Club Shay Shay - Gary Owen Part 2

Episode Date: May 8, 2024

Gary Owen returns with Shannon Sharpe for a no-holds-barred second half of the conversation that spans the spectrum of comedy, career, and personal anecdotes. Gary offers his candid take on everything from the Drake vs Kendrick beef to his own experiences in Hollywood. He delves into the intricacies of auditioning for roles like Django and reflects on the unique camaraderie fostered by films like "Think Like a Man." Gary opens up about his enduring friendship with Kevin Hart and shares heartfelt stories about the kindness of fellow comedians like Katt Williams. From navigating legal battles to dissecting the nuances of stand-up comedy, Gary provides insightful commentary with his trademark humor and honesty. He shares his perspective on industry controversies, the power dynamics of Hollywood, and the importance of staying true to oneself in the face of adversity. Gary's anecdotes range from the absurd to the profound, offering listeners a glimpse into the life of a comedian navigating the highs and lows of showbiz. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Let's talk about what's going on now. This rap beef, this rap dissing. I mean, it seems like everybody's team coming after Drake. You got K-Dot, you know, J. Cole took his shot. You got Ross. Where you at on the rap beat? Better leave that man alone. Drake?

Better leave that Drake alone. I mean, the lights can't do... Hey, don't sleep on that mix, boys. Yeah, y'all do your thing.

They gonna hit you with the ghetto and the suburb shit. It's both sides. Yeah. Yeah, don't mess with Drake, bro.

I like, you know, I'm not a hip-hop head, but obviously I listen to hip-hop. Right. Yeah, Drake, man. I don't think Meek Mill's ever quite recovered.

Remember that? Like 70 years ago, back to back? Drake bought it. Drake. I ain't messing with you. Drake's fan of those. That's why everybody...

Backs. That's why everybody teaming up trying to take it back. And everyone wants to work with him. Everyone wants to work with him. Everyone wants to work with him. Yeah, he's the guy right now. Right. Game Time is an authorized ticket marketplace of professional basketball,

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S-H-A-Y S-H-A-Y for $20 off download game time today last minute ticket lowest prices guaranteed let's talk about your movie career get started did you always want to do movie because it seems like it's a natural transition you go back and obviously you had Cosby you had Pryor you had Murphy you had a lot of guys in comedy do real well transitioning to the movies did you want to do you always want to be in movies yeah yeah that was always a goal I never I never thought it'd be like TV right I thought it'd be movies right uh yeah that was I mean you do stand-up that's the those are the dreams like when you start doing stand-up like if I can get movies and stuff like that so that was always the goal right some movies and stuff i hold on you almost a part of

django what were you gonna do in django no i auditioned for django that's what i'm saying yeah why are you to do what one of the henchmen i never i never said the m words so much in my life in an audition and the casting director was a black lady so i go in i'm looking at the sides and it's inward inward inward inward i'm like god and i'm looking at it i go you gotta be kidding me the cast was a black lady i'm like i apologize afterwards very sorry about everything i just said one of the i mean i don't know what look i didn't get it so i don't know what part uh i auditioned for but it's one of the one of the dudes that was trying to kill jamie right

check this out think like a man the franchise i like you i mean you were cool you see see how level-headed you are you was down hey what you i mean your role that you played in think like a man bennett yeah yeah that was cool that was cool? Yeah Yeah that was cool But that ain't you No no no that wasn't me I had to hold back Cause you know you want to go back and forth But um It was funny when I got the part like I think I was the first one to like sign on

Right Cause I heard Will Packer called And shouts out to Will but um Will Packer called and he was like yo i got this movie man he goes we need a white guy that could hang out with black guys but not act black and we want you to bring your own spin to it and originally will was trying to get me to play jerry ferrero's part okay and then just things happen the head of screen is like no i see gary moore's bennett right and and it worked out i thought it all worked out in the end because now that's the

one movie like us guys are still cool like if you call them they're there if you need something you need to make a social media post or I'm having an event I never and I you know Michael Ealy said he goes acting in movies like Summer Camp

you have fun while you're there but then when it's over you probably never see these people again. Obviously, people go their separate ways, but the six of us, man, that was like some brother type. Because you got to realize, 2011, we filmed the first one. 2012, it comes out, so we're doing press together.

2013, we're filming the sequel. 2014, we're doing press, hanging out again. That's four straight years we hanging you know what i mean so yeah those guys i love all those guys man they're great the book did steve give too much information away i didn't really read it i i was like this oh you're pretending like you don't know all right they asked me did I read it? I was like, yeah. I was like, it was informative. I was lying.

I didn't read that book. I just go to the pictures. You mentioned the guys that you work with, Kevin Hart, obviously. What's K. Hart like? Because people, like, they vouch for him. Like, he gives them opportunities. He's always trying to put people in position to succeed. What's your relationship with K. Hart?

You know, I met Kevin 98 in New York when he was little Kev. And, you know we i met kevin 98 in new york okay when he was little kev and you know it was cool man it's like when you just get him like we're doing right now he's the same dude it's just when we leave here it gets weird right because the public starts going nuts i'm i'm her first time i saw posts going nuts like what are they tripping on it's just kev you know but kevin like i've noticed on your show too i've seen there's been a theme yeah like monique was down kev looked out amanda was down kev looked out i had dinner last night with a gentleman he was like yo kev took care of me not took care of me but gave me a job when nobody else gave me a job right and i was like that's three people when my divorce happened um kev was kev

reached out and he goes you know you need uh if you need any legal advice need help financially because i know this stuff can get expensive he goes call me and i'm like i'm i'm i'm a grown man i ain't gonna go to some other grown man for help i'll work it out but then yeah but and then we're shaping with the 44 000 i did call him back yeah call him back you got a you got a jumanji residual check hanging around or something. No, no. But he called for help. It kept just solid, man.

So that when people, the hate come towards him, I think it's just because he's like, quote, unquote, top of the food chain. You know what I mean? But it's funny, too, because when you had Cat on, I was like, Cat's very generous, too, to people. Cat did one of the coolest things anybody ever did for me in my career just in the moment we were in austin texas together and i've told this story on other platforms and stuff but it was right when he popped like 2006 around then right and i just remember we had a show like six months prior at a college and we was like in a ballroom and like 100 kids showed up i get a contract we're at the frank irwin center in austin texas and it's the that's the basketball arena

right and i was like why they got me in canada basketball arena i think we're more of a theater thing right man i showed up there was so many goddamn people and i go oh because i remember i remember so kind of when this happened right it's only six months and then the show's over right we go back the promoter got two different limos and my limos in front of cats and cats limos behind me i get back to the hotel for a cat and i'm trying to go out for a little bit so i'm trying to tell the limo driver i was like hey uh i was like look i need a limo for a couple more hours can i get it he goes yes goes, yeah, it's $300. Tried to give him cash. He wouldn't take it. He goes, I need a credit card.

I said, it's cash. Just take it. He goes, company policy, man. I keep mine. I'm married. I don't want this charge on the credit card. Yeah, you don't want to charge my dad. Yeah, yeah.

So I'm like, I can't put his own credit card on it. And then I got to answer for going out. So cat pulls up. As I'm having the discussion with my driver, cat pulls up and just walks up. He goes, hey, what's going on, Gary? I was like, nothing. I said, the driver wants $300. He won't take cash. I go, he wants a credit card. And I'm telling Cat, I don't want this thing on my credit card. My wife will see it. I got to discuss this stuff, right? Cat goes, hold on. Takes my driver around the back of his limo, right? I don't know what they talked about. I don't know how much money Cat gave that dude. But this was the whole conversation. We came back. He goes, he's yours for the evening, Gary. Enjoy your night. Oh, yes. They do accept cash. And what? I don't know how much. I don't know how much I gave that driver. When I say he pulled in the club, I got out. I was on the dance floor. That's right. Yo, then he takes me back.

