The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Earthquake Talks Comedy, Katt Williams, Dave Chappelle, Kym Whitley, Netflix Special, Politics + More

Episode Date: January 26, 2024

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Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God.

What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. We need help! That's Escape from Z-A- Stan on the I heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey y'all. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called

historical records, executive produced by quest, love the story pirates and John Glickman Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Flash, slam, another one gone. Bash, bam, another one gone. The crack of the bat and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin,

a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, guys. I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show,

where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, my undeadly darlings. It's Teresa, your resident ghost host.

And do I have a treat for you. Haunting is crawling out from the shadows, and it's going to be devilishly good. We've got chills, thrills, and stories that'll make you wish the lights stayed on. So join me, won't you? Let's dive into the eerie unknown together.

Sleep tight, if you can. Listen to Haunting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show, Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people.

We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other. So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Wake that ass up. In the morning. The Breakfast Club. Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha Guy.

We are The Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the building. Legend. Legend. Comedian. Earthquake. Welcome, brother. Thank you.

Thank you, brothers. It's always an honor to be on this show, man. I look forward to it. It's always a highlight when I come next with you brothers, man. Happy to have you here. How you feeling, first of all? Man, I'm blessed, man. Life is good.

Things are good. Career's popping. So I'm good, man. I'm real good. You know, your name came up recently when Cat Williams did his interview with Shannon Sharp. Yeah. I want to talk about just that conversation period. What has that conversation done for

black comedy um comedy i don't think anything because there's no jokes in it you understand i'm in the joke telling business you know what i mean so it didn't do anything i think for comedy um personally speaking um me and him was cool so you know i didn't i didn't know where that came from um certain things he said about me half was true half was you know um was a lie you know but uh to each his own i don't you know man i don't even get into that part of it because see i'm a type of person if i have a problem with you, Charlamagne, I'm going to call you. And man to man. And we're going to talk it out.

We're going to duke it out. But we're going to handle it man to man. I don't talk behind people's back. And that's what social media is. If you go into a platform and talk about a person without you addressing them yourself. When you have opportunities to get in contact with them, let it be known. So, you know, I don't get into that. You know what I mean?

I let them believe what they need to believe. The reason I asked about what it did for black comedy, because I started seeing people having conversations about black comedy and black comedians that I don't think they were having before. Such as? I mean, like, yourself

or the Samores. Like, it was just the whole Def Comedy Jam era. It's like a whole great era of comedy. BET, comic view, all of that stuff we grew up on. Right. I kind of feel like people had kind of not been discussing, but for whatever reason,

that interview made everybody start pulling up old clips and having the conversations again. But it didn't move the needle to help us progress as black comedians in the profession. You get what I'm saying?

So, you know what i mean it might do a little better for the people that he talked for a ticket sale such as himself but that levels back out you know what i mean but you know it didn't help us as the genre as the totality of us getting farther getting through this door of us being appreciated for what we do. Unless you go into mainstream comedy clubs, us black comedians, if we just, such as myself, pre-K and just talk to my constituents, it takes a long time to get through that. And it didn't help anything with that.

He definitely said he was funny, though. He said he was funny. He said nobody gets there up quick not funny. He definitely said that. Yes. Yeah. and i appreciate that because it's the truth now now i was gonna ask you know you said you were cool or you thought you were cool now do people are saying he did that to sell tickets some people said he was just venting or some people it was just like it was just a lie just to create the controversy running and you know what what it's just it's just weird it just feel like it just to create the controversy surrounding it. And you know him. It's just weird. It just feels like he just came out of nowhere.

Well, I don't know. What is the motivation on it? I have been in this business for 30 years. We as comedians have never did that type of thing ever before. We're not rappers. We don't have beefs. You have a disagreement with a comic, usually we take it with the individual and handle

it as such uh outside of just you know doing that thing was the first time ever seeing it done but we're on a new age now you know what i mean it's a different age and i don't know what the motivation of the brother is i when i first um ran into cad Cat he was the most phenomenal doing things that never been done in here he was selling out Madison Square Garden type arenas on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and I was never I was coming into Oakland and they was like

you know Cat gonna be here I said what I just got here where he at this Friday nah he Tuesday Wednesday Thursday with the Warriors player I was like like, oh, my God. And then, you know, his acting skills was on top because he was on Hill Street Blues doing the thing. So I have always admired, you know, his work and what it is.

But, see, I don't get into all that because I'm in the joke-telling business. And as long as we're talking about jokes, that's the only thing that I am into. I ain't't in the pimp game i ain't in the drug game ain't in none of that i'm into the jokes so if you have anything to say to me or anything to say to me it should be right there in that category because that's the only only thing that i am involved in the public uh platform of it so the rest of that shit he can keep why do you say say you can't read? Where did that come from? I don't know. I mean, y'all didn't, to rest your mind, first of all, it's a lie. Because I couldn't, I used to be a WBLS.

You did radio for years. I did radio. And everybody in radio wants to be like y'all and be syndicated. But if you're not syndicated and you just got one goddamn station, only way you get some money off live reads. In traffic and the rest of them. So it came to that.

