Club Shay Shay - Tommy Davidson

Episode Date: October 11, 2023

Legendary Emmy Award-winning comedian and actor Tommy Davidson joins Shannon Sharpe, bringing nearly four decades of entertainment industry experience to Club Shay Shay. Davidson shares candid stories about the profound impact of the Wayans family on his career, offering a glimpse into the roots of his success. He opens up about a shady move by Jennifer Lopez after their time on In Living Color, shedding light on the real side of the entertainment industry. The discussion delves into the rise of Jim Carrey, offering a peek behind the curtain into the world of comedy. Davidson also speaks on his fallout with Jamie Foxx, expressing genuine well-wishes for Foxx's health, showcasing both the camaraderie and challenges within the entertainment world. This episode provides a rare and honest look into the journey of a seasoned entertainer, making it a must-listen for comedy enthusiasts and fans of the entertainment industry alike. #Volume See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Che Che. I am your host, Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprietor of Club Che Che, and the guy that's stopping by for conversation, no drinking today, is Emmy Award winner, comedian, actor, voice actor, writer, producer, musician, director, author, been in the industry almost 40 years, a friend of mine, Tommy Davidson. What's up, man? Tommy, how you doing, bro?

I'm doing good. Long, long, long, long time. Oh, wait a minute. Skip, what? You brought Skip? Nah, no Skip. Skip. What?

Skip. Skip. We're not doing that. You want me to stop there? Yeah. Right, right. I love you doing that one. Skip, Skip, Skip, Skip.

For real. For real, Skip. Skip. you doing that one. Skip, skip, skip, skip. For real. For real, skip. Skip. Already. For real. Already. Huh? We in.

We in. We in. Good to see you. Thanks for stopping by. That's love, man. You lighten it up. You lighten up the scoreboard. I appreciate that.

Yeah, man. You got your start. One of your first gigs you had as a comedian, you performed in a strip club. How you telling jokes looking at booty? Hey. You see that? That was a dark tip. You see that?

You see that? I will give me one. Tommy, first one. Rap. You know what I mean? Actually, actually, actually, that was my friend Howard, man, that I grew up in my neighborhood with. Okay.

We grew up in the same project. We knew each other since we were eight. And we lived pretty rough neighborhood, you know. And I had got a job at a Ramada Inn when I was 19. Okay. As an assistant chef. Okay. As a chef?

As an assistant chef. Okay. Right? But I got paid, you know, paid comparably with that, right? At 19. Okay. So I call Howard and I say, Howard, you know, I got this job at the Ramada Inn and da-da-da-da. Howard said, you about the stupidest I done ever seen in my life.

Okay. You can be in Hollywood writing your own ticket. You can be like Eddie Murphy, do your own movies, do all that stuff. I said, you just mad that I got a job. Right. You know what I mean? Okay. He's like, nah, man, you should be on the stage.

I don't want to hear nothing, right? So he called me and said, hey, I got, he called me on my phone at home. We have cell phones. You do, right. You know, I got you an opening to go down to the penthouse to do a show. I'm like, the penthouse? The penthouse is the worst strip club in the world. Okay? The girls got bullholes in their ass.

The guards that are out front got shirts that say on the back, don't shoot them. Okay? So I'm like, I ain't going down there. He said, he's going to give you five minutes. You know? Right. So he comes over to my house. It's February. It's freezing. I got my Datsun B210 ready.

Boom! The radiator breaks. Boom. The radiator breaks. Right. The radiator breaks. Right. He gets right back on the bus like nothing. I'll be back next week. He comes back next week. My radiator's fixed.

I said, let's go. So we go down to this club and, you know, the manager comes out, you know, says him, you know, he's like, yeah, that's my man. You know, you got five minutes, man. And so I'm going, well, Howard, what do you want me to do? He said, I don't care what you do. Just get on that mic and say something. All right.

I got it. Had you worked out anything? No, no. He just said he just said, hey, he knows me. OK. From the first thing I said, they laughed. And I'm sitting here with you now it was like that did you all did you always want to be in showbiz because you took a job as an assistant

chef were you running away from this because what was going on no i just i wanted to be a singer okay that was my thing i started with the jackson five and i played in bands and i was i had grown men coming over and asking my mom can he come and gig in our band right so that was my thing. I started out with the Jackson 5 and I played in bands and I had grown men coming over and asking my mom, can he come and gig in our band? So that was my thing. I was going to be a big music star. I didn't really like comedy that much. I liked Pryor because he'll make you laugh no matter what. But I'm a big fan of the Ohio Players and the Eagles. And that was my whole stilo. I watched Carol Burnett and I'm into the music. And so it didn't look like that was my whole stilo. I watched Carol Burnett and I'm into the music, right? Okay. And so it didn't look like that was gonna happen. You know, when I got about 14,

I wanted to do what everybody else did. Right. You know, like play football and play basketball and all this stuff. Well, that ended when I was 15. Right. Because I went away for one summer, one summer and I came back and everybody was-

They knocked the football out of you. Everybody was bigger. I'm talking about three times my size, and I went in there to one practice, and I was like, okay, that's it. So that career was over, right? Right. And so I always had singing, and that's one of my weapons. Right. That I have in my arsenal.

Right. You know, but comedy, I didn't know I really had it. I found out because the teacher would go, oh, so you're the comedian. Right. You know, but comedy, I didn't know I really had it. I found out because the teacher would go, oh, so you're the comedian. Right. You're going down to the principal's office. Okay. You know, you're going to put up the Black Power Fist and we're doing the national anthem. You know?

Right. So the comedy came out of my mother, who's white. Right. Right? And my family who's white, who comes down to the elementary school and says he'll learn the national anthem. Right? She used to like to do this. Right. right who comes down to the elementary school and says he'll learn the national anthem right she's like to do this right but that's all he knows about himself he knows say it loud i'm black and

i'm proud he knows who he is right but you can teach him anything right because he'll pick up on it so that's that's i just was just funny because i love happiness I love laughing right and I come from the laughing this neighborhood in the world in DC Summer Hill and we we would tear you up right so it was already there but a lot a lot more was there than I could ever imagine so were you a class clown I think I was I was a class clown on on on um or were you trying to get attention no i was a class clown on on steroids okay i didn't have to get no attention because i finished finished my work so fast right and then i was just like i was just balling okay you know what i mean it's just like i love to see people happy right you know what i mean like the teacher would go hey i'll

be chewing gum and you you know the teacher will know hey do you have enough gum for everybody else I go sure do got to hear juicy fruit plenty pack right get out of here you know it's like I had all the answers right you know I mean okay and so my timing was already impeccable right you know I watched everybody do everything and I didn't know they were even impressions that's the reason why my mother kept saying man shut up I did Al Jarreau boom tic-tac-a boom ding-da-pa-dang boom-bang-a-dang-da-dang she said could you shut that up until she saw him on TV and she said do that again you know so that that that was me anyway right you know Stallone was around my house, Stallone. What's wrong with my house, Mick?

Oh, Mick? Why you looking around my house? My house stink, Mick? It ain't stink, Mick! I never asked you for no favors. You asked me to fight the fight. I'll fight the fight. You want me there, Mick?

And it just stuck. Right. Like, and I don't really practice. Right. If I hear something long enough, it's going to register. Right. You know what I mean? Like, Obama, I couldn't really practice. Right. If I hear something long enough, it's going to register. Right. You know what I mean? Like Obama, I couldn't get him.

So I said, just shut up and just listen to him. Next thing you know, he's on Shaysha. And he's having a good time. He's enjoying the warmth of a fireplace. The only thing missing here is some marshmallows. And you have some s'mores in here. You know what I mean? I'm not talking about the comedian s'more. I'm talking about s'mores in here you know what i mean i'm not talking about the comedian some more i'm talking about some more so from the strip club then you start doing what

yeah then um i started doing i opened up for singers okay i didn't get to a club for a year okay so patty labelle saw me she said you're incredible uh kenny g saw me he said you're incredible freddie jackson saw me you're incredible luther vandross anita baker went on their tour because i did singing impressions too right you know and that's what helped me a lot you know rick james you know uh uh wow i didn't know that i love you just the same marriage i love you baby baby baby mary don't play no games you know so i can go hard right and so that's what it was but people were saying you need to play in the clubs right right and i've never been in a club the first night i went to a club sinbad was in town okay right same bad at one star search remember right yeah yeah so all the comics I had never been in a club. The first night I went to a club, Sinbad was in town. Okay. Right? Sinbad had won Star Search.

Remember Star Search? Right, yes, yes. I was always on Star Search. So all the comics were at one club in DC. That's the night I met Martin and Dave Chappelle for the first time. Wow. We're all from the same city. Right. And so that's the point I started working clubs. Okay. But the big break was

I won the Apollo. I didn't win it. Right. But I won it. Right. You know, I got, I don't know how you fix an audience the Apollo. I didn't win it right, but I want it right, you know I got I don't know how you fix an audience, but the dude did it You know, there was a singer Dave Peterson and there was me you do it by applause, right? So the guy goes Dave Peterson Tommy Dave Dave Peterson Tommy days and then he goes. All right guys. All right

Do you want Tommy Davidson and then he goes all right guys all right do you want Tommy Davidson from Washington DC or do you want Dave from New York City and I was like where do you got you out of there so how did you up so you go from there and you audition you were the first to audition for in living color correct? I was the first to get the part. Wow. To get the part. My audition didn't go to well. Yeah I heard you bombed. I heard you bombed. You're right I based but I based that on the look in their face when I was done. Right. Because I was going up the room and It was like They may see around

So what did they ask you to do so so go you going in for an audition only right in common, right? I thought I didn't know what improv was right, right? So I'm gonna try to improv right? So they asked me crazy questions like you're drunk Puerto Rican cab driver trying to talk to your customers. Hijo, if you're going to go downtown, I don't go downtown. You know, and I did all these things quick, and it was over. That was the audition. I didn't get no feedback, and it was over. The reason why I got it, because I was so strong in stand-up.

I was so strong in stand-up. I had that football principle. Right. You know, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition. And then it starts becoming like an instinct. Right. So I was 30th that night out of 30 of the hottest comics in the business. Okay.

Leguizamo, Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, everybody wanted the show. Right. And there I was, right? 30th, okay? And as I'm on the sidewalk, because I never watched other comedians, you know what I mean? I just kind of did my own thing. And my manager kept coming out and going, you can't do this bit because somebody did that one. Right?

And then they come out again and say, you can't do that bit because such and such did that one. So my show was getting a little bit shorter, shorter, shorter as I go. But I was confident in what I had because we always work. We we worked on comedy with a discipline. My manager had a stopwatch. I know how much two minutes is six minutes is an hour. Forty six minutes, two minutes, you you know just by running through my stuff and I knew my stuff really really well I hated it I hated it that he'd take me out to the pool and make me work on my stand-up when no one's around and get the timing but I'm glad he did did you know that you were a part about to be part of history nah nah not all. I knew that, um, the real thing about the whole thing was I actually

was about to go home, you know? I'd had enough of Hollywood, man. I'd been here, I kicked ass for three years in the clubs. Okay. I had a job back home. I had a Celica GT, a 78 that I got from my mother's credit union. Okay. And I still have my B210. I had an apartment. Right.

You know, with wall-to-wall carpet and a cat. You know, and plenty of roaches, though. I mean, all you mind. You just take the hamper and shake it out in the street every couple of months. You know what I mean? They love wicker, by the way. So, you know, I came out here and I was catching the bus. Right.

You couldn't catch me on the bus alive, boy, because we used to go to do laundry on the bus. Bus, yeah. Our groceries on the bus. Yeah. Life was the bus and we lived in the winter too. Yeah. So I'm on the bus three a day. Okay.

I'm working up till one in, I'm working up till, till one in the morning and I'm up the bus three a day, okay? I'm working up till one in the morning and I'm up at like five, right? Because once I get off around three-ish or something like that, I start at the clubs. And we hit every club until no one was open no more. And they were saying to me for three years, and I was turning it out, they were saying,

you're not what we're looking for. You're not what we're looking for. I mean, so what were they looking for? Well, it looked like all the white comments weren't getting that comment. And they weren't getting standing ovations. Right. So I surmised that it

was that you know and some things to me are like societal rules that there are in between the rules right like i used to be late to school my sister looks like cindy brady okay okay all right my brother looked like uh david cassidy i mean y'all gotta be old yeah all right but but i'd go to school late and she'd go to school late and the punishment for that was you have to sign up for detention. Right. She used to be able to go straight to class and I had to sign up for detention. So here come my mother again. I used to think she was crazy. She came, sat down with the principal who was black. She said, OK, so what is the problem here?

And he was going, what's going on, Miss Davis? What's going on? He said, she said, why does my daughter get to go to class and my son have to sign up for detention and he said well we didn't know that was your daughter man she said why does that make any difference you know and he said we'll get that straight we'll get that straight but my mother does this man i said she said you're coming with me today and i was was like, oh, man. Here come one of these speeches. She took me to the park. She sat me on a picnic bench, me and her.

She would talk to me. She said, I need you to know something about the world you live in, okay? It's going to bother you, but it's a fact. She said said your sister Can actually be late But you can't If you want to be successful in this world in this world, you can't be late at all It's just the way it works

You know, and I hated that right? I wanted to cry But she was right. So i thought it was that rule i just connected to that but i kept going and i started getting more and more i won at the at the comedy store because finally i got a shot in the main room right okay this is the big night priors there and richard's there and everybody plays that room, you know, and I got a call from the comedy store. And they said, you're in the main room tonight. And I was like, oh, okay, who am I hosting for?

You're like, who am I bringing on? I'm emceeing? They was like, no, you're on the show. Wow. I was like, what? Okay, so then who am I hosting for? They said, no, you got 30 minutes. I said, I got 30 minutes?

Never got that. Right. 30 minutes, but I could do an hour. Right. Right? 30 minutes? Who else is on the show? They told me, Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor.

It's just y'all three. Wow. Okay? Ooh. It's pressure, Tommy. Richard's on first. It's two shows a night, Friday and Saturday. Eddie goes on first.

The first show, Friday. and Pryor goes second. And it's flip flop for the other. Right. Right. And then the very next night, it was the same thing. And how did I do? How did you do? Francis Asbury Tarkington dropped back and hit his receivers for 80 yards in the third quarter.

But then Larry Zonka gave the purple people eater indigestion as he used his helmet as a batarang. Okay? I'm an old NFL filmmaker. I see. You know what I mean? Yeah, it was like the interception. John Pesinda. Yeah, the interception with the... With the Davidson.

Yeah, baby. That's what it was because it was time. Right. It was my time. How was it, you mentioned, you got Jim Carrey, who's not Jim Carrey yet. Right. You got Jamie Foxx, who's not Jamie Foxx yet You mentioned John Leguizamo. I mean, there's so many you got the Wayans

Who would how was it? How did the egos mesh? How did you divvy up time? How did you determine who's gonna do this kid who's gonna be with that person who's gonna be with this person? kind of like when you was with TD and and'm and I'm McCaffrey and them yeah and um they're never running back I like he's coach now Tony Anthony Anthony Lee yeah just kind of how you felt you know you got to play your game no matter what blow your world the ball though yeah you want the ball but if you have a success everybody's gonna right there's enough of the pie to go around exactly exactly you know what i mean so it's like you know when

we got on that platform everything counted and and keenan was smart he knew how to get the best out of this right he made us work against each other not in a negative way. Right. But if it's not funny, it won't make the show. Period. You got to work with the writers yourself and write your own sketches. Right. You got to present your characters to us, everybody, to the writers, to the producers, to the actors. You got to present it to everybody.

Right. You got to be funny in that room, and that goes on the show. Did you? Okay, next. Did you guys ever work together? Did you say, OK, Jamie, hey, check this out. What do you think about this, this and this? Or did you get with Jim Carrey? Jim, what do you think about this? David Allen, David Allen Greer was also on that show. So did you guys get together? OK, I think we'll be great if we do this. Yeah, but that happened with everybody in Living Color.

That's why we're special, because we did it it with the cameraman. We did it with the makeup Women we did it with the wardrobe people Everybody had everybody had a feedback. Okay, so when we were in when we were we in rehearsal, right? We were all giving each other. No, no, no, don't do that. Don't do that man Remember you said the chicken before you said don't say that don't don't say a pelican or a duck man Save the chicken the cheek didn't the chicken work y'all right so we're all in it together right we're all into it but that one sketch that you're the lead of that's your sketch right so the more you were seen what you know what i mean right the more laughs you got right opportunity you're gonna get

for the next episode to be up in exactly exactly it's like um who told me this Lonzo Highsmith you know Lonzo yeah I do know how right how he told me I said you can probably play right now couldn't well I could probably play right now I could probably play I could probably play maybe a quarter he said but I ain't got another training camp in me right it's like that it's like do right do right do right do right people on your shoulder the whole thing You know, I mean, yeah, and so it was that's what it was but How do you make how do you make it funny a second and third time because like normally like say save that for the show

Don't leave that on the writing room floor. So how if somebody's heard it because normally something's only funny once right? So, how do you like okay? And then make sure yeah, I think Keena did that and he created a monster Mm-hmm, so he said y'all get one take you know the rest of his yours. Don't never tell us that We improv everything from that first take. Oh Okay, we it was it. It was a, we had a competition going under the radar. Right.

What can I say that you haven't heard before that's going to make you laugh right in the middle of the sketch? And we was doing that constantly. Constantly. So if you watch the show, Jim Carrey could be going,

I did the fire, and fire, what? And da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Do that again? Hold on, hold on. Ah! He caught a quick, quick one-hander. He did a quick out.

You see that? And you be over there going, because I'm playing this serious guy named Benny. Right. And he's supposed to be in my mansion. You know what I mean? But Jim Carrey, when he gets hit by the soothsayers, by the emergency squad, he doesn't just go down. Right. Like, he's supposed to go down to the floor, by the emergency squad, he doesn't just go down. Right. Like, he's supposed to go down to the floor, you know, and then get up and say his line.

Tommy, I mean, Vinny, I'm a fire marshal. Well, when he goes down, he goes. I'm a fire marshal. Okay. Now, the director is saying Cut Stop it Jim Stop that We don't have time

We can't be Oh I lost my cello We don't have time You know We gotta get to the next thing We're doing Right Take two

And action Okay Eight times Take two. And action. Okay? Eight times. And I'm in tears. Right. My eyes are swole. Jim, you can't do it again.

He said, I ain't got to. That's how we were. We got so bad because Kenan said, y'all can bust loose. He got to the point where he was coming back to us in the back and going, damn, I got winded by that, Jimmy. Let me breathe for a second, baby. He came back to the back and would say to us, you guys, we're going to lose the show. We're going to lose the show. If y'all keep doing that, we're going to lose the show.

I can't keep these sensors off of you. I can you guys gotta help me man right and he leave the room and we were like yeah right right you know what i mean because that's why i was special right people got the real thing when you found out why do you think the show was canceled? I can only, I can only imagine. Because Keenan's the one that knows. But I just think that we weren't

utilizing the whole cast. Right. You know, at a point, we only utilized the jam and certain players, you know what I mean?

Right. And it didn't take away from the talent of the group. But that's what made the team. Right. You know? So, you know, the thing that made In Living Color the best was

you didn't know what you were going to see because there were so many different variations. Right. So they started seeing it in repetition. And I think what they asked, and this is only me being there and watching and trying to be objective, they started asking for new episodes. Like, you got to give us something new.

Right. You know what I mean? Right. Or we're going to run reruns. And so he didn't feel too good about that. That's his show anyway. Right. If I were him, I'd say, I don't know if you're going to tell me what to do with my show.

Right. You know what I mean? His job probably hard enough trying to get everybody in there. Right. You know what I mean? His job probably hard enough trying to get everybody in there. Right. You know what I mean? Yes. And then deal with us on it. I mean, we were hard.

Right. We were really hard. But we just wouldn't stop. Right. You know? And so I think that that's what happened. But I don't really know. Because I wasn't there in that meeting.

With Fox. You know? I wasn't there. Pep meeting with Fox you know I wasn't there Pat you know Pat Dante Dante Cobra yeah yeah right yeah

Dante ends up leaving Minnesota all the players are like hey he was my best friend we used to have an orphanage together there was you know

I got introduced to the NFL years years ago you know I got an NFL thing and he ended up leaving. Right.

And they said, well, what happened? He said, man, I went to talk to the owner. And that was that. He shared with some other people. Right. You know, the inside of whatever happened. Right. But you're not really going to know unless you were there.

There. There wasn't podcasting. Right. Where you can get in and once it's over, you can talk freely and not have to worry about, you know, the good old boy network busting you down or none of that. Right. You know, you can talk freely, but you have to keep something to yourself then. Right. How much of what you guys did then would you be able to get away with now?

would you be able to get away with now? We'd probably be on the air for about We'd probably be on the air for about five minutes. You know what I mean? Because we're just going to go for it. Yeah, we're going to be canceled. By culture.

As soon as we get on. Cancel culture! You float on the moon like a balloon. Cancel culture! Never too late and never too soon. living cancel culture right you float on the moon like a balloon just cancel culture right you know never too late and it's never too soon take it to me it's all right to be canceled okay yeah but in truth it shouldn't happen to us why because how are you going to do a culture cancel of us? How are you going to cancel culture? We are culture.

Right. How do you cancel something you are? Right. We're everything that you are, right? Right. We emphasize on gays. We emphasize on Mexicans, Asians, whites. We're a societal show that shows each and every aspect of the humor and the love that our country has that binds us. Right.

You see what I mean? And that's what made us really, really good. There was really no division on the show. Right. It was all black and white. Right. You know? Black people, if you ask them in a consensus what their favorite shows are, they'll probably put Andy Griffith first.

Lucy. Lucy. Right. Beverly Hillbillies. I can go on to Bionic Man. Right. You know, it ain't just good times. And you can ask white people, what was your favorite show? They probably put, what's the one?

We're moving on. Jefferson. They put that first. Right. They put that first. Right. They put the Jefferson first. They put Good Time first. You know, we all always laughed at the same things. Right.

If we didn't, Al Jolson would have never had a career. Right. You know, way back then, that's how everybody talked. Right. It was an accepted thing with blackface. You see? And that's how we got to that that stage in culture was because them boys came home from vietnam right we got busing women live got their

live going right you know uh mexicans got their rights you know the farm pickers and that whole thing it was just this whole culture thing that happened in the 70s where it was cool and hip it was actually hip to know other people's culture right it actually was cool when you held hands with people and you said the word love right and peace love and peace were in style right right the big old peace sign and a right on brother you see that coming from both the hippies and and and Right. You see? Right. So we got to that point, right? And so this was an outgrowth of that, where we were doing, you know, we did Lucy, but we did it our style. Right.

You see what I mean? Right. We did the Honeymooners. We did our, you know, we did parodies of everything that we saw when we were kids. Right. And everything that we saw in our Hollywood adult life movies. Mm-hmm. Three champs and a baby.

You know? Me and Jamie used to do that, those two bodyguards. Right. Right. So I go, you ain't Tupac. And he go, man, yeah, you ain't Tupac. Because if you were Tupac, you'd be coming here like Drake.

Right? Right. Well, that was actually from Rain Man. Right. The sketch was called Main Man. So it's just a black version of Rain Man. Right. So we were just a reflection of what culture really is. Right. And didn't it change everything? It did. Nothing's been the same. Right. Right. But the corporations went to the bank. Right. In the billions by now. Right. But the corporations went to the bank. Right. In the billions by now. Right. Gatorade, Nike, PlayStation. You know, went to the moon.

Right. The sneaker. Right. Boom. We were hip hop. Right. Before hip hop got corporate. So we launched that revolution and then we launched a revolution out in the suburbs where they're all white kids. A few black ones. Right. Then we launched a revolution out in the suburbs where they're all white kids, a few black ones. Right. Then we we launched a revolution in in the inner city schools because those kids couldn't believe they were having that. Right. And they were seeing themselves in roles. You see. So they probably could try to cancel culture us if we came out. But I don't think it would be nothing pretty. Right. You know what I what not what we were about right you know right so we can't talk about nothing we might as well talk about nothing until it's all right to talk about something you know I mean do you feel Keenan gets the credit he

deserves that family and what he live in color you had to see it you you you you had to I mean back then you you you recorded it or you found a way to get home but you had to see what you guys were going to do does he get the credit that he deserves no no and even i give him credit that i didn't that i didn't really realize until after the show right Right. I didn't know how much of a genius he was when it comes to comedy. I didn't know his people skills were so, I mean, amazing.

Okay? As a producer, he was an unbelievable writer. He's an unbelievable director. He'd already direct two movies, three movies. Right. To do that show. His family make you jealous. Because when they see each other, even the guys kiss each other on the cheek when they see each other.

I'm like, damn, Michael, now I'm going to have to say it like that. You know? Right. It's like, hey, brother, hey. And they hug for a minute. And you're like, what is this family? You know what I mean? So they had love, too.

Right. You know? Right. Out of New York City. So he got a street sense, you know, but went to college, got a book sense. But he got his own sense, got good sense. His mom and his daddy, hardworking. Right.

You see? But it's his genius. I'll give you an example. We were doing, he asked me, you know, we had to come up with stuff because it wouldn't get on the show. So we knew something. So he said, Tommy, sitting there, everybody looking through this group. Tommy, do you have a Michael Jackson sketch? I said, yep.

And then my mom was like, you ain't got no time. You told him yes. He said, I want it tomorrow. I said, cool. I ran upstairs. I grabbed the writer, man, me and the writer. Wrote the song out. Wrote the sketch out. I called the guy who does all the writer wrote the song out wrote the sketch out I called the guy who does all the music right I went right from the job to his house we stayed up

until six in the morning and record that thing he recorded it put it together we took it in that afternoon we put that sketch on his feet you know with all the stuff cameras and everything you know because Keenan had heard the song. He said, let's do it. And set up all the other production stuff. So we're in there. I'm singing the song and walking through and then stop, do this part, stop, do this part. And we do all this stuff, right?

We're running plays, right? Just to get it in, get it in, you know, after the first snap, you ain't got to, it's in you, right? So this is when keenan comes in keenan comes in when all that's done and keenan just goes do this do this today so keenan comes over he goes hmm okay tommy when you're when you're walking down the sidewalk from here to here don't just walk um anybody got any chalk we're gonna put a hopscotch there for you so you hopscotch from there to here okay so then when you go down the rest of the rest of the sidewalk you're going to get to here

right this is the edge of the sidewalk so do we have a fan one of those big giant fans yes we do we're gonna i'm gonna have a bunch of leaves and wind just blow you back. Okay? When you go to hit the car window, don't just hit the car window, go, you know what I mean? And then he came up with that last line. You know, he said, you know, am I black or white?

And Keenan said, you're under arrest. The police says you're under arrest. And then I look at the camera and go, well, I guess I am black. Right. He just tops it off. Right. He just tops it off right he just tops it off um

you knew somebody like that who don't get credit shenan right y'all wouldn't post it with nothing right yeah all y'all played regal football all y'all were all y'all were just like any other team right but he was able to find a way to make it work. 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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This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Superbowl? I don't know why Colleen catch the podcast, the NFL daily with Greg Rosenthal every day, subscribe today,

and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the I heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My next season's all about fans and what the rise of sports betting is doing to them, to the teams, and even to my family. I'm heading to Las Vegas and New Jersey and beyond to understand America's newest form of legalized gambling. Listen to Against the Rules on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Can't get enough football?

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football fanatic or you just enjoy a good laugh, make sure to listen to the Good Morning Football podcast Monday through Friday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get y'all working together for y'all to buy into your roles. Right. And look what happened. Right.

Twice. I saw in that Atlanta game right atlanta came down twice bap bap bap they going for the third one all right we're coming in this first quarter right so they ran a play and romanoski blitzed and just missed him by an inch somebody on the sideline must have said do it again right because they came and did it again you know rome got him bam and it changed the emotion on the sideline. You look back at that momentum. Right. That momentum came back. You know, it's kind of like the same science. The writers on the show. How much credit does the writers get?

Because you said a lot of what you did was between you and the writers. But and so you guys have to be in sync.'s just like rogers ginger rogers and fred astaire yep yep she had the hardest job because she had to do what he was doing backwards right she had to do it in heels right right right so they're writing this it's a pretty good observation man you know so so how difficult was it their job because they've got to write according to you. Right. Because what might be good for you might not be good for Jamie or David Allen Greer or Jim Carrey or John Leguizamo. So how was that?

And you're writing with different guys. It's not the same writer every single week. Right, right, right. It's got to be a personal process. You know, the best, best writers know all that. And so they'll do their own homework. Okay. You know, they'll go, Tommy, I didn't write this, but how would you say that? You know all that. And so they'll do their own homework. Okay. They'll go, Tommy, I didn't write this, but how would you say that?

You know? Right. Would you say it like that? Because I'm thinking if you said it this way, then that would be the opposite of how you would say it. Right. So, you know, and I'll say, well, let's try them both when we go to the rehearsal. Right. If one don't work, I'll do the other one.

They were there every inch of the way. Right if one don't work out to write the other one they were there every inch of the way When they stopped something one of the writers were coming to go don't forget that you did that about the purple bunny, man You can't forget that. Come on, man. It's killing like that. Right and so they were involved in and I'll give you their credits Okay friends Martin mm-hmm Martin. How many shows are they responsible for?

They actually were the executive. They are actually the executive producer of the hottest and best shows that lasted the longest in Hollywood. Our writers. Wow. And we had a veritable difference in every writer. We had Franklin Ajay. We had black writers, white writers, Jewish writers, Spanish writers.

We had all kind of writers. Right. Okay? And they were all, and a lot of them were really, really smart kids. Right. That went to college and with degrees and this and that. So they're bringing a lot of,

they're bringing a lot of intelligence to the sketches. Right. You know what I mean? They can match the intelligence, the natural intelligence the sketches. Right. You know what I mean? They can match the intelligence, the natural intelligence of us. Right. What we had to deal with with this country.

We got to be real brilliant. Because we was like, well, we can't do nothing, but we got to do something. Right. And we get that something done, you know? They look at him and people say, well, there was a lot of nepotism going on

because he had his brothers in, he had his sisters in. And I heard Marlon say, it, there was a lot of nepotism going on because he had his brothers in. He had his sisters in. And I heard Marlon say it's like F nepotism. He says, I'm doing this. And if I can't put my family on, what the hell am I doing it for? Mm hmm. And it's true. And he's right about it. And he's right about it. But let's just say the receiver in the game is your brother right all right and it's 25 on the clock you know you got about two passes going to him and he'll drop everything from game on back right who you going to just because you see them saying we're on a field and we're playing the game right

you see what i'm saying it wasn't like they weren't doing their job and they were still getting roles they were performing right but they got a chance to play right there's a lot of people that were you know were juco and should have been in the league and you know it right but it's a game it's bigger than just the actual activity right so once i saw that and realized that if you're on the other end of it and it doesn't feel so good because you want to be a part of it. Right. With me personally, I just wanted to be a part of the family. Right. You know, and I am. Right. And I am. The first thing his father said to me, his father loved me. His whole family loved me. I got a movie. I was the first one to get a big movie, Strictly Business.