I get up the next morning. He's still standing there. Wait a minute. I said, how much money can I give this dude? He goes, yeah, Mr. Williams said take you to the airport. I was like, wow. To this day, I don't know how much money I gave that dude. I'm looking at the cast.

Gabrielle Union, Chris Brown was also in the cast. Megan Good, Taraji. Man, you had an outstanding cast. What was it like working with all those personalities and then everybody blowing up? Jerry Ferrer said it best. When we went to the table read and everybody was there before we knew what it was,

Kev had all the funny shit, right? And Jerry said it best. He goes, it was set up for Kevin to hit a home run. We just didn't know how far he was going to hit it. Right. That ball's still going. That ball's still going. That was some Bugs Bunny type shit.

But everybody was very, like, inclusive. Like, it's like, yo, I think this would be funny. Try it. There was no egos. There wasn't, like, somebody was stealing their shine and everything. It was the most like i i mean you just look forward to going to work right everybody was cool and then of course your boys like hey man what's gab like what you look like up close what making like up close it's weird when

you work with them you don't look at them like that i'll be looking i'm like why everybody tripping like i mean she cool but you look and i'm like a cousin right you know what i mean to this day i feel like why people like tripping over Megan? That's just Megan. Everybody was cool. Especially us guys, man, because we know it was very separate. We didn't see the girls a lot. Especially on the second one. We'd see them every now and then,

but it was more the six guys working together all the time. Man, it was just solid. You were in Love Chronicles with Terrence Howard. Holy cow, what'd you pull that one out of? Yeah, and he's suing CAA. I mean, obviously you've been in this

business a long time and you know how agencies work. I'm trying to figure out, I mean, he's like, he's suing them over his empire salary. Because I guess he's saying that he was only paid X amount of dollars. I mean, but it's kind of hard. What did you sign the contract for yeah that's tough you know t crew said you can't

nod yes and me no i saw that episode too yep t crew was good it was good very motivational yeah i mean and that's the thing so have you had any bad experiences with with with management agencies or you do your. Yeah. I mean, they're always sticking to move in. You always feel like you should be working more. Yeah. You always feel like you should have more. But as far as like suing an agency or a studio for for like wages. for for like wages no because i just like you know you negotiate and it's like you want or not now in the middle of my divorce yeah i got sued by some dude i think i want to really shout him out because i want to make sure I get that name right. There's this piece of Joe Carlin. This dude. And I've never met the dude in my life. I don't know who he is. And I really hope he sees this. He said that I stole the movie idea.

You know what men want. That's what he was that Will Packer produced, that Paramount was behind. He gave the idea to me. I gave it to Will. And then they made the movie and he didn't get anything from it. And I go, keep in mind, I wasn't in that movie. I auditioned for that movie and didn't get the part. And I go, I got nothing to do with that movie. You figure if I had the idea, I'm not a producer on it.

I got nothing to do with that movie you figure if i had the idea i'm not a producer on it i got nothing to do with it we come to find out back in 2015 he somehow he got my email he emailed me something and we had to get like a person to go through all your emails and check it it showed that i opened the email but i didn't send it to anybody i don't remember open it that's how he sued me, and I had to fight this. It cost me $110,000. For nothing. It didn't. They couldn't find it.

Okay, thanks, Lisa. There was no evidence. You know what? What? I don't know. I don't know a goddamn thing. You know what? I don't know his name.

I probably got the wrong movie this is what you go through the divorce you forget right or at least try to yeah now this dude joe carolini right they went through my email and i guess they found out i didn't they couldn't find the email but just the fact that i had to pay these lawyers to fight this because he kept like appealing it right and i'm the one that was out like i'm sure paramount fought it with their lawyers and i don't they got a lot more money to fight with a lot more money but i'm the one like now now we got to go to paramount and beg like hey can you guys give me a couple dollars because that's the crazy part about this business right in fact you can just get accused of something

and you're like you got to fight it in court. Yeah. And I'm going, this was all in the middle of divorce. So I'm getting divorce attorney bills. I'm getting my attorneys fighting this frivolous lawsuit of a movie. The thing about it, when I was in the movie, maybe you could have said something.

I wasn't even in it. Wow. You know what I mean? I had nothing to do with it. And that movie's a remake. It was a Mel Gibson movie. Right. Meet the Blacks.

Mike Yelms, Lil Duvall, Michael Blackson, Snoop Dogg, Charlie Murphy, Mike Tyson, Paul Mooney. What's it like being on a set with a lot of comedians? That's the best. That's the dream set right there. That set was so much fun.

Shouts out to Deion Taylor, but we were outside of sacramento on some farm i'm talking like an hour and a half outside of sacramento and we were staying at a best western inn because that was the only hotel near it and it was a it wasn't a great hotel either but just uh i think it was my first time really working with epps like that and duval right and um comedians the best because they just especially dion it's to direct comedians like that it's just like just let them go we'll get we'll get one off the script but let us go and then usually we'll come up with something funnier than what's on the script yeah yeah and we man he just let us at one point i remember dion i was just rambling dion goes hey we just need one that's on the page.

I didn't realize we're on like take six. I'm going, oh, do I do this? I'm going to do this. Right. Obviously, you mentioned earlier Kat. Kat was on here, and I guess we're still trying to recover. Recover? What are you talking about?

I'm looking at your watch. Look at your teeth, your glasses, your haircut. your glasses your haircut thank you cat everybody got a raise well that's what cat that's what cat told me can't say when you win an award no you win awards i get a prize uh you get them huh would you get them now he i'm gonna let him tell you i'm gonna let him tell you no I haven't gotten him anything He doesn't want anything Did you know that this was like Kind of behind the scenes That comedians I had no idea

People telling me they mad at me For what Cat said on my platform I'm like guys do you think I know What goes on in the comedic world I didn't know that there were beefs Did you know There's always beefs. There's always beefs. Did you know

it was like... To this extent? Here's the thing. Cat is so damn smart and his delivery is so good. It's very engaging. You know how to tell a story, dude. Man, he's a great storyteller. Yeah. He's a great narrator. Yeah. But yeah, we all know those beefs. That's green room talk.

Right. You know? He just aired it publicly. And you know, uh we all know those beefs is that's green room talk right you know he just aired it right publicly and you know because we all know who we all know who ain't funny we all know who's a hack right where there's rumors people steal jokes right i don't i don't ever go the route like somebody just stole a joke because i'm always like we think alike man right we think alike a lot right you know and then sometimes you don't even realize it like i've seen people like start to act like people their mannerisms their delivery and stuff like that so i mean sometimes people do steal i ain't gonna say it doesn't happen but i'm not just gonna out now accuse you but oh okay so that's so because uh the thing was that i had said on and i asked him i said cat once

accused you of stealing a joke and he said well, well, the timeline doesn't add up. Well, I didn't even have to bring it up because when Kat came on, Kat brought it up. And he said, how the timeline doesn't add up. He said, the only difference is, is that you took my car and turned it into a spaceship. Yeah. So I think he was upset. And he says, well, I gave you a grace. I gave you a pass.

You said you're sorry, blah, blah, blah. And then to come out here and say that didn't happen. so i think he was upset and he says well i gave you a grace i gave you a you know a pass you said you're sorry blah blah blah and then to come out here and say that didn't happen but you're saying that if somebody stole your joke you ain't gonna front him you ain't gonna put it put it out there on front street i'm a little more passive aggressive unless it's my dad or stepdad i'm a little more bad i yeah i don't there's some instances where they they just took it and you know the only time i know somebody took shit was there was a show on Showtime called Chalka Sundays. And they did this whole bit of how a white guy can get away with saying the N-word. And what he does, he'd be like, Shannon, you my. And there'd be a black guy right next to him.

