Podcrushed - Jay Pharoah

Episode Date: December 18, 2024

Acclaimed actor, comedian, and impressionist Jay Pharoah (SNL, Jared) tells the gang about his days getting in trouble for impersonating his preacher, the pivotal moment that came from forgetting his lines on stage, and the strange coincidences that keep shaping his life. For up to 27 free meals, head to Dinnerly.com/OFFER/PODCRUSHED and use code PODCRUSHED.  Visit rosettastone.com/podcrushed for 50% off unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your life. Follow Podcrushed on socials: Instagram TikTok XSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lemonada I froze and my friends in the back They had to feed me all of the lines So they were feeding me the line And I got through it But I said after that day I said I don't care what it is I said I will never ever ever

ever be in a position Where I am not ready on stage I will always be prepared Welcome to Podcrushed We're hosts, I'm I'm Penn. I'm Sophie and I'm Nava and I think we would have been your middle school besties. Avoiding slow dances together.

Welcome to Pod. Crush. That was my two co-hosts trying to jump on the bandwagon there and like and just riding your coattails everywhere you go. Everything you do. Okay, I have a question for you guys. If you could have any, I feel like this is the kind of question that Sophie's husband asks us a lot. not this specific one, but in this genre.

If you could have any holiday gift you wanted, no budget involved, but a holiday gift, so not like a, you know, a second house or whatever, what would it be? The end of war, right? Peace on Earth. Isn't that the... Penn is in his pageant era. Holiday gift.

Okay, let me think. The thing that's on my mind right now is an instant printer. for scrapbook making. I've been really into making scrapbooks. Yeah, just like you connected to your phone and you can instantly print like a little photo that you can stick in, you know, scrapbook or wherever you want. And I'm into scrapbook making right now

because I think the cloud is not safe, guys. It's going to one day, we're putting all of our memories on there and then poof. They're just going to be gone one day. You're probably right. You're going to access them. Yeah. Scrapbooks.

I think about that all the time, actually. I don't trust the cloud at all, but I don't trust anybody. Here's what I would like a gift for the holidays. It's trust. I knew you'd find a way not to answer. I don't know. Navu, you go. Okay, if I could have any holiday gift that I wanted, I would want, maybe this is too ambitious.

I would want, okay, let's say once per month a visit to a really fancy spa. That would be an amazing. Oh, like a subscription. Yeah, once per month I can go to like a really nice spa where they do like honey baths and stuff. I would love that. Wow. I mean, that's like thousands of dollars, I think. I thought we were talking about holiday gifts.

That's like the very end of... Sounds like Nav was married to a billionaire. Like, that is many thousands. Okay, okay, one nice visit to a spot. I'll modify it. Okay, you know what I want this year? You know what I want this year? That I am actually...

And I'm going to get it for myself is a watch. Oh, nice. Yeah, very cool. But not too, not crazy, by the way. Yeah. Something that's not too cheap. but not you know and there's a it's hard to find that perfect middle ground anytime we pass like a window that has like a jewelry store that has watches

David makes me pick out the one I think he would want and I always get it wrong that seems punitive somehow I'm slowly figuring it out every window we pass yeah well let's shift then we've got today a stand-up comedian writer actor and truly a renowned impression Jay Farrow, who was a weapon on Saturday Night Live, SNL to those who know. He spent six years on that show, showing off his masterful comedic chops and near-perfect impressions of everyone from Barack Obama

to Eddie Murphy to Lel Wayne Shack. The list goes on and on his new special, Jared, is out now on YouTube. Stick around. Does anyone else ever get that nagging feeling that their dog might be bored? And do you also feel like super guilty about it? Well, one way that I combat that feeling is I'm making meal time everything it can be for my little boy, Louis. Nom Nom does this with food that actually engages your pup senses with a mix of tantalizing smells, textures, and ingredients.