Right. With Halle Berry. Yeah. Right. Right. I was the first one to get a big movie, Strictly Business. Right. With Halle Berry. Yeah. Right, right. So a lot of people were easy with that. And I was kind of like, oh man. But when I went to the premiere,

it was me and Halle in the limousine, we drive up and we get out and the rope is there and all the people are there. And guess who's there? His father. And his father go, Tommy! Tommy! Tommy!

Tommy Davidson, baby! He's proud of you like he's a father. Yeah. Like you're his son. Yeah, and Kenan treated me like he was one of his brothers. You know, I'm going through trouble or whatever, he'll say, hey man, you gotta get that right. You know? Right.

You work too hard. Right. I froze up on my first sketch on In Living Color. Right. Right? So, because I realized I was on TV. So, I'm ready and I'm this comic that came from D.C. and I'm ready

to do this sketch, right? And I saw the red, the red dot on the camera and I was like, turning into like a skull, right? And then I'm there. You know,

and they go, Tommy, Tommy. Tommy, Tommy. And then finally, Damon walked over to me he put his arm around me man he said nigga you work way too hard to get here you open that apartment with your baby you know I watch you in them clubs all you gotta do just do it you know you know and that's how that's how they are so it's it's it's a half a dozen of one you know it's a tough process because you wouldn't want to win the game right right but the way that the game is played you know i don't care how you slice it

it's team right and rolls you know you don't get that stuff i remember um i'm denny green when um remember when the vikings were packed they had chris they had moss they had robert remember robert robert they had every jordan at t they had that defense they had everything pep they had it all they were the machine and they lost in the first round of phoenix you remember that and so they were broken because that was their year. Right. That should have been in Atlanta. Right. But I guess so. Right. I guess they'd have been playing. Yeah. Yeah. They lost to the Falcons in the championship game. Yeah. That was Randall Cunningham. Right. OK. And that hurt me because I'm a Minnesota fan.

Right. Long story. So. So how are you going to be their fan? You just came and did our Super Bowl party. Hey, man. What kind of bull driver is that? Hey, man. You came and did our food, paid our food, got our money. Hey, I'm a player. Pay me. That was Neil Smith.

I know. Yeah, Neil was like, that's my man. And that's when I discovered. I learned through the players what the game really is. Right. It's a freaking war, man. It ain't no joke. You look at Jim.

We're going to talk about some of the guys that came from the show. Jim. And he was as big. I mean, the range that he has. Ace Ventura. The mask. Truman. I mean, you look at what he was.

Why hasn't he been liar, liar? Why hasn't he been as active? Recently as he as he was I only know from my personal standpoint. He's done. What he wanted to do He's he's hit his pinnacle He's made as much money as he can make or whatever, right? I just know him as a person right one of my best friends, right and He just wants to become a better person. Right. And do better things. He has, he has, he's a-

It's about him, what's going on. He's a tremendous motivational speaker. Yeah, it's about what's going on, on him on the inside. Because he knows that those outside things aren't going to fix you. Right. So he strives to just stay on what got him there. Right. You know, knowledge of his family, where he grew up.

Right. You know, just all of that stuff that counts. Right. You know, knowledge of his family, where he grew up. Right. You know, just all of that stuff that counts. Right. You know, when I got into some of my final, not final interviews, but later, when I had established myself, I would have people ask me, you know, what was your greatest accomplishment?

And I'd start naming projects. Now I just say, my greatest accomplishment was being Barbara Davidson's youngest son, Tommy. Wow. Because that meant something. Right. You know, my mother was the kind of woman that would like, you know, we was on welfare. Right. You know, and, you know, we coming up the stairs with groceries.

You know, and she would start giving the little kids food, man. Right. Some of them were so small they could only carry one carton of milk. Right. You know? And I used to say, what are you doing? I used to think she was crazy. She'd get up in my face, too.

You mean, what am I doing? I'm doing it. Ask me what I'm doing. You got everything you need? I was like, yes, ma'am. Okay. I'm proud to be her son right because i still have that in me she was trying to show me right the universal law of exchange right that if you give you'll always have right a closed hand can't receive or give right so she taught me that and i

realized that that's my greatest accomplishment. Right now I can get an iron You know statue. Yeah, I'd like to have one, you know without the smack and without the diggum smack Yeah, I know we call it a diggum smack. Huh? You almost got one. Yeah, I almost got one. Yeah before Yeah, you let him in before we were hey, hey, I was gonna brand it up, but hey, that's right What's my try to do is Is this Club Shea Shea? Yeah, it is. All right, it's Club Shea Shea. So we talking, we telling.

All right, he at the Laker game, he's talking, what are y'all going to do? Let him do. You know what I mean? Yeah. Hold on. I'm like, hold on. I'm trying to forget that. That's South Carolina, okay?

That's a long story. South Carolina? Are you kidding me? So he at the end of the court going, what, what? Which one of y'all want something? I'm like, it ain't one of them. It's a whole just really quick about South Carolina. Okay, now leave it alone.

I'm from Georgia. Huh? I didn't know you was from Georgia. I thought you was from South Carolina. No, my brother went to South Carolina. Okay. No, y'all wasn't from South Carolina? Okay, then I ain't gonna talk about it. Okay. We're gonna put that back there. Okay. But I heard that there were more players in the league from South Carolina than anywhere no I don't think so probably Texas California Florida Georgia we end up okay okay skip what are you what are you no no no no I do it but it's like I forgot what I was saying. Where was I oh, oh that uh,

Trigger me again Jim Carrey and I'm you see these grades right here. I got a few myself. Mm-hmm when you forgot to die before you came in I mean, what do you want to look young? Yeah, that's why I put this on it Balances out, you know, if I don't wear this and I wear a white t-shirt you'll be going we're doing a show with Bentley Tonight cookie. What is the name the old dude did the cookies? Oh Amos yeah, you're famous. We got dick rickery But you were saying about Jim right that's when I realized you know That this wasn't about as much. Right. You know, me and Jim, me and Will had a run in.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't find out that for 15 years because he never told me that. See, he came into the he came into the trailer and I was sitting down. Right. He's standing over me like this. And he's like, I don't appreciate that man.

I don't appreciate that. And I'm like, well what you talking about? I always know to play it off. Right. You know what I mean? It's tone. Well I'm sitting down. Hold on, this was 15 years later?

No, this was then. Then I didn't find out why. Okay, okay. I was asking him why then but he wouldn't say nothing right right and i'm going what's going on man tell me what's happening man and since he was standing yeah and i was sitting i'm a real nice fella i mean that that's that's about physics right right so i'm like you know oh man what's going on man i mean hey man he's like i don't appreciate that you know know what I'm saying? And Jada's going, well, well, I'm saying,

but I mean, what's happening, man? Now you tell me what's happening. Hmm, hmm. You don't want to do this. But he's bottom left. He about to do something bad. He might do something, right? So I'm like, you know, I did the whole,

you remember the snake? Yeah. I did the snake. Well, what, you know, and got up. Right. And then I was like, you know So what are you talking about man? And I was still in that posture So you didn't really know what he was actually talking. I didn't but I know what he was doing, right? So I was like, come on man. I mean, what's up? Just tell me what's up, right? Yeah. Yeah, you know, what's up?

You know some so finally I just said This is a small place and people are here you want we should talk about it Right me you outside. Cause it looked like you could need to get something off your chest. Right. And the Jada was like, Oh no, no,

no, no, no, y'all. No, y'all. And I was like, what do you mean?

Nah, y'all tell him, tell him. And that was the end of that. Right. You see? Right. And I never knew.

It wasn't until my book came out. Right. Years later. Right. You see. Right. And I never knew. It wasn't until my book came out. Right. Years later. Right. Where I counted that as one of the things that really bothered me and hurt me. Right. Bad because I didn't know when I look up to him and I love him to death. So you really didn't know why he was upset. You had no earthly idea. No. That it was because of an onscreenscreen kiss or attempted kiss or what was going on? No. You know, but I didn't know why when I was taking the subway up with my cousin uptown to the Bronx, I didn't know why when we were 14 and why these 19, 18, 20-year-olders on the other side of the train are looking at us going,

What? Hmm? What? We'll bust your ass. What? I didn't know that neither. Right. But I still was going, what? Hmm? What? We'll bust your ass. What? I ain't know that neither. Right. But I still was like, huh?

Right. You know, waiting for that damn. So 15 years later, how did you find out? This is how I found out. I put it in the book, you know, and I found out about literature. You can't put something in a book about somebody. Right. Unless they sign off on it.

Right. Oh. Right. So I was like, uh-huh. And I want to put stuff like that in a book anyway. Right. But I was trying to be real honest about my experiences so I could show that you can go through anything and still be successful. Right. And still be a good person. Right. You know what I mean? And I was able to do that, but it's not easy. Right. You know? But you can do it, right? Right. I was able to do that, but it's not easy. Right. You know?

But you can do it, right? So I went to his best friend, Charlie Mack. You know Charlie Mack? I remember the song. Charlie Mack, man. Everywhere we go downtown to a show, we have two necessities, Charlie Mack and the limo. Right. Well, that's like Charlie Mack.

You're going to see him at every game. If it's the Super Bowl, if it's the Kentucky Derby, you're going to see Charlie Mack. And that's Will's best friend. Right. So I called Charlie. I said, Charlie, what do you think about this? He said, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know, Will cool. And Jada cool, too. She said, give me the quote. And I sent it to him. And they'll call you. They'll call you, Tom. I sent it to them. Called me.

Him and Jada. They said, yeah, go ahead and put that in there. Go ahead and put that. I sent it to him called me he mentioned her they said yeah go ahead and put that in there go ahead and put that and what I put was that I that I thought

in the book I thought the only thing that could be possible was the producers came to my trailer right when we were on the last scene and it's a kissing scene right and they said

the kissing scene is now not later a kissing scene. Right. And they said, the kissing scene's now, not later on tonight. We got to do that now. And I said, but I haven't rehearsed with Jada. That's the most important rehearsal that you can ever have. Right.

You put your lips on a female. Right. On screen. Right. And so, and I was like, we never got a chance to work that out. You can make it look real

if she's working with you and everything, right, without kissing, right? Right. And so, I said, I can't do that. I'm to work that out. You can make it look real if she's working with you and everything, right? Without kissing, right? Right. And so I said, I can't do that. I'm not doing that. I'm not doing it. They said, well, we'll ask her.

So they went and came back. She said, just go for it. And even then I was like, I ain't just going to go for it. You know, but I know I have to make it look real. Right. So I'm trying to make it look real and she's kind of uncomfortable about it. Right. You know?

Right. But we got through it and you never could tell. Right. That's all I wanted. Right. So I'm trying to make it look real. And she's kind of uncomfortable about it. You know, but we got through it and you never could tell. Right. That's all I wanted. Right. Right. Was was to get it to play into the film. Right. That's all we want. Right. You know, you at T.E. one wrong block. Right. Right. Right. I mean, y'all, you know, it ain't like the receivers out here. All the glory. Right. All is blocking. Right. You know what I mean? So you got to do it right. Right. So I got it in there. And so they called me and said hey that is what happened wow yeah and i didn't find out for that long it was more than 15 years that was about

back in 2000 right so it's more than that long right so i saw that side, you know, and there's nothing you can do in certain circumstances as far as I'm concerned. Right. The way that I grew up and saw things. Right. You know, I made a good observation after trial by ass whipping. Right. Right. OK. Right. When emotions is high, common sense is at all time low. 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 Roderick from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window.

Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Can't get enough football? Look no further than the Good Morning Football podcast. Join me, Jamie Erdahl, alongside Peter Schrager, Kyle Brandt, and Akbar Bajabiamila for a daily breakdown of the league's biggest stories. From game plan analysis and player interviews, we've got you covered for all things football. Hey, you want to know the secret ingredient that makes Patrick Mahomes unstoppable? Or maybe which reality show best describes the Jets season? Look no further.

We bring you everything, all the games, all the matchup previews, our impeccable predictions. Get your football fix right here on the GMFB podcast. We've got recaps, retweets, and reactions to all the wild moments you might have missed both on and off the field. We bring it like nobody else, straight from the stores. Whether you're a football fanatic or you just enjoy a good laugh, make sure to listen to the good morning football podcast Monday through Friday on the I heart radio app,

Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey there. It's Michael Lewis, author of going infinite money ball, the blind side and liars poker on every season of my podcast, Against the Rules, I take a broad look at various characters in American life. The referee, the coach, the expert.

My next season's all about fans and what the rise of sports betting is doing to them, to the teams, and even to my family. I'm heading to Las Vegas and New Jersey and beyond to understand America's newest form of legalized gambling. Listen to Against the Rules on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Yeah.

Common sense is at all times low. And how low can you go? You see what I mean? Yeah. So knowing that fact and just sticking on to to what i learned when i was a little kid you know my my my brother and sister being white and me being black wasn't a big deal to me until i found out i was black i grew up in on fort collins colorado and wyoming okay found in the trash yeah took it straight out there and i

thought we, I was a brown one of whatever we were because I saw litters. Right. So a black cat can have a white one, a brown one,

a speck of one. I thought we were born like that. Right. And I'm a brown one of whatever we are. Right. Well, when we got to D.C., King had just got shot.

There were riots. Right. And the black kids the next day were whipping our ass all day. And they were saying, get the white cracker and get the white cracker lover. This is the things I learned.

Right. You know, and I was going, this is stupid. So I went to my mother, I said, why are they attacking me, saying I like white crackers? I like graham crackers. Graham crackers, you don't gotta have water with it or nothing. You just chew them, get you the apple juice, and you're good. White cracker, you'd be like Schwarzenegger in total recall. You know?

So I found that out, and then that's the first time I heard the word nigga. You know? Okay? Because we moved to the suburbs. Then it was like, kill the nigga, and I'm five. I'm riding my bike, a whole truck of white boys, barely getting in the door, people throwing stuff through the window. Right. Nigga this, nigga that.

So I went to my mom, and I said, who are these niggas we got to stay away from? You know? You're talking about you, huh? Yeah, yeah. And she told me. She said, this is one of her speeches. Right. She told me, hey, that's what people our color call people your color when they don't like them.

I said, what color are you? She said, we're white. I said, no, you're beige. Because I learned my colors from the crayons. Right. She said, no, but that's what we call ourselves. And I said, well, what does nigga mean? She said, well, that's what, that's what, I mean, what is, what is what does nigga mean? She said, well, that's what, I mean, what does white cracker mean? She said, that's what your people call our people when they don't like them.

I said, well, what color are they? She said, they're black. I said, they're not. They're brown. Right. I'm a brown one. And, like, that's where my whole, as a-hmm that messed me up for a long time, right? Because I couldn't believe that I was divided by my loved ones

By the color right and I always thought that that was stupid, right? But it's real, right? You know, it's real it's not really real right because I am right about the litters, right and I am right about us, right? because When we were in different civilizations in different colors anytime we would come up on another civilization that was a different color the girls would go those guys look pretty hot and the guys would go to them girls look pretty hot right and thusly we start mixing right it is the same thing right you see what i'm saying right take a dna strand right you'll know right that wasn't because we exchanged DNAs. Right. That's more like D&Ps.

Right. You didn't skip. I know, but I'm just talking to him. I better stop. I'm good. But that was the catalyst, and I think I found my purpose in all that. Right. That's why I feel comfortable

saying I'm her greatest accomplishment because I believe I was. Right. I think she did that on purpose. Right. Jamie, I read that you and Jamie didn't always have the greatest relationship on set. Mm-hmm.

Seemingly, you guys did a movie together, did Booty Call. Uh-huh, uh-huh. So were you able to, what caused the friction, and how were you able to get past it? Mm-hmm. And shout out to Jamie. Shout out to Jamie and prayers to you.

Yeah, man. Get well soon, Jamie. I called him. Like, I make it a practice to be the first person to call. With something like that, I called Stero. I was one of the first people to call Stero. She would actually call me back. Said, thank you.

You know what I mean? Because we was all like, what? You kidding me? The number one dude? You know what I mean? Like, never again. Like, we was like, good God. But I compare it to you and Derek.

Right. You and Derek, Derek Thomas. Right. Both of y'all are specimens. Both of y'all are special. Both of y'all got speed. Both of y'all are special. Both of y'all got speed. Both of y'all can do what y'all do at the highest level. But on Sunday...

We throw that friendship out the window. What? Way out the window. Way out the window because it's a game. As long as we remember that. Once the game is over, then hey, okay, cool. But sometimes we don't remember that. you know I mean it takes time and maturity to get to the point where you you start seeing it yeah it was a game but it was tied

into my career right you know I mean so we had our we had our back and forth you know we had our negative negative clashes you, one of the things I observed about what Hollywood personalities sometimes experience is an inflated sense of self. Okay. And are engaged in an extreme amount of negative competitivism. You put those things together and Gee, you know

You know, look what happens and I ain't got to point it out You can see it in every every aspect of what we're right, you know, right? I love that guy He's like the funniest dude ever You know, yeah little jealous that time because he's so sweet with it. He's sweet the funniest dude ever, you know? Yeah. A little jealous at times because he's so sweet with it. He's sweet with it, man. The way he sing, you know, I'm like... Very talented.

I'm like, man. He sing, he play piano. Man. Obviously, he have comedic chops. Oh, man. Has range. Range. Did that Ray thing.

Yeah, he did Ray. Oh, yeah. He did... When he was in the movie with Tom Cruise. Yeah, man. He was the captain cab thing. Yeah, he did Ray. Oh, yeah, he did. When he was in the movie with Tom Cruise. Yeah, man. He was the captain cab driver. Yeah, all the stuff

that he's did is lovely. Yeah. And I'm a human. I want to do that too. Right. You see somebody hoisting it, right? Right.

You want to hoist it. Right. Right, that's just natural. Right. Good friend of mine told me that's natural to do that because it's natural to want something that somebody else has right you know what i mean but just because i want because i want to have it

that doesn't mean i don't want you to have it that's what i was saying i just see you you got it and i feel comfortable that i can get it that's what i was going to say he said the worst thing is when you don't want something for somebody else right yeah yeah yeah no so that that propensity that's in me right i have to find ways to see it straight and balanced right so i got asked by tmz one time right they came to me and it was totally right you know jamie's jamie's kicking ass man he just finished a a sunday the one with sunday that that movie and this and that and that no uh of Happiness? No, Any Given Sunday. Any Given Sunday, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's over here, he's doing that.

He's doing that and doing this, man. He's doing all these things, man. You know, how do you feel about that? And I said, I said, I beat him in ping pong. Seven to nothing skunk. Right. And he put the paddle down. He wouldn't go no more. Right. And I played and him lost him lost him lost him lost him two seasons in a row right overtime ping pong

games finally i got my touch now oh you got your touch whap skunk let's go again down you see what i'm saying it's like as as silly as that, but real as that. Mm-hmm. You know, what does it really mean? Right. You know, if I was to judge my success on somebody else's success, I sure am looking at my blessings limited. Right. Yes. Yes. You know what I mean?

I do know exactly what you mean yeah because just be like and my thing is that i hate when i hate when people say he or she didn't deserve that who are you to say god made a mistake with my blessing hi yeah yeah you've heard that yeah of course i have of course i'm gonna talk about a transformation I think you made. OK, I think somewhere between that last Super Bowl and the next one, you made a decision. And I think it was a good one, but I'm not sure. You said football's over and I'm going to do me now. And the only way I saw that was i saw a commercial on the super bowl and i was like shocked it was like about an investment company or something yes

yeah yes charles suave but you had the dialogue down right it's some stuff i can't even hardly say you know yeah but that's up because you got three percent you got three percent this and that that that and the other thing you And you had your helmet on. How do we calculate the P.E. ratio? How do you calculate the P.E. ratio? No, no. I'm like, oh. You know, and then watched it.

Right. And watched it. And watched it grow. I thought that that was the period. Right. Between that last one. Right. What do you think?

I remember doing the commercial. And, you know, they did let me ad lib they let my personality and i just you know when you and you're doing it i mean i'm not thinking that i'm like i'm just doing the thing and i just remember the producer and the director and everybody said man that was unbelievable you're the unbelievable job you don't realize how good you did okay and then when the commercial actually came out and to have people say that I did a good job and then people you know I'm walking by people say you share do you know how to calculate a piece P ratio and that's it kind of like okay yeah I might I might could I might can

do something like this yeah you did it you know yeah where we at I mean it's just it's our internal calculators add up our own stuff from our internal experiences, you know what I mean? So I saw it like that. Right. And I just think it's, you know, for me, it's a wonderful world, cause I'm here. Right. You know, it ain't no guarantee.