He'll say the N-word for him. Right. Yes. I saw that sketch and I go, that's my joke. I close with that on my special in 2011 called true story how that joke came about was i was at the improv on a monday night d ray davis was there he's got it on he's got it on his little handheld camera he sent it to me i'm talking like 2007 this happened when the joke came about i got a heckler we were going back and forth i said why don't you come on stage because the heckler was like you got the mic you always gonna win i said i said like this i said man if i was black i would call you the n-word right now but i'm not allowed and then the crowd was laughing right you know the crowd say it say it i said i ain't gonna say it and i was like

d-ray can you say it for me d-ray comes on stage i start going into dude and D-Ray starts saying the word for me right that's where the joke came about right so now I'm watching this show Chalk of Sundays and I'm seeing they got these two black dudes and a white dude and they're basically turned my joke into a sketch right I called the EP and I was like yo um yo I was like Pogie poogie works with kevin i said poogie i go what a name right poogie i said poogie who wrote the joke so i can know where to direct my anger anger at he said yeah i don't know gee we got a think tank and comedians just get in a room and we start throwing ideas around i said well find out who came up with that premise i said said, you know, that's my bid. It's on Showtime. It's on right now. Right.

And nobody could give me an answer. So somebody got in that think tank and was like, hey, you know what a good idea is? Right. But we got everything on video. Right. You know? How often do you watch other comedians? Do you watch, do you watch, you don't watch anybody currently.

You don't like, man, that dude, that dude, he nice with it. You watch like clips. But I don't want to watch comedians for the reason cat said i don't want to ever think my jokes ain't mine i don't want to watch somebody like that was a good bit or i should have thought of that it's two things like i get frustrated one i'll get frustrated because why do they have a special and i don't all comedians think we deserve the special right and then i don't want to ever think that i don't want to psych myself out i've seen comics do that right they'll stop doing a bit because somebody's doing a bit on the same topic better than they are right so i was like i just i'll obviously watch clips now with tiktok and instagram you might catch something to sit down and watch an hour i was

like i just can't i i don't have i got an adhd self-diagnosed and and i just can't. I don't have, I got an ADHD, self-diagnosed. And I just can't. Like I said, I just, I do it so much. The last thing I'm going to do is go to a comedy club or another comedy show and I'm not on it. So I just don't. The Wayans, where are they? Because I don't think they get nearly enough credit. Because what they did with Living Color.

Man, that still holds up. And look who was birthed out of that. Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx and David Allen Greer and Tommy Davidson. Obviously, the Wayans brothers. I mean, why do you

why don't they, will we ever see another In Living Color again? Could that happen today? Leave it alone. Leave it alone. Just leave it alone. That's greatness. Don't touch it. Stay as far away as possible. But you know anytime you have success doing something,

somebody want to reboot it. Man, we see the animation look good, Ty. You saw that? Yeah. They're doing it, right? I'm like, my God. No, leave it alone. Let it ride.

Let it ride. So what is your relationship? Do you have any comedians that you know? Because, you know, Cat, like, he has his group that he stays away from. Obviously, Monique has hers who she stays away from. And are they anybody that you, like, you don't have to say no name, but do you, like, I'm better in my little box, and I'm going to let you play in your little box?

No, I'm cool with everybody. No, you're not. I'm not. Monique probably would say different. You don't run with you don't i thought i thought monique was really engaging i like monique here's the thing about monique though like you're allowed to be made fun of right we're comedians somebody's gonna see this interview they're gonna make fun of me you know and so it's like i i i snapped a little bit years ago because not over the Tyler Perry or the Oprah stuff. Because she basically compared Will Packer, who's a friend and a guy that employed me and a guy that helped take my career to another level.

Right. She compared him to Harvey Weinstein. Huh? Yeah. She goes, just like these girls got to be quiet and stuff like this. It was like his name was in the same sentence harvey weinstein and i go you know and nobody said anything i go ah i'm gonna stand up for my boy real quick i didn't think it was that big of a deal i literally was in the carpool line

to pick up my daughter at school and i was kind of just sitting there so i just did a video right i didn't think it was that big of a deal but think about it i i never called out her name i never like said she was wrong about other stuff. I was just like in that instance when she had that situation, when she said Will Packer, Harvey Weinstein, I was like, that's not cool. You know what I mean? Because I honestly he he gave her a part in a movie when people really wasn't messing with any, you know, whatever happened over that. I don't know. I don't know about that fire on the set that nobody got hurt. Right. I don't know about that.

But when she, I did a, on my podcast, I talked about her, like, her and her husband will do their little Instagram lives. And I go, man, they're really good at saying they love you and then cut your throat the next day. And they go, yeah, we love you, man. We do know you got an abortion in texas and that's illegal the cops are on their way but we love your brothers when they get there you're gonna have to get bail money and i don't know how you're gonna get that because we got your bank accounts frozen but we love you clearly i'm making fun of them but i'm just having but that's what we do right so you know i heard them go into their podcast afterwards after

i said something like that and they was like snapping i remember us it was like and our brother gary owen you're invited you're a guest in the black community and i'm thinking i got more black kids than you i just got two more right i got a squad now right Right. So I then they go, you know, he said, you know, and you brought up we say people got abortions. And when he was took over, that's what what I go. It was a joke. I was making fun of you, which we're allowed to do. You know, we can't take everything so serious and literal. I don't know. I got nothing against it. Right. i'm nothing but you are allowed to be just like amanda amanda seals comes on here self-diagnose herself with autism so of course i'm gonna bring it up that's what we do i didn't say i didn't call her out her name right nothing i didn't say she was wrong but you know i'm gonna get now i'm gonna get i'm gonna get i'm gonna get

it yeah because i ain't protecting my blacks my black queen so i'm gonna you said what you said and because i didn't push back yeah now you done lumped me into some stuff. I ain't got nothing to do with this. That's all I wanted out of this interview. That's the only thing I wanted. Was for you to get to step down from the Black women. That was my goal. You didn't have to defend your queens, brother.

Yeah, exactly. You know that's coming. Cass spoke very highly of you as one of these guys that haven't sold out to the industry right and if i'm not mistaken i think you said there was a situation because cat said there's sometimes that you know men do things behind the scenes that that uh that don't have anything to do with their acting. It's about getting in the butt. Right. You mentioned that somebody, you don't, you kept like, I think, I'm not sure. I don't want to.

Well, you know, I knew the guy was. 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, 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 Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now.

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Hitting on me. Here's the thing. There was no lines crossed. Nobody was touched. Right. I wasn't promised a job. I still got the job. Right.

But the dude hit on me. You know when somebody's hitting on you. Right. But it wasn't like a Terry Crews situation. Right still got the job. Right. But the dude hit on me. You know when somebody's hitting on you. Right. But it wasn't like a Terry Crews situation. Right. Nobody touched me. You gotta do this or you won't get the job. Dude clearly inquired, you know, am I interested? And I was like, there's no reason for me to throw this dude under the bus.

You are allowed to hit on people. Right. Right? No, not anymore. I'm mad at myself because what kind of vibe was I giving that he thought it was okay to think it was okay right so i was like that's why i say people like you gotta say you're part of the problem you know this guy's a predator i go this dude is not a predator it was a guy that hit on me and it's not my place to out him you know what i mean so i'm never gonna say who it was it wasn't jackie chan right okay that's all i'm was. It wasn't Jackie Chan. Right. Okay.

That's all I'm giving you. It wasn't or Chris Tucker. So that's all you get. What are your thoughts on actors in dresses? Would you wear a dress for a movie role? Jack was right. Do it all. Bra, panties, johns.

I shave my legs yeah but it's funny if it's funny but gear here's the thing and I think you know this white man I'm Dustin Hoffman did it Williams Robin Robin Williams did it miss doubt fire tootsie is look that differently when a black man puts that dress on. Now, nobody said anything because Flip Wilson was the first guy that I remember doing it when he was Geraldine. He had his show on television. But since then, you remember that? I don't remember it, but I know he dresses as a woman. Yes, yes.