And another thing. Ninth grade, I was picked to go to Georgetown with the Upper Brown Program. Upper Brown ain't no joke. Upper Brown Program. Thank you. Upper Brown Program. Only reason I didn't make Upper Brown Program

is when they took me on a tour, they let me taste a fresh donut for the first time. And I ate it. I'm like, oh, my God. Freshly squeezed oil juice. And I said, you can have all these? They said, yeah. I said, y'all keep on walking around.

I'm going to stay right here near these donuts. Because I'm used to eating the hostess donuts. That little pack, the little pile. But I never had like a donk it one. I'm like, oh, my God, this is delicious. So, yeah, I was upper bound program to be picked out of Georgetown to go to Georgetown in the ninth grade. So I don't know. Also in the military as an air traffic controller. Could have been an air traffic controller, but I wanted to get out of my mother's house.

I said, what job can I leave today to leave her house? You can be an air traffic controller. Could have been an air traffic controller, but I wanted to get out of my mother's house. I said, what job can I leave today to leave her house? They said, you can be an air traffic controller. You can come back in six months and leave. I said, nah, I need to leave today. What you got? They said, loaded nuclear weapons. I said, I'll take it. You used to load nuclear weapons? Yeah, man, I dropped one. I'm trying to see two

live crew. Man, stop playing. No real talk. Box the LF for a space. What? Yeah, trying to see two live crew when when luke first came out we dropped that because you have to change the ordinance the disguise from the russians what are you talking about you drop the bomb so you get out to the club no i told him i wanted to go see luke friday they put me on the schedule i had already said i'm not going so they say go out there change the ordinance and then you can leave Course I've been doing this for 10 years I like I will need this I put it up and we tell the mood the rack and everything

We put all the grease fitting the canine hit boom Everybody ran I say what y'all running for a nuclear weapon a nuke I said you hit the ground. I don't believe this. I'll kick somebody here. Listen to me, man. This is God's honest truth. God take my talent from everything on. My name is in the Pentagon under Broken Arrow. You understand what I'm saying? Yes. Why they call you Broken Arrow? That's what happens when you

drop a nuke in the country. It's called a Broken Arrow. When there's a nuke on your own friendly soil and everything is an accident it's called a Broken Arrow. So you's a nuke on your own friendly soil and everything is an accident, it's called a broken arrow. So you're radioactive right now. Well, no, man. It's just, you know, I told them. You understand?

I'm in Boxdale, Louisiana, Shreveport, Louisiana. This is when Luke was at the height of his thing and had 150 bad chicks. Absolutely. I said, I'm going. And they sent me out here to change the ordinance on the plane. So they brung it on itself. But the nuclear clearly didn't go off. No, nuclear weapons are some of the most safest ordinances that you got.

Conventionals are more difficult because they got to drop at a certain height and then hit the safe thing, safe mall. It's the most safe. But everybody ran. Everybody ran. Base Commander came. So we was on a crane or base commander came no we was on the flight line we was on the flight line on the b-52 and you put it in the bomb bay to change it out and it came down and hit the ground boom everybody ran i was like what y'all running for and then they came and got me base commander came and then they took us to the hospital to do drug tests and everything to see if we high.

Ain't find nothing but incompetence in my blood. And then they put me on the snack bar. Damn. They don't let me touch no more. No more nukes. No more planes or nothing. And people like, ah, you stuck. I said, man, I don't care.

E-5, get the same amount of money as loading bombs as an E5 to pass out coffee. So the check ain't changed. It ain't hurt my feelings. So how was the concert? I didn't go. You didn't get to go? No, because I had to go to the hospital and get debriefed and everything. For two days?

For three days. What? They hold it for three days. They took a checklist. See, I was smart enough. I started checking all the things on the checklist. i said i did all my stuff so it had to be something wrong with the with the rack and everything else so that's the only way i was covering myself without getting court-martialed or article 15 for getting put out but i sat underneath the tarot and all i thought is i

ain't gonna get to see none of these hoes and i've been waiting and that's how it came and it hit boom and it ran off i don't know man a lot of people gonna say man Damn. And I've been waiting. And that's how it came. And it hit, boom, and it ran off. I don't know, man. A lot of people are going to say, man, Cap might have been right, man. You might have had to read something. Red Roar. And that's what you had him.

No, that was a motherfucker boy. That was when Luke was hot, man. He was on field down in New York. One of them things, showing them chicks, shaking and everything. And I was like, man. He was on field down in New York. One of them things, showing them chicks shaking and everything. And I was like, man, they finally going to do a concert at 150. And Shreveport was a small town. Bozer City was a small town in that way.

And we had no black women that looked that good in my eyesight. So I was looking forward to it. And I told them I wasn't going. So they put us out there. Shout out to Sergeant Anderson, who called me about two weeks ago. He was also on the team when we dropped the nuke. Well, listen, you know you got to prove things to the internet. So go ahead and read that real quick.

Yeah, read that. It's a live read. Read it out loud. Cat Wim is a liar. That man can read. That man can read. They ain't play too much of it. I know.