Right. You know? A lot of beautiful, great things happened, like the Denver years for me. Cause not only was I invited by one of my best friends to give the ring ceremony i did twice right i know had i known you were the minnesota viking fans i'd have blocked that one they are they they are no but they became my favorite team for a couple years they did how can you not you did how can you not you you were around a lot listen i'm in i'm in the booth with Bolin. Right. Right?

Meatballs on request. Right? Yeah. I'm seeing one of the cheerleaders. I'm in there with her parents in Pat's booth. They calling me, Neil calling me chicken. He called me at. Yeah. You know, you're going to be at the Monday night game with Oakland.

Right. Come on. On the field. Right? Yeah. So, you know, those were my NFL years. Right. But I learned something, too.

What did you learn? That the game doesn't stop on Sunday. It stops on Tuesday. the game doesn't stop on Sunday. It stops on Tuesday. Because y'all go straight from there, early morning, straight to the gym. And I was like, why ain't I resting?

And Marcus Allen taught me this. Marcus said, well, this is a work down. You can't be up that far and then let all that stuff. You beat them, pull something. So you work it back up. Right. And then you rest it. Right. So it can get in place.

Right. You know what I mean? Working and working on stuff, working on film, all of that. Right. And then Tuesday, you know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, I was so, I remember we played

Mike the Dolphins on a Monday night and we ended up, you know, getting back. I think we arrived back by the time we got to the plane and got back, I think it was probably by the time we got to the plane and got back. I think it was probably 6, 37 o'clock. And so it's already Tuesday. And I normally come in on Tuesday anyway. Okay.

So I just trained, worked out, and then went home. Okay. That's how focused I was. Hold on. I know about Georgia boys. Willie Galt? Yeah, yeah. Willie from Griffin. Fridge and his brother?

Who? Fridge and his brother? Oh, no, they're from Aiken, South Carolina. Okay, see, I'm getting it. I thought I was a necrologist. I got some more study. Willie Galt, Herschel Walker, George Rogers. Those are the guys that you would know.

Obviously, Cam is from Georgia. Champ Bailey's from Georgia. Question, where Dale Carter from? Dale Carter is from, he's from Georgia. Where did Dale play from? Come on. I don't know what D.C. played at. Where did D.C. Georgia at. Where did D.C.

Georgia, though. Yeah, he's from Georgia. Tell me he wasn't the coldest shutdown. Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to think. One of the coldest shutdowns in the league. Man, I don't know what. Not Dale. Love Dale.

I don't know. I think Dale is one of the best, man. Yeah. Him and Everson Walls, boy. Anyway, okay. When you're doing that you see j-lo she starts as a fly girl and now she's one of the biggest stars did you did you did you could you project could you see that jim and jamie and j-lo and and john leguizamo could you could you foretell

that they were gonna be that yeah yeah i. Because because I know that anything is possible in that business. If you're talented. Right. You know, but it's the it's the other stuff that has to line up. Right. It has to line up. Right. Right. You know what I mean? Right. You know, there's there's all these industries, this publicity. Right. There's the agent industry. Right. There's a management industry. Right. There's the studios. There's the networks. There's all this stuff that, you know, you got to do right. Line it up.

You got to do right. And the next step and the next step and the next step to get to that point. So it's possible to do. Right. You know, it's possible because you can navigate it. Right. It's persistence and all that good stuff. Right.

Right. But I never knew that some of them would stop talking to me when they got to that point see so I never knew that because I was always curious right you know how you did it man I study you know like so yeah when you don't work it on living color and then all of a sudden they become something else and now all of a sudden they do do do. The number you call is no longer certain. All of them for her. All of them for her.

I was like, you know. I remember seeing her. Right. And this ain't no J-Lo bashing because she's crazy talented. Right. Come on. Right. Can't put nothing on her. And she's a great actress too. Right. You know, but we used to And she's a great actress too. Right. You know,

but, but we used to hang out with me, her, my ex. We used to go to dinner together. Right. You know,

and I met her with Kenan at Strictly Business. Right. Because he brought her in my trailer while I was doing a movie and I was like, what is that?

Right. Right? Right. And then she showed up to be a fly girl and she worked her ass off. Right. She worked her ass off.

She was every day and she was messing around with scripts. I was like, this girl gonna fly girl and she worked her ass off right she worked her ass so she was every day and she was messing around with scripts i was like this girl gonna be something she was so i saw her at the up fronts um it was me and danny devito and he's like there's something like there's there's gentleman whoopers over there you know right i'm like yeah i know her so i go over there i'm like what's up girl shoot man you So I go over there. I'm like, what's up, girl? Shoot, man, you blew up. What is going on? She's like, hey. I was like, so what's going on?

What's going on? You know, just living life, you know? Getting some little carrot dip. And I'm going, you know, what's in that carrot dip? You know, because she's yo dipping my ass. You know what I mean? Right dip you know because she's yo dipping my ass you know i mean right and so so that happened once and then um i was on a face break i had to look around and see if anybody saw that right you know did anybody just see her put a hatchet through my forehead right like hey you know and so um we had the same manager at the same time so i just avoided her

because you never know what someone's going through that day. Right, right. I could be misreading it. Right, right. You know, I always got to get the love. But that's from my profile. 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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on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. For me, the black in between the white and all that so i'm needy in that way i can admit that right but i do love love right well she might be listen you can only judge a person by the experience that you have with a person right she might be she might be a great person to to cj and hollywood and all about my god jordan right but your experience in that moment was not love, was not great. Right. And so I gave it some time and stuff, and I never blamed the person.

Right. You know, I just try to work with myself on that. You know, how could she hate you? You're right. You know, I had to work on that. And so we had the same manager at one time. Right. And she was doing a video up in the block.

Yeah. Jenny, Jenny, Jenny from the block. Block, block, block, block, block. Right. And she was doing a video up in the block. Yeah. Jenny from the block. Block, block, block, block, block. Right, that one. And so he said, why don't you go and visit her on the set, man? She would love to see you. And I was like, nah, that's alright. That's alright, man. He's like, nah, man. Come on, man. This is you.

Come on, man. I was like, nah, that's alright, man. That's alright, because one time is enough for me, right? You know, I don't gotta steal another bass if it's what one and out. Hey I'll get well, I'll wait till the next up, right? so I Go down on the platform and there she is, you know And I tell you the only thing that saved me um i walked down the platform and she was looking at the at the at the screens with all the rest of the dancers

right you know and um benny's all proud that he's standing with me you know being medina correct yeah yeah yeah yeah um he put the last name on that okay all right. I'm sorry. Him, man. You know, then. So I get down to the to the end of the thing and I look at her and Benny's going, come on, man. I'm like, hi, man. And I go, Jennifer, what's up? And she goes, hey. So that was like the last, you know, I don't know how she's going to be when I see her next, but the next time I saw her, I avoided her. Right. Because I don't like feeling that way. Right.

I don't want to be around anybody who makes me feel like I'm not important. I'm less than because. You're going to make me feel like I ain't important? You know, I worked at a hospital when I was 15, and everybody that worked there was black and were in the korean war all of them were veterans you know and they taught me everything right they taught me everything about cooking everything about life you know just imagine if they were like that to me you know what i mean right i mean imagine that right you know my math teacher uh

miss coleman jewish woman lived down the street from the elementary school. And I couldn't get my math right. She was like a substitute teacher. And she said, why don't you come over to my house? So I go to the house after school and she would work with me on math and work with me on math and work. I was never that great in math, but I had more confidence about doing it. What would happen if she. Hey. Right. You know, so I just remember confidence about doing it. What would happen if she, hey.

Right. You know, so I just remember those things. Right. And that's just me as an individual. That's all. That's just what makes the furnace in me run. Right. You know, and I delight in that.

People come to me and say, man, you came to Afghanistan. And you look at this. This is the picture. You know what I mean? Yeah. We were at your show in Kansas City, man. And my grandmother came, man. You took some pictures of her and everything, man.

She gone now, man. But let me tell you something. I appreciate that. That was one of her greatest moments. Right. When you look back at the 90s, 90s might have been the greatest. Maybe the 70s because they have some like some children but the 90s with martin and living single and uh all living color yeah will we ever see black tv again like we saw in the 90s i don't think so but we'll see black tv yeah you know it won't be the same sensibility right you know um you see black tv now you know see a bunch of rich black chicks with range rovers having a a beautiful

cocktail right with gucci purses and oh we're talking about the housewives i ain't talking about nothing i'm just saying i'm just saying you see shows like this. And so here you are, and they're there, and they got it all. You know, the American dream. But yet, it's like, bitch, I slapped your head off. You know? Yeah. You know what I mean?

We'll see a miniseries that's a great one. It's a drama, and it's the whole thing. miniseries that's a great one it's a drama and it's the whole thing you know but but you you know you'll see somebody's gun the the the the the muzzle of the gun someone knows you know you know sorry about that you know yeah that's what I I'm seeing I'm seeing a lot of that. Whereas back then... No living single, no Martin. Well, these shows were about...

What was it called? The love about us. Yeah. The love about blacks and how we are. Right. You know, we got to be loving and caring based on the atmosphere. Right. We were all we had. You see. Right. We were all we had.

You see? Right. We were all we had. So, and we were up against every odd you can imagine. We have no work incentive. Right. You know, y'all lazy. Well, what you going to pay me?

You know what I mean? Right. Well, if I'm lazy, why you sit up on the porch with mint julep and we out here picking? Right. How do I get your trait and I do your work? Right. You see what i'm saying so we lived through all of that and are able to laugh and have joy right because that's

our survival but that's also who we really are right the first to forgive right you know you know you you if you if a black bird if a white person came to a black church they leave their sanctified and full of food you know you might go to white church and be like i don't know if i want to step in there right you know what i mean it's nothing about the people itself it's just a certain spiritual aspect about us that came out of that tragedy right that's beautiful right you know i mean so i love to see see see different manifestations of that. Right. So Martin, this couple that was trying to make their way in the world. Man, that was awesome. You know, living single. These black women who were like best friends making their way in the world.