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now so you don't miss an episode I think just to start we really want to hear about this this Jay or at this point I guess it would be Jared you know as you've been clear in your new special at 12 and 13 you know you have described yourself in various interviews as as being introverted and

chubby or fat or heavy whatever the words you've used awkward from what I can tell you like started rapping and you got in the theater so can you just like paint us a picture of of of you at this point 12 and 13 12 year old j farrow was a very um he was very awkward you know um i had a had a very awkward shape uh you know when normal people normal people gain weight normal little boys gain weight they gain weight in the cheeks you know they might gain weight you know in the stomach you know when i was uh younger i would gain weight in the butt that was not cool um yeah

Yeah. My mother had hips and my dad has the out. So I got both of them. So pretty much think about Nikki Minajah's body with my face on it at the age of 12. So that's pretty much what it was. So when you don't look like everybody else, you know, people tend to, they tend to single you out and, you know, pick on you. And, you know, at that time, I was overtly, I was, I was really overtly sensitive at this point. You know, it was a transition. I think my sister had left and went to, she had left and went to college.

My mother was working in Virginia. And my dad was traveling and going overseas. You know, he was, he started drinking at that time. Really wasn't, really didn't lend a good situation to me when he would come back to the house so I was you know I got knocked upside the head uh that was messing me up but I tell you this when I was 12 years old that was the funniest year of my life it was so funny I started creating characters around that time um we would I would impersonate the teachers and um you know it was just uh that frame of a of a person was uh just at a very awkward stage and um

you know, I'm depressed as well. All it is, it was depressed, but I was laughing sometimes. It was just a, it was a whole, there was a whole bunch going on. And, you know, I found my, I found my outlet through being in drama. You know, I was in a theater shoot called The Harald Players. And, you know, I played, there's this thing called Wiley and the Harryman. I played, I played Wiley. He was this country kid, whatever.

But, funny enough, Wiley in the Hairy, man, the body type I had was perfect for the role. It was. Like, it was perfect because he was a chunky Southern kid. So I had a fro so big that the kids were called me ludicrous because I was black with a throw. Yeah, I'm just telling you the amount of racism that was in my area at that time. Wow, I'm just, I'm not even the same skin complexion as this man,

but I got a fro so you're calling me ludicrous. Okay, that's cool. But all of those things just made me, it just made me reach to the arts and become super creative.

I started rapping around the next year and that became an outlet too. And I pretty much think that all of those things are laughing, being able to act, being able to just rap.

I think all of those artistic expressions really saved my life because I think around that was it it was either that year it was that year too it was so much going on man it was so much going on I think my mom caught me one time you know when you're younger you don't really understand how to really take yourself out I uh I tried to choke myself out until I pattern my mom would come home I like choking but if I would have if I would have choked myself out I would have died I would just warm woke up, you know what I mean? It's not funny, but...

You said it was the funniest year, and you didn't lie. Yeah. I was just woke up and be like, oh, that didn't work. Let's try again, you know what to be? But my mother, I remember one time she came in my room and I was trying to do it. And she was, she tried my arms away from my neck and she was just hugging me like, what's wrong? I couldn't even explain to her that time.

I didn't, you know, because I didn't want to tell her. everything that was going on. The only thing I could articulate was the fact that I didn't feel like, you know, my father was the nicest person at that time to me. And he, you know, he wasn't, you know, and he apologized for that when I was 17. He admitted that he went across my head a couple of times and he didn't have to. And if you need a translation, I whooped you when you didn't do anything, you know, tight. which is the craziest thing about that was you know normally the babies get away with everything

you know I have an older sister normally the babies get away with everything it was the reverse from me it was the reverse of me it was like my sister was getting away with murder and I was over here just taking just you know under pharaoh's rule you know you know what I mean like when I say pharaoh of course it was my father I'm talking about you know Egyptian pharaoh you feel me like like let my people go type thing i needed you know i needed moses at that time to come and you know get me out of the situation um things didn't start changing until i got uh 17 17 i did a whole a whole 180 when i was 17 i did a whole 180 like i lost 75 pounds i graduated with honors which which was crazy because i had a two point but i had a 2.5 4

and I went from 2.5-4 to a 3.06 in my graduation year. I got scholarships. Like, it was, you know, I got ADD, too. So it was like, I'm all over the place. But when you focus that energy, it's a superpower. And I started doing stand-up. 16, I got on, I really got on stage. 15, I was doing it, but I was doing it in smaller places in front of my folk.

or whatever in front of my friends, you know, you know, uh, classmates and everything. God, I'm sorry to sound so this is a long, this is a long time. No, this is exactly what we want. I was just thinking, what a dream guest. Yeah, okay, okay, okay. I'm like, oh, Lord, my, I'm like, oh, no, I'm going on them. I hear these. I see these.