I know what I'm fucking with y'all. It's a live read. They play too much of it. I want to ask you about you know one thing that's been coming up recently is comedians stealing jokes true now it seems like that would seem kind of something that's normal because you know if you're talking about a car or you're talking about black versus white it seems like a lot of it so has that happened to you I've been robbed more than any comedian on earth. I have. I have friends that have taken my jokes. I have friends that have called me and told me they have taken my jokes.

I write another one. You know what I mean? It's what I, it's thing on it do. It happens. That's why I do not look at other comedians perform because I don't physically write. I mentally write. So I don't want to be contaminated with the thought.

You could sit here and see another comedian tell a joke and subconsciously it'd be into you. Then you could sit here and get on stage and riff and come up with and think you came up with it. But you previously saw somebody else do it. That's what happens. Sometimes we all, it's only certain many subjects that is discovered. This is your version of OJ trial. This is your version of Trump. This is your version of Joe Biden.

You know what I mean? So the shit happens. Me, myself, I just continue, you know, I just replenish as they diminish and i just keep on going with it and i the way i keep myself from even for that ever happening to me i don't watch other comedians i've heard i've heard people say that i found that video with uh bernie mack very interesting because bernie mack was like people are going to take your jokes like don't say your jokes around other comedians especially the younger ones when the veterans are around. Well, veteran and the rest of them.

But see, it's beautiful with me is, and I'm blessed that I don't have to go to a club to work a joke out. You see what I'm saying? I can mentally see this is going to work, and I can apply it to my regular show as I'm doing it. Take one out, put a new one in. Continue to make the rotation go. Certain comedians don't have that process. They have to actually write

it down and then try it on the stage. And then you have comedians in the back. Oh, I like that. And then they'll give you the thought pattern. They will give you their version of that thought pattern. This is what I would have said if I thought of that.

That's stealing too. So they sit there, but you just it's an occupational hazard. You don't got to work yourself out in a comedy club. So have you ever tried a joke and it didn't work? It seems like comedians do that. They'll go to a comedian's spot at 2 in the morning,

go for 10 minutes to see if a joke worked, and they keep it moving. So you don't do that. No, I work it out, and I work it out in my set. But see, I don't do elongated jokes, so I'm quicker with it. So I have to come up with more material than an azure. That's the radio in you. Yeah, I have to be quick,

because it got to be that in there. You don't have that long, you got to get it, get it, get it. So if that don't work, I'm all ready to the next one. And what made you give up radio? The reason I gave up radio wasn't no way of being like y'all. I wanted to be syndicated. And when I first got into the business, to come to New York, Steve Harvey in the morning, Quake in the evening.

You know what I mean? I wanted to be syndicated the whole way because that's what I wanted. And then they got bought out. And once they got bought out, you know, I went to the president and was like, hey, man, what's up with me, you know, with my show? And they had no aspirations for me being syndicated. I said, I didn't come to New York just to be on the radio at one station. So that was the end of that.

I'm saying, well, I'm going back to Los Angeles. And that's what it came, it balled down to. I really, syndication is what I wanted. And once that was no longer obtainable of being there, it was time to move on. And then, you know, the business is, if you can get one person that can work the board and be the air personality at the same time, you can go ahead and kick the air personality to the side

because I wasn't working the board or nothing. You know what I mean? So that's how that worked out. Was radio a good creative outlet for you? Very much so. Okay. I love radio. I mean, I have my own radio show now.

We're number one on Sirius XM. It's Quake's House on Kevin Hart's Laugh Out Loud radio. So we're in our sixth season there. So I'm still in the radio. And we don't do nothing but tell jokes. Yeah, that was the name of the show on BLS, Quakes House. Yeah, Quakes House. So what we did was, it's like the view with comics.

We just sit around and do topics and let the comics riff. Has comedy always been this competitive, at least behind the scenes? No. Wow. I mean, it has. You have aspiration. People hate on it.

But comedy speaks for itself. See, you can step on that stage and have all the accolades you want. That gets you the first five minutes. But after that, you got to be funny. So I don't care if you got a TV show or not. If this dude don't have no TV show and he fun, he going to blow you off the stage. So the competitiveness of it is being funny.

And, you know, that's it speaks for itself. What's the science of comedy, man? And the reason I ask you particularly because people always say you are most comedians favorite comedian so it's to me it's not just about being funny like because if you were that funny right on a class in a classroom or funny on the radio but they hit that stage it don't translate and that's the key word i was gonna say it has to translate you have to make people do something they can't make themselves do and just laugh and relate to them from no matter what the background and it must be sophisticated enough that it's not a knock knock joke but not too complicated that you alienate the audience so that's the sweet spot of it you know what i mean and me personally

i'm allergic to the quiet so i have to keep going rapture fire, you know, and I would hate to be like some comedians that write a long joke and then have a punchline at the end because my fear of it is suppose they don't get it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then you're losing

the audience. You know what I mean? But if you rapture fire quick with quick ones, sharp ones, and going, it's the way of success. And that's the key of it,

being relatable. You think the DMV area gets the credit it deserves for being a comedy hotspot? No. We have some of the great, Martin, Dave, me, Tommy Davidson, Tony Woods, it's a lot of them. Donnell, my brother. Man, I was hoping you'd let him out.