Right. You know, so and what do we need most? We need help making our way in this world. Right. You know, we know what the world is. You know, you got somebody shooting up kids in the school Mm-hmm can't do nothing about it because nobody would get them from stop selling drug, you know all the stuff that we we see But somehow there's this this this membrane That keeps us all together, right, you know, right? Mm-hmm. You were in cv4 with chris rock what's your relationship with rock that's my man that's we we wow man we've been buddies for so far back we were the first ones here in hollywood right it was me rock and martin right you were the young ones right we're the young guns coming in here did you reach out to rock when he went through that episode with will smith i did but he called me back though but he finally called me back right you know yeah i mean yeah

you know you probably want to leave i know what he was going through so i was like the first thing i thought about was his mama i said man she about to kill somebody right now you know but you're not surprised that he reacted the way that he did. No. When Chris said what he said. Right. Do you think, did you think it warranted that? No, but I ain't him. Okay.

You know? Right. I kind of looked at what he was up against as him, about what I know about him. Right. You know? But you said that day he might have just been having a bad day. That might not be

the person that he is, but that was the person that he was that day. I think it was fear. Fear can do some things. When emotions is high, common sense is at an all-time low.

Right. This is the first time that they actually even acknowledge me to get an Oscar. Right. This is the one I did my actually even acknowledge me to get an Oscar. Right. This is the one I did my best job at. Right.

Right? I've been on social media trying to be cool through this whole thing that's happening with me and my wife. I don't got to go into specifics. If anybody had a camera come in their house with them and their wife or them as a marriage, they would burn their house down to keep you out of there. Right. Because some things ain't nobody's business. Correct.

So he's dealing with that and balancing his whole persona. He is Will Smith. Right. And he's never going to stop. He's always going to be the best. And to me, he's a winner. You know, and do any have to have moments? Yes. Yeah. That's why the dude wrote in sand. Let the first ones throw the stone without sin.

Yeah. We've all had, you know, if the whole world was out for we all be sitting here going, hey, give me some water, you know. And so I just thought it was fear. But that's just my take. Because it was all on the line Because it was all on the line. It was all on the line. It was like it was getting really hot. Right. You know, a person jumps out of the World Trade Center at the 118th floor. Right.

And you go, why would they do that? Because the pain got so intense. Right. They didn't care. They just want to relieve fast. Right. You know, and I thought that that's what really happened was that he just was extremely frightened about not getting in at what people think. They already think in this thing, you know, and he I don't say I wouldn't say he was wrong for being fearful, you know. Correct me if I'm wrong for wrong for busting somebody in the mouth. Right.

Then he did nothing to you right you know jada jada pickett you can't put it on that no no no no no but but her she i heard i read what she cut filming short so you could actually talk to your birth mom oh yeah they're good friends how did it okay jada Okay, Jada's from Baltimore. Jada's like one of my best friends, yeah. You know, we're real, real tight. Right. And she saw that something was wrong with me one day.

I don't know how. You know how you know people. Yeah, yes, yes. And so we about to do the scene, and I'm laughing and joking. She said, what's wrong with you? I said, what you talking about, man? Go ahead, girl. And she said, something's wrong with you. What's going on?

Right. I'm like, what you talking about? What's going on? She said, something's wrong. She said, something's wrong with you. What's going on? Right. I'm like, what you talking about? What's going on? She said, something's wrong. She said, come here. What's happening with you? I'm like, girl, what are you talking about? I said, I just met my real mother for the first time.

Wow. She said, that's it. You guys, that's a wrap for the day. Go deal with that, man. You can't be exposed to that right now and be normal under no circumstances. Right. Go deal with that. So what was the conversation like with your mother?

So how long, because you had never met your birth mother. Never. And so how old were you when this happened? I think I was probably about 34. So you have a conversation with your birth mother. How did that, how did, so what, how did that conversation start? It was hard. Because she's like, hi, baby.

And this ain't my mother. Right. You know, instinctively. Right. In my gut. You ain't my mom. Right. You know what I mean?

And so we talked and it was really just kind of a, kind of a, how's the sunshine and that kind of thing. Right. It's really good to meet you. You know? And she's like, likewise. You know, stay in touch and that kind of thing. Right. It's really good to meet you, you know? And she's like, likewise. You know, stay in touch and that thing. Did you? Yeah, I did.

But I went through a lot over that. Right. Because it triggered some stuff in me that was from so far back. Right. As long as I wasn't exposed to her, I never would have started experiencing the things I experienced inside. I started really experiencing like like you think you think like anxiety and like like low, low, low sadness and anxiety.

And like I started feeling really crappy. And and I didn't expect it either because my mom never told me she was going to do that. Right. My mom, she said, I got your mom on the phone, your real mom. And I found her randomly in the database because she worked at Housing and Urban Development. Right. So she saw her name and she said, this can't be her. And it was her. Right. You want to talk to her? And I was like, I don't know. I want to sit now. I don't know. So what questions did you have? Did you have, why did you give me up? Why didn't you keep me? Did you ask it?

We didn't get to it then. It wasn't until later, later. You know, we did, we actually did therapy together. Wow. You know, and we actually got to the point where I remember going to visit. I saw the whole family. So I was filled with joy just to see people my color. Right.

That looked like me. All my little kids got the same little nose and everything right so that was good to see but i went over there just to really visit the family right right and um on easter easter was the day my natural brother lost his life okay died that day right so i was like let me just go over there give love to that you know i'm i'm i'm a person of the world right and so as they were doing the prayers she and she's a baptist minister okay so she goes around the country you know doing that and so she's going to say the prayers and during the prayers she started saying uh tommy was a hard baby to take care of

he had whelps all over his body you know and he would bleed over those and he'd cry a lot it was hard to take care of and his mother stole him from me and blah blah blah that's not the time for right right so I'm there

yeah man it hurt but I'm Barbara Davidson's son now right so I just said took a deep breath Tommy? Yeah, man, that it hurt, but I'm Barbara Davidson's son now. Right. So I just said, took a deep breath and I took over. I said, you guys, I don't think I don't think today is about that. Right. You know, that was so long ago and the world was so different back then. You know, I'm the person that I am now, you know, and who stole who from, it doesn't even matter. It's a miracle, really, because here I am.

Right. Part of both of y'all. You see what I mean? Right. And this is the day that we should be thinking about our man. Right. His home going. Right.

And after they dropped hands, I was like, I looked at my nephew who I love so much and my bigger brother who remembered me being left. My only two, only the two oldest ones remember me. Right. The rest of them are like, you mean my brother's on living color? You crazy. Right. They were crying like,

oh man, it's so good to see you. When I first met him, it was on Christmas. My brother, like a big brother could do you know this he walked me to the elevator he told me look at me right here i'm your brother your big brother here and i was like yeah okay Wow. You know? That's one of them things that you got to give them that.

You ain't going. Right. You see what I mean? Right. And he meant it. Right. And I left out of there, and then one of her sisters, one of my mother's sisters, stopped me at the stairs and said, good for you. Good for you.

Somebody need to tell her something. You know, I said, thank you. And then we left left and then my nephew turned to me as we were driving he said you know what tommy i think what happened just now is probably the best thing that ever happened to my family you know and i was able to convince her to come to therapy you know with my mother and we did it and that's when it all came out right she was there in that kind of denial and it was a family session right so all family families talk about their issues and then they have a group of people that trust each other to give feedback on what she heard she was trying to place the blame right somewhere else other than right and everybody was in place right and everybody said tommy i'm named after her she's a a country girl Tommy Jean, right? So my mother gave me her name right, right and and everybody was saying hey, you know

It sounds like you blame it on him and then it that's what it sounds like it all of them had feedback, right? so when it came back to her it was like It was something to watch Wow she started trembling mm-hmmhmm. And she, like, went into, like, a seizure, like, you know? And she was on herself and threw up and all that stuff. And then they came back and got her together, and she came back to the room, and she told me what happened. Wow. She said, I was scared.

She said I was 19. I already had four kids. Wow. I was seeing a guy who was 50 something who already had a family and he was rich. He was rich in country terms because I'm from Greenville, Mississippi. Oh, okay. So if you're an undertaker, you know, you up with the, you know what I mean? Yeah.

So I was his chick on the side, you know? And plus I got strung out on heroin. So I was out in the streets. I had the kids. And I was losing it, man. And I got scared. I got an opportunity to go to Detroit or to move the kids to Milwaukee. I just left you.

I just put it out of my mind. You know, she was crying hysterically. And then I saw her in that state. And I was able to forgive her. Because I saw it. Right. But you dealt with some issues of your own. Mm-hmm.

Did that traumatic experience play a role in what you ended up having to deal with and what you had to overcome? I think it was all of it. It was all of it. It was just my life up to that point. You know? And it was a meant-to-be process that I had to go through. You know? To get to know God a little bit better.

And get to know what his intention was for me. Okay. You know? I was going through, like, the bottom, you know, and I had dealt with everything, drugs, drink, all of it. And I was in my bedroom by myself in the dark. All my friends were like gone like we can't we can't watch this right so my friend god bless him and his family major brown uh from they from tulsa oklahoma i never seen no black folks like that ever i never see i've never met black black people from south

y'all were revelation to me y'all Y'all a whole different thing, man. So they sent me a prayer call. I'll tell you how different y'all are. Major went, I went to visit his family and his grandmother answered the door, right? And she about 90, she opened the door and she said to him, give it to me. I was like, huh?

She said, give it to me. And he's standing there. She said, come on, give it to me. And he's standing there. She said, come on, give it to me. And he did his Easter recital. Word for word. You know, it's a different thing, you know. So. They sent me a prayer cloth.

Right. Mm hmm. From the whole family prayed on it. they sent me a prayer cloth, right? Mm-hmm. From the whole family prayed on it. You know, and I put it between my Bible, and I was like, yeah, man, it works, I guess, or whatever. Right, right. And then a sister called me. Bing.

And I picked up the phone. And she said, you know what, Tommy? She said, sometimes we just have to hang. We have to hang in there. We got to hang like he did. In pain. And have faith that it's going to pass. Right.

She said, you think that felt good? One here, one here, one here. And his body weight is only holding him. Crucifix on his head. You think that felt good? Crown of thrones on his head. Right. Even he doubted it. Even at a point he was saying, what the hell?

Right. But that faith. Right. Right. She says sometimes we just got to hang in that pain. And I hung at it. How hard was it? Look, I'm a firm believer. It's a lot easier going through something in private. You're a public person and you're going through your addictions, a public figure in a public way. Did it make it more difficult? Did it make you ashamed? Did it make you withdraw? Actually, in ways it did, but it didn't because I got to the point where it didn't matter.

