WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 927 - Lil Rel Howery

Episode Date: June 24, 2018

Lil Rel Howery burst into the mainstream as a hero. Playing the character who saves the day in Get Out, Lil Rel can see how that role changed everything for him, as he's now the lead in the new movie Uncle Drew and he's putting his life on TV with his own show. He also talks with Marc about learning empathy and compassion from his mom and how those lessons helped him with his comedy. It also helped him see another side of a person who Lil Rey believes is struggling with grief: Kanye West. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Be honest. When was the last time you thought about your current business insurance policy? If your existing business insurance policy is renewing on autopilot each year without checking out Zensurance, you're probably spending more than you need. That's why you need to switch to low-cost coverage from Zensurance before your policy renews this year. Zensurance does all the heavy lifting to find a policy, covering only what you need, and policies start at only $19 per month. So if your policy is renewing soon, go to Zensurance and fill out a quote. Zensurance, mind your business.

Death is in our air. This year's most anticipated series, FX's Shogun, only on Disney+. We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that. An epic saga based on the global bestselling novel by James Clavel. To show your true heart is to risk your life. When I die here, you'll never leave Japan alive. FX's Shogun, a new original series, streaming February 27th exclusively on Disney+. 18 plus subscription required. T's and C's apply.

Lock the gates! all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the fucking ears what the fuck minister pullers there's an oldie how's it going i'm mark maron this is my podcast wtf uh you You all right? What's happening? I am all right. I'm recording this on a Sunday afternoon. It's a little actually before noon. I just woke up not too long ago. I've been having a hard time sleeping. Have you guys? I don't know. Have I talked about this before? I think it's an age thing. It's also an end of the world thing.

But I'm not i'm not really having insomnia at night like i i can get to sleep but no matter what time i go to sleep i wake up at like 6 30 like on the dot within a minute sometimes 6 30 i can't track it i don't know what the hell that's about and i know some of you were saying like, oh, poor guy. I get up for work at five. Yeah, I get it. But like if I go to bed at two or three because I'm sitting there and I've just done three sets of comedy

at the comedy store and I come home, I don't know what to do with myself. And I just spin around for three hours because I'm jacked up on, I don't even know if it's the buzz of the stage just back and forth. I don't know what it is. I mean,

my, my theory and I, and I, and I believe I've, I've speculated before is that I, cause people say that when you get older, this happens, that there are things that happen when you get older,

you, you get shorter, things begin to ache. Apparently, though, I'm not having much of that. Things start breaking down. You have to decide what it is you can accept or not accept

like my big toes are fucked up I don't know what am I going to do about it because I imagine if I go somewhere if I go to the big toe doctor that they want to cut my toes open and fuck with my joints and then I could be quote unquote

recovering for god knows how long because I've got these weird bone spurs or bunions or whatever the fuck they are. And the truth is, if I wear the right shoes, they don't hurt that much. And if I wear the wrong shoes, they're fucking terrible. But, you know, how much time do I got left? I'm going to live with that one.

But the idea that you need less sleep as you get older is, I think, fundamentally, some part of you knows that maybe you're running out of time and that you're up, and it's sort of your body's way or God's way of saying, hey, you may not want to be up, but time is limited, man. So sit there and realize that or get up and do something right lil rel howry is on the show and it's a there's so many ways that name is hard for me to say because i have problems with my l's and w e's lil rel howry is here he's a great comedian he's got a movie coming out. It's called Uncle Drew.

It's coming out this Friday, June 29th. I was happy to talk to him. So thank you all for the support and for donating to the Texas RAICES for the immigration clusterfuck. Me and the Glow Girls did a little public service PSA that we posted on Instagram. We all sent little pieces, and Betty Gilpin put something together in support of services that can help out. And on we go. Do not surrender to the attempt at a collective stockholm syndroming of the country uh don't become a brainwashed dummy uh try to think critically try not to be

overwhelmed by the uh never-ending chaotic shit storm of randomly fascistic, confusing bullshit. Some very scary stuff coming at us. But, you know, try to, again, it's hard to separate. You know, how do you go on, you know, if you're of a certain ilk, you know, how do you go on just living your life when things are seemingly coming unraveled? Well, you got to. You got to. You got to enjoy some stuff.

You got to focus on things. And, you know, where you take that focus is up to you, hopefully on proactive stuff. But it's sort of funny. I get emails sometimes and I just wonder if it's like, is this this guy's way of being or is it a reaction? I just got this email. Subject line, items on desk. Mark, let me start by saying thank you. I've listened to every episode,

and the last time I emailed you was five plus years ago when I referenced my concern regarding my own WTF-related completionist autism, a term Patton Oswalt had used on an episode. I also met you after a show in Houston when my dad kept telling you in a manner that was embarrassing but well-intentioned, my son is your number one fan. This induced a mild panic attack, causing me to get tongue-tied and mumble something like, I've listened to all the episodes.

You were very kind at this time, signing my poster, We Good. Anyway, my reason for writing is the result of a thought that occurred during the Holly Hunter episode when she became briefly fixated on all the different tchotchkes on your desk. I'd never really given it much thought before and can only remember a few specifics related to these items, like you having to get rid of some when Obama came and also Jennifer Lawrence playing with multiple items.

To the point, I was thinking that it would be interesting to see a breakdown of which item was picked by which guests. With this data, the possibilities are endless. Are there correlations based on things like race, gender, age, or personality type? I'm not asking you to undergo this project. I did consider that Brendan may be interested in devoting some time to this kind of venture. At the very least, you could send out the following tweet. Hey folks, if you've ever been a guest in my garage, I was wondering if you remember which of the items on my desk you tended to play with during the interview. As a refresher, here are

the items you had to choose from, hammer, stress ball stress ball etc thank you once again for all the joy high quality content and everything else you've given me over the years jonathan jonathan dude uh thanks for the email uh it's not gonna happen and uh i i would like to hear more about what you think like you think that we can make columns and maybe do some sort of spreadsheet based on you know which of the four or five things on my desk and what it implies about race, gender. You know, you really took it out there. You took this out there and I appreciate the input and you're welcome to do it just from the information you have of people talking about. I think that'd be a very small pool for the science of it. But but good.

Thank you for that. He's he's busy uh you know jonathan i don't want to mock him he is a fan and clearly he has a brain that does this but uh wow right so little rel howry is here and uh i love talking to him i thought i'd met him before but i but i had not and it it was great. We talked Chicago, we talked about comedy, and his new movie, Uncle Drew, which is in theaters everywhere this Friday, June 29th, is coming out. And this is me talking to Lil Rel Howry. Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get snowballs on Uber Eats. But meatballs and mozzarella balls, yes, we can deliver that. Uber Eats. Get almost, almost anything. Order now. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details.

Death is in our air. This year's most anticipated series, FX's Shogun, only on Disney+. We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that. An epic saga based on the global best-selling novel by James Clavel. To show your true heart

is to risk your life. When I die here, you'll never leave Japan alive. FX's Shogun. A new original series streaming February 27th exclusively on Disney+. 18 plus subscription required.

T's and C's apply. Enjoy. Disney Plus. 18 Plus. Subscription required. T's and C's apply. Enjoy. Do you live out here now? How long have you lived out here? Only three years. Oh, three? Yeah.

From Chicago you came? Yep. Well, I'm from Chicago, but I lived in New York for for two years and then I came here once Carmichael's show happened. Oh yeah. Was it a good experience doing the network thing? Yeah,

I mean, I'm doing it again now. I just did a pilot with Fox called Real. Oh, you did? Yeah, me and Gerard

producing and writing it together. Oh really? Yeah, it's really good but network is so, like I've done stuff from an acting standpoint for the network, so to be a producer and have to deal with a lot of the little small stuff

is a little annoying. Yeah. It is what it is. So you did it for Fox. Yeah. What was the pitch? What's the angle? What's the show?

It's based on my life. It's just a version of it where I'm not a comedian. Instead of a comedian, I made myself a nurse. Oh, really? I haven't seen that one. I haven't seen a male nurse no i mean either that's what made me that's what made me want to do it yeah uh but it's i mean if anybody's ever seen my specials or heard any of my stand-up it's just it's basically my life i mean it's me right after my my ex-wife left with the kids and me trying to figure out you know trying to figure this long

distance dad thing out oh yeah uh you know it's really it's literally based on what happened to me for real the difference is i was a comedian actor a male nurse and you were making uh yeah and you were making it um the narrative of your stuff yeah it's been it's really i get to play more than one character which was fun oh really live studio audience how do you get to play more than one character, which was fun. Oh, really? Live studio audience. How do you get to play more than one character? I mean, it's the way I wrote it. It's a twist?

Yeah, it was not a twist. It's just something, I like shows like Martin. I'm a big fan of Eddie Murphy, so just to do that type of stuff. I play a pastor also, but you won't know. Most of the people didn't know it when we tested it. They didn't know it was me. It was really good. You had the makeup gone?

Prosthetics and stuff. Oh, really? Full-on prosthetics yeah what like like what i did like the cheeks the chin i made everything grayer had a ball i did everything i look i look totally different i just look like an age pastor it's very it's so funny but it was fun um yeah there's gonna be more characters i would introduce enough knock on wood if the show's picked up you like doing that stuff. Yeah, it's fun. Yeah, I never did a lot of characters, but I mean, there's a certain style to that. I mean, like Eddie will do like a dozen sometimes. And you just liked that when you were a kid? Yeah, I thought that was comedy.

I was like, oh, this is stand-up. This is cool. So that's why I love it. But it's different putting the whole get-up on. Yeah, well, that's why I like, so the Lucas Brothers, I know you talked to them before. I love it but it's different putting the whole get up on yeah well that's why like we like so the Lucas Brothers I know you talked to them before I love those guys

we did a show called Friends of the People on True TV it was a sketch show yeah yeah and that was fun well I got a chance to play a bunch of characters

right on that show and you just liked it I've always wanted to do it that was always the plan is to eventually do that do you do characters in the stand up

yeah so all if you I mean anybody ever seen my special? The one that Kevin produced? Yeah. Every story I tell, I'm acting out everybody.

Right. I'm acting out my dad. I'm acting out my mom. Oh, so it was right there. It's just what it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's a real skill because you can really tell stories like that. Yeah.

I mean, Eddie Murphy is who, because you hear people say who their influences are. Eddie Murphy is my influence. You watch people say who their influences are. And they're like, Eddie Murphy's my influence. And then you watch their stand-up, like, where? But with me, he really influenced me. Like Richard did the same thing also, just telling stories and acting the stories out. Yeah. Like I've heard it called peopling the stage, which I always liked. That you create a cast of characters.

Yeah. And you just move through it. And you can do whatever you like. As long as those characters are defined, you can be as funny as you want to be in that character. It's a cheat code, too. It's like, a lot of times, yeah, I have a bunch of new material, but all I'm doing is putting the characters in different situations. So when people end up liking these characters, I put them in different scenarios. Oh, yeah, yeah.

You just move them around. Yeah. Fuck it. Well, you were so good in that movie man that get out movie i appreciate that well you like uh you you're the punchline of the whole thing you were the tag i was the tag man i was the voice of the people you guys did a couple endings yeah we did uh the original ending is way darker than me no relief no relief it was just sad yeah i remember the first cut i saw of the

movie was with the original ending and i couldn't sleep so the original ending no one is saved no he goes to jail and i go to the jail to try to like get information out of him oh my god but he was just like he just owned it like yo come on bro you know they're not gonna let me out of here oh man yeah it was yeah it's very dark yeah and and what made them what do you think made them change it was there a discussion jordan changed it i think based on what we already see every day yeah it's like yeah we already see this every but that was the way he wrote it that's the way he wrote it but he also needed we needed he felt like we needed a hero yeah and i thought it was brilliant to come up with a hero that was just a friend.

I didn't do any, I didn't kill nobody. I just picked him up. Yeah. It was perfect. But your character was always in there. Yeah. All the way through.

I thought that was the brilliant thing about what he wrote. I don't know how many times we've seen it. From the beginning of the movie, my character says, hey man,

I don't think you should be doing this. From the beginning. Right. Yeah. From the jump so it's i thought that jordan is really smart man yeah i'm very grateful to be a part of that amazing cool movie yeah i was sort of surprised by it because i'm not you know i don't go see horror movies it's not my trip i mean i've seen them before in my life but uh but like the you know everybody was talking about that movie and it was really you know i i just i thought you were hilarious and thank god there was that comic relief at the end i would have been a nightmare no it would have been a whole different experience it would have been a different experience well that's interesting

because i wonder if jordan was thinking like uh like that that was satisfying he was being real and and that was the way he saw it, with that kind of weird, heavy-hearted, horrible. That's a real horror movie at the end there. Yeah. If he let him just sit in jail. But then, what a great turn of events for everybody involved. I mean, when I think about it, even as I was talking about it now,

because we reshot the ending like a month before the movie came out. It held for that long? Yeah. So he went out and tested that thing? Yeah. With that old ending? People were just angry. They loved the movie, but they was leaving angry.

It would have been a whole different shift if we'd have kept that like that. Oh, man. When you saw those lights coming down the road, just picking them up. That must have been. How long did it take you to shoot that thing? The movie? Yeah. Jordan said, now for me, I shot everything in a week.

Yeah. Right. A week and one day. I did the movie on my hiatus week of Carmichael Show. Oh, okay. All movies work like that. I could just have a week. Sure.

Yeah, you just shoot everything. Yeah, shoot it all out. But it only took him 28 days. Wow. Yeah. Are you going to work with him again? I hope so. I mean, the crazy, now we all so busy. Yeah. I'm hoping to work with him again. But like, I mean, he told me once

he saw the first cut of Get Out, he gave me a call and was like, alright, get ready, brother. You're about to go on a ride. I'm like, alright. Really? Yeah, right after that, the movie offers. He knew. Yeah. It all right, get ready, brother. You're about to go on a ride. I'm like, all right. Really? Yeah, right after that, the movie offers. Yeah. Yeah. It happened right, literally the day after that movie came out.

That's when people just started offering me stuff. I didn't really audition anymore. Oh, really? For like what? Like Uncle Drew that comes out. What is that movie about? They didn't send me a screener. I didn't get to watch it.

It's with me and Kyrie Irving and Shaq and all those guys. Kyrie had those commercials he did with Pepsi where he played the old guy that played ball real well. Right, right. So the movie's based on my character who puts together this team. I lose my star player, my team, to my rival, this rival dude I've been rivaling with, which is Nick Crow, for a while. And so I spent all my money. I lost my team, but I still need a team. So one of the guys at the barbershop, which is JB Smooth, suggested I go find Uncle Drew.

And I ended up, like, seeing him by chance at a playground. And he has all these older friends that we helped recruit to bring us all together to play this tournament. Oh, so it's a heartwarming thing. It's heartwarming and funny, yeah. Yeah. And you were the lead. Yeah. That's amazing.

Who directed it? Charles Stone. Uh-huh. Who did Paid in Full. thing it's heartwarming and funny yeah and you're the lead yeah that's that's amazing who directed it uh charles stone uh-huh did paid in full he did uh well that's my favorite movie he's a guy he didn't want to create a dead oh he did that's crazy though so chicago i love i've been going to the city more you know like i've grown to love chicago just because it's a real place it's its own trip but like what generation of cats did you come out with did you like are you you're younger than hannibal and those guys right no i'm older than hannibal so hannibal i met hannibal when he was in college he opened for me when he was so you were like a chicago mainstay i'm in between

the old and the new it's very weird me, but you're younger than me. I'm 38. Oh, you're much younger than me. So it's like. Who's the old? Who we talking? Like the veterans for me was like Deion Cole. Oh, okay.

Yeah. Guys like that. D-Ray Davis, Corey Hokum. D-Ray Davis. All those guys. And then like. So Deion was an older guy? Yeah.

Deion was a part of the it. I was opening for him. Really? Mm-hmm. When did you start? Where were you growing up? West side of Chicago is where I'm from, which is near the United Center and all that good stuff. I used to ride my bikes. My friends used to ride our bikes to Chicago Stadium just to watch Mike drive off.

He would almost kill us because he'd just pull up in his car. He almost killed us because he just pulled off. He just drives so fast off. When you were a kid? Yeah, we just used to watch the players leave the stadium. Oh, yeah. That was fun. In fancy cars? Yeah.

Yeah. And so was it a difficult neighborhood? What was the situation? Yeah, I mean, I grew up, it's almost cliche to say it, but I mean, I grew up in a hood pretty much. But I grew up with both my parents in that situation. Like, my dad and mom were, like, very hands-on in our community. So my dad used to fix everybody's bikes. My dad, like, coached the baseball teams, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah. My mom volunteered all the time. I mean, there was a time I was embarrassed that they were so involved. Like, Jesus Christ, I can't be like everybody else not coming all the time. But they were it was a time I was embarrassed that they were so involved. Like, Jesus Christ, I can't be like everybody else not coming all the time. But they were very involved. What were their jobs? So my dad was,

well, both of them were CNAs actually. Which is Certified Nurses Assistant. Oh, so you grew up with the nurse thing.

But my mom worked at my grammar school too at one point. Yeah. Like the first time they ever let kids into the school

that like, these two little boys was like, they had, I think they had HIV. Hmm. And she took, they paid her well. She took the job.

But like, when I think about, I've been thinking about like a lot of weird stuff lately. Like, oh, that did happen. Where like, you know,

early on I learned like, to not judge people because of that. Yeah. It's like, it's such a weird kid lesson to have so early because of that it's like it's such a weird kid lesson to have so early because people were so scared that's when it was kind of fresh and nobody knew like you can't be around or do they that room and your mom's job was to what just to take care of them these two HIV kids yeah she's a teacher's assistant okay she used to like take

them home and make sure no one bullied them bothered them yeah because they were really they were not just besides the disease they were they were, you know, handicapped also. Oh, wow. She took care of them. And she defended them. But it changed the way I saw everything. Like, I just see everything differently. I think just doing all your research and understanding stuff.

Because of your mother's actions also and not to be afraid. Yeah. And I used to catch it sometimes because they're like, people are like, hey, man, your mom would like come on like i've like i've learned to outsmart bullies that way like yo you're an idiot why don't you do your research you know i mean like the kids yeah i was a kid that like that wasn't afraid of like yeah i don't know i got some weird confidence because of all that when she did that but that's what she taught us though and i i always appreciate her for even taking that job and she had that job until they both they both end up passing really young oh really and that's when they stopped the program or whatever oh so oh really yeah well so she was like a pioneer and

no one wanted to do the gig yeah that's sad but i guess that's really what what what having that engagement with the community is about is to instill confidence and fearlessness and, and not judge people. That's what made me love the arts so much. That's why I like when I, it almost goes back to why I like to do characters in my, my story. Like I love people so much. And that was,

I thought that was the first to, to love those two kids. It was like, almost like brothers to me. You know what I'm saying? So you knew him really well? Yeah. We,

we, we like their family became our family. and my brother like it was very interesting i thought about this the other day it's like you almost forget about little sections of your life and what what what else was wrong with them other than the hiv i forget it was a muscle disease too both of them yeah both of them had it yeah and one had it worse than the other one you know i mean like clarence had it really clarence was the first one to pass. He was always in a wheelchair. And then Timothy, you know, he had it and got sick.

It was very. How old were you? Like eight or nine. And they just became almost like members of your family. Yep. And their parents too? Yep. They became, my mom was doing stuff on the weekends.

She didn't have to do certain stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. And so you had to deal with all that, with the death and the disease. But it was like, it just made me respect my mom. She just liked taking care of people. Yeah.

I thought that was dope. Like, yo, she actually really cared about, like, people. It makes me, that's why I love people. Sure. And wait, you have brothers and sisters? Yeah, I got two brothers. Well, I had two two brothers i don't feel like i got a sad story but my middle brother passed away from cancer in 2013 oh sorry so yeah yeah so you got one brother one brother left my little my youngest brother who's probably been my muse oh yeah it still is actually like i'll just

call him and we just randomly talk about could we talk sports all the time yeah it's like literally our phone calls sound like we have a podcast just diving into the games you know i mean you got to have somebody you gel with to the because that's where the new ideas come from he's been like that since since like the first time i ever went on stage and i'm and i remember i got booed at this spot you did yes godly oh and we listened to, God, Lee. And we listened to the tape. He was the person I listened to the tape with. He was like, so you going to do this again? I'm like, I guess so. Was he in the room too or no?

No, because I had a tape. So I taped the show. Sure. And I brought it home and let him listen to it with me. He was like, it sounds brutal. It's brutal. Oh, man. You want to try this again next week?

How old's that guy? My brother's 30. What is he? 34 now? What's his business? Which is so funny. In the show, the new show, it's based on my brother when he first got out of jail. My brother went to jail for a year.

And I want to tell that story because you know first people are that's cliche to make the black dude come out of jail for so but the weird thing is people say that stuff and a lot of times it's like it happened it happened yes that's what i'm like it actually this is actually what happened the way i was thinking about that the other day where it's sort of like just because a public person or a creative person or a comedian you know tells a story that that seems like it's a stereotype it's not their responsibility to change their life story to accommodate you know like

people being it's not political correct it's just sort of like you know the reason why some things everyone knows about is because they fucking happen you preaching to the damn quiet i swear to you that's i thought it was because you know they had a test group and i watched the test group watch the show yeah one of these people like the stereotype i'm like no but it fucking happened to him yeah this is what happened i'm not like coming up with this like this is what happened right if you get rid of stereotypes it doesn't solve the problem what do you mean like so let's let's find a more interesting story that that is

unique and weird but completely contrived and has no bearing on reality so that happened to him and i watched him why'd he go to jail man being around the wrong cats at the wrong time right and in chicago they tend to lock everybody up even if one person is the drug dealer but yeah in that car oh that's what happened yeah Yeah. And he went to jail for a year but I mean this is why I wanted to tell this story

on the show and this is what I was trying to, you know, even tell the network like you're gonna see the progression. I saw the progression

of him like it was like he's now he's engaged he has a great job he has a baby he's just and he's just this smart like I saw job. Yeah. He has a baby. And he's just this smart.

Like, I saw him. You know what I mean? Because at first, me and my middle brother, before he passed, we felt terrible. We was like, yo, is that funny? Because did we just focus on ourselves and let him run around with these cats? You know what I'm saying? Right. Like, what the fuck? He felt guilty?

He felt guilty. So when he got out, we were both really hands-on with him and make sure he got his shit together as opposed to go the wrong way yeah was that you think it was a possibility he could have yeah but i i think that's a great thing about family man like and that's that once again we felt bad because we were just i was i know i was focused on my own shit like once i left the house i was just focused on comedy right that was just what it was i was on the road i was doing it with two other comedians that's just what it was yeah um but i didn't realize damn i i wasn't paying attention to you know this is the youngest right yeah we're supposed to look out for him right but when he

came out you know like hands-on with him i had him like coming to all my shows with me just to see a cool right just see some dope shit yeah just take him out with me make him feel part of something part of something did that prison fuck with his head I think it did at first it made him real he didn't trust anybody

but the great thing about it when he went to like one of my homies was there too so it was somebody looking out for him too oh yeah

oh that's good but at the same time like it took it took us really like really molding. And just when I think about it now, like, he's dope as fuck. Well, just being supportive and, you know, being there when he's got questions and stuff. That's great, man.

And I put all that into the show, but it was so weird for people. Like, that's the stereotype. Like, it's not a fucking stereotype. And also, I wanted to show a guy from that situation clean up how's the stereotype that it happens every fucking day it's a jail full of people yeah

that's right I mean even they even I tell you the test audience even felt like we wasn't hard enough on him when he got out and I thought that was insane too cause I'm like oh you maybe you ain't never first of all if somebody been in jail for a year, whatever time, we ain't gonna come out like,

motherfucker, look at you, you fucking bum. They already caught it. They was in jail. Yeah. And he's your brother. He's your brother. You come out,

you're gonna love on him. Yeah. I thought that was, I'm like, who are these people? Who were those people? Just random people they pick to watch shit. What do you think it was?

Because it seems to me that those kind of questions are coming out of some sort of white guilt. Right? The craziest part was black people. Yeah. It was brothers and they're like, yeah, because that's not realistic that they just were supportive when he got out of jail. I'm like, what?

Maybe not your family. Yeah, that's what I thought was crazy. They throw parties for people when they go into jail. Well, I'm for them. So they parties for people when they go into jail. Yeah. Well, I'm for them. Yeah. So they can feel good because they go into jail. Yeah.

I wonder what that is. I guess the weird thing is that for people who it's not their experience, they think it's some sort of stereotype just because it's not their life. It's not their life. And that's funny. I don't look at somebody that grew up in the suburbs. I don't know. Like, tell me what your experience is. I can't guess this shit. I'm an asshole.

I'm just going to guess your life. And I think that's fun. I think that's what's going to be fun about my show, Knock on Wood, if they pick it up, which I honestly, I don't say this about a lot of stuff. It looks really good. It's really funny. I'm very proud of it. Who's the other supporting cast?

Sinbad plays my dad. Yeah, and he's hysterical. Yeah, nonstop, man. He is. And you know what's dope about Sinbad? Even when he wasn't in scenes, he would just hang out on set, man. Oh, sure. I'd be like, man, that was good, man.

I like it, man. Really, I'm telling you, man. You're doing it, man, that was good, man. I like it, man. I'm telling you, man. You're doing it, man. He likes to put on a show, too. He was hysterical. He always had a story. I heard some amazing stories. It's so funny.

The funniest story he told was, so it's a video where James Brown was in concert and Michael Jackson and Prince. I don't know if you ever seen the video at the concert. He brings Michael Jackson on stage. Michael Jackson kill it. Then Michael Jackson whispers in his ear that he brings Prince on stage. Just a great video. First of all, I can tell James Brown didn't know who Prince was because he's like, Prince? Prince?

He's like, call his name. Prince? Prince? Prince? Yeah. So Prince is on somebody's shoulders walking through the crowd. Yeah. And the guy puts him on stage.

He's a little guy. So this is the story, right? So I've seen this video a million times. I get joy from watching it. Like, man, that's so cool. All of us at the concert, hanging out, like, supporting each other.

And somebody's like, uh, no, Michael and Prince didn't like each other. I said, what? He said, no, man, they didn't like each other. That night, that concert, he described it.

I was like, wait, the video I seen? He like like yeah man michael jackson tried to hit prince with his car like what hit him with his car yeah he tried to hit like these people yeah man he's trying to run each other all the time man oh man they didn't like each other at all so michael jackson brought him up because he knew prince was drunk oh he ruined your nice video for you he ruined the brotherhood it makes it funny yeah yeah like oh look at this well simbad's seen it all he's been around a long time he's a he's a legend man i think we forget that i do i think he's a guy that doesn't get the credit he deserves because he delivers the goods like all the time still and he riffs like crazy he'll just go out there with nothing that's why i wanted him on the show. Did he improvise a lot?

Did you let him? Yeah, we let him do him. Yeah. Who plays your mom? So I'm sticking to real life, so my mom has passed away in it. But it is an episode I want to do that, because he talks about it. My dad in the show talks about, you know, things have been different since our mom has been gone.

Yeah. So it is an episode idea where I do want to do this flashback episode of just Sinbad just show his chops. You know what I'm saying? I think it'll be fun to do. Yeah. Yeah, it's so, because I want to. Who plays the brother?

My brother is Jordan L. Jones, this young guy. Kind of no name. Actor? Yeah, actor. I think he started to do comedy. So funny. Yeah. I watch every audition tape.

I watch everybody. Yeah, you got it. Some people don't. I realize a lot of people don't. Oh, they watch who the casting director brings in. Yeah, I watch everybody. It's wild. It gets a little painful sometimes.

Well, you know, I think from being on the other side yeah I actually enjoy it like I give him a chance I have friends have shows they want me to come watch audition tapes with him I do it like I like watching audition I like watching what choices somebody sure yeah yeah crazy choice why would you do that right right yeah it's weird sometimes people on tape are different than when you meet him too exactly I mean it's happened a couple of times. Like with Jordan, I knew he was my brother. Yeah.

And I think me and Gerard was at dinner. And I didn't even listen to his audition. I just saw his mannerism. Like, oh, this is my little brother. You know what I mean? Like, I just do it. And then when I watched him, like, oh, yeah, this is him. And then my best friend, which is, I don't know, I hate, I can say this.

So one of my best friends is Tiffany Haddish. That's like for real. For real, in your life? Yeah. Did she star in Chicago? No. Oh. I met her, we did a show called Bill Bellamy's Who Got Jokes.

Bill Bellamy. On TV One. Yeah. And she won her episode in LA. So they flew the winners from the other cities to Chicago to see our episode. Yeah. And I won my episode in Chicago. to LA so they flew the other the winners from the other cities to Chicago to see our episode yeah and I won my episode of Chicago and I'm backstage and I'm about to go to the dressing room wherever and I say that part hey boy come here I'm like who's that we gonna be friends we're gonna like

who the hell are you lady you know I mean we're gonna be friends you are so funny we're gonna be friends yeah we came from and you're still friends yeah that's what my friend says to you I put that we've never I don't see a lot of platonic friendships

on TV where they always man and women where right where because it usually end up where they

together and all that shit I wanted to show just a friendship and that's just what it is yeah and

which is what we did a good job of writing and putting in the show. That's great. It's a comedian named Jess Hilarious. She became like, she got like 4 million followers on Instagram. Yeah. That's how I found her.

I was following her on Instagram. I thought she was fucking hysterical. She got something called Jess with the Mess where she just goes in on celebrities and she's fucking hysterical. And that's her real name? Yeah, Jessica. Okay. But Jess Hilar on celebrities and she's fucking hysterical and and that's her real name yeah jessica okay so but just hilarious is what she's she's that's her that's what she goes as but she is she going to be listed is that in the credits i think what we did so i think we put her first name with just hilarious in her last name okay uh yeah but she is hysterical and she was like the network gave me a fight for both of them. Can they both were green? Right, she was right, but she played everything really did any actress I saw. I mean, that's awesome really great actresses out She played it I mean I had to fire somebody that was tough

Yeah at the table readers like oh what we doing it like that was the most that was the EP thing Well, I wasn't an actor yeah so the first the first version of that it's tough man right and it was you know you're in this meeting with

the execs and they tell you all this great shit and other little notes and they're like oh yeah so we we have to get rid of I'm like wait

and they did it to her last year which is crazy the actress the same actress after the table read yes fired

and I was like I stopped the meeting like okay y'all before we okay y'all know y'all did this last year right yeah yeah huh it's just quiet in the room like because this is my first one was my first time to get peels up so i'm just like i'm green in the room i'm like okay before we okay let's start this yeah so y'all want to fire her again jesus christ i'm like i'm like this is mean this is I'm the only one that think that. Yeah. Acting's a tough racket.

I'm so, aren't you glad you're a comic too? Yeah. But it's like Gerard loves, he, oh God, he loves being a producer. He's like a,

oh really? Evil genius. You know what I mean? He just loves all of it. Like, you know, but. So what,

how are you guys, you're not running the show though, are you? Our show runner is Mike Scully. Uh huh. How do I know that guy? He wrote on it. He writes on The Simpsons.

Oh, right. That's right. Yeah, yeah. He did a Carmichael show with us. He's really dope. And we just got a good group, like Joshua Benowitz and Kevin Barnett, who I did Friends of the People with. Right.

The Lucas Brothers. Yeah. They're writers and producers also on the show. So it was just friends. How many people in the writing room? Just us? For the first show? Yeah. So you haven just friends. How many people in the writing room? Just us? For the first show? So you haven't really

made a room yet? No, I actually started meeting writers, which is always weird. I'm taking meetings for something that might not happen. It's kind of awkward.

Show business. You know what I mean? You know, you got to do it. You might as well do it. I got to meet, I say, just in case I get a show,

let's talk. Yeah, yeah. If things are looking good and we really like your stuff, I'll let you know. But in terms of acting, though, did you train at all? Nah. See, some people are just naturals. You know what I mean?

It is just. And it's from. Like, when I was a little kid, I did, like, the plays and stuff. What do you mean? Like, I did plays in grammar school. Uh-huh. Like, I made the high school play. I was, like, in seventh grade. I wouldn't audition for school play. I was like in seventh grade.

I wouldn't audition for it. So you were always into it. Yeah. You knew early on that you loved being on stage. I knew this. I wrote a show called Name Your Adventure. They used to come on NBC. Yeah.

It was hosted by Mario Lopez. It was only on, they only showed like six episodes, but I was in it. Yeah. And I wrote this show like, yo, I want my adventures to be on The Living Color. Yeah. And they wrote me back like the show was canceled. Sorry. Good luck, kid.

You'll figure it out. Your dreams will come true. He does whatever they tell a kid. I'm like, what? What? The show's canceled? I just saw an episode a minute ago. Which show was it?

Name Your Adventure. And what was that about? It was on NBC. They just grant kids adventures. So you're right, Amanda. You wanted to be on Living Color? Yeah, that was my adventure didn't you weren't

you part of a reboot I was that's what made it full circle so they were telling Kenan yeah you should write those producers

and say you know what it did work out but it didn't pick it up dream came true I told Kenan that the first day I was like hey man you probably ain't gonna

believe me but I wrote a show called name you adventure I feel like I was the only kid watching it like it was every time I bring it up like nobody else no i never heard of it name your adventure it was like a whole song and everything it was on it was it on for a long time was it on a long time no i just one season

that's why no one watched it but i thought it was amazing i'm like what what was the angle on the on the living color reboot i mean what happened what happened there? It was Kenan. Kenan, yeah. Kenan Ivory Wayans is still the man. Yeah. When we first got, so this is such a, it probably could be a short film just what happened. Yeah. But when we first got casted, the new cast, we were supposed to do sketches with the original cast too.

Wow. That's a lot of weigh-ins. It was going to be fun. But they were still there yeah so like jim carrey everybody was coming back really but the from what i heard fox was paying them next to nothing like i think they was paying like they were paying these superstars like really nothing like uh david allen greer david allen David Allen Greer. David Allen Greer. Jim Carrey. Damon Wayans. Yeah. Sean. Jamie? Everybody was coming back.

Wow. And Damon was the first one like, no, forget this. And everybody just followed his lead. So I remember the first day of shooting, I'm excited. We've been looking at these scripts all week. Yeah. I show up and like David's packing all the stuff. I was like, where you going, David? Yeah, not doing it.

And he just left. I'm like, what? And that's when we found out like, wait, they all left? So now it's panic all the stuff. I was like, where you going, David? Yeah, not doing it. And he just left. I'm like, what? And that's when we found out, like, wait, they all left? So now it's panic around the set. And, like, I had to learn sketches on the spot. So they was, like, sliding scripts under the door. Like, hey, you and this sketch. You're like, what?

So they were rewriting the whole show the day of? Yeah. And how many did you shoot? We only, how many sketches we shot? Oh, it didn't even, you didn't even make a whole show? No. I think we made a pilot. That's what we did.

So all those cats left the day of? The day of. Oh, man. See, that's a kick in the ass by show business. But it was still fun. I can't even lie to you. Keen, I rewind. It was like everything happened for a reason to me.

And I became a better actor and all that because of that. And I got a chance to talk to him. Like, I used to sit with Kenan for lunch. And the first few times, he's looking at me like, dude, you can sit. You don't want to sit somewhere else? I'm like, nope. I don't know if I ever had this moment again, brother.

And then he started just telling these cool stories, man. He's a smart guy. I haven't seen him in a long time. Was he just telling you about the old days? Yeah. Yeah. I love hearing those. I'm that guy.

Like, I'm sitting, you tell me stories all day. I listen to, I love hearing just straight stories about stuff. Yeah. So you remember when they did the tour

a couple years ago, like, they was on tour. It was Sean, Marlon, Damon, and Kenan. Oh, I didn't realize. So I went to see the show, I think I went to the one in Jersey.

Yeah. And such a funny story with that, too, but I went to see the show. I think I went to the one in Jersey. Yeah. And such a funny story with that, too. But I went to the show. Well, when Olympic, the reboot didn't happen, right? I ended up doing an interview, and somebody took what I said out of place. They said I blamed Damon Wayans is the reason why it didn't get picked up. I didn't say that, but that's what they twisted. Sure.

That was the first time I learned that can happen. Like, oh, damn, you got to watch what you say because somebody could just twist that shit. Yeah, yeah. And I felt so terrible. I remember that day I felt drastically bad. About being set up? Yeah. And I told Kenan, I'm sorry, but Kenan said,

don't worry about it. I remember I was on the road. I set my hotel room in the dark. Like, I felt terrible. Like, you fucked up. Yeah, because it went, like, viral for a second. I'm like, oh, shit, I didn't. That's the worst when you're alone in the hotel room. I'm like tearing up like i didn't ruin my life yeah the wayans are

gonna hate me the wayans army but keenan that's what he explained to me like bro ain't a big deal you know they they have misconstrued that's why you gotta watch what information you give and how you say it and all that shit and so so anyway, I go backstage. Yeah. And Damon was like, this is like, this is wild. I didn't think they talked to each other. I don't know what the fuck I thought. Yeah.

So Damon was like, what the fuck did you say again? And walked up on me. I'm like, I'm about to fight this motherfucker. Like, the way he did it. So now I'm a little nervous

because Damon ain't a little guy. Like, fuck. Tall guy. And he just hugged me. They all started fucking laughing. I was like, fuck yeah.

Right? I was like, do y'all know how stressful I was about that whole thing? He knew. He obviously knew. That's why I love that family, man. They're really dope. And they all are so talented, man. I used to love watching Damon.

I used to love watching him. He's brilliant, man. He's so good. Like, you know, he'd do characters. He'd stay in them a real long time. And, like, it was just wild to watch him. He's brilliant, man. He's so good. Like, you know, he'd do characters. He'd stay in them a real long time. And, like, it was just wild to watch him. Didn't give a fuck. He, I saw him that night, and I'm going to believe in calling comics, like, yo, ain't nobody, none of us better than this motherfucker.

Right. He's like, he's like, he is that, he's the man. Yeah, and it just, and people don't know him as that. That's what's so interesting. Like, and people don't know him as that. That's what's so interesting. Like, I don't know if it needs to be another documentary done. How can we save these guys' reputation as comics when they don't do it anymore? I wouldn't mind doing something just focused on the storytellers

and the character work comics. Right, yeah. And just focus on that. Yeah. Because doing this, like, I remember when I did Last Comic Standing, and that was one of the reasons why comics. Right. Yeah. And just focus on that. Yeah. Because doing this, I remember when I did Last Comic Standing, and that was one of the reasons why I was eliminated,

they said my set felt like it was sketchy, like I was doing a sketch because I was in characters. I fucking hate when people do that because that is what stand-up was. Yes. Like the great guys,

the guys who could tell stories, the guys who did voices, they all did voices. Even Lenny Bruce did fucking voices, like did characters. Pryor, the guys who could tell stories, the guys who did voices, they all did voices. Even Lenny Bruce did fucking voices, you know, like did characters. You know, Pryor, the old Cosby, you know, but, you know, the original Cosby stuff. I mean, like, they were all doing characters. Yeah. And that was what stand-up was.

I don't like when people say, oh, you're a storyteller. It's like, no, I'm not a stand-up comic. That's the way it was. There were joke guys guys there were story guys i didn't like the way they started separating what and that's what i hate to say that that's what shows like that does and try to control what comedy is yeah comedy is so many different things that's why you you know you're here about some people who like hate dane cook i hate that there's so many styles of it like i don't there's no way to put a finger on it. This is the style you should, no, fam.

And there's so many comics. Yeah. Yeah. There's so many comics. So, but no, but I, it's something that I get, I get mad about it. Like, when they say, like, well, Marin's a storyteller. I'm like, what are you talking about? That's what stand-up is.

That's what stand-up is. Yeah. I mean, there are joke guys, but you can't have everybody being joke guys. It'd just be annoying. I can't do that to save my life. I can't either. I mean, when I write a joke by accident, I'll do it and I'll be like, this is a great joke. But I have to fight myself from announcing it.

It's like, I don't write jokes like this, but I did this one. You know what I do is I usually put a joke in a story like i'll oh yeah yeah i'll make the joke a story because i can't just tell this joke it's satisfying the first couple times but then you're just sort of like wearing out like you get bored with it right because it's like but i wrote this one joke and i'm like this is what why it feels so good. But guys who do jokes, they write 100 of those. Am I going to do that? I'm like, no, I lucked into this one. I didn't write it.

It just happened. So when did you start? How old were you when you started? I always tell people it's almost two beginnings with comedy. Oh, yeah. Because you start probably while you're still working a job or in school, so you're not doing it regularly. I started 19 is the first time I went on stage.

Yeah. But I was still going to Harold i was going to harry washington college and i was working so i was able only able to go once so yeah what were you studying in college uh i don't have a real major i just went because i didn't want to look like i wasn't doing shit yeah you know i mean i knew i wanted to do stand-up but i didn't i didn't know how to figure i had to figure out a way to let my family know this is what the fuck i was gonna do do. So I was like, let me go to Harold Washington College. Yeah. Well, I don't have to have a, because I had a college scholarship. What kind of college was it?

It was a Harold Washington College, a community college, downtown Chicago. It was like a little small school. Two-year thing? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it was like, I could major in math. I don't know.

Just so they think you're doing something. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? So I did that, but I was going up at the Lion's Den, which is where I started going up. Yeah. I went there.

I heard of that. Yeah. On Monday nights, I almost got jumped leaving there one night from a Hispanic gang and shit. I used to wear my hat to the left. What kind of place was it? It was a small bar. I remember, you know how you first start, everything looks big? Like, oh, man, this place is big with a stage.

And it was just a mic? Yeah, it was just an open mic. And I remember going back and watching, like, I thought this place was huge. This little tiny-ass fucking place. To me, this place was, like, the biggest. Yeah, yeah. It was very interesting. Well, yeah, because you're on stage.

Yeah. So, of course, you're going to think it's huge. Yeah. I don't think a lot of the places I started were huge because there was always so few people there. But that's the thing, too. I think once you start doing it in front of strangers like you don't even think about it Yeah, it's just the audience to use it was almost like that little small spot is a theater to me Yeah, isn't that weird though? Like you go up, I don't know if you did but like you go up for nine people and be like life or death man

Yeah for nine fucking people you do be your whole you you just hang your whole sense of yourself on these fucking people sitting there one guy by himself three top and then the four people in back and you're like oh fuck man i gotta give it to him yeah i got it this better go good man oh that Yeah, that's so funny. Because I started then and then. What kind of open mic was it? Just an open mic? It used to be like 20 people go up. Oh, yeah.

It was like crazy. Yeah. And that was fun. Where were you working? The day job? I worked at TTC. It was a telemarketing company. We sold all those, you know, call it old people. Like telemarketing company. We sold like all those, you know,

calling old people like, hey, you want the bill, the vitamins, you know, the pills and all that. Yeah, yeah,

yeah. Just so nothing, just a soul killing job. But you didn't give a shit. No, I needed the money. Yeah. Were you married then?

No, not yet. I had to get married until I was 28. So I was already, I was like, by the time I met my wife, I like started kind of, in Chicago, because this is what I did. This was my plan, right? I was 28. So I was already, I was like, by the time I met my wife, I like started kind of,

in Chicago, because this is what I did. This was my plan, right? I was like, I went to Jamie Foxx's Laugh-A-Palooza one year and Jamie Foxx used to do this festival,

Laugh-A-Palooza in Atlanta. And I went to one of those symposiums or whatever, panels or whatever you call them. And his manager was like, yo, the smartest thing you could do is be the man of your city first and then try to venture out.

So that's what I did. I, like, really hustled. Like, D-Ray, you know, I used to see, D-Ray had a club, Riddles Comedy Club. Riddles. Yeah, on Sunday nights, which was, like, everybody used to come there, like, Kanye. Everybody used to, it was like the shit. That was the famous black comedy club. Yeah. Riddles Chicago. Sunday night, Riddles Chicago Sunday night I think I talked to didn't they make a documentary

about oh no no you're talking about all jokes aside that's a different club but like Riddle's was the first it was just dope as fuck like every fine everybody dope every day they was buying bottles of champagne that's how crazy it was so D-Ray made a killing from that like he he used to do a night there? He did a night, just Sunday nights, 300 seats. He got the door

and he used to sell out. We'd do like two or three shows sometimes. Oh yeah. And that's how he started? That's not how he started but I think that's what helped him pay for his way to come out. He's a Chicago guy.

He's a Chicago guy. That's the first person I saw really, like Damon Williams or somebody who we call the Godfather there who's another Chicago person but D-Ray's the first person I saw really, like Damon Williams is somebody who we call the Godfather there, who's another Chicago person. But D-Ray was the first one I've ever saw hustle it and make money for real, like how to do it like that. And I'm like, oh, I guess this is, I want to do it.

He like, it's like, he figured out how to make, he sold comedy like it was drugs. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, I was just like, yo, this is brilliant. Yeah. Even the way promoter, party promoters, the way they promoted in chicago yeah the the style came from d ray d ray was like passing out flies when people was going on going to work at the train going to the club like doing that his cell i used to go with him you know and i thought that was brilliant yeah

but anyway i said you were opening for him i succeed every sunday yeah i succeed the people to get five minutes every Sunday. And all the comics thought I was degrading myself by doing that shit and all that sort of thing. But I'm like- You were what for doing it? Degrading. It's not degrading, just seating people. Oh, degrading.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, no, I want to go up every week at the hottest spot. I will seat people. And he gives me $50. Yeah. Oh, he's the doorman at the comedy store. What are you going to do? You're around the shit.

You know what I mean? But people don't-'s all because some people care about an image of like looking like they're somebody when you're nothing when you're nothing and it doesn't make any sense it doesn't make any difference i thought it made people nicer to me because i would seat them and speak to them so when i went up they were like oh it's the guy that set us you know what i mean yeah make a good impression when they see it. But did you get tips and shit? Man, I didn't get no tips.

But I had so much fun doing that. And eventually, I ended up hosting when D-Ray moved to L.A. So that was your regular gig, Sunday nights. You'd seat the people. You'd give you 50 bucks. You'd have five minutes. And it was just you two or there was a whole bunch of people? No, it was a whole show. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It was like Chicago, like comics from the road used to be so afraid because all the Chicago comics would come up there to destroy you. Like who were the guys? You got people like Leon Rogers and Corey Holcomb and Damon Williams and B. Cole. There's so many comics from that comic view,

that general world, that was just fucking hitting at the time. But then we'll have people like Tony Roberts and Cat Williams and we he brought Rudy Ray Moore there Dolomite

yeah oh who Cat did no D-Ray D-Ray because D-Ray booked it too he brought Dolomite Dolomite was at Riddle's Cabin

and let me tell you I opened for Dolomite had a fun time great set you did or he did I did couldn't wait to meet him right

yeah he was nice to me in the lobby because I bought like a couple DVDs too. Yeah. Go on stage and shit on all of us

for not having our own theme song. Your own theme song? He's like, these motherfuckers ain't comedians. You don't even got your own goddamn song. I'm like, what? Was he funny?

He was just shitting on us for 15, I don't even really remember. I just remember him like shitting on us about not doing comedy right. Were people happy to see him? They were.

Yeah. Because he did. First of all, his intro was long as fuck because he got his own song. Yeah. He had the cape on and shit. He had the cane. Old school bullshit. It was Dolomite, man.

So you're doing this every Sunday with D-Ray. Mm-hmm. And you get to see everybody. See, that's the thing that people don't realize about working the door and doing those kind of things in a bigger venue is then you get to study all the dudes. Mm-Ray. And you get to see everybody. See, that's the thing that people don't realize about working the door and doing those kind of things in a bigger venue, is then you get to study all the dudes. You get to watch Cat Williams in a small club. That must have been great. J.B.

Smooth was, for the longest, I had a tape of him, because I taped myself that night and I just kept it on. Yeah. So funny. Just, man, it's one of the one of the like to me one of the funniest people i've ever seen that ever made me like you can hear me cough laughing i got sick from laughing he's just so fun like the way he milks a joke it's just like he's got that weird way of talking like oh man you gotta do it like this god damn man if you big you gotta do big shit you know but

he was the first headliner that was extremely nice to me. Yeah. I remember I hung out with him one day. He let me hang out with him and shit. Like, oh, shit, Jimmy Spoon let me party with him. We went out. And it was just fun. He kept asking women for cheese.

It was fucking weird, but it was just fucking hysterical. I just laughed. Like, you got some cheese in it? Yeah. He's like, what? Some cheese? He's a weird dude. It's fucking hysterical.

Yeah. So the buses stopped running, and I couldn't get home. He's like, no, you cheese. He's a weird dude. It's fucking hysterical. Yeah. So the buses stopped running and I couldn't get home. He's like, no, you can sleep on the floor, man. And I remember him talking like, man, you know, I'm trying to get it, man. Trying to get it. He lived in Chicago? No. So he ended up meeting his wife.

That's so crazy. Like, he's from New York. Yeah, because that's where I thought he started. But he used to come to Chicago. D-Ray loved bringing him to Riddles. Like, Riddles, we love J.B. motherfucking York. Yeah, because that's where I thought he started. But he used to come to Chicago. We, D-Ray, love bringing him to Riddles. Like, Riddles, we love JB motherfucking Smooth. Yeah. And so, oh, God.

Like, that's what's so funny about certain cities that get certain type of comedy in a way. Yeah. Chicago loves that shit. Yeah. When you can tell stories, when you can fucking do characters. Like, they fucking. Yeah. He was milking shit, man.

It's a show. It's a show. Yeah. And comics, what I used to love about it, when JB came to town, all of us were there. Oh, yeah? All of us were there. He had a real following. It was all the comics back there fucking dying.

Oh, that's great. Yeah. I had no idea about that, about him. Man, that's so funny. Because in New York, he was just another dude in New York. That's so funny you say that. The way I talk about him sometimes, like, to New York cast, they be like, I mean, J.B.'s cool.

I'm like, what? What the fuck? He's a legend. You know what I mean? I love that. Like, the style of, I learned how to milk a joke because of that guy. Sure. Yeah.

When you just don't stop. Yeah, you just keep pushing. Man, that shit. That's a good skill. It's one that I never, like like i just started in the last few years trying to do to just keep pushing it it's such a you can if you can find that that wave and stay on it well that's funny too i'll being a comedy fan i remember watching the old tape of myself and i'm watching myself kind of sound like jb smooth like yeah sure of course because i was

young i didn't know who the fuck I was. And I'll crack it up. Like, what the fuck was I doing? But then it's so funny once you figure out you. Yeah, it goes away. It goes away. Yeah. You still got the skill set, but it goes away.

It's so common. Yeah. People are scared to talk about that sometimes. Like, yo, we start because of who we love. So you tend to sound like them at first. And you don't know how to do it. And you don't do it on purpose. No.

You just like, you know, it's a way to get, you just borrow the confidence is really, I think, is what it really comes down to. It's almost innate. You're take you absorb your hero's confidence yeah and like for a while there there was like a bunch of hotels in new york there was so many there was headbergs everywhere for a while right oh god and then there it's just like you just see it ripple through the community and then cats grow out of it they grow out of it so what was the big break when you just started after doing that when did you start headlining around Chicago?

Fast, really. I mean, like, riddles, I just got good fast. And when I started hosting riddles, that's when it started to get even better. Because you get to go back up every time. You get to go back every time. Is that when you started working the characters? Well, that, yeah, yeah. But then I started going, like, hopes i hosted this open mic that was

like not even comedy it was like rappers fucking singers poets and just me like freestyling and roasting and impersonating doing all this shit yeah it gave me so much freedom to play around and insane confidence like i became this crazy little spot that was just a masonic hall you know and you made the open mic? No, this dope deal I do. He was a promoter. Yeah. And yeah,

and it was fun. And because it wasn't comedy you can fucking experiment. You could just play. Yeah, yeah. You could play with music. You could do so much shit. So that, like once,

by the time all that happened then Mary Lindsay came and opened Jokes and Notes Comedy Club up. And that's when my career trajectory was like, all right, everything started changing. When she opened that club up, I remember I featured for another comic.

And after I featured, she said, you can't feature for nobody no more. Who was that? You're the only headline. Who did you feature? I don't know. Say. You gave him a run for his money? Yeah.

Yeah. It was crazy. She's like, you're not going to. You can't can't feature no more your headlining here for the now yeah because like even if you're holding back you know like that feature spot sweet you know that's it you get you get some payback for that eventually if you blow a headliner off it'll come back around at some point but you know what's funny like i like when somebody kills in front of me yeah I like kill please because it makes I have to be better than yeah walking in like that's what's so weird when you do hear about headliners who like who asks for certain features like they know who the shitty features

like yeah it's perfect this guy does it or if you're a black comic give me a white comic I don't want no other black comic on the show so I can have the only black opinion I just like guys to do what they do you know I don't want them to do what I do I just like guys to do what they do. You know, I don't want them to do what I do, but I want them to do what they do and then do it well. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. I mean, that's what's, you know, I've been with Joker with Hannibal.

Because Hannibal, it's so funny because Hannibal, like I said, I first met him when he was in college and he opened for me. Yeah. He kind of bummed. Yeah. But he was funny as fuck to me. I'm like, yo, you're fucking hysterical. I'm about to drink at the after party.

You know what I mean? Yeah. And that's how we became cool, actually. Well, it's so funny because when he started, he was different. But then this switch, like I would literally watch this dude go from that to like a star. And I'm like, hey, can I open for you? Which is, that's why I tell people you it's good to be nice to everybody you don't know who gonna be right and also people get funnier like he was one of those dudes when i saw

him when he was first coming around the alternative room was the only like and he was a black dude that was like the black dude at the at the all white shows yeah like he was that guy right yeah and i watched him and i was like you know it's good it's thoughtful he's smart but then at some point it's just like something clicked something clicked right and then he's coming out with a fucking shiny suit on and doing everything i mean he got music he became that guy which i love the fact that he stayed true to himself i mean as a comedian we don't pick our audiences for real we don't know who the fuck will be fans that's right we really don't know yeah and you know i'm proud of that dude and it was so funny it was funny watching the switch happen where like i remember i was at the just for last festival yeah and i was doing new faces on the rep and i didn't like my set because i don't feel like they laughed that hard

i just left i let i let i went up and left the venue and hannah was telling like where the fuck did you go like hey man i left man i was fucking bummed i, you did. You did great. So he didn't want nobody laughing. Like, no, because it's all fucking execs here writing shit down. They all looking for you. Yeah, yeah. I'm like, for real? I was like, yeah, I left. I'm at a party with Russell Peters.

I thought I ate it. But it was just funny watching that dynamic of it. But it's even more fascinating when it turns back around so like me and hannibal for no reason go to the essence festival last two years just last minute call like yo let's just go to essence festival like all right cool and i remember we went one year and you know hannibal walking around people oh hannibal burroughs like look you know then we went last year this is after get out came out i couldn't go no fun it was to the point he tucked it to my security yeah I've never had that before and I I didn't

think straight about like oh I can't just walk around yeah yeah the fuck am I doing yeah you're getting a lot of it oh my god yeah once you take one picture it's like oh yeah yeah converge and uh but it was funny watching that and it like just watching us be at this cool place with you know yeah yeah it's like all right man we i think we stars now something right cool right nice that's nice and you're both good guys and it doesn't seem like you know because i think some people become a certain type of star where they just leave everybody behind and you don't know them anymore yeah i i've seen that a couple times it's a good group of us that are friends man i mean i look at the

lucas brothers i look at jermaine fowler look at jarrod look at tiffany tiffany it's just everybody's cool yeah those are good people and doing well like yeah yeah so jokes and notes happen right jokes yeah yeah happened she gives me wednesday there, which was just a regular open mic. But I'm like, yo, I'm finna make this crazy, though. So I'm like. And you knew the skills. I knew how to promote it. I was giving away.

I made like a comedy CD to give away. Yeah. So I would go to regular clubs. See, I never understood why comedians promote at other comedy shows. Yeah. Like, go to an audience that that's that's not here like i used to go to clubs yeah and like it'd be a car full of girls i'm funny i'm telling you we'll see here's my listen to cd on your way home yeah i was that

comedy because it was funny shit and like it started being lying i had a line around the building every wednesday mostly women uh Uh-huh. Mostly women. That's who you're handing the shit out to? Yo, that's what I, because I always thought if you have more women there, that's going to make the dudes come. Yeah. And that's when the dudes started coming

and like the dope boys would come out. It was funny, me, I actually, and I think about this, it makes me laugh. I got a chance to like mold people into comedy fans. Right, yeah. Like people that had never been to comedy shows. I taught them how to act at comedy shows i like it's so very interesting yeah when i talk to these cats

now especially some of my homies are some street guys yeah these motherfuckers like comedy judges now like his set was good i mean like who the fuck are you now like you don't have to roast you for fucking talking too much you know i mean like so it's it's funny watching yeah that like oh yeah i got a chance to mow the crowd. But it became a thing. I mean, we had an after party. People forgot it was an open mic. Yeah.

Oh, really? Yeah. It was just a big night out. People were scared to go at my shots. Newcomers were like, I don't want to go up. This is a real crowd. You know what I mean? Yeah. But it was every week I was freestyling, and my chops got better.

Like, I was just, like, my like my special like i look at the special idea that kevin hart produced like i didn't work on it it was just like i just did the best of what i did right that's what you were doing they're like the mom and my age man you don't want to go on the road to work on the set like nope i got it kevin like come on man you need it no nope don't just do it yeah i probably came out great yeah it was like yeah because you just know it and you know that was how did Kevin Hart get involved

well you know so I wanted I wanted to be it was more of a strategic thing on my part but I felt like I wanted to be

introduced by a veteran comedian yeah it thought that would be fun like because I talked to Sid about it first

that's who I first talked to who Cedric Entertainer yeah and he was down and then I mentioned Russell Peters or somebody else I was thinking about. Yeah.

So, but my agent at the time was like, yo, Kevin, Kevin would be great. I think Kevin would want to do it. I'm like, for real? We talked to Kevin. Kevin was like, yeah, man, I'm a big fan. You know? Yeah. And, but that's why I did it that way.

Just because, you know, it was just an introduction. Interesting. Like, even like, I wouldn't, so funny, all the rest of the specials kevin like brought he brought them out he was up front i was like hey nah you come at the end of my shit because i don't want you to be a distraction yeah yeah you're being excited about seeing you and then see because my it's my fucking night you know i mean yeah so with him coming out the end and stamping it oh it worked it was perfect yeah it was fucking perfect and you saw a difference it worked big difference oh yeah big difference but that's just like me i knew exactly what i wanted my special

to be from you know i had my kids open it up my special because i saw damon wayans do that yeah how old are your kids uh were they nine and eight nine eight and one i got a nine eight and one yo but at the time they were five i don't know like four or five something like that they were really little when i watch it now i almost tear up as on some dad shit they were so little yeah funny uh but i did it because i saw damon wayans do that was hbo special where he had little damon and like i thought that was cute yeah and i'm like oh i want to do that and i see a person yeah yeah it makes yeah it makes it and then because of Dolomite I made an original song

yeah I made a song called Relevant which is the name of the special I had my friend record an original song and it's so funny

that's what I thought about when he said I remember telling him damn fuck that but I'm like you don't have a song maybe I should have a song

and now you got one I got one now I got a song so what happened with the you know how what happened with the personal life i mean life is life so i got married at 28 uh i met my ex-wife she used to come to the comedy she's coming to jokes and notes yeah for the wednesdays yep and she was a regular too like a regular fan and married a fan i did that you said i did that yeah uh it's a good way to lose a fan but she's but she was but she was nice though yeah and at that time i was looking to say i started like i was having i was having a great time like

i'm hosting this hot open mic for the last few years and i was smart too i you know some dudes would have probably banged every chick I didn't do that I like so the it was almost like my jokes was like my jokes was a stripper

like I was so sexy through my comedy yeah yeah yeah right you know what I mean so it's like they all were there

like I mean like fine motherfuckers yeah and uh sometimes I make myself laugh. How the fuck did I pull that off? But it helped me though.

You know what I'm saying? Made you strong. It just made you. Chicago made me feel like a star. So when I went to New York and L.A. I felt like I was dope already. Yeah confidence. I had so much confidence.

People used to ask me why are you so confident? Because of Chicago. You got nervous? Like nah. Yeah. I got a place. This is a place? Like, because of Chicago. Yeah. You got nervous? Like, nah. Yeah. I got a place. This is a place that loves me. So, yes.

Yeah. But I met her. The funny story is, I met her twice. The first time I met her, she went to Tennessee State University. And D-Ray, we used to do these colleges. And D-Ray used to send me out to the colleges early to promote the show. So, I'd be on somebody's campus for a week. It's almost like I was a student.

You know what I mean? Just walk around and shit, passing out flags. So you really, you worked for D-Wrek. I basically did. Yeah. But because he gave me opportunity. Is he still your friend? Yeah.

Hell yeah. Yeah. He's still my big brother because I appreciate the, like, I'm so glad I had to work for these opportunities. Yeah. It wasn't just about me. I learned. And learned, yeah.

I learned the hustle of it. You know what I'm saying? I had to work for these opportunities. It wasn't just about being. And learned, yeah. I learned the hustle of it. You know what I'm saying? So you're Tennessee? I'm at Tennessee State. I go to the library. I see this beautiful girl, which was her. I give her a flyer, flirt with her a little bit. And I just remember thinking, like, dang.

I just had a feeling about her. I don't know. Yeah. Years later, I ain't seen her again. Let's go five years later some shit right I do some black doctors thing in San Francisco and perform they got like a black doctors union I don't know whatever corporate gig it wasn't even corporate they all still students they're like black medical students they're all doctors yeah my manager at the time knowledge

Beckham uh which was my first manager who was amazing, who, big part of what, everything. Like, that was basically my business partner

and my big brother, but he was fucking great. He ended up hollering at one of the girls there. He's like, yo, when you're in Chicago, come to,

you know, Wednesday night. And she was friends with her and brought her. And when we first met again, I'm like, where the fuck do I know you from?

And it took one of her friends to say don't remember meeting real at tilly state maybe try to talk to you in the library oh shit that's you yeah okay hey yeah and right away we hit it off like right away right away it was like i remember like so many chicks being jealous of her shit like at the comedy club because i was i was like so many chicks being jealous of her shit like at the comedy club because i was i was professing my love on stage like hey yeah i'm happy now like because i talked about when i was on the mic i talked about whatever the fuck i had going on sure yeah good or bad and that's what i was i've been settled down and i was like but she she was just dope i mean like no i mean would say this, and it's just more than telling the whole story. I think if we were older,

things would have been different. I just don't think you should get married under 30. Yeah. Especially not if you're in this business and you're on this rise. Sure, yeah. It's just like... So what stressed it out?

Stress, life. I mean, when my mom passed, I went in a dark place in like, in 09, right? And I was still doing, I remember, like, doing dumb shit. And it had to weigh on her. Like, I was getting into fights in the club for no fucking reason. Oh, right. Oh, yeah. But I was hurting.

I didn't fucking, and I had to, people don't realize, when you still have to do comedy for a living, this is how you pay your bills, this is how you raise your, you know what I mean? Sure. I didn't give myself time to mourn. I just went to perform. Like, it was like... Yeah, yeah.

You know what I mean? And then you try to work through it on stage and you ain't ready yet. Yeah, it's just a lot. It's just heavy. You don't know what to do with this energy. And it depends on what the situation was. I was sad and I felt a lot of guilt.

Why? Well, my mom wrote a journal when she was sick because it happened really fast. Like, she found out she had cancer and then like

four or five months later she passed. Yeah. She wrote in a journal and she was like, you know, and I remember one day I was in New Jersey

and she was calling me and shit and I like ignored it like I'm like I'm getting ready for my show you know what I mean and when she left

the journal I read it and it was like you know she was saying how like I was always the one person

she could talk to about anything but she wouldn't call me because she felt like I was bothering she felt like she was bothering me

and I felt terrible like damn I made you feel I got so caught up in my trying to make it shit that, damn, you felt you, my mom, you felt like I was bothering you? Yeah.

And I felt terrible about that shit. And you read that after she died? Yeah. So that was. That shit weighed on me. Yeah, because there's nothing. You can't make it right except for yourself. Sometimes I think, because I used to keep the voice voice the last voicemail she left me i think

somebody erased that motherfucker because i think they knew i kept listening to it so after reading that i just felt fucking bad like yeah and you know i was just me me and jamie fox was actually talking about this last night because we was talking about kanye right and you know most people like kanye crazy and this is where Kanye, right? And, you know, most people are like, Kanye crazy, and this is where that is,

just pitch for, you know? And like, I watched, I watched his interview and I watched his TMZ thing and I know what that looks like to be still hurting

over some shit like that. And I think that guy is still mourning. His mom? His mom. And not just mourning, it feels guilt about that shit you know and i know what that looks like it was so scary i'm like oh fuck i just wasn't famous when

it was happening to me i probably people if this happened to me like like that and i'd have been losing like people thought i was fucking crazy so that your regular your your regular personality starts to crack because you're hiding too much shit how you create this weird ass bubble you saying crazy shit like it's so weird watching this happen because i'm like it kind of made me go back to like oh fuck yeah because i remember having a conversation with my ex-wife and it'd be things i said to her that i don't even fucking remember yeah because you were in too much pain i didn't give a fuck yeah were you drinking or anything oh everything yeah yeah not everything but like drinking just like i was because i was i i didn't even the fights i wanted a motherfucker to hit me yeah you know i mean like fucking hit me please i was i was starting

fights with people who would walk up to me like hey rel i'm a big fan what you say motherfucker like it was like i said you start fighting like so you want you wanted to get punished i wanted to get punished and it's so crazy, that type of mindset. That's why I'm looking at this shit, and I'm like, oh, no, that dude. I know he's, I don't agree with anything he's saying, but I know he just, he don't, I don't know if he, he's trying to maneuver around dealing with it. That's what you do. You try to maneuver around dealing with it.

Yeah, yeah. And I'm going to tell you something. One thing I love about comedy is, slowly but surely, that's what started helping me out that shit. Comedy. Comedy. Of course. What else have you got? Comedy.

When I started doing my mom on stage and telling these stories and this and that. Because I'll black out in character sometimes. When I'm in character, I'm fucking in it. Yeah. And it started making me remember conversations. I literally performed these conversations on stage. Oh, wow. And did you feel you got closure?

I got closure from it. I mean, we all got our different ways of doing stuff. You know, me, I prayed about it. Yeah. And I ended up having a dream where she just talked to me and told me everything was cool. Let you go. Released you.

Yeah, you're good. What are you talking about? Yeah. And also, you did the good thing with your little brother. Yeah. So, you know, that's paying it forward too right i mean it's paying it forward but it's also like but that's why that's why i i feel and i've been saying this and i bring up kanye again i just last said but it's like that's why i wouldn't mind talking to him like you need somebody to talk to like not just about this shit but like what's fuck all that yeah i mean we know you're saying craig you got free spirit free speech

all this okay fine what's up do you yeah yeah does he does he have anybody like that i don't think he does i don't think he does there's no way this motherfucker could drive up to tmz ain't nobody like hey man i don't think you should do that you know what i mean you where's that guy you could just do your own interview somewhere go talk to mark like yeah where are you gonna chill don't go to fucking tmz why are you doing live the man drove up to the tmz the place which is insane that's the other problem with him he's a little insane which i think that happens with that shit if you don't deal with it you lose your fucking especially if you're creative, too. We already have these.

Yeah. And at the level of fame he's at, too, it's very isolating. It's very isolating. Yeah. So, yeah, I get that part of it. And that's what I'm saying. Don't you have a way to get to him? Well, you know, it's funny.

We do know the same fucking people. Yeah. And maybe soon it will happen. Because I keep thinking about it. Like, I really want to just talk to him. It feels like a lot of people have had enough. And it seems like he's got friends that they may say they're tired of it, but they'll show back up for him eventually.

But this is what I hate about our fucking society. We had enough of this rapper yeah venting and we let every politician of fucking news do what the fuck they want to do yeah and we not up up at arms about it yeah yeah that's that's insane to me well yeah because you feel powerless somehow yeah it's like dude we have a president who yeah it's just don't give us a monster every like it's a fucking disaster it's a fucking disaster every day i mean but you don't did you feel like you can do anything about it and i think that's the other thing that kanye compounded it with it's like why are you gonna start aligning yourself with this monster that

we have no control over yeah it is it's he in, but I see what you're saying though now. I see, you feel that self-punishment drive. Yeah. Yeah. That there's grief there and he feels guilty about something. So he's bringing it all down on himself.

And he's creating other stuff to distract it. Uh-huh. That's why he's taking on all this shit. But he's also, he's also making his fans and everybody that had any love for him, you know, question him. But that's why I think I feel like I'm different in a way when it's like as far as heart goes.

This guy inspired the fuck out of me. When a college dropout album came out, just being from Chicago, I was like, yo, this dude made it. Yo, I can make it too. Oh, shit. Yeah. Because we saw Ye at the Comedy yo this dude made it yo i can i can get i can make it too oh shit yeah because we saw yeah at the comedy club we saw yay made it fam oh shit yeah he's famous we all can get out of here yeah and that's the first time i've ever felt like that and because of that i'd like applaud him i'd like love that dude for that yeah so when i see somebody hurting that i felt like inspired me like that i don't want to

see nothing crazy happen to him because we're doing this shit right right he's just talking shit yeah he could say slavery didn't exist if he wanted to but it don't change shit yeah it happened yeah so why are we just debating with this motherfucker that said something stupid right he just we forgot what we used to do to people that say shit stupid. Remember back in the day, people say something stupid, like, ah, this motherfucker's stupid. And you didn't listen to it. Right. You didn't bring it back up.

You're like, all right, that's what I'm saying. So you're saying you got to look past it. Just, if you don't want to buy that man, music or whatever the case may be, do that shit. Like, all this, like, I don't want to see somebody harm themselves that looks like they're hurting. Right, right. Yeah, well, hopefully to see somebody harm themselves that looks like they're hurting. Right, right. Yeah. Well, hopefully maybe you can get through to him, man.

I mean, you know, we'll see. I keep bringing it. I brought it up twice already. I feel he sends shit just like because I watch both interviews. The one with Charlamagne was really good. And you could see I could see people's pain easily. Yeah. And I think people are upset because they don't know themselves too.

Yeah. I'm a person. I know who the fuck I am. I've been through the worst of it. When people are constantly looking for heroes. Yeah. You're making heroes out of people. And it's funny.

Ironically, me doing Get Out and Jordan making me a hero. Yeah. You're making heroes out of people. And it's funny, ironically, me doing Get Out and Jordan making me a hero. Yeah. You start to understand. That's why people are so happy. Oh, my God, you're a hero. All I did was pick them up. You know what I mean? We're searching for heroes so fucking bad.

We want to be saved. Yeah. Instead of you becoming a hero yeah yeah stop looking for somebody else to do this and i think that's where everybody be like i'm so fucking hurt he's hurting man hurt me i mean like i'm more hurt that he looks like he's hurting yeah right yeah yeah yeah you know i mean yeah. Yeah. And it happens to comedians. I mean, comedians have meltdowns. I think that's what I think.

We've seen comics have meltdowns. Yeah, not as much as we used to. I used to, yeah, it used to happen a lot. Back before cell phones could take pictures. There was always a dude losing his shit somewhere. It still is, though. It's still like, you know, you still, every once in a while, because I keep myself, I do keep a, you still, every once in a while,

because I keep myself, I do keep a tight circle, but every once in a while when you're just hanging out at the comic club and you hear like the bitter conversations, like. You mean offstage?

Oh my God. Yeah, it's like, what the fuck? Like sometimes when I go to Chicago and I hear comics say shit, like, yeah, see now, what you got to do is like. Yeah.

Do y'all know, y'all don't know what the fuck y'all talking about? Well, we did it too, but you were working. You know, like there's always been that guy. That's nothing new. Yeah, but that's why I've always at least tried to keep myself around. I've always had a positive mindset about this shit.

Yeah. And his friends I still have in his business that I don't talk to as much anymore because they haven't changed their mindset. That's right. They're still morbid or morose or cynical or bitter. Yeah. Yeah, but they must have people in their life that want to keep them that way. I think so.

Yeah, because I was certainly more bitter, and I just needed to deal with it. Yeah. You know, to open up the heart a little bit. How do you get along with your ex and your kids? You all right? Well, yeah. I mean, so Brittany and Judah, which is my daughter's nine,

my son is eight. Me and Verena, we good. We co-parents. Nothing is ever perfect in this shit. Yeah. Especially when you start making money. Right. That's what makes things harder.

Sure. Always, yeah. Money. Yeah. And then Harlem, the little one, one-year-old, me and his mom, we're cool. I mean, it's such a weird situation, but he's such a beautiful kid.

A beautiful kid. And you're not with her either? Not at all. Yeah. I'm a very single guy. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I can't wait to meet her, whoever this fuck this is,

so I can stop all this shit just chill the fuck out yeah because i would love to settle again i don't it's so funny too because you know your homeboy's like man if i was you kid i'd be out here like fam you're not me okay it's not that it don't it's not as easy as you think it is out here just slinging your dick everywhere like you know i mean like also that where does that go i mean it's like there's always part of your brain that wants that because it feels good. It's exciting. You know, new people.

But like, where does it go? Nowhere. It goes nowhere. It's like I had to get real old to really realize that. But, you know, it's like drugs. It's like anything else. Yeah, it feels great. But, you know, there's no free ride.

You can't just go out there and do that and not be held accountable. That's what's so interesting about being with somebody that gives you kind of peace in a way. Right? Like, literally, the more work I have to do now, the more responsibility I have. I just want to come home and kind of just talk to her about it like yeah this is what happened today how was your day you know i mean like sure and just leave it at that right now it's just like it's so many different i don't remember what it's not grounded yeah it's like yeah and there's so yeah and then you're doing it's all work it's all work yeah i don't want i don't want to keep doing it no more man I'm like

it's so funny to get to that place now but that's what I'm at with I'm like I'm done yo I just want to like I just want to I want to settle down

and I've been saying it more out loud lately so it can happen maybe manifest it manifest it man because it's like I've had my fun man alright

well I'll keep you know you said it here maybe maybe maybe something will come Well, I'll keep, you know, you said it here. Maybe something will come up. You'll be getting some weird mail. Most of the women I date are probably like, oh, fuck real. Because I like, I've met some amazing women.

Like, lately, I've met some great women. But, like, to me, it's always something like, especially after you've been, I've been married before, so like. Yeah, but you know, it's always going to be something, dude. I know,

I'm glad you said it. So it has to be something that will make, it is something in me that, I need something that makes me feel bad. Yeah. Or makes me feel like I need to talk to you. And there's been one woman that's been close to that, but it's like.

What do you mean you need something that makes you feel bad? Like, like if I'm in a situation where I'm on a road and a bunch of bad ass chicks come and I don't think about you right away like ah come on man

you don't want to hurt her if I don't have that shit it's not gonna work you know what I mean like it's not it's just not gonna work like you need to feel I need to feel bad

like a guilty motherfucker you gotta feel the guilt right away gotta feel the guilt right away. I feel the guilt. Yeah. Go in my room and FaceTime him. Right, right. Yeah.

What do I stand to lose? Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. Well, it's great talking to you, buddy. I'm glad we did this. Man, we talked about a lot. We did.

It was great. And continued success. And I'm excited about, I hope the new show goes. And I'm looking forward to seeing the movie. Yeah. Uncle Drew, man, it's going to be great. When's it out looking forward to seeing the movie. Yeah, Uncle Drew, man. It's going to be it's going to be

Wednesday out June 29th. All right, man. Thanks, man. Okay, that was me and Lil Rel. Howry. Very funny guy.

Sweet guy. It's kind of cool to hear that history about the Chicago comedy scene kanye and it was good i enjoyed it uh vintage wtf posters are back in the swag store go to pod swag.com slash wtf or go to the merch page of wtf pod.com we've got five posters up there all signed by me some of them limited limited edition. So, there's that.

I'm going to play a riff. Alright. You know, like, even if you don't listen to the guitar part, and even if it annoys you, or even if it's, like, redundant, Brendan makes some vials and uses them later. Yeah, so, so that, that happens despite you. ¶¶ Boomer lives! Thank you. licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets

its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. Calgary is a city built by innovators. Innovation is in the city's DNA. And it's with this pedigree that bright minds and future thinking problem solvers are tackling some of the world's greatest challenges from right here in Calgary. From cleaner energy, safe and secure food, efficient movement of goods and people,

and better health solutions, Calgary's visionaries are turning heads around the globe, across all sectors, each and every day. Calgary's on the right path forward. Take a closer look how at