No, no, no, no. No, no. No, I was literally just saying that I was thinking, what a dream guest. Like, he's just telling his story. Sometimes it's hard to have people just tell their story. So it's lovely. Yeah. Most people we have on the show, I think, around this time, are also realizing, hey, I'm a performer.

I'm an artist of some kind, and I can start honing my craft. So I'm really curious when comedy went from, you know, being this kind of thing that you did in this way that you were, right? It's like it was a tool in your life, and it was also something you love, but you're not, I mean, I don't know, were you thinking of it as something that you could actually do? I had just been doing characters since I was six years old, man. shoot, I did theater. I started theater when I was eight years old. So, you know, when you start earlier, you kind of don't have the stage fright.

And I remember nine years, the reason I don't have stage fright, because when I was nine years old, I did this play called Pocahontas, and I was Powhatan. And I'll never forget this. My teacher, Mr. Salmons, and he was a character guy as well.

He would read books and he would do the voices. And I was like, oh, this guy is, you know, this guy's, this guy's cool. But I will always mess up in his class. I didn't remember my lines. And he put me up, you know, he put me up in front of, in front of the teachers and the, in the parents. It was like PTA night. We performed it. And I froze and my friends in the back, they had to feed me all of the lines.

So they were feeding me the line. And I got through it, but I was supposed to be Powhatan the next day in front of the school, in front of the students. And then, dude, I said, listen, I told my understudy. I said, dog, you got it, man. I can't. I'm not going to get up there and do that. I don't know the lines. So I said after that day, I said, I don't care what it is.

I said, I will never, ever, ever, ever be in a position where I am not ready on stage. I will always be prepared. Now, here's a special moment. Cut to 2004. I did this play called The Damn Yankees, right? I played Mr. Applegate. I got that role because the lead dropped out two weeks before, dropped out two weeks before opening night.

And Ms. Schuller, shout out to Ms. Shuler, my drama teacher, she gave me a role, right? She was like, you got to memorize all these lines. I sat there, I memorized every single. line, went open the night, did it. Killed. I go into the lobby. Mr. Salmons

is right there. And he looks at and he says, he says, I knew you had it in you. I was just trying to bring it out of. I was like, man, but, you know, that night was so bad a bit for me, but thank you so much. So it's like,

it's like he's, what he saw in me as a kid, like he didn't know, He was just trying to encourage it. He was like, you got the talent. I'm just, I love you. But I'm trying, when you love somebody, you chastise them in a loving way.

And that's what he did. But he came back, and I saw, I saw his intention. And then we hugged and everything was, everything was beautiful. But having that confidence, I think that stage presence just allow me to seamlessly go into doing a stand. up in front of people. And I was 16 and my dad put me in this competition part of Virginia Idol Talasurch. And out of the whole thing, it was 300, 300 performers of the whole thing. I got

fifth place. And it was four singers ahead of me. No comedians. Wow. Four savings. And at that point, I knew that, okay, maybe I can do something with this. Maybe I can do something. I just have to focus. and I mean look what happened I was 19 years old Charlie Murphy took me on the road with him Eddie Murphy's brother for three years I thought that was my SML I was wrong you know

21 21 I started going on a road by myself and my sister we hit the Chitlin circuit in New York where you can do you can do like 10 rooms in a night they'll pay you $75 $100 to do those rooms and then the next year came up and I got S&L.

And it's like, wow. It's just a, I thought it took forever. But when you think about that time period, that's like that's not long at all. That's not long at all. Well, you talk about, you know, starting to do impressions. You talk about 12 years old being your funniest year. And I'm curious, was there ever a time in adolescence where comedy or a joke that you made got you in trouble? Oh, man.

Yes. This was the same summer of the competition, right? It's a family union. My family members wanted me to do comedy. I didn't want to do it at the time. I was like, yeah, you didn't force me to do no show. I don't do no shows. I don't got anything prepared.

When you don't have anything prepared, what do you do? You start, you do crowd work, right? Oh, so I'm at the Family Union, and it's my grandfather's birthday as well at the Family Union, and my dad's like, Jack, yeah, do comedy. I'm like, God, dagged eye, Joe Jackson. I get up here. So I get up, I get up, and I don't have a set. And I look at my grandfather, and my grandfather's teeth were very,

they never had cavities because I think he drank well water, but they were really strong. But they were, you know, you could see the little mineral. You could see little brown spots. So I picked, I look, I said, look at this dude. I just, look, I said, it looked like. It looked like 50 shit, let off all of his shots in his mouth. And everybody, you could have the reaction.

My mother, my mother just turns her head. My dad's back there like this. He's just looking like this. And I get through, my uncle, though, laughing hysterically. Yeah, somebody must have loved it. That's a good line. I get into the car after the performance, right? My mom and my dad are quiet.

Yeah, quiet. Seven, ten minutes into the ride. my mother turns around and she just goes I was so embarrassed I was so it was awful I was so embarrassed my father's just driving with the same face he had like this

and I'm in the back like I told you I ain't have a set it's your fault when somebody tells you they don't have anything they don't have anything so I remember I was impersonating the rock I used to love the rock, and I was a wrestling for that, wrestling for that at this time.

This was the attitude error, you know what I'm saying, very heightened, you know what I mean, smack down, fresh, new. I was at church, and is this deacon, his name was, his name, Deacon Randall, he's got a, his eyes, it's not straight, right? Let's tell these, his eyes are not straight. And he came up to me and to give me a handshape, and I was in character. I said, the ronth doesn't need, the roth doesn't need your hand-shaked your brodie. You know what the ron's going to do? The ron's going to take your Bible. He's going to dust it off, turn it sideways, and sickle straight up your 10 yams.

I said yams, but the energy said ass. Right, right. He told my mother that I said that I was going to take the Bible, turn his sideways, and stick it up his egg, right? His ass, whatever. Can I say the egg? I said that it occurs words. His ass. His ass is fine.

My mother was so mad. She took my television out of my ring, placed it in the lift, and placed it in the hallway, and I couldn't watch Smackdown for like six months. Wow. I'm like, all for that? Now, I never did it again.

I never did it again. Yeah, that's an old-fashioned punishment right there. I like that, kind of. This is some, these are some, these are some styling levels of punishment. we're talking about. Just so you know, I've a 15-year-old, so we're going, you know,

the teen years are full of all kinds of stuff where you have to think about how you're getting disciplined. I like that. I'm hearing that. I'm like, that sounds nice. Six months. Six months.

And guess what? He never did it again, did he? Listen, man, hey, if you want to run a totalitarian household, that's all you. I have nothing to do with that. Just while we're on the topic of deacons and churches, I've heard you say that God

is like the central point of your life. And I heard you talk about once that there was a period of your life where you were like saying prayers and it was really creepy because you would say them and then instantly the thing would happen. And so I just want to hear more about that, like sort of what the role of religion was in your life growing up. And I'd love to hear a creepy prayer that came true. We were raised in an apostolic household. We used to follow a book. There was like little rules. You couldn't your dress had to be certain lengths from the ground.

you couldn't you know men couldn't wear shorts women couldn't wear makeup if you did then you know you were on your way to hell that's what we all thought so it was like uh we were all busheled and bunched up in this place his congregation feeling scared i got baptized when i was six years old baptized when i was six and um called quote unquote received the holy ghost when i was nine years old i told people i'm I'm ready to receive the Lord or whatever. And I would pray for things. And it was so scary because it would just happen. Like one time I was at my father's one of his rental properties that he has,

one of the townhouses. And I was mowing the grass, right? But there's a newspaper on the grass. I didn't see. I rode over the newspaper. There are paper. There's paper everywhere. I'm talking about everywhere, right?

I was like, Lord, I don't know if I could pick all this up. Could you please help me? I kid you not. The wind chain picks up the paper, pushed it over the fix. I said, you get the heck out of it. I say, yo, you. I was like, nah. I mean, okay, win-end, but still.

What to happen right there is insane, right? There's multiple instances, though, where, you know, prayers have just been, you know, prayers have just been answered. I didn't know how I was going to get on SNL. There was no way for me to get up there. I prayed about it and happened. I didn't know. I didn't, I wasn't in sketch. I was a drama kid who did stand up.

Like that wasn't my, you know, that wasn't my lane. Wait, so elaborate on that a little bit, just for people who, for listeners who might not know, you said, you prayed about it and it just happened. But give us some more of the details. How did it happen? Okay. Well, me and my sister decided to go on the road, just hit the road, and do the shipment circuit. But mind you, at this time, she was unemployed. I was unemployed at the time, too.

We didn't have any money. So what she did was she sold her jewelry to Graham Breyer Pond so we can have gas money to get up there to hit the circuit, whatever. So I'll never forget that, right? Never forget that. So we get up there. You do the Chitlin circuit where you got about, you got 10 rooms. Like I said, 10 rooms, you do, $75, whatever.

You do them $100. And you can stack a lot of bread every night. So we would keep doing that over the course of the summer. And I was auditioning. I did this audition for NBC called Pink House. I remember that. I didn't get the role. But the producers saw me and they said, who is this kid?

Who is this guy? Like, we've never seen. He's funny. Who is it? Black kid. So they offered me a holding deal of $100,000, $100,000 holding deal for NBC. Whatever we were going to develop. You know, but you y'all know about this.

You know about the holding deals, what I'm saying? Fox hits me up in April. They got a holding deal for me as well. I'm like, man, I was like, all right, I was still holding out. Still holding out. Still going up, still auditioning, putting out YouTube video in the back of my mind. The most advantageous move would be if I could get on SNL and cultivate a fan base and then use that leverage after I get off the show with those fans and then do my own show.

So finally, we put together audition tape for SNL. Once again, we sent it to them, and I got an audition. I had an audition for SNL in 2010, and I was like, wow, this is the moment. And my ex-girlfriend had broken up with me at the time. I thought I was going to marry this chick. I thought she was the one, whatever. I was like, this is it. And she was like, right before my audition, I don't want to be with you.

Okay. Well, now I got something to prove. Now I got something to prove. I went in there in that audition, and I made sure I nailed everything perfectly. And then I got this show, and she called back, and my dumb ass went, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm. But now I'm on the show. I'm on S&A. I'm on Saturday Night Live.

I am 22 years old. Damn, everything I'm doing on the show is going viral. I can't believe it. Even before I got on the show, all of my videos that I was doing, they were going viral. I was like, yo, what's going on? You know, all my stuff was still going viral. You know, and I spent six seasons on SNL, you know, and I was very, you know, very grateful. My third year, I almost got fired.

That was crazy. It was all good. Laura Michaels called me in his office, and he said, do you want to be here? I remember that. That was crazy because I was a little vocal about my opinions, but changed the very infrastructure of the show. Now you see people of color. You see a lot more women of color on the show, which they didn't have before.

And a lot of folks up there after whatever happened happened. And that year was tumultuous and it was super stressful. but what does my girls say went viral and that that sketch was about me and my ex breaking up and literally that saved my career so not only did I get the show

because I was trying to prove I was trying to prove something and I was ticked she saved my position on the show when we broke up it was wild stick around we'll be right back all right so um let's just let's just let's just real talk as they say for a second that's a little bit of an aged thing to say now that that dates me

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slash podcrushed. Visit Ixl.com slash podcrushed to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. Jay, you met Obama. You obviously went, your every impression you do is remarkable, but I feel like your Obama impression is just particularly impeccable because other people can't seem to do him. I've never seen anyone else do it, but you nail it. And I'm just curious, what was it like to meet him to do an impression in front of him?

Like, what did that feel like for you personally? I was at a private event, and I was petrified. It was me. It was Justin Timberlake, and it was Jessica Beale. And we were at this celebrity's house. I'm not going to be disclosed. Who did a celebrity was? But we're at the house.

It's a private dinner. And all the makeup people, they got me all Obama up and everything. And Obama's downstairs, and he's talking and I come down the stairs and I'm dressed like him and I start doing my staccorder I'm looking at him as I'm saying every word to see

how he feels and he felt the tension because one time he was like I know you're doing pretty good I was like let me keep going with it right I finished the act all of the pressure is off me but

Brian Tucker was like Obama came back upstairs and he said where's that guy? that didn't. He's pretty good. Oh, my God. And okay, that blew my mind, right? But cut to

2015 when me and Michelle Obama did the go-to-college video or whatever. And I met Obama again. I saw him at the White House. I took a picture with him. And he's just so gregarious. And he's just such a

cool dude. And he's so, he's just so amiable, you know what I mean? And he just said, I wish you'd loosen up a little bit on the show. And I was like, what do you mean? I was like, Jay, I like to have fun, man. I like to kick around the shit.

I'm like, it's not me. Like, I had a character for you called Chalk Obama. It was your subconscious. This was 2010. This was two, this was before Key and Peele did the Obama translator. I had, I had an idea that. was similar before.

However, it wasn't done on SNL because they had a, they had done to rock Obama and then, you know, it was that Fred Armisen was still playing a character or whatever. So it was a, it was, it took a little while. I didn't, I didn't, I didn't get Obama into 2012. And that's

already when Key and P. had already put out whatever earlier that year, the Obama translator. And they, they got, they got indie sport. And they should. Damn. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But we could have got those Emmys at that. They waited too long.

Jay, in the beginning of your special, Jared, you say to the audience, you say you own your insecurity and people will rock with you because of it. And it made me curious about you. What is an insecurity that you have had that you've just rocked with? And also, like, what advice do you have for somebody to do that? because I think it's great advice, but it's a hard thing to do. Well, first, I was told I was, I was told I was ugly for a very long time. So, you know, getting that out of my head in itself was so hard to do.

We've already talked about one of the insecurities, my body shape. I was very insecure about that for so long. When you do own your insecurity, whatever's wrong with you, listen, you're the only person who really thinks about the problem with your body the most. Don't nobody. Nobody really cares because everybody else is caught up in their own thing, you know? So when you own whatever it is, if you got a big butt, whatever, just walk, walk around with it out, you feel me? Like I got six fingers on my, I got six fingers on both hands. Well, you can't really tell, but, you know, it's like a, it's like a baby. It's like a little baby nub right here. Oh my gosh. Yeah, a little nub. But, you know, for when I was a kid,

you know, especially when I was in kindergarten and in first grade, nobody wanted to hold my hand. It was like, ew, what is that? Like, you know, and it would make me feel a little insecure. But it's like, nah, this is dope. Because if I would have let it grow all the way, I'd be the best guitar player in the world. Imagine if I had 12 fingers and I could play piano. Mozart Armadayette would be rolling around in his grave.

Tiss off, he'd be like, this guy's cheat, you know? But at the time, I didn't have that confidence. I got an extra bone in my mouth. I got, you know, I got an extra bone in my mouth. don't know if you all do. Well, I actually do. I just recently, I recently, well, I have like bones that are, this is TMI, but bones that are growing in my mouth, which is actually kind of scary, but it's from grinding my teeth at night. So it's actually nothing to be like confident about, but yeah. It's, it happened. So this is so random, Jay, but your finger story reminded me.

I had a friend, actually, I wasn't even friends with him, but there was a kid in school who was very popular who this is a true story in Puerto Rico he there was like a school field trip to a zoo he stuck his fingers through the gates of like a monkey bar and a monkey bit two of his fingers off which is obviously like very scarring very traumatic but he had eight fingers and he was a really good DJ and instead of being insecure about it he made his name DJ Ocho Delados which is like eight finger DJ and he was like everybody knew him for that like the eight finger DJ and he was like very popular he totally owned that that had happened to him and like made it part of his brand which is like such a cool way for a kid to react to something

objectively traumatic and awful. But look, you see how it works. Confidence. If you have confidence, you could sell, you could sell anything. You have confidence. That, like you're saying, it's, it's an infectious, it's an infectious vibe when you're just confident. People want to be around that because

they're like, I want a piece of that. Because I mean, there's always something that people are insecure about, you know, that they're not talking. You know what I mean? There's always something that you hold, nobody notices. about you. It's always that. You know? Once you get over that, notice me, you can look at me. I ain't got nothing to how? I'll show you all this thing. It don't matter.

Once you get to that point, it's just like, yeah, you can't, you can't say nothing to me. I'm DJ Ocho. Yeah. I love that. So good. You did say, I think you lost 75 pounds in one year, and then you also, your GPA kind of skyrocketed. So at 17, you know, what would you attribute to this sudden transformation,

where you, I mean, clearly you were thinking like, I've, I want to change this, right? So, yes, yes, because just like when I was, just like when I was 12 years old, as bad as, as bad as the depression was when I was 12, it was like that, it had gotten to that, it was starting to get to that point again when I was 17. And I had given up, like, people were calling me fat in school and all types of stuff. and it messed with me and I looked in the mirror I looked in the mirror in January of 2004 I looked in the mirror

and I said I got to do something about this I said I either do something about this I said or I'm going to end up harming myself and I don't want to do that now I'm already on the right path with the with the GPA and academics I went to summer school

I took algebra two I got an A when I got that A that incentivized me to be like, okay, if I focus, I'm not dumb. I just need to sit here and do the work. If I sit here and do the work, I'm fine. So what I did to lose the weight, I ate nothing but a little plate of barbecue. I ate salad. I put linen juice and a little bit of salt on it, and I would eat that every day.