It wasn't about that. It was about me. Right. It's about me being alive. And me being able to enjoy what life has to give me. Because I really didn't know. My auntie told me, you ain't know no better.

I remember going to her when I had a year sober. I said, auntie, I got a year sober. She said, now don't you feel better? I said, yeah, I feel better. She said, that's all that matter, is that you feel better. She said, I got a year's soap. And she said, now, don't you feel better? I said, yeah, I feel better. She said, that's all that matter is that you feel better. And she said, I got to go to the store. You know? Right.

So it was like one of those things where I had to dig in and do the work so that I can keep the life I have. And I had to realize that it was good in the first place. Right. You know, and there was a it was good in the first place. Right. You know, and there was a lot of stuff shrouding that stuff. Right. That's why I wrote the book. I wrote the book because if I can do it... Others can also.

Then others can. And if I be specific, that's why I don't go into specific, that's why I got my book. Because it's a one-on-one experience when you read it, so you can get to it. And I also did go into specific. That's why I got my book, because it's a one on one experience when you read it. So you can get to it. I also did the voiceover. Right.

So you can really hear. One on one, you know, and. That was my gift back to the good universe and to the God I know and to all the love that I got from all the people. Right. You know, that didn't even know me. got from all the people right you know that didn't even know me you know when i lived in what i when i lived in the um midwest when i was a kid i never heard the word nigga from a white person white person white people ain't the same they all don't think the same they all don't hate us i'm i don't care what nobody says i'm speaking speaking from my experience. That's all you can speak from.

Right. How can I become me and not know that as a fact? Right. Right. Right. So it just became a very important book for me because I realized that I can take all those experiences that I went, that I paid for through through sadness, through despair, and all of that, and let me put it in a book that they can grab and go through, and maybe they can compare what they're going through with what I was going through, like I did with books, like I did

with stuff people gave me. Let me pass it on. Right. Let me pass it on. Right. Let me pass it on. Mount Rushmore. Who's your Mount Rushmore comedian? Me. No.

It was Pryor. Eddie. Cosby. Fox. Red or Jamie? Red. Okay. We're talking about stand-up.

Yeah. Stand-up comedy. I'm going to forget his name. Pryor. Fox. Red. Red. No, Pryor, Fox. Cosby.

Red. Red Fox Cosby read Red Fox is the same person. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, I you know, it's a prior. Yeah, Red Fox, right? Bill Cosby you got one more I get one more. Yeah, that's that's my rush more. You got four years on my rush more Okay, fine,. Not a bonus? Nope. Skip? No, I'm just kidding. Skip would give me a bonus. No, I'm just kidding.

No. Man, sit down. You in there so good. Tight ends beholden, too. You just can't see it. So, so, um... Bernie. I'm gonna have to say George Carlin.

I'm gonna have to throw him in there. I thought you were gonna go Chappelle. Oh man, but that's my contemporary. So you know what? That's the exact same thing Smooth said. Yeah. I had JB Smooth, then he said, man, as great as Chappelle lived, live here contemporary. I can't put him up. Yeah. Yeah, it's not it's not like but I Put him up there Cuz I don't understand that boy. I

Don't understand him. You know, I'm sweating by the end of a show because that's my the way I do show, right? He can stand there and smoke a cigarette. Yeah, you know, it's something about Him and the times that we're in right where he's able to make everybody laugh during these circumstances right and that got to take a genius yeah you know he grew up in my neighborhood right in my neighborhood yeah he used to be scared of us right like even still today even still today, he'd be, I'm like, that was a long time ago, man. Right.

You know what I mean? Like, you know, we're always different. But it's just the amazing things that he can do. Right. He can say some things that nobody can say.

He tell a story, man. He can tell, I mean. No one can say that. Right. And he make, you know, I'm saying, I guess there's truth,

you know, there's truth in comedy. And he can tell, he can tell a story truthfully and make it funny. Now, he looks like Schmeichel. I'm just kidding. But I'm just saying I'm a big Lord of the Rings. That's a long, has nothing to do with it.

Anyway, I like the name Schmeichel. So he's a genius. And all of me is right, man. Every time I say I'm the best, I look at somebody and go, well, you know, you know, Hey, you got some more work to do still, still, you know, because it's a process, right? Right. You add things on, you know, and you can always have room for growth. Well, I'm discounting your what you call them because Murphy, you better be on my Rushmore, too. I put him, didn't I? No. I put Eddie first.

Prior. Check the tapes. Did he put Eddie? No. Didn't I say Eddie first? No. I meant to say Eddie first. You must be talking about Eddie Haskell. I meant to say Eddie first though. No, you didn't. Skip? No. Okay, okay. Hey, I'm going to get you out of here.

You got a few more. All right. P. Diddy was your assistant. What kind of assistant was P. Diddy? Because remember he had that reality show and he was trying to find an assistant. He worked a dog. He worked a dog out of me.

You work him? Nah, nah. How you let him were right you were I don't work your dog at a man You working nah, nah How you let him out the hood I didn't have to I didn't have to he's a hard worker. Okay, who's smart as a whip He there for everything. I need we was out every night in New York He took me to every club and I knew it was gonna be something but I know it's gonna be like that now Yeah, I knew he was that boy was smart First thing he said to me was you got got to get rid of this widow's pink. And I was like, I ain't getting rid of no widow pink. He said, but when it get on the big screen, it's going to look big.

I said, man, this is mine. This is the way I do my thing. Man, Strictly Business came on, and I seen it. I look like a vampire with a shark fin. Yeah. OK? Yeah. And I was like, damn, if he wasn't right, man. You know?

He was sharp. And he's a cool kid. A cool kid and straight up. Yeah. I saw him bust one of the big union dudes in the face. Right.

You know, because the union dude was up on him. Right. He tried to warn him. He said, I'm just dropping his bags off. You got to get that out of here. You know, I'm just trying to, I'm his assistant. I'm trying to drop his bag off.

He said, get it out of here and get it out of here now. He said, well, why am I, how am I going to put it to, and the big dude lunged and he, bah, caught him with the corner of the corner, corner, corner, and the corner, corner, corner. Opened him up. Yeah, and the corner was like, you know You know, it's like Denzel when he was getting whipped, you know In glory

And the tear came out that side, you know me right? Yeah, and um He was calling around and he called me and said, I can't get out. And I said, I'll come down here. And I just tried my influence and my name and all that. They said they let him out on his personal recognizance. And that's one person that never forgot me. Never. We still like that.

Wow. You know? He's shorter than me because I'm older than him. Right. You know what I mean? But Shorty, man, he's gone to a whole other level. Right. I wish I could talk to him sometime. Right.

I wish we had that because I can help him too, I think. Right. You know, but I think I can help everybody. But I wish I had an opportunity to do that. But I do. Right. I just can't choose who I'm going to do it with. Right.

Anything you'd like to promote? I know you're a musician, but you've got a website. I've got a website. What is it? I don't know. I'm asking you. It's your website. The Tommy Davidson. My website is thetommydavidson.com. What? Thetommydavidson.com, as a matter of fact.

So what is the website? What are you doing on the website? Everywhere. You can get me everywhere. You can get my music. You can get my tour. Okay. You can get clips. Right. I got a tie line. We've been meaning to bring you that ever since you got on TV. clips right i got a tie line we've been meeting to bring you that ever since you got on tv okay we gotta send you some okay um everything that i've done sketches right you know everything about me you can and it'll take you to it'll take you straight

to tiktok okay straight to instagram it's like my central central place you know and i've just been blessed you know i got i got a new single out, I Know. It's called I Know, my new song. Right. I Know with Richard Elliott. Right. I broke it into smooth jazz. Who knows where I'm going to go next? Right.

You know, I've been able to get into the smooth jazz industry as a singer. Right. When I saw Jamie as a singer, I was like, okay, that's good because he broke it in. But I wanted to do that. Right. But I had to find the right lane for me. Right. Right? Right. Like, what does the coach bring to your to your team they bring their philosophy right right how they work it right right and then you guys kind of shape it with what y'all do right

you know when we did this at this school or whatever they can modify it and not be too too rigid right then no that's what we're doing and how many coaches have we seen yes gone because of that this is the system that you see what i'm saying exactly, that's what we're doing, and how many coaches have we seen gone because of that? Yes, this is the system that I run, so we run the system. You see what I'm saying? Exactly. So that's kind of how I looked at music. Where can I be most successful now?

Where can I have it be something genuine and real about me with the music? And how can I help the listener? When I see our kids listening to what's going on in the radio now, Right. I don't really see a lot of stuff that can really help them

Right. grow and be much, much stronger. Right. You know, spiritually stronger, mentally stronger.

Right. I just don't see that happening in the music that's coming out of them. Mm-hmm. You know, I'm going to do the music

that's natural to me. Right. And just let it be. let it be right you know i'm gonna just stay in my lane right and just do what i do and just let it kind of flower from there because i've been a musician and a singer since i was a little kid right you know and so i'm just i'm do like Plexico did. Plexico, they had him in an interview, right? Right. All right, Plexico, you shot yourself in the leg, you were in jail, you know, a whole year off. You're here in the Super Bowl. You catch the clutch catch to close this thing out. What do you attest for that? thing out what what what do you what do you what do you attest for that he said i just asked god this morning if you just get me to the field i'll appreciate just that ray ray you were up for a

drug i mean the shootings you were about to go to jail it's a whole season the patriots put up a thing that's your party. You end up getting MVP and the big old dancing hoisting. What do you attest to that? He said, well, I knew God wouldn't put me through such a trial unless there was a triumph behind it. I got brand new ears where I can hear. Right. I can hear it.

The O'Bannons won the national championship. Right. And they were the last seed and all this. And asked him you know how did you do this and they said we went this season by faith and not by sight you know and these are principles that that i think are important for me right but this is my society too right right because i'm africa just my cultural culturally african and i'm an african-american here doesn't mean i'm outside of humanity right i'm a part of humanity too right so why can't i speak on all our behalf everybody else do right exactly i got. I got some input, right? And it's valid.

Right. You know? If I wasn't worth nothing, they wouldn't have brought me over here. There you go. We got it done, man. We got it done. That was years of passing each other, man.

Years. Thank you, man. Thank you. For letting me talk, man. Thanks for sharing your story. You got it, Shane. Really appreciate it. Love you, man. Thank you. For letting me talk, man. Thanks for sharing your story. You got it, Shane. Really appreciate it. Love, Shay Shay. Tommy Davis. All my life. Been grinding all my life. Sacrifice. Hustle paid the price.

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