Yeah. But since, and the guy that catches the most criticism, obviously, is Tyler Perry because the Madea role that he plays. What do you think Tyler Perry regrets putting on that dress? I don't know. Hell no. Right. That's what I'm saying. A billion.

He put the titties on. Yeah. The belly. I think at one point he had a camel toe. Yeah. Is he going too far now? Is that camel toe Tyler? Is that camel toe tyler is that camel toe tyler

do you want do you want to be in more movies are you good with where you're doing stand-up because it seems like you're every week so how many how many how many days a week how many days a year do you actually i can i could work every weekend if i wanted to because you're looking at you're looking at the tours the theater dates, the comedy club dates every now and then you get a corporate gig but I mean I could work every weekend if I wanted to and I work a lot

you know now that now that I'm in a better spot financially and everything so I don't have to work every weekend so I am for the first time probably in my career taking some weekends off just to enjoy everything so enjoy some of the money that you make yeah yeah but the road life isn't bad we're still staying in nice hotels right we go to work for a couple hours the hardest part

about our job is the travel right once you get to a certain level so yeah the goal obviously the goal is to be in more movies you know what i mean and i'm not really tripping off tv anymore like this this to me is for my audience where i'm at is way bigger than the tonight show way bigger than any late night talk show or daytime talk show right so when you guys called and said you want to do it yeah i was like how much and you guys like we don't pay i was like well i want bottled water so i appreciate it no no we appreciate you yeah real husbands of hollywood i only did one episode why because my wife my ex wasn't famous that's what that because i asked them i said yo i asked chris spencer i said yo how come you guys never asked me to do that when it came out and i wasn't like asking like how could you not use me I literally was asking like did my name come up

he goes yeah but you're it was real husbands of Hollywood and everybody's wife outside of Kevin obviously but he was like they was like their wife was in the business or someone famous they goes yours wasn't and I go oh yeah that makes sense you know what I mean but I did episode it was fun fun yeah it was fun. You see, it seems to me like, would you like to be in movies in which other comedians, because it seems like you have the best time when you like people like, you know, y'all bouncing ideas, y'all just having a good time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like you said that, what was it called?

Meet the Blacks? Meet the Blacks. Yeah. You really, now, not to say that you didn't love Think Like a Man, because obviously that was an all-star cast. Yeah. But what's your ideal movie situation? Oh, man. What's the role? What's the role? What's the what's the. I know it. I know it. Remake the jerk. Remake the jerk.

That'd be the dream role for me. But Steve Martin movies. Yes. You're raised by a black family. Yeah. Got on his own. You could rework it and remake it to update it. by a black family. Yeah. Got on his own. You could rework it and remake it to update it. That, to me,

from my audience and how I live my life, I'm just thinking, like, the ad-libs and what I could bring to that character would be the dream role. And second would be

the only white guy in Wakanda. Like, literally, like, oh my God. The FBI agent was there. They took the FBI agent. I'm talking about Ben there. There's a bunch of light-skinned Wakandians. Where'd he come from? And here I come out.

You know what I mean? Yeah. Oh, it's the white tiger. Why don't you pitch the idea? What, the white guy in Wakanda? No, the jerk. The remake. Yeah, we just did it

we just did it you didn't even realize we did it did you watch this better be a clip really yeah that better be one of your clips hell no you ain't do it come on shannon you boy what a white guy just got drafted as a cornerback in the nfl times are changing but you know it's once every 20 years because Jason Sehorne was before that. Remember him with the Giants? Yeah, 94. Tore his ACL in a preseason game, returning kickoff. I know football.

Yeah, and then it was Scott Case before him. Yeah, I remember Scott from the Falcons. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember Scott Case. Y'all got three of the last 35. Okay. Let me ask you this.

Yeah. How many kickers you got? Yeah, you got no extra points. If this is all black guys, it's six to six. It's 12 to 12. The Illuminati. I've heard a lot of people talk about the Illuminati. What is the Illuminati?

I don't know. Does it exist? I don't know. You in Hollywood. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I ain't seen it. You ain't ever gone to no secret meeting?

Nope. Mm-mm. Mm-mm. What happened? Something ain't lining up. What ain't lining up? Something ain't seen it. You ain't ever gone to no secret meeting? Nope. Mm-mm. Mm-mm. What happened? Something ain't lining up. What ain't lining up? Something ain't lining up. If I get the jerk, there's an Illuminati.

I don't know. What about all these Hollywood parties that people be talking about? Oh, you in Hollywood. You know about these parties. Ain't nobody invited me nowhere. No. I mean, when I first got to LA I saw some wild

stuff I would take to the grave like parties and stuff you was there active participant I saw shit I'm not talking about gay shit either I'm talking about heterosexual shit wild shit though

you wasn't no participant? well it wasn't no fun I'm not saying I didn't take a girl back to my but I say you a participant but I didn't do it in front of people at the party you chicken huh chicken you ain't living anybody anybody trying to see this glow-in-the-dark? Going up and down. Like, this is the full moon, baby. Okay, let me ask you. What are gatekeepers? Are there such a thing? Yeah, definitely is, but I think we're getting away from it.

I think now you can take control of your own career. You don't need the machine to get behind you. Right. Between YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, we're in a great age great age right i think the gatekeepers are kind of leaving but there was for a long time really i was talking i was talking to my manager and she was telling me like when she started she was working for a big time producer and she goes yeah she goes i used to have to deliver scripts to his house and she goes and he would have to read all of them then he makes a decision which ones are we gonna do to me that's a gatekeeper okay i'm like now i saw your country wayne on here yes he did his own movie independently and you don't know when lightning is going to

strike and then right there's let me tell you there's gonna be a movie there's gonna be a movie on two weeks gonna be a movie on youtube all that where everybody's gonna just start flocking to it it's gonna happen eventually right it was like, damn, they did that shit for $30,000? Something. You know what I mean? They ain't gonna be the jerk. That's big budget. Let's combine the jerk with Black Panther 3. Hell yeah, we just did that.

Come on. Do you go out with Wendy Williams? Okay. Jesus, your crack team is unbelievable bro you're got next are you circumcised let me go with the card right quick let me see no no no wendy here's what happened right when the divorce happened i went on her talk show and she asked me on the date on the talk show so afterwards she called me off the air and she goes gary we're

just going she goes i know it came off like that on the tv show and she was very candid like i am interested but she was like look it's just dinner it's public there'll be other people there why wouldn't i meet her for dinner in a public place because however you feel about Wendy she's a mogul and she she rolled the dice on herself she had making I think seven figures on a radio show right said nah I'm gonna bet on myself and got her talk show to me I'm like why wouldn't I sit down have dinner with somebody just to talk right and that's all we did I ubered to the restaurant I got there we talked I ubered back to my hotel you know that was it what time did you get back to the restaurant. I got there. We talked. I Ubered back to my hotel. You know, that was it.

What time did you get back to the hotel? As soon as dinner was over. I didn't sleep with her. What time did she leave? I don't know. 11.30? I'm just kidding. No, we did not mess around, though.

Yeah, yeah. She got a tattoo right here, though. I'm just kidding. I was like this. Why you got Mickey Mouse on your butt cheek? No, I'm just kidding. I know. I was like this. Why you got Mickey Mouse on your only butt cheek? No, I'm just kidding. Obviously, the movie Think Like a Man was written by Steve Harvey. I read that you didn't have the greatest relationship with Steve.

See, that's the headlines talking. I've always been cool with Steve. What happened with that whole situation, when he moved his talk show from Chicago to L la i went on the show as a guest okay he pulled me aside and was like he's telling me like i'm about to move this show to to la we're gonna make it a nighttime feel but a daytime talk show but i want to bring you on as like a co-host so i'm thinking like johnny carson ed mcmahon So I'm like, yeah, yeah, I want to do that. Of course. So I'm excited. I go back on the show again for some, for when I was still in Chicago, like a couple months later, he goes, hey, they call you yet about the Diocese?