No, you can't leave. You found me. I was hoping y'all left Donnell out. No, I can't leave Donnell out. Donnell, you know, these, I was hoping you left him out. No, you can't leave. You found me. I was hoping y'all left Donnell out. No, I can't leave Donnell out. Donnell, you know, we in there. D.C. is a hard market as compared to, like, New York. They don't give you nothing in D.C. If you ain't funny, they're going to let you know right there.

And they'll wait until you succeed before they give you your accolades too. Your come up was mostly East Coast though, right? No, my come up was down in Atlanta. See, once I got out the military because I left that because the war broke out. I said, I don't mind practicing for war, but y'all fighting for real. I joined the military to get out of my motherhouse. I could have stayed in D to get shot at fuck this fight over some oil and I don't even have a car you better put somebody else out on here

send exxon over in the middle east so how do you just get out hey man my time was up man and I couldn't get out when i wanted to because they have this stuff called stop loss because in your contract which is about 200 pages somewhere deep in there if you're a central employee a central uh job in the military you have to stay in wartime situation of course if you're a bomb loader, you that. So they wanted to send me overseas. I said, man, I ain't going over there. So I did everything not to go overseas. So as soon as they

uplifted and took off the stop loss, let me out. I turned on CNN. Couldn't go back to D.C. because I didn't want to go into illegal pharmaceuticals. So I said, where I'm going to go?

I turned on CNN and, you know, they had one of those days, the blessed places, you know, the surveys for black men to prosper well. And the number one city was Atlanta. I said, well, God, here I come. And I grabbed four of my dudes who was also in the military

and said, let's go to Atlanta. And I tried to get on stage there to try it out. See, this is no epiphany for me. My career is making the best decision that day. Try to tell a joke and no better decision has came. So I never had the other things my other peers have. They got these great stories. No, I tried this and then nothing better came along.

And I tried to get on stage in Atlanta, and they had the Comedy Act Theater there, but the owner would never let me get on. Why? I don't know. Then he promised me one time that I was going to be on, you know, and I told all the women, I'm going to actually be on the on the stage you know cuz you tell any black women in Atlanta back in there you're a comedian have you been at the Comedy Act like now I'm doing a little

white club down in Florida and tell me when you get on comedy get on a comedy act theater so he told me I was gonna be on there opening up for Paul Mooney told the chicks to come see me when I got there he told me nah I don't have nobody I didn't tell you that so you know I called my mother and I was like yo this motherfucker said I could be on and he can't and she's like I told you you can't get mad at nobody that don't let you ride your bike

you either get your own bike or don't ride at all I said mama how am I going to get my own club I ain't got no money I just moved to Atlanta I said well then don't call me and complain about me. That's the love that my mother has. She don't pick you up when you fall. She's like, get up.

Get your ass up. Get your ass up. Stop all that crying. She raised men. So that's what I did. I opened up my own comedy club. Oh, wow. And I got some investors.

And we opened up Uptown Comedy Corner and you found like you skipped a big step just now how you going from having no money well what I did was I hooked up with it was this dude named Gary Abdu he was opening he had little one-nighters and I say what need to do, we need to do a black comedy club. So I took them to the Comedy Act and showed all the bad business that they was doing. They had 400 seats with two waitress, no food, no nothing. And they brought the same comedians every week. So it was Ted Koppina and Joe Torre.

And they'll be there for the whole month. I said, if we bring it, we go to a better place, bring some food in, bring in with the class, we can do it. So he went to go look for investors, and I went to go get investors. I went to Dion, all the athletes. Yeah, we be in Mexico. Yeah, boy, that's a good idea. Call his people up. They shoot me down. But Gary went and found the number one plastic surgeon in Atlanta,

and he gave us $10,000. Say, if you could flip this $10,000, make some money, y'all can come back. So we went down to Birmingham, and that's how we discovered Ricky Smiley. And I seen Ricky. I'm like, hey, man, we're going to do this. So it was me, and him and we flipped the money in Birmingham and brung it back and then he gave us a half a million dollars to do the club so you discovered Ricky like just in the comedy club well we discovered Ricky he wanted to be a

comedian but at that time he was in church playing the organ and so I said man're going to open up a club. We sat around and sit there. Me, him, Gary, we got the club opening up. Then we opened up three more. Wow. He gave you $10,000. That was the test to see if you were going to come back with it. Y'all came back with $500,000. It was $500,000. We found a place

and we called it Uptown. That's why we called it Uptown because they was downtown. They was down there, and they're the bad part of town, and so we called it Uptown. Is your country falling apart? Feeling tired, depressed, a little bit revolutionary? Consider this. Start your own country. I planted the flag. I just kind of looked out of like, this is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. There are 55 gallons of water for 500 pounds of concrete. Everybody's doing it.

I am King Ernest Emmanuel. I am the Queen of Ladonia. I'm Jackson I, King of Kaperburg. I am the Supreme Leader of the Grand Republic of Mentonia. Be part of a great colonial tradition. The Waikana tried my country. My forefathers did that themselves. What could go wrong?