Plate of barbecue and salad with some salt. and some lemon juice. And I would run on the treadmill. I did that every single day. By April, it was crazy. You couldn't, you didn't even recognize who I was. When I graduated, nobody knew who I was when I walked in process. Wow.

That's how much weight I had long. I was like, yeah, I got through this. That's great. I got through a lot of trials of tribulations this year. I switched my GPA, and I no longer have this Megda Salis. looking booty. Oh, my God. I was at such a good place, man. And, and then, hey, I'm making records now. My rapping is getting better. Like, everything just started aligning. And then the 19, I'm on a row with Charlie Murphy. Like, everything just started clicking and right into place.

God's playing, man. It's seamless. You just have to, it ain't yours. You just have to go through it. And we'll be right back. Fall is in full swing, and it's the perfect time to refresh your wardrobe with pieces that feel as good as they look. Luckily, Quince makes it easy to look polished, stay warm, and save big, without compromising on quality. Quince has all the elevated essentials for fall. Think 100% Mongolian cashmere from $50. That's right, $50. washable silk tops and skirts and perfectly tailored denim, all at prices that feel too good to be true.

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Like, how did you get through even that moment? So I'm running down, I'm running down Ventura. And my run tracker app tells me to stop running. And I see, as I stop running, everything is happening. I see helicopter flying over. I see all this stuff going on. But I'm not thinking nothing of it. I ain't thinking nothing of it because I'm not doing anything.

So I'm walking. And now I'm walking now Ventura. And I see these cops. I see this cop come up, freeze, first cop, he's got a gun. I'm looking. I'm like, who the hell is he talking to? This is a draft. So I was like, oh, snap, he's talking to me.

I said, okay, because I don't know. I'm like, all right, let me get on the ground. I don't know what's happening. I'm getting on the ground. Then three more officers pulling up. I get on the ground, and this officer comes up and he puts me in hand. I'm like, yo, are you putting me in handcuffs? Like, I'm not doing anything.

Like, you said, I'm innocent. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll just wait here, sir. There's somebody on the loose. I was like, all right, man, whatever. I was like, I'm like, listen, I don't know who you guys are after, but it's not me. Understand, though.

I'm thinking this in my head. It's not, I'm like, yo, it ain't me. I'm not, I'm not mean, nothing. I'm just like, listen, I don't know who you all are looking for. But come on, man. Me, Jay Farrell? Come on, dog. Not me?

So I'm on the ground, got the handcuffs on. They pull me up. I'm on the side. And I'm just, I'm in handcuffs. And I'm like, yo, what, like, what is going on? And it seemed like it took forever. It took forever. I'm sitting there.

He's sitting at them handcuffs. And these cops got their guns. And I'm just like, man, I'm just going to be, I'm going to be still. I'm going to be quiet. I'm like, yo, yo, guys, y'all know I ain't doing anything, right? That's all I'm saying. You guys, you know, I'm in this. I ain't doing anything.

Whatever. finally they came back and said all right he's not the you're not the guy you're not the guy we're going to let you go I said that before

I said man look dog I've been on S&O I'm everything dog wait I don't know who you're looking for but I'm not the guy he said well you match the description of a black man

a sweatpants and a sweatshirt I'm like that could be anybody you know what I'm saying just pick one you put a whole bunch of black people's names that I had and pick one out go ahead that's pretty much what you don't

right it finally comes back to them I'm not the guy they're like all right we can let you go and then now I start getting buck I'm like man get me out these effort costs man

I said that now I'm on lies I'm on live talking to people I said yo I just got put on the ground by the LAPD I was totally innocent there were folks who were watching

they're like oh wait you're all look he's a criminal I'm totally innocent there was a couple that saw the whole thing and they said listen they said we will drive you where do you need to go we will drive you home we saw exactly you need to sue them so you need to sue

the hell out of them for that and i'm like y'all i'm just happy that i have my life because at the end of the day this is the same time period as george floyd it's covid everything is happening and i don't even i don't even know i don't even know if i would have got if that app would have told me to keep running, I wouldn't have heard those. I wouldn't have heard those. I wouldn't have been paying attention to none of that. You know, the fact that, the fact that I got stopped right before,

right before they came up, the fact that I was walking had a block before the app told me to start walking. That's crazy, Jay. Yeah, wait. That's crazy. That's crazy. Why did it tell you to start walking? Or stop running?

Because what it does is it trains you. So it'll tell you to run for 18 minutes and stop for two. Run for 20. Stop for two. So it was my rest period. It was the rest period in the act. It was allowing me to, you know, because I was getting the little, hey, them here's coming back. I was like, yo, man, I got to do something about this.

I said, I can't let this body return. This, you know, Megastadio was hot at that time. You feel me? I mean, she's still hot. She just come out. Them cakes, they was clapping. So I was like, nah, though. I got to get rid of this.

Talk about moments where God protected you. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Yep. Right there. Protected me. If that app did not tell me to stop running,

I probably wouldn't even be on this podcast today telling you the story. God's protection right there. In moments where it could have went left, it did not. I'm so sorry that happened to you, though. It's so obviously unjust and an awful thing for you to have to live with. Yeah, it is. But, you know, me being raised, me being raised where I was and, you know, the upbringing, you know, that was all preparing me for that moment, you know, because what if I would have bucked up,

you know, could have bucked up and it could have been even worse. Nobody deserves to lose their life, especially if they're not doing anything. Nobody does, you know. I'm glad that I'm glad that I'm here. We're glad you're here. Then I got a bit I got a good bit out of it The bit is crazy on my special

Everyone check out his special Jared Available on YouTube Yeah Check yeah Check that out It's doing well The energy The comments

95% positive You always gonna have 5% who are like D heads But you know You deal with that But for the most part Everybody is loving So I'm glad that

I put a project out there that is being enjoyed ubiquitously and showing people that, hey, you know, yeah, he does voices. And that's part of me. That's part of me because arguably I'm one of the best impressionists, if not the best impressionist in the world.

This is what people say is not what I say, you know. But there are so many more colors of Jared that you don't know about. So many colors of J that you don't know. And then Jared is in all of that. You feel me? as I have said today is the things that I've never told before

on this podcast. That's going to be the hook. That's the hook of our episode. The untold Jay Farrell start. I'm conscious of time. We just have a couple more minutes. But we have a final question. Penn, do you want to ask the final question?

Sure, sure. So our final question always is if you could go back to 12-year-old Jay, Jared, what would you say or do? if anything. Oh, man. Your life is worth it. And when you get older,

you're going to see how it plays out and you're going to be very happy about it. You have a lot of blessings coming to you. So don't give up the fight. Keep fighting. Hold on. And everything will be in God's hands and it will flip for you.

Stay faithful. Don't lose your life. Don't take your life. and stay focused, stay focused, and you'll be just fine. Yeah. And if I could talk to 28-year-old, Jay, me and Rihanna would be together right now. Settle.

I will be ASAP, we're both Libras. The stock pisses me off. It is so good. I could have been Mr. Rob. I could have been Mr. Fenty. Oh, my God. Mr. Fenty. But not, I would tell 12-year-old.

Jay. It's just hold, just fight the good fight. You'll be just nice throughout. That's lovely. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for coming on, man. Thanks for your energy and your stories. We really appreciate it. Hey, man, I hope you enjoy it. We got a lot of labs

today. Shoot, I might put some of the stuff in my set. I don't know. Yeah, I should. Dude, when people are willing to go there, it's always a rich vein. And you really did dig in. So thank you. I can't thank you enough. No doubt, man. Thank you guys so much. We are so excited that you can now listen to Podcrush, add free on Amazon music.

In fact, you can listen to any episode of Podcrushed ad free right now on Amazon Music with an Amazon Prime membership. Let me say, sir, I am a fan. Are you really? Yeah. I've watched you. I love you. What the hell? I'm sorry. I'm sorry for you. You say you're sorry for me?