No, nobody's called me. He goes, really? Next day, I got a phone call from a producer. Steve told me to call you. And it was very apparent. That's why I said this isn't on Steve. That producer was, I don't think he knew who I was. I think he was looking at me like, this is a favor.

Like, I don't have anything going on in my life. I could tell by the tone of the conversation. Steve told me to call you. And it was very dry. Right. I fly to LA, meet with the dude for lunch. And then I could tell, I got all these ideas, right? He just kept shooting them down.

He goes, yeah, we got somebody for that. We're not worried about that. I was like, man. What the hell? You got that? So I take the ideas, right? He just kept shooting them down. He goes, yeah, we got somebody for that. We're not worried about that. I was like, man. So I take the job, right? We don't negotiate my contract. So I came in on a temporary basis. And I said, I'll do the first two weeks, show you what I can do. And if you like me, then we'll get a deal struck.

If you don't, no love lost. and if you like me then we'll we'll get a deal struck right if you don't no love lost so my first day i'm in this beautiful dressing room and i was like dang they're taking care of me and i'm getting sag minimum i'm just getting minimum wage for this but i know what the bigger picture is right so i'm like dang it's nice right i'm here about 30 minutes they go yeah you gotta leave i was like what you got well chelsea hanneman was the first guest he was shooting on her old stage right so that used to be her dressing room so i was in her old dressing room so of course she's coming they're gonna put her back in her old dressing room right so i thought that's fine just this episode they i'm walking around this dude put me in like a broke down closet with no mirror, no bathroom.

And I'm going, I'm standing outside. And he's like, yeah, this is where you're going to stay. And they basically said this is where you're going to be for the rest of the week. And I was like, oh. And he goes, he started walking towards the bathroom. He goes, yeah, and the bathroom's down here. He goes, Gary, what are you doing? I was like, I'm never going to go use a public bathroom.

The only two people here every day is me and Steve. I said, find me a dressing room. And he was like was like he was just like they wasn't trying to help right so i'm sitting here like oh my god i was like they're trying to put me in a closet and i'm standing they're trying to make you quit well black women to the rescue the people you don't defend this is a white dude this is a white dude walking me around one damn black woman stepped up she she knew who i was right she's not gary come back here she got me in a little it wasn't big little dress room had my own bathroom right had a couch tiny tv i don't need much so i was like all right i'm good i do the show for two weeks but we're recording on mond Monday and Friday. It was three or four days a week,

so I can't go on the road, so I'm losing stand-up money. Right. But I know the bigger picture. Right. They never have me on stage with them. I'm always behind the stage. They built, like,

this telephone-looking booth thing. Right. So you heard my voice. Ladies and gentlemen, Steve Harvey, today's guest, and stuff like that. Right. But you never see me.

So if we did 10 episodes, you probably saw me two, two of the episodes see me. So if we did 10 episodes, you probably saw me two, two of the episodes where I actually did a sketch or something. So I was just like, I literally would come out, say give it up for Steve Harvey, and then he'd walk on stage

and I'd go back to my dressing room. Next episode, give it up for Steve Harvey, walk back. So after two weeks, I was like, yo, my agency and my manager were like,

yo, we're ready to negotiate. And they go, yeah, we want it for two more weeks. I go, I can't do another two weeks? You've known about this for six months i can't give up two more and then you don't hire me or don't give me the money i want so i just politely

said no right where people went at steve was when i told the dressing room story right now i'm in a weird spot i'm cool with steve i'm not gonna go to him where he's got all this pressure of his own tv show and be like I ain't happy with the dressing room so I don't know what to do and I don't want the only time I'm really seeing him is right before he goes on stage where I'm announcing his name right so I can't be like hey what's up man I knew you got I knew you got uh Jay Leno going on but real quick my dressing room I can't do that so yeah it's not I don't know if it's on Steve right or not on Steve you can take it anywhere you. But it's not an attack on him.

It was just they tried to put me in a shit dress room. And then in the middle of it, one of the days off, I did hip hop squares. And I made like three times the money on hip hop squares than I did on Steve. And I go, I'm working for a week. And I'm making more doing hip hop squares for one day. I was like, yeah, this ain't working. Yeah. So I don't want to say it's on Steve.

You know, I would say it's on Lori. It was her fault. Oh my goodness. Again, you're not going to defend her. You're not going to defend her. You're not going to defend Lori Harvey. Another black woman you don't defend. What's an award in Ohio?

Cat Williams, Steve Harvey, Arsenio Hall, Chappelle now lives there. What is it about? What is it about Ohio? what's an award in ohio cat william steve harvey arsenio hall chappelle now lives there what is it about what is it about ohio the women their head game's crazy so yo top if you do states like they're definitely top five the women in ohio that's what it is and it brings it brings the creative juices that's what it is and it brings it brings the creative juices that's what it is i don't know man like and dave like i've heard like dave dave is dc and ohio yeah i think he grew up in both i don't know the whole story yeah but he mainly associated because dc they got him to dc wanda sykes earthquake uh chappelle you ever notice wanda sykes like she's lesbian all right yeah yeah i watched one of her specials back in the day and she was my girl be careful no no I'm just it's a joke you're allowed to talk about

people and she said she was talking about it was a clip I saw and she told my good and I was like she had a writer she didn't write that joke there you go she She experimented. Like me with the white girl in 96. You're right. I take it back. You only been with one white girl your whole life. Look at you.

Look at you. Trying to switch this up. I'm not. You don't defend black women, so you're going to try to turn them on me? Oh, my God. I got a hand job, okay? I got a hand job from one. All right.

We already know that story. Do you remember what it was like when you went on stage for the very first time yeah comedy store la jolla california um i was 20 years old i go up and i'm thinking i'm about to be discovered i never know i thought this is what i thought i'm in the navy and i didn't know you could start staying up whatever city you live in i thought you had to start in L.A. Right. And I thought the whole state of California was L.A. Because I'm like a David Lee Roth.

Wish I could be California girls. I didn't know there was a Fresno, a Bakersfield, a Eureka. Right. You know, I thought the whole state was L.A. So first two years I'm in the Navy, I'm stationed in Washington, D.C. And I used to go if I heard a concert was in town or I would find out where Common Heights was I would go I was only 17 18 years old I would sit outside and listen I would just listen and then I I could hear comedians right or the big shows would come and I'd stand outside the theater

and just listen I didn't have any money to really go and I wasn't old enough to get in but I thought I just gotta get to LA I gotta get to LA So I get first hand to get stationed in California. I take it. So I come out here. First day I'm in the phone book. I'm like looking up comedy clubs. I call this place called the Comic Castle, called a dude up. I say, you got open mic? He goes, who's that? I go, no, you got open mic. Let me check. He put me on hold. Who is that is that let me check i called a comic book store i thought i called a comedy club he's looking for a superhero on the open mic right pause so i'm like he's like i was like what are you talking about you can't find him he goes man

what are you looking for i go this is a comedy club he goes nah it's a comic book store i go now we're having a full conversation i go oh man i just moved here i'm a comedian i'm trying to find a comedy club and then he goes oh so now he gets on the phone book on his end he gives me a number to the comedy store this mythical voice from the comic castle and so i now i call the comedy store call up open mic sunday night i call up there i get on the first sunday i called i got on they, yeah, your show's at like 10 o'clock at night, open mic. I go there. I got dressed. I'm thinking, I'm brushing my teeth extra hard.

I'm like, I'm about to be delirious. I'm about to be Eddie Murphy. Right. You know? I get there. I was like, oh. It's like 10 people in the audience. Nobody's really paying attention.