No country willingly gives up their territory. I was making a rocket with a black powder, you know, with explosive warhead. Oh my God. What is that? Bullets. Bullets. We need help! We still have the off-road portion to go. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. And we're losing daylight fast. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast Post Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive

even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. You know that rush of endorphins you feel after a great workout? Well, that's when the real magic happens. So if you love hearing real, inspiring stories from the people you know, follow, and admire, join me every week for Post Run High. It's where we take the conversation beyond the run and get into the heart of it all. It's lighthearted, pretty crazy, and very fun. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, everyone. This is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Layton, and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world. It took drama and mayhem to an entirely new level. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, every backstab, blackmail and explosion and every single wig removal together. Secrets are revealed as we rewatch every moment with you. Special guests from back in the day will be dropping by. You know who they are.

Sydney, Allison, and Joe are back together on Still the Place with a trip down memory lane and back to Melrose Place. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We're going to discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people,

but in a way that informs and empowers all people to hopefully create better allies. Think of it as a black show for non-black people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle. Exactly. Whether you're black, Asian, white, Latinx, indigenous, LGBTQIA+, you name it. If you stand with us, then we stand with you. Let's discuss the stories and conduct the interviews that will help us create a more empathetic,

accountable, and equitable America. You are all our brothers and sisters, and we're inviting you to join us for Civic Cipher each and every Saturday with myself, Ramses Jha, Q Ward, and some of the greatest minds in America. Listen to Civic Cipher every Saturday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist

who on October 16th, 2017, was murdered. There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate. My name is Manuel Delia. I am one of the hosts of Crooks Everywhere, a podcast that unhurts the plot to murder a one-woman Wikileaks. Daphne exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state.

And she paid the ultimate price listen to crooks everywhere on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts the rest of it was history and none and what they did was they told all the black comedians if you work in his club you can't work in mine so that's how i became great because i had to do all the time myself because none of the black comics would do it and um that's it was a blessing and a curse at the same time was Was Comic View your big break? In my totality of my career? At that time, Comic View was my

big break. That's where everybody, and I can tell Quake fans when they come say, I want to put your air in your mama name. When I know that, then I mean they was original Quake fans. How do you feel about them bringing back Comic View you think that

it was great I was there when they was filming with Mike and Kev any platform that allow the genre to expand

and give opportunities I'm all for and I participated and I've done that my whole career with my radio show and me doing the club and everything else

to expand it because it's a great art form it's you know I don't there's vitriol else to expand it because it's a great art form it's you know i don't there's vitriol that's going on and it's not what the job description of we bring joy and sit here and make people laugh what do you think happened to comedy at one time because at one time you would see the comic view you see the deaf comedy jam it was all over tv it was it was fun it was cultural and then there was a time where it just went away what do you think that was now i'm seeing it's it's i think think Netflix is doing a good job of bringing comedians out that people haven't seen or heard or giving them specials.

So what do you think was that moment where comedy kind of died for a little bit? Well, I think it's always been a vehicle for the others. Now, not for us. I think, you know, we haven't invested in ourselves. Certain people get in the door and they just don't give back and they forget how they got there. You know what I mean? And provide opportunities for other people. And, you know, I mean, I'm glad Kev brought Comic View back and I wish somebody else bring Def Jam back because these are the times that we're about to go into. We need that voice

from a comedian to put laughter to this sorrow that's coming I don't think people want to take the risk like you know when I talk to a lot of comedians that I admire like the first thing they say is like man I ain't going on TV with my shit cause like they still want to talk the way they talk on

stage they don't want to bring that to television and then risk everybody on Twitter. Oh, you cancel him and cancel her. Taking his sponsorship. You know, the cancel part, if you're true to your conviction and you're standing on that foundation, it should be cool. You know what I mean? When you're just going out to be controversy for the fact of controversy, I think it is. Explain your point.

Explain where you're coming from. And if it's true, I personally feel, if it's root in your belief, then something just like your jokes, you're going to find an audience that agree with you. And you're going to find an audience that don't. That's what I feel the whole time. And the thought about it is,

you don't have to go on stage. Executive producer, give it up to the next up and coming and give them a shine. That's right. You know what I mean? You don't have to be. Put your name on it. You can walk in there and they say, hey, Quake, you know, we want to do three movies. I want to do three movies, but I also want to do this comedy show.

And I got this young comedian that I want to host it all for. How much is going to cost? What's the budget would you give me for that? And I'll make it work on that for the opportunity because there's so many different platforms that you can give for that younger comedian to get on to and get on. And

I think Kev did a great job on that too because he was putting out special with different people. Certain people that gives opportunities to other people and certain people get through the door and lock the motherfucking shut and say ain't nobody else outside. Was it true? I mean, Dave did that for you too though.

Yes, he did. Gave me my biggest break in my career. Really? The Netflix stand up special? Yeah. Really? Oh, changed my life. Really?

Oh yeah. I mean, I mean, he was the only one, all the rest of them say he's funny. He great now, but he was the only one to bring me in there and say, I, this man is who it is, and stood on it. It's easy to put somebody on that you know don't have the possibility to be even with you or surpass you. But it's hard when you say this man is equally as talented or might be better, and I'm going to give it to him. Like somebody else gave a shot to me and very few of them does that. And Dave gave that to me.

