. The thing is, like, now, I was young. I didn't know. I didn't understand producing a show. You was militant, huh? Very. Because I felt like, you know, they were trying to Garrett

Morris me. OK. And Garrett Morris is a wonderful man. I love him. But back then, you know, they used him like a prop, right? You know, I mean and I that's not why I did stand up I'm ready guys. I'm locked and loaded you seen the tape You know what I can do, but it wasn't meant to be right What did Kenan say when you told him like man?

Hang on be on SNL no more, bro and say when you told him like man I ain't gonna be on SNL no more bro. Good. If they're not gonna let you do what you do right then you know it doesn't make no sense to be there something else will happen and the great thing about doing stand-up is you know after I did Saturday Night Live I could get booked in comedy clubs and make good money because I'm featuring the guy who got fired from Saturday Night Live. I can use that. Right? And so I was making, stand-up allows you, back then, $10,000 a weekend.

That's good money. Hell yeah, good money. What you mean was good money is? Right. More than I was making on SNL. So it's like, yeah, okay, so I started doing stand up. And it's been a very lucrative. Lucrative, but it's always good to know that you

don't have to do something. Because I can make money. I can feed my family. My dad ringing in my ear. As long as I can feed my family, you can't touch me. Do you feel it was a situation because you came on so soon after Eddie left, and many people believe Eddie had gotten too big for SNL

and they didn't want to run that same risk with you. That might've been some of it, you know, but I mean, whatever it was, don't hire me if you don't want me. Right. You know what I mean? Don't hire me if you're not gonna let me do. Cause I can do what Eddie did.

I can, do you know how many people watched the show when Eddie was doing it? Yes. Why don't you want them? Because they negate our audience. The audience that Eddie brought there, I was coming in thinking I would service them. You know what I mean?

Black people give me a shot to be funny. Before they start comparing me, they ain't gonna, he trying to be Eddie, cause I got a different flavor. Robert Downey Jr. was also in your cast. He got fired after a year or two. Damn, y'all were homeboys. Yeah, so Robert Downey and Michael Anthony Hall,

we called them the kids, and they were the ones that thought I was funny. So we would connect, and they knew that it wasn't funny. What we were doing was, so we had all these inside jokes about that sketch is not gonna work, and they knew how bad it was. So yeah, we became good friends. I love Robert.

Yeah. Tracy Morgan said he felt culturally isolated on SNLs, called it the whitest show in America. It is. It is because, you know, I mean, I love Lauren Michaels. To do anything for 50 years. That's a long time. You deserve your flowers, you know?

But when you go up and look at the people who run the show, the writer's room, it's all white and it's not like, you know, it's not like- It's not diverse like the people in- Right, it's not, you know, Neil Brennan is funny. The guy who wrote with Chappelle, you know, he's funny. But you got all these guys that come out of Harvard who write for like magazine. Magazine funny ain't funny. They would do sketches like Tornadoville. So you go to this town where there's a tornado

and people walk around with hangers in their head. All right, but I'm like, well, who are the people and what's the character with the hanger in his head? What does he do? What's funny about him? You know, they didn't want to hear that. Right. Have you talked to Tracy? I know he had an incident a couple of weeks last week on the sideline. He had food poisoning and then he at the Knicks game. I want to talk to him with a six number. I give him some Pepto Bismol. Now I love Tracy. I met Tracy in New York in a club in the middle of the winter. And I remember this because he didn't have no shirt on and he was sweating.

I'm like, it is four degrees outside. Where'd you go? Oh, get these girls pregnant. I'm here to get somebody pregnant. And he had a little big belly. I'm like, you look pregnant. Chris Rock, damn, everybody getting fired from SNL. Chris Rock.

And then he tried out for In Living Color.. And then he tried out for In Living Color. I think Martin also tried out for In Living Color. Probably, but we were gone. You go there. Yeah, we weren't there. So when Keenan pitches In Living Color to you, what are you thinking? And you're like, this is it.

This is our chance. This is my chance to show my comedic genius. Whatever Keenan want to do. You know what I mean? We did, before we did Unleavened Color, he had done, I'ma get you sucka. Yes. So, and then we had done the Robert Townsend partner in crimes. He had written sketches for that.

And you know, the funny thing is they told Keenan asked Robert if he could direct some sketches. And Robert's like, nah, man, you too lazy. All you want to do is chase girls. And he said, you got to be disciplined to do this. And Keenan was hurt. He's like, what? Bro, we done hung out.

We would chase a girl together, bro. And now you. Right. And so Keenan locked himself in his room for two weeks and wrote, I'ma Get You Sucker. And then he directed. But that was his fuel. Right.

You know what I mean? It's exactly what he needed to hear. Right. And then when we did, I'ma Get You Sucker, it was so much fun. There's nothing like showing up to a set where it's a party. And then you're filming. You know what I mean? You're filming too, but the environment is just so fun and creative, and that's what In Living Color was.

That's what Ima Get You Sucka and the Robert Townsend Partner in Crown. And then they paid you too, you know? But it was just the fun that we had is what you take away from it. Finals are here and the only thing for sure is it's the last time to bet on college basketball this season. It's been an amazing ride to get here. Full of unexpected happenings. Maybe there'll be more. Get in on the action, expected and unexpected, with Draft King Sportsbook. With live betting, exclusive content, promos, and parlay's.

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Has somebody ever ran up on stage, a heckler ran up on stage, has somebody run up on stage? I wish he may. You know how heavy that mic stand is? I'm busted it too, the white me. No, I've never, you know, you get into situations where people heckle, you know, but a man ain't gonna try you. If ain't going to try you. If you think he can get you. Exactly. If you stand your ground and I learned this from my brother. It's like, now

everybody, a lot of people talk, but I'm going to hit you first. If I feel threatened. Tension, you got to get off. Chopped right in the throat. You ever been chopped in your throat? I wish you would try to fight after this. Pop. It's quick. Attention you got to get off chop right in the throat. You ever been chopped in your throat? I Wish you would try to fight after this man. Pop right it's quick. I don't want to fight. I'm 65 years old Yeah, but I got that kind of win. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We ain't rustling you ain't gonna build your rep off me But you you're in bamboozle with Jada, yeah love Jada We had a great time.

Spike Lee was so generous and just like this awesome, this is an awesome experience because this is the first time. He actually used 10 cameras at one time and Spike would go, all right, Damon, you come in, all I need you to do is not put your hand down because there's a camera here. So that's the kind of direction he would give you. Because he believed in what I was doing in the rehearsal, and so it was really about, wow, we were doing like 200 setups in a day.

That's like ridiculous. Yes. You know, but he was like really brand with that and Jada, we had so much fun on that and just taking chances and you know, what happens is show business changes you. Really? Yeah. Because you know, you and, and I don't, I'm not speaking on Jada. I'm talking about in general. And and I don't I'm not speaking on Jada I'm talking about in general Only God should be famous. Mm-hmm. And you see how he do it. He's staying visible because you know people stupid

You know because it's it's a Psychological this guy's all messed up and they out there partying and it's never enough. Because it's not what you don't deserve this. You don't deserve to have a threesome. Go back to the ghetto where you came from. Did you what? Did you get in there and you deserve it. It ain't never happened.

And the thing is when you look yourself in the mirror, you know. You got to put on these errors and pretend that you deserve it because you don't. Wow. I'm looking at some of the people that was only living color. You became even bigger, David Alan Greer, Jamie Foxx, Jim Carrey. And I had Marlon, and Marlon said that... J-Lo. That's what you call him? J-Lo. J-Lo.

Yeah. And he said he knew. Did you know Jim Carrey was gonna be that? Yeah, I'm the one that brought Jim to Kenan. So me and Jim used to be in the comedy clubs. Jim Carrey is a master impressionist. Yes. Like he does like Sean Penn. Yeah.

Like weird, like Michael Landon. He would get standing ovations in a comedy club during a 20 minute set. Now, any comedian tell you that's damn near impossible. There's few and far between that can do that. That's how good he was. But he hated doing the impressions because people thought that's all he did.

So me and him, after Sam Kenison made it, like we made a pact that we're gonna push each other. So he would go on stage, he couldn't do his impressions, and we'd just yell out stuff to him. And then he would do the same thing for me. And we would just challenge each other on stage, he couldn't do his impressions, and we'd just yell out stuff to him. And then he would do the same thing for me. And we would just challenge each other on stage. He had nothing to lose. Right.

But Jim, I truly knew he was special, special. And it didn't take Keenan Long to go, he's the guy. Because they saw every white boy in Hollywood for that role. Right. And when he came in with Fire Marshal. Yeah. He did that on stage at the Comedy Store. He was messing around with a match on stage.

Right. Let me take a shot of this. But the one thing he's always given your family, and Kenan, and yourself, your flowers. He says, when Hollywood turned their back on me and didn't believe in me, this black family did. And they gave me a platform. He's our M&M.

He he he he he he he he. Y'all did for him what Dr. Dre did for him. But listen, when I see Jim, it's all love. It's like, that's how you know your family. It's like when you see your old teammates, you just pick up like it was yesterday. You don't see them, man, why you in the car? There's none of that.

It's just like instant connection. And we just talking about, you know, anything without resentment. It's just love. David Allen Greer, Tommy. Yeah, Tommy, they forgot about Tommy. Yeah, yeah, it's all love. Jamie, because we fought a fine fight and we won.

How did the hell did Kenan convince Fox? Well, it's not so convinced now because they kind kind of do they kind of go against the grain over there But how did he convince them at that time? To put a living color what you guys were doing on the air Well the funny thing is they came to him after they saw I'm gonna get you sucker the reaction They didn't they were like what the hell like people would get up and run out the theater. You know we laugh we They were like, what the hell? People would get up and run out the theater. We'd laugh.

We'd... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ta-da! Teeth falling out, yeah. Yeah. Ta-da! And they didn't understand it. And they wanted to meet with him immediately.

And they was like, look. And so Kenan took this meeting thinking that they wanted to do a film deal. A movie, yeah. Right? So he's in there and they're telling him about, you know, how great it is and we want that kind of edge and they say, we got a network. We're going to do a new network coming up. And Keenan was like, okay, the meeting is over. And he

went to walk out the door and he goes, wait, wait, wait, you can do anything you want to do. Anything? That part. And that's actually a lyric in the Living Color song. You can do what you want to do. The thing is, we did do anything we want and then, so we were a mid-season replacement, right? Supposed to come out in February or something. Right. And they got it. They were so scared of it that they went to the JDL. They went to the NAACP push. Yeah, you know, everybody to try to get them to sign off. And they would like give us money, we'll sign off for it. And then you know, it's like they was like, they didn't know what to do. So we missed that window.

We missed the fall season because they still didn't want to know what to do. And then Barry Dilla just went, you know what? Put it on. Let's see. If it's the people having this kind of reaction to it, let's put it on. That's what we wanted.

And then the rest is history. Wow. So now you go from, did you feel vindication going from SNL to Live in Color? Because everything that you did on Live in Color you had tried to do on SNL and they said, no, it ain't gonna go. And now you're getting rave reviews. Everybody's talking about Homity Clown. They still talk about Homity Clown. Homity Clown's on T-shirt. No, I ain't getting no money for that. Thank you for telling me. I'm like, no, I ain't getting no money for that. Thank you for telling me. You should have copyrighted, homie.

The thing is, it's all good. It's love. And everybody got to eat. It's OK. Vindication, no. I think it's validation. But in living color was the validation. It had nothing to do with SNL.

I buried that as soon as I left. It was like I never looked back. What did they call you to come back? You the way back? I would host it. I did host one. And he brought me back to do stand up at the left. Lauren is very forgiving,

but he had to show me who's boss and that's fine. Right. You know, but in the end, he know and I know that it was the best thing for me to be off the show. Right. I saw Jerry Seinfeld explaining the importance of failing at doing it your way. Because a lot of people, and I've said this about sports, a lot of times people would rather lose their way than win someone else's way because they lose themselves. That's not who they are. Right. And it seems to me that she's like, look, if I'm going to go down, I'm going

to go down doing things my way. I'm not going to go down doing it your way because I'm not being authentic to myself. Right. But I had already gotten the warning from Eddie. Right. So when I walked in, I knew it wasn't a team. We weren't playing team ball. I was the on the team. So I just knew that, you know, this thing, and what he was saying was playing itself out in front of me. So, you know, when you talk about sports, sports is a team game, right? You know, and you can be the best person in the game. Right. But it's the team. If the team don't play well around you, you lose.

Right. And if you try to take all the glory, then people praying for your downfall and it may not block the next time. True. True. Yeah. So you have to, you know, these are your brothers that you are out there trying to, you know, compete in this war. It is the footballs of war, basketballs of war. I read that some celebrities would get upset with you when you would make fun of them and use them in your sketches. Did they ever approach you? I saw Mike Tyson, Whitney Houston, MC Hammer. Did they ever come to you and say,

bro, come on now. Yeah, Mike Tyson rolled up on me in a jewelry store. You talking about scared? I wanted to show him my foot. I got club foot Mike, please Mike. But he, it was like he was playing, but he was, he's so strong. He grabbed me and he bit me on my neck. You know, fucking Christ. That was a sign of things to come.

Before Evander, and I just felt, I still remember his high, I could feel his hot, hi-yah, I was like, ooh, but he was playing, right? But Mike, here's an interesting thing. Mike Tyson loves my family, and it's not because of me. He was at some event with my mother and my mother introduced herself to him and she said, Mrs. Wayne, your kids, they make, I don't like, they mockerize me.

They're always making jokes and my mother said, oh shut up. If they didn't love you, they wouldn't do you. They're always making jokes and my mother said, oh shut up. If they didn't love you, they wouldn't do you. Wow. And Mike Tyson was like, I fell in love with your family right there. If anything ever happened with you and your family,

I'm gonna eat through people. But he loved, just, I guess that's, it felt like a mother to him. Right. You know, she just, he said, I could have knocked your mom out. But she just, she reprimanded me. It was like beautiful. Because he did want to be keen enough.

And Eddie was trying to instigate it. He was going to kick his door down and beat him up. This concludes the first half of my conversation. Part two is also posted and you can access it to whichever podcast platform you just listened to part one on. Just simply go back to club Shae Shae profile and I'll see you there. What's up everyone? Julie Swift Brinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.

We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go. The name? Energy Line with Nate and JSB. Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey, life, all topics are fair game right? Exactly and you'll never know who will drop by to join us. Julie is pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe. Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSB on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tickets are on sale now, y'all, for our 2025 iHeart Country Festival, presented by Capital One, happening Saturday, May 3rd, at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

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