But there's like 20 comics in the back. Right. All open micers. I'm like one of the last guys up just remember i'm on stage i'm nervous i don't have material to be moving sticking to move i got these five minutes i've been working on my whole life the comics and this is what comics do we don't laugh we go ha that's all we do yeah they're cutting me off i'm trying to get a punch out there. I'm freaking out. Right. So in the middle of it, I'm 20 years old. I got a beer in this hand and I said, hey, all you comics in the back.

I go, keep heckling. I'm only 20 years old. I said, why don't I call the cops and shut this mother down? When I say the lights went off, the mic went off. It's like somebody grabbed me from the back of my shirt and they rolled me to the front of the counter and sort of threw me out. And I did like a front roll

and I stand up and I start dusting myself and the one guy was like, don't ever come back! And I was like, well, can't come back here, but I can talk s***. Right.

So it took a little while for me to get the nerve to go back up because it did kind of scar me. But then that was my first time on stage. Right. Did you always, were you a class clown Kyle did you were you disruptive did you always

know you wanted to be a comic yeah I was I was class Kyle most obnoxious prom king most popular too but you know my school I don't have that um I don't have that story where nobody believed in me nobody believed in me in the trailer where i live right my school was where i got to be me because i couldn't be me at home right so i that's why i get back to my school so much my high school talawana high school in oxford ohio i was like because don't the people i went to school with man they always said you funny they always said i could make it even though i don't know if they believed it or not but it was just like, the teachers liked me so much, but they couldn't ever stay mad at me. Because even though I'd be talking during class and being a smart aleck sometimes, I guess I was endearing, you know, like I am to black women, unlike yourself.

What's your craziest stories? Oh, like road or growing up? Road. Oh, man road or growing up? Road. Oh man. Anybody rough the stage? Yeah. Louisville one time.

It was night, night before Thanksgiving. Guy named Spike Davis had a one nighter in Louisville. I was living in Cincinnati and I drove down Louisville to this show, but it was one of them shows where the, the, the comedy club and the clubs in the same room. Okay. So the show is supposed to start at seven it don't start till eight i'm last so now i'm not going up till 10 30 11 so now people come in to go to club and i started bagging on this dude me and him were back and forth and it's actually the crowds into it because it was hard because i was fighting the bar right and i said

something again why don't you come on stage i don't know why i kept saying that earlier in my career and i looked up i looked over i don't know where these two dudes came from they had gold fronts they were sagging they looked like they didn't have nothing to lose they was on the stage i broke the long jump record that night i jumped so far off that stage i went oh i jumped into the dj booth like there was a there was people i jumped over them i still got the mic so now i'm still talking they usher these two dudes out and this one i know this might be a problem they usher these two dudes out the show's over they give me my money they usher me out the back door and this

guy's now taking me to a hotel he's got his gun right next to the seat and i'm going what do you got there's some drug boys man i guess we're just gonna just go back to hotel don't come out i said hotel i said no i'm about to get my stuff and drive back to cincinnati night i ain't staying all night here so i drove back and i was like yo that was wild you ever been booed 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, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed

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Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Food once at L.A., a place called The R the rage it was a gay bar um i didn't know it was gay because i'm trying to get up in la so i'm just calling places and because i'm living in san diego now i'm comfortable enough i feel like i got five ten minutes i can do la place called the rage on santa monica they said yeah we have a variety show on tuesdays so you you sign up at four o'clock. You got to show your face. Come back at 9.

We tell you if you made the show. And then the show starts at 10. I came. I signed up. Put comedian. I'm looking. It's all like singing and dancing. I was like, I don't know.

So I come back at 9. They say, yeah, you're on the show. You last. I was like, OK. So I get there. And then the dudes just start showing up. I was like, there's a lot of dudes here. I'm young. I'm like 21, 22 just start showing up I'm like a lot of dudes here like I'm young like 21 22 I'm like a lot of dudes here and I was like man is this a gay bar and like

oh because I'm by myself right mine yes so I'm backstage and everybody doing like they're singing they're dancing all this shit go man is they gonna have a comedian or what shannon i came out there they go yes we got a comedian and i was like the crowd it was sad i walked out there i go what's up la it was like they look at me like straight white male why are you in our space boo yo you know the apollo right apollo's where you see the boot but whenever somebody gets booed the Apollo you hear a boo first you hear a boo and then the crowd joins in same I told a joke and they looked at me and I heard a boo and I said I'm about to get booed at a gay club and I just closed my eyes that's something I even hear right now they it was so brutal it was like but it didn't come out like the apollo it was like boo boo you suck i mean we suck but you ain't funny

a guy came out like they were dragging him on a chariot but it was a wagon but they may look like a chariot yeah two guys with the ving rain shit from paul fiction they dragged this dude out and they gonged me i got booed and gonged and my dumb ass thinks i'm in la right like somebody i should probably leave it's gay i'm in la i'm still like trying to to to network right right this one guy sees he goes hey you're funny this is not the right crowd and then he had a card he put a card in my pocket he goes but if you need a massage call me i was like this i'm out that's what i said i'm out never come back that place is still open i think bt comedy you the host yeah what was that experience like and did other did black comedians because that's supposed to be a safe black space right and uh you ain't black yeah really i just noticed that wow look at you not defending black women but you notice it right now

yeah that was that was interesting because how it all happened it was interesting i'm in the navy i'm still active duty but i won the funniest black comedian san diego contest there was a radio station called z90 and they said we're I won the funniest black comedian in San Diego contest. There was a radio station called Z90, and they said, we're looking for the funniest black comedian in San Diego. So I called, pulled over for cell phones. I called. I wrote the number down. Then when I got home, I called. And I didn't say I was black, but I didn't say I was white.

I did put some bass in my voice. I was like, hey, you got the contest? Yeah, I want internet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? So I get there. I'm white, you got the contest? Yeah, I went in there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? So I get there. I'm white. I win the contest. And keep in mind, San Diego, it's not like Brooklyn or Atlanta.

The competition wasn't that stiff. But first prize was an audition for Comic View. So that got me the audition. And I got on the show. And back in the day, Comic View was a contest. I kept winning my rounds. Right. And then I got the the show. And back in the day, Comview was a contest. I kept winning my rounds. Right. And then I got the hour special.

Right. I got the hour special. And all this time, I'm still in the Navy. So I just drove up to L.A. because they filmed the whole season in a week. So I just drove to L.A.

for a week and came back. So literally, I'm on TV and waving cars on the base at the same time. So every now and then, a black dude will pull up and be like,

well, you want to be a T.L.S. Knight? sir so i ended up uh i got the job and yeah there was obviously some backlash a lot of a lot of comics wasn't happy but i looking back i get it when i'm white it's a black show there weren't that many black shows and i was new i didn't i didn't have the the cachet like I wasn't like, oh, that's Gary. He's been around for a while. I didn't know a lot of people. Right. So it was just like and some more said it best, like some more was a host a couple years before I was. Yes, she I was talking to her at that time. And I remember she going, she goes, Gary, it don't matter who gets a job. They're going to get hate. She was I was the first woman woman so they was a lot of the male comics was like you know now they now they give it to a woman right she goes you being white makes it super easy to hate

yeah so she goes it don't matter who they and it's true whoever becomes a host again in the green room we talk about this in comics we're like we always be like we all have our choice who they think should have got it right so it don't matter who the host is i would just easy because i was white specials how difficult is it to get a special uh you mean like netflix or i haven't got a netflix one yet um i think it's because i'm white they're not giving white guys specials on Netflix. No, I don't know why. I think you beat yourself up. Like, I saw Godfrey on here, and he was talking about that, too.

And I was like, when I saw Godfrey on here, I was like, yeah, yeah, I think every comic thinks they deserve that Netflix special. And I'm no different, you know. I've been in the trenches. I've done my work. But I think I just had a conversation with Bill burr at an air at the burbank airport years ago and he just goes you know what i'm gonna be so funny they can't deny me and i went so all i can control is to be funny it's out of my hands if a network wants to do a special with me or not but i mean hopefully yeah that's the goal to get one one day on netflix but if it

never happens i still i got a great life i sell a lot of tickets i'm good but i do want it right don't get twisted don't don't get and i put a lot of work into my specials i don't just put them out there like oh i got special let me just throw it out there i go i put a lot of like thought into it like okay i really want to be saying something especially i got i got two in the camera right now we're shopping right man that one the first one is very well you're not gonna like it hate my dad avoid the process server type but the second one i still we got out there too like is very military i purposely did no racial jokes because people i hear that sometimes like he's just black white shit I heard people

when they got the divorce he ain't gonna have no act now he's divorced I said oh you have no idea what about council culture are there words that there's something that because and you know we talk about like what they could say back in the 80s and the 70s even on

on tele sitcoms I mean the Jefferson and all Archie Bunker I think all in the 80s and the 70s, even on tele-sitcoms. I mean, the Jefferson and Archie Bunker, I think, all in the family. Man, you can't talk like that now. How do you navigate that, Gary? Well, obviously, I can't say the N-word. I thought you were getting

that. I go, but yeah, I can't say that. But I think live comedy shows, you're're fine and that's why they we don't want your cell phones out right because i think people go to shows with a level expectation and if you don't meet that expectation they're disappointed right but some people want to hear the uncomfortable yeah you know and i'm like that i think you know but that's the thing like you got to ask yourself is it worth it for me to stand on my two feet and say, I'm going to do this joke?

I don't care. I say what I want. Is it worth it if you get the backlash? Because eventually it's going to come. And are you have you created a strong enough fan base that cancer culture can't mess with you? Because there are people like Chappelle. He can't be canceled. Ricky Gervais. He cannot be canceled. Like, Chappelle, he can't be canceled. Ricky Gervais, he cannot be canceled. Andrew Schultz cannot be canceled. I would think Shane Gillis right now, he can. Cat can't be canceled.

Kevin can. Kevin's very corporate. Right. Kevin has to be careful what he says. You know what I mean? Yes. So that's what I'm saying. Like, someone like Cat and Chappelle, they don't have these corporate deals. Kevin's got to be careful. And I'm

sure there's some things he wants to say, but he ain't trying to mess up that check. Just like you. You don't defend black women. You know what I mean? I'm sure like Wrangler's about to call you. John Deere. I ain't need to water on them I should never open that can of worms

Cause I know that Don't Shannon I think you ought to go on A show next week Whose show? I ain't tell you How has comedy changed from when you first got in to what we see right now we we were at the mercy we we needed somebody to put us on

so now like i said we you can control your own you know what i mean i got i got a guy that goes and rolls me right now called the the the mailman he's a tiktok guy and he's he's not he didn't start as a stand-up he started as a social media guy right but he wants to be a stand-up so i tell you from cincinnati you know i like the hometown is like always good so i bring on the road now so we can um work his act out but there's no gatekeepers with him so to speak so he he couldn't he could have never did something like that years ago right and now like you don't need somebody's permission to put a joke out. Man. I thought about that, too.

I was like, man, you really? We all knew those funny guys that never popped. Mm-hmm. Because for whatever reason, they, the powers that be, didn't put them on. Right. And, you know, so now you don't need it. You can't blame nobody else. If you don't have a Netflix special, if you don't, quote, unquote, get your turn, why hasn't Hollywood ever taken a chance on me?

Take a chance on yourself. You look at the comedians. So where are you with these comedians now? There are a lot of comedians on social media. They do their thing on IG and things like that. And I was reading somebody with, I forget who it was, that says, yeah doing doing a skit for like five minutes is entirely different than writing an entire set for 30 45 an hour right yeah facts it's a different muscle it's a different muscle like it's it's like yeah to hit that cab as cat said to do it over and

over and over and over and over it i don't look at it like an art because to me it comes so easy. So when people are like, how do you do that? I go, how do you not do it? When people say I'm scared of public speaking, I go, for what? That's a captive audience. You know what I mean? Yeah. So it's a different muscle.

I'm not never going to knock somebody for like building a fan base and making money on the road because I've learned there's enough for all of us. And I'd rather be cool with people and hopefully they bring me into a sketch or they have a show and they think of me. You know what I mean? You had Desi Banks on. Yes. We're doing real estate together. Wow. You know what I mean?

If I went like, that heck. He ain't funny. Do this. Now we got this. I think we got this guy, Gene Johnson. He's a builder in atlanta i bought a house i wanted to flip it i got ahold of him he told me he were no i called desi right i got this flip house man i saw you've been flipping houses i was like who's your guy he

gave me this guy gene johnson his name i called him he goes yeah i'll help you flip it and then now he brings us in he goes what you guys ever thought about doing something together like two comedians doing flip houses or airbnbs and we and we're we're gonna film it we don't know if anything comes of it but you might have i just went off on desi right he defends black women he does me too yeah hold up is this true you had a script uh a script joint he's got trouble for not tipping how'd you be getting this information? People. That was... The streets talking.

Yeah. So... I mean, how you gonna go in a club and look at cheeks and not pay? I didn't know. I was 18. I'm living in D.C. Yeah.

It was middle of the day. Somebody said, you know, you can see titties. We got a spot. You can see titties. That's the real titties. You know? I'm sheltered, man. i didn't hear puberty till late right i went to school mostly white women so i was a virgin till i was 19 so i get to dc chaka city i said where you see titties

so they're like okay i took another guy's id another military guy's id and they there was this one strip club in dc like if you were military they didn't really look right they let you slide so i got another guy that did they let me in i sit down i'm like the only dude in there right the waitress keeps coming over the only white dude yeah there was like nobody in this club there was like 11 a.m i got there early so there's like one stripper and one waitress and the stripper's really trying to dance for me hard because nobody else is there. And I'm literally like this. I'm right next to the stage. Right?

The waitress comes in. You want something to drink? I'm good. You want something to drink? No, I'm good. One, I'm sketching you guys for my D again. Right. I say, I'm good.

So then the stripper, she's really going to town. I'm not stripping. I'm not tipping. I'm just looking. It's like an hour. I bought no drinks. I haven't tipped. Oh, you ain't tipping and sipping.

You got to get up out of there. Literally, the voice just go like this. She goes, you want a drink? I said, no, I'm good. She goes, you just come look at free. I was like this. I'm out. I just got left.

I was like, she snapped on me, too. You just come look at free. I was like this. Actually, I did. That's really why I came. You, uh... Are you a strip club connoisseur? No.

I go, but I ain't a strip club connoisseur. Oh. What's the best one you've been in? Mmm. Atlanta. No. Shades. Ocho Rios, Jamaica. That was the wildest night i've ever seen a strip club in my whole life

really i did a bit on it one of my special about 10 years ago you said ochre reels ochre reels yeah yeah so it's called shades it's still there it recently went viral they have a little person that comes out dude uh-huh He'd be knocking them down. He's slanging like he's normal. Right? Below his knee type stuff. Literally. So I went there.

I went there with my boys, two white dudes. Three white dudes going to the strip club in Jamaica. What could go wrong? Right? And it's in the hills. Right? So what happened? So Tom Joyner used to have the Tom Joyner cruise.

I think he still does it. Right. But when you were a performer, they fly you in. You only take the cruise half the time. So it's seven days. You're on for three days. Right. So we were picking it up in Jamaica.

So I flew in the night before. I got real cool with the... The locals? No, the guys at the resort that work there. The bartender. Everybody knew me. Right? So I got my two buddies. Two white dudes, right? When I get there, I got there like an hour after them. He's making out

with some chick in the pool. I was like, dang, Brian, it's no time. Right? We go to dinner. He's like, he's telling me, yeah, this girl, man, I got to meet her at the club on the resort. You know? He thinks it's going to pop off. Right. We eat dinner.

We go to the club. She making out with a different dude on the dance floor. Now he's pissed. He goes, man, what's up? I go, what? Yeah, she's at home. She's doing what dudes do. Right.

I was giving her all the respect in the world and then uh so now he's trying to leave right he's at mount maddie i'm going i'm going out tonight i said you can't leave the resort bro and now one of the little little bartender dudes he goes mr gary he cannot leave the resort it's not safe to go by himself my buddy's so lit and so mad we can't stop him right so he goes the dude's like dude i get off at 11 i'll take you guys out right that probably wasn't the smartest move either we get this he picks us up we got to meet him at the end of the resort which is like a mile walk by the way to the road he picks us up in this little beat-up vehicle now he got three of his buddies in the car so there's literally like seven of us in this tiny car we go up this hill i'm like i don't know about this shades is different man you walk up it's

like a steel door they slide it open and then you walk down some stairs we got in this just opened up you ever seen dust till dawn yeah it was like that you walk in i was like whoa it's a lot these strippers saw these three white dudes walk in. We were fresh meat. They started attacking. Right. I told my boys I didn't drink. I said, give me all your money. You know, I'm putting this pocket. I go. So nobody can rip us off or steal from us. Right. So we're sitting there, you know, watching lap dance stuff. All of a sudden, everything changed. Whistles blowing. This little person came out the back. I said, what's he about to do?

Yo, he started laying a pipe on these strippers right in front of us. Come on, man. Yo, it's on the internet now. It got posted like a couple years ago. Look at this. Like on WorldStarHipHop. Right. And I was like, I told everybody this was true.

I told them it was true. Because nobody believed me. I mean, he's knocking them down one after the other i ain't lying one girl spun him he's like yo oh he's inside her he spun come on on strike me down right now if i'm lying spun him i was like yo this is no level so So then my boy's like, the dude in the wild ones. He's like, yo, man, give me $100. I said, for what? He goes, there was like a seedy hotel next to Shades.

He goes, the girl's going to take me over there. I don't know if the girl was $70 and the room was $30, or the room was $30 and the girl was $70. But he can't do $100. So I said, yo, no, no, no. I said, you can't do that. Tell her to meet you at the resort you're not going over there right and then the local guy that would drive me around he goes don't don't

let him go they're gonna shake him down they said my jamaican accent is terrible by the way so he was like they're gonna shake him down either he's gonna go over there she's gonna milk him for more money or he's getting set up and they're gonna rob him right so i told him no so now he's mad at me cuss me out calls me a block blocking bro you're blocking some white you're blocking bro you don't defend black women so um we're waiting now my the guy that drove us here yeah he had to park down the hill you gotta walk up this hill to get the shades he parks above the hill so now we're waiting on and it's like a 20 minute wait and, and I see this dude scope me out.

I saw it. He goes, he's looking at me, looking at me. He goes, hey, money man, money man, buy me and my friend some beers. And I go, I ain't got no money. I pointed at the club and go, oh, the girls took my money. He goes, nah, you the money man. Buy me and my friend some beers. It's getting scary now.

And I'm going, oh, I'm starting to sweat. Just then, the dude pulled up with his car. What is it, Patois? Is that Jamaican? Patois? They start speaking that Patois. Lady looked at me and goes, okay. You got your N-word.

I got mine. We're good. Let me go. When I say, that's all in my pocket. We got back to the resort. I gave it to the dude, the driver. Right. I said, take it.

I swear to God, dude, start crying. He's like, you don't have to do this. I go, dude, you saved us tonight. Right. Take it. It might have been like 500 bucks. Right. I was like, dude, I don't want it.

Take it. Thank you. We had a great night. Right. I got a story. I'm going to put it in my special. I'm not making money off this shit. I'm going on Shannon Sharp. Yeah. You know, the podcast for black women.

Sorry about that. We'll get you out of here. A little bit of your upbringing. Grew up in a trailer park. Am I correct? Yep. How many bedrooms? Three. Three bedrooms. Three kids and seven. Seven kids. Three bedrooms, three kids and parents. No, no, no, no, no. Seven. Seven kids? No, no, five. Five.

My twins was for my dad. So we had Michelle, Dallas, Kyle, Ashley, me. Five. Five. Yeah, Michelle was in and out. Michelle was my step sister. She was older. And the parents.

Three bedrooms. Uh-huh. I had my own. Because you were the oldest. Yeah, I was way older too. It was like a nine-year difference. And then the other three was in one. Right.

And then my mom and stepdad was in the back. So was y'all bringing, like, Eminem character at eight miles? Probably worse. Probably worse. My stepdad is literally one of the worst human beings on the planet. But y'all did have indoor plumbing and running water and things like that. Yeah, but in the winter, I had to climb under there. They got this thing called skirting. It goes around the bottom of the trailer, stops

the wind and everything. You gotta crawl under there and you gotta duct tape the pipes. And then you always gotta keep the water running a little bit so it doesn't freeze. Yeah, we had running water. How does it feel to be embraced like you are by black culture that's the best i wish everybody had that feeling right

you know i mean it's weird at the airport because then i'll get stopped and black people start freaking out and why people like who's he play for right why don't we know him right so what made you join the military to get out of the trailer park get away from that dude right my stepdad why the navy why not the army or the marines air force my a buddy of mine um woke me up it was my senior year i didn't take the act didn't take the sat nobody went to college my family i didn't know you had to do stuff like that right he woke me up it was a saturday morning and he goes gary come on come on come on and his dad was in the car waiting up front i'm like i'm looking i'm like what michael's come on he's and he's in my ear he's got he's in my room i don't know i think my mom let him in right and she was like you gotta get out of here

i said what do you mean he goes you're gonna be stuck here your whole life so he took me down to the recruiting station he had already joined the navy right so the navy marines and army was all in the same building i don don't know where Coast Guard and Air Force was. So I met with all three that day, and Marines said, we're the first ones in. I'm out. I don't want to be the first one. I'll be second or third.

The Army guy was lying because he knew I wrestled in high school and he was like, yo, you're a wrestler? He goes, you could join the Army. You could wrestle. I said, I'm three and thirty, thirty bro i've won three times i lost 30 i beat the same guy three times nathan eby edgewood high school still know his name i said i'm the i've been pinned 29 times i go there's not a high school gymnasium in cincinnati ohio he showed me the ceiling i'll tell you a freaking high school it is i saw them them all, Shannon. You know what I mean? So the Navy guy was just cool.

He's like, oh, we can get you in. I was like, all right, I'll join the Navy. And my stepdad always told me, he goes, he used to call me a freeloader. In high school, we used to be like, you got to stop freeloading off your mom, man. You got to get a job. Keep in mind, I don't have a car. We don't have any money. He's not working.

Right. And he always told me, like, you have to be out of the house by the time you're 18. I said where am I going to go? He goes I don't care. You got to be gone. So I left when I was 17. Beat him to the punch. Wow. Yep. That was on purpose. I said when can I leave? They said when you turn 18. I was like July 26.

They said you can leave July 23. I said do it. Best decision of your life? How different would Gary Owen's life have been had he not joined the military and got out of there when he did? I'd be fat, my wife would be fat, and I'd have a fridge full of Mountain Dew and Doritos.

But it wouldn't be a sister? Probably not. I'd be miserable. I'd be looking at all the black girls on TV like, I wonder what that's like. I definitely would have been a sister. Thank you for stopping by, Gary. Appreciate it.

Appreciate you, man. Gary Owens, ladies and gentlemen. I've been grinding all my life. All my life. Been grinding all my life. Sacrifice. Hustle pay the price. Want a slice. Got the roll of dice. That's why. All my life.

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