Matter of fact, we're going to do another one because of him. Next Flixers came and gave me an offer for a new one that I'm going to do this year. How did that conversation happen with you and Dave? Was it, you had a greater, you wanted to do a Netflix special or he reached out to you?

How did that conversation happen? He called me. I really thought he was punking me. I thought it was a punk because I thought it was a prank. And they called me up and they said, Dave Chappelle wants permission to get your number because he wants to call you, my agent called, because he wants to produce your special. I said, yeah, right.

And then he got, hey, man, I got you. We're going to do it. I was like, all right, man i got you you're gonna do it i'm like all right man and it was the rest of it and stan latham you know i'm saying and the whole team he has he know how to shoot it and um it changed my life and i knew this was a career defined in opportunity and i addressed it as such i was that serious with it. How did it change your life? Changed my life by... International profile? International profile, exactly. I went on tour with him, Chris Rock,

over in Europe and to hear, you know, nobody look like me screaming my name in a foreign country coming from Southeast D.C. was amazing. Liverpool, we went to so many different countries.on and all the rest of it and then it got me in to nextflix to for them to sponsor my next special and able to do more uh business because they are the premier one when it comes to doing

comedy specials wow is it true it true that Kim Whitley ghosted you after you put it down on her? Putting that in air quotes. Yeah, I get her on that. Me and Kim used to date for a brief, but she ghosted me out there. She hit me and left me.

You might not have put it down like you thought you did then, Erick. Hey man, I'm a king. I don't pay for dinner to satisfy you. You gotta pick one, huh? You gotta pick one. I'm King Joffrey

now. You gotta take care of the king, man. So the one-time thing? Oh we did it one time kim is but kim did more for me than anything when i first had my biggest break before that time uh my tv show on abc and kim came and helped me navigate through that because it was i had a lot of people around me that wasn't um good for me and she came in and showed me how to do tv and um reiterated what i know now is i'm you know i'm not an actor i'm a movie star and and there's a difference. What's the difference? Ed told me this, and now I understand it. An actor. Ed who?

Eddie Murphy. Eddie Murphy, okay. Yeah, Ed. He said a movie star is a person that already has the content. An actor is a person you have to give the content to. See what I'm saying? We're walking content. So when you tell me something to read

which I do I would say that's that's not how I was saying I was saying like this and I know the best way to say this because I'm in the front line saying this to people every day an actor will sit here and just interpret and say, okay, I'm going to digest what you say and formulate it to your specification. So it'd be said the way you read, you wrote it. And that's where it was. I wouldn't talk like this. So if you have people,

that's not, they give you a show in your image based upon what you say, say, we're going to do a show about earthquake about your life and then you got people that don't know nothing about your life right and say that's how you say it and you don't have the authority to change that writers you know the way it's written and you'll struggle with that part of it so you have to say forget it and she was the one that on the set while I was filming my pilot for ABC

pulled me to the side and said, say how you want to say it. This show's show. And once she empowered me with that, it took off, but it didn't get picked up. Man, that's so interesting what you said because when I think about Eddie Murphy, I think about him in,

I don't know if it was Beverly Hills Cop or 48 Hours, but one of them roles wasn't for him. It was for Sylvester Stallone or somebody. Right. And just him being him, he them roles wasn't for him. It was for Sylvester Stallone or somebody. Right. And just him being him, he went in there and did it. That it is. Now you think about that, like, oh, that is. Okay, I get that.

I mean, look at it always. Chris Tucker played Chris Tucker. Yeah. When you get Kevin, every comedian who had the biggest movies, they was playing themselves in that fictitious role. You allow him, why hire him for what you, the reason you picked him. You didn't pick him because he's an actor.

He didn't go to none of these schools, Julia, Harvard, none of these theaters. You picked him because he's an individual talent. So why would you bring him in and then put him in this square? It just never made sense. And some of the biggest stars has always been comedians,

but they always been themselves. Adam Sandler, all of them, they play themselves. So they are movie stars. They're not actors. You put them in a petition. How would Ice Cube be in this situation? How would Kevin Hart be in this situation? You know what I mean?

That's how it is. And if you don't have the power or you don't have the management or the team to be able to structure your deal with the flexibility you know you know you sit there and then they changes all the way through because they'll give you a deal and you'll pitch the show to them and they say they love it and by the time they finish writing it the show ain't nothing what you're pissed at two and then it fails. You're like, I never wanted a gay dog that flew around the country.

You know what I mean? If you could get a gay dog, that'd really set it off. I can see it. A gay dog? That flies around. You know, a conversation that always comes up is black comedians wearing a dress. True. Why?

And what's your thoughts on it? It's art. When white dudes, Marlon Wayne said it so personally, when white dudes do it, man, they're genius. When we do it, it has something to do with our manhood. It's art. If it's a hit and it's funny, White Chicks was great. Big Mama House was great.

You know what I mean I know Marty Marty is one of the maniest man's man's there is Larry Johnson basketball player my grandmother my mother flip Wilson Geraldine killer kill you the Earl Dean. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You understand? Bigger than that. Killer, killer, yeah. The whole nine. And so it's just another, you know, another way to take a shot at people that they want to. And what's heartbreaking for me is younger comedians that's taking these shots at the people that paved the way for them. And it's sickening. Well, I think a lot of times, too, people use those things to justify

why they're not where they want to be. Exactly. You know? Exactly. And I strongly believe that to the core of my heart because you need something to tell yourself so you can go to sleep at night. Right.

Why I'm not there. It has to be. Because I ain't putting on a dress. You sold out. That's right not there? It has to be. Because I ain't putting on a dress. You sold out. That's right. You taking it to the face. And if everybody sold out who had a TV show, that means there is no God.

That's right. There is no God. If God has destined me to be a network television star, you telling me that the forces in the gatekeeper are far stronger than my God. That's what you're telling me. So none of us can have a television show, hit TV show without taking it to the face.

Jesus. Jesus. Taking it to the face. You know what's so crazy, though? But when you watch these shows that we like, right? I don't care if it was Cosby Show, Martin, Family Matters, Different World, Living Single. They were great shows. Exactly.

These people are talented. Yes. And most of these people still are doing what they're doing now. They still have some type of success. Exactly. And that's what it is because it takes a long time to get there. Do you know how hard it is to have a hit TV show?

Yeah, of course. You understand what I'm saying? They just don't get easy, right? These ain't... It's like hitting the lottery. That's right. It is like hitting the lottery, the chances that you're going to get a TV show.

First of all, get the deal that they pick you out of all the other comedians out here. Then you get a great enough team around. And then the first y'all come together to get the chemistry and it translates. And then you'll have those executives

saying, well, it didn't do this, let me catch. Before he got a chance to get on his legs. You know what I mean? To go, to go, to me catch. Before he got a chance to get on his legs. You know what I mean? To go, to go, to go, man. You got a better chance of hitting the lottery than having a hit TV show. And the key word is hit.

Yes. By the way, it's hard to even sell one. True. It's hard to get it greenlit. Thank you. And once it gets on TV, it's no guarantee it's going to be a success. Every year, for the first three years,

you're on pins and needles. You don't get comfortable until the fourth or maybe the fifth. At that time, they already see it's time for it to go syndicated. We can go and get these honey apples and make it, and we'll go our way through. But after that, that first year when you get in, you're good with it. Boy, you go on the second year. If it't, second year, they can let you go. The third year, the head of the studio who love your show, he gets fired.

They bringing a new dude. I never hated your show, DJ. Get that shit over here. You know what I mean? And you gone. So is. I saw a couple years ago, it was you, DL. Didn't somebody pick y'all up?

Yeah, we had deals. Didn't get through. Then I had a deal from the next flick. Everything. New special, new TV show, all that. Then these niggas going straight. You're like, God damn. So now we back at it again, negotiating for my TV show, my special, and the rest of it.

That's just the way it is. Now you got to formulate a good team, casting. I mean, Martin did it. He had Gina. He had Pam. There was seasonal actress that he could lean on to learn it while the time they carried. And it's beautiful. You just hope that the stars line up for you too

that's right i was gonna ask you know every comedian comes always ask do you remember your best show and your worst show best show um my next flick special was my best show because what it turned out to be my worst show was north Carolina AT&T. Because see, it's hard for me to tell jokes to people that never had a job. College. Yeah, college kids. Yeah, it's hard to relate to that type of thing. So that was my worst show.

You know what I mean? Do you care about making the transition from stand-up to TV? And it's A&T, not AT&T, A&T. A&T, okay. AT&T. A&T. Yes and no. I don't think commercial success defined

if you're great or not as a stand-up comedian or made it or not. The yes part, I want that money. I want that success of the financial security that comes along with it and the comfortability of being home Monday through Friday, stepping on a stage and doing my product

and then coming back home. The road is good, but it's tiresome. You know what I home. The road is good, but it's tiresome. You know what I mean? The money is great, but it's tiresome at this point. And been doing it over 30-something years. I am coming to this point. How do I make as much money as I can this next five years and get the hell out?

Man. Talk to us about the difference between being broke and in debt because you said at one point you were in the hole for $3 million. Yeah, man. See, being broke, that means you just ain't got no money. In debt means even if you got some money, you got to give it to somebody else. You understand what I'm saying?

That's the difference on it. And I was in debt because I was playing the game a lot of entertainers do. When I blow, I would take care of Uncle Sam during that time. And it never came. You know what I mean? And Uncle Sam don't play. So now, you know, it didn't come to fruition on that point of blowing at that point. So now I just put the money to the side knowing around April I'm going to get molested.

Financially. When Uncle Sam comes, Uncle Sam comes. Oh, he comes. And they average up. They don't average up. Oh, no. And they let you. See, the thing about Uncle Sam so good about it,

he a sleeper sale. He allows you not to pay him until you fall off and then he comes see you and it's not the money that you owe him that gets you it's the penalties and the interest it's usually more than the principal so the best thing is so I'm like okay once it took me to get out

it took me about six years to get to you owe Uncle Sam three million? yeah I owed them three million? Yeah, I owe Uncle Sam three million now. Jesus Christ. Got all of it under, you know. Thinking about it now, I feel like it's going to

scratch you out a little bit. No, I mean, yeah. I mean, that's why I'm an independent. I don't believe that, I don't believe that taxation, you should not have to give 40% of anything to anybody. If I gave 40% of my, 40% out of every dollar to alcohol, I'd be an alcoholic.

If I gave 40% of my dollar to drugs, I'd be a drug addict. So why is it cool for the government to give 40? And by the way, I wouldn't have no problem with it if I saw that money actually going to our communities. If I saw it going to our communities and our schools was better and people could afford better housing because whatever it is, if people had free healthcare,

I would have no problem with it. I would still have a problem with it. And I'm going to tell you why because there's so many billionaires and millionaires that pay no taxes, right? True. And they let them slide and these are companies that had generational wealth,

white companies that had this for 20, 30 years, haven't paid taxes. When you look at Donald Trump and Donald Trump says he paid, you know, ten dollars in tax for the year. True. And then you look at yourself, but then you see what Donald Trump is worth. You say no goddamn way. Ain't no goddamn. And on that part of it, I wouldn't have no problem doing all that, too, if I utilize some of the things. But I ain't got no kids. I shouldn't be paying no goddamn public school money I ain't got no kid in public school and if my kid is in private school fuck I'm paying for public school you know I'm saying certain services if I'm not utilizing them I shouldn't have to pay for them you know what I mean and that's what I think they should break it down to just as simple in the United States the American dream is free only thing the government

gonna take care of your health care and your education other than that you're on your own I thought about that too in regards to like you know when people

talk about reparations it's like yo if you make a certain amount of money just don't tax me exactly don't tax me I'm saying if you're

a black person that make a certain amount not a black person they do that to the white people all the time but I'm saying if you're a black and you don't have a certain amount

of money yes you give them reparations but if you're a black and't have a certain amount of money, yes, you give them reparations. But if you're black and you make a certain amount of money, just don't tax me. Don't tax me. I'm good. I'm with that. That's a great-ass idea. I'm with you. Yeah.

Do you still consider yourself a Republican? No. I'm an independent. Me and Sheryl Underwood used to be the only comedians back in the day that was Republican. But now since the Republicans has been hijacked by the MAGA, I had to tap the fuck out. I tell folks that all the time. I said,

if, if, if, uh, even though I feel like Republicans have always been the party of white supremacy, but if traditional conservative values came back as opposed to this MAGA stuff,

I think right now people are looking for something different so bad that you'd see a lot more black and brown people going to be Republican. I mean, if you really look at it, black people, we are the most conservative people. We believe in God. We believe in less government, which is the police. You understand? And we believe in personal responsibility, even if some of us don't.

So that used to be the doctrine for the republican party back in the day when i was in the military and strong military which they gave us a raise all the time so that would make me a republican back in the day yeah i feel i'm an independent too i can't uh i just i feel like both parties are full of shit but one but clear but clearly what we're seeing on the republican side right now that's something we ain't never seen before. That's fascism all day. Oh, yeah, he gonna win. You think so? Oh, yeah. Oh, fuck yeah.

I feel like that some days, but then some days I'm like, man, he ain't won nothing since 2016. No, but he wasn't ever on the ballot. He on the ballot this time. Damn. And Joe, man, any day. I was watching Joe,

President Joe Biden do a speech, and I swore an angel just go by his hair. I said, they about to pick him up any day now. An angel just gonna come grab him up. I got a homeboy who say, man, every day I wake up and pray for Joe Biden good health. Oh, man.

Well, you better keep praying him. He on the call log. He on the call log, man. You see him? You see the black dude from the Crossroads video with the long coat and the shades? Is that the dog? Yeah. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

What you gonna do? Ain't nowhere to hide. When your judgment looks for Joe, looking for Joe. Joe, Joe, Joe. I tell you, I saw the angel. He was flying by him. I said, oh, the angel he was flying by I said oh lord he on the pickup squad

lord have mercy well Earthquake gonna be at Sony Hall tonight and tomorrow get your tickets if you haven't got them already and we appreciate you for joining us brother

man thank y'all for having me please follow me at The Real Earthquake and I love you brother keep doing what you doing man you too my brother God bless y'all it's Earthquake

it's The Breakfast Club good morning wake that ass up Earth. It's The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Wake that ass up. Earth in the morning. The Breakfast Club. Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag.

This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my god. What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey y'all, Nimany here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Flash, slam, another one gone. Bash, bam, another one gone. The crack of the bat and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone. Bash, bam, another one gone. The crack of the bat and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone.

Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history. Like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And it began with me. Did you know, did you know? I wouldn't give up my seat. months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast Post Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've

hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, my undeadly darlings. It's Teresa, your resident ghost host. And do I have a treat for you. Haunting is crawling out from the shadows, and it's going to be devilishly good. We've got chills, thrills, and stories that'll make you wish the lights stayed on. So join me, won't you? Let's dive into the eerie unknown together. Sleep tight, if you can. Listen to Haunting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th, 2017 was assassinated. Crooks Everywhere unearthed the plot to murder a one-woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture of crime and corruption

that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts