The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Jerrod Carmichael - Processing Life, Comedy in Real Time

Episode Date: April 17, 2022

"Who am I to talk about all these other things out in the world? Actually, who am I? Let’s start there.” Comedian Jerrod Carmichael discusses processing life in real time and coming out as gay in his new special “Rothaniel. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Please welcome, Gerard Kahn Michael. I want it to hug to be real. I don't want to do like a TV hik, hey, guys. It's a real thing. Good to see you, bro. How are you, my hono. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. That's nice. Gerard Carmichael. What a nice warm hug. I've missed you, man. It's been too long. I've missed you, too long.

Congratulations on, on, not just, man. You know, you know this. You've always been one of my favorite comedians. And I think you know this. I don't say this just because you're here now. But like, your special is one of the... It's a tightrope walk. That's the best way I'd put it. You know where you say that and you you're saying and you feel the crowd going with you because they're

shocked they don't know ahead of time and the crowd is shocked yeah yeah yeah yeah they've come to see Gerard come like and then you go I'm gay and my name it was it it um yeah I don't know it like I felt I felt like who am I to talk about all these other things you know out in the world like you know actually who am I let's start there right like like like that that that type of self-exploration I think comedy stand-up has room for. Yes. You know, and it's so much, I'm like so inundated with other forms of comedy that I just felt like a long-form interior story would be. You know, you talk in the special, you know, that part where you talk about like your mom,

and I related to that in that like your mom is very religious. Yeah. You and your mom were best th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the the the that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that th th th th th like your mom and I related to that in that like your mom is very religious. Yeah. You and your mom were best friends. Yeah. You come out as gay and and then your mom goes I can't I don't know how to decipher because I'm Jesus on the one hand and how I've been taught religion and then you on the other hand but you're processing that in real time why did you choose to do that instead? th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. And thi. And thi. And thi. And thi. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And thin. And thin. And thin. And thin. And thin. And thin. And thin. And the. And the. And the. And thee. And thee. And the. And the. And the. And the. And the. And th, I'll figure this out and then five years down the line, I'll do a special about it. Well, well, it's something I want, you know, for all of life's problems, you don't know if or when you'll ever have the answer. Using the profession that we chose, like I talk about my life. I don't know. I have a opportunity to go and make it into a show, and so I did it. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, th, th, thi. thi. thi, thi, you, you th. th. th. th. th. th. th, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. to, th. th. to, th. th. to, th. th. th. th. th. thi, th. th. to, thi, th. I have an opportunity to go and make it into a show. And so I did it. Yeah, like it real time, I mean to me, that's what makes it, I mean it's interesting in a way. I mean, you know, it's kind of like music, I think, in that like it captures a moment. Like just like a, it's the emotion is more specific because it's

happening in real time because it's actual things that I'm feeling and going through. Like, yeah, I think I kind of thought of it like an album in a way. I loved how it felt not just like you were processing it. It felt like you made us the audience process it with you at the same time. That's what I loved about it. Yeah. Because sometimes you watch a show and it's neatly tied up in a bow.

And then when I was watching this, I was sitting at home going like, Gerard, how do I help you fix this? Because it's happening. Yeah, yeah. No, really. And I should say that because I could feel if you haven't seen it like people just like Jesus Christ he just tells us all of his Problems and then it's my problem You know like it's like I think it's kind of funny

It's a great It's also amazing though because you we're in the thing you could feel it in the room for instance. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you could feel the audience with you I you know even even even how you in honestly the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the most the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th th th th th? thus thus thus thus thus thus thus the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the room for instance. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You could feel the audience with you. You know, even even how you, in honestly the most natural seamless way, you even delve into homophobia just like in the black community for instance. Yeah, you try coming out to a room full of black people. That's hard, bro. I was like, ooh, there's a lot of, yeah. No, no, just going into it because you can feel like the reaction is kind of shocking. You know, people who were fans of mine or people who knew me, some people in my personal life didn't know.

And so- Do those people feel like you betrayed them in some way? Did they feel like you tricked them? Yeah, well, here's the thing. How much time we got? Like, like, like it's, yeah in a way I did, right? Like I was, I was in the closet and a bit duplicitous by nature of like I was lying about certain aspects of my being just out of, I mean I could justify it and say it's for self-protection, it's definitely because I was scared, but you know, they're, they're, I think my friendships are able

to be actually actual friendships now. Like my relationships are actually real now because I'm not hiding anything because I don't have like a hand behind my back. I love that. I love that. I love that. I love that. That's beautiful.

Wow. Yeah. The, um. The, um, I feel like the special showed us a different side of you. I've seen that side of you as a person before, but it was almost like that was the side that you just chose to fully expose. What I was really intrigued by was the fact that you kept in the moment where you

spoke to the audience in the special because there was a point where, I mean, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the fact that you kept in the moments where you spoke to the audience in the special because there was a point where, I mean we saw that in the clip, but there's literally points where the audience just goes, hey man, like one of the most poignant things I wanted to ask you about that was, the audience member said to you, the audience member said to you, you say it took you time to accept, and the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, and, the, the, and, and, and, and, the, and, the, and, the, the, and, the, the, and, and, the, the, the, the, the, the, they.a, they.e, they.a, they.a, literally, they.a, they.a, they.a, they.a, they.a, they.a, theto accept what is happening. And you gave a very beautiful answer. People should just watch it together. What I wanted to ask you off of that was, has your mom watched the special? Has anyone watched the special and then had like a different perspective?

Or have they said, man, I didn't think of it that way until I watched you say it like this? My niece reached out, so I guess, I made the special a lot of what's in the special is that I'm gay and it's a thing that goes largely unacknowledged in my family, right? For whatever reasons, religious reasons. And my niece texted me probably I guess it came out at midnight by 1.2 a. She sent me a text just saying I'm very happy for you. Thanks for saying how you feel. I'm glad you did it so I don't have to wonder. And it was very, it was really beautiful. It was the kind of sense of acknowledgement that I think I was seeking in many ways. And that was really beautiful.

And I'm focusing on that because, you know, the riff with my family is real and it happens and it's something that you learn to kind of deal with life kind of sometimes can be a bit bittersweet because at a time in my life where I'm receiving a lot of love there's a certain amount of isolation that I'm enduring I guess. I'm saying all that to say that my niece's love in response was very beautiful and it gave me a lot of hope and I'm very thankful for her. I'm very, very thank you. Yeah. Yeah, I'm thank you, my mom.

Thank you, broo. And I mean, it's nice. I'm really happy to you. It's been so long. Congratulations on everything. S&L was amazing. Congratulations on the special. Thank you. People, if you haven't seen it. It's the right comedy special.

Truly a special. Rethaniel is streaming now on HBO Max. Watch the Daily Show, weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus.